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Sally Gray from our Travel Australia branch was invited to visit New Zealand for twelve days - here are some of the highlights of her experience
I flew with Qantas Airways and I have to say their onboard entertainment is fab! They have a great selection of movies, music (including a CD library), games and TV programmes to watch.
On day two of our trip, whilst we were in Auckland, we visited Kelly Tarltons Underwater World. This had a wide variety of marine life, although as it isn’t very big it only took about an hour to look around. Later on, I went to the harbour and set sail on a coffee cruise with the ‘Pride of Auckland’. This was a fantastic way to see a different side of Auckland and the captain gave a very informative description on the history of Auckland and the various sights (we saw the boat that was used in ‘Perfect Storm’ with George Clooney). We also had the opportunity to help sail the boat and take the wheel - "Cap'n Sally"!
On day three, we headed to Mount Eden (one of the dormant volcanoes surrounding Auckland), which had spectacular views of Auckland city, before making our way to the Waitomo Caves. We arrived at the Caves and had a look around the limestone caves, before taking a little boat into the glowworm caves. It was a very magical experience.
We carried on to Rotorua and as soon as we arrived we went straight to the Maori Cultural Centre. There they explained the history of the Maori and we saw the ‘true’ Maori doing wood carvings, before going onto the geysers and the boiling mud (phew, what a pong). These were amazing and I would recommend anyone to see them.
In the evening we went to a Maori Hangi (a feast where the meat is cooked under hot coals outside) and to watch Maori perform in concert. This was thoroughly enjoyable and they let the audience go up on stage and participate in doing the poys (for the girls) and the Haka (for the boys).
On day four we went to the Agrodome. This turned out to be a big farm which had a large sheep show. I didn’t really know what to expect of this, however, I loved it. After the show we went to Agroadventures where I tried a skydiving simulator - you’re dressed in a jumpsuit and they blow an aircraft jet at you so you fly through the air – there was some major cheek flapping going on!
Day five involved a trip to Mount Cook where the views over the South Island are stunning especially the snow capped mountains!
On day six we boarded the Milford Mariner, but unfortunately as the weather was a bit misty we couldn’t see the tops of the mountains. With the abundance of waterfalls and mist it felt like we'd been dropped into the filming of Jurassic Park! We didn't see any dinosaurs, but we did see some seals and dolphins (phew!).
Day seven turned out to be a very eventful day as we stopped at AJ Hacketts Bungee where they asked us if we wanted to Bungee off the bridge. I quickly nominated myself as ‘chief photo taker’ and nervously watched as 4 members of our group threw themselves off the bridge.
Day eight was film day and we were taken by Nomad Safaris in a 4WD for a tour of Skippers Canyon and the sights of ‘Lord of the Rings’. This was a very good tour and suitable for all ages, whether you are a ‘Lord of The Rings’ fan or not.
By day ten we had moved to Australia and were in Melbourne and took the time to visit the Botanical Gardens which were beautiful.
Nothing had been planned for days eleven and twelve so I was lucky enough to have some time to myself so explored the city and met up with some friends. I came back to England wih a heavy heart and a head (and camera) full of memories that I will never forget - I can't wait to go back!
If you've been inspired to visit New Zealand contact Sally or one of our other highly experienced Travel Australia staff on 01603 488664 to get started!