Day 44 - Half Way

What better way to celebrate the half way point of my trip and our last day on the North Island than by watching a bunch of fit men running around in shorts. Heaven! The Wellington Hurricanes won 39-19. We even got a couple of autographs! Not quite as exciting as a sky dive (have I mentioned jumping out of a plane?!) but enjoyable for different reasons.

Day 41 - Oh My God!!!

Today I jumped out of an plane from 15,000 feet!! Absolutely amazing!!! We'd been kayaking on Lake Taupo this morning and met an English couple, one of whom fancied sky diving and for some reason I said I'd do it with her. Before fear struck, we'd paid our money and had 10 minutes to drive over to the airport. I decided to go for 15,000 feet, rather than 12,000 feet as I thought I'm only going to do this once.

Of course, I wasn't going to jump out of a plane on my own, so I was strapped to an Aussie called Mike who's done over 10,000 tandem jumps so I figured I was in safe hands. I also decided to splash out on getting the DVD and photos done, hence you can see me looking completely gormless as I flap around in the air.

I was absolutely petrified but when you're strapped to someone else who's going to jump out of the plane, you don't really have much choice! So off I fell into the sky and it was the most amazing feeling. I tried to scream but I didn't really have much breath! The view was incredible and with my extra 20 seconds of free-fall due to jumping from 15,000 feet I got to have a good look around.

Suddenly we're flying back up into the sky as Mike's pulled the parachute and then everything gets a bit calmer as we float back down. I wasn't too keen when he did a few spins, but I'm not going to argue with the guy who's in control of my life. All too soon we're coming in to land and all I want to do is go up in the plane and do it all over again!

Totally, totally, amazing :o)

Day 38 - Wine Tasting

We went on an afternoon's wine tasting trip around Napier. We visited 3 wineries and tried various white, red, rose and dessert wines. We also went to a brewery where we sampled ciders. The other people on the tour were a good laugh so we stayed out with them and drank more beer and vodka. Amazingly, I wasn't sick! We have had a rather quiet day today though with an afternoon nap!

Day 33 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Jen and Jai managed to make this cake in a campervan that has no oven... AMAZING! We had a lovely day at White Island, watched dolphins & flying fish, swam in the sea, ate massive ice creams and polished off a bottle of champers. It's great being 30 again!

Day 33 - White Island

Today we went to a volcanic island. It was a bit smelly!

Day 29 - Bay of Islands

Apparently this place is really beautiful with over 100 islands to admire from your boat. It didn't look quite so nice when I was there.

Day 27 - Happy Birthday Jai!

A couple of days after I arrived in New Zealand it was Jai's 30th birthday. We celebrated with champagne in our lovely little campervan after a long drive north. Don't worry, I've another bottle ready for my birthday next week!

Sydney

I finally saw a real koala today... cos we went to the zoo! I had my photo taken with one but I wasn't allowed to cuddle it. We also got some great photos of the lions being fed.

After the zoo I met Rosie and went to see the Australian movie premier of "Black Water" at the open-air cinema at Bondi beach. Now, when Rosie invited me to this I had visions of it being warm and dry in Sydney. I wasn't expecting it to be pissing down with rain, really windy and the odd flash of lightning. The movie still went ahead though and we kept mostly dry under our ponchos. It certainly made for a memorable evening!

The weather didn't improve the next day but I still went ahead with my plan to go to Manly Beach... which was closed as the weather was so bad! There were still some surfer dudes out there to watch though. In the evening we had another outdoor even to attend - the Waratahs v Crusaders ar rugby. Thankfully we had seats under cover this time!

I've not really seen Sydney at its best, but I've also managed to explore the shops (good old credit card!), wandered round the Botanical Gardens (lots of bats, but no drop bears) and caught up with old friends. I'm definitely going to have to come back when the sun is shining, but for now I'm looking forward to going to New Zealand where the sun is shining!

Guess where I am?

Yes, I'm in Sydney! They very kindly put on a fireworks display to welcome me to the city. Rosie and I sat and watched it whilst finishing off our bottle of bubbly. It's a hard life.

Red Centre

G'day again! I've spent the last four days touring the Red Centre. Luckily for me, those of us on the 4 day trip got upgraded as there were only 3 people doing a "Safari In Style" trip. So that meant we had a cook who made all our meals which were served on proper plates AND we had wine. We also had tents with proper beds, linen, a light and a fan. Luxury! It probably doesn't sound too exciting, but you appreciate things like that out here. Our guides were really good fun and full of amazing facts and stories.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) was a little disappointing as it was too cloudy for both the sunrise and sunset. But at least it meant it wasn't too hot when we walked round it. The flies were bloody annoying, so thanks to my brother for the fly net I got for Christmas. Kings Canyon was probably the highlight. We were at the top before 7am to avoid the heat! We were lucky enough to see pygmy koala's at the top - they're extremely rare and don't move much.

Last night I slept under the stars in a swag. It was a bit risky as I was lying there watching the lightning in the distance, and after the previous night's dingo attack I was a wee bit apprehensive. But it was nice to lie there under the stars... there's so many of them out here!

I'm back in Alice Springs now and in need of a shower (the air con broke on the truck!). Off to Sydney on tuesday...

Dingo Attack!!

Last night a dingo ate my shoe. Luckily I wasn't wearing it at the time, but it's left some nice teeth marks. Moral of the story... don't leave your sandals outside your tent. Always remember to stay 'Dingo Safe'.