New Zealand (part 3)

Next stop on the world tour of New Zealand was Rotorua, where we stayed long enough to marvel at the geothermal fields, but not long enough to get suffocated by the smell of sulphur. We even made a detour to go to a local geo-thermal power station which was supposed to have a visitor’s centre. Turns out we had the wrong power station, so we must have looked a right pair of plonkers driving onto their site, having a good gawp, taking photos and driving off again!

P at 'Craters of the Moon' thermal park

After Rotorua, we headed for a tiny place called Turangi, famous only for being the start point for the Tongariro Crossing – a day hike across an amazing volcanic plateau, with unworldly landscapes, coloured lakes and towering volcanic peaks. As part of the walk, you have the option to climb Mount Ngauruhoe, the peak which cameos as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings films. Despite the cloudy conditions we decided that the opportunity to climb Mount Doom was not to be missed, so we set off up the steep rocky slope. Fortunately Sauron was not in residence that day, but Mt Doom did claim another victim as I lost my balance and came sliding down the sharp scree on my shins. I would like to be able to say the view was worth it, but the cloud obstinately hugged the summit all morning, and we couldn’t see a thing! Luckily that didn’t detract from the rest of the walk, which was stunning, and deservedly described as possibly the best day walk in NZ.

Emerald Lakes, Tongariro Crossing

It seems you can’t visit NZ without throwing yourself off, out of or down something. So next up, James had an appointment with 12,000ft of fresh air on his way out of a plane above Lake Taupo (all because I had done a skydive there on my last visit and he didn’t want to be outdone, I reckon!)."Geronimo!"

New Zealand (part 2)

Having collected our trusty motor – a ’96 Nissan Sunny with nearly 200,000km on the clock – we headed north out of Auckland on one of New Zealand’s few stretches of motorway. It didn’t last long, within 30 minutes we were on a windy single carriageway road – something we were going to get used to over the coming weeks.

Our target was Russell in the beautiful Bay of Islands and one time capital of New Zealand. Much more importantly it is home to Fliss – Petra’s cousin’s wife’s aunt (got that?!) – and her partner Butch. Our plan had been to have one night in Russell before steaming on north to 90 mile beach and Cape Reina (NZ’s most northerly point) but as soon as we arrived Fliss insisted it wasn’t to be a flying visit and her great hospitality ensured we stayed on there for 3 nights instead.

Fliss is currently running a luxury lodge just outside Russell with stunning views over the bay and this is where she put us up. Initially we had to pretend to be fellow guests as we settled down to a 4 course meal but after that first night we had the place to ourselves and aside from helping clean the rooms we settled down to lounge by the pool and play with the dog (called Sea but generally known as Dog)

The Lodge

Fortuitously the Bay of Islands Sailing Week was taking place whilst we were there and I decided to get up early on Friday morning to see if I could get involved. Luckily I found Jeremy and Anne, the owners of Sea Hawk a 35’ Chico yacht, who were looking for crew. I joined them and an English guy called Robin (who bizarrely was a previous owner of the boat I did my Day Skipper course on – small world!!) to take on all comers in the cruiser class. We had a great day out on the water and came 2nd in everyone of the 3 races but nicked 1st place on handicap in the long afternoon bay race. It was a really good day and will sit up there with highlights of this trip. I was so excited I could barely sit still all evening.

Seahawk

The Race James, Jeremy, Anne & Robyn - the winning team

We left Fliss on Sunday morning having enjoyed a superb stay at the lodge to drive leisurely down towards Auckland to spend the night in a campsite with Sam and Anna and some kiwi friends of theirs. It was our first night in the tent in NZ and it was nice to pop it up again – our one piece of consistency in a frantic year! We had a good fun boozy evening and learned a great game called Kub – it’s of Swedish origin and we will be buying a set when we get home so be ready (hopefully they sell it at Ikea).

The next morning we headed for a swim on a beautiful beach before waving good bye to Sam and Anna and heading to the Coromandel – a small peninsula to the east of Auckland. It was a picturesque place and provided two lovely nights camping. We also managed a short walk to Cathedral Cove – a beautiful section of coastline where the sea is eroding through limestone cliffs to leave stacks and caves. Another highlight was Hot Water Beach - sadly the tide was in and no hot water in evidence but a great place to body surf. I also took the opportunity to finally loose my watch once and for all!!

New Zealand (part 1)

True to the style of what has inadvertently become a bit of a retro-blog, now that we’ve left NZ, its time for a few words about the Land of the Long White Cloud.

The first, and probably most important thing to know about NZ is that the Kiwis are legendary for their friendliness and hospitality. Never was this more apparent than when we arrived, like most travelers, weary, and a little jet-lagged at Auckland Airport. NZ is well known for is its no-tolerance approach to the importing (deliberate or otherwise) of animal or vegetable products, which would further mess up their already delicately-balanced ecology. As such, anyone who has come from a weird or exotic country (check), has recently worn their boots in rural/farming areas in said country (check), is carrying a tent (check) – you get the picture – is subject to detailed scrutiny on arrival. So we had steeled ourselves for a long drawn-out and frustrating process.

In fact, we were greeted by a team of professional, efficient, and above all friendly Customs and Immigration officers (I swear even the sniffer dog was smiling!) who checked our stuff thoroughly but quickly, and seemed to take personal pride in being the first to welcome us to their country. We were even offered free tea and coffee as we waited. The whole process (including taking our tent away to be checked in ‘quarantine’) seemed to take less time than passport control at Heathrow. We were impressed!

Things went from good to better when we were picked up at the airport by Anna, managing to fit 3 people plus all our worldly belongings in her mini for the ride across town. On arrival at Sam and Anna’s flat, James and I then got stupidly excited about the prospect of a good shower with real, fluffy towels, a nice bed, good food, free washing machine use and other luxuries like being able to throw our toilet paper down the loo for the first time in 9 months!

We spent a great few days in Auckland, (despite having apparently brought a tropical monsoon with us) in the capable hands of Sam and Anna, who guided us to all the local points of interest including, most importantly the watering holes and eateries.

Great hospitality chez Anna and Sam!

But all too soon it was time to ship out of the big city, so after picking up our trusty hire car (a Nissan Sunny with 200,000km on the clock) we headed north to Russell in the Bay of Islands where another warm kiwi welcome awaited us.

Easter Island

Finally after nearly 9 months, we bid a fond farewell to the South American mainland and boarded a LAN Chile plane to the mystical Easter Island (or 'Isla de Pascua'). We really had no idea what to expect - all we knew was that the statues looked cool in photos we'd seen and since we were flying over the top of it anyway, it seemed rude not to stop!

The flight took 5 hrs and as we circled for landing, we got great aerial views of the island, which is only around 30km long by 15km wide. For those of you who are none-the-wiser about Easter Island, it is the island the most remote from a mainland land mass in the world, about 3500km W of Chile in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is governed by Chile, but as we were to find out, feels much more like a Polynesian island than part of South America.
The first indication that we had effectively left South America behind came as we were greeted at the airport by a representative from the campsite we'd booked, and presented with floral garlands.

We jumped in the truck and were duly transported to our accomodation which turned out to have one of the best views of any on the island - even if it was only a field! Along with us were several other backpakers, including a dutch couple, Timme and Mariette, who turned out to be great companions for our time on the island (guys, I hope you're reading this - yes, we finally managed to post this, only 2 months after leaving!)


We were immediately made to feel at home by the campsite owners, and soon settled into chilled island life. The main event of the day at the campsite was watching 737s take off and land at the airstrip, less than a km down the coast, leaving plenty of time for marvelling at the superb coastal views, having a yarn with the other campers over a beer, or taking up ring-side seats for the most beautiful sunsets over the Pacific.


On our first afternoon, we wandered into Hanga Roa, in search of our first statue, and to check out the local amenities. There was only one town on the island, with one main street, so it didn't take long. Provisions were pretty expensive to buy, not surprisingly as nearly everything is flown in, so we were glad we'd brought some stuff with us.

On our second day we hired a car, and the 4 of us set off to get a closer look at the giant statues or 'Moai'. They were even more impressive in real life than in the pictures we had seen, and we were staggered by just how many of them there were - over 900 in total, scattered about the island. Although they look quite similar to each other few are identical, each having its own expression which gives it a unique personality and they range from 2m to a massive 21m high.

Many are positioned in rows of between 5-15 statues atop a ceremonial stone platform or 'Ahu' usually on the coast but facing away from the sea, and we visited several of these sites on our way around the island.

Many more of the statues were never finished, or never made it to their final resting place, and it is possible to visit the quarry from which they were carved, where you can see literally 100's of these mystical figures emerging from the rock, and dotted around the surrounding hillside awaiting removal to their intended location. It was a truly incredible sight!



The Moai were carved by tribespeople who inhabited the island from 800AD onwards and were supposedly a sign of the status or social standing of the clan. The biggest mystery of the Moai is how they were moved from the quarry where they were carved, to their platforms around the island sometimes miles away, and stood upright, when some of them weighed over 100 tonnes. Many theories abound, but due to the lack of written evidence, we may never know how!

Despite its obvious attractions as the home of such fascinating cultural heritage, and its beautiful coastline and beaches, Easter Island (probably due to its exceptional remoteness, and therefore cost of flights) has remained blissfully unspoilt by mass-market tourism. No high-rise appartment blocks or hideous Hilton hotels! Just friendly locals and a relaxed way of life - long may it remain that way.

After spending a fascinating day visiting as many statues as we could take in, we decided that in order to take full advantage of the hire car we could even make it out of our tents for a Moai sunrise the next day, followed by a dawn dip at one of the islands most beautiful beaches, and still be back before 9am. What a punishing schedule!


All in all, Easter Island well exceeded our expectations, both in terms of the company and what the island had to offer, and will stick in our memories as a highlight of the trip.

South America - the conclusion

Whilst we enjoyed our time on Easter Island we thought back on the 8 1/2 months we had spent in South America. Here are a few facts of our trip:

-266 days

-6 Countries (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile for those not paying attention!)

-58 hostels - recommendations given on request!

-33 nights in our tent - mostly on very cold and high mountainsides!

-24 passport stamps each

-From the Equator to 53 deg south and another 20 back north

-Highest point somewhere around 5,000m

-14 forms of transport (plane, bus, train, car, minibus, cable car, canoe, ferry, foot, motorbike, bike, tuk-tuk, motorboat, rowing boat)

-A dissapointing 5 G&Ts each (can't remember the last time we went so long with so few!)

-Miles covered - lots and lots (it's a very big continent!)

-Most encountered nationality - Dutch ("ik kan een betje Nederlands spreken" - most used phrase!)

-John Deere Competition won by James with Bolivia and Chile as draws (0-0 and 6-6 respectively)

-Photos taken - not sure but somewhere around 4,000

-Books read: James - 39, Petra - 31 (might have forgotten a few though!)

-Most craved food: curry!

-Things we will miss: genuine hospitality and friendliness of the people, opportunity to practice our Spanish, the beautiful mountains, uncomplicated way of life, being wowed by something new everyday, fresh orange juice for 6p a glass, lovely wine and delicious steaks, dulce de leche

-Things we won't miss: interminable bus journeys (the ones in Bolivia especially), packing, unpacking and repacking on a daily basis, noise and pollution in the cities, chicken and rice, stale bread and jam for breakfast, crap coffee, having to continually wear the same clothes,

In summary we have really enjoyed our time - from the charming chaos of the Central Andes to the endearingly hospitable and Europeanesque Argentina to beautiful Chile with stunning coastline, mountains and volcanoes.

We hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as we have enjoyed experiencing it.

Chilean Lakes District

Our first new destination of 2008 was the Chilean Lakes District, of which a town called Pucon is the 'adventure capital'. We had been advised to stay in a town called Villarica, just down the road from Pucon, for its slightly more chilled out atmosphere. We'd also been recommended a hostel there with a good breakfast, so James didn't need much persuading to stay there...

The hostel, La Torre Suiza (the Swiss Tower) was owned and run by (no prizes for guessing!) a Swiss-german couple who had spent 3 yrs cycling round the world before setting this place up. We've met a fair few long-distance cyclists on our trip, and have come to the conclusion that you had to be a very particular type of person to pedal for 1000's of km's, over the harsh and often pretty desolate terrain of South America, sometimes not seeing another soul for days - for fun. Long distance buses may have their draw-backs but give me that over weeks of saddle-soreness any day! Still, whatever flicks your switch I suppose, and they had plenty of photos on the hostel walls of other crazy cyclists who'd passed that way as testament to the fact that they weren't the only ones with a few screws loose!

On arrival we were greeted fairly abruptly, and with typical swiss efficiency were shown the hostel amenities. We soon settled in though enjoying the hospitality extended by our hosts, and a swiss-sytle breakfast whic was indeed fantastic, including home-made bread, yoghurt and jam, as well as coffe, oats and fresh fruit. It seems like a simple thing, but in teh world of backpackers, where free breakfast usually consists of dry, white bread, jam and nescafe, it was really something to get out of bed for!

Villarica Volcano at sunset

Villrica and Pucon are overlooked by the volcano Villarica, whose perfectly-shaped snow-capped cone is visble for miles around. In order to reach the summit, you needed the services of a local guide, and many agencies in town offered tours. As a fitting end to our time in Chile, we decided to climb our first volcano, and signed up for the 4am tour. This involved a painful 3.30am wake-up call, but was worth it, as we reached the summit before the crowds, and got to do most of the climbing before the sun got too strong.

Dawn over Villarica

At 5am when we started walking, it was still dark, but before long the sun was creeping over the edge of the crater, and we were treated to a stunning sunrise. We were lucky to have picked such a small group, as we were only 5 plus 2 guides. About 1.5 hrs into the trek, we hit the snow-line and for the remaining 3 hrs or so zig-zagged slowly up the cone through the white stuff, but we made good time and when we reached the top we had it all to ourselves. We had been provided with ice-axes and crampons, but as the snow was quite soft we didn't actually need to use them.

The volcano is still active, and the length of time you could spend at the top depended on how much gas was present. Stopping for your picnic in the midst of a toxic sulphurous cloud was not to be recommended! The view from the summit was incredible, and took in at least another 10 volcanoes in the local area, one of which (about 80kms away) had errupted recently and you could still see where the ash had blackened the cone. When we'd had enough time to take in the view, it was time for the part everyone had been waiting for. The chosen method of descent from Villarica is somewhat unconventional, and involves donning waterproof overtrousers with a reinforced seat, and sliding on your bum down one of a number of snow-chutes, previously formed by others taking the same way down, using your ice-axe as a brake where necessary. It was great fun! and a lot faster and easier on your knees than the walking. We arrived at the bottom exhilerataed, if a little damp!

P & J sliding our way to the bottom of Villarica

'Tis the season to be jolly...

It was getting on towards Christmas time, (depsite temps in excess of 30 deg, which felt a bit surreal!). In the absence of friends and family, we had decided to spend the festive season somewhere familiar, so on Dec 23rd, we headed back to Bariloche in Argentina, and Periko's hostel. They even recognised us from our previous visit.

Carlos, Caro provide a warm welcome at Periko's

Christmas Argentinian style meant celebrating on Dec 24th (presents are usually given to eager kids at midnight) with (what else?!) a huge BBQ with the folks from the hostel. James predictably took the 'all-you-can-eat' part to heart, and chomped his way through more servings of steak and sausage than it is polite to mention, all washed down with the obligatory beer and vino tinto. Christmas Day itself was a chilled out affair, mainly spent soaking up the sun, swapping gifts and (for James) digesting! I have to admit, although neither of us are particularly prone to home-sickness (good job really!) we were both a more than a little sad at having to spend Christmas away from friends and family - it was definitely missing something this year! :-(

After a few more days in Bariloche, and a couple of good walks (unfortunately this time plagued by horse-flies, which had appeared in anger since our last visit) it was off back to Chile where, after another short trek to a volcano, we headed to a town near the coast (what am I talking about? all of Chile is near the coast!) called Valdivia for New Year.

We liked the place immediately. Not only for the fact that it was one of the least touristy towns we'd visited in Chile, but also because the moment we arrived at the hostel, we were invited to join (another!) big communal BBQ for New Year.

International BBQ in Valdivia

The beer started flowing early, as of course we had to celebrate the arrival of 2008 in all parts of mainland Europe and the UK as well as Chile. There must have been 15 of us altogether, from a variety of european and south american countries, which made for a great relaxed evening, with quality banter in french, spanish, english and german. We were even treated to a burst on the accordion by German our host!

On New Year's Day, the pace was understandably 'tranquilo' - we mosied to the coast for some sea air to cure the hangover. Then when we got back to the hostel we charged up the barbie again, and tucked into the meat mountain left over from the night before. A little hair of dog and we were right as rain!