Queensland

Thursday 1st  - Friday 2nd June 2017

Finally the day was here to get a bit of winter sun over at the sunny Gold Coast in Australia. We had a chilled out morning picking the car and doing a few bits before driving up to Christchurch to the airport.

The flight was just under 4 hours and I ended up reading half the novel I brought with me in that time... it was supposed to last me the whole week! Jetstar isn't the most luxurious of companies, but it does the job! We landed in Coolangatta at around 5ish there time, it took us a while to find the shuttle to the rental car place but Darragh was super excited to see that there was a tv in their playing Mr Bean!

We then drove down to Turtle Bay Resort, it looks pretty cool! There's s splash zone with water slides and things for the kids as well as three other pools. We grabbed dinner at the restaurant there, I had a pizza, it wasn't he nicest in the world but I was so hungry I didn't care! I was pretty paranoid he whole time about spiders though... luckily I didn't see any bigger than we get in England but I still made sure everything was zipped up! We had a little wander around before heading up to the room for the night - it had been a pretty long day!

The next morning I repacked my bag as I was heading up to Noosa to visit Lily and Sam for the weekend. I walked down to 7eleven to grab a go card, kinda like an Oyster card for Queensland. There was a huge shopping centre on the way, so I had a quick look around. The place was so big that I got a wee bit lost a few times! It was so nice to see a load of shops that I actually recognised!

I then walked back up and grabbed a sandwich for lunch. Wade and Mary dropped me off at the train station I needed to go to, as they were going to a shopping centre nearby. It only cost me just under 11 bucks to get a four hour train... I can't believe how cheap it is for trains here!

Timaru Week 4

Monday 17th April - Sunday 23rd April 2017

The Fairlie show was on on bank holiday Monday, so I went with Wade and the boys. It was pretty much exactly like any of the shows I've ever been to in England, so it was pretty cool to go and do something familiar!

This week is the start of the Easter holidays, so I've upped my hours a bit whilst there is no school! We have been going to 'monster mayhem' at Timaru library, which has been pretty cool. It's twice this week and twice next week, one of the librarians reads a few monster stories and then there is a craft. On the first day we made monster masks, and then the following day we made cup monsters!

The weather has stayed pretty nice this week so we've been spending a fair bit of time outside which has been amazing! We've pretty much done the rounds of the different parks in Timaru. We've even brought Spider-Man and iron man along with us a few times! 

This week I have also been making plans for south East Asia, and it looks like I will be able to go to Sydney for a couple of days beforehand which will be awesome!

Saturday evening, Wade got me in contact with one of the girls he works with as she was going out with a few mates. It was pretty sweet going out with kiwis finally and (from what I remember) it was a pretty good night! 

Drawaqa Island: Bula Combo Pass

Tuesday 7th March 2017

We had a continental breakfast this morning and I was ecstatic to see syrup by the pancakes! I've had dry pancakes too many times in Fiji! They also had donuts with chocolate sauce drizzled over the top, it was heavenly!

The weather was a bit hit and miss this morning. It poured down whilst we were eating breakfast, but brightened up for a bit so we went to the beach just in front of our bure to sunbathe. It lasted all of fifteen minutes before the rain came back!

But luckily it wasn't too long before the sun came back to stay and it was so good just dipping in the sea and then sunbathing.

We did that all morning and after lunch we did the same thing on sunset beach! I got a little burnt but not too badly! The clouds came back at around 4 so we went back to the room, even though we still had three hours to kill before dinner. We were going to watch Greys on the beach but it started to rain so we retreated to our bule for an hour or so before getting ready and going to the main building. One of the divers was doing a talk on coral and it was really interesting!

No cake at dinner today which was sad! We didn't hang around for too long afterwards today as there we're less people around and I had to repack my backpack (for the millionth time) as we're off to Wayalailai tomorrow. It's been so nice having two nights though as today has been full on chilled!

Matacawalevu Island and Drawaqa Island: Bula Combo Pass

Sunday 5th March - Monday 6th March 2017

We got up early today to go to church, on Sundays they don't run any activities so it was nice to have something to do to pass the morning!

Breakfast was really good, I had weetabix, apples and the most delicious custard slice I've ever had! It just melted in my mouth! We were leaving to go to the church at 8 so I just about had enough time to brush my teeth and sort my bags out before getting the boat round to the part of the island the village is in.

We walked up an extremely muddy path and eventually came to the church. This village is Catholic, but the majority of the churches in Fiji are Methodist. The ceremony was beautiful, everyone sang the hymns with the most amazing harmonies and it brought a tear to my eye not gonna lie! It was so nice having communion - it's been a while! Everyone is so friendly and kind, Fijians have such a wonderful way of life!

We then went down to look at the primary school, I was surprised to see Jolly Phonics stuff in class 1&2! It brought back good memories of working at nursery!

We then wandered around the village for a while, Jacob (he's part of the family that runs  Long Beach Resort) carrying his baby sister Cara, showed us around for a bit. Although it felt like he was just taking us places to kill a bit of time! He showed us a whale tooth in one of the houses, not entirely sure why but it was cool! There was also a hideous looking spider with a bright green body that he pretended to flick on us. He also told us we weren't allowed to take photos, before wetting himself laughing! Let's just say he likes a joke!

We then got the boat back round to the resort, and brought or bags round to the main but. It just started to torrential rain again and it was only 2 hours before getting true speedboat out to the big boat so we prayed it would stop soon!

For lunch we had spicy tomato pasta which was good, although it tastes like something I would've made for myself at uni! The sun came out for a bit but the clouds were still looming and the wind had picked up a bit. This made the ride in the small speedboat less than fun... I thought it was bad yesterday, well it had nothing on today! I just plonked myself in the middle and prayed I wouldn't fall in!

The ferry ride wasn't much better, the rain came in and the waves rocked the boat a fair bit - it wasn't as bad as the ferry from Wellington to Christchurch though! We had a covered boat to get to Barefoot Manta Resort which was good! Two girls greeted us on the boat who are volunteering at a nearby school for a month which seems cool!

Barefoot Manta is more expensive than the other resorts, it had a set meal plan of like $90 a day and wifi is $24 a day so I won't buy it today, and probably won't tomorrow unless it's raining all day again! Hopefully the sun will be out so I can get back to sunbathing and swimming! Emma got wifi straight away so I had a wander by myself for a bit. The island is stunning. They have three beaches, but sunset beach is my favourite. There are so many crabs it's crazy!

I then had an early shower as the weather still isn't great so I didn't fancy a swim this evening, but as it finally stopped raining I sat on the bench just outside our Bule and read for a bit until it was dinner time. We were a bit early for dinner, as Emma wanted to use her wifi, and when we got there hey we're doing a hermit crab race. This time we got to pick our own crabs and decide on the number, we had two rounds and a final. Emma's crab won the first round and mine won the second! So either way  one of us would win! In the end, my crab won but it was for a double kayak so it worked out perfectly!

Everyone we met had said that the food at Barefoot Manta was the best out of all the islands so I was super excited for dinner. However, I didn't find it to be that exciting! The pumpkin soup and pineapple upside down cake was amazing but the main course was mediocre - a super chewy beef patty with a jacket potato and veg.

We had met a load cool people here so we actually didn't go to bed straight after dinner for a change! We chilled out, playing cards (well I watched as there were so many people playing already!) and went for a night swim which was amazing - there was a storm at the same time and the lightning lit up the whole sky making it look like somewhere out of a movie.

Paihia - The Big Tiki

Saturday 3rd February - Monday 4th February 2017

Today was the day we finally started our Contiki tour, 'The Big Tiki' - a 19 day trip from Auckland - Christchurch around both the North and South islands of New Zealand.

Our first stop on the trip was 'Tâne Mahata'' the oldest Kauri tree in New Zealand (I think) and apparently you get good luck if you give it a hug or a cheeky kiss... hence the photo!

Our second stop before Paihia was at a small town called Waipu where we stopped to grab a bit of lunch before finishing the coach journey. There was a pretty harbour and a clock museum (not that we went there) but that was about it!

We checked in to our hotel in a three bed room and it is such a nice change to not be sharing with twelve other people! As it was only a short walk from the beaches, we headed straight down for a swim! It's been so lovely meeting and getting to know the rest of the people on our Contiki trip! So far everyone's been so lovely!

We then all went for fish and chips as part of our included dinner... but we didn't realise it was going to be at the ex-serviceman's association - the equivalent of a British legion! I presumed it would be a takeaway! But it was really nice, loads of salady bits and vegetable dishes to go with it and it was definitely awesome to not be paying for a meal!

Afterwards, we went to a bar for a few drinks, but they closed the outer deck at 9 (NZ is definitely
more strict with alcohol regulations than England!) and it got so crowded, so we decided to move on to another place just down the street. It was a ten dollar entrance fee, but we managed to haggle it down to two-fifty and we went on in expecting it to be just a normal Saturday night with a dj set. However, it turned out to be a local rap group performance.... and it was interesting to say the least! But it was a great first night out!

The next day, Emma went off early on an all day sailing trip so I spent he morning going on a hike to Haruru falls. We needed up walking the road way to the falls and the scenic route back, but it was pretty awesome! We also found hot dogs (well a sausage in a slice of bread) for $2 so we snapped them up! They were delicious - even though I burnt the roof of my mouth on it.

Then, in the afternoon, Katie, Alec, Steve and I went kayaking to an island and up an estuary for a bit. It was so much fun, even though I cut my foot on a rock in the sea!

After going back to the room and getting changed etc, Emma and I decided to wander into town for food as we were starving. On the way down we were dreaming about all the different options we had, our mouths watering at the thought of delicious food. But no, there was a power cut which lead to the majority of shops and restaurants closing! We were so sad - and hangry! We ended up finding a cheap cafe where I got a date scone and a brownie, which were nice but not a proper dinner so we went back into our room just chilled!

Paihia was truly beautiful.

Auckland

Friday 27th January - Wednesday 1st February 2017

The journey from Heathrow to Auckland all seems like a distant memory now, but that was certainly not the case. With the total travel time adding up to over 30 hours and my sleeping time adding up to around 6, this proved to be problematic. I have never felt so rough after a flight, but it was mingled with the occasional burst of adrenaline and excitement - all in all a rather strange feeling! But it was all so worth it. At the moment, our plan is to spend a week in Auckland, 19 days travelling round both the North and South islands, 2 weeks in Fiji and then settling down somewhere, getting a job for around 4 months before heading home... via South East Asia for around 2 months.

Our first few days in Auckland were pretty much spent familiarising ourselves with the city and sleeping! We are constantly drawing similarities between Auckland and GuiYang... not sure if this is due to New Zealand being closer to Asia? We went to a few cool places; Silo Park, Auckland Domain and the sky tower to name a few.

The first hostel we stayed at was called Base Backpackers and we were in an 8 bed dorm on the ninth floor. Luckily we had a relatively quite room, and have met some really interesting people already! Everyone here is so friendly, it reminds me of my first year of uni where everyone is in the same position and looking to meet new people! Thankfully we had breakfast included here, as part of our Job Search New Zealand package, so that made the first few days easier as we just stuffed ourselves full in the morning! I really enjoyed staying at Base, the staff were all super friendly and it was clean and right in the centre of the city. The only super annoying thing were the lifts... they took ages to come and, more often then not, one or more of them was not in use. Adding to this,  for some unknown reason you can only get the stairs all the way down to the ground floor or to the 3rd floor but not to the others? Not sure why!

We happened to be in Auckland for its birthday weekend, so there was loads going on in the city. They had buskers from all over the world, fireworks and a laser show with the Auckland symphony orchestra (they call themselves 'auckestra' which is brilliant) and they opened up the port for free tours and kind of like a mini carnival type thing which was cool! Unfortunately, we managed to get quite burnt on our first day... factor 20 wasn't cutting it! The weather just feels like an English summer so it is easy to forget that the lack of an ozone layer means that the sun affects us more than usual!

After three nights at Base, we then moved on to Frienz hostel... you can't miss it, it's bright pink! This hostel is slightly cheaper as we're in a 14 bed, and we really struggled at first as there's no air con so it's really hot and sticky! But it didn't take long for us to get over it... not that we had a choice! The hostel is honestly one of the cleanest places I've ever stayed at... they clean it at least 3 times a day and the place constantly smells like cleaning products. The staff don't appear as friendly as Base at first, but they are super helpful! On one morning we came back to the room to see that some girls said that one of the guys in the room had weed all over the lockers whilst he was drunk in the night and they were quick to sort that out! We were just grateful it wasn't near us!!

We then had our Job Search orientation on Tuesday, postponed due to the bank holiday! I think I'm probably going to apply for Au Pair jobs... as that's where my experience lies! Although there are a fair few jobs that look interesting! We also signed up to 'wwoofing' which, if you don't know, is basically volunteering on farms and other places on exchange for a place to stay and food! It seems like a really interesting way to see rural New Zealand so excited to try it out!

Wednesday was a particularly interesting day. I started the morning opening my New Zealand bank account, which took way longer than anticipated. We then walked to Mt. Eden and on the way got stopped by some Scientologists for a free screening about the first Dianetics book. I've always been intrigued by Scientology (don't worry mum, not to be one just to learn more!!) so we decided to check it out on the way back. Mt. Eden was a heck of a trek but sooooo worth it. The views are insane! We also bumped into Lisa, who is also doing the Contiki tour, so it was lovely to meet her!

All in all the first few days in New Zealand have been awesome, and I'm very excited for the rest of my time here!