Bye bye New Zealand!

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Well it’s been a busy few weeks and I’ve not had chance to go online for long enough to write my blog! It feels like a long time already since we left NZ but I’ll try and remember some of what we did. If I remember correctly I left off on the eve of the day we jumped out a plane! Sure enough after days of terrible weather we woke to glorious sunshine, no getting out of this one. I think I was more nervous in the morning getting ready than at any other time, I started to regret that night in Brazil when Guy showed us his skydive DVD from NZ and I was like yes Ill defo do it, looks amazing - sober I wasn’t so sure! We rocked up at the airport fully psyched up to go ahead when we were told the plane was in maintenance with the engineers, that’s properly one of the worst things you could be told when you’re about to jump out the same plane at 12,000ft. That meant a couple of hours delay to hang round/stew!!! Eventually we got to the point where we could get ready for the jump and we were put in the second group so had to endure more waiting although it was pretty cool to watch the parachutes pop out from the clouds as the other guys landed! It was then time to meet my instructor and camerawoman who were both very nice and reassuring. We then squashed in the plane and it was time for my instructor to strap myself to him, it was hard to resist the urge to check the harnesses! Then it was all systems go and before I knew it Id just watched my boyfriend jump out a plane, rather surreal! I was next and had no time to think before we were out the door and freefalling, such an intense feeling, I forgot all Id been told instantly and spent most of my time in a position that resembled a flapping bird, highly amusing when watching the DVD back later! The 45sec freefall felt like 10sec and before I knew it the parachute was up and the huge sense of relief that went with it. The freefall was awesome but I did enjoy the gentle ride in taking in the sights over the mountain ranges and Lake Wanaka. Our landing didn’t go exactly as expected and the parachute landed on our heads but it was fine and it felt good to be back on land again!! Altogether a fantastic experience and I’m so glad I did it!

We decided that after our adventurous day we’d drive on to Queenstown as it was Friday night and a celebration was in order. We had dinner and danced the night away to a band at a local bar. Queenstown was fantastic, loved it there. We also went rafting on the Shotover River which was fun although I’m pretty sure the drive down to the river (if you’ve ever done it you’ll know what I mean!) was much more frightening than the rafting itself!

After Queenstown we drove the most stunning scenic drive to Milford Sound, such amazing views all along the way. When we arrived we took a cruise along the sound and saw rainbows formed in waterfalls, seals and penguins and just the most beautiful views. We stayed at Milford Sound lodge as the 5 hour drive was a bit much and were surprised by the conditions in the morning, the glorious sun form the previous day was replaced by snow, and a lot of it. We drove back to Te Anau in snow and the mountain views from the previous day where even more beautiful covered in white!

Next stop was Invercargill, the gateway to the Catlins. The plan was to drive through the Catlins on the Southern scenic highway stopping at various sites along the way but to be honest the torrential rain was somewhat a barrier to our plans and a lot of our sightseeing was done through the campervan windows, it’s a beautiful place though. We moved on to Dunedin which is another cool place to hang out in with a big student population which keeps things lively. We then explored the Otego peninsula and a particular highlight was a trip around the yellow eyed penguin reserve where we saw lots of these amazing birds nesting, as they are very endangered there are particular rules including that they cannot be kept in captivity so you will never see them in a zoo. It was fascinating to learn more about them as I’ve always had a soft spot for penguins!

Last stop of NZ was Christchurch where we were sad to give back our campervan which had become our home for the last few weeks and as usual I was sad to leave the country. Although I (nearly) always say that and we’ve travelled in some truly amazing places for me New Zealand has it all and I hope I get the opportunity to go back again. I wasn’t sad for long as the next stop was Sydney, bring on Australia!

So on to Oz, such a different place to travel in from everywhere else we’ve been. I’m already feeling my age as I’m unable to keep up with the British backpackers on gap years! Firstly we went to Sydney and stayed with Jon’s good friend from Biddulph, Adam and his girlfriend Michaela. Jon had been particularly excited about this leg of the trip as he’d not seen Ad for a while and we haven’t really seen anyone from home on the trip so far. We timed it well and arrived at their flat in Elizabeth Bay on Friday night just in time for dinner and beers. We had a good night catching up and consuming a fair amount of alcohol. Over the weekend we had fun climbing the Sydney harbour bridge, taking in sights such as the Opera house and Botanic gardens and chilling out at Bondi beach. We also sampled Sydney’s nightlife further. We had a great time, thanks guys for putting us up/ up with us!!!

We then decided to hire a car, a little Toyota Yaris and start the first leg of our journey up the coast to Cairns. We stopped in a couple of fairly sleepy seaside towns for this time of the year beginning with Nelsons Bay, then Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. I particularly enjoyed visiting the sick Koalas at the hospital, they are so cute! We decided to have a brief break from hostels and stayed in a nice hotel in Port Macquarie which was a real treat as we were upgraded to a fabulous room by the lovely lady on reception and had a blissful time including room service breakfast, a first for this trip! We had decided we needed time to chill out and recover from Sydney before we hit Byron Bay which brings us up to date. We’ve been here for 3 days so far, danced on a few tables in Cheeky Monkeys, surfed and chilled out at the beach. Next stop Surfers for more of the same I’m sure!

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