NEWZEALAND CONTIKI!!!!!

Well ive been and come back from my 21st present from Mum a contiki trip to NEWZEALAND ;-) Had the absolute best time of my life... so far... im so glad I went by myself it was so easy to make friends and there were a lot of people traveling by themselves. I miss everyone already and am staying in contact already ie we are all exchanging photos on facebook and emailing each other. Heres some pics in order of the best 13 days of my life on contiki NEWZEALAND....


Pre accommodation in AUKLAND- Dad dropped me off at the airport just in the nic of time, it was a little scary trying to get through traffic BUT I made it on time. I was on the plane in the middle 3 seats all by myself then in the hotel all by myself (i was supposed to be sharing with someone else from the trip however they didnt show up so i was on edge all night not touching there bed etc). Next morning i went for a walk down the street from my accommodation to get some breakfast and on return saw the CONTIKI BUS outside ;-). There was a group of people in the lobby all ready to start the trip SO EXCITING a met the 2 Canadian twins first (had just come from the Gold Coast after doing a triathlon) then onto the bus to meet the others whop had already been on the bus for 3 days going to the BAY OF ISLANDS ie the 15 day Grand Explorer contiki, so they already had made friends etc so it was a little daunting at first but did not take long to join in...

DAY 1 - Auckland to Waitomo- Left at midday to drive to Waitomo making friends on the bus and deciding on our extra activities for the North island. Went straight to the black water rafting which was one of the high lights of the trip. We were given tubes and had to jump backwards off a rock into the pools below inside the cave. It was peaceful floating through the cave and climbing through small rocks etc not for anyone scared of small spaces and it was freezing! (We wore wet suits/fleeces etc) Then back to the hotel and down to dinner and the bar to really get to know each other ;-)







DAY 2 - Waitomo to Roturua- the day of the ZORB!!! We drove for a bit checked into the zorb then went to the AGRODOME farm show, to watch a guy show us some sheep and sheer one then some of us had a chance to milk a cow..



ANYHOO back to the ZORB woot!!! It was pretty fun, i did the wet one where you go down the hill in the ball filled with water ;-) the only thing was that it was very short and over before it started, still worth it though.


Went up a gondola to go lugeing...



Went to WHAKAREWAREWA (thermal village guided tour)which was very interesting they cook their food in bunkers in the main street and boil food in the water rock pools, the stench of Roturua wore off pretty quickly.







That night was the MAORI HUNGI meal and concert then we were off to the thermal pools to soak our tired bodies after being squished in the bus little did we know it was only the beginning.



DAY 3 - Roturua to Taupo- More driving to Haku Falls and JET BOATING up to the falls ;-).







That afternoon while most of the tour were at the rockin' ropes we had a chance to rome the street of Taupo and to shop for our pirate party later that night ;-) one of the best nights on the tour was the pirate party which took us on a boat out on the Taupo lake (NZ largest lake), it was very rocky at first which was a lot of fun then a lot of dancing was had and then out in the town for some more dancing. Was a good night as we had not yet started to get sick...









DAY 4/5- Taupo to Wellington- Up early and on the bus to Wellington NZ capital city. Wellington was really pretty and if i was going to live in NZ it would probably be there (could also be the fact that we had a really beautiful sunny day) Was interesting how the residence had to park their cars down the mt and take a lift up to their houses. Went to the museum that afternoon but left early due to being soooo tired and left dinner early to get some sleep.






Next day was a nice sleep in and a day of shopping while others were dong other activities that didnt interest me like the day lord of the rings tour and quad bikes. Went to the best antique clothing stores VERY expensive but so much fun to try on... That night was the NZ vs Australia rugby game some of us went to the game while others watched it at the bar. I was so tired after dinner at the bar that I went back to the hotel saw the haka on tv then fell a sleep at about 8pm for some much needed sleep.






Dancing on the bar was heaps of fun ;-)



DAY 6 - Wellington to Christchurch- Sad good buy to some people who only were doing the North Island BUT some hellos to some more people joining us for the South island... I slept the whole way on the boat as I was starting to feel pretty sick ;-( Met the newbys again that night at our accommodation and bed earlyish still feeling sick.




DAY 7 - Christchurch to Franz Josef Glacier- Lots of driving today across Southern Alps and Arthur's Pass however very picturesque so lots of photo opportunities and activities on the bus ie SPEED DATING to give us a chance to meet everyone (i had no voice at this stage so pretty much said to each person that they had to do all the talking it was so exhausting to talk). Stopped over at a jade shop VERY expensive. That night dinner at the Rainforest retreat hotel VERY pretty surrounded by snow capped MTs and glaciers.













DAY 8 - Franz Josef Glacier to Queenstown- Up very early to see the Fox Glacier unfortunatly the weather was too bad for the helicopters so most of us swapped to the half day hike up to the glacier (which i was going to do anyway as it was the cheapest). Walked up 600 steps through a beautiful rain forest stopping to fill our drink bottles form the water fall ;-) Then spent some time on the glacier then back down the 600 steps. I really enjoyed the glacier and took a full camera worth of pics.. Then off to Queenstown... Stopping to see some seals and the pretty sites along the way.





















AND one for Em... LLLLLAAAAAAAHHH!!!!


DAY 9/10 - QUEENSTOWN- ADVENTURE ADRENALIN CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!!!
Slept in then walked to town from our lodge which has the best views of the lake and mountains (overlooking the view while in the hot tub was one of the high lights of the trip).Up the gondola to the Skyline restaurant with over 70 dishes to choose in a buffet YUM.... Then it was time for the CANYON SWING next day which i decided to do from Emily and Steve in place of white water rafting and am so glad i did as it was one of the best activities after I got enough guts to actually jump SO SCARY!!! But soo worth it. You could jump anyway you liked i decided to do the pin drop as it seemed the easiest...










That night was the ice bar and Winnies (a bar where the roof opens) a lot of fun still sick but pretended it wasnt there.










NEXT day after 3 hours sleep up at 7am to start a day of FUNYAKS. Drove to the Funyak office SLEPT most of it then dressed up in wet suits and fleeces and onto the jet boats. BEAUTIFUL scenery, jet boats can go over very shallow water and rocks etc ie it was invented in NZ exactly for that reason. Then we pulled up on the bank where the canoes had been dropped off where we had to pump them up pick a buddy and off we went down the river so peaceful and FUN!!! We stopped for lunch in between the mountains and ofrest so beautiful and kept thinking 'am i really here?' Then back into the boats for the last leg of the journey deflated our canoes back in the bus to dry off back at the office. Then back to our accommodation and into the hot tub...



























DAY 11 - Queenstown to Milford Sound- Bungy!!!! On our way out of Queenstown we stopped off at the Kawarau Bridge Bungy AAHHHHHH!! The first bungy site ever. I was all fine untill i actually got to the edge of the platform as i had done the canyon swing earlier and loved it BUT then the shakes set it... You really do just have to go for it and not think as thats when the shakes start and doubt sets in... It took 4 count downs to jump and i ended up going feet first which is better then nothing I LOVED IT just means i have to go again another time so I do it properly... I loved it once I was hanging there cant believe i hesitated so much and everyone was cheering me on apparently they all held their breaths when i jumped feet first but were all patting me on the back etc when i got back up to solid ground... I LOVE THE PEOPLE FROM CONTIKI SO MUCH such a nice group literally one big happy family...











Some more driving through some very scenic parts through FIORDLAND NATIONAL PARK. Lots of flies... Through the HOMOR TUNNEL where they played jamesbond then when we came out into the beautiful mountains they played What A Beautiful World (thats one great thing about contiki is that they do things like play music to do with what your doing ie on the way to Bungy played 'Jump Around').















More driving to our boat The Milford Wonderer into the fiord and an over night cruise. Once we had docked we had the choice to boat around or to Kayak around the bay which of course I did and it was magical again thinking how amazing it was to be there as did everyone else. Saw some penguins, waterfalls played tag in the kayaks etc then after the boys jumped into the FREEZING water and a warm shower we had dinner up on deck and spent the night relaxing playing card games, Guess who (yes your version mum and they all loved it) etc There was a little mis hap that night with one of the girls wallets being moved to under the bed and $100 taken from it (we were the only ones on the boat) just put a dampener on things and th guides were really upset and unfortunately it never turned back up.







DAY 12 - Milford Sound to Lake Ohau- Up VERY EARLY the next day to cruise over to the Tasman Sea and back to get back on the bus to LAKE OHAU where we would TOGA PARTY. Was such a pretty place to stay HOT TUBS looking over the lake and mountains then into our sheets for the best night of the trip ;-). Lots of Jam Donut shots through a ski (5 shots being done at once on a ski with hole drilled into it for the shot glass) was a very messy night for all but worth it. The bar staff got drunker then us...











DAY 13 - Lake Ohau to Christchurch- Just a big drive back to Christchurch but was fun as we were all great mates at this stage so chated and slept most of the way. Then back at the same accommodation as a few days ago and out for our 'end-of-tour, we-must-keep-in-touch-what-tour-are-you-taking-next, dinner'. The 3 Canadian boys and I went for a half hour walk through the rain before dinner in search of some Champers to celebrate and were pretty 'happy' for dinner when everyone else were tired and wanting to go home. After dinner there was some more champers and we tried to stay awake as we had a 4am taxi to the airport the next day BUT we fell asleep luckily setting an alarm.



We made sure we sat together on the plane where Tom and I celebrated with some brecky champers ;-) while the others slept. The Canadians had to catch a plane from Sydney and needed to check in so I wasn't able to hang out with them for the 3 hours before the flight so it was a sad good buy






Day In Sydney - SO TIRED SICK OF IT WANT TO GO TO SLEEP BUT HAVE TO SPEND THE DAY IN SYDNEY AND ALL NIGHT ON THE TRAIN GRRRR!!! Did a bit of shopping and walking around the city and had a sleep in Hyde Park then on the train at 8:50pm grr Paula and Bec picked me up from the station at 3am then it was to bed ans SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP for me. Im still tired and cant seem to catch up from the holiday and am still getting over the cold only just got my voice kind of back on the last day. Have a bit of work to do now and dont want to get back to UNI just want to TRAVEL and meet up with everone from contiki again i miss them and would recommend contiki to anyone it really was the time of my life despite being sick ;-) i think ill do EUROPE CONTIKI next (2010 maybe hopefully but ill have to save like crazy) CANT WAIT!!
(im not in the group pic ;-( sadly)







Its been like reliving the trip looking at all the pics on facebook. Anyhoo thanks heaps Mum for my 21st present that ill never ever forget and also to the Aunties/Grandma/Em for putting in some $$ to help me out so I could enjoy the trip and do all those extra activities ;-)

Love lots ME xxxx


Steve heres one for you.. The Crocodile Back Scratcher hahaha