Nov 2005

We headed to Puzzling World this morning which is a bit of a weird attraction! There is a massive maze (1.2 km) and you have to find your way to all four corners and back out again! I found this easy enough but some people couldn't do it! The puzzling world has a holograph gallery with freaky holographs! There is a circular room where there are faces all over the walls with eyes that follow you! Then the weirdest room is the tilted room it's all on a slope and it messes something chronic with your balance! I felt really ill after this! The last room is the little and large room where you can see how in Lord of the Rings they made hobbits appear so small!

The cafe in puzzling world was great as well! They had loads of puzzles on the tables that you could play with and work out! The best was one called tantrix! Weird name! You had 8 blocks and had to make loops out of the lines on them! Sounds weird - it is! But it was addictive!

We then went to a place called Have A Shot where you can play mini golf, go on a driving range, clay pigeon shooting, rifle range and archery. We only had an hour - damn! So I started with the rifle range where I had 30 shots and I did really well (I have the targets so I can show you all when I get back!). I then did Archery where I had 20 minutes and got in about 45 shots and only 15 landed on the target paper! I wasn't so good at this! But it was great fun! I would have liked to tried the clay pigeon shooting but didn't have time. The golf driving range was a real one but it had sheep in the range!! I don't know if this is classed as cruelty to animals?!!

We stopped in Cromwell after this at a fruit shop and bought loads of fresh fruit and the most amazing fruit ice creams!

The next stop was AJ Hackett Kawarau Bridge Bungy Jump! Oh my god these people are mad! We watched stunned at these people jumping, some were flying through the air, some were silent with fear, some actually got dipped in the water and one mad pair did it together! They were off of our bus! It was great to watch but there is no way in hell I would ever do that! Also it is so expensive just for a 20 second experience (you do get a free t shirt though!).

We then headed into Queenstown and stopped off at Info and Track for people who are here to book activities, as I have 6 days here I decided to go back and book stuff tomorrow! I headed to Starbucks and ran into loads of people off my previous bus and off of other buses! I arranged to meet up later with Ruth and Emily who I had seen in Franz Josef last!

We then got dropped off at the hostel which was awful! It was a packed 8 bed dorm with no room to move! The building was really old and not very clean! So I went into town with some of the girls from my dorm and got some food shopping and dinner. Back at the hostel I phoned around trying to find somewhere else to stay!

I met Emily and Ruth in town and they were staying at the YHA Central, they showed me their room and it was massive, only 5 beds in the room, en suite and TV! So I booked myself in the YHA for tomorrow!

We all went to Starbucks then and got some coffee and sat on the beach watching the sunset! I went for a paddle in the lake but it was freezing! We then headed back into town and walked around and headed to the World Bar but it was dead so we went to Altitude which was a bit busier and they were giving away free margheritas!

We stayed in Altitude for a bit but the girls had to get up early to go to Christchurch the next day and they walked me back to my hostel. It was quite dark walking along and I'm glad to have had company!

The hotel that I stayed at was really nice (in comparison to everywhere else!). There were real mattresses! I normally get foam ones which aren't all that comfortable, and sometimes real spring ones are really old so you can feel all the springs! So staying here was lovely! The bathroom is en suite and has a bath tub, according to others on my bus this is luxury! I prefer showers so the bath didn't make too much of an impression!

As I had the room to myself last night I slept until about 1000 this morning! I then had some breakfast and wandered down to the lakefront. I went into the visitor information centre to find out some activities, there aren't many, mainly walks and such. I decided to go shopping instead! I sat on the beach for half an hour which was great! It's so beautiful here with all the mountains and crystal clear lake water! Some people were out on aqua bikes and kayaks, I found out that it was $10 an hour to hire a kayak but as I had only done it once before the guys at the kayak place reckoned I should do some more guided kayaking before I went out on my own! I headed across the road and into town and looked around the shops, ok so I didn't buy anything as I know that when I get to Queenstown I'll spend a fortune!

I had coffee and lunch at a cafe along the lakefront and unfortuneatly I started to feel really sick (my tablets make me feel ill!) so I went back to the hotel and laid down for an hour. I then went and sat in the garden with some of the girls from the bus, I had taken some panadol and was feeling better for it!

We decided to go for dinner, they were going to go to a restaurant/cafe but I didn't feel like a massive meal so I ended up getting fish and chips from across the road. At the chippie I ran into a girl I had met in Franz Josef who is working at the hotel for a couple of weeks! We ended up sat on a picnic table eating our fish and chips together!

The other bus was meant to come in today which I was going to be joining tomorrow but it still hadn't turned up at 2000! So I watched the movie waiting for the bus to come in which it finally did at 2030! I knew a few people off of the bus so we ended up sat in the garden that night chatting and drinking (well me on diet coke again!). They were so late as they couldn't do the glacier hiking the day before because the glacier was too dangerous! So they did it this morning and drove straight through from Franz josef!

One word - scenery it was was amazing today!

We got on the bus early this morning, I'm only staying on the bus for today then spending 2 nights in Wanaka! Thank God, I really don't like this bus driver!

Anyhow we got on early and drove to Lake Matheson to see the reflective lake. We drove through the town of Fox Glacier where there is another Glacier. The views here were amazing, we stopped just down from Lake Matheson where we got views of Fox Glacier and also Mt Cook, New Zealand's biggest mountain!

Lake Matheson was lovely but there was no mirror reflection as there was a bit of a breeze causing ripples over the water!

We then headed onwards and stopped for photos a fair few times as it was such a lovely day! We went for a walk to a falls and some of the guys went swimming, I paddled but it was bloody freezing! We also stopped at a place called Blue Pools, the walk down was through gorgeous country side and then we had to go across a massive swing bride! SO cool, some people were really nervous as it swings so much but no more than 5 people are allowed on at a time, great fun!

Blue Pools is so named because the water is so blue! Basically the water is so cold that the sun reflecting off it gives it a more blue colour than warmer water! Again I paddled - bloody freezing! But quite a few people went for a dip, lots of shrieks!

On the way to Wanaka we stopped at Lake hawea (might have spelt this wrong!) and the scenery was stunning, snow capped peaks, beautiful lake, gorgeous!

In wanaka we checked into the hotel, yes a hotel! They turn one floor into dorms in the Summer for Kiwi Experience, Only 4 beds in a dorm and en-suite, Some lucky people had tellys too!

I went out for a wander around town and got some groceries (we have fridges in our rooms - so posh), and then came back to the hotel. There were a couple of good movies on in the lounge so I stayed in with most of the bus crowd and we watched movies until late!

So I did my heli hike today! The helicoptor part was brilliant, I got about 25 minutes in a helicoptor right over the top of the glacier!

Unfortunatly my guide was dreadful! Before we left the base in the town we were separted into two groups - fast and slow! I was in the slow group as I wanted to take my time because I knew I would be a bit shaky on the ice!

Well when we got up to the glacier the guide asked if anyone was feeling un-confident so I put my hand up and he said that I was to stay behind him until I felt more confident! We walked a little way and my confidence rose and then we stopped in an ice cave which was brilliant and I walked up through it getting someone to take photos! After this the guide was taking quite steep routes and my confidence slipped and he wasn't very helpful! Other people were struggling but he didn't seem to notice them, people in the group also asked to stop so they could take photos but he said no because we had no time!

Back at the helicoptor site a few of the girls had a few words with him as he had been walking so far ahead that he was out of sight for at least 5 minutes at one point!

The helicoptor ride down was brilliant, when we got to the bottom we all filled out comments forms and made bad comments! Then 3 of us went into the main office and made a complaint! It wasn't just me who didn't have time to take photos!

We all left after making a complaint and I bumped into some girls that I did the Great Ocean Road tour with in Australia (small world!) I was still quite upset at this point as I had paid so much money and I'd had a crap time! They suggested I go and try and get some money back so I went back in and I got the guiding fee refunded!

The girls I'd just bumped into arranged to have dinner with me so I went up to the pub to meet them and couldn't find my wallet! I'd left it on a picnic table outside the guiding place! Agh - this day was just getting better and better! Luckily some one had handed it in and everything was in it!

Me and the girls ended up having lunch at a place called the landing and I had a really great dinner with them! I then went back to the hostel and played some pool with people off the bus and had an early night!

Ok so everyone was feeling really rough this morning, me as I was ill and my tablets are horrible! Everyone else was seriously hung over!

So what did the bus driver do? Make us go for walks up massive hills! We did 2 or 3 walks which to be honest I can't remember as I was feeling pretty rough! The doctor had said that walking would actually help so I couldn't even use that excuse! The final walk of the day was when we arrived in franz Josef, we parked up in the glacier car park and walked up to the glacier view point! It was pretty spectacular! Also it was really nice weather so the views were fantastic!

After this we got dropped off at our hostels and I sorted myself out! I'd bumped into Ruth and Emily from Base Auckland so we arranged to go for a drink later on. Back at the hostel me and a couple of the people from the bus went for pizza in the hostel bar - very nice!

I met Ruth and Emily and we went for a coffee in town before heading towards my hostel bar again as all the people off of our buses were there! They were also giving away a free bunjy jump! I put my name in the draw and I had a buyer all lined up if I won it! I didn't!

After this we called it a night and arranged to meet in Queenstown!

Today we drove to an exclusive Kiwi Experience stop the Poo Pub!

We had a later start today and drove up the road to Cape Foulwind where we did a short walk to see some seals. Captain Cook named Cape Foulwind after the blustery cold winds that come in off of Antarctica! The other Foul Wind that you can get here is the seal poo smell! We only saw a couple of seals and they blended in really well with the rocks that they had to be pointed out to me!

After this we headed to Pancake Rocks where the sea had shaped the rocks into pancake stack shaped rocks! It was pretty rough out in the sea today so there were some major waves crashing through the caves!

At Greymouth our next stop we were told that there would be a party at the Poo Pub tonight and we had to get dressed up as anything beginning with a letter P. Prizes included a canyon swing, river boarding and bunjy photos (all for use in Queenstown)! I thought well I don't wanna spend much and none of the prizes appealed to me so I bought a tiara and decided to be a Princess!

At the poo pub (actually called Mahinapua Hotel) I realised I wasn't very well and had to see a doctor so I arranged for this but I had to wait until 8.30pm! I had dinner with everyone else and then saw people getting ready. As I wasn't feeling well the manager Les arranged for me to have a room to myself that night!

I saw the doctor and she gave me lots of tablets to take! But no drinking - agh!

Back at the Poo pub the phone was busy and I needed to call my Mum to let her know what was happening so in the meanwhile I had a look at everyone elses outfits. One of the blokes was dressed as Poo! he had covered himself with chocolate spread and also some bits of sweetcorn (I later found out he won the prize!), there was Pamela Anderson (a bloke!), The panty girls (some ozzie girls), blokes dressed as prostitutes, a couple of girls dressed as pensioners, a girl dressed as a 'pot' plant! You get the idea!

People kept saying to come in later on after I had let the tablets start working but I fell asleep!

We set off early again and it was raining! I was a bit worried about kayaking in the rain so I was umming and ahhing about whether to go or not! We got to Kaiteriteri and it wasn't raining but it was overcast!

I met my kayak buddy - Liz from Lewisham! We got kitted up, what a laugh - we have to wear these skirt things which are really tight (to keep the rain out) and putting them on is really good cos it sucks you all in! We had some basic instruction and a few games to loosen us up!

We then got on the water! We got out and I thought that the kayak would rock quite a lot but it was really stable! We headed out and rafted together for a few more safty things! We then started to paddle, this also was really easy although quite a few people didn'y really get it and we had to push people off with our paddles! We went out a bit further but one of the girls really didn't like it so she had to go back! We waited for the guide to come back and then started heading out into the ocean. It had started raining at this point and the sea was a bit choppy but it was such good fun! If I had capsized it would have been more upsetting to have gotten wet than going in. The water was really quite warm! We kept heading out and me and Liz were doing really well so we had to keep stopping for the others to catch us!

We didn't get out as far as we should have as the weather was quite bad and it was choppy, alot of people weren't enjoying it but we were having such a laugh! We were soaked!

When we were told to head back me and Liz went for it and paddled as fast and hard as we could. We then cruised back in and paddled again to get the kayak up on the beach! I was so stiff from being sat in the same position for 2 hours that I had to get pulled out of the kayak! I was so wet! I then had to have the skirt pulled off me by the kayak guys! I got changed and we all had coffee before I had to get back on the bus.

Back on the bus we drove straight to Westport with a stop at Buller Adventure Tours for people who wanted to do Jet Boating. I figured I had got wet enough for the day!

We stayed at Bazil's Hostel which was really nice, a little bit basic but clean and friendly! I was really knackered so I cheated and had microwavable rice for dinner! This gets boring very quickly but it's all i can cook!

We were up early this morning to get the 8.45am ferry to Picton on the South Island. The ferries are actually old Stena Line ferries that used to operate on the Dover-Calais crossing! Some of the warning signs are still in French!

We had breakfast as soon as we got onboard which was about 8.00am. We were based in the bar area so we settled down for the ferry journey. About 15 minutes in I started feeling a bit queasy so I went to the reclining seat area and it was so bad! Up and down all about! A lady came through calling to see if every one was ok. i was like nooo! So she moved me into the club lounge area which is more to the middle of the boat and doesn't move as much! The club lounge is just a normal area on this boat, it still says club lounge from the days of crossing the English Channel! I felt alot better and towards the end of the journay I went on to the observation deck for the views.

In Picton we boarded the bus for Nelson. There was a few people already on it and some of them were from the Magic bus tours! Basically the guide/driver hadn't realised that there was no bus running from Picton to Nelson today so Kiwi Experience took them!

We headed through the Marlborough region which is famous for its vineyards. There were thousands of them! It was so beautiful because the mountains in the background were so dramatic against the wide plains of vineyards!

Our first stop was Pelorus Bridge where I tried a Mussel Fritter, it was ok but not great! At Pelorus Bridge the river is gorgeous,so clear! A few people went for a dip!

We then drove onto Nelson and got dropped off at our hostels. I stayed in the YHA which was really nice. Only problem is that my bus driver hadn't booked me in! I got a nice room though!

I then went out for a wander through Nelson. I was meant to stay here for another day but the weather was meant to be really bad and I was planning on a full day kayak so I opted to carry on with the bus and do the half day kayak the next morning.

Nelson was ok, just another town really. What was special is that about 45 minutes walk out of town there is the centre of New Zealand! There's a little memorial and everything! Apparently - I didn't go as I was still feeling quite rough from the ferry! So I walked about found Starbucks and walked upto Jans Hansen jewellers who made the gold rings for the Lord of the Rings Movies! They were sooo expensive about 200 pounds for the cheapest!

I headed back to the hostel after this as all the shops had shut! I watched Whale Rider which is a New Zealand movie, really good! Then I watched Kill Bill 2 as I hadn't seen that either!

I got chatting to a girl from England this morning - Angela and we set off on our explorations of Wellington together!

First stop was the tourist information centre where I found out about some Lord of The Rings tours and winery tours leaving from Wellington. This is for when I come back through when I'm finished in the South Island.

We then headed for Te Papa which is New Zealands National Museum. Te Papa is Maori for Our Place. http://www.tepapa.co.nz
The museum is massive! It's really good as well because it's so interactive, there is so much to see and do! We went on an earthquake simulator and although it was meant to be serious explaining the effects that earthquakes have, especially on NZ me and Angela couldn't stop laughing as it just shakes you from right to left!

We watched quite a few films which were really interesting explaining about anything from climatic changes in NZ to immigration stories.

One of the best parts is the bush walk outside, there is a miniature swing bridge, now I've been on a few real ones in NZ and they are really cool as they shake and move all over the place! So me and Angela started jumping up and down and moving all over the place! There was a school group in at the time and the kids were watching and laughing at us! There are also fake caves that kids can climb through, so Angela went through but I knew that my wide load wouldn't make it so I took photos! The kids also thought this was hilarious!

After our museum exploits we headed upto lambton quay and went up the cable car to the botanical gardens. From here there are amazing views of the city and nice walks around the gardens. We walked around the top bit of the gardens and looked at all the observatories.

Off to the South Island tomorrow!

We waited around at River Valley until 1300 as half of the bus (3 people!) went horse riding. I nearly went but my thighs were still aching from my other horse experience! We had lunch there at 12 - bangers and mash! River Valley does the best home cooked food!

We drove straight through to Wellington only stopping once at Bulls which is famous for having shop names like collecta-bulls, antiqua-bulls!

In Wellington I checked into Base http://www.basebackpackers.com and went out to get some supplies - mainly a starbucks! I went out for a few drinks with the bus lot but crawled into bed quite early as travelling on a bus takes it out of you!

Today we drove to River Valley near Taihape.

We left around 0930 and headed to Tongariro National Park, it was quite cloudy so we couldn't really see the mountains very well! As we got closer it was clearing up! We stopped in Whakapapa (Fa-ka-papa) which is one of the ski towns close to the tongariro mountains. We did a 6km loop walk to Taranaki Falls, we went totally the wrong way as you can do it clockwise or anti clockwise, one way is mostly uphill - guess what we did! As the walk went on the clouds cleared and we got fantastic views of the mountains! Mt Doom was still a bit shrouded in clouds but still we knew it was there unlike when we had arrived!

We drove onto River Valley which is in the middle of nowhere - again! (http://www.rivervalley.co.nz) I opted for a 6 bed bunk room and everyone else went for the 16 bed dorm or doubles (there were only 7 of us on the bus!). Because of this I got the bunk room to myself! It had the most amazing views out of the windows towards the river and waterfall! Only problem was that the toilets were also outside - not so good with the sound of water falling all the time!

We had a roast dinner at River Valley. It was the best! I really appreciate roast dinners now! Most of us stayed up playing trivial pursuit and drinking cocktails!

We hung around at the Homestay until around 1200 when we left to get back to Taupo.

It was pretty uneventful day as we just drove most of the time stopping for breaks where and when needed!

I got back to the Tiki Lodge did all my washing and got dinner and had a nice firm bed to ease my back pains!

We left the farm today - thank god! I woke up this morning lifted my book that I had dropped the night before beside my bed and there was a massive dead cockroach underneath! The bed springs were soft so I was practically on the floor! Then somebody had left the light on in the bathroom so there were bugs and spiders everywhere! I cleaned my teeth in the kitchen! Of course the horse riding took it's toll on my muscles!

We headed to Te Kaha where we were to stay at a Home Stay. We stopped along the way at the East Cape lighthouse - 700 steps to the top! The views were fantastic though! On the way up to the lighthouse a german dude had got his campervan stuck whilst three point turning! So all the strong men off the bus halped to push him out! I got some good photos of this! The German dude gave us $40! for Ice Cream! Yum!

Also on the way another girl - Annie from Denmark was not so well either. Both me and Annie had been ill, so I lent her my travel pillow which she dropped out the window! We went back to look for it but couldn't find it, so we carried on and found it about 5 miles up the road. We reckon the car that went past picked it up and then threw it out their window realising that it was off our bus!

At the Te Kaha Homestay we had to wait for Paul O'Brien who's half Maori and half Irish to come back from fishing to greet us. I literally ran into the shower after not having a decent one for 24 hours! At dinner we ate snapper caught by Paul that afternoon and the most amazing strawberry cake!

We then sang songs around the table till 1 am!

- Te Kaha Homestay is in the north of the east cape area and right on the seafront. It looks towards White Island a volcanic island. There is a hot tub at the bottom of the garden pretty much on the beach! The only downside was the beds - again soft springs!

Second day of the trip - still not feeling great! This morning I took more notice of my surroundings and the Chalet Surf Lodge was a really nice place even though there were no locks on the bathroom doors! The people that own it are really typical surfer people! They have a gorgeous 2 year old daughter called Daisy who I spent a couple of hours playing with! The lodge is opposite one of the best surfing beaches in NZ, the break is amazing, just like you see in surf adverts!

We headed to a place called Rangitukia and the Eastender Farm Stay. This was about as basic that you can get! We were in the middle of nowhere! Again not feeling great so this wasn't my favorite place! We went horse riding in the afternoon, bearing in mind that I hadn't been on a horse for a good 10 years!

I was fine riding along the beach and Reg the guide was teasing me about the English way I rode the horse! We were meant to be riding western style, but my old teachings came back! I cantered a few times but didn't have the guts to get into a full gallop! It was really cool riding along the beach!

We then went into the hills, this was really steep and I got nervous, when we got to the top Ma (our driver) took the reins whilst I got off but the horse started rearing backwards - scary! So I had to sit alone for a bit to get myself together! When I went to get back on the horse I couldn't do it! I fell the second time I tried! A bit embarrassing to say the least! But I got up on the third go! Well you know what they say! I went slowly down the hill but had a bit of a canter along the last bit. Everyone thought it was cool of me to get back on again! I was seriously considering walking down with the horse though!

Back at the farm stay I went in the shower and it was cold, another thing to make my day! Then we had a hangi (Maori style food) for dinner but it was dreadful! I went to bed!

I left on my Kiwi Experience East As trip today. It's a 4 day, 3 night trip around the East coast of the North Island.

We drove to Napier in the Hawkes Bay Region. All along the way is miles of pine forest. Pine grows in NZ fater than anywhere else because of the soil so forestry is big business here! Hawkes Bay however is one of the major wine and fruit regions in NZ. Napier is famous for its art deco architecture. The reason Napier has 1930's art deco buildings is that in the 1930s a massive earthquake hit the region and completely devastated Napier. They got in this art deco architect/designer dude who re-did the town in art deco! I thought Napier was lovely, the buildings weren't as art deco as I though they would be but there was a great vibe to the place. The streets were lined with palm trees, the marine parade ran along the sea front. The water was clear - the beach (sand)was black but this is due to the volcanic activity etc. The best thing was that there was a Starbucks - Frappacino yeah!

We then drove on past Poverty Bay where Captain Cook first landed in NZ, he called it Poverty Bay as the Maori tribe there attacked them when they arrived so Captain Cook thought - ah well there's not much to be had here! They then proceeded to land in the Bay of Plenty where they were welcomed by the local Maori tribe there!

We went to a place called the Chalet Surf Lodge in a place called Gisborne (http://www.chaletsurf.co.nz). I felt quite ill when I arrived so I had the barbeque and walked along the beach and fell into bed!