last few days in New Zealand

We left you when we'd failed to make it up the Milford Road due to the weather. The next day the weather was better and the road open, so we set off along one of the best drives in the world (allegedly!) The journey went well until  we got to the entrance to the Homer Tunnel, where we left the avalanche safe zone and in this area to our left the wind got up (around us and in us) and threw a load of snow all over the van and the road (I like to think of it as a tiny avalanche), whiting out the van completely and bringing us to an abrupt stop. Once our vision cleared, the road was covered in snow again, and we had to roll back out the way so that a gritter could get by and clear the road so we could move on. A small moment of excitement - it only took a few minutes to get my heart rate back under control.

 Once there however the Sound itself is a beautiful place, we took a boat trip round the Sound, and got to see some fiordland penguins (very rare and shy, apparently). We also saw a beautiful sunset whilst we were there. Luckily the return trip to Te Anau was uneventful, and from there we drove up to Queenstown. This is the adventure capital of New Zealand, and they had taken the brunt of the storms of the previous week. So the temperature was -5 degrees at night and hovering around 0 degrees during the day. Still the electric heater did a very good job of keeping us warm inside Eddy the van.

 So being in the adventure capital we decided to do something adventurous - so we set off up to Bob's Peak, the nearest mountain, using the local gondola lift. Once up there, we then  had a  go on the luge and started off on the beginners track before moving onto the advanced track which was a little steeper and a lot faster - although Jane did have a little go at holding one or two others up as you can see from the picture opposite.

 From Queenstown we made our way across to Mt Cook and spent some time walking through the snow to view the glaciers, including the Hooker and Tasman glaciers. From there we travelled onto Fairlie, the highlight of which was it was the only campsite which had free wi-fi, so we made use of that to check emails and Fulham scores (not good, sadly). From there we made our way to Christchurch, where the local populace are still very much recovering from the effects of the earthquake, and thus there is very little open and to see. Quite a sobering visit really, and makes you realise that whilst the scenery isnt so dramatic, England does have other advantages.

 Leaving Christchurch we made our way to up to Hanmer Springs, where we cheered ourselves up by having a dip in the wonderful thermal springs there, together with some aqua therapy - all in pools ranging in temperature from 30 to 40 degrees centrigrade, sat in the warm bubbles with the snow-capped mountains in the background.

Then it was on to Kaikoura, where we braved the windy weather and choppy seas to go and see some whales - however the deep channel just off the coast where sperm whales feed was obviously low on squid to eat as there weren't many about - and those that were,  spent their time on the bottom eating as opposed to popping up for air. When they did, the boat would chase over to see them, by which time they would disappear back down below. We did eventually get to see one close up, by which time we were quite a long way out and the sea was very lumpy -evidenced by the number of people looking into one of those funny white paper bags, as opposed to at the sperm whale! Anyway apologies for the blurred pic, but the boat was wobbling about a bit when I took it. Still, we returned to shore relieved to have held onto the contents of our stomachs.

 That same day we made our way our back to North Island via the ferry, which was delayed for an hour as a train was derailed in the harbour - not my excuse, and certainly the strangest I've heard for a boat delay! Once back into Wellington we camped on the harbour front motorhome park once again, and were somewhat surprised when someone decided to call into the van at 3.15am in the morning! whether he was lost, a burglar, or just a muppet. From there we made our way up the coast to Whanganui, then onto Ohakune where we met up with some wet weather for the first time really. It was so cloudy we couldn't see the mountains we had come to see.

 As a result we travelled along the Forgotten World Highway out to the west of the North Island to New Plymouth, where we had a wonderful walk along their coastal footpath. The Forgotten World Highway passed through the so-called independent state of Whangamomona - population 25 - they have a biennial festival where they elect a new president (usually an animal) attended by 6000. They will also stamp your passport if you wish.

 On leaving New Plymouh, however it was on to Waitomo, where there are huge quantity of caves in the area and here is a pic of Jane in one of them. The stalagmites (ground) and stalactites (ceiling) were amazing and in one cave you float out of the cave in a little boat in complete darkness, the only light being provided by 50000 glowworms, each emitting 470nanowatts of light (just for the technically minded)

From there it was onto Auckland to meet up with Steve and Julie who had very kindly agreed to put up with us (or put us up I should say). Went out for dinner with them and Olivia and had a lovely meal out. Next day it was out to visit Auckland, parking Steve's car on the 13th floor of the narrowest car park in the city centre! Then, it was a bus tour of the City, and lunch on the waterfront, where we caught a glimpse of the England Rugby Squad, about to go out for a sail on the Americas Cup Yachts - lets hope they are not all at sea in the next few weeks! Meanwhile take a look closely and you will see that someone has very kindly inflated Lewis Moodys life jacket for him! Anyway tomorrow it is off to South Africa where the work starts - so we will update you from there once we've settled in!

New Zealand Update

 Well, we left Richmond having had a look around Nelson, including a look around the ultra modern Catherdral. From there we set off around the Tasman Bay to the Abel Tasman National Park, eventually arriving at Marahau (see picture opposite) We spent a couple of days here, enjoying the sunshine and taking a walk up the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, finishing up at Tinline Bay.

The next day we set off the Nelson Lakes where we were due to spend the night at one of the Department of Conservation campsites - however by the time we had got to the lake it was raining very hard, and this then turned to snow - at which point we changed our plans and moved on - just as fast as our wheels would carry us.

 We drove West to a place called Murchinson and spent the night there - on the campsite was a small petting zoo with some very tame animals - there was an emu, deer, geese and sheep sharing the same enclosure. There was also an extremely hairy pig dressed in black and white colours - so we christened him Fulham. From Murchinson we drove up the Buller Gorge towards Westport. On the way we stopped off to cross  yet another suspension swing bridge - these are becoming a feature of the trip and are very popular in New Zealand. This one crossed the Buller River and allowed us to try our hand at .....

 ...Gold Panning. We were given a demonstration by someone who had clearly done it before, then we were let loose on the river so that we could have a go. Here is Jane wondering if her fortune is about to be made - sadly it wasnt!. However what we did find were a huge amount of sandflies - which produce some very itchy bites. We had already picked up quite a few of these in the Abel Tasman NP so this time we went prepared, but even smothered in repellent they nearly drove us crazy. Anyway after one unsuccessful panning attempt we gave up and continued on our drive to Westport.
  Westport was a quiet place on the West Coast and thus on the Pacific Ocean - a useful overnight stop and a lovely seal colony to visit.

From there we went via Pancake Rocks to the town of Greymouth. Just outside Greymouth we took a walk along a renowned gemstone beach and found .... none!  From Greymouth we went south down the coast to Franz Josef, where we visited the glaciers at FJ and then Foxes Glacier (where supposedly they make the mints)  Heres a pic of Jane stood in front of the FJ Glacier with the piles of moraine on either side of it.  We also popped to Lake Matheson to take some picture postcard type shots of Mts Cook and Tasman reflected in the waters of the lake. Then from there onto Haast - all the time the weather was lovely and sunny if a little cool. On the way we popped onto the Monro Beach Walk to see some rare and very shy Fiordland Penguins - It was a 45 minutes walk to the beach from the van - number of very shy penguins seen on beach - quantity 0! We then turned inland and drove down over the Haast Pass to Wanaka, stopping off to view some wonderful waterfalls on the way, thunder falls and fantail falls.

Once in Wanaka we took a stroll out to Eely point and had lunch on the lakeside there. The next day we went up Mt irons, quite a steep climb and an even steeper descent. Thereafter we went to Puzzling World, spending an hour in the maze 30 mins to get to all four corners as required by the task, then 30 mins to get back out again - heres a pic of the maze showing the two different levels - we went across the bridge 543 times at least.
Next day it was a long drive South and west to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland in the South West corner of NZ. The trip took about 3and a half hours.

we spent a day in Te Anau, walking round the lakeside (just a tiny bit of it!) then visiting the wildlife centre where some very cold birds such as a kaka, kea and takahe were on show - all very rare! By this time the weather had set in and there was a 4 inch snowfall that night. The department of conservation were still declaring the round to Milford Sound open however so we set off, along the snow covered road. About a quarter of the way we stopped to put the snow chains on, (only put on the van as an afterthought!)  and then shortly after that drove off the road onto the verge and spent 10 mins reversing back and forth getting back on the road again! (Jane had her head in her hands at this point and was doing her Private Fraser impression) Still we continued to Knobs Flat, where they announced the road was closed so we came all the way back again. Which is where we are now, waiting to see if the road to anywhere is open, as the road back to Queenstown and Wanaka is also closed due to the heaviest snowfalls in 70-odd years. Where will we go next? - more in our next exciting installment.......

Finally in New Zealand

Well, after a months delay and a long trip via Lisbon, New York and then Los Angeles, we finally made it to Auckland on the 25th of January! One of the days the clock kept going back so much that we were on our feet for 27 hours! Still it did mean i was able to get in two breakfasts and a couple of lunches!
Once we had recovered by staying the night in the Auckland Novotel (50 yards from the front entrance of the airport!) we caught up with our friend Steve who popped over to visit us from his home in Manukau just down the road. The next morning our camper van arrived a following an extremely thorough briefing from the Van owner  - you could tell he had a vested personal interest in the thing - we set off with a bag of oranges from his garden, to the Coromandel peninsula. That first evening we spent in Thames, before continuing to drive around the peninsula via Coromandel itself - lovely quaint town!

 Here is Jane with the van - considerably smaller than the american lumber tub! Instead we have a fuel economy about 4 times better and it actually goes where you point it!.

 Our first stop near Coromandel was the driving creek railway - originally designed to transport clay to the owners pottery; he handbuilt the railway up the hill by himself, evenaually extending it to 3 km in length - absolutely bonkers! Look him up on the internet.

 Then it was onto hot water beach where a hot spring rises on the beach, so you can build your own hot spa - you can see people sat in theirs behind me as i pensively study the surrounding area to avoid having to do too much digging!

 After leaving hot water beach our next night was spent in Rotorua, the central area of hot thermal activity in North Island. As you can see there are plenty of geysers, hot springs and hot mud pools in the area, including the local parks, such as this one!
We then moved onto Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in NZ, actually an old volcano which has filled up with water - rather a lot of it as its about 2400 sq miles in size. Whilst there we took some to time to relax in the hot pool at the campsite and also did some lovely walks along the river to Huka falls and watched the jet boats zoom up and down to the falls.









 Jane also took the opportunity to demonstrate her trampolining skills - see picture opposite! I attempted something similar and nearly broke my neck as having landed the first time the second landing was somewhat uncontrolled! The next day we went onto Napier, and took in a wine tour and tasting - the lady kept expecting me to spit it out, but once again I couldnt bring myself to do it. Luckily Jane had opted to drive that day!

Then it was onto Wellington and a look round the Fabulous Te Pape national museum - you could actually spend a week in there on the interactive displays alone!. Then it was up on the cable car to the top of the hill; Kelburn, with fantastic views all the way to the South Island. That night we spent in the Wellington City Camper van park - ie a harbourside carpark with showers! - Still did the job as we were up early the next day to catch the ferry to Picton on the South Island. the journey through the straits down to the port of Picton was truly beautiful.

Once we arrived in Picton we stopped off along the scenic Queen Charlottes Drive on the way to Nelson where I am writing this. (The library has one hour free internet access - yippee!) anyway that is rapidly coming to an end and so therefore is this  blog, which I will try to keep more up  to date than in Peru. All for now then, back in a week or two.

Las Vegas to Los Angeles

 We are currently stuck in Santiago, Chile (because our flight to New Zealand last night was cancelled, thanks Qantas!) We hope to be able to fly out on Saturday night; in the meantime we are usimg the opportunity to catch up on the blog. The pic on the left shows the inflatable globe at Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level.

The temp. was 37 degrees at Death Valley, rather a change from Yellowstone! We scuttled out of the van to look at the "must see" sites, then back to the airconditioned cab.

At the lowest point is a dried up salt lake, the light reflecting off it is dazzling. Signs tell you not to walk past the end of the boardwalk, but of course everyone does. There were a surprising number of tourists there, in the back of beyond.

I (Jane) was quite glad to get out of there really, it was SO hot! The next stop was Lake Isabella. I drove from -282 feet to nearly 5,000 feet then down to nearly 2,000 feet on winding roads which were quite scary. Robin amused himself by watching the inflatable globe inflate and deflate again.

Our next overnight stop was Lake Isabella, a pretty location, however I got thoroughly bitten by mosquitos (why do they always go for me?) and did not sleep well. Next day a long drive to Yosemite. I had always wanted to see the giant sequoia trees there, after seeing a photo of a car driving through a tunnel in the base of one in National Geographic magazine when I was a child. That actual tree is no longer standing but there is one you can walk through, so I was not disappointed.

We camped at Wawona campground next to the river, and had a camp fire which Robin was very proud of! Next morning I insisted in a paddle in the river before we set off for the Valley. The view as you come out of the tunnel into the valley is stunning, and we had plenty of time to admire it as we were held up by roadworks!

Bridal Veil falls was great, it should have one of those signs up like at Thorpe Park, "You WILL get wet!", we did. Refreshing as it was a very hot day. 

The pic on the right is the view as you enter the valley.

Yosemite was beautiful, probably the prettiest of the National Parks we visited. Then we had another long drive to San Francisco. The road into the city itself was atrocious, so many potholes we were afraid the rattly old RV would finally fall apart. Coming into the city over the bay bridge there were 6 lanes either side and we were not entirely sure of our directions so it was a bit hairy to say the least. However we found the Candlestick Park RV park without too much difficulty in the end, it is right next to San Francisco's 49'ers stadium. It was expensive but the good point was a shuttle minibus into the city. We enjoyed our two days in SF,

one day we hired bikes and cycled along the seafront and over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito, then got the ferry back via Tiberon past Alcatraz and Angel Island. Once we handed the bikes in we had a Ghiradelli special, a chocolate-covered wafer bowl witha hot fudge sundae. We also got a free cable car ride up the hill (as the car was going to the garage) that made Robin's day as you can imagine!

The cable cars were fun, we had seats on the outside while some passengers hung on standing up. Our driver was doing a rap with the bell, something about "hold on tight, you have a bad driver and worse brakes!"

From San Francisco we set off to take Route 1 to Los Angeles. We drove through the 17-mile drive and saw Pebble Beach, near Monterey (very exclusive). Unfortunately at Carmel we discovered that the road had fallen into the sea at Big Sur, so we had to take a long detour, and made an unplanned stop at Avila Beach instead of Los Osos which had been recommended to us. We rejoined the coast road and stopped at Point Dume where we saw a pair of dolphins.

Then on to the Dockweiler RV park, our last night's stop in the RV. A soulless place right next to the airport, not quite what we'd expected, but it was convenient for finding the cruise America office the next morning where we handed back the van.

In LA we stayed one night at the Days' Inn on sunset strip. We weren't impressed by Hollywood, but we did find a very jolly Laundromat with an internet PC, and some chatty local residents. The next day we walked to the Farmers market, an ambitious undertaking when we realised the tourist map we had did not do justice to the distances involved, luckily we got a bus back. We also sampled a world famous Pinks hot dog (all hotdogs seem to be world famous!) That evening we successfully negotiated public transport (and saved a fortune) to the airport for our flight to Lima via San Salvador.

The next blog entry will, we hope, catch up with our travels in Peru.

A series of national parks

 Well next day and onto Bryce Canyon, which was at a much higher altitude and out of the semi-desert of Moab and Canyonlands. Bryce had some wonderful fins and hoodoos on the walls and base of the canyon. Jane drove us up a very curvy shoulder to Rainbow Point at 9115ft, terrifying both of us! We then drove down again stopping at each of the viewpoints all of which had something to offer. The next morning we decided to get up and watch the sunrise from Bryce point at 6.30am - however even though we made it the sun really struggled to join in, hidden behind clouds. The peaceful atmosphere was spoiled by a very loud american woman telling her friends very loudly everywhere she had been. Later that day we took a walk down into the canyon, through the Queens Garden and back up the Navajo trail via Wall Street - a really narrow canyon with really steep walls and a zigzag path back to the top. On leaving Bryce we drove onto Zion NP - coming from Bryce required us to drive through a very narrow tunnel where the roof was only high enough to drive the RV down the centre of the road for the whole 1.1miles - luckily they stop the traffic from the other direction as you do it.

 The next day we had a rest from driving whilst in the park as they have a wonderful shuttle bus system you can hop on and off as necessary. We took in a lovely walk past the emerald pools, spotting deer walking along the path as we did so, and walking under the waterfall shown opposite - from there it was down another mountainside path (the Yakenta trail) back to the grotto to pick up the bus again and take us up to the Riverside path, but this proved to be a  little disappointing as the Narrows at the far end were too full of water to allow us to wade up them. So it was back to pick up the RV and set off for our next destination which was Lake Powell.

Lake Powell was again surrounded by semi-desert and proved to be very disappointing - it was very hot and the Lake was a long way down. There was also absolutely nothing there! Our plan to take a boat up to the Rainbow Arch - one of the biggest in North America was thwarted by the fact that the boat couldnt get to the Arch as the water level was so low and it would need a hefty walk at each end, so as it was so hot and time was short we decided not to bother. We did have a walk along the beach though.

 Next day saw us on our drive to the Grand Canyon - the pure scale of which was difficult to comprehend - we entered from the east side and drove along the viewpoints on the desert view drive on the southern rim - the northern rim still being shut due to the weather. We parked up at the Mather campground for a couple of nights and walked a fair chunk of the perimeter trail (which does not go the full length of the canyon before you ask!) Theres a pic of the canyon on the right. We took in the sunset from Mather point (much easier to get up for than sunrise!), We went out to Hermits Rest and on the way back we actually had to put our rainjackets on due to a bit of hail, snow and rain .

 From there it was onto Las Vegas, but not without stopping at the Hoover  dam which has an equally spectacular bridge which you have to drive over to get to - the view from the bridge down to the dam was pretty amazing. We had a very tasty ice cream there, and spotted a iguana sat on the cliff face - about two foot long. (the iguana, not the cliff face!). From there it was on to Las Vegas, where we had a merry time trying to find the RV park, which due to roadworks appeared to have moved location - anyway once we had driven past it once or twice we eventually turned into it.

That evening we decided to visit the strip with all the casinos and entertainment. There is, however only a very limited public transport system in Las Vegas (thats the biggest understatement I have made in these blogs!) and it is a very long walk! We eventually made it, and managed to reach Caesars Palace. Whilst there I borrowed a dollar off Jane and managed to win 25 with my first go on a slot machine (Someone couldnt believe it, so here is the photographic evidence). Always quit when you are ahead so that was that on the gambling front! Las Vegas is like a giant adults playground, but the musical fountain was fantastic. Sadly the bus back went the wrong way and left us with another long walk but we did eventually make it back to bed! More in the next blog of what happened next.

from Seattle to Moab

On arrival at Cruise America we had to sit and watch a 20 minute video on how to operate the bus. Then we were given a plastic washing basket full of saucepans, crockery, bedding etc, and that was it. We set off for a supermarket first then got on the road. We were making for Yellowstone National Park but our first night´s stop was Ellensburg, Washington, then Missoula, Montana (where it rained a lot). The third night we entered Yellowstone and camped at Mammoth. Yellowstone was still covered in snow, and we saw elk and bison wandering through the camp. The next night it snowed, we felt sorry for the campers in tents. We saw Old Faithful, which erupted almost on schedule (apprx every 1 1/2 hours), and many other geysers and hot springs. All surrounded by snow, up to 10ft deep in places. Walking across one bridge on top of the snow we were  above the level of the handrails (see pic below).

The road through the Tetons was still closed by snow, so we had to take a long detour. We found our way to the campsite at Snake River by 8:30pm, very tired. When we woke up next morning it was so cold that the water pipe had frozen and we couldn´t get clean water in or dirty waterout. The next campsite was at Provo, south of Salt Lake City. We really, really wanted a beer but although the local garage had some we couldn´t buy it because it was Sunday.

The pics are a little ouf sequence, this is the snow-covered bridge at Yellowstone.

The next day we arrived at Moab where we stayed three nights and visted the Arches National Park, and Canyonlands. We got up early and got into the Archges by 8:30 am to miss the crowds. The pics below are of the Arches. There are several walking trails, we walked about 10 miles altogether that day and it was worth it. 

We saw some crazy antics by some visitors after dramatic photos, including a German  girsl doing ballet poses on top of Mesa Arch, 8ft wide with a sheet 1500 ft drop on the other side. (This theme was repeated later at the Grand Canyon...)

This is us with the Delicate Arch in the background.

The next day we visited Canyonlands; the highlight was Upheaval Dome which was either caused by a meteorite or salt pushing up from the rocks below, scientists are not sure, a very big hole in the ground anyway. The short hike over the rocks to see it was well worth it.

Campared to Snake River, the climate was much warmer at Moab, we even lay on the campsite´s picnic table that night to look up at the stars, which, so far away from big towns, so liuttle light pòllution, were clearly visible, including the Milky Way.

 

Cusco, Peru

Jane is writing this blog as Robin is currently on the Inca trail. I, being lazy and unfit have opted to spend three extra days in Cusco, a beautiful city with lots to do (and this internet cafe!)

We´ve been here in Peru since 20th May, we arrived in Lima then travelled by bus, stopping en route to visit Inca sites, to Arequipa, then flew from there to Cusco last Sunday 29th. Many of the group, including Robin, suffered 'Inca belly' en route, but all OK now. The flight from Arequipa was uneventful (and amazing views of the Andes) but just after we landed flames shot out of the right engine. The fire engine, which looked like Thunderbird 2, turned up and we had to sit on the tarmac for several minutes while lots of men in orange vests looked worried. Eventually we were towed to the gate and allowed to get off. The funny thing was that there was then an announcement 'all those who are going on to Juliaca please stay in your seats'!

The more northern part of Peru is desert, but this southern part is very beautiful, full of green valleys and small villages and towns surrounded by the snow-capped Andes. We have already visted lots of Inca sites, I will meet up with the trekkers at Macchu Picchu on Sunday afternoon. I will get there by train (with our tour guide) which I am looking forward to very much. The trekkers have gone with 2 local guides/porters per trekker, plus cook/assistant cooks etc! They will be camping so have all taken their thermal undies to sleep in! I am sure the photos will be amazing.

Sorry for the absence of photos in this post, I´ve not been able to connect my camera to this PC. And for the big gap - our RV trip through the USA. I hope we will be able to catch up with that at some time. We have hundreds of photos. My favourite of the National Parks I think was Bryce Canyon (google it for amazing photos of the 'hoodoos' if you have time), but Yellowstone, Yosemite, Arches National Park, etc were all very enjoyable, as was, in particular San Francisco - we cycled over the Golden Gate bridge. What wasn´t was the amount of distance we had to travel, we seriously underestimated it and did more than 4,000 miles in the end! The RV we had did only about 10 miles to the gallon too, and rattled and bumped the whole way! The wildlife was a highlight of the trip, we say buffalo, elk and deer in Yellowstone (easy to spot in the snow and when they are standing in the middle of the road!), but sadly (or maybe not) no bears. In San Francisco and then all down the pacific coast we saw pelicans, and near Malibu we saw sealions. Also lots of other birds, but I can´t remember their names - Robin has some good pics. My favourite so far is a tiny hummingbird - and the pelicans because they look so elegant and graceful when they fly. Oh and we saw condors here in Peru, in the Colca Canyon. Condors are very important to the Peruvians because they represent the realm of the sky. Time up here, so I'll sign off.