See you Meech!

It's Friday morning & we're waiting to head to the airport to fly to Auckland, New Zealand. We can't wait! Last Saturday Matt headed back to Sydney to hook up with Brian and begin their trip home through New Zealand & South America.

Joe arrived the previous Tuesday & we partied until Matt left with some of the Fraser Island crew. Pete & Rebecca headed off to Asia while we met up with Anna & Sarah to watch some of the footie and have a dance. Anna I said I'd mention you so here you go, "it's ok, it's alright". Enjoy your travels, and good luck to both you and Sarah getting home!

Meech took off after a session on the Friday. Needless to be say he'll be missed. A class act and we'll all be in the local in Manchester before Christmas, I guarantee it! It's back to the Full Moon, Thailand team, Joe & I for some wild Kiwi experiences. I'll be going crazy over there; ski dives, snow boarding, glacier hikes, mountain biking and basically anything that'll make you go fast.

Here are some pics of the last two weeks, and I guarantee they will be nothing in comparison to the next post. We have one last night in Australia when we fly from Christchurch to Kuala Lumpur but for now, goodbye Oz.

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The Kiwi Experience - North Island

Joe & I landed in Auckland on a Friday night. A swift taxi ride & a few beers led us through to our first full day in New Zealand. Auckland was freezing on the Saturday & we lasted a half hour before buying two of the biggest jackets we could find on the high street. We went to the aquarium and took the Link bus around town. Auckland is a nice spot, good for a night out but not much in the line of tourist attractions.

On the Monday we got up nice and early to jump on the Kiwi Experience bus, which would take us down the north island & in a full circle of the south island. Now, the Kiwi bus has a wrap of being a bit of a party bus but in fact it's a good blend of activities, culture & sight seeing with some nocturnal socialising in between. We drove from Auckland, a quick photo opportunity at the top of the hill on the way out, to Mercury Bay. We stopped at the beautiful Catheral Bay & Hot Water Beach on this, the first day. Both sights are well worth it, and the hot water really is hot! Dig a hole & you'll find out how hot.

The next day we were on the bus at 7.30 for the journey to Rotorua, with a stop off at Hobbiton where the town was built for the Lord of the Rings movie. Rotorua is a nice little town situated around a heap of thermal vents and geysers. The place smells of sulphur dioxide (i.e. eggy fart!) due to all the geothermal activity. During the day ww did some Zorbing & some luging. The zorbing was a novelty but we much preferred the luging. That night we booked into the Maori experience. A great night, where we saw a Haka and heard stories of how the Maori came to New Zealand, finishing the night with a feast of food.

The Wednesday brought some much needed adrenaline action with Black Water Rafting in Waitomo. This isn't so much rafting as it is cave exploring and waterfall climbing. The only issue is the water is absolutely freezing as well as fast moving. The caves will test your threshold for cold while showing you beautiful caverns and labyrinths, with some glow worms thrown in. Off to bed that night knowing the big one was the next day... A skydive, but could Jonny go through with it?

Obviously I did because I KNOW everyone looks at the pictures before reading this but it turned out to be pretty funny. I was nervous most of the day, people taking the opportunity to poke fun and tease me. When I got to Taupo I felt calm and ready after a few deep breaths. It was Joe who was the more nervous of the two of us, as he was more concerned about the tiny plane bringing us up. I went first shouting "Slan Abhaile" at Joe as I disappeared out of the plane door. It was truly amazing! I can't explain the feeling, the scariest part was the parachuting when it all feels more real as you near the ground. Video is below in 3 parts. It's of us and the girls total, they don't do individual ones in Taupo.

After a huge party for the next two nights in Taupo we hit the road for River Valley. A lovely spot that allows visitors to do some white water rafting. The weather had been pretty bad so the river was 4 metres higher than it would normally be safe to raft it so we ended up with a hot chocolate and a night watching the rugby. The next day would be Wellington and the last stop on our north island trip.

Wellington is a quality place, nicer than Auckland with some nice people around town. We had a nice last evening out with Alan and Rob, the boys from Belfast that we traveled down the island with. The second day we even managed to catch up with the one and only Robbie O'Connell. He was in great form, settled and happy with family and work there was a smile painted across his face all night. The only thing he misses? The cricket of course. All the lads were mentioned with a warmth and he said he may one day return to hit a ball in anger for the Garda again.

New Zealand is all I hoped, and to be honest knew, it would be... A class act! The south island brings more adventure and culture. Sweet as, sweet as!

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The Kiwi Experience - South Island

Where to start? I'm panned out in a lovely ski lodge hostel in Queenstown in front of the fire with a cuppa in my hand. It seems like an age ago when we departed Wellington and boarded a ferry for the south island of New Zealand. We've had a ball as you can see from the pictures. It took 2 hours to get these pics together as there were so many. They still don't tell half the story of the fun we have had in our short time here. We've been scared sh*tless, thrilled beyond belief, partied out, and then all of the latter over again.

We hit Nelson to see the centre of New Zealand (Surely a farce! It just happens to be on top of the most scenic hill in the area) and also for a day trip around Abel Tasman. The Kiwi bus then continued to bring us to numerous gorgeous sites, waterfalls, mountain views & lakes. This country truly is astounding. The terrain, landscapes & views are quite literally out of this world. The pictures are out of sequence but we had the "Poo" party next. The Poo party, so called because it takes place at Mahinapua Hotel, is an experience unique to the Kiwi bus. Les, the owner of the hotel, allows the bus to stop and party for an evening in his hostel and pub. Fancy dress is a requirement & each bus must pick a theme. Les then takes a polaroid and puts it on the wall. The walls are now full with pics so they are now stored in an album. The place is crazy! You can see from the photos we chose a pensioner's party for our theme. I was voted 2nd best dressed for my interpretation of Jonny the grumpy old man (some pointed out I had been method acting in the role all my life). Mrs. Doyle won for her sensational portrayal of the Father Ted character and dancing to "Like a Virgin", before harrassing the police for a "cuppa".

After the Poo party we headed for Franz Josef to climb the little glacier there... It wasn't so small once you had to jump crevasses and scale glacier walls. The photos are amazing of our day spent on ice. We had a huge party that night, spawning the now famous Jega-thon. Franz Josef is a cool spot. Still pumped the next day we partied through to Wanaka, dancing in the aisle of the bus, posing for photos on the beach & a spot of karaoke down the back of the bus. Wanaka is a gorgeous little ski town that we wish we had boarded in. With one night there we headed to Queenstown after a stop at the puzzle museum.

Queenstown is the activity capital of the world. Bungys, swings, luging, skiing, snowboarding, rafting, jet boating & quad biking. If you have the capital you can quite literally do it all here. After Joe's bungy, we hit the canyon swing. We booked 3 days boarding in Remarkables & Coronet Peak. I loved it so much I did a fourth day and managed to do 2 nights of night skiing and get onto some of the blue as well as black slopes. Skiing in New Zealand doesn't compare to Europe or Alaska but it was really good fun with some significant snow falls in our time here.

Queenstown meant saying goodbye to most people from the bus as they went their separate ways on further travels or on the way home. This meant lots of partying and goodbyes. We have one more Kiwi bus to Christchurch to catch this Saturday. On the 4th August we head back to Sydney for one night before flying onto Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to all on the bus who made our time in New Zealand so special. Paddy, Nal & Iano watch out, Joe & Jonny are on the way back to South East Asia... And we're ready to surf & party till the sun comes up!

Sweet as New Zealand... I'll be back

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