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"Sweet as.....Bro"
This seems to be the most common phrase in NZ and seems to roughly translate as "cool man" or equivalent. Slightly disconcerting that a few people have called me "bro" but I assume it's not because I look like a man, rather that I'm getting down with the surfer dudes!!
Right, the first blog of the trip so I'd better try and make it interesting so you'll keep coming back! I will say right now that this will be waffly as I get into the swing of things but bear with me. They will certainly become snappier and funnier as the trip continues I'm sure! (And a lot more frequent hopefully!)
Remember there are also photos on facebook from others so keep checking those out too - hopefully none are too embarrassing!
Anyway, the first part of my flashpacking adventure began in style as I was upgraded on the flight over so after a fairly emotional day saying goodbye to my HK 'family', I was on my way in comfort, champagne in hand! Got to Auckland on the Monday afternoon to be highly disappointed by my 1st impression of NZ - rainy, cold and really just a concrete jungle. Had a wander around but to be honest there seemed little to do or see and even the waterfront was a letdown. And so, the real adventure begins......
Tuesday 27 October - Auckland to Hahei Beach (The Coromandel)
Staggered to the meeting point for my bus (yes Viv, I do have far too much stuff with me!). Got safely aboard to find myself by far the oldest, whitest, fattest person on board, not the coolest or most attractive, not quite the quietest but certainly the richest! With a driver named "Mambo", we were on our way!
The first few hours were quite awkward with nobody really talking to eachother, until we left someone behind in a town, nobody realised for half an hour and we had to go back for the poor sod. This became a running joke and started to bond the group. Quite a mixed group with a fairly large cohort of Germans and Dutch, a couple of Americans and the rest Brits. I'm the oldest by around 7 years!
Stopped at a random vineyard with a nutty owner who makes firewater out of a local NZ fruit called fijoa which tastes a bit like pineapple but also has a whole load of other flavours. We were then presented with a kumara which is a local variety of sweet potato and comes in 3 different sizes/colours/shapes. This we were told to nurture for the rest of the bus journey until we boiled them for dinner!
Finally arrived at Hahei on the Coromandel and went for a walk to Cathedral Cove which we couldn't go through as the day before a ton of rocks had fallen down and it was too dangerous. We then had a BBQ back at the holiday park and then made our way to Hot Water Beach in a bit of a drunken state (half a box of red wine consumed). We dug a huge hole right down by the sea and sat in it where I burnt my bum quite badly (looking back, it may have been almost 3rd degree burns!). At the same time, it was absolutely freezing.
Random Snippets
Cannibals eat people or parts of people who have a quality they are lacking or need more of, eg if they eat the brains of an intelligent person, they become smarter, or someone with a lot of courage they become brave. You get the idea.....
South Africans always claim their sky is much higher than anywhere else in the world. Weirdly, in NZ I think the sky is much lower!
Wednesday 28 October - Hahei to Raglan
Made our way to Raglan which claims to be one of the best surfing beaches in the world. While some of the group went to do a surfing lesson (never again after my wakeboarding disaster attempt a few years ago!), I went for a 'gentle' bush walk with a few people on Mt Kariori which ended up being a tough traipse through a muddy forest. This followed by a few quick zips on the flying fox, a group dinner and a bit of a party.
Random Snippets
The guy who wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show came from Hamilton and there's a huge statue of Rif Raf the transvestite in the town
Thursday 29 October - Raglan to Cultural Stop
Drove to Waitomo caves where I'd signed up to do the Haggas Honking Holes. This involved donning a very attractive wetsuit, jacket, white wellies and helmet, strapping myself to a few ropes and hurtling off the side of a cliff in the middle of a cave (ie abseiling!). We were freezing, soaking wet and scared and went down one 'dry' cliff face then 2 waterfalls. We were then dropped down a hole in the pitch dark (the guides thought it would add to the excitement of we all turned our headlamps off) into a pool of water. The fun didn't stop there. We then had to crawl through tiny tunnels on our stomachs (chin in water) and then climb up a sheer rock face. Still, was very good fun and I have the pics to prove it. I was quite impressed that we ended up 80m below ground! Waitomo is also famous for gloworms which are actually a matchstick-shaped maggots. The 'glow' comes from all the wee and poo that the gloworm needs to create its web (this was the technical description given to us!
We then headed to Maketu for a stopover at Uncle Boyes which is a cultural retreat. We had a 'hangi' meal and then the local Maori tribe came to perform for us - the guys had to strip to the waist and learn the haka which they then performed for the girls and we had to learn the poy to perform for them. All a bit embarrassing but good fun. We then all bunked down on the floor in the 'marae' (meeting house = huge hall) and were woken up to the sounds of Abba (I still think a traditional Maori horn or something would have made the experience a wee bit more authentic but never mind).
Interesting Random Snippets
The kiwi fruit actually came from China and was called a Chinese gooseberry. Someone introduced the fruit to NZ years ago, it became popular, they decided it looked a bit like a kiwi bird and named it so. The seeds were subsequently introduced to Chile and Argentina where they became much cheaper to farm and the production in NZ now is pretty low.
Kia Ora (for you Brits, do you remember the drink in the 80s?) actually means "hello" or "welcome" in Maori.
Maori is actually pronounced "mori"
Friday 30 October- Maketu to Taupo
Made our way to the Kaituna river where I'd signed up to do some white water rafting and ended up in the front of the boat. There are 14 rapids here; one of which is 7m and the highest vertical drop for rafting in the world. I ended up flying out the side of the boat (you can kind of see it on the pic) but managed to hold on and land back inside. Great fun although a wee bit scary. Our guide was hilarious and made us all jump into the water, hold onto the raft with our bodies underneath and go down a rapid.
We then made a brief stop at Rotorua for the smelly mud pools and at the Huka Falls which were quite impressive before arriving at Lake Taupo (pronounced "topour") which is the world's largest crater lake and where I did a 15,000 feet skydive. My partner was a complete nutter so I'm glad it wasn't my first time. I was much more relaxed than the 1st time I did it so there was a lot of banter in the plane with the pilot and my tandem partner who insisted on talking in broad Yorkshire accents (proof on my video which I'm hoping streams through this blog). I had bare feet and we climbed so high that the clouds were made of ice - bloody freezing! Still, they drove us back to the hostel in a white stretch limo!
Saturday 31 October - Taupo to National Park
Got up at sparrow's fart and drove to the Tongariro National Park - this is where Mount Ngauruhoe is (Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings). We then set off o the 20km Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is rated as one of the wolrd's vest one-day walks. Really hard going in that we had to carry ice picks and use them to climb up one of the hillslopes as it was packed with snow and ice. Pretty impressive scenery and really more of what I was expecting from NZ with volcanic craters, conical mountains, snow-capped mountains and emerald sulphur lakes. We climbed to the summit of Mt Tongariro and found there was a steep slope to get down o the other side. I was in the process of "helping" someone else when I lost my footing, fell on my bum and went flying. It was so steep that I couldn't stop, dropped my ice pick (which should have been my brake) and proceeded to laugh hysterically while hurtling down the mountain - I took out 2 people in our group and some random old French bloke who looked a bit shell shocked to see this ball of giggles flying underneath him and screaming "I'm sorry......." from 100m further down the hill.
Sunday 1 November - National Park to Wellington
After several days of adrenalin-packed (and knackering) activities, it was onwards and upwards towards Wellington. On the way we stopped at a giant carrot (the kiwis seem to have a fixation with giant fruit and veg) and then Taihape which is the home of gumboots (wellies). It was here where our driver ran into the town hall and came out with a pair of willies which we took to a local welly throwing arena and had a competition. The furthest was around 20m which wasn't bad given it was our first time. The world record is something like 63m.
Finally arrived in Wellington which was beautiful - right on the seafront with Mount Victoria in the background and clearly a lot of wealth, judging by the houses. Drove through the Victoria Tunnel where its compulsory to do a happy horn honk all the way through and everyone honks back. Also managed a quick stop in the Te Papa museum where there's an interactive seismic section with an earthquake simulation and it's also the only museum in the world to house a colossal squid which is 4m long and was found in Antarctica about 2 years ago. Would have liked to have spent more time here so it's going on my 'places to return to' list.
Random Snippets
Signpost on side of road in middle of nowhere "Peach teats - calves love em!"
"Bulls - not just a turn off" - town called Bulls which is basically at an intersection and is known as the only place where you can get milk from bulls. Every shop has a sign outside with little quip such as "constabull" outside the police station, "drinkabull" outside the pub, "relievabull" outside the public toilets, "treasurabull" outside the antiques shop etc.
Passed through a little town called Horowhenua which seems to be the mobility scooter capital of the world as there was a disproportionate number. It's also the place where people just randomly walk out into the road without looking (possibly a link here!). Scariest of all it used to be the suicide capital of NZ for young people.
Monday 2 November - Wellington to Marahau (Abel Tasman)
Took early morning ferry to Picton on the South Island and drove via Nelson to Marahau on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park. Stayed in a great place called the Barn.
Tuesday 3 November - Abel Tasman
Spent the morning on a beautiful catamaran sailing along the Abel Tasman spotting dolphins, seals and penguins. Then did a 12km walk back through the forest along the coastline - stunning scenery. Evening round the campfire being serenaded by one of our group who is a singer/songwriter from Maine, USA. Ben Hammond - look out for him - great voice and interesting style.
Wednesday 4 November - Marahau to West Coast Cultural Stop
Did a half-hour microlight flight this morning over Abel Tasman. Great feeling and amazing scenery from up above. Rest of day was spent in bus; pretty boring although we did stop at Punakaiki whish is famous for its blowholes and pancake shaped rocks. Arrived in Barrytown which has around 200 people living there and stayed in a pub. We were 'forced' to cross-dress and play drinking games. All good fun, highly embarrassing and the pictures tell 1,000 tales!
Thursday 5 November - Barrytown to Franz Josef
Travel day today as we headed to Franz Josef today which is home to one of the world's only 3 temperate glaciers (the other 2 are Fox Glacier in the next-door valley and one in Patagonia). The glacier is 15,000 years old.
Friday 6 November - Franz Josef
Planned to do a helihike today which involves getting a chopper to the top of the glacier and then walking for a few hours in the best terrain before being choppered back down. They cancelled it due to cloud so was highly disappointed. Did a full-day hike instead which was a 12km trek (getting used to these walks in the park now!) which involved the full crampon action. The scenery was pretty impressive although I didn't experience the wow factor I was expecting. We saw some quite cool blue ice and cave formations and squeezed our way through a crevasse.
Random Snippets
It takes a snowflake 35 years to travel the length of the Franz Josef glacier and emerge in the river at the other end. Quite recently pieces of a plane appeared at the end of the glacier that had crashed in the 1950s.
Saturday 7 November - Franz Josef to Makarora
Headed off in the rain to Lake Matheson where you are supposed to see a perfect mirror image of the surrounding mountains. The postcards certainly looked spectacular; unfortunately the pissing rain and low cloud didn't help us! We ended up in a One Horse town called Makarora which as full of local yokels and members of a car club who were on an annual mystery tour and had clearly never seen more than 5 people in a place at any one time! Had an evening of self-bought fireworks and karaoke which caused great amusement to the aforementioned yokels and car fanatics!
Sunday 8 November - Makarora to Queenstown
Drove past Lakes Wanaka and Hawea which were just beautiful and then stooped for lunch in Wanaka town which I loved, before continuing on to Queenstown. What a beautiful place with a great vibe - nestled on the side of a huge lake surrounded by spectacular mountains - just stunning! We drove to the famous A.J. Hackett bungy site in the Kawaru Gorge to watch some people hurl themselves off a bridge. It was at that point that insanity set in and I went against everything I've always promised myself and booked myself in for a bungy jump the next day - aaaaaaargh!!!!
Monday 9 November - Queenstown
The big day. Drove out to Nevis in the morning to do my 134m bungy jump - the 2nd highest in the world (1st is in South Africa so I have that option next year sometime if another dose of insanity kicks in). Don't think I've ever been as scared as when I was standing on the platform pre-jump. My mind went totally blank and I was almost hypnotized. I don't even think I heard the guy counting down before I leapt off like a bird!! Can't even describe the sensation but watch my video and you might go some way to understand the petrified feeling!
As if that wasn't enough, I then did a tandem canyon swing - the highest swing in the world. We were dropped from a wire at tremendous speed - hilarious and so much fun. Don't think I can take any more adrenalin rushes - at least for a week in any case.
Spent the afternoon doing a leisurely cable car ride (poof, walk in the park!!) and 6 luge runs which were great fun.
Grouped together with 2 of the guys off the bus and have decided to ditch the bus and hire a car and head down to Milford Sound which should be fun.
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