Kiwi Experience bus -The North Island!

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. So busy and hectic, it's going so quick already but it also seems like ages ago that I first stepped on the big green bus.

First stop on the trip was heading north out of Auckland for a night in the beautiful bay of islands. The township we stayed on was essentially a little touristy seaside town. Lovely hostel with a bar and a pool and after just a few hours I had already met some fabulous people. Weather wasent amazing so made the most of the afternoon by doing a viewpoint walk and relaxing on the beach with an ice cream! This is where my first unforgettable moment happened... We sore a killer whale jump out of the ocean only 10 meters from the shore.. It was rather special.

After a stop over night back in Auckland I said goodbye to the bay of island bunch and got on the bus that I would be sticking with for a good few days. We stopped at a little holiday park next to hot water beach. we couldn't go digging for the hot pools in the sand until the evening so headed down after dinner and drinks. Luckily some holes had already been dug for us, I couldn't be bothered with that effort lol. Starting with a midnight swim in the sea, the hot water in the sand was beautiful. We had then stumble back in the dark to the holiday park ready for an early start the next morning. The next day was Waitomo, famous for their spectacular caves. So I reluctantly signed up for the black water rafting which is basically going through the caves on a rubber ring. It was a pretty fun activity, it including jumping backwards of waterfalls, in the caves, on your rubber ring!! Back at the hostel I made a meal together with people from my dorm, it was delish. The next day was Rotorua, I was really looking nice forward to this little city plus I had two nights here which meant actually being able to spend a full day somewhere woohoo. When I arrived I went to the Polynesian spa, which is where you can sit in an array of naturally occurring hot springs. The hot springs are caused by sulphur so the whole smells of eggs but the hot water was cool. That evening was the Maori experience, possible my highlight so far. We were taken to this Maori "village" and we're taught about Maori culture and traditions and the people that worked there were brilliant. All were Maoris and you could see how much they loved their job. They did an awesome haka performance and a few Maori songs. We then got to the best bit, an all you can eat buffet of ground cooked meats and potatoes and vegetables, heaven. I had two puddings. The next day was the best weather we had had so far so me and a couple of girls I had met (shout out to Jade and Lois if you're reading :P) had a chilled day sunbathing by the lake and also by the pool at the hostel. I had a really fun night out in the evening, and it was a Sunday so we made the best of it and went to only bar that was open in the whole city. The next day we were up and out to Taupo. Taupo was a great place, nice for a seaside holiday I would say. I imagined that Mum and Dad would enjoy it there also. I opted out of the 19km steep incline walk up to mount doom from Lord of the Rings. Instead I chilled by the lake and even went to the cinema with the girls because the weather wasn't good. After a relaxing couple of days in Taupo it was on to River Valley for the night, this was the most secluded stop, 45 minutes from the nearest village. It was a really cool little place, surrounded by horses and a tiny river for swimming in. It was a wooden lodge that we stayed in and we managed to get a six bed dorm for the six of us girls who I'd been hanging out with to stay in which was really nice. There wasn't much to do there so we just had some drinks and played games and stuff, they had giant jenga which we put a twist on lol. It was a fun night :)

Now I'm in the final stop on the North Island, the capital city Wellington. We had a great night out last night, and spent the day exploring the city, went to a museum where you could feel what it's like in an earth quake. We have a long day tomorrow starting at 6am to travel to the South Island. So naturally we are choosing to go out late again tonight :)

Congratulations if you have read all of that haha, I hope I can get another post up in a week of so, we had limited time and wifi here!!

J x

Auckland with Jon, Liz & Harriet

I spent a lovely first week in New Zealand, staying in Auckland with Jon and Liz. Giving me a chance to relax and get my bearings. I was met at the airport (well I arrived first but Jon, Liz and Harriet a close second ;) ) which was great and drove to One Tree Hill which is a great spot to look over the whole city. On my first full day we visited the island of Waiheke, it's so remote it doesn't even have a McDonald's on it!! I also had my first sea swim of the year and it was lovely and warm not like Shoreham beach at all. The following day I had the chance to go into the city centre and do a bit of shopping, I was having frozen Coke withdrawal since Sydney so had to venture into maccy d's, If you ever go to NZ go to Cotton On clothes store it's fab, I'd go as far as to say it's like topshop with primark prices. I spent time during the week chilling and prepping for the journey ahead. I had a fun night out with this group that I didn't know before but they were so much fun, ended up belting out a Kelly Clarkson Classic at a kareoke bar. This weekend I spent some more time with Jon, Liz and Harriet at the weekend, we went to marine reserve beach and did a bit of snorkelling, the best snorkelling I've ever done although apparently there was a lot less fish then there usually is. We visited another beautiful beach as well. I've never been anywhere with some many different beaches that are all so beautiful. On Sunday we went up the Auckland sky tower, awesome views! I then got the chance to watch Harriet play flipper ball, which is like water polo, even though Harriet's team lost it was still a fun game to watch. That afternoon we visited another stunning beach with a good surf in Piha. The black sand was a killer but had a great swim and sunbathe. I had a great week, relaxing and hanging out with Harriet, Jon and Liz. Now onwards I go for the Kiwi Experience bus tour.

Sydney!

Just an update on what I got up to in Sydney :) 

Arriving after the less than ideal flight where I got no sleep at all, I headed into the centre on Australia's very efficient train service (southern rail could learn a thing or two). I couldn't get into my hostel room until a few hours time so I left the hostel and just randomly walked around (in the pouring rain) for a while. My hostel room was lovely, I was sharing with some fab people and had a lot of fun hanging around with them. Backpacker hostels really are the only way to go with this kind of trip. 

 My first full day in Sydney I did all the touristy stuff in the centre of town, including the opera house and the rocks. 

I was then lucky enough to get the Sydney harbour bridge walk experience as a Christmas present (shout out to aunty Julie!!) so I headed of to get knitted up for the climb. Wow what an amazing experience, standing at the top of a bridge with amazing views and an awesome guide who tells you everything you need to know about Sydney. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. That evening I went out with my dorm and had a really fun night even though I was #soberinsydney (damn you glandular fever). 

On my final full day of my whistlestop tour of Sydney I caught the bus to Coogee beach which was absolutely beautiful and the weather was ideal. Of course I got a bit burnt, my poor pale skin not used to the Aussie sun. I would have to have spent more time on the Sydney beaches. I saw my Sydney stop out with a firework display on darling harbour which I believe they do every Saturday night. 

Sydney is a great city, I could have spent weeks there as I didn't get to see nearly as much as I should of but there is always another time.

Now for my New Zealand leg of the trip!!!

J x