New Zealand best bits...

Highlights from NZ

We have had such an amazing time in New Zealand over the last 2 months so I wanted to summarise the main highlights.  The experience we have had has been more unique because of the rugby world cup being on and we are so glad we made the decision to be here during the World Cup and the atmosphere that has generated around the country.  They are totally rugby mad and there have been so many other countries represented that every town/city has been brilliant craic.

We have loved basically every bit of this breathtaking country but these are my favourite bits:

• ·         Queenstown – we loved everything about it, skiing, scenery, food and drink. This was definitely our favourite place in the whole country.  It was also where we watched Ireland beat Australia.
• ·         Full day hike in Franz Joseph glacier
• ·         The beautiful mountainous scenery of the South Island
• ·         Blenheim, Marlborough wine tasting and watching the opening ceremony of the RWC11.
• ·         Lugeing in Rotorua
• ·         Visiting the natural thermal spas/springs in Rotorua/Taupo
• ·         Watching Ireland v Russia in Rotorua.
• ·         Black water rafting in Waitomo glow-worm caves
• ·         Tamaeki Mauri cultural evening
• ·         Watching 2 quarter finals in Wellington.
• ·         Sampling the food in the Cloud at the fanzone.
• ·         Doing the Kiwi bus and all the little hidden treasures they take you to off the beaten track.  Also meeting some cool new friends on these trips.
• ·         Watching the semi finals and final in the fanzone in Auckland – fantastic atmosphere with people from lots of different countries.
• ·         Sand-boarding on 90mile beach!
• ·         The All Blacks winning the RWC 2011 and being part of the atmosphere over that whole finals weekend – breathtaking!!

These are only the big main things but there are so many little things that happened and that we saw in NZ its impossible to mention everything.  No doubt when I am home and chatting to you all about our trip the little things will be remembered.  Kiwi really enables you to see wee small places in NZ that we wouldn’t have known existed, but which were really cool and unique.  One of these I loved was the Punakaki blow holes, the rocks have been shaped like stacks of pancakes and the water blows up through the middle caused by the force of the waves and spurts out the top – its really different and off the beaten track so not many tourists find it.

New Zealand is supposed to be adventure capital of the world and we have tried to make the most of this with the things we have taken part in and attempted.  James was crazy enough to jump from 134metres strapped to a large piece of elastic all in the name of fun!! In retrospect this was a big highlight watching him do this but at the time it was not so great!!

New Zealand has been genuinely amazing and will be hard to beat.  We are sad that it has come to an end but are really excited for the next and final part of our trip of a lifetime.   We have created memories that will last forever and lots of stories to tell when we get home and I certainly have enough photos (1300 last count!!!!) to help us relive the good times during the rainy winters at home! This will definitely be a part of our trip we will look back on fondly saying ‘do you remember that time in NZ when...’

Next we have 7 weeks in Australia where we will visit Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns before driving down the east coast in our campervan.  I am really excited for this part and for parking up and chilling out beside the beach working on the tan!  I will keep on blogging and those who haven’t been bored to tears by now can keep on reading.

Keep in touch people it has been great the past few months getting some nice emails from home and keeping me up to date with all the craic and banter. 

12 weeks of the JamNic adventure down.....7 to go!!

Love to you all

xxxx

All Blacks - RWC Champions 2011

WOAH!!

What an amazing weekend and fantastic experience.
I was supposed to be blogging about 2 weekends in Auckland but it has to be a bit out of order as the Final is so fresh in my head and was just way too amazing to save until the end of the blog!!

The whole weekend of the Final was fantastic, the city was totally buzzing, the All Blacks fans are so patriotic and passionate although extremely arrogant too haha!! On the night of the match we headed down to the fanzone in the early evening knowing it was going to be packed. The main fanzone was already full by 5.30 (the match was at 9) so we got into the overflow wharf which was just the same with big screens, beer tents and food stalls.  By the time the game kicked off the buzz and craic was just amazing, it was absolutely packed with barely a spare space on the floor.

Although the match wasnt the best rugby (I am now an expert critic!) because of where we were and the significance of it to all the people we were with we had one of the best nights in NZ.  Every favourable decision to the ABs by the ref was greeted with a massive cheer and flags waving etc - there was barely any French people in the crowd at all.
In the last 5 minutes it was so tense and almost uncomfortable as the game was so close.  When the final whistle blew the whole city and country was in party mode.  The streets were a sea of black screaming and strangers were hugging and high fiveing other strangers - they really are so passionate about their rugby and I guess they had waited a long time for this one!

We hung out in the street party for a while just soaking it all up!

The street after the game!

The party basically continued until the next day where the team had a victory parade.  They estimated that 500,000 people turned up to see them coming up the main street in Auckland.  Again the atmosphere and the enthusiasm was fantastic, this country as a whole is rugby obsessed!! There were 3 players per truck came past and each one got a great cheer and flags waving.  When Richie McCaw came through with Graham Henry and the trophy I was practically deafened!!!!!!

Street before the parade came through 

Dan Carter

Aaron Cruden - I like him haha!

Richie and Graham with the trophy coming up!

I really can not believe that we were in NZ when they won the world cup, it is definitely a unique and fantastic experience which no doubt we will remember and reminisce about for many years to come - especially during future world cups!! Woah is basically my best summary!!!

The rest of our time in Auckland was also pretty good.  On the Friday night we managed to blag ourselves 2 free tickets to the bronze final in Eden Park, Wales v Australia.  It was a really good game and it was cool to go to Eden park which is absolutely massive!!! We weren't sitting together but I guess backpackers getting free tickets cant be choosers!! The atmosphere was actually really good for a practically pointless game, the Welsh supporters were using it as another chance for a good night but sadly for them their team seemed to be totally knackered!

Passionate Wales supporter!! 

Again it was pretty cool to be there.  They had set up a big walk from the fanzone out to Eden Park called the fantrail about 4.5km each way with entertainment on route so we enjoyed that!

We seem to have been in Auckland alot as we were also here during the semis weekend, we went to the fanzone for the Welsh game the atmosphere was good but the story is sort of overshadowed by the final, although we met a few of the Welsh players which was quite cool....don't worry BOD you are still my number one!!! (just incase he is reading!!!)

So our time in NZ has sadly come to an end.  What a fantastic 2 months we have had, every day filled with something new and exciting, we will be very sad to head to the airport tomorrow but also very excited for a new (and final) chapter of our travels to begin.  The Australian adventure awaits us.......

xxx

Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga

Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga

We decided to fill the week between the Semis and the Finals with something non rugby related and get away from Auckland.  Included in our Kiwi pass was a trip up to the Paihai area of New Zealand.  This is basically the place were Aucklanders have holiday homes and boats!

The view out from the beach

It is a beach resort which comes alive in summer and whose main tourist attractions are dolphin swimming, fishing trips, sunset dinner cruises and water sports.  Being at the end of our NZ trip and having already worn the budget thin we didn’t bother with any of these things but instead we enjoyed some lovely coastal walks, time sitting reading by the beach and more or less just chilling out with a lovely view.  The weather was pretty good while we were here most days there was at least some sunshine which we tried to make the most of.  It was a quiet few days and plenty of films were watched in the hostel but it was nice relaxation before we head back to the chaos of Auckland and finals weekend!!

This area is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed and is quite a sacred place historically for the Maori people, way back in the day it was originally made the capital of New Zealand but not for very long!

We did a day tour one day to Cape Reigna which is the most Northerly part of the country where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.  The scenery up here was gorgeous, there is a big lighthouse at the point of joining and one of those cool signs with all the distances to different countries around the world, so we jumped on the bandwagon and took some cheesy touristy pictures!

One of the most fun part of this day trip was our trip along ninety mile beach which is a Highway (yes an official road!!) in Northern NZ.  Its basically like a longer version of the Strand in Portstewart but was made extra adventurous on our drive here.  The driver kept saying ‘’oh man the beach is big today, the beach is very big, this is a big day’’ – a basic translation turned out to be that the tide was coming in a lot quicker than they expected and than had been forecast and basically we were potentially in bother! He radioed his other buses and told them not to come onto the beach so we were in it alone!  It was all going quite well and he thought we had passed the worst bit until we found ourselves in the middle of a ‘sweeper’ wave with another on top of it.  We were sitting at the front and the drivers constant swearing and profuse sweating was not particularly filling me with confidence!! He was gripping the steering wheel and locking it right yet we were still losing the back end of the bus with the pull of the wave...we were barely moving forward, the engine was making pretty unhealthy sounding noises and the water was at window level! ‘Irish tourists swept away to sea on 90 mile beach in a big green bus’!! Thankfully we got through it and once the driver regained composure and the ability to speak he said it was the worst wave he had ever driven through and that he was basically pooing his pants!!!!! Looking back it is kinda funny and a little free add on to the adventure!

initially it didnt seem so bad...

then it got slightly deeper

this was when we were in bother!!!

I love this photo!!

Pleased to survive haha!

On this trip we also went sandboarding which was really good fun.  A massive sand dune which we climbed up (it was tough) and then they gave you bodyboards to come back down on face first!! They say that people get up to 50mph...I certainly didn’t as I used my feet for breaks when it got too quick but it was really good fun, another one of those wee Kiwi extras!  James was slightly less cautious and ended in the mini river/pool at the bottom of the slope!

These few days were our final new places to visit in New Zealand as we head back to Auckland (again) for the Finals weekend before our flight to Australia.  I am due to do a blog on our Auckland rugby experiences but I am saving that for after this weekend (the Bronze and the Final) incase anything exciting or blog worthy happens!!  Until then......enjoy the rugby this weekend.....for once in my life (and to join the rest of the country) I will say Come on the All Blacks!!!!!

xxx

1/4 final weekend - Wellington

After an eventful week on the bus we arrived in Wellington for quarter finals weekend.  There were literally no spare beds to be had and the place was absolutely packed with Irish, Welsh, Aussies and SA’s which created a brilliant atmosphere and buzz around the place – the Irish as always though were still in the majority.

First thing on our agenda was sorting out the ticket situation.  We had tickets to the ‘wrong’ quarter final after Ireland beat Australia.  Long story short we spent the first day wondering around the streets stopping any Aussies we saw and asking would they like to swap tickets...sadly most of them had purchased both tickets so had no need to swap. We left a notice on the hostel board (along with about 10 other similarly pleading notices!!)   We were beginning to lose hope and starting to really consider whether we should actually buy some tickets, when we struck lucky!!! 

Basically through an Aussie guy we met in a pub who took my number, his friend worked for Mastercard (one of the main sponsors) and was not able to use some of the corporate tickets as they had been purchased for Aussies.  So she was willing to give us these for a very cheap rate.  The tickets were worth $300 each and she gave us 2 for $100.  Unbelievable – even telling the story sounds like its made up...£25 each for World Cup Quarter final tickets! Unreal....we were so happy and buzzing for the rest of the night.  Thank you nice Kate lady haha!!

So we had a good night out on Friday night celebrating our very good luck.  Then match day on Saturday...it was absolutely pouring down all day (typically for Ireland games) so the street party was a bit of a wash out but the atmosphere around the town and the fanzone was still buzzing.  We got our facepaint and our green Irish outfits on and had a great day.  We had made friends with a Welsh guy on the bus so we had some friendly pre match banter and drinks!!

Our seats were brilliant and undercover so we weren’t soaked which was great.  It was fantastic to be at the match but just annoying the Ireland didn’t really turn up, it was all a bit disappointing  and we had to avoid our Welsh friend afterwards haha he soon found us though and the banter was no longer friendly!!!! The atmosphere in the stadium was great although there were loads of Aussies there which was annoying as they didn’t really sing or support anyone!!!

We were really glad we got to the game and its pretty cool to say we have been to the World Cup Quarter final just a shame that it wasn’t a better result.  It was such an anti climax afterwards cos the press here (similar to home I believe) were getting totally carried away with Irelands potential ability after they beat Aus and practically had them in the final.  So now the team have flown home and taken the majority of Ireland/Dublin with them so NZ has returned to a majority Kiwi place again!

The edge was taken off the disappointment slightly when England were beaten lol!!

On the Sunday we went back to the stadium with our other original tickets and watched Australia v South Africa.  It was nice to be slightly impartial and not feel so nervous, we were supporting Aus so at least we got 1 result in the weekend.  It was fun being there and we were surrounded by some pretty spirited Boks and Wallabies supporters so it was still a nice atmosphere and definitely a better game of rugby!  The Aus v NZ quarter final will be a huge deal here so we look forward to being in Auckland during that.

After this we had to say goodbye to our new Kiwi friends who were heading on around the South island which we had already done.  We stayed a few more days in Wellington and it was nice to just chill and go for nice walks over the couple of days.  We visited the Te Papa museum which is a free museum over 6 floors all about the history, culture and wildlife of New Zealand.  It was really interesting and had some pretty impressive exhibits including the worlds largest giant squid on display.  We ended up going back over 2 days to see it all and cos it was free we didn’t mind spending more time there and there was so much to see!!

We were quite fortunate that while we were there the Web Ellis Rugby World Cup Trophy was on display for 5 days so we got our picture taken with it...its surprisingly small in the flesh!! Some of the people round us had a few ‘funny’ comments to make when we got our picture ‘thats the closest Ireland will ever come to that’ etc!! But it was cool to see it!

We really enjoyed our time in Wellington its a cool city with a gorgeous water front which was all done up for the fan zone and supporters area.  Wellington is where the ferry leaves to go to the South Island so they have a massive port and a huge waterfront area so we did a lovely walk all around there.

We also used our time to sort out our plans for Australia, we are now all booked up for our camper van...I am so excited haha!!! We pick it up in Cairns for 24 days and nights of banter along the East coast!  We head for Aus in 2 weeks time...I am looking forward to some sunshine and a tan and meeting some cool surfer dudes!!

Our time is totally flying its quite scary....9 weeks James and I have left together out here  which is mental and we know it is going to fly!! We are definitely making the most of all the opportunities and will continue to do so!

xxx

North Island adventures!

So we jumped onto the Kiwi experience bus in Auckland after James birthday to start our tour around the North Island.

The first stop was a really cool and unique place called Hot Water Beach.  On this beach when the tide is out if you dig a hole into the ground when you hit water it is warm and the further you dig it is roasting!! People had dug lots of little pools that everyone was sitting in and paddling in, one of the pools was so hot it had bubbles coming off the top of it and noone could even dip their toe in it.  It was good fun and something quite different.

The cool thing with Kiwi experience is they stop at all these wee random places on the way to a bigger place and you get to see quite fun and pretty things that you probably wouldn't otherwise know where there.  The next place was called Cathedral Cove which is a beach that looks quite like the one of 'The Beach' film.

The next cool thing I did was Black Water Rafting in the Waitomo caves which are famous for the glow worms which live inside them.  It is basically going through an underwater river in small caves in the pitch black on a rubber ring.  We were all given head torches etc so at some stages we were allowed to have light. It was unreal and quite adrenaline fuelled as we jumped backwards off a few waterfalls, navigated the tunnels in the dark and also froze to death haha!! I really enjoyed it and am glad I did it - not every day you get to black water raft in the dark!

Next stop back to Rotorua.  This time we went to a Mauri cultural evening called Tamaki village.  The local Mauri people showed us the traditional way of Mauri life and culture such as the games they played, the food they ate and the way they were trained to fight.  It was really interesting and they put on a show performing the Haka and lots of Mauri dances and songs.  I really enjoyed the evening.  They finished the night off with an amazing dinner which was cooked in a traditional Mauri Hangi oven for 3 hours which is basically hot stones below the ground and then wrapped in Hessian sacks.  We had chicken, lamb, kumura, carotts and stuffing pulled from the ground - it was unbelievably light and moist...if only we could all have Hangi ovens!!  It was such a great insight into the traditional culture of New Zealand...we expected it to be slightly cheesy and fake but it was very authentic and the hosts were so passionate about informing us about their culture.  It was one of my highlights of the North Island.

The Hangi oven

During the show!

The final really cool thing was our driver took us to a river and on the edge of this river was a water fall which flowed hot...it was so unexpected but so cool!! The little rock pools only in this area were really hot and we could sit in them like a jacuzzi but if you went out towards the river it was freeeeezing!!! This is one of the wee free activities that Kiwi enables you to do and we had a couple of hours entertainment for nothing.  These natural hot water springs are caused by the geothermal activity underground!

We have had a brilliant time on the North Island bus and made lots of nice friends.  We will leave them in Wellington as we stay around for the quarter finals.  The next blog will be about Welly and the banter around the rugby...sadly we all now know the result but we still had a fun weekend.

The blog will come soon!
Thanks for reading!

xx