Richard and Eve's Exciting Adventure

Day 268 – Wednesday 14th October – Cook Islands - Rarotonga (Eve writing)

Evil early 5.30am start but we managed to get checked in, hire car dropped off, postcards posted, cash machine visited and on to our flight on time. It's only a 3.5 hour flight to Rarotonga, Cook Islands but the weirdest thing in the world is that we crossed the date line. So although it was Wednesday when we woke up it was Tuesday again when we arrived in Raro. Mental. Bit hard to get our heads round.

Groundhog Day (so it's now Tuesday 13th October again and we've just arrived in Rarotonga but it's still the same day. Weird)

Rarotonga airport must be the smallest airport I have ever been to in the whole world. The runway was so short that the brakes on the plane (or reverse thrust) had to work seriously hard. Getting off the plane I had that lovely feeling of nice warm tropical air. It smelt warm. Lovely! Great to be back to beachy time.

Inside the airport was a little old man playing traditional island music on a little ukulele type instrument. It was so cute. A friendly Cook Islands welcome.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Airport welcome Cook Islands style

Luckily we were getting picked up from the airport and found our lady with no problem. Very different from the chaos we experienced so often in Asia. Driving along to our accommodation I was surprised by how green the island is. There are loads and loads of trees. There is a road that goes the whole way round the circumference of the island and inside the island is a big hill, covered in trees. The total circumference of the island is only about 32 km.

Out of the window of the mini bus I kept getting glimpses of the beach and turquoise sea. How beautiful. The island is surrounded by a coral reef which creates a gorgeous shallow lagoon. So although the South Pacific sea is crashing into the reef in the distance the water close to the shore is calm and warm and safe. A little slice of heaven. Picture perfect. Too many ways to describe it and all of them beautiful.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Muri Beach - Rich

We were staying in a little place called Muri Beach in a backpackers called Varas. It was a little shock to the system at first to see how basic the room was but when we were only paying $25 each per night (about £12) I suppose we couldn't expect luxury. Anyway, it was totally fine really and there was a really fantastic big wooden deck that was right on the beach and looked out across the lagoon. Within the lagoon are these gorgeous little islands that look just like something out of Robinson Crusoe – they are the stereotypical desert islands with palm trees and white sands (except that they are near a populated island but they do look like gorgeous little desert islands). Totally stunning view and blue skies. Bliss!!

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Muri Beach

Despite my keenness to get the bikini on and get tanning we settled for shorts, T Shirt and flip flops and we walked along to check out the shops and bars first. This place is seriously tiny. The shops were so so basic and there was no fresh food except for a few manky looking fruit and veg. We settled for 2-minute noodles and eggs for lunch and stocked up on some beers to stick in the fridge.

We went for a walk along the beach and the tide was right in meaning we kept getting a soaking each time a wave came in. We went into a beach bar for a beer but decided we were better off back at our pad having a (much cheaper) beer on the deck. So that's what we did.

Throughout the course of the afternoon/evening we got chatting to a few other people. Including an American woman called Elaine, a German guy called Oover (have no idea if that's how it's spelt. It sounded like hoover but without the H and with an accent), and an English girl called something like Natasha. (I'm only writing this a week after we met her and neither of us can remember her name. So bad). We went to Kai Kai Time (Dinner Dinner time) for great burgers for dinner and chilled out at the digs chatting to people and trying to kill mozzies.

I had black leggings on that came below the knee and had put mozzie repellent on my exposed skin. The evil little b*****ds still bit me through the material of my leggings!!! When I went to get ready for bed I counted over 25 mozzie bites on my thighs and bum! Itchtastic.

Groundhog Day Number 2 (now it's Wednesday 14th October again!) - Cook Islands - Rarotonga

So so weird. We already woke up on Wednesday 14th October once before and then here we were again. Very strange.

It was only blooming chucking it down with rain and had been all night long. So much for beachy bikini time. So we decided to catch the bus into the main town of Avarua. There are 2 buses on the island. One goes clockwise and one goes anticlockwise. Every hour. How lovely and basic. We successfully managed to catch the anticlockwise bus and took a walk around town. We had been hoping to get some better fresh food but after a look in the “supermarket” we decided the fresh stuff didn't look worth the risk and we stocked up on noodles, pasta and tins of sardines again. Lucky we like noodles for brekkie and pasta carbonara for dinner.

We had been totally unorganised on our last day in New Zealand and so also needed to stock up on suncream, shampoo, toothpaste etc but luckily there were shops that sold all that stuff. After a bit of a wander around the souvenir shops (where I wanted to buy loads of stuff but still don't have the space or the budget unfortunately) we checked to see what time the next bus was and realised it wasn't for another 2 hours at 6pm! Ha ha. Luckily the Whatever Bar has a happy hour from 4-6pm so we enjoyed a relaxing couple of hours sitting in their bar looking out to sea.

Back at the digs we met a few more people – Sian and Matt from Bristol and Helen and Dave from London. Dave is from Cheshire and totally sounds like John, my sisters boyfriend. He kind of acts like him too – very friendly and full of fun. I like him.

Another fun night spent in the lounge of our accommodation chatting and having a laugh with our new “friends”.

Day 269 (or is it 270 as we had Wednesday 14th October twice?) – Thursday 15th October – Cook Islands - Rarotonga (Eve writing)

Yipee it's sunny! Finally get some proper suntime and get to try out the new bikini I bought in New Zealand. Spent pretty much all day long on the deck and ended up chatting away to the other people sharing stories of travels.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Muri Beach - Eve on balcony

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Muri Beach

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Muri Beach - Crowd at Varas

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Muri Beach - Crowd at Varas

Day 271, 272, 273 – Friday 16th, Saturday 17th, Sunday 18th October – Cook Islands - Rarotonga (Eve writing)

We moved accommodation today as when we'd booked our accommodation back in Sydney we couldn't make up our minds where to stay so had decided on 3 nights in one place and 3 nights in another – to spread the risk.

I was quite sad to say goodbye to Vara's and Muri Beach as it was so lovely there and we'd met some great people. But I was also intrigued to see what we would find over on the other side of the island.

We got on the clockwise bus and were charged an extra $2 each for our bags! I was a little indignant about this at first but then when I saw how busy the bus got and how much room our bags took up I decided it was fair enough.

Our new digs were Rarotonga Backpackers, over on the west of the island. We'd booked a beach hut and it was great – really clean and fresh and modern but still had character with it's cute beamed ceiling and thatched roof. The beach was still really nice but this part of the lagoon is not quite as nice as Muri beach. There is also even less places in the surrounding area here than there was at Muri Beach. After spending so many years in Spanish and Greek holiday spots it's unbelievable how different and “untouristy” it is here. It is so nice to not be surrounded by all the package holiday types but at the same time it would be kind of nice if there was a little more action going on – a few more restaurants and/or bars.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Beach Hut at Rarotonga Backpackers

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Palm Trees at Rarotonga Backpackers

In the evening we took the bus into Avarua, the main town, where we had arranged to meet Dave and Helen. Unfortunately the bar we were meant to meet them in was shut and we hadn't even set a specific time to meet them. We went to a few other bars throughout the night thinking we would end up bumping into them as the place is so tiny but we never did see them. We're still not sure if they stood us up or if they think we stood them up. Oh well.

One of the bars we went into was called Trader Jacks and it was pretty cool – right on the sea front. We were sat at the bar having a drink when the old guy sitting next to us turned round and started to chat. I thought he was American at first as he had that look about him (bright shirt, shorts type of guy) but turned out he was kiwi and had been living in Rarotonga for 27 years. When we asked him what he did here he said he owned a bar and restaurant, called Trader Jacks! Turns out we're chatting to the owner of the bar and he ended up buying us a drink. Bonus.

We spent most of Saturday and Sunday just hanging out next to the pool or on the beach by our hut. There were great hammocks to chill out in when the sun got too hot.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Sunset at Rarotonga Backpackers

Cook Islands - Rarotonga

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Our Beach Hut at Rarotonga backpackers

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Rich on the beach

There was a gorgeous dog there – we're not sure whether he was wild or had an owner but he was so cute and friendly. Rich made friends with him straight away and had lots of fun playing with him and even named him Max. It's great knowing that there is no rabies here and so it's not dodgy to have a play with the dogs. When we left we were both quite gutted to say goodbye to him (especially Rich). If we could have taken him home with us and adopted him we would have.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Max

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Max and Rich chilling out

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Rich and Max at Rarotonga Backpackers

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Eve and Max at Rarotonga Backpackers

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Rich saying goodbye to Max

On Sunday night we went out for dinner at the nearest restaurant to us (about a ten minute walk away down a pitch black road) called the Waterline. It was so good to eat proper food after practically living off nothing but noodles and pasta for a few days. After dinner one of the guests and the owner of the restaurant started playing their guitars and having a bit of a sing. It turned into a bit of a sing-a-long and Rich and I joined in (yes, Rich!!). Before we came away one of our worst nightmares was that we'd end up getting roped into some saddo traveller hippy sing-a-long and here we were joining in. They weren't hippy traveller types though. Just a bloke on holiday and the owner of the restaurant. Totally different. Obviously.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Waterline Restaurant

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Waterline Restaurant

Day 274, 275, 276 – Monday 19th, Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st – Cook Islands - Aitutaki (Eve writing)

While we were in Sydney we'd booked and paid for flights to spend 4 nights in Aitutaki – another one of the Cook Islands. It certainly wasn't cheap to get there so we were really glad it had all been paid for while we still had money coming in in Australia.

The flight wasn't until 6pm so we hung around Rarotonga backpackers for most of the day before getting the bus up to the airport. It was so funny how casual the flight arrangements were – they ticked our name off on a piece of paper on a clipboard and gave us a tiny paper slip which was the boarding pass. There was no security at all – just walk on through. Not what we're used to at all!

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - The aeroplane we are getting to Aitutaki

The flight was only 45 minutes and as we flew into Aitutaki we got amazing views across the island and the lagoon. It has been said that the lagoon here is one of the best in the world and at first glance it's easy to see why.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - View from the aeroplane

When we had arrived in Rarotonga 6 days earlier I said I had never been to such a tiny airport – well Aitutaki totally beats Rarotonga for tiny airport. It was such a small little building. They don't even have a baggage collection point – they brought the luggage out on trolleys from the plane and we just had to grab our bags off the trolley in a free for all. Everyone was very civilised about it though.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Arriving at the tiny airport

Our accommodation had sent someone to pick us up in a mini van which is always handy. The accommodation was called Paradise Cove and was about 8 little huts right on the beach. They looked so cute with thatched roofs and wooden balconies looking out to sea. Inside it was OK but not as nice as the Rarotonga Backpackers hut.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Our Beach Hut at Paradise Cove

The best bit was definitely the view out to the beach and to sea and during our stay we saw some amazing sun sets.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Sunset at Paradise Cove

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Sunset at Paradise Cove

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Sunset at Paradise Cove

Whilst we thought Rarotonga was tiny, Aitutaki is even tinier. They don't even have a bus service or any other mode of public transport. The only way to get around is by foot or by scooter. Or taxi but seeing as we're backpackers we can't afford that. On our first day we decided to walk into town. We had estimated it would take us about 30 minutes but it was more like 50. And it was roasting hot. When we got to “town” we realised it was little more than a bank, a visitor information centre (that was shut), an indoor market (that only sold cabbages and celery), a public toilet (that was locked), a fishing club (that was deserted), a souvenir shop and a mini mart. Ha ha. We stocked up on provisions in the mini mart and then did the 50 minute trek back to our digs. We were both knackered by the time we got back and I had blisters on my feet from my flip flops rubbing. At least we had beer to cheer us up.

One day we decided to hire a scooter to explore a bit more of the island. We've never ridden one before so it was quite funny trying to get the hang of it – it isn't as easy as it looked! After a bit of practise Rich felt he was confident enough to go so I jumped on the back and off we went. Luckily there is a 40km/h speed limit on the whole of the island so it's very safe and sedate tootling along on the scooter. The majority of the other vehicles we saw were scooters and everyone waves a friendly greeting as you go past. I have never met such lovely friendly people in one community.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Rich on a scooter we hired

We rode to a place called O'Otu beach which was so stunningly beautiful it took by breath away. I would go so far as to say I have never seen anywhere as beautiful in my whole life. The sea was a range of beautiful turquoises and blues and the sand was golden. Sand banks stretched out from the shore at various places and it was possible to swim out to the sand banks and be standing on the sand bank in the middle of the lagoon. Gorgeous. Hopefully the photos show how beautiful it was.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - O'Otu

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - O'Otu

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - O'Otu

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - O'Otu

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - O'Otu - Rich

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - O'Otu

Day 277 - Thursday 22nd October – Cook Islands - Aitutaki (Eve writing)

We'd booked to do a lagoon cruise today and surprise surprise it was raining. I don't know why we were so surprised seeing as most of the stuff we planned to do in NZ had got cancelled due to weather. Luckily this tour wasn't cancelled but it certainly would have been a lot more enjoyable if the sun had been shining.

We got picked up by our guide Panu and taken out to his little yellow boat. The other 6 people on the tour were all staying at the super posh Aitutaki Lagoon Resort – 4 of them were on their honeymoon. The boat was so basic – with loose plastic chairs to sit on – but was probably smarter than most of the boats we went on in Thailand.

The first stop was in the middle of the lagoon to try and spot some turtles. They come up for air every now and then and so you can see them bobbing up out of the water. We saw a few splashes where we'd just missed them coming up but did eventually see one – although it was a very fleeting peek. They didn't come up to the boat which was a shame as the water was so clear we would definitely have seen them if they had.

We drove further out into the lagoon and it was our chance to go snorkelling off the boat. Seeing as the weather was pants it wasn't an attractive prospect to strip down to cozzies and jump in the cold water but we bit the bullet and got in. Rich and I swam around together and saw lots of fish – mainly little black and white clown fish type things. The coral was also very colourful – such a shame it wasn't sunny as it would have been even better.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Rich about to go snorkelling in the lagoon

We dried off as quickly as we could upon getting out of the water and then actually felt a bit warmer for a little while. Panu then stopped the boat in a really shallow area where he jumped out and started hand feeding some fish with bread. The best bit was when a big puffer fish came over and he was literally feeding it bread out of his hand and stroking it.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Feeding a puffer fish in the lagoon

Next stop was Honeymoon Island. Within the lagoon are a number of islands that really are the stereotypical desert island – white sands and palm trees with turquoise waters.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Honeymoon Island - Eve

Honeymoon Island has a gorgeous sand bank that stretches out really far into the lagoon so Panu stopped the boat here and set out a table full of delicious fresh tropical fruit – passion fruit, mango, guava, paw paw and banana. It was amazing. Funnily enough I partook of the fruit a great deal more than Rich.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Honeymoon Island - Boat

We then walked and paddled along the length of the sand bank in order to get to the main part of the island. It was so beautiful. But it was raining which was a real big shame and so we got soaked and a bit cold. I didn't moan though – promise!! Honeymoon Island was named by a Canadian couple who were the first people ever to get married there. In Aitutaki the locals only ever get married in church and so the Canadian couple had to get special permission from the local council who deliberated for ages as to whether they would allow them to marry there but in the end decided they could seeing as they were tourists, not locals.

Next stop was to an island where they filmed the Shipwrecked Battle of the Islands TV programme (Mums and Dads probably haven't heard of it but it's legendary Saturday morning hangover Channel 4 TV viewing). We went to the island that hosted the Tigers although I swear I didn't recognise any of it from the TV show. There was also very little evidence to suggest that there had been a TV show filmed there – except for a wooden table that was still standing. We had a walk around the coast of the island and saw loads of hermit crabs which were really cute and would hide in their shells as soon as they sensed our footsteps.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Tiger Island

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Tiger Island - Eve and Rich

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Tiger Island - Rich

For lunch we went to One Foot Island – another tiny little Robinson Crusoe style desert island. This island is so tiny we walked all around it's shoreline in about ten minutes. They had a little hut on the beach which was a post office and if you wanted to you could actually send postcards from here (at a price obviously so we didn't bother) and you can even get your passport stamped to say you've been there. Again the passport stamping was at a price so we decided not to bother.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - One Foot Island - Eve

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - One Foot Island - Rich

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - One Foot Island

Panu had prepared a really great island lunch of marinated tuna, sausages and a range of salads and potato dishes. We sat in a little hut and had a great feed and chatted to some of the other people on the tour. Finally it was time to leave and Panu took us back across the lagoon in the boat to the main island.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - One Foot Island - Lunch with some Swedes

Typically the sun came out just as we got back!

After a shower and a game of cards (Rich won! What's going on?) we headed out to a local place (about 15 minute walk away) called Tamanu where we had booked to go to an “Island Night”. They do these island nights throughout the whole of the Cook Islands and it involves a big old buffet feast followed by some local entertainment.

When we got there they told us that everyone had to pick a flower out of the bowl and wear it behind their ear. Rich wasn't impressed. Hee hee. They also advised us that we would be sharing a table with another couple which we didn't mind at all. However, when we got to the table we started wishing we were on our own or had been put with someone else. There was a couple, Nigel and Kimberley, and whilst Nigel made a bit of an effort to be friendly Kimberley had a right face on her. She even told us that she'd said she wasn't happy about sharing the table with other people. How to make us all feel awkward. She also started whispering to Nigel and even put her hand up cupped to her mouth- like the kind of thing kids do in school. I had to resist the urge to sound like a parent and say “it's rude to whisper”. During the short conversation we had with Nigel we found out they had been at a conference in Rarotonga that was a spiritual conference that had involved lots of hands on experience, but that was all the information we got about it. Sounded a bit dodgy to me – perhaps they were in a cult?

Anyway, the food was great and it really was a huge feast. There were a few dubious items (like a rubbery banana jelly thing that was part of the main course) but we tried them all and were very stuffed by the end. After dinner it was time for the show which turned out to be really fantastic. Much better than the other shows we have seen on our travels (the Beijing Kung Fu show and the Bali Kecak dance pale in comparison). There was a band playing wooden instruments and drums that provided the music and then there were groups of female dancers followed by male warrior dancers. The females were a perfect mix of cute and sexy, in coconut shell bras and sarong skirts and did this amazing bum shaking move – I was a little worried their sarongs were going to fall off due to the vigour of the shaking action. The men also managed to be naughty and cute at the same time with lots of cheeky grins and hip wiggling moves. They did their own version of the Maori Haka which was really cool and also funny. The guys also did a vast array of fire dancing – with the flaming stick juggling. They even got up on each others shoulders to do it. The very last thing they did was a little chant and dance in their own language that was a farewell greeting. It ended in “see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!” Cheeky boys.

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Lady Dancing

Cook Islands - Aitutaki - Warriors Dancing

After they had finished the show they got some people up with them to teach them some “moves”. One of the men came up to me and asked me to dance but I was way too scared to get up in front of all those people and do some bum wiggling so I declined his kind offer. I was so glad I declined because the poor people that were roped into it made right fools of themselves. It was very funny though. A thoroughly enjoyable evening that would possibly make my top ten of things we have done in our time away.

Day 278 – Friday 23rd October – Cook Islands - Rarotonga (Eve writing)

Flew back to Rarotonga, checked into new place Tiare Village. Had booked to stay here as it was nearer town than the other places we'd stayed in. However, it turned out to not be on the bus route and was a half hour walk into town. We'd have been better off staying at the other places. Very annoying.

Took a walk into town, had some lunch, had a couple of beers in Trader Jacks, bought some sunnies, came back, sunbathed, showered, game of cards, walked back into town. Had drinks and dinner in Trader Jacks which was great – I had a wonderful whole snapper fish in a sweet chilli sauce. Yum yum.

Cook Islands - Rarotonga - Last supper in Trader Jacks

Day 279 – Saturday 24th October – Cook Islands - Rarotonga (Eve writing)

Last day in Rarotonga. Had a rubbish nights sleep due to the bleeding cockerals cock-a doodle-ing all night long. Sun only shone for a couple of hours but we made the most of it. Got chatting to some brummies by the pool. How typical? Come all the way to the South Pacific and end up chatting to Brummies. Ha ha. Had a nice relaxing day anyway.

Our flight to LA was leaving at 23.59 – how random? We paid for the whole day in our accommodation so we didn't have to check out and could just wander in and out our room which was very handy.

Day 261 – Wednesday 7th October – New Zealand – Wellington (Eve writing)

Luckily no hangovers and not too early a start as our ferry across the Cook Strait to Wellington wasn't until 1pm. We drove to Picton (where the ferry goes from) which took hardly any time so we drove a bit of the way along Queen Charlotte Drive towards Havelock. It was a pretty drive along a twisty hilly road with views out across Picton and Marlborough Sounds. It was a gorgeous sunny day which also makes things look a lot prettier.

We had to check in for the ferry by 12pm but we got there early at about 11.30am and had to just wait in the car queue until the ferry started loading the cars. Unfortunately there was a delay (I think due to a car on the incoming ferry breaking down) and we ended up waiting in the car until 2pm! Not much fun! Luckily we had bread and ham in the boot so made ourselves a sarnie to keep us going.

Once we finally got on the ferry it was a good journey – the ferry was quite smart and the views of the Marlborough Sounds on the way out were very good. They had this great atrium at the back of the ferry with huge windows looking out across the sea.

We arrived in Wellington at about 5pm but it took us almost another hour to get off the ferry and across town to find a place to spend the night. Managed to find a reasonable backpackers hostel called Rowenas Lodge just on the outskirts of the city and with free parking. After a quick freshen up we headed into the city with a craving for a curry. As we walked along Courtenay Place (the main nightlife street) we bumped into an old friend – Jerome – who we'd met in Nha Trang in Vietnam!! What a small world. So we went for a couple of drinks with Jerome and caught up on news from the last few months. He's been working in Auckland and now Wellington and is trying to save enough cash to carry on with his travels. I still can't believe we just randomly bumped into him. What a coincidence.

Rich and I then said goodbye to Jerome and went to an Indian restaurant where we satisfied our curry cravings. It wasn't the best curry in the world but it was cheap and did the job.

Day 262 – Thursday 8th October – New Zealand – Taupo (Eve writing)

The staff in this hostel were right grumpy old men. When I went to check out the miserable sod barely even spoke to me. Hence I enjoyed giving him a big cheery “goodbye, thank-you!” as I left.

New Zealand - Wellington

The drive to Taupo from Wellington is about 380km so we knew it was going to take us most of the day to drive. The drive took us past Tongariro National Park which is the location of Mt Ngauruhoe, also known as “Mount Doom” from the Lord of the Rings movies. We wanted to know where the best place to get a view of it was and so we called into an information centre on the way in a town called Bulls. The lady that tried to help us was useless. She didn't even know that they had filmed there so couldn't really help too much. And she had the worst breath ever in the whole world and it really made me feel quite sick and I had to leave the room. She carried on talking to Rich and started telling him about Bulls. Apparently in this town they have toilets that are service-a-bull, sandwiches that are ed-i-bull, and an ice cream parlour that is lick-a-bull... We thought she was just trying to be funny but then when we drove out of the car park we noticed that it was true and they actually had signs on all the shops that corresponded with what she'd said. It was quite funny actually.

Listening to the radio in the car we were a bit shocked to hear that there had been a series of earthquakes in the South Pacific that had triggered a tsunami warning that reached as far as New Zealand and was due to hit the coastline in about an hour. Say whaaaaaat?!! Luckily right at that point in time we could not have been further from the coast in New Zealand if we had tried but it was still a bit of a shock to the system. We were even more relieved a little later to hear that the warning had been cancelled as although a large wave had been triggered it was not big enough to cause a tsunami. Phew!

As we approached the outskirts of the Tongariro National Park we could see where it had been snowing heavily recently – only 2 days earlier this road had been impassable due to snow and stranded people had had to be rescued. Luckily today the road was clear. We saw the huge Mt Ruapehu volcano and got a couple of snaps but unfortunately it was too cloudy for us to get a glimpse of Mount Doom. However, it later dawned on me that we had driven right past an active volcano – this volcano last erupted in 2007!! I remember when I was little I was petrified of volcanoes and earthquakes and my Mum reassured me there were no volcanoes in England and I didn't ever have to visit a country with volcanoes if I didn't want to. Yet here I was driving right past one and taking photos of it. How times change.

New Zealand - Taupo - Tongariro National Park

We arrived in Taupo at about 4pm and found a great backpackers place called Rainbow Lodge. For only $64 (about £28) we have a lovely double bedroom with private bathroom, flat screen TV and a private little patio area with table and chairs. It's lovely. Definitely the best value room we've stayed in. The bed even had an electric blanket – which will come in handy considering how cold the weather has been.

After a well needed cup of tea we went for a wander around town and unsurprisingly ended up in the irish pub happy hour. There was a big gang of drunken rowdy army cadets having dinner there so we moved on to the other irish pub where we got a fantastic deal of $25 for irish stew and three drinks. Bargain!!

Day 263 – Friday 9th October – New Zealand – Taupo (Eve writing)

Surprise surprise we had another disappointment today and the weather was too bad for us to do the Skydive. We had figured this out before we even got out of bed as the weather on the TV told us the area we were in had heavy rain and snow warnings with a large “snow dump” later on. So I made the most of it and stayed in bed watching TV (Australia's Biggest Loser – always good for cheering me up) with the electric blanket turned on full. Toasty!

We'd re-booked to do the Skydive for mid-day but seeing as the weather had no hope of clearing up we decided to just sack it off for today and re-booked for tomorrow.

We treated ourselves to a tasty homemade pie and chocolate muffin for lunch from the local bakery and popped to the supermarket to stock up on groceries. It was still raining after lunch so after a big debate we decided we couldn't face another day just sitting around doing nothing so we put over waterproof jackets on and did the 2 hour return hike to Huka Falls – in the rain. We did get quite wet but the falls were very beautiful with tons of bright turquoise water rushing through. On the way we passed some hot springs which were steaming due to the water being warm and the air being cold.

Back to the hostel for a hot shower, a laundry session and TV. Unfortunately there was not much else to do due to the horrendous weather. I spent a while writing this blog and Rich had a snooze and complained about being bored. We were feeling a bit deflated seeing as so many things had been cancelled and the weather had prevented us from doing much else.

Day 264 – Saturday 10th October – New Zealand – Rotorua (Eve writing)

Not only was the Skydive cancelled again but I woke up feeling really ill with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Great. That's why going for a walk in the rain really isn't a good idea. Two very cheesed off peeps said goodbye to Taupo, where we really hadn't done very much and moved on to Rotorua.

I'd expected Rotorua to be a tiny place (like Franz Josef) so was quite surprised when we got there to find it is actually a decent sized town with quite a lot going on. I called into the i-site information centre to ask about places to stay and was given the name of the YHA as Tricks. It was only when I looked at the flyer that I realised it was “Treks.” Those pesky vowels again.

We booked our activities for the next day (White water rafting surely can't get cancelled due to the weather?) and got a free ticket to Hells Gate Thermal Reserve. The plan was to go to Hells Gate followed by the Zorb. The Zorb is a “ride” where they stick you inside a big clear rubber ball, shove a load of water in and push you off a hill to roll down to the bottom!! Sounds like great fun. Anyway, we rang the Zorb place and surprise surprise it wasn't open at the moment due to the weather. EVERYTHING KEEPS GETTING CANCELLED!!!!

So off we went to Hells Gate Thermal Reserve which is a volcanic area that has steaming hot sulphur pools and bubbling mud pools and a mud volcano. They claim to Rotorua's most active gethermal reserve and supposedly got the name given to them by George Bernard Shaw when he visited as he felt the terrain looked like hell. There was a large area to walk around with different pools with names like Devils Bath, Ink Pots, Inferno Pools, Sodom and Gomorrah – all of which had differing temperatures and behaviours (the steaming cliffs pool gets as hot as 145 °C at one metre below the surface. There was a waterfall, Kakahi falls which reaches temperatures of 40 °C. Imagine what a lovely hot shower that would make. Apparently the Maori soldiers used to bathe here after battles and the natural properties of the water would help heal their wounds. The whole park was quite interesting and it's obviously not something we would see back home but I think the mud pools had been watered down by all the rain we've been having and so it wasn't as gloopy as we'd hoped. We were glad we hadn't paid to go in. There was a spa area here too but we would have had to pay extra and decided we didn't fancy sitting in pools of sulphur again.

We went back to Rotorua had took a walk around town and looked in a few souvenir shops which all sold the same stuff but as usual we didn't buy any souvenirs – no room in the packs unfortunately. If I ever go travelling again I reckon I will take a bigger pack and leave space for buying cool stuff.

After a quick refreshener in the Pig and Whistle (a pub that used to be a police station) it was back to the hostel for dinner and a game of Canasta. I won of course. Hee hee.

Day 265 – Sunday 11th October – New Zealand – Rotorua (Eve writing)

We woke to a beautiful sunny day – the kind of weather that would have been perfect for a helicopter ride up a glacier, a dolphin watching cruise, a skydive or a zorb. But today we were white water rafting and I'd certainly rather be doing that in the sun than the rain.

We were ready and waiting to go twenty minutes ahead of our pick up time of 10am but by 10.05am they still weren't there to pick us up. So Rich rang their office and was told they had left a message with our reception as they had to delay the start time due to the river not being “open” (something to do with the government releasing water from reservoirs at certain times of the day). Both of us straight away assumed the worst and that this was going to be yet another activity that was going to be cancelled.

However, 11am rolled around and they arrived to pick us up. We were off to do something! Yipee!! In the mini van on the way there they showed us photos of previous rafting expeditions which included the “carnage” photos of people being totally thrown from the raft and rafts capsizing etc. It was shocking stuff. They also made us sign a disclaimer which said there was a real risk of personal injury by taking part in rafting. I started to get seriously scared and wished I was doing a skydive instead of this. I've never done white water rafting before and this was what they class as a grade 5 river – which means there are big water falls. Help!!!

We pulled up to the shed they operate from and got given wet suits, fleece jumpers, booties, splash jackets, life jackets and helmets to change into. We were then split into two groups of 4 people to go in each raft and were assigned a guide. Rich and I were in a raft with an english couple called Angela and Luke and our guide was Tim. He was a bit mental and hyperactive and obviously loved his job. He got us all in the raft (on dry land) and started explaining what the instructions meant. There was so much to remember I was worried I wouldn't remember what to do once we were on the water.

Finally we were in the raft on the water and we were off. It was great fun! Not scary at all. We had a few laughs splashing the raft with the other group in. The first waterfall we went down was about 3 metres high. I just closed by eyes tight and clenched my mouth shut and clung onto the raft as hard as I could and it was fine. In fact, hilarious. Especially seeing as Rich was at the front of the raft and seemed to have got the worst of the force of the water and looked a bit shell shocked. But he was still smiling so I knew he was OK.

A lot of the time in the raft seemed to be just floating about on the water but the best bit was when we got to go down a 7 metre waterfall. Apparently it is the tallest waterfall that you are allowed to white water raft down in the world (or something like that. It might just be NZ but I am sure he said world).
I was convinced we were going to end of tipping over. After seeing all the carnage photos on the way there it seemed an inevitability. Tim told us what to do if we ended up in the water (curl up in a ball and the life jacket brings you to the surface) or underneath the capsized raft (cling on to it and get your head up into one of the air pockets that will be created). I asked Tim how likely it was that we were going to end up in the water and he said about 1 in 10 capsize. That actually made me feel better. So off we went, I paddled as fast as I could, jumped down into the raft when Tim told me to, closed my eyes as tight as I could, held on for dear life and we made it!! Yay!! That was fun – can we do it again?!

We then spent a bit more time messing about in the raft and the best game seemed to be paddling up as close to the base of a rapid as possible so the people in the front seats get totally soaked. This also seemed to be a good photo opportunity.

The most difficult bit of the experience was carrying the raft back up the hill to put on the van. By now I was also freezing as we'd got a good drenching. Thank goodness it was sunny. I enjoyed the rafting far more than I thought I would and had such a laugh. It was scarier than the paragliding but was definitely one of those things where the anticipation is way scarier than the thing itself. I would definitely do it again.

Back in town I just couldn't get myself warm. I wrapped up in as many clothes as possible, had 2 cups of tea, chilli con carne for lunch and was still shivering. The cold I woke up with yesterday seemed to have developed into a fever and I started feeling really ill.

We drove out to the zorb sight and debated about whether to do it or not as it seemed like a lot of money for a very short ride. I decided I was definitely not going to do it as I felt so ill and so persuaded Rich he had to do it. He didn't need much persuasion.

Zorb is crazy. It's a big clear rubber ball that you get inside and then roll down a hill. You can choose to do it dry (where they strap you in) or wet (where they put a load of water in) and then you can chose to go straight down or zig zag down. Rich chose to do it with water and go zig zag!! It was so funny, he was bumping around all over the place and also got soaking wet obviously. He said he had no idea which was was up or down and got thrown about all over the place. He really enjoyed it though.

In the evening we had booked for a Maori Hangi and Concert at Mitai Marae. This was an evening of Maori entertainment and culture and meal. We got picked up from our hostel and taken there and got led into a huge dining room with seating for at least 100 people, probably more. There was nothing in the room that looked like anything Maori (except the bar staff) and there was an old crooner at the front playing songs like Rivers of Babylon, Green Door and Rocking Robin on the sax. Occasionally he stopped playing the sax and would croon along to a backing track. Not what I had expected at all.

We were on a table with 2 kiwis (whose names we never found out), 2 Frenchies (Amy and Angie), a German (Lena) and a Belch (what do you call people from Belgium?). Once the room was almost full of guests our host for the night started his introductions. He explained about the Mitai tribe and that this was their land and village. He then went on to ask which countries the people in the room were from. There were people from 18 nations and he could speak a few words of every single one of the languages that were represented. This included Cantonese, Thai, Taiwanese, Finnish, Swedish, German, French, Italian and more. It was very impressive.

We were all then led outside where we saw the hangi that was cooking our food. It's a hole in ground where wood is burnt underneath rocks. The rocks get white hot and the food is placed on top. Then blankets are put over the top and so the steam is kept inside and all the food cooks away over a long period of time. It looked yummy. Chicken, lamb and potatoes.

We were then all led through the bush to a river where the Maori warriors came rowing in on a big wooden canoe (waka) which was carved by the Mitai family. They were dressed in traditional old tribe outfits (pretty much just loin cloths), had tattoed faces and were singing and chanting and doing that funny thing where they open their eyes really wide and stick their tongues out (Pukana). I started laughing but I think you're meant to be intimidated by it. Oops.

We then went and sat in an outdoor theatre type place where we had a cultural performance that lasted about 2 hours. It was really interesting and was not like any show I have seen before. It started with the welcome ceremony (pohiri) where the tribe welcomes the visiting tribe (us lot). The first thing they do is that they make a challenge to the visiting tribe by laying down a peace token. If the visitors pick it up it means they come in peace but if they don't then they are here to attack.

The women then do a welcome dance and song and I am telling you you would not mess with these women. Although it was meant to be a welcome dance it was scary stuff. Most of them were bigger than the blokes too. It was kind of combined and followed by a haka dance involving the men. For those that don't know the haka (meaning words of fire) is the dance that the All Black rugby players do before each game. The dance is classed as a welcome dance but is also to warn visitors of the strength and vigor of the tribe should the visitors decide to attack. This was what I had come to see and it didn't disappoint. I thought it was great and I was seriously a little bit intimidated, but also entertained. There were lots of pukanas (the tongue sticking out thing) which means “my mouth waters and I lick my lips for soon I will taste your flesh”. Nice.

There were a few more dances and songs and playing of instruments and weapon demonstrations. They also talked a bit about what the tattoos represent. The chief had tattoos that covered the whole area from his waist to his knees. He had these big spiral tattoos on each bum cheek which represent mother earth and her energy patterns found in wind and water.

After all that it was finally time to eat and when we got back to the dining room all the food had been brought in from the hangi and there was a big buffet table down the middle of the room with all the food on. Yum yum. Pudding was chocolate log and trifle. Yum yum.

After dinner the evening still wasn't over and we got taken back into the woods for a walk back to the river to see the glow worms. I was absolutely freezing and felt really ill and shivery and whilst it was nice to see the glow worms I just wanted the evening to finish now so I could go back and get into bed and warm up!! Luckily my wish was granted and we got taken home and I snuggled gratefully into bed.

Day 266 – Monday 12th October – New Zealand – Waitomo (Eve writng)

Bye bye Rotorua and hello pretty drive to Waitomo. Pretty much the only thing in Waitomo is the famous glow worms. This place was even more a one street town than Franz Josef had been. We had intended to see the caves through one of the adventure tours where they take you through the caves via a series of black water rafting, climbing and tubing. It sounded like great fun but we didn't think it would be a good idea due to me having a fever. So we rang one of the tamer boat trip tours to try and get on the 3pm tour. They weren't running one today so we just booked on the 10am tour for tomorrow.

We took a drive out of town to visit a few places. First stop was Mangapohue Natural Bridge which has a giant limestone natural arch at the end of a short walk through the bush. Walking further there is a field with big rocks in which have fossilized oysters in them. Very random. Apparently this area used to be under sea so that's why they are there.

Second stop was the Marokopa Falls which were again found at the end of a short bush walk. We both agreed it was possibly the best waterfall we have seen in all our travels – very big and powerful.

Next stop was the Piripiri Caves which is a large cave with lots of fossilized oysters. It was pitch black inside the cave so we couldn't see anything and didn't have a torch and it looked very spooky.

The whole time we were out we didn't see another single person at any of the sights and probably only passed about 2 other cars. Where in the world does that happen these days? It was lovely.

Back at the ranch for dinner we met a german couple who are going to be in Rarotonga at the same time as us – in the same accommodation. Small world.

Day 267 – Tuesday 13th October – New Zealand – Waitomo to Auckland (Eve writing)

Last day in New Zealand! Where does the time go?

We arrived a keen half hour early for our Spellbound Glowworm and Cave tour and then got picked up by Ross, our guide for the day. It was obvious we were on the oldies tour as we were the youngest people by a long way. Ross was born and bred on a farm in this area and so knew a lot about the area and it's history and he was also a proper farmer type. In a nice way.

He drove us out along twisty dirt tracks to a place that felt like it was in the middle of nowhere where we were going to go into a glow worm cave. It was really great because we were the only tour group in this cave and there was only about 12 people in our group so it didn't feel like we were on some big impersonal tourist tour.

We got kitted out with safety helmets and then Ross went down to the stream where he hand fed an eel with raw goat meat! He was stroking the eel like it was a little dog. Random.

We then went into the Mangawhitikau cave and got in a little raft. We all had to turn our lights off (on the front of our helmets) and it was literally pitch black except for the millions of little lights from the glow worms on the top of the cave. Very pretty. As our eyes became adjusted to the light we could see more and more glow worms. Even prettier. Apparently this is the cave that David Attenborough used in his Planet Earth programme.

Glow worms are actually maggots that use their twinkly tails to attract insects to eat which are then paralyzed by the saliva of the glow worm. Doesn't sound so pretty when you know that does it?

After the glow worm cave Ross took us up to this little shelter place on the hill where he produced a thermos flask with a choice of tea, coffee or hot chocolate and some biccies! We all just sat around having a chat and admiring the view. It was so funny – not like any normal tour. It just felt like we were on a day trip with some friends. Most tours make you feel a bit like a battery hen but this one was really relaxed.

We then went into another cave, “The Cave of the Spirit”, which didn't have glow worms but had lots of stalagmites and stalactites (is that the right spellings?!) so wasn't as pretty but still kind of cool. There was a skeleton of a Moa bird that was 20,000 years old. Moa birds are like big emu type birds but were hunted to extinction a long time ago. I was actually more interested in the much younger cow skeleton – the poor thing had fallen down an air shaft, got stuck in the cave and died.

The tour was meant to finish at 1pm but we didn't get back to the car park until 1.45pm. When have you ever heard of a tour that lasts for longer than they say it will be? Usually they rush you through.

As we were meeting people in Auckland we jumped into the car and got off quickly to head up to Auckland. We somehow managed to find our hotel (out near the airport) and had a quick turn around before jumping back in the car to head into the city. Rich dropped me at the Langham hotel where I was meeting Vic (sister of my best buddy George) as she was on a stopover from work (she is a purser for Emirates Airline). Rich meanwhile was going round to a relatives house – this time it was Marina (niece of Betty and cousin of Sue).

I had a great time with Vic and it was really cool to have a good old girly chat with an old mate (I have known Vic for nearly 20 years!!!!). We had a few vinos in the hotel bar and a couple of pizzas and Rich came to join us a few hours later.

Poor Vic was shattered as she hadn't been to bed all night and we had an early night the next day so we left about 8pm and went back to the hotel to re-pack our backpacks ready for the Cook Islands. Woo hoo!!!

Day 253 – Tuesday 29th September – New Zealand – Queenstown (Eve writing)

Back on the road again – with only 3 weeks to do the whole of New Zealand we need to keep moving at least every 2 days in order to fit in as much as possible. The journey from Te Anau to Queenstown is quite short so we arrived before midday which was good. We couldn't check in until 1pm but could use the kitchen to make our lunch. Unfortunately it was getting cleaned so we had to wait. And wait. And wait. Over an hour later we were still waiting – turns out she was doing the spring clean! Eventually they agreed we could go in so long as we didn't mind the cleaning lady cleaning. We made super noodles with fried eggs. Surprisingly tasty.

After our lunch we went for a wander around the town. What a gorgeous place Queenstown is. It's so unbelievably beautiful with the glistening Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains (yes, you guessed it, snow capped). There are also buildings full of character, interesting little shops and fabulous looking pubs with roaring fires. I love it already.

We had decided to risk staying in a dorm room seeing as the last few places had worked out OK (except the smelly Korean food but that wasn't too bad really). However, when we went in the room there was this overpowering smell of musty teenage boys bedroom. Yack. Thought I might vomit. And lo and behold in one of the bunks was a sleeping smelly lad with all his smelly backpack contents strewn all over the floor around the bottom of the bunk. Later on (about 5pm I reckon) he got out of bed when I happened to be in the room getting something out of my bag. I asked him if he'd had a heavy night the night before and he said he'd actually been ill for about 5 days and still wasn't feeling great. So I started to feel a little sorry for him, although also couldn't help wishing we weren't sharing a room with a smelly ill bloke. I totally lost all sympathy for him later on that night when at about 5.30am he burst into the room and collapsed on the floor. It was almost as if someone had opened the door and thrown a dead body in the room. One of the two German girls who were also in the room with us gasped and said “halloh?” and the drunken smelly bloke said “sshhhh, it's sleepy time”. At least he wasn't dead. After about 5 minutes he managed to get up off the floor and haul himself fully clothed into bed. No wonder he's been ill for 5 days. Idiot.

Poor Rich had to sleep on the bunk above him:

Anyway, we didn't let him spoil our time in Queentown. In the afternoon we had booked to do the Shotover Jet on the Shotover river canyons. For those that don't know already Queenstown is dubbed the adrenaline capital (of the world?) and has an abundance of all things crazy to scare the pants off people including bungy jumping, skydiving, skiing, paragliding, hang gliding, white water rafting etc. One of these adrenaline packed activities is jet boating which is a jet propelled boat that shoots through the water at high speeds and does 360 degree spins. Due to the way the boat is built it can float on mere inches of water and has really good maneuverability. So in order to make the ride as scary as possible the driver zooms right up close to the rocks at the side of the canyons at break neck speed and then swerves to safety at the last minute. It was seriously scary and scream inducing and he went so close to the rocks I couldn't stop screaming even when I tried not to. But then would burst our laughing because it was so much fun. We were at the front of the boat as well and had a video camera right on us – unfortunately the video they took of us was only for the first 2 minutes of the ride and didn't have sound so we decided not to bother paying the $50 they wanted for the video and photos. We just paid the $20 for the photos which seemed extortionate enough. One other thing that was cool was that the hand rails in the boat were heated! Crazy stuff.

Back at the hostel we enjoyed some afternoon sun on the decking before making a really random dinner of stuff we had left over that needed eating up - mashed potato, carrot, cauliflower, baked beans and grated edam cheese. It didn't taste too bad at all actually.

We mosied on down to the town to the Buffalo pub which had a fantastic roaring fire in the middle of the room and it was so toasty and warm. Even better was that they did two for one drinks if we flashed our room key. We didn't stay for long though as we were pretty knackered.

Day 254 – Wednesday 30th September – New Zealand – Queenstown (Eve writing)

This morning I had arranged to go Paragliding! I had seen people doing it over the town the day before and thought how great it looked. I reckoned that paragliding would last longer than a bungy jump and be a bit less pricey so all in all I reckoned it would be good to give it a go. I booked the early bird special – which basically means its $50 cheaper if you get out your bed and meet them at 9am.

Rich drove us to Coronet Peak which is actually a really high snow topped mountain where they are still in ski-ing season. When we parked at the base station and I could see the chair lifts going up the mountain into the snowy slopes that were still covered in clouds I started to get a little scared. Even parking the car was scary as I almost screamed at Rich to slow down due to the sheer cliff face at the edge of the car park.

We went to meet my instructor – a cool Mexican dude called Abby who'd been paragliding for 11 years. He explained that because of the low cloud cover we wouldn't be able to go up in to the clouds as it's too dangerous and so we would take off from a much lower point. Whilst part of me was a little relieved I was also a little disappointed as I'd kind of wanted to push my limits and be really scared.

It was still pretty high up though:

So anyway, we went to this lower grassy point and Abby explained to me how it would work and what I needed to do. I got all strapped in and we were strapped together. He told me we needed to run as fast as possible off the edge of the hill and that the sail would pick up the wind and we wouldn't be able to run anymore. He said I had to make sure I ran really fast with him as otherwise he would end up just tripping over me. So off we went and I ran as fast as my legs could take me and we were up in the air flying!

Check out the video of my takeoff:

It was so much fun and not at all scary. He had a camera on a long stick so took a few photos and videos while we were up there. At one point he let me take the controls so I was steering us around. I nearly crashed into a tree when we got a bit too close to the hillside. The feeling was a bit like being in a hot air balloon – the same kind of weightlessness and gentle floating through the air. At one point I saw 2 deer running through the woods below us which was really cool.

Unfortunately it came to an end far too soon (I think this was due to us taking off from a lower point) and I think we were only in the air for about ten minutes maximum. I managed to land successfully in the designated area. I did really enjoy the experience and would do it again if I got the chance although I have to say it wasn't really scary enough. Perhaps next time I will have to do a Skydive – push those boundaries a little bit more!

Rich drove round to the landing point to pick me up and we then drove down the road to a cute little place called Arrowtown. We went into the Remarkable Sweet Shop where the lady kept making me try all this delicious fudge. How dreadful? So I bought 3 different kinds – milk chocolate, lemon meringue pie and jaffa. Yum yum. We had a look around the historic chinese settlement which wasn't especially exciting and then we went into a pub which had a roaring fire (they are fond of their roaring fires round here and it's great) and we had a coffee and some fudge. Yum yum again.

On the way back to Queenstown we stopped to take photos of a gorgeous view where the mountains were reflected in the lake. It really is so beautiful round here.

We went straight to the Skyline Gondola which takes you all the way up to the top of a hill that looks out over Queenstown. The views were absolutely stunning. At the top of the hill you can paraglide, bungy etc but they also have a really cool luge track. We paid for 5 luge rides and were like little kids bombing down the hill on the little carts. Weeeeeeeee!! I LOVE THIS CITY!!! Even the chair lift that took us back to the top of the luge ride each time was so much fun. We enjoyed taking these photos of us in the chair lift. Check out the amazing view across the city.

Eve on the chair lift:

Rich on the chair lift:

I can't believe everything we fitted in in one morning! All of that and it was only just lunctime! We went back to the hostel to have lunch and do some laundry. Then headed to the pub for beers in the afternoon sun and killed ourselves laughing at the video Rich took of me taking off in the paragliding. So very funny.

In the evening we went to the legendary Fergburger burger joint and were totally stuffed by the ginormous burgers. Then back to the cozy hostel living room to watch the end of Gangs of New York before hitting the sack exhausted from a fun filled, action packed day.

Day 255 – Thursday 1st October – New Zealand – Journey from Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier (Eve writing)

I was actually a little sad to be leaving Queenstown as we had a really great time there and I would happily go back and spend a whole week there if I ever get the chance.

Our plan had been to stop at Wanaka for a little while but in the end we just drove through and stopped only to take some photos of the beautiful lake.

We also stopped at a place called Puzzling World which is some crazy place that has a puzzle room and a maze and illusion rooms. We decided we didn't want to pay to go in the maze area and so just looked around the free bits and then moved on.

The drive to Franz Josef took us over the Haast Pass which has a few great waterfalls en route. We stopped for lunch at Haast where I had “fush and chups” which weren't that great.

When we arrived in Franz Josef it was clear it is a one street town – the only reason this town exists is to service the tourists that come here to visit the Franz Josef Glacier (named after the Austrian Emperor). A guy we had met in Queenstown recommended the Montrose Backpackers and we decided to get a private room after our last few dorm experiences. The place was spotlessly clean from top to bottom. Marvellous.

We'd booked to do a helihike on the glacier the following day, which is where you are taken up in a helicopter to areas of the glacier that are otherwise inaccessible. It was a big expense but so many people had told us what an amazing experience it is so we decided to splash out. We called into the helihike office and they gave us the bad news that the weather forecast for the following day was not looking promising but it's always so hard to tell in NZ as the weather can change from one moment to the next. We're keeping our fingers firmly crossed.

Despite the weather being a little ominous we took a drive out to the glacier and took one of the walks that can be done without a guide. We walked to Sentinel Rock which gives a view of the glacier terminal. To be honest from this far away there wasn't much to look at and as expected the glacier terminal is quite dirty and grey (from all the rocks etc it picks up on it's way down).

Maori legend says that a girl lost her boyfriend while walking on the cliff and the glacier was formed from her tears. Or something like that.

In the evening we went to the pub, made some pasta bolognese and watched a bit of TV in the big lounge area. Crazy stuff.

Day 256 – Friday 2nd October – New Zealand – Franz Josef Glacier (Eve writing)

When we woke up and looked out of the window it was fairly certain that the helihike was going to be cancelled but we kept our hopes up and carried on getting ready. However, our luck was not in and due to low cloud cover and rain forecast the helicopters were not flying. We could choose to do a 5 hour half day walk up from the base of the glacier instead (they weren't cancelled) but after seeing how heavy the rain was we decided that was not something we fancied doing. So we re-booked the helihike for tomorrow morning and are keeping our fingers firmly crossed.

Despite the rain we took a drive back to the glacier with the intention of doing the unguided Glacier Valley walk to the actual terminal face. The walk was closed due to flooding and it also started chucking down with rain even harder just as we got out of the car so we ran back to the car and gave up on the walk idea.

With not much else to do in this one horse town we spent a few hours hanging out at the hostel -
catching up on emails etc. There was also a stack of OK magazines so I caught up on celebrity gossip. The weather had cleared up a little in the afternoon so we went back to the glacier again but still couldn't do the long walk as it was closed so we just did a couple of the shorter walks (to Peter's Pool and part of way to the Glacier Valley).

Back in the town we went to The Landing pub where there was a gorgeous outside gas burning fire with cosy sofas and soft fluffy blankets. We snuggled up on the sofa over a few happy hour beers and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine.

After dinner in the hostel we played an old favorite – monopoly! I won of course. Hee hee.

Day 257 – Saturday 3rd October – New Zealand – Franz Josef to Hokitika to Greymouth (Eve writing)

The darn helihike was cancelled again and I was totally gutted. I even started crying a little bit! Then I had a reality check and decided I'd rather be here gutted that a tour had been cancelled than stressed at work in an office. We decided to just move on as there is nothing else to do in Franz Josef and Rich even suggested that we use the money to pay for a Skydive in Taupo instead! Woo hoo.

We drove up the west coast and stopped at Hokitika and had a look around all the greenstone and jade jewellry shops that it is famous for.

The weather was really bad so we were glad we hadn't hung around Franz Josef hoping for the weather to clear up as the helihike would have definitely been cancelled again.

We got to Greymouth and checked into the Noah's Ark backpackers where rooms were all animal themed. We were in the leopard room which had leopard print curtains, bed covers, cushion covers and a big picture of a leopard over the fire place. It sounds tacky but was actually really cool and the room was really big and spacious.

The weather was still really bad and we needed an indoor activity so we went to the Monteiths Brewery for a tour. I was surprised by how small and basic the brewery was and much of the equipment looked like it had been there since the brewery first opened many many years ago. After the tour we got to sit in their little bar and try 6 different beers and the new crushed apple cider. They were all really good beers and we're now big fans. The cider was dangerously delicious. Apparently the beers are distributed in the UK through Waitrose shops.

We got a real taste for the Monteiths Black beer so asked the tour guide where we could go and get it in town. He recommended the Rivington Arms so we gritted our teeth against the howling wind and walked back into town where we promptly spotted the “Revington” Arms. This kiwi accent is so random. They say i's like u's and e's like i's. So instead of pen they say pin. Instead of kiss they say kuss. It's been an endless source of amusement for us.

After a couple of jugs of the black stuff we couldn't be bothered to cook our own dinner so lazily and unhealthily visited the local MacDonalds. Oh dear. Then as we walked back to our digs it started hailing!! Not good. We spent the rest of the evening in the cosy TV room watching old VCRs. It's so strange how everywhere seems to be so behind the times in terms of technology. I mean, who has shelves full of VCRs these days?

Day 258 – Sunday 4th October – New Zealand – Greymouth to Punakaiki to Westport to Hanmer Springs (Eve writing)

We had a lot to fit in today so got up pretty early and the first stop was Punakaiki. The coastal drive was great with beautiful views across wilds seas and natural coastline. At Punakaiki there are the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. The Pancake Rocks are rock formations that have the effect of being layered like pancakes. At various places where the rocks have been worn away by the sea there are blowholes and if the tide is right the sea surges out through the blowholes. This place didn't disappoint and the first time we saw one of the blowholes “blowing” we both jumped a mile – it was accompanied by a big BOOM! In some areas where the sun was shining through the spray from the water there were beautiful rainbows. It was lovely and we'd managed to get it at high tide (totally by chance) which made it all the more spectacular.

When we had visited Betty in Christchurch she gave us the phone number for her daughter Sue Findlay who lives in Punakaiki and so we'd called in advance and arranged to call in for a cup of coffee. Sue lives with her husband Craig and five children (yes, five!!!), Jed (16), Dion (14), Kate (12), Tim (10), Eve (8) and two golden retriever puppies. Talk about a full household. They also have chickens!

When we arrived we were greeted by Sue, Kate, Eve and two eager puppies. What a lovely greeting. Their house is in such an amazing location with fabulous views across the sea from the balcony. After introductions and chats we all trooped out to sit at a picnic table just out of the bottom of their garden right next to the sea front. We sat and drank coffee and ate fruit bread and choccie biccies by the sea. It was great and what a fabulous family they were. Considering we had never met them before and they are rather distant relations of Richard's they were so welcoming and friendly. And they were such a great bunch of kids – really good fun and friendly. I had a lovely chat with them. Both Eve and I found it funny to meet another Eve and found it weird when we heard the other people saying our name but realising it was directed at the other Eve! When we left they gave us half a dozen freshly laid eggs from “Findlay's Farm”. We were so pleased that we'd called in to meet them all and wish we had planned to stay for longer.

We continued along the coast road and took a slight deter to a place called Cape Foulwind (named by Captain Cook after his ship was battered by strong winds) for a walk along the cliffs to look at a seal colony. It's the second time we have seen a seal colony and it's kind of losing it's novelty factor now. Whilst it's always great to see animals in their natural habitat I am of the opinion that they are a bit boring to look at – like big clumsy slugs flopping around the rocks.

We carried on to Westport and the remainder of the drive was still beautiful drive. We stopped for lunch in a little cafe in Westport where I dared to try the local delicacy of whitebait fritter sandwich. It was a bit gross actually, I doubt I will have it again. The whitebait are tiny little thin rubbery fish and they were mixed up with some kind of batter and when I bit into the fritter bits of the fish would be hanging out of the fritter looking like big maggots or something. And they were a little rubbery. Not a fan. Still ate it though.

We carried on with our journey across the Lewis Pass to Hanmer Springs. Beautiful again. Snow capped mountains. Didn't arrive in Hanmer until about 6pm, booked a dolphin watching tour for the following day in Kaikoura, dumped our stuff in the bedroom and then went straight out to the hot springs.

The springs were very different from what I expected. Having been to quite a few spas in the UK I think I expected it to be much smarter and more luxurious than it was. In reality it felt a little grubby and basic and overcrowded. There were also loads more kids than I would ever have imagined. Anyway, we still enjoyed relaxing in the different pools of various sizes and temperature and minerals. Some of the pools were sulphurous and so were stinky like rotten eggs. We kind of got used to it after a while.

While we were relaxing in one pool it started snowing and hailing! It was really very pretty and added to the whole experience – especially when the snow started settling around us. Some of the kids (and adults) started having a snow ball fight. The downside to the snow was that getting out of the pool it was freezing in the air. I was in need of a piping hot shower so was a little disappointed to find the showers were very luke warm. I just got dried and dressed as quickly as possible and soon warmed up.

Back at the hostel we had dinner and met a great Irish couple called Neve and Barney who we sat with in the TV room and watched The Jackal on DVD and compared travel stories. It carried on snowing outside and we were a bit worried as we had already paid for the dolphin watching tomorrow and so didn't want to get snowed in and stuck in Hanmer.

Day 259 – Monday 5th October – New Zealand – Kaikoura (Eve writing)

Whilst the snow had settled the road was clear and the weather was fine so we were OK to go. The dolphin watching was booked for 12.30 so whilst the journey should only take a couple of hours we left at 8.30 just to be on the safe side.

We arrived in Kaikoura at 10.30 and called in to the Dolphin Encounter office to confirm our booking. They told us the tours so far today had been cancelled due to rough seas and it wasn't looking hopeful for our trip either. Why is everything conspiring against us right now?

Found a place to stay and then after we had checked in and paid the girl on reception told us they were expecting a bus load of people who were born in the 90's! Oh great, tell us right after we've already paid. Grrrrrr.

We had some lunch and then called the Dolphin Encounter place where we were told it was definitely cancelled. We are really not having much luck with the weather at the moment. We had a huge dilemma as to whether to re-book for the following morning as the plan had been to drive to Blenheim to do a tour of the Marlborough wine region in the afternoon. So Rich spent a bit of time calling round a few of the wine tour places to see if we had to commit in advance. Unfortunately they don't do evening tours as the vineyards usually close for tastings at 5pm. In the end we decided to re-book the dolphin watching for the morning and if it went ahead we would then drive to Blenheim afterwards and I would do the driving and just make use of the spitoons.

So now we were stuck with nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon. We went to the i-site tourist information office to get some ideas of what else there was to do in Kaikoura. We didn't really want to pay for anything as we were still hoping the dolphin encounter would go ahead and we wanted to keep our money for that.

For some reason we decided the best option would be the walk along the cliff to the seal colony. Just as we got out of the car it started chucking down with rain (oh what a surprise) and so we jumped back in the car and decided to just hide in the hostel again. We've seen enough seals and it's too cold to get wet.

Back at the hostel we had a good opportunity to catch up on this blog, put photos on the internet and watched a video. This place also had VCRs but this time they didn't even have the original VCRs - they were recorded from the TV! Shocker.

Just as I had settled into a cosy sofa next to the fire the bus load of youngsters arrived. So we were bombarded by 50 people born in the 90's. And they were German. Great.

After a few hours we couldn't take the noise anymore and so decided to check out the local pubs. The first one we went into had very little atmosphere so we went over the road to a slightly better one and Rich was happy to see they had the Monteiths Black on tap. Danger.

Day 260 – Tuesday 6th October – New Zealand – Blenheim (Eve writing)

What an awful nights sleep. The german kids stayed up until past 3am, right outside our bedroom and were making such a load of noise. I was soooo mad. Then to make matters worse they were all blocking up the bathroom in the morning and making a right mess. I was not a happy bunny at all. And then to add to my misery the dolphin watching was cancelled again. Talk about miserable. We decided there was little point in hanging around in this crappy town and so sacked it off and moved on in the direction of Blenheim. Surely it doesn't matter what the weather is like in order to do a wine tour? (I am sure under normal circumstances Kaikoura is a lovely place but we didn't have a very great experience and just wanted to get the hell out of there).

It was only about 80km to Blenheim but not long after we had set off we realised we were very low on petrol. Like almost on E. Then we didn't pass a petrol station and the petrol gage gradually crept below the E level and I was getting seriously worried. We still had another 50km to go to Blenheim. Surely there would be a petrol station soon? I had visions of us trying to hitch hike to Blenheim or back to Kaikoura and missing the wine tour.

Eventually, and probably just in the nick of time, we saw a sign for a petrol stop. YAY!!! I was so relieved. And they sold amazing homemade pies. I had a lamb and rosemary pie. Yum yum.

We checked into our hostel and popped out for some cash only to find that the local cash machine wanted to charge me $7 to get $200 cash out. Rip off!!! So we drove around town and found one that seemed to be free. Hope so.

Blenheim is an excellent location to explore the Marlborough Wine region – which is one of the best known wine producing regions in New Zealand, mainly specialising in Sauvignon Blanc. We'd booked on a half day wine tour with Marlborough Tours and were picked up at the hostel by Lynley, our guide for the afternoon. Also on our tour were Queenie (from Hong Kong) and her friend Isabella (from Shanghai). Lynley was great and friendly and asked us what our preferences were and if we had any particular places we wanted to go. She was quite happy to tailor the day to our preferences. We quickly explained we'd drink anything and everything so bring on the wineries! Lynley took us to some fabulous wineries and we tried some really great wines, liqueurs, olive oil (the organic olive oil at Seresin was to die for). We even got to pop into a chocolate factory and try some yummy chocolate crunch thing. We didn't buy any wine but did buy a smoked garlic vinegar sauce that was delicious.

The afternoon went all too quickly and by the time Lynley dropped us off back at the hostel we were in the frame of mind where she got a big hug goodbye. We were all old buddies by now!!

So a low key evening was required and we played some pool, had some dinner (chicken with smoked garlic sauce) and played Risk. I won of course. Hee hee.

Aren't we supposed to be on holiday? I can't remember the last time we didn't get up without the alarm going off. Although I'm sure that won't warrant any sympathy from anyone reading this blog. It was interesting trying to get showered and breakfasted at the same time as the Koreans but somehow we managed without too much difficulty. In true Asian style they cooked up some spicy rice and veg thing for their brekkie with a fried egg on top. The main problem was that it created a huge stink – reminiscent of walking through the sweaty street of Vietnam. Luckily they opted to eat outside on the balcony but I nearly choked on my cereal when the man said to me “ah iz OK, Korean food no smell”. Hmmm, maybe not to you but our clothes still stink of it 3 days later.

We'd been told the drive to Milford Sound took 2 hours but to allow an extra hour for stopping off at the various lookout points. We were glad we allowed the extra time as along the way there were several places to stop and admire the view – usually of soaring snow capped mountains. The scenery was once again truly stunning. At one point the road leads through a tunnel 1km long that is very dark and more than a little spooky! This area is also an avalanche zone – due to the huge mountains on all sides – and there were several signs along the way warning of the risk. Apparently if you stop in the avalanche risk zones then it's a $750 fine. I don't think a fine is necessary to deter us from stopping.

Milford Sound itself is an area where steep cliffs rise dramatically out of the water and are topped with snow. The lower parts of the cliff faces are covered in trees and waterfalls and the whole effect makes for very spectacular scenery. Maori legend has it that the area was carved out by the Maori Demi-God Tuterakiwhanoa on his way to Piopiotahi (Milford).

We took a 2 hour boat cruise out on the water and whilst we did enjoy it, took far too many photos and “ooed” and “ahhd” at the sights we both agreed that the whole thing was perhaps a little bit hyped up. One major problem is that this area has something like 250 days rain a year so the chances of it chucking it down are very high. We became victim to this curse and were very glad we had brought our waterproofs with us. It also meant that the tops of the mountains for the main part were obscured by clouds which ruined the views a tiny bit. The highlight for me was seeing some seals basking on a rock. I haven't ever seen seals in the wild before so that was a novelty.

After the boat trip ended we drove straight back to Te Anau and were pleased to see no-one had replaced the Koreans in the dorm room and we were lucky enough to get the room to ourselves tonight.

After a well needed hot shower our intention was to head for happy hour beers at the Moose but it is shut on a Monday. We walked around to another pub we had seen that also had happy hour but that too was shut on a Monday! This really is such a small town. So we ended up back at The Ranch where the smell of the delicious roast dinners made me almost drool. I was really tempted to treat ourselves to another one but decided we ought to be sensible and go back to cook our own dinner. Stupidly we ended up spending too much money on booze anyway when we could have just paid for the yummy dinner. Grrrr.

Today was another journey and this time we're off to Te Anau over on the west side of the country. This will be our base for a day trip to Milford Sound tomorrow. The drive went really well again – we were expecting the roads down south to be basic from things people had told us but they are actually really fantastic roads and are in great condition. We stopped for a widdle and a packed lunch in a tiny little place called Riversdale which was like a ghost town but very quaint.

As we neared Te Anau the scenery became noticeably even more beautiful and we could see loads of stunning snow capped mountains in the distance and couldn't resist stopping for photo opportunities.

We arrived in Te Anau well ahead of schedule and the reception of the hostel was closed for lunch so we had a little wander around town. It's a small place but very pretty with a gorgeous clear lake and very inviting looking pubs and cafes. Back to the hostel and we once again opted for a dorm room as the price was significantly different this time. We're taking a chance on no-one joining us again.

Things didn't look too positive when we went to get into our room as once of the outdoor staircases up to our floor was cordoned off due to being unsafe. We then couldn't get in to the room as our key didn't work so had to go back to reception to get some help. A man called Brian came to help us and explained the lock wasn't broken – we just needed the knack in order to open it. Finally in the room we were a bit suprised to find that the kitchen was inside the dorm and there was no door between the bedroom and kitchen. The bathroom was reached through the kitchen, but did have a door thankfully. I tried to turn the kitchen taps on and no water came out so we went to get Brian to help us out once more. He explained that we needed to just turn the tap on and wait for the water to come through. No kidding it actually took about 5 minutes for any water to come out! Rich had a shave and tried to have a shower but no hot water came out.

Things got even worse when we were joined in the room by a father and daughter. They were from Korea and seemed like really lovely people but when I saw them unloading loads of cabbagey looking vegetables in the kitchen I had a feeling we might be in for some really smelly cooking. Uh oh.

Rich and I decided to make a sharp exit and headed to the nearby pub “The Moose” which had a 5-6pm happy hour and a lovely view of the lake. We sampled some more tasty New Zealand beers whilst playing a new game “guess the date”. This game involved one of us looking at old pictures from our trip on the camera and quizzing the other one about where we were or what we were doing on a certain date. This game kept us entertained for ages!

We then went to a pub called The Ranch where they were doing Sunday dinners for $13.50 (about £6) and the place was heaving. I had roast lamb and it was so delicious! The tastiest lamb I have had since Henry VII at my Mum and Dads house (every year they get a lamb from the local farmer and it's always very very tasty). The veggies were all cooked to perfection too – not soggy like they can often be when a pub mass produces Sunday dinner. The best pub Sunday lunch I have ever had. Rich was also very happy to find that they bought him a big beer that looked almost as big as a pint. Conveniently this pub had happy hour from 8pm-9pm so after a few tipples of the local tasty red wine and a couple of games of pool we stumbled home a little bit tipsy and tried our hardest not to disturb the Koreans.