I love Adelaide. It is such a friendly city. We woke and decided to see as much of the city as possible and headed out into the blistering heat. We first went down to the main st and got a lift with a guy to the other end of the st while getting a short introduction to the city. The city council has a scheme where they get retired volunteers to offer information and advice and to provide those who can't walk everywhere with some assistance. Naturally we took advantage of this and hopped on.
We headed to the bottom of the main st to see the Adelaide Fringe Festival, or in Canadian speak, the Bangs Festival. There was an enourmous tent and inside the blew cool air in and had calming music and soothing lights. A lovely contrast to the intensness of the heat outside, we decided against it. Instead we went to the Garden of Un-Earthly Desires which wasn't open yet. It was an interesting little exhibition and would have been very interesting to see at night.
Next stop we headed towards the river and then on to the Botanic Gardens. They were huge, we only had a couple hours to kill in there but could have had plenty more. You cannot compare them to the Perth or Sydney ones because they are all so different. We walked along the street with all the older buildings on the town...Railway Station, University, Parliament Building, Government House...After a big day out visiting all that we could it was time to catch the train to Perth.
Tbe train ride was good, the seats were more comfortable than the other train. We also were lucky enough to see camels this time, a whole herd of them. We also saw some kangaroos sitting just next to the train travelling by. Stopped in the small town Cook, and Kalgoorlie and finally Perth. David and I stayed in a hostel owned by a Canadian fellow from Winnipeg and we found Andy and decent hotel in the city. Yesterday was a day of nothing because it was hot and we were tired from the lack of sleep we had on the train. Last night was the hottest sleep I have had in awhile. I even had a fan blowing on me. It did not cool off whatsoever! Today we are off to the beach to enjoy the cool breeze along with the hot sun.
Holly, David and Andy
P.S. Made another Album of New Zealand
NZ - Queenstown and Back Up Again
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Gorgeous Great Ocean Road
Now South Australia is a complete surprise. This place doesn't look at all like it belongs in this 'Barren' and sunburnt country. South Australia thus far has been a trip full of sights of green pastures rainforests and a battered coast sporting the 12 apostles. Though there aren't really 12 there anymore.
We have gone through 3 different Australian states in the past week and it has been alot of driving. It has been worth it. After the night in Mallacotta we headed towards Melbourne, not planning to spend much time there. It is a very busy city like Sydney. We parked the car and hopped onto the Free tram that does tours of Melbourne city. The city part seems bigger than Sydney city. Part of Melbourne is very new with lots of modern looking buildings, pretty cool actually. The other half is the old, historic part of Melbourne. If we had time it would have been nice to stop there a little bit longer. We enjoyed the afternoon there and then headed off to the start of the Great Ocean Road. We stopped in a little town called Torquay. This is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is world renown for its waves for surfing and brands like Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong and Rip Curl all originated here...We watched some sweet kite-surfing and sailing and headed back onto the road to our final destination of the day, Lorne. The scenery between Torquay and Lorne is magnificent. I would have liked to stop at every place possible and take photos, I know that my photos could not have done justice. We stayed in a nice hotel in Lorne that overlooked the sea.
The next day was Day 2 of the Great Ocean Road for us. It was beautiful and sunny (for the morning) with again breathtaking scenery. Our first stop was a place called Maits Rest. It was a little walk in part of the Rainforest with massive trees called Mountain Ash and Ferns. The Great Ocean Road scenery is pretty much beauitful cliff side to vast expanse of ocean to windy roads through hills to rainforest. We headed on past Apollo Bay to a road that led to a Lightstation. This place is known for the koalas so we spent the whole time driving about 10 kms an hour trying to find one. After about 20 minutes there was sightings and more and more. They were all hidden in the trees fast asleep with a few eating and pooing. It was awesome!! After this leg of the journey it started to get rainy. We reached the 12 Apostles and almost got blown into the sea it was sooo windy! It was definitely worth the stop. You see photos all the time but they do not compare to seeing it in person. We stopped at a few more places after that. Which were just as amazing as the 12 Apostles. Bay of Islands - gorgeous. It was sad to see the end of the Great Ocean Road. What a great drive it was. We ended up in a small town called Portland for the night. Funny side note: When looking for accommodation David and his dad actually walked into a man’s lounge of his house and started asking him about accommodation, they thought it was a motel. Haha.
Yesterday was a long drive, we drove for six hours straight of basically Saskatchewan land, flat with fields and livestock. The guys still enjoyed it though. It is also funny to see their fascination with the big semi’s. Guess they do not have them over in the UK. To keep ourselves entertained we played a game; let’s see who can stand the heat for the longest. So we closed the windows, turned off the air con and while we were not looking, Andy turned up the heat on full blast. The first person to roll down the window lost. May I also add that it was above 30 degrees outside. It was HOT! We managed to last an hour. We then pulled over on the side of the road for some fresh air and sea breeze! We drove through a massive area of Wineries until we reached an area, just a bit away from Adelaide, called Murray River.
Today, we reached the last day of the first part of our trip - Adelaide. But first we stopped off at Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary. We had close encounters with Wallabies and kangaroos, letting us pet them and coming up to our hands looking for food. We also heard a very scary growl in the bushes. We still don’t know what it was. When we arrived in Adelaide we dropped off the car and walked a few blocks with all our luggage…ughhh, I really need to learn to pack lighter. Tomorrow, we will spend the day sightseeing in Adelaide and then we will be catching the train again to Perth, yay!
I believe that is all!
Holly, David & Andy.
We have gone through 3 different Australian states in the past week and it has been alot of driving. It has been worth it. After the night in Mallacotta we headed towards Melbourne, not planning to spend much time there. It is a very busy city like Sydney. We parked the car and hopped onto the Free tram that does tours of Melbourne city. The city part seems bigger than Sydney city. Part of Melbourne is very new with lots of modern looking buildings, pretty cool actually. The other half is the old, historic part of Melbourne. If we had time it would have been nice to stop there a little bit longer. We enjoyed the afternoon there and then headed off to the start of the Great Ocean Road. We stopped in a little town called Torquay. This is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is world renown for its waves for surfing and brands like Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong and Rip Curl all originated here...We watched some sweet kite-surfing and sailing and headed back onto the road to our final destination of the day, Lorne. The scenery between Torquay and Lorne is magnificent. I would have liked to stop at every place possible and take photos, I know that my photos could not have done justice. We stayed in a nice hotel in Lorne that overlooked the sea.
The next day was Day 2 of the Great Ocean Road for us. It was beautiful and sunny (for the morning) with again breathtaking scenery. Our first stop was a place called Maits Rest. It was a little walk in part of the Rainforest with massive trees called Mountain Ash and Ferns. The Great Ocean Road scenery is pretty much beauitful cliff side to vast expanse of ocean to windy roads through hills to rainforest. We headed on past Apollo Bay to a road that led to a Lightstation. This place is known for the koalas so we spent the whole time driving about 10 kms an hour trying to find one. After about 20 minutes there was sightings and more and more. They were all hidden in the trees fast asleep with a few eating and pooing. It was awesome!! After this leg of the journey it started to get rainy. We reached the 12 Apostles and almost got blown into the sea it was sooo windy! It was definitely worth the stop. You see photos all the time but they do not compare to seeing it in person. We stopped at a few more places after that. Which were just as amazing as the 12 Apostles. Bay of Islands - gorgeous. It was sad to see the end of the Great Ocean Road. What a great drive it was. We ended up in a small town called Portland for the night. Funny side note: When looking for accommodation David and his dad actually walked into a man’s lounge of his house and started asking him about accommodation, they thought it was a motel. Haha.
Yesterday was a long drive, we drove for six hours straight of basically Saskatchewan land, flat with fields and livestock. The guys still enjoyed it though. It is also funny to see their fascination with the big semi’s. Guess they do not have them over in the UK. To keep ourselves entertained we played a game; let’s see who can stand the heat for the longest. So we closed the windows, turned off the air con and while we were not looking, Andy turned up the heat on full blast. The first person to roll down the window lost. May I also add that it was above 30 degrees outside. It was HOT! We managed to last an hour. We then pulled over on the side of the road for some fresh air and sea breeze! We drove through a massive area of Wineries until we reached an area, just a bit away from Adelaide, called Murray River.
Today, we reached the last day of the first part of our trip - Adelaide. But first we stopped off at Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary. We had close encounters with Wallabies and kangaroos, letting us pet them and coming up to our hands looking for food. We also heard a very scary growl in the bushes. We still don’t know what it was. When we arrived in Adelaide we dropped off the car and walked a few blocks with all our luggage…ughhh, I really need to learn to pack lighter. Tomorrow, we will spend the day sightseeing in Adelaide and then we will be catching the train again to Perth, yay!
I believe that is all!
Holly, David & Andy.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Bell Birds or Rubbing trees?
We are still alive and well. I am just sitting in our living room of our apartment for the night in a place called Mallacotta. We had to make a little detour because we were very low on gas and this was the next closest place (which is impressive because we have drove about 900 kms without filling up once). We drove through 24 kms of beautiful National Park. The town itself is also very nice and it is right next to the beach. If we have time, we will check it out in the morning.
On Wednesday we drove up to the Northern Beaches and spent a little while at Whale Beach and Narrabeen Beach. It was perfect beach weather. We checked into a family room at the YHA in Collaroy. It was a reallly nice hostel. We then met up with Steve and Kristin for dinner. They gave us some tips on where to stop and stay while on the South East Coast of Australia.
The next morning we took off down the coast with our first stop, Wollongong. David and I had to walk through the city to find and information store only to find out that it was closed down. We didn't like the vibe that we got from the city. Probably won't visit it again. In the afternoon we stopped in a cute little town called Berry for some cake and scones. The scenery is beautiful, hilly and green. A bit like the scenery we had seen in New Zealand. We stopped a few times to pull over and take photos. Our last stop of the day was in a place called Bateman's Bay where we shared a renovated trailer. We had chicken pitas for supper, I have been craving one since they only seem to have them in Canada and the States. Nobody around here knows what they are.
Today we left Bateman's Bay and headed to Narooma where we stopped for yummy ice cream. There was a huge selection! It was great. We then headed to a rock that has a natural hole in the rock that is shaped like Australia. We also got to see three sting rays up close eating fish. They were brown with blue spots, apparently they are the dangerous ones. The locals told me I could step on them but I kept my distance. We drove through Bega, a big brand name for cheese in Australia, and stopped for a short snack break in a place called Pambula. Throughout the day we'd heard what sounded like wind chime noises coming from the trees and had no idea wht they were. We joked that they might be from the trees rubbing together, and when we asked a local what the noise was she said it was the trees rubbing together. Silly...we asked another local and she said it was Bell Birds. That was a better explanation.
And now back to the beginning, we are sat in the living room, drinking tea with biscuits, it's what happens when you are with British people, as I am sure you have learned.
Tomorrow we hope to get close to Melbourne...... we will see how that goes. We do not really have any plans, we kind of just go with the flow. It has been so far so good!
We are really enjoying the trip and the beauty, it feels like everytime we go to a new place it becomes are favourite part.
That's all for now.
Holly and David (and Andy)
On Wednesday we drove up to the Northern Beaches and spent a little while at Whale Beach and Narrabeen Beach. It was perfect beach weather. We checked into a family room at the YHA in Collaroy. It was a reallly nice hostel. We then met up with Steve and Kristin for dinner. They gave us some tips on where to stop and stay while on the South East Coast of Australia.
The next morning we took off down the coast with our first stop, Wollongong. David and I had to walk through the city to find and information store only to find out that it was closed down. We didn't like the vibe that we got from the city. Probably won't visit it again. In the afternoon we stopped in a cute little town called Berry for some cake and scones. The scenery is beautiful, hilly and green. A bit like the scenery we had seen in New Zealand. We stopped a few times to pull over and take photos. Our last stop of the day was in a place called Bateman's Bay where we shared a renovated trailer. We had chicken pitas for supper, I have been craving one since they only seem to have them in Canada and the States. Nobody around here knows what they are.
Today we left Bateman's Bay and headed to Narooma where we stopped for yummy ice cream. There was a huge selection! It was great. We then headed to a rock that has a natural hole in the rock that is shaped like Australia. We also got to see three sting rays up close eating fish. They were brown with blue spots, apparently they are the dangerous ones. The locals told me I could step on them but I kept my distance. We drove through Bega, a big brand name for cheese in Australia, and stopped for a short snack break in a place called Pambula. Throughout the day we'd heard what sounded like wind chime noises coming from the trees and had no idea wht they were. We joked that they might be from the trees rubbing together, and when we asked a local what the noise was she said it was the trees rubbing together. Silly...we asked another local and she said it was Bell Birds. That was a better explanation.
And now back to the beginning, we are sat in the living room, drinking tea with biscuits, it's what happens when you are with British people, as I am sure you have learned.
Tomorrow we hope to get close to Melbourne...... we will see how that goes. We do not really have any plans, we kind of just go with the flow. It has been so far so good!
We are really enjoying the trip and the beauty, it feels like everytime we go to a new place it becomes are favourite part.
That's all for now.
Holly and David (and Andy)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Border Security
The last place that we went to visit in New Zealand was the Bay of Islands, in a place called Paihia. It is the part of Australia that is winterless. We had a nice time relaxing by the beach and walking around in the small town. It was nice to relax and sleep in after our early mornings travelling around Australia. Nice way to end our trip to New Zealand. We are going to misssss it!!!!
It is a bit late to tell you that we are back in Sydney because most of you have probably already assumed but we have an interesting story from when we arrived at the Sydney airport. Everything was fine, I had been "randomly selected" to be checked, as I do in every airport, we had a lovely back of the plane to ourselves and the weather was sunny, hot and beautiful. As we were walking through customs are passports were given to two people and we were sent off to follow them in different directions and interrogated. When I was being questioned I assumed (blonde) that he was interested in olives and oil because he wanted to know the name of the owner and where abouts it was in Australia, so I was like "oh, its the olive grove area of Western Australia..." and then he started asking me what jobs I did on the farm, and how much I got paid. Then it clicked, he wants to make sure that I actually did my three months work.....I started to get nervous. He then asked me for the Farm owner's number, so we had to go to David to get it. He looked more nervous than me...Playing with his feet on the ground, biting his nails. After his lady photocopied all his stuff she came out to interview him, asking him the same questions that I was just asked. They went off for 10 minutes or so to call Catherine and we were all in the clear. Poor Catherine, she was bugged with David's visa and now this.
After we had gotten our bags and went into quarantine we saw signs everywhere that said "Border Security is filming today, please let us know if you would not like to be filmed." David and I have watched this show a few times and have enjoyed it. We had hoped maybe our little fiasco had been caught on tape. Two little, helpless backpackers who were honest with their second year visa, haha, guess its not really that crazy to be put on tv.
We have been staying at Nat's house and she has been more than accomodating to us. I do not think we can thank her enough for all that she has done for us. She has even hooked me up with two days of teaching at the school she is also doing casual work for. SHe was my buddy in the morning showing me around the school and everything and she is even across the hall from me. Also, she is Miss Johnson! What a confusion to the students. They all think we are sisters. It's fun, a lovely school. It is too bad I will not be sticking around here to teach. I do miss teaching back home for this reason...there is no air con in most of the schools here...and so on a day like to day, which isn't even their hottest, you are sweating to death while trying to teach. I do not know how the kids can focus when it is soooo hot but they do it!
Yesterday David's dad flew into Sydney, David spent the day with him and I met up with them for dinner. It was pooooouring rain so we got to have a nice refreshing shower as we walked to dinner. We had a good night together and I look forward to our travels together in the next couple weeks. They have been enjoying catching up and taking in the sights of Syndey together.
That is really all for now, I do not know how often we will be able to blog when we go travelling in the next few days but we will be sure to keep track and keep you up to date when we can.
That is all for now,
Holly and David
It is a bit late to tell you that we are back in Sydney because most of you have probably already assumed but we have an interesting story from when we arrived at the Sydney airport. Everything was fine, I had been "randomly selected" to be checked, as I do in every airport, we had a lovely back of the plane to ourselves and the weather was sunny, hot and beautiful. As we were walking through customs are passports were given to two people and we were sent off to follow them in different directions and interrogated. When I was being questioned I assumed (blonde) that he was interested in olives and oil because he wanted to know the name of the owner and where abouts it was in Australia, so I was like "oh, its the olive grove area of Western Australia..." and then he started asking me what jobs I did on the farm, and how much I got paid. Then it clicked, he wants to make sure that I actually did my three months work.....I started to get nervous. He then asked me for the Farm owner's number, so we had to go to David to get it. He looked more nervous than me...Playing with his feet on the ground, biting his nails. After his lady photocopied all his stuff she came out to interview him, asking him the same questions that I was just asked. They went off for 10 minutes or so to call Catherine and we were all in the clear. Poor Catherine, she was bugged with David's visa and now this.
After we had gotten our bags and went into quarantine we saw signs everywhere that said "Border Security is filming today, please let us know if you would not like to be filmed." David and I have watched this show a few times and have enjoyed it. We had hoped maybe our little fiasco had been caught on tape. Two little, helpless backpackers who were honest with their second year visa, haha, guess its not really that crazy to be put on tv.
We have been staying at Nat's house and she has been more than accomodating to us. I do not think we can thank her enough for all that she has done for us. She has even hooked me up with two days of teaching at the school she is also doing casual work for. SHe was my buddy in the morning showing me around the school and everything and she is even across the hall from me. Also, she is Miss Johnson! What a confusion to the students. They all think we are sisters. It's fun, a lovely school. It is too bad I will not be sticking around here to teach. I do miss teaching back home for this reason...there is no air con in most of the schools here...and so on a day like to day, which isn't even their hottest, you are sweating to death while trying to teach. I do not know how the kids can focus when it is soooo hot but they do it!
Yesterday David's dad flew into Sydney, David spent the day with him and I met up with them for dinner. It was pooooouring rain so we got to have a nice refreshing shower as we walked to dinner. We had a good night together and I look forward to our travels together in the next couple weeks. They have been enjoying catching up and taking in the sights of Syndey together.
That is really all for now, I do not know how often we will be able to blog when we go travelling in the next few days but we will be sure to keep track and keep you up to date when we can.
That is all for now,
Holly and David
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Day 24 - Rotarua
Good day campers. We arrived in Rotarua around late morning and headed out to the shops and got the cheapest Maccy D fries ever! $2.90. I nearly had two. We left the others shopping while we headed off to see a bit more of the town itself and ended up at the old bathhouse which is now the museum. An interesting thing to note about Rotarua is other than it smells like an eggy fart, there are steam plumes all over the place from mud pools and hot water pools. They’re everywhere, you van often hear the gloopy sound a distance off and will usually find it fenced off and lots of Asian’s photographing them. We had a quick look around the museum shop as you had to pay to get in and no museum will be the same after our free museum in Wellington, and shot back to the backpackers. We’d decided that the 8 of us who were left on the trip would have a last meal together and as always we were involved in the shopping and co-ordinating the cooking. The cooking was no mean feat, two broccoli 8 peoples worth of potato carrots sweet potato’s and a pan with sausages leeks and gravy. It took about 5 or 6 pans to boil the veg and about 2 hours in total for the meal to be ready. We must have upset some people as we took up the Whole kitchen and used the chopping boards and every available pan. It was an Amazing feat of organisation. Good times.
We sat down and had a really nice meal and a great chat. Later on we headed on down to the pool and spent most of the night trying to empty the pool of water. Not literally… The pool is heated naturally by the towns Geo thermal activity and it was soo hot. With 8 people in the pool and lots of swimming dunking challenges it got very warm. A really nice night.
Kia Ora Guys,
David & Holly
We sat down and had a really nice meal and a great chat. Later on we headed on down to the pool and spent most of the night trying to empty the pool of water. Not literally… The pool is heated naturally by the towns Geo thermal activity and it was soo hot. With 8 people in the pool and lots of swimming dunking challenges it got very warm. A really nice night.
Kia Ora Guys,
David & Holly
Day 22 + 23 - Taupo - Rotarua
We arrived at Taupo airport just outside the main town and left our friends to go to the hostel. We had a short briefing and signed our consent forms and waited nervously around for what seemed forever. Yes today we skydived/Skydove…
We were called through to the prep area and were given our big red jumpsuits stepped into our harnesses and picked out a hat and goggles to protect ourselves from the wind. We were then strapped and tightened by a very strong small man, straps under the legs over the shoulders and around the waist, lifejackets and a big warning sign on the back of us making sure we knew that what we were doing was incredibly dangerous. The prep room was a little hanger where on one side there were staff re packing parachutes and tidying things up and on our side we had all the paraphernalia for jumping. Shoots suits and all manner of lifesaving brica brac. Every 10 minutes or so you could hear a place taking off, landing or flying around. And if you looked up you could usually see some distant skydivers. Very Exciting!
I could make this last forever, and I probably will as Holly will add her two cents too. But bear with me I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I jumped out of a perfectly good plane with a guy strapped to my back.
We walked towards the plane giving the camera lady a little wave and waited our turn to enter the plane. We were introduced to our camera people mine was called Steve, a small looking George Clooney and Holly had a lady. We stepped into the plane and everyone sat backwards except Holly, who was right next to the door facing everyone sitting on the floor. We took off and our little plane fought it’s way up to 12,000 feet, about a 20 minute scenic plane ride. On the way the guys were all joking around switching clips on each others harnesses and goofing around. We were being filmed in the plane too for reaction shots for the video. It was quite difficult to remain composed and to think of something to do while the camera was on you. Holly’s guy kept pointing different things out the window to her, amazing scenery. So once we reached 12,000ft the door opened and the plain violently slowed its speed, this was it!!
Holly was first out with her camera lady hanging onto the outside of the plane getting some more reaction shots, and after the count of 2 she fell out. The plane jumped up after every person left it and I slid my way down to the front and hoisted myself and the man attached to me out to the door of the plane. It is a very strange feeling sat at the edge of a plain that far up knowing your about to jump out, after two I fell out and experienced falling like I’ve never experienced before. Like a roller coaster ride but you have no idea where the track goes. You get butterflies in your stomach but only for a few seconds until you are tapped on the shoulder and you can put your arms out. Eventually we levelled out and posed for the camera man, looking back at the photos he has a grin on his face and I look as though I’ve just fallen out of a plane. It was incredible. Absolutely incredible. We spiralled and twirled around for a few minutes untill we came to a comfortable stop. Holly was the first to jump of the three of us and she was the last one to land. She had a sweet slow ride up there. Her ears were killing her the whole time and they are still plugged. We went into a movie room after and watched our movies and looked at our photos. We had a good laugh at Holly’s, they are pretty terrible. It is an experience we could do again.
It’s fair to say that nothing compared to what we had just done for the rest of the day. We spent the night hanging out and eventually slumped off to bed when the adrenaline subsided. We’ve got an easy day tomorrow heading up to Rotarua.
Kia Ora Friends,
David & Holly
Air Poo: A term used for a fart/fluffy/toot
It's a hard way to learn not to pass gas on the bus when you squeeze a little one out and you hear the bus driver shout over the speaker system "someone's done an air poo!!"
We were called through to the prep area and were given our big red jumpsuits stepped into our harnesses and picked out a hat and goggles to protect ourselves from the wind. We were then strapped and tightened by a very strong small man, straps under the legs over the shoulders and around the waist, lifejackets and a big warning sign on the back of us making sure we knew that what we were doing was incredibly dangerous. The prep room was a little hanger where on one side there were staff re packing parachutes and tidying things up and on our side we had all the paraphernalia for jumping. Shoots suits and all manner of lifesaving brica brac. Every 10 minutes or so you could hear a place taking off, landing or flying around. And if you looked up you could usually see some distant skydivers. Very Exciting!
I could make this last forever, and I probably will as Holly will add her two cents too. But bear with me I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I jumped out of a perfectly good plane with a guy strapped to my back.
We walked towards the plane giving the camera lady a little wave and waited our turn to enter the plane. We were introduced to our camera people mine was called Steve, a small looking George Clooney and Holly had a lady. We stepped into the plane and everyone sat backwards except Holly, who was right next to the door facing everyone sitting on the floor. We took off and our little plane fought it’s way up to 12,000 feet, about a 20 minute scenic plane ride. On the way the guys were all joking around switching clips on each others harnesses and goofing around. We were being filmed in the plane too for reaction shots for the video. It was quite difficult to remain composed and to think of something to do while the camera was on you. Holly’s guy kept pointing different things out the window to her, amazing scenery. So once we reached 12,000ft the door opened and the plain violently slowed its speed, this was it!!
Holly was first out with her camera lady hanging onto the outside of the plane getting some more reaction shots, and after the count of 2 she fell out. The plane jumped up after every person left it and I slid my way down to the front and hoisted myself and the man attached to me out to the door of the plane. It is a very strange feeling sat at the edge of a plain that far up knowing your about to jump out, after two I fell out and experienced falling like I’ve never experienced before. Like a roller coaster ride but you have no idea where the track goes. You get butterflies in your stomach but only for a few seconds until you are tapped on the shoulder and you can put your arms out. Eventually we levelled out and posed for the camera man, looking back at the photos he has a grin on his face and I look as though I’ve just fallen out of a plane. It was incredible. Absolutely incredible. We spiralled and twirled around for a few minutes untill we came to a comfortable stop. Holly was the first to jump of the three of us and she was the last one to land. She had a sweet slow ride up there. Her ears were killing her the whole time and they are still plugged. We went into a movie room after and watched our movies and looked at our photos. We had a good laugh at Holly’s, they are pretty terrible. It is an experience we could do again.
It’s fair to say that nothing compared to what we had just done for the rest of the day. We spent the night hanging out and eventually slumped off to bed when the adrenaline subsided. We’ve got an easy day tomorrow heading up to Rotarua.
Kia Ora Friends,
David & Holly
Air Poo: A term used for a fart/fluffy/toot
It's a hard way to learn not to pass gas on the bus when you squeeze a little one out and you hear the bus driver shout over the speaker system "someone's done an air poo!!"
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Day 21 + 22 - River Valley - Horse Trekking
After arriving and settling down in River Valley for our second time on this trip we booked our horse trekking trip and enjoyed watching the frantic-ness of the other Kiwi bus bringing a new load of eager newbie backpackers. We’d been picked up from the nearest town Taihape by a shuttle bus costing an astonishing $30 each. Between 5! Crazy…Conveniently it happened to be a day when the lodge was collecting supplies, glad we could help…We were rammed into the back of the vehicle nursing our bags and some bad toilet paper for 45 minutes while our very nice bus driver hurtled around the windy bends and uneven roads of the New Zealand countryside.
We killed some time in our room by chatting and making some food then we headed off to the stables to meet our horses. Holly had a horse named Rico and mine was called Pedro, a bit of a Spanish theme here methinks. Holly’s horse was beautiful and suited an intermediate rider. My horse naturally had a lazy walk and needed encouragement to move, matched my character perfectly.
We set off Katharine’s horse with a little persuasion and road into the farmlands. Now I haven’t been riding for close to 10 years and the last time I rode was on my sisters birthday led by rope to the leader. I was very proud of myself being able to handle a horse and not be bum clenchingly scared of the animal. We trotted talked cantered and even galloped our way through acres of gorgeous countryside sharing the view only with a few cows and deer. It’s not like the riding you have where everybody is in a line and you can’t go faster than snails pace, this was horse trekking with a vengeance. Holly had her first attempt at jumping with a horse, by accident. The horse was cantering towards a log and Holly was trying to either move him to the side or stop him before she got to the log. The horse had different intentions and jumped right over the log. Erin, the veteran horse rider told her that she looked like a natural doing it. Pure luck she didn’t just fall off.
We were given the opportunity to canter along a few of the sections and were told we could have a race near the end. We went to our starting positions and got ready, Katharine’s horse wouldn’t turn around so she couldn’t race, Erin and Phill were ready to race and we shot off. My horse never got faster than a shy canter and even though I was braced for a fully fledged gallop I looked like a scared idiot slowly moving along. Holly shot off and was in the line to winning the race when her horse got moved over by Erin’s and took a step to the side launching Holly in a slow motion fall to the ground. It was a hilarious but very scary sight. I tried to run over and help but my horse didn’t seem to want to go that way but she seemed fine, a little winded and a bruised bum but other than that just bragging right for having fallen off a galloping horse.
All in all we had a great afternoon and headed back to the lodge for some food. We cooked some Chilli and relaxed for the evening. We woke the next morning and began with good intentions of doing the hike up the mountain but never really made it there. Erin was sick and Holly was too battered and bruised to attempt the tricky walk. We ended up relaxing by our solar heated river and soaking up some of the blisteringly hot sun rays while beating off the irritating sand flies.
We relaxed for the rest of the day and headed to bed for a semi early night. We caught the shuttle the next day and managed to share it again with another load of things needing to be taken to the local town. Glad we could help again guys…But we made it safely and on time to the bus to meet our old friends Kate (Brenda) Jade and Dan. Good times. We’ve got a good few days ahead of us now until we leave this wonderful country, and maybe a cheeky skydive tomorrow?? Who knows.
Kia Ora Friends,
David & Holly
Zambuck - A term used for a person of first aid at a sport event.
Ohh...Holly received a pass and broke a nail!!! GET THE ZAMBUCK!!
We killed some time in our room by chatting and making some food then we headed off to the stables to meet our horses. Holly had a horse named Rico and mine was called Pedro, a bit of a Spanish theme here methinks. Holly’s horse was beautiful and suited an intermediate rider. My horse naturally had a lazy walk and needed encouragement to move, matched my character perfectly.
We set off Katharine’s horse with a little persuasion and road into the farmlands. Now I haven’t been riding for close to 10 years and the last time I rode was on my sisters birthday led by rope to the leader. I was very proud of myself being able to handle a horse and not be bum clenchingly scared of the animal. We trotted talked cantered and even galloped our way through acres of gorgeous countryside sharing the view only with a few cows and deer. It’s not like the riding you have where everybody is in a line and you can’t go faster than snails pace, this was horse trekking with a vengeance. Holly had her first attempt at jumping with a horse, by accident. The horse was cantering towards a log and Holly was trying to either move him to the side or stop him before she got to the log. The horse had different intentions and jumped right over the log. Erin, the veteran horse rider told her that she looked like a natural doing it. Pure luck she didn’t just fall off.
We were given the opportunity to canter along a few of the sections and were told we could have a race near the end. We went to our starting positions and got ready, Katharine’s horse wouldn’t turn around so she couldn’t race, Erin and Phill were ready to race and we shot off. My horse never got faster than a shy canter and even though I was braced for a fully fledged gallop I looked like a scared idiot slowly moving along. Holly shot off and was in the line to winning the race when her horse got moved over by Erin’s and took a step to the side launching Holly in a slow motion fall to the ground. It was a hilarious but very scary sight. I tried to run over and help but my horse didn’t seem to want to go that way but she seemed fine, a little winded and a bruised bum but other than that just bragging right for having fallen off a galloping horse.
All in all we had a great afternoon and headed back to the lodge for some food. We cooked some Chilli and relaxed for the evening. We woke the next morning and began with good intentions of doing the hike up the mountain but never really made it there. Erin was sick and Holly was too battered and bruised to attempt the tricky walk. We ended up relaxing by our solar heated river and soaking up some of the blisteringly hot sun rays while beating off the irritating sand flies.
We relaxed for the rest of the day and headed to bed for a semi early night. We caught the shuttle the next day and managed to share it again with another load of things needing to be taken to the local town. Glad we could help again guys…But we made it safely and on time to the bus to meet our old friends Kate (Brenda) Jade and Dan. Good times. We’ve got a good few days ahead of us now until we leave this wonderful country, and maybe a cheeky skydive tomorrow?? Who knows.
Kia Ora Friends,
David & Holly
Zambuck - A term used for a person of first aid at a sport event.
Ohh...Holly received a pass and broke a nail!!! GET THE ZAMBUCK!!
Day 19 +20 - Kaikoura to Wellington
After my high from swimming with the seals from the night before we had a nice lie in. We did not take off until 9 today. The 5 of us got nice seats at the front of the bus and David and I decided to not share and have two seats to ourselves. When we went to the next pick up I had an older lady decide to sit in my seat. I think from now on I want to sit alone for the whole 3 hour journey we talked endlessly about everything. She has been travelling her whole life and will be spending the next 5 months travelling around NZ on the KIWI experience bus. She has already done 3 months on it. She told me that I was allowed to give away her age to let my mother and other people who say they are too old to travel that you are never too old. She is 64 years old and has no plans to stop travelling anytime soon. I think its wonderful, she gets on the bus with all the young kids and stays in all the backpacker hostels carrying the exact same thing we carry a big backpack and a little one. I was super impressed. I hope that I am like that when I am her age.
We arrived at Nomads hostel around 5 pm, hoping to get away from the inconvenience at Base Backpackers. Unfortunately, that did not happen. It took about an hour for the guy to check in and after four of us were served for supper we waited about 20 minutes for the last supper to arrive. The forgot about it even though every time they came by us they told us it would be out soon. On a better note, when we got back to our room there was a lovely kiwi girl staying in our room ready for a chat. So we chatted to her for quite a while and then went to bed.
The next day in Wellington we had a bit of a lie in and then went off to spend the day in the coolest free museum. This museum is better than any museum I have ever been to and it amazes me that it was free. What a hay day for teachers!!! If only I was a teacher in Wellington. Haha. There were 5 different floors. Each floor have a totally different theme to the rest. One floor had all the history from not only the Maori culture but the Pacific Islanders cultures’ as well. It was super interesting!! They had a colossal squid on one of the floors, they caught it about 4 years ago when it was feeding on a fish that they had caught. I could go on and on about this museum. I will just put photos up on face book eventually instead.
Wellington is a well nice place. Probably one of our favourite cities in the circuit so far. It has a lot of character and is an individual. Barely any two buildings match, there are a few random buildings in the mix as well. All the people from Wellington that we have met have been really friendly and nice as well.
We are off to River Valley for a couple days tomorrow. We get picked up from a place called Taihape (Thai-happy). The 5 of us are looking forward to it!
Kia Ora,
Holly and David
Yeah Nah - A very confusing phrase for anyone not use to Kiwi Speak. It generally means "I agree with you, that it isn't..."
We're staying at base tomorrow night, they usually have nice rooms.
Yeah Na they're horrible backpackers and the rooms are terrible
We arrived at Nomads hostel around 5 pm, hoping to get away from the inconvenience at Base Backpackers. Unfortunately, that did not happen. It took about an hour for the guy to check in and after four of us were served for supper we waited about 20 minutes for the last supper to arrive. The forgot about it even though every time they came by us they told us it would be out soon. On a better note, when we got back to our room there was a lovely kiwi girl staying in our room ready for a chat. So we chatted to her for quite a while and then went to bed.
The next day in Wellington we had a bit of a lie in and then went off to spend the day in the coolest free museum. This museum is better than any museum I have ever been to and it amazes me that it was free. What a hay day for teachers!!! If only I was a teacher in Wellington. Haha. There were 5 different floors. Each floor have a totally different theme to the rest. One floor had all the history from not only the Maori culture but the Pacific Islanders cultures’ as well. It was super interesting!! They had a colossal squid on one of the floors, they caught it about 4 years ago when it was feeding on a fish that they had caught. I could go on and on about this museum. I will just put photos up on face book eventually instead.
Wellington is a well nice place. Probably one of our favourite cities in the circuit so far. It has a lot of character and is an individual. Barely any two buildings match, there are a few random buildings in the mix as well. All the people from Wellington that we have met have been really friendly and nice as well.
We are off to River Valley for a couple days tomorrow. We get picked up from a place called Taihape (Thai-happy). The 5 of us are looking forward to it!
Kia Ora,
Holly and David
Yeah Nah - A very confusing phrase for anyone not use to Kiwi Speak. It generally means "I agree with you, that it isn't..."
We're staying at base tomorrow night, they usually have nice rooms.
Yeah Na they're horrible backpackers and the rooms are terrible
Monday, February 1, 2010
Day 17 + 18 Christchurch and Kaikoura (Seals!!!)
Christchurch is one of the bigger cities in New Zealand. Our bus driver had nothing nice to say about it. He didn’t really care for it. When you got there you realized why he didn’t really care for it. Of all the amazing things we have seen in New Zealand this place had Nothing. Apparently some British man came over and decided that he was going to make a mini England city in Christchurch. So it is a small English town but doesn’t look like it at all. It also has no skyscrapers so it is a very short city. We spent a bit of the afternoon watching a World Buskers Festival. I think we missed the good ones though. After that we enjoyed some Indian curry with some of our bus mates that were leaving that night to go back home. It was an early night in and an early morning. We stayed in a Base Backpacker Hostel which we are sick of. They are this huge chain in Australia and New Zealand. They are expensive, hold tons of people, do not have good hospitality, in old buildings, are not very clean and have a big focus on draining backpackers money in their bars.
The exciting part, we left Christchurch at about 7:15 am this morning and headed on a 3 and a half hour journey to Kaikoura. This is apparently known as New Zealand’s best kept secret. They have lots of whale watching, dolphin watching and swimming, seal swimming, fishing and all that great stuff. I would have loved to swim with dolphins but it was too expensive. Our bus driver told us that even though the swimming with seals option was cheaper than dolphin swimming it was definitely the better deal of the two because there was more interaction and what not, so Erin and I decided to do the seal swimming. We spent the morning in our wonderful little hostel hanging out and tanning until 4 oclock when the man came around to pick us up. We put on wet suits and picked up snorkelling gear and he took 4 of us out to the sea colony. Our guide is actually the owner of our hostel and another hostel in the town, very down to earth, quiet guy. He took us swimming all around the seals that were sitting up on rocks and in the water. When the first seal came to me I was quite scared. I had my complete trust in it that it was not just going to come out and attack me. The seals usually swam around us and checked us out to see if we were safe and then they would play with us. They would splash, jump and and swim circles around us. We swam to a couple different coves and hung out with them. We had to be careful when we got too close to the rocks and shallow water not to splash around too much until they were comfortable with us. (Little note: when we went as a bus to visit seals on the rocks early some of them got very angry and growled at people because they got in between them and the sea. This happens on land and shallow water because they do not feel safe. Once they are in the sea they are tame as.) We spent an hour and a half swimming around with different seals and checking out the baby cubs sitting on the rocks. Soooo cute. They have neat little personalities, some of them enjoyed teasing us when we were with them in the water. Near the end the seals we were with started showing us their teeth, they have some scary looking sharp teeth, I assumed they would have teeth like cows. I could go on and on about my experience but I think you get the main excitement of it. Unfortunately, no one had underwater cameras so we didn’t get any photos. Maybe that was for the best because then I spent the whole time enjoying it rather than trying to get a good photo.
Today we are off to Wellington to spend a couple days, it seemed only a week ago that this trip felt like it was not going to end for awhile, which was nice. Now we only have a week and some left. Sigh, New Zealand is a recommended place to see, I would say even over Australia.
That’s it for now,
Holly and David
Tiki Tour - roundabout way to get somewhere; scenic tour
After repeatedly telling the driver we needed to get there quickly to use the longdrop he still took the Tiki Tour
The exciting part, we left Christchurch at about 7:15 am this morning and headed on a 3 and a half hour journey to Kaikoura. This is apparently known as New Zealand’s best kept secret. They have lots of whale watching, dolphin watching and swimming, seal swimming, fishing and all that great stuff. I would have loved to swim with dolphins but it was too expensive. Our bus driver told us that even though the swimming with seals option was cheaper than dolphin swimming it was definitely the better deal of the two because there was more interaction and what not, so Erin and I decided to do the seal swimming. We spent the morning in our wonderful little hostel hanging out and tanning until 4 oclock when the man came around to pick us up. We put on wet suits and picked up snorkelling gear and he took 4 of us out to the sea colony. Our guide is actually the owner of our hostel and another hostel in the town, very down to earth, quiet guy. He took us swimming all around the seals that were sitting up on rocks and in the water. When the first seal came to me I was quite scared. I had my complete trust in it that it was not just going to come out and attack me. The seals usually swam around us and checked us out to see if we were safe and then they would play with us. They would splash, jump and and swim circles around us. We swam to a couple different coves and hung out with them. We had to be careful when we got too close to the rocks and shallow water not to splash around too much until they were comfortable with us. (Little note: when we went as a bus to visit seals on the rocks early some of them got very angry and growled at people because they got in between them and the sea. This happens on land and shallow water because they do not feel safe. Once they are in the sea they are tame as.) We spent an hour and a half swimming around with different seals and checking out the baby cubs sitting on the rocks. Soooo cute. They have neat little personalities, some of them enjoyed teasing us when we were with them in the water. Near the end the seals we were with started showing us their teeth, they have some scary looking sharp teeth, I assumed they would have teeth like cows. I could go on and on about my experience but I think you get the main excitement of it. Unfortunately, no one had underwater cameras so we didn’t get any photos. Maybe that was for the best because then I spent the whole time enjoying it rather than trying to get a good photo.
Today we are off to Wellington to spend a couple days, it seemed only a week ago that this trip felt like it was not going to end for awhile, which was nice. Now we only have a week and some left. Sigh, New Zealand is a recommended place to see, I would say even over Australia.
That’s it for now,
Holly and David
Tiki Tour - roundabout way to get somewhere; scenic tour
After repeatedly telling the driver we needed to get there quickly to use the longdrop he still took the Tiki Tour
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