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Friday 13th March 2009 - Christchurch
Hello Thomas here, After the epic skydive day Wednesday was a complete let down as we drove the 7 hours to Christchurch. To top it all we started in cloudy windy weather in Queenstown drove through Hot sunshine then ended with cloudy windy weather in Christchurch! unbelieveable.
We really haven't been up to much here just skulking around really. Steve and I went to the nightime zoo on thursday evening where we were up close and personal with a few Kiwi's which are fast becoming one of my favourite animals. They are halarious and with thier long beaks and very rotund body. It's the only place in the world where you are not behind glass to see the kiwi's. We also walked through a Kea ( a large parrot bnative to NZ with a very sharp hooked beak) enclosure where the Kea literally come close enough they brush your clothes. One guy on the tour got a bit carried away and put his hand out so the bird nipped him. His wifes reaction was priceless as she just shock her head and said "idiot", that had me laughing for a while. We found out that the white heron was originally the nation bird of NZ until they discovered it's native to Auz and promptly swapped to the Kiwi!
Yesterday we watched Slumdog Millionaire at the cinema which, for those who haven't seen it, is an absoltly awesome film. Each one of us loved it. After that we headed out for dinner where we had some very heated discussions over silly questions. Such as how long could you survive with out water? Would you rather have one arm or one leg? What would your luxury item be on desert island discs? And many more besides. As you can see we really have been spending too much time together if thats the conversation we're reduced to!
Well i think thats all. Steve and I are watching the Crusaders vs Western force in the rugby super 14 on Satyurday evening. Before flying out to Sydney on Sunday. Hope everyone is well and keep reading and messaging. Thanks
Love CAST
Tuesday 10th March 2009 - Queenstown
Hello all, Steven here. I have just jumped 12,000ft out a plane but i'll get back to that in a minute. Yesterday started with us recovering from the previous nights drinking antics and getting up just in time to find out our skydive was cancelled ONCE again, bad times!! Tom and I decided in that case that we would walk up to the luge again and have a go at that seeing how much fun we had the first time. We had 5 races, and both won 2 each. We discounted the first race because of a little girl who couldn't do it properly but her parents had forced her to do it on her own even though she was crying and asking to do it with one of them. I know all this because Tom and I had to wait about 10 minutes before we could even get on!
The girls went off shopping even with the limited number of shops but that doesn't really interest me so I won't delay the skydive much more. We all had an early night and in the morning Carrie-Anne went off horse riding (leaving us to pack all her stuff into the car!!!) but I'll let her explain that to you. Tom, Anna and I didn't have high hopes for our skydive as the weather was crap, for the 5th day running! But a bit later on we were ensured that it would be on but were running an hour and a half late, despite the weather .
So at 3.30pm the 3 of us bundled into the mini-van for the 20 minute ride to the drop zone. Once we arrived we had another nervous 30 minute wait before we were taken to get suited and booted while giving us an extremely quick lecture on what to do (it literally lasted about 20 seconds!!). After this “thorough” safety talk we were loaded into a tiny propeller plane which only just had space for the 9 of us (us 3, 3 photographers and 3 tandem masters as they were called, basically they were the people we were strapped to!) to fit in. The plane ride up was not the most comfortable and we all felt a bit sick by the time we jumped, but this sickness in my case instantly disappeared and gave way to pure unrestrained adrenalin. I can't put into words what it feels like, as with what it felt like with the bungee, but both were completely different experiences! I shall pass you over now to the others so they can explain there time in each of there respective activities.
Anna here. So did the 1200 feet skydive!! absolutely AMAZING. Cant explain the feeling of free-falling. The initial falling I found pretty scary and I apologise to all for my language when you see the DVD. Couldn't really take in the surroundings while free-falling because, well one its the last thing on your mind, and 2, the camera guy is taking loads of pics of you so your concentrating on him. You para glide down for about 7 mins when your parachute comes out and then you can see such amazing views. We had big lakes and mountains surrounded by beautiful countryside. Would definitely do it again. Once down we went for a fergburger for dinner. For those of you who don't know, it is the most amazing burger. Best I've ever had and easily the healthiest with such good quality meat. Mmmmmm!' For all those going to Queenstown in the future GO GET ONE!
Carrie-Anne here. As I decided not to throw myself out of a perfectly working plane to amuse myself I went horse-riding for the morning across the mountains where the Lord of The Rings was filmed. I was given 'Harry' the thoroughbred to ride who was an absolute star. During the ride we waded through rivers and rode through dense forest. I got the opportunity to go for a long canter beside the river which was amazing!
Thomas here. That skydive was immense and I can't even explain how it felt and the freefall literally flew by. (sorry for the horrible pun). The views around were amazing and we could see for miles and miles. I'm just coming down from my adrenaline rush now and feeling very tired. Well thats all for now so we'll blog soon.
Love CAST
Post bungy jump, feeling good.
CarrieAnne, Steve and Thomas enjoying the shine falls plunge pool.
Boys will be boys - Steve and I racing along the 800m luge track in Queenstown. Wonderful fun.
Anna and CarrieAnne overlooking Lake Matherson infront of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman.
Hanging out at panacake rocks
Sunday 8th March 2009 - Queenstown
Well hello from Queenstown and Thomas. We arrived 2 days ago in inclemant weather which has decided to continue! Bad times although im sure we were due a few bad days. Nothing happened the night we arrived as everyone was feeling a bit jaded after the journey. Aueenstown had a lovely setting for those who don't know. It's in between mountains and has a lake as its focal point. That however was not Steve and mine concern at 8 yesterday morning when we enlisted for the 134 meter bungy jump. On arrival at the bungy place we put on some truly farcical safty gear which really rode up the old crotch. Then we walked, suprisingly calmly to the cable car that takes you out over the gorge to the bungy station. After seeing a fair few people go it was my turn. The safty equipement was secure (i asked if it had been double checked he just gave a knowing smile). Then you waddle over to the little metal outcrop loosing all ability to look cool and come face to face with the drop into the rock filled river below. The organisers at this point allow only a few seconds before the countdown and then 3,2,1 and you just jump. I tried to look like james bond (some of you will be able to see if i managed that oint he DVD i got) but all i could think was "this is the weirdest sensation i've ever felt". The freefall which, lasts about 9 seconds, goes very slowly but the worst part is after the 2 bounce when you release your feet and are sitting upright waiting to be winched back up. The safety belt, which is supporting all you weight digs nicly into your crotch and you simply cant stop it until your unfastened. However this small pain is pale in comparision to the immese adrenaline rush both steve and i felt. We literally couldnt stop smiling for the next 4 or 5 hours. Both of us agreed we want to do the 233 meter jump in South Africa soon.
We were suppose to skydive that afternoon but the weather prevented us. So instead of that we rode the gondola up the hill so we were overlooking queenstown where we convinced the girls to have a go on the luge. This is absolutly great fun. Your basically in a plastive go-cart where the power comes from your gravitation potential. As you can imagine the girls enjoyed it but Steve and I couldn't hide our excitment of being able to race each other down like kids. The sensible oines only had two rides where as steve and i persisted on playing 5 times down. Needless to say by the end of the day we both felt the effect of the adrenaline wearing off from our boyish adventures. To keep us going we headed out on a pub crawl around the town. It was nice to be in a pub with more than 5 people for a change! New Zealand we have come to realise is sparcly populated.
Carrie-anna has plans to go horse riding tomorrow and im sure she'll fill you in about that in a few days as well as our othewr adventures. But for now ill say adieu and thanks for reading and the messages that have been sent. Jon steve says united will have to beat chelsea in the FA cup final to complete their quintriple. I think united were extremly lucky to sneak past very skilled Derby opposition in both the cups this season. In fact i'm pretty sure the ref had been paid off. Tony i see Villa have finally realised that Arsenal are supposed to finish above them not below them! Anyway take care everyone and we'll write soon.
Love CAST
We'll be adding more to the blog shortly but we're going to ride the luge in a bit. Thanks for the messages and reading
Thursday 5th March 2009 - Franz Josef (Mt Cook)
Good morning one and all. Thomas has returned to write the blogg, thank god i hear you cry! Before i start thankyou for the spattering of messages. Luckly Elspeth the ferry was smooth unlike your last encounter. Back to business we arrived in Moteuka just south of the Abel Tasman National Park. We awoke to find a beautifully sunny march morning and decided then and there to hit on of the many beaches around Abel Tasman. After sunning ourselves we went to split apple rock beach which as you can guess from the name is a rock that looks like a split apple. We found a secluded beach and Carrieanne, Steve and myself swam out to the rock (not as impressive as it sounds given it took us all of about 10 minutes) and posed for some photos from Anna. We soon realised that the rock although impressive from a distance is fairly boring up close and we soon returned to dry land.
The last part of our day was spent on an hour walk beofre returning to the hostel for some well deserved dinner and bed. Day 2 in Abel Tasman was much more energetic. Having woken at 7 we arrived at the kayaking office around 8 and proceeded to have our briefing. This consisted of being kitted out and i can tell you that each one of us looked totally ludicrous. After a while we reached the sea and boarded our two person kayaks. Anna and I in one and CA and Steve in the other (this would turn out to be a very funny pairing on the way back!). The coastline which we paddled up was absolutly stunning and I think we all agreed that we have never seen anywhere as beautiful before. We paddled for about 50 minutes before CA claimed she couldnt go one due to the "pain in her arms" and he desperate need for the toilet. So we parked up at a beach. Which is no mean feet concidering your pretty much held in place and whilst getting out you look like your taking part in some weird dance. Next we paddled to Adele island about 600 metres form the coastline where to our wonder we found a group of four seals just playing about. We were able to get within a few metres of 2 of them. I couldn't beieve how nonplussed they were at having four human gaping at them. Then we headed back to the coast to find a beach for lunch and general chilling out. Now i must tell you that Kayaks are such that you are seated one behind the other. Both kayaks had the boys at the back who "drove" them for want of a better word. Anna decided quickly into the adventure that every 5 or so minutes she would sit back, stop paddling and enjoy the view. This left me to paddle for two people so as to keep up with the other kayak. At one point she even had the cheak to claimed she was doing me a favour because her paddling "got in the way" i'm still not sure what her paddling got in the way off.
Well the other kayak went off without a hitch until the trip back were Steve proceeded to get pretty bad motion sickness. Although he was not ill it did result in him moaning for the journey back. I found this very funny because everytime our kayak neared his all i'd hear would be a torrent of moans and abuse. CA was struggling A: to keep the kayak going when Steve wasn't paddling and B: to stop herself falling into a fit of hysterics. Well we retuned safely and made our way back to the hostel feeling ravenous and very tired.
Over to Anna. Well we then left the next day for our VERY long drive down to Franz josef on the west coast. This is where the glaciers and Mount Cook are. On the drive down we went though some amazing scenery. It was partly a coastal road and partly throught the forests of national parks. Lots of windy roads though that Carrie-anne and I got very board with after a while. We stopped for lunch at a really picturesque bay and also in Punakaiki where there are the ‘Pancake Rocks’. These are naturally made rocks on part of the coastline that literally look like lots and lots of layers of rocks that have been stacked ontop of each other. It was pretty amazing they had created naturally. We continued out journey and made to our hostel about 7pm. When it got dark we decided to go on the little walk by our hostel that had glow worms. It was a little path in the woods and actually was a bit scary in the dark (well for me and CA anyway). The boys did think it would be funny to go up ahead and hide to scare us but luckily for us we had a torch and spotted them before they had time to jump out – meanies! The glow worms were worth it though. Lots of little greeny blue lights all on the rocks. Then to top it off on the way back we saw a really bright and yellow shooting star – mine and steves first! Very exciting! It was a really clear night and so we could see loads and loads of stars.
Yesterday we decided to do all the walks around the glaciers. It is pretty expensive to actually go on them and we decided we weren’t really bothered for that price. The first walk we did took us up to the lowest point of the Franz joesf glacier. It was really impressive seeing the ice coming down the mountain. At the lower points though it was more grey and looked more like rock than stone. We did a couple more walks, 1 which was supposed to take us to a lake and after an hour we came to a big pond which you could hardly see because there were loads of trees blocking it – so very worth it lol! In the afternoon we drove down to Fox glacier to go and see Lake Matheson. The lake is situated 6km outside Fox Glacier and its backdrop is of Mount Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand, and Mount Tasman. Before we went on the walk we had seen photos showing the brilliant reflections of the mountain range in the lake and were hoping to catch a glimpse of this ourselves. Unfortunately due to there being even the slightest bit of wind we could hard see any reflection which was a bit disappointing. We did the walk which looped round the whole lake and headed back to the hostel to get ready for dinner. We went out to eat at a place called the Landing which was very nice. Anna and I both had lamb shanks which were amazing, and Tom and Carrie-Anne both had burgers. We also had some nachos to start which were really nice and a few cocktails and drinks to finish off the evening while chatting away till we were one of the last groups in the restuarant. Tom kept complaining to us all that he had never been so full after the meal and the first thing he said to me this morning was I still feel full.
This afternoon we are heading off to the hot pools in Franz Josef and then will possibly be doing another walk. Tomorrow we have a nice 7 hour drive to Queenstown, where Tom and I will be doing a bungee jump and skydive, Anna doing a skydive and Carrie-Anne (the little woss that she is :p) going on a horse trek.
Lots of love from CAST.
P.s. all keep your fingers crossed for free internet in the next hostel because you know what that means, more BLOGGING!!
Steve (need i say more)!
Thomas enjoying the beach.
The girls at the top of Mt Eden overlooking Auckland.
Messages
Please can people send us more messages to tell us how much they miss and love us as we seem to be lacking on the message front as of late!!! All messages will be greatly appreciated :D
Saturday 28th February - Wellington and Motueka
Saturday 28th February
Hi all, Steven here again. We are now in the South Island!! We are currently staying in a place called Motueka which is a 25 minute drive from the Abel Tasman National Park which is supposed to be pretty amazing. Think the plan for the next 2 days is to go there both days, one day to do some walks and the next to do a day of kayaking.
Right a little about our journey here, we left Napier for Wellington early friday morning and stopped of at Te Mata mountain range which had pretty stunning views. We drove all the way to the top of the mountains to a look out point only to be greeted by about a billions little flys, they were absolutely EVERYWHERE!!! This was rather annoying so we took our pictures as quick as we could, hopped back into the car an carried on towards Wellington stopping of at Te Mata cheese factory and sampling 6 different cheese which were a mixed bunch. I only liked 3 of the 6 but the the others liked them all.
We arrived in Wellington late afternoon and managed to find our way to the hostel even though we hadn't forgotten to write down the directions. We didn't have much time in Wellington so had a quick look round and decided that in hind sight we wished we could have stayed there another night. We took a walk around the harbour before getting to bed nice and early for our 5.45am start the next day!!
So now today we awoke, as I just said, at 5.45am nice and tired to catch the ferry from Wellington to Picton at 8.25. The crossing was pretty uneventful and thankfully was nice and smooth so none of us felt ill at all as sometimes the crossing is notoriously rough! The crossing took 3 hours and then the drive from Picton to Motuaka took just under 3 hours. I have yet to mention thus far the amazing weather we have been having NOT!! We made the joke about the ferry had taken us back to England because it was absolutely tipping it down during and once we arrived at still is!! Unfortunately rain is scheduled for the next 2 days but this is not going to put us off our walking and kayaking.
Thats all for now, love CAST
Wednesday 25th February - Taupo and Napier
Wednesday 25th February
Hello all, Steven here, first of all I want to wish my mum a very happy birthday so happy birthday mum. Hope you like the present Louise and I got you!!!
Right back to us, we went to see the Lady Knox Geyser as Carrie-Anne and Anna mentioned before which was pretty impressive. Thomas and Anna had a bit of a mix up when buying tickets and ended up with the wrong ones! Carrie-Anne and I (the responsible ones your could say :p) got the correct tickets before Tom had to go back and change theirs. The Geyser doesn't errupt by itself which I personnally was disappointed at, the people that work there set it off by dropping something which has similar properties to soap down the spout and it starts to bubble and then errupts. The erruption was pretty impressive but know where near as loud as I thought it was going to be, I think we were all thinking it would be more of an explosion rather than a graduale increase in height.
After this we continued on our journey to Taupo and stopped off at Haka falls which was alright, thats the only word I can think of to describe it, the water however was so blue!! We arrived in Taupo about mid-day and checked into our hostel called Tiki Lodge which was very nice even though it was our third choice!! After checking in we explored a little, walking around town and getting some ice creams. We all had "one scoop" but the ice creams were HUGE!!!!! Talk about generous portions!! We found a bench in the park and sat eating our ice creams, enjoying the sun and playing some cards. As per usual we went in search of food and found Pak 'N' Save, which is becoming our favourite place to buy food, there has been one in each place we have visited except Auckland, I can only described it as a Macro for food, for those of you who know the shop Macro. After dinner we had a fairly early night since we were all tired from the early mornings rise.
I'll shall now pass you over to Tom who will hopefully entertain you more than I have!
So after the truly hurrendous weather we witnessed on sunday, monday was lovely. We hit the beach as usual, when there's any sunshine. After sunning ourself steve and I partook in a friendly game of crazy golf which Steve proceeded to win (by cheating of course! and cost me 50 cents.) Between us we managed to get 3 holes in one but we both still finished way over par. The evening was a low key affair with the boys cooking, even though i may say so myself, a quite exquisite curry. After the evening followed its usual pattern of uno and cards which carrie-anne has now refused to keep playing until she finds a game she wins at.
On tuesday we left early and made our way towards Napier whihch is a city on the east coast of NZ. We stopped en route and saw a picturesque waterfall and plunge pool. We took our standard photos and moved on. Arriving in Napier was a bit of a let down because as with NZ the weather had gone from hot sunshie to turential rain. Napier had an earthquake around 1930 which destroyed half the city, the same earthquake also pushed some land up which was previuosly submerged and created a floodplain perfect for vineyards. As we've been informed the shingle acts as a warm underblanket during the night and so the vines are heated 24/7. Since half the city was destroyed they decided to rebuild the centre of the town in the style at that time, Art Deco. Steve was in paradise as he is massive on art deco. So we walked along the highstreet to the art deco centre where we parted with a fair few dollar.
Hey there... Carrie-Anne here.
On Wednesday we decided to go on a wine tour. Given that the Napier region is famous for its wines we thought it a cultural must-do. We were picked up from our hostel and ferried to four different wineries, where we got to taste a range of red, white and sweet wines. The third winery we visited was by far the best as they gave us a good deal of info about how wine is made. Tom and Steve invested in a nice bottle of Syrah - and got a privileged opportunity to label their own wine!
Anna and I bought a slightly cheaper Pinot Gris from the forth winery where we also enjoyed a cheese board and another complimentary glass of wine..Needless to day we were all in need of some food after tasting 21 different wines.
Anna and I cooked up a delicious pasta bake followed by a game of boggle...won by Tom.
Today we drove just outside of Napier to see a waterfall. As we neared the mountain we were confronted with a massive herd of sheep appeared in the middle of the road...staring at us. We stopped the car and eventually the flock past. Arriving at the car park and went in search of this waterfall. After about 40 mins of walking through the undergrowth we eventually arrived at an opening which had the most amazing waterfall, and plunge pool at the4 bottom. Being a bit hot from our walk we all jumped in (well some more tentatively than others - as the water was freeeeezing!) for a dip.
After the novelty had worn of we walked back to the car and managed to find a very secluded beach to pass the rest of the afternoon on.
Saturday 21st February 2009 - Rotorua
Hi all, Steven here. Appologies for the lack of blogging thus far but we are having to pay for the internet. I am writing this in our room a little bit damp from just being rained on while we went for a walk around Waimangu Volcanic Valley which was good (except for the rain and lack of rain coats) but one of us will come onto this later. Right so looking back at it we had to spend an extra day in Auckland due to the car we hired being available a day later than we needed it. We got a great deal on the car and it worked out to be less than half the price of getting one of these "hop on hop off" buses. The car also gives us much more freedom which we have already taken advantage of. Our last day in Auckland we spent sun-bathing in a park which was very univentful. The next morning we were up and out of the hostel by 9 to pick up our car. We have named her Welly. Its a green Toyota something which I can't remember then name of but remember thinking at the time I had never heard of it. Once all the car bits were sorted we set off for Rotorua which is situated by a sulphuric lake (or part sulphuric) which does pong a little, especially when you get close to it. Enroute we stopped at a place called Hamilton which was pretty standard and were only out of the car to get some food. We arrived in Rotorua 4 hours after leaving Auckland having driven through an awful lot of roadworks where we had to drive painfully slowly but we got there in the end.
Thomas taking over now. So we arrived in the rather smelly town of Rotorau. This is not due to rubbish but the sulphuric acid coming from the geothermal lake which Rotorau sits on. We didn't do much on arrival apart from walk to the lake which was a short visit as none of us could stomach the smell up close for too long. Therefore as usual we found ourselves in a pub, i had a local Kiwi beer called summit. Friday was a complete wash out with the rain absolutly hammering it down, bad times! But we did get free breakfast and BBQ from the hostal, good times. Given it was such intense rain we went to the natural thermal spring just south of Rotorau where we relaxed away a few hour until we couldn't handle the heat any longer. The spring were about 25C and the views from the different pools were brilliant. In the end the rain didn't really bother us.
Friday evening turned out to be a bit of a heavy night. Everything started innocently enough with a the awesome FREE BBQ, which you can imagine we all greatly apreaciated. Things then decended as steve cracked open the vodka and the girls enjoying a couple of sparkling bottles of peach wine. The night ended, much later, with myself and steve trying to play pool but taking about an hour over each game as we couldn't pot straight! Students will be students. As you can imagine we all woke up this morning feeling a little worse for wear. So as i speak the girls are 'resting their eyes'.
Hello, Anna and Carrie-Anne here. So this morning we decided a bit of fresh air would do us all the world of good and heading to Waimaungu volcanic valley.It is the worlds newest geothermal area. It is also the only geothermal system in the world wholly created by a volcanic eruption - yes mummy i have lots of photos for you!! It is a 4k walk and we included the optional hike half way round. We saw lots of craters that are now filled with bubbling water. The temperature of them could get up to 75C so no swimming for us! There was one crater that was full of bright electric blue water which was amazing. There were some really stunning views over the whole area until it decided to chuck it down. the well prepared ones (i.e. us two) had our rain jackets whereas the boys just got soaked! All a bit shattered so had a bit of a nap back at the hostel before dinner. Quite night in tonight before early start to head south to Taupo. Visiting Lady Knox geyser on the way which erupts everyday at 10.15am.
Monday 16th February 2009 - Auckland
Hi all, Steven here again. First of all I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS. Right back down to business. Yesterday it turned out that Tom and Anna had both arrived at the hostel at about 4.30 in the morning and weren't allowed to check in till 10. Carrie-Anne and I were completely oblivious to the fact they were here and decided we would take a boat to Waiheke Island and leave a note in the room telling them were we had gone. We we just about ready and leaving the room when guess who turned the corner down the corridor. So yes luckily we caught them both as we were about to leave and waited for them to get freshened up and all went over to the island together catching up on all the little stories Anna and Tom both had to tell us about their trip so far.
Once at the island we found a pleasant beach and proceeded to sunbath for the duration of the afternoon taking in the sunshine and sea. Tom and I went for a little wander down the beach and came across a splendid little cove which amused us for a while taking pictures in little caves amoung other places. We all then went for a drink at a bar which had great views over the bay and caught the ferry back to Auckland around 6.
Once back in Auckland, all of us were in a suitably hungry mood so went in pursuit of some food. We (I say we, I should say Carrie-Anne and Anna) cooked stir fry which was great and then all ended up in bed early again for the second night running due to all being completely cream crackered!
I should add that once back at the hostel we all realised how burnt we were from the days sunbathing with Tom and I bearing the brunt of it and Anna almost coming away burn free.
Woke up this morning to the greatest day in history. It comes once a year but what a day it is! You guessed it thomas has taken over the writing. I know that Sarah Muden will agree and i also wish her a very special happy birthday.
We headed to the Auckland museum to immerse ourselves in New Zealand and Mauri history. Saw some amazing things most impressive was all the wooden carvings that are on every building. Very detailed and must have taken hours, these covered the entire outside of the building. Also in the museum we checked out the mammals, fish and natural history section. I don't speak for everyone but i found it very interesting especially to see the Moa (a bird) which is now extinct and measured in at over 3m tall. The egg that it layed is almost twice that of the ostrich. Incredible.
After lunch we spend the rest of the day talking in the pub and then headed out for dinner. We found a lovely steak place and all gourged ourselves on prime eye fillet. An absolutly fabulous meal for my bday. Of course dinner was preceeded by a fair few drinks mainly red and white wine. Very cheap but very nice.
Today, we're on to the 17th feb now, we walked up Mt Eden which gives an amazing view over the city and its surrounding area. We also booked our car which we'll be travelling around new zealand in and only cost us 250 dollars each (including insurance) for 3 weeks hire. Very good value (the exchange rate is 1 GBP = 2.7 NZD). We're thionking of hitting the beach again tomorrow if the weather stays as it is and then we move away from Auckland on Thursday morning.
Thats all for now and we'll be blogging again soon. I hope your recovering pop from your broken hand, you really need to take more care. thanks for all bday messages and reading our blog. Tune in again soon.
Love from
CAST
Sunday 15th February 2009 - Auckland
Hi all, Steven here. So we finally arrived in New Zealand after a 26 hour trip. The trip went relatively well although it didn't start really well with our flight out of Heathrow delayed an hour and me spilling my glass of water all over myself before we had even taken off. Carrie-Anne found it pretty hilarious and I was just sitting there in a damp mess. I had to stuff a load of paper towels up my jeans to stop me getting cold and even more damp! The flight made the time up due to a strong tail wind so we landed on time in LA thinking to ourselves after our 11 hour flight we were less than half way through our journey. This did not fill us with deep joy!!
After a brief 2 hour transit and having to fill in a load of forms for immigration even though we were only transitting we hopped back onto the plane for the second part of our journey. While trying to guess how long it would take us to get from LA to Auckland Carrie-Anne said that it was a lot further to New Zealand from LA than it was from LA to Africa. I should add that Carrie-Anne thought that on the map South America was Africa and that why she thought it would be quicker!! This time it was me to think this was hilarious much to her embarrassment, 1-1! Just before we landed a boys choir which were on the plane gave us a little rendition of a Spanish hymn which was really good and got a great round of applause from the whole plane.
We arrived in Auckland slightly late at about 8am local time and made it through customers and collected our bags to be greated by rain. We made the joke about they had just taken us in one big loop back to England! We got the super shuttle bus which dropped us right outside our hostel (so I don't think there is much chance Tom and Anna are going to get lost) about 10ish. We couldn't check into our room until 2pm so we both had a bit of a freshen up then went in search of food and a little look round Auckland.
The hostel is in a great location, pretty much on the main street though the center of Auckland so it didn't take us long to find the shops and food. We walked down to the port and one the way I saw an Aston Martin DBS (the car James Bond has in Casino Royale) which had the number plate DBS 007. I was very excited by this and had to take a picture of it much to Carrie-Annes disbelievement, she clearly didn't have as much enthusiasm at seeing the car as I did. After a bit to eat and smoothie in Starbucks we headed back to the hostel and checked into a room. I went for a shower (my first since thursday morning!) and felt completely refreshed. I found Carrie-Anne asleep in the room when I returned. I was determined not to go sleep to try to get into the sleeping pattern as soon as possible to avoid jet lag so read my book for a while until about 4ish when I woke Carrie-Anne up (as discussed, not cos I'm mean) so we could go and buy some food for dinner. We went to Food Town to buy food which we came back and cooked. We cooked our self pasta and some sauce which we over-estimated how much we wanted and ended up leaving half of it. We went back up the room and ended up falling asleep around 9ish. I was very impressed with myself lasting as long as I did before I pretty much collapsed in to some sort of unconscious stooper!
This morning I woke up about 6 having a great sleep and to bright sunshine (woo!!). I got up and managed to stubb my toe on the end of the bed an may have sworn which woke Carrie-Anne up. We are now just awaiting the arrival of Tom and Anna (which we don't know what time they are arriving as we have both forgotten!) but I'm sure we will be able to amuse ourselves until they get here. Bye for now, hope everything is great in England. I certainly am glad its sunny hear now :D
