Up North

In Wellington we stayed in student digs and headed out on the town with a friend of a friend.  As soon as we met up with Tye we asked him “So what’s Wellington like?”.  His reply was something along the lines of “I’m going stir-crazy here.  I need to get out.”  We went out for cocktails and met some more of Tye’s friends, all of whom seemed to have their hearts set on leaving New Zealand!  Most of them wanted to go to Australia and some to Europe, they told us that  it is common to get your university degree and then leave the country, or to get a couple of years work experience before leaving.  No wonder Christian and I hadn’t seen any young people for the last few weeks, they were all in Australia or London!

After a fun night out, we hopped into the Azda Familiar and drove North to Central Hawkes Bay, where my cousin Ian lives with his wife Judy, and kids Molly and Jed.  It was so great to see them all, and to have some home comforts for a change.  That night we had a barbeque on the terrace overlooking Ian and Judy’s land – it was terrific.  Then Christian and I relaxed in the hot tub.  Did I mention how difficult this travelling lark is?

Cousin Ian with one of his hens that gave us eggs for breakfast.  Thanks Hen.

On our first day in Hawkes Bay, Christian and I went to sample more wine (we were getting good at it!).  We went to the Mission, The Church and then to Clearview for lunch.  At Clearview we sampled 18 wines!  And they tasted better and better the more we tried.  Is it any wonder we bought a bottle of the 18th wine we tried?

Glass number 20… 23?  Who knows.

After the wine tasting we took a walk around Art Deco Napier.  By this point it was fast approaching Christmas and it felt very strange to be somewhere so warm, but surrounded by Christmas decorations and trees.  That evening we had a lovely dinner and played stupid games.  Ian impressed us (I’m being polite) with his rendition on the native kiwi drums and Jed impressed us (I’m being honest) with his performance of his school haka.  The next day we awoke to the exciting news that one of Ian and Judy’s cows had had it’s calf during the night.  We took a walk to inspect the new addition to the family, and it was so sweet, and dazzlingly clean.

Then it was time to leave the Shepherd’s home (their surname is Shepherd – despite all the animals they are not actually Shepherds!).  It had been lovely to see them and leaving a comfortable, modern, large home behind was difficult, but it was time to get back on the road and lower our standards again.

Crossing a volcanoe and the last leg

Lake Taupo is a huge lake in the middle of the North Island.  The town of Taupo was a bit more lively than the lake towns of the South Island and boasted both a Pizza hut and a McDonalds.  We however spotted a sushi restaurant and got very excited about our dining experience that night, sadly we were turned away because they were closing at 8pm (no, we hadn’t learnt our lesson!).  We ate kebabs and had a view of the gorgeous setting sun.  Early the next morning we departed for the Tongariro crossing.

Sunset at Taupo

The Tongariro crossing is a 19km day’s walk that crosses the active Tongariro volcano.  It is a fantastically diverse walk in which you feel, smell and see signs of the active volcano all the way (it was sulphur Christian I promise!  Not me!).  It is also more challenging than the Kepler trek as there are steeper climbs, streams to cross, and unmarked paths.  Saying that, you can’t really get lost since there are hundreds of other tourists walking the route.  That was the downside of this trek, there were people everywhere and it felt a little like a factory line, in comparison the Kepler trek was empty.

After we had climbed, slipped and plodded our way across 19km, an overly talkative lady picked us up in her bus to take us back to the Azda Familiar (She was very nice but in our exhausted state I would have preferred the quiet moody type).  Back in the car and refuelled with some coca cola we set off for the last leg of our drive North – to Auckland.

Final Thoughts

After a good nights sleep and a cold and wet look around Auckland (sorry, can’t make a fair assessment of the city, it was too cold and wet), it was time to drop off our faithful companion, the Azda Familiar.  By the time we dropped her off, she was more the colour of dead flies than she was white, and she also had a second hub cap missing, but the folks at Quality Cars didn’t seem to mind or even notice.  It is probably a good thing for the next people who hire her since now they will be able to spot her from either side (hub cap missing front left and front right) and also from the back (Missing “M”).  We then headed to the airport where we were able to reflect on our three weeks in New Zealand.

It really is a beautiful country, with more natural wonders than you could shake a walking pole at.  On the South Island especially you couldn’t drive for more than an hour without seeing something “wow”.  The only thing we found lacking was a slight lack of identity and personality in the towns themselves.  Maybe we were there at the wrong time of year, or maybe it is because we are used to living in a more populated country, but New Zealand felt empty to us!  As Christian once said (or was it Plato?) ‘New Zealand is a bit like a great party that no-one’s turned up to'.’

Wanaka to Wellington

After very well-deserved showers at our hostel following our four day trek (somewhat reminiscent of my first shower after Glastonbury), we tried to find some life in Wanaka.  Either it was the wrong time of year, or there was a party outside of town and everyone was there, but Wanaka was dead.  It may be worth mentioning here, that on countless occasions in New Zealand (this one included) we were turned away from restaurants because at 8pm, or at (Please forgive our sins!) 8.30pm, it was too late to serve us. 

The next day we started our northward climb towards the top of the South Island.  This was to consist of long tedious car journeys accompanied by Mariah Carey and stunning scenery.  We stopped at a pretty beach to take in the sea air and views, and to also add our names to the heap of stones.

 

We stopped to take a look at the Franz Josef glacier on the way north.  It was stunning to get close to such a huge living phenomenon.  The glacier is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world, you literally walk about 30 minutes from the car park and you reach it’s face.  It is about 13 km long and it advances and retreats in cycles.  There are barriers which keep you a safe distance from the face of the glacier but 2 years ago a couple of Indian tourists crossed the barrier to get better photos of the glacier.  100 tonnes of ice fell on them.  As a warning to other tourists seeking the perfect photo, they have put the newspaper article on a board at the barrier.  In the article one of the glacier park wardens says “they wanted the best photograph, but in my opinion, it wasn’t worth it.”  You don’t say!

Further up the West Coast we spent a night at Punakaiki.  We stayed in a fantastic forest retreat and were ready the next day, to be impressed by Punakaiki’s famous Pancake Rocks.  If you are a fan of Geology (and had things scribbled on your pencil case like Geology Rocks!), you may well be overwhelmed by the rocks.  Christian and I on the other hand were pretty underwhelmed, and since the sea was very peaceful at the time we did not get to see any blowholes.

Christian on a stack of pancake rocks

Fiona on a stack of pancakes

After more long and tedious driving, we arrived in Picton.  Picton is the town at the northern point of the South Island, where the ferries go to and from Wellington in the North.  It is a pretty town but once again, there was nothing happening, literally there was no-one on the streets or in the cafes.  The only place in town which had people inside was the library, because it had free wifi!

Christian gets a NZ Criminal Record!

That evening (when the library was closed and there was nothing left to do!) we decided to head to the nearest cinema to catch a film.  We were a bit sloppy with our timings and estimation of how far away the cinema was (about half an hour if you ever need to know!) and so we ended up racing along the single carriageway on our way to Blenheim.  It was at that point that the police car saw us.

He came up behind us with lights flashing.  Although Christian and I both knew we had been going way over the speed limit, we both hoped that he was behind us and flashing his lights for some other reason (maybe he wanted to overtake us on his way to catch some real criminals?  Maybe he was testing his lights?).  When it became apparent that it actually was us he was after, we pulled over, our hearts wedged firmly in our mouths.  He took a slow walk up to Christians window (just like in the films) and I put on my sweetest smile.  He asked why we were in such a hurry and Christian said that we were late for the cinema.  This seemed to be a reasonable response for him.  He then asked Christian for his driving license.  Christian’s driving license was actually in a public gym in Christchurch (where he had forgotten to get it back), but obviously that was not the best answer for the policeman and so Christian said (lied!!) that his license was back at the hostel.

The policeman then took a slow walk back and sat in the flashing car for what seemed like hours.  At last he came back and presented Christian with two charges, one for speeding and one for not having his driving licence with him.  Christian and I were very polite and well behaved, telling him we had learnt our lesson, and eventually we were left to go on our way.  We drove very carefully to the film and were only a few minutes late.  The film however was not worth the 140 dollar fine!

The next day we took the ferry across to Wellington.  It was supposed to take three hours but the ferry was one engine down (which we were only told after we had left dock), and it took six hours.  Because of the delay we were given free pie and chips (and yes I think that is a good way of saying sorry).  And that was the end of our exploration into New Zealand’s South Island.  It was beautiful, serene, well-kept, and with only about one million people living there, it was very quiet.  We were intrigued to find out what the North Island held in store for us, and I was looking forward to seeing some family there. Read on…

New Zealand New England?

We flew from Sydney to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand on a mammoth flight.  If like me you thought Australia and New Zealand were close, you would be surprised by how long it takes to get between the two.  Unless our pilot was taking us on a joy ride of the pacific, the direct flight time is about 11 hours. 

As soon as we arrived in New Zealand we were treated really nicely by everyone, it was a bit like being in America but with more sincerity.  We took a bus from the airport and got our first impressions of Christchurch.  It was as if we had returned to England (with friendlier people)!  Or more specifically a retirement village in England.  All the houses were bungalows separated by perfectly-kept gardens, the streets were wide, quiet and clean, and a pretty river ran through the city.  We felt at ease at once.

Yes it could be Cambridge!

Our hostel in Christchurch could not have been more different from the hostel in Sydney, it was like a retirement home.  Rooms were decorated like your Grandma’s house and they surrounded a large flower garden with benches and tables.  It was beautiful!  The city itself was very quiet indeed.  This may be as a result of the September Earthquake, or perhaps it has always been somewhat sleepy, but whatever the reason I really appreciated some peace and quiet.  We wandered along the river, saw the city and barbequed at the hostel.  Something strange to note is that in this sleepy New Zealand city, all the teenagers dress as though they are in an American punk-rock band.  It makes a strange contrast against the English country garden backdrop. 

The day before we left Christchurch we went to Quality Car Rental (the clue is in the name) to sort out our transport for the next few weeks in New Zealand.  It wasn’t grand, it wasn’t even clean, but it was a functioning car where we would be spending a lot of time!  Here’s a picture of our little baby.

 

It was a Mazda Familia, but since the M had fallen off it was now an “Azda” Familiar which meant we had to keep slapping our bottoms and talking about the Asda promise, whenever we used her.  She looked a lot like every other hire car in New Zealand, but she was easily spotted by the missing “M” and also the fact that she only had three hub cabs (one of which we lost somewhere!).  On our first day with our Azda car, we drove to Akaroa where we took a boat to see the local wildlife.  It was a great boat trip, and with the help of Mitch the dog we spotted lots of Hector dolphins.  They are the smallest dolphins in the world and are native only to New Zealand.  We also saw seals, penguins and various sea birds.  After the boat trip, we had a look around the sleepy town, which was so sleepy it was comatose!  I loved it!

Hector Dolphins

The amazing dolphin-spotting dog; Mitch

We had put a note up in the hostel advertising the fact that we would be driving South if anyone wanted a lift, and so the next day Christian and I drove the Asda familiar down to Queenstown, with our new-found friends Tania and David from Chile.  It was a long and mostly straight drive for about 7 hours and so it was good to have the Chileans to chat with, and they gave us some valuable tips for our next stop in Santiago, Chile.  New Zealand is a popular location for South Americans, especially Chileans, to either holiday or come to work (mostly fruit picking). 

Hair raising and hair cutting

Queenstown is the “Extreme sports mecca” of New Zealand and the town’s business is largely dependent on this.  On our first day we both went white water rafting, which was fun, but to be honest the most nerve-racking part of this activity was taking an old bus up the Mountain pass, the rafting itself wasn’t particularly extreme.  The next day Christian did something really extreme and jumped out of a plane at fifteen thousand feet. 

At the same time, I pushed my adrenalin limits and had a haircut and a coffee.  However, my heart did race that day when Christian and I were lounging on some grass in town and heard a squeal, a somewhat familiar squeal.  It was my friend Amrita from work, and we spent a great evening with her catching up.  We knew that she was in New Zealand but had no idea where.  It was so nice to see a familiar face (which wasn’t Christians!  His face is probably more familliar now than my own).

An embarrassing garage stop

After Queenstown we drove to Te Anau lake in the Fiordlands of Western New Zealand.  It is worth mentioning at this point that New Zealand seems to have no radio stations at all, and we had already spent over 7 hours in the Asda Familiar listening to our one CD – the new Kings of Lean (which is nowhere near their normal standard, sadly).  Just outside of Queenstown I invested in a new CD, approved by Christian, and we were really looking forward to listening to something different.  This is a bit embarrassing for me to admit what the CD is, but to excuse myself…I’m not really a huge fan…we just wanted something to sing along to….and so we bought Mariah Carey the greatest hits double CD (believe me, she doesn’t have enough for two CDs!). 

When we got into the car we discovered that we were unable to eject the Kings of Leon CD.  Both of us pushed our technical minds as far as they would stretch (in my case not far) in order to try and eject the CD, pushing every single button we could find.  Christian even removed the radio from the car – yes we were that desperate for Mariah Carey! and also tried ringing Quality Cars.  Eventually we had to admit defeat and listened to yet more Kings of Leon for a couple of hours.  However when this got too much for us we pulled into a dirty looking garage in the middle of nowhere, and asked the huge and greasy mechanic to help us.  He was also dumbfounded for a while but eventually found the eject button, and I could have kissed him!  Luckily he didn’t see the CD we had ready and waiting, something told me he wasn’t a Mariah fan.  And so on we went to Te Anau, singing “Hero” at the top of our voices!  I was secretly singing about the Mechanic… “And then a hero comes along, and finds eject to end that song, and you cast you fear aside, and you know you will survive!”

Kepler Trek

As we were to discover in much of New Zealand, there was not much to do in Te Anau (although we did spot this funny road sign)

So no sooner had we arrived, then we headed off on a four day trek.  Over four days we trekked 60 km, we carried all of our food and clothes in our rucksacks, we stayed in mountain huts (that were a bit like chicken coops), we got very excited about chocolate, we got tanned, windswept and wet, and Christian survived without an internet connection.  It was loads of fun and is best summarised in photos and a video:

 

Day one and all is well

View from the hut

Day two and something has changed.  Can you spot what’s missing from this photo.  Answer: the sun

Day two and Christian looks at peace with his surroundings.  In truth, he is about to kill a sandfly.

Day three and the sun is back.  Just.

The view from our hut on day four of the trek. 

You be the judge!

Finished.  Where’s my medal?  No seriously, I deserve something!

Afterwards we desperately sought a shower in Te Anau without any luck, and so with 4 days worth of sweat and dirt caked to us, and with a lovely New Zealander in the back of the Azda Familiar (who had completed the whole 60 km in less than 5 hours!) we headed to Lake Wanaka, to begin our journey Northwards.

Mediocrity in Sydney

We only had two nights in Sydney.  We stayed in our first dorm room, with a young couple from the UK (Sydney is expensive and I am trying to inflict a budget on Christian!).  She partied all night long while her boyfriend slept and we fitted in somewhere in between.  The hostel had everything a young traveller could want… internet, cheap beer, plenty of fresh young things showing off their tans, and a club in the basement.  This is where we realised – we are not so young any more!  Sydney seems to be the hub for all British and German students taking a break before university, all those on “gap yah’s” (see you tube clip below for a typical British student!)

 

We visited the beautiful harbour and took a boat to Manly where we could watch the waves (and the surfers who happened to be on the waves).  The environment in Manly was very chilled compared to the city itself and it was nice to hang out for a while.  It was however very expensive indeed!  A small beer set Christian back at least four pounds and a glass of wine was six pounds and up. 

Bondi above, and Manly below (in the most womanly way!)

The next day we headed to Bondii beach and took a walk around the cliff tops.  The town left us a little cold but the beach and views were lovely.  The next morning we had an early start to get to the airport for our flight to New Zealand.  Although we only had two nights in Sydney I think it was enough for us both (apologies to all the Sydney lovers out there!).  It was a nice city in a great location but like Hong Kong, it suffered from us coming from a far more interesting place (we travelled from China to Hong Kong, and from Cambodia to Sydney).  In our eyes, Sydney felt familiar, it held no mystery for us, and if we have learnt anything so far, it is that we like a challenge!  So bring on the next challenge please:)

Angkor What?

Something that can definitely be said about Vietnam and Cambodia, is that even on a backpackers budget, you are rich, and this was no more evident than in the hotels of Cambodia.  In Siem Reap we stayed in a fantastic hotel called Frangipani, it was modern, trendy, air conditioned and we were actually allowed to put toilet paper in the toilet which made a nice change.  All this for less than twenty pounds each per night.  The evening we arrived we headed down to the river where the local water festival was coming to an end.  There was a dreadful talent show going on (“Siem Reap’s not got Talent”) and lots of market stalls selling bulk quantities of shampoo.  The river was alight with miniature boats decorated in candles, and the grand finale was a really impressive fireworks display (What they lack in talent they make up for in fireworks).  The next day Christian made a start on the temples of Angkor whilst I did some writing by the pool (luxury!) and wandered around the town.  Siem Reap is a cool town with a real mix of authenticity and tourism.  You can walk past young boys playing in the muddy river, beautiful temples and markets selling Cambodian silk, and then you reach a pedestrian strip where backpackers are getting drunk on overpriced drinks, and prostitutes of questionable sex are trying to woo them. 

That afternoon Christian and I went to a Cambodian cookery class.

I learnt how to make a mango salad followed by Fish Amok whilst Christian made rice rolls and Fish Amok.  It was great fun, but don’t ask us to cook it for you when we get back – we don’t have half the ingredients in the UK! (that’s our excuse and we’re sticking with it).  After dinner we went and had a “Doctor Fish” massage, this is where you put your feet into a tank of fish and they nibble at your dead skin.  Not the best idea for two people with ticklish feet.

That evening we made plans to visit Angkor Wat for sunrise the next day.  Our tuk tuk would pick us up at 5am.

The next morning (or middle of the night) at 4.30 am, our alarm clock went off and I realized that the fish amok was running amok with my stomach.  It felt as thought the fish had revived itself and was having a vigorous swim.  However, it’s not every day you get the chance to visit Angkor Wat, so off we went, Christian, me, and my fishy tummy. 

Angkor Wat was still dark when we arrived.  A little bird had told us that everyone heads to the East entrance to catch the sunrise, and it becomes a little less special when you are sharing the view with hundreds of other tourists.  With this knowledge we headed to the West Entrance where you actually get a view of Angkor Wat with the sun rising behind it (rather than the sun rising behind you at the main entrance).  There was no-one at the West Entrance apart from us, which meant we had the beautiful sunrise to ourselves, and that I was free to vomit with an audience of one only!  I felt dreadful and was only temporarily relieved by being sick.  Even so, the temple which is the largest religious building in the world, was amazing, and we saw many parts of it without anyone else, which made us feel like Indiana Jones happening upon a lost city.  It is a truly awesome sight to behold, and to be sick on.

After a few hours at the temple we had to head back to the hotel (Angkor Wat was getting a little too crowded for my freestyle vomiting) and for the rest of the day I made the most of the facilities!  Christian headed back to Angkor and saw some amazing sights and temples, and made friends with some monks (I am sure they had a lot in common… like for instance… having very short hair…and liking the colour orange). 

The next day we were leaving Asia behind (via Thailand), and heading to Sydney for a few days stopover before moving on to New Zealand.  We were sorry to leave Asia behind.  As a continent we had only had a very quick taste, a canape or appetizer, of what the continent had to offer, but I think it was enough to leave us wanting more.  Christian liked Cambodia the best whilst I opted for Vietnam, so I am sure we will go back one day for main course.