What is 5 minutes?

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The camper van is no more. Actually, let me rephrase that- we no longer have the camper van, it is safely back in an Econocamper carpark where we left it last Monday on a rainy day in Auckland. It was an emotional moment, soon lifted by taking possession of our hire car, in which it's possible to go above 50mph without the engine having a seizure.

(As an interesting aside, Mia and Jake now refer to all camper vans as Econocampers. The power of a brand name on children, eh? Hope McDonalds are reading this...)

The time in the van was excellent- we enjoyed far more than we thought (that, actually could also be said of NZ generally). Fox Glacier was an impressive, but looks nothing like a mint. We walked to the terminal face, which is the only way (other than an expensive flight over it) to really get an awareness of the size of it and appreciate what you're actually seeing. This was affirmed by visiting Franz Josef glacier, 25 km up the coast from Fox. We didn't have time to walk to the terminal face and, whilst it still worth visiting, it didn't have the same impact.

Our route around the South Island meant criss-crossing east to west and vice versa a few times. One such traverse of the Southern Alps took us over Arthur's Pass, the highest of the passes and the same one used by the famous (to some) Tranz-Alpine railway. West to east (the direction we took) starts as a vertiginous climb through the mountains- very steep and windy (roads that wind as opposed to lots of wind), which was not a ideal combination with an asthmatic van. We made it, though, stopping for lunch to give us (and the van) a rest.

It was here that the keas came to visit. The kea is one New Zealand's array of unique birds- the only alpine parrot in the world, it hops around the high alpine zones, being curious and vaguely comical. They have also been known to eat the rubber off vehicles for some reason. One kea was particularly brazen and as we sat around a picninc table eating our lunch, it hopped up, took one of Mia's sandwiches, and flew off to eat. Cue mass hysteria as both Mia and Jake got very upset and took refuge in the van, from which they wouldn't leave until we were far away from the place. There is a picture of a kea in the Lonley Planet guide book, and even now, whenever Jake sees it, he points and very solemnly declares, "Took Mia's sandwich..."

At Kaikoura, I took Mia whale-watching. Originalyy booked to go at 11am, we had to rebook on a later trip as the sea was too rough in the morning and the boat captain raised the minimum age to 7. The sea was still reasonably rough when we went at 12.45- swells of 1- 1.5 metres, which, although not huge, are tough to take for the 2.5 hours we were out there. Certainly I, and by the looks on their faces, most of the passengers, were feeling a touch queasy. Apart from Mia, who was bouncing around in her seat, singing and generally enjoying herself immensely. It was all worth it, though, as we were privileged to see about 10 sperm whales lazing around on the surface for 40 minutes or so (they generally only surface for around 5- 10 minutes). We also witnessed them diving, which provides the classic shot of their tails straight up in the air. There was also a dolphin jumping around and an albatross. An animaltastic afternoon, all in all.

Jake was too young to go, but he took this philosophically enough, declaring himself delighted to spend some quality time with Claire.

Before crossing to the North Island, we walked across the longest swingbridge in New Zealand at Buller Gorge and managed to fit in visits to the beaches at Golden Bay and Kaiterteri and walk part of the Abel Tasman track. Mia and Jake even found the courage to swim in the sea at Kaiterteri as the weather was excellent for most of our time in the south. Apart from one afternoon and evening of rain, which kept us confined to our van as we were in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't the easiest day we had, you will be surprised to hear.

We drove to Piction via the scenic route, which was, as scenic routes in New Zealand are wont to be, full of twisting roads, slow navigation and stunning views. This took us along the coast looking out to Marlborough Sound and the myriad of islands within. It also took us through Havelock, which is, apparently, the "Green-Shelled Mussel Capital of the World". Which made me think- how do they know? How did the mussels convey this to us? Or did the denizens of Havelock think one day, "What the hell, let's make ourselves the capital of something. Why not Green-Shelled Mussels? Once the sign's up, no-one will argue!" It could be a lie, of course, but to quote George from Seinfeld-

It's not a lie if you believe it.

But I digress- Picton is a pretty town, one of the more attractive ones we went to, but we only had a night there as the following morning we took the ferry to Wellington. Which meant that that was that for the south. We had decide to spend more time in the south, and driving through the towns on the way from Wellington to Taupo, we felt vindicated by our decision.

There are interesting places in the North Island, but nothing as jaw-droppingly beautiful as in the south (not that we saw, anyway). The Rotorua- Taupo region is a hige thermal area, giving rise to the eerie spectacle of steam drifting across the landscape from apparently normal fields. The town of Rotorua is, itself, on the lip of a huge caldera, in which Lake Rotorua sits. Throughout the town there is a faint (or strong, depending on the wind direction) smell of sulphur and the park in the centre of the town is full of craters, bubbling mud pools and fumeroles. Any of which could, feasibly, pop up anywhere. Which would be quite diconcerting if one gave it too much thought.

The region also gave rise to the following conversation (was it the sulhur meddling with brains?), reprinted here as faithfully as can be remembered, and with the agreement of all concerned.

Scene:Highway 5, halfway between Taupo and Rotorua, in an Econocamper. Claire and Matt in front, Mia and Jake in back.

Mia: Mummy, can you sit in the back with us?
Claire: No, I want to talk to daddy.
Mia: for next ten minutesPleeeeease
(Ten minutes later)
Matt: Mummy will sit in the back in five minutes.
Mia: When is it 5 minutes?
Matt: It's 5 minutes in 5 minutes.
Mia: But when is it 5 minutes?
Matt: At half past five.
(Pause)
Mia: When is it half past five?
Matt: In 5 minutes.
(Longer pause)
Mia: Yes.. but....what is five minutes?

(At this point Claire climbs in to the back)


Our final Econocamper excursion was to the Waitomo Caves. These are famous for their gloworms. The gloworm leads a particularly pointless life. It is actually the larval stage of a certain kind of fly. It lives on the roof of caves, over rivers, and due to an amalgamation of various chemicals and processes, glows. This attracts insects, which the gloworm feeds on. After nine months or so, the gloworm hatches and the adult fly scoots around desperately mating. The reason for the hurry is the fly has no mouth, and so starves to death after about 5 days. The eggs are laid (presumably prior to death, but you never know), the eggs hatch and the cycle starts again.

Seen in the cave, though, the gloworms are an incredible sight (perhaps that is the purpose of them)- looking up at the roof of a pitch black cave, they look like stars in the night sky (on an extremely clear night and assuming the naked eye could see into deep space). Despite the cost, the large groups and the somewhat trite commentary from the guide, it was worth it for that alone. It was, I would boldly say, one of the best thigns we've seen in New Zealand- maybe even on the trip so far.

Although we are now back in Auckland, we stayed in Matakana for 6 days, between dropping the van off and flying to Australia. We stayed at a house belonging to a friend of my dad's. It's very large, it's got fantastic views and was a great place in which we managed to relax and not do too much after the intensity of the month in the van. Mia and I also went for a swim, at Goat Island. You know how normally, once you're in and swimming about, you warm up fairly quickly? We didn't. Freezing, it was. We have only just thawed out.

And so, as this is most probably definitely the final NZ blog (not that you've been inundated with them, but you know- it's an era ending kind of thing), before the Australian version hits the streets, time for a summation.

The South Island was, for us, the better island. The scenery really is quite amazing- at virtually every turn tou are confronted by a specatcular view, be it of a mountain, a forest, a waterfall, a beach, cliffs, wildlife...Picking out a favourite part is almost impossible, but the Southern Scenic Route (the coastline drive between Dunedin and Invercargill) certainly sticks in the mind, as does the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound. and the whales at Kaikoura. And the coastline of Abel Tasman and Golden Bay, the mountains, the glaciers, the seals, the penguins- the list goes on...

The only blot on this otherwise perfect landscape were the sandflies. We had read they were at Milford. Which they were. What we didn't realise was the little bastards would the follow us through the rest of the island, causing us to break out the Tiger Balm for the first time since Singapore. The Maoris believe God sent the sandflies to Fiordland to keep people humble living in a land of such natural beauty. Seems as good an explanation as any, I suppose.

And thus, we count down the hours to Australia. Next stop Sydney. Stick another snag on the barbie JJ, we'll be there for dinner...


PS- Another consequence of leaving the can was the end of Roadkill- the Game. Mia cemented her place at the top of the table (undefeated), with a comprehensive 9-4 thumping in the final game. This also marked Jake's first attempt, which was not entirely successful. Pointing at a cow, he shouted, "There's one!"

The problem was, the cow neither in the road, nor (more cruciall) dead.

I must also add that none of the roadkill was knowingly caused by us.

Still, we have the whole of Australia and South Africa to put that right.

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Comments

[Oksob]

Hello new pastures
Whilst you are away for eons at a time, managed to get on a sailing course around Lanzarote last week with a couple of friends, under the impression of what we believed to be a potter from marina to marina. We were shocked to find a force 7 gale blowing with up to 5 metre swells, and Captain Ahab as our instructor, with full-on, hard-core sailing the order of the day. As we were "pottering" nay half drowning, we had the privilege of seeing dolphins (not too impressive whilst barfing over the side of the boat) and Minky whales which were impressive as the weather was calmer by this time. But what really marked out the week was coming home to find that A) a number of competitors in the Cross-Atlantic race retired in the Canary Islands due to the heavy weather, and us mere beginners survived and B) a 2 -1 win over the Monkey Hangers. Life doesn’t get much better than that. Anyway, it’s all quiet here on the farm.