Woke up at 7am for breakfast. Had to store our luggage and check out of our rooms and pack a day bag as we are coming back to the hotel later in the day but will no longer have rooms as we leave on the overnight train tonight. Spent the morning sightseeing at the Grand Palace. We had a really good local guide who led us through the Palace telling the history, etc. I realized I had really cheap flip flops as it was raining and I nearly slipped a million times. The palace was beautiful! Had to wear “temple dress” so I had a sarong to put over my shorts and had a long sleeve top. It was so humid, especially with all the layers. Had our group photo right away. I was laughing as ... read more

My flight to Bangkok was great! No issues upon arrival with customs, luggage, etc so I have relieved as I had a feeling I would have difficulties for some reason. What a culture shock arriving in Bangkok! The taxi was scary as I had 2 guys in my taxi and they put my luggage in and started driving as I was telling them to turn on the meter. I tried to be forceful and demanded them to turn it on but instead they offered me a rate which I just took cuz I was scared. They charged me 1500 baht which is $48 CAD and it was over and hour drive from the airport to the hotel so I just sucked it up. I have a pre-night booked at the Contiki hotel so I can do ... read more

Up at 6:45am and off towards Fox Glacier today! It started off crappy and cloudy out but got warm and sunny closer we got to Fox. Majority of us did the 4 hour hike through a rainforest up a million steps, to get to the glacier. Most people were exhausted but I showed true fitness as I was luvin every moment of it! I love hiking with a passion! Our guide warned us not to sweat too much cuz once we got out of the rainforest and onto the glacier our sweat will freeze so it was hard to maintain your body temperature. Our guide was a cute 20 year old who all the girls (and guys) loved so much! I think everyone was trying to impress him with our fitness so it was funny! When ... read more

Woke up with so many mixed emotions this morning. Today was our “Adrenaline Day!” I never ever thought I would bungy jump in my life but knowing that it was going to be FREE for all of us made it seem like this was a task we MUST take part it! We started off at 8am and the vibe on the coach was off; you could tell everyone’s nerves were all over as we drove to the Kawarau Bridge – home of the first bungy ever! We watched a video about the crazy AJ Hackett who originated bungee and the video did work to inspire me to actually want to do this. We all were weighed in (they actually write your weight on your hand) and then we didn’t really have an order as we walked ... read more

Woke up at 6am (so I slept 6 hours), but still felt tired. Had breakfast and still had 4 hours left so I watched some more Glee. Arrived at Auckland airport and we met up with Jay (our other Contiki staff traveler). We quickly determined who the other FC travel agents were who would be travelling with us on this FAM trip. As we all gathered in the terminal for our next flight to Christchurch we noticed a large group of young people all scattered about. Everyone seemed to know atleast 1 or 2 other people but it wasn’t as if they all knew each other so there wasn’t too much mixing or mingling at this point. Met Fiona Campbell who helped arrange the FAM for Flight Centre as she came over and introduced herself to ... read more