After dropping the van off and spending a couple of days in Christchurch sorting flights etc etc we left on the Tranzalpine train accross the middle of the South Island to Greymouth.
The train journey was amazing, took about 4.5 hours all in total and saw some gorg scenery, the weather on the east coast was a bit dim , but as soon as we passed the 8km tunnel to the west coast the sun was out and it was beautiful.
Dubbed one of the best train journeys in the world it lived up to its reputation.. also serving delicous hot muffins!! all for 60 quid for the two of us.. cant go wrong really..

One we arrived in Greymouth we met a girl called Sharon who was staying at our hostel, so then there were three... the hostel was so cute like a house, had free tea, coffee and biscuits always a pleasure! And all the rooms had animal themes, dog room , pig room . We were in the Kiwi room, it was such a nice hostel.
We met another scouse girl and all chipped in for dinner, made chilli con carne.. well thats when i nearly flipped, Sharon ate like a pig.. talk about seefood.. matt was pissing himself and I felt sick and couldnt finish my dinner....
We stayed in that hostel for two nights.. the second day we were a bit bored as the town is so small , the owner of the hostel said we could take the dog for walk .. i thought cute idea until i saw the size of the thing.. it was a husky dog called millie.. who apparently doesnt like other dogs (he told me this just as we were leaving!!) and tends to pull alot..
Next thing i know i am getting dragged like a sleigh down the road and matt is taking photos thinking its funny!

Our next stop was Franz Josef Glacier, and thanks to some extra cash injection from the parents we did the heli-hike.. this consisted of a helicopter ride over the glacier, landing on the snow , doing a 2 hour hike and then getting the helicopter back down.
Was the most amazing thing ever .. because i was the smallest i got to sit next to the pilot (finally a perk) and i got the best view... The pilot was twisting and turning it was such good fun.. We landed on the snow and started our 2 hour trek.. i managed to fall into a ice puddle, was bloody freezing.
We got to go through ice caves and slide through the tiniest crack ever.. lucky am so thin!! ha ha ha otherwise i would of got stuck.. i decided it would make a good photo.. but the woman behind us couldnt work out how to use the camera and our clothes started to soak up the water.. by the time we got out we both had wet arses and backs!!!
As we went through the ice cave which was about 1 mtr wide and high, matt was behind me and next thing i know he was stuck!! ha ha ha The woman behind him had to give him a shove up the arse to fit through.. see i told you he was putting on weight.

The hostel we stayed in , only had 10 people in it.. so we had the run of the place, we had our own room , an open log fire, free 6pm soup and free spa pool.. the best backpackers ever!
We also decided to take the mountain bikes to the bottom of the glacier the next day , we nearly died getting there and got stopped by the police on the way back for not having our helmets on.. just happened they were teaching the kids about road safety and us two ride past with no helmets and no hands!! ha ha ha

On the road again and is time stopping in Fox Glacier for 1 day .. decided to go to Lake Matheson (the reflection lake), it was 6km away from the village so we decided to walk .. god almighty we need to know these distances in miles cause next time we would of caught the bus! It took us 1h30 to get there and then another 45 mins round the lake.. was gorg though and the mountains had a clear reflection in the lake like a mirror, was beautiful..
The prospect of walking back nearly topped us so we hitch a ride.. before the parents start freaking out it was either that or die on the side of the road!! ha ha ha

The last three days have been spent in Wanaka, a small alpine ski resort , the backpackers was full of japs! But we did meet Hanna and Mareika from Germany, they became our friends and we are meeting up with them again in Queenstown.. They even made us apple pancakes, they are so sweet and innocent... so me and matt are going to take them out and get them drunk!!! (ring of fire)
There was a small festival on in the town , we went and watched some local bands and saw a pie eating contest , i wanted matt to enter but he wouldnt. It was good fun and kept us busy .. a bit imbread but hey ho..
We visited puzzle world, cost $10 each and did a maze, was suppose to take 30 mins but took me and matt 1h30 mins..you had to find all four towers and then find your way out.. it was quiet hard, we spilt up and i found a tower and matt was still lost but i didnt help him.. he started to lose his rag!! Then when he found a tower and i was lost i started to sulk... we had good fun .. the worst part was finding your way out.. They also had a balance room to test your sense of balance .. was so funny you could lean forward like eddie the eagle edwards and not fall.. We had a good day, and even completed some of the puzzles in the cafe.. well matt did i threw mine accross the table... ha ha ha
We didnt ski in Wanaka cause it was too expensive, we are leaving for Queenstown today so we might look into it there...

We have had gorg weather in the south island , lovely sunshine and clear skies, sometimes it doesnt feel like winter..
Thats all for now .... Take care