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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island
January 31st 2012
Published: January 31st 2012
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This seems slightly pointless writing this whilst back at home in England, almost a week since me and Chloe finished our New Zealand trip but I just feel I should finish the blog properly by telling you all about New Zealand.

Where to start? You'll be glad to hear that I'm not going to reccount it day by day as that would be longer than either of our attention spans can handle.

Our favourite Island was definately the South Island. There were some beautiful spots on the North Island but I have to consult my photos to remember them which is never a good sign. Our/My favourite parts of the North Island were probably kayaking at the Bay of Islands as I'd never done it before. The rain and wind didn't help but our sore muscles the next day I would say were worth it. I also loved White Water rafting near Rotorua. Me and Chloe were pretty scared as we invisioned falling out and hitting our head of the rocks. However we didn't fall out once and had so much fun. Toshi our Raft guide was such a legend and we all ended up jumping into the ice cold water for a short lived swim. I also got to Kayak with the hot photographer which is a slight bonus. We wound down later that afternoon at the Mud Baths in Rotorua with the lovely Danish girls on our trip. It really is true what they say about Rotorua, it stunk of eggs, but despite Sara getting an allergic reaction to the thermal pools, it was a good afternoon. Our Tongariro National Park escapade should probably be mentioned too. It was the most horrific weather of the whole trip. Cold, wind, rain, sleet, heavy rain, mist, fog, more torrential rain. However, our little two hour walk was totally worth it. It made spending the rest of the day inside all the sweeter. Also, Wellington was definately the second nicest city in New Zealand, second to Queenstown. Te Papa museum is amazing and its a good city to go out in too.

The South Island however was BEAUTiful (said in an Australian accent, its the only way) The mountains around the Marlborough wine region were the first thing we saw after getting a ferry over. Straight away it looked different than the north island and in my opinion, prettier. Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook area, The Milford Sound, Fox Glacier, Queenstown, all beautiful areas. We would regularly stop at another lake or lookout that was just breath taking. To be honest I think we ended up getting drunk on scenery and became pretty blase about the beauty surrounding us. If I lived anywhere in New Zealand I would live in Queenstown, its busy, its fun and its beautiful. Not like most cities *cough cough Auckland*. We did some amazing things in Queenstown. The boat cruise at the Milford sound was also a highlight, as well as the hike up the Fox Glacier and the glow worm walk the evening before. The Abel Tasman National Park was also an area that screamed Paradise. But most importantly, I fulfilled a childhood dream in New Zealand. I swam with Dolphins! In the wild, in the actual sea. It was petrifying as I hate dark water where I can't see the bottom. I also forgot to breathe at one point as I was too busy panicking and singing to the dolphins (to attract them) and nearly died. But it was all TOTALLY worth it. I got a couple of dolphins to play with me by circling around with them. They obviously weren't trained Dolphins however and it wasn't like a film where Flipper comes up and talks to you and you ride on his back into the sunset. They were darting about all over the place and you rarely got their attention. But it didn't matter as there was hundreds of them and it was just simply brilliant. Anyway, I'll stop talking about dolphins before you all think I'm totally crazy.

The tour we were on was intense with early starts, lots of driving and only one night in most places but i'd still definately reccomend it. If you don't want to spend any longer than 3weeks in New Zealand then it'll have to be a pretty packed holiday and they organise everything for you. It was pretty nice after Australia where we had to organise everything ourselves. We didn't mind that but then we had 2 months to do it in, which was plenty of time. In New Zealand, despite it being a pretty small country, there's still a suprising amount of driving. I think Top Deck were a good tour company, good tour guides, nice accomadation. The only thing I'd say is, its an expensive way to do it. We could have stayed at more basic places and saved money. However your going to spend lots of money in New Zealand not due to where you sleep but because of all the things there is to do. Its a pretty action packed and therefore expensive holiday.

We had an amazing time in New Zealand, it was sad to leave all the new friends we'd lived with for 3 weeks but we were getting more and more ready to come home and see friends and family. Now we're home, its hard, reality and normality suck but if this trip has taught us anything its to take advantage of the time we have and make life interesting, don't just let it go by unmarked. No-one else can do that for you. Money is no longer going to be an excuse, money's for using and you can still do things you enjoy without spending money. I'd like to think a more positive Jess has come back. A more positive Jess with a list of places I want to go and things I want to do. I could go on all day so I'll stop.

Hope your all well, and if I haven't seen you yet, I look forward to catching up!

x


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