In the last chapter of the adventures of Lucy, we left our devastatingly good looking main character and her hunchbacked sidekick, A, in Wellington in New Zealand. Having dominated the North Island, we jumped on a boat and sailed the seven seas down to the South Island which we were told was the better looking of the two islands, the Megan Fox of islands if you will. We joined our new bus group headed by driver Spud and our first stops were Nelson and Westport where we had a massive BBQ and bonfire on the beach complete with toasted marshmallows all supplied by Spud who had established himself as a bit of a legend of the Kiwi circuit. The next day we were to stay at one of the most random stops of the NZ tour, the Poo Pub. Owned by a moody 80 year old bloke with a beard down to his shoulders and a deep hatred for the young travellers he entertains every night of the week. Said miserable elder was to be the host of our 'cartoon, hero and villain' themed party that night. Joy unbounded. It actually turned out to be quite a fun evening with a variety of weird and wonderful costumes. A and I went as robbers. Stripy t-shirt, bit of face paint - done. Behold...
Everyone was a bit worse for wear the next day. Spud decided the best thing for this was to take us to a weird museum about different deer catching methods. It was essentially a museum of men showing just how manly they could be, with the most hardcore deer catchers jumping out of moving helicopters onto the poor deer's back. Is it just me or does this particular method seem a little OTT?
The next stop was Franz Josef where we had booked an 8 hour trek up a glacier! Got kitted up into some super stylish and oversized cold weather gear. As I had a bit of a cold and was feeling rough as a badger's arse, A, J, A and I opted for the last group, later named "Team Extreme".....uuuuh, yeah. Had a great day! We had so squeeze through some tiny tunnels and caves and climb up stairs carved into the ice. The views were amazing even though it was overcast and our team leader, Zak, was a really nice guy, and very informative, despite being ginger.
On the way to Queenstown there were loads of scenic stops such as Lake Matherson which showed a perfect reflection of the mountains and Fox Glacier behind it until some dickhead threw a rock in it. There's always one. In Wanaka A took everyone's advice and signed up for a skydive. Hurrah! She loved it and even managed to not dribble on her guy, which I'm pretty jealous of, I slobbered like Beethoven (the dog, not the acclaimed German composer). We had a great night out in Queenstown with the whole bus group, and experienced the famous Ferg Burger which was probably the best burger I've ever had! As we were quite pushed for time, we had a bit of a whirlwind trip back up to Christchurch. Along the way we stopped at Lakes Pukaki and Tikapo and saw Mount Cook in the background which was some of the most stunning scenery of the whole trip:
Whizzed round Christchurch in a day, nothing spectacular. OK, I'm not proud of it, but we did end up sleeping in the airport that night. Our flight was at silly o'clock in the morning, so we just decided to get there 7 hours early rather than shell out for another night in the hostel. Saved $28. Result. Also learned that I'm not cut out to be a tramp, far too uncomfortable. We had around 12 hours in Auckland then left for Fiji!
We stayed in Nadi in Fiji for 5 days in a 34 bed dorm with air con so cold it could freeze the nipples off a polar bear. 5 days in the baking sun was enough to give me a tan most people at home would be jealous of, which was the objective of the stop in Fiji, which STA threw in for free. I looked slightly Ethiopian. We saw some fire dancing and poi stuff in the evenings and I developed a tanning scale which ranged from 'Beyonce before she gets airbrushed' to 'full blown African'. Onwards, to San Diego....
Having defied all laws of time, we actually arrived in LA before we set off from Fiji. Yes, I am a time lord. Dr Lou. Got down to San Diego and went out to meet some of A's cousin E's friends. We were introduced to some new drinking games like beer pong and flip cup. Fun times! The next day we went to Seaworld to meet Shamu and friends. The Shamu show was good but since one of the whales in Florida munched on a girl who stuck her ponytail too near the water, the trainers didn't get in the water with the whales which was a bit of a shame. We saw the pet show where dogs/cats/pigs/birds etc. were so well trained they could do things I can't even do! The sealion show was brilliant. They did a series of sketches based on TV shows like dancing with the stars and CSI which was really clever. Went on the rollercoaster. Twice. Oh yeah! Had a Mexican for dinner. Amazing. The food over there is ridiculously huge, thus the huge people.
Left San Diego for a hostel in West Hollywood and promptly went out, it being a bit of a shithole. Found a nice shopping place called The Grove where we had a little nosey round Abercrombie and Barnes and Noble and had a little go on the new Apple iPad which is unbelievably cool, but essentially just an expensive toy. WANT ONE!! Universal studios the next day was amazing! We did the studio tour, got splashed by Jaws, felt an earthquake and went down Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives!! We met all the characters, Simpsons, Shrek etc. and went on all the rides, it was such a fun way to end the trip. On our last day we got on the bus to go to Hollywood Boulevard and on the way Darth Vader decided to get on the bus too:
Bit weird, but I suppose what with the Death Star being all blown up and all, he's got to get around some how! We saw the walk of fame and Graumann's Chinese Theatre. All very touristy and chocka full of Chinese who were apparently trying to get a picture with every single star and handprint available!
Phew! That concludes this particular trip. We flew home the next day, back to sunny London and in my case a surprise party at Chez Christopher, complete with family and friends and 'welcome home Lucy' cupcakes made by the increasingly French S. What a great way to be welcomed back!
Expect my next post to be very boring in comparison to the last 4!
Lucy - Intrepid Explorer x
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