Poor Knights Islands picture gallery uploaded, and a diving video from Similan Islands

I've uploaded some diving pictures from the Poor Knights Islands to my wanderingscotsman picture gallery.  If you don't dive and have been reading my blog, AND you have a broadband connections, check out this video from the Similan Islands on Google Video.  You'll get an idea of what it can be like.  I saw most of the stuff on this video in one shape or form including the mighty Manta Ray, but I went back to the boat before the whale shark shown re-appeared (arg).

Last day in New Zealand, parcels and 'work'

I sent off my final (hmmm...Japan?) box home today bringing my total shipped back from my trip to around 100kg.  God knows what!  Actually a lot has been gear I had but wasn't going to use anymore, and the tent I bought here just slipped in the box too, along with my underwater camera stuff, jacket and climbing stuff.

After the post office I was $300 lighter! Admittedly being a mere $300 lighter was a bonus.

First thing this morning I thought I had lost $800 from my pocket last night. I'd been carrying it around.....actually I started with $1300 after selling the car......until I got to Auckland to get some Japanese Yen.  I was gutted.  The best part of £300.

I finished packing up the van, sellotaping the box, and I realised in my haste to get to the pub I had left the driver's window of the van wide open last night - yes, with a van full of computer, photography and other kit.  But hey, it was quiet and I was lucky.

I was just getting myself prepared to go round and ask at the pub as I found my $800 on the van floor, obviously falling out my pocket one night as I stripped down for bed!  Lucky bugger.

More luck was had at the post office.   My box was 1kg short of the 20kg limit and I sent off my first submission to a picture library for quality control so fingers crossed.  Out of the thousands of pictures I have take I found it really hard to select only ten to send.  It wasn't even that they were all good I was just very critical of my photos - e.g. a cracking photo of a young monk but his shadow was cut off and more things like that.  I wish I had looked at them so critically before as I learned a lot in the few hours I was doing it.

As well as that I've just submitted a couple more hints 'n' tips to a travel magazine, I've got my fingers crossed for my first article request, and I have to write a book review for possible submission.  Nothing definite yet but fingers crossed.

Meanwhile I really should get off this free wireless in the airport.  I dropped the van off after 4pm and don't fly until 6am so I have the night at the airport.  My bag still seems full, but not as heavy so more internetty time and I'm off to make myself into a south park character from one website I just had pointed out in an email.

Sorry New Zealand my time has unfortunately come.  You've been great and I hope to be back again some day.  Maybe soon.  Maybe later.  You are so diverse.  You are hot and cold, have some great wet spots, but some fantastic icy ones too.

New Zealand - I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night in Tutukaka

The holiday park in Tutukaka was mobbed last night - I mean there were FOUR campervans in it!

After dinner and my bottle of Feijoa wine I had sitting in the fridge (now that I just remembered that, not wonder I was so bad this morning as that was after my post dive pint!) I went out to the pub to see if it was still open, asking along others at the site.  Only an Austrian girl came along, but there were a couple of English girls from the site there too.  I had been praising the diving, but a tad jealous I wasn't going out with them all the next day.  The two girls were travel writers in one shape of form (real ones, sorry if you guys read this!) so had a bit of a chin wag with them.

The bar manager and a local manager of another bar joined us and we stayed there until well after closing time until it got too cold.  We then headed back for a display of Poi - fireball dancing to you and me (I never even knew it was called that!).  Pretty neat but boy I was a bit rough finishing packing another box to send home this morning.

 

 

Ouch!  Who's got hot balls!

 

 

 

 

Poor Knights Islands - Day Three

I got back to the Tutukaka and had another day's diving during my last full day in New Zealand.  As soon as I had it in my head I knew it was the right thing to do and I was eager to get back.

There was a new crew on the boat, but again they were all superb.  Total professionalism, extremely educational, and with a total right on attitude towards the marine reserves.....but with the essential fun thrown in too.

To be honest my first dive in the morning was one of the worst I've ever done.  Leaky mask, foggy mask, and it's the first dive I've done in around forty dives without taking a second mask down as I completely forgot.  I was a bit panicky at first and couldn't wait to surface, but thought I'd stick it out so see how I got on.  I spent the whole time holding the front of the mask.  Horrible.  Heavy breathing, running through gas quicker than my Subaru did, and I wasn't able to focus on looking at things, although I still managed to see another short tailed Stingray.  I was so glad I didn't have my camera down with me as well as that would have just been another thing to look after.  Like my previous post mentioned I thought I should have left my diving experiences on a high.

(Picture : Kelp 'forest')  I knew it would be the last diving I'd do for a while so had to go out again and get the vibe back, so on went a hire mask, and it was absolutely fantastic.  The skipper helped me out with my underwater casing and put a different plastic knob on the end of it and it worked a treat.  It's so bright there you don't even need a flash for mediocre images.  I even took my first underwater video but annoyingly it was a bit of an afterthough just before I surfaced but it was great.  It really made me want to take this up!  I tried to upload this to YouTube but the file was too large.

We entered another cave and finally I got my own pictures of one of the cave entrances.  We saw another ray, several nudibranches and were diving through the kelp forests.  Unfortunately we never saw the carpet shark that sometimes hangs around one of the dive sites.  In exchange for some photoshop info I even got a Poor Knights CD from one of the guys there.  I also spent the boat trip chatting away to an English girl doing her divemaster there.

What a superb day and an ideal way to leave New Zealand.  I was so sad knowing that I wasn't going out the next day as despite only being there three times I walked in in the morning to 'Hi Darren, you came back then.' and that wasn't even from someone who was out on the boat with us.  When I left someone said 'maybe see you next season for your divemaster then.', and I went away with the email address of one of the guys incase I made it to Malta to dive when he was there.

The Poor Knights Islands really are a pretty special place even without the diving.  Above and underwater there are loads of arches, caves and 'bubbles' in the rocks from the previous volcanic activity, and it's a sacred place for the Maoris due to the history.  Due to the lack of human activity on the island its one of the few places, if not the only place in New Zealand that is free from pests and rodents so you get very special creatures including the only remaining 'dinosaur' species around. The caterpilars are huge due to the lack of predators.  Humans are not allowed to land on the islands apart from the odd DOC or scientific representative.  Hearing about this place really brings it home how much man has buggered up New Zealand in the past and present day introducing foreign species, trashing the marine life with fishing practices and generally all the things that lie under the covers of New Zealand's 'clean and green' marketing.  New Zealand isn't alone with this but the longer you spend here the more you realise how much bullshit is being marketed compared to what really goes on.  There are many opponents to the Deptartment of Conservation here, and even their practices, but it's great to see some of the things they preserve and try their hardest to maintain and that they make some of the reserves very easily accessible (e.g. Goat Island) for people that maybe wouldn't experience the environments otherwise.

One day I'll be back :-)

Oh and to finish on a good note, here's a really special picture of a seahorse I took.

I actually got sent this from a traveller I met in Laos.  Apologies to the copyright owner as it's not my picture!  (oops).

Northland and a return to the Poor Knights

I left Tutukaka yesterday morning already wondering why I hadn't just stayed to dive.  I knew I wanted to see the North, but I had kindof already decided I wouldn't head to Cape Reinga as it would be too much driving, and I got fed up of that recently. Immediately I felt like I had turned into a 'tick off tourist' just cruising past the sights with no time to take them in.

Straight past Bay of Islands, straight past where they signed the historic treaty, straight past Doubtless Bay, and a quick snap on a misty 68 mile (sorry '90' mile) beach.

I decided I had to head back to Tutukaka and spend my last clear day in NZ doing another dive at Dive Tutukaka by the Poor Knights Islands.  I've constantly thought about diving and doing my divemaster since being there, so if any generous and wealthy reader has some spare pocket change you could give me a birthday present of flights and divemaster course for my birthday once I return home!  I'm just hoping the weather over there has stayed better than in the west.

It's a bit like a good days climbing.  Do you do another climb after the last superb one you just did, or do you leave it incase the last one you try isn't as good and taints the memory?

Anyway, they are a great bunch there and probably one of the most professional (but not boring) dive outfits I've ever went out with, alongside probably Borneo Divers.

Hi Tech travelling

I've lasted pretty well so far lugging all my gizmos around but it's a bit of a hassle as well. I've got compact camera, digital SLR with a few lenses, laptop, MP3 player and I've acquired a few external hard drives for holding music, pictures and the odd video.

(PIcture : Chargers and leads galore)

 

I've also always purchased a SIM card for my phone in every country except Cambodia (you needed a local ID card there) and Myanmar, and I won't be able to in Japan.

(Picture : My seven SIM cards : Left to right clockwise - since I know you are really interested - Malaysia DTC, Australia Optus, Vietnam somethingorother, NZ Vodafone, UK Vodafone, Laos Tango, I think XPAX is Thailand as well I can't remember, and in the background the purchase card for my Thai Happy SIM!) 

And of course, taking as many photos as I have the last 12 months, you have to expect a camera memory card to get confused and become useless at least once...luckily I never lost anything and had a spare with me as it was at the start of my Mount Aspiring walk!  Of course I had to take it apart to have a look.

(Picture : External hard drives)

But I'd struggle to travel without all the stuff!

Another Classy New Zealand sign

To be fair it this sign probably had nothing to do with a Kiwi.  I saw this scribbled on the back of a toilet door in a holiday park yesterday....

Vodafone in New Zealand

Writing my Hi Tech blog made me think about cellphones (or mobiles) in New Zealand. It's obvious from the start it is a monopoly country, and I guess it may stay that way due to the population.

You have Telecom, who have some stupid old system that doesn't use SIM cards, and Vodafone who has a monopoly for all the travellers, and many Kiwis as well so they can roam with it.

But it's expensive.  It's like the UK years ago.  90c a minute for a call (about 30 pence), yet you can call the UK just now for 30 minutes for $3.

Considering the low population density the coverage is pretty good though, but gets poorer around parts of the South Island for obvious reasons - terrain, national parks and low population.

In saying that you can pretty much tell that if you are in a place you think that is remote but you have cell coverage, I reckon it's a pretty good indication there are some pretty expensive baches (holiday homes) just tucked around the corner, or in the North Island, you are just about to hit another bunch of JAFA's holiday homes (Just Another F!?"ing Auckland - sorry I just had to get that into my blogging somewhere).

Also, Vodafone's service is terrible.  Text messaging not working, long waits on hold to the call centre, voicemails delivered several days later - all really bad when you pretty much have a stranglehold on the market.  I've been with them in the UK for years and they've been great. 

Come on - give the Kiwis what they deserve Vodafone!  Cheap calls, great service and even better coverage - you're one of, if not the, largest phone company in the world!

Return to Poor Knights

Just a quickie as my time on the net is running out and my accommodation in Japan has fallen through...
I'm heading back to Tutukaka for another days dive probably as I've turned into a 'tick off tourist' again and don't like it. And I've always been thinking of diving....

More soon.

I've failed as a traveller!

Not quite, but here I am sitting grabbing internet time, contemplating going home, flights booked, a 'free' trip home effectively, and I'm still enquiring about my divemaster at Dive Tutukaka, and then I get an email from my Melbourne host titled "Come to India"...."I'll be there in two weeks"  yet I reject the idea!

Bloody money!

Long day of travel ahead to Tokyo

Eeeek.  I've a long day on Friday.  Staying at airport overnight, then a 3ish hour flight to Sydney, then a few hours wait there, and a 9hr 55min flight to Tokyo!!  I never realised it was so far away, but I guess my route takes me a longer way round.

I've already started to witness the anal way of doing things in Japan.  I emailed accommodation I've used in Bangkok the other day to book a room.  A confirmation came back.  No worries.

I sent an email to a ryokan in Tokyo the same day. Admittedly I got my dates wrong, but I said that if there were rooms on my real dates then I wanted it, and to let me know step 2 of the booking process.  I then got a reply informing me there were rooms and to let them know if I wanted it...........

Arg!

Day 2 at Poor Knights Islands. Middle Channel and Trevor's Rocks

I was out diving at Poor Knights again today, and again had a fantastic day.  There were a couple of lads from England on the boat so the three of us buddied up and went out on our own - my first time without a guide (although these guys had recently done their divemaster but I think had only dived in Thailand). It was superb just having a bit of freedom to do our own thing.  (Picture : My buddies - one clearly very pleased - at a cave entrance, me looking out to sea. The image just doesn't do it justice)

With a bit of playing around I also got my camera to function correctly for most of the first dive, but unfortunately not the second one when we entered a cracking cave and had a few decent swimthroughs.

The first dive was at  Middle Channel which was the gap between the two major islands in the chain.  Superb visibility, we followed a steep wall to the open channel where we were lucky to see an Eagle Ray swimming away from the first set of divers. I also managed to catch a large nudibranch (which eats other nudibranches) hanging out on the sandy bed.  (Pictures : diver next to wall and seabed, and 8 inch nudibranch)

We then headed back towards a kelp forest, and popped into the start of a cave giving the typical amazing Poor Knights views out to the sun.  You enter a dark cave, then turn round to a picture perfect underwater postcard view.  The north stonefishes are far larger than their counterparts you see in Asia (and I believe quite a bit less dangerous!).

 

We made the compulsory stop in Riko Riko cave but unfortunately didn't dive there again, although the light bouncing off the sea to the cave's roof was far more impressive today. (Picture : Riko Riko cave - so clear you can see the bottom in the picture too)

Dive two took us to Trevor's Rocks which is a set of three pinnacles, with some nice little swimthroughs, and ended up swimming round a nice archway into a cave with yet another picture postcard view.

It was once again a superb day and I was really tempted to dive for a third day but reckon I will head up north for some sightseeing.

 

 

 

One of the many fish. I think this one is a leatherjacket (Kokiri)

 

 

One of the open caves we swam around, and into on the second dive, giving a picture postcard view out to open water.

 

 

I have so much loved my time diving in this location and having been a few months since I've dived it's really motivated me for it.  I'm just pretty gutted that I am not managing to do my divemaster before I head back home, but it's still something I'd love to do whether I would ever take it further or not.

And tonight also ends well. A beer with one of my buddies, sitting the van under nature's disco lights, with the odd shooting star, and the milky way above as well.  A perfect end.

Route to Tutukaka. Goat Island (Okarkari Point) Marine Reserve

I only had one stop on the way to Tutukaka in Northland.  My mate in Wellington told me about another marine reserve called Goat Island that had another snorkelling area. This was the first marine reserve in New Zealand, set up in 1977.  Apparently in summer, there can be around 3000 visitors here at a weekend.  Being off season I only had to share it with a few others.

(Picture : Goat Island Marine Reserve) Unfortunately it was quite rough so reluctantly I never went snorkelling but what a great setup.

 

 

 The campervan at Goat Island Marine Reserve.

 

 

 

 

The Department of Conservation do it again with their information signs encouraging everyone to enjoy themselves.

 

 

So it was off to Tutukaka.  The van ran great, easily breaking the speed limit if required, and if I placed my MP3 player carefully it would play in stereo.  Until I hit a bump.  Despite already sending a box home last week I still loaded the van up with :

• my main backpack
• my manbag with laptop, 3 external disks, notebooks etc
• my $10 Vietnamese 'North Face' hand luggage with camera gear
• a plastic bag with last minute things taken from the car
• a plastic bag with some clothes, recent purchases(hey it was only socks and two expensive British magazines)
• My food bag
• Another rucksack with god knows how many New Zealand leaflets that I feel compelled to send home in the ever lasting hope I'll write some articles one day
• A plastic box which was meant to be holding everything else that I wasn't taking to Japan with me. Tent (purchased here, couldn't be bothered to try and sell), climbing harness, rock shoes, classy 'Pure Local' NZ hoodie, classy Cactus Climbing canvas jacket ('Our clothes get worn in, not out').

Needless to say the van looked like I had lived in it for my 9 weeks despite only having it for an hour.  I may need to send a bigger than planned box home.

(Picture: Looking to the back of the campervan from the drivers seat)

 

 

The passenger seat.

 

 

 

 

My friends at the marine reserve.

Road trip music - get it on your stereo. Now.

Yes I know. You are sitting there wondering what new tunes you can listen to.  And I am sitting here alone in my campervan so I feel compelled to tell you about some of the great stuff I've (clear throat) bought on my travels.  Largely inspired by what my mates have had of course, and some stuff I've read about.  Definitely not all new.

• The Knive - 'Deep Cuts'.  Dave T - if you read this, buy it now.  It contains the original of Jose Gonzalez's now famous tune from the Sony bouncing balls advert.  I loved that, but I like the original better.
• Mark Ronson - 'Version'.  Just out.  If you like dance, electronic, Robbie William's 'big band' album or anything inbetween.  Get it.  Just out.   It's more than a mash up of tunes.  No XXX 'versus' YYY.  It's new take on many songs from Radiohead, Stone Roses, that chick that sings 'Toxic', and many more inbetween.  Despite being covers of some shape or form, it's original.  Love it.
• Manu Chao - 'Proxima Estacion'.  I hardly listen to this, but play track 15  - 'Homens'.  You may recognise it.  It's in French.  It's great.
• Stars - 'Set Yourself on Fire'.  From 2007 but got this early  in my trip.  Try it.  Superb.
• The Beautiful Girls.  Just try anything.  I saw them in Adelaide a few years ago.  Only just got their stuff.  Good.
• The Fratellis. Guess if you are at home you'll know this Scottish band.
• Ben Harper ' 'Both Sides of the Gun'.  A bit funky.  You'll love it or hate it.
• Boards of Canada - 'The Campfire Headphase'.  Chilled out tunes.  Chromakey Dreamcoat is my fav.
• Carus - 'Acoustic at the Norfolk'.  A folky Melbourne band. 
• Cold War Kids - 'RObbers & Cowards'.  Martin you may like this, despite having thought my music taste is 'up my arse' the last few years.
• Emilia Torrino - 'Fishermans Woman'.  Female artist.  If you like that kinda chilled out female vocals, definitely try this. I first heard one of her tracks on the Ministry of Sound Chilled Out 8 - but don't let that put you off if you're not usually into this kind of album.
• Evermore - 'Real Life'.  I have to mention a Kiwi band.  Their track 'Running' is played all the time hear and for a good reason.
• Faithless ' 'To All New Arrivals'.  They always deliver a quality album.  Worth it just to hear a boshed about version of one of the Cure's classics.
• Gomez - 'How We Operate'.  If you like Gomez, get this.  A fantastic album.  Even if you don't like them - try it.
• Nelly Furtado - 'Loose'.  Yes I used to love her first album (or was it just her?) but I can't believe I'm adding this to the list.  I love 'Priscuous' - it's the kind of song that would get me on a dancefloor if bladdered, but don't hold me to it when I get home.  I like this largely due to the fact that you heard the background riff round every corner in every shopping mall in Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.  But strangely I quite like 'Maneater' as well.  Ooops.
• The Fray - 'How To Save  A Life'.  Did I really leave this until last?  I guess you'll know this if back home.  Saw it was high in the Australia charts, thought I'd see what it was about without ever hearing any of their stuff.  Absolutely superb.
• The Living End - various albums.  My friend Tracy from Melbourne was once their rock star photographer (kinda) as her and her bro knows them well.
• The Waifs - 'Sink or Swim'.  God (probably) knows where this band is from but they have an Irish folky kinda vibe to them.  Superb 'fiddly diddly' but funky music.
• Tosca - 'Dehli'.  If you want some chilled, funky, kinda dance music, for some lazy listening DEFINITELY try this one for size.  Listen to 'Gute Lounge''.
• Groove Armada - 'Soundboy Rocks'.  Not sure if it lives up to the rest - good, but I've only had it a day or so.

So you can waken up nowif you have read this far and  get your download manager on the go.........

Hiring a campervan from Apollo Campervans in New Zealand

Just don't.  Did I say don't hire a campervan from Apollo Campervans in New Zealand?  I'll get to that later.

With a bit of hangover I got up and headed to the airport with no breakfast inside.  A recipe for prolonging the pain if ever I've heard one.

I was all excited by picking up the campervan.  A mere $200 for 6 days.  Bargain.  I even extended it by a day.

It was all great until........

On the phone to the call centre I said 'Are there any extra charges?'

'No.  That's it.  Unlimited kilometres and only more if you take out extra insurance'

Fantastic.  That was until I sat there at the desk going through the formalities and the guy on the counter explained that if you don't take extra insurance they take $5000 off your credit card, and by the way there's a 1.5% surcharge for credit cards.

'That's ridiculous, is there any way I can avoid it or pay by cash?'

'No.'

Even if you take out extra insurance they still take a bond, albeit smaller, off your card, and you still get charged for the credit card fee.  I was just lucky I didn't have American Express as that was 4%.  So here I was with a $200 rental, having to pay a non refundable charge of $75 for something I would hopefully never use.  If I had an American Express card, by credit card fee would have been $100 more than my rental.  Absolutely outrageous.

It is my mission to get the $75 back but I know I've got no chance.  Basically I was sitting there, got by the goolies as I only had 6 days, wanted to rent from elsewhere, but never had time to sort it out without eating into my limited time.

I'm going to email the tourism authorities responsible for giving these idiots a New Zealand Tourism Qualmark award indicating their great service to tourists.  By the way they also operate 'Cheap Camper' vans.

I felt sorry for the guy serving me as it wasn't his fault, but to be honest it took all the excitement of renting a camper from them.

Anyway, I got on my way, pleased to have a fridge on the move so my purchases consisted of a 6 pack of Monteith's Golden lager, a bottle of Feijoa white(!) wine, bread, meat filled pasta, nacho kit, guacamole, sour cream, onion, cheese, biscuits (I still had some wine left), cereal, chocolate, milk and feijoas.  A truly balanced diet.

I purchased some karma points by giving away my duvet and pillows to the hostel, and my cooking set of gas stove, gas bottles, plates and pans to a Taiwanese couple in the hostel that had missed out purchasing my car.  It was interesting to see how easily they were taken when free compared to the $30 (£11) asking price on the hostel noticeboard the night before.....maybe it wasn't noticed but it felt better giving it other travellers anyway.

Couchsurfing.com - My first 'meet'

I went out for a great night out to see Dylan Moran as part of the Auckland Comedy Festival with FLYNGAL from couchsurfing.com - Selina, she does have a real name.  Anyway, it was my first couchsurfing hook up.  No couch, but always great to hook up with a local in a big city - once you've been to a few they all kinda seem the same and you really need to hook up with someone who knows the sneaky wee spots the tourist 'punters' don't normally get to - or at least some of them.

First stop was Rakinos in Auckland.  A bar that to be honest could have been in any city, but it was far better being there than the average 'get drunk, get sh...ed' backpackers bar (a generalisation if ever there was one).  But you don't get Feijoa wine in every city or bar (like that Kirsty in 'Wellytron'?).  I didn't buy any but I tried it.  Not bad, if not a bit sickly (but that didn't stop me stocking up on some on my travels).  I opted for my first Stella Artois for a while.

The comedy? Not bad, not brilliant, but it got funnier as he got more risky.  Just before he finished.  At $50 it was almost the same price you'd pay in the UK which is a tad pricey for here, but it's always good to see a comedian in a different country.  And he mentioned Scotland, and not in a bad light, so he got my vote (I never knew he lived there).

And on it was to the next stop.  Shanghai Lil's.  Now we're talking. As we walked past, Selina wasn't convinced it was the right bar as people were dancing to old style big band type music.  It was the right bar.  Quirky, full or old hideous, but pleasing at the same time, ornamental.....ornaments.  From chandaliers to sofas, to big marble type elephant pot stands.  Like a very 'upmarket' version of The Pond in Edinburgh if there could ever be one.  The crowd were mixed to say the least from cool youngsters (like myself!?!) to a group of older women dressed in classy dresses, just out for a meal and a good night.  The manager (I'm guessing) made the place.  I'm sure I could have got my residency through him, but rather than as a skilled migrant, it would have had to be through a same sex marriage.  After discovering we weren't 'together' he complimented me on my looks, and eventually I couldn't escape going up to dance with him, but I fear my lovely Earth Sea and Sky trousers, and my Boom Boom Music Cambodia clothes weren't a match for his old school red velour dinner jacket. 

A quality pub, off the beaten track, and drinking pints of 'Dave's' draft lager (after a compulsory Feijoa vodka, Apple and Lychee juice cocktail) until about 0230.

Travel towels

So you're wondering which travel towel to take away with you on your next trip?  TekTowels or all the other towels I've forgotten?

I think it's about high time I introduced you my lovely travel towel.  Ever tried to find a large towel in Kota Kinabalu in a hurry?  I did, but to no avail.  The largest one I could find in a hurry in one of the department stores was one which unfortunately make me feel like a kiddy fiddler every time I use it due to the colourful characters on it.....but it's lasted the pace, is light, and doesn't smell.  It's also got an amazing ability to cover everything in the washing machine with it in little white balls.

Drum roll......................and here it is :

Modern backpackers

This photograph shoes the way that some flashpackers are travelling now - 3 laptops using wireless on one table, wine and beer.  Quality.  A recent poll showed that MP3 players were the most popular item to take travelling nowadays, and after wandering around Auckland's CBD today with music coming through only one ear, it's frustrating when they don't play ball.  There are definitely more and more travellers with laptops now too.  If you head to a hostel that mentions wireless in it's description, it's even more obvious.

Car Sold. Campervan Hired.

I sold my car today.  Yaaah. Bought for $1900. Sold for $1300.  Only cost me $600 for 9 weeks which is around £200 UKP. 

Plus the $2000 of fuel or whatever I guess and a new set of tyres at $180.

So what did I do?

Hire a campervan.  So I pick up an Apollo 2 berth Hi Top Cheapa camper on Friday (complete with hangover maybe after comedy festival?) until Wednesday afternoon, giving me one full day in Auckers before I head to Japan to purchase all the books that I think I'll maybe get round to reading.....despite having three excess books lugged through New Zealand.  My campervan hire is only costing me $200 - just over a tenner UK per day as it's low season.  And I cannot wait to get out an about it in as I always 'promised' myself a camper in NZ.

So now I have the best of both worlds. A sports car, and a campervan.  And I've just booked diving at at Dive Tutukaka at the Poor Knights Islands on Saturday.  I'll probably have more than one day but will suck it and see.

So a few hours ago I got £1300.  In the last hour I've just committed myself to $440.  By the time I return from the Poor Knights I may have blown the lot.  But hey.  I'll be diving, and I'll be in a campervan.

The Man Upstairs and His mistake making Scotland - Part II

So I was thinking what other hindrances Him upstairs put in the way of Kiwis to try and satisy myself.....

I guess he never thought about broadband coming along....  I mean New Zealand...how do you expect to attract IT people with a piss poor home broadband service with tiny little download capped limits?  And NZTV is trying to promote downloadable TV? Come on.....

And 100km/h speed limit?  Yeh I guess that'll make them take even longer to get from place to place.....

Little things......

Updated photo gallery - again

I've added many more pictures again today after my wireless connection died in the early hours of this morning..... see the Wandering Scotsman Gallery for a complete update from New Zealand - Mount Aspiring to Coromandel and everywhere inbetween.

Long way from home. The joys of travelling.

 It scares me coming home. While travelling (especially by yourself) you are in your own little world.  There are no politics of the office.  No bitching.  No @rseholes (if there are you leave them although I've been lucky to meet only one - a pissed English guy on St Patrick's Day).

(Picture : Distance to London from Mount Eden, Auckland)

You don't even care if the amount of petrol you put in doesn't end up in a nice round number.  $63.46 is fine thank you.  No need to make it $63.50, or $64.00 (Shit!  Was that just me that did that?).  You don't worry if you scratch your car. Or loose your travel speakers*.  The only folk that piss you off is people who don't clean up after themselves in hostels.  And tour buses.  You get up when you want to.  And you don't mind always wakening at 0700.  (But that doesn't mean you have to get up eh?)

(One funny sign in a hostel said : "Your mum is not with you.  Please clean and put away your dishes."  Scribbled after it was : "Could you please translate this to German as they don't seem to understand."......although most of them do).

There is also no supply of money.  Which is a problem. 

You see I have £2.12 in my savings account.  This month is the first I haven't paid off my credit card in full.  I still have 5 weeks left.  Mostly in Japan.  And I may be meeting investment bankers there to socialise.

In saying that I am writing this on my laptop in Ponsoby in Auckland, just having finished my Salmon and Cream Cheese bagel and a flat white coffee in a cafe that Zara Phillips apparently ate in a while back (according to the poster on the wall).  Still, it was 'only' $11.

I've pimped my car around a few hostels, but to be honest I can't be bothered.  If I don't sell it by Thursday I'm quite happy to leave it at the auctioneers and let them have their $350 commission, depending how much they sell it for.  If they sell it.  You see time's short.  I don't want to sit around depressing backpackers car markets while the sun is shining. I just hope I don't end up exchanging it for a bag of weed like I heard another guy do recently in his desperation to get at least something for it (no, mum, I won't).  It would give me some good Buddha karma points giving it away before I reach Asia!

I bumped into a couple of girls at my hostel whom I met in the Nelson hostel I stayed in.  And I've just received some tips on how to preparemy pictures for one of the photo libraries :-)   I never recognised them at first as they had their hands deep in the fridge cleaning for free accommodation at the time.  I'm heading in to see Dylan Moran with a couchsurfer on Thursday night as part of the Auckland Comedy Festival.  Kate from Raleigh in Borneo who tried to keep me on the straight and narrow,, and who I constantly disappointed with my pictures ;->, has given me potential contact in 'Tokers' (Tokyo) to show me the bars and finally blow that budget before heading back to cheap 'n' cheerful Asia.  I also got some Japan hints from another couchsurfer in Nagano.  I've not had too much luck with the couchsurfing.com enquiries I've sent off for Japan though which is a bit of a blow.  But I did order my Japan Rail pass from STA Travel today.

Unfortunately I've probably put the motorbike hire on hold as it was £130+ per day...and $165 for the BMW I wanted.

What is good about coming to the end of my trip is that I have flashbacks from the previous 12 months.  I often think I haven't *really* travelled as it's all been so easy.  I often forget how much I've done until I double click on Picasa and open up the photo library of thousands.  Sharing bus journeys with cool strangers.  Getting a remote Laos village  playing with multicoloured balloons with faces drawn on them. Wading through floods to the guesthouse in Inle Lake, Myanmar after hard bargaining for a 5 hour ride on the back of a pickup with new friends.  Watching the hungover horror in Tracy's face as she woke up ten minutes before her scheduled flight departure to Cambodia.  Paying way too much for cool 'hand made, one off' pictures that I just remembered I sent back from Bagan in Myanmar.  Watching as participants realised they had just cut down the wood for someone's house to support water tanks in a tiny village in Sabah.  Crapping myself hearing a rustle in the dark forest while walking on my own to see glowworms without having to pay $70 for the pleasure. Drinking the nicest tea ever (Buddha tea) in Hanoi.  Running into relative strangers a few days after meeting them and feeling like they were best mates.  Making kids cry when they saw a strange white man lifting his camera to take a photo of them beside a cockfight.  Seeing frogs beaten over the head in a Cambodian market.  Working out what to do when 2/3rds up Mount Kinabalu and a participant gets a suspected broken ankle. Buying a car with no mechanical check.  Having a drinking competition with a waitress in Nah Trang as she challenged me on a bottle of vodka, which was bought by somone I met an hour earlier.  Running out of petrol between army checkpoints on the Thai / Myanmar border.  Walking away from a heated discussion having retrieved my passport and only put down 1/3rd of the asked rental fee in Laos after my motorbike broke down.  Being offered a 'smoke' from a long tail boat 'captain' in Thailand.  Saying hello to a 3m wide Manta Ray which hovered a few feet above me.  Having a $1000 camera lens returned to me after finding out a traveller on my dive boat handed it in to a guesthouse in Phnom Penh.  Purchasing my third compact camera of the trip due to previous flooding and dropping.  Talking the same shit with John, but this time on a Thai balcony in Ao Nang and not his flat after a red hot curry. Getting up early to walk 12 hours off a mountain.  Talking my way into a closed 'illegal' late night bar in Laos. Swimming with 400 dolphins.

Zara Phillips still hasn't came into the cafe again.  I'm off up Mount Eden.

All good.

(Picture : Auckland CBD from Mount Eden)

 

A slice of reality.  Central Auckland traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* - I did actually give a shit about loosing my travel speakers - I just don't know if it was on a Philippines islands, Bangkok airport where noone told me my bag was open, or somewhere inbetween.

Blog Correction

You know you're not ready to go to sleep when you lie in a hostel in your sleeping bag and realise.......shit, I wrote Control-K on my blog and it''s really Control-ENTER!! So if you read my post in I've Been Linked To....  and tried to write 'wanderingscotsman' in your address bar in your internet browser, hit Control-K and nothing happened.....try it again and press Control-ENTER.

Ooops. 

I think it's high time I went to bed soon.  It's 0139 and despite all the lights being on, I'm the only one up......and tomorrow is meant to be a busy car related day.

Updated Photo Gallery

I've taken the liberty of using and abusing my $10 24 hour internet access to make a well overdue update to my Wandering Scotsman Photo Gallery.  I hope you enjoy!  Sorry, there are no captions with the images.  Jeez, gimme a break.  I'm on holiday.  It's 0124, I've had 5 beers and I'm feeding my internet addiction.......

The Man Upstairs and His mistake making Scotland

As I drove along the Coromandel coast, it was the first time I started to think The Man Upstairs made Scotland on a Saturday, and New Zealand on a Sunday. 

I think He made Scotland thinking he had made the ultimate country.  Small, great people, Aberdeen rowies, great access to the outdoors, world class secluded beaches, beautful islands, great accessible mountains, climbs, camping and kayaking, drinking water (Whisky) and all the rest.  The Best Small Country In The World.  It wasn't until he was out with the boys on Saturday night that he realised after a few beers that he forgot to add the long term glaciers (ok, ok, I know the valleys and mountains of Scotland are cleary made as a result of glaciers), rainforests, and as he added cold water to his Whisky he realised he had made the sea too cold to swim in unless you're completely canned at 0430 in the morning (like me after my Mountain Leader course in Kintail).

He didn't know what to do.  He thought he would make New Zealand to rectify his oversight from his busy day's work.

'Shit, what can I do?'  he said to his mates.

Suddenly a brainwave hit him.  Like every 9-5 monkey he decided a cover up was the best option. 

'I know, I'll put it as far away from Scotland as possible - just off that block of ice at the bottom of the world.  I'll add the rainforests, the different climates in one country, and I'll split it up into two - North and South.  That way, they'll have to travel much further to go from the snow to the 'tropical' north in the winter.  The Scottish folk will never find out about it, but if they do, it'll be too far away anyway, and jeez, the Scots only have to drive a few hours from one end of their country to the other so I'll make the Kiwi's suffer and make them drive a couple of thousand kilometres and take a ferry to boot.  In fact I'm so sure they'll never find out I'd be as well call half the mountains the same names as Scotland - that'll save me some time as I work out this rainforest malaky, heck I'll even cut corners in Dunedin and make most of the streetnames the same as Edinburgh.  Just incase they do ever find out, which they won't, I'll make some compromises and make some of the towns have a layout a bit like the place I plan on creating in a few thousand years called America'

And there it was.  Like all best plans made over a beer.  New Zealand.

Coromandel to the Big Bad City (Auckland)

Very reluctantly I sat on Hahei beach this morning in perfect sunshine, dying for a swim, keen to go back to Hot Water Beach...and decided to head towards Auckland. 

 (Picture : seafront road in Whitianga) I never called up any accommodation until two thirds of the way back incase anywhere took my fancy, but luckily as I passed through Whitianga (erm, check my spelling on that!), Coromandel town and Thames I realised I made the right choice staying at Hahei.  In saying that, during this journey I really did believe the guidebooks.  You just wouldn't do the Coromandel justice if you only drove up either the east or west coast, they really are very different.  The east has some amazing beaches, and the west is more rugged.  I expected a cliff lined coast though, but instead, every house on the west seems to be within a few k's of a beach, a boat ramp and almost all have stunning outlooks across the bay.

As I stopped at the viewpoint above Coromandel town my decision to hit Auckland was made.  The car had started to steam from the bonnet like it did early on in its tour in Christchurch.

Not a problem as it was only burning oil, but I did decide to treat it and actually put some oil in it after covering around 8000km or more.  Like everyone said they did, two minutes after popping the bonnet over a friendly Kiwi stopped to check that everything was ok.  (Picture : View over Coromandel town)

So here I am sitting in a hostel in the Mount Eden area of Auckland (Bamber Lodge Claudia - ta for the recommendation but it's miles from town!).  I posted another 12kg home (I think my total posted weight home from this trip sits at almost 70kg including the partially smashed 27kg of Vietnamese ceramics).  And I even put the car through a carwash.  If it wasn't for the exhaust needing fixed because of me reversing into a gravel dip in the road, the front of it needing fixed, a new strut required to stop the oil leak, a new windscreen due to the crack that was there when I bought it, and the excessive tapping noise from the engine when you rev, I'd love to take my Subaru home with me. (By the way fixing all that may only cost less than $500-600NZD over here using second hand parts).

I did a bit more sorting stuff out after arriving in the hostel.  I then popped out to get a pizza and a 6 pack for about 7UKP as I felt lazy and am posting this on the hostel's $10 24 hour charge for wireless net access.  No Rough Guide or map in the car - piece of piss.  I'm so switched on when it comes to getting my bearings in a new place.  I realised I may not be as switched on as I thought in the dark as I continuously drove around the block looking for my street, with no street name for the hostel written down. Needless to say I should've followed my instinct as I ended up driving a couple of k's to a main road only to find myself coming along the one I hummed and hawwed about turning up several times.

I may stay in Auckland until the weekend, depending how I decide to punt the car - I could either go the 'plaster the hostels with flyers' route, lower my trademe price to stupidlow, or just take it to an auctioneers for an easy life and little cash.  I'm tempted with the third option.  There's a few folk I met over the last few days that are in town for flights home this week so I may have the odd beerio.  I may stay here untl the weekend.  Not that I want to be in the city, but I'll see.  Then I may get a hire car.....or ideally motorbike (far more costly - probably more than a hmmm campervan) to take up to diveat Tutukaka which will hopefully have more pristine beaches, nicer weather to top up my tan (it's two hours further north), and great diving to take my mind off the fact that I'm not in Vanuatu right now.

Tidy up the car day in Hahei

It is definitely low season in NZ just now.  Generally everyone seems to pass through Hahei for one night only. I decided I needed to take some time out and prep the car for getting shot of it in Auckland.  I ended up in Hahei for three nights and almost felt like I should have got my residency due to my 'long term' status.  I even got my internet check for free from the guy there.  After the last few days it was definitely time for a clear out as you can see from the following pictures taken enroute from Froggat to Coromandel.  Note the classy towel drying method of having it over the front seat.  The back seat was even fuller than normal as I had bought a box to send my first parcel home, in the hope that I would finally travel light in Japan (Dad, there's another 12kg box on it's way around the end of May! - another one to follow in a week's time!  And I guess another $170 postage!!!).

Passenger seat and rear seat.

 

 

 

 

Rear seats in all their glory.

 

 

 

 

The essentials : Coffee, and the lead to the MP3 player (getting more annoying as time goes on as it is getting harder and harder to force it into stereo playback due to a loose connection - an upgrade is calling me in Japan!)...and the Christchurch Antartic Centre visitors sticker on the dashboard.

 

MP3 player, maps, blueberry muffin brown bag, laptop manbag at footwell (my compulsory purchase in Sydney) and waterproof jacket - hardly used :-)

 

After a while sorting this out and packing a box, there was only one thing left....another afternoon visit to Hot Water Beach!

It felt like I was the only person in the accommodation that night as everyone else (erm, three people) kept themselves to themselves in their rooms while I struggled to find some decent TV while backing up pictures.

Oh here's a random picture I took on my journey from Froggatt.  You have to love some of the advertising you see around here with the Kiwi sense of humour - click the picture to enlarge it and have a read.

Hahei on Coromandel Pensinsula - Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach

From Castle Rock / Froggatt I drove up to Hahei on the North East tip of Coromandel Pensinsula - the weekend retreat of Aucklanders.  I say it's the North West, but only as far as the main roads take you - gravel roads will take you quite a bit further north but I decided not to take the time to explore them.

 

 

When I drove into Hahei I realised this was the sort of place I needed to get over the repetitiveness of moving from place to place.  The whole drive up the peninsula was great but it was a long windy road to get there.  Arriving at Hahei was like a mini Krabi (Thailand) or Halong Bay (Vietnam....erm, but I didn't make it there).  Although the karsts and islands cropping out of the ocean aren't quite as impressive it was a beautiful setting and made me switch on my own cruise control. 

(Picture : Hahei beach) The weather was almost tropical at around the mid twenties - hard to believe a few weeks ago I was climbing on glaciers.

 

 I had a pretty action packed day (for me!) the next day and went for a wee stroll to Cathedral Cove, which you could walk to from the accommodation (obviously I took my car for 10 mins and saved myself one hour return).  On the way you walk past Gemstone Bay where the Department of Conservation (DOC) have set up a snorkelling course, marked by three buoys which have displays of what you can see in the area.  I thought the Forestry Commission back home did pretty well setting up mountain bikes trails, but a snorkelling course in a marine reserve?  Only in New Zealand.  Superb.  The water was fresh but absolutely fine after the first thirty seconds.  Being spoiled by recent dive and snorkel trips I stupidly never went round the whole course - if I did I would have probably seen loads of crayfish etc but it's just not the same on your own I guess (lame excuse!).  Despite having seen shedloads of them, I did get a bit of a move on when I saw a one metre long stingray (not sure of the exact type) 10 metres from the shore.  (ok, ok, I know the picture's crap)

 

A further 5 minutes took me to the real Stingray Bay which was an ideallic little cove with crystal clear water.

 

Fifteen more minutes and it was Cathedral Cove.  What a cracking place - two beaches, but one accessed through the cove.  I sat down, went for a swim and read my book for a bit.

Like everyone here, I followed the tide times and went to Hot Water Beach just before low tide in the afternoon.  You have to see it to believe it but basically there is a natural hot spring on the beach running below the sand, everyone takes a shovel ($5 to hire), digs a hole, hope they get lucky and hit hot rather than cold water, then voila - your own little hot spring in the sand.  I had three failed  attempts to find gold (hot water) but managed to hijack someone else's pool which was at a perfect temperature.  Yes, even the temperatures vary just like the real hot springs you pay loads of cash for....the closer you are to the hottest part of the sand....erm, the hotter your pool is.  If you strike it perfect you can use the sea water to regulate your temperature.  At the hottest part of the beach you can't even stand on the sand it's so hot!

Considering I had merely hijacked a pool I was quite happy sitting back, drifting asleep in the sun while everyone tried to either warm up or cool down their pools.  Bliss.

The accommodation in Hahei (Tahipi Lodge - will have to check the name!) was great as well.  The second night's bunch were fare more talkative, all gassing about travel and loads of other stuff as I sat there necking a bottle of vino, and we all tucked into the stash of Feijoa fruits that appeared in the kitchen (yes Kirsty if you read this in Wellington I bloody love these now!)....

 

(Picture : Diggers at Hot Water Beach)  This picture was taken by somone else staying at the same place as me so I copied it from him.  I'm lying there in the middle, half asleep with my Hoi An tailor made board shorts from Vietnam.

Hahei and lovin' the life

I'm still alive. I came up to Hahei on the Coromandel peninsula and loving the chilling out. I went to Cathedral Cove and Hotwater Beach yesterday, and returned to Hotwater beach today. Hahei is a superbly chilled out tiny town on the coast. Just what I needed.
I even took this morning to prep a box to send home (one of two before hitting Japan) so I travel lightly...ish.
It was a great scene this afternoon - sitting in a hot sandy pool of hot springs on the beach, while watching guys grab mussels from the rocks, another guy surfing, and a scottish guy bouldering on the rocks on the beach.
You've gotta love the diversity of New Zealand! Heading back to the big bad city this week to get shot of the car asap before heading further north for a few days before eeek, leaving here two weeks today. Still kinda wished I had squeezed inVanuatu if it wasn't for the cash though!

Bryces Climbing and Froggatt Edge

(Picture : Climbing under a rainbow at Froggatt)

I headed up to Te Awamutu to drop of my mate's ice axes at his folks (thanks Gareth!) then rather than bomb up to the Coromandel Peninsula I headed 20km's down the road to stop off at Bryce's climbing, next to several well known climbing areas such as Froggat.
Luckily for me there was a well bored Czech guy staying there just gagging for someone else to arrive and climb with. I stayed and climbed for a day and stayed a second night.

 The sun was out, and despite being almost beaten by some grade 16s (hey I've hardly done much climbing) we had a great long afternoon and had a couple of superb wee routes, including a few leads and a few seconds.

The crags were a great setup.  They are privately owned and even have signposts to tell you which is which - unheard of Scotland - I struggle to even make out a route from a crag top half the time!

Crag signposting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me about to start abseiling from the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you got bored from sitting around in the evening  or non climbing days there's an excellent bouldering cave next to the kitchen for guests - fantastic!

 

 (Picture : Main Cliff at Froggatt Edge)  Despite being tempted to stay another night I am on my way to the Coromandel Peninsula as the forecast is great this weekend. It took me a wee bit longer to get away from Bryce's than I thought, although I did manage to walk away without buying any climbing kit. Amazing. You see the car didn't start. Dead. Nada. Not even a tick over.

I went over the garage and someone came over with a battery to try and start it.
Just before I was about to try it I wanted an instant earthquake in NZ to swallow me up and save me the embarrasment. You see, despite driving this car for 8 weeks someone today I forgot that I needed to put the security key into the immobiliser for it to start. Unfortunately I didn't remember until the garage guy came over.
At least I gave him a bit of a laugh, and a few bucks to go and buy a beer. No doubt he took the piss out of 'bloody backpackers' when he went back to the game of pool I interrupted.

Onwards to Coromandel and in Auckland midweek to get shot of the car in some shape or form before heading north for some diving. I have one interested party so fingers crossed.

I've been linked to! The life of a lonely blogger

Although I've enjoyed writing my blogs when being away I often wonder who reads them. After pouring over Google Analytics I know I get read worldwide from Ghana to Galway and Washington to Wanaka....but I never know who by.
I can tell what words people use to stumble on my site if they use google..... from 'big cocks' (an article about cockfighting in Cambodia) to 'Koh Lanta Koh Lipe speedboat' to 'foldable cup. I can never understand the people who are still searching for 'wanderingscotsman' or 'wandering scotsman' via google and not just typing 'wanderingscotsman' in the address bar then hitting CTRL+ENTER (try it!).
I can tell the figure hovers at .....not very high.
But today I received a lovely short email from a Kiwi author saying she's been reading my blog recently! Yaaah! It may have only been one entry as she is about to get a book called 'Ripples On The Lake' published, based in locations around Lake Taupo. Check out her blog The Flightless Writer. Dawn I'm afraid I never filled up my car in Taupo so it wasn't me that got the free coffee.
So if you are reading this whether be friend or stranger, drop me a note now and again. I know I've just been playing catch up recently on my laptop to avoid the people that ruin NZ's fabulous hostels, but in Rotorua I found a chilled one! Despite sitting in it just now though I don't know its name....

I'll be on the move tomorrow. Over to Te Awamutu (hmm..check spelling) to return Gareth's ice axes then onwards from there. I've had my Warrant of Fitness done on my car (hmm...inspection report anyway). I'm over paying to see natural things and do more of the same things so I received some inspiration when I spoke to the guys at Dive Tutukaka this morning.....so I'm going to hot foot it to go diving and blow cash at the Poor Knights Islands....yet another top 10 destination according to Jacques Costeau (spelling!) - I'm spoiling myself diving again. 20m visibility and a chilly 18c just now.
I'll probably stop briefly in the Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland to get the car posters up on the way.

Taupo and the Craters Of The Moon

 After having a sneaky couple of drinks with 'Stan' (he French guy) in the bar last night I offered him a lift to Taupo with me.  Another amazing person to meet as he had just went up Mount Ruapeu and worked as a Captain's Mate on supply ships to the French Antartic research stations based out of Tasmania.  I tried to see if they ever took stowaways but I never got anywhere......  maybe one day I'll get an email eh Stan?  Please???  Oh how I'd love to go there.......

I was keen to hang around and try going up to the ice and snow to the crater on Ruapeu (the location of the recent lahar landslide)but the forecast was stinky so we drove to Taupo in the rain.  Booked on his bus to Rotorua we both sneaked in a visit to the Craters Of The Moon - a geothermal area on the outskirts of town.  Amazing.  Flumes of steam popping out the ground in all shapes and sizes, some of them as loud as a small generator.  Despite walking around in waterproofs in the rain it was well  worth it.  Apparently the area didn't have much activity until the creation of a geothermal power station which altered the underground activity.

 

After a bacon and egg sarnie with Stan I left him at the bus station  and opted for the flashpacker option of staying in a newer hostel in Taupo so fingers crossed for no snorers.

Tongariro Crossing and Mount Ngauruhoe...and how I'm starting to hate staying in hostels

I bombed up the road to National Park and was greeted with a forecast that didn't look very promising.  I almost decided to give the walk a very reluctant miss (it's the one walk I really wanted to do) but decided to get up in the morning and have a look.  Lukcy I did.  As soon as I looked out I could see the outline of the mountains - clear skies.  Excellent.  7am it was on the bus.

The crossing is heralded as one of the world's greatest one day walks.  Whether it is or not is up to you but it is a pretty spectacular crossing of active volcanoes, only slightly spoiled (in my humble opinion) by the necessary paths that DOC have had to construct on the northern side of the trail (walking through bush on a path booooores me).

 I reckoned I'd easily make the walk before the bus so headed up Mount Ngauruhoe (2292m) as a side trip. It's pretty hard going going up the volcanic debris but it is totally different to any surface  I've walked on before.  Even before you get to this point you have been walking across loads of volcanic rock from previous eruptions.  Luckily I got up before the clouds came in, although watching the clouds roll up the cone shaped peak was impressive in itself (see picture).  I had spectacular views across to Mount Taranaki on the west coast.  Despite taking me the best part of 90 minutes to get up, I got down in around 20 mins jogging down the volcanic scree like I was telemark skiing.  I think the last eruption was in 1975 but at the top it's clear it's still active as you can see by the flumaroles (I think that's correct) coming through the rocksand the noises coming from the impressive crater, also shown in the picture.  The only other volcano I've been up was in Hawaii but it wasn't nearly as impressive (except the 30+km bike freewheel to the beach from the summit!).

There's so many images to see from the crossing I've only put a few up here.  After my descent I made it over the red crater (see picture) to the much publicised Emerald Pools.  There were amazing moon type landscapes in the distance and if I had only done a bit more planning rather than turning up at the hostel at 8pm the night before, I would have maybe stayed overnight in the hut up here.  There was a mad crowd that were about to launch an inflatable dinghy on one of the lakes, and there was an apprehensive paraglider considering a launch (he decided to launch from near the end of the trail instead as he wasn't sure of the weird thermals).

Me above the Emerald Pools, taken by the paraglider.

 

 

 

 

Emerald Pools.

 

 

 

Unfortunately the walk in this direction ended with a slog downhill through the bush - despite my walking poles my knees were starting not to like this very much,and god do I hate paths and 'forest walks' despite how amazing the plantlife is in New Zealand.  If I did it again I think I would do the walk in the opposite direction, getting the bush walk out of the way, take the hit of the extra 400m climb, stay overnight in the hut and do more exploring around the park.

 

 

 

I found out Rob (who I missed phone calls from) had headed to the South Island so decided not to rush away and stay in the hostel another night.  I had a quick play on the climbing wall that was part of the hostel and totally chilled.  As it was a Sunday night and this is low season (inbetween the madness of summer and the start of winter) it was only a frenchman and I staying in the huge place which was great.  I managed to sit and watch tele with magazines and a coffee, and have one of my best kips for ages. 

It was just what I needed as the previous night I had moved to the TV room at around 4am after sharing the room with a bunch of professional snorers...they also announced their arrival into the room pulling all of their belongings out the most crispy sounding plastic bags ever.  The TV room bordered our dorm and a loud bigoted '...I'm not a racist though...' English guy was spouting off about the state of England in the tele room with the TV turned up too loud.  I almost shouted obscenities at him when I heard him ask the staff if he could keep the TV on all night.  Quite ironic really as he was just spouting off about how bad the English youth are nowadays and how inconsiderate they were (although he did say the Scottish were the best people in the UK).  I must have eventually drifted to sleep after knocking on the wall (which bordered the TV Room).  Despite having several professional snorers in the room, one of the guys was so loud that on around the seventh pull of the pillow over my head and curse that this was the one night I left my earplugs in the car, I seriously considered stepping over and breaking his nose.

I'm starting to f**(ing hate hostels and sharing bedrooms.  Kiwiland has to contain some of the best hostels around, but despite having a bunch of really cool travellers in them they have their fare share of inconsiderate, selfish loud mouthed twats in it.

 The indoor climbing wall taken from my dorm's doorway.  A bit like having bedrooms surround Edinburgh's Alien Rock climbing wall!

Rafting at River Valley, Rangatiki River

After the comforts of a real bed, a Korean meal, seeing the state I'll be in when I'm home (sorry Natalie, just comparing the no job, 'depression' etc!) and a few drinkies I headed north from Palmerston North to National Park.....  well at least that's where I thought I was heading when I left. By the time I bought supplies and left the supermarket car park I had a quick glimpse of what there was in the area in my Rough Guide, made a quick call and was on my way to rafting at River Valley outside Taihepe.  I couldn't get a space until the next afternoon which pretty much meant some time chilling.

I popped into have a look at Gravity Canyon on the way - home to the North Island's largest bungee, a large 'flying fox' and a bridge swing. The pciture shows a funny message on the riverbank directly under the bungee rope.  I managed to keep my wallet in my pocket but it was in a great location.

 

 

Of course I took the back gravel road to the rafting meaning my car getting much dirtier.

 

 

 

(Picture : taken from next to the rafting lodge)    River Valley rafting is in a superb location on the riverbank down a steep gravel road.  It would have been ideallic as I took the time to catch up on a few things -  emails, a bit of writing etc...river flowing noises, sun out, no sandflies, sneaky beer in hand.....until the Kiwi Frickin' Bus inconsiderate twats asked me to move so they could play cricket in my camping patch.  So it was all shouting and the likes.....  inconsiderate buggers.  It could have been one of the nicest spots I had stayed in NZ.

 

(Picture : 'Writer' at work)As darkness fell a bunch of off roaders arrived with 4x4's and dirt bikes in tow for a huge school fund raising event the next day - 600 of them started a few kilometres up the road in the morning, so I went up to have a peek.  I wished I was taking part - all the farmers had opened up their land to give a 110km off road track.

As usual, once the place had my booking we were told the river wasn't that high so the rafting wasn't quite as mad as I hoped so I kinda wished I had kept my cash.  In saying that it was meant to be grade IV's (although I don't think they were) but they were technical rather than mental.  I shared the raft with two 'Slaves' who worked there for the week in return for food and accommodation...and a raft trip.  We had to react to the guide's orders to swap sides, do whichever paddle stroke he commanded and more to get us through the rocky rapids.  Despite letting go of the paddle handle I managed to keep my two front teeth as it clattered off them as I was jumping over the other side of the raft.  The river was in a really cool canyon apparently created by the tectonic plates in the area shifting as well as the waters flow.  Still a good day out. 

I then bombed up to National Park as darkness fell, missing two calls while I was out of reception from a mate who is over on honeymoon so sorry I missed you Rob!

Palmerston North and Couchsurfing

Yesterday was spent driving up to Palmerston North to visit Natalie I met in KL. I guess it was a bit like couchsurfing as I had only went out for some food and drinks with her and a mate. Thanks to her and her mum for putting me up. I saw the delights of 'Palmy' which was a gorge and a windfarm. Although we have them not far from home it's the closest I've been to one - sitting right at the bottom of it in the car. It's a tough one though - a great source of energy but woudl I want to see them scatted over the beautiful views of Scotland like planned?
Definitely not.
Anyway I'm off towards National Park today and will probably have a quick spy of the Flying Fox and bungee (will my credit card stay in my pocket?). If the weather behaves itself I'll be heading across the Tongariro Crossing then driving up towards Taupo and Rotorua.
And.......my first couchsurfing experience is planned on Sunday night if all goes well. No doubt it will be a bit bizarre but they sound a great outdoors couple but it's bound to be different to hooking up with mates but I'm sure it will be sweet. I'm mean what's the worst that can happen? You meet another couple of people on your travels, have a chinwag and leave the next morning. Not that much of a hardship. Or you could meet some fantastic new mates, see some of the area with them, and see them when they crash on my couch in Scotland.
Either way it can't be that bad.
Anyway, it's time to hit the road again.
'

I finally watched the Lord of The Rings and 'plans' for North Island

It's Anzac day today! I refused an invitation to join Sarah I met in Malaysia for the dawn Anzac ceremony - sorry Sarah the offer was appreciated. Jono, Kirsty and I headed along to the Chocolate Fish cafe on Welly's coast (see previous post on A Day In Wellington for information) and had the best bacon sarnie in the world ever (again).

I was then forced to watch Lord of The Rings this afternoon as I had never seen it...and I still don't know what all the fuss was about. I also tucked into some bizarre, but quite nice Sea Salt Chocolate from Chocolate Therapy, Dairy Milk and a can of Irn Bru I couldn't resist buying from a British Shop yesterday. Lazy day all round.

I'm off to Palmerston North to hook up with another travel friend tomorrow. I'll then head further North to National Park area and hopefully gatecrashing Rob and Paula from back home's honeymoon for a few celebratory beers. I am not going to try and do an epic mission around the North Island so will likely (and a bit reluctantly) miss out Mount Taranaki and Napier..........and head to National Park / Tongariro, Taupo, Rotorua, Coromandel Pensinsula and dive at the Poor Knight Islands.

Updated Travel Calender

I've updated my travel calendar and put a link to it on the right hand of this website.  It's got details of my flight dates to Japan and Bangkok and then from there on I don't even want to mention......

Car for sale - Subaru Legacy in Auckland

Anyone in Auckland wanna buy my car?  See my advert for my Subaru Legacy GT Turbo on trademe.co.nz

Flashpacking in Wellington

My first night back in Wellington I went out for a fantastic Japanese meal at Kazu Yakitori & Sake Bar as Kirsty's felt I needed an intro before hitting Japanese shores.  Check the website out for the menu - fantastic.  We then went along to a great bar - the Good Luck bar which had a fantastic knowledgable barman and a suitably great cocktail menu.  I was getting introduced to one of the best gin's (in his opinion) from the Shetland Isles of all places.  Due to me being Scottish he couldn't let me leave without giving me a taster of it (for free).  Drinkable when straight and very nice....if only there were more barmen like this back home who knew their stuff and chatted away to you. 

There's a great bar and cafe scene in Wellington.  I could have somefun exploring them....

I hoped to get my car through it's Warrant of Fitness today but everywhere was busy so I went on a chilled out walk around the Te Papa museum and the waterfront before just heading back up to Jono's to chill out.

It's Anzac day tomorrow so most places will be closed up, then I'm going to head just a little bit further north to Palmerston North (yes, not the usual tourist attraction place) to stay with yet another person I met in Malaysia before exploring the North Island as quickly as I can.

A 5500km road trip later and crossing over to the North Island

Unfortunately Nelson was dead on a Sunday night.  I stayed at Tasman Bay Backpackers which I'd highly recommend.  When I called I was told if I got there within an hour I could joing the free Sunday night BBQ.  Sweet Bro! (as everyone says in NZ).  I stayed at their sister backpackers the Sequoia Lodge in Picton and both of them have a cracking balance of friendlieness and a chilled out atmosphere.  I had a totally chilled evening and ended up chatting with an English girl who used to work for the Alamy photo library which was quite interesting.  I also had the best sleep for ages.....although that may have been largely due to the fact I had my first shower for a few days (hey who needs to be fresh sitting in the car!), only shared the room with one other person, and was in a real bed.

I've covered around 5500km since landing in NZ 6 weeks ago, and over a quarter of that has been in the past week.  I dread to think of the cash I've spent on petrol as I've been hooning it around the country.  I guess I've got pretty much the same to cover scooting around the North Island, depending what route I take.  I don't know why everyone thinks Kiwi drivers are bad, as that's what I was warned about. They are no worse than any Europeans, in fact a lot better I'd say. And if you've ever been to Asia.....

(Picture : Car passenger footwell, passenger seat and rear seat)    The car is starting to look as though it's been a bit......'lived in'.  Its got a covering of dust from the several gravel roads I've been along (quite good fun when no one else is around!),  the odometer is ticking up nicely to almost 230000km, and the passenger footwell is starting to look like a batchelor pad's undercleaned kitchen - full of empty bottles, coffee cups, random leaflets and wrappings.  The back seat has everything thrown on it from rucksack to shopping bags.  Occassionally I put a sprawled out tent over the boot and the back seats to dry out if it was wet the night before: the drying out process is helped a lot with the rear windows open at 100km/h with the sun shining through.  Sometimes there's even the odd pot and pan kicking around as well.  The passenger seat looks relatively tidy in the photo but it gets the brunt of everything from tops (usually my blue Rab Vapour Rise as it has hardly came off my back in weeks) cameras, lenses, maps, leaflets, headtorches, bags, food, phone and MP3 player.  The compartment under the stereo has an assortment of bits of paper containing DOC campsite passes, booking reference numbers, receipts, pens, collected emails addresses and if I treat myself, a selection of pick and mix sweets, which has happened rather a lot on the longer road trips!  Sometimes the MP3 player gets dumped there depending how it's behaving itself (just after I slagged off iPods my MP3 player decided to have a dodgy headphone connector so it has to be placed perfectly to make it play in stereo). That's the biggest indicator of the time spent in the car - often my MP3 player lasts for ages uncharged, but this week it's needed a couple of charges.  Although the car has been running well, unfortunately the bonnet release seems to have lost it's connection so it doesn't open anymore!

I'm writing this on the ferry crossing over to the North Island so am looking forward to catching up with my mate Jono in Wellington for a few days and leaving the car parked up most of the time.

Crossing the ditch

I crossed the ditch today (otherwise known as the Cook Strait) and landed in Picton. It was blowing a hoolie on the way across, but pretty straightforward and comfy crossing. I landed up at the Sequoia Backpackers here which is a really cool little hostel, although most folk end up in the tele room all evening (more space for the rest of us!). It's also got a hot tub! I've book the dolphin swim at Kairkoura on Saturday which I'm trying not to have high hopes for, but it should be good.
One of the girls working here pointed me to a nighttime walk so I could see some glowworms, so I headed up there after dinner. It was pitch black and I shit myself before even leaving the housing area as something russled around in the bushes. I should remember I'm not in Borneo anymore. I head up anyway, along the pitch black narrow path (Essons Valley if you are ever here) and all of a sudden there were a shit load of glowworms along the side of the path. By this point all my worries of being in the middle of nowhere in the dark had subsided and I checked them out for ooooh, a good five minutes. I decided not to go on any further after hearing random noises and got back to civilisation in half the time. It was amazing though - wouldn't mind heading back there again.

A day in Wellington

It was another lazy start today, the way it tends to be when I'm staying at someone's place. I was up at a decent time to get a car parking coupon, but spent quite a while looking up a few things online and trying to get some bearings on where things were in relation to each other. I never seemed to find time to have a look at the guidebooks properly though! I also transferred ownership of my turbo nutter Subaru Legacy and extended the registration.
Eventually I walked into town and was about to go the museum here which is meant to be great, but Jono finished up, and we went on a road trip around the back of Wellington bay, catching a few small beaches and a fantastic sandwich at the Chocolate fish Cafe in Scorching Bay. I guess this will sum up my time in New Zealand - I later found out that this cafe was where the deal was signed to film Lord of the Rings in New Zealand (see the link above). Having never seen any of the Lord of The Rings films, or read the books I have no fascination with the sights used, unless they are good for their own sake which I think is a good thing.

We ended up at Surfer's Beach which I thought was hilarious. Five minutes earlier we had perched on a rock and waved hello to the planes approaching the airport, then we were watching the surfers in the water, less than 150m from the Royal New Zealand plane that had just landed. We then went to the outdoors shop and I ended up buying several things in the Kathmandu 50% sale - all of which I have back home.....sleeping mats, walking poles that are heavy and suck, and a new waterproof bag. I wanted to buy a sleeping bag but resisted as I have two at home, and it would be cheaper to send one over (sorry mum, that text WAS serious!). Guess that's the problem with travelling to many destinations - you just can't hang onto everything, and it's very frustrating not having hands on everything you would back home. I have a great tent I'd love here, sleeping mat, poles, ice axes, climbing rack, and cooking stove. Arg! I need to have a bag and stove if I hike to some of the huts I hope to which is a bit of a nightmare.

I got a treat of visiting the supermarket and getting laughed at by Kirsty when I mentioned how many of the fruits I had never seen, never mind taste before! A quiet night in followed reminiscing about Whistler, me showing off Scotland in pictures (laughing back at Kirsty when I showed her Oldshoremore beach : 'Is that in Australia?'.... 'No, it's the far north west of Scotland'), and seeing some pics of Jono and Kirsty's recent boarding trip to Japan.
I did get round to booking a ferry for tomorrow afternoon so am off to the South Island with no set itinery, just hoping my mate comes off the Abel Tasman walk and calls me, otherwise I'll be heading to Kaikoura to swim with the dolphins and head towards Christchurch to see a mate, despite the temptation to have a walk around the Marlborough Sound.
I keep leaving stuff for the way back up north so I hope I get the motivation to do stuff on my own down South!
Our quiet BBQ night in. Kirsty, Jono and the wandering scotsman.















Check the runway in the background, surfers in the foreground!

My transport in New Zealand

Here's a few pics of my 'new' Subary Legacy GT All Wheel Drive Turbo nutter :















He he he he. :-)

Hamilton to Wellington

I had a pretty sharp start as it was a long day's road trip from Hamilton to Wellington, stopping briefly at Ta Awamutu to pick up some winter climbing gear from a mate's parents. It's just that after all that, I forgot to ask about snow stakes, guidebooks and walking poles, so I went away with some ice gear which in hindsight another mate could have taken over for me. Och well as they say!
From there I had another 7 hours in the car, passing classic places like the Tongariro National Park and the winter ski towns around it. I never way anything due to the clouds really, however I plan to stop there on the way back.
It's now one of my worries at this time of year that any walking or sights I hope to see will be covered in cloud. I'll be gutted if this is the case!
I stopped off for the odd snack, but pretty much kept on the road all day from 8.30am until 6pm. The only good thing was listening to loads of new tunes I've acquired like Emilio Torrini, The Beautiful Girls (I saw them 2 years ago in Adelaide), The Living End, The Knife and others, finishing up with the Cult's Greatest Hits coming into Wellington! Unfortunately I was a bit wary I got clocked for being ever so slightly over the speed limit so fingers crossed!! (However I never changed ownership until two days later!?)
Jono and I just like we were in Whistler!

It was great hooking up with Jono - I hadn't seen him since Whistler in 1999! Off we went for some fantastic food in a great Asian food restaurant called Chow in Wellington. Wellington looks a bit funkier than Auckland - I just hope I get more time to explore the shops and nightlife on the way back North!

Auckland to Hamilton - first road trip

My turbo nutter car made it easily in the two hour journey from Auckland to Hamilton.

I hadn't managed to get a hold of my mate's folks but decided to head down anyway. During the whole drive I could have been in Scotland - exactly like people had said to me, this place (well, buts of it anyway) are so much like home. I even started the journey next to a place (pub I think) called Edinburgh Rock, and there are so many place names and things associated. One of the toy shops was called Wee Willie Winkies.

I got a hold of my mate's folks after arriving, and stopped off at J's Backpackers in Hamilton for the night. It's a few kilometres from town but a really chilled out place with a nice pub ten minutes walk from it. There were quite a few people here who seemed to get 'stuck' in Hamilton, or decided to stop and work for a bit. I often wish I had that option in places as I could really do with stopping off in one place for a good while.

Wish me luck - Subaru Legacy Turbo AWD

I bought a car today. Wish me luck as kindof bought it on a whim as most backpackers probably do. It's just I bought a 1991 Subaru Legacy Turbo All wheel drive. All electrics, automatic....just that some of the bits don't work as they should - like only one speaker. It's got a decent history of paperwork though, and an invertor so I can use my laptop and charge things inside the car from the cigarette lighter. It's also got a tent but very little else - e.g. cooking stuff - none of.

So depending on my mate's folks availability I'll be hot footing it from Auckland later today and heading south to pick up some gear, then onto Wellington probably tomorrow to see another mate. May rough it in the car tonight - will see how I feel!

Oh I wish I had my own tent, thermarest etc etc now!

Fingers crossed......

New Zealand

I've made it to New Zealand! After all the years of talking about it, I'm finally here. Initial impressions? Well flying over it on the way into Auckland - as expected, it looked very similar to Bonnie Scotland.
I spent today gawping at wonderful outdoors shops (swooooon), oh how I missed them, it could be the killer on my wallet here, like the buzzing around Australia was. And yes, who was I kidding that I'd be able to resist the adrenaline flowing activities here. I'm sure it's possible to pick up about 96 brochures, books, leaflets and maps before you leave the airport. And every page I want to do everything.
I finally made it out of the outdoors shops today though, and went to the backpackers car mart. Several campers, and a Subarau Legacy All Wheel Drive. Dilemmas on which to buy. I've heard so much about the steep hairpin, and gravel roads that I'm in a dilemma. I've got great images about a camper van, but I know you can only hit a snails pace heading up the hills. Does it matter? Guess I won't know 'til I get there.
I also made the mistake of test driving (my fourth one today!) a Subaru Legacy Turbo 4WD which flew. It also probably burned gas.
I then had to work out a way to get a wad of cash so I could actually buy one of these things, as I want to head South as soon as possible and tour the North Island near the end of my time here.
So...I took $800 out the cash machine, the max allowed, then I hit the Bank of New Zealand and got a $3000 cash advance on my credit card. It just so happened that the bank was in the SkyCity casino building, so here's me walking around with $3800 in my shirt pocket, and the first thing I did was hit the casino.
I say hit, it really was just a walk around but I was tempted to try some poker.

So it's decision time tomorrow - car or camper.
As for Auckland....what can I say. As many Japanese and Korean people as Kiwis, full of complete pisscans, just like I saw on a Cops-style documentary in Sydney, and full of Japanese import cars. I haven't seen much of it though, but it's like comparing Sydney and the Outback to Auckland the 'real' New Zealand.

Good news is I've made contact with Jono in Wellington (another person not seen since Whistler '99) and Rich in Christchurch who I met in the Perhentian Islands in October. Of course the buggers are giving me conflicting advice on which mode of transport to purchase!

I can't wait to be pulling out of Auckland with my foot on the pedal, listening to tunes, and having my own freedom. That's as long as the wheels don't break down!
Watch this space!