I've had an amazing time, we managed to fit so much cool stuff in that I never would have been able to do.
After an initial panic about the weather when we were up in Kerikeri, we've had the most amazing weather up until about two days ago when antartica decided to dump heaps of snow on us (the worst snow NZ has seen for 16 years, so I'm told) which caused mums flights to be cancelled which sucked. But at the same time I had more time to show my mum this beautiful country :)
So since we got a lot done instead of paragraphing everything I'll give y'all a bulletpoint run down (laziness I know)
- Auckland
- Saw a relative who really didn't seem that keen on seeing us... but never mind, got it over and done with.
- Villa Maria Winery + Cellar tour - got pretty mashed because the tour guide was giving us very very generous helpings of 'tastings'.
- Found a nandos and got mum hooked. Drove around Auckland for at least 2 hours trying to find a way in... I hate Auckland driving.
- Kerikeri
- Paihia and the Bay of Islands - It was raining and mum was still pretty jetlagged so didn't really do much there... nevermind :P
- Cape Reinga and the awesome beach (Tapotupotu Bay) we had the beach all to ourselves. Amazing. Never seen water so blue.... Cape Reinga was windy as but still fairly enjoyable when we weren't worrying about blowing away :)
- Kauri trees and pub time - took mum to see the old trees (she likes trees) and the pub for karaoke, fun but left quite early :P
- Auckland again
- Booked into Rydges for the night (I REALLY hate Auckland lol) which was lovely, and went to nandos (again) and had pina coladas in the skytower. Fun times.
- Rotorua
- Saw all the free steam coming out of the ground. Was fun but didn't smell half as much as I remember.....
- Hells gate - saw lots of smelly steam stuff and bubbling mud, went in the mud pools and the sulphur pool which was AWESOME but messy and smelly as to be expected :P
- Rainbow Springs Wildlife Park - I can now say i've seen all 3 types of kiwi - kiwi people, kiwifruit and kiwi birds. I can die a happy woman.
- Fat Dog - possibly the best cafe in all of New Zealand.
- Wellington
- Didn't spend long here but we saw Te Papa which was fun, wish I had more time there :)
- Nelson
- Winery Tour - got hammered, tasted some awesome NZ produce. 'Nuff said.
- Franz Josef
- Glacier heli-hike - truely amazing. The guide said they'd just had the biggest snow dump he'd ever seen so it was more like a snow playground than a glacier tour ;)
- Lake Mapourika - is it morbid for me to think that this is a place that I'd like my ashes to be scattered when I die? (Photos on facebook) one of the most peaceful places i've ever been.
- Wanaka
- Boat tour of the lake - was just me and my mum so saw what we wanted and got a lot of info out of the guide. Bloody cold though.....
- Got my mums credit card cut off. Money panic started....
- Queenstown
- LOTS of drinking. Too much drinking. Battle scars obtained.
- Canyon Swing - lots of fun but a bit of a let down if i'm honest.....
- Bungee Jump - hardest thing i've ever done. Awesome though, recommend it to anyone with strong bowels and bladder control.
- Doubtful Sound - Absolutely amazing scenery, and so peaceful. Loved it!
- Harry Potter 7 Part 2 - cried 3 times in 2 hours. :P
Peace -x-
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