Queenstown baby!

sorry about the lack of bloggage guys. we've been in places where internet has been really expensive and the photos take ages to upload.
we are now in queenstown in the south island and have been up to some amazing things on route. one of the best was a day hike on the franz josef glacier which was absolutely fantastic, unlike anything i'd ever seen before. we were walking with huge walls of blue ice on either side, and we went down into this cave which was great although it was really small and we all had to be hauled out by the guide because no-one could make the climb on their own. our guide was lovely (joe from darlington) and we all wanted to marry him! we were all exhausted but it was definitely worth the aches and pains.
we really enjoyed wellington, the capital. the museum was really good and could take all day. what we liked was all the little films about new zealand so we could sit down and have a little rest. another reason we liked wellington was the abundance of cafes that agreed with us very well!
places we have not enjoyed quite as much are river valley (literally a lodge by a river and nothing else) where the showers and toilets were in separate blocks miles away, it was generally freezing and the receptionist refused to put a film on because the bar was open (even though no one was even drinking). we would have considered doing white water rafting but the river was too full or maybe horse trekking but a girl had fallen off the previous day and had to be airlifted to hospital which put us off somewhat! there were no other activities on offer, it was a bit rubbish! we find that moaning is a very effective coping strategy. other uninspiring stops include westport, the pancake rocks (not very different to normal rocks), the seal colony and the abel tasman national park (rained all day)!!!
if anyone's wondering we are actually having an amazing time, but it amusing for us to have a good moan now and again!! i mean you wouldn't really want to go on a day trip to slough (ie westport) would you?!

falling out a plane!!!

did a skydive today!!! was amazing! a bit last minute because there had been some issues with the weather, but we heard an announcement in out hostel saying that skydiving was on so we all rushed to reception and were all kitted up and crammed on the plane before we knew it! it was very scary watching the people ahead suddenly dissapear out the plane and hear them screaming! it all happened soooo fast there was hardly time to breathe and then i was literally falling through the sky - extremely surreal! people had told me that you're not even aware that you're falling, i was very aware and they lied!! the 'freefall' bit was over very fast and then the parachute came out, big relief! managed to land like a pro, but then had to do the really scary bit - paying!!

the original plan for today was to do a day hike called the 'tongariro crosing', basically up and across the three mountains on the piccy. so we were up at 5.30 ready the pick up at 6, but when we got to reception we were told that it was cancelled due to heavy snow and strong winds! we couldn't really go back to bed after that coz we were already up and didn't want to disturb the guys in our room again. so we went off on another walk, but didn't last very long due to the near baltic temperatures! so then spent most of the morning wandering around the shops and buying a new bag for our souvenirs!

then in the afternoon went mini golfing! which was fun! lucy was spectacular! both hitting the ball way over the fence onto the road (luckily no passing cars) and into a bush! a small boy also decided to steal her ball at one point! although we both appeared to equally amazing
(or pathetic) as we scored the exact same (61 - move over tiger)!

goodtimes!

caves

went down some glowworm caves today. we were originally going to do this activity called black water rafting which is basically drifting through a river on a rubber ring whilst wearing a wet suit. but due to the torrential rain the water levels were too high and we had to do a guided walk instead, which was quite dissapointing because we really wanted to do the rafting but at least saved some money which we later spent in the pub!

we were less than impressed when the cleaner threw away our left over chick pea curry from last night that we were saving for tonight! so obviously had to have food in the pub to compensate - couldn't face cooking.

lucy has been in a bit of a bad mood because her coat has appeared to have been stolen by a group of Japanese tourists, her shoes are leaking and now her camera is dead. badtimes.

piccy 1 is the ramp down to the caves

piccy 2 are some stalagtights

piccy 3 is some glowworms - did actually see quite a lot but were hard to photograph

:)

so we are in a town called Rotorua at the mo which is famous for geo-thermal activity (thats hot springs and geysers to you and me) and Maori culture. we arrived off the bus yesterday and were dropped straight at the geo-thermal place. it was pretty cool, felt a bit like i was in a sci fi film - lots of bubbling mud and steam floating up from everywhere. very weird. unfortunately we're not allowed to go in the pools as they are about 97degrees and we'd probably die! we waited around a bit for the geysers to go off and weren't dissapointed, at first they were just spitting a little bit and we were like 'is that it' but then it errupted massively!!
in the evening we (including all the people off our bus who are now our friends!) went to a recreated maori village and were given a bit of a show. they did this special intimidation dance and then lots of other songs and dances. we were shown some of the games they used to develop their fighting skills and i volunteered and was 3rd in the special stick catching game - disqualified actually for not going the right way round the circle! our dinner was all provided as well and it was basically a buffet/calvery which was very exciting to us who have just been living of pasta.
sorry about the lack of piccys but the computers here won't let me upload any.!!!

Barry!!!

We went on a trip today to the most northern point in new zealand, Cape Reinga. its supposedly a very spiritual place where peoples spirits go to depart into the spiritual world. not sure about that but very beautiful anyway. our coach driver was soooo funny. we was called Barry and he talked a lot, basically for about 4 hours non-stop and he was very easily distracted by things like joggers or his aunts shop! he talked about death a lot and all the people he knew who had died, like Wally (lol) his uncle, his best friend who was a maori master carver, his son ( :( ), Len a fellow coach driver, his mother and his aunt who was a beautiful person and was the first maori woman to graduate university! it was quite sad but we couldn't help but be greatly amused! he also showed us the church yard where he was going to be burried!

After Cape Reinga we went to some huge sand dunes that we could sort of surf down which was so much fun, although exhausting to climb to the top! the most fun though was when lucy tried to 'surf' down a little tiny sand dune and fell over spectaculary (no bones broken)!!

on the way back we drove down '90 mile beach' (actually more like 60 miles) which was pretty cool and we got some good piccys of us titting about!

The only slight drama was when lucy left her purse on the bus, we realised when we were back at the hostel. this caused about 20 minutes of panic but all is well now as Barry managed to track it down for her (good old Bazza) ! :)

bay of islands

so we have travelled up north to the 'bay of islands' and we are predicting that we will be here for 3 nights. theres really not much here! especially the town where the hostel is. its very scenic and i'm sure it would be lovely in the glorious weather but unfortunately the glorious weather has gone on holiday! it has rained basically all day, but its meant to be nicer tomorrow. we got the bus from auckland no probs, but it was quite a long journey (about 4hrs) and i was beginning to feel slightly travel sick by the end - but it was all good!
we have made some friends! which is unusual for us as we are usually very anti-social!!
sorry about the lack of piccys, but we haven't taken any!

look at the awsome bus we got! it was a free suttle to an aquarium called 'Kelly Tarltons' and it excited us muchly! there were loads of penguins which were cool and a pretty interesting exhibition about scott of the antarctic (lol).

after that we walked along the waterfront to 'mission bay' a nice little beach and general shopping/eating area. lucy and i were very excited because their was an indian restaurant! and it had a special $10 lunch time menu (thats only about a fiver) so we went there for lunch - very convenient especially as we were disscussing our curry pangs earlier this morning.

we managed to do a load of washing, which isn't easy as the laundry room is a dog eat dog environment! we had to stand guard to ensure no one poached our machine and even then it took 3 rounds to dry (the dryers are pathetic)! so generally quite stressful but at least we made some laundry room friends!

big tower

we have been up the auckland sky tower today! s'very high and we managed to get backpacker discount which made us happy. got really good views of all the sights and stood on a glass floor! there is the facility to bungy off the top, so every now and then people would drop past the window, which, especially on the first occasion, was very alarming! more importantly we visited the cafe for a latte and muffin! auckland is much cheaper than sydney (thank god) so we can afford to do nice things like stop for coffee and cake!!

in the afternoon we walked to a suberb (the oldest suberb in auckland actually) called Parnell where lucy used to live 10 years ago. we found the old house and school and descreetly (don't want people to think we're weird) took some piccys. it was a really long way there and back so we were glad to chill when we got back!

last day in sydney/first day in auckland!

so here we are in auckland! not done much as yet because we are very tired (had to get up at 5.15 for our flight and had to evacuate the hostel at 1am because the fire alarm went off - we were not amused). although we are right in the middle of the retail district and have seen lots of shops we want to explore!!

yesterday we went down to the sydney harbour and generally looked around and took piccys, the opera house is really big up close!! we then wandered through the botanic gardens which were nice and the sun decided to make an appearance!

we are now in auckland for at least 3 days before we get our bus and begin our explorations!

Manly

We took a ferry trip to a place called Manly today. nice little trip out, i think manly is a bit like bondi - a very surfery place as we could tell by the kinds of shops. it was also a fair bit cheaper than main sydney as we could afford to stop for a cuppa (massive tea cravings!) and a muffin (i had blueberry, lucy had chocolate), we also did some boring food shopping whilst there. we were lucky as just as we stopped in the cafe the heavens opened and there was a downpour. although it only lasted a few minutes so were able to brave the outdoors.

the ferry ride was good because we had a really good view of the harbour and opera house and got some good piccys!

i also had to buy some new socks as i've run out and we haven't had the chance to do any laundry yet - might get it done a bit later!

blue mountains

today we went on a trip to the 'blue mountains' which is about an hour and a half out of sydney.

they are actually blue and this is becaues they are made up predominantly of eucalyptus (gum) trees and the leaves give off an oil, which seen fron a distance looks like a blue mist! hence the name! they were really great and it was nice to see a bit of rural australia before having to jet set off again. we went on a long walk down into the valley (i wore my sensible shoes and trousers) and then of course had to walk back up to the bus - we were totally exhausted by the end - me and lucy nearly had a heart attack. there was a really funny (american middle-aged!) couple on the tour with us ans they videoed EVERYTHING!! the entire (not interesting) bus journy and took millions of the same picture!! me and lucy (and all the other young people) took the micky - behind their backs of course!! :) and we went on the most vertical train in the history of forever, it was very very steep it was quite scary, but not as much as some people made out!!

The Bridge!

We conquered the sydney harbour bridge today! was quite expensive, but was dead good! we had to wear these sexy outfits (lucy also opted for beanie hat and gloves - she was cold!) but the views were amazing. our guide talked alot about the bridge and the engineering, which i eventually glazed over at, but i can tell you that 6million rivets were used in the construction and that 16 people died on the job. Lucy wants me to add that its 134 meters high.

it wasn't too gruelling physically, but there were some very steep and exposed ladder climbing bits (with trains going over your head) that were a bit scary! on the feedback sheet the only 'room for improvement' we came up with was nicer outfits (and a bit cheaper)!!

G'day mate!

we have arrived in sydney in one piece! managed to escape the warzone!

on our last day in Bangkok (think it was the 15th) James and his wife Nudee took us out on the river for a bit of a cruise! we ran out of petrol at one point so had to stop at one of the many floating petrol stations in the middle of the river. we then went around the 'back roads' or 'clongs' to see the river community. it was like a whole town all built around the river, there were floating stalls and restaurants and even the bank was on a boat which came round once a week. we got to one stall and we stopped to 'feed the fish' and bought some loaves of bread, as soon as we started throwing the bread (into the seemingly still water) literally hundreds of massive fish appeared from nowhere all fighting for the food. well good!

so arrived in sydney today. we're both suffering quite a bit with jet lag, basically not slept at all and its 6.20pm now so still a bit too early to go to bed!!

we've had a bit of a wander about sydney, went to the aquarium which was good - they had a good 'coral reef' reconstruction/exhibition thingy. i've had to buy some more warm clothes as its like october here, just an extra pair of jeans and a hoodie (in the sale- get in!). in fact its raining quite a lot, so feeling quite at home! our hostel is nice, very modern and it look like we may have the room to ourselves tonight (fingers crossed!!!)

Bangkok - still alive!

we have arrived at Bangkok and are to stay for 3 nights before sydney. we are staying with a very loose contact of lucy's, James and his wife Nudee. they have made us feel very welcome. things are quite uncertain, with all the protests and all, but we are confident we will be safe. hoping to maybe go on a river cruise on saturday!

Elebobs!!!

we went elephant treking today!! was amazing, we even got to properly sit on them. our guide decided within the first 5 mins to get off and walk, which lefy lucy and i alone on the massive elephant (slightly disconcerting)!! but he took loads of piccys for us which we really appreciated - he even got a tip which is a rarity for us! the weather wasn't too hot because we were in a jungle (yes a jungle) so there was plenty of shade. it was quite scary when going up and down hill as elephants are not the most agile of creatures and we got attacked by a low hanging vine but we survived!

afterwards when we were waiting for our lift back to the hotel we got into a conversation with a thai man about british politics! was very random - he was very knowledgable but had difficulty pronouncing cameron and clegg, he thought gordon brown was too old!!

we made friends with 2 couples in the jeep with us. one couple were from melbourne and were shocked to hear we were going to sydney and not melbourne and the other from israel! goodtimes!

our tans are coming along nicely - we belong in a venus advert!!

Oh dear!!

oh dear!! a little bit of sunburn! i blame the sea, as it makes burning far more likely and its only your shoulders and chest that are on show. this is the result!!! and yes i did have suncream on!! couldn't move my arms for a while and coated myself with aftersun, which seems to have helped. but i think i will be wearing a t shirt whilst in the sea tomorrow!!

on a different note the 2 cleaning ladies were sat outside our hut today (waiting for us to clear off so they could do the room) and they were reading our discarded copy of 'take a break'!! amused us greatly!

not really done anything special, just enjoying chilling - and anyway too hot to really do much else!!

this is the evil cat which lucy hates because it jumped up and pulled her bikini off the washing line and dragged it around in the sand, so she had to wear a wet one. it is however better than the other cat that only has one eye and probably rabies. lucy squeals and runs away from the cats!

even though we've found a lovely bit of sea (where it is actually deep enough to swim) lucy refuses to swim in fear of jellyfish, seeweed and sharks!!

i think we are slowly becoming accustomed to the heat, although we are running low on clean clothes - think some handwashing in the sink may be in order!

shark

went for another nice meal last night (followed by ice cream parlour) and i had shark! thought i better take the oppertunity whilst it was there! (was really nice - a bit like chicken but with the texture of fish). we both got a bit burnt today and i have some pretty impressive tan lines, i have bought a hat as my head was getting burnt!! was quite impressed with my haggling skills - nearly got it half price!!

saw the ladyboys again - now we've noticed them they seem to be everywhere!!

This is chaeweng beach where we are staying, with 2 cool people looking gourgeous!!

I think we are developing a love of thai food. we have been for 2 traditional thai meals and has been delicious both times, and a whole meal for 1 comes to about 4 quid! i had a thai green curry last night and i got it served to me in a coconut!!

it was really funny because as we were sat there there were this thai couple taking photos of everything!! they had a huge way over the top camera complete with tripod and were photographing each other pointing at things and then setting the timer so they could point together. oh how we laughed!!

lady boys

this is our hut!! with lucy stood outside! and this is the horrid picture on our wall, our experience of thai art so for is less than inspiring! so now i've learnt how to do piccys we can put more up for you to enjoy!

we saw our first lady boys last night. we were walking (looking for somewhere to have dinner) and saw 3 'women' at the side of the road wearing floor length sequened dresses. one turned to look at us and we were shocked to see that it was a man!!! we were slightly shocked and traumatised!!!

we have a lizzard living on our ceiling, only tiny though or i would be more bothered. was hotter last night and we struggled to sleep, but s'all ok.

our first day!

spent the day getting to grips with things - looking around the town (not particulary nice, quite smelly and slightly scary at night), swimming in the sea and sunbathing. both got a bit burnt, i have tan lines from my sunglasses and lucy has a very red nose lol!!

we have a very funny picture on our wall (we decided it was worth sharing because its very funny). its like a really bad painting of a landscape with like a cut out piccy of a random thai god stuck over. s'really funny and i will try to post a photo.

we are going for some dinner now, will brave the high street!!

i will try and put some photo's up, but have hardly taken any so far!

we are here!!

We have arrived at koh samui!! was about a 24h journey door to door, so not massively fun but we did sleep on the plane.
Our accomodation is fine - quite basic but thats what we expected. We have air con which is the most important thing as it is stupidly hot - the kind of hot where you just step outside and the sweat is pouring!!! it doesn't even get cool at night, so i think lucy and i will have to get used to the idea of being sweaty blobs.
We are going down to the beach for a swim and a sunbathe in a little while, which i'm quite looking forward to as i haven't had a shower since sunday (because of travelling, not because i'm disgusting)!