Hello all!
Sorry it's taken so long to update this, even though we now finally have our own computer on board, we have discovered that New Zealand is in the dark ages when it comes to internet, and it's all still expensive, and there's no free wifi anywhere!!! Except for in the library, which is where we are now, hiding from the incredible winds in Wellington (I'm also slightly hiding from Wellington itself, as it has yet to charm me!)
SO, we've been in New Zealand for the last 2 weeks, starting off in Auckland, which we really liked. It's spring here, but luckily has been sunny for us most of the time. Just before we arrived it had been non-stop rain for 2 weeks, and the South Island had a snow storm or two, but it seems we brought the sun from Fiji with us : ) However, the weather is about to turn, just as we cross on the ferry tomorrow to the South Island, and apparently that crossing is the choppiest straight of water in the world...think I may have to consume an entire packet of sea sickness pills...
So far we've found NZ to look quite similar to home: driving on the same side through lots of rolling green hills, only difference is the odd palm tree that pops up, and the odd spectacular view that presents itself on the other side of a giant hill. We've been all the way over the top of the North Island (Cape Reinga) to see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet (all swirly!), have seen glow worms in caves, been white water rafting down a 7 metre waterfall, and learned to ski on a volcano, from which you could see the other volcano which a certain hobbit had to chuck a ring into...all very exciting! And although there is a LOT of driving involved, the places we end up seeing make it all worth it, especially at dusk (when we always seem to finally be rolling into places) when the light over lakes and the sea is just unbelievable.
As for our "ride", well, it's nothing like the pimp-mobile we had in America, which had about 1,000 miles on the clock...this anti stud-mobile has over 307, 000 kilometres on the clock, and has probably been around NZ about 400 times, but it starts everytime and goes along just fine, and is slowly winning a sorry little place in our hearts! Am sure by the end of 5 weeks we'll be sad to see old "Boba" go...we have no idea why it's called that: another one we saw was called, "The Hoff": why couldn't we get THAT one and at least have a bit of street cred?! (It seems all drivers immediately assume we're slow because we're a campervan, but old Boba can go just fine, and does NOT appreciate the locals bullying him up the ass at every turn!!! It doesn't help that we're bright orange either...) But we've gotten the hang of living in a very confined space, and no major arguments so far (honest!): you just have to remember to get everything out of the boot or the pantry that you need BEFORE you make up the bed, otherwise it's all underneath you : /
Anyway, what more can I say? We were unsure of NZ when we first arrived, as it felt so like home that we were a bit confused as to what we were here to see (especially after Fiji!) but I think after 2 weeks we've got into the feel of the place and are looking forward to seeing the more dramatic beauty of the South Island. So we've 3 more weeks to go, and if the cost of groceries doesn't bankrupt us, we'll be heading to Oz at the end of October (Chris almost wept at the price of a bag of spinach yesterday!).
So that's all for now I guess: we have about 2000 photos to show you all, but we STILL can't get them to load onto Flickr, which is just ridiculous. Think the internet just isn't as good anywhere as in Britain, so appreciate what you've got over there folks, cos the rest of the world has no idea what they're doing! We are making every effort at every opportunity to get them up for you to see...
Lots of love, Eileen & Chris
P.S. Have killed one Possum so far (that's a good thing here!) but Chris has bought himself a possum pelt which he has named Nathaniel. He is rather taken with it, so if anything is going to come between us in this relationship, it may very well be Nathaniel...
No comments:
Post a Comment