Gina

I travel and watch stuff and like to write about it so I remember

[ginasneesby]

Kiwi Gee SqueeGee Part 3

The next morning, we had an exciting boat trip planned around Auckland harbour with the whale and dolphin safari, the Hauraki Gulf is well known for being a marine reserve and in fact (so Wikipedia tells me) is home or holiday destination to a third of the world's marine mammals. With that in mind, I could have done without a stinking hangover, but ya know we were young and stupid. The boat trip took us out of the harbour and towards the gulf past Rangitoto island, firmly sitting outside on the back of the boat, I had fresh air and a good view so although regretting the booze, I would probably have sat there either way. We saw a whole range of wildlife including dolphins and whales and just generally being on the sea is cool; on the way back in we heard murmurs of a pygmy blue whale sighting and with the crew, who were just as invested as the paying guests getting on the binoculars, someone eventually confirmed there was one behind us. Slightly too far to really see or get any photos but a glimpse of a fin or two is enough to say we’ve seen a blue whale (pygmy) in the wild.  

The rest of the day was spent chilling and planning what to do with Mo’s last 48 hours, one of the only boxes not checked on the trip was experience some Māori culture, so I recommended we head back to Rotorua in the morning and book ourselves a hangi for dinner. There are many options which all involve amazing food and some sort of show, but with the chance to also involve some geothermal activity (which was also on the list) we booked into Te Puia for just the Te Po dinner, haka and geyser by night. With no plans till the evening, we were able to have a lazy morning before easing our way down to Rotorua. The evening experience started with a traditional welcome and song before stuffing our faces on freshly cooked meats, vegs and many many puddings. Everyone was then loaded into little electric buses and taken down to the geyser and hot seats, its only about a 3 minute walk and we really should have given how much we'd just eaten, but when the bus is right there... We had a chunk of time to ourselves and now the sun had gone down there was a chill in the air, so it was very pleasant to sit on the amphitheatre type stone seats looking out over the jets of steam and occasional geyser; especially with natural under butt heating! To top off the evening, in spite of being very full, we were given some mugs of hot chocolate before hopping in the buses back up to the centre (again we really should have walked) and heading to our hostel for the evening. 

Mo was flying home the next day but not till the evening so we had the whole day to play with, I imagine I would have been really sensible given the airport is south of the city and advised him to bring everything with! He had spotted a nature park called Paradise Valley Springs the day before, so we spent the morning there, we wanted to go because as well as getting up close and personal with a bunch of NZ and Australian animals you don't always get to see on our side of the world, there was a pride of lions. There was a walk-through bird area with Kea probably trying to break out, a grassy area to feed the goats and miniature horses, pigs, turkeys, possums and wallabies (some with joeys in their pouches) and then the lions. They were in an enclosure about the size of half a football pitch and at feeding time, hunks of meat were chucked over the fence. A strange experience especially in a country so hot on conservation and their website tells me they've been breeding in captivity for 30 years. Anyway, we got our fill of lots of creatures and drove back to Auckland via the airport to see Mo off; this meant I had another 6 days of LJ to myself!! 

We discovered a theme park in south Auckland called Rainbow’s End and so despite a bit of rain, headed down again (I drove that road so many times!) to see what it would be like. There were a couple of big rides - coaster, spinney or droppey mostly, there was a log flume and run away mine train and a bunch of trashy food places to keep us going throughout the day. It was a Tuesday in term time so we had the place mostly to ourselves and took full advantage, after most of the day we’d had our fill and trekked home again. After so much activity a down day was on the cards and the NZ weather gods were shining on us with sunshine and warmth so we spent a lazy day reading out the front of my flat, walking to nearby beaches and into town to grab some lunch. Having been out of town the previous few weeks, I was excited to get back to the regular Wednesday pub quiz and to have an additional brain to add into the mix was an added bonus; of course we won!  

The next few days took us up to the Coromandel peninsula, a part of the North Island I hadn't yet been to, where we had a boat tour booked and a number of other recommended excursions to enjoy. Driving was only a couple of hours so again thankfully we didn't have to get up too early or stress about the travel and headed straight to our quirky little hostel in Whitianga to check in; The Cats Pyjamas. We had booked a room for 2 instead of the 20-bed dorm as we are far too old to be sharing with that many (probably) brits on their gap year but no option for our own bathroom so that would be communal. When we arrived though we discovered our room was through the dorm room, a small space built off the side that fit a bunk bed, with same again width to the wall and not much else. The window was above the height of my head along the length of the wall so it felt a little prison-y, but at least we had natural light and a door to close to everyone else. The rest of the hostel was pretty standard with a useable kitchen and a lounge area with games and DVDs, although the mural of the Victorian era white and Māori people was a choice. We were also warned about the fire alarm as it was really close to the hostel, there was no formal service, just volunteers so the alarm would ring till the people were able to drop their day jobs and get to the station. We decided to take a little wander around the town, it was raining a bit but the city centre is about 3 x 3 blocks so didn't take us long to suss out where we would grab dinner etc over the next few days. We also found a local cinema and with nothing else planned that day, for the cost of 5 bucks, thought we might as well drop in to see whatever was on. Turns out we’d just missed the start of Mamma Mia 2 but figuring we wouldn't miss anything too integral bought our tickets, the cinema told us they’d turned the film off coz no one tuned up to watch it, they didn't mind turning it back to the beginning of the film but we wouldn't have time for all the credits... so they restarted the movie and we chose centre seats in a completely empty screen. 

The next day we had tickets for a glass bottom boat trip out around the Whanganui A Hei marine reserve that runs along the coast past Cathedral Cove and down to Hahei with beautiful sights, interesting marine life and the chance to go snorkelling. Annoyingly we got to the dock just in time to see our boat disappearing around the corner, checking the flyer we had it confirmed this was the correct time for the boat to leave... in the holidays, term time has a different timetable. Upset and disappointed we headed to a pub nearby for a pint and a place to call the company and see if there was anything they could do, as the timing change was not super well-advertised and we really wanted to go etc etc. They recommended we try our luck on the last tour of the day which was leaving in about an hour, although it was at the discretion of the captain, so we finished our drinks and walked back to the dock to wait. There were some lads collecting some sort of shellfish that was living on the docks, they offered us some fresh out the sea, but we politely declined. In standard NZ fashion, the captain didn't care who was on his boat so once he confirmed that it wasn't full, he let us jump on and join. The tour was great, glass bottom boats only work so well given the physics of bubbles and moving over water, but you can see a bunch of fish when still and that's kinda cool. I'm not really into swimming in the ocean, especially when it's cold but LJ is a water baby so was very excited about jumping in. The family on the tour with us we also going in but they all had wet suits and buoyancy aids whereas Laura was happily straight in in her normal swimmers; I was cold just watching. I stayed on the boat and sunbathed whilst those crazy lot snorkelled away for about 10 minutes in lovely clear water before jumping back aboard and heading back to shore. We spent the evening in, I imagine having collected a fish supper nearby and found a DVD to watch before the crowds of residents arrived after work, we let them have the space and got an early night before an early start the next day.  

We were recommended to get to Hot water beach early in the morning to optimise not only the tides but also your space on the beach, the hot water travels down from the top of the beach towards the sea and only runs in certain spaces, which fill up fast with tourists wanting to experience it. The idea is, you dig down into the black sand close enough to the sea that you occasionally get a splash of cold water to take the edge off the scalding naturally heated water trickling down the other way and then you sit and enjoy. We dug in multiple places and couldn't find the hot water, so eventually when someone else who had a nice big hole and obviously found the warm left, we pinched their hole instead. We didn't fully have time to go back and follow the route taken by our boat trip the day before but we drove up above Hahei beach and walked the path down to the water, that alone was a beautiful semi bush walk and ended with a nice dip in the sea; I'm sure I paddled. We drove back to Auckland that night with 1 more day to fill as LJs flight was in the evening but as it was Saturday night decided to head into Devonport to see what the night life was like, I'd only really been to The Patriot pub or out in the city. There were a couple of bars with a bit of energy, a couple of large what seemed like work groups, but nothing too exciting so we didn't stay out too late. We had pretty much ticked off everything on the list, but as previously mentioned water baby and with the UK heading into winter, LJ wanted some more snorkelling. Like the good mother I am, I drove up to the Goat Island marine reserve, north of Auckland and snoozed in the car while she got some more, by all account very successful, snorkelling done. 

And then all too quickly, it was time to head to the airport. It was very warming that my lovely friends would give the time and money to come and see me all the way in NZ and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. I booked a very strange shift that night as overnight nurse support in a lad's home who was paraplegic, he lives separate from his parents but attached to the house, he had Manx cats and watched YouTube all night; the holiday was over. 

[ginasneesby]

Kiwi Gee SqueeGee part 2

After a brilliantly fun, but travel heavy, first 5 days of the trip, we had a few days down time to spend in Queenstown – with things to do each day but still it meant we didn’t have to be in the car for multiple hours. Queenstown is known for daring adventures, high adrenaline activities and skiing, as it was slightly out of season and none of us are snow bugs, we stuck with the first 2! Alessa and I had booked a skydive for the next day – I always thought I was too chicken to do a skydive because the idea of being crammed into a rickety plane was a lot, let alone then willing myself out the door. But after a year of flying around it didn’t seem so bad after all; plus, with someone else willing to do one, I couldn’t pass it up. You tend to book these excursions in town and they make you watch a safety video or something and then take you where you need to be on a shuttle bus, Andy wanted to come along too to watch and I guess make sure if we died that he would see it; can’t do much to stop it at that point. The location is about 20 mins out of town near an old airstrip that this skydiving company had taken over, as you are arriving other groups are jumping/landing/getting ready; it’s a well-oiled machine. We were taken into the hangar area to get weighed and put on our jumpsuits (literally) which were big onesies plus very silly caps and glasses as the wind does batter you a bit and they want you to actually see what’s going on around you. You meet your jumping partner and discuss what they expect of you – there are certain body positions when jumping out or landing etc. that stops you breaking limbs or giving them a broken nose and we went over the photo/video options. Alessa and I had gone for the semi full package (the next one up being an extra jumper to film you from afar) which included photos and film from your partners little hand camera. I’m glad we did go for that, as watching the film back you capture the scenery a bit better than still photos with my stupid face in the way!

If I recall we did have to wait a bit as they get you there early for your slot, but then the plane landed again and it was our turn. We loaded on the plane to sit, there was basically just a long thin seat in the middle, we had to enter the plane, walk all the way to the back and then turn so we were straddling the seat, facing front. Your tandem partner gets in first and you shuffle right down in between their legs so you can be attached together front to back, then the next instructor gets in and shuffles right into your personal bubble awaiting their partner; it was super cosy. We flew up to 12,000 ft, there is one higher but as well as being more expensive it adds an oxygen requirement for the first few thousand feet which sounds complicated and like it might distract from the whole experience. So, 12,000 ft comes around and the doors open and we start throwing ourselves out, each pair in front goes and then me and my partner shuffle up towards the door. To get into the right positioning for them on the edge of the door, they basically hang you out, dangling out the plane door in thin air, no turning around now, and your partner is the one to jump; I’m sure they do ask if you still want to go ahead last minute but it’s all a bit of a blur so I just remember having very little input in whether we were coming out that plane of not! And then… free falling! I remember it struck me how cold it was, like I wasn’t expecting the air at 12,000 ft to be so cold as I breathed in, but everything else was just in-fucking-credible. We had picked Queenstown, partly to fit in with the diary, but also because if you are going to jump out of a plane, the views better be extraordinary; and boy did they not disappoint. You jump out overlooking Lake Wakatipu, The Remarkables mountain range (which they tell you with great joy are about 8,000ft) and across towards Queenstown, but you can see so much further in all directions. Across all the mountains which were snow-capped and beautiful, the green, rolling landscape in the non-mountainous area and the roads and waterways that map the area. According to the website, the free fall lasts only about 60 seconds before the chute is pulled, but I don’t really remember specifics, just that the whole thing was amazing; the views were phenomenal 360 and I think I just kept saying ‘wow’. Then the parachute is deployed and your insides try to become your outsides, I did not enjoy this part, the straps jump up into your groin and you start to float towards the landing zone. The instructor pulls some little cords to send us one way or the other, it looks majestic and beautiful, the parachute gently rolling us around a corner, flicking the legs up to the side and going with the wind rather than a straight line. What it feels like is terrible motion sickness, coupled with bilateral leg constriction and the fear of vomiting several thousand feet in the air – I mean, that could kill someone if it landed on them right! Anyway, we gently came down closer and closer to the ground and then they ask you to lift your legs up in front of you so you don’t leave one behind you on landing and dislocate your hips. With tight straps and minimal core to engage, it’s not the easiest thing to do, but I managed by holding them up with my hands and we slid across the floor on our arses and came to a stop; Alessa came down similar time to me, so once unshackled we ran to find each other and had a post skydive hug and group photo!

Buzzing from the morning’s activities, on return to town we headed straight for a pub for a well earned beer, 1876 pub serves pints in glasses that fill from below with a little rubber disc covering the hole. We sat in the garden, in the sunshine enjoying a cold brew, occasionally interrupted by yells from around the garden as idiots stick their fingers up the disc and are swiftly covered in their pint; not me though… I’m smart. (No, I did, I did it too.) Mo and LJ came back into town from their morning in Arrowtown and met us in the sunny garden before discussing what our afternoon would look like. Top of my list always is to go up the skyline gondola for the view but also then to luge around for a couple of hours, is it legal to luge half cut? So, this we did stretching from afternoon to early evening before heading out for a Saturday night in Queenstown, I’m sure I talked people into a Ferg burger, but I can’t remember if this was this night or the one before. It was a chilly night, being September and barely out of Winter, but we wrapped up and sat near the heaters, gently people got tired and went home and it was left with just me and Mo – standard. Instead of unomass we ended up out until probably 2ish and went to several bars, the final one was the underground, stuffy bar I went to on the previous bar crawl. There were a few young girls there who were being encouraged to take their tops off and dance in just their bras, who hasn’t, but then the bar tender who was at least 20 years older started spraying them with the soda water gun – gross. To my amazement, on the way out, Mo, who had been getting uncomfortable with this whole scene (standard) actually said something to the bar tender about it making him uncomfortable and the role of a 30 something man to vulnerable young people etc; I’m sure the guy just told him to fuck off but still, good work. We crawled into bed after a great night out, trying not to wake anyone and ready for a chilled out day tomorrow.

Andy and Alessa had fancy plans at a local hot tub place, so they were up and out before the rest of us emerged; eventually we headed round the corner to a café for a fat boy breakfast. Multiple plans for the day were bandied about but ultimately given our foggy heads and Mo’s inability to eat his breakfast, we decided to have a total chill day in the hostel lounge with some DVDs and snacks. I had brought some DVDs to NZ with me, but obviously not to QT so we hoped the hostel would have some good movies. We were not disappointed, going back to our teen years we watched Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 and 3! Once the hot tubbers returned, we then tried to rectify Alessa’s gaps in knowledge by watching Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition) which I’m told she really enjoyed, I mean she quite liked it… yea it was alright. For dinner we found a local pizza place called Fat Badger which did 20-inch pizzas and some poutine, so to really recover from the hangovers we stuffed our faces in the lounge with LOTR in the background; what better way to spend a Sunday. The next day was fly back to Auckland and check into another Air bnb day, which again was pretty near me on the north shore. This hostel came with a very friendly couple, a separate lounge for our use and a fridge full of beer and wine which they said was fair game (I think we were their first customers). They also had a hot tub which we were getting ready to use when the heavens opened, not to be deterred as true Brits, we stayed in the tub and just put up some umbrellas. Carrying on from the previous night, we put on The Two Towers to watch while having dinner and then I went back to my place before our road trip tomorrow.

The road trip was a repeat for me, but I couldn’t really let me friends come all the way to NZ north island and not go to Waitomo, Rotorua and Hobbiton! (Like I’m complaining about having to go there again?!) I recommended the black water rafting instead of the simple tour of the Waitomo caves as it gave us a bit more activity to enjoy, in hindsight, not everyone was loving it! We drove down in time for the afternoon excursion which again involved jumping backwards into cold water (although I knew about the photos so tried to pose) then wandering through glow worm bedazzled caves with a few small waterfalls to spring off. We were joined by a few people from a kiwi bus type tour, who were all British needless to say, and a nice bunch of people; the part where you link rubber rings and float under the glow worms in silence is magical no matter how many times you do it. The mention of eels under the water towards the end made for a swift exit (apparently, they just hang around near the way out), I’ve never seen people move so fast on an inflatable ring! Hot soup and tea were served while we warmed up and waited for our photos before driving around trying to find our air bnb – it was up on a farm somewhere, through gates and over cattle grids so took a bit of work. It was a great find though, once we got there, as it was basically an old farmhouse, with separate rooms, a decent sized kitchen/dining area and a pile of board games to play. We had to open and close and gates we went through to stop the cows escaping, but once we were in, we were in; after jumping around in cold water all we were up for was some dinner and games including a Star Wars game that separated the jedi from the wookies (I’m sorry I can’t name 10 star wars planets). The next day we were heading just down the road to Otorohanga, where I had stayed the first time I visited the caves, for a quick jaunt into the kiwi house. We were planning to go to Rotorua for afternoon and evening plans, but as it’s a short drive I recommended we stop in to see what the bird sanctuary was like. Turns out, it’s amazing, there are loads of different birds – some in cages, some in a walkthrough aviary, some you can feed grain to and then the kiwis in their nocturnal house. There are some keeper talks and feeding sessions you can watch and get involved in as you walk through the sanctuary, including finding the elusive tuatara that lives in the undergrowth. The Keas were probably my favourite birds, they were all ladies except one fella who would jump in as soon as the food arrived to snaffle all the egg so he wouldn’t miss out (then saunter round with egg on his face like he hadn’t just shamed himself). In the walkthrough aviary, you can put some grain in your hands and the kakariki come and perch on you to eat it, flitting between everyone. There's lots of native plants around, the sun was shining and we found the tuatara enjoying the warm rays; a great place to visit!

A short hour and a half drive from Otorohanga, we came to Rotorua – we were booked into a central hostel so drove right into the middle of town, checked in and then separated for different activities. LJ, Mo and I headed back out of town a short way to Adventure Playground for a Horse Trek up in the hills overlooking Lake Rotorua, we were introduced to our horses (I was given a beautiful white stallion) and headed up the path. The guide took us up the hill to enjoy the views over the lake and surrounding green hills looking back at the city centre, trekking through native bush with birds and other animals; it threatened to rain but actually held off! We were part way round, when the guide started telling us how the horses they have are often old work horses who have retired, including some from TV and movies. Turns out the one I was riding was in Lord of the Rings (already excited) had I seen it (holy shit) that horse was ridden by Liv Tyler’s character just in case you’ve seen the movies (she has no idea); I was riding the horse that played Asfaloth. LJ’s horse, Huhu was a little rounder than the others, so the straps to the saddle were a bit precarious around his belly. After reaching the mid-way point, we started back down the hill towards home base; heading down seems to be a bit harder for horses, so Huhu did start a bit more swaying than on the way up. Part way down the hill, the saddle starts to slip around to the side, and no shimmying would rectify it, although round, Huhu was still quite tall so was a daunting prospect for LJ who started to fall off! Thankfully, she has some experience with horses, and was able to control her fall by launching herself off Huhu rather than be at the mercy of the swivel saddle, she landed beside him flat on her front and although winded, was not hurt, stupid Huhu. We made it back down the hill to safety and climbed off the horses, this time, before returning to the hostel and grabbing our swim stuff for a soak at the Polynesian Hot Pools. Unlike some of the other sites I’d been to, this was very commercial, for one you pay to go in, but they also have actual bathrooms and changing areas etc so it is definitely posher than the local river. Given Huhu being an ass, a good soak was exactly what was needed, followed by a restful-ish night in our own room at the hostel. The benefit of being 5 travellers, is that you can book out a 6 person room and more often than not have it to yourselves. This was definitely preferable on the night that I tried to leap sideways out of my bunk into the other bottom bunk and then run for the light switch to illuminate the room at 3am, obviously there were spiders crawling out of the bed above me, so I was in peril for my life guys…

After a slow morning start with a small breakfast, we excitingly piled into the car and drove out to Matamata to visit the Hobbiton movie set, we had booked for the lunch and tour combo which meant we got to have a massive buffet lunch, a gentle amble around set and finished with a free pint in the Green Dragon – could we be more hobbit. The buffet is all salads, roasted kumara and tasty meats, the amble takes you past Bag End, the party tree and Sam’s house and finishes at the Green Dragon pub next to the lake and mill where you can enjoy a free beer, made, solely for Hobbiton, nearby. You are then free for a short time to wander round the pub and if so inclined, dress up as hobbits to take pictures (of course we were, did you see the Twizel pictures!?) The other activity that one should do in Rotorua is go to a Hāngī at any one of the number of Māori run evenings, however, a Hāngī is another giant buffet meal, which I thought would be lost on us a bit given we were stuffed from lunch still. So, we spent the evening in Rotorua, found a local night market for a small bite and enjoyed the city centre; finishing with a few pints before rolling back down the streets to bed.

The next day was the last full day for 2 of our travellers, Andy and Alessa, and they had a hotel booked in central Auckland to make it easier to get to the airport the following morning, so we drove back up from Rotorua straight to our activity for the day – Kelly Tarlton’s. KT is an aquarium out east of central Auckland named after a NZ marine conservationist and the man who pioneered the curved acrylic tunnels that can be found in so many aquariums now. It’s a fairly standard aquarium, with the expected activities and animals, but on top of this, they have a massive sub-Antarctic penguin colony made up of King and Gentoo penguin living together. They have ice to walk around and water to swim in, you enter below the water and walk around the outside of their enclosure to become level with the ground – and that’s when the smell hits you. Penguins, obviously wild animals, do not have any sort of toilet training plus they eat fish so their whole enclosure is pretty rank – any up-close photos are definitely hiding a held breath. They also make a lot of noise screeching at each other or at the keepers who wander around with buckets of fish, the moulting babies are my favourites, they look like moody teens with stupid hairdos. Other exhibits include a recreation of Captain Scott’s hut – a walkthrough replica with a bed, clothes and memorabilia on the walls, apparently the original has been preserved in Antarctica since 1911 so it’s easy to replicate. Turtle bay and turtle rescue which rehabilitates sick turtles and then releases them into the EAC (dude) and as expected a huge tank and walkthrough tunnel with conveyor belt, to limit any exercise, where you can see all sorts of native NZ fish, ray and sharks. Once we had had our fill of the fish, we drove back to mine for a quick wash up and unpack, we left our leavers in town to check into their place so Mo and LJ stayed at mine rather than paying out for another Air bnb. For the last night I wanted to take my guests to a Korean BBQ place that gives you a table BBQ to cook your meats, plus 8-10 little side dishes that can be refilled a number of times. I had been once before and it was great fun, we stuffed our faces (a theme of this trip!) taking it in turns to cook the meat, I’m sure there’s some flawless business model here of get the guests to cook their own food at a restaurant, but we enjoyed ourselves. A pub next door was doing towers of beer, so we settled in with a couple of them to really toast the half ending of the kiwi adventure; Andy and Alessa were off home but I had a few more days with Mo and a week with LJ to look forward to. Those who weren’t flying the next day headed back to mine as we had prebooked a harbour tour the next day to try and see some wildlife; so, we sensibly stayed up till 3am drinking gin…

To Be Continued

[ginasneesby]

Kiwi Gee SqueeGee part 1

As mentioned in the previous post (written in 2020) I headed to the airport to await the arrival of 4 tired and laden friends; LJ, Mo, Andy and Alessa. The flight was a little delayed, so I did end up waiting quite a while in the airport, all the while racking up the parking, but it was so nice to see them all come through arrivals! I had slightly overestimated how big my car was, but people and bags tetrassed in we drove back towards my place, pointing out sights on the way back, that couldn’t be seen because the suitcases were covering their faces – but the thought was there! The first hostel was down the road from my place, it was roughly mid-afternoon when we got down there, and I wanted to stave off the jet lag, so we dropped off belongings and strolled down to the centre of Devonport for a pint and some nibbles at The Patriot. Later, we headed into town to meet Viv and Andy for dinner on their last night, a quick catnap for a couple of my companions on the 10 minute ferry ride, and we stuffed our faces with pizza. The chat coined some phrases that stayed with us for the whole trip; I can’t remember the context, but I think it had something to do with the spider massacre - ‘I like what you’ve done with your hair.’

The first full day we spent going around Devonport and Auckland, we started up Mount Victoria to see the blazing sun shining across the city centre and the obligatory ‘can we all fit on the gun’ picture. Another short ferry journey took us into town and a scenic walk along the waterfront of the viaduct and the silo park before deciding to go into the Maritime Museum. (I got crazy strong memories of having been there before, in 2008 maybe?) The evening plans were to go up the Auckland sky tower, we had planned the time to get a good view while still light but then also see the sunset and city lights come on, as it had been clear and sunny all day, we were primed for a beautiful view. In true Auckland style, the weather completely shifted and low cloud cover blocked all the windows; you couldn’t see anything outside. Undeterred we hung around for a bit and eventually there were some gaps in the clouds which meant we got our view and took some quick snaps. We returned to the hostel for a quick dip in the hot tub, a great booking had it not been the first couple of nights, but as everyone started to flag pretty quickly; we called it a night.

Ideally, after such a long flight, you kinda want to start slow and take a few days to settle, but with such a short timeframe we didn’t have that luxury. So, day 2 we drove down to the airport to fly to the South Island, quick panic after realising I forgot to check oil levels since the road trip and discovered the dip stick was dry, however, the local garage filled me up and we didn’t lose much time. Then getting to the airport to discover time doesn’t exist for domestic NZ travel and we could just take our food and open drinks through security and basically just stroll onto the plane anyway. The flight to Queenstown is not very long, so pretty soon we were on the other side picking up our hire car/tank, I can’t remember what type it was, but it was massive and super comfy with a great engine to get up and over the snowy peaks! Our first activity booking was the following morning near Franz Joseph which is 4+ hours’ drive up the west coast, I took the first stint driving which involved mountains and snow but did lead to some incredible views towards the Southern Alps. It was still cold enough for the ranges to be topped with snow and there was a bit on the ground as we went up and over Arrow Junction, but thankfully not enough to hamper our journey which was already long enough! I had a NZ sim card with data so hadn’t bothered to download any music as I figured we could just Bluetooth and play whatever people wanted to listen to on Spotify, forgetting that the South Island is basically unpopulated and covered in mountains, so the little signal there is, couldn’t get to us… No music? No worries when you’ve got me and LJ in the car, a quick rendition of ‘Joseph, Pharaoh’s number 2’ lead to recreating the whole of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat start to finish, word for word. Alessa, who didn’t know the show, was thrilled; and now doesn’t need to see it. A fairly uneventful journey, minus a few squashed possums (seriously I tried to steer away when I spotted it and it jumped under my wheel) we found a random roadside pub to grab something hot and filling before getting to our destination around half 9/10.

We woke bright and early the next morning and wandered down to the wilderness tour centre who loaded us up in the van and took us to Lake Mapourika for a kayak. The water in this lake was freezing, almost black in colour due to tannins from the surrounding forest and super reflective, when those reflections involve snow-capped mountains including Aoraki or Mount Cook you’re thankful for the photographer that comes with the excursion. We were in 2 person Kayaks which meant I shared with a person from another group, but I got to sit in the back so free reign to not paddle. I think going across the lake and back was something like 8km worth of kayaking, so I was thankful for the opportunity to not pull my weight! On the far end of the lake, the water tapers into the Okarito River which is surrounded on each side by bush, within this bush is a kiwi sanctuary for the Rowi which only live here and have a population of about 600 total! We did not see any as it was the middle of the day, and they tend to burrow underground, but it was nice to know they were there. We kayaked back across the lake, halfway across we were given the opportunity to bunch our canoes together and stand up for a photo if we wanted. I didn’t wanna fall in, but other brave souls got up and were rewarded with an amazing photo with reflective lake and Aoraki backdrop. With another 4 or so hour journey back to the Queenstown area, we didn’t want to hang around too long but couldn’t be in the area of a glacier without seeing it. We grabbed some simple lunch bits from the supermarket in town and hopped in the car to the Franz Josef glacier walk. A gentle wander through the woods for about 25 mins and we came upon a great spot to sit and eat our lunch while looking at a glacier – can’t say you do that every day huh!? The drive back was similar length minus a jaunt over the mountains as we decided to spend the night in Wanaka, we had plans to head further East the next day, so it seemed sensible. On the way back however, we had to make a few stops as we were going through Mount Aspiring national park, there were some beautiful walks over rivers and through bush to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. We didn’t wanna go all that way past such gorgeous surroundings and experience it from the car window! Our hostel in Wanaka was right on the lake, with mountain views and we found a local pub (brewery I think) for dinner and a couple of pints which, as one of the drivers, I appreciated!

Next morning, we got on the road pretty early so we could get to our destination in good time, we were meeting a tour guide at a café in a tiny town called Twizel. We got there in time to grab breakfast although that then took ages to come and the guide arrived before we ate, it didn’t appear to be an issue though as they sat with us for 15 mins or so while we finished eating. Heading outside we noticed there were some other people on the tour waiting in the van already, I’m not sure our guide told them what was going on, so they just had to wait 15 mins… Anyway, fed and watered and excited we jumped in the van and drove out to our location. What location? Well holy shit, we were heading to the middle of nowhere up the road which is a famous site from multiple movies but particularly the filming location of the battle of Pelennor Fields from Return of the King!! You know, the bit with Gandalf and his shining staff scaring off the Nazgul, or the big fight with the riders of Rohan coming in and smashing shit up and then the big elephants smashing them up. Anyway, it is a prime filming location for a number of reasons, the main ones being there is nothing man made around to see or hear and it’s got incredible and different views in all directions. Our tour guide had obviously been doing this for a while and was fully kitted out with replica weapons, flags and dress up costumes (ears, helmets and cloaks) which we took full advantage of. We spent a good few hours walking around, comparing views to screenshots and hearing BTS stories, plus taking amazing photos because as discussed, EVERY BACKGROUND WAS INCREDIBLE!! Eowyn is my soul mate, so I was totally in my happy place. To finish the tour, we got in the car and stuck our heads out the windows to recreate the horse stampede from the battle of Pelennor where the background performers rode down the hill at around 80mph – we obviously weren’t allowed to do this on a horse, so we did it out the window of a car screaming ‘Death!’ Yea we’re nerds, what of it! The whole thing was awesome, with the most beautiful views and being fully immersed in LOTR stuff, which… most of my companions were equally excited about. Alessa, having never seen the movies and not a theatre kid, thought we were already a bit weird and this topped the pile, but she was a good sport and joined in, although she drew the line at elf ears.

Its not often you find yourself with a day of leisurely driving through incredible scenery like the South Island of NZ, but that’s what we had as our next destination was less than 2 hours away. We made the most of having the car and an easy schedule to stop for photo opportunities with all the bright blue lakes and mountain-scapes that dot this part of Canterbury. It was the right time of year to be in that area as the taller mountains were still topped with snow, while the roads and surrounding area was starting to warm; I hope my photos can do it justice! When planning this trip, I told my friends there are so many things to do and you have the time frame so please pick whatever you want and we’ll make it work, I did not expect top of the list to be a little coastal town called Oamaru. The town is famous for 2 things, the steampunk HQ and the blue penguin colony; but it became so much more!

We were booked into an Air BnB called ‘Swaggers’ run by a seemingly friendly woman called Agra (you know like Viagra – her words) and her very cute dog Laika – Agra as it turns out had a lot of thoughts and feelings about her guests ranging from motherly love to kicking them out 5 minutes before check out time, all at the same time. Firstly, we arrived a little early and that completely threw her off as she was busy painting her roof, we were happy to settle in, maybe take a wander around the small town centre and then head down toward the penguin colony for our evening plans. However, Agra wanted to take us around town and give us a tour in her car, we couldn’t all fit but that didn’t bother her as she just told Andy he couldn’t come; and off we went! Now when I say small town centre, there are 2 parallel streets which would take about 20 minutes to walk up and down slowly, but what better way to see it than to be crammed in a car. Joking aside it was very sweet of her to show us around and explain some of the sights we were likely to see, such as ‘all the penguin shit’ and ‘some Chinese’, finished off with claiming Andy would be no good as woodwork so he couldn’t help her do her roof; I’m sure he would be gutted if he was with us. The penguin colony was about 20 minutes’ walk down the hill on the waterfront and there appeared to be a café/restaurant right next door, they ask you to be there at an exact time to watch the penguins returning from their day as sea and coming onto land to settle for the night. Its obviously difficult to determine when the penguins will appear, but they don’t want them getting spooked or put off from coming back by people moving around; so, we were expected to arrive on time or not be admitted. At the time of year we were there, this was an early start, but we were all pretty hungry having not eaten since breakfast, so we walked down leaving just enough time for a quick dinner next door. Clearly, we could have done with this being a stop on our tour as the restaurant was closed for renovations, too hungry to wait what could be hours for the show to be done we quickly turned around and speed walked up that hill to the car; 15 minutes later we were back in our seats with drive through McDonalds in tow.

The penguin show was so cute, you all huddle quietly in the stands and watch as the ‘rafts’ of floating birds slowly climb the rocky shorefront and appear over the lip before scurrying into their respective houses. There are bright lights shining out over the area they walk but the type of light cant be seen by them so it doesn’t disturb them, they ask you to stay silent so as not to frighten them and you can’t take videos or photos, you know some knob head would leave his flash on. So, you sit in the dim light and watch as about 100 of these tiny penguins appear, nervously glance around and then waddle across to find their homes and mates; I may have surreptitiously got a video or 2(without flash). After they had all come in we were allowed to walk around the site, on raised walkways so the penguins could still dart about under our feet; there was a lot of noise at happy homecomings. We headed out for a couple of beers at a local pub, arranging to meet one of the lads I had met in Queenstown a few months earlier. Without wishing to draw attention to it, I didn’t stay at the air bnb that night, the only reason I mention it is because of Agra’s reaction, which was extreme. I was dropped back early ish and wandered in through the open back door, Agra, spotting me arriving starting exclaiming that she thought I was missing and had been out looking for all of us in the car over night. I ensured her we were safe, and that actually my friends had returned the night before, around 11pm, had she not seen them. She said she had popped her head in and seen people in bed so knew we were ok (so why was she out looking for us?) and when I said how did you know I wasn’t around then, she said ‘I didn’t I just saw you come in’ (so was she out looking for me without knowing I was missing?!) The whole things was a bit strange, but I left her to it and started getting ready to pack up and check out, my friends pointing out to me that its not really normal for your bnb host to come check on you in the night; but as we were on the way out we didn’t mention anything. About half an hour before check out time, Agra bursts into the married couples room and starts commenting on them still being in bed and then proceeds to turn off the wifi so we didn’t have a reason to hang around – which is a shame as it had been such a restful morning… we swiftly packed the car and checked out.

The plan for the next day was the make our way back to Queenstown stopping at a number of places along the way, the good and bad thing about NZ highways is that there are few other roads options, so you have to follow the dog leg; however, in this instance it led to some great discoveries. We started by staying in Oamaru and visiting the little boutique shops and Steampunk HQ which were all a little bit peculiar, I have no idea how this town became the steampunk capital, but they definitely took it to heart. The road out of town took us south along the coast in the direction of our lunch spot which had been recommended to me, a little seaside ‘shack’ called Fleur’s Place which happened to be very near the Moeraki boulders so we stopped there too. The Moeraki boulders are huge spherical stones that cover the beach, I’m sure there’s some simple explanation for how they came to exist but it does look pretty alien. We took some good pics on and around the boulders and then jumped back in the car for a short journey round to the edge of what I assume is Moeraki point or something similar for lunch. This little restaurant was so sweet, it was all wooden and covered in seaside decorations: some fishing stuff, some seashells, some nets, but hung with care - not tacky. We all tucked into super tasty food, and an exceptionally good gin which I wasn’t able to enjoy as I was driving, but I was told it was amazing. At the bottom of the little spit of land you come to the Katiki lighthouse which is situated in a sort of ad hoc nature reserve, technically it says no entry after 5/6pm but with no one authoritative around, and some visitors still walking round and taking photos inside the reserve, we felt we could also go in.

We ended up seeing so much wildlife there including seals and some quite endangered penguins, I think they’re called yellow eyed penguins, which only seem to live in that part of NZ. The view across the water as the sun was setting was pretty sensational so we were glad to have ignored the no entry signs and gone in and we only walked around for about an hour before leaving anyway. Last leg of the journey was a couple more hours and took us into the centre of Queenstown where we were booked in the same hostel I had stayed the month previously. We found a car park nearby as we were keeping the car for a couple more days and settled in for a few exciting days around Queenstown. There is so much more to tell, but this has already got quite long so I’ll stop there and continue in the next post – which I’m determined will be sooner than 2 years time!

[ginasneesby]

September- Viv and Andy part 3

The next 3 days were set aside for a road trip, one I had done before and would do another 2 times this year, and yet could easily do it many more times. We headed out south of Auckland to Waitomo to go to the glow worm caves, however we decided to be a bit more adventurous than just sitting in a boat opting instead to fling ourselves off underground waterfalls. From Waitomo we drove over to Rotorua which is well known for geothermal sites, but also the best place to go to tap into Maori culture and fill your bellies at a hangi. Matamata is a short drive from Rotorua and is the film site for Hobbiton from the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies. Since the Hobbit, it was rebuilt in sustainable material including the bridge, mill and pub meaning the tours involved a bit less imagination and more wishing you were a hobbit.

We had booked our black water rafting cave experience for the afternoon to give us time to drive down, the traffic leaving Auckland is notoriously crappy but it being a Thursday I was hopeful we wouldn’t get stuck. Waitomo is about 3 hours drive from Auckland so we drove straight to the company head quarters to get booked in, there are a number of different tours with increasing varieties of climbing, abseiling and tight squeezes. I am not really a fan of small spaces so was only comfortable with the ‘black labyrinth’ option which involved water and waterfalls and floating along on a rubber tube. We had an air bnb only down the road, but as we arrived in good time we had to leave all our stuff in the car and used the half hour or so we had to have a light lunch; not knowing what to expect we didn’t wanna eat too much in case we brought it back up all over the Ruakuri cave interior. The first job after booking in was to size ourselves up for our wetsuits, this consisted of standing outside the wetsuit cabin while the guys who were gonna take us round looked at us and chose by eye, I’m gonna say there’s less insulting ways to pick the size of suit but there you go. The suits weren’t really washed in between uses but they were sprayed down or dunked in water, so it was great to be reminded not to pee in the suits so you won’t be sitting in a wee soup for your tour. This doesn’t, however, mean you won’t be sitting in the previous persons wee soup which is a lovely thought. We were given socks and a jacket over the wetsuit to keep us warm, reminding us that it’s our body warmth that provides the heat so everything not covered will be chilly, including the fingers we’ll be using to grip the walls; good to know.

So wetsuits on, and ready to start our adventure we took a group photo of everyone on our tour, this consisted of me Viv and Andy and two other women so a nice, small group of which we were the majority. We drove down to where the entrance to the cave was which I recognised from my previous visit, parked up in the car park and headed to a pile of rubber rings so we could choose our own; these will be used to float along in some sections of the cave where the water was deep enough. Before entering the cave we stopped by a small patch of river which had a little wooden jetty sticking over it and were told the best way to not be shocked by the cold water was to acclimatise ourselves here, this meant getting in so that we could start warming up the water in our suits. What we didn’t realise, was that when they said get in the water here they meant jumping backwards onto your rubber rings, oh and by the way we’re going to take photos of you as you jump. We took our turns sticking our bums in our rubber rings and jumping backwards into the water, as expected it was pretty cold; the photos are very funny.

The entrance to the cave was back past the car park and through some bush, we had to climb over some rocks and down into a little divot which had a pretty small hole into the ground. At this point I was quite nervous as I do get a bit claustrophobic and I thought despite them saying that it’s not too tight most of the time actually this was beyond what I can handle. However as soon as you get into the entrance it opens out and after a few low ceilings at the beginning the rest of the tour is narrow but tall, high ceilings with all the glowworms above you making it a lot more manageable. We carried the rubber rings ourselves which were quite useful as a buffer so we didn’t knock into the walls but it did put us a little bit off balance trying to walk around in the dark with the water rushing over the rocks at our feet, we had head torches so we could see where we were going but it was still a little bit tricky. The water was cold and your hands remained cold the whole time (really useful for grabbing hold of things) but once your body warmed up what was in your wet suit it was actually quite pleasant. The tour lasted about two hours, we walked some parts and were able to float some parts and then we had three waterfalls to jump off, they were only about five or 6 foot high but you had to put your bum in your ring (woof) like last time and jump backwards. The tour guides had torches and advised you on an angle but basically you just had to jump and hope that you didn’t smack into the wall. I loved it, jumping off stuff is totally my bag but Viv was not so keen and upon reflection decided not to jump but did then get to climb down the waterfall which I’m sure had its own challenges and splosh in at the bottom.

At one point we stopped in a fairly narrow area and the tour guides gave us some chocolate fish which are pink marshmallow covered in chocolate, New Zealand staple sweets; a nice little sugar hit to continue the tour. Later we came to the area where the normal cave tour comes through and we could see high above people gathered on the walkway with their guides torches on the glow worms. Towards the end of the tour, after our last waterfall jump we were told to stay in our rings and link ourselves together by putting our boots under the armpits of the person in front of us. The guides then pulled us along and through an area which was absolutely covered with glow worms. We had to be really quiet like on the normal tour so that we don’t disturb them, they have issues with sound and vibration I imagine, so we floated underneath in complete silence looking up at the high ceiling that was covered in the lights; amazing. We were nearing the exit of the Cave and could see the light from outside, so the guides told us from there we were on our own, just keep going towards the daylight. We all made our way towards the light and eventually found our way out, some people swimming, some people walking and some people floating. We took one last group photo by the exit and then walked back to the bus to be taken back to HQ, once there we had to strip off all of our wet water gear and were provided a hot shower to warm up although these were still semi outdoors so not overly warm. We dunked our wetsuits in some freezing cold water and then hung them back up, that was the cleaning they had so seriously please don’t pee in your suit. We then made our way inside where we had a complimentary cup of tea, bowl of soup with a fresh bread roll. Our tour guides had been taking some photos as we went round, for obvious reasons we couldn’t take our cameras or phone, and they offered us the package to buy the pictures which we split between us. Most of the photos are us in the dark with a surprise super bright flash so we all look a bit dazed but it’s a good reminder of what we went through and managed to achieve which was pretty cool.

Our Airbnb for the night was just down the road, a hut with a number of rooms of which we have one to share between the three of us. However no one else was booked in, so we had the place to ourselves. We had a bit of food that I had brought from home and some hot showers which we all now craved before settling down for dinner and a movie. Viv being the 1st to go for a shower noticed that there were a few spiders in the bathroom, none of us are fans of spiders so we needed to do something about this, when I say a few they were about 20 and all webbing their way across the shower ready to eat whoever was brave enough to step inside. So we sent Andy in, and I’m sorry to say one spider massacre later we were able to have showers. There was a selection of DVDs at the cabin one of which was a famous New Zealand film that I haven’t seen yet, although not overly joyful it’s a great film, so spider massacre and ‘once were warriors’ is the main memory of that accommodation.

The next morning we drove to Rotorua, to our accommodation ‘the funky green Voyager’, booked by Viv, quickly dropped off stuff and headed to Te Puia for a full day of activities. Te Puia is a geothermal site in the Whakarewarewa valley also known as Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao, which they challenge you to say on your way in. We had tickets for Te Ra and Te Po which meant we had the day to walk the paths stopping at mud pools, steaming vents and the largest geyser in the Southern Hemisphere and at night we had a show and hangi to look forward to. One of the highlights was definitely the kiwi conservation house, kiwis are nocturnal so it is kept dark inside during the day so visitors can see the birds awake. Te puia is part of a national programme to protect and breed kiwis, they are kept behind sound proof glass with natural vegetation that mimics the nz bush and stops them being disturbed. We saw north island brown kiwis which are the most common and bigger than you’d think, about the size of a chicken. They stomp loudly through vegetation and snuffle and snort their way along the floor, they also have big bums and can’t fly which means since nz was colonised and kiwi eating mammals started to come ashore their numbers have declined; they’re quite easy to track. Sad face

Te puia is also home to the Maori arts and craft school where young Maori students can learn wood, bone and stone carving (including pounamu jade) so the history of their people and the crafts handed down over generations is not lost. We were able to walk around the school, above the workshops and see some of the amazing art the students were working on, with simple tools and complicated techniques the products are fantastic.

Towards the evening we were ushered into the Marae, which is the Maori meeting house, where historically the culture is to be celebrated. You gather outside and wait to be invited in, this is where large, burly Maori men come at you with spears and fire to test your grit, if they like you they’ll offer you a leaf or branch and an older woman from the family with perform a karanga meaning you are welcome to enter. Inside we were treated to a wonderful show including Maori music, song, Hakka, poi and even a chance to get up and learn ourselves. Then the hangi feast (pork, potato, kumara and fish all cooked in the earth oven for the last few hours) we stuffed our faces from this delicious banquet and were surprised to learn the evening wasn’t finished. We were offered a ride in their vehicles (almost a petite train) down to the geysers to sit under the stars, on naturally heated stone seats and even enjoy some hot chocolate. Had I eaten even one potato less I would have had space for the hot choc, but enjoyed the sitting and geysers by night very much.

The next day was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, how I had managed to save myself in nine months from going to Hobbiton I don’t know, but I had a feeling I would be going quite a lot with my visitors so I managed to stop myself. The Sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were booked on a lunchtime tour which included a buffet in a tent on the grounds of Hobbiton next to the Green Dragon pub. Now obviously we had stuffed our faces the night before at the hangi but somehow we still managed to eat quite well for lunch! They check you in away from the site and then you board a coach which drives the short distance to Hobbiton, along the way Peter Jackson welcomes you and you meet the family who own the farm that the filmset was built on. When I visited the site 10 years previously there wasn’t enough to see on the old set so the tour also included a visit to the sheep farm to watch some sheering, my how things have changed. Nothing can quite describe the feeling I got as we walked through the small gap in the hedge and entered Hobbiton as it is now, when I came before there were only a few remnants of some hobbit holes everything else had been taken down or destroyed. But now, not only were there fully built and decorated hobbit holes, beautiful paths to follow, a fully grown vegetable garden, the lake, the mill, the pub, but some of the houses even had smoke coming from the chimneys. The tour takes you round all of the main sites and the guides tell you a number of stories from filming both the lord of the rings and the hobbit including how they found the site and what drew them to it. One of the reasons was that there is nothing else around, and so the whole set feels so real, so immersive and just truly magical; at least to me. You finish in the Green Dragon pub with a large mug of beer that is only brewed to be sold at Hobbiton, which is a shame because it’s really tasty. Sadly, you board the coach to be taken back to the check-in and enjoy another little video from Peter Jackson about how meaningful and special the experience of filming the trilogy was, accompanied by background music of the saddest part of Return of the King; seriously it’s like they’re trying to kill me in this place.

Even more sadly, this was the end of our road trip and almost the end of Viv and Andy’s visit, we drove back to Auckland and with only plans to meet up the next day for dinner (because I had to meet some other people at the airport) I left them at their Auckland flat. And on to the next adventure…

[ginasneesby]

September- Viv and Andy part 2

On my previous trip to New Zealand in 2008, I and my friends spent a crazy month driving around the whole country with multiple stops and lots of road time, this time round I wanted to spend less time in the car and more time doing things. Top of Viv and Andy’s list was Whale watching in Kaikoura which is on the South Island near Christchurch. With our base in Auckland we decided to fly down meaning maximum time doing stuff and no long days hauling ass down the country. Domestic travel is super easy in NZ so I booked us some last minute fights to Christchurch  for the Monday and with no plans till the next day we were able to take our time and minimise travel stress.

We got in mid-afternoon and with google maps in hand tried to work out where our hostel was in relation to the airport, fairly typically I remember it being the opposite side of town, but decent buses and small bags meant it wasn’t too much of a hardship. We stayed at a youth hostel near the botanical gardens in a 3 person room, I guess meant for a family with one child, Viv and I hadn’t shared a room for a good few years so that was a bit weird; but it was comfy enough and we were going to be out most of the time anyway. After a quick freshen up, and a mini google, we headed back out to find somewhere to eat, Monday night in a big city, shouldn’t be too hard eh?

The town centre was absolutely dead. The shopping streets were clean and well-kept with big high street brands, wide streets with multiple pedestrian crossings and yet no people around except us. There didn’t appear to be any little bars dotted around, no bustling restaurants, the only place we found that had a few restaurants/bars in one location was dark and shut up. Perhaps this is different at the weekend, but it gave a slightly abandoned vibe, since the 2011 earthquake it seems lot of people left town for safety/work/the ability to drive on roads that hadn’t collapsed; and really you can’t blame them. We eventually found a small place that was one of those airstream caravans with a heated outdoor seating area that did burgers and pints of beer, by this point we were pretty hungry so it would have been good but honestly, I remember it being particularly good. On the way back to the hostel we passed a giant old school joystick controller mounted in the pavement which was linked with a large screen on the side of a building, with this you could play a giant game of space invaders. Again, we were the only people around in the streets so we played undisturbed for some time; although Andy was the only one good at it so after a while we gave up.

We were picked up Tuesday morning by a local man with a van who drove us all the way up to Kaikoura for the day, it’s about a 3 hour journey so a lot of driving for a day trip, but if you wanna see whales, Kaikoura is where you need to be. It was also really great to have a local drive us as we didn’t know much about the earthquake, save what had been on the news, so getting his insight and experience was sobering but important. On the way out the city, he pointed out some of the local sights that were no longer there, including the CTV building that completely collapsed leading to 115 of the 185 deaths in the disaster. The roads up the coast were also all twisted and broken having been fixed up slowly over the previous 7 years, at one point completely undriveable due to landslides and collapse. They took a long time to be fixed to the point of everyday use partly due to the extensive damage but also lack of money in region (Canterbury is quite a large area to share a budget).

Looking into the earthquake, the reason it was so devastating was three fold:

1)      It measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, the epicentre was only 6 and half km from the city centre and it was shallow. This meant there was simultaneous vertical and horizontal ground movement, with eye witness accounts describing people being ‘tossed in the air’ as well as increased liquefaction causing more ground movement, undermining many building foundations.

2)      There had been 2 large quakes in 2010, one measuring 7.1, which had already weakened some buildings and infrastructure in and around the city.

3)      It was midday so the city centre were full

 We made our way fairly slowly up the coast with a bit of chat and narration, over the last 7 years despite the money problems, a lot of work had been done to make these roads passable. Highways in New Zealand are pretty much all single lane and in most places it’s the only road, so with highway 1 out of commission there is no way north from Christchurch without going across to the west coast and back again (a 400km dogleg.) We were booked on a whale tour in the early afternoon and arrived with just enough time to have a loo stop and a quick drink before heading out; we had to watch a health and safety video first which was basically, boat go fast/sit down. The company then took us the last bit of the way to the harbour and onto the boats which were catamaran style and set up inside with swish bucket seats. The boat was pretty full with what seemed to be one large group of Chinese tourists so if we had any hope of getting 3 seats together and by the window we needed to be quick; I knew from experience that I get a bit sick so having somewhere to sit inside where you can still see the sea is useful. After another small health and safety talk (boat fast/sit) we were on our way; most of these tours have the ‘if we don’t see anything we’ll book you on another tour’ policy which isn’t always great coz people don’t tend to hang around Kaikoura for more than the day they’re booked, but it does mean the company would lose money so they really want to see something as much as we do.

Sick as a dog, I spent the whole time sitting outside on the back staring at the horizon coz I was told staring at a stationary line can help (it didn’t) but I made it through without spewing so I call that a win. We didn’t see much to begin with but these boats are set up with all sorts of underwater gadgets so they can try to identify where whales can be located. Kaikoura sits at the southern end of the Hikurangi trench which has depths of 3km very close to shore which has led to a large number of deep sea species ending up here; this food source is pretty irresistible to whales and so unlike a lot of places they can regularly be seen within a short distance of the coast. The boat sent out a pulse thing and the responding squeaks gave us a heading and eventually we came upon some sperm whales; the sickness subsided for a few minutes so I could watch and take some pics. To be honest, the whales were great, but even just being on the sea and looking back across the southern alps was amazing enough to justify the days travel, I’ve never heard my sister exclaim as much as our drive up once we got near the mountains. We returned to the harbour and were met by our driver who took us into Kaikoura for our included fish supper, having felt sick for the last few hours a giant pile of chips with decent ketchup was literally the best.

On our journey back we went at our own pace stopping for photos across Kaikoura, the southern alps and the pacific ocean; every one suitable for display like most of the south island. We also came across roughly a billion seals lying on spits of rock right next to the coastal road who were totally unfazed by our proximity and were, I swear, posing. The main bulk of the journey back we spent listening to our own things, I’m pretty sure I had the newest episode of ‘My dad wrote a porno’ which I was trying to get through without disturbing the driver or laugh so hard he asked what I was listening to. Having consulted my guests, we cannot remember what we did that night so it was clearly super important but having had a long day I’m sure we just flopped into bed.

Our flight back wasn’t until the evening so we had the whole day to play with in Christchurch; I wanted to go to the earthquake memorial which was a short walk through town. I had been the CHCH briefly in 2008 but only stayed for a half day due to time constraints so I don’t really remember what it looked like; I only really have a picture in my head of an old cathedral with a spire on a square. This, as it turns out, was the famous Christchurch cathedral who’s spire fell in 2011 and still wasn’t safe for visitors so they had built a ‘transitional cathedral’ while they fixed up the original. This was right next to the earthquake memorial so we were able to see both; the memorial ‘185 empty white chairs’ is a sombre little patch of grass on a junction with a bunch of chairs all painted white to represent the 185 people that lost their lives. The chairs are all different and range from wicker to kitchen to office to wheelchair, there’s even a baby carrier as sadly there were some children who died. There is discussion of how to make this memorial permanent as the chairs are just made of normal chair material and have required some upkeep and painting since 2012; I think it’s totally worthwhile as it’s a poignant reminder of the 5th worst disaster in NZ history.

After lunch we still had some time so we headed to the Canterbury museum in the botanical gardens, here there was a large exhibition on Antarctic exploration as a number of famous expeditions have taken off from CHCH. Now people tend to travel from Chile or Argentina as it’s a shorter journey by sea and they come to the Antarctic Peninsula which has a lot of wildlife, however, what’s-his-name Scott and thingy Shackleton didn’t know this in advance so left from NZ on a few trips. I don’t remember what else was in the museum but we did head to the café for a cuppa and large piece of cake before retracing our steps from a few days earlier and heading to the airport. I was really hoping for us to get back in time for my regular Wednesday night pub quiz at Zac’s bar; we just about made it only missing the first round. As we were 3 extra we had to form our own team so Canterbury UNT were not the same size as all the other teams put together; I don’t remember how we did but I’m sure we won. Right?

[ginasneesby]

September - Viv and Andy part 1

2 years late but in enforced lockdown seems the best time to complete these blogs if I am able to remember to any degree what I actually did.

My first visitors were my sister Viv and her husband Andy, they had planned to come to me for 10 days, sandwiched between short trips to see friends in Australia; meaning I didn’t get the jet lag portion or the sad our trip is almost over portion! Viv had also done a lot of research and even booking in advance so most of the activities were sorted and paid for. This made it easier for me having only been nursing since coming back in July and then having taken more trips than I should have done really given how much money I had saved, spreading the cost meant we could all do everything and any extra costs were paid for with those weeks’ wages!

Their flight got in around 4pm on Thursday 6th, the day after I got back from Queenstown and a few weeks after Rarotonga so sort of felt like I was living at the airport; my carbon footprint this year was pretty shocking. They had booked a posh flat in central Auckland just round the corner from the Sky Tower which I drove directly to, luckily arriving late enough to miss parking restrictions so I could come in and see the place too. Having this flat the whole trip meant they could pack small bags for our planned trips and leave all the rest behind, also there was a gym in the complex which apparently is important ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It did however mean their self-catering kitchen was empty, so first job was to head to a supermarket to grab some essentials, the next day we hadn’t planned anything out of town so coffee and milk were a must. We decided however to go out for dinner rather than cook so I took them for a short walk down to the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter to see the harbour bridge, marina and view across to Devonport. We ate burgers or something similar at a bar and had a couple of cheap cocktails making it to well gone 9 o’clock before all the travelling (and I’m sure some jetlag) kicked in and we all headed home.

The next day I left the pair to figure out Auckland transport and met them at the Devonport ferry terminal, from here we took a gentle hike up Mount Victoria behind my flat (also known as the windiest hill in Auckland) with great views of the harbour, bridge and skyline. There is also an old gun turret type thing that was positioned here because it’s near the opening to the Hauraki Gulf and, I guess, the Pacific Ocean. Obviously we had to take the ‘there’s a giant gun between my legs’ photos but the classic NZ weather of blue sky, crazy wind and blazing sun directly in your eyes led to some interesting facial expressions. We had a late start to the day so after a few hours and a quick stop to see my flat, we were ready to head back over to the city and go for a drink. I took them to an Irish bar which I know seems so wrong but actually there isn’t really what you’d call a typical New Zealand pub (unlike the outdoor bars in Europe) so any pub was good; this one I knew did some classic NZ beers which was good enough for a local feel. We didn’t stay long as we were booked in for a full itinerary of activities on the Saturday but it was nice to end our first full day with a couple of beers, that’s what holidays are all about isn’t it.

Saturday saw an early start to catch the ferry to Waiheke Island, we tried to stay outside on the boat initially but all that wind that’s blow on Mount Victoria, also blows through the Hauraki Gulf and across the bow of the ship, so it was a bit too chilly to remain for the whole journey. There were lots of people on the boat, including a whole host of local primary/middle school football teams who were heading to Waiheke for a tournament; there was a lot of excitement so must have been a big deal! On arrival we were picked up with only about 6 others to head to the Ecozip HQ for the first of our ‘zip, wine and dine’ plans. The sun was blazing as we started out safety briefing for the 3 large zip lines we were about to throw ourselves down, all of which flew over a working vineyard and beautiful patch of NZ bush which we would then walk back through after getting to the bottom. The views from the top were amazing; I love the Auckland skyline anyway but seeing it across the water with the sun shining added an extra splash of magic; always makes a special holiday activity particularly memorable. The zip lines were set up in 2 so Viv and Andy went down together, of course trying to race each other, how else do you zip line, I went down by myself which meant I could 1) take in my surroundings and 2) film the others trying to beat each other. Not sure there’s anything you could actually do to increase your speed but I know they were trying. Each zip faced in a slightly different direction and was positioned high above the bush so each journey down was a new view; I highly recommend doing it as it was great fun. Once we got to the bottom, we were able to loosen our harnesses for the return climb, the guides walked us back up through the bush, pointing out the native plants, trees and animals which the company is helping to preserve and restore.

We were taken back to the ferry port to continue our day which for us meant being picked up by a different coach and taken to the first of 4 wine stops, Stonyridge Vineyard. We had a brief tour of the vines and the cork trees that they grew on site plus a taster of 3 different wines which we were then able to buy a large discounted glass of to have with lunch. Our tables were set up outside on a deck near the cork and olive trees and overlooking rolling green hills, if there’s a better spot to start an afternoon of drinking I haven’t found it. Also a good shout to sell a large glass for cheap at the start, as I found out on a later trip without this option, the tasters as not enough to keep you going for the whole afternoon (and I’m really against paying $15 for a small glass.) The next stop was Rangihoua estate in the centre of the island for some olive oil tasting and some different wine. By this point in typical Auckland fashion the sun had come out in force and wearing jumper, jeggings and boots I was overheating a bit but also determined to catch some sun following a long grey winter. Casita Miro was an amazing vineyard up in the hills towards the north coast of the island, ran by a family with decoration inspired by the Park Guell in Barcelona and Gaudi’s style of mosaic. The vines also grew on a pretty vertical hill, the dad (who was also a Dr) clearly put all his time and effort into the place and it really showed; what free time he could possibly have i don’t know. They gave us a tasting of 5 different wines, red/white and rose, each with a small complimentary snack balanced on a plate on top of the glass; some bruschetta, some cheese and some fruit, classy. Our last spot was Mudbrick Vineyard, with views back towards the city and Rangitoto island across the glittering green water of the Gulf, their vines went up the hill behind the vineyard which must have been near the highest point of the island? The whole place was obviously well established as a venue and even had extra buildings for wedding parties to use a bridal suites etc. We were able to buy more wine and stay longer if we wanted as our return ticket was valid until the last ferry, probably around 9pm. But we decided to head back with the coach and catch the planned ferry, totally in the mood to jump into another bar around the terminal and continue drinking. But in usual fashion the 40 minute ferry journey zapped us of this will and by the time we got back an early start and the best part of a couple of bottles of wine each caught up with us so we decided not to carry on but to crawl into bed probably grabbing something tasty and unhealthy on the way home.

Sunday, after a slow start, we decided to drive up the coast to Muriwai beach where there is a large colony of Gannets living on the rocks, I had been earlier in the year and there were barely any birds there, I guess September being the start of Spring they had all come back to nest. The west shore of Auckland is famous for high winds and crazy waves (they set a whole beach rescue programme at Piha just down the road) so there are some quite dramatic rock formations along the coast. Muriwai has a designated walkway up through the colony and when crowded with birds they literally nest everywhere, right up to the edge of the path so you can get a really close look at them. There was a bit of shagging going up close too which made some of the parents walking around move their brood on swiftly. Down the hill from the birds you can walk along the rock when the tide is out and people come here to fish and look in the rock pools, there’s probably some fresh shellfish being pulled out here and taken straight home for dinner. I had recently discovered a Sunday night market under one of the shopping centres near me which had fresh homemade Asian foods which were all pretty amazing. You could get a pile of dumplings or bao for not many dollars which we did and shared them between us plus some added satay chicken and other deep fried goodies. Not to mention the desserts on offer, ice cream/crepes/waffles all with fruit and chocolate bits and sauces in case the main course wasn’t enough calories. Stomachs filled and plans finalised for our flight the next day, I drove my guests back to their apartment and took myself home to pack for the next adventure down to the south island.

[ginasneesby]

September - Queenstown trip 1

One of the places I was desperate to go back to was Queenstown, I had spent only a few days there on my trip previously but I just remember it being hugely fun. So Harry and I flew down at the beginning of September so as to catch a bit on the ski season but also hopefully starting to warm up a bit. The first thing I remember about the journey is drag queens on a plane, no this isn’t some new Sam Jackson movie, that weekend was also Queenstown pride where you can go down for some winter fun including skiing in drag. The two lads we met on the plane decided to travel in their outfits, now I’m no expert in drag but it can’t have been particularly comfortable with wigs, make up, tight outfits and high-heeled boots, it’s not how I would like to travel on a plane. But such is their commitment to the art that as they didn’t have time to do it properly there before going out for the evening, so they travelled from Auckland in full drag and looked fucking fierce. It is another indication of what the domestic travel in New Zealand is like however that they didn’t have to look like their ID (not that they ever checked my ID) but they could go in wigs and full on makeup and it didn’t matter.

We had done some research on the best things to do in Queenstown using some sites which offer discounts if you booked in advance, so we had set up that evening’s entertainment already. Our plan was a visit to an ice bar (one of two in Queenstown) and then a pub crawl later that evening which would take us to 4 or five bars over a four hour period with the promise of shots at each stop and pizza some point in the middle. We had no idea whether it would be good but it’s a way to see some of the bars to go to and if it’s really shit you can always just leave the group. First we checked into our hostel, which was right in the centre of town and although booked as a four bed dorm, we were the only two in there. It was such a good hostel that I ended up going back there on my later trip with my friends as although really Central was super cheap and friendly.

The ice bar was interesting, we booked it for after dinner and this meant turning up before your time so you could be kitted up with big winter coats, gloves and scarves, and then the rules explained. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a bar with rules, but given this was below freezing it made sense that they had to have some guidelines. We were given one drink with the price of our entrance and even the glasses were made of ice, they said to always pick it up with two hands as obviously ice is very slippery, I forgot about this and proceeded to throw about half of my drink across the floor of the bar 10 minutes later. Undeterred I ordered another drink and I think we had some shots in our 30 minute time frame that we were allowed in, you had to leave after that as it wasn’t safe to stay in the bar any longer, alcohol plus hypothermia is apparently not a good mix. We then headed to the bar to start the pub crawl; I think it only cost like $10 and was a fun way to meet some other people (including a group who worked in Oamaru where I was heading with friends later in the month) and not just go out drinking the 2 of us. We went to a mix of bars, some better than others and they chose to give the pizza in the smallest, hottest, crowded basement bar… so that was good. We finished up at a dancey bar, where they left us to our own devices and having had a very enjoyable time, we called it a night. Sadly on returning to the room, we discovered that a few more people had checked in, so it wasn’t just me a Harry anymore; probably more sadly for them as we stumbled in at 3am quite drunk.

The next few days were adventure days, I can’t remember exactly in what order we did them but I think we went for an AJ Hackett style hangover cure. AJ Hackett basically invented commercial bungee jumps and there are plenty around Queenstown including the 3rd highest in the world (Nevis) which I had done previously and the first commercial jump off a bridge (Kawarau) into the water if desired. I was happy to do bungees, but it wasn’t Harry’s cup o’ tea so we compromised by flinging ourselves off a cliff on a swing instead. Out at the Nevis Highwire site, they have now built a sling shot and a swing, the second of which you can do tandem, so we suited up, got someone to record us and got ready to swing. When released, you start by falling straight down before you catch the arc and then swing right across the other side of the canyon, it was so much fun and the pictures we bought, on top of the price of the swing (that’s how they get ya!) are great. Even though the swing only lasts a few minutes, the whole process of being taken out of town by bus, watching others take part, getting your photos and waiting for a bus back makes it a half day experience which took us up to dinner time.

There are plenty of places to eat in Queenstown, but one of the most famous places is Fergburger which is called the best burger in New Zealand. Now I’ve had a few meals there and I can say that it’s definitely up there with the best burgers, but the bakery next door is also pretty special; the pies and coffee is beaut. Top tip – ring your burger order in and then walk round 20 minutes later, helps you skip the long (like seriously long) queue; hangover + hard day on the swing meant these burgers were really well received.

On the Monday, Harry had booked some snowboarding lessons, while I slept in and a little later in the day, caught the bus up The Remarkables to have a totally GNAR day and carve up some fresh pow-pow, and by that I mean drink some mulled wine in front of a fire. The views on the way up were pretty breath taking and the turns in the road scary, but the bus is really an adapted lorry so it can take on most terrains and I knew I was in safe hands; I stayed for a few hours and then came back down into town. I had wicked memories of going up there previously for a night ski, but I don’t remember what the slopes actually looked like, I felt like they had been moved around but I don’t know; do ski resorts move slopes around? I remembered the lift up the beginners slope though, the one I fell off a few times sideways and couldn’t get up from, the one a very helpful kiwi ski instructor stood nearby and offered a ‘y’alright?’ the one that made me give up on skiing and go drinking instead; and I’ve stuck to this ever since. It wasn’t really his fault, skiing sucks.

Tuesday was a sunny day, so we made the most of it by going for a hike, I had looked up good walks in the area and Queenstown hill was pretty central and had good views from the top. I also looked at the Ben Lomond track which can include the skyline gondola part way and then a good 6-8 hours hike up and back, but we left a bit late in the day for a full days hike and I remembered that Harry and I are super unfit so we stuck to Queenstown hill. The initial part winds through some of the residential roads before taking a sharp incline into the woods (this part nearly killed us so I was glad we didn’t try a 6 hour hike.) Most of the way up is woodland, with a few clearings every so often to get a view across to the other hills behind the gondola, and the edge of the lake down towards Glenorchy, the sun was shining and it felt good to be out in the open air. There was also a little patch with a load of ‘fairy stacks’ that was cute but a little weird, obviously started by one person and then everyone followed suit; some even had doors in tree stumps. We made it to the top to amazing views across the lake and mountains beyond and a metal sculpture marking the top; then down the other side back into town. The other activity top of my list from experience was the Luge, this was up the skyline gondola (cable car), which provided more amazing views in a different angle – across town and over towards the Remarkables. Then ignoring the views, you stick on a helmet and jump in a little go kart type thing and fling yourself down narrow roads on top of the mountain. So Much Fun. The kart is controlled with a steering handle you pull off the ground and gently edge towards yourself to brake, throwing it forward stops you dead as I found out a few times. I think we bought 5 goes down and I’m pretty sure I won most of them; I have photos somewhere to prove it.

Our final day, we only had a few hours in the morning between check out and our flight back, so we did a boat tour around Lake Wakatipu. The one that filled the time was called the ‘millionaires tour’ and basically saw us float up the Frankton arm of the lake to where the houses are owned by long time QT residents but if sold would be worth millions, they’ve also built some fancy hotels around there too, nice area and lovely views, but far enough out of town to be annoying; I’ll take my cheap and cheerful central hostel thanks.

Sadly this saw the end of our Queenstown adventure and back to real life, luckily my sister and brother in law were arriving the next day for an action packed 10 days followed by 4 friends who were coming for 2-3 weeks… so I didn’t really feel the pain of returning to normality yet.

[ginasneesby]

August - Rarotonga

So I have been meaning to write this for months now, given I went there last August. But, life, the universe and Game of Thrones has meant that I just haven’t sat down to write about my paradise island get away. As my grandma had generously left me some money, most of which was to be saved for travelling when I had visitors, I thought I’d book a holiday somewhere beautiful and warm that I would never think to go from the UK. There are lots of Pacific islands that all look amazing, but which one to choose.

I was inspired by someone I knew who had gone there only a few months previously and so I booked some flights to Raratonga in the Cook Islands. I decided to not spend all my money at once and so reserved a double room (I didn’t wanna be too cheap) in a hostel by way of balancing out the activities I was bound to do.

I took off on Saturday evening, a short 4 hour flight later and it was Friday night again, only this time on a small, warm island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean! I was picked up from the airport by the woman who ran the hostel, who was very kind and advised us to grab beers and a phone card if we needed as nowhere outside of the airport would be open, but I was planning to be pretty cut off/use the hostel wifi when needed. 15 minute car ride and we arrived at the hostel, which was about a quarter of the way around the island (it is not a big island). Although it was midnight, it was warm, which boded well for a beach holiday, and there were dogs and chickens roaming all over. The hostel had a nice outdoor area with hammocks and a decent sized kitchen, so we wouldn’t be crawling round each other to cook. However, the room was pretty plain, there were loads of bugs and lizards on the walls and round the lights and a trail of ants in my room; but ya know, that’s what you get for about £10 a day.

The first day I decided to have a leisurely morning and then get the bus towards the town centre, I had thought about hiring a moped, as I have it on my license although have never driven one myself, but they were all booked up that day. The bus, needless to say, did not run on time, not even close. Basically they were supposed to go clockwise and anticlockwise every hour and looking at the timetable, that was in about 15 minutes. 30 minutes later it arrived, but it was cheap and took me where I wanted to go. I headed up into town and took a wander around, thinking what I fancied booking, there were Polynesian food and entertainment evenings, boat trips, water sports and spas. However, given how little money had been put into the infrastructure and local villages they were all quite expensive. I guess if you have a bunch of tourists staying at posh resorts, they’ll eat up these activities with ‘meals included’ and ‘transport to and from your hotel’, however I wasn’t on that sort of budget. I went to a local restaurant near the beach, and thought I can at least have a nice lunch and a beer on my first day, but when the bill for that came I was swiftly put off doing anything. I guess they have to import everything even more so than NZ!

There was also no free wifi, it was something that needed to be paid for so I didn’t bother, which is a shame, coz part of the reason you go on lovely island holidays is to take obligatory white sand pictures and spam everyone’s Instagram! I did go to a supermarket and buy some bulk items that would feed me breakfast, snacks and dinners and made my way towards the bus stop. Again the buses screwed me, and the stop wasn’t where I thought it would be and when I did find it, it was in front of a big supermarket that had lots of deals in the window, typical. I did however give up on the ‘not gonna spend any money’ and bought some beer.

I was hoping that most people in the hostel would be friendly and up for a bit of a drink, no one was really around in the afternoon but I thought ‘Fuck it I’m on holiday’ and had a few beers by myself. Others arrived in dribs and drabs a bit later, a couple from Germany, a guy from Australia and a couple of kiwis. Mostly friendly, but not very inclusive. A few of them had been there for a while and there was a particular couple who basically decided who they were going to include in their little group, and who they weren’t; I was not on their list. Unsure why, the girl just took agin me and so I was out, and so started a holiday where I spent most of my time on my own (not so bad) while most others at the hostel hung out together, ate together and planned things together (not so fun).

Making the best of it, everyday was spent having a lie in, then making my way to the beach and lying in the sun for most of the day, I was beautifully sunny and warm but not boiling or burny as it was the middle of winter, so I could lie out for ages without worrying. I did manage to hire a moped for a few days, which meant I could easily get around the island, I did one whole lap one day just to see how long it would take me. On my way round I went past a boat tour operator and decided to book it for later in the week, it wasn’t too expensive and it included entertainment, a meal on the beach and snorkelling if you’re that way inclined (I am not). It was also a glass bottomed boat and the water was super clear, so I didn’t feel the need to get in until right at the end and just for a dip to say I have swum there. The lads running it were great, they played instruments, made jokes and were generally quite loud (think my brother but Polynesian). They fed us fish, potatoes and kumara freshly from the fire and then gave us a coconut shucking workshop and a many-ways-to-wear-a-sarong fashion show. We then had some time to chill and explore as we were on a small spit just off the main island, but annoyingly the sun had gone behind some clouds and it was a little bit chilly by that point.

One of the days I joined a group of people doing a giant puzzle; it was pissing it down and didn’t appear to be letting up any time soon, so when I came downstairs and people were all doing a puzzle, I joined in. It was quite a fun day, although I suffered later (warm weather + humidity+ bush + rain = mosquito-palooza) I was absolutely eaten alive, like worse than ever before, my skin was burning and I looked like I have measles and chicken pox and I dunno the plague! Luckily I had a supply of salt water to ease my prickly legs every day (you always forget about these parts when you go on a lovely hot holiday)

Every other day I pretty much did the same thing, I would find a different part of the coast I hadn’t been to yet and sit on the beach reading for a few hours, I made friends with the dogs (although not too close as they all had fleas) and in the evening would have some beers and try to make chat with the other people staying. I managed to become fairly friendly with a couple of people and by that I mean we added each other on Instagram, but it seemed to be, once you were not picked by the couple (or rather the girl) you weren’t really included in stuff. In fairness, she was horrifyingly aggressive about her and her partner’s family and told a story about holding her pregnant sister against the wall by her throat, whether true or not, not really what I’m looking for in a friend!

Managed a couple of fun nights, going down to the beach to look at the stars was awesome, it was super dark and so you could see everything including the milky way. The last night, we all went down to the bars next to the airport, they were well known for being cheap and large drinks so although I had to fly home at like midnight, I did allow myself a couple of drinks to celebrate just being invited along! The bus driver did try to charge me extra for my little suitcase as I was ‘clearly’ going to the airport, I just sat down and refused to pay, I mean. You’re the only bus, there isn’t an airport bus, and this is carry on luggage, hardly takes up loads of space. My flight was late Saturday night, and I landed early Monday morning, completely losing that Sunday, time zones are weird.

The only other thing of note that happened was the day I was exploring with my moped, after booking my boat tour, I went to turn back onto the road and my handles either didn’t turn, or locked or something and I went shooting across the road into a parked car! I managed to turn enough to not actually connect bike and car (thank fuck) but I did hit the car with myself, and took off the wing mirror with by boob. Ouch. 2 hours and a $500 hold on my credit card (the mirror was intact so can’t have been that expensive but the woman couldn’t give me an exact quote) later, I was back on my way, a little bruised and a little bit red in the face.

In conclusion, I could totally go to somewhere similar again (although not here as their laws about imprisoning gay people is horrifying) but if I did go, I would book somewhere lush and go with money so I can spend my days in luxury and share it all on insta to make people jealous!

[ginasneesby]

August - Wellington

I really should have posted this after it at all happened because now I'm going to have to try and remember back a few months; but I wasn't really in the mood to write a blog post. July saw me come back from the UK and finally start nursing, I did a number of shifts for Southern Cross at private surgical centres. It was very strange to be working in a ward environment as I hadn't done that since I was a student, and also to be in private so everything had to be charged for. I saw some interesting things, I met some nice people though and I was earning more than I ever did earlier in the year.

August was a bit more exciting as I came back with a bit of money from my grandma I decided to put it to good use, I did a boat trip around Auckland Harbour and although it rained a bit I learnt some good stuff about the history of the place and the islands in the Gulf. Next I planned a trip down to Wellington for a few days as I remember really enjoying it when I stopped there on my last trip in 2008, not that I recall any specifics about the place. Lastly, I thought I'd make the most of having a cash influx and go to a place I never would have thought of going from the UK, I was trying to decide which pacific island I would like to visit most when a Facebook friend posted some pictures of Rarotonga which looked too good to be true so I went down to a travel agent and booked a week in the Cook Islands.

Wellington

I had heard that flying into Wellington was quite scary as it's renowned for being very windy and the landing strip looks very small as you approach it, however my journey in was very pleasant. After we came out of the clouds there was no real turbulence, the air was clear and I have a great view coming in of both Wellington and the Miramar Peninsula on the other side of the plane. I didn't really have any plans for the next 5 days except a Lord of the Rings tour which I had booked for the Saturday and a boat tour to an island in the harbour on the Sunday, so I took the bus to my hostel and got on Google. I decided to head to a pub down the road for something tasty to eat and also a pub quiz that evening, I was obviously by myself but still managed to beat about 4 teams. I was even given a free drink by one of the women working behind the bar, now whether this was because she felt sorry for me because I was by myself or it was my prize for coming 6th or something I don't know, but it pretty good end to the night. I was sleeping in a 4 bed mixed dorm and was given a top bunk which is never that much of an issue except that there was only one power plug in the whole room so my phone was plugged in next to someone else's head. If you're having a lazy morning it's not such a big deal, but when you set an alarm you have to leap off that top bunk pretty f****** swiftly so you can avoid waking everyone else up.

I was glad that I did set an alarm though as when I got up I had messages from the Lord of the Rings tour saying I was the only person booked for Saturday so it might not run but was I able to go that day because they had other people interested, I would have preferred staying local on my first day, but I didn't want to miss out so I agreed and quickly headed to the meeting point. I ended up joining only two other guys who I think were Austrian, I should remember, but they were very friendly and willing to make tits of themselves like me so it ended up being a great day. The first stop they take you to is the quarry where they built Helms deep and Minas Tirith sets, however it is now just a quarry, I can appreciate and use my imagination but it is quite funny that one of the main stops is literally a hole in the ground. The tour guides walk around with a big binder full of photos from behind the scenes and the films to try and give you an idea of the finished image, they do a lot of pointing out particular trees or landscapes to try and prove that they're not hoodwinking you and it was actually filmed there.

Our next stop was the riverbank where Aragorn washes up after falling off the cliff in the two towers (spoiler, he doesn't die) it was quite pretty and just round the back of someone's farm. Their cat always came down to greet our tour guide and anybody with her so I tried to get the cat to be my Brego by lying on the floor and hoping it would snuffle at my face, it didn't really work, you can't train cats as well as horses (If you don't know what this means then go back and watch the two towers.) We headed slightly out of Wellington to Upper Hutt for lunch and a look at where they filmed Isengard and Rivendell, again most of it is imagination as they're not really allowed to leave bits of set hanging around, but they have embraced it by putting up signs and the local community even commissioned a large stone archway that the fellowship go through when they leave Rivendell on their way to Mordor. It's not actually made of stone and it's not the original one but it is designed to look the same and it's in the same place, which is quite cool. This was also good place to get some geeky photos as they did some promo photos in this area while filming, so we stuck on some elf ears and a cape and stood in a tree with a bow and arrow being Legolas; luckily the lads were just as willing to do it as I was so we all just embraced the nerdiness.

We went up Mt Victoria which is in the middle of Wellington and amazingly is where they filmed quite a lot of things, most of the stuff where the hobbits are in the forest having just left Hobbiton was all done here right in the middle of town. The very famous "get off the road!" Black rider scene was filmed here although the massive tree that they hide under isn't real, there is a bit of a divot in the ground so you can sit in it and pretend to be Frodo. I didn't do this but I did get some pictures of the other lads, one of them was quite chunky so they actually made a very good Frodo and Sam team. It's a beautiful forest and you can walk around it for ages just listening to the birds, even though it's in the middle of town there is very little road noise, there's also a number of benches and they all have metal plaques on them with quotes from Tolkien and the films.

Our last stop of the day was the weta workshop in Miramar, weta is the company that did all of the prosthetics and metal work including swords, shields and armour; they are also a digital company that did the CGI such as Gollum. They have become very well known within the film business, having basically won an Oscar for everything they did in the trilogy, so have worked on lots of other films subsequently. It was very cool to see some of the actual armour and weapons crafted for the characters as well as how they actually go about making things out of silicone or chain mail or whatever. The guy who took us around worked with chainmail, he got the job at weta having never done it before in his life but was just determined to work in the business and so told them he could do it, I’m sure he learnt pretty swiftly on lotr!

On the Saturday I did what I was going to have done the day before, which was investigate the local Town Centre including the cable car, the botanical gardens and down to the harbour front. I walked around to the cable car, which I would definitely call a funicular not a cable car but whatever Wellington and headed up to the botanical gardens from there. The gardens were pretty spectacular with lots of trees, bushes, plants etc. from around New Zealand, Australia and a few other places, also there was a lot of wildlife as you would expect so I got some great pictures of beautiful New Zealand birds. It was a bit rainy but it didn't really impact the trip as I found a sheltered spot or went into the cafe for a cup of tea if it really poured. I got the free shuttle down to Zealandia from the botanical gardens which is a nature reserve again it had lots of wildlife, lots of trees and loads of birds, some of which were quite rare I read and I managed to get some great photos and action shots. I followed a Kaka for a while desperately trying to get a photo and ended up just getting it in the bush giving me massive side eye as I tried to call out and get it to respond, he was having none of it. When I got the shuttle back driver asked where I wanted to go and I said well I'm staying in the city but I fancy a drink so he took me to one of his favourite pubs near where I was staying and I grabbed a beer.

It being Saturday night I wanted to go out and have a couple of drinks so I bought some beers and headed to the common room, a couple of guys were watching gone girl so I joined them and chatted a bit. I asked them if they were going out that evening and if I could join them so we headed down to a local pool bar, not my usual haunt but beggars can't be choosers. They weren't really drinking so we came back around 11, but I decided to stop at a pub on the corner to have one more drink and to try and steal a cigarette off the bouncer. Turns out they were all a really good laugh and they asked me if I wanted to come out with them after their bar closed, so I stuck around and we all headed back into town once they had finished up. I have no idea how many bars we went to but I'm pretty sure I rolled home at about 5 a.m. because I called my friends who were getting ready for their evening out (stumondy) in London

The next day I had booked myself a boat tour which included a short trip to the Maritime Museum and started at around 11 a.m., somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed but I did not enjoy the experience of being in a hot Museum and then on a boat. They dropped us off at Island in the harbour and said they would be back in about 2 1/2 hours, they left us with a fish supper which was very nice but walking around in the rain so hungover was not. After the tour I headed back to the hostel and decided to have a lazy evening as it was still raining, so I read my book and packed up ready to leave the next day. I had to check out at 10 a.m. but my flight wasn't until 9 that evening so I had a whole day to play with, I went for a tour at the Houses of Parliament, as it was free, which was quite interesting but a bit strange as the country has so little history, some of the important figures being talked about who did significant things were only from the last generation. I then headed down to the Te Papa museum which is the National Museum of New Zealand and was recommended by pretty much everybody I spoke to. I remember going there on my last trip in 2008 and really enjoying it, but I don’t remember any of the exhibits which is really the best way to remember a museum. I spent pretty much all of the rest of the day there and saw most of the exhibits including an amazing one on Gallipoli which included 15 foot tall models of men and women from the first world war which were made by weta workshop, the attention to detail and the lifelikeness was quite unnerving.

And just like that my trip was over it was the definite start to the second half of my year which was going to be much more fulfilling much much more enjoyable.

[ginasneesby]

Things got shitty

This is my first update for quite a few months as some big things happened that I didn’t really want to put in a blog post as it’s not the kind of thing I’ll forget, but it also has had a big impact on my time here; so should probably be included.

I finished my play every performance went really well, I love doing it, the group of people were great fun, and I was really going to miss them. I was getting ready for some major post-show blues, and I had decided that I would finish at the blind foundation at the end of the month because I managed to get my blood test done and the results came back pretty quick. It was my best friends 30th birthday back at home and all of my friends were getting together for a weekend away at some amazing house in the country somewhere with a pool and murder mystery, and I wasn’t going to be there. We had agreed that I would Skype in in the morning and even though it would be 10 AM I bought some gin so I could be included in the festivities. I got my haircut, I spent the night before doing nothing important, watching some crappy film and set my alarm to get up in good time so I could speak to my friends.

My phone rang at 7 AM and through bleary eyes I noticed it was my dad, now this wasn’t completely unprecedented as he had rung me at the wrong time before so I thought nothing of it; however, this wasn’t a social call. My grandma had died. Not sure what time, but they found her at home around midday their time so for me she had been gone probably 12 hours before I knew, they didn’t want to keep me awake when there was nothing I could do. This makes all the sense in the world except all I could think about was around midday UK time I was watching one of the most awful films I’ve seen at my friends house! I haven’t spoken to her directly for a few months as we found out that I was being charged to receive texts and phone calls as well as send them, and I wasn’t about to throw WhatsApp at a 92-year-old woman. She’s got her head around texting, email and almost recording digital TV but I thought this would’ve been one thing too many. I have however sent her postcards from all the places I visited, and I have recently sent her one from my new home in Devonport, which I’m told she had received the day before.

It’s a very strange feeling to be told someone you love so dearly has died when you are so far away and can do nothing. They told me the ins and outs of the day finding her and calling for help etc, and I spoke to my brother and sister later that morning about how they were processing their feelings. My sister was going back home the next day, which made me realise of course that I wouldn’t have been in Salisbury either way when I happened; but I might not of been a 30 hour flight away.

The time came for me to Skype in with my friends, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for this so I texted my friend whose birthday it was to tell her what had happened, but it was literally then that they called me. I thought I’d go with it as it was lovely to speak to everybody and having not seen them for six months I was a bit teary anyway, I cracked out some gin and settled down to hear the second half of the murder mystery dinner they were having.

I remember talking to most people for a short time, and the birthday girl in particular, I also spoke to my friend who has recently lost a grandparent. I’m sure this was all very helpful, however the next thing I remember was waking up on the floor a few hours later having drunk most of the gin and feeling horrible. I basically remained on the sofa for the next few days not wanting to see anybody, but also feeling weird just for watching TV and especially laughing at it. The next few weeks sort of went back to normal I was going to be finishing work earlier than I planned, but I was always going to finish so my days with fairly normal. I turned up for work, I went home at the end of the day and even managed to be social occasionally. I was just in a weird sort of limbo as I had booked my flights home for the funeral but it wasn’t for a few weeks, it’s not like I could plan anything after that time as I didn’t know what I’d be doing, how I’d be feeling or anything like that.

The funeral was at the end of June so I flew home, went straight back to Salisbury and tried to get used to what it was like without her there. My aunt was already down from Edinburgh and my brother and sister arrived over the next few days, I ended up having to wear one of my mum’s dresses as I didn’t really own anything suitable for a funeral. I decided to sing at the ceremony as although I was feeling sad and it was probably gonna be awful it was probably the best way for me to express how I was feeling. I decided on ‘For Good’ from Wicked and spent the morning rehearsing/ warming up a bit.

It’s a strange experience to come outside your house and see a hearse, a coffin, and some stylish but super one use only town cars. I was sat in the front of the front one just behind the hearse, so spent the journey across town watching the coffin; it wasn’t weird though till they brought it out of the car.

My dad, my brother and my cousins carried her in to the crematorium while Memory from Cats played, she loved Cats, it’s the first cassette I remember listening to on repeat in her car! My dad gave a great eulogy and then it was my turn, whilst rehearsing I had managed to hold myself together until pretty much the last bit, in reality somewhere around line number three is where it hit. But I managed to get the words out, and be understood and had some semblance of tune. It felt pretty cathartic to finally just cry and so it wasn’t really for anyone else there, it was for me and my grandma. I got some compliments after (although I’m sure they were just doing what you do after someone performs).

We had a short but nice wake at the golf club near by, and then headed back home before a big boozy family dinner that evening. Somehow, we had managed to really mourn earlier in the day, and moved on to celebrating her life. We were a table of 13/14 and my brother alone got about 6 bottles of wine, so we were pretty loud. We ate, we drank, we stole cigarettes of the barman, and upon returning home, we drank some more; Baileys. My brother and I sat up till 3 and finished the bottle before heading to bed.

I was back in the UK for only two weeks, I stayed in Salisbury for a bit longer and then headed to London to stay with My sister and catch up with as many people as possible. I think I managed to see a lot of people, and enjoyed watching the football, when England played well, at a normal time as opposed to 4 AM which is what the matches have been over here; not that I would ever get up to watch a football game at 4 AM.

And then suddenly it was time for me to come back again, however this time it would be slightly different as my grandma, being the very generous person that she always was, gave me some money to come back with.

It well may be

That we will never meet again

In this lifetime

So, let me say before we part

So much of me

Is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me

Like a handprint on my heart

[ginasneesby]

Moving on up

The reason i ended the last entry with, ‘they were out of my life... mostly’ is because i had a brief interaction with them after moving out, where i cleverly didn’t cancel my automatic payment properly and so sent them another weeks rent. *insert face palm emoji here* I sent a message to ask them to kindly reimburse, i was then slightly berated for not sending my detail as ‘they don’t just carry around my bank account number’.... ok. I sent my bank details, while at work so doing a few other things at the same time which meant i accidentally typed one number wrong; (FFS!!!) I was berated for typing it wrong. I resent it as i was walking home so just typed the number and got the friendly response of ‘No apology for the pissing around boy were glad’ which i can only assume means we’re glad we kicked you out. I mean, it must have been a massive inconvenience when i sent them money and they had to call their bank a whole 2 times to send it back. I proceeded to delete the messages and his number just so i’m not tempted to tell him exactly what i think of him when i have a couple of beers! Now, they are out of my life. Phew!

Since then, i have been living in Devonport, in a flat by myself, which is amazing. I am just round the corner from my friend, and 15 minutes from the port which means i get to take the ferry to work every day. I am also about 5 minutes from the theatre where my play is being performed, so i don’t have to leave as early to get there on time, and can even get the bus if i fancy a drink after.

Work is going well, i’m enjoying the office based, 9-5 for now, although i do miss actually doing something exciting and important. For now, this role is fitting in well with my play etc and having regular money coming in helps with the sudden moving and bond paying. Every Thursday we do a putt putt challenge where you have to get a hole in one and i haven’t managed to do it yet, when you do there’s a song and a ceremony and everything (see title for song choice). I am here until the beginning of June and maybe a little bit more so i can train whomever they get to replace me, but its time i pulled my finger out and got my blood tests done, now that i’m financially settled enough to blow $200 at once!

My plan over the next few weeks is to arrange to get these tests done, GET A HOLE IN ONE, perform shows most nights up till next Saturday and celebrate, pick up a friend up who’s coming from the UK and help her not make all of my mistakes re nursing in this country, and book my next excursion which will likely be down to Wellington. 

Watch this space

[ginasneesby]

Trying to get on...

So its been a month or so since I've written anything and that’s mostly because its been a bit dull but also a bit crappy. I am still working at the Blind Foundation, i took over the role of another woman who got a full time job somewhere else, and i have been rehearsing for my play which opened this weekend, so i was starting to feel settled. I had made a friend from my cast and she actually wanted to go out and do things, which meant that i was starting to develop a bit of a social life and things were looking up...

I work till 5 and have rehearsal at 7, sometimes the traffic is bad so it takes me an hour or so to get home which means i have about half an hour to quickly eat something and get back out the door. One particular evening, it took me even longer to get back so i had 20 minutes to quickly cook some pasta (trying to stick to an eating plan of some sort!) so i rushed into the house, quickly cooked my stuff, cleaned up my dishes and went into my room to throw on a little bit of make up. My landlord appeared in the kitchen and commented ‘Shoes on in the house, thats new,’ firstly, theres a way to say you don’t like what someone is doing and making a sarky comment is not the way, secondly SO FUCKING WHAT! I explained i was in a rush and they have complicated laces so didn't take them off, i think i even gave a quick sorry and went back into my room. I was listening to a podcast so couldn't really hear him as he mumbled something so i had to ask him 3 times before i then turned off what i was listening to and came to him... ‘I think its time you start looking for somewhere else to live.’

Obviously i was quite shocked, i mean, we are clearly different people as they live a very small life, since they retired, and spend most of their days hoovering or ironing from what i could tell. He is pretty old fashioned (sexist would be another word) and she follows him around and doesn't seem to have much of her own personality, so we were never gonna be bessie mates, but they had never said anything about not liking what i did, how i interacted with them, the things i said... nothing. I asked him to give me a reason, because surely it isn't about my shoes, he tried to say he didn't want to talk about it coz he ‘didn't wanna get riled up’. Well mate, i fucking do, you cant just throw out a ‘you have to leave because of irreconcilable differences’ and then not tell me those differences. We’re adults right, we can have a conversation about this, i mean now its been said, there’s no way i’m gonna stay, but we can at least hash out what you're upset about, how long i have till i need to leave, what you expect of me. Not so much... Apparently being in a rush wasn’t a good enough excuse to wearing my shoes in the house and that when i washed my dishes and left them to dry it made the kitchen look messy. When i explained they were drying he said ‘some people see that mess and then decide to forgo dinner’ ‘Who?” i said “....Its happened’ he replied. I don’t believe this man has ever forgone dinner, but also all i’ve seen him eat is chips and dip or a cheese toastie, so if the mess means you can toast a sandwich then the issue is very much yours not mine! He wouldn’t discuss if further, so i left to get to rehearsal, she was outside hanging out washing so i just asked her if she felt the same or had anything to add, she said and i quote ‘Whatever he said.’ I mean technically she doesn't have to say anything, no one has to say anything, but its not very kind is it. I was pretty upset, mostly coz it felt personal, i mean i have paid my rent on time, i don’t leave a mess, i’m quiet, i haven’t tried to bring people back for a party. So i rang my sister and she got the full force of my anger and upset (on speaker in the car, screaming about them being massive cnuts). Rehearsal that evening was not the best, i wasn't really into giving it my all and then had to face going back home afterwards.

This was on a Wednesday i think, by the end of Thursday i had booked 4 viewings for the Saturday and planned my weekend and next week so i could spend as little time as possible at home; I saw some places found one i liked and arranged when i would move in (in a sleep out too so i would have my own space). On the Sunday evening she called me to say there was an issue with her family or something, it wasn’t clear as she English was not amazing, so i gave her a call. Apparently she had a woman coming to stay in the house, who was a writer and so needed the house alone and was saying that she was very happy for me to move in as arranged, but i would have to move out for 3 months in the middle of the year. This is where i need some sort of meme just going ‘....sorry, what?’ I would live there first, but i would have to move out of my home so some picky bloody writer who apparently needs complete silence as she works (blah!) would like the whole house. Basically it all comes down to money and this writer was willing to pay more than i was so she got priority. 

Luckily, my wonderful friend Shona, heard about a flat that had just become free, the woman who owns it was moving back to London for the rest of the year and had someone to live there but it had just fallen through. She was leaving in a week and was desperate, and i told her that id love to water her garden and do some weeding... so we were both happy. Its a flat by myself too, so i will leave my washed pots and pans out to dry and no one will care!

I moved out that next Sunday, i did it all early before they got up so i didn’t have to interact with them, they had not said a word to me since that original night and so i wasn’t willing to rehash it all. I packed up my car and headed off, i received a text about 20 minuted later as i arrived at my friends place stating ‘No bond will be returned until this room is hoovered’ (also i needed to return the coat hangers) You couldn’t get more petty. But i sucked it up, went back and hoovered, and left them with a ‘have a nice day’ thankful that they were out of my life... Mostly

[ginasneesby]

#auckland #devonport #ferry #skytower #harbourbridge #newcommute #dusk #beautifulsky

[ginasneesby]

Tongariro Crossing

One of my housemates expressed an interest in doing the tongariro alpine crossing, a 19km walk past the eastern base of Mount Ngauruhoe and across the multi cratered active volcano, Mount Tongariro. The Tongariro National Park is half way down the north island just south of Taupo, in the winter it’s covered in snow and becomes the Whakapapa ski fields. The view from the top of the mountains is meant to be pretty spectacular with emerald lakes in the craters, blue lake and a panorama that looks out towards lake Taupo; the hike is supposed to take around 7/8 hours. Now I know I’m not the fittest person, but I’d done some hikes previously, with some hills and difficult terrain and got a bit hot and sweaty but survived, I haven’t smoked for about 3 months now so I figured I’d be in a better position than when I arrived; so I agreed to join her.

Her boyfriend drove us down, with me and two of her colleagues squished in the back of the car for 5 hours, but we got some tunes going, stopped a few times for a leg stretch and eventually cracked open some bottles of cider to ease the long journey. We stayed in a hostel near National Park, the couple in a room and we three in another, we had the lodge to ourselves so it didn’t matter that we arrived late and were up super early, and we had the bathroom to ourselves. We got in around half 11, had a quick beer and headed to bed for a few hours before our shuttle at 6am!

The shuttle was a bit late but it didn’t really matter coz it was still pitch black, although the guy decided to push it back himself without informing us and just nonchalantly mentioned this when he turned up like ‘I know you booked for 6, but I thought 20 past would be better...’ It was really fresh outside, so we hopped in the shuttle and he drove the 25 minutes to the start of the trial; and talked constantly. Now I’m not a morning person at the best of times, so after only five hours sleep and with a long day of trekking ahead of us we were not really up for much conversation; and yet he kept talking. We arranged for him to meet us at the other end at about 1:30 giving us 6 1/2 to 7 hours to complete the walk, we were hoping to take it slowly and get lots of photos along the way. It was dark as we started walking but the trail was clearly laid out so we used phone torches for about 10 minutes and then the sun has come up enough that we could see where we were going, it was chilly but not cold and a bit drizzly but not enough to dampen the spirits. The first 4 km or so was through the valley, on the flat heading towards Mount Tongariro, the paths had been cleared and built really well with wooden walkways and drainage to protect the environment, which was mostly grasses and heather at this point. There were waterfalls and little streams all around us and the air had a faint smell of sulphur, with the sun up the temperature was perfect and although I was wearing four layers I was really comfortable and felt hopeful for the day.

That is until my shoe started to rub, I bought these hiking shoes in 2011 to go to Iceland and have never had a problem with them previously but I don’t know, maybe my feet have grown or breaking my ankle changed the angles somehow. I put on a second pair of socks and kept walking for a bit, I tried a plaster and a bit further down another plaster and even considered turning round and going back to the hostel to change into my trainers although they would definitely not be suitable for the terrain. I carried on and tried to walk differently, position my foot differently but it didn’t help, so I just bent down the back of the shoe and carried on.

Just before you start the climb up there is a sign saying make sure you are ready for this walk, are you fit enough? Do you have the right shoes? Are you healthy? Now I was zero for three having had a cold for the last week but I was determined to do it anyway. Some of the Up was slopes some of it was wooden steps but all of it was horrible, I managed the first bit quite well and then after that I was tired, my heart rate was too fast and I couldn’t catch my breath, my legs were wobbling and we haven’t really gone that far yet. Actually the most annoying thing was the fact that my nose would not stop running, I had some tissues but they didn’t last very long with overuse and the rain. Luckily, it wasn’t just me who was struggling, we took some pictures but nobody looked particularly happy so there aren’t that many. It was also fairly cloudy or foggy so we couldn’t see very far, we could see where we have just come from when the clouds cleared and the view was already pretty beautiful so we were hoping for a lot from the top. It was a great feeling when the Up was finished, we came to a flat area that was clay floored and kind of surreal. It was really cloudy here so you couldn’t see much more than 10 m ahead of you and the rain have picked up a bit so we were walking with our heads slightly down. We all had bright ponchos to protect us from the rain which meant that we could spot each other through the cloud; it must’ve looked very strange. The landscape in this part was completely different to any bit we’d been through so far and it felt like we were walking on Mars with the orange ground and the cloudy surroundings; it was very strange.

Once we came out of the cloud I realised there was more Up to climb and this bit was really tough, most people walking up had to take breathers except for some ridiculously fit people who were almost running it. The ground was quite rocky and a bit loose so that also made it harder, there weren’t really any man-made constructions to walk on so navigating it with a shoe half off was not the easiest. In one part they had had to install a chain and handrail as it was so difficult to get up without them, the rocks had become a bit slippy as well with the rain so I was quite thankful for something to hang onto. The other people I was with managed to get to the top a bit before me and so had a breather but the very last bit was a very steep, slippery incline and I was struggling, however, the clouds cleared and I could see the summit so I pushed myself, hopeful that there would be no more going up.

The summit was fairly small but it had a little sign that showed you you were at the top and told you how far you had come, disappointingly we had only done 8 km and so had another 11 which was all down hill. The clouds were completely obscuring any view and as we got to the top the heavens opened and the rain came down really hard. Coming down off the summit was almost like sand or shale (is that what it’s called?), basically little rocks that moved a lot under your feet. The rain was coming down so hard that I couldn’t hear anything in my left ear, and everybody was moving pretty swiftly as going down is more dangerous than coming up, especially in this weather. We managed to find a tiny bit of shelter to go through our bags and make sure we had everything we needed and put away anything that was in our hands just in case, I grabbed out a cereal bar, only the second thing I had eaten since we started and carried on down. Now I don’t recall how it happened, but while walking down I found myself off-balance and starting to fall, looking down I was heading right for a big rock and I thought if I land on that it’s going to hurt like fuck. Somehow I managed to swan dive over the rock and did a full roll ending up on my bum, with my cereal bar still firmly on my hand I might add. One lone fellow hiker grumbled a quick ‘you alright?’ while not really slowing down his pace and when I confirmed that yes I was and took a bite of my cereal bar he carried on, I was a bit mucky but not hurt so I got up and carried on walking; literally no one else gave a fuck. We reached the part of the hike that was supposed to have the best view, with the emerald lakes, and interesting rock formations of the craters. Can you guess what we saw? That’s right, absolutely shag all, the cloud was all around us and so we couldn’t see further than the edge of the Emerald Lake, it still looked turquoise but that was about it. It was still raining really hard so I managed to take a quick photo but wasn’t really interested in hanging around, we had all got slightly split up including one of our party shooting off on her own, but we all knew where we were heading so I just kept walking and would bump into everyone else occasionally.

Now people will always tell you that going down is worse than going up, I disagree, they both suck so hard! Going down was longer, the paths were very windy and with the rain had become a bit slippery. Turns out I had hurt myself when I fell, as I now felt a painful twinge in my groin which, when you still have about 9 km to go, is not the best feeling. My waterproof had done the job of keeping me dry but the water has to go somewhere, so my cuffs were completely soaked, enough that I could squeeze out large amounts of water every five minutes. The same thing happened with my waterproof trousers, leading to me having very soggy feet. So with sore toes and blisters on the back of my heels, one shoe half off, both feet soaking wet, a strained muscle in my groin, dirty and wet hands and a runny nose, I walked. The only thing keeping me from being totally miserable, was the fact that I had a cap on, so my face was dry; I mean, that’s a lie I was completely miserable.

I kept walking down and down and down, more like hobbling at some places as it was all very painful on my groin, one of the girls I was with gave me some painkillers which was very kind and I told her that she didn’t have to hang around with me and to carry on at her own pace, so for the last 3 km or so I was by myself. There was a little cabin near the end, where I bumped into my people and they had some food, I was not feeling up to it and I knew I was going to be slow so I carried on ahead of them; needless to say they overtook me. Occasionally there would be some stairs and at this point climbing stairs was a real challenge, especially when you knew that in 30 m you were just going to go back down again; it just felt mean. Again lots of people overtook me and could see that I was limping/hobbling/in pain and yet only one girl asked if I was okay, it’s not that I want sympathy but at the same time I really really wanted some fucking sympathy. There was a patch about a kilometre before the end that had some rivers that had obviously started at the top and big signs saying ‘danger of lahar, if you hear rushing water do not enter’. I couldn’t hear any rushing water, but in fairness the way I was feeling I would’ve let the lahar take me anyway, anything to end this god damn walk! Now I don’t know if the signs are really accurate, but when you’ve been walking for ages and thinking you must be near the end and then you come to the sign and it tells you that you still have 3 km to go, you almost want to give up. But I didn’t, it wouldn’t of helped anyway as I would’ve had to get up and finish it by myself eventually. Of course in the last stretch I needed the loo as well, so was getting even more desperate when I finally came to the end point. Everyone else was there already, the girl who had shot off on her own had been there for over an hour; I didn’t really care, I’d apologise later. The shuttle was already there as it was about 1:40, so we piled in and headed back to the hostel; with the gentle constant chatter of the driver.

We had started super early as we were told it could get really busy later in the day, a lot of people overtook me so it didn’t really make a difference, and a lot of people were put off by the weather; but it was great to get back in the early afternoon for a snooze. We all slept for a few hours, warmed up, cleaned up and then headed into the communal area and chowed down on bread, cheese, dips and chocolate. We also then had hot food at the hostel restaurant, I shared a plate of steak and chips and it was really good with a couple of beers. I made it to about 8:30 before saying I was going to bed to read my book for a bit and managed to stay awake until at least 9:15! My companions were worried they would wake up too early if they slept early, I knew this wasn’t an issue for me, and as expected I slept until about 9 the next day, sore but rested.

That day the weather was beautiful, blue skies and sunshine, typical; I bet the views up top were really nice. We drove up to Taupo, and had a view of the mountains across the lake, it still looked slightly cloudy on top, or at least that’s what were told ourselves. We headed to a natural hot spring, where 2 rivers meet, one hot, one cold, so you can find your perfect spot and chill; my legs were quite sore, so I really enjoyed the soak. We then headed into Rotorua for some lunch, a giant bowl of pasta, before climbing back on the car and heading back to Auckland. The traffic wasn’t too bad, so I was dropped off at around 7:30, I had a bath and went to bed in good time, cursing the fact that I had to work on Monday as i deffo could have done with a day off!

So in short, if anyone ever wants to do the Tongariro crossing, DONT! Just do the hot pool and big bowl of pasta part instead.

[ginasneesby]

#lindtgoldbunny #easter #present from my agency #emergent 🐰 🐣 🍫

[ginasneesby]

Quick update - Feb/ March

[ginasneesby]

#tongariroalpinecrossing #20kms #upamountain #whatthefuckwasithinking #cloudy #rain #orangeponcho #craterlake #cantwalk #ithinkmytoenailisgoingtofalloff #butididit #wellearnedbeers #laketaupo #sunnysunday #typical (at Tongariro, New Zealand)