Come Fly With Me – Currently in England

Since our travels along the east coast of Australia, we seemed to be doing a very good job of following the path of one Captain James Cook. Although he was laying the paving stones of our trip back in 1768 and doing it in the opposite direction to us, we couldn’t help seeing his influence everywhere. The section I write about today picks up during our island hopping through the South Pacific Islands, and a focus on Fiji.

 When planning our flights in and out of the islands we had pretty basic expectations. We figured a week in each place should get us sun, sand, and palm trees. Little did we know how much us weary travelers needed this natural medicine! All three places delivered very different experiences and have educated us skeptics on the value of a tropical island holiday.

 When stepping off the plane in Fiji we were hit right away with a warm breeze in the face. Instantly the mob of people walking towards passport control, transformed in front of our eyes from miserable workaholics into happy relaxed islanders. It was if the corridor roof had a vacuum that sucked the stress out of you. We like to think we were just observers of this but in reflection, world travel is quite stressful and we benefited from the stress vacuum as much as anyone there.

 In what seems our last organized moment, we had booked a full week at a resort called Walu Beach in the Malolo island group. We had not organized transport to the island but we were ushered past the touters into the tourist bureau where a phone call was made and we were told our ride was on its way. In true island time the driver turned up and drove us into the main town of Nadi (Nan-Dee, rhyme it with candy). It was busy and to be fair a little dirty place filled with character. It was here we were told we were stopping for 15min to pick up supplies for the resort which suited us fine as it gave us an opportunity to have a look around. After eggs and toilet paper were placed neatly around our rucksacks we proceeded to pick up Buma, one of the behind the scenes managers who hitched a ride to the island with us. We were taken to a jetty and picked up by what I can describe as a tiny motorboat not fit to water-ski behind. The weather conditions were considerably rough and only thanks to Captain Michael and his excellent handling did we both not toss our cookies on the hour long thrill ride.

 On docking a man with his guitar singing island music greeted us and some strong lads took our bags. We were upgraded to a Bure (small hut on the beach) and golf carted to it, down the beach past beautiful people soaking in the rays. It was truly beautiful with stunning turquoise watern and hammocks draped from palm trees.

 After settling in I talked Annamarie into an exploration claiming I had seen a nice beach from the boat but is was around the corner. Little did I know it was not an easy path when in high tide and Annamarie ended up breaking her flip flops and cutting her feet on some coral. We turned around at this point and later encountered two guys attempting to do the same thing. We granted them the luxury of a warning, something we would have appreciated, and they wisely turned back too.

 For the first time in a long time we settled into a routine. We would wake up about 9am and go for breakfast (all our meals were included in the package). I would catch the morning sun by the pool while Annamarie took time out to pamper herself as girls do ( and sacrifice when on a world trip). We would meet for lunch at noon and then both catch a little afternoon sun from the beach in front of our Bure. We would swim in the warm, clear water and read a good book. Come 3 o’clock we would move into a hammock in the shade until about 4 when I would take my daily run. I would go up and down a small dirt road that led to the staff housing and when I got tired of running in the blazing afternoon sun I would do a last length along the beach and up a hill to a lookout where the sun was starting to dip. I would jog back to the Bure, take a shower and emerge just in time for an outstanding sunset (every night was different and equally brilliant). We would lather ourselves in bug spray and head to dinner. The chef was amazing and put on a culinary delight every night. Usually in a buffet style I forced myself to only take a plateful and not return for seconds. After dinner around 9pm there was always some entertainment, albiet not always entertaining such as crab racing. By about 10pm we were off to walk the moonlit beach, do a little star gazing and retire for the night. This went on for seven days with the only difference of one day taking out a sailboat for two for an hour, and another day taking out a kayak each for island exploration.

   

  It seemed many of the other travelers were in Fiji for 7 days but only included Walu beach in their travels for 2-3 days. Many said that they wish they had stayed the full 7 days as some of the other islands were not so nice. I loved it and thought it was a great introduction to the South Pacific. The people were friendly and staff knew us by our first names. We were always greeted with a happy “Bula” which I was told translates into ‘love life’ or a variation of that depending on context, and is used in place of hello.

 After departing the resort we stayed on the mainland to make our transit to the airport easier the next day. We had another look around the capital Nadi, and picked up some essentials along the main strip. Fiji was by far our favorite island as it gave us the opportunity to unpack for a week, have privacy in our own Bure, and give us a taste of routine once again which is something both Annamarie an I long for at the end of this trip. It delivered the sun, sand, palm trees, and gave us unexpected pleasures on top. I was always skeptical about these types of tropical island holidays and wondered what the attraction is. Now I know, it is a perfect way to unplug from the world and have time to be with yourself, whether you are in a high pressure job or backpacking around the world. Pack the sun screen and do it……..

 

Out of the many people in the world I would like to think I understand the plight of the New Zealanders when compared to Australia. As a Canadian I too have a Big Brother complex living under the shadow from the south and have been coined ‘Satan’s little buddy’. I wanted to like New Zealand better than Oz but am sad to say that bubble burst.

It all started with our first introduction to a Kiwi. It was at the Sydney airport and we had been instructed to go to the ticket desk to get our tickets re-printed after changing our flight over the phone. On approaching Air New Zealand the man behind the counter didn’t acknowledge us, but working so long in the service industry I know sometimes you’re in the middle of something and all you need are those last few seconds to finish or you will have to start all over again. 30 sec went by and my patience had worn out, so I smiled and started with a “pardon me…” My smile was not returned and he answered with a simple, short, “yes?” After explaining what it was we wanted to do, I turned to Annamarie to make sure she had the dates that we had set the night before, ready. As she rummaged in her bag for them he turned back and carried on with whatever he was doing before we approached. She had them out in 30 sec but we waited in silence thinking that he was preparing the system for our changes. 3 min was my limit and I prompted him again when he looked up and said “oh..are your two ready, because I have plenty to do to keep me busy”. I was shocked and thought how rude! It took two minutes to change 5 flights on the system and then he proceeded to place stickers on our tickets and write the new date in pen on them. (I must now explain that in 6 months of traveling half way across the world, we have never had to pay to change our dates or times of our flights. Such is the nature of our RTW tickets. Air New Zealand despite being part of the Star Alliance, operates a different policy and charged us $20 AUS for the effort but assured us that it was for the re-printing of our tickets.) By placing a sticker on our ticket we believed the $20 was no longer justified. For this reason and many more, we class Air New Zealand as the worst airline either of us have flown taking over from Air Canada for me and British Airways for Annamarie. To add further to the lack of friendliness, we were not even greeted by a stewardess on boarding the plane as two of them were in a deep discussion on what type of tights they should buy to match their new uniforms!

It seems to me I have ranted long enough (or shall I say for now) about Air New Zealand but I felt it important to mention as it was a poor introduction to a country famed for friendly people. What you really want to hear is how magical the country is and despite the poor first impression it is a stunning country.

We arrived in Christchurch in the south island late at night. The shuttle into town didn’t unveil much and the streets were empty and the city lights off. The YHA had left a guy on to get us settled and in true angelic fashion we tip toed into a dorm room for the night. We awoke to discover that when the guidebooks compared Christchurch to a slice of England they were on the money. There was punting on the Avon River and the stone architecture felt very familiar. The main streets were called ‘Manchester’ and ‘Gloucester’, and the city centre was full of cathedrals and church spires.

We hadn’t figured out our mode of transport yet as we had found it easier in the past to get a deal once in the city. New Zealand was an exception; there wasn’t a deal to be found. We spent many days trying to solve this problem and finally decided on relocation. This is an industry term for rental car companies who have had a car picked up from one city and dropped at another. We are the people who return it to their rightful place and all for $1 a day. We picked up a 6-berth campervan (for those of you who are campervan virgins this is a big mama!) Mercedes, with tiptronic and all the bells and whistles. We drove it down to Queenstown and had 2 days to do it and 600 km to do it in. (This seems like a great deal as the normal rental price was $175 a day and we had it for $1 but in reality it wasn’t great. It cost me $8 to get the shuttle to the airport to pick the beast up, the diesel tank was huge and drank as if I was driving through the desert. To fill the tank at the end it cost $70 and on top of that NZ has some weird system of recharging the gas tax to the renter so I had to pay $20 when I returned it. For both of us to get into Queenstown from the airport it cost a further $10 each so total for two days transport cost $120.)

The trip however was great and we saw some beautiful scenery on the way. Most remarkable was Lake Tekapo where we chose to stop in the early afternoon. The water was an unbelievable blue and I was sad to see my camera had not picked up the incredible colour. In the backdrop was the snow capped Mt Cook, the highest peak in NZ. Mt Cook is just one of the many stunning mountains in a range that travels down the middle of the island like a spine. Glaciers carved out this picturesque lake, and the finely ground powder it left behind combined with the water attributes for the unique colour. We chose a beautiful site to pull in for the night and spent the afternoon taking in the view. Every time you look away and look back 5 min later the scene had changed. The light hits the mountains from a different angle and casts rippling shadows and exposes grooves you had not seen before. Anyone who has seen our photos will no doubt see repetition but I couldn’t help it with such variety in a single frame.

We made Queenstown in the early afternoon of the second day and sadly parted with our big bertha as I called it. Queenstown is where many backpackers start and finish their trip to NZ. There is plenty of work to be had and it is the adrenaline capital of the country. The first ever commercial bungee jump was started here and there are three in total you can do. You can call me a chicken s**t if you like but I had no interest in these after my experience in South Africa at the Bloukrans Bridge. There was jet boating in their massive lake that surrounds the town but I had read in the newspaper that the company had had two major accidents in the past year and was currently under investigation so I gave it a skip. There is a beautiful cable car ride to the top of a peak looking over the staggering mountains and Queenstown nestled in between the mountains and the lake. As the cable car is expensive I managed to persuade Annamarie to climb the mountain and take the cable car back down. I think many of her emails home always include her frustration with me and cable cars but in my defense I am in my prime and in my 50’s I promise not to over exert myself.

On the whole Queenstown felt very much like a ski resort town in the off season. There were lots of camping and trekking shops that no doubt stock Skis in the winter months, boutique shops, a buzzing nightlife, and cute little restaurants with beautiful fireplaces waiting to be lit. Mountains towered above on all sides and chalet type accommodation dotted the hillsides with more under construction. As Annamarie and I are both avid skiers we felt very comfortable here despite the lack of snow. We found a bar in town that was modeled off the famous Ice Hotel. We were given protective winter coats to wear and entered into a bar where our drinks came in cups made of ice. There were fantastic ice sculptures all around and even the seats were blocks of ice. We thought it was a great idea and could have stayed all night but policy was we could only stay for 30min (probably to stop lawsuits of causing hypothermia). We stayed in Queenstown for three days but felt we must push on. We had our heart set on traveling up the west coast, which is said to be one of the prettiest drives in the world. It passes Glaciers, mountains, and gorgeous coastline. With our budget there seemed no way to do this so we opted for another relocation back to Christchurch where we could get another deal up to the north island.

We stayed the night in Christchurch, dropped the car off and picked up a 4-berth campervan to take to Auckland. With this deal again we paid $1 a day but had 7 days to do it and 1600 km to do it in. We drove up the east coast, which Annamarie tells me was breathtaking (I was knackered and slept most of the way). We arrived in Picton, the launching point of the ferry that would take us to the North Island. Picton is a small town but is in the Marlborough area, which is known for its fabulous wineries and vineyards. The coastline reminded me of BC in Canada with little green humps protruding from the water the larger of these rising as high as small mountains.

We had to pull into a proper campground that night as there was a big storm coming in and we took shelter around other campervans. The wind was fierce and the rain pelted down but when we woke it had passed and the sun was shining which made for a pleasant ferry crossing. A highlight for me was the look on people’s faces as we pulled in an hour before the voyage, with all the cars in a neat line waiting to drive onto the ferry. I switched off the engine climbed in the back, opened the fridge and cracked a diet coke while Annamarie made sandwiches for lunch. I sat down on the sofa to find everyone out of their cars baking in the heat of the sun looking enviously at us. There were advantages campervaning, no doubt!

The cruise through Charlotte Sound was very pretty albeit windy on the viewing deck. At one point I thought I might lose my camera, which would have put a stop to the pics I send home! It was a restful time to reflect on our time in the South Island. It is fair to say we didn’t see half of what we wanted and that we must save the west coast for our next visit. We landed in Wellington, the nations capital. It was late afternoon and we took a little driving tour. When I say driving tour, picture rush hour in every city and place us in the middle driving a huge campervan! It wasn’t pleasant for me the driver, or Annamarie, the navigator! The city seemed nice but had zero places to park our Goliath vehicle so were pushed out to the outskirts. I believe it was a small town called Featherington. We had a lovely view despite the teenage kids who drove up and tried to conceal their make out session in the backseat of their car. Oh to be young!

We pushed on the next day and drove through some amazing scenery. At times there were rolling hills and towering mountains in the distance, other times it was flat volcanic desert or endless fields of sheep. The view changed dramatically around every bend in the road and despite being a tired passenger I didn’t dare try to sleep in case I missed something spectacular. As we were on a schedule to get the campervan home, we pushed as far as the south tip of LakeTaupo. It was a glorious spot with the sun setting behind ancient volcanoes, fly fishermen waist deep in the dusk, and the water at our feet. We managed to contact a good friend of my mother’s who lived in Taupo and met her the next day.

 

Mary was a gracious hostess who looked after us well and put a roof over our heads, which made a change from getting out of a drivers seat and walking further than 2ft to get into bed. Her house was amazing with a wonderful view of the area. We sipped wine and she made a fabulous New Zealand feast. After a good night sleep Mary took us for a hike and then to Huka Falls, and impressive force of stunning turquoise water. We topped the day off with lunch down by the water while watching huge powerboats race in front of us. It was all very exciting! We loved Taupo as it had so many things to do to tempt us off Mary’s deck but we chose to press on to Auckland.

As we left Mary’s quite late in the day we chose Rotarua to stop for the night. They should call it ROT-arua as we knew we had arrived by the rotten egg smell of sulphur sneaking through our vents. It the cultural hub for the Maori people and they control many of the tourist sites. Many are overpriced so we chose not to see them but were told they were nice despite the putrid smell. After Taupo, Rotarua had a dingy look to it and lacked lustre. We had a little look around and then made tracks. (I must say this was the first time we emptied our campervan’s septic tank and I am glad the smell of Rotarua overpowered every other aroma. What a disgusting job and I would hate to watch Annamarie do that again!).

Leaving Rotten-rua we wanted to get as close to the Auckland airport as possible. After arriving at the airport, we spent 3hrs driving the surrounding area looking for a place to park up for the night. We were so frustrated and it was getting dark that we found a two building town that claimed it had an information office. After driving past it 5 times we finally realized it was a jewelry shop that doubled as an information place. They were just closing as we pulled up but the owner promptly announced she had a campervan space and it was only $10. She told us to follow her as she was on her way there. When we arrived we discovered it was her house we parking at. There were no other cars besides hers in the driveway, and she said to just come in if we wanted a shower or anything. It was a bit strange but after the driving we had done that day it would have to do!

We wanted to be close to the airport as that was the place we were dropping the beast off that day. We got there and took a taxi into Auckland. The first thing that struck us was how hilly it was. It was like I imagined San Francisco to be like. We checked into the YHA there and went walking to explore. We spent some good days catching up on Internet and sleep but ended up moving our flight to Fiji up a few days. We couldn’t find an affordable way to explore more of the country so we made a decision to ear mark it as a place to return when our wallets are fuller.

We loved what we saw but I must say it is the only country on this trip I feel as though we walked away without seeing half of what was there. The local people we met were rude and unwelcoming which made the decision to leave easier, but we may have just found the bad apples on our journey as so many other travelers tell of the great kiwi hospitality. I know I will return to give this country another go and I look forward to that day!

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