16th - 25th February (My first week in Santiago, Chile)
The terrorists here have gone back to more conventional forms of weaponry.....



I had pre-booked a two week hostel and language course together online for $399 U.S. Hostel de Sammy is a little shabby, the showers run boiling hot and freezing cold and if you want to go to bed early and get a good nights sleep you will be woke up around 05.00 by people coming back from the clubs. The owner is ok but he is a very loud American who seems to annoy a lot of people in a Basil Fawlty kind of way.
People are drinking on the patio until late every night so there is always someone to hang around with and it's a really sociable place. There is also a crappy pool table, table footy, free internet, a good tv and dvd player and free breakfast. My first night out, a club where the dance floor was packed from start to finish, ended around 06.00. My main problem here is that my Spanish lessons are monday to friday 10.00 - 13.30 so I am burning the candle at both ends. My first two days of Spanish lessons were pretty horrible, after a little one on one session I was thrown into a group of five who already knew quite a lot (there were no other absolute beginners to put me with). I thought maybe this would make me learn a lot quicker but after day two where I understood virtually none of what had gone on I was thinking of complaining and demanding more one on one sessions. The lessons are not like how we learnt languages in school, ie. translating between English and German, they speak no English so if you are not getting something they can only try to explain in Spanish. I decided to stick with it for day three expecting that I would say something afterwards but somehow a lot more of the lesson made sense. Sometimes the school organises things in the afternoon or evening, so I have socialised a bit with the other people at the school. I attempt to converse in Spanish but most of the time revert to English pretty quickly. We went to an Italian restaurant where I spoke to a nice girl called Rebeccah from Bristol, I also attempted a Salsa lesson which was a good laugh. I have homework every night!

The money here is very easy to convert as there are roughly 1000 pesos to the pound. Everything seems pretty cheap here - I am drinking every night but a 2 litre box of wine costs under 2,000 pesos so why not? You can eat good food at the restaurants for about 5,000 pesos and I have eaten some lovely paella and some fantastic salmon with seafood.

There was a norwegian guy called Kim here in my first week. I went with him and some others to watch the local team 'Colo Colo' play a league game. We were with the home fans, the atmosphere was good but a little scary - Kim told me not to take my camera out of my pocket and to keep hold of my wallet. Colo Colo won 4-2. The fans were singing and dancing for the full ninety minutes. The stadium looks smaller and less impressive than the county ground but apparently can hold up to 65,000. The ticket cost only 3,500 pesos.

A few days later, River Plate (from Buenos Aries in Argentina) came to play in the early stages of the Copa Libertadores (their equivalent of our Champions League). Kim is a fan of River Plate so an Argie staying at the hostel called Nicolas, Kim and I went in the away end. The tickets cost 5,500 pesos, I imagine a Champions League game costs at least ten times that. For some reason we went really early, we and the other River fans spent three hours getting abused in Spanish by the Colo fans with a lot of gestures involving crotch grabbing. There was lots of stuff being thrown our way including a coin that hit me in the head and a bag of nuts that hit Kim in the face. Once the game kicked off the atmosphere was amazing, there were fireworks and flares and lots of singing and dancing. It quietened down for a while in the second half when River went 2-0 up but soon got going again when Colo got one back and when River had a player sent off. It finished 2-1 and the home fans were held back to let the away fans escape, we ran to the exit as we were bombarded with more stuff. I have attached videos of the River fans and of the goals. The quality of the football was fantastic - loads of great one and two touch footy. Definitely the best live game I have been to and don't forget I have been to the County Ground!

What with all the study and socialising I haven't really explored Santiago much yet. The area where I stay (close to Republica Metro station) has a faded European charm to it. Many of the buildings look like they were once very grand but now need some tlc.
Towards the centre there are lots of grand churches, museums etc which are in a much better state. On my first day here, there was some rain and strong winds were blowing the leaves from the trees so it felt like Autumn, but every day since has been incredibly hot and clear. The streets generally feel pretty safe and I have no problem walking around at night. After a week my Spanish is still rubbish and when the assistant at the supermarket asked me something I had no idea what she said, but I did have a succesful trip into town where I managed to buy a plug adaptor and an alarm clock using a little Spanish and some made up words like 'electrica' (if in doubt take an English word and add an 'a' or 'o'!) On Saturday I spent four hours on the patio doing revision and I feel like some progress has been made. I also got my shoulders a bit burnt. A heavy night out last night and today is Sunday, I watched the Coca Cola cup final, lounged around a lot and caught up with my blog. I'm still not sure where I am going next but I'm looking forward to it.

12th - 16th February (Farewell New Zealand)

Saw this stroke of godlike genius...
Hitch hiked back to Auckland. Didn't do a great deal but did bump into the girls again and went up the skytower with them. Managed to sleep ok despite the fat american snorer! Hitch hiked part of the way to Waitomo but after getting dropped on a motorway junction with nowhere safe to stand decided to go back the other way. A big friendly Samoan giant called Paul took me all the way into Auckland even though it was past his junction. I walked to the harbour and took a boat to the island of Waiheke. It had been hot all morning but of course by the time I got to the beach and put sun cream on a huge cloud came across. The bloke running the hostel is on something. It's a bit of a party zone with seriously loud music. There were no beds available but there was a tent which I managed to sleep for eleven hours in on the first night.
In the morning I set out on a long walk in some scorching sun, eventually I crashed on the beach which prompted clouds and a few spots of rain but God was only playing with me, spent the rest of the day on the beach, and most of the next day on a different beach which I had to walk through a nudist section to get to - not pretty! Considering I have done nothing but laze around it came as a surprise when my back spasmed whilst walking up a hill - it hurt like hell for a few days. I also managed to miss a big patch on my back with the cream so that burnt and peeled.

Back to Auckland yet again. After killing time all morning I went to catch the bus to the airport and was told I would need a taxi as the traffic was so bad the bus wouldn't get there on time. I only had $28 left and hoped I could get by without going to the ATM again. The taxi driver accepted the $28 having started out at $40 because it was on his way home. The eleven hour flight to Santiago was really tedious as the entertainment selection was pretty poor and I didn't have an aisle seat so I couldn't get up and stretch my legs much, also I couldn't sleep. The highlight was the film 'Little miss sunshine' which was very amusing. I put my watch back sixteen hours and landed five hours before I took off!

So the New Zealand adventure was over and the South American one had began. Despite some crappy weather I enjoyed New Zealand and will look back on all the really cool stuff I did there with happy memories - ice climbing, bungy jumping, sky diving, dolphins, penguins, mountains, lakes. Fantastic.

5th - 11th February (Whitianga to Paihia)

What a day! I asked the hostel owner where to hitch from and he managed to get me on the bus over the bridge to an area called Bethlehem. From there it took me another eight lifts to get to Whitianga. About seven hours to travel a little over 100km with a few rain showers along the way. When I finally arrived it felt like I hadn't got past Bethlehem as there was no room at any of the hostels. The thought of hitching on again straight away wasn't a pleasant one so luckily I managed to get a $60 room above a pub restaurant for $40, there were three beds but I had the room to myself. Spent the rest of the day wandering around the small town, had a couple of beers in the two fairly dull pubs and watched some of the rugby sevens.

The weather was still miserable the next day so I decided to give the local walks a miss and hit the road again. A short walk, a hitch from an old guy who came here from Oz to avoid arrest for tax evasion and never went back, and then from 3 young lads from Thames (where I was heading) with a car thick with the smell of dope smoking and Rage/Nirvana playing from a laptop. It only took about an hour and twenty to get to Thames and the weather was no better. I wandered around the small town, ate at the bakehouse, did the $10 tour of the disused gold mine, met a 47 year old canadian called Tim at the hostel and went down the pub with him for a game of pool. In the evening I went to see the Borat movie (with only four other people in the cinema) then ate at the hostel, drank wine with Tim followed by whiskey.

I had hoped to go to the 'spectacular' pinnacles walk in the morning but the shuttle bus wasn't going due to bad weather. I hung around for a while considering wether to hitch hike out or not, played some pool and drank some beer and eventually decided to take the $24 bus to Auckland, this felt like a defeat but I couldn't be bothered to stand around getting wet although the weather brightened up as soon as I booked my ticket. The bus was boiling hot and there was a lot of congestion on the way into Auckland. My first impressions were not great, too many cars, tall buildings and people. The 'Surf and Snow' backpackers is big and decent enough although there ia lots of traffic noise at night. I phoned the police about some abandoned suit cases in the street and walked to the pier area which although only a short walk felt like a nice relaxing spot with nice bars and restaurants. Back at the hostel, a 21 year old Japanese lad had managed a half bottle of J.D., I knew from experience that this has consequenses. He later fell out of bed, made lots of thrashing about noises and ended up under my bed. I was worried that he might chuck up under there so me and another English lad in the dorm lifted the bed and lifted the Jap back into his bed. Earplugs helped me to get a decent nights sleep.

My morning visit to Qantas went much easier than I had expected, all the dates I suggested for my South American internal flights were okay - the only problem is I almost picked the dates at random because I have little idea of where to go or how long it takes to get around. I decided to head north to Paihia, in an area known as the bay of islands. Thirty minutes of walking towards the motorway junction and thirty minutes of waiting followed by a lift from an old American tourist called John, the two hour journey went by quickly as he was quite a talker. A middle aged woman took me a bit further, then a lorry driver took ne the rest of the way, stopping for a while to unload some roofing off of the back. I arrived in Paihia at 16.00 with lots of thick cloud, light showers, some blue sky and strong sun. Cap'n Bobs is a nice hostel with nice views of the sea. After visiting the supermarket I cooked steak and jacket potatoes for dinner followed by triple choc ice cream, all accompanied by $6 plonk - lovely! I spoke to some people including Conor from Ireland who just happens to be on the same flight as me to Santiago. Unfortunately Cap'n Bobs was booked up for the following night so I carted my stuff down the road to the pleasant Mayfair Lodge where George the owner is very helpful and chatty. I spoke to Mum, Dad and Carly on the phone. The weather was still humid with showers but supposed to get better tomorrow so I booked an $85 boat trip with the hope of swimming with dolphins. Walked to Waitangi where the treaty between the white settlers and the local Maoris was signed before continuing on to the Haruru falls, nothing too exciting but it was something to do. I watched a Maori cultural show at Waitangi for $12, the sun came out so I lazed around for a while before heading to the supermarket.
At the supermarket I spotted a cute girl (Jen) who turned out to be staying at the hostel, in my dorm with her hot mates Sian and Caz. I spoke to them for a while, they recently graduated from Nottingham Uni and are also heading to South America. Girls like that were never in my league and when one of them said I would probably like the Thomas Crown Affair becaude her dad likes it I realized they never would be. Still, it was nice to spend time with fit, intelligent young women. Sian looks like the girl from smack the pony.

Hurrah! Perfect weather for the boat trip.
The catamaran was a bit overcrowded, especially when we were all trying to photograph the dolphins. We weren't allowed to swim with them because they had a baby. I burnt some bits of ny back that I didn't manage to reach with the suncream - this would peel a few days later. The trip was pleasant, a little snorkelling, a walk on an island and hot dogs for lunch.
When I got back I fell asleep on a patch of grass by the sea, only to be awoken by a hen party who wanted group photos with me before abducting me in their tour bus as far as the bar for a drink before leaving for their next port of call - good fun. Later went to a couple of bars with the girls from the hostel.

Next day, I took the ferry to Russell, ate fish and chips before walking to flagstaff hill and long beach in the hot humid weather. Russell is a quaint little place. Back to Paihia for a walk to a lookout point. Used the hostel internet to book the inca trail for April and put some photos on the blog. I watched 'The fastest Indian in the world' a good NZ film starring Anthony Hopkins.

1st - 4th February (The Bay of Plenty)

On the road again. Walked five minutes to a decent spot where I was picked up by Ted, a retired guy doing a limosine transfer in his people carrier. Ted dropped me in Rotorua, I then walked for about 50 minutes in the midday sun to get to the right road (not easy with a big pack on my back the day after the Tongariro crossing!). I was about to find out what Rhys was talking about when he said that hitching allows you to meet much more strange and interesting people. I was picked up by a pair of Maori bad boy gangstas in a Honda space wagon with adjustable hydraulic suspension. The baseball bat in the back was a bit worrying but they seemed like nice young lads (Pet and Andrew) and after talking to them for a while I found out that they were up and coming hip hop artists, they played me some of their stuff which was really good, Pet did some freestyle rapping and at a car park/lookout point Andrew (complete with bling and silver 'grills' over his teeth) showed me crumping (I think that's what he called it!), an aggressive dance style that I wish I'd filmed. They explained to me that the bat was in case they get trouble from Samoans when they go to Auckland. When we arrived at Whakatane (FA-KA-TA-NEH) they bought be a KFC and wouldn't let me pay, and although they were really cool I was on my guard having memorised their number plate in case they drove off with my stuff while I was in the KFC toilet! I really enjoyed meeting these guys who I would probably have avoided under normal circumstances. Whakatane is a pretty little quiet place and the Karibu backpackers is small and homely. I did my laundry, booked a trip for tomorrow, sat in the sun and talked to Ninka from Holland, she made too much pasta and like the nice guy I am I helped her out! In the evening I watched Shallow Hal while drinking a $5 bottle of Hardys Cab Sav.

The alarm went off at 08.15, it was raining hard. The boat trip to White Island was put back from 09.15 to 10.00. The rain started to die off and the sun came out just before we set sail and the weather stayed perfect all day.
I got my $150 worth just from the journey to the island; loads of dolphins came out to play, swimming alongside and behind the boat - they are incredible to watch but difficult to photograph. White Island is the most active of the three active volcanoes in NZ. It's last eruption was in 2000 and although they weren't expecting another one soon they went through all the safety procedures for an eruption or a landslide.
I thought it was a bit like a reverse lottery - the chances of it happening are very slim but you have to be in it to win it (ie. get flattened by flying hot rocks!) The whole island was fascinating, a huge green steaming crater that would dissolve any part of your body that you dipped into it, lots of sulpher, steam and odd rocks plus the remains of the doomed sulpher mining operation.
The guides were very good and full of information and tragic tales of the people who had died on the island. The water was choppy on the way back, I felt a bit queasy but there were several pukers much worse than me. We were back around 17.00 for a quick sunbathe before walking into town. Some nice fish and chips and sunset over the harbour to finish off a fantastic day.

Information and pictures of white island can be found at www.whiteisland.co.nz if you are interested.

The next day I aimed to get to Mount Maunganui, only about an hours drive away but without any cardboard I relied on the thumb. I was picked up by an old scouser called John who just took me to the next junction (taking me away from all the Rotorua traffic), two middle aged ladies, Ruth and Donna took me to Te Puke stopping for a sandwich and a coffee, a twenty minute walk before getting picked up by another middle aged lady who took me to the outskirts of Maunganui. With 6km to go I decided to walk but it was hot so after twenty minutes I stuck the thumb out again and got picked up by a nice young girl from Chile with her two kids in the back, we drove past the backpackers so I still had another five minute walk. It was quite a fun day but too much walking in the heat so after checking in to the nice hostel I walked to the beach which was very nice. It was very busy with it being a Saturday and the school holidays coming to an end. I stayed and soaked up some rays but the factor 30 stopped me from changing colour much. In the evening I walked through the town with lots of nice cafes, restaurants and bars but couldn't find a supermarket so had to eat a huge burger from an American diner.

With plans for a half day walk followed by some more lazing on the beach, the downpour that lasted all morning was not good. So, I spent all morning on the internet and burning a cd, and I thought summer had finally arrived, especially as I am now in the part of the country that generally has the best weather, the north east of the north island. Oh well, it could be worse, I could be in England! The rain stopped in the afternoon, long enough to go on a walk around the mount. In the evening I went to the cinema to watch 'The pursuit of happyness' with Will Smith which was okay.

27th - 31st January (Spurting geysers and naked geezers!)

I didn't wait more than ten minutes before a young builder picked me up on his way to do a job for a mate. He was nice enough to stop at the bubbling pool of mud en route before dropping me in the centre of Rotorua. After visiting the supermarket I cooked up some pasta - straight back into the old routine now Sasha has gone! I read half of 'The five people you meet in heaven' by Mitch Albom having left Shantaram for Sasha to finish (will have to pick that up elsewhere otherwise it will be on my Christmas list). My first impression of Rotorua is the smell of rotten eggs, caused by the sulpher of all the geothermal activity around here. I spent some time in the late night internet cafe.

The following day, I took a bus to Waiotapu. At 10.15 every morning, in front of a seating area packed with tourists, a man empties some biodegradable soap into the Lady Knox geyser which then bubbles a bit before a surge of water leaps twenty metres intop the air and continues for a good few minutes. Then, with Kee, an American girl on the bus, I walked the 75 minute track around a strange landscape of green pools, rocks of various formations and colours, steam and smelly sulpher. When we got back I left my camera on the bus but soon managed to get it back after a phone call to the bus company. In the afternoon I walked to the polynesian spa pools, at the edge of lake Rotorua where several pools of thermally heated spring water range from the pleasant 36 degrees to the uncomfortable 43 degrees. I sat there, relaxed, finished my book and got shat on by a seagull. The sun was shining, so on the way back I stopped at the local festival where I supped ale, ate barbecued salmon and listened to the local musicians. Watched Shrek 2 again.

The weather forecast for Taupo was looking better so I decided to hitch back there. I checked out, walked for ten minutes then waited fifty minutes for a lift, dropped halfway to my destination by a dodgy dreadlocked dude in a campervan and quickly got picked up by a bloke with a little girl listening to a cd story read by Baldrick. I checked in to a really shabby hostel, then went to town to arrange the bus to the tongariro crossing ($45) and the two night hut pass ($40). I went for a swim in lake Taupo, the water was ice cold but in some places you could dig your toes into the little stones and find unbearably hot streams - weird! The sun was hot, the wind was cold. I went to bed quite early but slept badly.

The alarm went off at 05.15. The 05.45 bus was 15 minutes late. It was raining hard when I awoke but seemed to be gradually improving and after about an hour on the bus it realy looked quite promising, however, the driver got a call telling him the winds were too strong in the mountains and we turned back. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise; I hadn't managed to get any waterproof trousers and the driver said i had the least amount of gear he'd ever seen for a three day crossing. So after a little nap, I moved into the much nicer Rainbow lodge, got a refund for my hut pass and booked the bus for a one day crossing with the weather forecast for tomorrow looking very good. Didn't do too much of interest for the rest of the day but played cards with a canadian, a fin, a welsh lad and some germans.


With my alarm set for 05.15, a girl in the dorm, also doing the trek, set hers for 04.40 so I got up then feeling rubbish. The weather was glorious all day. The crossing is quite hard work in places, particularly the 'devil's staircase'. I also went off of the track to climb up Mount Ngahoue (Mount Doom) which was quite steep and mostly loose gravel meaning that at times I was taking a step up and sliding half of it back down again, this also made getting back down interesting, the best bet is to kind of run and slide at the same time, good fun but quite hard on already aching knees! Altogether I think the route took about eight and a half hours including 45 minutes of breaks.

Some of the sights were fantastic; emerald lakes, the red crater etc., but the strangest thing was the naked guys at the top of Mount Doom where the wind was extremely cold. A fantastic day where, yet again the weather (on the second attempt) came through when I needed it. I managed to stay up until midnight with the strange concoction of nationalities despite feeling very tired.

22nd - 27th January (Waiting to fall from the sky over Taupo)

Tom and I shared the five and a half hour drive to Taupo, stopping for sandwiches at the side of the road. We set up our tents at a YHA place close to the centre of town - a nice place but with a tiny kitchen (doesn't affect me too much!) and too few toilets and showers. Some lads were trying to get a game of volleyball going so Tom and I joined in.
Most of our time in Taupo involved watching the weather and phoning the skydive people, one evening we actually got to the airport, Tom and Sasha were harnessed and ready to go (I wasn't feeling 100% so decided to try another day) but the weather had other plans and they didn't jump. We managed to find a few things to keep us entertained while we waited; eating, drinking, watching films, laser-quest, mini-golf, internet, introduced Tom and Sasha to indoor climbing, visited the incredibly fast water of Huka falls, balancing on high wires, beams etc at 'Rock'n'ropes', eating lovely kebebs, got a haircut and finally I noticed the sky clearing one evening as I walked back to the hostel to meet Tom and Sasha who had already phoned the company and were getting ready to go.
I still thought it was about 50/50 as we raced to the airport, filled out the forms and watched the video, the sky still looked very dodgy. I was strapped up and ready to go, my tandem and I were last into the plane so we were due to go first, the clouds over the lake were growing thinner with every minute and I started to feel the nervousness that comes with realising I was very soon going to jump out of a plane at 12,000 feet. It was totally brilliant, better than the bungy, 45 seconds of freefall at over 120mph followed by the upwards jolt of the parachute opening and the serenity of the silent sky over the lake as we drifted down to a gentle landing. Sasha and I paid $219 but Tom paid the $100 extra to have his dive filmed by a cameraman who jumped with him. I have video footage of the before and after which cost $20 and looks quite cool. We all loved it. The next morning we visited the honey hive where they have bees nests enclosed in glass, loads of information about the life of honey bees and a shop selling bee products - it was more interesting than it sounds. After that, Tom and Sasha drove off, leaving me to hitch for the first time in a month. I had been planning on going to the scenic Tongariero crossing for views of Mount Doom from Lord of the rings, but again good weather was required and not forecast so I headed for Rotorua, an area of geothermal activity (volcanic stuff).

18th - 21st January (Windy Wellington)

We packed up our tents and drove into the very pleasant Picton town with lots of quaint little shops and cafes. We got to the ferry terminal at 13.00 to check in for our 14.00 ferry. Leaving through the Marlborough Sounds, with its scenic wavy coastline consisting of loads of mountains poking their heads through the water, covered with trees, as the ferry sped up the front deck got a bit cold so I sat on the back deck soaking up the rays and breathing in the smell of the caged cows beneath and the exhaust fumes from above. The crossing took about three hours. Our hostel is a fifteen minute walk from the centre, the campsite part of which is a fairly small backyard, every day when it looked as if no more tents could possibly fit in, a couple more would appear - it felt like Reading festival without the rain.

After a supermarket shop we went to a fairly cheap curry house and once again I was less than impressed. Although tonight is a Thursday the nightlife in Wellington looks like a weekend, the upmarket bars are doing a brisk trade with mostly well dressed business classes I presume and the Irish bars with live music cater for the not quite so well dressed - I know where I will be tomorrow night!

Wellington being the capital, there are plenty of internet cafes at $4 per hour (around half the price of some places around NZ) and most of them have Skype available. So over the next couple of days I spoke to several of my friends which made me feel very happy - especially speaking to Smudge and Stu H, the newly proud fathers. Finally, the ten euros I put on my Skype account back in Thailand has been used up - Skype is great. Wellington is known famous for being windy, on the first day, the sun shone for a while but most of the rest of the time was overcast so I spent a lot of time making the most of the cheap internet. The city is nice, not too overcrowded, with cafes, coffee shops, art gallerys and museums, plus of course the usual chain stores and fast food joints. Back at base, I cooked a fairly hot Thai red veggie curry, then we went for beers, the Wellington atmosphere made me feel like a session but with my more refined friends I managed to get two pints before getting home at midnight - at least I will feel ok in the morning!

The next day Tom felt a bit tired, so Sasha and I wandered around looking for art gallerys and things to do; we found the terrible 'beehive' building, a late 60's monstrosity I believe, and the rather nicer adjoining parliament building before heading to the seafront to try our hands at inline skating - I was much better than I expected, having been rubbish at rollerblading and ice-skating when I was younger, I was quite quick but couldn't stop or turn. Sasha was a bit shaky but improved gradually. We both managed to get through the hour unscathed. Sasha cooked jacket potatoes and corn on the cob. I did a clean sweep of yanif, trumps and 15's - damn, I'm good! We all had a pretty bad nights sleep with the souped up boy racer cars speeding between each set of lights along the strip.

The next day, the others went to a monastry, so I did more internet and skyping - happy birthday to Dad. I couldn't find a pub showing Liverpool whoop Chelsea which was on Sky so I went to the impressive Te Papa museum, before meeting up with Tom and Sasha to go to a Hari Chrishna thing, I thought it was just going to be a street party and a bit of a laugh but as we went up some stairs and Tom and Sasha dissapeared into a room full of strange people, I realised this was not a place I wanted to be so legged it back to the safety of the internet cafe. When I met Tom and Sasha later they laughed at me but when they told me about the singing and dancing I felt I had made the right choice (despite the lovely free food I missed).

Here are some video links from Oz and NZ:
The rope swing...

Capricorn Dave's ant dance...

My ant dance...

The bungy...

The canyon swing...

The penguin shuffle...

Hope you like them.

8th - 17th January (Ice climbing to sea kayaking)

We packed up our tents in the rain and drove on to Fox Glacier where the weather was also mostly overcast with showers. We went in to the town information centre and I booked a day of ice climbing for $210. Later we went for a nice walk around nearby Matheson lake, as we got to the best lookout point the sun was low in the sky behind us, the clouds cleared a little and we got some excellent photos of the mountain, clouds and orangey sky reflected in the lake. Being quite cautious with my budget, I don't mind spending $210 dollars if I have a good time but just like the moments after I spent out on the bungy jump I wondered wether ice climbing would be any good and wether the weather would ruin the views of the glacier. However, when I got up at 06.45, the sky was clear and remained that way all morning, the clouds arrived in the afternoon but no rain and the day turned out to be fantastic fun. We walked around the side of the terminal face of the glacier and up on to the surface of the ice, fully kitted up with crampons (boots with massive spikes in them) we walked until we found some suitable ice walls (big crevaces in the glacier) and there our group of four learnt to walk and climb on ice.
To be walking on a glacier is amazing, these things are like prehistoric remnants of the last ice age, they played a massive part in shaping this country and when you walk on one you can hear them creak as they gradually move down the valley at about a metre a day, you hear the trickle of tiny streams all around you as the sun melts the ice and high up above I could see the pinnacle where fresh snow was being compacted to continue the cycle with new ice.
At one point, I climbed a small face, was lowered over the lip into a crevace of smooth blue ice, then with the aid of my ice picks climbed up the taller wall in front of me - it wasn't as hard as rock climbing as you can use the picks and spikes on your shoes to make suitable ledges as you go but it was a good ten hours of walking and climbing so I was quite exhausted by the end (especially as I had volunteered to carry one of the ropes which was twice the weight on the way back due to it being wet). We all brought sandwiches for lunch, sat on our waterproof jackets on the ice wearing just a couple of t-shirts with the sun beating down, very nice. Once the instructor was happy that we knew what we were doing, we were
bilaying eachother (using the rope as safety for when we fall), he took all four of our cameras and snapped away so I have some great pictures from that day. After Fox glacier we drove to Franz Josef glacier, the busier and more expensive of the two. We walked to the terminal face and took some photos but I don't think they compared to those I got at Fox, I also preferred the smaller and prettier village at Fox.

The next stop was Hokitika where there really isn't much to do. We found our way to eco-world with the promise of seeing live Kiwi birds (well you have to see a Kiwi when in NZ), after walking around the aquariums and looking at all the exotic fish and eels the size of my leg (no joke) we got to the dimly lit Kiwi enclosure where only one Kiwi wanted to show itself, he had one leg and hopped about for a bit looking cute and helpless. I bought a tiny Kiwi in the hope that it would make it the rest of the way around the world with me so that it can join the undoubtedly huge pile of baby Casey's soft toys. The campsite we stayed at was pretty busy but all I could hear when I went to bed at night was the sound of the crashing waves about 200 metres away. In the morning we drove to turquoise blue 'Hokitika gorge' which was very nice but swarming with sandflies.
On a boiling hot day, we drove on to Westport, stopping at Punakaiki for views of the pancake rocks, where the limestone has formrd in distinct layers and then been shaped by the acidity of the rain and the crashing of the waves, making formations that look surprisingly like piles of pancakes. If we had been here later in the day we could have seen the blow hole in action but we moved on to Westport where we stopped at a high viewpoint to watch the seals as the played on and around the rocks. The pups were about a month old and we stayed for ages to watch them, it was a hive of activity and we could have stayed there all day, unfortunately they were a bit too far away to get good photos or video. In the evening I walked on my own into the quiet town in the hope of finding internet, but instead I found a pub where I ate lamb shank (as much as I've enjoyed eating veggie food I needed to eat an animal!) washed down by a couple of beers.
On the way home I saw the best sunset yet but we weren't on the coast so my photos have industrial buildings and telegraph poles in the foreground. Today, my friends Stu (that's Stu who I lived with in Portsmouth) and Clare Hawthorn had a baby girl called Emily (12th Jan).

So, onwards again, in a very hot car to Nelson, bright sunshine all the way but rain as we approached Nelson (sod's law) so we drank tea and played yahtzee before putting up the tents during a dry moment. We drove to town and treated ourselves to Dominoes pizza. Found an internet cafe with a handful of Skype machines that were all in use until 20 minutes before they closed when I managed to call Mum. I also managed to transfer some much needed funds into my current account. In the last 2 months I have spent an average of 42 pound per day taking my 6 month total to 5,300 pound (although this doesn't include the 1,700 pound flights or the prepaid 2 week tour of India which cost almost a grand I think). Still, South America should be fairly cheap.

At the information centre in Nelson, we spent half a day sorting through the multitude of options of things to do in Abel Tasman national park. Eventually we settled on a $65 day of kayaking, followed the next day by a $40 sea taxi and trek. I emailed a copy of my driving licence to the car rental people so I could drive the car. Back at the site I managed to get ducklings to eat oats out of my hand while the mother duck made concerned noises waiting to go for me if I made any sudden movements. I made a nice salad for dinner (although a steak would have made it better). I drove back to the internet place and couldn't get on Skype at all. I tried to call Dad using my credit card from a payphone and it charged me $4 as soon as the BT callminder cut in - bargain!

I've been travelling with Tom and Sasha for three weeks now and it's been pretty good. With Sasha being veggie and doing most of the cooking I have eaten well, they are Buddhist and neither of them drink much so I haven't drunk much either and am feeling quite healthy as a result. When the weather is rubbish or there is not much to keep us entertained we can always play cards, and it has been a convenient and cheap way to see probably more of the south island than I could have done any other way. Tom wants me to stay at least until the 24th of January as that's his birthday and we both want to skydive over lake Taupo, but I am starting to get the itch for hitch hiking again soon as I'm not really meeting any new people and it's all a bit too easy, plus I am missing meat and ale! (I have discovered Mac's Sassy red though - a lovely local tipple!)

So anyway, a 06.15 start, and luckily again, when I need it most the weather is good. A drive to Mauharu (the Abel Tasman starting point) where we filled out forms, applied sun screen, had a safety lesson and kayaked off in a double and a single kayak. Just like when I swim, my shoulders felt like they had cramp after no time at all and it seemed like really hard work. From 09.00 to 14.00 we paddled about 24km around an island, to watering cove and back along the coast to Mauharu stopping at several nice coves and beaches for snack/lunch/shoulder recovery stops. I managed to capsize whilst trying to get in from the beach with camera still in my pocket, luckily it somehow stayed dry and I transferred it to the dry bag, I then capsized again and looked like a complete wally. My shoulders and probably my technique improved as the day went on and the route back had a little current behind us. We booked in to the campsite at Mauharu and played cards.


The 10.30 water taxi (speed boat) took us to Bark Bay, we walked south for about three hours to Anchorage, the few clouds dissappeared and we had over an hour to swim in the icy sea and sunbathe on the beautiful beach before the 16.00 return boat trip which seemed so much bumpier than the outward trip despite the stillness of the water. The walk, described by the lonely planet as the best section of this coastal stretch was mostly under the cover of forest and not that remarkable. Sasha saw a dolphin on the way back but the rest of us missed it. In the evening we watched 'Ugly Betty' (never again) and 'Ian Wright's unfit kids'.

We drove back to Nelson the next morning, where we ate at a Thai restaurant with a good, cheap lunchtime menu. I then drove the incredibly windy road to Picton. The weather went from sun to dark cloud and rain. We drank tea and pitched tents. I started to read 'The 5 people you meet in heaven' by Mitch Albom although I am also reading Shantaram. The games room had pool, table footy and air hockey, we played all three followed by shit head and 15's and an episode of Black Adder.

5th - 7th January (Wanaka and Haast)

On the way out of Queenstown we stopped for a while at the worlds first bungy and watched some jumpers. One girl went into the river from head to waist - that looked really cool and I was tempted to waste more money but didn't. We drove on to Wanaka, stopping at puzzle world just before we arrived, viewing all the perception altering displays and puzzles before spending 72 minutes in the hot sun wandering around the extremely frustrating first ever 3d maze. The 6th saw my first overcast sky of the new year. We drove along a long bumpy gravel road to the start of the Rob Roy walk, when we arrived it was raining so we sat in the car playing cards for a while, eventually we went for it, walked for one minute (there and back!), I was the only one with a waterproof jacket. On the way back the sky cleared and we stopped for a pleasant lakeside walk. Later, I spent a while uploading all of my Oz and NZ pictures on to flickr, so click on the flickr icon to the right to see the latest pics - but be warned NZ is very picturesque so I have taken lots of scenery pictures that are probably mostly boring and not very good, in the hope that there are a few of picture postcard perfection. Wanaka is very nice but the weather isn't. We didn't stay long, packed our tents and drove to Haast on the west coast. The weather was sunny and cloudy all day and I played with my boomerang for the first time (almost got it to come back to me), then drove north to Jackson bay where the lonely planet describes some beautiful red rock mountain views as 'unforgettable', I will never forget those views after a long, bumpy and windy drive, of completely unobscured f#ck all. There is nothing to stop in Haast for, if the sky is clear the route to and from Haast is quite scenic, just don't stop! The music in the car is an odd mix. Tom likes Britney, Hindi pop, Thai pop, Michael Jackson and thankfully the Beatles, Sasha has generally better taste although she is a big fan of Alanis Morrisette, at times the journeys are quite painful!

1st - 4th January (Extreme sports in Queenstown)

Started the year with a bad head that lasted all day. Packed up the tent and used the internet for a while to read all my happy new year messages. We loaded up the car and headed for Queenstown, stopping in Te Anau again for lunch, and arrived at Lakeview holiday park between the lake and the gondola ride where there were a few chalets, several motor homes and millions of tents ($15 per person). The facilities were pretty good but the showers cost a dollar a go and it costs $5 to hire a cupboard in the kitchen, I was of course outraged and refused to eat or shower! Camping hasn't really saved me a fortune as it's only about $6 per night cheaper but it's good fun and makes a change from the hostels. I made a veg stir-fry using green curry paste(about time I did some of the cooking!) and I won at the great card game I have just learnt, called 15's.

The next morning I sat in the sun reading Tom's book 'Shantaram' which is set in India and so far is very good, it's also very big. The others took advantage of the fine weather to sort through all the stuff in the car. At midday Sasha went into town to try to replace a glasses lense that cracked whilst sat in the heat of the car window while Tom and I took a steep 45 minute hike up to the top of the gondola ride to get to the luge (gravity powered go-karts on two different race tracks), we paid for 5 rides and had a great time bullying all of the litle kids off the track. Tom got the better of me but he had done it before. A nice steak and cheese pie from the cafe before walking back down. Sasha beat me at 15's (stupid game), while Tom used the internet then I sat in the sun and read while Tom and Sasha cooked veg tortillas. Sasha then kicked ass at Yanif before I scored a record 413 at Yahtzee, Tom left disillusioned after winning nothing!

Sasha decided to make pancakes for breakfast which nearly took us until lunch. After that we wandered into town knowing that we wanted to do something but not knowing what. At 14.30 Tom and I booked a bungy jump, luckily there was a 15.30 cancellation for us to go on giving Tom time to change into suitable footwear and me time to eat fish and chips (well, it could be my last meal!) but neither of us much time to think about it. At 134 metres, the Nevis bungy is the highest in NZ and one of the highest in the world so it seemed like the one to do! We got fitted out like some kind of production line and in no time at all we were shuffling forwards in our ankle cuffs towards a big drop suspended over a canyon. I'm not trying to sound all butch and hard but neither Tom or I felt any fear, I had a strange sickly feel in my stomach when I prepaid for it but that's normal for me! Everything happened very quickly and there wasn't much time to worry about it. The initial millisecond of knowing my body had leant forward to the point of no return was scary, then an 8.5 second fall which at first felt very strange and then exhilerating. The bounce at the bottom was very smooth, not at all jerky like I had expected. It was fantastic but over too quickly, can't wait to skydive for a slightly longer flying sensation. I declined the pricey dvd but paid up for a combo where I do the canyon swing at a reduced price tomorrow. Bungy $210, canyon swing $60, the look on my face priceless (I also bought the $39 t-shirt). In the evening I cooked bangers and mash for Tom and I, and a ready made veg lasagne for Sasha then went to town to use the internet.

Some death metal from somebody's car stereo around midnight and 06.00 disrupted my sleep. The three of us used the free gondola ride tickets that we managed to blag. Tom and Sasha took photographs and video footage of my canyon swing which is really just a 43 metre rope swing, but almost as much fun as the bungy. There is a cliff jump bungy that goes from the same spot, so we stood in the sun, watched and took photos of other jumpers. Later, Tom and Sasha went into town while i read and sweated in the sun. After a cool shower I joined the others for Sasha's 18.00 hangliding which she thoroughly enjoyed, then off to 'Fergburger' which does great burgers from $9, but I was hungry and went for the massive $14 burger with all the trimmings. Oh yes! Went to burn a cd and copied jump and swing footage from Tom and Sasha's cameras.

28th December 2006 until the early hours of 2007

After a short walk to the main road south and a five minute wait, got picked up by Tom and Sasha who I had met at the Christmas dinner table in Oamaru (what are the chances?), they didn't even have room for me really as they are camping and their car was piled high with stuff. Anyway, they made room and I squeezed in for a drive through the Catlins national park area in the south-east, stopping at nugget point where a few little islands sticking out of the water are supposed to look like gold nuggets in the right light (clearly not in this overcast weather though!) We stopped at the petrified forest on the south coast where clear fossils of fallen trees could be seen in the rocks - we were also treated to a close up view of a lone yellow eyed penguin. Finally we got to a campsite near to Invercargill where we pitched our tents (luckily they had one spare and I had bought a sleeping bag recently), Sasha made a veggie casserole and then they taught me Yahtzee. We weren't too far from a busy road and none of us slept too well.

In the morning we packed up our tents in the rain and bundled our stuff into the car. We drove to a supermarket in Invercargill, Tom and Sasha bought some food, I bought $40 of fuel and some cadburys banoffee pie chocolate that dad would love. Drove on to Te Anau where we stopped for lunch, I had a nice small venison pie with chips. On towards Milford sound stopping at several scenic lookouts where we got some close ups of a kea (an endangered parrot that has become over familiar with humans who have fed it things that aren't good for it) and some footage of it tring to pull the rubber seal away from someones car door. Arrived at Milford sound lodge, about the only place to stay around here and took the last two campsites at $15 per person (all the rooms were booked up as well), after pitching the tents Sasha made some pasta and vegetables and we sat up chatting.

The weather looked good so we decided to go for a walk. We paid for another night at the campsite and also booked a cruise on Milford sound for tomorrow ($92 each). We slowly walked the key summit track taking lots of photos as we went - lots of strange looking woodland with a multitude of mosses, lichens, fungi and algae growing up and hanging off the branches of the trees, looked pretty weird. On arrival at the summit we sat and ate the sandwiches that Sasha had made, it was sunny but with a refreshing cool drizzle. In the evening Tom made a nice veg curry and we played Yanif and Yahtzee. I had to get up in the night for the toilet, it was freezing cold outside without a cloud in the sky, probably more stars than I have ever seen. Ten minutes later I could hear a single bird making a regular high pitched sound as it flew from one end of the basin, overhead to the other end, everything else, apart from distant waterfalls, was perfectly silent.

From the 31st of December, the day of our Milford sound cruise up until the 5th of January we had nothing but glorious weather, about bloody time! This, of course, made the Milford sound cruise very nice indeed although it did mean that many of the numerous waterfalls into the sound were dry - every silver lining has a cloud! The water was beautifully clear, the views of the mountains were complimented by the occaisional whisp of cloud, the seals were bathing on the rocks and the view from the underwater observatory that we stopped at was clear (but crowded with too many people).

After the boat had dropped us off I spotted one of the most unusual things any of us had ever seen - a rainbow that encircled the sun, it stayed there for at least an hour. Back at the campsite I made like a seal and basked in the sun for a while, Sasha did some jacket potatoes with a selection of toppings and we headed back to the sound in order to try to catch a nice sunset, we failed but got some nice shots anyway until the sandflys became too much for me and I had no choice but to take refuge in the nearby 'Blue Duck Bar' until at least 01.00 when the sandflys go to bed. I drank quite a lot of beer but it was the sudden addition of sparkly stuff at midnight that sent me squiffy, at which point dancing to MC Hammer and singing 'Who the f&ck is Alice?' seemed like a great idea!

23rd - 27th December (Christmas in Oamaru)

I had thought of heading to Queenstown for Christmas as it's quite a lively and popular place to be apparently. Of course, the flip side of this is the accomodation is probably all booked up. I sat at the roadside on the only road out of Mt. Cook holding a 'Queenstown' sign for two hours, the sun was burning the back of my neck and head. There wasn't too much traffic but there were plenty of half empty cars that were going in my direction at least to the next junction about 50km away at Omarama. I decided to change my sign to 'Omarama', less ambitious. I was picked up by an Israeli girl and her dad who were heading to Dunedin. After talking to them for a while I decided to change my plans and go to 'Oamaru' on the east coast which they were passing through. The good think about hitching is you never really know where you might end up! They recommended the 'Empire Hotel' which had a couple of beds free, is a very nice place and free internet (very useful). The town itself isn't exactly buzzing but it's pleasant enough. The 'Countdown' supermarket seems better value than others I have been to, I stocked up on pizza, pasta and fruit and of course some booze. Hardys Cabernet Sauvignon for only $7, so I got two and a twelve pack of Speights old dark for $19 - that's Christmas sorted! Back at the hotel, I watched the end of what looked like a great film called 'Joe Dirt' where I discovered the phrase that I will now use at every available opportunity "Life's a garden, dig it!".

Oamaru is known as one of the few places where penguins come ashore to nest so after a fourty minute hilly walk I got to the site where the yellow eyed penguins come ashore and watched from the observation hut as 3 white specs in the distance moved a little. I borrowed some binoculars for a better look, I could see some penguins waddling about but I couldn't see their yellow eyes. I walked most of the way back and stopped at the harbour where you have to pay $15.75 to watch the 'Little blue penguins' come ashore just after dusk. About 65 penguins came ashore in 'rafts' of 10 to 12 at a time, and slowly made their way up the slope to their nests, a dim light overhead had just enough power to show them clearly without blinding them. I guess I sat there for almost an hour, freezing cold but enjoying the show. Most of them passed by about 20 metres from my seat but towards the end one walked across about 5 metres from me. They're funny little creatures - I could see why that kid wanted to take one home from the zoo last year and although I was tempted my rucksack is heavy enough already! Unfortunately there was no photographs or filming allowed.

Options are especially limited in Oamaru on Christmas eve so I went to the cheese factory, unable to bear the excitement of a factory tour, I ate a cheese platter and drank coffee in their little cafe, and bought some blue cheese to take away. Kicked around for most of the day, glanced in the estate agents window and realised that I could sell up and move to a reasonable place here and not have a mortgage anymore. I went to the tiny cinema to watch Al Gore's 'Inconvenient truth' which was quite thought provoking. There were only seven other people who all looked over sixty. Had a few drinks back at the hostel and watched the end of groundhog day. Quite a sober Christmas eve.

Christmas morning was pleasant so I went for a walk then spent some time on the internet. The people who run the hostel put on a $20 buffet lunch which was massive and included four different desserts (I had at least one of each!), there was no turkey or brussel sprouts but we did have crackers to pull. I drank plenty of beer and wine without much effect watched films and played a little pool. Managed to stay up past 01.00 in order to speak to the whole family and Richie B. which was nice.

Boxing day morning, I walked for ten minutes with 'south' written on my board before being picked up by Gizzy, a Tongan bloke in an MR2 whose English wasn't great and neither was the conversation, his stereo wasn't on so the journey was a little uncomfortable. Luckily Dunedin was only an hour away and he dropped me in the centre, next to Penny's backpackers which looks great in the very new tv room and kitchen but a bit grotty in the showers and toilets - only $18 though. Went on the $56 scenic railway to Pukerangi and back, nice scenery, tunnels, viaducts and all that but my hayfever was about the worst it has ever been and I spent most of the journey with eyes on fire and sneezing. The guide was mumbling something undechipherable through the speakers and I was just glad when it ended. Once my eyes had recovered I watched Shawshank redemption at the hostel then slept in a dorm with the loudest snorer in the world ever in it.

The next day was incredibly dull, I was so bored I even played hearts and solitaire on the computer as the free internet wasn't working. There are no English speakers in the hotel and I don't even recognise what language the majority of them are speaking but they are speaking it too bloody loud. Did some laundry. Took a bus to the tunnel beach walkway which had some nice views and nice weather. Treated myself to a chicken jalfrezi at a cheap indian restaurant but it turned out to be mostly veg and not too nice. Planning to move on tomorrow.

15th - 22nd December (From Christchurch to Mount Cook - Is this summer?)

At 04.45 (20 minutes after some German lads came in from their night out), my alarm went and I caught the Skytrain to the airport. My flight was with Jetstar, which I think is the budget arm of Qantas. The flight and the plane was fine but there was no free food or drink, not even a cup of tea or a water. I had tried to get rid of all my Australian dollars and they didn't take visa, it was lucky I'd had a sausage and egg McMuffin or I would have starved. They even charged $10 for the mini dvd player which had 'Scanner Darkly' on, which I really wanted to watch. I listened to my music instead. I did have the emergency exit seat with the extra leg room though, and it was a window seat; as we came in over the south island, the sky was clear and I could see miles and miles of snow capped mountains that just stop abruptly and become miles and miles of seemingly flat farm land with circular fields (for rotarty irrigation systems). I stared out at the mountains in astonishment, I honestly had no idea this is what New Zealand looked like, it's amazing. I realized that I spend too much time thinking about what to write in the blog as I looked out of the window thinking of superlatives to describe the scenery; I'll settle for 'stunning'.

I checked into the Christchurch YMCA (something told me that it's fun to stay here!), it's clean and tidy and it has a gym and a climbing wall which I checked out straight away - I need a climbing partner. I went into the cold town, traded my Oz lonely planet for a NZ one and had a lovely $5.50 Speights beer. The NZ dollar is weaker than the Oz dollar; about 2.9 dollars to the pound. My room mates arrived; Brad from the U.S. and some guy from Brazil, chatted for a while, went to bed, woke up shivering but found a blanket.

33 today. Read some birthday emails. Brad and I took the bus to the Gondola but decided to save $19 by walking up the hill instead of taking the gondola ride. It was pretty hard work but there was a nice breeze. There were some nice views from the top although it was cloudy. We stopped for a coffee at the top and I treated myself to some rocky road birthday cake. We took the gondola back down the hill for free. In the afternoon we climbed the walls at the YMCA for a couple of hours which felt like really hard work but good fun. Later we went for some nice (expensive) food followed by drinks at 'the Bog' Irish bar where they had a decent covers band playing. Their version of 'Fairytale of New York' was the first and only time I've felt like Christmas was on the way.

The next day I checked out, did some internet banking, made a sign reading 'Mt. Cook / Twizel', left about 11.45, and walked for about an hour, mostly along minor roads until I got to route 1 where I was picked up fairly quickly by a couple of young kiwi lads going home after a big night out in Christchurch where one of them had got into a fight and they both looked a bit rough. They both work on dairy farms. The driver (whose name I forget) bought drinks at the service station and wouldn't let me pay for them or towards the fuel so I gave $5 to the firemen collecting for a kids cancer charity there. The stereo started with REM and went on to Arctic Monkeys. I was dropped off at Timaru, about 150km from Christchurch and about the same again to Mt. Cook. I checked in to the '1873 Wanderer backpackers' (the owners are very friendly and helpful) and wandered in to the reasonably sized but very quiet town (it was a Sunday), found the Speights ale house which looked like the kind of trendy place that would be expensive but had a good plateful of bangers and mash for $16 and discovered Speights Porter ale, a dark rich ale that is probably the best thing I've tasted in a long while for $5.50 which seems to be the price of every beer everywhere so far.

In the morning I walked to the supermarket and got some porridge and milk for brekky, after that walked the other way into town to buy a sleeping bag $135 and managed to haggle for a free pair of thick walking socks as the bag was ex-display. Sonya, from the hostel drove me out of town just before midday. I walked about four steps with my 'Mt. Cook / Twizel' sign before getting picked up by Sam who is from the U.S. but hasn't been back there for years and probably never will, he spends his time between NZ and Israel, travelling and working. He is on his way to work at 'Buscot Station' a backpackers near a place called Omarama where he goes to work every year, it sounds really nice so I decide to go there. The weather started out very hot but got cooler and cloudier as we got nearer to the mountains. We stopped at the amazingly turquoise blue lakes Tekapo (with a picturesque little stone church on the edge) and Pukaki before arriving at 'Buscot Station', more like a home than a backpackers, surrounded by acres of farmland and mountains and rated at 93% in the guide book (one of the best in the country). Tony, the owner, is very nice, Kevin is working there for board and is an ex-retained fireman from Avon, Sam is also working for board and is trained as a chef, on the first night he cooked mussels which I had never tried before, very nice. I contributed some wine and ice cream. We witnessed two orthodox jews lighting the Hanukah candles and performing the whole ceremony with prayers and little hats - quite an interesting experience. I asked one of the jews several questions about his religion as I know very little about it and tried not to offend him as I find it all rather difficult to understand.

After my porridge, phoned mum with my new phonecard then sat around drinking tea. Kevin had talked about driving to Mt. Cook today so I waited for him to finish working but he eventually postponed it until tomorrow. Tony made a light lunch. I walked Fitzy the dog up the hill behind the house for about two and a half hours. In the evening Sam made pasta and a nice salad. We drank red wine and experimented with different camera settings for the sunset over the mountains. After last nights unusual Hanukah goings on, tonight we had a strange 'new age' woman going on about positive energy and all that mumbo jumbo, she wanted to perform a 'raike' on Kevin who was having none of it!

It's not like staying at a backpackers here, more like Tony's home. The only problem is that Tony keeps playing the same Christmas cd over and over again and the weather is so miserable that I'm spending most of my time indoors. Quite a few cyclists here today sheltering from the rain. I played backgammon, read, did emails, ate Sam's cooking and watched a video about Mt. Cook (it may be the closest I get to going there!) In the evening Sam cooked lovely roast chicken with Rhubarb crumble and custard for dessert. Finished the day with a game of shit-head.

Porridge with honey - beautiful. Spoke to Carly and Dan on the phone. Kev told me that a Korean American named Sung was heading to Mt. Cook so I cadged a lift. I booked into the YHA there and walked along the hooker valley trail with Sung. It was pretty cold with a few gentle snow flurries. I took some nice photos despite the thick cloud. We reached the glacier at the end of the trail, some large chunks of ice had broken away and floated on the lake which looked pretty cool. The glacier itself looked pretty dirty as it was carrying a load of rocks and gravel but I was quite impressed to be looking at a real life glacier having recently read about the part they played in forming the earths features during the ice ages in Bill Bryson's 'A short history of everything' which is quite tough going but fascinating in places. At the YHA, I cooked a pizza, after 20 minutes of the recommended 35 it was burnt to a crisp, I ate it and missed Sam's cooking! Read all of 'skipping christmas' by John Grisham in one go - a nice easy read with no thinking to do, just what I needed after 'A short history...'. Watched 'Snatch' video.

In the morning, I did the two hour 'Red tarns' walk; much steeper than yesterdays gentle stroll. The weather was superb; clear skies, boiling hot with a cool mountain breeze. There was still plenty of snow on the mountains and I drank from the icy stream. The snow formed massive ledges that looked like they should fall at any moment and create a huge avalanche, my camera was ready. I did the easy 'governer's bush' 45 minute walk straight after and met a total of seven people on both treks. Pretty quiet. I went to the Hermitage coffee shop for a sandwich and sat in the sun for a while. I spent most of the afternoon reading 'The Coma' by Alex Garland who wrote 'The Beach' then walked to a bar for a pint of Speights Old Dark, also very good, also $5.50. The food menu looked expensive so I went back to the YHA for noodles and shepherds pie in the microwave (a good balanced meal!) Watched 'Angela's ashes' on video which was pretty good.

11th - 15th December (The last days in Oz)

Spent the best part of a day in an internet cafe, catching up on the blog, burning a cd and at long last managing to get some photos on the blog (hope you liked them). The weather in Cairns is really humid when it's not raining and the city itself is a strange mish-mash of buildings that just don't look right. At the hostels evening BBQ, had some kangeroo and tried croc for the first time (not bad). There was an entertaining digeridoo competition afterwards.

Awoke about 04.30 as a roomy was getting up for a flight, but dozed until 06.45 when I got up for my dive trip. Decided I was experienced enough to go without a guide (saving $20) and went in a group of 3. The visibility was ok but not perfect and we saw some beautiful fish and coral on two different dive sites. I took my underwater camera down and snapped away like crazy (since got them developed and really shouldn't have bothered!). I've done better dives but at least I can say I have dived on the barrier reef which for a while didn't look too likely (some dive boats didn't go out today as the water was still very choppy). I paid $205 for the experience. I sat on deck most of the way back and despite the cloud, caught the sun on my face a bit. Got back, read and fell asleep for a few minutes by the hostels pool in their lovely tree filled garden. Back to the woolshed with another voucher, $7 for a not too bad rump steak and a beer of course.

Next day was the $120 Cape Tribulation rainforest, Daintree river and Mossman Gorge trip. A very pleasant way to spend my final day (I knew it wasn't going to be too energetic when the first pick up after me were Beryl, Betty and Maude! - and no I didn't pull!). The weather was good and not too hot. There was some lovely scenery although it feels like I've seen enough forest, rivers and beaches now. Robin, our guide, about a 60 year old man, was very nice and full of information. I got on well with a nice WPC from Essex with her four year old daughter Sophie. I swam with fish, turtles and an eel in the river (the eel scared me a bit but Robin said it was harmless). The boat trip along the Daintree looking for crocs looked like it would come to nothing until a small one was spotted and the cameras came out - after some zooming in, some trimming and enlarging it looked like a monster! Also got some nice shots of the gorge and some lizards. That evening back to the woolshed where I chatted to some old bird from Perth.

My flight from Cairns to Brisbane went without a hitch. I went to the Qantas desk hoping to get my final flight date confirmed without paying the $25 that the Qantas offices required - no problems - I am due home on Thurs 14th June at 07.30 so start preparing the banners and the feast of vindaloo and roast beef. I start back to work on the 18th.

My one night in Brisbane was at the Banana Bender Backpackers and I spent the afternoon in the Queensland museum. It was extremely hot with little breeze but at least Brisbane didn't have the humidity of Cairns.

So that was the end of Oz and I had a good time here. I intentionally made my stay here brief as I wanted to spend more time exploring New Zealand and also to try and spend less money. Now I wish I'd had a bit more time as I could have explored the northern territories with Rhys. Oh well, on to NZ....

8th - 10th December (Magnetic Island - Cairns)

Did I mention before that travelling by Greyhound was too punctual and predictable? This journey to Townsville proved me wrong, not exactly exciting but the driver learned of a lorry accident further up the road so stopped at a service station with a little cafe until the road was cleared, this turned a five hour journey into nine hours (I managed to pass a little time playing shit-head). I had been planning to stop in Townsville to Scuba dive the 'Yongala' shipwreck, supposedly one of the top dive spots in Oz and I was really looking forward to it, however, the weather conditions aren't good at the moment so I decided to go straight across on the ferry to Magnetic island where I continued to monitor the reports. I decided to try Bungalow bay resort in the north near to Horseshoe bay as it sounded good in the Lonely Planet, I got the last dorm bed available thanks to someone who booked but didn't show up. There are eight people to an A-frame bungalow with adjoining bathroom, pretty basic inside but full of charachter. One end wall is just wooden trellis and wire netting which allows all the wildlife sounds in in the morning. The resort is really nice, the staff are friendly, the restaurant isn't particularly cheap but my $16 chicken risotto was the best food I'd eaten in quite a while. I ate with two of my dorm mates (an American lad and a lad from Plymouth) who had to go to bed fairly early as they were working the next day so then got chatting to 21 year old Michelle from Oxford. Spotted some possums.

The following day, with dive conditions still no good, walked about twelve kilometres along the various north east bays of the island and along the fort walk for some decent views - a very hot and humid day with more walking than I had planned wearing sandals and having had nothing but a little fruit for breakfast. The island was formed when molten granite came to the surface and has since decomposed along fault lines creating rounded domes and boulders, some of them are massive and precariously balanced. Some fault lines have eroded to form valleys and amongst all the rock there are plenty of trees (not rainforest). I returned to watch a parrot feeding frenzie, a relaxing swim in the cold pool, a shower, a dissapointing pizza and a drink with the lads and Michelle.

With little prospect of diving from here or Townsville, I decided to head to Cairns, hopefully to do a reef dive. A local bus and ferry got me to Townsville, then the greyhound - raining virtually all the way and I was worried that it would be too hot up here. Passed through a place called Tully which holds the record for the highest annual rainfall in Oz, 7.9 metres in 1950 - it looked like it was on course to beat the record in one day! Booked into 'Tropic Days' hostel, seems like a very nice place with only four to a dorm and a 15 minute walk from the centre of Cairns. $24 per night. Arrived on Sunday, dive conditions are supposed to be a little better by Tuesday, can't dive Wednesday as I fly to Christchurch on Thursday (not allowed to fly within 24 hours of diving), so booked up for Tuesday (it had better not get cancelled as I can not come to Oz and not dive the barrier reef, especially as I missed the Yongala!). Received a free food voucher for the woolshed in town so got the courtesy bus there, upgraded my freebie to a nice lemon chicken plus a couple of beers (2 for 1) to wash it down, all in fourty minutes to catch the courtesy bus back again.