New Zealand's South Island - Abel Tasmin

I just found out that New Zealand has a lower population than Bristol alone. Wow! Which is why during rush hour traffic I might see one car, a lorry and a horse and cart. Dontcha just hate rush hour?!

After the most beautiful drive along the Queen Charlotte Drive we arrive in Motoeka and a cool hostel 'Eden's Lodge', which is set amongst orchards and vineyards...and we are camping again! J and F are here also but they have the luxury of walls and I have the fear of seeing a ghost as we walk in pitch black to our tent with nothing but a torch to guide the way. I think seeing Ghost Stories about 6 months ago seems to have had an effect on my mental well-being. Anyway, we will be here and in the Abel Tasmin region for the next 3 nights. This hostel has a homely lounge with DVD player. This hostel has DVDs we can borrow for free. This hostel has the Lord of the rings trilogy. 3 nights,3 movies... perfect! And it is really cool seeing the locations and landscapes we have been visiting in the last month. So excited!

But anyway apart from watching the trilogy we have actually been very active and exploratory! We found a gorgeous beach on our first day, way over the hills, and it's only accessible via a long farmland walk. Needless to say it was kind of deserted and beautifully natural, as was the amazing amount of sheep poo we had to navigate around to get there!

Cute Sheep - Lotsa Poo

Walk to Wharariki Beach

Wharariki Beach

We then 'discovered', ok then 'explored' the local breweries offerings. The Monkey Wizard brews a selection of ales, lagers and ciders which it then sells by the litre. Well, it would be rude not to try the local delicacies and litter their pockets with some tourism funding wouldn't it? The lady working in the brewery is also the best New Zealander we have met to date, and that title was only just previously won by the owner of Eden's Lodge.

Anne-Marie invites us to her coffee shop, where they roast their own coffee and make sweet treats, the next morning to get some caffeine energy and fresh croissants for our boat journey and walk in the Abel Tasmin park that day. We duly arrive at 8am to the 1950's - 1970's decorated coffee shop and vintage store, to enjoy the best coffee we have had in ages! Plus she has made us each 2 massive, buttery fresh croissants and a cake slice to take on our trip. AND not only that but she charges us each $5 for all of that! That is 2 and a half English pounds to you!

Anne-Marie and gang in AWESOME coffee shop/vintage store

Get in. After filling our boots we start our boat journey up the Abel Tasmin coast....

hmmm pleasant enough. It's kind of coast line-y. We see a massive rock that has cracked in two, some seals at a distance and finally we see some dolphins! HURRAH! They don't come too close to the boat though as they have babies at the moment and we could be big scary baby dolphin eaters for all they know, or that's what I think they might think if they do indeed think and think in English.... Anyway, so we jump off the boat at Bark Bay for a nice 3 hour walk through the forest to Torrent Bay to get collected again.

Torrent Bay

Lovely Blue Lagoon

I think my favourite part of the trip so far is now coming up...now remember we have just watched Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Rings the previous night... I decide I want a Gandalf magical stick to walk with and soon we have three fine specimen's to choose from so Duncan, Jon and myself are all walking along Gandalf style exploring beautiful, aquamarine lagoons when we come to an area of path where we remain just out of sight around a corner, and we can hear some fellow tourists coming up the path behind us....so there we stood all three of us in a row, blocking the path, Gandalf sticks in hand..anyone guess what happened next? As the three blonde German tourists rounded the corner we all simultaneously slam our sticks into the ground and yell in booming voices 'You Shall Not Pass'. Luckily the girls got our movie reference and peed themselves laughing! haha!

You Shall Not Pass!!!

Also on this journey I encounter what I think may be my first swing,suspension bridge - really scary - although the people lined on the bridge following my slow and cautious approach thought it was very funny. I thought they can't read as the sign said no more than 5 people on the bridge and I counted 6 - we could have all died people! Reckless behaviour I tells you.

Also, the boat couldn't get to the shore to collect us due to low tide and we had to walk knee-deep into the freezing sea to get on it. Not a happy Annie way to end the trip - don't they know who I am?! We console ourselves with a re-filling of our 2 litre beer bottle, recycling is good you see.

The next day the boys go into a cave and Flicity and I sunbathe and read books. Wet, cold cave or warm, grassy knoll....I think we win.

Something to do with a cave

We then go on to be the most awesome of survival experts in the world! This story has 2 versions. The one I choose to tell goes a little something like this... we go fishing for the first time in our lives and are brilliant at is as we skillfully catch a huge salmon. Ok, so in truth,we go fishing in a farmed lake and after 5 minutes of learning to cast this random woman throws some fish food in around our cast which causes the fish to go a bit crazy and get hooked onto the line within seconds...so J actually caught the fish and only because of some woman spoiling the game for us. However, it was quite big and we had to kill it ourselves and it tasted delicious! So there.

J with our Salmon

Enjoying our salmon - yum!

And we whiled the evening away with a game of cards...

which soon became a bit messy....

See you next time!

The North Island - The End

Eshk! It has been a long time since I updated AGAIN! Meaning I have about 2 weeks to type about, so to make this easier on myself and you poor guys actually following this I will keep it brief...as much as I am able to anyway!

So after our last camping adventure we went BACK to Lake Taupo. (We are trying to keep up with F and J a bit so we can do a few days and activities together as well as enjoying the much needed company of others - apparently Duncan finds the A-Z game a tad dull after 10 topics...) So anyway we are going back on ourselves so we can have a go at the White Water rafting in this area which is supposed to be cheaper and better than the South Island... and it was AWESOME! We only went for a grade 3 (commercially you can do a 5 in NZ) as I haven't done it before. We arrived and got paired with a group of 'elderly' white water adventurers, the youngest was 65yrs old... well good on them but I have an idea this may not be the hardest of rapids! So kitted out in sexy waterproofs, fleeces and helmets we enjoy a few gentle rapids and about 2 grade 4 rapids...we also got stuck on the rocks at the point that was supposed to be the best rapids and no amount of us and the elders bouncing was going to free us so the guide had to jump into the FREEZING water. How do I know it is FREEZING worthy of capital letters? Half way through the ride you have the option to do a waterfall jump (high or low version) Duncan immediately runs to the high level, me to the low, and damn if it isn't higher than it looks from the ground...suddenly I am not so sure, then SPLASH and *cheer* Duncan has jumped, crap, now I have to do it too. There is a moment after I have run off the cliff in which my mind goes 'what the fuck are you doi...' and I plunge into deep, freezing, clear fresh water. I can barely swim to the side to get yanked out unceremoniously by the guide and I wonder 'is this what Leonardo DiCaprio felt like at the end of Titanic...?' brrrrr. The rest of the journey passes by quite nicely with hot chocolate, dairy milk caramel and 'the elders' shouting at boy and girl (Duncan and I, but they couldn't remember our names) to paddle in time and getting upset because they are getting wet.... We have both decided that we love the rafting and next we'll be doing the level 5's which take you over the waterfalls.. watch this space!

Next we went to Wanganui, which has a mystical river and a large population of ducks. I'll get a video of Duncan telling off a black swan for frightening off the other ducks when we were feeding them bread asap!

The aggressive swans - video coming soon!

 Onto Wellington for a couple of nights. We pretty much did not like Wellington. Our hostel was like a squat and our stinky room smelt of damp and had a large speaker right outside, which when we asked the squatters if they would mind turning it down or off at about midnight as we had to get an early boat we were told 3 times 'no' because they were having a good time. Cheers guys. Also, I accidentally left my make-up compact in the room when we left and although I called the next day to ask if they had found it I was told 'If it was found it would have been put in a free box for others to take and it wasn't there now'. Now maybe I am getting a tad over-upset about make-up but it was boots own-brand, Christmas 2009 special edition, that I had waited 14 years for them to re-release after I stole my mum's and loved it when I was a teenager...humph. Other than that in Wellington we went to the top of a mountain to see some views, and enjoyed some amazing fireworks at the harbour (although it was a super windy Wellington night so it was freeeezing!) In general Wellington was a bit manky, under lots of construction works and not a great place. but is the gateway to the South Island ferries we were told we might see Dolphins if we looked out but instead I mainly slept and Duncan watched England lose to the All Blacks.

Goodbye North Island - Hello South Island!

Picture of Mount Doom - just because...

Lake Taupo, Napier and Mountain Valley

You wait 2 weeks for a blog then 3 come along at once, typical! :)

So let's pick this up, we are just leaving Lake Rotorua where it smells of sulphur but is rich in Mauri history and on our way to Lake Taupo. On our way we stop at Huka Falls, a super fast and deep river and waterfall that comes from Lake Taupo. You can get a get boat right up to the falls for a bit of a thrill but we decide to look at them from above which is about $200 cheaper and just as lovely - especially as the sun has popped out again (a great chance to dry the tent on the car, have a little kip post-camping, and to change my top just before a bus load of tourists approach, super).

Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand. It was created by volcanic eruptions and is filled with freshwater. Facts. Better than this though there is a cute little wine cafe and cellar right on the lake front which has a fabulous selection of local and European wines. Even better than this though you can buy the wine by the glass at $6 a glass ooooor you can buy a bottle from the far vaster selection in the cellar from about $18. Get in! And it is a lovely sunny day so it would be rude not to try a local Sav right? (we get very drunk at this point and have a deep heart-to-heart about life but I can't remember what we discovered about each other - oh well can't have been that interesting). 

Meeting up again with Jon and Felicity tonight (who now think we are stalking them - which we are) we head to another natural spa. They are in agony after a day trek across the Alpine Crossing, through snow and craters and such. They thought we might like to try it but sadly I'm just a bit too lazy and I think Duncan and I would get a divorce if he forced mountain walk on me. But the relaxing spa bit afterwards is nice! :) This one has individual, private spa bath rooms all at different temperatures ranging from 40degrees to 37degrees. All are connected by the filter system which some random guy in another room beat boxes down for our pleasure. haha. Moving into the outdoor pool we see a sign saying not to put your head underwater as this could cause a form of meningitis ( the water is naturally heated by the minerals which in turn causes a rapid rate of bacteria growth even though the water is changed every day) Jon has a super 'man panic' about getting ill as we all put our heads under the water already - oops - but the workerman assures us there is a very minimal chance of getting it the sign is just to stop any lawsuits! Although he did say the chance of women getting a urinary infection is quite high - hmmm cranberry juice anyone?

The following day we all head to Napier - wine and Art Deco city. Duncan and I checked out Havestock North (lovely Alderly Edge/Cheshire type village) and Hastings (bit Crewe like). Wandering around Havestock North I spy a lovely dress shop where I spend about an hour (or so...) trying on skirts and dresses which cost about 5 days worth of budget. Duncan must really love me??! :)

Napier is indeed wine country with about 76 wineries in the area, so it would be rude not to spend a day trying a few wouldn't it? We hire bikes (at a hustled down price - cheers Jon!) from our lovely hostel (Archie's Bunker)  along with some fantastic information from the owner on the best route to take to take us via a sheep wool factory shop, several wineries, a chocolate factory and ale/cider brewery. Cycling along the waterfront and through the vineyards is blissful in the beautiful sunshine. Our first stop is Mission Estate Vineyard and Winery - this place is gorgeous! and the wines aren't bad either! We try the first Ice Wine either of us has tasted, although they are usually made in Austria and Germany due to the fact that the grapes never freeze here in Napier. This wine is made by freezing the grapes once they have gotten to the sweet, overripe, shrivelled stage in a freezer. Still very yummy though! Next stop is Church Road Winery, which is the oldest winery in Napier. After a relaxed lunch of bread and cheese we try a few of the award-winning wines. We're not as fond of them as the wines we tried previously and Jonathan lets them know....one hour of debating the wine follows... the next winery is closing down sadly and the wine tasting of Chardonnay or Merlot from a plastic bottle isn't that enticing. The day is now fading into late afternoon and everywhere is closing so a quick call ahead to Brookfields Winery, a speedy beg to stay open as we are cycling and an even faster bike ride we manage to get a few tastings in before the end of the day! Lucky as this was the nicest wine we tried and since we were at the end of the ride we filled our boots...or rucksacks anyway! Again we race on to the cider/ale house and again it is closing, so again we beg for them to stay open for just half an hour more for a quick beer (since we rode our bikes there and everything!!) And luckily as everyone is so friendly and accommodating in NZ we get a pint in! yay! We ride back to our hostel a tad merry and with super achy bottoms! But seeing as we're out we head into Napier for a few more wines... and discover a lovely cocktail bar which creates bespoke cocktails based on what you like and don't like. Awesome! I get an orangey, vodkary, limey, lemon thing and Duncan has a Japanesey, vodka, cucumber thing - can anyone else see the evil face in the cocktail or was I just really drunk???

Brewery

Mission Estate

Evil face in cocktail?

With achy muscles the following day Duncan and I stay in the hostel and watch a super-marathon of 7 movies back-to-back. That is all.

We decide to brave the outside world again the next day to find the local farmers market in Hastings. The food here is fantastic, I wish we could buy loads of the fresh meat and veg on offer but as we have no fridge it would mainly go to waste. We settle for coffee, bread, free range eggs, indulgent cakes and just as the rain pelts down a bacon sandwich!

mmm save some for me!

The other great thing about Napier is the beauty of the buildings. Napier area is along a fault line and in 1931 suffered a huge 7.1 Richter scale earthquake which devastated the town and caused hundreds of deaths and causalities. The upshot of this horrific natural disaster though is that the town was completely rebuilt in the 1930's making this a real stand-alone town in which all the buildings are art deco. It really is like stepping back in time! Exploring the town is fantastic and I think this has to be my favourite place in New Zealand so far - wineries, art deco, sea. lake's and mountains all on your doorstep - lush!

The owner of the hostel we are at owns another retreat out in the mountains back towards Lake Taupo and has offered us a special deal rate - we deliver a box of overalls and we get a free night camping - it's a done deal! This place is gorgeous, set in the mountains, a river running below with loads of adventure activities on offer in the surrounding grounds - sweet as! But we are the only guests, and we soon figure out why. No, the place isn't dodgy - it is bloody freezing in the mountains in November! Actual heat-air is coming from my mouth - you know the type where you pretend to smoke when you're a kid? brrrrr. So like a survival expert, I make like Bear Grylls.... I check every lodge door until I find one that has been left unlocked - result! We are very aware that we are 'breaking the law' and will probably be taken down the cop shop if we are discovered (haha) so get up at 5:30am and head back into the tent (we're not very good criminals.) Time to go back to lower ground and back to Lake Taupo.

Mounatin Valley - we are the little car blob on our own :)

More photos on Facebook as usual!

Another update coming soon soon soon - I have hogged the free internet for nearly 3 hours now though! oops!

A Long Overdue Update! North Island New Zealand.

So before I start on the update I have to admit it. I a have an addiction. I have tried to beat it. I have tried to go cold turkey. I have tried to hide it from myself and from Duncan. But I think that the only possible way to try to get over this is to say it out loud and admit it to the world. I am addicted to Double Chocolate Coated Tim Tams. They are the most delicious biscuit with creamy chocolate centre covered not once but twice in yummy milk chocolate. (similar to a penguin but more chocolatey - for those who haven't tried them!) I love them. Ok I have said it let's move on.

I have to let you all know also that NZ has some of the best names for shops and businesses. I have recently come across 'The Meat Factory - More than meats the eye', excellent, a sandwich shop called 'Knuckle Sandwich' and the wonderful 'Florist Gump' - you choose your favourite!

Right, on with Turangi and the Bay of Plenty. After a dull day at the petrol station and rush hour traffic through Auckland we arrived in Turangi about 8:30pm and head off out on our first 'big night out' since we started the travels. After all it is Friday night, it is Labour weekend (I don't know what this is but we should celebrate right?) and the town should be wild right? Ok so not so much. We meet with Jon and Felicity (friends we met in Fiji and saw briefly in Auckland) and get straight on the wine - a NZ Sav don't you know. We spot some young ladies wandering around in basques and moulin rouge outfits (sorry I have no pictures lads) and enquire politely as to their evening plans. It is one of the ladies 18th birthday parties (18! for gawds sake) and she invites us to join... it would be rude to say no and she assures us it is really busy... Ok so it was dead (maybe busy for NZ parties?) so we assume she invited us to make up the numbers. We didn't let this or the dreadful r 'n' b stop us and hit the dancefloor with gumph, throwing some rocking party shapes, showing the kids how it is done. Eventually we tired ourselves out and after unsuccessfully finding a kebab house (apparently they all shut at 10pm - who wants kebabs before 10pm) we head back to the hostel for a good, hangover kip.


Urgh we are not good at hangovers anymore, 5 pieces of toast later we embark on a walk to Mt Manganoui. We are assured this is a 1 and a half hours nice walk. hmmm the walk is mostly through an industrial park, where we stop for a strawberry break, and by the time we get to the mountain we are all so sick and hungry we just about manage to find a before 10pm kebab, miss going to the mountain after all and get a bus back through the pretty seaside town.

Strawberry Break

Mt Manganoui

Saying goodbye to Jon and Felicity we head North again to the Coromandel area. First stop is the hot water beack where for 2 hours each side of high tide there is a small area which has heated water reservoirs underground due to the chemicals which rise so people can dig their own hot water pools which then fill with the hot water and you can sit in it like a spa pool. The water runs at about 65degrees C though so one moment the water can be cold and the next you can boil your feet off - so you have to be careful! After burning our feet we moved on to Cathedral Cove where the water has eroded the rock in the middle so it is arched like a cathedral window over the beach. You aren't supposed to walk through this as the rock above could collapse in at ANY TIME! DANGER! So after watching a few people go through and survive we risked it - well I ran though as fast as possible and found the other side was pretty much the same. And I risked my LIFE for that?! Also, if you have ever seen Narnia: Prince Caspian (or however that is spelt) when they get 'drawn' back to Narnia from the train station they land on a beach and it is indeed the Coromandel Cove beach. Cool.

We are heading back South again now and stopping at a place called Rotorua. Which is famous for being a hugely geothermal active area - meaning there is LOADS of sulpher and the area stinks of rotten eggs. Other than that it is quite nice. haha. On the way we stop at Hobbiton (Matamata) where they filmed The Shire part of Lord Of The Rings. We are really lucky because they are about to film The Hobbit so are rebuilding the set so it looks more like the movie than it normally does. However, we are sworn to strict secrecy to the point that I can't actually write about anything we saw on the Internet. You'll just have to see the film! Tonight we head to a campsite a little further out of town on the Blue Lake which is far enough away from the Lake Rotorua not to smell.

Blue Lake

After a chill out day in the sunshine with books we head on a traditional Mauri 'experience' tour. (I don't think traditional and tour really should go together in one sentence...) We visit a Mauri village, which is set up for the tourists. Before we are allowed in though we have to witness a Mauri warrior dance, which is really funny cause they stick out their tongues a lot and go 'bleurgh' as an act of defiance and war but just looks amusing. However we are strictly not allowed to laugh, smile or take photos from a crouching stance as this is seen as an act of aggression. I'm not sure what they would do to us if we do smile...argh now all I want to do is smile. Anyways, after we accept their gift of a leaf we are allowed into the village where they have some wooden huts and  fires set-up and we are informed about various Mauri traditions, cooking techniques, weapons, family life and children's games. Duncan 'volunteers' (ok I pushed him into the circle as a volunteer - so mature) to take part in the game which is a stick based game where you can't drop the stick. I'll show you when I get home. Duncan comes second, which I point out is rubbish because everyone gets a clap for taking part and then the winner gets a big clap for winning but who remembers or applauds second place? Think about it. haha. We then watch a Mauri traditional dance and song show before settling down to a huge dinner! Seriously my stomach is expanding - we had lamb, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, fish, bread, pasta and loads of stuff I didn't even take and then we had a MASSSIIIIVVEEE pavlova and steamed pudding dessert. Annie and Duncan happy. done. Just to mention that our bus tour guide was brilliant too! Firstly he remembered everyone's names (30 odd people) on the bus and chatted to us in our own accents (haha) on the journey and on the way back he sang each country our own songs. We had 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' but America had 'She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain' which he sang whilst driving the bus around a mini-roundabout again and again and again. Brilliant.

Mauri 'welcome' dance

Stick Game

I just like this photo because I look TINY!

Today we head to Lake Taupo and on the way stop at the Thermal Wonderland - oh and what a wonder it is. Firstly we see the Lady Knox Geyser erupt at 10:15am. I thought this was a natural phenomenon that it just happens to erupt at this time precisely every day. Actually they just throw soap into the geyser (which looks like earth's giant pimple..mmmm) to cause a chemical reaction which cause the geyser to bubble then all the hot water from the underground reserve to come shooting out to about 10m - 20m. Bit disappointing really so we go on to explore the geothermal wonderland of lakes, craters caused by collapsing ground, bubbling lakes and holes, gurgling mud pits and beautifully smelling sulphur steamy airs. mmm, I turn around to talk to Duncan at one point and get a mouthful of sulphur air - a bit like taking a mouthful of someone else's fart. yak! It is quite cool seeing nature's natural active volcanic area and seeing the land change to something really different, colourful and sometimes even toxic lemon. The prettiest lake was the champagne lake which naturally bubbles at 100degrees C but man it stinks so we are outta here!

Lady Knox Geyser Erupting

Pooey - smelly sulpher lake

 

 

 

 

 More photos on Facebook - more to come soon!

New Zealand - The Northlands

We're off, we're off, we're off in a motercar!

Off up North from Auckland we head. The weather is looking gooood and Duncan has decided that we will indeed camp...hmmmm. Apparently he believed me when I said 'sure we can camp'. We have been to The Warehouse (Duncan's favourote shop as he can buy a fleece in there for 5 English Pounds!) to stock up on all kinds of crap in the camping section, including a whistling kettle and outdoor shower thing. Nice.

First stop Piha. After getting lost in the very steep forest mountain we finally got to the coast, a gorgeous black sandy beach that sparkled like it was home to thousands of diamonds as the sun set across the crashing wave backdrop surrounding Lions Tooth rock.

Duncan was a true man and pitched a tent and cooked on an open flame, a gas powered flame but still many man points he did gain. Camping wasn't as cold as I thought it might be either, probably due to the fact that I insisted we bought the sleeping bags intended for 0 degree temperature climates!

We have, however, learnt that if you get in the tent with a torch and watch a movie on your ipod Do Not then get out of the tent to go the toilets! It turns out bugs are attracted to the light (who knew!) and all flew in the miute we opened the door so we then had to play squat the mosquito. I think I won and the black marks now on teh inside if the tent prove it....  The next morning it was bloody raining though wasn't it! No more romantic picnic blanket meals and sunshine. Now we have a wet tent in the car and cherrio's all over the front seat from me trying to eat from a shallow bowl. hmmmm. Grumpy Annie.

I decided to take the wheel on the way to the next place, up the West coast, and apart from Duncan pushing me out of a dip which I thought I would do a u-turn in I am loving the driving! We found a cute little vineyard and winery to have a few tasters. Apparently NZ is famous for it's Sav's and Pinot Noir's so they'll be my drink of choice for the next few months. We bought a couple of bottles, had a wander around the vineyard and headed onwards and upwards slightly drunk as the breakfast thing hadn't quite worked out...oops. Luckily the scenic roads of NZ have lots of little stop off bviewing points and picnic breaks, unfortunatly it is a crazy windy day and making jam sandwiches turns out more tricky than planned!

We stopped at our first Top 10 campsite in Waitomo forest this evening (after the cheaper government campsite option was spookily empty).  and wow! This place is beautiful - the moutains, covered in trees, create a stunning background to the clear running river that babbles along the bottom of the campsite.

I accidentally left Duncan to put up the tent by himself as I discovered a zip wire and trampoline playground. hehe. Again, the sun was shining this afternoon and it was a lovely day. Which obviously changed the minute morning broke...and it rained. again. I do not enjoy this.

We are continuing upwards for one more night, to eventually be able to get o the northernmost point, but on the way we have to stop at the famous (in NZ maybe) Kauri tree. It is 2,000  years old and it it HUGE! The daddy of the forest. A lot of the Kauri trees were once cut down but are now protected although a lot are being dug up from swamps where they were buried hundreds of thousands of years ago. My history on the trees is a bit patchy and the tree is well, just a big tree, so let's move on.

Kaitaia. This is just a stop for the night so we can go the on the bus tour up the Ninty Mile Beach tomorrow but oh joy of joys....we stay in a hostel! 2 nights of rain and the idea of getting up early (well, 8am) and packing up a tent helped me pursuade Duncan. This evening we have been told to head over to Mangonui to get the 'best' fish and chips in the whole of New Zealand. You don't need to tell me twice. Sadly, they were probably not the best we've ever had (is this because we are British?) the chips were McCains oven chips - weird. and the fish was good but not worth the reputation. Beautiful view over the sea whilst we ate though.

A day of not driving, hurrah! It is crazy how tiring driving can be when you haven't done it in years and today we are getting a bus tour up to Cape Reinga, the top of NZ. Getting a bus through the narrow twisting lanes and mountains of NZ is the scariest thing ever but our driver seemed completly crazy so we thought we were probably in safe hands. We made a few stops on the way up at the Kauri museum where they made some beautiful furniture out of the swamp Kauri and a lovely stop on a beach for lunch.

At the top of the land we walked to the lighthouse which is at the point where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. This is also said to be the point, in Kauri legend, where the souls of the dead leave NZ to go on to the spirit world. The toilets here also cost about 1,000,000 NZD to build. (I was listening see!)

On the way back we go down the 90 mile beach (which is actually only 63miles). This is something you are not insured to do in a car because of all the quicksand and if you stop in the wrong place for long enough then that is it, you're stuck! but first - we get to go sand tabogganing! The climb up is seriously steep though. I just got Duncan to carry my toboggan so all was well!

Some other people on another bus arrived just after us and they had boogie boards which went seriously fast down the slopes. Three of them decided to go down together, which didn't look like a good idea, and low and behold one swerved into the path of the others and they whacked heads. He had no memory afterwards of what had happened and she had a huge bump, at times like this I wish I was more useful with first aid, but I'm not and the tide was coming in so our bus left. We then shot down the beach at about 100km which was just pretty awesome really! We even saw a car in the quicksand that was apparently resurfacing after several years.and the best news yet, we get to stay in a hostel at Paihai tonight because by the time we get there it'll be too dark to put up the tent - yay! We found a lovely bar on the seafront and had a chilled out evening.

Duncan spotted a cafe last night that serves huge fry-ups so guess where we went this morning? After a huge breakfast and a little wander around a craft market in Paihai it started to rain, again, so we headed to see some nearby waterfalls. 

The first one we headed to had a sign about an hour and a half walk and since we haven't done much exercise so far we decided this might be a good idea! We packed the bag with all essentials, water, coats, chocolate (Duncan faffed for what seemed like 15minutes) to then walk from the car park and realise the waterfall was right there, and a bit shit. oh well. We then went on to the Whangerai Waterfall which is like the Paris Hilton of waterfalls apparently - the most photographed but not the best. It was ok and I had a nice drink....

Continuing south, Duncan needed a relief break, or just wanted to go see the famous (again probably only in New Zealand) toilets designed by some Austrian artist (paying attention again) They were quite pretty in a mosaic kind of way but bizarrly are on the map and had loads of German tourists visiting and taking loads of photos... even if Duncan was taking a wee (mind you why would you take a wee in a urinal if there were people taking photo's of the facilities?!)

We thought we might stop in Whangerai for the night but it reminded us of Stoke-On-Trent and why would you choose to stay in Stoke? So we powered on to Orewa Beach and camping, again... hmmm. Orewa is a lovely coastal place that is getting really 'built up' (not like a city but built up for NZ) and is quite touristy and popular for surfers in the summer. It was a bit windy and wet whilst we were here though so we didn't get to spend any time on the beach. We did find a bowling place where Duncan whooped my ass - everything really is upside on the other side of the world!

We also went to the Thermal Spring Baths in Waiwera. The baths are lovely...mmmm. Especially after a cold night in the tent! haha. The best pool by far had to be the movie pool which was 40degrees and had movies on - sadly we got there at 11am and the movies didn't start until 4pm and my resolve to stay there for 5 hours to see The Blind Side didn't hold out that long! Getting out of the pool into the freezing air was not so lovely. This evening we headed into town and like proper tourists had out all our guide books and maps planning the next part of the trip. New Zealanders are so lovely - seeing that we were touring they came up to us giving us advice on where to go and welcoming us to their country. Sweet as.

I have decided to let Duncan drive today and the car has broken down. A direct correlation I can not suggest but it is a coincidence....haha! We spent the next 4 hours of our day in a petro station just north of Auckland whilst we first waited an hour for the AA, who said the radiator had a leak and it wasn't safe to drive (Quality Rentals my arse!) so we then had to get the rental company to agree to a tow truck. An hour later the tow truck arrives and appologises as he has just had a call from the rental firm saying they don't want to pay for a tow and instead they are sending someone with a car to exchange with us. 2 hours later again we have been sitting in the car, in the blistering heat (of course it is hot today!) and we finally have a new car - just in time to hit the rush hour traffic going through Auckland on Labour Day weekend! We have decided that tonight we will drink....

Middle Earth - Well, Auckland anyway

Quick update before we head on out of Auckland on our New Zealand leg of the tour - can't wait to see something slightly prettier and 'outdoorsy' than Auckland. We had planned to be here for 2/3 days whilst we found a camper van and planned a route but because we are ridiculously bad at making decisions we have ended up staying a week! oops. The days pretty much went - camper? car? van? tent? camper? car? camper? car? stay in NZ for 2.5months? don't stay that long? stay? don't stay? arrrrrgggghhhhh! We thought we had fund a compromise with a car that turns into a bed but at the last second found that camp sites are as expensive, if not more so than hostels to camper van stay soooo as it is actually still quite cold in New Zealand and will be even colder on the South Island I decided we should stay in hostels because I Do Not want to be running round freezing campsites from shower to van wrapped in just a towel. I have 'promised' Duncan that we can camp out a couple of nights on the North Island as well as when we get to Australia...we'll see.


So Auckland... it is freaking cold here after the tropical heat of Fiji! We have stocked up on extra jumpers and long sleeved tops. We found some funky vintage clothes shops in the K road area and a market area similar to Camden called Victoria Park Market, although it wasn't as big as Camden.


Guess what the best thing about Auckland is though? It isn't the Sky Tower which gave us 360degree panoramic views of Auckland and information about all the different landmarks. It wasn't the really cool pub with table and floor lamps attached to the ceiling and the most difficult and high-tech pub quiz I have ever seen. It wasn't Kelly's Aquarium and Antarctic featuring the cutest penguins, hugest stingrays, shark tunnel and various other tropical fish. It was, in fact, visiting the Parnell Village with it's cute village shops with large bay windows, brick cobbled streets, and wood direction signs. This place is home to the best Hot Chocolate I have EVER had! (I forgot my camera this day so sadly have no photos) It was huge, dark, thick and glooped off the spoon. Topped with cream and chocolate shavings ...DELICIOUS.

Time to get the hire car now and explore Middle Earth, xxx

Fiji Time

BULA!

It's Fiji Time! After a mammoth 30-something hour journey via train, tube, plane, foot, plane, bus, boat and smaller boat we arrive in Fiji! This place is out of a holiday brochure, without all the photoshopping.


Our first resort is Blue Lagoon and I am still in 'active' mode so first day 7am I have decided we are going on the mountain hike. The clue should have been in the word 'mountain'... as I looked around at the group of children, those erring on the plus-side of middle aged, and an older fellow, I confidently, and apparently arrogantly, thought I am going to rock this walk. Oh, how wrong could I be? Turns out they were all hikers and the older guy was a hiking instructor in Canada - this is the guy who practically carried me down the mountain, until I discovered you could slide down the soil practically the whole way! We did get to see a wonderful view of the island, down to the local village we visited later in the day and then had a beautiful walk along the beach back to the resort seeing how they are using the local land and villagers to run and support the hotel as environmentally friendly as possible.

Visiting the village in the afternoon was a great way to see Fijian village life. The houses are basic as you'd expect but everyone was hugely friendly and welcoming. We have been encouraged to shout BULA to pretty much everyone we have met... hmmm something we continued doing for two weeks to much amusement.... not sure how shouting HELLO at strangers would go down in London! Anyway, the village-people (oh how I tried not to write that) did a welcome meke dance for us. (We saw 3 of these during our stay in Fiji!) We got to get up and have a boogie too, well we did a backwards forwards dance and something like follow-the-leader-conga. We then got in a circle and one guy did a solo dance, then dragged me into the middle...so obviously I did some funky moves... I don't think the Fijians were expecting that and all bent over laughing. :) The ladies of the village then put on a craft market selling necklaces, fans, bookmarks and sarongs. We felt so guilty only buying off 3 or 4 of the ladies. We then visited the local school where most of the children live-in. They sang a few songs too including 'If you're happy and you know it', and 'Kum-by-ya'. They were super cute but also like every other child in the world, a bot grumpy at having to stay late after school to sing to strangers, well until they started enjoying having an audience and starting being really cheeky and dancing for us! haha.

We have taken part in a few less cultural activities too including eating way to much, crab racing ( we always seem to get into the final but never win that bar tab!) and volleyball (Duncan not me!).

I also went snorkeling for the first time! After panicking a bit about breathing underwater and shark and sting-ray attacks I really loved it. The coral was beautiful and the fish so colourful! We were also right by the shelf which was amazing! I was not expecting it and all of a sudden the coral just dropped away under us like walking off the edge of a cliff! wow!

One of the cheesiest things (and maybe my favourite activity) was watching a movie outdoors, they strung some canvas between two palm trees and projected Blue Lagoon The Movie onto it! So we watched Blue Lagoon, at the Blue Lagoon and Blue Lagoon cocktail was on happy hour...geddit! ok, next... 


Next stop was Manta Ray. hmmm, the resort was about half the price and half the nice. We had to sign a disclaimer on the way in saying we wouldn't sue the resort if we should we die or injure ourselves in anyway including poisonous snakes, spiders, tripping on man-made objects or by any fault of the resort. ok glad we got that all cleared up. Out tree house was actually quite sweet all on it's own in the woodland area...well until I realised that trees attract animals and a HUGE lizard decided to run around our room... cue Duncan standing on a chair, on the bed (with me holding it for safety), stuffing all the holes where the Lizard could get in, maybe this is why they made us sign a disclaimer.... the resort was ok here, more 'backpacker-y' and younger. There was a group of 5 American lads who I kid you not went 'spriiiing break' during their stay and one of them looked like Stiffler from American Pie.

Anyway, we thought we might get some resting and book-reading in here but the activities manager had other ideas and told us we couldn't be lazy all day so we should weave a basket, and a very fine basket I did weave too!

We also helped prepare a Lovo dinner on Friday night which is where they burn rocks in the ground, layer them with banana leaves (any other leaves would burn the food apparently), then the food (potatoes, kasava and chicken) gets wrapped in palm leaves (like the basket), put in and covered with more palm leaves and material and dirt. This actually tasted really yummy and the food was really moist. And a nice step on from that...this place was my first encounter with 'the long drop', yep compost toilets.....gross enough and then I saw a cockroach climbing UP the toilet....I quickly learnt how to pee ski-pose! I think we should move on...


Octopus was our third stop where we met up with our new friends Andy and Gemma again. This mainly meant hours of Monopoly Deal playing! We finally had a chill out and read most of the time.

We went to the local church service on Sunday thinking it would be a really lovely uplifting, spiritual, song-filled service...Oh My God...after two hours and this minister preaching at us in Fijian really, really loudly through a microphone (why shout into a microphone in a church that fits about 100 people in?!) in Fijian about something I think that roughly translated as 'god will punish you' we got up and left. hmmm.

We had a fabulous beach bonfire night here also which was only dampened slightly by the massive tropical storm. Ok so it pretty much put the fire out so we went back to Monopoly Deal. We really had a great time at Octopus, watching another movie under the stars (Good morning Vietnam, I was wondering if we'd get Octopussy!), crab racing (and losing) and snorkeling again. We also tried our hands at light writing with Andy and Gemma and I had a lovely relaxing massage looking out to sea...mmm chillaxed to the max!

I am now becoming at one with the local lizard wildlife, apparently they eat mossies, and have three pet lizards living outside our bungalow (Garry Gecko is my favourite but don't tell the others!) Also, the food is way to good here and I really need to watch my belly! Oh well, surely walking along he beach and snorkeling counts as exercise?!


And onto Waya Lai Lai, the worst worst place ever! Our room smelt like damp, and was home to several bugs and ants - I feel itchy now talking about it. We went to afternoon tea and biscuits - or more accurately tea and cream crackers, weird... worst yet was dinner. It was served school canteen style, grumpy staff and one of each item only. Also, I was very worried about the lack of electricity meaning the bottles of coke were not cold... no that's not what I was worried about.. it was the thought of how the chicken and meat was kept cold every day... Back at the room we thought maybe we'll just wait until morning as all this moving around can be unsettling, and coming from a great holiday resort can be misleading... well so I though until the hugest, darkest cockroach in the world crawled up the curtains and this time there were too many holes to block anything out! I wrapped up tight in sock, pajamas, a shirt, and a hat made from a top plus three sheets... and then the electricity shut down and the fan went off... it was a battle between my fear of the bugs and a fear of dying of heat - the bugs won. The next day after a disappointing breakfast of bread and jelly jam, we got on the first boat going North again to anywhere... we ended up all the way back at The Blue Lagoon but something felt odd...


... back at The Blue Lagoon I felt different to the first time we were here, sort of calm and easy-going, is this what relaxed is? hurrah!

We should have only been at Blue Lagoon for 1 night and then Bounty for 3 but our friends from earlier (Andy and Gemma) had been there and written to us with a disturbing review of 'the hostel with blood on the sheets' so we decided to stay at Blue Lagoon! Which also worked out well as we made a whole load of new friends and Monopoly Deal buddies! 2 sisters from Australia, a Canadian lady, a British pair - one of whom worked with Dewynters through radio once and wants to work in theatre advertising in Melbourne, small world - and an Irish couple. We got to see another movie under the stars - DIRTY DANCING!! I laid back and closed my eyes, listening to the beautiful words. Duncan asked why I had voted for Dirty Dancing if I wasn't going to watch it, to which I told him 'I don't need to 'watch' it, I know exactly what they are doing' duh! We also crab raced, and lost, again. Our Canadian friend's crab won though! Very exciting times in Fiji for us. Also we got to see another Meke, eat another Lovo and enjoy another beach bonfire...this one had fire-dancing before it and petrol on it which was much more exciting! We also went out on a boat trip to a nearby sand bar..I thought this was a beach bar which sold drinks, it is a bar of sand that goes out into the ocean actually. I bet you all know that! The tide was really strong out on the bar 'cause for some reason we went at high tide so it wasn't showing rather than low tide so we could walk up it! So we went back to the beach, played cards, and listened to some choons on the pod... nice.

We have had a great time time in Fiji but sadly it is time to move on. Now we are in New Zealand (and cold) we will try to update more frequently as we go.

VINAKA (or thank you) and goodbye for now!

Link to Fiji Photos