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

Rongo

Hey

I'm back, I'm not sure how you have all coped in my absence from the blog, it must have been terrible for you!! To leave you hanging, waiting in anticipation for the next installment!

We've done so much over the last few weeks that if I blog about it all now I will run the risk of sending you into a coma. So I will be kind and give you the best bits, which is pretty much most of it anyway!

From Mt Cook, along with Rachael and Richard, we headed down the east coast, along the south coast and back up the west coast of the S Island. There, done......you should be so lucky!

We've had a lot of rain, wind and some sunshine. No matter what the weather, NZ still holds magic. That's not to say that the rain didn't get a bit much at times, having to sit in pants because all our clothes were wet yet we still went out to venture come rain or sunshine!

There is one thing though that I'm a little upset about in NZ and need to get off my chest-beefy biscuits. Yes, that's right, beef in some of the biscuits, not any old biscuit but my favorite type, Anzac. I thought lard went out in the 80's. After devouring a hole bag I discovered it has beef flaps in it (maybe not the flaps, I made that up) but you get my drift, that's so wrong. I've started a protest to ban beefy biscuits. Not only that but you have to check every item in the supermarket, including vegetable soup, as for some reason they feel the need to add fish! My latest rant came from the mushroom soup I brought, it too had beef in it. Seriously, what did the veggies do to NZ!! On a better note I have discovered the best toasties in the world-peanut butter and banana. I may well be behind the times with this and every bodies been eating it for centuries but it rocks. Try it, you must. Your life will never be the same!

Back to the adventures. We're still loving the camping and have stayed in the most awesome camp sites, either on the beach, in the bush or next to mountains and lakes. The photo above is of Lake Monowai DOC site in the Fiordland/Southaland area.

Here are a few of our adventures, photo gallery style!

Takiroa, original Maori art of the Ngai Tahu Whanui Iwi (Tribe).

Following the east coast down we went to see the Mouraki boulders, it was like a scene from a Sci Fi movie. The pod like boulders dislodged from the beach cliffs, being pulled back to their mother ship, the ocean! The rain and wind added to the effect!

A visit to Dunedin/Otago region. Dunedin itself is another mix of Victorian buildings and contemporary. Very much a University town with lots of night life, galleries and more cafes. I got my first telling off in the public art gallery, twice in fact, for having a backpack on and got caught touching some art!!

Some funky art from a Dunedin street and student initiation!! Those crazy dudes!







While in the Southland and Fiordland area we went to see some amazing waterfalls and the Limestone Cathedral Caves . Another Dr Who moment, the seaweed there looked more like the colossal squid!!

Further along in the Catlins (south) we went to an amazing petrified forest, it was so scared!! Sorry, really bad......To see the forest fossilised in the stone was pretty cool. It doesn't happen often as usually the wood would decay before being able to fossilize. It was here that we finally found the bad boy penguins, the protected yellow eyed penguins. Apparently the penguins are meant to be shy, not these young dudes. They were happy to show off their moves to us, until one slipped over, then again and again! Picking himself up like nothing happened and ignoring the laughter he turned around and went home!!

We all got a little daring on our way to Doubtful and Milford Sounds. With there being four of us and being braver in a group we went and did a little caving on our own in Clifden caves.
The caves are open the public but I'm not sure they would pass health and safety in the UK! There were times of crawling, climbing, twisting and maneuvering on thin ledges which were under water around big water pools! Despite moments of wanting to poop my pants it was a fantastic thing to do! Rachael took the lead and shouted instructions all the way! When we turned the torches off to look at the glow worms, we were surrounded, it looked like a starry night.

The drive to the Sounds through mountain ranges and Fiordland National park was awesome, despite the rain and clouds. We had a whole world of rain in the Milford Sounds, we still managed some walks but decided to do a cruise on the less visited Doubtful Sounds as highly recommended by the locals. We had to get a boat, bus and then set off to cruise the Sounds.




We were so lucky on the day as the rain decided to take a day off following its presence over the last 2 weeks. Doubtful Sounds as you can see from the pictures was another magical place, vast and stunning. It was breathtaking, its sheer size with its islands, wilderness areas of rugged peaks and dense forest.


It reminded you of how small you are in comparison to mother nature. The tree's growing at such steep gradients was pretty cool. In the rain it still would have been amazing with the hundreds of waterfalls that thunder down from the peaks. Heading further out to the Tasman sea we visited a seal colony who were basking in the sun and showing off their tricks in the water.

The sand flies in this area and down the west coast are like crazed vampires in disguise. Three times the size of the average sand fly, these bastards were taking no prisoners. We were almost eaten alive and no repellent was going to stop these blood thirsty animals. I know they too have to eat, but I'm not very zen or understanding when it comes to them. At points they would actually sit on top of the insect repellent, have a little dance, roll around in it and then drain you of all life force before moving onto the next victim.


I've had to have a few lessons from Rachael when it comes to the mossies and sand flies. I have been taught the art of wafting with both hands while squatting over the drop holes to wee. In some of the sites we have stayed at, no sooner have you pulled your pants down and the mossies would appear from outside and buzzing up from the drop hole, aiming straight for your arse! I'm not sure you want the mental images but you can have it anyway. First few times, wafting vigorously, my wee was sent in all directions! You'll be pleased to know that I have now mastered the art, my bum remains bite free. Bet your glad I shared that!!!


Back to more pleasant things!! Here is a lake Marion, in the Milford area. It was quite a walk there and with my boots being wet from the caving I thought it would be OK to walk in flip flops!! We made it but not the best idea to do it in flippies, for most of the way there it was steep, rocky gradients. Another telling off when I got down by a fellow walker asking me to think about if I fell and the emergency helicopter being called out to find I did the walk in flip flops!! Oops!.

Queenstown was our next stop. Nestled next to the huge Lake Wakatipu with beautiful views of the Remarkables mountain range. Queenstown is the outdoor adventure playground for the adrenaline freaks, every extreme sports are available. We stayed on the outskirts at Moke Lake and thankfully the sun decided to stay for a few days. Queenstown itself was not my favorite place, geared up for the tourists, lots of holiday parks, holiday homes, chalets and apartments, it felt like more of a resort to me. We treated ourselves to a night out with Rachael, Richard and Amanda who we met back at the start of the S Island adventures. We had a great night but it felt more like a 18-30's with lots of organised pub crawls. I think I'm getting too old!


Being in the adventure capital I thought it only right to to try out the white water rafting, on Shotter River, with Richard and Rachael. I loved it, but once I gained some confidence, the rapids were not scary enough! Richard got thrown out of the raft down one rapid, the instructors face went very serious as he pulled him in and shouted at us to forward paddle hard. Later he told us we almost had an epic on our hands as we were heading down the wrong part of the river where the rapids are for the experienced, hence their name, Mother in Law! I was a little disappointed that we didn't go down on the Mother in Law!


North of Queenstown we stayed at Lake Wanaka. We did another stunning walk, Rob Roy valley and glacier walk.

Being totally taken in by the glaciers it was time to head back up the west coast to visit Franz Josef Glacier, this time so we had the chance to lick it! Which I did! The guided half day walk on the lower part of the glacier was totally mind blowing and the whole experience did not fully sink in till a few days later. We got to wear crampons and look the part. Rachael outdid us all by wearing a tutu!!

Sarah, Sue and Lou B Lou, check my explorer outfit, the Pig of Happiness loving the ice and always with me on my travels and my favorite leg warmers finishing the look off! The ice was beautiful, towering above us. The more dense areas of ice shone blue, like the colour of a treble soft mint!








We travelled with Rachael and Richard up part of the west coast, mainly freedom camping. I found a fellow explorer at heart in Rachael and found ourselves exploring deserted old, shacks tucked away in woodland areas. One looked a bit lived in, not sure we should have been there. That didn't stop us.....we caused no damage but but almost got stuck in the window trying to get out. Pip you would have loved it!!

Travelling with the dudes has been a lot of fun and brought new and shared experience. Angie and I left them to travel to the furthest part of the west coast, Karamea, another hidden paradise and it's been lovely to have time alone again.

Karamea reminded me of Takaka in Golden Bay. It has the most beautiful coastlines, amazing rock formations, caves and gorgeous beaches that stretch for miles that are mostly deserted. We walked, ate a lot, camped near the beach and made fires in the evening. We walked to Scotts Beach, a tropical beach. The only shame again, the sandflies. We could not sit down for 2 minutes as we were swarmed, so we walked the beach throwing our hands and arms around which still didn't stop them!!

Our travels around the South Island are coming to an end, we'll soon be back in the north to travel as much as we can in the 5 weeks left.

I hope all is well back at home. I miss you all and hope you are happy and well. Sending much love and hugs. Until next time, take care. Peace out dudes!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aoraki (Cloud Piercer)

Kia ora

The photo above is of the country's largest Marae, Nga Hau e Wha (Marae of the four winds) in Christchurch. It was closed on our visit but you can usually go inside to see carvings, weaving and paintings. We spent a little time in Christchurch before heading to Hanmer Springs.

Christchurch was a real mix, but the most obvious English influence of all the city's we have been in, particularly the buildings, cathedral, river Avon and the statue of Queen Victoria! There are still quirky parts to Christchurch and again a real connection to culture with its museums and lots of art galleries and high respect for the coffee culture! Markets in the square and the option of watching many buskers flash their talents during buskers month kept us entertained. We were lucky enough to catch the Chinese New Year celebrations. The lantern festival in Victoria Square was really cool, packed with people, food stalls and hundreds of lanterns which lit the park.

Lanterns were put on the gondola's taking people down the River Avon, high in trees, across the grass and in the fountains.

After dropping Georgina back at the Airport we spent most of our time in the Art centre and Christchurch Art Gallery. The Art Centre was formally Canterbury University and is now home to the arts (pottery, fabrics, jewelery, Maori art work, work studios and lots more!) Such a great space, based in the Gothic buildings and sculptures, food markets and live music outside. We spent the day eating great food, watching artists at work and listening to Jazz. The band were very funky, not sure if you can look them up but worth a go if you like some funky Jazz-Carmel Courtney.

Craig Potton's photography of New Zealand landscapes was beautiful and artist Mehrdad Tahan is well worth a look at if you can google search. He does a lot of portrait and human form paintings. Self taught artist and bloody brilliant! He did a painting of a juggler that I had met in Takaka at the Mardis Grass! The Art Gallery was also very cool, huge variety of art forms from crazy contemporary to old school. All forms of art were celebrated and made accessible. I loved an artist, Fiona (can't remember surname which is useful!) work. The exhibition was displaying a lot of her work over the last 20 years. She used so many mediums and blew away any preconceptions about 'what art is'. A lot of her work looked at the natural world and human connection and impact. One piece was a 10 minute video of a huge lilly floating on a river in complete silence, very moving.

Our next venture took us to Hanmer Springs (North of Christchurch) were we met our current travelling buddies, Rachael and Richard from York. Chilling at the springs was very needed. The weather calmed for a day for our day at the main thermal resort and local waterfall. So nice to sit in natural springs formed from the hot springs mixing with fresh water, some reached up to 42 degrees. The smell though, it was like someone was sitting next you with 30 egg rolls and farting a lot! That would be the sulphur then! Our skin was so soft afterwards. The Maori call the Springs Waitapu ( Sacred Waters).

With the lovely Richard and Rachel heading the same way back down the east coast we all headed together to our next destination, Aoraki/Mt Cook. Officially one of my favourite journey's yet. I was like a child completely blown away by the scenery. We were so lucky again to be given one day of clear sky's on our way to the big one (tallest peak in Australasia, 3755m). By the way it's been raining for 2 weeks now, bloody NZ summers!! The views of the Southern Alps was amazing and so clear.

The campsite was near the base of Mnt Cook. From going to sleep with the sound of the sea we were now nodding off to the sound of avalanches! It sounded like a crack of thunder which echoed around the site and whilst light you could see the snow and ice falling-awesome! On the way to Aoraki we stopped at the beautiful Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki with their beautiful views of Aoraki and surrounding peaks. The Lakes were stunning, fringed with forested mountains and trees and the water really still, reflecting the mountain ranges.

I have also seen my first ice bergs (be them little ones) at Tasman Lake. The Tasman Glacier, although retreating and covered in stone and debris is pretty impressive.

The weather turned over night and the clouds covered the mountains completely. If it was not for the day before you could be fooled that there were no mountains at all. The rain came in fast and we had to give up on our plan to walk to the summit of the Aoraki, ok not the summit, we were just planning to get to the base!)

Much more to catch up on. I'll be back soon. Sending much love xxxxx

I think you have a hole in your muffler love!

It's been so long and so much to tell you all, so grab yourselves a cuppa or glass of wine.

The week before last was a whirlwind of adventure with Angie's friend joining us just for the week. Before the update I want to tell you all about the gorgeous Takaka, on the stunning Golden Bay. Apparently this place is the business centre for Golden Bay! It's tiny, full of lovely little shops, gallery's, cafes, musty museum and very peaceful people. The Mardis Gras was great fun, held on the village green, there was live music, drumming, poetry readings, dancing and fire show. After a few beers Angie and I retired to the car park for a sleep.

Just a little on from Takaka we discovered a fresh water river where we camped the next night ( despite it saying no camping and flooding in wet weather!). It was the perfect place for our morning wash (bloody freezing) before venturing to Te Waikoropupu Springs, the largest fresh water Springs in New Zealand. The river we washed in came directly from the springs. Sadly we could not swim in the springs despite them being so inviting! The springs had its very own dancing sand created from the water being propelled upwards and apparently it is the clearest in the world.

So the hole in the Muffler was an interesting comment made to us while on our way collecting Georgina. We had to stop at some road works in the Tasman range when a guy approached the car and told me I had a hole in my muffler, looking a little perplexed and really wanting to laugh I just smiles and said thanks!!! Why thanks I don't know. So the word for exhaust in NZ is Muffler-brilliant. And yes we still have that hole in our muffler. I'm so easily pleased!

It was lovely to have Georgina with us for the week, much laughter and crazy moments had. We managed to actually plan some things which meant a lot of driving but we got to see loads of the South Island all in one week! After collecting Georgina and a whistle top tour of Nelson we headed back to the Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay. The weather started to turn at this point and Georgina was had her first experience of being in a tent in rain and wind! We camped at a beautiful site in Totaranui, right on the peninsula of Abel Tasman National Park. We camped a few meters from the beach. I have never seen sand so orange, it reminded us of the orange sherbet we got as kids! I paddled with a stingray before remembering they sting!

The next day we headed towards the West Coast, driving across the Island though some stunning mountain ranges including the Tasman Mountains. We were due to do some kayaking, however this no longer seemed appealing with the wind and rain! There was no stopping us when we reached the Buller Gorge area. Sheer faced rugged mountains and gorge, we had to try the Comet which looked far scarier than it was. We had adult sized nappy harness thing and zip wired over the gorge. It wasn't fast and the worse bit was trying to get off! The swing bridge was my favorite! This will be as adventurous as Angie and I get in the extreme sport of NZ. We like the tamer stuff!

We managed to visit some more seals at Cape Foul Wind (great name) but still no blue or yellow eyed penguins.....this is upsetting Angie now...

We stayed at another great campsite on the west coast at Punakaiki, next to another beach and walking distance from the Pancake Rocks and blow holes. The drive to the camp site was beautiful, coastal road from Westport ( the first town we got to the the west coast), with miles and mile of sandy, deserted beaches.

Clue in the title with the Pancake rocks, amazing rock formations that look like piled up pancakes. Some isolated by the sea and some attached to the headland. All crazy shapes and sizes from the sea continually eroding the limestone rocks. Luckily it was high tide and we were able to see the water being forced through the holes in some of the rocks, looking like a cloud of mist jetting towards the sky.

Our mission, to get to the Glaciers on the west coast before heading back through Central South Island for Georgina to fly out of Christchurch on the east coast. A lot of the towns we passed en route Angie and I will do again on our way North as we did not have time, but the drive was lovely and the most impressive, the Southern Alps on our way to the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. I keep writing about the landscape but it really is amazing. One minute beautiful coastal roads and the next mountains piercing the sky with their snowy tops, awesome! The clouds came tumbling in and restricted the views of the Alps but still the clouds added their own mysterious feel as they blanketed the mountains, some from view at all.

I've never seen a glacier, it was a totally brilliant experience. We manged to camp at lake Mapourika which had view looking across at Franz Josef Glacier. The night was spent drinking wine in the car as the rain and cloud decided to stay. Georgina seemed to luck out on the good weather!



We were able to get much closer to Fox Glacier, just 80m from the terminal face, but still it enticed you to go closer. The hazard warning signs was enough of a hint for us while others climbed over the fence for a closer look. Angie and I hope to go back to the glaciers and do a guided tour so we can touch!

We travelled back to the east coast via the famous tramping track, Arther's Pass, which was stunning but again no clear views of the mountains as the clouds were still taking a rest close to earth.

With the weather being pretty rubbish, the tent soaking and Georgina's last night, we decided to treat ourselves to a motel in Durfield, just outside of Christchurch. What a treat.......Angie and tend to find some 'interesting' places to stay on our travels, this was no different. The motel seemed more for locals and the bar was deffo for the locals. The people were welcoming but not sure we helped ourselves when we decided to start our usual childish games of fake laughing which turned into hysterically laughing while in the bar......the locals seemed relieved when we retired to bed! Sleeping in a bed was lush but I missed the sound of the world outside.

I will love you and leave you for a short while, this can be the first installment, I have much more to share. I hope all is good at home for people. Miss you and sending lots of love xx