Faffed about Auckland for another few days waitin to pick up the van and as soon as we picked it up.....outta the city, If I wanted to be in a city all the time I would have just moved to Dublin..It was quite late in the day, so just headed out to Piha, the volcanic beach west of Auckland. It\'s weird walking on black sand, It just seemed like it was manky or something. Sooo much finer than \'regular\' sand!! Really nice place though, I\'ll have to go back in the summer an do a bit of surfing, I\'m goin to go back to the bay of Islands when the weather is better anyway...
So after that off to Tauranga, not a bad old spot, one of those places I\'d say is heavin during the summer...not much to do there though, but did meet this HUGH maori bloke called Poldar! What a name, he couldn\'t do any magic though. With a name like that, he should make the effort to learn some...We had meet some of the kids from the sailing course in Auckland who were living in Napier, so there next for a proper bed!! Got to their house and proper bed my arse!!!! It was worse than a first year student flat..They were a load of blokes over here playin rugby. They had had a party 4 days before, and the house was still an utter kip. Would have stayed in the van, but it was too cold, so we braved the floor...still not sure if I slept late, or if I was just stuck to the manky floor and couldn\'t get up. Spent the day in a spa and then on to an all you can eat place..the rugby boys were making sure they got their moneys worth, one of the blokes had 6 mains and 3\r\n deserts..Second night in Napier we went to a house party and the noise police got called!! The noise police - what\'s all that about??? You get two warnings and then they come in and take away all the noise making equipment in the house. I don\'t know if that means the spoons too..
Next port of call was Wellington and after the hype of a bed in Napier, I as only gagging for a proper sleep...a hostel was the only way forward!! A bed!! Joy of Joy!! And that\'s the last I\'ve seen of overhead lighting!! Wandered about Wellington & around the sea front, really nice city. ",1] ); //-->
Faffed about Auckland for another few days waitin to pick up the van and as soon as we picked it up.....outta the city, If I wanted to be in a city all the time I would have just moved to Dublin..It was quite late in the day, so just headed out to Piha, the volcanic beach west of Auckland. It's weird walking on black sand, It just seemed like it was manky or something. Sooo much finer than 'regular' sand!! Really nice place though, I'll have to go back in the summer an do a bit of surfing, I'm goin to go back to the bay of Islands when the weather is better anyway...
So after that off to Tauranga, not a bad old spot, one of those places I'd say is heavin during the summer...not much to do there though, but did meet this HUGH maori bloke called Poldar! What a name, he couldn't do any magic though. With a name like that, he should make the effort to learn some...We had meet some of the kids from the sailing course in Auckland who were living in Napier, so there next for a proper bed!! Got to their house and proper bed my arse!!!! It was worse than a first year student flat..They were a load of blokes over here playin rugby. They had had a party 4 days before, and the house was still an utter kip. Would have stayed in the van, but it was too cold, so we braved the floor...still not sure if I slept late, or if I was just stuck to the manky floor and couldn't get up. Spent the day in a spa and then on to an all you can eat place..the rugby boys were making sure they got their moneys worth, one of the blokes had 6 mains and 3 deserts..Second night in Napier we went to a house party and the noise police got called!! The noise police - what's all that about??? You get two warnings and then they come in and take away all the noise making equipment in the house. I don't know if that means the spoons too..
Next port of call was Wellington and after the hype of a bed in Napier, I as only gagging for a proper sleep...a hostel was the only way forward!! A bed!! Joy of Joy!! And that's the last I've seen of overhead lighting!! Wandered about Wellington & around the sea front, really nice city. \r\n
Got the ferry the next day to Picton, but didn\'t hang about after the last time we were there - it was about -3 degrees..that left a lasting scar!! So started to make our way towards Franz Josef..
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Franz (as the 15 locals call it) is a very small place...we were planning to go walking on the glacier, but decided to do the skydive instead...better to do the dive in the winter when the mountains are properly covered..I don\'t think the glacier is going to be gone in the next couple of months!! It is kind of old after all..We walked up the terminal face though, the slight glow from the blue ice was nearly fake looking, like someone had some neon lights goin on!! I\'ll be back to do the glacier walking another time....and check out the blue ice, such a clear, clean blue, the caves must be really impressive.
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There was no skydives from Franz, so off to Fox Glacier the next day. Got there in mid afternoon (slept a bit late, we were out the night before). Drove to the place to book the dive, presuming we\'d have to wait a day or two, but the blokes said we could do it in 20 minutes!!! I was still a bit fragile, so jumping out of a plane from 12,000ft didn\'t even make it into my top 5 things I felt like doing. Oisin wanted to do it there and than, but I stood my ground...No, no, no, no, no, no...............Alright then, to hell with it, lets go!!! I couldn\'t listen to Ois going on about it all night (and the girl working there had just done one, somehow that gave her licence to wind me up about not doing it too).
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So into the plane, not sure weather I was terrified or excited, we\'re off. Had a 20 flight up over Mt.Cook, Fox & Franz and a couple of other peaks, unbelievable views!! It was a very small plane, only enough room for 5 (me, Ois, the pilot and the 2 boys strapped to us). If I didn\'t go, there was no way Ois could have gone - pressure!! The bloke opens the door and the height, noise, wind, cold and realisation hit!! Out swing me legs, the bloke (my most trusted friend ever right now) crosses my arms..before I know what\'s happening - tumble............CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING JUMPING FROM A PLANE!!!!!....after about 2 seconds, wait a sec, this is AMAZING!! 45 second freefall and than silent drifting...brillant! I\'d do it again today, and tomorrow too...Took me a couple of days to land....It was quality!!",1] ); //-->
Got the ferry the next day to Picton, but didn't hang about after the last time we were there - it was about -3 degrees..that left a lasting scar!! So started to make our way towards Franz Josef..
Franz (as the 15 locals call it) is a very small place...we were planning to go walking on the glacier, but decided to do the skydive instead...better to do the dive in the winter when the mountains are properly covered..I don't think the glacier is going to be gone in the next couple of months!! It is kind of old after all..We walked up the terminal face though, the slight glow from the blue ice was nearly fake looking, like someone had some neon lights goin on!! I'll be back to do the glacier walking another time....and check out the blue ice, such a clear, clean blue, the caves must be really impressive.
There was no skydives from Franz, so off to Fox Glacier the next day. Got there in mid afternoon (slept a bit late, we were out the night before). Drove to the place to book the dive, presuming we'd have to wait a day or two, but the blokes said we could do it in 20 minutes!!! I was still a bit fragile, so jumping out of a plane from 12,000ft didn't even make it into my top 5 things I felt like doing. Oisin wanted to do it there and than, but I stood my ground...No, no, no, no, no, no...............Alright then, to hell with it, lets go!!! I couldn't listen to Ois going on about it all night (and the girl working there had just done one, somehow that gave her licence to wind me up about not doing it too).
So into the plane, not sure weather I was terrified or excited, we're off. Had a 20 flight up over Mt.Cook, Fox & Franz and a couple of other peaks, unbelievable views!! It was a very small plane, only enough room for 5 (me, Ois, the pilot and the 2 boys strapped to us). If I didn't go, there was no way Ois could have gone - pressure!! The bloke opens the door and the height, noise, wind, cold and realisation hit!! Out swing me legs, the bloke (my most trusted friend ever right now) crosses my arms..before I know what's happening - tumble............CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING JUMPING FROM A PLANE!!!!!....after about 2 seconds, wait a sec, this is AMAZING!! 45 second freefall and than silent drifting...brillant! I'd do it again today, and tomorrow too...Took me a couple of days to land....It was quality!! \r\n
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The next stop was Wanaka down through the Hasst Pass, by far the most beautiful part of the country I\'ve been in!! There on the pictures, so no need to say much. There\'s only so many ways to describe mountains, so I took a picture, it lasts longer!!
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Got to Wanaka on a Friday, I didn\'t see one person who didn\'t look like they had just come down from the slopes!! In Queenstown now and it\'s the same kind of thing. If someone isn\'t carrying a snowboard or skis, it\'s because they\'ve got a broken bone somewhere on \'em!! I\'ve not seen so many people plastered up since I worked in the hospital!! I\'ve been here a few days, gettin a feel for the place. It.s a smashin place! Just gotta get up snowboarding again soon....
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Well, there ya all go. That\'s the story and I\'m stickin to it!! Hope all\'s good at home. The tall ships looked incredible!! By all accounts the day was a total success!!
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Gra, Gav, Aoife, Rob, Ru & Naoise...How did yer holiday go?? Ya\'ll have to give me the lowdown !!
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