Classic lazy Gordo, didn't bother writing my blog for over a month. Now I'm left with a list of excellent quotes and memories littered with typo's because, the best memories are usually made half cut!
So I left you as I was just leaving The River Valley Lodge in Taihape. As the name suggests, it's by a river, in a valley, no surprises there then. River Valley is good and properly off the grid, no internet, no phone signal and just a bar filled with rowdy individuals such as myself to entertain us all. River Valley are known for their table challenge. Essentially you have to take your shirt off (obviously) and circumnavigate a large wooden table in the middle of the bar whilst everybody cheers you on. The first to achieve this feat was not myself, nor was I the last. A heated game of beer pong and the ping-pong using a netball were much more interesting, and achievable.
After waking with a monster hangover it was time to embark on my first whitewater rafting trip. There is nothing like cold water and extreme sports to get rid of a hangover. Without a shadow of a doubt whitewater rafting is one of the best things I have ever done! We had a great boat and an even better guide. One younger gent on the boat was particularly jaded from the previous evenings festivities. It wasn't until after the ride I was made aware that this guy had chosen to relieve the contents of his bladder on the top bunk of a giant 16 person dorm bed, soaking the unlucky chap below and his neighbours. However this wasn't simply a case of not making it to the toilet. He actually stood up, pulled his trousers down and peed against the wall as he couldn't be bothered to head to the bathroom. Also a 32 year old women drank 3 bottles of wine and threw up all over herself, what fun!
After our rafting excursion it was over to the capital, windy Wellington! The first of 2 big surprises came when I bumped into somebody from my quaint home town of Harrogate living in the hostel I had chosen! What a shock to the system it was. I had literally no idea she was even in NZ never mind at the hostel, Hi Flick if you're reading this. The second shock was that I had managed to lightly sprain my ankle when I fell out of the boat the previous day. As anybody who has rafted before will know, you stick a foot in the boat under the seat to secure yourself. Sadly the secured foot was very secure indeed. When I was upended from the boat that leg remained attached to boat. Not ideal but hey, its not supposed to be safe.
So with a lightly sprained ankle, we took to the streets of Wellington. Following a brief trip through the food market and up the infamous Cuba street our team happened upon to excellent discoveries in quick succession. Ekim Burger truck and Laundry Bar. You can guess why the burger van was good but, the real crown jewel was seeing that a Mungos High-Fi an artist I have seen countless times at raves all over the world was playing that very night!!!!! Damaged ankle in tow I skanked out like a yardie until the earlier hours, here's my fave Mungo's track.
Wellington is the city I had been searching for in NZ. Not too warm (it's too windy), lots of craft beer including in my opinion NZ's top breweries, decent mountains to climb, great food and a nice small city center. If I was going to move to NZ, Welly would certainly be very close to number one if not my top choice. As you can imagine, delicious beer, cool rooftop bars, cocktails and delicious food were consumed to great extent. I also learnt some exciting new Italian swear words which I will relay to you in person should you ask.
Despite what I told myself, I didn't hit up the wineries in Marlborough nor did I get over to Abel Tasman national park in the South Island. These are must does and I can only apologise to myself and you, the adoring public. What I did get to do was visit the beautiful Kaiteriteri which has some truly spectacular views and clear skies perfect for sky gazing. Afterwards we headed down to the famous Lake Rotoiti to take a classic traveller photo. Sadly the weather wasn't ideal so we didn't get the full glory of the valley. However I still jumped in the water where there are loads of eels *check the photos*. On this leg of the journey we paid a visit to Cape Foulwind. The Cape was so named by Cpt Cook with good reason, it blows a f**king gale there. Our visit was no exception, but not did it make for some moody photo's. I also got to see Seel's which made me very happy indeed.
The final stop before Queenstown was in the middle of nowhere at Lake Mahinapua. A pub without much to offer except free breakfast of bacon and pancakes, 2 hot tubs and a delicious beer named after their late great owner; Les. Tradition dictates a fancy dress party and my first encounter with the "Anything but clothes" theme. It's fairly self explanatory theme so we can leave it there. All you need to know is a good friend called Karl won but making a costume to look like he was being eaten by a shark. Truly an inspiration to us all.
On that bomb shell it's time to end. Next on the agenda is what went down in Queenstown and beyond.
Photos here
Photos here
Peace
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