Since arriving in New Zealand on Tuesday I have begun to see how beautiful this country is. We started off with a couple of nights in Christchurch which, as reported in the guidebooks, has a very British feel. The botanical gardens are full of huge old trees and looked absolutely gorgeous dressed in their autumn leaves. Next stop was Aoraki/Mount Cook village which basically consists of a youth hostel, a few hotels and about ten houses. The setting is absolutely spectacular and, being very lucky with the weather, we had amazing views of the surrounding mountains. Despite low lying cloud in the valley we decided to follow a track which took us right up to a ridge. We were rewarded with sunshine, blue sky and a picture perfect view of Mount Cook. It was proper Lord of the Rings country. We have now arrived in Queenstown where we are looking forward to enjoying some of the many outdoor activities on offer. In about an hour from now Matt and I will be hurling ourselves from an aeroplane! I'm so excited! It is a lovely day so we should get pretty fantastic views on our way down. Bring it on!