My Trip To Australia, New Zealand and Asia

Glaciers, Axes, Wanaka and White Water Rafting

Location: Frans Josef tourist place
Weather: Very cold in an alpine way at night

Had an enjoyable 9 hour bus journey from Nelson to Frans Josef village, the driver was entertaining and the air conditioning actually worked. Checked into the Glowworm Cottages hostel. Went on a Glacier tour over the Frans Josef Glacier. I was in the pioneering group and our guide had to cut through the ice, sometimes getting lost and having to back track. It got very cold (even for me) after about half-way, but the blue ice, crevasses and fun you can have with an ice-axe, plus the fact you're kitted-out like you're climbing Everest, made the whole thing most excellent.

I got a lift down the road to Fox Glacier and took a bike ride to Lake Matheson where I could just see the snow covered top of Mount Cook (NZ's highest mountain) through the clouds for all of about 2 minutes. I stayed the night at the very good Ivory Towers hostel and then caught a bus down to Wanaka, where I had to kip at the ropey but laid back Bullock Creek Backpackers. I suppose it was worth going for the most amusing Puzzling World and to get lost in their giant maze. They had an illusion room where a load of 3D faces follow you, that was well quality.

Then yet another bus to adrenaline city - Queenstown - there's more activities to do in this place than anywhere on the planet I reckon. Today I went on a white water rafting trip down the Kawarau river. It wasn't a bad trip and quite good fun, but the river was low and very tame. You could even float down a couple of the rapids in your life-jacket after jumping off the raft!

By JamesReed on 26.04.04 @ 07:19 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Nelson, not the Admiral

Location: Franz Josef Glacier tourist info place
Weather: Dark

Took the ferry trip across the Cook Straight to the South Island. Apparently the Cook Straight can get very choppy at times until you get to the Marlborough Sounds (on the south island). But it was a fairly calm crossing, I didn't even chuck up, except the time when I went to look at the back of the ship and noticed a most harrowing stench in the air - I looked down to the lower deck and saw there were 3 lorry loads of smelly sheep on board! I took the slow 3 hour ferry - Aratere - you can do the crossing in 2.30hours on 'The Lynx' but I did not trust this boat and I'm glad I didn't because I've subsequently been told if the weather is even mildy bad then you aren't allowed outside and that unless you are Captain Nemo himself you are liable to be seasick.

Anyways after my exciting voyage (I must confess I passed out due to tiredness on the nice seats inside for about an hour of it) I got the bus to Nelson. Nelson is the 2nd biggest town in the South Island. A whole 82,000 people live there! WOW! yeah considering only 4 million people live in NZ and only 1 million live in the New Zealand that's a big city! Checked into The Palace Backpackers (that is a trade-descriptions name breach if ever there was one).

Down the road from Nelson is the Abel Tasman National park. I hiked 20km into the park with a days worth of food and my trusty backpack, starting at Marahau and following the coastal track to Bark Bay, stayed the night at a hut (where you sleep in the most worryingly close sleeping quarters imaginable) and then sea kayaked with a tour group back to Marahau. It's amazing how many km's you can cover in a 2 man kayak in a day. Originally I had wanted to start at the northern end of the park, hike to Bark Bay, then kayak down to Marahau (the southern end), but the the path is tidal and the rangers told me I wouldn't be able to cross it, however, I reckon that's coblers as I had to take off my shoes + socks to cross another tidal fjord type bit anyway! It was all pretty cool anyway as I got to see seals in the wild and stuff and the hike was a lot like the Overland but steeper.


By JamesReed on 25.04.04 @ 07:55 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Wellington, not the boots

Location: Franz Josef tourist info
Weather: Sunny and Alpine

After returning the car to Taupo I took a fantastic 6 hour journey on a very hot day in a bus thats air conditioning had broken and so I probably lost about 5 stone in sweat before getting to Wellington. Checked into the zebra-striped Wildlife House hostel. Good place, considering it was dead, I had my own room. Despite being in a daze I went out on the town with some people I met as it was a Saturday night and I had been told Wellington was a hip n'happening place to be at the weekend and it wasn't bad. I stayed out until early morning, walking home it occurred to me the reason I was so 'out of it' was that I had stayed up for almost 24 hours on 4 hours of sleep, hoorah! Next day I had a long sleep.
Well what can I say about Wellington, it's the capital of Kiwiland and has quite a few good shops that actually open after 5pm The museums (Te Papa and the City & Sea one) are very good and the parliament looks like a beehive. The harbour and bay view that you get when you ride the cable car up the hill is also most excellent.

By JamesReed on 23.04.04 @ 07:22 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Visited Taumatawhaka...

Location: Wildlife House Backpackers
Weather: Mild

Hired a car for the day and drove to Rotorua via Wai-O-Tapu - thermal wonderland. Saw true bubbling mud like everybody's seen on TV. Then spent 1 hour driving back to Taupo, another 1.5hours on winding roads to the art deco city of Napier. Then another hour or so to Waipukurau via Hastings. It was pitch dark by the time I got here, but I decided to keep going another 40km on the road to Porangahau. I now saw the sign to where I wanted to go - another 8km's further and I would be there.
After thinking I had run over an hedgehog (really turned out to be a fircone) I came across the famous sign and lit it up with my headlights "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu" (85 letters) - the longest place name in the world!! I've wanted to see it since I was a kid and had a Record Breakers tape with a song about it, I can even remember how to say it - apparently I'm the only 'Pom' who can actually say it! After driving back looking for a place to kip in the car I decided to follow the road and ended up in the village of Porangahau. There was one hotel/pub open so I went in and had fish n'chips for dinner. I was about to leave, when the friendly locals started talking to me and even bought me beers and stuff! They said I must stay for the sunrise, so I stayed the night, got up at 5:45am and went to Pongarheu beach. I had to wait until around 6:45am for the sun to appear, but it was well worth it. I then drove back to the sign to see what the Tamatea hill was like in the day, the whole place was very spooky, the hills were half-covered in mist and I can see what the Maori's call NZ - Aotearoa - "land of the long white cloud". I then drove back the 4 hours to Taupo, I was 2 hours late returning the car, but so what.



By JamesReed on 17.04.04 @ 05:02 PM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Went to Dam

Location: Taupo
Weather: Sunnyish

Went to the Aratiatia Dam with Simon and Kate. Apparently the dam, once used for a power station, is now merely a tourist attraction with no actual purpose. It holds back the Waikato river and before 2pm the river after the dam is a stream, but at 2pm the floodgates open and the river turns into a huge raging and dangerous torrent. I'm talking the water level raising over 2m's in about 5minutes!

By JamesReed on 16.04.04 @ 05:00 PM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Wooooooooo!

Location: Taupo Cybercafe
Weather: Cloudy and not that warm

OK, yesterday(Wednesday), I did a very clever thing. Despite not feeling 100% - still tired from the Tongariro Crossing and the odd beer I had after that, around 5.30pm I decided to get in an aeroplane, fly over Lake Taupo, get to 12000ft and then jump out, free fall for 7000ft (that took all of 45 seconds) and then parachute the rest of the way down!!! Yes, I SKY-DIVED!!!!! it was a tandem and some bloke called Elad was strapped to my back and he opened the parachute and it really was MENTAL! the view for the last 40 seconds of the freefall was like a satellite photo and went so fast it was unreal! the first 5 seconds is a total blank as you wonder what on earth you are doing. When the parachute kicks in, you drop somewhat in the harness and it feels like you're going to fall out! but you slowly drift down to the ground and more and more things come into focus and it's pretty much indescribable.
The only part I wasn't too keen on was when Elad steered or rather spun the parachute to our landing spot, that made me quite dizzy!
But again I was very lucky with the day I chose to do this and the time I went, it was staggeringly clear and the sun was just going down - you could see for miles over and around lake Taupo - it was exactly like when Keanu Reeves jumps in that fantastic movie Point Break! AWESOME!

http://www.skydive.net.nz/

By JamesReed on 15.04.04 @ 07:41 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

The Tongariro Crossing

Location: Taupo Cybercafe
Weather: Cloudy and not that warm

Tuesday - Got up at 5:15am and caught the bus to Mangetepopo hut in Tongariro National Park, to do the famous Tongariro Crossing. I went with my friend Anke, her friend Kate(from Germany) and met an English dude called Simon on the way.
Legend has it that the Tongariro Crossing is the best 1 day walk you can do in New Zealand...and...I have to admit this is probably true!! You walk past lava flows, volcanic craters, hot springs and forest.
We were very lucky, as it was truly an incredible day, it had snowed the night before, but the sky was quite clear and it was almost windless(very rare apparently). The scenary along the way, mainly the 3 volcanoes - Mt Ruapehu (last erupted 1996), Mt Tongariro,Mt Ngauruhoe - is probably the best I have ever seen anywhere including the Grand Canyon, Blue Mountains and Overland Trek. It is no wonder they filmed Lord of the Rings around there. I especially found the ice/snow covered Mt Ngauruhoe quite amazing (you can climb it, but it would have been suicidal on the day I was there, as it was ice covered, it's a sheer cone and there is no marked track).

The morning sun had melted the lower regions but the upper parts of the mountains were snow-covered (the first snow I've seen since Jan 2003) and verticle AND horizontal icicles were hanging from some rocks! Strangely, at the top of the Red Crater, which you get to by walking over another crater, is a thermal area. Steam rises from it and the ground is warm to touch!
Over this you slide or surf down volcanic gravel to find 3 emerald green lakes and a big blue lake as well (yes, the water is green and blue). Some of which reflect the moutains behind, simply stunning.

Most people say the worst part is the Devil's Staircase up the South Crater at the start of the walk, but I found it to be the million odd stairs down the North Crater and through the forest to finally get to Ketatahi Hut and the bus back to Taupo.

For anybody interested, the walk was 17km long, took over 8 hours to complete and I had to wait 2 days to be able to do it (they close the path if the weather is bad and I've met some people who waited 5 days and missed out), but I thoroughly recommend it if you get the chance!

By JamesReed on 14.04.04 @ 07:21 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Got to Taupo and Climbed A Wall

Location: Taupo Cybercafe
Weather: Cloudy

Got a lift from Gerry's daughter and son-in-law to Taupo. This is the center of NZ, famous for having the biggest lake in the country, funnily enough it has the highly original name of Lake Taupo.
Stopped at the gushing turquoise rapids of Huka Falls on the way. Checked into the Rainbow Lodge Hostel - apparently the best in town and probably the best staff I've ever met.
The next day I decided to be very adventurous and go on a 1.5hour Horse trek through the woods. This was most enjoyable as I have never ridden a horse before. My horse was a browny grey filly called JayDee. On the way back the guide even let us trot most of the time(that means the horse ran a bit quicker) and even canter a few times!
After that I walked to the Craters of the Moon park which is basically another weird thermal area which smells a bit of sulphur and has steam rising everywhere and hissing bubbling sounds coming out of the ground or out of craters from the ground. I almost managed to con somebody into giving me a lift back to town, but gave up in the end and had to walk 5km back in the dark.


Next day (Monday) the Tongariro Crossing was closed (the same as Sunday) and so I decided to hang out with my friends Anke from Holland and Simon from Bristol. We went Rock-climbing on a climbing wall. This was a lot more strenuous and adrenaline pumping than expected, some of the ledges were impossible to scale or very difficult and you need to be very strong to do this. Also you are tethered to a rope controlled by somebody else so if you fall off, sometimes about 20ft up, you put your life in their hands.

Following this, the 3 of us went to the Hot Stream, literally a natural hot stream that runs into the ice-cold river that becomes the Huka Falls. You just go down and sit in the stream and relax.

By JamesReed on 12.04.04 @ 06:56 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Tauranga and Mt Maunganui

Location: Cybercafe in Taupo
Weather: Windy

Got the bus north from Rotorua to Tauranga and was met by my dad's cousin Gerry, he lives in Papamoa. which is just down the road. Climbed the 262m tall Mt Maunganui for yet another spectacular view - this time of Tauranga town. Also went for a scenic walk along the estuary. Met several other of my relatives as well, it seems I have quite a lot of relations here in Kiwiland!

By JamesReed on 11.04.04 @ 11:00 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Visited Rotorua and Waitamo Caves

Location: Rotorua Central Backpackers
Weather: Warm but cold at night

From Paihia I went back to Auckland for a few days. This time I went to Ranitoto volcanic island and walked to the top, passing all the lava caves, scoria and other rocks on the way, cos I went there late in the afternoon, some Aussies . I also went to Devonport and Waiheke island.

Then got a lift from my 2nd cousin Matt down to Rotorua. Checked into the nice and convenient Rotorua Central Backpackers. Then noticed the classic thing about Rotorua - IT STINKS! the whole place is very volcanic and there is a lot of thermal activity, causing the air to reek of sulphur...but you get used to it. I went for a walk around the lake and saw the steaming water and hot bubbling mud pools, then had a relaxing 2hour mineral bath in the Polynesian Spa place.

Next day went on a tour to Waitamo Caves. I have wanted to see this place since I played New Zealand Story on the Amiga back in the 80's! I did not know until recently but the reason the cave is famous is because as well as the usual stallagmites and stallagtites, tons of glowworms live there. A river runs through the base of the cave, which you sail down in total silence and darkness. It really is a glowworm galaxy down there, millions of dots of green light, lighting up the cave ceiling.

I also visited Otorohanga Kiwi house and saw 2 live kiwis! they are most amusing looking birds and much bigger and totally different than how I had imagined them.

The night before leaving Rotorua I went to the Tamaki Maori Hangi - a Maori concert, feast(had some very good food) and show at a Maori village, they even did their own Haka and the All Blacks Haka that they do at the rugby, which ruled!

By JamesReed on 08.04.04 @ 12:33 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Went to Paihia and Cape Reigna

Location: Rotorua Central Backpackers
Weather: Warmish but cold at night

Went to the Bay of Islands on the InterCity bus. Checked into the Peppertree Hostel in Paihia. Whilst up there did a cruise and saw some dolphins very close up plus the famous hole-in-the-rock and a few other islands. Following this I disembarked the boat at Russell island(across from Paihia and the once capital of NZ) and walked to the top of the Flagstaff Hill, where the Maori chief Hone Heke cut down the British flagpole 4 times! on the way there was a wildeness 'Kiwi' area and so I waited until night and went back to do some Kiwi hunting. Unfortunately I was darker than I had bargined for and I got totally lost in the forest around the hill and ended up having to knock on somebody's door for directions.

The next day I did a tour to Cape Reinga (just about the furthest north you can go) in a big 4x4 bus. We drove down 90 Mile beach and near the end we had to rescue a people carrier containing about 10 Japanese people who had got stuck in the sand and were being washed down river! our driver charged them $50 for this, which was very funny! Beyond the beach is an almost desert area, where we went Dune Surfing on boogie boards down the giant sand-dunes! this was most excellent.

In Paihia and on the tours I also went swimming and did a bit of kayaking, the water was absolutely freezing! At the hostel you could hire bikes so I went to see Waitangi (where the Anglo-Maori treaty was signed and where NZ was first settled) and walked to Haruru Falls (yet another waterfall!).




By JamesReed on 08.04.04 @ 12:28 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Made It To New Zealand and Jumped Off The Skytower

Location: Cybercafe in Queen St, Auckland
Weather: Warmish, but getting colder

Flew from Brisbane to Auckland, got there just as it was getting dark. Next day, toured Auckland centre and bungee jumped off the Skytower, the tallest tower in the Southern hemisphere! 192m's down, MOST EXCLLENT! So good, I did it twice, the 2nd time backwards!! it's not a true bungee though as you are cabled in. Also climbed to the very top of the tower(well except for the top aerial bit) in what is called the Vertigo Climb. The view from the top is extremely spectacular and I went to the Skytower viewing platform at night, which was another amazing view.

By JamesReed on 04.04.04 @ 06:51 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]

Went to Brisbane

Location: Auckland, NZ
Weather: Windy, warmish, but getting colder

Well what can I say? I took a Macafferty's bus from Surfers to Brisbane! the seats on the bus weren't that great, I'm just glad I bought a rail pass instead of a coach one! I spent 1 whole night in Brisbane and went for a walk around the place. It seemed an OK city, smaller than Melbourne of Sydney and a bit hilly for my liking, although I did see a possum near the park.

By JamesReed on 04.04.04 @ 06:40 AM GMT [As Web Page] [Archives]