Sydney - The Start of Australia

Hello!!

I'm currently sat in McDonalds using their free wifi on my netbook. Today is our last day in Sydney before taking a night bus down to Melbourne this evening. I thought I'd share with you what I've been up to over the last week in this exciting city!

So as previously mentioned, we've been staying at Cazz's appartment, which is located ten minutes from the city centre, so we really got lucky with that! The first evening we arrived, we met up with Jonny and Toby, who had been on our bus throughout New Zealand and had become good friends of ours. We spent the night at a club in the city, enjoying the new setting we were in.

Day 2: I visited Darling Harbour, which is beautifully set in the middle of Sydney. I checked out the National Maritime Museum as well as the Chinese Gardens: Both very enjoyable and I'd strongly recommend them if you get the chance to visit Sydney. That night, Cazz invited round a bunch of her friends, as well as Jonny and Toby, and we had a big barbecue on the roof of her appartment complex. What would a visit to Australia be without a barbie!?! We spent the remainder of that night at a couple of bars on George Street.

Day 3: We were treated to fine weather, so we decided to visit Bondi Beach. We spent much of that day relaxing by the ocean, checking out the local stores and watching some very talented skateboarders at the beach-side park. We returned to the appartment pretty tired and decided to chill out that evening with a movie.

The next day, Cazz left to go to Brisbane with her work and she kindly gave us permission to stay and look after her appartment while she was away. She was also kind enough to allow Jonny and Toby to stay as well, which meant they no longer had to pay for a hostel room. So there we were - A one bedroom appartment, four boys and one key-card. This meant we had to carefully coordinate our days in order to make sure we could each get back into the room when we needed.

I'll try and summarise the next few days as briefly as possible:

Day 4: We visited the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Yes, the Opera House is just as magnificent and amazing to see up live as it is in the photos! We spent the afternoon chilling around the harbour area and visiting The Rocks (the old settlements of Sydney).

Day 5: I checked out the Sydney Aquarium, which you can easily spend atleast 3-days visiting!! Highlights were the shark pool and sea cows (but not together...I'm not sure the sea cows would stand much chance!) That night, we met up with three of the girls from the Kiwi Experience bus who were in Sydney for one night.

Day 6: I visited the Olympic Park. This was really cool to see, especially as an avid sports fan, who has clear memories of watching the 2000 Games on TV. Being able to see in person, where it all took place was quite a priveledge. It also gave me a good idea of what London 2012 might look like in a couple of years times!

Day 7: We made a trip to Manly Beach. I was hoping to hire a board and spend the day surfing, but truthfully, the waves weren't that great. Instead, we spent the day chilling on the beach and doing a bit of body surfing!

That brings me up to today, where I'm planning on visiting Paddy's Market and seeing what interesting bargains I can find!

I'll finish by wishing a big Happy Birthday to my nephew Alfie, who turned 2 last week, as well as my Mum, whos turning.....35? tomorrow! Love you lots Mummy!

Sam

Farewell New Zealand

Our final night in Queenstown turned out to be a very lively one as we spent it with the people from our bus who were staying on in Queenstown for longer. We ended up getting back to the hostel in the early hours of the morning, only to have to wake up at 6:30am to catch the bus to Christchurch in time.

On the way to Christchurch, we made a number of regular scenic stops to appreciate for one last journey, the beautiful views of New Zealand. We arrived in Christchurch later that afternoon and after settling into our hostel we went out to explore the city and pick up some food.

It's been regularly mentioned, but I feel I need to say it once more. Christchurch received an earthquake measuring 7.4, 3-weeks prior to us arriving. I was hoping to be able to volunteer some of my time to helping with the clean-up and repair of the city. However, I was astonished at just how undamaged the city seemed. Yes, there were a few construction sites, but you wouldn't have thought this city had been hit by a huge earthquake. The earthquake that hit Haiti measured 7.0 and caused utter devastation. It's incredible to see first hand the difference that a developed infrastructure makes.

The next day, we visited The Canterbury Museum, which was similar in many ways to Te Papa (Wellington) and the Auckland museums, with regards to the exhibitions that were on offer. After having a fun wonder, we headed for lunch and got a few essentials done that afternoon. The city centre had a nice market set up, so I enjoyed walking around that, looking for interesting gifts to bring home.

My flight out of Christchurch was at 7am the next morning. Since I would need to be getting up at 3am in order to get to the airport on time, I decided to save the money and sleep in the airport instead of spending an extra night at the hostel. I therefore, packed up my stuff and took a bus late that night. I got to the airport and found a nice little spot to nap for a few hours. My backpack was my pillow and I laid, cradling my rucksack to make sure no one mugged me while I was asleep.

The flight was pretty easy and I had a lot of time to kill at Sydney airport while I waited for Andy to arrive on his Quantas flight. I spent this time watching movies on my laptop and playing solitaire. We then hopped into a shuttle bus and made our way to Cazz's appartment. Cazz is a Loughborough Uni girl, who's completing a placement year working for the Australian Institute of Sport and has kindly let us crash at her place for the week.

So as we mark the end of our New Zealand adventures, we can look forward to our upcoming Australian adventures. My one regret from New Zealand was not being able to visit the Milford Sounds while in Queenstown. I suppose this means I'll have to visit Milford in some other capacity but whether that's Milford Sounds or Milford Pennsylvania, I'm not sure!

The plans for tonight are to go out into the city and meet up with a couple of the lads from the kiwi bus who flew out here a few days ago.

Much love!

Sam

More of Queenstown

Kia Ora!

The morning following my bungee jump, saw an early rise in order to catch a bus to visit Milford Sounds. Milford Sounds is described as the '8th Wonder of the World' and is supposed to be breathtakingly beautiful. A number of us had booked onto a full day-trip to see the sounds which included all transportation, a buffet lunch and access to the underwater observatory to view various wildlife creatures. Unfortunately we were told that we would be unable to go on the trip due to heavy snow fall which had caused certain roads to be closed.

That day was therefore spent sleeping, chilling, watching movies and lazing about with the other lads in our room. As much as I hate wasting any time while travelling, sometimes it's essential to simply rest and recouperate. It also made it an extremely cheap day! We rebooked our Milford Sounds trip for the following morning, in the hope that the weather might improve.

The next morning was rather deja vu, as once again we woke early to once again be told that we would be unable to visit Milford Sounds. At this point, we only had one further day left, so we decided to cut our losses and get a refund on the trip. That day, I walked around Queenstown a fair bit, visiting the various shops and sites. Later that afternoon, we had a knock on our door from one of the hostel employees inviting us to play frisbee golf. I'd never plaid before but it's one activity I'll definitely be keen to play again. I ended up 14 over par, which wasn't terrible with all things taken into account. That evening we hung out with more of the people on our bus and enjoyed a relatively low-key night.

The next morning, I decided to do some hiking once again. Having learned from my previous errors, I was dressed much more appropriately this time. I decided to hike up a big old hill, which would take me to the Queenstown Luging Centre. The climb was tough but by no means comparable to Mount Roy. After just over an hour of solid climbing, I reached the summit which provided some beautiful views of Queenstown. I sat down and had a quiet coffee before walking back down. That afternoon, we had another knock on the door from the same hostel employee, this time inviting us to take part in a scaveneger hunt. After being split into pairs (which meant Andy and I working together), we were given an hour to complete as many of the challenges as possible. We were required to bring our cameras with in order to gain photographic or video evidence. The challenges involved everything from finding certain items, completing random tasks and the occassional display of nudity. Andy and I returned victorious and won ourselves a few freebies at the hostel.

Tomorrow morning we will be boarding the bus to Christchurch, which will be our final stop in New Zealand. Christchurch received a 7.4 recorded earthquake 3-weeks ago, so I'm unsure what to expect when I arrive. I'll look forward to telling you more soon.

Much love!

Sam

The Adventure Capital of the World

Kia Ora!

I woke up the morning after my mountain climb feeling pretty sore. I would also like to take this opportunity to admit that climbing a 1,500m high mountain with insufficient planning and preparation was stupid. I did not mean to worry anyone and while I was lucky that I decided last minute to bring my coat and managed not to catch hypothermia or break my leg, it still doesn't justify my poor decision making. This hike was not intended to be a display of arrogance or dominance over Mother Nature. I misjudged the weather conditions and magnitude of the climb. However, I remained calm at all times and I think something should be said for that strength of character. I trusted my body and mind and they served me well. While this hike will provide a thrilling story to tell in the future, if I could repeat this experience, I would do a number of things differently.

That day we made our way to Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. Just outside the city, we stopped off at the Kawarau Bridge, the first commercially operated bungee site in the world. We were treated to a free bungee jumping orientation as delivered by the team at AJ Hackett, the world's leading bungee company. Following this, a number of the guys on the bus decided to complete the 47m bridge jump. I decided to sit this one out, as I was saving myself for the Nevis bungee jump the following day. It was great to watch these guys experiencing such an incredible rush.

Once we arrived at the hostel, we settled into our room and stocked up on food for the next few days. I then went into town and treated myself to a special gift which I will show you all in good time. That night, we went out with our bus driver, Kane. Although our bus journey has not yet ended with Kane, for many, this will be the last time they see him. Queenstown tends to be the city that many people stop at for lengthier periods of time than projected. On our bus, people were planning on staying for anything between three nights and a few weeks. We had even heard stories of people remaining in Queenstown for up to 10 years when first visiting. Seeing this place, it was easy to understand why. It's a backpacker's utopia! The atmosphere is buzzing, the activities are incredible and the night life is booming every day of the week.

The next day was of course bungee day! We woke up late and boarded a bus to take us out of the city and along the steep, narrow and unsealed Nevis road. After driving for 40-minutes, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere. All that was visible was a huge gorge and a sky pod, hovering some 150m above a river. This is where I would be completing the 134m Nevis Bungee jump: The highest in New Zealand, 4th highest in the world and arguably the most thrilling bungee jump in existence.

There were a number of us hoping to complete this jump so I had to wait around a while. However, this only helped build my excitement. Eventually, my time came, I was strapped up to the bungee cord and I shuffled over to the platform. I made sure to show boat a bit for the camera before hearing '3...2...1...GO!' I can't remember what went through my head at that moment but I leaped off the platform and into this elegant eagle pose. The next 8.5 seconds were simply remarkable. It was a completely different rush to skydiving but equally incredible. I would write more, but I'm struggling to find the words to describe the sensation I experienced. I stuck around to watch the last of the guys jump. It was great to be able to share this experience with many of the people I'd been travelling with since Auckland. There was a really warm vibe in the sky pod as we all spurred each other on and shared those feelings of euphoria.

The remainder of that day, I was on an equivalent high as to that felt in Taupo after completing the skydive. I spent the rest of the evening chilling with the boys and I even managed to visit an old camp friend, Simon (Donkey) who's studying and working in Queenstown. Hopefully, we'll find the time to go out for a drink before I leave.

Much love!

Sam

The Scariest 30-Minutes of My Life

On my second day in Wanaka, I thought it would be an enjoyable challenge to follow one of the local hiking trails. I woke up to nice weather and went to the hostel reception desk to see what they could advise. The lady suggested a few different routes. The last one she mentioned was a hike up to the summit of Mount Roy, which would 'provide the most spectacular views of Lake Wanaka.' I was however, told that it was by far the most challenging of the aforementioned hikes.

Not one to turn down a challenge, I decided to do the hike up Mount Roy. I went back to my room and told Toby and Jonny about my plans. I packed a bag consisting of my wallet, ipod, camera, a loaf of bread, a tub of Vegemite and of course Hubert (my plastic green squishy fish) who comes everywhere with me. I put on my hiking boots, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, hoodie, wooly hat and my sun glasses. I then headed out the door and was off on my way. I quickly turned back to grab a coat. Although it was not particularly cold, I thought it was worth taking just in case and I certainly made the right decision.

To get to the base of Mount Roy, I had to walk approximately 6km along the coast of Lake Wanaka which provided some beautiful views. I was then led along a trail, which involved walking along some privately owned farm land, however I wasn't trespassing. After a final 600m stretch of road, I reached the base of the mountain, ready to start my ascent.

I quickly realised just how steep the climb was. Mountains have a funny habit of looking rather small from the bottom, as though it won't take particularly long to reach the peak. However, I was very much deceived by this illusion, as the trek seemed to last forever and was extremely steep all the way. There was also no sign of human life at any point during my ascent. This didn't worry me too much, as I've often been known to attempt things that perhaps didn't make sense to most other people. As I continued up, I found myself regularly needing to stop to rest my legs, catch my breath or eat some food for a couple of minutes.

I could see the clouds beginning to change and the sky started to look a little more ominous. Above me, the top of the mountain was covered in a grey mist which simply looked like cloud cover however, as I began to get closer to the peak I started to realise that this was in fact snowfall. Along the way, I often whipped out my camera for a quick shot of the scenery and when I began to see signs of snow, I was eager to take some photos as evidence that I had managed to hike high enough to reach snow! The snowfall and wind quickly picked up and pretty soon, I found myself in the middle of a snow storm and rapidly getting very cold. The summit was't much further so I decided to persist on. I can't remember the next 30-minutes too well, but I'm certain that it was sheer stubbornness and adrenaline that got me to the top of Mount Roy.

Once at the peak, I let out a huge yell: 'Drago' - as a tip of the hat to Rocky 4. By this point, I had been hiking for over 4 hours and the mountain ascent alone, had taken more than 3 hours. My hands were frozen, I could barely see from the heavy snowfall and my thighs were completely numb. The snow got heavier and began to settle on the cliff edge around me. The wind speed picked up to the extent that I was in pain from the snow hitting my face. The next 30-minutes were the scariest of my life. I needed to get down as quickly as possible. I hadn't seen a single person while climbing-up, I had no communications device, I was inadequately clothed, without any water and I could feel my body seizing-up as I became colder. I decided to jog down as best as I could to stay warm and reach the base quicker. Because of the sheer decline of some of the hills, I found myself regularly sprinting uncontrollably. As I got lower down, the snow was melting and had turned to slush, so I was also sliding and slipping a fair bit. I eventually reached the base, with all my clothes completely saturated and mud all the way down my legs.

As I walked down the 600m stretch of road, I stuck my thumb in the air in the hope that someone might give me a ride back to town to avoid a further 6km walk. Fortunately, a businessman named Anthony, originally from Yorkshire but living in Melbourne for the past 8-years stopped and gave me a lift. He was in town for 4-days of skiing. I can't imagine what I looked like but I was extremely thankful for his help. He dropped me off at the hostel and I looked over to the mountain to see the top third covered in white snow. I couldn't believe that I had got stuck in the midst of that!

In total, I had climbed 1300m vertically to the summit and reached an altitude of over 1500m above sea level. I had hiked 17km and completed a climb classified as 'very hard' and 'should only be attempted in clear weather'. All this in a pair of shorts and no waterproofs.

I'm sure I'll wake up rather stiff tomorrow morning!

Much love!

Sam

The Beautiful South Island

Kia Ora!

Our first stop on the South Island was a town called Nelson. We settled into our hostel and went for a shopping run to pick up supplies for our curry meal later that evening. I had seen a building with a sign reading 'Martial Arts Centre' on the way into Nelson. Having been removed from karate training for the past 3 months, I couldn't help but wander over and check it out. It turned out that it was a hired space used by a number of different martial arts clubs in the local area. Being a Sunday, there were no classes but I did run into the shotokan karate instructor, a fellow 3rd dan black belt. We shared a few stories and I spoke to him about my plans to train in Tokyo. It was nice to be on the other side of the world, yet still be able to find other shotokan enthusiasts. That evening, we made dinner and went to a local bar to watch the New Zealand Vs Australia rugby game.

The next morning, we left Nelson to head towards Lake Mahinapua. This journey involved a number of scenic stop off points as we began journeying through some of New Zealand's most beautiful parts. Firstly, we stopped off at Nelson Lakes National Park, surrounded by snow capped mountains, glacier lakes and beech forests. We then stopped off near Westport at Tauranga Bay, to view New Zealand's largest seal colony. Finally we stopped off at the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. These are cliffs formed from Limestone which over thousands of years have been eroded to resemble giant piles of neatly stacked pancakes. That evening we arrived at our lodge in Lake Mahinapua, owned by the legendary 85-year old, Les Lisle. Les puts on a party every night for Kiwi Experience passengers, consisting of a huge steak dinner, lots of alcohol and a fancy dress theme - It felt like being back at Loughborough's Student Union! The theme was garbage bags. I'm never one to take fancy dress lightly, so I fashioned myself a batman outfit made from yellow and black bin bags. Other outfits included the New Zealand 'All Blacks' rugby team, penguins and pints of Guinness.

After one very crazy night, we woke-up late to make our way to our next destination, Franz Josef, famous for it's glaciers. On arrival, we settled in and wondered around the local village. We spent the evening relaxing at the pub and watching Family Guy. The next morning was a late rise as we spent our second day in Franz Josef. I decided to venture off into the wilderness in order to get some good views of the glacier. This involved me hiking for a few hours, which is never a bad thing, especially since I'll be hiking a great deal more once I get to Nepal. That evening was relatively relaxed again. We participated in a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament to try and win a free Canyon Swing in Queenstown. Sadly, it was not to be!

The next morning, we boarded the bus for Wanaka. On the way down, we stopped of at Lake Matheson to catch the perfect mirror reflection of Mount Cook in the water. This was followed by a beach stop by the Tasman Sea, where I managed to get my clothes soaked, and a brief visit to the township of Haast for a quick spot of mooning - don't ask! By the time we arrived in Wanaka, we had been treated to a bus ride full of endless beautiful scenery and picturesque views.

That evening in Wanaka, we surprised Dan for his 22nd birthday. We had originally planned on cooking him dinner but decided instead, to visit the pub for their 5$ lasagne deal. Plus, Dan usually does very little during our group cooking efforts, so making him dinner wouldn't have been anything new! Instead, we got him a card and a big cake and celebrated at the bar! Tomorrow I hope to go mountain trekking.

Much love!

Sam

Departing the North Island

Kia Ora!

After all the excitment of skydiving, I spent the rest of the evening completely elated with my achievements. We headed to an Irish pub for a pub quiz night and I even managed to score a free drink for showing off my party trick! We remained in Taupo for a second day, which was spent catching up on all the essentials: Internet, laundry and food shopping. That night, Andy and I cooked ourselves a curry along with Jonny, Toby and Dan who are the group of lads we've been spending lots of time with.

The next day we left Taupo and headed to River Valley. On the way, we stopped at Tongariro National Park for a two hour hike along the Taranaki Falls and Silica Rapids. This provided many great photo opportunities and we took full advantage. After a long drive through some narrow country roads off the beaten track, we arrived into River Valley. Aside from the lodge we were staying in, there's very little to see in River Valley with it being located in the middle of nowhere. It's biggest appeal is being able to go on Grade 5 rapids and experience the best white water rafting in New Zealand. This had been the plan for a number of us, however we woke up the next morning to be told that the water levels were far too high and dangerous to allow us out on to the river.

We left River Valley slightly disappointed at not being able to go rafting. Still, it had been an enjoyable stay and had provided us with an authentic taste of rural New Zealand, removed from the commonly found tourist influences. Our next stop was the capital city Wellington. It was a long drive down, but we arrived with enough time to check out the famous Te Papa Museum of New Zealand. We then enjoyed a night out on the town, meeting a few locals along the way.

The next morning was a very early rise in order to catch the ferry across to the South Island. The bus picked us up at 7am and we were dropped off at the dock. I slept most of the way on the ferry however, I did manage to wake-up and enjoy the scenery of the Queen Charlotte Sounds as we entered Picton. On arrival, we collected our luggage and boarded the bus to begin our travels of the South Island. I'll look forward to updating you on more of this soon!

Much love!

Sam

p.s. I'm starting to consider getting a tattoo...something small and well hidden - I'm thinking a philosophical karate principle written in Japanese script. Thoughts please? I should probably run it by my parents first!

Free Falling

Kia Ora!

So I mentioned previously that I would be travelling through New Zealand on a Kiwi Experience Bus. I was intially unsure about travelling in this way as I felt it might remove some of the freedom and flexibility of backpacking. However, I'm glad to report that I was wrong - It's been an excellent way to get around. It's enabled us to explore the country in the way that we choose while providing us with a guide (his name is Kane - he's a total lad) who has all the local knowledge you could hope for. Kiwi Experience has also been useful in helping us find places to stay, giving us discounts on activities and providing us with a group of 20 fellow backpackers, who we bonded with immediately.

The first day saw us leave Auckland and head East to Mercury Bay. On the way, we made several stops including one at Cathedral Cove which was nothing short of awe inspiring. The views were so scenic and picturesque - The exact reason I wanted to visit New Zealand. On arrival at Mercury Bay, we checked in at our hostel, which was more like a family-run guesthouse. The place was owned by an older couple who had been nice enough to cook us all dinner! We spent the evening eating well, playing pool and exchanging stories with the other passengers on the bus.

The next morning we rose early to make our way down to Rotorua. We stopped off for some hiking through the old railway tunnels of the Karangahake Nature Reserve. Rotorua is a hotspot for geothermal activity so the first thing we noticed was the smell of sulphur and the occurence of boiling mud pools and steam seeping through the streets. A group of us decided to go luging, which basically involved lying on a tea tray and gunning it down a big and windy road - heaps of fun! Part of the reason I'm travelling is to immerse myself in other cultures so that night, I visited a Maori village. On entry, we witnessed the traditional peace offering ceremony. This was followed by some Maori songs, dances, food and of course the Haka, which I managed to get an insane video of!

The next day saw us journey to Waitomo, famous for it's caves. We made a stop at the Agrodome for a spot of sheep herding before arriving at our hostel. I decided to spend the afternoon venturing off by myself rather than joining one of the paid tours of the caves. I was given some rough directions from the hostel reception and then made my way into this rural wonderland. The views would have provided some great photo opportunities had I not left my camera at the hostel. Still, it was an enjoyable hike and managing to do it alone, added a sense of authenticity. That night we cooked dinner and had a few drinks at the local bar.

We left Waitomo the next morning after stopping for another scenic waterfall hike. Our next destination was Taupo. It was in Taupo that I was hoping to complete my first ever skydive, however recent events were making me think twice. Two days earlier, a plane had crashed in Franz Josef, another popular skydiving venue and one of the places we would be visiting in a week's time. The plane had been carrying a group of Kiwi Experience travellers, who like us, were hoping to complete skydives. Unfortunately, the crash left no survivors. I've always been aware of these kind of tragedies happening around the world, however knowing that the individuals on this plane were backpackers just like me, who were simply 4 buses ahead of ours, made it much more of a reality. I decided to go ahead with the skydive. Yes, life is precious, but it's also too short to not live it to its fullest.

The weather had been pretty inconsistent so we were expecting to receive the standard orientation but then have to return the following day for the jump. Remarkably, the weather quickly improved and all of a sudden we were told that we'd be jumping straight away. I decided to pay slightly more in order to complete the higher dive of 15,000ft. In real terms, this meant a free-fall of over one-minute. We got suited up, which included an oxygen mask for the higher altitude! We then boarded the plane and ascended. At one stage during the flight, I asked what altitude we were at, thinking we were probably almost ready to jump - 4,000ft I was told! I couldn't believe how high we were, yet we were only a quarter of the way up! Once we reached the desired height, we leaned out of the plane and made that leap of faith.

Words can not even describe the sensation I felt. It was by far the most exhilarating thing I have ever done. I made sure to bust some moves on the way down for the camera, including the classic cardboard box routine. The parachute opened up at 4,000ft and I then had 5-minutes or so to enjoy the stunning views of Lake Taupo. Soaking up the beauty of New Zealand's landscape on a complete emotional high, while experiencing an adrenaline rush like no other was simply incredible and I couldn't help but think that this was one of those moments I would never forget.

Much love

Sam

The City of Sails

Kia Ora!

After a 14-hour flight and skipping a full day, courtesy of passing over the international day-line, I arrived in Auckland, The City of Sails. We found ourselves a shuttle bus from the airport, which took us to our hostel in Central Auckland. Walking around the city centre, it reminded me of London in many ways. The somewhat dull and damp weather that we were met by certainly helped this.

Our first visit was to the tourist centre to try and figure out some ideas of what to do for the next couple of days. We heard that the Auckland museum was worth a visit and also had free admission. I'm not usually one to turn down free museum visits and this one did not disappoint. If it wasn't for the fact that I was chronically jet lagged, I could have easily spent an entire day at this place. It had a number of exhibitions including a volcano section, war section and natural history section. However, the area that I found most intriguing was that on Mauri culture and history and discovering how the Polynesians first came to find Aotearoa.

After visiting the museum we headed back to the hostel to use the internet and I decided to complete the essential 3S's - shower, shave and s**t! Please bare in mind that I had not shaved in 3-weeks so using a blunt razor was rather challenging and a little painful. That evening we headed down to the bar where they were serving free pizza and a host of discounted drinks. We spent the evening talking to lots of other travellers until we could no longer keep ourselves awake.

The next day, we met a Kiwi Experience guide. Kiwi Experience is the company that we will be travelling around New Zealand with. They operate a hop-on-hop-off bus tour and give you lots of advice on places to stay and activities to do. They offer a free Auckland day trip so it seemed rude to turn this down. Our tour guide Dave, was very funny and told us a great story about the Dutch explorer, Abel Tazman and the problems he encountered when he first came to visit New Zealand and didn't fully understand the etiquette of the Mauri Haka. We spent the day walking across the harbour bridge, visiting Devonport, a small Island north of Auckland and viewing the city from the top of a dormant volcano.

The rest of the day was spent chilling out and cooking ourselves dinner. We headed to bed early in order to wake up and begin our travels around the North Island. I'm now currently on the bus to Mercury Bay which will be our first stop on the trip. I've also just learned that Christchurch received an earthquake yesterday measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale - a little worrying considering we'll be arriving there in less that 3-weeks. Miraculously, only one casualty from the quake.

Much love

Sam

Las Vegas

The first and most noticeable thing about Vegas is that as soon as you've landed, before you've seen a security guard, assistance desk or even a shop you're met by a whole host of slot machines and jingling noises. They've definitely thought this place through. Pretty much everything you do in this city is designed to entice you to gamble - I loved it!

So I got off the plane and met my friend Andy, my housemate from university days. We jumped in a shuttle bus and got to our hotel, the Sahara. On arrival, we couldn't figure out where to go and check in. Naively, we thought we were in the wrong place because all we could see was a casino floor. We were soon told that you had to walk across the entire floor in order to reach the hotel check-in desk - just incase you fancied gambling a little bit while schleping your big backpacks!

We arrived at our room to find two big double beds, loads of space and a million channels on the TV - not too bad for 17$ a night! We decided to take a walk along the strip. The Sahara is near one end, which meant we could walk in one direction and see pretty much every other hotel going. We checked out the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, The Mirage, New York New York etc. As glitzy as they all were, we were quite happy to be paying so little per night. We soon realised that you can't walk anywhere without being invited to a strip club or being propositioned by a lady of the night!

The next day, we woke up late and looked up the choice of buffets on offer. Circus Circus was offering 12$ all you can eat - can't complain with that! After feeling pretty satisfied, we spent the rest of the afternoon photographing and visiting all the sites. That evening I decided it was time for a gamble - oh did I do well! I think it's fair to say that I owned Vegas. I managed to rack up a whopping 30$ at the MGM Grand, Treasure Island and The Sahara. Not too bad for someone with absolutely no knowledge of casino games and little inclination to spend any amount of money. I came, I saw, I conquered - cha-ching! The best part was that while I was busy placing my pathetically small bets, I received free drinks all night round. It was as though they thought getting me intoxicated would result in me splashing out larger sums of money - FAIL!

We left Vegas the next morning and took a 6-hour Greyhound bus to Los Angeles, during which time I used up any phone credit that I had left. We arrived at LAX and Andy and I found our respective terminals. Due to our differing round-the-world travel routes, we have separate flight packages. So while my flight was with Air New Zealand, his was with Quantas. We saw each other off, ready to meet up in Auckland.

Much love!

Sam

Finishing Up Post Camp

I always enjoy working post camp after the main season. Firstly, it involves working with a number of different groups which keeps the work fresh and less monotonous. Secondly, it requires you to do a whole host of different jobs. So any given day could include looking after a group of day campers in the morning, serving at an ice cream party after lunch, running a game of family kickball in the afternoon and setting up a campfire and leading songs in the evening. The other thing I like about post camp is that the staff team is smaller and integrates staff from Nah-Jee-Wah, Cedar Lake and TAC. Nahj staff are usually a minority, which at first is a bit of a downer as camp feels rather empty and you miss all the people you grew close to over the summer. However, it allows me to catch-up with all the people I know from CLC and meet new people, which is never a bad thing I suppose!

Post camp this summer was a bit different for me as it was more of a continuation of the main season work I had been doing. I was the division head for the First Step program, which saw me working with 9 other staff members and running a 5-day camp for a group of boys and girls aged 7-11. The weather made this week particularly challenging, as it rained persistently. This meant we had to adapt the schedule regularly and take advantage of any dry spells that randomly came about.

Despite the poor weather, we had a fantastic week. We managed to offer every camp activity possible, we had a cook-out breakfast, we ran big game-shows, brought in outside entertainers and even had a banquet.

Once First Step ended, I rejoined the regular post-camp operations and mucked in with all the jobs going. I only had about a day and a half before leaving so I made sure to keep myself busy and spend lots of time with the people I would be saying goodbye to. Sunday morning came about, my bags were packed and I made my way to New York to catch the plane.

Much love

Sam