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New York City, New York, United States

3rd
Due to the fact that we are in a basement room of our own with barely any windows and no natural light combined with the jet lag we wake up at around midday. Realising the time and due to the fact we have missed breakfast by a clear three hours we dress quickly and wander off through Harlem to the subway station. The morning is wet but despite this the feel to the city is like Xmas. We walk through Harlem and it's just like in the films that we have seen so many times. Getting to the subway, we get on the 3 and ride all the way to Times Square. Emerging in the bright lights of Times Square we wander around looking at the live performances in the centre including a naked cowboy with a guitar. We decide that despite wandering around for a while we don't really have a map of where we are or where we want to go so we head to tourist information on the square. Picking up a bunch of maps we nip into Jamba Juice to grab breakfast and then head back out. The rain is absolutely pouring now as a thunder storm moves overhead with lightning and thunder only about a second apart. We shelter in the lobby of a bank and wait for the worst to pass. Kim decides to pick up a true NY pretzel as she hasn't had one and we both try a bit, vowing never to have one again shortly afterwards. We consult the map and decide to head to Macys as this begins to turn into the Friends tour of NY. Wandering up all 8 storeys we decide that there is nothing we actually want to buy and decide to try to find Bloomingdales, just to say we have been there but its way up at 59th so we wander south and try to find the Flatiron building, the poster of which I had in my room at Uni. We eventually get down to Madison Square Park and sit there looking at the amazing surrounding architecture and the flatiron building on the south side. Consulting the maps again, we should be able to see Rockerfeller and Empire state Buildings from here but the tops are in the clouds. As the weather is rubbish and its set to be good for the next few days we decide to go to the museums. The Met, Smithsonian and Guggenheim are right next to each other along 5th so we grab a bus up Madison. The architecture all the way along this road is spectacular and we gaze at a multitude of buildings and up market shopping destinations including Barnys. Getting off a couple of stops before the Museum we wander along fifth, checking out all of the high-end apartments before heading to the Museum. I had been t o the Guggenheim in Bilbao and had hoped that the one here would be as spectacular and it did not disappoint. The huge atrium which houses a walkway that follows a steady slope around the building all the way to the sixth floor happened to have a movement piece where a trolley would follow the line of the walkway around and around until a vertical pulley would drop a guillotines book from the top to the bottom of the hall - a bizarre depiction of the nature of literature and the mind. Some of the galleries showed famous works by classic artists including Picasso and Cezanne but the upper levels contained far more abstract works ranging from a year long piece where a guy had taken a photo of himself every hour on the hour for a year, the growth of his hair showing the passing of time through time-lapse, one year compressed into six mins this through to a 2" piece of rope nailed to a wall. We peruse the works until we are starving hungry and grab a muffin in the cafe before seeing the final pieces. All in all a bizarre collection of art that I never fully understand, I am halfway between true appreciation and thinking these people should be locked up forever. My favourite piece is the two ice block surrounded by 12 microphones attached to a full sound deck and speakers - maybe it is me who needs locking up. Anyhow, its a fun afternoon but I can't help feeling that the Bilbao Guggenheim is slightly better. Kim's impressions of the art are somehow more insightful than my efforts and she enjoys the afternoon too. After leaving and finding that half the city has turned up for the free evening session we wander down 5th and through the park past the Met. The park in the last throws of winter feels like Xmas and we both begin to feel this places magical effects. The whole place feels like London at Xmas, that special buzz it has at that time of year. And of all the big cities that we have visited we both think that this is somewhere we could live. We head back through the park and over to Columbus street for a slice. The sun has set by now and we head back to the park and up to the reservoir where the lights of 5th and downtown are reflected in the water, simply beautiful, but definitely lacking the towers. I can't help but feel an extra empathy for the city and the people here having visited and knowing that this city was more before 9/11 and the Bush administration. We wander through the park, dew dripping off the winter trees and mist hanging around and this place is genuinely magical. Hopping back on a bus to Harlem we arrive just outside our place and get back, tired and content. Grabbing a couple of beers we settle into the TV room before bed.

4th
Despite the jet lag kicking in with a vengeance last night and not being able to get to sleep til gone three we have set alarms for breakfast and are intent on getting up and doing. However, when we wake up bleary eyed and go to breakfast it's not free after all as its Saturday. A little miffed that we got up for it we get ourselves together and head downtown. The idea of today is to do the southern tip of NY taking in Wall St, the stock exchange, the Federal Reserve and Ground zero (twin towers memorial site). Getting off the subway we are surrounded by a lot of tourists and no business people whatsoever as its the weekend, I'm sure that seeing Wall St and the surrounding area is probably very different in the week. We go straight to ground zero, threading our way in between the giant buildings and narrow streets and then come upon the huge space left by the towers. Standing here it is almost impossible to believe the towers were ever there at all, obviously all the building work and memorial stuff is there but the sheer size of the buildings that stood here is amazing and I wish that I had been here to see it before 9/11. We wander to the memorial tour and see the flowers and brass plaques that surround the area and decide that we will leave the tour of the actual site and hear the first hand stories another day as Kim is slightly on the emotional side today. Leaving here and vowing to come back later in the week to do the tour we wander on to Wall St and down towards the NYSE. The exchange stands proud with a vast American flag on the outside and set bizarrely against the trinity church which sits, incredibly ornate, against the other towering buildings around it. We walk the length of Wall St taking in the scenery and get out the far end at the shoreline. It is seriously cold today and the wind is biting. On the far shoe is Brookland and the bridge off to our left is grey, along with everything else on this blustery New York winters day. Heading down through Battery Park we see the tributes to those who fell in the Second World War and in the distance stands the Statue of Liberty looking like a model figure in the distance. As we go onto Battery Park itself it is evident that today is protest day which would explain the number of police in and around wall st. The protests are mainly about the state on unemployment and the big salaries taken by the bankers on the adjacent wall st but other groups have obviously seen this as an opportunity to join in and everything from green peace to fur to vegetarians line the street. The slogans also reflect the mood of a nation that has been plunged into an economic recession with the unemployment level no close to 9% and it seem odd that this is supposed to be the most powerful nation in the world. We pass through the throngs of peaceful protesters and move on up through the heart of the financial district including the Trump Tower, one of the taller buildings in the area. We walk and walk and eventually we see a number of people walking towards the subway carrying pillows. Remembering what one of the guys in our dorm had said that morning we decide to get on a train back to Wall St. As we do there are literally hundreds of people pouring off the trains and buses, and even stepping out of cabs with pillows wandering down to the outside of the NYSE. At 3pm sharp a giant pillow fight erupts on the street. The police are careful to control the crowd the but the sight is an incredibly rare one I'm sure, I doubt many people have seen a spontaneous pillow fight between 200 people in the middle of Wall St.
As the police close the road we hop back on the subway to get ahead of the crowd and as it happens, our train is stopping at grand central station so we get off to investigate. The station hall is magnificent with marble floors and gold covered fittings and a giant picture of the Milky Way on the ceiling with most of the star signs depicted. We wander around here for a while before spotting a BMW/art exhibition in one of the display halls. After this we grab some food and make our way out of the station so that we can get an up-close view of the Chrysler building which is just outside. It is so tall though of course that we make our way to the Rockerfeller centre to be able to see the very top. Once at the Rockerfeller centre we walk past the fountains and down to the ice rink that sits outside watching the kids going round and round with a group of particularly rowdy girls cheering on one guy who is hopeless. We decide that for $40 skating can wait for another day as I'm not feeling particularly coordinated and decide it is time to see the 'top of the rock'. The observation deck at the top of the Rockerfeller centre. (the building famous for providing work during the great depression and those photos of guys standing on steel girders with no safety ropes). Grabbing our tickets we see that a coach load of people have just arrived in front of us and we are corralled like cattle into two lines to the metal detectors that you are required to g through to be able to get to the top of the building. Getting to the lift and managing to avoid the picture where you appear to be seated on top of one of the famous girders we get into the lift. 64 floors in under thirty second is quite something especially when the ceiling of the lift is transparent and the lift shaft illuminated with blue lights at each floor. Getting onto one of three observation decks the view of NY from above is breathtaking; we look over the whole of the island from north Harlem all the way down to Staten Island and everything in between. It is here that you really are able to appreciate the variety of architecture that makes up the city, and also appreciate the hole left by the absence of the twin towers on the skyline. We stay up here for about two and half hours taking in the view and hoping to stick it out til it gets dark so we can seen it by night but after that much time we get bored and cold and decide to go down.
Once we are down it is headed towards getting dark and once we have finished faffing about looking in touristy gift shops it is. We then decide we need a drink and the place that happens to be nearest is The Hard Rock Cafe. Thinking that nothing could be more American, we grab a seat at the bar and order Budweiser draught and grab a plate of nachos, and watch baseball on the TVs above the bar. Awesome. After the nachos are gone and after a couple more Buds we head towards home. Getting on the nearest subway we find after one stop we are going the wrong way and then get off only to find we can't get back on. We walk back to where we started and try again, after popping into a beachwear store and buying the flip-flops I had wanted since we left Sydney, mine (despite their homing properties) are falling apart. Once we find the correct subway we manage to make it home without further incident.

5th
Even though we were in bed by midnight it is almost midday when we wake up, I blame jetlag and a lack of windows. We faff around getting ready for ages and get online to see if there is the opportunity to go to a baseball game whilst we are here, and unfortunately it would mean getting a train 100 miles to catch one and we're not doing that. Plus I had planned to skype someone back home but a few texts later and it turns out that dad is in Scotland, mum is in oxford and Marianne is in Switzerland, of course she is. Anyhow, we eventually get our act together and get into the city. Today is to be more relaxed and we decide on shopping on 7th, although some would question just how relaxing this is. Getting to the shop we had intended to go to first we find its pretty rubbish but get lunch from the fresh food market next door, Italian Panini and fresh soups which are rather unceremoniously eaten on the sidewalk. Kim decides we should have a little picnic and we plonk ourselves down on the curb in quite a nice part of town and eat. After this we grab a train to Central park and wander through the throngs of people who have had exactly the same idea as us. People everywhere running, walking and cycling or being pulled by horse and trap. If this was England I would have through there was a sponsored run going on but running seems to be NY favourite healthy pastime. Wandering through the park, it's the beautiful sunny day we had been missing since we got here and there is definitely spring in the air. The crocuses and daffodils are out in the park and people seem happy it's the weekend. We make our way in the general direction of Bloomingdales, not only to say we've been there but also to check out potential pressies for people back home. There are nine floors all in all mostly containing hideously overpriced designer stuff which I wouldn't wear if it was free. Including a $900 Burberry scarf which looked like it was falling apart (god I sound old). We move from floor to floor hopelessly looking for stuff that doesn't cost the earth and end up at the 9th floor in the kids clothing section with soccer mums and harried bankers everywhere, trying to spend some quality time with their kids before giving them back to the nannies. Eventually we decide enough is enough and we should head back to the park before it gets dark. As we get back there is music coming from a hollow nearby and it turns out to be the world famous central park ice rink and there is a show on. Everything from world class ice dancers to very much novice infants performing to a growing crowd. We stay here quite a while and watch before heading further into the park and thinking once again, that if you were to live in a city, this would be a fantastic one to live in. As the sun sets over the park we head to the Mall and borders specifically. Kim wants a magazine of skin makeup renewal stuff which I don't even pretend to understand and I look at car magazines. She eventually finds one that fits the bill and we go downstairs to another fresh food market which is a pay by weight buffet style selection of what looks like excellent food. We grab what we want in recycled cardboard containers and make our way to the queue which is huge. I figure that by the time we get through my selection will have gone cold but we persevere and Kim asks for the card to pay, I tell her I don't have the card and then a panicked search ensues, resulting in no card. Knowing that she must have left it at borders we ditch the food (we are now right at the front of the queue) and head upstairs as I have only $1 in cash on me and it's our only means of paying as we have left the other cards in our room for safekeeping. Getting to borders the card is of course behind the counter. After this we have no intention of selecting and queuing again for food downstairs. I kind of want to come back at this stage but Kim wants to go to the cinema she found in one of the NY guides, a huge screen and cinema that seats 1100 people in one go. We make our way there, stopping at Wendy's on the way for food (yes I know). The cinema has just the one huge screen and therefore only has one film on and only at specific times so I doubt whether there is going to be something we want to see on at the time we turn up. But, as it happens Monster vs. aliens (a Disney Pixar film) is on and starting in ten mins and not only that but yes you guessed it, it's in 3D! This rounds off a very us evening which instead of a nice restaurant and a jazz club turns out to be fast food and a Disney film, who says we don't know how to party NY style.

6th
Today is probably going to be a lazy day, we have seen a lot of the major sights and today is an opportunity to see some of the more obscure ones. Our fist stop after breakfast is 'Bodies', a bizarre display of human anatomy based upon Chinese prisoners donated to the museum. The displays range from whole bodies, to single organs, venous systems and even a whole room of foetuses, Hmmm. We spend a good couple of hours here and the display is fascinating in a lot of ways and grotesque in others. Fascinated and slightly sick we leave to grab lunch and end up at a decent Italian restaurant near to the museum. We order expensive pasta dishes and spend about $50 on lunch alone. Its raining outside and still seriously cold and wandering around the streets of NYC doesn't seem to be that appealing and we remember Clare and Becky from Fiji saying that they had been to 'the museum of sex' whilst in NY. We decide to go and check it out. Its a bizarre place and can hardly be called a museum. The first displays are about the sex lives of animals, the breeding habits and all manner of bizarre sex rituals. The second hall goes into human sexuality and in barely disguised porn, going from early 20s nudity films to some seriously hardcore stuff towards the end. The final hall takes in the bizarre, Japanese Manga and feeders, holograms and toys. Feeling thoroughly wierded out we wander back to times square and eventually decide that we should go back, chill out and the come out again later on. However, once back at the hostel Kim begins to feel sick and although it passes quickly we decide that we totally can't be bothered to go back to the city.

7th
We have seen a lot of New York by this stage and really what we have left to do is pick up some more bits and pieces for people back home. It is unfortunate that we have left the most expensive city til last but the idea was never to get expensive presents for people but more to get souvenirs from some of the places we have been suited to the people we are buying for. Kimmy has spent a good deal of time over the last couple of days trying to sort out a set of products for s 'beauty regime'. Having decided that she wants the products that she used when she was in NZ at the spa we find a vendor in NY of 5th. Thinking that this is going to be an expensive day we wander down fifth with all the posh shoppers. Eventually we find the place we have been looking for and I sit down to wait while Kim gets a consultation of skim type with a recommendation for the products she 'needs'. She settles for a trial pack on some kind of moisturiser for around $80. After this we head to Barnys, another high end store, and when Kim sees a jacket she like and it turns out to be $11000 we leave to find something to eat. Wandering from shop to shop and checking out the apple store, as we both want an iPhone when we get home, we finally get to an Italian designer outlet which is having a closing down sale and buy some items which are about 25% of the original prices. The whole day is spent shopping and wandering around the upper east side. As it begins to get dark we decide we need a drink and end up at Planet Hollywood for draught Bud. Its an early night tonight and we head back so that Kim can try all the beauty stuff she has bought and I can finish my book.

8th
Today is the last day of our trip and we are genuinely sad. We want to make the most of the time we have left in NYC and have heard that the Staten Island Ferry is not only a great way to see the city from a distance but its also free. We pack up everything and skim down our packs as best we can and get everything to reception. Checking out and storing our bags safely we get on the subway to Wall St, the last stop before Brooklyn. As we emerge from the station its bitterly cold and starts to snow, we stop only briefly for hot chocolate and really bad chocolate croissant before getting in line with about two hundred other people. With fire alarm testing and a fair share of crazy people chatting to themselves we wander onto the ferry and take our seats. Its seems like we won't be able to seem much through the grime encrusted windows, but as we pull you of the dock we stand on the rear observation deck and watch Manhattan move away from us and its spectacular. We don't have the perfect day for it but the view from the mainland, to Manhattan all the way across the bridge to Brooklyn is a perfect way to finish off our time here. The Statue of liberty passes on our right shining bright green and standing like a guard to the Hudson river and we are soon at Staten Island. Instead of getting right back on another boat to come back like most people we decide to go for a wander onto the island itself. Walking up to the top of the hill we walk around the residential area seeing a mix of rubbish apartment and large country houses. Eventually its time to return and we get back to the dock about five mins after the ferry has gone and we have to wait for 25mins until the next one. The boat back takes in the same scenery in reverse and we get to the dock and then straight back to the subway. We want to go to find the fountain that's in Central Park but I worry that we won't have enough time. We find a map of the park once we have got off at 86th and find out that the bit we actually want to see is way across the other side. Ditching the idea in favour of getting to the airport on time we get back to Harlem, pick up the bags and get rid of my jacket. Staggering back to the subway we look up the stop we need to get to. We have to change at Times Sq and get out on the F line to Jamaica Station. When we finally arrive at the station we realise that we are at Jamaica Street and not Jamaica Station and not only that but its going to take another 45mins to get to JFK. Its cutting it pretty close and by the time we have taken a bus to the air-train and got to terminal 7 we have an hour and half before take-off. At the check in desk it turns out we aren't too late but the economy section is over sold and there simply isn't any way we can sit in seats together. The sweet woman behind the desk make a phone call and when she is done she announces that we will be sitting in BA Club Class!! Awesome, we have been upgraded for the hellish flight back and this is going to make the flight back so much easier. Waiting at the gate, there are hundreds of people waiting and most of them are kids so the fact that we have priority boarding and are ushered to our full reclining seats in the Club Class section. Seeing where we are sitting its almost a double bed with personal screens, waitress service, free champagne and a three course meal. I settle into the flight with reclining and stretching out making the most of the space, chatting to the guy next to me who is apparently the CEO of a bunch of corporations and obviously worth millions. Finally, after food and plenty of champagne Kim is asleep and as the night wears on I try to sleep.

9th
I wake up after what can only have been 45 mins sleep and we still have over an hour before coming into UK airspace. I turn on the TV and Kim is still asleep but soon enough they turn on the interior lights and breakfast is served, I feel wired after a cup f coffee and barely with it. We get ourselves sorted after breakfast with the wash bags that we have been supplied we settle in for landing, my first facing the rear of the plane, in our luxury seats. We are finally back on UK soil, all the emotions that I expected to have had about getting back to the UK have kind of been swept away by the excitement of being in Club Class. However, as we touch down the realisation that our trip is over and the fact that we have so much to do over the next few weeks to rebuild our lives begins to dawn. We both agree not to do anything to this end until the following Tuesday as we want to spend time with our family and our friends before settling in to job searches and house hunting in a poor economic climate. We grab bags from the massive halls at Terminal 5 and I go through customs to declare the Kava, but there is no one in the red aisle at all so we just wander through. Standing at the gate are my parents as expected and unexpectedly Dave has come to welcome us home. Having not seen us for 10 months there are hugs all round and I'm am overjoyed to see him there. Everyone is chatting about what has gone on whilst we have been away and we obviously have a hundred stories about what we have been up to. We get coffees and sit and chat for a couple of hours about all sorts of things. Finally Dave has to go to work and mum and dad have to go back north, so it leaves us to depart the airport in mums car and head back to Southend to see Kim's family.
This is the last entry in this travel blog. To those of you who have followed our journey I hope you have enjoyed what I have described in these pages and I hope for those that travel you can find something to help you out or make you laugh, and for those that haven't travelled yet I hope that it inspires you to make the leap, you won't regret it.
Its been an emotional rollercoaster of a year, but easily the best year of our lives, we have dived in multiple countries, fallen from planes, climbed volcanos, seen magnificent temples, been culture shocked beyond belief and taken almost 15 flights across the world achieving something that not many people are fortunate to experience. We have seen desperate poverty in Cambodia and lavish, almost vulgar, wealth in America, and found unspoilt sanctuary and serenity in Island life. I can't express adequately how special this experience has been and all that is required now is not to forget it, to act on the decisions we make and make sure that we never get stuck in a rut anywhere due to the fact we know there are beautiful places in this world that take your breath away and that are a short flight away.
On a personal note, the work I did in Oz has strengthened my self-belief and given me an understanding of a work ethic I didn't know I possessed. It's opened my eyes to possibilities that I didn't know existed and given me an idea of what I want to achieve with my life. We have direction for the future due to the inordinate amount of time we created for ourselves to reflect and understand what climate and environment makes us happy.
This is me signing off, but keep a look out for our next travel blog, cause once the travel bug has got you, its doesn't let go.
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Los Angeles, California, United States

31st
Well this is our first full day in LA and although I'm tired and Kim even more so we head out into Santa Monica to sample what it has to offer. Jamba Juice was recommended to us by the girls we met in Fiji so we grabbed a couple of breakfast drinks and an Oatmeal before heading down along 3rd Promenade. This area is beautiful and we wander from shop to sgop, stopping only in Guess to see if they have the jacket that kim wanted when we were in Singapore. We head straight to the Santa Monica Pier, fast food joints and cheesy fairground rides everywhere and once at the end there isn't really much to see either. After this we go to the beach and wander along checking out Muscle beach which happens to have none of the muscle-bound freaks I had expected and then further down. Having walked for alittle while, taking in the variety of architecture and the inordinate amount of homeless people we finally get to a place to rent bikes. Kimmy grabs a iridescent blue bike with a little basket on the front, appealing to her occasional girls nature and I unfortunately get a matching boy bike both with white wall tyres. Hitting the bike track next to the beach we head down the coast to Venice beach where funky tatto parlours and food shops line the beach, with groups of guys rapping together just like in 8 Mile, and crack addicts wandering from bin to bin. It sounds gross but its a lively place to hang out but with a a bit of an edge. We head further on, taking in the marina and out towards Fiji way. Eventually its been around an hour and we decide to head back so that we don't exceed to two hour rent mark. Racing back with a quick stop at subway we get back with 5 mins to spare.

1st april
Well after the poor performance yesterday it was today that was to be our LA sight seeing tour. I will try to put as much in here as possible but we saw a lot of weird crap and a very short space of time so I'm sure that I will have missed quite a bit.
We faffed around in the morning, taking our time getting ready and eating as much as humanly possible at the free breakfast. (I am also currently reading 'turning thirty' so am in a bit of a weird mood). Getting ready we pick up the leaflets we need to be able to do LA in a day and head for the bus stop. Today is to be Beverly hills, the farmers market and Hollywood in just a few short hours. We get to the bus stop and find we don't have the right change but he lets us on anyway and says we can pay on the next bus, which I don't quite understand but we go with it anyway. First stop is Beverly Hills so that we can take in the scenery and Rodeo drive. Beverly hill is somehow not quite as glamorous as you see on TV but I guess that is to be expected. However, Rodeo Drive is just as upmarket as we imagined. Immaculately manicured sidewalks and greenery set against the biggest names in fashion. We peruse the shops, quite aware of how traveller we look. In fact at one point I think we worked out that kims entire outfit, including her underwear cost about $20. Anyhow, we wandered up and down the road looking in the windows only and only stepping into Guess as Kim was looking for something specific. Greeted in a rather more friendly way that I had expected and the shop assistants not looking down their nose at us too much. Heading back we hopped on the bus after the obligatory rodeo drive pics and headed for the Beverley hills farmers market. This place was gorgeous, like a mix between the Camden markets and something a little more French but loads of designer food stalls, pies and coffee and cheese and tea and Gumbo. All squeezed into a small covered area. We wandered around but it being so close to breakfast I couldn't really eat a lot so we decided to head for Hollywood and to come back here later when we could enjoy in further.
On the bus to Hollywood and pretty much as soon as we saw the walk of fame we hope do the bus to wander around. Cornered by a guy trying to sell us a tour we managed to escape and head over to the Chinese theatre where the rich and famous make those hand a foot print autographs in the concrete. After picking out some names we recognised and avoiding Lara Croft, Spiderman and captain jack sparrow we wandered down Hollywood boulevard along the walk of fame, most of whom we had never heard of course. At one point I got asked to listen to a guys demo cd, gangster rap, and quite why he wanted my opinion I couldn't fathom until he had sold me a copy for a paltry $3. Avoiding having to listen to and buy more music I would never listen to again I caught up with kim and we headed further down, stopping for a while in the tacky souvenir shops and deciding of whether to buy really crap t-shirts for some people back home. Marianne nearly got a beauty but I thought it was a close call on whether she would appreciate it. Having bought a few bits we headed further south and wondered what else it is we wanted to see from Hollywood apart from the bizarreness that is the boulevard. We decided that the Hollywood sign was a must see and we skirted off the main strip in search of it. Sure enough we managed t catch a glimpse and even get some distant pics before turning back past shop after shop selling bongs and wigs. Eventually we decided that we should go do something so we ended up in Ripleys believe it or Not. A bizarre collection of tales of the unusual and collection of crap which included a real shrunken human head. After an hour and $30 we emerge slightly bemused and wander further down. Heading back to the theatre we head upstairs and manage to get a much better view of the Hollywood sign before getting back to the bus stop. Sitting there at the bus stop waiting to head back to the market we remarked that we hadn't seen anyone famous, but then I suppose Hollywood is mainly a tourist trap during the day and a honeypot man trap at night. But then I looked over at the car sitting at the lights, an Audi S6 with a huge v10 engine, subtle and understand with good tints and spot a woman who looks rather like Claudia Shieffer. Kim on first sight though it looked like Kim Basinger but I couldn't be sure. However when she pulled off the licence plate read C.L.S, which I guess could easily stand for Claudia L Shieffer. I guess we will never know.
We got back to the farmer market, a lot more hungry that when we were there the last time and decided to eat something nice. Its our last few days travelling and we really haven't been out to eat somewhere nice since my parents were in Sydney. So we headed to the star restaurant in the market and upmarket place with a huge wine list. I ordered excellent mussels and Kim had a goats cheese salad, mmmm. Fortunately the bill was a shade over fifty dollar and less than seventy (cause that all I had on me having forgotten to bring the credit cards out with us). After this we were quite contect to head back and after a long bus ride home along Santa Monica Boulevard we got back, having listened to two women talk like only Americans can, interspersed with lots of 'mmmmhmmm' and 'oh no she didn't' etc etc.

2nd April
Well today is our travelling day, getting away from LA and heading to the big apple. We wake up with the alarm at 6am and get our stuff together, shower and ready and checked out in under 25mins. We have a short walk with heavy bags to the corner of 4th and Santa Monica where we catch a 'Rapid' bus straight to LAX, and rapid is right cause the driver really isn't hanging about. Once we get off the bus we have to get a shuttle out to the terminal and whilst this only take a few mins we realise that the checking desk we need isn't at the stop we stopped at. Walking between terminals we eventually join the back of a queue of around 10 people which proceeds more slowly than any check in desk in the history of human kind. We had been warned about the airports in America, about the elongated procedures and security checks after 9/11 but this was a domestic flight and not only that we had proceeded straight through LAX almost without stopping. After what felt like about a week we got called to the first class desk as the queue for the first class check in had been dismissed, having checked in once and with boarding cards in hand were trying to check in for a second time. Just going to show that money in America does not mean you are smart. Kim's name got checked in fine but there was a problem with mine as there happened to be two Adam James smiths on board the same flight, the first of which had already checked in. Not only that but my name had a first class reference. Asking and hoping that I would be bumped up we waited until a second attendant was called to deal with the problem that the inept first attendant couldn't sort out. This problem was fixed by looking up my date of birth, hardly rocket science but anyhow, we got checked through and had to take our bags to a different hall to be x-rayed. Once at the correct place Kim's bag goes through but mine is stopped. Thinking that it must be due to the presents I picked up in Fiji for the lads I wonder what they will say, but they proceed to empty the entire contents of my bag, check thoroughly and then re-pack. By the time they have finished messing about with this we have to rush to security where everything, including shoes are removed and scanned before we are let through. Bearing in mind we haven't even paused since 6am to get a bite to eat we are late for boarding and have to grab a crappy croissant on the run. Once on the plane we are surround with hoards of screaming western children. The one behind be crying more times in 5 mins that the little dot I saw on Fiji did for the entire week. Eventually we take off after a good 45 min delay on the tarmac and we get airborne. The in-flight entertainment finally activates itself after a re-boot and I settle in to watch 'slumdog millionaire'. Which personally I thought was brilliant. Kim watches Marley and Me about a Labrador and spends the last 30mins of the film in floods of tears. A few episodes of family guy later we are on our way into JFK. We get in, collect our bags and get outside to desperately try to find some food as the stuff on the plane was terrible. Reliably, Subway was right outside but a combination of retarded staff in training and rude new Yorkers pushing in line it takes about 30mins to order a sub and sit down. By this time it is 12h since we got out of our hostel in LA and we still haven't found our way out of JFK. We grab the air-rail out of JFK straight into the subway system and pat $5 each and then grab $25 passes to the subway for the week with the help of a friendly rail assistant. From here we end up getting to 7th and 56th which is close to where we think we need to be for the hostel, not knowing exactly where it is but know that it is on 7th somewhere south of the park. We come up out of the subway and we are greeted with NY, it is spectacular, like Londons west end but bigger and brighter. We saunter down 7th and get to a phone to try to call directory assistance to find the hostel but after trying four phones and getting through they don't have a listing. Not good news, so we head to the nearest Starbucks, which, shockingly, was right across the street. Once online we see that the nice hostel we thought we had booked isn't the one we actually booked and we are on the wrong side of town, in fact instead of staying just south of time square we are actually in the middle of Harlem. Now, all I know about NY is what I have seen in the movies and the thought of wandering through Harlem at 10pm carrying all our worldly possessions didn't exactly inspire me with confidence. We finally make off the tube and get walking. Not on confused by the road signs we get mildly lost but eventually right ourselves and make the two block walk up to 7th and 118th. Through the door of the hostel is so different to what is just outside the hostel a am surprised. We are greeted, told about everything and then shown to our rooms which have gorgeous bathrooms and free wifi. The bed I am elected to sleep in has a Dutch man in it though so after a brief conversation with the receptionist we change to a dorm in a private room for the same price. A quick scout around and a venture outside to the shop to grab a six pack of Budweiser and we're settled for the evening. The only interlude is when I guy sticks his head through the window and asks why I'm in my room drinking beer by myself when there are girls outside. Then Kim pipes up from where he can't see her and ask exactly what kind of girls are outside? The reply to which is smooth saying 'not ones that compare to you honey'. Nice.
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Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji

25th
Up with a hint of a hangover from the night before and an ominous full bottle of wine leftover which I now know from experience we will be drinking before midday at the airport with our lunch as we wait for the flight. We pack up and do the washing we need to do which takes absolutely ages to dry. Finally we can wait no longer and have to dash to the car wash before heading to wicked to drop off the van. They give it a cursory look over and of course don't even notice the screen scratch and call us a cab t the airport. We are there early again so I try to catch up with some computer stuff whilst Kim drinks most of the remaining wine and is decidedly giggly when we board.
The flight is again a short 3h hop but this time with a definite difference. We are going to Fiji and the emotions run as a mix of sadness as it is one more destination closer to finishing the trip and excitement that I haven't felt since Malaysia, an excitement that comes from going somewhere new and different. Australia and NZ are easy places to get around. They speak the same language and they drive on the same side of the road and most people have a similar attitude to the English making it feel distinctly less foreign. Fiji and all of the countries we visited in Asia are different and that is where the true excitement for me comes from and I guess that is what travelling is about and boy am I going to miss it.
We arrive in Fiji, in Nadi airport which reminds me of Vietnam. It's dirty and disorganised and that buzz is back. We make our way through arrivals and get our bags and try to find our contact for the resort. After much faffing it turns out that they haven't sorted our transfer and the girl that comes to meet us apologetically gets this done and we manage to barter the price back down to $80 from $100. All this is sorted and then she tells us that we have missed the last boat and plane to the island and we will have to stay in Nadi for one of our five precious night sin the islands. Quite why she couldn't have mentioned this before we sorted everything out I don't know, but we pick a local hostel and get ourselves to the taxi that is waiting outside. Our trip out to the islands proper will have to wait until the following day.
The hostel is basic but functional and is similar to the cheaper places we stayed in Cambodia but with more beds. This is the largest dorm we have stayed in with 20 beds, and one toilet. The one major difference that we quickly pick up on is the temperature change once again. Having acclimatised to NZ and its cool days and cold nights its now over 30oc and more humid than Singapore. This is going to take some getting used to and we only have 5 days before we are back in the cold again in America's springtime. We drop our stuff off, grab a shower and then head to Smugglers Cover which is the main backpacker in the area and the best place for food, booze and entertainment for the evening. Kim wanders off down the beach and I grab a beer and a hammock and watch the awesome sunset that only island life has given me this trip and I am instantly taken back to Koh Tao. The sun sets and we grab more beer and join a couple of locals who to be honest are wasted and blagging beer from the tourists. The evening entertainment is a traditional Fijian dance along with full firestick show which is impressive and after chatting further with the locals we make our way to bed, relaxed and content to be back on the islands.
26th
We wake up ridiculously early for breakfast as I haven't changed the time on my phone. We chill around the hostel feeling a little impatient that time is slipping away and we want to get out to our island paradise. I remember that we haven't adjusted to 'Fiji time' yet and that it is going to take a while before I unwind completely from the mad rush that was NZ. We wait for our transfer to the boat which turns up an hour later and then drops us at a beach we can pretty much see and could definitely have walked to and here we wait another hour for the boat. Eventually we get on the 'Morning Breeze' along with supplies and provisions, and a bunch of people from the mainland. The boat takes off and it's going to be an uncomfortable ride. Bumping along the water its takes almost a full hour to cover t he 30km of water, threading between partially submerged rocks, sandbars and pristine strips of rainforest skirted with sand that poke our of the water. These islands are the stuff of postcards and reality TV series. The azure blue waters, the white sand and the lush rainforest make the islands idyllic places to unwind on the beach and that is exactly what we intend to do.
We finally pull up at our island which is tiny, the whole circumference of which can be walked in two hours, and our hostel is right on the beach. We are welcomed with traditional Fijian singing and our bags taken ashore as we wait to check in. A serious Fijian woman explain lots of bits to us about the food and the diving and the we are shown to our rooms which are Spartan but functional and only $15 a night esp. when compared with the $500 a night resort about a 10 min walk away.
We unpack and chill out on the deck and paddle in the warm waters of the south pacific. As the sun sets we are treated to another perfect show as the reds and yellows play across the far off storm clouds. As the evening progresses lightning flashes illuminate the whole sky from massive thunder heads many miles away and I think that we are going to be in for a wet night. We spend a little time deciding on what diving we want to do. It's not as cheap as Thailand here but it is cheaper than Oz, so I know that I want to do at least a couple. Unfortunately they can't really show us stuff we haven't seen before, but we have been spoilt given the dives we have done, but when I mention that I haven't done a night dive they get one sorted for the following evening. I had wanted to do a night dive in Phi Phi but it was just me and they wouldn't take the boat out. As it turns out, the girl studying her divemaster needed to do one as part of her certification and therefore we were going the next night. Excited, rest of the evening is spent eating and chilling and reading before heading off to bed.
27th
We get up for the complimentary breakfast and chill on the deck before getting ready for our 11am dive. The spot we have picked is called Gotham City due to its high concentration of Batfish, one of our favourites from dive sites in both Thailand and Australia. We suit up and get our gear together and get onto the rickety fishing boat which doubles as dive boat on the little island. Hannah is to be our guide today, a young girl who obviously loves her diving and having just finished a 5 year stint in the Infantry and loves the freedom. We head out to Gotham City is less than ideal conditions, the swell is large and the wind strong, making it difficult to locate the mooring above the dive site. When we eventually find it, it is 2m underwater even at low tide due to the local currents and after diving in and almost being beheaded by the outboard, Hannah decide it's too dangerous. Our other options are actually rather limited given the roughness of the sea and the passing squalls so we elect for Mana Wall, a protected drop-off near the beach. The feeling of being weightless again in the water is great and I remember not only how much I love it but also how much better it is than snorkelling.
We head down to around 22m and follow the wall all the way along, mostly searching and looking at the smaller creatures in the rocks, finding only a Moray Eel and colourful reef fish. The visibility is at around 10-15m and the variety of fish and coral species is somewhat limited when compared to other places we have dived but this was going to be a risk diving here having spoken to the other Divemasters at the shop. We finish the dive and whilst I'm not exactly disappointed it could certainly have been better. I think of it more as a preparation for my night dive ahead rather than on its own as this is where we will be coming when the sunsets.
Kim enjoys the dive too, but the messing about trying to get to Gotham City with no tablets had left her seasick, a feeling which she can't shake for most of the rest of the afternoon and then elects not to do the night dive. It's a shame as she has been my buddy since we started diving and we haven't missed one together but she is adamant and I'm off on my own into the void.
I spend the time up til sunset swatting up on the bits I need to know about dive torches and techniques for entering and exiting the water at night and how to overcome disorientation which is so easily done. We get to the dive brief and my buddy is Jackie, Divemaster in training, as the other two people on the dive have done night dives before. We go through the bits i'll need to know and get given our powerful dive torches. Straight out to the little rowing boat with an outboard and off onto the reef. They have timed it so the darkness after sunset just hits the water as we get out there and due to Fiji having very few electric lights its really dark and the little tremor of fear which is perfectly natural sitting over black water in the dark creeps up my spine. I know that the most testing part of this dive will not be the dive itself but making sure i hold it together. We suit up when we find the mooring and as i get my gear on the lead diver gets in. As he does the weight on the boat shifts and i fall off my seat heavily onto the side of the boat bruising my arm. Slightly shaken and very ready to get in the water rather than sitting on top of it we sit on the side ready to roll off. The lead diver calls to us from the water saying that there are two sharks under the boat, and we should get in quickly. Doing final checks we roll in on three and swim to the lead diver being careful of the propeller. I control my breathing and look to the bottom with the torch, seeing that the reef is just 3m below our feet, but i can't see the sharks anywhere. We start our dive by decending (without a line) onto the reef below. It is to be a wall dive with a drift (about as easy as it gets) and we move to the dropoff once we have decended to the reef. Sticking close to dive buddies we scan the walls with the torches looking for things that we wouldn't usually see during the day, like lobster and crabs etc whose eyes glow in the dark. Shining torches off the reef into the ocean and the light gets eaten up within about 10m, up and down are about the same and you get a real feeling of being enveloped in the ocean. The little tendril of fear is present but controlled as we make our way along the wall, spotting glowing crabs, the usual fish and tiny nudibranches. At one point all torches face upwards as a white tip reef shark glides sliently over our heads, its cold eyes reflecting the light of the torches on it. We continue our dive, keeping to around 10m of depth and a very slow onwards motion, meaning we keep in close pairs. Fortunately i have got my buoyancy perfect and therefore don't have to worry about kicking either the coral or my buddy. Finally, the lead diver calls me over and as this is my first night dive and it is to be a certified dive, i must repeat the navigation i did on my navigation dive in Phi Phi. This involved being given a compass heading, measuring 15 kick cycles of swimming into the darkness and the changing the bearing and kicking the same back to return to your start point. I take my bearing and fortunately it is pretty close to the wall. Measure my kick cycles and stop to change my bearing. As i can't shine the light directly on the compass as its too bright i hold the torch away, meaning that i am completely enclosed in the dark water with absolutely no point of reference. I return on my bearing and get to the correct point with a handshake from the dive leader. The final highlight on this dive was to be luminescence. Everone grouped together at about 5m and turned off or shielded their torches so no light is visible. Then, if you wave your hand fast infront of your face the plankton phosphoresce like a thousand tiny fireworks going off in every direction - spectacular. We finish our dive and do our safety stop whilst swimming and emerge from the water. I loved this dive - it was very similar to the feeling of first diving in Koh Tao, like being priviliged to experience an alien world that not many people do. We head back in to land with the Milky way clear above our heads and the thunder head off in the distance occasionally lighting the sky.
I see kim as i get to the dock and she is limbo dancing with a bunch of other including Angela, an Italian girl travelling by herself that we have been chatting to all day. I grab a late dinner and a beer and reflect with the other divers about the night dive and diving in general before retiring very early to bed.
28th
Once again we are up for breakfast on time as is the whole of the resort. We meet Angela at breakfast again and sit with her whilst we eat. We chill out on the deck for a little while and get chatting with a couple of girls from Bristol that are also staying at the resort. Anglea and Kim have talked about making jewerlry out of coconuts for a little while and decide to get the tools out and have a go. They wander off down the beach to collect the required cocnuts whilst i sit and chat. Eventually they are busy out of the back of the main bar and we go to investigate what they are up to. I am determined not to get involved with jewelry making as all the girls get stuck in but am soon delegated jobs by kim and eventually I am out on the beach myself collecting bits to make some pieces. There is soon a large group of us all determined to get something decent made, including bangles and rings made from cocnut and pendants too. I have found a large seed on the beach and have made it into a necklace for kim and everybody then decides that they want one too, so i head back to the beach to pick more up and make them for a bunch of others. This carries on all morning and by the time lunchtime rolls around we have had a hilarious morning of mostly taking the piss out of eachother and making, lets face it, crap jewlry. We break for lunch and eat as a group and as we chat it seem that the girls haven't been snorkelling before. As the reef comes right up to the beach and the snorkelling right off the beach is as good as most of the local diving we get snorkels each and head out into the water to go and see the coral formations and colourful fish, much to the girls delight. During the afternoon a I also get chatting with a Scottish bloke who has just turned up, looking a little shell shocked he is only a few days into his trip and he joins us for the rest f the day. He turns out to be travelling on his own, with his mates having ditched him right at the last min. He has an incredibly dry sense of houmour and joins the rest of us with ease. The rest of the afternoon after the snorkelling with further chilling on the deck before the evening food. Its pacific islands night and there is traditional dancing and a fire show. The fire shows in the pacific islands tend to be with sticks, the poi being left for NZ. But i mention the fact that i have a set of fire poi in my bag and everyone wants me to shown them how its done and to have a go themselves so I get them from our room. We join in after the firestick show with firepoi on the beach much to everyones delight. We chat on into the evening and as it is Angela's last night she has been invited by the locals to join them for an after hours drinking session in the local village and she invites us along. Kim has decided she has had enough, as has becky and clare so it is left to me, angela and a French guy called Fred to join the locals. We bringa few bottles of beer and wander tentatively into the village,. We are warmly welcomed in and are sat down in what appears to be a communal bedroom. The main guy who invited us, Tui, produces wine bottles filled with rum and coke, (mostly rum). After tow wine bottles full Tui wanders off and produces another two bottles. The times passed is literally an hour and we are drinking in shot form. I know how much i can't really handle this kimd of drinking but apparently it is rude to refuse whlst in their house and i don't want to be rude. A black haze decends on my memory at this point and all that i can remember from the next 4 hours is being hideously sick somewhere around the resort,. When i can finally pick my head up off the floor a crawl into bed, not looking forward to the 48h hangover that i know is going to follow.
29th
Yep, this morning is just as bad as i thought it was going to be. I am still drunk at breakfast as i join the rest of the crew with everyone taking the piss. I know the kind of hangover that this is going to be and things are not going to get better until i get to bed that evening. I mope around afor the whole day feeling rough as hell and just about holding it together, chatting with everyone when i can. Eventually after lunch people decide that they are going snorkelling again and i decide that this might help the situation. We get in the water and i have to say that after a little way i am feeling a hell of a lot better. However, when emerging from the water i get the wobbly feeling i usually get from snorkelling combined with the evil hangover and have to sit down for a considerable period of time. Eventually dinner rolls around and i eat very little, still unable to stomach much, and hair of the dog (beer) which usually sorts me out in the evening isn't working either. Becky suggests a G&T and I try that, after my third things are beginning to clear. Everyone else decides to head to bed and Kim and I spend about an hour teaching the dive instroutor Hannah some more moves with the poi before retireing to bed.
30th
Getting up forbreakfast, and i still feel rubbish but decide that i need to eat as we're heading to the airport today. Breakfast is wwarm banana bread which is gorgeous if a little heavy and after we get our bags packed and ready for the boat trip back to the mainland. We pay the very reasonable bill and thanks the dive team for their help and the night dive experience. We wait for the boat and are told that there is going to be no room for us. Eventually after much hanging about (Fiji time remember) we all cram onto the boat. It turns out its not going to be a straight shot to the mainland but that they have to drop off a bunch of people to different islands and produces here and there. But the boat ride is quick and smooth and we get to take in the view of lots of the small islands dotted around the bay. Eventually we make it to the dock and drop our bags back at the Horizon backnpackers that we stayed at the first night on the island. From here we are going to have most o fthe rest of the day to kill as our flight isn't unti the evening and therefore the four of us decide to go souvenir shopping in Nadi town centre.
Nadi is a dirty third worldish type place with a lot of the main stores of the main road being Indian owned instead of locally owned. We leave the girls and decide to meet up later, and souvenir shop in allthe big shops including buying Kava for the boys back home. We grab some Indian food from the type of shop we ate in all the time whilst in asia, but we have reverted to western type eating and it makes me nervous as i really don't want to get sick on the long haul flight to the US. After food and shopping we meet up with the girls and get a cab back to the hostel. Finally getting the cab to Nadi airport. As we get to the airpoir, the girls check their flight to NZ and its an hour early and they have only just made check in, we stay our farewells and leave them to get their plane. Our flight however is delayed by about two hours, so we decide to camp out in one part of the airport and take advantage of the fact that they have showers in the toilets over here. Freshened up and headed to the plane it feels like the trip is quickly coming to an end. The real feeling is the fact that we are flying back into the northern hemisphere and we only have 9 days left before getting back to Blighty. Still we have while other country to explore now and hopefully it'll be amazing. We settle into our seats for the long haul flight and I end up sleeping with my knees wedged against the seat in front and I don't think that Kim, slept at all.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237592100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237592100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237592100/tpod.html Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:21:21 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

20th
Having got ourselves a private room and decent beds for the night its difficult to get up but we are picking up our second Wicked van today. As it turns out, the pickup depot is not where I originally thought and Kim sets off to find the correct depot across the other side of Auckland. I get the rest of the room packed up and check out, putting the bags in the lounge and getting on Skype to talk to Graham and Dad. The hours roll past and I begin to get a little worried. This combined with the rude receptionist asking me when I'm leaving because my bags are taking up some space. I phone Wicked after getting no help whatsoever from the moody receptionist and find out that Kim has just left with the van. Its still another hour before she turns up at the YHA with 'Korn' having had similar experiences with unpleasant Aucklanders.
We pack the van and head straight out of the city, not wanting to hang about, and we have relatively little time to see the north island so we need to be making tracks asap. We drive south and then east heading ultimately to Hot Springs Beach after seeing much of the coast line and stocking up from the big supermarkets for food for the next few days. Finally getting to the beach its around 5pm and low tide isn't until 8pm, the springs only accessible two hours either side of low tide. We mooch about and eventually head down the beach where there are already people with shovels trying to combat the receding surf and getting nowhere. We wander about trying t find the hot water and find the main event where water is pouring out at a scalding 75oC. As the tide makes the area more accessible people begin to form holes with barriers to rogue waves and get their hot pools dug out.
We pick a spot near the vent but not too near as I manage to burn my foot initially. We get digging with our hands and occasionally borrow a spade from nearby diggers. We eventually get a pool that's big enough for us both to lie in with a wall protecting us from the sea. Many more people have turned up by this point and as I stand back from the scene it looks ridiculous. At least fifty people frantically digging away at the beach to lie in these little pools in the fading light. Near to where we are digging are 4 German guys and they make a bid to join pools. In the spirit of EU cooperation we decide to join forces and get digging. The German guys project manage and to be honest I mostly sit on my arse watching. Eventually we have a huge pool which is around the 39oC mark and we all lie back and someone produces a bottle of wine. We watch the sun go down, occasionally going out into the sea to cool off when the water temperature gets too much. Soon after this, with a clear sky, the Milky Way is clearly visible and we chat until late and the tide begins to creep into the lower pools and head back for freezing cold showers. We have booked a kayaking tour the following morning (again) and head round to Hahei beach to spend the night.
21st
We head to the beach early morning after breakfast to get to the kayak tour. The kayaks are already on the beach when we arrive with a large group going out for the day. We are put into our respective groups along with two other couples who are doing the halfday tour. One couple from England and the other from America who are on Honeymoon. We get kitted up in lifevests and the rubber skirts that fit onto the kayak and get the length of the foot rests correct for the rear rudder, which apparently I will be controlling, although given Kim's consistent complaints about my directions on the road I'm not so sure what a good idea this is. We are launched out to sea by our kiwi instructor and paddle off, trying to keep my paddles in time with Kim's whilst getting the hang of the rudder. Its pretty sensitive to changes in direction and my constant corrections don't make it any easier but eventually I get the hang of it and we're on our way. We paddle close to the rock and take in the view, and I wish that I had brought my sunglasses with me. The coast line is beautiful but given what we have seen in the south island and in Australia it pales in comparison. We head out to some of the islands and eventually across the water to Cathedral Cove, the jewel in the crown of this local area and where part of 'Narnia' was filmed.
We explore the cove and fresh water falls whilst our guide makes coffee, he says he can do short black, long black, flat white, cappuccino, mocha, hot chocolate or tea and I presume he is joking but when we return back we have cafe style coffee waiting for us and cookies. We chat for a while and head back to the kayaks, heading into a stiff headwind we get back to Hahei. Thanking our guide and getting back to 'Korn' we start the long drive to Roturua. The drive takes in some of the towns on the way where we get some internet time and see the area, still nowhere near as pretty as the south. We stop in a local town for lunch at a rose garden and wander around the botanical houses before going to a local hot springs which was basically a local pool. We decide to skip this one and head to the Polynesian Spa in Roturua.
When you first arrive in Roturua its the smell that hits you first. The rotten egg smell of the hydrogen sulphide belches from visible vents all around the town reminds you that this is the town where the earth's crust is the thinnest. We head straight to the spa which boasts three acidic pools, three alkaline pools and several other hot pools. Upon entering we realise that there are bus loads of Korean tourists already in there, all of which have identical hairdos and identical bathing suits. We make the best of the hottest pools, up to a scorching 42oC but Kim soon gets bored and goes to shower and change before heading to the van. We leave pretty early and find a camping spot before it gets dark, we cook and drink and get to bed early.
22nd
This morning is all about checking out the thermal wonderland which is Roturua. We get tickets for the thermal park south of the city and head straight to the Lady Knox Geyser which is triggered with surfactants every morning for hordes of spectators. There were literally a hundred people or more at our showing. The geyser goes off and people take their photos and we head back with the throng to the park where we wander from stinking hot pool to waterfall to steam vent and crater, with spectacular colours from the emitted minerals. This takes around a couple of hours once we thread our way past massive tour groups and we leave to see the mud pools which spit and spurt hot mud all over the place. By this stage I am sick of the smell and feel a little rough so we leave and head into town. But it is a Sunday after all and very little is open. We wander aimlessly and stop briefly at an indoor climbing wall where there is a competition going on. The club is for kids and its a great activity for them, and I think of how its a shame there isn't more like this in England.
We saw an advert earlier in the day for the Agrodome. A bizarre tourist attraction that must be unique to New Zealand. The show basically introduces you to farming sheep in NZ, and all 19 varieties of sheep are up on stage in a stage show that butlins would be proud of. The host is a shearer/performer and does a great job of entertaining the predominantly Korean audience in a show that includes performing sheep, milking a cow and dogs herding ducks around the stage. This lasts for about an hour and half and is followed by a demonstration of sheep herding in NZ out of the specially designed field. Afterwards we go to the gift shop where a 100 year old machine teases whole sheared fleeces into twine and you can buy merino jumpers and gloves etc.
Nearby there is the world famous Zorbing. We wander over and see a few people doing the hydro-zorbing where they zorb down a hill course with several buckets of soapy water meaning that when they emerge from the ball it disturbingly looks like they are being born. I decide after our adventure in Queenstown that I thought that zorbing would be more extreme rather than the overblown water slide it looks like and decide to pass on the experience. Kim doesn't seem interested either so we skip it and drive off into Roturua.
Once in town we have a few hours to kill before driving south to Tongariro and we decide to go to the Roturua Gondola, which takes you to an unsurpassed view over the city. We get tickets for both the gondola and the luge as this was recommended to us by a hostel receptionist way back in Australia and so we thought we'd give it a go despite my current mood where I really didn't want to do much. The view over Lake Roturua and the city is beautiful and my mood soon picks up. We head over to the luge which are a set of three concrete runs down the huge hill we have just come up, a ski lift bring both riders and luges up from the bottom of the hill. We have three goes each and there are three routes so we start off with one entitled the 'scenic tour'. I actually think before getting on the luge that is going to be pretty lame but once you get going we picked up some serious speed winding our way down the course. I'm sure that you were supposed to take it easy on this one as there were kids about but I was taking the racing line and touching the brakes as little as possible and it was actually great fun. Much to my delight this was the slowest of the three runs and there were some seriously steep stuff on the other runs. The chair lift took around 15 mins to take us to the top, on the way up you cruise over the other riders who seem to be going at a snail's pace compared to the run I have just done.
We get straight back on and onto the intermediate track and I'm tucked in close behind Kim, only hitting the brakes when I was blatantly going too fast for some of the tight bends. The bottom of the track splits and I go left whilst Kim goes right and I appear much sooner than she does given that my section contained a part where I actually get air over the drop and hers takes in a tight corner. But get to the bottom laughing like little kids. As were hadn't brought jumpers with us we were getting cold and decided after our second trip to grab a coffee and chips. With a third and final run in hand we decided to go for the expert track and the brakes were considerably more needed on this very steep slope. This kind of thing would never be allowed in England as the luges are rickety and the speeds are dangerous but great fun.
We finish off the track and get back to the top and head to the gondola briefly watching a 'swoop' swing, one that is tiny compared to the massive canyon swing we did in Queenstown though. Going down the Gondola we get back to the van and decide to start the long drive south to the Tongariro national park. Our intention for the following day being to do the infamous Tongariro crossing which is an alpine route that skirts the conical volcanoes of the south, and the place where Mt Doom was filmed in LOTR. We drive for most of the afternoon and as it gets dark we get to the start of the walk, passing a magnificent Manor house set in the hills. We get to a secluded spot to free camp and pack up for the night, only disturbing the girl sleeping in the nearby car who comes to chat, a little freaked out by our presence.
23rd
We wake up to a freezing cold morning where the only where to get out of bed is to wear two pairs of trousers, three t-shirts and my fleece. Finally getting a cup of tea together on the stove we make our way into the village to get the information we need for the crossing. Getting to the car park we chat to an Aussie couple who are set to do the crossing that day too. The visitors centre informs us that we will need to get a shuttle to the start which will then bring us back at the end of the day, making it into a one way walk of aroun19km, which is much better than going up and coming down the same route. We are also informed that one of the shuttle operators isn't running that day because the conditions on the top are so bad that he simply isn't getting enough business to make it worth his while. The only other operator tells us that it will be extremely cold with high winds at the summit which sits at nearly 6000ft. We decide that we have enough wet weather gear that we have accumulated over the last few weeks to give it a go, and the only thing we need is gloves, which we purchase from the visitors centre.
We get the coach out to the start point where a number of other walkers are kitted up and ready to go. The coach journey gives us a great opportunity to see where we are going from a distance and the massive conical shape of the main volcano dominates the skyline. Get prepare ourselves and get to the start point and set off at a good pace as we are not only late but have taken the last shuttle of the morning to the start point and know that the last shuttles to get us back to the car will be at 5pm and we must be on it having completed the walk. The first 3-4km is a gentle rise over relatively new lava flows which must have been spectacular when they were formed. The scenery is desolate and bear, a stark contrast to the rest of the country side but these lava flows are so new that not much apart from brush scrub is able to cling to the new rock. As we get to the start of the main climb we look back and the scene is seriously impressive, the extent of the lava flows from this elevation is stunning especially with the flatlands of the north island as the background.
The first of the two main climbs is tough and the wind starts to bite as we head upwards. Finally we arrive at the base of the southern crater and vast flat expanse which is filmed from the crack in the earth's surface below. The wind is bitterly cold by now and all of the layers we have shed in our climb immediately go back on despite beg shielded from three sides by the crater walls. As we near the second and final climb we decide to have a break and get some food so we shelter as best we can against the crater face but we both soon get a little too cold and have to start walking. The final climb takes to the top of the walk and having climbed through an elevation of 1200m we are tired but more than that we are scared. The wind at the altitude and with the exposed nature of the ridge of the Red crater is vicious. Winds gusting to what turns out later at 70kph almost take you off your feet, and take the air temperature well below -10oC.
At several points on the exposed crossing I ask Kim if we should turn back but our guide had told us that it is more difficult to turn around than to carry on. At several point along the scree path we have to kneel or sit to avoid being blown over and right on the top we find an elderly couple sheltering behind a rock unable to stand up. We start down the other side being extremely careful of our footing on the rim of a gaping red crater that stinks of sulphur and has great plumes of steam emitting from fissures in the rock and I am once again reminded of why Mt Doom was filmed here for LOTR. Around 100m off the top we find a spot where the wind becomes manageable and beckon to the sheltered couple that the conditions where we have got to are nowhere near as bad as where they were sat.
The next section was volcanic scree run all the way down to the crater floor and by the time we got to the bottom we had warmed up a little. Turning back again we see the magnificent red crater with sulphur veins and steam being emitted at 138oc at the hottest vent. The whole area is a volcanic scene with nothing bigger than moss and lichen growing anywhere around.
We have a small ascent to the Blue Lake before hitting the decent proper, a 10km hike on a gentle slope out towards Lake Taupo. It's at this stage we can enjoy the scenery and although we are still maintaining a fast pace we have a quite a way to go before getting the bus. Stopping for more food at a shelter we pause to warm up and rest before getting into the long decent. Realising that we are well ahead of schedule and that if we push the pace on the way back we will actually make it for the 3pm bus and not the 5pm, giving us extra time to do part of the drive back towards Auckland.
We arrive at the bus stop just in time for 3pm and get the bus back to the van. Finally relaxing after our eventful day. We potter about the van and get hot drinks before setting off towards Waitomo, where Kim wants to do a spot of caving before getting back into Auckland. We drive off and through the lowlands and the scenery in this area could easily have been used for 'the shire', an odd mix of characteristic lava flows covered with smooth green grass. Rounding one corner a van throws stones across the windscreen with a sharp crack. And we scour the windscreen for damage and see a 10cm crack in the centre of the windscreen. Now we only have 2 days left driving rental cars and even though we were hideously unlucky with parking tickets in Australia we managed not to get the extra insurance needed to cover us for tyres of windscreen damage.
Knowing that we had left a $1500 bond with Wicked we were torn between handing the van back as is and hoping they wouldn't notice and getting it sorted, which I'm pretty sure was going to cost around $500 due to the size of the screen. Pissed off to say the least we head to Waitomo as it's too late to do anything about it on the day. We decide we need a little bit of luxury and decide on a campsite for the evening that has all the facilities including a hot spa. We stop only briefly to buy beer and settle in. I head straight for the pool, drink in hand to try to relax and calm down. I chat for ages with various people and they assure me that it shouldn't cost too much to get the screen done and I decide to call round a bunch of places in both Auckland and Hamilton in the morning. Retiring to get showers and eat we head to bed.
24th
I get up early while Kim dozes and get on with phoning the repair places all over Auckland and Hamilton in a bid to save us as much money as we can. The last thing we need at this stage is a bond of $1500 taken from our cards as that would put a dent in our final tallies financially. I get reference numbers and referrals all over the place and finally track down a repair place in Hamilton which has windscreens in stock and can get it sorted that morning, to the tune of $400. Not ideal at all but at least it's not $1500.
I rouse Kim eventually as she seems especially dopey this morning and we get on our way by 10am, journeying into the nearby Hamilton. We do get slightly lost on the way in which doesn't help but we arrive at the garage by 11:30am and get chatting to Marcus who is the kiwi guy we have been referred to. He chats away, more interested in our travelling than the repairs and talks about his experiences overseas before finally inspecting the damage. After a few seconds he claims that what we thought was a huge crack is actually a scratch on the inner side of the glass from what looks like a diamond ring. He then goes on to say that even though he would be taking the cash for himself he doesn't think we ought to have it done and not only that there is no way Wicked should charge us. After much relief he then offers to phone Wicked to give them his guarantee that the screen isn't cracked, joking with the person on the other end of the phone is Brisbane about how crap their vans are. Eventually he hangs up and it's sorted, not only will we not have to pay the fee for the new screen we have guarantees that the bond won't be taken either! Legend.
We chat for about another hour about travelling before saying our thanks and goodbyes and get on the road, at a bit of a lose end as we had planned to have to be around the car being repaired for the whole day. We park up at a big store and head off into Hamilton, around the shops with the main aim being to get hold of e Lonely Planet guide for Fiji as we haven't booked any of the rest of the trip yet and we leave NZ the following day. Grabbing a copy from Dymocks, we get to a Internet cafe and book 5 nights at Ratu Kinis lodge on Mana, a tiny island about 30km off the main island which happens to be a certified Padi dive resort. Chuffed with our progress we book up the rest of the trip, including the hostel in Santa Monica, LA and a bargain of a hostel on 7th in Manhattan for the final leg of our adventure. Finishing up we get to the car and then chill be the riverside in the park for a while before getting on our way up to Auckland.
We figure it's going to be better to be near the city for the morning rush to get the Van back to wicked. We find an inner city campsite run by a couple of really odd people and book in for the night. As we drive in there are four Irish people drinking and having a mini party on the campsite. We pull in at a site next to them and they wave us over to join them. The rest of the night consists of drinking cheap wine and chatting about the next step in the travels and what they have done so far. It's definitely wired meeting people at this stage of the trip as I clearly remember meeting people who were finishing up when we started out,. Thinking how much time we had and what we were going to do. Now it's drawing to a close and it's genuinely sad. We chat til well past sunset and get royally eaten by the vicious NZ mosquitoes and head to bed.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237179060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237179060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237179060/tpod.html Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:50:31 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Mt. Cook Village, South Island, New Zealand

16th
We awake to another cloudless day, having slept by the side of a lake on the road from Glenorchy to Queenstown. I get up and make an attempt at a cooked breakfast with beans, fried eggs and fried bread which is soggy to say the least. Whilst doing this is wave rather enthusiastically at a passing van to say good morning and they turn round to see if we are in trouble, i feel suitably stupid. We pack up and get back on the road into Queenstown which is fast becoming my favourite place on this trip and head back once again into town and to use the internet. We wander around the city and eventually we have to leave as we are supposed to be headed to Mt Cook, and whilst i don't believe it will be as beautiful as this place we reluctantly head on our way. The drive is around two hours and takes in ever growing mountains. Soon the snow covered peaks of the mountains surrounding Mt Cook are visible and as we turn onto Lake Pukaki we are greeted with a lake the same colour as the sky and the dramatic peak of Mt Cook as the back drop. We stop at regular intervals towards the town taking loads of photos at each stop, some of which i intend to turn into full framed versions when we have a more permanent base. The colour of the lake is amazing, the glacial waters that feed it contain large amounts of the mineral Mica, which is a flaky type of rock which causes refraction of light through the water turning it a bright turquoise colour. This effect can be seen when the sky is overcast too.
We eventually arrive at the township of Mt Cook, which is a few houses, some big apartments for the seasonal skiers and the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre. This is both a planetarium, 3D movie theatre and museum to the man who trained for his Everest attempts by being the first to scale Mt Cook in 1947. We get passes to both the museum and planetarium and spend the next few hours mooching about here and learning some space stuff. My knowledge of this is obviously a little out of date and the stuff on Mars, and Black Holes is particularly interesting. As it gets dark we get to the van and get some food as we have booked ourselves on a stargazing 'tour' for the evening. We are lucky to have a perfectly clear night in which the moon doesn't show itself til later on, making it perfect for viewing the stars. As we go to the deck with the telescopes we look up and see the milky way as i have never seen it. A vast band across the sky almost bright enough to see by on the ground. Mt Cook has almost no light pollution being the only town in 50 miles and geared specifically to seeing the stars, so much so there is a proposal to make the night sky in this area a world heritage site, meaning that light pollution would be strictly controlled for years to come. We have a relatively small group of around 15 people doing the star gazing and with the aid of two telescopes, one spotting scope and one high powered thing on a tripod, we are taken through what we can see above us. The guide points out the small and large Magellenic Cloud Galaxies which are visible to the naked eye at this latitude, the nearby stars of Andromeda, Orion and a few others. We see far away galaxies with dust clouds surrounding them is detail, where new stars are being born and probably most impressive of all, the rings of Saturn, and even its moons. Two hours later and after the moon has come around and we see the surface craters up close everyone is freezing cold and the guide wraps it up. We head back to the van feeling very very small and drive to our campsite some 2km down the valley.
17th
Up very early to the sound of someone banging on the side of the van. We had kind of expected this as we had just driven onto a paid campsite in the middle of the night and not paid. $12 later and we are awake and getting the tea on, i am particularly drowsy this morning and this doesn't seem to go away for the rest of the day but im sure the beer with lunch didn't help. We get up and Kim has a full day of walking in the foothills, seeing a little more of the bits we missed at the museum and then getting to lake Takepo for early evening. I could quite happily have stayed in bed and read my book in the sunshine but the schedule wouldn't wait. I get dressed in almost all my clothes as its bloody freezing this morning and we set off, taking just water and no food for the three hour round trip to the head of one of the Glaciers. The scenery is spectacular once again but the walk on the Routeburn track is catching up with me and my legs ache and my right knee really hurts. Once to the top we take in the view and see the icebergs that have fallen off the front of the glacier floating down the lake to the stream below. The whole area looks like a quarry as the thousands of tonnes of ground up rock that the glacier has collected is dumped at the foot of the mountain. These glaciers are receding however, unlike Fox and therefore the amount of dirt and rock is substantial giving the glacier a dirty appearance. We head back down from the lake and I could probably have done with a sandwich and am a little shaky by the time we arrive back, eating way too quickly and having a beer to boot. The next walk is a drive away and whilst i am almost asleep, Kim is off again. This is a short walk of around 40 mins to the head of the largest Glacier in NZ and it is much the same except that the scenery is vast. The valley carved by this glacier stretches some 85km from its current location and was once over 1km thick. The ice now stands some 200m thick at the head of the lake which has only formed recently from the glacier's recession. We get back and then decide to head back to the museum. We accidentally sit through a short film we have already seen and then get to see a couple we haven't seen. Finally, buying chocolate from the gift shop we get on the road to Takepo. The drive is around 100km down either side of Lake Pukaki. As the sunsets we are treated to amazing views as the red light hits the mountains opposite Mt Cook and mist cloaks the valleys. We arrive at Takepo and have a quick drive around the town which is totally shut, it being after dark so we drive back out of town a little way and camp near the observatory, the stars being stunning once again.
18th
An early start with huge lorries screaming past no more than a few meters from the van. We head into town which is just a few shops and get to see the lake which is even bluer than Pukaki. Kim wants to see the church of the good Sheppard which is perched near the lake, so we head there and sit quietly as tourists buzz around outside. Im not really one for churches in general as it seems daft to sit there in a house of worship very much doubting the existence of a God but heyho, kim seems to enjoy it. It begins to rain for the first time in about a week and we sit about wondering what to do next. There is a sign for Hot Springs in the town and we decide that is the best idea for a wet afternoon, especially as kims shoulder is still hurting from the rubbish mattress in the van. The hot pools are situated overlooking the lake, they have three at different temperatures, steam, sauna and a plunge pool. We spend the whole afternoon here and into the early evening. Kim also spends an hour (and $100) in the Spa, getting all sorts of beauty things done whilst i laze about. Feeling thoroughly relaxed we leave almost in the dark and drive to Geraldine. The town is once again tiny, and covered in mist which while very picturesque gets everything wet. We grab a bottle of wine, and try to find a place to sleep, heading out of town there is nowhere to pull off the road and we get lost and i get pissed off. Eventually we end up driving about 40km and ending 7km away from where we started and paying for a campsite, aptly called 'Grumpys retreat'. I sulk off to the kitchen and eat pea and ham soup and type up some ideas on the computer while Kim goes straight to bed. Half a bottle of wine later and some clarity with the plan when returning to England i go to bed fully clothed as its still really cold during the night here.

19th
We have a lazy day planned today, the scenic inland drive to christchurch and then on to Akora for some dolphin watching. We laze about the campsite in no real rush to leave and tidy the van in preparation for returning it tomorrow. Eventually we head inland and the scenery rushes by, not as spectacular as further south but certainly pretty. the miles roll by until suddenly Kim says "are you sure today is Wednesday?". We check our various electronic devices and find out that it is in fact Thursday and we not only have to have the van back, cleaned and vaccuumed in one hours time but have a flight to catch a couple of hours after that! We rush into christchurch, get the laundry to the designated spot and clean the van quickly before dashing to wicked. The drop off goes very smoothly and we walk across the road to the free bus which takes us to the shuttle and we are at the airport with three hours to spare. Thankfully we haven't screwed up big time, as missing this flight and all the bookings that we have following it would have been disastrous. We chill at the airport, drinking the last of the leftover booze and finishing the leftover food before getting a flight to Auckland.
The flight is a short hop relative to some of the ones we have coming up and it goes by quickly. Getting off the other side is just as easy, we collect bags and get a shuttle to our hotel which drops us off second out of the group that are in there. The receptionist tells us that we can't pay until the morning but its the right amount and we get a private double instead of a five bed dorm much to our delight. We unpack a few bits and then decide to go for a wander. The area we are in isn't far from the skytower and we wander through the neighbourhood which appears to be mostly korean and mostly shut. Grabbing some cookies we head back and to sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237072020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237072020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237072020/tpod.html Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:42:44 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Saturday 14th
Skydive day. We wake up to the alarm for the third day in a row and excitedly get ourselves ready to head back into Queenstown to get to the skydive shop. We park up and grab a quick bite for breakfast before heading to NZone. The shop is already open and a number of people are already there filling in the appropriate paperwork in the briefing room, including chatty American guy called Nick who would eventually be in the plane with us. Everyone looks pretty nervous and isn't talking much as we watch a video of peoples experiences and then get a briefing to explain the process of what is going to happen. We are quickly ushered into a waiting van which speeds us to the dropzone near to the remarkable. It is a perfectly clear day over Queenstown and no wind, a perfect day to fall from a plane at 15000ft hitting 200kph. We go from the coach into the immaculate reception area where there are a few smiling people who have just jumped and a few more coming in on open parachutes, always a good sign. We are told a little about the centre and it turns out that they drop 100 people a day on clear days like this, hence there isn't a lot of messing about. We are given time to make a last minute toilet break and then we are into the fitting room for jumpsuits, helmets, goggles and gloves.
We are introduced to our jumpmasters and our videographers, who are typical of the kind of people you might see falling to the ground ten times a day, all in their mid-twenties and well up for it on such a good day weatherwise. We go through our briefing on what position to assume when we get out of the plane and what to do, which is essentially to enjoy the view and leave most of the rest of it to our jumpmasters. We are hurried to our plane, kim me and nick together with three jumpmasters, and two videographers squeeze into the back of a Cessna with a Perspex door to the void outside. With the positions in the plane, Nick is out first and looking very nervous indeed, kim is out second and i'm last, not really knowing whether this is a good thing or not. We take off and lurch into the air and quickly climb to 15000ft, the nearby mountains giving us an indicator or when the chutes will be deployed. Everyone chats in the plane and makes stupid faces for the cameras and i watch the view, able to see all the way to Mt Cook, some 5h drive away as the air is so clear. Checking the altimeters we are soon at our drop height, the door opens and the cold air blasts in. At this stage you think i would be nervous but i am genuinely looking forward to this, unlike the swing a couple of days ago, plus the way we are cramped in the back of this plane it almost seems like the sensible thing is to leave via the door.
Nick is looking slightly uncomfortable but really has no choice in the matter as he is swung to the door with feet under the plane and then drops like a stone, out of view. Kim and her instructor shuffle forward and they are gone in a heartbeat and i'm next. We shuffle forward as one and my videographer is already outside and hanging on. I tuck my legs under the plane and wait to be pushed. The initial drop is gut wrenching but the feeling only lasts about a second as i see the plane pull away above us to land. Face down now the ground rushing towards us, but you feel more like a spectator with the wind in your face rather than you are plummeting to earth at terminal velocity. Its an amazing feeling and the view is spectacular from this height. Snow covered mountain ranges for as far as the eye can see and the lake and Queenstown below. The videographer shows up and takes some shots but all too quickly is see that we pass the mountain tops, this i know is where the chute will be pulled and we'll be yanked to a virtual halt, sure enough at 4500ft i feel the chute deploy and we're hauled violently to a slow descent. The difference in motion between the freefall, which feels like flying, and the almost instant sea sickness feeling of being on the parachute is a bit of a shock as i expected a calm float to the ground, but the jumpmaster wants to have some fun and puts us into tight spins to get us on the ground ahead of Kim, this makes me feel pretty sick almost to the point of throwing up but we're soon near the ground and i pull my feet to my chest and we slide onto the wet grass on our asses.
Immediate elation for being on the ground and not being dead and watching Kim land behind me. We hug and make our way inside, the whole thing could only have taken twenty mins but it was definitely one of the best experiences i've had on this trip. We sit around for a while and watch some of the uncut footage on the video screens while my stomach recovers from the parachute bit. Pretty soon though we are ushered back onto the coach and do the return journey in almost complete silence, everyone reflecting on what they have just experienced. Once we are back in town we have several hours before we can collect our videos so we wander back to the van as my stomach is getting worse not better. Minute by minute i get pretty bad cramps which feel like food poisoning and eventually i'm doubled over in pain - not a good sign. Eventually after about an hour they subside and i still don't know what caused them. Kim seems to think that fast moving air entered my bowels somehow - although from which end she didn't say.
After this we have the whole afternoon to chill in Queenstown on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. There is a fair amount going on at the lakeside with stunt riding, wakeboarding, parachuting and skydivers some of which are trying to hit a raft in the bay. We watch for a while and then get a seat at a restaurant in town where i have gorgeous steak sandwich and local beer and relax in the sun, with the kind of contentedness that has sometimes been found on this trip. We wander through the local market and then head to the internet cafe as kim has a headache again, I update almost all of the blog that i have missed and then we decide to head out to Glenorchy as this is where we are doing the walk the following day.
Halfway through the afternoon however i had discovered that i had left my flipflops at the camping ground. Feeling somewhat attached to them after discovering their homing properties in Koh Phagnan we get to the camping ground and find that they are exactly where we left them that morning. We head on as the sun sets into Glenorchy and eventually find our way to the side of the lake where the main camping ground is. Literally almost a hundred people camping here after not seeing anyone for about 50km with full fires blazing. We quickly set up and get some sleep after an adventurous day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237158660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237158660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1237158660/tpod.html Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:40:33 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Glenorchy, South Island, New Zealand

Sunday 15th
We have a pseudo lie-in this morning or rather the sun wakes us up rather than an alarm. But we get breakfast and tea sorted fairly quickly and get to the start of the Routeburn track for about 10:30am. After parking up and getting our stuff together we head down to the track and chat to a girl from Bristol who is surveying walkers and gives us a sweetie for filling them in. We check the maps and decide to aim for Harris Saddle which is the high point of the walk at 1255m some 12.5km away. We head up through the rainforest across rope bridges and creeks, to immaculate walking huts where people can pay to stay, much like a hostel. The upper part of the walk takes us round to view a second mountain range which are separated by huge U-shaped valleys carved by ancient glaciers. I probably won't describe much of today in any detail as we did the walk from the Routeburn Hut all the way through to Harris Saddle and to Harris Lake. The pictures we took on the walk say it all, so check them out. The scenery from this famous track is breathtaking.
We eventually get back to the flatish part of the track and by the time 24km are up i've had enough but the van is round the corner and this is the furthest i have walked in one day since i was about 16. We get back to the van, exhausted and head to the campsite in Glenorchy for hot showers and beer.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236819060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236819060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236819060/tpod.html Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:39:21 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Wednesday 11th
We rise lazily in Wanaka as its incredibly cold outside with the mountains that line the lake getting a good dusting of snow during the night. The sky is cloudy now but the early morning sunlight makes the scenery even more stunning. This is truly one of the most spectacular places we have been in our travels and i have to say that Australia doesn't hold a candle to the natural beauty that NZ has. We have very hot showers to set us up for the day and get in the van to head into town. We are up and away by eleven and drive to take photos by the lake before heading to the skydiving centre to find info on when we can jump and where. That day is booked and we don't have the time to stop in our journey south, so we leave here and head up the road. I see signs for clay bird shooting and a rifle range so we head there for a bit of fun first. We both take thirty rifle bullets and three targets to the gallery and a box of shotgun shells to the range. Rifles first and Kim and I line up, a competition of course to see who is most accurate. In my defence, the only time I have shot a gun was 5 rounds in Vietnam, and army girl kicks my ass well and truly, in all three targets. A little miffed we head to the range for the clay bird shooting. Here we need ear protectors as the rifles were silenced but the shot guns are not. Big heavy guns with an auto release by your foot for the claybirds. We take it in turns and Kim soon gets her eye in, i however am a little slower to get the hang of it and she hits twice as many as I do. A little gutted to be honest but glad to see she is happy we hang up our guns and head out of town to Puzzleworld to try to find a phone. We take silly photos and get in touch with a skydive centre in Queenstown who has availability. This done, we head to Queenstown, about a two hour drive through mountain passes. As the miles roll by and we climb higher it begins to snow and we have lunch overlooking the vast scenery huddled in our little van.
We arrive in Queenstown and immediately like it. The whole place has a Christmassy feel to it which never really goes away even n a sunny day, and having not felt Christmassy at Christmas its almost comforting. We wander the city, and find an internet cafe to book the skydive, kayaking on doubtful sound and the canyon swing. This done, we grab a couple of glasses of excellent local wine at a bar with little fires built into the tables and take in the view. After this we head out of town to find a camping spot, picking a great one at 12 mile bluff with a stunning view of the 'Remarkables' ski resort. Kimmy polishes off most of the wine left in the fridge but I am a little too nervous about the swing the following day to contemplate doing it with a hangover.

Thursday 12th

We awake in 12 mile bluff a little way out of Queenstown and with the 'Remarkables' rising straight out of the lake directly across from us, having had a light dusting of snow overnight. We had booked the Nevis canyon swing for this morning and therefore have to be in town ready for briefing and pickup. We decide however that we have some time as we are up early enough to get to an internet cafe and skype the parents as we haven't spoken to them in a little while and as we are now 13h ahead, the mornings make for sense to skype home. Having chatted about what we are about to do and definitiely made myself considerably more nervous than i was before we say goodbye, grab a quick bite to eat and then head to the bungy shop. They are running a little late so we watch the big screens of people doing the various bungees around town which does nothing to calm my nerves. Finally we board and are told by our guide about just how scary what we are about to do is, like we needed telling. People chat nervously and Kim chatters on for most of the trip but most of the people we are travelling with to the jumpsite are doing the fearsome Nevis bungy and not the swing. Therefore they are understandably even more nervous than I am. The Nevis Arc which is the one we are doing is the largest canyon swing in the world at a length of 120m, with a 200m arc out into the valley. Freefall lasts about 3 seconds before taking you away from the mountain face and across the void. When we arrive we stow our kit and head to the Arc. The release station is situated 30m out from the edge of the cliff face on a swaying gondola a good 60m directly above the ground. Its a windy day and you can tell as there is definite movement of the structure as we approach the end. There is one other couple doing the arc today and we joke nervously and look over the side to see what is coming and its a long long way down. The instructor asks who wants to go first and we are volunteered, getting into our full body harnesses with a multitude of safety straps and buckles, which goes some way to making you feel like you are connected to something. Getting strapped into a tandem formation (Kim and I are going together) we are sat into the harnesses with our feet off the ground swinging gently out over the edge. We are edged forward over the space below and the guys operating the thing joke and mess about so we really don't know when we are going to go. I hold on very tightly with my stomach in my throat, bracing for the drop, eventually he hits the button and we drop like a stone. Arcing out over the valley and swinging back and forth - a massive rush to know that your ok and to realise what you've just done. We hang in the harnesses and wait for them to pull us up with big grins on our faces, although i'm pretty sure i've pulled a muscle in my right hand side from tensing before the drop. We eventually make it back and watch as the other couple go through the same. Getting our photos from the jump centre we get back on the bus, glad we have done it but i can't help the nagging feeling like i should have done the bungy, i don't want to of course, but its the nature of the place with implied peer pressure all around. By the time we get to town the feeling has gone and i am chuffed with what we have done, and feel somewhat more prepared for the 15000ft skydive we have booked for Saturday. Its still early after the jump and we grab lunch and get to the internet cafe to watch and try to upload the videos, which don't upload due to a poor connection. Afterwards we get on the road as we have a long day tomorrow and a long drive tonight to get to Te Anau for the evening.
We drive for 3h through stunning scenery, not a cloud in the bright blue sky, and get to the Fjiordland at around 4pm and quickly book a tour of the gloworm caves. We hastily make dinner by the side of the lake and get to the dock. The boat takes us across the lake to the visitor centre built specifically for the glo caves. We board in groups and make the walk through water carved limestone caves with raging waterfalls, and whirlpools up to the start of the river to the underground cavern of the gloworms. Being quiet (even the drunk American girls shut up for this bit) we are pulled into the pitch black cavern on a small wooden boat. The ceiling is lit by thousands of tiny green spots, giving the effect of a small galaxy above you - beautiful. We cuddle together in the silence and watch the sight above for about fifteen mins before arriving back at the waterfall and making our way back out again. We head back across the lake and straight to the van and drive the 20km to Manapori to stay the night before our early rise for the kayaking tomorrow.

Friday 13th
We wake up with the alarm and its still dark outside, i wonder whether i have set my phone on the wrong time and vaguely hope that I have at least another two hours sleep, but dawn is creeping across the fijords and wisps of cloud hang atmospherically around the lower peaks. We get ourselves up, pulling on our warmest clothes as its still pretty cold early morning. The forecast for today is wall to wall cloud and rain, but with the guides touting that the fjiordlands are best viewed wet we are undeterred. We quickly get ready with hot tea and soggy cereal and drive into town. We get to the place and pull up and kim goes in to register, to find out, to her dismay and my downright anger, that they only have place for one person for the day, having emailed us the previous morning. I had no such email and was therefore fuming, we wait to see whther there are any cancellations but everyone turns up and we are at a loose end, very early in the morning. We check out the other operators on the area but all of the ones at manapouri are full so we angrily dash back towards Te Anu some 20km away. Getting to another kayaking outfit we find them full too but they have space for the following day at Milford, not what we wanted or on the right day as we have the skydive the following day but we pencil our names in nevertheless. Dashing back to the visitors centre we manage to get onto the doubtful sound cruise, one that we were cheerfully told was full twenty mins before whilst out at manapouri. Getting back in the van with twenty mins to spare we head back to the lake. We pack a lot more stuff as we will be transported in style rather than slogging in kayaks (although we both would have much preferred the kayaks), including a bottle of wine for lunch. Getting dockside we are plagued by the ever present sandflies as we wait for the boat. It seems increasingly obvious that this is a somewhat middle aged thing to be doing as the average age of our party is easily around the 60 mark. And groups of Americans make it somewhat less to my taste. Anyhow, we board, sitting across from bored looking couples and loud Californians and get underway, taking full advantage of the free tea and coffee. The cruise across the lake to the power station 9 the gateway to the fjiords) is serene apart from the persistent commentary of the skipper giving us more than enough info about the depth width and general makeup of the water we are sailing on. Arriving at the dock we are corralled into the visitors centre with another healthy dose of sandflies and await our coaches. Kim and I feel somewhat out of place being easily the youngest people there by a clear 20 years and have a glimpse of what it is like to be retired with money and time to burn, i just hope we have more of a sense of humour when we are that age. Anyhow, between the smirks and inadvertent mooing we make the best of it. Finally our driver stands up to address the crowd bearing an uncanny resemblance to dave's dad. He has a dry wit which while thoroughly unfunny makes the grannies laugh and goes over the heads of the people who speak less than perfect English. We get onto the coach and begin our excruciating 1h trip to Deep Cove. The commentating by our driver (Rex) is slow to the point of being comical, over pronouncing every single word, and we can't help but laugh. We get a run down of the types of trees, colour of their leaves other insignificant detail. It must be said at this point however, that whilst we are laughing at the situation the scenery that is passing us by bot on the lake and by the side of the bus is staggering. Almost vertical cliffs rise from the valleys covered in bright green dense rainforest without a single manmade structure or intervention. Perfect and beautifully protected landscape. As we around one of the final bends in the road before our descent we come to the viewpoint for Doubtful Sound - breathtaking. We are herded off the coach for obligatory photos and even the cattle like precision of an old age tour can't take away from the beauty and tranquillity of this place. We arrive at the dock and board the Fjiordland Navigator. The ship is huge and pretty much the only one on the whole Sound. Certainly the only one of its size. This sits in stark contrast to the 400 boats that fan out across the polluted Halong Bay in Vietnam. The water is a deep dark colour with the tannins of the rainforest and apparently the first 5m is a layer of fresh water sitting on top of the salt water due to the huge amount of runoff from the surrounding cliffs.
We have been blessed once again with perfect weather. Whilst it is cold outside the sun is out and the clouds are clearing. This eventually leaves us with a cloudless sky, a rarity as the Fjiordland sees more wet days than dry ones and even less clear ones. The cruise starts and we take up position on the bow, a point that we protect for the whole journey out of Deep Cove and out towards the Tasman Sea. We cruise past vast faces, some snowcapped, rising some 4500ft straight out of the water at angles greater than 60o. We are told that the underwater profile is the same taking the depth of the water down some 450m. The scenery is intersperse with waterfalls which tumble down from the high peaks through the lush foliage and we sit and take in the view for the entire 3h. The only disappointing part is where the captain turns off the engines in a particularly well secluded area and asks everyone to be quiet. I don't understand how a group of people are unable to shut the hell up for two mins to enjoy the quiet, sometimes i have my reservations about stopping in America at all on the way home. It is here that we realise just how special Kayaking in this place would have been but we simply don't have time to stay another day - maybe in the future when we are old and grey like our fellow sailors. We head slowly back to port and the day is warming up nicely. We get to the coach and back to Rex and his unfunny humour as we head for a tour of the hydroelectric plant. Looking like something out Dr No we pause briefly to take in the history and get back to the bus and then onto the boat home where we chat with some rare unabrasive Americans from California who seem genuinely interested in our tales of travelling. Back to the van, an uneventful trip back to Queenstown apart from Kim very publically going for a wee at the side of the road. We head into town, check our weather and check in time for the skydive and head to the internet cafe to write some of the blog that i have been neglecting.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236572820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236572820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236572820/tpod.html Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:06:31 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Fox Glacier, South Island, New Zealand

Monday 9th

We rise at matthison, not knowing what the view would be like after having arrived in the dark and pouring rain the night before. We have booked the guided walk on the Fox Glacier for the day and we can just see it peeking out of the mountainside as the clouds begin to clear. We arrive early at the meeting point and find out that our group is being filmed for Japanese TV. We are introduced to our guides and fitted with our gear, including crampons and full wet weather gear as the conditions on the glacier are changeable. We also realise at the last minute that we haven't packed a lunch as we thought that it was included and run to grab something before getting onto the bus last. The bus takes us to the glacier face and the vast sheet of ice rears out of an opaque river flowing from underneath. Chunks of ice scatter the water way for hundreds of yards and the guides tell us that this is due to an ice fall and outward explosion of ice and water as the rive built up behind the fallen sheet. 30 people taking photos lucky to escape with their lives as the wall collapsed, and this was just a couple of days ago. We start the steady climb changing in between cold and hot as we face the katabatic wind coming off the glacier and the temperate rainforest surrounding it, which make regular changing of clothes imperative. We eventually make it to the ice and change into our crampons, picking up alpine stocks to help us. We make it onto the ice and see up close the wierd blue colur as the light is refracted through the ice. We move as a group from crevice to water borne ice hole taking in the unique scenery. Apparently its pretty rare to have a glacier surrounded by rainforest. Our guide cuts steps along all the places we go and the going is a lot easier than either kim or I had expected. The Indian couple, who i don't think had seen snow or ice before found it somewhat more difficult. Eventually we make it to the Ice caves, cut through the glacier by warmer running water into holes big enough for people to climb through. And while we were there the found and extension too the cave which kim was the first ever tourist to pass through. We though suggesting it be called Kim's hole was a little inappropriate.
After an improvised lunch we headed to the upper ice flows, where only the people on the full days tour get to see. The upper ice flows are much steeper and somewhat more dangerous as they tend to move faster and collapse more often. We are lucky once again to have sunshine for most of the day, but late afternoon the rain rolls in just for a brief shower which passes by the time we are down to the rainforest level. We have taken hundreds of photos on this excursion and the beauty of the glacier and its surroundings cannot be understated. An amazing day all in all. Plus we had the benefit of being stars of Japanese TV.
We head back to our previous nights camping ground to eat and mess about for most of the evening, a little worn out after our days excursion. Unfortunately the flies are ever present and kim manages to spray DEEt right in her eyes whilst trying to eliminate the flies from the van. In obvious agony i help her wash and bathe her eyes with both water and soapy water until she can see again and they are not too bloodshot. She falls asleep, and i read until my eyes get heavy.

Tuesday 10th

Today was always going to be more of a travel day than anything else and this was fortunate once again as the weather was terrible in Fox. Cloud down almost to the road level and persistent rain made us very glad the weather had held for us the previous day. We woke up next to Lake Matthison which is apparently the most photographed lake in NZ, but the weather is so bad we don't even bother going to see it. The Mosquitoes have been biting during the night and i have some corkers which are incredibly itchy. We have breakfast at the Hobnail Cafe and then decide to get on the road and leave the weather behind. We spend the day making our way slowly to Wanaka, checking out various waterfalls on the way (Roaring billy and Thunder). We decide that we need proper showers, a decent meal and to charge our ever growing number of electrical devices, so we check into a campsite and pay to stay. We get food for a BBQ and charge the batteries for the camera, Zen, laptop and phones. The scenery here is much better than up north and the mountains that surround the lake are snow covered. The BBQ is great but it is so cold outside, even with two coats on that we eat in the heated kitchen, not being acclimatised to NZ yet. We sort the washing out and watch rubbish TV in the TV room (with no remote and therefore only one channel) before retiring.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236418980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236418980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/adam_and_kim/1/1236418980/tpod.html Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:22:46 -0400 Beacuse you only live once...

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Greymouth, South Island, New Zealand

Saturday 7th
Today is the first day of our NZ adventure proper. We are awoken even earlier than yesterday by bagpipes which seem to be right outside the hostel window. Rising lazily, and wondering if my hangovers are beginning to stretch to two days, we pack and get all our stuff together as today is the day we pick up our long awaited wicked van. We walk to the depot and get lost on the way, but once there we go through all the motions of getting the van sorted, checking things over and signing a host of documents that I don't really read, but making sure that we have the minimum damage waiver as we are not paying another $10 a day for this. We hop into 'Borat' and get on the road. We quickly realise why Wicked is the cheapest and the richest company as the van is a piece of crap. But it is functional and will do us for the journey ahead (despite its apparent allergy to hills). First stop after the hostel is the supermarket to stock up on cheap food as we are now running over our original budget. We get fuel too and get on the road, keen to stick to the speed limits after Australia and finding out we have little choice as the van will barely do 80kph. We head up the main highway to Kaikora (or good lobster) for the sea Kayaking. Once we are there we head straight to the Seal colony, lazy fur seals line the shoreline and we stand within a few feet of them as they bask in the sunshine. We head back to town to the sea kayak rental and I chat with the girl who owns the place. I am told in no uncertain terms that I don't have the required experience to hire her kayaks which I am sure was a ruse to get us on the more expensive guided tour. We however simply don't have time for this as we are due in Hanmer by the evening and we have a long way to go. We hang out near the seals for an hour or so and making some late lunch and have a dip in the (very cold) sea. Packing up, miffed that the first part of the plan has fallen through already, we get on the road again, suddenly in need of a petrol station as these vans are obviously fitted with lawnmower size petrol tanks. We eventually find one and get underway up the mountains to Hanmer and the Hot Springs, 'Borat' groaning all the way. We arrive at 7pm, with two hours left before closing. Kim has a pretty bad headache by this point and I hope the springs will help. We get into the resort for a very reasonable $14 and go from hot pool to even hotter pool for the rest of a very relaxing evening. Darkness falls whilst we are bathing and we emerge refreshed ready for bed. We have to head out of town however to find a spot and I drive until my eyes are drooping before pulling off into a rest area to go to sleep.

Sunday 8th
We wake up at the side of the raod having driven until i was too sleepy to carry on. We quickly make breakfast and hot tea on our little stove and get back on the road to the west coast. It is raining hard and the grey sky seems very low. As we hit the coast the weather looks worse if possible and we drive south down the coast to Greymouth. As we round one bend in particular there is a spectacular rainbow across the road, which we can see both ends of. So, it being gold panning country we decide to go and look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. As it happens there is a stream strategically placed at what seemed to be at the end of the rainbow we had seen. Therefore we stop and head down, somewhat hopefully, to seek our fortune. Picking through the rocks and sand it soon becomes clear that if there was a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow I didn't have the patience to find it as it was bloody cold and raining outside. Kim was slightly more persistent but after repeated encounters with Didymo (horrible little slimy river creatures) she gave up too and we went on our way, thinking that maybe we had got the wrong end of said rainbow.

The two main things to do today that we had planned was to go to 'shantytown' a replica gold mining town and to Pancake rocks. Shantytown came first as it close early and we decided to leave to rocks up the coast for later as they were a 200km round trip, added to the 200km trip we had to do that day to get to Fox Glacier for the morning. Shantytown is a somewhat cheesy attraction but the genuine 1800s steam train and replica saw mill are impressive enough along with replica town. The panning for gold was unfortunately a little fake as they put the gold in the pan for you, but we were taught the basics and could keep the gold we found in our pans. After several hours of wandering around we decided to move on, but the weather was so bad we wouldn't have been able to see the rocks anyhow. And not favouring a 400km drive in the evening we considered our options. As we were in the town we decided a hot shower would help our mood a lot and as Borat had nothing of the sort we headed to a backpackers hostel. Now i know its cheeky to use the facilities at a place when not staying there but hey, we're running low on cash and have better things to spend it on so sneaking the odd shower here and there is going to have to do. We both creep in from the car park and get very welcome scorching hot showers which make us feel al ot better and get on the road in the heaving rain on the way down to Fox. Arriving in Fox after, ridiculous mountain passes from Franz-Joseph it is dark and raining and even though the Glacier is out there somewhere between the looming hills we can't see it through the low cloud. We drive around unsure of where to park for the night and follow a road a little way out of town to a car park beside a lake where at least ten other campers are stopped for the night and set up camp.
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