Lins and Rich’s Travel Blog

Hi all, my turn to do the blog entry so expect more bad engish and jokes. Can not belive how the time is flying by and its now less than 50 days untill we arrive back to the uk.

Anyway, last entry ended with us sitting in an internet cafe in Taupo which is a great place. I love the fact that the lake was made by one of the biggest volcanic explosions ever recoreded and even though it looks tranquil the whole are is a time bomb. Suffering from a cold (man flu) we had a quiet night watching the new indiana jones movie and finding the prices really cheap went back the next night, Lins watched sex and the city and as I would rather boil my head than watch that whining crap for two and a half hours I saw Ironman (fantastic the perfect antidote to that moaning twig!)

During the day we decided to take it easy and save a bit of money (its going like water at the moment) and walked 8k round trip to the Huka falls which is a huge gushing rapid then seven metre drop which granted does not sound impressive but the force that it comes out is amazing and turns the whole river into a torrent of marbled water for the next 50m. I personally wanted to go to prawn world, which is the worlds only geothermal prawn farm but strangly Lins didnt share my enthusiasm so it was skips. I left her with this question “who can say they have ever visited a prawn farm let alone a geothermal one?” She was not convinced!

Next day we left Taupo and set of on the long journey down to Wellington via the start of the Tongariro northern pass. This walk is made famous by Lord of the Rings and the scenery you walk past is the setting for Mordor however with man flu still firmly kicking my arse and the fact that it was closed due to bad weather it was not to be. Gutted that we didnt get to do the walk as its supposed to be amazing, volcanic cones and coloured lakes. Seeing the pictures its no suprise it was chosen as by the film makers. As a runners up prize we walked to the ridge in front of the mountains for a view of them in there snowy glory (photos will follow but at the moment in the middle of knowhere and its to much to ask for decent internet!). After this I decided to scare Lins and our nissan sunny by driving into the ski town at the base of the mountains up a very windy, very steep road. The cloud obscured most of the view but when it lifted was well worth it.

After a short picinic stop, firmly planted in the car we set off again for Wellington on a pretty but uneventful journey. The highlight of which was going on a swing. I have forgotten how much fun it is an have not been on one in years, I highly recommend it!

On arrival in Wellington it took a while to work out the parking system. Its really cheap and only costs $5 a day to park on the street in certain permit bays but you are not allowed in resident only bays. They decided to have a laugh by placing one of each sign on each bay so you have not got a clue which is which!

Next day we set off on a days whirlwind tour of Wellington which is ironic as its known as the windy city. First stop was the cable car and the botanical gardens. Why its called a cable car is beyond me as its seemed a tram but still it was really nice view over the city. We wandered around for a while, the garden was really nice and had some intresting sculptures but nothing to keep our attention for longer than half an hour so back to the city again and to a great musueam called Te Papa museam. It was impossible to see it all in  day as the place was huge so we focused on one floor which told the story of migrants and had a great movie that was set in a mock up junk shop that came to life as the movie progressed. We then visited the earthquake simulator which was frankly a bit lame but it does highlight how dangerous it is to live in New Zealand, everything seems to want to boil you, crush you or shake you to bits. Do not know what it is about this part of the world but its dangorous!

After a few hours we headed off to Mount Victoria for the sunset, now there are two ways up this mountain and we took the bus, on the way up we passed numorous people cycling and running up it which made me feel more than a little unfit (fittness is at a record low). I even took sheps advice and signed up for a ten k for when I get back. Force myself to do something about it!

The views across the city from mount Victoria are stunning and I must have taken 80 photos in the half and hour we were up there. Wellington is a real mix of mountain and sea and is a really active place. Definatly my favorite city in New Zealand so far. After another chilled out night we boarded the ferry for picton along with an Argentinian guy we met called Esteban. (second hitch hicker of the trip, the first was a dutch guy with mad eyes!)

While I was working in Oz, Kiwi (who suprise suprise is from New Zealand) advised me to get the slow ferry as its alot more scenic. As part of the rental we managed to swing a free ferry trip and as luck would have it, it was the slow trip. After two hours we slipped into Malbrough sounds and got great views of the fjords  and mountains as we approached Picton.

From Picton we took the short hop (well short on the map  - 150k when you realise you have to go round alot of hills and mountains) to Nelson and a backpackers that looked like the Amityville horror house and was complete with paintings of small spooky children and thirties movie stars. By contrast the bathrooms were an explosion of colour and had the best showers yet on the trip. Really nice feel to the hostel and we spent the night chatting to two drunk australians. One of whom was great on the guitar and could really sing. Was like being sat in a private gig.

Nelson is the stopping off point for Abel Tasmin and is frankly a weird place. While quite picturesque with the typical mountain backdrop, its full of very strange people. Im sure most of the town is related in some way! Now I think when shep was here it was summer as I remember the photos of him Kayaking in the sun and stories of floating backpacker hostels.

Winter is a diffrent story with alot being shut and whats open expensive so we instead took the land option instead of paddling around the bays. Booking a water taxi, we were taken  round various bays to a secluded beach via a collony of fur seals. (really cute, how anyone can club them to death is beyond me)  After drop off, you  then follow another famous new zealand trek (or tramp as they call it here).  The full tramp is three days in total so we completed one section and it was great. Changing from gorgeous untouched beachs and crystal clear seas to rugged hilly paths was one of the best treks I have done so far and the weather held out. In total we covered 13km and had a nice picnic overlooking a huge bay with prestine sand. Not a bad life

Today has been mainly driving as we are heading down towards the fox glacier for a days ice hike and then on the Queens town for skiing. On the way we did stop at the great pancake rocks. Formed thousands of years ago they are made from thin layers compressed as scientists still can not work out how they were formed. The weather was attrocious but they were one of my favorite parts of New Zealand so far, with huge crashing waves and spray filled blowholes I think this is one place worth getting soaked for as it made it all the more spectacular.

We are now currently in a nice little backpackers in Hokitika where Lins wants to try jade caving and is currently planning her design. Were off to a place called bonz and stonz (see what they did with the NZ there!) where you get guidance in cutting and making your own design in either jade, cow bone or paua (shell). Kind of like a blue peter job. Having seen some of the efforts today it looks really professional so should be good fun and hopefully productive.

Hope all is good, from the look of the amount of emails I get daily everyone I know is into gambling, euro 2008  and computers. Enjoy the warm weather, still freezing here, getting colder and its started to rain. Cest la vie!