The rest of Auckland and Kiwi Experience!

Auckland:

After staying at Jack's for a few days I decided to move to a hostel so I can meet more people and travellers. The hostel wasn't too friendly and it made my experience in Auckland not that great. Fortunately my friends Emma, Kazz and Max were in Auckland the same time as me so I was able to see them and have a catch up. I went on a night out with them and trod on some glass (the reason I'm telling you this is because I've been pretty accident prone along the kiwi experience, you'll soon see).

Kiwi Experience pick up was on Friday 3rd February and I couldn't wait to get out of Auckland, the city wasn't very impressive, just a smaller Sydney in my eyes. I was excited to leave and see the rest of New Zealand and also meet some friendly people! When the bus pulled up, we were greeted by a crazy kiwi bus driver called Lauren. She was awesome and absolutely made the trip!

Hot Water Beach:

The first stop on the Kiwi Experience was Hot Water Beach (yes, the water on the beach is actually hot!). I decided to do a kayaking trip, I was a bit scared of falling in but I embraced the trip and asked several questions about falling in and what to do etc. I was sharing my kayak with another girl off the bus; we both had never kayaked before, so when we reached a massive wave in between two large rocks we were a bit clueless how to get out of a drastic situation. As we were smashed by a huge wave, our kayak tipped over. We climbed out the kayak and the instructors came to our rescue. However, in that time, the waves continued to hurdle towards us and I was then smashed against the rock another 4 or 5 times. As a result, my hands were all cut and grazed, bleeding, and I was shivering from the sheer coldness of the water. Despite all this, all I could think about was my newly bought camera!! Luckily it was absolutely fine as it was securely wrapped in a dry bag. I was shivering, in pain and slightly shocked about the accident, that I wanted a new kayaking partner, preferably a strong guy who could do most of the rowing and knew how to steer a kayak properly. The instructors gave us thermals and a hot drink and also a new partner each (yes, strong guys to help us stay alive for the next few hours of the trip!). I caught the shivers and began to feel really sea sick again (you'd think I'd learn from the last few times in Australia that I need sea sick tablets when I go on boats!)

When we got back to the resort we were staying at (which was extremely nice), we went to the beach around 9pm when the tide started to go out. This is where we could dig holes in the sand to find the hot water below, and everyone jumped in and made pools of hot water. It was amazing and quite surreal to be lying on the beach in pitch black in the hot water pools. Eventually we left the beach, showered and got into bed, I was slightly worse for wear but the whole day was worth it.

Waitomo:

We went to Waitomo to do black water rafting (well it was more like tubing) in caves. I had no idea what to expect but I thought it sounded cool. When we arrived at the base we were kitted up with wet suits, boots, a helmet with a light and a rubber ring! We had to do a practice run through of how we'd travel in the water with our rubber rings - we had to jump backwards off a waterfall in our rings, one about a metre high and the other two metres roughly. The practise one was slightly scary but ok, although the water was absolutely freezing. As we entered the caves I began to feel a bit nervous that I was going to float in a pitch black cave in a rubber ring. I managed to do both the jumps though and it was pretty cool. We turned off our lamps to see the glow worms on the top of the cave and then the guide told us to find our way out in the dark without turning our lamps on. I was the last one in the cave to begin with and the first one out!!

In the evening we had a night out at the local pub in the small area of Waitomo where we were staying and I got to know a few more people on the bus as well.

Rotorua:

Our bus driver, Lauren warned us of the smell in Rotorua and she wasn't wrong; it smelt of sulphur (or a rotten eggs smell). The main attraction in Rotorua was the Cultural Mauri Experience. This was a night to take in and understand how the Mauri people used to live in New Zealand. They introduced us to different activities and working tools they used in their times. They also made us a huge meal which was cooked underground. It was amazing especially as we're all hungry backpackers, you can imagine we basically dived in and piled our plates high!

The next day we were dropped off at a geothermal park which was a bit pointless and a waste of money but never mind. We got free hard boiled eggs though which is always a bonus (backpackers take anything for free!)

Taupo:

We got to Lake Taupo on 6th February and as planned I signed myself and my friend Max up for skydives. That day, he went to do a canyon swing (similar to a bungee but a swing version instead) because he wanted an adrenaline rush so I went to watch. I can promise you this I will not be doing one or a bungee jump!

On 7th February we were picked up early in the morning to prepare for our skydives. I was extremely scared; every time I thought about it I felt physically sick. The thought of working myself up for the jump was making me even more nervous than I probably should have been. Luckily I went with a good group of people off my bus and my friend as well so we all spurred each other on. We were hanging around for a while and everyone could see how nervous I was. Even the instructors and the workers at the skydive place were having a laugh with me to calm my nerves. To top it off I was offered a pink plane…how could I resist!! Of course I said YES :D

So as we prepared and got in our gear the camera man for each of us began the filming. My face up until I jumped was a sight. I looked completely terrified. When you get to see the video you will see what I mean. We got in the plane and I was jumping second, but first out of all my friends off the bus. One guy jumped out at 12,000 feet and then I was next at 15,000 feet. All I could concentrate on was the fact my instructor I was strapped to was a professional and has done this a billion times. I put all my trust in him and didn't fight it. When it was my turn to go I had to hang my feet out of the plane with my head back in his shoulders…the picture of this is hysterical. I look terrified. However, the minute we fell out the plane I LOVED it. It was amazing! The freefall for 60 seconds felt incredible, it felt like I was floating more than falling! The camera man was trying to get me to do funny actions and I had 'I am crazy ahhh' written on my hands to show the camera. It was the most incredible feeling ever. When the parachute came out we then floated to the ground, the view was stunning and the sun was shining. It was one of the best things I have ever done.

We watched all our videos back afterwards and they were extremely funny. My friend Max, in his video he looked terrified whereas I looked happy. It was funny how he was excited beforehand and I was terrified and then the tables turned. All in all it was incredible.

River Valley:

River Valley was an amazing and relaxing place in the middle of nowhere. It was a cute little cabin lodge which consisted of a bar and dining area and then wooden cabins to sleep in. There was also a lake which we were told we could swim in. When we arrived the sun was shining so we all got our bikinis on and headed for the lake. All the boys were already jumping in and well, being boys. So we girls thought we'd also get in. I jumped in and I could not breathe, it was SOOOO cold!! I got out straight away! We decided to just sunbathe instead. In the evening we had a nice meal, drinks and hung out with the bus and the staff at the lodge. In the morning, there was a yoga session which I joined. It was nice to do some sort of exercise again and stretch out.

Wellington:

We arrived in Wellington pretty late on in the day and we were only there one night so we went out for a dinner with Katie and Louise (some girls I met on the bus). They were staying in Wellington an extra night so we wanted to say goodbye to them. We will catch up with them again in Franz Josef and Queenstown.

Ferry Crossing to Kaiteriteri:

This was the earliest start we've had since being on the kiwi bus so we were all extremely tired after getting up at 5am! We got the bus and boarded the ferry. We had breakfast and then found a corner to sleep in as everyone else (not the backpackers) had claimed all the comfy reclining seats. Five of us lay in a row like tramps sleeping on the floor and got an extra couple of hours sleep. I also felt pretty sea sick sitting up so lying down was the best thing for it.

Kaiteriteri was a cute little place as well. We've stayed in a lot of places, all cute and little but all with different characteristics. Again we didn't do much here as we were pretty tired from all of the travelling but it was a nice place to see.

Westport:

Westport; again was a funky little town. The day we got there the town had just held their annual marathon so we arrived just in time for the celebrations taking place in the park across the road from the hostel. There was a huge marquee in place with awards being given out to each of the runners. We chilled out in the sun for a bit and then went to look around the town. Later on we went out for dinner to an Indian restaurant. Usually I wouldn't mention where I go for dinner every night but this is a story to tell. We arrived at the restaurant at 7pm. They didn't come to take our order for half an hour. They finally took our order. Other people came in, got served straight away and their food came pretty quickly. Some people even got their food before us and left before us when they arrived after us. So anyway to cut a long story short, we got our food an hour and a half later after we complained several times and kept asking them where our food was. One of our friend's foods didn't even arrive until after we'd all eventually eaten. So we complained, this indian man had 7 girls screaming at him and causing a scene in his restaurant because their service was terrible. Eventually he told us to go and not pay anything because he didn't want the drama in his restaurant. We offered to pay but we wanted a discount for the terrible service. The next day he came around to the hostel with the bill. We were mortified, our bus driver already knew the situation and thought we were all right to make a complaint and she thought the indian man was completely out of order to come back with the bill the next day. Eventually we paid half price but it was completely outrageous and made a story for the rest of the bus that day.

Greymouth then Lake Mahinapua:

Greymouth is a small little town where we stopped in to get our fancy dress outfits. We were told that when we are in Lake Mahinapua we will be having a massive fancy dress party and we had to think of a theme. For some reason someone came up with a 'G' party, so basically to wear anything beginning with a 'G'. Myself and three of my friends decided to go as golfers. We went on a hunt for the perfect outfit and we found it; children's white polo shirts, checked shorts (I'm pretty sure they were swimming shorts for boys), knee high white socks, white visors and of course plastic golf sticks!

Also in Greymouth we had to get money out for the next few days as we were heading to places with no ATMs. We had to pay for a few trips in advance and all in cash. Again, I had issues with Halifax; they wouldn't let me withdraw any money and I didn't know what to do. I spoke to Lauren (our driver) and asked to borrow her phone to check my account online. I couldn't access the online system as it was unavailable so I had to call Halifax off a friend's phone as my battery was dead and find out what was going on. This wasn't the first time they have blocked me out of my account so I was ready to argue and yell at them. When I eventually got through, the man on the phone told me they do maintenance on the accounts at times they think suit most people (I assume they forget to think of the people that are abroad, perhaps the other side of the world where it is a reasonable time of day for them, i.e. me!) So anyway, I could not access my accounts so I explained the situation to Lauren and as nice as she is, she lent me $600 until I could get the money out in Queenstown to give it her back. I was extremely grateful and couldn't thank her enough.

On we went to Lake Mahinapua and as explained it was in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived we walked down to the lake and had a look around. Everyone was excited for the evening's antics and we couldn't wait to see what everyone was dressed up as. The photos are pretty good and everyone had made a good effort with their outfits. We had lots of photos and an awesome night of music, dancing and do I dare say, drinking.

Franz Josef:

13th February - The day of Carly's Birthday (Happy 21st Carly, hope you had a great day). In the morning we had to be ready to leave pretty early and after a big night of drinking it was extremely difficult to feel good about getting up so early. I already felt pretty sick and hungover, so sitting at the back of the bus (the only seats available) was extremely agonising. The whole bus journey I was breathing heavily to stop myself from throwing up! Luckily the journey was only a couple hours as opposed to ALL day! When we got to Franz Josef I couldn't wait to climb into bed. My friends went horse trekking and slept off my hangover!

Valentine's Day - what a wonderful wet and miserable day to climb a glacier!!! This was one activity I wish I never did as the weather completely ruined the experience. We set out at 9am to get kitted up with our 'waterproof gear', hiking boots, crampons for the ice, hats and gloves. We also had our cameras and packed lunches in our backpacks. As we began our walk through the rainforest area it was already raining. When we got to the mountains we were split into 5 groups, we could choose depending on our level of fitness, speed and the need to take photos. I chose group 5, the slow group (again, not so slow!) so I could take my time and not feel like I'm holding anyone up. However, the only person I felt like I was holding up was the guide! He usually takes the fast group and for some reason on our day he thought he'd take group 5. We started to trek our way towards the glacier basically trying to run to keep up with the guide who walked 10 times faster than all of us. We were also getting extremely wet from the rain. Our waterproof jackets and trousers were no longer waterproof anymore and this was before we even reached the glacier. We stopped for some lunch before we continued towards the glacier. We then put our crampons on our shoes (which are the grips for the ice) and began to climb the glacier. We were a bit wobbly the whole climb and it was pretty strenuous, much more than we ever imagined. We were practically abseiling down some steps but without the harnesses, just a rope to hold onto! Our guide ran ahead a lot so if we had fallen we would be pretty screwed! It was hard to appreciate we were on an awesome glacier because the rain was extremely heavy and ruined the day. We must have sounded like whining kids asking when we were leaving all the time, some people were complaining a lot about their shoes rubbing as well, luckily I didn't encounter any blisters on this particular trip though! We were desperate to get back to the hot pools which were included in our ticket and sit and soak up the heat for as long as we could.

In the evening we were reunited with our friends Katie and Louise who we last saw in Wellington so I went for dinner with them and had a catch up. I was then dragged into a speed dating event as I walked into the bar at the wrong time, when they were looking for another girl to join the event!! Lucky me, it was extremely awkward and boring saying the same thing over and over again to 20 different guys.

Wanaka:

On the way to Wanaka we stopped at a beautiful beach (I don't remember what it was called) but we all wrote our names and little messages on some white stones as a memorial sort of thing which many people had been doing for years. When we arrived in Wanaka it was a beautiful sunny day and the scenery was incredible. Wanaka is definitely one of my favourite places in New Zealand. We went down to the lake and had a wonder around; it was a really picturesque little town. In the morning before leaving we went to Puzzle World, which involved walking into rooms with different illusions. There was one room I could not stay/stand in, it was completely slanted and made me feel sick and dizzy. I know a few of my friends have been there before and got some pretty cool photos but I just couldn't stand it.

Queenstown:

Just on our journey into Queenstown we stopped at a bridge where two of my friends signed up for a tandem bungy jump!! I was extremely nervous for them but we all got off the bus to watch. It was 47 metre high jump (which is nothing compared to the Nevis being 147 metres high). Hannah and Chrissy, the two girls jumping together were all geared up and ready to go. I could tell Hannah was more reluctant than Chrissy but it seemed that Chrissy basically jumped for the both of them and off they went!! I recorded their jump and could hear a few screams but they loved it.

We then carried on our journey into Queenstown and got dropped off at Nomads Hostel. It was really nice and right by the lake, so a pretty awesome location. In the evening, Lauren our driver had planned a night out for us all and she also joined us. It was really great to have one last night out with everyone and Lauren as she was an awesome driver, tour guide and friend. Some people went to the Ice Bar to begin with (I didn't as I've already been to one in Israel) and then we went to the Boiler Bar and then World Bar. World Bar was pretty cool as they serve cocktails in teapots. This was another fun night out with the whole kiwi crew. The next day we sunbathed by the lake with everyone. Our kiwi crew began to split from Queenstown as people were leaving and going their separate ways.

I went on a day trip to Milford Sound (which was also another trip which was a waste of money). It was raining and the clouds covered most of Milford, which is meant to be an 8th wonder of the world. When we got back that night we were again reunited with Katie and Louise so had a night out with them as well. The next day was my last day in Queenstown so we went out for food and I said my goodbyes to everyone.

Kaikoura:

I left Queenstown on Monday 20th February and headed to Kaikoura. This was a long 12 hour bus journey all because I wanted to swim with dolphins in Kaikoura. At this point I was hoping it was worth it and it was! In the evening when I got to Kaikoura I went for a walk around the town (well the one street that is in Kaikoura). It's a really beautiful beach town. This was another place I absolutely loved about New Zealand. It was calm, peaceful and small and not forgetting the dolphins. Who wouldn't want to live close to dolphins?! I went to find my bus stop for the next day and also went on the hunt for some sea sick tablets. I got to the supermarket just as it was shutting but I knew I needed these tablets as from my last experiences in Australia. Luckily I found some and the last packet.

I managed to get myself booked onto the 8.30am dolphin encounter instead of the 5.30am. This tied in better with my bus and also meant I didn't have to get up as early. The dolphin encounter consisted of 3 snorkel swims with the wild dolphins and a chance to watch and take photos of them as well. I got to the centre and got kitted up with wetsuit, flippers and snorkel gear. I asked for pink flippers but they didn't have any in my size. One of the guys actually went on a hunt for pink flippers, he found some but they were a size too big. I took them anyway though just because they were pink, even though I didn't wear them as I preferred to have flippers which fit than pink ones which fell off. When I first got in the water it was extremely cold and I could hardly put my head under the water as I felt like I couldn't breathe. I slowly got used to it and the 2nd and 3rd swims were incredible. The water was clearer and I got used to the cold water to be able to snorkel properly. It was an awesome experience and I would definitely do it again. Kaikoura is an amazing little town and a good breath of fresh air. I sat on the beach afterwards as I had a while to wait for my bus. Even though I had come to Kaikoura alone, it was a really peaceful town and I was happy to sit and take in the sounds of the ocean. I know this sounds a little pathetic but it was so relaxing, especially after travelling with everyone and having no time to yourself.

Christchurch:

I got on the bus about 4pm and sat down nice and close to the front. The bus was pretty quiet so everyone was able to have their own double seats. Unfortunately for me, some lady sat down next to me. Even more unfortunate for me, she was a bit of a nutcase. I quickly asked the bus driver if there were more seats further back and he said there were loads so I got up and used the excuse I wanted to sleep and stretch out; that was a lucky escape!

Three hours later we arrived in Christchurch and drove past a lot of the ruins from the earthquake which was pretty shocking and sad to see. I was a bit scared to go out of the hostel and walk around on my own in case something bad were to happen so I stayed in the hostel since I got to Christchurch, luckily I was only there for one night. When I arrived at the hostel, no one was around to check me in so I was stood around for about 10 minutes not knowing what to do but wait. Eventually I was checked in and had free pizza for dinner (thanks to the guy at reception and me being slightly cheeky explaining that I was starving!!). I then watched a movie in the TV room for the evening so at least that gave me something to do.

This morning I spent the whole time typing up this blog as I know I've been very behind as I haven't had a chance to sit and fill it in. Today I fly to Sydney to continue my travels and to look for a job somewhere up the east coast. Money has gone pretty quickly and its time I stopped for a bit to get some sort of routine and income J

Sydney:

When I arrived back in Sydney, I immediately went to surprise my friend, Holly and the look on her face was a picture. I walked in the door, she was sat in a moment of silent shock and then got up, screamed and ran towards me!! What an awesome welcome home, thanks Holly!