it's been a while

hiya,

it's okay, i'm still here, not been killed by angy taxi drivers or kidnapped by crazy yokels. (thanks our Jan for your concerned text message - it looks like you're the only one that cares!)

been a hectic few days. i'm stuck in milford sound for the night. it has great fyords, but that's all. there's one budget hostel and one posh one. can you guess which one i'm in? this internet has got to be the slowest in all of NZ. it reminds me of the days before the blessed broadband, where checking your e-mail took hours and downloading songs took a week.

okay, update sofar.

drove through the east coast and mountains in convoy with tom, liz and ben.
saw a penguin living under a cafe
lost my jacket trekking through a forest. back tracked and found it again -phew!
saw some seals on shag point-not shagging! - neither was i :(
drove through dunneidan - very scottish.
parted company with the others, travelled down to bluff
arrived in bluff at 7.00pm. the hosytel was closed, nowhere to stay. PANICKED
asked the lady in the convenience store - she arranged a room at a nearby hotel - v.cheap :)
there was a reason the hotel was cheap. :(
room was tidy and they let me park the car in the lock up out back.
the bar was full of yokels - most amusing
had to get a ferry in themorning to stewaret island.
had breakfast in the kitchen with the owner and some hunters - she hates dentists - no surprise there :(
went to stewart island. met a german girl. she was a hardcore trekker - not my kinda girl.
spent the day walking and photographing the island.
in my infinite wisdom, i hadn't taken any water with me so was parched.
went to the nearest pub. had a pint and a pie - a bargain at only 2.50 (UK) - cheaper than a pint at heathrow (don't get me started!)
met some uk peeps. went for a coffee, then went for many pints at the only bar in town. very yokel- if you don't have a mullet and wear wellies, they look at you in a very strange way.
spent the next day walking around the other bit of the island. took wayter and food. however, i only have a small day bag for my camera. the thought of having to hold water and food never occured to me during my packing. therefore my food and water went in a emirates bag (think handbag) slung over my shoulder - yes, it's a manbag. most ammusement for everybody involved.
had lunch in a beautiful grassy clearing. forest on one side, beach on the other. i kept expecting frodo baggins to run past clutching the one ring to rule them all.
he never did though
walked back, went for a coffee. an american lady ran the cafe. was into her massage. gave me lots of places to go to in thailand for a proper detox massage - takes two weeks.
now i have a legitimate reason to go back to thailand, you coming rik?
back to the dorm room, all to myself, no-one else there. fell asleep at 5pmish, woke up in the morning.
checked out, went to the ferry terminal. saw the guys there. took pretty pictures of sunrise.
realised i didn't have my travellers bible - lonely planet guide (the one book to rule them all!)
panicked.
went back to dorm room.
it was under my duvet.
relief.
crossed back to bluff. car still there. relief.
said goodbye to yokel hotel operative.
drove to te anu. very large pretty lake.
had fish and chips from chinese man in cafe.
opened ketchup, it squirted all over the table. oops.
drove to milford sound.
picked up a hitchhiker.
his name's Herman. no, he's not a german. that would have been too neat. he's dutch.
now we're in milford sound.
i've done a laundry. mmmmm, clean clothes, mmmm :)

sorry it's been so brief, not enough time to elaborate. having an awesome time. great fun. going to see the fyords tomorrow and then off to queenstown, hopefully in time to party with posy, jen and jamie :)