Aloha everyone that’s right I have made it to Hawaii on my unexpected tour of the planet. It was a pretty easy flight over here and I landed a day before I took off I will let the brainy people figure that one out so if you are out there let me know!. Arriving in Hawaii was pretty surreal there is a huge sign on the airport building that says “Aloha” pretty cool. So after I cleared customs avoiding the fingerprints and photo as it was being serviced on the mainland (don’t ask it seems strange that they forgo national security [View Full Entry]

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We set off for Wellington at 6:00am in the morning and had a pretty easy journey down well it all seemed very easy anyway as I was in the passenger seat and did very little apart from sleep and try to tune in the radio which is very sporadic in this area. After arriving in Wellington we checked into Base which are pretty good hostels and are always clean and tidy so you all know me the tidier and cleaner the better! We had not been out for a drink since travelling so Siobhan and I went to the basement bar [View Full Entry]

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It was time to do what is what is possibly the cheapest skydive in the world for £50, I was to be taken up to 12,000 feet and jump out of a perfectly normal airplane. I can honestly say I was not that scared at the moment, After getting suited up and in the tandem harness I had a look at some people coming down and thought “that does not look too hard”. The plane taxied back to the hangar and we all got in sitting in front of our jump master who we would be connected to for hopefully the [View Full Entry]

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Ok there was no Sam to help me this morning and no Gollum but I did not let that stop me getting up at 5:30 to get ready to tackle Mordor and Mount Doom or as you may prefer but I am sure you don’t The Tongariro Crossing and Mount Ngauruhoe. So as I had no Lamas bread I made do with a breakfast of pasta and chicken as I watched the rest of the group at the hostel eating croissants oh well I guess they thought I was strange but I intended to blitz the trail and push myself to [View Full Entry]

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Waking up at the crack of dawn thanks to the noise of dorm rooms and the pain in the ass people that should pack their bags the night before, anyway enough of that. We decided today that we were going to go to the Polynesian Spa and have a bit of a therapy session. The pools were great but there was no one to give me a massage so that was the only down side. The pools ranged from 38 degrees to 42 being the hottest but even that sounds a lot hotter than it actually was. I swam for some [View Full Entry]

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After Matatmata we headed further south to Rotorua, this area has a lot of thermal activity here and is home to numerous mud pools and geo thermal pools. After a nice drive down to Rotorua we found the Base hostel and paid for a deal which included a Maori culture night and a free entry to the Polynesian Spa. So after this we headed to Te Whakarewarewa and saw what was many of natural pools and geysers, our guide showed us how the Maori people used reeds in the past for essential clothing and baskets and even insulation for the home. [View Full Entry]

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So Siobhan and I set off from Auckland having known each other for about 90 mins but its all good she seems a nice girl and we get on and don’t have much of any drama with me map reading and Siobhan driving. So we pull into Matamata at 14:28 the tour guide is sat outside the booking office I am not sure what this tour is going to be like but anything to do with Lord of the Rings I am sold on so we get into the booking office quick as the next tour leaves at 14:30. Phew just [View Full Entry]

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Started off from Auckland with the Stray bus company and headed up North to Whangarei the first stop we headed to was a Kauri Tree area the Kauri trees are protected trees and are only able to be used for timber if they are felled naturally or are reclaimed from mangroves. These are considered to be a spiritual tree and will protect you on dry land if you give it a hug so we did; the other trees we saw were the Maori trees of love and death. If a Maori couple stand under the tree of love which is called [View Full Entry]

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That’s right people I am saying hello from the land of NZ, after getting off the boat at Cairns and checking my phone I was disappointed to not have any voicemails from dive shops or prospective employers, but I did have a message from a great girl called Mhairi who I had met before going on my dive trip and did not expect to see again so that was a nice surprise and ended up having a lovely evening with her as she had been held up and was still in Cairns. After speaking to Dore earlier in the week my [View Full Entry]

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I had been looking forward to this day for about10 days now ever since Jim and Laurie told me you could go on the TAKA live aboard for free as long as you did a bit of general housekeeping. So I signed my name up for the 16th May. Tuesday evening was pretty straightforward as it was stocking up from the previous trip which had just come in at 3pm and then next trip was scheduled to leave at 5:30pm so there is a small window in which to turn the boat around. I met the crew who I would be [View Full Entry]

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