last post in new zealand

hello all,

nothing exciting happened inbetween leaving taupo and getting to auckland. we stopped in smelly rotorua and hobbiton very briefly and had the richest ice chocolate e-v-e-r. greg had the worst sausage roll ever too. aboslute shocker.

we had planned to go to hard rock cafe tonight for our last meal but it turns out there isn't one in auckland, like we originally thought. so we went for an italian instead, which was really nice. it was a good way to end a great trip.

well this is weird, it's our last proper night in new zealand, tomorrow night we're staying at an airport hotel. this will be our last post whilst in new zealand too... we'll try and sneak a couple in when we're at sydney and singapore airports, but there wont be any photo's now til we get back.

in answer to peoples comments, our hair is a bit lighter, gregs more so, but we still sound the same. since kaikoura we haven't really taken many photo's at all, nevermind of ourselves, because after kaikoura we were just re tracing our steps, we took lots of photo's of those places on the way down. you can look forward to photos of us both sat around waiting at various airports on thursday and friday. we have a 7 hour wait in sydney so we'll see what we can come up with.

don't think there's much more to say, hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow as the hotel near the airport has a pool, otherwise we'll be sat watching tv.

well, see you all in a few days!!!! x x x

photo's from the last few days

hello all, we've got a computer that we can put pics on with so here's the photo's from when we left kaikoura to arriving in taupo.

the drive from kaikoura to picton (where we caught the ferry) was one of the most scenic. on one side you had snow capped mountains and on the other, beautiful coastline.

this is the cable car we took up to the botanical gardens in wellington.

on saturday on the way to taupo we drove past mt. ruapehu, which is next to mt. doom where we did the tongariro crossing.

our driver told us that there was a lahar (massive mud / water flow) due because of the build up of the water in one of the crater lakes. he said it could reach the road we were on and could cause a lot of damage.

we thought nothing of it but today we found out that on sunday the mud flow broke through the volcanic wall on top of mt. ruapehu's crater lake and millions of gallons of acidic water and mud washed away 130 feet of wall.

in 1953 a lahar from the same volcano killed 151 people. luckily no one was hurt this time.

this is the infamous huka falls. in reply to percy... our driver said peter plumley-walker's last words were "f*cking hell how much is this going to cost?"

tonight is our third and final night in taupo, there's nothing to tell you about really, the clocks went back an hour at weekend and the weather has been pretty crap. we're off to auckland tomorrow for our last two nights. it's strange to think that we are going to be home this weekend... remember no one tell jack if you see him!

we hope your all about for drinks on saturday, it's most probably going to be in the royal scot as usual. we'll let you know a time in a few days. no doubt we'll be in touch with most of you soon after being home. percy when do you get back from uni?

well we'll be back online tomorrow to waste the 4 dollars credit we have at 'global gossip' so look out for an exciting action packed post!

x x x

kaikoura to taupo

hello everyone, we hope you have a good st. patricks day and jack we are glad that sophie does love you.

so anyway, we left kaikoura and caught a ferry over to wellington. we had one full day in wellington so we wandered around the city, took the old cable car up to the botanic gardens and went to the te papa museum.

we've got pictures of the cable car etc but can't put them on right now.

the te papa is the national museum and is massive! it's really good and quite hands on... a bit like eureka near leeds. we spent hours in there, there is so much to see.

this morning we set off for taupo. stopped at huka falls on the way, which both beautiful and impressive.... and has quite an interesting story to it.... gc and percy you'll like this one. this isn't for little eyes.

the falls is where international cricket umpire peter plumley-walker met his end. peter, a well respected and prim and proper man, had an unusual fetish for being strangled by a dominatrix for sexual pleasure. one day he used the services of such a lady and during the act he dropped to the floor. the woman rang her fiancee asking what to do with the body of such a famous person. he suggested the huka falls, where it had been said a body could disappear into deep underwater caves. they travelled from auckland to the falls to dispose of the body, the plan worked and the body dissapeared. but about a week later peter was found in the water with his wrists and ankles bound, the police suspected a not so normal death. a post mortem revealed that peter had in fact drowned to death... he was still alive when they threw him in!

our driver told us that one...

anyway, we're in taupo now for 3 nights before heading up to auckland for 2 nights... our last stop! we'll try and post photo's soon.

see you next weekend! x x x

we're back on - taupo to wanaka

hello everyone,

we have finally found somewhere with a half decent computer to post a blog on. sorry for the delay but we have been very busy and the west coast has limited internet facilities.

so, here's what we've been doing while you've all been talking football...

after leaving taupo on thurs 22nd feb we made our way to river valley, which is a lodge in the middle of nowhere. it was really nice and there was a river just by the side of it so we all went for a dip. that night we had a lovely roast dinner and got to know the people on our bus.

the next morning, while greg had a lie in and then played some volleyball, amy went horse trekking. it was really good and becsue me and two other girls were experienced we got to pretty much do what we wanted as long as we followed the track. it was amazing, i've never been on such an energetic and FAST horse. the scenery was amazing too. however near the end of the trekk i was first to go down this little ditch and found out it was a bad idea when we got down there. the mud was really deep and my horse, bling, got stuck. in the end he was completely stuck, you couldn't see his legs at all and he was just sat there. i jumped off and everyone was shouting for the guide. luckily he got himself out, but we were both very shaken afterwards.

from river valley we moved onto wellington, we were meant to be staying there for three nights but because we couldn't get a double for all of those nights we ended up only staying one. so we have no pictures from there yet... we will be going back there on our way back up north.

after wellington we took the ferry over to the south island and stopped for the night in nelson at a posh backpackers. nelson seemed a really nice place to chill out but because of full buses we only had one night there. we had a look round the queens gardens then had another good roast dinner and spent the evening in the bar.

our next stop was westport, we didn't do much there, greg played football with all the lads and amy watched american psycho with the rest of the group.

on the way to our next stop, lake mahinapua, we stopped to see a seal colony.

whilst there we also spotted this..

in lake mahinapua we stayed in a tiny pub / backpackers, kiwi experience stops there seven days a week and has a fancy dress party. so on the way there we picked up some clothes for our "what i want to be when i grow up" party.

those of you who followed ryan and emma's travels might remember him dressed as a woman and talking about a guy called les. this is the same place. we even saw a picture of them in the photo album. there are pictures all over the walls and in albums of past groups who have stayed there. this is our picture that will be in one of the albums.

the night there was amazing. we really got to know a lot of the people on our bus and had a really fun time. greg was a pirate and amy was someone who wanted to stay in bed all day.

the next day, tues 27th feb (HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE CLARKE) we went to franz josef. on the way we stopped off at this random bushmans centre ran by a madman called pete. we paid $4 to watch a video of him shooting deer while mice ran along the floor and everyone was in fits of laughter at the crappyness of the situation. pete told us of this fierce wild pig he had and that one of our group was going to feed him. we were all expecting this crazy unstoppable beast, but all it did was potter in, eat and then lie down. very dissapointing.

some people tried 'pete's possum pie' but me and greg didn't like the look of it and were glad we didn't bother. we thought it would be like eating 'rat pie' in england, as they are a pest over here and don't look very tasty at all.

franz josef was our next destination. it was a really small but attractive town, famous for the franz josef glacier which is really special as it is known as a 'warm glacier' and the bottom is surrounded by rainforest.

we were lucky enough to have the chance to go ice climbing on our free day in franz josef, most of our bus wanted to go but only 12 could.

it was an amazing experience to see the glacier and then actually go walking and climbing on it. it was a lot of hard work walking up it and amy's boots were too small so they were putting presure on her shins. the climbing was very tough too but after doing it there was a real sense of achievment.

i (amy) had a really tough time my shins hurt so much that i really didn't enjoy the walk up there. infact it was really tough to keep myself going but i did and i'm glad i did and am proud of myself for doing it. the actual climbing was hard but in a different way, it was really scary. one of the guys on our bus, niell, was really scared too so we helped each other through it and made it in the end. this picture is of me and niell, he was so nice to me and i'm so glad he was there.

i (greg) found the walk and the climb very challenging but as i said earlier there was a real sense of achievment after doing it and when i got the hang of it, it was one of the best experiences i've had on our travels. it was also great to be up on the glacier with such a good group of people who all supported each other.

this is greg climbing, we have a lot of better pictures of him but we can't rotate them on this computer so you'll have to wait to see the rest.

this is greg and dom, one of the guys on the bus who we have become mates with.

this gives you an idea of where we were climbing. the walls we are on here, on the left, were the easier ones then once we had mastered those we moved onto the walls on the right, which were a lot higher and harder.

after the climbing we got back to the hostel and jumped straight in the hot tub. it was so nice and relaxing and we must have been in there about two hours. when we finally managed to pull ourselves away from the hot tub, a group of us went out for an indian at a local restaurant. the food was really nice and it was a really good night.

we left franz josef early in the morning in order to see lake matheson, a mirror lake. it was really pretty and a nice walk.

we also stopped at a huge waterfall, another nice stop. again we have pictures of the waterfall but we can't rotate them.

and that brings us to where we are now, wanaka. yesterday when we got here greg and the lads had a game of football while amy and a few of the girls went and sat by the lake.

last night, we went out to a bar with everyone on our bus. it was a really good night and was our last night with a lot of people. we had built up quite a good group over the past week or so and it was a shame that over the next couple of days we're all getting split up, with some people staying in places longer and others going home etc.

today we had a big lie in and have got some stuff to sort out, like washing etc as it's been a busy week. we're off to the cinema later with a few of the people that stayed in wanaka.

hopefully it wont be as long til we post another blog, we'll try and get on again soon. hope you've enjoyed this HUGE one.

see you all in three weeks! x x x

waitomo to taupo

hello everyone,

we've done quite a lot since we last posted.

before leaving waitomo we stopped off nearby to go black water rafting in the waitomo caves. amy was a bit scared at first as the way into the caves was through this tiny little gap in the rock. there was also quite a tight squeeze in one place. but after that it was amazing. we saw eels and glow worms and jumped backwards off waterfalls. it was really fun but very cold!

from waitomo we headed down to taupo.... where amy jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet! it was absolutely amazing, just like flying! i wasn't nervous at all, the scary bit was once we'd jumped out and i looked down and for a split second thought i was going to go shooting down like a canon and hit the floor... once i didn't it was amazing. i can't begin to explain what it was like. but i've got a video and some pictures for you all to see.

after the skydive we made our way to the hostel and had an early night in preparation for the long walk the next day.

so on tuesday morning at about 5am we were picked up and taken to the tongariro national park. the walk is just over 18km long and very hard work! about an hour in we had to climb up the devil's staircase... and we can assure you it's not called that for nothing. it took about 45mins but once we had made it to the top, the views of mount ngauruhoe (mount doom) and the surroundings were incredible so it was well worth the climb. it was amazing to see a volcano so big from so close. you could see where the lava had flowed down the mountain, and devils staircase itself is where the lava came down. it's hard to explain how amazing it was up there.

anyway, we walked through a 1km crater and up another huge climb before skidding down the other side. you can see how high up we were on this picture.

as we made our way back down we got to see the emerald lakes, which are an emerald colour due to the sulphur and other chemicals in them. once we had passed them and the blue lake we had another few hours walk back down to the end.

in all it took us about 6 hours and by the end we were both knackered. both of us are feeling it in our legs today! because of the big walk yesterday we have spent today, enjoying a lie in and relaxing in the sun by the side of lake taupo, the biggest lake in new zealand.

tomorrow we make our way to river valley for one night then onto the capital, wellington for another three nights.

just before we go, here's a few pictures from the first few days in new zealand.

this is the gold mining tunnels on the walk we did a few days ago.

this is the village where hobbiton from lord of the rings was filmed. the actual hobbiton was built in a local farm and left there for a year so that when they started filming it looked lived in. amy really wanted to go to the farm but we couldn't stop as we had to get back on the bus :(

this is the maori village we visited when we were in rotorua.

this is a geyser in the geothermal park we visited in rotorua.

we have loads and loads of amazing pictures but it's just way too hard and time consuming to upload even a small amount of them so you'll have to wait til we get back to see the rest!

see you in 4 weeks! x x x

ps. hi dave, thanks for the big emails, we can't really reply at the moment, because as you guessed we are pushed for time in internet cafe's.

mercury bay to waitomo

hello everyone,

all is going well in new zealand, no photo's again though, sorry. once we get to a place where we can upload some we will do, though it takes up a lot of time so even then it may only be a few... you'll have to wait till we get back for most of them.


anyway, from mercury bay we set off to rotorua, which smells of eggs. it's a geothermal area, with a large amount of sulphur, boiling mud pools and geysers. quite cool but also very smelly. we also got to see a kiwi bird while we were there.

on the way to rotorua we stopped off to go on a walk in an old gold mining area. we got to walk through the old gold mining tunnels and saw some amazing scenery.

we spent our evening in rotorua at a maori cultural evening. we visited a typical maori village where we saw and learnt all about how the maori's originally lived, and got to see lots of dancing, singing, chanting and even the infamous haka. we had a meal cooked traditionally in a 'hangi'. an earthed maori oven, the food is cooked under the ground over hot volcanic rocks. the meal was really nice.

today we drove up to waitomo and have just been chilling out in the sun at the hostel... suprisingly it's really hot here. pretty much the same as australia! and it's meant to be like this for the next five days. we were talking to our driver and she said that even in the south island it's still hot during the summer.

tomorrow before we head to taupo we are going black water rafting, which is basically walking through caves and then jumping in the water into a ring and paddling through the caves. there are glow worms and things to see too. should be good.

after that we head down to taupo where we are staying for three nights. while we are there we plan to do the tongariro crossing, a 17km walk where you get to see the emerald lakes and mt. doom from 'the lord of the rings'!

we'll be in touch again soon.

hope everyones well. x x x