Life in the fast lane in New Zealand....and the very slow lane in Fiji.

---

Bula everybody! We've covered a lot of ground since the last blog, so I'll try and give you a run down of the highlights.

South island in NZ was pretty intense, a bit of a whirlwind if I'm honest. We travelled down the West Coast, taking in some spectacular scenery on the way. Michael and I went on a coastal hike in Abel Tasmin national park with a few people from the Kiwi bus. The weather was great so stopped at a few beaches on the way and really enjoyed it. That was about as energetic as NZ got really. Further down the coast we got involved in some of the extreme sports available, and as promised I did the sky dive in Franz Jospeph and the Nevis Bungy in Queenstown.
The vast majority of people on the bus were a lot more nervous about the bungy jump than the sky dive. For some reason I was the other way around. So when the time came to do the sky dive I was a little nervous to say the least. That wasn't helped when I saw the size of the plane we were supposed to jump out of. I managed to convince myself that everything would be fine, and before I knew it we were in the plane. Franz Joseph is apparently the second most scenic sky dive in the world, after Everest, and it was amazing. For 20 mins we flew all around Mt Cook and the Fox Glacier, with the sun set over the ocean in the back ground, and for that 20mins I was relatively happy. Then the moron strapped to me suggested we jump out of the plane. In the end I was glad that he did. The rush was increadible, and as I say, the scenery made the whole experience even better. After a 45 second freefall the parachute opened and I floated calmly down to earth. I got a dvd of the whole thing, and for anyone who thought I looked calm in the bungy video the look of terror in my face during the sky dive will more than make up for it.
As I say I really wasn't that nervous doing the bungy jump. Something like 2mil people have done it in NZ and noone has died so there really is nothing to worry about. Having said that, the feeling you get as you leap off the platform is amazing; even better than the sky dive. It's fair to say that after NZ I am a full on adrenaline junky.


Aside from all the amazing scenery and the jumping off things, NZ was one long party really. We had a great time in Queenstown especially, where we spent five great nights and spent most of our time in World Bar drinking cocktails out of tea-pots. There's not a lot else I can say about Queenstown really....there's not that much I remember. Although I do remember that Fergburgers are increadibly over-rated, which is pretty much taken as blasphemy by anyone else you talk to who has visited Queenstown.
Anyway, we made our way up north via Christchurch. The east coast isn't quite as spectacular as the west, although we did stop to see a bronze statue of a dog, which was probably the best bronze statue of a dog that I've seen since coming on my travels. And that is saying something. Our last night in NZ we met up with the Irish girls from Buenos Aries in Auckland. It was good to see them again, and we had a predictably messy night out to celebrate the reunion. And after that it was on to Fiji!!


I loved Fiji. It was so chilled, which is just what we needed after the hectic pace of NZ. Also, the people are increadibly friendly there! We spent a few day on Robinson Crusoe Island with some of the people we met in New Zealand. We had a really good time there relaxing on the beach, fishing, playing volleyball, watching fire dancing and drinking lots of Kava. Drinking Kava is the national pass time here. It's not a bad drink, it tastes like dirty water and is technically a narcotic altough I can't say it had any great effect on anyone we drank with. It does make you mouth a bit numb.

After our time on RC island I said my goodbyes to Martin and Michael and, for the first time on the trip I decided to go it alone for a bit. The only reason for this was that I wanted to go to Vorovoro, and they were both too lazy. I can safely say that I made the right decision. My main reason for going to Vorovoro was that it had been very highly reccommended to me by all of Ally's mates who went travelling last year. I am very glad that I listened to them because it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far. It is very different to the other Fijian islands. It's not as touristy, and the emphasis isn't so much on getting drunk in hammocks, which was good as I needed a bit of a detox. We got up to all sorts while I was there. My first day was the welcoming ceremony where the latest people to come to the Island meet the village cheif, and basically spend all day drinking kava and chatting with the Fijians from the surrounding villages which was good fun. I learnt how to fish, and it turns out I really enjoy it. I actually caught a fair bit too. I may consider taking it up when I get back home, but I suppose it wont be the same when you're not on a little boat in the middle of the South Pacific with a crazy Fijian woman who bites the heads off the fish to kill them! On Good Friday we all took part in Vorovoro's first annual survivor day, which involved being split up into teams and taking part in various challenges. There is a video of the day on the web site which is pretty cool. There are a few shots of yours truely, including a shot of be blowing the conch on the table at the end to win the day!! Sorry to spoil the ending. The video is at - http://www.tribewanted.com/blogs/blogs_from_vorovoro/2224 .

So yeah, had a really good time in Fiji, chilling out in paradise for two weeks! I arrived in Sydney a couple of days ago and just got spent 15hours on a bus to get a Melbourne. I made the mistake of thinking Australian coaches would be as good as the ones in South America.....they are not. I'm aware that what I've written may be a bit of a ramble, and I'm sure the spelling and grammer is terrible, but I am kanckered so I hope you forgive me. Meeting up with the lads again at some point in Melbourne so I shall no longer be the lone-wolf! I have enjoyed having a bit of time on my own, but to be honest it was easy on Vorovoro as everyone was really friendly and it was generally a good laugh. Looking forward to meeting up with the lads and heading up the east coast! Peace out homies!

Matt x x x

---