Blenheim to Westport

Drove from the east coast to the west coast today going via Kaiteriteri and some pretty sections of Abel Tasman. Unfortunately I woke up with a nasty tummy big so plans for kayaking or doing anything physical were scrapped and a few easy walks were taken instead.

I'm now in Westport and will be heading southwards towards Franz Josef. It's gonna get c-c-c-c-c-cold....

Still in Blenheim

Yay - two days in one place and I didnt drive today. Instead I went on a winery tour aound the Marlborough region. We went to about 7 wineries including Forrest, Saint Clair, Framingham, Tuia, Hunters and Allan Scott and polished it off with a chocolate producer and some schnapps. All soooo very good. I managed to only buy one bottle of Bouldevines Pinot Noir at the last winery and am looking forward to it keeping me warm when I'm at Franz Josef!
Tomroow I'm heading off towards Nelson and Abel Tasman for some kayaking and then will keep heading south along the west coast. Hopefully I'll be glacier walking in a couple days :o)

Hastings to Blenheim

Only a few hours driving today to get me to Wellington to catch the ferry from the North Island to the South Island and now I'm sitting in a pretty little van park in Blenheim munchin on a yummy dinner and waiting for my laundry to finish.
The drive down from Hastings was much the same - green, green and more green with the occasional section of river or ocean although the ferry ride over gave us about three hours of ocean and very spectacular views as we came through Marlborough Sound.
Tomorrow I'm off on a winery cruise and will be staying in Blenheim again before heading off in the direction of Nelson (not too far away) and on to the West Coast to play on some glaciers :o)

Rotorua to Hastings

Two words people… SKYDIVE TAUPO!! Yeeeeehaaaaaaah!!!! 15000ft, one minute of freefall and an incredible view! I even had a pink plane to jump out of!! Choice Bro!
Other than that I went to the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland on my way out of Rotorua and now I’m in Hastings after a beautiful drive along the Thermal Highway.

Tomorrow I’m thinking of getting to Wellington before heading over to the South Island and right now I have some time and net access so am gonna try get some photo’s – on Facebook at least :o)

Kerikeri to Thames and Thames to Rotorua

Kerikeri to Thames (Thursday)
Another pretty long driving day today but had a wander round Kerikeri and a few others along the way. Tonight I’m in Thames which is on the Coromandel Peninsula and I’ve actually met up with the Belgians from Whangarei, one of whom was on the dive boat with me. Not so lonely in the communal areas when ya know someone :o)
There’s no network here at Thames unless I pay for the van parks access but as I’ve already paid for my own, I’ll hold off until mine kicks in somewhere else.
The weather has turned super windy and mega cold. I reckon that extra blanket I got yesterday will come in handy!! All I need now is some winter clothes – I thought the weather would be nice over here :o(
Planning to cruise around the Peninsula tomorrow and end up in Tauranga. In theory there’s not too much driving time in that and it’ll be a good launching base for the following day.

Thames to Rotorua (Friday)
Absolutely frikkin glorious day today. The weather has cleared up and I’ve enjoyed the majestic Coromandel Coast. Rolling hills, coastal drives and forested mountains have dominated the day. The roads are so curvy and twisty they’d easily give the Bolivian Death Road a run for its money! I’ve also just checked out cathedral Cove and the surrounding bays of the Hahei area. Truly beautiful.

I’m currently in Waiti deciding where to head to tonight. Most likely Rotorua – depending on how long it takes to get there.

Whangarei to Kerikeri

Now, before you smarty pants tell me I haven’t driven very far today (approx 90 km’s) bear in mind the fact I drove the long way round along the Twin Coast Discovery trail which took me to Dargaville, Waipoua Forest, Kiakohe, Kaitaia, Mangonui, Taupo Bay and then into Kerikeri. All up the day took about 8 hours relaxed driving – well except for the 50km’s I had the fuel light on with no petrol station in sight… Reckon I only just rolled into that heaven sent Shell but then again something heaven sent surely wouldn’t be charging $1.89/litre, would it??? Ouch – should have checked the cost of petrol before disembarking on this voyage…
Anyways, I’ve had a lovely day with spectacular scenery of trees and hillsides and mountains. All very green on this side of the world.
Two special mentions… One – Tane Mahuta (Maori for ‘Lord of the Forest’) is the largest known kauri tree in the world. 51m tall, 14m round, 1500 years old. When I got there a local maori was singing to the tree (its his job apparently). Such an outstanding and moving voice it gave me shivers.

Two – Taupo Bay – absolutely gorgeous. It’s off the main road between Mangonui and Kerikeri and is a little beach snuggled between huge rocky outcrops. It’s so special its even got its own Tsunami Plan! :o)

So tonight I’m in Kerikeri and will head in the direction of Tauranga tomorrow. Another big drive but its come to my attention I have no where near as much time as I’d like… But on the other hand that just means I’ll have to come back again… :o)

Dive Tutukaka – Poor Knights

Brilliant day. We were on the water by 9am, had a silky smooth boat ride out to the islands and were in for our first dive at 10.30am. What a beautiful site!! Loads more fish than the barrier reef and much more plants than coral too. Plus – theres loads of little transparent jelly fish and what looks like eggs too. I’ll have to goggle that one to show what I mean. Between dives and during lunch we went on a little cruise around the islands and to another site rightly called the Tunnel. Definitely something to experience as you really are diving through a tunnel so its pretty dark but theres also a huge drop off underneath which makes the whole thing pretty scary. Must say I loved every minute of it – even the rough seas on the way home thanks to the wind picking up - alot!!
No idea where I’m going tomorrow yet… Will have a look at the guide books and maps tonight and head somewhere north for a couple more days before I start my southward journey. One of the guys on the boat said we’re in for some super cold weather (ie snow!!) so might have to drop into a good sammys and pick up a blankie or two. Last night in Lucida was surprising comfortable and warm but I’m not too sure what will happen when it gets colder :o)

New Zealand so far...

Well, I've been here for three days and I'm absolutely loving it...
I flew in on Friday night after LAN Air cancelled my flight and put me on an Air NZ flight - at least thats what they thought they did... turns out I had to have a bit of a tanty between LAn and Air NZ to be able to get on to the promised flight but all was good in the end. Upon landing a lovely random I'd been chatting to on the plane about the meaning of life offered me a ride in the taxi his work was paying for. Schweet!!
Saturday I just wondered around Auckland and got my bearings with the city. Its a lovely city just to walk around and soak up the sights and thats exactly what I did. Such a very pretty little city.
Sunday I took a tour over to Piha on the west coast to join in a learn to surf class. What an experience. The water temp was about 16 but very bearable in a wetsuit. The waves were nice and small which were perfect for my 8'4" board. It took me about 30 minutes of frustrating trips, slips and falls before I figiured out how to hold my balance and then it was all on. Sooooo much fun once you've gotten past that initial hurdle but boy do I hurt today... Must of used a lot of dormant muscles... Ouch...
And today I picked up Lucida - my little Jucy Toyota camper van. I think its seen better days and makes some funny noises but so far she's been treatin me right. We drove from Auckland up to Whangarei today and plan to go diving at Tutukaka's Poor Knights tomorrow. Fingers crossed my aches and pains get better and I sleep well in my new mobile home :o)

Cairns (update from New Zealand)

Well, Cairns was a blast. We went to Port Douglas, Kuranda, the Tablelands, Tully, the Barrier Reef and lots more. We saw lots of land and water life, waterfalls, landscapes and people. I loved the diving but must admit I was disappointed with the reef. It's pretty much dead so if you go expecting to see bright colours, you'll only see them on the fish :o(
The weather in Cairns was super humid most the time and when it got to raining point it was only a light shower for a few minutes til the sun came out again. Not once did we really need an umbrella or raincoat!
Sadly a week wasnt enough. I could so easily live up there if it wasnt so damn far away from everyone and everything... D'oh...

five hours to kill til jen gets into cairns... what to do?...

I know - I'll do some more blogging... I've been inspired (not sure if thats the right word) by my Newcastle to Brisbane and Brisbane to Cairns flights today and while I wait for Jens flight to get in at 4am (yup!!) I've wandered over to the international terminal for some peace and quiet and would like to make some comments on some very simple etiquette...
Lets start with people flying with children. Its no secret that I'm not a little people person and would rather stick a skewer through my eardrums than have some screaming child pierce them for me but is it really that difficult for a parent to realise that their hysterical brats shrieking is not soothing music to my ears, particularly on a late night flight? And would they like me to sit behind them and kick the back of their seat for the duration of the flight? Come on folks - its not brain surgery I'm asking you to perform here...
And what about the bloke who gets up to exit before the seat belt light goes off and already has an unlit ciggie dangling from his crusty lips coz he just cant wait those extra 10 minutes til he's collected his baggage and can join the rest of his feral mates who wont come in the front door coz heaven forbid they'd have to put their ciggies out?...
And now what about my wonderful peace and quiet being shattered by 15 foreign teenagers? I can honestly say the poor fella's sleeping about 20 metres away didnt think much of it...
Anyways - that'll do for my grumbling today... I need to start figuring out what the hell Jen and I are gonna do when she gets in - at 4am :o)