Hey guys.
Day 3’s challenge is what would I do if money and time was not an issue.
3 years ago I spent 7 months travelling around New Zealand, hiking and experiencing what the country had to offer. If money and time was not an issue, I would do this over and over around the world.
New Zealand gave me an experience I will never forget.
The trip started off with 3 days in Hong Kong. Let me give you a tip when you’re thinking how much money you need if you go on holiday to Hong Kong. Have the number in front of you and half it! It is so cheap there, I ate like a King and still had money to spare. A ferry trip from one side of the city to the other cost about 50 pence. That’s just mental.
So after the 3 day sweat box (I’m Welsh, anything over 15 degrees is hot :P) that was Hong Kong we landed in Auckland. Now I must admit I wasn’t a fan of Auckland, it was just like any other city, it didn’t have much more to offer apart from what you could find outside of the city. The first trip we did was up North in the Bay of Islands. Here we went dolphin spotting, sand surfing and well a few drinks came in after being declared pub quiz champions so skinny dipping in the ocean became a thing for pretty much the whole pub.
Didn’t think a skinny dipping photo was going to be shared did you? You hardly know me :D.
The next few months we travelled with Stray which is basically a hop on hop off tour bus that goes around the whole country, down the North island, stopping in great little places like Raglan, Rotorua and Taupo. While in Rotorua I was able to book myself a trip to Hobbiton which is in Matamata. Now I am a huuuuuge Lord of the Rings fan, I could quote you the whole films :P, so this was just amazing for me.
After these nice little towns I found myself doing the Tongariro Crossing, which still had snow over 600 meters. This would be my first alpine trek. Again I took my own pace and went ahead of the group that I was doing it with. I was slightly nervous due to the weather being so bad, as well as finding myself seeing people turn around and advising me to do the same. I must admit, I probably should have listened, I was blown over a couple of times, but hey it is all part of the experience. Oh by the way, Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) is also in this area but the weather was just too bad to take that route. I was very disappointed that i didn’t get the chance to trek it, as I thought I wouldn’t be in the area again. I did manage to go back months later, but that’s another story :). So after getting to the other side, after seeing a cabin damaged by a recent volcanic eruption and a sign that basically told me to hurry up, I notice that I had a voicemail on my phone, so as I waited for the bus, I had a listen. It was my mate Kristian who travelled with me from Wales. The message was “Build me an Army worthy of Mordor”. Yes you guessed it, the pleb attempted to hike up Mt Doom, weather of course was not permitting so he had to turn back and didn’t have time to do the crossing.
We arrived in Wellington a couple of days later where I stopped for two months to find work and save up again so that I could experience the most out of the South island as I knew it had more adventure to offer, which unfortunately costs a lot of money. Wellington is by far the best city I have ever experienced, it’s not too big compared to other cities, the people are mega friendly and it just has that vibe about it, the ocean and the mountains always in view. Met some amazing people from all over the world there too, the photo in the headline were a few of those people. Some I still talk to today. Canadians, Norwegian, French, German, Argentinean, English and of course my little Welsh self.
I will tell more stories of New Zealand the more I get into blogging. The above story should give out a sense of what I would do if time and money wasn’t an issue. Adventure is something everyone needs to experience in their lives. Do it while you can!
Thanks guys.
Bryn