Yay! I think I worked out how to rotate pictures!! 

Ana and Jessika with sunset mountains behind them..

hmppff tried again to rotate! I give up you can only have photos that are landscape style from now on..

anyway this is Jessika and I having climbed up near tartare tunnels..

Hmppff I rotated this computer after spending ages downloading picassa and my computer still put it this way round.. grr anyway its of Jessika and I on our way up to tatrare tunnels

Me and Jessika hiding under a tree!!

Ana and Jessika again! I like these cool photos in the dark woods!! It was great fun!! we ran about hiding under rocks and in caves!

Ana and Jessika hiding in the rainforest!

The first of a million sunset photos I have taken from my balcony

Me, Eva and Jessika on Evas leaving do!

This is the cake Ana and Jessika made Eva on her leaving do (lovely people that they are!)

Evas in the North Island now, so far away and I miss her

well its hard to make me out all the way down there! but yes its me upside down!!
This is the best thing ever!!
Have had a mad few days throwing myself off bridges and canyons.. is strange as feel fear has melted away and I can do anything now!!
The first thing I did was a bungee and I was shit scared.
Had to waddle (as feet tied together) to edge of platform and dive off... then got dunked in water!!! what a rush!!
Next day I went canyon swinging!
Mum remember how you always tell dad and I off for swinging backwards on our chairs?! well this is the ultimate!!
On the side of a canyon they strap you to a plastic garden chair (just the normal kind, I said that one had once shattered uder me in the garden.. so they showed me the sticker on the bottom saying "only for domestic use" and asked me if I still wanted to go?!! Of course!! go for it... and then you lean back and fall 200metres... (obviously attached to rope!) somersaulting and everything! fab huh?! god did I scream!!
Then.. I though why not go for the scariest option available? so did the gimp.. they hang you out feet first over the canyon and then you have to turn yourself upside down and twist your feet round the rope, then they drop you... IT WAS *!#%$*^% fantastic! (This bleeps are for mums benefit!)
www.canyonswing.co.nz
and
www.ajhackett.com

I will show you the DVDS and movie clips when I get back to the UK!!

Sorry about all the moaning yesterday! Kenneth emailed me today and said it sounded like I hated the hotel...! I dont actually - I just like to moan! (If you have a moan you get it off your chest and feel better afterwards!)
Have had plenty of emails about the debt. So I guess I have to write a letter.. I'm thinking I'll give my email address as contact, otherwise they will be able to know where I live (and I'm always moving on so thats no point)..
So what shall I put in it? and when should I send it? Now so my savings last longer to pay the debt off or when my savings are about to run out and I wont have any money left to pay it off?
I'm thinking along the lines of "you may have noticed that I have had no income for the last 10 months.. but have still been managing to pay off my loan". "This has become a struggle and will soon become impossible so I was hoping to come to an agreement with you to reduce my monthly payments". I think I probably need a sob story in there of some description otherwise they will ask why? and I probably need to say what I'm doing (ie I cant say I'm assistant manager of a hotel). The first Paul I met here in orewa (not the glacier guide here) got out of his debt by having a sob story.. but he had a bullet wound and it was unsafe for him to return to england so he had a better excuse.. but he reckoned I should say I was recovering from depression out here and that is perfectly true.
Anyway just a little moan again.. this morning at 4:30am one of the brats staying over the night had a tantrum and wanted to go home.. this involved ringing me in my hotel suite.. so not impressed!
NOTE!!! Re: if anyone think of sob stories email me privately rather than comment as not everyone knows everything about me (so the stuff I choose to tell individual people about myself maybe different from what I want other people knowing who may read my blog!) Does that make sense? Hopefully!

OMG whoever said running a hotel was easy! I am SOOOOOO tired I might fall asleep in reception!
yesterday I started work at 7:45am (after finishing at 11pm the night before)... worked nonstop until 10pm when the last person checked in.. then the fire alarms went off from 5-6 am and the first person checked out at 7am.. I will be working non-stop until the last person checks in tonight.. and then the next day will be exactly the same... what makes people think they can check in at whatever time they like? I need sleep! what amuses me most is when people check in at 11pm or 12midnight and want sympathy becayse they are tired (THEY'RE TIRED - what about me?!) However I manage to restrain myself from shooting them and am ultra polite showing them maps and places to go and apologising that no I cant book their helihike at this moment as the heli companies wont be open! (why they say?! BECAUSE people need SLEEP!!)
Apart from all this life would be so much easier if Marie and Deane took their kids with them... I dread tomorrow when another one is home from boarding school and is bringing friends and Melissa is babysitting a baby all day and night. Melissa being their eldest who is 16, engaged and moved out of home when she was 14. (and is now living in our house) Inevitably there will be lots of fights and swearing tomorrow (and everyday). On the bright side its a Saturday so I wont have to deal with the "I'm not going to school". On the bad side, no school - whole house full of kids.. Deane and Maries house by the way is in the hotel so I have to walk through it constantly to do anything.

I had an idea! I saw this documentary once of this girl who had, had a shopping addiction and got herself into debt, she made her own website and put her sob story online asking for donations to help her cause - ie $1 per person could sort her out.. she turned into a dot com millionaire..
Do you think this could work for me?! (if any of my computer people friends know more about this kind of thing let me know - ie paul or rob!)

Well Deane and Marie have gone away now so I am in charge for the next few days. I am knackered aleady as was in the office till 11pm last night.
On the bright side I had a package arrive yesterday. Eva is in Nelson and I got he to send my stuff I had left there. I figured I need to stop leaving stuff all over the country. Although I have no idea how long I will stay here and I will have to get rid of stuff when I leave Franz - I will send it home or throw it rather than send it to various parts of the country! Nowadays of course I have lots of smart clothes which I never needed while backpacking before.. and who knows what the next job will be!
Ana and I hitched to Gillespies Beach the other day on our day off. I hadnt realised it was quite so far! 21kms of it was on a dirt track. We only got a lift up there because this couple felt sorry for us! It took us 3 rides to get from Franz to Gillespies and a lot of walking inbetween so I was quite tired by the time we got there and then we did lots of walking:

• Gold Dredge remains Walk
• Miners Tunnel Track
• Gillespies Lagoon
• Galway Beach

To Galway beach was the longest. It was meant to be 3hrs 30mins but we cut it down a bit because we were worried about getting stranded in Gillespies overnight so we practucally ran it. Apparently there are up to 1500 seals at Galway beach in August and September, and there should have been at least some now... but we were gutted there were NONE! But.. it was a very nice walk.

We were really scared about getting trapped there as we hadnt seen anyone on the walk, but were excited to see 3 cars in the car park. There were people by the first car so I asked them and they said they were staying overnight, and the 2nd car came after 30 mins wait, but their car was full. We waited for another hour and the third and final car drove past us, but seeing our looks of panic stopped 20 metres up the road! Thank god! The guy said his wife had made him stop because she was convinced we'd be trapped there overnight! Lucky us. they were an annoying couple who slagged off England non-stop (i.e compared to the USA our health sysytems apparently crap, our kids are rude and we all drive on the wrong side of the road..) But I was just grateful they gave us a lift, and they were nice people really because they bought us an icecream and took us the whole 50kms back to Franz Joseph.

That night my dodgy ankle and hip hurt sooo much I had to take pain killers to sleep. I walked around like an old lady for the next 2 days!! Hmnn maybe I need a little more exercise before we do the Copland Track. (Ana, Jessika and I are going to try and get 3 days off together and do this 3 day walk).

Melissa and Daniel have moved in - well at least they have put their stuff in their room - they are staying at Marie and Deane's while they are away to keep an eye on Aaron. They are as I imagined.

Remember the Shands who I went to stay with in the Marlborough Sounds? Well this is their blog

http://www.xanga.com/Rabbits_Nest
They have lots of cute new animals there at the moment - quite wish I was there!

I missed all the action down at Blue Ince the other night. Apparently after I left one of the glacier guides got angry as his girlfriend was dancing with someone else. so he went home and got his pick axe and went mental in the bar with it. People got injured and one girl broke both her wrists in the commotion. Who would have thought in a tiny village like this?! (told you the glacier guides were to be avoided!)
Next week Marie and Deane are off to Christchurch so I will be left on my own to manage the place. I will have to live in at the hotel. Its going to be one long busy week! On the bright side as a reward I have the following week off and plan to go to Queenstown to do bungy and a canyon swing. I was going to do whitewater rafting but got an email elsewhere offering me it for free through work so will save that for the week after ($450 trip for free - cant complain!)
My sister and my parents have sent me loads of cute pics of my neice Elizabeth so have printed them off to decorate my walls! cant believe I'm going to be an Aunty again in February. I'm gutted I'll miss seeing him or her when shes tiny though. I'm sad I've missed seeing Elizabeth grow up.

I forgot to mention Ana, Jessika and I went on another night walk in the rainforest the other night and saw possums and glow worms. Have been on the walk before, its lovely. At the end theres some stones to sit on and your surrounded by glow worms..
Today has been quiet at work for once so have caught up on emails and hence me writing 2 blogs in one day - figured I should make the most of it and write what I had forgotten!
Maries daughter Melissa and her fiancee Daniel are moving in at the end of the month, we are all a little nervous as we like the house just the way it is and it will mean Ana and Jessika have to share a room. Seeing as though Jessikas boyfriend Michael sleeps over most nights its going to mean lots of change. (I.e he wont be able to stay over anymore)
But hopefully our fears are unfounded. Today Marie asked if Melissa can bring a puppy so I'm going to mention it to Jessika and Ana tonight. I'm not so sure... its a small house... and that really will change the place. But on the bright side we go on lots of walks and it would be nice to take a puppy! but actually I dont think your allowed to take dogs on all the nice walks as its protected areas.
Oh well, we'll gossip about it tonight and make a decision.

So Ana, Jessika and I went on our tunnel walk. It was great! Wading through a deserted pitch dark tunnel in freezing water with water dripping down on you, not knowing where it leads to or how long it is!
Its was cool! There was lots of glow worms etc too which was great! We took tonnes of photos!
Then we came back and cooked (again! all we do is eat!) Ana made a yummy brazillian lasgane, I made a very popular carrot cake and Jessika yummy bread!
Yeserday was also my day off and I planned to go to Gillespies beach, but it was terrential rain all day and I decided to stay in bed and read instead! So finished my book "The Witch of Cologne". Then it was Blue Ice opening night so it was free drinks so we all went out there last night. Was okay. plenty of glacier guides to avoid.
We have learnt that these things mean a guy is a glacier guide and therefore to be avoided:

• Wearing a ski hat and NEVER taking it off (whatever the weather, wherever you are - smart club or bed)
• Collars up (you know the sort - used to be hockey players at uni, kinda count dracula style but in designer shirts)
• LABELS (usually surf ones)
• Good looking (pays alot of attention to the way they look, ie vain)
• Up themselves (think they are better than everyone else)
• Cliquey (can only hang out with their own)

Not that I'm being judgemental or anything.. I'm sure their are exceptions to the rule!

Today of course it is the most beautiful day ever and I am working 8-8, bloody typical!

a day off yay!!! Ana, Jessika and I are going to go on a walk exploring the tunnels this afternoon and then were having another of our house meals so lots of cooking again!
Its been raining lots this week so its good that theres finally some sunshine today!
I met Evas parents the other day day which was nice. She had gone up to meet them in Greymouth and then they all came through for a day on their way to Wanaka. They were really nice and it was good to meet them. They treated me to a meal which was really kind and nice of them. Its weird not having Eva around now knowing I probably wont see her for a while now.. and her visa runs out in December. She is trying to extend her visa but it harder than expected.
I had been thinking alot about immigration, and it may well happen in the future, But for the moment I think I have decided to see the rest of the world first before I make a decision like that. Although now would be the best time as I would get residency easily with my current job.. then there would be all sorts of rules of me having to stay in the country for a certain amount of time for a couple of years. Although that wouldnt be a problem and I would love to do that I also want to get a working visa for Australia and Canada.. and I can only get working visas up to the age of 30.. so then I think I'd better do it all when I can and wait for residency? (and who knows if I'll even want residency then? - after all its a big decision to be made?) Hopefully its the right decision! or maybe residency is also easier to get under the age of 30?
I dared to look at my english bank account again recently. I dont do it very often. To be honest its not that bad as I havent touched it. The only thing coming out of it is loan repayments to the bank every month. It lasted longer than expected as I had tax rebates etc which was great! I expected to have a panic much earlier than this.. I still have a few months of being okay. However, at 200 pounds a month going out to pay a loan the money doesnt last long. So has anyone any ideas of how to deal with it?
I think my options are:

1. Write to the bank and say I dont have a job and dont live in the country and ask for lower monthly repayments
2. Pay the loan until theres no money left and then see what happens.. they wont actually be able to contact me as they dont know where I am?
3. Take my left over money out of my english account now and stop paying loan and see what happens..
4. Get a medical note of some sort?

As far as I can see there are no ther options? unless anyone else has any?

I did consider looking into bankruptsy in the UK and all that before I left so that could still be an option.

What can they do if I stop paying it? I dont have anything for them to take away?

I would never earn enough here to pay it off as the pound is so strong. I would have to pay $600 a month to pay of 200 pounds a month repayments. I could technically do that at the moment but not when I leave this job and it wouldnt allow me to have a life or save for emergencies when I dont have a job. (Because when I leave this job it might take me a while till I get another one - not t hat I am planning on leaving it yet - at the moment I plan to stay till April/ May when my contract ends - bit who kows what happens in life?)

So any advice would help. Although advise telling me not to have got myself into debt in the first place wont help! I am well aware of that! I could also have stayed in England being depressed at the state of my finances but I chose not to and coming here was well worth it! (can you tell I'm getting all defensive!!?) Mainly because I am making mself all vulnerable to you all my telling you all this, but I dont really have anything to hide and its better to get some advice on all of this rather than pretend it doesnt exist!

Jessika, Ana and I with one of our house meals.. sushi etc

Jessika on our balcony, and the lovely view from our balcony

My house, me relaxing on our "balcony" (if you can call it that!)

Me horse riding again!

Forgt a few photos, this is me horseriding last week

Hope you all like the new photos of my trip to Wanaka etc!
am back now, back to work and all that!
Eva is leaving tomorrow so she is coming over mine to have dinner. I'll miss her when shes gone. We are having a little leaving do, for her.. just Ana, Jessika, Olivia, Eva and I so should be good! not that I will get to do much of the cooking as I am working 8-8 today!
I split up with Paul (very shortlived relationship) did I even mention we had got together?!
If anyone wants to write to me (I miss getting post!)my address is
Punga Grove Hotel
PO Box 85
Franz Joseph
South Island
NZ
obviously be aware if its a postcard that its going to my work!

The toilets at Puzzling world!! the painting is so clever and realistic you feel they are actually in there and its 3d but it is in fact a flat painting!

One of the many little posters at puzzling world

This is the giants and hobbits room! looks perfectly normal huh?

But I am not a giant and these guys are not hobbits.

The same tricks were used to film Lord of The Rings

This is a room of faces at Puzzling world. They are actually concave, but if you move around the room they come out and follow you round the room.. theres loads of optical illusions like this..

Pretty much as soon as I arrived in Wanaka I went to Puzzling World, this really famous cool place!

It can keep you entertained for hours!

Lake Wanaka.

Lake Hawea, about 12kms before Wanaka. I got a ride with an Australian couple who have 2 daughters in their 20's. We stopped here for a picnic. I didnt have any food so they fed me!

Haast River.

On my days of I was headed to Wanaka. I got stranded in Fox overnight, stayed at a nice hostel, went on a glow worm walk with a nice english guy.

Watched a long film about Janet Fromes life story (very good!)

Anyway, Haast is on the way to Wanaka

Franz Josef Village from a helicopter

The Rainforest of Franz Joseph

More views of glaciers (just want you to get a feel for where I'm living!)

More views from helicopter

Another view of mountains

Franz Glaciers from helicopter landing

The scenic flight helicopter I went on

Franz Joseph Glacier from the scenic flight I went on

Peters Pond in Franz Josef, Franz Josef glacier is reflected in it.

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier, landslides cause the ice to be grey and dirty looking

The mountains again! sorry couldnt resist taking so many photos!

Lake Matheson, Mount Cook and Mount Tasman

Me at Lake Matheson

Another one of Lake Matheson, it has Mount Cook (Lord of the Rings) and Mount Tasman reflected in it

Lake Matheson

Mount Cook and Mount Tasman from Fox

Some arty shots from the alter windown at st James Church in Franz Joseph

Me on the street outside my house

Rainforest.. this is how it looks everywhere around here.. you wander in here and your lost.. for a very long time!

The franz joseph glacier from the street outside my house

So what have I been up to apart from working bloody hard. 8-8 the last couple of days!
On my second day off though I went on a flight with a landing on the ice which was good fun (lots more photos) and then I went horse riding which was also great!
Ana, Jessika and I are having a nice pot luck meal tonight, making our own sushi and all of that and Anas going to show us how to make brazilian food. should be fun, have got a bottle or 2 of sauvignon blanc in. I dont finish till 8pm so I wont be able to help with the cooking much unfortunately as they'll start without me or we wont ever eat!
The trouble with alcohol is that even if I only have 1 glass I dont sleep well. Its so annoying. On the bright side though I havent had a hangover since that one from my last night in Nelson.
The last few nights I hadnt slept as had been out and had a glass or 2 so last night when I got in from working 8-8 I was asleep by 9pm!
Am kind of seeing my next door neighbour which is cool. I made myself go over and say hi as I had fancied him for a couple of weeks!
Got woken up by an earthquake this morning. My bed shook!

Have had a great day! The sun has been so hot.. have caught the sun and am feeling all summery!! yay!! we've had a couple of gorgeous days in a row! Not that I saw it yesterday as I was working 8-8 and Marie and Dean went to town leaving me in charge.. my god it was busy!! But I'm still alive! the cleaners (specifically heather) were testing me a little as a new manager but I didnt let her get away with it.. Its funny as now I wake up in the morning and think things like "hmnn did I send that fax to Taiwan?.." I make international phone calls with one hand and send worldwide faxes with the other hand. Am learning tonnes, rushed off my feet but its great!!
I had the day off today and so did Eva so we hitched to Fox, had a look round the shops (all 3 cafes) and then hitched to Lake Matheson where there are perfect reflections of moutains in the lake on a still day. There was a little wind today so it wasnt perfect but still beautiful, mount tasman and mount cook were reflected in it (look out for photos soon). We did a circuit of the lake which took about 1.5 hours which was lovely in the sunshine. Then we hitched to fox to have lunch, hitched again to the fox glacier which we walked up to (about 10 metres away and then they have a rope to stop you - you can of course pay lots to go up it..) I picked up lots of stones! yes I know like I'm going to be able to carry them around with me?! but I can put them in my room here for the next 6 months.. There were loads of cool ones, silver glitter stones which you could rub onto your skin and get a free glittering (free make up!), white crystal stones, white crystal stones with a silver layer on top and these red stones.. Anybody got any clues as to what type of stones they are?
Anyway, then we hitched back to franz josef glacier, walked to peters pond and took photos of the franz josef glacier reflected in it (wow - was amazing..)
Then we hitched back to the village (its about 4 kms from the glacier - although there are views of it from the village), went to a cafe for carrot cake and I chatted to a few people about tomorrow. I have the day off tomorrow as well and would like to do a scenic flight. they said if there was room I could squeeze on tomorrow. I specifically would like one thats usually $550.. not that I want much huh? I have been booking loads of poeple on helihikes since I did one so that worked for them to put me on one of them! (their $340) if u think most jobs are $10 an hour thats a shit lot of money!
Last night was beautiful too so Ana and I went on the Terrace Walk which has tonnes of glow worms. It was great! NZ is definately getting busier now.. summer season is beginning..
Eva leaves next week. her parents have come over to see her so she is going to go on a tour with them. I'll miss her. She also only has a 1 year visa so has to leave in December, she has been trying to extend it but having no luck. Us English are lucky to get 2 year visas! I would cry if I had to leave in the next couple of months!!
Anyway, has been a long day and am tired.. went on MSN but none of you are awake..! lazy lot!! its 8:15am there so I would have thought at least some of you would be getting to work by now.. I think its 12 hours time difference again now? our clocks just changed - giving us longer summer evenings which is great!
Oh nearly forgot.. we had 3 earthquakes the other night! One was 4 point something on the richter scale and the whole house shook and everything in it.. I think we get lots of mini ones we dont feel all the time. We are apparently due for a big one at some point but I think thats just a scare story to scarr the visitors!!

a crevice that I had to jump over..

More icy caves

Thats what we looked like from a distance trekking around in the snow!

Ico pool like the one I fell in! chilly!!