Queenstown

Right people, time for an update..

1: The Car: Was supposedly fixed by the garage. We went to pick it up on Thursday and the engine was still making strange noises. We told the garage we werent happy and that we couldnt wait around any longer for the them to look at it. They refused the give us a refund and to cut a long story short, we met a couple who were desperate for a car. We were desperate to get rid of ours, so we came to an agreement and sold it to them. It meant taking a 350 pound loss on the damn thing but never mind. We are now the proud renters of a EZY campervan which is far less hassle and a good laugh. If anyone out there is thinking of coming to New Zealand, do not, and i repeat, DO NOT buy a cheap second hand car..most of them have been round the country six or seven times and they are just too unreliable. And dont buy from The BACKPACKERS CAR BAZAAR.. bunch of cheating rip off merchants.

We celebrated by having a few shandies and entering into a paper scissors, Stones competition in the hostel bar. The prize was a $750 stray bus ticket around the south island. And who do you think won?!? POLLY! unfortunately we werent allowed to sell the ticket and Pol did the good deed of giving it away to a couple who had been trying to win it for weeks!

We picked up the van on Thursday and headed out into the wilderness. As its a high top, the slightest wind means it drives like a dodgy shopping trolley and after covering 100km in two hours, we headed into the southern, snow capped alps. Spent the night in a free campsite in the rain and watched a film on our DVD player in t'campervan! (proper bo!) We are travelling in a convoy with seven Swedes complete with walkie talkies and ornate campervans! We drove to Franz Joseph Glacier the next day and walked up to the face while taking pics etc.

It was a really strange place, erie and almost alien like with rocks everywhere and the most beautiful waterfalls cascading out of every crevice. Stopped in a nondescript village called Haast and celebrated one of the Swedes birthdays by having dinner in a yokel bar/diner. Cant remember its name, but its the only one in the village so if any of you make it this far, stay clear! Set out for Queenstown the next day (still raining) and drove through some prehistoric rainforest whilst the sun attempted to make an appearance. More waterfalls later and we arrived here. Stereotypical Ski Resort, lots of sports to do and loads of backpackers. Weather is a bit changeable (sunny but cold) and we have booked ourselves to do some white water rafting today (gulp!) Polly is off Horsey riding tomorrow and thats aboot it.

Loz - Congrats on RAF
Holme Farm Massive - Hope all are ok, pass on our congrats to Mark
Hainton Avenue Posse - Hope Nanna is ok and you both are
enjoying the decorating.
Dad and Joan - Havent done any more wine tasting yet.. will let you know when we do - Kathy Linskey do a nice tipple if you want to investigate - they will post to the UK too!
The Bagnall Clan - Cheers for the update on the footie, hope the various injuries are healing ok - Brian - the scenery here is unbelievable - not done as much walking as we hoped but will do soon!
Rae - Hope you didnt witness any stabbings at Hull Fair
Emily - Hows Britains next Swimming champ coming along?
Manchester Massive - Respect! oh and Phil can you email your address to us please?
Matt S - Hows uni? Slacker...

Lots of love

Pollyali