Week 29 Paihia to Melbourne or New Zealand to Oz

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Wednesday was a day when I should have stayed in bed, as I made two really stupid mistakes. I knew it would happen at some stage as I am doing so much travelling and moving about, but the first error was that I lost track of the days and packed up and waited for the bus a day early. It didn’t take me long to realise my cock-up, but I felt a complete plank when I had to ask the hostel for new sheets and my key back (for those of you not used to hostel living, before you check out you have to strip your bed and put the sheets in the laundry bin). The manager was very kind and understanding and only teased me about it for about 4 hours and told everyone he saw what had happened.

Anyhow, once I had got over my annoyance at making such a daft mistake, I realised that I had another full day in Paihia which is a great place and made the most of the extra time with a half day on the beach and a steak dinner at a local restaurant. This is where stupid mistake number two occurred, when I left my lovely warm and expensive fleece hanging on the back of the chair. I didn’t realise until I was packed up to leave the next morning and was waiting for the bus (again). The restaurant was closed and there was no way of getting the fleece back to me in Auckland anyway, so I had to write it off.

The journey from the Northlands back to Auckland took most of the day but we did have a couple of nice stops. The first was at the largest remaining giant kauri tree, Tane Mahuta (God of the forest), which stands 51 metres high and has a massive girth. Unfortunately we could not get close enough to touch or hug it, but it was a very impressive sight. Next we viewed Hokianga Harbour from the little town of Opononi and the large golden sand dunes that line the harbour entrance from the sea. We stopped at the Matakohe Kauri and Pioneer Museum too, where the history of the logging and gum industries was explained in full and there were plenty of old tools to see, including a steam driven saw. Its a shame that so few of these massive trees remain, but I like to imagine that the Ents in Lord of the Rings were kind of like these trees.

I had already been through Auckland a couple of time and had done everything I wanted in the city centre, so decided to catch a bus and stay in one of the chic suburbs, Ponsonby. It was a great move and both the hostel and area were great for my final three days in New Zealand as the place is full of lovely cafes, restaurants and small interesting shops. There were great views of the Auckland city skyline from the hill where the hostel was, with a lovely park beneath. I just chilled out for the whole time, walked in the park, window-shopped, drunk far to much and had a few lovely meals. I arrived the night before Good Friday and whole area was buzzing with a very hip vibe.

On the Saturday I made the most of the shops being open for the only day in the 4 day Easter holiday. First I spent a while getting a new pair of trainers from a great shop where they measured my feet and stride and weight distribution patterns in various manners using high tech equipment. I am hoping they will help address a rather nasty pain in my left heel, which is probably the result of an accident I had several months ago. I don’t think I helped it by wearing flip flops for the past few months. Anyhow, the trainers seemed to fit perfectly and I really hope they help with the problem as they cost the equivalent of a weeks accommodation.

I also spent a fortune on getting my hair restyled and coloured. The hairdresser was from Chile and was very funny. He did a great job on the new shorter cut but was not satisfied with the tone of the colour, so checked that I was not in a rush to leave, and then made the colourist completely redo the base colour. It turned out great and I feel like a new women. The chic area of Ponsonby was a nice way to end what has been a wonderful two months exploring this stunning country.

Luckily I had been told that the clocks went back an hour overnight, so was on time for the shuttle bus to the airport on Easter Sunday to catch the 4.5 hour Qantas flight to Melbourne, Australia the first stop in a leg that will last for several months while I explore parts of this vast country. Everything at Melbourne airport was closed, but I managed to get a shuttle out to the seaside suburb of St Kilda and checked in to a proper hotel for a few nights. I had found a reasonable deal on the web and decided that I needed a spell of semi-luxury, which included such exotic things as my own kettle with tea and coffee supplies, fluffy towels, shampoo and shower gel and a huge king size bed with quality cotton sheets that didn’t have dubious stains and holes in them. It was lovely.

I met up with Kim, a friend from the South East Asia tour, who had kindly arranged tickets to the Easter Monday Aussie rules football game being held at the magnificent MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) stadium. Six of us - her son, her husband who is a vet, and two male friends who are both barristers - met for a pre-match meal and then made our way to excellent seats in the MCC Members-only reserve area, thanks to Andrew one of Kim’s friends. The crowd numbered nearly 70 thousand, with a sea of yellow and brown for the Hawthorn Hawks and blue and white for the Geelong Cats. The atmosphere was great for what was apparently a grudge match between two popular rival teams, with the fans from the opposing teams happily mingling with each other and the rivalry was good natured. Andrew was a ardent supporter of the Hawks and Kim’s family supported the Cats, so within our party there was a lot of bantering and teasing about the inadequacies of each others team. The first half was dominated by excellent play from the Hawks but the Cats fought back to a narrow win.

We were very high up and had a commanding view of the whole pitch and crowd. I must admit that I didn’t fully understand the rules of AFL football as I had never seen a match before, but the pace was fast and interesting and it seemed to be quite a physical game with plenty of body contact, fights and some spectacular injuries. I found it very odd that there were so many people of the huge pitch. There were 6 umpires running around plus a flag-person in each goal who indicated whether it was a 6 point goal (through the inner uprights) or just a single point (through the outer set of poles), 18 players on each side and then what I thought of as the whole flaming support team.

They allow “runners” on the pitch who are messengers sent out form the coach/manager to relay tactical play instructions to various players. Not only was it strange that they were allowed on the pitch during play, but they seemed to run around for ages and often got in the way of play, plus the were wearing the most ghastly lime green outfits. In addition several physios from either side were running on and off the pitch for most of the match, tending to injuries or helping off injured players, again while play was going on. There were other chaps running about giving players bottles of water too.

The players could be substituted multiple times and return to the match, which is also very different to any games I am used to - this is understandable as its such a fast and physical game. All those people running about and doing their thing while the main game was going on gave me plenty to watch, in addition to the close ups and replay footage on the big screens at either end of the stadium. The weather was perfect, it was a great day out enjoying a new experience and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The next day was cloudy with the forecast of heavy rain for the evening so I checked out more of the St Kilda area, including Luna Park where all manner of rollercoasters and thrill rides had the crowds screaming. I bought a local SIM card for my mobile and a fleece gilet to tie me over until I can buy a proper replacement jacket. After a chicken salad lunch I dodged the beginnings of the rain storm and returned to the hotel where I settled in on my luxury big bed to update this blog.

This week marks a milestone, being half way through my 13 month Round the World tour. Sad person that I am, I have kept a note of some elements of my journey and up to the end of last week (31 March 2010) these are my numbers so far:

189 Days of travel, on
16 Flights
110 Buses (including tours)
27 Trains
22 Boats (including tours)
1 Helicopter
dozens of tuk-tuks and a few cyclos (have not been recording the numbers)

Staying in
26 Hotels
22 Hostels
14 B&B or Guest Houses
1 Farm

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