Trip of a Lifetime BK/NZ/FJ/OZ/LV tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-22:/blog/?domain=austind 2007-04-26T07:23:33Z austind img/travel-blog-feed.png East Coast tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-26:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=18&entryid=57363 2007-04-26T07:23:33Z 2007-04-26T07:23:33Z After spending a week in byron bay where I went snorkelling with sharks and turtles and hangliding I continued up to surfers paradise where i spent one night out on the town. Surfers paradise is basically just a party town like ibiza or somewhere in the med, it was good fun but not really much to see so i continued up to brisbane where i met up with my friend from new zealand. Spent the weekend in brisbane where i ... After spending a week in byron bay where I went snorkelling with sharks and turtles and hangliding I continued up to surfers paradise where i spent one night out on the town. Surfers paradise is basically just a party town like ibiza or somewhere in the med, it was good fun but not really much to see so i continued up to brisbane where i met up with my friend from new zealand. Spent the weekend in brisbane where i watched my first rugby league match since i've been here at the suncorp stadium which is a really cool big stadium capacity of 50,000. went round brisbane and checked out the museums and stuff but generally there wasn't much there. My next stop was noosa where i went on a canoe safari through the noosa everglades. It was a wicked couple of days and saw a view from the top of a sandpatch (which was more like a desert on the top of a big hill) that was spectacular. It isn't often you can see the horizon without seeing one man made structure or road but here you could see nothing but rainforests and the everglades. I also checked out autralia zoo whilst i was there and hand fed elephants and saw the croc show and all the other cool animals they had there like tasmanian devils and wombats and kangaroos etc. From noosa went up to rainbow beach where i went to fraser island from. Spen 2 nights on fraser island (the biggest sand island in the world) on a self drive cmaping safari where i got to see loads of dingoes and eagles and these big spiders with webs like walls! Also got to see sharks from the top of a cliff (the water was that clear) as well as manta rays and dolphins. Had a really cool group and spent the nights drinking goon. For those of you who don't know what goon is it is a poor excuse for wine that costs the equivalent of 4 pound for 4litres and is made of fish, eggs and various other dodgy stuff, it tastes horrid but is really strong and cheap so every backpacker drinks it by the bucket load!

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]]> Surfing Safari tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-06:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=17&entryid=53752 2007-04-07T03:18:57Z 2007-04-07T03:18:57Z Spent the last week travelling from Sydney to Byron bay learning to surf on the way surfing is great fun and the surfer dudes party hard! saw some awesome beaches and loads of wildlife, saw dolphins surfing the waves (they sure put us to shame) saw a massive lizard called a goanna as well as surfing over sting rays, saw wild kangaroos as well currently in byron which is such a chilled out cool place, will be travelling to nimbin and the ... Spent the last week travelling from Sydney to Byron bay learning to surf on the way

surfing is great fun and the surfer dudes party hard! saw some awesome beaches and loads of wildlife, saw dolphins surfing the waves (they sure put us to shame) saw a massive lizard called a goanna as well as surfing over sting rays, saw wild kangaroos as well

currently in byron which is such a chilled out cool place, will be travelling to nimbin and the gold coast/surfers paradise next

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]]> Sydney tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-03-05:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=16&entryid=48530 2007-03-05T23:20:18Z 2007-03-05T23:20:18Z Still in Sydney at the moment, just finishing off a contract with hsbc doing system testing then i'm gonna start making my way up the coast to cairns doing fraser island, whitsundays, surfers paradise etc. mainly been chilling but done some really cool stuff lately like watching my first super 14 game (which turned out to be quite a boring game) went to see the poms beat the aussies and clinch the one day series at the scg, another harbour cruise ... Still in Sydney at the moment, just finishing off a contract with hsbc doing system testing then i'm gonna start making my way up the coast to cairns doing fraser island, whitsundays, surfers paradise etc.

mainly been chilling but done some really cool stuff lately like watching my first super 14 game (which turned out to be quite a boring game) went to see the poms beat the aussies and clinch the one day series at the scg, another harbour cruise with my bar crawl company and went to mardi gras at the weekend (its celebrated by everyone over here and they make quite a big deal of it)

gonna be living in bondi for the next couple of weeks, about 5 minutes from the beach so i can't wait for that, gonna try my hand at surfing and become a surfer dude!

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]]> Australia tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-02-04:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=15&entryid=42862 2007-02-05T04:18:30Z 2007-02-05T04:13:55Z As I haven't been updating my blog as regularly as I should have done the following is a brief summary of my stay in Oz so far (it's not that interesting cos i've just been generally drinking and working). When first arrived I was somewhat overwhelmed by the size of the city (Sydney) but soon found my way and grew accustomed to my new envirnoment. The first day was pent getting myself sorted and had a really cool moment watching the ... As I haven't been updating my blog as regularly as I should have done the following is a brief summary of my stay in Oz so far (it's not that interesting cos i've just been generally drinking and working).

When first arrived I was somewhat overwhelmed by the size of the city (Sydney) but soon found my way and grew accustomed to my new envirnoment. The first day was pent getting myself sorted and had a really cool moment watching the sunset behind the harbour bridge with the opera house in the forefront and the rest of the city to the side of me.

The next couple of days were spent looking for a job and accomadation, got plenty of interviews for the typical backpackers type jobs but only one of the, have i stuck with. That is a compnay called Route 69 which is a bar crawl company, my job is to sell tickets to backpackers then socialise and make sure they're OK on nights out which means I get free booze on the nights out and get to meet loads of new people - it's probably the best job in the world (except the money is completely commission based).

check out the pics on the website www.route69.org

I got a job as a door to door salesman for a charity agency but only turned up to the trial and didn't fancy it, the job I went for was selling tickets for a paintball company. The job was a laugh but again completely commission based but after a week of not selling one and then the boss not turning up one morning meaning I got up for nothing I never went back. Instead I got an office job with an Insurance company (not ideal but I needed the money) however, after just one week they laid me off for some mysterious reason which they never actually let me know about. Since then I have managed to get a job with HSBC system testing which I should be doing at the moment!

I've been to the blue mountains, bondi, coogee, manly, the olympic park (including the telstra stadium tour where England won the world cup and sat on Jonny's changing room spot), i met Monty Panesar in a club the other night although he didn't seem too impressed with me and my mate and cleared off very quickly!

Christmas eve was spent on a booze cruise through the harbour with 4 hours unlimited drink and cos it was with my bar crawl company I got this free! This meant christmas day was spent nursing a horrendous hangover and the christmas dinner consisted of ham, potatoes and onions with pepper sauce - certainly not what i was expecting!

New years was spent in the park waiting for the fireworks, we got there about 12 noon and spent 12 hours drinking and waiting for the fireworks and the area was crammed with people, when the fireworks finally came they were spectacular, once the firworks were oevr there was no way of finding as bar but we were all pleasantly merry and was quite happy to call it a night albeit the drunken walk home took about 3 hours when it should have only taken half hour!

nye_07.jpg

Had another bar crawl for australia day which is a celebration of the ozzies independence from britain, they have a massive celebration and events went on all day and ended with another booze cruise round the harbour.

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]]> The end of Fiji tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-02-02:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=14&entryid=42397 2007-02-03T01:15:08Z 2007-02-03T01:15:08Z The final day in Fiji was spent nursing hangovers and so when we went to the Indo-Fijian area of the island the curry went down a treat! The day was generally very relaxed although a few brave souls went diving in the morning despite being out all night the night before. After we got everyone together and had our curry we went to the natural hot springs and mud pools where we had a massive mud fight! The evening was spent in ... The final day in Fiji was spent nursing hangovers and so when we went to the Indo-Fijian area of the island the curry went down a treat!

The day was generally very relaxed although a few brave souls went diving in the morning despite being out all night the night before. After we got everyone together and had our curry we went to the natural hot springs and mud pools where we had a massive mud fight!

The evening was spent in a sombre mood as many of our group had split up today as it was the last day of the Feejee experience on the main land but for the rest of us Beachcomber awaited.

The next day we set off for the island of Beachcomber, the main party island in Fiji and it lived up to its reputation!

http://www.beachcomberfiji.com/

Massive nights out and some great snorkelling and beach activities were the highlight of the island. The dorm we stayed in was not so much of a dorm but a large open wooden building which slept about 130 people. Fortunately I was up on the balcony and so got away from the rat race that was on the ground floor and although there were many people the dorm was actually really quiet and by the point we were going to bed we were all too drunk to hear anything anyway! I spent 3 nights in Beachcomber partying and generally enjoying being on a beautiful Fijian island snorkelling and stuff before having to make my way back to the mainland to catch my flight to OZ. The final night was a quiet one as I had a very early flight and by that point I needed a good nights rest!

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]]> Day 3 in Fiji tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-01-22:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=13&entryid=40312 2007-02-03T01:15:44Z 2007-01-23T03:57:24Z The morning of day 3 was pent worrying about our lost friend, but when he (to everyone's noticeble relief) arrived we went to a local village for yet another traditional Kava ceremony. We spent much of the day in the village drinking Kava and exploring the way the village lived. The village was completely slef sufficient - they built their own houses, grew their own food and whatever they had to buy was bought using their crops as either exchange ... The morning of day 3 was pent worrying about our lost friend, but when he (to everyone's noticeble relief) arrived we went to a local village for yet another traditional Kava ceremony. We spent much of the day in the village drinking Kava and exploring the way the village lived. The village was completely slef sufficient - they built their own houses, grew their own food and whatever they had to buy was bought using their crops as either exchange or sold to get the money for the goods. Once again the idea of television and other western comforts was non-existent barring a cinema type TV for the entire village. Their way of life was to work on the crops and making things during the day then playing sport (Rugby mainly) and drinking Kava and singing in the evenings. The village was right next to a cave that went for miles and was actually where many tribal meetings had been conducted over the years as well as many executions and even used as a crypt at some point. We went inside the cave (only the entrance) and there was an eerie feeling to it especially with the bats flying past your ears!

After saying farewell to the village we had a go at billibilli rafting, this is rafting on bamboo tied together to make a raft. The weather was really bad but this seemed to make it even more fun as we each had a turn at directing the raft with a bamboo pole much like rowing a Gondola.

After getting drenched we arrived at our detsination for the night and was greeted by a guy called Papu who was the entertainer at the lodge.

http://www.volivoli.com/

Another typically crazy Fijian guy who like to party and enjoyed his Kava strong! The night (as usual) began with a Kava ceremony followed by dinner and a night of dancing and games conducted by Papu. A quick note to tell you about was the giant beetle that landed on our table during dinner, we were all sitting on a large bench eating our dinner when all of a sudden there was a loud thud on the table as if someone had banged the table with their fist, as we all looked to see what it was we realised that it was in fact a giant bug that looked kinda like a stag beetle but about 30 times bigger. The thing was about the size of a small rat! Later that evening another landed on my mates back, he screamed and got ribbed about it for the rest of the night.

After the games, dancing and more Kava we went to the beach (which was connected to the resort - the bar was just an extension of the beach) where they had laid on a bonfire for us. It was a great night chilling, watching the stars, drinking games and finally a dip at the end of the evening. This was a night everyone enjoyed, so much so in fact that many people were unable to get up the next morning to go on their dive they had already paid for!

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]]> Lost in the Jungle tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-21:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=12&entryid=35632 2006-12-21T08:05:34Z 2006-12-21T08:05:34Z Day 2 in Feejee involved a trek through the jungle which included walking through a river/stream! The journey there was very random, we were picked up bu what can only be described as an almost military type truck which was covered in canvas and had a bench along both sides of the canvas, the back was open and if the guys on the end slipped they would have fell onto the road. After about half hour on our transport and ... Day 2 in Feejee involved a trek through the jungle which included walking through a river/stream!

The journey there was very random, we were picked up bu what can only be described as an almost military type truck which was covered in canvas and had a bench along both sides of the canvas, the back was open and if the guys on the end slipped they would have fell onto the road. After about half hour on our transport and a 10 minute journey on a very dodgy gravel track we arrived at a clearing in the forrest where we started our trek. The path was guided out by a guide at the front and back and then a few random signs scattered about the jungle when the path split up in different directions which was generally quite straight forward but a little bit concerning cos the signs weren't always that clear and in places the path wasn't that easy to follow. After about an hour and a half we got to the river and started walking through it, half hour of this and we arrived at the river where we did our river tubing (laying in a rubber ring and letting the river take us through small rapids and stuff. We then got to the waterfalls where we started jumping in which was really cool.

After this we went on motorized longboats and made our way down the river, it was at this point we realised someone was missing from our trip! A quiet canadian guy who looked at lot like bill gates and funnily enough worked for microsoft as a spam analyst or something wasn't with us. The guides frantically re-ran the route but he wasn't found. Alarm bells started ringing and a number of search parties went out that night. The local villages were contacted but no one had seen him. That night was spent in a place called raintree lodge, http://www.raintreelodge.com/, surprisingly enough this was a cool lodge in the middle of the rainforrest, the pool's edge went into the rainforrest and we had an excellent barbecue, but the evening was spent in a slightly eerie mood with everyone's thoughts wondering what had happened to our poor canadian friend, especially when the canadian embassy had to be called and 2 of the people on our trip having to give police statements. As the night wore on everyone feared the worse, there were no dangerous animals as such in the rainforrest but there were warthogs that would attack him if they saw him and if he had fallen at any number of the steep drops we had to walk along he was likely to be in urgent need of medical attention. All night there was no sign of hime depsite a number of search parties continuing throughout the night. When we awoke the next morning we still hadn't heard any news, but then at about 11 the next day we heard news that he had been found.

Make of it what you will but our guides believe that it was the ancestors that had taken him, it is believed in fiji that if you walked on tribal land which we had been that day you shoudl bring Kava to the tribe in the village which will protect you from their ancestors. That night the guides had a special ceremony asking for forgiveness and his return from the ancestors and the first search oarty the next morning found him. After spekaing to him we found out he had continued in the stream in the same place where i had nearly walked myself and if it hadn't had been for my friends behind me shouting out to me i would have walked the same way he had. Apparently he got to the top of the waterfalls we had jumped in and he tried climbing down but got stuck and turned back, the guides had apparently checked that entire path but had no luck in finding him - strange stuff!

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]]> Fiji tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-13:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=11&entryid=34627 2007-02-03T01:16:04Z 2006-12-14T02:17:01Z Went Fiji feeling slightly hung over but picked up a really good duty free deal on an all balcks shirt at the airport which is a really good shirt, fortunately a couple of the guys i got on wll with on the kiwi bus was also oing on the feejee exp on the same day and was on the same flight so i wasn't on my own arrived in fiji and was wecomed with a bead necklace and a crazy kiwi ... Went Fiji feeling slightly hung over but picked up a really good duty free deal on an all balcks shirt at the airport which is a really good shirt, fortunately a couple of the guys i got on wll with on the kiwi bus was also oing on the feejee exp on the same day and was on the same flight so i wasn't on my own

arrived in fiji and was wecomed with a bead necklace and a crazy kiwi expereince guy who didn't stop smiling - i don't know if i looked strange or whethe he was always like this but nonetheless he was pleasant enough and sorted me out for accomadation that night

the first night was cool, the place we stayed had the beach as its back and we spent the evening chilling on the beach watching a spectacular sunset with beers in hand on longers

the first day of the fiji bus was cool, went into nadi and had my first experience of kava when some guy randomly led me and my mate dow the road into his shop and then gave us kava (kava is a drink that is made from water and the roots of the pepper plant which makes you sleepy and has a sort of numbing effect on your mouth) the guys then gave me a gift which i ended up having to pay for - the fijians can be very good con artists but i din't spend much on it and got a cool shark tooth necklace, from there we went to a local fijian village and had another kava ceremony, the village is unlike anything i've seen before, the house are made of wood and war shelter type roofs and the whole village had either one or 2 tvs in it, i had to wear a sulu which is like a sarong in the village as well which is like a sarong which i thought was rather fetching

the afternoon was spent sandboarding and then in the eveing we went to our accomadation and met this guy who was known as crazy (and it definitely suited him!) had another kava ceremony (the fijians love their kava!) played volleyball in the pool and had crab racing where you sponsor a crab and if your crab wins you get the pot. the place itself was really nice and the accomadation was in the style of these funky wooden hut type things
(here's the website http://www.mangobayresortfiji.com/index.htm)

so much to tell about fiji and that's just the first day will continue working on my blog but got an interview as a PR job now so i'll be updating this shortly when i get chance

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]]> End of New Zealand tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-12-13:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=34624 2006-12-15T04:24:21Z 2006-12-14T02:01:17Z Hi everyone, sorry haven't updated the blog for a while not relly had cahncelooking for a job and apartment in sydney anyways the end of my trip in new zealand from christchurch went back up to wellington and had another night out in some irish bar and had a really good night, met more new people and tarevlled on with them next day went back to taupo and spent a few days there, had anothe couple of big nights out and went on ... Hi everyone, sorry haven't updated the blog for a while not relly had cahncelooking for a job and apartment in sydney

anyways the end of my trip in new zealand

from christchurch went back up to wellington and had another night out in some irish bar and had a really good night, met more new people and tarevlled on with them

next day went back to taupo and spent a few days there, had anothe couple of big nights out and went on a sailing trip around the lake which (giving you a bit of local knowledge) is actaully the biggest lake in new zealand and was created by a volcano eruption many years ago (sorry if i had already entioned that on one of my previous entries)

anyways went back up to auckland the next day via rotorua and spent the night there before going up to the far north bay of islands. the bay of islands looks kinda like greece and had a great time there, went out to see the dolphins which are brilliant to see and had a couple of quite nights there before having one more massive night in auckland partying until 6 in the morning which i felt the next day on my morning flight to fiji!

oh yeah i forgot to mention i went sandboarding down 80m sand dunes and drove along 90 mile beach on a coach (the beach is actually registered as a road and if you stop at any point you will sink cos its like quick sand!) getting off the beach was crazy, we had to take a run up so to speak from about 200m back and drive as quickly as possible and then basically ram into this ramp and hope that we got up, it was quite a bump but we made it just about!

capereinga.jpgsand boarding.jpg

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]]> queenstown bungy, christchurch and kaikoura tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-11-18:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=31709 2007-02-03T01:16:25Z 2006-11-19T05:18:27Z bungy is fantastic, i had such a good time doing the first i ended up doing the thrillogy which is 3 jumps and they're all nuts but great fun queenstown is this brilliant little town filled with bars and adventure activities, the scenerey is fantastic and the nightlife is really cool went from queenstown to christchurch which is a big city with little to do, there's a lot of nightlife and the parks quite cool and the city is very nice but ... bungy is fantastic, i had such a good time doing the first i ended up doing the thrillogy which is 3 jumps and they're all nuts but great fun

queenstown is this brilliant little town filled with bars and adventure activities, the scenerey is fantastic and the nightlife is really cool

went from queenstown to christchurch which is a big city with little to do, there's a lot of nightlife and the parks quite cool and the city is very nice but nothing in comparison to queenstown, had a couple of big nights out though which were cool

from christchurch went kaikoura (which actually means to eat crayfish in maori) thsi is a nice little fishing village where you get to swim with seals and dolphins and see whales, unfortunately the weather wasn't very good so i didn't get to see the whales but saw a seal colony and could almost stroke them i got so close - i didn't realise how much they stank!

be writing again shortly

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]]> south island tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-11-09:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=30854 2007-02-03T01:16:46Z 2006-11-10T06:35:51Z only just had chance to get on t-internet so gonna put my entire journey so far on this entry first night on the south island was nelson, this is is a nice little town to the north of the south island but at night it becomes one of the weirdest places i've ever been to. there are actually saloons at this place, the bars have swing doors and wooden floors! there was a bar called pills and thrillz that must have ... only just had chance to get on t-internet so gonna put my entire journey so far on this entry

first night on the south island was nelson, this is is a nice little town to the north of the south island but at night it becomes one of the weirdest places i've ever been to. there are actually saloons at this place, the bars have swing doors and wooden floors! there was a bar called pills and thrillz that must have been a drugs den! that said the pub/hostel we stayed in was cool and really nice and we had a free beer tasting which is always good. next morning had a walk and had some great views of the abel tasman national park and stood at the spot which is supposed to be the centre of new zealand which was cool

went from nelson to westport, it rained all day and it was a day to forget, played a game of poker (and won) in the evening but that was the highlight of the day

went to lake mihinupua today to go to the 'poo' pub where we had a beach party which was a really cool evening, on the wau we went to see a seal colony and also these really cool pancake rocks and extreme blow holes which are where the sea goes through gaps in the rocks and creates awesome sprays of water
- at the 'poo' pub i heard the weirdest myth ever - the guy who runs it (this slightly eccentric old man called les lisle who happens to be an ex-all balcks rugby league legend) apparently saw this neanderthal type man in his garden taking a dump on the lawn, when he tapped on the window the beast turned around and starting knocking one out in front of him before walking away, only in new zealand could you hear a myth like that!

from the 'poo' pub went franz josef, the weather was once again miserable but had a wicked time paint balling in the afternoon. the next day i went on the franz josef glacier which was really disappointing cos it was just cold and wet and there were too many clouds to see anything. the next nmorning though we had great weather and got a really good view of it and i was gutted i was unable to do the helihike cos i had to continue my travels that day

from franz josef we went to a little town called wanaka - the views are stunning all the way and when we get there the town is next to the southern alps and a huge lake. went out for a quick drink but generally had a quiet one. was gonna go the cinema but the town is so small the cinema only has one showing of one film every day and we missed out showing at 8 (it was only nacho libre anyway) - i almost forgot on the way we stopped at a bushmans centre which was this cool little cabin that taught us about hunting in new zeraland where they killed deer and stuff, they actually jumped on deers hanging off helicoptors! saw a couple of possums and a wild pig as well as deer outside

from wanaka we went queenstown, on the way we stopped at puzzle world which is this weird little place full of illusions and stuff and a huge maze which takes forever to find your way out

watched other guys do a bungy today and signed up for one myself tomorrow (the one i'm doing is one of the biggest in the world at 134meters) gonna be on the beers again tonight and that takes me up to now so i'll keep you guys informed how the bungy goes

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]]> white water rafting river valley tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-11-07:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=30646 2007-02-12T05:18:29Z 2006-11-08T07:22:35Z did white water rafting at river valley, this cool little lodge in the middle of no where wellington - done drunk kinda rushed this one a bit so thought i should go back in and give a bit more detail river valley is a remote lodge between taupo and wellington on the north island and set (as the anme would suggest) in the middle of a valley renowned for its water sports ie. white water rafting and kayaking although you have to a ... did white water rafting at river valley, this cool little lodge in the middle of no where

wellington - done drunk

kinda rushed this one a bit so thought i should go back in and give a bit more detail

river valley is a remote lodge between taupo and wellington on the north island and set (as the anme would suggest) in the middle of a valley renowned for its water sports ie. white water rafting and kayaking although you have to a good kayaker (i think thats what they're called!) to kayak down this river!

it was set up about 20 years ago by a keen water sports enthusiast who set up a lodge to base his weekend visits to the river. over a period of time this developed and now they host backbackers and have other facilities such as a small pitch and putt course and horse riding amongst other things

check the website www.rivervalley.co.nz

when we arrived in wellington it was around 6 and the only thing everyone could think of was the night out (well that was what i was thinking of anyway), when we first arrived though our driver took us to one of the highest points in wellington and we got a great view of the capital

the night out certainly didn't disappoint, we had met up with some friends from the bus in front and there must have been about 30 of us out on the town.

n510393064_13718_4833.jpg

what made things even better was that it was a saturday night and wellington was heaving with people. there was some very sore heads the next morning when we had to get up for our early ferry!

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]]> skydive tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-11-01:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=29787 2007-02-03T01:17:27Z 2006-11-01T08:21:30Z did a skydive from 15,000 feet yesterday, went out partying on the night for holloween went to see mount doom from lord of the rings today on a 7 hour trek, getting drunk tonight cool stuff! ... mount doom.jpg
F1220008.jpg
sky dive.jpg

did a skydive from 15,000 feet yesterday, went out partying on the night for holloween

went to see mount doom from lord of the rings today on a 7 hour trek, getting drunk tonight

cool stuff!

skydive remains copyright of the author austind, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> maori hangi tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-30:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=29621 2007-02-03T01:17:53Z 2006-10-31T00:02:48Z the maori concert was crazy, loads of maoris in grass skirts and stuff doing the haka and other dances and stuff, saw a maori village check out the website http://www.maoriculture.co.nz/Maori%20Village/Home went on a mid night walk on sunday night at waitomo, also went cave diving which was nuts, climbing up waterfalls and abseiling through rocks which got very very narrow and then had to swim and push yourself through all sorts of small spaces - it was quality i'm now in ... the maori concert was crazy, loads of maoris in grass skirts and stuff doing the haka and other dances and stuff, saw a maori village

check out the website
http://www.maoriculture.co.nz/Maori%20Village/Home

went on a mid night walk on sunday night at waitomo, also went cave diving which was nuts, climbing up waterfalls and abseiling through rocks which got very very narrow and then had to swim and push yourself through all sorts of small spaces - it was quality

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i'm now in taupo, been in hot pools, they're like something out of a film the water is like bath water for temperature and there are a load of waterfalls you stand under

partying in taupo is quality as well, was out all night last night and gonna be going out in fancy dress tonight for halloween

maori hangi remains copyright of the author austind, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Kiw Experience tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-27:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=29170 2007-02-03T01:18:11Z 2006-10-28T03:09:07Z Kia Ora! (greetings) The kiwi bus is quality, i've already done sea kayaking and going to a maori hangi tonight where they're gonna do the haka and stuff! first night was stuck in a dorm with germans and a couple, auckland generally has nothing there but the first day of the kiwi bus was great, sat down feeling nevous and this stunning dutch girl came and sat next to me - result, all the poeple are really friendly on my tour and ... Kia Ora! (greetings)

The kiwi bus is quality, i've already done sea kayaking and going to a maori hangi tonight where they're gonna do the haka and stuff!

first night was stuck in a dorm with germans and a couple, auckland generally has nothing there but the first day of the kiwi bus was great, sat down feeling nevous and this stunning dutch girl came and sat next to me - result, all the poeple are really friendly on my tour and up for getting drunk so evrythings all gravy

went to see where they filmed lord of the rings this morning, had a tiki tour through an old gold mine earlier going over rope bridges and stuff!

Kiw Experience remains copyright of the author austind, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Sydney first night tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-25:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=28941 2007-02-03T01:18:49Z 2006-10-25T19:03:40Z I'm getting used to staying overnight in airports, got into sydney wednesday night and realised i had to be back at the airport by 4 in the morning! so i decided to stay in the airport lounge, felt a bit weird though as they were even checking your tickets in there and they actually sent a few people away cos they were just looking for a place to crash for the evening. It's now been 3 nights without a proper sleep ... I'm getting used to staying overnight in airports, got into sydney wednesday night and realised i had to be back at the airport by 4 in the morning! so i decided to stay in the airport lounge, felt a bit weird though as they were even checking your tickets in there and they actually sent a few people away cos they were just looking for a place to crash for the evening.

It's now been 3 nights without a proper sleep so i'm feeling quite tired now but today my travels really begin cos i'm going to auckland where i'll be meeting up with the kiwi experience guys.

Flight over here took about 20 hours - by far the longest i've been on a plane before but got through it sleeping and watching films and stuff

Very impressed with the young ladies at sydney airport though, as each one walked past i was just praying one of them was waiting for me but sadly I was on my own to sleep with the other weirdos too tight to pay for a hotel for the night!

Sydney first night remains copyright of the author austind, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> had a shocker tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-23:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=28723 2006-10-24T05:03:17Z 2006-10-24T05:03:17Z can't believe it, went out with mates monday before i go and got home to realise the flight was monday arriving tuesday rather than tuesday arriving wednesday, feel like a right plank. luckily went straight to heathrow and managed to get my flight re-routed via singapore, missing out on a night in bangkok (which is crying shame as i'll miss the ladyboys!) but spending a night in sydney on the way over. ... can't believe it, went out with mates monday before i go and got home to realise the flight was monday arriving tuesday rather than tuesday arriving wednesday, feel like a right plank.

luckily went straight to heathrow and managed to get my flight re-routed via singapore, missing out on a night in bangkok
(which is crying shame as i'll miss the ladyboys!) but spending a night in sydney on the way over.

had a shocker remains copyright of the author austind, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Pre Flight Nerves and Feelings tag:travellerspoint.com,2006-10-22:/blog/?domain=austind&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=28534 2006-10-22T23:22:59Z 2006-10-22T23:17:46Z It's Sunday night before I leave, I just need to sort out the final bits and pieces and then finally I'm off to see the world. The feeling is quite surreal I can't believe I am actually doing this now! Just been round my mates and saw 'The Hills have Eyes' and all my mates have been giving me stick saying that's what the outback will be like. Must admit quite nervous and excited at the same time, the first ... It's Sunday night before I leave, I just need to sort out the final bits and pieces and then finally I'm off to see the world. The feeling is quite surreal I can't believe I am actually doing this now! Just been round my mates and saw 'The Hills have Eyes' and all my mates have been giving me stick saying that's what the outback will be like. Must admit quite nervous and excited at the same time, the first night in Bangkok could be a very interesting experience!

It's been raining tonight, can't get away from the british weather, had a really good send off from all groups of friends so thanks everyone for some great nights out.

I'm gonna be using this site as a way of letting everyone know how I'm getting on but if anyone wants to get in touch my personal
e-mail address will be dan_austin_pulp@yahoo.co.uk

Pre Flight Nerves and Feelings remains copyright of the author austind, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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