Beautiful Wanaka!

Hitch hiked my way from Franz to Wanaka..took me 4, 5 h!! For the last couple of days I have been hitch hiking with a guy from Finland, Ilemare.. we thought we would look more reliable for people to pick us since we looked like a couple, and it worked for quite a while! But today, our good luck stopped! (But I also blame it on a couple of Israelian guys who promised us a lift the night before, but changed their minds just as we were leaving.. it was then 10:20, which is far too late to get a decent hitch hike! Soo.. i guess I still cheer for Palestine!)

Anyway, 2 friendly indians on their honeymoon picked me up and dropped me off at the doorstep of the hostel in Wanaka. During the trip they offered me loads of different indian foods and when I arrived in Wanaka, I was desperate for Chicken Korma!!

Spent the saturday, eating korma, and just relaxing in the beatuiful surroundings of Wanaka! Its the most amazing lake surroundet by snow covered peaks! The next few days I have spent hiking in absolutely gorgeous weather! Who said South Island would be rainy.. havent seen a drop yet..! (But after saying that, I am sure I will..!)

The Franz Joseph Glacier

Despite the fact that I am Norwegian, I have never been on the Blue Ice of a glacier..! But now I have! I spent a whole day on the Franz Joseph Glacier and it was great! I was very fortunate with the weather, it was a clear and sunny day which happens rearly in Franz ive been told..! The guide, Cliff, must have been the craziest guide out of them all..but still brilliant! He kept chopping steps for us all day long, and never got tired! Half way up the ice, well half way through the day.., he decided that he was sick of the normal routes and wondered if we wanted to go on a bit of an adventure! Of course! But it took some time.. since noone had walked the route we now chose, he spent a LONG time filling up the crevasses and chopping steps for us! We ended up going through the narrowest gap of them all..in my opinion at least.. and if my boobs were a little bigger i would have been stuck!! But we survived!Since it was such a nice day, noone had brought their waterproof trousers and were soaking wet an cold..except me! Im used to the rainy days of Bergen and was well prepared!! ;)

Pancake Rocks!

On the way from Nelson to Franz Joseph, we stopped by the Pancake Rocks! These are the craziest rocks I have ever seen! They are totaly flat and piled upon eachother like a pancake stack.. hmm..think i might have pancakes for dinner today!

We stopped in Hokatika, a beautiful town with loads of Jade Factories..but not alot more! I did some laudry and we watched some movies! Katie left super early the next day, and i caught a lift with a finnish boy, Ilemare, to Franz Joseph!

The Abel Tasman

After notorius packing and planning, we finally set off on our adventure! We were to be exploring the coast of the Abel Tasman National Park (together with 1000s of other tourist) by kayak and by foot! We kayaked for two days up the gnarly coastal waters, and then hiked back to the civilisation. We were well excited!

But of course, being the experienced campers as we are, we forgot the matches..and yep, even the lighter..But we kept our hopes up, and charming as we are, we managed to light our stove both the first nights seeing as we stayed at campsites with more experienced campers! Thank you, Sue and Rosie from keeping us alive!!


On the last night we ended up at a campsite all to our self! It was the most beautiful campsite in the world.. we fell asleep to the sound of singing bugs(and smell of insect repellent) and woke up to the most amazing sunrise and a cold morning bath! But despite the fact that this was the beach of our dreams, seeing as we were the only campers, we had noone to steal matches from! So we ended up eating what we had.. we had 2 slices of bread which we made really tasty with the half pepper we had left, we finished all of our cereal bars and shared an orange! We couldnt fit anymore in our bellies!!!

Still Taupo, but soon 14 hours on a bus!

So what to do.. after falling out of an aeroplane everything seems pretty boring..

I chose to hike to the Haka Falls just outside of Taupo before i decided that I would spend the next 14 hours on a bus to Nelson on the South Island. I wanted to meet up with Katie, from Rotorua, and go kayaking and hiking with her! Hopefully the extremely long bus drive would be worth it!!

Skydive Taupo!

Tihi!!

I did it and i survived..!

I hadn't really planned it..just thought about it a little..but as i checked in at the backpackers in Taupo, i just asked the receptionist how it was with the skydiving..does it need prebooking, how often can you sign up and so on.. she only answered: ill find out for you! So a few hours later I find myself in the aeroplane on my way up to 15 000 feet! S***!

I was terrified in the aeroplane..but it was still the best thing ever! As I sat with my feet dangling outside the aircraft I felt really safe..certain that Mike, my instructor, would take care off me! And before I could give it another thought, he pushed me out!! And it was soo fast!! And soo cold! And just absolutely crazy! Here I was falling, at least 200 km/h towards the ground! I suddenly realised I had to scream! Cause thats what you do, isnt it..? But realised quickly that screaming didnt help much! And soon I realised that Mike was actually controlling the chaos! We were spinning and turning and gliding through the air..extremely fast, though! And as i felt it was under control, he pulled the chute and it was chaos again! But this time going up instead of down!

But then it went soo quiet.. we were just sailing through the air! Amazing!

I might have found a new hobby..so..Leo Holding, here i come!! ;)

Smelly Rotorua!

I spent most of the day enjoying the sun and dipping my feet in a hothothot pool in one of the parks of Rotorua!

The smell of Rotorua is horrible as you get in to town, but after a while you get used to it..but it is not the place to do laundry!! It smells like rotten eggs or worse..it reminds me of Tjyllaren, the inlet just next to my old school back home, goes off!

In the evening i met a american girl, Katie, and together we went to a Maori Show at the Mitai Heritage Village. Lots of maouri men, splitter pine nakne..nesten.., running around, singing, dancing and performing the Haka! And in the end they served us their traditional meal, the Hangi and it was soooo good!!

The Coromandels!

I am truely on the other side of the world.. even the christmas trees grows up-side-down here!

The Coromandel penisula is absolutely beautiful! If I have the time, I think I want to come back here! Stayed in the On The Beach Backpackers, which truely is on the beach! And because it has been quite windy it was lots of swell and a great surf! Lots of surfers around..! ;)

Spent quite a lot of time on the beach..and there I discovered one of the disadvantages of travelling by yourself..no one to put sun lotion on your back! - I looked like a lobster! So after that i decided that i preferred the beach at night times! You'll find an an amazing sunset in the Coromandels and an even more amazing sunrise! Beautiful!

Rented a bike to go to Cathedral Cove, but my bum regretted that sorely.. it was a bit further than i thought! Met a couple of Canadian guys, Jeff and Ryan, during the walk and tagged along with them.. It is soo easy to meet people down here! Everyone is just so friendly! But there is a lot of dutch and german people..and swedes! More than the kiwis, i think!

Auckland..the city of sails!

It must have been brilliant days for sailing, cause it was well windy! The Sky Tower was swaying..!(No it wasn't..but it sure felt that way as I stood 220 meters above the ground looking down at it!)

Fortunately i didnt have much jet lag, so i was out and about as soon as i had stuffed my backpack in my dorm! But it was soo hot!! This is my first time further south than chech(?) republic, and it is quite different! But im loving it! Spent alot of the time just lying in the park and enjoying the sun! Met a dutch girl in the hostel, Lizzie (well thats how i managed to pronounce her name..!) and we had a great time together! We went out and tasted the NZ beer..and discovered that it does taste quite nice!

I saw the best view of Auckland as i left with a ferry to the Coromandel Penisula, which is on the east side of Auckland!

Pitch and Protest!

The silly Worcestershire County Council wants to shut down the three outdoor centres, Malvern, Upton Warren and Llanrug.. So we all decided to get up super early in the morning and camp on the lawn outside of county hall! Tv was there, and so was the newspapers! It was a good turn out, think it must have been the smell of the sizzling sausages! - Alongside the cause, of course!




After a few hours of protesting, i was on the flight heading off to New Zealand! Surreal, but wicked! That almost exactly on the opposite of the world if you put one finger on Norway on the globe, and the other one on New Zealand!

Wallace put up his hammock and went back to bed..considering it was only 6 o'clock in the morning, whilst Tommy dressed up as the gerilja inspired by the rebelling atmosphere!

Out on the Hill

Despite the freezing cold and misty morning down in Llanberis, Anne and me decided to get out on the hill! And what a brilliant choice it was..! We started walking the Watkin Path to the top of Snowdon, and soon we were out of the clouds! And above, the sun was shining! (Well, at least almost shining!)



We spent the day practicing on how to not fail our French Mountain Guides Award, but we made a few mistakes on the way down the skre..think we probably kicked off at least 1 stone..

Apart from that, we learnt why we sometimes get a belt of clouds that we can walk through! I should have explained it to you, but it takes so many difficult words that i wont try to spell it out on the web!

Little Britain!

Decided to visit some friends over in the UK before i took off to NZ.. Emma&James, bless them..drove for 3 hours to come and pick me up at the airport, and then drove the 3 hours back to Bromsgrove..Im sure they regretted that, but I was very glad to see them! Was abit weird at first cause I had forgotten most of my english, but it soon got a bit better and i was able to hold a form of a conversation with them! We went straight to Claires for birthday cake as it was her day that day..!

The next day i hug out at the Warren, helped painting, joined in on an archery session and just disturbed the guys at work! It was brilliant! Later we all went out for a meal at Nando's..(sorry Bladon..you were a bit far away to invite..) and carried on to Bushwackers! Introduced the new MA's to the norwegian dancing style! ;)

Claire then drowe me all the way to North Wales where I met up with that lot! Stayed at Angie's lovely cottage where we swallowed norwegian salty sweets with some red wine! And tested her new winter boots over the fire place before we went to bed with the ghost!

Go.. going.. gone!

I have been sitting on a plane for quite some time lately..all in all it was about 30 hours.. it wasnt much i could do except for listning to music..glancing out the window..thinking..breathing.. And it hit me! Thats all i have to make sure i do for the next 3 months! Breathing! Hah! All the rest is up to me.. obvoiusly plan to eat something, and drink something..and do quite a bit of stuff..but thats not necessary if i dont want to!

Holiday actually means I can do whatever i want to do!

Its time to say goodbye..!

The girls suprised me big time the other day..! Without me knowing it, they had planned a sort of a leaving due for me! They had invited a few friends of mine over for a "Pylsefest"! But the worst part, well they probably think its the best part, is that I didnt understand! First turned one up, then another one, then one more, then one..and so on.. i didnt get it until TomPom & Aina came and told me they had a presant for me! "A Christmas presant?!?!" "Not quite, more like a going-away-presant.." Leonora then turned around and said; "Did you get it now?????"
I got quite embaressed, but most of all, very moved..!

We forgot to take pictures of everyone who turned up for the "Pylsefest", but here are some pictures of the Party of Drums that took place the night before i went!!

















Odd Rune & Malin playing the drums!















Odd Rune singing "Im a Barbie Girl"!
















Anders being a Barbie Girl!