Wednesday 22nd April
Today I got up nice and early, went to the cafe, had a hot chocolate and then I went to the information centre to start my “Village and Bays Tour”. Basically you take a mini bus around Stewart Island and the driver does a little commentary, telling you all about the different places you visit. It’s quite a short tour; it lasts for about an hour and a half, because Stewart Island is so small. Also, there isn’t a lot of road – I think there is only about 27 kilometres of road on the entire island – I’m not sure, I should really check that, but you get the picture, there isn’t a lot of road! We stopped off at a few beaches, hence the Bay part of the tour title – they were actually really nice. We had a decent enough day for the tour, but if you ever have the chance to go to Stewart Island during the summer then do, because it is really beautiful! The driver also told us a lot about the people that live on the island; it’s actually really nice to hear a bit about the locals. Everybody knows everybody on Stewart Island – probably because there is a population of about 400! There is only one Policeman on the island and there’s pretty much no crime – what a cushy job! There also isn’t a doctor on the island, but there are two fully trained nurses and you can get to the mainland fairly quickly if you get really sick. Stewart Island is really popular for hikers, you can go on trips that last for a few days or a few weeks! It would have been nice to do some “tramping”, that’s what they call it, but I didn’t have enough time and I was still getting over the flu!
After our little bus tour I went on another tour, this one was called the “Pattersons Inlet Cruise” and it was actually really good! Basically it takes you from Stewart Island to a few of the surrounding islands, they do a running commentary and tell you all about the surrounding islands and what they are used for. A lot of the islands down here are bird sanctuaries because there are so many flipping birds in New Zealand! We were actually really lucky, we saw some Penguins! I was actually ridiculously happy about that – I love Penguins and I really wanted to see some when I was in New Zealand, so I was really glad that it happened! They are really tiny and there were only about 5 or 6 Penguins – we couldn’t get too close because they were scared of the boat, but you could see their little heads looking around and watching the boat! It was really hard to get pictures, but I got a few! After we saw the Penguins we saw some Dolphins! I’m all about the Dolphins these days! I think we are kindred spirits... I’m really at one with the Animal Kingdom these days. I would love to be a Zoologist or something like that, but I’m not smart enough/I’m too lazy to actually work for anything. After the Dolphins we just cruised around for a bit, saw some more beautiful islands and I had the desire to learn how to sail. I would love to live down here and then I could just get into my little boat and I could just sail around all the beautiful islands and have little picnics on the beach and I could go swimming with my Dolphin and Penguin friends!
After cruising about for a while we stopped off at a place called Ulva Island. Ulva Island used to be where the Post Office was – a little man and his wife were the only people to live here and every 6-8 weeks the post used to be delivered to Ulva Island. Then the little man would hoist a flag and the people who lived on Stewart Island and the surrounding islands would know that the post had arrived. Because it was such a special occasion everyone would get dressed up and then they would go collect their post and have a bit of a goss! The Post Office was in operation until quite recently, well not that recently, I think it stopped about 50 years ago, but I’m not actually sure, I wasn’t really listening... We stopped on Ulva Island and then went for a walk, saw some cool bird – we saw a relative of the Kiwi and a few cool looking Pigeons. My favourite was a little Robin! But it wasn’t like a regular Robin, it was all Black with a White chest! How cool is that! It was also really friendly – it got really close to me and I was clearing the leaves from the ground so it could find food easily – again, I am at one with the Animal Kingdom. We also saw a really cool green parrot – it probably has some fancy name, but it was just a cool looking bird. The beaches on Ulva Island are also really pretty, so it was definitely worth the trip! On the way back to Stewart Island we saw some Seals which was really cool too... Oh, we also saw loads of Albatross, which I was really happy about! One of the crew members was feeding them from the back of the boat – he was throwing them dead fish and they were getting really close to the boat. I’ve always wanted to see Albatross – it all began with “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”! Does anyone remember studying that poem at G.C.S.E? Good times! Nothing beats a bit of Epic Poetry! I took quite a few pictures of them, I think I got a few good ones, but it’s difficult when there flying all over the place! Then we headed back to Stewart Island! I was really glad I did this trip, I was a bit worried about going on the boat again, but it was fine, there were no traumatic incidents and I got to see Penguins, Dolphins, Seals, Albatross, some really cool birds and some amazing beaches! If you ever go to Stewart Island then you should definitely do this trip! There isn’t a lot to do so you should have plenty of time to fit this in!
After that I just came back to the Hostel, had some Coco Pops and then watched some more Home and Away. I’m sure you have heard enough about my fascination with Home and Away, so I’ll just say that it was great and that I can’t wait to go home and watch it every single night! I watched a bit of T.V and then went to bed – I was the only one in the room, which is actually quite strange. You get really used to sharing a room with other people, so it’s really strange when you are on your own. I’m not even going to lie, I was a bit freaked out – the Hostel is pretty basic, they used regular keys for each room, not cards like the city Hostels, so I hadn’t bothered to lock the room during the day, so when I got ready for bed I checked under every bed, about ten times, to make sure that nobody was going to kill me in my sleep. Don’t worry, I didn’t find anyone! It was actually quite nice getting up in the morning and not having to worry about waking everyone up... I was even able to turn the light on, which is such a luxury over here, normally you just get ready in the dark! But that’s literally another story for another day!
Basically, Stewart Island is really small and there isn’t an awful lot to do, but I really liked it. It’s a village and it feels like a village. The people are really friendly and they are really helpful – I think they understand that the only reason Stewart Island still exists is because of Tourism, so they are grateful that you are there, to help fuel their economy or whatever. It’s just a really chilled out place – I don’t think I would live there, because it wouldn’t be practical, but if I ever marry that millionaire then he can buy me a holiday home there. Oh, and a plane so I never have to cross that channel again. Oh, and a yacht so I can visit all the beautiful islands. Not that I’m demanding or anything.
Xx
Thursday, 30 April 2009
You Know We Belong Together. You and I Forever and Ever... Home and Awaaaaay.
Tuesday 21st April
I got up nice and early this morning because I didn’t want to miss the most expensive ferry in the world – it cost $150.00 to take you from Invercargill to Stewart Island, the journey is about an hour, which doesn’t seem too bad, but it was the longest hour of my life. But more about that later! I got up, had a nice shower, put my massive bag in storage and then waited for the shuttle bus that takes you to the ferry. I think the ferry leaves from Invercargill, but I could be wrong, it could leave from Bluff, either way it was a bit of a drive. Once you arrive at the docks/ferry terminal, you check in and then wait for the ferry to go. Eventually everyone boards and then you set off on a wonderful adventure. The ferry we went across on holds about 100 people and it’s the bigger of the two ferries.
The journey didn’t start out too badly, we just started heading towards Stewart Island, but then I started feeling really, really rough. I was listening to a bit of Backstreet boys, trying to make myself feel a bit better and then all of a sudden I was like, “Right, I need to get outside and get some air”. I didn’t even have time for air. I didn’t even have time to get the paper bag out of my pocket, but I did make it to the side of the boat. I don’t really think that I need to provide details. I think you understand what happened next. It was not a pleasant experience, for anyone. I was quite discrete, I managed to get my little bag and tissues out, but still, there were children aboard the vessel – but like I said, I was fairly discrete, I hope. I won’t embarrass her, in case she reads this, but Katherine Martin’s story about the Ark Farm is possibly one of the funniest stories I have ever heard – if you’ve heard the story then you will know what I’m talking about, if not, you’re missing out, I think.
After that traumatic experience I was feeling much better and we were almost at Stewart Island, New Zealand’s third island. When we arrived I headed straight for the Hostel – Stewart Island Backpackers, the only Hostel on the island. I was able to check in straight away, so I went straight to the room and fell asleep for a few hours – I think the sea makes me sleepy! I love having naps, I was just so tired and there is nothing better than a little power nap. When you wake up you feel all warm inside. Children don’t realise how lucky they are! They have allocated nap time, every day! Not to mention all the other great perks of being a child – you get carried everywhere and it’s cute when you fall asleep in inappropriate places like the car, or church or even behind the sofa in a complete strangers house that you just so happened to walk into while playing hide and seek. Maybe that last one just applies to me. That actually happened – it’s one of my earliest childhood memories, I’m not too sure how I got there, the house was along the seafront and I went in through the back garden so I must have left my back garden and walked through a few back gardens to get into their back garden. I saw loads of toys, including a double-decker bus that you sit in and then I remember the door being open. Obviously I decided that it would be a good idea to go into the house to find some more wicked cool toys and then I heard a noise so I went behind the sofa and fell asleep. I remember waking up and looking out from behind the sofa and seeing a woman walking down the stairs, I guess I must have came out and said hello, because she recognised me and then she took me home. Apparently my parents had sent out the search party – Heather and James were walking around Baylands, shaking a tin of Roses to try and entice me out of my hiding spot. Obviously they were really worried. In fairness I did this quite a lot when I was a child, I would hide in really great places and then fall asleep, emerging when the game was over and everyone had forgotten about me. I used to hide behind the boiler in our clothespress. I’m like a cat, I gravitate towards nice warm places and then I fall sleep. Some things never change; I’ve literally just woken up from another epic nap.
Anyway, after my nap I walked into the centre of town – it wasn’t much of a walk, Stewart Island is really small, there is literally one grocery shop, a cafe, a small hotel and restaurant, a backpackers, a library, the smallest museum ever, an information centre and the Department of Conservation office. I got some Coco Pops and then headed back to the Hostel where I watched some T.V. I don’t think I have ever been so happy – Home and Away was on. I was literally glued to the screen. Nobody else way paying any attention but I had the volume turned right up and I was focused intently. It was amazing. It is my most favourite T.V show, well it’s one of them, but it’s right up at the top of the list! There also a few weeks ahead over here, so I had no idea, but it’s not that hard to figure out what’s happening! I can’t wait until I go to Australia – just so I can go to Summer Bay! If I just so happen to be walking along the beach when they film a scene that would be totally fine by me and if I just so happen to chase and tackle Geoff or Aden or Roman that is also totally fine by me. I may also have to punch Belle in the face, because she is possibly the most annoying person in the world. I’m aware that Belle is just a character, but I’m pretty sure that she’s an annoying person too. Maybe I shouldn’t go to Summer Bay. I also plan on doing the Neighbours Tour. It’s a lifelong dream – I would literally die happy if I met the Kennedy Family and Harold and Lou. I will literally go to Australia just for that. Anyway, back to Stewart Island. I watched Home and Away, Malcolm in the Middle, King of the Hill, Futurama, Rock of Love and Charm School. I was actually amazed that people go on shows like Rock of Love. They basically try to convince this famous musician that they are in love with him and then he eliminates one girl at the end of every episode. It’s quite pathetic, there is no way that these girls are actually in love with him, they just want to be famous. It’s really shallow and it’s actually really sad to watch and see the lengths that some girls will go to just to be famous. Silly people. We also watched Charm School, where they take the worst girls from a reality T.V show called Flavour of Love (also like Rock of Love, but with a different Musician, Flava Flav, or something stupid like that) and they try to refine them. That show also surprised me, there are some psychotic people out there! Some of the girls would just throw these mega tantrums and then they would act like that was the normal thing to do. No, it’s really not. They are a bunch of grown women, they should start acting like that. They also need to learn some manners, some of them are just so rude. Some reality T.V is so stupid, I hate stupid reality T.V and I hate Big Brother with a passion, but I’m not even going to lie, it’s my lifelong dream to go on Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands. Literally, I have watched every season, even way back in the day when it first started and it was just the one island (I think it was called Nuku Island back then). One day I will apply and if I don’t get accepted I’m just going to go to the Cook Islands and pretend that I’m on Shipwrecked. Maybe I’ll swim to their island. It will happen, watch this space people!
Right back to Stewart Island – I watched a ridiculous amount of television and then I went to bed. Great success.
Xx
I got up nice and early this morning because I didn’t want to miss the most expensive ferry in the world – it cost $150.00 to take you from Invercargill to Stewart Island, the journey is about an hour, which doesn’t seem too bad, but it was the longest hour of my life. But more about that later! I got up, had a nice shower, put my massive bag in storage and then waited for the shuttle bus that takes you to the ferry. I think the ferry leaves from Invercargill, but I could be wrong, it could leave from Bluff, either way it was a bit of a drive. Once you arrive at the docks/ferry terminal, you check in and then wait for the ferry to go. Eventually everyone boards and then you set off on a wonderful adventure. The ferry we went across on holds about 100 people and it’s the bigger of the two ferries.
The journey didn’t start out too badly, we just started heading towards Stewart Island, but then I started feeling really, really rough. I was listening to a bit of Backstreet boys, trying to make myself feel a bit better and then all of a sudden I was like, “Right, I need to get outside and get some air”. I didn’t even have time for air. I didn’t even have time to get the paper bag out of my pocket, but I did make it to the side of the boat. I don’t really think that I need to provide details. I think you understand what happened next. It was not a pleasant experience, for anyone. I was quite discrete, I managed to get my little bag and tissues out, but still, there were children aboard the vessel – but like I said, I was fairly discrete, I hope. I won’t embarrass her, in case she reads this, but Katherine Martin’s story about the Ark Farm is possibly one of the funniest stories I have ever heard – if you’ve heard the story then you will know what I’m talking about, if not, you’re missing out, I think.
After that traumatic experience I was feeling much better and we were almost at Stewart Island, New Zealand’s third island. When we arrived I headed straight for the Hostel – Stewart Island Backpackers, the only Hostel on the island. I was able to check in straight away, so I went straight to the room and fell asleep for a few hours – I think the sea makes me sleepy! I love having naps, I was just so tired and there is nothing better than a little power nap. When you wake up you feel all warm inside. Children don’t realise how lucky they are! They have allocated nap time, every day! Not to mention all the other great perks of being a child – you get carried everywhere and it’s cute when you fall asleep in inappropriate places like the car, or church or even behind the sofa in a complete strangers house that you just so happened to walk into while playing hide and seek. Maybe that last one just applies to me. That actually happened – it’s one of my earliest childhood memories, I’m not too sure how I got there, the house was along the seafront and I went in through the back garden so I must have left my back garden and walked through a few back gardens to get into their back garden. I saw loads of toys, including a double-decker bus that you sit in and then I remember the door being open. Obviously I decided that it would be a good idea to go into the house to find some more wicked cool toys and then I heard a noise so I went behind the sofa and fell asleep. I remember waking up and looking out from behind the sofa and seeing a woman walking down the stairs, I guess I must have came out and said hello, because she recognised me and then she took me home. Apparently my parents had sent out the search party – Heather and James were walking around Baylands, shaking a tin of Roses to try and entice me out of my hiding spot. Obviously they were really worried. In fairness I did this quite a lot when I was a child, I would hide in really great places and then fall asleep, emerging when the game was over and everyone had forgotten about me. I used to hide behind the boiler in our clothespress. I’m like a cat, I gravitate towards nice warm places and then I fall sleep. Some things never change; I’ve literally just woken up from another epic nap.
Anyway, after my nap I walked into the centre of town – it wasn’t much of a walk, Stewart Island is really small, there is literally one grocery shop, a cafe, a small hotel and restaurant, a backpackers, a library, the smallest museum ever, an information centre and the Department of Conservation office. I got some Coco Pops and then headed back to the Hostel where I watched some T.V. I don’t think I have ever been so happy – Home and Away was on. I was literally glued to the screen. Nobody else way paying any attention but I had the volume turned right up and I was focused intently. It was amazing. It is my most favourite T.V show, well it’s one of them, but it’s right up at the top of the list! There also a few weeks ahead over here, so I had no idea, but it’s not that hard to figure out what’s happening! I can’t wait until I go to Australia – just so I can go to Summer Bay! If I just so happen to be walking along the beach when they film a scene that would be totally fine by me and if I just so happen to chase and tackle Geoff or Aden or Roman that is also totally fine by me. I may also have to punch Belle in the face, because she is possibly the most annoying person in the world. I’m aware that Belle is just a character, but I’m pretty sure that she’s an annoying person too. Maybe I shouldn’t go to Summer Bay. I also plan on doing the Neighbours Tour. It’s a lifelong dream – I would literally die happy if I met the Kennedy Family and Harold and Lou. I will literally go to Australia just for that. Anyway, back to Stewart Island. I watched Home and Away, Malcolm in the Middle, King of the Hill, Futurama, Rock of Love and Charm School. I was actually amazed that people go on shows like Rock of Love. They basically try to convince this famous musician that they are in love with him and then he eliminates one girl at the end of every episode. It’s quite pathetic, there is no way that these girls are actually in love with him, they just want to be famous. It’s really shallow and it’s actually really sad to watch and see the lengths that some girls will go to just to be famous. Silly people. We also watched Charm School, where they take the worst girls from a reality T.V show called Flavour of Love (also like Rock of Love, but with a different Musician, Flava Flav, or something stupid like that) and they try to refine them. That show also surprised me, there are some psychotic people out there! Some of the girls would just throw these mega tantrums and then they would act like that was the normal thing to do. No, it’s really not. They are a bunch of grown women, they should start acting like that. They also need to learn some manners, some of them are just so rude. Some reality T.V is so stupid, I hate stupid reality T.V and I hate Big Brother with a passion, but I’m not even going to lie, it’s my lifelong dream to go on Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands. Literally, I have watched every season, even way back in the day when it first started and it was just the one island (I think it was called Nuku Island back then). One day I will apply and if I don’t get accepted I’m just going to go to the Cook Islands and pretend that I’m on Shipwrecked. Maybe I’ll swim to their island. It will happen, watch this space people!
Right back to Stewart Island – I watched a ridiculous amount of television and then I went to bed. Great success.
Xx
The Scenic Route. Literally.
Monday 20th April
Today I left Dunedin, at last! I spent far too long in Dunedin, but it was for the best, I was able to get over the worst of my flu and I also managed to catch up with some people from my West Coast bus! I met up with Mairead, Mike, an Irish guy called Shane, who I originally met in the Bay of Islands and a couple from England, Tiggs and Gemma. We all left Dunedin for Invercargill together, which was really nice. The drive from Dunedin to Invercargill is lovely! Our first stop was a place called the Point Cafe or the Point Bar, or something like that, the motto was “We’re Glad You Got to the Point”, which I think was very smart. We had toasties here, which were $6.50, a total rip off, and they weren’t Baylands Coffee Co toasties, they weren’t even toasties that you make at home. They were average. Meh. After that stop we drove round to the actual point, where we got out and walked to a lighthouse. Kiwi Experience are fond of their random walks, which is actually really good, you get to see places in New Zealand that most people miss, but when you’re sick, walking is the last thing you want to do. And when you’re me, walking really is the last thing you want to do. Well, maybe it’s second to running or Barr History. Actually, there are a lot of things worse than walking, but walking is still really crappy.
After our walk to the lighthouse we drove to a different beach – Surat Bay Scenic Reserve where we saw Sea Lions! It was actually really amazing – as soon as we got onto the beach we saw a lady sea lion, I say lady because she was classy. She was hanging out on the beach, having a sleep and when she saw us she just started rolling around and looking cute! She even sat up for a few pictures! After seeing her we walked the rest of the beach, looking for some Mr Sea Lions, but we ended up walking the length of the beach before we saw any – we saw a young male and he was also really cute, he was darker than the female and he was a bit fatter, he had like, neck fat! I loved it! Then we came across a male and a female and they were really cute too! The beach was fairly flat, but it had big sand dunes and there at least 6 feet high – well we saw a MASSIVE and I mean, a fully grown male Sea Lion and they are BIG! He had climbed up this massive sand dune and he was just hanging out, having a sleep! Sea Lions are so big and it was really cool to be able to see them in the wild. There were these two really annoying boys, they kept on annoying the Sea Lions, like a Sea Lion would be asleep and then they would like run up to it and like wake it up and they were trying to poke them and they were getting far too close, which actually really annoyed me. I get really funny about this sort of stuff. There was absolutely no need to be acting the way they were – it was so disruptive and mean and it really annoyed me – and everyone else actually. Everyone was so fed up with them being stupid! I really wanted them to get bit by a Sea Lion, but it didn’t happen, sadly. There were a few close calls though, which I loved, because for a second you could see them getting really worried as they ran away from the Sea Lions!
After the Sea Lion beach we went to a waterfall – I have seen so many waterfalls on this trip, but this one was so beautiful! If you have ever played any of the Tomb Raider games, probably the first one (because that’s probably the only one I’ve ever seen – there were Tigers in this game) then that’s what the waterfall reminded me of! It was so beautiful, it just looked so ancient and it was huge! I would have loved to have gone swimming there, but there wasn’t any time! Most of our time was spent trying to get a good picture, the annoying boys that were being mean to the Sea Lions just stood at the top of the waterfall for a good 20 minutes – right in the way of everyone’s pictures! We actually had to ask them to move because they were in everyone’s way! Idiots!
After the waterfall we went to another beach place – it was called Curio Bay and it was so lovely! There were these amazing cliffs and the waves were huge! It was just so nice to see the cliffs and the sea and it was so green – it was just B-E-A-UTIFUL! We also saw a Sea Lion and she was so cute and so happy when we walked past (I’m presuming she was happy – I’m also presuming that she was a Sea Lion, she could have been a Fur Seal, but I’m pretty sure she was a Sea Lion) but then those horrible boys came along and one of them like slapped her, or poked her or did something disruptive and then she got really mad and she would let anyone walk past her and she chased anyone that did. Me and Mrs Seal were tight, I got some really good pictures of here, my favourite one was here reading the “No Dogs Allowed” sign! Genius – she was probably smarter than those boys. Actually I’m sure she was, because she chased one of them and he thought he was obviously so cool, but when she came at him he panicked and he was like stumbling/running backwards and then he fell into the massive mud pit! It was so funny! If Instant Karma exists then he was the perfect example! It was just beautiful! He fell into this big muddy pit and wrecked his white trainers and his trackies haha! It was also nice to see him looking worried as he tried to get out of the mud pit as this Sea Lion came charging at him!
We left the pretty beach and went a few seconds down the road to a spot where you can see the little hoiho Penguins – there the rarest Penguins in the world and there here in New Zealand! The beach where they live was full of tourists, so they wouldn’t leave the water so we didn’t get to see any, which was really crappy, because I’m all about cute little penguins! After that we just went straight to our Hostel in Invercargill – we checked in and then we all went out for dinner. We had spent the entire day eating food so I wasn’t too hungry so I just got some sweet potato chips and then we had some desert – chocolate fudge cake! Oh my gosh, it was sooo yummy, but it was HUGE! They gave you two slices and I could only eat one!
Well, I could have pushed myself to eat two, but that would have been painful, so I just enjoyed one slice! After that we all went back to our room – I repacked my huge bag and then packed a little bag to take to Stewart Island – tomorrows destination
and then I slept!
Xx
Today I left Dunedin, at last! I spent far too long in Dunedin, but it was for the best, I was able to get over the worst of my flu and I also managed to catch up with some people from my West Coast bus! I met up with Mairead, Mike, an Irish guy called Shane, who I originally met in the Bay of Islands and a couple from England, Tiggs and Gemma. We all left Dunedin for Invercargill together, which was really nice. The drive from Dunedin to Invercargill is lovely! Our first stop was a place called the Point Cafe or the Point Bar, or something like that, the motto was “We’re Glad You Got to the Point”, which I think was very smart. We had toasties here, which were $6.50, a total rip off, and they weren’t Baylands Coffee Co toasties, they weren’t even toasties that you make at home. They were average. Meh. After that stop we drove round to the actual point, where we got out and walked to a lighthouse. Kiwi Experience are fond of their random walks, which is actually really good, you get to see places in New Zealand that most people miss, but when you’re sick, walking is the last thing you want to do. And when you’re me, walking really is the last thing you want to do. Well, maybe it’s second to running or Barr History. Actually, there are a lot of things worse than walking, but walking is still really crappy.
After our walk to the lighthouse we drove to a different beach – Surat Bay Scenic Reserve where we saw Sea Lions! It was actually really amazing – as soon as we got onto the beach we saw a lady sea lion, I say lady because she was classy. She was hanging out on the beach, having a sleep and when she saw us she just started rolling around and looking cute! She even sat up for a few pictures! After seeing her we walked the rest of the beach, looking for some Mr Sea Lions, but we ended up walking the length of the beach before we saw any – we saw a young male and he was also really cute, he was darker than the female and he was a bit fatter, he had like, neck fat! I loved it! Then we came across a male and a female and they were really cute too! The beach was fairly flat, but it had big sand dunes and there at least 6 feet high – well we saw a MASSIVE and I mean, a fully grown male Sea Lion and they are BIG! He had climbed up this massive sand dune and he was just hanging out, having a sleep! Sea Lions are so big and it was really cool to be able to see them in the wild. There were these two really annoying boys, they kept on annoying the Sea Lions, like a Sea Lion would be asleep and then they would like run up to it and like wake it up and they were trying to poke them and they were getting far too close, which actually really annoyed me. I get really funny about this sort of stuff. There was absolutely no need to be acting the way they were – it was so disruptive and mean and it really annoyed me – and everyone else actually. Everyone was so fed up with them being stupid! I really wanted them to get bit by a Sea Lion, but it didn’t happen, sadly. There were a few close calls though, which I loved, because for a second you could see them getting really worried as they ran away from the Sea Lions!
After the Sea Lion beach we went to a waterfall – I have seen so many waterfalls on this trip, but this one was so beautiful! If you have ever played any of the Tomb Raider games, probably the first one (because that’s probably the only one I’ve ever seen – there were Tigers in this game) then that’s what the waterfall reminded me of! It was so beautiful, it just looked so ancient and it was huge! I would have loved to have gone swimming there, but there wasn’t any time! Most of our time was spent trying to get a good picture, the annoying boys that were being mean to the Sea Lions just stood at the top of the waterfall for a good 20 minutes – right in the way of everyone’s pictures! We actually had to ask them to move because they were in everyone’s way! Idiots!
After the waterfall we went to another beach place – it was called Curio Bay and it was so lovely! There were these amazing cliffs and the waves were huge! It was just so nice to see the cliffs and the sea and it was so green – it was just B-E-A-UTIFUL! We also saw a Sea Lion and she was so cute and so happy when we walked past (I’m presuming she was happy – I’m also presuming that she was a Sea Lion, she could have been a Fur Seal, but I’m pretty sure she was a Sea Lion) but then those horrible boys came along and one of them like slapped her, or poked her or did something disruptive and then she got really mad and she would let anyone walk past her and she chased anyone that did. Me and Mrs Seal were tight, I got some really good pictures of here, my favourite one was here reading the “No Dogs Allowed” sign! Genius – she was probably smarter than those boys. Actually I’m sure she was, because she chased one of them and he thought he was obviously so cool, but when she came at him he panicked and he was like stumbling/running backwards and then he fell into the massive mud pit! It was so funny! If Instant Karma exists then he was the perfect example! It was just beautiful! He fell into this big muddy pit and wrecked his white trainers and his trackies haha! It was also nice to see him looking worried as he tried to get out of the mud pit as this Sea Lion came charging at him!
We left the pretty beach and went a few seconds down the road to a spot where you can see the little hoiho Penguins – there the rarest Penguins in the world and there here in New Zealand! The beach where they live was full of tourists, so they wouldn’t leave the water so we didn’t get to see any, which was really crappy, because I’m all about cute little penguins! After that we just went straight to our Hostel in Invercargill – we checked in and then we all went out for dinner. We had spent the entire day eating food so I wasn’t too hungry so I just got some sweet potato chips and then we had some desert – chocolate fudge cake! Oh my gosh, it was sooo yummy, but it was HUGE! They gave you two slices and I could only eat one!
Well, I could have pushed myself to eat two, but that would have been painful, so I just enjoyed one slice! After that we all went back to our room – I repacked my huge bag and then packed a little bag to take to Stewart Island – tomorrows destination
and then I slept!
Xx
Gina + Free Internet + Book = One Wicked Awesome Day.
Sunday 19th April
Today was my last day in Dunedin! I felt bad that I didn’t go see the University or the Museum, but I physically couldn’t deal with that, so instead I went to the Library and used the internet for free! Libraries have free internet! I did not know this amazing fact! But it all makes sense – people need to research things and they usually do this in Libraries... I bet Mr Library didn’t think that people like me would sit on Facebook for 4 hours! I was researching the goss, it’s a real thing. You can get a degree in “The Goss” in some Universities. I think. You know what, it wouldn’t actually surprise me. They have some stupid degrees nowadays; this is coming from the girl who is going to study “Theology and Social Anthropology. Moving on.
Once I was finished hogging the Library computers I walked into town and bought a book – “Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown. I’ve wanted to read this book for ages, but I hate spending money on books, but I was feeling sorry for myself (no surprises there) so I just splashed out and bought it! I’m really glad that I did, I love reading and I really liked this book! It only took me three days to finish it, I should really have paced myself, but when I start reading a book I just read like a mad woman until I finish it! So yeah, it was a good read, I really, really want to go to Vatican City, so it was really cool to read about all the places – I’m not an idiot, I know that it’s fiction, but still, there is some fact in there and I’m all about the fact. I also really wanted to read it because the movie is coming out soon! I have a feeling that Tom Hanks is going to rock my world in this movie! Don’t you just love reading?
You can probably guess how I spent the rest of the night. In bed, reading “Angels and Demons”, how bad is that, I’m at the other side of the world and I’m doing something that I can do in Bangor! When I was finished reading I went to bed and slept, which I suppose I can do in Bangor too, but sometimes you have to do these things.
Xx
Today was my last day in Dunedin! I felt bad that I didn’t go see the University or the Museum, but I physically couldn’t deal with that, so instead I went to the Library and used the internet for free! Libraries have free internet! I did not know this amazing fact! But it all makes sense – people need to research things and they usually do this in Libraries... I bet Mr Library didn’t think that people like me would sit on Facebook for 4 hours! I was researching the goss, it’s a real thing. You can get a degree in “The Goss” in some Universities. I think. You know what, it wouldn’t actually surprise me. They have some stupid degrees nowadays; this is coming from the girl who is going to study “Theology and Social Anthropology. Moving on.
Once I was finished hogging the Library computers I walked into town and bought a book – “Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown. I’ve wanted to read this book for ages, but I hate spending money on books, but I was feeling sorry for myself (no surprises there) so I just splashed out and bought it! I’m really glad that I did, I love reading and I really liked this book! It only took me three days to finish it, I should really have paced myself, but when I start reading a book I just read like a mad woman until I finish it! So yeah, it was a good read, I really, really want to go to Vatican City, so it was really cool to read about all the places – I’m not an idiot, I know that it’s fiction, but still, there is some fact in there and I’m all about the fact. I also really wanted to read it because the movie is coming out soon! I have a feeling that Tom Hanks is going to rock my world in this movie! Don’t you just love reading?
You can probably guess how I spent the rest of the night. In bed, reading “Angels and Demons”, how bad is that, I’m at the other side of the world and I’m doing something that I can do in Bangor! When I was finished reading I went to bed and slept, which I suppose I can do in Bangor too, but sometimes you have to do these things.
Xx
A Factory of Chocolate.
Saturday 18th April
Today was another dull day in Dunedin. I slept, lounged around, rang my mumsies and complained and then I eventually got out of the Hostel and went into town. I went to Cadbury World, which wasn’t as great as I had hoped. Because it was Easter they were only running half tours, so basically you got to watch a movie about how chocolate is made, then we walked for a bit and then we went and saw a chocolate waterfall, which wasn’t as magical as it sounds. It was just a big tub of chocolate that they tipped out, but you didn’t get to taste it, or swim in it and there were no Oompa Loompas or songs. Now that I think about it, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, the original one, is a really beautiful movie. The new movie is alright, but it isn’t a classic. So yeah, I’m glad that I did the tour, because now I can say, “Oh I’ve been to Cadbury World in Dunedin, New Zealand” but it wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be. After my factory tour I was pretty tired so I just went back to the Hostel and did some washing. It had gotten to the stage where I couldn’t physically face doing washing, but I knew that I had to or else I would have run out of undies. That’s a horrible feeling... Knowing that you have to do something, when you really don’t want to. Esther suggested that I just buy new undies, which I appreciated, but I just manned up and did some washing, which is actually really easy, but when you’re sick and tired it’s so much worse. When my clothesies were all lovely and clean I had some Uncle Bens Microwaveable Rice, watched some T.V and then I went to bed!
Xx
Today was another dull day in Dunedin. I slept, lounged around, rang my mumsies and complained and then I eventually got out of the Hostel and went into town. I went to Cadbury World, which wasn’t as great as I had hoped. Because it was Easter they were only running half tours, so basically you got to watch a movie about how chocolate is made, then we walked for a bit and then we went and saw a chocolate waterfall, which wasn’t as magical as it sounds. It was just a big tub of chocolate that they tipped out, but you didn’t get to taste it, or swim in it and there were no Oompa Loompas or songs. Now that I think about it, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, the original one, is a really beautiful movie. The new movie is alright, but it isn’t a classic. So yeah, I’m glad that I did the tour, because now I can say, “Oh I’ve been to Cadbury World in Dunedin, New Zealand” but it wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be. After my factory tour I was pretty tired so I just went back to the Hostel and did some washing. It had gotten to the stage where I couldn’t physically face doing washing, but I knew that I had to or else I would have run out of undies. That’s a horrible feeling... Knowing that you have to do something, when you really don’t want to. Esther suggested that I just buy new undies, which I appreciated, but I just manned up and did some washing, which is actually really easy, but when you’re sick and tired it’s so much worse. When my clothesies were all lovely and clean I had some Uncle Bens Microwaveable Rice, watched some T.V and then I went to bed!
Xx
The Sweet Chilli Wrap From Hell.
Friday 17th April
Today I woke up and I was still feeling really ill – I had the flu, which is officially crap. You should most definitely not try getting the flu. You wouldn’t like it. After much sleeping I decided to go get some food - the “Lonely Planet” guide book recommended a place called “Governors” If you are ever in Dunedin, avoid it like the plague, or the flu, I think that’s fitting, considering the circumstances. It was horrible. The menu sounded promising, they had a Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap, which really excited me, so I went for that. It was arguably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I can’t even describe how bad it was. The wrap was cold. The salad was cold and floppy. There was some ‘garlic sauce’ that had like jellified on the bottom and the chicken was disgusting. I actually am feeling physically ill thinking about it. I like my food, as you probably know and I can eat almost anything, but this was horrible. I was so mad. Actually, I’m still mad. Never go to “Governors”. Don’t listen to the “Lonely Planet”. Save yourself $13.00 and get a loaf of bread instead and if you go to “Governors” don’t get the Sweet Chilli Wrap. You could also tell “Governors” that they spoiled all “Sweet Chilli Wraps” for me. The world is a slightly worse place today.
After my traumatic experience I rang home and talked to my mummy for hours, and then when she was fed up with me I rang both sets of grandparents. Family are pretty amazing, especially if a horrible Sweet Chilli Wrap ruins your day.
Xx
Today I woke up and I was still feeling really ill – I had the flu, which is officially crap. You should most definitely not try getting the flu. You wouldn’t like it. After much sleeping I decided to go get some food - the “Lonely Planet” guide book recommended a place called “Governors” If you are ever in Dunedin, avoid it like the plague, or the flu, I think that’s fitting, considering the circumstances. It was horrible. The menu sounded promising, they had a Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap, which really excited me, so I went for that. It was arguably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I can’t even describe how bad it was. The wrap was cold. The salad was cold and floppy. There was some ‘garlic sauce’ that had like jellified on the bottom and the chicken was disgusting. I actually am feeling physically ill thinking about it. I like my food, as you probably know and I can eat almost anything, but this was horrible. I was so mad. Actually, I’m still mad. Never go to “Governors”. Don’t listen to the “Lonely Planet”. Save yourself $13.00 and get a loaf of bread instead and if you go to “Governors” don’t get the Sweet Chilli Wrap. You could also tell “Governors” that they spoiled all “Sweet Chilli Wraps” for me. The world is a slightly worse place today.
After my traumatic experience I rang home and talked to my mummy for hours, and then when she was fed up with me I rang both sets of grandparents. Family are pretty amazing, especially if a horrible Sweet Chilli Wrap ruins your day.
Xx
I Think I’ve Got the Black Lung Pop, Cough Cough.
Thursday 16th April
Today I woke up and felt seriously rough. Today was also the first day of the Bottom Bus, a bus that goes around the very bottom of New Zealand, hence the name. The drive from Queenstown to Dunedin was fairly straightforward, we made a few stops and I took that opportunity to buy as much medication as possible. Well, not that much. But I did buy some cold and flu tablets, which is a big step for me. I don’t take tablets or medicine often and when I do it’s only because I really, really need it. It’s quite strange, but I’d rather just stick it out and know what I’m dealing with. But when it gets really bad then I’m all about the medicine! So yep, I got some tablets, cracked into those and just waited until we got to Dunedin. We were staying in a place called “On Top Backpackers”, it was above a Pool Hall and it was actually pretty nice – I went straight to bed and slept for a good few hours.
When I woke up it was time for dinner, so I had some toast and watched some fuzzy T.V. We also watched “Wedding Crashers” which was pretty good – all those movies are like backpacker classics. After that I went to bed and slept some more. How exciting!
Xx
Today I woke up and felt seriously rough. Today was also the first day of the Bottom Bus, a bus that goes around the very bottom of New Zealand, hence the name. The drive from Queenstown to Dunedin was fairly straightforward, we made a few stops and I took that opportunity to buy as much medication as possible. Well, not that much. But I did buy some cold and flu tablets, which is a big step for me. I don’t take tablets or medicine often and when I do it’s only because I really, really need it. It’s quite strange, but I’d rather just stick it out and know what I’m dealing with. But when it gets really bad then I’m all about the medicine! So yep, I got some tablets, cracked into those and just waited until we got to Dunedin. We were staying in a place called “On Top Backpackers”, it was above a Pool Hall and it was actually pretty nice – I went straight to bed and slept for a good few hours.
When I woke up it was time for dinner, so I had some toast and watched some fuzzy T.V. We also watched “Wedding Crashers” which was pretty good – all those movies are like backpacker classics. After that I went to bed and slept some more. How exciting!
Xx
Farewell Queenstown!
Wednesday 15th April
This morning I used the remained of my internet time and then I went for a wee walk. Actually it was an epic walk. A friend of mine was looking at a house in Queenstown online and it was fairly close to where I was staying, so I went for a walk to have a nosey at the house. It took me about an hour to walk there and then I walked right past it! When I eventually found the house it was getting quite late, so I couldn’t hang around for too long. It’s a nice house and it’s right by the lake, but you probably won’t be interested in that! Once I had taken a few pictures of the house – I probably looked like the biggest stalker ever. Once I had taken a few sneaky pictures I headed back to town, met my friend Richard and got a Fergburger. Todays conquest was a Mr Big Stuff, yup, Fergburger likes to name inanimate objects Mr, just like me! We were obviously meant to be together! The Mr Big Stuff is “1/2lb of prime New Zealand beed topped with melted Edam cheese, American streaky bacon and BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” I don’t even need to say it – I didn’t have the tomato or red onion! The burger was HUGE, even by Ferg standards! It was also really tasty, they have the nicest BBQ sauce, I was very impressed with Fergburger! If you are ever in Queenie then you should definitely hit it up!
Once I had destroyed that burger, I said goodbye to Richard, finished packing my stuff, went to bed and had another lovely sleep. Great success.
Xx
This morning I used the remained of my internet time and then I went for a wee walk. Actually it was an epic walk. A friend of mine was looking at a house in Queenstown online and it was fairly close to where I was staying, so I went for a walk to have a nosey at the house. It took me about an hour to walk there and then I walked right past it! When I eventually found the house it was getting quite late, so I couldn’t hang around for too long. It’s a nice house and it’s right by the lake, but you probably won’t be interested in that! Once I had taken a few pictures of the house – I probably looked like the biggest stalker ever. Once I had taken a few sneaky pictures I headed back to town, met my friend Richard and got a Fergburger. Todays conquest was a Mr Big Stuff, yup, Fergburger likes to name inanimate objects Mr, just like me! We were obviously meant to be together! The Mr Big Stuff is “1/2lb of prime New Zealand beed topped with melted Edam cheese, American streaky bacon and BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” I don’t even need to say it – I didn’t have the tomato or red onion! The burger was HUGE, even by Ferg standards! It was also really tasty, they have the nicest BBQ sauce, I was very impressed with Fergburger! If you are ever in Queenie then you should definitely hit it up!
Once I had destroyed that burger, I said goodbye to Richard, finished packing my stuff, went to bed and had another lovely sleep. Great success.
Xx
And Then There Was One.
Tuesday 14th April
Well. Where to begin? Today was... a really uneventful day! Which is actually quite good, because I have less to write! Pete left this morning so I was up so say goodbye to him but once he left I went back to bed and had a nice wee sleep! I then got up, made myself look presentable and then I purchased 24 hours of internet time! So that’s what I did, I sat for hours, uploading pictures! Hurray! I’m pretty sure that some Facebooking occurred, I chatted to a few people, got the goss, uploaded some pictures and just had a nice chilled out day! I also Skyped Esther for a bit – which was really funny! We used the webcam and she was holding Kelso in front of the screen, waving him backwards and forwards so I could see him! He’s still as beautiful as ever... I can’t wait to go home and give him a big cuddle, with his wee floppy ears and his wee wrinkly legs and all his excess skin and his wee fat belly! Awwwww.... I miss my little sausage! I also Skyped Emmer Lorbimer, which was awesome – we had some technical difficulties, but we got over that and we had a wee goss! Skype is G-R-E-A-T! I should really thank Kyle for getting me into it – thank you Kyle :)
I also had a Fergburger... No surprises there! I went for a Bombay Chicken, “Grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a chilli, ginger and coriander yoghurt with cucumber raita, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli and mango chutney.” This was another yummy Ferg, but I had some difficulties – most of the sauce ended up on me, which is pretty gross, but the stuff I managed to get in my mouth was really nice!
Xx
Well. Where to begin? Today was... a really uneventful day! Which is actually quite good, because I have less to write! Pete left this morning so I was up so say goodbye to him but once he left I went back to bed and had a nice wee sleep! I then got up, made myself look presentable and then I purchased 24 hours of internet time! So that’s what I did, I sat for hours, uploading pictures! Hurray! I’m pretty sure that some Facebooking occurred, I chatted to a few people, got the goss, uploaded some pictures and just had a nice chilled out day! I also Skyped Esther for a bit – which was really funny! We used the webcam and she was holding Kelso in front of the screen, waving him backwards and forwards so I could see him! He’s still as beautiful as ever... I can’t wait to go home and give him a big cuddle, with his wee floppy ears and his wee wrinkly legs and all his excess skin and his wee fat belly! Awwwww.... I miss my little sausage! I also Skyped Emmer Lorbimer, which was awesome – we had some technical difficulties, but we got over that and we had a wee goss! Skype is G-R-E-A-T! I should really thank Kyle for getting me into it – thank you Kyle :)
I also had a Fergburger... No surprises there! I went for a Bombay Chicken, “Grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a chilli, ginger and coriander yoghurt with cucumber raita, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli and mango chutney.” This was another yummy Ferg, but I had some difficulties – most of the sauce ended up on me, which is pretty gross, but the stuff I managed to get in my mouth was really nice!
Xx
And Then There Were Two.
Monday 13th April
Today all the Irish left – they went back to Franz Josef to hike the Glacier, those crazy Irish! So that just left Pete and me! Because we had already done a lot of what Queenstown has to offer we decided to go play Frisbee Golf. It sounded so cool and the girl at the travel desk recommended it, so we set off to find the course – we walked around for a while and we couldn’t see the start anywhere, so we decided to give that a miss. It sounded really good, but like most things, it was a big let down! We then decided to walk up Queenstown Hill, when I say “we” decided, I really mean, “Pete” decided... I just agreed, reluctantly. In fairness I did say that I wanted to do the walk, so it was really my fault. Don’t worry, nothing bad happened, I just realised how unbelievably unfit I am, again. This seems to be happening quite a lot. I lure myself into a false sense of security, I think that I’m super fit and then I do something strenuous and realise that I fail at life. Well maybe not life, I just won’t be in the Olympics any time soon. So yeah, we walked for ages and ages and ages and ages and then arrived at the start of the walk. Yeah, the start. I was not best pleased, if you can imagine that. I didn’t want to have a heart attack, so I sat and listened to music while Pete ran around the walk – he only took 28 minutes to complete the track and the Lonely Planet say that it’s a 2 hour walk! He’s clearly a machine, or a freak of nature, or maybe he’s just fit. I’m going with freak of nature :)
After our lovely walk we headed back into town and then we walked around the lake and Pete went swimming, again. Seriously, that man and water. I went for a paddle. Dream big. When Pete was dried off we used the free internet – this needs a moment – free internet is amazing. I love free internet. If you are ever in Queenstown you should go to the Station Building, it’s on the corner and it’s where you book the Nevis Bungy – they have loads of Mac computers that you can use for free and there isn’t a time limit, so you can be really selfish like me and use the internet for like 3 hours at a time. It’s called the iJump kiosk and it’s great! Anyway, once we had used the awesome free internet we went and got an awesome Fergburger. Today I got myself a Cockadoodle Doo, so this one is just chicken, “Grilled chiken tenderloin with sundried tomato tapenade, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” Again, no red onion or tomato for me, but the sundried tomato tapenade was awesome, it was pretty spicy, which I wasn’t expecting, but still, another great success from Mr Ferg!
After our Ferg I started to get ready... Fast forward a few hours and I met up with Pete, the Canadian guys and one of the Bouncers from Altitude Bar. We had a wee chat and then Pete and I went down to Altitude for a bit of Karaoke. That’s another thing that men secretly love, Karaoke! We met up with a few people that had been on our bus on the West Coast, so that was really nice! When we were all sung out, we went to bed! Tonight was Pete’s last night, I actually felt bad that he didn’t get a bigger send off, everyone had already left so it was just us and I probably wasn’t as fun as a big group of drunken people! But I tried... I sang “Love Shack” on stage and that’s the greatest send off anyone could ever hope for! It will be sad to say goodbye to my Bangor Buddy, it’s nice when someone knows the same places and people as you – but that’s the good thing about living in Bangor – it’s so small we will run into each other again, whether he likes it or not!
Xx
Today all the Irish left – they went back to Franz Josef to hike the Glacier, those crazy Irish! So that just left Pete and me! Because we had already done a lot of what Queenstown has to offer we decided to go play Frisbee Golf. It sounded so cool and the girl at the travel desk recommended it, so we set off to find the course – we walked around for a while and we couldn’t see the start anywhere, so we decided to give that a miss. It sounded really good, but like most things, it was a big let down! We then decided to walk up Queenstown Hill, when I say “we” decided, I really mean, “Pete” decided... I just agreed, reluctantly. In fairness I did say that I wanted to do the walk, so it was really my fault. Don’t worry, nothing bad happened, I just realised how unbelievably unfit I am, again. This seems to be happening quite a lot. I lure myself into a false sense of security, I think that I’m super fit and then I do something strenuous and realise that I fail at life. Well maybe not life, I just won’t be in the Olympics any time soon. So yeah, we walked for ages and ages and ages and ages and then arrived at the start of the walk. Yeah, the start. I was not best pleased, if you can imagine that. I didn’t want to have a heart attack, so I sat and listened to music while Pete ran around the walk – he only took 28 minutes to complete the track and the Lonely Planet say that it’s a 2 hour walk! He’s clearly a machine, or a freak of nature, or maybe he’s just fit. I’m going with freak of nature :)
After our lovely walk we headed back into town and then we walked around the lake and Pete went swimming, again. Seriously, that man and water. I went for a paddle. Dream big. When Pete was dried off we used the free internet – this needs a moment – free internet is amazing. I love free internet. If you are ever in Queenstown you should go to the Station Building, it’s on the corner and it’s where you book the Nevis Bungy – they have loads of Mac computers that you can use for free and there isn’t a time limit, so you can be really selfish like me and use the internet for like 3 hours at a time. It’s called the iJump kiosk and it’s great! Anyway, once we had used the awesome free internet we went and got an awesome Fergburger. Today I got myself a Cockadoodle Doo, so this one is just chicken, “Grilled chiken tenderloin with sundried tomato tapenade, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” Again, no red onion or tomato for me, but the sundried tomato tapenade was awesome, it was pretty spicy, which I wasn’t expecting, but still, another great success from Mr Ferg!
After our Ferg I started to get ready... Fast forward a few hours and I met up with Pete, the Canadian guys and one of the Bouncers from Altitude Bar. We had a wee chat and then Pete and I went down to Altitude for a bit of Karaoke. That’s another thing that men secretly love, Karaoke! We met up with a few people that had been on our bus on the West Coast, so that was really nice! When we were all sung out, we went to bed! Tonight was Pete’s last night, I actually felt bad that he didn’t get a bigger send off, everyone had already left so it was just us and I probably wasn’t as fun as a big group of drunken people! But I tried... I sang “Love Shack” on stage and that’s the greatest send off anyone could ever hope for! It will be sad to say goodbye to my Bangor Buddy, it’s nice when someone knows the same places and people as you – but that’s the good thing about living in Bangor – it’s so small we will run into each other again, whether he likes it or not!
Xx
40 Days and 40 Nights. Sort Of.
Sunday 12th April
Today was a glorious day. Do you want to know why? Ok, I’ll tell you. It was glorious not because I did a Skydive and it wasn’t glorious because Munster beat the Ospreys, it was glorious because today was the end of Lent! Yay! My struggle is over! Time to eat myself into a coma!
I started the morning by getting up at a ridiculously early hour, checking my bags into storage and then I went to the NZone office. We were given the usual, “If you die it’s not our fault” paperwork, we were weighed in (so you feel really crappy and you want to throw yourself out of a moving plane, or maybe it’s for safety reasons, I’m not too sure) and then we took the minibus to the jump site. We waited around for a while and then we met our Tandem Master (what a cool job title. It sure beats being a “Sales Assistant” or a “Waitress” or a “Nuclear Physicist” – can you be a “Nuclear Physicist” or did I make that up?). My Tandem Master was called Sasha and he was from Yugoslavia – he had done over 18,000 jumps and he was a machine – so I felt super safe! We got our little outfit on and then we went to the smallest plane ever. There were 9 of us, 3 jumpers, 3 camera men and 3 Tandem Masters and then the driver I guess, so 10 people – there were no seats and you were strapped to the front of the Tandem Master, so you half sat on your Tandem Master and half sat on the floor. Great. The camera man did a bit of videoing and then we were at 15,000 feet! I was the last to jump, so Sasha scootched down to the plane door and we sat there while I got the grossest picture taken and then 1,2,3 we were out! Everyone says that Skydiving isn’t as bad as Bungy Jumping because you have no depth perception at 15,000 feet, but I don’t know if that is true. The Skydive didn’t scare me, my heart didn’t race, I didn’t get butterflies, but when you look out of the plane you can see everything below you and you sort of think, “Oh, I’m falling towards that” – once you’re out of the plane you don’t think about that, you just think that it feels really cool to be falling – the wind rushes past so quickly, so that’s a cool sensation and then the parachute comes out. The freefall feels like it lasts for about 10 seconds – apparently it lasts for over a minute, but Sasha and I must be super heavy because it went sooo much quicker! I always thought that when the parachute comes out that you go up, but you don’t, it just feels like you do, but you’re still falling, it’s just at a much slower rate. You also totally forget about the parachute until it comes out –I’m glad I was strapped to Sasha, I would have forgotten to pull the cord if I was on my own! Anyway, you glide down to the ground – at this point my ears were killing me and I couldn’t equalise them because I had the cold – you’re not meant to dive if you have the cold, but I lied, tear tear. Then once you get used to the extreme ear pain, you realise that the harness is digging into your thighs and then you’re on the ground and it’s over! It was nice to look down over Queenstown and the lake, it was a really pretty place to do a skydive and I’m glad I waited – I would have like to have done it in Wanaka, over the Fox Glacier, but the weather is so bad there that you are never guaranteed to jump! But anyway, the jump went well, I landed on my feet, I survived, I still can’t fully hear out of my right ear, but still... the skydive video is super cool!
After the Skydive I went back to the Hostel but because I had to change rooms I had nowhere to go until 2.00pm, so I just went to the Irish room, where all the Irish girls (and boy) were staying. I sat on the floor and ate a massive bar of chocolate – I bought Turkish Delight and Crunchie Chocolate and 2 litres of milk, so that was nice. The Turkish Delight is runny here, so that was strange but the Crunchie Chocolate was good! Once I was stuffed like a little piggy, Mairead and Mike went to do some washing and I was like, “Aww, I’ll just sit here for a minute” but I ended up falling asleep in the foetal position on the dorm room floor. Apparently they came back and I was still like that! I eventually rolled onto my belly and I lay like that until I heard people moving about in the room, I presumed it was Mairead and Mike, so I was like “Hey guys, looks like I feel asleep”, but it wasn’t them, it was the cleaners, so I left fairly quickly! I then checked into a new room and feel asleep in my new bed! Sleeping is so nice :)
Once I woke up it was pretty late so I just got a Fergburger – tonight it was a Cockadoodle Oink – “Butterflied and crumbled chicken breast, American streaky bacon, avocado, lettuce, red onion, aioli and tomato relish”. Today I gave the red onion and the avocado a miss, but the rest of the burger was a beauty, maybe my favourite Ferg, yum yum yumaroo! After the big bad Ferg I went down to the bar with Mairead and Pete to watch the Munster vs the Ospreys Rugby match – if you watched it then you will know that Munster won, if you didn’t watch it then now you know that Munster won and if you recorded it to watch at a later date then I have ruined it for you. Sorry. I was really sleepy but it was a really good night, we just sat on the sofa in the Altitude Bar watching Rugby – they actually kept the bar open late for us so we could watch the end of the match, which was really quite nice of them :) I like nice people. Nice people are the way forward. Be a nice person. “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Or not. I can’t tell you what to do and neither can Ghandi.
Xx
Today was a glorious day. Do you want to know why? Ok, I’ll tell you. It was glorious not because I did a Skydive and it wasn’t glorious because Munster beat the Ospreys, it was glorious because today was the end of Lent! Yay! My struggle is over! Time to eat myself into a coma!
I started the morning by getting up at a ridiculously early hour, checking my bags into storage and then I went to the NZone office. We were given the usual, “If you die it’s not our fault” paperwork, we were weighed in (so you feel really crappy and you want to throw yourself out of a moving plane, or maybe it’s for safety reasons, I’m not too sure) and then we took the minibus to the jump site. We waited around for a while and then we met our Tandem Master (what a cool job title. It sure beats being a “Sales Assistant” or a “Waitress” or a “Nuclear Physicist” – can you be a “Nuclear Physicist” or did I make that up?). My Tandem Master was called Sasha and he was from Yugoslavia – he had done over 18,000 jumps and he was a machine – so I felt super safe! We got our little outfit on and then we went to the smallest plane ever. There were 9 of us, 3 jumpers, 3 camera men and 3 Tandem Masters and then the driver I guess, so 10 people – there were no seats and you were strapped to the front of the Tandem Master, so you half sat on your Tandem Master and half sat on the floor. Great. The camera man did a bit of videoing and then we were at 15,000 feet! I was the last to jump, so Sasha scootched down to the plane door and we sat there while I got the grossest picture taken and then 1,2,3 we were out! Everyone says that Skydiving isn’t as bad as Bungy Jumping because you have no depth perception at 15,000 feet, but I don’t know if that is true. The Skydive didn’t scare me, my heart didn’t race, I didn’t get butterflies, but when you look out of the plane you can see everything below you and you sort of think, “Oh, I’m falling towards that” – once you’re out of the plane you don’t think about that, you just think that it feels really cool to be falling – the wind rushes past so quickly, so that’s a cool sensation and then the parachute comes out. The freefall feels like it lasts for about 10 seconds – apparently it lasts for over a minute, but Sasha and I must be super heavy because it went sooo much quicker! I always thought that when the parachute comes out that you go up, but you don’t, it just feels like you do, but you’re still falling, it’s just at a much slower rate. You also totally forget about the parachute until it comes out –I’m glad I was strapped to Sasha, I would have forgotten to pull the cord if I was on my own! Anyway, you glide down to the ground – at this point my ears were killing me and I couldn’t equalise them because I had the cold – you’re not meant to dive if you have the cold, but I lied, tear tear. Then once you get used to the extreme ear pain, you realise that the harness is digging into your thighs and then you’re on the ground and it’s over! It was nice to look down over Queenstown and the lake, it was a really pretty place to do a skydive and I’m glad I waited – I would have like to have done it in Wanaka, over the Fox Glacier, but the weather is so bad there that you are never guaranteed to jump! But anyway, the jump went well, I landed on my feet, I survived, I still can’t fully hear out of my right ear, but still... the skydive video is super cool!
After the Skydive I went back to the Hostel but because I had to change rooms I had nowhere to go until 2.00pm, so I just went to the Irish room, where all the Irish girls (and boy) were staying. I sat on the floor and ate a massive bar of chocolate – I bought Turkish Delight and Crunchie Chocolate and 2 litres of milk, so that was nice. The Turkish Delight is runny here, so that was strange but the Crunchie Chocolate was good! Once I was stuffed like a little piggy, Mairead and Mike went to do some washing and I was like, “Aww, I’ll just sit here for a minute” but I ended up falling asleep in the foetal position on the dorm room floor. Apparently they came back and I was still like that! I eventually rolled onto my belly and I lay like that until I heard people moving about in the room, I presumed it was Mairead and Mike, so I was like “Hey guys, looks like I feel asleep”, but it wasn’t them, it was the cleaners, so I left fairly quickly! I then checked into a new room and feel asleep in my new bed! Sleeping is so nice :)
Once I woke up it was pretty late so I just got a Fergburger – tonight it was a Cockadoodle Oink – “Butterflied and crumbled chicken breast, American streaky bacon, avocado, lettuce, red onion, aioli and tomato relish”. Today I gave the red onion and the avocado a miss, but the rest of the burger was a beauty, maybe my favourite Ferg, yum yum yumaroo! After the big bad Ferg I went down to the bar with Mairead and Pete to watch the Munster vs the Ospreys Rugby match – if you watched it then you will know that Munster won, if you didn’t watch it then now you know that Munster won and if you recorded it to watch at a later date then I have ruined it for you. Sorry. I was really sleepy but it was a really good night, we just sat on the sofa in the Altitude Bar watching Rugby – they actually kept the bar open late for us so we could watch the end of the match, which was really quite nice of them :) I like nice people. Nice people are the way forward. Be a nice person. “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Or not. I can’t tell you what to do and neither can Ghandi.
Xx
The Pub Crawl/Swim/Night of Shirtless Men.
Saturday 11th April
When little boys are little boys all they want to do is run around with no clothes on. When little boys become big boys that doesn’t really change, at least that’s what I think. I have been with this particular group of people for a while now and when Jess left I became the only girl, which I am definitely not complaining about – having a group of men all to myself is totally fine with me, but the time I have had with these particular boys has really shown me that boys never change. The boys I am with find every possibly opportunity to take their tops off! Again, I’m not complaining, it’s just an observation.
But back to the deeper issues, tonight we went on a Pub Crawl. It’s called the Big Night Out and it’s about $20 and you get free shots at 6 bars, but because I don’t drink (have I said that about a million times already) I didn’t have to pay and I just tagged along with the group, which actually worked out really well! We went to 6 different bars, they were actually all really good and it was nice to see all the different places in Queenstown! We actually went to a bar that had a pole dancing pole, well I don’t actually know if it was a pole dancing pole, but that’s what it was used for when we arrived! This brings me to the shirtless boy theory – after very little persuasion (very, very little) the boys were up, dancing on the pole, having a great time and about 30 seconds later, they had all taken off their tops, which was my queue to jump in for a photo with topless boys and a stripper pole! I promise I don’t spend all my nights doing this!
But that wasn’t enough nakedness for one night – there was more to come! When we had finished the Pub Crawl we all went to a grassy area by the lake for an Easter Egg Hunt – which was really nice, even though I didn’t find any! We had a look around and didn’t really find a lot – James even climbed a tree, he didn’t find any eggs, but one of the organisers gave him an egg on the condition that he got out of the tree! At this point some idiot had thrown his shoes into the water and he was going in to get them – then Pete decided that he too would go for a midnight swim. Normally I would have joined him, but nah, it was freezing and I had straight hair, which doesn’t happen very often! So yeah, he stripped down to his boxers and dived off the jetty, into the freezing cold water! Because boys will be boys, Anthony decided to go in too, we advised him not to (he was wearing white boxers) but he went in any way! Obviously these boys are crazy, but again, I’m not complaining – if two grown men feel the need to run around in their boxers then I won’t stop them – I believe in freedom of choice, civil rights and after all, I’m only human! What would you do? Take pictures and then post them on Facebook? Obviously!
After their midnight swim the boys went and got dried off and then came down to the bar, had a boogie in their soaking jeans and then we went to Fergburger! It’s no Piccalo’s and it isn’t a Spice, but still, it was very much appreciated! Tonight I had a Sweet Julie, which is “Grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a ginger soy sauce, dressed with sweet chilli, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” Obviously I didn’t get the tomato or the red onion but the rest of it was really yummy! I don’t actually know what aioli is, but it tastes really good – not that I know what it tastes like, I just know that the Sweet Julie was another amazing Ferg! We all sat outside Ferg, eating our burgers – Pete got some chips that we had agreed to share, but I think he was so drunk that he forgot about our little agreement – so he sat in the corner munching our chips, don’t worry, I moaned until he gave me some :)
Tonight was a really great night – it was Anthony’s last night, so that was sad – one less attractive, shirtless boy to look at, but he had a really good last night – at least I hope he did because I had a great night!
Xx
When little boys are little boys all they want to do is run around with no clothes on. When little boys become big boys that doesn’t really change, at least that’s what I think. I have been with this particular group of people for a while now and when Jess left I became the only girl, which I am definitely not complaining about – having a group of men all to myself is totally fine with me, but the time I have had with these particular boys has really shown me that boys never change. The boys I am with find every possibly opportunity to take their tops off! Again, I’m not complaining, it’s just an observation.
But back to the deeper issues, tonight we went on a Pub Crawl. It’s called the Big Night Out and it’s about $20 and you get free shots at 6 bars, but because I don’t drink (have I said that about a million times already) I didn’t have to pay and I just tagged along with the group, which actually worked out really well! We went to 6 different bars, they were actually all really good and it was nice to see all the different places in Queenstown! We actually went to a bar that had a pole dancing pole, well I don’t actually know if it was a pole dancing pole, but that’s what it was used for when we arrived! This brings me to the shirtless boy theory – after very little persuasion (very, very little) the boys were up, dancing on the pole, having a great time and about 30 seconds later, they had all taken off their tops, which was my queue to jump in for a photo with topless boys and a stripper pole! I promise I don’t spend all my nights doing this!
But that wasn’t enough nakedness for one night – there was more to come! When we had finished the Pub Crawl we all went to a grassy area by the lake for an Easter Egg Hunt – which was really nice, even though I didn’t find any! We had a look around and didn’t really find a lot – James even climbed a tree, he didn’t find any eggs, but one of the organisers gave him an egg on the condition that he got out of the tree! At this point some idiot had thrown his shoes into the water and he was going in to get them – then Pete decided that he too would go for a midnight swim. Normally I would have joined him, but nah, it was freezing and I had straight hair, which doesn’t happen very often! So yeah, he stripped down to his boxers and dived off the jetty, into the freezing cold water! Because boys will be boys, Anthony decided to go in too, we advised him not to (he was wearing white boxers) but he went in any way! Obviously these boys are crazy, but again, I’m not complaining – if two grown men feel the need to run around in their boxers then I won’t stop them – I believe in freedom of choice, civil rights and after all, I’m only human! What would you do? Take pictures and then post them on Facebook? Obviously!
After their midnight swim the boys went and got dried off and then came down to the bar, had a boogie in their soaking jeans and then we went to Fergburger! It’s no Piccalo’s and it isn’t a Spice, but still, it was very much appreciated! Tonight I had a Sweet Julie, which is “Grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a ginger soy sauce, dressed with sweet chilli, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” Obviously I didn’t get the tomato or the red onion but the rest of it was really yummy! I don’t actually know what aioli is, but it tastes really good – not that I know what it tastes like, I just know that the Sweet Julie was another amazing Ferg! We all sat outside Ferg, eating our burgers – Pete got some chips that we had agreed to share, but I think he was so drunk that he forgot about our little agreement – so he sat in the corner munching our chips, don’t worry, I moaned until he gave me some :)
Tonight was a really great night – it was Anthony’s last night, so that was sad – one less attractive, shirtless boy to look at, but he had a really good last night – at least I hope he did because I had a great night!
Xx
Destroying my Body – In the Funnest Way Possible!
Friday 10th April
I’m not really into extreme sports (or any sports actually) but Queenstown is all about extreme activities, which I am aware aren’t actually sports, but I’ve already written sports and it’s too late to go back. So yes, I have never had any desire to thrown myself out of a plane or off a ledge, but today I began the first of my extreme, life threateningly stupid activities – I did a Canyon Swing! Because I’m a rubbish planner I ended up being in the later group, so I wasn’t with Pete, but I was with a bunch of really nice people from my Kiwi Experience bus, so it all worked out pretty well... Anyway, we met at the offices, got weighed in (my favourite part obviously) and then we headed up to the Canyon. On the way we watched a DVD that showed you a few different ways to jump off the platform, so I decided to do the Backwards Jump and the Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood Jump. Apparently they are the scariest ones and I figured that if you’re going to do it you might as well do it right! When we got to the centre we got our harnesses on and went down to the platform/ledge thing – it’s quite big, everyone stands there and waits for their turn, so it wasn’t a rickety plant of wood or anything! I decided to go first, because if I didn’t go first then I thought I wouldn’t go at all. The guy that took us up to the Canyon Swing was called Paddins, he was actually really nice, the kind of guy I would be pals with – so he got me all ready to go and held me over the edge backwards, which is quite a strange sensation... They mess around with your head on the Canyon Swing, they try to scare you and they like keep pretending to let go of the harness and they act like you’re not strapped in, which is actually quite good – I like a bit of banter myself.
Once I did my, smile for the camera/try to look pretty while you hang backwards off a ledge pose, the boys basically let go of me and you just start falling backwards. I actually feel more scared writing this then when I was actually there! It wasn’t scary, it was just a bit strange – you feel really disorientated because you’re falling backwards and then once the freefall is over you swing for a bit and then they pull you back up again. It was actually really cool, it didn’t scare me and while it was exciting, it didn’t make my heart race – I was creepily calm about the whole experience, so much so that I decided to do it again! This time I did it upside down, which was an even weirder experience. You get strapped in and they suspend you in the air, over the canyon, in the sitting position. You then have to wrap your legs around the cord that is suspending you and you arch your back, so you are sort of in a ‘C’ position. When I was in the proper position I looked down at the ground and then you realise just how high the ledge actually is... But I didn’t have time to think about how high up I was because Paddins decided that instead of waiting for me to say “I’m ready” that he would just pull the cord in the middle of our conversation! It was all over so quickly and before I knew it I was swinging around the Canyon and then I was back in the jump area! That split second when you can see the ground is quite strange – it’s not something your body is used to!
When we all got back from the Canyon Swing a big group of us decided to go Luging, which is amazing! We took the Gondola (basically a Cable Car) up some random mountain in Queenstown, I don’t actually know the name of it, but it’s a bug mountain that has a Luge track on it, so you won’t miss it if you’re ever in Queenstown! When you leave the Gondola you take a ski lift to the very top of the Luge track where you get the actual Luge – it’s a New Zealand invention, apparently, but then again, they say that they invented everything, anyway, it’s pretty much flat to the ground, it has three wheels and you steer with handles like you have on a bike. You pull the handles back to go faster but you try to keep it in the middle because if you pull it too far back then you start to brake and if you push the handles too far forward then that acts as the handbrake and you will flip over the handles. Sound like something you would be interested in? They have to tracks, a “Scenic” track and an “Advanced” track – you have to do one “Scenic” lap before you can go on the “Advanced” one, so we tore around that one and then had a go at the “Advanced” track. We had paid for 6 laps and each time I got more confident, I started going really fast and overtaking people, I even won the girls race! Then on our 7th go, (we all snuck through on one ticket) I started to get super confident and I was so close to winning... but then I totally wiped out on one of the corners. I don’t really know what happened, I think I just went too quickly and then hit the side, but I ended up coming off the Luge and skidding along the curb on my stomach. As soon as I stopped I got back on the Luge and finished the race, not in first, but maybe 3rd or 4th? Then I checked my tummy... it was quite gross, it was like a big graze on my tummy – I also ripped my shorts and grazed my knee – but it was totally worth it! Luging is soo good, maybe I will introduce it to Northern Ireland!
After our exciting outing I got myself another Fergburger. Do you see a theme emerging? Tonight I went for a Tropical Swine – which was “Prime New Zealand beef, American streaky bacon, edam cheese, pineapple, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli and tomato relish.” Again, I gave the tomato and red onion a miss and It was so, so, so yummy! The pineapple goes really well with the tomato relish, flip, I’m getting hungry thinking about it! After Fergburger I met up with my friend Richard, we met on the Gap year website (gapyear.com – very original) and we got chatting on Facebook. We went for a wee walk to Dirty Bird (KFC) and then we headed to Starbucks where we got hot chocolate and those yummy caramel waffle biscuits, there Dutch and there sooo yummy, especially with hot chocolate! We just sat and chatted, which was really nice and I went home (how strange, I’m calling a Hostel my home) and went to bed! Lovely!
Xx
I’m not really into extreme sports (or any sports actually) but Queenstown is all about extreme activities, which I am aware aren’t actually sports, but I’ve already written sports and it’s too late to go back. So yes, I have never had any desire to thrown myself out of a plane or off a ledge, but today I began the first of my extreme, life threateningly stupid activities – I did a Canyon Swing! Because I’m a rubbish planner I ended up being in the later group, so I wasn’t with Pete, but I was with a bunch of really nice people from my Kiwi Experience bus, so it all worked out pretty well... Anyway, we met at the offices, got weighed in (my favourite part obviously) and then we headed up to the Canyon. On the way we watched a DVD that showed you a few different ways to jump off the platform, so I decided to do the Backwards Jump and the Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood Jump. Apparently they are the scariest ones and I figured that if you’re going to do it you might as well do it right! When we got to the centre we got our harnesses on and went down to the platform/ledge thing – it’s quite big, everyone stands there and waits for their turn, so it wasn’t a rickety plant of wood or anything! I decided to go first, because if I didn’t go first then I thought I wouldn’t go at all. The guy that took us up to the Canyon Swing was called Paddins, he was actually really nice, the kind of guy I would be pals with – so he got me all ready to go and held me over the edge backwards, which is quite a strange sensation... They mess around with your head on the Canyon Swing, they try to scare you and they like keep pretending to let go of the harness and they act like you’re not strapped in, which is actually quite good – I like a bit of banter myself.
Once I did my, smile for the camera/try to look pretty while you hang backwards off a ledge pose, the boys basically let go of me and you just start falling backwards. I actually feel more scared writing this then when I was actually there! It wasn’t scary, it was just a bit strange – you feel really disorientated because you’re falling backwards and then once the freefall is over you swing for a bit and then they pull you back up again. It was actually really cool, it didn’t scare me and while it was exciting, it didn’t make my heart race – I was creepily calm about the whole experience, so much so that I decided to do it again! This time I did it upside down, which was an even weirder experience. You get strapped in and they suspend you in the air, over the canyon, in the sitting position. You then have to wrap your legs around the cord that is suspending you and you arch your back, so you are sort of in a ‘C’ position. When I was in the proper position I looked down at the ground and then you realise just how high the ledge actually is... But I didn’t have time to think about how high up I was because Paddins decided that instead of waiting for me to say “I’m ready” that he would just pull the cord in the middle of our conversation! It was all over so quickly and before I knew it I was swinging around the Canyon and then I was back in the jump area! That split second when you can see the ground is quite strange – it’s not something your body is used to!
When we all got back from the Canyon Swing a big group of us decided to go Luging, which is amazing! We took the Gondola (basically a Cable Car) up some random mountain in Queenstown, I don’t actually know the name of it, but it’s a bug mountain that has a Luge track on it, so you won’t miss it if you’re ever in Queenstown! When you leave the Gondola you take a ski lift to the very top of the Luge track where you get the actual Luge – it’s a New Zealand invention, apparently, but then again, they say that they invented everything, anyway, it’s pretty much flat to the ground, it has three wheels and you steer with handles like you have on a bike. You pull the handles back to go faster but you try to keep it in the middle because if you pull it too far back then you start to brake and if you push the handles too far forward then that acts as the handbrake and you will flip over the handles. Sound like something you would be interested in? They have to tracks, a “Scenic” track and an “Advanced” track – you have to do one “Scenic” lap before you can go on the “Advanced” one, so we tore around that one and then had a go at the “Advanced” track. We had paid for 6 laps and each time I got more confident, I started going really fast and overtaking people, I even won the girls race! Then on our 7th go, (we all snuck through on one ticket) I started to get super confident and I was so close to winning... but then I totally wiped out on one of the corners. I don’t really know what happened, I think I just went too quickly and then hit the side, but I ended up coming off the Luge and skidding along the curb on my stomach. As soon as I stopped I got back on the Luge and finished the race, not in first, but maybe 3rd or 4th? Then I checked my tummy... it was quite gross, it was like a big graze on my tummy – I also ripped my shorts and grazed my knee – but it was totally worth it! Luging is soo good, maybe I will introduce it to Northern Ireland!
After our exciting outing I got myself another Fergburger. Do you see a theme emerging? Tonight I went for a Tropical Swine – which was “Prime New Zealand beef, American streaky bacon, edam cheese, pineapple, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli and tomato relish.” Again, I gave the tomato and red onion a miss and It was so, so, so yummy! The pineapple goes really well with the tomato relish, flip, I’m getting hungry thinking about it! After Fergburger I met up with my friend Richard, we met on the Gap year website (gapyear.com – very original) and we got chatting on Facebook. We went for a wee walk to Dirty Bird (KFC) and then we headed to Starbucks where we got hot chocolate and those yummy caramel waffle biscuits, there Dutch and there sooo yummy, especially with hot chocolate! We just sat and chatted, which was really nice and I went home (how strange, I’m calling a Hostel my home) and went to bed! Lovely!
Xx
Time to Say Goodbye...
Thursday 9th April
I hate making decisions. I don’t think I’m indecisive, well maybe I am, but I like to be well informed before I decide to do or buy something. That’s why it takes so long for me to find a restaurant to eat in; I need to know everything about every possible restaurant before I can decide on one specific place. It’s the same with pretty much everything I buy – I need to know everything about it before I will even consider buying something and even when I know everything humanly possible about the item in question, I check every shop and website for the cheapest price. I don’t really know why I said all that, it doesn’t really contribute to this Blog post, maybe it does, in some indirect way – today we went River Boarding, which I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do, I didn’t even research it, but I just went along because everyone else was going. Yup, I’m a sucker for peer pressure, or so it seems!
Anyway, we went Mad Dog River Boarding – basically it’s like white water rafting, but you do it on a body board so you’re in the water the entire time. It wasn’t something that I was particularly interested in, but everyone else was going and it did look quite fun! We met at the River Rafting shop and we got a mini bus out to the Canyon where you get all your gear on. You should know that wetsuits are super attractive...nat! So yeah, we got our wetsuits and our little booties on and then it got even better, we got lifejackets and my personal favourite – helmets! I know that you need them, for safety reasons, but helmets are possible the most annoying thing on this planet – they are so uncomfortable and I find tem really restrictive, I don’t like not being able to turn my head. In fairness, you really do need to wear helmets, especially for activities like Black Water Rafting, where the first thing I did when in the cave was smack my head off one of the stalactites, yikes, but really, I just wanted to have a moan about helmets. When we all met the required safety standard we went to the start of the rapids – quite a lot of walking occurred, which I was obviously annoyed about, because I hate moving. We started our River Boarding trip by showing the instructors how confident we were in the water/swimming around like idiots while the instructors kicked water in our faces and shouted at us. That was G-R-E-A-T! After that traumatic ordeal our entire group decided to skip the first 80m, at least I think it was 80m, all I know is that we skipped the part that required the most effort, which is pretty much the way I live my life! Instead of doing the difficult part we went straight to the rapids so that worked out quite well. It’s actually pretty self explanatory – we were on body boards and we were going in and out of the rapids – it wasn’t really strenuous, but you did have to work to stay in the middle of the river. Some of the guides were a bit annoying/mean (they would shout at you if you weren’t in the right place, which they probably need to do, but they could try being a bit more polite, everyone has to start at some point) but the main guide, Arnold, was this massive German guy, he was properly ripped and he had a shaved head – a total machine, who was actually really nice and really softly spoken! So we hung out with Arnold on the way down the river!
When the rapids finished we just floated down the river and then we stopped to jump off some rocks, which was actually really fun, I jumped twice, I would have gone more but you had to climb up a big rock before you can jump and that is pretty impossible in flippers. Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about the flippers! They are even more annoying than helmets! I think mine were too tight so they really hurt and trying to swim with them on feels really unnatural, as does walking. Walking with flippers on is so difficult! I have a new found appreciation for ducks... and deep sea divers, I guess. After the rock jumping we went down river and had a go on the jet ski – you climbed onto a raft thing that was attached to the back of the jet ski and the guy drove you around for a while, he did 360 turns and stuff, so that was really cool! After that we climbed up about 1,000,000 steps (a running theme in New Zealand) and then we slid down an old Gold Mining shaft thing on our boards, basically it was a really high slide, so that was cool, I managed to do it twice the second time round I was kneeling, which was fun because you skim across the river. It would have been fun to do it a third time, but I thought about it and decided that the stairs might defeat me and besides, everyone was getting ready to leave!
Once we were all dry and cosy we went back to Queenstown, to get a Fergburger! Today I tried the Cock Cajun, which was a seriously yummy chicken burger. It had all the classics and so much more – here’s the Menu description – “Grilled chicken tenderloins rubbed with Cajun spices, cooled with a lemon yoghurt, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” Yummy yummy yummy I’ve got Ferg in my tummy! It was seriously good – I didn’t get the tomato or red onion and I wasn’t sure if I would like it – it sounded very fancy, but it was an absolute beauty!
After our day of river activities we were all starving, my burger was plenty, but Josh decided that a normal Ferg wasn’t enough – he needed his own special Ferg. He started with a Big Al burger, it’s the biggest burger on the menu, but he decided to pretty much double it! He ended up paying $22.00 for the biggest burger I have ever seen! If you have seen my Facebook pictures then you have probably seen it – it looks like a regular burger, on steroids. It was literally half the size of his head... and he ate it! I had my doubts, I really didn’t think he would finish it, but he totally destroyed that burger! He even managed some chips, which is another accomplishment as Ferg chips are also monstrously big – bigger really is better in Ferg! I wasn’t sure if I should be disgusted or impressed with Josh – I think I was both, but mainly I was in awe at his unbelievable ability to consume ridiculous amounts of food. I feel it should also be mentioned that this all happened in a seriously short space of time, under 13 minutes I think! High Five!
After Ferg we took some time to let our bodies recover and then we all went to Pete and Anthony’s room for a few drinks. Josh had mentioned that he could down three pints at once, so naturally we held him to this. He took his place on the bedroom floor and Anthony, Rob and some Canadian guy called Matt started to pour the pints straight into his mouth. Again, I wasn’t sure if I should be disgusted or impressed! It was really something, he actually downed all three pints, at once! Yes, there were a few slip ups, the most notable was Josh coughing beer all over James and his camera but he still managed it! He didn’t even stop there – he kept drinking all night – I really was impressed with Josh – I have never seen anyone consume as much food/alcohol in one night! Maybe that’s not a good thing, but I dare you to watch and not be impressed!
After watching Josh put grown men to shame, we headed to a club called Subculture, which was underground and not the best place I’ve ever been. Actually, I didn’t really like it at all. It was a drum and bass night and I don’t really like drum and bass, so it probably wasn’t the best place for me to go! It was also full of shady characters – lots of older people and lots of boys with long greasy hair and big army boots with shorts. I’m not saying that wearing shorts and army boots makes you a bad person, but it just wasn’t my scene. After a while Josh and I went to the Base bar, Altitude, to see if we could find Pete (he disappeared) but we couldn’t so we just went back to Subculture. Eventually I just left and went back to bed – I sound like a bit of a saddo, but really, drum and bass is probably the only music I just cannot dance to!
I had a really good day and a really good night, but it was quite sad too because it was Josh and Jess’ last night with the Posse! I will actually really miss those two; they were some seriously amazing people! I always think its nice when brothers and sisters get on, plus they were really, really funny and genuinely nice, which is always good! So yep, today was another amazing day in Queenstown!
Xx
I hate making decisions. I don’t think I’m indecisive, well maybe I am, but I like to be well informed before I decide to do or buy something. That’s why it takes so long for me to find a restaurant to eat in; I need to know everything about every possible restaurant before I can decide on one specific place. It’s the same with pretty much everything I buy – I need to know everything about it before I will even consider buying something and even when I know everything humanly possible about the item in question, I check every shop and website for the cheapest price. I don’t really know why I said all that, it doesn’t really contribute to this Blog post, maybe it does, in some indirect way – today we went River Boarding, which I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do, I didn’t even research it, but I just went along because everyone else was going. Yup, I’m a sucker for peer pressure, or so it seems!
Anyway, we went Mad Dog River Boarding – basically it’s like white water rafting, but you do it on a body board so you’re in the water the entire time. It wasn’t something that I was particularly interested in, but everyone else was going and it did look quite fun! We met at the River Rafting shop and we got a mini bus out to the Canyon where you get all your gear on. You should know that wetsuits are super attractive...nat! So yeah, we got our wetsuits and our little booties on and then it got even better, we got lifejackets and my personal favourite – helmets! I know that you need them, for safety reasons, but helmets are possible the most annoying thing on this planet – they are so uncomfortable and I find tem really restrictive, I don’t like not being able to turn my head. In fairness, you really do need to wear helmets, especially for activities like Black Water Rafting, where the first thing I did when in the cave was smack my head off one of the stalactites, yikes, but really, I just wanted to have a moan about helmets. When we all met the required safety standard we went to the start of the rapids – quite a lot of walking occurred, which I was obviously annoyed about, because I hate moving. We started our River Boarding trip by showing the instructors how confident we were in the water/swimming around like idiots while the instructors kicked water in our faces and shouted at us. That was G-R-E-A-T! After that traumatic ordeal our entire group decided to skip the first 80m, at least I think it was 80m, all I know is that we skipped the part that required the most effort, which is pretty much the way I live my life! Instead of doing the difficult part we went straight to the rapids so that worked out quite well. It’s actually pretty self explanatory – we were on body boards and we were going in and out of the rapids – it wasn’t really strenuous, but you did have to work to stay in the middle of the river. Some of the guides were a bit annoying/mean (they would shout at you if you weren’t in the right place, which they probably need to do, but they could try being a bit more polite, everyone has to start at some point) but the main guide, Arnold, was this massive German guy, he was properly ripped and he had a shaved head – a total machine, who was actually really nice and really softly spoken! So we hung out with Arnold on the way down the river!
When the rapids finished we just floated down the river and then we stopped to jump off some rocks, which was actually really fun, I jumped twice, I would have gone more but you had to climb up a big rock before you can jump and that is pretty impossible in flippers. Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about the flippers! They are even more annoying than helmets! I think mine were too tight so they really hurt and trying to swim with them on feels really unnatural, as does walking. Walking with flippers on is so difficult! I have a new found appreciation for ducks... and deep sea divers, I guess. After the rock jumping we went down river and had a go on the jet ski – you climbed onto a raft thing that was attached to the back of the jet ski and the guy drove you around for a while, he did 360 turns and stuff, so that was really cool! After that we climbed up about 1,000,000 steps (a running theme in New Zealand) and then we slid down an old Gold Mining shaft thing on our boards, basically it was a really high slide, so that was cool, I managed to do it twice the second time round I was kneeling, which was fun because you skim across the river. It would have been fun to do it a third time, but I thought about it and decided that the stairs might defeat me and besides, everyone was getting ready to leave!
Once we were all dry and cosy we went back to Queenstown, to get a Fergburger! Today I tried the Cock Cajun, which was a seriously yummy chicken burger. It had all the classics and so much more – here’s the Menu description – “Grilled chicken tenderloins rubbed with Cajun spices, cooled with a lemon yoghurt, lettuce, tomato, red onion and aioli.” Yummy yummy yummy I’ve got Ferg in my tummy! It was seriously good – I didn’t get the tomato or red onion and I wasn’t sure if I would like it – it sounded very fancy, but it was an absolute beauty!
After our day of river activities we were all starving, my burger was plenty, but Josh decided that a normal Ferg wasn’t enough – he needed his own special Ferg. He started with a Big Al burger, it’s the biggest burger on the menu, but he decided to pretty much double it! He ended up paying $22.00 for the biggest burger I have ever seen! If you have seen my Facebook pictures then you have probably seen it – it looks like a regular burger, on steroids. It was literally half the size of his head... and he ate it! I had my doubts, I really didn’t think he would finish it, but he totally destroyed that burger! He even managed some chips, which is another accomplishment as Ferg chips are also monstrously big – bigger really is better in Ferg! I wasn’t sure if I should be disgusted or impressed with Josh – I think I was both, but mainly I was in awe at his unbelievable ability to consume ridiculous amounts of food. I feel it should also be mentioned that this all happened in a seriously short space of time, under 13 minutes I think! High Five!
After Ferg we took some time to let our bodies recover and then we all went to Pete and Anthony’s room for a few drinks. Josh had mentioned that he could down three pints at once, so naturally we held him to this. He took his place on the bedroom floor and Anthony, Rob and some Canadian guy called Matt started to pour the pints straight into his mouth. Again, I wasn’t sure if I should be disgusted or impressed! It was really something, he actually downed all three pints, at once! Yes, there were a few slip ups, the most notable was Josh coughing beer all over James and his camera but he still managed it! He didn’t even stop there – he kept drinking all night – I really was impressed with Josh – I have never seen anyone consume as much food/alcohol in one night! Maybe that’s not a good thing, but I dare you to watch and not be impressed!
After watching Josh put grown men to shame, we headed to a club called Subculture, which was underground and not the best place I’ve ever been. Actually, I didn’t really like it at all. It was a drum and bass night and I don’t really like drum and bass, so it probably wasn’t the best place for me to go! It was also full of shady characters – lots of older people and lots of boys with long greasy hair and big army boots with shorts. I’m not saying that wearing shorts and army boots makes you a bad person, but it just wasn’t my scene. After a while Josh and I went to the Base bar, Altitude, to see if we could find Pete (he disappeared) but we couldn’t so we just went back to Subculture. Eventually I just left and went back to bed – I sound like a bit of a saddo, but really, drum and bass is probably the only music I just cannot dance to!
I had a really good day and a really good night, but it was quite sad too because it was Josh and Jess’ last night with the Posse! I will actually really miss those two; they were some seriously amazing people! I always think its nice when brothers and sisters get on, plus they were really, really funny and genuinely nice, which is always good! So yep, today was another amazing day in Queenstown!
Xx
Monday, 27 April 2009
Hello Queeeeeenstown!
Wednesday 8th April
Today we left Wanaka – we didn’t get to spend much time there, probably because it’s so small, but I really liked it – there was a nice atmosphere around Wanaka and the lake was really beautiful. Our first stop of the day was Puzzling World, where I got some chocolate cake for breakfast, which was pretty huge, but pretty nice. After the cake we took a walk around the maze at Puzzling World, but we got bored, so we left through one of the emergency exits. We then went inside the optical illusions rooms, they were cool, some were 3D images, there was a room where on one side you look really big and on the other side you look really small. There was a room of faces, which had a bunch of concave faces in them, but they looked convex and then there was a room that sloped down, but the water ran upwards. It wasn’t too bad if you want to fill an hour or so, but it made me feel really sick! It was too confusing. Meh.
After Puzzling World we stopped off at AJ Hackett’s Bungy Site, where the first commercial Bungy took place – it looked alright, but if I’m going to do a Bungy then I’m going to do the Nevis! While some people were jumping I got some Flip Flops, finally! We then went to Queenstown where we checked into our rooms – we were too late to get a shared room, so I went to Sanctuary and got my free towel! James and Rob got a room together, so did Josh and Jess and Anthony and Pete got an amazing room together – it was a four bed room and they had an ensuite and a balcony with a view! Not that I’m bitter or anything. During the day we just did the usual things, a grocery shop and while everyone went to make dinner, I ventured to Fergburger.
This deserves an entire paragraph. I got a Fergburger with Cheese. I thought I would start out with a classic – nothing beats a cheeseburger. Correction – a Ferg with Cheese beats a cheeseburger. It was an absolute beauty – the actual burger bun was huge (in both thickness and circumference) and it was nice burger bun, soft but not too soft, it was like a real burger bun, it was even slightly toasted. The fillings were fairly typical – traditional New Zealand Beef, Tomato Relish, Lettuce (pray – it has to be said, if you have attended House or regular Assembly in Glenlola Collegiate then you know what I’m talking about), Cheese, something is telling me that it was Edam Cheese, but I can’t be sure, the menu is upstairs and as important as this description is, I don’t plan on moving – I’m too engrossed in the wonder of Ferg. The burger also comes with Red Onion, which I’m not too fond of, so I skipped that! The burger was pretty substantial, but I totally destroyed it – very gracefully might I add, I challenge you to eat a Fergburger without getting it everywhere! In summary, Fergburger Number One – The Fergburger with Cheese, was a great success. A really nice burger, a really huge burger and yet I didn’t want it to end, even when I could no longer move. I think Mr Fergburger and I will become great friends.
Once I regained the ability to move I started the momentous task of getting ready to go out with everyone. When I was finally ready I headed down to the Altitude Bar – the bar attached to Base in Queenstown. It’s actually quite a good bar – it’s where pretty much all nights out begin, everyone meets here and after a while they head onto the next bar, which is what we did! We went from Altitude Bar to the World Bar, which is another really great bar – it’s just up the street and it gets really busy at around 12ish, when everyone leaves Altitude and goes to World Bar. They serve their cocktails in teapots, which is actually pretty cool, you can drink straight out of the teapot or you can use the little plastic shot glasses they give out – if you go to my church then they look like little pink sacrament cups! Both the bars played really good music, which I was really happy about, I love having a good old boogie, but once it starts, it doesn’t stop. Really, once I get going then you will have to drag me home. It’s not a pretty sight either, I can’t actually dance, but I sure try! I think it’s an illness. Some side effects of this illness include; the genuine belief that you can actually dance and that everyone not only wants to, but needs to witness your moves. I also find that if there is a stage in sight that you are drawn to it, which obviously happened in World Bar and suddenly everyday tasks become dance worthy – stacking the shelves, rolling the dice, big fish little fish cardboard box. Need I say anymore? After a night of shockingly bad dancing, courtesy of yours truly, we headed back to the Hostel. Our first night in Queenstown was actually really good, it is a really good town if you are into going out and all that jazz!
Today we learnt that Alcohol can, in some ways, be a positive thing – for me that is. You being drunk is great for me, I can dance as badly as I want and you won’t remember a thing! The downside is that you won’t remember what you did, but don’t worry, I’m only too happy to tell you about all the stupid things you did, I’m like an elephant... I never forget :)
P.S Why did I think it was a good idea to publicly state that “I’m like an elephant”?
xx
Today we left Wanaka – we didn’t get to spend much time there, probably because it’s so small, but I really liked it – there was a nice atmosphere around Wanaka and the lake was really beautiful. Our first stop of the day was Puzzling World, where I got some chocolate cake for breakfast, which was pretty huge, but pretty nice. After the cake we took a walk around the maze at Puzzling World, but we got bored, so we left through one of the emergency exits. We then went inside the optical illusions rooms, they were cool, some were 3D images, there was a room where on one side you look really big and on the other side you look really small. There was a room of faces, which had a bunch of concave faces in them, but they looked convex and then there was a room that sloped down, but the water ran upwards. It wasn’t too bad if you want to fill an hour or so, but it made me feel really sick! It was too confusing. Meh.
After Puzzling World we stopped off at AJ Hackett’s Bungy Site, where the first commercial Bungy took place – it looked alright, but if I’m going to do a Bungy then I’m going to do the Nevis! While some people were jumping I got some Flip Flops, finally! We then went to Queenstown where we checked into our rooms – we were too late to get a shared room, so I went to Sanctuary and got my free towel! James and Rob got a room together, so did Josh and Jess and Anthony and Pete got an amazing room together – it was a four bed room and they had an ensuite and a balcony with a view! Not that I’m bitter or anything. During the day we just did the usual things, a grocery shop and while everyone went to make dinner, I ventured to Fergburger.
This deserves an entire paragraph. I got a Fergburger with Cheese. I thought I would start out with a classic – nothing beats a cheeseburger. Correction – a Ferg with Cheese beats a cheeseburger. It was an absolute beauty – the actual burger bun was huge (in both thickness and circumference) and it was nice burger bun, soft but not too soft, it was like a real burger bun, it was even slightly toasted. The fillings were fairly typical – traditional New Zealand Beef, Tomato Relish, Lettuce (pray – it has to be said, if you have attended House or regular Assembly in Glenlola Collegiate then you know what I’m talking about), Cheese, something is telling me that it was Edam Cheese, but I can’t be sure, the menu is upstairs and as important as this description is, I don’t plan on moving – I’m too engrossed in the wonder of Ferg. The burger also comes with Red Onion, which I’m not too fond of, so I skipped that! The burger was pretty substantial, but I totally destroyed it – very gracefully might I add, I challenge you to eat a Fergburger without getting it everywhere! In summary, Fergburger Number One – The Fergburger with Cheese, was a great success. A really nice burger, a really huge burger and yet I didn’t want it to end, even when I could no longer move. I think Mr Fergburger and I will become great friends.
Once I regained the ability to move I started the momentous task of getting ready to go out with everyone. When I was finally ready I headed down to the Altitude Bar – the bar attached to Base in Queenstown. It’s actually quite a good bar – it’s where pretty much all nights out begin, everyone meets here and after a while they head onto the next bar, which is what we did! We went from Altitude Bar to the World Bar, which is another really great bar – it’s just up the street and it gets really busy at around 12ish, when everyone leaves Altitude and goes to World Bar. They serve their cocktails in teapots, which is actually pretty cool, you can drink straight out of the teapot or you can use the little plastic shot glasses they give out – if you go to my church then they look like little pink sacrament cups! Both the bars played really good music, which I was really happy about, I love having a good old boogie, but once it starts, it doesn’t stop. Really, once I get going then you will have to drag me home. It’s not a pretty sight either, I can’t actually dance, but I sure try! I think it’s an illness. Some side effects of this illness include; the genuine belief that you can actually dance and that everyone not only wants to, but needs to witness your moves. I also find that if there is a stage in sight that you are drawn to it, which obviously happened in World Bar and suddenly everyday tasks become dance worthy – stacking the shelves, rolling the dice, big fish little fish cardboard box. Need I say anymore? After a night of shockingly bad dancing, courtesy of yours truly, we headed back to the Hostel. Our first night in Queenstown was actually really good, it is a really good town if you are into going out and all that jazz!
Today we learnt that Alcohol can, in some ways, be a positive thing – for me that is. You being drunk is great for me, I can dance as badly as I want and you won’t remember a thing! The downside is that you won’t remember what you did, but don’t worry, I’m only too happy to tell you about all the stupid things you did, I’m like an elephant... I never forget :)
P.S Why did I think it was a good idea to publicly state that “I’m like an elephant”?
xx
Viva la Familia (aka Pete’s Posse)
Tuesday 7th April
Today we left Franz Josef (YES) and headed to Wanaka. On the way we stopped off in a few places, I think, but honestly, they mustn’t have been that amazing, because I don’t remember them. We were actually really lucky, “Pete’s Posse” (the name develops later in the evening) managed to get a room together, so Jess, Josh, Pete, Rob, James and myself were all in the same room – sharing a room with four boys isn’t as sexy as it sounds, especially after Franz Josef – everything we owned was soaked, so the entire room smelt like wet boy! Lovely! Actually, I shouldn’t complain, my stuff was soaking too so the room probably smelt like wet Gina too, and besides, it was an amazing room – full of amazing people! We were missing Anthony, but he did come visit :)
Once we were checked into our room we went and did some washing/drying. I actually hate being cold and wet. I never realised how grumpy I get, but it’s quite shocking. When I was in Franz Josef I rang Esther and was like, “Everything I own is wet. I hate everything.” But in Wanaka I got all my clothes nice and dry, so life is back to being good! Once the clothes were dry we did the next logical thing... Went swimming and got our clothes wet again! I wasn’t too keen on going swimming in a freezing cold lake, but once I got there I had to go in! I’m actually really glad I did go in, it was actually quite warm! Nobody ever believes me when I say that, but it actually was really nice! We had a mini triathlon – we dived from a jetty, swam to a raft, climbed onto the raft, swam back to shore and then ran to the start of the jetty. I wasn’t as enthusiastic as some others, but it was really good fun! Once we had completed our epic race, Pete and I hung around, jumping off the jetty – because I’m a bit special I decided to do a summersault... I think it began well, actually no, I was rubbish and ended up doing a bellyflop, but on my lower back/ass – it was actually really, really sore. If you were there then you probably would have laughed, it was quite funny, but still, seriously sore.
After our swimming adventure we went to the Base Bar and did some Karaoke – which was so good, but oh so bad. I’m not exactly Whitney, but when old Singstar comes on, it can get quite messy. Karaoke is no exception – at the start of the night I’m all like, “Noooo, I couldn’t possibly” and by the end of the night, I’m the only one on stage – which is exactly what happened in Wanaka. Our little group, Jess, Josh, Anthony, James, Rob, myself and our leader, Daddy Pete/Daddy Cool, became “Pete’s Posse” and we even had a family sing song. We sang “We Are Family” and we were brilliant, obviously. It was such a good night, everyone was together and everyone knew everyone because we had been on the same bus for a while, so it was really good! Pete’s Posse were literally the last ones to leave – they were cleaning up and everything! When we eventually left we went back to the room and fell asleep, because that’s what you do when you’re tired. Or so I hear.
xx
Today we left Franz Josef (YES) and headed to Wanaka. On the way we stopped off in a few places, I think, but honestly, they mustn’t have been that amazing, because I don’t remember them. We were actually really lucky, “Pete’s Posse” (the name develops later in the evening) managed to get a room together, so Jess, Josh, Pete, Rob, James and myself were all in the same room – sharing a room with four boys isn’t as sexy as it sounds, especially after Franz Josef – everything we owned was soaked, so the entire room smelt like wet boy! Lovely! Actually, I shouldn’t complain, my stuff was soaking too so the room probably smelt like wet Gina too, and besides, it was an amazing room – full of amazing people! We were missing Anthony, but he did come visit :)
Once we were checked into our room we went and did some washing/drying. I actually hate being cold and wet. I never realised how grumpy I get, but it’s quite shocking. When I was in Franz Josef I rang Esther and was like, “Everything I own is wet. I hate everything.” But in Wanaka I got all my clothes nice and dry, so life is back to being good! Once the clothes were dry we did the next logical thing... Went swimming and got our clothes wet again! I wasn’t too keen on going swimming in a freezing cold lake, but once I got there I had to go in! I’m actually really glad I did go in, it was actually quite warm! Nobody ever believes me when I say that, but it actually was really nice! We had a mini triathlon – we dived from a jetty, swam to a raft, climbed onto the raft, swam back to shore and then ran to the start of the jetty. I wasn’t as enthusiastic as some others, but it was really good fun! Once we had completed our epic race, Pete and I hung around, jumping off the jetty – because I’m a bit special I decided to do a summersault... I think it began well, actually no, I was rubbish and ended up doing a bellyflop, but on my lower back/ass – it was actually really, really sore. If you were there then you probably would have laughed, it was quite funny, but still, seriously sore.
After our swimming adventure we went to the Base Bar and did some Karaoke – which was so good, but oh so bad. I’m not exactly Whitney, but when old Singstar comes on, it can get quite messy. Karaoke is no exception – at the start of the night I’m all like, “Noooo, I couldn’t possibly” and by the end of the night, I’m the only one on stage – which is exactly what happened in Wanaka. Our little group, Jess, Josh, Anthony, James, Rob, myself and our leader, Daddy Pete/Daddy Cool, became “Pete’s Posse” and we even had a family sing song. We sang “We Are Family” and we were brilliant, obviously. It was such a good night, everyone was together and everyone knew everyone because we had been on the same bus for a while, so it was really good! Pete’s Posse were literally the last ones to leave – they were cleaning up and everything! When we eventually left we went back to the room and fell asleep, because that’s what you do when you’re tired. Or so I hear.
xx
Glaciers, Hot Pools and Pasta with Green Peppers.
Monday 6th April
Today we got up really early to go on our Glacier Hike. We had to walk to the collection point, so we all got soaked! Once we were inside the Glacier Hike Centre place thingy, we were told that the Hike had been cancelled – it had rained so much that it wasn’t safe to go on the Hike. Obviously I was distraught... I was really looking forward to spending an entire day in pain as I tried to climb a massive block of ice. Not really, I was actually quite glad that it was called off, it would have been nice to say that I had climbed a Glacier, but I think I might have killed me. Literally. Once we received our refund we went back to the hostel, went on the internet for a bit and then took a shuttle bus to the Glacier. Basically it drops you off near the Glacier and there are a few scenic walks you can go on. One of the walks takes you quite close to the Glacier, so you can get a few good pictures, but the path ends and there are a bunch of signs telling you that you shouldn’t try get any closer to the Glacier. If you are super cool, like us, then you ignore these signs and you decided to get a bit closer to the Glacier.
Once we climbed over the fence we had to cross a few rivers, which was actually fine – for Glacier water it was quite nice! We then had to walk for a while – I don’t really know how to describe the terrain, I guess it’s sort of a valley floor/river bed, so it’s got the whole sand/alluvial silt thing going on and there were also a lot of rocks. Maybe you should just look at the pictures... We walked for a while, crossed the river some more and then came to another fence, which we didn’t cross, because this fence looked like it meant business. There were signs depicting certain death if you went past this fence, sort of. The sign actually said “Danger. Access beyond this point is unsafe for inexperienced or unguided parties, due to hazards such as steep drops, slippery and unstable surfaces.” We then took a few pictures, which you should look at, there quite good – my favourites include the four of us (Jess, Josh, Pete and myself) doing the “Pete’s Pose” (legs up) and then all the pictures of us licking/eating a chunk of ice. We probably shouldn’t have been doing that – we are now directly responsible for melting part of Franz Josef Glacier! On our way back to meet the shuttle we decided to go for a swim, by “we” I actually mean everyone, except for me. I love swimming, it’s probably one of my favourite things to do, but I’ve stood under enough freezing waterfalls on this trip so I gave it a miss and took some pictures instead! Once everyone was sufficiently frozen we got the shuttle back to the Hostel and decided to go to the Hot Pools! Mmmm! Such a good decision! It was $22.00 for the entire day, so we all went in and spent a few hours in the Hot Pools, which I have done before, but I think these pools might have been even nicer! There were 3 different pools which were all different temperatures – 36c, 38c and 40c – which is actually quite toasty! I think I’ve already talked about how going to the Hot Pools is like having a huge bath with a bunch of randomers – except this time the randomers were my friends :)
After our Hot Pool adventure we went to the shops and bought supplies for dinner. When you’re on your own it’s really hard to make decent meals, it’s too expensive, too time consuming and you have to buy large quantities of food, even if you only want a small meal, so Pete and I decided to share the dinner responsibilities. But we didn’t actually share them, because Pete bought everything and then he cooked everything and then he washed up... So really, I sat and ate his food. Gina, eating someone else’s food, no surprises there. But what was a surprise was how good the food actually was! I was amazed! It was probably the best Spaghetti Bolognese (I have no idea how to spell either of those words) I have ever had! Sorry Mumsie, but it was seriously good – I actually didn’t want to stop eating, even though I was full. So yummy. Pete added some Green Peppers, which I was quite sceptical about, but they were amazing, oh my life, I am getting excited even thinking about it! Right, focus Gina. After I had consumed vast quantities of pasta we decided to go back to the Hot Pools, with some, beverages! Pete purchased some of New Zealand’s finest wine/a box of goon and filled up a few water bottles with the wine and we all headed back – it’s actually really nice to go to Hot Pools at night and it was nice because we were a much smaller group. We stayed there for a good few hours, talking, swimming, having knee races and doing handstands – all the great things in life really. Don’t worry friends, I haven’t started drinking – it’s just like when you see me carrying Andy’s Kopparberg around, it’s for decorational purposes only! Also, apparently “decorational” isn’t actually a word, which is quite a surprise, I use it on a regular basis, well not a regular basic but I have definitely used it before. The thesaurus suggests that I use words like ornamentation, embellishment, adornment or beautification. But I’ll just stick to decorational. Thanks.
xx
Today we got up really early to go on our Glacier Hike. We had to walk to the collection point, so we all got soaked! Once we were inside the Glacier Hike Centre place thingy, we were told that the Hike had been cancelled – it had rained so much that it wasn’t safe to go on the Hike. Obviously I was distraught... I was really looking forward to spending an entire day in pain as I tried to climb a massive block of ice. Not really, I was actually quite glad that it was called off, it would have been nice to say that I had climbed a Glacier, but I think I might have killed me. Literally. Once we received our refund we went back to the hostel, went on the internet for a bit and then took a shuttle bus to the Glacier. Basically it drops you off near the Glacier and there are a few scenic walks you can go on. One of the walks takes you quite close to the Glacier, so you can get a few good pictures, but the path ends and there are a bunch of signs telling you that you shouldn’t try get any closer to the Glacier. If you are super cool, like us, then you ignore these signs and you decided to get a bit closer to the Glacier.
Once we climbed over the fence we had to cross a few rivers, which was actually fine – for Glacier water it was quite nice! We then had to walk for a while – I don’t really know how to describe the terrain, I guess it’s sort of a valley floor/river bed, so it’s got the whole sand/alluvial silt thing going on and there were also a lot of rocks. Maybe you should just look at the pictures... We walked for a while, crossed the river some more and then came to another fence, which we didn’t cross, because this fence looked like it meant business. There were signs depicting certain death if you went past this fence, sort of. The sign actually said “Danger. Access beyond this point is unsafe for inexperienced or unguided parties, due to hazards such as steep drops, slippery and unstable surfaces.” We then took a few pictures, which you should look at, there quite good – my favourites include the four of us (Jess, Josh, Pete and myself) doing the “Pete’s Pose” (legs up) and then all the pictures of us licking/eating a chunk of ice. We probably shouldn’t have been doing that – we are now directly responsible for melting part of Franz Josef Glacier! On our way back to meet the shuttle we decided to go for a swim, by “we” I actually mean everyone, except for me. I love swimming, it’s probably one of my favourite things to do, but I’ve stood under enough freezing waterfalls on this trip so I gave it a miss and took some pictures instead! Once everyone was sufficiently frozen we got the shuttle back to the Hostel and decided to go to the Hot Pools! Mmmm! Such a good decision! It was $22.00 for the entire day, so we all went in and spent a few hours in the Hot Pools, which I have done before, but I think these pools might have been even nicer! There were 3 different pools which were all different temperatures – 36c, 38c and 40c – which is actually quite toasty! I think I’ve already talked about how going to the Hot Pools is like having a huge bath with a bunch of randomers – except this time the randomers were my friends :)
After our Hot Pool adventure we went to the shops and bought supplies for dinner. When you’re on your own it’s really hard to make decent meals, it’s too expensive, too time consuming and you have to buy large quantities of food, even if you only want a small meal, so Pete and I decided to share the dinner responsibilities. But we didn’t actually share them, because Pete bought everything and then he cooked everything and then he washed up... So really, I sat and ate his food. Gina, eating someone else’s food, no surprises there. But what was a surprise was how good the food actually was! I was amazed! It was probably the best Spaghetti Bolognese (I have no idea how to spell either of those words) I have ever had! Sorry Mumsie, but it was seriously good – I actually didn’t want to stop eating, even though I was full. So yummy. Pete added some Green Peppers, which I was quite sceptical about, but they were amazing, oh my life, I am getting excited even thinking about it! Right, focus Gina. After I had consumed vast quantities of pasta we decided to go back to the Hot Pools, with some, beverages! Pete purchased some of New Zealand’s finest wine/a box of goon and filled up a few water bottles with the wine and we all headed back – it’s actually really nice to go to Hot Pools at night and it was nice because we were a much smaller group. We stayed there for a good few hours, talking, swimming, having knee races and doing handstands – all the great things in life really. Don’t worry friends, I haven’t started drinking – it’s just like when you see me carrying Andy’s Kopparberg around, it’s for decorational purposes only! Also, apparently “decorational” isn’t actually a word, which is quite a surprise, I use it on a regular basis, well not a regular basic but I have definitely used it before. The thesaurus suggests that I use words like ornamentation, embellishment, adornment or beautification. But I’ll just stick to decorational. Thanks.
xx
Get Out of the Danger Zone Bambi!
Sunday 5th April
Today we left Lake Mahinapua and Les and headed towards Franz Josef, which I have been spelling Joseph, but it’s actually Josef. Our first stop of the day was the Bushman’s Centre – Kiwi Experience makes the randomest stops ever. Basically the Bushman’s Centre shows how people used to live on the West Coast. “The Centre offers an insight into how people make a living on the coast through sphagnum moss, timber milling, possum trapping and helicopter deer recovery”. Apparently. Basically we watched this amazing home movie, it was ridiculously cheesy and it was all about helicopter deer recovery –people used to shoot the deer and then sell them for meat, but then they realised it would be better to catch them and breed them in deer farms for their meat. In order to breed the deer you needed to have some to begin with, so a bunch of complete plonkers went out in helicopters, saw the deer and then jumped on top of the deer from the helicopters. Yep, they jumped from a moving helicopter onto a moving, wild deer. Then tied the deer up and flew it back to the deer farms. Crazy people. It was quite an informative DVD – super cheesy and totally home made, but my favourite scenes included the man who randomly jumped into a scene and “shot” something and of course, the theme tune, “Danger Zone”. I wish they had it on Youtube, everyone should watch this DVD before they die. It might even make you want to get into the deer business. Or it might make you determined to never eat deer meat, whatever.
After the movie we walked around the tiny Bushman’s Centre, saw a few Possum’s and a few Eels, which were totally dead. We then had some breakfast and then headed towards Franz Josef. When we arrived in Franz Josef we booked our Glacier Hike and then went to the Hostel. It was actually a nice Hostel, the rooms were basic but the reception had a little shop selling noodles and rice and all the great backpackerish things! I didn’t purchase anything, but it was still nice to know that I could, if I wanted to! Franz Josef is actually in a rainforest, which means that it rains. A lot. Like really, it was as if I had never left home! Once we were settled into our rooms, Pete and I ventured to the village shop – great idea! We got totally soaked! I had my Animal coat on, which was amazing and I wore my spotty Animal boardies, I probably looked quite rare, but the coat kept my dry and the boardies dry out quickly! After our trek to the shop I decided to purchase some unlimited internet, so I could upload some pictures! I like doing that when the weather is crappy – I don’t feel as bad about spending an entire day on the computer if the weather is rubbish and there is nothing to do! So that’s what I did – sat on a beanbag, uploading pictures! There was a T.V in the living room, but the reception was really bad, so the screen was black and white and really fuzzy – and yet, I still watched it. T.V is a bit of a luxury here – I seriously miss my 32” bad boy! I would LOVE to watch a bit of Dave right now, maybe catch up on some Mock the Week, watch a bit of Q.I, maybe even fit in a bit of Top Gear. I would also love to see a bit of Grey’s Anatomy, Pushing Daisies, Bones, House, Boston Legal, Brothers and Sisters and of course, some Home and Away. I don’t ask for much do I? We ended up watching Final Destination 2, which I tried to not watch, because I hate scary movies and then we watched Poseidon, the old one, with Michael Caine and Sally Fields – who is in Brothers and Sister. If you don’t watch Brothers and Sisters then you really should, she’s great, but you may also know her as the voice of Sassy from “Homeward Bound”. Such a beautiful movie. I literally have to fight back the tears every time I watch it – when Shadow falls into the ditch at the railway station (“I’m just too old, Chance”) and then when he finally sees Peter again, oh my gosh, I’m getting emotional thinking about it.
When Poseidon finished it was pretty late so I just went to bed. Pretty much everything I own is soaked, which is really rubbish, but I suppose that’s to be expected in a rainforest!
Xx
Today we left Lake Mahinapua and Les and headed towards Franz Josef, which I have been spelling Joseph, but it’s actually Josef. Our first stop of the day was the Bushman’s Centre – Kiwi Experience makes the randomest stops ever. Basically the Bushman’s Centre shows how people used to live on the West Coast. “The Centre offers an insight into how people make a living on the coast through sphagnum moss, timber milling, possum trapping and helicopter deer recovery”. Apparently. Basically we watched this amazing home movie, it was ridiculously cheesy and it was all about helicopter deer recovery –people used to shoot the deer and then sell them for meat, but then they realised it would be better to catch them and breed them in deer farms for their meat. In order to breed the deer you needed to have some to begin with, so a bunch of complete plonkers went out in helicopters, saw the deer and then jumped on top of the deer from the helicopters. Yep, they jumped from a moving helicopter onto a moving, wild deer. Then tied the deer up and flew it back to the deer farms. Crazy people. It was quite an informative DVD – super cheesy and totally home made, but my favourite scenes included the man who randomly jumped into a scene and “shot” something and of course, the theme tune, “Danger Zone”. I wish they had it on Youtube, everyone should watch this DVD before they die. It might even make you want to get into the deer business. Or it might make you determined to never eat deer meat, whatever.
After the movie we walked around the tiny Bushman’s Centre, saw a few Possum’s and a few Eels, which were totally dead. We then had some breakfast and then headed towards Franz Josef. When we arrived in Franz Josef we booked our Glacier Hike and then went to the Hostel. It was actually a nice Hostel, the rooms were basic but the reception had a little shop selling noodles and rice and all the great backpackerish things! I didn’t purchase anything, but it was still nice to know that I could, if I wanted to! Franz Josef is actually in a rainforest, which means that it rains. A lot. Like really, it was as if I had never left home! Once we were settled into our rooms, Pete and I ventured to the village shop – great idea! We got totally soaked! I had my Animal coat on, which was amazing and I wore my spotty Animal boardies, I probably looked quite rare, but the coat kept my dry and the boardies dry out quickly! After our trek to the shop I decided to purchase some unlimited internet, so I could upload some pictures! I like doing that when the weather is crappy – I don’t feel as bad about spending an entire day on the computer if the weather is rubbish and there is nothing to do! So that’s what I did – sat on a beanbag, uploading pictures! There was a T.V in the living room, but the reception was really bad, so the screen was black and white and really fuzzy – and yet, I still watched it. T.V is a bit of a luxury here – I seriously miss my 32” bad boy! I would LOVE to watch a bit of Dave right now, maybe catch up on some Mock the Week, watch a bit of Q.I, maybe even fit in a bit of Top Gear. I would also love to see a bit of Grey’s Anatomy, Pushing Daisies, Bones, House, Boston Legal, Brothers and Sisters and of course, some Home and Away. I don’t ask for much do I? We ended up watching Final Destination 2, which I tried to not watch, because I hate scary movies and then we watched Poseidon, the old one, with Michael Caine and Sally Fields – who is in Brothers and Sister. If you don’t watch Brothers and Sisters then you really should, she’s great, but you may also know her as the voice of Sassy from “Homeward Bound”. Such a beautiful movie. I literally have to fight back the tears every time I watch it – when Shadow falls into the ditch at the railway station (“I’m just too old, Chance”) and then when he finally sees Peter again, oh my gosh, I’m getting emotional thinking about it.
When Poseidon finished it was pretty late so I just went to bed. Pretty much everything I own is soaked, which is really rubbish, but I suppose that’s to be expected in a rainforest!
Xx
A National Identity Crisis that Involved Green Hot Pants.
Saturday 4th April
Today we left Westport and headed to our next destination – the Poo Pub. Yup. That’s right, the Poo Pub, which isn’t the most pleasant name for a pub, but it was actually a really great place! The pub is near Lake Mahinapua (Maa-he-nea-poo-a), hence the nickname, Poo Pub – nobody can say Mahinapua! The Poo Pub is run by a man called Les, he’s 83 and he’s still working in the bar, he even cooked us all a massive meal! But I’m getting ahead of myself... First we made a stop in Greymouth.
We stopped in Greymouth to get supplies – every bus that goes to the Poo Pub has a big party and everyone gets really dressed up. Each bus has a theme, sometimes you have to make outfits from bin bags! Our theme was “Dress as Your Country”, which I was actually really happy about! Being the well organised, practical and ever so amazing person that I am, I already had an outfit! I brought it from home so when we stopped at Greymouth I only had to get a few small things! At Greymouth we picked up a few guys and then we drove to the Poo Pub. We were greeted by Les – he’s a bit of a legend in New Zealand, especially among us Kiwi Experiencer’s. Les gave us a nice introduction to the Poo Pub – he is actually such a dude! He’s really funny and he’s really switched on, which is impressive at his age!
The Poo Pub has accommodation on site – the dorms hold six people and they are quite like cabins, but not as nice – maybe more like a school hut, but better. That was the worst description ever, but anyway. There were obviously six people in our six person dorm - myself, four other girls and a guy that I hadn’t seen before, he had jumped on the bus at Greymouth. Once I got my massive suitcase into the room we did the whole introducing ourselves conversation (always a winner) and after about five seconds I was like, “Eh, where are you from?” – I had an idea in my mind (I don’t understand that expression, obviously you have an idea in your mind, where else would it be, your toesies?) and he was all like “Are you from Bangor?” and I was all like “Oh my gosh, yes! Are you from Bangor?” and he was like “Yes”. And we were all like, totally, oh my gosh, awesome. Not really. But I used the “and he was like” “and I was like” phrase far too many times in that paragraph, so I’ll just stop. Full stop.
After figuring out that we were both from Bangor, the questions really began. “What school did you go to? Where do you live? Cafe? Jamaica Inn? Ballyholme Beach? Do you know this person?”. I think I got a bit carried away with the questions, poor chap, I asked him if he knew pretty much all of Bangor! We got chatting and then we walked down to Lake Mahinapua with a few other people and then down to the beach. They don’t really require much explination – the lake looked like a lake and the sea looked like the sea. After our walk I began the epic task of getting ready for the party! I went all out. We’re talking straight hair and everything -I even cracked out the mascara! The “we’re both from Bangor so we will talk about all these random places” conversation continued for quite a while and eventually it was time for dinner. Now, I think we all know that I like my food, well this was quite the feast. Les cooked us all a big steak and then there were the classics – pasta salad (food of the gods. Fact.), potatoes, coleslaw and corn on the cob – my most favourite veggie! Eating corn on the cob in public is usually quite the ordeal, tonight was no exception. I just took my time and devised a system, I was actually quite proud, I did well – at least I think I did well, maybe I had corn stuck in my teeth but everyone else was too polite to say anything! Venison (Deer) Stew was also available but nah, I don’t fancy eating a little Bambi. I know it’s hypocritical to eat some kinds of meat and not others but I don’t know, there are just some that I won’t eat. I feel bad enough when I eat cow and pig, eating deer and duck and all the other cute animals (especially if they can be domesticated) would cause too many sleepless nights!
After dinner I continued to get ready. It really is quite the process. Eventually I was done and fully kitted out in my “Irish Shamrock” outfit. I am aware that I’m not actually Irish. I’m British, or Northern Irish, whichever you prefer, but really, try thinking of a costume that represents your country. The only thing I could think of for Norn Iron was... terrorism and the Red Hand of Ulster. I’m not complaining about our great national symbols, well maybe I will complain about terrorism, but there weren’t a lot of Northern Irish outfits about, so I settled for a Shamrock! If you are on Facebook then you will have seen the pictures of my outfit – if not, I’ll describe. Prepare to be excited. Basically I wore green knee length socks, green hot pants, a green t-shirt, a black cardigan (for practicality not effect) and a massive shamrock face/hat. I got my shamrock face/hat in Beach Club two years ago – courtesy of Matthew Crawford – I bothered that boy until he gave me the hat! Yesh! I am actually very grateful for the hat – it was a very selfless act – so Crawfie, if you’re reading this, thanks, it has proved very useful! The guy from Bangor, (his name is Pete, for future reference) had a nice green wig on, I feel we did a good job at representing Sunny Bangor!
Most people put a lot of effort into their costumes, my favourites were – Emily and Hannah, the two girls from my room, they dressed as Pigeons from Trafalgar Square and they looked amazing, they even had feathers and feet! A guy called Josh came dressed as the Queen, which was brilliant and a guy Rob came as Phonejacker – he had a red sock over his head with eye and mouth holes cut out – it probably stopped blood circulation but it looked good! Two people from Glengormley went as terrorists/bank robbers (they looked great) and a Welsh chap went as a Welsh Dragon – he put so much effort into his costume, I was glad he got a prize! A girl called Jess (Jess and Josh – the Queen, are brother and sister) went as a Malaysian pirate. One girl went as an English Tea Party, which was really good – she even had a teapot, which was full on Goon (a really cheap wine, it comes in a box, beaut) some other girls went as, Tesco bags, tea bags, the 118 man, a chav, Amy Winehouse, an immigrant, a Jameson bottle, an old English man (literally in pyjamas) and then the Irish girls went as a variety of Irishy things – 40 shades of green and a hurling player, among other things! There were girls from St Trinians, English Knights, a Dutch Windmill, a group of Swedish tennis players, a Swedish prostitute (hmm?), a Frenchie, a man in a bikini and a whole bunch of other costumes! Everyone actually looked really great and it was such a fun night!
Eventually the party ended – I think we were the last ones to leave, no surprises there! Instead of going to bed, like most normal people, I got the midnight munchies, so Pete (the Bangor chap) and I went to the kitchen and I made some tomato soup and toast, which was actually really good. We then had chocolate puddings – it wasn’t exactly a Piccalo’s or a Spice, but it did the job. Once we were sufficiently fed we went back to the dorm - I’m not sure what time this was, but everyone else was asleep, so I’m thinking pretty late! The Poo Party was seriously fun – I’m really glad that the Kiwi Experience stops off there! Although... being the complete saddo that I am, I can’t help feel sad for Les. Obviously I don’t know the man, he could be the happiest person in the whole entire world... but I didn’t see a wedding ring and I know that marriage isn’t everything, but still. It makes me really sad to think of Les, 83 years old and all alone. I’m sure he has lots of friends, but I would hate to think that he never had a Mrs Les. If you know me, then you will know that I’m big into the whole, get married and grow old together thing. I can think of nothing better than spending the rest of my life with my best friend. I know I sound incredibly naive, but I’m really not, I’m actually quite realistic. I know that not all marriages work, not everybody gets married, people don’t need to be married to have happy lives – but for me, that’s what I want, eventually. Eventually. Let me repeat that, that's what I want, eventually. But I still want that, eventually. So it just made me sad to think of Les, being alone. Actually it’s making me really, really sad. Maybe he had a wife and maybe she died. Oh my gosh. I need to stop or else I’m properly going to breakdown! It’s been an emotional day! I hope that Les is happy, I really, really do. I just hate thinking that some people are totally alone in this world. Alright, now that I’m sufficiently depressed I’m going to stop writing this Blog, before I make you sad too!
xx
Today we left Westport and headed to our next destination – the Poo Pub. Yup. That’s right, the Poo Pub, which isn’t the most pleasant name for a pub, but it was actually a really great place! The pub is near Lake Mahinapua (Maa-he-nea-poo-a), hence the nickname, Poo Pub – nobody can say Mahinapua! The Poo Pub is run by a man called Les, he’s 83 and he’s still working in the bar, he even cooked us all a massive meal! But I’m getting ahead of myself... First we made a stop in Greymouth.
We stopped in Greymouth to get supplies – every bus that goes to the Poo Pub has a big party and everyone gets really dressed up. Each bus has a theme, sometimes you have to make outfits from bin bags! Our theme was “Dress as Your Country”, which I was actually really happy about! Being the well organised, practical and ever so amazing person that I am, I already had an outfit! I brought it from home so when we stopped at Greymouth I only had to get a few small things! At Greymouth we picked up a few guys and then we drove to the Poo Pub. We were greeted by Les – he’s a bit of a legend in New Zealand, especially among us Kiwi Experiencer’s. Les gave us a nice introduction to the Poo Pub – he is actually such a dude! He’s really funny and he’s really switched on, which is impressive at his age!
The Poo Pub has accommodation on site – the dorms hold six people and they are quite like cabins, but not as nice – maybe more like a school hut, but better. That was the worst description ever, but anyway. There were obviously six people in our six person dorm - myself, four other girls and a guy that I hadn’t seen before, he had jumped on the bus at Greymouth. Once I got my massive suitcase into the room we did the whole introducing ourselves conversation (always a winner) and after about five seconds I was like, “Eh, where are you from?” – I had an idea in my mind (I don’t understand that expression, obviously you have an idea in your mind, where else would it be, your toesies?) and he was all like “Are you from Bangor?” and I was all like “Oh my gosh, yes! Are you from Bangor?” and he was like “Yes”. And we were all like, totally, oh my gosh, awesome. Not really. But I used the “and he was like” “and I was like” phrase far too many times in that paragraph, so I’ll just stop. Full stop.
After figuring out that we were both from Bangor, the questions really began. “What school did you go to? Where do you live? Cafe? Jamaica Inn? Ballyholme Beach? Do you know this person?”. I think I got a bit carried away with the questions, poor chap, I asked him if he knew pretty much all of Bangor! We got chatting and then we walked down to Lake Mahinapua with a few other people and then down to the beach. They don’t really require much explination – the lake looked like a lake and the sea looked like the sea. After our walk I began the epic task of getting ready for the party! I went all out. We’re talking straight hair and everything -I even cracked out the mascara! The “we’re both from Bangor so we will talk about all these random places” conversation continued for quite a while and eventually it was time for dinner. Now, I think we all know that I like my food, well this was quite the feast. Les cooked us all a big steak and then there were the classics – pasta salad (food of the gods. Fact.), potatoes, coleslaw and corn on the cob – my most favourite veggie! Eating corn on the cob in public is usually quite the ordeal, tonight was no exception. I just took my time and devised a system, I was actually quite proud, I did well – at least I think I did well, maybe I had corn stuck in my teeth but everyone else was too polite to say anything! Venison (Deer) Stew was also available but nah, I don’t fancy eating a little Bambi. I know it’s hypocritical to eat some kinds of meat and not others but I don’t know, there are just some that I won’t eat. I feel bad enough when I eat cow and pig, eating deer and duck and all the other cute animals (especially if they can be domesticated) would cause too many sleepless nights!
After dinner I continued to get ready. It really is quite the process. Eventually I was done and fully kitted out in my “Irish Shamrock” outfit. I am aware that I’m not actually Irish. I’m British, or Northern Irish, whichever you prefer, but really, try thinking of a costume that represents your country. The only thing I could think of for Norn Iron was... terrorism and the Red Hand of Ulster. I’m not complaining about our great national symbols, well maybe I will complain about terrorism, but there weren’t a lot of Northern Irish outfits about, so I settled for a Shamrock! If you are on Facebook then you will have seen the pictures of my outfit – if not, I’ll describe. Prepare to be excited. Basically I wore green knee length socks, green hot pants, a green t-shirt, a black cardigan (for practicality not effect) and a massive shamrock face/hat. I got my shamrock face/hat in Beach Club two years ago – courtesy of Matthew Crawford – I bothered that boy until he gave me the hat! Yesh! I am actually very grateful for the hat – it was a very selfless act – so Crawfie, if you’re reading this, thanks, it has proved very useful! The guy from Bangor, (his name is Pete, for future reference) had a nice green wig on, I feel we did a good job at representing Sunny Bangor!
Most people put a lot of effort into their costumes, my favourites were – Emily and Hannah, the two girls from my room, they dressed as Pigeons from Trafalgar Square and they looked amazing, they even had feathers and feet! A guy called Josh came dressed as the Queen, which was brilliant and a guy Rob came as Phonejacker – he had a red sock over his head with eye and mouth holes cut out – it probably stopped blood circulation but it looked good! Two people from Glengormley went as terrorists/bank robbers (they looked great) and a Welsh chap went as a Welsh Dragon – he put so much effort into his costume, I was glad he got a prize! A girl called Jess (Jess and Josh – the Queen, are brother and sister) went as a Malaysian pirate. One girl went as an English Tea Party, which was really good – she even had a teapot, which was full on Goon (a really cheap wine, it comes in a box, beaut) some other girls went as, Tesco bags, tea bags, the 118 man, a chav, Amy Winehouse, an immigrant, a Jameson bottle, an old English man (literally in pyjamas) and then the Irish girls went as a variety of Irishy things – 40 shades of green and a hurling player, among other things! There were girls from St Trinians, English Knights, a Dutch Windmill, a group of Swedish tennis players, a Swedish prostitute (hmm?), a Frenchie, a man in a bikini and a whole bunch of other costumes! Everyone actually looked really great and it was such a fun night!
Eventually the party ended – I think we were the last ones to leave, no surprises there! Instead of going to bed, like most normal people, I got the midnight munchies, so Pete (the Bangor chap) and I went to the kitchen and I made some tomato soup and toast, which was actually really good. We then had chocolate puddings – it wasn’t exactly a Piccalo’s or a Spice, but it did the job. Once we were sufficiently fed we went back to the dorm - I’m not sure what time this was, but everyone else was asleep, so I’m thinking pretty late! The Poo Party was seriously fun – I’m really glad that the Kiwi Experience stops off there! Although... being the complete saddo that I am, I can’t help feel sad for Les. Obviously I don’t know the man, he could be the happiest person in the whole entire world... but I didn’t see a wedding ring and I know that marriage isn’t everything, but still. It makes me really sad to think of Les, 83 years old and all alone. I’m sure he has lots of friends, but I would hate to think that he never had a Mrs Les. If you know me, then you will know that I’m big into the whole, get married and grow old together thing. I can think of nothing better than spending the rest of my life with my best friend. I know I sound incredibly naive, but I’m really not, I’m actually quite realistic. I know that not all marriages work, not everybody gets married, people don’t need to be married to have happy lives – but for me, that’s what I want, eventually. Eventually. Let me repeat that, that's what I want, eventually. But I still want that, eventually. So it just made me sad to think of Les, being alone. Actually it’s making me really, really sad. Maybe he had a wife and maybe she died. Oh my gosh. I need to stop or else I’m properly going to breakdown! It’s been an emotional day! I hope that Les is happy, I really, really do. I just hate thinking that some people are totally alone in this world. Alright, now that I’m sufficiently depressed I’m going to stop writing this Blog, before I make you sad too!
xx
Bonjour Westport.
Friday 3rd April
Today I left lovely Nelson. I woke up nice and early, got my things sorted out and prepared for my walk back to Fern Lodge, where I was being collected by the Kiwi Experience Bus. I wasn’t really looking forward to that, I was actually hoping that the Hostel owner would be up because I was planning on asking him for a lift, but he wasn’t! Then I saw the number for a Taxi firm, I gave them a call and in less than 3 minutes, he was waiting for me outside! Taxi’s are seriously great. Totally won’t use them when I get home, but for here they are perfect!
Because I took a Taxi I was really early for the bus, so I got chatting to another guy who was really early for the bus. He was a French chap, so I was able to show off my French skills. I recited part of my G.C.S.E French Oral! Bad idea... He was very nice and said that my accent was good, but I’m pretty sure he was lying – remember my pal Mr McCullough, who told me I was so bad at French that I shouldn’t even bother taking the exam because I would fail and then I wouldn’t be offered a place at University. Idiot. He was actually really rude, he insulted Esther’s parenting skills – neither of us were very happy. I did the exam anyway and after my Oral he actually told me that I had proved him right and that I had failed my G.C.S.E French exam, which was really horrible of him. He can’t officially say that, but he did, so I told him what I thought of him, which was fun, very liberating. I then left the room, slamming the door behind me – I wonder if he recorded that part of our conversation! Anyway, turns out that I’m a genius because I got a C and a C is a pass – and that’s all I care about!
Anyway, the French guy and I had a chat before the buses arrived – there were two because there was quite a big group of us, so we went with one driver who was called Ringo, like in Neighbours. He’s actually quite attractive and he has awesome taste in music, so I’m rather happy about that (the music more so than the attractiveness). We left Nelson and then made a stop at a really beautiful lake – we had stopped to buy lunch supplies, so we had a picnic. Now, if you know me, you will know that I love Ducks – I’ve always wanted a Duck as a pet! Well, there were so many Ducks at this place and they knew I was eating so they came right up to me and started trying to get food. It was quite scary and I realise how stupid that sounds, they are just little Ducks, but when there are 20 little Ducks coming at you, it is quite scary. They were trying to get into my bag and they wouldn’t stop following me. They were nipping each other and getting all rowdy, so I gave them my sandwiches and the ham I had bought! The lake was actually really beautiful, it’s part of the Nelson Lakes National Park and it was called Lake Rotoiti. A few people went in swimming, but I couldn’t be bothered getting all wet and then having to dry off, so I just went for a paddle.
After our Lake stop we kept driving towards Westport, we stopped for ice cream – they like their ice cream in New Zealand! On the way to Westport we played a game, sort of like musical chairs, but on a bus and there were no winners, so not really like musical chairs at all, but music and chairs were involved. Moving in a circle, you had to go sit in the seat in front of you, so you got talking to the person who had been sitting in front of you. You changed as the song changed and we did this until we had met everyone on the bus. It was actually a really nice way to meet people, but it really wrecked me! I’m so tired now! Seriously, talking to people is exhausting – especially when it’s an entire bus and you have to ask the same questions over and over again! After the getting to know you game we arrived at the Hostel. It’s not too bad – the bunk beds are pink and the sheets and walls are yellow. Groovy.
I think I’m going to go for a walk around town, see what there actually is in Westport – might even try to find some wireless internet!
xx
Today I left lovely Nelson. I woke up nice and early, got my things sorted out and prepared for my walk back to Fern Lodge, where I was being collected by the Kiwi Experience Bus. I wasn’t really looking forward to that, I was actually hoping that the Hostel owner would be up because I was planning on asking him for a lift, but he wasn’t! Then I saw the number for a Taxi firm, I gave them a call and in less than 3 minutes, he was waiting for me outside! Taxi’s are seriously great. Totally won’t use them when I get home, but for here they are perfect!
Because I took a Taxi I was really early for the bus, so I got chatting to another guy who was really early for the bus. He was a French chap, so I was able to show off my French skills. I recited part of my G.C.S.E French Oral! Bad idea... He was very nice and said that my accent was good, but I’m pretty sure he was lying – remember my pal Mr McCullough, who told me I was so bad at French that I shouldn’t even bother taking the exam because I would fail and then I wouldn’t be offered a place at University. Idiot. He was actually really rude, he insulted Esther’s parenting skills – neither of us were very happy. I did the exam anyway and after my Oral he actually told me that I had proved him right and that I had failed my G.C.S.E French exam, which was really horrible of him. He can’t officially say that, but he did, so I told him what I thought of him, which was fun, very liberating. I then left the room, slamming the door behind me – I wonder if he recorded that part of our conversation! Anyway, turns out that I’m a genius because I got a C and a C is a pass – and that’s all I care about!
Anyway, the French guy and I had a chat before the buses arrived – there were two because there was quite a big group of us, so we went with one driver who was called Ringo, like in Neighbours. He’s actually quite attractive and he has awesome taste in music, so I’m rather happy about that (the music more so than the attractiveness). We left Nelson and then made a stop at a really beautiful lake – we had stopped to buy lunch supplies, so we had a picnic. Now, if you know me, you will know that I love Ducks – I’ve always wanted a Duck as a pet! Well, there were so many Ducks at this place and they knew I was eating so they came right up to me and started trying to get food. It was quite scary and I realise how stupid that sounds, they are just little Ducks, but when there are 20 little Ducks coming at you, it is quite scary. They were trying to get into my bag and they wouldn’t stop following me. They were nipping each other and getting all rowdy, so I gave them my sandwiches and the ham I had bought! The lake was actually really beautiful, it’s part of the Nelson Lakes National Park and it was called Lake Rotoiti. A few people went in swimming, but I couldn’t be bothered getting all wet and then having to dry off, so I just went for a paddle.
After our Lake stop we kept driving towards Westport, we stopped for ice cream – they like their ice cream in New Zealand! On the way to Westport we played a game, sort of like musical chairs, but on a bus and there were no winners, so not really like musical chairs at all, but music and chairs were involved. Moving in a circle, you had to go sit in the seat in front of you, so you got talking to the person who had been sitting in front of you. You changed as the song changed and we did this until we had met everyone on the bus. It was actually a really nice way to meet people, but it really wrecked me! I’m so tired now! Seriously, talking to people is exhausting – especially when it’s an entire bus and you have to ask the same questions over and over again! After the getting to know you game we arrived at the Hostel. It’s not too bad – the bunk beds are pink and the sheets and walls are yellow. Groovy.
I think I’m going to go for a walk around town, see what there actually is in Westport – might even try to find some wireless internet!
xx
Sunday, 5 April 2009
You Are Here.
I thought I would take this opportunity to write a Blog - but this isn’t an ordinary Blog. It wasn’t written in a Hostel Dorm Room. It wasn’t even written in a Coffee Shop. This Blog was written from the Geographical Centre of New Zealand. Yup, that’s right. I’m sitting on top of a mountain (well, maybe it’s technically a hill, but you try climbing it – when you do, you will realise that it is actually a mountain). So how did I get here? Well, this morning I checked out of my room at the ridiculously early time of 9.00am! I then made myself some toast and... a packed lunch. Don’t laugh. I know how sad that sounds, me making myself peanut butter sandwiches, but I was feeling very, productive this morning. I’ve decided to stop wasting money on food! I suppose if I can make it myself, then I should! Anyway, I packed my sandwhiches, apple and water into my rucksack and after selecting some tunes – today it’s Maroon 5, I set off on my epic adventure. Basically the walk starts in a public park, so I headed there and started my “20 minute” walk. Which so doesn’t take 20 minutes. it didn’t take me that long, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t 20 minutes. It was really just an uphill walk, with twists and turns and a few breaks because my legs were really quite sore... People who say, “pain is just weakness leaving the body” have it wrong. Pain is pain. Pain hurts. Why hurt yourself? Self-harm isn’t the answer.
I was glad I did the walk though, for what it was, the end result was definitely worth it. Right now I’m sitting on the viewing deck, the view is amazing. To my left there are mountains. To my right there are mountains. In fact, there are mountains all around. If I look directly ahead I can see all of Nelson. I see churches and houses, businesses and rugby pitches, I can see huge houses that probably belong to the richies in Nelson. To my right I can see water, the sea actually. Vast amount of water, with mountains as a backdrop. I think you get the picture – Nelson is beautiful and being at the geographical centre of New Zealand really is as cool as it sounds.
That’s pretty much all I have to say – it’s only 10.54am, how much can a girl do before lunch? I’ll write more, probably from a less beautiful setting, when I actually do something of interest!
Update: After my walk I went back to Fern Lodge and collected my stuff, then I started walking to “The Green Monkey”. I walked here last night and it took 15 minutes. Today it took at least 30 minutes. Probably more. My bag is so huge and so heavy. It’s horrible! As if the massive bag wasn’t bad enough, the stupid wheel broke! So I was basically dragging the beast of a bag across the pavement, making so much noise! It was horrible, plus I had my food bag and my rucksack, both are ridiculously heavy. Not fun. Not fun at all!
The Hostel is actually really nice. It’s small, but nice. They have real carpet too and you have to take your shoes off, just like at home! The rooms are nicely decorated and colourful, which I never realised was so important, but it really is! It’s really nice to have a bit of colour around you –the while walls in Base are nice, but they are kind of, sterile, now that I think about it! The room is really nice and each person has their own p`ersonal light, which I’m really excited about. I wish I could have stayed for longer, but I can’t because the only bus out of Nelson is on Friday, the next available one is on the 8th of April, which wouldn’t been too bad, but at the same time I want to see the rest of South Island! I’ve only been here for a few days and I still have so much to see!
The Wireless internet is free here, which is amazing, so I started uploading my pictures and videos. Turns out Videos really slow down your upload time. Really. So now I’m only uploading pictures and I’m nowhere near done! I think I’m just going to leave my laptop on all night, that way they will all hopefully be done – I hope the Hostel man doesn’t turn off the internet at night! That would ruin my awesome plan! I took a break from picture uploading and Blog writing for dinner, which was a microwave meal and it was really quite gross. I’m regretting eating it, not fun! But what was fun was that the guy made a cake – and was giving it away for free! So I had myself a nice bit of cake after dinner and it was actually really, really nice! I was very surprised! Normally cake that someone makes themselves is gross, especially if it’s free, but this was beaut! Now that I’m fed and watered I’m going to upload some more pictures and post a few Blogs and then I’m going to sleep, which sounds really amazing right now!
Xx
I was glad I did the walk though, for what it was, the end result was definitely worth it. Right now I’m sitting on the viewing deck, the view is amazing. To my left there are mountains. To my right there are mountains. In fact, there are mountains all around. If I look directly ahead I can see all of Nelson. I see churches and houses, businesses and rugby pitches, I can see huge houses that probably belong to the richies in Nelson. To my right I can see water, the sea actually. Vast amount of water, with mountains as a backdrop. I think you get the picture – Nelson is beautiful and being at the geographical centre of New Zealand really is as cool as it sounds.
That’s pretty much all I have to say – it’s only 10.54am, how much can a girl do before lunch? I’ll write more, probably from a less beautiful setting, when I actually do something of interest!
Update: After my walk I went back to Fern Lodge and collected my stuff, then I started walking to “The Green Monkey”. I walked here last night and it took 15 minutes. Today it took at least 30 minutes. Probably more. My bag is so huge and so heavy. It’s horrible! As if the massive bag wasn’t bad enough, the stupid wheel broke! So I was basically dragging the beast of a bag across the pavement, making so much noise! It was horrible, plus I had my food bag and my rucksack, both are ridiculously heavy. Not fun. Not fun at all!
The Hostel is actually really nice. It’s small, but nice. They have real carpet too and you have to take your shoes off, just like at home! The rooms are nicely decorated and colourful, which I never realised was so important, but it really is! It’s really nice to have a bit of colour around you –the while walls in Base are nice, but they are kind of, sterile, now that I think about it! The room is really nice and each person has their own p`ersonal light, which I’m really excited about. I wish I could have stayed for longer, but I can’t because the only bus out of Nelson is on Friday, the next available one is on the 8th of April, which wouldn’t been too bad, but at the same time I want to see the rest of South Island! I’ve only been here for a few days and I still have so much to see!
The Wireless internet is free here, which is amazing, so I started uploading my pictures and videos. Turns out Videos really slow down your upload time. Really. So now I’m only uploading pictures and I’m nowhere near done! I think I’m just going to leave my laptop on all night, that way they will all hopefully be done – I hope the Hostel man doesn’t turn off the internet at night! That would ruin my awesome plan! I took a break from picture uploading and Blog writing for dinner, which was a microwave meal and it was really quite gross. I’m regretting eating it, not fun! But what was fun was that the guy made a cake – and was giving it away for free! So I had myself a nice bit of cake after dinner and it was actually really, really nice! I was very surprised! Normally cake that someone makes themselves is gross, especially if it’s free, but this was beaut! Now that I’m fed and watered I’m going to upload some more pictures and post a few Blogs and then I’m going to sleep, which sounds really amazing right now!
Xx
Hello Mr South Island.
Happy April Fools Day!
Did you pull any pranks? I didn’t... I was tempted to ring home and tell a little fib, but I forgot in the end! I blame it on the early start... The bus for the Ferry to the South Island left at 7.00am, so we had to be waiting from 6.45am onwards, which was a barrel of laughs. It was actually quite cold at that time of the day, which isn’t surprising, it was still dark! We eventually got on the bus and drove to the Ferry. It was quite strange, getting the Ferry. You had to check your baggage through, like on an airplane. Once our baggage was checked we went to find a seat. I met up with the Welsh Couple again, so we went and got seats together and then the girl, Rosie, and I went and got some breakfast. I don’t know why I keep buying cooked breakfasts, they look so good, but when I actually eat them, they’re gross! So I partially ate my gross breakfast but then I started feeling sick... Again. Morning sickness? Nah, just gross breakfast sickness!
After breakfast we found some nice reclining seats, so we stayed there for the rest of the journey. It was a 3 hour Ferry, even longer than Scotland! I did actually start feeling really sick, I think it was a combination of tiredness, dodgy breakfast and then the boat flying from side to side. I ended up lying on the floor on my tummy. I always used to think that the people that did that were strange. Now I fully understand them. Rosie was actually really good, she came and told me that we were going past some nice scenery so I took my camera up to the viewing deck and took a few (hundred) snaps. It was actually really beautiful. It was a bit cloudy, but the scenery was so nice! Everyone goes on about how beautiful South Island is – we hadn’t even set foot on the Island yet and already it was so beautiful!
When the journey was over we collected our bags and got on the bus to Nelson! We made one stop and I got some ice cream, Orange Choc Chip. It was horrible. I actually had to throw it out and you know ice cream is bad when I throw it out! Then we were back on the bus and straight to Nelson. We checked into our Hostel, Fern Lodge, which was really nice. It was a Bar and Hotel, which has a Hostel part, especially for people on the Kiwi Experience! Our rooms were nice, they had real carpet and the walls weren’t white, which is always a good start! Once I had put my bags in the room I went for a dander. First I walked to the Green Monkey – the Hostel that I wanted to stay in, but it was fully booked! It was small, but looked nice. Then I walked back into town, literally walking down every street to see what Nelson is actually like! Everyone says that Nelson is really rubbish, but I actually really like it! It seems like a really nice place! The town is neat and tidy and it isn’t too big, but it isn’t too small. It has everything that you need! I also really like walking around the suburbs, seeing what the houses are like here. I really like them too, there are lots of nice yellow houses with white trim, which I like – it’s just like home. I could be all fruity and use some emotive language to describe how beautiful Nelson is. I could tell you about the two little girls I saw, running along the street in their bare feet or the ducks swimming in the river. I could tell you about the letterboxes and the flowers at each house or the dogs sleeping in the sun. Or I could tell you to come to Nelson and see it for yourself. Come to Nelson and see it for yourself.
After my walk I came back to the Hostel, started reading my book, but then ended up watching “Shrek the Third” with everyone. I was really quite surprised at how good it was – the movie has quite a lot of subtle jokes, jokes that kids don’t understand but that as an adult (sort of) I find funny. The jokes are actually quite grown up – luckily kids don’t get those kinds of jokes! After Shrek we watched “LOST”. Which I haven’t watched since the second season, but I had some movie geek beside me and he was trying to explain everything during the breaks. It was quite funny, I don’t think you understand how strange “LOST” is until you have to explain it! After that we watched “Chuck”, which I have never seen, but we all really enjoyed it. We actually got really into it. At one point the entire room was shouting at the screen – we even had special names for the characters “Skanky Jill” being the most popular.
It was actually really funny, but probably one of those, “you had to be there” things. After all the excitement of watching T.V I was so tired I just went to sleep (after finishing my book, of course)
Xx
Did you pull any pranks? I didn’t... I was tempted to ring home and tell a little fib, but I forgot in the end! I blame it on the early start... The bus for the Ferry to the South Island left at 7.00am, so we had to be waiting from 6.45am onwards, which was a barrel of laughs. It was actually quite cold at that time of the day, which isn’t surprising, it was still dark! We eventually got on the bus and drove to the Ferry. It was quite strange, getting the Ferry. You had to check your baggage through, like on an airplane. Once our baggage was checked we went to find a seat. I met up with the Welsh Couple again, so we went and got seats together and then the girl, Rosie, and I went and got some breakfast. I don’t know why I keep buying cooked breakfasts, they look so good, but when I actually eat them, they’re gross! So I partially ate my gross breakfast but then I started feeling sick... Again. Morning sickness? Nah, just gross breakfast sickness!
After breakfast we found some nice reclining seats, so we stayed there for the rest of the journey. It was a 3 hour Ferry, even longer than Scotland! I did actually start feeling really sick, I think it was a combination of tiredness, dodgy breakfast and then the boat flying from side to side. I ended up lying on the floor on my tummy. I always used to think that the people that did that were strange. Now I fully understand them. Rosie was actually really good, she came and told me that we were going past some nice scenery so I took my camera up to the viewing deck and took a few (hundred) snaps. It was actually really beautiful. It was a bit cloudy, but the scenery was so nice! Everyone goes on about how beautiful South Island is – we hadn’t even set foot on the Island yet and already it was so beautiful!
When the journey was over we collected our bags and got on the bus to Nelson! We made one stop and I got some ice cream, Orange Choc Chip. It was horrible. I actually had to throw it out and you know ice cream is bad when I throw it out! Then we were back on the bus and straight to Nelson. We checked into our Hostel, Fern Lodge, which was really nice. It was a Bar and Hotel, which has a Hostel part, especially for people on the Kiwi Experience! Our rooms were nice, they had real carpet and the walls weren’t white, which is always a good start! Once I had put my bags in the room I went for a dander. First I walked to the Green Monkey – the Hostel that I wanted to stay in, but it was fully booked! It was small, but looked nice. Then I walked back into town, literally walking down every street to see what Nelson is actually like! Everyone says that Nelson is really rubbish, but I actually really like it! It seems like a really nice place! The town is neat and tidy and it isn’t too big, but it isn’t too small. It has everything that you need! I also really like walking around the suburbs, seeing what the houses are like here. I really like them too, there are lots of nice yellow houses with white trim, which I like – it’s just like home. I could be all fruity and use some emotive language to describe how beautiful Nelson is. I could tell you about the two little girls I saw, running along the street in their bare feet or the ducks swimming in the river. I could tell you about the letterboxes and the flowers at each house or the dogs sleeping in the sun. Or I could tell you to come to Nelson and see it for yourself. Come to Nelson and see it for yourself.
After my walk I came back to the Hostel, started reading my book, but then ended up watching “Shrek the Third” with everyone. I was really quite surprised at how good it was – the movie has quite a lot of subtle jokes, jokes that kids don’t understand but that as an adult (sort of) I find funny. The jokes are actually quite grown up – luckily kids don’t get those kinds of jokes! After Shrek we watched “LOST”. Which I haven’t watched since the second season, but I had some movie geek beside me and he was trying to explain everything during the breaks. It was quite funny, I don’t think you understand how strange “LOST” is until you have to explain it! After that we watched “Chuck”, which I have never seen, but we all really enjoyed it. We actually got really into it. At one point the entire room was shouting at the screen – we even had special names for the characters “Skanky Jill” being the most popular.
It was actually really funny, but probably one of those, “you had to be there” things. After all the excitement of watching T.V I was so tired I just went to sleep (after finishing my book, of course)
Xx
It’s All About the Politics, Baby.
I was hoping to leave Wellington today – but due to my lack of planning, there was no room for me on the bus. Basically you have to ring up a few days in advance in order to be kept a seat on the bus – normally this doesn’t really matter, I always ring the night before. When I rang on Monday morning they told me there was only space to leave on Wednesday, which actually worked out quite well, I hadn’t really seen a lot of the city, so today was my sightseeing day!
I didn’t want to get up too early – but then I heard an announcement, “the hot water is being turned off from 10-12 this morning”. As soon as I heard this, I was up and legging it to the bathroom. I expected a rush of girls wanting their hot showers, but there wasn’t. Either they didn’t care, or they aren’t as lazy as me and they were already up and showered. I don’t know if the announcement was a joke, or if they were being serious – either way I got my hot shower! Then I got dressed and went into town. It’s surprising how quickly I can be ready in this country. I don’t need to blow dry or straighten my hair and I don’t wear any makeup, so I literally just have to throw on some clothes! The downside to being ready so quickly? I look like a hobo. But who cares, not me!
I decided to go to the Parliament buildings in Wellington – Wellington is actually the capital city, so it has all that exciting stuff! Using my trusty map I found my way to “the Beehive”, which is a parliament building that looks like a Beehive! It actually looks quite strange. I would give it a makeover, paint it yellow so it actually looks like a Beehive! In an episode of “Pushing Daisies” they had a Beehive Building and it was totally awesome and totally made up because “Pushing Daisies” is a T.V show. I need to remind myself every now and then.
Anyway, I walked around the Beehive and then around the actual fancy Parliament building. My trusty map took me to the back of the building, so I was walking around, slightly lost looking, but then I figured out how to get to the front! I then went into the big, fancy, Parliament building. I even had to go through a metal detector! Very cool! When I was inside, with all my forbidden gear (cameras, phones, laptops etc) I went and joined a tour of the building! It was actually really good. The tour guide was a nice chap, who was obviously very into his politics, why else would you give free guided tours every day? The tour went all through the Parliament House and into the Old Library, so it was nice to see that. Some of the interior design was really nice – I wish I could have taken some pictures, but I didn’t fancy being deported over a few pictures of a ceiling! We were able to see where the actual Parliamentary Debates happen and I was going to go to one, but I wanted to do a few more things in Wellington before I had to go back to the Hostel!
After my Parliament tour I went Esquires... What a surprise. I then went to the Cable Car Street/Alley. I got a return ticket for $5 and then went on possibly the shortest Cable Car journey ever. It was more of a tram than a Cable Car as it wasn’t suspended, I don’t think. Anyway, I got off at the Botanical Gardens, took some pictures, walked about for a bit. Then I walked down to the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Which was, surprisingly enough, a rose garden. It was really nice, there were some pretty flowers, but it was quite a walk down, which meant, it was quite a walk back up. I have done so much walking on this trip. It’s disgusting! I don’t mind walking in nice surroundings, especially when the ground is nice and flat, but when it’s hilly and steep I’m not usually best pleased! I took a few pictures, then walked back up, stopping frequently for pictures/breath! The Botanical Gardens were alright, but I’m glad that they were free – there’s no way I would have spend money to see a bunch of trees!
After the Botanical Gardens I headed back to the Hostel. Oh, I almost forgot. On the way back to the Hostel something happened that made me really, really mad. I was walking along and in front of me were a bunch of teenagers, I had seen them in the same spot a few nights ago and I figured that they just didn’t have a lot to do, so they hung out on the street, in their “super cool” gang. As I walked past them, one particularly charming boy called out “**** You’re ugly”, I knew he wasn’t shouting at me, but I turned round anyway and looked at him. He had been shouting at a jogger, a pretty heavy jogger. When I looked at him he was all like “Oh, don’t worry I wasn’t talking about you, I was shouting at that fat guy”. Most people would be content with the fact that the boy with badly dyed hair wasn’t shouting at them, but it still made me mad. I just looked at him and half shouted, “That’s horrible. I don’t care who you were shouting at, that’s a horrible thing to say to anyone.” Then I turned around and walked off... The boy with the badly dyed hair just looked at me, I don’t think he knew what to say. There was also a very attractive business man beside me, who probably thought I was crazy, but people like that make me so mad. I can’t wait until the boy with the badly dyed hair gets old and fat and maybe some people will shout abuse at him. I hope.
Still in a bad mood I went back to my room, read my book, packed my things and then went to see Hayley! I was really glad I got to see her before I left – hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with her on my way back to Auckland! We just had a chat, nothing earth shatteringly important, but still, it was nice. Then I came back to my room and went to sleep. I was really excited to get up early the next morning, but somehow I managed to fall asleep!
Xx
I didn’t want to get up too early – but then I heard an announcement, “the hot water is being turned off from 10-12 this morning”. As soon as I heard this, I was up and legging it to the bathroom. I expected a rush of girls wanting their hot showers, but there wasn’t. Either they didn’t care, or they aren’t as lazy as me and they were already up and showered. I don’t know if the announcement was a joke, or if they were being serious – either way I got my hot shower! Then I got dressed and went into town. It’s surprising how quickly I can be ready in this country. I don’t need to blow dry or straighten my hair and I don’t wear any makeup, so I literally just have to throw on some clothes! The downside to being ready so quickly? I look like a hobo. But who cares, not me!
I decided to go to the Parliament buildings in Wellington – Wellington is actually the capital city, so it has all that exciting stuff! Using my trusty map I found my way to “the Beehive”, which is a parliament building that looks like a Beehive! It actually looks quite strange. I would give it a makeover, paint it yellow so it actually looks like a Beehive! In an episode of “Pushing Daisies” they had a Beehive Building and it was totally awesome and totally made up because “Pushing Daisies” is a T.V show. I need to remind myself every now and then.
Anyway, I walked around the Beehive and then around the actual fancy Parliament building. My trusty map took me to the back of the building, so I was walking around, slightly lost looking, but then I figured out how to get to the front! I then went into the big, fancy, Parliament building. I even had to go through a metal detector! Very cool! When I was inside, with all my forbidden gear (cameras, phones, laptops etc) I went and joined a tour of the building! It was actually really good. The tour guide was a nice chap, who was obviously very into his politics, why else would you give free guided tours every day? The tour went all through the Parliament House and into the Old Library, so it was nice to see that. Some of the interior design was really nice – I wish I could have taken some pictures, but I didn’t fancy being deported over a few pictures of a ceiling! We were able to see where the actual Parliamentary Debates happen and I was going to go to one, but I wanted to do a few more things in Wellington before I had to go back to the Hostel!
After my Parliament tour I went Esquires... What a surprise. I then went to the Cable Car Street/Alley. I got a return ticket for $5 and then went on possibly the shortest Cable Car journey ever. It was more of a tram than a Cable Car as it wasn’t suspended, I don’t think. Anyway, I got off at the Botanical Gardens, took some pictures, walked about for a bit. Then I walked down to the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Which was, surprisingly enough, a rose garden. It was really nice, there were some pretty flowers, but it was quite a walk down, which meant, it was quite a walk back up. I have done so much walking on this trip. It’s disgusting! I don’t mind walking in nice surroundings, especially when the ground is nice and flat, but when it’s hilly and steep I’m not usually best pleased! I took a few pictures, then walked back up, stopping frequently for pictures/breath! The Botanical Gardens were alright, but I’m glad that they were free – there’s no way I would have spend money to see a bunch of trees!
After the Botanical Gardens I headed back to the Hostel. Oh, I almost forgot. On the way back to the Hostel something happened that made me really, really mad. I was walking along and in front of me were a bunch of teenagers, I had seen them in the same spot a few nights ago and I figured that they just didn’t have a lot to do, so they hung out on the street, in their “super cool” gang. As I walked past them, one particularly charming boy called out “**** You’re ugly”, I knew he wasn’t shouting at me, but I turned round anyway and looked at him. He had been shouting at a jogger, a pretty heavy jogger. When I looked at him he was all like “Oh, don’t worry I wasn’t talking about you, I was shouting at that fat guy”. Most people would be content with the fact that the boy with badly dyed hair wasn’t shouting at them, but it still made me mad. I just looked at him and half shouted, “That’s horrible. I don’t care who you were shouting at, that’s a horrible thing to say to anyone.” Then I turned around and walked off... The boy with the badly dyed hair just looked at me, I don’t think he knew what to say. There was also a very attractive business man beside me, who probably thought I was crazy, but people like that make me so mad. I can’t wait until the boy with the badly dyed hair gets old and fat and maybe some people will shout abuse at him. I hope.
Still in a bad mood I went back to my room, read my book, packed my things and then went to see Hayley! I was really glad I got to see her before I left – hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with her on my way back to Auckland! We just had a chat, nothing earth shatteringly important, but still, it was nice. Then I came back to my room and went to sleep. I was really excited to get up early the next morning, but somehow I managed to fall asleep!
Xx
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