Day 157 to 163 - Wellington and across to the South Island

I fear I have left it way too long to update this blog. There is just so much going on over here that the minute I stop running around I fall asleep almost instantly. Having so much to do also means that there is a lot to write about so I am having to be very selective and only writing about the most superb moments. One of which was a small town called Bulls that we passed through after leaving Tongariro. It was unforgetabull - get it?! For some unknown reason the town is obsessed with bulls and so likes to get the word into anything and everything. We stopped at the I site where it is 'park-a-bull', 'inform-a-bull'. The bins all ask you to be 'respons-a-bull', if you need the police you can go to the 'const-a-bull station', and the estate agents advertise 'No Bull'. They even have a sign post directing you to Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, just in case your bull is feeling lonely. Like I said anything and everything.

From there we hit Wellington where you can do an amazing Lord of the Rings tour and pretend to be a hobbit :-) . Oh yeah, I was a happy little geek that day. The national museum, Te Papa, is also amazing. It's got some amazing displays, including the worlds largest squid, and there is a lot of interactive displays so silly children like me don't get too bored :-) . Also, it's free, bonus. In the evenings I got to enjoy another stray family meal, a few drinks around town, a free mini circus in the rain, and midnight projections on the side of the museum.

Next stop, after a horribly long, rough, and cold, ferry crossing was Abel Tasman national park. The start of our south island trip, and what a start it was. The north island is beautiful, but the south island is just more dramatic. Larger lakes, beaches, mountains, open spaces, etc. Since i'm once again running low on money we decided to avoid paying for trips and just went for a relaxed walk through the rain forest and found a lovely little beach to chill out on for the afternoon. Then in the evening we were treated to another free barbeque, followed by drinking around the fire, and finally retiring to our tents. Yes. Tents. No nice warm hostel rooms tonight. We thought we'd get back to nature a bit (and save money) and freeze our bums off. It was good fun though, and it made us way more appreciative of all the dorm rooms we usually stay in.
The next big stop from here is Franz Joseph however that is a very long drive so stray stops half way in Greymouth. It's a tiny town, with not a lot happening. So it's the last place you'd expect to have an awesome and crazy night. Then again, travelling has taught me to expect the unexpected. The bar in our hostel had a deal on drinks IF you came dressed in bin bags :-) . Everyone looked amazing (that is everyone that took part :-P ) and needless to say there were a lot of drinks consumed. There was also an outing to another bar in town, a skate park, a good old bit of lamp post climbing, and finally a raging hangover as punishment.
On top of the hangover this is where stray failed :-( . A simple mix up with paperwork and the people at stray decided I never got on the bus on the south island and so cancelled all further bookings and gave my seat to someone else. Leaving me a little stranded and with a strict travelling schedule to keep to. Great. The solution... hitch hiking with a canadian guy who was also abandoned by stray. It is here then that I leave you. I am in Franz Joseph waiting for the stray bus to arrive (apparently getting lifts off three different people is quicker than getting the bus), HA :-D .

Day 156 - Tongariro Crossing

The day I spent walking the Tongariro crossing is by far one of the best days of my life. We nearly didn't do it at all. The weather had been so bad the day before they had cancelled all crossings and so we had all gone to sleep praying the weather had cleared the next day. It hadn't. All the signs said no crossings. But then... a wonderful man arrived who runs the guided walks. We wern't having a guide because they cost about $300 but he arrived and offered to walk on ahead of us for free to check it was safe. We were exstatic, and luckily he decided we were competent enough and never told us to turn around. This also meant there was no one else doing the walk and getting in our photos, and the weather brightened up almost as soon as we started walking.

It's rated in the top 10 one day walks in the world and I can see why. The walk begins on a small dirt track leading away from the car park and imediately you are awe inspired by the landscape. Here it is fairly flat with masses of vegetation spreading out over the rocky ground and the colours are amazing. It almost doesn't look real, like you are walking through a movie set. Eventually you come to what they call the devils stair case. It's not the most fun part of the walk as the name would suggest, but the moment you feel your legs giving up you turn around to see the view and you forget all about your aches and pains. Beyond this the walk is pretty easy, and you have the view of the volcanoes rising up to keep you going. We were actually very lucky to be doing the walk just after bad weather as it meant the snow was still very fresh, just adding to the spectacular scenery. The terain is just out of this world, because, lets be honest, how often do you walk over active volcanoes? Once at the top you can't help but feel like you are on top of the world. I felt totally free.

Coming down the other side was interesting as the ground is very unstable and the wind was trying desperately to push us over the edge :-\ . A lot of that section was spent on our bums waiting out the wind. At the base of the hill are the emerald lakes and you really can't imagine how green they are until you're there. Even the different colours in the rocks are amazing, including the Red crater, which is, funnily enough, a really bright, rich, red. The final leg of the walk is down through wild alpine vegetation and into the rainforest. This itself would be a lovely walk as you get amazing views over lake Taupo, you walk through fields where the grass is taller than you, and then you come to the beautiful waterfalls in the forest.

Magical, is just one of the words I would use to describe the day.

ps. Staying at the park meant we could jump straight into the hot tubs when we got back :-)

Day 151 to 155 - Straying around NZ

My adventure kicked of with a bang. Which was lucky since anything less wouldn't have overcome how tired I was (5am starts are not my friend). Our driver/guide is called 'Lucky' and she's fabulous. She kept us entertained and awake all morning and then kept us going until the evening with the promise of a free BBQ! - and it wasn't a typical free BBQ where you can have one burger, one sausage, and some salad. There was a ridiclous amount of all types of meat, a range of amazing sides to go with it, and bananas with chocolate for dessert (which I didn't get because I gave up chocolate for lent... bad move).

Our first big stop was Hahei where we took an hour walk to Cathedral Cove. It's the beach used in Prince Caspian and it is very pretty :-) . We even found a little cave to have a peek in, but we got out not long after when the tide threatened to trap us. Then later we took another trip out to Hot Water Beach, which surprise surprise is a beach with hot water :O . Sarcasm aside it is very impressive. There are too hot springs that are pushing up under the beach and at low tide they're exposed so you can go down with a shovel, dig your self a large hole, and bath in the very hot water. Or... you can go a little later and steal the holes other people have already dug :-) .

Day two of my straying and we were up bright and early (normal person early this time) travelling from the East coast to Raglan, on the West coast. The town is very much a surfers town and the place we're staying is right up into the bush. It's hidden away from civilisation and another perfect spot to just chill out and surf. From there we headed to Waitomo with its amazing caves and glow worms - which are technically "maggots with shiny shit", but they're prettier if you think of them as glow worms. I did the tubing adventure through the caves and discovered i'm not as terrified of tight spaces as I thought :-) . Though army crawling over rocks isn't as easy as it seems. When all that was over and we were well and truely exhausted we headed to Maketu to stay in a Maori meeting house. Whilst there we choose a chief and waited for him to accept our invitation into the tribe while a small boy yelled and thrust a spear at him, learnt the Haka and poi, slept on the floor in the meeting room, and woke up to Abba playing through the building :-\ ... yeah, that part just didn't quite fit. The next day was possibly the worst day so far... including the day I had my wisdom teeth out. We stopped off in Rotorua for the afternoon, a place famous for its geothermal activity, and it was disgusting. The smells that wafted around made me feel sick a couple of times. The town itself is lovely and quaint, and there are loads of activities available, but the smell... it's just indescribable. Oh and guess what, on my way back to Auckland I will be staying overnight in Rotorua. Yay. Look forward to that update. Lake Taupo was the final destination for this day and it is pretty impressive. Hard to believe it's a lake when you can't see the other side. Then from here we drove straight to Tongariro national park, which is where I am now, and it is snowing. Yes people, it's snowing. I am currently relaxing in a gorgeous lodge by the fire, with all my amazing new friends, looking forward to our group meal tonight and some classic card games :-) . I feel very much at home right now and it's a fabulous feeling :-) .

Day 145 to 150! - Waiheke + Hobbiton

The "Emergency wisdom teeth extraction" chapter of my life is officially over. Wahey! The dentist removed the stitches this morning and said everything is perfect. Which is perfect for me since tomorrow I begin my next adventure straying around NZ. I can't wait!

Having said that, as eager as I am to start exploring again I have been having an awesome time with my family and I'm not that eager to leave. Ah, such is life.

I have managed to do a bit more exploring while I have been here though. A short ferry ride from Auckland central is Waiheke Island,...

...a gorgeous slice of paradise. I only spent a day there so I didn't explore the numerous walks and other beaches on offer but I did get a chance to look through all the cute little boutique shops, stop for lunch with an amazing view, and just chill out in the sun. It's an amazing place to go and let life slow down.

Restaurant view over Oneroa beach.

Then to top that, and to please my inner geek, we went to Hobbiton. Ahhhhh! :) It was AMAZING. After the latest run of filming, for The Hobbit, the set has been left exactly as it was for the film (minus the hobbits) so you can see all the intricate little details that make up the fantasy. I got to walk along the path that Gandalf rides in on, see the Green Dragon pub and the Mill, play under the party tree, climb the steps to Bag End, and stand outside Sam's house where the trilogy finishes. We also learnt pretty funky facts about how they made the films, and saw the 5 new Hobbit holes that were built for the new movies and then never used :) .

I have to say though, any non-Lord of the Rings fans should probably miss out this part of NZ. (You'd be surprised how many people take the tour having no knowledge of the movies or the books) In my opinion, it was a superb day! :)

Day 141 to 144 - Shooting and teeth pulling :S

What an interesting couple of days...

My Uncle took me and my cousin to a shooting range for a play about and we had an amazing time. Turns out I'm still quite a natural with a shot gun :) hehe - blonde essex girl with a gun, what a great idea :). I also had a go with the semi-automatic machine gun, couple of pistols, rifles etc. It was an epic day!!

Then to keep the excitement going a few days later I had to have two of my wisdom teeth taken out. I had said no to the sedative until the dentist informed me she would be cutting away bone and gum before pulling the tooth. So half an hour before leaving the house I took my sedative pills. When it came time to leave my Uncle had to support me to the car. At the dentists all went smoothly - apart from the anesthetic wearing off and having to be re-administered twice. My memory of leaving and getting home is then very hazy. I do know, from other peoples accounts, that it was amusing to watch me attempt to drink from a bottle since I couldn't feel my mouth and subsequently dribbled it down me. Attractive I'll bet! On the plus side - this all occurred yesterday and today I am totally fine (in fact I was fine about 5 hours after having it done). Today I have been out in Auckland, to the cinema and stuffing my face with McDonald's (shhhh don't tell the dentist).

Day 136 to 140 - Adventures with Emily

For those who don't know... Emily is a fellow OzIntro traveller and temporary Sydney dweller who has also skipped over to NZ :-) . We decided to meet each other while we're both here and planned a trip up to the beautiful Bay of Islands.

Upon meeting in Auckland we went to the Sky Tower where, in the basement, we took photos with the LOTR models :-) and, at the top looking down, decided we were NOT jumping off of it like many other crazy tourists have. 

In the evening we had a very unique experience at the Ice House - well unique if you haven't been to an ice bar in any other city which I have'nt. It was cold! I know most of you reading just went "well duh", but I didn't really think about it beforehand and assumed the coats they give out would be enough - they are if you're not wearing a short skirt :-/ oops. Nevertheless, we had an amazing time drinking cocktails that taste like Ribena, drinking shots out of the moose head, and kissing the frozen kiwi.

The following day, after 4 hours of sleep, we headed off to Paihia where we checked in and jumped straight on a boat to see the 'Hole in the Rock' and some dolphins. The weather was perfect, bright sunshine, and that was thanks to the captains careful navigation that involved keeping the black cloud behind us :-) . Sadly our second day here there was no avoiding the rain. It was still "sweet as" exploring the area, visiting the church that still has bullet holes in it, and having lunch in the oldest pub in NZ, and then we partied until our feet could party no more :-) .

Day 127 to 135 - Australia to NEW ZEALAND

aaaaand I'm off again...

I have left Sydney and hopped over to NZ for a bit. My last week in Sydney was spent just hanging out with friends, exploring old pubs in the rocks, drinking english cider :-) , and sneaking past security guards into the casino - hehe. My arrival into NZ wasn't short on excitment as well as I was greeted by my Aunt and Uncle with an embarrassingly large "Welcome" balloon at the arrivals gate. I'm staying with them for a while before I travel around the whole of NZ and so far it has been awesome - or "sweet as" as they say over here.

In my first week I explored Orewa (a nearby beach town), went on a 'surfari' (we drove to 3 beaches on the west and east coast looking for good surf), had a guided tour of Auckland, and had an awesome night out in Auckland finished off by a fabulous midnight view of the city.

In addition, I have just been hanging out with my family who are all awesome!!