Auckland & Skiing at Mount Ruapehu, North Island, New Zealand

So we're now onto our 6th time zone change in 3 weeks and currently 11 hours forward from the UK. We landed into Auckland New Zealand early (Thursday 07/08/2014) so we picked up our bags and by the time we headed through security 'Sinéad' had come to pick us up - it's really nice to see her as we'd not seen each other in just over a year - how time has gone so fast! 

We stopped off at local supermarket on the way from the airport and picked up few bits for our next few days here in Auckland. Sinéad then gave us a little tour around on our way back to her place in 'Parnell'. We met one of Sinéads house mates 'Anita' when we arrived so we sat chatting lots and all had dinner together. 




Whilst we were still in Melbourne the girls had talked about a potential skiing trip this weekend to 'Mount Ruapehu,' in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, so after a few more discussions we'd agreed to join the party. Before departing the UK we had actually agreed that we wouldn't ski this year as to avoid potential injury especially at the start of our travels, however the opportunity arose. As a result we arranged to add on ski insurance to our current travel insurance agreement and we went for it.

After dinner we spent a little bit of time looking at our photos from Perth, Adelaide, The Great Ocean Road and Melbourne then headed to bed (which felt pretty early as we're now 2 hours forward from Melbourne) so we didn't initially feel that tired but it didn't take us long to nod off.

The next morning (Friday 08/08/2014) we were up by 08:00AM but it was still nice to have a little lie in. Sinéad and Anita were at work so we spent some time packing our stuff for our forthcoming skiing trip this weekend. We sorted out our photos using Sinéads computer and backed them up on our hard drive - unsurprisingly we've got so many from Perth, Adelaide, Great Ocean Road trip and Melbourne ...... It was good having access to a computer to make a backup of everything. We did some more research on notebook and laptop computers and got ready to head out for the day.

We were going to walk down the hill from Sinéad's house the CBD (which takes about 25 minutes) but decided to jump on the bus as we were short on time due to leaving early to go skiing. Once in the CBD we had a wander around the shops - Carol purchased a new hoodie and hat in preparation for our ski trip and we then went and bought a new notebook computer! We've been looking into getting one since we came away as we decided our iPad wasn't quite enough to do all the things we've wanted to do ....... we should've thought about this more before leaving the UK. Anyway we found a really good deal and ended up buying one - we didn't intend to buy one today but as the deal was good and the fact we wanted one it worked out quite well and we've got ourselves a very good computer and one perfect for travelling around with. As time was running out we headed back to Sinéads, had time to setup our new computer and pack our last few bits for the weekend away and once back from work Sinéad got her things together.

Sinéad was able to finish work early and her friend 'Kat' came to pick us all up to head on our road trip to 'Turoa' at 'Mount Ruapehu' for our skiing exploits. We tried some lemon bitters (a NZ speciality) and we were chatting lots. We were also looking through all the New Zealand travel advice we'd been sent from Shell, Tom and Sam - thanks guys - some great help and tips in there - we even got Sinéad looking over it too and she agrees with you all :)

We stopped off on our way to 'Mount Ruapehu' for some dinner after a couple of hours driving at a place called the 'Thirsty Weta Bar & Eatery' in 'Otorohanga'.

After dinner and a quick stop at the supermarket to pick up some food and drinks for the road trip and the weekend we got back on it where Sinéad was tagged in as being lead driver and Kat took over as DJ / co-pilot (advantages of the car being insured rather than the person over here in NZ). We played a few games of 20 questions guessing famous peoples names which lasted until the roads became a bit more windier with more concentration needed and we had some 'classic tunes' playing in the background ........ some great DJ'ing from our co-pilot ;) some great use of spotify!

It was a long journey especially when it became icy. Having left Auckland just after 16:00PM having a quick stop for dinner plus visit to the supermarket to pick stuff up as well as getting a little lost we finally arrived at the lodge in the town of 'Ohakune' at 23:00 - epic journey! 

The lodge itself was stunning, wooden, and all hand crafted. It was massive and there was two lodges stood opposite to each other - about thirty people were due to turn up this weekend - there were already quite a few people who had arrived so we had a drink and chatted with everyone waiting for the others. There was a nice log burner in the house which was amazing to arrive to given the heating in the car had packed in and we were now in sub zero temperatures. We later discovered the beds had electric blankets - amazing! Not had one of those of my bed since I was little and Antoni had never used one before. These were great for when we finally headed to bed.

On waking early (Saturday 09/08/2014) we discovered we'd had a heavy snowfall overnight and everywhere was white. It was amazing to see - freezing cold but amazing all the same. We were up early to get ready to head for the ski slopes of 'Mount Ruapehu' - unfortunately the heavy snowfall had caused the main mountain road to be closed so we had to wait a little while to find out if and when it was going to re-open. We headed into the town of 'Ohakune' to hire our skis, poles, boots etc and on hearing the road had now opened headed up to the mountain pass. It was quite a slow drive up with the queues and we also had to queue to have chains put onto the wheels to enable us to drive up to the mountain. We finally made it - Sinéad, Kat and the others headed straight to the slopes with their ski passes while we both went to sort out our ski passes and lessons. Antoni had never skied before so opted for a beginner lesson while I hadn't skied for about 7 years so opted for an intermediate lesson to practice technique and get the confidence back up. As soon as Carol hit the slopes it was like she'd never been off them and got back into it straight away and even got accused of being teachers pet in her class!

Antoni really enjoyed his lesson - he didn't even fall over - not once! Are you sure you've not done this before? .... Antoni says he has the balance of a Mountain Goat!?! Hmmm...

After our ski lessons the ski lifts stayed open later than planned because of the later start to the day with the mountain road being closed so Carol made the most of it and carried on until it shut - Antoni headed back into the warmth of the Cafe to take in the views etc. 

We all met back where we'd started at the end of the day, found the car, got changed and headed back onto the road down the mountain pass.

We met up with nearly everyone from our lodge at a local bar in the town, had a few drinks in front of the wood fire (as we slowly defrosted) and went for some dinner as we had a night of partying ahead of us ....... and what a party was had with lots of music, singing, chatting and drinking.

We were up early again the next morning (Sunday 10/08/2014) packed our stuff and headed to the ski slopes - this time the road was open and we didn't need chains. It still took us a while to get up the mountain though. Antoni decided he was happy with the skiing he had done yesterday and was going to chill out today and take in the breathtaking scenery instead. Sinéad, Kat and Carol headed up the ski lift to start day two of the skiing adventure. Us girls were singing random songs going up the ski lift. 

We did lots of ski runs and headed on the 'Parklane', 'Movenpick' and 'Giant' ski lifts and the snow was great. The higher up the mountain we went the better the snow and visibility. 

We decided we were going to head up to very top mountain but on that ski lift up unfortunately my skis got caught in with Sinéads where my ski stayed still an my right knee went the other way. I collapsed in a heap on the floor right in front of the ski lift in pain - I felt my knee go :( Straight away someone came to help and Sinéad realised so came back to assist - straight away I grabbed some snow and put it on my knee - Physio instinct ;) I was just about able to put weight on it enough to hobble with the help of the first aider and my ski poles to take me into the first aid centre. He did offer a piggy back but I just made it! In the first aid centre he grabbed me some more snow and put it into a rubber globe - the perfect ice pack. He also gave me some much needed painkillers. I then got to ride on the back of a skidoo back down the mountain to the main ski lift where I then sat with my skis across me to get to the bottom. They had to slow the ski lift right down to give me enough time to hop across to the lift and at the bottom they stopped it so she could get off. I thought it was a weird experience going down the mountain on a ski chair lift as I'd only ever gone up to then ski back down! The guys at the bottom were really helpful and carried my skis while i used the poles to help hop over to the main cafe area where Antoni had been waiting for us in the warm. It's hard walking on ski boots at the best of times but even worse when you can't weight bear on one leg! I just about made it and sat with my leg up on the chair with my rubber glove snow/ice pack that the first aid team made for me. I didn't know whether to be seen at the medical centre but figured they couldn't do much more for me and thought I'd use my Physio knowledge - besides Sinéad said if needed she could get me some crutches from work tomorrow. I sat with my leg elevated and we waited for the others to return from their skiing. I went to find out if I could get some more painkillers so went to the medical centre while the others went to get the car. While waiting I ended up giving a young lad who had torn his calf muscle some advice on using his crutches - us Physios clearly can't switch off! Lol. Sat in the waiting room with people surrounding me with varying injuries and the fact I'd just injured myself made me realise how dangerous skiing can be ...... but it's so much fun! We left the slopes at about 16.00 in the end. We had a long drive including a stop off at some random place for a roast dinner which was really good. We finally got home at 22:45 where we pretty much went straight to bed as skiing mixed with après ski and early mornings makes the whole experience a tiring game.

Today was Antoni's 32nd birthday (Monday 11/08/2014) we enjoyed a lie in after the weekends exploits and spent the morning chilling out catching up on ourselves, setting up our new laptop and researching the "next leg" of our trip. Unfortunately Carol had woken in quite some pain and a swollen knee and found it difficult to move about (which was not good news).

Antoni rang his Mam and Dad in the US (whilst they were on holiday) using FaceTime - it's weird that it's the middle of their day (our yesterday) whilst it's the morning time here - where his parents were staying they were 16 hours behind from New Zealand!

We chilled for a while and tried to make a plan for the day. Carol had booked us to go for lunch up in Auckland's famous 'Sky Tower' in the CBD at the 360 degree revolving restaurant called 'Orbit 360' where you get a full panoramic view of Auckland (it takes 1 hour to revolve the 360 degrees). We decided to get a taxi into the CBD as Carol was struggling to walk - Antoni wanted to cancel plans to another day to let me rest my leg but it was his birthday and I felt we definitely had do something to celebrate.

We made sure we arrived early to have a lookout from the observation deck and then went a further 12 floors higher to the 'Sky Deck' - we took loads of pictures (unsurprisingly). 

We went into 'Orbit 360' restaurant for our reservation - we both had steak with some nice red wine followed by dessert. Carol sneakily arranged for the restaurant to put a candle in Antoni's dessert although unfortunately he'd opted for cheese and biscuits! As they brought it over they started a chorus of happy birthday - Antoni was pretty embarrassed - one to remember! 

After our late lunch / early dinner we headed back up to the 'Sky Deck' where they have loads of different large bean bags scattered about so we grabbed a couple of these, sat, chilled and chatted looking out over the CBD and Harbour Bridge watching the amazing sunset before watching the CBD turn it's lights on.

We decided to get the bus back home which was a bad idea as really it was too far to walk even though Sinéads house was downhill on the way back we should have just jumped a taxi. Sinéad had brought some crutches home from work which Carol was initially reluctant to use but extremely grateful for - Thank you Sinéad!

A bit later on we ordered a Thai take away which was really good, we weren't overly hungry as we'd had a late lunch / early dinner but the girls hadn't eaten and afterwards we sat back and chatted with the housemates before retiring for the night. We also had birthday cake and candles and another rendition of happy birthday!

This has been an unbelievable birthday, one I shall never forget - having my 32nd birthday here in New Zealand in Auckland's 'Orbit 360' revolving restaurant within the 'Sky Tower' with the amazing views with my wife to be has just been awesome - thank you to Carol for arranging this - I love you cheeky pants Xxx

The next day (Tuesday 12/08/2014) we decided to have a bit of a lazy day which was much needed - we just stayed in the house sorting out our plans for New Zealand ...... we feel we've not stopped since we've left so a day doing nothing just catching up on our washing etc and resting the knee sounded great.

Once Sinéad had finished work she took us up to 'Mount Eden' to see the view of Auckland CBD - here was an amazing view of city and surrounding areas - different that of the 'Sky Tower'. Mount Eden 'Maungawhau' is the highest natural point (dormant volcano) on the Auckland isthmus at 643ft above sea level.

We then headed to the Medical Centre (to get Carol's knee checked out properly). After our trip to the medical centre we nipped to the supermarket quickly and picked up some bits. On returning home we had our left over takeaway from last night. It seemed the flavours had intensified over night and it's possible to say it was nicer tonight than it was last night. 

The following morning (Wednesday 13/08/2014) we headed out to the clinic in 'Ponsonby' to sort out the X-ray they had requested on Carols knee yesterday evening. They took a few X-rays and these all came back ok - result! Carol then saw a Doctor who booked her in to see the Orthopaedic Consultant and then took her straight round into Physio - we couldn't believe how efficient this place was - if this was the UK you'd easy be on a waiting list just to see the GP. 

As Sinéad was out at a football meeting in the evening, Antoni had cooked us dinner so we just chilled out chatting together with some of Anita's (Sinéad's housemate) friends who were also about to commence travelling around New Zealand.

(Sinéad had spoken to her other house mate - who was away at the moment - so we got to stay in her room which was bliss - especially for Carol with her sore knee - much better than the air bed that had a slow puncture!).

Thursday morning (14/08/2014) was a bit of a lazy morning as we were doing a bit more research. Later on once we'd packed our stuff up we walked up to the bus and went on the inner link - we knew the route from going to the clinic yesterday. We'd found a hostel pretty much opposite the Physio/medical clinic which was handy for Carol and for her appointment tomorrow - not too far to hobble to! We checked into 'Uenuku Lodge' in 'Ponsonby' and again we had bunk beds - this time Antoni took top bunk - there was no chance Carol could climb the ladder! 

'Ponsonby' is known as being quite a cool, quirky kind of place so I'm sure we'll stick out like sore thumbs. The hostel itself is run by a Thai family who were all very friendly but very loud and high pitched .... a bit like Carol after a few drinks ;) but they and the other residents seemed quite welcoming. From researching different accommodations / reviews, sometimes hostels can be labelled 'unfriendly' given the fact that there are 'long-term' residents (workers) staying there and that they tend to stick together ignoring the "passer throughs" but we ourselves make the effort so are not put off by such reviews and to date have found our hostel experiences enjoyable and have met some great people.

We sat in the lounge area and got chatting to a couple of Scottish girls who were sisters who had just spent a year in Australia but their visas had literally just run out so they had to leave but didn't want to go home ........ so have come to New Zealand instead - this seems like a common theme given what others have told us (if your 12 month visa in Oz expires you can do a medical and get a 24 month visa for New Zealand). They're both here working in bar jobs that they weren't too happy with mainly because their wages were half of that than in Australia - we've learnt from a few people during our travels that the wages are much better in Oz than they are here in NZ.

We were chatting for ages with the girls and others at the hostel. That evening we headed out for a couple of drinks and ended up in place called 'Chapel Bar' on Ponsonby Road - it had a great vibe, looked rather gothic inside and played mainly 'old school club classics' - right up our street. We enjoyed a few glasses of red wine and had a great night. Walking along Ponsonby Road we got a great view of the CBD and the 'Sky Tower' which was all lit up - great to see.

Friday (15/08/2014) was another day of not really doing much. Apart from Carol going to her physiotherapy appointment over the road we didn't really do much all day, we literally spent the day in the lounge chatting with random people and researching for our upcoming New Zealand adventure. Carol's Physio had also managed to bring forward her appointment with the Orthopaedic Consultant to next Tuesday which was great. Although we don't feel like we're doing an awful lot we really just need to sit tight for a few days and rest up Carol's knee so not to cause any further unnecessary damage.

That afternoon we were trying to weigh up our options - with Carol on crutches, in pain and unable to walk very far we figured that trekking around New Zealand was a little out the question right now. We had been considering picking up a camper van for our travels around NZ but with it being winter and after our wintery experience along TGOR and with numerous people telling us we would be mad getting a camper van in this cold weather (considerably colder than in Oz) we decided to look at other options.

After much deliberation and research we made a plan for New Zealand and we booked a 12 month unlimited travel 'hop on hop off' bus pass with 'Stray' - this would take us around both North and South islands for as long / short as we'd wish as many times as we'd like - the pass also included the 'Jack Pass' which would take us to the "Winterless North" including 'Paihia' in the 'Bay of Islands' and 'Cape Reinga'. We decided that this coming weekend we would spend 3 days on our first part of our Stray tour visiting the "winterless north" and be back around Auckland for Carols appointment on Tuesday morning. 

On the other hand we were also debating whether it would be a good idea to go and have some rest and recuperation in a much warmer climate to see if this would help Carol's knee heal quicker - unsurprisingly Carol agreed :) so we researched many of the South Pacific Islands including Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Fiji. It was also advised by both the Physio and the Consultant to rest up so we researched some more and thought why not - yes this wasn't exactly in our plans upon embarking on this adventure and it really isn't within our budget but we're here, the opportunity is there so we're going to do it and we're definitely going to enjoy ourselves and make the very best of a not so good situation :) 

We looked at lots of flights and options but figured we'd make our final decision over the weekend while we were away and try and to book something departing soon after Carol's appointment - also it's our first years anniversary after getting engaged next Friday (22/08/2014) and we fancy going somewhere special. 

On going through all our options' pros and cons we kept on returning to the idea of going to Fiji - this is potentially going to be a honeymoon destination should we decide on returning to Australia after our wedding ....... but it seems so tempting to head there now especially with us being so close - anyway we thought we'd look at a few more options and see how the knee was feeling over the next couple of days.

Later on that evening we headed to a place called 'Burgerfuel' recommended by 'Shell' for the biggest burger we've ever had - seriously - you even got a holder to enable you to hold it and eat it - we definitely over indulged! The plan was then to go and head for a drink afterwards somewhere but we were so full we decided we'd shuffle on back to our hostel and rest up / grab ourselves an early(ish) night after packing our bags as were up super early to catch our 'Stray' bus and complete the first part of our adventure to the "Winterless North!"