Queenstown baby!

sorry about the lack of bloggage guys. we've been in places where internet has been really expensive and the photos take ages to upload.
we are now in queenstown in the south island and have been up to some amazing things on route. one of the best was a day hike on the franz josef glacier which was absolutely fantastic, unlike anything i'd ever seen before. we were walking with huge walls of blue ice on either side, and we went down into this cave which was great although it was really small and we all had to be hauled out by the guide because no-one could make the climb on their own. our guide was lovely (joe from darlington) and we all wanted to marry him! we were all exhausted but it was definitely worth the aches and pains.
we really enjoyed wellington, the capital. the museum was really good and could take all day. what we liked was all the little films about new zealand so we could sit down and have a little rest. another reason we liked wellington was the abundance of cafes that agreed with us very well!
places we have not enjoyed quite as much are river valley (literally a lodge by a river and nothing else) where the showers and toilets were in separate blocks miles away, it was generally freezing and the receptionist refused to put a film on because the bar was open (even though no one was even drinking). we would have considered doing white water rafting but the river was too full or maybe horse trekking but a girl had fallen off the previous day and had to be airlifted to hospital which put us off somewhat! there were no other activities on offer, it was a bit rubbish! we find that moaning is a very effective coping strategy. other uninspiring stops include westport, the pancake rocks (not very different to normal rocks), the seal colony and the abel tasman national park (rained all day)!!!
if anyone's wondering we are actually having an amazing time, but it amusing for us to have a good moan now and again!! i mean you wouldn't really want to go on a day trip to slough (ie westport) would you?!