Rough and Tumble Bush Lodge Westport

... 2 islands, she was also telling me about some of the amazing houses that were built in tiny coves, saying that there was no road access to almost all of them and they just had small boats to get around. It was so pretty and the crystal blue skies helped a lot as I'm sure it would have been completely different in a gale and pouring with rain but today it looked fantastic. Enough raving about the ferry ride, we soon docked at Picton and ahead lay a drive just shy of ...

... came to the instant decision that this is not a place you want to spend any time. We were told that the place was settled by the Irish in the mid 1840's, and as no-one else moved there, they sort of interbred. The existence of mullets is also a worry (as is the interbred features on many locals). Got chatting to an American lad who is studying history for most of the night over a few beers, but will be happy to get out of this place in the morning.

... over the wall. Also Les collected loads of hats over the years and has them hanging over the ceiling. All 45 of us were dressed in our fancy dress costumes having a good time. Rachael and Lucy were dressed as Dice, Jo and Chanelle as Parrots and Lisa as a casino girl. Honourable mentions go out to Rubiks Cube guy, Mr Swine Flu and the Balloon Man. After some beers and laughs I got in at 12:30 and chatted and had some laughs with James and Lloyd.

... a pleasant coincidence! We continued on to Lake Rotoroa, stopping for a while to take in the tranquil view. We headed on through Murchison, which is little more that a drive through town, stopping for lunch, then on to Punakaiki, which is a small village of hotels servicing tourists that stop to see the Pancake Rocks. We went for a walk around the paved track to see these rocks that resemble stacks of pancakes ...

We arrived at Lake Mahinuapua at 5pm feeling very hungry and eager to discover the 'poo pub' experience that we had heard so much about. After an amusing introduction from a legend of a man called Les we were taken to our dorms. Most people were knackered and finding the wait for the buffet hard and so headed to bed for a power nap in preparation for the night ahead. Unfortunately, my good friend Hannah felt too ill and didn't make it back out of bed ...

... though and the wilderness is often unpredictable and claims the lives of many experienced people, as well as inexperienced people. A few miles down the road is the other glacier, called Franz Josef, and a town named the same, that was our next stop. After a nights sleep here, the next day we took a half day guided climb on the Franz Josef glacier, which was very cool, but hard work for my little legs, like skiing, my legs muscles were fully woken after the climb! We ...

... el mal temps, hem passat una bona estona tots 4. Sera un dia llarg a la carretera, farem molts quilometres... Passarem per Murchison i Westport on arribarem a la costa oest i, arribarem a Punakaiki on passarem la nit. Anem a sopar a un pub: l'Eva tastara "Seafood feast" i jo, un 'Beef & mushroom pie", tipic de NZ, molt bo. Com sempre pels volts de les 11pm anirem a dormir.

... me a bike and i set off about 2:25pm! it took me 1hr to cycle to cape foulwind as it was 11km!!!!!! then i saw the sign for the seal colony which was another 5kms!! so i just went up to cape foulwind and started the walk to get up to the lighthouse! then decided that i had really come all this way to see the seals, so walked 1hr to get to see them along a up+down coastal track! i was knackered! the seals were amazing tho...its the largest colony in new zealand of the ...

... we actually spent $5 which is £2) on a plastic glasses and nose for Jamie and some doctors equipment for myself. Not very impressive and it was never going to win any prizes but to be honest the money is running low and we just wanted a few beers. Turned out to be a very strange evening some of the locals turned up in a helicopter knocked back some shots and bottles of beers and then took some of the more drunken, younger girls out for a ride in the ...

... die Haenge mit ihren Schmelzwasserfaellen zu schauen und nur das Zwitschern der Voegel und Plaetschern des Wassers um sich zu haben. Naechtens mussten wir natuerlich nochmal rein mit einer netten Schar von Iren und Schotten. Da wurde dann der mitgeschleppte Wein getrunken und feist Zigarren geraucht. Paradiesisch. Wir haben die halbe (eiskalte) Nacht in den Quellen geweicht. Am naechsten Tag dann leider nochmal die gleiche Strecke zurueck in die Zivilisation ...