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Published: August 21st 2006
Authentic Maori ness!
What you staring at?!Hello and welcome to the final instalment of Jonnys New Zealands adventures. Having spent almost 7 weeks in this great country, tis time to leave and depart for pastures new. I fly to Chile tomorrow to start on the final leg of my trip, spending 4 months travelling around South America where I hope to return home fluent in spanish and with a tan!!
So it has been a very eventful couple of weeks in New Zealand. I left you last time the day before Wills birthday in Roturua. For his special day we did something a little different and tried our hand at zorbing- this sport is quite stupid and involves sitting in a ball and getting rolled down a hill! We went for the triple wet one which meant all three of us got chucked around in a ball with water splashing around us- is very similar to like being in a washing machine, although Ive never done that and dont want to do that, but I can imagine it is like zorbing. Enjoyed it alot and did get a few kicks to the head from stray legs, but worth it!! In the afternoon we headed off to
The 3 Zorbers
Pre washing machine! a traditional Maori geyser area, which involved wandering about the natural hot and bubbly pools and seeing great big geysers blow everywhere (tone it Mike). We were also treated to a 'traditional' (for the tourists) show by the Maoris which involved them dancing and singing classic maori songs, and of course the Haka! As it was Wills birthday he got up and did a bit of boogeying with the Maoris, but as it wasnt Kanye West, he wasnt putting his heart and sole into it! In the evening we celebrated the birthday bonanza as it should be- getting pissed! Had an amazing carvery prior to the booze and got multiple beers free cus I won a pool competition the night before (hence the shark bit in the title!). Was a good night except we had to contain our laughter when in the hostel's bar people would suddenly have dance offs in the middle of the dancefloor- reminded me of American Pie 3 and Stiflers dance off! So that was the end of Roturua- a nice little place that stinks but has a lot of charm and Maori character to it.
Feeling the effects of the alcohol, I drove us
to a town called Taupo, on....Lake Taupo! The weather was to take a turn for the worse, however, and the next few days we had to contend with rain, rain and more pissing rain. Me and Mike had intended to do a skydive here but the weather would not allow it. Its the first time really where the weather has stopped us doing what we have wanted to do. On our final day in Taupo the weather brightened up and we got taxied to the airport in a limo (woo) only to be told on arrival that it was too cloudy 'up there'! Gutted!! So off we trudged, feeling dispondant, packed our bags and drove to a little place called Waitomo. Feeling a bit crazy, however, we decided to take a shortcut along a minor road that would take hours off our journey. In the end, though, we drove along a shocking road of gravel and stones through a forest for over an hour with not a single car coming the other way. It was pissing it down and we were lost. However, using my map-mind expertise and mental toughness, I suggested we just carry on. Sure enough that awesome
plan proved succesful and we eventually left the forest of doom to wind ourselves up to Waitomo.
Waitomo is famous for its caves and glow-worms which there are in abundance. They line the tops of loads of caves and just hang around- its perfect conditions for the little bugs and they life a quite dull but satisfied life of just hanging around! The next day we were booked onto a black-water rafting tour, which meant we got into these stupid wetsuits and wellington boots, took a black inflatable ring and floated (or tried to) through the underground rivers and streams. The water was freezing, but the sight of hundreds of the little glowworms brightened up our day (ahh!)- we went down a water slide and had to jump down short little ledges of water. All in all was good fun and the larger than life guides (they were fat chuffers) only made it more enjoyable.
Our next destination was a place called Hamilton and the only reason we wanted to go here was it is near to Hobbiton, the sight of the hobbits home in Lord of the Rings. The drive to Hamilton was eventful, again, as we
Peter Jackson hard at work
Good timing of our tour cus from this photo is seems they are still filming! Banter! tried the scenic route, which meant driving down another gravel path, but often only had one lane as landslides had blocked the opposite side. There wasnt just a few- there were loads and it begs me to think how crap New Zealand engineers are when securing the banks by roads (i often think such inspiring thoughts!). Hamilton is a nice little cosy city with loads of eating establishments and many gentlemens clubs- I named it "the amsterdam of the southern hemisphere" for banter and it seemed to fit. Seedy. Thats all Ill say, and thats all I need to say! It wasnt that bad at all but you know when a nickname sticks. We stayed at a hostel ran by a post-retired scottish couple- was a shame really because they were too old to be running a youth hostel. When we came in after a few beers and a boogie at about 2am (unsurprisingly Mike had his usual disaster and fell asleep in the club toilets prompting a hasty eviction) the old guy was up waiting for us. I felt sorry for him- he should be playing bowls and sleeping well, not having all this hostel stress. Tangent. What?!
Anyway, we left the next morning and headed to Matta Matta, the palce where they do Hobbiton tours from. On the way we headed past the 5000km mark, an impressive achievement I feel- this road trip has been the best road trip ever ever! From Matta Matta we did our one and only Lord of the Rings tour to a place called Hobbiton. The tour was amazing and we got to see all the hobbit holes and the party tree which fired off fireworks in the film. I absolutely loved it, and the guides were great in telling us all about how they filmed each scene. I took about a million photos of everything, but the photo of Peter Jackson mid work is my favourite! We left Hobbiton in fine spirits but saddened with the fact that we were making our final journey in our baby car up to Auckland. This car has been phenomenal- its taken us everywhere across some real dodgy roads and has been so reliable. When we handed it back in the following morning in stunk and was the dirtiest car I have ever seen- they even asked us if we had been offroad in it,
to which I replied some of New Zealands roads are awful. I didnt, but I should have done! It was emotional though! We have driven over 5200kms (3250miles) in our little baby and it has been emmense.
The final stage on our epic journey together was Auckland. Minus a couple of weeks in Asia, Ive travelled with mesieurs Michael Ginger Smith and William the snake Scott for over 6months. Boys- it has been emotional! But ive enjoyed it. Through thick and thin we have survived each others company and for that length of time is quite impressive. Thankyou gentlemen, itrs been a pleasure and a priviledge. Enjoy the rest of your travels in Fiji and the US.
But prior to their departure we had a few days in Auckland. In the 4 nights we stayed at Base we all entered the pool tournament 3 times. Of those 3 times, Will won Killer Pool twice and I won normal knockout pool. Sharks. Indeed. The prizes were free or cheaper bungee jumps, so off we toddled to Auckland Harbour Bridge to do our jumps. Was wicked, with Arctic Monkeys pumping out and this time us bungee legends me and Mike
My beloved motor!
After 5206kms, it was time to say farewell to our muddy baby in Auckland. varied it by getting dunked into the water. Was refreshing. However, yet again we both failed to pull the wire properly so ended up being pulled back to the pod upside down like a piece of meat. Will, doing his 1st jump was succesful and came up properly. Auckland is pretty cool and is the biggest city in New Zealand by far- it feels like a city whereas Wellington and Christchurch feel more like town centres. We did lots of wandering around the city (cus its cheap) and did venture on a ferry ride to a little suburb called Devenport, which was bland! Met some cool people here too- many travellors fly into Auckland to begin tavelling New Zealand so had to explain all the best places to go, too many times!
So the time came when we had to go our seperate ways. We went out for a final Thai meal, which is ironic as we started our travels in Thailand all those months ago-I think we will always remember our 1st night in Bangkok at a shit hole of a hostel. So the boys flew to Fji, and I headed north to the Bay of Islands to
Go ahead Jump, might as well jump!
No its not Van Halen, but me, just prior to doing my 2nd bungee jump- what a pro! enjoy a few chilled out days. How was I going to cope going solo? At first it did feel a bit weird with the boys not being around but I quickly got used to it. Its very refreshing being on your own too, and it is true in that you meet people far easier when on your own. I used Kiwi Experience to get up there, but I didnt want be a tour follower to left them pretty quickly and found my own hostel. The Bay of Islands is a very chilled out area, and I stayed in a town called Paihia, the 'main town'. Its so quiet there that many of the tour operators have shut down for the winter, including all the diving companies, bugger! I spent 3 days there generally having a very chilled time; watching too many films, going on walks to lookouts and one bifter of a trek to the local waterfalls. The highlight of the trip, however, was my trip out on the bay to see and swim with dolphins. We set off in the hope of seeing some of the great creatures but an hour into the trip and we had found none.
There is no exact location to where they will be so it is very much a luck thing. Then from nowhere the driver shouted dolphin alert, or something on the same lines. There was a small pod of about 6 dolphins all seperated into couples. We lay on the front of the boat, about a metre from the water as the dolphins took it in turn to swim and play at the front of the boat. We were not allowed to enter the water until the guides knew there were no dolphin babies around (as us swimming around them would frighten the mums). Luckily there weren't, so after speedily jumping into our wetsuits, snorkels and flippers we slowly dropped into the water. Fuck it was cold! But we all (me, 2 irish girls and an australian girl) quickly tried to snorkel over to them. Was pretty awesome, however I think that one of the dolphins pooed in the vicinity to where I was swimming as it felt like I was snorkelling through a snowfall of cornflakes underwater! Dolphins are amazing swimmers so you only get to spend a few minutes in with them (and its too cold to be waiting
around) so we were back on the boat for a repostioning. The driver took us further towards another little pod and in again we jumped in with them. The dolphins are such unique creatures that when we make noises they become fascinated and come to find out whats going on. So my screaming and squelling with my snorkel on must have sounded like a true plonka to the dolphins. But I did see them physically look around when they were close and heard my childish noises. Once back on the boat, we sped across the bay to a unique little area known as the cricket pitch, as it is so flat and shallow. Here the driver had been tipped off by another boat that there was a bit pod around. We saw them immediately and jumped in for our 3rd and final time. This was the greatest. There were about 5-6 dolphins all swimming next to me, I could virtually touch them. hey were going in and out of each other like they were playing games and I continued to make stupid noises to get there attention. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Once back on the boat, we headed off to a
stop over where we got hot showers and a coffee to warm us up. Everyone was on such a high after a remarkable afternoon- on the half hour journey back to land we just couldnt stop smiling.
I headed back to Auckland on Thursday night so I had 3 full days in the city before I fly. In that time I managed to win the pool competition, again, on Friday night, but gave me bungee jump prize away as I had already done the Auckland Harbour one. Whos a shark?! But coming up the final days in this fabulous country of New Zealand I could not leave without seeing a rugby match, there no.1 sport. So what better game than the All Blacks vs Australia in the Tri-nations cup. Off I troddled to the game, sitting in the terraces with the 'working class'. The atmosphere was amazing as the stadium, Eden Park is very small and compact. Also the 2 end stands are not covered so if it rained, which fortunately it did not, we were going to get wet. The Haka preceeded the game and although the All Blacks were facing the opposite way we could see it
on the big screen- they did the violent version of it too where they finish with slicing their throats. As they say in the footy, there was a bit of needle in the game, with the Ozzies continuing to single out the All Blacks best player Ritchie McCraw. And the All Blacks were losing quite resoundingly at half time, but whatever was said in a non-Sven speech, the kiwis came out firing and slaughtered the Australians in the seconid half, to complete a thorough victory. All in all a good game! It just means Ive seen the Australians play more internationals than England now! The trip home took ages as the bloody train broke down, meaning tens of New Zealanders getting very stressed and pissed off- many of them were merry from the game so the sobering thought of standing in a crammed train for 45minutes wasnt enjoyable. Eventually got back and went out with a few people from the hostel- a German, a Swede and big bunch of some crazy Irish. Crazy night and a great finish to New Zealand!
So i fly out of Auckland this afternoon and arrive in Chile before I leave here! What, crazy?! Ive had the most amazing 7 weeks here- dont know why its been so good but it has. Its a wicked country with so much to do and so many different places to see and so many interesting people to meet. As Tony the Tiger would say, "Its Great!".
I start a new adventure tomorrow as entering the world of Spanish, will be such a unique change to all my travels done so far. Bit daunting but exiciting also. In 4 months Ill be returning home to cold England, but before that el Latino awaits....!
Hope everyones good back home.
Ciao for now
Jonny x
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Mrs Papp
non-member comment
Re: Ging
Jonny - really, that little observation of yours is no surprise to myself. I love every inch of that young "ging", "blonde", "brown" or whatever and always will (there's no discrimination in our house................ahmmmm). I am rather peturbed as to how you came about the well kept secret though!!!! Take Care Catherine