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Published: November 25th 2011
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Before leaving Fiji I made a decision not to shave until England got knocked out of the tournament. Partly as some kind of lucky charm for the team and partly to see what kind of beard I would produce having never had more than a weeks growth.
We had a rather interesting flight back from Fiji in which the plane hit an air pocket and dropped abruptly. Cat and I were out of our seats letting someone back in and were tossed into the air. The plane was filled with screams and spilt G&Ts and our Fiji Zen-like aura was thrust back into normality.
After that negative, we needed two positives. The first was landing safely, and the second was the sight of our new home for the next month… the Hippie Camper… radical man!!! It was simply a Mitsubishi van with a bed in the back, a cool box and decorated with flowers and butterflies on the exterior. For you motor heads out there, this baby could do 20 m.p.g, had a 70L tank and could just hit 100kph with its sweet 2.4l engine (for future note, this was slightly better than a Mazda E2000, especially uphill!).
Our immediate journey was a 3 hour drive down to Rotorua where, as we got closer, I was constantly queried by Cat to whether I had farted or not? To which I had to explain that we were on the Thermal Highway, and that there were sulphurous gases escaping from the earth in the form of geysers and mud pools (I managed to use this excuse later on in the trip when I let out a rather eggy one and was nowhere near any thermal activity!). We set up our first camp next to Lake Rotorua and went out to get some food to cook in the natural steam heated Hangi Oven (a metal box placed in a natural thermal outlet). Our sausage casserole became a sausage soup as we forgot the water wouldn’t evaporate, but it tasted good all the same. The following day was spent visiting the thermal wonderland of geysers, mud pools and a Mauri village to watch Potuha Geyser spurt into action. We were also treated to a Haka from the villagers and were then made to do the slightly less impressive “Hokey Cokey” in Mauri.
That afternoon, we made our way to Lake Taupo,
visiting a honey shop and the Huka falls on the way. We didn’t do too much in Taupo except check out the impressive lake side views while eating one of the best burgers we have ever tasted….the Burger Fuel Bastard Burger. Having also re-fuelled Hippy, we set off on the long journey to Wellington to catch our early morning ferry to the south island the following day.
The ferry journey is somewhat more impressive than crossing the English channel; the odd migrating whale instead of a floating heap of used nappies, a pod of dolphins in place of a boat full of Albanians and when you finally hit the South Island the “Sounds” are truly inspiring.
Note: Sounds are formed by the erosion of running water through land whereas Fjords are formed by the movement of glaciers.
We departed the ferry and set off for our drive through the Marlborough wine region (past The Brancott Estate and Oyster Bay wineries) en-route to Kaikoura for the next day’s Whale watching experience. The coastal drive is spectacular and each turn of the winding road is more breath-taking than the one before. For me, it’s the combination of the stunning
coastline set against the dramatic backdrop of the mountains that makes it so special. For lunch we sit down to some amazing ‘chups’ at Cooper’s catch in Kaikoura and decide to walk them off with an evening hike down the coast to Kean point to visit a Seal colony. On the way, a friendly farmer lets Cat hold a 2 day old baby lamb, which makes her day!
Sperm whales are hard to spot and only feed in deep waters. Kaikoura has a very deep sea valley and this is what attracts the whales to the area. We set off very early in our high-tech whale spotting boat and head 20 nautical miles out to sea. After a while, a whale breaches the water and we get 10 minutes watching the giant breathe from its blowhole before its next dive with everyone waiting in anticipation to capture the tail flick before it disappears back into the depths of the ocean. It’s a very unique experience and we feel grateful that we managed to see a sperm whale in its natural environment. On the boat trip back we get to see some pods of dusky and hector’s dolphins, along with
fur seals and a variety of seabirds.
We had planned to stay a night in Christchurch, but as we navigate around the city (and numerous detours and road closures), we can see that it has not really started to recover from the earthquakes. Apparently the city is constantly hit with aftershocks and the rebuilding cannot start until it is stable again. The centre where the quake struck the hardest is like a scene from 28 days later… there are empty tables outside cafes and spray painted dates/times where the emergency services have checked each building. It is quite upsetting and surreal to see a place that you could imagine teeming with life in such devastation. Since the campsite we had planned to stay at lay under rubble, we move on and spend the night in a nearby town called Ashburton.
The next day we stop for lunch at Geraldine Bay in Timarau and then make our way down to Oamaru where we spend an enjoyable evening watching little blue penguins make their way from the sea to their onshore nests after a hard days fishing. We were sitting in a specially built amphitheatre and the rocks were lit
with lithium lighting that the penguins can’t see. It’s really funny and enchanting to watch these little fellows (around 100) ungainly scramble up the rocks past sleeping seals then make a dash back to their homes. We drive on after this entertaining evening to Moeraki where we plan to visit the famous boulders the next morning.
We wake early in order to see the Moeraki boulders in their full splendour (low tide) and start our walk around 7.30am. The boulders are fascinating and we think how jealous Cookie would be of us being around such amazing geology. We decided to treat ourselves to lunch and eat at the famous Fleur’s fish restaurant (as recommended by Rick Stein!) which serves up fish caught that morning and other locally farmed goodies. Happy and full up, we excitedly drive on to Dunedin in anticipation of the World Cup opening ceremony. After a long time queuing, we pick up all our tickets and it all starts to feel even more exciting. We decide to watch the opening ceremony in the caravan site TV room and spend the evening drinking and chatting with a friendly group who we arrange to go to the game
with the next day.
It’s the day of England’s first game and an important one; it’s against Argentina, the hardest team in our group. We wake up excited and head into town to check out the atmosphere. It is buzzing and the Argentinean fans are making a lot of noise. We can’t find an England flag anywhere, so we pick up some beers and head back to get ready for the game. The game itself is a slight let down compared to the brilliant atmosphere and England just scrape a win. To our amusement, we find that a majority of the Argentinean support to be that of Kiwi’s in full Puma attire who are more interested in bemoaning the England team rather than supporting the Argies. We realise just how much the Kiwi’s really want to win this thing! The whistling and booing while Jonny was kicking was the loudest we have ever heard. This may have been due in part to the new Otago stadium which is like a greenhouse with an inflatable roof, but was not helped by the fact that he pretty much missed them all! Slightly relieved that we won, we head out for a
few drinks at a local nightspot, however it’s a uni town and we feel a little old so we retire to our new friends’, James and Claire’s, campervan to talk tactics over a cup of tea and biscuits.
Beard Update: (Week 1) No more than a light designer ;-) stubble
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