Sydney- A day in Summer Bay (Palm Beach)

Tuesday 20th of May 2014 was a day that I will never forget. This is the day I got to meet a legend in his own right Ray Meagher, better known to most of us as Home and Away's Alf Stewart. Ray has played the role of Alf Stewart since 1988 (the year I was born) and is the only original character left in Australia's longest running soap. A trip to Palm beach again better known to most of us as Summer Bay has been on my to do list since moving to Sydney in March of this year.

Last Tuesday I got to put a great big tick beside this. After working a 12 hour night shift it was home, shower and out the door. I threw a few lattes into me to psych myself up for the day and keep those stinging tired eyes at bay. Accompanied by my good friends Amanda Fahey (Robeen, Hollymount) and Suzanne McNeela (Newport) I made the trip from inner Sydney to the beautiful Palm Beach which lies 46km North East of Sydney.

On the bus the three of us discussed our expectations for the day. Who will we see? Will we even get to meet anyone at all. How disappointing will it be if we don't get to see anyone. One thing the three of us agreed on is that if we met Alf or Brax (Steve Peacocke) we would be very happy.

At 11am we hopped off the bus and it was the most surreal feeling. Actually looking up turning my head to the left and to my right and seeing that long beach I have seen on television since as long ago as I can remember. Ever since mother dearest would gather the four of us (my siblings Tommy, Gerard and Fiona) in the playroom give us a glass of 7up and a packet of tayto which kept us quiet for a half an hour and gave her some well needed peace. 

The show has seen me through thick and thin. Through all my secondary school days in Mount St. Michael Claremorris and later in my college years in Sligo. I know a lot of my buddies will agree that the majority of our lunchtimes in Sligo were spent watching Home and Away with a roll from the regional, a can a coke and a packet of crisps.

To me this programme represents a break, a precious half an hour to relax and do nothing and the minute I got off that bus in Palm beach I felt completely at ease. I definitely was in my happy place.

We strolled leisurely up the famous beach taking it all in. It was beautiful. The first jolt of excitement was when we saw a sign saying ''filming in progress''. Brilliant I thought. There must be someone here. We ventured up to the surf club and low and behold who was on set but our beloved Alf, Brax and an added bonus Leah (Ada Nicodemeu). What amazed me was the laid back atmosphere of the place. The whole crew were so friendly and welcoming and after they finished filming the scene Brax and Nate (Kyle Pryor) came out and asked if anyone would like photos. The security guard took each persons camera and the two lads were very happy to take a photo with anyone who wished for one. Steve told us he was coming to Ireland in July. So all you folks at home should go along and see him if he's in your hometowns cause' he's a real nice guy!!

After lunch we came back to see if there was any hope of meeting Alf. We waited and waited and at 5pm as he passed us by he said he could see we were waiting for a long time and he'd come back once he had a break in his next scene. True to his word he returned and was more than happy to pose for photos. Again an unbelievably nice, normal down to earth guy who funnily enough is actually quite small in real life. With that, followed by a quick picture with the lovely Leah we left Palm beach with beaming smiles and caught the L90 bus back to the bright lights of Sydney. A magical day with lovely memories we will hold dear forever. My favourite day in Oz thus far! Needless to say I slept well that night.....

New Zealand- The Kiwi Experience- The South Island

The south island Kiwi Experience crew

With the North island completed we boarded the ferry in Windy Wellington and sailed on towards the south island. It was here we met our new travel pal Elliott. I am a huge fan of reality tv. The Only Way is Essex, The Hills, Geordie Shore, Made in Chelsea. You name it. I love them. This young English chap was the image of Made in Chelsea's Spencer Mathews. Of course we thought this was great and the jokes began. He became a bit of a mini celeb around the place.
I felt there was quite a difference between the north and south island. The north island was beautiful with much of its scenery similiar to Ireland. Only, it had better weather! The south island on the other hand had images almost like they were paintings, but they were real. The natural beauty of the south island is just phenomenal.
When in New Zealand you kind of get that feeling of, where is everybody? It's very relaxed. In actual fact they're are only 800,000 people on the entire south island. The Kiwi's are very protective of their environment. I can honestly say that throughout the four weeks I was travelling NZ I did not enter one dirty bathroom, never seen any toilet without toilet roll nor any rubbish on the ground. Anywhere! A lot of people could take a leaf out of the kiwi's lifestyle book and it definitely reflects in their positive outlook.

Myself and 'Spencer' lookalike Elliott

The first night we stayed in a place called Ki teriteri. This is located on a beach and there is a nice little walk to do here. There was a pub beside our hostel and we went in there for a few drinks. To our disappointment the bar closed at 11 so we had to prematurely head to bed that night. The following day we drove on to our next destination, funnily enough called Westport. That night we had a BBQ cooked by Cam our bus driver and some of the other guys from the bus. We had a few drinks and then relaxed in the sitting room. For some reason everyone went to bed really early that night so we had the sitting room to ourselves. Myself, Ann and Tisha found some old VIDEOS ( I haven't used that word in quite some time) and we stuck on Ali G. I had forgotten how funny he was. We laughed and laughed. What a show!!
On to Franz Josef. It was the 17th of March. This meant one thing. Paddy's day! We stopped off on the way and we got our green tshirts, flags etc. After a quick shower in our hostel we headed over to the hostels bar. In fairness they had gone all out!! The whole place was covered in green. Even the pints were green. Irish tunes were being blasted out all night. The atmosphere was electric and other people from the Kiwi Experience bus from all over the globe, no matter what nationality they were, were keen to get in on the celebrations. We had people dressed in green from Canada, California, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, ENGLAND, Wales, France, Denmark etc. It was probably the best Paddy's Day I've ever had. It's certainly one I will never forget. It's amazing to think that our country is so widely celebrated all over the world. Awh, it's good to be Irish!!
Franz Josef hosts a 12km long glacier. This is one of the biggest tourist attractions on the west coast of New Zealand's south island. We were due to be brought by helicopter to this glacier the day after Paddy's day however due to weather conditions, we did not get to do it. We were a little disappointed however, I suppose google images is a great thing! :) The five girls from our original group (who were travelling a few days behind us) were lucky that the weather was on their side and they got to climb the glacier.

Paddy's Day in Franz Josef

Susan, Graham (Congrats on your engagement guys x) and Ann

Franz Josef Helicopter

After a brilliant time in Franz Josef we were off again to Wanaka. We spent one night here in base hostel and we had a really fun evening. They had a bar downstairs. The drink was fairly cheap and they had competitions throughout the night. The first competition we had was musical chairs and everyone was going hell for leather at this, the next one was the lads having to imitate the "Call on Me" video and the third was a challenge to see who could get the most items of clothes on them at once. The three winners then went on stage in a final decider. The decider being the person who could make the best orgasm noise would win a bunji jump in Queenstown. My God! Lets just say I was glad I was eliminated in the early stages of musical chairs!!!
We arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand's adventure capital the following day. New Zealand is home of the world's first commercial bungee jump, created by A.J. Hackett. One of the talking points of Queenstown amongst backpackers is the Nevis Bungee Jump. This bungee jump is 134m and is not for the faint hearted. I didn't do it, because I am faint hearted :) . It is the third highest bungee platform in the world. A trip to Fergburger is a must whilst staying in Queenstown. The queues are out the door and up the street with backpackers eagerly awaiting the famous burger.

Us three with Oliver, Michael and Gareth

Shots with Mr. San Fran Michael

Gareth, Harry, Ed and Ann

Harry and Graham in  our Queenstown hostel

Photo bombing Mel!!

Queenstown is easily the nicest town I have ever been in. It's scenery is so beautiful that you would actually think you were looking at a painting. It's just surreal. The night life is brilliant and there is a great buzz about the place. It's a hard place to leave. But for us three, time was pushing on. Our flight was leaving New Zealand on the 24th of March. We only had two nights there but one could easily stay in Queenstown for two weeks. There's just so much to do.
We got back on the Kiwi Experience bus and headed north to an isolated place called Lake Tekapo. Here, myself and Tisha left our hostel at 11pm and joined the local Earth and Sky Night-time observatory tour group. I have loved gazing at the stars from a young age. Ever since Daddy taught me how to recognise the plough and how to find the North Star. I was delighted to get this opportunity. We were brought out to a field in the middle of nowhere by bus. I have to say our tour guide was excellent. It was so refreshing to see someone so passionate about their job. He had two huge telescopes and it was amazing to see Mars and Saturn through these. Even though it was FREEZING out there, it was well worth it and I loved it.

Getting a lift with a local cop in Christchurch

Randomly meeting David in Christchurch

Mirror lakes

Final night in Christchurch in The Bog Bar

Our last NZ destination was Christchurch. This place was in bits. The three of us had friends from home working in Christchurch. As we only had one night there, we asked anyone we knew to come in to meet us in The Bog Bar. (An Irish bar of course). It was great to see them all there and everyone doing so well, so far away from home. We had to be up early to catch a domestic flight back to Auckland. Our Kiwi Experience had come to an end. What a wonderful experience it was. I made brilliant friends who still entertain me with their regular snapchats and I'm sure I will see them again. I would recommend The Kiwi Experience to anyone thinking about travelling New Zealand. Their website is www.kiwiexperience.com .
The New Zealand chapter had now closed. It was time to open the next one. One of my besties from home, Aoife Campbell had been living in Sydney since November 2013. I was only delighted to have her with me as I entered my Australian experience. Queue Stratton's Hotel. Little did I know what lied ahead. Stay tuned folks.

xoxo

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