Before i carry on with Fiji i must say something about New Zealand. First of all it is epic, everything about it is epic from the mountains that dominate every skyline to the massive forests everywhere. It is incredible. But i must stop going on about it to tell a small story. Hopefully an explanation for what some of you might know, the hows and the wheres of me and my fateful luggage. Basically it starts in Nelson which is a small 'city' in the North oif the South island. In Nelson we decide to go to the Abel Tasman national park for a 2 day 'walk and kayak' expedition. this consists of a 15 kilometre walk the first day around the coastline then an overnight camp till the next morning where we do a 15 kilometre kayak to where we started. The company we do this with offer a service that transports your large backpacks to the large campsites and back by boat, this is so you can access your backpack but not have to traipse through a national park with it. Alls well and good on the first day, we arrive after a stunning but very tiring walk, at the campsite to find our packs on the beach waiting for us along with the camping equipment we've hired, after an uncomfortable night in a very small tent with only frozen food to eat, we get ready the next morning for our 15km kayak back to the original departure place. We leave our backpacks on the beach where they told us to leave them with all the tags on them and everything perfect. Coincidentally i had placed everything of value in the luggage apart from my watch, thinking that the luggage would be the safer bet as we were taking the day packs in the boat with us. Set off on our trip happy in the belief that when we get to the other side to find our baggage waiting for us. Oh how wrong we were. The kayak was amazing, 15km of stunning scenery, kayaking with baby seals, seeing the smallest penguins in the world and for the final few kilometres pushing against a massive headwind which actually made it all the more fun. Singing the rocky soundtrack and othe such songs while slowly making headway can be oddly exhilirating. Get to our original startpoint, drag our kayaks up the beach, walk to where they're distributing the backpacks that had been transported. Find that ours hadnt made it to the Beach. After a few hasty phonecalls by the kayak people they locate henry's pack in a different place just across the cove. Lucky him. Mine however is now lost presumed stolen. Nice kayak lady is very apologetic and says theyre doing everything they can to find my bag and that this is the first time that anything like this has ever happened to the company before. wow. thanks. ask me to start writing down what was in the bag and whether i have travel insurance etc etc. I set off back for Nelson with only the contents of my backpack and the clothes im wearing, so that is : shorts, tshirt, sandals, pants, hoodie, watch, swimshorts, plasters, wallets and inhaler. The makings of a great gap year. After a very fretful night and after consuming lots of alcohol in order to drown my sorrows i get on the bus the next morning only to be called off it two minutes later by the helpful lady from Fern Lodge (where we're staying) who has the kayak company on the line. They say they've founbd my bag but can't get it to me right away. What to do....... So they decide that posting a 17kg backpack to Franz Josef where i will be staying in four days will be the best way forwards. I disagree but cant do anbything about it so i accept. Four days without any changes of clothes and other such modern amenities, phone, ipod etc ahead.



Anywayyyyyy on with Fiji, where i left off we were about to enter white sandy beach. White sandy beach is definitely the worst place so far, The food was appaling, breakfast was bread and butter, the beach was horrible. The only good memory i have is of the dancing after and the friendly staff there. And so i will skip over it in favour of happier times. Waya Lai Lai. Nothing much happened here until the night time. Fire dancing and bula dancing were all on the menu, we partook in the bula dancing only though.that night an amazing thing happened, Henry introduced himself to another person, actually another 5. Basically it goes like this, I left him at the bar to make a call to the parentals and 20 minutes later i returned to find him at the table with five other Englishes. All from the south of course but nobodies perfect. After a few drinks we started playing some drinking games, and of course we're are the noisiest table around. This always happens. So around three o'clock after everyone else has gone to bed the barman shuts up shop so off we set purchasing 4 more beverages each. We decide then that its gonna be a long night. Also they turned off all the electricity, we are now finding our way round using the lights from our phones. Lots of hilarious stuff happened, i tried to wee off the balcony....security guard shone torch at me. Henry to save the honour of 18 yr olds everywhere had to flip that flop. Basically he had to drink a pint through the curve of a bent flip flop, i had previously refused which was why he had to save our honour. He is a disgusting individual. Went to sleep around 3.30. Woke up at 7.30 to see a cockroach climbing round the inside of my mosquitoe net. safe to say i couldnt get back to sleep. Went down to the deck to await breakfast. Henry was woken around 9 by the screams of many girls as a cockroach flew round the room. He got up at 9.30 after a girl who had only just realise he was there exclaimed 'ohh theres a man in the room why didnt he help us get the cockroach out!' obviously they dont know Henry. Had to get the Yasawa flyer around 11. Worst journey of my life! That boat is appalling at the best of times but in our current states it was tantamount to torture! And so we set off for Manta Ray resort (again) but now once AGAIN I AM RUNNING OUT OF CREDIT AND MUST LEAVE. caps lock, i apologise but au revoirrrrr.