Advertisement
Seal Watching in Kaikoura!
'I hope they don't steal our camera!'Kia Ora everyone!!!
Well I'm just about to leave New Zealand and I have to admit that this is one of the best places I've been to in my life. It's just such a beautiful country and there's so much to do here. I would recommend everyone to come here for sure and I really think I'll be back here soon enough. Well I hope so anyways. So without further ado, here is a little run down of our antics since we finished up in Christchurch!
Kaikoura After hanging about in Christchurch we then hopped onto our bus to Kaikoura, which is a small little coastal town where evryone comes to for dolphin swimming, whale watching and getting up close and personal with seals! During our time there we only managed the latter option, though it was really cool! We got really close to the seals, however we enjoyed it far more than them! Had no idea seals were quite so vicious and when trying to get close to one he wasted no time in growling at me! How rude! Apart from a few walks and seeing lots of seals we spent the rest of our
Rescue Mission
Denby got stuck down a well and we were trying to get her out! time in Kaikoura to chill out!
Wellington After leaving Kaikoura we made our way towards the north island, which involved getting a ferry across. Once arriving in Wellington we checked into our hostel and then commenced a night out! Three of our eight man posse were leaving us the next day and hence we decided to honour this event with alcohol! And the night went off in a pretty amusing direction! The bar we were drinking in was hosting a private party for the bit rugby team in Wellington (The Hurricanes) which Soaz and I managed to infiltrate! We were there for a while wallowing in the fabulousness of it all and we even got served (clearly they thought I was a big rugby star!), until Denby appeared and got us kicked out! Rude! The night continued with a few more drinks and a bit more dancing before ending up back at the hostel. Soaz and I were enjoying our drunken states when all of a sudden Jo returned (she'd stayed out a bit longer with her psycho of a date- the less said about that the better) with the ambition of eating her cheese roll
River Valley!
The place we fell in love with! she'd saved. Howver, our other friend Jo (everyone has the same name- v confusing!) had eaten it! Cue Jo screaming in a Jamaican accent 'that skinny bitch she thiefed me cheese roll', whilst bangin on the wall! All at about 2 in the morning! Very funny!
Our next two days in Wellington we didn't really do much but it was good fun all the same! Our hostel was amazing and there was a hostel cat too, so we didn't mind too much kicking about there! The only mildly ambitious thing we did was visit the musuem, where we saw a really good Lord of the Rings exhibtion. Though excitingly, Denby and Sarah did manage to both get piercings. Although I wasn't present I was informed that Denby was in so much pain she assumed some sort of labour position whilst screaming at the top of her lungs. V. classy!
River Valley After leaving Wellington we made our way to a tiny little place called River Valley. This was a tiny little lodge set in the middle of nowhere in a gorgeous valley with a river running alongside it, hence the name. The place we stayed
in was gorgeous with a real rustic feel- open fires and log cabins all the way! Proabably the best thing about the place, apart from how beautiful it was, was the fact it was so remote. It was completely cut off from the outside world (no mobile signal even!) and had such a tranquil homely feel to it, we really could have stayed there forever. During our time there we went for walks in the scenic countryside around, and these were proper walks - there was no track for us. This meant we could be mildy adventurous, though at one point that did result in me on the ground covered in mud! As well as walks we had plenty of time just chilling by the open fires! However, excitingly Me, Denby and Sarah went white water rafting on the river. And this was Grade 5 white water rafting, proper hardcore you could die stuff! And it was immense! Some of the rapids were just crazy and we were falling down huge drops whilst being thrown everywhere and getting drenched by the freezing cold water! I would definitely recommend it to anyone as its so much fun!
Taupo Mount Doom!
Soaz and I on our quest to destroy the ring! After bidding a tearful farewell to the gorgeous River Valley to made our way to Taupo, the so called adventure captial of the north! Like Queenstown it's also based around a huge lake with mountains around too, but it's no way as nice! Our first night here we just chilled in the hostel, though Soazig and I had an excuse as we had a very early one the next day, as we were walking the Tongariro crossing, which is meant to be one of the best day walks in the world that takes in a variety of landscapes, and it was amazing.....
The Tongariro Crossing Getting up at the ungodly hour of half five to set off at six for our walk Soaz and I were praying that it would be worth it. And my god it was! The Tongariro national park is probably the most famous in New Zealand, however it's been made most famous recently as it is the home of Mount Doom! After arriving at the destination Soaz and I set off on our mammoth journey. The first bit was all nice and easy, and then we reached the Devil's Staircase- an
obsecenely steep obsecenely rocky cliff face that went on for a good hour, that also rudely repeatedly looked like it was about to end then went for ages longer! There was much puffing on the way up and Soaz and I weren't emenating our usual natural beauty! However we finally reached the top and were standing next to Mount Doom and the whole trauma seemed a distant memory! Frodo was clearly being a big drama queen in Lord of ther Rings as Soaz and I managed it just fine! Kind of! Once over the worse we then made our way into the crater carved out by eruptions of the volcanoes. The whole place had an eerie calmness and it felt like we were walking on the moon. Once reaching the end of the crater there was more climbing ahead of us, which was largely over a huge exposed ridge with 40kph winds battling to blow us off! Not nice! However, we eventually made it to the top of the red crater and the views were spectacular! On one side was the volcanoes and then further on we could see the gorgeous azure blue emerald lakes! We made our way down
(Soaz doing so largely on her ass!) to the lakes and from there we walked across the main crater before trekking up another stupidly steep hill! Once at the top of this mountain we got views of all the volcanoes (just look at the photo) and the forest on the other side! We then made our way down the mountain and the rocky arid landscape gradually turned more and more green until we reached a forest at the end. En route we also passed the hot springs which although interesting gave off the awful stench of Sulphur! Once making our way through the forest we then recahed the end of our walk, and it had taken a full 7hrs 15 minutes! Hard work? Yes! Worth it? Definitely, it was probably one of the best things I've done whilst travelling and one of the most gorgeous places I've been in my life. Fact!
Once arriving back in Taupo we were pretty knackered but we still went out that night. Jo had just got some bad news from home so had to cut her trip very short, so short in fact she was leaving the next day. So we had a
Waterfall!
In the forest part of the Tongariro Crossing! big group meal and then went out in Taupo! Soaz and I were pretty tired we we braved the drinks like the brave soldiers we are! The night was a pretty interesting one and most notable for medic Kate not taking too well to her alcohol consumption. Oh well, we've all been there!
The next day we bid a huge farewell to Jo and the spent the rest of the day not really doing much! It was our first bad weather day in New Zealand and we felt too uninspired to get up to too much, and hence we just pottered around Taupo in the rain!
Rotorura After leaving Taupo we head to Rotorura, which is the Maori culture capital of New Zealand. It is also quite well known becuase it stinks! The town is situated on loads of sulphur and hence the whole place has an awful stench! Ther town is also famous for its many hot springs and geysers, which are very cool, though the smell is still hard to get over! Our first day there we explored the natural hot springs around Rotorura before having a dip in the far more commercial
hot springs at the polynesian spa! Very fabulous! Then that evening the five of us head to a cultural show at a Maori Village called Tamaki- it was spectacular. The whole place was a full replica of an ancient maori village and the maoris there partook in all their ancient traditions as carried out by their ancestors, even down to how we were welcomed as strangers into their village. Once exploring the village we then watched the maori concert (amazing!) before dining at a tradition maori 'hangi'. The whole evening gave us a really good insight into the ways of these indeigenous tribes and was a really magical evening as you felt like you had stepped back in time hundreds of years!
Our other day in Rotorura was most notable for the excitement that was Zorbing! It was the most exciting thing ever! Me, Sarah and Soazig were decked out in waterproof clothes before being driven to the top of a steep hill where there was a huge inflatable ball (called a zorb) waiting for us! Once at the top we all jumped through the tiny hole in the zorb and it was then filled with water! Once inside,
Threesome Action!
Soaz enjoyed the lady love! the zorb was sealed up and then we all stood up, or tried anyway as it was SO slippy inside, and gave ourselves enough push to start rolling down the hill! And then the fun began, the three of us were inside this huge zorb rolling down a hill as all the water, as well as ourselves, were being thrown around inside! And it was the funniest thing ever! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard! I would definitely recommend zorbing to anyone as it really is one of the funniest things you will do for a long time!
Waitomo One of our days in Rotorura we made our way to Waitomo on our day trip to vist the caves there, which are famous for their glowworms and blackwater rafting/tubing, which obviously we partook in! We made our way into the caves, rubber tubes in tow, and negotiated through loads of VERY tight gaps before arriving at the underwater streams. Once there we jumped into our tubes and floated down these underwater streams. The whole thing was so surreal as we were more or less in pitch black and all we could see was the
Maori Village!
Ancient Maori Tongue Sticking Out! bright light of the glowworms in a sea of black, which was largely reminiscent of a night sky. Alongside this there were some amazing cave formations that all you geologists out there would love! After tubing for quite a while, and negotiating a touch of rock climbing and caving we eventually made our way safely out the caves!
Another amusing thing we saw in Waitomo was rabbit shearing! Potentially one of the most bizarre/amusing things ever! Just look at the photo! If you ever wondered where Angora sweaters come from well now you know, and we've seen it first hand!
Auckland After leaving Rotorura behind we made our way through to Auckland, the last stop in our mammoth New Zealand tour! After we arrived the first day it was quite late in the day so we just had a mini explore. Nobody we'd met thus far had said nice things about Auckland but we were pleasantly surprised and I immediately warmed to the place. Though this may have been largely because I'm a city boy at heart and I hadn't seen a proper city since Melbourne! Though the hostel we stayed in wasn't exactly the
Zorbing!
That's us in the ball rolling down the hill! ritz and was more reminiscent of living with the Kumars at No. 42!
Today is our full day in Auckland, so again we've been doing some exploring but mostly hitting the shops and getting things for our desert isalnd in Fiji! Heading out to tonight with our crew and we're also meeting up with our crazy russian friend Marina we met on Bondi beach! We intend to take things easy as we have a flight tomorrow but we'll see about that one....
So that concludes our time in New Zealand, and from here it's onto Fiji, Cook Islands, Tahiti and then USA! All very exciting and it does mean we've seen the last of the cold weather! Yay! Though I do have to admit that I will actually miss New Zealand and the whole place has really got under my skin. I have had such an amazing time here and would say it's probably the best country been to thus far! It's just so beautiful and so much to do that you can't really go wrong! So to all of you reading this who've never considered coming here, think again, as this place rules!!!
Take care everyone
Rabbit Shearing!
Alert the RSPCA! and speak to you soon!!!
Muchos Loveage
Stewart
-x-
Advertisement
Tot: 0.292s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0409s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Cat Fish
non-member comment
Wow!!!!
I am so envious of you, Mount Doom and all that. The zorbing looks mental, but not as bonkers aas the rabbit shearing... haha! Miss you loads and can't wait for you to come back. xxx