18/4/07 

I wasn't too impressed with Auckland when I arrived a couple of days ago. I guess part of that was coming from Sydney which I really enjoyed and part of it was because my hostel is in the arse-end of the city, sandwiched between a dodgy looking strip club called Mermaids and a 'massage parlour' called Lipstix which proudly advertises a $120 half-hour lunchtime special on a board outside (I wonder if food is included in that!).

To be fair, now that I've been here a couple of days and have managed to see some of the city and surrounding areas, I quite like it. Although I knew the North Island was volcanic, I didn't realise how many volcanoes surround Auckland itself and I'm told that an erruption is 100 years overdue. That could be interesting.

I was expecting the weather to be cold but it's pretty nice here on the North Island. I understand the South Island already has snow which bodes well for my plans to ski.

22/4/07

It's amazing how a change of scenery can alter your perspective. I've just spent three days up at Paihia in the Bay of Islands which is really lovely. I guess it's similar to the Whitsundays in Australia, only greener and a little bit colder. I went on a sailing trip to the islands on a really nice catamaran named 'On the Edge'. Unfortunately there wasn't enough wind to get on the edge but it was fun nonetheless. We got to see some dolphins but they disappeared before we could get into the water to swim with them. I definitely like this sailing lark!

28/4/07

This last week has been the craziest, adrenaline filled few days of my trip so far. New Zealand is definitely living up to it's reputation as the adventure capital of the world (and I haven't even reached the south island yet!).

After arriving back in Auckland last weekend, I went out on one of the Americas Cup boats on Sunday. Unfortunately there was no wind so the skipper decided to play around in Auckland Harbour and show us just how manouvreable the boats are, performing 360 degree turns in the tiniest of spaces.

On Monday I headed off to Hahay beach on the East coast and was soon sea kayaking around Cathedral Cove. The weather wasn't great but the rough seas made it far more fun. At sunset, and low tide, we went to a place called Hot Water Beach and dug our own heated spa pool in the sand above a hot water spring.

On Tuesday it was over to the West Coast, to Raglan where I went surfing for a second time. The waves were much bigger than in Australia and, although I scared myself a couple of times, I found it much easier this time.

Wednesday turned out to be the day for exploring the caves at Waitomo. Abseiling down underground waterfalls, crawling through the tightest gaps half filled with water until we were 100m underground was great fun, if a little wet and muddy. Rock climbing our way out of the cave system proved pretty interesting and definitely a test of nerves.

On Thursday I went white water rafting down the grade 5 rapids on the Kaituna river near Rotorua. We got to raft down a 7m waterfall and, unbelievably, no-one fell out but how I'll never know. It was crazy.

However, the craziest thing I've done to date was reserved for yesterday when I threw myself out of a perfectly good plane, 12,000ft above lake Taupo. Actually, that's not technically true - I was strapped to a guy who threw us both out. The first few seconds of freefall are so crazy - your brain is questioning how wise a decision that was and your stomach is trying to escape through your mouth. However, after you've stopped accelerating and have reached 120mph it actually quite a nice feeling and the 45seconds of freefall is such a rush, spinning and rolling around with the wind taking your breath away. Once the parachute is deployed everything calms down a bit and you get chance to have a good look around. That didn't stop the instructor doing some high speed spins on the way down though. It was absolutely mad, and I loved every second of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was supposed to be trekking the Tongariro crossing today but it's closed due to bad weather so I'm going to take the opportunity to catch my breath and try again tomorrow.

10/5/07

Again, apologies for the delay in updating the site. I could tell you that internet access in some of the places we've stopped off at has been pretty poor, and that would be true, but the honest truth is that I've been having far too much fun to sit at a computer for hours!

The Tongariro crossing lived up to it's reputation for being one of the best day-walks in the world. The scenery was spectacular and like nothing I've seen before, which may explain why it was used as the setting for Mordor in the Lord of the Rings. The trek was pretty hard work and we were constrained by time but I wish I'd made the effort to climb Mt Ngarahoe (Mt Doom in the film), even though we were told not to.

From there it was down to Wellington which is a nice, if un-spectacular, city. The best bit about Wellington was the crossing over to the South Island. We had a perfect day and the scenery was breathtaking, as can be seen from some of the pictures.

The South Island has been pretty cool so far, helped by the fact that all the people on the bus are great fun to be around. My favourite places so far have been Abel Tasman National Park where I went sailing again, and Franz Josef which is a lovely little alpine village. It was there that I finally got to go ice-climbing on the glacier and it was one of the best days of my trip so far. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be but it was really strenuous, particularly on the arms (apparently it should be the legs doing most of the work so I guess my technique was a bit off!). I'm planning on going back to have another go so we'll see if it gets any easier.

18/5/07

From Franz Josef it was off to Queenstown, rightly billed as the adventure capital of the world. Despite it being a tiny place you can do just about any adrenaline fuelled activity ever conceived, either in the town itself or in the surrounding mountains, gorges and valleys. It's alovely little Alpine-style town with loads to see and do and the surrounding mountains are beautiful. Many of the scenes in the Lord of the Rings were shot around the area. Unfortunately, despite being a ski town there wasn't much snow about but I managed to get some walking done, climbing the nearby peak of Ben Lomond.

After only a couple of days in Queenstown it was time to move on, this time further south to Milford Sound which was even more spectacular. I'm reliably informed that it's not actually a Sound, but a Fjord (don't ask me the difference!), but whatever it is it's a pretty nice place to take a boat cruise.

From Milford Sound we travelled to Invercargil and then Dunedin, both of which were relatively unspectacular, before arriving back in Queenstown for another couple of days. I probably didn't see the best of the south as the weather was pretty bad but it's just not as spactacular as the other places I've been in New Zealand.

18/6/07

Yes, I know it's been a long time since I updated the site and no, I'm not dead or ill or injured and yes, I'm very sorry to have worried you mum!

I guess the reason for the lack of update is because I haven't really got that much to report. I'm now back in Queenstown after making a second loop of the south island. This time I stopped in some cool places like Nelson and Wanaka, as well as places I enjoyed before like Abel Tasman and Franz Josef. The weather in Abel Tasman was so nice and I got to do part of the Coastal walk which gave stunning views of the coast and the jungle. And as I enjoyed it so much last time I went ice climbing again in Franz Josef.

Although NZ is very beautiful and the people are great, I was feeling a little jaded and tired of travelling round so I decided to take some time off and just relaxed in Wanaka for a week. The hostel I stayed in had a great communal area with a log fire and it overlooked the lake and surrounding mountains. So, feeling rested and relaxed and ready for more, I'm back in Queenstown, hoping and praying for some snow. We go a bit last night and, although the resorts have been making snow for a while, it's not enough for them to open as planned tomorrow. With a bit of luck it might be next week though so i may get to ski and board after all.

28/6/07

Well, I'm now back in Auckland for the last time after a relaxing couple of weeks on the South Island. I finally got to ski on Coronet Peak in Queenstown, the day after the slopes opened for the season. Unfortunately the snow conditions weren't the best meaning that only two main runs were open but the slopes that were open were better than expected considering the snow was almost all man-made. It was great to ski again but I found I missed my usual skiing buddies, Fuhrer and Flame (aka Matt and Jim).

From Queenstown it was up to Kaikoura but for the second time the whale watching trips were cancelled due to rough seas.

Once back on the North Island I spent a couple of days in Wellington before heading over to Napier on the East coast. I wasn´t planning on seeing Napier but I met a great girl called Donna in the hostel on the ferry over from South to North. She was heading over to Napier and made it sound so cool. Napier is a lovely art-deco city, right on the coast. It also has the National Aquarium where I got to dive in the main tank and feed the rays and the sharks that they have there, all thanks to Donna who organised it all for me. Most of the sharks are fairly small but there were a couple of sharks that were six or seven feet long! Unfortunately Donna couldn´t dive as she didn´t have her qualification. From there it was back to Taupo where we got to play around in the hot springs there. It was great travelling with Donna, she was so much fun.

So, now I'm back in Auckland waiting for my flight to Chile on Sunday. Much as I've enjoyed New Zealand I'm now ready to move on and start the last part of my trip. Just before I do that I just want to share with you a little of what life has been like for the past nine months. It will probably make more sense to those of you that have travelled before but for those that haven't, it's something to look forward to. Enjoy.

What its like to be a backpacker!

Having trouble readjusting to life back home now that the travelling is over? Heres a few handy hint to help you settle back in:

Replace your bed with two or more bunk beds and every night invite random people to sleep in your room with you. Ensure at least once a week a couple get drunk and shags on the top bunk.

Sleep in your sleeping bag, forgetting to wash it for months. Add some bugs in order to wake up with many unsightly bites all over your arms and legs.

Enlist the help of a family member to set your alarm to go off randomely during the night, filling your room with loud talk. This works best if the station is foreign. Also have several mobiles ring without being answered. To add to the tortue, ask a friend to bring plastic bags into your room at roughly 6am and proceed to rustle for no apparant reason.

Keep all your clothes in a rucksack, remember to smell them before putting them on and re introduce an iron slowly.

Buy your favourite food and despite living at home, write your name and when you might be leaving the house on all bage. This should include mainly pasta, noodles , carrots and goon.

Ask a family member to every now and then steal an item of food preferably the one you have most benn looking forward to or the most expensive.

Even if its Sunday vacate the house by 10am and then stand on a corner of the street looking lost. Ask the first passer by of similar ethnic background is they have found anywhere to go yet.

When sitting on public transport introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you, which stop you got on at, where you are going, how long you have been travelling and what university you went to. If they said they are going to Morden, say you met a guy on the central line who said it was terrible and that you have heard that Parsons Green is better and cheaper.

Finally stick paper in the shower so that the water comes out in just a drizzle. Adjust hot and cold taps at regular intervals so that you are never fully satisfied with the temperature.

These simple, yet effective instructions should help you fall back into normal society with the minimum effort.

PS - Check out the video of me jumping off the 192m Auckland Sky Tower this morning. Not as much of a rush as the sky dive but a great way to wake up in the morning.