Coromandel........again

Friday night was James' work Christmas do, I intended to met him in Parnell after work for some drinks however after waiting an hour for a taxi I made it in time to join them for the meal. We had a lovely meal in Java a good restaurant with a range of food from all over Asia. After food we headed out for a few drinks. I turned in early, exhausted from my new job whilst James stayed out late to have a few more drinks.
After waking up a groggy, hungover James on Saturday morning we headed over to the Coromandel with Bea and Emma. Unfortunately on the way over we came across a motorcycle accident which meant we were over an hour late meeting Sal, Si, Jen and Sonia (2 of Sal's friends from Hamilton) Once we arrived we headed straight to Cathedral cove to play around on the beach and in the sea. After playing at Cathedral cove we headed over to Cooks beach to our favourite bach. After a beer on the balcony the girls thought it would be an awesome idea to go for a early evening swim (and it was!) We swam for about 20mins across the bay before heading in for an amazing BBQ and wine. That evening was an alcohol fuelled affair with lots of silly games (James surprised us all with his flexibility in the cardboard box game!)

Sunday morning after a bit of a lie in we woke up to a brilliant blue sky and 30 degree heat. We spent the morning chilling at the bach before heading over to Hahei. On route to Hahei we stopped at a beautiful vineyard (we had been left 2 bottles of wine from that vineyard by the owners of the bach we were staying at) and we had a bit of a wine tasting session with some bread and chutneys. On arriving at Hahei we all endulged in a pizza before heading over to snorkel the trail at sting ray bay. After snorkling we all chilled out on Hahei beach before heading back to Auckland

Another amazing weekend at our favourite bach.

Climbing and Surfing

Sal and I have both taken to climbing since arriving in New Zealand, however up until now all we have been doing is building up our strength and technique indoors on climbing walls, so this weekend we recruited some friends and headed south of Hamilton to an awesome climbing spot. One of my friends from Middlemore, Chip, and one of Sals colleagues, Andrew, have both been into climbing for a while and brought along all their climbing ropes and gear (along with some spare harnesses and shoes) and we (me, James, Sal, Bea, Chip and Andrew) set up for the day at the foot of some good climbs, we spent the whole day challenging ourselves to harder climbs before finishing with a beer and heading back to Hamilton.
That evening we all (minus Andrew) went for a Thai before having a few beers in Hamilton to complete the day.
After a bit of a lie in on Sunday morning we headed over to Raglan for a cooked breakfast before spending a day chilling on the beach, Bea got to open her Christmas present from Sal and Si early as it was a body board for her to enjoy on the waves at Raglan. We spent the afternoon in the sea, surfing, body boarding and skim boarding before getting an Ice cream and heading back up to Auckland, my first outdoor climbing experience.....and I'm hooked!

Ponsonby & Waiheke with the girls

So the weekend began with Sallie and Simon driving up to Auckland with one of their friends from hamilton, Fiona. It was a beautiful spring evening so we decided to have a BBQ in our flat before heading out for a night out on Ponsonby, (given that Sal and Si hadn't yet experienced a night out in Auckland!) Ponsonby always makes for a great night wih plenty of wine and cocktail bars and great company (also joined by some of my ED colleagues and Bea) we had an entertaining and drunken night ending in burger fuel at 3am.
Saturday morning (not feeling too flash hot) Sal, Bea, Fiona and I decided to abandon the boys (James went shooting and Si was about to start his APLS course in Auckland) dragged ourselves out of bed in a hungover stupor to catch the 12pm ferry to Waiheke Island for a girls weekend. Luckily it was a beautifully hot day, so as soon as we had arrived in our hostel we dumped our stuff and headed straight to the beach where we lay for the rest of the afternoon!
Feeling a little brighter after a couple of hours of beach sleep we headed back to get showered and changed before heading up to Oneroa for a glass of wine (really sorted us out) and dinner at an amazing Turkish restaurant.
Sunday morning (feeling considerably brighter than the previous morning) we checked out of the hostel and headed into Oneroa for breakfast before hiring some kayaks for sea kayaking around the Island. The weather was perfect and we pulled our Kayaks into Cable bay winery and walked up to the top of the hill for some stunning views of the island. That afternoon we caught the ferry back to Auckland before taking Sal and Fiona climbing in the climbing gym near us to complete our weekend.... another fun packed weekend.

Waiheke Weekend

So this week was an eventful week! I started the week on nights having spent Monday helping get Bea sorted, the nights went ok until 05.20am when I developed some right flank pain, needless to say I ended my night shift with 1g Paracetamol, 60mg Codeine, 20mg IV Morphine and 75mg Diclofenac before I was eventually pain free having passed my kidney stone- all in all not my finest moment!
Having recovered from that and home around lunchtime on Friday, I went to bed for a couple of hours before getting up and packing for a weekend on Waiheke Island. So that evening James, Bea and I collected the Lemon (their yellow people carrier) from Andy and Em (they wanted to get the passenger ferry) and we drove onto the car ferry to Waiheke.

We arrived in Waiheke around 9pm to a beautiful rainforest retreat, we were greeted by the others with a glass of wine before stoking up the BBQ. That evening was spent with plenty of wine, a good BBQ and friends, chilling out in swimwear and dressing gowns in the spa pool and in front of a lovely outdoor fire.

After a lie in on Saturday morning we woke up to bacon butties before heading out to the Olive festival on Waiheke. We spent the day drinking wine accompanied by cheese and olives before heading back to the retreat. That evening we spent another very relaxing evening in much the same way as the previous night with a full on team pizza making effort with the stone baked pizza oven and plenty of wine flowing.

Sunday was spent chilling on the beach before catching the ferry home.

Goat Island Camping - Bea arrives in NZ

So after having worked the past 3 weekends on the trot (actually wasn't too bad as I have gotten to know a few of the ED guys pretty well and have had many BBQ's, surf days and drinking sessions with them on our days off!) I eventually had a weekend off with James, Sal and Si. I was working till 1am and Si till 11pm so they drove up to Auckland after Si finished work and arrived just before I did! We all headed straight to bed so we could get up and do something with our day. Just as we got up on Saturday we got a message from Bea saying that she had arrived and was staying in a hotel near the airport so Sal went to collect her as we got ready to go away for the weekend.
After picking Bea up we headed straight up north to Matakana a quiet little town an hour north of Auckland, we wandered around the shops and market before heading up to the Goat Island campsite to pitch our tents. We then headed to Pakiri beach in gorgeous sunshine with the skim board and a rugby ball to enjoy a bit of chilling. That evening we headed into Matakana for a pizza and some wine before heading back to the campsite for games.
Sunday morning we got up early due to the sweltering heat in the tents, packed the tents up and headed down to Goat Island, we got Bea a wet suit (well, 2- just to keep her cosy!))and we all headed down for some snorkling. We spent an hour in the water with the fishes before we got a bit too cold and went into Matakana for some lunch. The afternoon was spent chilling playing volley ball and beach games on Omaha beach before heading back to Auckland for a beautiful fish based BBQ. I think Bea enjoyed her introduction to NZ!

Pukawa Bay

So after a busy week at work we all (bar Si - boo) had the weekend off! I finished work at 5ish and Em at 4.30ish, James and Andy both finished a little earlier so they headed over to Middlemore hospital and waited for me to finish work so we could all set off down south in the lemon! Di and Ash (Em and Andy's friends from home) live in Wellington so they arranged a weekend away all together half way between Auckland and Hamilton, which just happened to be the south west end of lake Taupo. We headed off down south via Hamilton where they dropped me off to wait for Sal and keep her company on the drive down.
As it happened we arrived down in Taupo not long after the others, and we all enjoyed a few glasses of wine/ beer together before turning in for the night.
Saturday morning we woke up to an amazing day with clear blue skys and a beautiful view through the trees of lake Taupo. We headed out after bacon butties to pick up our Kayaks. Ash had arranged a 4hour kayak tour in the local area which started in the back yard of the lady who owned the kayaks. We started off down a beautiful brook that ran through the fields, it was amazing, a real feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, and would have been really peaceful if it wasn't for the boys having water fights with everyone. The brook eventually ended on Lake Taupo where we pulled up and had some lunch. We then continued in the afternoon down a wider river where Em and Sal were sharing a 2 man kayak and thought it would be good fun to try and capsize my kayak, we nearly perfected the dry capsize with me climbing onto their kayak however the final tip meant I went in, pulling both of them in with me! On the way back, following along the brook we found the amazing little hot springs, incredible kayaking along, and dipping in to a little bay where the water is so hot it is steaming and then kayaking a few cm into the brook where it becomes as cold as any other river. After finishing kayaking at around 4.30pm we headed up the road to the natural hot springs where we relaxed in the sun with the hot pools and a cold drink. We went back to the bach via the supermarket to pick up food and alcohol for our first BBQ of the season.
That evening we had a lovely BBQ followed by a few too many drinks! I got sufficiently inebriated after a few too many drinking games and decided to turn in for the night - one of my better decisions!
As expected we woke up Sunday morning to a grey sky. We spent Sun morning cleaning the bach and enjoying bacon and egg butties before heading into Tirangi to find out what to do with our day, as there wasn't much to do in wet weather we spotted the crazy golf and spent the next 2 hours enjoying a great game before heading off home! Another great weekend in NZ, thanks to Di and Ash for organising it!

Raglan and Rotarua

So this weekend was a bit of a last minute weekend. James and I both had the weekend off and so did Andy and Si however both Sal and Emma were working, and with Em's hours being so crap we didn't want to do too much without her. After a week of work and a few evening drinks we went out for a nice evening to CAC with Em and Andy. James had won a $100 voucher for food and drinks so we decided to make use of it! Saturday morning after a lie in and pancakes for breakfast we decided to head down to Hamilton with Andy to meet Si. That afternoon we headed over to Raglan for my first surf of the season. I managed to get up on the board a few times and despite the messy surf we still had a fun time. After surfing we headed into Raglan town for a coffee then headed back to Hamilton. After much pestering from James we went out for a curry in town followed by some drinks.
We woke up Sunday morning and unfortunately Si was feeling terrible with the flu so we left him behind and James, Andy, and I headed over to Rotorua for mountain biking. We intended to only do 2 hours of biking however Helen and a few friends turned up after an hour of biking and convinced us to keep going for another 3 hours. We cycled a killer uphill for a 1 hour then enjoyed the downhill even if it did result in one of the guys (not James or Andy) face planting and having to go down the mountain with concussion and me going over the handlebars twice, resulting in a few scrapes and bruises!
After leaving the other guys as they headed back to Hamilton, James, Andy and I decided to ease our aching bruised muscles in the Rotorua Polynesian spa, a great way to end a fun weekend.

Mum, Dad and Si arrive in NZ

Si, Mum and Dad all arrived in NZ on Friday afternoon, unfortunately I was at work so James went to the airport at 2pm to pick them up, as Sal had the afternoon off she got the bus up to Auckland and was at our house to greet them when they got back. After getting them cups of tea and eating the lovely carrot cake Em had helped me bake the previous night, James took them into Mt Eden to show Si around and take them for some drinks. I managed to get away at 4pm and went to join them in Liquid Molten. At around 6pm we headed back to our house where Si joined us. As it was our mission to keep them awake I managed to delay dinner till later before they headed off to bed.
Saturday morning we were woken up early (curse our visitors jet-lag!) We decided to split up for the day with the boys heading off on a Waiheke wine tour and Me, Sal and Mum heading off for some wedding dress shopping (one of the only opportunities I'll get with both Sal and Mum) We met up with the boys again in the afternoon before heading to Mulberry in Mt Eden for a lovely dinner.
Sunday morning (another early wake up!) we headed into the centre of Auckland and up sky tower for an amazing brunch, also a good chance to show Si Auckland, we then headed back home to back for our week in South Island as well as taking them up Mt Eden for a lovely view of the city. That evening we boarded our flight for Christchurch. We arrived in the city, and after a hunt around found a small curry house for some food before turning in for the night.
Monday morning we headed in to Christchurch for a quick wander round the city, breakfast and a look around the arts centre. After breakfast we headed out over Arthur's pass. After several stops along the way to climb on rocks, take lots of photos and wander into hokitika (not for getting Si's brief dip in lake mapourika) We made it to Franz Josef at 7.30pm. We checked into our motel, had a dinner of fish and chips in a local pub the headed round to the hot springs. Beautiful spa pools located in beautiful rainforest settings in the middle of Franz Josef. We then went back to the pub for another beer before turning in for the night.
Tuesday morning was spent up on the Franz Josef glacier, and surprise surprise, it was raining (with only 50 dry days a year how could we expect anything different!) A great morning! Because it was raining so heavily we decided to miss Lake Matherson and head straight over to Wanaka. The sun came out as we were heading over to Wanaka and we arrived to much nicer weather. After checking in to our motel we headed straight out to a nice bar with massive outdoor fire where we spent the whole evening only interrupted by going to the Italian restaurant next door for dinner.
Wednesday morning we got up at a reasonable hour and headed up the mountain to Treble Cone ski field. We started the day going up and down the main side of the mountain before having some lunch and heading over to my favourite side of the mountain - the saddle basin. Great fun skiing with Si, trying to pick up some tips on how to improve my skiing style, had a couple of spectacular falls while trying to follow Si down the mountain (he's a little faster than me!) After a great day up the mountain we went down into Wanaka for a beer (Si and I had another sneaky pint while we left Mum and Dad to get food from the supermarket) before driving over to Queenstown. That evening Si had his first Fergburger, and there was no going back! That evening we spent the night having some beers in Queenstown.
Thursday we spent the day around Queenstown, we started our day by heading over to the Canyon swing office and booking our swings - terrifying and exhilarating experience - a tandem 'Gimp boy goes to hollywood' followed by the 'Chair of Death'. That evening we went for a lovely meal having a feast in the Botswana Butchery, we ended the evening with some cocktails out of tea pots and a gin and tonic in the Dux de Lux bar.
Friday started off as a bit of a disappointment when our flight to Milford Sound was cancelled, but luckily we found out just in time to book on to a rafting trip down the Kawarau river. Mum and Dad had a great day swearing that in future they'll tackle some more challenging rapids. That afternoon we headed to Arrowtown to check out a few LOTR location spots and have some coffee and cake before flying back to Auckland.
After arriving in Auckland airport at 6pm we picked up the hire car and set straight off on a 5 hour car journey down to National Park. We arrived at 11pm shortly before Sal, Si and James and had a few beers before heading to bed.
Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine with clear skies so we headed up the mountain. Unfortunately most of North Island also knew the weather was going to be amazing and so they all joined us up the mountain! We had a great day skiing, with 2 spectacular head first falls by Mum, followed by a pretty good fall by Dad (which I missed) and so we decided to call it a day. We spent the rest of the evening in the pub having some food and plenty of beers. After discussion that evening we decided to head up to Rotorua on Sunday to show Si the mud pools and geysers.
Sunday morning we headed up to Rotorua to Kerosene creek, Te Puia geysers and Zorbing, Mum, Dad and Si then headed back to Hamilton with Sal and Si whilst James and I headed back to Suckland. A great week!

Skiing in South Island

So we eventually got our week of Skiing in South Island. After 3 horrible days off with flu, I managed to drag myself in to work on the Thursday and Friday to start my new job in the ED of Middlemore hospital. Unfortunately I started on evening shifts so I was at work till gone 1am on Saturday morning before having to get up at 07:30 for our flight to Queenstown.
We woke up Saturday morning to the news that Christchurch had just been hit by a 7.1 Earthquake, luckily no fatalities had occurred although we have had reports of a lot of disruption with many buildings damaged and houses inhabitable. We arrived in Auckland airport to a very full airport as many people were trying to find out about their flights to Christchurch which had closed its airport. Luckily everything was running smoothly for flights to Queenstown.
We arrived in Queenstown late saturday morning, picked up the hire car then headed into the centre for lunch. It was a beautiful day that welcomed us to South Island and we spent the afternoon wandering around Queenstown before driving an hour through the Cadrona valley to Wanaka.
We woke up Sunday morning to a cloudy sky and unfortunately the reports stated all ski fields we closed due to gale force winds, not the greatest start to our ski holiday! However the day wasn't wasted as we got up and went to Puzzling world. Puzzling world has an amazing maze which is very complicated and took us a good hour to get around! After that you head in to the illusion rooms which as they'd suggest, really mess with your head!
After puzzling world we decided to head to Arrowtown for a bit of culture and New Zealand history (we didn't realise at the time that there we many Lord of the Rings film sites there so we'll have to visit the place again with Laura and Alex!) After Arrowtown we headed into Queenstown again before heading back to Wanaka for food and drinks in the evening.

Monday morning the weather was better, however due to the rain they had had overnight the snow in Treble cone was still very wet so they closed that ski field and we headed over to Cadrona. Cadrona is a nice small reasonable sized ski field between Wanaka and Queenstown which offers a good range of beginner to advanced runs. We had a great day playing in some of the chutes and enjoying a beer up the mountain. We finished our day skiing in the quaint Cadrona ale house with mulled wine for me and a beer for James.

Tuesday we found out that the Cadrona ski field will be closed for 3-4 days as they had problems with their sewage overflowing into the fresh water reservoir (luckily we didn't have anything other than bottle beers up the mountain, but their were reports people had got quite sick!) However Treble cone had re-opened so we headed there. We skiied at Treble cone for the next 3 days with the weather improving every day. We had some great days skiing the saddle basin (which is the more intermediate to advanced basin) in the saddle basin nowhere is off piste so you have a wide range of terrain and slope to ski over. On the final day up Treble cone we plucked up the courage to hike up to the summit for an amazing view of the Southern Alps - totally worth the effort, however the ski down was a little hairy as the snow was solid and icy and didn't really shift underfoot.
After every day we went for some apres ski both up and mountain and in Wanaka, and we found a lovely little bar with a roaring outdoor fire to chill out with a few beers. We had some lovely evenings in Wanaka with some good a food and a little too much wine and beer and on Thursday evening after a days skiing we headed over to Queenstown.

We arrived in Queenstown around 7pm that evening and headed straight in to town for some beers and good food. We decided to treat ourselves to a posh restaurant that we visited with Karen and Ian on their visit (proof food does taste better when you can actually see it- last time we were there it was during the live earth lights off) We followed our meal up with some more drinks then turned in for the night.
We woke up early on Friday morning to the prospect of blue sky skiing at Coronet Peak. Coronet peak is Queenstown's most popular ski field with the most advanced road (actually tarmac) and lift system. As promised it was a beautiful blue sky day and there are some beautiful groomed runs that (as long as there is no-one on it) you can just fly down - amazing. However as it is also South Island's lowest ski field a lot of the runs turned to mash potato around 3pm so we called it a day at 3.30 with some beers up the mountain. Overall a really great 5 days of skiing! That evening we had our best night in Queenstown with an amazing meal in the Botswana butchery followed by a late night in Queenstown visiting some lovely bars as well as the famous Minus 5 bar where you get given warm jackets and gloves and effectively go in to a big freezer where the whole bar is made up of Ice and you get served cocktails in glasses made of ice.

Saturday, feeling rather worse for wear we got up and headed up to the remarkables ski field, when we got up there we realised the weather was rubbish, the ski fields busy with beginners (being a lot more beginner field than Coronet Peak) and the black runs didn't have enough snow coverage, so after a coffee up the mountain we decided to head back down to Queenstown and do some fun activities. At lunch time we took the Shotover jet down the Shotover canyon. An exhilarating 45min trip around a winding canyon in a very fast jet with a couple of 360 spins in to get you completely soaked! We then headed to Queenstown gardens for a round of Frisbee golf. Queenstown gardens have an amazing free 18 basket course set up like a proper round of golf. Awesome fun, made better by the fact that I won!
We finished our stay in Queenstown with the amazing Fergburger and some beers in a pub watching the rugby.
Another amazing trip to New Zealands South Island!