Wednesday, May 11, 2005
The Final Fling
And so all great things have to end eventually. But our great escapade was not going to end before a final fling through some of the most beautiful and interesting countries we had yet visited. We were to join a small overland trip that started in Cape Town and ended in Livingstone, Zambia three weeks later. For us this was an abandonment of completely independent travel and one which we were slightly wary of. The reason we decided to travel this way was mainly because we wanted to visit Botswana and had heard it was a little tricky to get around by yourself.
We set off from Cape Town early on the 12 April for a shortish drive up to the Cederberg mountain area which Nick and I had already done some great walking around. This time was more relaxed and we sampled the hot springs nearby and had a chance to get to know our fellow travellers. Helmut and Esther were the only 2 with us at the moment. Helmut was from Germany and his girlfriend Esther from Hong Kong. A strange relationship that had been going for 10 years and one where they only saw each other once or twice a year. Our guide was the excellent Odette – a 29 year old South African with a great sense of fun, a real hard-worker and thoughtful guide who knew a lot about all we were to see.
The following day we entered Namibia and started the real camping part of the trip. We went kayaking on the Orange River which flows along the border between Namibia and South Africa and even had chance to swim there amongst the catfish (no crocs as yet!). From here to the vast Fish River Canyon, which is Africa’s version of the Grand Canyon and is spectacular to see. Not as big as the Grand Canyon, but some of the viewpoints are just as good with a sharply meandering river twisting in and around the landscape gauging out a steep canyon in its wake. On our way there we spotted our first truly wild animals. Namibia is different to SA in that most of SA’s big animals are now all in national parks, but in Namibia it is still wild out there. We passed a Cape mountain zebra, ostrich and several springbok which maybe commonplace but seemed so exciting to see in the real wild. The scenery here was desolate beyond belief – brown/grey rocks and dust stretching for miles. Almost no one lives in this southern third of Namibia and with good reason.
One of the real highlights for me in Namibia was the enormous sand dunes of Sossusvlei. We watched the sun rise from atop Dune 45 and were in awe as the 100m to 300m tall dunes turned from a subdued deep grey to a burnt umber to a fiery red and then to a calmer orange with the lines of the dunes sharply shaded or hit by the suns rays depending on their alignment. Dead Vlei an Sossusveli themselves are the real tourist draws. Vlei means marsh and these two huge dunes once had marshes and a river flowing between them. These have long dried out leaving a salty residue and atmospheric dead, black trees protruding from the white salt, all beneath the red/orange dunes, topped with a brilliant blue sky – a photographers dream – impossible to take a bad photo here. We climbed to the top of Dead Vlei and then giggled like school kids as we ran down through the sand.
From here we travelled through gorgeous silver-green mountain scenery, with plateau mountains and sharp, pointed hills, carpeted in colourful flowers in purples and yellows. Moonscape was ahead with strange earth-tilted rocks showing the rumples and crumples of the earth’s crust. And from here, the coastal dunes beckoned with the town of Swakopmond as our base.
Time to get acquainted with the dunes in a different way – sandboarding! Well – we opted for the lie-down version which looked a lot more fun than the stand up version – and you can go faster lying down! With a thin piece of wood board between your face and the dunes and top speeds of 80km/h, this is definitely a rush. A few hundred metres of slope, some severe drop offs and trying not to laugh/scream too much otherwise you ended up crunching sand for lunch, dinner and breakfast was top fun – although on the last run I managed to chin-butt a dune at high speed which was almightily painful. After the sandboarding – it was time for quadbikes. Hilarious fun and Nick and I obviously ended up racing each other – Nick ended up piling off a dune to nearly disastrous effect on one overtaking manoeuvre.
On our way to THE big highlight of this trip – Etosha – we stopped as the Cape Cross seal colony which was amazing and the cave paintings and engravings of the Brandeburg and Twyfelfontain – very interesting and well preserved.
But – this is what we were most looking forward to – Etosha National Park – one of the top game parks in the whole of Africa and we were not disappointed. In fact we had perhaps the most amazing 3 days there you could imagine. On the first evening we saw a male lion relaxing just by the side of the road, occasionally raising his head to look at us – and that set the tone. The following morning, we watched for almost an hour as 6 lionesses devoured a zebra – we could hear the tearing flesh as they ripped the carcass apart, and see the bloodied mouths of the lionesses. Huge herds of zebras, springbok, wildebeest, impala drank at water holes or paraded across the savannas. Red hartebeest (which I had longed to see), kudu, oryx were all in evidence. On returning to camp that night we had a treat at the waterhole just near our tents. Two huge elephants came to drink – coming within a couple of metres of me and then two black rhinos followed them down, scaring away the herds of zebra. Black rhino are endangered and we were especially lucky to see two together.
The following day was relatively quiet until the late spotting of a leopard – oh! Joy! The excitement was huge. This was a special sighting and one not many get to see. He was about 20 metres away from us under bushes but got up and prowled to within a couple of metres of the road where we sat and watched him finish off a springbok meal. What a sighting! This capped with a herd of around 50 giraffe in one place ended another good day in Africa.
The next day we were leaving the park, but not before a final sighting of 7 lionesses lying on the road, so close to us we could hear them breathe and stare into their powerful, yellow eyes.
The camping in Etosha was great in itself – we went to sleep to the sound of lions roaring and hyenas laughing which was magical all under a perfect starlit sky.
We stayed in northern Namibia near a town called Rumbu for a couple of days giving us a chance to watch sunset from the Angolan side of the river we camped near – fortunately there is no Marburg virus in southern Angola!
And from here we entered the Caprivi Strip on our way to Botswana. The Caprivi Strip was out of bounds to tourists in 1999-2000 as Angolan refugees were piling over the border and killed a French family in order to highlight their plight. Now it is safe and a very interesting part of Namibia to visit with fascinating local villages and people.
In Botswana we spent a couple of days in the Okovango Delta which is stunning. The Okovango River starts in Angola and flows through Namibia into Botswana where it fans out into a vast delta that ends up disappearing into the desert and underground. It is home to many animals including lions, leopards, elephants, hippos, crocs, antelopes and superb birdlife. The best way to see it all is to travel by makoro – a dug out canoe – which is poled through the water-lily strewn lakes and reed covered channels by an expert – while you just sit back and admire the view and spot the birdlife. Sunset here was a treat as we went out to spot crocs (we saw a couple of large ones) and the area was so peaceful and beautiful that I would love to return here. Some of the pricier places in the Delta charge $700 per person per night and more – so it is hard to get here without burning a hole in your pocket, or by doing it the way we did.
The final few days were spent on the River Kwango (back in Namibia) where we saw hippos, Chobe National Park (Botswana) – where we saw many elephants, hippos, crocs, wonderful birds, a sable, kudu, lechwe, and onto our finale in Livingstone to see Vic Falls.
Vic Falls was impressive, but not a patch on Iguazu. It is difficult to get an idea of the full scale of the falls as there is so much mist and you can only see a small part of them. The best view is undoubtedly from the air from where it is possible to see all the gorges that have been carved out over time along with the waterfall itself.
Our last 2 days of our year away were spent in Cape Town (still gets my vote as the most beautiful city I have ever visited), visiting the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, sampling delicious food at Constantia Uitsig and just relaxing a little.
We are now back in England having landed to the beginning of a new term of grinning Tony (enough to make me get back on the plane and get out). On a more positive note we are really looking forward to seeing everyone as soon as possible – and meeting the many new additions that have sprung up while we have been away! Settling back to London life will be a bit odd after such a fascinating year away but hopefully we can find jobs easily and start thinking about the next holiday!!!
We set off from Cape Town early on the 12 April for a shortish drive up to the Cederberg mountain area which Nick and I had already done some great walking around. This time was more relaxed and we sampled the hot springs nearby and had a chance to get to know our fellow travellers. Helmut and Esther were the only 2 with us at the moment. Helmut was from Germany and his girlfriend Esther from Hong Kong. A strange relationship that had been going for 10 years and one where they only saw each other once or twice a year. Our guide was the excellent Odette – a 29 year old South African with a great sense of fun, a real hard-worker and thoughtful guide who knew a lot about all we were to see.
The following day we entered Namibia and started the real camping part of the trip. We went kayaking on the Orange River which flows along the border between Namibia and South Africa and even had chance to swim there amongst the catfish (no crocs as yet!). From here to the vast Fish River Canyon, which is Africa’s version of the Grand Canyon and is spectacular to see. Not as big as the Grand Canyon, but some of the viewpoints are just as good with a sharply meandering river twisting in and around the landscape gauging out a steep canyon in its wake. On our way there we spotted our first truly wild animals. Namibia is different to SA in that most of SA’s big animals are now all in national parks, but in Namibia it is still wild out there. We passed a Cape mountain zebra, ostrich and several springbok which maybe commonplace but seemed so exciting to see in the real wild. The scenery here was desolate beyond belief – brown/grey rocks and dust stretching for miles. Almost no one lives in this southern third of Namibia and with good reason.
One of the real highlights for me in Namibia was the enormous sand dunes of Sossusvlei. We watched the sun rise from atop Dune 45 and were in awe as the 100m to 300m tall dunes turned from a subdued deep grey to a burnt umber to a fiery red and then to a calmer orange with the lines of the dunes sharply shaded or hit by the suns rays depending on their alignment. Dead Vlei an Sossusveli themselves are the real tourist draws. Vlei means marsh and these two huge dunes once had marshes and a river flowing between them. These have long dried out leaving a salty residue and atmospheric dead, black trees protruding from the white salt, all beneath the red/orange dunes, topped with a brilliant blue sky – a photographers dream – impossible to take a bad photo here. We climbed to the top of Dead Vlei and then giggled like school kids as we ran down through the sand.
From here we travelled through gorgeous silver-green mountain scenery, with plateau mountains and sharp, pointed hills, carpeted in colourful flowers in purples and yellows. Moonscape was ahead with strange earth-tilted rocks showing the rumples and crumples of the earth’s crust. And from here, the coastal dunes beckoned with the town of Swakopmond as our base.
Time to get acquainted with the dunes in a different way – sandboarding! Well – we opted for the lie-down version which looked a lot more fun than the stand up version – and you can go faster lying down! With a thin piece of wood board between your face and the dunes and top speeds of 80km/h, this is definitely a rush. A few hundred metres of slope, some severe drop offs and trying not to laugh/scream too much otherwise you ended up crunching sand for lunch, dinner and breakfast was top fun – although on the last run I managed to chin-butt a dune at high speed which was almightily painful. After the sandboarding – it was time for quadbikes. Hilarious fun and Nick and I obviously ended up racing each other – Nick ended up piling off a dune to nearly disastrous effect on one overtaking manoeuvre.
On our way to THE big highlight of this trip – Etosha – we stopped as the Cape Cross seal colony which was amazing and the cave paintings and engravings of the Brandeburg and Twyfelfontain – very interesting and well preserved.
But – this is what we were most looking forward to – Etosha National Park – one of the top game parks in the whole of Africa and we were not disappointed. In fact we had perhaps the most amazing 3 days there you could imagine. On the first evening we saw a male lion relaxing just by the side of the road, occasionally raising his head to look at us – and that set the tone. The following morning, we watched for almost an hour as 6 lionesses devoured a zebra – we could hear the tearing flesh as they ripped the carcass apart, and see the bloodied mouths of the lionesses. Huge herds of zebras, springbok, wildebeest, impala drank at water holes or paraded across the savannas. Red hartebeest (which I had longed to see), kudu, oryx were all in evidence. On returning to camp that night we had a treat at the waterhole just near our tents. Two huge elephants came to drink – coming within a couple of metres of me and then two black rhinos followed them down, scaring away the herds of zebra. Black rhino are endangered and we were especially lucky to see two together.
The following day was relatively quiet until the late spotting of a leopard – oh! Joy! The excitement was huge. This was a special sighting and one not many get to see. He was about 20 metres away from us under bushes but got up and prowled to within a couple of metres of the road where we sat and watched him finish off a springbok meal. What a sighting! This capped with a herd of around 50 giraffe in one place ended another good day in Africa.
The next day we were leaving the park, but not before a final sighting of 7 lionesses lying on the road, so close to us we could hear them breathe and stare into their powerful, yellow eyes.
The camping in Etosha was great in itself – we went to sleep to the sound of lions roaring and hyenas laughing which was magical all under a perfect starlit sky.
We stayed in northern Namibia near a town called Rumbu for a couple of days giving us a chance to watch sunset from the Angolan side of the river we camped near – fortunately there is no Marburg virus in southern Angola!
And from here we entered the Caprivi Strip on our way to Botswana. The Caprivi Strip was out of bounds to tourists in 1999-2000 as Angolan refugees were piling over the border and killed a French family in order to highlight their plight. Now it is safe and a very interesting part of Namibia to visit with fascinating local villages and people.
In Botswana we spent a couple of days in the Okovango Delta which is stunning. The Okovango River starts in Angola and flows through Namibia into Botswana where it fans out into a vast delta that ends up disappearing into the desert and underground. It is home to many animals including lions, leopards, elephants, hippos, crocs, antelopes and superb birdlife. The best way to see it all is to travel by makoro – a dug out canoe – which is poled through the water-lily strewn lakes and reed covered channels by an expert – while you just sit back and admire the view and spot the birdlife. Sunset here was a treat as we went out to spot crocs (we saw a couple of large ones) and the area was so peaceful and beautiful that I would love to return here. Some of the pricier places in the Delta charge $700 per person per night and more – so it is hard to get here without burning a hole in your pocket, or by doing it the way we did.
The final few days were spent on the River Kwango (back in Namibia) where we saw hippos, Chobe National Park (Botswana) – where we saw many elephants, hippos, crocs, wonderful birds, a sable, kudu, lechwe, and onto our finale in Livingstone to see Vic Falls.
Vic Falls was impressive, but not a patch on Iguazu. It is difficult to get an idea of the full scale of the falls as there is so much mist and you can only see a small part of them. The best view is undoubtedly from the air from where it is possible to see all the gorges that have been carved out over time along with the waterfall itself.
Our last 2 days of our year away were spent in Cape Town (still gets my vote as the most beautiful city I have ever visited), visiting the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, sampling delicious food at Constantia Uitsig and just relaxing a little.
We are now back in England having landed to the beginning of a new term of grinning Tony (enough to make me get back on the plane and get out). On a more positive note we are really looking forward to seeing everyone as soon as possible – and meeting the many new additions that have sprung up while we have been away! Settling back to London life will be a bit odd after such a fascinating year away but hopefully we can find jobs easily and start thinking about the next holiday!!!
Monday, April 11, 2005
4 weeks remain!
SO from Lesotho we travelled south along the length of the Drakensburg and south west through the colourful Xhosa villages of the Transkei into the Karoo. The Karoo actually occupies an area of about one third of South Africa, but the best bits are perhaps around Graaf-Reinet in the central-south of the country.
The landscape is very desolate with barely anyone living there, some wierd rock mountain forms and just scrubby vegetation. Graaf-Reinet is like an oasis - very Afrikaaner with the Dutch Reform Church as the centre piece and some lovely cape architecture. It is a good base for walking in the local mountain ranges that overlook this barren and silently still scene. There is also a good nature park full of a variety of antelope and wildebeest - including the gemsbok which was our first sighting of this impressive beast with long, pointed antlers jutting from its head in a large V-shape.
Our plans changed slightly from here as a lot of places were fully booked for Easter, so we went due south to the Tsitsikamma National Park. This is a park of spectacular natural beauty along the dramatic coast line of the south. Grey cliffs topped with lush green vegetation, plunging into white foaming waters surrounded by the blues of the sky and sea and punctuated by the occasional waterfall tumbling onto weathered rocks.
We went from there to Swellendam (via the Garden Route - not really worth a mention as I thought it was probably the least impressive part of SA that we had been to so far), a peaceful, attractive town backed by craggy mountains curtained in cloud. We hired a lovely cottage with amazing views for a couple of days. This allowed us to walk in the mountains which was stunning - great views but lots of big spiders everywhere!.
Then we stayed in MacGregor for a night - a very small village which was even cuter and quieter than Swellendam. Another great cottage and a little sampling of wine from the various local vineyards was the order of the day.
Hermanus, on the south coast was next for some white shark cage diving. I wasn't intending to go as I thought the sea would be too rough and didn't fancy feeding the fish all afternoon. But I was assured it would be OK - so I went. Was totally fine seasickness-wise as I made sure I overdosed on seasickness pills. This experience was not actually "diving" with sharks - but swiming in a cage and diving under the water holding your breathe. We saw 7 different great whites, which was quite exciting - a couple came pretty close to the cage for a close up view while we were in there. When one of the guys was in the cage the shark really jostled the cage for a while - looked very cool to be there. All quite controversial really - a lot of the locals do not think the cage diving is a good idea as the tours tempt the sharks in with bait and then the sharks see humans in cages so start to associate humans with food. I guess the story of the British guy being bitten by a shark off Noordhoek has been in the press in the UK too, but here it was a big story and various people are blaming the shark divers for luring the sharks closer into the coast.
More wine was in stall when we spent 2 days in Franshhoek (we were here 5 years ago and it is still such a beautiful part of the world) - lots of good food and wine - really perfect lifestyle. Then on to Paarl - another wine producing area which was also good. More nice food and wine and some lovely cheeses.
From there to Paternoster (an old fishing village) on the West Coast - which I fell in love with. We found another cottage - a whitewashed building in the style of a fisherman's cottage right near the sweep of gorgeous beach. The local fisherman catch crayfish so the first priority was to pop down the road to pick up a couple for dinner, which the owner of our cottage cooked up for us - yummmmm! A couple of days strolling along the beaches and seeing the local area was just fantastic - relaxing and heavenly.
Then to the Cederberg mountains - 2 long walks there - here the Wolfberg crack and arch was the highlight - scrambling through a long crack int he rocks and onwards and upwards towards the large natural rock arch. There were interesting rock formations everywhere. Nearby was the Sevilla trail near Clanwilliam where there are many good San cave Paintings. The San people inhabited this area of Africa from around 25,000 years ago until the ninetheenth century when they were pushed out by a combination of the Whites and other black tribes. They left behind a fascinating legacy of painting in the various caves they sheltered in. Most of the paintings seem to have been done to show other San groups what animals can be hunted nearby and which directions they tend to be found in. There are also representaions of group gatherings, men and water sources nearby - some of which are in excellent condition given how old they are thought to be. We also spotted a very large black snake here - about 5 ft long - which was a little nerve-wracking.
And now we are staying in Cape Town in the suburb of Noordhoek (thought we would try somewhere different in Cape Town this time). Noordhoek is very rural yet close to the city. Given we saw most of the sights last time we were here 5 years ago we have been chilling out a little more this time. Managed to fit in a trip to Robben Island though which was interesting - not just the Mandela information but the whole history of the island as a prison. We were shown around the high security prison by a previous inmate who was incarcerated for his political beliefs for 7 years. One of the many shocking things to learn whilst there was the discrimination between races went on even in gaol with the blacks being given less food than the "coloureds" or "Indians". The blacks were not even allowed the same amount of clothing.
However - as with many places that you can visit in this Rainbow Nation there is a surprising spirit of reconciliation and a willingness to forgive the past and move on to the future. The retiring British High Commissioner says that she has never worked in a country where there is so much hope for future success. I think that is evident on a trip around this country and although there are enormous problems to be confronted, providing the government can run the country the hopes of the people should remain optimistic and the people can proactively try to improve things gradually over the years.
From here we are travelling overland to Livingstone in Zambia via Namibia and Botswana, and after a couple more days back here in Cape Town - we fly hope to Heathrow. Am trying not to think too much about that and appreciate every day we have left. Will be a shock to be back, but also it will be lovely to see a lot of the readers of this blog once again.
The landscape is very desolate with barely anyone living there, some wierd rock mountain forms and just scrubby vegetation. Graaf-Reinet is like an oasis - very Afrikaaner with the Dutch Reform Church as the centre piece and some lovely cape architecture. It is a good base for walking in the local mountain ranges that overlook this barren and silently still scene. There is also a good nature park full of a variety of antelope and wildebeest - including the gemsbok which was our first sighting of this impressive beast with long, pointed antlers jutting from its head in a large V-shape.
Our plans changed slightly from here as a lot of places were fully booked for Easter, so we went due south to the Tsitsikamma National Park. This is a park of spectacular natural beauty along the dramatic coast line of the south. Grey cliffs topped with lush green vegetation, plunging into white foaming waters surrounded by the blues of the sky and sea and punctuated by the occasional waterfall tumbling onto weathered rocks.
We went from there to Swellendam (via the Garden Route - not really worth a mention as I thought it was probably the least impressive part of SA that we had been to so far), a peaceful, attractive town backed by craggy mountains curtained in cloud. We hired a lovely cottage with amazing views for a couple of days. This allowed us to walk in the mountains which was stunning - great views but lots of big spiders everywhere!.
Then we stayed in MacGregor for a night - a very small village which was even cuter and quieter than Swellendam. Another great cottage and a little sampling of wine from the various local vineyards was the order of the day.
Hermanus, on the south coast was next for some white shark cage diving. I wasn't intending to go as I thought the sea would be too rough and didn't fancy feeding the fish all afternoon. But I was assured it would be OK - so I went. Was totally fine seasickness-wise as I made sure I overdosed on seasickness pills. This experience was not actually "diving" with sharks - but swiming in a cage and diving under the water holding your breathe. We saw 7 different great whites, which was quite exciting - a couple came pretty close to the cage for a close up view while we were in there. When one of the guys was in the cage the shark really jostled the cage for a while - looked very cool to be there. All quite controversial really - a lot of the locals do not think the cage diving is a good idea as the tours tempt the sharks in with bait and then the sharks see humans in cages so start to associate humans with food. I guess the story of the British guy being bitten by a shark off Noordhoek has been in the press in the UK too, but here it was a big story and various people are blaming the shark divers for luring the sharks closer into the coast.
More wine was in stall when we spent 2 days in Franshhoek (we were here 5 years ago and it is still such a beautiful part of the world) - lots of good food and wine - really perfect lifestyle. Then on to Paarl - another wine producing area which was also good. More nice food and wine and some lovely cheeses.
From there to Paternoster (an old fishing village) on the West Coast - which I fell in love with. We found another cottage - a whitewashed building in the style of a fisherman's cottage right near the sweep of gorgeous beach. The local fisherman catch crayfish so the first priority was to pop down the road to pick up a couple for dinner, which the owner of our cottage cooked up for us - yummmmm! A couple of days strolling along the beaches and seeing the local area was just fantastic - relaxing and heavenly.
Then to the Cederberg mountains - 2 long walks there - here the Wolfberg crack and arch was the highlight - scrambling through a long crack int he rocks and onwards and upwards towards the large natural rock arch. There were interesting rock formations everywhere. Nearby was the Sevilla trail near Clanwilliam where there are many good San cave Paintings. The San people inhabited this area of Africa from around 25,000 years ago until the ninetheenth century when they were pushed out by a combination of the Whites and other black tribes. They left behind a fascinating legacy of painting in the various caves they sheltered in. Most of the paintings seem to have been done to show other San groups what animals can be hunted nearby and which directions they tend to be found in. There are also representaions of group gatherings, men and water sources nearby - some of which are in excellent condition given how old they are thought to be. We also spotted a very large black snake here - about 5 ft long - which was a little nerve-wracking.
And now we are staying in Cape Town in the suburb of Noordhoek (thought we would try somewhere different in Cape Town this time). Noordhoek is very rural yet close to the city. Given we saw most of the sights last time we were here 5 years ago we have been chilling out a little more this time. Managed to fit in a trip to Robben Island though which was interesting - not just the Mandela information but the whole history of the island as a prison. We were shown around the high security prison by a previous inmate who was incarcerated for his political beliefs for 7 years. One of the many shocking things to learn whilst there was the discrimination between races went on even in gaol with the blacks being given less food than the "coloureds" or "Indians". The blacks were not even allowed the same amount of clothing.
However - as with many places that you can visit in this Rainbow Nation there is a surprising spirit of reconciliation and a willingness to forgive the past and move on to the future. The retiring British High Commissioner says that she has never worked in a country where there is so much hope for future success. I think that is evident on a trip around this country and although there are enormous problems to be confronted, providing the government can run the country the hopes of the people should remain optimistic and the people can proactively try to improve things gradually over the years.
From here we are travelling overland to Livingstone in Zambia via Namibia and Botswana, and after a couple more days back here in Cape Town - we fly hope to Heathrow. Am trying not to think too much about that and appreciate every day we have left. Will be a shock to be back, but also it will be lovely to see a lot of the readers of this blog once again.
More of South Africa and another Kingdom
We left Swaziland to head east to Sodwana Bay in South Africa to check out the world's most southerly coral reef. This is yet another one of the "world's best dive sites" - every time we dive we seem to go to one of these. The place itself seems to be a bit of a rip off if you don't want to dive as they seem to charge people nothing to dive (15 pounds per dive is as cheap as it gets anywhere) and then stick up the cost of accommodation and food to make up for it.
That said - the diving itself was impressive. We only got one dive in on the first day as the seas were too choppy for me (apparently it is never like this!!), but on the way to this dive we had a great experience by bumping into 3 dolphins, so we were able to jump out of the boat and swim with them for a while which was awesome fun. The diving itself was a joy as the water was so warm (about 27 deg Celcuis) it felt like having a bath. Beautiful brightly coloured fish everywhere, wonderful corals and some great spotted moray eels sticking their heads out for a look about.
Just south of Sodwana Bay are the St Lucia Wetlands which is apparently Africa's largest estuarine area and is famous for hippos (which sometimes walk through the town at night) and crocs along with a splendid array of birds. The beaches here are amazingly beautiful and deserted with the warm Indian Ocean crashing into them to dramatic effect. There are lots of interesting rock pools nearby (bringing out the child in me - where was my little fishing net when I needed it!) and the wetlands themselves which play host to more than just hippos, crocs and birds - including many antelope.
Now for a bit of history - I had always wanted to visit the battlefields of South Africa having read about some of these battles in various books on the country. The battlefields area is large but conveniently a lot of the battles from the Boer-Zulu, to the Anglo-Boer to the Anglo-Boer all took place in the same sort of area of the country - around Ladysmith and Dundee - a little east of the Drakenburg mountains.
We overnighted in Dundee giving us the chance to visit 3 different battlefields. We started at Isandlwana - the site of a great Zulu victory over the British in 1879. About 20,000 Zulu warriers launched a successful attack on under 2,000 British soldiers (rather inconspicuously dressed in bright red!) with the infamous Zulu battle formation of body, haed and horns of a bull. The British were totally surprised, overwhelmed (and led by a complete idiot, is seems retrospectively) and those who were not slaughtered, fled over rough terrain to escape. The site itself is impressive to visit and the places of rest of the bodies are now marked with piles of white-washed stone which is actually quite dramatic when placed in the arid hills surrounding the site. From there we passed just a few kilometres down the road to Rorke's Drift where the Brits staged a remarkable defence on the same day againsts a far bigger Zulu force. Only 100 fit Welsh men successfully defended an area from an onslaught from over 4,000 Zulus. This victory was exaggerated at the time to detract public attention away from the devastating defeat at Isandlwana, but did result in the most Victoria Crosses being awarded of any battle ever - 11 in all.
Blood River was the site of a viscious attack on a Boer laager by a huge Zulu army in 1838. The Boers were trying to find new land to settle on after the Great Trek from the Cape but did not seem to appreciate that the land they moved into was already inhabited by local tribes. The resulting attack led to a bloody defeat to the Zulus and the blood of 3,000 Zulus stained the nearby river red. The Boers on the other hand suffered no fatalities, which presumably entrenched their opinion of them being God's chosen inhabitants of Africa. There are 2 museums to the war - the first is an Afrikaaner museum which is pretty biased in favour of God's chosen people, and second is supposedly a "positive reinterpretation" of the war from a Zulu point of view which perhaps puts a fairer spin on the detail.
From history and culture to the staggeringly beautiful scenery of the Drakensburg - a highlight of anyone's trip to SA. This vast mountain range is packed full of stunning views and sublime mountain vistas. We stayed up in the northern range and did a few days of excellent hiking. The best day was the hike to the top of the Amphitheatre - a 3,000m summit, and at 3 times the height of Table Mountain affords splendid views of what seems like the whole of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Getting to the viewpoint is the top of the Tugela Falls - the second highest in the world and peering over the 1,000m drop with no barrier, as the mist clears around you to reveal the green, crevassed, moulded landscape around you is pretty exhilarating.
Another highlight of this area is its proximity to Lesotho so we took the advantage of a tour into the Kingdom to sample a little of the life there. It's a bit tricky to get around Lesotho without a 4x4 anyway and certainly the road on which we entered the country would be impossible in our Nissan. The border crossing we went through was probably the most remote I have ever been too - the Lesotho side didn't even bother to staff their side as only a max of 5 vehicles ever use this way. There is a steep, rocky descent into Lesotho which was exciting in itself, then we arrived in a little village which we explored for most of the day. The local school are trying to improve their site which we looked around. We also walked up to some caves to look at some of the San paintings - of which more in the next blog - visited a sangoma (a local traditional healer), sampled tasty food and local brew. The kids form the village were an absolute delight and helped to make this trip one of the more magical moments of this year away. One girl befriended me and seemed keen to show off all her dance moves. She then proceeded to walk ahead of me tying the tall grass in hidden knots across the path which I consistently tripped over much to her obvious delight. The people here were all very friendly and we had such a happy time here. The scenery is simply out of this world too with little mud walled rodavels nestled in steep valleys surrounded by overhanging cliffs dotted with San paintings from 25,000 years ago. Would have been good to have spent more time here but it is definitely worth while to visit with a local guide and you need a very sturdy vehicle to get around.
That said - the diving itself was impressive. We only got one dive in on the first day as the seas were too choppy for me (apparently it is never like this!!), but on the way to this dive we had a great experience by bumping into 3 dolphins, so we were able to jump out of the boat and swim with them for a while which was awesome fun. The diving itself was a joy as the water was so warm (about 27 deg Celcuis) it felt like having a bath. Beautiful brightly coloured fish everywhere, wonderful corals and some great spotted moray eels sticking their heads out for a look about.
Just south of Sodwana Bay are the St Lucia Wetlands which is apparently Africa's largest estuarine area and is famous for hippos (which sometimes walk through the town at night) and crocs along with a splendid array of birds. The beaches here are amazingly beautiful and deserted with the warm Indian Ocean crashing into them to dramatic effect. There are lots of interesting rock pools nearby (bringing out the child in me - where was my little fishing net when I needed it!) and the wetlands themselves which play host to more than just hippos, crocs and birds - including many antelope.
Now for a bit of history - I had always wanted to visit the battlefields of South Africa having read about some of these battles in various books on the country. The battlefields area is large but conveniently a lot of the battles from the Boer-Zulu, to the Anglo-Boer to the Anglo-Boer all took place in the same sort of area of the country - around Ladysmith and Dundee - a little east of the Drakenburg mountains.
We overnighted in Dundee giving us the chance to visit 3 different battlefields. We started at Isandlwana - the site of a great Zulu victory over the British in 1879. About 20,000 Zulu warriers launched a successful attack on under 2,000 British soldiers (rather inconspicuously dressed in bright red!) with the infamous Zulu battle formation of body, haed and horns of a bull. The British were totally surprised, overwhelmed (and led by a complete idiot, is seems retrospectively) and those who were not slaughtered, fled over rough terrain to escape. The site itself is impressive to visit and the places of rest of the bodies are now marked with piles of white-washed stone which is actually quite dramatic when placed in the arid hills surrounding the site. From there we passed just a few kilometres down the road to Rorke's Drift where the Brits staged a remarkable defence on the same day againsts a far bigger Zulu force. Only 100 fit Welsh men successfully defended an area from an onslaught from over 4,000 Zulus. This victory was exaggerated at the time to detract public attention away from the devastating defeat at Isandlwana, but did result in the most Victoria Crosses being awarded of any battle ever - 11 in all.
Blood River was the site of a viscious attack on a Boer laager by a huge Zulu army in 1838. The Boers were trying to find new land to settle on after the Great Trek from the Cape but did not seem to appreciate that the land they moved into was already inhabited by local tribes. The resulting attack led to a bloody defeat to the Zulus and the blood of 3,000 Zulus stained the nearby river red. The Boers on the other hand suffered no fatalities, which presumably entrenched their opinion of them being God's chosen inhabitants of Africa. There are 2 museums to the war - the first is an Afrikaaner museum which is pretty biased in favour of God's chosen people, and second is supposedly a "positive reinterpretation" of the war from a Zulu point of view which perhaps puts a fairer spin on the detail.
From history and culture to the staggeringly beautiful scenery of the Drakensburg - a highlight of anyone's trip to SA. This vast mountain range is packed full of stunning views and sublime mountain vistas. We stayed up in the northern range and did a few days of excellent hiking. The best day was the hike to the top of the Amphitheatre - a 3,000m summit, and at 3 times the height of Table Mountain affords splendid views of what seems like the whole of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Getting to the viewpoint is the top of the Tugela Falls - the second highest in the world and peering over the 1,000m drop with no barrier, as the mist clears around you to reveal the green, crevassed, moulded landscape around you is pretty exhilarating.
Another highlight of this area is its proximity to Lesotho so we took the advantage of a tour into the Kingdom to sample a little of the life there. It's a bit tricky to get around Lesotho without a 4x4 anyway and certainly the road on which we entered the country would be impossible in our Nissan. The border crossing we went through was probably the most remote I have ever been too - the Lesotho side didn't even bother to staff their side as only a max of 5 vehicles ever use this way. There is a steep, rocky descent into Lesotho which was exciting in itself, then we arrived in a little village which we explored for most of the day. The local school are trying to improve their site which we looked around. We also walked up to some caves to look at some of the San paintings - of which more in the next blog - visited a sangoma (a local traditional healer), sampled tasty food and local brew. The kids form the village were an absolute delight and helped to make this trip one of the more magical moments of this year away. One girl befriended me and seemed keen to show off all her dance moves. She then proceeded to walk ahead of me tying the tall grass in hidden knots across the path which I consistently tripped over much to her obvious delight. The people here were all very friendly and we had such a happy time here. The scenery is simply out of this world too with little mud walled rodavels nestled in steep valleys surrounded by overhanging cliffs dotted with San paintings from 25,000 years ago. Would have been good to have spent more time here but it is definitely worth while to visit with a local guide and you need a very sturdy vehicle to get around.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Cultural diversity and lots of cool animals in Africa
And so to Africa -the fourth and final continent of The Great Escapade.
We landed in Jo'burg on 21 February and were met at the airport by my parents and Auntie Janet which was really nice after 9 months away from home. After all the airports we have been to it was lovely to see some friendly faces. We stayed with my Auntie Cynthia and Uncle Peter who have lived in SA for over four decades and managed to see some of the rest of the family and also to get out and about near Jo'burg to see some of the sights.
We visited Pretoria, the capital, to gaze at the beautiful parliament building and stunning gardens - looking almost Italian in style, and went on to learn about the Great Trek at the Voortrekker Monument - and inspiring monument to celebrate the trek that the Boers went on to gain more freedom for themselves after the British arrival in the Cape.
Soweto was also somewhere that we wanted to see so we took a day trip into the township - with an interesting diversion through central Jo'burg - not somewhere we would probably have gone by ourselves. The safety of central Jo'burg is apparently improving, although I am not sure how relaxing it would be to stroll about the centre. It may be improving but it doesn't sound too great still. In Soweto we saw both ends of the scale in terms of lifestyle - from the rich houses which look like any white suberb, to the shanty towns full of corrugated iron houses. The thing that stood out to me was the cleanliness of the areas. All around the corrugated iron shacks was well swept and excessively tidy. There was also barbed wire around a lot of the properties so even though they have little they want to protect what they do have. The very interesting Hector Pietersen museum is well worth a few hours of anyone's time. It is dedicated to the first student killed in the Soweto uprising of 1976 - he was shot by police while taking part in a student protest about learning Afrikaans in school. He was 13. It is a very moving and inspirational place about the struggle against apartheid from all sections of black society.
Now for the cool animals - we hired a car for the next 6 weeks of travel about South Africa and our first destination was the Kruger Park. On the way there from Jo'burg we stopped in the Blyde River Canyon which has some interesting rock formations and stunning vistas across the canyon itself and the low veld in the distance.
We had 5 nights in the Kruger which was just about enough, but we could probably have spent more as we just had the best time there. We stayed in 3 different rest camps and travelled from the centre of the park down to the south which gave us a good look at the different areas and habitats. I think we were pretty lucky with what we saw and we managed to mix up our time with a couple of organised game drives, a superb walk through the bush and a lot of doing-it-ourselves game driving. We saw lions 3 times - the best of these was on the way to our bush walk when we passed a dead wildebeest disturbing a lioness having brekkie. Two more lionesses decided to stroll over to investigate, coming within a couple of metres of our vehicle. Just hearing their breathing and staring into their big yellow eyes was so awesome. One lay down in front of the jeep as if posing for photos! We also saw hyennas in 4 packs of 4 very close up, giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocs, buffalo, wildebeest, antelopes galore, white rhino, and some great bird life including vultures, ostriches, eagles and many more. At one waterhole there were a group of about 20 elephants taking their daily bath - one large elephant totally submerged himself in the water so that only the tip of his trunk was visible as a snorkel! A superb few days that will be hard to beat elsewhere.
After only 2 days of having our car we got a flat tyre - inconveniently enough in the middle of the Kruger. We had to change the tyre in the most densely populated lion area of the park - which was a little hair-raising but funny to look back on. Managed to get a nice SA couple to stop and look out for lions so we could change the tyre in safety!!
The tyre safely fixed, and we were off to Swaziland for a few days. Swaziland is one of only 2 kingdoms remaining in southern Africa (the other being Lesotho). The King is very popular in Swaziland as the royal family were instrumental in fighting for the independence of the Swazis from a variety of threats - Zulus, Boers, Brits etc. The present King seems to be doing an OK job, but his father Sobhuza II is still revered in society. He had 120 wives and well over 200 children!! He also was the longest reigning monach of any country and oversaw the handover from the British to regain Swaziland's independence.
Swaziland is tiny and very beautiful country with a lot of mountainous scenery, some good game parks and interesting little villages and markets. We had a couple of days in a very sweet (but very basic) A-frame hut in the Malalotja Nature Reserve in the north-west of the country. The surrounding countryside was spectacular, great for hiking and just totally deserted. Or little A-frame felt like being in the middle of absolutely nowhere. And the pasta by candlelight (there was no electricity) looking out on a sunset with a herd of blesbok chewing the cud just outside was pretty romantic (until we discovered the mice inside our hut!!).
From here we bypassed Mbabane (the capital) and went east to the Royal Valley (Ezulwini) where the Royal Family live. There is a lovely national park there called Mlilwane with a good little hostel affording superb views of the scenery from the pool and our little rodavel. After some craft shopping, pottering in a market or two and a bit of lazing by the pool we ran out of energy for all the walking we were going to do, so just sat back and enjoyed some local cuisine - impala stew - very cute animals, but oh so tasty!
Then the highlight for me was a day visit to the Mkhana Game Reserve which is famous for its black and white rhinos, amongst other things. The reserve is a lot more rustic than the Kruger and felt like a real safari even though the park is a lot smaller. The entrance is just by a car junk yard and could be easily missed. The game driving itself was great fun - even without the game. Just riding on the back of a big 4x4 through the bush was hilarious fun. But fortunately we saw lots of cool animals too. We started with a big herd of elephants who surrounded our jeep and one who was getting a little aggressive did a real Tarzan call in order to get rid of us. I thought he was going to charge, but he relaxed a bit as we reversed pretty swiftly.
Lots of girraffe, some hippos, crocs, sable, eland, zebras, and then the real highlights of the white and black rhino. We got to within touching distance of 2 groups of white rhino and a solitary black rhino. The black rhino are endangered and we were very lucky to see one, even in this park. Wonderful creatures who look like their skin is just too big for their bodies so that it sags around them. Poaching of rhinos in Swaziland had pretty much been stopped due to the policies of the parks and the King. But poaching is still prevelant in other southern African countries including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.
Swaziland was well worth a visit - you don't need to spend a long time there to get a feel for the place. It seemed friendly to us and the racial tensions which are still painfully obvious in South Africa do not seem as obvious in Swaziland. It is poorer than SA and the villages look a little more dilapidated than in SA. Swaziland has one of the world's worst HIV infection rates at about 35% of the population. The life expectancy is just 33 !!!! But the country does seem to be trying to do something to stem the tide. There is a huge amount of advertising about HIV and AIDS there (we noticed it in Swaziland far more than we have in SA). The problem is the culture is not very condusive to stopping the spread of HIV. Men can have as many wives as they can afford. If a women's husband dies then she is inherited by her husband's brother. Many of the men work away from home for many weeks/months and use prostitutes while they are away. Swaziland has a big struggle ahead just to keep itself level really. It is not clear which way it will go at all. The King has just declared that the people of Swaziland are not ready for democracy and the land ownership and business laws are archaic and need reforming so another country to watch over the next few years.
We landed in Jo'burg on 21 February and were met at the airport by my parents and Auntie Janet which was really nice after 9 months away from home. After all the airports we have been to it was lovely to see some friendly faces. We stayed with my Auntie Cynthia and Uncle Peter who have lived in SA for over four decades and managed to see some of the rest of the family and also to get out and about near Jo'burg to see some of the sights.
We visited Pretoria, the capital, to gaze at the beautiful parliament building and stunning gardens - looking almost Italian in style, and went on to learn about the Great Trek at the Voortrekker Monument - and inspiring monument to celebrate the trek that the Boers went on to gain more freedom for themselves after the British arrival in the Cape.
Soweto was also somewhere that we wanted to see so we took a day trip into the township - with an interesting diversion through central Jo'burg - not somewhere we would probably have gone by ourselves. The safety of central Jo'burg is apparently improving, although I am not sure how relaxing it would be to stroll about the centre. It may be improving but it doesn't sound too great still. In Soweto we saw both ends of the scale in terms of lifestyle - from the rich houses which look like any white suberb, to the shanty towns full of corrugated iron houses. The thing that stood out to me was the cleanliness of the areas. All around the corrugated iron shacks was well swept and excessively tidy. There was also barbed wire around a lot of the properties so even though they have little they want to protect what they do have. The very interesting Hector Pietersen museum is well worth a few hours of anyone's time. It is dedicated to the first student killed in the Soweto uprising of 1976 - he was shot by police while taking part in a student protest about learning Afrikaans in school. He was 13. It is a very moving and inspirational place about the struggle against apartheid from all sections of black society.
Now for the cool animals - we hired a car for the next 6 weeks of travel about South Africa and our first destination was the Kruger Park. On the way there from Jo'burg we stopped in the Blyde River Canyon which has some interesting rock formations and stunning vistas across the canyon itself and the low veld in the distance.
We had 5 nights in the Kruger which was just about enough, but we could probably have spent more as we just had the best time there. We stayed in 3 different rest camps and travelled from the centre of the park down to the south which gave us a good look at the different areas and habitats. I think we were pretty lucky with what we saw and we managed to mix up our time with a couple of organised game drives, a superb walk through the bush and a lot of doing-it-ourselves game driving. We saw lions 3 times - the best of these was on the way to our bush walk when we passed a dead wildebeest disturbing a lioness having brekkie. Two more lionesses decided to stroll over to investigate, coming within a couple of metres of our vehicle. Just hearing their breathing and staring into their big yellow eyes was so awesome. One lay down in front of the jeep as if posing for photos! We also saw hyennas in 4 packs of 4 very close up, giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocs, buffalo, wildebeest, antelopes galore, white rhino, and some great bird life including vultures, ostriches, eagles and many more. At one waterhole there were a group of about 20 elephants taking their daily bath - one large elephant totally submerged himself in the water so that only the tip of his trunk was visible as a snorkel! A superb few days that will be hard to beat elsewhere.
After only 2 days of having our car we got a flat tyre - inconveniently enough in the middle of the Kruger. We had to change the tyre in the most densely populated lion area of the park - which was a little hair-raising but funny to look back on. Managed to get a nice SA couple to stop and look out for lions so we could change the tyre in safety!!
The tyre safely fixed, and we were off to Swaziland for a few days. Swaziland is one of only 2 kingdoms remaining in southern Africa (the other being Lesotho). The King is very popular in Swaziland as the royal family were instrumental in fighting for the independence of the Swazis from a variety of threats - Zulus, Boers, Brits etc. The present King seems to be doing an OK job, but his father Sobhuza II is still revered in society. He had 120 wives and well over 200 children!! He also was the longest reigning monach of any country and oversaw the handover from the British to regain Swaziland's independence.
Swaziland is tiny and very beautiful country with a lot of mountainous scenery, some good game parks and interesting little villages and markets. We had a couple of days in a very sweet (but very basic) A-frame hut in the Malalotja Nature Reserve in the north-west of the country. The surrounding countryside was spectacular, great for hiking and just totally deserted. Or little A-frame felt like being in the middle of absolutely nowhere. And the pasta by candlelight (there was no electricity) looking out on a sunset with a herd of blesbok chewing the cud just outside was pretty romantic (until we discovered the mice inside our hut!!).
From here we bypassed Mbabane (the capital) and went east to the Royal Valley (Ezulwini) where the Royal Family live. There is a lovely national park there called Mlilwane with a good little hostel affording superb views of the scenery from the pool and our little rodavel. After some craft shopping, pottering in a market or two and a bit of lazing by the pool we ran out of energy for all the walking we were going to do, so just sat back and enjoyed some local cuisine - impala stew - very cute animals, but oh so tasty!
Then the highlight for me was a day visit to the Mkhana Game Reserve which is famous for its black and white rhinos, amongst other things. The reserve is a lot more rustic than the Kruger and felt like a real safari even though the park is a lot smaller. The entrance is just by a car junk yard and could be easily missed. The game driving itself was great fun - even without the game. Just riding on the back of a big 4x4 through the bush was hilarious fun. But fortunately we saw lots of cool animals too. We started with a big herd of elephants who surrounded our jeep and one who was getting a little aggressive did a real Tarzan call in order to get rid of us. I thought he was going to charge, but he relaxed a bit as we reversed pretty swiftly.
Lots of girraffe, some hippos, crocs, sable, eland, zebras, and then the real highlights of the white and black rhino. We got to within touching distance of 2 groups of white rhino and a solitary black rhino. The black rhino are endangered and we were very lucky to see one, even in this park. Wonderful creatures who look like their skin is just too big for their bodies so that it sags around them. Poaching of rhinos in Swaziland had pretty much been stopped due to the policies of the parks and the King. But poaching is still prevelant in other southern African countries including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.
Swaziland was well worth a visit - you don't need to spend a long time there to get a feel for the place. It seemed friendly to us and the racial tensions which are still painfully obvious in South Africa do not seem as obvious in Swaziland. It is poorer than SA and the villages look a little more dilapidated than in SA. Swaziland has one of the world's worst HIV infection rates at about 35% of the population. The life expectancy is just 33 !!!! But the country does seem to be trying to do something to stem the tide. There is a huge amount of advertising about HIV and AIDS there (we noticed it in Swaziland far more than we have in SA). The problem is the culture is not very condusive to stopping the spread of HIV. Men can have as many wives as they can afford. If a women's husband dies then she is inherited by her husband's brother. Many of the men work away from home for many weeks/months and use prostitutes while they are away. Swaziland has a big struggle ahead just to keep itself level really. It is not clear which way it will go at all. The King has just declared that the people of Swaziland are not ready for democracy and the land ownership and business laws are archaic and need reforming so another country to watch over the next few years.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Oz Experience
Oz seems a dim and distant memory now - but PCs are hard to come by here so a little late on the update for Australia (we are nearly 4 weeks into our Africa bit now).
We left Kiwi land for a few days fling in the Red Centre as neither of us had visited that part of Oz before. I was having second thoughts about going here as was Ayers Rock really going to be that interesting? I mean it is just a red rock in a red desert isn't it? Well - sort of, but it was all far more impressive and enjoyable than I had imagined.
We stepped off the plane into the oven of the outback, but the heat was pleasant as the humidity was low. The unpleasant aspect was the vast numbers of little flies that liked to congregate around any exposed skin, including the eyeballs, nostrils, ears and mouth which was pretty grim at times, but you sort of got used to it after a while.
We decided to walk around Uluru due to the cultural requests of the Aborigine people. The walk around took about 3 hours and has to be done early to avoid the heat. It is a spectacular walk and involves wlking into a couple of gorged and waterholes, close ups to the surface of the rock - which is very different from the photo portrayals - much more ridged and corrugated, and even some indiginous cave paintings. We were surprised at how many people chose to walk up the rock (mostly the Japanese tourists) given the clear signs of the cultural wishes of the local people that you do not walk on the rock. When we arrived to walk round, the rock was already people with a steady stream of walkers scaling it.
The other interesting sight nearby is The Olgas - another red rock formation - but this tiem consisting of 36 individual rocks sticking out of the desert. The Aborigines have a legend which says that these heads are those of their deities buried so that only their heads stick out of the ground. It is possible to walk around these "heads" and they are every bit as wonderful as Uluru itself. I have no idea why this sight is not publicised as well as Uluru as it is well worth supending some time here.
After 3 days of soaring heat, we pootled back to Sydney to see friends and explore a little (very little) up the east coast. It was great to catch up with Alicja (who I worked with in London), her husband Iain and their son William who was very entertaining. We also managed to fit in the obligatory Circular Quay to Manly ferry trip, Woolloomaloo, Manly, the centre etc.
We then descended upon the Stobos who gave us some cracking hospitality as we spent some time playing in the big waves on the Northern Beaches and learning to body surf which was just the best fun.
Nick and I hired a car for a few days and popped up to Hunter Valley to try some of the Aussie wines. We stayed in a lovely B&B (thanks to Kate for a great rec), had a delicious dinner and stopped at various vineyards for a taste. Semillon and Verdelho is what the area is known for, and although the Verdelho proved a hit with me, the Semillons just we not great at all. However, we persisted and found a few good reds as well. From the Hunter Valley we sped up north a little way to Forster where we stayed overnight and looked around the Booti Booti national park and played int he waves once again on the beaches there. Totally deserted beaches, very unspoilt and very beautiful - only a few hours from Sydney.
Then back to Sydney for the final fling before departing Oz - some good meals out and some more beaches, then off for the next leg of our trip - Africa. Less than 2 months to go now - so we are making the very most of every moment remaining.
We left Kiwi land for a few days fling in the Red Centre as neither of us had visited that part of Oz before. I was having second thoughts about going here as was Ayers Rock really going to be that interesting? I mean it is just a red rock in a red desert isn't it? Well - sort of, but it was all far more impressive and enjoyable than I had imagined.
We stepped off the plane into the oven of the outback, but the heat was pleasant as the humidity was low. The unpleasant aspect was the vast numbers of little flies that liked to congregate around any exposed skin, including the eyeballs, nostrils, ears and mouth which was pretty grim at times, but you sort of got used to it after a while.
We decided to walk around Uluru due to the cultural requests of the Aborigine people. The walk around took about 3 hours and has to be done early to avoid the heat. It is a spectacular walk and involves wlking into a couple of gorged and waterholes, close ups to the surface of the rock - which is very different from the photo portrayals - much more ridged and corrugated, and even some indiginous cave paintings. We were surprised at how many people chose to walk up the rock (mostly the Japanese tourists) given the clear signs of the cultural wishes of the local people that you do not walk on the rock. When we arrived to walk round, the rock was already people with a steady stream of walkers scaling it.
The other interesting sight nearby is The Olgas - another red rock formation - but this tiem consisting of 36 individual rocks sticking out of the desert. The Aborigines have a legend which says that these heads are those of their deities buried so that only their heads stick out of the ground. It is possible to walk around these "heads" and they are every bit as wonderful as Uluru itself. I have no idea why this sight is not publicised as well as Uluru as it is well worth supending some time here.
After 3 days of soaring heat, we pootled back to Sydney to see friends and explore a little (very little) up the east coast. It was great to catch up with Alicja (who I worked with in London), her husband Iain and their son William who was very entertaining. We also managed to fit in the obligatory Circular Quay to Manly ferry trip, Woolloomaloo, Manly, the centre etc.
We then descended upon the Stobos who gave us some cracking hospitality as we spent some time playing in the big waves on the Northern Beaches and learning to body surf which was just the best fun.
Nick and I hired a car for a few days and popped up to Hunter Valley to try some of the Aussie wines. We stayed in a lovely B&B (thanks to Kate for a great rec), had a delicious dinner and stopped at various vineyards for a taste. Semillon and Verdelho is what the area is known for, and although the Verdelho proved a hit with me, the Semillons just we not great at all. However, we persisted and found a few good reds as well. From the Hunter Valley we sped up north a little way to Forster where we stayed overnight and looked around the Booti Booti national park and played int he waves once again on the beaches there. Totally deserted beaches, very unspoilt and very beautiful - only a few hours from Sydney.
Then back to Sydney for the final fling before departing Oz - some good meals out and some more beaches, then off for the next leg of our trip - Africa. Less than 2 months to go now - so we are making the very most of every moment remaining.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Skydiving the South Island
Well some of you may have thought that the top sporting event in NZ right now was the world rugby 7's tournament - but you would be very wrong. Clearly, the sporting highlight right now in NZ is the world speed log chopping contest. Each contestant gets a big log and the first to chop it in half is the winner - mmmm - who said the Kiwis weren't sophisticated?!
And so onto the South Island where for the the majority of our time there we found a piece of summer and made the most of it as you can never tell how long it will last here.
We took the very scenic ferry from Wellington to Picton through the Marlborough Sounds which was all very picturesque and atomospheric with a little mist gathered around the hills and mountains. We moved swiftly onto Renwick for a couple of days to enjoy some of the infamous Marlborough vineyards. First stop was, of course, Cloudy Bay and from there we cycled around the area for a day enjoying a great tapas lunch and several tasting sessions. The area is famous for its sharp, zingy Sav Blancs and although these may be a bit harsh for a beginner, they definitely grow on you and I found them to be quite delicious be the end of the day.
Time for another NZ Great Wak, so we were bound for the Abel Tasman National Park which is a stunning area of the north South Island, not too far from Nelson. We spent 3 days kayaking and walking around the park - camping at little beach campsites and listening to the sea lap the shores at night. The weather was as good as it could possibly be with clear blue skies showing the park at its best with emerald green seas and golden sandy beaches - some totally deserted. We saw a penguin and several playful seal pups who came to check out our kayak. For me - this was the best bit of NZ so far - beautiful beaches, great weather and lovely temperate rainforest to walk through with some spectacular places to camp. The only downside was the wretched sandflies which seem to plague much of NZ and are far worse than mozzies. It is a pretty big deterrant to the outdoor life and they even get past our extra strong repellent.
Next stop was Arthur's Pass which is about a third of the way down the South Island in the middle of the Southern Alps that run the length of the island. The drive down from the north along the west coast was really good - huge white-crested waves crashing onto the weather beaten rocks and beaches - all very wild and windy. We stopped at the Pancake Rocks which are a series of cliffs shaped like stakes of pancakes piled on top of each other - quite strange. From Arthur's Pass itself we did a good walk through the rain up to a glaciar and managed to see some of the mountain peaks even with the cloud. It's and area of boulder-filled rivers, forest, glaciars, snowy mountains and lakes with a multitude of walks for everyone.
We stopped off in the jade-carving area of NZ - Hokitika - for a night just to reduce the travel time and had an opportunity most people probably miss to see some of the lovely countryside around this area. Turquoise rivers, tranquil lakes, forests and waterfalls galore.
Then onto the glaciars - Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciar. There are around 3,000 glaciars in NZ, but these 2 are the most famous because you can go and walk on them pretty easily. We checked them both out and spent a day walking on Fox Glaciar itself, investigating a few ice caves and crevasses. It was great to get out on the actual glaciar and see some of the wonderful formations close-up which is something we had not done before. The glaciars themselves are pretty unimpressive compared to those we saw in South America and we probably would have been best off seeing these first, but they are still a good day out.
Now for the adrenalin-junkie bit of the trip - had to do all this stuff before I get too old and scared to do it. We chilled out in Wanaka for a few days (a more chilled out version of Queenstown - much more peaceful) taking in the great views of the Lake Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. The best bit was our skydive from 15,000 ft over the lake and mountains. What a place to do it - but barely enough time to savour it all really. We both did tandem jumps so there is really nothing to get scared about as you have some guy strapped to your back who hopefully knows what he is doing! Once the aircraft reached 15,000ft we moved to the edge pf the plane door with my legs hanging out and having to pose for a photo before my tandem guy shoved us out of the plane. Then the most bizarre sensation of tumbing over and over and seeing plane on a couple of rolls seeming to get very small as we fell earthbound. Then the stabiliser was out and we freefell for about 45 secs before the parachute opened and we floated gently to earth for about 5mins whilst taking a few photos of the cracking scenery. I totally loved this experience and if it was cheaper I would definitely do it again.
In Wanaka we also checked out our second great cinema of NZ - this one was Cinema Paradiso and all seats are sofas or armchairs (with a couple in a Morris Minor). There is an interval in all films for home-made ice cream or dinner - a good idea to get people talking about the film and anticipating the end. The film was Team America - guess it's already been out in the UK - but worth a watch for the first half anyway - goes off a lot at the end, but the first hour is pretty funny.
Between Wanaka and Queenstown are the Otago vineyards famous for their Pinot Noirs, so we clearly had to stop off, sample and buy a few for the onward journey.
The heart of adrenalin country is Queenstown which was really different to what I had imagined. Quite a big place that is absolutely swarming with tourists and coaches - there is even a Louis Vuitton shop there and several fancy restaurants. I had expected backpackers galore but they were almost drowned out by Japanese tourists and big spenders. We decided to head out for some white water body boarding - basically you ride your body board down a white water river. Going over the rapids is quite exciting and the challenge of getting a breath whilst being thrown underwater and up and over rapids waves is hilarious - so much so that I think I drank most of the river.
The new bungy phenomenon in Queenstown is the Canyon Swing where you throw yourself off a ledge into a canyon, freefall for 60m then carry on for another 30m and on into one enormous swing towards the bottom and other end of the canyon. Now this was far more scary than a skydive. Firstly - I had to physically throw myself off. Secondly - the ground is close enough to see very clearly. Thirdly - it was just me - no nice tandem guy to help out. Thankfully I didn't see how far you fall before I jumped (I was later shocked by the distance that other people fell). I took my time on the ledge and almost didn't do it, and spent a long time looking down - a big no-no. But after deciding it might be fun and I certainly couldn't face Nick banging on about the time I chickened out - I jumped - my legs madly scrambling around like a cartoon character who has just fallen off a ledge. I barely remember the jump as I think your brain tries to shut off somewhat - but it was OK - not so much that I wanted to do it again and definitely scary enough for me.
Oh for some peace and tranquility! Thankfully we were Fiordland-bound and found some great places to stay and some gorgeous scenery to boot. The highlight of our Fiordland trip was our 2 dives in Milford Sound - some of the most beautiful diving I have ever done. Yes, the water was cold - but we had good wetsuits, lots of soup and a very sunny day - so we really didn't feel it. If you want to enjoy Milford Sound away from the huge boatloads of tourists - you have to learn to dive. We had about 3 times as long on the Sounds as all the other tourists had, we were in a very small boat so could see a lot of nooks and crannies that no one else gets to see, and we saw the best bit - underwater! Huge crayfish, wonderfully coloured, strange-shaped sponges, 5 metre high black coral trees, blue cod and loads more. Fiordland attracts about 7 metres of rain per annum and all this fresh water pours out on top of the saltwater to create very unique diving conditions. The freshwater layer is less dense so sits on top of the saltwater, then you dive through a mixed layer which is a little disconcerting as you can barely see anything, then into the saltwater later which is much darker and greener than normal seawater. The darkness creates conditions that you would normally have to dive 40-80 metres to see, but can be seen here at 18 metres. So we saw the huge black coral trees and red coral that would normally be impossible. A wonderful experience with a superb dive company who really inspired me.
After a few good walks around some local lakes, mountains, white water rivers we made our way along the Southern Scenic Route for yet more gorgeous scenery. The route takes you to The Catlins - a less frequently visited part of the South Island but well worth a few days. People told us it was like the west coast of Ireland - lots of gorgeous but very sultry beaches with the sea spray and mists and low clouds enveloping nearby headlands. Dense rainforest, rolling hills, many sealions and a few penguins.
And finally onto the city scene - the South Island is so underpopulated that it was odd to be back in the cities again. We spent a couple of days in Dunedin (Gaelic for Edinburgh) which was pleasant enough and wierd to see some vaguely historic building in New Zealand. They tend to over the top about anything that is more than 100 years old here - it's a bit like the US in that respect. Then our last stop was Christchurch - a very English looking city - with a River Avon, punting, lovely parks and some very English churches. Ahhh - how nice. By far the nicest city in NZ, and if I thought there was a chance of earning a living here, I could be quite tempted to move here. I haven't really felt that excited by the thought of moving to NZ, but living in the South Island near the city of Christchurch would definitely be the thing to do.
I have enjoyed New Zealand very much. The South Island is so much nicer than the North Island that I am not sure I would bother going back to the North Island. The North is nice, but not that staggering. Most of the South Island is just suprememly scenic and well worth 4 weeks of travel.
A few things surprised me about NZ:
1. I knew there were only 4 million people here, but spending 4 weeks travelling round the South Island was blissful with all the space and freedom that just cannot be found in England. We have seen big areas like this in SA, but the South Island is so much more accessible.
2. The newspapers here are truly poor - it has made me appreciate our press so much. The "world" section in any paper is only about 2 pages worth, and all weekend papers get the bulk of their stories form UK papers - are there no NZ journalists?
3. It is really small-town stuff sometimes - in a very lovely way though - the top headlines on the local news radio being about various cats that have gone missing.
4. There really are a lot of sheep here - 10 times as many as people.
5. A Kiwi told us the South Island was like 7 countries in one - I didn't believe him until we saw it - we saw US Pacific coastine, Hawiian tropical beaches, the Irish west coast, Norwegian fjords, the Alps, Scottish lochs and a little piece of England in Christchurch.
6. The views from all the roads in the South Island are some of the most stunning I have seen and driving was a real pleasure, although it takes a long time to get anywhere. Basically estimate how long you think it will take to get somewhere based on distance, then double it - allowing for random sheep crossings, various road laying trucks, cyclists, tractors and very windy, hilly roads.
7. The bus drivers here are the friendliest people on the planet - when they wish you goodbye and a great day - they really seem to mean it, asking what you are off to do next etc. London bus drivers - take note!
It has been refreshing in some ways to travel around a developed country with the ease of a car and clean, safe hostels, but I really miss the excitement and adventure and learning experience of South America. NZ is beautiful, but it doesn't get into the soul like a lot of places we visited in SA.
Now we head to the wonderful outback of Oz for a few sweltering days before some partying in Sydney.
And so onto the South Island where for the the majority of our time there we found a piece of summer and made the most of it as you can never tell how long it will last here.
We took the very scenic ferry from Wellington to Picton through the Marlborough Sounds which was all very picturesque and atomospheric with a little mist gathered around the hills and mountains. We moved swiftly onto Renwick for a couple of days to enjoy some of the infamous Marlborough vineyards. First stop was, of course, Cloudy Bay and from there we cycled around the area for a day enjoying a great tapas lunch and several tasting sessions. The area is famous for its sharp, zingy Sav Blancs and although these may be a bit harsh for a beginner, they definitely grow on you and I found them to be quite delicious be the end of the day.
Time for another NZ Great Wak, so we were bound for the Abel Tasman National Park which is a stunning area of the north South Island, not too far from Nelson. We spent 3 days kayaking and walking around the park - camping at little beach campsites and listening to the sea lap the shores at night. The weather was as good as it could possibly be with clear blue skies showing the park at its best with emerald green seas and golden sandy beaches - some totally deserted. We saw a penguin and several playful seal pups who came to check out our kayak. For me - this was the best bit of NZ so far - beautiful beaches, great weather and lovely temperate rainforest to walk through with some spectacular places to camp. The only downside was the wretched sandflies which seem to plague much of NZ and are far worse than mozzies. It is a pretty big deterrant to the outdoor life and they even get past our extra strong repellent.
Next stop was Arthur's Pass which is about a third of the way down the South Island in the middle of the Southern Alps that run the length of the island. The drive down from the north along the west coast was really good - huge white-crested waves crashing onto the weather beaten rocks and beaches - all very wild and windy. We stopped at the Pancake Rocks which are a series of cliffs shaped like stakes of pancakes piled on top of each other - quite strange. From Arthur's Pass itself we did a good walk through the rain up to a glaciar and managed to see some of the mountain peaks even with the cloud. It's and area of boulder-filled rivers, forest, glaciars, snowy mountains and lakes with a multitude of walks for everyone.
We stopped off in the jade-carving area of NZ - Hokitika - for a night just to reduce the travel time and had an opportunity most people probably miss to see some of the lovely countryside around this area. Turquoise rivers, tranquil lakes, forests and waterfalls galore.
Then onto the glaciars - Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciar. There are around 3,000 glaciars in NZ, but these 2 are the most famous because you can go and walk on them pretty easily. We checked them both out and spent a day walking on Fox Glaciar itself, investigating a few ice caves and crevasses. It was great to get out on the actual glaciar and see some of the wonderful formations close-up which is something we had not done before. The glaciars themselves are pretty unimpressive compared to those we saw in South America and we probably would have been best off seeing these first, but they are still a good day out.
Now for the adrenalin-junkie bit of the trip - had to do all this stuff before I get too old and scared to do it. We chilled out in Wanaka for a few days (a more chilled out version of Queenstown - much more peaceful) taking in the great views of the Lake Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. The best bit was our skydive from 15,000 ft over the lake and mountains. What a place to do it - but barely enough time to savour it all really. We both did tandem jumps so there is really nothing to get scared about as you have some guy strapped to your back who hopefully knows what he is doing! Once the aircraft reached 15,000ft we moved to the edge pf the plane door with my legs hanging out and having to pose for a photo before my tandem guy shoved us out of the plane. Then the most bizarre sensation of tumbing over and over and seeing plane on a couple of rolls seeming to get very small as we fell earthbound. Then the stabiliser was out and we freefell for about 45 secs before the parachute opened and we floated gently to earth for about 5mins whilst taking a few photos of the cracking scenery. I totally loved this experience and if it was cheaper I would definitely do it again.
In Wanaka we also checked out our second great cinema of NZ - this one was Cinema Paradiso and all seats are sofas or armchairs (with a couple in a Morris Minor). There is an interval in all films for home-made ice cream or dinner - a good idea to get people talking about the film and anticipating the end. The film was Team America - guess it's already been out in the UK - but worth a watch for the first half anyway - goes off a lot at the end, but the first hour is pretty funny.
Between Wanaka and Queenstown are the Otago vineyards famous for their Pinot Noirs, so we clearly had to stop off, sample and buy a few for the onward journey.
The heart of adrenalin country is Queenstown which was really different to what I had imagined. Quite a big place that is absolutely swarming with tourists and coaches - there is even a Louis Vuitton shop there and several fancy restaurants. I had expected backpackers galore but they were almost drowned out by Japanese tourists and big spenders. We decided to head out for some white water body boarding - basically you ride your body board down a white water river. Going over the rapids is quite exciting and the challenge of getting a breath whilst being thrown underwater and up and over rapids waves is hilarious - so much so that I think I drank most of the river.
The new bungy phenomenon in Queenstown is the Canyon Swing where you throw yourself off a ledge into a canyon, freefall for 60m then carry on for another 30m and on into one enormous swing towards the bottom and other end of the canyon. Now this was far more scary than a skydive. Firstly - I had to physically throw myself off. Secondly - the ground is close enough to see very clearly. Thirdly - it was just me - no nice tandem guy to help out. Thankfully I didn't see how far you fall before I jumped (I was later shocked by the distance that other people fell). I took my time on the ledge and almost didn't do it, and spent a long time looking down - a big no-no. But after deciding it might be fun and I certainly couldn't face Nick banging on about the time I chickened out - I jumped - my legs madly scrambling around like a cartoon character who has just fallen off a ledge. I barely remember the jump as I think your brain tries to shut off somewhat - but it was OK - not so much that I wanted to do it again and definitely scary enough for me.
Oh for some peace and tranquility! Thankfully we were Fiordland-bound and found some great places to stay and some gorgeous scenery to boot. The highlight of our Fiordland trip was our 2 dives in Milford Sound - some of the most beautiful diving I have ever done. Yes, the water was cold - but we had good wetsuits, lots of soup and a very sunny day - so we really didn't feel it. If you want to enjoy Milford Sound away from the huge boatloads of tourists - you have to learn to dive. We had about 3 times as long on the Sounds as all the other tourists had, we were in a very small boat so could see a lot of nooks and crannies that no one else gets to see, and we saw the best bit - underwater! Huge crayfish, wonderfully coloured, strange-shaped sponges, 5 metre high black coral trees, blue cod and loads more. Fiordland attracts about 7 metres of rain per annum and all this fresh water pours out on top of the saltwater to create very unique diving conditions. The freshwater layer is less dense so sits on top of the saltwater, then you dive through a mixed layer which is a little disconcerting as you can barely see anything, then into the saltwater later which is much darker and greener than normal seawater. The darkness creates conditions that you would normally have to dive 40-80 metres to see, but can be seen here at 18 metres. So we saw the huge black coral trees and red coral that would normally be impossible. A wonderful experience with a superb dive company who really inspired me.
After a few good walks around some local lakes, mountains, white water rivers we made our way along the Southern Scenic Route for yet more gorgeous scenery. The route takes you to The Catlins - a less frequently visited part of the South Island but well worth a few days. People told us it was like the west coast of Ireland - lots of gorgeous but very sultry beaches with the sea spray and mists and low clouds enveloping nearby headlands. Dense rainforest, rolling hills, many sealions and a few penguins.
And finally onto the city scene - the South Island is so underpopulated that it was odd to be back in the cities again. We spent a couple of days in Dunedin (Gaelic for Edinburgh) which was pleasant enough and wierd to see some vaguely historic building in New Zealand. They tend to over the top about anything that is more than 100 years old here - it's a bit like the US in that respect. Then our last stop was Christchurch - a very English looking city - with a River Avon, punting, lovely parks and some very English churches. Ahhh - how nice. By far the nicest city in NZ, and if I thought there was a chance of earning a living here, I could be quite tempted to move here. I haven't really felt that excited by the thought of moving to NZ, but living in the South Island near the city of Christchurch would definitely be the thing to do.
I have enjoyed New Zealand very much. The South Island is so much nicer than the North Island that I am not sure I would bother going back to the North Island. The North is nice, but not that staggering. Most of the South Island is just suprememly scenic and well worth 4 weeks of travel.
A few things surprised me about NZ:
1. I knew there were only 4 million people here, but spending 4 weeks travelling round the South Island was blissful with all the space and freedom that just cannot be found in England. We have seen big areas like this in SA, but the South Island is so much more accessible.
2. The newspapers here are truly poor - it has made me appreciate our press so much. The "world" section in any paper is only about 2 pages worth, and all weekend papers get the bulk of their stories form UK papers - are there no NZ journalists?
3. It is really small-town stuff sometimes - in a very lovely way though - the top headlines on the local news radio being about various cats that have gone missing.
4. There really are a lot of sheep here - 10 times as many as people.
5. A Kiwi told us the South Island was like 7 countries in one - I didn't believe him until we saw it - we saw US Pacific coastine, Hawiian tropical beaches, the Irish west coast, Norwegian fjords, the Alps, Scottish lochs and a little piece of England in Christchurch.
6. The views from all the roads in the South Island are some of the most stunning I have seen and driving was a real pleasure, although it takes a long time to get anywhere. Basically estimate how long you think it will take to get somewhere based on distance, then double it - allowing for random sheep crossings, various road laying trucks, cyclists, tractors and very windy, hilly roads.
7. The bus drivers here are the friendliest people on the planet - when they wish you goodbye and a great day - they really seem to mean it, asking what you are off to do next etc. London bus drivers - take note!
It has been refreshing in some ways to travel around a developed country with the ease of a car and clean, safe hostels, but I really miss the excitement and adventure and learning experience of South America. NZ is beautiful, but it doesn't get into the soul like a lot of places we visited in SA.
Now we head to the wonderful outback of Oz for a few sweltering days before some partying in Sydney.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
The North Island eh? Sweet as bro!
Greetings from NZ - a little overdue on the old blogging this time as we currently reside in the South Island but first things first.
We started our Kiwi adventure in Auckland - arriving to a beautiful New Zealand summer of torrential hail and galeforce winds. This was a little shock and I immediately regretted sending home some of my cold weather gear. One Kiwi girl working in our hostel told us they haven't had a summer for 2 years - and we thought our summers were bad!
Auckland is not a particularly attractive city but it does have a superb location on the harbour with great views from some of the extinct volcanoes around and about that you can climb up.
From Auckland we headed north to the imaginatively named Northland and based ourselves in the Bay of Islands for a few days around Christmas. The Bay of Islands, again, is exactly what is says on the tin and is a pretty nice place to spend a few days with little green wooded islands circled by sandy bays and clear water. We dived in the Poor Knight's Islands which is perportedly one of the world's top 10 dive sights. For us it was very different as most of our diving has been in tropical locations. The scenery was very new - a lot of long ribbon seaweed, colourful corals, caves and many new fish species. The water was bloomin' freezing though and the hot shower on board our boat was very welcome. Unfortunately - I thought this might be my last dive trip ever as I was monumentaly ill on the way out through the rough seas. It was like a scene form the exorcist with me in full seizure being sick everywhere. Absolutely revolting and totally puts me off diving unless I can guarantee calmer seas.
We also took a boat trip out through the islands and saw dolphins playing in our wake.
Christmas was slightly odd - we woke up and dashed down to the beach for a swim in the chilly sea - I have never swam in the sea on Christmas day so it had to be done. We then had a big cooked brekkie in our hostel with our hosts providing all the BBQ brekkie stuff and us providing the champagne - a good start to the day. Nick and I went out for a posh lunch leaving al the skanky backpackers behind! I tucked into my oysters with glee - only for them to come back to haunt me as I spent the entire afternoon vomiting my way back to the hostel. So - not the best Christmas Day ever, but there we go.
From the Bay of Islands we headed to Rotarua for the thermal landscapes of the North Island - with a lot of sulphurous steam being released all over the town itself and the surrounding area. There are some superb parks nearby to get a good look at sulphur caves, bubbling mud, champagne pools lined with red bubbling rocks and geysers.
We also tried zorbing here which is basically climbing inside a big plastic ball and throwing in a couple of buckets of water then being pushed down a hill - hilarious experience and so much fun that I had to do it again.
Rotarua is also the Maori centre of NZ and a good opportunity to take in a Maori show which was interesting. Seems to be a big push to keep the Maori launguage and culture going in some parts of NZ which is great.
Waitomo was the next stop and the only reason to go here is from gloworm caves and a spot of caving. Once our wetsuits were donned we headed down into a cave to tube and walk and swim through a cave network. The rain was coming down so hard that the water levels in the cave were about to reach the roof so we had to turn back. But an unforgetable experience to drift though a pitch black cave lit on the roof with tiny pins of light from the gloworms making it look like a starry night.
Time for our first NZ Great Walk of this trip - Tongariro Crossing - the weather was so bad one day that we had to postpone the trek, but after a day of waiting we managed to get out there - there a a couple of steep bits up to volcanic craters, but other than that it is pretty smooth. Lots of Martian lanscapes and more sulphur, red craters, white craters, emerald lakes and blue lakes and good views once the clouds lifted.
Our second NZ Great Walk was a kayak trip - 3 days on the Whanganui river. A bit nerve wracking to begin with as the 2-man kayak seemed remarkably unstable and I was convinced we were going to capsize through soem of the grade1 rapids. The second day was a lot more enjoyable once we had mastered the kayak (and Nick had taken over the steering - somehow I could not get it to go quite where I wanted!). The scenery is very lovely - steep gorges rise out of the river, a lot of trees and birdlife along the banks and just the peace and tranquility of getting away from everything for a while. Some of the campsite where really good and we had a great last night camping over looking the river with a little log fire going as the sun went down - perfect!
Had to try a drop or two of the famous NZ wines so we nipped over to the east of the island to Hawkes Bay - NZ's second biggest wine area. We spent a day trying various wines in 4 vineyards and also found time for a delicious long lunch in one looking over the valley and the vines. We also finally found some quality summer weather - this was soon to change.
Our last stop on the North Island was Wellington - a small city with more of town feel to it than a city. Difficult to get a real feel for the place as we were only there for a couple of days, but it seemed pretty nice. Some good museums, nice cafes and bars but not a whole heap going on. Not sure about the weather though - seems like October in England when it is supposed to be the height of summer.
We started our Kiwi adventure in Auckland - arriving to a beautiful New Zealand summer of torrential hail and galeforce winds. This was a little shock and I immediately regretted sending home some of my cold weather gear. One Kiwi girl working in our hostel told us they haven't had a summer for 2 years - and we thought our summers were bad!
Auckland is not a particularly attractive city but it does have a superb location on the harbour with great views from some of the extinct volcanoes around and about that you can climb up.
From Auckland we headed north to the imaginatively named Northland and based ourselves in the Bay of Islands for a few days around Christmas. The Bay of Islands, again, is exactly what is says on the tin and is a pretty nice place to spend a few days with little green wooded islands circled by sandy bays and clear water. We dived in the Poor Knight's Islands which is perportedly one of the world's top 10 dive sights. For us it was very different as most of our diving has been in tropical locations. The scenery was very new - a lot of long ribbon seaweed, colourful corals, caves and many new fish species. The water was bloomin' freezing though and the hot shower on board our boat was very welcome. Unfortunately - I thought this might be my last dive trip ever as I was monumentaly ill on the way out through the rough seas. It was like a scene form the exorcist with me in full seizure being sick everywhere. Absolutely revolting and totally puts me off diving unless I can guarantee calmer seas.
We also took a boat trip out through the islands and saw dolphins playing in our wake.
Christmas was slightly odd - we woke up and dashed down to the beach for a swim in the chilly sea - I have never swam in the sea on Christmas day so it had to be done. We then had a big cooked brekkie in our hostel with our hosts providing all the BBQ brekkie stuff and us providing the champagne - a good start to the day. Nick and I went out for a posh lunch leaving al the skanky backpackers behind! I tucked into my oysters with glee - only for them to come back to haunt me as I spent the entire afternoon vomiting my way back to the hostel. So - not the best Christmas Day ever, but there we go.
From the Bay of Islands we headed to Rotarua for the thermal landscapes of the North Island - with a lot of sulphurous steam being released all over the town itself and the surrounding area. There are some superb parks nearby to get a good look at sulphur caves, bubbling mud, champagne pools lined with red bubbling rocks and geysers.
We also tried zorbing here which is basically climbing inside a big plastic ball and throwing in a couple of buckets of water then being pushed down a hill - hilarious experience and so much fun that I had to do it again.
Rotarua is also the Maori centre of NZ and a good opportunity to take in a Maori show which was interesting. Seems to be a big push to keep the Maori launguage and culture going in some parts of NZ which is great.
Waitomo was the next stop and the only reason to go here is from gloworm caves and a spot of caving. Once our wetsuits were donned we headed down into a cave to tube and walk and swim through a cave network. The rain was coming down so hard that the water levels in the cave were about to reach the roof so we had to turn back. But an unforgetable experience to drift though a pitch black cave lit on the roof with tiny pins of light from the gloworms making it look like a starry night.
Time for our first NZ Great Walk of this trip - Tongariro Crossing - the weather was so bad one day that we had to postpone the trek, but after a day of waiting we managed to get out there - there a a couple of steep bits up to volcanic craters, but other than that it is pretty smooth. Lots of Martian lanscapes and more sulphur, red craters, white craters, emerald lakes and blue lakes and good views once the clouds lifted.
Our second NZ Great Walk was a kayak trip - 3 days on the Whanganui river. A bit nerve wracking to begin with as the 2-man kayak seemed remarkably unstable and I was convinced we were going to capsize through soem of the grade1 rapids. The second day was a lot more enjoyable once we had mastered the kayak (and Nick had taken over the steering - somehow I could not get it to go quite where I wanted!). The scenery is very lovely - steep gorges rise out of the river, a lot of trees and birdlife along the banks and just the peace and tranquility of getting away from everything for a while. Some of the campsite where really good and we had a great last night camping over looking the river with a little log fire going as the sun went down - perfect!
Had to try a drop or two of the famous NZ wines so we nipped over to the east of the island to Hawkes Bay - NZ's second biggest wine area. We spent a day trying various wines in 4 vineyards and also found time for a delicious long lunch in one looking over the valley and the vines. We also finally found some quality summer weather - this was soon to change.
Our last stop on the North Island was Wellington - a small city with more of town feel to it than a city. Difficult to get a real feel for the place as we were only there for a couple of days, but it seemed pretty nice. Some good museums, nice cafes and bars but not a whole heap going on. Not sure about the weather though - seems like October in England when it is supposed to be the height of summer.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Surfin' USA
What a difference a continent makes. Landing in LA was like landing on another planet. I had previously always said that I never minded whether I ever went to LA in my entire life, but we spent a really pleasant 3 days in this vast, sprawling city and I was pleasantly surprised by the place. For a start it is very low rise, meaning that it sprawls for about 100 miles!, but also meaning that you can see the beautiful blue skies every day (unlike in Manhatten). We stayed with a friend of Nick's from university who very kindly lent us his car to make our life very easy here. I didn't appreciate that without a car in LA you cannot exist - people looked at us like we were aliens when we tried to walk anywhere. There are no corner shops or convenience stores, everything is in malls.
First things first - we had to find a curry and fast. Although Argentina is the culinary capital of South America it does not have a passion for spice, and we both have had curry cravings for around 6 months now. Fortunately we found something to suit our tastes and we could get on with shopping and sightseeing.
Shopping is great here and with the USD so weak the bargains are even more crazy. We both picked up new digi cameras - my first and Nick's replacement after the armed robbery. Sightseeing is even better though and it was a lot of fun to visit the likes of Venice Beach (grungy tie dye hang out), Santa Monica (wonderful beach and manicured park area), Sunset Boulevard (even saw the George Michael toilets), Rodeo Drive (posh shops with wonderful Xmas lights), Hollywood (the stars and the hand and footprints of the likes of Humphery Bogart and Jack Nicholson).
From LA we jetted off to the sunkissed shores of Hawaii for some fun in the sun. We decided to visit 2 islands and chose Maui and Kauai as the most beautiful sounding and accesible. Maui was the first destination for the whistle stop tour in 6 days. I thought we would be chilling out a little more on the beach in Hawaii but there is too much to see here to spend all the time on the beach. We did a couple of scenic, if slightly hair-raising drives (I was driving - Nick was clinging onto his seat) round the coast roads. This involved lots of one-lane bridges and steep cliffs dropping off to my right and a couple of donkeys to contend with. But along the way we also passed several lovely waterfalls and swimming pools below them, stunning coastal scenery, black lava beaches with white surf pounding the shores, blowholes, rainforested walks, white sandy beaches fringed with palm trees.
We got up for sunrise over the volcanic crater in the middle of the island which was wonderful (although not perhaps their best sunrise according to the postcards on sale) followed by a beautiful walk around the moonscape of the craters. We snorkelled around the western beaches with some very colourful tropical fish and sampled a few of the golden sandy beaches in the south.
We stayed in a great place in the north shore that is far less touristy than the rest of the island and we basically ended up having the most wonderful house all to ourselves for the few days we were there. It was perched on the coast with the lawn running down to the windswept, crashing ocean. Sitting in a hammock overlooking the ocean and the shoreling in the distance was totally relaxing, but the highlight of the place was definitely the hot tub in the garden. Drinking champagne under the stars listening to the pounding waves just a few metres away was deadly romantic.
Next stop was the island of Kauai and for some real surfin' USA action - yes, that's right - we took a surf lesson one day which was a great laugh. After a bit of shoreline instruction we headed for the waves and the first one caused wipe out as I forgot everything immediately, but I managed to stand up on the second and most of the rest (with a good push into the wave from our teacher). Once I tried to paddle myself up to speed to catch a wave it prooved a little more tricky and by this time my arms were totally dead. Excellent fun and something I would definitely try again.
Kauai is where a lot of Jurassic Park was filmed and the lush green valleys and mountains and idyllic waterfalls are recognisable and just perfect. The greens are deliciously vibrant and after a quick shower the intensity is just gorgeous. We took a helicopter ride, with the doors off, over the island and what a trip that was. Leaning out of the windows as we circled over waterfalls and into hidden valleys of green, sharp, jagged mountains. The scenery on the Na Pali coast is totally unique with these jagged green daggers pointing skywards and white surf crashing around their roots.
We did a bit of walking in the lush greeness itself, climbed to some more waterfalls and sat on the beach for a while. The biggest waves in 6 years hit Hawaii while we were their with waves as tall as 50 feet striking hte north shore of most islands. This on the day that we were surfing ourselves ! Fortunately we were surfing in the south and the island took the heat of the size of the waves, bringing them down to a very manageable 2 feet. We had to go and see these waves though and the north shore of Kauai is very unspoilt and a good place to get the binoculars out and check the pro surfers testing some of the big waves. It was like one of those Xtreme sports channels - surfers being pulled out into the surf by jet skis then launching themselves before surfing an enormous wave (we saw waves maybe 35 feet tall) and the surfer just looks like a dot compared to the enormity of the wave. The wave then curls itself around the surfer and tumbles down chasing the surfer until either he succumbs or he manages to cruise over the wave.
Hawaii was a little less developed than I had feared, but a less "Hawaiian" than I had hoped. The American culture is very prevelent and it is difficult as a tourist to sample and see any evidence of anything truly Hawaiian really. That said, it was a great 2 weeks in a place I would not ever have gone to had it not been for this trip - due to the huge distance from the UK.
We are in Auckland now and already South America feels like it happened months ago. I have to keep reminding myself of everything and struggle to keep up some kind of Spanish - which was fine in LA but obviously not in NZ. Happy Xmas to one and all and best wishes for an amazing 2005.
First things first - we had to find a curry and fast. Although Argentina is the culinary capital of South America it does not have a passion for spice, and we both have had curry cravings for around 6 months now. Fortunately we found something to suit our tastes and we could get on with shopping and sightseeing.
Shopping is great here and with the USD so weak the bargains are even more crazy. We both picked up new digi cameras - my first and Nick's replacement after the armed robbery. Sightseeing is even better though and it was a lot of fun to visit the likes of Venice Beach (grungy tie dye hang out), Santa Monica (wonderful beach and manicured park area), Sunset Boulevard (even saw the George Michael toilets), Rodeo Drive (posh shops with wonderful Xmas lights), Hollywood (the stars and the hand and footprints of the likes of Humphery Bogart and Jack Nicholson).
From LA we jetted off to the sunkissed shores of Hawaii for some fun in the sun. We decided to visit 2 islands and chose Maui and Kauai as the most beautiful sounding and accesible. Maui was the first destination for the whistle stop tour in 6 days. I thought we would be chilling out a little more on the beach in Hawaii but there is too much to see here to spend all the time on the beach. We did a couple of scenic, if slightly hair-raising drives (I was driving - Nick was clinging onto his seat) round the coast roads. This involved lots of one-lane bridges and steep cliffs dropping off to my right and a couple of donkeys to contend with. But along the way we also passed several lovely waterfalls and swimming pools below them, stunning coastal scenery, black lava beaches with white surf pounding the shores, blowholes, rainforested walks, white sandy beaches fringed with palm trees.
We got up for sunrise over the volcanic crater in the middle of the island which was wonderful (although not perhaps their best sunrise according to the postcards on sale) followed by a beautiful walk around the moonscape of the craters. We snorkelled around the western beaches with some very colourful tropical fish and sampled a few of the golden sandy beaches in the south.
We stayed in a great place in the north shore that is far less touristy than the rest of the island and we basically ended up having the most wonderful house all to ourselves for the few days we were there. It was perched on the coast with the lawn running down to the windswept, crashing ocean. Sitting in a hammock overlooking the ocean and the shoreling in the distance was totally relaxing, but the highlight of the place was definitely the hot tub in the garden. Drinking champagne under the stars listening to the pounding waves just a few metres away was deadly romantic.
Next stop was the island of Kauai and for some real surfin' USA action - yes, that's right - we took a surf lesson one day which was a great laugh. After a bit of shoreline instruction we headed for the waves and the first one caused wipe out as I forgot everything immediately, but I managed to stand up on the second and most of the rest (with a good push into the wave from our teacher). Once I tried to paddle myself up to speed to catch a wave it prooved a little more tricky and by this time my arms were totally dead. Excellent fun and something I would definitely try again.
Kauai is where a lot of Jurassic Park was filmed and the lush green valleys and mountains and idyllic waterfalls are recognisable and just perfect. The greens are deliciously vibrant and after a quick shower the intensity is just gorgeous. We took a helicopter ride, with the doors off, over the island and what a trip that was. Leaning out of the windows as we circled over waterfalls and into hidden valleys of green, sharp, jagged mountains. The scenery on the Na Pali coast is totally unique with these jagged green daggers pointing skywards and white surf crashing around their roots.
We did a bit of walking in the lush greeness itself, climbed to some more waterfalls and sat on the beach for a while. The biggest waves in 6 years hit Hawaii while we were their with waves as tall as 50 feet striking hte north shore of most islands. This on the day that we were surfing ourselves ! Fortunately we were surfing in the south and the island took the heat of the size of the waves, bringing them down to a very manageable 2 feet. We had to go and see these waves though and the north shore of Kauai is very unspoilt and a good place to get the binoculars out and check the pro surfers testing some of the big waves. It was like one of those Xtreme sports channels - surfers being pulled out into the surf by jet skis then launching themselves before surfing an enormous wave (we saw waves maybe 35 feet tall) and the surfer just looks like a dot compared to the enormity of the wave. The wave then curls itself around the surfer and tumbles down chasing the surfer until either he succumbs or he manages to cruise over the wave.
Hawaii was a little less developed than I had feared, but a less "Hawaiian" than I had hoped. The American culture is very prevelent and it is difficult as a tourist to sample and see any evidence of anything truly Hawaiian really. That said, it was a great 2 weeks in a place I would not ever have gone to had it not been for this trip - due to the huge distance from the UK.
We are in Auckland now and already South America feels like it happened months ago. I have to keep reminding myself of everything and struggle to keep up some kind of Spanish - which was fine in LA but obviously not in NZ. Happy Xmas to one and all and best wishes for an amazing 2005.
