New Zealand cont....

And again!!! I keep forgetting to update despite my regular proximity to a computer, and as a consequence forget half what iv done....anyway, im loving new zealand more and more, definitely going to come back here. After Dunedin we travelled the extremely long distance to Te Anau, where we just stayed for one night to avoid having to travel the Milford Sound road when all the travellers do. So got up early and set off to Milford, to discover that our car has NO acceleration up hill, bless his little engine, but with five adults and five large bags none of us could blame him! The road was AMAZING, all through the mountains (so lots of uphill), and the mist made it really spooky as we passed all these waterfalls and sheer cliffs...we stayed in the Milford Sound lodge which was pretty cool, basically Milford Sound is a stretch of moutain surrounded water connected to the Tasman Sea but is completely protected from it's currents, it apparently cheats the marine life into thinking its much deeper than it is, and so dolphins etc live there, anyway there isnt a village or a shop or anything, just a visitors centre and this lodge. Absolutely stunning views, and we went on a cruise at 9am along the Sound and out into the Tasman which was beautiful as the mountains were gradually revealed. Saw dolphins, seals etc and then stopped off at an underwater aquarium which was just a glass bowl 15m below the surface, so ur pretty much in the sea, amazing to see all the fish in their natural habitat. Henry, Ben and Fran went on a 5 hr walk which they regretted as it ended up being less of a walk and more of a trek through untravelled rainforest...Ellie and I stayed in the dry!!! (oh yes forgot to mention it was pouring with rain!) Anyway next stop was Queenstown which is major backpacker area, spent 3 nights here in the most amazing hostel with free internet (+computer in the room! - yes one of the places I probably should have updated my blog, lets ignore that....), went jetboating along the Shotover Canyon, which was crazy as we were skimmed perilously close to jagged cliffs and through 10cm deep water. Also went luging, which is basically a gokart down a mountain, hilarious fun racing each other down it....oddly probably more dangerous than the jetboating! Went to the 'Minus 5 Bar' which was in fact -7.5 and entirely made of ice, even the cups which the drinks came in were ice (which Ben proceded to eat, and Fran to crack), and the barman I found out was from Raydon, weird!!! Left Queenstown the next morning for the Franz Josef Glacier, which again was another stunning drive to another remote location. Meant to go on a helicopter onto the glacier and then do a 2 hr hike, but soooo annoyingly the weather was awful and it was cancelled, oh well just gives me more reason to come back! After 2 nights there, we drove onto Nelson which is where I am currently. This was a seriously long drive, and we went to Punakaiki which was right on the coast and where the rocks looked like pancakes, but the more amazing thing was the chimneys where water rushed in from the sea and then got shot out in a spray over everyone, all very impressive. Arrived at Nelson, again a really nice hostel - and then MY BIRTHDAY! Had an awesome day, went riding with Ellie along the Abel Tasman coast, our choice of horses was a 5yr old mare, or an 8 yr gelding which had only been gelded for 2 years!!!! They actually ended up being quite nice, and good for galloping along the beach!!! Have just returned from a 3day walk in the Abel Tasman National Park which is apparently the best walk in New Zealand...I can vouch for that. It was just stunning, along the coast these amazing beaches surrounded by mountains and walking through rainforest where the scenery constantly changed. Had to stay in these huts designed for the walk which basically was just a bed, luckily Rosie (the next new travelling companion) had got a gas cooker so we were able to cook pasta and noodles. Really sweet though, as it was really sociable as the same group of people stayed at the huts both nights as we progressed through the walk; so we kept seeing them on the way round. Very very tired now (as over 12 hr walk), and ache a lot!!! Definitely worth it though.