Long live your dreams
New York, New York
Sydney
Climbing for Dawn
Photos from Sydney
The Land of the Long White Cloud
Christmas
Jumping high, jumping higher
My birthday
North to South
2nd December 2005 - posted from Queenstown
You can do a lot in two weeks. For the last entry I was in the wonderful city of Wellington, after collecting Matt from the airport. Today, I am a long way from there, in Queenstown, adventure capital of the world. We've been here, there and everywhere on the way.
15th December 2005 - posted from Christchurch
We arrived at the Nevis base, a small hut in the middle of nowhere. The 45-minute journey to the bungee jump was long enough for you to really think about what you're about to do. I really wasn't up for it when I arrived in New Zealand, it's never anything I've ever considered doing and I've never fancied it, but don't knock it until you've tried it. Besides, what is there to fear? The bungee is safe. If the people running it are prepared to jump themselves (and one occasion with their 7-year old daughter) then it's safe enough for me. You fall until the bungee reaches its maximum length - in this case, 134 metres.
7th December 2005 - posted from Queenstown
I awoke to my alarm at 8.30, ready to leave to go sky diving at 9.30. After all the days of beautiful sunshine, wearing sunglasses and t-shirts, I was hoping for a glorious day of fun and sun. As I woke and looked at the gap in the curtains, I could see the rain dripping down and the smell of rain had got into the room. My phone bleeped again with a text message from Andy: “seen the weather?†The plan was for some sky diving in the morning, with some luging in the afternoon.
26th December 2005 - posted from Christchurch
It's very easy to forget it's Christmas. When Matt handed me some Christmas pudding last night while we were watching Lord of the Rings (Christmas TV in New Zealand, naturally...) I thought he'd gone insane - but it was still Christmas day.
On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with a friend we had met in a national park near Christchurch. We had a hearty meal (I had local lamb!) then went out for drinks. Most DJs seemed to ignore that it was Christmas - but we had Fairytale of New York in the early hours.
27th December 2005 - posted from Christchurch
Aotearoa, it's original Maori name, renamed New Zealand by the Dutch, is a remarkable country. After three months here, while doing a lot, I still feel like there's a lot left to come back for. I've done somethings I never thought I'd have the privilege to do, like sailing an America's Cup racing yacht in Auckland, I've done some things I've wanted to do, like sky diving, and I've done some things I wasn't going to do but did anyway because I couldn't think of a reason not to do them while I'm here, like bungee jumping.
29th December 2005 - posted from Sydney
We arrived in Sydney late in the afternoon. After getting our way into the city, we made for the habour that evening.
