New Zealand!

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So flew into Auckland tired and hungover from Fiji, could easily be mistaken for England as it was raining and freezing cold so took us a while to re-aclimatize. First thing on the agenda was to go and buy some warm clothes as summer dresses and bikini's didnt really cut it, but as our hostel was located in the centre of the shopping district this wasnt a hard task. At the point in our journey we were missing the weather of fiji and 'fiji time' espesically, we wanted the sun to come out as the rain was very miserabe and we didnt want the whole of our time in Nz to be raining. Being the people we are, we arrived in Nz without any plan at all so spent the first few days in auckland deciding if we had enough time to travel around both the North and south island which thankfully we did. Managed to find a tour bus which will take us to all the places we wanted to see for only 200 pounds, bargin, although we didnt particularly want to do a bus tour being told when and where but this was our only option.

Our first stop was in Rotorua, on the way we stopped at Hobbiton the location of 'the shire' but it was very expensive so instead we just looked at the scenery with alot of sheep and rolling hills.. pretty much scotland. On the magic bus before we got dropped off at our hostels (yes no effort involved at all) our driver insisted on showing us around the town giving us information on all the activites and points of interest. Rotorua is the cultural and geothermic region of NZ , where there are random crater of geothermic activity such as bubbling hot pools and alot of steam rising from certain areas. However, the down side of this is the smell, as it is primarily sulphur, it smells like rotten eggs, nice! We found out quite early on that in alot of places there is not much to do unless you book the numerous acitives which are available to us, and go on hikes which as you can imagine isnt one of our favoriate acitives. We decided to spend 3 days in Rotorua, which really was more than enough, visited the musuem and learnt about the Maori culture and then went to the maori cultural village for the evening to learn about their way of life and have dinner. This was very commercial with a cheif picked from our group aand a ceremonial dance perfomered. The Maori people have there faces tattooed in tribal patterns and wore alot of fur as they live in the woods. We then got to wonder around the village in the middle of a beautiful forest and demonstrations of dancing, wood carvings, war practise and huka dancing. We then went and watched another dance in a main hall where we were told stories about their past, which all seemed abit ridiculous really but we went along with it, we have decided it isnt one of our favoriate cultures. However we did get a good feed out of it, with the meal cooked in a earth oven using the geothermal acitivty as the heat source, and we definatley over ate but it was very good food. The show and evening was a good experience but we didnt grasp alot about their traditions apart from they wokship the land and their ancestors but it was some good entertainment for the night as nothing else was happening in Rotorua. The next morning we went white water rafting which was amazing! We had to dress in ridiculous outfits, a wetsuit, shoes, a bright red coat and a helmet of course, then headed to the river. The guys we were rafting with were alot of fun and made us feel at ease as we were going down a 7m drop at one point which we were abit apprehensive about. It started off my bessing the Maori river and then got into the raft and started off in calm water beneath massive trees, vines and plants. We went over a few small waterfalls firs practising the right positioning for the big drop, whicb actually wasnt scary at all it was alot of fun, even tho we were under the water for a good few seconds, which first was freezing cold and rather unexpected but we made it! The rest of the rafting trip we went through alot of rapids, either in or outisde the raft, and at one point was told to get onto our hands and knees at the front, and then they all paddled into a small waterfall, so in other words we got soaking wet, also rachel got pushed in, but all in all alot of fun and would definatley do this again. After doing nothing in Fiji for 6 weeks it was abit of a shock to the system and we were shattered, and then the early mornings started so no more lie in's for us, as the Magic bus collected us between 7-8am every morning!!

Next stop...Taupo (Toe-Paw), we arrived here late afternoon and quickly dumped our bags so we could go and explore as we were leaving first thing in the morning and didnt want to miss a thing - we needn't have worried...bugger all to see so not alot to report here!

The following day was a looong one, we were off to National Park, setting off at half 7 and not arriving till gone half 5 but we had a couple of good stops along the way which helped to break up the day. Our first stop was Waitomo where we were able to visit the Glowworm caves...a pretty cool visit - when the solr lights went out the glowworms looked like hundreds of tiny stars, really pretty. The further south in the North you go, the more beautiful it gets. National Park is stunning - our hostel was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, all you can see are trees and mountains, so peaceful and quiet. Before being dropped at the Hostel our driver tooke us half way up a Mountain where we were able to get out and take in the incredible views - not for too long though as it was freeeezing!

As we are on such a short time frame we were on the move again the next day...Wellington. The heat finally found us again woo was lovely and warm! We were driven up Mt. Victoria so we were abe to get an incredible 360 view of the city - plenty of pictures taken here. Wellington is a really nice city, laid back with a pretty good vibe. It was refreshing to be back in a city again - somewhere with abit of life about it. To top up our cultural intake we decided to visit the Museum - saw some interesting enough things like a giant squid but our minds were pre-occupied on finding a bar as we were in need of a drink so we may have breezed through alot of the museum without taking a whole lot in! Found a cute little bar on the Waterfront and we could not believe our luck when we saw they served ice cold pear cider from the tap - a niice pint went down a treat! The next couple of hours was spent wondering aroud taking in the sights - saw their houses of parliament 'beehive' - all very interesting!

We were now heading onto the South Island amnd we were pretty excited as we have been told its alot niicer then the North. We stopped in Nelson for the night when we initailly arrived in the South before heading to Abel Tasman where we wold be spending a couple odf days hiking through the National Park...thats right, we were going to be treking and we were going to be able to wear our walking boots for the first tiime. We were staying a this really cute place called The Barn, it is litterally two beds in a glass walled shed and we use the same kitchen and bathroom facuilities as the camp site so it was 'luxury camping' - as close to camping we were ever going to get again (after the nightmare that was Fraser Island!) For our second day here we booked ourselves onto a half day kayaking trip so we spent our first day there on a trek through the stunning park, it was such a beautiful day so with our walking boots on and our picinc lunch packed we were ready and excited to go! The National Park was simly stunning, you walk up this trek that leads you straight into the forest and mountains, you can spot the sea and beach through the cracks in the trees. You walk on a trak that is half way up this mountain and follow it as it goes round, you are just continuously following its shape going round corner after corner. We were absolutely loving the fact we were out in the fresh air and 'wilderness' - untill we were about 3hrs in and our shoes began to rub and become beyond painful! we were still a good 30-45 minutes away from ou half way point - we were not loving it so much then! Our halfway point was a beautiful beach but we had no interest in this as the last leg of the walk had nearly killed us and although we had come to a stop for now...we would have to soon turn around and do it all over again! It was safe to say our moods had plummeted! We imagined the walk back couldnt be much worse but it was - wont go into too much detail but we were close to tears! 4 hours later we made it back to our room - we were beyond happy and made a promise that the rest of our trip would involve no more treking! We soon remembered though that the following day we needed to do half the walk all over again in order to go kayaking - no happy!! So day 2 of treking - the only thing to get us through the walk was the fact we could kayak back again. The kayaking was alot of fun, compared to walking anyway and we both got the rhythm abit better this time, apart from Rachel not being able to steer. We firstly paddled across to an island opposite the beach to go and see the seals which was amazing, one of them was about 1m away from our kayak swimming around in circles, was good to see them in the wild. We got to see the National park for a different view which was good as i think we grew to hate it after all the trekking, took us about 2 hours to kayak back and we were exhausted after but glad we did it, even though im not sure we will do kayaking again as i dont think it is a sport we are especially good at. Headed back to nelson after that, for a well deserved cider and pizza and an early night. Our next stop was Greymouth a small mining town, but the hostel had free scones and a bath which we got very very excited about and it was a true luxury!

The next stop, Franz josef where we climbed a glacier! It was so much fun, had to get kitted up in an awful outfit with walking boots (which were actually beyond comfy), a massive blue raincoat and a red bum bag, attractive! Caught the bus for 10 minutes to a carpark located at the bottom of the national park with stunning views and started a 45 min walk through sub-tropical rainforest to a huge opening with a river and the bottom of the glacier. We first walked up a huge mound to get to the glaicer where we had to put our crampons on to enable us to walk on the ice. At first they were horrible but you soon got used to them and put your trust in them to keep you in the right place. Throughout the glacier tour we had to make our way up man-made ice steps with massive drops either side, into an ice cave, and down into a crevise which we could only just fit through, the views were amazing so was a really good experience! Finished the day by going to the free hot pools which was well needed as we were freezing by the time we got off the glacier!

The next day we made our way to Wanaka a tiny town and as there was nothing to do so we decided to get drunk on the local cider, good night! - not so good the morning after though and our early start to Queenstown, which turned out to be alot smaller than we both imagined. However it was really pretty in comparison to alot of the other towns we have visited as it felt quite modern and had a good vibe about it. When we arrived Lauren went to do her bungy jump which was 140m high with an 8.5 sec free fall aaagh so exciting! Rachel spent the day on the beach - heights were not for her! We had the day to wonder around the next day, it was really nice to be able to stay in one place (even for just a day) just being able to do things at your own pace! Theres not a whole lot to so in Queenstown unless you are paying to do one of their main activities but we took the Cable Cars up the side of a Mountain and were able to see some awesome views of the town, lakes and mountains. We spent the majority of the afternoon then napping on the beach enjoying the sunshine. We soon started to get a little chilly though and seeing as we still had an hour or so before it was time to head back to the hostel we went to this lovely little beadshop where we made our own pieces of jewllery - we were in a very creative mood!

Dunedin - the 'Edinburugh of the South' is meant to be a very Scottish City so we were looking forward to going here, we were also arriving at midday instaed of our usual 5pm so we had time to venture out. In all honesty we were once again a little disappointed, it was alot bigger than Queenstown but it didnt take long at all the have a wonder around...we were starting to get a little bored with NZ so are looking forward to abit of a change with South America!

Our visit to Lake Tekapo was alittle better though as we had booked onto a Horse Trek which was amazing! The bus journey here was beyond tedious! Our bus driver which we have had since Nelson can not time keep to save his life so our journey took us 4 hours longer then planned! When we finally made it to Lake Tekapo we were driven straight to the stables to meet our guide. We have never ridden a horse before so although a little apprehensive we were really excited. Laurens horse was called Blue - he was either beyond lazy or sensed it was a beginner rider as he went at a pretty slow pace and often fell far behind the others. Rachs horse was called Woody and spent alot of the tiime chewing on fences! We were both a little unsteady at first but it doesnt take long to get into the rhthym. It was really enjoyable - we went up hill through a forest that overlooked the lake, we then came back down so we were walking alongside the lake - a perfect setting for a horse trek. The hour went by far too quickly but seeing as we are now pro horse riders we will definately try and do another horse trek before we go home.

It was off to Christchurch next...and was our last Bus ride on our NZ tour...cant say we were too upset about that! Our bus dropped us off at some random location in the centre of Christchurch and we finally felt like travellers again! - Walking around aimlessly with no clue where we were going, in the heat and constantly moaning about how heavy our rucksacks were and how much we despised them - bliss! Despite the earthquake that struck here, you could still see it was a beautiful town although some destruction was clear to see. It was a shame we didnt have longer to look around as we were staying at a place called New brighton just outside of Christchurch. New brighton wasnt all that exciting...it looked like a little english sea side town that needed alot of TLC. We took a little stroll down to the beach and enjoyed a Mr Whippy Ice cream which tbh was the highlight of the day!

We're back in Aukland now before our flight to South America - we are sooo excited. We have had a great time in New Zealand (despite some of the moaning!) and we have been able to do some incredible things but we are definately looking forward to experiencing a new culture!



Hope u are all well...lots of love loz and rach xxxxxxx

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