The Kiwi Experience - Round The South

Updated by Anna

After a great night out in Wellington everyone had to get up early and catch the ferry over to South Island and resist being sea sick. We jumped on the Kiwibus again and headed for an early session of wine tasting at Prenzel where me and Paul had been before. It was a glorious sunny day and we were sitting in a luscious garden, everyone debating whether we should pay a lot of money or not for the Abel Tasman Track which is a hike that takes a couple of days to complete. Everyone decided it was over-rated and we would be covering similar terrain on our journey down the west coast anyway therefore we only stayed one night in Nelson. A group of us went for a relaxed walk along a nice beach that was full of jelly fish!

Returned back and some lovely girls had made us some tasty chilli con carne which we finished off with free chocolate pudding that the hostel had made.

Next morning it was off to the west coast town of Westport stopping off on the way at the Nelson lakes where we saw giant eels under the jetty. In Westport we luckily got a cosy room for ten people with our own kitchen, fireplace and bathroom. I stayed in that night and enjoyed the nice, warm and cosy fireplace whilst Paul went and enjoyed the small town pub. Westport was small but the next day we were going to an even smaller place called Lake Mahinapua. The drive on the west coast of the south island was spectacular and we saw green rain forest, deserted goldfields and the snow capped Southern Alps.

On the way there we went for a walk around Cape Foulwind which was the windiest walk of my life. The trail was along the cliffs and you could spot a seal colony. Here I fed a Weka bird which had such a big beak but was so gentle when it ate from my hand. The wind was so strong that I could hardly stand straight let alone try to walk normally, it was all a bit exciting! We passed through Hokitika (an old gold town) where they make the famous New Zealand jade (green stone) jewellery. We arrived in the unique accommodation in a hotel and we were met by 85-year old Les who runs the hotel and has a very dirty mouth! It was a hotel that has not had any TLC the last 30 years. Yep it was unique.

Les is an eccentric so his theme for the night’s dressing up party was plastic bin bags. The pub area had lots of hats and old dressing up stuff hanging from the ceiling which made it all a bit smelly! He did cook a mean BBQ meal and venison stew though after which we watched the sunset over the beach with pink skies.

Time to dress up and in our room we decided to dress up as the fabulous Swedish music group ABBA. We were the tribute band basically! Had a hilarious time trying to get it all together sticking and cutting plastic bags and trying to be creative! We looked absolutely nothing like them but had the capital letters of ABBA on our backs so everyone would know who we were. It was a fun evening full of games and I did admire some peoples’ costumes - they were brilliant!

The nice evening would turn nasty when I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the trickling sound of a dorm-mate urinating in the corner of the room all over my open suitcase. I could not believe it. Paul was great and washed all my clothes in the middle of the night. Fortunately it did not ruin the next day though because we booked our full day glacier-hike in Franz Josef which was something to look forward to.

Arrived in Franz Josef and checked in to our new hostel. This is the place where we would walk on the glacier the following day. Glacier movement has been recorded since 1893 and since then the glacier has advanced and retreated several times. The glacier is 12 km long it can move up to 5 metres daily and that is why the trained guides have to cut out new ways of climbing it every day.

As the big day arrived, we had to get fitted with the right equipment: proper walking boots, rainproof trousers/jacket, gloves and hat and special spikes (called crampons) to put on our boots when we walked on the ice. We walked through a challenging and spectacular terrain. There where ice tunnels, falls and cracks all along the way. Our guide was foolish enough to tie himself by the feet to go down head first through a massive but narrow crack to try and retrieve a lost ice-pick. He failed to retrieve it and was covered in blood! It didn’t bother him though so we all continued climbing up steep walls with the help of ropes and the steps made by our guide.

We stopped for packed lunch and could admire the view down the glacier and valley. We started to crawl through really narrow ice tunnels so there was no time for claustrophobia. Everyone had had a fantastic day but we were all pumped out and really looked forward to a hot shower! It was one of the best days ever!

Up early next morning in order to catch the perfect mirror reflection of Mount Cook on Lake Matheson near the town of Fox Glacier. It was an hour walk around it and then we travelled up Haast River/Pass where you can see huge cracks in the mountains and several waterfalls comes out of it.

We arrive at Wanaka around lunch time and everyone was stunned at this beautiful place. This is a town where you can spend a couple of days and we decide to do just that. Our hostel called Mountain View had a lovely garden and nice atmosphere. On the edge of a pristine alpine lake surrounded by the spectacular scenery of Mount Aspiring National Park, Lake Wanaka is a place where you can chill out and relax or be adventurous and do a skydive which some of our fellow Kiwibus travellers decided to do. They say Wanaka is the little Queenstown - a lot less touristy or over-developed but still lots of fun. This is certainly true.

First evening we strolled along the beach in the sunshine and then watched a DVD back in the hostel at night. Next morning we were up and away ready for a days hiking along the lake and a very steep climb up Mount Iron, but it was all worth it as the views over Wanaka were sensational! We enjoyed a packed lunch by the river where we were brave enough to dip our bare feet in the cold water.

In the evening it was time for an old fashioned cinema at Paradisio where they had soft sofas and even a Volkswagon Beetle car to sit in. There was an interval where they served freshly baked cookies and they were still warm.

The Wanaka Fest was on whilst we were there with a food and wine market, a parade for all the kids, mountain biking and even a “perfect woman” competition. The competitors had to drive around cones on a quad bike with a big stack of beer as well as skin a goat and fix a car engine. Apparently this makes up the perfect woman in New Zealand! J

That evening we enjoyed a meal together outside in the garden and went out for a few beers and a quick boogie in the town’s hippest local bar. After a good nights sleep we headed of to party in Queenstown! One of the stops on our way there was at Puzzling World with a massive wooden maze and illusion house and annoying puzzles and other hard mind games. It was too early for all - I had not even had coffee yet!

Next stop there was a few people on our bus who were brave enough to go bungy jumping over Kawarau Bungy Bridge. The surrounding scenery is rugged rocky terrain. Built in 1880 this structure assisted miners trying to reach Queenstown. It is now celebrated as the first commercially operated bungy site in the world. So after all the crazy people had jumped we spent an hour in the picturesque village of Arrow Town and listened to jazz in the park whilst the jazz festival was on.

Finally we arrived in busy Queenstown which was beaming at us but we had no time to lose as we had to prepare for our car hire the next day. Six of us hired a car with Paul driving out to Milford Sound the following morning. But we had to do Queenstown by night first. In one bar you could order tea pots of cocktails and drink it from shot glasses or straight from the teapot! It was a bit different but fun. After a dinner at Fergburgers - where you could buy a burger the size of your head! - we went to bed ready to go and see the gorgeous fiords the next day after saying good-bye to friends who were travelling elsewhere.

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The Kiwi Experience - Going Forth in the North

Updated by Paul



Back in Auckland for the third and final time on this trip and I was keen to say goodbye to the big smoke in the best way possible - a final visit to the QPR kebab shop on K’ Road - God I’ll miss this place!!


Having previously stayed in the city centre, we decided that we would spend our final night stay in the upmarket area of Ponsonby - a trendy suburb to the west of the city centre. After a final walk along the harbour, a quick glance back at the imposing Skytower and gazing at the imposing volcanic cones of Mount Eden and Rangitoto Island all helped to remind me why I felt this was a city I could stay in a lot longer. However the next week travelling down the spine of the North Island would remind me why I left London - let’s see some of Momma Nature’s finest creations!!


The Kiwi Experience tour so far had been a bit of a mishmash of busses with groups that were not our own but as you leave Auckland pretty much everyone on the bus is new so you start a new group from scratch. Twenty of us rocked out of Auckland and we had clearly got lucky as everyone in the group was really friendly and up for fun.


The trip started in a North Eastern direction towards the Coramandel Penninsula but only after a quick stop for a breakfast pie - Steve, our driver guide, assured us this was a tradition in NZ and a pie was more nutritiously beneficial than a bowl of cornflakes. Pretty sure this was the first of the many dubious facts he would tell us as we travelled around!


We stopped at Hot Water Beach where the sea is freezing cold but by digging into the sand you can jump into a pool of steaming hot water that will quickly warm you up. As the boys dug deep and the girls stood idly by (typical!) the water filled up from the thermally heated earth below and made a nice cosy place to sit and chat with our new group mates.


After a short walk to Cathedral Cove we jumped back on the bus and headed to Whitianga where we would stay the night. We spent the evening in the bar of the hostel playing Killer pool and darts - I did win one of the pool competitions (more a case of everyone else being not very good rather than me being brilliant!) but had to do press-ups for losing darts. Not the last punishment I’ll have to do on this trip!!!


The next morning we headed down to Rotorua - The Maori Cultural Capital of NZ and also the volcanic heart of the country. Before arriving in Rotorua though we stopped and explored the Karangahake Scenic Reserve including a disused gold-mine - even going down old tunnels now covered in glow-worms! As we approached Rotorua the sulphuric smell crept on to the bus to tell you that you had arrived. We ditched our bags into our large king-size room (that cost less than everyone else’s dorm beds at the Base hostel haha!) and headed out to Kuirau Thermal Park to see some pretty spectacular steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pools - I never thought you could stare so long at some bubbling mud but it really is truly spectacular - checkout the photo’s to see some weird shapes!! After staring at the pools and puddles for far too long we headed over to the lake and explored a Maori village complete with scary looking statues - I swear the eyes on those thing follow you round. Back at the hostel we relaxed in our private spa pool - well you’ve gotta have some luxury when you’re backpacking around!


The next morning started with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday from the bus group as it was October the 11th - my birthday! To start this momentous day we stopped in to a farm for a Sheep Show - yep that’s right - only in New Zealand (and maybe Wales!) could you have such a phenomenon. Had it been a peep show I would have paid to go in but as it was a sheep show we opted to sit in the café and have a good coffee! The trip then continued down to Waitomo offering the possibility of exploring the caves or kicking back with a game of volleyball followed by some serious drinking games in the local pub. Having opted for the second option I can report that I had a great birthday!!


The next morning (with slightly heavy heads!) we headed out to see some rabbits get sheared! I kid you not - this country does some strange things to its animals! After witnessing this bizarre rural spectacle (and managing to avoid buying any of the over-priced rabbit woollen products) we headed towards Lake Taupo, an inland lake formed in the crater of a volcano several thousand years ago - now the size of Singapore. The last time this volcano erupted two thousand years ago it was reported as far as Rome and China as turning the entire sky red for three years! Last month it started steaming - people got worried.


After a quick walk down by the lake we headed to a pub quiz in. Did my team win? Of course we did!! Our group from the bus was getting on with each other so well that we didn’t really need the fifty dollars worth of free drink to ease the socialising but it did help! For some reason though, I see to remember wearing a bizarre amount of hats this evening!!


The plan for Taupo was to complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing - an all day hike, ranked as one of the top ten walks in the world, across some of the most spectacular volcanic terrain. Typical of our luck it was snowing in the mountains and the walk was cancelled due to being unsafe. Big boo to snow! We went for a walk up to a lower level volcanic area called the ‘Craters Of The Moon’ due to the lunar looking landscape created by volcanic activity. It was quite cool but couldn’t make up for the disappointment of not doing the crossing. Oh well - at least it gives me an excuse to come back to New Zealand at some point in the future!


On the walk back to town we passed the Huka falls (a powerful waterfall that could fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in three seconds flat!) and some natural hot springs that just called for me to roll my trousers up and wade into. Unfortunately the place emptied pretty quickly when a local guy (who clearly wasn’t afraid of eating a few pies) waded in with some shampoo for his daily bath!! Back in town we headed out for a kick-ass curry with some new friends, a couple of drinks then off to bed.


The next morning we headed through the National Park to a town called Whakapapa. Bear in mind that in the Maori language ‘Wh’ is pronounced as a ‘F’ and you can see it is a very interestingly named town! Most of the team went off for a walk through the bush to see some waterfalls however I stayed behind to get 9 holes of golf in with a couple of others. It was a nice links style course that came with a couple of penalties for poor play. Unfortunately this caught me out and suffice to say that as peer standard golf rules of not hitting a tee shot past the ladies tee I had to run a lap around the bus in a manner that left me feeling slightly cold! Fortunately though I wasn’t the worst as Steve-o the driver had to do two laps! All good fun!!


Our destination for the night was River Valley lodge - a retreat in the middle of nowhere specialising in grade 5 white water rafting - I signed up for this straight away and planned to complete the raft in the morning. After a sedate night (for a change) we all went to bed in a 32 person bunk bed (I kid you not - it was cosy!!) Awoke the next morning to find that it had rained so heavily during the night that the river had risen dangerously high and the rafting had to be cancelled. Boo to mother nature and her rain!


The next morning after a scenic drive down the Kapiti Coast we arrived in Wellington. As we had already come through the city on the way up the North Island, Anna and I decided not to stay on for a few days here although some of the team would be staying. Its sad to leave people behind but the best way to do it was to hit the bars of Wellington for a great night out! As it was a Friday there was certainly no shortage of fun to be had and I can say for definite now that Wellington nightlife rocks!


The early morning ferry received a very bleary-eyed bunch of travellers headed to the South. We wont return to the North Island on this trip but I know that at some time in the future this mix of Maori and European cultures on a steaming, hissing volcanic island will see me come back. Besides - I still need to get my revenge on Mother Nature and complete that Tongariro Crossing!

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