Jun 2008

Hey all,

Having successfully made it to Napier by the skin of our teeth, our next stop was the capital - Wellington. We had a couple of days to have a good nose around before our ferry crossing so we got to get a good feel for the place. Our campsite was a little way out of town but the bus links were good so no complaints there It was also bizarrely full of ducks. We made the mistake when we first got there of throwing a bit of bread to the two ducks by our van. Within a matter of seconds the two turned into about 15, with ducks materialising out of nowhere and quacking a lot....this was the sound that was to wake us up on all of our mornings there

Our first night in town was spent camped in a pub watching the first test against the All Blacks...I don't think I need to say too much about that now do I! Other activities to note were the tour we did around parliament...really good guided tour and their house is almost identical to our house of commons, except they seem to have comfy arm chair type seats rather than benches...evolution in action right there

We had bright blue skies and beautiful still weather....until the day of our ferry crossing. At this point we woke up to something resembling what I imagine the weather during the apocolypse might look like - howling winds up to 100km/h, driving rain, and all of a sudden the bright blue mill pond we watched the ferry sailing majestically across the previous day was a grey, angry looking cauldron with 4 metre swells. This is the first time I have ever been nervous on a ferry - we started the journey sitting at the front and there were massive waves crashing across the windows and lots of people gasping....this front area emptied out pretty quickly as the captain announced that people with sea sickness would feel less ill towards the back of the boat We made it in one piece thankfully, but the storm continued to rage in Picton - at one point I was walking around the campsite and was hit with a blast of wind so strong it stopped me in my tracks! It also managed to dislodge a solar panel from a roof which shattered about 5 metres away from me....such drama!

The next day, the weather was back to being perfectly calm and the mill pond sea returned. Hmm!

We had a quick look around Picton which is a lovely little place - we even visited the Edwin Fox - the worlds 9th oldest wooden ship (who counts these things?!) and a place called Seahorse World (somewhat of an exaggeration, as it turned out, we saw one...) before heading off to Blenheim. Here we did a rather pleasant spot of wine tasting and met Tomi the grape eating dog who is something of a celeb in the Marlborough region - apparently she can sniff out the difference between a ripe and unripe chardonnay grape...how useful

Next stop was Christchurch for the rugby. Even though the result was rubbish we had a great time, and the English kid holding the "At least we can beat France in a World Cup" sign was something of a hero amongst the travelling supporters

From Christchurch we proved how small the country is by driving from one coast to the other in a matter of a couple of hours We stopped off in a place called Franz Joseph that exists purely because of the rather large glacier on it's doorstep. But I'll tell you all about that one next time - you can see piccies of it on Sharm's Facebook til then!

Love to all, we'll be back soon!

Sue xx

Well hello there everyone

So if I pick up where Ms Magoo left off we were in Paihia in our little campervan called Rabbit. Turns out that although Sue and I are not to shabby with our camping our van was a little more ancient then we first thought. The first couple of night were spent without electricity, a serious lack of running water, and only a small duvet to cover us from the cold!

However we survived and made our way up to Cape Reinga which is the most northern part of New Zealand. You get to drive along 90 mile beach (which is where New Zealand's Maori name of 'Aotearoa' (The Land of the Long White Cloud) comes from as it is the first part of the land that they saw when they migrated across...fact!) and visit the lighthouse on the very tip for some spectatular views! Back in Paihia we took a boat ride out into the Bay of Islands which again are amazing. Even better was on this trip the organisers managed to find a pod of Dolphins and we got the boat right up close to them! We then took the boat through Cape Brett (loving the name) and back to Paihia where we continued our journey back through Auckland (where we changed vans to one a little more modern and with mod-cons like working electrics) and then onto Waitomo.

The next morning we got up and booked our caving tour to see glow worms, and weren't to be dissapointed. Due to it being the off season Sue and I were the only ones on the tour which meant we got to do more and go further. We started about 100 meters up and got as far down as 90 meters into the caves, seeing glow worms, cave crayfish (which are huge) and some fantastic cave formations. The tour also included 3 abseils and 2 rock climbs (the last one being a killer of a climb) so although the water was freezing we were kept warm.

Finally back into the world of daylight we once again boarded our van (now called 'Junior' in respect to our now retired 'Rabbit') and headed for Rotorua where we would find some crazy thermal pools and geysers. We went to the main place in Rotorua called Te Puia where we got to see some traditional Maori rituals, dances (including an upclose redition of the Haka) and housing. We also saw (and smelt) some of the most famous geysers in New Zealand. Out of Rotorua we went to another thermal park with some even better thermal pools (I think Sue has got some photos up of these) and a buried village where Mount Tarawera erupted some 120 years ago and killed off many local tribes and industries. Have to say the local people love their history and will spend so much time telling you all about it which is just fantastic.

Anyway, after all that we headed for Napier to see the 1930s architecture and get some fresh fish for dinner on my birthday. From there we drove through Taupo and stopped for a cuppa by the lake, and before setting off I spotted a sign saying last petrol station for 130km. I thought nothing of it until I looked at the dash and saw we had only 1/4 tank of petrol left! Several reassuring conversations back and forth and we were convinced we had enough to cover the distance...until the light came on and we'd only gone half way. A quick chat with the locals confirmed we were out of luck (that's not exactly how they put it shall we say!). However we persevered, free wheeling the car out of gear on all the down hills, gathering as much speed as we could to get up the other side before reluctantly putting it back into gear and hoping for the best! We got to Napier by the skin of our teeth and our van has now started to make some worrying noises!

And now I'll leave you to digest all that and hopefully be back soon for another thrilling installment

Hope all is well with you all.

Sharm

Hello people!

Apologies for the radio silence - you would think that New Zealand would have plentiful internet access but it turns out that free internet at every stop is a luxury that we left behind in South America...who'd have thought it?

We've been busy, and as I've been offline for a while I will make this succinct...Santiago is a lovely city, and travelling there from La Paz would make you swear you were on a different continent. From the second we left the airport we noticed the difference - gone were the plumes of black smoke behind every vehicle, the 2000 car horns per minute and the suicidal buses with 20 more people that is physicaly possible in them - instead, you are welcomed by well tarmaced roads being driven by seemingly sensible motorists! The differences didn't end there - Chile is much more expensive than Bolivia, and with 938 Pesos to the pound it's tricky to work out what you're spending! It feels far more like you're in Spain than South America, quite disorientating

As we only had two days, we spent a hectic time trying to see as much of the city as possible. The main square, the fish market, San Cristobel hill (up on a funicular railway, down on a cable car) and lots of walking! We even visited the stock exchange which wasn't quite the frenetic hive of activity one expects from a stock exchange....just one guy who I think may actually have passed away at his computer without anyone noticing and one chap jabbering on his mobile...that was it! All in all we concluded that Santiago is a pretty nice city and I think we will visit again.

After a manic few days, the time came to leave South America behind and head for NZ. It was actually quite pleasant arriving in a country where language is no longer a barrier - travelling with very bad Spanish in South America was pretty tiring after a while! We arrived in Auckland at stupid o'clock in the morning and sent a long day exploring the city before meeting up with Ursula for a few beverages (the Kiwi who used to live with me for those who don't know her!). Our second day saw us doing some more exploring of the suberbs - lots of trendy shops, markets and restaurants to be found. Day 3 was spent visiting places around the bay by boat - breakfast in a place called Devonport followed by some wine tasting on Waheke Island...this backpacking lark is tough, I tell you!

Day 4 saw us leaving Auckland behind in our new home - a campervan called Rabbit It's basically a toyota hi-ace with a teeny sink, cupboard and gas stove in the back as well as two bench seats and a table that convert into a bed. Our first stop in Rabbit was up north to a place called Paihia, which is the gateway town to both the far north and the Bay of Islands. On our route up there we passed one museum we decided to give a miss - Sheep world Even the sheep that had been dyed flourescent pink and sent to roam enticingly around the entrance couldn't convince us it was worth a visit!

And now I plan to leave you all on tenderhooks (well, maybe slightly less bored at work then you were before you logged on!) as my t'interweb pennies have run out and it's time for dinner!

Our next two stops are cities so we should be online again soon, until then I shall bid you Kia ora (that's Maori dontcha know, and has nothing to do with orange squash!) and sweet as Bro! Sue xxx

Hey All

Feels like it's been a while since we last posted but so much has been happening since then (apologies in advance, this could be a long post, but stick with it, we're interesting, honest ).

When we last left you we were about to head to the Salt Flats in Uyuni, so i guess thats a good place to start.

On Tuesday we rose early for a four hour bus ride with our grumpiest driver and shoddiest bus yet. We headed to Oruro (south of La Paz) where we would catch our train to Uyuni from. It's a 7 hour ride but we had comfy seats and The Shawshank Redemption in Spanish so who could complain?? We arrived in Uyuni about 10.30 and man was it cold!

Wednesday we checked out Uyuni (which took about 10 mins) and enjoyed some peace and quiet away from the streets of La Paz. Uyuni is quite flat and open and it's the winds that make it really cold. We booked a one day tour of the flats for Thursday and settled down to some pizza in a little place called MinuteMan that did the best pizza!

Thursday was amazing! The Salt Flats are so cool with some of the best scenary you could imagine. We started out in a place called the Train Cemetary which contained loads of old steam trains the Bolivians essentially retired when the electric train came into play (they like just shoving stuff out into barren land when they're done with it the Bolivians; the approach to La Paz airport fills you full of confidence!). Then we headed for the Fish Island which is near the middle. This has lots of funky cacti on it and at the top you gat a fantastic 360 view of the flats. It's this mass expanse of just white as far as you can see in all directions with the occassional moutain scattered here and there. We took some of those silly perspective photos on the flats before heading back to the outskirts for sunset (not before our guide stopped to show us the holes in the salt and chip away at some to show us how thin it really was to the water below!).

Friday we headed back to La Paz to book our trip on the Worlds Most Dangerous Road for Saturday. This is essentially mountain biking 64km down one of the most dangerous roads in the world, so as you can probably guess Sue and I were nicely relaxed on Friday night over dinner

Saturday we headed up the mountain (4750 meters above sea level at the top which is 15583 feet! Everest base camp is only 17000 feet!) before getting suited up and heading off. The first 30 km is on concrete so not too bad. Only thing to avoid here is the other people pelting it down, and the occassional bus and car that try their well reputed overtaking manoeuvers on blind corners etc. The next 34km is on dirt track that's about 3 meters wide, that twists and turns all over the place, and that has lorries, buses, and other such distractions along the way. The scenary is amazing, on both sides, and it's so hard to believe that this used to be the main route used to transport food, goods, and people! Once at the bottom we got food and some well earned drinks before, oh joy of joys, being told that we'd be going back up the road in the bus. This is probably one of the single most scariest things I have ever done. To give you a taste the road is no more then 2 foot wider than the bus at times, and the driver used his hopefully perfected hand in front of the eyes technique when the sun was shining at him! We did however make it up unscathed, and the stories we heard on the way up were amazing; of how people had come to fall, how many people had bounced off trees and made it, how the road used to be used etc. New found respect for the Bolivians after that

And how I've waffled enough so I'm going to sign off and hand you over to Sue to tell you about Santiago and the rest

Sharm