Saturday, December 30, 2006
To Singapore or Not To Singapore
I got up nice and early this morning to make it to the airport to check in for my flight to Brunei and on to Singapore. When I got there, there were people handing out letters before you checked in. My flight has been delayed by 11 hours and 25 minutes! So I'm blogging from the Hotel Grand Chancellor just off Auckland Airport (which isn't quite as grand as the name suggests) where they've put us up in the meantime and fed us adequately. Perhaps if I'd have thought about it a little more I would've brought my luggage along then I could've gone for a swim but I only had the foresight to bring a change of underwear and top with me.
So I should arrive in Brunei at abour 5.30am local time which I think is about 7 or 8 hours ahead of the UK, and then on to Singapore for around lunchtime. I've emailed the hostel I booked in Singapore begging them to keep my reservation but not charge me for tonight but I've had no reply so far. Fingers crossed. I guess this is what I get for buying such a cheap flight huh?
I've just thought of an up side: I get about 5 New Years in one. Erm... downside is the airline is alcohol free which means I'm gonna have to sneak something on board... Downside is that I'm also gonna be shattered. :-(
Wish me luck everyone... at this rate I might just about get home in time to be a bridesmaid...
Sx
So I should arrive in Brunei at abour 5.30am local time which I think is about 7 or 8 hours ahead of the UK, and then on to Singapore for around lunchtime. I've emailed the hostel I booked in Singapore begging them to keep my reservation but not charge me for tonight but I've had no reply so far. Fingers crossed. I guess this is what I get for buying such a cheap flight huh?
I've just thought of an up side: I get about 5 New Years in one. Erm... downside is the airline is alcohol free which means I'm gonna have to sneak something on board... Downside is that I'm also gonna be shattered. :-(
Wish me luck everyone... at this rate I might just about get home in time to be a bridesmaid...
Sx
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Last two weeks in New Zealand... and onwards
Since I last posted I've been up to the Bay of Islands, which was really beautiful. I stayed in Paihia for a few nights and took a couple of day trips around the area.
The first trip was up to Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach. Cape Reigna is [almost] the northernmost tip 
of New Zealand (beaten only by somewhere that you can only get to by hiking which is 2km more north). Cape Reinga is also the point at which the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, and in the picture below you can see the two sets of waves clashing together. The signpost shows just how far away I've been all this time.
After Cape Reinga, we took a trip down 90-Mile Beach. To get there, the bus had to drive down a river that is actually quicksand... so we stopped off to take pictures and the bus sank! Nah, the bus driver was really strict about not stopping and apparently a few cars get consumed each year by idiots who stop off to take a picture of themselves on quicksand... and lose their car... Instead, we pulled off somewhere safe and climbed up this monster sand dune to board down it... which was 
wicked, except by the time I'd got to the top I couldn't breathe! Afterwards, the bus drove on down 90-Mile Beach, which is a pretty cool concept, racing along the sand.
The next day
I took a boat trip out around the Bay of Islands, which was all pretty stunning, and culminated in a ride through the "Hole in the Rock" out at Cape Brett.
So that was it for my Magic travels, for the next day it was back down to Auckland to meet Paul
and Kat who had kindly offered to put me up for a few days and to spend Christmas with them. They live in Papakura which is a suburb in the South of Auckland, and they have a really nice house. Paul has just built a huge garage in which he's going to build aeroplanes (real ones that are actually piloted), and a great upstairs deck for barbecues, which they take advantage of a lot! They also have a cat, Tempest, and his friend Jag (with the collar) who belongs to Paul's tenant, Gary. Here they are, asleep on Paul. They are absolutely adorable, and love playing together and getting into mischief.
The first trip was up to Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach. Cape Reigna is [almost] the northernmost tip 
of New Zealand (beaten only by somewhere that you can only get to by hiking which is 2km more north). Cape Reinga is also the point at which the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, and in the picture below you can see the two sets of waves clashing together. The signpost shows just how far away I've been all this time.
After Cape Reinga, we took a trip down 90-Mile Beach. To get there, the bus had to drive down a river that is actually quicksand... so we stopped off to take pictures and the bus sank! Nah, the bus driver was really strict about not stopping and apparently a few cars get consumed each year by idiots who stop off to take a picture of themselves on quicksand... and lose their car... Instead, we pulled off somewhere safe and climbed up this monster sand dune to board down it... which was 
wicked, except by the time I'd got to the top I couldn't breathe! Afterwards, the bus drove on down 90-Mile Beach, which is a pretty cool concept, racing along the sand.The next day
I took a boat trip out around the Bay of Islands, which was all pretty stunning, and culminated in a ride through the "Hole in the Rock" out at Cape Brett.So that was it for my Magic travels, for the next day it was back down to Auckland to meet Paul
and Kat who had kindly offered to put me up for a few days and to spend Christmas with them. They live in Papakura which is a suburb in the South of Auckland, and they have a really nice house. Paul has just built a huge garage in which he's going to build aeroplanes (real ones that are actually piloted), and a great upstairs deck for barbecues, which they take advantage of a lot! They also have a cat, Tempest, and his friend Jag (with the collar) who belongs to Paul's tenant, Gary. Here they are, asleep on Paul. They are absolutely adorable, and love playing together and getting into mischief. Christmas Day was a pretty wicked affair. We arrived at Kat's parent's house at about 9.30 for a 
champagne and waffle breakfast, followed by present opening, followed by an all day cocktail party! Kats sister, Liz, had taken a bar course and was keen to show off her skills. I don't think we quite got through the whole cocktail menu, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying! After the most humungous lunch of ham, pigs in blankets and roast veggies, we were all a bit knackered so vegged out in front of the TV to watch The World's Fastest Indian (as mentioned in my post from Invercargill/Catlins). After that, we felt we had recovered enough for a bit of dessert, for which Kat's granny had made a Christmas Pudding specially for the poms! We weren't sure we were ever gonna eat again after that!
champagne and waffle breakfast, followed by present opening, followed by an all day cocktail party! Kats sister, Liz, had taken a bar course and was keen to show off her skills. I don't think we quite got through the whole cocktail menu, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying! After the most humungous lunch of ham, pigs in blankets and roast veggies, we were all a bit knackered so vegged out in front of the TV to watch The World's Fastest Indian (as mentioned in my post from Invercargill/Catlins). After that, we felt we had recovered enough for a bit of dessert, for which Kat's granny had made a Christmas Pudding specially for the poms! We weren't sure we were ever gonna eat again after that!On Boxing Day we headed to the Coromandel to Tairua to stay with some friends of Paul and Kat. And I *finally* got to the beach and into the sea properly! A couple of the others went boogie boarding, while the rest of us just messed around in the surf. That was a bit of an education for me, having to negotiate huge waves and decide whether to go over or under them! Luckily Kat was on hand to give me directions, although I did get dunked pretty badly at the start... It was a really wicked couple of days and I really enjoyed meeting Kat's family and hers and Paul's friends, who are all a wicked bunch.
Now, though, I've got to re-pack up my stuff so I can head back into the city tomorrow. Paul and Kat are going to a gig in the Coromandel tomorrow night so we worked out it was cheaper for me to spend a night in the City and get the bus to the airport on Sunday than for me to stay in their place and get a taxi to the airport. I've still got a few things to pick up, like travellers cheques, so it works out quite well. I tried to get travellers cheques in Papakura yesterday but they said they'd have to order them in! Never mind.
I'm almost prepared to head off to South East Asia... still a little bit scared about going so far out of my comfort zone, but I know I'm gonna have a wicked time. So this will probably be my last post from New Zealand, next stop Singapore!
Happy New Year to everyone, start it as you mean to go on and drink as much as you can!
Love Suzi xxx
Monday, December 18, 2006
Fear in Auckland
Well it's 6 sleeps til Christmas as the radio keeps playing to me. I got in to Auckland last Tuesday and met a couple of crazy chicks who I hung out with for a few days - Andrea and Cassie.
We (Andrea and I) went on a free tour of the city ... which included a stop at the Sky Tower. It just so happened that I was in a bit of an adrenaline junkie mode and was seriously coming round to the idea of bungying or something similar. Our tour guide started building up the Sky Jump - a 192m controlled descent from the top of the Sky Tower... everyone else was a bit sheepish, and there was me, grinning and totally up for it. And the dude knew that. But he still put everyone's names in a hat and pulled out a name that wasn't "Sue". I was gutted.
We also had a couple of drinks in a bar in the Viaduct Harbour among all the posh working people...
We spent the rest of the time shopping... we found an outlet shopping centre which really didn't have any good deals, plus a few other places but managed to contain ourselves. We also spent an evening at the Sky City complex... a bit of time in the casino (came out evens - result!) and in a really nice bar there. This is the Sky Tower at night.
Then last Saturday I headed up to the Coromandel. I picked a really nice day to travel up there. Left is a picture from the top of the coast above a place called Cathedral Cove. Unfortunately the other two days that I stayed up there were rather disappointing. I went there primarily to get some beach time, and I did get about half an hour or so, but it was really cloudy and rained a wee bit. :-(
I came back to Auckland today and have been shopping for my trip to Asia, picking up a few necessities in preparation. And here we come to the fear factor as per the title. Now apparently this is practically an Auckland institution, it's been there in one place or another for about the last 25 years... but it's just plain scary... in a creepy "kids don't look at that" kind of way.
We (Andrea and I) went on a free tour of the city ... which included a stop at the Sky Tower. It just so happened that I was in a bit of an adrenaline junkie mode and was seriously coming round to the idea of bungying or something similar. Our tour guide started building up the Sky Jump - a 192m controlled descent from the top of the Sky Tower... everyone else was a bit sheepish, and there was me, grinning and totally up for it. And the dude knew that. But he still put everyone's names in a hat and pulled out a name that wasn't "Sue". I was gutted.
We also had a couple of drinks in a bar in the Viaduct Harbour among all the posh working people...
We spent the rest of the time shopping... we found an outlet shopping centre which really didn't have any good deals, plus a few other places but managed to contain ourselves. We also spent an evening at the Sky City complex... a bit of time in the casino (came out evens - result!) and in a really nice bar there. This is the Sky Tower at night.
Then last Saturday I headed up to the Coromandel. I picked a really nice day to travel up there. Left is a picture from the top of the coast above a place called Cathedral Cove. Unfortunately the other two days that I stayed up there were rather disappointing. I went there primarily to get some beach time, and I did get about half an hour or so, but it was really cloudy and rained a wee bit. :-(I came back to Auckland today and have been shopping for my trip to Asia, picking up a few necessities in preparation. And here we come to the fear factor as per the title. Now apparently this is practically an Auckland institution, it's been there in one place or another for about the last 25 years... but it's just plain scary... in a creepy "kids don't look at that" kind of way.
Yes, it's a three-storey high Santa, that winks and beckons you to him with a bandaged finger. (Apparently it fell off a couple years ago.) You just want to stop every little kid who walks by you and say "no, don't go to the dark side". It is just plain creepy!
That's about all for now, I'm off up to the Bay of Islands tomorrow... hopefully the weather will be better so I have a few plans which require good weather for while I'm up there.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
White Island
Monday December 11
I guess I haven't had enough of live volcanoes yet, as when I heard there was a live one just off the coast near Mount Maunganui, where I was staying, I just had to book myself a trip out there. This involved me renting a car (a manual one no less - aren't you all glad I'm on the other side of the world now???), driving to Whakatane, and getting on a boat out to White Island which is an active marine volcano.
White Island is a 150,000 to 200,000 year old volcano - a baby really. It was named White Island by Captain Cook, the first European to sight the island. This was in 1769 and as he noted in the Endeavour's log book,“We called it White for as such it always appeared to us”. Cook, however, did not come close enough to realise it was a volcano. In the early 1900's it was mined for sulphur and there are ruins of the factory still on the island. It's a bit inhospitable for people to stay there for a long time though, even the clothing would only last a couple of months at the most due to the amount of sulphur in the atmosphere. It last erupted in 2000, and currently gets about 6-8 earthquakes per day and it's landscape is constantly changing. The tour guide kept mentioning that sulphur vents were constantly appearing and disappearing in various places, temperatures and acidities of streams are changing from week to week.
White Island from the boat on approach
The boat we went on, the "PeeJay V"
The main crater from a distance and close up - you can see how much steam was coming out from the crater lake which apparently has an acidity of -0.3 (was unaware the ph scale went below zero???)
This is the view from the crater out to see. It is thought that previous eruptions blasted gaps in the side of the crater, which is lucky as that provided safe places for boats to berth near the island and to allow us to get on and have a looksee.
All in all it was a very good, interesting trip and I picked a helluva day for it. I'd been in Mount Maunganui since Friday. Saturday and Sunday were nice days but not really beach days. Monday was definitely a beach day but I wasn't able to take advantage.
Just for Kat, here are the meerkats that welcomed us into the hostel in the Mount. I still haven't got that particular tattoo, but I think these would be a pretty good model, don't ya think??
I guess I haven't had enough of live volcanoes yet, as when I heard there was a live one just off the coast near Mount Maunganui, where I was staying, I just had to book myself a trip out there. This involved me renting a car (a manual one no less - aren't you all glad I'm on the other side of the world now???), driving to Whakatane, and getting on a boat out to White Island which is an active marine volcano.
White Island is a 150,000 to 200,000 year old volcano - a baby really. It was named White Island by Captain Cook, the first European to sight the island. This was in 1769 and as he noted in the Endeavour's log book,“We called it White for as such it always appeared to us”. Cook, however, did not come close enough to realise it was a volcano. In the early 1900's it was mined for sulphur and there are ruins of the factory still on the island. It's a bit inhospitable for people to stay there for a long time though, even the clothing would only last a couple of months at the most due to the amount of sulphur in the atmosphere. It last erupted in 2000, and currently gets about 6-8 earthquakes per day and it's landscape is constantly changing. The tour guide kept mentioning that sulphur vents were constantly appearing and disappearing in various places, temperatures and acidities of streams are changing from week to week.
White Island from the boat on approach
Me in front of a steam vent complete with hard hat and gas mask. This was at the beginning of the tour. The sulphur was quite intense as we got closer to the main crater and I was wearing the gas mask the whole time. The company has to provide hard hats and gas masks as part of it's permit to operate on the island.
The boat we went on, the "PeeJay V"
The main crater from a distance and close up - you can see how much steam was coming out from the crater lake which apparently has an acidity of -0.3 (was unaware the ph scale went below zero???)
This is the view from the crater out to see. It is thought that previous eruptions blasted gaps in the side of the crater, which is lucky as that provided safe places for boats to berth near the island and to allow us to get on and have a looksee.All in all it was a very good, interesting trip and I picked a helluva day for it. I'd been in Mount Maunganui since Friday. Saturday and Sunday were nice days but not really beach days. Monday was definitely a beach day but I wasn't able to take advantage.
Just for Kat, here are the meerkats that welcomed us into the hostel in the Mount. I still haven't got that particular tattoo, but I think these would be a pretty good model, don't ya think??
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Rotorua returned
I've been travelling a wee bit since I last blogged.
I met up with Krazy Kat at the weekend at her dad's place in Motueka at the north of the South Island. Her dad's place is sweet. It's got a huge upper deck outside where they had a big going away party and barbecue for Kat on Saturday night plus a heated pool, which was great to wake up to and dive into on Sunday morning! On Sunday we went to the Motueka A&P show, which is kinda like the Bath & West show but on a much smaller scale. Then in the evening Kat and I went into Nelson for dinner with her friend Sally.
On Monday it was time to say goodbye to Kat, which was really sad, she was heading off home on Tuesday and I had to get to Picton to catch the ferry to the North Island and Wellington.
From Wellington I headed straight up to Napier and then got in to Rotorua yesterday afternoon.
Today I persuaded Susanna, an Irish chick, to go out to the Agrodome with me to go zorbing - well, she didn't take much persuasion! We both went down twice and it was way cool. Then, as we had a bit of time to kill before the bus was due, we wandered over to the place where they have the bungy and swoop. We both decided we weren't going to do a bungy (nope, still haven't talked myself into that one) but talked ourselves into the swoop. This is where you climb into a sleeping bag-type device, get hooked to a cable suspended between two posts and then pulled up into the sky by a crane. And then you let go. Thank god Susanna was with me, cos we didn't realise until we got there that you have to pull a pin out to release us - and one of us had to be the one to do it, we thought one of the dudes who set us up was gonna do that! So I volunteered Susanna to do that. As soon as the crane started pulling us up we started having second thoughts and really didn't want to do it - it was Rock & Ropes all over again, which had terrified me!
But as soon as Susanna pulled the pin out and we were flying, it was so cool!
So tomorrow it's onwards to Mount Maunganui where I plan to spend a few days on the beach. It's certainly looking like beach weather! Aw yip!
Sue xx
I met up with Krazy Kat at the weekend at her dad's place in Motueka at the north of the South Island. Her dad's place is sweet. It's got a huge upper deck outside where they had a big going away party and barbecue for Kat on Saturday night plus a heated pool, which was great to wake up to and dive into on Sunday morning! On Sunday we went to the Motueka A&P show, which is kinda like the Bath & West show but on a much smaller scale. Then in the evening Kat and I went into Nelson for dinner with her friend Sally.
On Monday it was time to say goodbye to Kat, which was really sad, she was heading off home on Tuesday and I had to get to Picton to catch the ferry to the North Island and Wellington.
From Wellington I headed straight up to Napier and then got in to Rotorua yesterday afternoon.
Today I persuaded Susanna, an Irish chick, to go out to the Agrodome with me to go zorbing - well, she didn't take much persuasion! We both went down twice and it was way cool. Then, as we had a bit of time to kill before the bus was due, we wandered over to the place where they have the bungy and swoop. We both decided we weren't going to do a bungy (nope, still haven't talked myself into that one) but talked ourselves into the swoop. This is where you climb into a sleeping bag-type device, get hooked to a cable suspended between two posts and then pulled up into the sky by a crane. And then you let go. Thank god Susanna was with me, cos we didn't realise until we got there that you have to pull a pin out to release us - and one of us had to be the one to do it, we thought one of the dudes who set us up was gonna do that! So I volunteered Susanna to do that. As soon as the crane started pulling us up we started having second thoughts and really didn't want to do it - it was Rock & Ropes all over again, which had terrified me!
But as soon as Susanna pulled the pin out and we were flying, it was so cool!
So tomorrow it's onwards to Mount Maunganui where I plan to spend a few days on the beach. It's certainly looking like beach weather! Aw yip!
Sue xx
