Happy Birthday To Meee!

Today is my 19th birthday! Yay!

I've had such a lovely time already. My boyfriend Vincent surprised me by organising a really thoughtful dinner last night! His two friends who are qualified chefs cooked us a 5 course meal with champagne and candles. So cute and romantic!

They also surprised me with a birthday cake, carrot cake mmmm.

I woke up this morning to find out what my present is...

Firstly Vincent's family gave me a card with a voucher for 2 nights in a spa motel in Taupo - wow! Sounds perfect.

Then I found out what Vincent got me....

A SKYDIVE!!

So next Tuesday I'm going to be falling out of a plane from 12,000 feet! Yikes!

This morning we went out for breakfast with his friends who cooked us dinner, yummy pancakes and coffee.

I didn't actually have banana hearts! But this pictures cute.

Tonight Elle, Liana and I are heading to Lava Bar. They helped me pick out a dress where they both work yesterday. Gonna be a nice girly night getting ready together. Elle is going to do my hair, make-up and nails! Looking forward to it!

Christchurch - Part II

I woke up on Saturday morning at 6.50am to another aftershock, 4.4. When you wake up to one you don't fully register what's happening, so I found that once the shaking stopped I just went back to sleep. It still felt surreal, the room shaking, hearing rattle sounds around the house, really kinda freaky!

That morning Lisa took me to a market where I was hoping to get one of the 'Munted' t-shirts (there's a picture in my previous blog) but unfortunately that was the one week that the man who made them chose to take a day off - typical! Not to worry, I'm going to try and order one online and get it sent to my Rotorua address, however I would have liked to have seen them properly first!

Lisa and I decided to go to one of the big shopping malls just for a look around, so we walked about, testing out different make ups in the Body Shop and a pharmacy. I was very good and didn't purchase anything because I've spent soo much recently on my Kiwi experience and all the activities I did while on it!

That night Jacqui and I were looking for something to do - a hard task when most of the city is closed! So we looked online and found that Speight's Ale House had a band called Smashbox playing who looked pretty good so we decided to eat there then stay for the band. Jacqui had blue cod fish and chips which came out in the Otago Daily Times - a really good touch! This was when I learnt blue cod isn't actually blue.... haha.

The band was really good and played music that got people up dancing. Jacqui and I had a laugh watching some people and decided you can have a really good sober night just watching drunk people!!

On Sunday we went to Hanmer Springs where they have a whole complex of thermal hot pools. This was bliss! We had a nice relaxing day broken up by going down the slides, some of which were actually kinda scary! There was one of those pitch black ones where you don't know when a corner is coming up, and another where you get dumped into a big bowl and go round and round..and round!

Me with Lisa on the left and Jacqui in the middle

That evening we went to Woodpecker's for Tim's 3rd birthday - Lisa's partner's son - where we had lovely food while the kids all played in a big ball pit next to us. I got my picture taken in the birthday seat because I turn 19 on Thursday!

My flight leaves Monday early afternoon, so I have to say goodbye to Lisa on Sunday night as I would be asleep when she leaves for work. It was sad having to say goodbye to her because she's a cousin who I've only just met from across the world and have to leave again! But I'm sure I'll see her again sometime. Same goes for Jacqui who brought me to the airport on Monday. We got coffee and hot chocolate and sat until my flight was called to go through security. I really didn't like having to say goodbye to her either - I'm not good with goodbyes whether I've known them a lifetime or a weekend!

I board my Air New Zealand plane and got a nice surprise to find it was one of the All Black planes for the Rugby World Cup with black leather seats, all very spacious! The outside is painted black and white too. New Zealand really is crazy about rugby!

Christchurch - Part I

If you haven't been paying attention to the news you might not know that Christchurch experienced 2 big earthquakes on Monday 13th June 2011 following the massive shakes that devastated Christchurch in February 2011.

I'm still behind on my Kiwi Experience blog, but I arrived in Christchurch yesterday so am putting the other on hold as this is more current.

If you've had a look through my blog you'll know that I have been touring the whole of New Zealand, but not only that. I have been meeting family members on this side of the world for the first time! So the reason I've come to Christchurch and not listened to the tour guides recommending you avoid it, is because my mum's cousin's two daughters live here.

As I said, I arrived here yesterday. I took a 7 hour bus journey from Cromwell (an hour outside of Queenstown) which was the longest most boring bus journey ever!

So as we got closer to Christchurch, and as I saw the number of kilometers get smaller and smaller, I must admit I did feel a bit nervous. I really had no idea what to expect..I mean I've never in my life felt an earthquake, I've never been to an area affected by one; you see it on the news but these things don't feel real until it's right infront of you.

We arrived through a side of town where you wouldn't even think there had been an earthquake. Everything seemed intact. Roads normal, no cracks. Houses still upright. I thought to myself "Ok maybe it's not going to be that bad?".

I got dropped off at the airport (flights weren't even running, but that's a whole other story due to volcanic ash from Chile...) as it was easiest for Lisa to pick me up. We drove to her house where on the way I saw some evidence of liquefaction, which is when a mix of water and sand bubbles up from underground and causes a right mess of the roads and properties. Lisa showed me round her house, showing where cracks had formed in the brickwork and in walls. Thankfully her house hasn't been too badly affected when you compare it to some other places.

I arrived at 4pm that afternoon and went to bed not having felt an aftershock yet. That lasted for over 12 hours - unusual for Christchurch! - until I woke up just after 6.30am to what felt like someone had come in and started shaking my bed. I could hear things in the house shaking. I just lay there, probably half asleep, not fully registering what was happening. And then it stopped. I thought to myself "hmm.. my first earthquake..." when Lisa ran in to see if I was ok (she knew I was feeling kindof freaked out beforehand) to which I replied "yeah, it was actually kinda cool!"

I soon found out it had a magnitude of 4.4. Not enough to cause any damage but enough that you'd certainly feel it!

Today, Lisa and her sister Jacqui took me on a tour around Christchurch showing me the most damaged areas. In one case a bridge that people use to drive over everyday has physically raised up so you drive up an angle to get on it! It's so amazing just how much everything moves and the results you can see.

The place that shocked me most was the Central Business District, which would normally have been thriving and so busy on a Friday evening when we went to it. It was completely cordoned off. Not a person could be seen in the area. Complete ghost town. The Hotel Grand Chancellor is a high rise building which is actually leaning at an angle not far from the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy!

This boat house is on a bit of a lean

My hand can easily fit in the crack in this concrete wall 

It's just so shocking to see this kindof thing right infront of your eyes!

There were two more aftershocks today after this morning's. A 4.4 and a 4.5, however, I didn't actually feel them as we were driving, but those who did said they felt rather big!

Hoping for a quiet night's sleep. Don't want to speak too soon. We'll see!

xxx

KE - Westport

The next day we drive from Nelson to Westport on the west coast of the south island of New Zealand. We stopped off at a lake in Nelson's national park...and I just have to show you these photos because it is b-e-a-utiful!

A couple of brave people jumped in right off the pier. Now let me just say,there was definitely some frost on the ground in the shaded areas so it was COLD!

Charlie and I with Donald, he's 6foot10!

Charlie and I changed into our bikinis to jump in....

.....not! It was far too cold but the guys joked they were going to throw us in!

We really just wanted the photo opportunity haha!

So when we arrived in Westport we went jetboating. Cost $69 for an hour and you can take your camera on with you..while it costs over $100 for 20 minutes in Queenstown..and you have to buy the photos after! So that's one reason why we stop at Westport, for the same things but cheaper!

We found it quite amusing at the start..the boat went through fields to get to the water.. So there we were,getting towed by a tractor through fields. On a boat. Normal!

But that's exactly what Westport is like. A small country town, where everybody knows everybody.

The jetboating itself was seriously cool. We cruised at a normal pace up the river, then on the way back was full of twists and spins and almost falling out the boat! So much fun. The guys in the front row actually did almost fall out when the back of the boat went into the air at one stage on a sharp spin. Hilarious!

Just a couple of other photos I thought were cool that we found a long the way. I thought this sign post was awesome. Similar to the photo of one in my side bar! >>>>

I can safely say that Kiwi bus is like the best experience ever. You meet soo many cool people, do so many new and cool things. Love it!!!

KE- Nelson

After the ferry journey I mentioned in my last post, we headed to a place called Nelson. It's a pretty cool place, we arrived at a homely hostel where the barman was an Irishman from Dublin. It's always nice to meet people from places near you when you're travelling!

What Nelson is really famous for is that in it is the geographical centre of New Zealand! It's a bit of a steep trek up a winding track leading you higher and higher. While we were all breaking a sweat, there were some clearly fit people power walking / jogging past us up such a high gradient...put us to shame!!

So we eventually made it, just in time to watch the beautiful sunset over the town of Nelson.

Myself, Tom & Charlie

The centre :)

That evening at the hostel we had a free beer tasting offered to us. I don't actually like beer very much, and neither does Charlie, so Tom ended up getting most of ours! It was fun though, a good reason for all of us to get together.

Afterwards we played some card games. Sounds dull perhaps but when we're all tired and not for going out, it can be a real laugh. We ended up playing a few games of President until the bar closed (early!) at 9pm..when we decided to watch a movie..but we all ended up going to bed early anyway after the big long day of travelling,and the super early start!

Next update - hopefully soon! x

KE - Wellington

Hello my lovely followers...So I'm still trying to catch up on my travel FAILblog haha. Leaving River Valley was a very early start to begin the looong drive down to Welly! We have a few stop offs on the way but to be honest it was a long day, filled by sudoko puzzles and sleep!

By the time we arrive in Wellington it's late, so what better to do than to all head out! As a backpacker there are quite often 2for1 deals on, this is good when we're all strapped for cash!

Above is just a little picture of me and my two best friends on Kiwi bus, Nicole from Canada on the left, and Charlie from England on the right.

Unfortunately, it was a Sunday night so really there wasn't much open with regards to bars or clubs..but we always have a good night anyway! As some people were staying longer than one night in Wellington, we had to say a couple of goodbyes. But thankfully they were more 'See you soon' because of the big reunion ahead in Queenstown! :D ...reminds me of Dear John, a beautiful movie!

 The next morning was another very early start with the bus leaving Wellington at 7.30am in order to catch our ferry over to Picton on the south island!

Up early enough to see the beautiful sunrise over Wellington's harbour.

Charlie and I were feeling a bit tired on it this morning, but perked right up when our bus driver Matty suprised us two with bacon and hash brown butties..mmmm, made us feel far better!

The sun is rising higher over the 3 hour boat journey!

The beautiful entry into Marlborough Sounds...The entry to the mesmerizing south island!

KE - River Valley

Ok so I am still alive, I am just completely behind on my blogging! It's because a lot of the time I'm either somewhere with limited internet..or I simply have no time! I'm having the best time just loving life on Kiwi Experience doing so many new things!

If you read my last post you'll see that I was in Taupo. Well next stop was a beautiful place called River Valley. It is in the middle of absolute nowhere! The windiest roads I've ever been on led you downhill into the valley where a beautiful homey hostel awaited us. So instead of your usual hostel with a communal kitchen,where you can't really socialise, this place had a lovely lounge room, biig open fire in the middle and sofas around the bar. Totally a chill out place.

The main reason why we go to the middle of nowhere is for the white water rafting..said to be the best place in New Zealand to do it! I had suuch an amazing time. We did Grade 5 which is the hardest you can do without being a guide or having some kind of training.

So we went down some prettyyy steep rapids, really rough that you had to hold on for dear life or else you'd fall out! However, before it even got at all rough, my friend Charlie and I fell out. It was so sudden and we didn't expect it at all! We think maybe our feet weren't wedged in enough but we both fell out and the current began to sweep us away..so our guide had to hold out his paddle to me,and i held mine out to Charlie and had to hold on to her! Then the guide just grabbed us, one in each arm, and pulled us back into the boat! It was so cold so we were shocked for a little while, but it really was hilarous. Wish we got a photo of it!

Also we all jumped off a 9m ledge into the water, really high and really cold! 

I'm really far behind in my blogging but I'll hopefully get caught up. I'll be in Queenstown for six days so I'll take out some time to get my blog back together! Have done soo much since River Valley I'm excited to tell you all about it! :D