The Adventures of Jim & Rhonda

I realize that I haven’t done a good blog in some time so now prepare…. time to catch you up on the last week on the road with Jim & Rhonda!

Kaikoura was wonderful and gorgeous and we had such a fantastic walk..and good thing because we woke up the next day to rain and total overcast. If we hadn’t been there the day before we would have had no idea that there were even mountains on one side of town!
It was about a 3hr drive to Hanmer Springs along some very winding roads, as usual. Hanmer is another very scenic resort town. It’s set in a large valley but surrounded by mountains, some snowcapped. For everyone in the states it reminded me of the scenery around yellowstone. Our camp park was right next to mini-golf and a maze so we had a fun few hours playing around that area and after some housekeeping chores walked over to our reason for coming to Hanmer… the thermal springs. This is the only area of the south island with thermal springs and they have made a large complex with 9 pools of varying heat as well as 3 sulphur hot tubs, a restaurant, waterslide, etc. We spend 2 hours lounging in the different pools and it was fantastic, exactly what we needed!

Next morning we headed west across the alps to the town of Greymouth and then down the coast to a little town called Hokitika for the night. Along the way we stopped at Shantytown since Jim had never been to one of those restored gold mining towns before and bummed around a bit. It was ok. If nothing else a nice break from driving after a couple of hours. Hokitika was great. Right on the beach with lots of gallerys’, restaurants, etc. The camp park was right on the beach and it was a beautiful sunny day so we spent the afternoon playing on the beach, watching fur seals, and just enjoying the weather.

The next day yet another travel day…this time only 2 hrs down to Franz Josef to do one of the things we had really wanted to do in New Zealand – Heli-hiking on a glacier. Jim had never been in a helicopter and I’d never spent any time on a glacier so fun to be had for all! It’s outrageously expensive but absolutely fantastic…everyone should try to do it if they can. First they got the group outfitted in boots and then we headed out. After about a 10minute helicopter ride up to the glacier we were dropped off and given our talenz…what they call crampons, but more suited to just walking about. We spent 2 hours hiking with our guide, Cliff, around the ice formations, taking photos, etc. and then Cliff and a couple of crazy members of the group stripped off some of the layers of clothes , keeping their boots and talenz on, and jumped into a glacier lake! We would have done it except for the thought of wearing soaking clothes for the rest of the hike so we passed it up. Maybe next time? We spent 2 nights in Franz Josef, a cute, very small mountain town and then headed further south again.

We chose a longer driving day next to get all the way to Wanaka from Franz Josef. Again, crossing over the alps but this time heading east. More beautiful scenery as we passed waterfalls, deep gorges, and roaring rivers. Wanaka looks like a beautiful town, set right on the lake and surrounded by snow capped mountains (are you sensing a constant here on the south island ????) but we couldn’t see too much of it due to the rainy conditions. We decided to spend just 1 night since we didn’t feel like doing any of the day hikes in the rain. The park was walking distance to the little town, once again, so we bummed about town, got some dinner and went to the Cinema Paradiso – a renovated town hall made into movie theater where all the seating is old sofas, recliners, even an old bug convertible. They serve beer and pizza with homemade ice cream and cookies at intermission. We saw Blades of Glory, a very funny, super-silly movie and had a great time.

The next day, Sunday, first headed off to Puzzle World right outside of Wanaka… it was great, illusionist rooms, a huge maze, etc. Lots of fun. Next stop was the NZ military air museum with some interesting restored WWII planes, etc. Then a short 2 hr drive to Queenstown. Right outside of town we stopped for a great cheese platter and some wine for lunch at Giddston winery and then into camp.The Top 10 Creeksyde (yes, that is how they spell it) is a great location, walking distance to town and the gondola, nice facilites, etc. But, it was packed!!! We were quite lucky to get a spot and I can see why reservations are required for high season!
We spent yesterday afternoon wandering around town and checking everything out and then just ate dinner in the camper and had an evening in.

Today, Monday the 24th, we went out for breakfast and then headed up the gondola. We were hoping the weather would clear…it’s overcast and around 58degrees, but no luck. We had a pretty great view from the top, however, and then did a couple of luge rides…Great fun!!! Now we’re back down in town doing this computer catch up and tonight we’re out for dinner and a movie here in town. There is a very cool looking restaurant called The Cow that is a renovated 140yr old milking parlor we’re having dinner at. I think we’ll do one more night here in Queenstown and then we’ll continue our on-going discussion about whether we really want to spend 2 days and a bunch of money to go to Milford Sound for all of about 2 hrs or if we just bag it and head up into the lake district working our way towards Christchurch…we’ll let ya know what we decide!

Some of you have been a little curious about how we’re doing in such close quarters in the campervan for 26 days. And, the answer is, we’re having a fantastic time. In fact, we were originally scheduled to drop the camper here in Queenstown on 29Sep and we’ve extended to have it until 3 Oct for dropoff in Christchurch. In our time her in New Zealand we’ve developed quite a daily routine. We normally are up between 7-8am everyday and most of the time have breakfast in the camper. Then, on travel days we’re on the road and on days we’re sticking around the same town, we head out for downtown or sightseeing or whatever is on the agenda that day.

Lunches (and actually dinner tool) are mostly in the camper as well and even though we have really limited space we certainly have still been eating pretty well! We have mostly been staying at the Top 10 Holiday Parks because they’re consistantly the nicest and have the best restrooms, etc. All the parks also have kitchens, some have swimming pools or spas and many have playgrounds for kids since it’s such a popular family type holiday here. Usually a couple of times a week we’ll have dinner out for a change and it is nice to have someone else waiting on you!

The amenities at the different parks (even in the Top 10 system) do tend to vary quite a lot. The showers are normally how we rank how much we like a park. Sounds silly but really, one of them had a SIX (6) minute timer on the shower AND the button to push for another 6 minutes was not just outside the shower stall but outside the door of the bathroom! Now, I am not a shower hog but 6minutes is pretty darn short. The best showers are certainly the ones without meters and some are 10minute meters but at least the button to push for more time is right inside the shower stall with you.

The kitchen is also important in a park because even though we have a propane stove in the camper we don’t want to have to keep refilling it and so we generally always cook dinner and do up dishes in the kitchens of the park. Some have had just 2 cooktops and a couple of sinks and then a few days in Franz Josef it had 8 cooktops, 2 ovens and a dormitory size dining room!

Most parks also have 1 or 2 computers for internet use and a game and/or tv room with truly uncomfortable couches, etc. Not at all a bad way to travel!

One disadvantage of the campervan is, of course, that we must take down the table and put in boards to make up the bed every night and do the reverse in the morning. We have our routine down pretty well and it only takes a couple of minutes but hey, not quite as convenient as just flopping into bed at night.

Most evenings find us reading by headlamp and relatively early to bed….too many exciting things to be up and doing the next day to stay out partying too much!

It may not be fore everyone but many of our dear friends, and you know who you are, would absolutely LOVE this type of freedom in traveling as much as we are. With it’s beautiful scenery, loads of activities and short distances New Zealand is definitely a great place to try out life in a campervan.

Ok, what you’ve been waiting for. We finally are getting Flickr somewhat organized so here is the link to the photos of Fiji.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimandrhondartw/sets/

Enjoy, All the great New Zealand pics will be in after we get to Sydney.

Cheers – Jim & Rhonda

Well, we’ve made it down to the South Island of New Zealand and if possible it’s even more beautiful than up north!

The last week has been very busy as usual. We reluctantly left Taupo and headed south with the plan to head to Wanganui for 1 night and then onto Wellington for 1 night before taking the Interislander ferry to the south island. But, plans changed once again as they’ve been having a tendancy to do!
The beginning of the drive was gorgeous, passing Tongeriro National Park with it’s snowcapped peaks and then going through the Rangriro desert…a bit of an oddity to have no trees except scrub brush for about 40miles and then back to trees and rolling farmland. From there to Waganui was a beautiful but harrowing drive..there is not a single straight road in this country and this was the worst of the bunch! Very narrow, very twisty, quite a few trucks and the occasional sheep or cow in the road. We did reach town safely after about 3hrs but upon seeing it decided we didn’t really want to stay there..it’s was ok but just a working class town with nothing much to see or do. After lunch we decided to push on to Wellington and I took over driving for the first time. We had both been nervous about shifting with our left hand , driving on the left, etc. but it really isn’t too big of a deal once you’re doing it.

At Wellington we stayed at a completely non-atmospheric campground which was basically some electrical hookups outside a hotel but it was only 10minutes to downtown so a great locale.
We took the bus downtown the next day and took the cable car to the top of the hill and then walked down through their botanical gardens. It was really very pretty but we were having rain and occasional gale force winds so our day in Wellington wasn’t fantastic. Lunch at an Irish pub and about 4hrs of walking around and we headed back to do some laundry, have dinner and get ourselves ready to head south. Even the residents of the north island all told us how much prettier it was in the south so we were primed!

Sat. we took the ferry crossing which took about 3hrs and was absolutely gorgeous, especially coming into the Marlborough straits before we disembarked in Picton. We only had about a 25minute drive to Blenheim where we wanted to stay for 2 nights and get in some wine tasting which the area is known for. The campground was, luckily, walking distance to everything in town and to 3 really great restaurants all of which we tried. The first night dinner at Rocco’s italian restaurant for some really great pasta and wine. Lunch before wine tasting was at Whitehaven restaurant around the corner and was a hearty pumpkin soup and garlic bread with yes, more wine! We took our wine tour with a lovely 70-something year old man named Ray. He and his wife Tonia run Highlight Tours and he was a great host…all the winery people were familiar with him! He not only shared the history of the area and how the wines were made but dished out marital advise too!
About 5 hrs of wine tasting passed quickly and loaded down with bottles we headed back to camp to take a nap before heading out to the Black Creek pizza restaurant which is attached to Whitehaven restaurant. The brewery end of things is run by 2 guys from San Diego and we had some fantastic beer (their label is Renaissance) and pizza to end another great day.

Today, Monday here, we headed down the coast to the little town of Kaikoura. It’s about 68 and sunny and we stopped a few times along the way for pictures and once to pick up some crayfish, one of the local specialties…..a very good lunch! One again the top 10 camp park is walking distance to town which makes it awfully nice.
This town is just fantastic in that it’s on the Pacific Ocean but is backed by the beginning of the southern alps…about as scenic as you can imagine. We took a 2 1/2 hr hike around the bluff to see some fur seal colony’s and get in some fresh air. Tomorrow we’re heading inland to Hanmer Springs and hopefully for Jim to do some snowboarding. Cheers and more later!

We have been having the most fantastic time here in New Zealand! This may be the most beautiful country ever and the scenery just improves around every corner. Distances are quite short so driving is a breeze and there is almost no traffic.

The last few days have been adventure filled. After leaving Rotorua we headed West to Waitomo planning on spending 1 night to see the Glowworm caves. All throughout New Zealand there is one group of campgrounds called Top 10 Holiday Parks that offer a 10% discount if you guy one of their cards. Since this was our only choice in the tiny hamlet of Waitomo we stayed there and glad we did as it was a very nice park. Great laundry, kitchen, and bathroom faciities, right next to the store, tavern and 1 nice restaurant in town and with very friendly owners (as is the norm everywhere here). We had originally planned to just do the glowworm cave and head on to Lake Taupo, however, after checking our options we did the 2-cave option of glowworms and Ruakuri cave. The NZ glowworm is an oddity. They have 4 stages of their life cycle (the adult form looking like a mosquito but with no mouth) and when they are in larvae stage they glow. After climbing down into the caves we boarded a boat where we were asked to be silent , all the lights were shut down and we drifted along looking up at what appeared to be the brightest starry sky you’ve ever seen but was, in fact, thousands of glowworm larvae. For food the worms hang down spittle threads about 4-6 inches long to catch bugs…truly bizarre creatures that seem to have no point in life, except making money for the locals in this area!

Next we headed to  Ruakuri cave for a 2hr walk through the cave. This entire part of the country is covered with hidden caverns and caves and in this cave they recently built a circular walkway 200ft down into the cave with pressurized doors on each end to keep the environment within the cave as natural as possible. Our guide was 5th generation in the area and had been playing and working in the cave his whole life and was part of the staff that added all of the recent improvements, at one point being part of the crew that had to swim with their gear to work everyday within the cave because that was the only point of entry at that time.

The interior was just gorgeous (don’t worry, we’re having some issues getting our photos onto flikr but we’ll add the link as soon as we can!) and included some glowworms of it’s own as wel as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, fossils, etc. The Waitomo river runs through the cave so the sound of rushing water added to overall ambience. It was nice to see that they were taking such care to preserve the caves rather than letting them be overrun by destructive tourists. That tour was well worth the price.

We decided we needed some fresh air so headed out on a short walk along the Waitomo river through forestland very similiar to Oregon except for a fewer different types of plants, most specifically the tree fern. The trees range from 5-8ft tall and have fern type tops. In many areas we’ve seen the bases used all in a row a fencing & bought a candle holder in Rotorua made of the wood of one and they have an amazing natural pattern in the wood. With all that we decided to spend another night in Waitomo rather than leaving late to Lake Taupo.

The drive to Taupo was as gorgeous as the rest of the journey so far, lots of livestock, very few other cars, and great scenery around every corner. I have decided that baby lambs are the absolutely cutest thing on earth (and I”ve seen a lot of them lately!)

Lake Taupo is a huge lake set in the center of the North Island. Taupo itself is a very nice little town with a very outdoorsy feel to it similier to Hood River for everyone back home. Lots of fishing and hunting stores, loads of pubs and cafes, etc. Today we spent all day fly fishing on a river with the clearest water I’ve ever seen. Lake Taupo is extremely clear a well and even driving along the roadside you can see the bottom up to about 15ft off shore. Tonight we’re just going to BBQ and hang out at camp. Life in the campervan is so great that we’ve actually extended it for a few more days so will be living out of it until 3 Oct.

We’ll try to get those pictures on line soon and tomorrow heading south to Waganui.

Cheers, Jim & Rhonda

Well, we’re here in New Zealand and let me tell ya, the weather is NOT the same as Fiji!! We arrived in Auckland on 6 Sep. and headed downtown to our hostel, the Fat Camel. Even though we had reserved a double we got a twin with no windows which was similiar to a jail cell. We quickly dumped our bags and headed out for a late lunch. We went to Occidental Belgian Cafe, which I’d read about in Lonely Planet and was only 3 blocks from the hostel where we had our first really good beer in almost two weeks. One downfall of lovely Fiji, the total crap beer they have there!

After a good lunch we headed down to the waterfront to a bar called Minus 5 our friends Krista & Guy had told us about. It’s a 1 room bar located in a freezer so everything is ice, the furniture, the sculptures, and even the glasses. It was a total tourist trap costing way more than we should have spent to put on hats & gloves and freeze for 30min while having a vodka cocktail but hey, ya only live once right?? We weren’t allowed to bring in our camera but for another hefty charge they took photos and we’ll email them next time we’re online.

By this time we had walked all around the main of downtown which is quite similiar to Seattle waterfront but somewhat shabbier, and had both decided we were not thrilled with Auckland (nice but just another big city) and were certainly not hostel fans. With that idea we decided to see if our Maui campervan was ready 1 day early so we could blow dodge. After chilling out for a bit we did have an enjoyable evening wandering about some pedestrian street areas and ending the night with a glass of wine and hummus plate before hitting the sack. I slept great but unfortunately JIm was awake listening to some of our fellow hostelers having a domestic dispute… we’re glad we left the land of the hostels!

We were able to pick up our van early so headed out of Auckland. There were lots of sights along the way but due to our late start we decided to head directly to Rotorua to get a campsite before it got fully dark. It’s such a small country the drive only took about 3hrs and was fantastically gorgeous. It was a great combo between rural Oregon and small town England….LOTS of cows, sheep, and stud farms.

We’re now happily esconsed in our campervan and spent most of today wandering about Rotorua. It was sunny for the most part but around 50degrees or so, as I said, definitely NOT Fiji temps! The entire region is on a geo-thermal plane which is why it’s referred to as Sulfur City, with everywhere sort of having that rotten egg smell. But, the town is cute, people friendly, and a great start off for our month here. All of the campgrounds, hotels, and most peoples houses in town seem to have mineral hot spring spas & pools which we’ll be taking advantage of before dinner tonight.

Tomorrow we’re off to visit a Maori cultural/ geyser area and then driving to Waitomo to see the glow worm caves and spend the night.  We originally thought we’d go on and spend the night by Lake Taupo but are now thinking we’ll stay in Waitomo so we can go on a night walk and do some glowworm spotting then as well.

The last few days have been great as we’ve experienced two completely different types of activities in Fiji (combined with plenty of beach & pool time, of course!)
On Sat. we did a caving tour. It was about a 2hr drive from Nadi to Sigatoka where we met our guides and picked up some more passengers. Then a 40min drive up into the mountains into the Sigatoka Valley. Once at the villlage we had a Kava ceremony with the village chief asking permission to use the land. Kava is THE national drink of Fiji. It’s non-alcoholic, made of a ground up root, and can be mixed at different strength levels. The men are definitely in charge and all had to file out of the bus first with we women following. We all sat crosslegged on the ground where the chief and our guide underwent the mixing ceremony and then presented our tour appointed chief the kava first. It’s a whole ritual with clapping before, clapping after, and specific phrases to be spoken. Then the bowl was passed to the rest of us.
After the ceremony we had lunch and then headed to the river. We had to take a short long-pole ride across the river. Women & children were washing clothes in the river, men were plowing fields using teams of oxen or horses and it was absolutely gorgeous in the valley. From there about a 30minute walk through huge bamboo fields to the caves. They had been used by locals to hide from their enemies years & years ago and were quite large inside. They were used back in the times when cannibalism was still happening so we also saw the ovens used for that as well.
Once we’d walked back to the river we got on bamboo rafts called bilibili here and took a short float down the river and did some swimming. In all a very interesting day in which we actually got to see how the majority of Fijians live.

Monday we did a water tour leaving Denarau port at around 9am. After about 1hr 15min on a catamaran ride to the island of Mana, we transferred over to a 2 masted schooner and headed for the Mamanuca islands. We stopped at two of them, Yanuys where we had another kava ceremony and had time to shop in the village. This ceremony was pretty lame, really just an excuse to stop at the village for shopping. Then back on the schooner Seaspray for lunch when we headed over to Mitrikui island, where the film Castaway with Tom Hanks was filmed. All of the islands are gorgeous and this one was no exception. It’s uninhabited and we spent our entire alloted time there snorkeling. It was the best snorkeling we’ve done anywhere with a fantastic reef and dozens and dozens of colorful fish and quite a few sea cucumbers. On the way back to the larger island of Mana we put up the sails and were really rocking along. We got back to Denarau around 6pm so missed what has become our tradition of a sundowner along the beach but it was a fantastic day.

Two more days here in Fiji and then we’re off to New Zealand on Thursday morning. Next post from Kiwi land!

Jim & I arrived in Paradise and are having a fantastic time. We’re on a newer developed island called Denarau Island which is very close to Nadi town and the airport. It’s mainly just ritzy hotels but has fantastic beaches and great weather. It’s been in the mid-80’s and we’ve been spending a lot of time just bumming by the pool and swimming,etc. We did one 1/2 day snorkeling trip just off shore which had ok snorkeling but are going to do a full day to some of the outer islands in a few days.

The Fijian people must be the friendliest on earth. It threw us off for a couple of days because we kept waiting for them to want something from us. But no, they’re just really friendly! Last night we floated about in the surf watching the sun set over the outer islands and it was totally perfect.

We’re also planning another trip downtown to Nadi to check out the Hindu temple there as well as the Garden of the Sleeping Giants which is the actor Raymond Burr’s orchid farm. Then one day we’ll get in a tour into the hills to visit a village and do some caving as well. Other than that just lots of beach and pool time!

Hope you’re all doing well and we’ll update more in a few days. Pictures to come!

I got this card for Jim when we were getting ready to leave:

Live with intention.

Walk to the edge.

Listen hard.

Practice wellness.

Play with abandon.

Laugh.

Choose with no regret.

Continue to learn.

Appreciate your friends.

Do what you love.

Live as if this is all there is.

(mary anne radmacher)

I think that pretty much sums up what we’re doing. See you all soon!

It’s official. Flight day is here. We’re just doing our last minute re-pack,etc. Neither one of us slept great last night in anticipation that this is all finally happening.

Our flight departs Portland tonight at 7pm, we connect in LAX and leave there at 11:30 on Air Pacific, the Fijian carrier. Due to the int’l time line we arrive at 5:10am Fiji time on Tues.

It looks like the weather is due to be low-mid 80s so will be perfect beach time.

We’ll miss you all!! Make sure to keep in touch and check in later in the week for a more exciting blogs.