I did come back slightly early for one very special day, Ross and Liz's wedding.
It was a perfect day, sunny, hot and amazing to see family and friends again. Liz looked stunning, and perfectly relaxed all day. I think she must have been the clamest bride ever, and just laughed as she told us she'd left her bouquet at home! So 20 minutes later, and a very nervous Ross, she walked down the aisle, with her bouquet!
I hope everyone there enjoyed the day as much as I did and I wish them both every happiness in the rest of their married life.
Love Kylie xx
Sunrise in the Solomons
At Maravaghi resort
Sydney Opera House and Bridge
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Hong Kong
Tuesday - Wow, so we made it back to Hong Kong, and actually got to leave the airport this time. We got on the airport express to Central and then took a cab to the Chadwick's flat in Causeway Bay. Here we were greeted by a very scared 'guard' dog and Matthew, their son. After breakfast and a much needed shower, we headed into Central by bus, where Matthew bought us lunch at Dot Cod, and then started shopping! Hong Kong has changed quite a lot, even from my vague memory, but I certainly know there are a lot more shops than when we were there! Still we made the most of it. We then got the Star Ferry over to Tsim Sha Tui, where both myself and Anna got fitted for a tailor made suit! We got to pick our fabric - grey cashmere wool with a maroon silk lining, and Anna chose a sea green lining.
We then had 4 hours to kill so wandered up and down Nathan Road, a famous shopping road, and hiding in Starbucks and various other food places from the monsoon rains that kept unleashing itself upon us.
We then had to go back for a fitting, before rushing up to the Hong Kong Cricket Club for dinner with Jenny and Chris Chadwick! They haven't changed a bit in 15 years, and it was so nice to see them. After chinese for dinner, Chris took us down to Temple St night market to hunt some bargains down. Anna got her fortune read by a bird! I think it was mostly good, although the Chinese to English translation was a bit ropey!
Then home, and met Kelly, who I'd last seen aged 1, and is now 15 and doing her GCSE's!
Wednesday - Had a lie-in and attempted to pack our stuff for one last tie. Headed into Central to take the tram up to Victoria Peak! It was so different - they have a new look-out up there with lots of shops (of course!) and restaurants. It wa quite cloudy so the view wasn't as good as expected. Still was amazing to see the skyline again, with so many new skyscrapers!
Had lunch and did some browsing around the shops before going for our last suit fitting. It needed some adjutments so we had to come back later in the evening. I bought some pearls, and then Anna and myself got a foot massage - waso so lovely, but I couldn't stop laughing at Anna as she was so ticklish throughout it!
THen cabbed it over to Sha Tin with Matthew to meet Chris, Jenny and Kelly for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Matthew then had to leave to go back to work, he is training to be a jockey and is actually very very good.
We then got a train back to Tsim Sha Tui to pick up our now finished suits and got the Star Ferry one last time. The view was incredible, as all the skyscrapers were lit up with different light shows. We went back to the Chadwick's place and joined Jenny in watching the horse racing at Happy Valley. Chris had gone to watch it live as he had some bets on. Matthew was meant to be racing but had had a fall the previous week and so was on 5 days rest.
Still was exciting to watch again, and it was raining hard so we avoided getting wet!
Thursday - Up early and at Central train station for 0615. We checked our bags in at the train station and then caught the airport express to the airport. With our $28 remaining between us we managed to buy a pitiful, but tasty chinese breakfast before getting our last flight home!
What an unbelievable trip! So many memories and so many photos, it will never be forgotten.
I could easily recommend everywhere we went, from smelly, dirty Honiara to humid, rainy Hong Kong!
I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Now only a few months to go until the real world kicks in........
Love Kylie xx
We then had 4 hours to kill so wandered up and down Nathan Road, a famous shopping road, and hiding in Starbucks and various other food places from the monsoon rains that kept unleashing itself upon us.
We then had to go back for a fitting, before rushing up to the Hong Kong Cricket Club for dinner with Jenny and Chris Chadwick! They haven't changed a bit in 15 years, and it was so nice to see them. After chinese for dinner, Chris took us down to Temple St night market to hunt some bargains down. Anna got her fortune read by a bird! I think it was mostly good, although the Chinese to English translation was a bit ropey!
Then home, and met Kelly, who I'd last seen aged 1, and is now 15 and doing her GCSE's!
Wednesday - Had a lie-in and attempted to pack our stuff for one last tie. Headed into Central to take the tram up to Victoria Peak! It was so different - they have a new look-out up there with lots of shops (of course!) and restaurants. It wa quite cloudy so the view wasn't as good as expected. Still was amazing to see the skyline again, with so many new skyscrapers!
Had lunch and did some browsing around the shops before going for our last suit fitting. It needed some adjutments so we had to come back later in the evening. I bought some pearls, and then Anna and myself got a foot massage - waso so lovely, but I couldn't stop laughing at Anna as she was so ticklish throughout it!
THen cabbed it over to Sha Tin with Matthew to meet Chris, Jenny and Kelly for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Matthew then had to leave to go back to work, he is training to be a jockey and is actually very very good.
We then got a train back to Tsim Sha Tui to pick up our now finished suits and got the Star Ferry one last time. The view was incredible, as all the skyscrapers were lit up with different light shows. We went back to the Chadwick's place and joined Jenny in watching the horse racing at Happy Valley. Chris had gone to watch it live as he had some bets on. Matthew was meant to be racing but had had a fall the previous week and so was on 5 days rest.
Still was exciting to watch again, and it was raining hard so we avoided getting wet!
Thursday - Up early and at Central train station for 0615. We checked our bags in at the train station and then caught the airport express to the airport. With our $28 remaining between us we managed to buy a pitiful, but tasty chinese breakfast before getting our last flight home!
What an unbelievable trip! So many memories and so many photos, it will never be forgotten.
I could easily recommend everywhere we went, from smelly, dirty Honiara to humid, rainy Hong Kong!
I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Now only a few months to go until the real world kicks in........
Love Kylie xx
The rest of New Zealand
Sunday - We got the ferry over to Russell, a little island opposite Paihia. It was another gorgeous sunny day so we had a walk along the beach before walking around the town. It was really quaint with lots of old wooden buildings. We had a look around the shops and then had lunch in one of the local pubs, along with about 40 bikers who had just rocked up! Still mussels, a pint of cider and the sun on your face and you can't go much wrong!
Got the ferry back and then relaxed before we went back to Auckland.
Monday - Our last day in New Zealand, so we decided to finish in style.......... by going cayoning! For those who don't know what this is, it is know as gorge walking in the UK and involves throwing yourself off waterfalls, and sliding down them or abseiling down them into freezing cold water!! And so that is what we did, for 4 hours! It was so damn cold but so so so much fun! It was only Anna, myself and the instructor so we could take as long as we wanted. Awesome day, though we desperately needed a long warm shower by the end of it. We finish off our day in Auckland with some really good food - Anna had lamb and I had duck, and our last glass of NZ white wine before making our way to the airport for our late night flight.
We were both asleep before the first meal came round, which set us up for the day ahead.......in Hong Kong!!
xxx
Got the ferry back and then relaxed before we went back to Auckland.
Monday - Our last day in New Zealand, so we decided to finish in style.......... by going cayoning! For those who don't know what this is, it is know as gorge walking in the UK and involves throwing yourself off waterfalls, and sliding down them or abseiling down them into freezing cold water!! And so that is what we did, for 4 hours! It was so damn cold but so so so much fun! It was only Anna, myself and the instructor so we could take as long as we wanted. Awesome day, though we desperately needed a long warm shower by the end of it. We finish off our day in Auckland with some really good food - Anna had lamb and I had duck, and our last glass of NZ white wine before making our way to the airport for our late night flight.
We were both asleep before the first meal came round, which set us up for the day ahead.......in Hong Kong!!
xxx
Friday, 22 May 2009
More North Island
OK, so the next day in Rotorua, we had breakfast in town before heading out to Hell's Gate spa and geothermal park. We took a walk around the bubbling pools of mud and the sulphur pools. It was very Jurassic Park-esque! Then we headed into the spa and covered ourselves in mud, before rinsing it out and soaking in the sulphur water! Was so nice and warm and felt thoroughly cleansed afterwards.
We then started our drive north to Auckland. Was quite a boring drive but we did it pretty quickly. Eventually found our campsite, it was very strange being back in a city.
As it was Matt's last night we headed into the city centre, and went to a restaurant called Euro, we did gourmet cuisine! And it was amazing. We had a 3 course dinner with wine for only 40 quid each! Started off with calamari, then had kingfish wrapped in parma ham, followed by Spoons of 2011 - 4 spoons with a different dessert thing on each. Very odd things, but was a really strange collection of textures and flavours which worked really well!
Went out for some more drinks and then got the bus 50 minutes home to our campsite.
On Tuesday morning, we accompanied Matt to the airport, to send him on his way home, via Singapore.
Me and Anna headed into the city for some sightseeing, and decided to head the zoo. It was really cool, and for once quite warm and sunny to nice to walk around outside. We finally got to see some actual Kiwi's which are amazing little fluffy birds! Zoo was really good, and also stuffed full of chickens randomly wandering around as well. Even got to see some Aussie animals - wallabies and emu's etc.
Finished at the zoo and went home. Couldn't be bothered to cook so we headed out to a mall to get some indian food and then off to the cinema to see the new Angels and Demons film. Not bad, some good special effects to it!
Went to bed early that night and managed to get 12 hours sleep! We're so hardcore.
Still up the next morning and sorted out our next few days. Then we headed into town to the Sky Tower, the tallest monument in the Souther Hemisphere. But we got slightly distracted en route and may have stopped by some shops on the way. We booked some tickets for the comedy festival for that evening, and then went up the tower. Truly amazing views over Auckland, especially as it had finally got sunny for the first time that day. There were some really nice yachts in the harbour!
Headed back to change for dinner, and then back out again to find a pub to have some dinner and some drinks. So we had fish and chips and a G&T, how English can you get!
We had tickets to see Simon McKinney, a NZ comedian that evening, so we headed to that. There was only about 30 of us in the audience, but was a really good atmosphere, and fortunately he was funny! So an hour later, we headed to a different venue, the Classic, for the Late and Live show. We were so glad to get tickets to this, as there were 5 comedians performing, including one we had really wanted to see but was sold out for his own show (Jason Cook). Wicked show, and we had front row seats, and the poor boy we were sat next to got aboslutelty rinsed! Some very drunken girls were doing some crap heckling and interrupting loads, and eventually got booed and kicked out by the staff! Still awesome show, the comedians were brilliant.
Unfortunately up early the next day to head up to the Bay of Islands. We stopped en route to hug a Kairi tree, the 2nd biggest trees in the world. We were hugging it in order to ask for good weather and sunshine! We are staying in Paihia for a few days. We arrived and jumped straight on a boat tour of the Bay of Islands, up the the hole in the rock. We saw some dolphins on the way and followed them for a bit. We could have gone swimming with them but they had a baby with them so we weren't allowed. Was a really fun trip with gorgeous views over the islands.
Got back into Paihia and bought some food for the next few days. The went back cooked dinner, and then watched a few films that evening.
Yesterday, we had a bus trip up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of NZ. We got on the bus early and started our way up north, stopping for coffee and cake en route. We started the last bit of the drive up north driving up 90 mile beach. Actually it is only 64 miles but that doesn't sound quite as good! Took ages to drive up it, and we stopped on the way to admire the gorgeous views. On the beach we waded into the water, and did some Pipi picking - little clam like creatures in shells, which you could eat raw. And were surprisingly very yummy!
Then went around the corner off the beach to these massive sand dunes, got some boards out and then proceeded to climb up them! Oh and then slide all the way down them. Was so much fun, and got absolutely covered in sand in about 2 minutes.After that we headed up to Cape Reinga, which is the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We were then on a surprisingly calm day so it wasn't that obvious where they met! This Cape is also the point, in Maori culture, where all the souls depart the Earth for heaven.
Was a really good day, and ended it by looking around a few shops, and had the 'best' fish and chips in NZ in a little place called Marongi. They were definitely good fish and chips.
Today, we got up and walked around to Waitangi, where the Maori's and the Europeans signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. This was when New Zealands became part of the British Empire. There was a huge war canoe there and a big marae, a meeting hut for the tribes of NZ. It was such good weather that we walked along the beach, and then went to go play some minigolf. Turns out that the gold was in this big aventure park, with trapeze swings and bungee runs etc. SO so so much fun but now we're knackered and really quite sore! It's still sunny so we might head out to play some tennis later on.
Anyway, we've only got 2 more days in NZ so we will be making the most of the sunshine!
Thats it, up to date. Hope you are all well.
Love Kylie and Anna xxxx
We then started our drive north to Auckland. Was quite a boring drive but we did it pretty quickly. Eventually found our campsite, it was very strange being back in a city.
As it was Matt's last night we headed into the city centre, and went to a restaurant called Euro, we did gourmet cuisine! And it was amazing. We had a 3 course dinner with wine for only 40 quid each! Started off with calamari, then had kingfish wrapped in parma ham, followed by Spoons of 2011 - 4 spoons with a different dessert thing on each. Very odd things, but was a really strange collection of textures and flavours which worked really well!
Went out for some more drinks and then got the bus 50 minutes home to our campsite.
On Tuesday morning, we accompanied Matt to the airport, to send him on his way home, via Singapore.
Me and Anna headed into the city for some sightseeing, and decided to head the zoo. It was really cool, and for once quite warm and sunny to nice to walk around outside. We finally got to see some actual Kiwi's which are amazing little fluffy birds! Zoo was really good, and also stuffed full of chickens randomly wandering around as well. Even got to see some Aussie animals - wallabies and emu's etc.
Finished at the zoo and went home. Couldn't be bothered to cook so we headed out to a mall to get some indian food and then off to the cinema to see the new Angels and Demons film. Not bad, some good special effects to it!
Went to bed early that night and managed to get 12 hours sleep! We're so hardcore.
Still up the next morning and sorted out our next few days. Then we headed into town to the Sky Tower, the tallest monument in the Souther Hemisphere. But we got slightly distracted en route and may have stopped by some shops on the way. We booked some tickets for the comedy festival for that evening, and then went up the tower. Truly amazing views over Auckland, especially as it had finally got sunny for the first time that day. There were some really nice yachts in the harbour!
Headed back to change for dinner, and then back out again to find a pub to have some dinner and some drinks. So we had fish and chips and a G&T, how English can you get!
We had tickets to see Simon McKinney, a NZ comedian that evening, so we headed to that. There was only about 30 of us in the audience, but was a really good atmosphere, and fortunately he was funny! So an hour later, we headed to a different venue, the Classic, for the Late and Live show. We were so glad to get tickets to this, as there were 5 comedians performing, including one we had really wanted to see but was sold out for his own show (Jason Cook). Wicked show, and we had front row seats, and the poor boy we were sat next to got aboslutelty rinsed! Some very drunken girls were doing some crap heckling and interrupting loads, and eventually got booed and kicked out by the staff! Still awesome show, the comedians were brilliant.
Unfortunately up early the next day to head up to the Bay of Islands. We stopped en route to hug a Kairi tree, the 2nd biggest trees in the world. We were hugging it in order to ask for good weather and sunshine! We are staying in Paihia for a few days. We arrived and jumped straight on a boat tour of the Bay of Islands, up the the hole in the rock. We saw some dolphins on the way and followed them for a bit. We could have gone swimming with them but they had a baby with them so we weren't allowed. Was a really fun trip with gorgeous views over the islands.
Got back into Paihia and bought some food for the next few days. The went back cooked dinner, and then watched a few films that evening.
Yesterday, we had a bus trip up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of NZ. We got on the bus early and started our way up north, stopping for coffee and cake en route. We started the last bit of the drive up north driving up 90 mile beach. Actually it is only 64 miles but that doesn't sound quite as good! Took ages to drive up it, and we stopped on the way to admire the gorgeous views. On the beach we waded into the water, and did some Pipi picking - little clam like creatures in shells, which you could eat raw. And were surprisingly very yummy!
Then went around the corner off the beach to these massive sand dunes, got some boards out and then proceeded to climb up them! Oh and then slide all the way down them. Was so much fun, and got absolutely covered in sand in about 2 minutes.After that we headed up to Cape Reinga, which is the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We were then on a surprisingly calm day so it wasn't that obvious where they met! This Cape is also the point, in Maori culture, where all the souls depart the Earth for heaven.
Was a really good day, and ended it by looking around a few shops, and had the 'best' fish and chips in NZ in a little place called Marongi. They were definitely good fish and chips.
Today, we got up and walked around to Waitangi, where the Maori's and the Europeans signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. This was when New Zealands became part of the British Empire. There was a huge war canoe there and a big marae, a meeting hut for the tribes of NZ. It was such good weather that we walked along the beach, and then went to go play some minigolf. Turns out that the gold was in this big aventure park, with trapeze swings and bungee runs etc. SO so so much fun but now we're knackered and really quite sore! It's still sunny so we might head out to play some tennis later on.
Anyway, we've only got 2 more days in NZ so we will be making the most of the sunshine!
Thats it, up to date. Hope you are all well.
Love Kylie and Anna xxxx
North Island
So we made it to the North. We decided to power straight on up to Rotorua. Another spectacular drive north, starting with a very windy scary one lane road, which remained so for 30km!!! Oh well, soon found straight 2 laned tarmac and powered on up, stopping for lunch en route.
We stopped at LAke Taupo on the way. There was a gold gimmick/game there, where you have to try and hit golf balls 150m onto a pontoon out in the lake. If you hit it and got a ball in on eof the holes, you can win a prize. Apparently someone does it at least once a week. Needless to say, none of us did! I struggled to even hit the ball!
We carried on up to Rotorua and found a camp site. We headed out to Tourist Info and booked ourselves onto a white water rafting trip and a cultural evening for the following day. It was raining quite hard as we came outside so we sheltered in a pub for a few drinks before going back to the campsite to cook food.
So the next day, Sunday, we got picked up by Raftabout and taken 30 minutes out of Rotorua to the Kaituna river. We got kitted up in wetsuits etc and taught all the necessary bits. We were in a smaller boat than in Queenstown, with 4 paying people and 2 guides in our boat.We were soon on the river, and I was soaking wet in under a minute, as Matt managed to push me out that quickly! Still was a lot warmer than the South Island so I didn't mind too much. We soon hit the rapids, and the special bit about this river was that we went over a 7m waterfall, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world! And it was sweet!!!! So much fun, and we all managed to stay in the boat too! We also tried a bit of river surfing, which basically involved the guides putting the front of the boat into the bottom bit of a rapid, which meant a lot of water came onto the front of the boat, absolutely soaking me and Anna at the front until we could barely breathe!!!
So that was awesome fun, and we had to get the photos to prove it!
Next up that day, we went zorbing. This basically involved getting into a big inflatable ball, filled up with warm water, and going downhill in it! So much more fun than we ever though it could be, and we all felt about 5 years old after! Wicked.
Had an afternoon relax before heading to our cultural evening. We arrived and then headed off into the forest. A war canoe arrived up the river with about 8 Maori men on it, all lit up with fire torches and chanting. They all got out and the chief got into the water, and we all then realised that all he was wearing was a cloth around his waist, which only covered his front half!!! He had an amazing Maori tattoo all around the tops of his legs up to his waist.
After that we saw the hangi, the food cooked underground which we were about to eat - chicken, lamd, sweet potatoes etc - so yummy! We also saw a show, which wa set up in an old style Maori village. They did alot of their traditional songs and dancing, and they all performed the Haka,. It was really quite scary and fascinating at the same time. We also went for a walk into the forest to look at ll the glow worms. Was a really good evening and so interesting to learn about the maori culture and language.
Got back to the campervan by 2030 and watched a DVD before going to bed.
OK will finish the rest later, much more to come!
Hope you are all well and looking forward to seeing you soon
Love Kylie x x x x x
We stopped at LAke Taupo on the way. There was a gold gimmick/game there, where you have to try and hit golf balls 150m onto a pontoon out in the lake. If you hit it and got a ball in on eof the holes, you can win a prize. Apparently someone does it at least once a week. Needless to say, none of us did! I struggled to even hit the ball!
We carried on up to Rotorua and found a camp site. We headed out to Tourist Info and booked ourselves onto a white water rafting trip and a cultural evening for the following day. It was raining quite hard as we came outside so we sheltered in a pub for a few drinks before going back to the campsite to cook food.
So the next day, Sunday, we got picked up by Raftabout and taken 30 minutes out of Rotorua to the Kaituna river. We got kitted up in wetsuits etc and taught all the necessary bits. We were in a smaller boat than in Queenstown, with 4 paying people and 2 guides in our boat.We were soon on the river, and I was soaking wet in under a minute, as Matt managed to push me out that quickly! Still was a lot warmer than the South Island so I didn't mind too much. We soon hit the rapids, and the special bit about this river was that we went over a 7m waterfall, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world! And it was sweet!!!! So much fun, and we all managed to stay in the boat too! We also tried a bit of river surfing, which basically involved the guides putting the front of the boat into the bottom bit of a rapid, which meant a lot of water came onto the front of the boat, absolutely soaking me and Anna at the front until we could barely breathe!!!
So that was awesome fun, and we had to get the photos to prove it!
Next up that day, we went zorbing. This basically involved getting into a big inflatable ball, filled up with warm water, and going downhill in it! So much more fun than we ever though it could be, and we all felt about 5 years old after! Wicked.
Had an afternoon relax before heading to our cultural evening. We arrived and then headed off into the forest. A war canoe arrived up the river with about 8 Maori men on it, all lit up with fire torches and chanting. They all got out and the chief got into the water, and we all then realised that all he was wearing was a cloth around his waist, which only covered his front half!!! He had an amazing Maori tattoo all around the tops of his legs up to his waist.
After that we saw the hangi, the food cooked underground which we were about to eat - chicken, lamd, sweet potatoes etc - so yummy! We also saw a show, which wa set up in an old style Maori village. They did alot of their traditional songs and dancing, and they all performed the Haka,. It was really quite scary and fascinating at the same time. We also went for a walk into the forest to look at ll the glow worms. Was a really good evening and so interesting to learn about the maori culture and language.
Got back to the campervan by 2030 and watched a DVD before going to bed.
OK will finish the rest later, much more to come!
Hope you are all well and looking forward to seeing you soon
Love Kylie x x x x x
The rest of the South Island
Well, again another crazy week. I left you in Kaikoura with Anna and Matt whale watching.
We left Kaikoura and headed up the Kaikoura coast. It was beautiful, with gorgeous views from the road winding along the coast. We stopped en route to look at some fur seals just sunbathing on the rocks by the sea, they were so funny and only moving when they absolutely had to!
We also stopped to get some crayfish, cooked in a garlic butter. We demolished a whole one in about 5 minutes between us, it was so yummy.
We got to Blenheim in the evening and stopped by thye supermarket for food. They were selling mussels for 3 dollars a kilo, so we bought about 6 kilos worth for dinner! We cooked them in white wine, garlic, parsley and cream, they were so good! Almost couldnt finish them but they were too good not too!
The next day we got up to find it raining quite hard, but cleared by 10. So we hired some bikes and headed out on a wine tour of the area, the Marlborough wine region. We visited about 8/9 wineries in total and stopeed at lunch on the way back. The weather was really sunny but so windy and was quite hard wokr, especially when drunk! Still 10 bottles of bought wine later and we got back to the campa. We cooked dinner then headed to Picton to catch the 2235 ferry to Wellington, on the North Island. The ferry crossing took 3 hours, and would have been amazing views of the Queen Charlotte sound had it not been so dark! Eventually got off at 0130 in the morning and drove for about 40 minutes until we found a queit road to sleep in overnight!
So we made it to the North!!!
xx
We left Kaikoura and headed up the Kaikoura coast. It was beautiful, with gorgeous views from the road winding along the coast. We stopped en route to look at some fur seals just sunbathing on the rocks by the sea, they were so funny and only moving when they absolutely had to!
We also stopped to get some crayfish, cooked in a garlic butter. We demolished a whole one in about 5 minutes between us, it was so yummy.
We got to Blenheim in the evening and stopped by thye supermarket for food. They were selling mussels for 3 dollars a kilo, so we bought about 6 kilos worth for dinner! We cooked them in white wine, garlic, parsley and cream, they were so good! Almost couldnt finish them but they were too good not too!
The next day we got up to find it raining quite hard, but cleared by 10. So we hired some bikes and headed out on a wine tour of the area, the Marlborough wine region. We visited about 8/9 wineries in total and stopeed at lunch on the way back. The weather was really sunny but so windy and was quite hard wokr, especially when drunk! Still 10 bottles of bought wine later and we got back to the campa. We cooked dinner then headed to Picton to catch the 2235 ferry to Wellington, on the North Island. The ferry crossing took 3 hours, and would have been amazing views of the Queen Charlotte sound had it not been so dark! Eventually got off at 0130 in the morning and drove for about 40 minutes until we found a queit road to sleep in overnight!
So we made it to the North!!!
xx
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Queenstown and further!
OK, so haven't had much time to do this recently as we have been crazily busy!
Left off on our first full day in Queenstown. We had just been up the gondola, and then that afternoon we went white water rafting on the Shotover river. We met up at their shop in Queenstown and then got drivne about 40 mins to the place where they start the rafting. They didn't tell us we would be going on one of the dodgiest roads in the whole country though - a one lane, dirt track that wound its way along the side of the mountain, and at one point we even had to swing the front tyre off the edge in order to get around the corner!!!! Turns out it is an old mining road as they did loads of gold mining in the river up until 1992. I think I was scared more by the road then the rafting bit of the trip. Well after 20 nmins of me having my eyes closed and jeered at by Matt and Anna, we made it back to flat land! We got divided into 4 boats and loaded up into them with our paddles. Me and Matt found our way to the front of our boat and soon found ourselves pretty damn wet. There were a range of ra[pids on the river, ranging from grade IV to V and it was awesome. Rapids were really cool and we all got soaked, and amazingly no-one fell out. We even went through this cool long tunnel, and I was the only one steering at the front! Was really good fun, would definitely be something I would do again.
Well, we were very cold and wet by the end of it all and in need of the hot shower and sauna we had waiting for us.
That evening we went for dinner at Ferburger, apparently the best burger place in the world. it was pretty damn good as well, best burgwer I've ever had! We then went to town for a few drinks at World Bar, where we drank cocktails out of teapots.
The next day we decided that we hadn't had quite enough adrenaline and booked oursleves to do the 3rd biggest bungee in the world - the Nevis bungee, that involves a 134m drop over a river flowing through a canyon. The bungee bit is a large room suspended on the 3 steel ropes over the canyon - I think that was maybe more scary than the actual bungee bit!! Still was awesome, we all loved it and we have pictures and videos to prove it all!
Matt turned out to be first up, somethign which he wasn't particularly keen on, but he went for it anyway. Me and Anna had to wait a while longer as we were lighter than a lot of other people there. Still out turns soon came around and we both jumped, and loved it too!
Afterwards,w e had decided to leave Queenstown and we drove down to Te Anau, which is the main town and base for trips going to Milford Sound. Only took a couple of hours to get there and soon were there cooking dinner and relaxing before our next busy day.
We were up at and metting our tour bus at 0745 that would take us over to Milford. The scenery was amazing on the way, with more windy roads and it even started to snow a few times. At Milford, we had decided to do a kayak tour. Milford Sound is a huge Fjord and the scenery is stunning. Gorgeous mountains, waterfalls and just amazing to kayak around. We got kitted up in warm clothes, jackets and a kayak skirt. I was paired up with one of the guides as Matt and Anna were together in a kayak. I though this meant I would get an easy ride, but no, he made me do most of the paddling! It was so much fun being on the water and being able to get up close to the rocks, trees and waterfalls. We even managed to get within 3m of these seals just relaxing on some rocks! We spent about 3-4 hours on the water, and were well and truly knackered at the end, not to mention just a little bit wet!
We got back to Te Anau and just about managed to eat dinner before going to bed, early again!
The next day we undertook one of our longest drives so far. We decided to drive all the way up to the Franz Josef Glacier area, a good 900km at least. I was up first, and would you believe it, it started snowing!! And as we were up so early, the gritters hadn't even been out yet. We had to stop at one point to help a fellow campervan that had become stuck in the snow, and fortunately by that point, the gritters overtook us and paved the way. Fortunately the snow cleared and we got back to Queenstown without any dramas. We stopped there to check the roads we were about to go on were clear and book ed our glacier trup for the next day. Anna took over then and had some more windy roads to contend with, but at least no more snow. We stopped for lunch en route, and then Matt took over, and once again we had some snow! Crazy NZ weather! But as we got through the Haarst pass (amazing scenery) we reached the coastline, and it was glorios sunshine. We passed this awesome beach, where there were loads of rock towers - piles of stones all stacked up in towers. So we made a couple of our own, played on the beach and then carried on. We made it to Franz Josef in about 10-11 hours in the end, which was really good going as we stopped for quite a few scenery points.
Dinner and a few drinks in the pub and then to bed.
Next day we went down to the glacier tour centre and got kitted up for our day ahead. As so many travellers are so ill prepared for the cold weather, we were given boots. wooly socks, gloves, a hat, somw overtrousers and a waterproof coat for the glacier trip. We were also given crampons for our boots so we could grip the ice OK.
The glacier was incredible - at it's lowest it reaches 300m above sea level, extending up to 2000m and is about 15km long! Oh, and it is surrounded by rainforest! It was amazing to climb up. The guides have cut out steps so it is easier to walk up but it was still hard going on the old legs. The ice goes a beautiful blue colour as you climb in around it, just incredible. We were climbing in and around crevasses, crawled through holes in the ice and just generally got cold, wet and tired again! Amazing experience though, with some great views over the valley. We were on the ice about 6 hours in total.
So another busy day, so we had a bit of a lie in the following morning. We were up and moving by 10 and driving to Hamner Springs, which is more towards the east coast of the south Island. It was another long, windy drive up in the mountains again but we managed it quicker than we though. Hamner Springs is famour for 2 things in the area - skiing and its thermal springs. So within half hour of arriving we were soaking in 38 degree pools, relaxing our tired glacier ruined muscles! There were various pools ranging from 35 to 41 degrees, and just what we needed. Was bloody cold to get out of at the end though.
We had no food so ended up getting a thai takeaway and watching the film Juno in bed.
Another early start, on the road by 0730. We wanted to get to Kakoura, about a 2 hour wiggly road drive away which is on the north east coast on the south island. Matt and Anna have gone whale watching, where as I am chilling out in the glorious sunshine by the beach.
Planning to head to Blenheim later on adn get a bit of wine tasting deon, as this is the white sauvignon blanc region of the country. Thinking about heading to the north island soon.
Anyway, as you can probably tell, we're all still having an amazing time, just a shame it is going by so fast!!!
Hope you are all well, and keep the messages coming.
Love Kylie, Anna and Matt x x x
Left off on our first full day in Queenstown. We had just been up the gondola, and then that afternoon we went white water rafting on the Shotover river. We met up at their shop in Queenstown and then got drivne about 40 mins to the place where they start the rafting. They didn't tell us we would be going on one of the dodgiest roads in the whole country though - a one lane, dirt track that wound its way along the side of the mountain, and at one point we even had to swing the front tyre off the edge in order to get around the corner!!!! Turns out it is an old mining road as they did loads of gold mining in the river up until 1992. I think I was scared more by the road then the rafting bit of the trip. Well after 20 nmins of me having my eyes closed and jeered at by Matt and Anna, we made it back to flat land! We got divided into 4 boats and loaded up into them with our paddles. Me and Matt found our way to the front of our boat and soon found ourselves pretty damn wet. There were a range of ra[pids on the river, ranging from grade IV to V and it was awesome. Rapids were really cool and we all got soaked, and amazingly no-one fell out. We even went through this cool long tunnel, and I was the only one steering at the front! Was really good fun, would definitely be something I would do again.
Well, we were very cold and wet by the end of it all and in need of the hot shower and sauna we had waiting for us.
That evening we went for dinner at Ferburger, apparently the best burger place in the world. it was pretty damn good as well, best burgwer I've ever had! We then went to town for a few drinks at World Bar, where we drank cocktails out of teapots.
The next day we decided that we hadn't had quite enough adrenaline and booked oursleves to do the 3rd biggest bungee in the world - the Nevis bungee, that involves a 134m drop over a river flowing through a canyon. The bungee bit is a large room suspended on the 3 steel ropes over the canyon - I think that was maybe more scary than the actual bungee bit!! Still was awesome, we all loved it and we have pictures and videos to prove it all!
Matt turned out to be first up, somethign which he wasn't particularly keen on, but he went for it anyway. Me and Anna had to wait a while longer as we were lighter than a lot of other people there. Still out turns soon came around and we both jumped, and loved it too!
Afterwards,w e had decided to leave Queenstown and we drove down to Te Anau, which is the main town and base for trips going to Milford Sound. Only took a couple of hours to get there and soon were there cooking dinner and relaxing before our next busy day.
We were up at and metting our tour bus at 0745 that would take us over to Milford. The scenery was amazing on the way, with more windy roads and it even started to snow a few times. At Milford, we had decided to do a kayak tour. Milford Sound is a huge Fjord and the scenery is stunning. Gorgeous mountains, waterfalls and just amazing to kayak around. We got kitted up in warm clothes, jackets and a kayak skirt. I was paired up with one of the guides as Matt and Anna were together in a kayak. I though this meant I would get an easy ride, but no, he made me do most of the paddling! It was so much fun being on the water and being able to get up close to the rocks, trees and waterfalls. We even managed to get within 3m of these seals just relaxing on some rocks! We spent about 3-4 hours on the water, and were well and truly knackered at the end, not to mention just a little bit wet!
We got back to Te Anau and just about managed to eat dinner before going to bed, early again!
The next day we undertook one of our longest drives so far. We decided to drive all the way up to the Franz Josef Glacier area, a good 900km at least. I was up first, and would you believe it, it started snowing!! And as we were up so early, the gritters hadn't even been out yet. We had to stop at one point to help a fellow campervan that had become stuck in the snow, and fortunately by that point, the gritters overtook us and paved the way. Fortunately the snow cleared and we got back to Queenstown without any dramas. We stopped there to check the roads we were about to go on were clear and book ed our glacier trup for the next day. Anna took over then and had some more windy roads to contend with, but at least no more snow. We stopped for lunch en route, and then Matt took over, and once again we had some snow! Crazy NZ weather! But as we got through the Haarst pass (amazing scenery) we reached the coastline, and it was glorios sunshine. We passed this awesome beach, where there were loads of rock towers - piles of stones all stacked up in towers. So we made a couple of our own, played on the beach and then carried on. We made it to Franz Josef in about 10-11 hours in the end, which was really good going as we stopped for quite a few scenery points.
Dinner and a few drinks in the pub and then to bed.
Next day we went down to the glacier tour centre and got kitted up for our day ahead. As so many travellers are so ill prepared for the cold weather, we were given boots. wooly socks, gloves, a hat, somw overtrousers and a waterproof coat for the glacier trip. We were also given crampons for our boots so we could grip the ice OK.
The glacier was incredible - at it's lowest it reaches 300m above sea level, extending up to 2000m and is about 15km long! Oh, and it is surrounded by rainforest! It was amazing to climb up. The guides have cut out steps so it is easier to walk up but it was still hard going on the old legs. The ice goes a beautiful blue colour as you climb in around it, just incredible. We were climbing in and around crevasses, crawled through holes in the ice and just generally got cold, wet and tired again! Amazing experience though, with some great views over the valley. We were on the ice about 6 hours in total.
So another busy day, so we had a bit of a lie in the following morning. We were up and moving by 10 and driving to Hamner Springs, which is more towards the east coast of the south Island. It was another long, windy drive up in the mountains again but we managed it quicker than we though. Hamner Springs is famour for 2 things in the area - skiing and its thermal springs. So within half hour of arriving we were soaking in 38 degree pools, relaxing our tired glacier ruined muscles! There were various pools ranging from 35 to 41 degrees, and just what we needed. Was bloody cold to get out of at the end though.
We had no food so ended up getting a thai takeaway and watching the film Juno in bed.
Another early start, on the road by 0730. We wanted to get to Kakoura, about a 2 hour wiggly road drive away which is on the north east coast on the south island. Matt and Anna have gone whale watching, where as I am chilling out in the glorious sunshine by the beach.
Planning to head to Blenheim later on adn get a bit of wine tasting deon, as this is the white sauvignon blanc region of the country. Thinking about heading to the north island soon.
Anyway, as you can probably tell, we're all still having an amazing time, just a shame it is going by so fast!!!
Hope you are all well, and keep the messages coming.
Love Kylie, Anna and Matt x x x
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