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Sunday 26 February 2017

#NewZealand17 Picton to Westport - Roadtrip Day 1

I had believed I was overcoming my jetlag, until I woke up at 3am on 25th February.

I lay still and quiet in my bed until 7.15, then got up, showered, dressed, woke Blake and headed down to breakfast.

This hostel was even better than the night before, they seemed to be gradually improving day-on-day. Tombstone Backpackers was situated on a hill by Picton cemetery, overlooking the town which was about 30% ferry port. There was a free hot tub, gym equipment and table-tennis and snooker tables. We even had free towel hire so I didn't have to get my own towel wet and put it back in my backpack after my surprisingly decent shower.

Best of all though was the free breakfast of toast and freshly baked hot cheese scones, which were absolutely flawless. Blake and I ate ours out on the terrace. For the fourth day in a row I reflected that life could not be better than it was at this precise moment.
We borrowed the hostel's free bikes to collect our Toyota Allion from down by the port. The lady who ran the rental place was a character. Like many Kiwis, she came across a bit rude, but I realised that this was just the New Zealand sense of humour, and she meant no offense by it. I quite liked her, and she shared her conspiracy theory with us that everyone in Picton was sick because of the chemicals sprayed on the vast quantities of wood that were exported in the port. She specifically warned against the tap water, which I had already drank, so that was cheery.

 The car was an automatic, which made me uneasy at first, but I quickly adapted to (with a little guidance from Blake) as I drove back to collect our bags. At 10am, with Blake driving, me in the back, and Max riding shotgun, we departed Picton for Abel Tasman national park. Within minutes we stopped to take in the awesome view of Picton and the bay, and this would be a regular occurrence in this journey!


As the person who not only had the big camera, but also the only smartphone which took decent photos, I was designated photographer. We pulled over in a number of places, for photos such as these:


And after a few hours crosses a river which the car hire lady had described to us, which apparently featured in The Hobbit movie. It was extremely beautiful, so we pulled over to take a walk along it, and then we saw people swimming in it, and on impulse changed into our swim gear, grabbed our towels from the car, and jumped in!
After our refreshing swim we spotted a couple of hitchhikers and stopped to pick them up, but sadly we didn't have enough room , so they got in another car which had also pulled over.

We continued on for many miles of stunning scenery until eventually we arrived at Nelson. We bought lunch at a supermarket and ate it in the carpark. I looked at the map and decided we didn't have enough time to visit Abel Tasman national park. One for next time! We continued to Richmond where we stocked up on dinners at the Pack'n'Save (a bit like Costco) and I took over from Blake to drive us South-west on route 6 towards Westport.



It was evening by the time we arrived at Westport. The sun was setting over the pink flamingos in the garden as we cracked open the beer and cider we had bought at Pack'n'Save, beginning what was to be a heavy night of drinking. 


Saturday 25 February 2017

#NewZealamd17 Wellington and the Interislander

I was relieved to wake at the surprisingly reasonable time of 6 o'clock on Friday. After contemplating sleep in my bed for a few minutes, I decided to get up and catch dawn breaking over Wellington harbour, which fortuitously faces East.

Unfortunately for Blake, what I thought was quiet rustling was actually loud enough to wake him, so I told him that I was going out, and he volunteered to come with.

Unfortunately all my photos were taken on my camera, so until I can access a laptop, you will just have to take my word for it that they were fantastic, and the sunrise was a privilege to witness.

There was an awkward moment when a well-intentioned jogger stopped as she passed us and offered to take a photo. "Do you want one looking into the sunset or posing together or kissing?" She asked. "Not kissing!" I yelped. She took a couple of photos of us standing together but I think we're silhouettes. I thanked her and she continued on her way.

There were lots of people out at 7am on a Friday morning. Towers were training on machines outside the boating club. A man glided idilically across the golden water on a paddle board. Three groups of men and women skulled a narrow canoe back and forth beneath the pale sky. I took a LOT of pictures.

After sunrise we bought breakfast and lunch from a supermarket opposite the hostel, packed our bags and checked out. We had a minor drama with the lockers as after putting all of our bags in, the locker refused to either take our money, or give our bags back. Luckily though one of the reception staff agreed to release our bags for free on our return, so we headed out into the hot sunshine of the world's southernmost capital city.


Our first destination was Wellington's famed Te Papa - the national museum of New Zealand. However it was closed until 10, so at 9.40 we headed to the botanical gardens on the other side of town instead. En route we bumped into Max by chance, so the three of us walked up to the cable car.

I made a Google maps whoopsie, and accidentally directed us to the far end of the cable car (funicular railway to the Brits among us) which meant a lot of steps like the set above, but on the plus side, we saved money!

The view at the top was so spectacular we had to use the cafe just so we could enjoy the view. I had a slice of carrot cake big enough to feed a family of four, and bought Blake an iced coffee, as we sunbathed and tried to absorb that I was really here.
We took a stroll around the botanical gardens and I amazingly used my orienteering skills to take us back to the centre of town (along an active earthquake fault line) and on to Te Papa. We saw an aeroplane display overhead, and the sun shone so brightly, I almost felt like I was on a traditional sunshine holiday.


Te Papa, when we got in, did live up to the hype. We visited an exhibition on earthquakes, complete with a shakey house earthquake simulator, animations explaining the earth's composition, and trigger warnings for survivors of the Canterbury and Christchurch quakes. We also heard the Maori creation story, saw hundreds of stuffed native New Zealand animals (including a Kiwi bird!) And a giant squid, apparently the only one on exhibition in the world, which really freaked me out.

All too soon it was time to leave. We collected our bags from the hostel, walked to the train station, and picked up the free shuttle to the inter-islander ferry.

The views from the boat were great, and we played around a lot with Titanic poses and the like, before eventually arriving in Picton, and New Zealand's south island, where our adventure would become a road trip.





Friday 24 February 2017

#NewZealand17 The Long Train South

I awoke at 3am, jetlag up to my eyeballs. Outside the dorm next door, a woman lay unconscious dressed for a night out. I politely refrained from taking a photo but in hindsight regretted not helping her to bed.

I tried to get back to sleep but the bed was just too uncomfortable. The mattress felt like sleeping on a nest of cables.

Eventually 6am came and I woke up Blake. We soon departed for the station, as the sun slowly rose over the city, casting the skyscrapers and tall palm trees into silhouettes.

A helpful kiwi couple showed us the way there and we stowed our large bags and took our seats, buzzing with anticipation.

The journey started slowly, Auckland's suburbs are pretty but not awe inspiring, and there was the usual pattern of ugly industrial units around the train line.
However, after our first couple of hours, we stopped photographing mountains on the distant horizon, as our train plunged through some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen.we were provided with headphones for an optional audio-guide on which gave commentary on any sites of particular interest, geographically or historically.



Please excuse the window reflection, because it was only at this point that we discovered the open viewing coach - where the windows had been removed so that you could hear and smell the countryside around you, feel the stinging wind on your face, and most importantly, take photos without any reflection!

The twelve hours we spent on that train were very long, but it was absolutely spectacular, and we both agreed it had been an amazing experience.

Blake and I almost immediately took a liking to Wellington, New Zealand's capital city. We checked in at the YHA, an altogether far nicer (and cheaper!) hostel than the previous night, and walked around the corner onto Wellington's main Street for some late night pizza at a place recommended by TripAdvisor, where we were joined by Blake's friend and travel companion from his adventures down Australia's east coast, Max.

After pizza, the three of us went to a bar for a pint, or in my case, a delicious sugary raspberry cocktail that came in a martini glass, before crashing out in bed around 11.30.




Thursday 23 February 2017

#NewZealand17 Auckland Part 1

Auckland and the surrounding area looked disappointingly like the UK I decided as my plane finally touched down on the runway. My 24 hours flight had been made bearable by paid for WiFi on the last leg, but Blake, my travel companion, was not replying to my message regarding airport collection.

My new friend in the window seat, Simon the Italian, offered me a lift "my friend's collecting me from the airport in his lunch break, we can drop you in town" I agreed. I could always change my mind if Blake was in arrivals.

An hour and a half later, after bio-security vetting and a surprising amount of hassle collecting my portable WiFi device, he wasn't. I got in Simon's housemate's old car and tried not to inhale their cigarette smoke as I gathered small insights into their life of 100% alcohol drinks, enormous houseparties and surfing.

 Simon's friend got out at his workplace and Simon dropped me at the hostel. There I met Blake, and after a big hug we walked into Auckland city for a drink.
I bought a delicious icecream pot from a place called Joy, which had two life-size model cows outside which you could milk into a pail. Here's Blake doing just that:
It was overcast but we walked along the marina and got a coffee before visiting Auckland Maritime museum. At the museum we saw lots of interesting boats and models of boats, most of which sadly ended in tragedy, having sunk either in wartime or due to falling foul of New Zealand's infamously treacherous West coast.

The museum also had an extensive exhibition on Peter Blake, a New Zealand yachtsman who won the round-the-world race the year I was born. 

The sun was shining brightly in Auckland harbour by the time we came out. It was hot and beautiful, and I remarked not for the last time this trip, that life didn't get any better than this.


After the museum, Blake and I stopped in an authentic Japanese restaurant for lunch, bringing back fond memories as I slurped my tofu ramen with chopsticks, and then we returned to the hostel, a nasty shabby place called Station Backpackers, where I took a two hour nap to keep my eyes looking in the same direction.

At 6.30 we walked back down towards the Marina, where we met Nic, an old schoolfriend,and her fiancé. We spent a pleasant few hours discussing mutual friends, and cultural differences between home and New Zealand, before tiredness forced us to our respective beds, via a supermarket dash to prepare for tomorrow's epic train journey.