Feb 2005

New Zealand's great! Much prettier than Oz and hostelling is a totally different experience to Campervans and crashing at peoples houses.

Firstly we had Rubbish flight with poor service, no information, a terrible movie and really uncomfortable seats. Apart from that the trip so far has been great...

We spent the first 2 Nights in Auckland, pretty good place actually. Not loads to do but a good base and our hotel was smack bang central. We saw most of the sights such as the massive observation tower, casino / cinema complex, marina and of course the downtown shopping area. It's a pretty place and really relaxed and easy to get around. The Kiwi's seem really friendly people too. Manage to sort out a hire car for the rest of the trip no problem, $35 a day and it's not bad either, a Nissan Pulsar coupe thing... The driving here is great fun, wouldn't mind it in Julians Lotus Elise!

Next we went to the north east, the Coromandel Peninsula and a place called Whitianga. We stayed at a farm next to the hot water springs which was ok but popped a tyre so spent a whole Sunday driving between towns on a space saver trying to get a repair or a new tyre. Hey Ho.

Went Kayaking in a place called Tarua (I think). Great little place, got tyre fixed and headed off to "oto" (about 16km from Waitomo Caves). Did a caving trip with a fab company called "Spellbound" and saw gloworms which was pretty amazing really. The trip was a half day and in a small group of eight it was really personal. We drove up to the Limestone fault lines in the mountains and then hiked a short distance to the first cave where we donned our helmets and entered the cave. Immediately we could see the gloworms but only a few hundred or so. Turned the lamps off and then used a raft to get up the underground river whilst our eyes got used to the dark. By this time we could see millions of gloworms, like stars in the sky. Another hike and some morning tea (and a poo in a Thunderbox - Tin Loo) before entering a second bigger cave. Which was more about the rocks than gloworms. David Attenborough was there the week before fliming for a documentary so come October you'll all be able to see what we saw.

Then to Lake Taupo. Where we visited the Huka falls, a thermal areas full of bubbling mud and geysers called "Craters of the Moon" as well as a really good information centre on the areas volcanic activity (with built in earthquake simulator)....

Drove from Taupo to Nelson via Wellington in a day (via night ferry!! and passed
all of the Lord of the rings scenery) which was a pleasent strain. Had an evening in Wellington, likely to go back for Museum and gardens. Enjoyed Nelson, bit like Byron Bay, Port Douglas etc in OZ. Then to Marahau on the southern tip of the Abel Tasman. Got an aqua taxi up the coast and then a 4 1/2 hour walk back to view the secluded bays and rainforest tracks. Really enjoyed that although the legs are a bit like jelly as I write this!!!

We've arrived in a town called Greymouth tonight in a fantastic hostel although there's not much to do outside. Off to Franz Josef tomorrow to see the Ice Glaciers and then Queenstown, Milford Sound, Dunedin, Christchruch, Lake Tekapo?, Kaikoura, Wellington, Napier, Rotorura and Auckland before fiji?!

Highlights have been:

Shotover Jet Boat! - Queenstown.
Abel Tasman.
Christchurch.
Rotorua - Cable car and Luge rides! and Moari Cultural Evening.
Waitomo Caves - glow-worms.

We left Cairns with 18 days to get back to Sydney and loads of things to see. The East Coast of Australia has some beauty spots but some pretty awful towns as well where people who didn't quite make it to Cairns seem to have settled!

One such place is Townsville. At least the humidity died off but we got there on a Thursday afternoon, went to the major shopping street and saw about 4 people (not including shop workers!). Stops like this break up the drive and remind you that the grass isn't always greener. I'd rather work in an off licence in Washington than live in Townsville although the people that we met were nice and everything looks a little better in the sunshine!

Next on the southern trail was Airlie Beach gateway to the Whitsundays which were just beautiful! We met up with our Irish friends from the reef tour and spent two glorious days in the sun. Airlie Beach is a funny place, very pretty and backpacker orientated with loads of bars and hostels down a one mile strip about 30 seconds away from the ocean. Getting to the Whitsundays was easy with an organised tour. First we went to Hamilton Island where we hired a golf buggy for a few hours to get us around all the sites on what is a bit of a playboys island. The hotels and activities here are very expensive and quite exclusive I suppose but still a ferry port for the masses wanting to see the islands on the cheap. Next we sailed through the islands to the main attraction; Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. Here we spent two and a half hours on the gorgeous beach (don't worry, we had a UV tent so I didn't get burned)! All in all a good day and reasonably cheap (equivalent to a night in the Bigg Market without the associated risks)....

Next on the coast was another of those industrial settlements, this time a place called
Rockhampton where we stayed at one of the worst campsites in the world. So bad we gave up on the BBQ and hit Hungry Jacks (Burger King) and then went to the Cinema. Absolutely nothing else to report from a very populated and dull place.

The drive to Hervey Bay was a crazy one, with time on our side we took a "Tourist Drive" diversion which was supposed to reveal areas of outstanding beauty! None of this was evident however as we ploughed through tree lined lanes adding thrity minutes to our travelling time. Never mind it was worth it in the end as the Caravan Park was outstanding and the tour to Fraser Island the next day was again a cheap but enjoyable day on the worlds biggest sand island (lunch included)! We did the whole day tourist thing, drove in a 4X4 coach along 75 Mile Beach, saw a shipwreck, coloured sands, tropical rainforest and a freshwater stream flowing out to the beach. Highlight of the day was the freshwater lake of Birabeen. It was picture perfect and we had it to ourselves. Crystal clear waters, bright white silica sand beaches, sunshine and the cover of the rainforest surrounding it all. The swim was great although washing our jewelery, teeth, hair and coins had mixed results!! We spent three nights here in all, relaxing by the pool and watching thousands of bats fly overhead in search of food at nightfall. I'll never forget them, regular as clockwork at 7.10pm. Needless to say, Karen was scared at first but even tried to video them on the last night!

After Hervey Bay and Fraser Island came the drive down the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane which although pretty had very little to do other than eat, drink and shop. Nevermind, we bumped into Lou for a drink (another one from the reef trip) and spend more time with the Irish.

Leaving Brisbane after two nights was no real wrench. We drove to Surfers Paradise which was very like Majorca (full of tatty shops, bars, bungy shows and fast food). After that we drove down a pretty stretch of road which took us to Byron Bay. The place is beyond pretty but the town wasn't much to our liking. A spring break location for teenagers on the drink I reckon. The views from the lighthouse were fabulous. The lighthouse looks over the whole area and as the sun shone we got snap happy with the cameras and could even see Manta Rays in the water below. We then drove onto Ballina and had another couple of nights with the Irish on another great site. We drove into Ballina on the second day to visit the "Big Prawn' and learn about the crazy "Las Balsas" expedition at the maritime museum. The prawn was just a landmark with gift shops and a chip shop. We've seen tonnes of these, the big melon, the big peach, the list goes on and on. The Maritime museum was a find though. Loads of random memrobilllia but one great exhibition about Las Balsas which was basically about three rafts made from Balsa trees (yes balsa wood), occupied with crazy adventurers in the 70's and floated from Equador to Australia just to prove that it could have been done by early man! Crazy eh? One of the rafts was on show as was a fantastic documentary made by the crew en-route and loads of press clippings. All in all a great story!

Coffs Harbour was the biggest disappointment. Nothing to say, expected another Byron Bay and got Whitley Bay!!

With great haste we retreated to Cessnock in the Hunter Valley and experienced two nights in another awful site. As we were drunk the whole time though it didn't seem to matter. Between the Australia Hotel and the wine tasting the six of us were well served and the hospitality of a NUFC support behind the bar was fantastic (even though the England / Holland match was awful).

Nelson Bay was the surprise package. We'd been looking for somewhere close to Sydney to end our trip and this was perfect. Went to the old fashioned cinema in the evening, lounged around the fantastic site in the afternoon and went dolphin spotting the next morning (saw 3 pods of Dolphins - about 12 in total - in 2 hours).

A return to Narabeen on the final night of our road trip saw the laundry and van cleaning get done and we managed to watch a bit of TV (more bearable in the van the further south we got as temperature and humidity dropped off). Dropped the van off in A1 condition and headed back to Manly where over the next 3 days we prepared for NZ, said goodbye to Family and Friends (old and new) and ate like kings for the last time at Ribs n' Rumps.