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After our panicked journey, we finally made it to Auckland very late at night so we had booked ourselves into a hotel close to the airport. The following day, after a nice long sleep we ventured into the centre of Auckland to check out the city. I had met a lovely lady in Laos who had given me her friends details, a friend who offers couch-surfing in Auckland so that night we were to go and stay at her flat. Fiona came and picked us up after work and took us to her place in Takapuna, right near the beach. We went for stroll and had a nice dinner together. The next couple of days were spent checking out the city and planning our route for the next couple for days as Kirsty's friend Pascal was to come and meet us for a few days. We decided to book ourselves on the Kiwi Express bus that tours the country and does organised trips all over. We thought that in the couple of days we had, we would go north and check out the Bay of Islands. The drive was great and the countryside even nicer..... the beaches in the area were
The Excitor
Just before we got on our speedy boat onto the rough sea :-)lovely, it was just a shame that the weather was a bit rainy. We were given the option to do some kind of activity while we were there so Kirsty and I opted for the 'EXCITOR' a really fast speedboat that takes a trip out to see a big rock that has a hole in it..... quite famous in this area..... :-) we were all decked out with waterproofs although we wanted to get splashed and bumped around so we sat right at the front. The boat did take off a few times and bumped around a lot which was very funny....Kirsty and I were giggling like schoolgirls.... dripping wet. That evening, we had a bbq at the hostel and settled down for an earlyish night. The following day, we had time for a wander around and visited Russell (The old capital of NZ) before heading back to Auckland to meet Pascal.
During our stay at Fiona's, we had met her neighbours who were part of a band and they had told us about a gig they were holding this particular night.... so the 3 of us would go there for our Saturday night out. Pascal was staying in a
Russell
On our trip to the Bay of Islands posh hotel, so we went to meet him and off we went out. We ended up getting quite drunk at the gig, enjoying the music a lot and then going back to the hotel and drinking the mini-bar dry! To say we felt a bit rough the next day was an understatement....but Pascal had hired a car and wanted to explore a bit and we were quite willing to 'tag' along for the free ride. We decided to head to Rotorua, a maori volcanic area surrounded by thermal lakes. Due to the volcanic influence, the whole place smelled of sulphur..... quite a weird smell to get used to.... We found ourselves a nice little motel and went out to stock up on food/ drink for the next coupe of days. The following day, we went for a walk around the lakes...crazy to see little bubbles boiling or popping out of the ground. Later that afternoon, we decided to go for a mud bath - afterall this was what this area is famous for. The sensation was pretty weird to say the least..... and then there were 2 sulphur pools to bathe in.
That evening, we made a lovely meal and
Pascal, Kirsty & I
On our night out in Auckland had a few drinks..... the following day we booked ourselves to go white water rafting...yipee! We nearly missed our turn as we couldn't find the way but finally we made it.... we got all kitted up and off we went for some thrashing in the water :-)
It was absolutely hilarious.... we got soaked, bashed around and went down a 7 meter waterfall..... one lad fell out but we managed to hold on, only just :-) what fun! That evening was to be Pascals last so we went out for a fabulous sea-food meal..... lovely jubbly! The next day, we checked out and Kirsty and I went on our way towards a place called Napier. Once we arrived, we found a lovely little sea-side type town. We spent a couple of days chilling out here on the beach and met a great guy called Rod.... a crazy dreaded dude who took us on a whirlwind adventure driving around and showing us the area..... he was really sweet, quite off the wall but a good heart!
The next trip was down to Wellington to get the boat across to the south island.
We had a couple of hours in Wellington before
our boat to Picton left. Once in Picton, we settled down for the night and decided the next day we should go on a tour of the wine region in Blenheim...... oh yeah! We were picked up for the wine tour, visited and sampled some lovely wineries. That evening, we had arranged ourselves yet another type of accommodation.... a farm-stay. We had bought ourselves 2 bottles of the best wine we had tasted, so we settled in for some sunbathing and wine-drinking on the farm...hehe! This is the life we thought!
The following day, we had booked ourselves on a bus to Kaikoura.... another sea-side town famous for it's sea-life. It was a lovely place, great scenery and beaches. We decided to go and explore and we went on a 3 hour walk to visit a seal sanctuary...... really pretty.....there were huge seals! The next bus trip was to head to Christchurch..... here Kirsty knew a lovely couple called Ali and Roger who were going to be putting us up for a couple of nights. We got to Christchurch fairly early on in the day so we decided to have a little look around before heading to Ali and Rogers.
Hot, hot, hot!
Bubbling sulphur Christchurch seemed like a nice place, lots of people on the streets out and about - a lovely vibe to it! Later on, Ali came to pick us up and took us to her gorgeous house. We all chatted, had a few glasses of wine and a lovely dinner before heading to bed. The following day, Kirsty and I decided to do a bit more exploring around the city so we took the local tram tour to get a good view of what Christchurch had to offer. We also went into the local tourist office so we could arrange our plans for the next few days. We were on a bit of a tight schedule and there were quite a few places we needed to fit in before our flight to Brazil for carnival.....so we booked ourselves on the scenic train from Christchurch to Greymouth for the following day which would enable us to see a lot fo the lovely countryside and from there we would continue onto the Franz Josef glacier for some hiking. The lovely lady sorted out all of our accommodation and tickets.... the plan afterwards would be to head to Queenstown, the adventure capital of NZ
for an all time finale - a SKYDIVE! Kirsty had been going on about it saying she wanted to do it. I must admit it is something I have always wanted to do but as I've gotten older.... the idea got further away from my mind. Bugger it I thought, this is the encouragement I need. So we booked it there and then..... so from that point on I was officially pooing my pants!
That evening, Ali had invited some of her friends over for dinner, so as a 'thank you' Kirsty and I volunteered to do the cooking or at least help. I was actually more than happy to cook, so suggested a Spanish/ latin theme. I would make my tortilla and grilled peppers in garlic and olive oil and we would have spicy mexican style burgers on the bbq. As Kirsty and I got busy in the kitchen, the guests arrived and the wine started to flow. The evening went really well and everyone was very impressed with the food :-) We'd had a lovely time at Ali and Rogers (it was like staying at home with your Mum and Dad), being looked after.... we even had our
own bedrooms! Yippee although it was strange not having Kirsty near me - hehe!
The next morning, Roger dropped us off at the train station.... but we soon found out that there was something wrong with the line and no trains were going but were replaced by buses so we were quite relieved that we would still arrive within the time allocated :-) we were on a tight schedule. The bus ride was fun.... we got to see some beautiful scenery, snapping our cameras at every opportunity. When we got to Greymouth station, we had a little wait before getting on another bus to Franz Josef.
We arrived at our destination late aftrenoon and checked into our hostel and dorm room.... They served free soup everyday at 6pm so we rushed down to the kitchen to get our fair share, not wanting to miss out on the 'free' food :-)
The following morning, we had a lie in and then got ourselves ready for our afternoon hike up the glacier. We were given all the gear we needed to tackle the conditions... a waterproof mac, Boots with accompanying 'cramp-ons' (spikes to grip onto the ice).....It was very warm at the
Beautiful scenery
What we saw while travelling on the many buses we took bottom but as we got higher and higher, it became colder..... the views were spectacular and the hike definitely gave our legs a good workout. After a good 4 hours, we made our way back to the hostel, had some soup and then chilled out watching films before our early start to Queenstown.
Another bus took us through some more lush countryside and enabled us to soak up the breathtaking views. We arrived to a sunny Queenstown....got our bags and made our way to our hostel. This town had a lovely feel to it, lots of little shops, bars and cafes.... but it is most famously known for all the adrenaline focused sports that can be done in the area. Our skydive had been organised for the following day.... and I was officially p*o*o*ing my pants. Arrrgh!
That evening we took it fairly easy in preparation for our 'big day'.....
We both woke up feeling well and had managed to get some sleep. We had breakfast and got ourselves ready, then made our way to the NZone office.... (check out http://www.nzone.biz/Skydive/news/ )
A bus took us out to the airfield where our jump was taking place and we were introuced
to our tandem buddies. They went through a few instructions and soon enough we were all geared up and getting into the plane. I knew I was scared, my mouth was drier than the Sahara but there was no time for water. There was room for 9 people and as we all wanted photos and a video made, aswell as our tandem buddy (who we were well and truly strapped to) there was an extra person who jumped with you to capture the momentous occasion. The other diver was going to jump at 12,000ft. Kirsty and I had decided to jump at the highest you could do..... 15,000ft. I must admit that once I was in the plane and we started to go higher, I got the better of my nerves and I felt quite calm considering the situation. I'd told Kirsty and my tandem buddy that under no circumstances should they let me wimp out :-) Once the other girl had gone, I knew I was next. The door opened and we shuffled closer to it..... the next thing I knew, we were out..... flying through the air. When we got into position, I looked down and all around,
beautiful scenery.... but we were hurtling through the sky, the wind flapping my cheeks, my clothes etc. I looked infront of me and there was my cameraman.... I managed to pull some faces and do some silly moves in the air although I was more interested in what was going on around me. Before I knew it, the parachute was out and we were floating down towards the ground...... I was even given the reigns and allowed to steer for a bit. Once we landed, I was on such a high.... I looked up and Kirsty wasn't too far behind. She touched down and we had a very loud celebratory hug. We were both ecstatic....I could not believe we'd actually done that :-) what a buzz.
Later on, we got ourselves home and proceeded to drink...he he! It was an amazingly gorgeous day so we then went into town to lay by the lake. We made some friends who invited us out that evening....we were definitely up for a big night after our day.... the adrenaline pumping through our bodies. The night was great, lots of drinks and dancing. Queenstown is a cool place with a lot going on.....
The
More glacier
Further up the glacier during our hike next day was to be my return to Auckland as I had to catch a connection to Brazil. I'd found myself a fairly decent flight so off I went leaving Kirsty behind as we could not get on the same flight due to availability.
Fiona (our couch serfing friend) came to pick me up and took me back to hers. That night was a chilled one and then the next day I went into the city and did a few bits and bobs before making my way to the airport.....
New Zealand really surprised me.... it has so much to offer and is so easy to get around. The views and scenery are like nothing else I have seen. Great quality of life...... We had managed to squeeze so much into 3 weeks and I had loved every minute.
Take care peeps and more to come soon, LOL xxxxxxx
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MARIOLA
non-member comment
about new zealand
after seeing your photographs of the jump out of the aeroplane, we think you are COM. UNA CABRA. MOLTS BESOS