Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Fri 25th,Just waiting around in the hostel today waiting for our 3.10pm shuttle bus to take us to the airport for our 6.10 flight to Christchurch,South island NZ,it's rainning outside so sat and watched a dvd The Departed!!!picked up ok and caught our cheap flight (jet star)not a patch on Quantas,first thing we noticed when we landed was it was bloody cold,got a taxi to our hostel(another Base)by the time we were sorted it was 1am and time for bed.
Sat 26th,We must have bought the rain with us from Melbourne,so now rain and cold,but it soon stopped,we got onto the free tour bus that takes you round the town and got off at the museum,at first glance you think it's a small place but when you get inside it's massive,we got thrown out at closing time 5pm and would be returning back tomorrow to finish the job off,really interesting place full of info and artifacts,got back to town and purchased a cinema ticket and 2 cookies,we saw the Ricky Gervais film Cemetary Junction,a good film with refferences to our home town Reading,would def reccomend it.
Sun 27th,Myself and Jamie went back to finish off the museum which was really interesting then about 2pm I caught the bus to the AMI stadium(home of the All Blacks)to watch a big rugby league game Sydney Roosters V NZ Warriors,the Warriors won 20 - 18 with the last kick of the game after there player wrapped himself around the post scoring the try,bloody freezing day but still enjoyed the game,met up with Ian at the bus stop,booked our coach for the morning the 7.15am to Kaikoura,later myself and Jamie went to the Baird On Avon pub to watch England lose 4-1 to the Germans.
Mon 28th,Got back to bed for 4.30am and had 2 hours sleep as we were up eary again to catch our Kiwi bus to Kaikoura,arrived at the lazy Shag hostel $23 ,a few hours later,booked in then myself and Charlie went to the harour to catch our whale watching boat,it was a good day for it and we managed to see 3 Sperm Whales,the crew were really good as they knew exactly when the whales were going to dive so got some good photo's,after the whales we saw some Pigmy Dolphins some of the smallest species in the world,later we went to the Whaley pub for dinner and local brewed lager.
Tues 29th,Bus left at 9am,1st stop Picton the ferry port,we had a change of driver,Beks was going North and Lauren was taking us down South,a few miles out we stopped off at this waterfall full of Kekeno puppy seals,loads of them jumping around with thier parents watching from above,thats the good thing about local knowledge had we been driving on our own we would have missed this sight,back on the bus and passed through the Montana winery region,arrived in Nelson about 3pm,booked into the Prince Albert Hotel(Fern Lodge hostel)$27,went for a walk 1st passing the Albert Park,this was where the first game of rugby was played in NZ then we walked up this big hill to the center of NZ great views across the city and lake,back to the hostel for a nice roast lamb dinner and a game of poker.
Wed 30th,Had breckie and bus left at 8.30am,arrived in Westport and staying at the Bazlis Hostel $28 4 bed dorm sharing with Charlie,paid $69 for a jetboat ride along the Buller river,not bad value as we were out for about an hour,quick boat with some 360 turns,got a bit wet but warmed up by the fire back at the office,one of the girls on the horse riding(Steph)had to be taken to hospital by helicopter after a fall but she was fine,second stop was to see Lake Rotoiti.
Thurs 1st,Ian and Charlie left early to do some horse riding with a few others the rest of us went to do a coastline walk along Tauranga Bay,a nice walk and saw more Kekeno seals,we were staying the night at Mahinapua Hostel,a unique place run by an 84 year old Kiwi called Les,it's a custum that everone dresses in costume and our theme was P,Ian dressed up as a pom pom,we wrapped him up in colured ribbons(took ages)Jamie went as a Pharoh,again took ages as we wrapped him up in toilet paper,I went as a present,just wore a box and put a ribbon on my head,we had a lovely meal here cooked by Les of steak and veg and some venison stew.
Fri 2nd,Bus left at 8.45 and on our way to Franz Josef,booked into the Rainforest Hostel,4 bed for 2 nights $52,myself Jamie and Charlie were heading out to do a skydive over the Franz Josef Glazier,rated as the 2nd best dive in the world the number 1 being a $30,00(us)jump from mt Everest,slightly more than we paid,it was Jamie and Charlie's 1st time and they went up together,it was only a small plane with just enough room for the pilot,2 instuctors and 2 jumpers,they only had the 1 plane so we saw them jump out then it was my turn,must say it feels even better the 2nd time as you know what to expect,we all really enjoyed the experience,you could even take pics on your own camera in the plane and once the shute had opened and what great views we saw over the mountains and lake,had a nice spag bowl in the hostel later.
Sat 3rd.We were all off this morning to do a walk over the Franz Josef Glazier in the Westland Tai Poutini national park,there are only 2 Glaziers in the world that go into the rain forest,this one and another one in South America,quite strange to see such a big block of ice and all around you are trees,the ice its self is moving all the time,not that you can feel it of course but it moves so many mm's a year,we were split up into 5 groups myself and Jamie hung back and went into group 3 Ian went into group 4,after a bit of a treck to get to the ice we put our crampons on over our boots for extra grip on the ice and away we went with our guide George,pick axe in hand,I thought we would only be climbing on the ice but we squeezed ourselfs through loads of different crevasis and holes,some of them were really tight and only just got through,did'nt make a lot of difference with the first 3 groups as we all did the same route but groups 4 and 5 took a shorter route with plenty more room to get through,lucky for Ian as he had an ice cream the night before,after a few hours and a lunch break on the ice we headed back down to level ground,we all had a great time on the ice,it was a great experience.Got back to the hostel and had a well earned curry mmmmm nice.
Sun 4th,Left at 9.30 and stopped off at Lake Matheson,this is where so many people jump into the freezing cold lake to get a good picture with the mountains in the backround,we stayed warm and got some nice pics of the mountains with no idiots jumping in front,great views!!!!back on the bus again,we then drove down highway 6,for me this is the best road I have ever been down,the scenery blows you away,on the Right hand side you had Lake Wanaka and on the Left Lake Hawea again we stopped to take some photo's,we got to Base hostel about 5pm $28 for 6 bed dorm,myself and Charlie went to this really old cinema called the Paradiso to see an award winning Argentinian film called The Secret In Thier Eyes,not a bad film but it was worth going just to see the cinema,they had real sofa's in there and an old car to sit in,we also had an interlude where we got ourselfs some home made ice cream.
Mon 5th,Away at 9am but stopping just up the road at a place called Puzzling world,a building full of puzzles and optical illusions,really weired goings on,they have a maze outside too,drove through the Kawarau Gorge where the gold minning used to be,still some old buildings here where people used to live,stopped at Kawara bridge,this is where the first commercial bungy jump took place in the world,the bridge is just used now by AJ Hackett for the jumps,a few people from our bus jumped today 43m or 150ft,got to Base hostel about 3pm in very cold Queenstown,once we got our bags and room sorted we went straight down and bought a Ferg burger,really famous burgers in NZ,nice and very big,met up with everyone from the bus in Altitude bar,attatched to the hostel then ended up in The World Bar.
Tues 6th,Happy birthday to me,did'nt do a lot today as it was a bit of a late 1 last night,booked 3 extra day's in the YHA hostel down the road as Base was fully booked along with every other place in Queenstown,this was because 1 school holiday's and 2 the ski season was in full flow,early night for us tonight as we were going skiing in the morning,went to the ski shop to get all our gear and took it back to the hostel.
Wed 7th,Up at 6.30 ready for the 7.20 ski bus to the resort of Cardrona,this was to be my first time ever on the slopes,Ian had been once before and Jamie had been a few times,myself and Ian had 3 lessons included in our package Jamie had 1 over 2 day's,bloody hard work putting the boots on and walking round in them but we got there,Jamie went off on his own while we had our beginners class,got the idea of it after a while did'nt fall over although we were'nt going to fast and only on a small slope,we went for a bite to eat then came back early to practice a bit more we even went up with Jamie on the drag lift to the top,bit faster coming down but still did ok and did'nt fall over,learned a few more things before we finished and myself and Ian only fell over once each all day,back on the bus for 5pm,it was a good day weather wise and ski wise and was looking forward to abit more skiing tomorrow,back to base for a pie and mash dinner then off for anotherearly night.
Thurs 8th,Up at 6.30 again,only the one lesson for us today,asked if we were confident in going on the chair lift and onto the Green slopes we all said yep so after a few more practice goes on the small slope we were off to the chair,nobody really explained how to get off the chair to me when you have your skis on so when we got to the top sure enough I took a step off and fell straight over,a helping hand up and I was off again,so different when your on a faster slope you have to think so much quicker,we were taking it easy near the top doing our little zig zags,Ian was behind me but he lost control and went straight into the fence(so funny)could hear him shout cant stop cant stop!!!!!was'nt long before we were both falling over quite a lot and at speed and not with any great style,it was so knackering trying to get back up again untill I realised it was easier to take 1 ski off and get back up,went up and down a couple of different Green slopes then our lesson was over,we took a well earned break,we cold'nt find Ian after lunch so myself and Jamie went up together,fell over a few more times but was def getting the hang of it but getting more and more tired,Jamie did a couple more runs while I went back to the small slope again as it would have taken too long for me to come down as we had to get back on the bus,really enjoyed the 2 day's skiing,got back for about 6pm,myself and Jamie went out to meet up with the rest of the Kiwi bus people,Ian stayed in,bit of a late one and ended up in the Winnies Bar.
Fri 9th,Had to check out of Base at 10am so grabbed a MaC's breakfast,nice day so walked around the lake and Queenstown gardens,got our bags and walked up to YHA where we would be staying for the next 3 nights $95,we all decided we had spent far to much on beer so would knock it on the head for a while,a nice early night for us and no beer.
Sat 10th,Had a walk up to the town centre,we were thinking of doing the lugge ride but on our way we saw a rugby match going on so we decided to watch it,it was a cup semi final,the main team were playing after so we watched that 1 also,got a bit chilly when the sun went down so went into the club house and got a lovely steak sandwich,after the games we walked back and ordered a takeaway pizza and watched the Hostel on dvd.
Sun 11th,Myself and Jamie had both been thinking about doing a bungy jump so when we looked out and saw the sun shinning we booked or jump at the hostel for 3pm today,while Ian(scaredy pants)went to the cinema myself and Jamie were on our way back to Kawarau bridge,quite apt that on our first jump we would be doing the first ever one in the world,very strange but both of us were'nt nervous thought I might have been,we beat everyone else on the bus to get out first so no waiting about,we both wanted to dip our hands in the water,they could'nt say for sure that it would happen we might go right in up to our chests but if we dived right we should touch it,I was ready first so I smiled in 1 camera then the other then I was gone,142ft!!!!it was over in seconds but job done,they pick you up in a little dingy,as I was getting out it was Jamie's turn,again no hanging about(no pun intended)he was off,like me a good dive but we were both a few inches from touching the water,we have the pics,dvd and the t shirt,met up with Ian,Sharon and Jo and went for dinner in the mall.
Mon 12th,World cup day and we were getting on the bus,we got up at 6am so we could see as much of the game as we could,we saw about 80mins of the game before the bus turned up,we were on our way back to Christchurch,we stoped off at a few places on the way,1st was at mt Cook then 2 lakes Tekaeo and Pukaky both stunning,there is an old church at Pukaky called the Church of Good Shepperd took some pics then back on the bus,got to Christchurch about 4.30 and booked our coach the following day to Picton with Inter City coaches.South island done!!!!
- comments