New Zealand (stray) - Wellington

NEW ZEALAND

Wellington
28 Oct to 4 Nov

We arrive in windy Welly on Sunday afternoon. After laundry and powernap we have a few drinks out for the final time as group. I have decided to spend a few days here to explore the city, have a break from the bus and to recharge etc. Goodbye to Liam, Sasha, Cat, Lucy, Ciaran, Laura, Christine and driver Gollum - hopefully will see them again soon! I am left with co  strayers Becky and Tamara, and we later make friends with Irish backpacker Louise. We visit the museum, walk along the harbour, have a big coffee every morning, try sushi, go for long walks, fish and chips at the microbrewery, nights out (inc Hallowean), go to the cinema and get blown about by the wind!

I also finish the final book in the trilogy I've been reading since I started my travels - the excellent Millennium trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...etc) by Stieg Larsson.

Towards the end of my time here my original co travellers Dave and Adam catch up with me.

below: final night out before our group disperses. location is the base hostel's basement bar. L-R cat, kieron, laura, collum and sasha

below: Irish bar

below: finger banter (after i got mine stuck in a gate a few days ago)

below: Te Papa Museum



below: the kiwi bird (stuffed).

below: we find a book shop on the high street doing a book signing. Free wine, free nibbles and book browsing. It doesn't say invite only so....

below: Tamara on glass no 3...

below: Wellington

below: I tried sushi in Wellington and like it, this is hot on the heels of finding out I like egg! What next?!

below: cable car

below: Becky and Tamara on the cable car

below: view of Wellington

below: Botanic Gardens

below: Wellington

below: well earned fish and chips in a micro brewery pub by the quay

below: 'England' and 'Scotland' go for a few drinks and game of pool in the very friendly Welsh bar.

below: Westpac stadium

below: near Mount Victoria lookout

below: Irish backpacker Louise and Becky after our big walk that day

below: a boat in Wellington quay

below: sushi and Sauvigon Blanc in the 4 bed dorm. Like the sushi but the white wine was awful.

Tamara left a few days before me, Louise left too and Becky stays in welly to find a job. It's been a good week here but tomorrow I jump on the ferry to the South island, get picked up by the bus and continue the trip. First stop is a vineyard followed by Abel Tasman National Park for 4 days (hop off).

New Zealand (stray) - Whakaworo to Wellington

NEW ZEALAND

Stray Day 6
Whakaworo to Wellington

'Depart 7.30am. We head to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city via Ohakune, Taihape and Bulls. You have the afternoon to cruise or explore.'

I have now hopped off for a few days in Welly. Seems like a great little city so far. Sadly most of the original bunch of people have gone their seperate ways. A good time to recharge, walk about and chill out.

below: Wellington skyline taken from Mt Victoria lookout point

New Zealand (stray) - National Park to Whakaworo

NEW ZEALAND

Stray Day 5
National Park to Whakaworo (WH is pron F)


'We depart at 10:30am and head to the most remote part of the North Island. Our destination is Blue Duck Lodge, a 9,000 acre high country farm that is both a working station and an environmental conservation leader. Once you arrive, there are plenty of activities for you in to partake in. Spend the evening sitting around, listening to tales from this unique region.'

below: accommodation

below: Wendy our guide showing us around the farm. As I was sitting in the front in the big quadbike I had to open all the gates, embarressingly I got my finger stuck in the latch which I got a lot of stick for especially as Wendy got on her walky talky to say she might need assistance.

below: heading down to the kayaks

below: waterfall

below: kayaking!

below: top of that waterfall

below: some people did horse riding.

below: the very rare Blue Duck.

below: symbol of NZ

New Zealand (stray) - Taupo to National Park

NEW ZEALAND
Stray
Day 4 - 26/10/12

'We depart at 6.30am (bad weather, depart 10am) and head to the active volcanoes and dual World Heritage of 'Tongariro National Park'. Today you get a chance to do what is rated as one of the world’s best one day walks - the Tongariro Alpine Crossing; or you can carve it up at NZ’s largest ski area, Mt Ruapehu. In the evening, reward yourself at the bar or just relax in the spa where we stay.'

Todays activity is a 18.5km 8 hour hike called the Alpine Crossing. The price is 109 is guided and 35 if unguided - depending on weather! The previous night we were told it was 35 so I thought I'd do it, I bought plenty of food and drink to take. Annoyingly on the morning it had been decided it had to be guided (109!) so I decided not to do it. Instead I did the free 2 hour walk - complete with 5 sandwiches, lots of chocolate and energy drinks!

below: Liam from Shropshire, Sasha from London and me standing in front of Mount Doom

below: waterfall

below: walking

below: great scenery!

below: moi

below: me, Sasha, and Laura and Ciaran from Cork

New Zealand (stray) - Maketu to Taupo via Rotorua

NEW ZEALAND
Stray bus
Maketu to Taupo via Rotorua
Day 3 25/10/12

'Depart 8am and head into Rotorua for a morning free to discover its smell (geothermal areas), culture and adventure. We do hostel pickups, then head south to Taupo and its great lake (the world’s largest crater lake), via Huka Falls. This afternoon, you can take part in one of our most popular activities - skydiving.'

Action packed Day 3 on the stray. The day kicked off by leaving the Maori centre and heading to Rotorua - a town built over a lot of geothermal activity. Basicallly there are lots of water and hot mud pools where sulpherous steam spills out constantly. The bad side is the town smells of rotten eggs/popcorn!

below: a stop on the way to Rotorua near a waterfall. Me and some of my co stray-ers! L-R Becky from Scotland, Sasha from London, moi, Kelly from New York and Tamara from London.

below: Rotorua

below: Rotorua



below: Rotorua

below: Rotorua. It was like a hot bath in there!  L-R: Becky from Scotland, Sarah from Florida, Christine from Brighton, moi, Kelly from New York and Tamara from London. Such a tough life being a traveller ey !

  THOUGHT I NEEDED TO BLOW AWAY THE COBWEBS SO I DID A 15000 FT TANDEM SKYDIVE THIS AFTERNOON. AMAZING EXPERIENCE! I must admit I thought everyone would do skydiving so when Gollom our bus driver asked for a show of hands I stuck mine up and then realised that only 5 out of 25 were doing it. Before I had the chance to discreetly lower it/disguise it as an arm stretch everyone (mainly the girls) had noticed and was clapping me on the shoulder saying well done/good on ya etc.

below: the skydive