New Zealand- The Kiwi Experience- The North Island

After a layover in Brisbane airport where we picked up Sinead, we arrived in New Zealand. Our group of seven was now an even eight and we were looking forward to our Kiwi experience. The minute I sat into a taxi outside Auckland airport I felt at ease. My surroundings felt familiar which is a bizarre thing to say about a country I had never before stepped foot in. Perhaps it was the friendly smile or the taxi man's sense of humour, whatever it was this place had a warm feel to it.
We stayed in Auckland, New Zealand's capital for the first few days. New Zealand is home to 4.5 million people and a whopping 35 million friendly sheep!! Auckland accounts for 1.5 million of those people and is the humble abode of 'Royals' singer sensation Lorde. The locals are very proud of their international star. Its harbour hosts hundreds of boats and the streets are buzzing with business men and women looking dapper in their suits.

17 year old 'Royals' singer Lorde

We stayed in Nomads Fat Camel hostel. There is a substantial difference in Australasian hostel prices when compared to Asia. The average price of hostels in NZ range from 26-30 nzd and unlike Asia most places charge for wifi. As always when travelling it's nice to have a connection with home. Ann's first cousin had lived in Auckland for the last few years so he kindly agreed to show us some spots. The day after we arrived Tisha celebrated her 25th birthday. Of course this was cause for celebration, any excuse with us lot! We went to Danny Doolan's, an Irish spot with a lively atmosphere and a cracking band. Another pub we visited was Father Ted's. Here I bumped into a girl I went to college with in Sligo and we had no idea either of us were in New Zealand. A very pleasant surprise. What a small world we live in.

Randomly meeting Shonagh in Fr. Ted's, Auckland

When we booked our trip initially with STA travel in London back in May 2013 we were advised to do the Kiwi Experience. This is one of the most popular ways to get around New Zealand. They offer many packages and we opted for the rangi package (funky chicken and bay of islands). We got this at a discounted rate of 326GBP. The Kiwi Experience website are always offering discounted packages so keep a good eye out if you are considering a visit to the land of the All Blacks. The pass is a hop on and hop off ticket that can be used as often as you like within 365 days.

We started our official Kiwi Experience trip in Auckland and what an experience this was to be. On a Saturday morning we headed north to Bay of Islands. Here we got to take in some beaches and some of the girls continued to work on their tan. As I am a natural pasty it would be a sin for the sun to waste its rays on me so I opted to boost Doves sales performance and use their tinted moisturiser instead!!!! The following day we headed to New Zealand's most northern point Cape Reinga. One of my highlights of the trip, this is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific ocean. It was an amazing phenomenon to see the waves crashing off eachother. Breathtaking. We hopped back on the bus and our very positive bus driver, one of those guys who are constantly high on life took us for a cruise down 90 mile beach. Here we had a sing song and it was great craic!! The beach is actually 66 miles long neverthelesss it was a fun way to pass the time! He then brought us to some sand dunes. Here we went sand boarding. I loved it. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!!!!! After we had dusted down the sand off our feet, arms etc we headed to the bus drivers favourite fish and chips spot. Or, as the kiwis pronounce it ''fush and chips''. We returned to Bay of Islands full and satisfied and ready for a few drinks.

After a compulsory night stay in Auckland, we were back on the road and heading southbound. Our next stop was Hot Water Beach we stayed one night here before heading on to Waitoma. Waitoma is known for its glow worms in the limestone caves and many people like to see this. When travelling it's really important to consider your own budget and weigh up the activities that you really want to do with the activities you 'don't mind' doing. The glow worms weren't something that interested me that much so I decided to give it a miss. You can't do everything afterall!! From here we went to Rotorua and I can hand on heart say I will never forget the smell of this place. It's home of New Zealand's largest geyser and  has a linguering aroma of rotten eggs. Here, we stayed in base hostel. A popular event for backpackers visiting Rotorua is the local Maori night. Again, another highlight of our trip. The maori people were the first settlers in New Zealand. We were collected by a bus and transported to their home about 5 miles outside Rotorua. Here we saw demonstrations of different aspects of their culture such as world renowned dance, 'the haka' (no I still can't do it), the recreational games they play as well as their traditional song and dance. The Maori people provided us with a feast fit for kings. A three course meal which included a roast, a welcome meal for eight Irish girls who hadn't tasted spuds in quite a while.

From Rotorua we made our way to Taupo. The nerves were building in my tummy, as I knew it wouldn't be long  now til' I flung myself out of a plane from 15,000 feet. Again we stayed in base hostel. As some of the other girls had already done their skydive in Bay of Islands it was just myself and Tisha that were going to take the plunge here at Lake Taupo. We were picked up by bus by the guys at skydive Taupo along with two other girls from our Kiwi Experience bus. To be honest the crew I was with were a very calming group to go with. There was no screaming on the way up which you can sometimes get with nervous and anxious groups of girls, through no fault of their own but it can be unnerving for other people there. On this plane, if anyone did have anxieties they kept them quietly to themselves which was somewhat calming and definitely

Some of The Kiwi Experience North Island Crew

At the summit of 'Mount Doom'

On the descent

Reunited with Laura and Jeni in Taupo

Last night in Wellington

Cape Reinga

helped with the nerves. The lads we were strapped to were very reassuring tell us that they do this jump about ten times a day which made me feel more at ease. There was no going back now. There I was, sitting at the edge of the plane attached to my professional skydiver. 'What am I doing?' I thought to myself. That was my last thought as the next thing I knew I was free falling in the sky from 15,000 feet. The sensation you feel is very hard to put into words unless you've actually experienced it. For me to suggest to you what a skydive is like would be silly. I can't even describe it for myself. That's the thing about a skydive. It actually is indescribable so I'm afraid you'll just have to go and do it for yourselves!!! :) Most people say they want to go up and do it again. For me on the other hand once was enough. I'm glad I addressed another fear of mine, heights! That night, our friend Laura (who lived with us in London) and her cousin who were both on an around the world trip, also happened to be in Taupo. The ten of us went out together and it was so nice to exchange our travelling stories. They hit off to south east Asia the next day. I can't imagine the heads were too good!!

Another major New Zealand attraction is the Tongariro Alpine crossing. It takes up a whole day and I can honestly say it was the toughest physical challenge I have ever undertaken. No half marathon compares to the pain I felt after this. You get picked up from your hostel in Taupo and taken to the Tongariro National Park 25km away. From there you start your trek. As a general guideline you are advised to be finished by 5pm. It can take anywhere from 6 to 9 hours to complete, depending on how often you stop for photos, there are a lot of kodak moments along the way. I started the ascent at 7.30 am. In the days leading up to this event, we were informed by the Kiwi Experience bus driver that some people doing this trek like to attempt a mountain called Mount Ngauruhoe. The fictional name for this mountain is Mount Doom, made famous by the film, The Lord of the Rings. Since this film was released, the mountain has become a common tourist attraction. The mountain is in fact an active volcano and it last erupted in 2012. Some of our fellow travellers whom we got chatting to in the hostel said it was a tough climb and I thought to myself 'jeez i'd love to give it a go'. As I progressed on the Tongariro Alpine crossing path, I could see the famous 'Mount Doom' emerge on my right hand side. Will I? Won't I? I thought to myself. Ara feck it I'll chance it.

Before I knew it I was on my way up this 2287m mountain. My God, it was really intense. It reminded me of the top part of Croagh Patrick, the part with the stones like slates, only this continued for the duration of the climb. When I reached the summit I had a big smile on my face. I sat there in a state of contentment, eating my apple, gazing at the most phenomenal pieces of natural beauty my two eyes had ever seen.  I thought all the hard work was over now. How I couldn't have been more wrong!! I started my descent, which was much harder than the climb. I lost count of the amount of times I fell and the many occasions I had to dodge falling rocks. However, as the saying goes, when you're playing with fire you are going to get burned and I eventually did get a nasty graze along my right ankle from one of these rocks, a scar that I still have to this day.

When I finally made it down from that deathtrap mountain, any sense of achievement I may have had was short lived. I saw the signpost. My heart sank. I had already walked 6km to the base of 'Mount Doom'. I had then climbed and returned safely to the bottom of the famous volcano. In total I had clocked up nearly 10 and a half km. I still had another 13km to go. I completely misjudged the distance of this trek. Nevertheless, not one to shy away from a challenge I ploughed on and eventually finished the task I set out to do. I was one happy girl to see that car park. Aching, in agony, a broken woman but I did it and I honestly think, in a funny way, it was one of my proudest moments. Simply for the fact it was the hardest thing I ever did and I completed it. Nothing worth having ever comes easy. To treat myself for my hard work I had a lovely McDonalds back in Taupo that night.

On to River Valley next. We had a one night stopover here. We stayed in a nice little lodge. The only negative thing I can say about this place is that they charge you for your blanket. Who does that?!! However, they did have a nice little bar where we enjoyed a few drinking games so I'll let them off on the blankets. From here we  made our way down to Windy Wellington. Again, due to time constraints I only got to spend one night here. What I saw, I liked. The pubs were busy. There seemed to be a bit of a buzz around the place.
But alas, all good things come to an end and for us, the even eight was now going to become the troublesome three. Myself, Ann and Tisha were moving on ahead to embark on our south island experience. The eight of us went out for dinner to mark the occasion. Three years ago, I didn't know any of these girls. We randomly moved in together in London and we have had some laughs since. Some of the best and loyal friends I have ever made. Tisha, Joanna, Catherine, Ann, Sinead, Suzanne, Elaine (defo an honoury house mate) and not forgetting Sharon, Natalie, Laura and Sarah. All so different and wonderful in ye're own ways. Thanks for everything. I will miss ye greatly. It's nice to know I will always have more places to visit around Ireland and England. It's all good.
There we were. Maria, Ann and Tisha at Wellington Port. OMG!! Look at yer' man. He looks like Spencer Matthews off Made in Chelsea....

xoxo