Love everybody back at home. See you soon.

Lads. X

We bought some amazing red grapes, some sausages and tasted an AMAZING beef burger, cheese and we’ve decided we also quite like black pudding. The music was quite interesting too. All in all, a nice little day out.

We then headed to Napier for the rest of the afternoon and sat on the beachfront with our legs in the paddling pool, catching some rays after a long walk round the city centre looking at all the Art Deco’y buildings….not many all that interesting, apart from perhaps the shop advertising brazillian cuts for MEN and women.

Sweet.

X

From a place tucked away on the main street of Queenstown, Fergburger is the one and only in New Zealand. We both tried a chicken and a beef burger from here and both were soooo tasty. And massive. And your really jealous you didn’t get one!

The town itself is completely buzzing. Non stop. The first day we arrived we sat our van down and then headed out around the town, looking through the various shops and spotting out places to eat etc. The vide was good and there seemed to be hundreds of different things to do, although most of them not for the faint hearted. We made our way into the information office and asked them where the nearest Noodle Canteen was. After a good bit of grub back at the campsite, we spent the evening relaxing and watched A Serious Man on the laptop. Good film.

Next morning we rose nice and early and made our way back into town. It was about a 5 minute walk to the centre which was nice and handy, especially for later that evening when we got the beers in. Our first objective of the day was to climb the massive hill that shadowed over Queenstown. Well, there was a gondala opperating for the many that couldn’t be bothered to climb the hill, although after a good hour of just constantly walking up steep grass and big wooden steps, it wasn’t supprising they offered that service. It was worth it once we reached the top though and the views were just astonishing. You could see the whole of Queenstown and the mountain range that surrounded it. There was also plenty of chances to spot somebody bungy from a ledge extending off the hill, or watch somebody paraglide to their death. The hill also had a nice dity downhill mountain bike track, hidden away within the trees with various different sections depending on your skill level. There were loads of people hurtling down at pretty impressive speeds, how many of them actually made it to the bottom without coming off though, god knows. Coming down was slightly easier. On the way up we’d managed to get chatting to a couple that actually worked at the top and they said that the people didn’t check for tickets going down on the gondola, just what we needed

The weather was beautiful so we headed towards the front of the lake and spent some time at the market there, which sold some really interesting braclets, necklaces, paintings, etc etc.

Getting into the evening, we made our way back to the camper and cooked up some steak on the barbe, got ourselves cleaned up and headed out into the town to a few bars. We ended up in a club which had a illuminous paint night on, full to the brim with people our age and the usual shitty club music but it was an hilarious night and we met some interesting people. The rest remains a secret.

The morning after was bungy jump day. Abe headed out to the bungy and managed make it back alive. The canyon where the bungy jump was performed, was nested beautifully above the Nevis river, you can watch the video below for a better idea of the thrill.

We then packed up and made our way out and towards Milford Sound, probably the most remarkable bit of scenery we have seen this trip. I think we’ve certainly travelled this in the right direction because everytime we think we’ve seen the best scenery, something else pops up and astonishes us even more. The lanscape around the Fiorland National Park is just out of this world, we’re both in agreement that Milford Sound is probably the most mind blowing thing we’ve ever seen.

If you’re not a fan of rain. Stay away. The weather is unlikeable for most, although without the constant downpoor, you wouldn’t get the astonishing number of waterfalls falling from the mountains. We managed to jump on a boat tour, getting a nice small boat which took you a little bit closer to the rocky terrain, all for about 25 quid, which lasted us just over the 1hr30mins mark. It’s almost undescribable really. The video below probably can’t justify the place, plus with it being extremely wet, it was almost impossible to film outside of the van. The journey there was also quite amazing, with a neat little passage through the mountains and into a tunnel which had been built to pass through the terrain in the 1930′s. Once you come out of the tunnel, that’s where it really hits you. Enjoy the video below.

The few days after were really spent catching up on travelling. We’ve been through a few of the Southern cities but most of them not really catching our eye all that much. With New Zealand being a relatively new country, they constantly remind you that the cities are still well into development and you do get that feeling in a lot of them. The smaller towns around NZ are definitely much more interesting. On our way to the outskirts of Christchurch we did manage to witness a pretty crazy event. As we passed down a stretch of road, we’d just been on a visit to a Lake near by, Lake Tekapo, the one that was used in much of Lord Of The Rings. It’s right next to Mount Cook and the water is a strange blue colour, because of the glaciers melting into it. We’d decided to try and get as far as possible, so set out from Tekapo (where we’d oringially decided to camp) and try make it to the french town of Akaroa just outside Christchurch. Along the way, we hit a set of roadworks, which because it was late evening, were closed due to the laziness of the Kiwi’s. They still allow you to drive on the road although it’s qutie rubbly so they set the speed limit to 50KM an hour. As we climbed the long straight up the hill, in the distance we saw another campervan hurtle around the corner, appearing at first to tackle the corner with ease. It was only until he got a little closer it was clear that he’d gone way to fast and was skidding all over the place. He’d managed to stay on the road as we passed him but with a quick check in the rear view mirror, abe belted out “he’s skidded off” and as Tom turned round to inspect, there it was. Boom, off the road and into the ditch.

After no haste in deciding to be the good samaritans, we quickly turned round and went back to inspect the damage…although maybe it was more just to see some blood and guts. As we arrived at the crash scene, the Japanese tourist had jumped out of his van and looked in pretty good shape. A lorry driver had also pulled over to ‘access’ the situation and after a quick word, he said that he would ring the police (as he has a working phone) and we were free to leave if we wished. It was pretty insane really, we’re just glad he ended in the ditch instead of in our windscreen.

It wasn’t until a little later on down the road, which things got even more intesting, and perhaps slightly amusing/worrying. Feeling rather peckish, we pulled over to make a quick ham sandwich, at which point we were graced with the poluting sound of sirens. Of course our first thoughts as the ambulance flew past were that this poor tourist had managed to injure his passenger (girlfriend) in all their excitement. What then amazed us even more, was that one fire engine passed, followed shortly by another fire engine AND another ambulance. Then, what was ANOTHER fire engine, made it’s way all the way to the t junction, slammed its breaks, turned his siren off and headed to the pub. There was still no sign of police so the lorry driver must have got the wrong number.

Since then, we’ve visited the Aukaura, Christchurch and off to Picton to catch the ferry back North. Christchurch was pretty boring, a bit of a dump and looked like an earthquake had hit it. Now we set sail for the sunny North to see Art Deco Napier and hit the beaches for 3 weeks.

Peace X

We arrived just outside the town of Franz Josef, the access point to the first glacier and settled down for the night in a near bye stretch of field. We woke up the next morning and spent Wednesday 9^th on a visit to the larger of the two, the Franz Josef Glacier. Arriving in the car park about an hours walk from the main view point for the glacier, we decided we would instead take the much longer of the walks, to a view point that would supposedly offer us a better vantage point to see the whole glacier. This walk was a return walking time of 5hrs20mins, instead of the normal walk with a return time of 1hr30mins. We packed up the usual fruit, biscuits, pies and water and headed out.

The walk was pretty tough. Consistently changing it’s course of direction, left, right, up down and the hills we were climbing were very steep. About half way through, so only an hour in, we did actually have to stop for a water break. Although it was a little overcast that day, the heat was quite intense in the thick forest, so I don’t think that helped all that much. The view at the end of the track was actually quite a disappointment too. The line of sight was mostly covered up by overgrown bush so it felt like we’d done a lot of walking for nothing. The view of the top of the mountains though were pretty remarkable. We did also manage to come across a very small little pond along the way which reflected the mountains beautifully and made for a good photograph.

After a slog back to the car park, we decided we just hadn’t seen enough so we embarked on the easy trail, the one at 1hr30mins return. This was a much better view at the end and we’re really glad we did this now, even though we were quite tired and worn out from the other. The glacier, which is nested in between two rather green mountains, is a strange sight and will certainly be remembered as one of the highlights. We’d both been looking forward to seeing this and it didn’t disappoint. At the bottom there is also an entrance to a cave which we assumed ran all the way up the glacier, providing a tunnel for the streams to pass through and exit into the valley. The water was absolutely bloody freezing, there were even parts of the glacier which had come down stream with the water and rested on the rocks, showing no sign of melting any time soon.

That night we rested up about a 10 minute drive from Franz Josef, just a shy distance from the second glacier, Fox. The place we stayed was a lookout point for observing all of the mountains in the district and when we woke up in the morning, the view was another to add to the already rapidly growing list of insane views.

Mount Cook (far left)

We were also able to see all 3 peaks of Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. Standing at 3754m, it towers above all the other mountains surrounding it. Fox was just more of the same, just falling from the mountains in a slightly different shape and because the day was a lot brighter and clearer, we did actually get a better look at it right to the tops of the peaks.

We’d managed to get up a lot earlier to go and see this, so we decided to hit the road and make our way along to Haast, the starting point for many of the southern scenic drives. After a nice lunch, we drove the road from Haast to Jackson Bay  and managed to see some penguins, nesting far out on some rocks. There was also some lovely spots to sit and eat and the water was the bluest we’d seen for weeks. We then drove back to Haast before setting off to Wanaka, the small town about an hours drive north from Queenstown. The mountains and the lakes along this drive, were just INSANE. Everything had a very Lord of the Rings feel to it. The two lakes, Wanaka and Hawea sit cosily next to each other, seperated only by a mountain range which also surrounds them. The small town of Wanaka sits proudly at the southern tip of Lake Wanaka and boasts some of the best panoramic views in the country.

We stayed the night in Wanaka, woke up the next morning and did a little bit of shopping in some of the local surf/ski/outdoor shops. By evening it was time to move on so we set off to our next stop, Queenstown. Arriving down a road which looked like it had been lifted straight out of Gran Turismo, we finally camped up at a campsite nested right in the centre of the city. We’ve got two nights here and that doesn’t really seem like enough, so we’ll see how we get on. Bye for now.
Love the lads. X

Through Haast Pass

Anyways, a brief rundown of what we’ve been up to and some more in depth stuff will follow in a few days.

We did manage to get the car back in action pretty much the day it broke down. Went to Queenstown and a little place called Wanaka, where Abe did a bungy and we at some good food around the lakes.

We now made it up to Christchurch where we’ve just changed our vehicle over for a much better one, it’s a lot more spacious…all in the aid of the rental company making us a bit happier. We’ve been through Dunedin and Invercargill but these places were not really to our liking so we mearly passed through them and had lunch. The bulk of our time has been spent around the Southwest which we promise will be with you in the next few days, in much more detail…alogn with some beautiful pictures and videos.

On the way back up to the North Island tomorrow and heading for Napier, then after that it’s onto the beach! It’s still really warm here for most of the day, sometimes a little chilly at night but it’s almost a hot box in the car by the early hours of the morning.

Hope everybody at home is well and enjoying the weather there

Catch you in a few days. The lads! X

Our first two days after the ferry journey were spent at a small fishing town called Nelson, just southwest of Picton where we despersed from the ferry. Our main goal was to reach New Zealands smallest National Park, but certainly not lacking in beauty, Abel Tasman. Known for its iscolated and completely deserted golden sandy beaches, it’s named after the dutch explorer who first set foot on the shores, mapping out the south island for the first time in the 1600′s. And because many of the areas of the national park can still only be accessed by foot or a small boat, it remains a scenic reserve for rare birds and fish.

Nelson then, was only a stepping stone before Abel Tasman but when we arrived it caught us as a nice little town, plus there was a nice sandy beach with plenty of shops so we decided to stop before and chill for a few nights. We spent some time on the beach, played/watched some football and walked to the top of the monument that over looked the main street with views of most of the town.

We then set off for Abel Tasman which was about a 3 hour drive down the highway 60. It was slightly annoying that we’ve basically got to come back on ourselves on the return journey, as quite a few roads in the SI only go one way. It was when we reached the National park we had to drive down our first unsealed road which ran for about 7 miles. We had to drive it very slowly, but it was so worth it when we reached the end as it oppened up to the most stunning beaches we have both ever come across. The sand really is a deep golden colour, with a lush green background to compliment. Being so remote, it’s also very quiet unlike some of the other beaches we’d been on.

However, the biggest problem was, if only we’d have packed some decent insect repelent. The area was absolutely full of sandflies. You don’t notice them right up until the point where you finally lay down on the sand, get to the point of total relaxation and then you start to feel something nipping you on the leg. They are bearable for the short time that we spent there, but you can see why nobody wants to live out there. It didn’t ruin the scenery but it was a slight distraction when you were trying to relax, so we’re not really sure how we feel about the place. Check out the picture below and you can decide for yourself….X

Thursday 24th Feb.

Feeling a bit extreme after we’d signed up for our Skydives over Lake Taupo, we had also visited the information centre that same day and booked our seats on a coach that drove right out into the middle of nowhere, to the beginning of a trek which took you on a walk across the middle of the Tongariro National Park. On the Wed night after grabbing our supplies for the trek from the supermarket, we’d headed towards the park and made our stop right outside the office of the bus company where we parked up the van and stayed for the night.
Awakening plenty of times through the night, we finally got our wake up call from Abe’s VERY ANNOYING phone alarm and got out of bed…at 5.15AM! It was still dark at this point so searching for our things throughout the van proved a much more difficult task then usual, however we managed to find the most important supplies, packed our bags and headed over the car park to where the coach had pulled up. We jumped on board and headed down the road to begin our big adventure.

We arrived at the beginning of the track at around 6.20, the sky was beginning to light up a little, so we took our bags and made our way through the starting point to begin our walk. At this point, the sign read “Tongariro Exit Car Park….19.7KM….9 hours, 10 minutes”. Feeling wide awake, at this point, however stupid that may have sounded on your average day out, we were more then ready to tackle the walk and began our expedition with a nice brisk walk on what was a pretty smooth and easy pathway up towards the mountains in the distance.

About 30 minutes through and light was beginning to pick up so Tom whipped out his camera and began snapping at the morning sun as it rose behind the mountains. At this moment, the area seemed really quiet and very relaxing. The morning air was really fresh and it was a little chilly but we thought we’d come fully equipped for the route with some warm thermal tops so at this moment, we weren’t really feeling it. As we began to pass a near by stream to the left of us, we began reading a A4 sheet of paper that had been given out at the beginning, marking out the route and some of the landmarks you’d see as you walked along. The first area that we came to was the “Soda Streams” which had marked the rocks around them in a rusty orangey colour and so the Kenan and Kel quotes began. We’d also noted from the guide “Devils Staircase” which was rated as a difficult trek, the hardest you would encounter through the day if you didn’t take any of the volcano peaks into consideration.

About an hour in and our legs were starting to feel the climb as we continually ascended upwards, with no place to rest. We were managing to over take some of the more slower folk, which did have a positive effect on us mentally, but once we reached the bottom of Devils Staircase, it did start to daunt on us that this was going to be a tiring experience. In true British style, we whipped out the shorts and began our climb up the steep stairs, mostly dug out from rock from the hill.

Leaving the rest for dust, we finally, god knows how, made it to the top of Devils Staircase, fuelled only by banana and our desire to finish the track in record breaking time. It was when we reached this first stop, we had the opportunity to climb the first peak for the day, Mt. Ngauruhoe. There was a certain cut off time that they advised not to climb this peak which was 9.15am. Any later and you should just keep heading along the normal route, but making it to this peak at the earlier time of 8.15am, we certainly had plenty of time to conquer. And conquer we did, but not in any great fashion.

As we stared up at the mount, I can assure you, it looked absolutely ridiculous. The photo to your right really doesn’t do it any sort of justification. There are actually people climbing up that peak, but because of the sheer size of it, it’s almost impossible to make them out. And the sheer angle at which you were supposed to “walk” up, was probably not far off being vertical. The whole thing was pure rubble too so there were a lot of rocks that were resting and were able to come lose at any moment. As we stood at the bottom, I think we were both a little dubious as to whether the climb was something to be excited about, or whether it was just pure madness. And with Abe deciding on the first thought, he managed to persuade Tom (who at this point was completely against climbing) that this was a great idea and that it would be worth it when we reached the top.

The path up the volcano was pretty non existent. You pretty much had to find your own path up, although you couldn’t really go wrong because the terrain was pretty much the same the whole way around the peak. We set off, following a few folk that looked like they were kitted out and knew a good path up the volcano. Some crazy German bloke decided it was a good idea to go it alone, ignoring the cover of the larger rocks from falling debris and tanked it straight up the middle. It was only about a quarter of the way up when we heard a distinctive call for danger from above us, only to see a rock about the size of a large suitcase come hurtling down towards our direction. The biggest problem is that the rocks can be heading in a totally different direction and sometimes travelling quite slow then all of a sudden they can change their speed and bounce off other rocks which sends them heading your way. The look of fear in this Germans eyes was that of somebody who was close to death. We have no idea how this rock didn’t hit him, but as it flew past, it must have been inches from taking him out. Would have been funny though. At this point, it’s fair to say we were both a bit concerned for our well being, so we did the typical thing and marched on. By the time we’d got to about half way, we’d completely lost the German bloke and been caught up by some Sweedish girls. Pretty good substitute. Tom thought we were hallucinating. As they pushed us up quicker, so as not to be beaten to the summit by a group of girls, we finally made it to the top, out of breath and ready for some lunch. Ready for a Burgerfuel, unfortunately, all we had was some bananas and some other bits and bobs. Tom cracked open the biscuits and we sat and had lunch with our new Ikea mates. The view from the top of the volcano of the ground below was pretty much non existent, in the sense that you couldn’t see anything below because we were above the clouds. The sight of the horizon though was phenomenal.

Going down was a little easier. There was a few moments of near death but we managed to find a route down which allowed us to pretty much ski the distance and when we reached the bottom, we immediately continued on our journey.
Next up was the red crater section of the walk, where we had to climb another steep set of stairs carved out of rock which seemed to go on forever. The view from the top though was another beauty and made the struggle all the worth while. We were roughly about half way through the walk and so we stopped for an apple and a water break. It did manage to rain briefly for about 5 minutes but it was no more then a gentle spit. We then made our way down to the next section of the walk where there was some pools, right in the middle of the mountains. Sacred to the Maori, these pools were untouched and it was forbidden to swim in them, even though they looked so good.

The rest of the journey was pretty much downhill the whole way, but it just never seemed to end. We did stop for about 60 seconds to take a water break, at which point we think we may have seen Mark Webber. Tom was sure it was him. There wasn’t much more to see after the lakes so the rest of the journey was spent chatting to our friends and other people around us, before we finally made it to the end of the trail and caught the shuttle bus back to base camp.

We then set off for Abe’s uncles, which would be a long journey. Hope you enjoy the pictures and we’ll be back soon with some more news on our trip through the Glaciers and down towards Queenstown.

Miss everybody at home, the lads. X

Love and miss everybody back home. Abe. X

Abe goes in search of phone, only to find that the signal in that area, deep in the hills, is non exsistent. Somehow, the Toyota manages to start up again and pushes all the way through to the nearest town, about an hours drive at 60KM/ph. Tom makes a phone call to the rental company, then to the AA and after long discussion about where we are and how long they’ll be, we both sit down for a drink whilst waiting at the only cafe for miles.

By this point, we are both FOUL.

A sandwich later and a fat kiwi bloke turns up, all the way from the nearest town, Westport. He inspects the vehicle and responds with the inevitable…..”it’s gonna need a trip to the garage boys, the Toyota dealership is what you need”. In any normal situation you’d be inclined to reject this invitation of being ripped off by one of these garages, but being that it’s the rental company that are paying, they can empty their pockets kindly!

We jump in the fat boys 4×4 and head back to Westport, subjected to his racist stories of Israelis.

Reflecting, we’ve managed to spend the whole day wasting our time listening to mechanics chat rubbish about what is wrong with our beloved Toyota. Fucking Japanese piece of shit. Least our beef sandwiches tasted good.

Peace. X