Emma's Adventures

Hey Guys,

Well starting to get settled in Welly! Made a few friends in the hostel where i am staying which is nice, lots of South Americans, north americans, poms and frenchies :) so all good fun. The hostel big night out is Wednesday which is awesome as i have thursdays off work!! Perfect :)
I got the job at the M-horn in Wellington :) really nice bar/restaurant it won restaurant of the year in NZ two years ago and is again nominated this year :) scary times. The people working there are really cool though so i hope i will have a great time there.  We have a work party on Sunday night for a new bar that is opening on the wharf with free drinks and food which is a great start to a new job and a good way to get aquainted with everyone over a few sherbets.

Going to try and locate a cheap swimming pool in the city so i can try and get fit, i have bee nreally lazy since i arrived in Welly and lets just say my diet is not ideal!!!!

Well a quick post this time folks :) hope all is well.

Hello Every1

Since last time i spoke i visited Nelson a wonderful cute town :) at the top of the south island, unfortunately i had terrential rain for my long weekend there.   What the heck i made the most of it, hired a car and drove to the most northern point on the south island to Cape Farewell and visited an amazing beach called Wharariki Beach, and was lucky and watched the baby seals play in the ocean :).  Stopped at Waikoropupu (Pu Pu Springs) australasias largest springs and the the worlds clearest fresh water amazing.  Stopped off at a very famous pub called the Mussell in where they brew all there own beers so i sampled  the Golden Goose Larger and the Freckled Frog Fejoia Cider yummy :) definate worth a visit if anyone is ever heading that way.

The whole way along the drive on the Abel Tasman was awesome especially the Golden Bay area very very pretty even with alot of rain. Did a small walk in Kaiteriteri and also on the farewell spit.

Such a small world i met Evan and Shannon a couple of couchsurfers i met in CHCH in January overin Nelson in the visitors centre was really nice to see them again they travelled around the islands on there bikes :)

Met a really nice group of people in the Abel Tasman - Terry ( American) Rachel (English) Vicky and Rick ( Scottish) we took a car together and did some exploring of the park had a great time and i got them all into playing Monopoly deal ( they even went and bought a packet) awesome!!!!!

So after leaving the Abel Tasman i headed on the ferry over to Wellington :) what a great city :) i was lucky enough to have 3 job interviews on my second day i arrived and was offered two of them to which i have excepted. One at the M-horn in the city a really cool, trendy bar and restaurant and one at a luxury 5* hotel with just 13 bedrooms working on reception and in F&B : ). Went to a couchsurfing meeting in the city a few nights ago which was great got to meet some of the local couchsurfers and enjoy some stories etc:) Then headed out into the Wellington night life and enjoyed a wonderful night out at $4.00 drinks, pulled a very nice english chef on the night which made my arrival to Wellington even better :)  I talk about small world again but i walked into a bar in wellington and there in the bar is Justin a guy i worked with 8 years ago in Scotland i think he was just as shocked to see me as i was to see him, good times.

I am currently staying at the Wellywood Backpackers in the city and this is where i have decided i will stay until i leave Wellington, it works out to be cheaper than a flat and alot more convenient for work etc.

Have  a couple of pics of my arrival, will try to get more up soon.

Take Care Folks :)

Hi All

Well finally leaving.........

Heading on a bus (intercity) courtesy of Cesar the French guy who i met in Karijini in Oz, he left the country and gave me the rest of his bus pass hours around 8 in total,  that will get me over to Blenheim and then on to Nelson where i will meet my couchsurfer and hopefully sail over to the Abel Tasman on his yacht. :).  I have booked one night at a backpacker in Nelson before i board a bus and then head onwards towards Picton and then on to Wellington on the ferry crossing.  In Wellington i am hoping to stay with some more CSers until i find work in the city. Ben my agent who got me the job in CHCH reckons he has lined up some interviews in Wellington at some rather nice places watch this space will let you know :) Flat hunting will be fun looking for another share, but i am going to be a little more picky this time around and check out the flatties before excepting :)

Hey Every1!

Well i have finally decided that i will move to the North Island without a job or a place to stay as otherwise i will end up staying in CHCH the entire year until October comes around. I will be sad to leave the S Island as i have had lots of fun here and met some wonderful people, and the scenery woo hoo stunning mountains and lakes, natural beauty is awesome :)  However i am excited for a new adventure and a new challenge over in the North Island, i understand there is alot more of maori culture there too :)

I will be leaving the hotel where i have been working in the next couple of weeks for a trip up the coast to Kaikoura, over to Nelson, Abel Tasman, Picton, Golden Bay and then head on the boat over to the North Island :) From there i will visit the Tongariro crossing and head towards Wellington :). In Wellington i will try and find a job to keep me going until i leave for Asia, however if jobs aren't looking promising i will work my way up to Rotaroua and onwards and upwards towards Auckland i would like to make sure i go to the Coramandel and would like to spend a weekend on Great Barrier Island if i can, i hear the natural beauty on the island is intense :)
Auckland will be the other work option if Wellington does not work :) 

This morning i went to the ANZAC day dawn parade this is a day that Australians and Kiwis remember those men and women who faught for there country 95 years ago in Gallipoli at dawn :) a very emotional service and good to listen to.

Had an amazing week in NZ this week, managed to grab a weeks leave from the hotel and headed out on my freebie bus ticket that i won when i arrived in Christchurch :) Kiwi Experience - i know but what fun i had though!!! Travelled with an awesome group of Swedish, German, French and American peeps what wonderful fun we all had :) Thanks Guys

Started the adventure in Westport, which i have to say was nothing special a small town with nothing much around :( same for Greymouth.....however......

Quickly moved down the coast to the glorious destinations of the Pancake Rocks - Punakaiki where i watched seals swimming, beautiful rock formations and awesome coast lines :) Lake Manihipu awesome lake and water sports :) Frans Josef - wonderful glacier experience and superb walking treks around this area. Really lucky with the weather too, great hostel have to say i loved FJ and would highly recommend as a must see destination while in NZ :) Headed through the Haast pass through to Wanaka, great little town where skydiving is a common activity and a must do while in NZ!!!

Queenstown is a superb town which is on the list to return to before i leave NZ, stunning beuaty with the lake and the Remarkables (mountain range in the southern alps). Great party town also, plenty of good bars and restaurants. Awesome trek called the Ben Lomand trek gives you 360 views over Queenstown awesome!!!!

As a group we spent plenty of time partying in the different bars along the west coast including a fancy dress party, bar crawl, vertical bungy and much much more.   On the bus we had an official trip song by Ddub a kiwi band and the name of the track is Hesitate No defiantely worth a listen if you have not heard them before :)

This trip has really got me in the travel mood :)  and gets me more and more excited about my trip in Asia :))

Other news - Heard from my agent when i was on my trip and he told me about a vacancy at the treetops resort in Rotorua voted in the top three hotels in NZ, if i able to grab this job i may have a chance of live in accomodation at the resort which would be amazing, so keeping my fingers crossed :)

Had another busy week in CHCH had a canadian traveller who i met in Oz stay with me. I met Bree in Melbourne back in October last year. She had a couple of friends with her Casper from Holland and Kane from Scotland :) had a good week eating some home cooked food from Bree yummy tortillas they stayed for a week :) I love having fellow travellers over, but then i always get a strong desire to start travelling again and take a break from work :)

Celebrated St Patricks day with a big night out at Micky Finns Irish bar with some work friends and a couple of Couch Surfers :)

Had another week unicycling and juggling at the University which was good fun, actually managed to ride alone on the unicycle about half way across the hall which i was sooooo happy about.

We have a new flatmate arriving in the next couple of days so will be excited to see how that goes i believe his name is Musab?? from ??

Will keep you posted on how that one goes :)

Had a great week in Christchurch this week. Had Cesar the french backpacker i met in WA and his girlfriend Pam come to stay with me, we had a fun couple of days in Christchurch including a night out unicycling and a night at the Chinese Lantern Festival. We also had a fab night out in Christchurch where i met Dan Carter who plays for the All Blacks New Zealand rugby team.  Spent a day in Lytlleton with the guys and a fellow couch surfer Thomas. We walked the Bridal Path to the cit which had some awesome views.

Had a Korean/Japanese banquet cooked at the flat this week which was great cooked by one of the Japanese chefs. 

The International Flower Show is in Christchurch this week but unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the worst and the rain hasn't stopped pouring the last couple of days. :(

Paid some more money on my asia trip today which leaves me with just $600.00 left to pay which is awesome!! Sooooo excited :)