I booked a kayaking adventure in Milford Sound that I was excited about when I got up at 6 AM. Unfortunately it turned out that there was a big rainforest storm when I opened my door at the lodge! The kayaking was therefore cancelled and the main road out of there was closed due to rocks, water etc. Instead a guy from the kayaking company invited a girl named Duna from Barcelona and me on a drive to explore the heavy rainfall. He was really excited about the weather because it completely changes the area and creates thousands of new waterfalls.
One of the cruise ships decided to take the risk and sail in the storm, which for the ones that dared being sea sick should be an exceptional experience. I boarded the boat together with a couple from California: Kim and Taren. We didn’t regret that decision!
After playing cards in the lodge the main road opened and Kim, Taren, Noel (an English guy from the lodge) and me drove back to Queenstown.
We had a great road trip and decided to go out for the famous Ferg Burgers and beers later on. Taren even decided to go for a swim in the harbour to save Noel’s camera case - well done :)
Sam made a big Christmas dinner and it was nothing less than fantastic! We had a big ham on the bone with cherries and pineapple, roast pork, kumara, pears, pumpkin, potatoes, apple sauce and gravy. As dessert we had English trifle (a cold dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of custard, jelly and cream), Swiss chocolate and a vegan kiwi chocolate cake (I made the punch). 
Christmas spirit in Christchurch despite of the extensive damage still visible from the 7.1 earthquake on September 4
I made homecooked danish dinner
Fabienne, Sam, Jon (a friend visiting) and Eric
Beautiful Mt. Cook (Aoraki) is the highest mountain in New Zealand, reaching a height of 3,754 metres (12,316 ft). It lies in the Southern Alps, the mountain range which runs the length of the South Island.
I reached Christchurch planning to meet up with a Kiwi friend, but he could't get out of Heathrow due to the show. Then luckily I met Fabienne on McD’s in Christchurch! She's from Switzerland but has lived a couple of years in New Zealand. She invited me to sleep on her coach in a house with 5 other roommates and now I’m actually celebrating Christmas in their house. Sometimes the unexpected experiences are the best ones!
To the left is Yuhong Zang 臧宇鸿 or Eric who made an original Chinese dinner. To the right is Fabienne's boyfriend Sam from Zew Zealand. Thank you guys for making me feel so welcome!
The first thing I saw on their living room table was Danish Butter Cookies. This feels like home:) 
A couple of Irish and Scottish friends came by and Eric and Sam jammed in the shed. I really like their sound so check out their Myspace
