On the road again...

From Milford Sound we headed south towards the Catlins - an area of wetlands and rainforests and ferns and all that jazz all along the coast. Fancy scenery and a lot wildlife could be seen, but more importantly we found a place called Monkey Island. Imagine that!

AT next to the notorious Monkey Island. Pretty small to be honest, it took about 17 seconds to climb. Joy of joys.

Nugget Point - a breeding ground for fur-seals and sea-lions.

Some wetlands.

AT walking the boardwalk. Marshes are fun, right kids?

One of the many waterfalls we saw along the way. They were pretty cool.

We also briefly stopped in Dunedin at the end of the Southern Scenic route. It was the first capital of NZ and one of the first cities to be founded, by the Scots. Apparently "Dun" is another name for borough, so joined with "edin" you get Edinburgh. Sort of. Anyway that's your inaccurate geography/history lesson for the day. It was a nice place.

The view of Dunedin from the peninsula.

First Stop Milford

So Andy T and I decided to go on a big road trip and see some of the south island via the Southern Scenic Route; basically a road that goes along the coast from Milford Sound all the way to Dunedin. We planned for a few days away camping/sleeping in the Colonel and seeing the sights starting off in Milford Sound. The first time I went was on a big boat full of tourists at the busy time of day, so this time, as we were driving ourselves, was far better.

Andy T with his "in awe" face on.

Through work I managed to get dead cheap tickets for an overnight cruise on a titchy boat that only sleeps 14 called the "Friendship". With a name like that, you know it's good!

Speaks for itself really.

The weather was a bit rubbish, but we enjoyed it anyway - it's not everyday you get to kayak with seals. The trip continues...

Leap of Faith

So since arriving in NZ I haven't yet done a bungy jump and being that it was all started commercially here and there are tons of them (3 alone in QT) I thought it was about time I did. I gathered some of the troops (Me, AT, Jon and Katie) and set off. Threw AT off first mind!

You can see the blind fear in AT's face.

Perfect swan dive, 10's across the board. 10 10 10.

Not only good fun and scary, but you're guaranteed an mainly asian-based crowd of at least 400. Choice!

We all managed to do it in the end - Jon went last and I think he was in a bit of shock about it, bearing in mind his arms were flapping like a bird's all the way down. Was very brief, but a good rush. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a trip to Deer Park Heights; a local sizeable hill with a petting zoo and also several Lord of the rings locations on it. Crackin' views.

The Kawarau river in the foreground, QT airport and the rest of the Wakatipu basin.

My mate Gary. He's a dude.

The Colonel in front of the Remarkables - he's gets around.

Team of Jumpers (not the clothing type) L to R: Me, LJ, Katie and Andy T.

Look who turned up....

Matty T and the Tenacious T

Andy T arrived for a holiday and there was much rejoicing! I took some time off work so we could do some serious jumping off of stuff. Let the fun commence!

Jon. I hate to tell him that Lord of the Rings auditions ended over 4 years ago.

I also found Little Jon floating about aimlessly. After tempting him with tales of free cheese and midgets on unicycles he gladly left the UK in an effort to have fun. He's here too - check out www.getjealous.com/jonnyboy84.

Shotover Jet of Love

On Valentines Day, me and Katie (my token Valentine for the day) decided to do the Shotover Jet, mainly because it is a red jet-boat (being the day of love an all) but also because it's supposed to be good fun - you whizz throught the Shotover canyon at 80km/hr doing 360° spins. I was a bit annoyed at the fact I couldn't have a go myself, but these drivers have 1500 hours worth of training before they are even allowed to take a paying passenger so I was probably better off with them.

The Shotover Canyon is pretty stunning to look at but even more exhilerating when the sheer rock faces are zooming past you at a fair rate of knots.

Look at them go!

Hold on tight, we're spinning. Where's (the) Wally?

Braeburn #4101

While we had some people staying we decided to start a longer term project. A film, with a working title of Braeburn #4101. It's about a maverick, off-the-rails, Queenstown based cop who doesn't play by the rules. The story is pretty complex with many twists that many people will never fully be able to grasp. It's got it all; infeasibly large guns, huge explosions, lots of blood, hilarious comedy, tear-jurking drama and of course, some ladies. Keep an eye out, it's a blockbuster and it's coming this summer.

Braeburn and Captain Tashlippe on set.

Captain Tashlippe hanging up his laundry. You can feel the tension.

Braeburn on a tea-break.

I would recommend you start preparing yourself mentally right now. Coming to a YouTube near you, soon.

On a side note, Freya and Jimbo have decided to stay! Yipee! Not only has our cast list pretty much doubled, but the fun times too.

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day! A national Kiwi Holiday which involves celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the contract signed between the British and Maori in 1840. Most see it in retrospect as the founding of the New Zealand nation, but at the time it was meant to mean that NZ was a British colony. Someone balls-ed up the translation into Maori and a load of confusion followed which still hasn't been fully cleared up to this day. But hurrah anyway!

We spent the day in the local park chillin' while listening to reggae. Not just on our own I'll have you know, it was a mini little festival called Reggae in the Park. Some DJ's and sunshine and beer and lots of people. The result, a lot of tipsy chilled-out lobsters. It was also Bob Marley's birthday, so happy birthday Bob.

The DJ's were set up in the band stand and everyone just maxed out, relaxing all cool.....

.....until a brisk wind blew us all over! Quite the anomally I can tell you.

Me and RPM. Choice!

The day ended up being so hot that we decided to jump into Lake Wakatipu, it's pretty chilly, but totally refreshing!

Rob, Jimbo, Freya and Me. Girliest jump award goes to....Jimbo!

Yeah! Fun times.

Friends are like buses...

A hectic first month of the New Year indeed. After pottering about a lot and not getting up to much I got a phone call.

"It's your old school friend Fiona"

It was my old school friend Fiona!

"I'm round the corner from you"

And she was round the corner from me - what are the chances! Quite likely actually as we had arranged to meet up, but still a delight!

I got excited and met up with her, hadn't seen her in a good length of time. She is travelling with her boyfriend Alex and were in the big QT for a few days. Preparations were made and a night out that evening was planned. I headed home.

Me and Fi.

My phone rings again. This time its someone else. It's Freya! Another person I hadn't seen in a while.

"We'll be there soon."

They'll be here soon! Crikey O'Reilly! Do we even have enough floor space?! There's 5 of them? But how can you be concerned about such things when you see old friends?

They all arrive and we go out and have some beer. Happy families!

Me, Rob, Jimbo (Freya's boyfriend) and Andy aka A-Train living large.

Happy Faces. I really have grown.

Fisheye Paraflights

Just for a giggle me and Katie (my good friend from work, albeit she's an American) did a paraflight. It's where you're pulled behind a boat using a parachute. Complicated physics involved - the boat goes really quick so you stay airborne, but when it slows down, as the driver (or should it be Captain?) did a few times, you fall pretty quickly and you prepare yourself for a freezing death. Good views though!

Me and Miss Lien pre-launch.

We got a lot of waves from passers-by. I think it was 'cos we were wearing matching shoes.

Lake Wakatipu from the top. Boat, rope, camera, parachute, you get the picture.

Paraflights, putting the "fun" in "fun-times" since some time in the past that's been gone and already happened at some point previously.

2007 - The New Year

QT gets VERY busy over New Year - it's seen as the party capital of the south island and as a result it attracts loads and loads of people. There were lots of bands playing and fireworks and all that jazz. Was a fun night.

Start the year with a bang.

Weeeee. Ahhhhh. Ohhhhhh. And other associated noises.

As a treat we went to the Minus 5˚ bar. It's a bar made entirely of ice. Your drinks get served in ice, the seats are ice, the floor is ice. You get the drift. Was a quite a "cool" experience. There were loads of fancy-dan ice sculptures and what-not and after you'd finished your drink you could either throw the glass away (common) or simply eat it (optional).

You're only allowed in for half an hour otherwise I think you'd die. This man had grown a silly beard purely for insulation purposes.

Just chillin'.

Look deep into the parka.