10th -> 18th August (Queenstown)

Both Australian and Kiwi customs seem to think I look dodgy. Leaving Sydney I was randomly searched, swabbed and scanned for bombs and 'bomb making substances'. Then on arrival to Queenstown airport I was taken to a side room and just short of interrogated. The guy checking me pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and asked me to open my bag to be checked. It was clean. He then swabbed my phone, diary and USB stick. Apparently my USB stick had traces of LSD on it... ummmm. He turned around to look at me, revealing the flashing red diagnosis on his screen. I just laughed and told him it was wrong. He disappeared behind a two way mirror for around twenty minutes, reappeared, swabbed the stick again (it came up clean the second time), and finally let me go. The whole thing took an hour, but hey... it's a story to tell at least :p

I hopped between four different backpackers in Queenstown, and only found the perfect one for the last couple of nights. A place called Nomads that organised ice-breaker/drinking games in the evening and had the best facilities at the lowest price! The town definitely lived up to it's name as the adrenaline and nightlife capital. I snowboarded, skydived, bungy jumped, the lot. The Bungy was the best! 134m drop with an 8.2 second freefall... time that on your watch... it's a long time. Hopefully going to do another one at Lake Taupo where you get dipped int he icy water :) Snow conditions were alright... on my first day it rained! Not what I'm used to on the slopes. I boarded with a guy I'd met in Base Backpackers (rubbish place) called Andre, and we carved it up big time. At least the snow was soft. The night after we got 30cm of powder, so I headed to a different mountain: The Remarkables. This place is top for off piste and snow parks and it was incredible. Not too busy but still enough people for some company. I was chatting away to a guy I'd been boarding with for the day and suddenly from the other side of the chairlift someone said "Ed? Is that you?" ... ... It was Lawrence, a guy I had worked and lived with that year in Stroud to save up for my travels. I knew he had been in New Zealand but I had no idea he'd still be there... especially on the same chairlift. It was great to see him again, and we had a lot of catching up to do. We boarded and went out a lot together over the next few days with his mate Ellie.

It took me a while, but I soon grew to love Queenstown and would very quickly go back there for a few months... maybe in the summer next time though, for some biking :) The best bit was a burger shop called Fergburger, and you havn't lived until you've been there. From 7am until 2am (that night) There is a queue outside the place. People go there for breakfast! haha