Okay, so its been ages ages ages since my last update, but as your about to see I've been super busy! As I have so much to write, its not going to be so long winded as the rest, but bare with me, I will get all the main parts in!
So, I last left you when Hat and I were on the Kiwi Experience heading down to Rotoura on the North Island of NZ. That night we went to a Maori evening which was simply amazing! (A little background..) The Maori were the first to inhabit NZ and lots are still there to this day, although they have 'inbred' with the Europeans, there tradition and culture still lives on and we were lucky enough to be shown first hand how they lived. The night ended with a feast...a feast is many an understatement, is was....amazing. it was been cooked underground (their tradition) but still tasted the same and by the end of the night we were fit to burst! On our high, we headed to the local bar for a drink and run down of the nights events. Unbeknown to us it was open mic and a lovely young man took the stage. he was obviously a regular as he seemed to know all the locals and bar staff, and during the end of his set, he asked is anyone knew the words to 'Tribute'..you all must know this....by Tenacious D.. What did my loyal bestest bud do? Yup, managed to get the WHOLE bar to cheer my name in an attempt for me to go on stage and wack out a song. Absolutely NOT! This went on for about 2 minutes until I got the point across that I didnt know all the words and as much as I would like Vodka on tap, I just couldnt take the plunge! (I do later on in the week though....)
We had an early start the next day to Taupo, and on the way stopped at 'Huka Falls'..pronounced 'Hooker Falls' Waterfall, called this due to a prostitute killing someone and throwing them over the edge in a suitcase aided by her pimp....you know, that old chestnut of a story! Anyway, onwards from there, we arrived at Taupo and immediatly dropped our bags and headed for our main activity that we had wanted to do all trip.....SKY DIVE! The limo...yes limo, was meant to pick us up at 2.10pm...we were waiting outside from 2pm, and in the space of about 15 minutes, i smoked three ciggies, drank a litre of water, and didnt stop talking. The nerve had well and truly taken over! We were picked up and driven out to the jump site. After decideding to Man up and jump 15000ft in stead of 12000ft we felt ready to take on the world. Kitted out and......cancelled. The night had hit us too fast and there wasnt enough sun for the final plane load to go up. Devastated in an understatement! After all that built up and adrenaline, we couldnt go! So we pilled back into the limo, ready to return first thing in the morning. Which we did....
Hamish had arrived into Taupo the night before, so came with us to the jump site the next morning as our designated video/camera man! We both were assigned our instructor and pushed into the tiny pink plane! When we had reached what I deemed was an appropriate hight, I asked my instructor how high we were, expecting him to say that the 12000ft jumpers would be jumping any moment now.....no...only 3000ft...another 12 to go. The oxogen masks went on and up we flew....7000....8....9...finally we reached 12000ft and the 2 men (yes men, the men jumped at 12 and the girls went on to 15....'nuff said') jumped. Blink and you would have missed it, they were sucked out the plane and gone! I was meant to jump before Hat but something went wrong with the oxogen so Hattie jumped first..never been so nervous in my life! I felt slightly better after she had gone, but I had zero choice in the matter as to whether I could change my mind and jump or not..i was gone! The first few seconds are a blur, your so disorienated about whats just happend your not really with it...but as soon as I got my balance and my instructor tapped my shoulders, I knew we were okay and I could open my arms and fly! It took about 10 minutes to get to the ground, and there was Hattie, red faced and dazed, and Hamish in the viewing zone snapping away. We bought our DVD's, photo's and T shirt....(so now we really can say...been there, done that, got the T shirt)...
The next day we left for River Valley for those who were keen on white water rafting to do some of that while the rest of us relaxed in front of the hostels huge open fire...this is the idea of heaven for a traveller! We slept in what they called 'Orgy rooms'....16 people to a room...shoulder to shoulder with the person next to you, literally! Everyone boycotted the showers that night...even for a backpacker, showers in tin cans, outside in the freezing cold is slightly asking a bit much, but at least we all could be smelly together!
Next day we arrived in Wellington and straight away noticed our money had depleted more than we had planned. So what did we do? We everyone in that exact situation would have done. We took what we had and got totally smashed! As we were only in Wellington for one night...arriving at 6pm, and leaving at 7am, i remember nothing from the whole time we were there..shame really. Next time, next time....
We got the Ferry the next morning from wellington and this was maybe the worst 3 hours of my life to date. Hattie and I watched each other go from pale faced to green faced in a matter of seconds as we both stubbled around the ferry looking for the most stable area. We were one mark on the sea monitor board away from Storm conditions..just to give you the right picture! We eventually found somewhere we deemed suitable, tied our hoodies over our eyes, vomit bag in hand and tried to sleep.
We then went from Picton (where the ferry docked) to Kiteriteri for the night, then on to westport for the night. We arrived in westport in the worst rain we had had all trip. Before this point, our bus had been relativley tame. No drama, no scandal..pretty much a normal bunch of people. I don't know whether it was the rain, or westport that changed us but that night we were flying. The drinking games started early, but slowly, and by 9pm we were on top of the world. All 35 of us. The last thing I remember was being in a pub trying to hand hattie a drink but being held back by someone telling me that another drink was the last thing she needed...
Feeling worse for wear and everyone trying to piece together the night before we jumped on the bus the next morning and headed for Lake Mahinapua for a fancy dress evening. This is one of the most famous things you can do in the Kiwi Exp and so we all had high expectations, and due to the content of alcohol consumed the previous night, it didnt take much for us to top us the levels we had lost during the day and be right back to where we were, so not much more I can tell you about that evening either. Such a lad!
Next day we headed to Franz Josef, via a possum Museum...little history again now..the possums were introduced into NZ in an attempted to establish a fur industry but they multiplied (keeping it PG) faster than anyone imagined. Every night 70 million possums chomp there way through about 20,000 tonnes of vegetation, so as you can imagine, the Kiwi's are not happy.
Franz Josef has a population of about 200 people, so basically lives of the tourists passing through during the summer and winter seasons. We booked our selves in to go Glacier Hiking! As the Glacier is moving so fast, about a metre a day, its now deemed unsafe to walk from the bottom, So naturally a helicopter must be used. We were flown up to the half way point, and hiked from there.
The next day was a big day...a big day day...MY BIRTHDAY! Im now the ripe old age of 2.....never! Im now too old to reveal my age. Anyway, an early start from Franz Josef didn't phase Hattie in the slightest, and she wasted no time in making her way up to the front of the coach to lead the birthday songs...she's a keeper. She had even organised a big meal that night, a card signed by the whole bus, and 6 cupcakes with candles which was brought out after our meal. She even offered to let me sit by the window on the bus...isn't she nice? She really made my day so Hats...THANK YOU. That evening (still my bday) we all went from the meal to a bar to end the day on a high. It just so happened that that night 3 other tour buses were in town and so 'battle of the buses' was underway! We managed to enter last minute and had our eye on the prize! The first round was a quiz, second round was a singing contest and third and final round was a dance off. You'd think between 35 of us we would of managed to win the quiz...but no, a group of 10 won. Swots. Now, I dont know how many of you know this, but I do a mean Eminem 'Just loose it' preformance. So with a good 7 Gin and Tonic's down me, I headed for the stage to take my place as the singing rep from the Kiwi Bus. I gathered my possy (35 drunk unemployed bums) around the stage and signalled to the DJ to 'SPIN THAT SH**' ................... We won the singing, but lost the quiz and the dancing, despite the efforts of the welsh boy on the bus doing his best pole dancing.
The next day we headed for Queenstown, this was to be our last day on the bus with everyone so was emotional all round! We stopped by the lake in Qtown for the traditional group photo with the Kiwi Exp Sign and then on to the hostels. The next 3 days were spend there, sight seeing and wandering around aimlessly. We experienced the famous Ferg Burger too. WOW. I would walk back to Qtwon for another one of those. if you dont know what it is...google it. NOW.
We left Queenstown early to get to Christchurch on time as it was a 8 hour drive which noone was looking forward to. We arrived into Christchurch and checked in to our hostel, desperate to feel an earthquake or some kind of tremor. Hamish had already arranged to meet us there so once we had a big reunion catch up, his cousin came to pick us up and give us a guided tour of C'church. it was pretty spectacular, we saw all the damage the quake had done and seeing the city centre almost non existant was a big shock. We stayed in C church for two nights with the plan to spend the third night in the airport due to our early flight to Aus. Luckily for us, the all Blacks were playing in our flinal night in C church, so like true Kiwi's, we got dressed up, (including the face paint) and headed to a local bar to bring in the celebrations! After the nail biting match had finished we headed over to the airport where we all said our goodbyes and boarded our 6.15am flight to Melbourne.
Due to ZERO sleep in the airport and now without sleep for well over 24 hours we slept the whole small 3 hours over to Aus. Drama.com hit us at the airport though. I blame the lack of sleep mixed with the excitement of touching down in a new country... As we had gone through passport control and were grabbing our morning coffees at a little cafe, we...or should I say..Hattie...noticed that part of her bag was missing. The big part...the main part...basically her whole bag. She was wheeling around something the size of a makeup bag behind her and neither of us clicked. FINALLY, we managed to find someone who could fix this little error of ours and had to hang around for a good 3 hours for it to be returned! We then headed into melbourne City Centre.
Now, as most of you may or may not know, both Hattie and I were born and bred on a working Farm. we may not talk the talk, but we know a good few of the old dance moves. We are currently in Australia in the Outback working on a ranch for some family friends of mine, returning to our roots. Saying that, weve been here for four days and as we sit here, neither of us can move due to stiffness. Even my poor finger tips are in agony typing. We've been THE BEST farm hands ever! We've been gassing rabbits, looking after lambs, cows, horses and chickens. 3 young Children to entertain is also part of our challenge. We've been given our own truck to roll around in..really living the cow girl life. All we need is a bit of straw and a hat and we're off! The nearest city is 3 hours away, so we really are in the complete middle of nowhere!We did a bit of clearing out of some of the long lost parts of the house too, and during one of our sessions we came across the Station's old guest book. The reason why we are here is my Mum did this when she was my age, a little older, just before she married Dad, and so it was kind of inevitable that I ended up here too. Anyway, in the guest book we scrolled back to 1986, and there she was, Mum's signature, Had a little tear in my eye as I saw Mum's writing and her comments she left. All got a bit overwhelming, so a strong cup of tea was needed.
So, thats what we have been up to for the last 2-3 weeks or so. Hope you forgive me for not updating earlier. Now, for a guest star Ladies and gents. I've been doing all the updating while hattie sits here and sucks her thumb pointing out my spelling/grammar mistakes. Not fair eh? So, its high time she had a little say in all this....Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, I give you..the one and only, Harriet Sophie Hugheston - Roberts.
HATZ! How're you going?
Very well ta, just loving life. You know me, if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. That's just how I live my life basically. I always follow that simple motto. How you going?
Lets make this about you shall we? So, whats been your fav part of our trip so far....?
*Favourite. Um...the sky dive was pretty amazing. Something I won't be forgetting in a hurry. Westport was..different for reasons I can't explain on here (forgive me Lucy, I'll explain when I see you sweetcheeks) The Glacier too was just breathtaking. The Helicopter up was what made it really. I'll be sure to invest in one of those bad boys when I grow up. Just something small to get around in. Our nights out on the Kiwi experience were just unforgettable, mostly forgettable due to memory loss but still...those little blank patches of those nights are beautiful ones.
Please leave my Mum out of this. Okay, whats been the funniest part of our trip?
Watching you my dear Charlotte on your birthday rap to the words of Eminem was quite possibly the best thing since the Aga was invented. You were on top form that night (due to my generous flow of G & T's, you're welcome) watching you with your little fans belt away "boy shake that arse" was what I could only describe as what dreams are made of. Also in Auckland when we couldn't cross a puddle without getting ourselves completely drenched still makes me laugh out loud right now.
Classic us. Whats been the most memorable part of this trip so far? A day or something that has stood out and whenever anyone says the word 'travelling' this will come to mind.....
Our adrenaline fuelled day in Taupo was impressive. 3rd June will forever be a very special day for the rest of my life. When someone says the word 'travelling' to me I'll think of you and swiftly vomit due to being around you for so long. I'm joking of course Lucy, I love your daughter. You've made this travelling amazing Ding, I couldn't of done half the amazing things we did (literally, broke.com) You've been the best company and the bestest friend everest. Thank you for making my Fiji, New Zealand and Australia adventures life changing. I'm going home a completely different person and you're to blame. (in a good way)
Sorry- a bit of an emotional moment going on this end.
And on that note, we need to go to bed. Early morning with the Lambs tomorrow. Standard.
Next blog soon, pwomise!
C xx
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Another Update...
Ahhh SO SO SO much to tell....So little time! Hostels around the world must make more money from people using the internet than renting rooms.
Anyway, What was the last thing I mentioned? Ah Yes, our friend in NZ taking us out and about.
So Hattie and I landed safe and sound in NZ, did our own little bit of tourism, then planned to meet Hamish (he used to be a Gappy at our School) who was going to show us a bit of Aucklands night life. He arrived to pick us up from our hostel and drove us to his, which is about 20 mins from the city, right across Auckland bridge which is amazing! It just so happened that that night was a 'State of Origin' Match...im no massive rugby fan, but men in tight shorts was enough to ensure Hattie and I felt right at home! Hamish had pulled out all the stops, lots of people, lots of booze and a lot of keen rugby fans! Once the game had finished and everyone was well and truley...happy shall we say, (Mums reading this) we headed into town and had a great night!
The next day, we had a little sleep in, then headed back to Hamish's to help clear up after the night before (we're nice like that). He then bundled us into his car and drove us to an unknown place..known to him of course, but we were to know nothing! He made us close our eyes, and he drove. Now, bare in mind we had had a pretty good night the night before, and now being blind in a car which was driving almost vertically up in a spiral...this was an accident waiting to happen! Pale was an understatement, Hattie thought this was hillarious, but for those of you who suffer from bad car sickness anyway, this was BAD! We eventually stopped and Hamish helped us both out the car (eyes still shut), he lead us over to where he wanted us and told us to open our eyes. WOW. He had driven us to the top of Mt Victoria in Auckland. Google it, or Google the views. This was at about 5pm, so sunset was just happening and we were on top of the world...so it seemed! The view was amazing, just breathe taking! (Photos to come..watch facebook!) We then all climed back into the car and drove around the suburbs of Auckland, stopping at various places to be classic tourists and take lots of photos and videos! We had had a very eventful day so Fish and Chips and a DVD that night at Hamish's was just what we needed (really living it up Kiwi style!).
The next morning, we had a very early start to catch the Kiwi Bus. We are doing the Kiwi Experience, which is basically a hop on hop off bus tour all the way up and down NZ. This was our first trip, and it was to the Bay of Islands. We met the Bus at 7am from Auckland head office, and arrived into the Bay just after midday. The Bay of Islands had 149 islands (duh) and a lot of them can be seen from the main land. We quickly signed up to do a cruise to see the islands and of course the dolphins! We boarded the Cruise Ship, and were immediatly met by at least 20 Dolphins surrounding us, sadly there was a baby in the bunch so we couldnt get in and swim with them as they would have got a bit protective, but it was amazing all the same! We then saw the famous Hole in The rock (google it if you dont know what it is), but to see it in real life is really pretty spectcualr! After our lovely Cruise, we came back to the hostel, napped, then headed out for the BBQ with our fellow backpackers.
The next day...another early start! We headed up to Cape Reinga, which is the most northen point in NZ. (The locals beleive that once they die, thier spirit passes through the Cape before heading on to..wherever they go..discussion for another time!) Its also where the two seas meet..the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman sea and you can actually see the two currents carshing together, pretty amazing stuff eh?! We also went dune riding...this is where you hike (not walk...hike) to the top of a massive sand dune and while laying on a board, slide all the way back down. Speed picks up pretty fast so thats Harriets excuse for falling off..(its not, but dont argue with her.) Then came the famous 90 mile beach which we drove all the way down, from top to bottom just before the tide came in, so it was a race agaisnt time!
We had booked to go parasialing the next day, but due to the weather (i know, rain in NZ... WHAT?) it was cancelled, so we all grouped in the hostel common room and wacthed a film before boarding the bus back to Auckland. Buy this point we were massivley missing our new Kiwi Pals and Auckland City so decided to stay an extra 3 nights with Hamish. Are you ready for the next bit? CUTEST THING..ever.
Ready?!
We arrived back in Auckland at around 6.30pm, and had arranged that Hamish would pick us up. But we arrived and no sign on him...15 mins later...still no sign, just as we were about to find a hostel, a horn beeps. Its him. Out he gets in......... a suit, all dressed up and ready to go! Just as we ran over to say hello,l I turned to hattie and reminded her how I had guessed that he would do something like this..all that was missing was the flowe....oh....whats that? Yup, on the seats in the car were two flowers, one for each of us. Needless to say, Hattie fell in Love there and then. Il come to that later...!!!! We headed back to Hamishes to find that he had cooked us the most amazing meal, which was demolished pretty quickly! Ham, if your reading this WE LOVE YOU!
The next day we headed out with Hamish to do some serious tourist stuff. He missed placement (which i dont condone by the way) but thank god he did as we had the best day! We drove around and found a little beach in the middle of nowhere, where we also befriended a cat! Had a good photo session then headed off for yet another suprise. All hamish told us that it was on the West coast. 40 Mins later we arrived at the most amazing waterfall ever! We managed to find our way through the bushes to the bottom of this amazing waterfall, then on to a pretty disserted beach (to get to the beach, we had a cross a river. It was only about 2 inches deep but Hattie and I had alot of trouble getting to the other side. Shoes soaked. Clothes soaked. Pride gone.) Hattie unable to breathe through laughing somehow made her way to the other side and we got to the beach! After an hour or so there and Hamish having a close brush with death, we headed back.
Hamish had Exams the next day, so hat and I were totally on our own. No fear, our sense of direction is impecciable so we had no worries.....ish. We jumped on a bus to the city centre and managed to find our way to a Cruise information desk. Bought a ticket and off we went! We cruised around Auckland with a breif stop at an inhabitated island just off Auckland. Just as we were about to stop, the captain came over the speaker and told us that we had to be back at the boat on time as they regularly leave passagers behind. Great, nice to know. I did mention that this was INHABITATED didnt i? As worried as I am? Good! Well, Hattie and I had the FASTEST tour we have ever had, we literally ran to a bench, took a photo, ran to the pier, took a photo, ooh'ed and ahh'ed abit then sprinted back to the boat. Absolutly not getting left behind, we had never moved so fast in our lives! We got off the cruise, back to the Main land and headed towards Sky Tower, which was pretty easy to find being the biggest building in Auckland. We arrived and went straight to the Sky Tower Jump information. Oh yes. I booked in there and then! Before I knew it, I was kitted out and stood outside at the top of Sky Tower with a 200meter drop below me. Oh God. Hattie had been taking off to meet me at the 'landing point'..so..heres hoping! The girls at the top gave me no time to change my mind and before I knew it i was head first off the edge with nothing but concrete below me! (Video is on FB if you havn't already seen it!) 11 Seconds of Free fall and just before you hit the ground, you slow down and manage to get into a landing position. Well worth 200 dollers! I bought photos and the video and off we went, adrenaline pumping, ready to take on the world! We arrived back at Hamishes late afternoon, showered and off to the shops. I'd volunteered to cook that night as everyone had been so nice to let us stay. So the pressure was well and truly on. After Supper...another surprise! We had to dress as if we were 'going to a bar' and Hamish, his housemate, Jaz, Hatte and I left for...who knows! BOWLING! We parked in the bowling carpark, so over excited, and biggiing up our bowling game. I lost....by a lot, very unlike me. Jaz 3rd, Hattie 2nd ( i know right) and Hamish 1st. Classic. We then went out for a drink, came home and slept ready for another early start the next day.
We had an emotional farewell the next morning as Hattie and I climbed on the Kiwi Bus to start making our way South. We arrived at Hot Water Beach, pretty tired and so we had a chilled afternoon, had supper then slept. 6.45am Start the next moring to explore the famous hot water beach...which is literally....hot water at a beach. We all walked from the hostel to the beach to dig some hot tubs and make our early morning worth while! We couldnt find any spades so we decided that even standing in the sand was satisfaction enough for us! The water was boiling! It came from under the sand and you could actually see the boiling bubbles from the water. The idea was to dig a big hole, wait for the cold water to run in (as its just too hot to get in) then youve created your hot tub! In actually fact, by the time youve dug a big enough hole, the water from the sea comes and moves all the sand back into the hole. So we stood and watched everyones attempt! Good effort though!
We then left Hot Water Beach and made our way down the East Cost to Waitomo, where we had booked in to do some Caving. We were put in a group of 7 girls and given a wetsuit, helpmet, waterproof socks and shoes, thrown into the back of a bus then off we went! We got out by a river and were giving our rubber rings. The way to know if they fit was to see if they stayed placed on your bum while you walked around/bent over. We had decided that ours fit perfectly. Our guide then lead us to a jetti, told us to turn around and jump in (landing on our rings). Took a good 5 mins for the first person to get up the courage to do it, and after that the rest followed suit. We arrived at the caves, which was pitch black, thank god for our head tourches! We jumped down water falls, squeezed through tiny tiny holes and floated through the freash water caves looking at the ceiling which was covered in glow worms. it was amazing, obviously, but we were freezing by the end of it and the guide definatly did NOT like our group. We wanted to have a good time, take our time, see the worms and try everything we could not to jump 4 meteres backwards down a waterfall which our rings wedged to our bums. Would you? Na. Needless to say, we made it out the other end after 3 hours in the caves. The provided us with hot drinks and soup afterwards, we got some photos and headed back to our hostel. This morning we had a slight lie in, so left at 9.45am and headed to where we are now, Rotorua, which is pretty much central of the North Island of NZ. Tonight we have signed up to have a Maori concert and meal. The Maori, are the first people to inhabited NZ and take thier culture v seriously, so they are keen to teach as many people as poss all about thier heritage!
So, to summarise the last few weeks, weve been diving with sharks, Ive jumped off Sky Tower, Hattie and Hamish have fallen in L-o-v-e, weve been caving, sightseeing to the extreme, boarded down sand dunes and the rest....
Tomorrow...the big SKY DIVE!
Anyway, What was the last thing I mentioned? Ah Yes, our friend in NZ taking us out and about.
So Hattie and I landed safe and sound in NZ, did our own little bit of tourism, then planned to meet Hamish (he used to be a Gappy at our School) who was going to show us a bit of Aucklands night life. He arrived to pick us up from our hostel and drove us to his, which is about 20 mins from the city, right across Auckland bridge which is amazing! It just so happened that that night was a 'State of Origin' Match...im no massive rugby fan, but men in tight shorts was enough to ensure Hattie and I felt right at home! Hamish had pulled out all the stops, lots of people, lots of booze and a lot of keen rugby fans! Once the game had finished and everyone was well and truley...happy shall we say, (Mums reading this) we headed into town and had a great night!
The next day, we had a little sleep in, then headed back to Hamish's to help clear up after the night before (we're nice like that). He then bundled us into his car and drove us to an unknown place..known to him of course, but we were to know nothing! He made us close our eyes, and he drove. Now, bare in mind we had had a pretty good night the night before, and now being blind in a car which was driving almost vertically up in a spiral...this was an accident waiting to happen! Pale was an understatement, Hattie thought this was hillarious, but for those of you who suffer from bad car sickness anyway, this was BAD! We eventually stopped and Hamish helped us both out the car (eyes still shut), he lead us over to where he wanted us and told us to open our eyes. WOW. He had driven us to the top of Mt Victoria in Auckland. Google it, or Google the views. This was at about 5pm, so sunset was just happening and we were on top of the world...so it seemed! The view was amazing, just breathe taking! (Photos to come..watch facebook!) We then all climed back into the car and drove around the suburbs of Auckland, stopping at various places to be classic tourists and take lots of photos and videos! We had had a very eventful day so Fish and Chips and a DVD that night at Hamish's was just what we needed (really living it up Kiwi style!).
The next morning, we had a very early start to catch the Kiwi Bus. We are doing the Kiwi Experience, which is basically a hop on hop off bus tour all the way up and down NZ. This was our first trip, and it was to the Bay of Islands. We met the Bus at 7am from Auckland head office, and arrived into the Bay just after midday. The Bay of Islands had 149 islands (duh) and a lot of them can be seen from the main land. We quickly signed up to do a cruise to see the islands and of course the dolphins! We boarded the Cruise Ship, and were immediatly met by at least 20 Dolphins surrounding us, sadly there was a baby in the bunch so we couldnt get in and swim with them as they would have got a bit protective, but it was amazing all the same! We then saw the famous Hole in The rock (google it if you dont know what it is), but to see it in real life is really pretty spectcualr! After our lovely Cruise, we came back to the hostel, napped, then headed out for the BBQ with our fellow backpackers.
The next day...another early start! We headed up to Cape Reinga, which is the most northen point in NZ. (The locals beleive that once they die, thier spirit passes through the Cape before heading on to..wherever they go..discussion for another time!) Its also where the two seas meet..the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman sea and you can actually see the two currents carshing together, pretty amazing stuff eh?! We also went dune riding...this is where you hike (not walk...hike) to the top of a massive sand dune and while laying on a board, slide all the way back down. Speed picks up pretty fast so thats Harriets excuse for falling off..(its not, but dont argue with her.) Then came the famous 90 mile beach which we drove all the way down, from top to bottom just before the tide came in, so it was a race agaisnt time!
We had booked to go parasialing the next day, but due to the weather (i know, rain in NZ... WHAT?) it was cancelled, so we all grouped in the hostel common room and wacthed a film before boarding the bus back to Auckland. Buy this point we were massivley missing our new Kiwi Pals and Auckland City so decided to stay an extra 3 nights with Hamish. Are you ready for the next bit? CUTEST THING..ever.
Ready?!
We arrived back in Auckland at around 6.30pm, and had arranged that Hamish would pick us up. But we arrived and no sign on him...15 mins later...still no sign, just as we were about to find a hostel, a horn beeps. Its him. Out he gets in......... a suit, all dressed up and ready to go! Just as we ran over to say hello,l I turned to hattie and reminded her how I had guessed that he would do something like this..all that was missing was the flowe....oh....whats that? Yup, on the seats in the car were two flowers, one for each of us. Needless to say, Hattie fell in Love there and then. Il come to that later...!!!! We headed back to Hamishes to find that he had cooked us the most amazing meal, which was demolished pretty quickly! Ham, if your reading this WE LOVE YOU!
The next day we headed out with Hamish to do some serious tourist stuff. He missed placement (which i dont condone by the way) but thank god he did as we had the best day! We drove around and found a little beach in the middle of nowhere, where we also befriended a cat! Had a good photo session then headed off for yet another suprise. All hamish told us that it was on the West coast. 40 Mins later we arrived at the most amazing waterfall ever! We managed to find our way through the bushes to the bottom of this amazing waterfall, then on to a pretty disserted beach (to get to the beach, we had a cross a river. It was only about 2 inches deep but Hattie and I had alot of trouble getting to the other side. Shoes soaked. Clothes soaked. Pride gone.) Hattie unable to breathe through laughing somehow made her way to the other side and we got to the beach! After an hour or so there and Hamish having a close brush with death, we headed back.
Hamish had Exams the next day, so hat and I were totally on our own. No fear, our sense of direction is impecciable so we had no worries.....ish. We jumped on a bus to the city centre and managed to find our way to a Cruise information desk. Bought a ticket and off we went! We cruised around Auckland with a breif stop at an inhabitated island just off Auckland. Just as we were about to stop, the captain came over the speaker and told us that we had to be back at the boat on time as they regularly leave passagers behind. Great, nice to know. I did mention that this was INHABITATED didnt i? As worried as I am? Good! Well, Hattie and I had the FASTEST tour we have ever had, we literally ran to a bench, took a photo, ran to the pier, took a photo, ooh'ed and ahh'ed abit then sprinted back to the boat. Absolutly not getting left behind, we had never moved so fast in our lives! We got off the cruise, back to the Main land and headed towards Sky Tower, which was pretty easy to find being the biggest building in Auckland. We arrived and went straight to the Sky Tower Jump information. Oh yes. I booked in there and then! Before I knew it, I was kitted out and stood outside at the top of Sky Tower with a 200meter drop below me. Oh God. Hattie had been taking off to meet me at the 'landing point'..so..heres hoping! The girls at the top gave me no time to change my mind and before I knew it i was head first off the edge with nothing but concrete below me! (Video is on FB if you havn't already seen it!) 11 Seconds of Free fall and just before you hit the ground, you slow down and manage to get into a landing position. Well worth 200 dollers! I bought photos and the video and off we went, adrenaline pumping, ready to take on the world! We arrived back at Hamishes late afternoon, showered and off to the shops. I'd volunteered to cook that night as everyone had been so nice to let us stay. So the pressure was well and truly on. After Supper...another surprise! We had to dress as if we were 'going to a bar' and Hamish, his housemate, Jaz, Hatte and I left for...who knows! BOWLING! We parked in the bowling carpark, so over excited, and biggiing up our bowling game. I lost....by a lot, very unlike me. Jaz 3rd, Hattie 2nd ( i know right) and Hamish 1st. Classic. We then went out for a drink, came home and slept ready for another early start the next day.
We had an emotional farewell the next morning as Hattie and I climbed on the Kiwi Bus to start making our way South. We arrived at Hot Water Beach, pretty tired and so we had a chilled afternoon, had supper then slept. 6.45am Start the next moring to explore the famous hot water beach...which is literally....hot water at a beach. We all walked from the hostel to the beach to dig some hot tubs and make our early morning worth while! We couldnt find any spades so we decided that even standing in the sand was satisfaction enough for us! The water was boiling! It came from under the sand and you could actually see the boiling bubbles from the water. The idea was to dig a big hole, wait for the cold water to run in (as its just too hot to get in) then youve created your hot tub! In actually fact, by the time youve dug a big enough hole, the water from the sea comes and moves all the sand back into the hole. So we stood and watched everyones attempt! Good effort though!
We then left Hot Water Beach and made our way down the East Cost to Waitomo, where we had booked in to do some Caving. We were put in a group of 7 girls and given a wetsuit, helpmet, waterproof socks and shoes, thrown into the back of a bus then off we went! We got out by a river and were giving our rubber rings. The way to know if they fit was to see if they stayed placed on your bum while you walked around/bent over. We had decided that ours fit perfectly. Our guide then lead us to a jetti, told us to turn around and jump in (landing on our rings). Took a good 5 mins for the first person to get up the courage to do it, and after that the rest followed suit. We arrived at the caves, which was pitch black, thank god for our head tourches! We jumped down water falls, squeezed through tiny tiny holes and floated through the freash water caves looking at the ceiling which was covered in glow worms. it was amazing, obviously, but we were freezing by the end of it and the guide definatly did NOT like our group. We wanted to have a good time, take our time, see the worms and try everything we could not to jump 4 meteres backwards down a waterfall which our rings wedged to our bums. Would you? Na. Needless to say, we made it out the other end after 3 hours in the caves. The provided us with hot drinks and soup afterwards, we got some photos and headed back to our hostel. This morning we had a slight lie in, so left at 9.45am and headed to where we are now, Rotorua, which is pretty much central of the North Island of NZ. Tonight we have signed up to have a Maori concert and meal. The Maori, are the first people to inhabited NZ and take thier culture v seriously, so they are keen to teach as many people as poss all about thier heritage!
So, to summarise the last few weeks, weve been diving with sharks, Ive jumped off Sky Tower, Hattie and Hamish have fallen in L-o-v-e, weve been caving, sightseeing to the extreme, boarded down sand dunes and the rest....
Tomorrow...the big SKY DIVE!
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Travel Blog. Week 1-3
Instead of writing hauds of emails, it does make much more sense to start a little blog about my travels. Where ive been/am. What ive done, who Ive met etc.
Im currency sat in the internet room in a hostel in Auckland City Centre, New Zealand. No time like the present to start my blog! So here goes...
I finished my Ski Season at the end of April. I was away for 5 months, which was great, but hard to be away from Family and friends for so long. This stint, is 8 months away. Missing family loads but luckily, got my best friend with me. Hattie. I hadnt seen Hattie for almost 6 months (She flew to Austraila, a month before i came back from Switzerland) so our plan was to meet at Nadi Airport in Fiji on the 10th May 2012.
I left London on the 8th May, 8 months of my life packed up in a tiny suitcase (I say tiny..I dont travel light, so 20kg for me is amazing!). I flew from London to Los Angeles (10 Hours flight) Then had a 6 hour wait at LA, before I boarded an 11 Hour flight to Fiji. I airrived in Fiji, 5.30am Local time. The heat, the second I walked off the plane was more than noticable.I made my way to passport control, where the passengers were met by a all male singing group welcoming them into the airport. Hattie's flight was meant to arrive around 20 mins after mine, so I planned to wait in baggage reclaim for our big reunion. I got through passport control (always a nervous prospect) and took the escalators down to baggage reclaim. As i stood at the top, there at the bottom was Hattie. Never have I wheld up so much is such a short space of time. Our reunion was something like the opening scenes of love actually-embarressing when we look back on it, but meeehh.
Our transfer was waiting for us in arrivals and we made our way outside to the car. A very swish black mercedes. I would just like to point out that this is not how we plan to travel the whole way, Fiji is the one place we have splashed out for and this was exactly what we wanted! The driver was great, he really was our personal guide as we started the 2.30 hours drive to our hotel. The weather was great, (like a sweet humid feel to the air..?) We had a break after an hour and a half and stopped at a local town market. Whites are very much respected and treated like royalty there. The people who worked in the shop, followed us around (about 4 of them) Carrying our purchases, and offering us anything to drink or eat. Anythiing we stopped by, they would linger behind us then follow again. We didnt really know what to do at first (did we have to dismiss them?) but we made friends and it all slightly relaxed a little.
We arrived at the hotel and WOW. Better than what we expected. The Pearl, South Pacific, was everything we thought it would be and more. Please do google it. We checked in, had a walk on the beach, had some lunch and cockatils (as one does) and explored our new home for the next 2 weeks.
Hattie had done her Open water diving qualification in Aus, so i was behind and was desperate to go diving with sharks. So i booked myself into do a 4 day course and started there and then! We did four shark dives over the course of the 2 weeks. Your thinking in cages right? Nope! Boat lowered anchor and we kitted up, and jumped in! 24 ft down to another world, where bull sharks, tiger sharks, lemon sharks, nurse sharks and more were awaiting us. One would be swimming over you as another below you and another beside you. A good 30 odd were down there. Along with all the other amazing marine life. I have never quite been so in awe. Hat and I had already made up our own sign language so it was hart to keep breathing and not laugh as we had a giggle under the water. Feeders were also down there to feed to sharls (stopping them from eating us). We got so close to them that you could see there war wounds from various battles they had obviously encountered! During my first dive, one of the feeders swam up to me and grabbed my arm and started pulling me into deeper water...towwards the bins they were feeding from. HELL NO! I didnt really understand what was happening so pulled away, he made me look at him and singed to me that it was OK and to trust him. did i have a choice? I followed him down, where at least 15 sharks were on top of each other desperatly trying to get to the food. These sharks were as big at 14ft. hugeee! Was he going to feed me to them?! At more than twice my size, the likely hood was large. But no, as the swarm of sharls dissapeared, a nurse shark (very calm, slow shark) was looking very sorry for itself at the bottom after being trampled by the Bull Sharks. The feeder signed to me that it was okay to touch it, and slowly took my hand and ran it over this 10ft nurse shark. It was very very rough, not like a sharks skin looks, but the nurse seemed totally fine with being played with, and we had a ball!
The two weeks in Fiji also consisted of numerous appointments at the hotel Spa. we had head massages, exfoliating procedures, full body massages and the rest. The weather wasnt as great as we hoped (rained about half the time we were there) but we found lots of things to do! We were invited to dine at a function evening the hotel was having by one of the guests, who actually runs the night. Rude not to go right? 90 dollers a head, for 6 courses and wine to match each course. Safe to say we were flying by the end of the night. The lead singer from the band then appraoched us and ask us to come outside and try some of Fiji's National drink...Cava, He told us it was a mild narcotic, but we would be fine. It sounds dodgy but we trusted him and off we went to try some! DISGUSTING! Tastes like soil and not what we expected. Hattie finished hers but I have to admit, I didnt. He asked us what we did, where we were from ect, and said we were perfect canditates to come and do some aid work in Fiji, which he is director of. So we swopped contacts details and made out way back to our room waiting for this 'mild narcostic' to sink in. We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow, so maybe that was meant to happen?
We also had a day out in Suva City, which is about an hour from our Hotel. we were pre warned that we would be appraoched by scam artists (if thats what you would call them?) who would have on fake badges and offer to show us the city...and right on que, the second we stepped outside the main shopping mall, we were pounced on by a man who claimed he was from manchester and knows what the brits want to see and to follow him. If we was from manchester (and he claimed to go back there all the time) surly he could offered to have teeth instead of a flight across the world? Just a thought. So we decided the mall was the safest place for us and we spent our time trying on jewrelly we couldnt afford and pretending our 'Mum' would come back and pay for it. Well..When in Fiji....?
The Fijians really are THE most amazing people and they have such a strong culture. (something to do with four brothers and a sister coming ovr from south africa?) we discovered this during a 'Cava session', as they call it, with our scuba instructers who were so kind and so eager to tell us aout fiji and its history!
Our flight to NZ was booked for early morning on the 22nd May. So on the 21st we said goodbye to our amazing 5star hotel on the coral coast of Fiji (after a HUGE bill..slightly more than we hoped but truly worth every penny) and made our way to Nadi (the capital) for our last night in a hotel close to the aiprot. We really did come back down to reality with a bump! But it was due, from living like queens and kings to being eaten alive by god knows what bugs, in a slightly less....looked after room. We checked out at 5am on the 22nd (came downstairs to find the security guard asleep at the TV..I kid you not) and got a taxi to the airport for our 8.45am flight to Auckland. Goodbye our beloved Fiji!!!!
We arrived into Auckland very over excited from the view from the plane which was unreal, cant begin to tell you...just incredible, clear blue sea and gorgeous coast lines. Wow. We touched down safe and sound and made our way through passport contorl and off to the information desk! We grabbed as many Maps as possible and managed to find a bus heading our way into the city centre. We arrived at our hotel, unpacked and went straight out again to explore this AMAZING city! We are about a two minute walk from the centre, Queens street, which is really..I dont know what the word is...vibrant?! Modern?! Ive just totally fallen in the love with this country. Wow, really Wow! We did a bit of window shopping, and had a wander to the docks, had a coffee, and came back to the hotel. We met some people who are actually living here in the hotel ( I say hotel, hostel is mor like it). They are from the UK, got a working visa and moved here a few weeks ago, working in Scoffolding I think? They cooked us some food, which went down very well and we had some beers last night with them, and they told us where to go and what to do. (we are only in auckland for 3 days before we go in the Kiwi Experience, so need to fit in as much as possible). Ive eyed up the bungy jumping from Auckland bridge already, so watch this space! Weve got a friend who lives here who we met in the Uk a few years ago, so hes taking us sight seeng today and out tonight with some of his Uni chums! Time to logg off, and try and find Hattie (shes in the building somewhere), then get changed and go and see some more of this amazing place!
Catch ya lata!
Im currency sat in the internet room in a hostel in Auckland City Centre, New Zealand. No time like the present to start my blog! So here goes...
I finished my Ski Season at the end of April. I was away for 5 months, which was great, but hard to be away from Family and friends for so long. This stint, is 8 months away. Missing family loads but luckily, got my best friend with me. Hattie. I hadnt seen Hattie for almost 6 months (She flew to Austraila, a month before i came back from Switzerland) so our plan was to meet at Nadi Airport in Fiji on the 10th May 2012.
I left London on the 8th May, 8 months of my life packed up in a tiny suitcase (I say tiny..I dont travel light, so 20kg for me is amazing!). I flew from London to Los Angeles (10 Hours flight) Then had a 6 hour wait at LA, before I boarded an 11 Hour flight to Fiji. I airrived in Fiji, 5.30am Local time. The heat, the second I walked off the plane was more than noticable.I made my way to passport control, where the passengers were met by a all male singing group welcoming them into the airport. Hattie's flight was meant to arrive around 20 mins after mine, so I planned to wait in baggage reclaim for our big reunion. I got through passport control (always a nervous prospect) and took the escalators down to baggage reclaim. As i stood at the top, there at the bottom was Hattie. Never have I wheld up so much is such a short space of time. Our reunion was something like the opening scenes of love actually-embarressing when we look back on it, but meeehh.
Our transfer was waiting for us in arrivals and we made our way outside to the car. A very swish black mercedes. I would just like to point out that this is not how we plan to travel the whole way, Fiji is the one place we have splashed out for and this was exactly what we wanted! The driver was great, he really was our personal guide as we started the 2.30 hours drive to our hotel. The weather was great, (like a sweet humid feel to the air..?) We had a break after an hour and a half and stopped at a local town market. Whites are very much respected and treated like royalty there. The people who worked in the shop, followed us around (about 4 of them) Carrying our purchases, and offering us anything to drink or eat. Anythiing we stopped by, they would linger behind us then follow again. We didnt really know what to do at first (did we have to dismiss them?) but we made friends and it all slightly relaxed a little.
We arrived at the hotel and WOW. Better than what we expected. The Pearl, South Pacific, was everything we thought it would be and more. Please do google it. We checked in, had a walk on the beach, had some lunch and cockatils (as one does) and explored our new home for the next 2 weeks.
Hattie had done her Open water diving qualification in Aus, so i was behind and was desperate to go diving with sharks. So i booked myself into do a 4 day course and started there and then! We did four shark dives over the course of the 2 weeks. Your thinking in cages right? Nope! Boat lowered anchor and we kitted up, and jumped in! 24 ft down to another world, where bull sharks, tiger sharks, lemon sharks, nurse sharks and more were awaiting us. One would be swimming over you as another below you and another beside you. A good 30 odd were down there. Along with all the other amazing marine life. I have never quite been so in awe. Hat and I had already made up our own sign language so it was hart to keep breathing and not laugh as we had a giggle under the water. Feeders were also down there to feed to sharls (stopping them from eating us). We got so close to them that you could see there war wounds from various battles they had obviously encountered! During my first dive, one of the feeders swam up to me and grabbed my arm and started pulling me into deeper water...towwards the bins they were feeding from. HELL NO! I didnt really understand what was happening so pulled away, he made me look at him and singed to me that it was OK and to trust him. did i have a choice? I followed him down, where at least 15 sharks were on top of each other desperatly trying to get to the food. These sharks were as big at 14ft. hugeee! Was he going to feed me to them?! At more than twice my size, the likely hood was large. But no, as the swarm of sharls dissapeared, a nurse shark (very calm, slow shark) was looking very sorry for itself at the bottom after being trampled by the Bull Sharks. The feeder signed to me that it was okay to touch it, and slowly took my hand and ran it over this 10ft nurse shark. It was very very rough, not like a sharks skin looks, but the nurse seemed totally fine with being played with, and we had a ball!
The two weeks in Fiji also consisted of numerous appointments at the hotel Spa. we had head massages, exfoliating procedures, full body massages and the rest. The weather wasnt as great as we hoped (rained about half the time we were there) but we found lots of things to do! We were invited to dine at a function evening the hotel was having by one of the guests, who actually runs the night. Rude not to go right? 90 dollers a head, for 6 courses and wine to match each course. Safe to say we were flying by the end of the night. The lead singer from the band then appraoched us and ask us to come outside and try some of Fiji's National drink...Cava, He told us it was a mild narcotic, but we would be fine. It sounds dodgy but we trusted him and off we went to try some! DISGUSTING! Tastes like soil and not what we expected. Hattie finished hers but I have to admit, I didnt. He asked us what we did, where we were from ect, and said we were perfect canditates to come and do some aid work in Fiji, which he is director of. So we swopped contacts details and made out way back to our room waiting for this 'mild narcostic' to sink in. We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow, so maybe that was meant to happen?
We also had a day out in Suva City, which is about an hour from our Hotel. we were pre warned that we would be appraoched by scam artists (if thats what you would call them?) who would have on fake badges and offer to show us the city...and right on que, the second we stepped outside the main shopping mall, we were pounced on by a man who claimed he was from manchester and knows what the brits want to see and to follow him. If we was from manchester (and he claimed to go back there all the time) surly he could offered to have teeth instead of a flight across the world? Just a thought. So we decided the mall was the safest place for us and we spent our time trying on jewrelly we couldnt afford and pretending our 'Mum' would come back and pay for it. Well..When in Fiji....?
The Fijians really are THE most amazing people and they have such a strong culture. (something to do with four brothers and a sister coming ovr from south africa?) we discovered this during a 'Cava session', as they call it, with our scuba instructers who were so kind and so eager to tell us aout fiji and its history!
Our flight to NZ was booked for early morning on the 22nd May. So on the 21st we said goodbye to our amazing 5star hotel on the coral coast of Fiji (after a HUGE bill..slightly more than we hoped but truly worth every penny) and made our way to Nadi (the capital) for our last night in a hotel close to the aiprot. We really did come back down to reality with a bump! But it was due, from living like queens and kings to being eaten alive by god knows what bugs, in a slightly less....looked after room. We checked out at 5am on the 22nd (came downstairs to find the security guard asleep at the TV..I kid you not) and got a taxi to the airport for our 8.45am flight to Auckland. Goodbye our beloved Fiji!!!!
We arrived into Auckland very over excited from the view from the plane which was unreal, cant begin to tell you...just incredible, clear blue sea and gorgeous coast lines. Wow. We touched down safe and sound and made our way through passport contorl and off to the information desk! We grabbed as many Maps as possible and managed to find a bus heading our way into the city centre. We arrived at our hotel, unpacked and went straight out again to explore this AMAZING city! We are about a two minute walk from the centre, Queens street, which is really..I dont know what the word is...vibrant?! Modern?! Ive just totally fallen in the love with this country. Wow, really Wow! We did a bit of window shopping, and had a wander to the docks, had a coffee, and came back to the hotel. We met some people who are actually living here in the hotel ( I say hotel, hostel is mor like it). They are from the UK, got a working visa and moved here a few weeks ago, working in Scoffolding I think? They cooked us some food, which went down very well and we had some beers last night with them, and they told us where to go and what to do. (we are only in auckland for 3 days before we go in the Kiwi Experience, so need to fit in as much as possible). Ive eyed up the bungy jumping from Auckland bridge already, so watch this space! Weve got a friend who lives here who we met in the Uk a few years ago, so hes taking us sight seeng today and out tonight with some of his Uni chums! Time to logg off, and try and find Hattie (shes in the building somewhere), then get changed and go and see some more of this amazing place!
Catch ya lata!
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