New Zealand diary - day by day

Some of the guys on our Kiwi bus took the opportunity to have a dip in the lake, but as it was absolutely freezing, and no doubt the lake would be even colder, Sarah and I decided against it. We thought they must be mad!!

We stayed at a lovely family run lodge in Nelson called Fern Lodge, where we had a ham roast for dinner along with a couple of glasses of wine by the fire...... It's a hard life!!


Westport - May 9th:

We left Nelson early in the morning to head to our next destination, Westport. The journey to Westport took us along the Buller Gorge river, and we stopped off for a few short walks along the way.
Westport is a tiny (slightly backward) town, with really not very much to do, but we stayed at another lovely lodge for the night, and had a meet and greet party at the local pub so we could all get to know one another. Our bus driver, Morrie, organised it all and it turned out to be a really good night. It made us feel a lot more comfortable with everyone we were travelling with on the Kiwi Bus. However, there were so many names I had been told by the end of the night, I thought I would never remember them all!

Lake Mahinapua - May 10th:

After one night in Westport we were back on the Kiwi bus heading to our next stop, Lake Mahinapua. It was a very long day as Morrie took us on quite a few amazing walks. The first was Cape Foulwind, where we did a fabulous hour long walk to a mountainous backdrop and to the seal colony on the rocks. Again, the landscape was breathtaking. For anybody who is into hiking and experiencing wonderful scenery, New Zealand is the place to be......

We then made our way to the Trueman Track, which is a short walk leading to a beach where the waves are absolutely huge. If you stood too close you would get absolutely soaked.....



Our final stop before arriving at Lake Mahinapua was Punakaiki Pancake rocks and blowholes, where again, the huge waves throw water through holes in the limestone. We got pretty wet but it was good fun. The size of the waves were incredible, although I don't really have a good picture do do them justice!!




Morrie had organised a fancy dress Tarzan and Jane themed night for that evening so we stopped off at a shop to buy supplies. Sarah and I are the most uncreative people imaginable when it comes to fancy dress so we bought a 4XL men's t-shirt and some string, and hoped for the best......

We arrived at Lake Mahinapua at a nie hostel owned by a man called Les, who is about 84 years old, and is still going strong! He got on the bus to tell us the rules of the hostel and it was clear from that, he doesn't take any s**t!!

We made a feeble attempt at cutting up our t-shirts, then headed for the bar. We decided we needed to have a few wines if we were going to get through the night without feeling like complete idiots!
We all met up at around 9pm donning our (not so lovely) outfits. A lot of people had made so much effort, and could tell they had creative minds when it comes to fancy dress! Most of the guys had dressed as Jane, which was really funny, and Morrie had two prizes to give away to the two best dressed...... suffice to say, Sarah and I did not win! It was a brilliant night though, everyone was getting on really well, and if anything, we have some funny pictures out of it!

Queenstown, May 14th - May 18th:

It was another early start on the Kiwi bus to our final destination, Queenstown. We stopped off in Wanaka at Puzzleworld. It has a huge maze which me and Sarah attempted but completely failed at so gave up. We then made our way into the illusion rooms with holograms and other cool stuff. It was a good way to pass a couple of hours but I think we were all just itching to get to Queenstown by this point.

We then went to Kawaru bridge where AJ hackett created the 1st commerical bungy. Some of the guys from the Kiwi bus did it and I booked in to do my Nevis bungy; 134m high and one of the top three highest bungees in the world! I was absolutely terrified, but as I had just paid 216 bucks to do it which was non refundable, there was no way I was getting out of it!

We arrived in Queenstown late afternoon and just chilled out and had the famous Queenstown Ferg Buger for dinner, which are basically huge, juicy burgers. It was amazing but I couldnt finish it all by any means. We then got ready for the pub crawl that Morrie had organised for us. It was such a good night. We have made some really good friends from the Kiwi bus. It was so sad when we all had to leave each other after Queenstown. I got far too drunk considering I had to jump 134 metres the very next day!

Nevis Bungy Jump - May 15th:

Oh my god, I woke up and I have never been so nervous in all my life. I am usually fine with things like this but the sheer height of the bungy absolutely terrified me. Sarah and I went for breakfast to try and take my mind off it but I could barely eat anything. I just wanted the day to be over!
As Sarah was sensible enough not to want to do it, she couldn't come with me, but there was about 20 of us from the Kiwi bus all doing it together so it was all good. We had the dreaded weigh in and I was delighted to find I was the same weight as when I left! It was about a 40 minute bus ride to the jump site, and I was feeling so sick. I think it was a mixture of nervousness and the fact I had drank too many tea pots the night before!
As soon as we arrived we got strapped up and got in the cable car to take us where we jump. We were literally suspended above a canyon. By this point I just wanted to jump and get it over with, but the AJ Hackett rules state that the heaviest person has to jump first with the lightest jumping last....... I was the bloody lightest!! It felt like I had to wait a lifetime before I could get to jump, it was torture!

When it finally got to my turn, my whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Once I was strapped up the bungy guys walked me to the edge, and I made the mistake of looking down. As soon as he started counting down 1,2,3 bungy I was straight off the ledge. I think if I had hesitated I may not have gone through with it, and it would've been a bloody expensive bus ride! I loved every moment of it once I had jumped though, and the terror I felt beforehand was so worth it. There is a nine second freefall before the bungy pulls you up a bit and that was by far the best part. It was incredible. I thought after I had done that I would feel satisfied with bungy jumps, but now I want to go and do the highest in the world, I must be crazy as I know I will be just as terrified!
Anyway, see the pictures for yourself.......

Milford Sound - May 16th:

"Milford Sound was a little disappointing to say we had paid $159 to go there. The journey from Queenstown to get there took about five hours and it was raining the whole way. There are quite a few walks to do along the way but we had to miss out on most of them as it was just so wet. It wasn't a bad day but the rain did let us down a bit as we couldn't really get very good pictures. Having said that, if there is no rain at all then there are no waterfalls, and they were absolutely incredible. We went through 1,000 Waterfalls Valley. Obviously, that wouldn't of been so good if there were no waterfalls due to dry weather!
We got back quite late and jumped in the shower for a second night out in Queenstown. Another fantastic night with the kiwi bus, making us realise how much we will miss everybody when we leave Queenstown.
We also met up briefly with our friend Megan, who we met in Thailand on New Years Eve, but is now living in Queenstown. She happens to be a fellow Wakey girl too! We met her for lunch the following day and was so nice to see her again.
We left the following morning for Christchurch, which took a monster 12 hours to get there as the road Morrie usually takes was closed so he had to take a major detour! There's nothing really to say about Christchurch, there really isn't anything there. We were just there the night before catching a flight to Fiji the next morning.