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Published: November 23rd 2006
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Hello. Delayed again - but for a good reason this time - because I’ve been putting it off and denial is as good a reason as any. As I write, it is Nov 23, which gives us one and a half weeks before we fly home, although that’s not entirely true as we decided to ease the shock of returning to the UK after nearly 21 months travelling by landing short - in Amsterdam, for 5 days of R and R and culture (the old kind you don’t get down under) before officially becoming homeless, jobless, vehicle-less and financially challenged over the Xmas period (although there is the warming prospect of Xmas in the back of a van after visiting relatives in a nursing home).
As a final thought before tales of NZ, I’d like to throw some questions which have become more relevant - why do Indian trains run on time and British ones not? Why are British vehicles extortionately more expensive than their equivalents around the world? Why is petrol exorbitantly priced compared to other ‘leading’ countries? And why, if we’re to be encouraged to use less fossil fuel, are our public transports priced completely out of reach
of everyday users! Just some of the things to consider before going back - and aren’t we just looking forward to it.
So - New Zealand! Lovely. Since we’ve been in the country we’ve managed one paragliding flight in Nelson (not a world record), 3 months of solid snowboarding (possibly a record), close to 12,000 kms in a lovely little van (money well spent) and one marriage proposal. And to everyone we forgot to mention that to - sorry, it was at the end of June and it was me proposing to Gill: She laughed but assured me shock was responsible.
Of all the countries we’ve spent time in, NZ leads the race as to where we could live and work. It’s laid back, the people are friendly, politics is more open and it’s got a lot to offer. The paragliding isn’t as good as in Aus, but of course it’s got heaps (already picking up the lingo - aye!) of other stuff to do if you’re that way inclined.
Lets get to the point - bits of NZ we like (and why, and not really in order):-
Milford sound (although technically it’s a fjord,
not a sound!) - Stunning scenery, large dolphins (and large pods of dolphins), fantastic waterfalls, isolated, simply a must see.
Snow Covered Mountains (wherever they may be) - they’re excellent for snowboarding on (although some are better than others and Mt Dobson was good), and they’re very pretty.
Wanaka and Queenstown - Both far different from each other than we imagined yet both have a good reason for existing (so youths can do cool things and get adrenalin fix’s I think)
Nelson - Lovely city, could live there, near to beautiful mountains and we flew there (paragliding that is, but we didn’t fly to it - yeah - just flew in the area.).
Auckland - We’re putting Auckland in because we feel a little guilty about being ‘harsh’ about it on a previous blog - it’s not that bad; suppose, for a big metropolis (but it does sprawl a bit).
North of Auckland - Very varied, rugged and beautiful, has some very nice beaches (but we don’t approve of this countries obsession with not investing in an Ozone layer, it’s bloody dangerous - they should get one, aye)!
Picton - Pretty, a bit
isolated, but has ferries (very useful when there’s two islands with loads of water in the middle).
Christchurch - Lovely city but have heard others not so keen, very commutable to places with snow (ie mountains for snow boarding), and is near sea - but where isn’t in NZ.
Porter Heights - Went snowboarding there (its OK but it was very icy when we went), it’s on the way to Arthur’s Pass…
Arthur’s Pass - Very pretty place to be, very grand. Kia’s ate our shoes early in the morning, which led to watching Gill run around in 4 inches of snow in half chewed trainers and in her pyjamas making noises she thought might be scary to a Kia (but they’re clever and Gill couldn’t out smart them - not implying anything!)
Glaciers (both Fox and Frans Josef) - Soo cool (well we think so) and very old. In a word - Grand!
Gold panning - Did a little around the Greymouth area but only found small flecks - if you’re going to gold pan Aus is the place (but don’t overstay you’re visa by two months - they don’t like it).
Masterton
- We stayed there a total of 6 weeks (while Gill was working and I had labyrinthitis for a part) and the place grows on you a little.
Whangarei (pronounced fangeray if you’re native)- It’s a good place to be if you sail, like beaches, or want to be a stones-throw from beautiful scenery (although it seems to be the suicide capital of the country for Whales - dozens!) And again we stayed there a while when I sent Gill out to work again (don’t get the wrong idea, when her fingers started to bleed I gave her an hour off).
Rotorua - Smells like the farting capital of the world but has amazing steaming holes to watch (and hot springs with minerals in - that smell like farts also).
Taupo - Has a big lake which, if you like lakes, is very fine. Also has fart smelling springs to lie in (which I bathed in for hours, just before getting more than 6 weeks of hellish labyrinthitis).
Albatrosses - In Dunedin! Always wanted to see an Albatross, and very nearly didn’t. We went (to the Royal Albatross colony) when they’re out at sea 99 percent
of the time getting food for themselves and the chicks. After seeing chicks (big and furry) but no flying Albatross we went back the next day and, guess what, we saw one.
Yellow Eyed Penguins - We had to wait quite a while to see the penguins come out of the sea to their roost in the evening. The reason was because of two ‘shit for brains tourists’ who kept running towards them with a pissy small camera trying to take their picture as they came out of the water - driving them back in. But lucky for Gill and me they got bored just before it got completely dark and pissed off.
That wraps up everything we wanted to tell you about our trip. Well, not really but if we went into the mixed emotions of returning to the UK we’d spend the last days of our trip in the depths of confusion and sadness. I can’t imagine that anyone reading this has kept up with the whole trip, we wouldn’t, but in a nutshell:-
Over the past 21 months we’ve lived out many of our ideas and expectations of what it means to have
a full life - to us anyway. To spend three months paragliding in one of the best regions in the world, snowboarding for a similar period, and learning to dive in the crystal blue waters of Malaysia was fantastic. And the rest of it from staying on a house boat in Kashmir, to experiencing the Dali Lama’s 70th birthday party, and to following the ‘hippy trail’ across south east Asia - we loved every minute of it: But not always at the time.
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Teresa
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arr, i'm really sad for you having to come home, but i must admit that i'm looking forward to seeing you! We will be well stocked up on wine so you will feel right at home, so sorry your adventure has to end. Since following your blog we plan to do something similar in a few years. See you soon, loads of love xxxxxxxx