The Big Trip...

Hey everyone!!

I know i have not updated for ages - so brace yourself for a mammoth entry!!!!!!!

I joined the Kiwi Experience bus after my final night in Auckland, hanging out with Jo. I got picked up at 7am by Dave (the funniest person i have ever met), and we went straight to Mt Eden (one of many dormant volcanoes in Auckland) before heading towards the Coromandel Peninsula (Mercury Bay) and spending the afternoon at Cathedral Cove accessible only on foot or by kayak This was so beautiful and we spent quite a while just swimming in crystal clear waters and sunbathing! We then left the beach and headed to the Hot Water Beach once the tide was out. I'm not sure how it works, but its something to do with a volcanic eruption and lava beneath the surface of the sand, so when you dig the sand, hot water comes out. Not wanting to spend time digging our own hole on the beach, we poached someone else's and spent a lovely few hours chilling out in what felt like a bath, in the middle of the sand. The only downpoint? I dropped my Ipod into one of the hot water pools - great.

After leaving the beach we headed to our hostel for the night, which was a converted house, so was really homely and we spent the night cooking spag bol en masse and drinking wine - lovely.

The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn again to head to Rotorua. Dave stopped off the bus for us to walk through a tunnel which was hardly fascinating, but there was a huge cliff over a river and we had fun watching all the guys jump straight into it. After this we drove to Hobbiton for lunch where some of Lord of the Rings was filmed, and you can apparantly do tours to see the hobbit homes, but most of it has been restored to its natural state so we were advised not to do this tour. But i did manage to get a picture with the stone Gollum!

From here, we went to Rotorua which is a town with a bad rep - but we ahd lots of fun. THe whole town smells really bad because it is surrounded by geothermal pools which smell of sulphur. We arrived into town in the afternoon and while the boys all went Zorbing (where you are put into a huge bouncy ball and rolled down a hill), me and Claire went to the geothermal pools/polonesian spa for some rest and relaxation. Thankfully , you can hire swimsuits and towels because everything smells of sulphur and you would have to throw out everything after going in! The use of free towels excited us poor backpackers and we took the liberty of extracting a few spare to take back to the hostel - ssshhhh...

We had a great night in Rotorua - we all went to a typical Maori village for a show and a Hangi (a feast which is cooked in a pit in the ground voer a period of around 6 hours). We had to make our own Maori tribe and choose a chief, and there were 5 tribes at the event in total. When we arrived at the village, our chief had to ask permission to enter, in true Maori style. We then witnessed Maori dancing, battle scenes and had a walk around the tribal village and could ask them questions. After this, we all sat down to the most amazing meal ever - lamb,chicken,sweet potato,all different vegetables etc - all cooked in the ground! It was such an interesting night. Once back at the hostel we all headed to the bar for some drinks before heading to bed around 2am.

The following day we were leaving Rotorua for Waitomo. En route we headed to Te Puia which has massive geysers which can reach hights of 40metres into the sky. We also saw Kiwi birds for teh first time which was quite cool. After this visit we headed to Waitomo for some caving. Me, claire and tony chose the cheap option and just did a 45 minute cave tour to see the glowworms (which kinda look like stars on the top of the caves), whereas some other did a 3 hour tubing trip down the caves. The caves were beautiful and the glowworms were very different to anything i have seen, but we were not allowed to take any pictures which was really annoying!

At night we all chipped in for a massive BBQ at the hostel, and tehn headed to the only pub in Waitomo (its not really a happening place)!

Okay - i'm going to move on now to probably the best day of my travels so far:

We actually got to sleep in yesterday morning untill about 9:30 which was pure luxury. Today was the day we were heading to Taupo, which meant, it was the day to go skidiving!!

En route to Taupo we stopped off for a walk to see Huka Falls which are massive waterfalls surrounded by turquoise water - absolutely stunning! On arrival in Taupo, we headed straight for the skidive centre and this is when the nerves started to get to me.

Around 18 of us from the bus were skidiving and we were put into groups of 5 to go up in the plane. I was with Claire, so that was cool. We were going to be jumping from 15000 feet, which is the highest you can jump from, and it means that you are freefalling through the sky at a rate of around 200km p/h for around 65 seconds. Scary, i know. I was surprising calm about the whole thing and was so excited to jump out of the plane. The instructor who was strapped to my back had done around 9000 jumps so i felt quite safe in his hands. Going up in the plane was amazing as there are beautiful views over Lake Taupo (which is bigger than Singapore) and it was a lovely clear day. once it was my turn to jump, i had to take off my oxygen mask and shift over to the edge of the plane. I was actually hanging out the plane and then he dropped us out and we went tumbling to the ground. The first few seconds are the scariest, because its at that point that you actually feel as though you are falling. After that, you feel as though you are almost floating, althoughtyou can feel the wind shooting past you! We were above the clouds to start with but once we dropped throuhg them, it was clear views for miles. After around a minute the parachute opened and it was a steady 3 minute or so cruise back down to earth. At one point Dano (my instrucor) gave me the parachute to contro, and i guided us back which was cool.

How can i descibe it? I cant. It was the most amazing thing i have ever ever down in my entire life and i could rave about it for another thousand words or so, but i'll leave it that i did the jump almost 24 hours ago, and i'm still as high as a kite from it.

So, all 18 of us did the jump and we all were practically bouncing off the walls with energy, so we all headed out to some bars for a big big party. Lets just say it was a very drunken night and this morning, there was major post mortem going on!

So, i think thats everything up to date - i'll try and update more often

love danielle xxxxxx

PS: i'm going to try and upload some pics so check out my photo glallery!

I spent my final day in AUckland with my friend Jo (as she had just arrived in NZ and was staying at the same hostel as me). We just had a leisurely day; going to Gloria Jeans for brekkie (my new fav coffee shop - beats starbucks any day), then off to Auckland Museam for a wee bit of culture. IT was a great museam and we had a lovely walk in the Domain after, before heading back to the hostel to chill out. We went to a few bars at night, and then ended up in a chinese restaurant (which is becoming a regular occurance when me and Jo go out).

I was up early the following day to start my Kiwi Experience trip up to the Bay of Islands - more precisely, to Pahia. The Bay of Islands areright in the north of NZ, and comprise of around 144 islands. The bus picked me up at 7am and it was a 4 hour journey up to the Bay. On arrival, i checked into the hostel and then walked to the Treaty House.

The Treaty House is the mosthistorical placein NZ - this is where a treaty was signed between the Europeans and the Maori people, to ensure peace between the two groups. It is the place where the Europeans first landedin NZ, and there is lots to see here. AFter the Treaty House i spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing - taking advantage of the unusually gorgeous weather.

Today has been fantastic as I went swimming with dolphins! We got on the boat at around 8am, and by 9am we were in the water swimming with flipper. THese are wild dolphins in the ocean, so we are not allowed to touch them as it harms their skin, so all notions of swimming whilst holding onto thier fins were quickly dashed out of the window. However, it was asolutely amazing - the dolphins were on average, arouynd 3 metres long and were really playful in the water. After our first swim, we had 2 more, but they were not as playfull and kept swimming away from us, and they are so fast, we could not catch them up!

I'm just waiting for the bus to come to take me back to Auckland and then its off to Mercury Bay tomorow.

Speak soon xxxxxxxxx

Hey from NZ!!!

So, my last day in Oz was pretty uneventful and i was extremely lucky enough to have the room to myself on my last night, which meant i didnt have to disturb anyone when i got up at 3.30am to catch my flight! After my taxi driver almost killed someone on the way (totally the pedestrians fault - who walks in the middle of the road in the dark? She was fine btw..not even a scratch!) i was ready to leave. I had to fly to Brisbane, and then from Brisbane to Auckland. Total flight time - 5 horus 30 mins. I arrived into Auckland at 3pm (NZ is 3 hours ahead of Queensland, Oz) and after waiting in immigration for around an hour, i caught the shuttle to my hostel, Base. Learning from previous experience (Magnetic Island) i booked myself into one of the Sanctuary rooms which are slightly more expensive, but sooo much nicer than standard dorms. Anyway, i had an uneventful night and went to bed early.

My first full day in NZ was great. I got up early and set about seeing the city. First thing i did was go up the Sky Tower which is the highest tower in the southern hemisphere. This was fun - got to walk along some glass floor and took some great photos of the city. Since NZ is teh adventure capital of the world, people were bunjy jumping off the tower...i, however, did not.

After the sky tower i had a walk through the city and went to the town hall and some markets (where i bought my 3rd pair of sunglasses this trip - i keep breaking them ). At 1pm my friends gemma and rich from OZ picked me up in thier bright orange campervan,as the 3 of us were all going to Waiheke Island overnight. Waiheke Island is in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland.

I was picked up at 1pm (as i said) but we didnt make it onto teh ferry until 6.30pm! With no map and a minimal sense of direction betweent eh 3 of us, rich took us on a loooong tour of auckland, suburbs and all. When we finally made it onto the island we were exhausted from being in the car all afteroon.

Once we arrived onto the island we realsied we didnt have a map for here either so thus began another 90 minute ordeal trying to find the one and only campside on this place. Its a really beautiful island, surrounded by clean beaches and national parks. We arrived at teh campsite at around 8:30pm and immediately set to cooking dinner and getting the bed ready. Let me just say at this point: 3 people are not supposed to fit in a 2 man campervan. Lets just say we didnt get much sleep, and i spent most of the night crashed up against the side of teh car. Fun.

This morning we woke up (after about an hour of sleep) with the sun and we fled before the park ranger arrived (so as to avoid payment - we're backpackers and on a budget!). We didnt have time to pack up teh van properly, so rich drove us down a mile down the road with me and gemma still in bed..probably not the safest way to travel.

We spent the morning sunbathing and swimming in the sea (a real novelty after Oz, where you couldnt go in the sea north of Fraser Island because there are jellyfish and you have to wear a full body stinger suit if you want to go in). Then this afternoon we went wine tasting at one of the many vineyards around the island before departing back to Auckland.

Once back on the mainland, we drove the car up One Tree Hill (yes, it does exist for you fans of the tv program out there!). One Tree Hill at a height of 183 metres and provides a bird's-eye view of the city. There is a huge obelisk on top of the hill which is dedicated to the Maori (natives of NZ).There used to be a single pine tree on top of the hill, however, because of fears strong winds could topple it, the 125-year-old pine tree on was chopped down on October 26, 2000.

After the park, gemma and rich dropped me back at the hostel and we went out for a quick dinner before saying goodbye.

Tomorrow i have my final day in Auckland before i head up to The Bay Of Islands with the Kiwi Experience.

Hope everyone at home is well

Love danielle xxx

Hey everyone!

So my adventures in OZ have come to an end and i leave for New Zealand tomorrow morning at 5am. I'm so excited to goet to NZ, but i cant believe how quickly the past 6-7 weeks have gone, and that my time in Australia is actually over.

Nonetheless, here's a recap of my final few days down under...

I left Cairns early on Saturday morning for Port Douglas. Port Douglas (called simply Port by the locals) is about an hour north of Cairns and is renouned for its Sheraton Mirage 5* hotel which boasts the biggest swimming pool in the southern hemisphere. I was not staying here (obviously, at $500 a night) but at Dougies Backpackers, which has been one of my favourite hostels in australia - really chilled out place. ANyway, Port has a population of 4000 locals and they cated for 14,000 tourists every year. It is a beautiful town, with a 4 mile beach which boasts some of the best views in Oz, and quick access to the reef. I did not go diving again (although i really wanted to) as this is a really upmarket town and i could not afford the prices. Instead, i spent my 2 days here walking around the town, sunbathing and lying in the hammocks at the hammocks at the hostel reading my book. So, not a very exciting place, but very relaxing all the same.

From Port i went to Cape Tribulation (the rainforest) and the Daintree. On the way to Cape Trib we stopped off at an animal sanctuary where we saw some crocs which was quite cool as i hadnt seen any in oz yet! We also went to Mossman Gorge which is beautiful fresh water swimming area surrounded by rainforest. It was so refreshing swimming here - i didnt want to leave! We then went for a walk through the rainforest where our guide bored us to death with his talk on trees and soil...i really was not interested at all! but the scenery was lovely.

From here we got taken to our hostel. The hostel was actualyl in the middle of the rainforest, with each dowm being build around the trees! I met some great people here and we all chilled out by the bar at night. The hostel was really quiet and everything kinda shut down at 10pm. This didnt bother met because i was getteing up early the next day to go Jungle Surfing. This is basically huge ziplines through the rainforest, and you have a harness on, and you go flying through the trees. This was so much fun (especially when they made us fly updside down, down one of the zip lines) and only slightly scary .

In the afternoon, me and Julia (a girl i met in Port) went for a walk to a watering hole to go swimming. It took us over an hour to get there in teh 35 degree heat - we were not happy...but the swimming made up for it. Luckily, we managed to hitch a ride on the way back because we were not looking forward to that journey back to the hostel!

We got picked up by the tour bus the next day at around 1pm and we were taken on a river cruise on the Daintree river to spot some crocs..we saw some, but they were quite far away so not too dangerous. We then went a tasted some random aussie fruits and ice cream before heading back to Cairns.

Last night a bunch of us all went out for dinner and then some drinks in the city centre which was fun.

Thats about it
Next time i update this, it will be from NZ!!

Keep in touch everyone
love danielle xxxxxxxxxxx

Hey everyone!

WOW - what an amazing few days...i'm going to try and do it justice in my writing...here goes:

My second day at dive school was just as good as the first one. We had less time in the classroom (although we did have an exam [only got 1 wrong out of 50 ] ) and more time in the swimming pool, learning basic first aid and emergency ascents (for when you run out of air!). In the evening, i went to a talk called 'Reef Teach' where i learnt loads about the coral and the different types of fish i would be seeing under the water. This was so useful as i could actually distinguish the different fish when i was out on the reef!

I'm going to give you some background on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR):

The GBR is of such pristine condition that it was listed by the World Heritage Trust as a protected site in 1981, and it is the largest structure on Earth made by living organisms.. Visitors in their thousands come to visit the reef every year. The GBR is the largest of the worlds 552 World Heritage Areas, covering 347,000km, and there are more than 2800 catalogued reefs in the area. It has the world's largest collection of coral reefs, some 3,400 types of coral, 1500 species of fish and 4000 types of mollusc. Most of the reef is around 2 million years old, with the oldest sections dating as far back at 18 million years old.

Now that you understand the sheer size and magnitude of the reef, let me get on to describing my 3 days in the middle of it.

It was an early start on day 3 of the course (day 1 on the reef). At 7am the Dive Company (CDC) picked me up to take us all out to the boat. It was a 2 hour journey out to the liveabord vessel, and omg, it was rough. The crew said it was the roughest conditions they had ever gone out in (waves were 3 metres high)..this was not so great for my confidence as i am not a boat lover at the best of times! Why was the watter so choppy you ask? Well, if you ahve been following Australian weather, you will know that there are currently 2 cyclones off the coast of Cairns. Cyclones are basically huge winds that travel in a clockwise direction and have a gale force of over 90 mph. Sooooooo, the conditions were not great, but when you are diving under teh water you are not really afected by the current, so we braved the conditions and set out to teh liveaboard vessel which was going to be our home for the next 2 nights and 3 days.

We arrived at the liveabord vessel - The Kangaroo Explorer and settled in. Dosed up on seasickness tablets i was ready for dive no.1.

The first dive was really scary. We were being led into it gently and the first time we were allowed to descend by a rope, rather than freely descending down to the ocean floor. I panicked a wee bit when i went down as my mask started to fill up with water and i felt like i wasnt sinking. After surfacing for a minute, clearing out my mask, adding an extra weight to my body, i was ready to go down. Luckily, my buddy for dive no.1 was one of the instructors so he calmed me down very quickly. We did some skills under water, for example, letting our masks fill up with water and then clearing them out; demonstrating the need for air etc. Its such a weird sensation and words do not really convey the feeling. Exhilaration and excitment come close, sensory overload almost nails it. But actually doing it is the only way you'll ever know what it is to be 18 metres deep under the water surrounded by so much natural beauty. It is all new: listening to the rythem of my breathing, the gurgle of bubbles as they rise to the surface, watching the fish glide by, small iridescent onese darting in and out of crevises, clams opening and closing etc. Even my stinger suit and heavy weight belt of 7kg, tank on my back and mask firmly suctioned to me face take some getting used to. And having to wait until i surface after 35 scarily quick minutes to let out the 'WOW!" thats been dying to escape is sweet torture. The best part of the dive? Knowing that i have 8 more to go...

The second dive was 100 times better than the first because i was more confident and was therefore looking out for more fish and coral at the bottom rather than just concentrating on my equiptment. We did one more dive on this day which was just as good as the 2 previous dives. After the 3rd dive we were all pretty exhausted so ate dinner and climed into bed at around 8pm.

Day 2 on board:

It was a rough night. Once a month the vessel gets brought back into Cairns for 'refuel' where a whole month worth of supplies are brought onto the ship. However, with the awful weather, this meant a 4 hour journey abck to cairns through tropical storms, and then another 4 hour journey back out to the reef in the same awful conditions. Everyone was feeling really quesy in the morning and its a night i'm hoping to forget quickly. Having survived that night, i know i can survive any boat journey now! We were in teh water for our first dive at 8am and all thoughts of biterness about the awful conditions and the disturbed nights sleep evaporated once we were underwater and the magic of diving took over. This dive was our final dive before we were to become certified scuba divers. We descended without a rope, and by this time by buoyancy was getting quite good (being able to float at a certain point in the water). You have to really careful to go down slowly so you dont get decompression sickness and you have to continuously equalise your ears (kind of like when you are in a place and about to land and your ears start to hurt). We went down to 18 metres again..the deepest i am allowed to dive at, and we did our final skills. The videographer came down with us and filmed our dive (yes, i have bought the dvd and you will all be made to watch it when i come home!) and we did tricks like taking off our mask and putting on sunglasses, or taking out our regulator and pretending to take a swig from a can of beer! Was a lot of fun and saw some amazing coral.
We did 2 more dives during the day, and now that we were certified, we no longer had to go with our instructors or teh rest of the group. I teamed up with David and we got ready for our first dive, just the two of us. Going down was really scary but exhilirating at the same time. We made sure that we knew our hand signals perfectly as that is the only way to communicate underwater and our dive lasted about 30 minutes. We swam with a turtle which was amazing! When our air was getting close to the end we started our ascent without the aid of a rope (you also have to remember to stay at 5metres below sea level for 3 mins as a saftey stop) and we arrived back on the surface, about a 5 minute swim from teh boat, because the current had made us drift really far.

Our third dive of the day was not as good as the previous 2, because visibility was starting to worsen, but i took an underwater camera down with me and tried to get some pics.

Our night dive was cancelled due to stormy weather so we just went to bed really early.

Day 3:

We woke up to be told that the cyclones were gtting nearer to Cairns and that no boat was coming to pick us up and take us back, and that only one dive was scheduled for the day because of the conditions, and they had to be guided dives (i.e. we couldn't go down with just our buddy). I was not willing to accept staying on that boat for another rough night, especially if we were not going to be able to dive, so after numerous talks with the skipper (who is one of teh msot horrible people i have met - kept making the crew cry) he eventually managed to get a boat out to pick us up. We never go to dive on the 3rd day, which meant i only got to do 6 dives, but i was happy to get onto dry land.

It was a quiet night last night at the cinema seeing DreamGirls before heading to bed at around 9pm absolutely exhausted but exhilirated!

Tomorrow i am heading up to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation (the rainforests) and i am hoping to fit in another dive whilst up there, because the GBR extends as far north as where i am going.

Till next time
Danielle xxxxxxxxxx