Monday 25 January 2010

A New Year But Not A New Start

Woah! I can't believe that it's been more than a month since my last post! Where does the time go? Something that I've learnt the hard way is that it takes far more time, energy and money to set up a new life than thought that it ever could. That is to say, I am now settled into Brisbane, NSW, Australia; but it just took absolutely forever to do. Despite all of the hardships and the effort, I have to say that it is such a worthwhile endeavour, just knowing that I have completely stepped out of the shadow of my parental wing and am able to live as an independent human being........Now if only I could become a productive member of society. (I guess we all need a goal to strive towards!)

But I digress, at the point of my last post I saw still somewhere deep in the bowels of New Zealand. However, due to the immense passage of time since that point I can't give any specific details of my adventures; so here is a brief list of activities that I did and whether they were worth it or not:

1) Bungee jumping - a common link with NZ and something that I would both recommend and deter you from. It was a thrilling experience that left me with vertigo for nearly a month afterwards. Worth doing if your a thrill seeker, otherwise its just funny going to some of the sites such as the Kawaru Bridge and laughing at the silly people wetting themselves before falling into a river. BTW there are loads of other adventure activities such as skydiving etc to try out to if your up for it.

2) Hiking - if your a tourist in NZ its pretty much a given that you will hike somewhere. If like me your not much of a nature lover there are still some walks that I would urge you to try. Especially the ones that lead somewhere fun, like secret hot water springs where you can skinny dip in the comfort of knowing that no one is going to come for hours, if your more pessimistic, take a swimming costume, but defiantly do go. You can also go hiking on two glaciers on the South Island and that can be a great, yet very very tiring day out, and sadly any souvenirs you try to bring back will melt before you make it back to the start point!

3) Hot Water Beach - this is a bizarre phenomenon on the western side of the North Island where at low tide you can go dis a pit into the soft sand of the beach which will fill up with hot water from below the ground. This was just so much fun to do, it is a must whether or not you like the beach (and who doesn't like the beach?). On the South Island you can go to sulphur springs in Roturoa, but be warned take air freshener with you as the air has a very eggy flavour.

4) Sushi! - strange that I put this is I know, but an unexpected twist to my Kiwi experience was that practically half the population seems to be of the oriental persuasion. This was great for me since I got to practice my pathetic Japanese while eating a lot of Korean BBQ. This does tire after a while though but since the only other real culinary option is pies, sometimes you feel as if your stuck between a rock and a hard place and must persevere on a diet of fish and rice.

5) Shopping - only one word - NONE! Sadly, NZ seems to be in a relative time warp of bad fashion and a dire lack of malls. Unless you want to pay above the odds for surf labels or have a budget that lets you shop at Prada, your best bet is to take enough clothes from home to last you for the duration of your journey.

Well, I seem to have exhausted my advice on visiting NZ. Ultimately, I had a wonderful time and met many colourful people - most of whom were backpackers too, but still there were some Kiwis mixed in there. I would highly recommend a visit as its a country worth exploring. And the best part is that it's so similar in the way it looks and the climate to England that you'll feel like you've never left home :D

Next time.....a new life down under xx