New Zealand

We arrived in Christchurch late at night, and despite the initial confusion whilst attempting to locate some sort of transport into the city, we had booked accommodation ahead and thus it turned out to be a relatively easy process. A quaint hostel exuding comfort, we spent the next day catching up on sleep and didn’t emerge from our beds till well into the afternoon.

 We started our Kiwi Experience on day two. We were picked up by a shuttle bus in the early morning and after a few hours, joined the main bus. We spent the evening in Westport, a small town on the north west coast of the south island. Our room was pretty much a hostel in itself: 10 beds, a working fireplace, television, toilet, and kitchen. The following day we stopped in Greymouth for a quick pick up of clothes and accessories for the night’s theme party: Superheroes vs. Villains, or Frat Party (a lack of decisiveness resulted in two themes). We then made our way down to Lake Mahinapua to stay at the ‘Poo Pub’. A night of Jägerbomb, vodka Red Bulls, dressing up as the queen of hearts, and losing various belongings including a brand new camera followed! Luckily Les (the angry owner) managed to find my various possessions scattered outside the next morning! 

  

The Kiwi Experience bus

Lake Mahinapua

En route to Queenstown

Milford Sound

We set off early the next day and headed to Franz Josef. Upon arriving, HT set off to prepare for her skydive, whilst I went to bed for the afternoon. Famed for the massive ice glacier in constant flux, the small town is nestled at its base. We spent the next day hiking - a tremendous experience that involved crawling through crevasses and climbing up ice. A tricky process which required mastering the use of crampons and picks – skills that massively escaped me and resulted in me falling over my feet…a lot. Definitely wasn’t helped by the fact I can barely walk properly anyway!

The next day, we carried on making our way down south to Lake Wanaka and eventually, Queenstown. Surrounded by the most stunning scenery, it wasn’t hard to understand why New Zealand’s south island is so famous! Unfortunately, the cold had finally got to us and we both fell ill, which meant we weren’t able to go snowboarding. Even so, Queenstown lived up to its reputation! Ferge Burgers, teapots, pick n mix, Milford Sounds, the discovery of Dotti, posing with scarves, and just general awesomeness ensued! Our five days passed by in a complete blur, and we were both pretty heartbroken to get back on the Kiwi Experience to head back towards Christchurch, and eventually the North Island.

From Christchurch, where we very nearly missed our bus, we went up to Kaikoura for a night, then on to Picton to get the ferry across to Wellington. Just as we were getting off the bus, I managed to knock a box of eggs onto the floor – needless to say, (stinky) Steve was not all that impressed that there was raw egg everywhere! Luckily we were changing busses…not so lucky for the next group of people. After Wellington, we stopped off in Taupo for a night. After massively chickening out of a skydive in Franz Josef, I attempted to try again but due to the temperamental weather it was cancelled. Moving upwards, our next stop was Rotorua. The town is built over a geothermal hot spot and therefore famed for its rather unique aroma, which can only be described as reminiscent of rotten eggs.

After two nights in Rotorua, we stopped in Auckland for a night and then up rainy Paihai. Our New Zealand experience was quickly coming to an end. A sun worshipper to the core, I must admit that whilst New Zealand was very cold, I had the most incredible time!