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Shaking The Tree 2005
Welcome (Kia Ora)
I have swapped the wallabies for the all blacks and headed across the Tasman to Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud', or New Zealand to you and me.
I have also swapped
the kangaroo for a kiwi
my thongs for jangles
my esky for a chillie bin
football is now Rugby Union not Aussie Rules, (but still not soccer as it should be)
the boonies for the wopwops! (means middle of nowhere.)
Yes I am well and truly in NZ. After leaving Tasmania at some stupid hour of the morning when it was just about 2 degrees I landed in the afternoon in Auckland, met by beautiful blue skies and 22degrees - oh and by Brucey Baby !
Taken to the family home in Remuera the Collins family have again provided excellent hospitality, and ensured that I was fed watered and had my laundry done, and watched the whole of the last series of Sex and the City before I headed off... Both Lynn and Bruce look really well and I can't believe how grown up Charlotte and Ben are..
My aim in NZ is to spend the bulk of my 21 days in the South Island and to acheive that aim I needed to get to the South Island as cheaply as possible. This was made possible, by good old Standby Cars - who got me a relocation of a campervan for NZ$5 a day, plus they pay the ferry for me and the van (NZ$220). The only restriction being that I have to get the van from Auckland to Christchurch in 5 days. Not too bad as it is only 1000kms.
This van is super - duper, 2 berth with shower and loo and microwave and cooker and it is HUGE! I feel I should have a CB radio and be eating a Yorkie bar! I am getting quite good at reversing it using only mirrors and it cruises at 100kms hour quite easily. Everytime I pull into a service station or camp site they say "Is it just you in that big old camper van!" And I say - "Sure is!" - then they say "my aren't you brave!".
My first night was spent in Rotorua, which is famous for its geo-thermal activity. The place is HOT, literally. Heated thermal pools, boiling mud and sulphur are the name of the game here. Even the parks in the city ooze sulphur steam from sculptures and holes in the ground. You can go out to see places like Hell's Gate or Wai - o - Tapu (sacred waters) and watch geysers spout boiling water 20metres into the air. Lakes are bright dayglo green/yellow, like highlighters, from the sulphur. Mud plops in pools called the Devil's cauldron. All the while you are aware of the stale egg smell that wafts across in waves of steam just leaking out of the ground. I love this place. It brings out the frustrated Geologist in me, super volcanoes, eruptions all play a part in making Rotoroa as interesting as it is. I have not ruled out a trip back when I get back to the North Island as it rained when I stood by the Champagne Pool and the colours were muted by the rain. Arsenic, Sulphur, Gold, Silver - all mix to make this place like no place on earth.
I then headed down through Taupo to Otaki - as it was raining like you would not believe. Through volcanic valleys and mountains, more hairpin bends and a desert plateau. At times the landscape is very English, but the mountains rise sharply, some extinct volcanoes others just remnants of an active tectonic plate but all covered in the green of a billiard table.
I have not made any major mistakes with the campervan although me struggling with the fresh water hose might fetch some interest on the internet, I did end up with a very wet tee-shirt infront of a team of rugby players practising in the campsite!
I am now in Wellington, the Capital of NZ, and the place where you catch the ferry to the South Island. The drive in today, which is the National Election Day, was blowy and the sea looked choppy. But I am told that this is the norm for Windy Wellington and that the weather forecast is for a storm tomorrow, just as I am due to set sail.
I have completed this 3 hour ferry crossing before. The sea sickness only stopped after I knocked myself out with 2 glasses of red wine and a Kwells. I will not be able to use this home grown remedy this time as I will have to drive off the other end. For those of you that have witnessed me on a ferry/boat - you will understand my trepidation! As soon as I get to Christchurch I will let you know if I have survived the crossing. God I am soooooo not looking forward to this...
But my mood has been lightened by a visit to Te Papa, Our Place. This is the New Zealand National Museum and a truly awesome place. Fully interactive you can learn so much about the Maori, the earthquakes and volcanoes, the fauna and flora, past and present. Free to all and much in demand this place, our place, is a lesson to any museums of the future. Stand in a room and experience an earthquake, compare your height to how much Christchurch has grown from plate movement..... The museum is worth a visit to Wellington all on it's own - truly it is!
Well I need to catch the no 56 bus back to my camp site and prepare for the trip tomorrow!
Love to all
Lynne
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