Franz Josef!

i had just about the best day ever today! i'm currently staying in a place called Franz Josef, which is a beautiful place to be because it's surrounded by the Franz Josef Glacier (see 2nd photo on previous post). Today i went up in my first ever helicopter ride, right up to the top of the glacier & then got dropped off about half way down. We went for a hike for about and hour and a half and i had loads of fun jumping around in my boots, which had clamp-ons, meaning I could walk easily on the ice. i was super lucky as the clouds have been low today, and i managed to get on one of the few flights that were allowed today!

Let me just repeat, incase you didn't get the gist in my last few posts. i'm having a freaking AMAZING time and New Zealand ROCKS!

Check out the fotos>>>>>>>>

The South Island!

Had a brill time in Wellington, i love being in the city, i always feel most at home in any city. The Art Gallery's rock my world and you can be invisible among the crowds, access stuff you can't out in the sticks and things are open late! There's always a buzz. The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton was pretty awesome, some really pretty scenery as we got closer to the South Island.

Done some beautiful walks, stayed in some unusual places, made my own necklace out of bone, dressed up in bin bags (don't ask!) and am hanging out on the best bus ever!

Here's a few pic's to give you an idea of why i've fallen in love with New Zealand. But really, they don't do it justice!

Lucky Girl

So my reasons this week for being a VERY luky girl are two fold.

Firstly, i am having the most amazing time travelling and am bursting with happiness!! Everyday i am grateful for the beautiful scenery, the friendly people and the cool activities i get to do!! i am the most content i have been in such a long time. Although of course i think about eveyone and i miss my ART! But that goes without saying...



Secondly, i hav been in a fairly serious accident, which could have turned out really bad, but didn't. i'll spare you the details here, let's face it, it will be a far funnier tale if i tell you in person, half cut, when the meomory's not so fresh and painful. So, i escaped with some pretty bad wounds, which just need to be re-dressed everyday and some serious bruising. Everyday necessary stuff like carrying my backpack, getting changed, washing my hair and getting on to a top bunk bed have been a struggle, but that's just made me all the more determined to cope and enjoy myself as much as i can!

Things i have learnt from this experience:

Be more bloody careful!
Treasure your good health
Live for the day!
Iodine fucking stings!! (i don' ever want to experience that kind of pain again, EVER!)



i'm having the best time over here in The Land of The Long White Cloud. i've been up to the Bay of Islands, went to Waitangi where the treaty was signed between the Maori people and the Europeans. Stayed in Auckland, went to Hahei and Hot Water Beach & Raglan. Saw glow worms in Waitomo Caves (beautiful!), watched a Maori Concert in Maketu and stayed in a Marae. Saw mud pools, geysers and all kinds of geothermal activity in Rotorua and the beautiful art deco in Napier. So i've been pretty busy!



Unfortunately, i don't get to take a lot of pictures of the scenery betweeen towns as i'm sat on a coach, but i'm going to try and make more of an effort, because this country is simply beautiful. There's a real mix of cultures here and everyone lives together in harmony. It's how it should be!

NZ

i had the biggest smile on my face walking barefoot on the grass with the daisys and the clover. It's the closest i've been to England in 2 months. :)

Small pleasures.

me + 2 and me - 2

My lack of posting is explained by the fact that the girls have been here! It has been fun being around people who get me and my crazy sense of humour, who KNOW me! It's been hectic, we've done loads in Sydney including: Darling Harbour, The Aquarium, Chinese Gardens of Friendship, Circular Quay, The Opera House Tour, The Rocks Walking Tour, The Harbour Tour, The Botanical Gardens, Hyde Park, Paddy's Market, got the Ferry to Manley, spent a day in The Blue Mountains, had fun in the waves on Bondi Beach and been up the Sky Tower, not to mention New Years Eve!! We had to stay down there for 10 hours just to get a prime spot but it was SO worth it! i think we did just about everything a tourist can do in Sydney!!



Then we flew to Alice Springs, which is an odd little place. The main attraction there is a water tower! Luckily we moved swiftly on to do a tour round Uluru, Kata-Tjuta and Kings Canyon. It was SO hot in the outback, it was unreal. And there's just nothing and nothing for miles on end. Nic almost colapsed from the heat, i got caught in a sandstorm and Jen had to put up with us (well mostly me) moaning at her to drink more water! So it was a crazy few days, stuck in the middle of nowhere with a coach full of Germans trying to dodge snakes and scorpions. Not an experience we want to repeat anytime soon. i'm glad i did though.



Next was Melbourne and St Kilda's. We did the neighbours night and met a few of the stars including Malcolm Kennedy who we swooned over. We did the tour and saw the school and the street, which is tiny in real life btw! i've never seen Jen more excited in my life, it was quite amusing! We also went to Philip Island to see the Penguin Parade, which was cool. They only grow between 17-30 cm, so are tiny! Cuteness. And we held a WOMBAT!! St Kilda's is really cool, there's some great architecture, some art deco and some really old school buildings and a cool cafe culture.



The girls left on Wednesday, it was hard saying goodbye, we've had so much fun and laughs, but i'm actually quite enjoying being on my own again. i observe more, meet more people, get to do whatever i want, be it snoozing in the park or taking part in street art or listening to new music in Virgin Megastores. i can just please myself. i love Melbourne, it's so inspiring. So much art and varying architecture, there's a real mix of modern and old buildings and it all somehow seems to work it's kind of urban but yet bohemian. And the trams are way cool.



i feel more content in cities.

Some bands i've been getting into while staying here:

Matchbox Twenty
Sneaky Sound System
The John Butler Trio

The Beatles have been repeated constantly on my ipod (as they so often are) since watching Across The Universe on our flight to Alice, one very awesome and amazing film which left me feeling like i wanted to live in the 60's. See it!

Today i have to bid farewell to The Land Down Under! i'm going to miss the smoothies and the laidback feel of the place but it's time to move on! And i could do with spending some time in cooler climes!

i am feeling very free at the moment and looking forward to my next adventure in New Zealand. i've been doing this thing for 2 months now! Nearly half way through! i think i have officially earned the following titles:

Nomad
Wanderer
Freespirit
Backpacker
Traveller
Tourist
Princess with a backback :)

But really i'm just a girl travelling the world with her camera and a heart full of hopes and dreams.

Happy New Year!

From me to you!

So as you can see the fireworks at Sydney Harbour were amazing, and we had front row seats! And to top it off, they played No Cars Go, by Arcade Fire, which is one of my all time favourite songs! So i was really excited about seeing 2008 listening to that!

Very excited about 2008!