London

Took a wee walk in London today to get some fresh air. Couldn't have
told you it was May though, horribly dreech, a bit of rain about and
definitely need for a few layers. Not good times at all. No real break
from it on the horizon either!

I tell you what thou the tube is a 'mare

Virgin rail

Just really, really crap! Loved being late today and delighted by
their excuses, when they tried to inform us what was going on!

Note to self

Don't play with the iPod screen cover, it will only cause bubbles and
all! Need to change it this weekend!

Over

Well done Fulham firstly, hard lines though, showed what you can do if
you want it enough! Also well done Madrid and Diego Forlan, he always
seems to kill the English clubs.

What a shame

Hard lines Fulham, don't think the deflection did anything though.

Still nothing...

It's very tight, penalties I'd guess!

More to come

Not a great deal of thrilling football there, but more drama and
certainly tension with extra time now!

Last Twenty

Still one a piece, but Fulham look pretty handily placed! Hoping that's not the kiss of death. Seriously though Five, David Pleat? Dear god!

Note to ITV, he's one reason I will be watching BBC in the summer!

A better picture of the Hilton

Managed to get a better picture of the Hilton, part of the Beetham
Tower in London. Apparently the 'ledge' is a bar where you can look
down to the ground. Brings a new meaning to face down in the gutter!

Great day for the club...

If your club happens to be Fulham. A bit late as just back from dinner with a pal. 1-1 almost midway through the second half, I'm going to sit back and enjoy!

A Historic Day

So here we go finally! It has taken 5 days since the 2010 general election where the Conservatives won the largest proportion of the seats, that the Prime Minister Gordon Brown has finally resigned. He's at the palace resigning to the Queen now and it is expected that David Cameron will now be the new Prime Minister. It looks like a Tory-Lib Dem coalition then that will lead our country from basically tomorrow.

The Manchester Hilton

In fact here we go I've managed to sort out a photo of the Hilton Hotel. Seems to defy gravity to me!

Manchester

Well well, back on my travels again, this time up north to he lovely city of Manchester and I have to say it really is a very nice city, certainly nicer than when I was here with a million and one drunken Glaswegians from the blue side of the city.
Certainly I would say like so many cities in the UK it has that lovely mixture of historical and modern architecture, and also a fairly good tram system, albeit you get some shock when they ring their bell and they're right behind you! Anyway talking of architecture, I'd say the Hilton Hotel is something pretty special, not at all sure how it works but that's why I don't make buildings I guess!

Footballing Classic...wunderba!

So for the first time since 2005 (I think?!) there will be no English team in the last four of the Champions League this year after Bayern Munich disposed of Manchester United this evening at Old Trafford, losing the game 3-2 but going through on away goals after the aggregate score finished 4-4.

And my, what a game it was too, with some stunning goals, great chances, Rooney making it after injury, crisp play, and really one of the best goals you will ever see to win a tie scored by Arjen Robben!

So the last four sees:
Inter vs Barcelona; and
Lyon vs Bayern.

I like to see the British teams do well, but I'm hoping this could be a watershed in the finances within English clubs. I have money on Barcelona I'd say!

Messi...

Just too good by the way, absolutely ridiculous tonight against Arsenal. Literally unstoppable, the World Cup is tasty now!

Canyon Swing Number 2 - Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood!

Canyon Swing Number 1! Backwards

No Adrenaline left!

Day 2 in Queenstown and it was once again time to get up early as we had a Thrill Combo to do today, namely:

• Canyon Swinging;
• Shotover Jetting; and
• White Water Rafting!

First on this list was the Canyon Swing, basically a massive swing that allows you to drop into a canyon at about one million miles an hour!

After I went first yesterday on the Bungee, Amanda was up first and I'm pleased she was as it meant I didn't have to deal with the guys straight up, who were very, very scary basically on the wind up!

This first photo shows the hut you drop from and the Canyon you swing into:

The Canyon Swing

There are various different poses you can pull too, with Amanda choosing Forwards and the Chair, with myself taking backwards and then Hollywood does Gimp Boy. It's all properly safe as the safety harness show here, but it's still horribly scary!

Amanda in Canyon Swing Safety Gear

I'm being safe too!

Well after all these thrills, it was back to Queenstown for lunch and a wee rest before taking on the other activities, so we decided to bed down in the sun down by the river, and it was lovely!

Amanda enjoying our lunch spot

Then, it was back in a van up to the Shotover river where we would be spending our afternoon mixing being on, it and in it!

First up the Shotover Jet! The Jet boat was designed in New Zealand and allows a boat to navigate quickly and precisely on very dry rivers. The first picture shows it in action:

The Shotover Jet

And we decided to slightly break the rules by taking photos of each other in the boat:

Neil in the Shotover Jet

Amanda in the Shotover Jet

It was an absolute blast. As was the White Water Rafting, but sadly no photos for you as the camera would of course got very wet. The best bit was saved for the end though when after rafting through a long tunnel, approximately 200m in length, we had to up our speed to get over a massive rapid where there was a whole bunch of danger from flipping over!

Luckily we didn't flip!

After all this, it was back to Queenstown to pick up the van, then head back on the road for a new place to spend the night. We decided Wanaka was our best bet a slowly growing Queenstown about an hours drive. We took the scenic route up near the ski areas and some old gold mines.

We made it just in time for the sunset over the lake and then headed into town for another big New Zealand pub meal!

Sunset over the Lake at Wanaka

Sheep Shearing

Turns out I missed the photo of the Sheep Shearing at the Walter Peak Farm. I'm hoping this video link will allow you to see it ok though!

A 19th Century day...to 21st Century in a few easy steps!

So we woke really early today for what could really be considered our first 'real' day of proper exploring, and headed down to the shores of Lake Wanaka for a cruise across the lake aboardthe TSS Earnslaw. This is an old steam boat, that I actually went on with my Family back in around 1989-90. It's a beautiful little steamer as the photos below show and chugged us over to the Walter Peak Farm for a tour of the farm and some morning tea.

Amanda and Neil on the Lake Shore Waiting for the TSS Earnslaw

On Board the Earnslaw

The TSS Earnslaw at Walter Peak Farm

Once at the Farm, we were welcomed by a farmer who then showed us about the farming in the Walter Peak area, including Sheep Dogs, Sheep Shearing and a chance to feed all the animals:

Amanda with a Feisty Friend

Amanda giving some Milk to the Wee One

Sadly too soon, after a nice morning tea, it was time to head back to Queenstown as the boat picked us back up!

The TSS Earnslaw on it's way to pick us up!

On the way back to Queenstown

The trip back was made more enjoyable however by the sing-song of old ditties with the old people on the main deck with piano accompaniment.

Back in Queenstown it was Bungee time. I went first and it was absolutely brilliant, although unfortunately I didn't make it into the water!

Neil About to Jump

Neil in mid Jump

Then it was the turn of Amanda who was less excited by the prospect of having her head in the river:

Amanda Waiting to Jump

Amanda Mid-Jump

It was a brilliant experience, and you know it must be a good event, when you get a 'free' t-shirt out of it!

Back at Base with free T-Shirts

So we headed wearily back to Queenstown for dinner and we decided we would have the World Famous Fergberger, a massive Burger with everything on it!

Fergberger

Fergberger and Steinlager, is there anything better for dinner than that? I don't think so!

After an incredible day, it was time for bed! One more crazy day to go!

Into the Mountains

Well, our first night in Bones proved to be a massive success, both Amanda and I sleeping well, plus the facilities in the campsite in Omaru were really good, so we woke up feeling pretty good all in!

Just as well too, as we had a lovely if not long drive from Omaru to Queenstown, our base for the next few days of adrenaline fun!

Upon leaving Omaru, we firstly drove ourselves through Rural Agricultural land, however, this soon disappeared and we headed into the mountains, with proper Lord of the Rings style scenery, as this first photo shows:

Our first 'Lord of the Rings' Photo

We continued our long old drive up into the mountains, occasionally stopping where the mood took us, or in the case of Bones and it's petrol sucking ability, wherever he wanted us to stop! Gift Shops, Rivers, Lakes, Waterfalls, you name it we stopped there...even getting photos of how far we had to go, about an hour of driving up here if I'm not mistaken:

Antone know how far to Queenstown?

On our approach, along with a vast number and length of road works, we stumbled upon AJ Hacket Bungee Jumping at Karawau Bridge...the original Tourist jump and where we stayed only briefly, as we were to return soon!

Amanda and Neil at the Bungee Experience

So we felt a bit sick knowing what we were going to be doing, then headed onwards into Queenstown, and what a place by the way! A beautiful little town on the shores of a lake, with the Remarkables rising out of the water up into the sky. It's quite difficult to explain how amazing it really is, I'm hoping these photos may do it for me:

The Remarkables & The Lake

The Remarkables

We managed to find the campsite, a rather large number but one that had room for us for the two nights we planned to stay there, and decided to explore the town, and start the gifts / souvenir shopping. A lot of it was really chintzy, but it was fun all the same!

We finished the day with a lovely meal in a pub downtown. Oh and a few beers to get us to sleep with all the excitement and adrenaline to come!

Supping a pre-bedtime pint in Queenstown!

The Lovely Bones - And more Penguins than a fat man could eat!

The second full day in New Zealand and still more bad wind news...Ballooning was cancelled again! Bad Times!

Still trying to keep a brave face on things we departed Hotel So, as we headed for the Wicked Campers Head Office in Christchurch to get a hold of our new travelling companion, our Camper van, which fingers crossed will get us all the way around New Zealand and will be dropped off in Auckland in 2 weeks. As is customary in these occasions, we decided to name our van, and despite Wicked calling it 'Skulls' we decided on Bones!. Hopefully as the photo here shows, Bones is not a bad description.

Anyhow, first up was Petrol, then food and other important items, before hitting State Highway Number 1, down the East Coast through Timaru to Omaru, our stop-off for the night!

Now let me tell you something about Omaru, it is Penguin central, as the monument and the Road sign here hopefully show!

To give you a brief Biology lesson, there are two types of penguins that nest in Omaru, that is the Blue-eyed, and the Yellow-eyed penguins.

In general, the Yellow-eyed penguins are more elusive, as there are fewer numbers and they are also much more shy than their Blue-eyed cousins. The photo to the left is a yellow-eyed number, from high on a cliff.

Later on, we went to the specially made Penguin 'Runway' which was basically a specifically built 'stadium' where the little fellas came ashore in large numbers before heading up the hill to go to their nests. Sadly, no photos were allowed, as the over officious guide constantly banged on about, but it was great to see them anyway. More impressive and humorous, was the number of penguins in the car park that we had to avoid in Bones as we headed to the Campsite for the night!

First Full Day - Christchurch

So today, we finally managed to enjoy our first full day in New Zealand, and luckily the weather was superb, really sunny. Sadly the wind wasn't so helpful as it turned out at 4.30am that our Hot Air Ballooning was cancelled! Still we try again tomorrow.

First up after a nice breakfast was, a stroll around the city of Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island, where we would be for all of the first week. The city is very green and has the River Avon meandering through it, it really feels like a taste of old England on the other side of the world...a nice way to acclimatise!

First up then was a punting ride on the River Avon, see the photo to the left, which shows Amanda and I looking happy.

After this it was back to town for a view that money can buy, but I felt very privileged to see it, namely in the main square was a small zoo/aquarium which had New Zealands national bird, the Kiwi in it. Although it was pretty dark in the nocturnal room, we managed to see it, so we could tick that off our to do list!

Following a lovely lunch in the botanical gardens where Amanda managed to have a play on a tree (see below),

It was back to town to ride the old tram in town. The picture to the right shows me in front of the tram. A jolly old ride it was too, as there was a band playing old songs on the back of it...all the old classics, such as 'You are my sunshine' etc.

Finally, it was back into town for a bit of shopping, then a nice dinner and we managed to fight through until 9pm before finally succumbing to the tiredness and jet lag!

Would be rude not to!

Cheeky Beer to start the trip!

Christchurch

Yes, we made it to Christchurch, and managed to have a little look around, including seeing the Cathedral in the main square to the left. Jet-lag is pretty bad but our Hotel (Hotel SO) is very nice if not small!

Our Plane...

to get us to Christchurch today hopefully!

Made it...but not quite!

OK, try and keep up with me here if you can, we've made it to New Zealand, but only Auckland, and we have a plane trip to Christchurch still to go. As you can see from the photo on the right, Amanda was feeling a bit silly after a long time in the air here, taken immediately as we got off the plane.
Still judging by this photo to the left, I'm in not better shape!
However, once again the video screens were blurring with activity, this time I enjoyed watching 'The Blind Side' and 'The Damned United.' OK, with both being sport's related, I was always going to be sucked in, but I really liked both of them. Billy Bremner was hilarious though in the latter film!

We now face a walk to the Domestic Terminal to catch our plane to Christchurch!

Hong Kong

So we endured 2 hours in Hong Kong airport, which to be honest wasn't much kop! Not particularly looking forward to another 11 hours on a plane. Still I got stuck into 'Couples Retreat' and 'The Hangover' which were good, so thank heavens for small devices I guess!

NZ038...

...is off. I hope this flight is ok!

New Zealand here we come!

So here we go, the trip to end all trips. This is a retrospectively written Blog of my Girlfriend Amanda and my trip to New Zealand and Fiji in February/March 2010.

Thursday 25th February and we are flying for 24 hours to New Zealand via Hong Kong! Here is Amanda getting ready with a big burger in Heathrow!

Hope this stands the test of time...and enjoy!

Are they, or are they not for real...

Manchester City win again...leaves them level on points with Liverpool in 4th place with a game in hand!

And a win for the Glory Hornet Boys

Confession Time...

...I didn't stay up to witness it, in fact I turned off when I thought the Colts were going to win following Joseph Adddai's Touchdown in the 3rd Quarter. Still despite me losing a fair amount of money, I think I'm quite happy that the Saints won, and think it's a wonderful story if nothing else!

Superbowl!

Well, it's that time of year again, when all eyes focus on the good old US of A, for the greatest show on Earth, the Superbowl. In this case it's Superbowl XLIV or however you write 44 in Roman Numerals. It appears like the Colts of Indianapolis are favourites lead by their QB Peyton Manning (Right).

However, the underdog Saints with their two stars, Drew Brees (Left) and Reggie Bush have won the hearts of the Nation and possibly world, and winning could be redemption for a City ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

My own view on the matter, if Manning can be as consistent as he normally is and the Colts Defense can be the force they have been for most of the season they should win. However, if Brees can keep the momentum of early completions going, and RB Reggie Bush (Right) plays like he did against the Cardinals in the playoffs, then the Saints are in with a shout!

I'm staying up late, hoping we have a cracker!