Travel Diary

India/20/British/currently in England Travelled SEA for 3 months, Australia, NZ and finished in Fiji last July For my family to keep updated x

[onebackpackandme]

Sapa Vietnam 🇻🇳 Lunch at Grandma’s

A year ago

[onebackpackandme]

Interisland ferry - into the South Island!

[onebackpackandme]

Thursday 8th June

Day 15 

Today our plan was to go to the museum and spend the morning there. Then to walk along the waterfront and have coffee at some nice coffee places. We had heard it was nice to wander around Cuba street and then for dinner get fish and chips and eat it on top of the hill. 

The museum was amazing or at least the new exhibition on WWI was. We were both so impressed and hands down the best one either or us has seen. We spent a long time there. 

We then walked along the waterfront and for doughnuts which were bite-sized and slightly pointless. But Freddy got them just because he knows how much I love doughnuts. Then went and got pizza for this American diner place which was nice. The weather didn't look too amazing and it didn't look like we'd get much of a sunset so I said there wasn't much point in us going up and my legs still really hurt anyway. Freddy didn’t seem to mind but I felt bad he’d organised the whole day and I didn’t want to do everything he had planned.

[onebackpackandme]

Wednesday 7th June

Day 14

Today we had to get up early and get our bus. We are now headed to Wellington. It took a while and we arrived in the afternoon after we stopped at some weird place along the way which didn’t make much sense. We’ve seen quite a lot of weird places travelling with the Intercity buses.

I then went to sleep when we got in still so worn out from the huge hike we had just done and Freddy went and got us some food.

Later we had the comedy evening! Freddy had looked online and found a comedy club near our hostel as we’d enjoyed the one in Auckland so much. I am very much looking forward to it and not just sitting in a hostel.

[onebackpackandme]

[onebackpackandme]

Day 13

6th June

So this morning I watched the sunrise and then I got to see the sunset. It is not every day that you can say that.

I was also extremely tired and wet for most of the day. So Freddy has chosen for us to do the Pouakai crossing on Mount Taranaki. I had no idea what this actually meant but considering I'd done some hiking in Sapa, Vietnam I thought I'd be okay. Oh, no!

The first part was through the goblin forest, this was okay, it was steep and steps which I hate but it wasn't too awful and we were at the top within 40 minutes of walking. The path then evened out for a while and we had some amazing views because the cloud was clearing away from the summit. It then seemed to take forever for us to get down to the lunch point but we made it in good time. 

Then we got to the swamp. The guy who dropped us has told us it was muddy and wet but there was a boardwalk. What he didn't say was that this was underwater and below the mud above it. So you can imagine how my face was when I found this out the hard way with the least appropriate footwear possible. 

It was then nearly two hours of pretty much a running stream of water through a mud path. It was so wet and slippery the mud went up to your ankles and there was no way of avoiding it. 

The worst of it was me was the endless stairs to come. Which can't even be classified as actual stairs because where they'd placed the wood and filled it with mud which had then just turned into a puddle and you had to balance your foot on the tiny inch thick piece of wood while trying not fall in for another hour or so. We seemed to just walk upwards for forever. 

We eventually reached the top and then Freddy and the other girl wanted to go to the mirror lake although you couldn't actually see anything and I knew we wouldn't. I was cold and bored by this point. It was then a long way down and this seemed to go on forever but I felt bad for the people going up asking how much further they had because my god did they have far to go.

[onebackpackandme]

Day 12

5th June

After arriving late in New Plymouth yesterday neither of us looked into how early you had to get up to do a walk around Mount Taranaki and so when we were told the shuttle leaves once a day at 7AM we realised we weren't going to get to walk/ hike it. 

We were disappointed but at the same time, we had no idea so we just got on with our day. The weather was pretty bad anyway and so it wouldn't have been nice. We didn't want to walk along the seafront because it was raining. So we played bowling and then indoor mini golf. 

Afterward we were going to get a coffee but most places closed as it was a bank holiday. We went to Joe’s garage and Freddy had a scone and I got hot chocolate. We then headed back and sat by the fire to realise again we'd screwed up the buses because it was fully booked for tomorrow. So we had a sauna instead.

[onebackpackandme]

Day 11

4th June

So from looking at the bus times leaving Waitomo, we realised that we'd made a BIG mistake booking two nights. As the bus left at 7pm and we sure as hell wasn't going to spend another day here.

So I said to Freddy as we were going to the glow worm cave and that we've paid for the room and won't get a refund on the day we now didn’t want to stay that we should just use the room until we leave at 7pm. The caves weren't anything amazing. Or at least I wasn't impressed. The pictures you get shown are much more amazing than what we actually saw. 

When we got back Freddy spoke to the weird hostel guy who surprisingly said he'd fully refund us and he'd given us a free breakfast this morning as well when he'd made everyone else pay which was weird. He then dropped us for when our bus would come as well. Which was nice but it was odd. The hostel had some cool animals though pigs and sheep and a deer.

[onebackpackandme]

Day 10

3rd June

Day 10 - 

This again was another travel day waiting around for our bus in the afternoon. I started feeling really sick from the smell of sulphur and couldn’t wait to get out of town. Freddy has an interesting looking full English for breakfast.

We did get lucky with our bus, as we were the only ones heading to Waitomo and so got a minibus to ourselves. Which also meant me got there so much quicker than the actual bus would have. 

We got to Waitomo and wow there is really nothing there. Like literally nothing. There isn't even shops in what they call ‘the township’. So we couldn't buy any food. The guy at the hostel seemed really weird too. But said a nearby restaurant picks you up and they have a buffet for $10 so we went. They were also playing the game which was all Freddy wanted to hear.

[onebackpackandme]

Rotorua

[onebackpackandme]

Day 9

2nd June

Again I woke up super tired and slept in. We chose to eat out which was surprisingly cheap. We then wandered around the park that Nick and Leslie told us about where we could go see the hot pool for free. It stank like high heaven but, was super cool I’ve never seen anything like it and gave off quite a lot of warmth. 

We then went back to the hostel to rest Freddy's ankle, as it hurt from the walk we did around Paihia before we did the walk around Lake Rotorua which was really nice. 

In the evening we then went to the Polynesian spa for 2 hours until around 7pm. We both really liked it and the water was so hot and didn't smell too bad. The views were pretty amazing.

[onebackpackandme]

Maori evening

[onebackpackandme]

Day 8

1st June

We left Auckland very early which I was happy to be out moving around again. After being told we’d barely be able to see what we wanted in the time we had in New Zealand I’ve been very anxious to make the most of our time.

The bus was okay I tried to sleep and slept awfully. Constantly have a headache most of the time right now. But away we arrived in Rotorua! It’s stinks like high heavens that’s what no one tells you. We’re hoping to see the hot pools for free today and then do a walk around the lake. I wanted to go see this other lake but I’m not bothered now having seen how amazing the geothermal pools were by the hospital. The Lodge’s had told us about this and that it was free and not worth paying. They were right.

We went to a Maori evening which was really fun a little touristy but expected and was interesting. I really wanted to get Freddy to join in and got a video of him trying to dance which he hated, but I loved. So cold though in the evening, starting to realise how cold it will get as the month goes on.

[onebackpackandme]

Day 7

30th May

We got the bus back to Auckland. Pretty much another nothing travel day but you can’t always be doing exciting things. Steve met us from the bus station and took us to walk along the waterfront which was really nice. The weather was good and the buildings were nice. But my god does he love to talk. 

We eventually sorted the next bit of trip out and then I wanted to watch tv so we did. And Jamie Oliver's comfort food made us so hungry. Hopefully, we are going to make steak sandwiches tomorrow. Cannot wait! Avoided beef like the plague in S.E.A. We then had dinner which was really nice some mince balls and rice. After that, I'd arranged to FaceTime James and Russell - I miss them so much. 

[onebackpackandme]

The never ending walk!

[onebackpackandme]

27th -29th May

Day 4 -

 I wasn’t really feeling well today and so opted to stay in bed. Freddy went out for brunch with the family. 

When they got back, he was really sweet and made sure I was okay, I think just all the travelling suddenly hit me and I needed to rest. We decided the best way to spend our day was properly plan out where we want to go and what route we’re going it in and realistically how long we can spend it each place. It wasn’t the most fun, but important so that the rest of trip can be as fun and all the stress of planning, reworking and making sure we fit the most in but also that we aren’t moving around too much we don’t enjoy ourselves.

Such a relief when everything is organised. Freddy was actually so helpful and spoke to Steve and Sue a lot about where the best places to go and where not to miss and where we could skip. 

Day 5 - 

Just a travel day all the way up to Paihia Bay of Islands. Freddy wanted to take me to breakfast where they’d gone the day before because he thought I’d really like it, as well as a super cool warehouse with loads of furniture. He knows me well.

Day 6 -

I slept awfully. The dorms are horribly claustrophobia and I’d already had to get us moved because the first room we were in people were drying their clothes in the room which made it smell damp and I wasn’t going to get ill. When we eventually got things sorted, we decided to do this small but meant to be a stunning walk. 

We started in the morning and found a nice spot to sit and have lunch. At one point Freddy had a fantail bird following him so he called it James and kept making sure it was behind him. We seemed to have done most of the walk quite quickly and I didn’t understand why they said it took 5 hours.

We got the car ferry across which was $1 so pretty quick. And then I saw a sign saying 6km to Paihia. Let’s just say it was not a nice walk back. Huge mistake on my part for not reading the map properly.

[onebackpackandme]

27th March Day 3

We both slept into pretty much midday because we were both so tired having not stopped since we got here. That’s what I want though, making the most of everything.

Steve and his Wife are going out in the evening and so had got us comedy evenings tickets to their friends’ comedy house called The Classic. So we went out for a nice meal to this place called Orleans. Freddy really, really wanted to try to the chicken and waffles but I wasn’t sure and it was such a huge portion for me not to like and him they have to eat on his own. I had a really good cocktail, the food ended up being alright. I’d prefer to have the spent half the money and got the same. 

Freddy was happy because while we were waiting to get a table he found a bar which showed different games of rugby. We then headed to the comedy club. It was actually surprisingly good and we had a really nice evening. Some people we found funnier than others but they were all pretty good. Both of us want to find a good comedy club back home for us to go to now.