New Zealand - Old Friends, Bowling and Sulphur

We caught the inter-island ferry from Picton to Wellington. It takes about three hours and was an uneventful crossing, which was exactly what needed considering our previous stormy boat journey. From the port we drove to Keith and Sue's house just outside Wellington city centre. They live in a pretty wooden house in the hills.

We had a few lazy days taking advantage of the couch after a jam packed month in the camper van. Emmet was very excited by the prospect of the playstation and worked on his FIFA skills. Once rested, we had a couple of days exploring in Wellington. We wandered the streets, visited a museum, had hearty lunches and, of course, many coffees. Keith had informed us that Wellington has great coffee, and we weren't disappointed. On one of our walks back from said coffee establishments, Emmet tripped up on a cats eye on a busy street and landed flat out in the middle of the road. He decided just humbly standing up was for losers. Instead, during his clumsy fall across the road, he added a James Bond style tumble to some what restore what ever pride he had left. It didn't and Emmet was keen to make a swift exit. Unfortunately, Niamh's concern for Emmet's urgent want to evacuate the area was overwritten by the fact that she was crouched in a heap trying not to wet herself with laughter. 

 

The next morning Emmet and Keith went to watch Ireland get annihilated by Germany at an ungodly hour. Sue brought Niamh to her pottery class, which was really enjoyable. I made a fruit bowl with a fox on it. It will need several weeks to dry out, so Sue will have to take over from here!

We went for a big night out on the Saturday. First we went to a great Japanese restaurant and had a delicious meal. We got a chicken and egg dish which was cooked in a big pot in front of us and a noodle soup. Afterwards we went bowling where we put in embarrassingly bad performance. Niamh's key aim was not to throw the ball in the gutter, which happened 60 per cent of the time, all the time.

We headed out after and went to the library bar, which just had books everywhere, funnily enough. A few people headed off then and the rest of us went to a cool bar called the Mighty Mighty. They have live bands playing and good DJs normally. This time unfortunately the band wasn't great. We stayed a while, but there is only so much one can take. The singer did have an outstanding white coat with giant shoulder pads but that was as good as it got I'm afraid. So we went bar hopping for a bit, one place was called The Alice Bar, which was based on Alice in Wonderland. We were looking for a bit of a party place at this stage of the night, but all the usual good spots didn't have good music on that you can get your funk on to. So a kebab it was. A big, fat kebab. I said, "Whats your finest kebab old fello?". He said "The Supreme". I said "The Supreme it is so good sir". And supreme it was!

The following day was a hangover day for all. Keith whipped up a big roast, which was really good. Then the TV was all that was needed to nurse us back to health.

Our next destination was the art deco town of Napier. It was one of our favourite cities in New Zealand. The architecture was really unique and the place had a nice buzz to it. We even had our own peeping Tom behind our van in the campsite.

 

We also found the nicest cafe so far. It even had knitting. They have a box with loads of knitted squares that customers can add to. Once they have a load of squares they will sew up a blanket for people who need blankets. No guesses to what Niamh done for an hour.

We squeezed in round three of mini golf...the decider. Emmet won, for now. That evening we gave the Jucy van DVD player a rest and went to the cinema to see Taken 2. Better than the first one and alright for what it is.

The next stop was smelly Rotorua. It is a town based in a volcanic region and stinks of sulphur. As usual there is all he overpriced tours you can do, instead, we found a self guided driving and walking tour and headed off ourselves. It was great craic. We went to see sulphur pools with wafts of steam pouring out of them and the grounds of old Victorian baths with lovely flower gardens.

 

 

They had a community art centre with some really great pieces, including teapot decorations and ceramic skulls. What more do you need?

That evening we went to the cinema again. We found an independent cinema that shows obscure films in the smallest theatre in the world. We might as well have been in a rich persons living room. It was lovely though. You can even buy wine if it takes your fancy, swish. We saw Hysteria with Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal,  which was really good and definitely recommended. I just tried to write a mini film review, it wasn't very successful so I suggest people try google instead if their interested.

Our final stop in New Zealand was Auckland. We firstly had to drop our van back which was a sad moment after 5 great weeks together. Our sadness quickly disintegrated when we arrived at Niamh's cousin Ilona's house. Ilona lives just outside the city centre with her husband Joe and their two kids. Sophie is only one and we hadn't met her yet. Eva is five now and was only a baby when we saw her last. We had a catch up and many cups of tea, which progressed to wine. It was great to see everyone again.

We spent the next couple of days wandering the streets, drinking coffee and visited a museum (probably one of the shortest visits ever, but we did get to see one exhibition). There was a triathlon on so we spent some time looking for Irish racers and cheering them on. Exciting stuff! Haven't seen that many Irish people sweating since the construction crash.

 

Emmet on a really steep hill.

We have enjoyed our time in New Zealand, but it is now time to move on. The next stop is Cairns in Australia, so until then.

New Zealand: Glaciers, Seals and Near Death

We arrived in Fox Glacier and booked ourselves into the campsite. The weather was deteriorating the rain that was promised started coming. We booked ourselves in for a Glacier hike the next day regardless. We also went for a short walk to nearby forest after dark to see some glow worms. We arrived a little early and thought it might be another penguin situation. We didn't want to be stood up by glow worms. However, they didn't disappoint us and appeared once it got a little darker. There were loads of them under tree roots and in the moss. It looked spectacular

The next morning we arrived at the meeting centre and were given warm and (sort off) waterproof layers, boots and crampons (boots with spikes on the soles so you don't slip and also the worst word in the English language). We got a bus to the foot of the Glacier and started hiking. Our guide was called Scott and there were four other people with us, a family from Australia and a fella from France.

Before we went onto the ice, we sat down to put on our crampons. The Australian mother sat down to put on hers, only for the guide to look over at her about to put them on the wrong way round. There she was, spikes sticking up in the air, about to put her foot down on them. A worrying start. It's not rocket science. Spikes in your foot equals pain and limping. Sure that would ruin your day all together I'd say.

So once everyone was sorted, off we went to climb the glacier. Steps are chiseled out of the ice every day to make it easier for people to walk. It  was so much fun. Obviously really cold and wet, particularly as it was raining, but it didn't matter really. Some of the ice is really blue and we saw loads of sink holes and tunnels. We walked for a few hours and then had lunch. Once we stopped moving it was freezing! It was only when we got back to the carpark and saw where we walked to that we realised how far we had gone. By the end, we were soaking. The waterproof gear was not so waterproof! The shower afterwards was up there with a post festival shower in satisfaction terms.

We drove to Franz Joseph to meet up with Kate that evening. She was involved in organising a bar bungee for work. We had a few drinks and watched the people running up and down the bar on bungee cord. Until, that is, our names were called out. Emmet was the designated runner, and Niamh was the drinker even though she cant chug. Emmet done well on the running, until the fella holding the bungee pulled him back. This was not obvious to people watching. I thought he was just crap at it. Niamh attempted to chug. It didn't work. Emmet started making me laugh, which cause the beer to come back out my nose. Some of it landed in the cup. Emmet, ashamed of my drinking skills grabbed the cup and before I could stop him chugged the rest, and unknowingly drank my snot. More than he bargained for.

The following day, we drove up to a small town called Hoitika. They have a little place where they keep Kiwi's, so we went to see them. They are really cool little guys, they are bigger than I thought they would be. We had to go to see them, we are in New Zealand after all. There were also giant eels that we got to feed cows liver to there. That was good fun. They are massive. Don't fall in the water folks!

We decided to drive over to Kaikora over the other side of the country a few days earlier than originally planned. It was raining non stop and due to stay that way. We stopped off for the night in Jacksons in a really nice camper site. We had hoped to do a bit of hiking in the area, as the route we were taking is one of the nicest parts of the country. Unfortunately we didn't out drive the rain that day and it caught up with us. So it was a night in the common area beside the heater.

We stopped at a really nice coffee place on the way.

 

Kaikora is famous for its marine life. We had heard about a colony of seal pups that swim in a river just outside the town and that was our first stop. The seals were amazing. There were four of them swimming around, doing flips and balancing leaves of their noses. One of them just sat on rock, slept and then posed for us! On the drive back we saw loads of colonies of adult seals, lazing on the beach and swimming in the sea.

At one stage while we were watching the baby seals we got chatting to a older couple from Australia. They were lovely. The best part of the conversation was when the lady started explaining the difference between New Zealand bush and Australian bush. Apparently, Australian bush is much neater, but in Ireland its just a forest. We struggled not to laugh out loud.

The next stop was a lavender farm which had lovely coffee.

We walked around the town. We had planned to do a cliff walk and see more seals. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, Niamh had an accident. It was probably due, it had been a few days. She managed to bust up her toe on some gravel and had to get first aid from a lady working in a museum nearby.

 

We had spotted a place called Donegal House on our travels and decided to stop in for dinner. We got a roast and mud pie for 15 dollars which is about a tenner. Bargor. It was the best food we have had since we left Dublin. It padded our stomachs for the pub later. We went to a music night in a local bar. The main band were good, although the guitarist kept trying to sing, he had an awful voice. There were a couple of young lads, who were brilliant. We were happier when they got on stage and didn't offend our ear drums.

Our next stop was Picton which is a grand town. We once again had fish and chips by the waterfront and fed some sea gulls. Feeding the gulls was just wonderful! We played mini golf, Niamh won.

 

 

We went for a hike on the Queen Charlotte walk which has spectacular views of the Marlborough Sounds. It was beautiful. The end was a bit disappointing, just a wooden stump, but as they say its the journey that counts. We managed to walk 25 k in 5 hours but were in bits afterwards.

 

 

There not loads to say about Nelson either. It is a nice town, we got a great baked potato from a street stall, found a great coffee shop and bought delicious cake from the farmers market. We also stayed a night in Motueka which was a nice place to chill in preparation for an epic hike with Keith and Sue.

 

For those that don't know Keith (O'Dowda) is a school friend of Emmet's who lives in Wellington. His girlfriend is Sue. We met them in Marahau and after a brief catch up we started out walking. Abel Tasman is a beautiful national park on the coast of the north of the south island. We done a three day hike staying in huts at night. The huts were really basic, no electricity, cooking facilities or bedding.

The first day we had a four hour hike to the hut at Anchorage. It was quite tough with the big rucksacks full of food and equipment. We decided the best thing was to drink our bottle of whiskey to lighten the load for the next day. It was too cold to sit outside by a fire so we sat in the kitchen in front of the wood burner.

The second day we walked to Bark Bay. We had an early start as there was a tidal crossings, so we had to reach the crossing in a certain time window when the tide was out and we could walk across the sand. We got most of the way across but there was still some water that required us to take off our shoes and socks, roll up our pants and get into the freezing water. Keith "Aqua Man" O' Dowda had his water friendly shoes on, so he was grand.

We got to the second hut in great time. Because we got there so early, the ranger told us of a back room which we got to ourselves.  We chilled out for the day and that evening we chopped up a bit of wood and set up a fire outside. We got out the bottle of rum and a few marshmallows and stuck on a few tunes and had a great night and talked about the good old days of drunken nights as teenagers.

The following day we headed off, with a little faster pace than expected. We found out at the last minute that there was a tidal crossing that we were not prepared for. We had to leg it to get there before the tide came in. Thankfully we made it because of our outstanding hiking abilities. We then came to the lodge that we had heard about and it was better than we could of wished for. It had a bar! Result! We then found out there was yet again another crossing, this time we had missed it though and it wouldn't be open again until six that evening. There was a longer way around, which we ended up taking.

We arrived at the last but certainly not the least hut. Great little spot, which, apart from a German couple which were camping, we had the whole place to ourselves. The ranger came in and told us when the crossing was. He donned a pair of shorts that brings short shorts to a new level. Shorter than a man of his size should ever even attempt to wear. Worrying. He told us not to wake him when we came back from the pub. We joked we'd have a party. He starred at us blankly. Zero craic! I suppose he had bigger problems, like his wardrobe.

We headed over to the lodge in the pitch dark. Torches are definitely needed out there. We chilled out for a while and had a few drinks. When we finally made it back to the lodge, we brought the mattresses out by the fire in the common area and set the fire up. We did have the place to ourselves after all. Cosy.

The following day we were due to head home on a water taxi. Basically a small boat. This would of been fine any of the other lovely days we had. This day though, was particularly rubbish weather. It was lashing rain and really, really windy. The sea was rough and the waves were massive. We stood on the beach watching the tiny boat come to shore, disappearing occasionally behind the waves. Not a confidence builder. The captain arrived to shore and we took some bags off the boat. There was a while where we weren't sure if we would get on the boat. We had to wade out to it as it was thrown about and attempt to get on. Off we went and it was kind of fun at first. That soon finished though when we got a little further out and left the inlet. It was really bad and massive waves were throwing the boat up in the air and we'd crash down and hit the sea with a thud.

We went further up the coast to to collect other people. When we got to the coast, the boyfriend of the German couple was in trouble. His speech was all slurred and his hands had frozen and he couldn't move his fingers. It was really scary, he didn't want to stay on the boat and we still had an hour journey back. Everyone was really worried about him, as we were in a really remote place. Thankfully one of the guys who was getting off there had a car and said he would take him to a medical centre. First we had to warm him up. We started putting our clothes on him. Keith's hat and Emmet's sock were sacrificed and after he was carried off the boat he started to improve a lot. They thanked us for our help and off they went. Turns out apart from shock, he had Hypothermia. Scary.

 

We picked up two French couples at the first beach on the way home. We tried to go in to pick others up at a particularly  rough beach. We couldn't get to them. We took a wave to the side which the captain managed to drive through. Then when we were trying to leave the inlet, he had to turn and turned into a massive wave side on. It towered over the boat and hit us so hard we all thought that we were going to capsize. Thankfully we didn't. The driver apologised after a few screams. We had to keep going though and others had to be picked up. Thankfully the following beaches weren't as bad as that one. We managed to get everyone else on board.

When we arrived back, even the driver was shaken up. It was maybe the most terrifying experience of our lives and we were very, very lucky we got back safely. The driver told us it was a character building experience. Ha. I suppose you have to see the funny side of these things. Also, the German guy was fine in the end. Lets just hope that Emmet's sock and Keith's hat can someway go towards the massive debt the Irish owe Angela, aka....The Merk. Thanks Germany.

Link to Photos