Woke up nice and early still wearing my eye patch but it had started to hurt a bit, more of a stinging sensation. I decided to take off the patch and couldn't believe how well i could see!! it was fantastic and i was bloody relieved, i just hope the other eye turns out as good.

We go to the eye place for my 9.30am appointment and showed my new eye to Dr Ring who was also really pleased so he just gave me some drops and made a date for my left eye to be cut on Friday.

Seeing as we had the whole day to kill we decided on going to the Zoo for a few hours which turned out to be really good. I have always been put off of Zoo's after going to London Zoo when i was a kid and seeing how small the pens were for the animals, i know it was a really old place but it seemed really cruel. I do prefer Wildlife parks but thought i would give this one a go, and it had really good space for the animals although it would be good to see them in the wild! We did however purchase a very small toy for Liz...... it was a rubber giraffe that after leaving in water for 72hrs grows up to 600% bigger!! now how fantastic is that, so she put it in a jug of water and left in the lounge for us all to watch.

Well after a couple of hours of that we then went to a big shopping mall in Henderson so that i could look for a b'day present for my sister who is turning 18 very soon, what a dilemma as i couldn't find a darn thing i think she would like and in our price range so decided on going home and coming up with another plan.

Liz came home about 7ish after spending the afternoon with her niece who is in the Starship hospital, she is only 3yrs old and suffering from really bad Systic Fibrosis and has been in and out of hospital her whole little life - bless her heart, her name is Violet and she is beautiful from what i have seen of her pictures that Liz has of her al around the house.

Liz picked us up a Keebab on the way home which we all munched into then we settled down to the TV for a couple of hours before i retired. I think Phil got home not long after from the football club.

Checked the Giraffe which does seem to have grown a little apart from one of his legs - looks very odd

Had another wonderful nights sleep but i am quite worried about having my left eye done today as this is the one that has been causing me problems and is still very dry but i suppose i have to just trust Dr Ring and what will be will be....

Well had it done and it went well apart from feeling the blade at one point so made sure they new it!! lots of anaesthetic drops please!!!!!!!!! infact the worst part of the procedure is looking into the light as i have now got a very low tolerance to the light due to the laser surgery. So even when they turned the light down as low as possible it was still like looking into the sun for me, thus making it very hard to keep my eye still and got me quite stressed. I did apologise afterwards for being a bad patient but they said i was really good. The had a patient earlier on in the day who was flinging her legs up in the air and making a right drama, made me feel better, i just forget to breathe.....

I made dinner in the evening for everyone and we just all chilled out with lots of vino and watched the Royal Teninbaums on TV - quite a strange film

Got to the eye institute for 8.15am and had a very quick check up with Dr Ring, he said i still had a little bit of Astigmatism in both eyes and wanted to see me just before we leave the Country in June. I was a bit disappointed but my eyesight is just great at the mo and i still have a lot of healing to do so i'm pleased with the results, hey it's a darn sight better than it was before and at least i can wear a bike helmet without wearing misted up glasses underneath. I think this is going to be the best i get to be honest and i don't want me eyes cut any more!

Came home to find Liz up and about as the fridge got delivered at 8am (unheard of in the UK) so Toby and I helped her move the new one in and the old one out. Phil got home from work at about 11am then went straight out to play football, gosh he must be fit as he is always playing it. Liz then went to the hospital to see Violet and we stayed in the do diary and laze around the house.

We all went out for a curry in the Parnell area which seemed very very nice and where all the 'it' people hang, so of course we all fitted in just lovely. The curry was fantastic and we also got through a couple of bottles of vino which also added to the wonderful evening of frivolity and gayety.... the best curry i have had in a very long time.

It was decided, on having the coffee at home so we bundled back into the car whereupon i found Phil's hard hat on the floor so of course i put it on and there it stayed for the whole journey home, even went into the garage with it on - very comfortable!!

We had a couple more drinks before i fell into bed drunk and happy.

Oh yes and the eyes felt fine.

Got up quite early and had some b'fast, Toby had a cooked one made by the lovely Mrs Rayment. We then started packing up and were ready by lunch time. I was a bit stressed as my left eye was worse than ever and really very blurry so i thought i might have done something to it in the night?

We had lots of cuddles again and hit the road driving to Waitiomo caves to have a looksy around. After camping up opposite the booking office, well we didn't set the tent up but throw our stuff into a cabin we had for the night as the weather was wet and cold. The lost world abseil looked very good so we both booked up for the first run at 7am the next day but also booked up for the glow worm cave walk at 4pm that afternoon. I ran over to the shop and bought something for dinner - mmmm pasta. We met up with everyone else who were also doing the walk down at the cave entrance and started a wonderful walk through beautiful caves and then on a boat on an underground river to see the 10,000 glow worms that lived on the ceiling - absolutely wonderful !!! Toby took a picture of me in the caves, which was very naughty cause we were told NOT to take any photo's........ we ran away from everyone, i felt quite Japanese.

I was still feeling a bit pissed at my eye so i was quite pleased to get back to the cabin and start cooking tea so i could have an early night.

Toby got up in the middle of the night cause he thought someone was breaking into the car but it turned out to be the rain and leaves. We got up at 6am and started packing up the car, i lifted in the big bag that carried the duvet and unfortunately twisted wrong and completely buggered my back. Toby heard me yell out and came to see what i had done now...... i couldn't move for ages and had to just stand in the same position until the muscle spasms had gone. I know there and then i wasn't going to be able to do the absail. I had to go and cancel my trip which they didn't seem too happy about -tough tits. I then sat in the car all morning whilst he went off and did the trip, i was now feeling really sorry for myself what with my eyes and now hardly being able to walk....... i am falling apart!!! mind you i haven't seen a chiropractor since leaving the UK so i have done quite well but i think i can't put it off any more.....hey at least i got the money back from the canceled trip.

Toby got back at 10.30 and we had a coffee before hitting the road not stopping until we hit Oponaki 5 hrs later, i'm sure i could write lots about the views and the wonderful scenery which of course there was, but was in such a bad mood because of my pain and Toby which were of about the same caliber..........don't know if they make tablets for getting rid of big pains. - bless im.

Found a campsite near the sea and whilst Toby set the tent up i made some concoction in the kitchen which once again Toby ate all of and more even though he said he didn't want much for dinner...... once again it was a battle to get him around Pac n save to buy some food as he thinks he can live on fresh air alone and doesn't want to spend the money on eating even though we are now eating just dry bread in the day time. Met a lovely Maori woman in the kitchen who kept us amused for an hour then we went to bed in the freezing cold.

Had a very restless sleep due to the cold but it still meant we didn't want to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 6am. We were on the road by 6.40am with a slice of dry bread to keep us nourished, and drove the 4 hrs to get to Wellington and to the ferry. We did stop off at a cafe on the outskirts of town for a cooked b'fast as by now Toby was hungry which means we can eat....of course. We got to the ferry terminal at 11.45 and then waited for ages before boarding and then waited for ages when we had boarded for the ferry to set sail, which meant a later docking time. The ferry was great, it was a lot cheaper than the other ferry companies and has just opened up for a passenger service as opposed to just a cattle ferry. The coffee was free and we could just and lay down in any bunk if we felt like it. The trip was about 3hrs long so i settled down to reading and playing my game boy whilst Toby sat outside and enjoyed to sunshine and view.

We arrived in Picton at about 5ish and went straight to a shop to get some alcohol as we were meeting up with Joy and Spit later that evening in Kaikora. They were really pissed off as the new Honda they had bought has caused them nothing but problems, now they have a major problem which is going to cost a fortune so they are going to have to sell it - bummer. They have also decided to go back up to Auckland to settle rather than in the South Island so are going back up ASAP to get a job, flat and new car! and because of the car problem it also means they haven't been able to see any of the South Island other than Christchurch and Kaikora - another bummer. So after a few text messages we established that we were staying in a top 10 campsite and were going to get drunk. We got to the site first and dumped our stuff, then cracked open the vino and waited for the other two. They turned up about 40mins later and soon joined in with the drinking telling us all there woe's and how fed up they were. Joy and Spit cooked us all dinner later on and we all got very very drunk at fell into bed at some point, can't quite remember really.!!

Woke up around 7am desperate for a wee, which is so annoying as the toilet block is a short walk away, always hard when it's very cold outside. We all started getting up at about 9ish and had cooked b'fast done by Joy and then the other 3 wondered into town whilst i read my book for a bit. We had booked up a whale watching boat trip at lunchtime so at 12 we wondered around to corner to the Whaleway station and waited to find out if they were still doing the trip due to the windy conditions. 30mins later it was all action stations and video watching then a quick coach drive to the boat which turned out to be a catamaran which zoomed across to the sea at a million miles an hour to find the whales. The first sighting thanks to the fancy equipment they have on board sent us all flying outside at a sqillion miles an hours all pushing and shoving to get to the best spot. We all saw the whale blowing out of his blowhole and just floating around doing his thang, the sight was amazing and i was so enthralled. The best bit was when he dived flicking his tail in the air sending everyone into a photo frenzy. When he had gone we all got back inside and went to find some more. we ended up seeing 4 whales and a huge pod of dolphins and a few wondering albatross which were massive! What a fantastic day !!!! On the way back to the cabin we stopped off at the internet cafe and i found out from my mum that my lovely shminky Clare had been trying to contact me because her brother in law had died and she is devastated. I felt dreadful and wished i could be with her.

After a dinner of fish and chips and an episode of Simpson's it was time to ring Clare now it wasn't too early in the morning for her, but i just got an answer machine so left a message and tried again an hour later getting the machine again, sorry shminky.

Spent the evening in the cabin all talking absolute shite and reading our books and being stupid. I kept thinking of Clare and what she must be going through, i will ring in the morning.

Said our goodbyes to Joy and Spit then traveled around to the next bay to see some seals who frequented the area. Unfortunately they were right out on the rocks only to be seen by binoculars or by Toby's robot eyes that he has, so we just climbed the hill and took a few photo's from the top of the magnificent view of the mountains and sea. We then drove onto Hanmer Springs which took about 2hrs as the roads were extremely windy. The little town was beautiful though and had a very alpine feel about it, a bit like Queenstown but much smaller and prettier. We set up the tent and went for a dip in the local hot springs which kept us occupied for most of the afternoon. I then tried on a few bikini's in the sale ready for Fiji!!! oh the sunshine....... we bought a bit of dinner and i went back to the campsite and cooked us some pasta. Spent the evening watching TV in the TV room until Toby wanted to watch some crappy program about women half naked, i got the hump as i was feeling particularly fat and frumpy this month so he came to bed with me instead.

Didn't sleep a wink as it was the coldest night we have had yet, i was dressed up like a Yeti but could still feel the cold in my bones. After b'fast we drove to Christchurch to find a garage and get the car in for a service, keeps making a funny noise so i think Joy and Spit have jinxed our car! We found a Top 10 campsite right opposite a garage that said we could drop the car in first thing in the morning which was handy. In the mean time Toby phoned Ben to see if we could meet up, he said to come around that afternoon, so we did. Spent a wonderful couple of hours catching up with Ben, Rachel and the wonderful Liam who i have to say was the most adorable and well behaved 7 month old small person i have every met. He didn't weep once and just loved to be played with or was quite happy just being left alone. Toby thought it would be a good idea to watch a movie so we had a bite to eat at the mall then watched the X men which turned out to be really very good! hey Wolverine can scratch my back any day!

Another cold night in the tent....

Didn't sleep again and spent a lot of the night reading and listening to the local traffic and a madman on his un muffled motorbike drive around the streets cutting through the campsite and waking everyone off. We then had some kind of bangers or somethings going off all over the town for ages, couldn't quite work out what was going on to be honest only that i was really tired and cold.

Toby took the car over the road to the garage for 8am whilst i tried to get some sleep, didn't work so i just got up and had a shower. After b'fast and some reading we caught the bus into town just for a looksy and had some Asian food for lunch then headed on back to the campsite to see how the car was coming along. The mechanic seemed really pleased with Bertie but still had a couple more things to do on him, so we went back and read for an hour then Toby went back and i packed up the tent. Toby came back with a smile on his face which is a good sign, cost more than i thought - $370... but at least it didn't have anything wrong with it, and now we have some new breaks which will hopefully put to rest the problem with them over heating when going down hill.

We drove onto Akaroa which is a French Colonial town on the waters edge about and hours drive from Christchurch, absolutely bloody beautiful and that was in the dark! It was dark by the time we got the tent up so couldn't be bothered trying to find some food and then cook it so i said we should just have some bran flakes for dinner. I couldn't believe it when Toby said we should go get some fish and chips and a bottle of wine, it was just not like him!!!! of course i said yes, so we hopped in Bertie and bought a bottle of white then sat outside the chippy and had the most delicious fish and chip washed down with vino, hope it will make me sleep!

Went back to the campsite and caught up with our diaries in the kitchen

Well i slept quite well for a change considering the cold was enough to bite your nips off..... must have the been the wine and the hot water bottle which i am finding invaluable at the mo. We went down to have a look at the town whilst the tent dried off for the morning and had a lovely time looking at all the little shops and nicknacks, well i did Toby just stood around and looked bored as usual.... I tried some fudge which always looks really good but whenever i try it, i just don't like it, too sweet. The town was very very pretty and reminded me of a Cornish fishing village, all very quaint and not as French looking as i thought it was going to be seeing as it was built by the buggers. After a quick hot bun at the bakery we went back and packed up the rest of the tent and went for a donder back up in the Hills, i think they are mountains, but what do i know! We followed the summit looking at all the wonderful views before hitting the main road to Geraldine which is where we were going to stay for the night. I cooked up some rice for dinner, infact enough to keep us going for a few days- hey we must be losing weight by now! had a chat to a local park ranger who is living on the campsite until he finds accommodation, seemed a nice and very informative bloke.

Another freezing night and my hot water bottle just 'aint up to the job as it gets cold very quickly. Have started wearing the snood thing that my cousin bought us for Xmas last year which covers my chest, back, neck and head. I frightened poor Toby to death when he turned around and didn't see my face but what looked like a trunk, how sexy... After waiting for the tent to dry off again we headed off to Mount Cook which took a few hours drive but it was very scenic. We stopped off at Lake Tekapo again for some photo's and just happened upon a Japanese wedding at the little church, all very sweet. We found the YHA at the Mt Cook village which just consists of a school for the 10 kids, a few houses, a hotel and YHA and a few other places - that's it. The place is set on the valley floor surrounded by huge snow covered mountains which just look wonderful, it's like being in the Himalayas again. The place is very remote and all the people that stop off are proper climbers and walkers ( don't know what we are doing in the place) After finding ourselves a bed and putting on our pillow slip and bed sheet we then went for a small 2hr walk up to the edge of a glacier which was really very good. We bounded back and i did some dinner using the left over rice dish once again, should keep us going for 3 days!

The evening found us in front of the tv watching Shrek and ER and reading in front of a very warm fire, lovely. I snuggled down in my very warm bed later on only to find it was like sleeping in an oven all night and didn't sleep well at all.

Got up quite early and had some b'fast whilst catching up with the diary then went for a quick stroll up to the blue lakes which turned out to be just brown ponds really but the view from the top was worth the hike. We then spent the next few hours driving which was tiring but did stop off at a cheese factory so that we could try some but the woman was so tight with the old portions it was like a wafer thin....... we bought some really strong blue and some white stuff which tasted good. Toby mentioned the penguin colony just down the road so off we trogged to see if we could catch any out having a stroll around. The notice did say that they didn't come out until dusk but after a few minute stroll down the little track we did catch a glimpse of one poking his little head out his hole, didn't see any yellow eyed penguins though. It seems these little blighters are getting very rare, like most things they are getting wiped out by people one way or another...

We drove onto Dunedin to pitch out tent somewhere even though the sky was now getting a bit rainy looking and the wind was picking up. St KIlda had the campsite, so after pitching we went for another drive into the centre of town to see if i could get my camera fixed as it had given up the ghost the day before. It seems we have to send it to Auckland, i don't think so. I bought some lipsil and then we had a coffee and a quick look around the inside of a Cathedral before heading off to find another Penguin colony. The drive took ages but the little villages that we went through were wonderful, unfortunately the penguin place charged a fortune for the tour ( all for a good cause) but we didn't have the money so we drove all the way back again.

We stopped of at pak n save for some chicken to go with the last of the rice dish i had made a couple of days ago then went back to the campsite and i made dinner whilst Toby ran around the kitchen trying to get a little birdy out of the room.

After a b'fast if bran flakes we packed up the tent and started driving to Invercargill, i did the driving for the day as i hadn't done a lot lately. But it seems i drove like a demented donkey, according to Toby, didn't mean to i was just really tired and wanted to get there.

Must admit the weather is making the whole travel thing quite hard for me, i don't like the cold and it's such an effort to do anything, because you have to get dressed to the nines just to go the loo etc. Anyway we arrived at about 1ish and booked into a rundown old campsite and because of the weather etc Toby got us a little room - bless him, mind you the place stank of mildew and was very dodgy so i think he might have regretted it a little. We then went into town to find a cash converter for Toby's speakers that he bought along - they didn't offer much so we declined. Toby then drove us the Bluff at the very bottom of NZ which was all very nice and very windy and cold, took a few photo's then went to a pub in town for some wedges and a pint. Spent the evening eating our lovely cheese and reading in the warm - bliss

Had a very strange night listening to all the mice/rats running all over the roof, which then had me worried that they were in the room and chewing all the computer cables. The bed was like sleeping on a big bag of flour, it had NO springs in it at all and was of a concaved shape. When you laid on your back the sides of the mattress were higher than your were.... So what with sleeping on a bag of flour, rats and nightmares which had me thinking i was surrounded by ghosts and that the last person that probably slept in that room, died in that bed. All rounded up to another shite nights sleep. i was very pleased to see the dawn to be honest and get out of the room. I think Toby felt the same way as he basically got dressed and was in the car quicker that you could say 'what a shithole' so i bundled in with him and we scooted out of Invercargill like lightning leaving the place far behind us. Or so i thought........ Toby had a plan for me to do some shopping in Pak n save and get 2 days worth of shopping for $50 - easy whilst he went off and bought my b'day card. I have to say the Red Cross would have been proud of me, i bought loads of things with a few cents to spare, and enough to keep us going for quite a few days! We drove for about 2hr onto Te Anau and to a lovely top 10 campsite which Toby got a discount from, for staying 2 nights. We pitched the tent and did some long over due washing then went for a lovely walk along the Te Anau lakeside, very stunning and very cold. I said it would be a good idea to have a coffee but ended up to have a beer,wine and a game of pool which ended up being 5 games of pool, as the balls kept coming back out which meant we didn't have to pay - bonus. Toby thrashed my arse but i didn't care as for some reason the 2 glasses of vino went straight to my head and i felt as giddy as a school girl. The evening was spent with me cooking dinner which didn't go so well and then sitting in the TV room chating to some fellow travelers before hitting the sack in the freezing cold.

Woke up to frost on the duvet which would account for me freezing my buns off yet again all night. Toby seems to sleep like a baby but if i wear any more clothes at night i don't think i could fit in my sleeping bag, what's a girl to do? After a long hot shower in the unisex showers/toilet block with heated floor...... we had a relaxed b'fast chatting to the couple we had met the previous night. Toby had booked us on a boat trip around the Milford Sounds/Fjord in the afternoon so we left a few hours earlier to stop off at some of the scenic spots on the way to the Fjords. I have to say the scenery was the best i have ever seen or will probably get to see, ever! The only drawback was the amount of coach sightseeers that were stopping at the same places and they were mostly Japanese. We had to go through a massive manmade tunnel built into a huge granite mountain - very impressive. And saw a big fat Kea which is a huge parrot that lives in the snowy areas of NZ, there are signs everywhere that says not to feed them as it will kill them, so i was not surprised to see someone had thrown some food down for him - people make me mad!!!!! Arrived at the Sounds around lunchtime so after the homemade obligatory cheese and pickle sarny made in the back of the car we sat and read for a while before making our way to the boat. At 2.50 we boarded and made our way to the top, ours was the smallest boat of the dock but definitely the more personable. The skipper then took us for a stunning 2hr journey through the Fjord and back again whilst all the while we were sat on the top, mouths agog at how stunning, beautiful, untouched, breathtaking etc etc etc the whole vista looked.

The Cliffs just soared out of the cleat aqua marine water all around us with water falls and fur seals, lush greenery and snow covered mountains in the background. I could go on and on so if you ever get the time and dosh this place is a must, just to see how the world used to look like before the big bad people got their grubby hands on it. After our outing we had a quick walk to a waterfall then back to Bertie and I drove home. I made dinner, another strange concoction then i did my diary and went to bed.

It's only me blinkin bifday!!!!!!!

Yep it's that time again and now i'm 31 and way on my way to hittling the big 40....... wasn't as depressed as hitting 30 though so i was feeling a little more in the party mood.

Toby hid a b'day card and pressy from him and Joy and Spit in his clothes bag, got a lovely card from Toby with some very lovely words - big softy. Joy and spit got me some girly bits and pieces which i was looking forward to donning for our night out in Queenstown. We had a quick b'fast then packed up the tent and drove to another Joy and Spit had posted there Top 10 campsite card to the postie in Queenstown which gives us 10% discount each time we camp which was great of them, so after collecting that we found a site and pitched the tent. Now i have to admit i was hoping to be in a room for the night of my b'day, i was desperately cold and very tired and really wanted a bath so was a bit pissed off at being in the tent again, and it was the coldest place yet.

Toby saw my face and explained we were going to be out all night watching the footy as Southampton were in the FA cup final against Arsenal so didn't want to pay for a room, but had booked us a room in a lovely hotel for tomorrow night - joy of joy of joy. He said he had booked up something for the afternoon as a surprise so i was really excited until i found out what we would be doing when i walked into the shop and saw a demo video of what i would be doing in the next hour.......

Flybywire is a when you lay on your stomach on a long thing..... i don't know what it's called! and they strap you in then get hauled up the side of a mountain on a big cable that that is attached to the plane thing. You have a motor on the back and you can steer, also a panic button if you want to cut the engine. So i go on first being the brave on and get pulled up to the to of the mountain side so i'm facing straight down when he tells me to release and start the engine. All very well said and done but when you are up there you feel like you are in the clouds, very high. But i didn't give myself time to think about it and let myself drop, it wasn't stomach clenching as i first feared and after the first few minutes i really got into it and had great fun whizzing around the valley going back and forth like a pendulum.

Toby went next and he did really well and managed to do a couple of tricks that they said we should try. When we got back to the site we sat around watching TV for a few hours then i went and got changed, it would have been nice to get dressed up but - a) i don't have dressy clothes and, b) it was toooooo cold

So i opted for jeans and t-shirt and a big warm coat and a quick wipe of lip gloss and i was ready. We went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and i had a huge salad with lots of Vodka on the side, did indulge in a puddy but felt very ill afterwards. We then went onto a couple of bars and drank quite a lot thanks to the happy hour but didn't seem to get into it all like everyone else seemed to be. Maybe that is the sign of me getting older? Anyway we wondered off to Triple MMM at about 1am to get a spot for the footy not that we had to worry a lot, didn't seem to be many Brits watching it for some reason. I then sat there until 5am listening to plonkers behind me pissed and shouting at the referee swearing and screaming, basically being complete hoons They soon shut up when it was oblivious Southampton were getting licked so when the final score of 1-0 finished the game the hoons walked away very quietly and didn't say boo to a goose. Got into the tent just before 6am and it was really very very very cold. Toby fell asleep straight away whilst I just layed awake getting more and more frustrated and fed up with camping in the cold. i did throw a bit of an eppy for a few minutes and said i have had enough.

I went for a shower at 8 then we packed up the tent and went for a ginormous b'fast did some emails we then went and checked into the hotel hoping our room would be ready for us.

The hotel was bloody beautiful !! we got given a $25 voucher for food or drink which was great and our room was bloody wonderful, very luxurious and the bestist bit was the big white fluffy dressing gowns that i couldn't wait to get into. We spent the afternoon in the hot spa and sauna and a quick jaunt in the pool before spending a lovely evening eating takeaway/ wine and watching TV in bed. Oh did forget to mention the bed was a super kingsize so we both had enough room to do star jumps laid down without touching, a nice change to being trussed up in a sleeping bag whilst wearing 5 layers of clothing.

I phoned up Marian and Clive to thank them as they had paid for the Flybywire which was very lovely of them, also phoned Pat and Jack as they had given us some money, also very kind. Phoned mum and told her about waking up with frost on our faces and she thinks Toby is up to his old tricks of trying to kill me off again - well i have written my will now!

Didn't want to get out of the lovely bed but found some inner strength to put me in the shower and down to the restaurant for B'fast. I had the cooked option, fatal, as it was a buffet which meant going up for more and looking like a complete pig, we did stick out a bit though in our travel clothes as opposed to the rest of the residents. Probably think we haven't eaten for weeks and are stocking up for the winter......even the waitress turned a blind eye even when i started pocketing some marmalade, wish i had bought my bag down as i would have had the pastries as well.

We drove onto Wanaka and much to my delight booked into a cabin for the night. Puzzle world was up the road and i had been looking forward to going there for ages so we dumped our stuff and went to check it out. What a brilliant place!! it had loads of tables with oodles of different brainteasers and puzzles, a massive maze and a hall of Illusions. It was all fantastic - right up my alley. The weirdest part was this big room that you walked in that was on a slope but had all these things inside that looked like they were falling or sliding upwards, made you feel very dizzy but very clever.

Spent quite a while afterwards playing with some more puzzles on the tables before going back to the cabin. I made dinner using up some of the food we bought in Invercargill - yep it was still going then had an early night.

Had a lovely warm and cozy night, thank the lord. Packed up all the stuff then hit the road, thinking we were going the right way until we hit a dead end and realised we were going the wrong way....... after turning around and driving the right way for about 2hrs we got to Franz Joseph which turned out to be a lovely if not touristy little town. I phoned up a friend of Rita's and Stuarts as they had a holiday cottage, which turned out to be too expensive for us so we booked into a Top 10 and got a cabin for the night, thank goodness, we finally gave up with the camping milarky as it was just too cold.

The cabin was lovely and even had a fridge and a TV which was a bonus. We chucked all our gear in then went down town to check out the prices of the Helihike. Unfortunately the weather was just too crap for the helihike so after a coffee and a quick chat we decided on coming back on Saturday when the weather was supposed to be better and do it then. So i popped into the local shop and got a few bits for dinner then went back and spent the evening in our cabin watching TV.

Franz Joseph by the way is a huge Glacier, as is Fox Glacier just up the road the 2 of them are the huge frozen ice rivers flowing down from the mountain which move a few inches each year

Well after another lovely nights sleep we packed up and drove to Greymouth and booked into a cabin on a Top 10 campsite then went into town and to a tour of the Montieths Brewery. The tour commenced and 2pm and went on for about an hour and a half, we were shown everything and told all about it. Can't believe they only had 10 people running the whole shabang which was impressive as the bear is fantastic. We then got given a taster of 6 beers from the bar at the end which was really interesting, the best bit was the free 10 minutes we were given behind the bar to help yourself!!!!!!!! how fantastic was that. So as you can guess everyone went a little mad and poured a squillion pints for themselves. Toby and I started chatting to 3 other people of the same age and ended up getting on really well so when the tour was over we all went down the local pub for a few more. We ended up in a pub on the sea front which, as it turned out was a local pub. With us, we had, Seth and Lisa who are a couple and a fab bloke called Steve who reminded me of Harry Enfield for some reason.

Anyway it turned out to be a fantastic evening, we even got the local fishermen to sit with us and tell us some of there terrible stories ( sex was involved) We had a local drunk show us a few drinking tricks which involved two glasses of water and a 5cence piece. We had another bloke who thought we were S-Club Seven!! and took the shirt off his back and got us to sign the darn thing, of course we wrote some ridiculous crap on it and did admit to not being the famous band ( i thought that there were only 5 of us gave it away) anyway....... we all made friends and had a fab time, ended up staying for quite a few hours and had spliff outside with the locals, Toby got caught by the landlady!! A lovely fisherman called Ross ended up buying the last couple of jugs of beer which tipped us over the edge.......It was then Steve had to go back to the backpackers to meet up with his girlfriend and we all decided to go get some food. We then spent ages walking around town trying to find a chippy, we did find one in the end by chance and sat down to the best tasting fish and chips i have had in ages. We then all went back to our sleeping establishments and slept like babies.

Best nights sleep i have had in ages!!

Couldn't move so well in the morning for some reason...... but after a shower we hit the road and i got a big fat chicken pie for b'fast, we then drove for about 4 hrs to get to Christchurch. Ben and Rachel got in touch and said we could stay with them for the night which was kind, unfortunately Ben was working for the evening. So when we got to Christchurch we went into a garage to get the tires and brakes sorted out as they were still smelling when hot, got it booked in for first thing in the morning, they said it could be the disks and a motor thingy which is a worry. We then went and watched the Matrix 2 which was really cool but can't see where all the special effects money went too? it was very very good but..........

Anyway got my pick a mix which is all that matters... then i booked in for a long over due haircut for the morning and went to pak n save to pick up a few bits for the next couple of days. We then drove over to Rachel's house place and made ourselves at home. She had prepared a wonderful beef curry for us and did us a fantastic dinner of curry and vegetables with rice and homemade bread. We even had a pudding which was also delicious ( she made her own merrange) gosh not like me at all! we then entertained Liam for a couple of hours, Toby fed him with a bottle and he looked very very sweet until L threw up all over him which was very funny! had to take lots of photo's of that one. Spent the rest of the evening watching American Idol which we have been a bit addicted to over the last few weeks.....how sad.

We had a wonderful evening with Liam and Rachel, she cooked us a wonderful meal and it was just very relaxed.

Got up really early and got to the garage for 8am, dropped the car off then went and sat in a coffee bar in a Mall for the next hour and a half. At 9.30am i went for my hair appointment which was all very professional, ended up having 3 people just to do my hair, one to wash, one to cut and one to blow dry. All the way through the process i was told of all the new products and what i should be using etc then at the end of my haircut i was presented with a book with the information about the products i had on my hair and they had written a little report about how they cut it and what they used......... all very posh, i only wanted a trim.

I then met up with Toby and we went to the internet place to catch up with people then went back to the car. Turned out that the brakes were perfectly alright and we didn't need a motor thingy which they thought we might need, so just had the new tyres and realignment. The garage blokey who handed back the keys was really impressed with Bertie and said we had a great car, now that is good news seeing as we need to sell him very soon. Got back to Rachel and Bens for lunch time so we sat down for a cuppa and found ourselves scoffing some homemade savory muffins which had just come out of the oven - Rachel is a bloody genius. We said our goodbyes and hit the road at 12.30pm and didn't arrive at Franz Joseph till 5.15 so it was a bit of a slog. Arthur's Pass was beautiful but all the scenery is wonderful around these parts.

Unpacked our stuff in the cabin and bumped into Lisa and Seth from the Brewery tour so spent the rest of the evening sat with them in the TV lounge having a chat and generally chilling out.

Had lovely lie-in then got ourselves up to the cafe to have a quick coffee with Lisa and Seth then said our goodbyes. We then went to the meeting point and joined up with the rest of the gang who were doing the Helihike. We were unfortunately 10mins late as we had misheard the meeting time so it was all a bit of a rush to get all the gear on and get back outside. We were given boots and raincoat and a bag to go around your waist to carry your spikes for walking on the ice. It was all a bit of a palarva as they gave us a bit of talk about the weather situation and how we were going to walk all the way down instead of getting the chopper. Toby and I thought we were walking back anyway so we didn't think anything of it, but they now gave the group a choice of bailing out because of the added 2hr walk or carry on. Some people just didn't want to do the whole thing so left leaving the rest of us who were now told we could take our own bags so it was a mad dash back into the changing rooms to collect our stuff. It carried on like this for a while but eventually we all made our way to the helicopter pad and were split into groups of 5. By the time i got into the thing i was so excited cause i had always wanted to fly in a copter, would love to fly one! The flight took us up over the mountains and gave us a fantastic view of the glacier, we landed just below the basin then waited for the last group to land. We were then told to split into groups, one hard and one easy, i went straight over to the hard one and it was a bit of a struggle to get any other people into our group. Most of the people stayed in the easy walk one, but we did end up with about 9 in ours. So after the safety briefing and we had donned our spikes onto our boots we started off across the glacier. It was a bloody amazing walk and i really recommend everyone to do it.

We ended up in some really deep and very narrow crevasses which took a lot of effort to do and you really couldn't be a very large person as you wouldn't fit. The ice was fantastic and it was such a strange experience walking through these huge ice tunnels and ravines, blue ice soaring up either side of you and then crossing these massive holes and splits that dropped for up to 30 metres down......

You certainly couldn't do it without the spikes on your feet but you didn't need the ice picks they give you, more for a balance thing really. The whole walk took about 4hrs, and we were all quite knackered by the time we got down the bottom only to find out we had another 2k walk to get to the bus. We did meet a great bloke called Mike who left his wife in the other group and he was just great, must have been in his 50's but very fit and chatted all the way so when we got to the bus we arranged to have a beer.

When we did get back we had to get all our gear off and collect our certificates they give you, bonus was we also got $180 back because we didn't get the chopper back - more beer money! Mike and us two nearly ran to the bar and it was with a very well earned 'Cheers' we downed our first cold brew. By the time Liz (his wife) turned up we had gone through a few more, they had to get going though as they had dinner arrangements, so we said our goodbyes and we went back to the campsite.

After dinner of pasta we decided to pop down the local for one as the Super 12 rugby was on so we thought we should pop our heads in. The bar was heaving and we had to fight to get a pint then fight just to get a standing spot. Didn't stay long and went back to watch 'Taken' which went on the hours before collapsing into bed.

Got up early and had a quick b'fast before getting on the road to Westport and to stay with Ben's dad. It took hours to get there, we did stop off to have a quick look at some pancake rocks and the magnificent views of the coastline. The west coast of the South island is definitely the most picturesque of the whole of NZ in my opinion, just completely wild and un tampered with. It has wild thick jungle which sweeps down onto the beaches and you could really imagine that you have stepped back millions of years - just wondrous. We stopped off in the town to park up and get some directions from Ben, it was also a good excuse for
Toby to get out of the car and leave me alone for 10mins as we just were not getting on and accomplished to upset each other which meant turning up at Kathryn's and Warrens house with a bit of friction. We arrived at about 3pm and were given a cup of tea and some cake whilst we got aquatinted. The house was wonderful and very modern, lots of light and large windows. They suggested to go out for a drive and they could show us around some of the area but i really couldn't face being in a car for a while so stayed back and did some of my diary and read. Kathryn made us a wonderful dinner, accompanied with some vino made me relax a little as i was feeling a little low and upset.

I went to bed at about 8.30 after a lovely hot bath and left the others to watch TV, they must think i'm a right miserable bitch........

Warren and Kathryn had gone to work by the time we had arisen so we had some b'fast and packed the car up and headed for the town centre. They have a jewelry shop so we popped in and dropped the key off saying thanks and would see them Tuesday evening.

We then drove onto Karamea at the end of the West Coast as Warren had told us of some great caves. The town seemed very small but very sweet and we found ourselves a campsite which was situated at the end of a school play field. Not a sole around but it had a kitchen and toilets which you just leave some money in a honesty box for water etc so we hitched up the tent and tried to find someone to pay. Seems there isn't anyone, so we might be getting a free night. We then drove for ages down a gravel track deep into the forest and parked up for the caves. They were really very good and i have never been able to go into caves like this before without paying so it was great to wonder around with a little torch and investigate. The caves housed big spiders and weta's, saw lots of spiders but only a one tiny Weta. I took lots of photo's of the surrounding area as it was just spectacular and then made our way back to the car.

Started raining on the way back to the campsite which isn't a good sign..... I cooked up another stupendous dinner in the kitchen whilst Toby did some of his diary ;and then we read and went to bed in the pouring rain.

Lovely morning so we left the tent to dry off and went off for a walk along some of the Heaphy track which was absolutely beautiful. We ended up on the beach which didn't have a sole on it and we soon found out why when a whole squadron of sand fly's came and attacked us from all angles. It didn't take us long to get back on the track back to Bertie.

We then went back and packed up our tent and drove onto Westport to spend the night with Kathryn and Warren. On the way back we stopped off for some lunch at some very weird place called drifters, we had just sat down to wait for our lunch when the local cat walking past us with a freshly caught mouse in his mouth...... i thought this just added to the already funny goings on. But the one that just got me laughing was when an older lady lifted up her arse and ripped off a goodin right in front of us.

Had a great evening with some more fab food from Kathryn, only bad part was realising i had lost my green stone bangle that was given to me from Beau and Clare as a bridesmaids pressy - absolutely gutted.

Had a bit of a lazy morning but after handing back the door key down to Kathryn at the Jewelers we drove onto Matureka.

Ended up at a really grubby campsite in a really grubby cabin, so we chucked all our stuff in and headed off to Marahu to find out all about sea kayaking around the Abel Tasman and how much it will cost. After having a little chat with the very helpful lady who worked there we booked up for a 2day 1night trip out. When we got back to the cabin i did the food for the next couple of days and organised all the stuff we needed to take whilst Toby layed on the bed saying he found organising too stressful......