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Published: October 28th 2006
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Lake Matheson
the early morning reflection of some of the biggest mountains in NZ Hey guys, so my time in new zealand has come to an end and since i last wrote i've been pretty busy. After Franz josef i made my way to wanaka then through to queenstown - adventure capital of the world. Went up the mountain gondola where you get amazing views of the incredibles (a mountain range used in lord of the rings) then played on the luge for a bit where i foolishly started racing some drunk new zealand rugby team only to be bashed off the course - i did however go on to finally kick there asses and win. much fun. I then went a bit more hardcore and did the shotover canyon swing. A 60m freefall from 109m above the canyon then just as you think your gonna smack into the rocks the rope takes tension and you swing across the canyon in a 200m arc. it was pretty scary so scary that i did it twice!!
After queenstown it was back to christchurch for a night then up Kaikoura where it rained really really heavily. It was a good noght for chillin out until some random busker came into the hostel and insisted on playing his
guitar and singin his lungs out (and he was about 60) an odd experience let me tell you. That was the last day in the south the next day it was off to picton to catch the ferry to Wellington.
Spent a copuple of days in wellington with my family, william, carol and jared. it was much fun and they were really great showing me the city as well as taking me to all the best viewpoints of the city including the legendary tramway. I then was back on the bus up to Taupo. On route we drove past the 3 active volcanoes mt Raphaeu, Mt Ngauaraheu (mt doom: L.O.R) and Mt tongario. they were really cool and were topped with snow). Once we got to Taupo I went swimming in the lake Taupo it was reallly cold but the water was crystal clear. For those who dont know lake taupo is formed on a huge caldera which blew up a couple of thousand years ago. I was in luck though and survived my swim. Had one of the best noghts out that night a few of us got talking to some locals who worked in the bars in Taupo
Lake Wanaka
One of the biggest in new Zealand so it was free drinks all around and dancing the night away until 4am. The next day i just chilled out in the hot thermal pools. I was shocked at how warm they were and they're entirely natural just where a boiling hot stream meets the colder river.
The next day it was off to Rotorua - which stinks of sulhur. it was a really cool drive though there's steam going off all over the place and mud pools and geysers and its pretty obvious that this place is gonna blow up soon. supposidely the crust is only 1.5km thick (normally its 30km). visited a maori thermal village where people have lived for thousands of years. they cant walk barefoot as the ground will scald their feet and they have to bury there dead on top of the ground as they cant dig for the heat. they also have chimneys in the graveyard - pretty cool. It was a really interesting wee place. Next activity on the list was black water rafting in Waitomo. Its a cross between caving tubing and canyoning all in the dark. we started off by abseiling into a tiny hole in the ground then 35m
The hall of following faces
This was at puzzling world in wanaka a freaky place with mazes and wierd illusions. these famous faces really did follow you down a dark wall to the cave base. then there was a flying fox in the pitch dark, it was really cool as the cave was full of glowworms and they looked like stars. it was reallly awesome and the best bit was when we saw a MASSIVE eel in the water and were then told thats where we'd be swimming soon. We ended our adventure climbing up 2 waterfalls which due to the torrential rain outside were running really heavily. all in all much fun tho.
Last stop on my tour was Auckland. not too much to see and do here so i went bungy jumping off the Auckland harbour bridge. 45m above the water - it was really scary and my heart was in my throat once i was done. I had the shakes so much but i think the chances are that i'll be doing it again soon.
So thats a brief round up of my time here in the New Zealand it's been amazing and there are so many stories to tell if only i had the time. Maybe once i get to Canada if i find the time i'll do a round up of my
favourites. For now its off to Canada for me some of you may be aware I was suppose to go to fiji however i missed my flight and have decided just to go straight to vancouver instead. Thanks for all your comments and keep them coming I love to hear from you, Julie
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angela
non-member comment
amazin
hey part, from the look of yer fotos and the wee story, you seem to be having an ace time! can't wait to see ya and hear all yer stories!! missing ya heaps and heaps!! xx