Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day #66: After a rushed morning, we made our way to the bus stop to catch the Kiwi Bus where we met Bex (our driver) and fellow friends on the trip. We made a supermarket stop then carried on to our first destination; 'Hot Water Beach'. On the way, we stopped at 'The Antique District' where we saw many vintage shops and we bought some coats and jumpers to keep us warm! We later settled into brand new hostel cabins before heading down to the beach to have a dip in the 'pools'. The beach is based over a volcano and so all you have to do is dig a little hole and the water bubbles and steams making your own little bath! We got in our swim suits (Sarah kept on her wooly hat) and had a dip. Lovely! We walked back in the afternoon and got dropped off to walk around wonderful cliffs, beaches and caves. My gosh we worked up a sweat! We spent the evening with the rest of our new group drinking wine and getting to know one another before going to bed and finding a sock on the door handle! We had a joker in the group and her name was Lara.
Day #67: Another early start as we made our way across to Waitomo for a walk in the forest to see a beautiful waterfall and undergorund caves. We later struggled into wetsuits and headed back up to the site. We were given rubber rings and had to jump off a bridge backwards into them as practice before heading 60 feet underground with our torch helmets to explore the caves! We glided nose to nose with rocks, jumped off several waterfalls, hiked through the water and tubed under glowworms hanging from staligtites! It was as if we were sailing under the stars, only it was absolutely freezing! Such a fun experience though. Later in the evening we headed down to Curly's, the local pub, to celebrate our friend Orla's birthday and had a few drinks along to the macarana!
Day #68: The next day we got driven to an adventure centre where there were a wide range of activities to do! We watched our friends zorbing, swinging from great heights and cycling round a swing circuit. The only thing we joined in with was the pogo stick competition before having a barbeque. When we were told we could have seconds, Laureen and Sarah ended up having 4 sausages each! This is bad enough in itself but it was made worse when the others came back from their activities and were told that all of the food had run out... Whoopsie daisy. We saw various farm animals on the way out of the park and Laureen even fed a ostrich after several attempts of flinching! Later in the day, we made it to Rotorua where we had the afternoon to ourselves to wonder around the town. We checked into our Irish hostel where a group of us got together and made a family meal of spaghetti bolognaise, which we all ate round the table! Laureen and Sarah then went for a pint and pudding in the Irish pub downstairs with Orla. We finished the evening with around 10 of us all huddled on sofas with blankets watching bridesmaids on DVD! Lovely.
Day #69: Another early morning to catch the bus to Taupo! On the way there we made two stops. First up; Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao (Maori Art & Crafts Institute)!!! We wandered around the park where we met local Maori students who were practicing carpentry. We then got a tour of the hot water holes and mud pools and even had eggs cooked in the boiling water for a lunchtime snack! In the afternoon, we made our way to stop number two; dum dum dum... the Skydive in Taupo!!! Both of us were feeling very nervous and excited but after we were given a bit of oxygen (or rohypnol as Sarah's instructor told her), we calmed down a lot and were ready for the jump! The feeling was incredible, like nothing we can even describe, and we would love to do it again given the opportunity. We had 60 seconds freefall before controlling our own parachutes over the lake. Amazing. We later made it to the town where we were staying and a group of us headed to the pub for drinks and dinner as we were still too buzzed from the jump to relax! We got dolled up in the evening and spent the night dancing until we rolled into our hostle room at 5am trying not to wake anyone!
Day #70: We rolled into our hostle room at 5am trying not to wake anyone! And slept, for a long time (we got woken up about 3pm when everyone got back from being out for the day!) We then repeated the previous day - dinner at the pub and a second round of drinks with everyone which again, ended up with us rolling in at 5am. We had a laughing fit outside our room and had to wait 15 minutes or so to calm down before we could go to bed!
Day #71: Up early again to move to our next destination; Tongariro National Park! We saw the iced glazed mountains and walked thorugh Tawhai Falls footpath to reach this wonderful waterfall where we stopped for a picnic lunch. It was stunning, even though we weren't feeling overly awake or healthy! In the afternoon, we made our way to River Valley; a personal favourite to us both. The bus dropped us at the top of the valley and we walked down a steep hill to the river and the cabin. Our bedroom was filled with rows of 20+ beds which we all shared like a big sleepover! We met and held a 4 day old lamb in the garden and had a home-cooked roast dinner for tea before having a cup of hot choc and roasting marshmellows on the fire that heated up the living area - gorgeous.
Day #72: An early and exciting start to this day as we were going White Water Rafting! The river flows through the valleys where Lord of the Rings was filmed so as you can imagine the scenery was beautiful! With our wet suits and helmets on, we glided down a big hill on our rafts before jumping in the water to learn all the different instructions. The rafts were classed as a level 5 and we hit some big rapids! Luckily we managed to stay inside the boats even though we got soaked! The highlight however had to be at the end of the trip where we jumped off a massive rock into the freezing cold lake. Such a good wake up! In the afternoon, we made our way to the town of Wellington to drink yet again! (Some people were leaving the bus). It was another fun night which left us with little sleep.
Day #73: Time to head to the South Island! We took the ferry across the ocean and arrived on the 'better side of New Zealand' - according to many? From there, our bus took us to Kaiteriteri! Laureen cooked a pasta dinner with Lara and Sarah headed to the pub with some of the new members of the bus for a sausage dinner that was on offer! Everyone then gathered in the pub in the evening for a pub quiz with a few beers. Our team came third out of fifth and the other Kiwi Bus team won - damn!
Day #74: A couple of the girls went kayaking so all of us spent the morning at the hostel before we headed off in the afternoon to Westport which was a cute little town! We didn't get much time to ourselves there unfortunately so we spent the evening cooking a hearty English full breakfast for dinner and hanging out with the gang over a beer or two! It was a lovely, relaxed evening. The hostel was also very cute with hammoks hanging in the garden, a living room with a fire and each room had a different theme!
Day #75: Onwards and upwards! Although in this case it was downwards as we are going South... We were now on our way to Lake Mahinapua, also known as the famous 'poo pub'! The pub is owned by an elderly man who has catered for the Kiwi Experience for years and always puts on a fancy dress competition! The walls in the pub were filled with photos of previous groups and the ceiling was covered with hats which had been collected! After a lunchbreak stop to pick up our outfits, we headed to the site. Three of us were late back to the bus and got told that we had to put a condom on a banana with our mouths infront of the whole bus as punishment. We haggled to 'perform' in the pub after a few drinks which bought us some time... When we arrived, we took a walk down to the local river and put together a little skit for later in the evening! Laureen and Lara acted (as the characters of their fancy dress; a nun and Dolly Parton!) whilst Sarah narrated the poem. The theme was 'What you want to be when you grow up' so Sarah went as Peter Pan! Although not many people stuck to the theme as we had a penguin and a Christmas tree in the group also... In the evening we all had a home-cooked dinner together before getting ready for the evening. We spent the night at the pub drinking lots and dancing! We did our surprise act after a few drinks and had everyone laughing thankfully! It was probably the funnest night of the whole trip and Sarah even ended up winning third place in the fancy dress competition, winning herself free photos and videos of her bungy jump!
Day #76: Regardless of another late night, we were up nice and early again to head off on the bus... We made a couple of short stops before arriving in Franz Josef! This was a lovely site which had cabins, a hot tub and a hearty bar on site! The views were also stunning from the ground; the huge glacier mountains! We stayed here for two nights so it was time to relax a little. The first evening (after a long nap) we all shared a cooked dinner and then went to the bar to have a beer or two before calling it an early night to catch up on some more sleep.
Day #77: After a lie in, we used this day to catch up on washing, tidying and doing our food shop etc. In the afternoon we headed to the local mountains for an afternoon stroll and returned as it was getting dark to stop for a drink in a local bar. We got several missed calls as apparently the bus were worried we got lost in the mountain when it got dark!! We always felt like the babies being watched over on the trip... We later headed back to the site where we joined the rest of the group for several drinks whilst everyone battled their way through a 'musical bumps' game. Great fun!
Day #78: The penultimate stop with the Kiwi Bus for us! Wanaka. On our way there, we made a breakfast stop at what is known as the 'mirror lake' as the water is so flat that all the mountatins and trees are reflected almost exactly in the water and the view is absolutely stunning! Sarah ordered four hash browns to wake her up and we carried on travelling. We made a couple more stops throughout the day for photo oppotunites of the glazier and made a lunchtime stop at a beach for a picnic! Here we ate our pies whilst watching the smallest dolphins in the world jumping through the waves! Not something you get to do everyday eh! We eventually made it to Wanaka as the evening was hitting. We said goodbye to Lara :( and wondered down the coast to take a look around. We couldn't drink anymore so we decided to head across the road to the famous cinema where they have couches and and an old beetle that you can sit in whilst watching the movie with a home-cooked cookie! Lots of fun.
Day #79: The day we had been waiting for... time to head to Queenstown! As you may have realised, we always do stops on route so this mornings stop was at Puzzle World! We went in various illusion rooms, including a lobsided one, before heading outside to complete the maze! Sarah managed to find all the corners but got lost trying to find her way out and was one of the last people back! We had bacon sandwiches provided as breakfast before we hopped back on the bus. Our second stop was at a fruit market where they sold lots of fresh foods, including home-made jams. It was very quaint! Our final stop was at the 'baby bungy' with A J Hakett off a brigde over a lake. We watched a couple of a friend's do the jump whilst we were there! We then arrived in Queenstown! After getting settled in and having a little nap, we had a little wonder around to see what was there and the atmosphere was so cool! There were tons of surf stores, restaurants and activities and everyone just looked cool! We could see the gondola leading up the mountains from the balcony of our hostel where people were heading to ski and snow board! There were also many activites on the waterfront and plenty of pubs to keep us entertained. The one main attraction however would have to be 'Ferg Burger' where almost everyone was heading daily to fill themselves up for a lifetime! In the evening we went to the common area only to bump into Reece and Luke!! (Our friends from Fiji!) We made plans with them for the following evening and decided to have a quiet Sunday night in. We got a KFC bargain deal (6 peices of chicken, 6 nuggets, 2 large chips, 2 mash and gravy & a large soda for $20!! - around a tenner!), bought a couple of large beers and then headed to the movie room to top off our ideal evening! We got told off for drinking at 9pm though! (You're not allowed to drink past 9 in the hostel and the staff turned on the lights in the cinema until we downed our drinks!! - so embarassing!)
Day #80: We bumped into Reece at lunchtime and we all decided to go annoy Luke who was trying to catch up on his work at a local pub nearby! We all had a pint together by the lake. In the evening we agreed to go on a 'blind pub crawl' which was so much fun but a little dangerous! We went to 5 pubs in total and got a free shot at the entrance of each. When moving to each pub we had to pair up and blind fold our partner and lead them to the next bar... This seems easy enough apart from you get drunker each time and the directions get a little hazy! The last bar was a blindfolded race and we saw many fallen men rubbing their heads as we made our way to the bar! Too funny. In the last bar we both entered a limbo competition! We both did pretty well as Laureen came second and Sarah came third! So close...
Day #81: We woke up fairly late so we didn't manage to do much with our day. As a lot of our friends from the Kiwi bus stayed in Wanaka for a few days longer than us we were reunited with them in Queenstown! This gave us the excuse to go out drinking once again with everyone to the famous 'World Bar' where there was an open $1000 bar tab at 11pm for everyone! We abused it a little...
Day #82: We were supposed to be leaving on the Kiwi bus to head to Christchurch but we decided to extend our stay as long as we could and leave on Saturday instead! We got up reasonably early with the intention of doing the Nevis Bungy jump which is the third highest bungy in the world! The winds were strong and Laureen wasn't very well so we decided to jump on the Friday with the boys as we were now staying longer. In the afternoon we ventured out to the town to see what was about. Sarah got sausage and chips from a seaside hut and Laureen got herself a hot chocolate. Sarah wasn't allowed her food on the pub premises so she got banished outside by herself until the chips were gone. When Sarah got full, the shifts changed and Laureen was the loner outside for a short while! In the evening Laureen went out for a few drinks whilst Sarah hung out at the hostel playing pool and drinking beers! We bumped into eachother again when Laureen rolled in at 1am wearing a cowboy hat!
Day #83: The weather outside was beautiful so we all headed to a local Irish pub for the afternoon by the lake. We later made it back to the hostel for dinner before we headed up for short nap. We fell asleep at 6ish with the intention of going out at 8ish to say bye to some other friends, however we woke up at 11pm! Whoops - always us! We got up anyway and Laureen skyped her family whilst Sarah watched Goodfellas in the cinema room!
Day #84: Today was our last day in Queenstown and our last day with everyone on the Kiwi Bus and we woke up to torrential rain for the first time since being there! It didn't look like our bungy was going to go ahead afterall and we looked at it as fate :( As it was miserable outside we skyped our friends in the morning and headed to the indoor mini gold in the afternoon with Matthew and brothers Nick and Matt. It was the best course we have ever seen with mini gondola's lifting your balls electronically! There must have been some mistake with the maths though as Sarah came fourth and Laureen came fifth... Damn. After the game we got a Ferg burger for dinner and headed back to the hostel. We put on our faces for our last night and headed round the corner to 'Cowboys' where it was like a western saloon inside! They had a bull you could ride, served massive jugs of beers and played Johnny Cash and other classics all night long in the cabin bar. We stayed out until early hours and said our good-byes to everyone.
Day #85: We were up and out by 8am to catch our 'Naked Bus' up to Chirstchurch! We had a couple of stops along the way, but spent most of the day sleeping on the bus as it aimed to get us there as quickly as possible. When we reached Christchurch we noticed how quiet the atmosphere was. Since the Earthquake, a lot of the buildings are under construction and most of the population have moved away. The streets were quiet and a lot of the roads were blocked off with no workmen in sight! You could see it would have been a bubbling beautiful city with all the art and it was such a shame to see what the devastation had done. We walked to our hostel which was 2 and half miles away but it took us a lot longer as almost all the roads we needed were blocked off! We felt like we were back in America again with all the walking but we eventually made it to the little inn. We spent our evening cooking our left-over foods, washing our clothes and sorting through our journals before packing our bags ready for our flight the next morning.
Day #86: After 4 hours or so sleep, we got up at 3.15am, tried to gather our stuff in the dark and headed outside to our shuttle to take us to the airport! After spending the last of our local coins (Sarah picked up a copy of Empire with Daniel on the front and Laureen got a muffin!!) we boarded our flight to head to Melbourne! Down under...here we come!
We are now almost a week into Australia but we will update you on that on the next blog :) Thank you for taking the time to read this again and please let us know what you've been up to if we haven't spoken to you recently! Lots of love as always xxxxxx
- comments