I got in to Wellington on Saturday afternoon and checked in to my hostel. There was a big music festival on in Wellington that weekend so me and another guy went out for a couple of beers and had a wonder round the different stands, but wasn't really our cup of tea so just ended up going for a burger!
Sunday I found a gym and trained in the morning then went to the Wellington museum in the afternoon, which is the main museum in NZ. I ended up spending quite a few hours in there and they had lots of interesting sections, including a preserved squid, found off the coast of NZ which is the biggest ever recorded. They also had a house simulator you go in to to experience what an earthquake feels like! Sunday evening I just chilled in the hostel bar with a couple games of pool!
Monday saw another gym session then a hike up mt Victoria where you get views right out over Wellington from the top.
Tuesday I boarded the couch again and made my way up to Taupo. We got there about mid day then me and a couple of other guys from the coach headed on up to the skydive centre for my 2nd jump from 15k ft in NZ! As this was my second jump the instructor let me take much more control and after doing a backwards roll out the aeroplane with me, let me control the free fall and the spins! Once the parachute was then up he let me control this as well and our drop spins back down to ground! Was such an awesome experience, I've got a massive sky diving bug now and defo thinking about taking a course so I can skydive by myself when I get home! Tuesday night followed with a pub quiz and quite a few beers!
Wednesday was a bit of a lazy day, got up early to watch the united v Madrid game, then just watched some movies until I finally motivated myself to get up and go find a gym!
Wednesday morning I was up at 5am to catch the 5.30am bus to the Tongariro Crossing, rated in the top ten day walks in the world. We got here at 7.30am and were really lucky with the weather. Although we were in the shade for about the first 2 hours of the walk, the skies had no clouds in at all and the scenery on route was outstanding! The walk was a 23 kilometre round trip which included climbing to the top of two mountains, mount tongariro and mount Ngauruhoe, the tougher of these was mount ngauruhoe (Used as mount doom in The Lord of the rings films!) as this was still an active volcano the terrain was very difficult to climb up as it was mainly just broken rocks. The view from the peak though made it all worth while, it was simply breathtaking! Getting down was a lot more fun as you just sort of slide the whole way! I managed to make it back for the earlier coach at 3.30, got back to the hostel an hour or so later, had some dinner, showered and just collapsed in to bed!
The Friday was another early start and we were on the coach at 7.30am making our way up to Auckland. This was a long full days coach journey but we did get to stop off in hobbiton for our lunch! This is where a lot of The Lord of the rings was filmed and the town have taken this all in and design their shops / information centres like the shires in the film! There was also a rock carving competition going on which a kind lady let me have a go at with the chiseling!
When the bus got in to Auckland I jumped on a local bus and went a further 30km north to meet a friend of my dads as he had offered me a bed for a few nights. I ended up staying there for the remaining 6 days I had I NZ as it was just pure luxury! They had a stunning house up on a bay with views right out over the bay and sea, with steps down to their own private beach! They also had an extremely cute 6 month old puppy!
On the Friday evening we got a take away and had a few beers, then on the Saturday we got up early and went in to Auckland to the French market. We had breakfast here which was awesome then I wandered off to the marina to have a look around the boats and have a beer in the sun!
Sat afternoon I had free use of their Audi so found myself a gym then sat evening we had a nice steak with a few more beers!
Sunday morning we got up early and drove down to another local bay where we went for a morning swim, then took a 2 hour walk over the cliff tops looking at all the properties on way which were just amazing. When we got back to the bay we met the rest of the family and went to a nice restaurant on the front for lunch (with a few more beers!). In the afternoon I went to the winter gardens and museum followed by a walk up mount Eden to look over Auckland.
Monday morning I was up early to watch the united v Chelsea game, went to the gym, then took the dog for a walk along the beach whilst the tide was out in the lovely sun! Monday evening we went to an English pub to have steak and ale pie with a pint of London pride, perfect!
Tuesday was the same as Monday except we went to the west coast of Auckland for a swim and got a kiwiyo which is awesome! You chose your frozen yogurt then add any kind of sweet / biscuit / chocolate etc you can think of on it! Then coat it in any sauce you like! When we got home we had some nice lamb on the BBQ and enjoyed the evening out on the deck with a few more beers!
Wednesday was my last full day in NZ so Paul and I played a round of golf around his local with some of his friends then enjoyed a pint in the sun after. That evening I took Paul out for an Italian and a nice glass of wine to say thank you!
Thursday morning I packed my stuff up and got a lift to the airport to head to the airport to board my plane to Melbourne! I got in to Melbourne that afternoon where I then went to chappers place. We went out that evening with his house mates for some food and to a couple of bars!
Friday chappers was in work so I headed in to Melbourne city early and basically walked the city for about 6 hours doing all the tourist spots! My fav was the viewing deck going up 88 floors, the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere looking out all over Melbourne. Friday night I met chappers from work where we went for some drinks with his work mates then went on a bit of a heavy night out around Melbourne!
Saturday we went for breakfast then headed to a cheap discount store to find some clothes for a 60s birthday party that afternoon / evening! The party was good fun and turned in to an all day drinking session!
Sunday we were up early with another hangover, so headed down to the local store to buy a shed load of food to make a massive fry up to sought us out! After cooking and eating this, we watched the f1 qualifier on tv then headed to chappers work mates patents apartment in Melbourne city, probs worth a few million, for pre f1 sangria, cider and nibbles! We all then went to the f1 together and that afternoon was simply awesome! There was lots to see and do there before the race, but when the race started, I've never heard noise like it! You don't appreciate how loud and how quick the cars are moving until you see them in real life! We found a good spot where we watched the first half the race, then moved round to a few other points for the next 1/4, then the final 1/4 we spent on the first bend with a great view. When the race had finished and all cars had gone past for their victory lap we were allowed to jump the barrier then leg it back down the home straight on the track to watch the awards ceremony! Was soooo awesome!
That evening we went for a pub dinner then had some beers to celebrate st Patrick's day! The evening finished off in the perfect way as well with Brighton smashing palace!
Today is Monday and I was up early to catch the 8.30am train to Sydney! This takes 11.5 hours of which I'm currently 3.5 hours in to and hasn't been too bad so far as I upgraded to first class! Will be in Sydney for the best part of the week so will report back then! Speak soon! x