NW1
Neil Williams Joined: October 21st 2007
Logged in: October 10th 2011
Logged in: October 10th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
March 16th, 2008. I decided to head off to climb Ruapehu with a couple of the other volunteer hut wardens, Lisette and Vince. Ruapehu, at 2797m is the highest mountain on the North Island. It is a huge, sprawling volcanoe, best known for skiing in winter. We were hoping to get a chairlift part of the way up, but it was closed, supposedly due to high winds. Ignoring the dire warnings of the staff at Iwikau village we set off, scarambling over glacial and volcanic rubble encountering only a light breeze. There muast have been something seriously wrong with the anemometer equipment on the mountain. Either that, or the chap running the chairlift fancied a day off. We reached the summit and were treated to magnificent views across to Mt Ngauruhoe ( Mt Doom from Lord ... read more
March 8th, 2008 After my kayaking in Abel Tasman I had to put my foot down in the Subaru to reach Picton in time for my ferry to Wellington. I just about made it and before long I was back on the North Island. I spent the next couple of days exploring New Zealand's capital city. Despite its location on the coast it is not the prettiest of cities. First, I decided to check out Te Papa, the National Museum. It was strangely disappointing. Most of the displays and exhibits were aimed at kidsand somehow failed to convey any meaningful information. The highlight of my stay was probably taking the tram to the Botanical Gardens above the city, with views out across the bay. On the 10th March I finally made it to Turangi (just south ... read more
March 1st, 2008 After my attempt to swim with dolphins I made my way back to Christchurch and the Jailhouse Hostel. That night I had booked myself in for a cultural treat - a production of Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. The theatre was packed. Mind you counting the number of seats that meant about 250 people... The performance was very entertaining, the actors belting out some lengthy and failry obscure monologues with a great deal of panache. The only real downside was the quality of the Welsh accents. I am sure one actress made reference to 'did' people at least 'sex' times and asked numerous questions when clearly there weren't any to be asked. The next day I was up early and drove north to Kaikoura to join a whale watching tour. Within half ... read more
Feb 26th, 2008. After getting dropped off in Glenorchy by the shuttle bus I picked up the car and decided to drive north to Wanaka, a town billed as a slightly quieter and more 'chilled out' version of Queenstown. I treated myself to Fush and Chups, a delicacy the Kiwis seem to take almost as seriously as the English. Although, I have to say the quality of their fish seems to be slightly better than ours. The following morning I was up early and hired a sea kayak to go out on Lake Wanaka. It seemed to be a better idea to use my arms for some exercise rather than my feet and legs after the Rees Dart track! It was then time to join the road to Mount Cook. Eventually I reached Lake Pukaki. It ... read more
February 21, 2008 I left Te Anau and headed off on the road to Milford Sound. It really is one of the most impressive (I think I've run out of superlatives to describe the NZ scenery!!) alpine road journeys I have been on with vastly varying scenery. I stopped a couple of times on the way. First, to go up Key Summit (919m) which has views across the Fiordland National Park. Second, to visit the Chasm where the gradual forces of the river and the elements have carved strange and unusual formations in the rock - giving the impression of something not to dissimilar to Swiss cheese...I think I'll let the pictures do the talking... The next morning I was up early to join my kayaking trip on the Milford Sound. After getting kitted out in ... read more
February 13th, 2008 After my flight from Auckland I arrived at my hostel in Christchurch, appropriately named 'the Jailhouse' as it was indeed a prison in a former life . It certainly fitted the bill with whitewashed walls and high walkways above the large central hall for the inmates to get to their cells... The next morning I was straight onto the important task of buying a car to get myself around NZ. I rang a few numbers I found on the hostel notice board of other travellers selling cars they had finished with. I got an immediate response from a couple of German girls selling a Subaru 'station wagon'. By 3.30pm the deal was done and the papers were signed. I was the proud owner of my first Subarua - as far as I can ... read more
Feb 13, 2008 After my truck trip I spent a few more days in Buenos Aires attempting to improve my Spanish (and failing miserably) inbetween eating more steak....I then flew home on Jan 23rd and spent a few days catching up with friends and family. Next thing I knew I was boarding a flight to Singapore on Feb 8th. Several films later I arrived in Singapore on Feb 9th and made my way, using Singapore's unhealthily clean and efficient underground transportation service (what's wrong with a bit of London grime I ask?) to my luxury four and a half star hotel. Answers on a postcard as to what particular services account for half a star... I strolled down Orchard Road, the 'Oxford Street' of Singapore and was delighted to see a Marks and Spencers, followed by ... read more
January 5, 2008 I spent a few days relaxing in Buenos Aires after my Aconcagua trip. It was then time to catch a plane down to Ushuaia on Jan 5th. The plane took off from Jorges Newberry on time and we flew over endless patchwork fields, stopping briefly at the Welsh settlement at Trelew, before heading on to a cloudy and gloomy looking Ushuaia. After a tedious wait for my luggage I was on my way to the Antarctic Hostel in temperatures that seemed a good 15 degrees colder than Buenos Aires. After dumping my stuff I went out along the main street to try and find the Exodus group I'd be travelling with by truck back up to BA. Ushuaia is a little like an upmarket frontier town designed to cater for American tourists with ... read more
December 10th, 2007 After the Inca trail I spent a few more days in Cusco before heading to Lima for a day on my way back to Buenos Aires. Lima was probably one of the grottiest South American cities I have been to. The taxi journey from the airport into the centre of town took me through shanty towns full of stray, mangy dogs and children clambering of heaps of rubbish. People sifting through the detritus of their lives. A truly depressing sight. The centre of town isn´t too impressive either. There is a main square (Plaza de Armas) with the usual Presidential Palace and Cathedral which you would expect in any South American city. The shops around the square are also tired and only seem to sell cheap tat. The only decent place I actually ... read more
November 25, 2007 I spent a few days in Cusco after the trip to the Manu Biosphere. It mainly involved going out and drinking a lot. I think I ended up in a club called Uptown at least 3 times. It´s one of those places where they play music which is about ten years out of date and its full of tourists who get incredibly drunk and make idiots of themselves - well, at least that´s what I did.. I also bumped into an insurance broker I know from London which was very strange. Small world, etc, etc. One thing I did manage was to book myself on a day trip to the Sacred Valley. A large part of the trip seemed to involve stopping at markets like the one at Pisac to buy more authentic, ... read more
