So we handed back our campervan, I admitted my acident and the guy could not care one bit.. Apparently my insurance covered me so they were happy???
We got to our hotel Sebel Suites on the viaduct in the city and got probably the best location in hotel ever, the door opens up to a champagne bar on one side and a sport bar on the other with abother 20 bars and resturants all around.. Result!!!
Yesterday was Bunjy day!!! Woke up to rain although it is still very warm so first thought was that it would be cancelled as you have to climb the Auckland bridge to get to the bunjy jump.. No such luck.. Second mistake was to tell the guy that I had done a bunjy before.. This meant I had another challenge to go backwards.. For some reason I said yes!?
It was just me and Matt going up which was cool, plus I then had to go first basically standing on the edge of a dive platform with my heals over the edge being held by some pierced dude who says trust me!!! Not good.. When I was on a 30 degree angle he said we were going to wait for a boat to go past, and then he let me go.. So so so much fun!!! after three bounces we have to pull a cord and then your feet are released and your twisted back the right way up and held in a harness while they pull you back up.. another very odd thing!
Matt then went after me.. No hestitation has he was counted down to dive into the water.. He came back with a beaming smile.. Loving it too!!! We both got pics and dvd for evidence!
So after that we thought we would have a chilled out time visiting an aquarium.. No we decided to go shark swimming in a cage!! Only 3 metre sharks so not great whites but still a great experience, they swim right towards you no hesitation!!!
So ending out NZ experience and hectic day we went to the Sky Tower for a meal in the revolving restaurant.. Stunning food, nice wine and amazing views... Great way to end our NZ honeymoon...
Now onto Fiji for the relaxing part!!
Loads of Love
Kate & Matt xxx
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Bay of Plenty > Waitomo Caves > Hahei Beach
So after the quads we headed up to the Bay of Plenty to see our first beach.. This place is one of the fastest growing areas in NZ as its only a couple of hours from Auckland and has some of the best weather in the country.. It was the hotest day of our holiday by far when we finally met Paul & Alison on our boat... Now was not the best trip out, was told that it was very calm compared to yesterday.. This however was still not calm enough for me!! However I was OK and decided to chill on the deck for most of the morning.. This meant that I burnt a tad!! Anyway we found two shoals of dolphins one with over 150 jumping and playing around our boat.. Unfortunatly there were babies with them this meant we were unable to get in the water.. But it was a fantastic experience especially seeing the little babies trying to jump!!!
When we got back to land we drove for 2 hrs inland to get too Waitomo Caves... Recomended to us by Haz we did a 5hr caving experience with a 40metre pitch black absail, ariel runway and did some tubing and saw more glowworms, all good..! We then had a drive back up to the coast to the Coromandel Peninsula we decided that we didn't have enough time to get to the Bay of Islands so we went for the easier option.. This place is where the people of Auckland come on holidays and you can see why.. Stunning beaches and still unspolit.. We stayed on Hahei Beach in a great camp site on the beach.. the next day we explored all the other beaches including the 'Hot Water Beach' which due to the thermal activity has a patch of land which when you dig a hole you get hot water so you can have you own hot pool.. Very random!.. We then did some kayaking in the afternoon to a stunning beach called catherdral coves, now this didn't start great as I had a bad cut on my hand from caving which did not like the salt water.. We then got to the cove which is a renowned surfing spot and got cought by quote "the biggest wave that day at the cove"... We then got chucked out of the kayak and thrown into the sea.. Mildly ammusing although we both lost our glasses and I have a huge bruise on my knee which I caught on the kayak.. Fun fun.. Luckily Catherdral Cove was worth it.. Best beach we have seen! Our guide apologised to us saying in 12 months that had never happened to him.. (good to know!)
Anyway off to Auckland for last 2 days in NZ.. sad... K&M xxx
When we got back to land we drove for 2 hrs inland to get too Waitomo Caves... Recomended to us by Haz we did a 5hr caving experience with a 40metre pitch black absail, ariel runway and did some tubing and saw more glowworms, all good..! We then had a drive back up to the coast to the Coromandel Peninsula we decided that we didn't have enough time to get to the Bay of Islands so we went for the easier option.. This place is where the people of Auckland come on holidays and you can see why.. Stunning beaches and still unspolit.. We stayed on Hahei Beach in a great camp site on the beach.. the next day we explored all the other beaches including the 'Hot Water Beach' which due to the thermal activity has a patch of land which when you dig a hole you get hot water so you can have you own hot pool.. Very random!.. We then did some kayaking in the afternoon to a stunning beach called catherdral coves, now this didn't start great as I had a bad cut on my hand from caving which did not like the salt water.. We then got to the cove which is a renowned surfing spot and got cought by quote "the biggest wave that day at the cove"... We then got chucked out of the kayak and thrown into the sea.. Mildly ammusing although we both lost our glasses and I have a huge bruise on my knee which I caught on the kayak.. Fun fun.. Luckily Catherdral Cove was worth it.. Best beach we have seen! Our guide apologised to us saying in 12 months that had never happened to him.. (good to know!)
Anyway off to Auckland for last 2 days in NZ.. sad... K&M xxx
Friday, 19 February 2010
North Island – Wellington > Lake Taupo > Rotorua
On arrival in Wellington it was raining.. Our first proper day rain since we have been in NZ, which was sad as I think Wellington is a fab place, just with just a short space of time when your running between building to stay dry you don’t see it as much.. The other thing to hit you is how big it is.. The South Island despite being larger has only a quarter of NZ population.. Another quarter live in Auckland and its suburbs so the rest are amongst the rest of the North Island.. All the places you now drive through are bigger and all have the main amenities.. It is a shock to the system doing NZ this way around..!!
So after Wellington we had our longest North Island drive.. Which was a lot more simple than South Island (not lots of mountains where you are doing 25km an hour to stay alive!).. We arrived in Lake Taupo yesterday and stayed in a stunning campsite yesterday and cooked our best BBQ yet!!! Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ and the start of the thermal area, where volcanos are still active and where the heat in the water is actually used to generate electricity (no nuclear power here!!).. Taupo is classed as the adventure capital of the North so today we did the amazing Huka Falls on a Jet Boat, absolutely fantastic.. We then (after a muffin and cup of tea) went quad biking around the bush!!.. So much more difficult than it looks but a lot of fun.. Inner thighs get a work out, soon as you step off them feels like you have been on a horse!! We then drove up to Rotorua, the thermal capital and have just experienced a traditional Maori night.. This is the Maori capital in NZ so we went for a Maori evening of dance, singing and food cooked underground on stones... Chicken, Fish, sweet potatoes and all other stuff all cooked underground for 4 hrs, tasted amazing.. Also saw the Huka performed and had to hear about how amazing the ‘All Blacks’ are!!!
The other thing that has been a bit of a change is the weather.. As soon as we left Wellington the weather has improved we are now on about 25 degrees in the day with the sun not going down until at least 8:30 in the evening so we are now getting some colour into our cheeks!!
One snag about Rotorua.. It STINKS!!!!! Haz warned me about this but wasn’t prepared, the thermal activity in this area and the sulphur in the water makes this place smell like rotten eggs... Can’t believe the population growth in this place is second only to Auckland.. Who would want to live in a place that smells???!!!!!
Anyway going to finish beer and retire.. Plan tomorrow is to Zorb Ball!!! We then make our way to the East Coast and the Bay of Plenty where weather permitting we are going on our Dolphin trip..
Take Care..
Love Kate & Matt xxxx
So after Wellington we had our longest North Island drive.. Which was a lot more simple than South Island (not lots of mountains where you are doing 25km an hour to stay alive!).. We arrived in Lake Taupo yesterday and stayed in a stunning campsite yesterday and cooked our best BBQ yet!!! Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ and the start of the thermal area, where volcanos are still active and where the heat in the water is actually used to generate electricity (no nuclear power here!!).. Taupo is classed as the adventure capital of the North so today we did the amazing Huka Falls on a Jet Boat, absolutely fantastic.. We then (after a muffin and cup of tea) went quad biking around the bush!!.. So much more difficult than it looks but a lot of fun.. Inner thighs get a work out, soon as you step off them feels like you have been on a horse!! We then drove up to Rotorua, the thermal capital and have just experienced a traditional Maori night.. This is the Maori capital in NZ so we went for a Maori evening of dance, singing and food cooked underground on stones... Chicken, Fish, sweet potatoes and all other stuff all cooked underground for 4 hrs, tasted amazing.. Also saw the Huka performed and had to hear about how amazing the ‘All Blacks’ are!!!
The other thing that has been a bit of a change is the weather.. As soon as we left Wellington the weather has improved we are now on about 25 degrees in the day with the sun not going down until at least 8:30 in the evening so we are now getting some colour into our cheeks!!
One snag about Rotorua.. It STINKS!!!!! Haz warned me about this but wasn’t prepared, the thermal activity in this area and the sulphur in the water makes this place smell like rotten eggs... Can’t believe the population growth in this place is second only to Auckland.. Who would want to live in a place that smells???!!!!!
Anyway going to finish beer and retire.. Plan tomorrow is to Zorb Ball!!! We then make our way to the East Coast and the Bay of Plenty where weather permitting we are going on our Dolphin trip..
Take Care..
Love Kate & Matt xxxx
Leaving the South Island
OK.. So after we last blogged we had a bit of drama.. We went to do our skywire over Nelson rainforest – which was brilliant.. The decided to continue down the road to Cable Bay.. Matt made the comment half way down the road that it was probably the worse road we had been on in the whole of the South Island.. Little did he know I was about to prove him right..
So we were going uphill and the bay was just becoming visible around the corner so I got distracted and missed the edge of the road and ended up grounding the campervan in a ditch... it was on about a 30 degree angle and was stuck.. Matt had to become superman and climbed out from the passenger window onto the grass verge we were stuck on.. (I was nearly sick!).. Luckily on the quietest road in the South Island the first people to find us were the city council, they then got the local camping guys to come down in their truck.. After a bit of investigation as too how I managed on earth to get the van in this particular position they worked out how they were going to rescue us.. We got hitched (from the axle) and pulled out.. Only damage is a cracked dumper and a broken waste pipe (meaning we have to put a bucket out if using the sink). Luckily we got the full insurance policy .. And no I didn’t take a photo.. too painful!!!
So after that Cable Bay was pants!!! So we decided to get the hell out of Nelson and get to the harbour in Picton for our crossing the next day.. The crossing was not half as bad as the stories I had heard!! We sat and watched the winter Olympics for the three hours and decided that Snowboard Cross is now my new favourite winter sport!!
Leaving the South Island was very sad, so wish we could have done more and spent more time in each place.. The people and the places were nothing short of stunning..
Well next stories are from the North!!!
Love Kate & Matt xxx
So we were going uphill and the bay was just becoming visible around the corner so I got distracted and missed the edge of the road and ended up grounding the campervan in a ditch... it was on about a 30 degree angle and was stuck.. Matt had to become superman and climbed out from the passenger window onto the grass verge we were stuck on.. (I was nearly sick!).. Luckily on the quietest road in the South Island the first people to find us were the city council, they then got the local camping guys to come down in their truck.. After a bit of investigation as too how I managed on earth to get the van in this particular position they worked out how they were going to rescue us.. We got hitched (from the axle) and pulled out.. Only damage is a cracked dumper and a broken waste pipe (meaning we have to put a bucket out if using the sink). Luckily we got the full insurance policy .. And no I didn’t take a photo.. too painful!!!
So after that Cable Bay was pants!!! So we decided to get the hell out of Nelson and get to the harbour in Picton for our crossing the next day.. The crossing was not half as bad as the stories I had heard!! We sat and watched the winter Olympics for the three hours and decided that Snowboard Cross is now my new favourite winter sport!!
Leaving the South Island was very sad, so wish we could have done more and spent more time in each place.. The people and the places were nothing short of stunning..
Well next stories are from the North!!!
Love Kate & Matt xxx
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