To Wellington and beyond....

We knew we needed to get a move on to make sure we had a chance to see some of Wellington before moving down to the South Island.  Without a day to spare we headed south for the small town of Otaki.  We had a couple of hundred kilometers to complete and were covering good ground.... until the wind picked up.  Marvins age and height means you end up feeling the wind more inside than you do out.  The consequence of this on the road when trying to keep to 100km/h is a 'small' amount of swaying.  By small, it means you need to keep both hands fully and tightly in the ten to two position on the wheel or you could end up in the Tasman Sea.  Point in case to be made when the local policeman pulled Adam over fearing he may be drunk due to the amount of sideways movement present on an otherwise straight road.

Heeding the nice policemans words we pulled over in the next township about 30km south of our intended destination, Otaki.  We thought quite long and hard about staying here for the night rather than risking too much in taking on the strong New Zealand cross winds.  After a while however it seemed to have calmed a little and we continued further south.  Without affording Otaki too much time we spent the night at the DOC (Department of Conservation) campsite for the night before making our way down to Wellington.

The approach to Wellington was somewhat difficult conditions again, the wind had died down but the rain was torrential and the fog so low that the visibility was almost non existent.  The road to Wellington meanders and bends along the coast, we however could only just make out the oncoming the traffic let alone the views.  In the fleeting moments when the fog rose the journey was however lit by some stunning rainbows.  With only 80km to do that morning we made it to Wellington around 11am giving us just over 24 hours in which to take in the sights and sounds of New Zealands capital city.  Fortunately we found the ideally located Wellington Waterfront Motorhome which is right in the center of town (on the waterfront duh) next to our ferry terminal.

The weather was much the same in Wellington, unable to see the tops of the buildings through the fog we thought best to make for some indoor activities.  First up was the national museum, Te Papa.  Te Papa is like a cross between the science and the national history museums in London (like these it's also free!).  Before we knew it was close to four hours in there and we had seen everything from the forming of the continent millions of years ago, all imaginable species of (stuffed) kiwis (the animal not the people), the worlds biggest squid, a complete history of the Maori and their culture and even experienced an earthquake simulation.  On leaving Te Papa the rains had at least stopped temporarily and we were able to spend some time walking around the main district of Wellington city centre, including a viewing of the controversial 'bee-hive' government building.

The following morning was again more of the same weather wise, grey overcast cloudy and foggy, the first time in six months that it had felt like being back in London!  Quicker than you can say 'Michael Fish' the weather had cleared up and we could at last (in our last hour in the city) be able to see across the harbour as we were afforded some blue skies.  Alas it was time to board our ferry for the South Island, but hoping the blue skies would endure for our crossing.

The trip is a long three and a bit hours for what seems like a narrow stretch of water.  It feels however almost cruise like as you take in the views looking back on Wellington, of the Tasman Sea on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.  On our approach to the South Island we were greeted by a playful troop of five or so dolphins frolicking about, racing alongside the ferry, and generally showing off by jumping in and out of the water.  Most people say the South Island is more beautiful than the North (we'll be reserving judgement till the end of our trip), arrival is a good start though as we passed through the fjords of Malborough Sounds, and saw yet more dolphins before arriving into the town of Picton.  From here it was straight back onto the road as we headed through the vineyards for our first night in the South Island.

Corncerning Hobbits.... - Part II

On seeing the volcanoes the other side of Lake Taupo we made our way around the lake, further south and with an ever improving view of the national park.  The Tongariro National Park is New Zealands oldest and houses three unique and incredible volcanic mountains which rise to between 2,000-3,000m.  The self named Mt Tongariro, the highly active Mt Rhuapehu  and  the perfectly conical Mt Ngauruhoe.  Of the most intriguing is probably the latter which doubles up as Mount Doom in the Lord of The Rings trilogy.  Mt Ngauruhoe is just a small peak short of being a perfect cone and on a clear day is an awe inspiring sight.  The taller more active, and often cloudy Mt Rhuapehu is more of a sprawling mass of volcanic rock with several volcanic outlets and was chosen by Peter Jackson to be the fear inspiring scenes of Mordor.

We camped inside the boundaries of the national park and decided to check out Mt Doom from a little closer up.  We took a 17km hike to the Tama lakes, which are two old volcanic craters themselves.   On our way we passed the Taranaki Falls which have carved an impressive cliff into the landscape and continue to erode their way through the park.  What started as an easy stroll in the sun through the forest became a very cold and windy experience up at the top.  We were however rewarded with some great views of the upper and lower lakes as well as the surrounding volcanoes.  This part of the national park also made up a lot of the scenes of Mordor in the film The Return of The King.  As the clouds came in it became easy to imagine 'The Shadow of The East' moving and doesn't take much imagination to recreate the setting.

The following day we stayed in the National Park but made our way further south and spent the night at the small town of Ohakune.  Nestled just within the National Park but not far from a major highway Ohakune is a sleepy little town which relies heavily on passing trade, and welcomes you with (you guessed it) New Zealands biggest... Carrot.  We however not contributing a great deal to the local community made for the nearest free campsite.  From here we were able to do a nice walk along the Old Coach Road which use to house the main route for the central  New Zealand railway.  After passing through an old long deserted tunnel we arrived at the old viaduct.  No longer deemed as safe for use but fine for tramping tourists we ventured across the 120 year old wooden structure.  The viaduct was in fact the site of New Zealands first commercial bungee jump, however this was closed down aswell due to safety fears.  Needless to say we felt nice and safe walking along the viaduct.

In Ohakune, 400km north of Wellington, we popped into the local library to 'borrow' their wifi and check our emails.  This was when we realised we had prebooked our Cook Straight Ferry for the South Island a day earlier than originally thought... a quick clear up of our stuff and it was time to get on the road again, quickly!

Corncerning Hobbits, Rotten Eggs, and Mt Doom - Part I

From Huntley we made our way East through the back roads based on a locals advice.  We cut out the traffic and driving joy of Hamilton city center and instead made for the small town of Matamata on route to the Bay of Plenty.  Matamata should be a small quiet sleepy town in the central north island farm territory.  However the selection of this town to be Peter Jacksons 'Hobbiton' has transformed the town.  There's now a wide choice between KFC, McDonalds or Subway, and enough coach parking to fill half of Wembley.  We like all the other tourists passed through for a glimpse of this cinematic piece of history.  On route here it was very easy to see how this area could be turned into a part of The Shire.  There are small rolling hills throughout the countryside any one of which look like they could be selected for a film set.

From Hobbiton we made our way South to the larger town of Rotorua.  Rotorua goes by the name of 'Sulphur City' and to quote Mikey 'you can basically let one rip here and noone would ever know'.  Too true, the  city absolutely stinks of rotten eggs.  Rotorua is built on one of the biggest natural sulphur vents in the world.  The local park has bubbling mud pools, steaming eggy geysers and some hot pools you can soak your feet in.  These pools are said to have healing powers by the local Maori of old.  We tested them out but not having any injuries to speak of can't really comment on their healing powers, they were nice and warm though.

After a bit of time in Rotorua admirring the lake and local activites it was time to make a move before the smell started penetrating into our hair and clothes permenantly.  We are free camping as much as possible so nice hot showers are a bit few and far between at the moment.  That evening we headed South 20km to a beautiful free campsite which was on route to our next destination.  With only three other vehicles in the whole site we had a great lakeside view to bed down for the night.

The following morning we set of early for the nearby attraction of Wai-O-Tapu.  We are following the 'Thermal Highway' south at the moment which cuts diagonally (from NE to SW) down through the North Island, so there is no shortage of geothermal activity to be seen.  Wai-O-Tapu however  is supposed to be one of the best and is also home to the Lady Knox geyser.  We arrived early in the morning to ensure we could see her spurt sulpherous water 30 ft into the air.  Outside of the geyser we saw around 40 other geothermal active sites including the awesomly huge 'Champagne Pool'.  A massive steaming circular shaped pool with lots of red and yellow mineral based influences.  Of the other notable  highlights was without doubt the 'Devils Bath' a large pool with what can only be described as a lime green liquid filling it.  Again a natural mineral infusion has occured with some pretty unique visual results.

Heading further South we spent the night at another free campsite.  No showers, but it was on a (very cold) river which allowed for at least a partial wash.

We continued our route south to the city of Taupo.  Taupo is on the lake of the same name, which also happens to be the largest lake in New Zealand.  No matter where we go in New Zealand we never seem to be far from "NZ's biggest... NZ's oldest... or NZ's longest", its nice to recognize your achievements.  Lake Taupo is the crater filled result of one the biggest volcanic eruptions in history some 26,500 years ago.  Its a pretty big lake.  It was also clear blue sky with beautiful sunshine whilst we were there, so we spent some time down by the lake watching some paragliding and playing some mini golf (I won't mention who won).

In the distance across the lake we could just make out the Tongarrio National Park and its skyline dominating volcanoes, our next destination...

The Lands of the North

We set off north from Auckland just after 2pm on what was a cloudy but dry afternoon. After picking up Marv and filling him with supplies from the local Pak 'n' Save supermarket we set off over the bridge at into The Northlands. A few nervous and jolty gear changes later (to say the least) we were on our way (just about). If driving a vehicle of Marvs height weight and general size was daunting at least driving on the left was a welcome relief.

Our aim was to make it up to the Bay of Islands before nightfall, approx 200km. Feeling quietly confident in our own abilities and knowing it was only 200km we made a few stops at some stunning locations along the way, including the beautiful Mangawhai Heads and Waipu Cove. (Although the British influence is massive a lot of the locations outside the big cities have retained their original Maori names). Our over confidence and lack of appreciation for smaller NZ roads had us struggling in the darkness around 8pm still looking in vain for somewhere to rest. Around 9pm, after an hours driving in the darkness (no street lights on these roads) and in the now thundery rain we made it to Puriri Bay and our first nights resting point. To make matters worse we hadn't unpacked our backpacks yet or made the bed up before so it was a bit of a first night struggle. We vowed not to undertake the small NZ roads in the dark again after our first night baptism of fire.

When morning came things were looking much rosier and we could at least see where we were, and awoke greeted by a rainbow across the bay. We set off though in search of the nearby Bay of Islands and visited Russell before taking the ferry over to the stunning Paihia. Here we filled the van up and Marv really got his name as Starving Marvin as he guzzled 50 litres worth, where it costs $2.20 NZD (£1.15) a litre, we had a realisation that it will cost us a few quid more than we first thought to get around the country.

From the East coast we cut across country to the West and made our way along the ocean roads. Driving alongside the beach lined coast was a great experience but the strong winds needed two hands on the wheel to keep from veering off to one side! After a short while we entered the forests where some very narrow and windy roads had us literally slaloming through the trees. We arrived at the (aptly named) Kauri forest, home to the Kauri tree. These trees are absolutely humongous and we checked out the largest tree in NZ, over 2000 years old and with a girth of 13.8 metres (that's some big girth).

This was Day 2 in the van, and on animal watch we had seen hundreds of cows, nearly as many sheep, and an untold amount of little birdies, along with a multitude of various roadkills. We saw our first kiwi, as it went darting across the road (lucky spot for us as their numbers are dwindling and are nocturnal animals), had a falcon fly out the forest and into our windscreen (luckily he bounced right off, and we're pretty sure he was alright), and had to pull over and wait for 200 cows to meander slowly across the road.

The following day we took in the sights of the Kauri Museum to get a better understanding of these ridiculously oversized trees. Many of them were cut down a century ago but fortunately they now have a preserved status. From here we continued South back past Auckland at it's four lane highway mayhem and out the other side to the sleepy town of Huntly were we spent the night at a nice campsite beside a lake.

These first few days have given us a chance to get use to the intricies of our campervan, but also a very different form of travelling to which we undertook in South America. We are out on the open road driving ourselves with the freedom to go and stop where we want, but also the privacy that sharing a 12 bed dorm just doesn't allow for.

Marvin

Meet Marvin. Marv is a 21 year old American born Kiwi. Converted from an old Ford Ecovan Marv will be our home and more for the next month.

Due to a short stay here in New Zealand we decided against buying our own van and instead to rent one. A quick search of 'sort descending by price' brought us to Marvin.

He will be our primary means of transport as we hope to navigate both the North and South Islands of New Zealand in a little over four weeks. Marv incorporates a front cabin driving space for us to clock up the hours and miles on the roads. A long and short sofa with a table in the back makes up the living room, which in the evening converts into the bedroom. Moving towards the kitchen, Marv has a twin gas cooker, fridge, microwave and even a kitchen sink. Through to the living quarters is a wardrobe and mirror leading to the wide opening back door. Marvs height extension means we can both stand up fully in the back, and have plenty of storage for all our stuff. Fortunately Marv also comes with all the equipment we could need, cooking, bedding and an outdoor table and chair set.

With Marv loaded up with all our gear and a full tank of fuel it's off into the land of sheep and hobbits we go!

Sky City

'Adios' South America and 'Hello' English speaking nations of the Southern Hemisphere. After leaving Santiago on Tuesday night we crossed over the international day zone and landed in New Zealand on Thursday a day older, but probably looking 10 years older after 13 hours flight time.
After five months in South America it felt a little surreal to be arriving into an English speaking nation that wasn't home. It took the first full jetlagged day to kick the habit of saying 'gracias' but we were soon picking up the lingo. The signs at the airport were all in English, everything was very coherent, clear and well laid out, yet everyone was speaking with this slight twang in their accent. Not British, not Australian, somewhere in the middle but definitely leaning towards the latter. 
We are now approximately 18,800 km from London. This is the furthest either of us have ever been from home, and barring Richard Bransons attempts to put tourists into Outer Space will likely be the furthest we will ever get. Despite being so far from the UK the supermarkets provided some cultural reassurance which had been missing in our journey so far. Marmite, Pataks curry sauce, Uncle Bens rice, and Heinz baked beans, to name but a few. It would be too easy to get carried away with 'luxuries' which we take for granted back home, however the price tags keep you grounded. New Zealand is very expensive. The supermarkets are significantly more expensive for regular branded and local produce than in the UK. With the nearest country of significance being over 2,000km away it does make sense. Coming from the UK and being regularly told that London is one of the most expensive cities in the world it is very difficult mentally to accept the price hikes and even more so with a backpackers budget that is stretched thin over a 12 month period. Chilean and Argentinian supermarkets were about the same as in the UK so it's been a real eye opener over the last five months to appreciate other peoples costs where wages and salaries don't match those of the UK.

After adjusting to the simplicity of the English language around us it was time to hit the town. Auckland is nice enough city, it's certainly pleasant and contains everything you need (including a Westfield), but let's not kid ourselves and pretend that people come to New Zealand to see Auckland. One of the highlights for us was without doubt the skyline. The self entitled 'Sky City' is dominated by the Sky Tower which hosts a revolving restaurant, bar and of course the favoured kiwi past time, a bungee jump. We decided not to take a dive off the top but take a boat trip over to nearby Devenport to admire the views from afar. Devenport is just 15 minutes by passenger ferry across from Auckland harbour and aswell as the stunning view of the city skyline it also has two (small) long dormant volcanoes and some beautiful beaches.

Whilst in town the Volvo Round-The-World yacht race was also launched. We did a couple of the activities down by the harbour including a simulator of the cramped wet conditions they experience for nine months of the year. Needless to say this further reinforced that we are happy with our way of going round the world!

Three days in Auckland to get back to normality and recover from the jetlag was enough as we were starting to get itchy feet to get out on the road and see the rest of New Zealand.

South America Snapshot

Like all good things our time in South America must come to an end. After five fantastic months which have seen us gain 28 passport stamps (and nearly lose them), undertake 12 border crossings and visit seven different countries it is time to say 'Adios' and 'Hasta Luego'.

We have hiked the Andean spine, the highs of the Peruvian altiplano in Machu Picchu, suffered the Patagonian winds of Chiles Torres Del Paine, and seen the snowcapped mountains and sunny skies of El Chalten in Argentina. Sunned ourselves on the Atlantic Coast from Brazil to Uruguay, visited the worlds largest high altitude lake, and stayed at the highest city in the world. But you've heard all about that.... So we thought we'd instead break out the bullet points and list our Top 5 Likes and Dislikes from our time in South America (in no particular order)...

Top 5 Likes
@ The variety of the landscape.
If there's one phrase that resounded heavily it was 'it's a completely different landscape here'. From coloured lagunas and salt deserts to rainforest and Iguazu the landscape was an ever changing variant.

@ The friendliness and helpfulness of the locals. From bus directions in the remote wilderness of Paraguay to inviting us to their late fathers remembrance celebrations, the overwhelming kindness shown by the large majority of the local population helped make everything easier. Just wish we could of understood them sometimes.

@ The diversity of foods. Raw sea food and alpaca steaks in Peru, rice & potatoes with everything in Bolivia, Urugyuan Asado's, Argentinian steaks and Chilean seafood. We didn't have the budget to eat out much but when we did we were never let down.

@ Social activities. This can be summed up well by watching a group of Uruguyans sharing a Yerba Maté, or seeing the day long BBQs that exist for families in Paraguay every Sunday. Porteños in Buenos Aires will go out at 11pm and return home at 6am, but not need to be rolled out the gutter on the way home, barring the odd over indulgence in Fernet and Coke.

@ Long Distance Buses. With the exception of one flight down to Patagonia we travelled all of the above by bus, over 8,000km, therefore they deserve a special mention. With comfy seats that recline 160° in cama class, onboard food and even films they provide the most realistic form of travel for a backpacker in South America. You also get some incredible views whilst twiddling your thumbs on a seven hour bus ride.

There are too many things to like about South America, but with limited thought those are our top five 'things'. And so the dislikes (again in no particular order)....

@ Currency Issues. Paraguay you can make yourself a millionaire in one withdrawal from an ATM, a can of coke costs over 4,000 Guarani. In Argentina coins are so rare they are worth more than the notes, instead of change you get offered a boiled sweet. In Chile they have a 1 peso coin. 1 Peso equals £0.0013. You would need eight of these just to get a penny sweet.

@ Plumbing. Toilet paper can't go in the toilet, but must go in an open bin next to the toilet. Not cool when you're sharing a bathroom with twenty other people.

@ Long Distance Buses. Yes they are a like, but we did over 8,000km on buses... overnight buses, border cross buses, overnight with a border cross buses. Up the mountain, down the mountain, four hours on a gravel road driving next to the yet to be opened tarmac road. One thing we've learnt is never try to second guess the temperature, it will always be the opposite of what you think, ie stupidly hot or ridiculously cold, or more often than not pinballing between the two. Films often seem to be shown in a bus special green and black footage, and the audio is often inaudible or comparable to a death mettle concert.

@ Wild Dogs. They are everywhere in South America. Some aren't even wild there owners just keep them on the street with no collars, makes sense huh. They are usually relatively friendly and docile however you never know quite what type of rabies is on offer.

@ Not being able to communicate properly with the locals. This is not a dislike of South America but more a criticism of ourselves, we learnt enough Spanish to get by, but not enough to reach conversational level. It would have been great to get a better understanding of an individuals way of like through speech, however our lack of understanding was a barrier at times, but this certainly didn't stop them wanting to talk with us and vice versa.

So there you have it, our top likes and dislikes from five fantastic months in South America.

Santiago our Final Destination

Another overnight bus journey landed us in Santiago de Chile our final destination in South America. We arrived at the bus terminal around 6am, after leaving Mendoza at 11pm the previous night, and doing a one hour border crossing at 2am. Needless to say we were pretty tired but being a Sunday it was relatively quite and we just spent the day relaxing at the hostel and starting to make a few plans for our next destination, New Zealand. Sundays can often be a bit quiet in South American cities, and a few times we have been Domingoed (caught out by Sunday shop closures), but it's always a bit surreal to walk around such a large city when it's so quiet.

Santiago provides some conflicting feelings for us. Although we both really like it, it feels like a very cool and vibrant city, whilst being easily walkable, it also signifies the end of our time in South America. Five months that have flown by will bring an end to our Latin chapter as we fly out across the Pacific tonight.

We have only stayed for two nights but have had three full days allowing us to get a good feel of the Chilean capital. Our hostel was really nice and laid back, and although we had our first triple bunk bed dorm, we were fortunate it was only one and we had it to ourselves for both nights. Shortly after arriving the owner gave us a good account of what to do in case of an earthquake (stand under the door frames, don't go running around on the street or you will be crushed by a falling building!). Santiago suffers from around two noticeable quakes a month, and every few years a more destructive quake, the last being 2008 and measuring around 8.8 on the richter scale.

The following day we thought we better leave the safety of the dorm frame and visit the city. We did a free waking tour that lasted four hours and gave us a great insight into the history of Santiago, and of course in four hours we covered a lot of ground. One interesting quirk to Santiago is the invention of so called 'coffee shops with legs'. These are omnipresent in the downtown area and are essentially strip bars that don't sell alcohol and are open all day. As well as learning about where the strip clubs are we learnt a wealth of other information, none that can really be remembered now though.

After the tour we took a trip up the funicular to the top of the Cerro Conception, a large hill with the Virgin Mary on top that overlooks all of Santiago. The views are stunning, but you can only just make out the outline of the surrounding mountain range due to the layer of smog.

As it was our last full evening we thought we thought we'd treat ourselves at a nice authentic Chilean restaurant in the smart Bellavista district. We indulged in the local delicacy, Pastel de Choclo, a pie with beef, chicken and olives covered with mashed sweetcorn. Very tasty but also very filling!

Today on our last day we are laying in the beautiful Cerro Santa Lucia park, having just wolfed down 2 scoops of ice cream as we use up the last of our Chilean Pesos. Tonight (Tue) we fly out to Auckland, but due to the time zones will not arrive until Thursday for a very different type of adventure... did anyone say 'bungee jump'?