THE BIG ONE

Bloody Computers

jamieandkate — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 14:43:00 GMT

photos will follow when i find a computer that works

Gallery: sky diving

jamieandkate — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 12:52:00 GMT

Oh My God!

Kauri Forests and the Bay of Islands

jamieandkate — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 12:39:00 GMT

Leaving Dawn and Tuttukaka we headed to the west coast once more to the Kauri Forests, huge 2000 year old trees that have stood the test of time! Amazing trees though not many left as they were used for masts and spars for ships. Camped in a secluded wooded glade and and then the next day headed to the Bay of islands, apptly so as they are 144 of them. Relaxed here for 2 days and did another boat trip where we saw some huge bottlenose dolphins. Off back to dawns tomorrow and then fly out at 11pm on the 9th. Hope you enjoy the photos, as you're going to see the lot when we get back.

lots of love

J and K

Bay of Plenty, the Coromandel and Diving in the Poor Knights

jamieandkate — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 12:13:00 GMT

After the smells of Rotoura we headed north to the Bay of Plenty and the Kiwi growing capital of the world. Tried some golden kiwis where you can eat the skin. Delicious, cross between an apple, pear and kiwi. We camped that night right on the beach next to the pounding pacific surf..... and did'nt get a wink of sleep.

We then headed up the coast to the Coromandel Peninsula which was paradise. Wonderful sandy beaches, huge surf and great walks and snorkelling. Chilled out here for a couple of days. Stayed in a place called Hahei.

Whilst we were here we got in contact with Dawn, the girl who introduced Kate and I and who dived in Ag. Efimia. She is now a dive instructor in the Poor Knights Islands. A group of rocks 20km of the north east coast. Dawn works from a place called Tutakaka and when we arrived we found we had been booked in for a days diving, on a big boat all day for absolutely free. Dawn had saved us 400 bucks so we were well chuffed. It was great to see her and we and an amazing day diving. Jacque Cousteau named where we dived one of the top 10 sights in the world.... and he wasn't wrong. Saw eagle rays, huge snapper, blue maomoa and a mass of others!

Sky Diving and Smelly Eggs

jamieandkate — Thu, 7 Feb 2008 11:57:00 GMT

Well here we are nearing the end of the journey. I'll try and fill you in on whats been happening. We last left you when we were on route to Lake Taupo for my Sky diving.

Taupo is a wonderful lake, NZ's biggest, situated in the middle of north island surrounded by Volcanoes, so the view from the air is stunning. We camped at a nice quiet place on the edge of town and the next morning dawned bright and beautifull. With my heart in my mouth I was kitted up by an instructor who assurred me everything was safe and then before i could kiss my arse goodbye i was strapped to him and bundled into a wee plane with 10 others and off we went. 30 mins later we were at 15,000 ft and i was really beginning to shit myself, especially when the door was opened and you get dangled into mid air literally hanging by yer pants. When you finally jump it's one hell of a rush. Free fall lasts for 60 secs and you do 0-200+ km per hr in less than 7 seconds.

Basically its all over in a blur, your parachute is then pulled and your balls seem to catch in your throat! Cough cough!! You then serenly float down to earth and take in the wonderful views. Would definately do it again!

After I had recovered we moved on to Rotura where there were the famous geysers and maoris shows. Did the lot and thoroughly enjoyed it although the whole place smelt like someone had dropped one. A highlight was the Haka performed with some really great face pulling!

The Abel Tasman

jamieandkate — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:25:00 GMT

Beautiful national park with a famous tramp which runs along the coast at the north end of the south island. We did a day walk along the track and found some wonderful secluded beaches. The next day we met our guide for our 2 day sea kayaking adventure. It turns out we were the only 2 doing this so it was fab. We caught a water taxi to the north end of the park and then took 2 days kayaking back stopping off along the way to see seals in a marine reserve and a variety of birdlife including the worlds smallest penguin, "the blue penguin". The sandflies are stilling eating us too!

Really enjoyed ourselves but unfortunately I wiped all pictures of the memory card. Oops! So i'm in the dog house.

We have just spent the night back at shauns in wellington after an uneventfull ferry back to the north island and are off to Lake Taupo where tomorrow I jump out of a plane from 15,000 ft. Whooppeeeee!!

See kate for the will

Byeee XX

The West Coast

jamieandkate — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:17:00 GMT

After leaving doubtfull sound we headed up towards Lake Wanaka with some beautifull scenery. It was very humid here and eventually the rain started that had been forecast. We left wanaka in pouring rain and it stayed like that the whole of the west coats drive. First through the Haast Pass which was amazing thick rainforest clad mountains with hundreds of BIG waterfalls pouring even onto the roads.

Moving on the same day we came to the Glaciers, firstly Fox and then Franz Joseph. They are the only glaciers in the world that come out 1. very close to the sea and 2. come out through rain forest. The weather here was so bad though we did'nt see too much. We ended up driving to a town called Hokitika where we stayed the night, and is incidentally the Jade or Greenstone capital of NZ. So, Kate went shopping!!

The next day brough more rain in the morning as we headed up the coats to westport stopping off at what they call panake rocks. 30 million year old rock formations in layers with impressive blow holes etc. Finally the sun came out as we drove inland again and north to the Nelson region and the Abel Tasman National Park.

Gallery: Milford Sound

jamieandkate — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:05:00 GMT

Kayaking and walking

Gallery: Lake Tekapo

jamieandkate — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:55:00 GMT

...and climbing Mt St John

Gallery: Dolphins and Whales

jamieandkate — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:44:00 GMT

Kaikoura

Gallery: Journey to South Island + Malborough Vineyards

jamieandkate — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:35:00 GMT

Doubtfull Sound

jamieandkate — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:09:00 GMT

So named as Captain Cook was doubtfull he could sail out of it. The day stared at 6am to drive to the town of manapouri, about 20 mins from our campsite. Once we arrived we were joined by about 14 other intrepid travellers. We were taken by bus to the shores of lake Manpouri where we boarded a big speed boat which took us to the far end of the lake ( about 45 mins this being the 2nd largest lake in NZ.) Then onto another bus and another 45 min journey as we climbed up the mountains into the land time had forgotten!!

We were soon suited and booted and off we went in our 2 man Kayak. The sound ( or correctly named fjord ) was a massive area of pritine wilderness. About 35km long with arns snaking off it, we were really "out there"! The days trip saw us kayaking around 20km to the best areas seeing wonderfull scenery, seals and another pod of Bottlenose Dolphins, all this with no other buggers around. The kayakers had been split into 2 groups so there was only 4 kayaks plus a guide in our group. Absolute heaven!! The only problem was the sand flies. Ive got bites on me bites!!

We have now moved onto Lake Wanaka and off to Glaciers tomorrow. Enjoy the photos.

Love us xx

Fiordlands

jamieandkate — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:11:00 GMT

Dear All

So, we last left you when we were off horse riding. This was unfortunately cancelled so we ploughrd onto Mt Cook. Beautifull drive but it was so cloudy we could'nt see the summit. Never mind! On we went to "Queenstown" THE adventure capital of the world. Keeping an eye on our finances we did a beautifull 3 hr walk to a view point overlooking the town and a range of mountains called "the remarkables". Moving on the next day we headed to fiordland and milford sound. Speaking from the bottom of our hearts nothing can compare with Milford sound. Even the 2 hr road from the edge of the national park was mind blowing. Stopping half way we climbed the final part of the routeburn track, one of nz's great walks, to a summit called Key Summit. Absolutley brilliant! This morning we went Kayaking on the actual sound where we saw seals and even had 30 odd bottlenose dolphins jumping around us. I think if i had been pregnant I would have dropped the wee bairn there and then with shock!!

Anyway, we are no in Te Anua for 2 nights and tomomorrow we are off to Doubtfull sound for more kayaking. Photos will follow when we find a place that does;nt have its box locked up.

Sorry this is so quick but you pay by the minute

Bye for now, screams for later

love the kidsxx

The journey continues...

jamieandkate — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:49:00 GMT

Hmm where were we. Ok we left north island on the early morning ferry and 3 hrs later we were cruising into queen charlotte sound and the harbour of picton at the top of south island. We now had shauns bigger car with a little more oomph so the journey should be easier.

Leaving picton we headed south to Malborough for wine tasting. 3 vineyards later and 15 different samples we giggled all the way to Kaikoura. And, yes dad we did go to cloudy bay and bought several bottles.

Kaikoura is set on a small penisula with a beautiful back drop of huge mountains. An early night was in order as we were up the next day at 4.50 am to go swimming with dusky dolphins.

4.50am Urrgghhh! The day was spectacular, fantastic, amazing, best day of our lives. We swam for around an hr with over 300 dusky dolphins jumping over us, swimming around us all in all a mind blowing experience. However, the day did'nt end there as at 12.45 we were off to see whales. In fact we were lucky enough to see 2 huge sperm whales and even the wonderful albatross!

Crayfish BBQ and galic scallops washed down with a wonderfull cloudy bay white topped the afternoon off after seeing some seals up close and personal.

16/01/2008 - Drove to christchurch which was very pretty and then onto Lake Tekapo which is a wonderful glacier lake with an azure blue colour. Climed a mountain for the view and off horseriding tomorrow. Photos to follow.

Hope all is well in uk ..... see you for the next installment

The Wedding

jamieandkate — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:13:00 GMT

Just a quickie to say that the wedding was fantastic. Beautiful weather and setting. We even had clay pigeon shooting so my practice in Kent was well worth it. Thanks Ken!

Birthday today so early this morning we went tramping in a national park and opened my cards and pressies on the route. Thanks to all of you XX

Off to south island early tomorrow with a stop off at Cloudy Bay Winery then to Kaikoura swimming with Dolphins and whale watching. Will keep you posted XX

Gallery: New Plymouth & Mt Taranaki

jamieandkate — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:07:00 GMT

Gallery: The wedding

jamieandkate — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:45:00 GMT

Shaun & Amelia get hitched

Gallery: The Drive from Auckland to Waitomo Caves

jamieandkate — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:53:00 GMT

The Journey Begins

jamieandkate — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:10:00 GMT

The journey began with a wee bit of excitment when an Indian Taxi driver phoned us 25 mins before we were due to leave and said " So sorry Sir, No taxi, Broken down, so sorry!"

After a few expletives we phoned our "man" who we booked the taxi through who new nothing of the matter and duly picked us up on time. Very odd we thought.

Moral of the story? Answers on a postcard please.

On arrival at Heathrow, the plane was on time and we boarded with much excitment. With plenty of leg room, the wife at the side and the obligatory G & T in hand life was looking pretty good. In fact we could'nt fault the trip. First leg to LA was about 10 and a half hrs. Good food, great entertainment system ( I particulary liked the dancing girls!) and before you could say "Numb bum" we were there. A few hrs wait in LA and we were off again to Auckland. One Valium Pill, 2 G & T's and 9 hrs straight sleep and we were almost there. The second leg was about 12hrs 50 mins in total.

Arriving at 5am we picked up our car feeling pretty good and took an easy drive to waitomo caves where we boarded a little boat through a cave system to view glow worms in the dark. A bit touristy but good fun. An afternoon drive took us to New Plymouth where we camped at the foot of Mt Taranaki. So far we have been blown away by the scenery. Photo's will follow.

We arrived in Wellington yesterday and did the sights and now we are getting ready for the wedding. More to follow after the handover has gone....

Packing

jamieandkate — Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:37:00 GMT

Why is packing for a trip always so difficult? Is it one bag or two, 20kg or more, one hand luggage item or two. Who knows? Foolishly I checked online before we started and now realise we can take even more stuff so the wife really can pack the kitchen sink...and cooker!

In this day and age I would always try to pack as light as possible whilst still covering for every eventuallity. I always knew that when I married I would gain "baggage", but never this much!