Britt's Dive:
Shanna's Dive:
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
SECOND Highest Bungy in the World
So....when we left the USA we had every intention of skydiving and figured we would rather get malaria than go bungy jumping. Then, we met Matt and Dave. They are two guys that have been on the Kiwi Experience traveling with us the whole time and went skydiving with us in Taupo. They have been trying to convince us from the start to bungy and we said "absolutely not"...not even an option for us. On our way to Queenstown we stopped so anyone on the bus could buy their ticket for the SECOND HIGHEST bungy in the world (134 meters or 402 feet). Everyone gets off the bus to watch a video and look at the bungy center. While we were standing there waiting for the handfull of people crazy enough to do this we had what we like to call an "impulse buy"...a non-refundable pretty expensive impulse buy.
The next day, after a complete day of anticipation, we counted down the hours until the bus would pick us up. It is a 45 minute bus ride to the site of the jump and you could say the adreneline was pumping in everyone.
When you get there they suit you up in your harness and you take a short gondola ride to the pod in the center of the canyon. That's about the time you go from a panic to complete terror. Then you get your ankle straps put on...OMG is about the only thing to be said, then you just wait around for your name to be called and the actual bungy to get attached to your ankles. Then 5..4..3..2..1 jump! They won't push you so you have to make yourself do it on your own. Getting yourself to jump of the ledge is definitely the worst part...then count to 2 and it is the most fun/crazy thing we have ever done...which we didn't think was possible after skydiving!
The next day, after a complete day of anticipation, we counted down the hours until the bus would pick us up. It is a 45 minute bus ride to the site of the jump and you could say the adreneline was pumping in everyone.
When you get there they suit you up in your harness and you take a short gondola ride to the pod in the center of the canyon. That's about the time you go from a panic to complete terror. Then you get your ankle straps put on...OMG is about the only thing to be said, then you just wait around for your name to be called and the actual bungy to get attached to your ankles. Then 5..4..3..2..1 jump! They won't push you so you have to make yourself do it on your own. Getting yourself to jump of the ledge is definitely the worst part...then count to 2 and it is the most fun/crazy thing we have ever done...which we didn't think was possible after skydiving!Google "nevis bungy" if you want to watch a video...ours took too long to upload.
PICTURES!! (finally)
We're going to try to be good now about adding pictures as we go but here are some from the last couple weeks:
"WHAT THE F@*K!?" PARTY
TRAVEL BUDDIES MATT AND DAVE
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Last of the North Island of NZ
So since we've last updated the blog we have gone skydiving, participated in a toga party, rented a motor boat and went tubing, jumped off an enormous waterfall, went to a beautiful lake to jump off the docks, went jet boating, and Shanna went horseback riding...these all being the reasons we have procrastionated on the updates.
Skydiving was absolutely unreal! Words cannot really describe so we are trying to post picutres as soon as we get somewhere with faster internet. Of course we decided to jump from the highest possible option for tandom jumpers, 15,000 ft. Basically that means you get approx. 65 sec of freefall time before the 4 minute parachute ride. The craziest part about it is you actually feel more like you are floating rather than falling. Probably the craziest experience we have ever had in our lives!
That night we all had planned to celebrate our survival which was perfect because when we checked in to the hostel we found out that the bar next door had planned a toga party for the night. The hostel actually provided enough sheets for everyone to get dressed up. So much fun!
The next morning we had a free day in Taupo and decided to rent boats with some of the friends we have made. Since we went for the 2 hour option and had to rent two boats, they threw in a free intertube. We were the first to ride and made sure to show them all how it was done!
Along the drive the next day from Taupo to River Valley we stopped to jump off a 24 ft. waterfall. It didn't seem so scary after skydiving until we looked down from the top. After a few seconds of contemplation we jumped...well make that a few MINUTES for Brittany. Probably the coldest water we have ever swam in, not to metion it was practically raining outside, but so worth it! That night we stayed in a hostel that resembled more of a lodge. The surrounding area and rooms were really nice, reminding us of summer camp...the showers on the other hand looked more like a barn you would hose down horses in...just one big grate at the bottom of ten showers to drain it...NASTY!
The next days drive we headed to Wellington, New Zealand's capitol city. We stayed here for two nights and pretty much just cruised the town hanging out with our travel buddies. We then boarded a 3 hour ferry which took us to the south island. We stayed our first night in Nelson where Shanna got distroyed in Monopoly.
Next day we went on a jet boat that has two engines each with the power of a V8 Chevy. They are built to only need a few centimeters of water, be able to spin you in 360's, and manuver through a narrow river. The next morning Shanna went horseback riding, which was absolutely amazing until she fell off at the end. OOPS!
Now we are in the "POO" bar and hostel, a place only the Kiwi Experience bus stays at. Every night when a new bus arrives they vote on a theme to dress up for. Our bus chose "what the f*@k!?" theme. This means you have to dress up in anything as long as someone looking at you would have to say "what the f*@k!?" to your outfit. They stopped us by a $2 store and a salvation army to gather the appropriate supplies....clearly for the backpacker budget. We are about to get dressed up and do some boys makeup...nothing out of the ordinary. I'm sure we will have stories for you guys on the next post.
We promise we are trying to work on pictures. The internet isn't that quick at all of the hostels we have been at and takes hours just for one picture. Miss you all! Sorry to keep you waiting for so long for this update! We'll be quicker next time!
Skydiving was absolutely unreal! Words cannot really describe so we are trying to post picutres as soon as we get somewhere with faster internet. Of course we decided to jump from the highest possible option for tandom jumpers, 15,000 ft. Basically that means you get approx. 65 sec of freefall time before the 4 minute parachute ride. The craziest part about it is you actually feel more like you are floating rather than falling. Probably the craziest experience we have ever had in our lives!
That night we all had planned to celebrate our survival which was perfect because when we checked in to the hostel we found out that the bar next door had planned a toga party for the night. The hostel actually provided enough sheets for everyone to get dressed up. So much fun!
The next morning we had a free day in Taupo and decided to rent boats with some of the friends we have made. Since we went for the 2 hour option and had to rent two boats, they threw in a free intertube. We were the first to ride and made sure to show them all how it was done!
Along the drive the next day from Taupo to River Valley we stopped to jump off a 24 ft. waterfall. It didn't seem so scary after skydiving until we looked down from the top. After a few seconds of contemplation we jumped...well make that a few MINUTES for Brittany. Probably the coldest water we have ever swam in, not to metion it was practically raining outside, but so worth it! That night we stayed in a hostel that resembled more of a lodge. The surrounding area and rooms were really nice, reminding us of summer camp...the showers on the other hand looked more like a barn you would hose down horses in...just one big grate at the bottom of ten showers to drain it...NASTY!
The next days drive we headed to Wellington, New Zealand's capitol city. We stayed here for two nights and pretty much just cruised the town hanging out with our travel buddies. We then boarded a 3 hour ferry which took us to the south island. We stayed our first night in Nelson where Shanna got distroyed in Monopoly.
Next day we went on a jet boat that has two engines each with the power of a V8 Chevy. They are built to only need a few centimeters of water, be able to spin you in 360's, and manuver through a narrow river. The next morning Shanna went horseback riding, which was absolutely amazing until she fell off at the end. OOPS!
Now we are in the "POO" bar and hostel, a place only the Kiwi Experience bus stays at. Every night when a new bus arrives they vote on a theme to dress up for. Our bus chose "what the f*@k!?" theme. This means you have to dress up in anything as long as someone looking at you would have to say "what the f*@k!?" to your outfit. They stopped us by a $2 store and a salvation army to gather the appropriate supplies....clearly for the backpacker budget. We are about to get dressed up and do some boys makeup...nothing out of the ordinary. I'm sure we will have stories for you guys on the next post.
We promise we are trying to work on pictures. The internet isn't that quick at all of the hostels we have been at and takes hours just for one picture. Miss you all! Sorry to keep you waiting for so long for this update! We'll be quicker next time!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
First Week of Kiwi Experience
So we decided to book our trip with Kiwi Experience, it's basically a bus that takes you all over New Zealand and you can hop on or off whenever you want. You end up traveling with a lot of the same people so it's a really cool way to make friends from all over the world.
Our first stop was the BAY OF ISLANDS. It's basically 145 islands right off the shore...one of the most beautiful places ever. We hopped on a boat tour that took us all through the islands dolphin hunting. Our plan was to hopefully be able to swim with them in the wild but the conditions weren't right so we couldn't. Still an amazing day though, with lots of great pictures!
Then we left through Auckland to MERCURY BAY. We did a 45 minute hike down to this gorgeous cove. We do a lot of random little hikes on the way to places so we are getting great at them...still a stuggle on some of the tougher ones though! We spotted the biggest jellyfish we have ever seen as we were swimming so needless to say we had a quick swim that day!
From there we headed to ROTORUA. It's a thermal hot spot so there are vents all over the city with steam from the earth's core spewing out. Cool to see, but one night is enough because the whole town smells like rotten eggs and farts from the sulfer. Our highlight of the day was luging. You take a gondala up this huge hill and race down on these little carts that are similar to tabogans. You're not supposed to race but of cource we all figured out how! We raced the six guys we went with and the two of us and managed to beat some of them. It was crazy, battle wounds to prove it! You get three times up and down and practically everyone took a corner too fast and ran off course at some point into the sand. It is was amazing. That night we went to a Maori (native people of New Zealand) cultural performace. It was similar to a luau but you actually got deep into the forest so it was similar to how it was way back when. They performed the Haka, which is an intimidating warrior dance, and they were chanting, screaming, slapping their chests, and making crazy scary faces. It ended with a huge buffet dinner, cooked underground.
The highlight of the trip thus far was this afternoon in WAITOMO, home to the glowworm caves. Of course we decided to do the most adventurous way of seeing them. It's called black water rafting but we decided it should be called caving considering only twenty mintues of the 5 hr tour in a tube and the rest you are trecking through the caves. We wore these crazy black wetsuit things with all the abseiling equipment around our waste and a helmet with a light on it. We looked rediculous! It starts with abseiling (like repelling)down a very narrow hole all the way down into the caves (44 meters we think). Then, in complete darkness before you know it you are launched down a zipline. From there you jump down about 5 meters with an innertube on your butt into dark water. We spent the next 4 hours getting through the cave...20 minutes floating down in an innertube in pitch black checking out the glowworms all around us. Then you start hiking through about waist deep in water through the caves. At some points you have to crawl through on your stomach with your head turned to the side (or else it won't fit because it is exactly the size of a body) and sliver through like a snake. It ends with crawling up three massive waterfalls. When we first saw the waterfalls we thought there was no way in hell we could do it. Somehow is happened and we finally saw the light of day! It was unreal. We couldn't believe they actually let people do it.
Our first stop was the BAY OF ISLANDS. It's basically 145 islands right off the shore...one of the most beautiful places ever. We hopped on a boat tour that took us all through the islands dolphin hunting. Our plan was to hopefully be able to swim with them in the wild but the conditions weren't right so we couldn't. Still an amazing day though, with lots of great pictures!
Then we left through Auckland to MERCURY BAY. We did a 45 minute hike down to this gorgeous cove. We do a lot of random little hikes on the way to places so we are getting great at them...still a stuggle on some of the tougher ones though! We spotted the biggest jellyfish we have ever seen as we were swimming so needless to say we had a quick swim that day!
From there we headed to ROTORUA. It's a thermal hot spot so there are vents all over the city with steam from the earth's core spewing out. Cool to see, but one night is enough because the whole town smells like rotten eggs and farts from the sulfer. Our highlight of the day was luging. You take a gondala up this huge hill and race down on these little carts that are similar to tabogans. You're not supposed to race but of cource we all figured out how! We raced the six guys we went with and the two of us and managed to beat some of them. It was crazy, battle wounds to prove it! You get three times up and down and practically everyone took a corner too fast and ran off course at some point into the sand. It is was amazing. That night we went to a Maori (native people of New Zealand) cultural performace. It was similar to a luau but you actually got deep into the forest so it was similar to how it was way back when. They performed the Haka, which is an intimidating warrior dance, and they were chanting, screaming, slapping their chests, and making crazy scary faces. It ended with a huge buffet dinner, cooked underground.
The highlight of the trip thus far was this afternoon in WAITOMO, home to the glowworm caves. Of course we decided to do the most adventurous way of seeing them. It's called black water rafting but we decided it should be called caving considering only twenty mintues of the 5 hr tour in a tube and the rest you are trecking through the caves. We wore these crazy black wetsuit things with all the abseiling equipment around our waste and a helmet with a light on it. We looked rediculous! It starts with abseiling (like repelling)down a very narrow hole all the way down into the caves (44 meters we think). Then, in complete darkness before you know it you are launched down a zipline. From there you jump down about 5 meters with an innertube on your butt into dark water. We spent the next 4 hours getting through the cave...20 minutes floating down in an innertube in pitch black checking out the glowworms all around us. Then you start hiking through about waist deep in water through the caves. At some points you have to crawl through on your stomach with your head turned to the side (or else it won't fit because it is exactly the size of a body) and sliver through like a snake. It ends with crawling up three massive waterfalls. When we first saw the waterfalls we thought there was no way in hell we could do it. Somehow is happened and we finally saw the light of day! It was unreal. We couldn't believe they actually let people do it.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So we thought you guys might like to hear how we celebrated coming into 2009. In the early afternoon we scoped out what Lonley Planet (the travel book we purchaced) told us was a fun strip of bars. It looked a little different than home, but we still figured it would be fun considering there were bars and clubs lining the street. After a few beers in the hostel (trying to stay on a budget) we strolled up to the main street and hit up the bar that seemed to have the biggest crowd. At first the completely decked out drag queens checking out our ID's seemed all in the New Year's spirit, but on further glance we realized we may be the only straight people trying to enter the bar. Realizing this we took off to find another bar....same situation. The guy at this door asked us if we were here for "the show", looking at him confused we asked "what show?" He looked at us like we were from another planet and then pointed to a poster. We realized it was a lip syncing talent show preformed by drag queens. Turns out we were at the wrong part of town for 2 straight girls. (Well I guess we looked like a pretty cute couple!!!) We decided "what the heck" lets just stay! It was too late to try and get anywhere else. We stayed and watched what was like watching a Britney Spears music video. Lights...cameras...disco balls....fans...perfect choreography and of course lip syncing. Needless to say, it was one of the most memorable, and unexpected nights we have ever had. It turned out to be a great time and a great way to bring in 2009!
Almost a full day later, we recovered at Mission Bay, a beautiful beach! It reminded us a lot of Laguna Beach in CA. Hope you guys have as much fun celebrating New Year's Eve tonight as we did last night! Miss you all!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Almost a full day later, we recovered at Mission Bay, a beautiful beach! It reminded us a lot of Laguna Beach in CA. Hope you guys have as much fun celebrating New Year's Eve tonight as we did last night! Miss you all!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Auckland, New Zealand
After countless hours in airports and airplanes we finally arrived in Auckland, NZ late on the Dec. 28th. Sadly, we woke up to a horrible phone call that Hannah would have to be leaving us for a family emergency. So it's just the two of us (Britt and Shanna) starting this journey...hoping to possibly to meet up with Hannah along the way. Hannah, we love you and it won't be the same without you!
While aimlessly wandering around the city we stumbled upon a ferry to an island off the coast. We decided to hop on and ended up at Waiheke, one of the most beautiful islands we have ever seen. It resembled Hawaii but even more beautiful if you can imagine. However, we learned a few things quickly. After a ferrry ride and a short hike to the beach we were already completely sunburnt before we even got down to our swimsuits with perfect T-shirt outlines! We also realized how out of shape we are b/c we could barely walk by the end of the day from all the hiking around (not to mention our hostel sits on top of a rediculously steep hill). By the end of this trip we are hoping to be really tan, not burnt and buff and strong, not sore!
We're about to get ready to go out and celebrate New Years (almost a full day before anyone reading this will)! Happy New Year and we love you and miss you all!
While aimlessly wandering around the city we stumbled upon a ferry to an island off the coast. We decided to hop on and ended up at Waiheke, one of the most beautiful islands we have ever seen. It resembled Hawaii but even more beautiful if you can imagine. However, we learned a few things quickly. After a ferrry ride and a short hike to the beach we were already completely sunburnt before we even got down to our swimsuits with perfect T-shirt outlines! We also realized how out of shape we are b/c we could barely walk by the end of the day from all the hiking around (not to mention our hostel sits on top of a rediculously steep hill). By the end of this trip we are hoping to be really tan, not burnt and buff and strong, not sore!
We're about to get ready to go out and celebrate New Years (almost a full day before anyone reading this will)! Happy New Year and we love you and miss you all!
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