I don't intend to sound blasphemic, but back in the days of the Old Testament, Abel wasn't a very lucky chap. He was a shepherd, kind and full of virtue, whilst his brother Cain was NOT the inventor of really delicious oven-baked chips, BUT the first well-known murderer in history. Hm, something went wrong there.
Thankfully, with another Abel (yes, I am getting to the point) a lot of things went terribly right. With Abel Tasman, to be precise. This chap from the Netherlands sailed a good deal around the world and discovered an outstandingly beautiful part of the north coast of the South Island of New Zealand: golden beaches, rainforest, rocks and rivers - gorgeous!! In his honour this perfect paradise was called "Abel Tasman National Park", and I was lucky enough to spend some time hiking there. That was one of the best days of my trip so far. I took a ridiculous amount of photos, stumbled down from the trees to every bloody bay and beach, and got a glorious tan. Fantabulous!! One of my bus companions, Joel, had an equally great time hiking with me. The girls we had rented a car with to go to the park didn't have such a good time. Two of them didn't hike at all but took a water taxi to the first beach (NZD 32) only to realise they can't be bothered to walk at all. Hence they took the next water taxi back (NZD 32)... The third girl "hiked" the trail in 2 hrs (recommended is 3.5 to 4, we did it leisurely in 4.5 hrs), she actually jogged (!) most of the way. Excuse me, but I think that their approach to exploring NZ's beauty isn't exactly recommendable. Maybe someone should explain to them that "hiking" in general should not be attempted in sparkly flip-flops, wearing heavy jewellery and carrying a "city bag" the size of my backpack on your arm. Plein weird!
Anyway, one of the best days ended in one of the greatest embarrassments when Joel, I and Heidy (another friend) where declined our booze shopping in the supermarket! I had got a bottle of red but Heidy offered to pay it. The cashier asked her for an ID because she "looks younger than 25" (she's 30, looks gorgeous but not like 24). She didn't have one, hence I said "Okay, I pay it then." They refused! "You can't swap bottles at the cashier" - we aren't swappping, we're friends, trying to buy booze! When I said that I had my passport with me, another (clearly stunning looking, as they are) cashier lady was so decent to say "Well, YOU don't need to show one (followed by a slight snort, I swear!)." If you like you can finish the sentence by saying: "you look old/wrinkly enough". What a cow! In the end we had to walk off without our bottle, only to witness the same bitches (excuse my French) selling 2 sixpacks of beer to two really haggard-looking, already boozed-up guys in the queue behind us. I knew there MUST be something non-perfect in this country ... xxx
... with arms wide open ...
Friday 25 March 2011
More snippets from Middle Earth
In Waitomo Caves you can do all sorts of funky things: Black Water Rafting (Rafting in pitch black darkness on a big rubber thingy whilst screaming your head off because you have no clue where you are going - nope, didn't do that), Abseiling (I think it's quite awesome but I didn't do that either, maybe due to the fact that noone bothered to find an appropriate ENGLISH word for this activity. "Abseiling" is German, it should be called down-roping!) and waiting for glow worms to switch on their behinds in order to illuminate the dark. BUT Waitomo has one more awesome thing to offer: a little delicatessen shop which serves HOKEY POKEY icecream!! It's one of the nicest flavours I have ever tasted, and Waitomo's little shop makes the BEST icecream by far! And what's even better: slowly but surely the people on this hop-on-hop-off bus I am on are getting to know each other better which makes the whole trip so much more rewarding. And it is really cool to have your Quesadillas prepared by a newly-wed Mexican couple who just know how to do decent Quesadillas - and how to prepare so much good food that they are able to feed half the bus with it!
The North Island of New Zealand is an awesome place, even if you don't attempt the Tangariro Crossing (an exhausting but memorable hike, passing inbetween two volcanos, which starts at 7am and ends 8 hrs later [if you're late you have to pay NZD 100 extra!], leaving all participants utterly shattered, unable to tell everyone how awesome it was ... where's the point?). Some say that the crossing is the only reason they bothered coming to the North Island in the first place. I can't relate to that. I loved the landscapes, the valleys, the smooth green of the rolling hills, the ridiculously blue skies with the most beautiful clouds, the stunning lakes ... And what's more: if you don't go to the North Island (or come from it), you miss one of the best things - the interislander ferry between Wellington (North) and Picton (South)!! This 3-hour boat trip through the Cook Strait really is something else! Captain Cook and his crew must have puked their hearts out back in the day on their sailing boats ... When we did the crossing, the weather was good, the sun was shining, and the ferry was gliding through the ever rough and ruthless sea beautifully. But the wind ... the wind! We spent all time on deck, and that evening I lost half my hair (as most of you know, I don't have the best and thickest hair anyway, buhuhu) when trying to comb it. It's not wind we are talking about here, it's bloody gale forces at work on that ferry! I was blown across deck, I am not kidding. I had to hold on to the railings, when I tried to leisurely lean against them to look at the stunning scenery that was opening up before my eyes. "I see a storm bubbling up from the sea...", thanks, Caleb Followil, you could have told me that before. Anyway, the ferry is brilliant and a great way to reach the South.
Oops, I almost forgot to mention something important: when visiting "Te Papa" museum in Wellington (a fabulous place!), I touched the Pounamu, the greenstone or jade, which plays a very important role in Maori history and culture. No, I didn't touch it without permission (I took photos without permission though ...), they actually ask you to touch it. And believe it or not: I felt something. It was amazing, I put my hand flat on the stone, and it felt like my heart was beating heavier all of a sudden. Not faster, just heavier. Wonderful. And a bit scary. This experience touched me and didn't leave me, and a few days later I bought a Pounamu pendant which I have been wearing since. It's one of the important symbols the Maori use, the KORU, meaning "growth, new beginnings, and harmony" - which is exactly what this journey is about...
Take good care, all of you xxx
The North Island of New Zealand is an awesome place, even if you don't attempt the Tangariro Crossing (an exhausting but memorable hike, passing inbetween two volcanos, which starts at 7am and ends 8 hrs later [if you're late you have to pay NZD 100 extra!], leaving all participants utterly shattered, unable to tell everyone how awesome it was ... where's the point?). Some say that the crossing is the only reason they bothered coming to the North Island in the first place. I can't relate to that. I loved the landscapes, the valleys, the smooth green of the rolling hills, the ridiculously blue skies with the most beautiful clouds, the stunning lakes ... And what's more: if you don't go to the North Island (or come from it), you miss one of the best things - the interislander ferry between Wellington (North) and Picton (South)!! This 3-hour boat trip through the Cook Strait really is something else! Captain Cook and his crew must have puked their hearts out back in the day on their sailing boats ... When we did the crossing, the weather was good, the sun was shining, and the ferry was gliding through the ever rough and ruthless sea beautifully. But the wind ... the wind! We spent all time on deck, and that evening I lost half my hair (as most of you know, I don't have the best and thickest hair anyway, buhuhu) when trying to comb it. It's not wind we are talking about here, it's bloody gale forces at work on that ferry! I was blown across deck, I am not kidding. I had to hold on to the railings, when I tried to leisurely lean against them to look at the stunning scenery that was opening up before my eyes. "I see a storm bubbling up from the sea...", thanks, Caleb Followil, you could have told me that before. Anyway, the ferry is brilliant and a great way to reach the South.
Oops, I almost forgot to mention something important: when visiting "Te Papa" museum in Wellington (a fabulous place!), I touched the Pounamu, the greenstone or jade, which plays a very important role in Maori history and culture. No, I didn't touch it without permission (I took photos without permission though ...), they actually ask you to touch it. And believe it or not: I felt something. It was amazing, I put my hand flat on the stone, and it felt like my heart was beating heavier all of a sudden. Not faster, just heavier. Wonderful. And a bit scary. This experience touched me and didn't leave me, and a few days later I bought a Pounamu pendant which I have been wearing since. It's one of the important symbols the Maori use, the KORU, meaning "growth, new beginnings, and harmony" - which is exactly what this journey is about...
Take good care, all of you xxx
Monday 7 March 2011
Kia ora, Aotearoa! Hello New Zealand!
OH MY GOD, this place is so beautiful, I want to cry! As a matter of fact I did, various times actually (Young Joe Young, my bus driver in the North Island would have slapped me now - he hates the word "actually", "elbow" and "sorry") in the last 10 days. I knew that NZ is a beautiful place and I'd heard that people fell in love with it in no time, but I had no idea how much it would blow me away!!
I have been on the road for 11 days, and in these 1.5 weeks I have seen more amazing things, sights, landscapes, and done more awesome stuff, then I could have imagined. The "Magic Bus" (a hop-on-hop-off-bus, travelling the North and South island) only picked me up in Auckland on 25 Feb, and it feels like I have been travelling for weeks! There is so much I'd like to share, it's ridiculous.
On my first day, I visited "Hobbiton", the original film set of parts of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy! I say "parts" because Peter Jackson shot exactly 47 sec (!) there between Hobbit holes, lakes, trees and meadows - spending 750 mio USD!!! But hey, who gives a shit, the trilogy earned him 40 bio USD (or sth ridiculous like that) in the end. At the end of the tour we witnessed a tanned hunk shearing a sheep - only for us :o). Yes, I took pictures. Yes, you CAN see his enormous bizeps. No, I only took those pics for educational reasons! A good start to an amazing trip through the most stunning place I have ever come across. I spent an evening at a Maori event which included fab food, cooked in an earth oven (man, I ate loads!), a bunch of singing and swinging Maoris (not my cup of tea) and a traditional Haka, the challenging dance-thingy the All Blacks do before they smash the other teams, haha. That evening I met an Irish couple, and the guy was the spitting image (and perfect impersonator) of Dougal of "Father Ted" fame. For all those of you who know Father Ted: I shall try and put up a video of that Irish bloke on Facebook.
Next day I watched a geezer (that's how our driver pronounced it) go off. It was of course a geysir, the Lady Knox one at Waiotapu. Man, it stank! Of rotten eggs, i.e. sulphur, and for a moment I was worried my hair could take on that smell. Then came the afternoon, and my biggest adventure so far ... I jumped out of a plane!!! YES, I sky dived, I did it, I jumped out of a bloody plane at 12.000 feet, fell through the rain and wind, strapped to a German instructor! We flew above a stunning lake, saw mountains, clouds, the land under my feet so far away ... and we kept gliding ... it was the most awesome thing I have ever done! I was laughing whilst in the air, I cried on the ground. I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know where to put myself :o). That's another demon slashed, muahaha!!
PS: Stay tuned, guys, I will update this blog more regularly now. More stories to follow 2moro, as we will be staying in an unbelievably boring place called Methven. Sounds like the birthplace of Gandalf ... but at least I will have time to go online :o). xxx
I have been on the road for 11 days, and in these 1.5 weeks I have seen more amazing things, sights, landscapes, and done more awesome stuff, then I could have imagined. The "Magic Bus" (a hop-on-hop-off-bus, travelling the North and South island) only picked me up in Auckland on 25 Feb, and it feels like I have been travelling for weeks! There is so much I'd like to share, it's ridiculous.
On my first day, I visited "Hobbiton", the original film set of parts of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy! I say "parts" because Peter Jackson shot exactly 47 sec (!) there between Hobbit holes, lakes, trees and meadows - spending 750 mio USD!!! But hey, who gives a shit, the trilogy earned him 40 bio USD (or sth ridiculous like that) in the end. At the end of the tour we witnessed a tanned hunk shearing a sheep - only for us :o). Yes, I took pictures. Yes, you CAN see his enormous bizeps. No, I only took those pics for educational reasons! A good start to an amazing trip through the most stunning place I have ever come across. I spent an evening at a Maori event which included fab food, cooked in an earth oven (man, I ate loads!), a bunch of singing and swinging Maoris (not my cup of tea) and a traditional Haka, the challenging dance-thingy the All Blacks do before they smash the other teams, haha. That evening I met an Irish couple, and the guy was the spitting image (and perfect impersonator) of Dougal of "Father Ted" fame. For all those of you who know Father Ted: I shall try and put up a video of that Irish bloke on Facebook.
Next day I watched a geezer (that's how our driver pronounced it) go off. It was of course a geysir, the Lady Knox one at Waiotapu. Man, it stank! Of rotten eggs, i.e. sulphur, and for a moment I was worried my hair could take on that smell. Then came the afternoon, and my biggest adventure so far ... I jumped out of a plane!!! YES, I sky dived, I did it, I jumped out of a bloody plane at 12.000 feet, fell through the rain and wind, strapped to a German instructor! We flew above a stunning lake, saw mountains, clouds, the land under my feet so far away ... and we kept gliding ... it was the most awesome thing I have ever done! I was laughing whilst in the air, I cried on the ground. I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know where to put myself :o). That's another demon slashed, muahaha!!
PS: Stay tuned, guys, I will update this blog more regularly now. More stories to follow 2moro, as we will be staying in an unbelievably boring place called Methven. Sounds like the birthplace of Gandalf ... but at least I will have time to go online :o). xxx
The Wizard of OZ ...
... must have been a filthy rich man, otherwise he wouldn't have survived in his country. My time in OZ went in a blur, and the 10 days down under left a lasting impression - a deep hole in my budget. I'd have never thought that I'd return to London one day, exclaiming: "Oh my God, everything is so cheap here!" No offence, I liked SYD, I liked MEL even more, but the money slid through my fingers. Not funny. Okay, here are my likes and dislikes regarding OZ (which is not really OZ but a city tour of the east coast):
I liked ... in Sydney: Shelly Beach, Manly, and the incredibly smooth water of the Pacific; Harbour Bridge and the view from it; Darling Harbour and its Chinese Garden; the mad bunch in my hostel; the fact that the city feels like a small version of NYC; Pie Face (yummy pies); Blue Mountains (and the tour) ... and Alister who sold me my Magic Bus ticket for NZ :o).
I liked ... in Melbourne: the tram (could have sat on it for hours); Yarra river; Acland St. = I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, cake heaven to be precise (5 cake shops in a row); the pier in St. Kilda; the Great Ocean Road (Wowee!!); Queen Victoria Market & Fitzroy ... and the Green Bean Salad (including the waiter who served it) on my last night.
What I didn't like was the price I, literally, had to pay for all this. And the fact that I was in Australia, the other end of the world, down under, which should have felt like amazing but felt more like an overpriced city trip because I didn't see anything of the country itself. Only 10 days in OZ? Who came up with that stupid idea? xxx
I liked ... in Sydney: Shelly Beach, Manly, and the incredibly smooth water of the Pacific; Harbour Bridge and the view from it; Darling Harbour and its Chinese Garden; the mad bunch in my hostel; the fact that the city feels like a small version of NYC; Pie Face (yummy pies); Blue Mountains (and the tour) ... and Alister who sold me my Magic Bus ticket for NZ :o).
I liked ... in Melbourne: the tram (could have sat on it for hours); Yarra river; Acland St. = I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, cake heaven to be precise (5 cake shops in a row); the pier in St. Kilda; the Great Ocean Road (Wowee!!); Queen Victoria Market & Fitzroy ... and the Green Bean Salad (including the waiter who served it) on my last night.
What I didn't like was the price I, literally, had to pay for all this. And the fact that I was in Australia, the other end of the world, down under, which should have felt like amazing but felt more like an overpriced city trip because I didn't see anything of the country itself. Only 10 days in OZ? Who came up with that stupid idea? xxx
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