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Well before I start ranting on about New Zealand, there is one thing I have to say, you have to visit this country. It is so beautiful, the locals are so friendly and it has things for everyone! This is why i fell in love with it! Initially Pam and started in Auckland where we met Pam's friend Janet who showed us around. There we saw some of the sites the city had to offer, Mount Eden, a dormant volcano, the city centre and some beaches. Not to mention, we also sampled some of the local bars, and as it was anzac day, they were teaming with Navy men, so Pam and I managed to gain ourselves a H.M.S.N.Z.N hat!! Which I must add was great!! The following day Pam and I joined our Contiki tour, where we met the people we would spend the next 15 days with. We then headed up to the Bay of Islands to a small town called Paihia (meaning good here). There we looked at the beautiful scenery, kayaked up the river to a waterfall and met some great locals! Saul, who owned the lighthouse bar and his friends Keith, Jack and Toby, made Pam and I feel very welcome both nights as they bought us tons of drinks and made the place great fun!!
Sadly we had to leave Pahia, then we headed to Auckland, to pick up some more tour people, then onto Waitomo, home of the gloworm caves. We had such fun here, we went black water rafting, which involves getting into your wetsuit, then with an inner tube, you walk through, and float through the gloworm caves. It was amazing the light they gave off! Jumping backwards off the waterfalls was also great fun!!! In waitomo, we became friendlier with more of the group, and with Darryl, our driver, who I love to bits, as he helped us out all tour!!
We left Waitomo, to head to Rotorua, the thermal area of NZ, which has active geysers errupting often! However, it smelt like rotten eggs due to all the sulpher in the air! But was an impresive place! here we also had a go at Zorbing. This is where you are in a giant ball and roll down a hill! Because there is a little water in the ball, you pretty much move as a hamster would! Absolutely hilarious. Following this, we went on the gondola and luge, basically a track down the mountain on a luge! Good fun!! In the evening we went to the Hangi and concert. A traditional Maori meal, where the food is cooked under the ground using the thermal heat, followed by a concert where the haka was performed and the women all had a go at poi! It was lovely to see the true culture of the counrty!
From here we headed to lake Taupo, the 2nd largest lake in NZ, we didn't do much, apart from have a pirate party on the boat, in the evening which was fun! Other than that I don't really like taupo, as I got eaten alive by bed bugs, not really a pleasant experience! So we choose to forget that place! Though, Taupo itself was nice!
We then headed to Wellington, the coutry's capital, saw some lord of the rings film sets and viewed the city! It was lovely! Went to the museum , which was new and very interactive and looked around. Went out the 2nd evening for cheap students nights, with live music! Great fun!
The follwing day, we left the north island, along with some of the group and headed to christchurch through the beautiful Marlborough sounds! The 3 metre swell on the waves wasn't too pleasant on the ferry though, with people being sick around us! But the scenery was lovely! So was christchurch! Very English city, was nice to just wonder around! Saw some seals on the coast on the way down, with one nearly attacking pam, which was in fact really funny at the time!
The following day, we headed to Frans Josef, glacier country. I was so excited about going on the glaciers. We arrived late and had a group dinner, then just played pool in the bar etc, was good fun. We had an early start the following day, when we headed to Fox glacier for our hike. Unfortunately due to the weather, we were unable to do the heli hike, due to the weather. So unlike to crisp white and blue ice with great crevaces and caves, we only saw the bottom of the glacier, which was a little dissapointing, but still cool! We waled for 1 1/2 hours throught the rainforest, yes where it was chucking it down with rain, and when we eventually got to the glacier, we only had 20mins on it! It was good, but not at all what we were expecting! Due to being hungover, we drank water dripping from the leaves, as it was the only way we would survive the hike there and then back (4 hours in total).
That afternoon we headed to Queenstown the adventure capital of the world!!!! It was an amazing place, I completely love it! Great town, surrounded by mountains, good night life, with lots of crazy activities, if they took your fancy!. Spent the first evening going out for dinner with some of the girls and then out to one of the bars, good fun. The foloowing day, we just looked around the town, taking in the scenery, then headed to Minus 5, a bar made completely of ice! Its awesome! Following that, went to world bar, where cocktails come in teapots! Great fun! All crazy!
Next is the day of adventure. Firstly, we went hangliding of the remarkables mountain range, about 200m above sea level, we started at! Fantastic views! But its a little scary running off a cliff! Then in the afternoon we did mad dog river boarding, which I absolutely loved!!! We went down the white water rapids on a body board, steering our way through. It was so stenuous, my ankles killed by the end, and pam thought she was going to die the whole way down and hated every second. Not to mention the water was freezing!! However I loved it! We also got to go on rope swings, slides, dragged along by the jetski and jump off of cliffs, it was awesome!!
The following day, we left Queenstown and headed to Milford sound, to join the Milford Mariner, a boat on which we had an overnight cruise. The scenery all along the drive and in the sound was astounding, it was so beautiful, I just can't descibe it, as you can never picture how beautiful it is, until you see it! In Milford, we boarded our boat, cruised out, then went out on a speed boat to wtch the sunset over the tasman sea, it was stunning! Then we ate dinner, played games and just all enjoyed our night in such a great place!
We left the following morning to head to lake ohau, after sailing out into the Tasman sea. Here we saw, Mount Cook, NZ's highest mountain and some other stuinning scenery. This evening we had a toga party, which was great fun, I had a cold, so drank hot whiskey and lemon all night, thanks to Paul the Barman. Which, inturn made me die the next day! Great fun though! Good final night to the tour!.
Finally we headed back to Christchurch where our tour ended. Pam and I stayed for a couple of extra nights, just looking around etc. Lovely tour, some really great people, including Jonny our guide who made us dance in the aisle of the bus every morning to Queen- Don't stop me now, whether or not you were awake! You had to dance!! Amazing country! I absolutely loved it, now am sad I have to leave!!
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