The Morning After...

8am rolled around way way too soon for my liking, we dragged ourselves out of our beds, got our bags packed hastily and made it to the meeting point for 8:45am... I've no idea how.. we were leaving Queenstown, I'd have happily stayed a few more days. I hadn't managed to fit in some skiing lessons which I'd really wanted too because of the Skydive being cancelled the first day 9my plan had been to go on the Saturday) but there was no time left if I was too fit everything else in in the little time I have here. So, it was off back to Christchurch for us. A full day on a bus and I'll be honest, there's not much to report... we stopped at Lake Pukaki briefly for a quick photo opp looking over to Mount Cook, stopped for lunch in a little place called Lake Tekapo and attempted to sleep for the majority of the rest of the journey to Christchurch... which we arrived in a few hours ago now. We've just had a lush dinner at The Bog - Irish pub and it's now time for our beds... I'm so looking forward to mine. We've another early start in the morning... next stop Kaikoura!! Good night you lot... I'm off for some well needed beauty sleep! xx

ps - am still completely on a high from that little thing called jumping out a plane I did yesterday. I wish i could bottle this feeling and bring it out whenever I needed a boost! Can I just say too, after talking so much of my emotional last few weeks in Sydney, it's amazing how things can change so much so quickly... everything is so good and fun and fab here. I am having such a wicked time, we realised earlier that right now, the biggest decision we have to make or worry about is whether to stay 1 or 3 days in Kaikoura and whether to go Whale watching or Dolphin Swimming or both........... what an amazing place to be in, physically and emotionally! Now... how can I hang onto this for those rain days!?! ;0) xx

The Best Thing I've Ever Done.....

Well, despite the fact our attempts the previous day had failed and the fact that everyone has told me to Skydive in Taupo.... the 3 of us had put our names down for Skydiving in Queenstown on the Saturday.. yesterday infact. I'd found out that Taupo prices are going up as of September the 1st and I'll not be there by then so the difference in price, although it will still be cheaper up there, will be minimal so I'd decided that as the weather was a tad unpredictable and I could easily find myself up there and unable to do it that I should sieze every opportunity possible, just in case. Plus I wanted to do it with the girls and we may not still be together by the time we get to Taupo as they fly out sooner than me. I also figured that falling out of the sky above the snowcapped mountains of Queenstown wouldn't be too bad a view!!

So, that's how it came to be that on Saturday 26th August at 1230 I was getting ready to throw myself out of a plane from 12,000 feet in the air! I was nervous, I'll not deny it, but this is something that I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember so I was really looking forward to it too. It was totally different to the Bungy Jump - with that I was just plain scared, with the Skydive it wasn't so much fear, more nerves and excitement!!

Anyway, we started off my watching a DVD of a Skydive and being briefed on how it all worked, then hopped in the bus to be taken to the drop zone - an area called The Remarkables about 15 minutes drive from Queenstown centre. The pic above is of us on our way to the drop zone, in case you couldn't tell from Aideen's expression that this was a pre-jump shot! There was about 10 of so of us in the bus and it actually worked out really well that it was just the 3 of us jumping instead of 5 of us as the planes only hold 9 people so you jump in groups of 3 (accompanied by your tandem instructor and your photographer if you've opted to have the pic's and DVD done, which we had.) We were the 3rd group of our bus load to go up so had a bit of a wait watching the others fall from the sky. In a way we wanted to just get on with it but it was cool to see them and reassuring seeing them make it safely back to solid ground!

Eventually our turn arrived though and we were taken through to don our sexy jumpsuits, get our harnesses on and meet our instructors and photographers. Aideen was the most nervous of the 3 of us; Becky's done one before and now that I'd braved a bungy jump I was feeling more confident about these mad things NZ keeps making me do (or maybe that's just me.. and nothing to do with NZ!) All of our instructors and photographers was lovely. Mine two guys were Chris (instructor) and Jeff (photographer), they clearly knew what they were doing and put you very at ease - depsite Chris being a little joker. He was really cool and I felt quite safe knowing I'd be firmly strapped to him during the jump. Once we were all kitted out and had been instructed on how we were meant to position ourselves when hanging out of a moving aircraft 12,ooo feet up, it was time to go.... we headed out the plane, anxious looks on our faces (or at least on Aideen's!) and climbed on board. I was first in so would be last out... yep, I had to watch my 2 new friends throw themselves into mid air before my turn came. I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, we all squeezed in and found ourselves engaged in all sorts of banter and loving the 3-6 ratio of male/female in our favour.. the highly female nature of our bus meant it had been a while since we'd been surrounded by so many men, let alone being sat between there legs harnessed on to them... quite an experience in itself eh girls!! ;-)

It took about 10-15 mintues for the plane to climb to the right height for us to jump. The day was perfect, with a think layer of clouds sitting on the snow capped mountains surrounding Lake Wakatipu and I took the odd peek outside to see an amazing view that I'd soon be falling through the sky towards.

The plane ride went quickly and before I knew it, it was just me, Chris and Jeff left in the plane (and the pilot obviously) i turned away for a split second only to find when I looked back that both Aideen and Becky were no longer on board... Then it was my turn. We edged to the door, with Jeff already out on the wing, poised to take my exit picture and next thing I knew I was free falling at 300km an hour from 12,000ft and it was the most amazing, thrilling feeling in the world.

It all went far too quickly, the free fall part only lasted 45 seconds but it was unbelievable. I remember flipping upside down and just seeing the upside of the plane against a clear backdrop of blue sky - I can't even begin to describe how amazing it all was. Before I knew it the drove shoot had been pulled out to stabilse us and then the main shoot... all of a sudden we slowed down and everything became a lot calmer... the wind was rushing in your face before, making you look very daft, with cheeks flapping everywhere, then it was all quiet and we were just floating above the most amazing scenery. Once the parachute's out (and i knew i was going to live!! ;-) you have the chance to really look around you and realise where you are. From there to landing takes between 4 and 8 minutes from the height we jumped so there's enough to really soak it all up. Chris and I had a little chat in the air, he was a fab instructor to be falling through the sky with and I can see why he loves his job so much - not a bad 'office' to have! We floated through the air and spiced it up a bit with a few spirals, twists and turns and all too soon it was over, I was landing in the 'classiest' of ways - on my a*se - but hey i was down and on a total high, I don't care how I landed, the fact is I just jumped out of a plane from thousands of feet in the air and I was ready to get straight back on the plane and do it all over again!!

That was yesterday and I'm still on a high from it all now, I can't stop smiling and I will definetly be doing another one as soon as I can (sorry Ma!) Becky and Aideen's jumps went brilliantly too and all 3 of us were totally elated, and still are. Aideen's nerves were completely gone and she was also ready to go up again. I think we've all got the bug! Anyway, once we'd calmed down enough and stopped hugging our respective instructors, we were sent in to de-robe from our sexy jumpsuits (despite promises that we could keep them and wear them out on the town that evening!!) and then it was back on the bus to town. (As you can probably tell by the expression on Aideen's face again, this is post-jump photo below and Aid loved it... nerves had vanished completely and she was as eager as Bec and I to get back up there - we're very proud of you chick!)

We couldn't collect our DVD's and pic's for a few hours so chilled out impatiently until it was time then spent ages reliving the whole thing - as we still are actually!! The evening that followed, minus our jumpsuits, was spent out on the town, in various bars, celebrating and generally running on the high from the entire day... we met up with some of the other chickadee's from our bus (and Scott), found Mr Incredible again - minus the tights and fetching red nylon jumpsuit and enjoyed a very silly very late night out...... one thing though... when will I learn not to go out on a big night when I have a bus to catch early the next morning!!! You'd think at my age I'd know better!!! Ah well... too late now, it was 4am and I was only just crawling into my bed! Oops.. but what a day! One of the best!

I still can't believe I've done it after wanting to for so long, and I can't recommend it enough. Everyone should do one at least once in their lives. As NZone's slogan instructs; Embrace the Fear, and do it anyway!' I would do it again in a heartbeat. It really was one of the best things I've ever done! xx

Queenstown and a few days off!!

The day after our Milford Sounds adventure was officially my day off... obviously that meant not getting up til late... bliss! Becky and Aideen had prebooked some ski passes and headed off up to the slopes, Cat and Kirsten were around though so we all lounged in our beds and gossiped away the morning before heading to Winnie's for a lush pizza lunch (which also provided me with tea.. bargin!) had a wander round town then headed back to the hostel to do a bit of 'admin'... I was seriously in need of sorting my finances out before doing any more daft things like spending it all on bungy jumps as well as having to organise our next move after Queenstown and up date this here blog.

Duties done it turned out the Lotty and Graham (friends of mine and Adam's from Sydney) had just arrived in Queenstown too so the evening was then spent with the 4 of us having a few cheeky drinks and playing some pool and table football.... it's safe to say my pool playing skills have worsened (yes Andy, I know you didn't think that was possible) I managed to pot the black in two games in a row... Graham being my doubles partner was slightly despairing of me... sorry Graham but hey, it's the taking part that counts eh!?! ;-) Table football wasn't too much more successful either though I have to admit!!

Anyway, the following day we'd decided it was time to take a deep breath and throw ourselves out of a plane.. that was one of the other things we'd had on our organising 'to do' list that day and we were all booked in and set for the off at 1230 on Friday lunchtime... but it wasn't to be... the weather was a tad unpredictable and all skydives were cancelled - it was a shame as all 5 of us wanted to do it together and as Cat and Kirsten were leaving a day ahead of us it meant we now wouldn't be able to but ah well, it obviously wasn't meant to be. Instead we spent the day chilling out and headed up on the Gondola's to the top of the mountain where we had a lovely lunch and checked out the view over Queenstown. The evening saw more drinks was Lotty, Graham and Adam - Adam was leaving the next day and Lotty and Graham were off to the slopes early so it wasn't a late one... although after they'd left I joined Becky and Catriona in the Altitude bar (just next to our hostel) which was hosting it's 2nd birthday party - a Toga Party!! Although there was a severe lack of Toga's going on between us (everyone else did put us to shame) it was great fun, there was a bit more footloose action from The Cat and me and we spent the night laughing at everyone in there costumes, especially Mr Incredible here (he'd obviously read the flyer wrong!! hehe!) no, he definetly got himself noticed that night, quite a character, bless him, so i couldn't resist putting these pic's on!! ;-)


As Cat was leaving in the morning and since Becky hadn't been able to chuck herself out of a plane as planned, she'd opted to put herself through the pain of having her tongue pierced so wasn't feeling to spritely, we headed back up to our room fairly early (for us) and spent the rest of the evening indulging in a very girlie midnight feast with Kirsten and Aideen who we'd left cosy in their beds earlier on!! Don't you just love those times!

Despite the fact that we did very little of the tourist thing, it was a lovely relaxing 2 days and actually nice to just enjoy being somewhere for a while rather than constantly being on the move! Queenstown's a cool place, really chilled out and friendly. I felt quite at home there. xx

Milford Sounds!

So, after less than 3 hours sleep we forced ourselves out of our cosy warm beds and made our way to the pick up point for our day trip to Milford Sounds; a World Heritage protected National Park, at the bottom of the South Island. It's a 12 hour day so it was going to be a long one and in truth we just wanted to be on the bus so we could sleep for the first leg of the journey down there, a couple of hours more sleep was very called for. There was a few of us going on the trip; me, Becky, Aideen, Nic, Charlotte, Lucy, Adam and some of the peeps from his bus too. The sleep thing, as far as I'm aware was pretty much what everyone did as soon as the coach set off, it wasn't until we reached Te Anau at 9am that everyone mustered enough energy to hop off the coach and into the cafe for some hot tea and brekkie!! Nic - I know you'l kill me but I love this pic of you and it sums up the hungover mood of the morning so I couldn't resist!! ;-)

Every so often on the journey down to Te Anau, a little town on the way to Milford Sounds, I'd managed to open my eyes long enough to see that the scenery was breathtaking and we'd not even got there yet. So many people have said you absolutley can't miss Milford Sounds as it's stunning so I was looking forward to getting there. We stopped a few times on route from Te Anau, just short stops to admire the mountain ranges, Divide Valley which runs all the way to the West Coast and, a fave of mine, the Mirror Lakes - the picture here doesn't do it justice. I'm sure all those of you that have seen them for yourselves know what I mean, they're just beautiful.

Eventually we reached the road from the valley floor into Milford Sounds. It was touch and go as to whether we'd be able to get into Milford Sounds, at this time of year the risk of avalanches is high and every morning controlled explosions are set off on top of the mountains to bring on any possible avalanches that day, then the road is cleared and vehicles are allowed in. Sometimes it is deemed too dangerous to enter and recently many of the day trips down there have had to turn back. Luckily for us, after a fairly lengthy wait, the road was opened and we were allowed to proceed. I was so relieved, I really didn't want to miss it. So, off we set again... the road we were on from the floor of the Divide Valley into the park is 32km long and one of the worlds Top 10 most dangerous roads. It was totally amazing, flanked my mountains all around and at this time of year they were steeped in pure white snow, you can see why there's such a risk of avalanches but it is so so stunning. Again, the picture here just doesn't do it justice.

To get into the park you have to pass through a tunnel... it's fairly long and basically cut straight out of a mountain with no structual support whatsoever... kind of freaky when your driver tells you that as you're passing through it!! It's pitch black and there's massive icicles that i've no doubt could be used as very lethal weapons, hanging from the roof of the tunnel. It was an awesome experience though. When you emerge out the other side, you really do gasp, you find yourself on a stepp winding road surrounded by more snow covered mountains, I know I keep saying it but it's amazing. We even saw an avalanche en route - thankfully far enough away not to be any danger too us but it was wicked to see.

We then got to the port and boarded the 'Pride of Milford' for our cruise around the fjiord. Milford Sounds, although called so is actually a Fijord. I can't remember the reason for the inaccurate name depsite being told, sorry! the cruise lasted a couple of hours and took us around the waters of Milford Sounds. Again, i was blown away by the scenery all around me, you can see why Lord of the Rings was filmed in this country, I've truly never seen anything like it before. Green mountains lined the sides of the fijord and the landscapes were amazing, along the way the boat went right up close to waterfalls - the one shown here; Ferry Falls, with the rainbow in it was so gorgeous and found tiny little penguins, the 2nd rarest kind of penguin of which only 30 reside in Milford Sounds so we were really lucky to sopt the little fella.

Once we'd docked again and all exhausted our camera's with countless pics along the way, it was back on the coach for the long journey back to Queenstown, other than a brief stop for food in Te Anau again, it was straight back and we arrived about half 7. It had been a long day but so worth it, even on a big fat hangover and lack of sleep! It was Justin's last night before he set off with a new bus load of peeps back to Christchurch, Charlotte was also going and despite our best intentions of going to say goodbye, none of us had any energy left so took to our beds and never quite managed to leave them again until the following morning. Sorry Justin!! We did manage a little goodbye text to our crazy driver though and got the following amusing text in response... 'Sweet as Hoochie's, cheers for the shits and giggles along the way, nice to meet you all. Stay happy, safe, sexy and cool! Don't go out with a loaded gun! Peace' It's typical Justin and made us all laugh so I thought I'd share it with you all. The small group had meant we'd all become quite close, with myself, Becky, Aideen, Catriona and Kirsten in particular becoming a tad inseperable and Justin being our cheeky sidekick. It was strange to think we'd be with different peeps and a different driver now. The 5 of us girls are still together at the mo, but we'll miss Justin lots now we're on our way without him - after all, we're going to have to be on time in the mornings now!!!! ;0) xx

Action Flee!!!

Our alarms went off bright and early and the attempts to get the 5 of us booked on to do a skydive began. Justin did his best but unfortunately we'd left it too late to express an interest and we couldn't do it. We were all gutted, I figured that the less time i had to think about the fact i was doing it, the less scared I'd be. Ah well, it obviously wasn't meant to be today so off we set, this time with 2 other newbies - 2 english girls, they were only with us for the day though and in all honesty i can't actually remember their names! oops! First stop Puzzling World - Colin you would have loved it there!!! - a place dedicated to illusions and puzzles and craziness including a balance room that really does throw you off balance! In the pic here, Kirsten and I are actually standing up straight, the room itself is wonky! and there's a maze too - I got lost in it obviously!

We were on a bit of a schedule today, some of the girls, and Scott, were doing Bungy Jumps so we had to be at the bridge for a certain time. They were all getting pretty nervous and I was, as usual, thinking they're all lunatics why on earth would you throw yourself off a bridge/ledge/platform with nothing but a bit of elastic attached to you??!!!! Mental! It was snowing and freezing cold again that day too.

When we arrived at Kawarau Bridge, home of the original bungy jump, we were all ushered into a room to watch a short video about bungy jumps and given a little talk on it all, how they made the cords etc. Somewhere in the middle of all this, those signed up to do one where whisked off to get weighed and kitted out for their jumps. Then, somewhere in the middle of all this Kirsten turned to me and said 'Let's do a tandem jump' - naturally my reaction was 'don't be ridiculous, you'll never get me up there!'

So, I'm not quite sure how, half an hour later, with a red marker penned number on my hand and my pockets emptied, I found myself next to Kirsten, harness on, ankles strapped together and bungy cord attached, stood on the edge of a 43 metre high bridge about to voluntarily jump off.. yes, that's right you lot -I'd agreed to do a Bungy Jump... I'd clearly taken leave of my senses!!! As Luke said when I told him about it afterwards... Check out ACTION Flee!! I don't know where she came from but I'm liking her!! (don't get scared mum.. am not about to start doing such things every day!)

Just to prolong the moment of madness that little bit longer, it didn't quite go according to plan... Kirsten; the catalyst for my being in that position found herself on the edge but not wanting to jump so after making sure she was sure she wanted to back out, when i also found myself surprisingly saying, ok come on, we've got this far, we're here now, we can do this! I knew if i backed out I'd regret it, luckily Kirsten was happy with deciding not to do it so she's no regrets. And wee Kirsten don't you fret, I really don't mind that you didn't do it. Besides, if it weren't for you convincing me I'd never had got up there myself.

So, we backed away from the ledge and got her unstrapped. I was too scared to do it on my own so Justin, who'd previously said if anyone didn't want to do it on their own, would happily step up and do a tandem, was drafted in to be my partner. A bit of wait ensued as he had to get weighed and strapped in and everything, it was freezing up there on the bridge so one of the friendly crew gave me his jacket - I've never been more grateful for anything i tell you and I discovered that I was officially classed as a 'Superlight' ... I was a super hero at last!! Well, ok maybe I was just delusional from thinking about the fact I was about to throw myself off a bridge but hey, the guy before me was a 'Superheavy' so I was happy!! :-)

Anyway, the time finally arrived to edge out on to the ledge for the second time, this time next to Justin so I knew there was no backing out. I have to admit I felt safer doing it with him, there was no need for me to take the lead and I knew he wouldn't let me not do it. So, clutching on around his wasit for dear life i took a deep breath and threw myself of a bridge..... it was awesome - and it was over so quickly! I still can't believe i did it - as I'm sure most of the rest of you can't either - but I don't regret it for a second. I'm not sure I could do it on my own or again at all and I know it was my no means the highest ever jump but I'm glad that I've done it, I'll admit I'm pretty proud of myself for having the guts, aswell as thinking I'm a little mad and I have the DVD as evidence that it did actually happen. The wierdest thing is now, when i think about it, my feet go all tingly... I clearly have gone a little mad! Anyway, girls, thanks for your support in helping me believe i was capable of it and Justin, thanks for being my bungy partner!! You lot Rock!! ;-)

The pics of it shown here aren't the best - the official ones are better but I don't have the codes to access them on the website at the mo so will have to upload those ones another day. Pic just here is Justin and I - was taken in Franz Josef and is just to show Ma really the crazy man I entrusted to jump off a bridge with me - feeling calm Mum??!! ;-)

We finished off the day in Queenstown - after Becky, Catriona and Scott had gone on to do the 134m high Nevis jump - good work you lot! Got checked into the Discovery Lodge - where Adam was also staying again too - and as it was our last night together as a group - 'Justin and his Biatches' were dispersing from here on, we spent a very comical night in the World Bar with everyone, drinking teapots, partaking in some fab Footloose action with Catriona... good work girlie - that song will forever remind me of you now lady, watching Justin fall off his chair, smash glasses and wear his flipflops in freezing cold weather thanks to leaving his boots in Franz Josef, avoiding the none too subtle advances of an odd Brazilian man, not to mention a very boring Aussie and Becky's adoring Stray driver, talking to a somewhat bemused mother on the phone to tell her that I'd jumped off a bridge that day, having my precious gloves stretchd by a crazy Sydneysider who was clearly partical to some herbal delights, stumbling across a fair few hidden bars and amusing the barman with our constant girlie banter and talent spotting!! Once again, we had a ridiculously early start (6am out of our beds) the next day so when we still found ourselves out at 3:30am, well it probably wasn't the most sensible of moves but what an awesome day! It's up there with the best of them!! and can i just say.... OH MY GOD... I DID A BUNGY JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xx

Wanaka and agreeing to daft things!!

We waved goodbye to Franz Josef a little later than the arranged 8am - Justin's timekeeping is about the same as mine, which suited me fine... although he's since warned us that all the other drivers are somewhat more prompt so we shouldn't get used to it unfortunately. Anyway, we also set off with an extra bod on our little bus... Justin had an extra hoochie - just one of his many names for his little harem of women (and Scott!) the newbie was Kumi - can't vouch for the spelling there but she was a sweet little Japanese girl, she only stayed with us for a couple of days but she was very sweet and gave me encouragment when i needed it - you'll find out about that later though!

Anyway, the weather was utter rubbish today, we were headed to Lake Matheson - the famous mirror lakes which I'd been really looking forward to seeing but thanks to the think grey blanket of cloud covering the sky, there was no point getting soaked in the rain to go see it.. so we sat in the cafe, safe and dry from the rain and enjoyed a lush bagel and cuppa. From there on the scenery changed alot that day, we took in Thunder Creek Falls, drove over the Haast Pass in to Mount Aspiring National Park, visited Fantail Falls and stopped for pics by the stunning Lake Hawea before making it to Wanaka where we were staying in what was more of a hotel than a hostel, with en-suite facilities and a TV in our room. Bliss!

It started properly snowing when we got to Wanaka so we quickly headed out to the supermarket to get some food for our tea, cooked up a storm and lazed around in our room watching that night's movie; Top Gun! Wicked! Before venturing across the road for a few cheeky drinks at the Red Rock.. that evening it was myself, Becky, Catriona, Kirsten and Justin. The Red Rock was full of odd characters, strange men and it has to be said the service was awful but we had fun chatting away and somewhere in the middle of it all i found myself shaking on doing a skydive the following day. Somehow Justin had convinced me that Wanaka was stunning scenery (that's true - pic here is me by the lake there, it's gorgeous) and the day was meant to be clear and perfect for such activities... so that was that. The other's ended up agreeing to it too and we even badgered Aideen via text into agreeing as well. It wasn't definete as Justin had to work his magic in the morning to get us in on a late booking but we were preparing ourselves for the adrenalin rush and all went to bed excited! xx

Me & 2 Lunatics on a Giant Piece of Ice!!

Saturday morning dawned and we piled back on the bus once again, this time headed for Franz Josef. We were staying in Franz Josef for 2 nights which we were all quite excited about given we'd been constantly on the move since leaving Christchurch. That, and the fact the we'd be climbing the Franz Josef Glacier the following day!! The weather was pretty grim on Saturday so there wasn't too much stopping for walks or anything although we did stop at The Bushmans Centre for a bit of comedy possom feeding (or for Cat, big fat wild pig feeding!!) and a video about how live deer were caught once upon a time for deer farming by men jumping out of helicoptors onto their backs!! We also stopped at Okarito beach - but only briefly. It was an overcast day and the sea was rough so it was cool to see and all looked very dramatic.

We got ourselves booked on for the glacier climb the next day when we rrived in Franz Josef and then headed to the hostel. We were staying at the Rainforest Retreat in Franz Josef, a cool hostel with a nice cosy bar and good facilities. i was just making use of the internet there when I bumped into my friend Adam (one of the peeps I'd met in Sydney - he made an appearance on the Hunter Valley tour last) turned out he was on the bus infront of us and was staying there too. Despite the fact that we had a Glacier to climb the next morning, the evening found us in the bar, mingling with all the bods from the other bus and generally getting a tad tipsy. By the end of the evening it was just me, Becky, Aideen and Justin left from our bus - all the others had been sensible and gone to bed in preparation for the morning! I did manage enough self-discipline to stop drinking at a reasonable hour but the late night was undoubtedly going to take it's toll and I think several more G&T's should've been drunk really - at least the the antic's involving some guy's dice (not the kind with numbers on either) and the games he kept insisting everyone play would be more of a blur than they are - it's not actually as bad as it sounds people but even so, some things you just wish you couldn't remember!

Sunday morning did arrive all too soon and my 0915 we were up at the Glacier office being kitted out in our sexy waterproof's, walking boots and talons ready to brave the icy terrain!! It was a freezing cold day not to mention the rain that was lashing down with avengeance but ah well... that's the way it was going to happen, what's a little rain, wind and ice between friends! We did wonder whether it would get cancelled, some of the ice climbs had been the day before, but luckily it all went ahead....

...and that was how I found myself on a Giant Piece of Ice with 2 Lunatics! (see pic on right above.. haha!! Hey Girlies! :-)


here were obviously more than 3 of us up there (9 of us plus our guide - an american couple Chuck and Bonnie and 7 of us Kiwi bods; me, Catriona, Kirsten, Lucy, Charlotte, Stacey and Nicola) but the 2 Lunatics i refer to are Scottish sisters, Catriona and Kirsten... there was a time, so cold we couldn't really feel our toes anymore, that the 3 of us became slightly delusional and well, a little bit mad! I can't really explain it but suffice to say... that's where the title of this blog entry comes from and jokes that really weren't that funny in any other circumstance - the likes of 'would you like some Gin with your ice?' or 'Ice and a slice'? - had us in stitches!! Small things eh!?!

Anyway... the actual climb! I did wonder how i was going to find it but everyone had said it was awesome so i was looking forward to it. The walk to the base of the glacier takes about an hour and in that time the rain didn't let up once. We all had stylish bin liners over our day packs to try and prevent our lunch from getting soggy and our camera's from getting ruined. We were looking good i can tell you!! haha! Once at the base we all got our talons strapped on to our boots, split up into 3 groups: fast, medium and slow - guess which i was in!!?!! haha! and off we went. The first 45 minutes was fairly heavy climbing on ice steps to reach the slightly flatter plains at the top of the glacier. Guides had been up since the early hours cutting ice steps as the glacier changes so much over the course of a day. And this glacier in particular is unusually advancing rather than retreating, as most glaciers are what with global warming, so it can change so much overnight. The guides really have their work cut out for them every day. Once we'd made it to the top - and passed two very hungover irish lasses (our Becky and Aideen) who were on the half day tour and had set off before us, we came to a crevass and a few of us ventured down there, although it's really not a place for anyone with claustrophobia, i made it a little way in and then turned around but what i did see was pretty amazing.

A little after that we rested for 10 minutes and had a quick bite of lunch, a giant piece of ice isn't really something you can sit and get comfy on so lunch was eaten standing up and very quickly. A little energy boost was all we needed and then we were on our way, navigating our way across crevasses, up and down ice steps, using ropes to climb across holes and getting very very wet along the way. The rain stopped and started and the sun did come out briefly every now and again. The views were unbelieveable and the mere fact that we were wandering around on a big fat block of ice was pretty awe-inspiring. Especially with the backdrop of green mountains and waterfalls. In total we spent about 5 hours on the ice and by the time we made it back down to the base the prospect of the hours walk back to the bus wasn't the nicest thought in the world, but we managed it and were very glad to get out of our wet clothes and into a nice warm shower on our return to the hostel. Our biggest concern for the day had, in true girlie fashion, been 'but how/where will be go to the toilet if we need a wee??' Thankfully we all seemed to survive the day without needing to find out the answer to that question!!!

Once we were all warmed up with food in our bellies and dry cosy clothes on we had intended to hit the bar again but ended up with a cuppa in front of the TV before heading to the dorm, chilling out and getting ourselves sorted for off in the morning. We were setting off at 8am so there'd be no lie-in for us! We were all exhausted from our day on the Glacier but it had been amazing... a totally brilliant experience and one i would recommend to anyone. It's really something you can't imagine, you have to experience it yourself to know how amazing it is. I had several 'my god, I'm really here' moments that day - something New Zealand seems to be presenting to me quite often, especially as I've not even been here a week yet!! xx

Back on the Road.. Kiwi Style!

So, 6:30am and we dragged ourselves from our beds and got our bags packed (you'll all be amazed to know I've actually managed to get mine into 2 bags now... quite an achievement for me!!) and made our way downstairs to wait for the big green bus! As it turned our our bus was green but not that big (as you can see in the pic). We wondered if we'd be getting transfered to a larger coach but as it's Winter and there's not so many bods on the Kiwi Experience trail it turned out that it was just the 12 of us... 10 girls and 2 guys, one being our driver. In some ways we were thinking it would be better to have more people, and a more even boy/girl ratio but in others it was lovely to be in a smaller bus and a more intimate group. We were all from the UK and seemed to get well and the fact that there was only a dozen of us made the trip far more flexible, it was easier to stop places randomly and organise things so I think we all ended up with the opinion that it was a good thing not to be on a bigger coach - am sure I'll find out what that's like soon enough anyway.

So, our group: 'Justin and his Biatches' consisted of me, Becky and Aideen, Catriona & Kirsten (Sisters from Inverness), Stacey, Ashley & Scott (2 sisters and Ashely's boyfriend Scott), Charlotte from Dorset, Lucy from ??, Nicola from Norfolk and Justin, our crazy Welsh/Kiwi driver! First stop Westport..... the day was spent driving through the Canterbury Plains, a stunning mountain range as you cross from Christchurch to the west coast of the South Island, pausing to stick our heads in the bum of a giant sculpture of a Moa (see pic - which was apparently the actual size of the bird, now extinct, that used to get swooped up by eagles as their prey!!!) through Arthur's Pass stopping for lunch in a tiny town owned by one man and his wife when they bought it for $75,000 - less than you'd get a one bedroom flat for in London! After some tasty toasted sandwiches raved about by Justin (who's nickname incidentally is PA - Piss A*se!) we made our way over to Westport, stopping on the way to partake in a bit of Jetboating in Buller, as you do! Most of us joined in the Jet boating which involved sitting in a specially designed speed boat and whipping down the river at high speeds, spinning full 360's every so often and cruising now and again to learn about the river and the rainforests surrounding it. It was great fun, we all looked simply gorgeous in our get ups as you can see and came back soaked and with a few bruises here and there... all good fun!

After that we headed in to Westport and got ourselves checked in at Basil's Hostel, the cutest hostel ever, it's just like a little house, with the cosiest TV room and wood burning stove, I felt like i was at home! We were all a bit tired so we all got our pj's on after dinner and settled down in front of a film (Behind Enemy Lines) with a couple of American lads that were also staying there with tea and buscuits - spot the British!! It didn't exactly lend itself to discovering the delights of Westport but we were all quite content that evening to be honest.

We all awoke fairly refreshed on Friday morning, thanks to our relaxing evening and at 0930 it was back in the bus and back on the road.. destination for the day: Lake Mahinapua. First stop for the day Cape Foulwind for a gorgeous Coastal walk with a Seal Colony along the way. It was the first of a few walks that day and although many may not believe this I was actually really enjoying being active and out in the fresh air. The scenery in NZ is truly stunning, I'd heard so many people say that but you never really quite understand until you see it for yourself. Once we'd completed the Cape Foulwind walk we headed to a gorgeous beach. I don't know the name of it but it was deserted and totally stunning, so much so that I got a bit caught up in the whole thing and didn't realise everyone else had gone back to the bus. I finally made my way up the steps off the beach to find Justin waiting for me... oops, last again!!

Next stop was at the Pancake Rocks - named so simply because the look like Pancakes stacked up on top of each other - and the blowholes, although the tide as out so there wasn't much happening with them. After that a lunch stop at the cafe nearby was in order before heading to Greymouth to pick up supplies for the next couple of days, including comedy attire for our 'silly hat's' party that evening! After all that we made it to Lake Mahinapua and Uncle Les' - we were staying at the Mahinapua Hotel, basically the only place to stay or infact go in the area. Dinner was $10 for a real feast cooked up by Justin and Uncle Les - the owner of the place. We passed the time before dinner in the bar, taking advantage of the happy hour prices and playing a few comical games of pool with Catriona. After dinner it was back to the bar in our silly hats and accessories - I'd opted for a policewoman - mostly cos I was loving the toy gun and knew that in my drunkness would find it all very entertaining.. you can see from the pic here though that we all looked pretty ridiculous, Justin actually has a nappy wrapped around his head!!! A clean one we're hoping!! A good night was had by all and we'd all begun to really get to know each other - how can you not when drinking games are involved.. especially the Roxanne game - so simple but so effective! xx