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Sutherland Falls
I think that's what they're called... the highest falls in NZ Turns out there is life after Paihia...
Having tearfully left my friends behind I headed back to Kaihu farm for a weekend. It was great seeing Jenny and Michele again, but sadly the garden that Andrea and I had painstakingly cleared of grass had returned to its overgrown status...at least other backpackers now have the chance to experience Jenny’s great cooking...
My trip down South got off to an interesting start...my peaceful slumber on the plane was interrupted when the pilot announced "Ladies and Gentleman, due to a technical difficulty this flight will be diverted to Christchurch." He continued that there was no need to panic as it was just a piece of equipment that was malfunctioning and he didn't think that it was too serious but head office had instructed him to land ASAP to get it sorted...very reassuring! Anyway, after this slight detour we finally arrived in Queenstown.
Alex (German friend I made in Paihia) picked me up and we drove to Te Anau where we met up with Jana and Lea (also from Germany, also met them in Paihia). The 4 of us did the 4 day Milford Track walk and it was incredible.
Milford Mafia
Alex, Lea & Jana We were treated to breathtaking scenery and our guaranteed day of rain (as per the brochure) fell on the day we were walking between mountains. This created beautiful waterfalls down the sides and so we arrived at the overnight hut sopping wet but smiling! We met some awesome people along the way and got well acquainted with the local sand flies! We completed the 53.8km with time to spare and it was around this time I discovered the theme tunes to the Gummy Bears and The Smurfs have been translated into German...
From Te Anau I headed East and spent a few days in Dunedin. Having consulted my trusty BBH booklet I ended up staying in a hostel called Hogwartz!!! As luck would have it I arrived during the Dunedin Heritage Festival and so I got to see video footage of the town back in the day, visited an old fashioned market and watched a live Punch and Judy show (the moral of the story seemed to be that if someone is mean to you should kill them...). I also ventured out to Baldwin Street which is the Steepest street in the world. Yip, so now I can tick
seeing the steepest and crookedest streets in the world off my list (seeing big trees has also been crossed off)!!!
From Dundee I headed back North West-ish to the wonderful town of Wanaka. It’s stunningly situated on a lake at the foot of the Southern Alps. I finally got to go to the cinema that people have been raving about (the sole reason for my visit). The seats are comfortable couches and you can buy piping hot, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies during the interval...and I thought working at an ice cream shop was the best job in the world...I bumped into Jess (American friend I made in Paihia), it was great seeing her again!
From Wanaka I headed North East to Christchurch. I managed missing two of my friends by a couple of hours which sucked, luckily Christchurch is a pretty city!!
I managed to get a $1 bus ticket for the 3 hour ride from Christchurch to Kaikoura. Once in Kaikoura I finally managed to hook up a farm exchange and ended up staying on a little petting farm on the outskirts of town. The farms is home to 3 llamas, 3 miniature ponies, a
donkey, a horse, some sheep and goats, a few chinchillas, rabbits and guinea pigs, a wallaby, some pigs and chickens, ducks and geese. Days were spent feeding the animals, picking clover grass for the rabbits, scooping poop and chatting to the visiting families (there may now be some very misinformed people out there as I was let loose on day one and so made up random facts to avoid looking stupid...no comments please).
From Kaikoura I went to Port Ligar which is a farm deep in the Marlborough Sounds. What an incredible place! I was hosted by the lovely Shand family and I felt at home the moment I stepped from the mail boat on to the wharf. I got to help with sheep mustering and accompanied them on a possum hunt (turns out I’m too squeamish to touch a dead possum never mind pluck it...apparently if you pluck them while the body’s still warm it’s a lot easier to get the fur off)! There was also fishing, kayaking and hanging out with the awesome kids (Shoshannah-9, Mahalia-7 and Azzan-4). In the evenings Nate-11 kindly beat me at a battleships inspired game. I absolutely loved the week!
Having left the Shands I bussed to Nelson where I met up with the rest of my German Paihia friends (Sandra and Steffi). Was so good seeing them again. I also managed to catch up with Hiromi (Japan) who I had met in Dunedin and she kindly took me to a beautiful beach. I unexpectedly bumped into Tiffany (a US colleague from Paihia).
I left Nelson and crossed the Cook by ferry to get back to the North Island. I had a few days to kill in Wellington and ended up spending a big chunk of it in Te Papa which is a huge museum. From Wellington I caught a lift with Alex to Auckland, we stopped in Taupo and caught up with my friend Justin (UK, once again we met in Paihia) and my second cousin (this is open to debate) Liz, it was great meeting her and we spent a great time chatting away!
It was good being back in Auckland and catching up with the van Breda’s again!
Due to a weird coincidence I ended up going back to Paihia for a week (Jake phoned me and asked if I would like to come
clean again the day after Maria and I joked about driving back up). It was awesome being back there although not having all of the old crowd around was a bit weird! It was great hanging out with Christina, seeing people from church, some of my old ice cream shop colleagues and Pippi and Krish who I used to babysit. Rajita (Krish’s mom) arranged for Christina and I to have dinner at the hotel one night, which was awesome! We also managed to squeeze in a hostel pizza night, a bbq and a trip on the Excitor (a local boat trip). Sadly time whizzed by and I was back in Auckland in no time.
It was good being in Auckland for Uncle Andre’s 50th birthday celebrations and I enjoyed just chilling with the family (you can never have too many cups of tea)!
At the airport I said my tearful goodbyes and then put myself in the running for the Dufus Awards! I somehow missed the entrance to passport control and so instead did a 360 and ended up pretty much where I started. Jo spotted me coming back and called my name. Not realizing what had happened
I started to marvel at the sheer engineering genius of the airport as I had just left them all behind and could now see them without being separated by visible glass or anything. Jo gently took me by the hand and escorted me to the entrance of passport control. I could still hear their hysterical laughter while I was having my passport stamped!
Having arrived in Sydney on a Sunday night with all the shuttle services to Collaroy closed for the night, I ended up not being able to find my bus stop after scrutinizng the bus stop location map and so decided to stay in the city instead of venturing to the outskirts (a decision made after eating chocolate). The next day I had another look at the map at the station and realized that it was facing the wrong way (if I can’t find the entrance to passport control at the airport there is no way I can be expected to use an upside down map!). I caught up with my sister’s friend Tim who generously showed me some of the Sydney sights by day and night. With my competent tour guide I got to see the harbour bridge, the opera house, the botanic gardens (complete with cockatoos and bats) and the beach shown in Home and Away. We also saw dolphins playing in the surf while we were having breakfast at a beach cafe! I didn’t manage to see Emma (ex-colleague from JPM) but I did get to have a quick chat with her which was cool. I had an absolutely amazing time in Sydney and would love to go back!
Having survived the 23 hour flight back to London I was shocked to see the careless manner in which the milk was being steamed at an airport cafe. Apparently I now scrutinize people’s methods of doing things (I will comment on how a bed should be made, just don’t expect me to make it myself 😉. I am still getting used to having 1 and 2p coins and am still thinking in $ (without converting) so everything seems cheap till I work out the conversion and gasp in horror!
I’ve been hanging out at my parent’s place new place in Suffolk (which came complete with pheasants and rabbits in the back yard). I managed to spend a few days with my friend Chantal (from high school) in London and I reckon her husband must be so grateful for peace and quiet again-so nice to have them so close by now!
I will be moving back to Bournemouth tomorrow and have a job lined up but can only start once all the security checks and references have been completed; this will take an undisclosed amount of time...sigh! Am excited about dusting off the old grey matter and getting it back into gear!
If you’re in the UK and keen to catch up please drop me a line and we’ll sort something out!
Life as a backpacker has been so much fun and I really have grown a lot (both physically and emotionally), travelling is being put on hold for a wee while but I’m sure not done yet...
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Saranne
non-member comment
WOW!
Reading what you've been up to is always amazing! and makes me SUPER jealous - and then there are the ab postcard perfect pics which make me think you may just have a point about NZ and Aus...Good luck with starting work again and send me a number sometime so we can text! Love you stax!