We almost died today...

Yes, today was pretty scary to say the least but we are alive and well so dont panic.

Back to Auckland. We were picked up at 8am by our very funny and friendly tour leader Nick. Our group is 25 people plus Nick. Travellers from Sweden, Finland, England, France, Denmark, Isreal and Wales! Big variaty of age and background so its no trek america but still great. Plus the major difference is that we travel shorter distances on a smaller island and we stay in a lodge or hostel every night - spoilt!

First day we visited a dormant volcano in Auckland then journeyed round to the Coromandel region to stay at Hahei, stopping for some tree hugger shots with the huge Kauri trees. Checked in in our quad cabins mum and I got ready for the wet weather and Nick dropped us all at the top of the walk down to Cathedral Cove. It was really beautiful with the walk through such different foliage to what the UK has and the cove itself was rainy but stunning. The arch in the rock there was used at the beginning of the second Narnia movie if you're familiar with it (except it was sunny when they filmed...). Very wet and back at the resort, food was prepped for dinner and the we threw on our swim stuff and headed down to a thermal beach where we dug our own holes or 'borrowed' other peoples and lay in the bath like water listening to the colder ocean lapping against the shore. What better way to get to know your group than everyone stripping down to their swimmers on a bus! It was so relaxing once you found the right temp. and then quicly ran back to the bus to shower for a great BBQ dinner together!

Next day was Rotorua and we did a half hour walk to a stunning panoramic view point first thing. I'm suffering from motion sickness in the bus a bit which is really odd for me but I think its because the seats are higher so the space feels really small and all the roads here are tiny and bumpy. Mum felt it a bit to but we just got on with it. And I slipped on my bum on the way back down - mum managed it much more gracefully!
One stop along the way was for an L&P which is a drink that was created in the area from the mineral water with lemon. It's famous in NZ and Really refreshing!
The afternoon was great fun! a couple of people explored the town, one or two hit the spa but a small group of us went to Luge!! I cant really explain what it is just google it! We raced really fast and had 6 goes. I even got mum on the advanced track twice. It was So much fun. Only one accident but Stephs fine now, just a few bruises. The rain poured down on us on our last ski lift up to the top to finish and Mum and I got absolutley soaked! No time to change as it was straight on the bus at 4pm for our Maori Culteral experiance.

We were welcomed and sung in the village, greeted with a handshake and nose bump from each family member as is custom then shown to our group rooms (12 in each) with the designs carved all over the walls. With songsheets we learnt to sing a song with them which we had to perform later in front of all the other evening guests. Our youngest guy (Mr Wales) was selected as Cheif of our 'tribe' and had to face the other warriors to enter their village where we were able to learn all about Maori life and warfare. The singing and dancing performance was amazing! Then our underground cooked Hangi meal was lush! the beds campfire was a great finish and the beds were comfy.

Up and out next morning to view the powerful Huku Falls then just around the corner went for another swim in a hot stream. Blue Duck lodge was the acommodation that night and all the work their doing there is outstanding. The are working to get their land back to bush land to clean the rivers and help the endangered Blue Duck which is being hunted out by ferrets and dying from the dirty river. The jeep tour was scary and muddy, we were up pretty high. Mum wen in another jeep that went gost shooting! I kid you not. A bullet went through one goat and hit another and she went CSI on tracking blood to find the injusred goat....

I'm running out of time but today we hiked up through the Tongariro mnt by Mnt Doom and it took 7 hours. The wind and rain picked up and we felt like we were going to be thrown off the mountain. I cried at the top and called jimmy for prayer. But over the summit we had some stunning views I'll talk about later! Mum did it too!!! Ankles are Throbbing now.....

to be continued...

Love you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello New Zealand

So just after our last post we went on an amazing walking tour around Sydney that started at the Town Hall and ended with a great view of Circular Quay. We saw the shopping mall, financial end, Hyde Park and the food festival, the history of how the city was founded and developed, a fountain where a scene from the Matrix is filmed, The Rocks, the market, Oktoberfest and even and Arthur Stace 'Eternity' slab outside the cathedral. So now we're full of Sydney knowledge! Would recommend that tour to everyone visiting the city!
For dinner we walked back to the Hero's of Waterloo, listened to some live music then went for a walk over the bridge by night.
The whole city was a little freaky because of the masses of people dressed up for Halloween, we bumped into zombies all day!

Yesterday we got up early with our waterproofs at the ready for our trip to Manly because of the weather report and having seen lightning the night before.... however, whilst watching the surfers the sun came out and slowly fried us as we walked round to Shelly Beach and took in the beauty that Is Manly. Well worth a ferry trip and a burnt face however embarrassing.

On the ferry back we managed to make some plans to catch up with another trekker I met on the Southern Sun tour and Taz came to pick us up in the Rocks and drove us down to see Bondi beach. We came back and went over the other side of the bridge for dinner (which was awesome) then went for a walk round by Luna Park and had the best view of the bridge, opera house and city thanks to our Sydney-sider tour guide! Was horrible saying bye again but at least mums here to keep me company.
Right now shes leaning on the hard drive next to me falling asleep. We got up at 4am to shuttle to the airport and catch a 9am flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Our hostel is lovely and so was the dinner we found down the road. Wont get to see much of this city but its ok as we start the trek tomorrow morning!!

Anyway better get the mother to our oh so comfy beds...

Love you all

Josie & Kim xxx

Sydney and around

Saturday now and only a day and a half left until we fly to Auckland and start our NZ tour!

We met up with Kelly as planned on Thursday and went for a huge walk and lunch around the Botanical Gardens which were really beautiful. Mum went back to find some of our family from Oz and spent the afternoon with them at Darling Harbour while Kelly and I carried on walking, went to the Art Museum of New South Wales and then chatted over a hot chocolate in a cafe near Pitt St. We said goodbye about 6 and I met up with Mum, Yvonne, Sarah and her little boy Ethan who was really sweet! We all went for dinner at China Town, had a catch up and made some plans for when Sarah & Ethan come over to England in December. They arrive the week after we get home! So that made saying goodbye a bit easier.

Yesterday Mum and I were up (after another mammoth sleep) and waiting outside the hostel about 8am to be picked up for the Blue Mountains Tour. It was a huge day and they crammed in so much. We stopped at loads of beautiful view points, did the scenic air flight, cable car and train at the Blue Mountains, saw an aboriginal direction carving and stopped off to see some wild kangaroos before a leisurely cruise back round to Sydney Harbour under the bridge, past the Opera House and back into Circular Quay. After trekking back down to the other end of Pitt St to our hostel, sprucing up a bit, we went for dinner at the Three Wise Monkeys then strolled home.
Over slept a bit today because we forgot to set an alarm... Mums just gone down to Coles to get some food then we're doing a 3 hour walking tour around the City, may walk over the bridge to Luna Park later. Tomorrow we intend to catch a ferry over to Manly for the day. Might rain so we've got a backup plan of ducking into the Art Museum and Aquarium, if not, there's the market and beach walks. May be able to catch up with another Trek Am friend too hopefully!

I think thats it for now. Stay in touch as we'd love to hear from you. May not be back online to blog until we get to New Zealand now as I'm not sure when we'll have time, so don't worry if it goes quiet, check facebook updates!

Miss and love you all
Josie & Kim xxxxxxx

We missed Tuesday...

So we've arrived safe and sound in Sydney after a very long journey from Heathrow to Dubai, to Bangkok (Which was a surprise) then Sydney. We've eaten four plane meals and missed Tueday! It's about 1am for you guys and 11am here. Really want to pass out but can't check into our room til 2 and need to try and stay awake so we actually sleep at night.
Some sad news... my shampoo opened in my bag and made a nice mess over all my toiletries and some clothes that I had to deal with after getting my bag off the carousel. Still cant sort it properly until I get in my room, boooo! Feeling slighting childish, irrational, grimy and homesick. Yup, only just arrived but I find this the worst bit, settling in. Mums doing well though! Shes just charging her phone and answering her many messages at the moment. She says hello!
The weather is a little miserable and grey but not as chilly as home. Will go for a wander when my times up here, maybe buy some healthy food that we so desperately need.

Anyway - the plan this week looks like this so far...
Tomorrow we're meeting a lovely girl called Kelly that I met on my first 3 weeks of Trek America for lunch in China Town and then my mums cousin is hopefully coming into town for dinner with us. Shes coming to England for Christmas so we can organise! Friday we've got a Blue Mountain tour booked for the day so that should keep us busy, and then two days to go round the harbour, maybe over to Manly, we'll see.

Will update again soon,
All our love
Josie & Kim xxx

Psalm 139

ps  I am fine with my chaotic body clock at home i am used to short sleeps and eating at funny times.  No change then!! but did miss tuesday!!!  Chatted to a cute ozzie on the plane, josie sat next to a cute guy who fell aseep the whole way.  Josie has gone back to 5 year old mentality, and is soooo tired and irritable great we have only just arrived  lot of love to you all Kim

Chapter Two: It's a mother daughter thing...

We fly next Monday! By 9pm we'll be flying over England to Sydney via Dubai. The plan is this...

Arrive in Sydney, Australia on 26th, sleep a lot, then see trek friends and explore over the next few days. On 31st we will be catching a flight to Auckland, New Zealand where we'll stay the night in a hostel and be picked up the following morning to start our three week tour around both islands. I'm not sure if we'll be with the same group the whole way or not, its more likely to be a hop-on-hop-off thing. Soon find out.

This trek is based in more hostels/lodges and a lot more feeding ourselves rather than as a group in the campgrounds. I've got a few things on my to-do list as well like a bungee jump, maybe more horse riding and plenty of hikes...

After arriving back in Auckland around 20th November we'll stay the night then catch a flight back to Dubai where we intend to sun ourselves for two days then head back to cold little England on 24th with a nice winter tan. :)

Organising this trip is a little more complicated with all the flights and various accommodations - plus I'm organising for two. I've got double everything slowly mounting up in my bedroom ready to be packed. All the paper work and last minute things to throw in are hanging around needing my attention...

But we're getting there and John is almost organised and ready to have some freedom from us! Mum's alright, a bit nervous I think, but mainly she just breaks into an excited holiday dance every now and again which I'll try and record at some point for entertainment purposes.

I'll even been updating for two while were away so Hi all mums friends!

And remember whenever you read, we'll be about 13 hours ahead of you. 

See you in Winter

Josie
xxx

And then I flew away...



Group shot on Jefferson steps

 To carry on from where I left you... Washington DC illumination tour with our lovely leader and oh so professional tour guide Kait.  She drove us into the city and where possible parked up to let us get out and have a look around, if there wasn't parking, loaded us with facts on the road then kicked us out, drove round and came back for us! We visited Capitol Hill, Jefferson, Lincoln, the brand new Martin Luther King and my favorite, the FDR Memorial. The memorial was split into four sections, one for each time he was elected as president. "Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear." The lighting wasn't the bright white of the other monuments but peaceful yellow and greens through the mini waterfalls that gave the place more life and noise.



Post Office, 12th Floor. Washington
Monument in background.

 The next morning we had a whole day to explore the city. We started at the Post Office and got the elevator to the 12th floor which provided us with a 360 view. The FBI building was just next door and the Smithsonian Museums spread out in front of us waiting to be explored.
Just up the road we spent time in Fords Theatre & Museum where President Lincoln was assassinated with a single shot to the head by an actor. Then walked right around the White House, stopped for photos and then carried on to find the Air & Space Museum which as pretty fascinated. I touched a piece of moon rock! But so have a million other people by now... I spent most of my time in the WW2 displays and planet exploration before going to find Tui and heading over to the National Museum of Art. Roaming through the quiet rooms for an hour was barely enough time to see it but we covered as much ground as we could. Regrouped and on the metro we had time to see Arlington Ccemetery, which isn't as easy as it sounds. Rows upon rows upon rows of white graves in perfect lines, men and woman who died for their country. The JFK family are there too. There wasn't time for us to stay long but I'm glad we went.
Metro back to the Verizon Centre where we met up with the rest of the group at Clydes for dinner. I had to eat with a lobster in front of me and to the side of me! Crazy people! But saying that my dinner was great too and it was our last meal all together. The ride home was full of laughter even though we were tired and then after I showered a few girls had journals that they wanted messages from us in. It was hard to get emotional about it because I'd chosen not to think about how much I'll miss trek.
However, the next morning the goodbyes started as we left Sarah (one of the Grand Trekkers - 6weeks) in Washington to catch her flight to San Fran to meet her mum.

The Frumen Family (Kaits family!) had very kindly invited us to their house in New Jersey on our way through to our last hotel so we stopped off in a real American home for a few hours, had some amazing food and got to use a real bathroom! Joy! Not long after we arrived Amy had to be dropped at a shuttle to catch her flight too that left another gap in the bus. We stayed a while longer with the Frumens and friends which was lovely and emotional for most. My team won the cooking competition surprisingly which was nice! And then just before we left we were group hugging Kaits parents in the kitchen and Tui popped out for a Tootsie roll for the road and walked straight through the screen door, knocking it onto the patio! Needless to say we all fell to the floor with laughter. Then in a rush we shot to the train station and had a frantic goodbye on the platform to Tui, Zoe, Jess, Bell & Lise. Lots of tears and throwing bags out of the trailer onto the train. They headed into Manhattan for the night while the remaining few carried on to the Hilton in Newark. Here we had to say goodbye to Kait... more tears. Then because I had a room to myself I invited everyone in to hang out - providing they give me half an hour to enjoy the luxury of a bath first!! We chatted, ate junk and helped make plans for people staying a few days while I completely repacked my bag for the journey home. Then it was time to say goodbye to Sarah (there were two - I'm not crazy) Miwa, Sam, Iso & Taz. And I was left alone again.
Up at 5.30am and grabbed an apple cinnamon muffin from Starbucks then got on the shuttle to the airport. Check in was easy, fumbled through security with sleepy dust in my eye and only an hour or so until boarding. So bought 3 books and some presents with my last dollars then got on my plane home to chilly little England.
I hadn't cried yet even when everyone else had which isn't like me. It almost happened on the plane but the movies distracted me. But when Jimmy picked me up at arrivals I was a mess. Snorted and everything...

And now I'm home. It's weird but I'm getting used to it. Reality is a kick in the teeth after all my adventures but Bournemouth is exciting in its own way. And I still have New Zealand with mum to look forward to in October. So until then.........

Josie x

More memories and mishaps

Before I start on Lafayette, I forgot to include a memory last time, I think it took place somewhere in Texas. We were travelling along and looking out the windows at more fields when something odd caught my eye. Coming up from the ground was a dust and leaves caught in the wind spinning into a little twister. After we'd seen one we saw others all around us. They weren't huge but a least a few feet wide and about 15ft high - big enough that we could see them across a field or two! I've only ever seen this kind of thing in movies and on a much larger scale so to me it was an awesome act of nature to witness...

Back to our arrival at Lafayette. Our camp site was the big patch of grass next to the laundry/restrooms building with a shelter in the middle that we could cook, eat and get a fire started in the fireplace. Just as we'd set up the tents Taz found a tiny baby possum that was then cared for all night by Zoe because we didn't know what to do with it. It was eventually given away in the morning to be cared for. But while the possum excitement went on I cooked dinner with Lise & Miwa and the rest of the group went for a swim. Chicken curry went down well, as did the apron I found in the tool box, few smores over the fire, people e-mailing home then bed.

Our journey the next day took us to New Orleans, in an amazing hotel with a fountain outside my room with Jess and waffles for breakfast! We arrived late afternoon so after a dip in the pool, shower and walk into town we had dinner together. I tried Jambalaya which was pretty spicy for my pathetic taste buds so I traded and ate some of Jess' shrimp pasta. On the way to the restaurant I also bumped into a girl I shared in a tent with on my first CCiW about six years ago, as you do walking down the street 5000 miles from home... Was a little strange to say the least. She was on another Trek America tour that travelled the same way as us for the last few days to NYC.
After dinner we explored the famous Bourbon Street. The amount of voodoo shops and gentleman's clubs didn't exactly put me at ease but there also wasn't anything I could do about it. So we carried on and found a karaoke bar the whole group could go in called the Cats Meow. Needless to say, it was hilarious. Singing, dancing, rapping, cheering - that was the whole night! I won't forget those 'performances' in hurry.
On the way home a few of us stopped at the Clover Grill and I had cheesy fries! Not as good as in England but amazing for the time being. Walking home after the buzz of Bourbon Street was too quiet but as a group we were fine. Of course I was the only one that was worried as usual...

The following morning a couple of us met after a late breakfast and headed out to explore. Jackson Square and it's church was the first thing that stopped us. It was a stunning building inside and out with beautiful paintings and stained glass windows. I know it's not what a church is all about but I was told they have full services on a regular basis and a large membership.

Down on the riverfront a steamboat chugged by as the local painters and street performers set up. Another Hard Rock called us in for a visit to look at more music memorabilia; signed Jimi Hendrix tickets, postcards from the Beatles, signed Led Zepplin guitar...

Meeting up with two more we visited a few shops and went for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp co. - as in Forrest Gumps best friend (not sure why this movie kept coming up on the trip!) I'd already seen two of theses restaurants in San Fran and Monterey and couldn't believe they existed, but apparently they're all over America and some parts of Japan. Some Trivia for you: the movie came out in 1994 and the first restaurant was opened in 1997, all now contain some actual props and costumes from the movies. The whole place is themed from the 'run Forrest run' signs on the table when you'd like a waitress to the drinks menu being on a ping pong bat.

I had Jenny's favorite smoothie and Captain Dans fish and chips. Odd to be in there as I'm not a huge fan of shrimp but I tried some other peoples and it was really nice, especially coconut shrimp!

Afterwards we found Sam a football jersey that he'd been looking for and then had to drag everyone out of Urban Outfitters to walk down to the WW2 museum and memorial. Jess and I ended up walking back and stopping off in beautiful antique shops and galleries whenever something caught our eye. That part of New Orleans may have been my favorite.

The evening had us dressed up and getting a quick diner dinner because we were still full from lunch. Further down the street than we'd been last night we found New Orleans Musical Legends Park where a live band were playing some jazz/blues. We sat on the edge of this little fountain in between two buildings and listened as more and more people crammed in to hear them. They were excellent and ended with Wonderful World.  The rest of the night included meeting some others at the Cats Meow, watching a few awful performances, grabbing a slice of pizza and heading back. (its great to try food wherever you go but I couldn't eat any pizza, way too full)

The morning we left I had another embarrassing incident. I was helping one of the girls carry her second suitcase down the front steps with my own backpack on and put the bag down to early. So I kicked it off the last little step, lost my footing and fell in slow motion to the floor remembering I needed to turn and landed on my back pack, then fell sideways onto the sidewalk. I couldn't move for laughing which turned to tears after Kait helped me up. Only two people actually saw the fall I think but everyone saw my crazy aftermath because I was laughing/crying for ten minutes. Got away with just a sore ankle. Throughout that day Kait would just randomly start laughing because she was replaying me falling over in her head. I wish I could have seen it like she did.

Anyway, next. Birmingham, Alabama was home for the night and we went to watch a baseball game. It's also where we got dinner, hot dog a chips please! to which they tried to give me crisps... if you don't speak the lingo you wont get  what you want so ask for fries. The game was great and I sort of understood it. Some typical American men were sat in front of us having a man night shouting and drinking. When they heard our accents they completely ignored the game and said hello to everyone then bought us all a drink. (but it was thirsty Thursdays so only $1 a drink...)  I was cold and ready for bed by the time the game finished so straight to my tent back at camp, and I would have gone straight to sleep if it wasn't for a group of rowdy English guys partying in the site next to mine. If I wanted to hear drunk boys sing The Proclaimers at the top of their lungs I would have stayed at home and gone to a pub in town. Needless to say most of us were grumpy that morning...

I wish I'd gone to the Civil Right Museum that day but I just wanted to sleep so I went to a little lake beach at the campsite and slept in the sunshine. Didn't smell great there, came back after a while and set up for a quick lunch so we could get on the road as soon as we were done.

Tennessee with the river rafters was our stop that day. Lovely beef stroganoff for dinner and then a band from the area were playing over at the bus bar (which is what it sounds - an old yellow school bus opened up to be a bar). It was great to meet locals and travellers alike, real rednecks! A lot of them were rafting guides and took the group out the next morning. The whole campsite was really relaxed and even if people didn't know each other they'd stroll up to your campfire and introduce themselves, have some marshmallow's and chat.

I had the best lie in in weeks when everyone went rafting and the oh so lovely Jess even threw a marmite bagel at me before she left! By the time Sarah and I had casually got ready, put our tents down and packed up they all returned soaking wet and hungry! Fed and dried we climbed into the van and made our way to Virginia.

Another lovely KOA campsite that put all three trek groups right out of the way at the back of the site. It was a nice site, we were just tucked out of the way. But I managed to call Jimmy that night while dinner was cooking and sort out picking me up etc which was exciting but so strange after being away so long.

The new group that arrived was an Intrepid trek going in the opposite direction to us so they'd only just started. After dinner we went over and introduced ourselves. They were a really lovely group and asked all about where we'd been, what they needed to see etc and gave us a few tips on Washington DC. It was also one of their trekkers birthdays so we all had some chocolate cake! It was the best chocolate I'd tasted since the UK, man did I miss cadburys...

The following morning we waved goodbye to the other trek as we departed and headed for our last campsite just outside of Washington DC. Cherry Hill had an amazing pool and hot tub that we took full advantage of before a quick shower and pizza pockets for dinner that my group prepared. We had our own wooden pavilion to cook and eat in and little lights in the trees to guide us out to the main building.

Kait packed us in the van that evening and took us on a Illumination Tour of the monuments. I think Washington was easily my favorite city this whole tour.

 And because this is such a mammoth entry and I need to get ready because jimbobs taking me out for dinner I'll save the last three days for a final entry!

Yours,

Josie x