31/10/02

Caught the ferry to South Island and drove down to Christchurch. The drive is really good, the road follows the coast for most of the way, most of the time the mountains are right up to the sea's edge. We saw seals and a penguin at one point. We stopped for lunch in Kaikoura which seemed quite pleasant. I fed the ducks and fish and ignored all the seagulls which really annoyed them. A mother duck with 3 chicks came over for the food and when the gulls tried to take some from them she went for them, she nearly drowned one, there were feathers everywhere, don't mess with a momma duck!

29/10/02

Spent the day trying to sort out our travel arrangements. We didn't do very well with our flights, all the flights to Santiago are fully booked, over booked in fact, until the end of Jan so we can't extend our stay in NZ. Also we couldn't change where we fly home from, from Caracas to Santiago, as it wasn't allowed with our ticket, we have had to buy a flight from Lima, that was £550, bollocks! So now we are back to rushing around NZ missing bits and wearing ourselves out, it reminds me of Mum and Dad's flying trip round Oz. Still at least now we can work out definite dates for where we're going to be and will be able to book things like our Easter Island trip and a nice hotel in Lima. After all that we took the circle bus route round Wellington. It started off quietly but after we stopped at the station the bus driver came back for a chat, there was only us and a couple of Irish girls on the bus. From then on he was doing a commentary of all the sights, with things like supermarkets and pubs thrown in, it was very funny. Came home after that.

27/10/02

Had a lie in, well a small one. Was up 'til 3am, we were working out our itinerary and have decided we need longer in NZ, we're going to change our flights and extend the rental on the van. 7 more days in Ethel, 10 days extra in total, the last 3 in Auckland where we wont need the van, we'll stay in a backpackers. Also found a good radio station so we were listening to some decent dance music for a change. We walked into town @ 12 and had a roast dinner in Breakers, it was fab, they even had the Liverpool v Spurs games on TV. We walked up to the Deco centre for our tour which started at 2. It is run by volunteered, our guide was Christine, from Middlesex, somewhere near Heathrow, although she's been in NZ since 1960. The tour was very good and we walked around the main part of town for just over 1½ hrs. We saw lots of examples of Art Deco buildings with explanations and a bit of history, there were also a few in the "Spanish mission" style and some ugly boxes from the 60's and 70's. Before and after the walk there were presentations @ the Deco centre giving us the same info really, a bit about Napier, the earthquake and subsequent rebuilding and a bit about Art Deco. We are now experts and can spot a Deco building anywhere! After the tour we wondered round and took pictures that we'd missed earlier. In the evening, after it had got dark, we drove back into town to see the fountain and the Dome which are lit and a lot more interesting.

25/10/02

Went for walk, it seemed like a good idea yesterday when it was sunny and the sky was clear. It was a bit overcast when we started off but cleared up after a bit of drizzle. We walked about 5km to Huka Falls along the edge of the Waikato River. That's where the river narrows from nearly 100m wide to 15, there's a gully that's all white water and ends in the falls. There's a serious amount of water coming over them, it's quite amazing. We were going to continue from there to the Craters of the Moon mud pools which was another 3-4km but it started to pee down really hard, we did start out but gave up after about 1.5km. We sat in the cover of the falls shop and ate our lunch watching the rain get even harder. It seemed to be clearing up so we started out for home, it was only lulling us into a false sense of security and got worse as we went on. We got home eventually, drenched from the waist down and with puddles in our shoes. Gave up sightseeing for the rest of the day and went and sent some e-mail. The sun came out as we drove into town, typical!

23/10/02

Headed out to the Maori Art and Crafts Institute. It's a massive centre where they teach Maori's how to do woodcarving, weaving and dancing and whatever else they need to maintain their traditions. They have a village hall in the centre where they do a show @ lunchtime. It was very good, it starts off with a Maori warrior doing a "Ministry of Funny Walks" dance down to the crowd and dropping a leaf as a challenge/gift, a member of the crowd, who has been volunteered as chief, has to pick up the leaf as a sign that we're all friends. After that they do a haka and we all go into the hall for more dancing (them not us) and a demo of a Maori spear/word thing. It was all a bit like a musical really, good though. One of the blokes looked quite scary (the others didn't) and one of the girls was a babe, got my photo taken with both of them. Had a walk round after the show, as well as the Maori stuff they have a volcanic area with some geysers. After lunch we had a quick walk round the city centre to buy a phone card then headed to Skyline, a cable car up the side of a hill. We came here to do the luge, it's like a sledge that runs on a concrete track. It was excellent, there's 3 tracks, intermediate, advanced and scenic, they're all quite quick once you get going, had to go and buy more rides.

21/10/02

Picked up the campervan, Ethel we have called her. Same model as Doris, a bit older and more travelled but it feels like home. Drove to Rotorua out first stop, it smells! It's a rotten egg smell from the volcanic pools, it's worse than S's farts. We found a Top 10 van park, they're like Big4 and Top Tourist in Oz so we've joined their club to get the discounts. Went shopping and stocked up, food seems really cheap.

19/10/02

Last day and it's overcast again. Walked down to the Cultural Centre again to take some photos. It was mostly closed today, I guess some people don't work Saturdays. We had a proper look around the "old" Fiji village bit, it must have been really nice when it was built 30 years ago. The 2 main buildings on the island looked OK, the Chieftain's hut and the theatre, couldn't see the buildings around the other side but the reeds looked a bit overgrown so they're probably under those. There was an orchid house (now burnt out) and a covered garden (now not covered and returned to jungle), I think they are starting to repair things though, we read about the plans on a notice board. We walked back and had a last swim, took some photos of the resort then packed. In the evening we made it to the Lali beating and torch lighting ceremony for once so got some pictures of a bloke in a grass skirt. There was no one in the bar after dinner so we had a bottle of wine in our room.

17/10/02

Played tennis this am, well knocked the ball back and forth a few times, swam a bit. Had dinner with H&J, it's their last night, then had a few drinks and did kareoke in the bar.

15/10/02

It rained hard overnight and was still cloudy when we got up. Went off to play golf on their Robert Trent Jones Jr designed course. He may have designed it, he might have even seen it once but that must have been a long time ago, it was in appalling condition. The fairways were uncut and waterlogged, the greens had fairway grass and weeds growing all over them. I did get a caddy though which was novel. Played rubbish and with that and the humidity which was super high I lost interest, gave up after 9 holes, I wont be using my 2nd free round.

13/10/02

Had a walk round the resort after breakfast, it's not that big but nice. Beach looks like it'll be OK when the tide is out, pool is good. We laid by it for most of the day until the clouds came over again. Dropped the bottle of vodka we had brought in duty free, doh! I hadn't even opened it.

11/10/02

L&C, K, K&N came round for a goodbye dinner in the evening, v nice. Was wrestling with N&K when K elbowed me in the nose, didn't break but felt like it, that'll teach me to play with kids.

9/10/02

Booked campervan and 1st night hotel in NZ, turned out we got a really good deal from Britz/Maui. Still more expensive than Oz but the rental period is shorter.

7/10/02

Up early for a round of golf with T and his friends Roger and Sue. Played on a public course @ Yarrambat. It's in quite good condition for a public course and the layout is quite challenging in places. Was a bit rusty and couldn't get the hang of putting, hit some monster drives though, shot 104, doh! T seemed to enjoy himself, he might even be persuaded to play more than once every ten years.

5/10/02

Another hangover, I'm sure I was still drunk driving home.

30/10/02

Visited Parliament house. Good tour of the building. Next stop was Te Papa museum where we saw many different exhibitions (earthquakes, volcanoes, time travel and history of NZ). Before making our way home we caught the cablecar to the Botanic Gardens which gives an excellent view over the city.

28/10/02

Drove into town once more to take more photos (well Aub did). Drove just out of town to see the Tobacco Company building which was well worth a look. Next stop was Hastings to look at the Art Deco clock tower, Westermans building and the Municipal Theatre. From here we drove to Wellington and arrived about 5pm.

26/10/02

Left Taupo and drove to Napier. The city was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931 leaving one of the worlds best examples of Art Deco building. After lunch we walked into the city and had a walk around.

24/10/02

This morning we visited the Buried Village. The village was buried when Mt Tarawera erupted in 1886. The museum was very interesting showing many artefacts that have been excavated. We walked through where some of the buildings have been rebuilt and then through the valley to see Te Waino Falls which were very impressive. We stopped by the Blue Lake for lunch before driving to Taupo. Drove into town and played mini-golf over looking Lake Taupo, very scenic.

22/10/02

Visited Wai-O-Tapu which is one of NZ's thermal wonderlands. We saw craters which have been formed by acid water from springs, steaming hot coloured pools, mud pools, waterfalls, sinter terraces and the Lady Knox geyser. After lunch we visited Rotorua museum which was once a spa. Lovely old building built in 1908. Really enjoyed looking at the old treatments and baths. We also saw the Blue Baths which was the local swimming pool. Afterwards we walked to the Polynesian Spa where we went and sat in the hot spas. Each pool is a different temperature so you go from hot to cold. The pools contain sulphur mineral water which is supposed to contain health giving properties. The pools range from 30-43°C, it was very relaxing.

20/10/02

At last a sunny day, shame today is the day we have to leave. Instead of lying next to the pool in the sunshine we spent 3 hours in a minibus getting rather hot and hoping the driver was going to stay awake. Luckily we made it to the airport and after a couple of hours we got our flight to New Zealand. Three hours later we arrived in Auckland a little tired.

18/10/02

Sunny first thing so went and laid by the pool. As the morning went on it got more cloudy. After lunch we went for a walk to the Cultural Centre.

16/10/02

Cloudy once again. Went for a walk along the beach and then jumped in the pool.

14/10/02

Gorgeous day, sunbathed by the pool.

12/10/02

Arrived in Fiji about 7am. The transfer to our hotel was longer than we expected and we arrived about 11am. Went for a sleep as we were tired and because it was raining.

10/10/02

Another quiet day. Everyone came round for dinner in the evening.

8/10/02

Took M&T out for dinner, they chose a Greek restaurant, very nice.

6/10/02

M&T did a BBQ lunch, L, C, K, N&K came round, didn't do much else.

4/10/02

Quiet day again. Went for a walk up to the shops. Went round L&C's in the evening. Went out for an Indian meal which was nice. Back to L&C's for a few drinks.

2/10/02

Spent the day around the house again. Sent some e-mail's and after lunch we went to the travel agent to book our accommodation for Fiji. I hate travel agents, nothing is quite the same as in the brochures. You always end up paying more than you expect. Never mind, it's all booked up now. Went to bingo with M, I had 2 wins $160, very nice.