Wednesday 26 September 2007

Tattooed Up!

Two posts within a week, Jesus that's more than Van Gogh sold in a lifetime!


As promised here is a pic of our newly "engraved" tattooes, and yes before anyone asks it did hurt. Imagine someone scraping glass along your arm, not really deep but really slow and delibrate. It felt like that. Anyway, I'm not going to write anymore as I'm too busy reading the news.




Adios,

Sweet as a Nut!!

Hi All, we're now in Queenstown which is an absolute hive of activity (and YOUNG backpackers) we never realised NZ could be so busy!

We left Dunedin on Monday after a couple of uneventful days there due to really bad weather, we did manage to get to a Thai restaurant and the pub on Saturday though. We then went to Te Anau on the West Coast, it was quite a drive at almost 5 hours, probably our longest one since we arrived in NZ, but it was well worth it. The scenery on the West is stunning, massive lakes surrounded by snow capped mountains, with a bright blue sky and that lovely crisp air (that you don't really get at home!!) We stayed at Te Anau for 2 nights and yesterday we went on a tour down to Milford Sound, what a spectacular place that is. It is home of the Fiordlands, mountain after mountain and natural waterfalls cascading everywhere. The roads are really steep and wind round and round through the mountains and down to Milford Sound where we then got on the boat and sailed through the Fiords and into the Tasman Sea, we even saw a bottle nosed dolphin. It was a gloriously sunny day without a cloud in the sky, we couldn't have picked a better day. On the way to the cruise we stopped off at many view points to take in pics and short walks, it really was a good day.

While we were on the boat the Skipper gives you information on the surrounding area, wildlife and conservation that kind of thing. I commented to Matt that the guy had a really strong Northern accent, that strong in fact that I thought he was from Hull. Matt agreed. A bit later I went to the Skipper and asked him where in the UK he was from... "I'm from Hull originally" he said. Anyway after a bit of banter and reminiscing about the place he started talking about some of his family members coming out to visit at Christmas and mentioned their names, he only turns out to be the cousin of Barrreeeeeeeey Meanwell (for all you non Comet people, he works in IT in Hull) I was speechless (well almost!) It is the furthest I have ever been from home in my life and I meet somebody from my home town. Amazing. If you checked the odds I've probably as much chance of winning the lottery! Anyway we had our pic took for Bawwweeeeey, so here ya go Baz, me and your cousin Darren "at sea" :-)

On the tour we also spotted a guy with a really big hooter, so we have taken a picture of him too, we know it's rude, but hey we're Britz on Tour!!!

Today I made enquiries about a Skydive, I'm still toying with the idea, although the chances are that I wont do one. Matt is really not into Skydives/planes so I'm not really getting the vibe and enthusiasm to do it, not that I should let that stop me, maybe I'm just looking for an easy cop out??

We have just over 2 weeks left in NZ before we head off for some beach in Fiji (bliss) we will continue to head North, taking in Lake Wanaka and then up to Abel Tasman and Nelson. We are doing plenty of walking and hope to get some mountain biking done in Lake Wanaka, the only problem we have is that the weather is so unpredictable and we have certainly had our fair share of rain since we arrived in the South. We will then cross back to the North and work our way back up to Auckland via the West Coast(ish) When we get to Auckland we are planning on meeting up with Steens sister Kirsten who is also in NZ at the moment, it's going to be the night before we fly too, maybe a night out with a beer drinking Dane is not such a good idea before a flight ;-)

We have booked our camper for Oz, we have come right down in size as we have both agreed that driving a small porta kabin type vehicle around Oz is not going to be the most economical and environmentally friendly way of travel! That said we have got a 3 man (or 1 man, 1 woman and a child) size camper. The one we have at the moment is quite ostentatious by camper van standards and is a bit big and square. You could quite easily swing a cat in it if you were that way inclined, luckily for NZ cats we're not.

So today we are going to be wild and wacky.. were off for a tattoo!!! I can hear the GASPS from our folks, but hey, you know what kids are like when they're away from home!! Don't worry were not going for one of the BIG Maouri style tatts that the All Blacks adorn themselves with, were going to have little butterflies... I'm joking, you'll have to watch this space, pics will follow.

For anybody that is interested there are pics of Millford Sound on Flickr and also the guy with the big hooter.

Saturday 22 September 2007

Part of fish with friend at last...(7)

Well it has been about 3 years since I last blogged, and Michelle has written 10, so I thought I'd better write one or change the name of this blog to Michelle 2007. So we're in the South Island of New Zealand in a place called Dunedin (which is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh). There is a big Scottish contingent here, not sure why exactly, and it is one of the most historical places in the whole of New Zealand. It think it is also the most Southerly point either of us has been to in the World. There are Victorian buildings here that were actually built in Victorian times, rather than replicas. I know they are still only 100 years old but that is ancient in NZ as most things are (and look) like they were built in the 1970's. I suppose it's only fair though as this is a very young country compared to most in Europe and it really is obvious to us Brits. Still Dunedin seems like a nice place so far, and we're haven't even made it in to the main town square (or Octagon apparently) yet having just stopped off for a Thai lunch and now wandering into an Internet cafe!

So as to the strange title of this post; obviously being away for 10 months we are finding ourselves with a lot of free time on our hands. Now we are managing to fill this with tours, eating, sleeping, walking, sand boarding, ferry crossings, amongst other things, but now that we have a camper van (with electricity in most places!) we probably spend more time chilling out there. It is easier and nicer to spend time in our own space as it was in South America as most places we were in was hostels that we didn't really fancy spending time lounging around in. So we are spending a lot more time chilling out, drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee and yes... wait for it... reading "womens" magazines. I may as well come clean and admit that I am enjoying them as much as Michelle as I haven't got an excuse really. We've got a TV in our van too which means I could watch TV instead of reading magazines but I don't.

I am now "up-to-speed" with all the celebs affairs (news affairs not adulterous affairs although to be fair most of their news affairs do involve someone elses husband or wife or both!!); Nicole Richie's eating disorders, yes she has got all of them I think, Brangelina's adoptions, they seem to be averaging one Cambodian a week at the moment. By the way Brangelina is the correct way of saying Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie apparently and anyone who doesn't use this is so last season. Following the same nomenclature Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are called TomKat for short and David and Victoria (Beckham obviously) are called David and Skinny Bitch. Anyway where was I; yes also appearing in every single one of these mags, is Jennifer Aniston, Hugh Grant, Britney Spears (showing some shaven part of her anatomy), numerous black rappers, Pink, Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton, Keira Knightley and a host of other screwed up people! p.s. I don't think Hugh Grant is screwed up by the way, although saying that he did have an incident with a black prostitute a few years back. What also makes me laugh is the fact that one week you'll be reading about some celeb couple getting hitched, e.g. Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson, and the following week you'll be reading about them splitting up (and one of them trying to commit suicide and failing - sorry that bit has only happened once, and I actually quite like Owen Wilson, the Wedding Crashers is a good film.)

But, I hasten to add, in my defence, the reason we buy/borrow these magazines is not for the news (if you can call it news, I've not seen one article on the deforestation problems in Bangladesh) BUT for the puzzles. Yes, each one of these mags has umpteen puzzles in them ranging from Sudokus, crosswords, word searches, gridwords (whatever they are) and cryptic crosswords. Our favourite at the moment is the cryptic crosswords. Now, I've never been any good at these really. I know my Mum and Dad do the Daily Mail one and Michelle's Dad (Geoff) does the Telegraph one on Sundays. To be honest he completes it in the same day which I find quite a feat when you read the clues. Even when he explains the answers and how to get there I still don't follow more than half of them! And Deyesy and Roly attempt the Sun Cryptic crossword at lunchtimes in the Fox but really it was Bryan who used to finish them (sorry for any non-Comet people reading this you won't know who any of these people are or indeed what the Fox is.) Luckily the "women's" mags cryptic crosswords are relatively easy but it is still quite taxing and at least it's giving our brain a good workout and we're not turning into retards!

So as you've probably guessed by now the title of this blog is in fact a cryptic crossword clue , the number after it is the number of letters in the answer (derrrr!). My challenge to you is to email me the answer (I won't write my email here otherwise I'll end up getting even more adverts for Viagra than I currently get!) and the first correct answer will receive errrr.... nothing, but I'll give them a special mention in my next blog (probably in February next year judging by previous posts). Also please don't post the answer as a comment otherwise you'll spoil the fun for everyone else!

Well, that's all from me, I'm off to check my Facebook, shares, bank account, weather, news!

Adios,

Wednesday 19 September 2007

The South Island - Untouched

Were now in the South Island, after taking the ferry across The Cook Straits on Monday morning from Wellington to Picton.

Wellington is a funny little place, to say it is The Capital City of New Zealand it is another very quiet City. We went in on Saturday on the bus, it took about 30 minutes and was a great drive along the harbour with the Sky Line (such as it is) in the distance. We expected it to be quite busy with it being Saturday but when we started wandering round it became apparent that Wellington was less busier than Auckland, which is really weird. If you go into London on any day of the week there is such a buzz, with lots of hustle and bustle. There is no barging around with people bumping into you, it's just all really civilised and laid back. It takes some getting used to!!

We're still using the Lonely Planet as our guide, so on their recommendation we headed down to Courtenay Place which is where "it's all at" in Wellington. There are lots of English style pubs and Asian restaurants, cinemas, shops etc. We were ambling along when we saw a sign outside an Indian which read "All you can eat buffet $10 each". Matt was in through the door and onto his first plate before I had even finished reading the advert! It was a bargain, especially when you're on a (kind of) budget and trying to watch what you spend. We bounced out of there about 90 minutes later, not caring if we never ate Indian food again :-)

The South Island is like being in another country compared to the North. On Monday we drove to Kaikoura from the ferry in Picton, and then yesterday we left Kaikoura and are now in Christchurch. In the time that we have been on the road we cant have passed more than 50 cars maximum. There are practically no houses, only farms, and we have passed field after field full of Sheep! It is certainly safe to say that since being in the South we have encountered more sheep than people. There are millions of them, all with little lambs too frolicking in the fields. I said to Matt yesterday it's not a bad life being an animal, all you have to do is eat, drink and sleep all day, and the only thing that is expected of you is to gain weight. What could be better, my three favourite things and no weight worries. Bliss!!!

In Kaikoura we went on a whale watching tour off the East Coast, it is a place that is visited for this particular reason. It was an amazing tour and we actually managed to see 3 sperm whales, it was fascinating. The only thing neither of us enjoyed was the boat ride. We had to go out 13 miles to see the Whales and the sea was reportedly quite choppy that day. What an understatement, on the way there we were almost lifted out of our seats as we bounced off the waves, then once we spotted the whales and had to hover around the boat was just bouncing about all over the place, so much so that Matt lost his Breakfast to the Pacific Ocean!!

It is normally expected to see one maybe 2 whales maximum, so for us to see three, we were very lucky. They are spotted by the water that they spray out, they then just float (even at that size and weight) on the surface, after about 5-10 minutes of this, they slightly raise themselves out of the water and flip their tail up in the air before going deep down into The Ocean for a monster feed. They eat the equivalent of 5.5 human beings a day!!! On the boat trip we watched a DVD and were given a talk about whales and their existence, they are truly amazing creatures and it was money well spent.

On the trip we got chatting to an English couple (Mike and Katie) who we had seen a few times on the North Island, and again on the ferry crossing, they asked us if we fancied going to the local pub quiz that night as they were sick of going to bed at 9pm (it's a common theme with campervanners) So that night we headed into "town" to the local, the streets were deserted apart from a few tumble weeds. The inside of the pub didn't appear to be much busier either, although it did soon liven up (by NZ standards) We named our team "The Britz on Tour" and the quiz began. Well I'm not the best at quizzes to be honest and our new found quiz enthusiasts were about the same, we came out of the 1st round with a mere 2 points! But what you have to understand is that we had 2 points more than anybody else!!! Oh yes, if we were bad the other teams were appalling ;o) The quiz went on for about 10 rounds, and every 2 rounds or so (we lost count) we were given a free Aftershock. We were in quite a sorry (and loud) state by the time the quiz ended. But, after much banter with the Kiwi Quiz master and his accomplice it turned out that we won the quiz quite convincingly and were rewarded with $50NZ to spend behind the bar. Result! NZ did beat England at cricket though while we were in the throes of quizzing, at least all was not lost ;-)

We are heading further South tomorrow for Dunedin, then we will probably start heading across country to Milford Sound, and then to the Adventure Capital of NZ, Queenstown. We have been a bit boring in NZ so far in that we haven't undertaken any extreme activities, yet!! I was a bit put off after my 1st attempt at Sand boarding, I did take a really bad tumble and was in pain for days as a result. So watch this space and see if one of us will attempt a tandem sky dive or a bungee!!

Friday 14 September 2007

Life Is Sweet

Hi all. We are now in a place called Lower Hutt which is about 20k outside of Wellington, the Capital City. We have worked our way down through Rotorua, Taupo Lake, Napier, Upper Hutt. The drives have been spectacular with some stunning scenery. The weather has also been quite kind, although it did pi$$ down all day yesterday. We get the ferry to the South Island on Monday morning at 8.30.

On Thursday while you were all sleeping we took a wine tour in the Hawkes Bay region, which is famous for all it's wineries. We were picked up by a Kiwi called Vince (aka Vunce!) who was a bit of a character, he then taxied us to 5 different wineries while we got pleasantly intoxicated. Not bad for an afternoons work. The tour was really interesting, especially if you like fine wines. They explain the different varieties of grape, the growing conditions that are required, and what wines are suited to particular dishes. I say the tour was interesting, it was until the 3rd winery, at which point I was so drunk I couldn't take in half of what they were telling us. It was a really fun day though and we came back with 4 cracking bottles to enjoy on our travels!!

We are just about to head off into Wellington, it is only a small place for a Capital City, and Auckland is reported to be a much bigger place.

New Zealand is so laid back and sparsely populated it is difficult to get stressed about anything. There is no rush hour traffic to speak of, and the towns and cities are deserted in comparison to back home (and Sth America) Every day is like a Sunday. There appear to be far too many shops and restaurants for the amount of people that live here. The South Island is even more sparsely populated, with about a million of the whole 4 million NZ population living there.

We have just booked our Camper for Oz, we have had to downsize from the luxury we are enjoying at the moment, for two reasons really. One is that it is high season when we get there in Oct (26th) whereas here in NZ at the moment it is low season so we got more for our money, and also due to the amount of mileage we will be covering in Oz, we needed something smaller and more economical on the roads. We have got a 3 berth Backpacker Camper, with it's own kitchen and microwave etc, only thing were missing is a toilet and lots of space. The beauty of being in Oz though is that the weather will be hot most of the time. It will be easier for Matt too as the camper we have at the moment is like driving a small house. To be honest I bet there are some City dwellers in London that don't have as much room as we have in this camper!! I'm going to arrange to have my drivers licence posted out too so that I will be able to share some of the driving, I can't imagine that being much fun though as Matt doesn't make a very good passenger!

Every time we hit the road, we have to go through a check off list before we set off. It's called Cabin Crew prepare for take off!! We have to check all the overhead lockers are closed and that all bags are firmly positioned under your seats and that were all wearing seat belts!! Good thing is though unlike flying we don't get any turbulence ;-)

Have a nice weekend all!

Saturday 8 September 2007

Kiwi Fruit's

No I'm not referring to the New Zealand Gay scene, I'm talking about the little brown fury on the outside and lovely and juicy green on the inside fruits. As you no doubt know this is where Kiwis come from, although they did apparently originate in China (Chinese Gooseberry) They are BIG business over here and it is a billion dollar industry for NZ. We have just driven through a place called Te Puke, which is the Kiwi (fruit) capital of NZ, there are literally acres of fields growing them. A lot of Backpackers work for the farmers picking them allegedly. Me and Matt would love to help out but I'm afraid working is not on our list of things do to ;-)

Yesterday we went to visit Mount Maunganui, in the Bay of Plenty. We weren't expecting anything other than quite a large mountain and a bit of beach, so it was just going to be a bit of a stop off en route to Rotrura, but when we got there the sun was shining and the beach was stunning with a campsite right beside it, so we decided to park up and stay the night. That really is the beauty of having your own accommodation in the back, if you like somewhere that much then you can just decide to stay. We then climbed up the mountain (see pics) which was an absolute killer, just a constant climb for about 40 minutes, we were gasping when we reached the top. It was worth the pain though as the views across the Pacific were stunning, and the coastline you could see for miles.

We have being having some top notch gourmet camper van grub since we've been on the road, I cooked a cracking vegi Chili the other night, we've also had a vindaloo and rice(!) and some great pasta dishes, it's surprising what you can muster up with limited resource, although a 3 ring gas stove with grill and a microwave oven is hardly call for improvising is it??

The camp sites are really well equipped in NZ, they have great showers with 24 hour hot water (unlike Sth America where your lucky to get 2 hours of hot water!) the kitchens are fully equipped with hobs, ovens, microwaves, fridge freezers and toasters and are really clean. There are on site laundry rooms with iron and board (again though I didn't come away to iron!!) The point I'm trying to make (to all you non campers) is camping is not about "roughing it" like it was years ago. There is so much hi tech camping equipment you can buy now and so many on site facilities that it really is like home from home, but with the bonus of being in the great outdoors and in touch with nature ;-)

There seems to be an unwritten rule of the road here in NZ for camper drivers, in that they all give each other that knowing nod as they pass on the road, as if we all have some great secret that only caravaners know about!! he he.

Geeks ;o)

Wednesday 5 September 2007

Heading 'Sarf

We are now South of Auckland and on the East coast in a place called The Bay of Plenty. We are camped up in a place called Tauranga, which is quite a busy little place (by NZ standards) There are lots of English style pubs, lots of Asian and Indian restaurants etc. The only downside is that its persisting down, it has been raining for almost 24 hours non-stop!

We arrived yesterday after leaving a place called Dargaville, it should be re-named Darkerville, it was a bit of a sleepy hollow and me and Matt stood out like sore thumbs. We would have just driven straight through it but we had been driving quite a bit that day and it was about to get dark. For anybody that knows Hull it was like camping on St Andrews Quay?!

We are here for another night before heading further South to a place called Rotorua, Matt has visited this place before so we know what to expect, it also has some thermal springs where we hope to bathe our trotters, in temperatures much higher than Bolivia!

NZ really is a beautiful country and totally different to what I was expecting, it is really hilly, there are hardly any cars on the roads at all and they have some stunning beaches that would easily compare to Thailand, unfortunately it's not that hot though!
NZ has a population of just over 4 million people and the whole country is apparently the equivalent size of England, Scotland and Wales. When you think in the UK there are approximately 6 million people living in London alone (I don't mean living alone) so it gives you an idea of how sparsely populated the place is?

We have been taking in lots of sights and beaches on our drive round and its great not to have to rely on public transport and tour companies to get us anywhere (exc our trip up the Cape) It is still very early in the season for campers in general so we can pick and choose where we stay and where we pitch (which makes me wonder how we ended up in Dargerville!!)

Nobody here understands a word I say, it was easier for me to converse with South Americans than it is with Kiwi's, it's obviously my Northern accent. We have met quite a few Northerners while we've been here, some from Nottingham, Oldham, and a guy who had actually emigrated here 30 years ago from Middlesborough, the woman who owned one of the campsites we stayed on was from Darlington, and the place were at now, the family travelled round the UK, down the East Coast through York and down into Bath.

Oooooh it's a small world!!

Sunday 2 September 2007

Nuts in May

We are now living a life of luxury in our Camper Van and loving it. NZ is a beautiful country (so far) really green and some fantastic beaches, all deserted and really clean. The weather has been good so far and hasn't actually rained since we left Auckland on Wednesday. It is also the 2nd day of the NZ spring today so thing's are only going to get better!!

We have just been on a tour up to Cape Reigna, which is the furthest point of NZ (our John O'Groats equivalent!) it was really windy and overcast though but still enjoyable, we then headed down the 90 mile beach as the tide was out (obviously) it was pretty spectacular racing along the beach for about 70km. The driver was quite a comedian too singing and cracking jokes the whole time. We actually had a go at sand tobogganing too, needless to say I fell off and nearly broke my neck, I was doing so well until I tried to steer it to the right a bit, at which point I flew up into the air and then crashed flat onto my stomach, I was totally winded. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I did neither. I was more worried when I realised my Oakleys were in 3 pieces!! Luckily Matt found the arms and they clipped back into place!

We have being driving up the East coast so far and are now heading back down via the West, we will probably spend another 10 days or so in the North Island before getting on the ferry down to the South Island where all the mountains and glaciers are, as the North is predominantly beach.

We are loving the Camping lifestyle, as some of you will know I spent 5-6 months in France/Italy working for Eurocamp with Stew in 2002, so I'm an experienced camper, although not used to such luxury (own shower, toilet etc) The camp sites are particularly busy with other campers and we look the business when we turn up in our Rolls Royce of Campers, it's a bit of a curtain twitcher compared to some of the smaller budget options. We have started offering tours around it for $10, we also sell tea and coffee and light refreshments out the back window when we pull up in laybys.

NZ is a lovely place so far, and we are experiencing a totally different style of travelling to that of South America. We will post some pics up when we get to a city.

For anybody who is into a bit of camping check out the Mike Leigh drama, Nuts in May with Alison Steadman, it's about a square couple who go camping, it's hilarious!! If you watch it, think of Matt as Keith and me as Candice Marie. Enough said ;-)