Springtime in Welly

Hi Everyone,

Long time no update, so here we go...

So it's obviously been winter since our last update, a few more skiing trips to the Central North Island so Kerry has honed her skills and become a real pro! She even managed a black run with no dramas - although somehow a black run here doesn't quite equate to the same standard as elsewhere! Still, not a bad effort, even Ben agrees! And it's pretty cool skiing down the flanks of a volcano, looking over the plains to another volcano in the distance.

Bought a car not long after our last update, so it's now much easier for us to get around, and so now it's starting to get a bit more springlike we've been out and about exploring again.

Have done some nice walks in the Wellington region, in the Rimutaka and Tararua ranges. The Rimutakas are just over the harbour from Wellington so you get really good views back to the city. And we discovered a very impressive swing bridge in the Waiohine Gorge area, about 100m long, suspended about 50 m above the river...and pretty wobbly!









More recently we've been on a walking weekend with 2 friends, Heather and James, over a bank holiday weekend....rented a Department of Conservation hut high up a river valley in the Rimutaka range for a couple of nights. Had a very heavy walk in up the river (literally.....glad we've got some sturdy river-walking shoes!) carrying some nice food and board games for the weekend....and plenty of wine of course! We were planning on dropping off our heavy bags at the hut and then going for a walk further up the valley in the afternoon, but by the time the boys had collected firewood and got the axe to it all, and the girls had cleaned the hut and got the dinner on (we know, how stereotypical!) it was definitely wine o'clock sat by the river in the sunshine - lovely!









Had a late night of wine and Cranium (board game) but managed to drag ourselves up the ridiculously steep track to the top of Mount Matthews, the highest mountain in the area, and one you can see from Wellington waterfront. Was pretty hard work, pulling up on tree roots and bushes, but was beautiful weather and we had amazing views from the top across other parts of the range, Wellington harbour and over to the Wairarapa to the east.
















NZ celebrates fireworks night (although think they're slightly unsure as to the link with Guy Fawkes and bonfires!), so we got a pretty impressive display over the Harbour last week.

Went camping for the first time since Easter this weekend, was still pretty chilly over night, but lovely warm and sunny weather during the day. Drove over to the near edge of the Wairarapa on Friday night after work and camped at a really remote site, no one else there, overlooking a river gorge. Was a really nice spot (apart from the mozzies!) and the starriest sky we've ever seen, could see a couple of galaxies and even a shooting star....shame we know nothing in the southern hemisphere night sky!

Went to Castlepoint on the East coast on Saturday, a really pretty stretch of coastline, with a towering 162m high "Castle Rock" rising pretty much vertically from the sea, and a lagoon protected by an uplifted reef.....so LOADS of fossils to keep us geology geeks entertained! Had quite a relaxed day pottering along the beaches, reefs and up to the top of the rock, and tried to visit some supposedly impressive sea caves, but it requires scrambling around the rocks at the base of some steep cliffs and a grumpy seal wouldn't let us past him....no alternative route and we were a bit wary of his growling and hissing - evidently they can get quite aggressive!

















On Sunday we visited the National Wildlife Centre where they have lots of breeding programmes for native NZ species - virtually all birds, we hadn't realised that the only native mammals to NZ are bats...strange when you see rabbits, hedgehogs, possums, deer e.t.c everywhere (well, mostly squashed by the side of the road, but it means there must be plenty of them!). Spotted a wild kaka (a large parrot) in the forest and also got to see the pair of kiwis they keep in a nocturnal house foraging for food, and a tuatara - a big lizard that looks like a dinosaur (was around at the time of the dinosaurs and is pretty much unchanged ever since)!

Have been getting into the rugby - both playing and watching! We both played in a touch rugby tournament for Ben's work in the annual Corporate Games....and were totally rubbish! We did win 2 of our 5 games...by default! Only cos the other teams didn't have the required number of girls so had to concede! Good fun, but a bit humiliating! Good job we weren't taking it too seriously! And we even managed 2 tries in our final game (we hadn't actually scored up until that point so it was an achievement!) We've been to support our local rugby team, the Wellington Lions, in their semi-finals of the cup, but suddenly the kiwis have become football obsessed about the "all whites" world cup qualifier against Bahrain this coming Saturday. It's being played in Wellington, all the tickets sold out within a day or two, and they're putting up a 40 ft screen on the waterfront to keep all the "fans" happy that haven't managed to get tickets....so should be a fun evening!

First visit to the South Island

Hi everyone,

Well we've finally made it across the straits, but first we'd better fill you in on a couple of things we've been up to in Wellington since our last update.

Now that it's winter, the town has quietened down a bit...less events taking place, but still finding more than enough to keep us entertained (and not just with more and more tasting of NZ wine, although that is a good past time!). Mid winter is a bit of a celebration here...seems they miss having christmas in the cold...Ben's office decided to celebrate it with a swim in the harbour! It may look sunny in the photo, but it was bloody cold, we only managed about 30 seconds in the water, but long enough for us to get proof of doing it! Meanwhile Kerry opted not to take part in a similar event at her work, settling for the free BBQ and ice cream instead!

We had our first taste of All Blacks rugby, went to watch the AB vs France game in Wellington. Terrible weather and handling conditions, so not a classic free flowing Southern Hemisphere experience, but fun none the less.

Our first guest came to stay in our little flat, Paul Stock (from Uni if you don't know him) was here for a couple of days. Sadly the weather was pretty atrocious so didn't get to see Welly in all its glory, but still good to see him.

Right on to the South Island...had a week's holiday as Rosie Jones (another friend from Uni if you don't know her) was out to stay. Played a blinder by getting stupidly drunk on the Saturday night before having to get the ferry early Sunday morning...oops, thought we would have learnt by now! Fortunately the crossing wasn't as rough as expected!

Picked up a hire car when we arrived and headed off (with a hitch hiker!) to Nelson Lakes National Park for some walking in the snow. Did a 2-day ridgeline walk, staying in a backcountry hut by a lake at the far end of the ridge. Apparently it was by a lake, but as it was frozen and covered by a few feet of snow we didn't really notice! The hut was fantastic if a bit cold. Thankfully there were some logs left for the fire, but felt sorry for the next people coming up as they'd be pretty chilly! We were the only people there, so had a fun night with the wine, baileys and whiskey that we'd carried up, curled up on matresses in front of the fire!

The second day we dropped down a steep, very snow filled valley, full of frozen waterfalls (it was called the Cascade Track) to the side of Lake Rotoiti (in the photo below). Amazing weather pretty much the whole time made it a pretty perfect walk.








Then it was time for Kerry and Rosie to learn to ski...finally...yey!

Went to Mt Lyford, a little ski field up a steep 13km single lane dirt track covered in snow...our little 2 wheel drive car did us proud amongst the big 4x4's (thank god for the snow chains!). It was a bit hairy in places, with plenty of understeering and shear drops off to the side (it got renamed by Rosie 'the road of death'!).

Anyway once we were there it was all good, with hardly anyone there, nearly 2 m of snow as a base, fresh powder and 2 days of sunshine what more can you ask for!?!

With only 2 hours of lessons over the 2days (and pointers from Ben here and there) the girls picked it up pretty quickly...once they'd mastered T-bar lifts! No injuries thankfully and loads of good fun made sure more skiing will be happening soon. Actually, we are booked to go next weekend and the one after with different friends, so soon Kerry will be a pro!

Headed back up along the Kaikoura Coast...lots of snowy mountains meeting the sea, hundreds of smelly fur seals but sadly no dolphins or whales (which the area is famous for, apparently 9 sperm whales live there) before stopping in on a few vineyards to sample the local produce of the Marlborough region....mmm! Kerry lost paper-scissors-stone so as the designated driver had to throw wine away for the first time in her life (there were nearly tears in her eyes!). Also managed to pick up a few souvenirs to enjoy at home.

Had a quick driving tour of the very picturesque Marlborough Sounds before heading back to the port, marking the end of the trip.

Rosie left us yesterday, so the house is a bit quieter now...need more visitors please, apparently the air bed is very comfy!

It's getting colder!!

Hello,

Just thought that we'd give you a quick update from NZ, not too much to say as still haven't bought a car, so haven't been able to venture out too far!

Jobs etc are still going well and gradually exploring all that Wellington has to offer. Still a bit weird to be earning, so having to investigate new restaurants / bars on a weekly basis!

A few weekends ago we went to Wellington's annual food show with our neighbours. Sounds a bit of an old, sensible thing to do, but with so many free wine tastings the 5 hours went pretty quickly! Got a bit desperate and needy as they were shutting up though...couldn't let them finish with any half bottles still open could we?!?

We hired a car for the Queen's Birthday Bank Holiday Weekend (yes we do get a day off for her b'day here, bloody colonies!). Sadly the weather did its best to put us off going anywhere, whilst we did sack off the idea of camping, we did manage three good days out.

Saturday wasn't too bad, so headed round the coast to the most southerly tip of the North Island, Cape Palliser. On the way had a walk around the Putangirua Pinnacles - a series of towers of river gravels (still geologists!) weathered out of the cliffs...very eerie and atmospheric, with boulders ready to fall out on you, but pretty cool (apparently it was used to film some scene for Lord of the Rings - but where isn't it seems!!)

Cape Palliser is pretty remote, with just a couple of holiday homes, a lighthouse (with the steepest steps (249!) ever to get up to it!) and a huge fur seal colony - so cool to watch them lazing about on the grass by the side of the road (shitty gravel track!). Were a bit scared to get too close as they are pretty vocal and argumentative it seems, oh yeah and they stink! Pretty cute though from the comfort and safety of the car.


The coast around there was really atmospheric because of the weather and the deserted black sand beaches...in comparison to the busier white sand beaches the other side of Wellington where we went on Sunday (white because of the sand and the HAIL STORMS that battered us!). Told you it was getting colder, even had snow flurries in Wellington, first time in 14 years apparently. You really get blown about here when a southerly storm comes through straight from the Antarctic!

Were told the weather was going to be nicer on Monday, so ventured up into the hills about an hour away for a good walk in the snow. Got off to a pretty bad start...seven river fords within the first half an hour...decided to be un-Kiwi and take our boots off - got a bit tedious and very cold with the water only just above freezing, but at least kept our boots a bit drier for the walk up.

No real views on the walk, but was really peaceful walking up through a snow covered beech forest. Unfortunately the clouds came down as we got to somewhere with a view, so made a hasty retreat...the hire car needed to be back...crossed the river seven more times...boots on this time...and got back just as the rain started!

Ok, so there we are for the time being, update you again soonish! The ski season has just started in the south, so getting ready for fun and frolics in the snow before long! It's the shortest day soon, so means more time to explore outside after then, so will have more to tell you next time!

Hope you're all well, email / skype us to update on any of your news...not that we're missing home!

The first installment from NZ

Hello, it's us again...

So, we've been in New Zealand now for just over two months, guess it's time for an update!

We escaped the bright lights of Auckland fairly swiftly and headed on down to Wellington, our new hometown, on the train...very scenic, if a bit slow! but what better way to travel than relaxing and looking at the scenery down the whole length of the North Island?!

Very good first impressions of Welly, as you can see from the photos, its beautiful here and there's always something going on... dragon boat racing, jet ski tournaments, free jazz concerts to name but a few of the ways we passed time in the sun. Also been exploring the coastline around the city, it's really accessible, but remarkably pretty, being quite rugged and home to fur seals...only one while we were there...have to go back in season to see the whole colony. Went to watch a bit of the NZ vs India Test Match a few weekends ago, another good excuse for a day sat around drinking in the sun! Been on a few good walks in the hills around the city and plenty more to keep us entertained until we can get our own transport and travel further afield.


Ben started his job not long after arriving here, going really well so far, poor Kerry had to sit around and wait a fair bit longer, but she's now been gainfully employed for the past two weeks (gets paid soon yey!) as a science geek...following in her Dad's footsteps with mass spectrometers. Seems the mass spec world is pretty small, he knew she had the job well before she told him, as she's working for his old colleague.

Over Easter we hired a car and headed up to the Central North Island for a bit of walking (or tramping as it's called here). Had a beautiful weekend of weather, with the first snow of the season the day before we arrived, making it freezing at night in our new tent, but never mind, got used to that in Nepal!

Did a 2 day walk, the first up a ridgeline with views of active volcanoes across the valley (yes still geologists!) before dropping down into the head of a valley for some wild camping. The second day was walking down a river, literally! Did try to keep our boots dry at first by rock-hopping, but soon resorted to wading, apart from Kerry who tried swimming...accidently!



























So, its been good so far, living in a one-bed apartment in the centre of town, who'd have guessed we'd be doing that?! But working really well and enjoying every minute of it!

We'll update you again once we've done anything more exciting.

Bye for now x

Australia

Hi everyone,

apologies for the incredibly long wait for this installment, but here goes....

Flew into Brisbane from Malaysia, bit of a shock to suddenly be in the western world again having been in Borneo for the previous few weeks! And it makes everything (like beer....!) expensive again! Had a day and a half in Brisbane itself before picking up a hired campervan to travel down to Sydney in. Apparently we were really lucky to find one available at short notice - most of them, were stuck up in and around Cairns because of too much floodwater everywhere! Which did seem rather strange when we were basking in (thankfully not too humid!) sunshine further south!

We actually went north for a couple of days from Brisbane (the long way round to Sydney - plenty of people we spoke to did point out we were going in completely the wrong direction!), dipped our feet in the Pacific Ocean...trying to avoid the little jellyfish!















Had a bad start to day 2 of our campervanning experience though....dead battery when we tried to set off in the morning! Plenty of nice fellow campervanners around tried to help with leads and jumpstarting...but to no avail! So had to get the RAC out to replace it for us! Good job that was included in the rental....maybe they know it happens all the time!

But we finally got going a few hours later than planned....to see some waterfalls (though we were wishing some of the rain in Cairns had made it down here....not much more than a trickle!) and to climb an old volcanic plug (yes, we're geologists, we found it exciting!) in the Glasshouse Mountains, with some really good views from the top...if a little hot and sweaty on the way up! made our way to our camping site for the night to find monitor lizards in the trees, but sadly no playpuses that were meant to live in the river nearby...















Back on the way south again, we headed to Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary just south of Brisbane....but having eventually found it - damn Lonely Planet maps putting it in the wrong place - it was closed! and the koalas weren't there at the moment....but they had some trails through the bush which we went exploring...and spotted a wild koala in a tree to make up for it! He even managed to wake up enough to turn his head towards us for a photo! They actually do look like cuddly toys!















Stopped at some more "waterfalls" (still with virtually no water in them!), but saw loads of noisy, bright red and blue parakeets and found a cheese factory that had to be sampled! It ripened up nicely in the campervan over the next few days! And had hundreds of fruit bats flying over our campsite at dusk and a possum to keep us entertained!

Getting into New South Wales, waterfalls suddenly got more water in them! Went to a cool one in Springbrook National Park which has cut a natural arch in the cliff, and then drove to another extinct volcano (Mount Warning) for a very hot and steep walk up it!



















Thought we'd over-done the geology a bit so then became proper tourists and headed to Byron Bay...managed an hour on the beach before we got too hot and had to jump in the sea! Only discovered afterwards how burnt we'd got - even with 3 applications of suncream on ! Damn the lack of ozone down here! The problem was you didn't cool down in the sea - it was like going for a bath - a bizarrely warm 26 degrees! Saw a school of dolphins playing in the surf around Cape Byron too.















Then we realsied we shouldn't have complained about the weather.....!! After 4 glorious hot and sunny days, it then proceeded to pour down for the next week! Not the Australian summer we were expecting! And not exactly great weather for camping!

Went through various National Parks in inland New South Wales, and tried our best to avoid the downpours and enjoy it despite the lack of views in a lot of places! Managed to time it right at Cathedral Rocks - didn't get wet, got good views from the top, and saw 33 kangaroos! (yes, we did count, it was exciting when you'd seen 4...then they just kept coming...!)















We'd decided to drive the "waterfall way" before all the rain started, and at least it made the falls themselves pretty impressive! Just a shame that most of the lookouts were in the clouds! With no views whatsoever! So we headed back down to the coast at Coffs Harbour - at least we weren't in the clouds there, even if it was still raining! Ben was adamant he wanted to learn to surf despite the weather so had a lesson with an ex-pro one morning...and was surprisingly good at it! See the photo below for proof (it is Ben, honest!)!!















Kept heading south (apparently we were doing well with the weather....we found out that places we'd been a couple of days earlier were now under several feet of floodwater, and the horrific fires further south weren't affecting us), and went to a Koala Hospital where they help injured koalas recover....they were incredibly cute and you got to see them up close, but much preferred seeing wild, healthy one a few days before!















Found some beautiful beaches south of there, still a shame about the lack of sunshine, but at least it meant they were deserted! Found a use for the strangely hot sea - very good for warming cold legs up that are being battered by driving rain and gales!

Then headed back inland again to the Blue Mountains, and just happened to be passing through the Hunter Valley wine region....had to try a couple! Though since we were driving we were restrained and actually only went ot one of the 157 vineyards along the route! Shame on us! But was still raining, and were in the cloud by the time we arrived at the Blue Mountains....were getting rather fed up of trying to use a camping stove in the pouring rain, so since we were actually in civilisation, retreated to the local pub for pie, chips and beer!

Fortunately though, our main day across the Blue Mountains was slightly brighter than it had been, so we did actually get to see something! And again, the waterfalls were very impressive with all the water in them! And the clouds cleared to see the Three Sisters rock formation.

































So headed towards Sydney, had to give our (rather damp and dirty!) temporary home back! Went via the coast south of Sydney around Bondi Beach area - very pretty bit of coastline despite how developed it is then met some of the Thompson's old family friends who live in Sydney and were kind enough to put us up for a couple of nights. So this gave us chance to see Sydney itself, and the rain did clear through the day so we managed a walk around the sights....Opera House, Harbour Bridge etc....and hundreds of very noisy flying foxes (fruit bats) in the botanical gardens.




























Our last day in Australia we did the Manly Coastal Walk on the north side of Sydney Harbour, and the weather was finally nice to us and was beautiful! Very pretty coastline, little secluded coves (though we didn't really fancy a swim, there'd been 2 shark attacks in Sydney Harbour in the 2 days before we were there!), huge lizards....all in all a very nice end to our trip!