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Kia Ora blog watchers and a big Hello from Santiago, Chile! After a long flight we have traveled back in time and continent hopped to the very rhythmical Chile; on the last, but very exciting leg of our world tour.
We left the beautiful land of the Kiwi's, Aotearoa, 'Land of the Long White Cloud', also known as New Zealand to us English, on Tuesday after a lush month in a geographers paradise. NZ brought me many surprises, the sheer aesthetics of the landscape is a shock to the senses, the blissfully patriotic and friendly kiwis, the quirky small towns they call cities and Hiral and I's ability to face all fears and throw ourselves off/out of stuff. I know how lengthy my last blogs have been so I will try and keep this one to a summary of all the 'sweet as' (common phrase in NZ meaning pretty damn cool) things Hiral and I have accomplished in the last 28days.
Arriving pretty 'washed out', from an epic week in Sydney, we started slowly in Auckland. Auckland seems to be NZ's most hated city with most hated inhabitants. Anyway at the tip of the North Island it was a good place to start. After some perusal of the different ways we could navigate this two island country we decided (against our better judgment) to hop on The 'Kiwi Experience' big green bus. Call it all the nicknames you will - we had a bloody brilliant time!! For those of you who have not heard all the toffee about the 'Kiwi Experience', it is a green coach with 'hip' drivers that tootle you and, mostly, like-minded people around NZ. It can feel a bit like you are an old woman on one of those whistle stop tours round Europe, where the coach means limited use of the legs. Also, it was hard placing our trip in the hands of Kiwi bus drivers as we had become very independent in Asia. However, it was a welcome break from language barriers and constantly feeling you may get ripped off and we made a great bunch of new friends.
First stop that made an impression was Cathedral Cove - a gorgeous little beach stop, golden sands and crisp sunshine. One night in Mercury Bay and then a short drive to Paeroa, hometown to the now Coca-Cola owned (what is the world coming to) Lemon & Paeroa, NZ's infamous magical-mystical soft drink. Next stop Matamata (you can't make these names up) also known as Hobbiton, one of the many many places Lord of the Rings was filmed in NZ. Ended that day in Rotorua (commonly referred to as Roto-vegas) possibly THE smelliest place on earth. Think eggs, rotten eggs..it is caused by the sulphur dioxide in the air created by the geothermal activity. The North Island is home to volcanoes having one of the thinnest earth crusts in the world. That night Hiral and I indulged in some authentic Maori culture and received a tour around a Maori village restored to how it would have been about 200years ago. Witnessed a damn good haka and learnt to say 'Hello' Maori style by touching noses. We then overindulged in the meal (being travelers you have to take as much as you can get!!). Finally it was real food - a roast cooked by their cookers in the geothermal grounds. We also had pavlova which was apparently created by the kiwis. Awesome.
Next stop Waitomo, what a brilliant stop. We wet-suited, helmeted, welly-booted and hopped in some rubber rings to go underground caving. We had two pretty spaced out but hilarious tour guides who pushed us down a big black hole and into freezing cold nothingness. Far from the delightful bob and splash around we imagined it ended up being quite hard work. Every waterfall drop we reached we had to stand backwards, wriggle our butts into our tubes, take a deep breath and throw ourselves backwards in a large leap of faith. Landing with lady like large splashes we did eventually get to the part of the cave we wanted - the part with the glow worms. The glow worms were fabulous and well worth the cramped, cold and creepy journey. We also learned, having reached the bottom of the caves that in fact 'glow worms' are just maggots with glowing feces...lovely!
On to Taupo which boasts Australasias largest lake which is big enough to fit the whole of Singapore in; it is also very beautiful. It is additionally the place where superhero mistry threw herself out of a plane at 1500ft!!! I am still in awe as to how she did it and I am sure on request she will show you the pretty hilarious DVD and photo collection! That afternoon we visited some awesome natural thermal baths at the side of this large river. We sat and pruned for a good 4 hours amongst the cold and boiling hot currents, set in beautiful surroundings.
Next night we stayed in the 'arse-end' of nowhere River Valley. Notable only because Hiral and I ended up in a 32 bed mixed dorm aka the 'shag-pad'. Literally 2, 2 tier massive bunkbeds. One realllllly long bed on top of another reallllly long bed - I have never seen anything like it! We also ended up on a badly thought out hike up a gravel hill over a river in jangles (translation-kiwi term for flipflops). The funniest part of this trip was the pulley cart across the river, possibly oldest rickiest, rustiest pulley with the sheer drop to the river below, but with the boys pure muscle we got across!
Quick stop off in Bulls - where the people think they are hilarious donning all their signposts with the word Bull on the end. For example - Constabull on the Police Station, Disabull on the toilets, Bankabull on the bank, Full as a Bull on the Kebab Shop. Again you couldn't make this stuff up! NZ is a quirky one in a million place. We ended in Wellington (the Capital) which lead to a large night out which then lead to a very intoxicated 6am ferry journey to the South Island!! The crossing and Marlborough Sounds were beautiful, but we appreciated them much more on the way back haha!
After a lush Camebert & Chicken pie (this is why I am coming back twice the size I left) we found ourselves in the gorgeous Nelson. Nelson is probably my favourite place in NZ. Charming clean cut houses, a tiny town you could navigate in about 5minutes, an unusual Cathedral and lovely crisp cerulean blue skies. We spent two nights in Nelson and one of the days in the Abel Tasman National Park. There are so many flowery words I could lavish upon the Abel Tasman but it is glorious, truly stunning. If I had to wile away the rest of my days anywhere, so far, it would be here. We organised three of the boys from the bus to come with us (as good housewives me and Hiral made up 2 loaves of sandwiches!!) and at the crack of dawn we set off to the hire car place and rented us a bad ass Daihatsu 1.3 litre bubble car for the 5 of us. Squished in the back been 2 burly boys we set off on our own NZ roadtrip! When we pulled in we were greeted by endless golden beach, salt air and lush green rolling hills. First off we hopped on the water taxi, life jackets donned we whizzed out to see some seals and starfish. Once again felt like a geekily dressed bond girl with all of the captains speed boat geriatrics! The wind in your hair, however cliche it sounds I felt really alive.
We did a 3hour hike through the surrounding forest, stopping off at secluded caves and dipping our toes in the ice cold water. We rambled home over the beach the sea had left. An amazing, exhausting day.
After Nelson we continued down the South Island to Westport, stopping off at the incredible Lake Rotoiti which is surrounded by snow capped mountains and native NZ. Hiral, Jess and I braved it and jumped into the lake trying to get the classic 'Gap Year' shot. It was bloody FREEZING and full of eels. Definitely felt pneumonia setting in as I wriggled onto the shore. Westport onto another place in the 'arse-end' of nowhere, Lake Mahinapau, or as it is affectionately referred to The Poo Pub. The premise behind this place is to get dressed up like a complete tit and party in a dead-end old man's pub with an owner who must be at least 130years old and called Les. The pub itself is a musky hole covered in photos from past Poo Pub Parties, with a ceiling covered in hats from all past customers (it is a bit wolf-creek, those who come never return-esque!). It also has a juke box and does not play music unless you pay for it..imagine a dead quiet pub!! Anyway our bus's dress up theme was icons from your home country. The majority of the bus being British we felt this was a pretty bad theme but H and I went with it and went as a damn groovy St George and the Dragon. I fanny fart arsed around with tinfoil for a good two hours and ended up with a pretty floppy sword but a good shield. There were some excellent costumes including a silver haired Prince Charles, a man-Queen, a very dashing Braveheart, a literally naked chef complete with a wooden spoon and 5 grown men dressed as the Spice Girls.
Post Poo Pub we headed onto Franz Josef home to the Franz Josef Glacier. Here we encountered our first rainy day in NZ which is apparently quite unusual on the West Coast. We met up with our friends Rob and Steve who we'd seen in OZ and Thailand and had a hilarious night of beer and cards in the back of their minicampervan. Unfortunately the next day the campervan met a terrible fate being crushed by a tree. Good job we enjoyed it while we could! The next day saw H & I, explorers and general kick ass women face The Glacier. Adorned with waterproof trousers, 4 dozen layers, a big coat, goves, hat AND spikes to attach to our boots we began the 8hour trek over ice. It was franztastic!! We had so much fun gliding through tunnels like penguins, scootching through ice holes until we hit a current to carry us, climbing down peaks with ropes and singing and dancing on the ice. We were fit for nothing but the gorgeous hot tubs by the time we got off the glacier but it was a wonderful experience. I felt so exhilarated and excited afterwards.
From Franz we hit the beautiful Wanaka, lovely little town with quirky cinema that Hiral and I trekked to just for the cookies (again I am about 4 stone heavier from when I left!). On from Wanaka to Queenstown, the adrenalin capital of the world. It is a beautiful city reminiscent of a ski resort with its movie-set-like western bars and cable car up to the snow tipped mountains. We went to a funky bar on our first night and drank alcohol from teapots and I somehow managed to win a bungy jump photo and dvd package - me miss vertigo! The next morning SuperMistry looked fear straight in the eye and canyon swung. I came with her for moral support and a bit of a laugh at the poor sods! We minibused it up a rocky cliff and came out at the biggest gorge I have ever seen with a small diving pod on the side. Harnessed up, I do not think I have ever seen H so petrified. She walked to the edge, walked straight back from the edge! It took some cajoling but they cranked her out into the open space and dropped her like a peanut into the abyss. Even if you could not see her anymore you could hear her haha! I cannot relate the feeling she had but will happily relate the abnormal gut sound she made!! You will have to ask her what it was like but I am truly proud of her.
On from Queenstown, H and I decided to formulate our own little excursion out to Dunedin without the bus and into the arms of our Kiwi friend Josh. We went to stay with him and his housemates in their Uni House..all 5 of them. Their house is awesome - really huge and bit like an american frat house but with a stainglass window. Fortunately we arrived the weekend of the Dunedin Uni Beer Pong Society Tournament/Championships. Now this game is very complicated - I suggest you google it if you don't know the game or the intense rules. Lets just say, rock off, rebuttle and reform. Thankfully there was a no-show team so H and I (the one and only all girls team) got a chance to represent Britannia amongst the Kiwis. Team Britannia needless to say did not end up in the finals..or the semis or the quarters..in fact we came third from bottom and ended up quite jolly on disgusting beer! But we were the first all girl team to EVER beat a boy team (you should have seen their faces - priceless, damn right I sunk your last cup.) and we beat 3 teams in total. We are def bringing our own society to the UK - watch out surrey. We would like to thank Josh and his proper cool innit housemates for their wonderful hospitality and his rocking girlfriend for helping us drink our shed load of beer.
Back in QT I decided that I could not come to the land of extreme sports and not push myself into something horrible that I would probably hate. So with my voucher I committed myself to a bungy jump. It is the smallest jump but it is the original bungy jump and as I am petrified of heights I thought better not aim too high on my first leap. So on Tuesday 20th April 10amish I threw myself off a bridge with a stretchy chord attached to me. I jumped / flew 43metres and it was terrifying!! It took a lot of 'you can do it' from H, the group of middle-aged tourists shouts from the observatory balcony (I had my own fan club when I came back up) and oodles of help from the lovely men on the bridge but I did it and I am so glad I did. I am still yet to test whether I am scared of heights but I would def recommend the bungy to everyone - even if your a scardey cat like me!
We traveled on from QT to Christchurch stopping at light blue lakes and spying Mt Cook and generally being in constant awe at the landscape. Christchurch is not much to write home about as far as Hiral and I saw but we only had a fleeting visit. After Christchurch we started our journey back up to Auckland. Stopping at Kaikoura, Wellington and Taupo before Auckland we whizzed back up the islands. Main points of the last few days was us coming down after the constant go-go of the kiwi experience. We had one last panache in Wellington with our new found friend Heidi (what what) and Rob & Steve once again (they just have not been able to get rid of us around the world). Heidi danced with an 90yr old man, I ate 4 burgers and we nearly ended up doing a tandem 4 way bungy. It was a pretty big night and a nice way to end our travels.
H and I thought NZ was absolutely marvellous. The greenest place I have ever been with an idealistic outdoor lifestyle. None are as kooky and adventurous as the Kiwis. We have also had a thoroughly amazing 3 months together and would not change anything. We have become wiser by the day. Two has now become 4 (the travelling band has had 2 additions in Fran and Jo) and we are excitedly facing South America. We will head up through Northern Chile and onto Peru starting Sunday.
Hiral and I would like to thank all of our friends and family who have contributed to our trip. Without all your support we could not be on this adventure of a lifetime. We promise we will learn everyday and be grateful every day. We love you all.
Sorry it still ended up quite longg!!
Charlie & Hiral (good girls gone bad)
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Mum Linda
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Well done both of you!
Sounds ike you had a pretty amazing timein NZ! What an adventure! I'm very proud you both for your feats of madness! All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't know about the sky diving or bungy jumping until after you had done them! I hope SA is just as exciting! Have fun and stay safe. Love mum xxx