Wow, it really does smell up here

New Zealand is one of the most geothearmically active places in the world, especially in the north island. it’s beautiful, but it does mean that a lot of sulphur is being released into the air, making a lot of the places around here smell pretty badly of egg. The best pools that I went to was in Taupo.

Hot pools at Taupo

They’re a fair walk out of the town, but it is a nice one, and when you get there it’s amazing being able to slide into pools that are naturally as hot as a Jacuzzi. Right next to the pools is a river that’s running at a nice and toasty 2ºC, it’s pretty refreshing to dive into the river and run out (as fast as you bloody can) and back into the pools. Bare in mind you’ll have pins and needles for a good few minutes afterwards.

After a very relaxed night in Taupo (hot pools make you very sleepy) I headed out to Rotorua, my last stop in NZ before flying out, so I wanted to do something a little special.

White Water Rafting works on grades, ranging from zero to five, five being the highest. In Rotorua there is a grade five course, but on a day like the one we had it was closed –  apparently three days of rain makes rivers prone to flooding – so I had to settle for a grade four, which I was told that because of the amount of rain we had been having, was pretty much a grade five anyway! Kaitiaki was the company I was rafting with.

Rafting in Kaikoura

They employ only Kiwi guides because they want to keep it as cultural as possible. They all spoke Maori and so blessed the river before we went on it to make sure we weren’t going to die, which was nice of them.

The ride was amazing. The rapids were crazy and the guide was a good laugh (he actually picked up one of the girls on our boat and threw her in the water! All in good fun of course). By the end of it, if you haven’t fallen in already, you can just flip off the side of the boat. Be warned though, even through the fairly industrial wetsuits they give you, the river is bitingly cold.

It lasted just about the right amount of time, any longer and you would start to get really cold and a little bored. While I did have a great time, I could see that I would start to be experiencing the same thing over and over again.

On the way back to town they can take you to some more hot pools to try and warm up afterwards. Don’t go! They’re cold, they smell REALLY bad and most hostels back in town have artificial hot pools of their own, and they are much more refreshing!

That evening, it was Maori time!

The Maori Experience

The Maori experience allows you to see what life used to be like for the Maori people. On each bus on the way to the village a chief will be chosen. He will represent the entire group by having to stand in front of the Maori chief and take whatever abuse he is given (which is in the form of a lot of waving sticks and shouting). It was a shame that the weather was so bad because apparently there are a lot of things you can do in the village once you get in, like stick throwing and Maori juggling, but it was all called of as it rained freaking cats and dogs all bloody night.

Despite the weather, you still get a brilliant show and then you are lead into the dinner house. The is worth the money alone! The buffet is incredible. Absolutely incredible. There is so much food, and the Pavlova (which I found out is steeped in history as there is a dispute over who invented it, the Ozzies or the Kiwis, random bit of cultural knowledge) is unreal! All the food was cooked in the traditionly Maori way by burying it underground in a pressure cooker style oven which was pretty cool to watch!

Last day in NZ tomorrow, and I’m finding that I really don’t want to leave!

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

A much colder, much slower East Coast

They take rugby oh so very seriously in New Zealand. The first time I found this out was the rugby tour I did of the country six years ago, we did not do so well. I made the mistake of wearing my Wasps rugby jersey to the NZ – Oz Tri Nations cup game, and because it has the same colours on it as the Australian kit I was in for a night of abuse.

Watching an All Backs rugby game in New Zealand is an event I would recommend to anyone heading over there. The atmosphere is excellent. Especially when they completely decimate their opponents 49 – 28! I was lucky to be watching the game in Christchuch, which is one of the biggest cities in the country, it meant that the bar we got into was bursting at the seams with black topped, very large New Zealanders. Of course, when in a situation like this, you get behind the home nation, and the game itself was great. If only Six Nations rugby was half as good as this!

The Greatest scenery to run in... ever

After the one night I had in Christchurch it was quickly up the East Coast. Kaikoura is a very nice, but very quite little town on the coast. The main things that people can do there is Whale watching and swimming with dolphins. Of course, if the weather is terrible (which it was) it will ALL get called off. At which point you find out that there is nothing else to do. So I went on a run. There is nothing like running along the edge of the Pacific ocean with snow capped mountains in the distance! Turns out my knees haven’t actually fully recovered from the marathon… that was four months ago… doctors when I’m back at home me thinks.

The next day we headed just outside this small fishing town to the seal birthing grounds. I can’t tell you how great it is to sit next to a baby seal and watch as it tries to eat your hoodie!

Hungry seals trying to eat my hoodie

Crossing between the islands of New Zealand is long and very boring. Make sure you bring along a deck of cards, or a movie of some kind. Do not bring a Frisbee and think that you can play it on the deck. You will lose it. You might think this was common sense and you are probably right.

Safely on the North Island I pulled into Wellington, the capital. And while it is the capital there is not actually much to do there in the way of backpacker lifestyle, but it does have some great places to eat. Go to Sweet Mamas kitchen and grab a basket of curly fries. Cheap and very tasty!

Off to Taupo tomorrow and Rotorua after that. I am told that it gets pretty smelly the further north you go thanks to the thermal springs all over the place. Something to look forward to then!

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Head on to the Ferg…

There are a few reasons that people head to Queestown in New Zealand. The amount of adrenaline sports is incredible. The night life is constantly buzzing (unlike many of the other towns around the country). And Ferg Burger.

There is only one town in the world you can find Ferg Burger, and there is only one Ferg Burger in that town, but this doesn’t mean they don’t know what they’re doing.

The Big Al

The Burgers are enormous. A girl once said to me “how can you possibly expect me to eat the entire thing? It’s bigger than my sodding head!” When I indulged in my first (and unfortunately last) Ferg Burger, I was able to eat one whole one and be sufficiently satisfied for the rest of the day… and the next one for that matter. If you find yourself in Queenstown, the best way to refuel  after a long day skiing, or a morning of skydiving is to get to this small burger joint on the high street and gorge yourself on an amazing amount of meat! Bear in mind that when you do go there you will have to wait around for 20 minutes for your food to be ready. Being the only one in the world means that – more often than not – the world and his wife are trying to do exactly what you are!

Of course, there are other (much less expensive) things to do when you get to this brilliant town. Across the lake there is a park with 18 baskets dotted around it. these are for Frisbee golf. The idea is to throw your Frisbee into the basket in as little amount of throws as possible

Spot of Frisbee golf anyone?

(much like golf believe it or not). It will take about 2 hours to get through the entire course, but it’s a great way to spend the afternoon after recovering from the night before, skydiving in the morning and Ferg Burging for lunch!

The nightlife, as I have said, is amazing here. You end up being fairly shocked by it after spending so long not really having a social life on the way down to Queenstown. There are too many night clubs and bars to chose from and you will spend longer in Queenstown than you thought you would simply because you wont want to leave without soaking in as much of it as you can. From my experience, I would recommend going to World Bar, just up the road from Base Hostel. The have teapots that they fill with all kinds of liquids and guarantee you a good night!

Of course I had to leave eventually. Much more things to see up the East Coast!

One of views in QT

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Adrenaline can be addictive…

I am adrenaline junkie. There is no other way to put it. I can’t get enough of the stuff. This is why I loved Queenstown. There is so much to do here to push you body to the edge and come back shaking like a leaf. Before I had even got there, just outside the main city, we pulled into the Kawarau bridge bungy centre…

Adrenaline rush #1:

The Backwards Bungy

The Karawau bridge bungy is 43 metres high, so I figured it wouldn’t be much on Macau (the highest in the world) or the Nevis (at 134 metres). So when I asked what might be the best thing to do to get the best rush, I was told to do the ‘pendulum’ where they would hang me over the edge of the bridge, facing upwards, and release me whenever they felt like it. To them, this meant hang me there for 20 seconds while saying ‘Ok, now…. no…. now….. oh sorry…. now’ and then telling me to give some guy a high five. Half way to his hand, they let me go. Excellent!!

Adrenaline rush #2:

The next morning, it was an early start to get out to the NZone sky diving centre. NZone are among the only people who do skydives at 15 000 feet at both Queenstown and Rotorua. The skydive at Queenstown, however, gives you incredible views over the Remarkables (the mountain range in Queenstown) as you fall out of the plane. The most nerve raking thing about a skydive is the flight up there. I’m not so good on planes as it is. And flying up in a plane smaller than the bedroom I slept in the night before is slightly unnerving. It seems to go on forever, and then very quickly, you legs are hanging over the edge of the door to the plane, and there is nothing in front of you. All the way down I couldn’t close my mouth. Firstly because of the speed at which the air was hitting my face, and secondly because I couldn’t stop screaming like a girl and swearing constantly. Once the parachute opens, you get to drift nicely down to the bottom, enjoying the incredible views over Queenstown and the surrounding mountains. I have to do this again!

Taken at around 12,000 feet above Queenstown!

Adrenaline rush #3:

Bungy at 134metres

I had about half an hour to wait once I got back into town before I was onto the AJ Hackett bungy bus to head over to the Nevis bungy and Nevis Arc. Once again, it’s the slow journey to the jump that is the most nerve racking part, and as you come over the crest of the hill, you see the enormous gorge you about to throw yourself into. This is what I love about bungy jumping. Don’t get me wrong, skydiving was incredible, but until I get to throw myself out of that plane, it isn’t really going to compare!

The Nevis bungy starts from a steel box that is hanging between two cliff faces. the only way to get there is via a tiny cable car, which has a cross hatched bottom to it, so that you can look straight down to the floor, about 200 metres below you. You sit in that box for about 15 minutes watching so many other people throw themselves off the platform. Then you sit in the ‘Dentist Chair’ and get strapped in. It all happens pretty fast after that. All I can tell you is that the Nevis is the best bungee I have ever done. Macau, even though it is the biggest in the world, has nothing on it, as at the Nevis you are actually free falling, at Macau there are stabilisers that slow you down. I was once again, shaking uncontrollably, it felt great!

Adrenaline rush #4:

The biggest swing in the world

The biggest swing in the world is right next to the Nevis bungy. You can opt to sit in the harness in whichever way you want, and you can go either as a tandem or by yourself. I know a couple you went down in the ’69′ position, the video looked brilliant! I decided to go down upside down and backwards, why not. The guys who strap you in hold the remote control for the release, and pretty much all the time they will give you no warning as to when you are going. In fact they will probably ask you a question and let you go as you start to answer. More rush I guess!

Adrenaline rush #5:

For the last part of this ridiculous day, I went up the cable car in Queenstown to The Ledge, which rest at 400 metres over Queenstown. You can get some incredible views as you throw yourself off strapped in not by your feet, but at you waist. This means you can do whatever you want (within reason of course) as you jump off. Personally I went for the run up and front flip. On video it actually looks as though it was pretty painful, but it it was, I was so wired at this point I didn’t notice. It was bloody incredible!!

Another day another dollar!

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Too many slopes to chose from…

There are quite a few places where you can go skiing around New Zealand, especially in the middle of winter. The main places that people decide upon are in Queenstown and Wanaka, Queenstown, of course, being the adrenaline capital of the world, is where most people roll on down to get a good ski or snowboard, meaning that it can get a bit crowded. This is why I decided to get up on the slopes in Wanaka.

The slopes at Treble Cone

Treble Cone is about a half hour bus ride away from the centre of town, and all together, including the transfer, the ski pass and the gear, it will cost you around NZ$135 for a full day of skiing here. I, needless to say, passed out on the bus ride (we had had a few drinks the night before and I was surviving, once again, on about 3 hours sleep), and was woken up 30 minutes later as the bus jolted to stop. The scenery in front of me was mental.

Sheets of cloud

We had climbed over the clouds and was now looking down on them. The sheet of cloud looked like an extension of the pure white snow that was lying on the mountain side. It was unreal.

After taking a few snaps, we got our ski passes (which you buy at the bottom of the first lift. There are no gondolas here, it’s straight onto the snow off the bus) and clicked our skis on.

Like I said, Queenstown can get a bit crowded, but here, we were able to run up and down the slopes non stop, with not even a hint of a queue at any point. The amount of runs at Treble Cone is more than enough to keep you happy few a few days. People have told me that if your staying around for a week or so, then maybe head down to Queenstown, simply because the mountains are bigger and you have more choice, but for the day, Treble Cone is “Sweet As, Bru”.

Chilling at the peek

By the end of the day, if you’ve been skiing a few times, I would recommend going as high a you can in the ski lifts and then taking the hike up to the highest mount on these mountains. The views are out of the world, and the off pieced skiing back down to the main slopes is a lot of fun. What you should know about the slopes in NZ is that the grading system is slightly different. The are no reds, it’s Green, Blue then Black, and the Blue runs can go from nice and easy to steep moguls pretty quickly! What’s really nice about these runs though, is that a lot of them are just guides, and you can make up a lot of it as you go along. Pretty much all of the Blacks are just off pieced, and especially at Treble Cone where there isn’t many people are fairly uncarved and deserted. Again, a lot of fun!

Only wiped out a coupled of times (once pretty spectacularly underneath the ski lift) and still only have the one hole in my teeth. A freaking good day!

Skiing fun times

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Climbing on Ice

Franz Joseph glacier is traveling at a rate of  1 metre per year. It is one of the only glaciers in the world that is resting at only 300 feet above sea level which gives it the class of a ‘Warm Glacier’ meaning that there is a lot of running water all over it. There are a few things you can opt to do when you are here, you can Hike over it (either a full or half day), you can chopper over it (which is VERY expensive, but can give you the most amazing views over the whole glacier) or you can do some ice climbing.

A glacier sitting at 300 feet means the surrounding scenery doesn't look quite right

Having done a fair bit of climbing back at home, I was so excited to get out on the ice. The glacier itself is pretty breathtaking. Standing at the end of the valley that sits in front of it, you look across to the foot of the glacier. it was at this point that our guide told us that what we saw was actually 2 Km away. Brilliant.

The walk there is actually pretty nice, the scenery around a glacier, as you can imagine, is beautiful. And without knowing it, we were actually standing on the glacier within 25 minutes. The bottom of it is covered it debris from the landslides that apparently happen very often, but when they do are amazing to witness. Wasn’t entirely sure if I would have wanted one to happen when I was halfway up an ice face, amazing or not.

Ice climbing is very different to actual climbing. You can put your feet and hands anywhere you want, as long as you can get them into the ice. But it’s the actual process of doing this, actually getting the picks and the crampons into the ice, that really is the hard part. Especially when the ice you are climbing up hasn’t seen sunlight in a good few hundred years.

Success

The whole experience only cost NZ$250 (£125) and I had an amazing time and saw some incredible things. But there was another cost that I did not set out to spend. On the first climb of the day, my fourth throw of the pick found itself well and truly lodged in the ice. On trying to get it out I found that it wasn’t as easy as all the others. The guide shouted up at me “just give it a good yank!”, so I did, and the thing came out of the ice and straight into my mouth. It didn’t actually hurt that much, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t knocked half a tooth out.

Fantastic.

I still managed to hold on to that stray piece of tooth though. A nice little memento. And who else can say they lost a tooth ice climbing in New Zealand? At least that’s how I’m choosing to look at it.

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Hello NZ…

My last few days in Oz were a mash of busses and blurry nights. Having done so much up the East Coast, there was not much time for sitting back and relaxing. Magnetic Island sits just off the coast from Townsville, and if you find yourself in the right place I am told that you are in for a good time,  but I ended up on the other side of the island, where there is not much to do. My advice, stay at Base, it’s more of a bar and club than a place to stay!

Holding a little croc

After this, we headed to the Johnstone River Crocodile Park, which you can get at discounted prices through the Oz Experience. It;s a brilliant few hours! The park is actually a farm, where they farm crocodiles for meat. We were told it’s very similar to farming cows, except that these cows can kill you if they wanted to. The guides feed them chickens with no regard for their own life, and it gets a little dodgey when they tell you that one of the crocs they are feeding tends to go mental every now and again and kills the females. But it’s still a great experience!

After shooting up the remainder of the coast and spending one night in Cairns (which is not enough to experience both the heat and the things to do there. Again I am told that it is amazing place to stay for a few days. Maybe next time) it was time to get to the adrenaline capital of the world; New Zealand.

On landing, once again, I was moving from hot to cold. But this time I was prepared with hoodies and coats. I didn’t get into the hostel until 12.30 am and I had only had an hours sleep in Cairns (the night life is fantastic!) so it was straight to bed.

Christchurch is one of the biggest cities in New Zealand, and yet it is still smaller than most of the places I have visited over the past few months. It is more of a stop over point as you cruise through the South Island, with not much around it in the way of the Backpacker lifestyle.

What has to be noted about NZ is that there is a lot of nothing in between towns, but that makes way for the most breathtaking views I have seen so far. One minute you will be looking over massive green fields surrounded by enormous ferns, and the next you are driving through a canyon steeped in mountains. It is incredible!

One of first things I saw in NZ

The next couple of weeks is to be riddled with skiing, bungee jumping, sky diving, the list goes on. Its going be a heart pumping few weeks!

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Whitehaven heaven!!

It’s becoming something that I am saying a lot, and I know there is only a limited amount of times that I can say it. I have just been to the most beautiful place on the planet (I wonder what the next one might be)

Perfection in Beach form

Whitsundays is a collection of islands of Airlie Beach. They have been classed as a ‘National Heritage Site’ which means that no building can be built on them, and the waters are policed heavily. The islands are surrounded by the Great Barrier Reef which only adds to the beauty of this place.

Driving yachts is fun!

From Airlie Beach, visitors jump on any number of boats for a variety of days and head over to the islands to take in the scenery. We ended up on The Hammer.

Luckily the weather was holding out (which we were told was not the case for the past couple of weeks) and we got clear blue skies the whole way round.

Our first stop was Whitehaven Beach. Which looks as if it has been brought in from a movie set. It does not look as though it should be real, but when you feel the sand under your feet (which is the softest sand I have even stood on) all you can do is look around and laugh. How the hell did I end up here??

The softest sand you will ever feel

It was on this day, that back at home, all my friends in the drama department at Exeter were donning their gowns and mortar boards for graduation. I had a very different picture, using my cowboy hat from Kroombit as my mortar board and an Australian towel as my gown with the traditional blue screen background being replaced by a view over the Whitsundays islands. Perfect.

Right now, we are out of the jelly fish season, so there is no serious danger, but the crew on the boats are still obligated to giving you stinger suits to wear before you go in the water. Standing on the most perfect beach in the world, looking at the clearest water in the world, with not a cloud in the sky, there is NO WAY that was going to be putting on what can only be described as a thin wet suit to go swimming. Besides, the crew weren’t even doing it either. Which is how I got my first ever jelly fish sting. Don’t jump ahead though, it felt as if someone had starched me pretty hard, and the sting that comes with it wouldn’t go away. James, one of the crew members, said that we would know if it was serious in 20 minutes was I might start feeling funny, I hope he was joking.

Like with Fraser Island, there is no light pollution around these islands. In fact it is even less so. Again, we were very lucky. There was not a cloud in the sky, which meant that for the first time in my life I got to see the edge of the Milky Way. Awesome stuff!

Whitsundays is one of the places that I wish I didn’t have to leave. I could sit on Whitehaven beach for my entire life and never get tired of the view both during the day and at night. But of course, we have to move on.

It’s getting even hotter now, and the scenery is getting more and more beautiful. 2 more days of Oz fun times ahead!

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

Duuuuude…

I went Surfing for the first time back in Newquay in Cornwal about 8 years ago. Here, I was lucky enough to get a private lesson (friend of a friend type thing) which meant that I was able to stand up by the end of the lesson. I remembered how much fun it had been back then, and was so eager to get back out on the board in Spot X, on of the places that the Oz Experience will take you to on the way up the East Coast. It will cost you AU$50 to stay here, but that includes a buffet style dinner, buffet style breakfast, your four our surf lesson the next day, and an incredible lunch after you get back to the camp (which is optional and if you do not want to have it you can knock AU$5 off the price of the stay, but believe me, you will WANT to have this lunch!).

The night before you get your lesson, after dinner, there’s a chance for you to get to know your fellow surfers and your instructors over a camp fire, a guitar, and a box of goon. Cue some slightly inebriated camp fire sing alongs. I love my job.

The next morning it’s straight out onto the water. And I am proud to say that I got standing on my first try. It then took me a further 45 minutes to do it again. Beginners luck indeed. Once you have the hang of it though, it get addictive, and I can see why these guys do it for a living. I can also see why they are so fit, after four hours of this I was exhausted and all my muscles were aching. The most exercise I’ve done in a long while.

Nearer the end of the lesson, myself a Charlie, I guy I met on the bus, were getting up the board most of the times we caught a wave. And as they started to call everyone back into the beach, we went out to catch out last couple of bigger waves. On the penultimate surf, we both starting paddling under a wave about 2 metres high (this might be inaccurate, but to me, this wave was 2 metres high) and after a bit of a wobble both got up and standing. Realising how close we were standing to each other, we high-fived, and promptly fell off. How many times can you say you have done that?

Again, I love my job.

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010

5 days in Sydney

It’s been 7 months since I was last in Sydney, and back then I was in the height of their summer. The picture that I had in my head before I set off two weeks before christmas, was of sitting on the beach on Christmas Day, nursing a barbecue and watch Santa’s surf down Bondi Beach.

I was horribly disappointed.

Apparently it is the worst Christmas (weather wise) they have had in years, so it was annoying that this was the year that I decided to head over there. It rained a lot and wasn’t even that hot at the best of times.

The Oz version of 'Winter'

On my return, in the height of their winter, I was in for a nice surprise. We pulled into the Woodduck Inn, a hostel just off Kings Cross, and headed up to their top deck which over looks the observation tower and Hyde Park. And there was not a cloud in the sky. Not only that, I was stripping off the four layers I had donned in preparation for the cold. The fist guy we met was actually sitting in the sun in shorts and not much else “catching a tan”… in the middle of winter… go figure.

The Woodduck is a fantastic place. The people working there were brilliant, and it was also full of backpackers working for accommodation, some of whom had been there for a good long while (it seems that the inspiration to actually find a job is quite had when you are living in this place for free and are surrounded by people wanting to have a good time) so we already had a head start in finding the best places to go.

The Opera House

There are obviously the standard things that one goes to see when in Sydney; the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the Botanical Gardens (pronounced Booww-taaaanicaal by the Welsh Paul who had been working in the Woodduck for just a week but had settled in straight away) and The Rocks (it has to be said that The Rocks is an entire area of shops, houses and bars, all with a very rustic feel, and all very cosy. There is a pub crawl that you can do which takes you to all the bars in the area, and will take about three days, but it is a little more pricey here that other places you might go. Here, is more of a place to go and get some food. And what food it is!), but for the more backpacker cheep deals, we found The Gaff.

It’s a small bar/restaurant/club/general place all backpackers go after a bag of ‘goon’, and some of the deals you can find in here are amazing. It’s no Ivy, and certainly isn’t Fabric (a restaurant and club in London respectively for those who have no idea what I’m referring to) but the food that comes out is some of the best that I have had on this trip. The Woodduck has a long-standing relationship with them (as with the sister hostel, Boomerang) which means that you get even more money off with them than usual. I had an incredible steak and a drink for AU$6, and on nights out, the amount of free drinks vouchers that fly around is brilliant!

If you find yourself in Sydney for a few days, and are looking for a good night on the town, there is something called the Oz Party Bus, and is exactly what it sounds like. The guys who own the company bought an old but and gutted it, filling it with speakers and disco lights. They pick you up from certain points around the town and then take you to five bars and clubs around Sydney (ending in The Gaff) and it can get pretty hectic. If you think about what it is like on the underground in rush hour when a train comes to an abrupt stop, add 3 bars with a free drink at each and dancing people. You get the idea.

Fun at the Woodduck Inn

The (vaguely) Blue Mountains

It is in Sydney that you can get the chance to go and see the Blue Mountains, given their name because from a distance they look ever so slightly blue thanks to the millions of Eucalyptus trees growing on them. Now while these mountains are fairly spectacular, and the ‘Three Sisters’ formation is pretty nice, I have to say that it is not the most amazing thing I have seen on the trip so far. The tour itself was perfectly nice, but if you have been all over Australia before this, then you might not be so blown away by these mountains. By all means, go and see them if you want to, but don’t expect anything really special.

Heading up the East Coast now… all the way to Cairns in 13 days… wish us luck!!

Matt M

STA UK WTI 2010