Fluid Plans....

Unfortunately it hasn't worked out to borrow my friend's car like I'd hoped. That means I'm on buses during my time here. No bid problem, but the car would have been nice.

I arrived in Taupo today. It seems like a great town but I only came here for one reason- to do the Tongariro Crossing. This is a day long hike that is supposed to be STUNNING. But I got here and was told that the weather is too bad and that the walk is closed today and tomorrow. I had planned on doing it tomorrow and then moving on to Rotorua the next day.

So now I'm in a bit of a fix. Do I stay and see if it clears up by Thursday? Or do I cut my loses and move on? I'm gonna wait and see what they say tomorrow. If it's still closed on Thursday then I think I'm gonna leave it and head on to Rotorua. I'll be pretty gutted if that happens. Soooooo many people have mentioned this walk to me. It would be a bummer to miss it.

Mmmm....

Arrived In NZ...

After a long sleepless night in Sydney Airport and a battle with public transport, I finally made it to my first destination in New Zealand- Hamilton. I've been staying with Pip, a friend from back in my uni days.

Hamilton is a quiet town that's not really a major tourist destination. That said, I did go see their tourist hot-spots: The Mormon Temple (!) and the Hamilton Gardens. It might sound a bit naff, but I've had fun catching up with Pip and hanging out with her housemates. Yesterday we went surfing in the afternoon after church, then went to see a symphony in the park. It was great!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to travel over to Gisborne where I might be able to pick up a car from a friend that I'll be abel to use for the rest of my trip. I just have to make sure it's roadworthy! I'm really excited about the prospect of having the freedom to drive anywhere and everywhere without having to rely on tour buses and public transport. I have a long to-do list and having a car will make it so much easier to tick everything off.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Last Day In Sydney...

For my last day in Sydney we went to the beach at 5am for the sunrise. Check out the pics tab for pictures of Sydney and our trip to the beach.

Sydney At Night...

Relocation Relocation Relocation...

Yesterday I set off on the 1,000 kilometre drive from Brisbane to Sydney. I was sorry to be leaving the Gold Coast but excited about the journey ahead.

To be honest, there wasn’t much to see for the first 500km. I thrashed out the drive to Coff’s Harbour (the half way point) in about 5 hours. I got there in time to have a brief look around the harbour and see a nice sunset, then it was time to hunt for a place to sleep. I had heard that the police don’t take kindly to people camping at the side of the road but had no intentions of paying for a campsite. So I drove around for a while looking for a secluded back street. Eventually I found the perfect spot and was bedding down for the night when I had a sudden realisation…. Inside the campervan was like an oven! Seriously, after climbing into the back I was sweating! And I’m not just talking about a few little beads; I mean I had sweat running down my back like I’d just been working out! It was horrible. I just sat on my bead wondering how on earth I was gonna get any sleep. I tried opening the door and that helped a bit, but it was no time before the mozzys arrived. I sprayed myself with military grade bug-spray but that made my skin burn so only made the situation worse! I turned on the A/C for a while but was worried about the battery dying. Ugh…

In the end I just decided to sweat it out! (pun fully intended!) In the morning I had to settle for a wash in the sink of a disabled public toilet before getting back on the road.

I’m not making this drive sound too appealing, am I? :o) Thankfully the radio was playing a string of classic ‘driving’ tunes in preparation for the arrival of the Top Gear boys. So I whacked up the volume and chugged my way on down the road. 

Making Plans...

I've spent the past few days planning my time in New Zealand. Thankfully I've been staying with four Kiwi guys and they are full of advice of what to see and what not to see. I've made a rough itinerary that maps out a journey around both islands.

It's cool how little things that fall into place. I've had a number of bed offers (that's not dirty) and even on guy who's said I can use his car for the whole four weeks I'm there! This is great 'cos it means I can be completely independent and go where I want when I want without being dependent on public transport. And if I can manage to sleep in the car (a Peugeot 306!?!) then I can save heaps on hostel costs. I might try it for a couple nights and then decide otherwise. :o)

This Friday I leave for Sydney- I'm moving a campervan from Brisbane to Sydney. The trip should take about 11 hours but I have the van for three days so I should be able to stop off and see some sights. The great part is that usually a van costs about AU$90 a day to hire, but because I'm relocating it for them it only costs me AU$1 per day! Bargain! It's gonna be a long drive but I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully I get some nice pics that I'll be able to upload when I get to Syd! 

P.S.

I should add that on our fishing trip (see below) we did catch some fish! I wasn't a complete failure and did reel in some small Skip Jack Tuna.

I thought you should see this pic as well. 

On the way back to dock the boys decided to have some fun in the waves. We spent ages trying to get this shot! We did some jumps in our boat too but unfortunately the guys in the other boat didn't have a camera. Let's just say that for someone who has spent relatively little time on the water, I was PEEING MYSELF!