Nov 2007

We arrived here severely hung over after the fancy dress party, we booked our glacier walk and picked up some stuff for tonights dinner, veggie curry, maybe not such a wise decision the night before going out on a half day walk! Myself, Noelle and Matt went out for a walk with MC to cheer her up, she'd had an email to say she's been rejected from 2 of her Uni choices. We stopped for a tasty hot chocolate and nattered away the afternoon. After dinner we were really tired and hit the hay ready for the early start.

Getting out of bed was a chore but we woke to a glorious sunny blue skied day which is apparently is a rarity in these parts so we got lucky. We kitted up with our geek hiker boots and cramp-ons for the icy climb ahead. After a short walk up the virtually dry river bed we reached the foot of the glacier. Steps are hacked into the ice by the guides to aid the steep climb it is an amazing place to be and once you've cleared the first section it feels like you are in the middle of the arctic. I recommend it to anyone visiting this part of the world.

The rest of my day has been spent updating this blog, looking forward to some food and a good sleep!

After having another night on the sauce myself and Ali decided that after our speedy hike we would go for a run to continue the routine. We checked into the Hostel while some of the bus went out on a jet boat that was supposed to be the best in the country but the guys said it wasn't worth the money. We got a great deal with the hostel as our group of 8 got a separate unit with it's own kitchen, lounge and dining area!

After the run we started dinner of chili con carne which turned out really well with Noelle making the best rice I've ever had, it melted in your mouth. I'm gonna get her to teach me!

That evening a few of the guys went off to the pub and managed to get free pitchers of beer from this crazy brewery owner who has a brand of beer called 'Good Bastard'. I missed out as I didn't think my liver could stand another hammering so I stayed in with MC and Noelle.

The next day we left for Lake Mahinapua but stopped about 200 yards from the hostel to visit the crazy brewery owner who was filming a TV ad for his beer so more free beer flowed and this was at 9am!

Tonight was the night for the fancy dress party, the theme being to dress as anything starting with the letter P, I decided to go as a Pikey and bought a suitably naff shirt and a nasty pair of cheap tracksuit bottoms which I would tuck into some white socks I borrowed. MC went as a Prostitute, Ali a Puff, Matt as Phantom of the Opera, Noelle a Pink Princess, Darren a Pirate and Ash just dressed in Pink, he owned nearly all his clothes already which is a little worrying. He is a legend though and have never met such a posh person before, he can drink like a trooper though, totally mental.

Amongst the other outfits were, Presents, a Pina Colada, Pimps, a Pyromaniac, Peasant, Protester and Papa Lazarou from League of gentleman which was a really good effort and won the best costume, such a shame that the guy who won it is a complete tosser!

As soon as we arrived in the South Island I could tell already how more picturesque it was than the north island. Everywhere you look there are stunning snow tip mountains and lakes. So pretty.

Our first stop on the South Island was Nelson. On our way to Nelson we stopped off in Marlborough for some wine tasting. Marlborough is the wine capital of New Zealand.

That evening me and Ali cooked up a massive plate of pasta in preparation for our big day out at Abel Tasman National Park then watched wedding crashers with the rest of the group followed by an early night.

Up at 6:20 to make sandwiches and get ready for our 7am pickup, there is a 1hr drive to the park then we had to take a water taxi up the coast of the park to our drop off point for the 4hr hike back through the park. On the way up we stopped off in a few of the many amazing bays along the coast. We also came across a huge pod of dolphins who were loving the speed of the boat and playing in it's wake, chasing and jumping out of the water, a truly amazing sight. It made the trip and we hadn't even started the walk yet!

We got dropped of at Onetahuti bay where we ate one of the huge ham, tomato and avocado sandwiches we'd made, they tasted great, you have to try one. We then set off on the walk down the coastal track to Torrent bay which is supposed to take 4hrs but we marched it in 2.5hrs overtaking a couple that we on our boat who were dropped off at Bark bay further down the coast. The walk was amazing and took in some stunning coastal views.

That night we ended up having a massive party in our room. Disgusting boxed wine is all the rage and after a few glasses it actually tastes OK! We went out to a great Irish bar with some traditional Irish music and dancing! Our Irish joker, Sean, was in his element. You would actually die from laughter even if you spent 1 minute in his company. Terrible language and constant jokes....brilliant!!!

This is a secluded hostel in the middle of nowhere and a truly beautiful place to chill out which is exactly what some of us did. Our room looked out over the river with a steep hill and a waterfall directly ahead. There was a suspended 2-man trolley with pulley system to get across the river which was a laugh. The rest of the day was spent relaxing. That evening we had a wonderful roast dinner and whiled away the evening drinking dark n stormy which is a very nice combination of dark rum, ginger ale and lime.

The next day was in very similar to the last as we spent the morning chilling out with the afternoon taken up by the journey to Wellington. On our way to Wellington we stopped off and did a nice brisk 1 1/2 hour walk to an amazing water fall. I've lost count of the number of falls I've seen since traveling but each one is different and still very beautiful. We stopped here for lunch before continuing to Wellington.

We arrived in Wellington (capital of New Zealand) on Friday night, got ready and went straight down to the hostel bar where we got completely smashed, what a great night out. The entire bus was out Wellington is amazing! Such a party city. The next day was spent recovering, shopping and preparing for Saturday night which turned out to be as crazy as Friday night.

By the time Sunday arrived everyone was a mess and my liver was in danger of leaving my body of it's own accord. It's all good fun though. There is a group of 8 of us are really close now and its just so much fun! There is MC (Marie-Clair) Ali, Jenny, Darren, Ash, Matt and Noelle.

Monday saw an early start for the ferry to the 3 hr trip to the South Island at least I got to see United beat Blackburn, sorry Mum

Day 1

Today we headed off for Taupo but first was the Caving in Waitomo at the Black Water Rafting Co. This was an awesome 5hr trip involving abseiling, zip-lining and climbing all inside underground limestone caves.

First we had to practice abseiling outside to get used to controlling our speed and stopping after this we headed straight into the caves, our access point involved abseiling 40 meters through at small opening which you had to kind of shuffle through but which then opened up into a larger cavern that was pitch black. You get a small head torch which helps but it’s not powerful enough to illuminate the bottom, all you can see it the light of the guide who it at the base of the line in case you get into trouble.

After climbing down a few meters we were all told to turn off our lights so we were in pitch darkness and one by one we were sent down a zip-line completely blind which was so much fun and a little scary. We all had to make lots of noise on the way down creating vibrations to make the glow worms light up. At the bottom you could see hundreds of them on the cave ceiling glowing and glinting in the darkness, amazing!

After a warm cup of tea we headed down stream into the freezing underground river to explore further into the caves seeing more glow worms and a massive eel! After this at a fork we headed up stream along a smaller more enclosed river at times on all fours crawling through gaps, pretty intense but amazing fun, the best was yet to come when we had to climb up through some fairly fast flowing waterfalls. This is one of the best activities I’ve done so far. After a hot shower and a even hotter bowl of soup I was nice and warmed up ready to head to Taupo where I’d do another sky dive….

Day 2

An early rise of 5:30am was in store to see me head off to do the Tongariro crossing, one of the top ten 1 day hikes in the world and the best in NZ. I was supposed to be heading out with Alli a fellow Manc but he failed to make it out of bed, more fool him as this was an amazing day. There were lots of others from the Kiwi bus on the hike though so I didn’t have to enjoy it alone. The hike sees you hike up alongside Mount Ngauruhoe but LOTR fans will know it better as Mount Doom. After a relatively touch climb up what is known as the Devil’s Staircase you reach the South Crater of one of the volcanos, an impressive sight and about the size of 2 football pitches if not bigger. At the other side of the crater we headed up Red Crater Ridge where you get amazing views of Mt Doom and on a clear day you can see coast to coast. This crater is active and has hot spots all over so you get a nice warm bum while you eat lunch. After this we head down to Emerald lakes which is inside the Central Crater and also holds Blue Lake and offers spectacular views. After this it’s all downhill as you head off the mountain to the other side to get picked up.