Christchurch & Akaroa

CHch

Three nights at Foley Towers, Christchurch. I was expecting to see some scars from the previous earthquakes, but nothing could have prepared us for what was actually waiting for us. The entire CBD was gone! Levelled off. Demolition balls were swinging and huge diggers were clawing at the shattered remains of the office blocks and high-end apartments. Quirky streets lined with art deco buildings were fenced off with warning signs to KEEP OUT! Maps were displayed everywhere to highlight the areas of the city which were off limits to the public. Memorials and tributes to those that lost their lives where concentrated in one area. It felt like a post-apocalyptic city in ruin. I didn’t take any pictures. Partly because it was spitting rain, but mostly because it felt wrong somehow.

We visited the re:Start mall. An effort to bring consumers back to the city by offering an array of familiar shops and popular franchises in temporary dwellings. Shipping containers. An unusual, but highly innovative solution.

We spent most of our time in the suburbs of the city which seemed to be largely unaffected.

I was very impressed with how the locals obviously treasured their city. They were determined to put everything back exactly the way it was, or better, despite the fact that any second the earth could tremble and undo all their efforts leaving them to start all over again. The people of Christchurch are here to stay and good on them. Next stop: Akaroa. A place recommended to us by an odd, but friendly resident at the hideous hostel in Wellington.

Akaroa

First impressions were very good indeed. This is the view approaching the town.

The town itself consists of one street of independent shops and businesses. How refreshing it was to be in a town with no sign of a Subway, McDonalds, Warehouse and or Countdown anywhere. The only road sweeps around the bright blue water of the bay. At the end of that road, half way up a mountain we reach a farm which will be home for the next couple of days. The staff were super friendly and we check in to our room which is in it’s own tikki-style building overlooking the mountains and the bay.  Mari and I stay up until the early hours to watch the Geminid meteor shower.

Today we’ve been swimming with hector dolphins. I can honestly say it’s been one of my all-time greatest experiences. We went with Geoff, (the owner of the farm), another hostel worker and an Austrian couple. That was it. Just the six of us. It was such a relaxing and intimate experience where we felt really free.  We passed several other boats with tourists squeezed into every inch of the side railings and we knew we had it good. Not to mention they paid considerably more for their excursion.

The dolphins were gorgeous creatures and they were just as friendly, playful and curious as I was lead to believe they were. Geoff seemed to be the sort of man that has spent most of his life out on the water and he had the upmost respect and admiration for them. He explained how intuitive they are and that they will choose to huddle round certain people and for reasons only know to themselves, completely dismiss and avoid others should they determine that person is in a bad mood or of questionable character. He explained that they love children and as such, we should be childlike in our actions. We should sing to them. Oddly enough, when I started singing the Muppet theme tune through my snorkel, I had 4 or 5 of them swarming around me. As advised, I swam in short circles so they could follow. They rolled over on their sides so they could look up at me and figure out what the hell I was all about. It was amazing. We probably saw hundreds all in all.

Taking the boat around the coastline, we also got to see some little blue penguins and some fur seals sunbathing on the rocks.

Such an amazing day.

Foolishly we left our Christmas and New Year accommodation reservations until the last minute. After several phone calls, we booked what seems to be the last bed in Queenstown for that period. We will arrive there on the 21^st of December and stay until early January. If we like it as much as we think we will, then we will look for work as the savings won’t last forever.

Next stop Omaru & Dunedin. 

The Top Half

We leave Picton and take the scenic road around the fjords again. Arriving in Nelson the rain is thundering down. Aware that camping will probably be the best option where we’re going, we stop briefly to pick up more supplies. Hot-footing it all the way round the top of the South island, our plan is to do the majority of the driving during the bad weather and come back at a more leisurely pace.

Eventually arriving in Collingwood, the view of the farewell spit is consumed by low-lying clouds. Visibility is poor, so we backtrack to Takaka (via some naturals springs) to camp for the night and come up with a plan for the next few days.

We get a loud wakeup call at around midnight as a huge thunderstorm passes over head. A 1940s style air-raid siren follows. Presumably to call in the volunteer fire-fighters for reasons I can only imagine. After the storm passed, we were treated to a clear, star-lit sky.

We later found out that this storm had gathered pace as it travelled North and turned into a tornado as it hit Auckland.

The following morning, the weather in our area had improved dramatically and we headed back to the farewell spit in the hope of seeing some seals. The tide was all the way out and there were no seals in the areas we were allowed. We did, however, see a large flock of black swans, so not all was lost.

We spent the rest of the day hiking around the Abel Tasman national park which was absolutely stunning.

Only an hour’s drive to Nelson, so we decide to head there for the night and give the city another chance. We only planned on one night, but our VW beetle themed hostel (The Bug Inn) was lovely and the manager pointed out what Nelson had to offer, so we extended our booking to two days. We spent the following day being pleasantly surprised with the city. So relieved we decided to give it another go, it made it to the short-list of places we could see ourselves staying for a while. We explored the shops and cafes and strolled around the farmers market which was rife with organic, local produce and knickknacks. Christmas is everywhere, but I’m warm today, even in shorts and a t-shirt. A summer Christmas is very weird.

Next day is Nelson to Westport. To be completely honest, it was a rather forgettable drive to a rather forgettable town. When we arrived at the hostel, there was a sign on reception saying “back in 15 minutes”. We waited for an hour for someone to show up to no avail. We had plans for the following day to go and see some seals in a local colony, so we decided to go and do it that afternoon instead.  

Next we were to head to Greymouth via Punakaki (pancake rocks).

Greymouth was another small town, devoid of any discernible personality, so we continued our journey up and through the mountains towards Christchurch via Arthurs pass. The drive through the mountains was breath taking.

Accommodation in the mountains was very expensive, so we headed on to Christchurch.

Wellington & Picton

Arrived in Wellington after a pretty long drive.
Peter Jackson had been here only a couple of days ago to premier 'The Hobbit'. We were warned that finding good accommodation in the city during this week would be difficult. Everything was going to be sold out and everyone would be putting their prices up, especially if you want such luxuries as car parking. Even finding available camping grounds was proving to be troublesome.
We did eventually manage to find somewhere with availability. Probably because it had been absolutely slated on every review website we looked at.
The reviews had painted images in my head of an awful male-only hotel you see in the movies with blokes playing checkers in the blood-stained communal areas and salty, urbanite hotel manager would be giving me attitude through a plexi-glass window. A white outline of sprawled out person on the bathroom floor remained from an earlier incident. Men would be shouting loudly outside our bedroom windows which proceeded gun shots and police sirens.

It actually wasn't that bad. It smelt awful and there were strange old men giving us weird looks whenever our paths crossed. Apparently as well as a backpacker hostel, it was a long-stay living arrangement for Wellington's down and outs. But the room was actually ok.

Windy as hell in Wellingon. I vaguely remember people telling me it's called 'windy Welly' but Jesus, they weren't kidding!

I still can't put my finger on exactly why, but I felt nothing for the city other than complete animosity, at least to begin with.

We visited Te Pappa museum. As well as a seemingly infinite amount of interesting exhibitions, they also had fast, free and unlimited Wi-Fi and very good coffee. This alone made us choose to spend at least a little of time there every day during our stay.

We also visited the Carter observatory (during the day) which I thought was great. I'm dragging Mari up to the Mount John observatory further South, so we thought it best she have a crash course in astronomy before that.

The following day we did the 3 hour ferry journey over to Picton. South Island!
Picton is a beautiful, quiet, seaside town. Our hostel (Sequoia lodge) is possibly the nicest one yet. Such incredible contrast from our last destination.
We spent a day taking a scenic drive along what can only be described as fjords. Mari felt right at home.
We were contemplating taking a wine tour in the Malborough vineyards today, but it's rained heavily all day. We've just chilled out and watched some movies and stuff instead. Tomorrow we're heading east with the target being Abel Tasman.

So that's it. Whilst not the most interesting or exciting entry I've posted, I need to keep at it because it's just as much for me to look back on and remember what the hell we've been doing all this time as it is for family and friends to keep track on where we are and what we're doing.

Here's a couple of pictures from both Wellington, the crossing and our drive in the fjords.

Giant pickled squid anyone?

Maori wood carvings

West of North

West of the North
Raglan & Hamilton

Only drove for 2 minutes before stopping to have a coffee at our usual spot in Taupo. The sun is out and it's hot already. There's a huge road cycling event in full swing now. The event that evicted us from our hostel as it was fully booked out by cyclists a year ago. No matter. We're off to Raglan. A destination I've been excited about. We booked 6 nights.

Not a big drive today. Only a couple of hours. We arrive in Raglan and we're surprised at just how small this small town is. We drove the entire thing in less than 30 seconds. As a course of habit, we get the sat-nav out to locate the hostel. Pointless in retrospect as there are only two roads. All the rooms of the hostel point inwards to a small, central courtyard to encourage everyone to mingle. Wetsuits are drying in the sun and surfboards are standing in racks. Nearly everyone is bare-foot. Some people are gently swinging in hammocks and others are lounging in the hot tub. There is a bohemian feel to the place. They make their own washing up liquid and laundry detergent from all-natural and sustainable ingredients and there are notices everywhere imploring you to use water and energy responsibly. How much better our world would be if everyone took a leaf from their book.

Just under an hour spent in the town and we really have seen everything now. We rent some surfboards and head to the beach in the late afternoon. The tide is coming in and there's a pretty big swell and they're breaking clean in a nice left-hander...whatever that means.

The sand is a dark graphite colour. We're told it's due to the rich iron content. No green waves for me yet. I'm destined to muck about in the white waves as they wash in, at least until I can stand. Something that wasn't achieved on that first day. Not through lack of determination though.

We attended a KASM (Kiwis against Seabed Mining) event on the Saturday. Someone who apparently owns the entire west coast of the North island is proposing to dig it all up to harvest the iron ore from it. It would destroy habitat of endangered species of whales and other sea dwelling creatures. It would also kill the surf and the tourism with it. The locals are understandably pissed off and we went to a 'gig' to donate and show our support. How does one person or cooperation come to 'own' such a mass of land and water anyway?

Another day of trying and failing to surf we decide to cut 2 days off our stay as there is so little to see and do other than half drown ourselves in the waves.

We did however take a kayak out to see some pancake rocks which was awesome.

On our last day and I tried surfing one more time and with a surfboard so big that it had it's own gravitational field, I did manage to stand up briefly a couple of times. I can see why people love it so much, but I just don't think it's my sport.

On to Hamilton

Even though it's only been 4 or 5 days, we are surprisingly relieved to be back in civilization again. Mari wants to go shopping and points to a huge shopping centre just a little North of the city. It looked like nothing on the map, so I practically insisted that we walk. It turned out to be over 10km and with a few stops here and there it took us over 3 hours to get there. Whoops. Still at least Mari was nice and tired, so the shopping part should be relatively short. More of the same on the second day. We had an epic Thai meal and got chatting to a local couple (Barbara & Jim) who were celebrating a 47 year anniversary. After talking to them for about a minute they were giving us their contact information and offering us a hot meal and a bed for the night if ever we needed it. Kiwi hospitality at its very best. A strange concept for a Brit. I can't imagine me ever offering my home out to people I just met, but it's the norm in this country.

Heading south we stop at Waitomo caves to see some rock formations and glow worms. Our tour guide also gave us his telephone number and offered for us to stay on his farm and have a second look around the caves on our own if we so wished.

Just one night in New Plymouth which was fortunate as it was the worst hostel yet. We were banished outside in a kind of garden shed. Spiders and other bugs were lurking around the building and an overgrown tree scrapped creepily against the windows when the wind blew.

Onwards and down to Wellington. A 353 km drive today. Won't get much else done.
We have 3 nights in Wellington before we catch the ferry over to Picton. We're really excited about having a whole new island to explore. Apparently the South is even more beautiful and friendly. We're in for a treat if that's even half true.

Taupo

Sunday 18/11/12 - Friday 22/11/12

On the way to Taupo we stopped at Wai-O-Tapu "Thermal Wonderland'. Clearly we wanted to take in the magical rotten egg smells one last time.

We arrived in Taupo and checked into Blackcurrant backpackers which had been recommended to us when we were in Auckland. I understood why straight away. We loved it. Such a contrast from the last place. Bright, airy and newly renovated. The atmosphere was also very relaxed and comfortable. We took a wonder into town and despite it being mid afternoon on a Sunday, there was still quite a bit going on. I think we were walking for no more than 10 minutes before I felt an instant connection with the place. I loved the layout of the town, the types of shops, bars and restaurants and of course the mass of water nearby. It felt very cosy and homely, and the people are ace.

We very nearly bought some snowboards in the summer sale, but managed to walk away.

The following day we walked around the town some more. The weather was a bit cloudy, but the forecast for the rest of the week was hot and sunny everyday. We used this day to try to start making some long(ish)term plans, as to be perfectly honest, I could quite happily stay here indefinitely. Eventually we agreed that we would keep moving; see all we could before the money ran out (and it's going fast at the moment) and if Taupo was still our favourite, we would come back. So in summary, our plan was not to make any plans. Good.

There were, however, some things we wanted to do whilst we were here.

Skydive - 15,000 feet (tandem).
It's something we've both always wanted to do, but never really had the money or the opportunity. We found ourselves having both in Taupo. Mari was super nervous but she was holding it together pretty well. The van came to pick us up on a bright and sunny morning and took us to the small airfield just outside the town. Barely a cloud in the sky. I personally was far more excited than nervous as we watched the safety video, geared up and met our tandem masters. I was paired up with a Swedish guy called Patrick who had to suffer me trying to converse with him in my best SweNorEnglish. He was a top guy. Mari was paired with Joel who did his very best to make Mari relax. In vein, I might add. We got on the old prop-plane which only had one sliding door at the rear. We took off and started ascending.

Oxygen masks were given to us and we dropped off a couple of girls and 12,000 feet. I think that's the point where my heart picked up the pace a little. Just watching these girls sat on the edge of the plane with their legs dangling over the side and flapping in the wind. One second the were there, WHUM! they were gone completely out of sight and the plane rocked slightly as the weight distribution changed. The door slammed shut and the plane started climbing again.
Mari and I along with our tandem masters were the last people out of the plane. The guys briefly lined us up so we could hold hands and say our goodbyes. I watched Mari disappear as I did the others. WHUM!.....gone. As Patrick and I shuffled to the edge my brain suddenly had an epiphany. "Hang on. This isn't actually a very good idea!" Nothing under my feet other than green fields and crystal clear blue water. Quite a long way under my feet actually. I put my head back and hung on to the harness as instructed and off we went.
We tumbled head over heels a couple of times until he stabilised us and pulled the drone chute, then I was given the signal to spread my arms like wings.
I can honestly say that that it was the most exhilarating 60 seconds of my life. The wind rushed past at a deafening volume. He spun us like a turntable a couple of times so I could take in the amazing view of the snow capped mountains and crystal clear lake. The free-fall seemed to take a lifetime. My mouth was flapping in the wind and tears were building up in my eyes. The ground didn't really look all that much closer than it had in the plane, but suddenly we were jerked from horizontal to vertical as the canopy deployed. I supposed even the most veteran skydivers still feel a sense of relief when they feel that upwards force. All was good. Patrick pointed out Mari's open canopy below. An equally big relief.
The decent was slow and we spiraled gently towards the air field. The view seemed even better at this speed. We came in pretty fast and we slid on our arses across the dry grass. "Wow! I want to do that again."

Mari was clearly very pleased to be back on terrafirma, but I felt hooked. I watched Patrick grab another pre-packed parachute and walk straight over to his next jumper and board the waiting plane again. Possibly one of the best jobs in the world. Y'know, if you like that sort of thing. I certainly did.

Rapids Jet Boat

We did a jet boat ride up and down the rapids near the Hukka Falls. That was great fun too. Another man with a great job. He pointed out the spots where Peter Jackson had been filming parts of 'The Hobbit' only a few months ago.

*I want to only put my own photos on here, but the last 3 photos were borrowed from the net. Perhaps it's the Scottish in me, but we just couldn't justify spending the huge amounts of money they wanted for the photos they took of us.We're talking more than the event itself in some cases and equating to a weeks rent. We looked ridiculous in them anyway* 

Today we drove down the the Tongariro National park and did a couple hours hiking. It was well worth the trip.

We've done some seriously good eating & drinking here in Taupo as well. Off the back of a recommendation we had Chilli and beef borritos washed down with corona & slushy rosebud cocktails at Taco Taco. Tonight were going for a touch of class at Scenic Cellar which looks to be a 50/50 mix of an extensive wine shop and a chic tapas bistro.

We're dragging ourselves away from Taupo tomorrow and heading North to a little surf town called Raglan. I do feel a little sad to be leaving, but at this early stage of our travels it needs to be about the journey, not the destination. Having said that, a part of me is convinced we'll be back at some point.