Hola - como etan?

I'm sat here in Auckland Aeropuerto awaiting my flight from hell to Santiago in Chile. Today will be the longest day of my life; It's Saturday and I've been up since 8am, it's now 4pm and I have an 11 hour flight landing at 12pm on Saturday.........! Work than one out. My body will not have a clue what the hell is going on.

Anyways, quick summary of my antics in New Zealand. I arrived in Wellington and was picked up from the airport by Dave. Was really good to see him not to mention see a familiar face. It had been 3 years but we soon feel back into the groove that evening with some beers, a take away and dodgy martial arts film! Was a nice catch up and very nice to see how good things are going for him since moving out there. Great house for a fraction of what we would pay in England, his own business, fantastic lifestyle, (serious "Man Cave" with kayaks, bikes, surf boards etc), and a lovely fiancee in Laura, (he goes all the way to NZ to meet a Scottish girl!). After a night chilling and a day of washing, sorting, planning etc Dave and I met up with his mate Kev and went out for a few beers in Wellington. Great night - somehow ending up getting home at 4am after finding some Welsh Bar open until 3am. This was after Kev had said he was having a quiet one, Laura joined us and one local in particular got very friendly with us................. Dave confidently announced that in 3 years he had not experienced anything quite like that in Wellington and that these things only really happen when I'm around!

The following morning Dave and I headed to one of the many Bays around the Greater Wellington area just down the road from his house and had brekkie with the sun out and the most amazing view. Both of us were very hungover and I wasn't particularly looking forward to my flight to Nelson in the South Island, (flashpacking still but seriously it was 95 bucks and 40 minutes as opposed to 58 bucks on the 3 hour ferry which only gets you to Picton so you then need a bus to Nelson which is 25 bucks and takes another 3 hours.......). However, the flight was amazing. It was an 8 seater Cessna where the pilot gave his flight info and safety speech by just turning around to face us. The views of Wellington and then of the Marlborough Sounds were just incredible.

So, I had decided to hire a care for my 4 day tour of Abel Tasman, Golden Bay and the Farewell Spit but on arriving at Nelson, the guy wasn't there. Having only booked it the day before and not being convinced it was all confirmed, (in true Kiwi style it was all very much like, "Sure, no worries, will see you at the airport - sweet as Bro!"), I wasn't surprised at all to find out the dude wasn't there. A quick phone call later and I had been upgraded, (saloon car as opposed to some toy thing) and it was off to Pohara in Golden Bay. The drive there was through some spectacular scenery, in particular over Takaka Hill where there was a lookout, (Hawkes Lookout), offering amazing views over the Nelson region. The drive down into Takaka and then on to Pohara was equally as stunning with lush green hills and fields, plenty of places to stop to admire the views with the road winding around, up, over and across the rivers / creeks / streams / mountains / fields etc. Pohara had a real end of the line feel, with the road continuing a little further before becoming a dirt track. The 'town' consisted of a caravan park, two cafes / pubs, a few houses and the backpackers. I had my first dorm experience which consisted of me having the 10 bed dorm style apartment with kitchen, lounge etc to myself! I had a very chilled evening sat on the beach, watching everyone chilling out, making fires and watching the sun go down. It was a really nice place, great laid back vibe surrounded by beautiful scenery.

The next day I took a drive along the dirt track road into the North end of the Abel Tasman. Again, the drive was incredible, winding my way along the coast and through rainforest, every now and again turning a corner to be met by the most incredible views of sandy beaches and stunning blue bays. The colours were amazing, the greens of the rainforests, the golds of the beaches and the blues and turquoises of the sea. Truly awesome. I did a short trek to a lookout before heading off to Farewell Spit - the most northern part of the South island which is essentially a very thin curved stretch of land - Golden Bay sheltered and calm on the one side with huge expanses of beach and rugged, wild and desolate West Coast on the other side with amazing cliffs, sand dunes and rock formations. Whahariki Beach was absolutely stupendous, (running out of words to use to describe NZ). Very dramatic with a lovely peaceful walk across lush green hills and farmland before arriving on this huge beach of sand dunes, incredible rock formations, caves, cliffs, rock pools, waves and angry seals, (well one in particular but then I did wake him up by nearly tripping over him after exiting one of the many caves / tunnels you can walk through). Seriously, the place was unbelievable and I spent ages walking and taking it all in. I also trekked up to Cape Farewell which is the most northerly point on the South Island which was also beautiful. The Flight of the Conchords line: "New Zealand, like Scotland but better" came to mind but I like to think more along the lines of "New Zealand, Cornwall and Scotland multiplied by a thousand......!"

I arrived in Kaiteriteri at the Southern end of Abel Tasman just in time for the sunset. Another dorm experience but this time with other people, (2 girls who couldn't speak any English - or at least they couldn't understand me anyway!). Early night since I had to be up early for my trip into the Abel Tasman. I had booked myself a tour consisting of half a day of kayaking and half a day trekking. Usually they have about 8 people on these tours but it was just me and 2 others for the Kayak and just me for the trek. I felt like I had my own personal tour guide in Mickey! It was an incredible day: Kayaking around amazing bays and Tonga Island where there are Blue Penguins, (we kayaked right past one who was happily swimming along), and a massive Seal colony - they were just lazing about, a few were rolling around in the sea and a couple actually dived off a rock and sped towards us like torpedos before diving under us - cheeky b*****s!). After exploring Mosquito Bay where the tide was just right for us to kayak past the beach and up the creek, we had a lunch on the Beach at Bark Bay which again was simply stunning, (sounding like a stuck record!), apart from the sand flies and the family of about 8 who were camping and had done some washing and hung it out to dry on a line suspended from one side of the beach to another! Mickey and I left the kayaks there to walk part of the Abel Tasman track to Torrent Bay where the Aqua Taxi would collect us and take us home. The trek was brilliant with plenty of stunning view points of the many Bays, (Frenchmans, Sandfly, Torrent etc) and Mickey had loads to say about the rainforest, (for example, the Maori word Koru which means 'the beginning of life' to named after the curved branches of the silver fern which unravels to reveal the curved stems of the fern which each unravel to reveal the curved leaves on each stem which then unravel etc......). The Koru is perhaps the most famous of Maori symbols and exists as souvenir stones, necklaces etc and in many Maori tattoos. We also spent a good deal of time hacking down pine trees. They grow incredibly quickly and shed pines which cover the forest floor and prevent anything else from growing and so are not appreciated in New Zealand and many Kiwi's and Maori's aren't especially happy us Europeans decided to introduce them, (good building material apparently), back when we 'claimed' New Zealand for the Queen, (although both Abel Tasman and Captain Cook didn't actually set foot on Kiwi soil on first finding the place, instead sending a small party ashore as recon which resulted in both parties getting annihilated and then eaten by Maoris........!).

After hiding in hollowed out tree trunks to scare other trekkers and hacking down pine trees we ended up being late for the Aqua Taxi. The huge Maori pilot of the boat was not especially happy - the tides are massive, (up to 6m) and it goes out very quickly so boats can easily get grounded when waiting in the Bays. My final thing in the Abel Tasman was to visit one of the many local artists' studios / gardens. The whole area is very hippy and arty with the locals displaying all sorts of good and bad sculptures, quirky little statues and arrangements of all types of stuff so I felt I should check one out. It was pretty cool, a big garden of somebody's house with an old fashioned bus and several gypsy like caravans used as each artists' studio. You can even go in and speak with them but I felt like they were on a different level to me so left them to it! I loved the Abel Tasman and walking the full track and camping on the beaches someday would be a very cool thing to do.

I headed back to Wellington the next day via Picton and the ferry this time. Seeing the Sounds from the water was equally as impressive, especially when the boat leaves the shelter and calm of Queen Charlotte Sound and enters the wild and treacherous Cook Strait. Being on a massive ferry which is listing and bouncing up and down in the swell was pretty cool - seeing loads of people being ill was not. Dave picked me up from the ferry terminal and it was back to his for one more night of home comforts, take away, (the famous NZ Hell pizzas....) and sorting stuff out. This time the weather was more like I remember from 10 years ago and Dave's place which normally affords views of Island Bay and the coast was surrounded by clouds so you could not see anything. Still, whilst the weather was now like it was 10 years ago I have to say that my experience of Wellington this time around was totally different. I got a really nice feeling about the place, was very impressed with the standard of living and the way of life. The bars we went to were cool, (one had a great beer garden where they offered you blankets and hot water bottles if you were cold!), everybody was soooooo friendly and talkative and the whole place had a really good vibe - a little quirky and arty but not too much! And of course, living in a place where you could easily meet Brett or Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords has to be a plus! In fact, Brett started the International Wellington Ukelele Orchestra by playing in local coffee shops, (they love there coffee in Wellington and have a ton of coffee shops) - they got so popular with massive queues that they now perform concerts etc and most Kiwi's seem to own a Ukelele, (in fact you can buy them in most shops, not just music shops!). Dave and Laura both had one and I was to find out that Sue and Jono did too!

I had another rental car to get me from Wellington to Auckland and 15 minutes drive North the cloud disappeared and was replaced by clear blue skies! Good old Wellington! As you can imagine by now, driving around New Zealand is pretty cool. State Highway 1, (think M1), which travels the length of both islands, is a single carriageway road which travels through towns, and winds up and over mountains. The scenery as you go is amazing and you have to keep stopping to take it in. There are so many 'brown' tourist signs pointing you towards things to see and do that you can drive for hours but only travel a short distance up the highway. On one particular detour to Mokai Canyon I discovered a place to bungee. Since I was there I thought it would be fairly girly of my not to but instead of a bungee I did the flying fox, (175m drop and 160kph) and the bridge swing, (50m drop). As some of you may know, I'm not great with heights and I couldn't even manage to make it the edge of the viewing platform and had to walk down the middle of the bridge spanning the dramatic canyon. The climb to the top of the flying fox, basically up scaffolding on the side of the cliff was petrifying! Still, once you are all strapped in and looking down the canyon, it's all good and it was an incredible experience, especially after you finish and you are just lying there, suspended in mid-air in the middle of the canyon. The bridge swing was even scarier - sat in your harness they pivot you out away from the platform so you are suspended 80m above the river and then they simply drop you.......... It's heart in the mouth stuff as you wait for the rope to go taut and swing you away from the bridge. Again, a very very cool thing to do in such amazing scenery. I loved being sat there just swinging in the canyon, (that was until they started to winch me back up and I felt the occasional slip as the harness seemed to 'settle'!). I was so tempted to do the triple with the bungee but decided I'd had enough adrenalin for one day and headed back to SH1 for the trip to Lake Taupo. More amazing scenery as I drove through Tongariro National Park and past volcanoes and then there it was: Lake Taupo. A huge lake in the middle of the North Island created when one of the many volcanoes in the region exploded. Taupo is a really cool little town on the shores of the lake with a nice little beach and plenty of things to do. I was back in a dorm and this time met some cool people. I went for a few beers with Niall - English dude who had spent 9 months travelling and had been everywhere - seriously I have no idea how he had managed it all in 9 months: Africa, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Canada, Thailand, America, South America, New Zealand, Fiji and was about to head to Australia. His carbon footprint must be ridiculous.....

The next day was the Tongariro crossing for me. This is a 20KM walk which can be done in a day - it crosses the National Park between Mt Tongariro and Mt Nguahahoe and is where a lot of the Mordor scenes were filmed in Lord of the Rings, (incidentally, you can now buy a guide book for NZ like the LP or Rough Guide but is based on all the scenes in the films so you can re-enact them or simply visit them; you can even have a tour of Hobbiton). I really don't know how to describe it. I have run out of words to use! It is simply amazing despite the cloud cover. The views, the landscape, the evidence of lava flows and eruptions, the constant mist of volcanic steam rising from the ground, the smells, the colours, the rock varied rock formations and the sense of achievement from finishing it. OK - so there are loads of people on the track and my body couldn't quite work out whether to be hot or cold and I bottled out of the climb to the summit of Mt Nguahahoe, (well you couldn't see very much, it was so incredibly steep, there was no path, you would take one step up and slide back half a step on the scree and slippery rocks, your leg muscles burned after 3 or 4 steps so you would have to stop and I narrowly avoided getting hit by two falling rocks), but it was still an awesome day and got me very excited about the many trekking opportunities in South America. On getting back to the hostel I spent a lovely couple of hours in the hot tub, drinking beer and chatting about the trek and our travels with a Dutch girl called Lisa and a Danish girl called Anna before heading down to the beach to watch the incredible sunset over the mountains and drink more beer. A lovely way to end the day.

Auckland was next - via the Huka Falls which are another little side trip off SH1; it's a pretty impressive waterfall which you would not want to fall into. I arrived at Sue and Jonos' house with beer, wine and gin to thank them for letting me stay and our first night was spent chatting and catching up - we had a lot to talk about; it had been 8 years! Sue hasn't changed one bit and it was lovely to spend time with her. Her fella, Jono, is a top bloke; a proper Kiwi so we had some good chats about the All Whites, the All Blacks, the Black Sticks, the Silver Ferns, the Black Caps, the Black c*** , (seriously - it's their Badminton team!).....

It was nice to stay in a proper house again, have some creature comforts and home cooked food, (steak and wine!). I had a lazy day sorting stuff, planning and just general faffing, (well the weather was shocking so much so that my plans to go diving and kite surfing were scuppered). I then went to watch Sue and Jono play Touch, (not what you think: Touch Rugby played with teams of 7, a minimum of 3 girls, 15 minutes each way and 2 points for a girl try, 1 point for a bloke try - they love it and have organized leagues etc) before heading out for a Chinese with the whole team.

The weather was still shocking on Friday so I decided to head to the Western beaches of Piha and Karekare in the Waitakere Ranges an hours drive from Auckland. Again, more impressive scenery and dramatic coastline. Karekare in particular was awesome: black sand beach with huge sand dune and amazing cliffs and rock formations. The sea, (basically stretching out all the way to Oz), was just relentless with huge waves and long surf. It was truly a wild and desolate place - and apparently was in the film the Piano. On driving back out up to the main road I noticed Tsunami Evacuation signs in the tiny village! I would not want to be there and see the tide suddenly go out very quickly......... Piha was equally as dramatic and was also hosting the Under 18 International Surf Championships which was pretty cool.

I got back to the house and the 3 of us decided to hit the town. It was an excellent night out, especially since I found Tuaca, (so ended up spending a fortune), and we bumped into some of Sue's friends who were very drunk and very entertaining. The night ended with a White Lady burger, (an institution in Auckland apparently), and drunken phone calls and texts.....

And that just about brings me up to date. I said goodbye to Sue and Jono after an amazing breakfast which would be the first of several meals I will have on my longest day, and finally got through the vast amount of queues and security checks you go through at Auckland airport. So, I'm sat here waiting for my flight to take me to South America. The place I've been heading towards for 10 years. The Andes, trekking, glaciers, incredible wildlife, amazing steaks, red wine, pisco sours, seafood, stunning beaches, the tango, speaking Spanish, 24 hours bus journeys, the death road, the Amazon, the Salt Lake, the Inca Trail and much much more. I'm very excited, a little apprehensive but mainly very excited! I also only have 10 more days of traveling on my own before Jess joins me......... It's going to be very cool! After that I have Andy, Kate and Emma joining me......... More coolness! Not sure how I'll find it after having been able to be so selfish and such a flashpacker but I am very much looking forward to it all.

So, my next installment will be written in Spanish and I have no idea when that will be! Maybe after I get back........... 'Me bird' is ready to go and Dave managed to get into my hip flask of Tuaca so all is good.

Take care, be safe and look after yourselves. See you on the other side!

Hasta luego!

Matt.