The South Island

Although I had heard it a million times, I didn't actually believe that there would be such a difference between the scenery in the North and South Islands, but within a half an hour of arriving and driving through the South Island, you are just astounded at the beauty all around you. There are huge mountains (most snow-capped at this time of year) all around you, there are rivers and lakes every 10 to 15 minutes and your eyes are glued to the windows to see what's coming around the next bend.

The Ferry landed in Picton and we then drove to Nelson where we spent one night, saw where the ring from Lord of the Rings was made and then headed to Westport the next day.
In Westport we finally got to go white water rafting, which was a great laugh. It was only a grade 4 (grade 5 is the highest they'll let you do) and I definitely want to do a harder one some time. It's a great adrenaline rush.

From Westport it was on to Lake Mahinapua, stopping on the way to see the Pancake rock formations, which was so gorgeous! Have a look in the picture gallery for these, they really are fab!. At Lake Mahinapua we were in for a night of dressing up and drinking in Les' pub! Les is the eldest publican in NZ at 81 years of age and is a lovely guy. The girls all had to dress up as rugby players (Ireland's 2nd test match against the All Blacks was the same night) and the guys had to be cheer-leaders! It was a great laugh altogether, particularly when the guys had to do their cheering. The girls got away easier with the Haka!
Ireland lost again, but it was another close match!!GRRR!!!!

Birthday Celebrations!

We headed to Rivervalley the day before my birthday where we were supposed to go white water rafting but it had been lashing rain all day so the river had flooded. The four usual suspects decided to go horse riding for the day instead and just as we got on the horses the sun came out and we had an amazing afternoon, really was great. The rest of the evening was quiet enough except for a very loud group of Americans having an Orgasm competition, but lets not get into that!!

When I woke up the next morning the girls had a card for me and the texts and phonecalls started flowing in (thank you everyone!) We headed off to Wellington then which took about 4hrs. When we arrived we decided to go shopping for a birthday present for me, but I was the only one who didn't end up buying anything! I was then sent back to the hostel under orders to relax and have a bath while the girls went food shopping and cooked me dinner, which was delicious. Then we hit Molly Malones where we had a very loud and drunken night. It was such a laugh. There was an Irish band playing and I had them all up trying to do Irish dancing, but it didn't look anything like it!! I'm sure everyone else thought that we were loopers!!

The night went so fast and then we had the job of trying to find our way back to the hostel, with Sarah insisting that it was one way and everyone else knowing that it was the other way!! The night ended with Sarah trying to climb into Thomas the cats cat-flap!! That just gives you some indication of how bad we were!!


There were a lot of sore heads the next morning, with Rikke and myself being the worst. We had organised to do the Te Papa museum this day, which is one of the biggest museums I have ever seen! It also had the Lord of the Rings exhibition on, which was absolutely amazing. So we spent 5 hours walking around this and I don't think any of us took a quarter of it in, we were just too wrecked! It was an early night that night and then up early the next morning to get the Ferry to the South Island.

Ireland v All Blacks!!

Myself, Sarah, Rikke and Trinh hired a car for the weekend and drove to Hamilton to watch Ireland v All Blacks!! I was dessie and it was nice to be behind the wheel again, I miss the Holey Blue!! So we set off early on the 10th of June, with our tents in the boot (the guy at the hostel in Taupo was kind enough to give us a loan of his tents and some duvets for the weekend and didn't even charge us anything!) We did a bit if sightseeing en route, such as the craters of the moon, which is a really amazing geothermic area, which is basically huge craters in the ground caused by steam exploding to the surface. As with all the other geothermic areas, it stank of sluphur, but it really was fascinating.


Then it was straight on to Hamilton. We set up camp, knowing that we were going to freeze to death that night! With that in mind we headed straight to Mulligans bar to warm ourselves!! There was a good crowd there and it was only 3.30pm, the match not starting til 7.30pm! We headed to Waikato stadium at 5pm to make sure we got good places and we got ring in the front behind the try line. There was such a brilliant atmosphere and the Irish team were warming up right infront of us. None of the other girls had ever been to a rugby match and the Danes don't even play it so they were relying on me to tell them rules, that was probably the funniest thing of all (as Colm well knows!) but I think I did ok at explaining it?! The game itself was riveting!! I was screaming at the top of lungs and the girls were in stitches!! It was such a nerve wrecking match with Ireland in the lead all the way through the 1st half and most of the 2nd and then the All Blacks taking the lead in the last 10 minutes and winning 34 - 23. I was heart-broken, it was so close!!!

Of course we had to go drown our sorrows afterwards and a good night was had by all, followed by about 4hrs sleep in the freezers and then off to do more sightseeing and drive back to Taupo. We almost didn't make it back cos we were running out of petrol and couldn't find a petrol station so I had to put the car in neutral on all the hills we came across and the car cut out just as we rolled into the station in Taupo. I was a little stressed to say the least and I don't think the girls were too happy either!!

Sky diving - Taupo!!

Next it was off to the Glow worm caves in Waitomo. It was pretty impressive. They look gorgeous when the lights are turned off, but when you look at them off close they are gross!! They're long strings of mucus which shimmers to attract flies!!


Then it was off to see bunnies being shaved. Did you know that angora wool comes from rabbits?! Well I didn't! It's a weird process that it somewhere along the lines of bunny bondage!!


Next it was off to Taupo, stopping at the Huka falls on the way. When we reached taupo we went straight to the skydiving field, where I was in a jumpsuit and up in the plane within 10 mins, so there was no going back!! It was the most amazing experience of my live. I jumped out at 15,000ft and the views were like none other. The lake, which is the biggest lake in Australasia, was so colourful, the mountains snowy and the sun shining, what more could you want!! You freefall for one minute at 220km an hour before the parachute opens and then you glide down the rest of the way which takes about 3 mins. It's a definite must do!! I want to do it again!!

The Funky Chicken Bus Trip

That's the name of the ticket I bought from Kiwi Experience. So we headed for Whitianga first. A little lesson for yis, in the Maori language 'wh' is pronounced at an 'f', so just bear that in mind. This is a small town in the Bay of Plenty.It is also called Mercury Bay. Before we arrived however, we went for a walk to Cathedral Cove, which is one of the most picturesque places I have ever seen. It has crystal clear blue water, sea stacks and holes in rocks. To top it all the sun was beaming and it was just heavenly.

When we arrived in Whitianga we literally dropped our bags and went to do some bone carving, which was a funny experience. We all made necklaces from cow bone. The Maori's would have used Whale. It took roughly 2 hours and was a good laugh, but the carving smells like burning hair, so not for those with a weak constitution!

That night was possibly the coldest night I've ever spent anywhere that I had to pay for. The room we were in was like a shed and the roof leaked. I was wearing loads of clothes, a sleeping bag and a duvet and I was still freezing!!

We headed off bright and early the next morning on the road to Rotorua. We went to a gold mine first, which is still in operation. This was called Martha Mine. They take half a million dollars out of this mine every week!! Afterwards we went to see an old mine in the Karangahake Scenic Reserve and walked through a old mine tunnel which was 3km long and pitch dark - pretty scarey!


Next we stopped at Matamata, aka Hobbiton! Only stopped for half an hour for lunch, but it was long enough to say I've been there! That night we went to the Tamaki Maori village for dinner and entertainment. It was a brilliant night, full of culture and singing, but best of all, we got a full roast dinner, and it was lamb!!! Being typical backpackers we all went back for seconds and I actually had 4 desserts!!



Rotorua is a geothermal area and is full of geysers and hot springs. Hence it stinks to high heaven of sulphur! I really don't think that I could live there. The next morning we went to the Te Puia geothermal field and saw the Prince of Wales geyser, which is the largest in NZ. It can spurt steam and water up to 30metres in the air!

Then we were off to Waitomo on our rented bus as the Kiwi bus had broken down!! Our poor driver was having a really bad time of it. It was his first tour with Kiwi and on the first day he reversed into a car and earned the knickname of "Crunch". Next 2nd gear wouldn't work, then 2 days later he hit another car, the heating in the bus broke and then the steering went!! We eventually got a new bus in Waitomo.

We went on a long walk to the Ruakuri walkway the evening we arrived. We went through muddy fields which left us in mud up to our shins! 2 hours later we got there, just as it was getting dark and some people were not too happy and walking back in the pitch dark! It was funny though!

New Zealand at last!!

I know that I've been in the country for 3 weeks and this is my 1st post, but I'll try to outline what I've done so far as well as I can!!

So....I landed in Auckland on 30th May (tues) having left Santiago on Sun 28th May. I got to my hostel at around 6am and went to bed for 3 hrs before going sight seeing. Auckland is a nice city but there's really not too much to do in it and therefore not worth sticking around for too long. I only stayed for 2 days, one of which I spent doing a city tour and the other sorting out the rest of my trip around NZ



Then it was off to the Bay of Islands for 3 days. It really is so beautiful up there and I woould say that it is hopping in summer but it was pretty quite while we were there. We did a full day trip up to Cape Reinga which is the most northerly tip of NZ and where the Tasmin Sea meets the Pacific, and man do you get blown off your feet up there!! We went Sand boarding too which consists of going down sanddunes the size of mountains in Ireland on a body board and praying to God that you don't fall off!! We went to a rainforest on this trip too to see the native Kauri trees which are the 2nd largest trees in the world but are in huge decline due to being used to build houses and boats.


Whilst in the Paihia (Bay of Islands) I went out on a power boat trip to see the famous'Hole in the Rock' which really is fab. There is a big cave on the other side of the same piece of rock which will eventually become the 2nd hole in the rock. We got drowned on the boat trip but it was all part of the fun!!

We also visited the Haruru Falls and the Waitangi treaty grounds. The Waitangi treaty was an agreement between the Maori people and the English Crown that the crown would protect the Maori and their land from invaders. However due to mistakes in translation it really resulted in the Maori's losing their land and recently the Maori people have been paid millions in compensation for this.

We went back to Auckland for a night before starting the journey south.