If you want to see another country on the cheap, one of the best strategies is to make use of websites such as helpx and workaway.info. These list various places where you can work part-time in exchange for board and lodging. And so it was that I found myself heading into a remote part of Chile to find a guy called Greg and his farm. The first part of the journey involved a 10 hour overnight bus south from Santiago to Osorno. This was comfy and uneventful – just how…read more
A few particular memories from my couple of days in Santiago: Breakfast small-talk at the hostel quickly escalated into a full-blown debate on the problem of immigration and how best to solve it. Hearing perspectives from all around the world is always eye-opening and enlightening. Not a single Chilean spoke any English to me. Buying a SIM card and topping it up is a complex and unintuitive process. Apparently the pharmacy is where you have to go to top it up. Who knew?! Buying a socket adaptor is equally complex…read more
The last highlight for me in New Zealand was going to watch the Downhill Mountain Biking National Championships in Rotorua. I’d always suspected these guys had a few screws loose in the head but after watching the action for a couple of hours I can now confirm they are completely insane! My spectating got off to an intense start when the second girl down the *steep* stretch I was watching hit a soft patch, was launched over the handle-bars, bounced off her head, flipped and landed very hard down the…read more
Thames is not known for its nightlife. At least not until the night we hit the town… I’d spotted earlier in the day that ‘Tim Anderson’ was playing a pub gig later that night – for free! So five of us guys from the hostel (two Germans, one Mexican, one Australian and a Brit) headed down to watch. (Un)fortunately for Tim, we pretty much doubled the crowd there. Our rounds included an ingenious (and slightly deadly) ginger beer made by dropping a shot of ginger wine into a pint of…read more
Yesterday I drove Kylie to the airport for her flight to Adelaide. She’ll be working at the Fringe festival there for a month, apparently as a ‘bovine aviation specialist’*. It’s gonna be tough continuing to travel without her. But continue travelling I do – to Thames, on the Coromandel Peninsula. This is an odd little town which sprouted out of the gold mining times and seems to have consequently modelled itself on old Western gold-rush towns in the States. I kind of expected the Lone Ranger to come galloping down…read more
As a child, having a February birthday was a mixed blessing. It almost always fell during the half term holiday and more often than not there was snow. More than one birthday outing was cancelled due to bad weather. In fact for my seventh birthday a small group of us were supposed to be going to see Babe at the cinema, but overnight there was a huge amount of snow so the trip was cancelled. I was devastated until I built the biggest snowman EVER (OK, well it was ginormous…read more
Another day, another volcano, another adventure. Mount Tongariro is an active volcano, just under 2000 m high. It is situated in the Taupo volcanic zone of North Island. During our pre walk briefing we were told about what sort of equipment to take and then what to do in the event of an eruption. At the start of the track there is a traffic light, indicating whether it is safe to proceed. There are sensors situated in the volcano monitoring the activity. We felt pretty safe after hearing this until…read more
Important things I have learned: Everything looks better in the sunshine. The most dismal place can be transformed by good weather. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing (A Swedish proverb). Abel Tasman National Park is in no way a dismal place. In fact, it even looks nice under storm clouds. However we are not travelling with suitable clothing to explore a national park in the rain. The forecast for our day here was not looking promising, and sure enough we woke to the soothing sound…read more
From Christchurch we drove across Arthurs Pass, towards Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. The scenery on the route was stunning, and we stopped frequently to take photographs. This area is home to the kea bird. The kea is known to be a bit cheeky, and often steals food from unsuspecting tourists. We were lucky enough to spot one strolling past our parked car. The sun was shining during our time on the east of the island, but as we crossed the mountains towards the west the sky filled with clouds…read more
Our next point of call was Christchurch, where we were to spend a couple of nights staying with friends of Graham’s family from their days in Indonesia. We stopped on the way to take some photos of the beautiful drive. The McKenzie family had sadly lost their home in the earthquakes a few years ago. They now live in a lovely house on the outskirts of the city. It was very interesting to hear first hand accounts of the disaster that affected so many people in this part of the…read more
