New Zealand ROCKS!!
Trip Start
Aug 24, 2007
1
20
24
Trip End
Apr 08, 2008
Nelson,
New Zealand
Friday, February 1, 2008
Well, I can't actually believe how long it is since I updated my blog so I'm gonna keep this one short and let you know where we went and what we did..........VERY briefly!!
Fraser Island was most certainly a highlight of Australia, definitely my favourite thing there! We had a great group, perfect weather and the whole experience was just brilliant! Even the dingoes..........!! Afterwards we randomly bumped into Mike and Chris from home which was really cool and a good chance to catch up on all the travelling stories.
After Fraser we headed to Brisbane where we got to see both Jeihan and Jordan from our China tour which was really great!! :) Brisbane was pretty cool too, lots of fun, especially Steve Irwin's "Australia Zoo" where we got to feed kangaroos and stroke koalas (check out the pictures on facebook!)
So after Brizzy I headed down to Surfers Paradise and Carlien and Tony went on to Byron Bay. I loved Surfers, it really reminded me of Florida and it was great to finally check out the gold coast! AMAZING beaches, and huge waves!! I felt like this was the Australia I'd always dreamed of. Think I did a bit too much shopping though, oopsy!!
I continued on a few days later to Byron Bay where I met the others, and had a nice relaxing week just chilling on the beach! I also got to meet up with some friends I'd met in Thailand, Naomi and Barry, for a few nights out at the legendary Cheeky Monkey's club which was extra nice :) On our last day here we went for a dive and saw a massive leopard shark as well as a turtle and LOADS of stingrays - brilliant!!
From Byron we headed down the coast to Surfcamp where we all had a surfing lesson. I predictably was absolutely rubbuish, but it was heaps of fun and now I really want to learn to surf for real! Afterwards there was a huge beach party which was very cool too! We got up early the next day, jumped back on the bus and headed to Sydney.........
I really liked Sydney even though the weather wasn't brilliant. We got to see all the sights like the Opera House and Bondi Beach, and we had a few good nights out too! The highlight for me was getting up at the crack of dawn to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb - wow! The views were fantastic! So I have to say a very big thank you to my wonderful sisters Laura and Lisa for that treat :) You guys are the best!
The other extra brilliant thing about Sydney was that it was where our friend Amy was flying in to meet us! YAY!! It's so good to see her, and she's still with us now in NZ.
After Sydney we jumped back on the Oz Experience bus and headed to Melbourne via Canberra, the Snowy Mountains in Jindabyne and Lake's Entrance. It took a full three days to get here but the guys on our bus were great and the whole ride was pretty enjoyable!!
We finally arrived in Melbourne and partied away to celebrate Australia Day before seeing some more sights the next day with some friends we'd met in Russia, Adrian and Lyndee. It was great to see them as they were some of the first people we met when we left home :)
Finally myself and Carlien said a sad goodbye to Australia and boarded our flight to Christchurch, NZ. The journey itself was ok, but when we arrived in NZ, we had to sleep at the airport for reasons beyond our control!! The funniset thing was, Mike and Chris were actually doing the same thing just by coincidence - small world!! I think they think Im stalking them now..........!!
The next day we checked in to our hostel and went to explore the city, and met up with Amy and Tony again, who were both on different flights. After a few days chilling out, we got on the Kiwi Experience bus for the first time and headed to Kaikoura.
Well.......this place is AMAZING! The afternoon we arrived we went whale-watching, which is something I have always always wanted to do. We saw two huge sperm whales which was just out of this world! Then the next day I got up at 4.30am and went out on another boat trip to swim with dolphins in the wild. I have never in my life experienced anything like it, there were approx. 300 dolphins in the area and they swam all around us, really really close (again, check out facebook for the photos!). It was a dream come true for me, completely brilliant! I felt really really happy, I just wish Lisa and Laura could have been there to do it with me, because I know they would have loved it too.
Anyway, from there we headed to Nelson, which is where I am now. It's nice here, really laid-back and the scenery is just beautiful. So far I am absolutley loving New Zealand, I can see why people rave about it! And this is just the beginning! I'm so looking forward to all our future adventures!!
So now I better depart! Sorry this update is a bit rubbish. Hope everyone at home is good, I miss and love you all loads. Cant wait to see you.
Love, hugs and kisses, from Steph xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
