Happy Birthday to Ruth Lewis 31st March

We would like to say a BIG Happy 4th Birthday to our niece Ruth Lewis. Sadly we can not be with her this year but we will be thinking of her.

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to Ruthie
Happy Birthday to yoooooooooooooooooou!!!!!

The National Park to Wellington

This was an express service so we did not really do much although the second of our rest stops was in a town called Bulls. Where Dribbles try to convince everyone that it was the only place in the world you could buy bulls milk. He told us to go into the local shop and ask for a free sample. I thought this sounded more like bulls hit than bulls milk and after one of the girls asked for it she found out it was.

The bus journey was really long so to liven things up we played a game called tractors. You had to spot tractors in the surrounding areas and shout out tractor and the colour for one point or tractor working if it was doing something for two points and if there was a tractor yard that was worth five points. Dribbles said that a Stray driver had never lost, well they did today.

Only three of us ended up playing and Ross an american bloke from Michigan won and I almost came second but at the last minute I lost point for a bad call and came last instead. Still it made the trip go faster.

Tongariro National Park

The Stray bus drivers like their early starts, it was a 7.30am departure from Lake Taupo to get to the national park. I hadn't even had my morning cuppa.

The Tongariro National Park is famous for being the setting of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings films. The park is home to 3 dormant volcanos, the most prominent being Mt Doom (real name Rapahau) which is the most volcano looking volcano we've ever seen, and we've now seen quite a few.

We were given the choice of doing the Tongariro crossing, which is a 17km walk across challenging terrain, taking 6-8hrs to complete or doing a couple of shorter walks around the park. Which one do you think we opted for..........

Thats right the shorter walk. We did the 2hr walk to Taranaki Falls. It was quite steep in places but we completed it in 1hr 50mins with a ribena and biscuit stop and stops for photos. The falls were spectacular and very cold. The water was crystal clear. We rewarded ourselves with a lemonade lolly at the finish line.

We stayed in the national park for the night in a really lovely lodge which had an outdoor spa. As we got into the spa we found the temperature had been set to a boiling 41 degrees, after turning it down a few degrees, it was a lovely way to relieve our aching muscles. All we needed to make it any better was a beer!

Skydiving

Yes, it was time for me to tackle the third thing on my must do list for our trip, skydiving. Unfortunately due to financial constraints I had to opt for the 12,000ft jump rather than the 15,000ft jump but hey there's aways next time.

The jump was a tandom from a horrid pink coloured plane. I would like to say that I wasn't nervous at all but that would be a lie.

The instructors that you are attached to were all clowning around before the jumps trying to scare people but that didn't bother me. Getting in the small pink plane with no seats and taking off again was fine, but just as we approach 12,000ft I started to panic a bit thinking I couldn't do it but as soon as we moved to the door I relaxed and started loving it.

The freefall was 45 second long but seemed like a heart beat, it was over so quick. The parachute down however took a lot longer and was really uncomfortable hanging in the harness. But both were the most amazing feeling, the freefall was a bit like being stood in a hurricane (not that I have ever stood in a hurricane) whereas the parachute felt like I was flying (yes I had my arm stuck out airplane style).

Although I said no to the DVD option, the instructor still took the camera and filmed my jump incase I changed my mind. This made my jump experience even better as I got to watch my jump back in there mini cinema, it looked really fun as I had ripples running across my face during the freefall. I did miss a trick though as Samantha had the camcorder and we could have pirated a copy of it.

Anyway I am positive that I will be doing it again and hopefully next time I can get the DVD and other extras.

Rotorua to Taupo

After three nights in Rotorua it was time to leave and find some fresh air. Our pickup was at 1pm which gave us time to head down the post office and send our first box of stuff home - my backpack feels so light now.

We got to the pickup point at 12.30pm to make sure we weren't missed out, only to think that the Stray bus had passed us by but after a frantic few minutes our new tour guide Dribbles came trotting down the road to collect us.

On the way to Lake Taupo we stopped Wai-O-Tapu geothermal pool. This was a large pool where a hot stream met a cold stream making really nice bath temperature. It did leave us a bit smelly though although Dribbles told us we shouldn't shower for 24 hours because it was good for your skin.

The second stop of the day was at the Huka falls where we saw the category four white water rapid and got some cool pictures.

Our last stop was Lake Taupo. This is the second largest crater lake in the world. The volcano itself is still active although dormant at the moment however fear of an eruption were sparked recently after the water temperature rose by one degree.

The best part is that is one of the cheapest places to go skydiving, so thats exactly what I did.

When we arrived at our accommodation we booked into a four bed dorm room. When walked into the room the first thing we saw was a danish lad completely in the buff. I expected him to cover up or disappear into the bathroom but he just stood there. So we dropped our bags and exited quick as. After an hour we went back with thought of having a shower only for Samantha to open the door and find him stood there still in the buff. Another sharp exit. Lucky by our third attempt to enter our room he was dressed.

Raglan to Rotorua

The big stop of the day was the Waitomo cave which after trying to save money and not do a tour we were talked into do the Spellbound tour by Veno, only to then find that there were not enough places and we had to spend the day doing free stuff anyway.

So Veno kindly set about entertaining the six of us with nothing to do. Our first stop was The Sheering Factory and no it was nothing to do with sheep, they were sheering angora rabbits. It was quite a sight as they stretched out the rabbits with bungies (this wasn't as cruel as it sounds, it stretched the rabbits wrinkly skin to stop it getting cut during the sheering), then turned them rotisserie style as they sheered off their fur.

They had glove puppets in the shop made from really possum skin (possums are a pest in NZ and cause a lot of damage) and the owner was walking around pretending one was alive and she made Samantha jump when she went to stroke it.

We were then taken on a walk nature walk to explore some of the caves open to the public which was supposed to only take 20 minutes but we stop at a cool, quiet spot by a rope suspension bridge and ended up chatting for about an hour.

It was then time to head to Rotorua or Rottenua which is a more appropriate name as there is a strong sulphate dioxide smell in the air from volcanic gases venting in the area.

On the way to Rotorua Veno decide because it was such a nice day we would stop at a waterhole for a quick swim. He said the water was a little cold so only half a dosen people went in (including me). I was a little reluctant at first as first few made out it was really cold but when Veno started offering free beer I was straight in but f@#k me (censored version - Oh my) it was so cold I nearly died of shock.

Veno then raced the bus around Rotorua on a whistle stop tour of sight. We then dropped off at our hostel where we found voucher for Dominos pizza (usually we would cook for ourself but pizza in NZ is so cheap at $6.90 or £2.50 for an almost large pizza).

We finished the day with a heavy night in the lava bar where pretty much the whole bus got hammered (including Veno cause the bus didn't depart till 1pm the next day).

Hahei to Raglan

Day 2 of the Stray tour and another early start. There were quite a few winding roads out of Hahei and Veno is a bit speedy, so I felt travel sick within 5 mins. Luckily or unluckily for me, Veno decided we would stop to do this trig walk after about 30mins of driving. The trig walk is a 20min walk up a very steep hill, but it has the most amazing views. A 20min trek before 9am actually made me feel alot better, although absolutely shattered at the same time, so I had a little kip on the bus before we stopped for morning tea.

It was a 4hr bus journey from Hahei to Raglan. I have to say New Zealand is absolutely stunning! I can best describe it as an awesome mix of the lake district and Scotland. It has a very British feel about it as well because its so green.

Raglan is a big surfing township (the Kiwi word for small town) but we only had an hour to explore before we departed for our hostel in the mountains. We didn't really explore Raglan to its full potential, we mooched around checking out house prices (incredibly expensive), buying our lunch and getting in the beers for later (the off licence had a walk-in beer fridge!). Then we sunbathed for a bit with Kathryn and Serena.

Our hostel was on a mountain and our room/cabin was situated on the side, another steep climb carrying our backpacks (fantastic!!!!). We lazed around for the afternoon whilst some of the group went to the beach, we are still feeling a bit beached out from Fiji but this meant we had the flying fox (ariel swing to me) to ourselves. I screamed the whole way to the bottom, I couldn't help myself. Alan's arse nearly scraped the floor a few times on the way down. Thankfully, they had a brake at the end which caught you and slowed you down, because on my first go I thought I was going to get catapulted into the trees.

After we were tired of running up the hill with the flying fox, we moved on the rope course. The rope course required co-ordination and more importantly balance, I haven't got much of either so didn't do to well. Alan lived up to his similar sounding name (monksee/monkey) and flew across the course.

Auckland to Hahei

Auckland to Hahei was the first leg of our Stray tour of New Zealand. It started out with a 7am start which if it hadn't been for the quick drink we went out for with our room mates Serena and Kathryn that result in us getting to after midnight, it wouldn't have been too bad. We found whilst in the bar that the two girls had changed their start date and would be joining us.

Around 8am Veno a hyperactive ex-trucker and our tour guide for next few days arrived to collect us. Once we had collected everyone else we headed off for our first stop at Mount Eden. This is an extinct volcano on the outskirts of Auckland or a big hole on top of a hill.

After lunch we had a quick stop to exchange our bad spirit for good ones mouri style by hugging huge trees. Now Veno told us some people feel this exchange of spirit when doing the hugging thing where as I mearly felt a bit silly.

When we arrived in Hahei we had about an hour to drop off our stuff and get changed before heading off to the hot water beach. Hot water beach gets its name from the hot fresh water that is pushed up through sand by volcanic pressure.

We were given shovels and told to dig our own hot tubs, this was easier said than as the hot water only appeared in certain places. The group we were with ended waiting until some left then the lads set about making a small pool in to a large pool for everyone. We soon found that the hot water was actually scolding hot and we had to extend the pool into the normal sand to find cold water to mix.

We then sat around and enjoyed our handwork until the tide came in and filled our hot tub with what felt like ice sea water. So some of us then ran into the ocean of a bit of body surfing.

We finished the day off with a BBQ back at our accommodation - I was straight in there to help with the cooking.

Auckland, New Zealand

We arrived in Auckland a few days earlier than planned, mainly because we couldn't take the humidity of Fiji any longer. Auckland is very nice, alot like London in many ways.

We arrived on St Patricks day, so met up with the 2 Andy's for a few beers. It wasn't a wild night as we were tired from our flight. We saw them again the next day for the Melbourne Grand Prix (first of the season), we ended up spending the whole afternoon in the pub and then going for pizza, which we ate underneath the Sky Tower before falling into the Irish pub over the road for goodbye drinks as the 2 Andy's were starting the Stray tour the next day.

We went up the Sky Tower a few days later to watch the sunset from the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.
When we first said we were going travelling, many people said to watch out for the "kids", i.e the 18 year old gap students. Up till now we haven't really seen too many kids which has been fabulous. In Mexico there were so many people our age travelling (commitment phobes I'm thinking) and the U.S and Hawaii there weren't too many kids either.
However, we arrive in Auckland to be greeted by Harry and his mates on their gap year before starting uni. We shared a room with Harry and his mates for 2 nights and their weren't too bad (although I did have to tell them to tidy up their stuff - it was all over the room) until they left for the airport at 3am and we had 4 backpacks and 2 surfboards banging out of the room.

Fijian Night

Twice a week the staff who work on Mana Island backpackers, put on a little evening entertainment, Fijian night.
Now, I'm not going to go into too much detail as I have the second show on video. But its definitely one for the ladies! Muscley, toned fellas, covered in baby oil doing traditional Fijian dancing (I think you get my point). We have photos which will be on the online photo album but it doesn't really do it justice.

We did try Kava (Fijian drink), its supposed to have some narcotic effect if drank in large quantities. I had 2 high tides and Alan had 3 high tides (a high tide is a large cup) and our tongues went a bit numb/furry.
Kava doesn't taste very nice, it looks like muddy water and tastes a bit like cold tea with a herbally aftertaste. We were all made to sit in a circle, whilst Jim ( I think the manager) put the Kava powder into what I hope was a clean teatowel and soaked it in cold water. This made the Kava. He told us we each had to start with a high tide, before drinking it we had to shout Bula! and clap once, after drinking it straight down we had to clap 3 times. If you forgot to shout Bula! before drinking you had to drink another high tide again. Luckily me and Alan never forgot to shout Bula!

After the Kava tasting we were roped into doing the paper dance and the Limbo. The paper dance was hilarious - me and Alan had to dance on a piece of newspaper without touching the floor. Everytime the music stopped the piece of newspaper was folded in half, forcing us to dance even closer without touching the floor. At one point I was standing on Alans feet, but we're not very co-ordinated so we soon touched the ground and were out. Andrew and Andy did better because they piggybacked.

Alan did much better at the Limbo, he won a bottle of beer for his efforts.

NurseyFiji

I didn't get off to the greatest of starts in Fiji as I had a really nasty cold and couldn't really hear for the first couple of days. However, the Beach Escape Villas were fantastic and the staff were first class. The local mosquitoes were also really pleased to see me too and dined on my legs for 4 days - I think they liked the taste of my insect repellent.

I was really excited about going to Mana Island as Rakesh (really lovely receptionist/manager of the villas) said it was really lovely, the food was excellent and most importantly she had NEVER received any complaints about it. Retrospectively I find this very hard to believe.

Mana Island is beautiful, the white coral beaches and clear, warm ocean is absolute paradise. But the locals are a little careless with their rubbish and sometimes there were broken glass bottles in the sand and sea. I had only been on the Island for less than an hour when I opened my minor injuries unit on the beach. I treated mainly sun burn, mossie bites, hangovers and cut feet (from the rocks). My extensive first aid kit and drug supply has taken a bit of a battering. Alan tried many times to charge for my services but didn't get very far.

The food was interesting; we ate a LOT of boiled white rice with either a vegetable or chicken curry (it wasn't spicy), fried rice, bread and sausage stew. The people who worked there scowled at me alot because I never ate alot so in the end I fed my leftovers to the dogs, to avoid the scowls.

We made lots of friends though on the Island and spent pretty much every evening playing cards. It was a constant rotation of shithead and arsehole until Rob taught us poker, we were betting with matches.

Fiji

I don't really believe we have done Fiji justice in the time we have spent here, we arrived with no idea what to do or where to go, having planned most other places we have been and even our next stop New Zealand.

When we arrived in Fiji it rained most of the first two days but given the nice resort we were staying in near Nadi it gave us some valuable down time to recover from our busy time in Hawaii and to get over some nasty airline colds. During this time we planned a five night stay on one of Fiji's many island, Mana island.

After two sunnier days, we set off to Mana island with high hopes of a nice beach resort with lots to do. We were pick up by car from our resort and taken about 100 yard round the corner to the boat (with time it took to load the bags we could have walked). Following a 50 minute boat ride we arrived at Mana island to an almost deserted beach - first thoughts were where is everyone and what is there to do?

We then got off the boat and were shown round what could only loosely be called a resort more like a beach with a few large sheds. Still it would home for five nights or would it? When we saw the facilities we quickly started to regret our choice of island - a low pressure dribbly cold water shower and toilet that barely flushed. However first impressions were harsher than reality. We met a really good crowd of people which made everything seem a lot rosier.

The weather was really hot for the first two days and we found the best place to sit and chat to people was sat in the lovely warm ocean.

On the second day when we were sitting in the ocean I saw a starfish in the sand so I borrowed some snorkelling gear and started swimming around. It was really good and I saw loads of fish before being spooked by what I thought was a sea snake so I started swimming back to shore only to run into a sea snake! I was really scared so as soon as I got out of the water I had to run and ask someone if it was dangerous. They told me that that type of sea snake was one of the most venonous snakes in the world but they are very placid and their mouth isn't big enough to bite you (thank god for that I thought).

The next day I had to go snorkelling with someone else because I was too scared to go by myself, but I'm really glad I did as we found a reef with most amazing array of different coloured fish (and no sea snakes). There was this little yellow fish that kept swimming round me and I thought it was going to swim up my shorts but thankfully it didn't.

For me I think underwater Fiji was far better than above.

Shark Encounters

Today we went on adventure to see sharks close up!

Whilst in Waikiki we saw a tour shop with a large plasma screen advertising shark cage diving, I was immediately fascinated. We enquired but the tours ran from the North Shore and we didn't think we could get there to go, so we decided to stay at the North Shore on our return. The next problem was that I really wanted to go but Samantha didn't, so I booked in to go and Samantha was going to go to the beach.

During our time on the big Island Samantha warmed to the idea of going on the trip (but strictly not in the cage) and after speaking to some Americans from Chicago on the big Island she was quite excited and really wanted to go.

This morning we got up early and got the bus down to the harbour ready for the trip. We were all ready to ask if Samantha could come along and not go in the cage, so I found the guy in charge and he said they were all booked up but if someone didn't turn up she could go for Free (nice guy).

So got on the boat hoping for the best. I asked one of the guys on the boat if everyone had arrived and he said yes - bummer, I thought. Then they realised someone was missing and after a phone call they realised there was space - cool so Samantha got to come too.

The boat then motored out 3 miles to where they had there cage anchored and almost immediately you could see the sharks swimming around. I then grabbed a snorkel and mask and climbed into the cage.

WOW!!!! It was the most amazing sight, there were around 20-30 Galapagos sharks all about 8 feet long swimming round the cage. They swam under the cage around the cage just everywhere. They were feeding them bits of fish from the boat and a shark grabbed a piece of fish from right by me and you heard the snap of his jaws. They were also swimming right out of the water by the boat to get the food which look cool from under the water.

After half an hour in the cage I got out and the second lot of people got in and I then got to witness the sharks coming right out of the water for food from on the boat which was even better.

It was definitely the best experience of my trip so far. I would love to do it again. Samantha also really enjoyed from the boat and got some really good video.

The BIG Island of Hawaii

Aloha!

We have just spent 4 days on the BIG Island and I have only 2 words for it - tropical paradise. We arrived Monday lunchtime, picked up our hire car and headed straight for the volcano national park. It contains Hawaii's only remaining active volcano and it was pretty active for us, but I'll get to that in a minute.
We sorted out a wooden cabin with no heating just outside of the national park, to spend the night. Its warm but raining at this time. We saw it had a brick BBQ, so in true Sam and Alan style we headed straight for the shops for firelighters, food and beer (just for the record we don't drink that much and its very weak in strength compared to the UK). It was absolutely freezing in the cabin that night - our sleeping bags had there first outing.

It was about 5pm by this point so it was time to explore the volcano national park and get to the bottom of the chain of craters as the sun was setting. We have a million pictures of different craters, lava trails and scenery. When we got to the bottom of the chain of craters, we still had to walk about a mile to the lava and then it was a short(ish) walk over the lava to get to the point where you can see the HOT lava dropping into the ocean. Walking over lava is not easy either, if you fall you will cut yourself really badly as the top layer of lava is silicon based ( glass). However, it was so worth doing because as the sun set and it went dark, the side of the hill/volcano glowed red. It was awesome!!!!!!!!!

We drove around the rest of the park the next day and walked to the Thurston Lava Tube, which is a tunnel you walk through. We had to walk through the rainforest to get to it and again it was raining.
After we left the national park we headed for Punululu beach, its a very nice black lava sand beach. But we saw giant turtles basking on the beach.

We stayed in a very nice hostel near the Captain Cook monument on our second night and we had the the loudest thunderstorm I had ever heard.

On our third day we went hawaiian ale tasting in Kailua-Kona. Alan was driving so he did alot of sipping and sniffing, I, however did alot of swigging and it was quite strong stuff 6%. It was free through which was great!

On our last full day, we stopped in Hilo and visited Rainbow falls and boiling pots. This waterfall was the biggest I seen so far but the water looked yellowy. In the evening we went to the other side of the lava flow and trekked for about a mile trying to view the red lava from a different angle. We didn't get to see it this time, but we did have fun driving our rental car over the old lava - its bumpy!