Castaway Island Day Cruise!

We enjoyed our first island trip so much we decided to do another one. Today we opted to go to the much ritzier "Castaway Island Resort". The island was much bigger and had much nicer facilities. There was a massive fresh water pool with a bar adjacent. The water was crystal clear and warm in traditional Fijian fashion. As an added bonus we got to do some snorkeling and ran into ZERO jellyfish which is always a plus. This made for great photos. Lunch on the island was incredible. We were given choice of an appetizer, main and desert item as part of our package.



For our appetizers I ordered Squid Salad which was delicious and very spicy. Krystina had a Teriyaki chicken salad. For the main course I had Tempura Prawns and Calamari with Sweet Chili Sauce and Krystina had Imported New Zealand Green Lip Mussels. We split the two so we each got to have a bit of both. The food was absolutely incredible. The best food we have had in Fiji so far. For dessert I had Maple Syrup Upside-down cake and Krystina had a sundae with banana lady fingers. The whole meal was delicious and we washed it down with Coconut Coladas.



We both spent a good hour in the water snorkeling about and taking pictures. There was tons of cool fish and corals and and other under sea life. Krystina packed it in after awhile and sat on the beach and I continued to snorkel and take pictures.



We headed back to Smugglers Cove around dinner time again. I think it would of been nice to spend a few nights at castaway but it likely would have been too expensive.

South Seas Island Day Cruise!

Today we decided to do more than just sit around on the beach. We booked a full day trip to South Seas Island. We got on the bus just after seven this morning to head to Port Denarau. On the way there we could see lots of damage from the flooding Fiji was recently hit with. The ferry ride was pretty short and we were eventually taxi'd to the island on a smaller boat and greeted with people singing and playing guitars. We got a brief introduction to the island (which is probably 500m in diameter) and then were given free reign to run around. We got snorkel gear and hit the water to see what it had to offer. We saw some fish but then a mob of jelly fish rolled in and I took quite a bit of abuse trying to get out of the water. Krystina got a really painful looking welt on her little toe from where she got stung. That was the end of snorkelling for her for the day. I gave it a few more shots and got some cool pictures. Most of the day was spent chilling in the sun or in the pool.



We got lunch on the island which consisted of several different types of meat, salads and fresh fruit. We also got unlimited drinks! After lunch the island staff did some tribal dances for us which were entertaining and then we went back to sitting on the beach.



On the island we met an older couple from Victoria who live near Boston Pizza in Langford. Small world.



Around five we boarded the little taxi boat and headed back to the larger boat to head back to Port Denarau. It was a fun day. I think we may book another day trip soon.

Arrival in Fiji!

Krystina and I have successfully made it to Fiji without any issues. The plane food was good and I got free beer. We are now staying at Smugglers Cove Beach Resort in Nadi where I stayed last time I was here. We are here for six nights before heading to Beach Comber Island. We're off to grab some cocktails now!

Brooklyn Bar!

This evening Krystina and I went to the Brooklyn Bar for Western Burgers. This is one of my favorite places to eat in Auckland and I figured Krystina would enjoy the burger and potatoe wedges. Not suprisingly she thoroughly enjoyed the burger and is already wanting to come back when we return from Fiji.

Krystina arrives in New Zealand

This morning I somehow managed to wake myself up and stand attentively at the arrival doors to greet Krystina when she finally got through all the arrival procedures. We quickly made our way to the bus stop and managed to walk right on to the bus into Auckland city.



When we got to the hostel we checked in our bags because it was about 8AM and we could not check in until 1PM. We killed time by wandering around the city. We hit Subway for breakfast and then went to Foodtown to plan out our meals for our stay in Auckland.



We killed some more time wandering around before going back to the hostel and sitting on the computer for a bit before finally getting to check. We got checked in and I took a much needed shower after sleeping in the airport and Krystina took one too because she'd just gotten off a 17 hour plane ride.



After getting all cleaned up we made our way to Foodtown to get groceries for making pasta with lamb sausage. We also grabbed some ginger beer so Krystina could try it. We even got ID'd trying to buy it and I had to explain to the cashier that it was ginger beer and not actual beer.



We headed down to the kitchen before things got too out of control with dinner rush and commenced the cooking of the pasta and sausages. Dinner ended up being delicious as predicted and Krystina enjoyed her first foray with Ginger Beer. Tonight is going to be a rum and coke night!

Sucessfully arrived at the airport.

I have sucessfully made it to the airport after a looooooooooooong bus ride. Last night was a mistake. Too much rum was consumed. I spent the first two hours trying to figure out why I had major heartburn and then I remembered the jalepenos. I feel better now. We'll see if I am still singing that tune after sleeping at the airport and eating McDonalds for two meals in one day.

Sailing on "The Edge" and a housing crisis!

Today got off to an absolutely dismal start. Yesterday Ollie and I booked a day sailing trip on a boat called "The Edge" it isapparently the fastest commercial sailing catamaran in the bay of islands. We were both highly excited for a carefree day of sailing.



However we woke up to find out that we had no bed that night because now the hostel was booked full. We found this out at 9AM, had to be on the boat by 9:30AM and packed and checked out by 10AM. For those of you keeping score we also had to find a room for that night before we got on the boat because we certainly weren't going to be able to find one that night when we got off the boat. We started going from hostel to hostel only to find out that it was a long weekend and everything was booked full. When we left one of the hostels a guy told us that everything was booked full but the hostel next to ours had one "appartment" room available for $140/night. Conceding that we really had no other choice we folded and ran over to book the room. We split it 50/50 dropped our bags off and then made a dash for the wharf to catch our boat.



Aside from the slight hiccup with the hostel this morning the sailing was awesome. I got to go snorkeling for mussels and we ate them for lunch. The lunch was incredible. We had chicken drumsticks, fresh mussels, ham, rolls, salads, grilled roast beef. It was definitely one of the best meals I've had up in Paihia. After lunch we got snorkeling and kayaking for a few hours. I further honed my snorkeling skills and got some more kayaking in which is always fun. When we got back to dry land we made our way back to our room and got checked in.



The room was awesome. There was two beds, a couch, tv, a table, our own kitchen and a gorgeous bathroom. The hostel also had a really nice pool and a hot tub. Once we got settled in I ran to the bottle shop and grabbed a case of Steinlager Pure which we drank poolside while chatting with another Canadian guy we'd met the night before that got displaced like we did. After we polished the case off we showered and I whipped myself up an omelette while Ollie went and grabbed a burger from next door. After that was wrapped up we broke out a deck of cards and the rum and started playing Shithead and enjoying some rum and coke. After awhile Ollie decided to go grab some snack food and we had nacho chips, salsa and jalepenos as a snack while watching tv and drinking rum and coke while we waited for my laundry to dry.



After establishing the dryer was not going to dry my clothes before the laundry room closed I hung up my clothes all around the room in a feeble attempt to have them dried before the morning. Now we are off to the bar. Hopefully things don't get too out of hand as I have to bus back to Auckland tomorrow to get to the airport to meet Krystina.

Fijian Rum

Yesterday afternoon after Bruna left I ran into a friend of mine from the south island from Sweden. Following that reunion I hopped on my laptop and sat near the bar and waved at one of my room mates I'd kind of spoke to in passing in our room and he came over to join me. We chatted for a bit and found we had the common interest of rum. I remarked that bottle of Fijian over-proof rum must be his then (there was a bottle on the table in our room) he said it was and asked if I wanted a drink I said sure and told him to grab some of my coke from the fridge. So at three in the afternoon we commenced the consumption of rum with 58% ABV. He poured the first and I poured the second which he had to keep sipping and adding coke to because apparently I made it too strong. I wasn't allowed to pour his after that. When the rum got low I remembered that the local bottle shop had 1L bottles of our favorite Mt.Gay Rum for $39.99NZD ($25.51CAD) so I ran and grabbed a bottle of that. We continued our conquest of the over-proof rum before moving onto the Mt.Gay. As night moved on we decided to go to the bar and continue our rum fest. It was a great night and I made a new friend.

More kayaking AND Fish 'N' Chips AND Gelato Ice Cream (exploding oysters too!)

For Bruna's last day we went out Kayaking in the morning for two hours around the bay stopping off on some islands before coming back and hitting Vinnie's Fish 'N' Chips for lunch. We had the "Catch" which is an order of fries, two pieces of fish, two crab sticks, two crumbed oysters and two crumbed mussels. One of the meal highlights was when Bruna bit into her oyster and the boiling hot juice came. She escaped unscathed however. Myself on the hand being the professional that I am went to bite into mine "carefully" all I heard was "Be careful" as i bit into it and then oyster water was all over both of us and most of the surrounding area. My bad. After lunch we somehow found room for ice cream and then headed back to the hostel to hang out in the hot tub until Bruna had to catch her bus back to Auckland to catch her plane home.

Haruru Falls II and navigating in the dark.

Last night ended around 2AM after multiple failed attempts at locating some look-out point that looks out over Paihia. Bruna and I ended up following a hopeless trail through the bushes in near complete darkness using only the light from my phone to navigate. It ended up just going in a loop through the bush and clearly was not meant to be used at night. The night was salvaged when went to sit on the beach and got to watch heavily intoxicated people set off fire works.

Today we did the falls track. The weather was great and I had food to eat at the end. In addition to the excitement of this journey we found a camera that someone had left at the falls. We were pretty sure we'd seen who it belonged to and tried to track them down on the way back to the hostel. Unfortunately we were unable to find them. However me being the detective and good samaritan that I am was unprepared to throw the towel in on this. I began to look through the photos and realized that this camera had close to 600 pictures on it chronicling one or more peoples entire trip starting presumably in south-east Asia or perhaps the middle east. Being the clever guy that I am I noticed a picture that was recently taken up near Cape Reinga and had a rented van with a visible license plate on it. I figured that was the best chance of finding them but I was unsure how to utilize it outside of looking for a silver van with that license plate.

We kept our eyes open on the way back to the hostel and while we ate our ice cream but to no avail. We saw a lot of silver vans but none with the right license plate or that perfectly matched the description in the photo. However as we made our way down Kings Road towards the hostel I saw a van that appeared to meet the description. As we goroe van. The owners were no where to found and instead of wasting time staking out the van I put a piece of paper under the wiper blade with my name, e-mail address and cell number so they could get in touch. No more than five minutes had gone by before I spotted them at their van and went over to inform them I had their camera and just had to go and grab it from my room. The lot of them were absolutely stunned thinking that they had lost all of their trip photos. The camera was returned and the their trip was saved. Karma points were earned.

That wraps up the exciting events of the day. Tonight is Bruna's last night so we are going out for dinner at one of my favorite eating spots in Paihia called "The Beach House Cafe". They have incredible burgers. Nothing like Fergburger but still very tasty.

Ryan Laker was here and felt like writing on the beach with a stick!

This morning while I was waiting for Bruna to come join me on the beach I found the time to use a stick and write "RYAN LAKER WAS HERE AND FELT LIKE WRITING ON THE BEACH WITH A STICK" across the entire length of the beach nearest the hostel. It was pretty epic and garnered a lot of attention from passerby's. Unfortunately there is no photographs of this as I didn't have my camera and the tide came in really quick and ruined it shortly after I finished it. Today was a productive day. I got to the beach at like 9AM and left around 7:30 when the sun dipped behind the trees. I love the beach. Tomorrow I am doing the Haruru Falls track again with Bruna. This time I am bringing water AND food. I am not making the same mistake I did last time. I am also not bringing my DSLR again. No more baggage than necessary.

Dancing and RUM & BEACH!

Last night I drank rum and coke until I couldn't taste the rum anymore or they just stopped putting rum in my drinks. I also rocked the dance floor with this Italian girl named Bruna whom I was introduced to by my Italian singing partner from before. After the bar shut down we once more attempted to go to Bonfire and Toast and were once more turned down. Game Over. Again.

Karaoke!

Last night was another night that started off innocently enough until I agreed to join my english, welsh and two danish room mates for a few drinks. I was late to the party so I hit four pints pretty hard using 2 for 1 coupons and then someone decided it was a good idea to start Jager Bombs when Martin from the Isle of Mann stumbled in (literally) and joined our group. We had four rounds of Jager Bombs before things got really out of hand and we commenced with Karaoke. It started with me giving the danish girls a clean slate to pick any Beatles song and I would sing it. Within ten minutes I was wrapping up "Come Together". After some more deliberation and some other folk singing I came up and sang "Aquarius (Let the Sun Shine)" by The Fifth Dimension. The beauty of that song was that I knew 90% of the words and most of the time wasn't even looking at them and singing simply from memory. Part way through a random Italian girl named Jessica joined me and we did really for a bit until the fast ending where we both tanked and pretty much had given up by the end of the song. The final number of the evening was George (english guy) and myself singing "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher. After this we attempted to go to Bonfire but they had stop letting people in. Same deal for Toast. Game Over.

A place to sleep!

I was able to find a bed tonight at the same hostel. It's a pain getting up at nine to do so but oh well. That's how it goes I guess. Hopefully my luck holds out as I am here for awhile longer still.

Back to Auckland and onto Paihia and STRESS

Today started at the ungodly hour of 4AM when we all had to fumble out of bed and make our way to Christchurch International Airport. Jennie and Malin were off to Cairns, Australia and I was flying back up to Auckland. We had breakfast panini's at the airport and then said our goodbyes and the girls headed through security.

I got to the airport really really early for my flight so I could see the girls off so I spent just over 3 hours sitting at the airport doing crosswords and being asked every half hour by various gate staff if I was on the plane they were trying to load. After solving at-least 25 crossword puzzles I finally got onto my plane and began the 1 1/2 hour flight up to Auckland. Believe it or not the plane ticket was significantly cheaper than taking the bus it cost me $107.95NZD ($69.13CAD). Taking the bus would of cost me at-least double that.

I got to Auckland went to book my accommodation only to find out my preferred hostel was booked full. Fortunately I was able to get a room at it via the travel desk at the base hostel in Auckland. Once that was sorted I hung out with John for a little before heading off to the bus stop to catch my bus up north to Paihia.

I got to the bus terminal where I talked to a kiwi gentleman and his wife who was from Gold River, BC. He asked me about my travels and the stuff I had seen so far. He informed me I had seen more of his country than he had.

My bus was finally ready to roll and we loaded up and began the four hour drive up to Paihia. Unfortunately when we go to Paihia it was pouring rain which put a real damper on my first day back in Paihia. In addition to this I found out that I was going to have to get up every day at 9AM to check to see if I had a bed for the following night because they had to wait for kiwi bus reservations. Early to bed tonight. I have had a long day,

The Last Supper...

Today was our last day together. I went out shopping for clothing with the girls and hit Starbucks for Frappecino's. For dinner we went out for Chinese and then did our best to make our luggage airplane ready. Jennie and I watched the season finale of Heroes and then we went to bed.

Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch today. It's not a terribly exciting place but we had an enjoyable dinner at an Indian restaurant adjacent to our hostel and then went and shot some pool at the bar in the hostel. Tomorrow is my last day with Jennie and Malin before they head to Australia and I head back north.

Kiwi Crawl!

Last night we closed out our stay in Queenstown by doing the Kiwi Crawl (the thing I won back in Nelson). Myself and 10 friends signed on to the crawl and we cruised the Queenstown bar scene. Stopping at six bars along the way and having boat loads of fun. I definitely recommend giving it a go if anyone finds themselves in Queenstown.







Today we are headed to Christchurch and all the excitement that entails.

Journey to the top of a BIG F@#ING HILL!

Today I got roped in to getting up early and scaling a large mountain. The journey was long and harrowing and there was many moments were our ability to complete the climb was tested but we pressed on regardless and were greeted at the top by a spectacular view and a delicious lunch. In my usual fashion I failed to bring enough water or remember to wear sun screen and I had to deal with the consequences. To my credit none of us brought enough water though.





Enjoy the view from the top!

Nevis Bungy Jump Day

Today we got up at a semi reasonable hour and began the mental preparation required before jumping out of a small metal shack suspended 134m (440ft) above the ground. We went to the Bungy Jump center and hung around there whilst we waited for our bus. The bus driver was quite the comedian working as hard as he could to drain as much colour from his passengers faces as possible before we arrived at the jump zone.



When we arrived at the jump zone we got harnessed up and proceeded to this small metal box that would carry us to the slightly larger metal shack we would be jumping out of. It was really entertaining to watch people being completely terrified just before the jump only to see them come up with a big smile on their faces when it was over.



I am glad I did the jump it was a great accomplishment and I have pictures and video as proof of the jump.

Mad Dog Riverboarding

Today I somehow managed to peel myself out of bed at 7AM after a night of heavy drinking and getting back to the room at 4AM to go River boarding on the free pass I won for dressing up as a woman. I got the check-in place five minutes early after a frantic search for voucher. I made sure to consume as much water as possibly to try and rehydrate myself after the mistake that was the previous night. One of the Riverboarding guys laughed at me because he saw the "World Bar" wristband I was wearing and said I was in for a fun day.
We took a 40 minutes bus to the river where we got briefed on how everything was going to work and then got suited up into wet suits and also got our helmets, fins and life jackets. The three of us then headed down to the river and did some practice swims in the river. I managed to get sucked out into the main flow and one of the guys had to come get me so we could start again. Once we got going it was incredible. It's definitely the most physically demanding thing I have ever done. Swimming through heavy rapids and trying to keep yourself on the board so you dont get dragged under water was really challenging. I had convinced myself that I did not want to end up underwater so I was going to hang onto the board at all costs. In the end I managed to stay on the whole time. It was such a feeling of relief and accomplishment at the end when the river calmed and we got to just drift down the river while we waited to be picked up by the Jet Ski.

After we got picked up we got dragged around on a mat behind the jet ski for awhile (or as long we could hang on). Once we got back on land we were taken up to some rocks we could jump off of into the river. I jumped off a 7m (23ft) ledge into the river and then we swam back around to give the large slide into the river a shot. The slide is simply a long metal slide similar to what you would see at a playground except it is really long and steep and feeds into the river - you go down it on your board. We did this four or five times each doing it forwards, backwards, upside down and across the wake of the Jet Ski.

Later in the afternoon Jennie, Malin and I decided to take the gondola up some hill to take in the view. I was pretty beat for this whole experience and came in and out of consciousness at our picnic table but it was still enjoyable.

Unfortunately I got major cramps in my calves during the swimming from being so dehydrated from drinking the night before so my legs are still quite sore this evening. I finally had a chance to stop into the fabled Fergburger today I had been hearing about from everyone who had been to Queenstown before that I had met in my travels. I had the "Mr.Big Stuff" burger and it was delicious.

Queenstown - Adventure Capital of the WORLD!

We left Wanaka this morning bound for Queenstown. A short way out of Wanaka we stopped at "Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World". The "Puzzling World" is built around an outdoor 3D maze where you must get to the four towers and then find your way back out of the maze. I got my ass kicked by it but I did get it done eventually. Inside the puzzle museuem they have a whole bunch of illusions for you to take in. The best was a room that was sloped one way but it is laid out to trick your body into feeling as if it is tilted the opposite way. The situation is illustrated by a pool table where when you place balls on it they roll up hill. The whole place was really cool.






We continued our journey south stopping for pictures at the 45th parallel a line which apparently few people in the world get to cross.



After further travel we reached the AJ Hackett Bungy Jump center where commercial jumping made it's world debut. We watched a video on the history of Bungy Jumping and I booked my Nevis Bungy jump. I am pretty pumped for the jump.



We checked into our hostel in the afternoon after stopping in Cromwell and buying a massive of ammount of fresh fruit that only cost me $15NZD ($9.69CAD)



Tonight the plan is to go World Bar because our bus driver has informed us that we get $5 off of what has only been described to me as a cocktail in a teapot. Apparently it's great fun. Hopefully things don't get too out of hand as I have Riverboarding in the morning.

Onaka to Wanaka

We left rainy Franz Josef this morning and made our way south to Wanaka. We stopped on the way to Wanaka for some photo opportunities at a waterfall in the pouring rain. We also stopped at a scenic look out but unfortunately due to heavy fog the visibility was about 30ft at best. Once we got closer to Wanaka the skies cleared and it was actually really nice out. We checked into the base hostel in Wanaka (first base hostel we stayed at since Wellington) and it was gorgeous. It's the nicest hostel I have stayed in by far. Everything was clean and new and just generally awesome. I wish I could of stayed longer. I'll have to stop through again next time I am on the south island.




For dinner tonight I made traditional Canadian pancakes with imported Canadian Maple Syrup and breakfast sausages. It was awesome and the kitchen was a joy to cook in. I love gas stoves.

Day #2 In Franz Josef - ICE CLIMBING

Today was our day to go ice climbing at Franz Josef glacier. We got to the glacier centre at 7:30AM and proceeded to sign waivers and get suited up. The day was really long, really exhausting, really wet yet still really enjoyable. The weather reminded me so much of home. I was trekking through a lush green forest in the pouring rain in the way back from the glacier. I don't need to provide much a of a play by play for today I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We walked to the glacier, we walked up the glacier and then climber some ice walls for a few hours and then walked back down. The views were stunning.



At the end of the day we hit the hot tub and then did a group dinner at the restaurant at the hostel. I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.



Franz Josef Fun Fact - In Franz Josef it rains approximately 265 days a year!

Bushman Pete's Bushman Center!

We left Mahinapua Lake Hotel this morning and made our way down the West Coast and made an early stop at Bushman Pete's Bushman Center. We were greeted by "Bushman Pete" who was a scruffy looking guy in really short shorts and hiking boots. He led us inside to watch a short film on the history of the Deer Farming in New Zealand and how the methods of hunting and catching them evolved over the years. After this I was told I was going to be feeding a large vicious wild pig some slices of white bread by Bushman Pete.



The large vicious wild pig turned out to be an extremely massive and extremely docile "wild pig". I was instructed to tell it to sit and then give it the bread. I told it to sit and it sat and I gave it bread and then vacated the premises at which point it simply rolled over and lay on it's side on the ground. Following this I was given the opportunity to catch an eel that clearly hates it's life and has more or less given up on things. The eel was sitting in the water and I figured I would have to carefully get close to the water and then quickly grip it and pull it out of the water. This was not the case. I simply walked over stuck my hands in the water and picked it up. It put up minimal resistance to being yanked out of the water. Presumably it stopped caring years ago.



We finished off with a walk around the Bushman Center. We saw some possums and some other wild life and then went out and had some food. I was trying to save money so I didn't have anything but the breakfast some people had looked really hard to pass up on.

At the Bushman Center they had some really large domesticated deer which was really bizarre for me to see as I am used to the normal deer that run away when you approach them at home. These ones just looked at you and would even eat food from your hand.



After about an hour at the Bushman Center we headed down further south to the town of Franz Josef.



When we arrived in Franz Josef we checked in for Ice Climbing the next day and then headed back to get settled at our hostel. Jennie left Malin and I to go Sky Diving so the two of us went and did some grocery shopping.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I won a prize for my costume at the party. I won a free Riverboarding Adventure in Queenstown!

Lake Mahinapua Pub Party

We left Westport this morning after a quick breakfast of toast and honey. I am really coming to love honey. Our first stop on the trip was Cape Foulwind where we got to see a seal colony. After this we stopped for lunch (pasta we made in Westport and went to the pancake rocks where I decided to be an idiot and jump off a 15ft rock on the sound because it looked like it would make for a good picture. It didnt end too badly but my knees were a bit sore after the landing. We arrived at the Lake Mahinapua hotel in the mid afternoon after a stop to purchase costume materials for the nights party. Jennie and Malin were charged with making costumes out of rubbish bags. I just had to dress up as a woman. We also added a guy from Auckland to our bus today.



The night was destined to end in disaster. The pub was offering $7.50 jugs of tap beer and bottles of wine for the course of the costume party. So naturally I had a pitcher before dinner. A jug with dinner and another jug after dinner and was at that point able to dress as a woman with zero reservations. I wore my costume proudly. All in it was a good night. I think I may have also knocked a few years off Malin's life when I hid outside the bathroom door in the dark and jumped out at her when she came out from brushing her teeth. Time for bed.