Dreaming of John Denver

Thursday April 2, Sydney.

Take me home country roads......we stood at Cape Reinga, the most northerly point of New Zealand last week and the ‘lands end’ style tourist sign told us it was 28012km to London. It wasn’t so much the distance that hit home but the fact that we had finally realised we were close to heading back to England and there it was, right in front of our eyes.

A long way from home.

So 3 flights and 13 hours of jet lag to deal with- no problems bro!
Cape Reinga was a surprisingly spiritual space. According to Maori folklore, when someone from your family passes away, one shouldn’t mourn, but instead actually celebrate the time you had together. At the northern tip of the North Island the soul’s finally say goodbye. As strange as it seems, we could feel it.
After 6 ½ months away from home it also marked the start of a long trip back to Tonbridge.
We arrived at Russell last Tuesday afternoon and booked a 2 night stopover. 5 nights later we were still there and as we sat on the sunset lit terrace of Richard and Judy, a couple who we had met 2 days prior on the 7am ferry to Paihia, a genorous Gordons g&t in hand, we felt as we relaxed as any point throughout the entire trip. Russell is amazing. One day we shall return.

Happy Russell- we loved it.

Of all the places we have seen since leaving home, the Bay of Islands must be the most beautiful. If we had come here a month ago, I don’t think we would have moved. Since last September and our time in Cape Yorke, the days we spent there have remained at the number 1 spot in our trip experience. It would seem nothing would knock it off the top. ‘Rock the Boat’ however managed to help New Zealand’s far north do it.
We were looking for something of all the best bits of the last few weeks- snorkelling, sea kayaking, sailing, fishing- and completely by accident we came across this set up. Johnny and the boys and girls who run it- thanks so much. If anyone ever gets the chance to come to Russell, make sure you make time to spend a few days with these guys.

Dawn on 'Rock the Boat'

And now to Sydney. Rain, rain, rain. Not we anticipated nor hoped. We had spent new year’s eve here and decided it was not the greatest place to visit in a campervan so had planned a few nights here now. Thank god Elli has gone otherwise we would be walking around in damp clothes and feeling exceptionally miserable. Of all the culture suddenly on offer, footy looked the best option. The Aussie national team- the ‘Socceroo’s’- World Cup qualifying game against Uzbekhistan in the Olympic stadium beckoned. 2-0 Aussie and we were happy, along with 60,000 others despite the rain.

Go Roo's!

So we have completed another 3 of the remaining 27 air hours we have left to reach London. 11 of the 13 flights of the trip and only 4 shopping days to go – thankfully all in Bangkhok- before our return to £’s and pence and Easter weekend. We can’t wait!
See you soon
Andy

Taumatawhakatangitangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu

New Zealand’s longest place name is just awesome. It deserves going to just because of that alone. However we didn’t and nor can we say it either, despite many attempts.
We are however sitting under an absolute carpet of stars in a town called Russell in the Bay of Islands. This place is quite beautiful. It used to be the capital city of New Zealand until Auckland and then Wellington took over that role. Cloaked in history, primarily the signing of the Waitangi Agreement in 1852, we are surrounded by an amazing landscape.
The past 7 days have once again spun by. Our target was meet up with Steve and Jo on Friday to spend a few days in their seaside ‘Bach.’ (batch as we Brits would pronounce). We could not refuse the offer to have a true Kiwi style weekend in a house by the beach on the Coromandel Peninsula.
To get there however required a few days drive, albeit through a countryside that has never ceased to amaze us. As we passed back through the centre of the North Island in Taupo we stopped at the Huka Falls, for which we had managed to miss the turn a few weeks before. The equivalent of two Olympic swimming pools of water passes through this gorge per second and when combined with a ten-metre drop, the result is pretty spectacular.


The Huka Falls



On from there and Bugs had a wish granted when we finally hit the Zorb.
The Zorb is a 11 foot tall plastic ball which you can ride inside. They then add a dash of hot water, throw you in and roll you down a hill. A cross between a water slide and a rollercoaster. Hilarious! Drew picked the short straw and decided to be the accompanying adult- luckily it was sunny. By the time of our third go together, she had picked the courage to ‘GO SOLO!’ We haven’t heard the end of it since, now she has graduated to the Go Girl Daredevil Club.........









Zorbing..........................................................................How cool am i dad?!

We arrived at Pauanui early Friday evening, just after Steve and Jo, to find a bottle of fine red already opened. What followed was an incredibly chilled weekend when we drank wine, went to the beach, had lunch, drank wine, played mini-golf, had wine, went rock fishing, drank beer, had dinner and drank more wine. That was just Saturday.

Is this the most chilled out pastime ever?

As we left on Sunday, we visited Cathedral Cove and had a fab time swimming in the ocean. After we had bade farewell to our hosts we spent the night in Miranda, another cool town name, before arriving in Pakiri Beach for some serious horse riding! Mads and Geo ‘had talked themselves up’ massively ahead of the trek and were not amused when they were downgraded to the ‘incompetents’ and ‘nervous’class which included Lu, myself and Bugs, despite them having not ridden a horse for years. Great horses, with absolutely no doubt whether the rider or the horse, were in total control. Since then we have been aching in parts that we haven’t used a lot this trip.

Maddie- 'I love the beach!'

With only a week to go before we start heading for home, we have come to the Bay of Islands praying for some fine weather to chill out in.
Take care
Drew and Lu. x

We’re on the road to Nowhere.....

3.2.1 Bungy- the evidence, 2 of our girls are nuts!

March 19. Taihape
Taihape markets itself as ‘on the road to everywhere.’ We renamed it after the Talking Heads as it somehow feels more appropriate. We are nowhere. However, it also claims itself to be the Gumboot Throwing capital of New Zealand, an excellent attempt at fame.

the giant Gumboot welcomes us.

We are also now within 50k of Mordor and Mount Doom of Lords of the Rings movie fame, so you can get a good idea of the scenery round here- pretty spectacular.
As we took the ferry from Picton this morning, we bade a fond farewell to the South Island. Our 2 and half weeks there have seen us experience weather of every extreme: swimming from golden beaches in Abel Tasman; floods in Hokitika; the glaciers; snow in Queenstown; and all capped off by a beautiful weekend spent with the Mances in Christchurch. It has left lasting impressions on us all.
We had not met with Chris, Ceci, Kira, Maia and Luam for several years so we were pretty excited at the prospect of meeting up. From our arrival on Friday afternoon to bidding farewell on Monday morning we had loads of fun and they showed us some parts of their beautiful city which we would never have come across from a ‘Lonely Planet.’ Whilst a visit to Fred and Myrtles ‘Paua’ shell house introduced us to Kiwi eccentricity at its finest, our forearms are all still burning from our exertions at the ‘Clip and Climb’ climbing centre last Saturday. In the Mance madhouse, Maddie, Geo and Bugs negotiated a bed for 3 nights, whilst Lu and I took over the driveway- despite the best efforts of myself, Chris and a passing tree to take the roof off Elli as we reversed in. Thank god I opted for the no-excess insurance policy!

Skipping on Taylors Mistake.

By Monday Lu was ready for one of the highlights of her trip- swimming with the dusky dolphins. We ventured to Kaikoura, just North of Christchurch. When Flipper turned up, with 300 of his best mates, the 4.45am alarm call and the freezing cold water was long forgotten for what is undoubtedly a life-long memory.

5.00 am, freezing but ready...

Heres Flipper

Unfortunately, Bugs, Mads and I elected for the lie-in option so only Geo was there to share it with her.
En route, an impromptu coffee shop stop saw us acquire a serious 9 foot high piece of modern Maori sculpture, which may beat us back to Tonbridge. We are not sure yet where it is going to live but it seemed right at the time. I guess they must have put something extra in the latte.....

the ropeswing to Nowhere

We now head north as the Coromandel and Bay of Islands beckons
Adios, until next time
Andy and Lu

3 2 1 Jump

12 March, Timaru

Skimming stones at Hakitiki

Brrrrrrr- So winter finally hit’s us. After looking forward with some relish to Queenstown and it’s multitude of cool things to do, we got here Monday and were greeted with the majestic scene of snow capped mountains surrounding a deep blue lake- much like Geneva in appearance.

The road to Queenstown

What we didn’t anticipate however were the snow caps progressing steadily closer towards the town as we experienced Queenstown’s lowest ‘high’ March temperature on record. That’s pretty low considering this is an alpine winter ski resort! So we finally got a dose of what Europeans have been experiencing this winter, although in a campervan with a tiny heater and absolutely the wrong sort of clothing. When we ventured outside we pretty much wore everything we possess and looked like a family of Weebles as we darted from one warming coffee shop to another trying to resist the temptation of sticking new sets of winter clothing on the credit card. Bang went the ideas of mountain biking down the Remarkables, white water rafting and Bungee jumping- almost......
As we left town today in a gloriously annoying autumn sun, we drove past Kawarau Bridge bungee jump centre and inquisitiveness got the better of us. Within half an hour Maddie and Georgia were strapped up, Lu watched nervously fully expecting something to go disastrously wrong whilst Olivia was trying to convince the officials she too was 13- just a wee bit small. As soon as we work out the technology, we’ll put the movie on the blog. I’ll let them tell the story when we are back but they are psyched.
Prior to Queenstown, we had spent a very wet couple of days journeying through amazing Lord of the Rings country to the tiny town of Franz Joseph, where rainforest meets the spectacular Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers. Fortunately the storm clouds parted for long enough for us to take a 40 minute helicopter ride up both glaciers even allowing us to land and spend 10 minutes at the top of one of the ice fields, leaving our footprint of a family of snow angels. Truly a once in a lifetime experience. It certainly took care of the girls’ geography lesson for that day.
Two nights followed in the town of Wanaka which proved equally memorable as we discovered the only 5 star campsite of our trip- the luxury of heated bathroom floors and a spa overlooking an amazing mountain view! On the ice on Franz Joseph Glacier

It's a Puzzling World- Wanaka

With only 4 weeks to go before we get home, conversation and thoughts have turned to getting back to life in Tonbridge. Soberingly, Maddie and Georgia have just submitted their GCSE choices- god we must be so old!
Until next time
Andy and Lu

Who discovered England?

Queen Charlotte Sound

Kaiteriteri. March 3rd 2009.
Captain James Cook was a pretty impressive guy. He was the first European to chart New Zealand, beginning in 1769, and did so with such a degree of accuracy that his maps were still being used in the early 20th century. He also made a lasting impression on the indigenous Maori population. Having inhabited this land for some 400 years prior to Cook’s arrival and had only a fleeting (and fleeing) sight of white men-a Dutchman named Abel Tasman- prior to that, they named more places in New Zealand after him than all other individuals put together.
‘Well who discovered England then?’ asked Lu in response to this impromptu history lesson earlier today. My font of new found knowledge, due entirely to reading Michael Kings ‘Penguin History of New Zealand,’ unfortunately does not extend to this.
The time seems to be going very slowly here. Thinking to last blog update just before we arrived in Napier seems an awfully long time ago. Perhaps the attitude of Greg, the former Glasweigian barman who gave us a vineyard tour around Hawkes Bay, rubbed off on us. This guy must have been the most relaxed individual ever. He drove us around, talked to us occasionally and then took us to some of the most memorable places. He gets top marks.

Amazing mnountain landscaped vineyards in Hawkes Bay

Having spent a week making our way down through the north island to Wellington, we then spent a rather rainy 2 days in the capital city. We had picked up on the way that the main museum, Te Papa, was not to be missed. We were not disappointed as it was filled with really cool, interactive displays ranging from New Zealand’s volcanic and earthquake activity, to Maori culture and the history of immigration down here. Better than any school lesson we could have given the girls that day!

We are not alone....

Since leaving Wellington it feels like the sun has barely set. We are now on the south island in a time zone directly opposite to Northern Europe and about the same longitude south as Lisbon is north. Hopefully this is the start of an Indian summer- Kiwi style. Once again we have no strict plans as to whether we turn right or left at each junction we come to, but we seem to have arrived at Kaiteriteri at the entrance to the Abel Tasman National Park and are now staying on the beach, listening to the waves about 20m away. The little town of Nelson stopped us overnight yesterday and saw us go sea-kayaking this morning. All new for all of us. We had south soon.

Sea kayaking in Marlborough Sound

After we managed to get the laptop back in Wellington, we are back with some pics so have added a couple of extras.

Lady Knox Geyser

The Haka and geothermal pools near Rotorua

The 'Swoop'











Love to all

Lu and Andy

A metre goes a long long way.....

Lake Taupo, Aoetaroa. 24/02/09
Kia Ora

We sit here on a beautiful sunsetting evening catching up on what has been a decrasingly hectic few days.
It is now a week since we arrived in Auckland with no plan whatsoever as to how we were going to spend the next 41 days.
All we knew was that we where due to pick up exactly the same motorhome as Mavis.

Then it appeared, a whole metre longer than our previous home- ELL1.
We love Elli- she is new(ish), shiny, Tardis-like and has only 38000km on the clock!

However, love was not going to provide any answers to our dilemma of which way to go. But Kimi superman, Steve Scarborough stepped in and saved the day.
We had 1 phone number of someone we knew in Auckland and it was golfer Steve and his lovely wife Jo. We touched base.
With an invite over to dinner and a overnight berth for Elli on the driveway we hatched a plan. The following morning however it was seriously dashed by an atrocious hangover- which also resulted in us leaving our laptop at Steves. So no photos until it catches up with us.
The result of our evenings exploits- we headed south to Waitomoand it's amazing limestone caves.
En route however we called in at A&E after Bugs was smacked in the face by an errant kitesurfer. She is totally fine now although a serious black eye looked really tough for a couple of days!

In the tiny village of Waitomo, which has only 41 permanent residents, Bugs and 1 experienced Glow worm caving whilst Lu, Mads and Geotried Black Water Rafting.
Torrential rain for 2 days had spiced things up a bit and we are now all addicted to adventure tourism, Kiwi style.
Hving then spent the evening in Elli, in a storm, watching the original Danny Kaye version of Hans Christian Andersen, we have been unable to shake off the movies furry, soft focus and rounded view of the world. New Zealand looks good like this....

Rotorua brought us more adrenalin activities, amazing Geothermal mud pools and geysers but most memorably our introduction to Maori culture. Initially i was rather cynical about atending such a touristy event but we decided the kids would enjoy Temaki- an evening in a Maori village. It turned out to be fantastic however with Bugs now firml;y believing that tribal villages full of facial tattooed warriorslurk in every forest. She also did comment that 'Maori food is so much better than what the aborigines eat.'

Our next destination is Napier on the west coast's Hawke Bay- home to New Zealand's finest red wines. So named after and english soldier, Charles Napier, the town was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale and was then rebuilt at the height of the Art Deco movement. Unfortunately for us, it's annual Great Gatsby was last weekend - it is supposed to be superb- but at least we have the vineyards to host us!
Farewell. Pics when we get our laptop back.
Andy, Lu, Mads, Geo and Bugs
xx

Things that go bump in the night

Valentines Day, Devonport, Tasmania
Within a couple of hours we will be on the ferry back to mainland Australia where we shall have a bustling day, firstly meeting up with Saran and Dave, then Indra and Johnny before returning Mavis II and getting a late flight to Auckland, arriving at around midnight. Plenty of time though to contemplate Tasmania.
This is a truly fascinating place with an extremely laid back attitude to everything. Lu and I caught on to that quickly, but it has now enveloped us all. In packing the van this morning we noticed the kids have not touched tv, i-pods or playstation the entire 12 days we have been here.
Given that, we have covered a lot. After the tranquillity of Lake St Clare we headed south to Hobart for the weekend. An unscheduled stop en-route at Russell Falls saw us trek to some amazing waterfalls, take an absolutely exhilarating ice-cold shower under one of them and then attend a presentation by a Park Ranger on Tasmanian Devils who are slowly being wiped out by a facial cancer disease. Fortunately there are many good people working hard to save them as they are pretty cute animals and dont totally deserve the 'Taz' reputation they have got.

Taking an impromptu dip in the ice cold Russell Falls!

Hobart. Our campsite was not in a great place- some 14km from the city centre and in a pretty ‘bogun’ part of town. It proved tough to shake off our first impressions. However an invite to dinner with old golfing buddy Rich Sampson, very pregnant Fi and kids Olivia and Claudia changed things around. By the time we left town on Monday we had shifted camp to their ‘ranch’ just outside the city where Rich very ably demonstrated his recently acquired Aussie barbie skills. And we even fitted a round of golf at Pomeina Disc Golf course.
Farewell Hobart and on to Port Arthur where we had decided to take the nightime ghost tour. Port Arthur is the site of the old penal colony on Tasmania. Established in the 1830’s as a secondary offender institution, it housed the toughest of the convicts which had been already sent to Aussie. By the time it closed down some 30 years later it had left an awful lot of residents- almost entirely ‘spiritual’ ones.
Nightime fell, Maddie pulled out feighning sickness. We were advised Bugs was too young and would find it too frightening but that didnt account for parents who would also s___ themselves!! It was genuinely scary although we can report we did not see any ghosts- Georgia because she walked around with her eyes shut most of the time and Lu had covered almost every part of her body in case a hand tapped her on the shoulder. I was just scared.
As we left the following morning, we discovered ‘Federation Chocolate.’ Run by a kind elderly lady who makes her chocolate to order, it claims to produce the only Apple chocolate in the world. Bugs was in heaven.

Life in the Lucey Camper!

I think the initial sole purpose of including Tassie on our trip was to see Wineglass Bay. A big hike over Mt Amos took us there. The beaches here are pretty spectacular but this one ranks towards the top. Despite its tranquil appearance the history of this place is pretty gory. It was named in the 1850’s when the local population was doing its’ best to wipe out the Southern Right Whale. They very nearly, but thankfully didn’t, succeed but in the process the sand and waters of this beautiful place were stained blood red. The names remains but luckily the true colours returned.
(Apologies if I sound like a tour guide, you can imagine how Lu and the kids feels sometimes, but you gotta know your stuff!)

Wineglass Bay

We then discovered our Paradise. The Bay of Fires is ranked as one of the places on the planet you have to visit. It is a remote, totally unspoilt and absolutely magnificent area. We were welcomed by ‘Serena’- a bronze bikini clad statue who marked the entrance to Binalong Bay (‘been a long’ what we didn’t find out).

The Amazing Binalong Bay

Our breath was then taken away by miles of luminescent aquamarine water, white sand and no people. What makes the place unique however is the scattering of house size orange and green lichen boulders that litter the coastline. The landscape is almost alien. We camped by the beach and had a magical night. I think we will carry the memory of this place for a long time to come.

On the rocks in Bay of Fires.

Take care all.

Andy and Lu