Not alot to report this week to be honest. Working as usual glass collecting at Fusion and might have got myself a job doing promo for Stray Travel aswell but we'll see what comes of that.
Got in trouble with Nomad's management again nearly. Got really really bored on Sunday and built myself a kick ass fort in the room which we got told to take down a few days later by the hostel (despite them being very impressed at our handy work!)
There's been more episodes of hostel drama (sometimes i swear it would be a better watch than any other soap!). Jack couldn't afford to stay in the hostel anymore so i let him into a secret that he could just squat here by leaving his gear in my room and sleeping in the tv lounge then moving into the library early in the morning for some more kip. Well Sharon saw him one night and said he could sleep in her bed and nothing would happen, well something did happen but not of that variety. They awoke to the girls gossiping and bitching in the room which aparantly is a regular occurance, only this time they didn't realise one of the people they were bitching about were in the room, Jack. He heard everything and lay there for 2 hours listening to it before getting out of the bed (its covered by a sheet so no one can see in the bunk) and saying something. This has caused a fair few awkward days and moments. I like to think of myself as a loyal person and I've tried to be so I stuck by Jack's side and stood my ground by not speaking to or being around the girls meaning not seeing the boys which was hard but had to be done. Only the night after he left did I get an apology of Sinead but not the other 2 which quite frankly is a piss take. Theres been a fair bit of bed roulette in the room (not on my part though, ive stayed in my bed!) which has been funny. Richard also left which was disappointing and is the start of 'the group' falling apart as the girls are leaving on Sunday and taking Sam and Lewis with them.
I finally got out into the suburbs of Auckland during the day with Chris, Emma and Jess from the room. We went to Newmarket to do some shopping and run through the fountain... okay maybe only Me and Chris wanted to do that but we got the girls involved anyway despite their awful attempt fighting us off haha.
Hopefully if the weathers nice I might get to go over to Waiheke again this weekend!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Japanese Karaoke Bar!
The accomodation situation has sorted itself out now. Most of the guys are up at Frienz while me, adam, kirsten, daisy, madeline, raks and sharon have stuck around at nomads as we all have work here and quite like comfy beds!
A new group is starting to emmerge now a little bit as more long termers have moved into the hostel. There a good bunch and ive been joined by 2 more scousers! get in!
Not too much to report on really except a couple of mad nights out. 2 of them involving a japanese karaoke bar. After quite a dilute night at Code on Sunday a few of us decided we would try and do some karaoke at QF Tavern but it was dead so somehow stumbled into the karaoke bar. Its actually pretty good, you get your own private room and the guy lets us smuggle alcohol inside... so i went on monday with a group of brittish guys and girls who were leaving the next day! This week I was greeted with 2 suprises... the first was that danny and james were back in town and the 2nd was that Jack got back yesterday. So as per usual, we made a night of it. We went out with a few girls from Jacks room that i met at Cassette on tuesday. It was quite a mild night considering it was student night but was cool 'cos Anna was out with her mates aswell. 2 plus notes though, kiwi dave got a job and as did Adam but with coca cola and he gets a company car so lots of little road trips to the middle of nowhere!
A new group is starting to emmerge now a little bit as more long termers have moved into the hostel. There a good bunch and ive been joined by 2 more scousers! get in!
Not too much to report on really except a couple of mad nights out. 2 of them involving a japanese karaoke bar. After quite a dilute night at Code on Sunday a few of us decided we would try and do some karaoke at QF Tavern but it was dead so somehow stumbled into the karaoke bar. Its actually pretty good, you get your own private room and the guy lets us smuggle alcohol inside... so i went on monday with a group of brittish guys and girls who were leaving the next day! This week I was greeted with 2 suprises... the first was that danny and james were back in town and the 2nd was that Jack got back yesterday. So as per usual, we made a night of it. We went out with a few girls from Jacks room that i met at Cassette on tuesday. It was quite a mild night considering it was student night but was cool 'cos Anna was out with her mates aswell. 2 plus notes though, kiwi dave got a job and as did Adam but with coca cola and he gets a company car so lots of little road trips to the middle of nowhere!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Back In Auckland!
So I've been back about 2 weeks now and let's say it's been eventful as always!
I couldn't do anything at all for a few nights cos of my illness but I bagged myself a work for accomodation job but quit after a week (I thought I was just making beds and general spring cleaning, turns out i was scrubbing walls and showers for 3 hours a day solid) Had a few messy nights which were fun but caused more bad than good but I'll come back to that!
Saw Dave and Biff for a couple of days and had a few quiet drinks before they left for home. A few days later Jack, Adam, Cassie and Luke turned up so met up with them for a little bit but they were only passing through. Then out of the blue Jack from the mental 2 nights in Hong Kong showed up out of the blue before going to Queeny! Now as suspected we had a crazy night with my kiwi mate Dave which neither of us can really remember except the end where me and Jack ended up hooking up with the same girl resulting in some great banter the past few days!
Also I finally got to see the movie 'Boy' with Adam and Marc. It's a kiwi comedy film and it was excellent! some great lines in it and if anyone back home ever gets a chance to see it then i really recommened it!
Just for giggles one day me, marc and G (this irish girl we met who knows most of the Leinster team which was mad) went down to the harbour to drink all day and night resulting in neither of us remembering anything from that night but in our defence it was a gorgeous day and needed to be done.
This weekend was Jasons birthday so we went out celebrating on friday, saturday, sunday and monday. Which brings onto the 'more bad than good' thing.
So this weekend we've been quiet rowdy and drunken and its been pretty epic. We played Centurion(1 shot of beer or wine every minute for 100 minutes) on the Saturday and Monday. Monday we started at half 8 and we had no idea the consequences this would cause. We woke up thinking wow that was a good night, then we looked at our doors. There was a sign on my dorm room saying "Dear Guests of 208. Could Marc, Jason, Lewis and Richard please come down to the cafe at 9am in the morning to speak to the management about a few issues" (sam had one too), not good.
We thought this was just going to be a warning about our behaviour and a slap on the wrist. Well This morning I woke to Jason saying that they all got kicked and theres no way around it. They even tried to get the names of us others out of them so we've had a manic morning trying to find a hostel that would accomodate 15 beds and have us all on the same floor. We went to the fat camel but Fusion phoned just as we arrived saying we wernt allowed to stay so that was them crossed off. Luckily We found a hostel by the name of Frendz which is bad but just not as good as fusion.
After some thinking me, kirsten, sinead and adam are staying for a few more days to get our nights we've already payed for plus I feel kinda bad as Raks is staying and pretty much has to as he works for accomodation and cant afford to lose that job and would be on his own if we all left right away. Its been wierd but fuck it was a good weekend!
I couldn't do anything at all for a few nights cos of my illness but I bagged myself a work for accomodation job but quit after a week (I thought I was just making beds and general spring cleaning, turns out i was scrubbing walls and showers for 3 hours a day solid) Had a few messy nights which were fun but caused more bad than good but I'll come back to that!
Saw Dave and Biff for a couple of days and had a few quiet drinks before they left for home. A few days later Jack, Adam, Cassie and Luke turned up so met up with them for a little bit but they were only passing through. Then out of the blue Jack from the mental 2 nights in Hong Kong showed up out of the blue before going to Queeny! Now as suspected we had a crazy night with my kiwi mate Dave which neither of us can really remember except the end where me and Jack ended up hooking up with the same girl resulting in some great banter the past few days!
Also I finally got to see the movie 'Boy' with Adam and Marc. It's a kiwi comedy film and it was excellent! some great lines in it and if anyone back home ever gets a chance to see it then i really recommened it!
Just for giggles one day me, marc and G (this irish girl we met who knows most of the Leinster team which was mad) went down to the harbour to drink all day and night resulting in neither of us remembering anything from that night but in our defence it was a gorgeous day and needed to be done.
This weekend was Jasons birthday so we went out celebrating on friday, saturday, sunday and monday. Which brings onto the 'more bad than good' thing.
So this weekend we've been quiet rowdy and drunken and its been pretty epic. We played Centurion(1 shot of beer or wine every minute for 100 minutes) on the Saturday and Monday. Monday we started at half 8 and we had no idea the consequences this would cause. We woke up thinking wow that was a good night, then we looked at our doors. There was a sign on my dorm room saying "Dear Guests of 208. Could Marc, Jason, Lewis and Richard please come down to the cafe at 9am in the morning to speak to the management about a few issues" (sam had one too), not good.
We thought this was just going to be a warning about our behaviour and a slap on the wrist. Well This morning I woke to Jason saying that they all got kicked and theres no way around it. They even tried to get the names of us others out of them so we've had a manic morning trying to find a hostel that would accomodate 15 beds and have us all on the same floor. We went to the fat camel but Fusion phoned just as we arrived saying we wernt allowed to stay so that was them crossed off. Luckily We found a hostel by the name of Frendz which is bad but just not as good as fusion.
After some thinking me, kirsten, sinead and adam are staying for a few more days to get our nights we've already payed for plus I feel kinda bad as Raks is staying and pretty much has to as he works for accomodation and cant afford to lose that job and would be on his own if we all left right away. Its been wierd but fuck it was a good weekend!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Queeny to Auckland
The next few days I didn't really do anything, Didn't have any money to go out and to be honest, didn't fancy it either. I wasnt waking up til mid day so i wasnt doing anything during the day. Its a great way to save money.
Me and Luke ended up picking up a cold and was really struggling with it so we literally just didnt leave our beds except to eat and when we went to the cinema again to watch the blindside. It was quality and we ended up being on the reclining leather seats on the balcony which made it even better.
Christchurch
I think we were quite thankfull to leave Queeny in the end as it was wierd not having anyone around. The sedburgh rugby boys were on our bus aswell and seemed to be struggling with the cold aswell which was good as we made a pact that we were just going to sleep. The driver had said that the journey was meant to be the worst one as it was the longest (which is true) but we slept the whole way and watched a couple of dvds so it was all good.
We got to Christchurch about 5pm after stopping off at a couple of lakes and granted they were pretty but I was finding it hard to appreciate beauty as i was so cold and ill!
The hostel in CC was a shit hole. I was so glad I was only stopping over for 1 night and leaving in the morning to get my flight to Auckland. That evening we just watched a couple of episodes of family guy and fell asleep.
I woke up in the morning still feeling shit and said my goodbyes before grabbing some breakfast and catching the shuttle bus to the airport. I felt kinda sorry for Luke as he still has 10 days on the bus feeling like crap!
It has to be said that airport security in NZ really is quite shite. I walked through with a bottle of Water the whole way and onto the flight without being questioned or told to put it in the bin... nice.
Christchurch had been blessed with a gorgeous day, unlike Auckland where there was a storm! lovely. Just what I wanted... rain, cold and wind.
Auckland
I landed about half 2 and got back to the hostel about 4 which was nice as I had time to get my stuff sorted before finding everyone. It felt really good to be back and I was put at ease when I saw Tristan and he told me to go down to reception at 9 the following morning to sort out work for accomodation.
I sat off in the boys room for a couple of hours and got caught up on all the gossip from the past few weeks and yeah, there was loads of good stuff! That evening i blagged myself a work for accomodation meal just like old times. I was treated to a suprise... As i was about to order my meal, guess who should walk in...
Dave and Biff! I had thought everyone was long gone from Auckland but their flight isnt til Saturday morning so they were staying up in Base. Aparantly Laura was knocking around Fusion aswell somewhere. Now a common theme that happens to me appears to have not died whilst I've been on my travels... Once I have a couple of drinks with my meal I end up going out. This was the case again. Yes im still ill aswell. It was an average night to be honest and only me sharon ryan the canadian and a couple of his friends went out. I bumped into Anna aswell which was nice.
This morning though- in fact all of today- has been a complete write off. Ive felt so bad.. worse than before so ive been in bed all day except for when i went to IEP to use the free internet and saw dave in the tv room in fusion.
Me and Luke ended up picking up a cold and was really struggling with it so we literally just didnt leave our beds except to eat and when we went to the cinema again to watch the blindside. It was quality and we ended up being on the reclining leather seats on the balcony which made it even better.
Christchurch
I think we were quite thankfull to leave Queeny in the end as it was wierd not having anyone around. The sedburgh rugby boys were on our bus aswell and seemed to be struggling with the cold aswell which was good as we made a pact that we were just going to sleep. The driver had said that the journey was meant to be the worst one as it was the longest (which is true) but we slept the whole way and watched a couple of dvds so it was all good.
We got to Christchurch about 5pm after stopping off at a couple of lakes and granted they were pretty but I was finding it hard to appreciate beauty as i was so cold and ill!
The hostel in CC was a shit hole. I was so glad I was only stopping over for 1 night and leaving in the morning to get my flight to Auckland. That evening we just watched a couple of episodes of family guy and fell asleep.
I woke up in the morning still feeling shit and said my goodbyes before grabbing some breakfast and catching the shuttle bus to the airport. I felt kinda sorry for Luke as he still has 10 days on the bus feeling like crap!
It has to be said that airport security in NZ really is quite shite. I walked through with a bottle of Water the whole way and onto the flight without being questioned or told to put it in the bin... nice.
Christchurch had been blessed with a gorgeous day, unlike Auckland where there was a storm! lovely. Just what I wanted... rain, cold and wind.
Auckland
I landed about half 2 and got back to the hostel about 4 which was nice as I had time to get my stuff sorted before finding everyone. It felt really good to be back and I was put at ease when I saw Tristan and he told me to go down to reception at 9 the following morning to sort out work for accomodation.
I sat off in the boys room for a couple of hours and got caught up on all the gossip from the past few weeks and yeah, there was loads of good stuff! That evening i blagged myself a work for accomodation meal just like old times. I was treated to a suprise... As i was about to order my meal, guess who should walk in...
Dave and Biff! I had thought everyone was long gone from Auckland but their flight isnt til Saturday morning so they were staying up in Base. Aparantly Laura was knocking around Fusion aswell somewhere. Now a common theme that happens to me appears to have not died whilst I've been on my travels... Once I have a couple of drinks with my meal I end up going out. This was the case again. Yes im still ill aswell. It was an average night to be honest and only me sharon ryan the canadian and a couple of his friends went out. I bumped into Anna aswell which was nice.
This morning though- in fact all of today- has been a complete write off. Ive felt so bad.. worse than before so ive been in bed all day except for when i went to IEP to use the free internet and saw dave in the tv room in fusion.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Queenstown
We rolled out of Lake Wanaka and headed towards Queenstown. As the crow flys the journey is around 30km but because of the mountains between us and Queeny, our journey was more than double that. We stopped off at Puzzle World which really brought out the little kid in us all. There was a big labrynth maze and a room of illusions which was pretty cool. The maze was abit of a mission to get round and very frustrating. The idea of it was to get to the top of the 4 towers located in each corner and cleverly there was a series of bridges in the middle so you couldnt cheat your way to winning. Me and Jack got pissed off after 2 towers and headed for the exit. We stopped a couple more times for the standard photo opportunites but this time round it was genuinely breathtaking with the mountains in the background. For lunch we stopped at a little town outside Queeny called Arrowtown. Me, jack and adam treated ourselves to a pint and some pub lunch which was gorgeous, especially in the afternoon sun. Next stop was at the first commercial bungy jump site for everyone to book their bungys. When we rolled into Queeny we could clearly see it had flooded, the streets more towards the waterfront were completely drowned but the flood doesnt come up too far. We all stopped at the lake for a big group photo
for the kiwi ex. website then rolled on to our hostels. Most of us are either in base or nomads. The nomads hostel is the best hostel ive been in so far and i'll tell you why in one sentance. As im typing this our im on a leather sofa next to a log fire with a pool table and a balcony in my peripheral vision. Last night was a big night again, just like wellington. Unfortunately I really can't remember anything except that we were all playing ring of fire til 10(aparantly), i bumped into the 2 austrian girls i met in auckland, tim the welsh guy and the 3 irish girls who were on the stray bus. oh and i kissed becky again which was a suprise to me when i woke up in the morning. Today has been another write off, i have literally just been walking round like a mong and its taken me 4 hours to actually do anything! Tonights the blindfolded bar crawl so that, as last night was, should be very interesting!
The blindfolded bar crawl was absolute carnage. Me and Jack shared a blindfold, as did Luke and Adam. In the first bar we had a pull ups competition to win a free sky dive which was pretty funny, especially when the girls had to do it. The bar crawl consisted of 6 bars with 6 free drinks and you had to lead your partner to the next bar blindfolded or to add abit of fun, you could lead them into a lamp post (sorry again Jack). After 3 bars it was my turn to throw on the blindfold.
The last leg of the crawl was at World Bar where we met up with the boys from the other bus. It was a pretty good night, with a fair bit of gossip floating around the next morning.
As with most days, I havn't done anuything as I've been just too hungover to move!
We had planned for another bar crawl the next night but most of us arrived just too late and couldn't be bothered to go in so as per usual it was just another drinking session in world bar and as per usual, i cant remember anything (especially as im writing this days after the event so everythings blurred into one!)
It took quite awile for me to get up for going but I had to as it was Stuart, Ian, Becky, Laura, Sophia and Liv's last night. We all aranged to start drinking in his room before heading out and as with most nights we ended up in World Bar. We got a good crowd together and it was just like old times going out with the old bus again! And I was back to my ways, not remembering anything from the night before except getting a massive round of jaegerbombs! I think it was that point me and Becky said our goodbyes and left.
The next day me and the boys decided that tonight was going to be a complete write off so we decided to go the cinema. The guys checked out times and everything and I just stayed in bed all day dying slowly! We went to see Iron Man 2 and fuck was it good! It was funny just seeing how excited Luke was to see it, he was like a little kid throughout the whole movie and especially at the end for the secret scene.
We got an early night that night but I still slept for about 15 hours, might have been a catch up on sleep from the previous nights! I finally sorted out my vodafone bill and actually was outside the hostel for more than 15 minutes this time!
Tonight was another night that was planning to be huge... The posh girls (lexy, jess, georgia and tash) last night aswell as emily, laura, lindsay and aimie's. I had got quite close to Tash and Georgia so really wasnt looking forward to saying goodbye to them. After a couple of hours drinking in the kitchen we left for world bar in 2 different groups, i had left with the posh girls and their friends but got bored after an hour or so in world bar so i left and told them i would see them off in the morning.
I got up bright and early (half 7) to go down to reception to see the girls off. I'll tell you one thing, goodbyes don't get easier so i went back to bed for a few more hours. Today me jack and luke just walked round for a couple of hours, booked jacks fiji pass then got some pizza and watched the first iron man. If your abit skint there really isnt too much to do in Queenstown as all the bungys, skydives, rafting, jet boating are expensive and as are the nights out!
As much as it is expensive, it is a really cool town to be in and I cant wait to get back here next year around ski season!
for the kiwi ex. website then rolled on to our hostels. Most of us are either in base or nomads. The nomads hostel is the best hostel ive been in so far and i'll tell you why in one sentance. As im typing this our im on a leather sofa next to a log fire with a pool table and a balcony in my peripheral vision. Last night was a big night again, just like wellington. Unfortunately I really can't remember anything except that we were all playing ring of fire til 10(aparantly), i bumped into the 2 austrian girls i met in auckland, tim the welsh guy and the 3 irish girls who were on the stray bus. oh and i kissed becky again which was a suprise to me when i woke up in the morning. Today has been another write off, i have literally just been walking round like a mong and its taken me 4 hours to actually do anything! Tonights the blindfolded bar crawl so that, as last night was, should be very interesting!
The blindfolded bar crawl was absolute carnage. Me and Jack shared a blindfold, as did Luke and Adam. In the first bar we had a pull ups competition to win a free sky dive which was pretty funny, especially when the girls had to do it. The bar crawl consisted of 6 bars with 6 free drinks and you had to lead your partner to the next bar blindfolded or to add abit of fun, you could lead them into a lamp post (sorry again Jack). After 3 bars it was my turn to throw on the blindfold.
The last leg of the crawl was at World Bar where we met up with the boys from the other bus. It was a pretty good night, with a fair bit of gossip floating around the next morning.
As with most days, I havn't done anuything as I've been just too hungover to move!
We had planned for another bar crawl the next night but most of us arrived just too late and couldn't be bothered to go in so as per usual it was just another drinking session in world bar and as per usual, i cant remember anything (especially as im writing this days after the event so everythings blurred into one!)
It took quite awile for me to get up for going but I had to as it was Stuart, Ian, Becky, Laura, Sophia and Liv's last night. We all aranged to start drinking in his room before heading out and as with most nights we ended up in World Bar. We got a good crowd together and it was just like old times going out with the old bus again! And I was back to my ways, not remembering anything from the night before except getting a massive round of jaegerbombs! I think it was that point me and Becky said our goodbyes and left.
The next day me and the boys decided that tonight was going to be a complete write off so we decided to go the cinema. The guys checked out times and everything and I just stayed in bed all day dying slowly! We went to see Iron Man 2 and fuck was it good! It was funny just seeing how excited Luke was to see it, he was like a little kid throughout the whole movie and especially at the end for the secret scene.
We got an early night that night but I still slept for about 15 hours, might have been a catch up on sleep from the previous nights! I finally sorted out my vodafone bill and actually was outside the hostel for more than 15 minutes this time!
Tonight was another night that was planning to be huge... The posh girls (lexy, jess, georgia and tash) last night aswell as emily, laura, lindsay and aimie's. I had got quite close to Tash and Georgia so really wasnt looking forward to saying goodbye to them. After a couple of hours drinking in the kitchen we left for world bar in 2 different groups, i had left with the posh girls and their friends but got bored after an hour or so in world bar so i left and told them i would see them off in the morning.
I got up bright and early (half 7) to go down to reception to see the girls off. I'll tell you one thing, goodbyes don't get easier so i went back to bed for a few more hours. Today me jack and luke just walked round for a couple of hours, booked jacks fiji pass then got some pizza and watched the first iron man. If your abit skint there really isnt too much to do in Queenstown as all the bungys, skydives, rafting, jet boating are expensive and as are the nights out!
As much as it is expensive, it is a really cool town to be in and I cant wait to get back here next year around ski season!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Calm Before The Storm That Will Be Queenstown
Westport
We left early in the morning stopping off at the Nelson Lakes to take a perfect postcard picture but unfortunately it was raining so badly we couldn't see the view of the mountains in the background.
The rain had meant we couldn't really stop off anywhere so we just cruised straight to Westport. There wasn't a whole lot to do in Westport so we just got some food from the supermarket and watched 2 Lord of the Rings back to back and retired to bed.
Poo Pub
We left fairly early in the morning for this small hostel in the middle of nowhere by Lake Mahinapua and every night they host a fancy dress for the kiwi experience bus. I really did feel like the bus had been split up as now we had only around half of the people we originally started off with and the bus behind us had filled in the spaces.
I pretty much slept the whole way except for when we stopped off to go see a seal colony and at Greymouth to go buy our fancy dress. The theme of the party was 'P', I really couldn't think of what to go as and didn't want to do the obvious pirate thing. After looking around I decided on going as a playboy bunny girl, and it was cheap. We got to the hostel and checked into our rooms.
They were extrememly basic but then again we wern't going to be in the rooms long. Me and some of the new guys on the bus went down the beach to play a game of touch. It was absolutely freezing and raining hard but it just felt so good to play some rugby again. I had time to jump in the shower and warm back up before our feed. Our meal was $12 and completely worth it...
a steak, venison stew, some roast potatoes, salad, pasta and some bread and butter. Afterwards we went to the bar for a drink before going back to the room to get ready for the evening. The phrase "go hard or go home" had been coming into it's own on the trip and tonight was one of them. I gave in and after some peer pressue, me luke and adam had the girls put some make up on us, which was outrageous but to be honest, we did look good! It was a pretty good night and everyone had good costumes on. No real gossip from the night as everyone I think had looked back on Wellington and decided it would be best to be on their best behaviour!
Franz Josef
Everyone woke up with sore heads and poorly stomachs, telling stories from the night before e.g Lexy's mission to bed early as she peaked too soon. The highlight being her faceplanting the floor and taking tash with her possibly breaking some bones in Tash's hand! Again the rain was pouring down so we only really got off the bus once at the Bushman's centre. Basically its just a cafe and a museum dedicated to deer farming and possums. It was quite wierd and pretty boring to be honest, except when we started playing with the eels.
We were stopping a couple of times for toilet breaks and odd 15minute walks to see some scenary but the majority of us just stayed on the bus and slept. I had real trouble getting my make up off in the morning so it was pretty much left on all day making me look like Russell Brand.
When we got to Franz Josef we went to book our Glacier trips for the day after. It was all quite exciting and scary at the same time. That night most of us just grabbed some kip knowing we were up early in the morning to check in for our hike. We were given our outer layers but told to wear 4 layers ourselves which seemed abit over the top.
The glacier is quite unique due to it's position and how near to sea level it is. The hike was a full day one and we wernt even going that far. It was a 2.6km walk before we got to the bottom of the glacier along the river and rocks. I jumped in the first group as I knew I was going to get impatient having to wait for others.
Half way up the climb we got a tunnel we were supposed to climb up through but because of the rain all, the steps were supposed to be taking were worn away so our guide had to spend an hour haking away at the ice to create a path for us. The pouring rain and cold was having an effect on us and really making us want to turn back even at half way. I couldn't think straight or clench my hand.
We manned up eventually made it up where we supposed to get to. The view from the top was amazing but all we could think was hot food! That night we had a few drinks and played some pool before the bar pulled out bar games. Me and jack entered in a game called bar rafting. You had to dress up in rafting gear then piggy back your way to the end of the bar then slalom back down to the bar have a shot then get unchanged. Me and jack fucked up on the first shot and got a 5 second penalty which ended up putting us in 2nd place.
Lake Wanaka
We left early in the morning again because we were told that at Lake Matheson we could take a picture of a perfect reflection of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman. It was pretty impressive but we were so cold i called out the 2 picture policy and got back onto the bus asap. Again we all fell asleep along the way except for stopping off at thunder falls to take some pictures and the blue pools. The blue pools were absolute let down as we went the wrong way so spent the half hour we had just skimming stones in the river. We've arrived at Lake Wanaka and just been the supermarket to grab some food. The call for tonight is just chilling as we know we have Queenstown coming out and that is going to be 6 days of mega hard drinking! That is if it isn't completely flooded. The boys and girls from the bus ahead of us that only spent 1 night in Nelson have been keeping us informed and aparantly the flooding is going to get worse which should be interesting.
We left early in the morning stopping off at the Nelson Lakes to take a perfect postcard picture but unfortunately it was raining so badly we couldn't see the view of the mountains in the background.
The rain had meant we couldn't really stop off anywhere so we just cruised straight to Westport. There wasn't a whole lot to do in Westport so we just got some food from the supermarket and watched 2 Lord of the Rings back to back and retired to bed.
Poo Pub
We left fairly early in the morning for this small hostel in the middle of nowhere by Lake Mahinapua and every night they host a fancy dress for the kiwi experience bus. I really did feel like the bus had been split up as now we had only around half of the people we originally started off with and the bus behind us had filled in the spaces.
I pretty much slept the whole way except for when we stopped off to go see a seal colony and at Greymouth to go buy our fancy dress. The theme of the party was 'P', I really couldn't think of what to go as and didn't want to do the obvious pirate thing. After looking around I decided on going as a playboy bunny girl, and it was cheap. We got to the hostel and checked into our rooms.
They were extrememly basic but then again we wern't going to be in the rooms long. Me and some of the new guys on the bus went down the beach to play a game of touch. It was absolutely freezing and raining hard but it just felt so good to play some rugby again. I had time to jump in the shower and warm back up before our feed. Our meal was $12 and completely worth it...
a steak, venison stew, some roast potatoes, salad, pasta and some bread and butter. Afterwards we went to the bar for a drink before going back to the room to get ready for the evening. The phrase "go hard or go home" had been coming into it's own on the trip and tonight was one of them. I gave in and after some peer pressue, me luke and adam had the girls put some make up on us, which was outrageous but to be honest, we did look good! It was a pretty good night and everyone had good costumes on. No real gossip from the night as everyone I think had looked back on Wellington and decided it would be best to be on their best behaviour!
Franz Josef
Everyone woke up with sore heads and poorly stomachs, telling stories from the night before e.g Lexy's mission to bed early as she peaked too soon. The highlight being her faceplanting the floor and taking tash with her possibly breaking some bones in Tash's hand! Again the rain was pouring down so we only really got off the bus once at the Bushman's centre. Basically its just a cafe and a museum dedicated to deer farming and possums. It was quite wierd and pretty boring to be honest, except when we started playing with the eels.
We were stopping a couple of times for toilet breaks and odd 15minute walks to see some scenary but the majority of us just stayed on the bus and slept. I had real trouble getting my make up off in the morning so it was pretty much left on all day making me look like Russell Brand.
When we got to Franz Josef we went to book our Glacier trips for the day after. It was all quite exciting and scary at the same time. That night most of us just grabbed some kip knowing we were up early in the morning to check in for our hike. We were given our outer layers but told to wear 4 layers ourselves which seemed abit over the top.
The glacier is quite unique due to it's position and how near to sea level it is. The hike was a full day one and we wernt even going that far. It was a 2.6km walk before we got to the bottom of the glacier along the river and rocks. I jumped in the first group as I knew I was going to get impatient having to wait for others.
Half way up the climb we got a tunnel we were supposed to climb up through but because of the rain all, the steps were supposed to be taking were worn away so our guide had to spend an hour haking away at the ice to create a path for us. The pouring rain and cold was having an effect on us and really making us want to turn back even at half way. I couldn't think straight or clench my hand.
We manned up eventually made it up where we supposed to get to. The view from the top was amazing but all we could think was hot food! That night we had a few drinks and played some pool before the bar pulled out bar games. Me and jack entered in a game called bar rafting. You had to dress up in rafting gear then piggy back your way to the end of the bar then slalom back down to the bar have a shot then get unchanged. Me and jack fucked up on the first shot and got a 5 second penalty which ended up putting us in 2nd place.
Lake Wanaka
We left early in the morning again because we were told that at Lake Matheson we could take a picture of a perfect reflection of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman. It was pretty impressive but we were so cold i called out the 2 picture policy and got back onto the bus asap. Again we all fell asleep along the way except for stopping off at thunder falls to take some pictures and the blue pools. The blue pools were absolute let down as we went the wrong way so spent the half hour we had just skimming stones in the river. We've arrived at Lake Wanaka and just been the supermarket to grab some food. The call for tonight is just chilling as we know we have Queenstown coming out and that is going to be 6 days of mega hard drinking! That is if it isn't completely flooded. The boys and girls from the bus ahead of us that only spent 1 night in Nelson have been keeping us informed and aparantly the flooding is going to get worse which should be interesting.
Monday, April 26, 2010
A Very Late Blog Entry!
Auckland
So we arrived back in Auckland for the night and I believe my timing was impecible as it was wet t-shirt competition night! I managed to check myself back into 204 with the boys.
After sorting out my washing and everything we mad our plan for the night. Free meal at half 7, drinking on the roof until 10 then down to the bar for one wet and wild night. For some unknown reason a few us decided we would go out dressed quite smart but fuck did we dress to impress! It was great to suprise the lads and have a proper last night out together before I left for possibly not seeing most of them again.
Mercury Bay
I actually don't think I slept at all the night before and got on the bus still pretty drunk which was fun... not.
We did the usual touristy visit up Mt. Eden before heading out of Auckland towards Mercury Bay in the Coromandel Peninsula. Our driver Murray was pretty cool and had us doing musical chairs so we got to know people on the bus. this basically just involved us talking to another person for the duration of a song then the people in the aisle moving up/down a seat.
The tide was high so we couldn't visit the famous hot water beach so we just cruised straight on the Cathedral Cove. Luckily the sun was shining again and after a long walk down to the beach, we saw why it was worth the effort. We were surrounded by White cliffs with random caves and walkways eroded through the middle of them. There was a rock in the middle of the bay which we all jumped off, standard. That night we stayed at a really cool little backpackers called Turtle Cove. It was run by a really laid back old couple. We finally got a nice mattress to sleep on and luckily
for me after a mix up at reception (them thinking me and emily were a couple) I got a nice double bed just for me to sleep in! We had a few drinks that night but the fact I hadnt had much sleep caught up with me and retired to bed about 9.
Rotorua
We were up bright and early in the morning to make sure we could fit everything we wanted to do in for the day. First stop was the Karangahake tunnels through the mountains. This was a short walk through were the early miners used cyanide to get to gold. It was kinda cool crossing the swing bridges and walking along pitch black tunnels with a few glow worms dotted around. Back on the bus and after an hour or so
we reached Matamata also known as Hobbiton. A short walk from the township was were Peter Jackson filmed the scenes from the shire. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see this but we got some pictures with Gollum.
Next stop was Rotorua. The city is smack bang on a tetonic plate fault line so there was plenty of geothermal activity which was cool to look at but it did leave a nasty stench throughout the whole city!
That afternoon most of the bus went up the gondola to do some lugeing. We each got 5 rides and gave ourselves 3 rides each to get used to the courses and steering before racing down the intermediate circuit.
There were some accidents including Eric our californian friend neary up ending an asian woman. Hayley crashing out spectacularly and Luke losing his helmet on the gondola back up which was a good laugh.
That night we nominated Eric as the cheif of our tribe as we were going to a Moari village show and needed a chief to represent us. We were greeted as all strangers were, by their haka and then shown through the village.
We were then treated to some maori song, dance and games before sitting down to a massive feed and shown how they cook their food. When we got back to the hostel we put on our glad rags and headed to the Lava Bar next door for a boogie. It was a funny night and a good way for all of us to get to know eachother.
Waitomo
We set off at a decent time in the morning to go see a farm style comedy show just down the road. It was actually quite funny and interesting. We got to see some sheep sheering and cow milking. The guy was basically just taking the piss out of all the aussies and koreans that were there aswell. After the show we stopped off at Agroventures next door. It had a mimic of a freefall, bunjee jump, bunjee swing, some sort of bike race and a jet power boat ride.
All of us were a little too hanging to attempt any of the activities but it was definately something I would quite like to do at some point.
We then stopped off Otorohanga, which is a small township just outside Waitomo. This was just a small food shop as all there is in Waitomo is 2 caving companies, a backpackers hostel, 5 houses and a bar.
Most of us checked in and then went off to do some caving. I and most of the others did the 3 and a half hour tubing down the caves. This was really cool, walking through the caves and going down some jumps on our rubber tubes. We stopped several times to turn off our lights and look up at the glow worms which unlike before were extremely impressive. There were thousands of them in the caves and set a good lights show. That night we were treated to a big fat steak dinner at Curly's bar just down the road from the hostel.
Taupo
After setting off in the morning for Taupo we stopped off for a little walk through the bush and caves to one of tallest trees in New Zealand, this was kind of impressive but after seeing Tanai Mahuta (the kauri tree) it wasnt that impressive.
We arrived in Taupo and headed straight for the airport to see if we could do our skydive but unfortunately the weather wouldn't permit this so some of us booked ourselves in for the morning and others later in the afternoon after their walk up Mt. Doom.
I wasn't too fussed about the 20km walk as im not much of a walker and if it's that good I can always do it at some other point. We didn't really do much that night and just retired to bed after going the supermarket and cooking a feed for 8 of us.
This morning was the morning of the most breathtaking, thrill seeking and biggest adrenaline rushing activity I've ever done... Sky diving from 15,000 ft (16,500 ft above sea level). I payed for the full monty which includes the 15,000 ft dive itself, dvd of the people on the plane diving, photos of myself, and the handycam dvd which was being held by the guy supporting me and more importantly carrying the parachute.
I wasn't too scared at all until I got to the edge of the plane and had my feet dangling out the side. After a few moments looking out into the mass of open air and the huge drop beneath me we flopped out the plane and plumeted towards the ground.
There was a minute of freefalling before the parachute was deployed. Words can't really explain the feeling you get because your brain doesnt quite register whats happening so you just feel like your flying and can have fun with it.
After everyone had got back from their activities they were doing, we went down to the bar for free pizza and start drinking. After the pizza we all went back to the rooms to start getting getting ready. Me, Eric, Luke, Adam, Emily, Aimie and Laura
just found ourselves drinking in Eric's room for hours, we were just talking and messing around before we went down to the bar. Everyone down their was smashed so I had some catching up to do... roll on jaegerbombs! I don't think I have ever drank so many in such a short space of time in my life! Strawpedos were next up and finally after a good hour or so I was at the same point as everyone else, except Laura who when I asked how much she had had to drink, she replied with "Gin".
It was a good night, with good music and good banter but everyone could see that there was alot of hormones flying off the walls, should be an interesting journey from here on out.
Taupo to River Valley
We woke up bright and early in the morning (after about 2 hours sleep for moi) and went on our way towards River Valley situated next to the Rangitikei river. We stopped off at our first stop for some brunch and a walk at where 'The Shining' was filmed.
The walk had Mt. Doom as its background which was pretty cool. There was a sweet waterfall half way around the walk so there was time to pause and take pictures and naked pictures, quite fun really. We got back on the bus and drove for another hour before reaching Tawhai Falls. This is where Gollum was filmed catching a fish and is known as Gollum's pool. There was a pretty cool jump you could do into the waterfall with a drop of about 12ft, there were some really cool pictures taken of us jumping into it, and our faces when we got out! We arrived at River Valley about 6 which gave us an hour and a half before our roast dinner so we could check in and get settled. There were 2 options, the 6 bed dorms or the 32 bed dorms. We chose the 6 bed dorm but after checking in, me and luke desperately wanted to be in the 32 bed.
It was so cool! there were 4 rows of 8 beds in the middle of the room. 2 rows on top, 2 rows underneath with the the 2 top rows back to back and the same with the bottom 2.
There was a major fuck up with the dinner. After a miscommunication on the bus, me and luke found out we wernt down for the roast dinner. Our faces were a picture of pure devastation. Neither of us had anything else to eat and had been looking forward to the roast all. Purposely not eating much so we could have a massive feed. Eric came to rescue for Luke. It was something out of the movies. He put his own hunger aside and gave up his meal for Luke as an early birthday present. Eric truely was the chief of our tribe. I had managed to blag myself left overs but they were just roast beef, sweet potatoes and veg (I don't eat sweet potatoes and very little veg). The whole situation had made things awkward in our room. Me and Luke were blaming the girls a fair bit about lack of dinner. After the meal we played a few games in the dining room/lounge, first off was the table game, where you had
to pull yourself under the table and back up the otherside. Easier said than done. Only 3 people managed to pull it off. I could swing myself around to the otherside but just couldn't get my feet or hand positioning right. Very Annoying. The next game was one where you had to keep yourself on a chair whilst clambering around it, picking up a box of matches and coming back the way you came to finally sitting back down on the chair. Only 4 people in the history of the lodge had pulled it off! no one from out group did.
Eric then pulled out a few more drinking games before we all retired to bed about 11. 12.01 came and we all woke Luke up for his birthday by giving him a massive pile on!
River Valley to Wellington
Today was the day most of us went white water rafting down the river. The rafting took about 2-3 hours down grade 3-5 rapids. Alot of hard work and teamwork was needed to get safely but it was so worth it. We had a good boat to go down with (Me, Jack, Luke and Adam) but once got used to it when started mucking around and taking the piss which to be honest made the whole day alot more fun. For example we decided when anyone goes overboard, when get back up they needed to be spanked for their indispline but that was taken to a different level (I'll let you work that out).
After the rafting, we all had minor injuries to nurse and a hungry stomach to fill so we grabbed a quick feed before jumping on the bus to go to Wellington. We only stopped off a couple of times for food as the journey was going to take all day. We got to Wellington about 7 giving us an hour or so to get ready before
we started Luke's birthday festivities! We started drinking in the room about half 8 until 11. I'm not going to lie to you, I was fucked before we even left the room, that is just what Vodka and ring of fire do to me. I do recall being the last to get ready out of the 28 people we had in our room (which was a 6 bed room)
I know this fact as I was on top of my bunk bed in just my boxers while everyone else was fully clothed. Now I don't remember leaving the room so I will try and peice together the night. Aparantly we left the room to go downstairs to the Basement Bar. In here was where Adam bought 60 jaegerbombs (2 each), Tash got kicked out for stealing a bottle of Gin from behind the bar and there was kissing thrown in their aswell (guilty). Emily had basically come out saying she likes me, which made for a very awkward conversation (I have been told since then that I didn't quite explain myself properly and she hasn't got my point)
We left there and walk around the corner to another bar. Becky couldn't get in so we went to bar next door for a few drinks in there (not that I needed any more). Somehow we all managed to reunite in a bar called Establishment.
There was a band playing for a while then the DJ kicked in. Tonight it seemed like everyone had paired off with someone for the evening (me and luke had foretold this was going to happen, ages ago) Eventually we got kicked out about 6 and went back to our rooms. More stories came out about the evening the next day but some should
not be wrote down.
The next day was a complete write off. Everyone was dying and trying to remember what happened the night before. Me and the boys took a stroll down to the museum but left after an hour to sit and chill down at the waterfront. We got back and decided that today was man day. Ruined within the hour. Aimie and Emily had invited themselves into our rooms and collapsed on our beds, leaving me and luke quite pissed off. They eventually left and we got some sleep. Tash, Georgia, Jess and Lexy were going out again that night but didn't leave our room till about half 1 and came back about 4 (pointless or what). In that time though we were given a mission to build a fort in our room.
The fun we had doing this was unbelievable. It was the best fort ever. Held together by bunkbeds, paper bags, headphones and other leads. Georgia had been put to bed in the recovery position she was that fucked.
Wellington to Nelson
We had to be downstairs at 7, which wouldn't have been too bad but we had a fort to work with. We were late downstairs but it wasn't a problem. I was greeted by a still very drunk Georgia jumping on me and stealing my hat. This was met by a massive glare from Emily (this was the first of many!) I was basically forced to sit next to G which wouldn't have been a problem, if sitting next to her didn't resemble sitting next to a child. She jumping all over me and basically being a child, it was kinda funny though. We had to say goodbye to our chief Eric which quite sad aswell, he will be missed on the bus.
We got on the massive inter-island ferry with a 3 hour journey ahead of us. Me and the boys had a quick look around the ferry before meeting up with tash and the girls in the food court and passing our for 2 hours on the tables. We woke up and got onto the bus for Nelson. G was still drunk (it was now about 2pm) We checked into our hotel and got our rooms sorted. That evening there was rugby on and a roast dinner (me and luke decided not to let the girls do our bookings and didn't want to be in their rooms) Aparantly it was getting quite obvious that we didn't want to no anymore, ah well. Most of us watched Saving Private Ryan in the TV room before bed. I lay on the floor with Tash and G as there was nowhere to sit. This was greeted by another glare. It was getting ridiculous now, literally every time I would be talking to a girl I was getting a look of death.
The next day we didn't really do much. Me, Luke and Jack went down to the supermarket, came back, cooked some food, passed out for 2 hours (My bolognese must be funny as I was tripping out. I woke up at half 5 thinking I had been talking to the girls despite them not being back from their day trip)
We decided to go to the cinema to watch Dear John that evening. Me and the girls left early to get sweets from the supermarket and get our tickets early. There 5 seats in the middle so we booked them, sat down and waited for the film to begin. Everyone else came in a few minutes after us and sat down a couple of rows infront.
I don't think Em was too happy to see me sat next to tash and g again but thats how it happen. Atleast I think she wasn't happy but im not sure if glares have 2 meanings. The film was good until the last half hour and left us all abit unsatisfied. After getting back to the hostel me, jack, luke and the girls chilled outside til the wee hours telling stories from back home and telling eachother riddles.
So we arrived back in Auckland for the night and I believe my timing was impecible as it was wet t-shirt competition night! I managed to check myself back into 204 with the boys.
After sorting out my washing and everything we mad our plan for the night. Free meal at half 7, drinking on the roof until 10 then down to the bar for one wet and wild night. For some unknown reason a few us decided we would go out dressed quite smart but fuck did we dress to impress! It was great to suprise the lads and have a proper last night out together before I left for possibly not seeing most of them again.
Mercury Bay
I actually don't think I slept at all the night before and got on the bus still pretty drunk which was fun... not.
We did the usual touristy visit up Mt. Eden before heading out of Auckland towards Mercury Bay in the Coromandel Peninsula. Our driver Murray was pretty cool and had us doing musical chairs so we got to know people on the bus. this basically just involved us talking to another person for the duration of a song then the people in the aisle moving up/down a seat.
The tide was high so we couldn't visit the famous hot water beach so we just cruised straight on the Cathedral Cove. Luckily the sun was shining again and after a long walk down to the beach, we saw why it was worth the effort. We were surrounded by White cliffs with random caves and walkways eroded through the middle of them. There was a rock in the middle of the bay which we all jumped off, standard. That night we stayed at a really cool little backpackers called Turtle Cove. It was run by a really laid back old couple. We finally got a nice mattress to sleep on and luckily
for me after a mix up at reception (them thinking me and emily were a couple) I got a nice double bed just for me to sleep in! We had a few drinks that night but the fact I hadnt had much sleep caught up with me and retired to bed about 9.
Rotorua
We were up bright and early in the morning to make sure we could fit everything we wanted to do in for the day. First stop was the Karangahake tunnels through the mountains. This was a short walk through were the early miners used cyanide to get to gold. It was kinda cool crossing the swing bridges and walking along pitch black tunnels with a few glow worms dotted around. Back on the bus and after an hour or so
we reached Matamata also known as Hobbiton. A short walk from the township was were Peter Jackson filmed the scenes from the shire. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see this but we got some pictures with Gollum.
Next stop was Rotorua. The city is smack bang on a tetonic plate fault line so there was plenty of geothermal activity which was cool to look at but it did leave a nasty stench throughout the whole city!
That afternoon most of the bus went up the gondola to do some lugeing. We each got 5 rides and gave ourselves 3 rides each to get used to the courses and steering before racing down the intermediate circuit.
There were some accidents including Eric our californian friend neary up ending an asian woman. Hayley crashing out spectacularly and Luke losing his helmet on the gondola back up which was a good laugh.
That night we nominated Eric as the cheif of our tribe as we were going to a Moari village show and needed a chief to represent us. We were greeted as all strangers were, by their haka and then shown through the village.
We were then treated to some maori song, dance and games before sitting down to a massive feed and shown how they cook their food. When we got back to the hostel we put on our glad rags and headed to the Lava Bar next door for a boogie. It was a funny night and a good way for all of us to get to know eachother.
Waitomo
We set off at a decent time in the morning to go see a farm style comedy show just down the road. It was actually quite funny and interesting. We got to see some sheep sheering and cow milking. The guy was basically just taking the piss out of all the aussies and koreans that were there aswell. After the show we stopped off at Agroventures next door. It had a mimic of a freefall, bunjee jump, bunjee swing, some sort of bike race and a jet power boat ride.
All of us were a little too hanging to attempt any of the activities but it was definately something I would quite like to do at some point.
We then stopped off Otorohanga, which is a small township just outside Waitomo. This was just a small food shop as all there is in Waitomo is 2 caving companies, a backpackers hostel, 5 houses and a bar.
Most of us checked in and then went off to do some caving. I and most of the others did the 3 and a half hour tubing down the caves. This was really cool, walking through the caves and going down some jumps on our rubber tubes. We stopped several times to turn off our lights and look up at the glow worms which unlike before were extremely impressive. There were thousands of them in the caves and set a good lights show. That night we were treated to a big fat steak dinner at Curly's bar just down the road from the hostel.
Taupo
After setting off in the morning for Taupo we stopped off for a little walk through the bush and caves to one of tallest trees in New Zealand, this was kind of impressive but after seeing Tanai Mahuta (the kauri tree) it wasnt that impressive.
We arrived in Taupo and headed straight for the airport to see if we could do our skydive but unfortunately the weather wouldn't permit this so some of us booked ourselves in for the morning and others later in the afternoon after their walk up Mt. Doom.
I wasn't too fussed about the 20km walk as im not much of a walker and if it's that good I can always do it at some other point. We didn't really do much that night and just retired to bed after going the supermarket and cooking a feed for 8 of us.
This morning was the morning of the most breathtaking, thrill seeking and biggest adrenaline rushing activity I've ever done... Sky diving from 15,000 ft (16,500 ft above sea level). I payed for the full monty which includes the 15,000 ft dive itself, dvd of the people on the plane diving, photos of myself, and the handycam dvd which was being held by the guy supporting me and more importantly carrying the parachute.
I wasn't too scared at all until I got to the edge of the plane and had my feet dangling out the side. After a few moments looking out into the mass of open air and the huge drop beneath me we flopped out the plane and plumeted towards the ground.
There was a minute of freefalling before the parachute was deployed. Words can't really explain the feeling you get because your brain doesnt quite register whats happening so you just feel like your flying and can have fun with it.
After everyone had got back from their activities they were doing, we went down to the bar for free pizza and start drinking. After the pizza we all went back to the rooms to start getting getting ready. Me, Eric, Luke, Adam, Emily, Aimie and Laura
just found ourselves drinking in Eric's room for hours, we were just talking and messing around before we went down to the bar. Everyone down their was smashed so I had some catching up to do... roll on jaegerbombs! I don't think I have ever drank so many in such a short space of time in my life! Strawpedos were next up and finally after a good hour or so I was at the same point as everyone else, except Laura who when I asked how much she had had to drink, she replied with "Gin".
It was a good night, with good music and good banter but everyone could see that there was alot of hormones flying off the walls, should be an interesting journey from here on out.
Taupo to River Valley
We woke up bright and early in the morning (after about 2 hours sleep for moi) and went on our way towards River Valley situated next to the Rangitikei river. We stopped off at our first stop for some brunch and a walk at where 'The Shining' was filmed.
The walk had Mt. Doom as its background which was pretty cool. There was a sweet waterfall half way around the walk so there was time to pause and take pictures and naked pictures, quite fun really. We got back on the bus and drove for another hour before reaching Tawhai Falls. This is where Gollum was filmed catching a fish and is known as Gollum's pool. There was a pretty cool jump you could do into the waterfall with a drop of about 12ft, there were some really cool pictures taken of us jumping into it, and our faces when we got out! We arrived at River Valley about 6 which gave us an hour and a half before our roast dinner so we could check in and get settled. There were 2 options, the 6 bed dorms or the 32 bed dorms. We chose the 6 bed dorm but after checking in, me and luke desperately wanted to be in the 32 bed.
It was so cool! there were 4 rows of 8 beds in the middle of the room. 2 rows on top, 2 rows underneath with the the 2 top rows back to back and the same with the bottom 2.
There was a major fuck up with the dinner. After a miscommunication on the bus, me and luke found out we wernt down for the roast dinner. Our faces were a picture of pure devastation. Neither of us had anything else to eat and had been looking forward to the roast all. Purposely not eating much so we could have a massive feed. Eric came to rescue for Luke. It was something out of the movies. He put his own hunger aside and gave up his meal for Luke as an early birthday present. Eric truely was the chief of our tribe. I had managed to blag myself left overs but they were just roast beef, sweet potatoes and veg (I don't eat sweet potatoes and very little veg). The whole situation had made things awkward in our room. Me and Luke were blaming the girls a fair bit about lack of dinner. After the meal we played a few games in the dining room/lounge, first off was the table game, where you had
to pull yourself under the table and back up the otherside. Easier said than done. Only 3 people managed to pull it off. I could swing myself around to the otherside but just couldn't get my feet or hand positioning right. Very Annoying. The next game was one where you had to keep yourself on a chair whilst clambering around it, picking up a box of matches and coming back the way you came to finally sitting back down on the chair. Only 4 people in the history of the lodge had pulled it off! no one from out group did.
Eric then pulled out a few more drinking games before we all retired to bed about 11. 12.01 came and we all woke Luke up for his birthday by giving him a massive pile on!
River Valley to Wellington
Today was the day most of us went white water rafting down the river. The rafting took about 2-3 hours down grade 3-5 rapids. Alot of hard work and teamwork was needed to get safely but it was so worth it. We had a good boat to go down with (Me, Jack, Luke and Adam) but once got used to it when started mucking around and taking the piss which to be honest made the whole day alot more fun. For example we decided when anyone goes overboard, when get back up they needed to be spanked for their indispline but that was taken to a different level (I'll let you work that out).
After the rafting, we all had minor injuries to nurse and a hungry stomach to fill so we grabbed a quick feed before jumping on the bus to go to Wellington. We only stopped off a couple of times for food as the journey was going to take all day. We got to Wellington about 7 giving us an hour or so to get ready before
we started Luke's birthday festivities! We started drinking in the room about half 8 until 11. I'm not going to lie to you, I was fucked before we even left the room, that is just what Vodka and ring of fire do to me. I do recall being the last to get ready out of the 28 people we had in our room (which was a 6 bed room)
I know this fact as I was on top of my bunk bed in just my boxers while everyone else was fully clothed. Now I don't remember leaving the room so I will try and peice together the night. Aparantly we left the room to go downstairs to the Basement Bar. In here was where Adam bought 60 jaegerbombs (2 each), Tash got kicked out for stealing a bottle of Gin from behind the bar and there was kissing thrown in their aswell (guilty). Emily had basically come out saying she likes me, which made for a very awkward conversation (I have been told since then that I didn't quite explain myself properly and she hasn't got my point)
We left there and walk around the corner to another bar. Becky couldn't get in so we went to bar next door for a few drinks in there (not that I needed any more). Somehow we all managed to reunite in a bar called Establishment.
There was a band playing for a while then the DJ kicked in. Tonight it seemed like everyone had paired off with someone for the evening (me and luke had foretold this was going to happen, ages ago) Eventually we got kicked out about 6 and went back to our rooms. More stories came out about the evening the next day but some should
not be wrote down.
The next day was a complete write off. Everyone was dying and trying to remember what happened the night before. Me and the boys took a stroll down to the museum but left after an hour to sit and chill down at the waterfront. We got back and decided that today was man day. Ruined within the hour. Aimie and Emily had invited themselves into our rooms and collapsed on our beds, leaving me and luke quite pissed off. They eventually left and we got some sleep. Tash, Georgia, Jess and Lexy were going out again that night but didn't leave our room till about half 1 and came back about 4 (pointless or what). In that time though we were given a mission to build a fort in our room.
The fun we had doing this was unbelievable. It was the best fort ever. Held together by bunkbeds, paper bags, headphones and other leads. Georgia had been put to bed in the recovery position she was that fucked.
Wellington to Nelson
We had to be downstairs at 7, which wouldn't have been too bad but we had a fort to work with. We were late downstairs but it wasn't a problem. I was greeted by a still very drunk Georgia jumping on me and stealing my hat. This was met by a massive glare from Emily (this was the first of many!) I was basically forced to sit next to G which wouldn't have been a problem, if sitting next to her didn't resemble sitting next to a child. She jumping all over me and basically being a child, it was kinda funny though. We had to say goodbye to our chief Eric which quite sad aswell, he will be missed on the bus.
We got on the massive inter-island ferry with a 3 hour journey ahead of us. Me and the boys had a quick look around the ferry before meeting up with tash and the girls in the food court and passing our for 2 hours on the tables. We woke up and got onto the bus for Nelson. G was still drunk (it was now about 2pm) We checked into our hotel and got our rooms sorted. That evening there was rugby on and a roast dinner (me and luke decided not to let the girls do our bookings and didn't want to be in their rooms) Aparantly it was getting quite obvious that we didn't want to no anymore, ah well. Most of us watched Saving Private Ryan in the TV room before bed. I lay on the floor with Tash and G as there was nowhere to sit. This was greeted by another glare. It was getting ridiculous now, literally every time I would be talking to a girl I was getting a look of death.
The next day we didn't really do much. Me, Luke and Jack went down to the supermarket, came back, cooked some food, passed out for 2 hours (My bolognese must be funny as I was tripping out. I woke up at half 5 thinking I had been talking to the girls despite them not being back from their day trip)
We decided to go to the cinema to watch Dear John that evening. Me and the girls left early to get sweets from the supermarket and get our tickets early. There 5 seats in the middle so we booked them, sat down and waited for the film to begin. Everyone else came in a few minutes after us and sat down a couple of rows infront.
I don't think Em was too happy to see me sat next to tash and g again but thats how it happen. Atleast I think she wasn't happy but im not sure if glares have 2 meanings. The film was good until the last half hour and left us all abit unsatisfied. After getting back to the hostel me, jack, luke and the girls chilled outside til the wee hours telling stories from back home and telling eachother riddles.
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