a quick word from me
so here we are in auckland on the eve of our last day in spectacular new zealand. our campervan will be handed back tomorrow just before we head to the airport for our chile bound flight, probably just aswell seen as we have already received 3 traffic violations & got a warning from a very angry policeman !!
much to our delight tom's mam (anne or mrs p as we call her) and my parents (nana & gaga is the name cathy created for them as a young baby & by which we all now call them) joined us out here & we had an absolute blast. they all kindly contributed to the blog so i'll hand over now to tom who is going to fill you in on week one, mrs p will then give you her account of week 2 which will be followed by nana & gaga describing week 3. cathy will then complete this blog update telling you about week 4 ....
week 1 - by tom
we decided to cover new zealand in a similiar method to oz - by way of a campervan ! of course we rented another 'wicked' version, this time a 'wiwi experience' - kind of a play on the new zealand tour bus 'kiwi experience', but a complete p*** take. we had 9 days to play with before mrs p flew in, so we decided to head out of christchurch to explore. one of the first things we noticed was the weather ... it rained ... and rained ... and bloody RAINED. in fact, it pretty much rained for 6 and a half days of the 9 !! yeah, thats worse then home. it was also quite a bit colder here aswell, after the nice climate in oz. lets just say we were glad of the extra quilts and had no trouble sleeping in the campervan. so not to let the weather stop us, we drove out to banks peninsula. first night we spent at governors bay followed by a picturesque morning walk by the waters edge. we then headed to quaint akaroa for lunch, before heading a few hours south to oamaru, the home of penny farthings. this town marked number 1 of our 2 campsite saving or tight travellers tips ! parking up & sleeping in mc donalds car park !! in all seriousness in our experience these establishments are one of the most secure sites for a campervan with enclosed large car parks, plenty of tables to play cards, heating, cheap food & toilets on hand 24 hour ... what more can a traveller need ! there is also a rumour that i washed my hair in the toilets but i'm neither confirming nor denying that i stooped to that level ;)
we continued south along the coast reaching dunedin a city of scottish heritage, (dunedin is actually the gaelic word for edinburgh), it was here where we founded number 2 of our campsite saving 'tight' travellers tips. ok so we had the overnighter covered - mc donalds car park. but how to you get showers ? the swimming baths (swimming pools to the irish) of course !! a mere 10 new zealand dollars between us provided hours of swimming pool fun. it had wave machines, diving boards, slides, jacuzi pools & yes showers ! and a whole lot cheaper than your bog standard campsite ... perfect so now we had the budget campervan living in operation once again, all we needed was for it to stop raining ! what the hell, we headed off in search of baldwin street in dunedin. this street is in the guinness book of records for being the worlds steepest residential street. in the pouring rain we climbed to the top laughing at how it is actually impossible to stand straight. i wanted to have a go at driving the wicked campervan up to the top but the girls forcefully talked me out of it. probably a wise choice based on the condition & insurance policy excess should my attempt fail.it was very steep ! following this we discovered that dunedin also had a cadburys chocolate factory so cathy was not leaving town until we had checked it out. we were all made wear big hair nets, they even gave me one for my beard ! check out lynn in the photos as she forgot she was wearing one at the end & we let her walk on around with it !!!! it proved a worthy visit which included a tour, loads of free choccies & a giant chocloate fountain. i was like augustus gloop.
we left dunedin & reached balcutha & gathered some tourist info before driving out to nugget point. a beautiful rugged coastline with rock formations known as 'nuggets'. extreme blustery winds came from the antarctic added to the intensity of the point. i have to mention here that cathy had no rain jacket so lynny handed over hers as only a mother would do & ended up having to wear a quantas oversize plastic luggage bag - very funny pics ! incidently all this weather was due to antarctic blasts that new zealand experiences from time to time due to it's southerly position which we were hoping would blast off some where else. we continued our 9 day exploration down towards invercargill. on route we stopped off at the most southerly point of new zealand, slope point. we walked out to the point which was identified by a signpost marker, and looked out to the ocean. it was weird knowing that the next piece of land you would reach if you headed out from here would be the antarctic. invercargill claims to be the worlds 'most southern city'. i was impressed by this statement ... until i read a similiar statement about a city in southern chile. i guess it doesn't really matter, all i know is that we were a long way from home. invercargill didn't have much to offer to be honest, we've since been questioned as to why we actually went there by a few kiwi's. it did however fit the campers criteria of a swimming baths, mc donalds car park & large domino's pizza on special offer !! next morning we began to head back north though not back tracking on the road already travelled. we reached te anau after stopping briefly at mc crackens rest (the photos says it all, you could park your bike!!) & at the world famous sausage stop much to my delight. te anau is a pretty little town by a lake. it is generally the hub town linked to milford sound. as the milford sound track is one way only we decided to leave it until the family visited us. just for reference that same day the clouds parted & blue skies appeared all but brief but the potential was there for later in the trip. from te anau we drove to queenstown. queenstown is where we stayed for the next 4 days solid. it is a great town stunningly set into a mountainside overlooking the lake. it has so much to offer. the centre itself is quite small but has great shops & restaurants for every thing you need. it's outdoor possibilites are immense with a range of walks & water activities on offer. it is also the extreme sports capital of the world & home to the worlds first bungy ! none of us did one ... nor plan to ... lynn did one before & said never again but cathy would given half the chance !! queenstown is also the home of 'fergburger' - mega sized burgers in all varieties & open 21 hours a day 7 days a week. the lonely planet to new zealand mentions it as a must do, suffice to say wehad one ... or 3 fergs !! they gota open one of these at home ...
so our nights were spent parked up in a public car park & our days accordingly depending on the weather, shopping & bowling when raining then walking the hills on one of the two beautiful days we got here. on that day we reached summit hill which holds stunning views looking down on queenstown & the valley below. it was well worth the climb. to be honest over the course of the first 9 days in new zealand we really started to question our decision to plan a family holiday here, not because of the lack of beauty but because of the poor weather conditions. queenstown had given us a boost as we now could see the potential however we now felt we needed a real slice of luck. we drove the lenghty journey back up to christchurch (blighted by diversions due to road closures) and promptly checked into a hostel to give us a break from the van & this gave us a chance to sort our belongings and more importantly freshen up before my mun flew in the very next day ! the next afternoon we drove to meet my mum after her monster journey from newcastle - dubai - sydney - christchurch. we were expecting her to look like, in her own words 'the wreck of hesperus', but she surprised us all by looking great & adapting to this travelling life with ease. i'll let her take over from here ...
week 2 - by mrs p
Hi bloggers it's 'mini traveller' Anne ( Tom's mum ) again reporting my adventures on the first 7 days of 2 fantastic weeks in New Zealand. My journey started on Sat 16th May from Newcastle on the first of 3 planes bound for Christchurch. This time round I got a pleasant surprise from Emirates, as my stop over in Dubai was 10 hrs I was issued with a voucher for a hotel room where i managed 4 hrs sleep - much better than a hard chair like last time! My second stop after a 14 hr flight was Sydney where I earned brownie points from Tom by washing my hair in the ladies loo there, ( a bit more upmarket from McDonalds ) ended up with a tea towel bought from a souvenir shop on my head, then stuck it under the hand dryer much to the surprise of the other occupants, but it did the job! After another 3 hr flight I arrived in Christchurch to be greeted by 3 very welcoming smiling faces......yes, more tears from me ( some things never change )
After lots of hugs I was introduced to the ' Wi Wi Experience' a campervan which was to be our home for the next 12 days. It took the mickey out of the proper Kiwi Experience coaches and had a kiwi spray painted on the side doing a wee with the inscription ' always drink upstream from the herd'. We arrived at Stonehurst - a great hostel for us travellers - Lynn had prepared lots of dips, veg and crackers but more importantly there was a bottle of Lindauer waiting for me!
Next morning we set off for Hamner Springs, the weather was improving constantly and we arrived in bright sunshine and had tuna melts on the roadside, enjoying my first taste of campervan life. These hot springs were amazing, it was freezing cold as you moved from pool to pool but it was really magical as you immersed yourself in 41 degrees of hot water with snow capped mountains surrounding you. It was that good we went back in the evening when it was floodlit and looked different again. Lynn had the great idea of running our already wet swimsuits under the hot tap before putting them on again - it worked a treat! That night we all slept in the van, a van meant for 3 people but the 4 of us squeezed in !!( within a few metres of a loo just in case ) and managed to sleep fully clothed no bother. Next morning we had a lovely walk up Conical Hill - great views over Hanmer - the autumn colous took your breath away. Still feeling active we hired one of those bikes for 4 cycling all round the village and having a real laugh. Lynn and I then treated ourselves to a facial as Cathy had one the day before and highly recommended it, whilst getting ready after it we made use of the posh showers there and smothered ourselves in the gorgeous complementary body cream. Im beginning to learn that you use anything offered while travelling! The afternoon drive to Kaikoura brought snow and rain but we arrived at a campsite where Tom pitched the tent for him and Lynn and Cathy and I slept in the van. That night Lynn made a gorgeous massaman curry - it went down a treat - reminded me of Thailand!
Next morning the sun came back and we did a great peninsular walk with yet more fantastic views, my first sight of the Pacific, couldn't believe the vivid turquoise colour of the water, my best friend Pat had told me about this but I didn't appreciate it till I actually saw it. The warden at the camp site told us where we could find lots of baby seals, after a short drive and walk through some woods we came across a waterfall and pool with dozens and dozens of gorgeous shiny black baby seals playing about - it was so lovely we stayed watching them for quite a while - totally mesmerised by their antics. The afternoon was spent wine tasting at Blenheim in the Marlborough region, never seen so many vineyards, we just had to sample lots of wines - it would have been rude not to! My favourite was the Reisling whereas Tom and Lynn are both red lovers. One place we went to had a chocolate liquor and I could see Cathy was desperate to try it. The lady poured us 4 glasses then looked at Cathy and asked if she was old enough to which Lynn replied ' she's 19 actually' then Cathy chipped in brilliantly ' no-one ever belives me'. How I didn't choke.......
That night we drove on to Nelson and slept in.........McDonalds car park!! Great facilities, sat in there playing uno and using the internet, nice and warm before retiring into our campervan for another night like sardines !! it's one way to keep warm !! Next morning dawned another lovely day where we drove to Lake Rotorua and had a great picnic by the most beautiful lake. A bottle of wine was opened, Cathy set up the ipod and after a couple of glasses found myself dancing to Amy Winehouse. It was the most lovely afternoon, we were joined by 3 black swans who were eating bread out of our hands, think they enjoyed themselves as much as we did. Later that day we drove back into Hanmer over the Lewis pass - more spectacular views. We spent that night in another caravan park but to our surprise we were the only ones in there so we brought our sleeping bags into the lounge area and spent the night on settees watching the final of American idol. Next day we drove back to Christchurch but not before another visit to the springs as it was so good, even the sulphur smell of bad eggs didn't put us off.
Another night was spent in Stonehurst, found myself really looking forward to tuna melts and Tommy's Ommys ( thats omelettes ) for supper - brill! On Saturday morning we had arranged to meet Kay and Harley ( Pat and Steve's friends who live in Christchurch ) for a starbucks. I hadn't seen them for 4 years and it was lovely to catch up with them. While Tom, Lynn and Cats went to the airport to pick up Tony and Pauline, I went to Kay and Harley's gorgeous house set in the hills about 15 mins from Christchurch. It had huge glass windows everywhere with the most stunning views. There I met Suki their little grandaughter along with son-in-law Alan, stayed for lunch and guess what - more wine! Harley dropped me back to the hostel but not before a visit to meet Kay's daughter Lucy in the health food shop where she was working.
On arriving back in the hostel I was very pleased to meet up with Tony and Pauline who I hadn't seen since the day the gang left for their travels. We had another brilliant week ahead of us but i will hand you over now to Lynn's mam and dad who will write the blog for our second week. All I can say now is I had the most fantastic time in New Zealand, im still jet lagged but wouldn't have missed it for the world. My love and thanks to Tom, Lynn, Cats, Tony and Pauline for lots of happy times and wonderful wonderful memories xxxxx
week 3 - by nana & gaga
The long awaited 19th of May finally arrived and we were soon on our 22,000km, 22hr. journey to New Zealand to meet up with our world travellers, Tom, Lynn and Cathy. Tom's mum Anne had joined them a week earlier. We stopped off in Bangkok for 4 days and enjoyed Thai food, friendlines and temperatures of 90 degrees. Soon we were on our way again to Christchurch via Sydney.We were met by the 3 travellers at Christchurch airport and they all looked fantastic after their 8 months of travels through Africa, Asia and Australia. The temperature in New Zealand was only 7 degrees which was a shock to the system after Bangkok !!
On monday we collected our camper van and started on the 7hr journey to Queenstown. The van was called 'gollum' after the little lord of the rings character so we travelled in 'wicked' convoy along side the wiwi experience. The light rain gradually cleared as we began to head south. We drove through the centre of the country stopping at lake tekapo for lunch & visiting the church of the good shepherd for nana to say a quick prayer for us all !!! New Zealand's roads were a joy to drive on with little traffic and beautiful scenery.
We had an overnight in Queenstown where we all wined & dined in speights ale house, the food was superb & went down a treat especially for the 3 long term travellers who had not seen the inside of a restaurant like this since they left home !! The next morning we continued our journey to Te Anau where we booked an afternoon cruise on Milford Sound. When we arrived at Milford Sound we all quickly changed plans. We managed to get a deal for an overnight boat trip in the fiord much to the delight of everyone. We set sail reaching the tasman sea for sunset watched by playfull dolphins and seals. We enjoyed a great meal on board that night washed down with a few bottles of red wine. The next morning was time for kayaking on Milford Sound before returning to dry land. The scenery was something else.
That evening we returned to Queenstown this time stopping along the Milford track to appreciate the scenery. The most spectacular sights were definitely by lake gunn where the relections on the water were perfect mirror images. That night we stayed in a hostel again where we sampled some of the regular food the 3normally have, eggs & beans with toast ! The next morning (Thurs) Lynn and myself hiked up to the top of Queenstown Hill while Tom and Girls!! hit the shops. A mighty Fergburger lunch followed and then we were on our way again to Franz Josef via Lake Wanaka. After supper we went out in search of glow worms and found them shining brightly.
The plan for friday was a guided climb of the Franz Josef glacier but unfortunately the weather turned bad with lots of mist and rain after our 5 days of blue skies & sunshine. We decided to walk to the glacier ourselves and were rewarded with fantastic views, we even crossed over the safety barrier to get our hands on the ice & take the opportunity to get a few worthwhile snaps.
It was then time for another long journey back to Christchurch over Arthur's Pass and a celebratory meal in Winnie Bagoes. The most enjoyable trip was fast coming to an end. Anne was returning home on saturday and Tom,Lynn and Cathy were leaving for Aukland early on Sunday. Our own flight to Sydney was also on sunday. We had a fantastic time and travelled over 1,100 miles through New Zealand's south island, while sampling campervan life although nana did refuse to sleep in the van ! For this week we all just travelled in the vans but upgraded to backpackers hostels at night ...
Thanks to tlc for organising all the trips which gave us so much fun and enjoyment. New Zealand is a wonderful country with magical scenery, good food and friendly people. We are now in Sydney for a week before starting the long journey back to Ireland via Hong Kong for a few days. Safe travels to Tom, Lynn and Cathy and will see you all in 6 weeks in South America. Love Nana & Gaga X
week 4 - by cats
aftr wavin anne off we settled in2 the hostel 4 our last nite wit nana & gaga. everything just went so fast it was hard to believe it was almost time to say gudbye. but not b4 anothr good nite. mommy prepared the food and tom poured the wine ... then gaga startd buyin jugs of beer! this resulted in a very late nite. wen gaga and tom decided to go to bed at about 3am they were hilarious. gaga was jumpin up and down on the top bunk of the bed, while a terrified nana was down below. im not sure why but tom and gaga were on the top bunks looking at each other laughing hysterically all the while going "vroom vroom" !?!?! weird.... anyways my poor nana was distraught thinking the bed was goin to collapse on top of her.
only 3hours later the alarms were going off and it was time to say goodbye. we boarded our flight to auckland amid very tight security. not one person asked us for id or passports and tom got through with his pen knife in his hand luggage!!!! the previous day, tom and mommy were tryin to book a hostel in auckland for our first 2nites and came across an amazing deal in the hilton hotel. i could hardly believe that we were goin to a 5star hotel after lik forever in the camervan! soas we stepped outside after we got our bags in the airport we immediately noticed a difference in temperature! it was warm!! yey it was a plesant shock....so anyway we needed to get in2 the city. and being to cheap to get a shuttle or taxi we got the public bus that dropped us near enough to the hotel... so we walked the rest of the way. as we walked in a door panting under the weight of our smelly packpacks i think the receptionist thought we were lost!! haha when we confirmed that we had a reservation he just laughed and said... oh ive never seen any guests come through that back door before! we spent 2days in the luxury room which over looked the harbour... only leaving to walk to the foodland supermarket to buy cheese and bread for our dinner. thankfully breakfast was free :O so we ate as much as possible... the tv helped us with our mission to spend as much time in the room as possible! the fab bathroom was a mega treat 2!
we reluctantly checked out after forcing ourselves not to book the rest of the week there and mommy & tom headed off to get our 4th and final wicked campervan...i waited with the bags in the lobby and when they pulled up in the "gorilla" camper the bellboy helped us take the bags to the van...theres no better feeling than driving out of a 5star hotel in a shitty campervan...haha i wish!!! lol yea so then instead of hitting the road we buzzed around the city for the day and settled in the van for the night on the roadside!
and the next day i was pretty excited because we were heading to ohope where my friend dara now lives. i havnt seen her since she left ireland almost 3years ago. the 4hours drive was lovely but i really just wanted to get there. they have such a beautiful home in such a beautiful surrounding and were so welcoming to us all. the next day i was lucky enough to get to go to school for the day! it was a cool experience but totally different to school that im used to! it was so relaxed and fun! a great day... atfer school dara and her friends showed me around the town of whakatane...it didnt take to long! lol while all this was going on tom and mommy were taken on a 10km hike(id prefer school to that any day! ) with daras parents murray and jean. they said that the views and beaches were stunning. mommy really enjoyed the craic with jean as she is also from our hometown dundalk, while murray(who is from NZ) and tom compared notes on how crazy the irish really are. after 2nites of homely bliss we returned to auckland where we are now...so that means that 2nite, our final nite, is in the camervan. fun! and tomorrow... santiago, chile......
=] x
a final word from me
so there you have it, the new zealand update. i just want to sum up by once again thanking our parents for coming all the way across the world to see us & for their kindness & generosity when they were with us. we are all officially a few kilo's heavier !!!!!!!
the final leg of our world tour begins tomorrow. i can hardly believe i am writing those words ! we will spend the rest of our time in south america. the first 3 weeks we plan to spend in chile and from there we will go to peru where my dad is going to join us again for 3 weeks which will be amazing ... we will travel through bolivia and on into argentina and end this trip of a lifetime in brazil. ah the pain of knowing it's gona end !!!
tom as always is beside me getting the photo album in order, here's hoping you enjoy this very special post & pic's - luv tlc xxx
