Holiday in Japan & New Zealand

7^th November - 5^th December 2009

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We had a good holiday, though if I'm honest, New Zealand is a wee bit dull. We flew to Tokyo and went up the Mori Tower in Roppongi, visited the Akaska and Meiji Shrines, saw Giza and the some of the Imperial gardens. It was a busy but very polite place. On the trains everyone was using their enormous flip phones, but they weren't talking as it wasn't allowed, instead they were all surfing the web, texting or watching videos. I lost a credit card.

We then went to Auckland and on the way I left my iTouch on the plane. Luckily it was handed in and I got it back. We had three nights in Auckland. Over a quarter of the population of New Zealand live there, but you'd be hard pushed to know it. It's the only major city I've been in that seems to die on Saturdays. We went up the Skytower, on a harbour cruise, city tour and visited the museum. Tracey, Angie's friend from Leicester, had emigrated to NZ a few years ago and she and Gary, her husband, picked us up and we went to the Bay of Islands for a couple of days. On the way we detoured 150km, to see NZ's largest living tree. 150km for a tree!! We stayed near Waitangi where the treaty between the Maoris and Britain was signed. We went to Russell and on a cruise to Brett Point. Then we drove to their house, via Leigh, for a couple of days. Whilst there I had to have a filling replaced and that cost me $540! After that we went to Rotorua. On the way we went to Waitomo Glowworm Caves. On our first night we saw a Maori Show. Next day we went to Lake Taupo via the Hidden Valley, where there are lots of hot pools and steam vents. In Rotorua we also went on the Skyride and luge. There is an exhibition of NZ animals in Rotorua and we went there and saw things like Kea, Kakapo and Pukeko. Our last night together, we all ate in the restaurant by the Skyride and after that we went back to exhibition and saw Kiwis as they are nocturnal. Angie managed to lose her iPhone, but found it in Gary's car.

Angie and I then flew to Queenstown, which is a nice little place. There were stunning views from the room. In Queenstown, we went to Arrowtown, on the Skyride, had a trip to Puzzle World at Wanaka and a tour of Queenstown on a Segway. We also went on a small plane to Milford Sound, where we cruised the Sound. Most flights that week had been cancelled, and the trip was a little bumpy. On the way back we all left our seats by about six inches in the turbulence. The pilot cancelled the rest of that days flights. From there we drove to Franz Josef. The plan was to take a heli hike to the glacier and hike down. Unfortunately the weather was against us and no flights were going. So to make things interesting, Angie lost the car keys. We found them in a local cafe. From there we went to Hokitika for a night. We travelled to the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki and the next day we called in at Shanty Town and then dropped the car off and took the TranzAlpine Express to Christchurch. The weather was still bad, so although the scenery was still stunning, we didn't see it at it's best. In Christchurch we saw the cathedral, art gallery and went to the Antarctic Centre.

On our way home we broke our journey in Singapore. As we only had a day, we went on the Singapore Flyer, the worlds biggest wheel. While we were on the Flyer it started to rain. By the time we got off, it was like a monsoon. So there was no more sightseeing that day, we just mooched around the hotel and Bugis Junction the shopping mall attached to our hotel. We had a good trip but I'm not sure I'd ever go back to New Zealand.