Farewell Terra Australis and hello Kiwis!!
28 August 2006
Spent the week with the Nicks drinking copious quantities of alcohol on a daily basis and staying out til 6am most nights...lots of activity during the day too, sightseeing and being tourists, so it wasn't really a week for lots of sleep!! We went to the Ice Bar and drank cocktails from ice glasses in a minus 5 environment :-) Met up with Holly a couple of times again too (my mate who I travelled with in Thailand who lives here) we drank beer and laughed hard about fun times in Asia. Great week and so good to see everyone. Last night out in Sydney and I stayed out longer than I should have, had 2 hours sleep (would've been only 1 hour if I hadn't overslept!) and left at 6.30am to fly out....Farewell Australia, I will remember to put 'The Lot' on a burger, especially the beetroot and pineapple component, and throw the word 'grouse' into my conversations to express that something is good :-) its been a journey.....over and out........
Land of the long white cloud aka Middle Earth...the first settlers were the Polynesian forbears of today’s Mauri people in AD 1000 and became a British colony in 1840. NZ's population is 3.95 million (and 39.2 million sheep) with 1 in 3 people living in Auckland. I flew into the south island which straddles the boundary between the Pacific and the Indian/Australian tectonic plates, forming the southern alps - the beautiful snow capped mountains. Great first impressions of New Zealand and Christchurch, although I think it must have been a full moon as the high street was filled with gothic kids dressed in black and wearing strange outfits and make-up. Having mucho fun hearing the Kiwi accent too - its hilarious, mixing up their vowels and saying 'lift' rather than 'left' and 'pin' instead of 'pen'. But they're a friendly bunch. After 12 hours of catching up on much needed sleep, I strolled Christchurch. Its a very British style town where music and art are quite prevalent, with local art in the market and street performers and musicians playing throughout the town. Its beautiful here and weather is perfect - not as cold as I was expecting with lovely sunny days.
Off to Kaikoura on the 'Kiwi Experience' bus and straight out on a whale watching trip - I’m gonna spend so much money in NZ (despite it being cheaper than its neighbour OZ) but I couldn't turn down the opportunity. We saw 3 Sperm whales (the world's largest toothed whale) coming to the surface after a deep feeding dive and sinking down again with the classic flick of his tail! It was so incredible being so close to the huge beauties. I was also pleased to see an albatross (the world’s largest flight bird) and petrels soaring around too. We also saw HUNDREDS of Dusky dolphins playing and jumping around, it was such an amazing trip.
Next to Nelson and then Westport travelling anti-clockwise around the south island, with incredible views of the surrounding mountains and valley floors with lush farmland and sheep, cattle, horses or deer, or valleys with rock scree and a river flowing through. Very picturesque here so its not surprising to know that one third of the country is designated as national parks. We stopped at a beautiful lake and some of us thought it would be a good idea to jump in - so painfully cold with the snowy mountains all around. They're a really great group and we all bond well spending many evenings drinking and playing drinking games usually encouraged by the Irish and English bingers.
Off to Lake Mahinapua on the west coast still and had a fancy dress party, with a 'plastic fantastic' theme bringing out the weird and the wonderful. Really good fun and I met someone who I knew from OZ, although he was dressed as a gimp so in couldn't talk to him for long!!
Next to Franz Josef where we stayed a couple of nights while we climbed the glacier...it was so incredible. We marched off with crampons and thick boots and climbed up the glacier through crevasses that were ice walls with a small gap in between. We had such an amazing day although doing the 8 hour hike was a challenge but the views and the blue ice was worth it all. My mate fell through soft snow that was covering a hole which was really amusing (although could have been quite serious if it was really deep) but laughed really hard when the first thing he said when he was stuck was 'quick, take a picture'!!? Great day and sore legs after! Off for the longest of our bus journeys to Wanaka where we stopped at nice locations en route and drank beer to recover that night. Then finally into Queenstown which we have all been looking forward to...booked a few days skiing which should be great and have found some strange stupidity to sign up for the Nevis Bungy jump tomorrow - this 132m jump and 8.5 second freefall, from a suspended gondola, is the second highest bungy jump in the world (the highest is now in South Africa)....why oh why!!!???
Anyway, just thought I'd send this email in case the bungy (or the fear associated with it) kills me...P.S. The Haka is below for some extra info for you Rugby boffs...
Haka is Mauri for any form of dance but its come to be associated with the war chant that recedes battle. The most famous haka come from Te Raunparaha (1768-1849), a chief of the Ngati Toa tribe. Made famous by the All Blacks, its a powerful national symbol of pride and identity...
Ka mate, ka mate (it is death, it is death)
Ka ora, ka ora (it is life, it is life)
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru (behold the hairy man)
Nana nei I tiki mai I whakawhiti te ra (who caused the sun to shine)
Upane, aupane (abreast, keep abreast)
Upane, ka aupane (the rank, hold fast)
Whiti te ra (into the sunshine)
Queenstown to Auckland
12 September 2006
First night in Queenstown and all 34 of us had a massive night out as some people are going in different directions now...wicked night and serious amounts of drinking to fuel the karaoke. So much fun but getting in at 9am for a couple of hours sleep and then preparing for my bungy was not a great idea! We were taken up the mountain, briefed and swung over to the gondola in a mesh swing...I was so scared - I'm scared of heights at the best of times and so terrified I could have cried. The valley bottom was 217m away and my jump was 134m...I inched towards the edge of the platform holding on to the guy with a death grip and just knew it was a point of no return so I had to jump before he even finished counting me down. The freefall of 8.4 seconds was incredible with the ground rushing towards me, then a bounce back up and another drop which was equally as terrifying. I had to release my legs to put me into a sitting position and as the winch clunked down on my line I screamed at the sound of what I thought was breakage!! Then I was winched back up to the gondola and shaking so much...it was an amazing experience but why did I pick such a high jump that was so petrifying!!?? Our driver Bodhi threw himself off the roof in spectacular fashion. Got some great pics and a DVD which shows the sheer fear on my face and me asking the guys a million times whether it is safe or not!!
Went skiing for 3 days and was pleased that my skills came back quickly after a good 5 years since I was last on the slopes. Cardrona has the best park that I’ve seen with jumps, slides and half pipes which was amazing fun and was the only way I could find to guarantee that I'd fall over (you have to fall over otherwise you're not trying hard enough). The sun was shining everyday which amplified the beautiful views and scenery - real 'Lord of the Rings' territory.
Another massive night out getting in at 8am and relished a day off the next day, which was the first day off since I arrived in NZ - mucho needed as we've been drinking every night with early morning get ups. I got up at the first sparrow fart the following day to go down to Milford Sound. The drive was amazing in itself with incredible scenery and we drove along one of the top 10 most dangerous roads with avalanches falling around us! Milford Sound was very beautiful and although it was a little misty, it just added to the magic of the area...steep cliff edges and a U-shaped glacial valley filled with water. We went on a boat cruise and all the wildlife lined up for viewing...we saw penguins and fur seals and then 'if you look to the front of the boat there's a large pod of bottlenose dolphins'...great show!! Good day and another heavy night out doing the old uni style activities...races along the road and rides in a shopping trolley...good ol red bull keeps the eyes open! After the night's events it was off to Ferg Burger the best burger in the world with burgers done to perfection, its the talk of the town.
Off to Christchurch again to complete my south island loop. Our group has mostly dispersed now, apart from a few familiars...I’ll miss people like Drago the Puerto Rican model/actor who can't stop swearing and shouting 'that's feking awesome'...or Simon who drinks a lot and always does funny things on a night out...good bunch of people. Spent one night in Christchurch pretty much sleeping to recover from previous binge drinking weeks then off to Kaikoura again where everyone went whale watching which I did last time, so I sat on the beach all afternoon watching a family of Southern Right Whales feeding 10m off shore and playing around - amazing.
The following day we caught the ferry over to the north island. The north island is quite different to the south, with more hills, rougher farmland and windy roads, also the north island is volcanic. Spring is here with bouncing lambs and new flowers colouring the landscape. We stayed a night in the capital Wellington where we bumped a guy from our group so had a big random night out. Big signs that we need a night off when we're drinking shots straight away just to keep our eyes open...Jager bombs the whole way (red bull with a shot glass filled with Jagermeister dropped into it and a shot of vodka for good measures!).
Off to Taupo where a few of us did another skydive. The conditions were so perfect with clear skies and amazing scenery looking over Lake Taupo. The crater was formed over 27,000 years ago, filling crystal clear water into a huge depression the size of Singapore through a series of, at least, five volcanic eruptions, the largest being only 1800 years ago - an awesome event considered the largest by far the world has ever witnessed. The jump was really amazing although not as scary as the first one I did in OZ and who would be scared jumping out of a plane after doing the Nevis bungy!!!?? Much needed night off (first night off since being in NZ) followed by another random night out.
Terribly hung over and on a bus to Rotorua (smelly town with all the geysers and mud pools bubbling with sulphur) where we went white water rafting down a grade 5 river which was amazing. So much fun going over a 7 metre waterfall (think about how high that is, its pretty big!) where 2 in 5 rafts capsize but we made it alive...so much fun. In between the white knuckle adventure and paddling for your life, the gorge was so amazing with NZ's silver fern, huge tree ferns and vines hanging down from the rock cliff edges.
Next we went to Waitomo and went black water rafting which involved being dressed in a wetsuit, hard hat and white wellies and going through a cave with a rubber ring in hand or on bum. Quite scary in parts as I’m not too fond of small spaces - crawling through a small tunnel filled with gushing water but so much fun jumping backwards off a waterfall in the darkness with the rubber ring wedged on my bum. Amazing sight of millions of glow worms (Arachnocampa luminosa) like stars in the sky while we drifted down the cave with our lights off in pitch darkness....incredible experience.
Next stop Auckland...but I’ll stop there as these emails are getting longer and longer!
Love to you all, Fi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
