We arrived in Auckland quite late, it was nice to have a hostel booked, a nice little place called Pentland Backpackers. Straight away we liked the feeling from the place but i think more generally we got good feelings from New Zealand. A more laid back, trusting feel, no key deposits, linen deposits all the little blood sucking things that frustrated in Australia. We spent one day exploring the city, booking our bus ticket, buying post cards and collecting a package our friends from Asia Ali & Simon had left for us. We spent another day walking up Mount Eden, a stunning extinct volcano with amazing views out on the city. We stayed in Auckland for 5 nights, partly to get used to New Zealand and partly due to the Magic Bus running on a winter timetable. But then it was time to leave, so we were up earl and at the vague place we were told to for the pick up with a good 15mins to spare. We waited and waited, half an hour after the pick time had passed and then at 45 mins we started to panic. A few of the commuters waiting for buses into the city could see our distress and twice we were asked if we needed help with the buses, but we need most to call Magic Bus. We had no number, and getting a number would mean for sure giving up on getting the bus. Until, a third guy, possibly sent from the heavens helped, searched the internet for the number on his blackberry, found it and within 15mins we'd called sorted it all out and the bus had come back for us! It turned out we were waiting slightly away from where the driver expected and we'd missed each other, but the guy with the blackberry saved our journey in ways that would become more apparent later.
Do Aucklandu jsme dorazili kolem pul 11 v noci. Bylo super, ze uz jsme meli rezervovany pokoj a nemuseli si delat starosti. Ubytovali jsme se v Pentland Backpackers, moc pekny hostel s prijemnym personalem. Novy Zeland na nas udelat dobry dojem hnes po tom, co jsme zjistili, ze tady neni zadna zastava za klice, nemusime platit extra za povleceni a vsechny pravidla a zakazy jsou razem fuc, opak, se kterym jsme se setkali po dobu stravenou v Australii. Jeden den v Aucklandu jsme stravili objevovanim centra mesta, rezervovanim nasich mist v autobuse, (Po celou dobu na Novem Zelandu budeme prepravovani autobusovou spolecnosti, ktera se jmenuje Magic Bus), a taky jsme si vyzvedli balicek, ktery pro nas nechali Simon & Ali, kamaradi, se kterymi jsme se parkrat stretli na nasi ceste (v Bangkoku a ve Vietnamu). Dalsi den jsme se vydali na kopec s nazvem Mount Eden. To, ze se skrabeme na vrcholek vyhasle sopky jsme netusili. Jak jsme se dostali na vrcholek cekala na nas neskutecna podivana. Vyhled na mesto byl uzasny a masivni krater, kde lidi na druhe strane vypadaji jako tecky, byl neuveritelny. V Aucklandu jsme zustali celkem 5 noci, protoze jsme museli cekat na autobus na nasi dalsi destinaci, pac Magic jede podle zimniho jizdniho radu a nejezdi tak kazdy den v tydnu. Takze v den naseho prvniho presunu jsme na zastavce o 15 minut drive, aby jsme nezmeskali nas prvni autobus. Po 45 minutach cekani jsme se zacli obavat, ze nas autobus musel prehlednout. Par lidi na zastavce si vsimlo, ze nase nervozita stoupa a nabidli nam pomoc. My ale potrebovali zjistit cislo na Magic a zavolat jim. Internetova kavarne ale nikde. Kdyz v tom se na zastavnce objevil dalsi pomocnik, ktery byl asi v ten dany okamzik seslan z nebe a zjistil nam cislo na jeho Blackberry (telefon s internetem). Vse dopadlo tak, ze jsme se dovolali, autobus uz na ceste smer Rotorura se pro nas vratil a my stastni a klidni jsme mile prekvapeni jak hodni jsou Novozelandane.
So it was off to Rotorua, and although a little shaken by nearly missing our first bus, we really enjoyed the trip. The driver was informative and took us to Hobbiton and then to a redwood forest before arriving at our hostel in Rotorua. We got talking to a couple from our bus called Matt and Sarah ad then decided to head out for a walk to the volcanic park in town. On the way we thought we'd call into the town information centre and pick up some cheap/free things to do, and to our shock (but also delight) standing there were Karen and Sarah, the girls we'd travelled with in Malaysia! There were a few screams and girlie hugs (from Veronika as well) and we arranged to meet them for drinks later that evening. We rushed over to the park, and admittedly we were on a bit of a high from our reunion, but the volcanic mud pools were amazing. As dusk was well and truly upon us and with the volcanic pools bubbling around it felt like a T-rex was gonna jump out the bushes, really eerie and amazing. We met the girls with our new magic bus friends and had a good old catch up over a few drinks. The next day we had a 2 for 1 coffee from abracadabra and made arrangements to go and see a Maori cultural evening. It was a great evening full of song and dance and a hangi the biggest meal we've had for months. Its cooked in a cage in a big hole in the ground with chicken, lamb, fish, carrots, potatoes, etc fantastic! The girls had to leave going up so we say our goodbyes to them again over another 2 for 1 coffee and Veronika and I take a nice walk on the banks of Rotorua’s lake, and soon its time for us to leave too.
A tak uz si sedime v autobuse, stale neverice, ze se nam podarilo privolat autobus zpatky. Jedeme do Rotorua, cesta a prostredi kolem je prekrasne a ja uz se ted nemuzu dockat, co za krasy tady na Novem Zelandu uvidim. Magic autobus neni jen dopravni spolecnost z mista A do B, ale zastavuje i na zajimavych mistech nez se dostane na konecnou. Ten den jsme zastavili u informacniho centra, kde jsme se mohli vyfotit u Hobbitoveho domu a s Golumnem a pak jsme meli sanci projit se v tzv. Cervenem lese. Po prijezdu do hostelu jsme prohodili par slov se Mattem a Sarah, z naseho autobusu, kteri se cestou stali nasimi prateli. Protoze jeste neni pozde, rozhodli jsme se zajit se podivat do mistniho sopecneho parku, ale nez tam dojdeme jdeme si vyzvednout brozury z informacniho centra, kde je spousta poukazek na slevy a veci zadarmo. A koho nevidime! Sok, ktery rychle propuka v hlasity jekot. . . Sarah a Karen, sestry, se kterymi jsme cestovali pres Malaysii! Domluvime se, ze se pozdeji sejdeme a oslavime to s par drinky. Jak si to tak smarujeme do parku oba mame usmev na tvari z naseho neocekavaneho shledani. Park je uzasny, vsude kolem bubla bahno a vychazejici para ze zeme dava mistu prehistoricky dojem. Pozdeji se setkavame s holkama a pribirame i Sarah a Matta. Dalsi den se opet schazime, na kaficko kup 1 a dostan 2 zdarma. Pozdeji na vecer uz mame zakoupeny listek na tradicni Mauri kulturni predstaveni i s veceri. Byl to super zazitek. Zavezli nas do Mauri vesnice, kde pro nas Mauri kmen zazpival, zatancil a take uvaril tradicni a stylovou veceri tzv. Hangi. Hangi spociva v tom, ze jidlo je prakticky pohrbeno do zeme, ktera je vystlana horkymi kameny. Snedli jsme, co jsme mohli. Takhle uz jsme se neprejedli par mesicu. Meli jsme kureci, jehneci, rybu, specialne pripravenou mrkev, brambory atd. Same dobroty. Den pote jsme se sesli s holkama na posledni kup 1 dostan 2 kafe zdarma, rozloucili se - znovu, a pak sli na prochazku kolem Rotorua jezera. Krasne okoli a priroda.
We catch the magic bus with Matt and Sarah, this time the driver is not so good, drivers like a crazy man and gets moody with us all for not talking to each other, idiot! Anyway he took us to the Waitomo caves where we did an excellent tour that ended with us going out on a boat to the caves where we saw thousands of cool glow worms. Then it was into our first YHA in Taupo where we spent many an evening sat in the hot tub with a bottle of cider. Taupo was beautiful, one of our days there we took a walk with the Matt and Sarah to the Huka Falls through some amazing gorges. During the day we checked out some people on a bungee but mostly just strolled through the amazing scenery and crystal clear water. Matt and Sarah left to continue on down south and we stayed an extra few days, We went to see a really cool place called The Beehive where they had some live beehive inside where you could see the bees doing their thing and some brilliant honey tasting, and then we walked up to The Craters on the Moon. That was really something else, similar experience to the park in Rotorua only they seemed far more active, it was almost scary at times.
A uz jsme zase v autobuse, tentokrat smer Taupo. A tak si vsichni i Sarah a Matt sedime v klidu, zatimco nas ridic tlacha nesmysly o tom, aby jsme se vsichni v autobuse seznamili, jaky vylet stoji za to podniknout a jaky ne. Prvni ridic Magicu, ktery na pocit, ze snad pilotuje letadlo, protoze mam silny pocit, ze kdyby jsme meli postrani kridla tak urcite parkrat vzletneme. Ten den autobus zastavuje na miste z nazvem Waitomo jeskyne. Vsichni 4 si zakoupime listek na prohlidku jeskyne, kde nas ke konci vezmou na lodku a my jsme svedky asi 40 tisicu sviticich cerviku prisatych na stropu jeskyne. To byla podivana! Pak uz je nas den v autobuse konci a my se vsichni ubytujeme ve YHA v Taupu, kde travime par veceru pocuckavanim jablecneho pivecka v relaxacni venkovni vyrivce. Behem dne si opet udelame par prochazek. Jednu se Sarah a Mattem. Je to asi 4 hodinova prochazka kolem reky, ktera konci vodopadem. Krajina vypada jako v pohadce. Pak uz je cas pro Sarah a Matta, aby vyrazili na jejich cestu, protoze nemaji na Novem Zelandu tolik casu co my. Rozloucime se a dalsi den uz sami se vydavame do mista, kde chovaji vcely, maji tam spoustu vcelich produktu a ochutnavku asi 12 druhu medu. Po teto sladke prohlidce vyrazime do mista, kteremu rikaji Kratery na Mesici. Misto je uzasne, opet spousta bublajicich dir v zemi a mracka pary kolem ale s jednim rozdilem. Tohle misto se zda mnohem vice aktivnejsi a tak to v nas budi trosku neklidny pocit, co kdyby se zrovna dneska zeme usmyslila, ze by chtela vybouchnout. Posledni vybuch na tomto miste byl preci jen pred 12 lety!
After Taupo we jumped back on the Magic bus to head to Wellington, driving through more beautiful scenery and the famous Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings. We found a special offer online at the YHA in Wellington (which nobody seemed to know about) and we were really impressed with the hostel. Very big and some cool activities, we played plenty of pool, table football and in my opinion made some of the tastiest food in the hostel. On our first day we went to the Chinese Embassy to apply for our visa's, the guys there were very pleasant and made it dead easy for us. Then we walked back through the botanical gardens and stopped off at the fascinating Carter Observatory. We took a walk around the little museum there about the history of the universe and then had a presentation in the planetarium. The visa was going to take over a week which meant quite a lot of time to take it easy, catch up with blog, update our cv's and begin considering work options for back home. During the wait we went to the National Museum, Te Papa, played with their microscopes and saw the exhibition of the worlds largest squid. Another day we went over to the Weta Caves which was a really interesting insight into the special effects company behind movies like Avatar and of course The Lord of the Rings (you cant escape this film over here). One evening we decided to go to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra perform in concert for Polish Pride Day, it was the first time we'd been to something like that and it was a great experience.
Po nasi navsteve Taupa uz jsme opet v autobuse smer Wellington, hlavni mesto Noveho Zelandu. Po ceste projizdime krajinou, ktera se jen tezko popisuje. Nadhera v podobe zelenych kopcu plnych ovci a krav. Projizdime take kolem znameho Mount Doon. Je to sopecna hora z filmu Pana Prstenu, v oblasti Mordor, kde Frodo statecne odhazuje prsten. Ve Wellingtonu se ubytujeme v YHA Hostelu. Je to veliky hostel, ktery ma vse, co potrebujeme. Druhy den jsme na ceste do Cinske ambasady, protoze potrebujeme viza pro nas posledni mesic dobrodruzstvi. Viza budou pripraveny pro vyzvednuti az za tyden, coz znamena, ze mame spoustu casu. Behem naseho pobytu navstivime botanickou zahradu, planetarium, museum Te Papa, ktere je velice zajimave, a take jdeme poprve shlednout Orchestr - v doprovodu s polskymi muzikanty. Je to na pocest 200. Chopinove vyroci. Mame take moznost navstivit tzv. Weta Jeskyni, coz je misto s miniaturami a suvenyry, kde nadani lide vytvareji filmove postavy, kostymy a triky pro velke filmy jako Pan Prstenu nebo Avatar. Zajimave misto. Oba jsme nadseni. Kdyz zrovna netravime cas venku, zabavujeme se v hostelu hranim kulecniku, stolniho fotbalu a dalsich her. Taky uz je na case zacit premyslet, co budeme delat az se vratime zpet do Anglie a tak si prepisujeme zivotopisy a dopisujeme nas blog.
After more than a week it was time to collect our passports with Chinese visa stamps and say goodbye to Wellington. We found another winter special offer for a combined ferry and scenic train journey to Christchurch. It was an early start, and although the wind stopped us spending too much time out on the upper viewing some of the views were amazing. Then we were there in the south island ready to catch the train, where we will be finishing one period of our trip and joining up with Luke . . . our hair is scared for its life! To be continued . . .
Po vice nez tydnu jsme si vyzvedli nase pasy s razitkem a cinskymi vizy a bylo na case se rozloucit s Wellingtonem. Pri nasem cestovatelskem stesti jsme nasli dalsi super cenovou nabidku na trajekt ze severniho ostrovu na jizni spolecne s cestou vlakem az do Christchurch. V den kdy jsme opousteli Wellington jsme si privstali a pocasi nam moc nepralo a tak jsme na horni palube trajektu stravili velice kratkou chvili. Trajekt byl tak obrovsky, ze mel dokonce i par restauraci a dve kina. Za par hodin uz jsme byli na jiznim ostrove, kde nas ceka dalsi dobrodruzstvi a take setkani s nasim kamaradem Lukem, ktery se k nam prida a bude s nami cestovat do konce naseho vyletu. Pokracovani priste . . .
During the North Island we also said good bye to the Cowboy hat, not very practical around these parts - yeeha!Na severnim ostrove jsme za sebou zanechali Peteuv kovbojsky kloubocek. Pete se rozhodl, ze uz vlastne nechce byt kovbojem a proto je mu kloubouk neprakticky - iiiihaaaa
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