Top of the South Island

Once again we have been blessed with blue skies, and sunshine to explore a different part of NZ's coast line. Arriving in Picton we had terrific views of the Marlborough Sounds (first picture below, showing the ferry's wake), and enjoyed fish and chips on the harbour before moving on to Nelson and exploring the Abel Tasman National Park sharing a water taxi with kayakers, in order to do just one part of the 3-4 day trek...and being the quiet winter season pretty much had the track to ourselves apart from a few groups of over-loud American college students (they seem to be everywhere!)

From Abel Tasman we headed up to Golden Bay, every outcrop of which seems to have been named something random by James Cook on his explorations...we didn't quite make it out to Farewell Point or Doubtless Bay but we did get sandblown on Wharariki beach (not named by JC) and enjoy the clear waters of peaceful 'Pupu' springs into which I accidentally dropped my polarising filter - so I hope that the Maori spirits aren't too annoyed with me for disturbing their sacred waters.

We left the sunshine behind when we drove over to the west coast, staying in a hostel by the sea in Punakaiki...near the pancake rocks (last photos below) handily situated next to a very nice coffee shop!

South of the North

After our sky dives we left the land of adventures, and made the journey south to 'Windy' Wellington, stopping to wander around the Huka Falls and taking the Desert road through some impressive mountain scenery (although South Islanders might disagree!).

Wellington itself was a pleasure, lots of lovely cafes and restaurant, until it started to rain...hard! We were staying in the beautiful home of friends of the family, and camped out in their cosy, centrally heated home until it stopped - by which time half of the hill behind their house seemed to have slipped onto their cars pushing them into the building. Luckily we left before the house started falling down!

Less sunshine, more action (... and sky-diving!!!)

We went zorbing and sky-diving in New Zealand.

Zorbing involves rolling down a hill within a large inflatable plastic ball. (See here for more info)

We took the "hydro" option - which means that there's 10cm of warm water inside the ball with you (cold water in summer, warm in winter) - it sloshes around you giving a kind of "inside a washing machine" effect. Zorbing was a lot of fun, but during one attempt with both of us inside the same ball, we crashed into each other mid-way down the hill - Lesley ended up with a bloody nose and Rick ended up with very sore ribs!

Needless to say, tandem sky-diving from 15,000ft was probably the most exciting thing either of us have ever done. It was a really clear day, we were jumping over beautiful Lake Taupo (which is the apparently the size of Singapore). Also, the mountains next to the lake were used in Lord of the Rings (Mount Doom, if you know about that type of thing).

It's really quite difficult to describe just how amazing it was, so we'll let the following videos-clips and the photos do the telling.

(the videos clips may take several minutes to load, so please be patient, they are worth a giggle!)

To see a video of Rick sky-diving, click here

To see a video of Lesley sky-diving, click here

They speak English here don't they?

Travelling is SO much easier without a language barrier to take into account....why didn't we try it earlier?!

New Zealand is also incredibly well set up for the wandering backpacker, so getting from A to B, finding accommodation and arranging activities is easy as pie (and there are lots of pies). The ease of doing everything does mean our daily budget went a bit out of the window for the first few days (well I did need a new pair of jeans and Rick fell down One Tree Hill and broke a camera lens!).

We spent a couple of days wandering around Auckland, doing a bit of sightseeing along with the shopping. From there we went up to the Coromandel Peninsula for a wander along the beaches and a stay at the 'Cat's Pyjamas'.

We went in search of sun and relative warmth in the far North of NZ - and had a week in our own 'bach' (cabin) by the sea, having a holiday from travelling and completely cut off from communication with the outside world...well nearly - our mobile phone did pick up some messages.

Sandboarding and swimming with dolphins were highlights of the week, along with Rick's fantastic fire building and unpacking our backpacks for the first time in months! While an amazing experience the whole swimming with the dolphins thing was a bit on the chilly side, despite wetsuits...perhaps an even more enjoyable option in the summer when hypothermia is not such an issue.

Iorana Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Hello Easter Island!

We arrived with a hangover (thanks Juan Pablo) but were still pretty overwhelmed by the Moai we saw on our first day - and it just got better and better as we explored more of the island by pedal power and eventually on an organised tour (there was only so much we could learn from the Lonely Planet).

Easter Island isn't your average backpacker destination and is mainly geared up for those with deeper pockets and package tours - we did manage to find a reasonable hostel rather than resort to camping. The island belongs to Chile, although it is 3700 km from the mainland, and is considered one of the most remote places in the world. The nearest inhabited landmass are the Pitcairn Islands 2000 km away. As the original inhabitants were pretty much wiped out by various European and South American fortune hunters and slavers, not much is known about the culture and history of the people of this island, but they have left some pretty impressive markers in the form of the Moai - large stone statues mounted on platforms and thought to be ancestors protecting the villages.... They were all pushed and destroyed during internal warfare at some point in the 18th century, but have been gradually re-erected by archaeologists (not all the islanders think this is a good idea) and make for amazing photos.

(click on a photo for a bigger version)