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Published: December 21st 2007
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Lake and snow-capped mountains
There are lots of these in New Zealand!! We decided to head to New Zealand on a little holiday for a few weeks to visit our mates Tony and Dan and also to be there for the craic for what was sure to be a classic Rugby World Cup Final between Ireland and New Zealand.... Oh hang on Ireland were shite, ah well least we'll still be celebrating in Christchurch as the All-blacks win their first RWC since.... Ah bollocks on the French anyway.... we'll just have a laugh with Tony and Dan anyway.... Whats that- Dan has quit New Zealand again for Sydney?? Hmmmm... trip not as planned but no doubt we'll make the most of it anyway while we're here!!!
Flew into pissing rain weather in Auckland (north of North Island) feeling quite poorly so decided to take a days recovery so to be ready for the hectic schedule that lay ahead! Rented a car (felt guilty doing the dirt on Scootie though) and checked out one of the many many volcanoes and some sights round Auckland before speeding off down to Rotorua for our next stop!!
I was accused of farting rather viciously by Edel
Volcanic pools of Rotorua
'See this is just tha kinda thing I was talkin bout' as we approached Rotorua, and despite my pleads of innocence I could not convince her that I was not responsible (cos i never fart....ever) But my argument was improved infinitely when we parked up and opened our car door to the smell of 1000 egg farts.... Now I was off the hook, not that it was much consolation with the smell that filled our lungs! It was in fact the sulphur from all the surrounding volcanic pools! There are so so many places you just drive past and see steam coming up from the ground, its quite an eerie sight but something to behold at the same time. We actually visited a public pools where we bathed in luxurious heated pools in the rain! Yeah it was still raining and this continued for another constant week of our trip. Haven't seen so much rain ever before, it even puts Navan to shame! We also went to a Maori cultural night while in Rotorua and experienced a group of fat, small and extremely muscular maori's intimidate us face to face with the famous haka.... I was just glad we weren't out on a rugby pitch with them!!
From
Luge-ing in Rotorua
Like go karts but gravity is the engine, flying downhill with only marginal brakes to slow ya. Some craic! Rotorua we sped our trusty little automatic car (some difference from Scootie lads!) down to the countrys capital, Wellington. Didnt spend long enough here but really enjoyed it, it is like a city from the 1960's (or how i would imagine it anyway) Everything is real retro looking, shops, streets and even a lot of the people. Edel just thought it looked old and untidy but I really liked it.
So that was the North island finished with and we ferried it across to the south island and spent a few days trekking round Abel Tasman, really nice walking, and spectacular views but honestly very similar looking to the Irish landscape so made us feel right back at home again, especially with the wet weather! One of the real highlights of our New Zealand trip came next when we visited Franz Josef glacier, we did a day trek on it and cold and wet cannot begin to describe how we were when we got back! The freezing rain and hail that hit us in freezing temperatures when we reached our highest point was ridiculous, wasn't too easy eating sandwiches in that! We had raincoats to our knees,
2 for 1 night!!
Edel in Queenstown pub 3 pairs of socks each and waterproof boots, as well as hats, gloves and scarves! And under all this were our normal clothes.... we were still wet to the skin by the end but didnt really care. It was a fantastic experience trekking up the ice in our snowboots, and in through some very narrow gaps along the way. Was good to get a few pints in that night in the warm pub with all our new buddies we met along the way!
From here we travelled south again to Queenstown which is a gorgeous little town snuggled in between lots of mountains and flanked by a crystal clear lake which reflected everything around it when the rain finally stopped! Luckily the rain DID stop here for a few days cos I had a bungee planned, the famous Nevis bungee- the biggest (lingerie section) in the world I understand. I had no plans to do it til I got a few pints into me after the glacier and a drunken Kilkenny man convinced me I was a pussy if I didnt do it. So I booked in and for the next 24 hours walked around like it
Green shores of the South Island
Taken from the ferry on our way across was my last day on earth! When it finally came to it it wasn't as scary as I had feared but it was still DAMN scary, I had decided if ya die ya die so just jumped on 3 and roared, it was the most exhilerating and terrifying (and expensive) seconds of my life but after I bounced once, then twice and then freed my legs I could just sit back and relax. Class stuff. Do one if ye get the chance everyone! Also did zorbing and luge-ing along the way, every adventure sport imaginable!
Rest of the time in Queenstown we just bummed around, ate delicious food, drank an awful shocking amount of beer and did some sightseeing. I think in all the countries I've been that Queenstown is in the Top 3 for Things To Do. Such a variety of activities for absolutely everyone... just make sure you bring lots of money!!
Christchurch (Chch) was our next stop to visit Tony and to also to fly back to Oz. Christchurch is a nice pretty city, especially since it was sunny when we got here and the sun stayed out for the duration
Zorbing!!
Yes that is me in that ball speeding down the hill. Madness of our stay. Here we visited the Botanic Gardens and many pubs, as well as meeting Tony and his sister and their extended Kiwi family. Had a couple of nice barbecues and sampled the local Chch brew! Here is also where Tony and I smashed all records and recorded a heading total of 96 headers between us, quite a feat I'm sure everyone will agree, and before all you doubters pipe up, there is video footage which has been put on youtube.com to prove it!! Check it out.
Just enough time for a quick day trip to Kaikoura to see some whales, seals and do a savage 10km coast walk before heading back to Christchurch to fly back to Sydney. Again we could've done with a little bit more time but loved seeing a little bit of New Zealand and hopefully some day we'll be back.....
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egg farts
did they compare anythin to karens THREE egg farts?