Rotorua was our last major stop. We were on our way back to Auckland, for in a few days my parents were flying on to Singapore and then home, and for me - well I was also flying on!!! Between Rotorua and Auckland however, was a little town called Matamata. If you came here 10 years ago you would find a lot of farm land, a small town but not what you would consider a major tourist destination. Skip on a decade and the farm land and small town are still here, yet now - tourists flock to this part of the country and the reason is Lord of the Rings. The filmakers used a small farm near the town of Matamata as a set for Hobbiton. And being tourists, we thought we would check it out.
As you drive through Matamata you realise that everything is Lord of the Rings related. They even have signs as you drive in to the town centre which read - "Welcome to Hobbiton". Around the town and in quite a few places in this part of the North Island, the farmland is just like the Shire, with perfectly rounded and smooth rolling hills which trace off into the distance.
So that's Matamata for you. Oddly, the world's only other Matamata, which is located in Tunisia – was a site used during filming of George Lucas's Star Wars trilogy. You really do learn something everyday - most of the something's are completely useless - but they are still something's nonetheless!!!
We continued on our way, and in a few hours, we were back in Auckland.................
Friday, 4 September 2009
Heading Back To Auckland Via Hobbiton
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Rotorua
It was quite odd being back in Rotorua. For while I have returned to other parts of New Zealand on more than one occasion, I hadn't really been back to Rotorua since my very first month in the country. Darren and I had spent a few days here - taking in the sulphur that emanates from below, and strolling around another of NZ's great lakes.
The parents and I first went to the Geothermal Village. There are many around the town - most of which are located just south of Rotorua. The walking tour around the park saw us pass geothermal pools, geysers, bubbling mud and lakes that were so green and yellow - that they almost looked as though I had just taken a bath in them!!! The geothermal park's are interesting, even if you don't have a desire to be a volcanologist. As we walked round, the smell of rotten eggs wafted over us, clinging to our hair and our clothes. It was a pleasant way to spend a morning.
After all that walking and with geothermal activity surrounding us - we thought what better way to relax than a soak in the geothermal pools. Each pool is a different temperature - from about a warm 36 degrees Celcius to a scoulding 42 degrees. At the Polynesian Spa you also get a great view over parts of Lake Rotorua.
We later took a walk around by the lake and went to a quietly hidden Maori Village which Darren and I had stumbled across almost a year earlier. It's quite interesting to see some of the Maori culture especially if you haven't seen anything like it before. We had another great meal out on the town, later that night, before preparing ourselves for the next days travels. We were heading back to Auckland but on the way we thought we would stop off at place known to many as Hobbiton, to the Kiwi's however, it's called Matamata...........
Taupo & The Tongariro National Park For The Very Last Time
We were up early and back in the car for our next road trip. We were heading west towards the North Islands very central core. I had been to this place many a time, in fact I had been here just a week or so ago but my parents wanted a tour and no tour of New Zealand would be complete without stopping off here in my opinion. So off went to The Tongariro National Park and my old home - Taupo.
We first headed straight to Taupo so we could check in and dump the bags. I didn't need to point out the lake - it's pretty large and exceptionally obvious as soon as you get anywhere near the area. Our hotel was right on the lake-front and I wasn't complaining - I don't think I had stayed anywhere so good in all my year and a half of traveling. We then took the scenic drive down to the National Park. My Dad, like myself, is a bit of a Lord of the Rings fan and I wouldn't let him miss out on seeing Mordor and Mount Doom. We first parked up by the start of the Tongariro Crossing before the three of us decided to take a brief stroll along the first part of the track. From the track you could see the volcanoes of Tongariro, Nguaruhoe and Ruapehu. Now and again I would show them bits of old volcanic rock and often store them in everyones pockets for safe keeping. It was a bit cloudy at first so our views were some what blocked but they soon passed.
We then went into the Whakapapa Village, right in the heart of the National Park, were we did what any English person would do - we had a nice cup of tea and a scone. We also went around a small museum which provides information on the volcanoes and the area in general.
We later returned to Taupo for dinner. Beforehand however, we stopped off at my old hostel - Go Global. I had not stayed here for a while so I decided to see what the place was like. It hadn't changed very much, if at all - but there was no-one working who I knew. I really should have pre-warned people of my arrival and I will no doubt regret not doing that - in fact I already regret it. I must have made an impression on the place though, because just as you walk into the hostel, are a series of printed pictures up on the wall. Most of them were of the era when I was there and many of the photos had me in them (looking pretty ridiculous in one way or another). It made me smile.
The next day, we headed north. I took my parents to the impressive Huka Falls as well as the outrageously long journey that I used to walk to work. We stopped at GNS and I said a farewell to my old boss Gill. We continued north. It was just one more hour to our next location. I'm sure I could smell the place about 30 minutes before we arrived. There's not many places that smell as bad as Rotorua.............
Napier
My parents had left Auckland to continue their holiday in the more southerly parts of New Zealand, while I had 101 jobs to sort out as I prepared to leave the country in a few weeks. The jobs were boring, the goodbyes were emotional, the parties were hectic and the following week I caught an early morning flight to Wellington. The parents had been travelling the South Island of NZ but had now made it across the pond to the southern tip of the North Island and the countries capital. I had spent a fair amount of time in this windy city but had decided to fly down to Wellington to meet them there because it was cheaper to fly down (just NZ$40 - thats about £24) than get a bus, and I wouldn't have to endure a journey that would make a sane man weep. So I got to Wellington, met up with the parents and we all jumped in a car and headed off on a 4 hour scenic drive. We were going to the eastern part of the North Island, a part of the country which I had not yet seen. Our destination was Napier.
Napier is a port city at the southern end of Hawkes Bay. The city itself is like stepping back to the 1930's with almost every building providing the very recognisable 'art deco' style. The reason for such aesthetics, stems from the fact that in 1931 Napier suffered to the hands of nature when a 7.8M eathquake devastated the town and killed 256 people. The earthquake was the second largest quake ever recorded in New Zealand. Oddly enough just a few weeks ago another 7.8M earthquake struck the Fjordland region of New Zealand's South Island, of which my friend Darren (living in Queenstown and close by to Fjordland - ish) was shaken around the cinema where he was working as he tried to sell Transformers tickets to customers. Although it now falls as joint second largest earthquake ever recorded in NZ along with the Napier disaster, this newly struck earthquake didn't kill a single person.
After the 1931 quake, Napier was rebuilt, almost from scratch, and in fashion at the time, was art deco. As we walked around the town, my parents said it reminded them of Santa Barbara in North America. Napier is a pretty town although would it probably be a bit more lively if it was summer time. It definately appeared to be a summer town tourist spot.
Napier and more specifically - Hawkes Bay, is also gaining a name for itself as one of the world's great wine regions. It's now becoming difficult to travel around New Zealand without stumbling across one of the great wordly wineries, and this place (according to the experts), is one of them. It would certainly suit my father quite nicely. Since I last saw him (a year and a half ago), he has now become what appears to a novice such as myself - to be quite a wine expert - or at least he's certainly an expert at consuming the wine. After a stroll around town and along the sea-front parade where you get a great view of the impressive Hawkes Bay, the Pacific Ocean and for us, a dead fish washed up on the beach, we headed off to taste some of these so called - great wines. My Mum and Dad had just been traveling the Marlborough region and tasted some great alcoholic grapes and you would think that such a tasting could be repeated here. Unfortunately it appeared impossible to find anywhere in Napier that would sell wines from Hawkes Bay. The logic appeared odd to me. I can walk down Southgate high street, in North London, walk into Asda and choose from about 18 different kinds of Hawkes Bay wine, yet here I am, so close to the region that I'm basically swimming in the bay and yet I can't find a single place to wet my palette. I've given up questioning things like this and have just learnt to accept that the world is completely insane and most definately illogical.
We drank our 'house red', went for a nice meal and then called it a night. It was a big day tomorrow. We were heading to a new location. One that was very familiar to me - it was Taupo.......
Friday, 31 July 2009
The Parents Come To Town
It's been a year and a half. Thats a long time without seeing your parents. The only contact I had had in that time was a phone call now and again and the odd viewing through Skype and a web-cam. It's not really enough is it?!?
However, with summer holiday's begining in England and the parents preparing a trip away - what better place to head than to see New Zealand and their beloved son. After a few days in Hong Kong the parents arrived in the land of the long white cloud. I had just returned from skiing and headed off to the airport to meet them.
Our first meeting in 18 months was an emotional one with many hugs and smiles. It was all a bit overwhelming to be honest but in a good way of course. After we spent the rest of the day chatting about past events and naturally of the footy.
The next day I happily showed them both around Auckland (Queen Street, the harbour, where I work, K-Road, Ponsonby), which involved a lot of walking but was very enjoyable. Of course we stopped for a drink or two along the way and talked over past events and naturally of more footy. That night, Harriet and myself were taken out by my Mum and Dad to the Sky City Tower - Orbit Restaurant. It is a revolving restaurant right at the top of Auckland's Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere!!! You get incredible views at the top of the entire city. Harriet and I would point out landmarks, where we both worked, our flat (which is only a minutes walk from my parents hotel) and of course all 50 or so volcanoes. The food was deliceous too and we spent the night chatting away about past events and naturally of the footy.
The next day, the parents left for the South Island. They caught a flight to Nelson where, like true travelers, they would venture through the beautiful New Zealand countryside. I would be flying down to Wellington in a week or so and travel the North Island with them, showing them some highlights of places that I have been and some places that I have not yet ventured to. Until then, I had jobs to sort out, some goodbyes to say and some parties to attend............
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Skiing On Mount Ruapehu (An Active Volcano)
So, on a Wednesday night, Harriet, myself, Pat and Steve took the 4 hour trip down south, heading out of Auckland, past Taupo to the Tongariro National Park. We were staying in a cool little town at the southern end of the national park called Ohakune. I had been here before. It reminds me of a small version of Queenstown, a proper little skiing town where folks come to sit in warm huts and drink mulled wine and beer around a warm fire, or bathe in geothermally heated pools after a hard days ski. The mountain that we would be skiing down is the tallest mountain in New Zealands North Island - Mount Ruapehu. It also happens to be an active volcano. It last erupted in 2007 although it was minor and last properly erupted in the mid 1990's. The mountain was also used for close up shots of Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings. There are three ski fields on Ruapehu, we would be skiing on the southern mountain slope - Turoa. They have volcano warning systems in place all around the mountain, although I hoped that they wouldn't be needed over the next few days as I don't quite feel my skiing is up to the experienced level of escaping from an erupting volcano!?!
We stayed in a cool little backpackers in town that had a large snow man outside, although it wasn't made of snow. On the first day we all spent chilling as the weather permitted us to ski that day. Pat and Steve like a drink or ten too, and that night we all went to the famous Powder Keg Bar where we drank ourselves stupid mainly on B52's as I vaguely remember. Harriet and I ended up a drunken mess and decided it was a good idea to steal the snow man's nose (which was a traffic cone). I don't know how long we were there trying to get this nose, but Pat and Steve found it hilarious as they took embarassing photographs of the whole event from the sideline. We all ended up crashing somewhere in a heaped state and woke up with hangovers that would make having Swine Flu seem pleasant. The weather cleared in the afternoon and we got a half day ski in. It was much better skiing on the mountain and I really improved the little skills that I began with. Harriet remained on the side, too hungover to continue with life itself. We took it easy that night, having just a few quiet drinks, bathing in the geothermal pools and eating a lot of beef.
We were joined by two friends of Pat and Steves - Shane and Christa, and were later followed by Leith and his French friend Yan. The second day was perfect skiing weather and we were on the slopes by 8.30am. With no hangovers and a mountain full of snow - we really had a great day skiing. By the end, Harriet and I had mastered the green runs with ease. That night however, everyone was back on the booze and as usual, Harriet and I were the last two standing - playing drinking games with three Kiwis we had just met. Earlier that night, in a pub, I had bumped into an old friends sister, who was now living in Auckland but who had also come down for a bit of skiing. It was Toby's sister, Zoe. I had not seen Toby since the first days of my travelling, where after two hours of landing in Bangkok, I bumped into him and his (now) wife Vicky. Zoe told me that Toby and his brother Ollie had gone on to the Dragons Den Tv Show and been given 100,000 pounds to help fund their idea. Good on them!!! I chatted to Zoe for a while before we all left to get drunk. It would be another messy night and I knew the next day would possibly kill me.
The final day started off slow for the two drunk ones. We eventually made it up on the mountain - a little later than the others in our party. In our still drunken state, we ended up taking the wrong ski lift and headed up to the top of the mountain. There, at the top were the black runs down, which we took one look at, realised that we couldn't take them on even if we were sober and ended up taking the ski lift back down to easier slopes. From anywhere on the mountain you do get the most incredible views. We were sat on Mount Ruapehu in the very middle of the North Island. From here you can easily see Mount Taranaki, which sits on the very south west coast of the North Island. Thats like standing on a mountain in Birmingham and seeing another in Devon (well very roughly). Eventually our skiing got going and we were back down the slopes.!?!
When your a skier, the main hazard when taking on the slopes is unquestionably - snowboarders. Beginner snowboarders really can't control their speed or direction in general, and one clip from a heavy snowboard and it's game over for a skier. Actually there wasn't too much clipping - they generally headed straight into Harriet and I, knocking us clean over and creating a white-out all the way down the slope. I believe that was the main reason we fell over. Of course I did manage to take a few people out myself. Once, I slightly clipped a kid's ski's causing him to perform the splits which then followed with crying in agony as his dad tried to bring him upright. I skied as fast away as I could so not to get blamed - a drive-by ski-knock as I have named it. I also gave the lightest of clips as me, Harriet and this kid tried to all get on the ski lift. The knock sent the kid spinning out of control and the ski lift bashed him on the arm as he tried to get on. We then had cries of pain the whole journey up as I just turned to Harriet, trying to hide my embarassment. Apart from all those minor incidents the skiing was very successful. We finished our last day, returned our gear and headed back home. Tomorrow my parents were arriving in New Zealand. I hadn't seen them for a year and a half - finally it was time...........
The Calm Before The Storm
Just last week I finished work. Since the begining of July, most of my volcanology had been wrapping up the project that I had been pioneering for the last 8 months or so. Part of the wrapping up involved a day trip down to Wellington with my boss. There I had arranged a meeting with a whole host of people at GNS to discuss what I had been doing for half a year (cue presentation) and where we should take the borehole database project that I had created. It turned out to be very successful indeed. From the meeting discussions it was decided that GNS should create a national borehole database for the entire country by amalgamating all borehole data stored at GNS. One day, when you want borehole data from New Zealand and you go to the National Borehole Database to find what your looking for - just remember, that you may have never had access to such data if it hadn't been for the meeting that I had set up. Within a few weeks, my final report was in and I said a goodbye to all my work collegues that had become good friends over the last year. They put on a farewell morning tea for me and gave me a card and present too - which just highlights what amazing people they all are. I will certainly keep in touch with many of them.
With work complete, I was sitting in the calm before the storm. I had so many things planned, that were all going to hit me in one manic swoop. The first major event was a skiing trip, planned down at the Tongariro National Park, but before hand, Harriet and I had a very important sporting event to attend.......
......On a cold, windy night, at the Mount Eden Stadium, two brits, with only half an idea of what the hell was going on, turned up to see one of the biggest games of the year. The two brits were a Miss Harriet Willmott and myself and the sporting event was the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team take on their ultimate rivals - Australia (the Wallabies) in the Tri Nations Cup. In front of a packed stadium, we watched the gruesome battle unleashed. We were first treated to the Maori war dance that every All Blacks team performs before a game - The Haka. It was heard from everywhere in the ground and it looked scary from my seat at about 6km from the players. I think I would have ran away if I was an Australian Rugby player. However, it was the Wallabies who started the better - taking a comfortable lead by half time. The game was fierce and tackles were flying in at all angles as you would expect. Yet, the All Blacks are not a team to give up easily and by the end of the match, the kiwis had taken a 22-16 lead to win the game. We had the only All Blacks try down our end of the pitch too, which was good. The atmosphere at the end of the game was electric, and although we had spent most of the match huddled and shivering, we celebrated in style with our fellow New Zealanders. Harriet and I were fully dressed up in All Blacks gear and we partied all the way home and then continued the celebrations on late into the night.
Harriet and I had also been to Pat and Steve's (Harriet's Aunt and Uncle's) farm to spend some time with them. We were going on a skiing trip with them soon and so we all decided to do a couple of warm up rounds by going to Snow Planet - the dry ski slope, as practice. I had never been skiing before (only a day snowboarding), but luckily I had Pat and their friend Leith (both experienced skiers) to help. Harriet had done a bit of skiing before but not for years so we both took it very slowly. It was a lot of fun and with skiing I found that you could go a lot faster, a lot quicker than snowboarding - so I enjoyed it. Thats not to say I didn't fall over. Hell I was up and down like a yoyo and often I wasn't just falling over on my own - I would often take out the 6 nearest people around me too somehow.
Leith has been skiing for years and he's one of those folk who like to push the newcomers. You have to take a risk sometimes if you want to improve. By the end of my first ever skiing day, I was not only skiing down from the top of the run but I actually (still can't believe it myself), successfully made and landed a ramp jump. There are man made ramps all down the ski run and Leith said that I was ready to head straight for the big one. With ignorance on my side - I thought 'what the hell', and whizzed down the slope. I reached the ramp, flew straight over, leaping a few feet off the ground before landing with suprising ease. The first thing I thought is 'no-one will ever believe I did that', but luckily for me, Pat had photographed me all the way. Check out my New Zealand pics - there are four or five of me taking on the ramp.
We actually did two days at Snow Planet, the second day I appeared to be a lot worse than my first and I'm sure that me and Harriet took each other out on nearly every run. Still, we had both learnt the basics and we were ready for the real thing - bring on the mountain................
