Team No Job - The Great Escape 2007

Hello again,

I hope you are all well. Don't read anything into our recent lack of posts, we are still alive and we still love all of you blogees, but its difficult to have time to blog on the move (NZ) and when there is no internet to blog with (Fiji). So to make up for a few weeks of neglect - I'm going to blog you up-to-date over the next couple of days!

Firstly can I say that we're safe and sound in San Francisco, and appear to be jet-lag free at the time of writing. Soon after writing this I'm going to have my second night's sleep so all should be well (same for Chris and Laura). For the first time in the trip you guys are ahead of us time-wise (8 hours whilst we are on the West coast) so enjoy your eight hour head start to the day.

So, back to NZ:

Tuesday 10th April - We leave Taupo earlyish and head to Rotorua as planned. At this point I have a full blown cold (my second in NZ) and so have no sense of smell - which is fortunate as Rotorua centre has a fairly pungent sulphur smell (eggy/fart smell for those of you unfamiliar with sulphur) due to our volcanic surroundings. After lunch we head out to a volcanic spring for a dip. We continue driving around Rotorua and head out to do Zorbing, a crazy activity where they stick you in a big plastic ball filled with warm water (which maintains your sitting position) and roll you down a hill (think of that Gladiators event with the cage balls but its clear rubber and downhill with water!). Laura, Chris and Andy do a triple wet ball and get soaked (but love it). I'm denied an attempt at a waterless solo run down the hill (there is a hall of fame for those who have done it without falling over at all!) so assume photographer duties. In the afternoon we drive to Hamilton which was a planned stopping point but no hostel space means we continue onto Auckland a day early (Hamilton does have a 'Cheesecake Shop' though - Ipswich locals should know of that - Laura threatens violence if we don't stop there so we do and all enjoy cheesecake!). Auckland reminds us of Sydney a bit but with added large hills in the city. For example, the drive up to the Auckland hostel has pretty much a 45 degree slope!. We arrive at night so have a budget $6 chinese buffet in a box for dinner - a mixed bag/box in terms of taste and texture (for me, cold still rife).

Wednesday 11th April - Me and Chris rise early to return our loyal hire car, only to find its been broken into. Nothing's missing but a small rear door window is smashed in and the steering column has suffered an unsuccessful hot wire attempt. Quick phone calls follow to the hire company who have been made aware of the break-in already by the police during the night and apparently all is well as long as we can drive it!! We return the car, where they sting us with a $90 tire damage extra (watch out for that one - check your tires when you pick up a hire car!). We explore Auckland (already a tad annoyed at the place) and find that theres one huge street through the middle where everything pretty much sits. Chris, Laura and I attempt to book our boat tour of Fiji with varying degrees of success. One failed booking later we go to STA Travel who sort out the long process for us. With very little activity in the city centre we go up the most obvious tourist attraction the Sky Tower (tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and visible pretty much all over the city). Having watched someone jump off the tower from a great height (in a harness of course), Chris and I decide this would be fun so pay our money and prepare to wait. We all head up to look at the panoramas of Auckland, and down at the red target square where jumpers descend to (its far away). We head down again to jump and are put in our blue suits and harnesses and a whisked back up to jump down(!). After a short wait Chris goes first and then I follow. Each jump takes around 5 minutes to prepare for (checking your gear, hooking you onto two harnesses and a huge wheel of wire), a ten second leap off/wait of faith where they take your photo dangling off the tower and a further ten seconds to complete the jump down. A great rush and a good laugh (see the video in the previous blog for more detail). For those who have watched the video and are unsure of my jump attempt, my wild movements are not in fear, they in jest! In the evening we have a few drinks in some local bars.

Thursday 12th April - More exploring and walking around Auckland. We collect our Fiji tour tickets (having had to pay more because we were quoted last year's prices which changed on April 1st). In the afternoon Chris and Laura go to the Auckland Harbour Bridge which AJ Hackett allow people to bungy off in an attempt to find a I [Heart] NZ t-shirt. Unfortunately theres no shop like in AJ Hackett Queenstown so the trip is a disappointing one. They apparently get rained on too. Andy and I go to the big cinema to watch Danny Boyle's space thriller Sunshine (and as such avoid the bulk of the rain). Its very good. In the evening we say goodbye to Andy and New Zealand in traditional style...a Japanese meal (ok...not so traditional then!). We try sushi and tempura and its an all-round nice end to our time in NZ.

Friday 13th April (ooooh!) - Andy leaves us early in the morning for his 7am flight to Sydney, I wake up a few hours later and am sure I saw a random stranger doing a text on his phone sat in the dark of our room (Chris see's nothing). We leave for the airport mid-morning and with little fuss board our to Air Pacific plane to Fiji but discover that they run on Fiji time (where timings and deadlines are slightly streched to take into account the relaxed nature of the locals) so we leave a bit late. We arrive in Fiji three hours later where the skies are cloudy but its fairly warm and humid and go to our accomodation in Nadi (you don't fly into the capital Suva). We get a warm (literally - haha) welcome from everyone particularly at our hostel Smugglers Cove which is really nice (it has a piratey theme hence the name) which has fortunately got air conditioned dorms. We have a nice meal and enjoy some Fiji Gold Stubbies (ENG Translation: Fiji Lager bottled).

I think I'll leave that for now. I'm unsure whether to continue with the whole date thing, but it might work for Fiji. If anyone has a huge issue with my use of dates use the comments section to complain and we'll choose to ignore as appropriate!

So to bed for me shortly. It is strange to think that you lot are now enjoying the day before us (most of it while we sleep). We're also closer to home than ever before and there's an intangible sense of the denouement to our trip rushing up on us (hows that for some pyscho-analysis and use of big words!?) despite just over three weeks to go.

Anyway, on that reflective note take care all and speak soon!
Richard