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Published: March 28th 2006
what a big shock for me. it's the 1st time in roughly 6 months i've got less than 25*. at the time of writing i'm wearing 3 jumpers and a rain jacket and i wish i had bought some gloves and hat. my nose and my ears are red, i look terrible!! but New Zealand is so nice, i'm surrounded by mountains and fresh air. a big change after 4 months in Sydney. and it's full of sheep. I read that there;s only 4 millions people living in NZ but 40 millions of sheep! It's such an incredible country, i'm happy i went straight to the south island, everyone had tlod me it;s the nicest part of the country.
i still can't believe i left Sydney, on the plane on the way there, it felt so blurred like it wasn't me travelling, i still couldn't realise i had left behind all the people i met. i had such a great time the last few weeks, going out every weekend and mostly everynights, and of course being late at work every single day for my last week.
2 weeks ago, we rented a car with 2 friends it was really great. we went down the coast to Jervis Bay, one of the nicest places in NSW. the beaches there are so nice, the water is clear and green and the sand is really white. We even went to Hyams beach, one of the beach with the whitest sand in the world. and i saw my very 1st kangaroo, it was right in the middle of the road in a national park, we were so close it didn't even move. On the way back we even saw one dead on the side of the road, it's so scary because they can jump so quickly in front of your car.
Australia is such a terrible country to drive, it's so big that they can't put signs everywhere so most of the time we had to guess where to go or where to turn. i can't remember the times we got lost!
Just one week before i left, new people moved into the flat and they were all Koreans. so it was my japanese friend, me and 8 Koreans. none could speak english, it was a nightmare. it got nearly bad when one of the girls suddenly learned how to say something and ask me to turn off the tv because she couldn't talk with the other girls because it was too loud. i told her to stop talking, then. that got her spechless. i know i'm horrible but i was watching desperate housewives. no need to tell u than i won!! welcome to the world of flatshare.
For my leaving party we went to have some drinks by the opera house and then to Minus 5, the ice bar on circular quay, it was so cool, we were all wearing boots and jacket. everything inside is made out of ice, from the glass u drink from, to the "furniture" and the bar. u're only allowed to stay 30min and drink only 3 cocktails as u get drunk very quickly with the cold. but after 20min we were so cold, everyone had a red nose. After that we carried on with more drink in a Russian style bar then had a last one at the Shangri-La for the best view of the harbour.
i was so sad to leave everybody, because now i'm gonna be by myself again. but it's ok because i'm sure we'll all meet up again, most of them are from London so no worries!
For my last night in Sydney on friday, we went to 4 clubs, it was great. the music for once was perfect, it was a old school night so imagine my face!! they even played Tweet for the 1st time and i wanted to kiss the dj!
Then on the saturday it was time to pack all my stuff and that was the hardest job. When i left London in October my bag weighed only 12kg, i found out in Sydney airport that it now weighs more than 17. And all the summer clothes i have to carry are useless here.
After 3hours on the plane, the shortest trip since i left, i arrived very late in Wellington. not everyone knows it's the capital, simply because it's so small, only 200,000 people. But it's very pretty, the city centre is tiny and u don't need to take any bus. at around 5pm i had the shock of my life, there was no one in the street. everything was closed and it really seemed like i was at the end of the world.
i stayed only 1 day in Wellington, i'm sorry to say but it's more than enough. i went to the Te Papa, the national museum and pride of the country. There u can learn all about the Maori culture and the story of NZ. i also went on the cable car, the must-do attraction, and once on top u get to see the whole city, it's really nice.
Back to the hostel that night, i met a very strange Indian guy. we were 10 in the room and he was sleeping at the bottom of my bunk bed. and during the night he got crazy and went to see every girl, standing right next to them until they would wake up. when i saw him next to my bed and felt a hand trying to creep under my duvet i just went crazy and started to shout. i couln't believe it. and when i went to tell the reception they said that someone complained but because he was nearly leaving they didn't say anything to him. don't be surprised if u hear someone's been raped in Wellington.
Monday was so tiring, i spent the whole day travelling. i left at 7 to take the ferry to get to the south island, it took more than 3hours then got the bus for 6hours to go to Christchurch.
I met a nice woman where i was working in Sydney and when i told her i was gonna be in NZ, she invited me to stay over at her house. she's got a 17 years old daughter and yesterday when i arrived, we all went to eat italian, it was so good. it was such a long time since i didn't eat in a proper restaurant. that;s the bad thing being a backpacker, you can't treat yourself that much. always counting the money and how you can save it.
so today i spent the day in Christchurch, they say it's the most english city in NZ. there's only a bit more than 300,000 people. an hour from here, there's a town or maybe a village called Akaroa, it's the only place French managed to take from the british. there's only 560people. that;s where u can see dolphins but the cruise costs $50 and if u want to see whales it's $125. don't think i'll see any of those soon. So instead i went to the aquarium and the Kiwi house. i saw a kiwi, it's so cute, but they're very sensitive to the light and noise so it's really hard to see them properly.
i already book my ticket for tomorrow to go to Queenstown in the south next to the Fjords. that's gonna be so long, 10h, but at least i can stay a few days there. i'm so tired right now, and it's so cold that i need to rest a bit before going to the north island. today i was so fed up with the cold and the rain that i nearly booked myself a ticket for Tahiti. The tickets were on sale and cost only 300 pounds. but i figured out it's gonna be horrible with all those couples on honeymoon! need to meet a hot australian or kiwi first!
Horrible news: my camera is broken and i'm gonna have to buy a new one soon. This is the worst thing for me. i'll try to send new pictures soon. xxx
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Jacky
non-member comment
Go Kiwi!
Great to hear you are enjoying NZ.I told u its freezing cold out there!Qeeunstown is amazing,I liked it best.People really friendly.You will be sure to meet some hot kiwi guy there!