He Says:
Okay, so we didn’t actually buy a dinosaur, but we bought something almost as cool… We got a Camper van!! So the story goes… After we got back from the Bay of Islands and finished our BUNAC week, we set out to apply for jobs and try and sort out some camper van viewings. After arranging to view 10 in one day (One day!!), we got cancelled on by 4, and had a look at what the rest had to offer us. There was a mix of Toyota Estima’s, Hiace’s, and a few Mitsubishi’s, but in the end settled for Barney (the purple dinosaur) as he was a Hiace, which offered us lots of room, and had an inside kitchen, perfect for those cold/wet days.
So now the real adventure begins!
Seeming as on previous posts Victoria gave an itinerary, and left me with little to say, I figure that its now my turn!
Monday: This was the a fore mentioned day where we applied for plenty of jobs, looked around more than our fair share of camper vans, and even did other exciting activities such as sorting out our banks and applying for our tax numbers (yay!).
Tuesday: This is actually the day where we purchased Barney! We met Marley and Joseph (a nice american couple) a little out of town, and got a pre-purchase inspection done, just to be sure. When it came back saying only minimal work needed to be done, we decided to take him! So after a quick trip to the post office, we had our first camper! I then filled the rest of my day spending more money by booking myself in for a new tattoo, before heading north to our first free campsite at Gulf Harbour reserve.
Wednesday: After a lazy morning, doing a quick workout, and then testing the first of many public showers which we are now accustomed too, we went back to Auckland one last time to get my new tattoo! I was very uncertain about what I wanted until about 10 minutes before it was due to be done. But hey presto, I’m now inked up! We then proceeded to head south of Auckland to stay in another free campsite, which was a lovely lake (the name escapes me), where we got bitten to death by mozzies. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?
Thursday: Not much to say for this day! We spent most of it travelling down to Waitomo for the caving experience on Friday, stopping off at many other caves and waterfalls along the way. The highlight of this day though, and possibly the whole trip to this point, was staying at the Natural bridge reserve over night. The parking and the facilities themselves were average, however about a 10 minute walk from the camp took you to the remnants of an old cave, which at night time, lit up from the aura of thousands of glow-worms. It was a truly stunning sight which I’d highly recommend to anybody that travels to New Zealand; and as much as we’d like to show you what it looked like, our puny camera phones were unable to capture the beauty of it all. So you’ll just have to go see for yourself.
Friday: This is the day we did our caving experience! We opted for the ‘Black Abyss’ option, which although was more expensive, gave us a lot of bang for our buck. It took around 5 hours all in all, and included abseiling a 80m drop, zip-lining, white water rafting, looking at glow worms, and waterfall climbing. It was a fantastic experience, which was topped off by the fact we only had a group of 4, opposed to the normal group size of 8, making it a much more personal experience. The other people in our group were a canadian couple who had been married for 32 years, and were very kind as to pay for all of the photos at the end of the tour and then send them on to us for free, which was very much appreciated!
Although we have more to talk about as we don’t get around to writing these blog posts as much as we like to, the next couple of days will have to wait until the next post so that I don’t bore you to death with everything in one go! Highlights will include; Hobbiton, Geysers, and a Mauri cultural village!
Until then, Adios!
She Says:
Kia Ora !!
So this week has been very busy. After being very unsure on whether we would get a campervan ( going at it by ourselves) or buy the KiwiExperience, we decided on buying Barney. This was mainly due to the fact that most jobs wanted you to have your own transport. Hopefully, it will eventually work out as cheaper than hostels :). Other than buying Barney, the best part of the day is the fact that Ryan bought some sleep shorts, and then in the excitement, left them in the post office. That’s right, he forgot them, so some lucky fellow has found some free shorts :).
I have to say I was unsure whether I would be able to cope with the public toilet scenario, especially with all the mosquito’s, but for now its not too bad. I believe I have found a way to distract them so I can do my business in peace, (place the light as far away as possible from you ). It’s actually amazing how many public toilets are open at night, with toilet paper.
So what should you definitely do on your way down from Auckland:
Head to the Bridal Veil Water Fall and the Marokopa Falls- both are a little out of the way but very beautiful.
If you want to see glow worms (actually maggots, that hang fishing lines, and whose poo glows) then go to the Mangapohne Natural Bridge at night- it is truly like you are surrounded by stars, or fairies, its magical and our cameras couldn’t capture it.
Waitomo Caves: Ensure you do one caving adventure, as it really tests your limits but also shows you what you can do. I was of course very nervous to abseil, with myself controlling the speed, but Ryan went first so I had to follow 🙂 and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. The great part though is that Peter Jackson filmed the cave scenes in Lord of The Rings using the same entrance and decided to use these caves after participating himself with his family. The Lovely Canadian Couples Anniversary is also on the same day as ours Ryan… that was pretty cool.
Anyway, speak soon, cannot wait to tell you about our weekend.
He says, She Says 