mveira

After a very ‘extreme’ time in Taupo, we were ready to get back onto the Kiwi Experience and see more of the North Island. Our new driver was called LJ (Little John) and he was a great guy, really up for all of us to bond as a group. From leaving Taupo he drove us to the Tongariro National Park and took us on a great walk to the Tongariro falls. We could see Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings, but that would have taken us a day or so to climb, so we didn’t try. Once everyone was back on the bus we had a long day driving to a place called River Valley, where we were staying for the night. It was a beautiful drive to the River Valley region and we saw ... read more

Once we left the Gilcrists we headed back to Rotorua where we got back onto the Kiwi Experience. This time our driver was called Tody and he was a great relaxed guy, good to talk to and good on information. Before we left Rotorua he dropped us off at the Geothermal park where we got a tour around all the natural hot pools, boiling mud pools and geizas. These geizas arnt crazy Londoners they happen when the water gets so hot under the ground that it reaches a point where it just bursts up into the air. They were great to watch, and we got to sit on rocks that were naturaly warmed by the volcanos - pretty fun. We finished there and spent the rest of the day travelling towards the small town of Waitomo ... read more

After our extreme time in the Bay of Islands we headed back down to Auckland so that we could start the Kiwi Experience. For those of you who don't know about the Kiwi Experience it is a bus network for young travellers like ourselves who want to get around New Zealand and don't want to be surround by slow old folks. We really wern't sure what to expect - a group of smelly travellers trying to "get it on" non stop - or a load of crazy kiwis doing stupid things. Well....it was a mixture really. We got picked up in Auckland by our first bus driver 'Scotty' who was basically a nutter allowed to drive the Kiwi bus. He took us to Mount Eden and we saw the extinct volcano there which was pretty groovy ... read more

After our amazing time in Orewa, Jean dropped us back into Auckland and the next day we got up very early and got onto our first bit of the 'Kiwi Experience'. This is the bus network me and Andy are taking throughout the whole of New Zealand. We jumped on and it was exactly how we expected it to be with everyone relaxed and chilled out. The coach took us all the way up to the top of the North Island to a beautiful place called the Bay of Islands. We were staying in the main town there called Paihia which is a nice small town made for tourists to spend lots of money on the coast there. We were staying at a hostel called the Mousetrap and it was very close to the bay ... read more

Well we arrived in New Zealand safe and sound. It was a long trip getting here, but it was all in good order. We got to LAX airport with lots of time to spare and thanks to Andy's height we got given the emergency exit seats - fantastic! This meant that we had loads of room for our 12.5 hour flight. Customs was quick and easy and then we had to wait for our plane to actually arrive at the terminal, used to planes being late by now though. We got onto the plane and found that our seats were amazing, and we had so much room, and we were close to the toilets, thank you Andy's legs! We were flying Qantas, and it was the first time for both of us. We were both ... read more

Well when people say that the Grand Canyon is big, you don't usually think just how big do you. Well being there really puts it into perspective.... its just HUGE. We drove there from Las Vegas and luckily the drive was not as long as the one to get to Las Vegas was. We passed over Hoover Dam on the way there which again was quite large. They are doing a lot of work on that at the moment and building a big motorway over the dam, it looked like a huge project. The drive through was not as scenic as the drive through Death Valley, but it was still a nice drive. We got onto the famous Route 66, so we really felt like truckers! The most funny part of the day was the ... read more

Well we all knew that i would make it here eventually...but not as soon as this! Ladys and Gentlemen Matthew Veira apears in Hollywood to film his new movie - "The Ultimate Trip"...apparently its amazing. Anyway enough of that, LA was pretty cool and we spent two slots of time there. The first slot was when we travelled from San Luis Obispo to LA and went to meet Andys parents Ann and Clive. They came to have a holiday in California etc, and Andy somehow wangled us places with them which was way to kind of them. The train from San Luis took from 6am - 11am but we got Business class seats as they were dirt cheap for that time in the morning. The Californian coastline was beautiful in the morning sun, and we ... read more