Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Almost the end of NZ....


Since the last post of black water rafting in Waitomo we have done quite a bit. We stopped off at a small town (population 34?) called Punakaiki, which was a pretty last minute decision. The place was very cool we got to explore some caves and the local tavern was a great place for dinner and a few beers. The second day there was pretty terrible weather so we were stuck indoors playing games. The weather didnt stop us from taking a dip in the sea though. I think it must have been bordering on minus temperatures and Steve quite literally turned purple but it was a good laugh.

After Punakiki we travelled on to a place called Lake Wahinapua, which had some beautiful scenery, so got some cracking photo's there. There is a place known as the poo pub, which is an abbreviation for a much longer word. This is where we stayed the night. The landlord is a bit of a local legend. He's about 90 years old and throws a great party. We had steak dinners and then set off to the pub. Unfortunately, being such a cold day the dorm heaters must have all been set to max because the generator blew. So we had our party in the dark by candlelight and slept in unheated dorms with no running water. It was a pretty good night though and I did manage to win a free canyon swing at yet another blokes dress as women party. That was worth around 70 pounds and finally made up my mind as to whether I would have the balls to get over my fear of heights (the boys back home will probably remember my less than impressive bungee jump back home!)

Next was a stop at a place called Franz Josef which is home to the worlds fastest moving glacier. We got to do a full day of hiking here which was brilliant. The scenery was amazing and the weather was really good that day. The 8 hours of the hike went really fast and we got to climb through ice caves and slide through some very narrow paths in the ice. What made it all the better was that the guide actually carved out a fresh path as we were travelling because the glacier changes each day so it was a really unique tour.

We are currently in Queenstown which is high on my list of favourite places in NZ so far. The town is still quite small, although it is actually one of the largest in the southern island. It does have a really relaxed vibe about it and we've had some great weather so far. There's been a few good parties so far, the highlight probably being the World bar where Sunday night was england night and the alcohol was served in teapots (random). At the bar they give you a dice, roll a 4,5 or 6 and the drink is free. Unfortunatly I was regretting my good luck the next day but it was a cracking night!

As Steve's last post says we did the Canyon swing today and I'm still buzzing from the adrenaline. It is without a doubt the most insane thing I have ever done in my life especially having a bit of a phobia of heights. But I am 100% glad I managed to do it. The guys there were a real good laugh even if they do wind you up when you are hung 350ft over a cliff! Also, I am still amazed at Steve's handstand off the edge. It was by far the best jump of the day!

Tommorow we leave for Christchurch and then we fly to Melbourne, Australia on Friday. I have already had a few beers in the bar and am heading back there shortly so it might be a bit of a hangover day tomorrow but the journey is around 500km so it might be a good thing to sleep off some of the trip.

Hopefully you get time to check out our canyon swing videos cos that was a particular highlight of the trip so far.

Hope everyone is well. Will post again soon.

3, 2, 1... aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh

Abso-fucking-lutely incredible! Ady won a Canyon Swing a few days ago while dressed as a woman (Anne from Little Britain - with the added bonus of a couple of fantastic fake tits!), because of the win of his I decided to also take the plunge...

It was amazing. I was struggling to choose which of the twisted methods of jumping (or being pushed) off the edge so the guy who put on my harness suggested the hand stand! Not one of the official jumps, but a one that isn't for the feint hearted. Watch the video above - makes my palms sweat even now!