On the road again

Day 11 NZ: Whales, Walls and Water Slides

excellentadventure — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 20:47:00 GMT

Whale watching day! Perfect conditions for our hunt and in the end we saw a Sperm whale, Fur seals and Humpbacks. Very impressive, even what looked like a home made sonar devise to pickup the whale calls...But we found em and there was breaching involved! We laughed about phone lady tripping and falling into some guy's ass. Picked up Sean 2 from his backpackers, had brekky and an op shop visit (Barbie cd!) then off we went. Got to Christchurch, said goodbye to our travelling buddy and managed to get a street art wander in just as the sun was setting, bonus. Staying at another holiday park - with an indoor water slide!!!! And German dudes doing crazy summersaults.

Day 10 NZ: Spring Driving

excellentadventure — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 20:36:00 GMT

The loooong ass drive begins. SH1 closed due to earthquake repair so it's changed the route from 2 hours - 7 hours. But it's ok, our unofficial hitch hiker Sean 2 is going us for the ride to Christchurch. On our way we stopped off at picturesque Lake Rotoria to see the popular pier complete with stunning lake/mountain views and copious amounts of Asians. Sean got himself sneeky butt grope from old lady tuckshop at a truck stop...We obviously found it hilarious but he was mortified. Stopped in at Hammer Springs to visit a thermal springs fun park (wet and wild for spas?)...No surprises we enjoyed the Lazy River Whirlpool, kickin' it with the kuds. Had a Blasty blast with car pool karaoke to kill some time and drove along a dodgy, windy road to Kaikoura.

Day 9 NZ: Ferry Good

excellentadventure — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 20:23:00 GMT

Up at 4:45, to get on the Interislander across to Picton on the South island. Good memories of Norway and the fjords. Quick stop in town then wine country, stopping at Moa brewery to cider, then Sean met us at Cloudy Bay. Sooooo nice just sitting in the sun, looking out onto the vineyards surrounded by mountains - yum. Found another sweet vineyard called Forest and sipped on a mix tray. Staying at Sequoia Lodge, met some cool ppl including Sean 2 and Tom. Uno fun time.

Day 8 NZ: Dwellington

excellentadventure — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 20:16:00 GMT

Big sleep in. More rain but headed to Mt Victoria to have a soggy squizz at the view over Wellington. Then discovery for the rest of the day... Around the airport, cool houses all along the coast. Enjoyed a mighty fine cook up and gave us the chance to meet some peeps over a Banana-grams/Uno session (Sean, French girl, Caroline, sunshine and cool Swedish guy).

Day 7 NZ: Walking a cat

excellentadventure — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 22:31:00 GMT

Huka Falls - Amazeballs! The amount of water pumping through the skinny gorge could fill an olympic-sized swimming pool in just 11 seconds. Insane. I'll need to research geothermal electricity because it sounds really interesting...the river generates 15% of New Zealand's power. Took a boat trip onboard the Ernest Kemp to see the Maori rock carvings at Mine Bay (made just 40 years ago). On the way to Wellington I got in trouble with the law and he gave me a souvenir NZ speedy ticket. Staying at the Dwellington, great little hostel. Went to the night markets, Shell gave pieces of her pizza to some homeless guys and we saw a lady walking her cat...random.

Day 6 NZ: Thermo panic

excellentadventure — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 22:19:00 GMT

Slow start to the day. Walked to the Maori Cultural Centre to check the geothermal activity and a traditional Maori performance. The HaKa is more impressive when you have those tongues and bulging eyes right in front of you. Explored the village but the geysers didn't want to play again for a photo. Spent the rest of the afternoon chill-axing with a book in Starbucks. OMG and then I performed the stupidest drop and amazing save ever. The door key somehow dropped into this super hard to reach crack under the door, which meant I spent the next 40mins with a knife, phone torch and my ass in the air fishing it out. The Macgyver move!

Day 5 NZ: Hobbit Worms

excellentadventure — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 19:59:00 GMT

We were sad to leave our backpackers on the beach...but the ocean was a mess, the weather was deteriorating and the cyclone was due to hit our location at 2pm that day. Drove South for a few hours with radio warnings on repeat and hoped for the best. Stopped at a truck stop in Matamata and met Peter, a 60 year old pilot and massive flirt. He had us laughing at his stories and family photos. Then I visited Middle Earth while Shell opted for a drive into town...because apparently some people don't care for one of the best trilogies of all time (and in fact 30% of visitors have no idea about Hobbiton or the Lord of the Rings franchise). I absolutely loved it but missed you dearly Mike, because this is one thing you really must experience! Next, off to Watomo Caves to see some glow worm action. Even though it was only 45mins, it was full of surprises, weaving in and out of caves, learning about their life cycle and seeing thousands of them in pitch black silence as our ships captain pulled us along the river using connecting ropes. We headed to Rotorua to stay for the night, battling heavy rain on the roads and sudden pools of water. Made it safely...phew.

Day 4 NZ: Cyclone Falls

excellentadventure — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 19:13:00 GMT

Up and out: Shell checked out the Waitangi Treaty site while I walked the Haruru Falls trail. It BUCKETED down the whole way...so the falls were pumping, plus the trail included an Indiana Jones bridge and boardwalk through the mangroves, feeling like walking on water. Visited another water fall at Whangarei, where we could walk the loop trail and stand on a bridge right in front of them. Then came a long drive passed Auckland, through heavy traffic, to Whitianga. We also found out that Cyclone Cook is due to hit tomorrow night, and the guy in the takeaway shop's words were "If I were you I would get out of town as soon as you can"...ahh, we'll leave tomorrow ;)

Day 3 NZ: Lords and Ladies

excellentadventure — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 18:54:00 GMT

Drove about 3 hours north of Auckland. On the way stopping at Wellsford for Wazza's coffee (Shell almost fell backwards over something in front of a truck) and then through Kauri Forest to see the lords of the jungle (world's largest Kauri trees). The 2nd largest had a girth of 16m...but the oldest was 51m tall....amazing!! Discovered Pine Beach and stopped off along the way to take in beautiful scenery: one at the tip of a bay with a massive sand dune across the peninsula. Arrived in backpacker alley at Pahia, Bay of Islands, staying at Pepper Tree Lodge. It's a thing to have combined Indian/Thai restaurants...had an ice cream, met Nacho the praying mantis and strolled along the beach at night.

Day 2 NZ: Silos and super yachts

excellentadventure — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 19:02:00 GMT

Started the day exploring downtown on the way to pick up the Jucy. Discovered funky Viaduct Harbour - an edgy makeover to Britomart, an industrial garage revamped into minalist, hipster, modern spaces. Think Docklands with an impressive backdrop of French Riviera-style super yachts. For the rest of the day we drove West to Piha, where we chilled sea side for the rest of the day. Climbed Lion Rock and massaged our bare feet rock climbing. We have named our car Horace (um, I think because it's blue and it's a Hyundai...hahaha).

Photos: New Zealand 2017

excellentadventure — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 18:52:00 GMT

Day 1 NZ: Auckland

excellentadventure — Sun, 9 Apr 2017 18:55:00 GMT

Excited to be discovering another country this year: New Zealand. This time with travel buddy Shell. Arrived in Auckland quite late due to bad weather leaving Sydney, so hit the hay. Staying at Base Hostel.

Day 198: Home today

excellentadventure — Mon, 1 Aug 2016 13:00:00 GMT

We woke today to an email notifying us of our cancelled flight....bummer. They are expecting a typhoon over the next few days, so we think that's why it changed. Mike managed to get us on a flight via Brisbane getting in an hour later on Tuesday morning. Check out of hotel at 12 today, so this will officially be my last post for this trip. We might just make it home without any injuries...hope that's not a jinx. To sum up - what an adventure!!!! at times very difficult, challenged by language barriers, locations, being outside our comfort zones, sharing confined spaces and the most surprising thing is that even though we've been together 9 years we are still learning new things about each other. Thanks to you if you have been sharing our travel stories, hpoe you liked it :)

Day 197: Bday Anniversary

excellentadventure — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 12:52:00 GMT

Happy Birthday Leo and Happy 9th Anniversary to us! It was touch and go there for a while but I'm glad we didn't sufficate each other with pillows as we slept - win win! We had a day of adventure heading to Lantau Island by ferry. Swam in the dirty beach and got the bus (driven by freakin Night Rider) up to the big buddha. A good day out...maybe we should have planned more and hikked some trails? but we were very tired so opted for the air con bus instead. Treated ourselves to a nice indian meal on (the very expat) Hollywood Road to end the journey and celebrate our 9 years.

Day 196: Cosmo Goldfish

excellentadventure — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 12:33:00 GMT

Checked out of the air bnb place (and good timing as it was getting a little claustrophobic) and arrived at our new stay: The Cosmopolitan Hotel. Thought we'd treat ourselves for the last two days of the total trip - so got a nice room with a great view of the cemetery. The TV came on as soon as we entered the room and got stuck on...we couldn't shut it off - I blame the ghosts. Walked past the racecourse and stadium (South China were playing Juventus). As part of our hotel booking we got a phone to use, which came in handy for maps and restaurant searching - but more importantly it gave us valuable info on the Dewey Decimal System and MythBusters cast members. Strolled through Causeway Bay and Times Square grabbing another Bubble Tea - this time a Taiwanese Bubble Tea with the milk. So many shopping malls here, it's quite ridiculous. Jumped on the double-decker tram so Mike could witness just how many people are playing Pokemon Go (out of 30 people around us, 28 were playing), we had a nice chat with a mother and daughter who were practicing their english (so cute). We went back over to Mong Kok for night markets (tried looking for MI phone covers but they laughed at us because we weren't asking for Samsung or iPhone), over to Goldfish street (just as it sounds) and the flower market. Then headed back to the cemetery.

Day 195: Winston Ninja

excellentadventure — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 12:21:00 GMT

Mike walked the inner city, found Hong Kong Park and had a read, then discovered little lane ways and tea shops. I chilled in Winston's Neighbourhood - an expat-run coffee shop with a rather cool name. POD is the playground just outside of the coffee place...I liked the decaying units of colour. We met later for New York pizza and Bubble Tea with aloe chunks...when in Rome! Watched Takeshi's Castle and American Ninja Warrior you tube clips for over an hour - Jessie Graff, our hero!

Day 194: Phone Busters

excellentadventure — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 04:04:00 GMT

Hit the town - Kowloon Town. We shopped till we dropped...well until we found the MI phone shop, then we bought two. His and hers matching phones...look at us, we've turned into Rob and Gab :) We have been hunting for this brand ever since hearing about them from Joe on the train, they are cheap and apparently good quality, so we'll give em a crack. Mike's loving the millions of Bread Talk shops in China, so we fed his habit, discovered a comic character lane way, and as it was a hot one sat in the park for a while with trillions of turtles in a pond, then headed to the harbour after an unsuccessful Salomon shoe hunt (asia doesn't bother stocking giant size 13s...bummer). Saw Ghost Busters, loved it.

Day 193: Victoria's Peak

excellentadventure — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 23:44:00 GMT

Walked up, up, up and up in a pool of sweat to Victoria's Peak. Great outlook over the harbour, so worth the climb. I had my first ever BUBBLE TEA: Passionfruit green tea with mango bubbles - yumbo! Met Mike for kebabs and ice cream.

Day 192: Jackie Chan

excellentadventure — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 23:38:00 GMT

Explored Honkers today and found we are in a really good localtion on Hong Kong Island side. Queens Road runs through the middle of the main areas and it's a colourful city, a mix of new and old. Hot hot hot so lots of shop hopping and icecream eating. Strolled along the harbour foreshore and came back at night for the lights show and when things had cooled down a little. Enjoyed a maccas sundae together and discovered "Jackie Chan" on the board as shift manager.

Photos: Hong Kong

excellentadventure — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 23:48:00 GMT