go north young man

Now its getting a bit last minute as we rush up north, but its worth doing rather than not doing it at all. The drive up to Fox Glacier was impressive as the scenery changes from glacially formed to created by rivers and the sediments from. The vegetation changes as well, so we were tropical rainforest by the time we reached the coast. The views of Lake Hawae and the north part of Lake Wanaka were breathtaking (Im getting bored of that word).

The road followed the coast perfectly most of the time, swinging in and out, with mountains on the right and the waters of the Tasman sea on the left. Fox Glacier is a very small town indeed; with one petrol station and one store come grocery come newsagent it was a peaceful place. Ivory towers backpackers seemed nice enough, and it had good views over town. Another classic example of paper walls, but beggars and backpackers cant be choosers.

We tried to organise the skydive for the following day, and as I got up at 0700 I realised I might as well go straight back to bed. The rain was coming down like curtains at a toddlers party. Instead we waited for a dry spell and then walked to the glacier. A rock fall had closed the path, but being adventurers we ignored the ropes and signs and walked up to the glacier, and noticed the 50 or so other adventurers. I climbed to the glacier itself and broke a chunk off. I like touching things and a big ice cube is no different. Its got almost a paste inside the ice from crushed rock and it makes your hands filthy and its GREAT!

Another night at Fox glacier, after trying and failing to get a reflection of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman in Lake Matheson, and we headed north. The plan was to get to Picton by 2030 that same day, as we had a ferry to catch. We passed through Franz Joseph township, near the glacier of the same name, stopped for petrol at the dreary town of Greymouth, grey by name and nature. We wanted to get to Hokitiki as its a big craft centre. In the end while most of the greenstone is found in the southern island, most of the Maori carvers are in the north island especially around Rotorua. i did persuade Cathy to come to the Kiwi sanctuary. There was a mental one legged Kiwi and a couple of others lurking in the dark.

Once we left Hokitiki, there was no hanging about and taking turns at the wheel we drove to Picton, taking the coast road north before missing Nelson and taking the inland road to Blenheim, arriving at Picton at 2027, pretty damn good.

We boarded the frry, found a space to sleep and tried to, if it hadnt been for some hard of hearing sheepshearers. While they couldnt hear each other, everyone else on board could here everything. It was 1am by the time we hit Wellington and I drove Cathy up to Mount Cook to take in the view of the harbour and the city, then we drove to Pukerua Bay near Muri, parked up and went to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of seagulls, the waves, and Leftfield at an earbleeding volume as Cathy turned the car to ignition to see the clock. Apart from the rude awakening, it was a lovely day and we drove for most of it, stopping only briefly for a stretch and fresh air by Lake Taupo before cruising into Rotorua. We rang the first place, Spa Lodge and they had space to we wandered over and tried to get over the stench. To say Rotorua smells nice is saying the US has an ethical foreign policy. The hot springs creep out of gardens, cracks in the roadside and on hills surrounding the town, so steam just appears from nowhere. The craft shops (such a patronising phrase) are great, with lots of greenstone carving. Its very touristy but who cares,

you have to see all sides.

The hot mud pools and geysers were great, although the geysers didnt perform for us, well, only a little. The Tamaki Maori Cultural village was our next stop in the evening. An honest and sincere expression of their culture Id like to think. We saw the challenge for when another tribe comes to visit, some songs and explanation of weaponary, a Haka was performed and then we ate a feast, a hangi, cooked in an earth oven. If it means that people are educated about the culture then I dont care about the number of coaches filled with tourists.

Its getting whistlestop now. Onwards to Waitomo and we saw the limestone caves to the north of Waitomo and the Waitomo caves themselves. The Limestone caves are huge, extending hundreds of metres below ground. Years were needed to chart the caves. The Glowworm caves down the road were spectacular and worth seeing, more so for feeding the noisy father and daughter to the glowworms. The spectacle should be enjoyed in absolute silence, as u need to be able to take in the site. Its like looking at a green map of the stars. So alien and so beautiful.

Back in the car, lets get to Auckland.

There was no room at the Brown Kiwi, the hostel in Ponsonby that I keep going back to, but Cathy was feeling generous and paid for us to stay at Mollies. This very classy motel has just been refurbished. There is antique furniture in the minimalistically decorated rooms. Perhaps styled too much with bachelors in mind, it was still luxury compared to the hostels. In the kitchen was a DISHWASHER!!!! WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER. The rooms were underfloor heated, and there were large TV's in the two bedrooms and lounge. The bathroom had a separate bath and shower, and both bedrooms were ensuite. The fridge and freezer were huge, the sheets expensive and this cost less than 50 pounds. Luxury. Better than a hotel room and nicer than the nicest motel.

Now it was time to move on, I had to sell the car and Cathy had to return home.

too much snow

Mount Cook has a very small village at the foot of it. The views are comparable to being an ant in 50 metre high white sand dunes. That doesnt work either. The glaciers bring boulders down the hillside, the hills are carved as easily as cheese, the air is so clean it feels like it was made fresh that morning, the mountains so intimidating that they would suffice as a fortress.

The YHA in Mount Cook village is lovely, built in an alpine style, with a sauna, TV lounge, great kitchen and amazing views from the rooms. We met up with an Irish couple that had been staying at Vagabonds in Christchurch, and also attempted a couple of walks. The previous snowfall had made walking dangerous and many tracks were closed due to avalanche risk. This was to be a recurring theme over the next few weeks, but it didnt stop ius this day from walking up to a good viewpoint along a valley up to Mount Cook.

After the stroll, we got going and headed to Wanaka. Its a quiet town on the south end of a large lake. The lake itself doglegs, so you only see part of it. There was a problem on arriving; again down to the snow, there wasnt any room in any hostel or most motels as skiers and snowboarders had turned up for the fresh powder. We hunted high and low until we found a place with room and we had to resort to Lakeview Motel. This ended up being an excellent compromise. We had a veranda, and a studio flat, with TV, small sweet kitchen and amazing views, definitely better than those in town and we got the evening light while the rest of town had slipped into darkness far earlier.

We got aquainted with the town, and saw what there was to do. Skiing, which has never really appealed to me, appeared on the menu. Skydiving also made an appearance. We booked the skydiving and rang about the skiing. Skydiving for the sunday and skiing was organised for Monday and Tuesday. In the end the skydiving here was called off; another recurring theme. Instead we paid a visit to the Warbirds museum and the Puzzle town. Both on the outskirts of town, the former is a museum storing WWII planes and the latter is a collection of puzzles including optical illusions and a very very very large maze. I fell over in the optical illusion room and it could have happenned to anyone. There was a room full of holograms which were ok, but there was an optical illusion room with moulded heads of famous people. It meant their eyes really did follow you around the room, and surprisingly the image that was the most disturbing was Mother Theresa. I never thought I would get to say that she was disturbing, but Einstein, Churchill, Mandela and Beethoven were a joy to see compared to her.

The roast lamb cooked that evening was surprisingly good considering the size of the oven. I think Barbie had been the previous owner. We needed the feed as the next two days of skiing was energy intensive.

Our first lesson on the Monday was with a Maori skiier; you cant have preconceptions in this place. He was great and very relaxed. I seemed to go ok, while Cathy having skiied before, brushed up and was used as the model for us. b*(&%. The afternoon lesson was with another very relaxed guy, american, and looked far too cool. By the end of Monday I could snow plough, sorry wedgie, and wedgie turn. Whats more I LIKED it. I never thought I would say it, considering those Ski Sunday shows of past on BBC showing dreary downhill skiing had put me off. Its great, but I had started having a sense of humour failure when I got bored of falling over, especially at the top of the ski lift.

Tuesday was far better as I tried different runs and had a couple of runs where I DIDNT FALL OVER! Things were going well.

true blue

Cathy has arrived and having someone to travel with would not doubt be interesting. We are staying in Vagabonds, a hostel on Worcester St in Christchurch. The first few days were spent relaxing and allowing Cathy to get over jet lag. The obligatory punting trip was done, powered by a particularly humerous punter, or at least I think thats what he was called. His patter was good and while we cruised up and down the river he gave a guided tour in both English and Japanese. While I was impressed with his multilingual capabilities, his Kiwi accent on Japanese would have allowed him to play in Star Wars, with "kiwanofuji Jabba nosha" and "Skywalker campai no kaywa bimo moshi no Jedi" seemed to be two of his popular phrases

when describing the architecure of Christchurch.

Seeing as the weather was good, we had a walk round the botanic gardens, plus drinking, getting my boots repaired seeing as they dont make Boots Combat High like they used to, and staring at maps for hours saying things like "Well, we could drive there" then having a cup of tea and forgetting about "there".

Once a few sights were exhausted and knowing that Cathy didnt have a lot of time in New Zealand, we packed and left and drove to Lake Tekapo. Its a fair drive, but we stopped off at a few towns along the way, mainly to go to the toilet, drink tea or get some petrol. Hardly riveting but it passes the time.

By the time we arrived at Lake Tekapo it was dark and we struggled to find the YHA, particularly if you drive to fast and miss the 'town' completely. Down by the lake, we enter the YHA and were met by, nobody. There wasnt anyone behind the counter, so I investigate round the back and get accosted by Jim and his dog. Apparently this dog is a man eater; many backpackers have been lost due to the vicious streak and we were castigated for disturbing this dangerous animal.

Jim, the dogs worried owner is an old gentle spoken Scotsman, who we had originally thought it to be a lost cause for trying to befriend, especially after the initial dog-centred introduction, but Cathy and I played tag team friendship with him. He was an ex para and despite his years (60+) continued to skydive; he had loved his time in the Army and it had given him an interest in travel. I moved back and let Cathy go onto him with her knowledge of Scotland. In the end he kept coming back for more, and opened up without hesitation. He was learning Japanese, and loved living in New Zealand, and we were both glad we met Jim.

While our social skills were being put to use on Jim, we thought it best to exercise by climbing Mount John. This affords some of the best views of Lake Tekapo. Its difficult to walk when you are glued to the vision that is below you, and the lake is quite breathtaking. Its a similar blue to a lagoon, caused by rock flour suspended in the water. This rock flour is brought down in the streams from glaciers. I learnt that on a poster in the hostel, so I suppose it must be true. Whatever, the lake doesnt look real.

The second morning we awoke to find that snow had been dumped around the lake, reducing colours still further. Instead of green and brown hills with snowy peaks, surrounding a blue lake and clear blue sky, there was white hills, blue lake blue sky. Thats it. Breathtaking. Cant describe it. There isnt any point. I saw it and its in my head. My brain wasnt able to cope with a few that had so few colours in it.

We paid a little visit to the old church by the edge of the lake. Its a very pretty church but I was starting to feel the graveyard wasnt big enough to bury the coach loads of loud tourists crawling like ants over the scenery. The working dog monument is nearby and an indicator of how rural a community New Zealand is, where the working dog is held in such high esteem.

Onwards and southwards to lunch by Lake Pukaki, a slightly less blue cousin of Lake Tekapo. We found the proper picnic spot, but again the coaches had ejaculated the demented hords of cramped tourists. We backtracked, and found a gravel track down to the lake and brewed up a cup of tea. Ahhh, peace.

Once we had absorbed the scenery a little more we headed to Mount Cook.