New Zealand
So, I'm back from New Zealand. I got back on Saturday, but after roughly 48 hours of being awake and 30 odd hours of travelling, I was in no fit state to be online.
Then on Sunday I was around at my mum's and when I started falling asleep in Scrabble, I decided it was a good idea to go back home and sleep some more. So that's what I did.
And then, as I was typing up my adventures in NZ, I managed to fry my laptop. I don't know how, but various keys don't work, and it now hates being turned on. I can still watch things on it (so my TV and DVD viewing isn't screwed up yet) but I can't type much of anything on it. So, I'm going to see if I can get it fixed, but I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to have to get a new one. Which is kind of hilarious because I was just talking with my brother about getting a new laptop and had concluded that I couldn't afford it at the moment. But I've had a laptop for the last 11 years (not the same one, obviously, but A laptop) and not having one just isn't an option. So, you know, bugger.
The poor thing has survived travels to the USA, Germany and New Zealand and being carted all over the UK as well and it's dying in my living room.
But, back to the true purpose of this post *g*
So, New Zealand was AWESOME. Predictably, I didn't get to see nearly enough of it. But what I did see was beautiful. And I took photos. Lots of photos (most recent count is roughly 800 - not including the deleted ones).
Auckland is an awesome place - Clare (my friend who got married) took me around a few places and we also went up the Sky Tower which had many amazing views even with all the fog. I also saw Shortland Street but was very disappointed to hear that it has no hospital on it (I also saw some episodes of Shortland Street. It's...not how I remembered it. Way more glossy; although I did recognise some of the people in it still).
While in Auckland, we also went walking up Mount Eden to see the views from there, too. I have to say, I think I preferred the view from Mount Eden to that of the Sky Tower. Plus, while we were up there, a class of boys who were predominantly Maori performed a haka on the steps at the top of Mount Eden. It was pretty fucking awesome to watch. London is a mere 18339km away
The scenery as we drove down to the Coromandel - which was where the wedding was being held - was amazing stunning, really - all that blue sky and green fields. After the wedding (the day after, not immediately after) we went on a boat ride around some of the Coromandel And the biggest cruise ship in the world was there. It's pretty fucking big
I have no photos of the wedding itself. I was Maid of Honour - which was kind of unexpected but also amazing - and so never really thought about getting my camera out until right at the very end when I thought it was kind of pointless. Thankfully basically every other person there did get photos so I've been getting 1000's of emails informing me I've been tagged on Facebook in loads of photos.
Then after the wedding, we flew down to the South Island - funny story - somehow I managed to convince myself that I wasn't visiting the South Island, but that we were touring the North Island. So when the father of the groom asked me if I was looking forward to going to the South Island during dinner, I said I wasn't going to the South Island, which confused the hell out of him because he knew that I, along with two of Clare and Craig's other UK friends, were all going on the same trip. So everyone on the bridal table laughed at me and I looked like a bit of a numpty (which is apparently a word I've missed saying because I said it loads while in New Zealand).
So, we flew into Queenstown, picked up the campervan and drove into the centre of Queenstown, found a campervan site and walked into town for the afternoon/evening. We went to three different pubs before going and eating at Flame, which, if you're ever in the area and love steak, GO THERE.
The next day we then drove down through Arrowtown where we some gold-panning although nobody found any and camped on Lake Wanaka.
Basically, if you go onto Google Maps, get up the map of New Zealand, and follow Highway 6, that's the way we went.
The next day we drove through Mount Aspiring National Park and Haast Pass, which was beautiful and amazing and a place where you want it to rain...although it didn't for us. We still saw lots of beautiful waterfalls and rivers, though. Then we drove on up to the Franz Josef Glacier which I kept calling the Franz Ferdinand Glacier
The next day we continued on Highway 6 and drove through Greymouth, up to Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks and Blowhole which were amazing.
And then I was on the final leg of my trip, driving up to Nelson and then flying from Nelson up to Auckland. And Google maps shows you exactly how windy the roads were - and imagine them going up and down through the mountains. Watching the sunset while on a plane is kind of cool (There aren't any photos in this album yet; going to be uploaded when I get home).
Things that should be noted
- NZ has some crazyass soaps, but I thought they were awesome. Especially the one about the Norse gods living somewhere in NZ (although it could have been Australia, I guess) and running bars and killing people. It was hilarious.
- They have Cadburys we don't. Blackforest - which is cherry and biscuit and is bloody divine. Why we can't have it, I don't know.
- They have Wendy's and Denny's, both of which are fast food joints I never expected to see outside of America. It was...odd seeing them there.
- They have awesome (and by that I mean TERRIBLE) informericals. My favourite was the Ahh Bra. Watch and laugh.
So, that was my time in New Zealand. I now want to go back and do all the things I didn't manage to do while I was there.
Movies I watched on the way home were Moneyball, The Darkest Hour, The Mask, MI:4 and Fantastic Mr Fox. Moneyball was amazing. Jonah Hill didn't bug me. Brad Pitt was brilliant. I watched The Mask and MI:4 before and watched them so I would have noise in my ears to distract me from the sheer boredom of flying. The Darkest Hour was kind of shit. Fantastic Mr Fox was...weird. I really couldn't decide if I liked it or hated it. I actually rather liked the style. I think it was what they did with the story, which just wasn't the story I know so well.
Books that I read - four more over the three weeks, which for me is shocking, but from a socialising and doing things point of view, is probably a good thing.
10) The Golden Fool - Robin Hobb
11) The World for a Shilling - Michael Leapman - all about the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was fascinating.
12) The Forest of Hands and Feet - Carrie Ryan
13) I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan - I really didn't like how this was executed. The story itself, I found interesting, but the way it was written? Not so much.
Books I've read since I was home
14) The Gathering - Kelley Armstrong
Then on Sunday I was around at my mum's and when I started falling asleep in Scrabble, I decided it was a good idea to go back home and sleep some more. So that's what I did.
And then, as I was typing up my adventures in NZ, I managed to fry my laptop. I don't know how, but various keys don't work, and it now hates being turned on. I can still watch things on it (so my TV and DVD viewing isn't screwed up yet) but I can't type much of anything on it. So, I'm going to see if I can get it fixed, but I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to have to get a new one. Which is kind of hilarious because I was just talking with my brother about getting a new laptop and had concluded that I couldn't afford it at the moment. But I've had a laptop for the last 11 years (not the same one, obviously, but A laptop) and not having one just isn't an option. So, you know, bugger.
The poor thing has survived travels to the USA, Germany and New Zealand and being carted all over the UK as well and it's dying in my living room.
But, back to the true purpose of this post *g*
So, New Zealand was AWESOME. Predictably, I didn't get to see nearly enough of it. But what I did see was beautiful. And I took photos. Lots of photos (most recent count is roughly 800 - not including the deleted ones).
Auckland is an awesome place - Clare (my friend who got married) took me around a few places and we also went up the Sky Tower which had many amazing views even with all the fog. I also saw Shortland Street but was very disappointed to hear that it has no hospital on it (I also saw some episodes of Shortland Street. It's...not how I remembered it. Way more glossy; although I did recognise some of the people in it still).
While in Auckland, we also went walking up Mount Eden to see the views from there, too. I have to say, I think I preferred the view from Mount Eden to that of the Sky Tower. Plus, while we were up there, a class of boys who were predominantly Maori performed a haka on the steps at the top of Mount Eden. It was pretty fucking awesome to watch. London is a mere 18339km away
The scenery as we drove down to the Coromandel - which was where the wedding was being held - was amazing stunning, really - all that blue sky and green fields. After the wedding (the day after, not immediately after) we went on a boat ride around some of the Coromandel And the biggest cruise ship in the world was there. It's pretty fucking big
I have no photos of the wedding itself. I was Maid of Honour - which was kind of unexpected but also amazing - and so never really thought about getting my camera out until right at the very end when I thought it was kind of pointless. Thankfully basically every other person there did get photos so I've been getting 1000's of emails informing me I've been tagged on Facebook in loads of photos.
Then after the wedding, we flew down to the South Island - funny story - somehow I managed to convince myself that I wasn't visiting the South Island, but that we were touring the North Island. So when the father of the groom asked me if I was looking forward to going to the South Island during dinner, I said I wasn't going to the South Island, which confused the hell out of him because he knew that I, along with two of Clare and Craig's other UK friends, were all going on the same trip. So everyone on the bridal table laughed at me and I looked like a bit of a numpty (which is apparently a word I've missed saying because I said it loads while in New Zealand).
So, we flew into Queenstown, picked up the campervan and drove into the centre of Queenstown, found a campervan site and walked into town for the afternoon/evening. We went to three different pubs before going and eating at Flame, which, if you're ever in the area and love steak, GO THERE.
The next day we then drove down through Arrowtown where we some gold-panning although nobody found any and camped on Lake Wanaka.
Basically, if you go onto Google Maps, get up the map of New Zealand, and follow Highway 6, that's the way we went.
The next day we drove through Mount Aspiring National Park and Haast Pass, which was beautiful and amazing and a place where you want it to rain...although it didn't for us. We still saw lots of beautiful waterfalls and rivers, though. Then we drove on up to the Franz Josef Glacier which I kept calling the Franz Ferdinand Glacier
The next day we continued on Highway 6 and drove through Greymouth, up to Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks and Blowhole which were amazing.
And then I was on the final leg of my trip, driving up to Nelson and then flying from Nelson up to Auckland. And Google maps shows you exactly how windy the roads were - and imagine them going up and down through the mountains. Watching the sunset while on a plane is kind of cool (There aren't any photos in this album yet; going to be uploaded when I get home).
Things that should be noted
- NZ has some crazyass soaps, but I thought they were awesome. Especially the one about the Norse gods living somewhere in NZ (although it could have been Australia, I guess) and running bars and killing people. It was hilarious.
- They have Cadburys we don't. Blackforest - which is cherry and biscuit and is bloody divine. Why we can't have it, I don't know.
- They have Wendy's and Denny's, both of which are fast food joints I never expected to see outside of America. It was...odd seeing them there.
- They have awesome (and by that I mean TERRIBLE) informericals. My favourite was the Ahh Bra. Watch and laugh.
Click to viewSo, that was my time in New Zealand. I now want to go back and do all the things I didn't manage to do while I was there.
Movies I watched on the way home were Moneyball, The Darkest Hour, The Mask, MI:4 and Fantastic Mr Fox. Moneyball was amazing. Jonah Hill didn't bug me. Brad Pitt was brilliant. I watched The Mask and MI:4 before and watched them so I would have noise in my ears to distract me from the sheer boredom of flying. The Darkest Hour was kind of shit. Fantastic Mr Fox was...weird. I really couldn't decide if I liked it or hated it. I actually rather liked the style. I think it was what they did with the story, which just wasn't the story I know so well.
Books that I read - four more over the three weeks, which for me is shocking, but from a socialising and doing things point of view, is probably a good thing.
10) The Golden Fool - Robin Hobb
11) The World for a Shilling - Michael Leapman - all about the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was fascinating.
12) The Forest of Hands and Feet - Carrie Ryan
13) I, Lucifer - Glen Duncan - I really didn't like how this was executed. The story itself, I found interesting, but the way it was written? Not so much.
Books I've read since I was home
14) The Gathering - Kelley Armstrong