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welcome back, or welcome me back should i say.
Anyway so we got to spend another day in Taupo. the majority of the bus did the tongarero crossing, but i am not a walker and would have struggled after two hours. we spent the day walking round the lake which was very scenic and peaceful. we found a spot round the lake where there was a hot area and steam of coming of the water. i didn't venture in as was a bit two hot. once the guys got back?from their walk we all went to the hot springs, to have a dip in the water. very warm.
The next day we left Taupo and headed for River Valley. The lodge was right in the middle of nowhere, and the scenery was beautiful. I'd been looking forward to this place as we had been told and it was in 'The Bible'- the kiwi Ex guide that they give you a roast dinner. Now i hadn't had one since leaving the UK, so i was "getting amongst it"- Over used phrase. We also found out that we meaning the whole bus would be staying in one dorm. This dorm had 16 beds one side and 16 beds the other side. I thought it was really good fun, but it was a case of 32 in the bed and the little one said, also there really was not alot of room for our bags, but there really was not that much of a problem. For me the next adventure happened the next day. we had enlisted in white water rafting. we had been told the river rating was grade 4- 4+ which means it was pretty good standard rapids. So we got in the sexy wetsuits again and made our way down to the river. Katie and i went together with another girl and guy, and an instructor who didn't let us know till we were on the river that he wasn't a 100% fit due to a rafting accident a few days before- Good to know!? Abyway we continued down the river and went through a few rapids. We got to one which was going to be more difficult, but hey we could handle anything and there really was nowhere else to go. We hit a rock and the boat overturned due to all of us leaning over to the right to much. Don't worry Mum i'm fine, and it wasn't my head heading for the rock. Luckly Gemma another crew member got out of it unscathed, so we all bundled back in the raft and continued our way down the river. Us girls decided not to jump off the rocks as we had a little too much excitement, plus we were all freezing. we all finished the river successfully and made our way back to the lodge and to the?big green bus to continue our journey to Wellington.
Wellington nightlife is amazing, we all had a really good night. It was the last time all the bus would be together so everyone made an effort to have a good time, Any everyone did -i think. The next day was a free day in the capital so we made our way to the te papa museum. To be honest it was a good place to go and see some of the countries heritage, but not really my thing. I thought for the capital the day life wasn't buzzing, they just sort of get on with it. Theres no big thing to see or do- from my point of view. In the evening we went to a rugby game, it was the match of the highlanders Vs the Hurricanes. We were cheering the hurricanes and happily they one-just. Didn't really understand the rules but good to see and it has given me a taste.
The date was April 28th. The time had gone so fast, we were already at the bottom of the North Island and making our way to the South and Picton. So we made our way on the ferry which would take us approx 3hrs to get to Picton and pick up our next big green bus. The weather was awful and i really hoped it wasn't an incite into the weather forcast for the next 2 weeks. Once we got on the bus we made our way to Nelson, stopping on the way for some wine tasting. The Wine tasting did not live up to my expectations. We only got to try 2 sips so to be honest you need more than that to tell if its a good wine- am i right- i think so. Once we got to Nelson- so not a happening town, it was a Saturday and the shops were closed at half 4. Anyway we got our dinner for the night- good old pasta and set up camp for the night. We were staying at Prince Albert pub which was really nice- it felt like home.
We only stayed for one night in Nelson, as we weren't doing any of the walks. We continued on the bus with new driver Pam-brilliant girl and a great laugh. We were on our way to Westport first stopping at lake Rotoiti for a chilled walk. Again Beautiful scenery, as all of New Zealand is.- More photos to be had. The Same afternoon we went horse trekking which was really good. It was really nice to be back on a horse and we got to do a bit of cantering which was all good fun. Not so good on the legs and i was aching the next day- didn't notice that much until we were on another walk. This time we went and saw a seal colony and pancake rocks. Next stop Greymouth to get our costumes for the Poo party, no it wasn't a rubbish party- thats what the pub was called. Our theme for the night was the best thing about the Kiwi bus so far. Now it would have been a good theme, but some of the bus had only joined it 2 hrs prior. Still everyone made the effort and it actually turned out to be good. There was even some nudity.-Yes young man you know who you are. The Legend of the night though was the owner, Les-lovely guy- kind of like your grandpa but with a dirtier mouth, still he was brill amd had a great sense of humour.
Still no time to stop, we continued our way to Franz Josef, first stopping at the Bushman centre to really see how New zealanders lived on the land back in the day. Really interesting stuff, and i got a chance to feed the deers- in the rain- determination/ or madness you choose. We got to Franz Josef late afternoon, and i was really excited as were to see some of the old bus who had gone on ahead of us from wellington. On the bus was my good friend Tony. It was really good to see them all again.
Still the point of Franz Josef was to see the glaciers. i really wanted to do the heli hike, so we woke up the wednesday to find rain- it was following us, and it didn't let up all morning which meant the heli hike was off, it also meant we were too late to do the full day hike. This left us with the half day which we booked on- the glacier had to be seen. And what a sight it was. It was stunning but very cold, as you can imagine. It wasn't very easy to walk on, and the Massive clown shoes we had to wear didn't help. Still they were soon forgotton. The Sights of the Glacier are definately a highlight of my trip so far.
We headed to Wanaka- one step closer to Queeny, Yey! We stopped at Lake Matheson. Because we got there so early the Lake was untouched which meant it gave a perfect reflection of the mountains (South Alps and Mount Cook) in the background and a great picture. The town was quant and you could tell it was a ski resort. That evening we had a BBQ and it was the last time we were all together as again people were departing from the bus- sad times. Miss those guys.
Queeny Here we come!
First stopping at Puzzling World, really not fun after a heavy night, still we humoured the staff. We also stopped at Kawarua gorge where some of the bus did there bungy jumps-Scary stuff- What am i saying i'm to do the Nevis. Once we got to Queeny we had our group photo and we caught up with Tony and the others again. We prepared ourselves for a good night out, and it was, The Best in Queenstown so far-showed us what the town had to offer.
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