NEW ZEALAND - North Island

From the South Island Caitlin and I boarded a ferry at Picton to take us across to Wellington the north Island. The ferry crossing took about 3 hours and we were lucky to have calm seas. We were met in Wellington by Alison, Mum's friend, who let us stay at her houses while we were in wellington. Back at the house we met Brian, Alison's husband, Grace, their daughter, Shiloh the cat and Hazel the rabbit!

ROAD TRIP!

DAY 1: WELLINGTON > MARTINBOROUGH > 82km
Thankfully my driving lisence had arrived in the post on time and we were able to hire a car to do a bit of exploring around the North Island. On the first day with the car we drove over to Marinbourough with Alison and Brian and some of their friends who had hired a villa in the vinyard region and invited us to stay too in the spare room. we left windy Wellington behind and arrived in the scorching sun. Alison, Brian and Co. all had tickets for the Blondie concert being held in one of the vinyards. There were no spare tickets by the time Caitlin and I got there so we retreated to a beer garden for the afternoon and I made friends with the cows in the field opposite!

DAY 2: MARTINBOROUGH > NAPIER > 278km
It was quite a long drive up to Napier and spent most of the day in the car getting there. Napier was levelled by an earthquake in 1931 and since rebuilt in the style of the time and now known as 'The Art Deco capital of the world' due to the fantastic and unique buildings that feature along the main streets of the city. Becasue of this Napier is quite a popular destination in New zealand becasue of the blend of history and culture. We were greeted in Napier by rain, rough seas and tough wind. We drove around the town see some of the interesting buildings but had to take shelter in the hostel for the evening watching Brad Pitt movies.

DAY 3: NAPIER > TAUPO > 141km

It took a couple of hours the next morning to drive over to the small town of Taupo. We left early to be there by midday and picked up a hitch hiker on the way over. He was a German guy and I can't actually remember his name but he was a bit strange and asked us what deoderant we used...?

It was still drizzly when we arrived in Taupo so we drove up to the view point to look out at another lake (keeping dry by staying in the car). This lake was pretty impressive to look out at as the size of it is larger than Singapore!!

DAY 4: TAUPO & THE GEOTHERMAL HIGHWAY > 81km

At last the sun had come out again! We went out in the car again to explore the things to do arund taupo. It was great having the transport and independence with the car to see the region at our own pace instead of paying to go with expensive tours. That day we visited:

Huka Falls, although the falls are not that high an unbeleivable amount of water passes through here everyday; 220,000 litres of water per second, thats enought to fill an olympic size swimming pool in one minute!

Free honey tasting at the Honey Hive :)

The smelly Prawn Park.

New Zealand's only geothermal power station.

"Craters of the Moon" which is a famous geothermal site. Combined with numerous steam vents constantly shifting, collapsing and reforming giving the whole area a desolate appearence and a sulpher smell. the whole area has an unearthly atmosphere!

DAY 5: TAUPO > WELLINGTON > 372km

On our last day of the trip the weather was awful again so we spent all day driving back to Wellington in the cloud which covered the lakes and national parks we were driving past. After a super fish & calamari super we arrived back at Alison & Brian's house where Grace was waiting for us to introduce us to their new guests... 4 tiny kittens! Grace was fostering the kittens for the RSPCA until they were house trained and ready to be re homed.

Later that evening all of us went down into the city to see the beautiful Christmas lights and the Christmas tree, made out of thousands of lights and a big pile of bean bags underneath in the middle to fall on and gaze up to the top.

WELLINGTON

We still had the car for one more day so we took it out to see more of Wellington and went up Mt. Victoria to see the view from above. It was a great lookout where we could see the city perched on the edge of the harbour and encircled by the green towering hills. Back inside the city we went to visit the National Museum Te PaPa. Situated on the waterfront this nationally acclaimed museum combines high technology with traditional exhibits to tell the stories of New Zealand's land and people. My 2 favorite things were the Giant Squid- 5.4 meters long! and the Earthquake Simulator.

In the afternoon we found ourselves stuck in the vibrant city centre and caught up in the pre- Xmas sales - a dangerous place to be for a poor back packer!

Cable Car.

CHRISTMAS DAY!

Yey the sun was out for us!! It was a beautiful day :) Santa had visited us both a left lots of 'lollies' and chocolate goodies! After breakfast and a big present opening frenzy of treat and messages from home we packed up the car and went down to the beach! We met with Alison's sister, Miranda, and her kids Ashley and Chris. The 8 of us had a huge picnic and while Caitlin and I were happy in the heat of the sun there was Frisbee games, swimming and rock pooling going on too.

Caitlin, Me and Grace on the beach, Christmas day!

That evening we sat down to pull crackers before we stuffed ourselves with a winner chicken dinner and an enormous New Zealand raspberry pavlova.

"What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas?" ... "Sandy Claws!"

BIG CHRISTMAS TUMMY!

Boxing day we spent our time nursing our newly round tummies, playing with the kittens (who all had names by now; Hercules, Delilah, Lilly and Luciano) and watching the Glee box set until dinner time came round again! This time for roast mutton and everyones favorite... the towering chocolate fountain! I'm not sure how we managed it, but we did!

ROTORUA

We had a night in Rotorua as a stop over on our way up north. Like Taupo, Rotorua has lots of geothermal activity in the area. On the way in I could smell we were there before the bus driver had announced it! The geothermal activity leaves the town with a strong smell of sulphur, and the best way to descibe the smell of sulphur is ROTTING EGGS!

That evening we went to the Tawa Forest to visit the Ngati Tama people, the Mouri Tribe that inhabits the area. After the welcome ceremony we saw the village and watched some of the time honoured crafts and past-times of the people. For dinner we were invited to a back packers favorite thing, an ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet. The food was a 'Hangi' feast, which means it was cooked beneath the ground on hot roacks. The evening finished with songs and stories from the past before we returned to the hostel.

AUCKLAND

Driving into Auckland I was surprised at how large the city was compared to the other main cities in New Zealand, Wellingotn and Christchurch. It is infact the largest city in New Zealand and inhabits a larger populatiojn than the entire South Island! Auckland is situated at the bottom of the cape on the North Island streching itself from shore to shore, because of the large amout of coastline and the off shore islands the number of boatsa around has given Auckland the nick name ¨City of Sails¨.

Our first day Caitlin and I went down to the harbour in the moring and caught a ferry across to Rangitoto Ialsnd. The island is an example of New Zealand´s changing landscape due to it´s situation on the fault line between the 2 tectonic plates. Rangitoto Island is a dormant volcano and has formed itself though a series of erruptions in the past, it is one out of 144 volcanos in Auckland alone.

On the Island Caitlin and I felt like intrepid explorers! First we headed west to find the light house at McKenzie Bay before heading inland up the steep tack that took us to the summit of the volcano and around the crater edge. Below is the View from the sumit.On out way down we found lava caves and tunnels to explore formed years ago from previous erruptions. Luckily we were told to bring a torch and it was a good job we had a sturdy walking shoes... erm flip flops again!

That eveing when we were back at the hostel we had a fire alarm, it was no drill there was a fire in the building! This made me quite nervous as the assembaly point was inside on FLOOR 3!! It turned out it was only a small fire and everything was okay but we were not alound on floor one where the fire had been , also our floor, untill the smoke had cleared. We couldn´t do much in the meantime as our bags and money were stuck on our rom and the TV rom and kitchen were off limits too. 20 minites waiting turned into 30 minites which turned into 45 minita and after an hour the hostle bar staff eventually took the hint and it was free drinks all round! Later I found out that the cause of the fire was a girl who has left insense burning unattended to get rid of the smell of the boys toilets next door!

NEW YEARS EVE

In the moring we went over to the Victoria Markets. It was a quirky place with some fun items for sale and lots of interesting characters who wanted to dress us up in period clotheing, tell fortunes and read us tarrot cards obviously all for a price whcich we did not have!

After lunch we went to see the Sky Tower and got combo tickets for the Observation Level and Sky Deck. It was a spectacular view at the top giving 360 degree lookout over all of Auckland.

Glass floors 220 meters high!View of the harbour and Rangitoto Island on the left in the distance.

That evening Caitlin and I were back, all dressed up, at the Sky Tower to see the city lit up, again the views were amazing and from the top we watched all the firework displays happening from all around the city. Just before midnight we made sure we were outside at the bottom of the tower to see the main firework display in the city, set off from the roof of the Sky Tower... ooh... ahh!

For the rest of the nightwe were drinking Sangria in a funky little Soith American bar with the locals!

On New Years Day we packed a picnic and went over to Albert Park for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day with glorious sunshine as we toasted to 2011 with our pink champagne... in tes cups!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christams and a great New Years.
Next stop South America!

NEW ZEALAND - South Island

CHRISTCHURCH > KAIKOURA > NELSON & ABEL TASMAN

I had a great flight over to New Zealand and was able to sleep the entire journey - I don't even remember the take off! I was rudely awoken after we had landed in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. Christchurch seemed to have a very english style and is also know as the "Garden City" due to its well established gardens where Caitlin and I speant much of our time in watching the Punting boats along the Avon river, reading our books in the grass and feeding the ducks.
On 4th September earlier this year Christchurch was struck by mamouth earthquake - which reached 7.1 on the richter scale!! It seemed to me that the city had recovered pretty well but taking a closer look you can still see much of the damage that had been done, for example, red no-enrty warning signs on unsafe buildings and churchs that were missing their steeples.

While we were in Christchurch we met met up with friends, Chris and Orla, who we had first met in Vietnam and then also in Cambodia and Thailand too! They had been in New Zealand for nearly 2 mounths already and it was great heariong about their adventures and looking at their photos to see what was in stall for us.


To travel around New Zealand we bought a bus ticket to take us around the South Island and up and across the North Island allowing us to hop-on and hop-ff when and where we liked along the way. Our first stop was Kaikoura a small seaside town with craft shops and cafes. The name 'Kaikoura' in Mauri, the native language, means 'meal of cray fish', which is one of the many examples of the plentyful sealife in the area. It was quite cold while we were there so we only made a short trip out that afternoon we arrived to go and visit one of the seal colonies, before going back to the lodge spending the rest of the day in the hot tub!



Nelson is often reffered to an "The Sunshine Capital" as it officially receives the most hours of sunshine anywhere in New Zealand. Caitlin and I were dubious of this as we don't always seem to have the best of luck when it comes to weather! But to our ppleasent surprise we were both greated buy the glorious sun which was perfect for the BBQ dinner :)


The following morning we went over to Abel Tasman National Park. On arrival we caught the water taxi further up the coastline with an aim to walk back to where we started, 12km down the costal track on land in time to catch a lift back to the hostel. Along the way we got spectacular views over Anchorage Bay and the Astrolable Islands out at sea. It was a beautiful day out on our own, discovering the scenic lookouts above the sculpted granite cliffs, clear streams, native bush and forest fringed golden beaches which made the most ideal picnic spots!



GREYMOUTH > FRANZ JOSPH > WANAKA

We had a long journey getting from Nelson to Greymouth. Although we did make some stops along the way to grab some food and stretch our legs the most memorable stop was infact unintentional... when the bus broke down! It was late afternoon and we were fortunate that it was still warm outside. The whole bus load pilled out of the vehicle and hopped the fence into the meadow opposite to relax in the buttercups. After a while some began to get restless as there was still no news on the 'broken bus' situation. So to pass time Andreas, a bus passenger from Sweeden, got up to shake things up and attempted to teach us all Salsa in the long grass!!
Finally we arrived in Greymouth and were dropped off in town where caitlin and I, along with most of the others on the bus, went to the Moneth's Brewery - one of New Zealands oldest brewing companies. We got a tour inside and taught how they make the beer and also a change to have a taste of the many beers and ciders they produce, my favorite was the crushed apple cider :) Greymouth is a very industrial town and the commercial centre of the region but apart from the brewery there didn't seem much else to do...

...So we wasted no time and set off to our next destination, Franz Joseph. Again it was another long distance to cover but we stoped in a small town called Hokitika to go panning for gold. I did manage to find some but I think its ratteling around in a pot at the bottom of my handbag now! For lunch I tried out Possom Pie, it had been a while since I tried out something weird to add to my list, it tasted quite similar to chicken - brown chicken that you find close to the bones in drumsticks. In New Zealand, however, it is illeagal for possom to be sold so instead we were asked for exactly a $4 donation for the pie!

Franz Joseph is located in the westland National Park and is home to the Franz Joseph Glacier (which is just 6km from the seacoast - a situation found nowhere else in the world). We had 2 days to spend in Franz Joseph. The first we went to relax at the outdoor hot pools, recouperating from the last few days of non-stop travel and also preparing for what we were to put ourselves through the next day... glacier hiking!

Caitlin and I signed up for a whole day hiking our on the glacier, so we were up early to meet the group and get kitted out with waterproofs, boots and crampons. First we had to walk for about an hour up the valley before we reached to glacier then we had a bit of a climb to get on top of it. From the bottom of the glacier it presents itself as an optical illusion, it looks relativly small and I found myself doubting the difficutly of the hike. what i didn't realise is that the guides that took us out have to take a different route each day and the glacier is constantly moving and changes overnight, so we were cutting steps and making the paths as we went. We were so lucky with the weather too as the day before it had been raining. This was great for us as the rain washes off the top layer of dirt that lies on the ice. The ice was stunning and incedibly blue. When the clouds cleared from the valley at lunch to give us a blue sky too the scenery was outstanding and so unique.

I was an amazing day out on the glacier, definitly one of my best days in New Zealand!

We got dropped of at Wanaka in the afternoon. After getting some lunch we took it down to the alpine lake to sit by the water over looking the snow capped mountains in the Aspiring National Park. It was a nice lazy afternoon :) That evening we planned to go to the cinema, recommened to us by Chris and Orla. The only film that was on was Harry Potter, which I wasn't too keen about, but Caitlin insisted as she has the hots for Ron Wesely (I don't understand why either!) The cinema itself was definitly worth the ticket price; before the film started we watched a set of funny home made video adverts for the attractions in and around Wanaka and instead of rows of chairs they had put in comfy armchairs and sofas, even a convertable car to sit and watch the film in! The best part of the 'cinema experience' was the half way interval when the kitchen put out hot home made cookies for everyone!

In the morning Caitlin and I went for a walk around town and up to Pluzzling World, another one of Chris and Orla's recommendations! It was a wacky place with a hall of challenging illusions and loads of interactive things to get involved with. They also had a tricky maze to master outside which we spent hours getting lost in!


QUEENSTOWN > DUNEDIN > TEKAPO

Later that day after finding our way out of the maze we got the bus over to Queenstown. That evening we met up with everybody on the bus to go out to celebrate with Ruben, who we had met in Nelson, for his the 26th birthday. It was a fun night with lots of drinking and lots of dancing but I did feel quite fragile when I woke up the next day!

That afternoon Caitlin, I and our room mates, Ally, James and Rob went down to the Ferg Burger Restaurant. Everyone who we had met along the way of our travels,who had already been to New Zealand,said that when we got to Queenstown we MUST try a Ferg Burgers, they're famous in the backpacker world! We put our orders in, I opted for 'Souther Swine' beeg burger including bacon, red onions and avocado. When we got the burgers and saw the size of them I was actually quite nervous about how I was surposed to finish the thing, they were enormous > as big as your head!

On our last day in Queenstown Caitlin, Ally and I joined James and Rob in their car to drive up to Milford Sound. After a long 4 hour drive, passing the time with 20 questions, we arrived and joined a cruise to take us deep into the Fjord and out on the open sea. It was a shame it was very wet and very windy, unfortunately we did not get to see the spectacular views we had heard about. Dreading the return 4 hour drive back I thought sleep was the best way to pass the time.

We had a short stop over in Dunedin, which means "Edinburgh of the South" due to the settlers who left the city with strong Scottish influences. With only the afternoon to spare in Dunedin Caitlin and I walked across town to visit Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world! It was a fair climb and a drinking fountain has even been put in at the top! Later than evening I cooked Caitlin and I some famous New Zealand lamb and veggies for dinner before buying places in the poker game organised by Ria and Steve. Quite pleased when I ended up coming 3rd out of the 9 players :)

Tekapo was our last stop on our trip around the South Island. We had a picturesque ride up to the small settling by the lake and again made some nice stop along the way. At this stop, Pegasus Bay, we practiced our balance on the near perfect round boulders. (from left to right: Ria, Caitlin, me, Steve.)

That evening we celebrated the end of the South Island ride with a huge BBQ in front of Lake Tekapo (see below). We all helped prepare the salads, marinade the chicken, make the burgers etc. and had a feast ready for 37 of us and it was delicious! It was a really nice way to remember the good times we had together and the beautiful island we had exploring for the last couple of weeks.

HO! HO! HO! From New Zealand =)

I HOPE THIS SAYS IT ALL...

Hiding in the flowers at McKenzie Valley.

Hiking the Frans Joseph Glacier

Snow capped mountains at Lake Wanaka

The steepest street in the world! Baldwin Street, Dunedin.

Soaking up the sun at Abel Tasmen National Park.

Stunning glacial waters at Lake Tekapo.

FIJI

Our plan was to go to Fiji to chill out and slow down our pace for a couple of weeks, this was our "Holiday away from Holiday!". Luckily we made it to the airport in good timing as we nearly missed the plane, it was changed to leave an hour earlier than we had though - apparently due to daylight saving hours... more like daylight robbery if we had missed it!

Fiji itself is made up of 322 islands, the three main islands being Viti Levu, Vanua Leva & Taveuni. Originally these three islands were know as "The Cannibal Isles" and although Fiji has preserved a lot of it's traditional customs, fortunately, cannibalism is not continued here!

FEEJEE EXPERIENCE

For the first part of our 'holiday' Caitlin and i got on the Feejee Experience hop-on hop-off bus bus to take us around Viti Levu. The first stop of the day was at Malomalo Village where we observed the traditional buildings and layouts and told about 'Fiji Time' and the fact that EVERYBODY in Fiji is ALWAYS late! So for example, if village meetings/ ceremonies were meant to start at 10am the drums to call villagers would start at 8am to make sure the people arrived on time! We were also taught more about cancannibalismm and tribe wars and that when a tribe lost a war, for example over land, the members of the losing tribe with a low status would either be cooked and eaten or buried ALIVE in hope that they would help hold up the houses built above them... I don't know whats worse!?

After the village visit and the cannibalism talk everyone was surprisingly hungry! So we went down to the beach for a big BBQ, before heading south on the island to the Coral Coast for our over night stop we diverted inland to go sand boarding on the Sigatowa sand dunes. Getting to the top of the dunes they were much higher and much steeper than they appeared at the bottom!

The following day was probably my favourite day on the mainland. We got up, out and into the rural. All the group got squashed into the back of a truck and left the glamorous coastline behind us and entered the local part of the island to go trekking. We crossed grasslands and ventured into the rain forest, passing wild banana and pineapple trees and crossed bogs and rivers as we went. However not having the correct footwear, only flip flops, we ended up doing the trek bare foot and got absolutely filthy!! After 2 hours we finally reached the Qaranigio Waterfall and were aloud to cool down and clean up in the pools :)

The next morning we were granted a lie in to let our limbs recover. When we set off again we were on our way to the small village of Wainibuk where the group of us on the bus got taken to meet the chief of the village and welcomed into his home to join him in a Kava Ceremony. The Kava drink is made from dried Kava root mixed with water, when it is ready it looks like muddy puddle water - and tastes like it too! It is traditional to drink the Kava from a coconut shell (ask for 'low tide' for half a cup and 'high tide' for a full cup) and you have to finish the drink all in one go.

From the chiefs house and the Kava Ceremony we went to visit the village primary school. The school enrolls 120 pupils aged 5 to 13. The group of us were given a warm and extremely loud welcome by all the children and I was show around the school and classrooms by a little girl called Mary, who was actually quite bossy! Before we left we were invited to watch a performance of singing and dancing from all the kids. They were all so energetic and enthusiastic, such a memorable experience.

On our way out we found ourselves driving through the sugar cane and cattle country to lunch where we had the chance to participate in the Indo-Fijian culture. We were taught how to make our own Roti, Indian flat bread, to go with the curry lunch - yum yum! Our last stop on the Feejee Experience bus was a visit to Sabeto mud & hot pools - located at the base of The Sleeping Giant Mountains in the Sebato Valley. These were no luxury spa, the pools are left in their natural state, so we got down and dirty covering ourselves from head to toe! It's silly how the rich and famous will pay hundreds of pounds for this kind of treatment!

Being on the Feejee Experience bus was such a brilliant experience, I think in the short amount of time we really got a taste of the Fijian culture & people.

YASAWA ISLAND HOPPING

For the second half of our 'holiday' we got a ferry pass to go beyond the main island and go to some of the smaller islands off the North West coast in the Yasawa Island group. We spent a week hopping between some of the island visiting Waya Lai Lai, White Sand and Bay of Plenty (plenty of what we did not find out!)

I am sorry to say that there is not much to write for this part of the blog, we spent all our days sunbathing on the sands or swimming in the sea... LIFE'S A BEACH!

AUSTRALIA - New South Wales

Blue Mountains

Caitlin and I were both sad to leave Adelaide because of the great friends we had made there. After goodbyes we headed to the station to catch out train back over to the east coast. After 24 hours in the cabin we were dropped off at Sydney before we were off again. This time to the Blue Mountains. On our first day we went on the 1000 step decent which used to be he old miners trail to the bottom of the valley. We passed an interesting waterfall called Witches Leap Falls, where the water runs over the rocks shaped in the faces of a witches head. Caitlin and I were both relieved we did not have to climb back up to the top, from the mine a train still runs to the top - originally only used to transport coal but today passengers are aloud on board too! The train is the steepest train in the world - reaching an incline of 52 degrees! DON'T LOOK DOWN!

The following day we were out again to see the Leura Cascades. To get there we followed a cliff walk trail and as the mist began to clear we were able to appreciate the stunning views of the Blue Mountains Nation Park. The whole area of the national park is about the size of England, and when looking out it makes you feel really quite small! When we reached the viewpoint at the Leura Cascades we were rewarded further by the beautiful sight. It's unfortunate that my picture does not do the scene justice! Making it hard to imagine how staggeringly high the cliffs are, how loud the crashing water sounds and how far your voice is carried down the valley by the echos.

That day there was no train to take us back to the start! However we were able to take a detour on the way back for one more photo opportunity before it got dark. We visited the 'Three Sisters'. They are actually a rock formation and the aboriginal culture tells us how they got there. To cu a long story short, 3 sisters were taken to the valley and told to wait on top of the rock while the father went out to hunt. But girls will be girls and they would not wait patiently so with his magic stick their father turned them into stone where they still remain!

Canberra

I went to Canberra to go and see a friend, Jake - Kate and Paul's son who had moved there, the capital city of Australia, to study. When I arrived Jake took me to meet his housemate, gave me the grand tour of his apartment and we talked for hours about our adventures and the joys of travelling - Jake had recently been to Europe and travelled around on the inter rail. During my short visit to Canberra I managed to watch a lot of TV (to me a luxury while away, especially as i was in charge of the remote!) I met a few of Jake's friends from work and uni and we all went out for drinks. I also got a tour of the city - that was designed by a competition winner to plan the city, although after the competition the designer has not yet visited to see the results!

It was great seeing Jake and what he is up to now and fun remembering what we got up to as kids with Amy, Jake's sister and my bother David!

Sydney

Arriving in Sydney we tried t get our bearings in the big city. That morning we met up with a person that we met on the train over and went for a walk around heading for the harbour. It's such a hive of activity there and a great place to sit, relax, take in the buzz of the atmosphere and people watch - Japanese tourists getting trigger happy in front of the Sydney Oprah House, extravagant ladies having liquid lunches at the waterfront and keen beans getting active climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge etc. etc.!

Later on we retreated to Hyde park with a picnic lunch and spent the rest of the day swapping stories in the sun and eating grapes!

The next day we went to Coogee Beach for more time in the sun. On he way home we picked up dinner from the super market, that night Caitlin and I were cooking kangaroo! I found it amusing being in a country where we were able to eat the national emblem! Although they are actually considered a pest now! Kangaroo meat is extremely lean and even more healthy than chicken and more importantly it is so tender and tastes delicious, I tried not to think of my kangaroo friends I made earlier on in my trip!

On out last day in Sydney (and in Australia) we risked the weather reports for rainfall as the skies were blue and went to the beach again, the infamous Bondi beach. We were in luck and were able to stay dry! Because we were there on a Saturday the beach was absolutely packed and there were bodies everywhere, we managed to find a spot for the afternoon to chill out and watch the surfers.

Back at the hostel we packed our bags for the flight the following morning and checked the passports. With time to spare we went back down to the harbour to watch the sunset, a pretty good day to wrap up the last 6 weeks!