http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35wi548xFUc

The adventure continues...

Day 3...
Up early and out we went.
Rotorua is famous for its sulphur pools that give it an interesting egg smell.
The lady knox gyser only goes off at 1015am every day so we had to get to the park in time. However I was pretty disappointed when I realised that this was not a natural phenomenon that happened every day at this time, but the time of day that they put the soap particles into the geyser to make it explode.

After the excitement of the explosion we decided to do the 3km hike on the map around the pools. This hike was listed as75mins. Unfortunately we only had 30 mins if we were going to make it to the "world famous" sheep show. So off we went at a lightning pace. This tour was what I like to refer to as flyby tourism. Walk fast,pose, picture, walk!!So 35 minutes later we had completed a 75 minute walk. Pretty impressive when one of your group members is 36 weeks pregnant!!

Unfortunately we did not make it to the sheep show as we took longer to get there than we had predicted. So change of plan. Ice creams were bought and a plan hatched!

With that we headed to our next destination. The ever beautiful Huka Falls. Here we took the dogs on a wee trek! It was a roasting day. Poppy and Isla enjoyed their run around very much. The falls were most impressive. Not at ALL what I had been expecting. Instead of a small waterfall, it was a massive rapid with huge amounts of water rushing through it!! And for some reason the falls remided me of my mother!!

More installments from this adventure due tomorrow!

What have I done since Contiki?

Is there a life after Contiki? I am afraid so. The bubble of contiki had to come to a fine end in Christchurch. However, this was not before we spent the night in the rainforrest, narrowly missed a rockslide at Fox Glacier, and I panned for Gold! (I got four pieces of Jade and several flecks of real gold, I was excited!!). But all good things must come to an end eventually!

I departed Christchurch and headed for the big smoke- Auckland! Back to Lucie and Duncan and the NORMAL world.
Arrival back at the McAuslans was late, but everyone was cheerful. Quick to bed, as the next day my north island trip would begin.

North Island - With Lucie and Duncan

Day 1-Auckland City
Today was a busy day for all. The McA's were off to the topgear show in Auckland. I was being left to explore the wonders of Auckland for myself (do not worry it is perfectly safe!) However due to obscene amounts of traffic I jumped ship and caught a taxi to SkyCity in the centre of Auckland.
I was very brave and bought a ticket to go up the SkyTower. I have come to the conclusion that skytowers with lifts that have glass floors where you can see the ground getting further away from you are NOT a good idea.

Views were incredible.See Facebook for proof. (Link at bottom of page)
The crazy thing is, people actually do controlled base jumps off this tower. You can just about see the wires that they come down on in that picture. Scaary!!

I then wandered to Albert Park and spent the afternoon wandering in the sunshine and admiring the beautiful gardens. I saw 2 wedding parties having their pictures taken. It felt like a big city, it was busy, very busy! But it was different from pretty much everywhere else I had been in the past few weeks!

The evening held a very exciting birthday dinner for Duncan's mother that i was very kindly invited to. We went to Euro. However, where Lucie and I go, celebrities will follow. Half way through our meal with our fantastic waiter he disappeared and our wonderful service ground to a halt. Our beautiful meal took an interesting turn! A group appeared out on the terrace overlooking the water. At the table, Duncan pointed out to me that Tom Jones was sitting at the table to the left of us! Surrouded by an entourage of young people, the "sex bomb" himself.


Day 2-
The next day Lucie, Duncan and I set off on our adventure. A pile of baby things that had been generously been given to Lucie by a friend piled high on back seat. Two very hot puppies in the boot!
We hit state highway 1. Heading for Rotorua. Rotor-vegas as it is also known...oh and Rotting-rua! Rotorua is blessed with hot springs and sulphur pools! Lucie added to the excitement by being pulled over by the police while speeding! It was at this exact moment that she was explaining to me how the speed traps work in NZ!!! The policeman looked a little like " old macdonald" and was very kind. He made sure we knew our way to our destination and fined us! All in a days work.

We stayed in a nice motor lodge ( a new zealand creation. Up market motels, good price and really very nice!) We were booked to go on the Maori Hangi and Concert at the Tamaka Village. It was all very exciting experiencing a new culture. The culture village and show were very impressive (videos will be on facebook when i get home) and the all you can eat meal was delicious. The meat and veg and even the cake were cooked in a hangi, a traditional form of cooking. Hot stones placed under the ground and then covered with material and dirt! Very different.

Afterwards we went to "Rainbow Springs". A rain forest park. It was open late so we went for a stroll around the park. We even got to see a Kiwi up close and personal. The kiwi, New Zealand's national "bird"! It is a nocturnal bird that does not fly. Until the introduction of possums and stoats had no natural predators. Unfortunately now they are becoming sparse. But I saw one, in the dark, up close and personal!!
To bed we went, a long day of travel and fun ahead of us....zzzz

Tomorrows re-telling of adventures- Sulphur pools, honey factory, glass blowing factory, huka falls, volcano exhibit, and much much more!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=395406&id=502380044&l=ecb6094be3

Sky Diving- The run down!

Thank you to N-Zone Skydive Queenstown, New Zealand! Without their help this would not have been possible!!

I made the crazy decision to skydive one very jetlagged evening in New Zealand. I had been contemplating it, but also wondering why on earth I would jump out of a perfectly good airplane at 12,000ft?

I came to the conclusion that there was only one plausible reason that I would ever do it! To raise money for spinal research. So that is what I did. I started a justgiving.com page that said this.

Being terrified of heights and contemplating jumping out of a plane is not easy. But I did it!

On Tuesday the 16^th Feb 2010 we headed to the NZone Skydive centre in Queenstown. I was kitted up in a jump suits and funny hats, had a safety briefing and tried desperately to retain all the information. The most important thing to remember- “keep body in a nice banana shape!”. I was not scared at this point. The staff kept me very at ease!

Going up in the plane I remember thinking gosh we are high- then to be told by my excellent dive buddy, Shane, that we were only at 3000ft. Hmmm...was this really such a good idea? I kept telling myself that I was not going to get scared until the door opened.

12,000ft arrived and I was to be second to jump. Shane checked all the straps to make sure that I was tightly attached to him and ready to go. They opened the door and out jumped the first jumper. Before I knew it, I was in the door way of the plane, legs tucked under as I hung out at 12,000ft. Right, now I was allowed to get scared. Too late. Before I knew it we had jumped. A back flip out of the plane and then a perfect banana as we fell through the air.

It felt amazing. Nothing like it. Scary as it is not something that you have experienced before. But with Shane I felt very safe and secure. The most amazing view of Queenstown, New Zealand. I waved at the camera and smiled. I tried to look like I was having fun, which was not hard, because I was!

Before I knew it the 45 seconds of freefall were over and I was being hoisted back up in to the air. We did 360 spins and tricks in the air for 6 minutes before reaching the ground. Shane gave me a birds eye tour of Queenstown. Knowing that the staff at Nzone do that over and over each day gave me a sense of awe for Shane and his colleagues. They do an amazing job!

We landed all too soon! Safe and sound!

Thank you to everyone who supported me in this jump, I am ever so grateful.

www.justgiving.com/melissamitchellskydive

http://www.nzone.biz/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkXZInbkAqI Sky Dive Video Part 1

Charity Skydive

Thank you sooooo much to everyone who sponsored me. It was not an easy choice but I ended up doing the 12,000ft drop over Queenstown!!

More photos will be on blog and facebook as long as I can get them there soon!!

Once again- THANK YOU
x

Contiki in South Island

I arrived in the south island by very tiny plane! It was sunny and bright, and amazingly I could already see that it was a lot different from what I had seen of the north island.
I checked into my accommodation and then headed to the Bealeys to meet up with the rest of the people that were going to be on the tour!
Everyone was very nice, and equally as nervous as I was. After the meeting we headed out for an evening meal!

The next morning was a bright and early start ( or what I thought was early, apparently not!!
We had about a 5 hour drive ahead of us stopping in Geraldine (famous for its giant jersey), then at lake Takepo, with the beautiful church of the good shepherd. We stopped briefly at lake pukaki and then on to our first evenings accomodation- Lake Ohau.

Absolutely amazing evening. First we all went for a cool off in the 10 degree glacial lake. Then a big dinner of home make lasagne. The evening was spent chilling out in one of the hotels two hot spa pools which overlook the lake.

Sunday 14th.
From Lake Ohau it was a very long 9 hour drive to reach our final destination of Milford! We stopped for Lunch in Te Anau. This was the very last place we would have mobile phone or internet signal for 24 hours.Te Anau to Milford it a dead zone!

A very lovely evening sailing on the Milford Sound. We took Kayaks out to explore the sound ourselves. Then we went for a very cold swim. But the way I see it, I was probably going to only be in NZ at milford once, so I might as well do the whole thing! We saw dolphins and seals!
The evening we were left to entertain ourselves. We had a very filling dinner served to us. Then we sat down for a game of "a**hol*" (americans!!). The game was great fun, even when there were people who just didnt quite understand it! Then off we went to our very very confined cupboards with bunks in them! Cosy!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Got lots of amazing shots, will have to upload them for you soon.

After disembarking the wanderer, we headed east again to the Party/ Adveture capital of the world- Queenstown! The home of Bunjy!!!
We stopped at the Kawaru Bridge- 43 meters!! ( Well done everyone!)
I watched, photographed and most importantly cheered!
Home again to another hotel. This time Aspen in Queenstown!
Showered blow dried and glammed up, we headed to the skyline resteraunt. 400m above the town the view is spectacular. One all you can eat Buffet with over 101 and dishes later and it was time to head out to dance! Several hours later it was time to once again visit the land of nod. We all needed extra sleep for all of the activities we had planned over the next few day!!

Tomorow (Tuesday) will hold my greatest adventure of all.

Contiki Tour

Quick update- in the form of photographs!!
I will write a full account later!!