New Zealand

Time for our final blog entry of New Zealand. Not too much has happened since our last mammoth entry so i guess the purpose of this is to update and add some more photos to our burgeoning collection.
When we left you on Sunday, England were being whooped in the First Test, the sun still hadn't shone continually for more than thirty minutes and i still couldn’t understand why people play Soduko. So not a lot has changed.. England managed to save some face by reaching over 300 in their final innings but the elusive golden orb that we have travelled so far to worship still shuns us. Oh, and Soduko is still weird.

We arrived at Pols relative Caroline's house on Sunday evening after a day spent wandering round shops and biting our nails as England valiantly attempted to bat for longer than 3 hours against the two juniors of the Australian team (Glenn Mcgrath 36 and Shane Warne 37.) Dinner was, wait for it, Roast Lamb! Having been in New Zealand for 2 months and not even getting near to lamb, i'd managed to eat it twice in two days. Heaven! We retired to bed that evening, full and content as we no longer had to sleep in that damn van!
Monday morning arrived and we were faced with the alien concept of not having to get up! Our room was dark (good Curtains) and we didn’t have to check out at 10am! So we sauntered down stairs and had a leisurely breakfast and made plans for the day ahead. The main aim was to see the remainder of the first test so as we had a couple of hours to spare, we headed over to the City to check out the Museum. Situated in a pleasant grassy reserve aptly named "Auckland Domain" the museum housed the War Memorial and several interesting exhibits that both Pol and I were keen to see. After 40 mins of wrong turns and missed streets, we parked EZY and tramped over the grass to the imposing entrance to the museum while discussing that it looked nothing like it did in the guide book (probably because the sky was clear blue!) After the obligatory circular door, we found ourselves in the reception/Cafe area of the building where we were greeted by a sign discussing the charges for entrance. Now, we had been told that there was a donation bin and essentially the museum was free.. how wrong was that! the three entrances were staffed by uniformed teenagers who greeted us with a welcome to Auckland Museum, can we ask for a donation of $5 please? Well Pol, being Pol, decided that she didnt like this and quipped "Its not really a donation then" to which the reply was "Well it is for Auckland rate payers". Great we both thought, they have even installed a EFTPOS machine on the gate so they could take credit card " Donations." what a crock!

The Museum itself was decidedly average. There was the usual smattering of exhibits, the most interesting being one that described the Thermal plates and volcanoes that are so abundant in New Zealand. There was also a house which was supposed to simulate the effects of a volcano errupting in the harbour of Auckland. We sat there watching the fake news report about the impending doom when the window (which was really a big tv) started to move and wow, the erruption happened before our eyes! All this smoke and ash billowed towards our “house” it shock briefly and everything went black. Then the lights came on and the show was over! We both felt slightly cheated!

After a couple more rooms full of insects and assorted flora and fauna, we emerged from the musuem and decided to head over to one of the “burbs” to watch the final few hours of the Test. However, neither of us thought we would get to see any of it as England lost two wickets in the short 20 min drive and knowing the tendency of the team to collapse, things were not looking good. The cricket Gods were obviously listening to us as they gifted Ashley Giles the ability to bat for longer than 10 mins and we arrived at the pub with 4 wickets remaining. We ordered a beer and a burger and settled down to watch the last minutes of the innings. It didn’t last long as England managed 25 mins and having barely eaten our burgers, we ambled out into the late afternoon sunshine and headed back to the house.
Tuesday was spent strolling around Auckland and we went to see Children of Men at the Cinema. The film was ok, Julianne Moore made more of a cameo appearance and Clive Owen did his best not to appear too wooden! Oh, Michael Caine was well funny as a stoned hippy!
Wednesday: Dropped off EZY in the city centre and managed to blag the agent who did the check in with us. We had driven off without the bucket and lost the tea towel in the course of the fortnight but bluntly told him that the woman at the airport had not included either item in the van when we picked it up! After complaining about the state of the first van, we went for some lunch at got the ferry back over to Bayswater.
Thursday (Today) The weather took a turn for the worse today so we have been pretty much house bound. A quick walk over lunch time was abandoned and we came back to attempt a 1000 piece jigsaw… we failed! Went to see a play at the theatre.
Oh.. one more thing.. tomorrow, you will have some pics on this entry.. the wifi connection we have (next doors) is rubbish and it takes too long for us to upload the snaps..

good night all

Pollyali

x

Hi all, several reasons for todays update. Firstly, we are coming to the end of our Kiwi adventure, also to fill in the gaps (or more importantly, the bits that Polly missed out!) We also feel the need to celebrate that last night was our final sleep in EZY camper! (see below!)

Today we are going to stay with Polly’s aunt here in the fine city of Auckland and we are looking forward to some proper food, a proper bed and more importantly, some other company. Now that doesn’t mean that we have argued, but its been a tad lonely at times with not many opportunities to meet other like minder adventurers. As this has been the case, we feel that for anyone else thinking of the doing the same, seriously consider what you want from the country. If you want to have a laugh or meet people, use the traveller bus networks. Stray and Kiwi Experience seem to be the transport of choice for most of the people we have met and we havent heard many negatives about it. Travelling in a group of friends for instance would be the only exception to this no campervan rule. The big vans that sleep eight would be cost effective and a helluva laugh!
Now that’s out the way, we want to highlight the fun that we have had on our journey round this fair land.
Drive over to Milford Sound.. This without a doubt was THE highlight of our trip in the South Island. All the guide books and programs we see in the UK recommend that this trip be taken, and it’s a must.
The South Island was amazing, the West Coast in particular was like something from a film… Our journey over Arthurs Pass to Queenstown was shrouded in mist and rain but it made it even more exciting. The waterfalls that cascaded down the rock face literally feet from the road and the endless stops to investigate what lie beyond the green DOC (Department of Conservation) signs which usually meant some beautiful scenery or a waterfall. Yes, it does rain quite a lot in the Southern Parts of New Zealand, its kind of to be expected and it didn’t disappoint us, although days of being constantly damp can irritate! Milford Sound was made all the better by the rain and this meant we could view some of the more spectacular waterfalls that are not visible when dry.
Activities we have done in Auckland:

Auckland has been fun… we were slightly reluctant to head over this way last weekend as we felt that nearly two weeks would be incredibly difficult to pass. How wrong were we. The first day we went to Kelly Tarltons Underwater and Antartic adventure. We had a bit of a chuckle when I announced to Pol that Kelly was in fact a World Famous female Scuba Diver. We we got there, either Kelly had been the patient in an amazing sex change operation, or I was wrong. I think the former is the most likely… with all that hair! Anway, the place, other than costing $28 each (roughly ten pounds - not a lot really) was pretty good. The Antartic part of the centre consisted of a bob cat ride around a medium sized Penguin enclosure while we were treated to a cheese on toast commentary telling us how successful and humane the breeding program was. We both couldn’t seem to forget that penguins are supposed to be wild and no matter how much snow or food they get fed… they still didn’t look too happy, they were cute though!
The Suburbs around Auckland are pretty impressive and have taken a major role in keeping us occupied. We have been residing in a small beachside town called Takapuna for the last week, it consists of a main street with shops and restaurants and a nice sheltered beach where it seems that the whole population of Auckland run. We have spent our time drinking cups of coffee and writing our diaries… well we haven’t managed the latter since Thursday as the Cricket has started and we’ve been too busy watching the Pommies get an Oz styled whooping.. Seriously though, we are a tad nervous about going to Melbourne now, especially as it looks like the first test will be a white wash!
The campsites we have stayed in have been ok in general. There have been A few however that deserve a mention.
Opononi Holiday Park: Comes in at number one in the RIP OFF charts. $32 dollars a night! The park consisted of three tiers of grass, a kitchen block and a shower room. The kitchen was ok, but the shower room was the most disgusting place I have ever been in. It reminded us of the toilet from Trainspotting! The ceiling was down and leaking and FULL of spiders!
Twizel Park was the BEST! - $22 a night for a secluded camping spot with spotless toilets and a lovely manager who would have done anything for her guests.. Shame Twizel was like the village from Silent Hill.
In between we have had picturesque DOC campsites in the middle of nowhere with no facilities other than a stream for water and a hole in the ground for poo pooing! We stopped using these when news of a Dutch couple being kidnapped reached us and although NZ is a relatively safe place, we both felt more at ease in the populated camping grounds! The Dutch couple were ok and were inundated with offers from the local population. One company even offered them a free campervan and a holiday to Queenstown staying in Luxury accommodation.
The driving in the South Island was notoriously poor. Although the roads are dead at the best of times.. Often a car will appear in your rear mirror and will attempt to pass at 150kmph with scant regard for anyone else in the vicinity.
To Sum up this rather lengthy entry, we both feel that the south island deserves far more time than the north. With the only places of interest in the North being Rotorua, Tongariro National Park (Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings)
and Auckland itself. The list for the South is endless: the beautiful scenery of Queenstown, the Glaciers, the Wine of the Marlborough region, the endless National Parks.
Next time we catch up, we will be in Melbourne, Ali will be sunburnt and we may indeed have joined the mass working population.. (gulp!) so until then.. Ttfn.

Hi All the Polly half here! I'm going to write the first bit and then when my figers start to tire Alii will jump in and finish it off.
So not much to report, we are still trying to waste away (without spending too much money) our last week in NZ. We are still in Auckland and have managed to venture a total of 10km south of Auckland only to decide we much prefered nazi style camping and so came back! I did encounter a lovely friendly cat whilst pissing on my neighbours turf one night and managed to coax it into the van until Ali came back and told me to get the flea ridden thing out, he's not much of a cat person I'm sorry to say.
The weather I am pleased to report is glorious and has meant that we no longer have to shut ourselves in our van come 6pm, (it's 9pm and we're still wide awake!)Yesterday we treated ourselves to the fun and frollicks of the fair at Rainbows End, NZ one and only theme park, not a patch on Alton Towers but was still great fun. I managed to convince Ali to come on the Roller Coster and he liked it so much he begged me to go on it again! I couldn't however persuade him to go on the Pirate Ship, what a girl!!! I'm being usered off now, Mumma P I promise we will download some more photo's as soon as we can.
Hello Everybody, it ali's turn.. but ive nothing more to add.. well, urmmm maybe.. watched some of the cricket today, hate to say its not looking good for our game in Melbourne apres Xmas.. I wont go into too much detail as i know some of my friends feel a tad aggrieved when i talk about a Sport that only they know anything about! Still, i cheered them on like no-one else today and am hoping for a miracle tomorrow.
The Theme park was indeed a load of fun in the Sun.. i even managed (She forgot to mention this..) go on the Fear Fall ride. The Caption reads "18 Stories and 82kph" need i say more? Well, i popped myself into the seat and buckled up thinking "This should be ok!" Well, it wasn't. After a twenty second (more like minute) climb to the top of the contraption, there we sat, me with my eyes closed and pol with an insane grin and giggle to match. Then we fell. My love spuds decided to hit the back of my throat as i was subjected to 1 g of force. I tried to scream but could only managed a gurgle/groan. I felt like a newly lobotomised man.. it was horrible. Then, as soon as it started, we were at the bottom, i quickly jumped out of the seat and picked up my belongings.. and what made it worse was the rather large Maori woman next to Pol said "Lets Go again!" Not a chance, i made a polite excuse and scarpered whilst calls of "What a Girl" followed me!
Well, thats my tuppence to tonights exciting episode of Pollyali in New Zealand.

Take Care everyone

Pollyali

xx

Well, its been emotional... well, if im to be honest, it still is rather! Into the last 2 weeks of our Kiwi adventure and its been a hoot. We sauntered into the largest city on Saturday morning, partly driven by the rain, and partly by the promise of excitement and more importantly, nightlife. Friday we stayed at a small surfer campsite just outside of Auckland in a village called Piha, it was lovely and we cooked a nice Curry and sat and drank some wine purchased hours earlier from Nobilo Wines! After eating and being bitten to death by what can only be described as genetically engineered Thunder Flies, we took off to the beach and watched some of the local youth bravely surfing the ten foot waves... Totally Far out man!
After half an hour of this, we grew thirsty so wandered off looking for refreshment. Ending up at the hippest place in town, we ordered 2 pints of lager... Now before i continue, i would like to tell you what the place was. It was a place where old and young met in complete harmony, it was where the drinks flowed and the incessant chatter of individuals floated on the slight sea breeze. It was in fact, the Local Lawn Bowling Club! There were no stuffy white jackets like in Britain, 20 year olds were playingt 60 year olds and peoples dogs frolicked in and out of peoples legs, urinating at will on bowling ball bags! No-one cared! And more importantly, the beer was $3.30 a pint... that's just over one pound to you lot!
Saturday was spent in Auckland and spending lots of money on coffee and activities.. we havent done that much since.. we are currently residing in a campsite run by a mini hitler and his wife.. he showed me where to park the van on Saturday evening and went completely off his rocker when i didnt get it spot on! As such, we now completely disregard all camp rules and as we are staying tonight as well, we may get drunk and p!ss on his van!

Laters!

Pollyali

What a last 10 days we have had.
We left you in Rotorua pondering the lax level of car driving in this fair isle and have since progressed north to seek sun and sand.
We departed the sulphorous Rotorua and journeyed to the Coromandel Penninsula which was roughly 100km further North. We made it as far as Paeroa's Northern border when the weather closed in and forced us to make camp for the night. We picked a nice little campsite with the usual smattering of Ducks and hens and settled down to some packet soup and an episode or two of ER (we have watched all of seasons 1-3!) At around 1am the wind started to pick up and our little van was battered for three hours as the tempramental New Zealand Spring threw all it could muster at the region.
Awakening bleary eyed we decided to sack off the Coromandel and head instead to Hamilton which is the 4th largest city in New Zealand. T'was ok, shops and Cafes and some hhhuge Gardens which was all sorts of designs from different countries. We also went round the Zoo and annoyed the various animals. Unfortunately, both the above activities were blighted by bad weather and on both days we had to retire early as we were both sodden.
Leaving Hamilton on Saturday we decided to call our campervan rental co as there were several problems with the van and we were so close to Auckland that we could take it to their depot if needed. To cut to the chase, we managed to swap our grotty, smelly , faulty van for a spiffing new one complete with blacked out windows and electrics that worked! We then drove up to North land (the part of the north island above Auckland) where we have had tip top weather (we managed to sit outside the van until 7.30pm last night!) and cold gin and tonics! We are currently in Paihia which is a small tourist town in the bay of islands and are debating wether or not to swim with dolphins.. other than that, we are just chilling out!
We have rebooked our flight to Melbourne (now leave Auckland on 1st Dec) and have scrapped together some sort of plan for the rest of our trip with new dates for our onward flights to Bangkok and Delhi. Thats pretty much it for now folks... Hope to hear some comments from you lazy asses (Not our parents!) so get writing!

love

Pollyali

x