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Published: September 15th 2006
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Surfers in Raglan
Surfers in Raglan The joy (and sometimes the pain) of backpacking is the many people you meet in hostel dorms. My trip so far had been nut job free...that was until the last night in Sydney. I should have known the new arrival was odd as soon as she unpacked 10 pairs of shoes. No one takes that many shoes travelling - not even me! Soon after the shoes were all lined up across the room she started to tell me about the people following her trying to take naked pictures of her. I'm not sure why anyone would want naked pics of a middle aged, bad shoes wearing lady but I sympathized regardless. When she had finished talking to me she started talking to herself (in muttered tones) and it was then that I was glad to say goodbye to Sydney and fly to Auckland.
It was such a good feeling for the first face in arrivals to be a familiar one. However, after a 24hrs flight from the UK it was a rather tired and unshaven face. My visitor is a man of contradictions: the outward appearance of a iron-pumping power lifter, but the interior of a softie who would be
A rare pic with his eyes open!
A rare pic with his eyes open! very happy running a cats home in Devon! I can't think of anyone more laid back to be in a campervan with for two weeks.
That first evening we went for dinner at Orbit, which is the rather swanky revolving restaurant at the top of the Auckland sky tower. It was a great way to start the two weeks. The views and food were spectacular, although we did lower the a la carte tone by pulling out a crumpled 'two free wines' voucher and discussing if we should drop a morsel of food on the floor so we'd know when we'd revolved right the way around.
The next day we went to collect the campervan, which was really more like a transit van but very well kitted out never-the-less. We had big plans to see both islands, but day one taught us that the distances are a lot further than they look on the map. In the end we covered some 2000km, but stuck to the north island.
Tandem Bungy:
We hadn't planned to do a bungy, but after half an hour of watching other people dive off the platform at Lake Taupo we had to give
Girlie show, Rotorua
Girlie show, Rotorua it a go. The best bit of doing the tandem jump is that you have someone to scream shiiiiiiiiiit at on the way down. Our legs were strapped together and as we inched forward to the edge I was convinced the tension on the cord would pull us over. In a Waltz position we waited for 1,2,3 BUNGY! Then it was just a matter of tipping forward over the edge - from there on in it's shiiiiiiiit all the way down.
Sheep Show:
Growing up on a croft (that's a small farm to you non Scots) I spent my teenage years dreading my Dad saying, "Ouch well, we'd better go and gather/dip/clip/dose those sheep''. It basically meant standing in the cold for hours or worse still running (in vain) after some sheep that had made its bid for freedom. So it may seem odd I'd be keen on going to a sheep show, but it was very entertaining and I felt like a pro as everyone else in the audience seemed to be from Tokyo and appeared to have never seen a live sheep before. The show had all the different breeds including the Scottish Cheviot, which apparently is the hardest to shear because it kicks so much. They did a shearing demo as well as a sheep dog demo with a 'starer' dog (he herds the sheep by giving them the evil eye) and a 'barker' dog (who shouts at the sheep with his deep voice) - they both made our mutts at home look like amateurs!
Bunny Shearing:
To continue on the shearing theme we went to the 'Bunny Shearing Shed'. It's a place were the biggest rabbits I've ever seen are sheared for their pure white coats. My companion looked horrified when we arrived and with a 'big eyed look' kept saying, "poor bunny, poor bunny". The owner reassured us that this particular breed have to be sheared otherwise they overheat and die. They are sheared four times a year and apparently love it because once they get their 'coats off' it's off to see the male bunnies!
Surfing at Raglan:
Raglan is one of the top surfing spots in New Zealand. A lot of the surf there was far too big for me and I would have been mangled on the rocks in no time. We managed to find a quiet black sand beach which was perfect for 'drown in the shallows' Maclean. I hate the way others always makes the sport look so effortless, but for me it's all about showing off my 'drowned rat' look and flashing people in the car park as I haul off my wetsuit. Despite the black sand between my toes (and other places) for many days it was worth it.
My lovely visitor has now gone back to London (along with a supply of Tim Tam biscuits for my return in December) and I'm currently getting blown around in Wellington all on my own again. In the next few days I head to the South island before I go to Rio and join my two month tour of South America.
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campervan man
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Excellent holiday!
Yeah, that does definately sum up the holiday well. I had such a great time. Shame had to come back. I hope your short stay on the south island goes well, take some photos! Not long till the tour of South America, will be monitoring the blog! Ps - don't remember you giving me any Tim Tam biscuits? Love campervan man x