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Kia Ora! Welcome back to another update from the wandering two. Sorry it has taken so long to update you all on what we've been up to the past couple of weeks but things have been pretty hectic what with family and friends coming out to join us for a few crazy activities! It's been an incredible two weeks filled with some unforgettable moments. Here's a round up on the goings on since the last update:
Saturday 23rd June
Bright and early we picked up our new 6 berth camper van- which was HUGE!!! It reminded me of an old Mercedes tour bus that my brother and sister used to drive around to their country music gigs. Inside are 3 double beds, a toilet, shower, cooker, microwave and loads of extras such as kettle and toaster. What more could we ever need??? It's better than any hostel we've stayed in. We headed on a test drive towards Arthur's Pass, a winding road through snow capped mountains. Unfortunately when we had nearly reached Arthur's Pass we came to a sign stating that the road was too snowy for us to travel on. Instead we turned around and headed to Akaroa, a small town which was once a French settlement. The buildings are beautiful. We had a walk down by the harbour and watched the sun set. It was rather cold so we didn't stay for too long before heading back to Christchurch.
Sunday 24th June
We had a quick walk around Christchurch in the morning before heading to the airport to pick up Rob Heywood, a best mate of ours who was in the same class as Darren and I at Fitzwimarc. Rob was held up for a few hours as customs stopped him and searched all of his stuff so we read in a car park whilst his plane made its way to us. When we eventually met him at the airport it wasn't just Rob that we saw.... from across the room appeared another two great friends, Danny and Ian! To say that we were surprised is the understatement of the century! Neither of us can understand how everyone kept that secret for so long! WOW! First things first we headed back to the City and mooched around the shops before retreating to The Bard pun for a NZ ale. Then we made our way back to the airport to pick up Darren's Mumma and brother Kris. By midnight two had become seven and we were all in a campsite packed tightly into the campervan. With 7 people, backpacks, suitcases and Ian's guitar (yay!) the campervan all of a sudden seemed a lot smaller than it did first thing in the morning! It felt weird sleeping in the camper knowing that we weren't alone.
Monday 25th June
The seven of us (The Fellowship) headed into Christchurch and Danny bought a double expresso coffee without knowing what one was and promptly chucked it in the bin. Bless him! Had another look around the city, which in all honesty is my least favourite place in NZ so far,purely because it looks so much like England. Rob, Danny and Ian ended up booking another small camper, which we could pickup the following day. We all went to the pier, which was really pretty, the strong winds were forcing huge waves to crash against the sandy beach and it looked really impressive. We watched the sunset from our camper and saw the pier come alive with coloured lights. We stayed in a campsite and have made a pact to state that there are only three of us in it, so poor Mumma Frost had to crouch on the floor whilst the rest of us paid the owner.
Tuesday 26th June
In the morning we picked up the guys camper and headed to Lake Tekapo. As it had been snowing this week across the South Island the scenery looked completely different to last week with many hills hidden in their white snowy blankets. The Church of the Good Shepherd looked great with snow on top and everyone had a laugh slipping and sliding along the ice and snow towards the lake's shore. Afterwards we headed further on to Lake Pukaki, then alone one of the best drivers in the world along the lakes and mountains to Mount Cook, which was even snowier than last time we were here. As it was starting to creep into the late afternoon we hurried along the walking track to the best lookout of Mt Cook. This week however instead of treading along the snow we all had to tread along a 3 foot deep track. It was amusing falling and pratting about. We never made it to Kea Point as the sun was sinking quickly and the path was too treacherous. On the return we were guiding by the moon and millions of stars, set against a clear sky. Our torches made the new snow glitter and the scene was magical. When we reached our campervans we decided that we would need the snow chains on our tyres so we tried, and tried, and tried to fix them to our wheels but it was all to no avail. Instead we creeped down the hill towards Twizel and prayed that the ice would ignore our vehicles. Thankfully it did and we arrived in Twizel at 9pm, where we stayed for the night.
Wednesday 27th June
Lake Wanaka beckoned in the morning and we reached there in the morning. Again the scenery was different with more snow and a clearer sky so Darren and I were glad that we had come here again. We took lots of photos of the seven of us and had a look around the town before headed up though the Cardrona Valley to the Cardrona Hotel, where we all had an ale. It felt great to chill out with everyone and Darren got some real time with his male friends who he could talk to about cars, girls and computer games! The next stop was AJ Hacketts Bungy Centre where we watched Rob and Ian hurl themselves 43 metres off a bridge toward the river below. It was fun to watch but definitely not my cup of tea and I wouldn't do it for a ludicrous amount of money! Afterwards we had a big snowball fight in the Crown Ranges and then headed to Arrowtown, where we bought some amazing chocolate in this tiny store that makes the sweetest chocolate on site. Kris bought a silver ring like the one from 'Lord of the Rings' from a jewellery store which was lovely. I was highly tempted myself but managed to behave. We then had a proper look around the old Chinese mining settlement before jumping in the campers and completing our journey to Queenstown. The evening was nice and starry so Darren, Mumma, Kris, Danny and I took a walk around the town which is one of the best in New Zealand. I love the atmosphere in Queenstown. It is clean, friendly, picturesque and for a bigger town it is still fairly quaint.
Thursday 28th June
We set off early and went straight into Queenstown where we booked a trip on the famous Shotover Jet. We spent the morning shopping and the guys bought some wicked clothes from the ski stores. We all took a gondola up to the skiing area, which provided us with a great view across the lake and city below. Unfortunately our Shotover Jet Boat ride was cancelled due to the river being too icy, so we headed towards Glenorchy to show everyone mine and Darren's favourite stretch of road to date. With the cloudy skies and snowy mountains it looked completely different to last week but equally impressive for different reasons. We spent the evening learning Texas Hold 'em Poker with Kris as our teacher. We played for matches only, thankfully, as I lost all of mine after a short while.
Friday 29th June
We set off at a silly hour and headed to Milford Sound. The road was shocking as it was so icy but the scenery was excellent! Thankfully Darren was doing all the driving so I could sit back an relax. The road to Milford Sound winds round the mountains and through lush rainforest. Along the way we stopped at a point where you could see over 100 waterfalls, all crying down the mountains due to the large extent of rain that has been falling on the West coast of NZ recently. When we arrived at our destination we booked a 3 hour boat trip and headed into the gorgeous Sound. It was raining and very misty but this made the mood more mystical. During the trip we were steered into the mist of two big waterfalls and we all got soaked!! It was such great fun! Once we were on land again we set off on a massive trek north towards Fox Glacier as we really wanted to do a trek on the glacier, as it is the lowest one in the world. The journey proved a little too treacherous for Rob and Ian who decided to stay in Queenstown as the ice was making the roads so slippery. The rest of us kept driving for a few hours and stopped at a dodgy redneck campsite where 'Cletus' kept Darren, Ian and Kris talking for ages. Danny asked "Did we find them, or they find us??" Nicely put.
Saturday 30th June
We set off at 5:30am to Fox Glacier. Along the way we saw a kiwi, which are notoriously timid birds that most people never see in NZ. It was just running along the road and we were really lucky to spot it. We arrived at Fox Glacier and firstly called the ferry company to rearrange our ferry to the north island, as we were supposed to be travelling that night and the port was another 8 hour drive! Thankfully they changed the date to the following day so that we could book a heli-hike on the glacier. Darren, Mumma, Kris, Danny and I went on the trip which cost $300 each. The trip included a helicopter ride up to the glacier, followed by a 2.5 hour trek on the glacier, through amazing ice caves and across the slippery surface in our crampons. Our tour guide was a young lad of 18, Sam, who was nice but rather strange. We were all a little nervous of the helicopter and only Mumma had been on one before. The flight was amazing. The helicopter took us over the bridge, rainforest and up over the glacier. We also took a ride over the waterfalls, which were overflowing. In fact earlier on in the day there a 3metre x 15metre chunk of ice disappeared down half the length of the glacier as the waterfalls had flooded and caused a cascade of ice! Apparently that hadn't happened in many years. Walking over the blue ice was in my top 5 experiences ever and I know that the others were thrilled to have experienced it too. Squidging ourselves through tiny ice caves was so fun and so unlike anything else we have tried. After o return helicopter ride we went to a saloon bar and chatted about the day over a hot coffee. We continued our northerly drive and made it past Greymouth before retreating for the night, after more card games.
Sunday 1st July
We can't believe that it's July already!! Time flies when you're having fun! We met with Rob and Ian in Picton and we all made our way to the ferry, which took three hours to arrive in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. On the journey we planned a rough itinerary for the following week and played poker. The journey was really smooth and went in no time at all. When we arrived in Wellington it was raining really heavily so we headed straight to Lower Hutt, to a nice campsite where we had ad rink and I actually won a game of poker. I'm going to practise my poker face until I've perfected it now.
Monday 2nd July
The weather clearedup over night so we headed into Wellington and looked around for a while. The City is quite nice with not too many high rise buildings. To get a better view some of us took a gondola ride up to a viewpoint which offered a nice view across to the sea. We spent most of the day driving north, through the stunning Tongariro National Park up to Taupo. As it rained all day there wasn't much to do other than book a jet boat ride for the following day.
Tuesday 3rd July
At 9am we went on the great Huka Falls jet boat ride, which was fast and furious, dodgy round posts and doing 360 degree spins. We all had a good time. Afterwards we headed to headed to 'The Craters of the Moon', a large geothermal area you can walk around for $5. The area looks prehistoric and there is loads of hydrogen sulphide steam rising from craters in the earth. There was also a huge mud pool which bubbled away. The whole area around Taupo and Rotorua is volcanic and still experiences a lot of geothermal activity. Next we all headed to Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ and we watched Danny, Rob, Ian and Kris play a golfing game on the lake's front. Danny was the best player, which we all believe was down to the magic powers of his sacred jumper. (Basically Danny bought the most disgusting jumper with Christmas trees, Santa on his reindeer and snowflakes on it in a charity shop here for $2. It was so funny to see him wearing it all the time!) In the evening we all headed to Taupo's Thermal Pools, which were up to 42 degrees. We all lazed around in the warmth of the mineral pools for hours. It was heavenly! Afterwards we drove north to Rotorua.
Wednesday 4th July
In the morning we headed off to do 'Zorbing' (rolling down a hill strapped to an inflatable ball). It was one of the main things I wanted to try but when I got there they said that I was too short to be strapped in, which meant that I wouldn't be thrown around as much, so I decided that it wasn't fun enough and we all headed off to do some luging instead. Luging is like go-karting, down one of three long tracks. The aim is to stay on the tarck and not fall off the luge. The tracks were brilliant fun and you could gain some really good speeds. There were slaloms and bumps and it was fun overtaking people! I would definitely do it again. The only scary part was getting a ski lift back to the top of the ride as I'm not that keen on heights. After the luging we headed to Waimangi Geothermal Park, which cost $30 each and took us around a 4km path featuring 31sites of geothermal importance. The magnesium sulphide and hydrogen steam rose around the lakes, one of which was a blue as 'The Blue Lake, in the Grampian Mountains, Oz. It was our favourite walk so far in NZ. The whole area was so atmospheric. We arrived back at the campsite just in time to get our lift to the Mitae Maori Village, where we spent the evening being entertained with Maori tribal dancing, beliefs, hangi cooking and tattoo explanations. The Maori tribe had tattoos all over their faces and buttocks, which were added as the person would increase their status within the tribe, and also some were added if you were born to an important family. The tattoos were originally added by three chisels. The first would be used to break the skin, the second would be used to increase the depth of the wound and the third would be for applying the ink. Ouch! The food and dancing was amazing and we all had a fantastic day.
Thursday 5th July
In the morning we looked around the town of Rotorua, which is impressive, even if it does smell of rotten eggs, due to the thermal springs everywhere. We all set off toward Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand with over 1.5million residents, which is a huge amount when you consider that the whole of New Zealand only has 4 million residents! We hit traffic for the first time in ages and saw the biggest skyline since 'Brisvegas'- Brisbane. Protruding from the skyline was the Sky Tower, from which Rob and Ian wanted to jump off the following day, with only a tiny cable to prevent them falling the full 192 metres to the city floor below! We came across Mission Bay and walked around the harbour overlooking the city and then found the scariest campsite in the world in a place called Rumeura. The sofas in the shared lounge were all slashed and the tiles in the bathroon dated back to the Roman era, the showers were cold only and everyone staying on the site had three ears, or only one tooth... OK maybe I embellished on the last comment. The campsite was muddy and horrid though so we spent the evening in the City having a look around the Sky Tower. Rob and Darren went to place a bet in the casino (and lost) but Kris (25), Ian (29) and I (26) couldn't get in as we didn't look over 20, the minimum age for entry. I was really happy and that was the best compliment I have had in ages. The guys weren't impressed though! I had my luck though in the evenings poker games back in the camper.
Friday 6th July
It was Danny, Rob and Ian's last day in New Zealand today :( In the morning we headed to the Sky Tower to watch Rob and Ian do the Sky Jump. Unfortunately it rained really heavily so they decided against it in the end. We found the best shop ever which sold DVDs, Cd's and funky clothes, a bad combination if you're on a budget. I picked up ten albums that I wanted and managed to cut it down to two,plus the Keith Urban DVD I've had my eye on for ages. Darren chose a couple of albums too and the whole lot came to $70! Bargain!! We have survived this whole trip with only John Mayer's new album to play in the campervan and as wonderful as the album is we are pretty much sick to death of it now! We spent the late morning in the Auckland Museum, which had some impressive wooden Maori carvings, portrait and examples of Maori tools, clothing and jewellery. We followed the boys when they handed back their campervan then all headed to the airport and said our farewells. It was so nice to see them and have some company. We both appreciate the gesture of them coming to see us and hope that they had a great time. In the 12 days that they were here they travelled 3161kms and saw both of the islands! Then there were 4... we headed to Hamilton further south and stayed in a campsite where we talked about the good times we had had over the past two weeks.
Saturday 7th July
Happy birthday Heather and Fletcher! Today we headed to the quaint town of Matmata, otherwise known as 'Hobbiton'. Mumma, Kris, Darren and I had a 1.5 hour tour of the area that was used to create the shire in all of the Lord of the Rings films. A nice old man called Eric was our guide and he showed us the 'Party Tree', 'Bilbo Baggins' home and and around many of the other hobbit home. We even got to go inside Bilbo's attire! The hobbit home don't look quite as they did in the film but it was still impressive. The attention to detail that Peter Jackson went to in those films was honourable. They even bought an oak tree for $11,000 and taped fake oak leaves, which they had made in Taiwan especially, as the tree was bare due to the winter months. They then planted it on top of Bilbo's home, as this was mentioned in the Tolkein's books. The total cost for the tree was $50,000 and it was only shown in 25 second worth of footage. We were in our element hearing about the filming techniques used. After the tour we headed to some nearby waterfalls that were as impressive as the Mackenzie Falls in Australia. We took a 50 minute walk up a really muddy and rocky path to the lookout. The view from the top was so awesome. There has been so much rain in New Zealand lately that the waterfalls look their best.
Sunday 8th July
Today we booked white water rafting for 2pm and spent the evening walking at Okere Falls, on the outskirts of Rotorua. From a lookout we came across a part of the river that is used for the rafting. We watched in horror as one raft came down a 20ft waterfall and completely capsized, the next one had one person fly out and stay under the water for around 30 second and thankfully the third raft we saw managed to keep all of its passengers aboard. Needless to say we were all a little nervous about the rafting we had booked for a few hours time! In the afternoon we met Tim and Matt, our rafting instructors. It was Tim who had completely capsized earlier! After donning our not so flattering wetsuits, fleeces, helmets and life preservers we had 15 minutes of training before being ready to hit the water. Once in the water we were all really excited. We went down three waterfalls. The first was fairly small, however Mumma managed to really hurt her thumb and bless her, she had to soldier on through the whole ride in pain. The second fall was more successful, and then we came up to third fall, a 7 metre drop into a frothing white monster. As we approached the big fall we all crouched down in the raft and held our breaths and waited... after a few seconds we all bobbed back up- the right way round! Excellent!! The water was so cold that it took your breath away. After the main fall we played some games and I had to sit on the front of the raft with my legs dangling over into the water and I had to hold on to a rope at the front of the raft and pretend to ride a bull rodeo style whilst we went down a smaller fall. Amazingly enough I didn't fall in so Kris was allowed to push me in, which he enjoyed! the water took my breath away and the whole experience was so exciting. Kris jumped into the water too and Darren and Mumma stayed in the raft. We bought a CD with photos of us for $40 as there were some funny pictures, which hopefully you can see in our New Zealand- North album.
Monday 9th July
Happy birthday Glen!! Today we left Rotorua and drove to Waitomo Glowworm Caves where we booked a 2 hour tour of two caves that David Attenborough had used to best portray Glowworms. The tour led us through an extensive cave system and firstly we had a 30 minute raft ride to see the glowworms properly. Once we had turned our helmet lights off and had waited a few minutes for our eyes to adjust the whole cave came to life with a million glowworms, shining like stars. The sight was incredible. Glowworms glow due to a chemical in their faeces, which attracts small flies towards them.They hang threads, very much like spiderwebs from the ceiling of the cave and trap the flies in them. After nine months of being glowworms they spend two weeks in a cocoon before becoming flies themselves and mating for 2-5 days, laying their eggs on the cave ceiling and finally dying. The second cave showed us around an impressive walk into a 'cathedral' within the cave. It was Mumma and Kris' last night in New Zealand so we looked at some of our pics whilst they packed their belongings.
Tuesday 10th July
It has been a long day today! In the morning we drove to Auckland Airport to drop Mumma and Kris off. Both were dreading the long trip back to London and Mumma's thumb is so swollen that she probably won't be able to go back to her work as a nurse. We said our sad goodbyes to them and waved them through to departures. It has been wonderful to spend some time with them and Mumma has been extremely supportive of both Darren and I during our travels around the world. They had been to Sydney and Bangkok on the way to New Zealand and are very well travelled themselves. I'm lucky to have such a great Mumma-in-Law! It has been raining really hard all day and the winds are up to speeds of 150km p/h. We have spent today getting the diary updated and arranging a smaller campervan for next week. We have also received confirmation that my USA friend Jesyka will be meeting us in Rotorua on Saturday. I am so unbelievably excited as I haven't seen her in 8 years and we have so much to catch up on. It feels strange to have the huge campervan to ourselves again. It is so quiet! We've both admitted to missing everyone already! We are looking forward to the rest of our adventure and getting back to some sunshine in Fiji next week as although New Zealand is one of the prettiest countries in the world it is cold at the moment and we have both lost our tans. It is also more expensive to stay here than in Fiji or Thailand so we are looking forward to making our money go further. No doubt we shall post a last update from New Zealand before we leave. We both hope that you are all well and happy and we think of you often. 'Til the next time xx
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