Christchurch Part 2

I'm aware I haven't done a Christchurch Part 1 but I called it '2' because it's the second time I was there lol.

So I didn't do anything really! Just watched movies and chilled. Saw The Guardian (good movie!), The Whole 9 Yards (also good!) and Pitch Black (not so great lol).

The streets of Christchurch felt a lot like Harrow. Ok so there weren't ghetto rudes "kotching" at a bus station with their jeans below their buttocks BUT the shops and their arrangements reminded me of St Georges etc lol. Strangely there weren't many tourist shops. Tried finding that 'Sweet As...' t-shirt but no luck :(

Nevermind. I'm back in Sydney now and it's raining! I went to buy a bottle of 'natural mineral water' but when I opened it it fizzed everywhere. Bloody Australians. I'm here for 1 full day and then I leave on 2nd July. Looking forward to it!

Just read up about PS3 firmware update 2.4 hitting on 2nd July as well as DualShock 3 release the same day...awesome! :D

Flight screw up...

Ok so that title sounds a lot more dramatic than what's actually happened, but believe me the panic at the time warrants it!

Turns out that whilst I thought my flight to Sydney from Christchurch was on 1st July, it's actually on 30th June. Thank god I didn't decide to stay at Queenstown till the 30th! I called up to try a get a refund on 1 night's accomodation here at Base Christchurch (had to call Base Queenstown because that's where I booked/paid for it). Fingers crossed it'll come through. I've also added an extra night at Wake Up in Sydney. I'm just praying I've done it all properly this time :|

Anyway so I'm back in Christchurch, hoping to have a few chilled out, cheap days. A few people from my Kiwi bus should be here tomorrow night which'll be cool. Other than that I'm hoping to catch up on some reading (The Hunt for Red October).

Feels strange to be so close to the end of my trip. Strange in a good way though. Nikhil told about about Neil playing through MGS2 and now MGS3 (which he'll follow with MGS1, god only knows why lol). I'm envious!

Drinking

That sums up a large part of Queenstown life lol. The nightlife here is really good. Had a couple of big nights out with the people from the Kiwi bus and the standard route is this: drink in rooms/hallway, head down to altitude (the hostel bar) between 9 and 10 and drinks lots more, stumble over to 'the world bar' and attempt to get in. I have yet to be denied :D

So what else have I done here: indoor mini golf - really good fun and some crazy contraptions. Also saw a kiwi haka show after a gondola ride up. Really wouldn't want to face those Maori guys - they scare the shit out of me!

Today i went to Milford Sound. It was stunning! The waterfalls are probably the best part. We saw some bottle-nosed dolphins and seals too. The underwater observatory after the cruise recreated marine life from 2km deep, but it was actually only 30m deep. The explanation was pretty complicated but had something to do with it being a sheltered area and the mixing (or lack of mixing) or salt water and fresh water. A good day but the bus journey is pretty horrendous from QT. 4 hours each way, although it is pretty scenic.

Onto Christchurch tomorrow. 4 nights there, which is far too long I hear. But I don't really have a choice so nevermind. Will just chillout and try not to spend too much lol. Hopefully bump into the dubai guys, who taught me to say "ride my dick and spin on it" in arabic lol. Need to book a hostel for Sydney. Wake Up or not Wake Up, hmm....

Wanaka to Queenstown

The hostel we stayed at in Wanaka wasn't a hostel at all (the fact that it was called Wanaka Hotel gave it away lol). Even though it was the standard hostel price, we had ensuite rooms with baths and a TV. They play three movies every night too. We watched The Day After Tomorrow. Not much else went on really. Most people were preparing for the first night in Queenstown, which was last night.

And it was good! Drinks in the room followed by drinks in the hostel bar followed by drinks in World Bar down the road lol. Really good fun...World Bar was packed and live! Most people tried the famous teapots but I missed out. Something for tonight then :P Actually Milford Sound tomorrow so I've got an early start. There seem to be mixed opinions about it - some say it's pretty boring, others say it's beautiful. Strangely, it's supposed to be better when it rains!

I think most of the kiwi bus is doing the Nevis bungy jump today. I am not lol. Not really my thing if I'm honest...I'd probably be so scared I'd hate it! Might go down to the crazy golf course later if anyone's willing to join me.

Making tacos tonight, cannot wait!

On the way to Queenstown yesterday, we stopped by Puzzling World. What a weird place. Full of illusions and brain teasers, and a difficuly 3D maze. It was good, but ultimately not worth the $10. Still, it was nice to have some mental stimulation for the first time in a year lol...

Franz Josef

Yes, I have been spelling 'Josef' wrong so far lol. But anyway the glacier hike was fantastic!

Quite proud of myself admittedly, as I was pretty worried about my knees. But they held out surprisingly well through some pretty steep ice steps, especially on the way down. That was a pretty difficult part, not just because it's downhill but also because we had to move twice as fast as we were behind schedule!

The views were spectacular. And the whole idea of walking on ice, over crevasses, through cliffs of ice etc on a glacier is surreal. Great day, and the first full day in NZ!

By the way I did forget to say that on our way to Franz we stopped over at a bizarre museum. We were shown a video of deer hunting lol. Some ridiculous lengths people go to for deer! Then we saw a massive black pig and some possums. And then we ate some breakfast and left. The signs/posters in the place were amusing, but obviously offensive to some as there was a table of complaints that had been sent in. The museum staff were nice enough to reply to them all though ;)

Onto Wanaka tomorrow, which I think is basically famous for a lake or some lakes. Tonight, I chillout, watch the rugby, buy a pizza and get an early night...

Poo Pub

The fancy dress party in Lake Mahinapua was fantastic! Most people were pretty unsure about what they were going as until there was a sudden burst of inspiration when we went shopping.

I did end up going as a pimp after all lol. It wasn't the most convincing pimp admittedly: I didn't have a hat! But I did have quite a cool purple "cloak" and a shiny pimp stick, as well as tacky bling! Some other highlights: the ninja turtles (adam, charlie and dhiren...who btw went to my school and is on the same kiwi bus as me!), iron man, gary glitter, osama bin laden, the flasher, the crack whore, the chavs, the dominatrix :S lol..flasher and iron man came first and second respectively (both of whom skinny dipped in the lake at midnight...mental).

Today I'm in Franz Joseph. I've booked a full day (8 hour) glacier hike for tomorrow. Slightly worried about the knees but I hate being restricted by them so I'm just going to do it and hope for the best lol. If something happens I have to be rescued by a helicopter (which the organisers made clear isn't covered by insurance!). Also booked Milford Sound for Queenstown, which will happen some time next week.

I may get a chance to update tomorrow, but if not it'll be from Wanaka the day after. Till then, wish me luck as I attempt to climb the world's fastest moving glacier!

Nelson & Westport

(I'm hoping this actually works because I'm writing it via email lol).

 

So there wasn't much going on in Nelson. I'm writing these from Westport and it seems pretty similar. The bars survive on Kiwi Experience lol.

 

It's bloody cold though. We were at Nelson Lakes today where I was wearing a t-shirt, 2 jumpers, scarf, hat AND gloves. Freezing.

 

Tomorrow we head to Lake Mahinapua and the poo pub. It's fancy dress with the theme as 'crime'. I'm thinking of going as a pimp..I've got a bit of bling, some supplied by my gf. Not sure if it'll be enough though, so may buy some foil to go with it lol.

 

My next update will probably be from Franz Joseph - the fastest moving glacier in the world...

Kia Ora

So Christchurch felt a lot like England as I took the bus from the airport to the hostel (base backpackers). I didn't see much of it but walked around a little to try and find a sim card.

Turns out there are only 2 mobile networks in nz. One requires you buy a phone because they don't sell sim cards :S The other is vodafone but the sim costs $40! So I'm going to try to avoid buying it for now.

Today I started Kiwi Experience. Arrived in Kaikoura a while ago and set off to do some whale watching. It has to be one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

The whales were HUGE. And when they went under water...they way their tales went up in the air and smooothly sunk below the water...very cool to see. But not just that. We saw over 100 dolphins in one spot! They were all jumping, racing, swimming. It was great!

Tomorrow I move on to Nelson. There's the Abel Tasman National Park there but I'm not sure if I'll do that just yet. Oh and by the way, it's COLD!

As a final thing, happy anniversary to my gf/me :D Was our 20 months yesterday! Love you nush xxxxxxxxx

Chill out and prepare...

That's what I'm doing in Brisbane (preparing for New Zealand in case you didn't know lol).

Went through my list of to-dos and I've completed most of them:

- Confirmed my kiwi experience buses and checked that they do guarantee accomodation at overnight stops (they guarantee the first night at their partner hostels - if there's a 'base backpackers' in a particular city/town they'll use that first)
- Checked my flight itineraries
- Booked my hostel in Christchurch and checked how to get there from the airport
- Enquired about the boomerang workshop - hopefully I'll be painting my own boomerang tomorrow!

Still need to burn my pics to CD. I want to go to nz with an empty memory stick because from what I hear I'll be taking pics alll the time.

Anyway, I need to catch up on sooo much gaming and tech...i cannot wait to play MGS4, it looks incredible!

Great Barrier Reef

Today was yet another early start. Feeling pretty exhausted James and I approached our boat. It looked great: "Ocean Freedom". Next to it was the cheaper day trip: "Ocean Free"...it looked awful! So glad we paid the extra money.

The sea was really choppy the whole day, especially on the way back. We snorkeled at 2 locations. The first wasn't very exciting, and strangely we didn't see very much coral :S The second had some impressive coral but most exciting of all was the turtle. I followed it as it swam around for a few minutes. It went down to the sea bed and tucked its head in some coral, and then it came up to the surface for a breath of air. We saw its head pop up above the water for a few seconds after which it proceeded to swim along as before. Very cool!

Equipment on this boat was much better than Habibi (Whitsundays boat), but then the coral at Whitsundays was better. Food was great, and loads of tasty snacks. Everyone was much older than James and myself and we only ended up having conversation with a 30 year old couple of about 10 minutes lol.

Tomorrow is a chill out day, and the day James leaves for Sydney and then home. I've started an exciting new text/picture-based game with my gf...cannot wait! :P

Cape Trib

If I'm honest, the day trip to Cape Tribulation felt like a disappointment in comparison to the day before, but then again anything is probably a disappointment compared to a skydive lol.

We cruised down Daintree River and saw some salt water crocodiles. As cool as this was it's admittedly anti-climactic after seeing the monster that was Gregory as the croc farm earlier this week.

We did a board walk and saw a bizarre vine formation, and I took the opportunity to lick a green-arsed ant. It tasted of citrus! Lunch was great where we caught up with a guy we met back in Surfers Paradise the day we were going to Wet n Wild!

It's difficult to go a day without bumping into someone you've met and spent time with earlier in the trip. Wool Shed on Friday was just ridiculous - we must have seen about 15 people who we'd met somewhere on the coast. That reminds me...we bumped into the irish guys from Fraser when we got back from Whitsundays at Airlie Beach. They updated us on Neasa (who fractured her back on the last day of Fraser): she's in a brace for 4 weeks. Although serious, it could have been a lot worse so fingers crossed for a smooth recovery.

Tonight I'm going to have a 39c meal (that converts to about 19 pence). Budgeting to the extreme hehe. Tomorrow the great barrier reef and hopefully some awesome snorkeling...

14,000 Feet!

Yep, that's how far I plummetted in today's skydive! It was fantastic!!

I think I look more scared in the DVD than I actually felt. The freefall was incredible - 9,000 feet at over 200kph (124mph)! The descent with the parachute is just as fun though...the view was spectacular. I could see the beach (Mission Beach) along with a lot of little islands in the sea. Stunning.

Watched the DVD...not too many cringe-worthy moments although I haven't heard what i said yet (and I distinctly remember saying 'amazing' a lot!).

It was an experience everyone should do at least once in their lives.

Tomorrow it's a day trip to Cape Tribulation. Another excellent day, we expect...

The journey to Cairns

I left Airlie Beach on Wednesday to head to Magnetic Island via Townsville. The history of Townsville was actually quite interesting but the area itself wasn't stunning. Maggie on the other hand was really nice. The hostel was ON the beach...down the steps and into the sea. Spent one night there and moved on.

James and I were supposed to spend a night at Mission Beach but we decided to miss it out and arrived in Cairns yesterday. On the way up though, we stopped at Johnston River Crocodile Farm. It was brilliant!

I held a baby croc, a water python and a black parrot! Then we saw the HUGE crocs being fed...they were pretty damn scary! All the crocs were "problem" crocs...e.g. they kept eating cattle, had been injured etc. The farm breeds/feeds them for meat and skin. Was an awesome couple of hours and I managed to get some good pics and a video too.

Cairns in hot but quite nice. Last night we had an oz experience party at the infamous Wool Shed. Good times. Should have a busy time here too with the stuff we've booked. Will update again very sooon!

The Whitsundays

What a stunning place...the islands, the water, the marine life - all so beautiful.

When we sailed out on Sunday (1st June) it was raining quite heavily and the wind made the sea pretty choppy. It wasn't the most pleasant start but thankfully it also wasn't a sign of things to come!

The next day and a half were hot and sunny. We were taken by surprise the when we felt our skin burning in the heat at 9am whilst on Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island (one of 74 islands). Luckily this was shortly followed by snorkelling in two different bays. Both times I saw some bizarre growth at the bottom, a lot of weird and wonderful fish and a couple of HUGE fish. Many saw turtles too! On the final morning it was sunny and warm again but I gave the snorkelling a miss. And I'm glad I did as no one aside from Wez saw very much at all!

We were on a boat called Habibi (which means 'my friend' in arabic i think). The food was excellent, even for a vegie surprisingly. The skipper and two other staffers were great too. Everyone on board (27 people) was really nice, although no one really got to know the 4 Germans who never spoke to anyone lol.

I spoke to my uncle soon after I got back to find out Brisbane and the areas surrounding have been experiencing A LOT of rainfall...floods even. Other travellers we've spoken to have had their fraser island trips cancelled due to 100mph winds! It seems the storm we had on our last night at fraser was the start of a really bad week of weather. Really glad we've moved along as fast as we did now.

James and I booked a package for 3 activities in Cairns today. It was expensive but should make Cairns one of the best parts of the trip.

Tomorrow we move on to Townsville and straight onto a ferry to Magnetic (Maggie) Island. One night there and then one on Mission Beach. Nearly at the end of Australia....