My life is so exciting!!

G'DAY

Sorry for the tiny font in my last blog - this website has changed it's appearance :-(

Well, it's only been a short time since my last update but I'm going to try and update it at least on a weekly basis so I don't get too far behind.

Basically we spent a couple of days in Christchurch where there was hardly anything to do - souvenir shopping and that was it.  But I can say we had a lovely roast dinner at a pub and it was only 4 quid - yum yum!  Other than that no real highlight there.

Tuesday we made our way to the airport and left for Sydney that afternoon - a pleasant flight and got rather excited when I saw the Sydney Opera House in the distance from the plane!  We got a shuttle to our pre-booked hostel and it turned out to be quite a dive!  Plus we both had to climb up over some bars to get onto our bunk beds - not good when you have to do it in the middle of the night to go for a wee!  But luckily it was only one night and then we made our way back near the airport by train to the campervan hire place where we picked up our little 'Hippie Campervan' - not as little as the last one though.  It's actually a converted transit van, unleaded petrol (cheap) and manual.  I drove it out of the depot, got on the highway and we thought we were lost but found out we were on the right road where we drove straight over the Sydney Harbour Bridge which was quite exciting for our second day in Australia!

So we made our way up to Palm Beach - the place where they film Home & Away and saw them filming!  OMG!  Let me just give you some background on me - for some reason I'm hooked on H&A!  So this was major stuff for me!  So we parked up - outside the surfclub and saw two takes filmed of Leah and Colleen.  It then rained quite hard, went round the corner and saw Martha just about to do a 'take.'  Once they'd finished shooting I remembered her real name 'Jodi' and asked for a photo - big cheesy grin from me but no teeth from her! hee hee.  Ria also had her picture taken  Then after getting excited about that we went to a tralier and saw Jack outside and we had our pics taken with him and I said to him "my sister loves you" and he responded with "oh, hello sister" (sorry Aaron!)  Also got a picture with Jai - a newcomer to the show.  We got some fan pics from a bloke and then thought we really should make our way onto our first stop, Lake Macquarie and found 3 campsites - all offices were shut though as it was past 6pm!!!  We were imagining having to sleep in some rest area for the night - pretty creepy but luckily we went to campsite number four and it was open - we even had a 'drive thru en-suite'  - yes it really is that! 

Thursday, Ria was feeling unwell - she's got a nasty cold - which as I type this I'm now starting to get....thanks Ria!  We made our way to Newcastle (Australia!) where we got some brochures from the Information Centre and then afterwards got lost trying to find our way out of the town - we seem to do that alot here!  They need decent signposts and the roads aren't very good either - bumpy and lots of pot holes!  But anyway, we finally got out of there and made our way along the Pacific Highway to Port Macquarie and thought that as it was like 5pm we should start thinking about finding a site as we realised that most campsites shut early!  So we found a nice one and got a discount card which entitles us off to 10%.  The good thing about the campsites here are the prices - something like $25 a night on average between us - about 10 quid!  But anyway, we parked up and then decided we'd go back out and find a food shop.  Got some grub and went back to cook it - pasta, bolognaise sauce with mushrooms and peppers - our speciality!  

Friday, we left quite early and drove onto Coffs Harbour and parked up there for lunch where we ate prawns in breadcrumbs with some chips - naughty but very tasty!  The weather is improving as we're heading North too so we decided to find a campsite and enjoy it.  A few km's further we came across Moonee Beach which was a lovely little cove and we had a pitch right next to the beach.  We then read about the possibility of seeing some kangaroos so we headed off to Woolgooga and stayed there for about an hour and a half waiting for dusk but then dusk came and no sign, but we had a lovely view of the waves breaking.  That evening we just had some toast and jam for dinner as we'd had our main meal earlier that day.

Saturday we left there and made our way to Grafton which I'd read about in one of our brochures to see some 'Jacaranda' trees - hey, they looked pretty in one of the pictures.  So we got there and saw these little colonnial buildings - more like an old country & western town and found the stunning bright purple trees - the leaves anyway!  We went into the Info Centre and they gave us a route to follow of where we could view them all - they only bloom like this in October.  So we drove along the route and Ria took some pictures for us - very pretty.  After that we got back onto the Pacific Highway and headed for Byron Bay.  En-route we stopped at a lookout and saw some dudes surfing and then all of a sudden caught a glimpse of a whale that was really close to shore.  Every now and then we'd see it's blowhole and a bit of it's body stick out of the water where it was making it's way further out to sea - we couldn't believe how close it came to the surfers!  We then drove a little further and made it to Byron Bay and found a campsite for the night - not the best we've stayed at but we're gonna try another one tonight.

So today, we're taking it easy and going to see what's around the town.  We're looking to stay here for about another 3/4 days and then we'll head further north.  We've made good time as we've done 1000km's already and we have 2000 more to do in like 4 weeks.  We're hoping to have a surf lesson here and by the end of it they guarantee that you'll be riding waves!  Woo hoo

Anyway, I reckon that's about it.  The sun is shining and it's lovely and hot here so I'm gonna go get me a tan coz it's already faded since Fiji!  G'day  

Afternoon!  It's been a busy 13 days in our little campervan - we've travelled virtually all over NZ and done 2600km's which is quite a bit for a small country!

I left my last blog telling you that we were in Wellington and on the Friday we were departing there to go on the Interislander Ferry to Picton, South Island.  Well, just to let you know we managed to get there - in case you were wondering!  Not much to report on the actual ferry crossing as it was extremely boring - so much so I had a nap!  As soon as we arrived in Picton we made our way via the scenic route to Nelson where we arrived about 8.30 that evening.

Saturday we checked out and went to the information desk in Nelson where we booked ourselves onto a 13,000ft skydive!  It was quite spontaneous as we had talked about trying to do it in Queenstown but the weather was so nice that we thought we'd do it then and there.  We got picked up in the town centre and went on a 45 minute drive into the Abel Tasman National Park and had our introduction and then got kitted up - before having 2 wee's of course!  We were introduced to our tandem skydiver buddy - mine was called Mike and he came from England of all places.  He explained everything to me, what I should do and when - quite simple really but when you're nervous about jumping out of a perfectly functional plane it doesn't quite sink in!  I got in the plane first with 'my bloke' and sat right on his crotch - we got very close indeed!  Then two other pairs came in and then Ria got in with her 'buddy.'  She had the best view but on the downside she was first out!  We climbed and climbed altitude and after about 20 minutes we got to 13,000ft where the door was opened and the next thing I know Ria is dangling out of the plane waving at the camera and then all of a sudden - gone!  Bye Riaaaaaaaaa    Then the two other pairs went and then finally it was my turn - the nerves had kicked in - not as bad as I thought they would have though!  We shuffled to the opening - me still on top of his legs (poor bloke!) and then all of a sudden I was actually dangling out of the plane trying to catch my breath while attempting to smile for the camera - let me tell you it wasn't easy!  A few seconds of smiling and waving at the camera then away we went!  It was absolutely amazing - just like flying (falling, but flying) and the views were fantastic - the only massive downside was the extreme pain I felt in my ears - like I'd burst my ear drums or something.  Apparently some people experience it with all the air pressure - it was painful but then he pulled his cord and we shot up in the air a good few feet and the parachute was released.  He kept putting his thumb up to check I was ok - I'd put my thumb up and told him I was in pain with my ears and he said just keep trying to clear your ears by blowing etc.  The screeching coming from clearing my ears was quite disturbing but after a little time it got soooo much better and I could actually enjoy the rest of the descent.  Mike was pointing at the landscape and telling me what was where and I was just smiling, enjoying the ride and then he said lift your legs right up and then we landed - I then put my feet firmly on the ground - ahhh I'm safe!  Ria came over to me and hugged me - we were both smiling and just in a state of 'whoa' .... it's hard to explain!  We then took off our jumpsuits, bought a t-shirt and got whisked away back to the town.  What an adventure that was, we were talking about it for ages - Ria had the ear pain too and we both said we wanted to do it again but we'd make sure we had ear plugs next time!  Looking back now it just seems unreal.

After that we drove for about 2 1/2 hours until we got into Westport and stopped there for the night.  Sunday we drove to a place called Cape Foulwind (nice name!) but what was really nice about the place was it has a seal colony - not just any seals but the cute furry ones!  We took some photos naturally and then made out way to Hokitika.  En route we stopped at some little goldmining museum and paid $5 to look around at a big fat boring nothing - plus we seemed to be the only people there so we made our exit fast - I blame Ria coz she wanted to go there - she knows it too!  So we arrived in Hokitika and that evening we went to ta glow worm dell and saw these tiny little bright lights in the trees but as we get spooked easily we didn't stay too long - hey we were the only ones there and it was pitch black!

After a very cold night in the van we bought some souvenirs in the town centre and then went onto Franz Josef.  We had a look round the town and then made our way up to the huge glacier - quite extraordinary really.  After a few pics we came back to town and found a site for the night.  Unfortunately that evening I had a dodgy delhi belly - yuk!

I woke up the next day feeling unwell still but we made our way to Fox Glacier and again took some more pics - looks just like Franz Josef!  We would have liked to have hiked on one of them but the tours were incredibly expensive.  So we drove and drove - for about 5 1/2 hours in total taking turns and arrived in Queenstown.  As we'd had such a long day driving we decided we'd eat out so I had a delicious rump steak with chips and Ria had a very yukky looking Prawn Satay with noodles dish.  And then we had a chocolate , peanut & banana dessert thing.

Queenstown is a lot smaller than I imagined it to be - more like a big ski resort.  The next day, Wednesday we decided that we should do a bungee jump so we opted for Kawarau bridge - the original birthplace of the bungy jump.  We were driven there and made our way to the bridge and because Ria is so small she made it straight to the front of the queue - so she was harnessed up and ready to go.  They counted down 3,2,1 twice and then on the third time she jumped - I was so proud of her - she enjoyed it.  We both think that a bungy jump is more scary than a skydive.  With a bungy jump you have to jump off it yourself but with a tandem skydive someone is kind of doing it for you.  About 8 jumps later it was my turn to go and I was back in the position I was in about a year ago.  He counted down 3,2,1 and then I just jumped.  I'd asked beforehand if I could at least touch the water with my hands but he said I might go deeper btu I said I was ok with it.  I ended up getting most of my upper body wet - it was a very big dip and it was very cold too.  But I enjoyed it just as much as the first one I did!

Afterwards we got our free t-shirt and certificate and were driven back to town where we had some lunch and then had a look around.  Thursday morning we left the site and decided last minute to go on the gondola (a cable car) so we parked up and took a cable car to the top of a very high mountain - had a good look over Queenstown and took some pics.  We came back down and then basically drove for about 10 hours with stops and in turns right up to Kaikoura - a last minute decision to go that far but what the heck!  En ruote we came across two beautiful lakes, Pukaki and Tekapo - we've never seen anything like it.  The views were breathtaking and I don't even think the pictures will do it justice.  We arrived in Kaikoura about 9pm and parked up on a site. 

We came to Kaikoura in the hope of going on a whale watch tour so yesterday (Friday) we went into town and debated over whether we should spend 60 quid looking for whales and we thought 'what the hell.'  So we wrapped up warm and went out on a small catamaran searching for big sperm whales!  And we sure did see them - we saw about 4 in total which is a good tour.  We saw their blowholes from quite a distance and sailed up quite near to them for good views.  Unfortunately as they live in water you don't really get amazing views or pictures or even tell exactly how massive they really are.  Then just when you're getting a bit bored they take one last breath of air and dive and that's the best bit of all as their tail fin flips into the air and you get a view of a lifetime.  It was really quite something to see.  I got a fantastic picture of two whales taking a dive side by side (which is rare) but unfortunately Ria was trying to get a picture through her low battery camera and missed it.  Although I only really saw it through the camera lens.  After that we saw some albatross and also some very cute acrobatic dusky dolphins so it was a worthwhile trip.

We left Kaikoura this morning and made our way to Christchurch where we checked-in to a hostel and then returned our little campervan which we had actually grown very fond of.  So tomorrow and Monday we'll be having a look around the city and then Tuesday it's off to Australia - oh well....that's life I suppose! 

Kia Ora (it means hi..... not the orange squash drink)

Tuesday we woke up to rain so we left the campsite and headed into the town where we stopped at the information centre as I wanted to find out what the weather would be like for the next day and whether I'd have any chance of doing a skydive - in a nutshell no chance as there was a storm heading our way from the south.  So then we left Taupo and headed straight for Wellington - the capital city.  I drove the first half through fog, torrential rain and gusts, we stopped along the way for some lunch and then Ria said she wanted to drive so she drove for the rest of it.  We saw lots of scenery ... nearby though coz the rest of it was covered by fog!  We did make our way to a hostel where they provided parking for campervans so we parked up on a slope, paid for a night and then took a look round and made the excuse of me having a weak bladder so I wouldn't be able to walk that far and upstairs in the middle of the night for a wee (hey - I do have a weak bladder!) so we said we were gonna leave and got our money back!  Phew!  So from there we went about 5 minutes out of the city to a motel which provided motorhome pitches and camped there, where we have stayed since.  It's a nice little site which has a tv, kitchen, showers/loos and laundry. 

Anyway, not much else to say.  We're off to do whatever else there is to do in Wellington (which is not very much).....  

Well, we went to Pearl harbor and both really enjoyed that - a little sad but interesting. The only thing they forgot to mention was the fact the US dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. It was a little biased on their behalf because when I went to Hiroshima the Japanese accepted that they weren't blameless. Anyway, on the Monday (22nd) we did some shopping and wrote some postcards out then afterwards we went to the beach for one last time and did some bodyboarding and whilst we were there a local man started talking to me and said he felt sorry for Ria coz she was struggling to catch the waves so he offered to get his decent bodyboards out of his car and came back with some flippers too which we thought was really nice of him. We asked him if he wanted to join us in the water to give us some tips and he helped us catch some nice waves - it was amazing - next time I'm surfing....dude :-)

Today we're just relaxing and then tomorrow we head to Auckland, NZ for our next adventure where we've hired a campervan for 15 days to get us from Auckland to Christchurch via Queenstown where hopefully we (maybe just me) will do some skydiving and more bungee jumping! Woo hoo :-D