Across the Pacific and the Cook Straits

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Well it's been a while but here's another installment of our journey around the globe

Since our last episode, we have left the vibrant and seductive shores of Latin America, traversed the Pacific Ocean and lost a day of our lives in the process thanks to the complex policies of crossing the international dateline. The 11th of February 2009 is a day that did not exist in our lives. We arrived into Auckland from Santiago, Chile on the 12th February. This was a big change having spoken mostly Spanish for the past 5 and a half months and it took a little getting used to, conversing in that forgotten language you call English. As luck would have it we arrived on the hottest day that Auckland had seen in something ridiculous like over 100 years. We did not intend on doing much for the first few days aside from finding ourselves some wheels to explore the country at our own pace. Due to our lack of foresight we hadn't booked anything and all of the car rental companies had nothing available for the near future...except for one. Enter Flaming Nora! We had been in touch with most of the companies in the greater Auckland area and this was the only vehicle we could find. A 1991 Nissan Sunny, Nora was a few thousand miles short of the scrap yard and she did nothing to endear herself to us. With it being our first experience touring around a country under our own steam we were happy to get any oul motor, little did we know

After a few days in Auckland we set off north, bound for the Bay of Islands and after a short spell coming to terms with our new surroundings we found that Flaming Nora had no aerial and the tape player didn't work. This was a serious kick in the goolies because we had just bought an adaptor to connect our MP3 players to the tape deck. This was one of many problems with that stink box that took us around the country. The Bay of Islands was the most northern point we went to and is well-known for its diving and snorkelling hotspots. Unfortunately for our time there was a lot of rain so our activities were very much limited to looking out the car window and jumping into the sea as soon as the rain eased off for longer than half an hour. After a couple of days here we headed down to Rotorua but not before Nora gave us another problem. We were a few miles short of our destination and the car started shaking while we were still on the motorway. We pulled over to find one of the tyres split in two. After a quick tyre change we got back on the road and we were soon in Rotorua. The first thing that hit us was the smell. The town is a hotbed of geothermal activity and the pungent odour of sulphur burns the nostrils on the regular. We couldn't do much until we got the tyre fixed and when we did we were told that the tyre was bald and the car should not have been given to us in that condition. Encouraging words from our tyre-fixer friend. Later that afternoon we went to the mud baths for some spa therapy. First we spent some time in a bath of mud for about twenty minutes and it soon became clear that the strong odours from the nearby sulphur pools were a little more than Conor could bear. With Vicki's nasal conditioning thanks to her job she was a little more comfortable and maintains that she didn't even notice the smell. After a freezing cold shower to wash off the mud we hopped into a very hot sulphur bath. There was a little Chinaman (how ridiculously politically incorrect) who hadn't read the sign saying "No putting your head underwater" and every time he came up for air he displayed all the symptoms of burning eyes much to our amusement. On a separate and non-consecutive ocassion we made the brief trip to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. The park contains a variety of volcanic acitivity all of which are spectacular sights. Once again for half of us the smell was a little overwhelming and for the other half it was nothing at all

Off to Wellington, the country's capital. We shot down there in time for the Hurricanes Highlanders game. Super 14s rugby in the Southern Hemisphere is like Premiership football at home. It's huge! It was played in the city's Westpac stadium and it was more than just a rugby match. The game opened up with a traditional war dance from what we assumed were a local indigenous group. The game itself had little to write home about but there were a few All Blacks on display. There was a passoinate Highlanders fan shouting abuse at the local boys, the Hurricanes and this was much to the dismay of everyone else in the stand. His taunts were more than amusing and it really added to the atmosphere. Hurricanes 22-17 Highlanders! We didn't know it but we made it to Wellington in time for the Cuba Street Carnival, a festival at the same time as Brazil's Carnivale. A butch looking character was in our dorm and told us he was here to perform at the carnival. When he bent over and unknowingly showed us his black laced panties we had an idea what sort of performance he would be doing. The streets were packed with performers and crowds of spectators so we searched and found shelter on the balcony of an Irish bar over-looking the street's proceedings. Just before the parade started and for some ungodly reason we were all moved off the balcony for a little team of Irish dancers to perform a jig. As if this wasn't painful enough, when we were allowed back onto the balcony to watch the parade we were treated to a few diddies by a bagpiper right in the middle of all the spectators on the balcony. Soon the locals had their fill of it and started shoving their fingers down his pipes, and not in a good way! Eventually the management saw to things and he was removed from the balcony, all the while promising to come back and play when the parade finished up

We were up the next morning to get the ferry to the south island. This was a pleasant experience for Conor who, up until this point had been a virgin in such exploits. Vicki on the other hand, having spent many's the day out at sea en route to France, was a dab hand at this sort of stuff and unphased by the experience. After an uneventful night in Nelson in a hostel that was a lot more like a nursing home than we would care to remember, we tipped down to Motueka for a few nights in order to have a little nautical adventure. Abel Tasman National Park is famous for its golden beaches, wildlife and generally spectacular views so what better way to experience this first hand than to spend the day out on a sea-kayak? We saw some seals, penguins and got bitten to bits by sand flies. Our guide was a good skin and it was a very informative trip. We had lunch on a lovely little beach and learned a little more about the eco-system in the area. There was a Japanese couple in our group who, Lord be good to them, didn't understand a word of what was being told to them and despite being given out to for not doing any work, would never paddle and left it all up to his lady friend. It was only until they had been split up into separate kayaks that we found he didn't know how to do anything in the boat much to the anger of his new fiery Italian partner. With the wind blowing our guide gathered us together and whipped out his sail. This is no euphemism and we began trying to sail as a unit. It didn't work out too well but his intentions were good and that's what counts

As we set off for the south we began to get a burny smell and Dr. Vicki the car diagnostician pointed out that it was a brake pad. Good oul Nora! We stopped off at the nearest garage and were forced to wait a few hours before it could be replaced. It wasn't too long before we were back on the road and on our way to Fox Glacier. The following day, armed with our crampons, hiking boots and Vicki with her stick, we set off on a hike around the glacier. At 12km long and moving at about 1 metre a week, this monster is one of the few glaciers in the world that is growing. After a short hike through a forested area we arrived onto the glacier. Our track was partially cut out but our guide, armed with a pick axe, cut out a number of steps throughout the day and we weaved our way in and out of hills and walls. We stopped and took a lunch of chicken salad sandwiches prepared lovingly the previous day. Before we finished our trek our guide took us to a tunnel that had previously been used by a river before it ran dry. This was really spectacular but very slippy and Conor banging his head off the rock solid ice was another memorable experience

Next stop...Queenstown! We immediately booked the combination of White Water Rafting and a Helicopter ride for the following day. In the evening we went to the famous Fergburger to beat the Ferg, simply a massive burger. True to form, Conor ate the biggest burger they made and helped Vicki with hers, which she struggled with a little. Due to the weather the following day, the helicopter ride was cancelled but we still proceeded with the rafting. We were in a group of 7 on the boat as we tipped down the rapids of the Kawarau river. During a calmer section Conor hopped in and floated down alongside the raft for a while in the freezing cold water. Good times! The next day brought us a bungy jump over the Kawarau river. This was a first time experience for the both of us and having done it, hopefully not the last. Conor went first in nowt but a pair of shorts and after a 130 foot drop, dipped down into the river, up to his waist, emitting what may have sounded like a girly scream to the untrained ear but to those with more experience of these things was actually a song of triumph. Vicki, having leapt off the platform, let out no noise but soared through the skies like some sort of majestic flying nurse. A seasoned pro if ever there was one. Having come back onto dry land Vicki said nothing for quite a while. What Conor initially took for fear and shock turned out to be calm and collected and pondering what to make for dinner that evening

We left Queenstown and made for Wanaka, a little tourist town by the side of an impressive lake. We didn't do a whole lot here aside from sunbathe by the lake and although the wind was mighty we still managed to find ourselves victims of the sun's wrath. After a few dips in the lake a delightful stroll it was time to move on and from here we drove before stopping once again for a night in a small town called Milton on the east coast. We stayed in an unusual hostel run by a strange little Swiss man called Tony who had all the symptoms of OCD. We popped down to a beach a few miles away to see what was on offer. Having come through a few yards of long grass and onto the beach Vicki nearly stepped on a seal basking on the sand. Indifferent to our presence he was content for us to be around. We went around to another part of the beach and spotted another seal before we went back to Tony's for dinner

Dunedin was the next port of call and the day we arrived, the site for a delicious lamb meal. We had promised ourselves a good one since the country is famous for its sheep and after a few minutes on the BBQ this was the tastiest rack of lamb we had ever had. We found a Cadbury's factory in the centre of the city and this was one that did tours in a sort of William Wonka fashion so we duly obliged and acquired ourselves some golden tickets ($10 each). Information was flowing but not quite as much as the ton of chocolate that poured down from the ceiling above. Cadbury's had one up on that Wonka fella in that regard. Later that day we took another Super 14s game between the Highlanders and the Crusaders. The game itself wasn't up to much. In fact it went on record as the lowest scoring game in the history of Super Rugby. We did however, see a midget get tackled on the pitch so it wasn't a complete loss

From here we went through Christchurch to the town of Kaikoura. The day after we arrrived we hopped on a boat and had a swim with some Dusky dolphins. We all donned our wet suits, flippers, masks and snorkels and went out on the boat. Our guides told us that we were in the dolphins environment and they were wild and wouldn't be doing any tricks for us. Damn we thought!! We sat on the edge of the boat and jumped in when we reached a good sized pod. We were all told to be dolphin-like and try to entertain them so all we could hear were people shouting and singing at the dolphins. We must have been quite a sight. There were a few hundred dolphins swimming all around us and one in particular took a liking to us. As we were swimming back to the boat he was swimming all around us, back and forth and was clearly having a laugh. It was a really amazing experience and Vicki has decided that when we get back to Ireland she's getting a dolphin. Fair enough we think!

Having said goodbye to our porpoise friends we headed back down to Christchurch to catch our flight across the ditch to Australia. All along our travels through New Zealand we were surrounded by breath-taking sights and views that make you understand why the likes of Lord of the Rings was filmed here. The people were also friendlier than in any other country we've been to so far and that's really saying something. We'll be back one day...

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Photos

Vicki has her game face on!
Hurricanes vs. Highlaners