New Years Antics:
Having just arrived in New Zealand and chilling in Auckland for a few days, we didn't really know what to do for new years. After attempting valiantly to board a freighter ship to Fiji, but falling short at the final hurdle, we decided to make the short 3 hour trip up to the Bay of Islands situated at the very north of the north island of NZ. From here, We got a ferry across to an island with a funny name, believed to be Uckupucku or something similar for the Annual New Years Eve Music Festival / Fancy dress pirate party! We had a cracking night, and given the short notice, our pirate outfits went down a huge hit:
.... I attempted to draw a pirate upon Dans arm, but after drawing a circle and two dots in about 1 second, I realised I had drawn a perfect replicate, completely by accident, of the iconic photo of Che Guevara! Truly Unbelievable I think you will agree:
To this day I still can't believe it! When the party died down, we got on the ferry back to the hostel where our bags were stored, but as we were doing a day trip the next day at 7am, we decided against booking in at the hostel and instead, attempted to slum it for a few hours between 4am and 7am. We didn't take into account that the storage room would be shut and that it would be cold and wet... so we spent these few hours shivering on the outdoor decking before I found refuge in someone elses room... and then discovered that the hostel had a hot tub, so on New Years Day, 2011, at 6am, we relaxed / recovered from near frostbite in a relatively dirty and overly hot, hot tub!!
At 7am on New Years Day, we were picked up by our bus for the day to take us to Cape Reinga, the most northern part of New Zealand where the Pacific and Tasmin Sea's meet. The views were incredible, and after a jumping in the sea with massive freezing waves crashing over us... we were rid of our hangovers! The rest of the day was spent on the famous '90 mile beach', going sandboarding down massive sand dunes, and on the way back from an extremely long day, we got the best fish and chips I've ever had from the apparently world famous "Mangonui Fish and Chip Shop". The fish had been caught merely hours earlier and it was heavenly!!
Car Rental/Car Mental:
For the rest of our time in the north island, we decided to rent a car to give us the freedom we so badly craved! We didn't take into account that it was peak season for car rentals, so dreams of a camper van soon diminished, and after hours upon hours of searching, we settled for a Toyota Camry. This my friends is the definition of a mid of the range business mans car! It was a 5seater and given that there were 5 of us plus all of our luggage, it was a miracle that we all managed to fit in comfortably. The boot of the Camry was bigger than Ian Wrights Wife! Me and Michael were the designated drivers for the 10 days we had the car, and here is a quick run down of what we got up to:
- New Chums Beach - one of the worlds top 20 beaches. bliss.
- Hot Water Beach. Does what is says on the tin... burns ya feet.
- Played a whole lot of pool. David mentored me to become an average player but I had to sack him when he failed to take me to the next level. I installed Rhodes as my new mentor but we're already having teething problems. I feel a bit like a caged rocket Ronny ready to be let loose!
- Hells Gate - Hot Mud Baths.
- Maori Village - Exhibition of the customs of the Maori people including meeting a tribe, being shown the Haka very enthusiastically and having a 'hangi' or feast as we would say in English!
- Caving/Abseiling/Black Water rafting - Action packed day, very fun, sounds more dangerous than it was though!
- Skydive....
The 5 of us decided to do a skydive from 15,000 ft in the air, jumping out of an aeroplane and free falling for 60 seconds before the release of a parachute, attached to a stranger that we could only hope had guided people to safety before! I was very nervous beforehand, especially after the kind receptionist at the hostel asked us why we would want to get out of a perfectly functioning aeroplane at 15,000 ft in the air when we could land safely without jumping out! I put his perfectly logical question to one side as we got inside the tiny aircraft and readied myself for the big moment! I was strapped to my Canadian instructor Cody and after I had seen the trees below turn to dots in the distance and had watched David and Dan being sucked into thin air, I found myself at the open door of the plane, flying high, hanging out....and then.... whoooshhh.... I was pushed out by my instructor and began the ferocious fall screaming shouting and attempting to breathe! Before I knew it, the parachute had been pulled and I felt safe again as I glided for few minutes to the ground, landing perfectly and taking in the great views over the glorious Lake Taupo on the way down! Splendid.
Delighted to be alive, I began to jump up and down with the others for a video but ALAS jumping up and down appears to be more dangerous than skydiving as the clip on the harness smashed me in my teeth when I was in the midst of celebration! Classic moment and.... OUCH!
The rest of our car rental experience was awesome - the scenery on the drive was the best I have ever had the privilege of driving through, and despite us only having 1 CD for the car for 10 days, we made the best of a bad situation and this hit by 'collective soul' became our car anthem... mainly because everyone hated it but I kept playing it!! See Link Below for the song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ywbNv72xM
South Island/Kiwi Experience:
After crossing the channel and arriving in the South Island, we boarded the much talked about Kiwi Bus. (A bus full of young traveller that takes you to loads of popular places). Highlights include:
- Poo Pub! A pub/hostel nicknamed the poo pub due to its location by Lake MahinaPUA. The place has become legendary because of its owner, an 85 year old mental man called Les with a big beard! Everyone from the bus dresses up in fancy dress and pretty much goes a bit mental:
- Franz Joseph Glacier. 'The worlds fastest moving ice glacier' - It was really cool, we drunk some glacier water, climbed through tunnels, caves, tight spaces, hiked for about 6-8 hours and threw some glacier water over our heads. COOOL!
- Made loads of friends including Canadian Ryan - LEGEND, The other Leeds Uni boy crew (pannicc), Euan who's cross dressing antics made for a hilarious story, the flying Belgium, and many many more.
Queenstown:
Picture about sums it up:
The penultimate stop of our Kiwi Bus is/was Queenstown. Its by far my favourite place in New Zealand due to the nightlife, picturesque scenery, heaps of activities to do and of course the notorious and delicious 'Fergburger' Restaurant. Our 7 days here have been particularly crazy, involving a lot of partying and of course....
THE NEVIS BUNGY JUMP!! The third highest bungy jump in the world, hovering a staggering 134m over a canyon, leaping off a tiny platform in a suspended cable car, attached only by some bungy rope attached to your ankles! I was pooping my pants prior to doing it, and being the lightest in the group, I had to go last!! When it was finally my turn, my instructor shouted 3-2-1-JUMP, and with that, I took a leap of faith, literally, and sprung into the air and for some reason decided to shout/scream 'LEEEEESSSNEEERR!!" It was unbelievably unbelievable as I plummeted for what seemed like an eternity before feeling the re-assuring feel of the bungy chord kicking in and the feeling of weightlessness disappear! Of course the bungy was not over and after bouncing back high again, i was dropped again a few times before being towed back up to the cable car and kissing the 2 instructors jubilantly. I thanked them profusely for not killing me and we were all absolutely buzzing. Amanda certainly won the award for most comical fall, I hope that one day you all get to see her video! My Bungy video can be seen below:
Freeeee stuff
In Queenstown we have won and worked for an incredible amount of free stuff! It all began on the day we got here and we haphazardly entered ourselves into the 5-a-side footy tournament. Our team of Me, David, Dan, Michael in goal with his marigold gloves on and Canadian Ryan grew in stature and confidence throughout the tournament.... drawing our first 3 games before winning our last league match - and then winning the final on penalties thanks to some heroics from Rhodes in net. Ryan was an absolute gem, having only played football a few times in his life, he was taking on players and banging in the goals for us! Our prize was a 100$ free bar tab at Buffalo's Bar which we were most grateful of and it lead to a fantastic night out on the town! At the bar, I also won a free zip-line day out in a raffle... Result!
Earlier in the week I was really hungry and got a free pie by simply asking for one!!
Later in the week.... I won a Free Bungy Jump by winning a dance off with some SICK moves!! So yes.... just as I thought my extreme sports days were behind me, Today I partook in my second Bungy Jump of the week.... this time from a shorter distance but it was equally as scary and even more fun as I got to take a run up and hurl myself off the top of a cliff before having a fantastic view over queenstown on the way up.... WOHOOO!!
Michael and I also worked for a couple of days, cleaning for 2 hours in exchange for a free nights stay at the hostel. We had a laugh changing the bed sheets whilst extremely hungover!
Finally, My Zipline experience which I won was pretty tame in comparison to my other extreme sport activities, however, I am proud to say I have now zipped down the highest zipline in the world! The experience was somewhat less dramatic given that the average age of the group I was with was about 60 years old, but a free activity is a free activity and it was a very pleasant afternoon!
Jonny, Will, Amanda, Serial Killer
Remember Jonny....who we travelled with in South America....We met back up with him in Queenstown and had a cracking night out. We hope to see him again very shortly in Australia. He is still really good at stuff... he fixed my flip flop with a paper clip.
And What of Amanda I hear you ask? She has been an extremely wonderful addition to our group over the month in new Zealand and I for one will be extremely sad to see her go. She is much much much better to look at than those ugly mugs of Dan David and Michael!
Will Burgess. WILL BURGESS??!?!!? We only went and ran into none other than under 17 Spec Legend cup winning hero Will Burgess on a night out in Queenstown. Absolute LEGEND! Small world eh!
The Serial Killer.... There was a Dutch woman on our kiwi bus who we have nicknamed the Serial Killer. This is because her face actually offends us! She is really odd looking and we believe she has escaped a mental asylum and is on the run. We haven't seen her in a few days and are pretty grateful!
What Does the Future Hold? Noodles?With Money running out fast, instant noodles have been the order of the month in New Zealand. I now consist of roughly 70% instant noodle, 20% pasta and 10% beer. We are flying to Australia in 2 days where the plan is to work work work and also celebrate Jonny, David and Michael's Birthdays within 4 days of eachother in the middle of February.... or as it has become known.... "BIRTHDAY WEEK". It Promises to be a classic.
Peace and Love and Gareth Bale
xxxx
