Well, it's just me now. Ben went back to the UK last week and i have been traversing this isle alone, going where the wind takes me. From Christchurch i moved down to Dunedin - a dull place full of students - where i stayed in a backpackers hostel seemingly run by Sean Penn as the ill Paul Rivers in 21 Grams. Went to museums and art galleries etc, then moved on to Invercargill which was much the same. I did, however, see Henry the worlds biggest and possibly oldest tuatara (clocking in at around 125 years old), although he was your average reptile really in that he didn't move an inch the whole time i was there. In the evening on the second day in Invercargill i sat in the TV room watching movies with a girl from London, who it turns out has been travelling since February. She didn't look much older than me but apparently she was almost 30 and she's not actually had a proper job since leaving university. One of these perpetual travellers being backrolled by mummy, unfortunately. Still, she was nice enough.

I then made my sorry way to Stewart Island, which i believe is the nearest inhabited land mass to Antarctica. It wasn't actually that cold but the boat ride over there was more than a little rough, although i admirably didn't 'lose my lunch'. I put this down to an iron like gastrointestinal system forged by the action of countless reheated kebabs.
Whilst on Stewart Island i took a tour to the Eden-like idyll of Ulva Island - an (almost) untouched paradise providing home to countless endangered bird species. This was actually a personal highlight of NZ for me. I ran into the London traveller girl again in the evening in the hostel and we went to the pub, albeit for a short while as it closed at 9pm! Presumably the patrons had to get back home and shag their cousins or something like that - there are only 400 people on SI - so we got takeaway beers and went back to the hostel. She accused me of being a closet twitcher that night and i denied it, though she may have a point as birds have proved of some interest to me during this holiday.

Left Stewart Island and headed back briefly to Invercargill where i caught a coach to Te Anau, from whence i write. This YHA is absolutely lovely, as is the town, and i could stay here for days. Yesterday i went on a rather long walk through the Fiordland National Park on a track that runs by the Waiau river - truly awe inspiring scenery. The town of Te Anau is right on the shore of Lake Te Anau and in the background are snow capped mountains, providing quite a sight on a clear day. During my walk i eventually caught up with another trekker, who beamed at me when he looked up from his seat on a fallen log, and i suspected that he hadn't seen another human for days. As it turned out he was a great big mincing Israeli, so it's more likely that he wasn't used to seeing a whole human being as opposed to bits of them scattered about in front of his house. He waited for me to catch up and then got up himself, smiling widely. This annoyed me quite a great deal as i was enjoying the solitude of my walk and the last thing i wanted was to have to talk to an annoying and camp Israeli. Eventually i lagged behind and lost him, made my way to the end of the track and began walking back to Te Anau along the road (about 13km apparently). I managed to hitch hike back into town courtesy of a deer hunting coach driver, who dropped me at my door. And that brings me to today, which so far has been spent eating a woefully inadequate all-day breakfast (the worst i have had in NZ) and writing this monster. Sorry about the length, but i got lazy. Well i'll stop there and continue when i have had yet more thrilling adventures.

Well, it's just me now. Ben went back to the UK last week and i have been traversing this isle alone, going where the wind takes me. From Christchurch i moved down to Dunedin - a dull place full of students - where i stayed in a backpackers hostel seemingly run by Sean Penn as the ill Paul Rivers in 21 Grams. Went to museums and art galleries etc, then moved on to Invercargill which was much the same. I did, however, see Henry the worlds biggest and possibly oldest tuatara (clocking in at around 125 years old), although he was your average reptile really in that he didn't move an inch the whole time i was there. In the evening on the second day in Invercargill i sat in the TV room watching movies with a girl from London, who it turns out has been travelling since February. She didn't look much older than me but apparently she was almost 30 and she's not actually had a proper job since leaving university. One of these perpetual travellers being backrolled by mummy, unfortunately. Still, she was nice enough.

I then made my sorry way to Stewart Island, which i believe is the nearest inhabited land mass to Antarctica. It wasn't actually that cold but the boat ride over there was more than a little rough, although i admirably didn't 'lose my lunch'. I put this down to an iron like gastrointestinal system forged by the action of countless reheated kebabs.
Whilst on Stewart Island i took a tour to the Eden-like idyll of Ulva Island - an (almost) untouched paradise providing home to countless endangered bird species. This was actually a personal highlight of NZ for me. I ran into the London traveller girl again in the evening in the hostel and we went to the pub, albeit for a short while as it closed at 9pm! Presumably the patrons had to get back home and shag their cousins or something like that - there are only 400 people on SI - so we got takeaway beers and went back to the hostel. She accused me of being a closet twitcher that night and i denied it, though she may have a point as birds have proved of some interest to me during this holiday.

Left Stewart Island and headed back briefly to Invercargill where i caught a coach to Te Anau, from whence i write. This YHA is absolutely lovely, as is the town, and i could stay here for days. Yesterday i went on a rather long walk through the Fiordland National Park on a track that runs by the Waiau river - truly awe inspiring scenery. The town of Te Anau is right on the shore of Lake Te Anau and in the background are snow capped mountains, providing quite a sight on a clear day. During my walk i eventually caught up with another trekker, who beamed at me when he looked up from his seat on a fallen log, and i suspected that he hadn't seen another human for days. As it turned out he was a great big mincing Israeli, so it's more likely that he wasn't used to seeing a whole human being as opposed to bits of them scattered about in front of his house. He waited for me to catch up and then got up himself, smiling widely. This annoyed me quite a great deal as i was enjoying the solitude of my walk and the last thing i wanted was to have to talk to an annoying and camp Israeli. Eventually i lagged behind and lost him, made my way to the end of the track and began walking back to Te Anau along the road (about 13km apparently). I managed to hitch hike back into town courtesy of a deer hunting coach driver, who dropped me at my door. And that brings me to today, which so far has been spent eating a woefully inadequate all-day breakfast (the worst i have had in NZ) and writing this monster. Sorry about the length, but i got lazy. Well i'll stop there and continue when i have had yet more thrilling adventures.