A change of scenery and definitely a
change in transportation. Arrived in Sydney and there they were,
Robert and Dennis on the other side of the world meeting me, reunited
for our roadtrip! Lucky us that we first had a couple of days in
Sydney to enjoy a bit of luxury before stepping into the campervan.
Sydney is great! Walked around a lot to
see the hotspots, went to Manly for a day and saw The Hobbit on the
worlds biggest IMAX screen. We decided that Robert would drive the
campervan, at least on day 1 (eventually he drove the whole way).
Took the train to the pick-up point and
had a 15min walk ahead of us, but a nice lady decided to take us
there, because us poor travelers couldn't walk those miles :). While
me and Robert took care of paperwork inside, Dennis was outside
collecting crackers and toilet paper from a nice family that didn't
need it anymore.
It was fun to be in a campervan,
sleeping arrangements took some days to get used to though. It's a
different way of travelling and to be able do it with friends from
back home was great. We traveled along the East Coast from Sydney to
Cairns and stopped as much as we could. Dennis and Roberts #1 must
see/do was koala cuddling and kangaroos and for me it was The Steve
Irwin Australia Zoo! Robert drove the whole way while me and Dennis
either took a nap, enjoyed the scenery or helped Robert with
directions.
Afterwards we went back to Sydney for a
day and off I went to Nadi, Fiji. Sit back, Relax and Enjoy Fiji Time
is what it said on my entertainmentscreen and that was exactly what I
intended on doing in Fiji..as little as possible :). Arrived in Fiji
in the evening and we were all welcomed by locals playing music at
the airport, big smile on my face! After some trouble of getting to
the hostel, I got a warm welcome and immediately got friendly with the
staff, mostly guys. We were all joking around and they asked me if I
wanted to go out with them and see Obama (a club called The White
House). It was great fun..did lose my flipflops in the club, later
replaced by a very nice american lady I met :)! That was pretty much
all I did in Fiji, going out, relaxing, enjoying the view, sleeping,
kava ceremonies, hanging with the staff/locals and chitchatting with
'my american mom', who I hope to visit this year while also visiting
my own family. Definitely will go back someday to see more of Fiji!
Flight back to Auckland was great, got
an upgrade, still don't know how but I did. Those comfy separate
chairs you always pass, thinking it would be nice to sit in them.
That's where I sat after standing there for 5min comparing my
seatnumber on my ticket to the one in the plane. Also received a free
meal!
Arrived in Auckland, dormroom for 4 and
happened to be that there was another Dutch girl (Nijmegen..hehe)
leaving on the Kiwi Experience the next day! Hooray! Kiwi Experience
was great! Everything was pretty much arranged for us, only had to
decide which activities to do. On day one I did a skydive (16000ft),
wasn't ready for it but it was now or never so I did it! Also did
lots of other activities, sandboarding,black water rafting, visited
Hobbiton and a Maori Village (where we also had a traditional 'Hangi'
dinner), Tubing (amazing day!), Scenic Heli Flight, Horse riding,
Luging and Whale Watching. All first timers! We had a great bus,
meaning great people! Especially the core group, 'The Originals' and
being in each others faces 24/7, we were sort of forced to get to know
each other. Oh and cheap drinks along the way which meant I didn't go
one day without one (or more). We made sure the last days we were all
together counted and said our goodbyes daily in those last days. But
not to worry, we will meet again!
Next step...back to Australia
(Adelaide, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Perth, Darwin) and meeting
some of my fellow kiwi experience busbuddies along the way!
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