The trip of a lifetime

Upon arriving at the airport in Auckland we met up with Tony and Line (Matt’s aunt and uncle) who were kind enough to allow us to stay at their place for a few days (which turned out to be a week and a half! Sorry guys!) Tony had arranged to have the week off work so that he could show us round and take us on a few walks. The afternoon that we arrived we spent chatting and got a few beers and an Indian takeaway (for those of you paying attention, yes that does mean that we had both an Indian and a Chinese in the space of one week!). It was a great evening for Matt to catch up face to face with his aunt and uncle and a great opportunity for Ric to meet them. The kids (Sammy and Ellie) were both at sleepovers so the house was pretty quiet. The same cannot be said for the morning after when the kids returned!! It was a great week and a half with Tony, Line and the kids; we did a lot of walking, and had a fantastic fishing trip where we caught an abundance of red snapper as well as a few big Kahawai. We and also arranged to travel on the Stray buses around the rest of New Zealand!

On the 30th April we travelled on the Stray bus up to the Bay of Islands where we stayed for a couple of days. We did a couple of walks, ate fish and chips, chilled in the hot-tub and went on a tour of the islands saw and swan with dolphins and saw the famous Hole in the Rock. After a couple of days we then headed back down to Auckland for 2 nights (one in the hostel and one at Tony and Line’s because we didn’t realize the time and missed all the buses home!) before setting out again on the bus to Hahei. The afternoon at Hahei was spent walking to Cathedral Cove and then heading back for a BBQ and a couple of social beers. The morning after we needed a new bus because ours was broken and wouldn’t start! When we finally got a bus that worked, we headed for the surf town of Raglan, arriving late we just about managed to catch the early evenings surf before heading back to our lodge to have a sauna and cook a stir fry. That evening we played poker late into the night and bonded well as a group! The following day we made our way to Maketu via Waitomo and the glow worm caves! In Maketu, we were greeted by Uncle Boy, a local Maori man who allows backpackers to stay at his house in a room built in memory of his Mother and Father. He brings a local family of Maori to put on a concert for us and all the guys were asked to learn and perform the New Zealand Haka whilst the girls learned to spin Poi’s. That evening (after Uncle Boy went to bed), the real fun began. We were sleeping in a barn-type room which was lined around the outside with many, many mattresses. This was all the invitation we needed to create the Backpacker Olympics which included events such as the high-jump, long-jump, Sumo Wrestling, the Javelin and fort building! A good way to tire everyone out!

The following day we were woken to the delightful sounds of ABBA and all jumped on the bus to head for Rotorua (which smells of eggs) to spend the afternoon in the Polynesian Spa pools and then headed to Taupo. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse limiting the chance to explore in too much detail We went to the supermarket and Ric organized the mass feeding of Chicken Fajitas to 18 people and then we all went out and celebrated (not sure what we were celebrating but it was fun!!). With a slight hangover we all hopped on the bus again and continued our journey south to the Tongariro National Park. Here we embarked on a great 4 hour walk to see Mount Doom (from the hit film Lord of the Rings); however we didn’t get the chance to do the Tongariro Crossing walk due to bad weather! That evening we treated ourselves to a steak dinner!

The following day we departed on the long journey south to Wellington. When we arrived we headed up to the Botanical Gardens which gave us a great view out over the city. Then we got back, ate dinner and then a few of us went out to the cinema to watch Iron Man.
From here we needed to make our way to the South Island, so the morning after we jumped on a bus down to the ferry port which would take us from Wellington to Picton. The ferry crossing is roughly 3.5 hours and wasn’t too choppy. Upon arriving at Picton we were greeted by a few of our fellow Stray companions who had decided to fly from Wellington to Picton in a light aircraft. It was here that Apple (our Stray bus driver) informed us that this was her first time on the South Island Loop; this was confirmed by the fact that 30 minutes after leaving Picton she turned the bus around telling us that we’d gone the wrong way. After getting back to Picton another 30 minutes later she realized that we had in fact been going the right way!! Eventually we arrived in Marahau in the Abel Tasman National Park where we would spend the next 2 days. On the first evening we had a BBQ and a few drinks and prepared ourselves for our walk/sailing trip the next day. The walk was about 4 hours around the coast and up into the hills before dropping down into the Bay, having lunch and waiting for our catamaran to arrive. The sail took us to see some sea lions and Ric was given a fishing rod to see if there was any fish to be caught; no luck unfortunately. Upon arriving back at the hostel (called Old MacDonald’s Farm) we cooked food and spent the evening chatting and bonding further. Matt got an early night (1ish is early on the Stray bus) as he was doing a skydive first thing the following morning. Here is his account now….
I awoke around 6ish (only an hour before I had to get up) and contemplated what I had to do in the next few hours. Get up, wash, get dressed and of course jump from an aircraft!! Myself and a couple of the others (Elke-a Dutch Girl and Rob) met outside on the cold frosty (but perfectly clear) morning to head out to Nelson to jump out of a plane from 13000ft. This was an amazing experience and as the plane climbed to altitude, I had time to reflect on what was about to happen. Strangely enough the fight or flight response was ironically on fight (probably due to the fact there was no escape and no going back at this point). Eventually after watching Rob seemingly sucked out of the aircraft, my turn to jump had arrived! My Tandem instructor checked the straps maneuvered us onto the edge of the aircraft where he sat and I pretty much dangled for 2 minutes. At this point I was photographed by the photographer jumpers before I felt the instructor shuffle forward. The first second or 2 were amazing as I accelerated up to terminal velocity; a feeling of acceleration previously unmatched. Once 200km/h (125mph) had been achieved I felt as though I was flying and there was no illusion that I was falling towards the ground at a deadly speed. The wind rushed past me at a deafening volume and as the pictures show it pretty much re-arranged my face. After falling for around 50 seconds, I was gently pulled up right as the parachute successfully deployed. All of a sudden there was nothing but silence. At this point I could spend some time taking in the beauty of my surroundings, as we circled left and right, I could see Abel Tasman in all its glory and a seemingly endless coastline. We parachuted for around 4-5 minutes before gently landing on the air field which 20 minutes previously I had left in a plane. I was released from my harness and after shaking the hand of the instructor I ran over to Elke and Rob who had landed just before me clearly still had adrenalin coursing through their veins and we hugged shook hands and embraced our excitement. We then went inside and waited for our DVD, photo discs and of course I made myself a cup of complementary tea. After about 40 minutes we were picked up by our big orange bus. As I we got into the bus you couldn’t have knocked the smile off my face! The 20 or so people all smiled back at us (some of the previous skydivers nodding knowingly). We then proceeded to play our DVDs before settling down on my seat and begin another fantastic day with my Stray buddies!
We then continued south down the west coast of the South Island to a small town called Barrytown, the population of which almost doubled when we arrived! Here we were all instructed to find a costume form the 5 boxes they had in the bar. We ate a home cooked roast and began the Barrytown tradition of partying for most of the night (Boys in drag) and the girls could just dress up in whatever they could get their hands on! It was a highly amusing night! Again lots of smiling, drinking and, of course, bonding. The following morning a few of us chose to take part in the Bone Carving activity, the other’s just slept in and some of us decided to have a wonder down to the beach in search of Greenstone (no luck unfortunately) we eventually departed at 12:30ish.
This is where things are going to get difficult to write about. Due to the fact that at 12:30, the bus left and Ric stayed behind because he wanted to get involved with the knife making activity which unfortunately is a daylong activity, waving them off as they left! Ric was to stay another 2 nights and wait for the next bus to arrive. In the meantime Ric made his own knife and Matt travelled to the Franz Joseph Glacier. Both of our experiences of the Franz Joseph Glacier are similar so all that needs to be said really is that we climbed the glacier which took almost a full day. Squeezing through fissures barely wide enough to sidestep through and climbing up steeps ice steps wearing crampons (these are spiked additions that are strapped onto the soles of your boots to assist with walking on the ice). The Hostel in Franz Josef was pretty cool and one of its main features being a large hot-tub; perfect for soothing those aching muscles have a long day of hiking. At this hostel we found that the other major Backpacker buses also lodged and of course there was a little banter between the Kiwi-experience bus and of course the Stray bus. After hot-tub/meals/showers etc everyone headed to the hostel bar where many happy, smiley shiny backpackers socialized.
After leaving Franz Josef, we had another few hours on the bus. On the way we stopped at the Fox Glacier and another place called Haast. Here we had the chance to complete small walks or just enjoy tea/coffee/baked goods in the café. We then arrived in Makarora at a cool campsite with cabins (again in the middle of nowhere). At this point we were still separated but when Matt was there he decided to go Jet boating along with Dave and Emer. This was truly awesome experience and being picked up from the lodgings we put on life jackets and climbed aboard. It had a standard bench seating arrangement however when the engine was fired up it was apparent that it wasn’t any sort of boat. The driver asked us if we wanted to get wet to which we replied ‘whichever is most fun and fastest’. We then set off quickly accelerating to around 50-60mph in some spots. Now as you may realize, that’s pretty fast for a boat. The driver then proceeded to weave in and out of rocks and tree trunks in water that at some points was only 4 inches deep!!! The river was spectacular, it was crystal clear and below us we could see Rainbow trout happily swimming in glacial water that was around 4-6 degrees! Around us, snow capped mountains and small patches of rainforest. As well as the incredible speeds this boat could achieve it was also very agile and very nimble meaning the driver could head for the sides of the river giving us the illusion that we wouldn’t turn in time (think of titanic and icebergs) but this was not the case. The second he turned the wheel, we found ourselves changing course immediately. He even treated us to a few 360 degree spins (which resulted in a lot of water being tossed over the side of the boat). As I said earlier, the seats where in a bench formation so that meant depending which way the person on the inside of the bench was going to get squashed. After we hand-braked turned into our parking space in the marina, we hopped out and took us back to the cabins. On our return, we went and found ourselves a bed each in one of our Stray reserved cabins before going finding a few of the others playing football on a school field (a school with about 15 students I would think). We then played football till the sun started to go down before heading back for showers. After I had showered I sat outside the cabin with a beer (Speights of course) and just sat looking at the snow capped mountains surrounding me. Truly stunning! One by one we started to show up in the bar. The idea is that in Makarora, they have a karaoke night for us, which is always a good laugh. It did not disappoint. Pretty much everyone got involved and whether it was a solo or a group effort. It was apparent that everyone had a great night.
Once again up bright and early (getting quite good at early starts by now). On the road for 8am again. Normally today involves driving to Queenstown however many members of the bus had elected to hop off in a little lakeside town called Wanaka. After arriving, we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast. After an hour or 2 the bus left us, and the 12 or so of us that hopped off decided to check into the recommended Hostel. Wanaka allowed us to relax a little and we found ourselves, going on some nice walks as well watching films in the hostel cinema room in the evening. We had 3 days and 2 nights there before another Stray bus showed up at around lunchtime to take us to the next place. This 3 day break in Wanaka had also allowed Ric to catch us up. There was a cheer as we pulled up outside Puzzling world where Ric came into distance as he strolled through the car park.
Once Ric boarded the bus we began to 2-3 hour drive to Queenstown stopping off at the site of the world’s first ever Bungee jump. Everyone jumped off the bus and we headed inside to watch a short film on the history of the AJ Hackett bungee jump. Think there was an element of brainwashing as Matt walked out of the auditorium pretty thinking he would do a jump. He decided against it in the end…. But it was close. We then spent an hour or 2 there watching a few members of the bus jumping as well some others before boarding the bus and heading to party city of New Zealand, Queenstown!
By this time, evening was fast approaching so we headed straight for a supermarket and between 5 of us cooked up a Pasta Bolognese before meeting up with the others and having a few drinks before heading out into Queenstown to use our handful of special offers vouchers. Once again a great night was had by all. The next day a few of us went up the Gondola to the Queenstown viewpoint. Once at the top there is a gift shop, café and a luge track. We had a few goes on the luge (soooo much fun) before heading down back into the town to meet up with the rest of the group. We then headed out to one of our favorite bars where at this point some of the group would be separating. To our recollection, we got to bed early (1ish) as we had to be up very early to catch the Stray bus around the Southern Loop of the country.
We boarded the bus at around 6am, and headed south towards Te Anau, here we had the chance to book our Milford Sound Cruise as well as our tickets for the Stewart Island crossing. From here we headed up to the beautiful Milford Sound. The journey there featured some pretty stunning scenery and even some light snowfall on the road. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t particularly optimum that day for gaining the full benefits of this wonderful place. We eventually made it to the boat harbor and climbed aboard our vessel for the afternoon. As usual on these larger boats, there where many Japanese tourists who also provide a little lighthearted humour for the western traveler. 2000pound cameras and more camera clicks in a minute than heartbeats! Have the time we sure they don’t even take in what they are snapping. Anyway after gazing at waterfalls (and unfortunately cloudy mountain peaks) we headed back inside the boat for complementary refreshments. We begin to find that the Japanese tourists where taking pictures of the Female members of our group. To my surprise we found the female Japanese tourists also took pictures of some of us. Ric and I are proud to be in some Japanese family album somewhere. We arrived back at the Marina and jumped on the bus to head to our accommodation for the evening in Tuatapere. On the way there our bus driver informed us that we could go on a farm tour in the evening where the farmer would beer/water and feed us. We would also get the chance to have a go at sheep shearing (not sharing) and riding on the farms quad bikes and get the chance to watch a sheep-dog show. Random as this seemed, the majority of the bus decided to take up the offer and once we had moved into our rooms for the night we headed for the farm. Once we arrived the farmer had laid a fine spread as well as a selection of NZ finest sausage (Tuatapere being the Sausage making capital of NZ). We ate and then headed out to begin the show. The sheep dogs were amazing and the farmer hardly had to say a word to them. They just knew exactly what they had to do, and as if by magic, the sheep moved around the fields and through gates with ease. After the show we moved into the shearing shed and a couple of very wooly sheep where presented. We each put on some overalls and had a god at shearing. As the evening came to an end, the farmer piled us into his mini-van and we headed back to the hostel to find the remaining few watching TV. We joined them and watched Ramsey’s kitchen nightmares before hitting the sack in preparation for another early start.

Left the accommodation around 7ish towards Invercargill (think Anthony Hopkins in the film ‘The Fastest Indian’). We pulled up for coffee and breakfast before heading 10minutes down the road to Bluff to board our ferry to Stewart Island we were aware that this is one of the choppiest ferry crossings in the world, and were quite looking forward to it. Once on the open sea and out of the protective formation of the southern Island we begin to hop over the waves in what appeared to be vessel designed for this sort of water. Once again we enjoyed complimentary tea and coffee for about an hour before finally pulling into the harbor in Stewart Island. We had arrived in Oban (so named because of its similarities with Oban in Scotland) and once off the boat we were taken to out rather nice accommodation for the evening. A single story unit with large lounge, TV, kitchen and three bedrooms, two of them with bunk beds and the other with 2 singles. Once settled, 8 of us met down on the harbor to head out to sea for an afternoons fishing. We boarded the small boat, and where greeted by 2 guys who where the perfect stereotypes for sea fisherman. Great big long bushy beard and weathered hands! Once out on the very choppy ocean again (we have great sea legs now after all of these boat trips the last few months) we started to fish. Slow to begin with so we moved further around one of the islands to shelter us from the 2 meter swells in the water. All of a sudden one of the lads pulled up a fish. This was quickly followed by everyone else getting bites on their line. A very successful day by all accounts, everyone caught between 7 and 12 fish each (all blue cod) and the fisherman filleted it all for us there and then. We had about2-3 hours out they decided that we had caught enough (they weren’t kidding!!!!) and we headed back. They passed us all a celebratory beer and as the girls (including 1 vegetarian excitedly scurried inside to warm up not believing how much fun they had) the lads stood out back. By the time we made it back, the fish was all filleted and bagged up for us. There was a lot! There must have been at least 5-6Kg (maybe more) of fish. We popped into the Oban mini market and stocked up on beer and food for our evenings feed. At around 7ish, everyone came to our place where the drinks where flowing and IPods playing. Once of the lads had spent the afternoon prepping the fish and potatoes, and a couple of the girls made a salad and a cake (who are we to stop them). We had a fantastic meal centering on fish that couldn’t really have been fresher. Again a really nice night was had by all.

Up at 7 to catch the 8am ferry. Really strange on Stewart Island because the sun didn’t to rise until at least 8am. We remember finding that very strange at the time. At about 9.15 (after an even choppier ferry ride) we met out driver and bus at Bluff and headed back to Invercargill for breakfast. Unfortunately the weather had turned on us again so scenic drive back though Catlins Wilderness was literally a washout. However we did see a massive Sea Lion which pretty much jumped out of the bushes. After stopping for coffee, we headed back to Queenstown for a compulsory overnight stop as it was a fair old drive back. We had already decided that we would be hopping off in Queenstown for a couple of extra nights however, and this was decision was mimicked by a few others in the group. Once we arrived back in Queenstown we arranged with everyone to meet up, as it turned out there were quite a few people still In Queenstown so effectively we had a Stray Reunion. I don’t need to go into too much detail about it as you’ve read it all before but it was great to see everyone again at it was admittedly quite a late night. The next day, we enjoyed a lie in. Some of the gang went up to the viewpoint to luge again (as they didn’t do it last time). Ric, I and a couple of other lads decided to check out the indoor mini golf which kept us occupied for a few hours. As it was the day before Ric’s birthday we then headed to a pool bar and stayed in there for a few hours before heading back to the room to have a bit of a party. We then headed out and once again there were upwards of 15 of us once again reunited.

The next morning we had to drag ourselves up catch the bus once again. 6 of us (Ric, Liz, Anne-Marie, Siobhan, Ross and I) had decided that it would be cool to hop off the bus in Twizel and catch a shuttle up to amazing Mount Cook. Once in Twizel there was a very low fog that morning, and it appeared to be a ghost town! There was no one about in the central shopping area and over a loudspeaker there was music playing. Music from Musical Theatre of the last 50 Years; a very strange experience. When the shuttle arrived we were informed that the fog was only around Twizel and that when we hit the mountains it is brilliant blue skies. He wasn’t kidding!! About 20 minutes into the drive, the fog cleared and all we had in front of us where snow capped mountains (including the mother mountain of New Zealand the 3754metre Mount Cook). On route the driver pulled over for photo stops and after about an hour he dropped us at the lovely Mt Cook village YHA. It was great Hostel, great views from every window and once again a Sauna. We decided that after the previous night’s excesses we would relax in the afternoon in front of the fires. Matt managed to get hold of a blanket and fell asleep in front of the fire for a couple of hours, and Ric was in the next room watching a couple of films. The girls (Siobhan, Anne-Marie and Liz) and gone for sleep in the room and Ross had also crashed out on one of the couches. That evening the girls cooked tea for us as it was Ric’s birthday, we had bangers and mash and Beans. They had also bought party hats, balloons and a cake with candles. We had a relaxing evening before heading out the next day on an 18km walk up to another Glacier. This also featured a few viewpoints on the way. Once we got back we once again relaxed in front of the fire. We watched a few films and had a relatively early night. The next day, Ric and Matt had to move rooms as the dorms where all booked out for a group of sixth formers on a geog field trip. This meant moving upstairs into one of the twin rooms (or the Penthouse as we called it). Due to inconvenience I think we got a special rate in the room as these would normally quite expensive. We then headed out on another long walk through the Hooker valley. Upon returning, Ric, Liz and myself decided to have a wonder around the village and headed to the Hermitage Mountain Lodge where it was rumored you could spend 900$ a night just on a room. We sat in the bar and had a few drinks watching the sun set behind Mount Cook. We then headed back to the YHA to cook tea and settle down for the night. When we arrived we found it was quite busy with a load of six form students filling the kitchen and TV rooms. We had a laugh though and ended up watching hit children’s film Matilda. Once they had dispersed we watched Ramsay again (not believing it was a week since he was last on the TV) before heading for some well earned rest.

We got up and met our shuttle at 10am, which got us back to Twizel which seemed less sinister now the fog had cleared. It was now apparent that this sleepy little town offered some very attractive views of the Southern Alps. After an hour or so, a big orange bus appeared in the distance. We climbed aboard and ended up bumping into a couple of people from Queenstown who had stayed there an extra couple of nights. We then headed to Christchurch where once again we hopped off for a couple of nights. Upon arrival we had all decided that we would go out for an Indian meal. As we wandered around Christchurch looking for a suitable place to eat later, we had an alternative agenda! We were also looking for the ticket office where we were hoping to get tickets for tomorrow’s Super 14 rugby final between the Christchurch Crusaders and the Australian New South Wales team; the Waratahs! We managed to get tickets (for about 10 pounds!) and we then went back to the hostel to rest before going out for our evening meal. The meal was good and we continued to chat long after the food had been consumed. That evening after the meal we went back to the hostel and had a respectably early night. The following day was somewhat subdued, we all had a vast amount of photo’s to be uploaded to the internet and correspondences to be replied to. We watched a movie in the lounge and then at around 6pm we made our way to watch the rugby match. As we headed out of the door of the hostel Ric saw a familiar tall, dark, bearded man. If anyone can cast their minds back to the posts from our time in Melbourne they may well remember a guy called Steve who we drank with on a couple of evenings at the hostel in St Kilda! We chatted for a couple of minutes and agreed to meet up later on to catch up. The match was great and the Crusaders won, coming back from being 9 points down to being crowned the winners. That evening Steve didn’t turn up in the bar but keep reading to see what happened. That evening however, we met one of the guys who we shared a dorm with in Queenstown and he said that a guy called Dave was looking for us. Dave has been travelling on the Stray bus with us since the beginning and he came to meet us in Christchurch. We had a couple of drinks as it was his last night before he flew to Fiji. We talked about it and we told him that we had originally had Fiji on our route but when we finally booked it we didn’t include it. He said that we should just do it. Fueled by a couple of beers the whole conversation turned into “what ifs”! The following day we went onto the internet and booked our flights and 5 nights’ accommodation in Fiji!! We also had a walk around the Botanical Gardens and seeing as it was our last night in Christchurch with Ross, Siobhan and Anne-Marie we decided to go to an Irish bar (Ross is Irish by the way) and watch a band.

The following morning Matt and I jumped back onto the Stray bus and headed for Kaikoura, famous for whale watching!! Upon arrival in Kaikoura we were told that the whale watching had been cancelled due to bad weather so our new Stray family decided that we would go for a walk instead. On the walk we came to the conclusion that the reason 90% of the activities had been cancelled in Kaikoura that day was because it was a bank holiday for the Queen’s Birthday (yes they do get a bank holiday for it, and it’s not even her official birthday!!) . After coming back from the walk we all sat spaced out in front of the TV and watched a film, Mat and I decided to go next door to the bar where we not only met up with Anne-Marie and Siobhan again but also Steve who we missed in Christchurch. Matt, Steve and I talked late into the night about what we’ve all been up to since we were last together in Melbourne and what was on the cards for the remainder of the trip.

The following day we all hopped back onto the bus and departed for Picton where we were getting on the 1:45pm ferry to Wellington where we would spend the night. Arriving late in Wellington we got showered, changed and then headed to the bar for a cheap meal (Nachos) and a few beers. We then headed to the Base hostel bar for some really cheap drinks and then to another bar to party the night away!! They following morning as we all were feeling very sorry for ourselves, we departed on the 14 hour journey from Wellington all the way back to Auckland via Taupo. Not much to report from the journey really, it was long and I managed to finish my book! Matt and the girls slept. Again arriving late in Auckland we had a cheap meal (fish and chips) and then watched a bit of TV before bed.

This morning the girls and Sean left, going their separate ways around the North Island. Today we had a lie in and then got up to arrange transport to the airport for tomorrow, got some currency for Fiji and then came on the internet to write the blog!! If you are at all curious, this particular post currently stands at a whopping 6,304 words!!! A third of the size of my Master’s Dissertation!!!

We hope all is well back home and apologize for not posting to you guys in the last 10 weeks!!
We promise to try harder next time!!

Love you all,
Matt and Ric