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Published: December 17th 2008
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It has been a few weeks since we last updated the blog. The time has flown by and if we are honest we have been a little lazy...
After 3 months in South America we were looking forward to being able to speak English again and not having to fumble around for our dictionary just to buy a chocolate bar. In addition we were staying with my old house mate and friend Denise for our first week in Auckland and were very much looking forward to home comforts, before picking up our campervan, which we will come to later...
Having seen so much in South America we did wonder what New Zealand would have to offer to trump what we had seen already. We flew in at 4am and so saw little of the country from overhead and as such didnt really have any idea what to expect for the next 5 weeks. We knew there were lots of sheep and that it was quite likely to rain, but apart from that not much else. We also figured its only a small country surely 5 weeks wil be long enough to see everything....oh how wrong we were!
Now
in order to make this a little easier to read and not bore everyone who is reading this (including ourselves) to tears we will break our journey around this wonderful country into North and South Island, rather than day by day!
We had decided to spend 2 weeks on the North Island. Staying with Denise and Matt for the first week was great. Not only was it great to catch up with them but also fellow brits Sandra (my PGCE saviour) and Seamus work friend Will. Denise took us to do some sightseeing in Auckland, which we both found to be a really nice city, maybe because it feels very familiar, and the fact it is surrounded by water and beaches gives it a really nice edge. We got to go shopping to replace our holey clothes, got taken out for dinner (Denise and Matt thanks again!) and had time just to do normal things. We were both really suprised how nice it was to do 'normal' things as we hadn't really thought we had missed home comforts, however having a big comfy bed and a clean bathroom not shared by a hundred poeple really was great! In addition
we got to plan our route around the country...all good stuff!
So onto the campervan.....
Having booked our camper through the cheapest company we knew we would probably be taking a bit of a risk, but looking at it in a glass half full kind of a way we decided all the bad reviews the company had received from travellers were probably exaggerated and that people who had had good experience probably never write about them anyway....hmmmm The company that calls itself 'wicked' (watch out UK they are coming to you) turned out to be not as 'wicked' as they perhaps advertise themselves to be! The vans are plastered in graffiti as a bit of a gimick, however on arriving to the depot we realised it was probably to hide the fact a number of their vans are probably not a roadworthy as they claim to be....well you get what you pay for I guess. Seamus had already mentioned to them we were a little older than most of ther clients and could we have a slightly tamer van i.e. not one with 'police come and arrest me' and slipknot plastered on the side of it.
So
the guy shows us our van 'itchy and scratchy'... ok not too bad, however on closer inspection we realised the lock was half falling out the door...not great when you are going to be storing all your possesions in it. When we mentioned it he seemed a little suprised but agreed to give us another 'Darth Vadar' van which was described by the mechanic as being a 'great little runner'. It was all they had left and least it was slightly more roomy, so hesitantly we took Darth Vadar, complete with mouldy interior, and headed back to Denises' to pack..
Now in all fairness the van looked like a heap of junk (and was slightly humiliating to be seen in), but when we actually got in on the road to head to our first destination of Wai-tomo it actually seemded to run ok (apart from a small misfire). In addition we had mastered the 'rock on' hand gesture obligatory when you drive a wicked van apparently so we tootled off fairly happy. We arrived at our first campsite (very nice) and booked on to do blackwater rafting the following day. Blackwater rafting involves floating through rivers in gloworm lined
caves on a rubber tyre. It was brilliant fun and we both decided an excellent start to the trip!
The following day once the van started (according to Seamus it just needed to warm up) we headed to Rotarura to see New Zealands famous thermals. The place stank of rotton eggs from the sulfer but was a spectacular sight and we spent our third day visiting a place called Wai-o-tapu, a national park which houses famous sulpher filled hot pools and bubbling mud pots just south of Rotarura. The place was incredible (especially for a science geek)...it has natural rainbow coloured hot pools, geysers and steaming mud pools caused by volcanic activity.
Heading back to the van we decided to go onto our next destination of Lake Taupo. Not that easy however when the lights have been left on and the battery is now flat (well done Seamus). So after failing miserably at jump starting the van we had no choice but to call the AA. After trying to convince Mr AA we hadnt let the battery run dead (he didnt believe us) he managed to get it started to then inform us it was 'misfiring like a
bastard' and that we better get it to a garage.....great. We got it to a garage. Mechanic tells us he's not too sure what is wrong with it but it will probably get worse and just to keep on driving it. Double great.
We decided not to get us down and hoped it would be ok. So for the next few days we had a great time. The North Island is really beautiful. We visited Lake Taupo, Moon Valley and Whakapapa (pronounced fuckapapa..always amusing) where we hiked the 18.5km Tongoriro Alpine crossing, which passes just under the peak of Mount Tongariro an active volcano. This was definately a highlight even though we couldn't move afterwards.
We stayed at Paekakariki Bay, where we got to see some great beaches on the way to Wellington (another great city) where we met up with Mairead (hello!) to enjoy a few bevvies before heading off to the South Island.
7 days in and the van was still working (and actual fact seemed to driving better after the mechanic did nothing to it!), all the campsites were really nice and everyone was really friendly, so so far so good!
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