HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

New Years Eve in Sydney on a Boat!!!

Michael and Chani have other plans for new years so I had to make some of my own. I got in touch with a friend from Brazil I met on the stray bus and he said he was going to watch the fireworks on a boat in the harbor with some other mates so I jumped on that as well and it is going to be EPIC!!!

Flight to Sydney and back to Chani’s

I tried to change my seat to the emergency exit for more legroom and I messed something up and ended getting upgraded to business class! Sweet! I got a few more winks of sleep on the plane but not much, even though I had tons of room and no one besides me! Compared if I had been in the sardine can which was the back of the plane! Back into Sydney central station and down town to run some errands and contact Chani and some friends I met in NZ who were spending New Years in Sydney. I made my way to Chani’s via the train and bus and met her boyfriend Michael who is pretty cool. Her other roomy moved out so I got a bigger room this time and a bigger bed, nice! 

Intercity bus to Christchurch, flight to Auckland!

The Stray bus was not running to Christchurch today so I had to buy a ticket on the Intercity bus and was pleasantly surprised with the enjoyment level that the bus driver delivered! He was a very smart man and told us a lot of interesting things along the way! My flight to Auckland was uneventful and I managed to get a few hours of shuteye of a bench in the airport! 

Lake Tekapo and maybe one of the best sunset ever!!!

The hostel was right on the waters edge with a very beautiful view! The absolute best part of my time there was skyping with my grampa and gramma, it was great to see them! On my last night I went to the Church of the Good Shepard for some pics and watched one of the best sunsets of my life! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS ON THE STRAY!!! Queenstown to Lake Tekapo for some R&R

Body Sanctum Floatation & Massage, Kiwi Bird Park

For my last full day in Queensland I treated myself to another awesome half priced deal! An hour in a relaxation pool that has 10x the salt level of the dead sea and you float there like your in space as they play soothing music! WOW! Then a hour long deep tissue massage! And boy did that guy do a good job, I’ve never had such a great massage and will definitely get another one some day. Maybe one of the best hundred bucks I ever spent! After that I met up with Marie to go and see some Kiwi birds! I had to see one while I was NZ even if it had to be in captivity! It was a nice park and the Kiwi’s are goofy little birds and after we watched a nice conservation show. We went for some Thai food and then for some yummy gelato, maybe the best I’ve ever had, from Patagonia’s where there is usually always a line! Marie and I did secret santa for each other and she got me a nice t-shirt and I got her a nice frisbee so she could practice! Marie and I said our goodbye’s, she was planing to stay in Queenstown for a few months, so jealous! Laura and I were both checking out on Christmas morning so we decided to but each other presents to open in the morning! Laura, Jenny, Jemma (all English) and I all went out to the church to sing Christmas carols and even though we had a few drinks before hand were very respectful while we were there and had a few laughs too. It was a great little service and the pastor was cracking some jokes as well! We went out on the town for an hour before all the bars closed at 12am and went back to the hostel and partied back there with everyone else! 

Paragliding and Downhill Mountain biking

I was picked up right at my front door for some morning parasailing. I didn’t do it right over Queenstown but just out of town off Coronet Peak and it was an experience I will never forget. It is definitely something I would consider learning how to do in the future! I even got all the pictures included in the $113 price, great value for money, maybe the best yet!!! I made it back to the hostel, patched up my foot and headed for the mountain bike shop to pick up the most expensive bike I’ve ever ridden worth $5000!!! It was so nice. I didn’t take the extra elbow and knee pads because I figured I would be safer without them! I still pushed myself to far though and had a couple close calls but no wipe outs! I ended up making 7 runs between 11 to 3 which was pretty good I thought because I hardly stopped at all except to take a few pictures. I was able to rest in the gondola on the way back up the hill and even that wasn’t enough because my hands were so so sore buy the last run and my whole body was cramping up! I don’t think I could have done another run if I tried. Downhill mountain biking is one tough sport! Amazingly my bandage managed to stay on my foot which was good! I met up with Marie afterwards and the two of us played some frisbee golf and took some really cool pics of a glowing waterfall. Another great day!