Te Anau: sweet.

The backpackers is right next to the lake which I can see from my bed (If i turn my head around). This is apparently one of the cheaper rooms but i think i've done pretty well. The lake is awesome and so still and peaceful tonight. Earlier I swung on the swing which someone has tied to a tree right next to the lake. (I'm building up a collection of great swings; Governor's Bay overlooked the beach, Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island and a rope swing (tested on on Christmas day) on Ulva Island.

This evening I cooked some mussels on the barbie with the help of a nice Canadian guy; we'd all picked some mussels from the rocks on the bus ride (Bottom Bus again)up here. I was the first person on my tour to try a raw mussel (not many people did) which i thought tasted pretty much the same as a cooked mussel just a bit colder but as no one else wanted theirs either then or later, i took them home for my tea. Hurrah! I mixed up some lemon and melted butter and salt and pepper (as the guy had told me) and poured it into to the mussels just before they cooked. It was yummy.

We also stopped off on a farm on the way up and did some farm-y type things like feeding lambs and sheep and saw the sheep being round up and some people (including a guy from Congresbury (1 mile from where i grew up for non-Somerset types) sorted them into woolly and sheared. I also had another go at shearing (only four out of 16 people tried it)- I'm not sure I was any better this time but at least i didn't cut the poor ewe although that was probably because the blade was rounded off.

Stewart Island was amazing and was so busy having fun with my new found friends that i forgot that one of the main reasons i wanted to go there was to see the kiwi! We did go out at night to try and look for it but I think our loud talking and singing well and truly scared it off.

P.S Sorry for the lack of individual emails/msgs but thanks to everyone who has sent me one including those anonymous anonymous people who are err anonymous!