Hanging looooooose in the South Island (part 1)!!!

Ok so on to the next road trip  - woop woop!

So the morning of our road trip down south me and tim woke up and had breakfast with our road trip buddies Roelof (Kiwi) and Sander (Dutch) a fry up is always good at the start of a journey and so we then said goodbye to the Birches and headed for Wellington to catch our ferry to the south island. By the time we had got to the ferry we had picked out road trip song which was thift shopping by macklemore and we had chosen our trip phrase which was 'Hang looooooose' this was to be said whenever we wanted and came with an action (please see photos for demonstration of the hang loose sign).

We did get the ferry and had a long four hour ride to Picton and the ferry ride was amazing, the scenery was amazing and as we arrived it was simple awesome. So we got off the ferry and headed for Nelson and taking many pictures along the way. We had 5 dollar domino's and headed for the Palace hostel, to save ourselves a bit of money two of us would sleep in the Hilux and two in the hostel. the hostel was a little quiet and so we all a little bored.

Next morning we wanted to get to Greymouth on the west coast of the south island, again the scenery was awesome, but unfortunately the Hilux had car trouble so we never made it to Greymouth, the car was just drinking so much water so we decided to head back to nelson so that we could take the car back on the ferry, but as cars like that do it seem to fix itself, it wasn't drinking as much water and the temperature on the engine wasn't getting so hot. So we decided to stay one more night in the Nelson backpackers, this time it was a lot better we met some really awesome people and had a good evening.

So the next morning we head back south as the car was ok we head to Franz Josef. The weather was good in the morning and we stopped in Greymouth and had another 5 dollar domino's (don't worry we did eat other food) and ended up sitting on this really awesome beach for an hour or two. We then headed to Franz Josef and stayed in another hostel called the Montreal backpackers and we all chilled for the first evening!

Next morning was wet and rainy and to be honest i thought i was back in the U.K. So we had a morning of deciding what to do with our day and eventually decided  to go see some kiwi bird at the Franz Josef kiwi bird centre we spent 30 bucks to see just three kiwi birds im not gonna lie it was a bit of a rip off. So we let of some frustration and decided we didn't care about getting wet and decided to walk the Franz Josef glazier and so the walk was pretty nice even in the drizzle and wet it was a good walk. Headed back to the hostel where Tim cooked some food and we played jungle speed with a few other guys from the hostel.

Now before I go any further Fox Glazier and Franz Josef have nothing interesting other than walks to glaziers and maybe to odd tourist trap coffee shop, not for a young lad of 22 anyway (each to there own and all that). After a good nights sleep we decided to go to Fox Glazier anyway and we went on a fox glazier walk as well and again the weather was a bit rubbish but it was good banter. In the evening we stayed at a hostel in Fox Glazier this time and we went for a drive out toward Mt Cook lookout and because of the weather we could see Mt Cook so we decided to head toward this beach and it after a few days of not much to do we discovered this beach and it was amazing having a Hilux is useful because you can drive along the beach and it was awesome all for our us (including Sander the driver) we handing out the doors driving down the beach it was so cool (slightly dangerous) and so fun. After taking lots of photos on the beach. we headed back to boring Fox Glazier.

end of part one

Blitzy

Balmy Palmy

For the past two and a half weeks I have been living in Palmerston North! My friend Glenn (from my previous road trip) offered me and my friend tim to paint on of his houses in exchange for some cash! I arrived on the Wednesday and for the first few days stay at Glen flat with his three flat mates Steve, Phil and Nicki who were all really sound, apart from the fact that by the time I have left I have acquired the name butler. I guess because I'm such a helpful person ;) so we spent many a night chilling out in Steve's spa ( four in at once was a bit awkward as it was a little small) , also we watched films, Chilled with a few beers and ate a lot of takeaway food. During the day I painted Nicki came to help for the first week a few days and also Cheri, who was a really lovely lady who tim (when he arrived) and myself we going to stay with the next couple of week, so as not to over crowd Glenn's flat. So we sanded down the weatherboards on the house and then undercoated the whole house.

Tim arrived on the Saturday afternoon and we headed down the beach with Cathy , Nicki and Sander ( Tim friend) it was an awesome road trip, with blaring music Chelsea daggers and thrift shopping were just a few of the song. On the Sunday we went to church with Steve and just hung about the flat, chilled in the spa.

Monday through till Friday we worked on another of Glenn's houses, sanding down weather board, using filler to fill in the cracks and put the first lot of undercoat on! We had now moved in to Cheri house with her husband Darren and four kids Esther, Isaiah, Annalena, and Abbi. They were a truly awesome family and entertained us with board game, we played jungle speed and just generally just chilled out! We also went out in the evening I found a local boxing club and went there on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the guys there were really friendly and as I was only there for two weeks the guy didn't charge me for coming along! Also I played football on Tuesday and I even started going running, the furthest I ran was 17km! I loved it for the fact that it was a really nice place just to settle and sort things out!

Me and tim went out on the weekends in to Palmy to a few club / bars most night
we good evenings!

So next week on the house we started on the windows taking them out and sanding them down, filling and undercoating them and on the Friday we did a bit of insulation underneath the house!
I still went and bugged glens flat mate, they ran out of tea so I bought the some more (they need to learn how things are done), Steve wanted a lift to a job interview so he let me drive his BMW which was cool and I went out for coffee with Nicki which was fun and I watched her pour sugar into the salt dispenses. Phil was a cool bloke, he was a tree surgeon and so I got on with him and understood his tree talk!

Again at the weekend we went out into palmy for another really awesome couple of nights out!

So tomorrow I am heading to the South Island! So thanks to all the people I've met in Palmy and thanks for the memories!

Blitzy!

Jesus is Lord

Jesus is lord

I'm not really sure why I have made this a separate blog entry. I guess because I'm hoping that it will be a significant moment in my life.

For many years I have been a Christian and have gone to church with my parents. I have given my life to Christ although for a few I guess I have let it slip. God really challenged me about where I stand and what I stand for!

I was in Napier, New Zealand, I had and evening on my own, with not much to do so I decided to go and get fish and chips, park up and sit by the waterfront! I also decided to read my bible and I ended up reading from the book of Romans and it was talk about confessing Jesus as Lord not just with my mouth but also with my heart!

Usually when I read the bible I just read and don't think about it, but I decided to take my time and really think about what I was reading! The thing that struck me was confessing with you heart!! I mean what does that mean?

I started think about a football match I had been to and how some of the fans you could see how much they loved there team! The way they sung, the way they shouted at the ref and just the way that when ever something happened it was almost as if every fan was playing the match in there head! I thought what is it that make fans do that? Maybe it's heart!

I think the heart is just you your desire to do something, so when it say confess with your heart, I think it means just to really want to do it!

So I prayed that God would help me to have that heart and not just confess him with my mouth, but also with my heart! For those fans the way they acted you could tell they loved their team. This is something I need to change (I'm still trying to) so if I am to say I'm a Christian, but act like I'm not then all I'm doing is giving myself a nickname and saying empty words.

So I hope this made sense and wasn't to heavy handed, but this year is a chance for God to work dramatically in my life and I can't wait to see where he leads me next!

Jesus is Lord

Blitzy

Brentford on the move - part 2

After the tour we headed up to the corrimandal to stay with lovely elderly lady name Jill! Her house was amazing stepping on to the balcony you could see the mountains, the sea and beaches! It was stunning! I have never seen such a gorgeous view! We had dinner and spent the rest of the evening playing phrases 10!!

Next was awesome we went to cathedral cove which is where they filmed the latest nania movie! We Took a kayak tour there and it was a fantastic day, we then went to hot water beach. As you can work out is a hot water beach, you have you dig down and find the hot springs and its was amazing and i think I enjoyed the digging with the spade more than the hot springs ( I'm a big kid at heart). Then we relax and spoke to a Dutch couple and then went for fish and chips!

Next day was awesome I woke up early and watched the sunrise, we went to whitianga, went down the 309 road which apparently takes 3hrs 9mins to travel by horse and cart! We did a lot of driving but stopped on the way at scenic destinations. It was another good day and fairly relaxed!

Next morning we said goodbye to Jill and headed to Rotorua and picked up Paul (Jaisha's other half) and so after parking up we split up! Jaisha and Paul went off and did coupley things and me and Miriam went to see the Maori village called Whakarewarewa. It was really interesting the different community and culture,. It was a tour village and there was a performance afterward which was epic and me and Miriam got our photos taken with them! Then we went for coffee, when to our camp ground! Jaisha then decided it was a good idea to cook noddles in a coffee plunger because she could be bothered to use a sauce pan! Then we went out for pizza and me and Miriam went to a hot water spa it was really nice and really relaxing and Miriam was good company and we had some good conversations.

Next day we went to tauranga to stay with Mike and Charlie. Miriam was flying out that day and jaisha, paul and myself were stay with mike and charlie :) so they took us up the hill and the view was amazing, every view in New Zealand just seems to get better and better! We then said goodbye to Miriam :( and went for coffee at a garden centre! Then beach, dinner at mike and Charlie's and jungle speed! I also tried my first ever tim tam slam which was amazing which if you've ever had one you will know what I'm on about! :) then some more Oakhall reminiscing and bed!

Then we drove up to Auckland and that is the end of the Matilda adventures!

Brentford on the move - part 1

So after the Oakhall reunion I continued my travels Jaisha and Miriam both are very good friends of mine and after our Europe tour lived in London and we have enjoyed a lot more travelling experiences around the UK and Europe!

Anyway we travelled up from Taupo to waitomo, to see the waitomo caves where me and Miriam went on a tour to see the glow worm. We saw lots of them and took lots of pictures.

The three of us then drove matamata where we met up with another oak haller Cam who lead the trip in Europe! We had pizza and went to our camping grounds Cam came back and we all relaxed in the thermal pools. Then on cup of tea later and we say goodbye to Cam.

Now matamata is famous for the filming of lord of the rings, so we went for a guided tour of hobbiton. We saw bilbo and frodo's house and the party tree. I had a sobering beer from the gift shop! It was in all honesty the worst beer I have ever tasted!

End of part 1

Blitzy

Blitzy road trip

Papamoa hills, hired a car from Auckland , whakatane, Jan one of Jaisha's friends, drove up and around the coast to gisborne, weather was really wet, stayed in backpackers, play jungle speed and scum,drove from gisborne to Napier! See Hayden still wet but weather got better by the evening! Went up to bluff hill, next day woke up to see the sunrise, had a guitar jam with Hayden, went out to a cafe for brunch, football and howler field in Clive, went into town, parked in a car park by the sea front read my bible, back to Hayden's watched a film, ate nacho for dinner, went out for a drink with Hayden!
Next day woke up had a Skype chat with YAH (Young Adults Home-group), had a jam with Hayden, went to tamate peek, Hayden went out so I had to entertain myself - please read the blog titled Jesus is lord -

So hopefully you have read that blog, but no worries if not it's not everyone's cup of tea!! So basically next day got up late, cooked some breakfast with Hayden and head down south, where I decided I would spend one night in Palmy with glen, went to a BBQ and hung out with some cool people!

Next day was another lazy morning, drove to Wellington and stayed in a backpackers it was very quiet and so I decided I would go to the Yha the next day it ws more expensive but there seemed to be a lot better atmosphere. So again meet some really cool people, watch some films, drunk tea and just hung out with people!

Anyway so that's the end of my solo road trip! It was really awesome met some really awesome people along the way and so the next three weeks I am going to be painting in Palmy and I'm probably not going to blog as saying you woke up, had brekkie, did some painting and came home is not really interesting blog material! Ha

Cheers

Blitzy

Week in the sun and Oakhall reunion

After the Glenn road trips I used the time at Glenn's place in Palmy just to relax, read in the local park and use Glenn's bike to get round town. Played football Kiwi style, hockey and squash! Glenn does volunteer work for an organisation called Habitat for Humanity; basically they build houses for people who live in pretty bad living situations! So I had some free time in the day so I went and helped paint a few rooms.

At the weekend I headed down to Taupo ( pronounced toe-paw) with Glenn and Rochelle to our Oak Hall reunion! Oak Hall was a tour I went on in 2010 around Europe and I met a lot of Kiwis ( in fact Kiwis kind of dominated the tour) :) Anyway we had rented out a holiday home for the weekend 5 minutes walk from lake Taupo! On a good day it was absolutely beautiful! You could see Mount......! So for the Friday evening most people had arrived: David, Fiona and baby Emily ( the guys I stayed with in Auckland if you are following the rest of my blog), Miriam and Jaisha ( my next road trip companions) Mike, Rochelle, Glenn and myself! We had a BBQ and enjoyed catching up and reminiscing over our Oak Hall adventures. We played cards including Jungle Speed and Scum- which was our default card game on our Europe tour!
Next day it was a bit wet in the morning so most of us slept in apart from dave and Fiona who had a screaming baby to contend with and after a late breakfast two more Oak Hallers arrived: Hayden and Mike's other half Charlie!
It was great seeing everyone again and we played more Scum, chatted, ate lots of sweets (Minties and Pineapple Lumps) and when the sun came out in the afternoon a few of us kicked a ball around, I tried Kiwi dip (basically a less efficient way of eating cheese and onion crisps), then went for a wander down to the lake and then in the evening we had nachos and desserts.
Next day we went to Taupo hot springs which were these really hot but natural springs. These springs came out by the Waikato river and made it just the right temperature for a dip. Then me, Jaisha and Miriam had one more night before our my next kiwi road trip. Stay tuned!

Blitzy