Contiki Begins!

LONDON TO ROME 3RD JULY 2008

On the 30th June i departed Christchurch airport to start my Contiki London to Rome tour. After four flights Christchurch-Auckland-LA-Munich-London, i finally arrived at Heathrow airport! What a relief all my bags arrived yay! I caught the Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station and then taxied to my hotel the Royal National in Russell Square.
I had arranged on facebook a few days before to meet Laura (AKA Titties) before our tour started. We met for a drink in the hotel bar and then Laura booked that same London sight seeing trip as me for the next day. How crazy it was coming all the way from New Zealand by myself and meeting Laura who i met on facebook! Thank god for Facebook. Laura and I just clicked! We spent the next morning exploring London we saw St Pauls, Buckingham palace, changing of the guard, Big Ben and basically all of London in a day. We got our tour guide to drop us at Victoria Station so we could go and see the Tower of London. To be honest thinking back i was quite anxious about taking the tube it just seemed a little daunting as we had nothing like this at home! It was soooo easy! We couldn't believe it. We got off the tube at Tower Hill and there it was the Tower of London. After spending a few hours there we decided to go to Covent Gardens where i did a little shopping and then we tubed back to our hotel. We saw Jess and Mike fellow kiwis from Auckland (AKA Mom/Milf and Dad/Dilf) before we left and then met up with them to go to our tour meeting in the London Coffee shop. We checked in and met our Tour Manager Suzie and Coach Driver Jaime who was to be referred to at all times as Sexy and to this day is how i know him. I can't call him Jaime LOL!!! After the meeting Morgan and Hailey came and said hi to us we were all facebook friends so it was very cool. Me, Laura, Jessi, Mike, Morgan and Hailey all went for dinner at a little Italian restaurant then walked back to our hotel. We had an early night considering we had an early start the next morning as our tour was about to start!!!!

3rd july 2008

We met our group at 6am to depart for our tour! Benny came and introduced himself to us before the trip B B B Benny. We had to way our bags and i must say i was really relieved my bags were under 20kg! I packed all my heavy stuff in my backpack hehe! We met Shelley our coach who was this old school coach from Amsterdam and i miss her!!! Two girls were missing in action (Kerry and Jess)

THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS!!!

Suzie tells us we have been upgraded to a hotel in Paris so we are all so stoked! We drove to Dover to catch the ferry to Calais. Goodbye London Bonjour Paris

On the ferry we all ordered wine @ 10am and it went down pretty nicely!!! After a few hours on the bus we arrived at our so called hotel upgrade! It was hilarious though! The thing about your trip is you have to go with a complete open mind and if something isn't right you just have to laugh it off. Although looking back now this was a pretty cool room considering it had a bathroom and plugs! Me Laura and Kerry roomed together in Paris. Kerry hadn't showed up yet because her and Jess missed the coach and had to catch the Euro star to meet up with us in Paris! We had an evening tour and Sexy took us to all the sights and got a sneeky pic of the Eiffel tower. We got to the Eiffel tower and were told to buckle up... We didn't know that Sexy was about to floor it on the round about of the Arc de Triomphe it was hilarious! Suzie cranked Pump it and we all were screaming and laughing. Suzie didn't tell us until afterwards that nobody has insurance on the roundabout because there is an average of one accident every 12-15 minutes!

It was our first night in Paris so we were determined to celebrate! Me, Mum, Dad, Ben and Laura went on a search for a bottle store. We walked for a while and some guys helped us to try and find somewhere. We finally found a little convenience store and it was like finding gold! We drank in Mom and Dads room for a while! the wine is so cheap it is even cheaper than water. Mom bought a 3 euro 1 litre bottle of wine. Because what do we do on Contiki? We drink haha! We moved into Bennys room and Met Danny sooner to be known as Princess! I went and grabbed Kerry and Jess from my room coz they wouldn't know anyone and got to know them.

The next day we were dropped off in the morning at Versailles Palace which was beautiful! The palace is cute but the gardens are spectacular!!! "I want to make love in the garden" After Versailles and from Suzie Q's recommendation we went and bought fresh fruit from a cute little market. Sexy and Suzie dropped us off at the Arc de Triomphe and for the rest of the day it was free time.

Of course Paris isn't complete without a walk down the Champs Elysees and we did a little bit of shopping! We had yummy lunch baguettes tarts, drinks and coffees. Suzie surprised us and booked a group entry to the Eiffel tower so hallelujah we didn't have to queue up! We just walked straight on in. And we were amazed to how big the queue was and we didn't have to wait wahoo!!! Danny was so nervious about going up there we made him chop some beers hehe! Me, Mum, Dad and Laura decided we would walk down and we got to the first level of the tower and had a toast of champagne! How perfect! How could life possibly get any better? Well it did just keep getting better!

We arrived back at our hotel (skipped dinner because we didn't quite feel like grated carrots). We still had more alcohol in our room so we drank that and decided to head into town on the Metro. We wanted to go into the red light district but getting there drunk on the Metro in Paris is another story!!! Lots of people helped us to this area and one guy said there is an Australian bar called Cafe Oz which was totally unplanned and at the time we had absolutely no idea where we were. It was AWESOME! We had Jaeger shots, danced all night and on the podiums with sleezy French boys! We had soo much fun. Me and Hailey had nutella crepes in the middle of the morning outside the club so cool. Laura and I bought Suzie a little present which ended up all over the place that night! Funny sayings started catching on in particular I can see your money belt and im sorry if youre reading this you are not gonna understand alot of these sayings!!! After a fantastic night we decided to head home which again was another story! We walked for over an hour trying to find taxis and one that would actually take us back to our hotel. Taxi drivers in paris will only take 3 people they won't let you sit in the front seat!

The next morning we woke up and Laura made me pour her a gin at 8.30. She was drunk by 10 and at the Louvre hilarious! We looked around the Louvre, saw Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo etc and the Me, Hailey and Morgan went on a huge mission to find the Notre Dame. Especially in the pouring rain!!!! We finally got there and it was absolutely beautiful! We taxied back then met the group to get taken back to our hotel to get ready for our French Meal and Cabaret.

We walked through MontreMarte and took photos outside the Sacre Coeur. I was in love with this church it is just beautiful. Then went to Auberge de la bonne Franquette had orange duck and snails yum! Don't have the Vegetable Tarrine there Morgan had it and its possibly the most disgusting thing ive ever tasted in my life but it was hilarious. There was a hilarious entertainer tranny guy! After some wine here we were taken to the Nouvelle Eve which was just fantastic. Of course the guys loved it topless ladies, and girls loved it topless guys and champagne yum! After the Cabaret we did party bus all the way to the hotel then partied in Candi and Irinas room for a while. Laura and Benny streaked which streaking and flashing became a theme on our tour. They got busted by the security guard! We thought the security guard stole our key and this is where the For Fu*** sake Monsieur episode came in. Kerry i love you! To this day i still laugh so hard about this saying! Actually Danny had stolen our key and Kerry ended up getting the master key to the hotel and apologised to the security guard hahahahah!!!

Chateaux de Cruix (AKA Chateaux de Craziness and Lake Clamidia)

We were all so sad to leave Paris because its just stunning! However we had no idea what was in store for us at the next destination. The funny thing about our coach Shelley was that everyone slept and was asleep within minutes of being on the bus! Which Suzie found hilarious otherwise we would have live entertainment from Sexy who would make you laugh until you got abs and i certainly did! Suzies idea was that at every Contiki site we arrived at we would prank the reps when they jumped on board the bus.

On her first day she said she was happy with nudity and streaking so this was already underway in Paris. Soooo when the rep jumped on board in Thieze we (Me, Titties, Benny and Princess) started taking our clothes off and it was hilarious! Another had to be there moment! To be honest the next pranks still didn't beat this day! Straight to wine tasting after this. Us girls already stocked up on wine at the Service stops but you don't need to! The alcohol at the Chateaux is so cheap. 4 euro bottles of champagne and 1 euro glasses of wine! Definitely stock up on junk food coz there is no shop here your TM wil tell you that though. We were introduced to Eau de vi (water of death) we all swore not to touch the stuff ahuh!

Be ready for crazy parties and lots of drinking! Things just turn totally wild! We had two dress up parties one was "inside out back to front" and the other was a "P" party. We got sooo faded! And from then on my nickname was nips and my roomie Titties. After the inside out party we walked to the top of the world and alot of people chose to stay behind! I definitely recommend going up there! There is plenty of time for drinking when you get back! It is a gorgeous view and time to relax. We met this dog and named her Pissy! Hailey and i were pretty tired so lay in the sun there while everyone headed back. We somehow had a genious idea to find the hairdresser in the township but it was closed bugger!

When we headed back to the chateaux we were told it was a "P" party tonight. This is one of those nights were i don't remember anything! I asked Princess if we went to the Cave.... Don't want to go into too much detail but it was messy! We had a Pregnant Prostitute in Purple, Piss Pants, Penis in Pyjamas, Pirates, Pilots etc. Our crew went all the way but lots of people just did pretty... BORING! Oh and watch out for Alice haha!!!

BARCELONA

The next day we headed to Barcelona Baby. Me and Danny were so excited about this because we both spoke spanish. On the way we stopped at Pont du Gard which is amazing and then on to our campsite. Look out for dirty prozzies on the way there!!! Barcelona was where the weather started to get really hot. We went and had Sangria with our group and then headed to the beach in the evening and it was beautiful! Drinking sangria at night on the beach and swimming in the meditteranean just gorgeous! We all had an early night because we had to prepare for the nights ahead! The next day we saw the Sagrada Familia and just shopped all day in Barcelona. You have to go wild here i did! The shopping is sooo cheap. WE LIKE IT! After shopping in 37 degree weather we met the group and coach to get ready for the Flamenco night. This was very cool we all danced and Agua de Luna is where there is freepour alcohol! Just leave the bar tender a tip and you'll be drunk before you know it. After the Flamenco we had time to have our own dinner. The Nooduitgang (me, Laura, Danny, Hailey, Morgan, Benny, Jessi and Mike) went to a restaurant on the harbour and had the best meal ever Seafood Paella! And to accompany cold Sangria!! you will get used to drinking everything warm from water to wine, sangria, vodka etc.

The French Riviera

The next day we headed to the French Riviera. We arrived at our campsite Le Mistral which has killer dogs and geese! These cabins here are sooo cute. We went to the beach for a bit then to the bar! 2 euro shots of french fucks and froggies! Drink up. Titties ordered 10 for 18 euro.

The next morning we visited the French perfumery which was nice then we were dropped off in Nice for a free day. Me, laura, Hailey and Jessi stayed in Nice while the rest of the gang Danny, Mike, morgan and Benny went to Cannes. We hired a private beach totally worth it! Lay in the sun all day, swam and drank cocktails it was amazing!! NICE IS NICE!!! In the evening we went to Monte Carlo casino on the way Sexy and Suzie bought us pink champagne and we had a toast looking over the whole Riviera. Everyone put in 1 euro and James won everyone 300 euros at the casino which was going straight to the bar. Me and Laura were stuffed after Monaco and decided to have an early nite. We went to the bathroom and Suzies mouth dropped in shock that we weren't partying! So we couldn't let Suzie down or miss out on free shots so we ended up going out to the bar and having a great night. We went back to our room drank more sangria then back to the bar for some strawpedos. This is where a conversation along the lines of classiest casino, bar chips, plywood walls, Horse on Horse action (check out the curtains here) came along. Hilarious!!!

Venezia - The home of attitude adjusters! YUM

On the way to Venice we stopped off at Verona to rub Juliets boob for good luck in love and then Suzie and Sexy treated us yet again and took us to Lake Garda which is Italys largest lake and where George Clooney lives wawaweewah. I was rooming with Renae and Kaeli in Venice (Team Asia) a change from my usual 3 girls but i had fun and i miss Team Asia! We had a bad hair and makeup party. This night would have to be up there for one of the funniest nights of my life. We had attitude adjusters yummmm you gotta have one of these. Once the bar closed and i had put all my crew to bed I was not ready to go home. Sooo me, Sexy, Pete and Timmy went and had a coach party on shelley then went to the pier and laxed out drinking red wine... Ended up climbing the big rocket and watched Sexy raid the Contiki tent. Went to bed at 4am and then got up at 5.50am to wake everyone up and spend the whole day in Venice ahhh this was a long day!!!!! We had hail, rain, sun and thought we were going to miss our Gondola ride but no we made it and it was very cool.

Firenze

On the way to Florence we went and saw the typical tourist destination Pisa! And took photos etc. When we got to the campsite we were off to the Red Garter an awesome bar in Florence. You can get jugs of cocktails right up our alleys! Me and Mum had sex on the table and i had my first jaeger bomb haha!! After the Garter the Nooduitgang came back to our cabin (the cabins are awesome here they have two rooms, massive table, bathroom inside and a fridge!!!) and had a room party. Very funny conversations went on here. Best night with my nooduitgang!

We were dropped in Florence city for the day but by this time me and Laura couldn't be bothered seeing any sights so we just shopped and found a cute italian restaurant had pizza and wine it was great. This evening we went to our Tuscan dinner and then onto Space Electronic disco! A TOTAL MUST! There are 3 levels, Karaoke, Poles, Cages and lots of fun. Titties and I got pulled up to dance on the DJ stand on the top floor. I apparently decided to go home and then came back into the club to party down some more. Made it back to the Campsite alone (Contiki arrange the taxis all you need to say is who you are) i managed to convince the security guard on the motorbike to take me to my room and wahoo he did i waved to the bar and got to my room and fell asleep. Woke up fully clothed, drunk (This happened on a few occasions) and had 5 minutes till breakfast and leaving in 30 minutes but we survived. Normally i was everyones alarm clock but not this time!

Roma - One of my favourite places

I had my last Service stop today BOO with a capital BBBB. We had a walking tour of the Roman Forum by a cool guard i forgot his name. CONTEEEKEEE Follow the guide! We saw the trevi fountain, threw in the coins, went to the Colloseum and then off to dinner. The next morning we metroed into Roma and were dropped off at the Vatican line and would you believe it our luck no queue! It was amazing. We saw the sistine chapel and St Peters. Be sneaky and take the group exit to the Basilica after the Sistine Chapel coz then you don't have to exit and go and queue up outside to get in again. Me, Laura and Hailey went and saw the Capucin Monks which is very cool! Walls lined with bones pretty scary. What you are now we once were, what we are now you will be! We went back to the Spanish steps did some more shopping, had more gelato and metroed back to Giustiniana station to get back to the campsite. We thought it would be quicker to walk back coz we couldn't be bothered waiting for the coach at the station. We ended up hiding in the bushes so they wouldn't see us stupid idea but at the time it was so funny. Some killer dogs tried to jump the fence when Mike said hi to them. Tonight was our last night together! SO SAD! All the nooduitgang made toasts at dinner oh how i miss them! Then it was a compulsory bar night. The bar here is awesome there are poles which of course you have to try out. There was a dirty gypo (thats what we called people that did the camping tours) and he stripped and then fell ass over while doing a pole dance. I think someone is about to post this on youtube!!! We had a great night. The next morning we had our last breakfast and said goodbye to Benny, Morgan and Hailey who went onto Greece and Danny who was leaving to go back to LA. I cried so much that day! I didn't want the tour to end i had too much fun and wanted to keep going. Sexy and Suzie made me cry more they were the best possible people for TM and coach driver they did an amazing job and i miss them so much!

After we said goodbye to everyone me, Mike and Jessi hung out in Roma. We went and saw Villa Borgese which is a museum where alot of Berninis work was. I don't know alot about Bernini but it was cool. Then we had a picnic there. I did more shopping in the Spanish Steps this came to be one of my favourite places in Rome! Then that evening we went out for our last dinner in Roma and went to a cute restaurant in a little Piazza called Le Cave. With yummy pasta, tiramisu and home made cookies mmm. I had a really nice hotel for the night which was awesome. Right near the spanish steps. Jessi and Mike walked me home and we took pictures on the Ponte Cavor a bridge near my hotel and you could see the Vatican all lit up.

Well that's my trip summed up as best possible! I can't physically type everything here! There are so many memories and all of them are great. I had the time of my life doing this trip! I am ready to do it all over again haha! Can't wait for LA/Canada next year to see my friends again! Love to all Nooduitgangers. Thanks Contiki for the best trip ever i couldn't have asked for anything better on the trip!!!

NIPS XXX