South Island : Milford Sound, Mount Cook & Akaroa

Stu : After the excitement of Fox Glacier and Queenstown Team Tui (as we will now henceforth be known! Just in case you were wondering we had a Tui campervan) headed down the country to Milford Sounds. As the crow flies this journey would probably be around 60kms but as always the Kiwis like to make things interesting so we had a 250kms trip down then backup to Milford Sounds through some pretty hairy country roads. The campervan looked like we’d done the Darkar rally in it by the time we arrived into Milford.

The Sounds are renowned for being the most scenic in New Zealand and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Even the drive there was spectacular. Once in Milford Team Tui disbanded for the day and Amy and I decided to do a scenic day walk. Unfortunately this turned out to be more like an Indiana Jones battle through thick bush so after 2 hours of ankle breaking terrain we decided to retire. Safety first people !

After Milford we headed North to Mount Cook (highest mountain in Oceania) National Park with a stopover for a spot of roadside campervan “free” camping. Once the horror \ ghost stories stopped we got to sleep for the best night’s kip I think any of us had. It was ridiculously dark and quiet and certainly made the mid-morning toilet trip from the top bunk interesting. Mount Cook itself was more spectacular than I had imagined. This was probably partly due to the fact that various avalanches on the side of the Mount had resulted in the Mount looking like Jabba the Hutt. So henceforth we would refer to the Mount as Jabba.

After a potter around the village we took a walk up to a viewpoint to the Mount and sat around for ages listening to the booming and cracking sounds of distant avalanches around the Mount. All good stuff….well at a safe distance anyway.

Then on to Akaroa and what has to be the most ridiculous hill drive attempted in a Hyundai Accent (we had luckily traded in the Tui Campervan for a high powered, shit off a shovel, 1.3l Hyundai Accent…..ahem). I say luckily because if we had attempted the hill drive in the campervan our blog certainly wouldn’t be getting updated any time soon ! We had booked into a holiday cottage the night before but didn’t realise quite how epic the journey would be. The windy country road soon turned into a 2.5 in 1 gradient, off road gravel track. The Lloyd superior driving gene soon kicked in though and after a 20minute ascent over the 3km hill road we finally made it to our cottage and the views of the bays and surrounding hills certainly made the effort worthwhile (see pic attached, our cottage was the one to the right of the photo nearest to the beach).

The following day Amy and I booked a fishing trip and headed out to the Pacific Ocean to see what we could catch. We were pretty lucky and our haul of 6 red cod (3 of which we kept), sea perch and rigg sharks certainly went down a treat on the BBQ that night. The highlight of the trip had to be when the skipper had a bite on his line and started reeling in. His face began to grow puzzled at the lack of success he was having getting his catch up. So much so he had to start reeling the line around his arm just to make head way. Finally though he managed to get the “sea monster” up. It was an 8ft long conger eel which he reckoned to be 70 year old. What a beast it was. He obviously had to let it go as there was no way he was going to get that fella on the boat. Cracking day all round apart from the first ever bout of sea sickness I had ever experienced. Certainly wasn’t pleasant and even though I tried to concentrate on the horizon it was so bloody choppy that all I got was sea, then sky, then sea then sky. Still…..I fought well and luckily the brekkie stayed down !

National Lampoons Camping Vacation

Amy : Well we have a couple of weeks to update you on yet again.

Two weekends ago we were supposed to be jumping out a plane on a tandem skydive in Dannervike but due to poor weather conditions up that end of the country it got postponed. We’re now booked in again on the 28th April. So if you dont get any updates after that date you know the jump didnt go to plan tee hee.

So instead of jumping out a plane I took Stu to Staglands about 40kms out of Wellington. Staglands is a nature reserve and I think we both agreed that it is the best one we’ve ever been to. The animals we saw were amazing and we were able to get so close to them. One of Stu’s favourites is the Kaka bird (photo attached). It kinda looks almost prehistoric and we were able to walk through an aviary and get an arms length away from them.

My favourites were the Fallow Deer and Stags. These guys came so close to me and ate out of my hand. It was rather un-nerving having a stag with big antlers eating put my hand. And of course my above all favourites were the Auckland Pigs. These look like a small version of the Vietnamese Pot Belly’s but are very verbal…the noises they made you’d think someone was getting tortured. In NZ there are only 17 (which we thought was quite an exact estimate !!) left in the wild as they are classed as pests and some people destroy them…nasty evil people that they are.

As well as all the animals there were some ruins of an old township from the 19th century that they have kept there. We tried to take a few photos of it as it was really well preserved but I dont think the photos did it any justice.

Now onto this weekend. This weekend was Easter Weekend and we got the Friday/Monday off for a long weekend. We travelled up to Opotiki to see Manda, Willie and co. On our way up on State Highway 1 we almost collapsed laughing as there was this yute chugging along with a very large dead stag draping over the back of it. These sights never cease to amaze us. Gotta love the kiwis !

When we arrived in Opotiki we chilled out and got planning for the camping weekend ahead of us. Manda and I were up early on Sat morning and out the door by 7am as Manda had the Ohope Craft Market. After that we packed the cars up and went 15minutes down the coast to a cracking wee beach where we pitched our tents. You would have thought that we were in the middle of no where. We were proper roughing it. Pitched our tents under the Maori Christmas Tree and went off for a spot of fishing.

Willie caught the first fish on his first cast out. It was a big Kahawai. I caught the second fish….Stu wasn’t happy !! I was chatting away and my rod got pulled out of the sand. I was certain this one would be bigger but in actual fact it was only a small 30cm fish :O( Still we used it for bait.

On Sunday we were up early. We had bautiful views of the Bay of Plenty coast line and a breath taking view of White Island which is an active volcano 60kms off the coast of New Zealand. It was smoking away and making beautiful plumes. Apparently this is for the best as its when it stops smoking that people start to worry !!

Again we got in the car and went a bit further down the coast to play on the beach with the kids and to fish again. Unfortunately nothing was caught :O( Still we had a good BBQ of snags (sausages) and bread.

Willie and Stu went out as the sun was setting and cast out again. When they went back to real in their rods and hour or so later Willie had caught another big Kahawai ! He was on top form that weekend.

All in all our weekend was thoroughly enjoyable. I forgot how much I loved camping. Hopefully when the spring/summer comes round again we can do a lot more of it as I dont think the Autumn weather will last too much longer.

We also had amazing views of the lahar from Mount Ruhapehu. The Mount erupted out a whole load of lahar a couple of weeks ago. It’s amazing how far it ran from the volcano top down into the valley beneath. You can actually see the stream it left when it spurted the ashes and what not out!

Well that’s it for another week, hope the Easter Bunny was good to you. Can you believe he managed to find us in Opotiki!!!

It was THIS size !

Amy : As promised we’re trying to keep the blog more up to date so here we go with the next update for 2007.Onto our second week back at work and things are going good. We’ve been low to mid 20’s heat wise every day with the sun shining every morning.

We had a great relaxed weekend. We went to try one of our local Japanese Restaurants, Mt Fuji across the road from work. What a great laugh we had. The chef cooks your meal in front of you. Kinda similar to Kubla Khan but the hot plate is in front of your table. They threw us raw eggs to catch in mixing bowls. Even made us catch the rice they had just made for us. It was a great experience. And very entertaining when the people at the table next to us couldn’t catch their food tee hee.

All weekend we’ve lived off BBQ’s. The weather has been great for that. Sunday we went Sea Fishing along the bays near by us. We found a great bay just past a place called Lyall Bay and got the tartan rug and chilly bin out and sat supping a few Export Gold beers whilst watching our fishing rod search for fish. We got one catch, a small sea trout. We let him go as he was just too tiny to eat (you can just about make him out on the photo !). Who caught the sea trout Stu….? That’s right it was me wasn’t it LOL.

As we live around the coast we thought it would be nice to start walking home after work once a week. It’s a lovely two hour amble around nice golden sandy beaches. We did it once last week and again last night. We’re even thinking of doing it again tonight. It’s so nice watching everyone. The road is never quiet. It’s filled with lots of cyclists, roller bladers and runners. The beaches are filled with families enjoying themselves, out swimming and playing volley ball. We even saw a man well into his 60’s maybe even hitting 70 out windsurfing. I don’t think either of us have seen so many fit people on our way home from work. Everyone is out doing something. It encourages you to get a more healthy way of life. I just love the fact that everyone makes the most of the nice weather instead of searching out beer gardens and gagging on a nice cold beer(although Stu still makes sure we keep that tradition up) !

This weekend takes us up to Auckland for the “Big Day Out”. Kinda a mini T in the Park music festival. We’re driving up with Mark and Rachel on the Thursday as we’re watching Kasabian play at a tiny venue in Auckland the night before. Then the one day festival starts early doors on Friday. It’s due to be a scorcher as well. 32 degrees according to the forecast. Many tubs of sunscreen will be required me thinks. I think we’ll take it easy on the way back and stop off half way down as it’s an 8hr drive back to Wellington.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week and we’ll speak again soon.

Trout and about

Amy : Well it’s be another fun filled week for us. Considering we have only been in NZ since August we are doing OK on the social side of things. Last Thursday we went for a BBQ at our friends, Kasia and Mikes in town. We mentioned a while ago we met a nice chap at Claypigeon Shooting well that was Mike, he works at Off Road NZ. We had such a ball there. Chatted all evening like we’d known each other for years. Unfortunately I was Taxi for the evening and Stu drank his share and mine yet again. I am tallying up how many Taxi’s he owes me now.

Last week I worked all week at the Kaharoa Kennels which was extremely tiring but it’s cash. Its quite nice getting out the cottage as well. In between sorting the cats and dogs out I helped Joof with the chickens, feeding Mary Poppins and having Jake their Tibetan Terrier as company. He’s adopted me as his second Mum I think as Lin is still in Holland.

Well as most of you know my hubby got another year closer to 40 :O) On Monday there and to celebrate we had Mike, Kasia, their kiddies, Joof and not forgetting Jake round for a BBQ on Sat night. That is the most I have drunk in months!! We had another great night and partied till 4am! I don’t think I’ve seen past midnight since we’ve been in Rotorua. Thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On Sunday, to clear the BBQ cobwebs, Joof took us fishing on Lake Rotoiti. True to form Stu caught two massive Rainbow Trouts but I’ll let him tell you about that as they were no ordinary catches. On our first leg out on the Lake we stopped in on some natural hot pools for an hour or so. You can only get to these by boat. I didn’t want to leave them! It’s amazing that from one natural spring you can get all this hot water. And when I say hot it is bath hot boiling water. We submerged ourselves in the pool for ages then ran into the Lake to cool off. Bloody hell that was cold. I did it once and it was torture. Stu and Joof were a bit mental and did it a few times! There’s a jetty into the lake so they took turns to jump in and swim back to shore.

Well I’m sure if there’s anything I’ve forgotten Stu will keep you posted with things. We’re off to Windy Wellington at the weekend and I’m quite looking forward to that. So from Country Bumkin posts on the blog you’ll be reading about our City Slickers life.

Stu : Yup – as Amy says we’ve had a cracking week. The fishing on Sunday was awesome. We were only fishing for an hour or so but I was lucky enough to catch two good sized rainbow trout. They gave a fair old battle and it was pretty tiring work getting them onto the boat. The larger of the two we brought back home with us and Joof gave us some instructions on how to smoke it on the BBQ. It was delicious. There’s something quite satisfying about eating something you’ve caught and killed yourself ! Guess it’s just the caveman genes coming out. Anyway – there’s a photo of said trout attached.

Anyway – Amys covered everything else so I’ll not bore you by repeating. Hope everything’s going well back home.

Road Trip v1.3

Hey peeps. Amy’s currently away on an interview at a recruitment agency in Hamilton so thought I’d just quickly get online and update the blog.

Since our last update we’ve had a cracking couple of days in the Bay of Islands. On Monday morning we went fishing. It was superb weather and we both ended up getting pretty fried out on the boat. Who would have thought that we could be out fishing on a boat in a short sleeve shirt during winter !! Crazy stuff. Then again, as Dad posted, the Bay of Islands was recently discovered to have the bluest skies in the world. The sun was out in full force on Monday I can tell ye.

Anyway – back to the fishing. We had a cracking morning and between the two of us we caught 12 snapper and 2 pigfish. A pretty respectable haul I reckon. A photo of Amy catching her first ever fish is attached. Bless her – she was fair excited. Behind her is the skipper of the boat we were on. A veteran seadog if ever there was one ! Top bloke.

After our fishing trip we took a wee drive over to a place called Russell which was one of the first New Zealand towns to sprout up after the Europeans arrived. Nice wee town but as we’re out of season most of it was closed. As we were driving back to Paihia we heard the news about Steve Irwin. Pretty gutted about the news as Steve Irwin’s TV programs have helped us through many a hangover of a Sunday morning. Ain’t that right McFly ! Ah well – at least he didn’t go out with a whimper. Would have been even more tragic if he’d been runover by a bus or something as crap as that. Amy and I had a wee beer to send him off.

On Tuesday I received a call from my work in Rotorua asking if I could work over the weekend from Friday afternoon onwards. As the last month has been pretty much a non-stop holiday for us it seemed rude not to say yes. The bank balance could do with the work if nothing else. So from Tuesday we’ve been heading South back to Rotorua. As I mentioned earlier we’re in Hamilton, which is a cracking wee city an hour and a half South of Auckland. We’re hoping to both get jobs here once we’re finished up in Rotorua. We had a wee potter about last night and I’m glad to report that the pubs are up to scratch, which lets be honest, is a big bonus for us both !

Anyhoo – as always I’ve attached a couple of photies for your amusement. The first is of Amy’s fishing haul. The second is a photo of Russell harbour. The final one is a strange one but had to be taken none-the-less. Now I don’t like to think I’d make a habit of taking photos inside toilets but this one had to be done. It’s of a toilet in Kawakawa that was designed by a famous artist\architect called Frederick Hundertwasser. Thought it was quite a smart toilet as far as bogs go. Anyway – enough of this George Michael nonsense, I’m off for now so speak to you all soon.

Cheers. Stu and Amy.

P.S. I’ve attached a very rough map of our travels under the itinerary page. Take a wee look if you can be arsed.