We, again, failed to wake at a decent time, but it was much colder this morning along with high winds, making it hard to get out of bed.
We had some breakfast, got ready, wrapped up warm and braced the cold. The forecast said it was 2°C but feels like -4°C, so nice and chilly.
We checked some shops for jeans for the both of us, but we were unable to find any we liked. We got tired of looking at shops so headed for Starbucks for a coffee.
Curtis got a cappucino and Kim got a mocha, but both were not great. That being said, we did some research and some people watching for a while before heading out for a bit more of a walk.
We found a subway and grabbed one as a snack, and to get out of the cold!
We walked back to the apartment and got ready as some family friends of Kim’s, Mark & Jill, were picking us up for dinner at their house!
Just before we were picked up, it started to snow a bit, which, once we got picked up, got a lot heavier and started laying.
You can see a little snow
We got to their house and sat and chatted in the kitchen whilst they created a delicious roast pork dinner with mashed potato, green beans & honey parsnips.
We sat and chatted for hours about all kinds of things and then we headed back home around 22:15, getting back at 22:30.
When we got back, the temperature was -4°C but feels like -11°C! Tomorrow is meant to be cold, too.
We had a tremendous sleep in this morning, waking up around 11:30!
After waking up, we had cereal and coffee. We watched a couple of YouTube videos and then decided to get showered and head out for a bit.
The outside was certainly brisk at 8°C, but not uncomfortable.
We walked down the street to a shopping centre where we were looking for a prepaid phone SIM as we plan to stay in Canada for a while, providing our visas work out.
We compared a few places but found one that worked best for us and bought that.
After that, we found a Tim Hortons, of course, and we got doughnuts and Curtis got a coffee.
We chilled at Tim Hortons for a bit and then went back to the shopping centre for a bit of window shopping.
We then walked back to the apartment and that was us for the day! We didn’t want to do too much today so that was perfect.
Curtis then watched hockey and during that we ordered and ate Anne delicious Chinese food!
In the evening, we watched some TV with Linda and then we went for a walk to buy a few things from the supermarket whilst also getting a very tasty hot chocolate from Starbucks.
We watched one more episode and then headed to bed. We plan to get up at a better time tomorrow.
Just before the flight, whilst waiting, we found a whisky tasting station in duty free, so we thought why not!
We got a few shots of whisky to try, mostly expensive whisky, one of which tasted like bacon which we do not recommend.
We eventually got on the flight, which was actually a pretty good and easy flight, though we didn’t sleep we much as we wanted, or really at all!
We watched the film Night School and Kim watched a couple of films whilst Curtis tried to sleep.
We had 2 meals whilst on board. Curtis had chicken tagine with couscous and Kim had pasta bolognese.
We then had breakfast. Curtis had the safe option of museli and Kim had the scrambled eggs which were not good at all.
Once we landed in Vancouver, we had to wait a while whilst other planes got out of the way and then we were able to exit.
We got through customs and immigration pretty quickly, collected our bags and then had to figure out what to do next.
We found the right bus but had to buy a ticket, so we went inside the terminal to get them and then back out onto the bus.
We got the bus to the ferry port and once we got there we changed buses to get into the ferry and across the other side.
We got onto the ferry and grabbed a much deserved cappucino each and relaxed as we sailed across the water.
Once we arrived, we got back on the bus and that took us to Victoria!
Along the way, we saw a car crash happen which is not good!
We got to the Victoria bus station and figured out how we get to where we are staying, which we luckily did.
We are staying with Kim’s great aunty Linda, who we stayed with here on a holiday before. We haven’t been here in winter so we saw excited to see what is on offer!
We had a delicious chicken dinner and chatted with Linda for a while before hopping in the shower after our long journey.
We got into bed which was lovely and comfy and got a couple of outstanding admin tasks completed before heading to bed.
We don’t have much planned just yet, other than getting some sleep!
We were up again at 08:00 for our morning of work.
We had some breakfast and then started cleaning. We had just 4 rooms to clean. One of the rooms needed additional beds putting in, so we did that also.
We finished up the cleans around 12:00 and then had a coffee break. We had some coffee and cookies, as we did yesterday.
Once we finished our break, we cleaned the reception wetroom, which took a while but it looked much better once done!
We finished this, showered and packed up. We said goodbye and thank you and then left to our next place, with a stop at the bakery up the road! We saw it the other day and thought it looked terrific so we had to go. We shared a delicious beef and salad sandwich and then Curtis had a cinnamon and raisin roll whilst Kim had a chocolate doughnut.
We were sufficiently full, so we drove to our next place.
We arrived and got settled quickly. We did a bit of weeding, for around an hour, before we showered and relaxed a little.
We were then introduced to the husband and he was also delightful! He showed us a few things that needed to be done as well as how to do certain things and where things were.
We then had a long chat with them whilst they prepared dinner. We had burgers for dinner with egg, pineapple, beetroot, cheese, tomato, salad and sauce…a ‘kiwi burger’. We also had kumara wedges with it.
We chatted a bit more and then we washed up and headed to bed. Up early-ish tomorrow with some fun jobs to be done!
Waking at 05:45, we all hopped in the car with Kim’s family’s bags and drove to the airport. There was no traffic, but we did need to stop for some fuel on the way.
We got to the airport and it was pretty busy! We walked all the way to the correct check in location and left Tom & Maggie there. It was pretty emotional for Kim!
We deove back and we were very tired. We had a late checkout from the hotel, so we didn’t have to leave until 12:00.
We slept when we got back until around 09:45. Curtis then had a coffee and we got packed and did a bit of admin.
We eventually checked out at 12:00 and moved all of our baggage to the car. We walked to a coffee shop in the centre of town, got a ham and cheese croissant each and a coffee for breakfast.
We left the coffee shop and Kim did a bit of shopping around the city centre. Once Kim had finished, we walked up to the Visa Application Centre for Curtis to get his biometrics for his visa completed. We turned up 15 minutes early but were seen anyway and had it completed just after the original planned time, which was a result.
Once we finished there, we went to get Curtis’ hair cut. We went to his usual place and were told it would be 20 minutes. We waited for 45 and were then told it’s another 30 minutes and the were 2 people ahead. We didn’t want to wait any longer so we left and went back to the hotel.
We picked up the car and drove to our next accommodation.
We are officially back in hostel life! At least for the moment. We got to the place and no-one was there to check us in. We called and they said we cannot check in until 16:00. We spoke with them and asked which room we are in and we were allowed in. We went to the room and it was disgusting with bugs everywhere and also a lot of mould, so we asked to move to another room we had seen which looks nicer.
Once we were in the new room, we waited to get our key at 16:00 and then had fun with them regarding payment…we went to the shop to get some drinks as we were very thirsty!
Once we got back, we moved all of our bags in and Curtis started to feel a bit unwell so we relaxed for a bit until he felt better.
We went out for a late dinner at a cheap Italian place which was OK but nothing special.
What was special was the sky after our dinner during our walk around!
We got back and did more admin as well as catch up on some TV.
It’s weird, and certainly not as nice, to be in a hostel again, even if it is a private room (shared bathroom)!
We were up pretty early as we wanted to go out somewhere for breakfast.
We all wanted a big, greasy, cooked breakfast and the only logical place nearby was Denny’s!
We got to Denny’s and ordered enough food to sink a battleship. All of this came with refillable filtered coffee, of course.
We all ate ourselves silly and then went back to the hotel so Curtis could print some documents that he has to take to a visa application centre tomorrow.
Once we did that, we all did a bit of the packing game to get all our bags sorted and the correct weights.
We got most of that sorted and then went out for another wander around. We went to The Warehouse first and then to a camping shop to find luggage straps. We eventually found some in the camping shops so bought those and then kept walking.
Whilst in the city, we thought it’d make sense to speak to the bank and ask a few questions we had.
We left the bank and then popped to mcdonald’s to get a drink before wandering to a few possible dinner places to look at their menu. We made our decision and went back to the hotel to chill out.
Kim started her work visa application for the next country as she got invited too! We then left to get some dinner.
We went to Dr Rudi’s, which we also went to with Curtis’ family. We decided on 3 pizzas to share;
Pork Belly
Chicken & Bacon
Mediterranean Lamb
We ate as much as we could, took a doggy bag and waddled towards the hotel.
Tom and Kim stopped off to get a bubble tea on the way back, too.
Once we were all back, we finished a bit of packing and then sat down to watch TV. After we watched some TV shows, we sat and watched the film Apollo 13. It was a long one but a solid film for sure.
After this, we took Kim’s parents’ bags downstairs to the car as we need to take them to the airport nice and early tomorrow so they can get back to England!
We woke up at 07:00 to get the car packed up and head off on the road to Auckland.
We were in the car for a couple of hours and then stopped just past Hamilton where we met the family we met up with in Rotorua.
We checked out their place and had a drink and snack whilst chatting away. Lovely piece of land they have!
After a couple of hours, we got a move on and drove to Auckland, but not before a brief stop at a recommended ice cream shop where there were huge ice cream scoops!
We got back on the road for the remaining 45 minutes and headed to our hotel. Kim booked a nice hotel for us to lounge in for a couple of days before her parents leave the country. We got to the hotel and brought in everything from the car and we then checked in. When checking in, we were given a complimentary upgrade on each room, which was perfect!
We checked out the rooms and put our bags in and then jumped back in the car and went to Takapuna for some lunch. We stopped at Nam Nam first for a Banh Mi and then went to Tok Tok for a Vietnamese coffee.
Post lunch, we drove to our former apartment and got all of our bags and put them in our car.
We drove to the hotel again to drop our car off and then Kim and Tom took the rental car back as required.
We got back to the hotel and got some items packed and then all sat together and watched the film Unbreakable.
We left after watching the film to find some dinner.
We wanted a Japanese noodle box but our usual place was closed, so we kept walking. Kim noticed a hidden place that has delicous sounding Japanese food.
Once we found the entrance, it was beauitful and looked like Japan!
We ordered a smorgasbord of food, each of us getting chicken katsu curry but we got tempura prawns and chicken karage for the table. It was excellent Japanese food and very authentic.
We left here and walked back to our hotel, with a beautiful view of the city.
We were up early to get a bit of breakfast in us before driving to Taupo. The drive from here in Rotorua to Taupo is around 1 hour, so we left with plenty of time.
We needed to be at the location for 12:00, but we got there around 11:30.
We were doing a skydive at Skydive Taupo! We decided on the 15000ft skydive and Kim booked the handheld camera for herself.
We arrived and were greeted with a very happy set of employees which made everyone calm. That being said, neither of us were really nervous.
It was us two and Tom doing the skydive today!
We all sat and went through the information and safety videos and then went and got all suited up. We had a jumpsuit and harness on, an old school pilot hat and some thin plastic goggles.
We waited for around 5/10 minutes and then it was our turn! We met our tandem masters who introduced themselves. Kim had a kiwi guy and Tom & Curtis had Germans.
We all crammed into the plane and off we went.
The climb took about 20 minutes and during that time, we had to use oxygen masks as we got too high to breath!
Eventually, it was time.
Kim was the first of the three of us to go, followed by Tom and then Curtis as he was stuck at the back of the plane.
What an amazing experience! The first fall is a shock and takes your breath away, but it was an incredible view and a surreal feeling.
We had 75 seconds of freefall followed by 4 to 5 minutes of crusing with the parachute, and we got to control the parachute too!
Once we landed, we were all super happy and super glad we did it.
We went out for a spot of lunch after. We went to a place called Dixies at which Curtis had a Cuban Sandwich and Kim had potato wedges with multiple toppings including sour cream and chilli sauce.
We then drove the 1 hour trip backto the house and just completely chilled out. Tom went for a bike ride so we waited for him to come back and then we had a similar dinner as yesterday.
We had to drive to Kawarau Bungy Centre, but firstly we had some time to kill, so we went into the centre of Arrowtown for some walking around.
Whilst there, there was a small Sunday market going on, which we had to go and see! There was a Swedish food stand, so we got a cinnamon bun each.
We walked around a bit more and Tom got a pie, then we had to get back to the car and drive to where we needed to be.
We arrived and got checked in. This meant we had to get weighed, get our weight written on our hand and on the other hand we got a number written as well as an indication of what we were doing.
We eventually got onto a bus to take us up to Nevis Canyon. The ride was bumpy and down some tiny, tiny mountain roads, until we eventually reached the top.
Unfortunately, it was on a ‘wind break’ when we arrived, but we could still look around and see how incredibly high up we were!
This is where the swing went from
This is where the bungy went from
Eventually, after about 3 hours of waiting for the wind to die down and for them to get all other people completed, we got harnessed up and sent right out to the swing.
It became windy when we got there, so it was briefly delayed again, but a few people went and then it was our turn! We went together and then Kim went again but with her mum.
The swing is a very thin swing which you are clipped into and you then do a very sharp drop 70m downward and then swing 300m, before swinging back a little and then you get pulled back up.
Kim loved this and Curtis didn’t mind the actual swing but the drop was not too fun!
Kim went again with her mum and still loved it then! Maggie had a great time.
After our swings, we walked back up but Kim wasn’t done there. Right after, she had to go right to the bungy area where she was doing a 134m Bungy, which is the largest in New Zealand!
Kim had a briefing and then was taken across onto a suspended platform in a small cage with a few others, ready to jump.
Kim was all fine until right before her jump, where she struggled to wave and smile at the cameras whilst standing on the edge. Kim did a terrific swan dive off the ledge and bounced a few times!
We got the bus back to where our car was and then drove on up to Oamaru, with a stop on the way for some food.
Once we got to Oamaru, around 21:00, Kim read that there should be penguins near the harbour, so we went down to try and find some.
After an hour or so of waiting for penguins, we didn’t see any and were asked to move on from where we were standing. We were able to see some seals, though!
When walking back to the car, someone pointed out two penguins who were really close! We were unable to get photos as the lighting was awful, but they were tiny and cute!
We eventually got back and were all tired. We showered and then headed to bed. We are driving straight to Christchurch tomorrow.
Mr & Mrs Hale 