After leaving Byron, we were also leaving New South Wales and entering Queensland. Queensland is famous for crocodiles and other scary things like that! It is also known as the sunshine state so not all bad!
Surfers Paradise - to those who have not been there you would expect what we expected - a sweet little surf town much like Byron - wrong! As we approched we thought we had taken the wrong turn and got to Brisbane. Its all high rise buildings and really is a city - there is nothing that screams paradise, although the beaches are lovely and we did see some more whales! We spent the day here and although we are glad we saw it - it was more than enough time!
The Gold Coast is Australias Florida - its all about the theme parks. We resticted ourselves to one park and Sam chose Wet n Wild the water park! Emma agreed but was very concerned that as she is about to be a bridesmaid (wearing a strapless dress) that it was ESSENTIAL that she buy a strapless bikini so she didnt get funny tan lines for the wedding photos!!! So she spent the first day dragging Sam around swim wear shops (and obviously in the end bought the first one she had seen!) It was worth it - we had a really fun day at the park and Sam ran between the rides dragging Emma behind. Emma did not have to worry about funny tan lines - we were both happy. The happiness was short lived as Emma got an eye infection and had to go to the doctor!
After a fun filled 2 days we were haeding to Brisbane!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Byron Bay
Byron Bay is an awesome little surfing town in the northern part of New South Wales. Unfortunately for us we arrived during school holidays (unknown to us!) and the price of the camp sites were doubled! ($46 for a square patch of gravel!!!!!!) However, the camp site did have some advantages, it was right in the centre of town - unlike many campsites which are a long way out, and it had access to a stunning beach. We spent our first day lazing around the beach and wandering through the boutique shops. That evening we went to a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant where they cook the food in front of you (delicious!) On the way home from the restaurant Emma 'fell in love' with a ring in a shop window that she simply 'had to have' and marched sam straight back to the shop first thing in the morning! (It is really pretty!!)
It had become clear that Sam has caught the surfing bug and was desperate to get back into the waves. He found a guy willing to give him a private lesson for the same cost as a group lesson, so off Sam went to hire his gear. He came back with, what can only be described as a canoe - the biggest surf board ever made!!! Kitted out in his wet suit, he had tourist written all over him!! Off we went to meet the surf instructor (Sam waddling in his wet suit and hitting anything in his path with his GIANT surf board). Brad the surf instructor was a very cool middle aged guy with a full on beard that could have easily mistaken him for a tramp!!! While Sam surfed, Emma watched from the beach, working on her tan and trying to take photos of Sam where it looked like he knew what he was doing (harder than it sounds!!!) Emma had 1 second and 1 second only to get the shot where it looked like Sam was standing and not falling!!!
From the beach Emma noticed something moving in the distance out to the ocean - it was a mother and baby humpback whale breaching so close to the shore it was incredible!!! Brad told us that if the baby whales were out it also meant that the Great Whites would be out hunting for their dinner! Sam (whose surfing ability closley resembled that of a drowning seal) was anxious to end the lesson and get out of the water, however Brad seemed totally unfazed (australians are totally relaxed when it comes to deadly creatures like snakes, sharks, crocs its really bizarre!!!)
After a 2 hour lesson Sam was exhausted and could barely carry his canoe, sorry surf board back to the shop (but he was encouraged by the fact that he had to get back his $500 deposit for the surf board - no that is not a typo - $500!!!!!!!!)
The following day we visited some nearby towns Lennox Head plus a few others we cant remember the names of! We spent the afternoon up at the famous lighthouse in Byron which is also the most Easterly point in Australia. There were a number of magpies up there - Emma screamed a little bit! The view was incredible and we also spotted a number of whales which are migrating south to antarctica for the summer!! After a bbq dinner with some lovely Swedish ppl we had met we went to bed and prepared for our next stop - the Gold Coast!
It had become clear that Sam has caught the surfing bug and was desperate to get back into the waves. He found a guy willing to give him a private lesson for the same cost as a group lesson, so off Sam went to hire his gear. He came back with, what can only be described as a canoe - the biggest surf board ever made!!! Kitted out in his wet suit, he had tourist written all over him!! Off we went to meet the surf instructor (Sam waddling in his wet suit and hitting anything in his path with his GIANT surf board). Brad the surf instructor was a very cool middle aged guy with a full on beard that could have easily mistaken him for a tramp!!! While Sam surfed, Emma watched from the beach, working on her tan and trying to take photos of Sam where it looked like he knew what he was doing (harder than it sounds!!!) Emma had 1 second and 1 second only to get the shot where it looked like Sam was standing and not falling!!!
From the beach Emma noticed something moving in the distance out to the ocean - it was a mother and baby humpback whale breaching so close to the shore it was incredible!!! Brad told us that if the baby whales were out it also meant that the Great Whites would be out hunting for their dinner! Sam (whose surfing ability closley resembled that of a drowning seal) was anxious to end the lesson and get out of the water, however Brad seemed totally unfazed (australians are totally relaxed when it comes to deadly creatures like snakes, sharks, crocs its really bizarre!!!)
After a 2 hour lesson Sam was exhausted and could barely carry his canoe, sorry surf board back to the shop (but he was encouraged by the fact that he had to get back his $500 deposit for the surf board - no that is not a typo - $500!!!!!!!!)
The following day we visited some nearby towns Lennox Head plus a few others we cant remember the names of! We spent the afternoon up at the famous lighthouse in Byron which is also the most Easterly point in Australia. There were a number of magpies up there - Emma screamed a little bit! The view was incredible and we also spotted a number of whales which are migrating south to antarctica for the summer!! After a bbq dinner with some lovely Swedish ppl we had met we went to bed and prepared for our next stop - the Gold Coast!
Port Macquaire, Port Stephens, Byron Bay
Port Macquarie was our next stop. The caravan park (yes remember we are still in the campervan) was right on the sea shore and had an incredible promenade all the way into town from it.
Our first stop was at the billabong wildlife park (www.billabongkoala.com.au) a family run park with Koalas, kangaroos, dingos etc. It was amazing!! We had our first ever encounters with koalas and instantly fell in love. These mini bears sleep 18 hours a day (like emma) and eat up to 500 leaves a day too (unlike emma, unless leaves are the new cookies!!). You have a chance to hold them here too, and the owner of the park got out a 5 week year old baby koala which was just adorable. These koalas are of course used to human contact, however wild koalas are not as friendly as one might think; their claws are incredibly sharp and can cut right through you - so careful next time u encounter one!!
Also at the park there were loads of kangaroos (our first hands on encounter), which you could feed by hand. They were just amazing, bouncing up to you and holding you by the hand whilst they munch away at the food. In one of the female kangaroos we saw a tiny joey pop out of her pouch and begin to nibble on the crumbs that the mother was leaving behind (loads of pictures to show u of this - got a little snappy happy in the park!!).
Finally we had an encounter with dingos. Not many people know what dingos are (we certainly didn't); they are descendants of an asian wolf and look like a mix between a wolf, fox and dog with the climbing, hunting and cuteness factors of all three animals. Wild Dingoes can be vicious however the ones in the park had been trained and were as friendly as pet dogs! In Australia, you have to have a license to have a dingo as a pet and are forbidden from breeding them with house dogs as they fear that the Dingo specie may soon become extinct!
Our second day started off at the Koala Hospital www.koalahospital.org.au. This is where all the koalas that are unable to fend for themselves (many have been run over by cars) come and stay for as long as they need. The facilites are incredible, with a large icu centre and best of all you can visit it for a gold coin donation (good chance to get rid of some old pesatos!!). There was a 23 year old koala with arthritis staying there, who was unable to climb up any of the trees to reach the leaves, so had to be hand fed. Her arthritis came from overclicking her fingers (anyone know another 23year old who does that!!).
Later on in the afternoon we did what seems to be the law here in australia - surfing!!! We booked on for a 2 hour lesson and it was awesome!!! Fine your falling over 90% of the time (100% in emmas case) but the thrill of even getting to your knees on the board and standing up for 5 seconds is amazing. By the end of the 2 hours we were exhausted, but I (Sam) knew that it would not be my last surf in Oz!!
On route to our next destination (Byron Bay - see later) we stopped off at Port Stephens, a lively little port famous for its whale and dolphin trips, so we decided to stop and do a dolphin trip. It was great - we saw a load of dolphins who swam curiously up to the boat.
We spent the night at Coffs Harbour famous for a big banana but we are not really sure why! We left Coffs early to get to Byron, stopping at a sweet little town of Yamba for breakfast- visiting the local market and bought a load of fudge!!!
Our first stop was at the billabong wildlife park (www.billabongkoala.com.au) a family run park with Koalas, kangaroos, dingos etc. It was amazing!! We had our first ever encounters with koalas and instantly fell in love. These mini bears sleep 18 hours a day (like emma) and eat up to 500 leaves a day too (unlike emma, unless leaves are the new cookies!!). You have a chance to hold them here too, and the owner of the park got out a 5 week year old baby koala which was just adorable. These koalas are of course used to human contact, however wild koalas are not as friendly as one might think; their claws are incredibly sharp and can cut right through you - so careful next time u encounter one!!
Also at the park there were loads of kangaroos (our first hands on encounter), which you could feed by hand. They were just amazing, bouncing up to you and holding you by the hand whilst they munch away at the food. In one of the female kangaroos we saw a tiny joey pop out of her pouch and begin to nibble on the crumbs that the mother was leaving behind (loads of pictures to show u of this - got a little snappy happy in the park!!).
Finally we had an encounter with dingos. Not many people know what dingos are (we certainly didn't); they are descendants of an asian wolf and look like a mix between a wolf, fox and dog with the climbing, hunting and cuteness factors of all three animals. Wild Dingoes can be vicious however the ones in the park had been trained and were as friendly as pet dogs! In Australia, you have to have a license to have a dingo as a pet and are forbidden from breeding them with house dogs as they fear that the Dingo specie may soon become extinct!
Our second day started off at the Koala Hospital www.koalahospital.org.au. This is where all the koalas that are unable to fend for themselves (many have been run over by cars) come and stay for as long as they need. The facilites are incredible, with a large icu centre and best of all you can visit it for a gold coin donation (good chance to get rid of some old pesatos!!). There was a 23 year old koala with arthritis staying there, who was unable to climb up any of the trees to reach the leaves, so had to be hand fed. Her arthritis came from overclicking her fingers (anyone know another 23year old who does that!!).
Later on in the afternoon we did what seems to be the law here in australia - surfing!!! We booked on for a 2 hour lesson and it was awesome!!! Fine your falling over 90% of the time (100% in emmas case) but the thrill of even getting to your knees on the board and standing up for 5 seconds is amazing. By the end of the 2 hours we were exhausted, but I (Sam) knew that it would not be my last surf in Oz!!
On route to our next destination (Byron Bay - see later) we stopped off at Port Stephens, a lively little port famous for its whale and dolphin trips, so we decided to stop and do a dolphin trip. It was great - we saw a load of dolphins who swam curiously up to the boat.
We spent the night at Coffs Harbour famous for a big banana but we are not really sure why! We left Coffs early to get to Byron, stopping at a sweet little town of Yamba for breakfast- visiting the local market and bought a load of fudge!!!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Blue Mountains, Lake Macquaire & Hunter Vallley, Australia
Two hours out of Sydney lie the Blue Mountains - a stunning national park (which you may have heard about because earlier this year a young English guy got lost in the rainforest for about 9 days and had to be rescued!!) Learning from our mistakes we booked a camp site in Katoomba (the main habited area of the Mountains) before we got there! On arriving in the quaint mountain village we wandered around the town before visiting Scenic World http://www.scenicworld.com.au/ where we saw the incredible scenery and went on the cablecar across the mountains and hiked to a waterfall! That night we cooked our first meal in our very own kitchen (ok it was only pasta! - but it was exciting nonetheless), and were asleep by 8pm!! The following day we left the Blue Mountains and headed for the lake district (australians version) about 2 hours away -choosing Lake Macquaire to become our home for the next few days.
We spent our first day relaxing by the stunning lake and admiring the black swans! The following day we met up with a friend we had met in New Zealand who lives in a town called Newcastle, only about 20mins from the lake. We spent the day exploring Newcastle and watching sea planes take off and land on the harbour!
Hunter Valley was our next destination. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest and one of its most well-known wine regions. We met our friends at the Hunter Valley Gardens were we played Aqua Golf http://www.hvg.com.au/VisitorInformation/Activities1.aspx. That afternoon we went on a sunset horseride in the hills overlooking the vineyard. Sams horse was even called Sam too and was incredibly handsome (just like his owner!!) The ride was fantastic and we even saw our very first Kangaroos!!! As Emma was the only one in the group to have ridden before, she led the group and the instructor stayed at the back. As we went across one field, out of nowhere a giant black and white bird swooped down and started trying to peck Emmas head! The lady was screaming from behind for Emma to look at the bird, however Sam misheard and told Emma to NOT look at the bird, and it kept coming, swooping and trying to peck at her!!! The lady told us that it was a Magpie (although in the UK we call them Crows), and it was nesting season and we had ridden though her territory. Emma had been wearing a black helmet, and the others had been wearing white and the predator of this bird is black so it kept attacking Emma. They will only swoop from behind, so if you keep looking at them they stay away. The lady told us that when they go get the horses from the field they wear helmets and draw faces on the back of them to keep the bird away. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO scary, and ever since, if Emma sees a bird fly anywhere near her she screams and runs away!!! We learnt that one girl in New South Wales had her eyes taken out by one of these birds, and to make it worse, they are protected species!!! - though it was quite funny to watch!
That night we went to bed as normal only to be awoken at about 4am by birds going crazy! We looked out the window to see the sky was bright red!! http://images.2ue.com.au/2009/09/23/748603/DustStorm_53-600x400.jpg At first we had no idea what it could be and thought it may be a bush fire! We got up and literally could not see in front of us - it was really surreal! We learned that it was a dust storm that had taken over a vast proportion of the east coast, and that even sydney was covered over by it - the worst for over 30 years!!! We had booked to do a wine tour which was still going ahead despite the strange weather! The wine tour which took us to about 6 wineries to sample wine, as well as cheese tasting, chocolate and fudge tasting, olives, bread and a whole lot more!! The tour was fantastic - the only disappontment were the views. The usual stunning mountain and vineyard views were clouded by the huge dust storm!! By the end of the tour we didn't want to see another bottle of wine, but we are now connoseurs (spelling??) of wine and shall be expecting everyones collection of wine upon our arrival home!
Our next destination was port macquarie - about a 3 hour drive from the hunter valley region!
We spent our first day relaxing by the stunning lake and admiring the black swans! The following day we met up with a friend we had met in New Zealand who lives in a town called Newcastle, only about 20mins from the lake. We spent the day exploring Newcastle and watching sea planes take off and land on the harbour!
Hunter Valley was our next destination. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest and one of its most well-known wine regions. We met our friends at the Hunter Valley Gardens were we played Aqua Golf http://www.hvg.com.au/VisitorInformation/Activities1.aspx. That afternoon we went on a sunset horseride in the hills overlooking the vineyard. Sams horse was even called Sam too and was incredibly handsome (just like his owner!!) The ride was fantastic and we even saw our very first Kangaroos!!! As Emma was the only one in the group to have ridden before, she led the group and the instructor stayed at the back. As we went across one field, out of nowhere a giant black and white bird swooped down and started trying to peck Emmas head! The lady was screaming from behind for Emma to look at the bird, however Sam misheard and told Emma to NOT look at the bird, and it kept coming, swooping and trying to peck at her!!! The lady told us that it was a Magpie (although in the UK we call them Crows), and it was nesting season and we had ridden though her territory. Emma had been wearing a black helmet, and the others had been wearing white and the predator of this bird is black so it kept attacking Emma. They will only swoop from behind, so if you keep looking at them they stay away. The lady told us that when they go get the horses from the field they wear helmets and draw faces on the back of them to keep the bird away. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO scary, and ever since, if Emma sees a bird fly anywhere near her she screams and runs away!!! We learnt that one girl in New South Wales had her eyes taken out by one of these birds, and to make it worse, they are protected species!!! - though it was quite funny to watch!
That night we went to bed as normal only to be awoken at about 4am by birds going crazy! We looked out the window to see the sky was bright red!! http://images.2ue.com.au/2009/09/23/748603/DustStorm_53-600x400.jpg At first we had no idea what it could be and thought it may be a bush fire! We got up and literally could not see in front of us - it was really surreal! We learned that it was a dust storm that had taken over a vast proportion of the east coast, and that even sydney was covered over by it - the worst for over 30 years!!! We had booked to do a wine tour which was still going ahead despite the strange weather! The wine tour which took us to about 6 wineries to sample wine, as well as cheese tasting, chocolate and fudge tasting, olives, bread and a whole lot more!! The tour was fantastic - the only disappontment were the views. The usual stunning mountain and vineyard views were clouded by the huge dust storm!! By the end of the tour we didn't want to see another bottle of wine, but we are now connoseurs (spelling??) of wine and shall be expecting everyones collection of wine upon our arrival home!
Our next destination was port macquarie - about a 3 hour drive from the hunter valley region!
Sydney, Australia
We landed in Sydney on a cloudy Wednesday lunchtime and were extremely excited to arrive at our hotel (yes hotel not hostel!!!) Ok it was only a travelodge, but compared to our huts in Fiji it may as well have been the Ritz!! We went for a walk around the city, visiting a few shopping malls along the way and determind NOT to see the opera house or harbour bridge (we wanted to wait til it was sunny so it would be like we imagined it!!!) Very tired we went back to our palace and ordered room service!! The following day we took the very touristy open top double decked bus around the city to see all the sights. Fortunately we did not have to go around keeping our eyes closed to aviod the opera house and bridge because it was a beautiful sunny day! Sydney is a stunning city - the harbour is just beautiful, and the bridge and opera house did not disappoint either. Later in the day we went to the top of the sky tower to look at the incredible views across the city which go straight out to Bondi and the ocean. As we walked throught the streets we noticed that Wicked the Musical was playing. We went to investigate ticket prices and found out that they do something called the wicked lottery everyday, which means that if you write your name on a piece of paper and they draw it (they pick 15), you get front row tickets for A$30! So off Sam went to flirt with the staff and sure enough we won the tickets for that night! The following day was a very special day for us-we collected our baby! Baby juicy that is - http://www.jucy.com.au/jucy/jucy-choppa.asp?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=400&width=430 After speaking to a number of ppl we decided (much to everyones amusement at home) to rent a camper van! In Australia this is very much the done thing and the campsites are really holiday resorts with pools, tennis courts, bbqs the whole works! After collecting our baby (we were a little nervous) we took her on her first outing to Bondi Beach and had a walk around trying to spot great whites!!! That evening as Rosh Hashana came in we went to Emma's cousin Taryn for dinner and enjoyed our first home cooked meal in months! We left at about 10.30pm and off we went to our first campsite - or so we thought!!! Naively we thought you could just show up to these places unannounced at anytime you like - this is not the case!!! All the campsites were closed for the night in a panic at about 12.30 we asked the sat nav to take us to the nearest hotel - a marriott (great!!) They were asking $300 a night so off we drove and eventually found a travelodge. Sam flirted again and they let us stay in their secure car park and use their facilities for $5!!! The following day, after wandering through the hotel in our pjs we set off for the first part of our road trip - the Blue Mountains!
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Fiji
So after our Kiwi adventures we were very excited to head for the sun, sea and sand of Fiji. After a 3 hour flight we landed at Nadi airport and were taken to our "resort", which we didn't really appreciate until after we returned from the other islands (read on to find out why). After a delicious dinner by the beach we headed to bed ready for our island hopping adventures the following day.
We had a prebooked trip organised called 'The Lazy Threesome', which meant that we would be visiting three of Fiji's 330 islands over the course of a week. We boarded our bright yellow catamaran and spent the 5 hour boat trip to the Yasawa Islands enjoying the sunshine, the beautiful turquoise waters and viewing the other islands enroute to the blue lagoon region. We arrived at our first resort - Coral View - very excited! The boat stops in the middle of the sea and then tiny speed boats from the islands come to collect you - carrying our very large heavy suitcases on thier heads was a very scary thing to watch! They asked us if we were carrying our kitchen and bathroom in them, we informed them that we were not and that we were JP's - they looked confused!
The boat can only go so far and then you have to paddle through the sea to get to land! We were greeted by a chorus of 'Bulas' which means welcome in Fijian - and a song! We were taken to our Bure (which is basically a fancy word for hut) and were pleaseantly surprised that not only did we have our own bathroom but we also had electricity (not all islands in Fiji have bathrooms or electricity!!) We spent the day exploring the island. Sam made friends with a dog and Emma collected sea shells! Meal times in Fiji were an interesting time of day. Upon hearing the drums all the guests would come to the dining room where a meal would be placed in front of you - and if u didnt like it then you would go hungry!! We were often quite hungry!!! - but don't worry M and D Whiteman, Sam ate plenty...of pringles.
The following day we took a trip to the blue lagoon http://images.travelpod.com/users/philandkatrina/1.1243219125.blue-lagoon.jpg we added the pic just to make u all jealous!!!!! We were literally the only people on this beautiful deserted beach - it was incredible! The following day we headed to our next island of Korovou. HUGE excitement when we saw it had a swimming pool!!! Sam went swimming with the mantarays http://www.communingwithdolphins.com/images/manta1.gif which are basically huge stingrays which are about three times the size of him and are incredibly rare. (Emma decided to stay at the beach bar!!) The following day we woke up to the sound of rain - no not a little drizzle but a full on monsoon!! The rain was so heavy we could not see out of the windows. When it rains in Fiji there is nothing to do. We played some cards, read our books and by 9am we were bored. So, as it was Sunday, we decided the best way to kill an hour would be to take a trip to the local church and listen to the gospel singing. The rest of the island had the same idea and us tourists outnumbered the locals about 10 to 1. We spent the rest of the day feeling a bit miserable and formukating a plan to sue the lonely planet which had informed us that September was 'the perfect time of year to visit Fiji' because of the beautiful weather!!!
Unfortunately, the weather did not much improve for the rest of our time in Fiji (neither did the food), and our tans started to turn dirty and we both started peeling!!
upon our return to the main island we were both so hungry, we popped into the Hard Rock Cafe for the biggest meal our stomachs could physically take - we weren't the only people who came off the boat with the same idea, and the restaurant was pretty packed of starving, peeling, people!!
But nevertheless we had a wicked time there, but both looked forward to getting to Oz and having the time of our lives - just having a good shower would be enough!!
We had a prebooked trip organised called 'The Lazy Threesome', which meant that we would be visiting three of Fiji's 330 islands over the course of a week. We boarded our bright yellow catamaran and spent the 5 hour boat trip to the Yasawa Islands enjoying the sunshine, the beautiful turquoise waters and viewing the other islands enroute to the blue lagoon region. We arrived at our first resort - Coral View - very excited! The boat stops in the middle of the sea and then tiny speed boats from the islands come to collect you - carrying our very large heavy suitcases on thier heads was a very scary thing to watch! They asked us if we were carrying our kitchen and bathroom in them, we informed them that we were not and that we were JP's - they looked confused!
The boat can only go so far and then you have to paddle through the sea to get to land! We were greeted by a chorus of 'Bulas' which means welcome in Fijian - and a song! We were taken to our Bure (which is basically a fancy word for hut) and were pleaseantly surprised that not only did we have our own bathroom but we also had electricity (not all islands in Fiji have bathrooms or electricity!!) We spent the day exploring the island. Sam made friends with a dog and Emma collected sea shells! Meal times in Fiji were an interesting time of day. Upon hearing the drums all the guests would come to the dining room where a meal would be placed in front of you - and if u didnt like it then you would go hungry!! We were often quite hungry!!! - but don't worry M and D Whiteman, Sam ate plenty...of pringles.
The following day we took a trip to the blue lagoon http://images.travelpod.com/users/philandkatrina/1.1243219125.blue-lagoon.jpg we added the pic just to make u all jealous!!!!! We were literally the only people on this beautiful deserted beach - it was incredible! The following day we headed to our next island of Korovou. HUGE excitement when we saw it had a swimming pool!!! Sam went swimming with the mantarays http://www.communingwithdolphins.com/images/manta1.gif which are basically huge stingrays which are about three times the size of him and are incredibly rare. (Emma decided to stay at the beach bar!!) The following day we woke up to the sound of rain - no not a little drizzle but a full on monsoon!! The rain was so heavy we could not see out of the windows. When it rains in Fiji there is nothing to do. We played some cards, read our books and by 9am we were bored. So, as it was Sunday, we decided the best way to kill an hour would be to take a trip to the local church and listen to the gospel singing. The rest of the island had the same idea and us tourists outnumbered the locals about 10 to 1. We spent the rest of the day feeling a bit miserable and formukating a plan to sue the lonely planet which had informed us that September was 'the perfect time of year to visit Fiji' because of the beautiful weather!!!
Unfortunately, the weather did not much improve for the rest of our time in Fiji (neither did the food), and our tans started to turn dirty and we both started peeling!!
upon our return to the main island we were both so hungry, we popped into the Hard Rock Cafe for the biggest meal our stomachs could physically take - we weren't the only people who came off the boat with the same idea, and the restaurant was pretty packed of starving, peeling, people!!
But nevertheless we had a wicked time there, but both looked forward to getting to Oz and having the time of our lives - just having a good shower would be enough!!
Friday, 4 September 2009
New Zealand - North Island
So we decided to fly rather than ferry our way to the north Island first stop to the capital Wellington, which Emma regretted slightly as the flight was so turbulent due to strong winds. The flight crew never even left their seats because it was so bad - however it was just a 40 minute flight.
As we arrived in Wellington relatively late on in the afternoon we decided to just walk around and get our barings - the city itself is only 2km wide, and far less populated than the likes of Auckland further north, so it wasn't too hard to navigate. Emma managed to find a hairdresser, which gave Sam a couple of hours to chill out.
On our second day we went to the National Museum (and we weren't even lost). There were a range of different things there like an earthquake simulator and an underwater simulator taking you to one of New Zealands many underwater volcanoes. New Zealand has a fault line running right underneath it, with around around 15,000 earthquakes every year in the country, one hitting 5 on the richter scale just last week. However, every building is earthquake proof here (so we are told), so lets not panic yet parents.
Next stop was Napier. A small coastal town with one shopping street. Our hostel was above a night club which at approx 9pm was completely dead - and we weren't going to wait till midnight when it was meant to get busier. What we hadn't counted on was the noise from the club which happened to be above our room. It was so loud we could acutally hear the words from the songs - Emma got woken up a few times and in her daze attempted to look for the phone in our room (which we didn't have) to call concierge (as if!) to complain - in the end the music stopped at around 3am, when all of 6 people left the club - what a cool place!!
The next day we headed to Rotorua! This is the most popular place for tourists in NZ and we defintely saw why.
On our first evening we went to an authentic Maori village, where we learnt all about their culture, heritage and history, as well as the dance which many of you will know the NZ rugby team do before every game - with they eyes popping out and tongues wagging. We then had an amazing dinner buffet laid out for us (the main reason we went!), with every kind of meat, potato, vegetable etc.
With some others from the bus we have been travelling on, we decided to go...white water rafting (sorry dad). This was a grade 5 rafting adventure, which means it is the roughest one allowed!! With 3 waterfalls, one of which is a 7m fall (the largest waterfall you can raft over in the world!), we were so excited given the disappointment over our failure to do all the exciting stuff in the south island. Emma was pretty scared (to say the least) about the thought of landing upside down in the raft.
The waters were rough but we managed the first 2 waterfalls with relative ease. The 2 guides on our boat prepared us for the 7m fall - hang on for your life; if u fall off do not try and swim up, wrap yourself in a ball and let your life jacket do its job. Before we did it, one of our guides got a silver leaf (a Maori tradition) and asked emma to throw it in the water. If it landed silver side, we would land safely, if it went green, then prepare to get cold. It landed Silver side up!! Phew!!
The leaf lied! We went over a little too far to the left, but managed to get over the waterfall ok. However when entering the water the raft tipped upside down throwing each of us in different directions. The water was very very cold. I (sam) ended up under the raft where I held on to the rope) Emma ended up out of the raft. It was a hell of an experience where two of us lost our rowing ors, but apart from being very cold, we were fine!
From rotorua we have finally headed to our final destination in NZ - Auckland. It is the most densley populated city in NZ with a little over 1.5 million people (NZ only has 4 million pop.) We didn't hear great things about Auckland from everyone, and there is a saying known as JAFA which is used frequently in the south island - Just Another F****** Aucklander; so we didn't expect much -lucky that, as for such a 'busy' city, there is very little do actually do - apart from being dragged round Pandaro shops for an afternoon and watch your gf get her nails done (we bring a new meaning to the word backpackers).
Today we leave for FIJI! We are so excited, though a little apprehensive about what we get for our 250 pounds for an entire weeks accomodation and food.
Hope all is well back home, miss u all
Sam and Em!
xxx
As we arrived in Wellington relatively late on in the afternoon we decided to just walk around and get our barings - the city itself is only 2km wide, and far less populated than the likes of Auckland further north, so it wasn't too hard to navigate. Emma managed to find a hairdresser, which gave Sam a couple of hours to chill out.
On our second day we went to the National Museum (and we weren't even lost). There were a range of different things there like an earthquake simulator and an underwater simulator taking you to one of New Zealands many underwater volcanoes. New Zealand has a fault line running right underneath it, with around around 15,000 earthquakes every year in the country, one hitting 5 on the richter scale just last week. However, every building is earthquake proof here (so we are told), so lets not panic yet parents.
Next stop was Napier. A small coastal town with one shopping street. Our hostel was above a night club which at approx 9pm was completely dead - and we weren't going to wait till midnight when it was meant to get busier. What we hadn't counted on was the noise from the club which happened to be above our room. It was so loud we could acutally hear the words from the songs - Emma got woken up a few times and in her daze attempted to look for the phone in our room (which we didn't have) to call concierge (as if!) to complain - in the end the music stopped at around 3am, when all of 6 people left the club - what a cool place!!
The next day we headed to Rotorua! This is the most popular place for tourists in NZ and we defintely saw why.
On our first evening we went to an authentic Maori village, where we learnt all about their culture, heritage and history, as well as the dance which many of you will know the NZ rugby team do before every game - with they eyes popping out and tongues wagging. We then had an amazing dinner buffet laid out for us (the main reason we went!), with every kind of meat, potato, vegetable etc.
With some others from the bus we have been travelling on, we decided to go...white water rafting (sorry dad). This was a grade 5 rafting adventure, which means it is the roughest one allowed!! With 3 waterfalls, one of which is a 7m fall (the largest waterfall you can raft over in the world!), we were so excited given the disappointment over our failure to do all the exciting stuff in the south island. Emma was pretty scared (to say the least) about the thought of landing upside down in the raft.
The waters were rough but we managed the first 2 waterfalls with relative ease. The 2 guides on our boat prepared us for the 7m fall - hang on for your life; if u fall off do not try and swim up, wrap yourself in a ball and let your life jacket do its job. Before we did it, one of our guides got a silver leaf (a Maori tradition) and asked emma to throw it in the water. If it landed silver side, we would land safely, if it went green, then prepare to get cold. It landed Silver side up!! Phew!!
The leaf lied! We went over a little too far to the left, but managed to get over the waterfall ok. However when entering the water the raft tipped upside down throwing each of us in different directions. The water was very very cold. I (sam) ended up under the raft where I held on to the rope) Emma ended up out of the raft. It was a hell of an experience where two of us lost our rowing ors, but apart from being very cold, we were fine!
From rotorua we have finally headed to our final destination in NZ - Auckland. It is the most densley populated city in NZ with a little over 1.5 million people (NZ only has 4 million pop.) We didn't hear great things about Auckland from everyone, and there is a saying known as JAFA which is used frequently in the south island - Just Another F****** Aucklander; so we didn't expect much -lucky that, as for such a 'busy' city, there is very little do actually do - apart from being dragged round Pandaro shops for an afternoon and watch your gf get her nails done (we bring a new meaning to the word backpackers).
Today we leave for FIJI! We are so excited, though a little apprehensive about what we get for our 250 pounds for an entire weeks accomodation and food.
Hope all is well back home, miss u all
Sam and Em!
xxx
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