Do you want to go to New Zealand for a month or two?
The how, why and yeah on the Web site
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| Visit the Official Site of Destination New Zealand |
In September 2004, Andy asked a few of us if we fancied going to New Zealand after we leave school - and so it began.
In July 2004, sixteen of us left for Brazil on a month of adventure, surprises, education and fun. We went horse riding through unspoiled country side the size of France, we ran around on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, we made friends with some local wildlife up a mountain, we (well, two of us) went for a dip in a (apparently cold) waterfall and pool, we even milked cows at 4 o'clock in the morning.
We did all this because we all love exploring, seeing things and doing things. Each of us had our own goals and we all have our own things we each enjoyed the most during that trip. We all learnt a lot, importantly, that we loved to travel.
So when we came back to school in September and Andy asked whether I'd like to go to New Zealand, I really couldn't refuse. Andy invited others too, most of which either could not justify the cost of the trip now or had already made plans to go to university. There where two others that said yes, though.
Andy is, like all of us, a real adventurer. He's the one that suggested jumping into the waterfall and pool in Brazil and he's the one that if he got anywhere near a bit of water in Lake District, was in before you could say "it looks a bit cold". He went to Morocco in 2000 with Matt as well as Brazil in 2004.
Matt is slightly more down-to-earth than Andy and enjoys his sleep (and his cat). I've got no idea what he's going to do about the love of his life, John (he's not gay, John is his car) while we're away, but he'll cope so long as he's going from A to B. He went to Morocco in 2000 with Andy.
Andy and Matt both went to the same secondary school as myself.
Lewis just exists, he is and therefore, kind of thing. If you want to write a book of funny quotes, then just follow him around for a day or two with a notebook and you'll be sorted. We met Lewis as part of our Brazil trip, as the 10 people from our school wasn't a big enough group, they merged us together with another school of 5, one of which was Lewis.
For me, the travelling part is the adventure. "I wonder what's over there?" is often something that pops into my head. I probably worry more than the other three and should probably let my hair down a bit more often that I currently do. So this trip should be a good start.
Once we had all decided we were up for this, we started to think about what we actually wanted to do. If you're going to New Zealand, you might as well make a meal of it.
First stop was the British Airways Travel Shop in Alders. We popped in and spoke to a friendly man who explained the types of ticket and their cost. We discovered that we could go via the USA to New Zealand, then either come back the same way, or go through Asia.
Nobody is quite sure how, or why, the countries came together the way they did. Andy said he liked the sound of Fiji, so we put that down. We all said we'd quite like San Francisco, so we put that down. If we're going to New Zealand, then we might as well go to Australia. Some sort of plan was developed and we popped up to STA Travel in Covent Garden to organise it.
Andy, Matt and Lewis finalised on flights and put them on hold. They went beyond Australia, into Asia and then home - quite literally around the world. I'd love to do that, but I've got a great deal many things to do before (possibly) going to university in 2006, so I decided I'd come home after a week or two in Australia.
Saturday, April the 9th, 2005 was my big day. I woke up bright and early at 8 am. I walked down to the station, with a credit card and some dates on a bit of paper. I went to STA Travel, sat down with our travel consultant and we booked the flights and all the necessary bits and bobs to go with it. Just over £1000 for 6 flights, Half-way around the World and back again. Not bad really. Another £500 on top of that for travel insurance, bus tickets, taxes, visas etc.
That's it. I'm ready to leave. Apart from the minor problem of money, that's about it. If you've got a question, don't even think about it, just fire away.
24th April, 2005