We had around 4 more days in Sydney, during that time we went to see a rugby match at the ANZ stadium. Now as interested as I am in watching an impressive show of spoting achievement, this is not the main reason rugby entices me. It was a really good match and the Roosters won 36-10, but I couldn't help but notice that both teams (Rabbitohs and Roosters) had fairly crap names. A rugby team called the rabbits?! You may as well call them the fairies. It's not a tickling competition, boys, man up.
We took our last overnight bus of the trip (thank God) down to Melbourne where we stayed with M, the Dad of the family we stayed with in Sydney. He had just moved into a brand new luxury appartment in the center of Melbourne with amazing views of the docklands and a pool and gym. Lovely. Went for a lovely long walk round the docklands where Melbourne fashion week was being held. All the buildings are really modern and all the big appartments have really cool designs so I took about a million pictures. We visited Batman Park for pure comedy value the next day. We didn't meet Mr Wayne himself, but there were plenty of robins!!! Geddit!?!?! Trotted along the Southbank to Eureka tower where we went up to the 88th floor to see the best views of Melbourne. It's such a nice city, so clean and such a nice atmosphere, like London, but nicer. Headed to Federation Square where we went to see an exhibition on how films are made. There was everything from old school lightboxes to the bullet-time cameras used to film The Matrix. We made our own Matrix jump scene. It was horrifying. There was also a section on the history of computer games and an animation section which featured some of the original Toy Story sketches and an original Pong machine. We went outside to watch a fashion show that was just starting. Before we even sat down some people from Loreal came over and asked us to do an interview on camera, us being such stylish individuals. They asked us about perfume and I told them what they were smelling was a limited edition "Traveller" scent. Pungent, stings the nostrils! The next day we took a tram over the iMax to watch Alice in Wonderland in 3D. I've never seen a 3D film before so that was quite cool, but the film was average. 5/10 - Lucy, self appointed film critic. Had a bit of an urge to do some exercise the next day so walked to docklands where there is the Olympic ice rink. A few triple Salchos did the trick. Went out for dinner and drinks with M. Not gonna lie, got a bit drunk but had to act natural. The result was probably like watching Amy Winehouse trying to talk her way out of a parking ticket. Not a good look. A little off topic but M called us blokes for the few days we stayed with him. We weren't sure if he thought we were guys or just didn't understand the word. We chose to believe the latter, and sniggered every time he said "what are you blokes up to today?"!
Had a quick flight to New Zeland but somehow it was 11pm by the time we got there. We had booked our first night in Auckland while at home and at the time had decided to shell out a bit extra for what was showed to us to be a little lap of luxury with little extras like towels, shampoo, moisturiser, straighteners etc. Turns out they had taken exageration to a whole new level, because it was nothing like the picture they showed us. The room was really crowded and the showers were some of the worst I've seen on the whole trip. We decided to visit the museum the next day but where we arrived, after a very long walk, we discovered it was a compulsary $10 donation to get in which made no sense at all, so we left. Had a really long walk round the whole of Auckland and went back to the same hostel and checked into a normal dorm room which turned out to be nicer than our "luxury" room.
We were up at 7am for the start of our trip on the Kiwi Experience bus. Had a packed out bus mainly of English or English speaking people- hurrah! First stop on a the trip was up a volcano which had amazing 360 degree views of Auckland. Cruised up the coast to Cathedral Cove where we did a 40 min hill walk and chilled at the cove for a bit before continuing to Mercury Bay. The Kiwi Experience bus is not just a tour bus, the drivers are like tour guides. If they see something they think might be interesting, they tell you all about it, and if you drive through a town they tell you all about the history of it. The next day we had another early start and went for a walk round some old gold mines includng through some pitch black caves. Stopped in Matamata (also called Hobbiton) and got a picture with a statue of Gollum. it was the town where some of Lord of the Rings was filmed so the surrounding scenery was all a bit 'middle earth', except the Subway where we got lunch. We carried on to Rotarua and some people jumped off at the geothermal park, we continued on down the road to a mountain which had tracks on it for luges. Got a gondola to the top then threw ourselves down it on various tracks at breakneck speeds! It was brilliant! Back to the hostel for a quick turnaround before heading out to a Maori tribe's village. The evening started with a traditional tribal welcome challenge. Our coach's "chief", along with 3 others, were challenged by the Maori warriors who came out of nowhere screaming, sticking out their eyes and tongues and brandishing weapons. Don't know about you but that's not how I greet guests. It was a bit scary. We looked round their village and they showed us various games they play and where they live. They then put on a show of traditional Maori songs and dance and poi. It was brilliant and the haka is quite scary up close! We then had a massive dinner cooked in a hungi (sp?) which is an underground pit heated with volcanic rocks which get up to 900 degrees and don't break. Cultural! There was lamb and chicken and fish - oh my! One of the waiters came over to explain the deserts to our table. He said one of them was similar to spotted dick, but without the raisins. I said "it's just dick then?". He left. On the way home our driver made us entertain him by representing our countries and singing when he shouted them out. The majority of the bus was English and we cracked out a stunning rendition of don't look back in anger by Oasis, most other countries sang their national anthem. When it was the Ozzie's turn, the driver beeped the horn and turned off all the lights til she stopped. The Kiwis really don't like the Ozzies! Packed day!
On the way to Waitomo the next day we stopped so a few people could do zorbing which looked quite fun. We had a black water rafting trip booked so had another quick turnaround at the hostel and went staight to the caves where it was held. Got into our (hideously unflattering) wetsuits and picked a rubber tube. We then spent 3 hours going through underwater rapids in the caves in our tube. We had to do a few jumps of some waterfalls which was a bit scary! Halfway through we turned off all the lights on our helmets (yeah, fit) and looked up and there were millions of glow worms on the roof of the cave. It was such a fun trip especially at the end where we had to find our way out through the rapids in the dark. As sad as we were to part with our lovely wetsuits, we were glad we had them because the water was absolutely freezing!
Started the day with yet another walk through some caves and forest then headed to possibly one of the most random trips ever - Angora rabbit shearing! Two crazy ladies tied up a rabbit and sheared it. Fairly bizare. Then went for another walk around the Huka Falls which was really nice and the waterfall was a really wierd bright blue colour which was cool. For some reason I had signed myself up to be chucked out of a plane so went tot he skydive center to discuss times. Booked in for 12 the next day. Was shitting my pants.
Got to the skydive center and was showed a DVD and decided it would be a good idea to sign up for the biggest jump along with DVD and photos package, all for a bargain $500. Got kitted out in some fairly unflattering red jumpsuit and harnesses and had them tightened up good and proper! We then met the blokes who we would be potentially dying with that day. My guy was called Amos and he was built like a tank. I found this reassuring then realised no matter how big he was, we would still be flat as a pancake if the parachute didn't open! There was 25 minute flight up to 15000ft which was nice and Amos and I had a nice little natter. We then got all attached together and it was really really tight, like a tiger. Then in no time it was our turn. I was last so had the pleasure of seeing everyone else plummet towards the ground. I sat on the edge of the plane which was quite surreal and had to put my head back. I waited for a countdown, but no we were off! The only part that was scary was the first split second when you realise you've just jumped out of a plane. After that it was absolutely amazing. We had a minute of freefall at around 200km/h where we fell 10000ft. It felt like flying and was over way too quick, I even forgot about the parachute because I was having so much fun! After the parachute opened it was so peaceful and the views were spectacular. New Zealand is beautiful and we could see the whole north island and we were directly over Lake Taupo and Mount Doom (from Lord of the Rings) was not far away. I had a go at steering which was fun. It was all over way too quick and I would love to do it again! Went to a natural spa in the evening to celebrate.
hey Superman, ther's someone on your back!Left Taupo and went for a 2hr walk round the national park. The park is on a faultline so ther were loads of volcanos and mountains, including Mount Doom. We walked to a walked behind a waterfall and saw even more of the stunning scenery. Continued to River Valley which is in the middle of absolutely nowhere but we stopped there for some people to do white water rafting. Left the next day for Wellington where we were staying with friends of A's, so had to say goodbye to our friends on the bus. Spent a day in Wellington where we saw the parliament building and spent most of the day in Te Papa museum where there were loads of exhibitions including an earthquake simulator and a Maori history exhibition. Was a really good day, epecially as the museum was free!
We have heard from many people that the scenery in the south island is even more spectacualr than it is here which I am finding very hard to believe. I'll have to let you know....
As they say here in New Zealand, "sweet as, bro!". Over and out.
Luce x
"I even forgot about the parachute because I was having so much fun!"
ReplyDeleteGlad someone remembered!