End of Contiki

This morning, we got up really early to head back down to Auckland. When we got into Auckland, we waited by the bus for nearly an hour while everyone chatted and some people checked into the hotel that Contiki had organized for those who were willing to pay for it. We decided to all get lunch, but that didn’t end up happening exactly. Instead, I went with a group down the street to check into our hostels and then we went for ice cream.

It seemed like it was going to be difficult to walk around in such a big group and actually do anything, so after saying goodbye to a couple of people heading to the airport, Jacob and I split off from the rest of the group and walked around town.

We tried to find the Victoria Markets but ended up walking way past them to a city on the top of College Hill. It turned out the markets were closed for construction anyways, so we didn’t miss much. We headed back to the city and found a cute little café where I could get some chips for a snack and sat and talked, then we stopped back at my hostel for a little bit so I could show him where I’m staying because he had never been inside a hostel. Finally, we ended up in a mall across the street from the Mercure, where everyone else is staying, and sat and talked for an hour or so. We ended up getting locked in the mall because there was no announcement or anything saying it was closing, the lights just shut off. Luckily, we were able to get out through a restaurant that was still open.

We met up with the rest of the Contiki group still in New Zealand for dinner at O’Hagan’s Irish pub. I had the most amazing steak with mushrooms, barbecue sauce, chips, and a glass of wine. There was no way I could finish it, so I took a doggy bag home for breakfast. While we were waiting for dinner to be ready, we all stood up and said our parting to the group. It was actually a really sweet evening, one that probably maybe the trip for me.

Jacob and I at the Sky Tower -- the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere

Most amazing steak, ever

Bay of Islands

This morning came really fast. I was up before 6 and on the bus by 7. Breakfast wasn’t fantastic, so I was happy when I woke up from my bus nap and we were in Auckland. I wandered the streets with Scottie, Sebastion, and Jacob for a little bit. I feel like I have a possie or something. We went and got Burger King, even though it was only 10 in the morning. There wasn’t much else to do. We randomly found the hostel that I’m staying in when we come back to Auckland and I picked up a magnet from the souvenir store.

When we got back on the bus, we were joined by 25 more people on the same tour everyone else has been doing but going in the opposite direction. They got a whole little orientation to Contiki, which kind of made me feel weird about joining in Wellington and not really getting anything special. Then we were en route to the Bay of Islands.

The Bay of Islands is pretty nice. It reminds me of just about any other beachy island town. The group went to dinner at Shippey’s. It was this cute little boat set in the sand next to the ocean. The chicken burger I got with my wine was pretty good, but I ate way too much. 

Auckland as we passed through

Bay of Islands

Lake Taupo

My roommates came home on Tuesday night and I was passed out. I remember having a briefish conversation with them, but I don’t really know what was said. I wouldn’t be able to tell you any of their names, for sure. They seemed nice though.

On Wednesday morning, I met up with my tour group for breakfast. It felt kind of awkward because I just wandered in, grabbed some food, and sat down at a table with two girls and this guy. Everyone kind of seemed to know each other already because of the dinner the night before. I later found out though that some of the group has been together for ten days already though. Apparently,, the tour that goes all around New Zealand is also this tour, they just meet up along the way. The only other new guy person who joined up in Wellington was the guy I sat with at breakfast, named Sebastion. It’s funny that I sat down next to him by complete chance. Everyone seems to think we came together though now.

After breakfast, we all got on the bus and headed to Lake Taupo, which was about a five hours drive from Wellington. Along the way, we stopped at a small café called Flat Hills and I picked up a mother. My jet lag was really not helped by my roommates coming home and waking me up, not that I blame them. I did go to bed at 8pm. Behind the café, there was a few corrals with sheep. I also found a baby duckling that looked injured, which was kind of sad. It’s really hilly here and I realized that parts of the  hills look like trees were clear cut from them because they just kind of stop growing in a straight line. I’m not sure why it’s like that, but I feel like it doesn’t have to do with clear cutting, so there must be a reason.

Sheepy in Flat Hills

On the drive to Taupo

Beautiful mountains :)

When we finally got to Taupo, I went straight to the Lake Taupo bungy jump with a few others from the group. The adrenaline was pumping through me long before I took the jump over the river, but I was surprisingly not that nervous. Everyone thought I was nervous though because I wasn’t really talking much. To be fair though, I didn’t feel like I knew any of them. I didn’t touch the water when I jumped because I didn’t want to get wet. It was pretty thrilling though. Jumping straight down wasn’t bad, but the bouncing around after was kind of annoying because I felt like I was going backwards. It also didn’t help that I couldn’t see because my glasses weren’t on. I’m surprised by how easily it was to force myself off the jumping point into the open air. I bought a video of my jump too. Everyone thought I was pretty frozen while I jumped, but I don’t really know what else I was supposed to do. What, am I supposed to wiggle around or something? I would love to go bungy jumping again though, it was really fun.

The jump site

After everyone had jumped, we got a ride from the company back into town and went shopping for our cross dressing costumes for the boat party that night. I lucked out and didn’t need to buy anything because I was able to borrow a tie and beanie and put my hair up in it. Someone donated a mustache to me too, even though I was just going to draw one on. We had dinner on the boat, but it wasn’t very good. It felt like it was just thrown together, which was kind of disappointing since the cruise cost $69.

It's official

I'm going to New Zealand. [And Australia. And Fiji. For those of you who haven't heard.]

I just have one more plane ticket to book from Perth to Wellington and everything will be set in stone. I'll be travelling the North Island on a Contiki tour and visiting Queenstown in the South Island to do some wine touring and fjord cruising. The most impressive part, I feel though, is that I'm going to be doing it all by myself.

Granted, I'll be spending half a month in Fiji and two months in Sydney before that on my own (because I got in the AIFS program, yay!!), but this feels different somehow. I mean, I actually purchased the airfare myself, with my own money. And I called the Contiki people for my tour. And I asked questions. And I got answers. I feel like I should be expecting some kind of revelation from my solo travelling. I guess we'll see.

I say bon voyage (to myself, I guess) on September 17 after a brief visit in Perth with my mother. Should be interesting.