New Zealand Travels

But leave Gissie I did and went to celebrate Acacia Kiwi Steves
B'Day in Hamilton. I arrived in Ham, picked Steve up and drove to
his parents beach house on the Coromandel Peninsular. Had a good
few days there with his folks and a couple of friends golfing, surfing, walking and fishing.
Ended up staying the week with Steve in Hamilton, where I bought
myself a tent, and went to one of his mates 70s party in Auckland.
It was when the Americas Cup yacht race was on and we ended up wandering
round the busy harvour with crazy wigs and 70s get up on - groovy!
Dropped Steve back in Hamiltron, then I set out on the open road!

I headed north and made use of my tent for the first of many nights!
I made it back to Auckland with the notion that in the middle of
summer all the winter sports equipment will be cheap. I was right
and after bit of a hunt I bought myself a snowboard!
I drove up the Northland of NZ checking out the large native Kauri
trees, the biggest, Father of the Forest (sounds more impressive
in Maori), was HUGE! Even visited a Kauri museum which was pretty
good - Big Jobs would have LOVED it! It even had a tree with a round
and round staircase in it like Binklebonk's!!
Continued north and visited 90 Mile Beach (a beach that is very
long) and the sand dunes at the top of it. Now I have seen sand
dunes before, but these were incredible, sand mountains more like
- they were more desert like that anything I saw in Egypt! (Except
for the sea on one side and lush green forest on the other) A few
folk were sledging down them on bodyboards. Further North I reached
Cape Reigna - as far north as you can go in NZ (just about). Then
turned around and headed down the east coast of the Northland. Thought
I saw a volcano erupting, but it turned out to be a forest fire
behind a hill. I was heading for the 'stunningly beautiful' Bay
of Islands and located Waitangi- where the treaty between the Maori
and the British crown was signed (still to this day a bone of contention).
Arrived at the Bay of Islands but it was grey and dreary. I booked
on to the 'Excitor' -a jet boat that takes you to 'The Hole in the
Rock' that is apparently a must do. We set off and it instantly
started pouring down. It rained and rained, someone started feeling
sick, we couldn't see anything and we were all soaked, so we turned
back. Back on land I remover my waterproof camera bag, and emptied
all the water out of it! Luckily my camera (and film!) were OK.
I decided drying all my stuff in my tent was not going to happen
so splashed out on a hostel. Was offered the 'Excitor' trip for
a discount the next day so took the opportunity. "Excitor" is bit
of an exaggeration, and the hole in the rock is...a hole...in a rock. woopee.
It wasn't til I was walking up to the top of a hill on my last day
that the sun came out. Great timing because it was 'stunningly beautiful'!
Had a little look for fruit picking jobs on the way south but the
season had not arrived yet (it was late) so I made my way to Waitomo - home of the caves!

Had a brilliant day abseiling 100m down into one, then walking,
scrambling, squeezing, swimming along it. Midway we turned our lights
off to reveal a galaxy of glow worms above us - what a sight!
I got pulled over by the police as I left Waitomo, but he seemed
more interested in how my travels were going than telling me if I had done anything wrong!?

Drove to Rotorua (Rotovegas as it is known) and witnessed the famed
smell. Visited the Wai o tapu thermal area, including the Lady Knox
geyser who did not perform to muster. The thermal areas are such
a unique landscape. Bubbling pools of a variety of colours, craters
and fumeroles blowing sulphurous gases out - steam everywhere. Quite
bizarre. I visited a boiling mud pool which was very entertaining,
you can't help but chuckle at it. It was entertaining watching the
groups of tourists just standing around chuckling at it!
I located a naturally hot stream in the middle of a forest and spent
a very peaceful and relaxing hour sitting in it. Then on to Agrodome!!
A sheep shearing/farmy/sheepy show - very amusing and entertaining!

also went to a Moari Hangi (earthen BBQ) Traditional Concert.
Luckily I was recommended a good one, it was located in a forest
where a tribe used to live, unlike alot of the others that were
in hotels!? It was very interesting and quite formal to begin with.
The Maori tribe we were visiting traditionally challenged us, welcomed
us and sang to us as a visiting tribe. Then, following ancient protocol,
we, the visiting tribe returned the welcome with a song of our own.
It amazing how strange you feel standing with a group of people
you don't know infront of a tribe of semi clad natives singing 'Bring me Sunshine'!!
It was a very informative and enjoyable evening. After the songs,dances
and fighting demonstrations the head guy took us through the forest
telling us how all the plants and trees were used, and showed us
an unbeleivably clear water spring. Then we tucked into the hangi - Lovely!
After Rotorua I headed back to Gisborne to say Howdy to the folks
again. I thought I would try and get some grape picking work. I
phoned a few vineyards but it had been a bad season and only one
was picking. The boss told me to wait for the rain to stop then
come down. The rain cleared up a few days later and grape picking
I went, in beautiful vineyards and surroundings. Unfortunatly four
days later the boss told me they had finished picking, and that was the end of that.
I left Gissie and went to Lake Waikaremoana (say that 3 times quickly!)
and did a 3 day tramp (hike) around it. Very enjoyable.
Drove down to Napier (best example of Art Deco architecture in the
southern hemisphere) and Hastings then on to Taupo. The weather
was a bit miserable so didn't do very much. Visited another thermal
area and more waterfalls. Then it was back to Auckland to visit
some old family friends, the Leishmans. Had a great weekend catching
up, hadn't seen them for about 13 years.

Drove past Hamilton so popped in to see Steve, but forgot he was
in Sydney, spent the evening chatting to his folks! They suggested
I do the Tongariro Crossing. I said 'OK'.
It is a day walk (sorry, tramp) up and over the saddle between two
volcanoes, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe. It was fantastic. It was a glorious
day and I walked it with a German guy, Tim. We took a detour and
walked up to the top of Ngauruhoe - a stereotypical looking volcano,
a steep cone with a crater at the top. A tough climb though because
the slopes were just volcanic rock, rubble and scree. One step up,
two slips down, but well worth it!
The rest of the walk had even more fantastic colourful volcanic
landmarks, Red Crater, the Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake all living up to their names.

Then Southwards to Wellington where I spent a few days with Contiki
Kiwi Nick and his flatmates - stealing road signs and the like!?
Went to the 'Lord of the Rings' exhibition. Very good- everything
here is Lord of the Rings this, and Lord of the Rings that at the
moment. They are very proud of it!
Then it was time to say goodbye to the North Island and on to the
South. (And a good time for a break if you need one!)

Arrived in the South Island via the extremely scenic ferry and drove
south. Passed Kaikora where I saw the 'BadJelly Backpackers' complete
with witchie decor, I stopped in but there was no one about.
Drove to Christchurch and stayed in a hostel again (no tent spots
in town) but avoided the 38 person dorm! Met up with Contiki Kiwi
Sarah and met Paul. we had a good old natter and a look at her Europe
photos but I could not have arrived on a busier weekend, so I left
her to it. Enjoyed wandering around Chch, especially the botanical
gardens, just coming in to Autumn colours.
Continued South and drove inland and greeted the Southern Alps'
snow capped peaks. I stopped at peaceful Lake Tekapo and the next
day, having defrosted my tent, drove to Wanaka. Spent a couple of
days in the very pretty Wanaka, visiting Puzzling World (ooh..its
bit tricky), going for a tramp, and checking out the legend that
is Cinema Paradiso (Cool little cinema with Sofas and armchairs,
and a Morris Minor, to sit in, and an interval to enjoy pre-oredered din-dins or homemade cookies!)
Then on to Queenstown, in full Autumn Splendor, Outstanding!
Thinking about it, I realised Queenstown was probably the seed for
my 10 year urge to come to NZ! I saw it on TV - the adventure capital
of the world! (and that sort of thing appealed to me when I was 16!)
And here I am! Its a wierd place - eveything is 'come and do this
crazy thing' and ' come and do that scary thing', and there is a
constant stream of paragliders circling above the town. I have been
on the Shotover Jet and went horse riding in Lord of the Rings land,
but that is my limit at the moment, I went and looked at the original
Bungy bridge, you could quite easily spend a small fortune here.

I moved from the local campsite to a hostel that takes tents, and
was glad I did because I met a great gang of folk, Dan, Geoff, Rosie
and Cathy. Chatting to them the conversation turned, as it invariably
does, to age. When Rosie asked when my birthday was I was as surprised
as they were when I realised the answer was 'in 25 minutes!' This
prompted an urge to celebrate (any excuse!) so the next day I got
up and cooked a mega load of pancakes for the whole hostel, then
we went and played on the luge (sort of trolley in a downhill concrete
shoot) and had a round of frisbee golf (golf, but with frisbees!)
before being given a chocolate cheesecake and hitting the town for
the night! A very fun birthday considering I was going to let it slip by unnoticed!
When the guys headed off their separate ways it was quite sad -
so I went with them.

I joined Cath and Rosie on a trip to Doubtful
Sound. We went on an overnight cruise - it was fantastic. Ours was
the only ship in the sound (a massive fjord), with 25 folk on board
(rather than the usual 70), and had a variety of dramatic clouds
and weather. At one point our guide told us he had just spotted
some dolphins, we ran to the front to have a look. He told us they
might be on our bow now, lean over and have a look. I leant over.
' No, really lean over'. I thought he was pulling a prank, when
Whoosh! A huge dolphin jumped up right infront of me! Amazing!
We chugged up and down the sound and a few of its arms marvelling
at the scenery and then had a chance for a little paddle about in
a kayak as the sun went down. -Hows the Serenity!

When it got dark we enjoyed the comfort of the ship, including the
3 course buffet! Splendid! We slept in the cheap bunks on the bottom
deck, but with only 25 people, we had plenty of space, and the views
through the portholes at water level were great! The most scenic shower I've had!
The Girls dropped me back at Queenstown where I was finally sorting
out some real accomodation (it was getting pretty chilly in my tent,
and I am planning to set up shop here for the snowboard season!!)
Reavers Lodge - a perculiar place. It is like a huge motel, I have
a room complete with bed, fridge, wardrobe with an ensuite shower
and loo, with a large communal Kitchen and living room. Lots of
folk about so I wont be lonely.

The girls were going up to Mt Cook to celebrate Cathy's B'day, so
having sorted out my room, I went with them again! we had a great
day walking and picnicing, with a fantastic Count Mook backdrop,
complete with Strawberry champers! We cooked a feast in the evening
at the YHA where I witnessed the invention of Custard Lasagne!
I returned to Queenstown and met Dan and Geoff on their return visit,
and celebrated Dans B'day (what was so special nine months ago??)
I suggested a kayak trip in the Abel Tasman National Park, (in Gisborne
I had met the owners of a company that run tours and were keen to
visit them). The boys had done it already so I drove up and met
the girls up there. Nick, one of the owners, and Hamish even let
us stay in their huge house. We had a great few days, the last remnants
of summer (good to be warm again) and an enjoyable paddle along
some beautiful coastline, and a walk to look at a huge hole in the
ground. After the girls left for the North island I hung around
for a couple of days. It was the end of the season for the company,
and I was invited to the end of season party. This mainly consisted
of the most drunken game of golf I have witnessed (to the point
of seeing Nick run from tee to green wearing nothing but his trousers on his head!)
I then returned to Queenstown and it was nose-to-grindstone-job-hunting-time!
I came to the conclusion there are no jobs here - at least, not
for wierd Kids TV animators!! It was (and still is) the quiet period
after all the summer folk have left and the snow hasn't come yet
(it is late!) Everyone kept saying come back in a couple of weeks.
I kept looking for a couple of weeks and they were still saying the same thing. Come on snow!!

Rosie came down to visit for a few days as Cath left NZ before her.
We had a great time ice skating and minigolfing. She was keen to
get a skydive in, so I drove her to Wanaka, amongst the blare of
'Ride of the Valkyries' and she managed to score a glorious day
to do a Supercalifrag SkyJump!! Celebratory Pie and Pint all round!
She flew to Figi last week to meet Cathy(cathyblockblock) and I
am back to job hunting mode. Still nothing about. I have had my
eye on a small, friendly restaurant in nearby Arrowtown. I keep
going there to try and meet the owner to put a friendly face to
my slightly strange CV. On Thursday I finally managed to meet her.
I introduced myself, when I said I was the animator she said, 'Oh
yes, you're the one with no experience whatsoever!'. I said, 'yes'.
She must have liked the look of me because she ended up persuading
herself she needed someone with no experience and sort of made up
a job for me (general cleany, washy lackie). She asked me to come
in on Saturday night for a trial!
YIPPEEEE! I might have a job at last!

And so, today is Saturday, and as fun as it has been, I'm afraid
I can't sit around here gas bagging all day - I've got work to do!!

Au Revoir!