FORGIVE me readers, for its been what feels like weeks since my last post! haha... sooo I last posted when I was in Franz Josef glacier on the west coast and I have done quite a bit since then. From Franz Josef we headed south along the coast and stopped at Lake Matheson which has reflective views of Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in NZ at about 15000 feet! From there we stopped through a few small towns, an old gold mining town and a neat jade or pounamu stone factory. Instead of going straight to Queenstown, I stopped at Lake Wanaka for a night. It was beaaaaautiful there! This leg of the journey took me out of lush rainforest into more dramatic mountain scenery, yet it was barren in parts as well. The lake was this amazing blue colour and it was fantastic! The scenery really started to remind me of the Lord of the Rings a bit. In Wanaka I ended up getting a 6 bed bunk dorm all to myself! it was a change from always having others in the room, and it was almost too quiet. That evening i took a walk up to a 1000 meter look out point and took in 360 degree panaromic views of the southern alps and the lakes that surrounded the region. I had to stay for sunset, and it was well worth it, though a tad chilly with the wind! For those of you on facebook, my profile picture of me jumping is from Wanaka and it was me waiting for the sun to go down, so i got creative and a little bored! haha. Next day i slept in a little, then went and sat by the edge of the lake until i had to catch the bus to Queenstown. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world and it is a bit commercial, i didnt think i would like it actually. But it was again beautiful, with these jagged peaks overshadowing the city, they are called the Remarkables, and it makes sense. Queenstown had a flair to it for sure, but it lived up to its name. We stopped by a bungy place on our way into the city on the bus and it was good fun watching everyone walk up to ledge and dive off into the canyon below! I reaaaaally had no interest in bungy, but seeing it, mannnnn i wanted to do it! I opted out this time, but if i had more money i defffffff would have done it, though the one we were at was rather lame at only 43 meters, i would have done the nevis at 133 meters!!!!! A bloke in my hostel had just done it and he showed me a video of it, loooooked amazing. In that exhilerating kind of way. Got a free barbie at the hostel that night, which was nice, not to cook or pay for a meal! Next day made plans to climb Queenstown hill track, got all my gear ready, packed a little lunch, made it up this super steep road to the start of the path, took a little break, haha, thought i was in shape, but jeeez..... but this is when i realized that i didnt have my camera!!!!!!!!!! how could i forget that it was in my other bag! I was royally upset with myself, cuz i wasnt going to do the walk without it, but i didnt really want to walk back and get it! haha. so i grudgingly went back down the hill to the hostel, got my camera and decided to go to the beach instead and over to the queens gardens, as it was bloody hot out and i didnt really want to do the hike in full heat. Ran into some British chaps i had met in Greymouth and sat and chatted with them for a while. Finally got up and around and went to do the walk and i again ran into the Aussie girls I had met in Franz Josef, it was Australia day, apparently a big holiday, and they were alll decked out and probably had been drinking since about noon. haha. Paid my respects to their festivities then headed up to complete the track i had planned. It was a little cooler out this time around, but it was a great walk. Met a German guy about halfway up and then was talked the rest of the way up and for a good 2 or so hours, he was pretty cool. He used to work as a guy who would deliver bone marrrow! So he would be sent from Germany to like LA and deliver this like precious stuff! pretty neat job, but lots of pressure id imagine!...... we decided to head back down the hill and i got back into town in time to grab a burger at Ferburger, which had giant burgers, but delicious, then ran into yet another aquaintance from Alberta Canada. I got my burger and then we went down to the pier and watched the sun go down again, it was crazy, it wouldnt get dark until nearly ten pm. Pretty cool. Went out with them as Queenstown is known for its nightlife as well. It was a fun night, we all just enjoyed goofing off and all. They had these drinks at this bar that came in tea pots, and you would pour little like shots out of them, kinda wild! Made plans earlier to go to Milford Sound the next day, so I didnt go overboard or anything. The ride to Milford Sound was stunning, even though i was a bit sleepy due to the eves festivities. The scenery got more and more dramatic as we headed into the fiordland national park, which is a huge World Heritage area. The bus stopped before we got to the Homer tunnel which is an engineering feat. We stopped by a little spot where the bus driver told us we could take our water bottles and fill them up with the water from the stream as it was 99.8% pure and was runoff from a glacier! It was chilllly but oh so crisp! Got to see the Kea, a mountain parrot, and then we headed into the Homer tunnel, which took something like 40 years to complete. Its only 1.3 kilometers long, but its through this massive mountain. Apparently they have a naked run through there every year! Haha, sounds like fun! The scenery was even more dramatic on the other side as we approached Milford. Now Milford Sound is a major iconic image of NZ, and in the world really, you prolly have all seens pics of it and didnt realize it. But as we got there, it was almost as if i had been there before, as its image is plastered upon so many guidebooks and postcards, it was almost a letdown, DONT get me wrong it was nice, but it wasnt the same. We took a cruise through the fiord, which was neat, a bit cloudy though, to the Tasman sea and then back through the fiord and under some really big waterfalls! Drove back out through the tunnel and instead of going back to Queenstown, i jumped off at Te Anau for a night where I had thought about doing the Kepler track, a three day hike in the area thats well known, but easier to do than the Routeburn or the Milford, which you have to book with the DOC like 6 months in advance!!!!! Did some laundry at Te Anau, which was nice and was looking for a quiet nite, until i got asked to stop by the pub by my Dutch friend to get her to grab food to make dinner, turns out i got a beer, and then this Mexican-Canadian guy decided to buy us all shots of Tequila.... UGH... haha.... Disclaimer, i am not an alcoholic, and have spent very little money on alcohol this trip, but since queenstown it seems i have been give more opportunities to go out. Well we had a few, they had karaoke (sp?) and we just had fun making fools of ourselves. Back to Queenstown, where i spent another 2 nights, Did another walk up to the other side of the city and had some good views, tried to sneak onto the Gondola to ride back down, as it again was a bit of a hot day, but i got caught, haha, and walked back down! It was ok...... OHHHH right, so one of the reasons i havent really blogged is because at this point, i somehow misplaced or Lost my power cord to my laptop!!!!! Ughhhhh so frustrating, i could not figure out what happend to it! I called the bus and asked if i left it there, the last like 3 hostels i was at and retraced my memory, but i still dont know what happend to it! So i havent been able to upload any new pics at all, im running very low on my memory cards, and i have had to pay outrageous prices for internet, the last place i was at was $1 for every 10 minutes! This hostel has free internet! Hence me taking the time to update you all on my travels, and at other places theres always someone waiting to get on, but its quiet here. Ok, so then i headed on the bus to Dunedin on the East coast, our bus broke down, and we spent about 3 hours sitting outside in the middle of no where! Ended up chatting with this Korean guy who came to NZ to learn english, it was neat trying to test and see how much he had learned, he deff needed a little more work, but nice none the less. Spent 2 days in Dunedin, it was a decent place, but i didnt really plan anything, i was a bit tired from the last few days, i hadnt gotten the best sleep and had been trying to solve the issue of my laptop. Decided to go and do someting normal in Dunedin so i went to the movies! haha seems dumb, but it was nice. I saw Sherlock Holmes and it was pretty good! Headed to Lake Tekapo from Dunedin and spent 3 full days there! it was a tiny place with a population of like 300 people, but its a very scenic place known for its sky! There are hardly any lights thus making is super clear. The lake was again this crazy blue colour and it was frigid as it tooo was fed by a glacier. SOOOOOO refreshing, but you shiver when you get out, but then the sun attacks, the weather was amazing the last nearly 2 weeks, its been great, but almost too much sunshine! haha. Ok. Did a couple of hikes around Tekapo, opted out of going to Mt coook as i ended up in a room with these 2 guys who snore like there was no tomorrow, I DONT KNOW HOW SUCH NOISES CAN COME OUT OF A PERSON! i really got like an hour of sleep, not fun. Jumped on the bus yesterday and instead of going straight to Christchurch i took a night in Methven, small place, where i am now and heard there was a walk about 15k outside the city which is supposed to one of the best short walks in NZ. Couldn't turn it down, the hostel offered free bikes, so i jumped on the bike at around 2 and set off on my way, turns out it was more like 30k away!! thats like 19 miles! ughh... im not a biker by any means, and it again was quite warm, deff needed to stay hyrdrated..... FINNNNALLY got to the place after a relatively flat start of the trip, a nice downhill then walking my bike for a while up this gorge... what did i get myself into! haha. it was 430 by the time i started the walk! Which was in pretty place, this huge farm of sheep and red deer..... they said the wlak took like 2 hours, i only went about an hour in to the Washpen falls, stopped there for a bit, then walked back as i knew i would have to get home before dark, I was sooooo tired by then, and i got this crazy biker arm tan. haha. I was sooooo close to hitching it back to town with my bike, cuz it was hell... the hills were endless, but i stuck it out, just hoping to get back in time to go to the store and get food for dinner as i was starving. Turns out i took a long way there, and then realized there was a little bit of a shorter way back, which i actually cruised back . Spent the night here, wish i had slept better, again a crazy snore-er mannnn how do these people sleep themselves! Got free breakfast here, which was awesome, the first time i have had eggs in like 6 weeks! Got to go shower and pack up, the bus comes in an hour then off to Christchurch for 2 days i think, THEN to Kaikoura for a couple, then my trek comes to an end as i fly out of Christchurch on tuesday the 9th back into Auckland, where i spend a couple days then meet up with the other university students and have orientation in Rotorua! Sooooorrrry i havent posted any pics yet, its frustrating, but thanks to mom i am getting a new power cord in a few days!!! Misssing everyone! Its hard to believe this trip is over, yet a new journey is about to begin! cheers all!