New Zealand

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Over the past seven months we have used all sorts of modes and methods of transport to get ourselves from place to place, varying them as much as possible to gain the best experience from our travels. From renting push bikes, scooters and 4WD's, to travelling in the back of pick-up trucks; economy class trains to air-con tourist buses; the small leaking fishing boats and huge car ferries, cruises and kayaks, we've even bought our own van!
So, as we arrived into Auckland, we booked tickets for the "Stray" bus, a hop-on, hop-off tour bus covering the north and south islands of New Zealand, geared towards adventurous travellers.
The first thing that struck us about this incredible country was the beautiful scenery, so diverse and breathtaking. The endless green fields with lazy grazing cows and countless white sheep reminded us of home.
As New Zealand is well known for it's outdoor activities and active lifestyle, we set our sights on the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park, to take on the challenge of the seven hour hike over a steep volcanic terrain. We teamed up with three others from our bus, Carla, Kevin and Stephane and had a fabulous day together. It was a tough walk at times but the rewards were far greater than the effort we put in, with views of active craters, steaming vents and beautiful coloured lakes.
With one big hike behind us, we set our sights on another, this time with a bit of a difference. We headed in the direction of the Franz Joseph Glacier. Once we were geared up, with our crampons strapped onto our boots and our wet gear on, we started climbing the ice of the glacier. It was the strangest feeling, walking up the slippery surface yet feeling safe and secure as the spikes of the crampons cut into the glacier. Although the huge cracks in the ice did terrify me slightly, (creating mental images of me slipping and falling into the abyss), Paulo was having the time of his life, climbing up steep ice walls, hacking steps into the surface with his axe and squeezing through tiny tunnels.
During the time we spent in New Zealand we did many scenic walks to places like Cathedral Cove, past limestone caves and cliffs, to one of the countries most beautiful beaches.
Because the earth's crust is so thin in parts of the country, there is a lot of geothermal activity causing some strange but very cool phenomenons. Our first encounter with this, was when we went swimming at a point where two rivers met; a cold water river and a hot water river, resulting in the most amazing bathing spot. Then we hit 'Hot Water Beach', where we dug down into the sand to form little paddling pools full of hot water that comes up from natural springs under the sand.
For us, though, New Zealand's biggest draw card was the huge range of extreme sports it has to offer, from bungy jumping off a bridge to rafting down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.
Paulo was super excited and I was super scared, with my fake brave face and 'up for anything' attitude as we hit the caves of Waitoma. We abseiled down underground waterfalls in pitch black, with nothing but a tiny head lamp and hundreds of tiny glow worms to guide the way. The ice cold water ran through our wet suits as we squeezed through tiny tunnels. We made our assent by rock climbing a steep wall. It was a pretty awesome experience that left us wanting more.
Our next stop brought us to the grade five, Kaikuna river for some white water rafting. We rocked up with tired eyes and sore heads, as did most of our group, after a barn party the previous night. It soon became apparent that the best cure to a hangover is being submerged in water after rafting down a seven-meter waterfall! Our batteries were recharged; we could have powered a plane with all the energy and adrenaline bursting out of our bodies which brought us to our next thrill seeking location - the skydive.
I said I'd never, ever do it. Ever. Not in a million years. But somehow, things felt different on that beautiful, blue-sky day in Taupo. If ever I was going to leap out of a plane at fifteen thousand feet, the moment had surely arrived. I committed myself to enjoying every minute. Paulo had jumped before and was super excited at the idea of doing it again. With him in the plane beside me, the idea of jumping didn't feel like such a horrifyingly, scary idea.
The views were stunning, over deep blue Lake Taupo, a lake the same size as Singapore. It wasn't until much later, when we watched the DVD of the jump that we saw that my parachute hadn't opened properly! It took the guy a few attempts at pulling some ropes to untangle the chute. Luckily I was none the wiser at the time.
Stray was totally geared towards giving us the best opportunities to try out as many extreme sports as possible. As we drove towards the famous AJ Hackit bungy bridge, Paulo seemed to go mute and all the blood drained from his face at the idea of throwing himself off a forty-three meter high bridge. He had always wanted to do it, tick it off the "Things to do before I die" list and that time had come. I, on the other hand was fine, knowing that I wasn't brave enough to jump, I was just there for moral support. The guys working on the bridge were great, chatting away as they tied Paulo's legs together with nothing but a bath towel and some small black straps. My stomach was in knots with fear for him. I have never seen such terror in his eyes as he edged his way closer to the platform, clinging onto the bars with such a tight grasp that his knuckles were glowing white! I thought for a minute that he wasn't going to jump but as I heard the countdown, three, two, one........surely enough Paulo plunged head first down to the river below. It was brilliant; he was dunked right into the water and all that could be heard were screams of sheer enjoyment.
I'm not quite sure what happened that day but I could hear the words "I'm gonna do it" come out of my mouth. It all happened so quickly that before I knew what was going on, my legs were being strapped into the same blue towel, and the same knots were being tied by the small black straps. It wasn't until I stood on the platform that reality kicked in and I realised what I was doing, by which time it was too late to turn back. As the countdown came, my brain switched off and my body took over. Next thing I remember was flying through the air, free as a bird and it was the most incredible feeling; definitely my favourite activity so far. We celebrated our achievement that night in Queenstown.
Beautiful hikes and crazy death defying activities aside, we visited many small towns as we traversed this gem of a country. Our bus driver was so enthusiastic, motivated and friendly that he not only became our guide but our friend too. He brought us to the cruisey town of Raglan for some surfing and to the 'Gum Boot Arena' in Taihape for a welly throwing competition - you may laugh but it's not as easy as it sounds!
On a more sophisticated note, he took us to a wine tour in one of New Zealand's famous wineries. We sampled all they had to offer and then left in true backpacker style, with a belly full of free food and drink and barely a purchase between the lot of us.
We were really keen to learn as much as possible about New Zealand's indigenous people, so set off to Maketu to spend a night with a Maori tribe. We were welcomed into their home with a traditional war-like ritual and greeted by each member of the tribe, not with a handshake but by pressing our foreheads and noses together. We shared a beautiful dinner there and learned a lot about their traditions.
The highlight of the night was the performance of the Hakka by Paulo, Stephane, Kevin, Peter and the other guys in the group. It was fantastic; they really got into it and were left with raw red legs, black and blue from all the slapping!
On another evening, we learned how to make bone carvings from the shinbone of a cow! We were taught about the different Maori designs and their meanings before designing, cutting, shaving, sanding and polishing our own necklaces. It was great fun, time consuming and tedious, but we were pretty impressed with what we made.
The final town that we visited in New Zealand was Kairkura, where we spent a magical morning swimming with a pod of over six hundred dolphins! Although the water temperature was so cold that it took our breath away, we soon forgot about that when the playful dolphins were swimming rings around us. It was incredible to be able to interact with these wild creatures and never once feel threatened or at risk. We were leaving New Zealand on a high.
Our experiences in New Zealand, from start to finish were amazing. We made so many good friends and shared a lot of fun times with them. We have no doubt in our minds that we will see them all again in the future.

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