Whale watching and Franz Josef

When we first planned our New Zealand trip we decided to do about a week in the north island and then a week in the south island hoping we could fit in as much as possible. We managed to get quite a bit done in the north island including heading the to the capital Wellington and then across on the ferry to the south island. The crossing was beautiful and I managed to get some amazing pictures (no where near as good as my photography mad friends but I tried).

When we arrived in the south island we took a fairly short drive to Kaikoura where we were booked on a trip to do some whale watching. Now there was no guarantee of actually seeing any whales and after about two hours of watching the sea (pretty much like watching paint dry) we had all but given up hope. However just as we were about to head back to shore the captain heard about a sighting of a whale a few miles away. So off we went racing across the water (not great for anyone suffering sea sickness) but fun for everyone else and finally managed to get to the place the whale had been seen. Just like magic there he was laying all happy on top of the water without a care in the world. This made the water watching all worth while and after about ten minutes he flipped around and dove off back into the water flipping his tail as he went. Was a pretty awesome sight I have to say.

The other part of this post I really wanted to tell you about was our trip to Franz Josef. We had booked a couple of nights there as on one of the days we had planned to take a helicopter up onto the glacier and go on a hike. However once again the lovely New Zealand wind put stop to all that and our trip was cancelled, boo! Grumpy and disappointed we headed off to walk back to our campsite when we saw another company advertising flights. We figured we had nothing to lose and went in to ask if they were heading up on the glacier. As luck would have it they were and they could take us in the next half an hour! It wasn't going to include the hike it was better than nothing. Thank god we went for it. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. We were even able to land on the snow, get out and have a walk around taking everything in. Fantastic! Take that wind, you didn't beat us this time :o)

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Sorry guys no pictures at the moment as my little adapter thingy is broken and therefore I cannot upload anything (now sent home with the parents to see if they can get me a new one)

The Tongariro Crossing

Another one of my great ideas before we arrived in New Zealand was to book the Tongariro crossing which was recommended to me by some friends I met travelling (may need to rethink that friendship now) only kidding. However not really knowing too much about it I had in my head a leisurely stroll over a mountain top and back down again. The whole mountain part should have given away that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

Anyway the morning arrived for us to put on our walking boots, grab our hats and gloves and head over to where we were to check in with our guides and walking groups. Now up until this point I was still thinking that whilst this might be a challenge it wouldn't be too hard. That was however until the guides handed us our crampons and pick axes! Ok this was going to be interesting. 

So off we set. Backpacks on, ice picks in hand we started the steady climb up the mountain side. It was funny as at one point we saw a small amount of snow scattered around and thought how lovely it looked and that it must be the leftover from the winter - oh were we in for a big surprise. 

Soon after our short flat stroll we hit the beginning of the real climb and boy was it steep. There had to have been about a million steps (ok slight exaggeration but I wasn't in the mood to start counting them) it was however safe to say there was a lot.

Oh and that small bit of snow we had seen at the bottom soon turned into a lot of snow and to give you a real idea of how much I am talking about people were actually walking past us with ski's!

Being the troupers that we were though we did not let this put us off and up we carried on trekking up the mountain side.

This went on for about 8km, stair after stair after mountain edge after freezing cold hands. As we neared the top our guides had a little side meeting and gave us the unfortunate news of not being able to continue on with the walk. The wind at the summit was just too strong and they feared for our safety. As disappointed as we were we knew that they wouldn't have made this decision lightly and therefore it really was in our best interest to turn around and head back down to where we had come from. The worst part of all of it was we were only about 1 and a half km from the middle and if the mother nature hadn't been acting up we would have made it all the way across. As it turns out we in fact did 16km of the 19km we would have done had we completed the walk. Not too bad an attempt I don't think and I guess it just gives us reason to come back again one day and try again! However maybe next time we will try summer time!  :-)

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The Maori way of life

After leaving Hot Water Beach we headed centrally to a place called Rotorua! Here we stayed in a lovely place called Blue Lake and yes before you ask there was a lake and it was blue. Unfortunately we only had one night at the campsite so didn't get to explore the area too much.

Anyway before we arrived in New Zealand I booked some activities to do whilst we travelled our way round and one of those was a dinner and show which explained about the Maori people and their way of life. Now for all my uneducated friends (no insult intended as I didn't know about them) the Maori people are the original inhabitants of New Zealand. That is of course before the white people came along and did what the whites did everywhere - took over and decided the country was their own.

When we arrived at the location of the show we were treated to a display of the Haka which anyone who has watched rugby will know is dance which represents pride, strength and unity. We were asked not to laugh as some bits can be quite funny but in all honestly it was pretty damn threatening. Very cool to watch though!

Next we were led around to different areas each one explaining to us about the different aspects of the Maori lifestyle. These included games they would play, the clothing they wore and the resources they used.

After finishing at each section we headed off to do one of my most favourite things - eat! There was so much food I was in heaven (and so was my Dad who went up more than once for cakes, shock horror). The food had been cooked in a traditional Maori way which involved a giant pit of steam and the food being lowered into it. I am sure it is more technical than that but that's about as good an explanation as I can give you.

All in all the evening was really good fun and for once I actually learned something rather than just going out and getting drunk (that the parents influence for you).

So goodbye Rotorua, it has been short but sweet however we must continue on with our travels.

Until next time...

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The accommodation

After a very early morning to catch a fairly early flight we arrived without any dramas to New Zealand. Now as there was three of us we decided that having to try and book accommodation might be a bit of a nightmare so instead we attacked the adventure in true travelling style. We hired a campervan!

As I was with my Mum and Dad I decided that only the best could do so I booked a four person, fully equipped kitchen plus toilet with shower giant monster! Which along with my Dad I was going to have to drive, lord help us all.

Once all picked up we headed to our first location, Hot Water Beach which as the name suggests is a beach which has hot water under it. Brilliant. The drive over there took about three hours (campervans are not the speediest of things) and Dad chose to drive the whole distance. Now whilst at first I thought I was maybe missing out by not leaping behind the wheel and zooming off I soon realised I had chosen right in letting him drive the first leg. I had never seen such winding roads before and to add to the excitement they were going up the side of a mountain as well.

We finally arrived at our first destination and proceeded to set up the campervan creating our own little home (bumping our heads in the process). As it was getting on to nearly nighttime we decided to have dinner and relax on the campsite. Now in true Craig fashion we were not the most prepared and lacked food to cook dinner. So heading to a very small shop we pulled together whatever we could find and knocked up a lovely chips, fish fingers and beans with little sausages in the mix - yep it was as nice as it sounds. Even the backpackers in the kitchen were looking at us with sympathy (that's when you know you have hit rock bottom in the food pool).

After a pretty comfy sleep, the next day we headed down to the hot water beach to see what it was all about. Well it turned out that we were too late and as the tide had come in we couldn't get across to dig up the sand and lay in it. Still got some lovely pictures though so not all was lost.

After heading back to the campervan it was soon time for me to take my turn behind the wheel and head off to the next location, back down the lovely turns and mountain side. All I can say is if I was going to have any issues driving they were soon going to be sorted out on that road.

You will be pleased to know we all arrived in one piece :o)

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Here we go again...

Well people I am back and about to continue on with my travels, this time however I have company. That's right, Ma and Pa are joining me and boy do we have an adventure planned.

Quite a few people have been asking me why I haven't been writing a blog lately and that is purely down to not wanting to bore you to death. I haven't been doing much other than working and saving. I did however meet some amazing people at my work who I hope I will keep as friends forever.

Ok that is enough about what hasn't been happening in my life and now time to tell you what is coming up. 

Tomorrow my friends I am off to jump on a plane and head to, wait for it.... New Zealand! Yay!

I cannot wait. I have only heard great things about the country and I think the views will be amazing. I may have also booked a bungee jump too eeek!

Anyway that is enough for this post as it was really only to say, hey I am back and I hope you enjoy reading.

The next time you hear from me I will be off in another country - wow that feels great to say!