Ok, Mum has already had a go about the length of time it has taken me to do another blog so apologies!

I left Dunedin and went through the Catlins and the southern coast, basically following it all the way round. We stopped at lots of little beaches and I saw sea lions which was cool, but not as cool as the penguins! We were at a beach where 16 penguins live, in 8 pairs and we were lucky enough to see 8 (the other 8 would be in the nests). They were so funny and one looked like it was lost as it was jumping around the rocks for ages. We watched for probably about 45 minutes and my bus were the only people there so only about 12 of us. It was at a beach which is actually a "petrified forest" or a fossilised forest. We stopped at a beach before that to see dolphins but we didn't spot any. I played with some seaweed instead.

That night we stopped in Invercargill which was quite a nothingy town. The people on the bus were boring so it was just me and the driver Jason in the pub which was good as he is Maori so he was telling me loads of interesting stuff and I got free beer all night as the people in the pub know him. The next day was a very early start as I visited Stewart Island which is NZ's third island an hour ferry ride from Bluff (famous for Oysters). It is also in the top ten worst stretches of water to cross by ferry in the world due to its roughness. I went with a South African guy, a Scottish girl and a Japanese girl who had the worlds heaviest suitcase. We got off the ferry and were met by a man from the hostel...who proceeded to drive us not to the hostel! We turned up at a holiday home complete with our own rooms with double beds! After some nervous whispered conversations (are we in the right place?? How much will this cost??) we were relieved when it was in fact only 25dollars. We had a coal fire, tv, monopoly and best of all, a free washing machine!!!! We went for a few short walks around the island, including up the steepest hill I have ever seen, before spending the night teaching Tom the south african how to play monopoly whilst fully utilising the washing machine. We also had a coal fire which is ironic as depsite growing up in the coalfields this was the first time I ever had to light an actual coal fire (my girl guide days stood me in good stead!).

The next day we all went fishing. This was great fun. The boat was follew by albatross all day and we caught lots of blue cod. I stole Tom's thunder as he was having his photo taken with a big fish by pulling up some disgusting creature of the deep and shouting "what is this?? Urgh what is this?". It was ugly and flapped a lot but the skipper made me hold it for a photo which was pretty disgusting. We threw it back as I didn't really fancy eating it. We stopped at Ulva Island for lunch and we had a walk while the skipper cooked up some of the fish. As we were eating it a sea lion was swimming around the boat so we fed it some fish. We were out for about five and a half hours and we all got a bag of fish to take home. Tom and I decided to go to the only pub on the island for a bit of a warm up, probably a mistake as I imagine we stank of fish! It is no surprise I am sure that we had fish for tea.

We got the first ferry back in the morning and this time the crossing was really really rough. The waves were going right over the boat! We met up with the bus back in Invercargill and continued onwards to Te Anau stopping at lots of places en route including a town that is home to Nz's best sausages (obviously a highlight of any trip to New Zealand). Tom and I and a few other guys were getting a little frustrated as we knew the Champions League final was repeated at 3pm and we just wanted to get to Te Anau and a pub and watch it. We got there about 3.10pm, dumped our bags, ran to the pub and it hadn't even started because it was ESPN and they were showing basaketball! So we sat and waited then they cut out half an hour of the second half due to time restrictions. The locals only watched the penalty shoot out but they seemed quite amused by the game. I had to try and explain to a Japanese girl that although it was two English teams it wasn't in England - I don't think she understood really. We all enjoyed a steak for dinner.

The next day we went to Milford Sound which isn't actually a sound its a fjord (there is a difference!). This was a great drive through the mountains and down really windy roads which were a little bit scary. I think everyone found the buffet lunch on the ferry a highlight and there was lots of fruit/tea bags/milk being put into bags! Milford Sound was really nice if a little cold and windswept! We headed back to Queenstown after this and I checked into a really nice hostel which I am still in! Yes, I am still in Queenstown. I have been here over two weeks in total but its such a nice town and I had time to kill. I haven't done anything very exciting just going out, some walks, I got my hair cut, and I have learnt how to play pool - an important traveller skill! I leave here tomorrow to go back to Christchurch via Mt Cook then its up to the North Island. I have extended my time in NZ by a week and I am now going to go to Fiji after all as flights are cheap back to Australia.

B&B - I am heading back to Melbourne as I didn't make it there and I wasn't a fan of Sydney. But I will go wherever I can get a job! I wasn't the first to jump as they do it in weight and thankfully I wasn't the heaviest!

Photos from NZ. There would be more but this computer doesn't have a memory card reader.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2247422&l=2df29&id=61410081

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2247760&l=d843c&id=61410081

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2247761&l=69763&id=61410081

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2247763&l=e977b&id=61410081

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=38225599&l=13c61&id=61410081