Saturday 8th October Today we left the North Island and took the ferry to the South Island. Six of us, Becky, Sam, Sean, Stu, Kim & Me decided to leave the Kiwi bus for a couple of days as we had found a wine tour were you hire mountain bikes for the day. You’re given a map of the wineries and off you go. So we arrived in Picton in the South Island and jumped onto another bus to Blenheim, one of the main wine areas in New Zealand. We got off the bus in Blenheim & ended up having to [View Full Entry]

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Yippee! We had a lie in this morning; the bus didn’t leave till 10am….Woohoo! Then it was off to Taupo. En route we passed Tongariro National Park, in it Mount Ngauruke (Na-ru-hoe-e), which was Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. Then a brief stop at Huka Falls, quite spectacular 11 metres high and formed by an earthquake. We arrived in Taupe early afternoon to spectacular views of the lake. It’s 616km², the largest in Australasia and big enough to fit the island of Singapore inside it. We spent two nights in Taupo and decided to pretty much chill out. A [View Full Entry]

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Noooo…….You’ve guessed it another early start and ouch my head hurts! Way too much last night. We’re off to Rotorua today, the geothermal and cultural centre of New Zealand. Once again we stop en-route for a walk. I’ve decided that within the insurance policy for Kiwi Experience they have to stop everyday and make us go for walks to keep us healthy because they know we are just getting drunk every night!! This time the walk was Karangahake Scenic Reserve, where we crossed swing bridges walked through a 1km railway tunnel that used to be used for gold mining [View Full Entry]

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Okay so this is when everyone has told me my Kiwi Experience will really begin, when I start heading south. We met our driver Jared and basically unless I stop extra nights in places, he’ll be my drive through all of New Zealand. So Becky Stu and I boarded the bus with a few others from our hostel and there were already some on the bus and we headed to Mercury Bay (Whitianga). First stop before leaving Auckland Maungawhau (Mt Eden), an amazing spot for views over Auckland. Then we stopped for a walk to a place called Cathedral Cove and [View Full Entry]

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Hey guys well I’ve arrived at my hostel in Auckland and it’s pretty sweet. Female only floor and you get free Aveda shampoo and conditioner, fluffy white towels, nice cosy duvets, but most importantly no snoring men. Well I’m only in Auckland for one night before I set off on my Kiwi Experience, so I didn’t get up to much, just chilled in the hostel before my 7.10am pick up. Tuesday 28th August My Kiwi Experience begins. The big green bus was there at 7.10am to pick me up. First stop Paihia (Bay of Islands) We arrive around lunchtime and the [View Full Entry]

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Ok I'm being a bit lazy here, but I know a few people have been hasseling my Mum because I haven't kept my blog upto date. Well I'm on a mission now to get it up to date. In the meantime I thought I'd be lazy and give you a sneak preview into what I will be doing for the next 4 weeks. You see I'm booked on a bus tour called the Kiwi Experience, which basically means that my itinerary is all planned out, so here goes AUCKLAND - PAIHIA (BAY OF ISLANDS) We arrive In the Bay of Islands [View Full Entry]

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The day I’ve been dreading has finally arrived. Monday 27th August, I’m leaving Australia. Yesterday and last night were pretty tough, saying goodbye to everyone. A few tears where shed. I’ve met some fantastic people in Australia and hopefully made some lifelong friends, but it’s time to move on. Packing was pretty tough too, I can’t believe how much stuff I’ve accumulated in the last few months. I eventually managed to pack all I needed and left the rest behind. 5am the taxi came to pick me up, 6.30am I was on the plane to Brisbane. I’m now sa [View Full Entry]

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We flew back to Cairns on Wednesday 20th June and arrived at the same hostel, Caravella 149 at around 6.30pm. Bizarrely we ended up in the same dormitory and the same beds as first time round!! We showered then headed straight out to the good old Woolshed, the bar in town that provides our cheap evening meals, then back to the Hostel for some goon. It was like we’d never been away. There were still some familiar faces around the hostel too, including Thomas the German bus driver and David a Brummie, so we headed off into town with them and [View Full Entry]

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Ok so now I’m in Sydney and what joy I had had driving around…NOT! A typical big city with the usual one way systems. We decided to head to Bondi Beach hoping that we’d find somewhere to park the van overnight. No such luck it was all paid parking, so we headed back towards the city to a little to a place called Bondi Junction and parked up on a residential street for the night. Then we hit the town. We ended up in Kings Cross which is a little crazy, but a great night out. It was bank holiday the [View Full Entry]

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The Drive to Nimbin in itself was an adventurous one and we got lost too! It was just like driving the back roads through the Yorkshire Dales. So like I said in my last entry Nimbin is renowned for one thing….marijuana. It has to be one of the funniest places we have been to so far. I don’t think I spoke to one person that wasn’t stoned. Even a little boy of around 10 years old who asked us if we wanted to buy any looked stoned!! Ok Mum this is where you stop reading. Yeap we got stoned, well we [View Full Entry]

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