abnormally excited about life

life has been so much fun lately. on the drive between makarora and queenstown we stopped at 'puzzling world' at wanaka. although we were heavily hungover we still bravely attempted the outdoor maze (which we conquered - ha!) and also looked in the exciting illusion rooms. you would have liked this, dad, as they had a special 'lord of the rings' type room which allowed you to become both a hobbit and as tall as gandalf, simply by moving across the room. the camera and the angle of the floor in the room, etc, made this so. we were v impressed. we were also impressed by our egg and tomato sandwich lunch.

we also stopped at 'the first commercial site of the bungy' before we hit queenstown and watched a few people throw themselves off a bridge. i didn't do this myself. it was far too hot.

we had a quick stopover in queenstown cos we were up early (6am! and we're on us 'olidays!) to get back on the bus and head for the beautiful beautiful milford sound. this was the reason why i decided to get back on the bus in barrytown and not just head off to oz. and it was soooooo worth it. there is no other word to describe the landscape around milford and milford itself than simply stunning, which i know is such an overused word. i took some photos on bridget's camera so she may have posted them on her blog for you to see (www.diddit.blogspot.com). but just really bluddy marvellous. imagine being on a big cruise boat and just being dwarfed by these huge mountains thousands of metres in the air that just vault almost vertically out of the sea. you feel practically underneath them as you sail past. plus, the captain also took us almost into stirling falls - a massive waterfall dropping hundreds of metres - because maori legend has it that any lady that is splashed with the water wakes up the next day looking ten years younger. hmm. not sure that this is true - but then i did have another early start this morning so that might explain why i still look like shite.

the early start was because we were off on a farm visit. now, i know i've already milked 400 cows and therefore consider myself to have quite extensive experience of a nz farm, but there was the added enticement of a free cooked breakfast. yum. but it was actually just fab. i fed a baby lamb (sorry, rachael, i know you wanted so bad to do it) with its milk bottle and we saw the sheep dogs working the sheep. i got to handle the fence that divided the sheep into shorn and unshorn in the woolshed and then also got a couple of goes at shearing sheep! what fun! we got overalls on and then off we went. that doesn't happen everyday. it was a bit scary cos i didn't want to get too close and nick the sheep but the farmer blokes were just like 'go on - get the bugger'... the brekkie was fab, too.

and so now we're in invercargill. bridget and i fancied a day of shopping, seeing as we'd hit civilisation again. we've been op shop shopping (charity shops, to you there in blighty) and i've had the bargain of the day. i got some 'roxy' trousers, which all trendy kids (and, therefore, not me) will know cost loads and loads. i picked them up for a mere tenner. though, vaguely upsettingly, they're a size 12 and i almost properly fit them. balls. but i'm still hanging on to the fact that i do (just) still need to wear a belt. phew. anyway, bridget got some new trousers too so we got all giddy and took a photo of us modelling them, seeing as we went straight back to the hostel to get changed into them immediately. i've posted this pic as a new 'profile' just to the left here. so you can see what i look like now. kind of. god, i know i need a hair cut...

the other thing i've mainly been buying today is a compilation cd of kiwi music. it was played over and over in the barrytown pub and it drove us mad at the time but i just know that it is the best reminder of our time there. i'll get home and play it for you, rach, and it'll be just like we never left. music evokes such vivid memories. even if it is bluddy reggae.

so, what with getting bargainous trousers, finally seeing milford sound, buying cds and shearing sheep, i've been really overexcited today. i've been annoying bridget by going on and on about how excited i am and how great my life is right now. plus, the sun in shining. tomorrow we're off to dunedin when i get to go to cadbury world, the source of 85% of nz chocolate production. i know that you really wanted to go there too, rach, so i'll post back with full details. apparently, you get free chocolate. just another reason to get excited. marvellous.