A slice of paradise...? (Part one) Well what a past few days it's been! To make a proper start on the trip we arranged a trip to the Great Barrier Island, a sleepy little island 90km off the coast of NZ. Catching sight of the brochures littering the tourist info centers was enough to get my saliva going so a quick phone call to the ferry company and we had an adventure on our hands. We booked a room at the "Stray Possum" backpackers lodge and waited for the day to arrive. As I mentioned we had to book a ferry, due to it still being spring there is only one ferry company operating, and they only take the trip a couple times a week, oh yes, and the trip is 4 ½ hours long. Ensuring that we got the best out of our time we decided to go for the 7am, yes, 7am ferry trip. A quick walk down to the wharf with plenty of time to spare? Nooooo... that is not possible for my luck. We trek our arses down to the wharf to find out it's the wrong one. No problem, we hail a cab and give him the address. Half an hour left, no problem at all.... Unless you happen to hail the one cab driver who has no idea where you are talking about... I have no idea what the f*** happened but suddenly were driving round and round the sea front with 15mins to spare. The guy is occasionally checking his street map, we're in the back trying to remain calm and explaining that we HAVE to be there before 7 else the thing leaves without us. We're still driving round, this time where all the rich boys have their yachts stored, blatantly the wrong place, its now creeping even further towards 7. I have now given up any hope of catching the ferry, Tilly is swearing and the guy is still driving. Then suddenly we round a corner and our ferry is sat there. We climb out the cab and he charges us 25 dollars for the privilege of getting us entirely lost and nearly missing our ferry. b******! Cursing very loudly at him and wanting to give him a good kicking but the ferry beckoned so off we ran. Well.... I say ferry, but really it ain't that big, its currently holding 3 cars, building materials and 3 palm trees, I kid you not! So we dump our stuff onboard and sit outside to watch Auckland disappear into the distance... please see photo album for further reference of this... thankfully the journey wasn't too rough and watching Starksy and Hutch passed a little time. And then the island begins to develop before my eyes, a magical mist layering the high ground yet the gorgeous greens are so clear. The island is littered with small, white-sanded coves and the occasional house juts out from the trees. We come into dock and the water is the clearest I have ever seen and you instantly want to jump in and bathe in the clean waters, but knowing its spring ensures you keep your clothes on! We stumble from the ferry, blinded by the sun and are met by the island bus company. When I say bus company, I mean erm... well.. it turns out to be a Bedford van with seats. We are greeted by Wayne and he drives/takes us on a near death experience to our lodge. The lodge is gorgeous, set amongst trees, trees and more trees. So remote you can't hear anything except your own heart beating. We meet our hosts and get shown our room. Oh yes, the island has no street lights, no proper electricity so lights go out at 22:00 and no constant hot water, it takes an hour to heat it up and there is one main road throughout the island. Again, when I say road I mean dirt track, some bits do have tarmac but mostly it's a rough ride on a single width road along roads where you can plummet to your death at any point, for some reason they figure they don't need barriers. So you can see the island is slightly behind the times and I am extremely thankful I bought some thermal underwear as I pretty much lived in them cos it was so bloody cold, especially at night!! Washing and showering were a whole new experience, washing in cold water or under showers that are more of a dribble. I have to admit I didn't wash as frequently as I might do as the dirt provided an extra layer of warmth! The first couple days were very relaxed, going for drives on the "bus" to see bits of the island and mainly eating lunch... shopping was interesting, bread was in short supply as was milk as they had to wait to have it flown in... so mornings were sight seeing and afternoons were nap time, its very hard work all this relaxing! Evenings were very quiet, only sharing the space with a German couple and their daughter... the daughter looked about 12 but turned out to be 16. She is so gay; she was giving me the eye constantly! Good choice I say, although needs to set her sights on someone a little younger, Lol...anyway, so evenings were quiet, an old puzzle and being in bed before 10 so you didn't try and get ready for bed in the dark and also to ensure you heated the bed with your body heat, I felt no shame wearing fat socks to bed it was that cold! Ok, well I think I'll end part one here... but please log in soon to find out what "interesting" guests turned up next, the walk that nearly killed me and the ferry trip home.