Marlborough wines

We were up a little later than planned but I didn't think that mattered too much as our wine tour that we were doing today wasn't until this afternoon. The hostel had a free breakfast of corn flakes and freshly baked scones which was delightful. Matt had chosen a walk for us to do but he hadn't thought about how long it would take. By the time we were out of the hostel and on our way we only had two hours left. The walk took three. This was a shame because the track took us right to the end of a point where seals were often seen frolicking on rocks. Instead we enjoyed the beatutiful views of Picton bay and the Queen Charlotte sounds, watching people sail and the big ferry boats come in and out. 

On our way back through the little town after the walk, we stopped for a lunch of fish and chips. It was only $5 each but they weren't the best. Maybe going cheap isn't always the greatest idea. We also picked up our new hire car before our tour because we wanted to head off later this evening to our next destination. We'd asked at the hostel about driving after the wine tour and they said we'd be absolutely fine. This meant we were able to leave the car at the hostel and wait to be picked up by our wine tour guide. We only had to wait about 10 minutes before Don turned up. He looked like he was in his late fifties and enjoyed a good bit of wine himself. We were the only passengers in Picton so he explained some things about himself and the tour on our way to Blenheim. We had a little mini tour of Blenheim which was a little town in the centre of Marlborough (the biggest town). After this we picked up the other two passengers (an American couple that looked like they could be in a movie) and headed on to our first winery. 

We visited four wineries in total  (Drylands, Nautilus, Cloudy Bay and Hunters) and were able to try a variety of wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, sparkling wines and dessert wines. My favourite were the Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc and the Hunters dessert wine. We chose not to buy any as we were told we could get them back home. The American couple however were on their honeymoon so they treated themselves to at least four bottles. The wineries were all well looked after with beautiful buildings and some had little gardens as well as the vines surrounding them. A couple of the bigger places had huge tanks that could carry half a million litres of wine! 

When we'd finished at the wineries we were taken to a little chocolate place that made their own chocolates. We were given a taster of macadamia butter toffee crunch that was to die for. Unfortunately, it cost far too much so we couldn't buy any. Of course, the American couple bought two boxes. I felt so poor. We dropped them off first before doing the 45 minute journey back to the hostel. 

Before setting off in the car we walked to the supermarket to get some things for tea. This meant we didn't set off till 7pm but luckily our next destination was only 20 minutes down the road. The place was called Arowaki and sat at the start of the Queen Charlotte track. It was a YHA that we checked into but we were the only guests so we got a good discount and the whole place to ourselves. This made cooking very easy but our tea wasn't the most exciting. We had bacon left over from last night so we had that with toast, baked beans and an egg on top. It was rather comforting though. The hostel also had a hot tub and a movie room so we made use of all the facilities and watched the best exotic marigold hotel before getting some sleep. 

The south

I felt much better after a good nights sleep and was ready to leave Wellington and head for South Island. However, our ferry wasn't until the afternoon so we decided to spend the morning looking round town some more. We started at the post office because Matt wanted to send a parcel but for some reason post offices aren't open on Saturdays in New Zealand, not even for the morning. Instead we went to the Wellington museum mainly for the use of wifi. It did have a nice timeline on one of the floors though that explained events that occurred in Wellington throughout the 20th century. 

After that we walked round a bit trying to find somewhere for a cheap sandwich and managed to find a good place. I had a chicken, avocado and spicy apricot sauce panini which was very tasty. We felt it was time to go get our bags and catch a bus to the ferry after food. We had to get off the bus at the train station and realised we'd need another bus to the ferry terminal but unfortunately we were too late. We didn't realise this at the time but we needed to be at the ferry 45 minutes early. This meant the bus had already left the train station. Luckily a nice lady at the station help desk told us to get the bus that was dropping off passengers to drive back to the ferry with us. The bus driver wasn't the happiest with us but we got to the ferry just in time to check our big bags in and board the ferry as everyone else just started to walk on. I'm not a fan of leaving it to the last minute but it was nice not waiting. The panic of getting there wasn't so nice though. 

After a nice hot chocolate and a calm sit down the ferry set off although it was around half an hour late. I thought it was quite smooth until we got out of the bay; I'm not a fan of ferries anymore. I felt so sick and it didn't help that some old man was throwing up loudly in a bag not far from us and a baby right next to us threw up on its mother. I managed to drift off and slept through the worst of it meaning when I woke up it was rather pleasant with stunning views of the Queen Charlotte sounds coming into Picton. Eventually, we arrived in Picton and go off the ferry. It was dark by this time and we hadn't got anywhere to stay. Luckily there were some backpacker places picking up guests so we went over and asked somewhere called Tombstone backpackers if they had any spare beds. Lucky for us they did and so we hopped in the minibus and five minutes later were checking in. 

We hadn't got any food so we had to quickly run to the supermarket before it closed. Bacon was cheap so we had carbonara which wasn't the best. The sauce tasted a little odd. But the hostel was lovely and by some coincidence there was a girl we'd gone to Bromo (Indonesia) with at the hostel! We chatted to her for a while and took advantage of the free hot tub. South island is good so far. 

From Weta to Penang

We woke up earlier today and had porridge again but this time with milk. Someone had only used half of their carton so it was super tasty, nearly like being at home but the oats weren't as big. We got up early today because we wanted to go to Weta cave which isn't actually a cave, it's the studio where they do special effects for many huge blockbusters, including Lord of the Rings. We had to catch a bus there as it was a little out of town and we had no car. Most of the buses in Wellington are electronic and run along these wires like trams, but they still look like buses. It's fantastic really but I think this might make them pricier. We were told yesterday that it would cost us $3.80 each way but in fact it was $9.50 for a day pass or $5 each way. I wasn't impressed. I know it's not much extra but for us every cent counts. The bus driver was a little short with us as well which put me in a bad mood.

We jumped off the bus in a town called Miramar (isn't there a film company called that?) but unfortunately we were a tad premature. We could have waited for another bus but that might have taken a while so we decided to walk in the direction we knew it was in. We passed a group of school children who were obviously going the same way so that made us feel better. It actually only took about fifteen minutes before we reached the offices where you could see them working. We walked round the corner to the gift shop and were met by some huge troll figures standing outside. This place wasn't like Warner Bros. studio in London as it mainly does special effects but the gift shop had a mini museum (about 2 metres by 1 metre) of props that had been made here and had been used in huge films like Lord of the Rings, Narnia, King Kong, Ironman and many more. The gift shop also showed a half an hour film every half an hour in a little mini movie theatre. This was free to watch and explained what exactly they do at Weta and the amazing films they have been a part of. Not a bad little trip considering it didn't cost us a thing (except the bus fair)! 

There was the option to pay an extra $25 for a tour inside the studio so they could show you how they make little figurines and such but we didn't think it was worth it (plus we're poor). Instead we walked back to the bus stop and caught a bus back into town. However, when we passed PaknSave (the cheapest supermarket in New Zealand) we decided to jump off the bus as our day pass allowed us to do that. We went in and bought a fresh baked pie each as well as other bits we needed. We ate our pie on a bench in the little shopping street in this outer suburb of Wellington. We shared a steak and onion pie and a lamb curry pie between us which were pretty tasty. 

Back on another bus we got off just outside the hostel. We decided to have a small second lunch of left over risotto at the hostel which is always better the day after. With enough food down us we headed into town to catch the cable car up the hill. It was pretty cool. It's been used since the early 20th century and still even people that live up the hill but work in the city use it to get home because it's the quickest way. I didn't understand this as it wasn't very quick and I didn't feel it went very far but I still enjoyed it. When we got off the cable car we went into the little cable car museum and looked around but quickly got bored so went to the botanic gardens. This was right next to the museum so we had a nice stroll through the 'bush' before seeing the herb garden and rose garden which didn't have any roses flowering at the moment so was a little dull. We walked back through town, passing all the lively bars; it was late afternoon on a Friday after all. 

Back at the hostel we got changed and walked round town looking a little more presentable. We passed a night market on Cuba street that was selling some nice food from stalls but we felt it was a little overpriced for the amount you got so we moved on. Eventually, we headed to our chosen restaurant called Little Penang which funnily enough served Malaysian food. I chose a Kapitan curry which was pretty delicious and tasted more Thai whereas Matt's curry was more Indian. We also got roti and rice to go with it and all for a very reasonable price. I felt a little under the weather after the meal so we headed back to the hostel earlier than planned although it was gone half 9 when we got there. Maybe a good night sleep is all I need. 

Te Papa

The weather outside wasn't the nicest when we woke up this morning. Wellington is famous for its bad weather though, in particular wind. Our breakfast was different this morning; we had porridge with chopped up banana and a dollop of raspberry jam. However, to save money we hadn't bought any milk and porridge with water isn't the best. We headed out having had a decent breakfast though. 

Our first stop and main attraction of the day was Te Papa museum which is the national museum of New Zealand. We arrived there at around half 10 as we had to walk down to the harbour front as that's where it is located. The building itself was pretty cool and inside was six floors of wonders. We started at the bottom and worked our way up but spent a lot of time looking round the second floor which had a giant squid on display. It was dead but it was still amazing lying in this preserve tank. Apparently it has the biggest eye of any animal in the world! We were very intrigued and watched a video on how they caught it and examined it. 

Also on the second and first floor was a bush walk which took us outside. It wasn't raining and was quite sheltered so we walked the little route through lots of grasses and trees. There was also a little cave area that gave us information on glowworms but we already know about them because of our trip in Borneo. It wasn't long before we wanted to get back in the warmth though so explored the other areas of the second floor which had information on birds and other animals. There was also an area that focused on earthquakes and tsunamis. This was very interesting as New Zealand has had quite a few earthquakes and so we learnt about the history and also got to try out an earthquake simulator which was a little house that shook and showed a video of a full scale earthquake. 

By the time we'd finished the second floor (it was the biggest) we were pretty hungry and so went back down to the first floor to the cafe to get a pie. We had brought sandwiches with us but we had to give our bag in as we weren't allowed to carry it round with us. This gave us an excuse to have a pie as well. They weren't too expensive. I went for a mince and cheese pie which was rather tasty but didn't have enough cheese flavour. I'm having a real cheese problem. It was a good thing to have to keep us going so that we could explore the rest of the museum. We also took advantage of the free wifi as well. 

The third floor brought us to a Gallipoli war exhibition that was fantastic. They had figures of real soldiers that were double the size of a normal human which really gave an impact when you walked past them. I didn't know anything about the Gallipoli war so it was very interesting to read all about it. This was probably my favourite exhibition of the whole museum. 

Further up there was stuff on Maori people and examples of what they used to live in. The best part of this exhibition was a little mini film about a Maori guy that was running away from another Maori clan and had to hide within yet another Maori group. We missed the first couple of minutes so I'm not sure why he was running but it was interesting to see the traditions that came out in the film. 

The fifth floor was art work which we weren't hugely impressed with but there were a few nice portraits of people that I enjoyed. Up on the top floor was a viewing deck that looked out onto the city and harbour. It was nice but super windy so we didn't stay out for long. This was the end of our museum tour. We knew it was huge and we weren't wrong; we'd spent most of the day there. It was after 3pm when we left having bought a couple of lovely postcards. It was cold and windy but not raining so we decided to do a walking tour that was written down in our guidebook. We started at post office square and walked along the harbour to a cool Maori bridge which we crossed before pausing our tour to get information from the i-site about Weta cave which we wanted to visit tomorrow. 

After our brief stop we walked back to the harbour and passed a cool statue of a bronze guy leaning over the edge of the harbour walk to face down into the water. After this we went through Whaitangi park which was a very posh skate park. We kept up the poshness by going into a posh supermarket when we got back into the centre of town. We spent a while in this supermarket as it was pretty amazing, kind of like whole foods, but it was far too expensive for us so we didn't actually buy anything. By the time we were out of there it was nearly 6 so we headed back to the hostel to cook tea. Tonight was risotto night with chorizo sausage and green beans. When we actually got room to cook we had to wait for quite a while for the risotto to be ready. It wasn't bad though. Obviously the chorizo sausage was amazing and because we'd bought a carton of stock the rice had some flavour too. The kitchen was still disgusting though. One girl failed to serve rice properly and ended up throwing half of it on the side because she was incapable of keeping it all on a spoon. I nearly lost my patience with her. 

Wellington

We were a tad lazy this morning and slept in only just managing to check out on time. Everywhere in New Zealand you have to check out by 10am whereas throughout Asia it was always midday. However, maybe it's good because it gets us up and out before 10 each morning. Palmerston North was an okay town with a couple of museums, one of them being a rugby museum. Unfortunately, that one cost quite a bit to visit so we stuck to the free ones to diverse ourselves in a cultural morning. The first museum was all about Maori culture which was quite interesting but neither of us were in the mood to read a load of information boards telling us all about it. I now think that you have to be in the right kind of mood to visit a museum. Next door was the art gallery but we'd been told that there was a National Geographic exhibition that was exceptionally good so we went to check it out. It was brilliant. The photographs taken by professionals were stunning and some of them had beautiful stories explaining how the photo came about. We spent a good length of time looking at them and reading a few before we hopped back in the car and drove on down to Wellington. 

Halfway down we stopped at a beach (we were driving down the coast although it was rather a boring road) called Otaki beach to eat lunch. It was far too windy so unfortunately we ate our sandwiches in the car but at least we could hear the sound of the sea and watch the waves crash about. Then it was another hour or so down to Wellington which we arrived in quite quickly. I guess that just shows how small a city it is. There was a tricky one way system that I managed to guide Matt through to a hostel that we knew was pretty cheap and had a car park. Turns out the car park cost $10 a night so we decided it was time to say goodbye to the car. After booking a couple of beds at the hostel we drove to the car hire place in Wellington to give the car back. We were a day early but the nice guy at reception said he'd transfer the extra day we'd paid for to our south island car. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but basically it costs over a hundred dollars to take a car on the ferry from north to south island so we saved ourselves money by hiring two different cars; we pick up the next one when we get to south island. Also, as we don't need transport in Wellington we decided to have a couple of days without it to, again, save money. It felt strange walking away, knowing we'd be carless for a couple of days. 

It was nearly 5pm when we got back into town (the car hire place was around 15 minutes walk out of the centre) so we decided to spend a good hour walking through the streets, seeing what Wellington was all about. The pedestrian Cuba street was probably the most interesting but not as lively as I thought it would be having read about it. Maybe on the weekends. We managed to source out a supermarket to buy some food for the next couple of days. 

Back at the hostel we cooked our tea in the small, very packed kitchen. Here is where I had a problem. The kitchen was pretty dirty and the people that were cooking in it had no regard for others. I think most people in this hostel were long term guests so maybe they were 'making themselves at home'. I just thought they were all rude. Also, it didn't help that our meal for tonight failed to excite me. The supermarket in Wellington isn't the cheapest (you have to drive further out to find the cheap places) so we'd ended up with pasta and tomato sauce and an aubergine which was the luxury. I should have cooked the aubergine for a little longer and it could have done with lots of grated cheese. I miss good food. 

We watched a bit of telly when we'd eaten tea but the hostel had no atmosphere and other people chose what they wanted to watch so we went and wrote blogs in bed. Maybe I'm just being fussy now but it's the worst hostel we've stayed in so far in New Zealand. 

Frozen yoghurt

Purple broccoli at strawberry patch

Palmy

I decided that I prefer hostels when they have more people in them. Last night it felt a bit creepy and quiet. This made me want to get out of the place quickly so after some toast we packed up and headed out to bluff hill lookout. We may have cheated by driving up in the car but it saved us some time. The views at the top were quite nice, looking out to sea and in the far distance were some hills and mountains but nothing will beat the views from the other day. We took a few pictures and moved on, heading out of Napier and getting on the road towards Wellington. We wanted to stop at a winery because Hawke's Bay (the area where Napier is) is famous for its wines. We drove up to Mission Estate, the oldest winery in New Zealand, which some of you may have heard of, driving up their beautiful long drive and round to the restaurant building to park. However, we weren't the smartest dressed and it all looked far too posh for us. We decided we'd feel like fools if we strolled in there and wanted to save the wine tours for Marlborough anyway. Instead we turned around and drove back out. 

We took a little detour on the road to Wellington to see what Hastings looked like. It was similar to Napier but I'd say it seemed a little busier! Maybe we should have stayed there. Through Hastings we drove towards a hill lookout, stopping at a place called Strawberry Patch for a real fruit ice cream beforehand. However, the berry frozen yoghurts sounded nicer so we got one of them each while sitting outside in the sunshine, looking out over the strawberry fields. 

We eventually made it up to Te Mata hill lookout which was rather lovely. The views spread out past Napier and over the flatland to hills beyond. It was nice but I prefer the mountains. Flat land isn't as exciting. We attempted to eat some sandwiches up there but it was pretty windy so we had to hold onto our bread tightly (one of my pieces blew away). 

Back on the road we decided to keep going as far as we could. Wellington was a long way away though so in the end we decided to stop part the way for the night. This meant stopping at Palmerston North (called Palmy by the locals) because it was a large university town so would have somewhere cheapish to stay. However, I'd read that some time ago John Cleese had dissed the place saying something like it was worse than death. We were only staying a night so hopefully it wouldn't be that bad. The locals named a rubbish dump after John Cleese though so at least the people might be entertaining. 

We parked at the i-site in the centre of town when we got there so we could scout out hostels on foot. We found a nice one with a few more people than last night so booked a couple of beds before heading back to the car and then to a supermarket to get tea for tonight. We chose to cook a curry but played it safe with a butter chicken sauce. If we had the money and the supplies we would make it from scratch but the sauce we went for looked quite posh (it was on special offer). As both of us were feeling lazy we decided to put the chicken and onion and green beans on a tray and bake them in the oven, adding the sauce for the last five minutes. This actually made the chicken (thighs rather than breasts) super tasty and succulent. The sauce was delicious and mixed with the rice we had a decent meal. It was probably the tastiest meal I've had in a while. 

We spent the evening writing blogs and planning what to do in Wellington, our final stop in the north. 

Extreme hot chocolate

Napier

After a breakfast of toast in the beautiful kitchen in Ohakune we got in the car and headed for Napier. We knew it would take us a couple of hours so started listening to a detective audio series that Matt had downloaded. It was rather addictive and made the lovely scenery of trees and farms even better. Just before we reached Napier we passed a chocolate place. Obviously we had to stop. It was called the Silky Oak chocolate company and had a little chocolate museum and shop and cafe. We wanted to go in the museum but it was a little pricey so we settled for a hot chocolate in the cafe instead. However, we didn't go for any ordinary hot chocolate, we went for the extreme hot chocolate. This was a thick hot chocolate in a little teacup that was eaten with a spoon and topped with vanilla cream and a chocolate shaped like a pretzel. Matt opted for the chilli option so his had chilli flakes sprinkled on the cream. At first I thought it was small but when I tasted how sickly it was I was glad of the size. It was delicious but you wouldn't want too much of it. 

After our little indulgence we headed into Napier, stopping at a supermarket on the outskirts so we could buy tea for tonight and something for lunch. With our food we drove to our hostel but realised it had no parking. I don't think any of the hostels had any parking actually. However, we found a road round the corner where it was free to park so walked with our food to the hostel. A nice lady checked us in and told us that the place wasn't very lively at the moment. It's not peak season so we weren't surprised. However, this meant we got the kitchen to ourselves so we quickly heated up our soup (I had tomato and ravioli) which warmed up our bellies. It wasn't the greatest soup in the world but it was something different so I enjoyed it. 

We still had the afternoon to explore Napier so started with a self guided walking tour of the town. It's a pretty small place but is famous for its 1930s Art Deco buildings. It was nice to see but when we'd walked down the three main streets there wasn't really anything else to do. Napier sat by the sea so we walked along the bay as well and discovered a little mini golf place. I'd told Matt a while ago that I've never played any kind of gold before so he's been wanting to play for a while. It was cheap and we were bored so we did the whole 18 holes. I was winning for quite a while as I got a hole in one somehow but in the end Matt faught back and beat me, but only by a little. 

We walked back along the bay, feeling like maybe we should have missed Napier out because although it's a nice town there isn't really anything to see. Back at the hostel we started cooking our tea and did some washing. Tea for tonight was a chilli con carne which wasn't too bad but lacked the flavour they'd usually have because we didn't have any herbs or spices. I miss my kitchen back home. However, we ate our tea while watching the third of the Lord of the Rings films (the return of the king) and finished our bottle of wine we'd bought last night. 

I like wine

Wine and pasta

Tawai falls

Posing

Another of Taranaki falls

Made it to the lunch spot!

Selfie

Upper Tama lake

Lower Tama lake

Mount doom

Matt on the walk

Taranaki falls

Doom day

I woke up rather excited about the day ahead. We had some breakfast and double checked our walking route with the lady at the hostel reception. We didn't want to get stuck in snow or anything. With our bags packed and our lunch made we were ready and raring to go. I was going to knock on the strange girl's door (the one from last night) to ask if she'd still need that lift but we bumped into her at reception. Turns out she wanted a lift but right then. I had told her last night that we wouldn't be leaving until the afternoon (quite a few times) but she obviously hadn't been listening. We felt a little bad leaving her (she'd missed the morning bus already) and saw her setting off to probably hitch hike. I don't mean to sound horrible but it's her own fault. She was trying to stick to a strict schedule which is never wise when travelling and she hadn't checked when the buses were so missed one. I'm sure she was fine. 

We drove down the road, back to Whakapapa where we parked the car in a nice car park (all but one so far have been free) and set off on our hike. We found the path easily and it was very well kept for the whole walk. Much better kept than English ones! We started walking with a close view of mount Ruapehu as we'd parked right next to it. We could see Ngauruhoe on and off as we plodded through lovely heather up and down for around an hour until we reached the Taranaki falls. To get down to the falls we climbed down some steps and enjoyed the view. The waterfall fell from quite a height and the rock face around it continued on down hill for a while. Beautiful trees that looked rather Christmassy ran along beside the rock face. 

We then had the choice of walking back to the car another way that we knew would take us an hour or go on further. Obviously, we wanted to go on further. The walk took us through more heather, displaying Ngauruhoe beautifully in front of us. It was spectacular. Never have I been walking somewhere so beautiful. Every time I looked up at the mountains I couldn't help but be amazed. It helped that the weather was delightful with blue sky and a warm sun. We'd layered up so well but hardly needed any of it. At some points we were walking in t-shirts! We went over bogs (on wooden slats so we didn't get wet feet) and up and down many hills for nearly another two hours before we reached lower Tama lake. This fantastically blue lake shone against the brown of the heather and the white of the snow. It was breathtaking. By the lake was a sign to upper Tama lake saying it would take us another half an hour. It was nearly midday so we thought we'd walk up there then stop for lunch. The walk became a little more tricky with barely a path but more stones that slipped underfoot a bit as you went uphill. There were orange poles to mark the way so we'd never get lost. It was a little windier from the top of this hill that looked down over the upper and lower lakes which sat between Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe so we sheltered near some rocks. We perched there to eat our sandwiches and take in the brilliant scenery. On one side was the beautiful snow topped huge mountain that attracts people from all over the country to ski there, whereas on the other side there was mount doom; nothing more needs to be said. It was my favourite lunch destination from the whole of my trip. For me it beat Fuji. 

Unfortunately, we had to walk back the same way until we reached the Taranaki falls. I felt that time went quickly even though it took us well over two hours to get back there. Maybe the views helped. This time at the falls, after stopping for a quick satsuma, we headed down by the stream. It took an hour to get back to the car but it was very pleasant walking under the cover of trees by little mini waterfalls. 

Finally, we reached the car having thoroughly enjoyed our six hour walk. It was around half 3 so we decided to stop off at Tawai falls which were on our way back to the main road. A five minute drive later and we were jumping out of the car to walk another five minutes down a path to the falls. The reason we wanted to see this waterfall was because a lady at our hostel this morning told us it was used in the Lord of the Rings. It was a nice waterfall but neither of us could actually figure out when it was used. We took some pictures and headed back to the car. 

As it was nearly 5pm when we reached Ohakune we decided to stay there for the night. We found the YHA and checked. This was the nicest hostel ever. It had a beautiful kitchen, a cosy TV room and a hot tub. What more can you ask for! Of course, we tried out the hot tub, mainly because our legs were feeling a little achy. We hadn't been to a supermarket so tea for tonight was pasta with pesto, green beans and cheese. However, since the TV lounge was so nice, Matt decided to nip down the road and hire the Lord of the Rings (the two towers) and came back with a bottle of wine as well. The wine went quite well with our pasta (it was a Marlborough Sauvignon blanc) and when we put the film on in the TV room a few people joined us. I couldn't hack it though after a long day walking so ended up falling asleep half way through. 

View on the drive

Mount Ngauruhoe

The sun is setting in the sky

Let's jump out of a plane

I didn't wake up excited this morning for some reason. To be honest I wasn't really thinking about the skydive at all. I think this was best though otherwise I might have been nervous. After a shower and a breakfast of muesli and kiwi fruit we had an hour to kill so wrote our blogs. Then at 11am we were picked up in a ridiculous yellow hummer. I was a bit embarrassed to be climbing in it and the English guy who sounded a bit like Russell Brand was full on with his 'hey dudes' and 'how's it hanging bro' which made it worse. 

When we got to Taupo airport (where the skydiving is) we had a nice talk on which packages we could choose from and obviously we both chose the cheapest. The lowest jump and no pictures or videos. The prices for extras were ridiculous starting at $139! All we wanted was the experience. After a long wait for another group to go first we were kitted out with a boiler suit, gloves, buff, funny helmet thing and goggles as well as a life jacket. We were about to jump out of a plane next to a big lake so I guess that makes sense. Finally, our jump partner introduced themselves to us literally a minute after they'd just landed with someone else. It all seemed a bit rushed but they were friendly guys. My guy was called Joel and he fastened up my straps and stuff so I'd be safe before we waited our turn to get on the plane. I think there were seven of us in total that were doing a skydive but only Matt and I were jumping from 12,000 feet; everyone else had opted for 15,000. We were told that you don't notice the difference in views or anything but you do get longer to free fall. The plane was really tiny. We sat on benches, one in front of the other so that our partners could attach themselves to us. At one point I was told to sit on my partner's lap so he could secure us together super tightly and safely. Joel had this watch thing that told us how high up we were. First of all he showed me when we reached 4,000 feet and I was shocked because I thought we were near 12,000 already. It took a little while to get up there and since Matt and I were jumping from a lower height we went first. I wasn't nervous at all but I was shaking from the cold so I think my partner thought I was. However, when we got to the right height and Matt and his guy opened the door, sat on the edge of the plane then fell out, I felt a little uneasy. Watching someone you know fall out of a plane is odd. Especially when you can see how far up you are. Then came my turn. Joel and I shuffled forward, attached to each other, and sat on the edge of the plane. My legs were hung over the edge but it was so windy that it was hard to keep them still. We did a little smile for the camera (there's one attached in the plane) before I held on to my harness, put my head back on Joel's shoulder and we jumped. 

I don't think I'd thought about how it would feel to fall until we actually fell. That feeling you get in your belly on roller coasters or even just over a hill in a car was pretty constant. However, I got over that after the first two seconds because what really shocked me was my breathing. I could hardly breathe. I kept trying to take big gulps of air and failing. Maybe it was me panicking or maybe it is really hard to adjust but I spent most of the free fall time focusing on getting some oxygen. I did look out at the views though after I was signalled to let go of the harness and spread my arms out wide. Finally, the parachute went up and we started floating. The one part I'd been weary of was when the parachute was pulled because I'd heard it can jolt up and hurt. It didn't. It did however hurt a little when Joel turned the parachute so we'd sail downwards. Actually, it was more uncomfortable. I managed to relax and enjoy the views of the lake and the mountains beyond although I've never felt so cold in my entire life as I did then. I started asking questions like 'what mountain is that' and 'is this the best place to skydive'. Turns out this or Wanaka in South Island are best but Taupo is cheaper by quite a lot. We chose the right place. 

When it was time to land (it took a good few minutes for us get down with the parachute) I was told to raise my legs up so Joel could land us. I ended up sitting on the floor in no smooth way whatsoever but it was a very soft landing. I was unclipped and sent to sit on a bench to wait for the rest of the group to land. The whole feeling of what I'd just done started to sink in and even though parts of it were uncomfortable or felt strange it had been incredible. I'd do it again. I joined Matt who had already landed and we chatted about how good it had been. Turns out Matt had the best partner because when they jumped out of the plane they did a somersault and then when the parachute was up Matt was allowed to steer it! I felt a little deflated. Maybe I'd seemed too nervous to do all this stuff or maybe Matt's partner was just way cooler. 

When everyone had landed we were invited to go to the movie room where it was warm to watch some of the footage they'd got of all of us and the detailed stuff that some people payed extra for. The videos were really cool but far too overpriced. Instead we both bought our exit photo (the picture that was taken just before we jumped from the plane) for $25. Unfortunately, I can't put it up on the blog yet as its on a disc so I'll just have to get it printed when I get home. It's not the best but it proved I did it. We were also allowed to keep our buffs that are bright yellow and say Taupo Tandem Skydive on them but we're very proud of them. 

After the movie room we climbed back in the tacky limo and were driven back to the hostel. I've never actually been in a limo before and I don't plan to again. They're not my thing. As we'd already checked out before the skydive we just got in the car and drove to a pub called Mousetrap because we'd been given $5 vouchers each at the skydive place and we hadn't had lunch yet. The pub had just opened so they were only serving bar snacks which meant we ended up with a bowl of chips and some garlic ciabatta. Not the healthiest of lunches. But together they cost $2 so we couldn't really complain. 

We hadn't really planned where to go but we wanted to see what the Tongariro National Park was like so after food we drove round lake Taupo, past distant mountain views, to Turangi. There wasn't really anything in Turangi to see but we stopped at the i-site to ask about some walks we could do tomorrow. I got chatting to a lovely lady called Ronda that worked there and she told me all the lovely walks we could do around the mountains and then asked if we had anywhere to stay. We didn't so she rang up a few hostels to see if they had any vacancies. It's still winter and the weekend so people come down from Auckland to ski meaning the area is pretty full up. She managed to get us two dorm beds in a YHA at National Park. Yes, the place was called National Park. With our accommodation sorted and some walks chosen for tomorrow we stopped off at a supermarket to get supplies before heading on to National Park. Ronda had told us the views on the drive there would be good but I wasn't expecting them to be as good as they were. We drove round the first set of mountains called Tongariro which blew us away. Then it was Ngauruhoe but some people might know this as mount doom from the Lord of the Rings (the place where Frodo destroys the ring). This looks like a proper volcano but it's top was perfectly covered in snow. Finally, it was the biggest of the north island, mount Ruapehu. We were actually meant to drive a little further on to our accommodation but we turned before and drove a few kilometres to Whakapapa village to get a better view of Ruapehu. This is also the place we wanted to come tomorrow morning to park our car and start our walk. I became  very excited about tomorrow. 

The sun had started to set so we headed on ten minutes down the road to National Park, checked in and made ourselves tea. This hostel was exactly what I once imagined hostels to be like. Lots of wood and a big kitchen with families and couples. It was lovely. We still had left over risotto from yesterday so we shared that and Matt made himself some pasta and pesto for his extra meal. We got chatting to an older couple who were here to ski and a girl (who turned out to be a bit crazy) that was here to see all of the Lord of the Rings sites. The girl wanted to move on tomorrow to a place called Ohakune which I knew we'd be passing after our walk so I offered her a lift if she wanted. She seemed very pleased. I was in a very good mood. Today has been pretty unforgettable. 

The thermal stream

Found this on my walk

Walking near the falls

Huka falls #2

Huka falls

Taupo

After our second night in the comfiest beds ever we were back to muesli for breakfast. We packed up and left Rotorua as we wanted to get to Taupo. It wasn't too far away, around an hours drive, but instead of going straight to the town we stopped off at Huka falls first. The falls were pretty amazing. They didn't fall from a great height but the amount of water that came gushing through one space was rather incredible. We were able to park by the falls, walk over them on a bridge and enjoy a nice hour walk along the Waikato river to a thermal spring. There were some Irish people sitting in the part of the river where the spring meets it when we got there. We stupidly hadn't brought our swimming stuff as it was pretty cold even though the sun was shining. Sitting in the warm water would have been fine though. Instead we walked on by and found the little stream that ran into the river so sat by it and put our hands in. The water was crystal clear and beautifully warm. We were quite amazed. 

On our walk back to the car we took a different route which happened to be the mountain bike track. It wasn't beside the river which made a change. It did take us another hour to get back though so by the time we'd reached the car we were ready for lunch. We sat at a picnic bench and had our sandwiches. I'm still loving these little flavoured tuna tins because I get something different each day. We also both had a delicious kiwi fruit (when in kiwi land) as a little dessert. 

We finally headed into Taupo after lunch and found the YHA. We checked in and stupidly wasted time using the wifi and deliberating whether to do a skydive tomorrow or the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing walk. The walk takes all day but due to the time of year a guide is needed (there's snow so you need axes and stuff). This means that it would cost us $170 so we decided we were only allowed to do either the walk or the skydive. Both completely different and both sound amazing. It helped when I finally went and asked the opinion of the lady at the hostel reception because she said the likelihood of the walk happening tomorrow was slim due to crazy wind. This decided it for us. The skydive it was. We called up and booked it for tomorrow at 11am before walking into town a little bit giddy. 

Even though we weren't doing the walk we still fancy doing some walking in New Zealand so we went to look at walking boots. We found some really good ones on offer for $100 so at least if we need some they're not crazily expensive. We'd also read in the guide book that the Macdonalds in Taupo was pretty cool so we headed over. There was a full sized plane in the kids play area of it which was the only cool part. We were going to take a look at the plane but it was overrun with kids and we would have looked a little weird. Instead we got an ice cream for a dollar (cone with soft scoop) which wasn't bad for its price but I still want to try the real New Zealand stuff.

We headed to the supermarket after our ice cream and got food for our tea. We made a risotto with bacon and onion and peas and green beans. Unfortunately, the bacon wasn't smoked so the whole dish didn't have much flavour. A little disappointing. I'm really starting to miss tasty food. It may seem silly to some but food is such a big part of my life that I feel rather sad when I don't get nice flavoursome stuff. My sadness continued when I found that someone had tried to steal my bed in the dorm room. It made no sense as my stuff was on it so I grumpily moved this persons belongings onto a table. I might be hated now. 

As there was really nothing to do in Taupo we got one of the hostel films and put it on. It was the Notebook which Matt had never seen. It's a sad film but it cheered me up slightly. 

My new hat

Walking to the spring

Redwoods

The park in the rain

Walking through the redwoods

Maori village

Can you spot Matt?

Mud at the park

Free thermal foot spa

Egg and beans on toast

Rotorua ramblers

I went and messed up poached eggs this morning (I blame the hob) so we added our emergency tin of baked beans to the rubbish eggs and toast. It was okay but the beans weren't Heinz. Cooking on a budget sucks. However, it filled us up so we were ready for a day of exploring. Rotorua is famous for its geothermal activity so there are quite a few thermal spas around. These were out of our price range though so we decided to do all the free stuff. This started off with a walk round the thermal public parkland on the outskirts of the town. To start with it just looked like a normal park. We found a little pool that had been made for people to put their feet in. The water was beautifully warm and was heated by the geothermal activity going on under ground. We took off our socks and shoes and enjoyed the warmth and cover from the cold and drizzly weather. It was also great that it was free! When we moved on we went further into the park and came across fenced off areas. These were filled with what looked like little ponds of mud and water, all either steaming of boiling. It didn't smell great but these natural hot pools were amazing! The earth is rather fascinating. 

When we'd spent enough time wandering through the park we walked over to the modern Maori village which is just a part of the town. There was a nice church and wooden arches and houses were built by geothermal activity which I didn't think was very safe. There was a caution sign up in the middle of a square because hot water had burst through concrete. Nevertheless, we enjoyed seeing this different side of life and even checked out the little gift shop that was there. We then thought it would be a great idea to walk along by the lake (Rotorua sits beside a huge lake) to get back into town. This was a little stupid because it started to really pour down and this walk took us well over half an hour. However, when we reached the centre of town we went into the i-site (information centre) to take cover and found a lovely warm hat for Matt to buy. It was black with New Zealand written on the front under a silver fern. This made me a little jealous but luckily, round the corner we found a souvenir shop that was selling wooly hats cheap. I got a light grey one with New Zealand written on too for $6! We were very pleased with our purchases but still wanted to shelter from the rain so we headed back to the hostel for lunch. 

After a dry lunch of sandwiches and more chocolate cake we jumped in the car and drove five minutes down the road to the red woods. From there we did a lovely hour walk through huge trees that sheltered us from the heavy rain. Feeling energetic and outdoorsy we drove further round the lake to a spring. To get to this spring we had to do another walk of about twenty minutes. The spring was ridiculously clear and incredibly deep. We both threw a 10 cent coin in and made a wish. 

Back in the car we drove back to the hostel before heading over the road to the supermarket. Tonight for tea was sausage casserole (yes, sausages again but they're cheap and have lots of flavour) with rice. We had cannelloni beans and a tomato sauce that we made and chorizo sausages that were on offer. Matt also did rice in a 'special' way by soaking it first in cold water before cooking it (it didn't work out the best for him). The chorizo sausage was really good though with the perfect amount of spiciness. We saved some of it for our sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch. 

The Green Dragon

Fire at the Green Dragon

We bought a house

If only this was my house

I'm the perfect size

Bagend

Bagend gate

Hobbiton #2

Hobbiton

Hard at work

Digging the hole

I'm small enough to be a hobbit

We woke up later than planned and so left a little later than we were meant to. We did manage to have poached eggs on toast for breakfast though which was a real treat. With a scrumptious breakfast in my belly I was ready for another day of adventure. 

On our way south to the Hobbiton tour we passed near to hot water beach and so went again to actually dig a hole. There were quite a few people with spades (you could hire one for $5 at the cafe) sitting in these little pools they'd created. We chose to just paddle in the hot pools because it was rather chilly out. The water was amazing though! It was just like bath water it was that warm. Some parts were even too warm. We spent nearly half an hour paddling and trying to dig our own pool rather than stealing other people's. It was then time to move on to a place called Matamata so we could do our Hobbiton tour. However, we stupidly underestimated how long it was going to take us to drive there so when we realised we would be late I had to try and call. As we don't have New Zealand phone numbers this will have cost Matt a fair bit (I used his phone rather than mine). All was fine though as they said we could just go on the next tour. 

It turned out that we were only 10 minutes late but we did miss our tour. This meant we had time for lunch (tuna sandwiches) before getting on a green bus to Hobbiton. Our lovely bus driver called Linda drove us 10 minutes through the countryside, past the house where Peter Jackson lived while the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies were being filmed. We then picked up our guide before driving through the Alexander farm to the set. The set was magical. Just like it was real. None of the hobbit holes actually had anything inside them and only one opened up to a blank space that went back about a metre. However, the intricate detail on all of them was pretty amazing. I can't remember how many there were but there was a lot more than I originally thought there'd be. Some were bigger than others so that Gandalf could look big while the hobbits looked normal. We ended the walk round the holes at the Green Dragon pub and were allowed one free drink each. I had an apple cider and Matt had a non-alcoholic ginger beer. The ginger beer was definitely the tastiest!

Back on the bus and after a quick stop off at the expensive gift shop we headed back to Matamata. Hobbiton had been pretty surreal but now we had the decision of where to go next. We'd originally planned to head to the Waitomo caves which are meant to be amazing but instead we chose to save money (we would have had to pay for an expensive tour) and head to Rotorua. It took us around an hour to get there and after driving round the little town to check out hostels we settled for the Lonely Planet top rated one: Funky Green Backpackers. There was no TV but there was a lovely stove and super comfy beds. The supermarket was also just across the road so we nipped in to get food for tea. We had rigatoni with a tomato and mozzarella sauce with red pepper, onion and green beans. We finished our tea with a very chocolatey chocolate cake. I love chocolate. 

Walking near the hostel

The little waterfall

Meee

Cathedral cove #2

Cathedral cove #1

Views from the car park at lunch