New Zealand; Kiwi Experience bus, Days 7 - 11 Wellington

17/12/2011

Were going to Wellington! I'm staying there 5 nights. I had an amazing breakfast on the 12th, FULL English even with hash browns!!
Was quite a nice drive down to Wellington from River Valley, stopped off at a place called Bulls where everything was called 'something - a - Bull' I.e. The police station was Consta - Bull lol

Wellington Day 1; 12th dec

Got to YHA in the evening and made a fuss about having a top bunk in my room because of my back injury. They changed my room :) to a 6 bed en-suite. I shared with 2 German guys who moved out the next morning. Anyway, that evening we all went for dinner at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant which was pretty cool. You fill up your bowl with your own meat, veg and noodles and they cook it for you. Wasn't too much of a fan of the food though.
After we went home to get changed and a few of us went out for drinks. We started at Base bar where there was a wet Tshirt competition, which wasn't entertaining at all! Lol it was just embarrassing!
It was a Monday night so we couldn't really find anywhere else to drink. We had a couple at a really chilled out place and then went back to base which was shit! Went home at about 12/1!

Wellington day 2; 13th dec

Got to lie in and I'm not with my group anymore as most are going down to the South island today. I read in a brochure that Kci & Jojo are randomly in Wellington on the 14th, so I went to St James Theatre like 5 mins away and bought a ticket! Was $83, but its something I won't have the chance to do again!
After that I kept walking and decided to take the cable car up to the Botanical Gardens, which were really pretty. Loads of wierd trees and pretty flowers :)
Looked around the shops and walked back to YHA. Stopped off and did some grocery shopping then had a nap when I got in. Got awoken by my new housemates - 5 japenese people lol. Went and had soup for dinner and watched Wall-E in the TV room awww Wall E. Early night for me tonight. I feel pretty worn down because of my back and the bad hayfever, and I'm sad that ill be home soon :( oh well. Kci&JoJo 2mo night!

Wellington Day 3 - 14th Dec

I had a fix myself up day today! Uno pluckin eyebrows washing my hair etc. All I did in the day was go supermarket.
Then I left for K-ci and JoJo at about 6:45pm. Doors open at 7 so I thought I'd be fine. The show didn't start til 8:30!! But its fine tho, the DJ was playing some chooons! :) pure 90s RnB and Reggae at 1 point. He played 'in my house..there's a picture on the wall..' Lol deep.
Anyway 1st to perform was Barry Southgate who I didn't know, but he was amazing. Amazing voice. Sang couple of his own tunes and Boys2men water runs dry and somewhere over the rainbow. Aww
2nd out was an artist called Spawn Breezy who was a Reggae guy. Reminded me of Sean Kingston but not commercial enough to be big.

Then came K-ci and JoJo! The show was aiight it was nice 2 reminice about the tunes n stuff and they are F*in legends but they were so old (yes I knew this but..dunnoo!) And when Kci would try be sexy I'd cringe. Also JoJo wasn't there he was an embarrassment. Wasn't singing just blurting and at 1 point fell off his chair. Stay off the drugs maynnn! Oh well I'm glad I went.
Didn't go afterparty just went home. gotta watch those pennies lol.

Wellington Day 4 - 15th Dec

I only have 5 nights left travelling :( sad times. Slept in a bit today again and then went to Te Papa museum. Amazing because its free lol. It was interesting there was stuff about earthquakes, animals, the world, women gay rights etc. I felt I learnt a lot about NZ but Melbourne museum was better!
Didn't do much for the rest of the day. Washed all my clothes which wouldn't dry, ate lunch and ate an apple cream cake mmm. Early night tonight. Old Grandma laura lol.

Wellington Day 5 - 16th Dec

It stopped raining!!! Yay! I had a really good walk around the city for like 5 hours. Looked in a lot of shops, bought a few souviners, walked through Cuba street. How I killed 5 hours ill never know lol. Got back home and sorted my bag out seeing as I had ALL of my clothes hanging around the room everywhere.
Then met my new roommates Ben and Ryan really nice guys :) went to an Irish pub with them, we joked around and drank a lot! Lol it was soooo hard getting up for my bus up to Taupo the next day!!

New Zealand; Kiwi Experience bus, Day 6; Taupo to River Valley

12/12/2011

Had quite a late wake up, didn't need to leave until 9:30 :) we stopped off for coffee and I had a huge cream cake at 10:30am! Yum. Our next stop off was at a viewpoint of Lake Taupo which was beautiful and we also took pics with our green Kiwi bus.

Then we had ANOTHER WALK! At Taronga National park we walked and saw some beautiful mountains including Mount Doom and stopped off at an impressive waterfall that you could climb behind and fill up your water bottle with :) that took about 2 1/2 hours.

Another stop took us to another waterfall - Tawhai Falls. Apparently its from the Lord of the rings. Some people jumped off it. Craaaazy! Lol but it did look fun!

Then we drove to the accommodation, which was a lodge in River Valley. The river was nice and there was a bridgey swing thing to go over it. I didn't because of my hurt back!

Made myself some pasta for dinner and waited for happy hour at 8. Had a few beers and played MEGA JENGA lol which was fun! Then we played 'I've never' which was really exposing of me!! Lol but I don't care! :) went to bed about 12am

New Zealand, Kiwi Experience bus, Days 3 & 4: Taupo

11/12/2011

Drive from Rotorua today; we stopped off at a Maori arts and crafts centre, saw some carving and weaving and some more sulphur lakes and mud pools - they looked like the moon!
Our guide boiled us some eggs in a hot pool lol. We waited for a geyser to erupt for AGES but it never did :( boo

THEN we climbed a VOLCANO! I didn't want to so I stayed sitting at the bottom for a while until I got bored and thought 'let me go up a little bit' and before I knew it I was halfway up and then I was at the top! I kept thinking that I've come this far, I'm gonna go to the top! I was actually determined! The view was nice, I'm so proud! :)

Went to Huka falls afterwards which was pretty and some people went for a skydive :o

Got to base and had a free BBQ at element which was just a sandwich of sausage and burger.. nice though! Had a couple of jugs of snakebite and then went to someone's room for JD and coke and TEQUILA!! We played drinking games and then the night got messy lol.

The music at element was really good and I stayed dancing for most of the night. I fell over pretty badly at one point though. Don't remember falling but my backs been hurting ever since! Twas a good night!!

Next day 10th dec, I slept in and didn't get out of bed until 12! The housekeeping guys recognised me from last night! Lol i did make it outside though! Took a walk to the pharmacy and the woman suggested I go to the hot pools for my back. So we asked a couple where it is and they kindly dropped us there. NZ ppl are nice :) the hot pools were actually just heated swimming pools but it was nice! We rented swimming costumes and swam around. We also used the sauna :)

On the walk back home we stopped off at a thermal stream. It was really pretty. Then we got back to town did some grocery shopping and I lay down! Lol proper hungover now from last night and my back was killing! Had crunchy nut cornflakes for dinner and went bed after 9.. Sooo tired!! I actually realised that I didn't see Lake Taupo!! Lol ill be back here anyway so ill see it then!

New Zealand; Kiwi Experience bus Day 3: Waitomo to Rotorua

9/12/2011

Driving to Rotorua today.. We stopped off at the caves we were tubing in yesterday and we walked through some dry.

Got to Rotorua at about 12 and went for a walk. Its a cute little town. We walked through government gardens and a huge sulphur lake, saw loads of holes in the floor bubbling ans steaming. Walked to a wildlife refuge and saw black swans :) went to Lake Rotorua and then to some more really impressive sulphur lakes by our hostel.

We did mud masks when we got home with mud from Rotorua.

Went to a Maori night that evening. It was really good. They did an intimidating welcoming ceremony where they stuck their tongues out and bulged their eyes. Then we walked around the village learning about different aspects of Maori life.
Then they put on a show - dancing and singing, and a short film about the history of Maori people.

Dinner was amazing! It was a proper roast! Lamb, chicken, fish, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce omg it was soooo good! And the dessert was even better! Sponge and custard and pavlova yum!

The best part of the night however was our Maori bus driver! He was sooo funny. He did 61 accents from over the world and on our way home he sang 'we all go round the mulburry bush' and went round and round and round the roundabout! Lol

New Zealand; Kiwi Experience bus, Day 2: Hot water beach to Waitomo - Black water rafting!

8/12/2011

Firstly we stopped off to hug a tree lol and we had another stop off where we walked through an old railway tunnel through a cave. It was PITCH dark! We had to form a conga line just to find our way! It was at a place called Karangahake.

We got to our accommodation at about 2pm and I hung around til 4:15 for BLACK WATER RAFTING!! Omg it was so much fun! We had to wear wetsuits which were already wet and mine was gigantic! Wore booties and big old boots, I was so uncomfortable! But you soon forget about that!

The first thing we did was jump backwards into a river in the daylight. This was a tester lol. It was scary but I did it! It was fun! Next thing we were walking into the cave through a small gap. And walking is no easy feat either, the floor is just rocks and uneven. You could step forward in the cave and go down a foot. I fell 3 times! We did quite a lot of walking in the cave.

The trip mainly consited of 3 backward cliff jumps, paddling in the water in our tubes, doing the 'limbo' - going under a really low ceiling pulling along, being an 'eel' with everyone - we all joined up and slowly went along looking at glo worms..and the walking - the drunken stagger!
So so scary there no way you could do it if you were claustrophobic!

After that we warmed up with a hot shower and some soup :) went back to our accommodation for a BBQ dinner. Was so nice, steak and sausage and roast potatoes and different types of salad! Had a few beers then an early night :)

New Zealand; Kiwi Experience bus, Day 1: Auckland - Hot Water Beach

7/12/2011

Early wake up again in Auckland to catch my Kiwi Experience bus at 8:30am! Stopped off at a supermarket then went to an amazing viewpoint of Auckland.

Later in the day we got dropped off to do a 45 min walk down to Cathedral Cove. It was long and HARD but worth it! The beach was beautiful and the tide came in from two sides. The water was freezing though!
After relaxing for a while we did the 45 min walk back up! Even harder as we picked a different route through a rainforest! Oh well we made it!

Then we stopped off for some wine tasting. Had loadsa wine/liquors/port/cider mmm. Got drunk offa shots lol.

We got to the accomodation at Hot water beach which was amazing. I had a double bed all to myself! Went and had chicken nuggets and chips for dinner! :)

We were told that we should go to hot water beach at low tide - 11pm. But we decided to just go at 8:30 lol. While it was still light out. We brought our spades anyway. Didn't find any hot water but luckily it started pouring down with rain while we were on our way home. I say luckily as I wouldve hated to still be on the beach in that downpour! Lol we got soooo soaked! But its all good.

What a longggggg day! I was shattered!

New Zealand; Auckland

6/12/2011

Auckland is sooo boring! My flight got in at about 12pm and I got to my hostel at about 2pm. I was sooo sad to leave Fiji but I'm not home yet at least!

Went for a walk after checking in and had an amazing double cheeseburger mmm. Walked straight down the main road and came to a wharf with loads of boats. I then got lost lol but some guy helped me find my way back! All there was was loadsa shops..

Went for a free glass of bubbly at a bar downstairs because I'm a 'sanctuary' guest at base. Went to Dominoes pizza - large pizza for $8.90! Went back to the bar to eat it and had a really nice beer :)

Yep.. Auckland is boring!

Fiji; back to Nadi

5/12/2011

I'm staying in Nadi for 3 more nights before I go to New Zealand. Staying in Smugglers Cove resort which is amazing. I'm not staying in the dorms, I've got a girl's sanctuary! I'm just happy to have a bathroom in my room!

1st night I had dinner with the brits I met at the start of the trip. Had some amazing garlic prawns mmm. Had some beers with them but they wanted an early night so I went to bed too booo!!

Day 2, had the best sleep ever! Got up and went for a walk. Found a random wierd shop all caged up, can't even see what's for sale! Came back and bought some souvineirs for people..

In the afternoon we went on a half day trip. We drove to a village and had an amazing lunch on the floor. Then we had Kava at a Kava ceremony. We then went to the 'garden of the sleeping giant' which had a lot of beautiful flowers and trees.

After that was the best part. We went to the mud pool! To our surprise we didn't get into the mud pool just covered ourselves in mud from it. We waited for it to dry then went into a hot spring.. And I mean HOT! It was like a bath. Amazing!!

Came back to the hostel and had a beer at the bar before going to the nextdoor hostel for dinner. I had the $10 special of grilled chicken and chips YUM! The bottles of beer were $2.50 aswell! That's like 80p!! :)
called it a night and came back to the room to chill out for a bit :)

Next day 4th dec I forgot it was Sunday but still went into Nadi town to look around. Most of the shops were shut and really annoying people would constantly come up to you and try and get you into their shop and drink kava! Lol.
Went to a market and bought some random crap for ppl lol then went to Chicken Express which was nowhere near as nice as kfc!

Had a nap when I got home and then went to the beach the water was so warm! Went nextdoor for $10 dinner again - pasta and chicken mmm. Came back to Smugglers for a fire show which was mainly dancing but it was all amazing. Played games afterwards and of course I got picked on. I was the cat and the rat in the game where they couldn't catch eachother and everyone else was a circle seperating them! Loadsa fun!!

Fiji; Bounty Island; Mamanuca islands

2/12/2011

Got to Bounty pretty late. The dorms were amazing! Well, in comparison to Waya LaiLai! They looked so clean and pretty! Lol we had dinner which was amazing (again!) And I had a HOT shower! Omg it felt so good!

After we went to the bar and I got a MaiTai, it was the strongest drink EVER! I swear it just felt like I was drinking pure rum! Played some drinking/card games and everyone got pretty drunk! The staff there are awful! Stay away from Matthew!

Next day 2nd we had breakfast then watched these cute little turtles get fed. Aww. They swim just like the turtles in Finding Nemo!

Actually had CHIPS for lunch :) and hung around the pool and beach until it started pouring down with rain! Waited and waited for the boat to come on Fiji time, but it eventually came! Didn't take that long to get back to the port. My Fiji island adventure ends :(

Fiji; Waya LaiLai

01/12/2011

OMG its December!! Pinch punch first day of the month!! Its CHRISTMAS month!! But means I only have 20 days left of travelling :(

Anyway, Waya Lailai was nice. Beautiful mountainous (!) Scenery and the huts were on a hill looking out to sea.

We went to the beach and did weaving, I made a bookmark and I made a shell bracelet :) it poured with rain half way through we got sooo soaked!

We had dinner and watched a bula dance show again and took part in some dance games. Had a couple of drinks but Waya LaiLai is really chilled out so I had an early night. Had the worst sleep ever! Insects in my bed! :(

Next day 30th I woke up to amazing weather. We left to go to the other side of the island to watch a school graduation and rugby match. The kids were so cute wearing mortar boards! The ceremony really dragged though! The rugby was interesting, I don't understand how they're able to play in the sweltering heat!

Got back had dinner and saw some more Fijian dancing. Had more drinks tonight, played truth or dare and only went home when the electricity went off! I didn't want to sleep in the dorm! I changed beds though so I was fine!

Next day 1st Dec I went swimming with SHARKS!! It was amazing! We literally got in a boat to the middle of the ocean and had to jump in! We snorkeled a little further out and swam above a reef. The guys broke fish apart and reef shark came! It was seriously amazing.

Had an amazing lunch of spaghetti bolognase and cheese and crackers and sat around the beach waiting for the boat down to Bounty. Have to say Waya Lailai was my least favourite resort. I couldve easily stayed another night at Korovo and Bounty and skipped it altogether. Oh well.

Fiji; Naviti island; Korovo

29/11/2011

Had doughnuts for breakfast and waited around for ages before leaving for Korovo.

When we arrived I waited around for a bit and nearly walked into a volunteer group's dorm. Then after asking where I should be I got told I would be sharing a room with another guy (!) I went in and there was only 1 bed! She made a mistake and I ended up with my own room! :)

Dinner was chicken and some wierd smushy thing and we had a dance show put on for us. The Fijian men were HOT! We walked down to a nearby resort to meet other people and sat around a camp fire for a while.

We eventually came back to Korovo and we had an ipod war lol. Other ppl were playing their ipod and I asked nicely if I could play mine! They booed when I stopped it so I patiently waited for the song to stop. I put my ipod on and 2 seconds later they turned mine off and put theirs on!! Soooo rude! So we despised them for the rest of the night!! Lol I ended up just listening to my ipod with one of the staff members Ziggy by the pool.

Next day 29th I woke up for breakfast at 8 and they allowed me to check out late :)
Had pizza for lunch and walked through a concrete path through the sea. I sat around on a hammock for a bit and did a Bula dance class.
Our boat came at 3:30 to take us to Waya LaiLai :( sad to leave but hopefully Waya LaiLai will be nice!

Fiji; Nacula Island; Nabua Lodge

28/11/2011

OMG I love Fiji! It's amazing!! I feel sooo lucky to be here!

Anyway! Today I go to an island. 6am wake up hurt but I was excited. We had breakfast and got a coach to Port Denarau, where we waited for our boat. From Nadi to my island took 5 hours!! I just slept it was pretty comfortable! I'm just glad I worked out what the hell I was doing! I had no idea!!

When we got to Nacula island you have to get off the big boat onto a small boat. The island looked amazing. We had lunch when we arrived and everyone got pasta and mince and I got a sardine sandwich :(

We hung around all day and had afternoon tea with amazing cakes :) later we had dinner which was also amazing! It was Fijian!
Then the fun started lol.

We sang a Fijian song then did the Bula dance! Which was a cross between 'saturday' and the macarena lol. Then we had a competition, we all danced and when Sarah shouted either Gin, Whiskey or Soda we all had to do something. I.e. Boys and girls seperate. It was fun cept 1 time I didn't hear her and kept dancing alone lol

After that we played truth or dare and I became known as the evil one lol. Everyone was scared of me! Haha there were people naked, people sucking each other's toes, making out with trees, giving head to bottles. Loool so much fun! We then went to someone's room and played ipod til the electricity cut off. :( luckily Sarah came and got us and took us to another resort where we could hear music coming from!

The walk was dark and rainforesty and for some reason I was leading! We got there and there was only the Fijian staff and the Aussie owner lol. it was good though we danced and drank then walked back. A few of us went into the sea and randomly sat in a boat lol. I brought sooo much sand into my bed ugh!! What a fun fun night ;)

Next day 27th I was an hour late for breakfast, but luckily they left me some coz they said they knew I'd come :) it was amazing! Pancakes, toast, fruit yum!

I went back to bed and then woke up and got ready for dinner. My hangover came in the evening so I could barely eat the amazing gourmet dinner of pumpkin soup and chicken on yam :)

After dinner we played a heads and tails game and I won a free drink, played cards for a while then had an early night :) had the worst sleep ever though. Spent the whole night scratching my bites on the sand in my bed!!

Fiji; Nacula Island; Nabua Lodge

28/11/2011

OMG I love Fiji! It's amazing!! I feel sooo lucky to be here!

Anyway! Today I go to an island. 6am wake up hurt but I was excited. We had breakfast and got a coach to Port Denarau, where we waited for our boat. From Nadi to my island took 5 hours!! I just slept it was pretty comfortable! I'm just glad I worked out what the hell I was doing! I had no idea!!

When we got to Nacula island you have to get off the big boat onto a small boat. The island looked amazing. We had lunch when we arrived and everyone got pasta and mince and I got a sardine sandwich :(

We hung around all day and had afternoon tea with amazing cakes :) later we had dinner which was also amazing! It was Fijian!
Then the fun started lol.

We sang a Fijian song then did the Bula dance! Which was a cross between 'saturday' and the macarena lol. Then we had a competition, we all danced and when Sarah shouted either Gin, Whiskey or Soda we all had to do something. I.e. Boys and girls seperate. It was fun cept 1 time I didn't hear her and kept dancing alone lol

After that we played truth or dare and I became known as the evil one lol. Everyone was scared of me! Haha there were people naked, people sucking each other's toes, making out with trees, giving head to bottles. Loool so much fun! We then went to someone's room and played ipod til the electricity cut off. :( luckily Sarah came and got us and took us to another resort where we could hear music coming from!

The walk was dark and rainforesty and for some reason I was leading! We got there and there was only the Fijian staff and the Aussie owner lol. it was good though we danced and drank then walked back. A few of us went into the sea and randomly sat in a boat lol. I brought sooo much sand into my bed ugh!! What a fun fun night ;)

Next day 27th I was an hour late for breakfast, but luckily they left me some coz they said they knew I'd come :) it was amazing! Pancakes, toast, fruit yum!

I went back to bed and then woke up and got ready for dinner. My hangover came in the evening so I could barely eat the amazing gourmet dinner of pumpkin soup and chicken on yam :)

After dinner we played a heads and tails game and I won a free drink, played cards for a while then had an early night :) had the worst sleep ever though. Spent the whole night scratching my bites on the sand in my bed!!

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FIJI! Sydney > Nadi

26/11/2011

Actually had a pleasant sleep on the greyhound, got into Sydney about 8:30am and had a BIG breakfast! Mmm bacon toast hash brown beans :)

Spent the day doing little things like getting waxed and putting photos on a DVD. We got ready later and went to Pizza Hut :) nowhere near as good as home though.

We went to the Three monkeys pub, had 1 drink and got kinda bored so went to Side bar at Wake up.. I drank way more than I intended to lol but managed to get up at 8 the next morning for my flight to Fiji. Aww bye bye Laura! I'm by myself again!!

Oh well! My flight was decent. Was a little delayed but I arrived in the end. As soon as I got off the plane, the smell made me happy! It smelt tropical, like Grenada or South east Asia! Yay! Heat!!

Got my transfer to Nadi Bay resort which was pretty decent. There was a frog jumping around the kitchen though lol. Went to bed early - 6am wake up!! Gots to get my boat to the islands!! :)

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