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Gemma's Travels
hi all, well i feel like im writing an essay everytime i manage to get online iv been getting up to that much stuff! so we set off on the early morning ferry from wellington to picton and suprisingly (sarcasm) i was sea sick which means i have now been sick in the ccok islands, fiji and new zealand - im sure i dont get this ill at home! lol. anyway the ferry was pretty amazing it had a cinema and everything, not that i made it down there. we got off the ferry at picton and four more people joined the group (yippee!!) we stayed on the bus through to a little bush walk (thats new zealand terms, i nearly did my ankle in again and kept moaning lol) then we eventually reached nelson, which can only be described as 'very english' i think a lot of people that emigrate move there, its a beautiful place but we only had the night there so we went for a walk to the centre of new zealand- a 40min walk up a very very very steep hill, it was worth it for the views though, it is so strange to see beach, sea, hills and snowy mountains all in the same scene but its amazing. after that we went back to the hostel, quite an innapropriate name as it was more like a hotel, it was basically a pub with ensuite accommodation and that night they did beer tasting so i got to sample the fine beers of new zealand and also spit a few horrible ones out, it was a nice relaxed evening where we all got to know one another and then had a much needed early night- travelling around all day really takes it out of you. the next morning a few more people joined the group and we headed from nelson to westport, we drove close to the abel tasman national park and then to the nelson lakes national park which was beautiful and everyone got out to do a 2hr walk over slippery ground, smiley (driver) told me not to do it coz of my ankle so i did a coupla short walks instead, it was nice but i felt a bit isolated again but i didnt wanna risk my ankle going before i did the glacier walk. anyway we went to westport, which is pretty much a secluded fishing port with not much there and we watched videos and chatted - the group on this bus are a lot quieter than on the first bus, theres a lot more nights in than out, but everyone is really friendly and its nice to just chill out. we left westport at 9am, which is such a lie-in on this trip, and we went to a seal colony which was pretty cool, then we went to a beach which was beautiful even though it was raining, then on to the 'pancake rocks and blow holes' seriously you dont understand how fascinating they were, i have so many pictures of rocks that you just wont understand unless you see how amazing they are, the photos dont do it justice! from there we went on to lake mahinapua hotel - otherwise known as the 'poo pub' as no-one can pronounce it, oh and by the way it is not a hotel, it is the furthest thing from a hotel you can imagine it was a dump in the middle of nowhere with really smelly dirty rooms, broken beds, dodgy heaters, etc. but it is meant to be the highlight of the kiwi experience trip as it is the night when everyone gets the chance to dress up and have a fancy dress party, girls had to wear bin bags and guys were in drag - it was great fun doing all the make up and having a laugh, we played drinking games but it turned into a pretty early night because everyone was tired. there were prizes for the best costumes, someone won a bungee jump, someone won a canyon swing and someone won a photo package - thankfully i didnt win as i really wouldnt wanna bungee it's too much like committing suicide jumping off a bridge, at least i was attatched to someone for the skydive!!! anyway that brings me up to today and today we went to the bushmans centre, where we paid $4 to get into a little museum and watch a video on how they used to catch deer for the deer farms, how they catch possums now and if we wanted we could even eat possum pie - i have to say i have never been so glad im a vegetarian in my life, i was discusted with myself that i paid money to go in the museum and ultimately fund hunting, it was horrible and there were stuffed stags heads and possums everywhere, the new zealanders have a grudge against possums coz they are eating a lot of vegetation and are ultimately a threat to kiwi birds - because of this the department of conservation has a killing sceme going, so you tend to see a lot of possums on the road that have been run over, but this place took it too far with possum fur hats, scarves, gloves, etc it was horrible and i was so glad to get out of there. we then came to franz josef where i am for 2nights, franz is the fastest moving glacier in the world and if you dont know what a glacier is then take a look at the picture next to this essay, its beautiful but again very strange to see snow next to grassy fields. i was meant to be doing a heli-hike today when we arrived, which is pretty much a helicopter ride up to a high point on the glacier and then a 2hr hike, unfortunately it was called off because of the weather but i should hopefully be able to do it tommorrow, most of the people on the bus are doin the full day hike tommorrow which is 8.5hrs climbing, with about 5hrs on the actual icy glacier, but i wasnt sure my ankle would stand that as theres a lot of crevices and its really slippy. i think thats about all my news for now, i fly to sydney on the 30th september so i really havent got that long left, after franz josef i go to wanaka, queenstown, milford sounds and christchurch, i cant believe how fast it is going i have been away for two months already - although i am missing hearing from everyone as often as i would at home and doing the youth groups (suprisingly) lol, you have a volunteer for life when im back carol! take care everyone and keep in touch! gem xxx
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