Kia Ora everyone!

Just a few ramblings and pictures of my month in New Zealand on the G Adventures tour New Zealand Encompassed.

Pause in any New Zealand spot and you notice just how at rest and peaceful the country is. You can walk for ages and not see a living soul, as the green just rolls out in front of you to the ocean. It is a countryside to feed your mind, body and soul. And no matter where you are, if you do come across a New Zealander in the middle of nowhere (or a city for that matter), even another tourist, everyone is incredibly friendly and really helpful.

There are stunning waterfalls tucked in against townships, close enough to touch but stunning in their seclusion and beauty. You can walk to the base of the falls and the whole world disappears; the only noise you hear is the sound of the falls cascading into the pool below. Within the first few days of the trip, visited Haikuru falls and Haruru falls, both within easy reach of the nearby towns.

Though saying the country is peaceful is also something of a contradiction, there are so many activities to do it’s unbelievable. Have barely stopped in the first week of being here!

I knew the country would have some similarities with the landscape I grew up in – rolling greenery faced with mountains all around with forever winding roads – but the difference in expanse and just how far the mountains stretch into the sky and the roads wind around the countryside is incredible. I can climb the Bwlch and it feels like the world is at my feet but here the soul deep peace that comes with that on top of the world feeling feeds you mind, body and soul all at once. It’s at once familiar and utterly alien.

I was barely even jetlagged the first few days, though getting up at 4am to watch New Zealand play South Africa in the Rugby World Cup quarter final last Saturday was not my brightest idea for timing and staying awake 4 days after flying for 25 hours. I still feel like I’m catching up!

I’ll upload a few short posts on what’s been going on – photo’s mainly :). The activities are far from being in chronological order, far to much fun happens each day to make trying to keep track a rather difficult task!

North Island – pictures and a short itinery of all the scenery and activities

South Island – I’ll get there on this one, I promise!

I couldn’t leave GAdventures out even if I tried – the tour has been amazing, organised really well and includes so much to do – they really are great adventure people. Our tour guide Robbie was full of anecdotes and stories as we drove through the countryside, he made the tour what it was – fun, energetic, amazing and still a totally laid back experience. The tour guides we crossed over with in Wellington were amazingly friendly and full of energy, you wouldn’t be disappointed in G’s New Zealand tours ever. #YOLO indeed and I’ve absolutely loved it.

Those I shared the tour with made it interesting, they made it fun and utterly unforgettable. There will always be merits to debating the various yeast spreads – and I stand by the fact British Marmite (aka the original stuff) is far superior ;). If we weren’t gazing at the scenery and pointing out different places, crashing into each other in the surf, diving into hot-tubs or learning Maori songs, we were discussing food, constantly making each other hungry! And it didn’t stop when we were eating either… That’s just a small selection of the crazy stuff we encountered or conjured up everyday.

Diolch pawb, it was a pleasure!