Hi

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know that I am getting on fine. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Will up-date properly when I get a chance and some cheap internet!! I have had a great time on the south coast and in Queenstown since I last left a message. I then went to Mount Cook and Christchurch. In Christchurch I met up with Matt, a friend of Amy's (a girl a travelled up the east coast of Oz with), and he took me and some friends out for a great night out and a tour around the hills outside the city. Thanks Matt. I am now up in the North Island. More about my adventures when I get a chance to spend hours on here and find cheap internet!!

Love to you all.
xxxx

Congratulations Shona and Paul. I hope everything goes well for you both with Hector! xx

AJ Hackett Bungy Kawarau Bridge

On arrival to the Kawarau Gorge we stopped off at the original Bungy Jump site. Here we were given a quick presentation on the Secrets of Bungy Jumping. to be honest I do not remember too much as I had put my name down to do a bungy jump and was getting very nervous. After the presentation I went outside to see some people jump. Looking over from the side of the viewing platform I did not think it looked that bad so I went and checked in and got my ticket.

After wandering around for a while I eventually went up onto the bridge to get kitted out. I had a waist harness on and then had a towel wrapped round my legs which was attached with a piece of rope which was then attached to the bungy cord - what on earth was I doing there!! It was at this point I realised that I would not be able to just run and jump off the bridge as my legs were tied together! So I slowly shuffled across to the front of the ledge and then panicked! A quick smile for the cameras and everyone watching and then it was the count down. 5.......4......3......2......1.............. "I can't do this, what am I doing here!". After being told that the longer I stood there the worse I would feel. I was then told to look up at the bridge in front and on 1 just to fall over the edge. 5.....4.....3.....2......1

Just about at the point in the photo above I decided I could not do this and tried to stop myself but.........it was too late.I have never screamed so loud and been so scared. I really don't remember seeing much, I think I must have closed my eyes! Eventually I got lowered onto the boat waiting to collect me at the bottom. I have never been so glad to see a boat! I then made the long walk back up to t he viewing platform to be met by everyone. The hugs they gave me meant so much - thanks guys you were a great support. I continued shaking for about an hour after, however I was not feeling 100% until about 24hours after!

No need to worry - this is one activity I will NEVER be doing again. The feeling of throwing yourself from 43m is awful. I really do not see how people can enjoy this and do it from higher heights! I have complete respect for those of you who do although you are all mad lol.

To see more photos go to http://www.rapidimage.net/media/mediaBrowse.php

Still can't believe I did it!! Thanks Murray for my birthday present, really wish I enjoyed it more but so glad I have done it.

xxxxxx

Franz Josef to Wanaka

Hi everyone,

I hope this works as for some reason the website has come up in Chinese writing but I have managed to find out what link to press so fingers crossed this will work!!

Well on Sunday 6th May I left the lovely town of Franz Josef to head to Wanaka. On the way we stopped at Lake Matheson which is a big famous mirror lake. Unfortunately for us the weather was not great and so we did not see any good reflections but the postcards and pictures you see in shops make it look amazing - think I will buy a postcard to show me this stop lol.

The weather started to clear up in the afternoon and we had amazing views of Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka. In Wanaka we stayed in a lovely hotel which a lovely big log fire in the reception. Shona and I went for a short walk around Lake Wanaka which was lovely and we got back just in time before the rain came on. Some of the guys were going to sky dive but unfortunately the rain started just when they were to get picked up.

In the evening I went to the pub with Shona, Dave, James, Stan and the 2 Marks. It was such good fun and we had a number of competitions between the two Kiwi buses that were running that night.

The next morning the weather was a gorgeous clear day and I was quite gutted to be leaving Wanaka and not staying to enjoy it but I really wanted to party in Queenstown with the group I was out in Wanaka with.

On our way to Queenstown we stopped at Puzzling World. It was so much fun, they had a 3-D maze which we all attempted and had some illusion rooms which were great fun. Although one of them made you feel very ill as the floor was on a slope and had lots of funny things in it!

Adventurous day at Franz Josef

Yesterday, Saturday, has to have been my most action packed day of my travels yet I think! It started off with Emma, Antonia, Oliver and me getting up at 5.45am to be ready for 6.15am to get picked up to go and do our skydive. Yes, I know I have already done one but I couldn't turn down the opportunity of doing another and this time over a glacier! The skydive was fantastic, although a lot colder than the one in Byron Bay. All I wanted to do was scream the whole way down but it was too cold on my teeth lol. On the flight up we flew beside Mount Cook (NZ's highest mountain) and Mount Tasman. We also flew over Fox Glacier. The skydive was from 12,000ft and was fantastic.After we had all jumped out the plane we were quickly driven back to Franz Josef and arrived just in time for our check-in for the full day Franz Josef walk. Check-in was at 9.15am and we got back about 6pm! The walk was fantastic although I did find some parts rather scary. When we got onto the glacier, the first hour or so was walking what is called the black ice, this is the ice at the front of the glacier which has lots of rocks on it. Once we got up onto the blue ice we started to go through some more challenging parts. It wasn't until we were nearly down at the bottom that I managed to trust the shoe grips they had given us! Thankfully it stayed dry for us all day. I seriously have been so lucky with the weather, it is raining today and I really wouldn't like to be the groups up there at the moment. Thankfully I was planning a quiet day for today and so don't mind it raining! Anyway, back to the glacier walk, there isn't much more I can say other than you should do the full day walk if you are here. The half day walk doesn't leave the black ice and so you really don't see much. The three quarter day walk would be good but after making all the effort to get up onto the blue ice you don't really have time to explore it and see some of it's amazing features and with the helihike, I don't think you really get the perspective of the size of the glacier. We only walked a very small part of the huge glacier and when you see on a map how far we got up it, you really do get a feel for the size of it. The helihike is good though as you get a birds eye view of the glacier and you get to explore the blue ice without having to do the climb up and so would be good in that sense, if you have the money!! Anyway, I loved my day and was well tired by night time but it was really worth it.

Would put up more photos but been online fro 4 hours now and really should go and do something else productive!!

Love to you all

xxxxx

Lake Mahinapua to Franz Josef

After leaving Lake Mahinapua, we stopped off at Pukekura where we visited a Bushman Centre. We watched a 20min video on shooting and capturing deer using a helicopter to show what people used to do in the area. They also had a pig, possum and deer which we could go and look at. After leaving the centre, we drove through amazing scenery to Franz Josef Glacier. On arrival to Franz Josef we got a quick tour of the village and then went to the Franz Josef Glacier Guides office, where we booked our glacier hikes for the following day. We then went to our hostel, Rain forest Retreat, where we checked into our rooms. Emma, Antonia, Oliver and I then went on two walks through some of the forest. They were lovely walks and it was clear enough that we saw Franz Josef Glacier as well. The water in the river coming from the glacier was so clear and had a turquoise tinge to it. The village of Franz Josef is a lovely little village in the valley with the glacier 4kms away and it is surrounded by hills covered in forests. We had a quiet evening as we had a big day planned for the following day, Saturday. More details in my next post!!

Nelson to Lake Mahinapua

I left Nelson on the morning of Tuesday 1st May. Our first stop was for a walk in Nelson Lakes National Park. Here we went for a short walk down to Lake Rotoiti. The lake was lovely and had great reflections of the mountains round the lake. Here we had a picnic lunch before heading on.

We then headed to Murchison where we picked up those who had come through from Christchurch. We then headed through the Buller Gorge which is supposed to be stunning but unfortunately the rain and cloud had reappeared. Just before reaching Westport, we stopped at Buller Adventure Tours where we had the chance to go jet boating, horse riding or quad biking. I decided to go horse riding which was great fun. First of all we headed through the bush and then we had some trots and canters along the sand tracks beside the Buller river before walking through the river, back to the yard. I was riding a sweet horse called Leroy. After the riding we headed to our hostel, Basil's Hostel in Westport where we spent the night. We just had a quiet night here as there was not a great deal of things to do and I was shattered.

On Wednesday, we left Basil's and started our journey to Lake Mahinapua. Our first stop on this journey was Cape Foulwind where we went on a half hour walk along the coastline to one of New Zealand's largest seal colonies. This was also New Zealand's closest point to Australia. The walk was gorgeous and thankfully the sun came out for us.

We then headed further along the coast to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and blowholes. Here we went for another walk to see the rocks which look like stacks of pancakes. Unfortunately the blowholes were not blowing though but the walk was lovely. After the walk we went to the cafe and I tried their famous pancakes - they were great.

We then headed through the rain to Greymouth where we picked up others who had taken the train from Christchurch. Also we were dropped off at Warehouse and the supermarket to buy our food for the next few days and to buy a fancy dress outfit for the party later on that night. We were told we had an hour here but 2.5hours after we were supposed to be picked up, the bus driver appeared back. He had gone to get parts of the bus checked and fixed at the garage and had we had not been given details on what the story was, instead we were left standing outside the supermarket all this time. At this point I can't say I was too impressed with Kiwi Experience! Once eventually getting picked up, we went onto Lake Mahinapua Hotel. This was our stop for the night.

After having a meal cooked for us by our guide, it was time to get ready for the Poo Party. Our theme for the party was to dress up with anything beginning with a 'p'. Emma, Antonia and I went as the Pink Ladies from Grease. It was a good night and there were some really interesting outfits.

On Thursday morning Frank, Emma, Antonia, Oliver and myself all got up at 8am and headed down to see Lake Mahinapua. It was a perfectly clear day, not a cloud in the sky and the lake was stunning. There were mountains with snow on the top in the back ground. Once back from the lake it was time to jump on the bus to our next destination.

Abel Tasman

On Sunday 29th April I woke up to gorgeous weather, just what you want when you are away to do a half day sea kayak and a half day walk through the Abel Tasman National Park. Lauren and I got picked up from our hostel by Southern Exposure Abel Tasman and were taken to their office near Marahau. Here we met our guide, Dan, and were given all our kayaking equipment. We were then taken down to the boat ramp where we got a water taxi.

Our first stop was Split Apple Rock which is a piece of granite rock which has split and is shaped like an apple. The rock is apparently used for lots of tourism adverts for New Zealand. We then headed north past Adele Island, Pinnacle Island, Tonga Island and got dropped off just north of Onetahuti Beach. Here we got a quick talk on Kayaking before getting into our kayaks and heading out to sea.

During our kayaking we went to see a number of seals. Sometimes these seals will jump up on the kayaks but they weren't that playful with us. The seals were quite small in comparison to the NZ fur seals I saw on Kangaroo Island in Australia.

We then kayaked south passing some amazing scenery and stopped for lunch on a beach between Bark Bay and South Head. The scenery here was awesome. There were lovely golden beaches with lots of hills and forests behind them. After lunch Lauren and I had 2 hours to walk south to Torrent Bay to catch the water taxi back again. The walk was along the top of the cliffs through the forest. It was a lovely walk. The whole day was fantastic and the weather was really kind to us.

Kaikoura to Nelson

On Friday 27th April I got collected from my hotel by the Kiwi Experience bus. Our first stop for the day was Ohau Point Seal Colony where we saw quite a few seals. We did not stop long here however as it was raining. We then continued through to Picton where we dropped of those who were flying or getting the ferry to the north island.

After leaving Picton we stopped off at The Village for some wine tasting. The wine was okay but still not as good as the ones Wayde and I tasted in Australia - think it is going to be difficult to beat them! Thankfully the mist cleared a bit as we headed towards Nelson and we got some good views of the hills.

In Nelson we were staying at Fern Lodge, only the Kiwi bus stays here. The hostel seemed really lovely when we first arrived but later on that night there were a lot of unhappy guests! Our fire alarms went off at midnight for about 10mins even though there was no fire. Those of us in my room had left our room and closed the door before realising nobody had their keys with them. We were not able to get hold of any of the managers or our guide and so ended up sleeping in the lounge. An hour later and the fire alarm went off again. This time we called the fire brigade as we were unable to get hold of anyone. They came round and broke into our room for us but were unable to do anything about the alarm. A couple of hours later the alarms went off again and continued this for quite some time before we all unplugged the alarms. So we never got much sleep that night.

On Saturday morning I headed to the markets with Lauren. Unfortunately due to the bad weather not many of the stalls were there and so it wasn't that great. On the way back to the hostel I bumped into Andrea and James, a couple who I shared a room with in Melbourne. Such a small world! In the afternoon Stan and I went to the Jens Hansen Jewellers. Jens Hansen was the jeweller who designed the Lord of The Rings ring and so we went to see the originals!

After seeing the rings we then headed up to the central point of NZ. This is the point which is equal distance from the northern and southern most points of NZ. Thankfully again the weather had cleared for us and we got quite good views of Nelson.

On Sunday Lauren and I went up to Abel Tasman National Park but I will put up another post for it as I have lots of photos for that day.

On Monday I went for a 1.5hour walk in the Grampians Reserve, just behind Nelson. It was a lovely walk up and down some hills and I got yet more photos of Nelson! In the afternoon I didn't do much other than plan some of my travels and up-date my blog as the weather was quite rubbish.

Then on Tuesday it was back on the Kiwi bus again.