See It Do It Live It

Its all downhill from here

Posted by in New Zealand

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

Adventures with Ahmed

Posted by in New Zealand

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

The Hauraki Rail Trail

Posted by in New Zealand

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

Valuing food, cheer and song

Posted by in New Zealand, Trip

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

The Desolation of Smaug

Posted by in New Zealand

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

Abel Tasman National Park

Posted by in New Zealand, Trip

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

Arthurs Pass and Fox Glacier

Posted by in New Zealand, Trip

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

Christchurch

Posted by in New Zealand, Trip

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

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail….

Posted by in New Zealand, Trip

Next stop: Wellington. We don’t have much to report from Wellington, except to say that we stayed in a hostel run by a very grumpy man. The weather took a turn for the worse and we ended up putting up our tent in the rain. Luckily the Australian Open final was on TV in the evening, giving us the perfect excuse to escape to the pub. We found a sports bar and settled in to watch the match. This turned into an epic battle and we only managed to stay…read more

0

Seal of Approval

Posted by in New Zealand, Trip

It seemed a shame to neglect our upper bodies after yesterdays intensive lower body workout, so we decided that a few hours of sea kayaking was in order. Ross’s friend Charlotte decided to join us today. She had gone one better than our hike up Mount Taranaki, and had done the same walk but overnight. They reached the summit around midnight before descending in the dark. Charlotte apparently lives by the philosophy that sleep is for wimps!! We hired two double kayaks and paddled out to sea. The weather report…read more