Malaysia baby!!

We are here safe and sound. I'm officially melting!! The thunder storms here are mental but much needed. The thunder sounds like we are under siege, the lightening and thunder striking at the same time and the rain thunders down for a very short period but floods everything (slight exaggeration) that will be the monsoon rains then!

We traveled by bus across the boarder from Singapore to Johor Bahru where we met a beautiful young man, Dan, who tagged along as we got the connecting bus to Melaka, on the west coast of Malaysia, south of Kuala Lumpur.

Sunny's guest house was to be our home for the next couple of days. Zain, our friendly hostel manager, who took a bit of a liking to Angie and I. I think he wanted Angie's babies and when it looked like he was going to shove his tongue down my throat as we were leaving, I had to decline!! Saying this, he was harmless and provided us with much amusement, especially when drunk. He was a kind man, feeding us mango and herbal tea. Our dorm room very rustic, the sheets had lots of stains on that I really don't want to know where from and the fan sounded like a helicopter landing, still we loved staying there. To celebrate our arrival we drank a lot of yummy tiger beer with Dan, Zain and Box (local tour guide). Great evening, not so much fun the next day in the heat! Roti is great for hangovers!

Melaka is a real mix of architecture and areas. It had a really nice vibe to it and everybody was friendly and welcoming. The historical and colonial area are home to the charming red Town Square (Dutch Square, with a red town hall and Parliamentary buildings), the replica sultans palace, made all from wood and no nails! Ruins of the Portuguese Fort, Port de setiago and behind the fort, high on a mound, the ruins of St Paul's Church built in 1521 by the Dutch and with great views overlooking the Straits of Melaka.



I really liked the preserved busy Chinatown district across the river, it held a lot of character and randomness! Strolling through Chinatown in the evening we didn't get chance to go inside the numerous temples, one- the oldest Chinese Temple in Malaysia.




In contrast, Melaka has the more consumer areas with plush shopping malls and eateries. The air con was a welcome break! There is a lot of ongoing development, construction work and more construction work, Sunny's hostel was close to this area! The hostel was tucked away though, sandwiched between so many local cafes and hidden from view of the construction work. I'm loving the locals cafes. Most of the cooking is done outside on huge gas cookers, where people sit chatting and eating. The smells, totally awesome. In true style we also managed to eat our way around Melaka. So many tasty foods, from Malay, to Chinese Malay, Indian Malay and many more. All good for the veggies, although I did find a tiny, tiny fish in my Indian spinach curry!!

There are so many wild cats here which is of constant entertainment to Angie. If possible, they would be coming with us around Malaysia!

Our last day, before heading to the big city, Kuala Lumpur, we spent in the Peoples Museum, Muzium Rakyat, in the Town Square. Lots of cool varied exhibitions looking at the cultural makeup of Melaka- the Malay, Arabic, India, Chinese and mixed marriages, the history of sultans and colonisation of the Portuguese, Dutch and British. Loving the exhibition on fusions of cuisines, yum! A stunning exhibition on kites around the world, the history and their significance from leisure to more spiritual.

The Beauty exhibition explored the meaning of beauty in some cultures. Some of the images were very graphic from lip plates and scarification practices in certain parts of Africa, foot binding in China and Vietnam through to body piercing, tattooing and the women's friend-the corset-clever!

I'm a little behind on the blog as per usual, but the most important thing to update you on-Sarah is here!! It's soooooooo good to have her here, I'm not letting her go home!! I'm sure that she was a pioneer traveler in her previous life, effortless transition into the world of backpacking and of course the most awesome company. I know you'll be missing her back home, but selfishly it's amazing to have her here, exploring the world together.


Bye for now and sending much love xx

Singapore Sling

Loving Singapore!!

Thanks for your messages Cheverchops and Angie. Angie, I know this will not ease the aaaaaaaaaaargh factor of Sarah coming to meet us but I promise we will take really good care of each other, and we'll stay in regular contact. Yes that's right folks my best buddy, my amazingly brave best buddy, has achieved an amazing feat and in less than 6 months has worked her arse off to be able to come and travel for three months, arriving on the 15th, just kidding Sarah, the 16th at 7.40pm!! I'm so excited I could pee myself!!

I'm sorry but I've still not got to the bottom of the photo uploading thing so I can't put any photo's up which is a real bummer cause we have some awesome ones! I'm hoping you will sort this out Sarah!!

So here we are in wonderful SE Asia and we are having so many beautiful and magical experiences. First stop-Singapore.

We were told by a lot of people that we would not like Singapore for its clinical and 'cleansed' feel and would leave straight away. I can see what people were saying and I'm glad that we didn't stay in the City Centre. However this is not the whole truth of Singapore as we experienced it.

There seems so much government control here and they fine everything. You run the risk of the death penalty for being caught with drugs, fined over a $1000 for spitting anywhere (if caught) and fined $1000 for eating or drinking in the metro plus a lot more, the city is often referred to as fine city! It is far more expensive here and the city centre is crazy busy with traffic and major shopping areas and the CBD is full of plush skyscrapers that tower so high it makes you feel dizzy looking up at them! From what was once a hub of trading along the Singapore River from people all over South East Asia is now a very developed part of the city, home to expensive cafes and bars where a lot of the people who work in the city relaxed in after a hard day in the office! The city centre is so clean and shiny. Like so many places the polarization between the poor and wealthy is very visible when exploring Singapore.

We really enjoyed our time in Singapore, mainly because we stayed in the Little India part. My senses on over drive, busy markets, colorful clothing and food stalls, amazing spicy smells, music filling the tiny streets, hustle and bustle of people-it really felt like a tiny slice of India. We've met some awesome locals. The cultural mix is amazing, Singaporean, Chinese, Indian, Malay and Arabic and the different temples reflect the cultural and spiritual diversity.

We are eating our way round Asia, the food is amazing! The Roti is our favourite at the moment!

We've spent most of our time exploring the temples, I think by the end of Asia I'll be living in one! We've been experiencing a real strange series of events since being in Singapore which has made our experience all that much more brilliant and cultural. We met a local Singapore Buddhist, David, in a temple, offered a free lunch with the locals there celebrating Buddha's birthday. David, on his day off, took us to more local temples off the tourist track, walked us around the whole of the city, viewing all the must sees and to a Buddhist Lodge charity in the city centre for some more food, no other tourists in sight!

Boy could David walk, my feet are covered in blisters! He spoke some english and manged us well.......he asked for nothing all day but to show us around his home and kept saying 'lucky, lucky! He walked us back to Little India, near our hostel and waved us goodbye with a huge grin, we love David!

We spent more time in the city spending a day in the Asian Civilization Museum which was awesome. Main exhibitions looking at Singapore's history, the richness of cultures across SE Asia and the influences on Singapore's culture, also the joining of cultures and the influence they have had on one another.

Thanks to David we were introduced to a local Tibetan Buddhist Temple. We went to a meditation session there, guided by Lama Thubten Namdrol Dorje. Angie was ace and came too which was awesome. I was a little nervous but really there was no need. Really informal, mix of monks, nuns and locals to the temple, again we were the only tourists! Angie loved it and this was her first time with the whole meditation thing. They were so lovely and fed us gorgeous veggi food after!

We joined in the Vesak (Buddha's birthday) celebrations at the same Temple on Saturday. Such a humbling and magical experience again. Incense and flowers filling the street, so many people coming to share the experience and give their offerings to Buddha, amazing to watch and be part of. We got to see the unveiling of the largest Thangka in SE Asia, the wish granting Thangka. A beautiful silk embroided hanging of the Lord Buddha, so large it was brought in by a crane and towered taller than the temple.

Angie and I received a blessing from the Lama, he spent most of the time laughing that he got us soaked with the blessed water. I wasn't the most appropriate with the Lama, pointing and laughing back telling him he got me a gooden!! Oooops! We spent the afternoon with the people at the temple and joined in with a Tibetan Buddhist Fire Puja in the evening. Really stunning experience. The Fire Puja brings about powerful cleansing of the mind, body and soul.

Amidst all this excitement we still managed to visit the Singapore Botanical Gardens, stretching for what seemed miles and strolled around the streets of China Town, visiting temples, eating more yummy food and squeezing through the China Town Markets!

There is so much more to tell you about but it really will turn into a novel, so I will finish here.

Sending all my love. I hope you are all happy and well xxxx

The final adventures in New Zealand

I'm actually writing this in Singapore! Before sharing our adventures of SE Asia, firstly our last couple of weeks in New Zealand before we had to say goodbye.

I seem to be having real problems with putting pictures up at the moment. Not helped that I lost my camera lead! Sorry but again use the imagination for this one until I can work out what I'm doing wrong!

After volcanic exploration we spent the next few days in the Coromandel region, east of Auckland, jutting into the pacific. Much of the time we hopped from beach to beach along the east coast. The east and west coast are split by the lush forest of the Coromandle Ranges, again old volcanic terrain. A real mix in areas from the posh cafe/bars and marinas to the more hippy, chilled areas. The west coast is more rustic with its history in gold mining. Maori history is rich here however this has been lost a bit in the coromandel region.

Much of our east coast travel was moving from sandy white beach to another! My favorite , Hot water beach. Really cool beach. There's an area in the middle of the beach, near a rocky patch which at low tide you can dig yourself a hole in the sand and hot, steamy water fills the hole from the hot water springs below. We loved this beach. Sitting in our own beach spa, watching the sun setting and sea come in, perfect!

Next stop along the way, Cathedral cove and New Chums Beach. New Chums, beautiful little beach, hidden away behind a lush forest. Stunning stretch of sand, rugged cliffs on either side and the beach fringed with tree's reaching down to touch the sand.

After a day spent at the head of the peninsula, Fantail Bay and Port Jackson, we found ourselves lost in peaceful world of the Mahamudra Buddhist Centre on the west coast of the Coromadel region. Here we met with Sabina, from Sweden, who we have met three times previously along the way (usually at hot spa's!). It was hard to leave this place, it really was beautifully still and energising. This is probably the only area in the hole of NZ that the possums feel safe. They came to say hello around our tent at night!

Our last two weeks in New Zealand we spent between staying with friends in Auckland who we met while traveling, the lovely Richard and Rachel and spending a few days in the Northlands region. With not much time left we chose just a few places to explore in the Northlands region. First the Kauri coast to see the mahusive native Kauri forest. Some of these bad boys reach as tall as 60m and trunks 5m wide. The father of the forest, Te Matua Ngahere, not so tall but wow did he have a lot of girth. A wopping 16m, deffo the daddy of the forest!!

At the north end of the park stands the almighty Tane Mahuta. A very sacred site. Tane is the Maori Forest God, son of the Earth Mother and Sky Father. The largest Kauri alive, they believe he could be 2,000 years old.

We made it to the North point of the North Island, camping at the furthest north point you can camp at Topotupota Bay campsite. We were befriended by the local conservation warden and helped him with his jobs around the DOC site, mainly cause we got to ride in his 4WD in the bush. We're so easily pleased! There is more to this story but too long winded but it ended up with me in my pants and bra swimming in the river! Not as bad as it sounds!

The highlight of the Northland, Cape Reinga, a very magical and sacred place. Believed to be the final point where the spirits leave the earth plane into the spirit world. It's also where the sea meets ocean and you can actually see this with a frothy white swell and waves being formed as they collide.

Heading back down the Northlands peninsula we visited the massive Te Paki Giant sand dunes. No kidding, these dudes are huge. Once you've climbed over the first you have a 360' view of dunes, it feel like you're standing in a desert, not that I've been in one but you get my drift!

Our 'true Kiwi' experience came when we stayed with a kinda family member of mine near Kaitia, heading towards the east coast of the Northlands. They own a huge farm and insisted that we stay the night. Not only a double bed but we got to watch sheep shearing and ride a quad bike thing around the farm while Lyn and Win drove the tractor, proper cool!

Before returning to Auckland we visited Waitangi, museum and treaty grounds, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed,a must. We spent a brief time in the Bay of Islands but didn't really get much time to explore this area as we had run out of time.

Our final few days was spent in Auckland. Thanks to the gorgeous Richard and Rachel we stayed with them in their house share as we sold Vinnie on to some fresh faced travelers from Canada. The house itself, just on the outskirts of the city was a time capsule from the 40's/50's. Nothing had been changed or removed. The funkiest place ever, old radios the size of a cabinet! We had some very funny times with the dudes and their house mates, Jade, Jamie, George and Flea.

Auckland, not a place I would live, but not as bad as its reputation from other travelers we met. Total random mix of architecture in the city centre and an array of skyscrapers, very cosmopolitan in areas and very muli-cultural which was cool. It is by far the biggest city in New Zealand. We had to do the touristy thing and be taken up the Sky Tower. A bit like being taken up the Spiniker Sarah, just a lot bigger!! Amazing views of the city. At night the city turned into a sea of lights, making the city more inviting. A visit to Mount Eden and her crater, one of the many volcanic cones in the Auckland afforded views of the city, the suburbs surrounding it and lots of other volcanic cones that are a key featutre in Aucklands landscape. We also managed a quick visit to Devonport, to visit an old Maori Pa site (fortified village), again great views over to the city.

That is where out adventures on a Pacific Island finished. We had to say out goodbye and board the plane to start some ventures new!! It's a hard life!

Thank you New Zealand. This is Kitty Kat reporting for the last time from New Zealand, well tecnically from Singapore!

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Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Hey

Just a quick update!

With not much time left we spent the next few days in the Bay of Plenty area, the Central Plateau and Taupo-the land of volcanic terrain and geothermal madness!!

On our way to Lake Taupo we had to do the touristy thing in Rotorua, often referred to as the Las Vagas of New Zealand. Not quite, but close with bus loads of us tourists everywhere. The area was first settled in the 14C when the Te Arawa Waka (Canoe) arrived from Hawaiki. The tribe of the area was named after the canoe. Rotorua is an dynamic thermal area full of natural hot springs, exploding gysers and bubbling mud pools. Kuirau Park in the heart of Rotorua had its very own bubbling mud pools, bellowing steam from the water and a very strong smell (egg like!) which after a few hours you got use to.

Before heading further inland to Lake Taupo we had a tour around the living thermal village of Whakarewarewa. For generations the tribes have been showing people around their village which they still live in today. Really touristy but way worth doing. Steaming Lakes, thermal pools reaching temperatures of 120'c, a cultural show including the Haka, sweetcorn cooked in one of the pools, exploding geysers and silica terraces. The recent earth quake in Italy was detected at the thermal village. Scientists often go in to monitor the movement and level of the water and underlying fault line. When the earth quake hit the water levels dropped really low in the village pools.
When shown around the village graveyard with 20 plus tombs Angie and I could not help but wonder whether the bodies cook!! I know, wrong, but around the tombed graves were vents to let the steam out so the pressure did not build up.......What would happen to the bodies-answers on a postcard please. These thoughts made worse by the villages geothermal Hangi, where the food is cooked, was just down the path!!

Our next stop, another thermal dip, this time in a thermal stream in Kerosene Creek, away from the main hordes of tourists surrounded by bush-awesome! Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, is beautiful, we stayed there for the day and prepared for our longest and the best walk we have done so far!!

The creme de le creme of our time in this area was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in the heart of Tongariro National Park. 19KM across active volcanic terrain and where Mordor was filmed. My words will not do it justice. The most breathtaking views, walking amongst steaming vents, hot springs, emerald lakes, old lava flows, water filled craters, the stunning red creator, volcanoes (Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro) and more awesome views! The mountains of Tongaririo National Park was gifted to the people of NZ in 1887 by Ngati Tywharetoa Chief. The walk took 7 hours in total, up some really steep slopes and sliding on our bums on the scree slopes! I hope these photos go some was to showing you how awesome the walk was.

I'll be back soon to update on the last of our adventures in New Zealand before heading to Asia!!

Much love xxxxx

Tinorangatiratonga

Hey,

I'm so sorry it's been ages since I last posted. Crazy amounts to catch up on over the last 4 weeks. I've been thinking about all my friends and family a lot and hope all is good back at home. The whole camping thing here in Aotearoa has not always made it easy to e-mail on a regular basis but you have all been in my thoughts.

The other day I did manage to have a catch up on my best friends blog -thedailyone.blogspot.com. Fantastic blog by the way if you want a peek! I only got to read a bit as it was making me laugh and cry at the same time, making it hard to read the screen! Reading it brought home how much I'm missing that every day contact, daily knowing of what is happening in my family and friends world, how you are feeling, when times are shit, magical, sad and joyful. Some of my family and friends have been through really tough times and its been hard to to be with them. Reading blog gave me a glimpse of Sarah's world- I miss you so much buddy. Really what I'm trying to say in a very long winded way is I miss you dudes at home and think about you all lots-not with sadness but with huge amounts of appreciation and gratitude. Enough of the slush already!

The title of this blog comes from, in part, the values of Maori philosophy:- Self determination to be in control of our own destiny. Being lucky enough to have the chance and choice to travel, free from constraint, to be away from usual distractions, home comforts, routine as we know it, certainly has encouraged and emphasised the importance of this for me. Every day I am doing something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Everyday, no matter where we are, we are creating our destinies, being in the mystery and trusting it!

With this comes the whole learning to trust myself, trust in decisions I make, the crap as well as the good and get to know myself. I'm not sure that I do know myself that well. It is certainly an interesting, eventful, sometimes very hard but also cool journey in itself. I think the self discovery journey takes many lifetimes! Trusting myself, fully, may take sometime but I'm working on it and that's what counts.

We've spent some time in the Coromadel region where we stayed at Mahamudra Centre, Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. Such a beautiful and peaceful place. We were lucky enough to have guided meditation and as much literature to read as we want. Being there felt really good. More and more I'm starting to think about what I want in life, a lot of the time I'm not sure, or I think I'm not sure, but deep down there are a lot of 'wants', dreams, hopes that I would like to listen to more and follow. Ok I really am going to get on with this now....

So I left you as we were heading up the East Coast. We made it and have done much more! With only a few days before we leave for Asia and not ones for rushing we decided not to do the West coast of the Northern Island and spend more time in the areas we explored.

Here are a few of our adventures along the east coast before we headed into volcanic terrain! The east coast treated us really well. Totally laid back, taking the pace down to an even slower rate, almost horizontal. More stunning coast lines, tiny villages, mountain ranges and lots of rural land full of sheep and more sheep. It really felt like a major step back in time. Some of the local stores had washing powder back from the 60's, no kidding!!

Moving up the east coast, the number of carved Marae seem to out number the amount of people, especially in the rural villages. We ventured into lots of tucked away areas along the top of the east coast and east cape, visiting Marae. In the sleepy village of Manutuke (near Gisbourne) totally away from the tourist route, we were really lucky to be invited into one of the Marae that we were looking at from the outside. So many of the meeting houses have beautiful carvings of Tupuna (ancestors) and Tukutuku (woven flax panels). Inside, the Tukutuku and Kowhaiwha (painted rafters) link the Tupuna to one another. One Maori women explained that the rafters inside act as a ribcage with the cetral carved wooden pole as the heart. We were really lucky to have the chance to go in as it is very disrespectful to go in without an invite.

Much of our time along the east coast we've been going to lots of museums, galleries, Marae, looking at more tonga (treasure) and learning more about Maori culture, belief's and philosophy.

Here's some of our best bits up the East coast, Hawkes Bay and the East Cape. First, the quirky town of Napier. After an earthquake in 1931, Napier, Hastings and surrounding areas were destroyed. At the time of the rebuild, art deco was in fashion and so many of the buildings are a funky art deco style. It had lots of individual quirks but a bit too much of a resort feel along the water front for my liking.

The freedom camping had gone really well till our exciting experience in Napier! We settled down for the night in what we thought was an OK area along the marine parade, it didn't take us long to realise it was the cruising area of Napier. Not that this is a major problem (!!?!) but most of the cars parked near us were not there for the views of the lights twinkling on the water, they were after a different kind of enjoyment!! Then there were sounds of a car being stuck in the gravel beach near us and other cars skidding around us. Not only a local cruising ground but an area for people to drive their cars like twats! We had had a few beers at this point and so we were not able to move on! We woke to a trashed car next to us with the windows smashed, I assume stolen!!

It was in Napier where we were asked, by an Irish woman, to come along to a real 'kiwi experience' at a rural village close by. What a Kiwi experience!!!! It turned out to be a church fate. Cream teas, people in stocks, table full of jumble clothing and a welly boot throwing competition! A real step back in time but funny all the same. Not sure that can be the only true Kiwi experience!!

Close to Napier we visited some stunning white beaches and Te Mata Mount. One of the legends goes that the mount is the body of the chief, Rongokako, the ancestor of the Iwi (tribe) Ngati Kahungunu, one of the local tribes of the area.

Further up the coast a quick visit to Te Urewera National Park and Lake Waikaremoana (Sea of Rippling Waters). The rain didn't stop and we spent most of our time talking with two kiwi hunting dudes. They had just hunted down a stag and had it hanging close by, Yum! The National park and lake has lots of Maori history but I'm worried I will start to sound like a travel guide, a bad one at that!! Apparently, Te Urewera translates 'the burnt penis'!! Despite the rain we went to see some more waterfalls before heading to Morere hot springs, just outside of Gisbourne.

How to relax in style.....rain doing its thing as we relaxed back into the springs that reached temperatures over 40', surrounded by sub tropical forest and Nikau Palms. We didn't move for a long time!

Gisbourne, originally called Turanganui a Kiwi, is part of Poverty Bay, named after Captain Cook, who landed there in 1769 and was not able to stop and get supplies after a 'misunderstanding' with the Maori. I liked the pretty coastal town with a seemingly large cultural mix. Lots of sleepy rural villages on the outskirts and beautiful beaches. The Tairawhiti museaum there was totally awesome!
Apparently the east coast area is famous for its women leaders. The Ngati Porou tribe (around the east cape), women speak in ceremonies of welcome which traditionally is restricted to men (surprise!) and Margaret Sievwright, from this area, was a massive influence in the national campaign for women's vote in 1893. I love this quote of hers- " The question is often asked 'what do women want' we want men to stand out of our sunshine, that is all".
We've been camping, again, in some beautiful coastal spots on our way up to the East Cape. Here's just a couple of photo's of our homes for the evenings!

One of the most memorable moments of the East coast adventures was an afternoon with Paoru, a Maori guide from the Ngati Porou Iwi. We went to visit the sacred mountains of Ngati Porou, Hikurangi, part of the Raukumara Range. It is the highest Non volcanic mountain in the North Island and the first spot on the planet to be touched by the sun each day. We cheated a little and got a lift part way up with Paoru and his 4WD!

Part way up are stunning wood carvings all linked to the story about Maui Tikitiki-a-Taranga. Maui is a Demi God who is celebrated through song, dance and story telling. Ngati Porou are direct descendants of Maui. To the tribe, the greatest exploit of Maui was fishing up the North Island of Aoteraroe/New Zealand, known to Maori as Te Ika Nui a Maui-The great fish of Maui. the first piece of land to be fished up was the peak of Hikurangi.

We were driven to 9 amazing carved Whakairo (sculptures) depicting Maui and his Whanau (family). All the carvings had much significance and connected meaning. Totally magical experience.

(Ok so here was the spot for the photos that I will have to put on another time, the computer keeps crashing and I want to keep my sanity!!)

The day was made even better talking with Paoru about the Maori culture of the area, (95% Maori populated on the East Cape), about the Iwi and his family. His father is a very talented carver and his younger brother and sister now specialise in the art of Te Moko (Maori tattooing) which has been brought back into cultural practice over the last 30 years. At one point, chiefs of tribes were banned doing the traditional art of Te Moko which was done using a chizel (ouch!).

Ngati Porou is one of the few tribes that did not have land taken off them by the crown and settlers, like so many others. That is in part why the east coast/cape is thankfully highly Maori populated and not having to fight for their land back. The land was not taken from many because part of the Ngati Porou tribe worked for the Crown in the land war times, this created inevitable conflict between the tribes. Others from the tribe we have met have said it was due to them fighting for their land and refusing to pass it onto the crown. The tribe is known for its strong worrier blood. Currently under the Treaty of Waitangi, rather than claiming back land the tribe are taking up grievances and claiming compensation for loss culture, loss of learning, ways of living, language and art.

We finished our East Coast and Cape adventures before driving to the Bay of Plenty and the East Cape lighthouse. The eastern most part of the world map!

Driving towards the Bay of Plenty we had amazing coastal views, the sweet smell of Manuka honey, forested mountains, deserted beaches and more sleepy townships. Distant views of White Island on the horizon-the most active volcano off the Whakatane Coast where we stayed before heading inland to Volcanic terrain of Mordor and geothermal hot pools and mud of smelly Rotorua!

(Sorry again but the computer does not want to put any more pictures up for me, so for now, I'm giving up!! Use your imagination!)

Moving from the East Cape to The Bay of Plenty region and Coromadel region there seemed a real difference in culture and lifestyle and whether this is a true observation, sometimes a stark difference in wealth, from tiny, rustic villages full of character to the resort coastal towns full of plush cars and boats!

This is Kitty Kat reporting from New Zealand......

Bye for now, much love xxxx

One giant leap for freedom!

We are safely in the North Island and starting our travels up the east coast which is full of authentic Maori culture. We are just at the start of the coast after visiting our friends back in Plimmerton, the starting block of our New Zealand adventures.

Before leaving the South Island we spent our last few days in the Golden Bay and Abel Tasman area on the north coast. After a visit to the magical Takaka we rested at the highly recommended and renowned, Mussell Inn, just outside of Takaka. We continued our research, tasting their local, organic beer and ales, yum. We had a handle for you all!

Farewell Spit, the northern most part of the South Island was stunning and very, very windy. Cape Farewell looked out onto amazing cliff formations, arches and a lot of sea! Coastal views were ace.

The photos of Angie and I throwing ourselves down huge sand dunes was at Wharariki Beach, a few km from Cape Farewell. It was seriously windy which helped us feel like we were flying over the dunes and come out covered from head to foot in sand. The wind took the top layer of sand over the beach, like a film in fast forward.

The beach was awesome; massive sand dunes, limestone arches, caves and islands and the cherry on top, we were joined at the sea edge by some very inquisitive baby seals. No zoom used in the photo's, these dudes at one point were 2 inches from our feet, splashing about and looking up at us with their huge marble like eyes. Totally amazing experience. We've been warned a lot about safety with the seals and the damage they can cause, there might be a whole world of blubber with these bad boys but they can
move fast and squash you with one blubber bounce.

How embarrassing would that be..."I'm sorry to say Mr and Mrs Dykes, your daughter has seen seriously injured by seal blubber!"

Where there's baby seals, the mother is always close. We were really lucky this time and big mumma was chilling on some rocks at a distance, really not interested and contented with someone else doing the baby sitting. We stood watching them play around our feet until we thought they were eying up our toes and we backed away.

Before getting our ferry across from Picton to Wellington we spent an evening in Abel Tasman National Park and visited the spectacular Wainui Falls. We've seen a lot of waterfalls on our travels but this one definitely has been the most powerful, the sound was awesome as the water thundered down.

We've spent a lovely few days back with our homies in Plimmerton! Exhausted, the South Island adventures had caught up with us and a well needed rest in Moana Lodge before heading up the east coast. Again we were greeted with such warmth and kindness. Helen and John who helped so much at the start when I was ill continued their endless generosity by arranging for us to stay at Moana, in the best room, totally free. An offer we were not going to refuse-hot showers, double bed, sofa's, a kitchen and fantastic company. Everyone there seemed pretty impressed that we had lasted so long in the back of Vinnie and were still smiling. Also, I think, Helen did not want us around their hostel, putting off fellow travellers with our smell!!


We stuck around for a couple of days, spending time with Stef and Amber, friends who work at Moana and who we spent Christmas with, wandering around Wellington city, particularly seeing more of the Te Papa Museum and having some needed down time at a Buddhist Monastery near Wellington.



We've still not completed Te Papa museum, it takes a life time to complete. There's a really cool exhibition on Pacific Islanders, Pacific Islanders culture and settlement in New Zealand. There is a huge amount of art exhibitions there which we only just touched on. One we looked at, 'Art that's not meant to be framed' was awesome. Artists exploring culture, identity, social construction, sexual orientation and gender. Lots and lots of feminist artists, Alexis Hunter, feminist photographer, is amazing. Her exhibition explored the objectification of women. Try and Google her if you're interested. I've not tried so there may not be any information on her?

I'll leave you with our first stop along the east coast, Castle Point. Quiet and off the tourist track, another gorgeous coastal area with great views up the East coast, amazing fossilised low level reef and great coastal walks.



Looking forward to absorbing the Maori culture first hand, I'll update on all our adventures when we meet again! Take care and sending all my love. Missing you dudes as always and think about you lots xxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks so much for my letters Sarah, love you. When are you coming to see us, come on then, come on then!!! xxxxx