Yis

Currently residing in Prahran (which everyone pronounces Praaaaahn) in sunny Melbourne, Aussie, after - I hate to say - a disappointing two weeks in New Zealand.

It was inevitable, I suppose, that after the South America Experience New Zealand was going to feel a bit pedestrian. It felt like England, and not in a good way. Sure, it is a beautiful country scenery-wise, the Kiwis are very friendly, but it felt like being on holiday in Norfolk. Again, not in a good way, if you can even conceive of the idea of fun in Norfolk. Although I didn't want to, I found myself comparing everything to South America, which was never going to be a good policy of enjoying what the country had to offer. Life seemed very expensive again, the challenges of South America were gone, and things were just too easy. The hostels were the worst thing about the country. Enormous, faceless chains that pack in hundreds of people. Sure, they are efficient and clean, but completely charm-free, and so dauntingly big that it makes meeting other travellers virtually impossible. So for the first time since I started travelling I have been pretty much on my own, which is fun for a few days but after that starts to get on your nerves. And it is COLD! My Colombian friends wouldn't survive five minutes outside in Nueva Zelanda...


My first stop in NZ was Auckland, the biggest city in the north of the North Island, described by a friend as a 'Poor Man's Sydney'. A fair description. I did look around an interesting museum, with lots of great Maori sculptures, and met up with a friend from home, Chloe, who is working at a hostel (one of the worst) in Auckland. I also made a trip south to Taupo, a small town in the centre of the North Island, on the shores of a vast lake (Lake Taupo), from which you can see two big volcanoes on the horizon. One of the volcanoes is apparently Mount Doom from the dull-as-dishwater "Lord of the Rings" films that were all shot on location in NZ. I was supposed to go on an interesting trek near Taupo but I missed the only bus to take me there. Instead I went to see one of the many geothermal areas in the region, with boiling mud pools, geysers with towering steam jets and the smell of sulphur everywhere. For those that have never smelt sulphur, it is stereotypically compared to rotten eggs. I also played my first round of golf in several years, and, somehow, played like a champion - for my usual standards at least. Only played nine holes, but carded about 43, and I can't remember a tee shot that didn't go over 200 yards and land right in the middle of the fairway. I was delighted. I know if I were to play again, I would add about 10-15 strokes to my card. This is just the way of things with me and golf. I can't explain it; I think I need a golf psychologist.

After a few days on the North Island I got a cheap flight to Queenstown in the south of the South Island, the self-proclaimed "adrenaline sports capital of the world", and home of the bungee jump. I would have done something adrenaline-based, like skydiving, but it was so expensive I didn't bother. Queenstown itself is tacky, touristy, full of 18-year-old gap year kids and not my cup of tea at all. It has a lovely setting, though, cradled between mountains at the foot of a beautiful lake. In fact, much of what I saw of the South Island looks like the Scottish Highlands, with place names to match: Glenorchy, Invercargill, to name but a few. It is easy to see why so many Scottish people emigrated here - it must have felt like home, but 13,000 miles away from Glasgow. Didn't do much in the area, except go for a few walks (the only free outdoor thing to do in Queenstown) and met up with a friend I made in Peru who happened to be in town with her folks.

After Queenstown I decided not to spend much more time in NZ as not only was it expensive, I felt it wasn't worth hanging around somewhere that I wasn't really enjoying. I decided to race through the country, get to Australia and spend the minimum amount of the time there too, before getting to Southeast Asia, where it would be cheap once more and more challenging.

I made quick work of the South Island, spending a night in Christchurch on the east coast, before reaching Picton, the Calais to Wellington's Dover, and got a ferry to the capital on the North Island the following day. Had a fun weekend there catching up with Nick, my friend who used to run my local pub in Ealing. I also paid a visit to the NZ Cricket Museum at the Basin Reserve ground, where NZ lose all their Test matches.

Yesterday I flew from Wellington to Melbourne, where I'll stay for a few days to catch up with travelling buddies Rob, Tristan, Tom and Kelda, who are all back home, before a brief visit to Perth and Western Australia. I'll be in Hong Kong in just over a week, for a couple of days, before reaching Bangkok, which I am looking forward to a lot.

I feel bad for dissing NZ a bit, as it is a lovely place and if I had started my trip here I might have appreciated it a lot more. So my mindset is partly to blame for the experience. You can't love everywhere, I suppose...

(NB: The title of this blog, for those uninitiated in Kiwispeak, is the Kiwi pronunciation for "Yes" the popular English affirmative answer, styled to perfection by Murray Hewitt in NZ's finest comedy, "Flight of the Conchords". Yis.)

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