Thailand

Final stop Thailand! We arrived into Bangkok and found our hostel surprisingly easily! We spent a few days in the madness that is Bangkok, visiting the Grand palace, temples and taking trips on the river. We've had a great time eating the food off the street stalls, never having a clue what we're ordering! (Tiff always with the phase book pointing to "I'm a vegetarian" hoping they understand!)

We then took a very comfortable over night train up to Chiang Mai. We really enjoyed Chiang Mai, more chilled out and less humid! It even gets cold in the mornings, so refreshing! Whilst there we did a trip into the country side, took a ride on an elephant(not the most comfortable way to travel), went rafting(normal and bamboo rafting!) and trekked to a beautiful waterfall(nearly killed us- the guide walked so fast and it was so hot! And it wasn't the easiest path we've ever walked down... at one point we got to a log about 10m long which the guide walked over- we took one look at it and were like your joking right?? She was, she showed us a way around thankfully because I'm pretty sure neither of us has that good balance!). We also went on a cooking course! (which we nearly didn't get to do because they forgot to pick us up!) The course was on a farm just outside of Chiang Mai, we took a train to the village and on arrival were told we would cycle to the farm, now this wouldn't normally have been a problem but Lizzy did choose to wear a long skirt that day! So in trying to be respectful by covering up ended up having to cycle with the skirt tucked in! Always so ladylike! having said that she still didn't show nearly as much leg as the guide in the mini skirt! The cooking course was lots of fun, we got to pick our own veg and herbs from the farm and cooked lots of Thai food which we then ate!

Apart from that we spent time looking around Chiang Mai, visiting more temples, the night market, the sunday walking markets(amazing food!) and the prison... no not a typo... Tiff went to the women's prison for a Thai massage! It's part of their rehab program they teach the women skills and then they run a spa and the money they make is saved up for when they are released! Tiff was very impressed!

We then took the train back to Bangkok, just for the day, we spent the day at the cinema- it was just too hot outside! Saw a couple of films in luxury, standing for national anthem at the beginning! Then we took an overnight coach and ferry to Ko Tao, a beautiful island in the south of Thailand. We turned up with no where to stay hoping it would work out... it did! We found a beautiful resort on the east of the island in a remote bay. Access only by 4WD or boat!

We stayed there for 6 nights enjoying the quiet, and relaxing! The bay we were in only had 5 resorts, so of course we tried all the restaurants, and had our favourites pretty quickly! And had the perfect end to every day, sitting in the bar at our resort... I say bar but really it was just chairs and tables set up on the beach lit by candle light.

We've now made it back to Bangkok for our last couple of days, today we are checking in to a beautiful posh hotel for Lizzy's last night(so cheap we couldn't resist), so I can tell you in advance that we will be relaxing in the pool, maybe checking out the fitness center and the spa!
Well this ends my(Lizzy) adventures, I look forwarding to seeing everyone VERY soon! and I leave you with Tiff for the next 2 months(I've told her she must continue blogging!) 

North Island

After a scenic ferry ride from Picton over to Wellington we went downstairs to fetch Jack to find he'd been right by the sheep lorries all the way - it really smelt! Escaping into the fresh air we headed to hostel car park we were staying at, only to find that their car park was on a hill - an obvious place to advertise campervan parking!! Anyway after trying out a few spaces we left Jack and headed into windy Wellington which really does deserve it's title and joined a friend of Lizzys, Jon and his sister for dinner. Taking pity on us they invited us to stay at theirs while we explored Wellington which was greatly appreciated!

We spent the next few days exploring Wellington - shopping, sightseeing, trying to sort Tiffs Thai visa! Was really nice to be part of other peoples 'normal life' for a few days. The Friday was Jon's birthday so we joined him and his friends for drinks, a meal and a trip to the theatre to see 'Lonely Hearts', a musical his sister, Eleanor was producing which was really funny! The following day we drove an hour north of Wellington to the New wine conference where we had a great day seeing Richard and Hilary again, seeing Richard preach and attending the morning and evening services. We left feeling thoroughly blessed by the day which, a couple of week earlier we hadn't known about!

After finding out that Tiff's visa was going to be delayed for a few days we left Wellington to explore new ground. We ended up being invited to stay with Jon's friend Dan and his parents who live in Masterton which just so happens to be in a great wine region known for its Pinot Noirs. We spent a lovely few days staying here, going to a few wine tastings, some olive oil tasting and exploring down to the south coast where we found a huge seal colony with seals basking in the sun right by us - we avoided being chased by them successfully! Dan and his brother also took us to an animal sanctuary where we got to see the iconic New Zealand Kiwi (a white one and a brown one!) and some other, more noisy birds!

Driving back to Wellington in a retired hearse (Dan's parents are funeral directors), we spent the day helping Dan move flat while we waited for Tiffs visa to be ready for collection. Thankfully her visa was granted and with passport collected we met Jon and Eleanor for dinner followed by drinks and jazz before driving back to Masterton. 

The next 2 days we spent journeying north towards Hamilton, where Parachute festival was happening. Dan was also going to Parachute so, hitching a ride with us we squidged 3 in the front of Jack (don't worry parents, there were 3 seats!) and set out towards Roturua via Lake Taupo (the largest of NZs massive lakes) where we stopped for refreshments (FYI - Gingernut ice cream is delicious!). Roturua, known for it geothermal activity, was a very surreal experience. On arrival we went via bubbly mud pools to kerosene creek, a natural hot spring where we went for a dip and a shower under the hot waterfall...lovely! Next stop was the hot/cold river where a hot river and cold river merge (bet you couldn't have guessed!) and you bath in whatever mixture of hot and cold you wish - weird but wonderful!!! The following day we went to Whakarewarewa Thermal village where we were shown around by Maori guides. The village is still very much a lived in village complete with an impressive kitchen area (just hang your food in the boiling water or into the box for a steamer effect) and communal outdoor baths. Wandering around we saw the nearby geysers erupting, steaming lakes and then went to a Maori cultural performance - Tiff got picked to try one of the dances and rather unsuccessfully managed the little poi left handed - best left to the professionals, the Haka was much more impressive!

Next stop was Parachute festival which started Friday afternoon and kept us entertained until Monday with loads of live music all day, everyday. The festival which has about 20-30,000 delegates combines a morning worship session and preach in the sunshine followed by live music by christian artists in a number of venues over the rest of the day. Was a great few days and now have plenty of new music to look up when we get back.

With a week left before we had to hand Jack back we hotfooted it up the Coromandel Penninsula to Cathedral cove, a very pretty beach and cove - the best bit being the toilets with a window looking out over the ocean! Afterwards we stopped at Hot water beach where, at low tide hot water bubbles up - finding a spot to dig a hole where there weren't people digging already however, was impossible, so we settled to paddle through the warm/boiling bits and left to find our campsite.

The next few days we spent exploring north of Auckland, reaching Paihia on our first day, where Sian and Debs had lived and worked for a few months quite a while ago now.  We headed out on a day sailing trip around the beautiful Bay of Islands, stopping at a gorgeous island for lunch and clambering up the hill for 360 degree panoramic views of the stunning surrounding area. The following day, we went to the Waitangi Treaty grounds where the 1840 treaty was signed between the British and the Maori people which was really interesting. After this we headed up the coast, stopping at Mangonui for 'World famous' fish and chips whilst overlooking beautiful coastline and watching the local fisherman bringing in their next catch. We carried on up to the very top to camp for the night.

Just a quick side note from Lizzy:
Now everyone, if I asked you if it was possible to break a toothbrush in 2 what would you say? I know what you're thinking of course it's probably not that difficult. But what if I said, is it possible to break a toothbrush in 2 whilst brushing your teeth, what would you say? Previously I would have said no of course not, they're pretty strong, you don't hear of people snapping toothbrushes. Well that night whilst brushing our teeth Tiff managed just that! how? I still don't know. I think she's a superhero trying to hide her identity and in a moment of distraction showed her super strength and true self! Of course she denies this...

Next day we did the final 5km to Cape Reigna, the northern most tip of the North Island where the Tasman and Pacific seas collide into each other, although not in a straight line as Tiff hoped for. On our way back down we stopped of at the huge sand dunes and at 90 mile beach, a strip of beach similar to Fraser Island which people can drive along, Jack however would have got stuck so we kept him on the road and headed down to Whangarei for the night. We found a great campsite with free hot showers and hot tub (ahhh luxury!) which was right next to some beautiful waterfalls we explored the following morning. Before carrying on our journey back to Auckland we drove out to Whangarei heads, another portion of beautiful coastline. We spent our final night in Jack right next to the sea, packed him up (it's amazing what we've accumulated in 6 weeks!) and then dropped him off the following day in Auckland.

We had a few days in Auckland where, to be honest we didn't get up to much. Found a nice church followed by a chinese lantern festival in one of the parks on the sunday and then spent the next couple of days shopping and exploring Auckland. We did make our way up the sky tower and watched people jump off it (attached but still weird to watch). Our final day we got a ferry over to Devonport and wandered up an old volcano, the view from the top is meant to rival the Bay of Island and we'd have to agree, it was beautiful!

Next stop, Bangkok.....

Finishing the south island

So here goes....after Doubtful Sound we spent the next couple of days driving up to the glaciers. We stopped off at Lake Wanaka for a little wander but, as it was the weekend it was really busy so we carried on our drive around to the other end of the Lake to camp for the night - a surprisingly long way, its a really big lake! The following day, we stopped of at Jackson Bay, a beautiful bay at the end of the road with apparently a great fish and chip shop which Lizzy sampled gladly before reaching Fox Glacier in time for skydiving!! As we drove we were watching the clouds coming and going, Tiff getting more and more excited and Lizzy getting a little bit more terrified! We arrived with time to go for a wander around Lake Matheson, which sometimes has spectacular reflections of Mt Cook (we were on the other side of it now!), however whilst it was too windy for that picture perfect moment it was still impressive.

Skydiving was AMAZING, anyone who hasn't done one I really think you should put it on your 'to do' list! Attached (securely) to our skydivers we ascending into the sky, 1000ft seeming pretty high and then realising theres another 11000ft to go...at 12000ft Lizzy jumped (assisted by a little push from Tiff - not!) and Tiff carried on up to 15000ft where, after some extra oxygen she jumped. Freefalling through cloud and seeing the mountain peaks above the mountains was breathtaking and as we came through the clouds the views just got more beautiful with the sea on one side and the sun beginning to set over it and then the glacier on the other side with the snow capped mountains surrounding it....wow. 

Anyway, enough about skydiving! We spent the next few days at Fox Glacier, held up by the weather as it was too cloudy to get a helicopter right up to the unspoilt top of the glacier which we wanted to do. Instead, we did a full day hike which was like nothing we'd ever done before. Trekking in a group up hand picked ice steps and then using your crampons to follow the guide up and down the massive ice landscape was surreal. Finding an ice slide was definately a highlight of the day!

From Fox Glacier we travelled up the west coast stopping at Punakaiki where there's pancake rocks, yes you guessed it, they look like lots of pancakes piled on top of one another! As the weather turned rainy we drove the Arthurs Pass, a scenic drive back over to the east coast. Whilst it was pretty, I'm pretty sure on a sunny day the views would have been much better.  We reached Kaikoura where we spent the next day frequenting the local swimming pool which, much to our disappointment only had a very cold shower and then going on a whale watching boat trip. We saw humoungous sperm whales dive into the depths, other whales breeching and playing, and a huge amount of dolphins leaping around - looks so much fun to be able to jump like that!!

We spent the next couple of days travelling via Lewis' Pass, another scenic route, up to the Abel Tasman National Park. En route, as it continued to rain, we found a lovely town called Reefton with a very tasty bakery serving great breakfasts which we enjoyed before church in the friendly baptist church. The weather turned much sunnier in Abel Tasman where we had a few beautiful days. One day we went on kayaks up the coast through the marine park, was definately an experience in a 2 man kayak with one of us steering and the other directing, amazingly we did make it through the tiny gaps our guide led us - we only got grounded on the rocks once which i think is pretty impressive!! Heading right up to the northern most point of the south island we enjoyed driving along the beautiful coastline and around the winding roads over the mountains.

Making our way back towards Picton, where we were due to get our ferry over to the north island, we stopped at Nelson where, through a contact of Lizzys we were due to stay with the Bishop, Richard and his wife Hilary. We had a fantastic evening sharing a BBQ with them and their friends and have felt really blessed to get to meet such lovely people. As a result we found out about Parachute festival, a huge festival in NZ where loads of christian artists play, and the NZ branch of New wine which happened to be the following week and which Richard was speaking at. Both of these events made their way impeccably into our plans for the North island....the blog for which is coming soon!!!