BA Paper Planes 2

Franz josef glacier

NZ photos

Here is the public link to see some highlights of New Zealand in my facebook album

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=232393&id=887685205&l=fd6cf31ddb

New Zealand. "Sweet as, Bru"

Well now. Time for a brief update.

Current status...

As of right now, Quinny, Samia, Lucie and myself are here staying for a few days in "cambridge hostel" in Wellington - New Zealand's capital - situated at the bottom of the north island. Ali is staying with his cousins who live here just outside the city. Although he wont admit it, I think this is his way of calling a time out (hardly, no?) before the mayhem that will be south america. We regroup in a few days to make the journey to Auckland. Our 'family' has been changing slightly from place to place as we meet new people to travel with along the way - you meet people from all over the world, spend time together for a few days, have some fun times, and before you know it you are parting ways again to follow your own particular path...That's just the way it goes. This is the part of traveling that is often frustrating but you get used to it very quickly. We have spent much more time in hostels here, moving everyday to find a bed wherever the best deal is going. And although its slightly annoying packing your life on your back every morning and moving on, I can't say its not an enjoyable experience and something that really makes you appreciate having a home and a bed of your own for a while. And you do meet so many people once you venture away from the security of your travel mates for even a short time and make an effort...

We have had a great time in Aotearoa (The land of the long white cloud). About two weeks ago we hired a camper van and drove around the south island. It was an amazing trip and something that I will never forget; a definite highlight of the trip so far- for me anyway. New Zealand's great outdoors really is as good as people say; the breathtaking scenery is all around you once you leave the main roads outside towns and cities. We spent about 10 days with 7 people in a 6 berth camper van. The craic was mighty. I have so many stories to tell and pictures to show but for the sake of summary and so as not to bore the head of anyone I can mention some of the highlights. On one morning we all woke up at sunrise to go and watch penguins and sea lions on the beach in Omaru. We did a lot of driving through the night and often we would stop on remote roads and parks areas just to get out and look at the night sky. It was on this trip that I've seen some of the most amazing starry skies in glacier valley's with silhouettes of mountains all around, the milky way glaring through and not even an iota of noise or light to pollute the scene...

In Queenstown we took cable cars up to the peak and luged back downhill on plastic karts. We also did the 'Nevis Arc' swing, the world's highest swing which suspends you 140m over the ground in a big valley then just launches you across it in a big arc, hence the name. (see video on facebook) On the west coast we visited the amazing milford sound fjordland are, and walked up to the fox and franz josef glaciers (first time most of us had seen a glacier). There was ice climbing, kayaking, eating, drinking, singing in the most random places, sleeping in matchbox tight spaces, washing in lakes and rivers, and sneaking into the odd hostel on the sly for the treat of a hot shower. Think ‘into the wild’ meets ‘the goonies’ with a bit of father ted thrown in…

There were a few unfortunate incidents which at the time seemed disastrous and ultimately left us out of pocket a fair bit of cash each. Some of these incidents may have involved breaking down from lack of deisel in "the worst possible place to break down in New Zealand": a road tunnel deep under a mountain near milford sound, which resulted in a backup of traffic and tour buses which could not get around us for an hour. Another incident may or may not have happened may have invloved the tables inside the camper van breaking into two which may or may not have been the fault of anyone in particular. Im not saying names... Ah well, all part and parcel of a good road trip. Is'nt that what they say? No? Well, I'm saying it now.

After our south island adventure, Max and Elva went back to Australia (separately, of course - I must emphasize that or I’ll get in trouble…). And we made our way back to Christchurch for a few days of repose and sleeping in a real bed. A few days ago we drove (car re-location deal, great idea) up to Picton, and from there took the ferry to the north island and into Wellington.

Thats about it really. We are now preparing ourselves for South America. When I say preparing, that means doing nothing really productive, lots of hanging around cafe's in wellington, talking about what might and might not happen, which route to take, where we might go or can or cannot fly into and what we may or could not afford, etc, etc... Its an easy life I know.. There are a few logistical things that need to be done like sending packages home and contacting certain people re future work and study. On the plus side it beats sitting under a raincloud back in Ireland having the apocalyptic mantra of R-E-C-E-S-S-I-O-N drummed into our heads. Speaking of finance, our budget is getting ever tighter - This has'nt been helped by just today recieving a speeding ticket from Australia, the first of many we dread - therefore we are not doing anything else really exciting (or that costs money) here in NZ and are happy just to kill time and wait for our flight out of Auckland in 7 days.

hasta luego... Brian