A bit distracted...in New Zealand, still

Top 10 fave South Island moments from the final week of my Antipodean adventure:

1. Discovering - or rather being cornered into appreciating - the wonder of backbacker lodgings. The Black Sheep in Queenstown is highly recommended.


2. The old gold mining village of Arrowtown, home to a deli selling the greatest (and largest) ice creams on the planet. A legendary eyes-bigger-than-belly moment when one scoop would surely have sufficed


3. Almost getting swept down river whilst half-heartedly panning for gold. Without a pan. Jane found the most microscopic fleck of gold so we called it a successful day


4. Discovering the best thai restaurant in the southern hemisphere (IMHO!), @Thai in Queenstown


5. Home made hash browns in Wanaka


6. A tankard of Speight's Summit Ale, supped with a perfect view over Mount Cook in the afternoon sunshine


7. Sea kayaking on a glacial lake at the base of Mt Cook (or the mountain next door to it) - the pure mountain mineral water tasted amazing, and the sound of the glacier moving was pretty spooky actually


8. The Te Huringa (Turning Points) exhibition of New Zealand art, particularly around colonisation and the preservation/dilution of Maori heritage


9. Quad biking in Hamner Springs - the tiniest town with the largest fun-quota per square inch. And 7km from Rotherham!


10. Soaking the aches and pains from quad biking in the Hamner Springs spa pools. Still not sure why sulpher and mineral pools are good for you though, as they smell pretty bad

Three weeks on, the thought of returning to work is pretty remote. I have resolved to cut down on shoe and pedicure expenditure in order to fund a return visit at the earliest opportunity. Although that resolve will probably last as long as my tan (honestly, I have one - there are lines to prove it!) and the stash of wine I brought back with me.