Last Stop, New Zealand

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So sorry for the delay in this our last blog, but we have been wrapped up in trying to settle in to our new country (South Africa), which required adjusting to the new culture, finding jobs doing other admin and most importantly spend time with our new Golden Retriever puppy Gaucho.

AUCKLAND AND THE CUMMINS’S

As we taxied up the runway to Auckland International our minds immediately kicked into Spanish preparation mode, this was force of habit when arriving in a new city after a long flight/ bus journey. We were going over the words in our heads to make sure we had all the vocabulary and phrases in place to handle the interactions with immigration officials, customs and the rental car agent. Having just completed a thirteen-hour flight crossing 10 time zones and the International Date Line (5th of December 2005 was a day we never experienced), we were in quite a daze so when all the anticipated interactions were in English we couldn’t help smiling at the delicious simplicity.

After a short delay at the car rental office we headed North through the city of Auckland to Birkenhead where our friend Charlotte’s parents lived. They had very kindly offered to put us up for a few days. We managed to navigate there with not too much difficulty although our map finished at the bridge. We were met by a supremely relaxed looking Evan (Charlotte’s dad) who was just preparing breakfast after his daily tennis game and was also in the process of preparing his speech for Charlotte’s wedding in a months time. When you are that organised you deserve to be relaxed. We were offered a choice of rooms and chose the loft room over the garage, which had splendid views across the bay to the city.

After settling in we headed downstairs to enjoy a delicious bacon and eggs breakfast and Charlotte’s mom Heather popped back from the office to say hi. We were granted pretty much free rein of the house and then left on our own as they both headed off to work.

I was having major difficulties with my sandals; six months of almost continuous use in many different environments had lead to them developing a very unpleasant odour. Scrubbing them with Peroxide, boiling them in water and various other attempts at cleansing them had had no effect and the smell was by then so bad that I refused to wear them (as Nicola could smell me coming from miles away). This meant that I had to wear my only other pair of shoes, my hiking boots, which were a bit hot and heavy for everyday use. It was now time to find a replacement so we headed off to the nearest decent sized shopping centre.

We quickly found a shop selling sandals and the assistant set about showing us their full range. The assistant had a distinctly familiar way of speaking and I told Nicola that I thought he was South African. “ No “, she said, “kiwis sound just like us and use the same phrases.” I accepted that for a while but eventually had to ask him if he was from South Africa. He most certainly was he told us. It seemed a bit weird that the first person we met apart from the officials and Charlotte’s parents was a Saffer.

After trying every sandal on offer I chose exactly the same type and handed over my old pair for toxic waste disposal.

THE QUEST FOR A TAKAHE

We stayed awake as late as possible to try and overcome the jet lag but the next morning getting up was no easy task. We wanted to go to the rare bird sanctuary on the Island of Tiritiri Matangi where we hoped to see the rare Takahe of which only 200 still exist. We had overslept so with Nicola navigating, we drove our rental car as fast as we thought we could without having a meeting with the long arm of the law. Our map had very little detail but somehow we made it to the port just as the ferry was docking. As well paying for the ferry Nicola bought us a ticket for a guided tour.

The ferry was a really cool catamaran, cruising at well over 60km per hour, which meant the journey to the island took very little time and soon we were on the island being introduced to our guide, a tiny man called Des. Des must have been in his mid seventies and had done a fair amount of guiding in the Southern Alps; he did volunteer guiding on Tiri to share his love of nature.

Tiritiri Matangi is one of only two Scientific Reserves in New Zealand open to the public. The island was farmed from the 1850s to 1970s, which stripped almost all of its native bush but in the ten years between 1984 and 1994, volunteers planted between 250,000 and 300,000 trees. The island is now 60 per cent forested. The remaining 40 per cent will be left as grassland for species such as the Takahe.

First up were the blue penguins, the smallest of the penguin species. The volunteers had built some nest boxes near to the shore with glass roofs through which you could watch them nesting. After that we walked in some rehabilitated forest where we saw a number of other rare birds (Stitch bird, Saddleback, North Island Robin) before entering a grassland area where we expected to see the Takahe. However Des had made absolutely no mention of them and soon brought the walk to a close. We were shocked, Takahes are the star of the show, it was like going to the Louvre and not seeing the Mona Lisa and Des didn’t seem too bothered that we had missed them.

We decided to have our lunch and set off on a Takahe Hunt in the grasslands round the lighthouse. While I was finishing off my lunch Carl had gone a preliminary recognisance to see if he could find any Takahes. He quickly returned to fetch me and we walked very quietly across a field where he had seen the promising looking bird. We took some photos with the telephoto lens and zoomed into see what it was, I was not convinced it was a Takahe and we went back to the visitors centre to ask the warden. No it was a bird called a Pukeko, which is often mistaken for a Takahe. Pukekos are more slender, can fly, and they are very common. We were disappointed, but she told us that the Takahes had been seen around the area earlier on that morning, so we continued with our Takahe Hunt. After many Pukekos, we decided that we were not having any luck and went down to a small dam to look at some ducks. On the way down, I spotted a bird, which this time looked like a real Takahe. We stalked up as close as we felt we could go without upsetting the birds and they did not fly away. There were 2 of them and they were very curious and friendly and they actually came towards us. They were definitely Takahes. We eventually gave up trying to get some good photos as the grass was the same height as the Takahes and we did not want to get too close and frighten them.

After a bit of Duck Photography, we returned to the visitors’ centre to collect our bags and start the walk home, Very excited about our good sighting I decided to support the conservation of these beautiful and friendly birds by buying something for my good friends Leonie and Cord from the small gift shop. On our way to the forested walk to the ferry, another 2 Takahes were spotted in the Gardens, these 2 had a little baby with them, we watched these birds for as long as we could and Carl had to drag me away as we wanted to do the long walk to the Ferry and time was getting tight. The walk was very pretty and bird sounds filled the air (something you do not hear so much on the main land), we were particularly taken by the amazing sound of the Bell bird and stopped to listen to it more than a couple of times. We were also treated to a little Robin who sat on the handrail right next to the path and did his thing for the Camera.

Far too soon we had to get onto the Ferry and head back to Auckland. We met 2 Belgium guys and we were chatting about our trip so far, suddenly I realized that we were leaving the pier where we were supposed to get off. In a huge panic we banged on the captains door and told him we had missed our stop as we expected an announcement. He was not very happy, but he turned around and let us off. Carl was preparing to jump into the water if he had not let us off as our car was parked there and it would have been hellishly expensive to get back there in a taxi. The plan would have been that he jumped with the car keys, I stay with the bags and he would pick me up in the Harbour in Auckland Central. Thank goodness that we did not have to do that….

THE MUD BATHS OF ROTORUA

After another excellent meal of New Zealand Lamb and a really good night’s sleep at the Cummins’s we had to move on to Rotorua. We found ourselves a very snazzy Youth Hostel just outside the centre of town and found out where we could have the mud bath that I had been looking forward to. The lady at reception was true to high standard of Newland hospitality we had experienced so far and told us exactly where to go and even helped us out by ringing ahead to see if we needed to book. The Mud baths were situated in a spa which was part of a thermal park and it was only 10 NZ$ more to get entrance to the park, so we decided to have a look as they boasted the Southern Hemisphere’s highest hot water falls. After our Bolivian Geyser experiences we were a little disappointed, we expected something far more spectacular than boiling muddy sulphurous water with a bit of steam thrown in for good measure. The hot water falls were also a letdown as they just looked like a normal set of waterfalls with a little bit of mist.

Anyway we decided it was time for our mud bath and got into our costumes and jumped into a pool full of hot mud. It was great fun, I felt like a kid again as we smeared mud all over each other. When our allocated 30 minutes was up, we had a cold shower to get rid of the mud and then were allowed to spend some time in the sulphur springs. Boy did we smell after that. Though our bodies came clean after a couple of washes, Carl’s shorts were not so lucky, no matter how many times we washed them the smell did not seem to dissipate. We eventually had to throw them away as they smelled so bad, though not before making the mistake of washing them with Kara’s washing when we arrived in Wellington. She also smelled of Sulphur for a while.

FAMILY WEEKEND IN WELLINGTON

The drive to Wellington took us through beautiful countryside, past volcanoes and to the sea before we arrived in along with the Rain at Kara (Carl’s Sister) and Andrew’s house in Lower Hutt. Kara was a little upset as all the members of he family who had come to visit her in Wellington had experienced nothing but rain and the previous few days she assured us had been quite sunny. Despite the light drizzle we decided to walk to the neighbouring high street where Kara and Andrew treated us to a wonderful meal at one of their local restaurants. Keen to spend some quality time with Kara and Andrew we decided to skip the touristy stuff and just hang out for the weekend. As it was raining we booked tickets for Narnia (A New Zealand film) at the funky local cinema. Sods law after we booked the tickets the sun came out. As it was still sunny after the movie Kara and Andrew took us on a quick city tour and to the top of a hill that overlooked Wellington and had clear views all the way to South Island. We photographed the clear skies to show the family when we returned proof that we had witnessed good weather in Wellington.

It was great seeing where Kara and Andrew lived and went to work and the places they visit when they go out, it was quite clear that they were enjoying living where they were. It was also really nice to relax a bit and just enjoy doing nothing while we were there.

NELSON AND NORTHERN SOUTH ISLAND

Our time however was limited and it was far too soon that we had to wake up really early in the morning to catch the Ferry to the South Island. We dropped off our rental car at the Wellington ferry terminal and when we arrived in Picton on the South Island there was an upgraded car waiting for us. Our plan was to take a slow drive to Nelson and stop at interesting spots along the way. This is the main wine region of New Zealand so we stopped at a few farms to sample the local produce, good whites but the reds could not be recommended. On the way to the wine region we stopped in town called Blenhiem and had a delicious lunch at a Gourmet Pizza restaurant, I had a vegetarian pizza with Kumara (similar to Sweet potato), feta and butternut, it was delicious, Carl’s pizza was good too, they really are into their gourmet versions of food in NZ. On the way back to the car we passed a pet shop and missing my bunny rabbit, I suggested we have a look at the animals. They had a gorgeous little white lop eared bunny who was super friendly, Mr Binks would have fallen in love straight away, if he did not already have a new girlfriend called Poppy who joined the Mr Binks, Leonie and Cord Family on the 26th November. (If you are interested in Mr Binks’s new friend go to this site to see more http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/tam/viewtopic.php?t=12963). Anyway we dragged ourselves away from the pet shop and headed down the road to Nelson.

We pulled into Nelson and found our hostel, which as usual was run by very friendly people. We decided to save some money and go for the shared bathroom option, as in New Zealand the hostels were impeccably clean and we had so far not experienced any foul bathrooms. Since we had had a good lunch and we were exhausted (a more and more frequent occurrence as we neared the end of our travels) we decided to have an early night and skip dinner. We woke up starving and decided we would head into town for a good breakfast, after a little deliberation we settled on a trendy looking coffee shop which moonlighted as an art gallery. We had an excellent breakfast with fantastic coffee, we loved being a country where coffee is an art and people take pride when serving it! As we were heading out on a 3-day kayaking trip in 2 days time and were not sure of the shopping facilities at our next pit stop a small town called Motueka, we decided to do stock up on kayaking provisions in Nelson.

Just outside Nelson is the World of Wearableart (WOW) and Collectable Cars Museum, which is a museum exhibiting the works from a famous annual fashion-art show whose aim is to combine art and the human form, in the show itself dance, music and lighting tell a story of the body as a canvas; where the lines of fashion and art blur and merge as one…

We were a bit reluctant to pay the exorbitant entrance show, but after having a wander round the gift shop and the foyer we decided it looked interesting and after Kara’s rave reviews the decision was made and we handed over the money. It was worth it, the exhibits were very thought provoking and interesting. In addition to the Wearable art there was a collection of collectable cars lovingly restored. If you are ever in Nelson, it is well worth a visit.

GOLDEN BAY AND THE QUEST FOR TAME EELS

When we arrived at our next hostel there was no one to check us in as the reception was closed until later that afternoon. So we went in search of food, as we were suddenly hungry. Unfortunately as we found a restaurant that we liked we found it was closing for the afternoon. So with a couple of pies and Red bulls to sustain us we made tracks towards Golden Bay, which was highly recommended by a French-Canadian Couple we met in Chile. The journey was along narrow winding roads that made me feel a little car sick, but the views and forest were spectacular. As we neared Golden Bay we spotted a sign, which said “Tame Eels”, intrigued we decided to see if they were open. We were eagerly anticipating meeting some eels close up, however, disappointingly they were closed on Monday afternoons. We settled for a beach session, where Carl collected shells and I made pretty patterns in the sand. The beach was picturesque and went on for miles. It amazed me that there are still these almost untouched areas in a world where similar spots are fast being commercialised. Maybe it has to do wit the weather being so unreliable. We had definitely experienced the famed “4 seasons in one day” more often than not during our short stay in New Zealand. Back in Motueka we had dinner the local Thai restaurant, which was packed and we luckily got the last table. The meal was okay, but nothing to write home about.

SEA KAYAKING IN ABEL TASMAN

The next morning we packed our stuff into waterproof bags and were very grateful that this time we did not have to carry our over catering on our backs. Kaiteriteri was a spectacular site. The beach was situated on a beautiful bay with blue-green water and steep forested islands and inlets on the outer rims of the bay. We found our kayaking company and I decided after a little paddle in a single that I would be happier in a double considering that the weather can be very changeable and I did not feel super confident about my ability should the wind and the waves pick up suddenly. Carl was a little disappointed as he wanted to paddle a single, but he did not want me to feel insecure, as it might be unsafe. We had booked a freedom rental which means we kayaked on our without a guide at our own speed. However, we had a guide and another 2 pairs of freedom rental kayakers accompany us for the first half of the day as they like to make sure you are happy in the kayak and you have a few basic skills before you head off on your own. I thought this was a very good idea as it gave you a little time to get used to the kayaks and learn about the conditions in the area and get advice on which were the best spots to look out for.

We paddled past a big boulder split almost exactly down the middle, which was called rather appropriately Split Apple Rock and ended up on Appletree bay for lunch. Here we split from the guide and our other companions and paddled off on our own. Investigating Adele Island we encountered some Oyster Catchers who made a lot of noise when we approached but refused to fly away.

Our campsite that night was almost at the end of what the Kayaking guides called the “Mad Mile” which was a strip of exposed coastline that could get very rough and had very little in terms of suitable landing coastline. Thankfully he weather was pretty calm and we managed to get to Te Pukatea Bay without any incident. This campsite is fairly basic and just has a tap with unfiltered water and 2 long drops. We unpacked our kayak and set up our tent for a little nap before supper, as the drizzle had started and not used to paddling we were quite tired. Dinner was a good and a couple of mugs of wine later we ready to head off to sleep until Carl started chatting to a fellow camper who was cooking at the table near our tent. The rain returned and I retreated to the tent after storing our food safely away in the hatches of our kayak. We had been warned that we should try not keep food in our tent if at all possible as the notorious possums have been known to chew through tents if they smell food. The whole night I though I heard possums chewing on our tent. But there were no teeth marks in the morning.

Striking camp we dried out the tent in the moments of sunshine and quickly packed our kayak before taking a walk up to a lookout on the point. The coastline was stunning and the sun stayed out for a good couple of hours. We stopped for lunch at an empty beach called Boundary Bay. As we were exploring the beach we discovered a Seal sleeping on a rock, we photographed him and let him be while we ate our lunch. Later that afternoon we stopped at a Bay called Frenchman’s Bay, which had private houses on the beach. Apparently there were a couple of areas where people had bought land and built before the whole area was declared a national park. It is a little disheartening that this area they have worked so hard to preserve and protect has a legacy of holiday houses that people refuse to sell in order to create a pristine area with no sign of human impact. Having missed the tides that would enable us to paddle up some of the tidal lagoons we paddled slowly up the coat investigating the inlets and beaches we encountered.

Reaching our second campsite late in the afternoon, we found a couple of girls watching the sea and who much to Carl’s amazement went swimming topless before they departed. We were the only people there and even though there was a steady stream of hikers passing by no one seemed to be staying the night here. As we were eating our dinner a rather out of breath Irish girl arrived followed by a French girl and they were to be our fellow campers that night. They were very unlikely companions, we could see from the outset that they were not very compatible as it turned out they had met in a Youth hostel and the French Girl had a tent and was looking for a hiking companion. They had carried beers in their backpacks and were very happy to lose the weight of the liquid.

Eventually after a lot of arguing they had set up their tent with some funny makeshift awning to prevent the rain coming in the door. We had retreated to our tent to pay Spite and Malice (a card game), when we hear a loud scream and what sounded like a cry for help, we poked our noses out of door and saw flames. We immediately jumped out of tent and saw that our fellow campers had managed to catch their camping stove alight from the join at the gas bottle and had flung it onto its side. These flames were a huge fire risk as the forest was extremely flammable, the reason why open fires were banned and campers were required to use camping stoves only at these campsites. Carl managed to get the gas bottle upright so the flames would not catch the vegetation. After pouring our whole bottle of newly treated water, we ran back and forth from the tap filling the bottles and pouring it over the stove to keep it cool and prevent it from exploding. We managed top get it cool enough for Carl to turn the gas off. It turned out they had not screwed the stove into the gas bottle properly.

After missing the tides the previous day we decided to get our act together and leave in time to make the high tide at Shag Harbour so we could explore the tidal lagoon. The weather had turned a little nasty that day and we headed straight across the bay and hit a bigger swell than we had experienced on any of the previous days. As we got to the exposed area Carl spied a penguin and started to turn towards it, I was a little panicky and the waves were choppy and I was going in a direction that did not comprehend, as I had not seen the penguin. Trying to counter the movement, we ended up going in circles. After I had calmed down we decided to go and find the penguin, which I struggled to see between all the Seals sleeping in the rocks and playing in the sea. Eventually I spotted it and we carried on. We were worried that we had missed he entrance to Shag Harbour and were debating whether to turn back or not when thankfully it came into view. A seal guarded the entrance to the tidal lagoon and as we paddled in we discovered that we were the only people in the lagoon, it was green and serene. We drifted around exploring each the little inlet in turn.

The rain started to get heavier and as we were sheltering under a tree we saw a seal come swimming up the inlet, so we decided to follow it. After following it back and forth to the fresh water inlet at the far end of the lagoon we gave up on the possibility of a seal encounter a he was not really interested in us. Then a group of kayakers on a guided tour arrived, the guide managed to get right in the path of the seal, which came right up to him and put his head up for a pat. I was extremely jealous and the guide made it even worse by going on about it very loudly disrupting the stillness!

Having explored the lagoon thoroughly and no longer having it entirely to ourselves, we made our way back to Onetahuti beach where our pick up was scheduled for 3pm that afternoon. The weather was still pretty wet and we were soaked through and made up our minds to try and get an earlier water taxi, so we could get home and dry sooner. We had to wait a while for the next taxi but when he arrived he said we had to hurry, as he was late. We desperately grabbed at all our stuff which we had already unpacked out of the kayak, it was difficult to carry all in one go as it was all in separate bags but we scrambled it together and flung it all in the luggage compartment of the water taxi. Abel Tasman has this fantastic system of water taxis which drop off and pick up hikers and kayakers, so you do not have to double back and you can choose to start or finish almost anywhere in the park. You should book a specific taxi slot but if there is room you can just flag one down and use your booking on the one you flag down. Our Taxi was pretty full and we picked up a girl who had capsized her kayak while on a group tour and did not want to continue her trip, she looked very unhappy. I was glad we had not flipped our kayak, as I would probably not have been happy either, though I would have carried on. We stopped at a couple of beaches to pick up other people, but we were quickly full and not able to pick up anyone else. When we arrived back in Kaiteriteri it was quite a task to gather all our stuff from the luggage compartment as it had spilled all over the place. We found out the next day that we had actually lost both our spare batteries for our camera, which was a rather irritating expensive slip.

NELSON TO THE WEST COAST

Back in Nelson we stayed in a pristine Youth Hostel called “Accents on the Park· (closer to the centre of town than the last one) which was run by a very Friendly dude called Royd in the with good value food cooked by Mom in a small restaurant- bar downstairs.

Next morning we visited the Nelson Sunday market, where we had Pancakes and coffee for breakfast while we wandered around looking at the various arts and crafts and market produce stalls. We left fairly early, as it was a long journey South to Franz Joseph. We drove along typical narrow winding New Zealand roads through lots of natural forest interspersed with the Terrible Pine. We stopped for a couple of times to have a look at the view and at one of the spots there was a couple who had returned from fishing in the river below, who were very keen to show us this bird that had followed them. It was called a Weka (a very curious bird the size of a chicken).

New Zealand is renowned for its sheep but we saw many more cows both in number and biomass, we actually had to stop and take photos of this amazingly long line of cows, The beginning of the line was about to pass under a small underpass of the road, and the line stretched all the way back to the end of the field and round the corner. Right at the back was a farmer on his quad bike herding them along. When I got to the verge over the underpass all the cows at that point in the line stopped and looked at me and posed for photos, causing a huge pile up behind them. (See Photo)

As we turned on to coast road we saw a sign, which said no petrol for 100 kms. We were a little concerned but decided that we had enough to make it as the petrol gauge said a quarter of a tank. Unfortunately the gauge seemed to fall much faster in the second half than in the first and by the time we had done 70 kms it was close to empty. The West coast was dramatically beautiful and managed to keep me from stressing about the level of petrol in the tank. One of our photo stops was an area called Punakaiki, which was a coastal region where the rocks that looked like stacks of Pancakes. We as per usual took loads of photographs.

Thankfully we managed to cruise on empty for until we reached the first petrol station where we quickly filled the tank.

ICE CLIMBING ON FRANZ JOSEPH GLACIER

Finally in Franz Joseph we checked into our hostel, which was run by a South African couple, who had moved to New Zealand over 10 years ago. They were very negative about life in South Africa and did not have a good thing to say about it. Carl gets very angry with people who always feel they have to justify their decisions, and refuse to acknowledge that things can change, so he did not want to stay around to chat. I find it very hard talking to people who find it difficult to believe that there is hope for a positive future in South Africa.

After dinner and a long reading session waiting for the sun to set, we took a walk to see the famed glow-worms that we had missed on the North Island. There was a path very close to our hostel and as we left the road and started up the forested path we saw the little glowing pinpoints like little fairy lights in the trees. When we went a bit deeper into the trees on the side of the road the density of glowing pinpoints was amazing and as it was so dark in the vegetation they looked like stars in suspended the sky. Knowing that we had to get up early the next morning we dragged ourselves back to the hostel, very happy that we had made the effort to go and see them.

Although the glacier treks were highly recommended by people who had been on them we decided that it just didn’t sound exciting enough so we decided to book an ice-climbing trip. Neither of us had done any climbing so this was a chance to do something completely new.

The ice climbing was a full day activity and we set off on trekking to the glacier around 7:30 am. It was about a 2km walk to the glacier face and when we reached the face we had to wait while some guides cut steps into the ice to allow us to get on top of it. Looking up at the face with all these minute looking people working away on the ice gave us a real sense of the scale of the glacier, VERY BIG. There were quite few groups going up onto the ice but we were the only one that would be doing climbing. Once the staircase onto the ice was ready we began walking up onto the ice to reach the point where we would be doing our climbing. The glacier ice came in every shade of blue and had been carved into the most unworldly shapes. At times we had to cross some very temporary looking bridges that the guides had set up over crevasses, which could easily have been 30m deep.

Once we reached the climbing one of the guides set off to set up some ropes while the other taught us the techniques we would require to scale the ice. We had to kick our crampons lightly into the ice but really drive in the ice axes and wherever possible keep our weight on our feet as opposed to our arms. Our first climbing spot was fairly easy but we were still getting used to the techniques for driving in our axes so for us it was still a challenge. The second spot however was much more difficult as it had a bit of negative incline. This meant you could no longer put your weight on your feet but had to support it with your arms. It was incredibly tiring and after doing 6 climbs we were totally drained and could not consider an additional climb so we headed back down the glacier. We were now quite confident walking on the ice and the guides kept shouting at us to not venture from the path as each time we saw something interesting to photograph.

Ice climbing is something we can definitely recommend although it is a little pricy.

KEAS OF ARTHUR’S PASS

The next day we woke up a little sore in the muscles from the previous days exertions. Our aim for the day was to reach Arthur’s Pass in the Southern Alps which is well know for its resident population of Keas, the carnivorous parrot know to enjoy causing damage to cars tyres, shoes and pretty much anything not made of solid steel.

On route we stopped in the very touristy town of Hokitika where there was a mini zoo where you could see live kiwis. As we were in New Zealand we decided we had to see a kiwi even if it was in captivity. The entrance fee was a little steep but the owner assured us that there were many other things to see. These included some terrapins, eels, a few birds and some really shabby looking marine exhibits. The whole place had a really dilapidated feel about it and the creatures did not look too happy being there. The kiwis were kept in a special dark habitat and were quite a bit larger than we expected. They have a really strange shape and there was a young bird, which seemed to have a lot of difficulty keeping its balance and kept rolling over like a ball.

We reached Arthur’s Pass but the bad weather had moved in and it did not look like hiking would be all that pleasant. There are only 2 hostels in Arthur’s Pass and we tried to phone ahead but the one was full and the other did not answer the phone. We were not keen to camp with all the rain and Keas (as they are known to eat tents). Carl went into the hostel that had not answered the phone and although there was no one there, there was a board where you could reserve free rooms, Carl quickly put our names in the slots for the last 2 mixed dorm beds. It turned out that that particular dorm room was actually designed for 2, you had to walk through another room to get to it and suited us perfectly. During one of the breaks in the rain we spotted a Kea hopping around the town and we spent a good 45 minutes trying to take a nice picture of it as it went around creating havoc and picking up anything that looked shiny. Carl was very happy that we had seen a Kea, as it was one of the birds he had really wanted to see, they are parrots but they live in alpine conditions and eat meat. They are also very intelligent and tend to cause trouble in human settlements as they like chewing on rubber and leather and if you leave your shoes outside they will get eaten.

MIKE AND SUZ OF CHRISTCHURCH

Next morning the rain was still poring, so a hike was out of the question, we headed for Christchurch instead. We had arranged to stay with Mike Millar and Suz in their brand-new house, and as we had arrived a little early we decided to explore the area heading down to the sea and estuary for lunch. The wind was pumping so lunch by the sea became lunch on the shores of the estuary. We both tried to get close-up photos of the oystercatchers on the mud flats, but as fast as you approached them they ran away. A little more bird chasing and we decided to get some cultural input in the form of a visit to the Christchurch Art Gallery. It was free entry and a very impressive looking building. Inside they had a visiting exhibition by Korean artists. The pieces were fantastically stimulating and obviously a lot of though had gone into them. One of my favourites was a snake made out of the keys of a key board and it was eating a computer mouse, and Carl liked a dark room which was the artist’s studio all the main lines of the items in the room and the door frames had been painted in paint that glowed in the dark, it was like walking through the Tron movie.

Cultural injection over, we headed to Mike and Suz’s place. They had just moved in and we were their second set of visitors. It was great to Mike again who was busy preparing a chicken for dinner when we arrived. Their house was stunning, old Art Deco overlooking the river, they the basics in terms of furniture, but Mike had hung a pair of Giant Christmas underwear in the window as the token Christmas decoration.

Suz was busy Christmas shopping so we had a couple of drinks and showed Mike some of the many travel photographs. After a very good dinner and some more chatting it was time to hit the sack. We had decided to have a drive round the headland to the other side of estuary while Mike and Suz were at work. We had to return our rental car and Mike had offered to pick us up from the Rental car office later that afternoon. Carl spend some of the morning trying to fix the passenger door lock which we had discovered had a piece of metal jammed in the keyhole after a lot of pulled he got out the piece of metal which turned out to be the tip of a pair of scissors. We were not sure when this happened or if it might have already been there when we picked up the car as it was pouring with rain and had not bothered with more than a cursory glance. Car return was very easy, we drove into a garage and there is an electronic transmitter in the car which checks you in and then the man comes and says goodbye checking if there were any problems. We told him our radio was crap and we were on our way. Mike picked us up in his snazzy 4x4 and we went to get some meat and wine for the braai (barbeque) we had planned that night on the lovely roof terrace of Mike and Suz’s new house. Among the many Kiwi guests was Sam Ward who had worked with me at GS in London and was a fellow South African, Sam was going to move in with Mike and Suz early in the new year. We had a lovely evening drinking lots of wine and eating lots of food, Suz whipped up some fantastic salads and Mike was a dab hand on the BBQ.

As it was a weeknight everyone left at a reasonable hour and we had a quick clean-up session before packing our bags for the almost last time. While we were packing there was a little drama when Suz discovered that she had taken the van key home and that the hospital staff needed it first thing in the morning. Luckily Mike had very kindly offered to take us to the airport for our very early flight and would be able to drop the keys off afterwards on his way into work. Closing my eyes that night I was aware that this was the last real night of our trip as after the monstrous plane journey that lay ahead we would be back in the UK. We had two last little new experiences to look forward to, we had arranged to have lunch with Angela Clark in Sydney and a brief walk round Bangkok airport.

We left New Zealand, all too aware that we needed to return. There is so much to see and the friends and family we managed to connect with made it a really warm and welcoming place despite the weather.

AUSTRALIA AND THE FLIGHT HOME

As there is only a tiny bit of Australia and it is really part of our trip home, we have included it here. Being at Christchurch airport at just after 4am, we were informed that we might need a visa for Australia as due to a recent acquisition the Qantas computer systems were unable to check us through to our final destination, and we had to clear customs in Sydney, but not to worry that airline would pay for the visas. After 45 minutes in the check-in queue we were told that as our stop-over was more than 8 hours (8 hours and 15 minutes) we had to get another type of visa which the airline would not pay for and to make matters worse we had to go back to the Qantas desk to get it as they could not issue it there. I was fuming, I hate waiting in queues and I had double-checked this with the man at the Qantas ticket desk when we arrived. Anyway there was nothing we could do except go and pay for our visas. Luckily the check-in man could see how upset I was and said we could come back to him when we were done and not wait in the huge queue again.

Well the Qantas efficiency was a good indicator of our Australian experience (which was not very smooth). Landing in Sydney we had to stand in another huge queue for immigration, after which we collected our bags and had to clear customs. As we had a couple of wooden gifts and leather products we had to go through the red queue (something to declare). After showing the lady all our little things she made us unpack everything out of our bags and did an extremely thorough search. We had been super accommodating and no one else was subjected to such a thorough search, so I was again a little irritated watching our Australia time quickly ticking away in Customs. Having to repack a hiking pack is quite a big deal as it requires a lot of planning and I could not seems to get everything back in.

Finally through Customs, we went to check our bags in for our next flight and were told we could not. I could feel my temperature rising, and my blood began to boil, I really had enough of Qantas, how can they sell you a flight from Christchurch to London and make you pay to store you bags in between the legs. The apologised for the inconvenience but I think they should have paid to store our bags.

We took the train into the city, to the Aquarium where we had arranged to meet Ang. We were planning to visit the aquarium while we waited for her, as we were supposed to have 4 hours to spare before lunch, but all the bag trouble, set us back 3 hours and we did not think it was worth the 40 Aussie dollars to go in for only an hour. So we waited in the sun looking at all the boats in Darling Harbour. Ang arrived and we wandered down the waterfront looking for somewhere to eat, it was great to see her again and even more special as we managed to time lunch for her birthday. We had a fantastic lunch and walked through the city to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House view point, where after a couple of photos, we had to head back to the airport as we had to check in for the next flight. Ang accompanied us to the airport and after we had checked-in we had a little more time to spend with our lovely friend before we had to get on the plane.

My brief visit to Thailand consisted of a quick stroll round Bangkok airport, I was not allowed to add this to my country count as I did not pass through customs and spend a night / do an activity there. So Carl still has Thailand ahead of me on our country count. I will have to make sure we go back and visit it properly.

36 hours after leaving Christchurch we landed in London. Our final destination was my Parent’s house in Edinburgh, but we had arranged to stay a day in London to catch up with Binks’s new parents and meet the new girlfriend Poppy. We were so happy to see our old bunny enjoying his new friend and teaching her bad habits. And of course it was wonderful to Leonie and Cord, who made us a lovely lunch and spent most of the morning/ afternoon chatting. They are such special friends and we are really going to miss having them around. I feel cheated not spending enough time in the same city, they move to London and we leave 6 months later. Some of our other London friends were in South Africa in the run-up for Richard and Charlotte’s wedding, so we got to catch up with them in SA.

We will to miss all our friends from London (and the ones in Europe), but as with all the friends we have made on our travels, we hope we can keep in touch, now our journey and this story had come to an end. If the thought of visiting South Africa even pops into your head, please let us know and we would be happy to help you out with ideas and would love to welcome you to our country and into our home.

FINALE

It was a truly remarkable thing to be able to travel for so long and people often ask, “What was the best part of the trip?” or “Which places did you like the most?” It is very difficult to answer as our experiences have been so varied and there is almost always something about a place, which makes it special or memorable for us. Our journey was full of dramatically contrasting landscapes from icebergs, high altitude deserts to rain forest. We have had a myriad of amazing experiences, met interesting people and made many friends. It was not just about the physical experiences but it was also a voyage of discovery about each other and ourselves. This journey has strengthened our resilience and adaptability, and our ability to cope with adversity together.

So to sum it all up, the best thing was the whole trip!

While we found it both exciting and fulfilling, we were happy to put our feet firmly back on familiar ground and love not living out of a backpack anymore. We are very thrilled to be starting a new life with our little Golden Retriever puppy in South Africa. We have new and exciting experiences of a different kind ahead as we settle into our new and dynamic country.

The End

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Photos

West Coast
View from the road down the West coast of the South Island.

Auckland by Day
The view acrross Auckalnd Harbour from our room at the Cummins's.

Auckland by Night
The view acrross Auckalnd Harbour from our room at the Cummins's.

Tiritiri Matangi
Nicola searching for a Takahe on Tiritiri Matangi.

A Takahe!
We were very lucky to see this very rare bird, of which there are only 200 in the world.

Lucky Duck
The Duck that led us to the Takahe, if we had not detoured to see this guy and his family we would not have come accross our Takahes.

Crazy Dog Building
On route to Rotorua we passed through this quirky little town with this Dog building and the Sheep Building in the next photo.

Crazy Sheep Building
These buildings contained tourist shops and info.

Mud Mud Glorious Mud
Nicola in the Mud bath at Hell's Gate Thermal wonderland.

Sulphurous Soak
Nicola in the Sulphur pool after the mud bath.

Lady Knox Geyser
This geyser goes off at the same time everyday as the feed is soap. It was pretty impressive though.

Kara's House in Wellington
Please note that sunshine and blue sky. Nicola with Andrew and Kara on their porch in Wellington, home of the raincloud.

Wellington Panorama
View of the city from the top of a prestigious Wellington Hill

Typical Hostal Kitchen
We were amazed at the organisation of the Hostels in NZ. They catered very well to the budget traveller who wanted to self cater.

Tame Eel Disappointment
This is the spot where we hoped to see the Tame Eels, unfortunately it was closed when we got there, so we got to see the sign instead.

Golden Bay Games
Nicola played with shells on the Beach of Golden Bay.

Kaiteriteri
This photo deos not do the place justice, the bay was absolutely Stunning!

Kayak Landing
We stopped on many beaches and we had to be careful of the tides andmake sure we pulled it high enough so we would not return to an empty beach and a kayak floating in the sea

Walk in Abel Tasman
To balance out our time at seas, we decided to take a short walk before setting out in our kayak.

Te Pukatea Bay
Our campsite was right in the middle hidden in the forest.

Oyster Catcher
We spent a lot of time photgraphing this little guy from our kayak. You can get much closer than on foot.

Home for a night
Our camp site in Tonga Quarry in Abal Tasman.

Shag Harbour
The tidal lagoon at shag harbour, the sea outside was much rougher than this sheltered lagoon.

Punakaiki
An area on the West coast where the rocks that looked like stacks of Pancakes. One of the many photos we took here.

Punakaiki again
Another photo of this wonderful geology.

Tree Ferns
They were everywhere!

Till the Cows come home
This was the beginning of an amazingly long line of cows, all going home.

Franz Joseph
We took this photo in case the sun did not come out again, we were lucky we had another morning of sunshine before the rain set in the following afternoon.

Climber Carl
Carl making his way up a wall of ice in Franz Joesph Galcier.

Carl coming down
Coming down was just as fun as going up and much easier....

Vetran Climbers
Both of us after a hard day of climbing on Franz Joseph Glacier.

Crampon
These spiky things allow you to walk on ice and climb up it.

Weka
These friendly birds know that human picknick equal food and come out of the bushes when cars stop at the side of the road.

Kea of Arhtur's Pass
We spent a good while chasing after this bird tyring to get a good photo. He hopped most of the way, flying being to much effort.

Christchurch Art Gallery
Where we saw an inspiring exhibition by Korean artists.

Mike and Suz
We were pretty tired of taking photos and forgot to take any of Mike and Suz's stunning house, we did manage to at least get one of them

Sydney
In our couple of hours in Sydney, we got to have lucnh with Ang and see the Opera house.

Our Puppy
This is our little boy at 8 weeks.

Boy do they grow
At 9 and a half weeks he had put on 2.5kgs and weighed 7 kgs and had started losing his puppy looks.