New Zealand (9) - Queenstown - Fergburger, Bungy Jump, Milford Sound, Frisbee Golf and Replanning

As many of you may know, I am a carnivore, a massive fan of meat! Steak for breakfast is quite the norm, when we have been told on our travels that Queenstown has the best burger joint in the world, I had to go! It has become a pilgrimage of mine. Needless to say I have not been disappointed. The Fergburger joint is a small place but with an amazing menu and freshest of ingredients, Sam and I have now had 5 burgers each. Slightly obsessed, but it is a must for anyone going to Queenstown. As Sam shows, it can get messy!!!

Here are some additional pictures from our bungy jump. Consider them behind the scenes shots, see the fear, see the excitement, see them in HD!!!!

On Wednesday we went to the beautiful fiord, Milford Sound. The place was amazing, so much foliage and so little human disruption. The area is very difficult to access so not everyone will head there but it was well worth the day out. It is so difficult to capture the areas beauty, but hopefully the photos will give you an idea. The day included a cruise around the fiord and out to the Tasman sea. We saw seals and dolphins and shed loads of Japanese tourists with bazooka size lenses on their cameras. What made the day extra special was the all you can eat buffet! Choice, Eh!!!

On Thursday, we decided that we should try something different that did not involved heights or signing a waiver form, so we had a go at Frisbee Golf. This pretty much involves throwing a frisbee into a metal net; simple but addictive. You got to love the Kiwis for their inventiveness!

Following the recent devastating earthquake in Christchurch, Sam and I have made changes to our plans and will now be flying out of Queenstown. We have received word from people we have met along the way and they are all safe. One guy was flown out by the NZ Air Force, another girl has lost everything (including passport) and another guy has been staying with a Kiwi family in the area. It has been an eye opener to the frailities of the human body and the resilience of the human mind and soul. I can only speak for myself but it has made me more determined to travel and live life to its fullest. A friend who was in Christchurch at the time has photos of the hostel we were booked to stay at; I feel lucky and blessed.

If you would like to donate to the recovery operation then please follow the link below:

http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

New Zealand (8) - Queenstown - Earthquake News

As some of you are just finding out through international news there has been a huge earthquake in NZ. Sam and I are fine, we are quite a way from it but we did feel the aftershocks. We are just worried about friends who were in Christchurch.

On a lighter note, my bungy video is online now.



And a different angle of Sam's Bungy:

New Zealand (7) - Queenstown - 1,2,3, Bunjyyyyyyy

Well we arrived in Queenstown which is the party capital of NZ and got on it straight away. Ferg burger for dinner (a world famous burger joint) followed by a serious session on the beer. Needless to say we had another Ferg on the way back to the hostel. Today me and Sam did something extra special. We did a bungy jump and a canyon swing. Enjoy the videos...

It was an amazing feeling to jump 134m in to a canyon. Sam was brave and just got on with it! My video is corrupted so before people start saying I did not do! Hopefully I will get it on her ASAP!

New Zealand (6) - Franz Josef - Ferry to South Island, Abel Tasman National Park, Poo Pub Party and Glacier Walking

On the 12th, we got up early (every morning with the Kiwi Experience seems an early morning) and headed for the North to South Island ferry. Once on board we ordered a coffee to warm up, at this point I found the 2 most stupid Kiwis, the making of a mocha took 20minutes!!!! We then sat down in some reclining seats and watched the ferry pass through the beautiful Marlborough Sound, pity about the cloud. There was loads of Jelly fish being churned up by the ferry...good! Once on the other side, wec continued through New Zealands wine country and to the northern city of Nelson.

Nelson is a nice quiet town with a few bars (on Saturday all shops were closed at 5!!!) but the main reason to stop there is its proximity to the Abel Tasmin National Park. It was here that Sam and I set out on a day kayaking trip which was loads of fun.

Our guides took us around small families of Seals. The seals swam around the kayaks and did some barking at us. We then kayaked and sailed down the coast for 17km taking beautful beaches and landscapes, a great day out. It was on this day that Sam has come up with her best quote so far when asking our guides:

Sam: If you lived in New Zealand, what part would you live in?

Paul: They do live in New Zealand...

Bless her...

The next town after Nelson on our tour was a old mining town called Westport. No photos exist of this part as

1. it was rubbish
2. it was dead
3. there was nothing worth photographing

The next day we were on our way to Lake Mahinapua, where there was a huge fancy dress party. The theme was first letter of your name. I went as the pope whilst Sam went as a six year old...in a weird way it seemed to work together. Ill add some photos of this at another time, as they were taken on another camera. Funny enough we did not win....The food was amazing and the host, a 83 year old publican was hilarious and angry in equal proportions! The next day we were on our way to the small town of Franz Josef and world famous Franz Josef glacier.

We paid to go on a full day hike and it was money well spent. We climbed through cravasses and through holes. Loads of fun and very knackering...next stop Wanaka followed by Queenstown! 

New Zealand (5) - Wellington - Jager bombs, Transport Issues, River Valley Lodge & The Capitol

To celebrate Sams successful sky dive, a huge group of us went out the same night. Needless to say Jager bombs were consumed and our 5am alarm clock was missed; we missed the chance to do the Tongario Crossing. Foretunately weather on the mountain has been really bad with visability being reduced to 10 metres along the track. Instead, Sam and I laid by lake Taupo and got sun burnt; pretty chilled out day.

The next day we went on a walk up to the geothermal park, Craters of the Moon. Which was a little weird, loads of sulpur, bubbling mud, steam vents and the feeling of pending death by being steamed! The next day we bordered a coach heading for the eco-adventure lodge, River Valley Lodge. However, due to an issue with my booking, we were thrown off at a town National Park Village. This town was straight out of a horror movie; a heavy mist, a crazy hostel receptionist, and a population of 14. We spent the day there; because of the bad weather in the area we could do/see nothing, hence the lack of photos. We did watch the first Lord of the Rings movie, I think we did this for some kind of Bullseye gameshow physcology. "This is the scenery you could be seeing?"

We finally got to the River Valley Lodge, which was nice place to chill out. The lodge is miles from anything and requires a small hike from where the coach can drop you off from. We had a nice BBQ here; a load of beer and the next day we relaxed by the river and did some swimming. I did climb up the grade 3 rapids and decided to come down them on my arse; my groin area got smashed by an unmissable rock. Good fun though! White water rafting is available but we are hopefully doing it further down the line. The next stop was Wellington...

The coach down was pretty exciting and involved some games and films; once at Wellington, we got showered, changed and started the drinking! Sam was a total shambles and was very drunk! I write this blog now, while she is asleep upstairs. Today, we went to the Te Papa musuem, which is quite impressive museum of New Zealands Natural and Political history. Once again, Sam surprised me by reading some things, she did get tired quick. Tomorrow we get the ferry to the South Island, we have been in NZ for 2 weeks. As Sam keeps saying, "I can not believe we have been away for only 3 weeks". She says at least once an hour...

New Zealand (4) - Taupo - Sam jumps from 15,000ft...

Sam has just come back from her sky dive; she enjoyed it so much. I have uploaded some photos ...

She got back to me in one piece and is very excitable at the moment.

Sam: God i am doing another one!



New Zealand (3) - Waitomo & Taupo - Black Water Rafting and Other Unnatural Activities...

After leaving Rotorua, we headed to the nearby zorbing centre and agrodome. Zorbing is a New Zealand made activity where by you sit in a beach ball and get pushed down a hill; Me and Sam were up for doing it, but looked at it and saw that it was pathetically small for the amount of money that was being asked. The Agrodome is an agricultural centre where sheep shearing and cow milking is all part of a show, a bit rubbish so we did not go to that. The next stop was Agroventures, an activity  park, with some very unique rides. The Shweeb (top pic) is a racing track that you cycle around; I did the 3 laps in a respectable 1min 3secs, Sam in a very good 1min 11secs, she beat the national best times for Korea, Japan and Italy. Well done Moore! The other activity we did was the power boat which has the same engine as a Ferrari and can do 0-100kmph in 4.5 seconds; oh the power!!! That was a lot of fun, seeing that we were going round a lake the size of someones pond and could hit rocks an second; the guy was in charge of driving, not us. After finishing at Agroventures we headed for the sleepy town of Waitomo (population 48).

That evening, I went Black Water Rafting with a group of lads, Sam went with some other people. This was a lot of fun. It started off with a 110ft abseil descent in to a cave, then a 30ft zip line over to ledge. We then jumped in to a underwater river and floated on tubes down to cavern which was filled with glow worms. These are maggots that have glowing poo, cool in a weird way. We then did some belly flopping into the river, jumped off a waterfall and then climbed back up it. A lot of fun and exhilirating, we had to climb up some other waterfalls and some gaps. Was a lot of fun and gave me a huge sense of achievement; highly recommended to those looking for some distinct experience. As the pictures show, a wet suit is really flattering for me, brings out all my curves!!! We stayed in Waitomo for one night, it had one pub and one convienence shop (the nearest hospital was 100km away). The next day we headed for Taupo...

 Taupo is activity centre of the North Island and is home to the Huka Falls. The water here is amazingly blue and clear. Activities on offer include sky dive, bunjee jumping, canyon swing, kayaking (not through the Huka falls, they are grade 6, therefore making it illegal), and hiking. We are hoping to do the Tungario Crossing hike; which is supposed to be one of the worlds most amazing one day hikes. Should be good. We are staying in Taupo for 4 nights...

New Zealand (2) - Whitianga & Rotorua - Sea, sand and haka

Well I have finally had time to update the blog. On Tuesday morning we got the Kiwi Experience coach from Auckland to Whitianga (Mercury Bay). The driver stopped at some wonderful little beaches; the hot pool one was particularly memomarable as there is a hot spring that is seeping through the ground bringing warm water that you can lay in. I played some touch rugby with some of the lads on the coach while Sam sun bathed with the girls. That night we stayed in the Turtle Cove hostel; me and Sam were given our own shed for the night which was very pleasant and quiet.

On Wednesday, we got on the coach yesterday and went to the Window Tunnel walk, followed by Matamata (The home of the Hobbiton set from LOTR and Hobbit films), and finally arrived at Rotorua. The window tunnel walk took us through old gold mining tunnels followed by huge open gorges; very green and very beautiful. Matamata is a small town with nothing there other than the LOTR references. Rotorua is the cultural centre of the North Island and is important to the Maori population. There is a lot of geothermal activity, and stinks as a result. On Wednesday night we went to a Maori cultural evening where we had a traditional feast and was entertained with haka and music. So far so good. There is some flooding in the North of New Zealand which has caused a lot of travellers to change coaches. This has meant that the coaches are fully packed; me and Sam are hoping to be able to stay in some places a little longer, but have to wait and see. Today, we are doing zorbing and black water rafting....Hopefully without injury, but Sam is involved.