Christmas Crackers

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Hey guys, finally managed to drag myself into the internet cafe, even though i may have to leave early to watch the cricket, as unbelievable as it may sound, the pommies have made it through to the penultimate tri series fixture, with a game in hand, i'm really not sure how much more of this i can take.

Anyway, you will no doubt recall, i left you last time with promises of Christmas adventures, of which we had a few. This was no doubt connected to the arrival of two friends Cheri and Louisa from Manchester, well actually Lou comes from Shaw, but i'm sure she wont mind been tarred with the mancunian brush, as we are similarly unconsciously obsessed with all things northern, John Shuttleworth included.

I picked Lou and Cheri from the airport on the 6th of December, its a day i remember well, Cheri had just lost $200 to an airport official after illegally importing a tangerine, and i'd spent the prior 24 hours prepping the medical professions in Auckland for an incoming case of Singaporean spider bititous after receiving a rather panicked SMS regarding the condition of Ms Mallon's Legs (Louisa). It had all the makings of an episode of airline, thankfully however no-one had left their passport in the german beer mug on the sideboard, so it was all sweet. After a glass of vino at Villa Marias headquarters, conveniently located within spitooning distance of Auckland's Airport, I dropped the girls at their new accommodation in Parnell.

So exit Louisa and Cheri for the delights of Northland and the Bay of Islands for few weeks, I went back to work, but the weekend before Christmas (theres a song here somewhere), we re-formed, and set off for the south island. Our first stop, was actually at the side of the road on SH27, an old 'war' injury to my right knee had flared up which makes driving long distances in cars with no legroom a chore, Cheri stepped in to bat thank goodness, after this it didn’t re-occur again, all very intriguing.

After stopping briefly for lunch in Tirau, the home of the famous visitor centre located inside a giant glass fibre corriedale sheep, we worked our way onto Rotorua, all getting very excited (especially Lou) about geothermal processes, and the fact that you can sit with your feet in a natural hot spring, watch a boiling mud pool or breathe in the fresh, sulphurous fumes all for free, whilst out walking your dog in the park in the middle of Rotorua. None of which worries you at all even when you realise that in effect you are perched on the precariously balanced lid of a giant pot full of boiling magma, blimey,

Anyway not put off by any of this, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in the Polynesian Spa Pools, which aside from being a great place to relax and absorb the minerals from the naturally heated springs, Cheri and Lou found out its also a great place to people watch, why do you think i took you there?!

We detoured via the green and blue lakes near Rotorua and ended up spending the night in Taupo, which was rather windy, we also had the pleasure of a fifth visitor in our four bed dorm, who arrived with a young lady in tow at around 3 in the morning, and guess who was i the bunk above?, needless to say i went out and bought some earplugs from the chemist the day after, tsk.

In the morning, we back-tracked to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, to watch the Lady Knox Geyser perform in exchange for a handfull of soap powder (added to break the surface water tension and start the 'geysering').
We than started on our drive down to Napier, arriving on a very hot afternoon at the Prison, not that we'd got in any trouble, Cheri and Lou had booked is into a backpackers which was the old Napier Prison, and in typical Kiwi fashion not many changes had been made since the last inmate had left, but it was a fascinating old place, and was hopefully as close as i will get the inside of a prison, even though i'm still on the wanted list in Norway for forgetting to pay a road toll last summer.

The girls really liked Napier, I think everyone does, its art deco buildings and sunny location make it a great place to sit back, and have a coffee, or something stronger, the ocean is a bit too powerful for a real surf culture, due to very strong undercurrents, but theres a lot of vineyards in Hawkes Bay (check out an unoaked Chardonnay next time you're at Tesco), the output of which would be enough to soothe any ailments gained whilst battling with the ocean!

The next day, after visiting Te Mata Peak in the morning, we began our drive down to Wellington,where we were spending Xmas. The drive takes you through such places as Danniwirke, Masterton, Carterton and then over the Rimutaka Hills down through the Hutt Valley into Wgtn. We manage to fit in a Kiwi Sanctuary on the way, where we actually viewed two kiwis singing to each other, it was cool. After a frustrating last hour of driving, we arrived at our hostel in Wellington at about 5pm, Good Old Maple Lodge where i had spent a mid-winter xmas in June, Our ever friendly hosts, Jill and Simon were there to greet us. I also met Mike, Matt and Vanessa who had been there also in June, so it was a happy reunion, and after getting stocked up with booze, we headed out to the pub.

Christmas day was great, we had bought secret santa gifts for each other, Lou got a tom-tom, I got a chocolate beach santa and Cheri got gluten free confectionary(?), we had an awesome Christmas meal with all the trimmings, thanks guys, and the usual Christmas-day fare which including The Queens Message at 6 and John Cleese's Clockwise was even on telly, albeit, on a DVD. Everyone had a great day, some better that others, but i cannot say anymore!.

We left Wellington on Boxing day at 10am in the Interislander for Picton, the crossing wasnt too bad, its always a bit choppy though in the Cook Straight. After having some lunch in Picton, managing to find a bakery making gluten free sandwiches on boxing day, i know, astonishing, we headed down to Blenheim, I think we had all decided that a bit of wine-tasting was the order of the week.

So, an arriving in Blenheim, I then remembered what an ordinary place it was, we managed to get some dinner together, but all had a relatively early night due to the proceeding night’s activities. After a night of being disturbed by extremely vocal german grape-pickers, eventually ushered away by Ken, a bloke i came to know through sharing a bunk (not the same bed)-cheers mate, I was ready for some premium plonk. Ken being from these parts, very kindly offered to drive us around the local vineyards, as i'm not sure how advisable touring around them bicycle would have been, especially in the face of a stiff nor-wester (a notorious south island wind in case you were wandering).

So we took in a number of vineyards, the names of which escape me, but definitely included Spy valley, Montana, Villa Maria & Forrest Estate loosing count, anyway there were a few, I seemed to gather bottles after the third vineyard in, it was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun. We finished the day in practically the only restaurant we could find in Blenheim, which had beautiful food. Once again, we retired relatively early. The next day, after saying our goodbyes to ken, who we will undoubtedly be meeting again (for those living vicariously through my blogs) we set off for St Arnaud and Lake Rotoiti for some tramping, although Lou didn’t have any walking boots, she coped really well on the track to Whiskey Falls, fortunately, the Warehouse (in infamous nz buy-anything store) would come to her rescue later in Motueka, Hiking boots for $35, cheap as chips.

So, we made our way on to Motueka in Tasman Bay, where as ever, the sun was shining, we stayed at the Laughing Kiwi, which even had an outdoor spa, choice!. The owner was really helpful and booked us for a guided day Kayak in the Abel Tasman, the weather looked fantastic. I was determined to spend some quality time with the Spa (see photos), the next day (after Lou got her boots) we adopted a german girl, Sophie and made our way up Takaka Hill to Harwood’s Hole, a huge sinkhole in the surrounding limestone topography, which is accessed along a 17odd km dirt road, the poor old corolla only just made it. The hole was, rather deep, but we daren’t go too close to the edge, we retreated to Motueka taking in Kaiteriteri beach on the way home at which must have qualified for the most crowded beach in NZ.

So more Spa time followed, but the next day we had a fantastic time on a kayak tour in the Abel Tasman, we were whisked up from Marahau to the Tonga Island Reserve, to see the seals and then kayaked back, apart from the guide, I was the only male representative but it was a beautiful day in crystal clear aquamarine waters, stopping for lunch and then gathering all our kayaks together and hoisting a ‘sail’ in the latter half of the afternoon, to take us back to shore. We made our way up to Takaka later that day, finding a great hostel where we met some nice dutch people, again, more Spa time follows as did many G&T’s to soothe the weary limbs. New Years Eve we spent the morning at Farewell Spit, but soon scooted down to Nelson for New Years-Eve-eve.

I had managed to pick probably one of the worst hostels, that subsequently charged me twice for a room that I was not in, we also brought the average age up substantially, so it was always going to be short term. New Years Eve was fairly uneventful, although we managed to find a pub with a decent DJ playing crowd pleasing Jarvis Cocker faves (well for me and Lou anyway), it was just like being 18 again. New Years day was predictably hung-over, and me and the girls said our farewells the day after, whilst they had the whole of the south island in front of them, I had to go back to work and made my way back to Picton, boo hoo.

I picked up a hitchhiker just outside Nelson, that I would have preferred not to, lets just say it’s a good job i’m a white anglo saxon. Stopped for a walk and some mussels in Havelock, ‘The Green-Lipped Mussel Capital of the World’ and then made a beeline for the ferry. I’d picked to travel back over the Cook Straight on the Bluebridge Ferry, which is the poor-mans interislander service. Like many such vessels plying these waters, it had started its life in Europe, ferrying tourists around the Med, and its fair to say that it had barely had a lick of paint since leaving!, even the writing on the life-buoys was in French. The food however was distinctly kiwi, pies & fish&chips, not that you would have been able to stomach any of it anyway, the crossing back was just a little choppy.

I arrived back in Wellington at around 10.30pm, and took refuge back at Maple Lodge, where they’d left a key out for me, bless em’. I said my goodbyes in the morning and struck out along Highway 1 for Auckland, I’m absolutely serious when I tell you that as i turned on the radio coming out of town, and it was the opening chords of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, Good Grief

And it was…. such a long way (to the top)(different song), I think its something like 500 miles, but the roads are so sinuous that you’re concentrating the entire time so you cant just doze off like you’re on the A1. I’d listened to all my CD’s, planned my next 10 years and run out of wine gums within the first hour. It wasn’t too bad on the stretch going up to Lake Taupo, the Desert Road was awesome with Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe (the mountain that had tried to kill me) on full display, helping to keep me awake. But Turangi to Tokoroa was just hard work, and I had to stop for a doze.

The last 200km was a killer, with numerous breaks on side roads and picnic areas helping to break the journey up. Finally, about 50km out of Auckland, I ran into a traffic jam, but someone had just had a shunt, so it didn’t last too long. I staggered back into the house after my 9-and-a-half hour escapade knowing that I had just had a fantastic xmas holiday, and knowing that in just another 9-and-a-half hours, I had to be up for work!

Well, you can’t spend it when you’re gone.

I promise to update and add photos soon, hope everyone is going well

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Comments

[Drago (aka Laura Drage)]

Spa-lendid!
Oh Steve, what a tale and what a ride! I loved reading about you and the sidekicks! Made me miss you all really badly, which I was cavorting around with you in the beautiful Island of NZ. I have 2 kiwi friends here and that needs to be my satisfaction for now, but I want to go, please stay there longer - all of you, so I can come and join in the fun?! Your stories make me laugh put more on! Praps your planning tales are not so exciting! YOu miss Manchester? Old Diders calling to you? DIdn't think so!