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Published: February 3rd 2013
The Schedule.
Leaving 6th February 2013 from London Heathrow for Hong Kong.
5 days in Hong Kong then fly to Auckland.
1 week touring North Island.
Fly to South Island, pick up Camper Van, tour for 1 month.
Fly to the Cook Islands for 1 week beach holiday.
Fly back to Heathrow via Los Angeles arriving 25th March 2013.
Let the fun begin..............
06/02/13
The train journey to Heathrow was trouble free apart from us manhandling a combined 43kg of suitcases over the bridge at Paddington. If Mike had any muscles he would surely have pulled one!
We flew by Air New Zealand, Boeing 777 and apart from the cages of chickens and some goats it was quite comfy. The food was, surprisingly, very good.We landed at Hong Kong and were greeted and handed over to 7 different tour guides as we walked the 200 yards to the shuttle bus. (I kid you not).
A 2 hour bus ride, we were the last to be dropped off, and we reached the excellent Hotel Novotel Century.
Went for a walk to get our bearings and some
food, Italian, yes I know! In our defence, we were feeling a little delicate because our body clocks were in shreds.
Hong Kong is astonishing! The sheer number of people; the high rise living; the stunning skyscrapers; the sensible elevated walkways out of traffics way; the affluence and the cleanliness. Oh! and bottles of wine in restaurants start at £30 which is outragous because they're £6 in shops!
08/02
Open topped bus tour around the island, we froze and got quite damp in the persistent mizzle! Caught one of the famous Star Ferries across to Kowloon which reminded me of Le Carré's The Little Drummer Boy.
09/02
Lantau Island Tour today. At the Po Lin monastery we saw the worlds largest, seated, outdoor bronze Buddha. Impressive. Before you ask, Mike looks nothing like him. Scary 5.7km cable car ride from the monastery over the mountains down to City Gate with fantastic views of the newish airport all built on reclaimed land.
Went for a walk this evening, New Years Eve, as did 1.5 million Hong Kongese.
Amazing!
I can't stress enough how affluent everywhere looks and it is
spotless. Every designer shop you can think of is here.
10/02
We had a New Year's Day dinner in Kowloon followed by stand tickets for the traditional multi-national parade of floats, acts and dancers. Very colorful and noisy.
11/02
Lazy day waiting for our flight to Auckland and hopefully better weather.
12/02
Another dose of jet lag followed our 10 hour flight to New Zealand. It took ages to get through immigration, passport and walking boots control so we were feeling whacked before we started our 6 hour drive to Visit Mike's cousins Jeff and Gay. Their bungalow just outside Mangonui is to die for. Perched on a hill and surrounded by their own olive grove the views over Doubtless Bay and the surrounding countryside are breathtaking.
The following day Jeff gave us a tour of the local beaches and we played millionaires golf in the afternoon, empty course, 25 degrees and cloudless sky. Bliss!
14/02
Reluctantly we said our goodbyes and set off early for our tour of North Island. First stop, after a long drive, Waitomo Glow Worm Caves.
Eery underground boat trip in complete darkness to view the glow worms lining the cave ceilings. Then on to Rotarura.
We arrived in Rotarua and eventually found a motel on Fenton Street, yes it made us laugh as well, the YouTube video of a man trying to stop his dog chasing deer in a park!
15/02
Breakfasted in McDonalds, surprisingly good, and went to the museum, the guide was from the Julie Walters school of "Two Soups" customer service, bless her.
On to the Maori Institute, Te Puia, to see the geysers and mud pools.
Finally we headed for Taupo but a sell out concert by Pat Benitar, (I remember her but you may have to look her up), meant that accommodation was scarce so we found a place at Chateau Tongariro which was quite handy for Tongariro Crossing planned for the next day.
16/02
Happy birthday to Mike! Well we did the walk, 1900 meters elevation, 16.5 km over lava fields with fabulous views of volcanic craters in perfect weather. Five and a half hours of hell. We ache all over. That was my present? I'm
Tongariro Crossing
More volcanoes than you can shake s stick at!ashamed to say that Jayne carried the ruck sack most of the way, she is way fitter than I am.
Staggered to the hotel restaurant for dinner, lots of wine and sympathy.
17/02
We head for Napier, the Art Deco Town, so set off early. Wow! What a day to go there. It was Art Deco weekend. Thousands of people dressed in 20's and 30's outfits with gazebos and vintage style picnics, hundreds of vintage cars, I exaggerate not and of course the Art Deco town, all in gorgeous sunshine. In addition a flying display by 5 vintage aircraft, Mike thought they were Japanese Zero fighters! We'll have to check that out. Anyway Mike was in his oils! There was no chance of finding a motel in Napier so we headed towards Wellington and stopped in Palmerston North where we found a lovely place; A'La Vista Motel.
We shopped and prepared pasta and tomato sauce in our small kitchen. Mike was feeling very tired after yesterday's exertions!
18/02
Traveled to Wellington, weather was lovely again. We headed straight for Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand and spent a good
Wellington
Museum of New Zealand few hours wandering around.
The centre of Wellington is really small but has lots of shops, bars and cafés.
19/02
Flew from Wellington to Christchurch, bizarre and really unsettling, no security checks at all! No X-ray, no checking of bags, no internal body search.... nada! We have become so paranoid that it is...... unsettling. I can think of no other word. Picked up the campervan. It is going to be difficult, it is so much smaller than ours and, how can I put this, lower in quality! We spent the first 24 hours bruising ourselves by falling or colliding with things that are not "there" in "our" van.
20/02
Decided to move north to Kaikoura. The power of the Schwartz (Space Balls; Yoghurt; Mel Brooks) is evident here with trips; to see; fly over; and hover over the poor whales out in the bay. Decided it was not for us because we did the whale watching thing when in Vancouver Island.
21/02
Decided to stay a second night. Lazy start, then visited a museum which was the original house where the whaling industry started, did a lovely
walk around the headland, weather again perfect. We've been very lucky. Still drought conditions here after the driest summer since New Zealand was linked to Gondwanaland! (Well a long time anyway.)
22/02
Travelled to Hanmer Springs, we took the mountain route which looked more interesting, it was, tortuous but picturesque. Cloudy and misty today our first "bad" weather.
Lovely spa town with street names like: Leamington, Harrogate and Bath. The town is almost too immaculate, wide main Street and perfectly manicured parks and verges.
We went to the thermal treatment pools in the afternoon, came back smelling of rotten eggs but very relaxed. The weather had improved so we sat in the sun and read. Oh! And we rehydrated with a beer or two, purely medicinal!
A word about the campsite barbecues out here. They are gas powered and heat a stainless steel hot plate. Easy to use and clean. Tonight, on the BBQ we had spicy jerk chicken, corn on the cob and salad. Yummy!
Saturday, 23/02
Decided to stay another day as weather perfect. Walked into the beautiful town early, had coffee and returned to
Greymouth
Jayne queuing for the beach! camp, tooled up with walking boots and did a mapped walk in the forest, just lovely. Lounged all afternoon reading.
24/02
A lost day for Mike! Tummy bug victim. On the bright side just think of the weight loss! Travelled to Reefton whilst concentrating very hard.
25/02
On to Greymouth via Punakaiki where we saw pancake rocks and blow holes, look them up under geology!
Amazing beach next to the campsite. Sat in the sun all afternoon.
26/02
Off glacier spotting!
Arrived at Franz Josef Glacier with low cloud and mist obscuring the mountains. Within an hour normal service was restored and blue skies returned.
Booked a helicopter trip up onto the glacier for tomorrow morning, excited!
27/02
Absolutely crystal clear day for the trip in the helicopter. Wow! Bloody marvelous! Jayne was amazing and looked out of the window and everything! She did grab hold of the arm of the lady sitting next to her, Mike was co-piloting on the way up, but she was very brave and enjoyed the trip. I'm sure she would go again, given the opportunity
Moeraki Boulders.
Definitely not a load of bollocks! and the £220!
Coffee in the town then off to Fox Glacier, where we walked up to the glacier in the dusty heat.
Motored down the coast to Haast where we camped for the night. What a great day!
28/2
Left early for the, as it turned out, beautiful drive along the lakes, Hawea and Wanaka. Steep mountains plunge into the deep blue waters. The lakes are huge and go on for miles.
We arrived at Wanaka Town on the shores of the lake. The town is amazing! Very exclusive housing, immaculate wide streets and very expensive shops.
We found the Top Ten site, we've used these a lot, they are a good franchise, so you pretty much know what you are going to get. Our pitch, on the side of a hill, had stunning views of the lake and part of Wanaka Town. Weather continues to be perfect.
01/03
"Pinch, punch, first of the month!"
Wanaka is such a nice place we decided to stay another night. Walked around the headland, sat by the lake and had a very lazy day. Again!
02/03
Headed south and stopped briefly at Arrowtown, small, immaculate and charming. Then on to Queenstown on Lake Wakatipu, much larger with more of an Alpine feel, the town extends up the surrounding mountains fighting for a view of the lake and hanging on precariously. After a quick walk around the town we moved on to the tiny lakeside town of Kingston where we camped. We walked down to the lake and found the steam train returning to the station. A bit wild west like with no platform, a cow catcher on the front of the train and very old western style carriages, a bit like a "Back To The Future" film set really!
03/03
Drove up to Te Anau and camped. Another immaculate lakeside resort with no one there! Sunday afternoon, glorious weather and just a few backpackers and campers wandering about!
Booked a trip to Milford Sound tomorrow.
04/03
Excellent trip to Milford, cruised the fjord in good weather, well organized transfers and breathtaking views. Returned to campsite very tired?
Decided to stay an extra day as the weather down Invercargill way was cold and wet.
05/03
Glad we stayed, weather top notch. We cleaned the van inside and out lest we be thought gypsies! Walked into town had coffee. Sat outside the van and read.
06/03
Travelled down to Invercargaill, wind and rain all the way, really miserable but we can't complain. On arrival, we felt quite at home, Bridgend that is, because Invercargill is a bit of a twll! It does have a nice campsite though and lo and behold if the sun didn't come out in the afternoon. Still very breezy.
07/03
Travelled along the coast to Waipapa and came very close to Sea Lions basking, (if that's what they do), on the sandy beach.
Moved on to Kaka Point campsite and reserved a pitch, a bit basic, and then drove to Nugget Point and did a lovely walk to the lighthouse on the headland where we saw Penguins and Seals, although from a long way away!
Note: Drove a long way on rough roads, no Tarmac! Why? Come on NZ!
08/03
Journeyed to Dunedin and had the presence of mind to book a site before we
Baldwin Street, Dunedin.
Officially the steepest in the world! got there, thinking it would be busy because of England v New Zealand cricket match in town.
Parked up and took the bus to town, asked several times if we were part of the "Barmy Army". Lots of signs outside bars welcoming the BA so they can't be bad.
Visited the Cathedral, Railway Station and Octagon Centre. Surprisingly hilly city.
09/03
Stayed another day. Drove out to the headland and saw Fur Seals and an Albatross! Very excited about the Albatross because the reserve wanted to charge us £30 each to walk on the headland and view Albatross. Yes!
On the way back went to see the steepest street in the world! Check Guinness Book of Records. Baldwin Street, 1 in 2.66 slope. Walked up, wheeze, cough, more wheeze and met some North Islanders (Mangonui) at the top who gave us some Jaffas to roll down the hill. Jaffas are round sugar coated chocolate sweets. There is a charitable competition held every year to see who rolls a Jaffa the farthest.
We gave the North Islanders a lift back to the city.
Filled up the van with diesel which is 87
Oamaru
Shags home to roost. pence a litre. Yup! 87 pence! Unleaded is £1.22 a litre. Cheap huh!
The cost of diesel on this trip has made a big difference to our expected costs which is nice.
Carrying on northwards tomorrow.
10/03
Headed up the coast to Oamaru but stopped on the way to the Moeraki Boulders, a strange geological phenomenon.
Weather still cloudy and cool.
Arrived in Oamaru visited the Victorian quarter of the town, lots of shops with people in period costume. Also the headquarters of Steampunk.
Booked tickets to go and see the blue penguins tonight and also a cross country Alpine train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth for next Saturday.
Blue penguins were excellent, we sat in stands and watched them come out of the sea, in the dusk, and scramble up from the beach and head for their burrows.
11/03
Moved on to Omarama, a half way stop on our journey back inland to visit Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. Stopped to look at some Maori rock art but there wasn't much to see!
Weather glorious again so lazy day at Omarama.
Mount Cook
Are we nearly there yet? 12/03
An amazing journey up to Mount Cook. Enormous "U" shaped valley leading up to the existing glacier.We did the Hooker walk up to the glacier, just spectacular!
Small avalanches on the mountains above us as we walked and the towering presence of Mount Cook gleaming white in the distance.
Staggered back to the van and drove to Lake Tekapo to camp for the night.
The journey was incredible, enormous plains with golden hills in the distance and then the turquoise Lake Tekapo.
What a brilliant day!
13/03
Walked into the village. Quiet day by the lake in the sunshine. Sooo quiet!
14/03
Drove up to Mount Scott observatory overlooking Lake Tekapo early this morning, the weather was perfect and we could see for miles.
Back to the site and another lazy afternoon by the lake. Mike even had a quick swim to cool off. Water 10 degrees so very quick swim. Brrrrrr but refreshing!
15/03
Traveled to Christchurch, stopped for coffee in Geraldine. On our way in to the city we saw some of the damage and the attempts
Muri Beach, Rarotonga.
First view from our room. to repair it following the earthquake two years ago.
There's quite a lot of anger here that it is taking so long. Poor Christchurch!
16/0
Up very early to catch the Trans Alpine train to Greymouth. Very nice, big windowed train with viewing platforms from which to take photos of the fabulous mountain scenery.
Nine hour round trip with an extra hour in Greymouth itself. Looong day.
Tonight is our last night in the van. Aww and Yippee!
17/03
Cleaned the van, collected our suitcases, packed, delivered the suitcases to Hotel Sudima, conveniently placed between the van rental depot and the Airport, for tonight.
Drove around Christchurch and saw the centre of town including the cathedral which is all still earthquake wreckage, then returned the van.
Walked next door to the hotel but couldn't get in because the fire alarm had gone and three fire engines arrived with all the paraphernalia. Fortunately it was a false alarm.
Early start tomorrow so early night.
18/03
8:40 flight to Auckland, we were a bit concerned because we didn't have a lot of time in
Auckland to get to our connection for Rarotonga. Our worst fears were heightened when the plane turned back whilst taxiing to let off a passenger who was taken ill, then we had to wait for his bag to be removed from the hold.
We eventually took off 50 minutes late convinced that we would miss our connection. However, the captain announced that there were 32 passengers on board all going to Rarotonga so they would hold the connecting flight for us to catch it. What relief!
Landed in Rarotonga to be welcomed with sweet smelling flower garlands coconut palms and 30 degree heat. Just lovely.
The hotel is fantastic on the white sand beach of a lagoon, created by a coral reef. Our room is on the first floor with a bal cony overlooking the beach. Mike keeps thinking of the Bounty advert and wiggling his hips and making wave motions with his hands! He may well get arrested!
18/03 Again, we've gained a day!
Pool, beach, snorkeling and rum cocktails. Oh! And lots of food.
19/03!
Hiring a motor bike to see the island, coastal road is only
32 km long.
Easy rider round the island, Mike with his bitch but no spliffs!
Idyllic, peaceful and yes, just nice. That applies to the island and the people.
It's quite hot even for the locals, we were in a shop today, during our motor bike ride and needed a different sized item, the assistant waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the racks and said "Their over there, somewhere!" Bless, she was hot!
Pool, sunbathe, (we're finding that 20 minutes a side at 30 degrees C is just about perfect), lagoon, eat (huge portions) and drink cocktails.
20/03
More motor biking early this morning looking for a waterfall in land. Eventually found it but bitter sweet really, the weather has been so dry and sunny, no water!
Biked to Avarua, the capital and stopped for the best coffee and iced coffee on the island, a stall near the market.
Back to the pool, drink and eat.
Polynesian night in the restaurant tonight! Lots of colorful dancers and musicians. At the end, members of the audience were invited to dance, Jayne did an excellent hip shaking routine.
Mike refused on the grounds his hip might fall off!
21/03
We took a double kayak out and paddled around one of the islands in the lagoon. Exhausted from all the paddle clashing we reverted to the old; pool, sunbathe routine until late in the afternoon when we had some spa treatments booked.
Thoroughly massaged and oily we retired to the bal cony for cocktails.
22/03
Beach and lagoon early today. After lunch, went snorkeling lots of multi coloured fish. We're not very good snorkelers so the snot content of the lagoon rose alarmingly!
Recovered with a nap and then cocktails.
23/03
Our last day in paradise! (Sounds like a Phil Collins song).Caught the early bus into the capital, Avarua, to visit the market which is huge considering how small the town is.
It's a focal point for the whole island.
Back to the hotel and a last lounge by the pool before packing our things. We payed a supplement to have a late check out. We leave for the airpot at 10 pm. Not looking forward to the flight!
24/03
Team Photo
Strictly Hippy, Hippy Shake Landed in Los Angeles, well the first part of the journey home wasn't too bad.
Five hour wait for our connection to Heathrow.
25/03
Landed at Heathrow on time.
In a daze! Caught Heathrow Express to Paddington, only a short wait for train to good old Wales.
Feeling quite queasy we eventually get home at 3 pm. Bloody freezing!
28 hours traveling and 28 degrees difference in temperature!
Brilliant, brilliant holiday.
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Annettte
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Birthday Greetings
Happy Birthday Mike. Glad to know things are going well lol A xxx