Auckland and Wills Birthday

When we were in Koh Tao in Thailand we met Amy and Chris, who Bie and Will knew from uni. We had arranged to meet up with them again in Auckland. 

Skytower

So on the first night we were there we went to their hostel to find them and then we all went to ‘Cassette’ for a good old catch up. For some reason this bar on a Tuesday gives out free pizza and a free drink so we went along to take advantage of this.

They also did a raffle draw where they gave away over $1500 worth of prizes to people who were in the bar. Sadly we didn’t win anything but Amy won a free trip to the Bay of Islands, and Chris won Black Water Rafting.

They also had a beat boxer up on a stage for a while who was really good! He was making some crazy ass noises and left us all a bit mesmerised. Later on we got up and a had a little dance, we didn’t partake in the dance-offs that were going on though.

It was really nice to see some familiar faces again and to hear what they had been doing. They’ve been to virtually all the same places we have but just in a different order. They are only just starting their tour around New Zealand so we told them some of the stuff they should definitely do, and some of the stuff they could skip.

 It was a lovely night.

We had arranged to meet Chris and Amy the next day for lunch but because they had to buy some war clothes they didn’t make it. We went for lunch anyway and ate at a lovely little restaurant on the waterfront called ‘Degree’.

I had the ‘tempura fish burger‘, Will had the ‘fat boy’ whilst Bie had the normal version of that, and Nineham enjoyed the best pizza she has had travelling- the ‘Tuscan Lamb Pizza’ but without the lamb. It was all bloody delicious!

Wills birthday

Every time we’ve wanted to go shopping or do something a bit girly, Will has immediately vanished, but the one time we wanted him to go away for a bit, he decided to stay with us. Typical.

We managed to eventually shake him so we could buy a chocolate cake, some L & P, a dairy milk and a card in preparation for his birthday celebrations the following day. We of course decorated the inside of the car to the max with pictures, the lyrics to Blackbird by the Wurzels and many other silly things.

Enjoying the delicious banana cheesecake

On the morning of Willy’s birthday we lit the candles we’d been carrying since Bie’s birthday back in March, and sang Happy Birthday whilst producing the cake. We gave him the presents and watched him read our magnificent card. I think he was in awe at it, it was that good!

We had originally planned to go on a tour of Auckland for the day but it was fully booked, there was also nothing else any of us wanted to do so we just wondered the streets for a while and then sat in a park people watching. There were some funny characters about.

In the evening we dressed up (as much as you can do travelling) and ventured up into The Sky Tower. We had timed it so that we could watch the sunset over the city before we ate a meal in the revolving restaurant Orbit.

Going up in the lift gave me the heebie-jeebies as part of it had a glass bottom so you could see just how fast and high you were going. When we stepped out onto the observation deck I still felt a little bit wobbly but after a couple of minutes I got used to it and could just enjoy the views.

There was also panels of glass on the floor so you could see all the way down to the ground, it made my stomach churn but I made myself walk over it. The views out over Auckland were awesome. The lights glittering everywhere were really pretty, cities at night time always look better than in day light I think.

We walked around taking photos and enjoying the scenery for about 45 minutes and then we went up to the restaurant.

We were seated by the window which was great as we could look out at the views throughout the entire meal. Our lovely Irish waiter gave us menus but I already knew I was going to order the ‘lemon and garlic chicken’ which came with white polenta and leeks. Will and Nineham ordered the steak and Bie chose the seafood snapper risotto.

 When my meal was placed in front of me I couldn’t wait to eat it. It looked amazing! The chicken was some of the best chicken I’ve ever had and the leeks were delicious too, I just wish there was more of them. The others said their food was incredible too and nobody wanted their meal to end.

Before we went to The Skytower for food, we all said we’d just have a main and a drink and that would be it, but after the mains were over we all decided to order something else. I ordered a cocktail called ‘liquid desert’, Bie turned into an OAP and had a port, whilst Nineham had the banana cheesecake and Will had a kiwi pavlova.

After all of this was consumed we were joking about ordering some more drinks and Will getting the banana cheesecake as it was absolutely delightful, but then we actually did do this.

My second cocktail, the ‘death by chocolate’ was basically pure alcohol which was hard to swallow, but don’t worry, I managed it in the end. Will very kindly let us all eat a bit of his second pudding and my golly gosh was it tasty. After all this excitement Nineham spilt her water all over the table and Bie, and had a moment of confusion when her handbag had vanished. She had accidentally put it down right by the window so it had stayed put whilst we cruised on round to a different location. It was a very funny incident indeed.

After having a bloody good meal and an excellent evening, we sadly had to leave the tower and go back to our hostel. It quickly brought us back down to earth.

It was the perfect way to end New Zealand and our time with Willy, we’re all going to miss the naughty squid on the rest of our travels.

Wellington and My Half Birthday

Wellington is known as the windy city, and my gosh is it windy. 

Me and my bf

It’s like stepping into a wind tunnel, or going to a beach in North Wales in winter time, its so windy!

But before we arrived in Wellington, we had to catch a three hour ferry from Picton. I was starting to feel a little sick so went up onto the top deck with young William for a bit of air. When we returned to the others, the boat suddenly rocked and me and Will fell into the wall. At the same time we saw Bianca coming out of what we thought was the toilet and laughing hysterically to herself.

When we walked over to the table we asked Bie why she was laughing coming out of the toilet, and then they shouted ‘Happy Half Birthday’ to me and I realised that Bie had actually been carrying a slice of cake from the bar which was next to the toilet.

They had also gotten me a variety of ‘presents’ which included a sachet of ketchup from McDonalds, a straw, one chewing gum, and a napkin. They had bought my card for 50c from a very special child in Queenstown who apparently had a great matter of trouble spelling Happy Half Birthday. The card also came in a sick bag, so not only was it an envelope but it could be used in times of need when I’m feeling particularly dodgy. Clever.

Wellington

 The evening we arrived in Wellington we made some spaghetti bolognaise for tea which Sven, our German friend, had said was probably the best meal he had whilst in New Zealand, so thank you very much Sven. Then me and Nineham went to the cinema to watch Titanic in 3D.

We had been wanting to watch it for weeks and weeks but there are hardly any cinemas in NZ, and when we did manage to find one, they weren’t showing it. So when we discovered it was being shown at 8pm we could hardly contain our excitement.

When we got to the cinema we saw there was a McDonalds next door so we got two cokes. The best thing about this cinema was that you could take in food and drink from anywhere within the complex, so if you wanted you could have taken in a plate of Chinese buffet or a massive ice-cream. Getting a coke for only a $1 put me in an even better mood.

We took our seats and settled in for the film. Even though I’ve seen Titanic about ten times, it was like watching it for the first time. Seeing it on a big screen re-mastered and in 3D was epic. The effects looked better, everything was clearer, Leo’s face was even more beautiful and the sinking of the ship had an even bigger impact.

There was also part of the film I’ve never seen before, Nineham said that they cut out certain bits when they show it on TV as it’s just too long. We had a photo with the giant poster outside afterwards and were running around like loons as we were high on life.

When we tried to leave the cinema complex to go home, we realised we were locked in. There wasn’t one member of staff around from either the cinema or any of the shops, so us and two other girls were just stood by the front door trying to pull the doors open. It was like we were re-enacting Titanic.

We thought we were going to have to ring the emergency number on the door but then some chavvy little teenager from outside pointed to a tiny little switch on the side of the door, it let us out.

All in all it was the best half birthday I’ve ever had!

The next day we walked up Mount Victoria and admired the views for a while. Will decided to go up higher on the hill but then we completely lost him and had to meet him at the museum.

We were told to visit the museum by our Kiwi bus driver as it’s the museum which represents NZ or something. We looked around for about an hour or so but then us girls got bored and hungry so left. Will and Sven stayed for a while and then went to some Lord of the Rings studios whilst we pottered around the city centre.

In the evening we made the most delicious fajitas, watched TV and just chilled out. Travelling really takes it out of you sometimes.

Rotorua: Visiting a Maori Village

Rotorua smells like eggs. 

Apparently it smells like eggs because of the sulphuric acid coming out of the ground. We had heard from other people that it was really, really bad and that it made you feel a bit sick, but we didn’t think it was that bad at all. It was only every now and then that you’d get a whiff of it.

Bie, Nineham and a new friend Cahal spent the afternoon sitting in the hot pool at our hostel, whilst Will went off and played on the Luge track. I chose to spend a couple of hours doing the mundane things like washing my clothes, re-packing my bag and writing my blog. Travelling isn’t all about the thrills.

As Rotorua is the cultural capital of New Zealand, we went to a cultural evening at a Maori Village to learn more about the history of NZ. When we first got onto the bus, a Chief had to be nominated, and somehow it ended up being Will. He didn’t want to be Chief at all but it was too late.

He had to go up to the front of the bus and chant loudly at everyone whilst we pretended we were on a canoe and rowing. Nineham filmed it but sadly it’s too dark to really see what was going on.

When we got there the three Chiefs from the buses had to stand alone whilst the Maori offered a ’challenge’. Nobody was allowed to smile, laugh, talk or move during it as it was a precious Maori ritual and it would deeply offend them if you did. It was very intimidating, grown men holding spears with tattoos all over their faces were shouting and lunging towards the Chiefs. If I was Will, I would have ran in the opposite direction!

When we entered the village we split into smaller groups to allow us to look around easier. First of all we watched a traditional Maori game where they had to jump either to the left or right and catch a stick before it fell to the ground. Luckily Bie wasn’t picked to play, she sometimes struggles to tell the difference between her left and right, bless her.

After this we saw how they stripped certain plants and used the parts to make items of clothing. We then moved onto the section where they showed us how they train Maori men to become fast, light on their feet and agile. Will and Cahal and some others from our bus joined in the activity of running up and down over sticks.

The show they put on was my favourite part of the evening. Both the men and women sung and danced, and told us stories of their culture. They ended it by performing the Haka which was absolutely brilliant! It was scary to watch but also kind of mesmerising.

We ate the best buffet after all this excitement. There was potatoes, stuffing, salad, chicken, lamb, coleslaw, vegetables, fish etc etc. The best bit was the thick rich gravy which I covered my whole plate with. The American girl on our table looked at our plates and said, ‘wow, the English like their gravy huh’, and I was like no, I love it. There was the most delious pavlova for desert, as well as sticky toffee pudding, fruit, custard and cream.

After we had all stuffed our faces well and truly, the Chiefs had to stand up in front of everyone and perform the Hakka. Will embraced it to the max and was sticking his tongue out, making noises and doing all the actions. He was by far the best out of the Chiefs, we wanted him to take his top off whilst doing it but he refused. How selfish of him.

The bus ride home was just as fun as the actual evening. Will once again had to stand at the front of the bus and get the crowds going as they say. Each nationality on the bus had to sing a song from their homeland, there was apparently about 14 different nationalities on board. Canada refused to do it, but Wales on the other hand sang their little hearts out. Well it was mainly one guy singing but it was still brilliant.

As our song of choice, Will picked The Wurzels – Blackbird. He told the bus all the lyrics so that everyone could join in singing but nobody did except us. We sang as loudly as we could but left out the rude ending as we thought some of the boring prudish people wouldn’t like it.

It was defiantly one of the best things we’ve done in New Zealand, and I’ve never been so proud of Will either! It was like Will’s alter ego ‘chief’ came out to play and you couldn’t stop him from doing anything. He was singing, chanting, making jokes, running around and generally being a legend. We all said how proud we were of him and all we wanted to do was give him a big hug at the end, much like proud parents, only better!

Hot Water Beach and Waitomo: Black Water Rafting

Hot Water Beach 

Bie looking beautiful

We stayed in quite a strange hostel in Hot Water Beach as there was mini kitchens in-between two rooms, a trampoline outside and you could hire sit on go-kart type things.

The point of staying in this area was to experience the magic of the Hot Water Beach. It simply is a beach where hot water comes up through the sand which is a little weird. When we arrived at the beach it was about 6 o’clock and people were sat in pretty big holes in the warm water.

We had shovels to dig our own holes but the tide seemed to be coming in, rather than going out, so it was completely pointless as every time you dug a little hole, the cold sea water would come and destroy it. If you buried your feet deep enough the sand would actually burn you as it was too hot. I still don’t understand how it’s hot but it was cool anyway.

In the evening we had a bbq at the hostel with everyone else. We ate a lot of sausages and onions, and took some leftover sausages for lunch the next day. Nobody else was interested in this free food which I don’t understand as most of the people on the bus are backpackers and therefore need to save money wherever possible. It just meant there was more sausages for us.

Waitomo: Black Water Rafting

I hadn’t been feeling well all day on the bus and was thinking about not going on the Black Water Rafting trip I had booked for later in the day, but our driver had said it was brilliant and that it would be a real shame if I was too miss it so I decided to go.

When we got there we were given a lot of kit to put on which took an absolute age as it was all soaking wet. I had to get one of the members of staff to help me pull up the wetsuit legs as I just couldn’t move them.

The first thing we did was have to jump backwards holding the rubber ring against my bum into a dirty river. Not only was it terrifying but it was freezing too. At that point I just wanted to go back to the hostel as I was not in the mood for it at all, the last thing I felt like doing was getting freezing and going in some caves, I don’t even like caves!

We then drove to the cave and climbed down into it holding our rubber rings. I don’t know why they call it rafting as it’s nothing to do with rafting, it should be called Black Water Tubing instead, very misleading.

We had a brief safety talk and then went to explore the cave. We had to jump off waterfalls backwards with our rubber rings which meant we got covered in ice cold water as it went over your head. We also had to walk through the water and climb over the limestone rocks, this was a lot trickier than it sounds as the rocks were all different heights and you couldn’t really see where or what you were stepping on as it was dark.

Once again I had bad luck with the equipment I was given. My helmet was far too big for my head so it kept on slipping forward and covering my eyes so I really couldn’t see a thing. I also had the rubber ring which was very deflated which meant the whole time my body was submerged in water and I didn’t really float at all, in fact, I basically just sunk. Having a floatation device which sank made it very hard for me to float along the water at the same speed as everyone else. At one point I was just going round in circles and not moving which Nineham found hilarious.

There was another point where we had to crawl through a small tunnel. I did this perfectly fine, it wasn’t until I had to pull myself out that the problems started to occur. The instructor was telling me to move my left leg forward and higher which didn’t make much sense to me but I did it anyway as I thought she knew best. She repeatedly told me to move my left leg which meant my head and upper body was going more and more down and in an awkward angle. I said I couldn’t move it anymore and then she said, oh no, I meant the other leg, the stupid cow had got her left and right the wrong way around. So by this point I was hanging head first down into a cave crevice with no way of pulling myself out easily. Eventually I flopped out against the rocks cutting my hand.

The best part of the whole trip was when we joined up in a line called ‘the eel’ and floated along looking up into the dark cave at all the glow worms. They looked like stars in the sky, but of course they were actually little lumps of glowing poo. It was very pretty!

It was a good experience but I wouldn’t do it again. I don’t like being in freezing cold water under ground, it’s a shame they can’t just move those pretty little glow warms somewhere warmer and drier. Silly nature.

Taupo: Sky-Diving

On the way to Taupo we were dropped off at the airport so that we could do a skydive. I have never had any urge in all my life to do a skydive, and I thought the people that did them were absolutely mental but somehow I found myself at the skydiving centre. 

First of all we watched some videos and chose which height we wanted to do. I chose just the jump of 12,000ft as I didn’t particularly want videos and photographs of myself looking terrified falling though the air.

Next we got kitted up into jump suits and tight hats which make you look bold, they also had funny goggles attached to them. We met ‘our men’ who were jumping with us, and I said that I wanted an experienced middle aged man who had jumped loads of times to make me feel more comfortable…then along came Roy. He was exactly the guy I had wanted. Excellent.

We went over to the pink plane and climbed in. You have to sit on benches and facing the back of the plane which is really weird when you take off as you can’t really see where you’re going. Higher and higher we flew and I still wasn’t nervous. It didn’t feel like I was about to throw myself out of a plane, I felt like I was just going to have some lunch or go to the cinema or something. I was abnormally blasé about it.

Watching Nineham climb up onto her jumper guy was funny. It looked like she had just decided to sit on his lap, then when he strapped himself to her they were even closer and she had to sit down in his crotch. Very intimate indeed.

Even when they opened the shutter up I still didn’t feel anything, I was having too much fun with my new best friend Roy. However, when Nineham jumped out, that’s when it hit me. I felt the rush of cold air come into the plane after she had left and then I realised what I was about to do.

I knew I couldn’t do it. I told Roy I couldn’t do it a couple of time but he just ignored me and shunted me forward so that I was sat on the ledge with my legs dangling over the side. That is when I was most scared. I was practically hanging out of a plane, that is not normal.

nineham cruising

I shut my eyes and held onto my bodysuit as hard as I could and then we fell. It felt like I was literally falling completely alone and with nothing else there, I couldn’t even feel Roy behind me. It was terrifying but I couldn’t do anything about it so I just kind of went with the flow, if that makes sense.

After a few seconds I opened my eyes to see the world below from a great height. It was truly spectacular! I was trying to look everywhere so I could take in as much as possible but it was hard as there was just so much to see. He tapped me on my shoulders, which meant it was ok to let go of my harness so my arms were free. I remember saying, ‘no, I can’t do that’, but of course I did anyway.

So there I was falling through the sky and getting closer and closer to the ground at a rapid rate, but I honestly didn’t care. The thought of being hurt or dying or that the parachute wont open really didn’t cross my mind as I was having such a great time.

One scary moment was when he opened the parachute up which meant that he undid some of my straps. For a split second I thought he was unclipping me so that I was going to fall away alone. I soon realised that was not the case at all.

From this point onwards we just glided through the air going left then right, I even steered the parachute for a while too. Looking around at the scenery was just incredible, for some reason it seems completely different than when you look out of a plane.

When we landed I thanked Roy for keeping me alive and we had a hug, he said he would have been too scared to have done it without me there for company, what a joker.

After we had calmed down and took the kit off, we watched Ninehams and Bies videos (I didn’t pay for that package). Some of the clips were hilarious, my favourite bit of both videos is defiantly of Ninehams’ face just before she’s pushed out the plane. It looks as if she’d passed out, such a brilliant shot!

To finish off the whole experience we were chauffeur driven in a limousine to our hostel. Random but fun.

In the evening 

Will getting hot in the hot water river

We went down to the bar for a couple of drinks and to meet some friends from our bus who were staying in a different hostel. It was pretty empty but we drank and had a merry old time anyway.

We went to another bar to see if it was any more busy in there…it wasn’t. More drinks were consumed and for some crazy reason I decided to go up to a group of Navy men and talk to them. I still have no idea what possessed me to do that as I never go up to guys, especially groups of guys, but for some reason that night I did.

They were in the New Zealand Navy and dressed up in their uniforms as it was Anzac Day, much like our Remembrance Day. Just like every other woman on the planet, seeing a man in uniform is one of the best things ever. I spoke to them for a while and they were all really nice, one of them let me touch his shoes as they were super shiny and I thought they looked like they had been sprayed on.

Hanging out with a bunch of sailors, after jumping out of a pink plane, was bloody awesome! One of most random but amazing days I’ve had travelling by far.

Thermal River

The following day we had planned to do a spot of white water rafting but all the shuttles and transfer buses were full so unless we paid $200 for a taxi, we couldn’t get there. We thought that was a bit of waste of money so decided no the bother at all which totally sucked.

This meant we had a whole day in Taupo to fill. The only thing we could think of doing was going to see the Hot River Pool.

It was supposed to be a 20 minute walk but it took us way longer. When we got there, there was a couple of people just sat around in the water chilling out. It looked so strange, I couldn’t get my head around how there could be boiling hot water coming out of the ground which is joint onto a freezing cold river. It baffled me greatly.

Anyway we got in and it really was hot. It felt like it was burning my skin. We found an area which was a little cooler than that but it was still super hot. The weirdest part about it was that the water where your arms were could be boiling hot, but your legs could be in a cold pocket of water so your body was constantly going from hot to cold all over.

It was a good experience but I still don’t have a clue why or how it’s there. So if anyone knows, please explain it to me.