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Where to start with this one. New Zealand via Singapore.
A quick paragraph about Singapore. First, it's expensive! Very expensive, especially compared to what I'd come to expect from the rest of Asia. And then I made it even more expensive than it needed to be because I decided to go to Universal Studios. That was well worth the visit apart from giving myself motion sickness for the majority of the day. I went to a museum or two other that, but it was a pretty flying visit. I can't complement Singapore enough though. Whilst it doesn't feel as authentic as other cities in South East Asia, it is a city done well. It's very clean, it's very green, and whilst it's full of wealth, it does appear to be a very nice place to live even if one isn't part of the wealth.
Now onto New Zealand. I've been here for all but two weeks and it's comfortably the most beautiful country and place that I've visited. Everywhere you look, there is natural beauty to be found.
I landed in Auckland and that in itself was quite the sight when looking out of the window on the way down. Some time in the previous few days, I'd decided I wanted to see the South island first (Auckland is in the north) to maximise the chances of getting more desirable weather. I'd therefore booked a flight to Christchurch for a few days after I landed in Auckland. I had a quick look around Auckland itself after I landed. There didn't appear to be much going on, but still came across as being rather nice. Also, being on the bus from the airport to the city, it felt ridiculously like being back home, especially compared to Asia! Also in Auckland, I saw something that I didn't see once in two months in Vietnam - homeless people. I guess New Zealand isn't entirely perfect.
The following day, I got the bus north to a place called Whangarei. Beautiful journey up the coast! Other than the flight landing, that was the first real taster of what New Zealand was going to have to offer in terms of the natural beauty. I arrived in Whangarei late afternoon. The hostel I booked was an hour away on foot and the local buses had just stopped running! That meant having to take a taxi at Western prices for the first time in a while, but at least the costs were shared with a fellow traveller. Something quite alarming happened that night as well - I made my own tea. I wasn't impressed. Whangarei is small but nice and the hostel was out of town, so it resulted in a pretty early night.
We went out the next day for a walk in the surrounding area - the biggest attraction is a waterfall. It was quite a nice waterfall, it must be said! The walk continued for a bit, and in terms of the countryside and even temperature, it felt like being very much at home. It kind of made quite the pleasant change from the heat and humidity of Asia. We continued on a bit further to some caves. But the caves were completely natural and thus no artificial lighting, and we decided it wasn't worth the risk to investigate too deeply. We got back to the hostel mid to late afternoon and just chilled for the rest of the day. And cooked again. Still wasn't happy.
The next day was a travelling day - back down to Auckland by bus and then the flight down to Christchurch. I stayed at a hostel next to the airport, because I was picking up a rental car the following day. I also decided that my brief foray into cooking should be exactly that.
I picked the car up the next morning - small but cheap Toyota Yaris - and spent the day a little bit out of Christchurch. I learned pretty quickly that I would be entering a love / hate relationship with the car! The gearbox is automatic, and not a particularly good one, which means it can be numerous seconds behind my brain when it comes to selecting the correct gear! I also learned even more that New Zealand is beautiful. It doesn't take until long out of a town some pretty great countryside. A lot of it around Christchurch is like the UK, but then it elevates the beauty by an extra 20%. And then the water to look at is something that the UK cannot come close to matching. The day turned into a pretty decent hike in a coastal area. The weather held up too, which was a nice bonus!
I went north the next day to a place called Hanmer Springs. It was my first proper drive with the car and took about 2.5 hours to get there. I also bought a tent and associated beforehand, because one can camp for free in NZ! Hanmer Springs is named as such because it has a hot spring. I actually didn't indulge in the end, but checked out the town and went for further drives on some gravel roads that the car didn't enjoy much. I, however, did enjoy driving on them very much! And the scenery, as was very fastly becoming the norm, was spectacular. I found somewhere to camp for the night. But I got some food before because I still had no intention to cook for myself!
The next day, I ended up going back south, via Christchurch to a place called Lake Tekapo. That turned into a pretty long day with lots of hours on the road. But it was still fund because the scenery was managing to still be ok! And the roads are also great to drive on, especially for someone who grew up on the tight and twisty roads in the north of England! It's just a shame the crap Yaris gearbox becomes even worse when going uphill! I arrived at Tekapo just before dark to take a few pics, although the weather was somewhat cloudy. I went to camp by another lake after eating. It was comfortable but cold, and I wondered if camping is really the way forward!
I was up early the next day and set off on another long drive. The first part was to a small town called Wanaka, where I stopped for lunch. Wanaka has a pretty sizeable and beautiful lake, so it turned out to be a good place to stop. As a town though, it is quite touristy and is increasing in popularity with those wanting to stay there overnight. I carried on after lunch towards Fox Glacier, which is on the west coast. The stretch of road from Wanaka to Fox Glacier was the best and most fun yet. I enjoyed every moment of the drive, and felt myself fortunate that I wasn't a passenger, because motion sickness would have come in full force! I was also travelling with someone that day and ended up picking up a couple of hitchhikers who were also going to Fox Glacier! That was pretty cool.
The plan was to do a two day hike, starting the following day with my new hitchhiker friends included. However I was pretty knackered after driving so much so was having doubts about whether I wanted to do it or not. I then grabbed a few beers with some fellow travellers, which turned into many more at Fox Glacier's single pub, which kind of sealed the deal! I ended up having a pretty chilled out day but I did make a brief foray into Franz Josef, since the bridge connecting the two towns had been reopened - it was previously washed away by torrential rain!
The next day I did a few mini walks and checked out more amazing scenery. The access roads to the two glaciers were closed because of the previously mentioned rain. However, Fox Glacier was viewable from a distance, as well as the surrounding mountains. The day was perfect weather wise, so the views were suitably spectacular. Some of which will live long in the memory! I picked up the guys who did the hike and it turned into a pretty chilled night. We did check out the pub again but it was a Sunday night in a small town, so not much was happening!
The following day, I decided to go to Queenstown. It meant backtracking to Wanaka, but I didn't mind because of how enjoyable the drive was. I didn't do much on the first night in Queenstown - just a quiet beer with a new friend - and then after that decided I was too tired to do much else after the drive!
Queenstown is famous for the adrenaline junkie activities and a burger place called Fergburger. I decided that the nature of NZ is enough and that the activities are overpriced because they are cashing in on the many many people who are willing to pay and participate! I thus resolved not to do any. I did however want a Fergburger to check out the hype. The queue is relentlessly long so I ended up skipping the first couple of nights. More on Fergburger soon!
On my first full day in Queenstown, I decided to do one of the hikes in the area. It started with a scenic drive along the big **** off lake that Queenstown is situated next to. I deliberately picked one of the less popular hikes and one that didn't seem too challenging. It turned into a decent enough hike and it was challenging enough! The views weren't the best that New Zealand has to offer because the trail didn't peak a hill, but it was still enjoyable enough! As mentioned above, no luck with Fergburger that night, so I grabbed a curry instead! Earlier in the day, I posted on Facebook that I was gonna go to Milford Sound and back the following day, so I ended up going for a few beers with a couple of guys who responded. It was a pretty early night though because I knew how much driving would be involved the following day.
The drive to Milford Sound was utterly spectacular (especially the last hour) and may be even better than the road from Wanaka to Fox Glacier. As was the norm with driving in NZ, I enjoyed every moment. We booked onto one of the cruises at Milford Sound for early afternoon. It's quite touristy but it appears the number of boats allowed out at one time is limited, so it wasn't saturated with tourists! The weather was perfect. And Milford Sound to a large extent matched the weather. It's hard to put into words the beauty of it and it's one of those where pictures can't do it justice. The rock formations are pretty mind boggling. Perhaps the only downside is that I expected it to be a little bit bigger! I drove back after that and suitable enjoyed every moment again! That night, I finally resolved to check out Fergburger, regardless of the queue. I can comfortably say that it was the most overhyped burger that I've had. It was a good burger. But no more than a good burger and definitely not the best in the world as the hype would suggest! It kind of acts as a microcosm for Queenstown in some respects.
I decided to extend a day in Queenstown because I didn't fancy the drive back to Christchurch the following day. It turned into a pretty chilled one where I started writing this blog! But I got bored before I finished it. I ended up having a pretty early and quiet night in anticipation of the 6 hour drive.
I left Queenstown without being entirely sure what to make of it. The town itself is beautiful as is the surrounding area. It's also the primary go to area for those who want to work in NZ. But I couldn't help feel that it was a bit of a fraud hiding behind the natural beauty and the overpriced activities. In a lot of respects, it could be a town in any country in the world. Something else that I found a little fascinating - the people who worked at Fergburger were largely British (based on accent). My observation is that they would rather work for a glorified McDonalds in NZ than live in the UK. Surely real life can't be that bad. And surely they wouldn't be working for McDonalds in the UK.
I drove back to Christchurch the next day, where I still am. It's been a relatively quiet few days because I've decided to revert back to the lazy backpacker from Asia, temporarily at least. Although I did make use of the car yesterday by driving to a small town on the sea called Akaroa. Nice little town with a quirky house / garden designed by an artist! The surrounding area also has many of the tight / twisty roads from home, so I took full advantage before coming back to Christchurch!
I had a look at Christchurch itself today for the first time. I aimed for the museum and botanical gardens. On the edge of the garden, I stumbled across one of the tribute areas for those who were murdered by the terrorist recently - it turned out to be quite poignant given the latest attack in Sri Lanka.
The garden was decent and it turned into a nice little walk with music for company! I then went to the museum after lunch. Luckily it was free because the place was full of kids running wild, so I left with much haste! I may go back before I leave the city.
And that's this thing up to date! I have the car for a couple more days and then back on the bus to head north!
Maybe the next blog won't take so long to materialise.
- comments
Nicola Thanks for sharing Alex. I like the sound of driving (rallying) around that amazing landscape. A bit shocked by the aversion to cooking. I think you need to up skill when you get back