04/12/12 - Rotorua
Rotorua is a small town known for 2 things; its geothermal wonders and its Maori heritage. There are so many geothermal parks and spas, and Maori villages and cultural experiences, that it's overwhelming trying to decide what to do if you're only there for a couple of days!
Right facing our hostel was a public park, complete with the usual children's playground, but with the additions of steaming ponds, bubbling mud pools and naturally heated spas to dip your feet in. The other trips I mentioned at the start were so expensive that we decided to combine a few by visiting Te Puia. This is a Maori site that happens to be a geothermal valley, complete with erupting geysers. These natural wonders are so surreal, that unless you're a professional geologist or a whizz at physics, they're hard to get your head around! To normal people like you and I, all we need to comprehend is not to get too close to a steaming or bubbling pool, as they can reach up to 90C, and secondly the sulphur gas they emit absolutely STINKS. But the smell is worth it, as I'm not sure how many other places in the world you can get up close to an erupting geyser that isn't dangerous. It's certainly not something you see everyday!
The geothermal wonders are not the only attraction, though. The land is still owned and managed by Maoris, who populate 35% of Rotorua. At Te Puia they teach how their ancestors utilised the land, such as cooking food in the boiling pools. They also put on a cultural performance, including serious practices they would have followed in pre-European times. This was one of the most memorable parts of our whole trip so far, for this very reason - they chose Rik to be chief.
The show was set up as if we, the audience, were a visiting tribe, and the home tribe (the performers) had to make sure we came in peace before they invited us in.
Once inside, they sang some welcoming songs, before the chief had to conduct the 'official' welcome. This traditional Maori welcome is a firm handshake, followed by touching noses twice. So Rik had to go up on stage, face 5 very nearly naked, very intimidating men, and touch noses wih them. It was SO hard not to laugh, but we were warned beforehand that we mustn't as it is very disrespectful. I filmed the whole thing anyway so get in contact if you would like to see this very manly interchange!!
The rest of the performance was brilliant, especially the world famous haka war dance. The girls were really talented singers and the men were so invested in their words and actions. If anyone goes to New Zealand and doesn't experience any Maori culture, then they haven't seen the real New Zealand. The main greeting to say hello is Kia Ora (bro) and that is the ancient Maori language. And their tribal symbols are sold everywhere, as pendants carved out of bone or jade - which they call Pounamu and used to think was more valuable than gold - that made me smile!
There's so much to do in Rotorua we simply couldn't fit it all in. Zorbing was invented here, so we went to do a bit of that. Well, Rik did, I didn't as
1. it was mega expensive and
2. I'm a big whimp.
It looked like fun though! We also visited the Hobbiton movie set tour, which is on a farm about an hour away. It was so beautiful, and we went at the right time as they had built extra holes for The Hobbit, and you now get a free drink in The Green Dragon Inn. It was disappointing to learn though that there is nothing behind the hobbit holes! It's just mud and grass, as they only build the exterior. The detail in the whole place is amazing though, down to hobbit clothes on washing lines and real vegetable patches, extra large versions to make everthing and everyone else appear smaller.
So we crammed a lot in, but I wouldn't have it any other way on this speedy tour of NZ.
29th November - Wellington, NZ
Lonely Planet voted it the world's 'coolest little capital' last year, and within minutes it is easy to see why. With more vintage shops than Brick Lane, more quirky little cafes and bars than Manchester's Northern Quarter, it basically shits all over European cool spots. Creativity oozes our of every street corner, with countless art galleries and open studio spaces everywhere. And it's so pretty too - surrounded by tree topped hills with cute wooden houses perched on top, and a sea view never far away, it is metropolitan- meets- rural bliss. There is a mountain in the middle of the city which we climbed, called Mount Victoria, which rewards you with fantastic 360 degree views of the whole city.
We arrived in Wellington the day after The Hobbit worldwide premiere, and the buzz could still be felt all around. In fact, you could say everyone had gone Middle Earth mad. Every business had jumped on the opportunity,
painting the outside of their shops as hobbit holes or using clever tag lines such as "You shall not pass this deal!" As a huge LOTR fan, I embraced all this and thought it made Wellington even more amazing. So of course we had to do a movie tour. Firstly we visited the Weta Cave museum, where all the special and digital effects for the films are created. It was fascinating to find out how Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor had started up the Weta Workshop from literally nothing. Now they have took on the digital effects for global Hollywood blockbusters such as LOTR, Planet of the Apes and Avatar, hence Wellington begin given the nickname 'Wellywood.' The following day, we did a movie set tour to see some of the filming locations situated in the countryside around Wellington. Highlights included Helms Deep and Minis Tirith, (which were actually built on top of one another)
Aragorn washed ashore, and Rivendell. The sets have been destroyed but it was still interesting to see where they were, and our guide knew so much inside information from the cast and crew. Another highlight was getting to dress up as an elf, right next to the very tree Orlando Bloom posed in front of for his promotional photographs!
Kaikoura, New Zealand
This is yet another place that photographs and words can do no justice to. Imagine a seaside town - small and picturesque, quaint and sunny. But, lining the backdrop in the distance are stunning, snow-capped mountains. Here I had another 'wow' moment.
As soon as we'd arrived and dropped our backpacks, we set off on a 4 and a half hour trek through the hills, which included stopping at a wild seal colony. This town boasts more marine life than probably most places in the world, including dolphins and whales. That was the main reason we stopped off here, to swim with dolphins.
However, when we turned up at the date and time I'd booked months ago, the weather conditions were really bad. The tour could be cancelled at any point, as strong winds were causing a very heavy sea, meaning that if we found the dolphins we may not be allowed into the water to swim with them.
We were leaving the next day. Our only option was to rearrange and book onto the first tour of the next day - at 5.30am.
So the following day was VERY busy. Getting up at 4am, we only just made it in time but it was SO worth it. It was such a beautiful morning, without one tiny cloud in the sky. Once I'd wetsuited up for the first time in my life, (with hood+snorkel+flippers, the lot) I looked awesome and was ready to find some dusky dolphins. We found a pod of around 100, and most people on the boat got right in the water.
The experience is hard to recount, because it was the best but worst feeling. Obviously, if you know anyone who has swam with dolphins they will tell you it was amazing, the best day of their life etc. But that was almost definitely all the time in tropical waters, with trained dolphins in captivity. So how many of those people you know who have done it conventionally, have swum with wild dolphins in the open ocean?? Because this is quite a different experience. As they are wild, we cannot touch them and the boat does not entice them with bait or in any other way - they just look for the pods. Have I mentioned previously how COLD it is in NZ? Well this is apparently the start of their Summer, and I don't know if it's because I arrived from a total opposite climate but it feels like Winter. When I submerged into that early morning Pacific Ocean, it was so cold I nearly had a panic attack. I couldn't breathe! And then I had a slight snorkel incident, where I swallowed my own body weight in seawater, and this was all before I'd seen any dolphins! My body was desperate to get back on the boat, but my mind knew I couldn't ruin this once in a lifetime opportunity. I stayed in the water for about half an hour, and when the dolphins came close I could forget about the water temperature. Some of the them kept eye contact and circled me, which was really cute. They are one of the most acrobatic of the species, and they happily jumped out of the water, even doing flips like they were showing off. But when I got back on the boat I was quite happy to take off my wetsuit and just watch them from there!
Once we were safely back on land, we proceeded on a 2 and a half hour bus journey up to Picton, where you can travel to the North Island. We had planned to get the ferry, which takes 3.5 hours, but was told by a local that flying only takes 25 minutes. It was also a scenic flight, in a small charter plane over the Marlborough Sounds. So we opted for the second, faster option, which I thought would be quite exciting. Wrong!! It was terrifying. The plane was absolutely miniscule, had maximum 10 seats and only one pilot, who kept repeating "Make sure your seatbelt is nice and tight!"
It was a rocky flight, you could feel every gust of wind and it is well known that Wellington, our destination, is referred to as Windy Wellington. The views of course were spectacular, but I never want to get on a plane like that again!
So, a rather eventful day...swimming with wild dolphins, crossing the Cook Straight in a charter plane, sleeping in our first dorm room with some very weird people...the fun continues!
26/11/12 - Christchurch
So, the coolest thing about this city is the hostel we're staying in. It's a historic jail, built in the 1800's, and only closed in 1999. Our room is a tiny cell, with a bunk bed and a tiny window. There is no heating, so it's absolutely freezing at night. (NZ = COLD. Way colder than Sydney on a cloudy day). But they give you an extra quilt and offer you a free hot water bottle, which is cute! A few cells have remained the same to create a sort of mini-museum, along with artefacts and paper clippings from over the years. There's a really unsettling one about a breakout that occurred, where all the officers were beaten unconscious. My favourite part is a cell containing a prisoner's artwork on the walls. It gives a chilling insight into the mind of a prisoner - one of which was one of the last inmates of 1999.
Yeah so not much to say about Christchurch at all. The city is still in the process of picking up the pieces from the 2011 earthquake - there's still a cordon in the centre. But unless you have a car, to drive to the outskirts and the lovely scenery, (which we don't) there's not a lot to see or do at all. So we've just recharged our batteries, and booked our coach up to Kaikoura.
I feel the same about NZ as I did at first about Australia - not overly impressed, but there's no way I can judge the whole country from this one city.
25/11/12 - Sydney
On arriving in Sydney, with serious jet lag after a delayed 9 hour flight, I was not in the best of moods. In addition, it was grey, cloudy and absolutely freezing compared to the sunny, humid weather I was dressed for, which we'd left behind in Thailand. I hadn't really packed for cold weather as we were arriving in time for Australia's Summer, so I was not expecting this cold blast! The weather here is all over the place...they still have the air con on full blast though! It's unbelievable, I've spent the last 3 weeks running into the nearest 7/11, as it's the only place in a 10 mile radius with aircon in 35 degrees+ heat - and now I'm cold there's aircon everywhere I go.
So, back to the point, I was even more disappointed by the realisation that Sydney looked just like the UK. Did I really travel all this way for cold, cloudy weather and sky scrapers that look like a carbon copy of London?! The city's comparison to our capital is uncanny - they have a Hyde Park, King's Cross, Paddington, Oxford Street...
I'd spent almsot a month in the East, just started to adapt to the culture and enjoy it, and then at the click of a finger ( or a 10 hour night flight) I was back in the West. I didn't like it!! I guess Australia has been so hyped up recently, and the fact all we could see was the inner city buildings, that it was purely under-whelming.
That night, after a power-nap, we took a walk to the harbour to see the iconic sights of Sydney. The Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge was only a 20 minute walk from our hostel, so we were in a great location. Lit up at night, it was a spectacular view and I soon decided Sydney was way better than London!
The following day, we did the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, which was expensive but worth it. [I take this back, we could really do with that $300 now.] The whole experience made me giggle - they take longer dressing you up and giving you all the prep than they take walking you up and down the bridge. You need a jumpsuit, fleece, belt and attachment, hat, gloves, handkerchief...you have to walk through a metal detector, do a breathaliser test...it makes you believe the climb is going to be hardcore and dangerous. But in essence, it was literally a few stairs, about 6 ladders, and there you were on the top arch. The views from the top were incredible, and we got to see the sunset on the harbour. What struck me is how huge Sydney Harbour acually is; the bridge is more or less central, and each side the water looks like it goes on for miles. Before the bridge was built, if you did not want to get across the water via boat it would take 5 hours to reach the other side!
We also managed to cram in Bondi Beach, which was lovely but looked a lot smaller than it does on the TV show 'Bondi Rescue!' The sea was, as predicted, laced with surfers. While the weather was a lot warmer and sunnier today, I still thought it was too cold to strip down to my bikini! It looked like what I imagine America's beach cities to look like, such as Miami or L.A. I've never been, but it looks similar to TV programmes and films from the USA. There's a bunch of seafood cafes and restaurants along the beachfront, just like the one Ryan from The O.C. worked in.
We also found 5 hours of our time to spend at Taronga Zoo. Which was amazing, as I got to get up close to a koala!! They were soooooo cute, very sleepy though, it's hard to get a photo of one with their eyes open. But they do sleep 20 hours a day, and I wouldn't want to disturb them, they are the cutest things EVER.
I feel like our time here has been a complete whirlwind, and there's so many things left to see - plenty more beaches, parts of the harbour and obviously the Blue Mountains. So hopefully we will find time in our year ahead to come back at some point.
So I have to apologise!!
It has been soooo long since this was last updated, but we've had internet problems, (you'd think it would get better as we get into more developed countries, but no they just rip you off) and New Zealand was so hectic we didn't even have time to get on a computer. BUT it's all written down in my journal, and now I have a fun few hours of typing it up....
Monday 19th November - Koh Phi Phi - Bangkok
We chose the perfect day to leave Koh Phi Phi. The weather was cloudy with showers, and hellishly humid. Much like when we arrived, but the seven days inbetween have been glorious. It usually rains during the night while we lie in bed, and it's quite nice listening to our bungalow get battered - until we find a few leaks in the morning!
Saying bye to Phi Phi was hard, we'd become so attached to it! It's the longest we've stayed anywhere for nearly a month. It really was the purest form of paradise I've ever seen, which can be said for most of the Thai islands. Their beaches are plentiful and unspoilt, no teenagers whizzing round on jet skis and banana boats. And the lush landscapes inbetween the beaches are just as pretty.
Bet HERE is definitely not.
Here we are again, on one of our ridiculous night journeys. We decided to get the train, you get a sleeper bed to yourself and presumably it's the fastest form of transport. Boat and bus to Suratthani train station all ran smoothly. Then on arrival, we get told our train is 2 hours delayed, and we already had an hour wait. Now this train station is not somewhere you want to be, for 2-3 hours, at nightfall. It' laughable they can call it a major train station. The arrivals and departures are written on a whiteboard. There is one tiny shop. Squat toilets, again. And did I mention the RATS? What makes this journey particularly worse is that it isn't worth all this. We're heading back to Bangkok, where we really don't want to be! Then we have a 9 hour flight to look forward to. (With Emirates at least, so we'll have a pleasant journey for that haha).
However much I'll miss Thailand's beauty, I am ready for a change of scenery. On our last night in Phi Phi we agreed we was going to eat some Thai food, until we saw a Grill Joint....all you can eat BBQ?! How could we resist. So we ate there and said it was to prepare our bodies for Aus, where they eat a lot of meat and bqqs all the time. Yay! But I'll miss all the little things...taking off your flip flops every time you walk into a shop or restaurant, saying 'Sawadee Kaaaaa,' getting massages whenever I feel like it, hearing Gangnam Style every day. However there's not much to miss of Khoa San Road or Bangkok, as there's only so many times you can politely say "No I don't want to buy a suit/lighter/wooden frog/spinny light thing," "No I don't want a tuk tuk" and "No I do not want to see a ping pong sex show!!"
I'm really excited to see Sydney now, and we have booked our Sydney Harbour bridge climb, so we will see it from the best possible view!
But for now, there's only one thing left to do....say Farewell to Thailand! I was going to do this by eating a cricket, and posting the proof here, but once again we couldn't find the stand last night!! :( I'm half happy half relieved about this.
Goodbye Bangkok, G'day Sydney! x
