Our last NZ post, Onto LA tmw...

Homer has been a bit neglected lately, so to apologise we took him through his old town, whilst on a train.....

What a view...

I dont really go to church, football is my religion, but that is some church view... wow..

Thanks for a lot of laughs...

Take care guys & have fun with the rest of your travels, keep in touch!

Watch out for an amusing video, coming to a Youtube site near you soon angus ;)

Our hotel room view of Mt Cook...

The Ice Hole...

Me Lynsey & Homer walking on an IceBerg!!!!

After we found a big enough & stable enough iceberg, we were able to get off the little boat, and have a walk around on one. Weve actually walked on an iceberg, ccccrazy....

Homer can now claim to be famous, the only person to ever stand on this iceberg !! Thanks to Angus for impersonating an anchor, whilst the pic was being taken... ;)

Anyone for an Ice Cube...

Whilst visiting the Glacier lake, we were able to break off chunks of ice to eat, pure as anything youve ever seen. These pieces of Ice were from icebergs 400 years old, as thats how long it takes to get to the lake at the bottom, from the top of the glacier. Sweet as...

On the way to Mt Cook, we stopped next to a nuttily green coloured lake for a pic....

The glacier lake was really strange. It was filled with icebergs of every shape & colour. Some were what you would think as a traditional iceberg, all white etc, but the majority were covered with dust, rubble & some huuuuge boulders! The pic above shows the difference between the two. Yup, that one in the background with the huge rock is actually a floating iceberg aswell!!!

Sod london, which way is Manchester!...

Meoraki Rocks

Big Waterfall, Lickle Waterfalls...

Look mum no hands ;)

I forgot to say, you lie down strapped to this "vehicle" :)

I can flyyyyyyyyyy :))

So after you get winched up one side of the canyon to the top, you release yourself :) then hit the gas. You then keep the handle full on for the next five minutes, powering you from one side of the canyon to the other. You move in figures of eights, like on a skateboard track, if you get the turns right. If you get a lot of the turns bang on, you can get seriously high up :) as demonstrated by me in the pic ;)

Adrenalin activities revisted =)

Ok no need to appologise to margaret for this one, it was safe as houses ;) not really a scarey one, just seriously good fun!!!! We first saw this on a show on tele that Jack osbourne was in, Adrenalin junkies or someit like that. Apparently its the only place in the world you can do it, so had to give it a go, didnt we? :)

Take two sides of a huge hill / canyon.

Afix a long wire across them, at the top.

Rig up a wire to the ground.

Attach to a rocket type vehicle.

Power with LPG

Add a serioulsy high powered fan to the back of it.

Get strapped in, find a helmit, then get winched up the side of the canyon.

Welcome to "FlyByWire" :))))

His n Hers Quads ;)

Several gears, up to 80 kmph on the straights, with these views, dirt tracks, water everywhere - This morning rocked!

Its time for ...

Quad Biking :)

After enjoying driving a 4x4 around a nutty country side track, i was eager to drive something else, so we booked a 2 hr off road quad bike session, up in the hills :) Stopped at the top of some run to take this photo...

QueensTown from the top of a huge hill....

Off for dinner on the other side of the lake, via a...

Steam boat :)

Onto Arrow Town

View from our hotel...

From inside the jetboat...

The jetboat we took through the canyon

These jetboats are well quick, they move in & out of the rocks, can go on only 4 Inches of water & more importantly do lots of 360's down the river :))

The "ShotOver" canyon

After having a few days of checking out nutty scenary, it was time to find some more "activities" to do :) so we found "ShotOver" canyon.

This would be the setting for our next ride, on a jetboat :)

On route to Wanaka

Edge of a glacier

Nr Franz Josef... snow ball fights now allowed apparently ! :(

Everythings so blueeee!

Travelling from wellington to Nelson..

Under the clouds, wellington

View from the top of some hill :)

I can see Snowwww...

On route to Wellington...

Nothing to jump off at the moment, so its 4x4 Off Road time...

This afternoon we went up into the hills to a place that does 4x4 off road driving, using Suzuki 4x4's. Lynsey wasnt that bothered about having a go, & some of the stuff was pretty nutty, so she filmed it all in the passenger seat whilst i battered a suzuki around this purpose built course.

After 3 months without driving my car or any car, i was really looking forward to driving something again!!!

It consisted of : meter deep water sections, 30 degree angled bits, tree log walk ways, very thin small underground routes, a drop over a waterfall, and the mother of all vertical drops. The best bit was the last section, the 2.5meter near vertical drop. God knows how these 4x4 survive for that long, they dont half take a battering around the course. Flying down a waterfall & sending a car down a 2.5 near vertical drop was great fun! =) Just wish we'd had more time to have a go on the drifting track!

The picture above shows one of the many drop sections.

Jurassic park for real...

Weve seen alot of amazing views since weve been travelling : the Great wall in china, night time skylines in Hong kong & singapore, the sim city style Japan and the sheer wilderness of outback Australia, but this place is one of the best weve been to. The photo's we took here are one of my favourates so far =)

The Champagne Pool...

With a surface temperature of 74 degree's, 65m wide & 62 meter deep, this is one of the largest springs we saw. It was formed 700 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption.

There she blows... ;)

Today we went to visit Volcano's, Mud pools, Blowing Geysers and the Thermal reserve, which has strange coloured steam pools. The smell is overwhelming at times, lynsey is starting to get used to it, but i cant, its like someones dropped a "bad one" everywhere you go!

We started off at the mud pools, which was crazy. The bubbling pools really chuck the mud around alot, covering unsuspecting tourists who venture too close to the side. The blowing geyser got to about 40 meters in the air, a truely crazy sight. Perfect for tourists, as this one blows at about the same time every day ! The volcano we visited & the thermal reserve was really cool. The steaming pools & lakes have every colour under the sun all around & in them. The views accross the volcano's & mountains are immense with all the steam coming up all around you. It so looks like a scene out of jurrasic park.

Glow baby Glow...

Forgot to post this one! The other day we went to the Waitomo caves, to view the glow worms =) These caves are in the waikato province which is south of auckland.

We ventured through underground limestone caves for a bit, viewing mental "cathedral caves" with strange rock formations, water carved caves and mystically lit grotto's. During this tour we went on a silent boat ride through the main caves, which have thousands & thousands of glow worms hanging from the ceiling. The caves are pitch black with neon lights everywhere, absolutely amazing sight.

Each glow worm has up to 20 dangling tenticles, which it uses to catch flies & generally any other food flying around. When they catch something they slowly reel in the tenticles and bring the food up to eat. Never seen anything like it. After we left the caves, we moved onto Rotorua, a small city built on geothermal activity, which is also the centre of North island maori culture. Rotorua has loads of thermal pools, boiling mud baths, Volcano's, geysers, hot springs and a nice eggy smell !!

There can be only one Chief!

After we arrived in Rotorau, we had a meal with a traditional show, from some of the locals. This was after we had come accustomed to the smell that everywhere in ronorau has. As this place has loads of volcano's, masses of guysers, and steam coming out of everywhere, it stinks of rotten eggs!

The show was like a story with songs in there native language, but at the start of the show they welcomed us all by testing a nominated "Chief". Yup, i was chosen to be the Chief, a fine & obvious choice might i add ;) Chief matt was ready for action....

At the start of the show I had to go up on stage with the "Warriors". Then one of the warriors would approach me slapping his legs, slapping his chest, waving his stick at me in a threatening mannor, sticking his tongue out & "Giving me the eyes"! I had to simply stand there without laughing (which was tough) show no facial expression & not move or flinch when he came at me. It was basically the same as the NZ Rugby players do at the start of a match, but with the added intent of a big stick! Now under normal circumstances up north, if someone came at me with a stick, i would take the appropriate action. But in this instance i did as instructed!

I passed the test, and was given a "peace leaf", the show then continued as i went back to my beer :)

View from top of Otehei Bay

Nr Cape Brett - Going through the "Hole in the Rock"

Near the Bay of Islands

Sailing on a Tall Ship

Somewhere North of Auckland... =)

Jumping off the Sky Tower was Childs play, Lets go to 200 km/ph in 2 secs & pull over 5 G's!

Ok i'll start off with saying sorry to Margaret :) but no-one else would go on it with me, and you cant do it on your own. So yes lynsey came on it with me :)

So, after the fun which was jumping off the sky tower, free-falling 192 meters, I was eager for more adredalin rushes (as you do). So I promptly found the Sky Screamer (its name doesnt lie, if you can actually get a noise to come out of you!)

This time it was a Bungy jump with a twist ;) The Sky screamer is a capsule, which you are strapped into and held via A LOT of tension onto the ground. You have two bungy cables connected either side of the capsule. When the correct tension is reached, you are released, sending you skyward =) before I explain the stats, I have to say its absolutely amazing. Really really mental! (Im going on it again tmw!) You move sooooo quick, it puts a scuby to shame!

You travel from 0 to 200 kmph in 2 seconds, but one thing I forgot to mention is the capsule you are in spins 360 degrees aswell. Making you pull over 5 G's =)) It then travels up to about 120meters into the sky, spinning you all the way :)

Bar the parachute jump its the craziest thing ive ever done. As the flyer suggests its twice the ride of a bungy, and its right!

Weve got video footage from it aswell, as there is a camera recording your faces as you go on this stupidly fast ride. Weve never laughed so much in our lives, when we watched it back.

www.skyscreamer.co.nz

whats next ? find out soon in a blog near you...

Vodka & - 5 Degrees

Today we changed hotels in Auckland in preperation for our Tour of NZ. Moving from the loud surroundings of the Scenic Circle Airedale hotel to the Crown Plaza :) After arriving at the crown plaza, i found something "different" to do in one of the "What to do in Auckland" brochures. Lets go drink Vodka in the Minus 5 Degree bar =)

As the name suggests, its a vodka bar, which is -5 degrees! ;) Makes a change from all the warm weather weve had i suppose, and as weve kinda missed winter this year, it seemed a good idea at the time.

Its a pub size bar surrounded by over 18 Tonne of Hand sculpted ice. Everything is carved from ice, the Walls, the Bar, the Sculptures, the seats and even the glasses you drink the vodka cocktails from. Very very nutty, coming out of the warm temps here in auckland into that ! At the reception aea you get a massive warm coat off the rack, a hat if you want it and two pairs of gloves. I was in my 3/4's but it really didnt feel that cold at the start, as there is no wind, & its a dry cold.

Not sure whether it was simply the vodka, or drinking straight after breakfast, or drinking in -5 degree's - but we both left a bit half cut & cold. Nonetheless an interesting way to start the day ;)

www.minus5experience.com

I wish i could fly....

~Lynz -
I just wanted to add that i still wasnt sure i was going to do it right up until the last moment and as you can see from matts explanation of events, i still wasnt 100% sure that i wanted to do it when i actually stepped off the building! My right hand held on to the safety hold, even when i did step off - it wasnt my fault it was simply my mind saying nooooo!!!!!!!! One other point i would like to mention is that when i was dangling ready for the photo, my jump controller told me the camera wasnt working and to hold on for a moment. Well i tell you, i wasnt going anywhere. Photo taken i was then dropped - wow that was the best bit about it, free falling was an amazing experience and as matt said earlier my landing was ‘text book’, well i had to get something right.

I also wanted to say sorry again to my mum for making her worry most of the day about me throwing myself off a building - im just glad i phoned you when it was over to let you know i was in one piece! also dont panic if i do do a parachute jump im gunna make sure its a tandem, strapped to an experienced guy!!!!!!

~Matt - Tandem jumps being 10,000 ft free-fall, as apposed to 5,000 ft parachute, sheesh... ;)

I can see the pub from ere ;)

At 9am this morning we had to get up & over to the Sky Tower, to prepare for our jump. As we woke, lynsey was still in two minds on whether she was going to jump. To be honest, lynsey still hadnt decided until she actually left the jump platform, in an interesting manor, more on that in a second =) LMAO This maybe had something to do with the tower being in view from our hotel window, so all night she could see what was coming tmw morning!

When we arrived we got rid of all our valuables, emptied our pockets, and got into our tasteful "jump-suits". They then gave us our harnesses, which strapped around our chests and under our legs in a very tight fashion. So tight i was worried about the crown jewels on landing ! After several minutes of careful adjustment, i was happier with the situation :)

This was lynseys first time of doing any "Extreme Sports" so it was obvious she was going to be a bit "apprehensive" and nervous about what was going to entail. I have already done a parachute jump so i should be and was, ok with the situation. When you do a parachute jump everything in your head is telling you NO, when you throw yourself out of an aeroplane. As for god knows how many years, all youve done is ensure you stay inside the thing !! The same applies here, your about to throw yourself off a building 192 meters up, on purpose, the body Screams NOoo.

So back to lynseys jump off the Platform :)

The first part is the hardest, you have to jump off the platform, drop 10 meters, then you stop and hang for a photo. Which is nicely located level with the "inside" viewing area, for everyone to laugh at your face :)

This is where lynsey had an "Issue". She jumped , but only let go with one arm, so in a comedic fashion, simply swang to the side on one arm. After a couple of seconds, she let go. Then x seconds later free falled for 14 seconds, 192 meters, onto the landing platform. She landed perfectly on both feet :)

I was next. The view from the platform is amazing, as you'd expect from 192 meters up. I dont actually like hights that much, but that just makes parachute jumps and jumping off tall buildings all the more exciting :))

The women at the top said "as you've probably worked out already, lynsey exit off the platform wasnt exactly text book" :) amusing! i assured her i would'nt hang on when counted down to jump.

3,2,1 and i was off. At this point lynsey was at the bottom, filming my decent. You free-fall at about 55mph, which is cool, but it didnt actually feel that bad. It was a good rush, but no-where near to jumping out of an aeroplane! Me thinks we need to find somewhere to do a parachute jump whilst we are in New Zealand =)) Sorry again margaret, but it is still technically safer than driving around london in a car ;)

The landing is pretty easy, at about 1 meter from the floor, you are slowed via the safety wire and simply bounce onto your feet. Or in my case, onto your feet then onto our knee's =) I was worried about my dodgy knee, but all was well. We both survived !

Today is Jump day ;) 192 meters to go....

Welcome to Auckland - Time to Base Jump from the Highest Building in NZ ;)

We arrived into Auckland late last night after a 3hr flight, then transferred to our hotel. In a few days we join our 2nd and final tour group of our travels. But until then we have a few days to have a look around Auckland ourselves. Its been about 25 degrees today, but it does feel warmer than sydney did.

We got up and went for breaky / dinner then hit the town centre to do some shopping. We then went to have a look at the Sky Tower. Ive been looking forward to visiting the Sky Tower, since reading up about it before we left home, many many months ago! One of the many activities the Sky Tower provides is a 192m (630ft) BaseJump by wire =) <>

You get 14 seconds of Free-Fall, before your "Wire" slows you within 1 meter of the landing point. We watched a few people screaming there way down it today, it looked unreal !! I must remember not to scream like a banchee.

Ive done a parachute jump before, but after tmw, i can add a Base Jump to my list <>

Ive been trying to talk lynsey round for a few weeks now, to do this aswell, and to my surprise she has also booked to do it. Im sorry mrs hayes, but it is an experience she'll never forget :)
So, 10:15am tmw morning - we Jump of a building, top banana!

When we start out officail tour of NZ, we do visit the sky tower, but if you have already done the Sky Jump before, you can do futher jumps for 25 quid. So i already know im doing it again ! =))

Id like to take this oppotunity to thank Avaya again, for there bonus which is paying for my base jumping ;)

Sydney Fireworks accross the water...

Its the New Year Balloon Lady...

My Cute little wifey with one of the posh courses...

New Years Eve Sydney 06-07

Well it was an absolute cracking night! Completely different to what we normally get up to ;)

The restaurant was amazing, again posh styli food, so its a good job it was 7 or 8 courses! If only they could of given me two portions of each course, then it would of filled me up =) Choice of drinks for the night was a mixture of numerous Corona's, bottle of Red wine (i forget which one) Champagne at new year, followed by several more corona's. For the first night in ages, lynsey joined me on the corona's! A Couple of the courses were fish based, which to be honest lynsey coped with quite well, to say she doesnt like fishy stuff that much =) Big Rick would of been proud!

The 360 Degree revolving restaurant stopped rotating at 9pm and then again at midnight so everyone could move to the cocktail bar area to watch the fireworks. In an amusing twist to the night, they handed out party bags to everyone around 11pm. In an instant this posh quiet restaurant with all these posh couples, had decended into complete madness! People running around setting off party poppers, breathing helium balloons and making noises like mating ducks (accumulation of Helium & party trumpets) =) well funny :)

Posh place? after 11pm, erm...no. =))

The fireworks were amazing cause we were so high up, we were looking down or accross at most of the fireworks, which was nutty. The reflections accross the harbour water looked unreal.

After we left the restaurant (around 1pm'ishy) we entered the carnage that was sydney town centre. People mullered all around you, no-one knowing where they were, where there friends were, where they were going, or how they were getting home. Much like us then :) but we did have a map! One thing we did know, Our first available train home is 5am! So we wandered around then moved onto the game of the night - The Taxi hunt ;)

Within an hour, I found a taxi that liked the look of us enough to let us get in =) and we moved onto the hotel bar, with the rest of the people that had managed to get back.

Whilst at the 360 tower, Lynsey managed to obtain about 6/7 Helium balloons that I & everyone else hadnt already used for comical singing effects, which she then tied to her wrists. These then came with us on our mission in the lifts, appologises to all the people in our lift ! =) then accross the town centre, and all the way back to the hotel. Along the way several friends were quickly made, on providing them with there very own helium balloon =) Lynsey quickly became known as the "Balloon lady".