Auckland Round 3

We landed in Auckland early morning at about 8am. For the third time, we checked in Base hostel as we knew it as a second home by now. 

Mark was flying the following day and we would be flying to Australia the day after that, so this was our last full day in New Zealand.

One of Stephs friends from home Dan moved over to New Zealand a while back, and promised he would take us on a day trip out so that was how we would spend our day. Mark decided he wanted to do some last minute admin before he had to fly the next day, so it was just us and Dan.

He came and picked us up from our hostel, and drove us to the little village Orewa where he was living and working in a craft beer bar with his brother.

On the way, we stopped off at some parks that had small walks and waterfalls. The plan was to go to a place called Paihia that we'd heard good reviews about, but as it was a beach, it wasn't the right weather for that. Despite this, Dan showed us all the nice spots, and then finally took us to the bar where he worked, Coast.

The bar had lovely interior and sea views, and as a craft beer connoisseur, he gave us a try of all the beers they had on a giant paddle.










After a good and informative beer tasting, we sat down to a really delicious cold food platter with prawns, houmous and fresh bread.

After that we headed over to the beach to see it up close, before he took us back into the city for a drink in the harbour.

It was really lovely to see Dan again, and the New Zealand lifestyle really suited him. We talked for ages until he finally took us back to the hostel to find a hungry Mark. Dan suggested we go and get a sals pizza from a place down the road from the hostel as they were huge!

That night we attempted to watch a film but found we were too tired from the long trip on Kiwi. 

The next day was a very sad one, as we had to wave mark off onto the bus to take him to the airport. As we'd booked our New Zealand trip with Mark back in England, we knew we'd be seeing him again. However this time it was an indefinite affair. Admittedly, there was a lot of crying at the bus stop, and we waved off Mark to take the long flight back to England.

We really were both sad, but thankfully Toms friend Rebecca who had also moved to NZ from England offered us a place to stay for our final night in New Zealand. We met her from work and she took us back to her place in North Auckland city where she lives with her boyfriend Brad.

We got settled in to their cosy flat, and all was well until we heard a shriek from her bedroom.

Brad had seen a small mouse run across the room, and had not done a very good job of keeping Rebecca from noticing! The evening went from a calm night in to a panic! Brad was off to rugby practice like a true kiwi, so that left Rebecca to entertain us while she was aware of a mouse in the flat. Needless to say she was terrified of mice, and thankfully we had already bought a bottle of thank you wine for them which we intended to leave the next day. It was clearly in need now though so we opened it up and tried to talk her through cooking the stir fry while she nervously looked around her feet every 5 seconds. The food was lovely though, and despite the uninvited dinner guest, it was a really relaxed way to spend the end of our trip.

Brad came back from rugby with 5 different mouse traps so Rebecca could at least sleep that night.

The following day we were all up early. There was no sign of the mouse now so we got to say our thank you a and goodbyes peacefully. They headed out to work and we got the bus to Auckland airport.

Our time in beautiful New Zealand was over, and we were going from having every single day planned, to being left in Australia with a small amount of money, and absolutely no plan whatsoever!

Next stop Brisbane!

Kaikoura

We woke up really early in Christchurch absolutely pumped to spend the day in Kaikoura, whale watching central. Although we were sad Mangee had gone, we were pleasantly surprised to see Arius, our previous driver from the North Island was our driver again. Although some people weren't quite awake enough for the reunion yet.

With our tiny group of friends left, we boarded the bus ready to go. After Kaikoura, the kiwi bus heads back up to Auckland to complete the circle. The stops along the way are places like Taupo, and Roturua, places we had already visited.
 Due to this, most of us booked flights from Christchurch airport to go back to Auckland to catch our flights to wherever next. This meant we had to make our own way back to Christchurch as the Kiwi bus would go onwards and upwards as it only drives one way only.

Despite the extra cost and effort, ourselves along with Mark, Archie, Amy and Andy were so excited to see Kaikoura.

We took a little breakfast stop along the way and caught up with Arius.

When we arrived in Kaikoura the weather was bright and Arius took us to a great view point of the place. It was really sunny, perfect for a whale watching tour!









We were dropped at our accommodation which was called the lazy shag (lol) and we walked down to the centre to book in for our tour that afternoon.

Archie and Andy decided to brave the freezing cold water and do the swimming with dolphins activity, whereas ourselves and Mark and Amy wanted to stay out of the water, and on the surface to spot some sperm whales.

We boarded the boat and instantly saw a plethora of wildlife. We saw a seal just rolling around in the water playfully, whilst an albatross landed just nearby. Further along we caught sight of a blue shark skimming near the surface! We hoped the seal was keeping watch whilst playing!

We talked to the whale spotters on board about the best technique to spot a whale. They said to keep your eyes on the horizon and looks out for spurts of water. At that moment, Tom pointed and said "a bit like that?"

Tom surely had spotted a whale and we sped over to the area just in time to catch it breach and lift its amazing tail.

After a few goes of chasing whales and catching the almighty tail splash, it was time to head back. As we went back, we went through a huge pod of dolphins that were swimming right up to the boat. At that moment a few seals turned up to fish whilst albatross fought over them too. We literally didn't know where to look and it was amazing!

That evening feeling pretty worn out from all the excitement, we had a lazy super noodle dinner with a gourmet twist. We sat and drank wine and played card games and jenga. The next day we would finally be leaving the kiwi bus, and with that a few friends :( Amy had booked a bus to take her back to Christchurch that morning.

The following day we jumped on the kiwi bus for the last time, and Arius took us with the group to the seal colony down on the edge of the town. Be warned we took LOADS of pictures.

Steph taking a 'sealfie'

We spent a while here until the bus had to leave to its next stop. Amy would get on the bus to drop her at the hostel to pack her bag to catch her bus. It was a bit rushed and she was hurried off onto the bus and we were left just Archie Mark and us. We spent a while longer at the seal colony and walked around to see the sights.

Feeling glum we walked the long journey back to the hostel. We realised if we ran we could maybe catch Amy at the bus stop to give her a proper goodbye. We legged it through the town and sure enough saw her standing there a little teary eyed waiting for her bus. We were so happy to see her off properly, and we gave her the last 'Love' pose she wanted for her New Zealand collection.

After sending her off, we went back to the hostel and pondered what to do. There was a funny little dog there so we played with him, and Adam and Jo some other friends we'd made along the way arrived on the next bus and spent the evening watching films with us.

The next day they also left and would take our beloved Archie with them! Luckily for them they were on Mangees bus again so there journey back North would be a good one.

Saying goodbye to Archie was another hard one, as the crazy little guy had become like a little brother to us, and sending him on the bus was an emotional ordeal for us all.

We spent the day in the hostel playing games until we had to catch our late night bus back to Christchurch. This time we stayed in the YHA, and watched strange vampire and cheer leading films. 

The next day we caught an early morning flight back up to Auckland, our third and final time there.

Christchurch

We left lake Tekapo at 9am, and the chilly evening weather from the night before carried onto the next day. Mangee whacked the heaters up as we snuggled into the bus to keep warm. We had a mid morning breakfast stop, where Steph bought a over expensive gingerbread man, and we all talked about what we were expecting from Christchurch.

The drive was fairly short so we didn't have to wait long to see as we arrived just after lunch. Izzy would be carrying on to the airport in Christchurch, so once again our group became smaller, as Annie was also going to stay in Christchurch when we left the following day, because she wanted to do some from farm work in New Zealand.

We were also hugely sad at the loss of Mangee, our driver, as he needed the following day as a rest day. He was the best driver by far, and if it wasn't for time constraints, we would have stayed as long as we needed to be on Mangees bus. He was so passionate and good at his job, it was such a shame to have to leave him behind!

We were staying at the first YMCA on the trip, and it was beautifully decorated with artful bright graffiti.

As we were only spending one day in Christchurch we wasted no time taking a look around the city, and the wreckage that was left after the earthquake.

We had been previously warned that Christchurch was still a bit of a ghost town after the event, but it really was as if the natural disaster had only struck weeks before. Everywhere you looked there were buildings stripped down so you could see right inside, and mounds of rubble here and there. 

One building that prominently took center stage down the road from our hostel was the old police building that towered over the city. We noticed signs to say the roads nearby could be closed the following day because they would be imploding the remains of the building which was exciting for us but quite a sobering reminder of the impact the earthquake had on Christchurch .

We saw some really sad sights, such as the 185 chair memorial dedicated to all the lives lost in the earthquake, each seat belonging to one of the victims. The baby chair sitting right at the front of the memorial was especially hard to stomach, and it left a few of our group feeling quite weepy.

It was not all sadness though, as the city shows signs of prosperous return, such as the cardboard cathedral that proves any materials can be used in this day and age, and also the shipping container mall, that is bright with shops and street food. It had reclaimed materials such as bells from local churches that were destroyed made into upside down plant pots, and these types of innovative ideas could put Christchurch back on track, perhaps in an eco friendly, sustainable way which has rarely been seen before.

Cardboard Pews

 The sculptures and street art really are something to be noted, a glimpse of colour and hope rising from the chaos and wreckage, works of art that have a message appreciated on every street corner.

As we walked home we saw a spectacular sunset, and also a local church that looked as if it had been dissected and left half way through. Obviously affected by the disaster.

That evening we cooked food, reflected and lifted spirits by playing our new favourite game 'fun' again.

The next day we left Christchurch, and with it Annie and friends to see the police building be demolished.