LAST WEEKS IN NEW ZEALAND/CHINESE NEW YEAR IN MALAYSIA

I spent a couple of weeks travelling around the North Island, making my way up to Auckland where I would be flying to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia (where I am now)!

I started my journey up to Auckland from Wellington, having got the ferry from the South Island. Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and is also the windiest city in the world!

After Wellington, I made my way up to Wanganui, and then on to National Park Village, where I walked the Tongariro Crossing. This was a spectacular walk through a volcanic site!

You might recognise Mount Ngauruhoe as it was used in the 'Lord of The Rings' movies as Mount Doom!

After the Tongariro crossing, I continued my way up North to Tauranga, where I climbed to the top of Mount Maunganui, which is a dormant volcano.

Further along the coast of the Bay of Plenty, we got to Hot Water Beach. At Hot Water Beach there is an underground reservoir of hot water. When you dig into the sand, the hot water rises, creating your own natural hot pool! You have to be careful though, as the water can be incredibly hot!

Not far from Hot Water Beach was Cathedral Cove:

I was very sad to leave New Zealand, having spent over 4 months there, but am now looking forward to my time in Asia. I am now in Malaysia and plan to go to Singapore and Thailand in the coming weeks!

THE SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND + SKY DIVE

Hello everyone!

Since my last post, I have been continuing my road trip up the South Island of New Zealand and crossed over to the North Island by ferry. Below are some of the places I visited:

• Dunedin (18,982km from London)

Baldwin St. (the steepest street in the world)

• Lake Tekapo

• Blue Pools, Wanaka

The turquoise colour of most of the lakes and rivers you see on the South Island is created by a mix of glacier water and minerals.

• Hokitika

• Punakaiki

Pancake Rocks + Blowholes

Blowholes (a surge of water shoots up at high tide)

• Nelson

Kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park

Skydive over Abel Tasman National Park from 13,000feet!

https://vimeo.com/119647645

50 seconds of freefall!

My tandem skydiver had been 'jumping' for over 20 years, completing around 11,000 jumps!

MERRY XMAS + A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NEW ZEALAND!

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted on the blog so a late Season's greetings and Happy New Year from the other side of the world! It was very strange spending Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere as the weather was so different to what we are all used to! I went to the beach on Christmas and had a barbeque for lunch! 

I have been really busy since I last posted about my first bungy jump and have now done two others as well as a rope swing:

Video of the Nevis bungy (143m high):
https://vimeo.com/117129541

Video of the ledge swing:
https://vimeo.com/117129958


I also went on a 6 hour hike to the top of a mountain in Queenstown called Ben Lomond in the middle of the night in order to see the sunrise at 6 in the morning!

The South Island of New Zealand is incredibly beautiful! I originally intended to fly to Singapore and travel around Asia but I have decided to spend another month travelling New Zealand with some new friends that I have made from Germany. We left Queenstown last week which was very sad as we had been there for over 2 months. 

We plan to travel up the South Island and get the ferry across to the North Island. I will then fly to Singapore in mid-February and meet up with my friend Ashley who has already left.

So far, we have visited a place called Milford Sound, which has been called the 8th Wonder of the World because it is stunning! I have never seen so many waterfalls in one place! We also saw seal colonies and even dolphins!

I will keep you updated on my travels up the West Coast and wish you all the best for 2015!