A new Year to remember

The border crossing back to Chile from Argentina was at 3000 feet, and was tediously long. Christian declared his apple to the customs officials and the Border Officer carried it around with him like a trophy. Once we had all stood in a line like an ID parade, once all our bags had been removed from the bus and put through an X-ray machine, and once a woman had explained why she had a bag full of yoghurt, we were on our way. Christian and I had made arrangements to meet our Chilean friends in Valparaiso. This is a beach city two hours North of Santiago, and it is where almost the whole of Chile congregates every December 31st to welcome in the New Year. A friend of Rodrigo's had rented a house there and that was where we found ourselves. Rickety wooden stairs led us up to a corridor which had many rooms off it. We chose a room which looked as though ten other people had already reserved it (sleeping bags and rucksacks all over the place) and went in search of a much-needed shower. Seeing the state of the bathroom, we felt we would probably be cleaner to go without showers. There were people everywhere and we started meeting people and getting our cheeks covered in kisses. It was mostly Chilenos but there were also some Americans there (the gringos). We also started drinking at this point which was about 5pm. Someone threw a cow on the barbeque and everyone was happy. At about 11pm we all grabbed a bottle of whatever was closest and headed off to see the fireworks. We picked up some more gringos on the way and went to the top of a hill. The place was crammed full of people of every age waiting for the fireworks, and they were well worth it. The firework display was amazing, and the same display is repeated along the coast in unison, to multiply the effect. At the stroke of midnight we got covered in champagne and then glitter and confetti, so we were encrusted in celebration! Everywhere you could hear patriotic chants from the Chilenos "Viva Chileeeeeeee!" There was more hugging and kissing and drinking and then it was time to find a club and dance the night away. The club was loads of fun except for one thing that dismayed Christian. It was near impossible to get a drink! One thing to tell you about Chile, is that if a job for one person can be shared by two or three people, it more than likely will be. The procedure at the club was to queue up to order your drink, get a ticket from person number one, take your ticket to person number two who makes your drink, and then pay person number three. For this reason we went thirsty at the club (which was probably a good thing after the amount we had consumed). When we finally crawled back up the hill to our house at 6am, Christian and I found six people already asleep in our room; two in the bed, two on sofas, and two on a matress. We unrolled our sleep bags and got into the bed with the other two people, and one of the gringos got on the floor for a comfortable night's sleep. After a couple of hours lying sandwiched between Christian and a complete stranger I got up. Since I was still sticky from Champagne and glitter I risked taking a shower and felt slightly better. It had been a crazy and exhaustng night, and to make us even more tired we then trekked all over town trying to find a hostel for the night. With our bags stowed in a bohemian (spot the euphemism) hostel we headed to the beach where a mad man covered Christian in sand and tried to start a fight. When I say mad man, I do actually mean it. Once his friends had dragged him away and thrown him head-first into the sand he came back to Christian and started digging a hole frantically with his hands, like a dog, showering Christian in sand. When he headed towards a young family near us, the father in the family pushed him to the ground and it looked as though it was going to get nasty. All eyes were on the man and his friends who tried to take control of him. Finally, the police turned up looking very dapper in their "Officer and a Gentleman" uniforms and the situation calmed down. That night, our friends went out to another party until 5am despite the fact we were all getting up at 8am for buses back to Santiago. I think the Chilenos must be made differently to us Brits; their capacity for partying is remarkable! Christian and I slept like the dead and then tried to raise the dead when it came to waking Rodrigo and Felipe. We all got buses back to Santiago and went our separate ways. It was sad to say goodbye to our Chilean friends, they had made our visit really special and had truly shown us how to party. However, our bodies needed to recover and so we jumped on a bus away from the cosmopolitan capital, and towards the natural beauty that Chile has to offer in the South.

Crossing mountains for a glass of wine

We left Santiago by bus and headed East into the Cordillera (mountains that separate Chile and Argentina).  High up in the mountains is the border and here we got or passport stamped goodbye from Chile and hello to Argentina.  The scenery on the bus journey is stunning and, between the view out of the window and Oceans Eleven on the television, the seven hour journey flew past.  As the bus approached Mendoza the view changed from barren and dry (I saw three cow carcasses next to empty rivers) to lush and green. 

Mendoza is Latin America’s largest wine-producing region, and it is famous for it’s Malbec.  The city of Mendoza was totally detroyed by an earthquake in 1861 and as a reult it was rebuilt with this threat in mind. A main square (Plaza Independencia) is surrounded at each of it's corners by four smaller squares (Chile, Espana, Italia and San Martin). The idea is that if an earthquake were to happen, you should run to your nearest square where you can stand in safety watching the city crumble around you! The city is built of low rise buildings, and all in all it is very pretty with plenty of greenery, pedestrian areas and fountains. We had arranged to meet up with our Canadian friends Vicky and Thibaut who were holidaying in Argentina.  In fact they are French and English but had just become Canadian citizens after passing the test (I think they had to dress up as Mounty’s and catch a moose).  We had not seen them for a couple of years and it was great to catch up over a bottle of red and our first Argentine steak.

On our second day in Mendoza we hired bicycles and cycled around Maipu, one of the wine regions in Mendoza.  The brakes on my bike didn’t work and none of us were given helmets, but after sampling a few glasses of wine, these things hardly seemed important.  We went from Bodega (vineyard) to Bodega, eating cherries, drinking wine and meeting dogs and horses

That evening Christian and I went to a local Asado for dinner. An Asado is a barbeque in Argentina and basically there is no piece of an animal that is exempt from being barbequed. The restaurant that we found ourselves in was an all you can eat buffet, so we were free to eat a whole cow if we wanted. However, we had to plan carefully since there was not only a full barbeque, but also a pasta chef cooking any pasta and any sauce you wanted, and a pancake chef cooking pancakes with whatever filling you wanted (as long as it included copious amounts of dulce de leche, which is toffee). We paced ourselves and managed four courses each. It was a fantastic local restaurant filled with Argentine families all gorging on meat, it was probably the equivalent of a Toby Carvery in England! (By the way, I am writing this sitting in a hairdressers in Buenos Aires waiting for my friend who is having a pedicure in one of the side rooms. The place is empty but me, and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" just came on! Would it be wrong of me to get up, grab a hairbrush, and perform in front of the mirrors...) Back to Mendoza. One morning I decided to visit the Museo del Area Fundacional. I was stung by a bee and a taxi driver on the way there. The museum is built on the preserved remains of the old city (Pre-earthquake) and houses lots of fairly standard pots, pans, arrowheads etc that had been dug up in the area. The most interesting exhibit was a painting from the 1800's that presents the social hierarchy of the time in the form of a tree. Of course, at the top of the tree sit the smug Spanish, below them are the Merchants, the Military, the Crioles and right at the bottom, the indigenous Indians. I would like to be able to say this has changed in Latin America... On our last day in Mendoza we headed out to have lunch at a small village Vicky had read about. At lunch we befriended a dog by feeding it all our leftovers, Negrita, as we called her (Little black one) followed us all afternoon despite numerous attempts to get rid of her. Just to note, befriending dogs happened to Christian and I just about wherever we went, whether we ignored the dogs or not, we were like the Pied Piper of Latin America! When we finally got rid of the dog and found a taxi, the driver looked about 15 years old, and also drove as you would imagine a 15 year old to drive. Miraculously we made it back to Mendoza and all said our goodbyes. Vicky and Thib were heading to Salta in Argentina for New Year and Christian and I had made plans to cross back to Chile for New Year with friends there. We had endured many late nights and hangovers in Santiago, so we were curious to find out what New Year would be like... You can probably guess the carnage that ensued, but if you want details read on.

Sleepless in Santiago

We took a flight from Auckland at four pm in the afternoon, and after 16 hours on the plane we arrived in Santiago, Chile, four hours before we had left. Confusing, because we had travelled past the date line. I was really excited to be getting back to South America, and couldn't sleep at all on the plane. The place had a bit of a hold on me the last time I had visited and I was hopeful I would feel the same way again. In Chile we had booked a weeks spanish lessons and we were staying with a local family. We were met at the airport by the director of the school who bore a striking appearance to Father Christmas ( or Old Man Easter as the Chileans call him). As we drove through the city, Father Christmas (also known as Camilo) gave us a tour, all in Spanish. First impressions of the city were good; the sun was shining, the buildings were shabby or elegant, and the city was dotted with green hills that rose above the buildings.

When we arrived at our home for the next ten days we were greeted by Elizabeth, our host mother. She was well turned out and smiley and led us up to her home, on the 21st floor of a tower block. Unlike Elizabeth, her home was not so well turned out, and as soon as Elizabeth had left the flat, Christian tracked down the Hoover and gave our bedroom a good clean! Our room may have been a bit dirty (Christian may use a different way to describe it) but the view was amazing.



Dirty room with a view

We shared the apartment with Elizabeth, her twenty year old daughter Xaviera, and Xaviera's two year old daughter, Isadora. The little girl was absolutely gorgeous. At the beginning of our stay she was shy and only came to the threshold of our room. However, as time passed she became more confident and by the end of our stay she was scrambling all over the room and playing with christian's iPad (and yes she was better than me on it!). An interesting thing about Chile which I also noticed in South America on my last visit, is that being a single mum is very common. It is quite a rarity for a middle-aged woman to live with her husband, she is much more likely to live with her extended family or just her children. From what i can gather (and this is a huge generalisation!), South American men do not tend to stick around. Also, children tend to stay at home until they marry, so households can be pretty full.





Isadora dripping ice cream all over herself and our doorway!



It was fantastic to stay in one place for a while and really immerse ourselves in the culture of Chile, and what an immersion it was! For starters, no-one speaks English, so school was extremely useful.

Santiago by day

During the day we went to Spanish school. We had breakfast at about eight am and then would walk for 45 minutes to school. At school we would have lessons from 9.00 till 10.30 when we would indulge in a tea break (in which only Spanish is spoken), we would then continue with lessons until 1.30 pm , when school finished for the day. At first Christian had opted for private lessons, and he was assigned the wife of Father Christmas. She was the best teacher in the school, if not a little scary.
I was in lessons with an Indonesian priest who was learning spanish to become a missionary, but after a day I asked for something more challenging because the level was too basic. As a result I was given Mrs Christmas and Christian swapped classes with me to join the priesthood. I learnt so much from my teacher and she gave me plenty of homework, which meant I spent a lot of time in the afternoons studying. However, I still managed some sightseeing. The main square (plaza de armas) and the governmental building (La Moneda) are must-dos for a stroll around. Also worth a visit are the fish Market, where you should look out for a box of chicks (ideal gift) or the market roof that was built in England and shipped over (By the maker of the spitalfields market roof).



Chick in a box




Santiago may not be the prettiest city in the world, but it has plenty of parks and green space, and one of my favourite things was hanging out in the parks. In a Chilean park you can be assured of seeing all of the following
1. Young couples on top of each other (remember they still live in the family home and have nowhere to go!)
2. Groups of teenage boys and girls (maybe the ones who can't get girlfriends and boyfriends to lie on top of!) dancing in unison to a ghetto blaster
3. Stray dogs soaking up the sun
4. Drunks listening to music from their mobile phones and nursing beers
5. Kids playing in the sun, running through sprinklers or in ponds



Santiago by night

Our biggest education into Chilean life came after midnight. My language exchange partner that I met in London lives in Santiago and Rodrigo gave us a fast track course into Santiago nightlife. We would normally meet Rodrigo at around eleven pm, although he was consistently at least an hour late. At this time we would hit Barrio Bellavista, the area where the locals hang out, and there we would do as the locals do; drink, talk loudly, dance and eat completos. The completo is a Chilean delicacy (they don't have many) and consists of a frankfurter hotdog, covered in avocado and tomatoes. Not exactly gourmet cuisine, but at four am and after numerous pisco sours (the boys would be on the beer), they tasted fantastic, and also at this time in the morning we were able to convince ourselves how nutritious they were! We had some really memorable nights in Santiago together with some that I can't remember at all, so a big thank you to Rodrigo and his friends for the memories and the memory blanks!


A Chile Christmas

Christmas in Santiago began with a Christmas lunch at the school on December 23rd. All the teachers, the receptionist, the cleaner, the students and the director (Father Christmas) sat around the table that was decorated festively. The only person missing was Tiny Tim. All four students (the school was quiet for Christmas, I guess Father Christmas had other things to concentrate on then student enrolment) had bought in some food that was native to their country. Christian and I had prepared Banoffee pie, using the South American favourite; Dulce de leche. You should have seen how well it went down, everyone was asking for seconds, so we definitely did England proud that day, and left the Chileans with the impression that England is a culinary hotspot (it's ok, they will probably never visit).

At the end of the lunch, Camilo gave a speech about the importance of Christmas and I thought I was going to cry! It was beautiful, and reminded us all that whether you are religious or not, Christmas is a time away from the stresses of work, when you can make peace with the year gone past, and move forwards into a new year with love in your heart. (after this I am almost certain he is father Christmas).

Christian and I had been hesitant about having Christmas dinner with Elizabeth and her family. Not because we didn't want to but because it was the first Christmas she was having with her daughter, her granddaughter and the father of little Isadora. For such a special occasion we thought we should stay out of the way. As it turned out, Elizabeth and her daughter practically begged us to have Christmas dinner with them and so at about 10.30 pm on Christmas Eve, we sat down as part of the family, to a meal of beef, salads, and potatoes. Only at midnight are presents opened, and it was so much fun to see little Isadora with her new dolls and pink tricycle. One of her dolls said fifty different phrases dependent on which way you moved her, and she came with an instruction booklet which kept the boys entertained. Although Elizabeth is not rich by any means, she put on such a lovely dinner and even bought Christian and I a gift each, and eveyone was very happy. After dinner we met Rodrigo at 1.30 am to welcome in Christmas day with some drinks.

What we have learnt about Chile

After ten days in Santiago, we felt pretty well acquainted with the culture and people. Our key findings were:

1. The Chilenos are fiercely patriotic of their country and everything from their country. A sure-fire way to annoy a Chileno is to compare the country to Peru. To really push them over the edge you could try saying something like "isn't Pisco from Peru, and I do like your wine but I think the Argentinian wine is better.". That could probably get you deported.

2. Like in all of South America, everyone is late for everything. Our seven o'clock dinner at Elizabeths was never served before eight, and meeting with friends was consistently at least an hour late, which led us to the conclusion Chile needs a new timezone as they are all one hour behind the clock.

3. Chilenos are very tactile and affectionate. A good example of this came when Christian and I were having coffee outside a cafe and an older couple began talking to us. We talked for about ten minutes before we had their contact details and an invite to stay with them. When they left, the man gave Christian a huge bear hug which Christian didn't know what to do with!

After ten days in Santiago we bid a fond farewell to Elizabeth and our school teachers, and an "hasta luego" to our friends who we would be meeting for new year. It was time to put our feet onto Argentine soil.


Christian and Fiona

Location:Santiago, Chile

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:)