The last leg - NZ, Fiji and USA
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2009
1
9
Trip End
Jun 07, 2009
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Christchurch,
Canterbury,
New Zealand
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I landed in Christchurch on Monday 27th May. I checked into yet another Base hostel. I had a couple of really great girls in my dorm who i ended up spending the next day or so sightseeing and driking with. They were both from Scotland and both mad on Motorbikes. what are the chances!!!! . We went out to a little suburb of Christchurch on Tueseday called Lyttleton for a picnic by the harbour. Then we went on the gondola up to get a great view of Christchurch and the surrounding areas. That night we found a great little indian restaurant for dinner then we went to a pool hall/bar for more drinks. t hat was the theme of the time i spent in Christchuch.
I'm going to be honest, but i really didn't do too much in Christchurch as i only had a day and a bit there before i got on my bus tour of NZ on the Wednesday morning.. That is when the real fun started.
I was booked onto the Stray bus tour of the south and north island for the next 3ish weeks. You can basically hop on and off the bus when you find somewhere you like. They can organise all yoyur activities and hostels for you. everyone on there was around my age so i didn't feel like a total old fart. And, most of the people were travelling alone too. I have to say that the 3 weeks i spent in NZ were the best times of my trip.
View of Christchurch from Gondola
The people that i met on that bus were just amazing. We started off in a place called Kaikoura, about 3 hours north of Christchurch. We were there to go whale watching, fishing and swimming with seals. I opted for the whale watching but the weather and sea conditions were so bad that we didn't get to go. such a shame. I can add it to my list of things to do when i visit NZ next time, We all just chilled out back at the hostel that night and watched a few dvd's.
The following morning we moved on up north. We drove through the Malborough wine region, and stopped off at a winery called Bouldevine for a tasting. My new favourite wine are the NZ Sauvignon Blancs!!!! Soooooo good. We drove past Cloudy Bay and Oyster Bay wineries. Thankfully i can pick up a few bottles back home here, On the bus that morning we all had to take the mic and say who we were and where we were from. I heard that there was a guy on the bus from Cambridge, not a million miles from Knebworth, so i went over and introduced myself. He said, you're not Sarah who my friend Ellie met at Christchuch airport on Monday. I was, because when i was at the airport, i got talking to this girl called Ellie from Luton. It transpired that the guy from Cambridge, Andy, had been in travelling with her for a couple of weeks in Oz beofre coming over to NZ. Such a small world. Anyway, me, Andy and another 5 peeps ended up getting off the bus and spending the night in a little town called Picton. Not alot to do here really. we were getting picked up the next morning to carry on round to Abel Tasman so we couldn't venture too far.
Us spelling Stray on our Abel Tasman Walk
We had a wander round the town, took in the views of the mountains and then that night, i cooked dinner for the boys in my dorm. I was the only girl in a dorm of 5 other boys. So, that night we ate the delicious pasta (how imaginative) and drank yet more wine, I ended up spending the rest of the trip with Andy, Marcus and Nick. Nick and Marcus were from Worcester and taking time out from their degree.
We all hoped back on the bus in the morning, and Nick and Marcus bumped inot a friend of theirs called Laura, another addition to our group. We got to Abel Tasman that night after a gorgeous drive round all the coastal roads at the top end of the south island. So many photos were taken that day. I can't remmeber the names of all the places we stopped though. The place we were staying in Abel Tasman was intersteing to say the least. basically we were in rooms like stand alone sheds. They could fit 2 or 3 people and they had NO HEATING!!!! it dropped to about 2 degrees at night. that first night i had on all my clothes in bed and i was still so cold that i couldn't move!!! we'd had a lovely evening though, nice roast chicken dinner and then we all sat round a fire drinking and getting to know more people. This is where we met the another addition to our crew. Sophie. Yet another brit, from Weybridge this time.
The following day, about 8 of us decided to do the Abel Tasman coastal track walk and then get a boat back to the hostel. The walk took us about 3 hours, 12km. Some amazing scenery, beaches.
The catamaran home from Anchorage to Abel Tas
We got to a bay called Anchorage where our boat was waiting to take us back to Abel Tasman.. The skipper took us out to a seal colony and a rock in the middle of the water called Split Apple Rock. In the summer you can all jump off the boat and swim over to it, but it was far too cold. When the wind picked up it was so bloody cold. Andy, Laura and I sat on the boat with fleece blankets over our laps. We looked like a right bunch of old wimps. It was a great day out, loved the walk.. And considering i am the first to whinge if i have to walk more than about 100m, that is a big compliment!!! That day was Andy's 25th birthdy, so we got him a cake and forced a few drinks down him.Next stop on the tour was to a blink and you miss it little town called Barrytown. We stopped there because our bus took over the hostel and had a fancy dress party. boys dressed as girls and girls as boys. Such a good night. Laura and i managed to drag ourselves out of bed the following morning to go bone carving. We made our own mauri sign necklaces. I didn't know i was so creative!!! It was one way to cure a hangover.
The Franz Josef Glacier was the next stop down the west coast. This was a v tough day but so much fun. Soph, Marcus, Laura and Nick decided to be v adventourous and add an ice climb onto their full day glacier climb. Andy and I took the less scary option of the full day climb. We spent 8 hours hiking up the glacier, getting soaking wet as it decided to rain too! I have to say that i didn't moan for the whole 8 hours.
Sunset at Pancake Rocks
I suprised myself. The glacier was just beautiiful. There were really deep cravasses that we walked through and the ice was blue. So gorgeous. We had the best place for lunch that day. Sat on the ice at the top of the glacier. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches have never been eaten in such a cool location! We got back to the hostel absolutely shattered and soaked through. We chilled out for a bit then decided to head over the road to the outdoor hotpools. It was so relaxing to just float around in bath temperature waters for a bit, and hope that our muscles wouldn't seize up.We stopped at a couple other places on the west coast before we headed inland to a place called Wanaka. It is such a great little town, we spent 4 days here in the end, we didn't want to leave at the end. Andy and I had decided that we were going to do a skydive when we got to Wanaka. When we checked into the hostel, we asked them to book it for the following day. We were then told that the weather was going to change for the worse and if we wanted to do it, we should do it then and there. 40 mins later we were at the aircraft hanger, after having filled out about 5 consent forms and watching the briefing dvd in the van, I was terrified, i think Andy was too, but he was just trying to act all macho!!!! We got all suited up, then at the last minute, Soph decided she was going to do it, rather than just watch. I couldn't believe it. She had done one once before so she knew what she was getting herself into!!! My camerman then came out to interview me and get my last words to my family!!!! By this point i was just so scared i couldn't speak.
Fancy dress at Barrytown
There were just 8 of us in the tiny plane. each of us had our tandem then Andy and I had a cameraman each. It only took about 15 mins to get to 12,000ft. The scenery of the mountains and lakes around Wanaka took my mind off what i was about to do for 5 seconds. Its such a beautiful part of the world. Andy was first to jump. One minute he was sat at the edge of the plane, the next minute, gone!!!!! OMG, i'm next. I shuffled forward just thinking that i am going to die! and if any of you get to see the DVD, my face is just a picture, i look like i am about to pass out. A couple of rocks back and then we're out! It is the coolest feeling freefalling. We fell for 45seconds, going from 12,000 to 5,000ft, when he pulled the parachute. You really don't feel like you are falling, i think its because of the air pressure or something, but it was so exhilarating. I didn't stop screaming for the whole 45 seconds. Once the parachute opened, i relaxed and took in the view as we floated down. We landed and i just jumped around with excitement. I saw Soph and Andy doing the same and we just couldn't get over what we had just done. We all went inside to view our DVD and get a hoodie as a momento of the event. I never thought in a million years i would do anything like that. Thank god nothing went wrong, because my insurance didn't cover me for skydives!!! One other great thing about Wanaka was the amazing little cinema that they had there. It was decked out with lots of comfy sofas and chairs. They still did an interval in the middle of the film, You could head out to the cafe to get a glass of wine and a freshly baked warm cookie.
My bone carving necklace
Sooooooooooo delicious. That is one concept that they need to introduce back in England. Everyone loved it.We are nearly at the end of our time on the south island. Our last stop on the loop was Queenstown. The weather was just awful. Constant rain. I few people in the group decided to go and bungy jump the Nevis bungy. 134m!!!!! no thank you. All we really did in Queenstown was go out drinking (alot), go to some gorgeous hotpools one afternoon to get over our hangover, they were little private rooms, where the roof rolled back and you over looked the mountains and river. I also got to eat the best burger i have ever have in my life. If any of you ever go to Queenstown, you have to go to Fergburger!!! words cannot describe how truly amazing these burgers are.
Soph and Laura left us in Queenstown and headed further south to do Milford Sound and other places down there. It was sad to see them go but i knew we would meet up back in the UK. That left Andy and I, along with a few other bus buddies to make the last journey back to Christchurch. Andy and I were booked on a flight up to Wellington , to catch the next Stray bus straight up to Auckland.
We arrived in Wellington late one night, checked into our hostel, then promptely checked out again at 2am, as some people in our dorm decided to start doing the horizontal tango in one of the bunk beds opposite. I was totally grossed out, so i threw a strop!!. I packed my bags, told Andy to do the same, and then headed out to find a taxi, in my Pjs, to take us to the nearest hotel.
Franz Josef Glacier
All checked in for the second time that evening, we decided to miss our 6am bus the next day, as it had been a rather eventful night. The following morning we managed to arrange a free hire car. What a result that was. The company just needed to relocate the car from Wellington to Auckland in about 4 days, which is how long we intended on being. All we had to do was pay for fuel.We motored on, picked up some snacks and headed north. Our first stop was Taupo. We got there quite late so just decided to cook some dinner, then follow the theme of NZ, go out and have a few drinks. we had a little drive around the town the following morning, went to see the Huka falls which were gorgeous. Next stop was a town called Rotorua, it stinks here, due to the thermal hotpools, there is a constant sulphur smell. We only passed through there for a couple of hours.
After that we couldn't decide where we wanted to go, we kept looking at the map and striking a blank. We finally decided on a little town and the bottom end of the Coromandel Penninsular. It was a lovely little town with a harbour. Our room had no heating and it was about 2 degrees outside. We had every blanket we could find, along with all the clothes in my backpack on. it was still cold.
Our last stop on our whirlwind north island tour was Auckland. We wandered round the city to see what it was like. We went and watched some people skyjump off the auckland tower. After that we wandered down to the port, found a nice bar and settled in for the afternoon.
Me on the glacier
We spotted John Hannah (the actor) at the bar. the only celeb spot of the trip so far. We proceeded to get a little drunk. Got hungry, went for a nice thai meal, then carried on drinking. We rolled in at about 2am, and i had to be up at 10am to catch my bus to the airport. Andy was staying on for another day before heading back to Melbourne. It was so sad to leave Andy and all the stray bus buddies behind. It was truly the best 3 weeks of my trip and i made some of the best friends out of itI was off to sunny Fiji now to top up my tan. I landed in Fiji and the heat hit me. It was so nice to be back in a warm climate. I was booked on a boat out to the Yassawa Islands the next morning. I had 2 nights booked at a resort called Kuata and 2 at one called Korovou. To be honest, they were not what i was expecting. On Kuata i was in a 6 bed dorm on the beach (gorgeous view) but the room was horrendous. We had cold showers and beds with broken springs. I met some more great people and i learnt to weave a bracelet and attended a local cava drinking ceremony. The Fijian people are incredibly friendly and it was nice to just chill out on the beach and catch some sun. Korovou had an interesting set up for the dorm. they managed to squeeze 28 people in one room, and give us outdoor cold showers and toilets. I thought the one saving grace could be the food, but that we pretty ropey.
I am making it out to be really bad, but it was ok. All part of the experience i kept telling myself. I was glad that i saw Fiji but not too sure i am going to rush back, unless it is to a 5* resort.
After 5 days in Fiji i was off to my last country.
Andy and I eating lunch on the glacier
The US of A. I was due to go to LA, San Fran and Chicago. I was staying with my friend Loreta in LA which was great. She had a lovely apartment in West Hollywood. She is an up and coming singer so i got to listen to her new music and go to some of her planning meetings. It was great as she had time in the day to take me out and show me the sights. We went over to Santa Monica to take a walk along the pier and see the beach. In the following days we also went to the The Getty Art Museum and The Griffith Obervatory. The observatory was great as we got to recline in these chairs and watch a show on the beginning of the solar system. It was really like sitting out in the night sky. LA Zoo was another stop on our LA tour. Not the nicest zoo i have ever been too but a good day out. In a very LA way, Loreta bought her toy poodle with her to the zoo and she was pushing it about in a pink stroller. Everyone was expecting to see a baby in there, but got the shock of their like when they saw it was her dog Bonnie.Whilst i was in LA i took a weekend trip up to San Francisco to meet Lea. I have not seen her since I left in January and i was so looking forward to catching up with her and seeing how married life was in California. We spent hte whole 3 days chatting. We were staying at the gorgeous Westin St Francis on Union Sq. God i had missed nice hotels. We took a wander round San Fran, did a spot of shopping, went to pier 39, saw the sealions chilling on the pontoons. We didn't make it over to Alcatraz as both of us had already been before.
Me and Ollie - my tandem instructor
We took a wine tour out to the Napa Valley and Sonoma on our last day. It was good to taste yet more delicious wine and add to my global repetoire!! It was perfect weather that day, so we had lunch sat on the grass in Sonoma town square. The time went too fast as it always does, and it was then time for lea to head back to her life and me to move onto my final desination. Chicago. This i where my brother and his wife Cori now live. They moved here at New Years, so it was lovely to see their new home. Ben met me from the airport and couldn't quite believe the amount of luggage that i had. He had been travelling for a few weeks at the back end of last year, and he thought his wife had alot of stuff with about 17kg, but i had a 23kg backpack and 3 additional hand luggage bags!!!! Oh well, that was my life i was carrying around. Ben has 2 gorgeous Bulldogs, Obi and Winston. Whilst i was there we took them to the dog beach that is just down the road from their apartment. The boys loved it.
Ben turned 30 a couple of days before i left, so whilst Cori had to work that day, Ben and i headed into the city centre so he could show me all the touristy spots. Its a gorgeous and v clean city i think. Much easier to navigate that NY and LA. There is alot more history and culture there. We spent a long time in Millenium park at the auditorium there where a latino band were playing. There is also a lovely sculture of a giant bean in the park. Its huge, and made of stainless steel i think. Everytime you looked at it you got a different reflection of the city and the people around you.
view from the plane
So simple, yet brilliant. We went out for dinner that night to Ben's favourite sushi restaurant. I had cooked chicken!!!!! Cori had the following day off so we went back into the city, walked around Navy pier and had some lunch. We met up with a few of their friends that night in a Mexican restaurant in a v cool area of town. If i was to live in Chicago that is where i'd want to live.You'll all be pleased to know that you don't have to read much more, as i am now at the end of my trip. All that was left to do was hop on two more flights, Chicago via NY to London. Then i was home. I was so excited to be heading home, seeing Mum, Dad, the dogs and all my friends. I couldn't wait to get back to my bed, bath and wardrobe. I did not want to be living out of a bag for any longer. Mum and Dad were there waiting for me at Terminal 5 with a big welcome home sign. So good to see them both. I got home to banners, balloons, flowers and all my favourite food. The cherry on the cake was my favourite meal of Egg and Chips. The diet started the following day. 5 montns of wine and food had not done me too many favours!!!
I am now back to normality and loving being back at home. I have managed to catch up with most of my friends, still a few more to see. I went to see Georgina and Jonathan in Essex and she promplty told me as soon as i got through the door, never to do that again. I've been told. Was so great to see her again. I have met up with Andy and Soph who came over to mine of a BBQ the other week. I am now waiting to find out about a job and then i will be fully back into my old routine. Soph and I are going to start up a tea shop in the v near future so that is a little project for us to work on!!
Sorry that it has been such a long entry, but as you can see i was a little busy with travelling to get round to writing up my travels. I hope you have enjoyed the blog over the past 5 months.
Take care and hope to see you all soon
Sarah xxx
