Fiona's fun and frolics

On Saturday we headed off to lake Matheson, a spectacular mirror lake with views of Mount Cook (New Zealand's highest mountain) and Mount Tazman. We stayed there for an hour as it took about 15 mins to get down to the lake and there were the obligatory photos to be taken. Some of the group were away skydiving over the nearby Fox glacier, voted the second most spectacular place to skydive in the world, after Mount Everest. They raved about it! When we regrouped we headed off for a long day of driving to reach Wanaka, a gorgeous little town near Queenstown in the middle of the South. There was some amazing scenery along the way of beaches, cliffs, rivers and mountains and the weather was still nice so it was good to sit up the front a look out as we drove. We reached Wanaka at 3:30 and Jenny went off to do a skydive. Cam was going out on a boat on lake Wanaka with a few friends and asked me to join them so I could try some wakeboarding. I happily agreed and we went down to the lake at 4pm. It was a total Kiwi experience - the guys had a ring of beer cooling in the lake and a portable barbie on the back of the boat. Sweet! The lake was absolutely gorgeous, really still and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. After a while, Cam got out the wakeboard and gave a very impressive display with jumps and all. After that it was my turn! It was getting pretty chilly at the stage as the sun was going down and even though I had one of the wetsuits on, I could feel the icy water. Cam stayed in to give me a quick lesson and I took the plunge, literally. I made about 5 attempts to stand up and actually managed once and then promptly somersaulted. It was pretty tough and though I was managing to get the board and my feet in the right position, my weight was too far forward. I made a valiant attempt though and I'm sure the next time I'll get it! It was absolutely freezing once i was out of the water and my teeth were actually chattering. i was so happy to get back to the hostel and have a long hot shower. The hostel did a pretty tasty BBQ that evening and we had a few drinks in the fancy bar underneath the hostel.

Sunday was Marc's birthday. It was also bungy day. In a fit of bravado I had signed up to jump from the Kawaru Bridge, the site of the original bungy jump by Kiwi A J Hackett. I was already regretting this decision. First stop though was Puzzle World - a strange place with illusion rooms and all sorts of strange things. It was actually quite a fun hour - we saw how the Lord of the Rings films managed to make such great height differences between the characters and did the same ourselves. For the first time in my life I was tall! For 20 seconds. After spending an hour in Puzzle World we got back on the bus and drove to Kawaru Bridge, the site of the original bungy and the place I had elected to do mine.

We were ushered in to watch a video on the secrets of bungy which i paid no attention to and then it was time to take the plunge. I made the mistake of going out onto the viewing platform before going to pay and almost didn't go through with it. There was only me, Jenny and Dan and 2 Danish girls jumping from our bus and all the rest took up positions on the viewing platform. I went back inside and handed over my credit card before I could change my mind. I was really nervous but didn't really comprehend what was happening. We went up to the jumping area on the bridge and Jenny wanted to go first so me and Dan got into our harnesses and stood there watching. She was really nervous and panicked when she got to the edge which in turn made me panic. She did it though and even managed a jump. The 2 Danish girls were doing a tandem and were up next. I sat on the step watching them and shaking like a leaf, literally. Dan was really reassuring and helpful, trying to calm me down. The 2 bungy guys tied the rope around my ankles with a towel (which felt ridiculously unsecure) an made me stand up and shuffle to the edge of the bridge. It took an age for me to reach the edge and my whole body was shaking. I was really close to chickening out but the bungy guy was really good and reassuring. He got me to hold my hands out in front of me and look at the horizon. I attempted a wave to the bus crowd on the opposite platform and fell forward on the guy's count. It was over in seconds but they were the most terrifying seconds of my life! Once the rope had stopped constricting, the guys in the boat in the water below held out a long pole for me to grab and I was lowered into the boat. My whole body was still shaking and I was full of adrenaline but I didn't have the high I got when I did the skyive - I was just glad I was still alive! Once I was unstrapped, I climbed out of the boat onto the steps (with difficulty because of my shaking legs) and went up to see Dan jump and to receive congratulations from the bus. Dan jumped in a perfect swan dive with no hesitation. Typical. We collected our tshirts, DVDs and photos and got back on the bus to Queenstown. Half an hour later we arrived and drove down to the lake for our group photo, as this was the end of the road for this particular bus. The sun had come out and the location was gorgeous. We all piled on top of one another and I was totally squished near the bottom. I really thought I was going to survive an bungy and then die the same day in a freak photography accident. Luckily I didn't. We drove back to the main street and checked into our hostel which was really nice. We got a bungy room with me, Dan and Jen and also Mike, Rob, Tom and Sean. I was totally drained from my ordeal so went for a nap while some of the group did the canyon swing (don't ask!) That night was a big one as it was a gooddbye for the group so we made ourselves pretty and went down to the bar. There was a random quiz on which we happened to win (?!) and got ourselves a bar tab for the trouble. Excellent! Next we had a jaeger train along the bar and then it was all drinking an dancing in Altitue and World Bar before a late night Fergburger (Conor knows what I'm talking about) to round off the night.

It was a ridiculous 7:30am departure on Tursday morning and I was last on the bus. I was feeling a bit worse for wear and Cam had a great time making fun of me on the mic. We drove for an hour to the Bushman`s Centre possum museum, a very strange place! Lots of people went on a tour of the museum but I stayed on the bus and slept until we reached Franz Joseph, another 2 hours down the road. I felt a lot better when we got there so had some lunch and got ready to go kayaking on the glacier lake. We were collected from the hostel at 2pm by a lovely Canadian guy who was a complete hippie and very chilled. We got down to the lake and were kitted out with life jackets and kayaks. The weather wasn`t great - quite cloudy and grey - so we couldn`t see the surrounding mountains which was a pity. It`s a blackwater lake because it`s made up of rainwater that runs through the floor of the surrounding rainforest and collects minerals that turn it black. On still, clear days it`s like a mirror and we did get some rain free hours. We headed off across the lake and it was hard enough going, not helped by the hang over! When we reached the other side of the lake, we followed a river into the rainforest. We kayaked through trees (Lorraine got tangled in the roots of one!) and it was really cool. When we turned back, we went one by one through the river back onto the lake and it was so quiet and peaceful out there on your own. The kayak back across the lake seemed to take forever (it`s a fair enough distance) and I was very glad to reach the other side 4 hours after we`d headed off. We got back to the hostel and showered and then I went down to the barfor dinner. Cam, Kyle, Logan and Anders were there too and, although I wasn`t planning to, I took the plunge and had a beer. Jenny came in later and the 6 of us had a laugh and took part in a `horsing around` competition involving piggy backs and all kinds of shenanigance. It was quite a tame night though because we had our glacier hike the next day.

We were due at the glacier office at 9:30am on Friday. We were worried about the weather because the weather on the previous two days had been too bad for the hikes to go ahead. At the very least we expected rain (the glacier being located in a rain forest) but the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day! We had blue skies and sun - great conditions for some nice photos! At the office we were kitted out in boots and waterproof gear. I had just taken my pyjamas to wear underneath the waterproof trousers (as suggested at our briefing the day before) but it was too hot for overtrousers so I was almost stuck climbing a glacier in silk pyjamas... I opted for just the overtrousers as attractive as they were! We piled into a bus and were brought to the carpark beside the glaciated valley. It took 20 minutes to reach the valley itself which was spectacular. We got our first glimpse of the glacier and saw the rainforest all around. At this stage we were divided into ability groups ranging from 1 to 6. Jenny`s heels were badly blistered from the Tongareiro crossing she`s done the week before so she was walking reallt slowly. We were told that all groups would do and see all the same things but would just go at a different pace. As I was assured I wouldn`t miss anything by staying with jenny, we went into Group 6. We started walking down the vallet towards the glacier which looked really close - like it would only take 10 minutes to get to - but it actually took about 1hr and 30mins walking over boulders and glacier streams. We had a group of 9 girls, 6 of us from the Kiwi Experience and 3 Germans. Our guide was an English guy called John and he wasn`t much craic it must be said. At the foot of the glacier we put our crampons on our boots and made our way to the first climb. The previous guide had cut some steps into the glacier and there was a rope to help us climb the first steep bit. The glacier was really cool and quite surreal. I had imagined it to be like a giant ice cube but it was, of course, completely different. All the surface is broken up because of the weather and there are lots of cracks which can appear overnight. We passed over some cracks that were 50 metres plus deep and had to climb through some wider cracks. If you fall down a crack there`s not a lot they can do to get you out so there was an element of danger which I enjoyed. John did not. We were on the ice for hours (as we`d opted for the full day glacier hike) but it felt like no time at all. Before we knew it it was 1pm and time for lunch. We had our packed lunches sitting on a glacier and had a bizzare toilet experience afterwards. Definitely the strangest place I`ve ever peed! After lunch we climbed up a bit more and went into an ice cave. You had to climb down into the cave using a rope and squeez through the passages and it was really fun. The ice in there was all blue and pure. We stared heading down off the glacier at 4pm and went a different rount down. Once down we removed our crampons and set off on the 90 minute walk back through the valley. We were driven back to the office (after one of the Maori guides performed an impromptu haka for us), deposited our gear and went back to the hostel to shower and eat. We had a few drinks in the bar that night and mostly talked about how lucky we`d been with the weather. It was a brilliant day.

It was an early start on the Monday morning to catch the Kiwi bus at 7. Shellie, my new friend, had saved a seat for me at the front of the bus for the journey to the ferry. Before we could head off we had to wait on a girl who had to be woken up by our driver and guide, Cam, and who turned up in last night’s clothes and make-up to a round of applause! That girl was Jen who I would end up traveling with for the next 2 weeks. Once on board the ferry, Jen, Shellie and I made our way to the cinema to watch Marley and Me which was unexpectedly sad and good. When buying our tickets we were asked if we were all over 14…?! We arrived in Picton, the ferry port on the South Island at about 11:30 and got straight on the bus to Nelson, with a pit stop along the way for lunch. We got to Nelson at 3pm and the sun came out briefly (it had been raining up to then) so I went on the walk up through the park where rugby was first played in New Zealand and up the hill to the center of New Zealand. There were lovely views from there over the town and it was nice to see some sun. I went back to the room to shower etc and Jen and I cooked for us and Shellie who had been off not skydiving. We had a few drinks in the hostel bar and played cards with 4 English (Lee, Ruth, Jess and Katie) and an Irish girl, Lorraine. When the bar closed, me, Jen, Ruth and Jess went into town to the one bar open which was actually a pool hall. We had an interesting evening there playing pool and chatting to the locals before it closed and we were kicked out of there too. We went off in search of MacDonald’s and then were completely lost and had to enlist the services of a local guy to guide us home!

It was raining again on Tuesday and the terrible weather meant that all activities in the nearby Abel Tasmin national park were canceled. There was no point in hanging around Nelson as there’s not much to do there when the weather is bad so we hopped back on the bus at 8:30. Our first destination that day was the Nelson Lakes National Park where the bus normally stays for a few hours while everybody goes for a walk or a swim or a picnic but again the terrible weather put paid to that. We did drive to Lake Rotoiti, a notoriously beautiful lake which we couldn’t appreciate because of the mist and rain, although some people went for a swim despite the rain. We headed on to Murchison, a small town, for lunch and continued on our way to Westport, our destination for the night. We arrived at about 3:30 to another dead town. We hung out for an hour or two and then went into town for pizza and beers with some people from the bus. We spent the evening in the pub chatting and playing drinking games. Already our little group was forming of me, Jen, Shellie, Cam (our driver) Kyle and Logan (brothers from Montana) and Mike, a Canadian. When the bar closed we ran home in the pouring rain.

The weather the next day was – you guessed it – rain! We were on the bus early again to drive to Cape Foulwind which was living up to its name. There is a nice 40 minute walk around the coast to the beach and a seal colony and the weather cleared up slightly for this, thankfully. The scenery was really like the west coast of Ireland actually, ruggedly beautiful. When we got to the beach, Cam was there to collect on Jen and my promise the night before that we would get into the sea… The rain had started up and again and it was freezing but a promise is a promise so me, Jen, Cam, Kyle, Logan, Mike and one of the crazy Danish girls (in a gold bikini) went down to the beach and ran into the sea. The water was as cold as it is on the west of Ireland too so it was a dunk and run job, no hanging around. We got back on the bus and drove (damply) to Punakiki where we had lunch and went to see the famous pancakes and blowholes formed by the sea. The sun came out again and it was really impressive, especially as the sea was choppy and made good use of the blowholes. From there we made our way to Greymouth to buy our costumes for the Geeks and Nerds fancy dress party that night at Lake Mahinapua. I found a lab coat in the salvation army and went about accessorising it to create my ‘mad scientist’ costume. We drove to the `pooh pub` and had a fantastic indoor BBQ before a pretty crazy night of partying. It was really fun seeing everybody dressed up and we were the only guests at the hostel so had the run of the place. After the bar closed we made our way down to the lake guided by the glow-worms and some loonies actually got in! Me and Jen sensibly retired after that.

I had my first uninterrupted lie-in in ages on Thursday and then spent a leisurely morning having breakfast and faffing about. Did my jobs in the afternoon like a supermarket shop and research into the various methods of getting around the South Island. Tour buses predominate there and there are a few companies to choose between. I was swaying between the Kiwi Experience, which has a party reputation and is reputedly full of gap year students, and Stray which is slightly less party and more Scandinavian. I took away the brochures to mull it over and wandered into the Te Papa museum. It’s the national museum and is packed to the brim with really interesting stuff. I spent a few hours wandering around there as it was late opening night. My favourite thing was definitely the giant squid – 18 foot long! I cooked a lovely meal that evening and watched movies in the DVD room before hitting the hay.

The next day I spoke to the girl on the travel desk in the hostel about booking onto a bus and she convinced me to go on Kiwi with her on Monday. I was glad to know somebody on the bus so acquiesced quite happily. As it was only Friday I had a few days to wander around Wellington and soak up the atmosphere. It really is a lovely place, and the harbour area is really fun to hang out it as it has loads of bars and restaurants. I spent the next three days shopping, wandering and socialising with the 4 18-year old gap year students who moved into my dorm. I had a couple of good nights out in Wellington, watched a few movies and generally chilled out in anticipation of the craziness that would be the Kiwi bus….

I felt predictably rough the next morning and work up at about 11. The weather was awful which kind of suited as we didn’t feel we were missing anything. We spent the morning watching Home and Away in the other room until Conor decided that he needed to eat something. We went to get him his first chipper of the day – I joined him for his second at dinner time. We spent the rest of the day hanging out in the TV room and soaking in the hot tub. We also took a nice drive up the coast (as we couldn’t rent kayaks) to the treaty grounds at Waitangi and on to a waterfall and a nice lookout spot over the bay.

We were up early the next day to check out because we were heading back down to Auckland. We really wanted to try and get out on the water as we hadn’t managed it yet so went to a few different places to try to rent kayaks. The weather was still pretty crap but we hadn’t managed to get out ont he water at all in the bay or at Lake Taupo. The closest kayak man was heading out surfing “good swell and no wind, gotta take advantage” so wouldn’t rent us one... The other place around the bay was going on a day tour so couldn’t give us one either. We even went so far as to go round the hostels and ask them but they said no because of the weather. Thwarted at every turn, we had no choice but to just head to Auckland. We had Jorrick, the Dutch guy, with us as we had offered him a lift the other night. It took 4 hours to get there and we reached Auckland at 3pm. We had a subway in the petrol station and went in search of our hostel, in the centre of town. There was clearly no free parking so we had to leave it in the plaza carpark nearby. Fancy! The weather was still crap so there was no point in going up the sky tower like we’d planned (aw) but the lovely Irish girl on reception gave us a few tips about the local bars. We went to a Belgian beer cafe for a few hours and I discovered a newfound love of Leffe. We left at dinner time and had a Chinese on our way back to the hostel in a strange, cafeteria-like place. Up in our room, we had a beer and chatted to our 2 Brazilian room-mates before heading out to Globe, the base bar around the corner. The boys had a Burger King to round off the night.

We had to get up early again to drive Conor to the airport (sniff). It took a bit longer than we expected so we arrived only half an hour before his flight – whoops! He got on it though so it was all good and me and Jorrit continued on our way down to Rotorua where we would stay and I would collect the memory card I’d lost there before. It was a nice drive and the sun made an appearance for the first time in days so we were in high spirits for the 4 hour drive. We got to Rotorua at lunch time and had sandwiches in the sun before he went to his hostel and I continued on my way. It was a lot less fun driving on my own but I pushed through and arrived in Napier at 6pm. I was pretty wrecked from a long day’s driving so had a snack, went on the internet and had an early night. More driving tomorrow!

Had a rude awakening from the couple(!) in the bunk underneath me so got up and cleaned out the car before having breakfast and checking out. I spent the morning wandering around the town. It was levelled in an earthquake in the 1970s and rebuilt in art deco style so lots of the buildings are pretty cool. At about 12 I headed out on the last leg of my journey with Dwight (the car). I stopped in Palmerston North for lunch on the way back to Paraparmu which I reached at 4:30. I was nervous about dropping the car back in case the lady found something wrong with it but luckily she wasn’t there, and the man who was didn’t even look at it. He dropped me to the train station and I got on a train to Wellington 5 minutes later – sweet! It was weird having to carry all my bags again and the walk from the train station to base hostel almost killed me. It took 40 minutes with all my bags and I was very happy to get there. I had a whole room to myself which was weird. I had some food and went down to the bar for a drink and to meet some people since I had lost my wee bro and travelling companion.