my last day in New Zealand! this has been my 2nd day in chrischurch, which is a lovely city. i am staying in a hostel called Foley Towers which is lovely and quiet and friendly and has pictures of Basil Fawlty all over the place. I have done all the touristy things here, yesterday i went on the ride up the gondola which is half an hour out of town, have to say it was a lot of money for not that much, the Queenstown one was better. however i got the gondola/tram combo ticket which allows you to get on and off the restored trams in the city centre as much as you like. they are wonderful and i could have gone round and round all day. the driver gives a little talk about the sights etc and alerted us to a free play which was going on in the botanic gardens last night. so after i got off the tram i visited the Rutherford den, this is where Earnest Rutherford (you should know who he is you numpties - remember your physics) went to university and did lots of his experiments. it was a small free museum and was wonderful, i didn't realise what an amazing man he was, nor that he was a kiwi. he is on their 100 dollar note here, not that i've ever seen one! mind you that is only about 35 quid.
so in the evening i went to the play in the gardens - it was a 3 guys doing 'The greatest books - abridged' and was very funny.
this morning i went to the Antarctic centre which again is about half an hour out of town, this time near the airport. is in the centre where all the teams leave for the antarctic from, as Christchurch is the nearest city. Just over the road is the US team HQ. it cost a fortune to get in, 30 dollars but i got 10% discount for being a yha member. knew it had some benefits. as well as lots and lots of information and videos about Antarctica it had a 'storm chamber' where you went in and put on big coats and stood around in about -5, until every half an hour a storm came through which took it down to -25, along with low visibility and high winds. very chilly. they also had a little blue penguin house which is the worlds smallest penguin, about 1kg and they don't actually live in antarctica but new zealand and south australia so were quite happy living in a pond out the back. these ones had all been rescued and would die out in the wild. ie one was blind, several had deformed wings, etc etc. i saw them being fed and the lady said they all have distinct personalities. very sweet and i narrowly avoided buying a blue penguin teddy.
this afternoon i wandered round the botanic gardens and the museum, believe me i think i know more about new zealand history than uk history. not that theres much new zealand history anyway.
my flight to Australia is tomorrow morning at 6.45, so i'm going to have to get up super early, damn it. trying to eat all my food up because the Australians won't let you take in anything that looks like it has been anywhere near an animal or a plant. next time i write i'll be in sydney! nice and hot! yippee!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
river surfing
I am very achy and sore after horse riding yesterday and then river surfing today. the ride was good, we saw some great LOTR locations including where the oliphants get ambushed, lothlorien, and the misty mountains. I was on a horse called Alaska who was a bit jumpy as all the horses have a hierachy and although we were specially put into a line he didn't like the horse in front, who kept trying to kick him. some of the horses were stars in LOTR, including in one battle scene where 350 horses were multiplied a few times. however in this scene one of the stables horses was fired for being naughty and kicking and biting the other horses, which caused a chain reaction of everyone falling off. one of the other horses was also one of the riders of rohan.
this morning's river suring session was fantastic, we got picked up and then there was a 40 minute bus ride to the start point. one of the people who got on i'd met before, she was on my stray bus earlier on in the trip, which was weird. well it wasn't really, you get used to meeting people over and over again here.
we had a few instructions on the bus, such as hand signals and rules (stay close to the guide, the 'mama duck', and stay in the centre of the channel) and then got changed into steamer wetsuits and boots and flippers and helments before having a bit more instruction beside the water such as how to hold the body board so you don't fall off. then we all had to jump in (water temperature about 12 degrees) and do a bit of practicing before paddling into the rapids and going for it. we got two goes down the river, one a practice one and then a fun one where we could hit some more extreme lines.
well it was fantastic, for anyone who knows rafting the rapids were classed as 2-3, so not that difficult but great fun when you're actually in the water. it was a bit like paddling a body board in the sea but with non of the faff of getting out back, just constant white water. luckily there were a few places to catch your breath between rapids. each rapid had a name like 'maneater' 'rollercoaster' and 'dead cow'. you could hit things like standing waves, whirlpools and 'squirters' where you push your board under and you get sucked along for a bit. if you get splatted on a rock like i did you have to point your board 45 degrees upstream and paddle like hell til you get back in the current. if you try and continue paddling down stream after being splatted on a rock you just get splatted some more.
anyway so there you go, FANTASTIC fun, make sure you do it if you get a chance. i would have wanted to go again if i could but i was absolutely exhausted.
oh some bad news yesterday (well bad news ish) i got back from riding and the housekeepers (or someone) had very kindly cleaned out the stuff in the fridge and taken all my food. great. i complained and got my milk back but the rest of it was gone (including mango and chilli chutney, balsamic vinegar and philedelphia!) so i was not very happy. however today they gave me a refund of 15 dollars which was nice, they didn't have to do that, however i'd still rather have the food as there's no point buying replacements as i'm getting on the plane in a few days.
its pouring with rain here today so i think i'm going to see Happy Feet at the cinema this afternoon. ;-)
this morning's river suring session was fantastic, we got picked up and then there was a 40 minute bus ride to the start point. one of the people who got on i'd met before, she was on my stray bus earlier on in the trip, which was weird. well it wasn't really, you get used to meeting people over and over again here.
we had a few instructions on the bus, such as hand signals and rules (stay close to the guide, the 'mama duck', and stay in the centre of the channel) and then got changed into steamer wetsuits and boots and flippers and helments before having a bit more instruction beside the water such as how to hold the body board so you don't fall off. then we all had to jump in (water temperature about 12 degrees) and do a bit of practicing before paddling into the rapids and going for it. we got two goes down the river, one a practice one and then a fun one where we could hit some more extreme lines.
well it was fantastic, for anyone who knows rafting the rapids were classed as 2-3, so not that difficult but great fun when you're actually in the water. it was a bit like paddling a body board in the sea but with non of the faff of getting out back, just constant white water. luckily there were a few places to catch your breath between rapids. each rapid had a name like 'maneater' 'rollercoaster' and 'dead cow'. you could hit things like standing waves, whirlpools and 'squirters' where you push your board under and you get sucked along for a bit. if you get splatted on a rock like i did you have to point your board 45 degrees upstream and paddle like hell til you get back in the current. if you try and continue paddling down stream after being splatted on a rock you just get splatted some more.
anyway so there you go, FANTASTIC fun, make sure you do it if you get a chance. i would have wanted to go again if i could but i was absolutely exhausted.
oh some bad news yesterday (well bad news ish) i got back from riding and the housekeepers (or someone) had very kindly cleaned out the stuff in the fridge and taken all my food. great. i complained and got my milk back but the rest of it was gone (including mango and chilli chutney, balsamic vinegar and philedelphia!) so i was not very happy. however today they gave me a refund of 15 dollars which was nice, they didn't have to do that, however i'd still rather have the food as there's no point buying replacements as i'm getting on the plane in a few days.
its pouring with rain here today so i think i'm going to see Happy Feet at the cinema this afternoon. ;-)
Friday, January 26, 2007
Queenstown again
Made it back to Queenstown after driving from Dunedin. before we left we visited a peninsula just out of Dunedin which has an albatross colony on it. unfortunately we didn't see any as we didn't pay the 25 dollars to go into the 'centre'.
Staying in a slightly quieter hostel which is a bit further out of town. so some decent sleep as there are only 4 of us in the dorm. This morning i booked a 3 hour LOTR horse trek for tomorrow, and i'm also thinking about doing some river boarding tomorrow, like white water rafting but on body boards.
this afternoon i'm meeting someone off the Nevis bungy bus (it cost 45 dollars just to watch so i let Jordy go on his own, how mean) and then we are going up the Queenstown gondola and doing the luge track, 5 times down the hill on little tea trays with wheels and steering and brakes. as its a bit of a last night tonight before we all go off and do separate things we are going out for a few beers.
will let you know how the riding and river boarding goes.
Staying in a slightly quieter hostel which is a bit further out of town. so some decent sleep as there are only 4 of us in the dorm. This morning i booked a 3 hour LOTR horse trek for tomorrow, and i'm also thinking about doing some river boarding tomorrow, like white water rafting but on body boards.
this afternoon i'm meeting someone off the Nevis bungy bus (it cost 45 dollars just to watch so i let Jordy go on his own, how mean) and then we are going up the Queenstown gondola and doing the luge track, 5 times down the hill on little tea trays with wheels and steering and brakes. as its a bit of a last night tonight before we all go off and do separate things we are going out for a few beers.
will let you know how the riding and river boarding goes.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Chocolate & Beer!
In Dundedin at the moment, spending an extra day here to explore and visit the chocolate factory and the brewery. but first milford sound and Steward Island. got the very early bus after a bad nights sleep (of course i was grumpy) in Queenstown, and drove down to Milford Sound. a scary drive down the mountain and then a 'cruise' around the sound not seeing very much due to the fog and rain. apparently its on one of the wettest places in the world, so not surprising that we couldn't see anything. were entertained by Keas, some parrot type green birds who were loving to rip the rubber off cars and were very cheeky. then we stayed at a small town called Tuatapere for the night, the others getting up to go for a farm tour in the morning, which i decided i'd already see enough sheep/cows in dorset so i had a lie in. We then got on the ferry to stay the night on Stewart Island, the relatively big island at the very tip of the south island. not many people live there but a good place for wildlife, and some fantastic beaches. on the afternoon walk out to the light house we saw a fur seal just metres away having a sunbathe on the beach.
yesterday we got back on the ferry, not quite as lumpy as the day before thak goodness, and drove to Dunedin, stopping off on the way for some 'wildlife walks' including one to see a colony of fur seals, elephant seals, sea lions and yellow eyed penguins all living together. this area, the catlins, is lovely, deserted golden beaches and fantastic wildlife.
arrive in dunedin late and went immediately for the Speights brewery tour after which (the best bit) we did some tasting, which included pouring your own beer. a lovely new beer they've got out for summer was harvest, an apricot beer which tastes similar to Badger Champion, if anyone's had that. lovely.
left the brewery and of course had to continue tasting in the brewery bar next door.
This morning there were a few people staying on so we visited the chocolate factory, which is right in the centre of town. an amazing tour seeing loads of things and getting lots of free chocolate to try. i answered 2 questions the tour guide had asked correctly and was given 2 more chocolate fish (these are marshmallow fish covered in chocolate) much to everyone elses envy. the smell of chocolate as we went round was amazing, we all decided we wanted to work there. i did ask why the chocolate here doesn't taste the same as back home she reckons the milk is fresher but i thing thats bollocks as it doesn't taste as good out here. of course i didn't say that. but the discussions we've been having (it seems to come up all the time in conversations with backpackers!) was that it was because they put an extra ingredient in to protect it from the heat. lots of cheap chocolate to buy in the shop at the end, i bought some pineapple lumps, which i have never seen anywhere else which are a weird combination of pineapple chewy stuff covered in chocolate, its a weird combination but it somehow works.
right better go we have more of Dunedin to explore, hopefully something a bit cheaper than a brewery and a chocolate factory!
see you later
ps only a week left in NZ!
yesterday we got back on the ferry, not quite as lumpy as the day before thak goodness, and drove to Dunedin, stopping off on the way for some 'wildlife walks' including one to see a colony of fur seals, elephant seals, sea lions and yellow eyed penguins all living together. this area, the catlins, is lovely, deserted golden beaches and fantastic wildlife.
arrive in dunedin late and went immediately for the Speights brewery tour after which (the best bit) we did some tasting, which included pouring your own beer. a lovely new beer they've got out for summer was harvest, an apricot beer which tastes similar to Badger Champion, if anyone's had that. lovely.
left the brewery and of course had to continue tasting in the brewery bar next door.
This morning there were a few people staying on so we visited the chocolate factory, which is right in the centre of town. an amazing tour seeing loads of things and getting lots of free chocolate to try. i answered 2 questions the tour guide had asked correctly and was given 2 more chocolate fish (these are marshmallow fish covered in chocolate) much to everyone elses envy. the smell of chocolate as we went round was amazing, we all decided we wanted to work there. i did ask why the chocolate here doesn't taste the same as back home she reckons the milk is fresher but i thing thats bollocks as it doesn't taste as good out here. of course i didn't say that. but the discussions we've been having (it seems to come up all the time in conversations with backpackers!) was that it was because they put an extra ingredient in to protect it from the heat. lots of cheap chocolate to buy in the shop at the end, i bought some pineapple lumps, which i have never seen anywhere else which are a weird combination of pineapple chewy stuff covered in chocolate, its a weird combination but it somehow works.
right better go we have more of Dunedin to explore, hopefully something a bit cheaper than a brewery and a chocolate factory!
see you later
ps only a week left in NZ!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
bungy
Forgot to say we stopped off at the original bungy site on the way into town, a couple of people from the bus did a bungy and we all got to watch. that was the closest i'm ever going to get to a bungy! watching people do it was scary enough. i'm not worried about sky diving though - i've heard its a different kind of rush. anyway i'll let you all know about that when we do it in oz, hopefully. paul's up for it too so it should be good.
Queenstown
Finally made it to Queenstown after cruising down the west coast. Spent last night after Franz Josef in a place call Makarora which really was in the middle of nowhere but with fantastic scenery of mountains all around. spent the night in the bar (nothing else to do) watching other people doing kareoke - if you sang you were entered into the draw to do a sky dive.
this morning we stopped off in Wanaka, a town a bit like Queenstown but smaller, basically an extreme activities town. saw some real LOTR scenes on the way.
In Queenstown now staying at a rather skanky hostel right in the centre of town, in an 8 bed dorm with 4 smelly boys already in it. great. if they wake us up tonight (the nightlife here is huge) we'll have the last laugh as we have to catch the 7am bus to milford sound. I am hoping to go kayaking on milford sound which would be great.
right i'm off to look around some outdoor shops - this place is great if you like walking or basically doing anything outdoors.
have fun
charlotte
this morning we stopped off in Wanaka, a town a bit like Queenstown but smaller, basically an extreme activities town. saw some real LOTR scenes on the way.
In Queenstown now staying at a rather skanky hostel right in the centre of town, in an 8 bed dorm with 4 smelly boys already in it. great. if they wake us up tonight (the nightlife here is huge) we'll have the last laugh as we have to catch the 7am bus to milford sound. I am hoping to go kayaking on milford sound which would be great.
right i'm off to look around some outdoor shops - this place is great if you like walking or basically doing anything outdoors.
have fun
charlotte
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Franz Josef glacier
Now in the town of Franz Josef, down the road from a huge glacier. was going to do ice climbing today but it turned out to be more expensive than i thought. so i'm having a chill out day. its foggy and raining anyway.
so after i left Picton on the bus we went on to the Abel Tasmand national park, where we stayed right in the park for a couple on nights. we went sailing for the day on performance catamarans which was fun. well it would have been had there been any wind. as it was we did lots of motoring. we saw an adult seagull pecking to death a baby one. nice. also some fur seals, apparently there were orcas in the bay but we didn't see any. after ATNP we motored down to a teeny village on the west coast of the south island called Barrytown, or Barry - no town, or Baz Vegas. stayed in this little pub which convieniently had boxes and boxes of dressing up clothes. so for want of anything better to do we had a fancy dress party. cue lots of men wearing dresses. our driver, Gollum was dressed as gollum, very scary. went for a walk on the wind swept beach the next morning to look for greenstone but i wasn't in luck, not many people are.
so now we're in Franz Josef, tomorrow we go on to a place called Makarora, and after that Queenstown. then hopefully i'll get on a bus and go right down to the south and see Milford SOund, Dunedin and Stewart Island. only 2 weeks now and i'll be in Australia.
so after i left Picton on the bus we went on to the Abel Tasmand national park, where we stayed right in the park for a couple on nights. we went sailing for the day on performance catamarans which was fun. well it would have been had there been any wind. as it was we did lots of motoring. we saw an adult seagull pecking to death a baby one. nice. also some fur seals, apparently there were orcas in the bay but we didn't see any. after ATNP we motored down to a teeny village on the west coast of the south island called Barrytown, or Barry - no town, or Baz Vegas. stayed in this little pub which convieniently had boxes and boxes of dressing up clothes. so for want of anything better to do we had a fancy dress party. cue lots of men wearing dresses. our driver, Gollum was dressed as gollum, very scary. went for a walk on the wind swept beach the next morning to look for greenstone but i wasn't in luck, not many people are.
so now we're in Franz Josef, tomorrow we go on to a place called Makarora, and after that Queenstown. then hopefully i'll get on a bus and go right down to the south and see Milford SOund, Dunedin and Stewart Island. only 2 weeks now and i'll be in Australia.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Queen Charlotte!
Just got back from the Queen Charlotte tramp, i only did 2 days of the 3, lucky really as i have a huge blister and did today's walk in my sandals instead of boots.
so its 71km in total, i did 24 km y;day then 20km today before getting the water taxi back to picton. a nice walk very up and down yesterday but today was nicer. stayed in a lovely place on the first night, mmeeting Ira on the track after the first day. It was called Mahana lodge which was tucked in a bay and just off the track. lovely views over the sound but i got bitten to shreds by bugs which didn't help with walking the next day because they seem to love my ankles. the weather was really hot yesterday which meant we ran out of water pretty quick however today it was cloudy and rained a bit, which was fine, luckily our bags were ported for us by the water taxi so they didn't get wet.
on the bus tomorrow to Abel Tasman National Park and then down the west coast to greymouth and the Franz Josef glacier. nice to hear from everyone. Rob - we booked the van for oz and it was 1500 ozzie dollars - about 500 quid i think for 12 days.
however the campsites can be cheap to nothing if you have a loo and shower with you.
so its 71km in total, i did 24 km y;day then 20km today before getting the water taxi back to picton. a nice walk very up and down yesterday but today was nicer. stayed in a lovely place on the first night, mmeeting Ira on the track after the first day. It was called Mahana lodge which was tucked in a bay and just off the track. lovely views over the sound but i got bitten to shreds by bugs which didn't help with walking the next day because they seem to love my ankles. the weather was really hot yesterday which meant we ran out of water pretty quick however today it was cloudy and rained a bit, which was fine, luckily our bags were ported for us by the water taxi so they didn't get wet.
on the bus tomorrow to Abel Tasman National Park and then down the west coast to greymouth and the Franz Josef glacier. nice to hear from everyone. Rob - we booked the van for oz and it was 1500 ozzie dollars - about 500 quid i think for 12 days.
however the campsites can be cheap to nothing if you have a loo and shower with you.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
a missing day!
realised as soon as i left the hostel this morning that i missed out a whole day after Taupo. we did the Tongariro crossing, a 17km walk across a few volcanoes in the Tongariro national park. Mt Rupahaue was mt Doom / Mordor in LOTR so we were hoping for a view. however the day dawned foggy so we didn't see anything, in fact at times it was a struggle to see the next tracker marker post. however walkers coming out of the mist in front of us could have been orcs. so it was a lot of effort for not much reward, as the views are meant to be amazing on a good day.
we stayed the night in an amazing hostel in the National park which converts to long term ski accomodation in the winter. it had a hot tub and log fire which made it a great hostel. bought some deep heat type stuff today to put on my aching muscles - its 2 days after the walk! as i am doing the queen charlotte track in another day i thought i'd better buy it or i'll never get round it.
we stayed the night in an amazing hostel in the National park which converts to long term ski accomodation in the winter. it had a hot tub and log fire which made it a great hostel. bought some deep heat type stuff today to put on my aching muscles - its 2 days after the walk! as i am doing the queen charlotte track in another day i thought i'd better buy it or i'll never get round it.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
in wellington
well the night in rotorua was a bit of a disaster really, carole and i were really chuffed to be in a small 4 bed room with a shower and loo, but the 2 other occupants woke us up constantly coming into use the loo from the downstairs bar and then at about midnight one of them came in with a bloke and started doing drugs in the bathroom. was heroin. i was really mad. got the night watchman but there was nothing (!) he could do. carole complained in the morning and they said the drugs policy is that drugs are 'frowned upon' (!) anyway our wonderful bus driver then complained and got them kicked out.
while she was doing that we went into the Maori thermal village, really interesting how they cook their food and use the thermal water for everything. we had a walk around, saw a 'cultural performance' of dancing singing and the haka, and had a traditionally cooked steamed meal of sweetcorn sausages and steamed pudding.
went onto Taupo in the afternoon, some people did sky diving but my budget wouldn't stretch to that ... birthday present anyone?
the hostel there was lovely and we had a really peaceful night in our room - all in bed by 10 past 10!
yesterday we drove on to wellington and in the afternoon myself and Ira, an american on the bus got our Queen Charlotte Track sorted, including the ferry over to the south island, the water taxi to the start, accomodation and portage for our bags. its 71km in total but i am joining him for the 2nd and 3rd days. looks great fun but i think its going to be muddy and went as its due to rain here for the next week. great!
today i am off to the museum of new zealand, Te Papa, admission free (great - looking at my budget which is going down the pan!) some people went yesterday and its a great museum with a virtual bungy jump! Wellington looks like a really nice city although i am amazed its the capital yet its so teeny you can walk across the town centre in half an hour!
better go now and look at hiring vans for australia with Paul.
happy birthday emma.
cxx
ps emma is winning the email/text competition, most replies to emails and texts. there will be prizes.
ps2 bobby is losing. not even one email to his sister!
while she was doing that we went into the Maori thermal village, really interesting how they cook their food and use the thermal water for everything. we had a walk around, saw a 'cultural performance' of dancing singing and the haka, and had a traditionally cooked steamed meal of sweetcorn sausages and steamed pudding.
went onto Taupo in the afternoon, some people did sky diving but my budget wouldn't stretch to that ... birthday present anyone?
the hostel there was lovely and we had a really peaceful night in our room - all in bed by 10 past 10!
yesterday we drove on to wellington and in the afternoon myself and Ira, an american on the bus got our Queen Charlotte Track sorted, including the ferry over to the south island, the water taxi to the start, accomodation and portage for our bags. its 71km in total but i am joining him for the 2nd and 3rd days. looks great fun but i think its going to be muddy and went as its due to rain here for the next week. great!
today i am off to the museum of new zealand, Te Papa, admission free (great - looking at my budget which is going down the pan!) some people went yesterday and its a great museum with a virtual bungy jump! Wellington looks like a really nice city although i am amazed its the capital yet its so teeny you can walk across the town centre in half an hour!
better go now and look at hiring vans for australia with Paul.
happy birthday emma.
cxx
ps emma is winning the email/text competition, most replies to emails and texts. there will be prizes.
ps2 bobby is losing. not even one email to his sister!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
hi everyone
went to raglan yesterday and was intending to go surfing, its a famous break which was in the film endless summer, its also a rare left hander. unfortunately just my luck there was no surf. so i gave up on that idea.
in rotorau at the moment, just got to the hostel. went to the Waitomo Gloworm caves this morning, i didn't do the caving, several of us went for a nice walk instead, about 2 hours. because of all the limestone karst around you could be walking near cheddar gorge instead! i decided it was too much money to go caving and see glow worms ( i saw them last night near the hostel at raglan, very exciting) although some people went tubing and abseiling etc and it sounded great fun.
going to an irish bar tonight for cheap food and an irish band and dancing apparently, should be fun.
tomorrow i shall pop and see the thermal hot springs which are right in front of my hostel (there's a spa downstairs you can get into) and we're off to do a maori village walk around and then onto Taupo. the day after we're going to Tongariro national park and i'm looking forward to doing the Tongariro Crossing walk, which is about 7 hours walking apparently. hope i'm with a fast group with no whingers. everybody so far has been up for walking etc, so its been good. we have an elderly lady with us who has been on the road for 7 months, she's great. i'm in the small dorm with her tonight. very mumsy ish. she and the driver cooked roast dinner last night for 5 bucks each.
right better go this internet place costs a fortune. gmail is down at the mo so i can't seem to send any emails either. love to everyone. hope you're having a great time back in blighty! its sunny and hot here. although i think i'm going to be cold in the south island. where temperatures are about 5 degrees lower.
charlotte. xxx
ps kiwi slang = 'sweet as, bro!'
went to raglan yesterday and was intending to go surfing, its a famous break which was in the film endless summer, its also a rare left hander. unfortunately just my luck there was no surf. so i gave up on that idea.
in rotorau at the moment, just got to the hostel. went to the Waitomo Gloworm caves this morning, i didn't do the caving, several of us went for a nice walk instead, about 2 hours. because of all the limestone karst around you could be walking near cheddar gorge instead! i decided it was too much money to go caving and see glow worms ( i saw them last night near the hostel at raglan, very exciting) although some people went tubing and abseiling etc and it sounded great fun.
going to an irish bar tonight for cheap food and an irish band and dancing apparently, should be fun.
tomorrow i shall pop and see the thermal hot springs which are right in front of my hostel (there's a spa downstairs you can get into) and we're off to do a maori village walk around and then onto Taupo. the day after we're going to Tongariro national park and i'm looking forward to doing the Tongariro Crossing walk, which is about 7 hours walking apparently. hope i'm with a fast group with no whingers. everybody so far has been up for walking etc, so its been good. we have an elderly lady with us who has been on the road for 7 months, she's great. i'm in the small dorm with her tonight. very mumsy ish. she and the driver cooked roast dinner last night for 5 bucks each.
right better go this internet place costs a fortune. gmail is down at the mo so i can't seem to send any emails either. love to everyone. hope you're having a great time back in blighty! its sunny and hot here. although i think i'm going to be cold in the south island. where temperatures are about 5 degrees lower.
charlotte. xxx
ps kiwi slang = 'sweet as, bro!'
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Had a great NYE in Paihia, a nice meal in a restaurant on the waterfront and then watched the fireworks from the beach. Didn't end up drinking much, a small disappointment but got back to the tent at 1.30am after which we were woken many times by our disgusting kiwi next door neighbours. loads and loads of young kiwis and backpackers around, there was a liqor ban in place but most people were drinking on the beach anyway. lots of police around.
On New Years Day we drove up to Kerikeri and went for a tramp up to Rainbow falls, where we watched people abseiling off the top and into the water. It was very cold! on the way back we stole 2 oranges which were delicious. the area around there is very Mediterranean and they produce a lot of citrus fruit.
On the 2nd we drove back to auckland the scenic way via a few nice beaches and did some walking.
Today we visited the sky tower - its a really lovely day here today, summer's finally arrived and the views were amazing. watched people do the sky jump off the top which is not a bungy but more like a base jump with a wire attached to you. there are glass panels in the observation deck to look down and some people were clinging to the chairs unable to go near the windows. this afternoon we visted the National maritime museum.
I booked my Stray bus pass today so i am leaving Auckland tomorrow. the first stop is heihei, on the coromandel peninsula, where there are hot water beaches. we reach wellington and then the south island in about 5 days, after visiting raglan to do some surfing, then rotorua and taupo and the tongarirro national park. looking forward to getting back on the road.
On New Years Day we drove up to Kerikeri and went for a tramp up to Rainbow falls, where we watched people abseiling off the top and into the water. It was very cold! on the way back we stole 2 oranges which were delicious. the area around there is very Mediterranean and they produce a lot of citrus fruit.
On the 2nd we drove back to auckland the scenic way via a few nice beaches and did some walking.
Today we visited the sky tower - its a really lovely day here today, summer's finally arrived and the views were amazing. watched people do the sky jump off the top which is not a bungy but more like a base jump with a wire attached to you. there are glass panels in the observation deck to look down and some people were clinging to the chairs unable to go near the windows. this afternoon we visted the National maritime museum.
I booked my Stray bus pass today so i am leaving Auckland tomorrow. the first stop is heihei, on the coromandel peninsula, where there are hot water beaches. we reach wellington and then the south island in about 5 days, after visiting raglan to do some surfing, then rotorua and taupo and the tongarirro national park. looking forward to getting back on the road.
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