TravelStream™ news feed for member archers on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/archers en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:35:51 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/archers/1/1204731000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/archers/1/1204731000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/archers/1/1204731000/tpod.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:35:51 -0400 The Trip

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Hamilton, New Zealand

A great day at the cricket, lovely and sunny, sat near the barmy army, shame about the actual cricket !
We got into the mainstand, just above the changing rooms so could hear the players talking, and the coaches chatting to them, was good to be so close. They are a big bunch !! We were sat just to the left of the guy in the white t-shirt in the picture. The guy is Dave Snell a mate of Simon in the recruiting firm in Auckland. Simon was supposed to be there but couldn't make it, so Dave managed to get us up there for an hour or so.

I went for a wander around the ground and managed to get all the SKY Sports commentary team to sign my programme, (except for Bumble !).

We went back to the Barmy Army pub after the game for a couple of drinks then left Hamilton for Auckland
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Auckland, New Zealand

So, here we are , the last day of our trip, but what a trip it's been. We've done nearly 2000km, about 1400 miles, so have travelled far, but has been well worth it.

I had a meeting with the recruitment guys again in Auckland, in the pub again this morning. It went really well again. There is a company interested in me starting with them. I'll be having a more formal interview in Harrogate at the end of March and then probably a video meeting with the company in early April, this will be with a view to moving out here around August, maybe sooner if the Visa's come through !! all go now !

Anyway, we're in a great place in Auckland, 15 storeys up in the city centre, so thought i'd share a picture.

It's 12:30 here, Friday Lunchtime, 21c in doors, more than that in the sun outside. We have to be at the airport in 3 hours, then it's the 30 hour trip back via Brisbane, Singapore, change at Dubai, then home into Manchester at about 11:00 Saturday morning.

More to follow when ever !
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Stratford, New Zealand

Stratford is the hom of the only glockenspiel in New Zealand, and is named after William shakespeare's birthplace.

It's famous for the clock in the centre of town.

We also got some great views of Mt Egmont, also known as Mt Taranaki on the road from Wanganui to New Plymouth.
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Hamilton, New Zealand

As we had spent most of the day before in the car we decided to head out of New Plymouth early and get to Hamilton as soon as possible enabling us to have a look around.
We did just that, we were off just after 8:30. there isn't much to report on the journey that hasn't already been said, great scenery, a couple of fantastic gorges and some little towns that appeared from no-where !
the only thing to say is that we hit a string of road works in the valleys, so got stuck behind 3 trucks at one point, OMG what a disaster, it delayed our journey by a few minutes, not like the M62 would do !!
We came into the town from the south and I plotted a way to go past the cricket ground, just so I could see where it was ready for tomorrow ! and we found the motel easily, it was one of the Bella Vista Motel chains. A lovely place, all you need and nice and clean.
We went for a walk once we had unpacked our stuff. We called at the cricket ground, where the Test Match ws in play (Day 1), and collected our tickets for Thursday.
We then went across town towards the River that runs through the centre of Hamilton. We found a nice spot overlooking the river and ate our lunch (yep, cheese sandwiches for me !), watched by some ducks, who came very close indeed once we gave them a bit of bread.
Once finished we followed the river path for a couple of k's and then walked back through town towards our Motel. Again we had walked a long way, about 6k's we reckon.
We called at an estate agent on the way back and ended up speaking to the agebt for nearly an hour about the house buying process and mortgage situation. Some of it came very clear, some of it needs more investigation. Her Finance people will be in touch in the next few weeks to let us know what we can afford etc. Some good info gained. Houses are a lot cheaper in Hamilton than some of the other places we've been to.

We got back to the Motel and I did a bit of this internet stuff and checked the cricket score, we sat in the sun for a while before getting chnaged and heading back into town for a drink and some tea.
I spotted a pub full of England supporters so we headed there, it was the 'official' Barmy Army pub ! They were selling all the merchandise so I got myself the Barmy Army New Zealand tour polo shirt. We had a couple of drinks, some New Zeland version of Smirnoff Ice for me, Diet Coke for Claire !
We wandered through the main street and found a greek place that looked ok. Claire had a mushroom Fettucine dish, that she said looked disgusting, but then said it tasted superb ! I had a Lemon and Garlic Chicken, and very nice it was too ! We also bumped into Jummy form the Barmy Army on the way through town, he did look a little worse for wear. We should see him in full voice tomorrow at the game.
Claire is really looking forward to it !!
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New Plymouth, New Zealand

After out longest travelling day, we arrived in New Plymouth.
We found the Motel really easily, for a change, we were looking forward to getting on the pool as it had been sunny and hot for the last couple of hours.
Unfortunately it was being cleaned though and was full of bits of debris from a new rook the Motel had had installed. Damn !
Instead we went for a walk towards the beach and along the seafront walkway. A lovely walk along what looked like quite a new route.
Now, we first had the pool out of use, and within 30 seconds of getting onto the beachfront walkway, a bl**dy seagull decided to s**t on my neck and shirt collar !! great, cheers birdie !
And then along the walk, at a lovely bridge over a stream that fed to the sea, I saw a rat scarper into the undergrowth, and then we saw another one further down scamper across the path. So New Plymouth didn't have the best of starts with us. It was however lovely and warm, sunny and not much wind.
Towards the end of our walk, we came across the Wind Wand, another Billy Connolly featured item. It's basically a ball on the end of a 40ft pole that goes straight up in the air and bends in the wind, quite a bit too !

From the beachfront we walked inland passed their famous Information centre/Museum/Library and up the main street. We seemed to walk for ages, before we decided to have tea in an Indian restaurant, in our shorts and T-shirts, but they let us in ! The only ones in too ! It soon became about half full though, hopefully not from seeing us in the window, as the food wasn't too good at all really. the secons Indian we have had and neither have been any good really. I should have stuck to Cajun Chicken !
We continued our walk back and didn't realise it was so far, we had probably walked about 7km, and a lot of it along the see front was bare foot on concrete, so I had 3 blisters when I got home !
Beofre we arrived hime we had a good look around the local Woolworths, a big supermarket ! We priced up loads of stuff, most of which was cheaper than it is back home, so shopping shouldn't be too big an issue.
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Eltham, New Zealand, New Zealand

We went through Eltham on the way to New Plymouth, the main feature of the town being the water tank on the hill being painted to look like a Cheese. Billy Connolly showed it on his programme.

And luckily for us it was on the road we travelled on so we saw it !!
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Wanganui, New Zealand

We left Wellington early and stopped at a Lord of the Rings filmstep where they filmed the battle of Helm's Deep. It's back to a normal working Quarry though now, although the castle was there up until only a couple of years ago.
The road past the quarry was through the Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt, which is to the North of Wellington Harbour, behind Petone, where IBM was. We came out of Wellington this way instead of going the same way we had entered the area.
The road through the Hutt area was the usual very scenic, mountainous road, which would have brought us back onto the main road North along the coast, but autry advsied us to take a minor road later one to bring us out further North, and giving us a good view of the coastline from up in the Mountains. And Blimey, it was a very winding road, up and down the hills but it brought us out to a superb spot where we could see for miles up the coast. A great view.
We then travelled North up the road we had come South on, until we got to a place called Bulls, where we went West towards Wanganui.
We stopped off for some lunch, KFC this time, just for a change. They took ages though, about 15 mins to get something to eat. We went to Northcliffs 'beach' to have our lunch, but it wasn't too pleasant as the wind was really howling and blowing sand everywhere, so we ate in the car and moved on.
We stopped again later at Waiinu beach a couple of kilometre's from the main road, the wind was still howling but we went for a walk anyway. The sand peppered our legs, so we didn't stay too long, but decided to move ontowards New Plymouth.
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Wellington, New Zealand

We had a good breakfast with Joy and Autry in the Homestay. They have a really nice house and are a great couple, very friendly, and very chatty.
We headed off to IBM to see what was available and what the procesdures are for a move over here. We spent about an hour with IBM, there is a position available in the coming month and probably one in a couple of months, so the oportunities are there if they think i'll fit the position. I would have to leave IBM in UK and be rehired by IBM NZ.
From IBM, which is on the north side of the bay in Petone, we drove to Wellington central, on the south side of the bay to see a guy called Marcus at Talent Point. It turned out it was the same guy I had seen at Harrogate a few months ago, and he recognised me aswell. The best thing they could do was to get me a position when we know the dates we will arrive, or at least sort a position out about a month before we are due to arrive. Which is more of a risk, as we will have to come out without having a position.
From the 3 locations we have looked a Job wise, Wellington would probably be in 3rd position behind Auckland and Tauranga though, but would depend on the job, and salary if we had a choice.
Once we had seen the emploment people we headed off for some lunch in a diner overlooking the main shopping/business street in the centre. It is the equivalent of overlooking Deansgate or Market St in Manchester. But, there were only about 5 tables used in the diner, and hardley anyone on the street, but this was lunchtime in the capital city. This sums up New Zealand, it's nice and quietand pleasant, no-where near as busy as England, anywhere !
The lunch was great, Cajun chicken on a panini with Chips, mine was plain of course, very nice indeed, and only $10, about £4.50.
We went on the famous Wellington Tram, it takes you up to the botanical gardens above the city. Great views of the harbour. And we took the obligatory picture of the tram on it's way down, every Wellington website or leaflet has one of these !
We then went for a drive through the centre, past Oriental beach, where the sand is from somewhere on the south island, past the airport and around the headland. A great drive out from the city, aorund to the Tasman sea/Pacific Ocean, and then back around to the end of the airport runway and then back into the city. About 45 mins of looking at the rough sea, and lovely seaside houses perched on the cliffside.

We called in at the Johnsonville shopping centre to see what it was like, Emma would like it, loads of clothes shops again !
We headed back to the Homestay and spent the evening with Joy and Autry talking about moving the New Zealand and lots of other things beside. They're a great couple. They will be in the UK again in the summer, but probably only in the south this year, they travelled to Scotland last year and saw a lot of the east side of the UK.
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Wellington, New Zealand

I woke up to find a text message from a Blackburn fan I work with letting me know that Newcastle had lost again, Cheers !
We left the motel about 9:30 and headed up the mountain road to the ski field as the cloud had lifted enough to make it worthwhile. The route was like going through a rain forest, but then turned into a rugged rocky landscape as we climbed. As the weather had been bad overnight, there were lots of debris on the road, rocks bigge than footballs were more common the higher we got. There were also steep drops on the side of the road, sometimes on both sides, and as the wind was blowing and we got more into the clouds we turned around and headed back down. As we did so, we noticed the petrol gage was flashing so we ended up 'free wheeling' a lot of the way to save petrol. but we made it down ok. The views from the the mountain road had been fantastic though.
Whilst in the petrol station I made a comment to the salesman about the weather being better today and he pointed out that the mountain could now be seen. And what a site it was, magnificent ! You could see it in all it's splender from the town.
We headed out of town and saw the biggest carrot you have ever seen !
As the journey was a long one to the South, we decided to go the shortest route and so missed Palmerston North and went straight through to Levin, about 3/4 of the way to Wellington. The scenery had been it's usual spectacular self, loads of mountains, gorges, passes and some plains. The journey was quite up and down at times. the traffic on our travels has been superb, not once have we been stuck behind anything, a lot of the time we have been out on our own, other cars have been stuck behind us a few times though, our car isn't too good with hills when fully loaded !!
On the way to Levin, we passed through a place called Bulls, and as at home on a Sunday, there was a car boot sale taking place on a street corner. We didn't stop off though, but shold have done really I suppose.
Levin was a fairly big town, in comparison with a lot of the others we have been through. We called in a bakery/cafe and had cheese sandwiches and chips, just for a change, not bad. We got chatting to the owner about the trip, everyone has been really friendly on the trip, everyone is interested in what you are doing, and all have been very encouraging when we say we are looking to move out here, not one person has frowned upon it. which has been really good to know. People have commented on New Zealand being a bit split between Maori's and White New Zealanders, but the Maori's we have met have been great people, just your normal blokes.
the road from Levin follows the Kapati coast south to Wellington, there were loads of signs for beaches on the road so we took a right and headed off to have a look. The beach was massive, you could see for miles, North and South. It was a bit windy, so we didn't stay for long, but long enough to dip our feet in the sea to find out it wasn't as warm as 'up North'.
We arrived in Wellington, and for a change the map took us straight to the suburb we were staying in called Johnsonville. We took a couple of wrong turns near the B&B, and completely missed the entrance the first time, but found it eventually.
It's a lovely place, a 100 yr old restored wooden cottage in some lovely gardens, on a slope (as all Wellington is) over looking the valley. Joy and Autry are a lovely couple, really chatty and very hospitable, they made us feel right at home. And again, they are very interested in what we are doing and have offered ther opinions on the places in New Zealand and Wellington in particular.
As we had been told several times on the way down here, Wellington was very windy, not too cold, but very windy, and we had some rain in the late evening aswell.
We had a drive down to Petone in the late afternoon, which is the suburb on the North side of the Wellington Harbour, at the south end of the Hutt valley, which is where the IBM building is. Once I knew where that was we headed off to have a look at Wellington City centre, as it would be quieter on a Sunday so we could get our bearings. We had a walk along the quayside and although windy, it was still warm enough for shorts and t-shirts.
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Ohakune, New Zealand

The weather cleared once we were over the mountains from Taupo, so again we had some stunning views around the area. We were now in the Tongariro National Park, next to the Ruapeho Mountain, which has New Zealands biggest Ski resort. Unfortunately low cloud covered our view of the mountain.

We made our way to the Carrot capital of New Zealand, Ohakune (Okoony). It was like an american wild west town, but ski shops everywhere. We ended up at the Ohakune Court Motel, it was just like you see in the american films, a typical 'motel', even the guy in reception looked like a hillbilly ! Claire couldn't stop laughing at the room, it was the complete opposite to the night before.
The rain came back, with really strong winds, very rough indeed. And Claire had just straightened her hair !!! We went out for tea to the Beef and Beer Pub, this was the first time since in New Zealand that we hadn't had shorts on. We had a fantastic meal, I even tried some of Claire's steak, Lovely ! We were the only ones in, so we had a good chat with the manageress and chef. She was from Wellington, but had lived in Auckland aswell, so gave us views on both places. An interesting chat. they shut the place when we left at 9:30. The town is less than half open in Summer, but packed in June, July and August for the ski season.
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