We're off - New Zealand here we come! First stop Fiji tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-05:/blog/?domain=andynette 2006-09-02T01:46:06Z andynette img/travel-blog-feed.png New Zealand - The Epic Ends andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-13:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=18&entryid=4384 2006-09-02T01:00:48Z 2005-12-14T00:52:55Z We made it... 4788km later... we have gone round the country, both islands, not quite end to end, but done both west and east, north bits and south bits, both islands. We have toured through desolate empty bush, hick towns with long since abandoned railway stations, isolated villages, with dairies selling everything. We have been up volcanoes, glaciers, on beatuiful lake shores and imposing mountain sides. Crossed icy cold rivers and sat in boiling hot water. ... We made it... 4788km later... we have gone round the country, both islands, not quite end to end, but done both west and east, north bits and south bits, both islands. We have toured through desolate empty bush, hick towns with long since abandoned railway stations, isolated villages, with dairies selling everything. We have been up volcanoes, glaciers, on beatuiful lake shores and imposing mountain sides. Crossed icy cold rivers and sat in boiling hot water. We still have much to see and do. The journey never ends... there's always something more to see, some new sight to revel in.

We delivered the Buzza (or Toyota Hiace to those who go for real names and not brand images) to a crowded reception area. We had done a mass of hassle free driving, given the van back clean and fueled up. Sadly our reality check came when we overheard folk complaining about the fuel duty they had to pay, damage charges, problems with engines they hadn't reported, flat pillows or some other such drivel. Welcome back to work... The Buzza did us proud. But its time to let someone else have an adventure... different to ours, but I hope they have the same sense of discovery that we have had.

Auckland was a shock, coming back to the hot sticky city after a month of sun and fresh air. The streets were thronged with crowds shopping, out for a bite to eat or a drink. The Christmas rush seems to be here now. Still having difficulty coming to terms with warm sun and christmas carols. We are not looking forward though to stepping from the plane in the uk to damp mist and freezing cold winds!

We dined out last night at a lovely italian restaurant overlooking one of the Quays here. Really tasty food... but reality has kicked in again and for the next few months it will be stews and casseroles and warming risottoes with extra piles of stodge to keep us going over the chilly nights. A light rain was falling as we walked home along the now empy dusty streets. I slept lightly... too much noise to keep my head down much after 6 am.

Our feet are itchy though. Theres a big world out there. And we haven't seen much of it really. We found this trip easy. What would it be like if we didn't speak the local language? How would we cope without the 'net? I have just finished reading a book by a chap called Brian Thacker. He is a chap who has taken his dad on a trip back to England after moving to Australia in 1970 odd. They visited the old haunts and then flew to other parts of the world. He makes a similar observation... what would it be like with no internet. Its fantastic to think that so many folk have kept an eye on us, seeing what we are up to, and contacting us on our travels. We are 100's of km away from home and yet theres this link. Unlike the early settlers here who saw the sea as a barrier to home, the Maouri see it as a connection to the rest of the world. So the net is a connection to home, and more importantly to your house/workplace/internet cafe or wherever you are reading this.

I have spent our last morning in an art gallery... Nettie is too cultured out to visit! I will show here the pics online. It seems somehow fitting to finish the trip with some culture... though some of the more modern instalations baffle me... I suppose they could mean anything really... so look out for my series of paintings... 30' square canvas with a green square to the centre right... I will take bids for this work of art at $250,000 to start....

Right.. one last trip... up the Sky Tower... we should have gone yesterday when it was sunny, but instead we will visit today in the cloud... the views will be impressive and the height will make me sick.. but that's what living is about... experience.

Thanks for reading this. Blogging has become a sort of diary for me... some call it adventure therapy. Others think its just an online gimmick. I think its a tool.. instead of post cards you get Blogs, and you can see my holiday snaps without me having to bore the pants off you.

Enough already.

This will be my last post on this thread. Keep an eye out for more Bongo tales as we discover more of the world. We will post here again, in the future.

Nighty Night.

Andrew

New Zealand - The Epic Ends remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 21 + andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-13:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=17&entryid=4379 2006-09-02T01:09:11Z 2005-12-13T19:55:52Z With a crunch of metal and a whine of hawsers our ferry reved engines and headed back to Wellington, on Friday morning. We sat on the conservatory deck looking out over the Sounds as the boat chugged its way along. The trip is definatelty one of the most scienic I have been on, but it takes so long as the ferry is limited to about 5 knots in the sound, to prevent the wash drowning the houses on ... With a crunch of metal and a whine of hawsers our ferry reved engines and headed back to Wellington, on Friday morning. We sat on the conservatory deck looking out over the Sounds as the boat chugged its way along. The trip is definatelty one of the most scienic I have been on, but it takes so long as the ferry is limited to about 5 knots in the sound, to prevent the wash drowning the houses on the edge!

We had spent the first part of the morning looking round Picton. Hard to see what was there apart from the ferry port. And I have at last found the crapest coffee in NZ. My long black was so thin you could see the bottom! I can't remember the name of the bar, but its bright orange and has tables out in the parking lot at the front of the building, and is next to a motel enterence... avoid it if you are a coffee snob like me!

Our trip accross was uneventful. The boat ran into some fog so we slowed a little but then that gave way to damp windy Wellington weather. We had satisfied our need to view everything by this point. So we headed out to Gemma's place again. We had been offered a real bed for a night and a chance to relax at her place. After a tasty curry... this time much more to my liking... we waved Mike and Gemma off for their weekend away and took liberties with their beer and DVD collection.

Next morning we had a lazy start and only managed to make it onto the road by about lunch time. We drove north up the west side of the south of the north island (this is getting a bit complicated... we might need to change direction). We headed along past a few coastal towns and made our way to Wanganui. This town is located on the Whanganui river. Now for some reason none of the locals refered to this as Fanganui unlike at Whakatane, which became Facatane... I am now totaly mistified.

We camped for the night by the river, a wide lazy looking muddy river, which has NZ's only steam drived paddle steamer still at work there. Nice way to spend the evening, stolling along the side of the river looking at the gardens of the houses lining the road and river.

Next morning we were up and at 'em. Nettie decided that enough was enough... she had had her fill of driving 300 km then stopping. We also realised about 5 minutes out of Wanganui that there was very little between there and Auckland. So we decided to cut slightly east and head back up via Taupo. It was a hot and sticky day as temperatures soared and the radio kept warning of rain and storms.

We stoped for a moment to look at a set of falls... nice... but we have seen waterfalls. We both just wanted to shift the van from south to north and have done with it.

After passing through a National Park, the name of which escapes me now, we rounded a corner and met up again with Lake Taupo. Our old mate from about 3 weeks ago. Children were swimming and adults watching, drinking beers and picnicing as we reached the shoreline at Turangi. So we stopped for lunch. All of a sudden the heavens opened and the promised rain fell. Within 2 minutes we were the only vehicle in the layby, the kids bundled into cars, beers necked and the drivers were probably parked at home and in the pub within 15 seconds of the first rain!

We took the SH1 up north, as this road appeared to be faster. We dashed through Taupo, and then Cambridge, Hurly, and Hamilton, making a bee line for Clevedon on the shore of the Sounds opposite Auckland. Our final port of call was Orere Point on the Gulf of Thames. A pleasant spot off the main tourist drag and a haven for bird watchers. It markets itself as the seabird coast.

We bedded down for the night after a tasty BBQ... why eat anything else when steak is $5 for 3 huge servings! By now the kms had clocked up to 4588km, around 500 of those had been driven in about 8 hours!

Day 24... our last full day. We drove along the seabird coast south, then headed back in land. Today would be a fun day with little driving. So heading back towards Auckland we doubled back on ourselves after last nights loop to Orore point. Carrying onwards we headed into Manukau city. This is the principal city just outside Auckland and is where the main airport is. However we had another night in the van to look forward to, so we parked up at NZ's only theme park. Like Alton Towers without the scary rides. We went on bumper boats, pirate ships, go carts, corkscrew roller coaster and log flumes. We also went on some gravity defying spiny thing... but that really scared the pants off of me.. so I thought it best to avoid a repeat performance. Based on this performance I gave up daredevil stuff and refused to go on the tower thing that dragged you up 18 stories high and then droped you... too much for me!

So we spent our last day... eating crap and making ourseles sick with icecream on rides and amusements.

Auckland tomorrow... and good bye to the van... and probably my last post too.... for this trip.

Time to save my work before I get d/c.

Later dude...

Andrew

New Zealand - Day 21 + remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 19 (Netties Birthday) andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-09:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=16&entryid=4237 2006-09-02T01:16:03Z 2005-12-10T05:48:30Z Well I can tell you... a dancing dash board diva, a lovely NZ tea Towel, a snow globe, a mini slinky and a jade pendant, in an eternity twist. With birthday celebrations over, we headed out of Carters Beach, Westport. The road lead us through Murchison and Tapawera, along some lovely valley roads and twisty bends. A brief stop at a swing bridge.. or rope bridge as we Brits call em was all the sight seeing we alowed ourselves. ... Well I can tell you... a dancing dash board diva, a lovely NZ tea Towel, a snow globe, a mini slinky and a jade pendant, in an eternity twist.

With birthday celebrations over, we headed out of Carters Beach, Westport. The road lead us through Murchison and Tapawera, along some lovely valley roads and twisty bends. A brief stop at a swing bridge.. or rope bridge as we Brits call em was all the sight seeing we alowed ourselves. We decided that $10 just to walk over a bridge was a bit steep so we will save that for another time.

We headed round through to Motueka, and lunched at the harbour. We were now on the sort of north coast of the south island, just below the Able Tasman National Park. We sat watching two old gents sailing thier boats as the sun shone and the breeze took our sandwiches away. The old quay was the resting place of the Jane Siddons, a steam tug boat bought by the local fishing company in the 1940's just when local laws outlawed the use of coal vessles. They just left the ship to rot there!

Finaly we came to rest in Nelson... or just outside... infact we thought we had found a nice tranquil spot by the sea, in a quieter part of town... right under the take off run way and flight path for most of Nelsons interisland flights. Not so quiet after all... surely there can't be that many folk wanting to fly from Nelson at 10 pm at night to how may different places? But there were. As a treat we ate out.. pizza from a wood fired oven..lovelly. We had clocked up 3688km by the end of the day, so we got some well earned rest.

Day 20... 5 days to go. We moved camp from Nelso to Picton, via Hira and Rai Valley and Havelock. We stoped at Pelorus bridge to look in the clear water... all was good.

After spending a pleasant 20 mins in Havelock wandering round the museum, we headed out to a look out point. Lunch here was taken, amind the flies... a further investigation after lunch provided the source of the pests... a long drop was hidden in the bush, just meters from where we were eating. Nice! Time to make a move then, onwards to look at the Queen Charlotte sound... very nice, lush green vallies and clear waters. Hard to think its the sea!

Finally we rounded the bend to the port of Picton. There we stopped for the night. Nice campsite.. compact, and full of Brits, but it had a hot tub, and that was well worth the hours hire. Tomorrow its ferry time.

Andrew

New Zealand - Day 19 (Netties Birthday) remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealnad - Day 17 onwards andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-09:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=15&entryid=4235 2006-09-02T01:23:57Z 2005-12-10T05:34:37Z Leaving Wanaka on Monday morning was rather like leaving an old friend. It has the same charm as Queenstown, if not more, and the same good quality food, friendly locals and the same selection of activities, just a little less formal and busy, and there are some lovelly features to the place. The cinema just made the trip for us. Its the only destination we will visit twice on the trip because we want to. So taking the ... Leaving Wanaka on Monday morning was rather like leaving an old friend. It has the same charm as Queenstown, if not more, and the same good quality food, friendly locals and the same selection of activities, just a little less formal and busy, and there are some lovelly features to the place. The cinema just made the trip for us. Its the only destination we will visit twice on the trip because we want to.

So taking the Haast Pass we headed North, towards the West Coast. The pass passes through deep cut river vallies, steeply wooded, with some crystal clear waters flowing through them. Sadly the water was drizzling down the window pane so we didn't fancy paddling. A tea stop also brought home the truth to us of this area. BLOODY SANDFLIES!!! Any one who has met these creatures knows what we are talking about. They do make the Welsh midge look a bit small... however the midge does have the most anoying habit of getting everywhere. The Sandfly is just anoying! They leave you with huge blemishes on your legs and you end up with huge puss filled lumps! So we moved quickly on.

We continued north passing... well not much. The road hugs the coastline. Cook described the west coast of the south island as inhospitable and uninhabitable. He was not far wrong! We passed miles and miles of dense bush. I slept as there was nothing to see.. the mist was down, covering our views of the southern Alps and out to sea... so there was nothing left to do after I had cleaned my toe nails, empied the receipts and credit card slips from my walet and rearranged the stereo speakers and minidiscs. Even a lunch stop at a picturesque lookout was spoiled by the damp and the flies.

We rounded a corner, passed over a bridge... and there was a sign to the Fox Glacier. "Should we take that road" Nettie asked... as we sped past. Que squeel of breaks, hasty three point turn and we were heading up the vally to a glacier! We emerged from the bush onto a flat damp plane, below a huge vertical rock wall. The Fox glacier carved this gorge out... now it was retreating up the hill. We thought we would go and hunt it down. Nettie was sure there would be a little factory producing mints or something nearby.

After a few minutes of walking we found the glacier. A huge wall of dirty blue ice met our eyes. We tried to get up close and personal with the face. Our Teva's were put to their test. And can I just at this point say how good we have found them. If any Teva sales bods are reading this... you can take it from me... they do go everywhere, and you can get them wet and they still grip on the damp rock surface. And if you would like to reward us with a free pair next year we would love to have them!

Sadly for safety reasons you can't touch the glacier unless you are with a guide... I assume thats so they can dig you out when the ice falls. We missed any big falls but there were some seriously loud cracking noises and rumbles when we were there. The glacier doesn't move very quickly.. for ice, so gets a lot of debris washed down onto it. You can see bands of the debris layered in the ice. Oh it felt good to walk to a huge glacier in shorts and tshirts and Teva's, whilst the rest of our fellow glacier viewers walked in yellow pacamacs and boots... and in the case of the Japanese tour busses, carrying their shopping bags and camera cases.

We overnighted in Franz Josef Galcier... near to the Franz Josef glacier apparently. We couldn't see it through the rain. So we did the next best thing... went to a Bar and got drunk. It was Happy Hour after all. Sadly the rain cleared up so we made a dash for it back home to bed.

Day 18...some clear patches in the cloud gave us a view of the glacier the next morning. We took the decision to miss out FJG and save it for another trip. We had some serious driving to do. We started the day on 3091km... we would clock up another 300km today. Driving out through the bush past miles and miles of nothing again. We were entering gold rush territory.

We headed along through Hokitika and Graymouth, stopping briefly to contemplate going into Shanty Town. Sadly the rain put this outdoors attraction out of commision for us... why get wet when you can stay dry in the van and see sooooo much more!

Greymouth looked, well, er, grey... though we did have a good coffee in an internet cafe but there was little more to detain us. Most of the towns here were located as a result of the Gold rushes from the 1850's. Then with the claims giving up the gold the locals turned to trees for income. Sadly after they had cut much of the native bush down the timber trade fell apart. Now coal mining keeps them out of mishief, but that in itself is not going to be enough to keep things going much longer. The coal gets exported to Japan.

In the afternoon the sun came out so we stopped to look at a pile of rocks... at Punakaiki there is a National Park. The feature here is the layers of sandstone and lime stone, which has alternatively weathered to produce a stack... looking like a pile of pancakes. Hence the term pancake rocks. The sea action here has also caused blow holes to develop so as the see washes in with such great power the spray is sent skywards like dolphin blow holes. Sadly the sea was not strong enough, but the power was there... you copuld hear large booms and crashes as the waves broke against the rocks.

We chugged the last few km up the coast to Westport, a town just about as far west as you can get on the north of the south island. Here we found a lovely beach front site, and spent the night listening to the sound of waves crashing on the shores. Rain threatened too, so we tucked up with a bottle of red wine and had some tasty venison for tea. Such good meat at such reasonable prices in the supermarkets here. Wish we had the same at home.

The van was quiet as we settled down for the night. Sadly someone forgot to point out to me that you should try to get some sleep. I just had to finish my Ben Elton book... so I did. Tomorrow is Netties birthday.. I wonder what the birthday bunny brings... tune in next time folks.

Andrew

New Zealnad - Day 17 onwards remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 16 etc andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-07:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=14&entryid=4130 2006-09-02T01:29:36Z 2005-12-08T05:31:10Z Heading North on Sunday morning from Queenstown we took the main SH6. This route will be our companion for the next 5 days. Heading out of the city you realise how big NZ is, and how sparsley populated it is. There are areas with noone in them at all. Not just a few miles of nothing... but masses of nothing. The run out of Queenstown north is a very wild & lonely one. The trip was ... Heading North on Sunday morning from Queenstown we took the main SH6. This route will be our companion for the next 5 days.

Heading out of the city you realise how big NZ is, and how sparsley populated it is. There are areas with noone in them at all. Not just a few miles of nothing... but masses of nothing. The run out of Queenstown north is a very wild & lonely one. The trip was made harder by a strong wind blowing. Nettie struggled to keep the van going.

We stopped off at AJ Hackets original bungee site. Still not sure why anyone in thier right mind would throw themselves off a bridge towards a river, whilst attached to a bit of stretchy rope! I have done daft stuff in my time but even the hot sunshine and crystal clear water, combined with the factory like output of bungeers or whatever they are called did nothing for me to change my mind.

Instead of risking major internal organ redistribution we headed back to Wanaka. We stoped here before heading up in the plane, and thought it worthy of another visit. It was a lovely relaxing spot on the shore of a lake. We decided the weekend would not be complete without a visit to the puzzling world. We needed to get some brain work going. The maze we were confruntaed with looked easy... 4 towers, lots of walkways and bridges. Get from 1 to the end and out... in less than an hour.... well we did them in any order and got totally lost. Eventually we did find our way out only to then be thrown into a visual mishmash of hologrames and lopsided rooms. All very well presented and well worth the stop off for.

Then it was time for the highlight of our day... the cinema. Forget your wide screen dolby stereo multiplex. Go to the Paradiso in Wanaka. There you will sit on a battered old comfy sofa, or armchair... or even a car. You can take your glass of local chilled Pinot Gris in with you and you can buy home made cookies and coffee at the interval. We saw The Dukes of Hazzard. It wouldn't have mattered what they were showing! We enjoyed a 2hour slob fest... and the cookies were warm, home baked and tasty.

So ends another day on this road trip. We slept with full bellies and giggling at the film. Sadly the slow pace has meant we only have a 2777km total at present.

Anyway, I had best shift.. we are having a spa in 30 mins... and theres a line of folk wanting to use this kiosk.

Cheers

Andrew

New Zealand - Day 16 etc remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 15 andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-07:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=13&entryid=4128 2006-09-02T01:32:38Z 2005-12-08T05:17:25Z Our weekend in the big smoke! Friday night saw us strolling along the wide streets of Queenstown, looking at all the property shops and tourist tat shops. You will be amazed at what you can do with possum fur! We walked down to the harbour area, just in time to see the steam boat leave. Its a living relic of a bygone era. All smoke, coal and whistles and bells. Sadly the $90 each to go ... Our weekend in the big smoke!

Friday night saw us strolling along the wide streets of Queenstown, looking at all the property shops and tourist tat shops. You will be amazed at what you can do with possum fur!

We walked down to the harbour area, just in time to see the steam boat leave. Its a living relic of a bygone era. All smoke, coal and whistles and bells. Sadly the $90 each to go on this seemed a little steep... or was that just me reading the tarriff wrong? We looked at the drinking possibilities and decided against the ice bar... where everything is made of ice. Even your glasses would have been ice sculputres. This seemed a step to far. So we hoofed it to the Hogs Bar for big beers.

Saturday was spent doing my least favourite task... shopping. I had to get a present for Nettie, as her birthday was up and coming and this was our last visit to civilisation. Wandering round the streets I pondered how the locals get on... there was no sign of a useful shop selling electrical goods or anything like that. You were ok for tourist tat, and surf wear, adventure sports etc but try and find a replacement toaster or some gas for your hair strighteners... or even do just a little grocery shopping.

In the afternoon we took the cable car to Bob's Peak... they call it a Gondola... anyway the views were spectacular. We even saw guys bungee off the platform over the cliff edge.

Evening time was food time... a BBQ on an old kitchen range, and more beer just to make the night complete.

So folks... thats as far south as we got. Every road now will lead us to home. Something almost sad about that. And we have a week and a half left! Mind you with temperatures of 22oC it will make the home coming more chilly.

So where next? Read on in the next installment.

Andrew

New Zealand - Day 15 remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 13 + andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-05:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=12&entryid=4047 2006-09-02T01:43:23Z 2005-12-06T02:43:53Z We awoke in Akaroa to a grey sky so time to make tracks. We headed away from this idylic town up into the hills. Where yesterday we had taken a low lying valley road, today we headed up... and over. The Banks Peninsula is crested by a scenic summit road. The views from the top are spectacular... according to our guide book. To us it was just a bit cloudy. But we did get ... We awoke in Akaroa to a grey sky so time to make tracks. We headed away from this idylic town up into the hills. Where yesterday we had taken a low lying valley road, today we headed up... and over. The Banks Peninsula is crested by a scenic summit road. The views from the top are spectacular... according to our guide book. To us it was just a bit cloudy. But we did get chance to take the van off road... along an unsealed road , which stretched for some where in the region of 20km. We had some good views of Pigeon Bay and Port Levy, before rounding the headland into Lyttleton. Basically this is no more than a suburb of Christchurch, but is where alot of the shhipping lands. We parked up and found the booking office of a tour company, got ourselves booked on and set out on a 2 hour scenic wildlife watching cruise.

2 hours later... we did at least see some wildlife. The trip was billed as a chance to see Hectors Dolphins... which are smaller versions of their Bottle Nose cousins. These small chaps like to hang around and show off in the surf out of the harbour entrance. We did catch a glimse of them... but not quite as impressive as our past few trips out on water when the wildlife has been the bonus. Still we got a free cup of coffee so it was all good.

Back on dry land we thought it time to make tracks inland. So pointing the van west we drove up into the mountains. Basically for those who have not seen what the south island looks like its just one big long mountain chain running down the middle of the land... with less land on the west than the east. Anyway we took ourselves up to Fairlie. Fairlie is just a quiet little stopover town on the way up to the mountains. Not much to write home about, but as it was getting dark and the mist was sitting on the hills we thought we would stop and make a night of it.

We parked in a motor park, by the edge of a stream and in a sectioned off area of the Domain. Domains are parks... sort of local recreation areas. All was fine... with the exception of the ducks... does noone know how to make use of them round here.. the place is full of them! Anyway we went to sleep in a light drizle.

Next morning it was still dull.. so we headed back onto the road. From Fairlie we drove up... over the Burkes Pass along SH8. This route lead us up into the Southern Alpine area. As we rode the crest of the pass the mist suddenly lifted to reveal bright sunlight and lovelly views of snow covered peaks. We stopped to take pictures of the cloud and the mountains. Our aim for today was to see Mount Cook.

We drove round some of the clearest bright blue water I have ever seen. The lakes we passed were all part of NZ power generating system. 1/3 of the power needs of the country is generated from this source. Masses of water are stored and forced through hydro stations to generate power. The recent dry spell has drained much of the water from these lakes though so there is a fear amongst some of the population that there will be power shortages and limits put on it.

We drove the 50km + road to Mt Cook village. Seen from this angle the mountain looked very impressive but tame. Strange when you think its about 3 times the height of Snowdon. We lunched outside the massive Hermitage... something of a badly named building as it looked more like a Nazi concentraightion camp than a top flight hotel, with rooms at $450 per night plus! We wandered along to look at the view from a vantage point looking up into the snow field on the top. Yet again I realised how bizzar it was... being summer and it being sunny and winter at home, yet here we were looking at snow! Mt Cook is very stricking and looks like a challenge to climb. We resisted.

Once more we called it a day and got back in the van and made a move. Back on SH8 we passed through Twizel, a town built to house the dam constructors who were tackling the massive building project of the Hydro scheme. The construction finished and the town was saved by the locals instead of being buldozed. There is even a Twizel Development Agency.

We dashed up the Linden Pass and headed down the otherside to come to rest in Wanaka for the night. Wanaka is a lovely lake side town. Being close to civilisation ment chefs night off... we went and had the most fantastic meal in a local restaurant. Very nice. But then it was an early bed... Friday was time for us to take flight.

We made an early start... to Makarora. From this point the plan was to take a scenic flight into the hills, walk out from a valley and be met by a boat and then get home that way... well little did we realise the plane was a 6 seater... us, the pilot and the pilots mate. We chugged along to the runway... powered up, each wearing our little headsets and bumped along the grass to a smooth take off... thats where the smoothness ended. Every thermal we hit, every gust lifted us. My hands were sweaty... then I looked out... how fantastic a view was that! We skimmed over pine trees and hills looking up secret hidden valleys. We saw crystal clear streams and sparkling water falls. The snow glistened in the sun as we turned past it. Then all too soon the pilot was turning his little handle and pointing the plane down... to Siberia... such a big international airport... not. The landing was as smooth as the take off... why can't big jumbo jets make it that smooth?

Once on the ground and my fingers had returned to thier normal colour we headed across a stream... well we would call it a river, and began our hike out. One thing noone had told us was that this water would be cold... and when I say cold I mean freezing cold. Glacial meltwater is not known for its warmth. And the icebergs floating past weren't too offputting. However with our shoes tied round our necks and our back packs tight on our backs we made it over this raging torrent. As we left the valley floor the views were as stunning.

We met our jet boat 3 hours later and hopped aboard. Then the most exhilerating ride ever down the Wilkin River back to Makarora. We both want a jet boat now. The 360o spins at 300hp were most impresive.. like a waltzer on water. Sadly I felt the woman next to me shake and was concerned she was going to empty her lunch onto my lap... fortunately for international relations she kept it down!

Back on dry land we headed along another deserted road over another pass.. this time the Cardrona pass. We headed into Queenstown to spend a weekend shopping and soaking up town life. So far 2654km travelled... how many more... who knows.

Tune in next time folks.

Andrew

New Zealand - Day 13 + remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 11 and 12 andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-03:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=11&entryid=3959 2006-09-02T01:46:06Z 2005-12-03T08:01:19Z So Kiakoura... the land of the motel and back packer. The morning dawned bright and fresh... we missed that bit... but by the time we awoke the sun was up... and yes.. there in the distance snow on the peaks... its about 23oC out and its almost summer here... and there is snow on the tops! Go figure. We headed out from Kiakoura... getting our first glance at the local train... a daily service from Christchurch to Picton and ... So Kiakoura... the land of the motel and back packer. The morning dawned bright and fresh... we missed that bit... but by the time we awoke the sun was up... and yes.. there in the distance snow on the peaks... its about 23oC out and its almost summer here... and there is snow on the tops! Go figure.

We headed out from Kiakoura... getting our first glance at the local train... a daily service from Christchurch to Picton and back... 1 a day each way. No chance of popping down for an afternoon of shopping then!

We drove and drove... through more fields of lush grass and vines, cows and sheep, and along the coast some more. The road and rail line intertwining. Theres very little more to say about the route south along this way. Even the Guide Books say stop only if you need to... there is very little here to detain you. Full stop... so we didn't stop.

Lunch was had at a quiet beach... Amberley Beach... just an expanse of black sand, with salt spray settling over it. We lunched and then headed out back onto the road to Christchurch.

Our journey into Christchurch was flat, along the Canturbury Plane. ChCh (as the locals abreviate it) is build along the lines of a grid, so its hardly very difficult to negoiate... just point yourself in the right direction. We headed into town and parked up at the car park in the local park. Hagley park is the biggest urban park in the south island... and probably the whole of NZ. We took the tram ride into town, and sat on an empty street sipping long blacks and devouring muffins... this is the way to live. Strange... another large city... with about a dozen folk in. We just had to keep reminding ourselves it was real.

Chch is very reminisent of old english cities like Oxford, Cambridge and York... but you always have to keep in mind that the buildings here are based on those back in England... and were built about 80 years ago. The tram tours round the city, with a comentary from the driver pointing out the old buildings and the history behind them. For us though, living in a 300 year old house it all seems a bit new.

We took in the cathedral, the TIC... and then made our excuses and left... aonther 70km to Akaroa was called for before we could set up camp for the night. So we made the dash for it. We have now clocked over 1798km.

Our pitch for the night overlooked the bay at Akaroa. This is the very end of the Banks Peninsula... named after James Cook's botanist. Sadly the French got there before the English had time to build Barratt houses, so the place has a very New England / Canadian feel to it. Much more appealing than the blocks of Wellington. We wandered out to the light house... now moved from its most useful position, inland a bit to stop it from rotting away! Lovely smells of cooking met our nostrils.. reminding me it was time for beer. After a brush with the local pub and a 200meter climb up the hill to the campsite food was all that mattered... and oxgyen. Then once more to bed.

What will happen tommorrow... well you will just have to wait. Nettie is stood behind me... and i can feel her eyes messing with my brain telling me its time to cook some more food... oh well... I suppose I have to keep the Bongo Captain happy and well fed.

Night All.

Andrew

New Zealand - Day 11 and 12 remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand Day 9 and on..... andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-12-02:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=3957 2005-12-03T07:32:34Z 2005-12-03T07:32:34Z Blogging is hard work... so I have taken a few days off to travel instead of blog! Sorry folks... where was I oh yes... Blenhiem. We spent the night under the hospitality of Gemmas folks... thanks to them we enjoyed breezy beaches, and roast beef, and way too much good red wine... all home brewed... but when you hear the real story it is not the sort of H/B my dad does... no... 2 gallon... whats that when you can ... Blogging is hard work... so I have taken a few days off to travel instead of blog! Sorry folks... where was I oh yes... Blenhiem.

We spent the night under the hospitality of Gemmas folks... thanks to them we enjoyed breezy beaches, and roast beef, and way too much good red wine... all home brewed... but when you hear the real story it is not the sort of H/B my dad does... no... 2 gallon... whats that when you can brew 250 gallon... and bottle up arround 250 bottles of the stuff... oh and pick your own grapes.... the story is just so Kiwi it really doesn't make good telling in a blog. Anyway we finished off 3 bottles and then headed out to the spa. Again just so typical of the way of life out here... eat and then drink and then get in the spa. Very relaxing.. we now want to work out a way of getting one at home!

After a night in a real bed and a real decent nights sleep our feet got itchy... the call of the road beckons. Something about travel this way just makes you want to get moving... its like the travel becomes the reason... the sight seeing just something you do between overnight stops.

We took a back track along some of the new vineyards swathing the land. On Grahams recomendation we tried the Mud House... very nice wines... and a nice chat to a lass from Derbyshire who was working there. $20 later and a bottle safely tucked in the van... plus the 5 wines we tried whilst there we set off again. Our route took us to Renwick and then back to Blenhiem to get onto SH1 again. We headed through Blenhiem... watch out for the roundabout with the railway running through! We followed the line and the coast for quite a few km then. Passing huge vineyards and srubby hills. Our tour never ending... there was a stop at a seal sanctuary... just a collection of seals sunning themselves on the rocks... waching waves crash. We spent time here just looking and marvelling at how these ungainly creatures made it in the world... then watching as they swam in the surf like it was a square pond at home.

We travelled on through vast river deltas and over lonely bridges, past hamlets and bachs (pronounced Batch's) on to Kiakoura. Our journey now having totalled 1516 road km's.. plus about 70 odd over the Marlborough sounds. Kiakoura was our rest point for the night. The site was up to the usual Motor Park standard... very busy and even included a spa... sadly it was booked.

We strolled out along the sweep of the bay, all the time watching the clouds on the hillside. Rain was threatened, and the salt spray looked like mist in the evening sun. We enjoyed a sun downer in the local pub... right out at the wharf edge. Perfect location for a good pint. The gents loo even had a black borad for graphitti artists to add there comments... mostly about sheep and Aussies... and how Oz is the place where men are men... and sheep are worried.

The peace of the night was shattered at 2 am... when a goods train rumbled past the campsite... clanking into the night. My dreams filled with long distance trains and the perpetual motion in my head lulled me back to sleep.

For now...

Andrew

New Zealand Day 9 and on..... remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Day 7 and 8 andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-29:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=3854 2005-11-29T23:54:19Z 2005-11-29T10:13:25Z Day 7... We arrive in Wellington. Wellington is like no other capital city I have been to. Sat making my last Blog entry in a cafe at 4.30 pm... watching a hand full of people mooch about. No rush, no traffic as such and no bloomin Christmas music playing constantly! We met up with Netties mate Gemma, who is now out here teaching. We took a quick tour with her round to the local curry house. All generally ... Day 7... We arrive in Wellington.

Wellington is like no other capital city I have been to. Sat making my last Blog entry in a cafe at 4.30 pm... watching a hand full of people mooch about. No rush, no traffic as such and no bloomin Christmas music playing constantly!

We met up with Netties mate Gemma, who is now out here teaching. We took a quick tour with her round to the local curry house. All generally agreed that the curry houses in Bradford were better!

Day 8 was a damp cloudy day, so we did a few of Wellingtons finer sights. Te Papa is a huge museum, which means I was lost for the day! I had to be drageed kicking and screaming out of some of the galleries to eat... and we have saved a few floors for another visit. We stoped off at a view point on Mt. Victoria. Over looking both the harbour and the airport you get a sense of scale of the place. In Kiwi terms its huge. The drive down from Upper Hutt did remind me of Cardiff though and the place had a feel similar to Cardiff. Also we had a stop at the Cable Car... which I have to say looked more like a tramway myself! But hey, what do I know.

Anyway we filled the night time with popcorn... went to see Harry Potter... and can highly recomend the film... and the pop corn.

Day 9... the crossing.

For some reason we got up at some unearthly hour and took ourselves onto a ferry!

The trip along the Marlborough sounds has to be one of the most spectacular ferry journies in the world. The Challenger was our boat. And she was very well appointed for the journey. How come NZers know how to make such good coffee? Even at sea its fantastic!

We spotted a pod of dolphins in the sound and are now so glad we didn't pay to go Whale or Dolphin watching. We were met at the other side by Gemmas parents. Following them to Blenhiem through some of the most amazing filds of wine vines was an experience I will remember. The huge fields full of grapes make you reralise how much wine we now drink... considering 10 years ago this was all pasture and lambs!

Any way time is out again. I must finish now. The journey continues.

Night all.

Andrew

Day 7 and 8 remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 5 and 6 andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-24:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=3732 2005-11-25T02:59:00Z 2005-11-25T02:59:00Z We are clocking up the miles now and have travelled over 1000km to date. Day 5 dawned fresh and clear after a chilly night in Roturua. There is a strange whiff about the place. All the thermal activity going on arround the area means that the sulphur smell permeates the air, and gets into your clothes. We had a pint out in a real Irish Bar.. in a very draughty part of town! I resisted ... We are clocking up the miles now and have travelled over 1000km to date.

Day 5 dawned fresh and clear after a chilly night in Roturua. There is a strange whiff about the place. All the thermal activity going on arround the area means that the sulphur smell permeates the air, and gets into your clothes. We had a pint out in a real Irish Bar.. in a very draughty part of town! I resisted the temptaion to try Guiness though.. somehow I know it will not taste the same over here.

We had another earlyish start today. First stop on our tour was Whai-o-Tupo. The Thermal Wonderland. Lots of smells again and steam gushing from the earth. Hot water mixing with cool streams and making strange colours out of the water. Clouds of steam rest on the surface of the Champaigne Pool... so called as the bubbles of CO2 come to the surface and remind one of a glass of Moet.

We saw huge chasms in the earth with bubbling mud and an ever changing palette of colours caused by the chemicals in the water.

The highlight though was the Lady Bower Geyser. This is a "managed" geyser, erupting at 10.15 am every morning. They put soap stuff down it to distrub the surface tension and make sure it erupts on time. Quite impresive if a little false. Once we had seen this then we headed back to the park to view the rest of the steamy exhibits and marvel at the Opal pools.

On then to Taupo. Home of the big lake. Very nice city... by NZ standards. But there was a breeze blowing off the lake... made it feel like minus 10 not 20 degrees C. We overnighted here at a park with a big bouncy pillow.... a buried bouncy castle which is open to all... even us pretend adults... so we took the opertunity to bounce. Great fun.

Day 6 dawned another great sunny morning. We headed out of Taupo out towards the Hills. We took the SH5 to Napier. NZ's Art Deco city. A massive earth quake hit the town in 1931. As a result all the old buildings fell and were replaced with the syle of the time... fortunately this was Art Deco.

Today the main street in Napier looks a little tired in places with the air of faded 1930's glory that you can expereince anywhere in the UK. However some buildings have still retained a wonderful period character. Its always a good idea to look up sometimes... you never know what you might see.

Napier has a charming meusum well worth the $7.50 it cost us each, where exhibits on modern day style nestle with Art Deco peices, Mauori art... pieces with no explanation put to them, as only those involved with the production of the piece know the story of its origin sit next to stories of terible death and destruction as the earth quake hits the town. Downstairs is a pc terminal with a link direct to the earthquake reccord service. Apparently we slept through the last earth quake.... 2.45am the night previous, and the other 6 quakes that have hit since we landed on NZ soils.

We decided that Napier's charms weren't enogh to detain us more than a few hours and headed out of town along the SH5 to a strange place... Dannevirke. This town was established by the Danes in the 1870's but was abandoned by them after the road they were building was finished. The whole place survives now on its name. We overnighted at a quirky campsite, with its own deer park and wild bird area. Nice and peaceful.. apart from the local joy riders.. we didn't care - the days of travel take their toll... and bed time comes round quickly.

So today to Wellington. More of this delight later. Nettie has up'd more pics and we are in need of coffee.

Just a reminder you can still email us at our BT adresses or make comments if you are a registered travellerspoint user. You can even leave messages for us on this site.

Check back later.

Andrew.
xx

New Zealand - Day 5 and 6 remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> New Zealand - Day 4 andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-21:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=3659 2005-11-22T07:34:15Z 2005-11-22T07:34:15Z Another stunning day today. Yesterday we had a travel day, stopping off at Tauraunga on our way to Whatakane. We took in the sights and sounds of the area and made our way owards to overnight in Ohope Beach. Here the weather turned a bit worse for wear... we found ourselves on a deserted campsite, with the most fantastic view of the sea. We could see the whole of the sweap of 'the Bay'... the Bay ... Another stunning day today. Yesterday we had a travel day, stopping off at Tauraunga on our way to Whatakane. We took in the sights and sounds of the area and made our way owards to overnight in Ohope Beach.

Here the weather turned a bit worse for wear... we found ourselves on a deserted campsite, with the most fantastic view of the sea. We could see the whole of the sweap of 'the Bay'... the Bay Of Plenty. As the weather colosed in and a rain storm kicked up we camped down for the night.

This morning we awoke to bright blue skies and lots of lovelly sunshine. An early start was called for as we were booked on a tour. We set off at arround 8.45 am.. something of a miracle for us! We back tracked to Whatakane... pronounced Fakatarne apparently. Our meeting point was by the harbour and we proceded to check in with our tour company for the day... White Island Tours. Once signing the disclaimer.. apparently if anything happened to us it was our own fault... we headed to the boat. 9.30... we cast off heading out into the Bay. Our destination - White Island. New Zealands only active marine volcano.

Yep folks we have been stood today on an active erupting volcano! The sight of clouds of steam and a distinctly bad egg smell met us as we landed at Workers Cove.. or Crater Bay. The landscape was almost lunar, with mounds of purple and black matter, a yellow stain here and there and fumeroles gushing steam from the depths of the volcano.

The heat from the steam was tremendous, as we tramped round the sulphur cones in our hard hats and gas masks. The crater lake was awe inspiring. 70 meters across and just about the same deep. The most amazing bubbling mud pools. A real eye opener and we had the sobering reminder that the last eruption was only 5 years ago. The crater lake is due to burst any day. Land slides occur regularly especially when it rains as theres no vegetation to hold the feeble volcanic soils in place. 10 men lost thier lifes there mining the sulpher deposits.

Once back on the tour boat.. there is no direct landing, you have to use an inflatable launch from the main boat, we tucked into a snack meal... most welcoming.. though the egg mayonnaise sandwiches might have just been a bit too far!

On the run back to port we spotted some marine life. A fin was seen diving in and out of the water. The another, and another. Eventually we counted over 30 fins, of Fake killer Whales and Bottle Nose Dolphins. This pod was lazing arround on the surface... probably warming up after a night in the depths avoiding the storm. Never before have I seen so many wild mamals in such close quaters at sea. It was almost as if they were playing for us. Magnificent.

Back on dry land and we have now made the swap in land to Roturua. More volcanic activity. Tomorrow we are going to see a Geyser erupt! And maybe play in the mud.

Right. Best get back to Nettie and see what she has done to the van.. she was apparently tidying up! Last I saw there were some pictures on the van walls! Not sure how legal this is but hey! So Daniel and Phillip - your picture has pride of place on our wall!

Night.

Andrew.

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]]> New Zealand Day 3 andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-20:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=3606 2005-11-20T22:42:07Z 2005-11-20T22:39:21Z We have now picked up the van.. and very roomy compared to the Bongo it is. We have a sink, electric lighting, cooker, with 2 rings and a grill, electric fridge, with ice compartment, storage space for all our crap and plenty of room for more. There's full bedding in there too, and we have been provided with towels. We took the option to hire 2 outdoor chairs... but now wish we had just bought them for ... We have now picked up the van.. and very roomy compared to the Bongo it is. We have a sink, electric lighting, cooker, with 2 rings and a grill, electric fridge, with ice compartment, storage space for all our crap and plenty of room for more. There's full bedding in there too, and we have been provided with towels. We took the option to hire 2 outdoor chairs... but now wish we had just bought them for $8 each instead of hiring for $12 each! Tight wad!

After picking up the van and shopping we headed out through Auckland's nearest neighbour Mangatau, then out towards Hamilton. After a few km we headed east to towards the Coromandel Peninsula. Our journey took us north along the west side of the Peninula, through Thames and up to Coromandel Town. Then we headed further north and east crossing to the east side of the peninsula. Our first overnight stop was in a quiet sleepy motot park in a place I cannot remember the name of now... but am sure it began with a K! Nettie can't remember either!

After a breif walk along the beach in the early evening... brief as Nettie has huge blisters on her feet from wearing some sparkly pump things round Auckland... looked great but rubbed her feet.... we headed back to the van and dined on a feast of green lipped muscles in a white wine, garlic and cream sauce. Great big fat muscles fresh from the sea... or to be precise fresh from the sea water spray cabinet in the supermarket. We washed down with a glass or two of white wine. Then to bed.

Day 2 was a lovelly cloudless sunny day, so we headed down the east side of the peninsula to Cathederal Cove and Haihi Bay. Very lovelly beach with golden warm sand and some nice big Pacific waves. We walked along a short track to the next bay... but rather than treck all the way down in the heat we took photos at the headland, looked out over the rock formations and marvelled at the clear blue water with its turcquoise tints. All very nice... but the best was jet to come.

After lunch we headed out to Hot Water Beach. Sadly due to some strange geothermal pressures the hot water only gets out at 2 hours either side of low tide... we were early. Any way... what do you do when there are coach loads of US tourists arround.. dig a big hole and look interested... its only a matter of time before one asks if you have found hot water! Anyway, after a few minutes playing in the sea... being kicked round by the waves and the surf, and getting sand in some very unprintable places (I now have a porn star name based on this...) we opted to lay in the sun. About an hour later after icecream we saw frantic digging to the left of where we sat... so off we trot, with our shovel.. and jopined in the fun. Sadly I caouldn't work out what all the fuss was about... then after a few minutes knee deep in water we found it... hot water bubbling up through the sand. And when I say hot it was about 70 degrees C....hot! The bubbles were due to CO2 being released from this underground hot spring. Something to do with the volcanic nature of the place. We ended up sprawled out in pools of hot water, being scalded by the hot vents. Its the only time I have spent on a beach in very close proximity to lots of other bodies... all intent on laying in sandy pools of warm water. Nationality boundarys broak down, ages didn't matter... the germans dug with the brits, the kiwis helped the americans... it was a uniting experience... and all for some hot water from the sand!

After that we headed back to the van, grabbed some homemade cakes from the cafe that loaded the shovel at $4 a time, had tea and removed the sand from the places that we cannot say online! Our bongo captain lead us on through more lush steeply winding roads, through tropical looking forest to Waihi Beach. Another very pleasant camp site, with fantastic facilities. After a shower and food it was bed time. Both of us fell asleep within seconds of turning out the light, the ruff and tumble of the surf having knocked the living daylights out of me!

Day 3... well we will have to wait to find out what happens next...

Keep watching.

Andrew.

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]]> New Zealand - Land Of The Long White Cloud andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-18:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=3551 2005-11-18T21:26:48Z 2005-11-18T21:26:48Z The date 19th November 2005... we have arrived! Yes the bongo crew finally landed yesterday in New Zealand with our luggage intact, if rather fish smelly! So much for the Kiwi's not allowing anything vaguely food orientated in... Netties bag must have been sat in a puddle of raw herring juice... clearly some one thought that a cool box full of fish was a good idea to stick on a plane and get bounced arround in the sky. Had ... The date 19th November 2005... we have arrived!

Yes the bongo crew finally landed yesterday in New Zealand with our luggage intact, if rather fish smelly! So much for the Kiwi's not allowing anything vaguely food orientated in... Netties bag must have been sat in a puddle of raw herring juice... clearly some one thought that a cool box full of fish was a good idea to stick on a plane and get bounced arround in the sky. Had a nervouse moment passing through the customs point when an x ray showed up Nettie had packed her trainer boots in her luggage and not declared them.... apparently this could be a $200 fine... we pleaded ignorance and made a quick dash for the airport bus pick up point. That said the West Collonial Bank caught up with me for exchanging $70 (UK) into $350 Fijian dollars... thats a very good rate of exchange.. far above the real rate... the poor girl had added up the travellers cheques incorrectly and given us GBP 110, not GBP 70. Anyway they caught up with us just as we were leaving yesterday morning. Shame...

Today we pick the Campervan up. Something we are both looking forward to. We have been Bongo spotting since we left CArdiff bus station and are happy to report that our Bongo's cousins are alive and well and are living in all parts of the world.. Budget Rentacar even have Bongos for hire... though without our autofreetop luxury! We have even spotted them in New Zealand... not bad for just over 18 hours in the country!

Had a real food experience last night. We went to a Korean buffett... not quite the Hot Wok / Wokmania things we have in the uk... its a self serve self cook sort of set up with a little gas stove on each table... we were the only English speakers in there... and had fun trying to suss out what each dish was! Nice squid... and so far today we haven't suffered any side effects... only time will tell.

The cost of things here in Aukland seems pretty reasonable. We ate out last night for $42 dollars.... thats some wehere in the region of GBP 18. And that included beers. $25 is GBP 10. So you have some idea of the exchange rate. Internet access is a dollar for 30 mins.

Time is up...

Andrew.

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]]> Round 2 Begins tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-17:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=3531 2005-11-17T23:39:12Z 2005-11-17T23:39:12Z Well the second round begins now. Looks like we are leaving Fiji at the right time.. there has been torrential rain all morning. add to that a brush with a very nice bank manager and a taxi ride that shook my stomach up then its perhaps a good job we are heading to civilisation again. Fiji overall has been exacltly what we were looking for.. a relaxing break, with a bit of paece and quiet. We have taken great pleasure ... Well the second round begins now.

Looks like we are leaving Fiji at the right time.. there has been torrential rain all morning. add to that a brush with a very nice bank manager and a taxi ride that shook my stomach up then its perhaps a good job we are heading to civilisation again.

Fiji overall has been exacltly what we were looking for.. a relaxing break, with a bit of paece and quiet. We have taken great pleasure in doing nothing for the past few days except sleeping, eating, reading and laying in the sun and cloud!

Now though the REAL adventure starts. Aukland becons and the delights of spending a month couped up in a van with Andrew's feet... er... well... we are looking forward to it any way.

Hopefully we will be able to keep this blog more uptodate once we are in the land of the long white cloud. Thats assuming we travel anywhere near an internet kiosk.

As the Fijian goodbye band... same guys who were hear at 4 am to say Bula to us... are begining to drive me mad then we will sign off and go and find a plane to take us away from this dampness... feels just like home... but warmer!

Nettie

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]]> We are here in Fiji !!! tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-13:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=3381 2005-11-13T22:40:05Z 2005-11-13T22:40:05Z Arrived finally in Fiji on Saturday morning at 4am... The flight was long but good.. No delays and we even managed to get through the US with out any trouble.. And yes we saw someone famous...if you call an E list celeb famous.. When we arrived the sun was starting to rise and after a hour wait for our transfer to the hotel it had started to rain...What was going on...it's not Wales the sun should be shining!! The weather has ... Arrived finally in Fiji on Saturday morning at 4am... The flight was long but good.. No delays and we even managed to get through the US with out any trouble.. And yes we saw someone famous...if you call an E list celeb famous..

When we arrived the sun was starting to rise and after a hour wait for our transfer to the hotel it had started to rain...What was going on...it's not Wales the sun should be shining!!

The weather has got better, though still a bit overcast....

Our bungalow is very nice... sort of simple, but with a fantastic view of the ocean. We can here the waves crashing on the coral reef just off shore. We are close to the pool and have birds waking us up in the morning. The complex is quite quiet but there are more travellers arriving daily. We have sampled some of the local cuisine and the local fiji beer. I am happy to re[port that it meets Andrew's very discernable palate.

We have been to look round a local Eco park and today is shopping day. Time is up so will post more later.

Nettie

We are here in Fiji !!! remains copyright of the author andynette, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Less Than 48 hours to go..... andyroo1 tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-07:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=3230 2005-11-20T22:41:02Z 2005-11-07T14:15:03Z Yep.. less than 48 hours to go. But then there is 72 hours, 18 minutes and 43 seconds before the plane actually takes off.. but who cares, or is counting? Why do I always leave the packing till the last minute? That and other questions will be buzzing in my ears as I try to finish the work load that I need to shift before we go. Well... preparations are well under way, tickets booked, passports ... Yep.. less than 48 hours to go. But then there is 72 hours, 18 minutes and 43 seconds before the plane actually takes off.. but who cares, or is counting?

Why do I always leave the packing till the last minute? That and other questions will be buzzing in my ears as I try to finish the work load that I need to shift before we go.

Well... preparations are well under way, tickets booked, passports found, accommodation booked, coach and transfer tickets sorted out, travellerspoint blog set up... oh and the money has arrived. Now the reall test.. getting 5 weeks worth of stuff into a rucsac... still I have another 41 hours and 30 minutes before I need to panic.

Andrew
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Less Than 48 hours to go..... remains copyright of the author andyroo1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> The Countdown Has started! tag:travellerspoint.com,2005-11-05:/blog/?domain=andynette&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=3201 2005-11-05T19:58:36Z 2005-11-06T03:40:28Z Last customers in, only one more breakfast to cook, 3 days to go or 92 hours according to Andrew... Just testing our travel journal, so you can all see what we are up to! "What is that Andrew?" sorry 91 hours 45mins and 10 seconds... ... Last customers in, only one more breakfast to cook, 3 days to go or 92 hours according to Andrew... Just testing our travel journal, so you can all see what we are up to! "What is that Andrew?" sorry 91 hours 45mins and 10 seconds...

The Countdown Has started! remains copyright of the author andynette, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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