Hey guys,

Here's a travelogue for the Grand Explorer trip I took in Jan of '06 to New Zealand. I'm REALLY lazy, so it took forever to get around to doing. There doesn't seem to be many sites about the New Zealand trips, but essentially they're all offshoots of the one big Grand Explorer trip.

Here's the URL:

http://grandexplorer.co.nz/

The thumbnails don't really work, and I have no idea why, but it's not important enough to fix. Anyway, I hope some people find this useful

hey richard.

just migrated through your travelogue, awesome way to do it with all the fellow ppl on your trip. thanks for making me live out the tour again without going on it.haha. bunch of pissheads (kinda happens when on contiki in nz).
rock on sweet as bro (or cuz) whichever random kiwi name you wish to be called
(kaz explorer September 2006

Hi Richard!

I saw your website. I am planning a NZ Explorer trip this nov 2007. What time of the year did you go?

Email me at: chefnick76@yahoo.com

Thank you, waiting for your reply!

kazza, glad you enjoyed it! It was a brutal amount of drinking (as it's bound to be with so many Aussies) but I survived... just barely It's my second Contiki trip and I seriously can't wait to go on my third. I'm itching to go something fierce. God they're fun. Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

Nick, check your e-mail man and let me know if you have any questions.

Hi Richard,
Loved the travelblog! Looks like you guys had loads of fun :-) I'm going in March but it's still early days yet.

Just wondering, did you get time to see much thermal activity in Rotorua? I wanted to spend a few hrs at a thermal reserve but it looks like you don't get much time there, if at all?

And what was it like being on a coach with 40-50ppl, it sounds like a lot of ppl!! Lol. Anyway again, loved the travelblog and I'll check it out probably lots more before my trip :-)

richard i think our livers met somewhere in nz the hot spa at rotorua was my undoing, so was taupo and queenstown, lets just say theres a mobile phone lost somewhere in or near the lodge. wellington too except for the fact i was out in the sticks(my best mate lives there and i went drinking at her place..

haha aussies and kiwis are all the same drink drink and drink more

oh and emma, you do a tour of the geo thermal area. and then somewhere nearby the next day you stop off at another geo thermal spot for a walkabout. i forget my liver and mind were seduced by vodka and speights and so many other fun things.

and emma find a nice spot near someone talk the day away then when you get bored with that one move along the bus. 40-50 ppl is fun you meet so many different ppl.

i recommend playing asshole between 4 ppl

Yeah, what kazza said is right on about the geothermal stuff. If you look at my site there's a section called Day 11 - Maori Village where we visit some and then during Day 11 - Helicopter Ride where my brother and I were flying around above the geothermal stuff the rest of the tour was walking them on the ground. I don't have any pics of it, because we weren't there, but you definitely spend at least an hour or so checking them out.

Being on a bus with 50 people is almost the best part of the trip. The bus rides can kick a lot of ass if you let them. You can either just hang out and talk trash/play cards all day long, or sleep and recover from your hangover because you partied so much the night before. I opted to just party all the time and worry about sleep when I got back home ;)

I'll definitely back the Asshole recommendation... especially because with different cultures you invariably have different rules and stuff which can make it new and more exciting. On my site you can check out a section called Day 13 - Waitomo At Night which is pretty much one of those most insane Asshole games every played by anyone ever. The pictures seriously don't even come close to doing it justice. It was a crazy night :)

wonderful,, thanks for your ideas!

No problem, glad I could help! :)

Awesome reminder of my trip what it was like ... same tour ... different date.

Thanks Richard !!!

- Vic

Glad you liked it! ;)

This is very interesting info.

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1779845

Hi Richard,
I really liked looking at your travelogue. My husband and I are doing the tour in November and it gave me some great ideas. I was wondering how much you all spent on the extra food/booze/activities on average. We're saving for the extras now and want a good idea of how much to take with us. We're thinking about $2000 each but we want to be sure this will be enough.