I am now in New Zealand and its Boxing Day so Christmas is over for another year...this one has definitely been one to remember!
I arrived in New Zealand just under a week ago and so far it has been great! After flying into Auckland with Liz and Vicky (girls I met in Fiji), Liz and I headed to our hostel and organised what we were going to do from Auckland onwards. I managed to sort out my Kiwi Experience buses and got booked on to head up to the Bay of Islands. The next day I was in Auckland by myself so had a wander round the city before getting on the bus at 7:15am the next day. The bus wasn't that full on the way up to the Bay of Islands, but I did meet Carolien who is doing pretty much the same journey as me round NZ so we are now travelling together which is great! On the bus we signed up for dolphin swimming that afternoon followed by a trip to Cape Reinga and a skydive on Christmas Day.
Unfortunately we didn't get to actually swim with the dolphins because the sea was too choppy, but we did see around 30 of them and they came right up to the boat which was pretty amazing! The next day was the trip to Cape Reinga which was good fun, a very busy day but we saw a lot. Being at the very top of New Zealand was great - with amazing views, we also went sandboarding which was not so great for me...I eneded up falling off halfway down a huge dune, rolling in the sand and eating/inhaling A LOT of sand! We also drove along 90 mile beach where we saw dead sharks and jelly fish washed up on the beach, before heading back to Paihia stopping for fish and chips along the way. The following day was my birthday and we headed over the bay to Russel where we walked across the island and sat on the beach...not bad for the middle of winter back home! In Russel we also saw a Christmas Parade and a childrens christmas present 'lucky dip' where the 5 of us chose each other a wrapped gift. On Christmas morning were collected for the skydive...the four of us got picked up at 10am and got kitted up at the skydive centre ready to jump out of a plane at 16,000ft! The plane ride up was pretty good with amazing views...although slightly cramped with 3 sets of tandem skydivers in a tiny plane! At around 10,000ft we put on the oxygen masks ready to climb up to 16,000ft - at this point it was pretty scary!! I was the first to go out of the plane which was definitely a good thing not having to watch the others fall, but the 65 seconds of free fall was incredible over the Bay of Island!! I did have a bit of trouble breathing which was a slight issue but soon recovered once the parachute was pulled - steering us round and twirling in circles was amazing!! Skydiving on Christmas Day has definitely been one of the highlights of my trip so far, but I think twice is enough - not sure I can cope with it all over again!! That evening we had Christmas dinner at the hostel followed by several drinks afterwards, not feeling too amazing today and getting up to skype home at 8:30am was hard work, but great seeing everyone open the presents that finally made it home from Uruguay! Today has been a very lazy day, wandering round Paihia before we head back down to Auckland ready to go to Hot Water Beach tomorrow, and then Taupo for New Year!
So far the start to New Zealand has been pretty good, definitely looking forward to the next 6 weeks before Australia!
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Sunday, 25 December 2011
Monday, 19 December 2011
Fiji Time; the most amazing two weeks EVER!
Its been quite some time since my last update due to a lack of internet in Fiji on the islands! My last week or so in South America was great, we went on a boat party in Paraty where we had unlimited caiprinihas...we got on the boat at around 11am and got back to land at around 5pm, between that time we stopped at several points to jump off the boat into the sea - GREAT fun!! The water was so warm and there were two decks of the boat so it was a long way down from the highest point into the water! That evening after dinner we headed back to our hotel to learn how to make caiprinihas...we made strawberry, kiwi and a strawberry and kiwi combo - you need a lot of cachaca and a lot of sugar! From Paraty we headed onto Ilha Grande, an amazing island not far from Rio. Ilha Grande was beautiful; lovely sea, amazing sand, scenery and only 3 cars. Unfortunately due to a delayed transfer from Paraty we missed the ferry we were meant to get to the island...instead 17 of us piled on to a tiny boat with all our luggage and made the 3 hour journey to Ilha Grande. The first afternoon we headed to a beach (Praia Preta) but it was a quiet evening that night. The next day we got a boat to another beach, Lopez Mendes, the boat trip over was pretty interesting with 8 of us in a speed boat going over HUGE waves! We spent the afternoon on the beach sunbathing and I went on a surf board for the first time, lots of fun!! That evening we had a BBQ back at the hotel and it was also our guide, Guillermo's, birthday. We had a bet that he had to drink a whole bottle of 40% cashasa in 7 hours otherwise he had to shave his beard...after a very, very, very drunken evening he lost and so the beard came off the following day. As a result of the previous nights antics the following day was a total write off, it was also raining and a pretty miserable day and thunder stoms had cut off all electricity so dinner that evening was very interesting in the pitch black.
The next day was our ferry and transfer to Rio. Rio was great fun and really lovely, as soon as we arrived several of us headed out on a favela tour. We got picked up and taken to the base of a favela before getting on 'taxi bikes' (motorbikes with a helmet that didnt do up and lunatic drivers), but we made it to the top where we had a walking tour back through the favela. This particular favela had only been pacified three weeks before and the drug barron was arrested so there was a lot of military presece around. It was really interesting to see inside and how people live, it was very smelly with rubbish and wires everywhere but you felt pretty safe as a group inside. That evening was the last night of the tour, most people stayed on in Rio a bit longer so I had one extra night in the hotel (in Copacabana) before moving to a hostel in a 10 bed dorm in Ipanema. Seeing as it was the 'last night' (of the tour) we went to Lapa street party which was pretty crazy! There were weird acts and dancing in the street and at around 1:30am we moved onto a club. Apart from Helen getting her necklace ripped off her neck it all seemed pretty safe and was quite a fun night, stumbling back to the hotel after sunrise yet again...The next morning Helen and I had to move rooms so we had to be up at 10 which meant very little sleep that night but we did then go on a city tour of Rio. The city tour started with visiting Christ the Redeemer which was really great and incredible views of Rio. We then went onto a cathedral and some steps that were decorated with lots of coloured ceramics. Then it was up to the top of sugarloaf but unfortunately for us the weather was not great and so it was pretty cloudy by the time we made it up in the two cable cars. I also managed to buy some Havianas at the top of sugar loaf, at a much cheaper price than at home (bought 4 pairs in Brazil in total...to replace a pair that broke on me!). The next day was my last full day in Rio before the horrendous 42 hours to Fiji. That morning I met Zoe and we checked into Che Lagarto Hostel in Ipanema, prior to that I had to sort out my blocked debit card!! Brazil is a nightmare to withdraw cash and so after too many attempts HSBC delightfully blocked my card...managed to get that all sorted and so we spent the morning shopping. That afternoon we had booked tickets to go to a football game - it was literally the craziest thing ever! It was the final game of the season and the crowd was absolutely crazy, there were huge flags that got passed over everyone, drumming, taunting, fireworks and bangers everywhere! The next day I walked from Ipanema to Copacabana along the beach before packing my backpack ready for my 2:30am flight out of Rio to Fiji. The first flight was 7hours from Rio to Panama where I had 3 hours to wander round and managed to buy a new watch to replace my broken 'waterproof' one. After that it was anothr 7 hours to LA where I had 8 and 1/2 hours before the 11 hour flight to Nadi in Fiji. LAX has to be one of the worst airports with absolutely nothing to do, so that was a very boring 8 and 1/2 hours!! The flight into Nadi was delayed by an hour and a half which meant I missed my boat which would get me to the island I wanted to go to at the top of the Yasawa Islands. Lucikly there was another boat that could get me to a different island, South Sea Island, one of the smallest and I had a great time there. I spent the afternoon on the beach sunbathing before one of the staff took me out on a catamaran and taught me how to sail - GREAT fun!!! The next day I made the 5 hour boat ride up to Coral View resort which was a bit more lively than South Sea and I met Hayley on the boat ride up and ended up travelling with her around the rest of the islands until she left 4 days ago. Coral View was a lot of fun, I went on an intro scuba dive (in the Blue Lagoon) and learnt how to ride a jet ski on a snorkelling safari. After two nights at Coral View, the next stop was Korovou Eco Resort, the resort there was pretty basic and we only had one night which was probably a good thing (the only thing 'eco' about it was the lack of power during the day). We did walk 10 mins to the other side of the island where we went snorkelling before moving onto Waya LaiLai Eco Resort. Waya LaiLai was a lot more fun, we had two nights there and th3e first night ended up being pretty messy, Hayley and I both had bottles of duty free spirits and both of those went that night...there was a 5am sunrise walk the following morning and we were still up from the previous night as the walk started. The next day, due to the lack of sleep the previous night, Hayley and I upgraded to a Bure (private room) and went to bed at 8:30pm. Refreshed and ready for the next island, Beachcomber. There were big expectations for Beachcomber becuase everyone raves about it, it was fun but given all the hype not quite what we had expected. It didnt really help that there were a group of Australian graduates taking up most of the island, but again it was another late night partying. Hayley left the next day and I decided to head to Mantaray resort to do my Open Water scuba diving course. Manatary is by far my favourite place yet....I really don't want to leave! For the first two nights I was with 4 girls that I had met on previous islands, the first night was fairly tame but the second it was Jane (one of the girls birthdays) so a fair bit of drinking took place. The following night I was on my own for the first time since I arrived at South Sea Island but I soon met a girl in the bunk opposite me and we headed up for dinner with a bottle of wine. The bottle of wine soon turned into 3, we were drinking with the owner of the resort, my dive instructor and a couple of other members of staff and their friends that were visiting. That night between a group of around 10 of us we got through $1600 (fijian dollars) worth of sambuca alongside lots of other drinks...The next day I had the final dive of my Open Water Course at 8:30am but diving was a brilliant hangover cure until I lost everyone under the water for about 5mins before one of the guys found me, we then got stuck in a really strong current and lost both dive masters so continued our dive, finally popping back up to the surface to see the other heading back in on the beach. The rest of the afternoon was spent nursing my hangover and sitting in the beach bar. Today in my last full day in Fiji and it has rained all day, luckily every other day has been BOILING hot so its not so bad but I really really do not want to leave yet! Tomorrow I have to get to the airport for 6am so I have booked my own room back on the main island which I am very much looking forward to! Unfortunately though, whilst we were on the ferry boat the other day it broke an engine (smoking us out for a while with a burning plastic smell. Not reassuring when the other 2 ferries are also broken due to constant patching up) so it means that it is really delayed and taking a long time to do the journey. The dive course here was so much fun, I managed to do 5 dives in total (3 individual and one 2-tank dive) and have seen loads of fish, about 6 white tip reef sharks and a turtle! I am now back on the mainland in Fiji and having a slight lull after leaving everyone and the Yasawa Islands behind to be off on my own again but have just met a girl who is on my flight tomorrow so things are looking up! It was also slightly weird after two weeks to see cars again and transfer by coach not boat...would much rather be back on Mantaray Island right now but I'm sure New Zealand will be great too!
Latest Photos:
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The next day was our ferry and transfer to Rio. Rio was great fun and really lovely, as soon as we arrived several of us headed out on a favela tour. We got picked up and taken to the base of a favela before getting on 'taxi bikes' (motorbikes with a helmet that didnt do up and lunatic drivers), but we made it to the top where we had a walking tour back through the favela. This particular favela had only been pacified three weeks before and the drug barron was arrested so there was a lot of military presece around. It was really interesting to see inside and how people live, it was very smelly with rubbish and wires everywhere but you felt pretty safe as a group inside. That evening was the last night of the tour, most people stayed on in Rio a bit longer so I had one extra night in the hotel (in Copacabana) before moving to a hostel in a 10 bed dorm in Ipanema. Seeing as it was the 'last night' (of the tour) we went to Lapa street party which was pretty crazy! There were weird acts and dancing in the street and at around 1:30am we moved onto a club. Apart from Helen getting her necklace ripped off her neck it all seemed pretty safe and was quite a fun night, stumbling back to the hotel after sunrise yet again...The next morning Helen and I had to move rooms so we had to be up at 10 which meant very little sleep that night but we did then go on a city tour of Rio. The city tour started with visiting Christ the Redeemer which was really great and incredible views of Rio. We then went onto a cathedral and some steps that were decorated with lots of coloured ceramics. Then it was up to the top of sugarloaf but unfortunately for us the weather was not great and so it was pretty cloudy by the time we made it up in the two cable cars. I also managed to buy some Havianas at the top of sugar loaf, at a much cheaper price than at home (bought 4 pairs in Brazil in total...to replace a pair that broke on me!). The next day was my last full day in Rio before the horrendous 42 hours to Fiji. That morning I met Zoe and we checked into Che Lagarto Hostel in Ipanema, prior to that I had to sort out my blocked debit card!! Brazil is a nightmare to withdraw cash and so after too many attempts HSBC delightfully blocked my card...managed to get that all sorted and so we spent the morning shopping. That afternoon we had booked tickets to go to a football game - it was literally the craziest thing ever! It was the final game of the season and the crowd was absolutely crazy, there were huge flags that got passed over everyone, drumming, taunting, fireworks and bangers everywhere! The next day I walked from Ipanema to Copacabana along the beach before packing my backpack ready for my 2:30am flight out of Rio to Fiji. The first flight was 7hours from Rio to Panama where I had 3 hours to wander round and managed to buy a new watch to replace my broken 'waterproof' one. After that it was anothr 7 hours to LA where I had 8 and 1/2 hours before the 11 hour flight to Nadi in Fiji. LAX has to be one of the worst airports with absolutely nothing to do, so that was a very boring 8 and 1/2 hours!! The flight into Nadi was delayed by an hour and a half which meant I missed my boat which would get me to the island I wanted to go to at the top of the Yasawa Islands. Lucikly there was another boat that could get me to a different island, South Sea Island, one of the smallest and I had a great time there. I spent the afternoon on the beach sunbathing before one of the staff took me out on a catamaran and taught me how to sail - GREAT fun!!! The next day I made the 5 hour boat ride up to Coral View resort which was a bit more lively than South Sea and I met Hayley on the boat ride up and ended up travelling with her around the rest of the islands until she left 4 days ago. Coral View was a lot of fun, I went on an intro scuba dive (in the Blue Lagoon) and learnt how to ride a jet ski on a snorkelling safari. After two nights at Coral View, the next stop was Korovou Eco Resort, the resort there was pretty basic and we only had one night which was probably a good thing (the only thing 'eco' about it was the lack of power during the day). We did walk 10 mins to the other side of the island where we went snorkelling before moving onto Waya LaiLai Eco Resort. Waya LaiLai was a lot more fun, we had two nights there and th3e first night ended up being pretty messy, Hayley and I both had bottles of duty free spirits and both of those went that night...there was a 5am sunrise walk the following morning and we were still up from the previous night as the walk started. The next day, due to the lack of sleep the previous night, Hayley and I upgraded to a Bure (private room) and went to bed at 8:30pm. Refreshed and ready for the next island, Beachcomber. There were big expectations for Beachcomber becuase everyone raves about it, it was fun but given all the hype not quite what we had expected. It didnt really help that there were a group of Australian graduates taking up most of the island, but again it was another late night partying. Hayley left the next day and I decided to head to Mantaray resort to do my Open Water scuba diving course. Manatary is by far my favourite place yet....I really don't want to leave! For the first two nights I was with 4 girls that I had met on previous islands, the first night was fairly tame but the second it was Jane (one of the girls birthdays) so a fair bit of drinking took place. The following night I was on my own for the first time since I arrived at South Sea Island but I soon met a girl in the bunk opposite me and we headed up for dinner with a bottle of wine. The bottle of wine soon turned into 3, we were drinking with the owner of the resort, my dive instructor and a couple of other members of staff and their friends that were visiting. That night between a group of around 10 of us we got through $1600 (fijian dollars) worth of sambuca alongside lots of other drinks...The next day I had the final dive of my Open Water Course at 8:30am but diving was a brilliant hangover cure until I lost everyone under the water for about 5mins before one of the guys found me, we then got stuck in a really strong current and lost both dive masters so continued our dive, finally popping back up to the surface to see the other heading back in on the beach. The rest of the afternoon was spent nursing my hangover and sitting in the beach bar. Today in my last full day in Fiji and it has rained all day, luckily every other day has been BOILING hot so its not so bad but I really really do not want to leave yet! Tomorrow I have to get to the airport for 6am so I have booked my own room back on the main island which I am very much looking forward to! Unfortunately though, whilst we were on the ferry boat the other day it broke an engine (smoking us out for a while with a burning plastic smell. Not reassuring when the other 2 ferries are also broken due to constant patching up) so it means that it is really delayed and taking a long time to do the journey. The dive course here was so much fun, I managed to do 5 dives in total (3 individual and one 2-tank dive) and have seen loads of fish, about 6 white tip reef sharks and a turtle! I am now back on the mainland in Fiji and having a slight lull after leaving everyone and the Yasawa Islands behind to be off on my own again but have just met a girl who is on my flight tomorrow so things are looking up! It was also slightly weird after two weeks to see cars again and transfer by coach not boat...would much rather be back on Mantaray Island right now but I'm sure New Zealand will be great too!
Latest Photos:
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