We reached Savaii and headed up to the north of the island. The thing with all the Polynesian Pacific Island nations is that they were all formed by volcanoes - well they basically are volcanoes. Recently Tonga (a nearby Island) made the headlines as just offshore of the country - huge amounts of gas and ash spewed from the sea. Magma from below the oceans floor was being released in a new volcanic eruption. With enough magma release land will start to form and poke it's head out of the sea and with enough magma a new island will form - just like all the others in this part of the world. It's a shame that it doesn't happen around England. It would save dramatically on overpopulation, if suddenly a large bit of land popped out of the North Sea. We would have a lot more housing space!!! The main volcano on Savaii (Matavanu) last erupted in just 1905 and because of this so much of the island's coast doesn't have a sandy beach but instead is replaced by black volcanic lava flows. The northern region, where we were heading however did have a beach - and a very nice one at that too.
Again we stayed in an open beach fale and again we did a lot of lazing about in the sand. We did however, make some time to get off our arses and explore. Our mode of transport was push bikes (as we couldn't afford a car and they don't have motorbikes or anything really similar, which I found unusual as mopeds were the main way to get about on the Asian Islands. We did however look ridiculous. 5 tourists cycling down the street while local's waved and shouted at us. I thought we looked like we were straight out of the film E.T and I just wished our bikes had baskets on the front.
We stopped off at the nearby lava flows. The last eruption from Matavanu Volcano between 1905-1910 produced huge amounts of material, spewing lava for miles and wiping out small villages. We stopped off at a very famous church in which the lava flowed around it and onwards, then decided it would turn back somehow and then barge straight through the front door. The only things still standing are the brick walls. The lava flows were very impressive for me at least, although everyone else didn't appear as excited as I was for some reason. Predictions are that Matavanu Volcano will erupt again in the next 10-15 years.
Later Scott and I headed off in another direction to find the Dwarf Caves. We knew roughly where we were going but had no idea it would be so hard to get too. It took us about an hour to ride there - up-hill. At one point I was sure I was dead but eventually you reach a small village with a sign pointing the way. Then you have to wait until a guide turns up. He walks you for another 30 minutes past farmland and rainforest, pointing out all the crops that they grow and what plants are used for healing etc. Eventually we reach this tiny hole in the floor. He guides you as the caves are pitch black. I then realise that these are lava caves and are huge. He took us deep enough to reach the first pool (apparently there are 6 altogether but probably would have taken forever to reach the latter ones). In the pitch black he then tells you to stand on the ledge and jump into the pool - you can't even see where your jumping - but you do hit water and cold water at that. He guided us to some other parts of the cave. At one point he went very quiet and then suddenly shined his torch up to the ceiling to reveal a large bat. Then shouting "batman, batman" to us, swiftly disturbed the poor creature which decided to fly straight towards us and over our heads. While Scott was panicking (he really doesn't like bats) - I'm scrambbling around in the dark shouting - "Rabies, Run!!!". He eventually led us out and we returned down-hill by bike to our resort.
We learnt a lot about Samoa and it's people. While the country isn't really poor - a lot of people's earnings are tied up in the church. Apparently 60% of your wages go to the church and there are a lot of big and extravagant churches around the country. Still, everyone seems happy. It's a relaxing life for the most part although they do work hard, generally in family businesses. The country doesn't really have any dangerous creatures - at least not on land anyway. I was most worried about standing under the coconut trees as falling coconuts kill more people each year than sharks - fact. The sun here is as strong as in New Zealand - that hole in the o-zone must be growing, yet for the entire time in Samoa we had perfect weather. It's a tropical climate and so at night we did have a couple of thunderstorms but in the day we didn't feel a drop. Mostly even the nights were wet free and we would spend a lot of time lying in the sand and looking at the Milky Way. I don't think I have ever seen so many shooting stars before.
We left Savaii after our three days on the island and returned by ferry to Upolu. We had one day left and the airport really isn't very far from the capital - Apia, so off we headed there. We took a local bus to Apia. Local buses are certainly an experience. They are brightly coloured, have no windows and are crammed full of people. Then with the wind in your hair, they crank up the music. It's the way to travel in my opinion. In Apia, we walked around the markets (haggling for everything we wanted) and took in the sights. On the local bus, Scott was seated next to William - Samoa's Chief of Police and also a United Nation's peace keeper. He took us under his wing - telling us where to stay and even giving us a ride to the airport at 4am. We said if he was ever in Auckland - he could come and stay in our flat!!!
We arrived at the airport a little sad. It was soon taken over by fear though as rumours of something called Swine Flu had suddenly burst onto every news channel on the planet. There were no delays and we arrived back in Auckland, cold and utterly depressed. We soon got over it though. I'm heading off to the travel agent on Monday. Now - I've heard Vanuatu is nice.
Friday, 8 May 2009
Savaii
Upolu (Samoa)
To fly to a South Pacific tropical island from England isn’t cheap. I mean it’s all the way on the other side of the world. Luckily I happen to be on the other side of the world and New Zealand has to be the perfect departure point to visit any of the little island nations that sit so close to this stretch of land. While I’m in NZ I thought I couldn’t and probably shouldn’t pass up such an opportunity to explore this part of the world, and so some time ago I booked return flights to Samoa. There were 5 of us going; my two flat mates – Harriet and Scott, Myself of course, and also Rob and Kate who had just finished their month of exploring New Zealand’s South Island.
Out of all the South Pacific Islands I’m not actually sure why we chose Samoa in particular. I think it covered all the basic criteria, with incredible beaches, a lot of sun and some cool activities to see. Plus it isn’t currently disrupted by political affairs or about to erupt lava all over the place - as is the case with other nearby nations.
To get to Samoa you need some sort of time machine – it can be anything you like. We chose a Boeing 737. We left on Saturday 25th April, very early in the morning and 4 hours later arrive in Samoa on Friday 24th April. Now I’m not stupid (well mostly not) but we had just travelled back in time. Apparently this rare phenomenon has something to do with what’s known in the world of fantasy as – The International Dateline (IDL). The IDL is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth opposite the Prime Meridian, where the date changes as one travels East or West across it. Samoa is not just across the dateline from New Zealand but is almost right on top of it. Either way, crossing the IDL travelling East (as we had done) results in a day or approximately 24 hours being subtracted, while crossing West results in a day being added. Essentially what this all means is I would get to experience Friday the 24th April, 2009 all over again. This was quite fortunate – as I wasn’t really that happy about my first Friday 24th April – it was generally filled with going to work in Auckland, boring packing and running about airports, so I was delighted that I would get another crack at it. I was sure as I stepped off the plane to a wall of heat; surrounded by Palm Trees, clear blue skies and clearer blue waters – that my second Friday 24th April would certainly exceed my first.
Samoa (also known as Western Samoa and very different from nearby American Samoa) is situated just East of the International dateline and just South of the equator, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. The countries total land area is just smaller than the US state of Rhode Island and while there are hundreds of small islands associated with Samoa, 99% of this land area is located on its two main islands – Savaii (the big island) and Upolu (the small island). The international airport is on Upolu where we were greeted by a tropical paradise.
We spent our first three nights at a Beach Fale resort on the South-East tip of Upolu and the complete opposite end of the country from the airport. We taxied across the island, taking in the stunning scenery. Upolu has a Jungle interior, generally sparse of inhabitants apart from the odd scattered town. It’s along the Island’s stunning coast that most villages reside. We arrived at Lolamanu – considered to be the most spectacular beach in Samoa and it didn’t disappoint. I’m not going to describe it to you – it’s exactly how you would imagine a beach paradise tropical island to look like. Palm trees along the front, white sand, crystal clear blue sea – you know the deal. We stayed in an open beach fale. Essentially a hut, located right on the beach front, yet while they have a roof – they don’t have any walls. You do have a cover to wrap around the sides (as makeshift walls) but otherwise you just leave them completely open to the elements and because there are no doors on it – you wake up to the sight and sound of the sea. I highly recommend such accommodation. When we arrived they were actually using our fale for photographs and there was a stunning young female Samoan model posing in it. Apparently it was for the new Samoan tourist brochure and they wanted some pics. Unfortunately when they cleared our fale for us they took the stunning young female Samoan model with them.
Actually on Upolu we were pretty lazy – I mean we wanted a holiday and to do very little for most of the time and for those first three days that’s exactly what we did. We swam in the sea and lazed on the beach drinking out of coconuts. I had brought the football of course and we spent many a time playing all sorts of games in the water – particularly with local Samoan kids who were desperate to join in. We also all got burnt on our first day – the sun really is strong in this part of the world. On our first night, we drank most of our duty free alcohol and got chatting to a trainee Priest who told us of a party down the road. Barefoot, Harriet, Scott and I trudged down the road in the pitch black with not a clue where we were going. We eventually gave up and ended up hitch-hiking back with some Samoan guys who were very keen on our bottle of alcohol. The night ended with the three of us in the sea (swim-wear forgotten but alcohol not forgotten) and then bumping into our friend John the Priest who was also taking a 2am swim. The next morning John was gone and so was our half bottle of Vodka – Priests!!!
The restaurant catered for all our food needs – where we were brought a variety of traditional Samoan dishes. They mainly constitute; Taro, which is a potato but not one I have ever tasted before. It was grey in the middle and was more closely related to the texture of Kumara or sweet potato – except it wasn’t sweet. They put it with this green sauce and it was pretty tasty. Other dishes use a lot of fruit (fruit out in Samoa was delicious) – especially bananas. In fact they have so many bananas everywhere you can literally go up to the tree and help yourself. They have a tree growing outside every bus stop for you to snack while you wait!!! We also ate a lot of pig – they are running around all over the island, and fried chicken is also popular. The other main dishes involve some sort of fish. Now I’m not usually in for trying such sea-faring things but I did manage to taste a few different varieties of watery creatures and some where even edible to my taste buds, but I don’t think I will be making a habit of it.
We spent our other nights, drinking and chatting to other tourists and the local Samoan’s. On one night the resort put on a traditional dance performance. The music and the dancing was very much reminiscent of a Maori performance I saw in NZ – but then they are very closely related, all being part of the Polynesian style. There was fire dancing too, which reminded me of my time in Asia – especially Thailand where similar fire throwing dances were common on the beach-front. The Samoan performers were great, dressed in traditional gear (which isn’t very much clothing). The Samoan’s are huge too. Just like the Maori’s, pretty much most of the Samoan’s you meet are eight times your size in all directions. They may have pretty flowers in their hair and where lava lava’s (a single piece of rectangular cloth worn like a kilt or skirt) but you wouldn’t want to play Rugby with any of them. They are however extremely friendly and helpful.
Eventually, we left Lolamanu and headed off to the big Island, Savaii. We stopped through the countries capital – Apia, which is a big hustle and bustle town full of markets, crazy transportation and generally pure chaos. We were going to spend our last day in Apia so decided to skip straight to the ferry port and catch a ride over. The boat trip is an hour and something and after passing some cool looking smaller islands on the way we reached Samoa’s largest landmass island – Savaii.........................
Visiting Some Old Friends In Queenstown
So I had finished my time in Dunedin. The Samples were ready and the work was complete. I spent my last night in Dunedin getting a bit merry with everyone in my hostel and with Harriet who had popped down for the weekend. The next morning we caught the bus to Queenstown.
Queenstown is one of those places that from the minute you arrive, you take a big deep breath and everything in the world seems right again. It was the same feeling I got when I crossed over the border from Vietnam to Cambodia. I’m sure the place varies from one person to the next, but when you find it – you know you love it straight away. This was my second trip to Queenstown. The first time I travelled here was during my first month in New Zealand, about 8 months ago. Darren and I had stopped through here for a week, blew all our money on snowboarding, drinking and jumping off pretty much all there was to jump off. We always said we would return and live here, but then I got a job extension up in Auckland and instead Darren moved down here with his girlfriend Jaqui. They were the main reason I was back – to see my friends and of course have a bit of fun.
Harriet was with us for about 4 of the 10 days I was in Queenstown. She hadn’t been here since she was a kid so we thought we would take her back to her past and go for a bit of lugeing. You have to go up the Sky Gondola to the top of a big hill which overlooks QT and provides some of the most amazing views in New Zealand. Then you go up higher on a stair lift and make your way back down in a go-kart that has no engine. You race on gravity – round one of two tracks which have jumps, tunnels and sharp turns. When the four of us entered the start line – we all had one thing on our minds - disrupt all your opponents with any means necessary – even if that means getting violent. Watching us ride down must of looked ridiculous as we all tried to grab each other’s steering wheels and veer our competitors off track. I was by far the most pathetic. I would always try and go that step too far, attempting to take the ultimate in short cuts only to find myself stuck on the verge as 10 year old kids flew past me. It was fun nonetheless.
Darren and Jaqui are both fine, they live in a cool little house a few minute’s walk from town with three other couples who all seemed very pleasant although we here some issues arise with certain individuals. They also have a resident cat that continually drinks out of the toilet bowl. He seems to drink more often than most cats and I have put that down to him just showing off in front of guests. Daz and Jaqui very kindly let Harriet and I stay in their place for the duration.
We spent many a night going out for a drink or two and went to one of Darren and Jaqui’s friend’s house parties. The days were sunny and hot and we would chill in the park or walk by the lake or often spend many an hour in the British Sweet Shop (where I’ve just been told Darren now has a part time job) and purchase pretty much one of everything – and often more than one. At night though it was freezing cold, enough to force me into a mad snowboarding trousers purchase. When Harriet left, things didn’t really change. For me this trip to Queenstown was more about spending time with my friends who I hadn’t seen for 3 months. We did have time for one adrenaline fuelled activity though.......
Darren and I have both done 5 Bungy Jumps each. We have both Skydived and done a base-wire jump off Auckland’s Sky Tower. So we wanted to do something a little different. Above the looming Shotover Canyon, the crazy Kiwi’s have created a swing – the Canyon Swing. It’s pretty much like a Bungy Jump. You’re attached to a rope except that this one sits around your stomach. You stand on the end of a platform and then jump. I think the freefall is about 60m but instead of bouncing back up like a normal Bungy you arc out into a huge swing. Eventually it comes to a stop and you hang above the canyon before being winched back up. Darren, Jaqui and I participated. The great thing about the Canyon Swing is there are so many ways you can jump. The first time I leapt off feet first as if you had just stepped of the ledge of a building. You get the exact same adrenaline rush as a Bungy Jump. In fact – it generally doesn’t matter how big the fall is because it’s those first few moments after just jumping that you savour. The higher the fall only translates into the more scared you are of leaping off – as I was on the Nevis. Once you have paid the first time the second jump is ridiculously cheap and so we all decided to go again.
All the jump styles have different names. For my second jump I did the ‘Gimp Boy Goes To Hollywood’ jump. This is how it works. They hook you up with all the ropes. They then winch you out over the canyon and leave you hanging. Now comes a bit of acrobatics. You have to lift your legs up and wrap them around the rope that sits vertically from your harness. Now you’re essentially completely upside-down, your legs are up and your head faces the canyon floor. They then stick a teddy that has been dressed up to look like he very much enjoys a bit of S and M and places it between your bum. They then pull the pin and you drop head first all the way down. Ah, the things we do for fun.
Queenstown was just like I had remembered. I don’t know when or if I’m going to get to New Zealand’s south Island for a while, if at all, so I’m glad I spent a final fling in QT. I caught my flight back to Auckland to start work again.............but you know me – work doesn’t last for long. This time it was just a week.............and then I was off – for a week long holiday out of New Zealand. And before you ask – yes, I did have to time travel to get there.................
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Back In Dunedin (& New Zealand's South Island)
Auckland life rolls on. I've got a good group of friends here now, i'm in my own flat with some of those friends and work keep's busy and generally as well as literally on my toes. I continue to play 5-a-side football every Thursday mornings and have even played a few 11-a side, 90 minute games - to the utter shock of my bodily functions. Weekends are always fun, if they can be remembered and the weather is (or at least was) a perfect summer time HOT. You could say i'm settled in a routine for the first time since I left London a year and two months ago........but then - my boss Graham calls.........
A while ago I headed off to Wellington to work in the lab, rock crushing volcanic samples for age dating. That was the first step in the process. Graham was calling me about the second step. He said he wanted me to seperate particular minerals from within the samples and bag them up - those are the minerals he needs to age date the rock (and hence date the age of the volcanic eruption) when he takes them over to the USA. To seperate these minerals - you need to use a special machine called a Frantz Magnetic Seperator and the only one available in NZ is in a small GNS building in Dunedin, towards the lower end of the east coast of the countries South Island. So I caught a plane.
Graham had flown me down to Dunedin, where I would spend two weeks working in the lab. He pays for all my flights around the country but not for my accommodation. Before it wasn't an issue - I was staying in a hostel in Auckland so I could just up and leave where and when I pleased. Now though I had a flat, and rent to pay for. Luckily a good friend - Tom, said he would take my room for the time I was away and pay my share of the rent........which would certainly save me a buck or two.
I have been to Dunedin before. Darren and myself stopped off here for a couple of nights during our first month of travelling but didn't really get to do very much apart from a general wonder around the town. We had stayed in a cool little hostel called Central Backpackers. Darren particularly liked the place as it had a resident cat of which he is obsessed. I headed back there to see gizmo (that's the cat's name of course) and make a home for the next few weeks.
Dunedin is a cool city. Perhaps more of a liveable town rather than a place to visit. It's the second largest city in the South Island (behind Christchurch) but when it comes to NZ that's not really saying anything in terms of size. Dunedin has strong Scottish ties highlighted by the style of the old buildings darted around and at it's centre even has a statue of Robert Burns. Dunedin actually means Edinburgh in Celtic.
I arrived in Dunedin at a pretty coincidental time. It wasn't planned but two friend's - Rob and Kate who were off touring around the South Island were actually flying in to Dunedin as their starting point and they arrived the day before myself. I got to spend the first 3 or 4 days with them before they moved on, and when I wasn't working of course.
The two weeks flew by. I was working in the GNS building located within the University of Otago Campus and so was surrounded by students for two weeks - which was fun. My days were busy and long. I had to wash the samples using an ultrasonic bath, get the samples dry and then run them through the magnetic seperator. Each sample is different and you have to adjust the machine settings accordingly. Essentially what your trying to do is split the sample of grains into minerals that you want and those that you don't want. The seperator is a machine with a strong magnet held above a chute and you can adjust how strong the magnet is during each run. When you pass samples through the chute, some are magnetic and are pulled one way and those that are not magnetic are pulled the other, splitting the sample. It isn't quite as simple as that as you have to run the machine in paramagnetic and dimagnetic modes - where essentially your allowing the magnet to attract or repel minerals of different magnetic susceptabilities. Eventually you come out with a few grams of material that you want and which get sent to be dated. Belinda was in charge of me here as she had some experience with the Frantz although no-one has used it for the purposes that I was here for so the first few days we very slow to say the least. Belinda did a great job in helping me out over those two weeks and I am eternally grateful. Oh and by the way, if you have a pacemaker then I strongly advise you don't go near a Frantz magnetic seperator when it's on - seriously. When the machine was at full pace it would often do funny things to my mobile phone. I havn't checked yet if my bank cards have all been wiped!!!
While I was working at the GNS petrology lab there was also a Phd student working there. Originally from Scotland she does her Phd at the University of Southampton, where I went. I got chatting to her and had an incling that she went there because also in the Petrology lab was a man called Damon Teagle who I recognised as a lecturer from Southampton. She was here to collect samples for her project and Damon had come all the way over to help for a few days. I later found out that she knows quite a few people who I went to University with and was telling me all the gossip about them and most of the lecturers.
During the days that I wasn't working (which was mainly the weekend) I did get a chance to properly explore the city. I also managed to fit in time for a drinking session with many random people in my hostel and the workers at Central Backpackers who I have become good friends with. While Rob and Kate were around during those first few days, we also managed to fit in a few cool things to do. We went to an art exhibition which was actually a concept I have never heard of before. It involves an artist or whoever really - showing a series of 20 pictures on a projector and then talking about each picture but for only 20 seconds. I believe the concept started in Asia and has become pretty popular around the world. It's called Pecha Kucha which I think means chit chat. It was designed to allow artists work to be explained quickly but precisely without dragging on and boring audiences to death. I'm no art expert or even an art novice but I enjoyed the night which was apparently the first Pecha Kucha show ever held in Dunedin.
The three of us also took a walk in the Botanical Gardens and continued on, north of the city to a very famous street - Baldwin Street. Never heard of it??? I'm suprised, because it's officially (Guiness World Record) the steepest street in the world. It is located in the suburb of North East Valley, 3.5 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre and run's for 350 meters. At it's steepest part, the gradient reaches 1:2.66, although apparently that may be slightly off and in fact may be closer to 1:2.86. Whatever it is, what it essentially means is that for every 2.66 or 2.86 meters in the horizontal direction you are walking 1 meter vertically up. Forget the figures - it's steep.
Myself and Rob actually had a race up the steepest street in the world and at the top both nearly died. Actually that's not something to joke around with. Every year there is an official race up and down Baldwin Street (it takes roughly 2 minutes apparently) and each year a fraction of people (in the race or just casually strolling up it) die from having a heart attack. One kid also died when he thought it would be a good idea to get in a wheely bin and roll down it - he hit a car on the way. On a lighter note, I have also heard that on one day in the year people roll Jaffa Cakes down it........obviously.
There is a little shop all about Baldwin Street and an official sign from Guiness World Records explaining the details. Houses line the street and I found it quite amusing to see someone had put a sign on their postbox saying "No Circulars Please" - as if someone advertising is gonna climb Baldwin Street just to put junk mail in your letter box. Actually we wondered if the Postman get's paid more for delivering to this area??? We rested at the top and watched cars crawl up in first gear. Then all of a sudden a disaster. The phone that I have been travelling with for the last year and a bit was basically on it's last legs and I really needed a new one. My housemate Scott was selling his new Samsung mobile because he had another (more advanced) phone which he had just got working, so I bought the Samsung for NZ$30 about 12 pounds and was rather happy with myself. Then on Baldwin Street, of all the streets to drop your phone, muggins here does precisely that and suddenly with the phone, the battery and the back cover all neatly detaching from each other - it was like a game show with me running down the steepest street in the world trying to chase all the peices and not very successfully. Rob and Kate found it hilarious as I stuggled to catch up to anything. Eventually I got my phone back together and it luckily still works although is now scratched to smitherines - but still, when people ask how I caused my phone such cosmetic mutilation at least I have a good story to tell.
The only other thing of note to tell you during my time in Dunedin has a very good moral to it. Since I have been travelling the world, I have sent the kitchen of two hostels on fire. Small fires mind you and both put out with no damage, death or injury to anyone. However, when an Irish girl caught her pan of oil on fire in the Central Backpackers in Dunedin the last thing you want to do is pour water on it. Seeing this first hand was something to observe. Water and a pan full of flaming oil does not mix. The mixture went up in a fireball, burning the girl's hand and somehow knocking out part of the ceiling. The Fire Brigade and St. Johns Ambulance quickly arrived to put everything back to the way it should be and the girl's burn's were not too damaging in the end. Still - take note next time your noodles go up in flames.
Dunedin had been fun and a good work experience, and normally this would be the part where I would say......and then I flew back to Auckland. Only I didn't. I get paid only for the days I work so if I want some time off I can do so without giving much notice. Equally any day my boss could say - we don't want you in and that's that. Luckily the latter has never happened as yet but the former - well that's a different story. Actually my boss is quite happy for me to take some time off as he knows I'm on a holiday-working Visa. While I was in the South Island and Queenstown was only 4 hours away - it was an opportunity I just couldn't miss. My boss, Graham, had happily agreed to fly me out of Queenstown - back to Auckland after 10 days of leaving Dunedin. I couldn't wait. Not only was I heading back to one of my favourite places in the country but also my friend from home, Darren and his girlfriend Jaqui were there. They had been for 3 months and I hadn't seen them in that time. I would now get to spend 10 days with them in the chaos of Queenstown.
The weekend I left for Queenstown also happened to be Easter weekend and everyone had the Friday and following Monday off. Because of this, Harriet decided to fly down from Auckland to Dunedin on the Friday and the two of us would both get a bus to Queenstown together. The party was about start. The Queenstown madness was about to begin...............bring it on.................
Sunday, 5 April 2009
The Coromandel Peninsula
It was the weekend before Harriet's birthday and we wanted to go away somewhere. Rob was soon leaving with Kate and they were selling the car so we decided to make use of it before Harrison (that's the name of the car - don't ask) disappeared. About 4 hours drive from Auckland is the Coromandel Peninsula.
Myself, Harriet, Tom and Scott took off on Saturday morning and headed out. I drove the way there, which takes you past some pretty countryside once your out of Auckland's urban sprawl. The Coromandel Peninsula is a mountainous, forested spine, threaded with hiking trails and narrow, winding roads along attractive coastline. We first had to pick up a friend on the way. Tania, an American girl who we knew from Go Global Backpackers in Taupo was doing a trip up the North Island before getting a flight back to America (although only for a few weeks). We thought it would be a good idea to pick her up for the weekend and then drive her back to our new flat where she was going to kip for a few days. We collected her from the gold-mining town of Thames before continuing on to Whitianga, on the east coast of the Peninsula.
Over the weekend we mainly concentrated our sight-seeing efforts to two regions; Cathedral Cove and the bizarre Hot-Wtaer Beach. Both are located nearby to one another and also nearby to the town of Whitianga - which was handy. The roads to reach these places were very narrow and very windy. I had never driven on such roads before but enjoyed the challenge of keeping my concentration to a maximum. Cathedral Cove lies about 1 km north of a small town called Hahei (it's very small). The Cove is a gigantic limestone arch, cut out by the sea over geological time. To reach the cove, you take a 45 minute walk along the coast, past both Gemstone Bay and Stingray Bay (although we didn't see either gemstones or stingrays). The cove is impressive but perhaps more impressive was the small Penguin we spotted, hiding in the shrub on a beach.
We then headed to Hot-Water Beach. Most of the day, it's a normal sandy beach but two hours either side of low tide, two small sections of sandy beach are exposed. Thermal waters brew just below the sand in front of a rocky outcrop and during the right time, you join the crowds that turn up, get a spade and dig into the sand, bringing up the hot water (about 60 Degrees Celcius) up to the surface. You essentially form your own geothermal pool or spa and it was incredible just lying in the hot volcanic waters. It was so hot in parts you actually needed sea-water to cool your bath down!!! We were there a few good hours.
Inbetween our two days we camped in Whitianga as we had borrowed a huge tent from Harriet's Aunt and Uncle. There we drank the night away and camped out like scouts. Late on Sunday we headed back to Auckland and prepared ourselves for a new week. Life goes on........but the fun is just beginning.............
Moving In To A Flat In Auckland
After a year of traveling the world, finally I have a room again to call my own. No more hostels; no more being woken up in the night because a group of rowdy drunkens are stomping through the room at an unearthly hour, or being told off because I was one of the rowdy drunkens stomping through the room at an unearthly hour. No more sharing a bathroom with 15 other people or having my orange juice in the fridge suddenly disappearing without it touching my lips. I mean don't get me wrong - it's fun living in a hostel but theres a time when you just want to step into your own room and shut the door and thats that.
It took a while to sort out the flat we are currently living in, within Auckland's city centre. The main issue was numbers - we just didn't know how many people wanted to move in because no-one is ever sure what they are doing. Kate and Rob (now a couple) were off traveling the South Island and then may leave New Zealand. Tom wanted to move in but his visa runs out in a few months and thought it would probably be a lot more trouble than it's worth. In the end it ended up as Myself, Harriet and a Canadian guy called Scott who we knew from our days in Taupo and who wanted to move up to the big city. Harriet and I did the groundwork, vistiting half a dozen places or more before deciding to go with pretty much the first flat we had seen.
It's a cool little flat, a very modern place, fully furnished with all the mod-cons you could ask for, including flatscreen TV and even a dishwasher - thank god. The flat gives us free use of a gym, lap-pool and steam room within the apartment block complex, which is situated, literally by a one minute walk from the Auckland Skytower (the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere......how many people can say that???). The balcony is also a very handy feature although it doesn't boast the best view - still it isn't too bad.
The flat has been ideal now the three of us are working in the city. Volcanology at the university continues to roll on. I'm really enjoying the work that i'm doing and often get a chance to go out in the field or meet guests (specialists in their field from all over the world), and who often provide presentations or current research.
Summer really turned on the heat too. I didn't realise that NZ could become so tropical in it's climate. Living in Auckland became like living in a swimming pool - except there's no pool and you don't actually have to swim. The temperature soared but the humidity soared higher. I believe on one day - it was the hottest day in Auckland for some uncountable number of years and humidity reached pretty much 100%. Dripping is an understatement!!!
Our weeks of late have been mainly back into student life. We work during the week (although we actually do work.....unlike in my student days) and go out on the bar scene at the weekend (very much like my student days). It was also Harriet's 21st Birthday, which we celebrated by decorating the new flat and giving out presents before having a huge birthday meal and then going out for drinks. Her birthday also happens to fall on St. Patricks Day so the party went on.
We do still manage to make time for trips away. The weekend before Harriet's birthday we decided to take Rob's car out and head to the Coromandel Peninsula, where we reunited with an old friend.................
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Sailing Auckland & The Louis Vuitton Race
After a week of work it was back to more weekend fun. I was given another opportunity to go sailing around Auckland with Harriet and our other good friend Tom. We joined Basil - the captain, Leith, and Harriet's Aunt and Uncle. Because there were so many of us, Harriet and I had to go on one of Basil's friends boats - Peter.
Under windy and rainy conditions we headed out into the Waitemata Harbour where a variety of other boats joined us. Over the last few weeks there had been a new international yachting regatta in Auckland - the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, where crews from all over the world compete in racing events. The day we went out was the final - New Zealand Vs Switzerland. The race track was well controlled by police boats as spectator yachts competed for space along the track edge to get the best views. The race wasn't particularly thrilling - as the boating finalists had to simply go up and down in straight lines a few times. Some spectators stayed where they were while others moved up and down the 'touchline' to follow the action better. New Zealand came out the eventual winners and after paraded around the water as the spectators cheered from their boats.
Afterwards, we headed out in the rain to Islington Bay, which is situated on Motutapu - the Island connected to Rangitoto Volcano. There we docked for the night, all jumped onto Basil's Pink Cadillac boat and drank the night away. The following morning, Tom joined Harriet and I on Peter's boat and we sailed back (in fine weather) back to the harbour.
It was great to be back out on the water, even if I'm not really an ocean goer. It was a more relaxed affair this time too - as I hardly had to lift a finger in the sailing department. Still, I never complain just chilling in the sun on a sail boat.......who would!!!
