East As...

18 of us set off with our driver for the next few days, Al, on a half-sized Kiwi bus to explore the east bit of the North Island. It was really nice to take a break from the bigger buses and get a bit more up close and personal, plus it was far more relaxed and chilled, with late morning leaving times etc. Unfortunately the guy to girl ratio was heavily in favour of the 5 guys, but I got to know some of the girls quite well so we'll be traveling together on and off for the rest of my time here which is cool. We stayed in Gisborne the first night, where I met up with a friend I met in Europe (Anthony the kiwi vet) for a bbq, about 200m down the road from our Chalet Surf hostel, overlooking the beach!
The next night we stayed at Eastenders Farmstay, in the middle of nowhere, but also very close to the eastern-most point of New Zealand, so in the morning we all got up early and trekked up the hill to be one of the first people in the WORLD to see the sun of the new day!
That afternoon we all went horse-riding, but the tide was too high so we couldn't go on the beach :( I rode Tyson, who as you can imagine is made pretty much of 98% muscle!!


We had some nice gallops up the hills on our own (nobody else could keep up!) until I got to a spot where I wasn't sure where to go so decided at the last minute to try and stop him, pulling a heavy left and swerving sharply into the gorse bushes! I flew off over the side and had a cushioned, if not soft, landing, and am still finding thorns in places you might or might not want to know about... jokes but I did pull one out of my bum cheek in the shower the other night!

I decided to go again the next morning to try get another shot at the beach. I rode a different horse, East As, who is very young and only follows other horses which was a bit frustrating. I decided to be a little less cautious than the day before and go a bit wild, and so before we had even hit the beach I was galloping on the grass flats chasing cows. Of course she had to follow some other horses so swerved sharply without letting me know and once again I flew over the side and managed to find some form of pricklyness. I landed on my right side/back on the hard ground with my helmeted head in a thistle bush! But this time I didn't bounce back up, cos I was winded and in shock! I couldn't get back on so the others continued the ride and Al had to take our horses back and come and get me in the bakkie! So I lay for an hour in pain, surrounded by grazing cows and persistent miggies. They took me to the doctor, a south african (!!), who gave me painkillers and anti-inflammatories, so for now I've gotta take it easy which is frustrating cos I want to do the Tongariro Crossing and other walks, activities etc...

I did time it well though, cos our next stop, Te Kaha, was a nice house on the sea, with a very homely feel and dogs and cats and nice people etc.. so I decided to stay there 2 extra days, and so did some of the other girls (my slaves!). Everyone was so nice to me and helped pack and carry my bags (and carry me!) so I felt very well looked after!






Now we're back in Taupo for 1 night, and then off to River Valley for 2 nights of more chilling.

Taupo I

Just about everyone on the bus jumped off at the Taupo Great Lakes skydive centre to do the special 12000ft jump for $150! I wasn't that interested in doing a second but smaller jump (ha ha ha!) so went back into town and did washing and exploring, including a boat trip on the lake with some people I'd met at the Waikato races the weekend before! We all went out that night but it wasn't too much of a late one as our "East As" trip was starting early the next morning.

Black water rafting in the Waitomo glow-worm caves

OK it wasn't exactly black water rafting even though that's what they call it - we got suited up in sexy 2-piece wetsuits, booties, boots, shorts and helmets, chose an arse-fitting tube from a selection of sizes... and practised jumping into the water backwards for the "waterfalls" that were inside the caves.
It was actually all great fun and quite nervy at times in the pitch black, but I could've done with a bit more adrenalin-type stuff, like bigger jumps or something! And as it turns out, the glow worms are actually maggots (fly larvae) that park off at the top of the caves for 9 months, pupating and catching food on their hanging sticky lines. Then they metamorphosise into flies, without mouths or digestive systems, so they mate furiously for 2 days and then die of starvation! I wish all flies were born without mouths...

Zorbing and swooping in smelly Rotorua

It's not what you know, it's WHO you know! Tracey, my kiwi friend who I met in Ireland, "tourguided" us around Rotorua yesterday. We popped into the Agrodome to watch some zorbing, and ended up having a go for free, plus she roped us into doing a swoop (free again!) which involves being hoisted up by the bungy crane, and then (after pulling the cord which I chose to do... madness!) dropping at a rapid rate before being pulled forward and back by the cords etc. It was great cos we were lying in like a hangliding harness, so no strain on the back or anything.
She also took us shopping, and then we all had some wine back at the hostel and met 7 cute swedes who are traveling around NZ in a minivan, so it ended up being a rather late (early!) night.

NZ mobile number

It's been an impossible battle to get my Australian SIM card to roam, so I've got a Vodafone NZ sim for my time in NZ until 20 March. Please resend all your steamy Valentine's texts to: +642102393626 and add some extra spice second time round ha ha ha!
I left Auckland on Tuesday morning on the big green Kiwi Experience bus (affectionately known as the Vagina Liner to the locals) and we've seen some awesome spots around the Coromandel peninsula, now we're heading to Rotorua (the smelly town) for some Maouri culture and other fun things like zorbing, luge-ing, hot water springs (extra smelly) etc... No juicy stories or funny tales... yet!
This is the route that I'm on:

The "Big Smoke"

Yip, I'm in Auckland! I'm going on a 3 day tour of the top bit of the north island - Bay of Islands (144 islands!), Paihia, Cape Reinga (where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea crash together) where we'll go to hot springs, drive along 90 mile beach, sandboard down the dunes, possibly swim with dolphins, maybe experience the Excitor fast boat ride out to the famous hole in the rock, go kayaking, sailing, fishing, diving, snorkeling or just relax on the beach.
On the weekend I'm going away with Dodgey and his mates (played touch rugby with him and The Lads in London!) to the Coromandel: beach and booze = lovely!
So watch this space for photos and stories!

Australia firsts

OK it was a good month ago, but I spotted my first Redback spider (making its home right next to our house entrance), which Todd wasted no time in extinguishing... tick.
I've just dropped him off at the airport and had my first breathalyser at a roadblock at 6am... tick.

NSW Coast

The morning after Anna's girlie birthday dinner, we drove down the coast to Kingscliff to spend the long weekend at Outrigger with the Miller family.



























On Sunday I got dropped off in Byron Bay and spent a couple of days there checking it out. What an awesome place to learn to surf! There are just perfect little longboard waves everywhere!
I met a couple of English girls and a German girl at the hostel, and we cycled up to the lighthouse, where the English girls got sidetracked and went for a hanglide...

Cricket, tennis, horse riding and the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne

I'd booked tickets to Melbourne back in November because I wanted to see the Great Ocean Road, and so timed it when the Aus Open tennis was on to kill 2 birds with one stone. It just so happened the cricketers followed me there the next day, so I got to spend a bit more partying time with them, plus watch the game at the Telstra dome. They closed the roof for the whole game which made it muggy and just-not-cricket-ish, but it was a good thing because if any of you know Crowded House, you'll know "Four Seasons in One Day" is written about Melbourne, which on that day went from mid-30's to a raging thunderstorm, to a mild night! Unfortunately the cricket wasn't as successful as in Brisbane, but it was still great to be there!





A group of us spent the weekend on the Great Ocean Road (about 3 hours drive from Melbourne) which I'm sorry to say is very average compared to Cape Town's coastal route past Pringle Bay etc. OK I didn't get to go all the way along to the 12 Apostles (only 8 remaining) so I did kinda miss out on a big part of the GOR package... We spent the Saturday on the beach and the evening at the pub overlooking the pub, and slept in a tiny cabin in the campsite. Sunday was a repeat of New Years day - 45 degrees with a burning wind! The sea helped but in the end the best option was in the airconditioned car on the way home at lunchtime!





Danny lent me his black Alfa Romeo and I drove Sarah, Sara (2 CT girls) and myself about an hour north of Melbourne to a horse ranch for a 2 hour ride in the middle of nowhere! They both are in love with the car...


I met my cousin Janet for the first time! She lives just outside Melbourne near the Dandenongs (mountain range) so she kindly took me out for a lovely lunch.

Cricket in Brisbane

After New Years things were pretty quiet in Brisbane (well for me anyway!). I realised the cricketers were spending a week or so in my town, so I thought I'd offer to take them out... which I did, to the Chalk Bar which is a massive new bar up the road from the 'Gabba (cricket and AFL ground). I of course was in my element (1 girl=me and 3 gorgeous cricketers) and really enjoyed chatting to some saffas about home etc. I started to feel homesick!
Smithy gave me some top tickets to the day-night game on the Sunday (seated just behind the players) so Anna and I went along and met Mac and Gail who drove up from the Gold Coast.









It was a fantastic game which at one stage looked like we'd thrown down the tubes, but then Bouch and Kemp clocked up some quick runs and before we knew it, it was almost over.

Then it started to rain!! But 20 mins later they were back on to finish up properly!

Bouch and Kempie after hitting the winning runs...