Underneath Down Under!

Well – welcome back. It’s been a while but it’s been such a whirlwind 3 weeks that this is really the first chance I have had (and the inclination!)

So New Zealand…what an absolutely, beyond description BEAUTIFUL country. The scenery is insane & is just stunning view after stunning view. Mountains, hills, lakes, coast it just never stops & if it weren’t for the weather, which has been disappointing to say the least, I would be applying for my visa as soon as I returned. We could totally live here – beaches in the summer (when it finally arrives!) and skiing/boarding in the winter. Would be brilliant.

So we arrived in Christchurch (South Island) 3 weeks ago with a planned 1.5 weeks ahead of us in the South. We’d had a late night as we didn’t get out of customs till about 00.30am due to us being the last in the queue to get our tent & shoes, x-rayed and examined incase we were going to spread some god awful fungal disease throughout NZ. It really was like the program ‘Customs’ or ‘Airport’ where they film all the passengers they search and question. Some people were getting quite pissy but thankfully we were in and out fairly quickly apart from the wait.

Our first day we moved hostels as we were in desperate need for some internet time and had read about a hotel that was fairly ‘cheap’ with free wifi so we headed there and got an absolute bargain in the end for a lush hotel with a gym & sauna! We ended up staying 3 days! In those 3 days we were figuring out the best way to travel the country. Did we get another car hire, go for a camper van or what? Then we came across the Magic Bus which is a touring company that has all different coach routes all round both the North & South Island. You buy a ticket and then basically get on and off as you please. We were just in time to get the half price ticket for one route so we booked it for both islands & left the next day!

Moving on from Christchurch (which a nice enough town, clean and compact but just another city really) we headed north to Kairkoura, a small coastal town famous apparently for it’s whale watching and dolphin swimming trips. As we were tight for time we pretty much had planned to stay one night or two if we were really interested at each stop and we were definitely tight for cash! My God – NZ is expensive!! I mean even though the EUR is about $2, it’s ridiculously expensive. For example – a pack of bacon costs about EUR 7! EUR 7 for bacon – I guess their pigs must be holy or something for that money! And the fruit and veg is extortionate too. We just can’t believe it – so needless to say we’ve gone over budget here! So obviously no – whales or dolphins for us. We stopped off at a seal colony before getting to the hostel which was cool – you could get really close to them. But at this point I was feeling pretty lousy as this god damn hay fever/cold thing is still bugging me. It’s been an absolute nightmare really and totally put a damper on things for me. It’s exhausting! I must sneeze on average about 20 times a day minimum I think. It SUCKS! So when we got to the hostel I was totally ready to curl up and sleep (the Magic Bus also means really early mornings) but there was a really nice walk to do over the mountain hill¬¬¬¬¬ so I dragged my ass off the bed. It was quite a walk back to the seal colony where the walk started so we tried catching a hitch! I really didn’t think anyone would stop but low & behold after about 15 mins a woman stopped and told us to get in. She said ‘I know where you are going – I saw you at the seal colony this morning on the bus!’ She was really lovely and drove us up to the walk and said she was going to start from the other side & meet us in the middle to take us off track to a really nice spot. Which she did – the views were great over the coast & it was really quiet & peaceful. On the way back we stopped off at her house which is actually an old bus. Her and her husband have been living in the bus since 2001 and they travel around NZ, living and working all over. It was soooo cool – it gave me & T something to think about ;0)

The next day we got back on the bus bright & early and headed to Nelson, which is actually the sunshine city as it gets the most sun in the whole country. We stayed in a packed out hostel with a swimming pool and hot tub which was really nice & it was here that we made our first friends! We went to the supermarket & on the way met 2 Irish sisters (Katie & Hannah) and Simon who was travelling with them. They were on the bus too, so we all got talking and got on like a house on fire. It was so nice to have some girls & be able to chat and blabber on. Tymon was happy to have some male company too I think. Then later that night we met Beth and Sarah who were travelling independently but had been together for a few days. And that was it. From the first minute all of us were best pals and it was such a great group dynamic. (When you’re travelling all romances and friendships are intense from the get go. You’re in love immediately and best friends also as you’re all sharing the same experiences and spend so much time together it actually feels like you’ve been together or known each other for months – when really it’s only a few days!) The next day we chilled chilled around town and by the pool and then on the third day we took a trip to Abel Tasman National Park to do a 21km coastal trail! We set off on the walk just before 11.00am and arrived at the pick up point at 16.45pm. it was incredible – the views are just breathtaking, the lagoons and lakes are crystal clear blue with dense forest and beaches, oh it’s just lovely and well worth the aches and pains in my legs at the end. It was hard going and a LONG way but we were all chatting amongst ourselves and getting to know each other by telling our stories so it flew by really. We were all really proud of ourselves, and of course I was well excited as I found another die hard fan of the Twilight saga in Hannah so we had some girly squeals whilst discussing how stunningly SEXY Rob Pattinson is – and his character even more so! :0) On the bus home we all fell silent in our tiredness and only stirred when we arrived in the hostel and legged it to the Thai lady’s food van before she closed up! $10 for a meal which was pretty good was something we were all looking forward to! We were supposed to leave the following day but the group convinced us to stay another day so we could travel down the coast together for a while so we changed our plans and stayed. We went to the Japanese Botanical Gardens and walked around town before having a boozy night in the hostel.

The next day we left Nelson and headed to the next stop Greymouth. We were all a bit sore still from the walk but not as bad as I thought (especially as Tymon and I had been camping for the 3 days in Nelson.) Now in Greymouth there’s really nothing going on apart from Monthieth’s Brewery, who of course do a tour & tasting session with a meal deal, so no need to ask if we all went on that that evening! It was HILARIOUS! I mean the tour was boring as, the guy babbling on about yeast extractions and harvesting etc etc, of course none of us cared – we just wanted to get to the tasting room! And when we did – brilliant. We had 7 beers to taste and as the group was so large about 25 people I guess, the guy really rattled through the beers. We were the last people to get the first beer so by the time we had done the photo thing and drank it some people had already finished the 2nd beer! And that kind of set the pace. I have never got drunk so fast in my life and on so little! But he was going so fast we literally had to down each beer as soon as we got them and we were always a beer behind. We then got the chance to pull our own pints and there was an open bar for about 20 mins or so, so you can imagine what that turned out like! There was lots of giggling and laughter and basically a really good night out! We sobered up though after the meal and headed back to the hostel to crash.

Next – Frans Joseph which is where one of the glaciers is (The Frans Joseph Glacier funny enough!) and we were all booked in to do the full day glacier hike the following day. The hike was AMAZING! So much fun and soooo cool. Again it was the seven of us with a few others in the group and we had agreed that Tymon would make dinner that night – Mexican, which we were all really looking forward to so hence our team name – Team Nacho! You get kitted out in waterproofs and boots and cramp ons for when you get on the ice so you’re well provided for and off you go. Getting onto the glacier is the hardest part as it’s really steep but then once you’re on it even though you keep climbing up it’s not as hard as you imagine and cramp ons are a genius invention!! I felt like spider man! You could go up and down really steep slopes and they just gripped right in the ice and snow for dear life so you could do anything! Brilliant! We had lunch on the glacier (after my complete panic involving the whole group search for our little camera which we shoot all the vids on – as somehow, & we still don’t know to this day it managed to get lost on my body and then fall out as I was about to burst out into tears that I’d lost it!) and then did the last bit to the highest point that is reachable by climbers. Well tourist climbers anyway! The views were awesome and the blues coming off the glacier were fantastic! We were up in the clouds with the drizzling rain but it was sooooo cool. On the way down we even discovered a new hole which the guides decided we could ‘climb’ down! We were all well up for it but then as the people went down and we heard all sorts of screaming and laughing & swearing, I got a bit nervous! Tymon filmed me going down which is such a funny video! So have a look, but it was brilliant. Looking back!! At the time - pretty scary but cool at the same time. It was just so small as you turned the corner it took you a while to figure out that you just had to dangle down & hold all your body weight on the rope and fall! Thank god for the gloves – although Hannah poor thing didn’t wear any and her hands bled! Ouch!! After that we made our way all the way back down and back to the hostel where Team Nacho very much enjoyed the Nachos by Tymon! Another fab day to remember! Instead of leaving the following day we decided to relax after the climb. Tymon actually even got a job taking photos of the hostel and a local bar for which we got a free meal and free 3 days accommodation which was cool!! Every little helps as Tesco says! In the afternoon we went to the hot springs to soak before heading back and getting ready for a night out – in the only bar in the village! Haha. We also got given a bar tab from the owner for Tymon taking photos so needless to say we got rather drunk! And after much Karaoke & red wine (don’t ask me why I was drinking red wine all night!) I went home and spewed while Tymon held my hair back. I haven’t touched red wine since!! I think it’ll take a while!

Next stop Wannake for 1 night which is just a really pretty lake village where we nursed our extremely bad hangovers with sausage and chips. (I honestly have not felt that bad for so long).

Next – Queenstown, which is apparently the party town of the South Island and a bit like Magalluf maybe, without the sun and tackiness. It’s famous for the Ferg Burger (MASSIVE, delicious burgers) and bars. Here again we were only supposed to be staying 1 night as we were running out of days for the North Island. We’d already changed our plans 2 times to be with the group, but we really wanted to prolong the fun and do Luging so we stayed an extra night! The next day we went Luging which is basically like go-karting but it’s all downhill & the acceleration is from the momentum from going downhill & you only have breaks! It’s brilliant! We were all racing each other and bumping into each other so another great day. Until Tymon beat me on the last round cos I was concentrating on the video!! Gutted! That night we got dressed up – well as dressed up as my travelling wardrobe allows - & headed out into town for what was our last night all together – sniff sniff! I was still feeling a bit delicate from the red wine incident so took it easy but had a really great night out with the gang dancing etc. Then it was time for us to leave as we had to get the bus early in the morning. Simon had got rather leathered and had wandered off home on his own so Tymon being the caring man he is rushed on after him to make sure he was ok (waiting for me as well) so I didn’t even really have a chance to say goodbye properly & I actually cried when we got back. I was sooo sad to leave everyone, and even now the rest of the trip wasn’t the same without them all.

So with a sad heart we got the bus the next morning bright and early and headed off to Lake Tekapo. This is a beautiful mountain and lake town and it’s famous because the lake is the most stunning turquoise blue due to some sediment from the mountains. It’s amazing. We decided to camp here overlooking the lake which was fine and was another flying stop but worth it. Even though I woke up in the night worrying the tent was going to blow away!!

And that was it. The South Island done and we got the train from Christchurch to Picton and then caught the ferry across to Wellington. As we’d already used up most of our 3 week quota on the South Island we only had 1 week for the North so it’s really been a race against time. And in all honesty I’ve not really been that impressed. The weather – still bad & it’s really not had much to offer us. Although if we had more time you can get further out to the coast which I think is much better. We went from Wellington to Mt Manganui which is a dormant volcano & beachside holiday resort place. Apparently the residents rise from 15,000 in winter to 120,000 in summer, which is crazy! It’s very nice but I wouldn’t say that nice. We climbed the volcano & camped out again on the beach & of course got completely drenched again during the night so had to pack up a wet tent!! Honestly bring on Indonesia!! The weather has sucked pretty much all of our trip so far so we can’t wait for some sun & to hit the beach! Then onto Auckland our final stop. My friend Julia (who I went travelling to South America with) actually lives on Waiheke Island just off of Auckland so we went and spent 1 night on the Island with her which was lovely. I haven’t seen her for years so that was really great to see her and the island is lush. Gutted we didn’t have more time (story of our trip so far!) She took us to some of the wineries with great wine and views and then back to her house for a BBQ. It was a really lovely evening.
And that was it – the end of NZ! It’s been a complete rush tour through but it is so stunning!! The scenery is just not comparable to anywhere else I’ve ever seen. It’s just stunning view after stunning view. I definitely recommend coming here – but allow yourself TME!! Oh and MONEY!

Things I’ve noticed about NZ:

• The Kiwi is a very odd bird
• The weather sucks in November considering it’s Spring
• The South is friendlier than the North
• All that is good is being exported
• It’s EXPENSIVE
• It’s very cool that beaches, mountains and forest all exist so close together
• The Maori culture isn’t as prominent as I thought
• Rugby is holy
• They make good cider
• Mud on your shoes could stop you getting in the country!