Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Asia -The Final Frontier

Here's the final part of my chronicle of our round-the-world adventure.  

Singapore

Singapore:

Arriving in Singapore and stepping out of the air-conditioned airport building to the taxi stand, we were hit by a wave of heat and humidity which took us aback.  We had dealt with some fairly high temperatures in Australia but the instant sweating which the conditions brought on, and this at 8 o' clock in the evening, was a shock to the system.

After settling into our hostel, we decided to take a little walk around the local area, Little India, and find something to eat.  On the short walk, we heard a very familar sound and following it, discovered a local practicing his bagpipes!  Welcome to Singapore guys!

The next day, we took the mercifully cool metro to the spectacularly tacky vicinity of Clarke Quay where we hunted down the Highlander Bar in order to determine if they might be showing the Scotland game the next night.  Unsurprisingly, given the fact that it was quite an up-market venue and that the staff had trouble understanding what we were actually asking, we came away disappointed.  The original plan had been to watch it in Kuala Lumpur and so that was the eventuality that what we returned to.

After an energy sapping walk along the Singapore River where we took in the view to the bizarre but pretty cool Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino buildings (they look like a ship that has been balanced on top of three skyscrapers) and the City Flyer (similar to the London Eye), we decided that walking was not the best method of transport given the temperature.  So we hopped aboard one of the City Tour buses and the next couple of hours were taken up seeing the city from the top deck (eventually retreating under the shade of the canopy when the heat became too much) and hopping off at the Chinatown stop to see some impressive Hindu temples and lantern-decorated streets.

Our whistle-stop stay in Singapore ended suddenly that night, as a much overdue  email reply from Malaysian Railways indicated that we had a booking on the sleeper train that night to Kuala Lumpur (we had enquired about ticket prices several days before).  So after cancelling the reservation for that night in the hostel, we headed for the train station.

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur:

Our first experience of train travel in Asia was a reasonably pleasant one.  Our upper bunks allowed for a decent amount of sleep and so, by the time we rolled into Kuala Lumpur Central at 6 am we felt well rested.  A slick metro ride later we arrived at our hostel, a little place run by a very friendly family who had moved there from Sri Lanka. 

Our main objective for the first day was to check out a series of pubs that we had determined were possible candidates for watching the Lithuania v Scotland game in, very much later that night (in fact at 1 in the morning of the next day).  After a delicious lunch in the food court of the Central Market we set out to try and locate some of the pubs.  As we had addresses but could not find any of them on our city maps we decided to try and seek help from the nearest tourist information office.  This became our first lesson in how massively spread out the city was, as we walked for a good hour or so in the sweltering heat before eventually finding the office behind the National Museum.  Our second lesson quickly followed, as the locations of most of the pubs turned out out to be between half an hour or an hour away from our hostel by taxi.  Only one potential location remained, which the girl in the office told us was within walking distance of a metro station.  It wasn't.  Another hour's walk drew a blank.  Eventually, after a half hour taxi ride in rush hour traffic, we at least managed to step inside one of the pubs on our list...only to be told that they closed at midnight!  An unbelievably frustrating and unproductive day ended with us following asleep vowing to get up and watching the game on an online stream.  And then sleeping right through it.

The following day was equally as frustrating, as we endeavoured to book our tickets out of Malaysia and into Thailand.  Helpfully, the main central bus station in Kuala Lumpur is closed for renovation and they have moved the operation to a nightmarishly busy, small plot of land well out of the centre of town.  A three quarters of an hour bus ride was required to get there in order to check the bus times to Butterworth, where the overnight sleeper to Bangkok departed from.  Then another three quarters of an hour metro ride back to the central train station to buy our sleeper train ticket, before returning to the bus station to actually buy our bus ticket.  Finally, we could get down to some tourist business but this really only consisted of seeing the amazing Petronas Towers and the Menara KL Tower up close.  And then it was time to leave KL, with a definite sense of not having made the most of our time there!

Thailand

Bangkok:

After a full day's travelling on firstly one of the most spacious and comfortable buses I've ever been on (from KL to Butterworth) and then a mammoth overnight train journey from Butterworth, we arrived in Bangkok.  During the train journey we realised that the Malaysian money we were carrying would not be accepted by the caterers on the train.  Luckily the kind Thai woman sleeping in the bunk below Ally offered to lend us some Thai Baht to buy ourselves dinner (we had seen her with her significantly older white 'boyfriend' at Butterworth station before she boarded the train alone).  When we reached Bangkok we had to pay her back.  It was only later we thought about how dodgy the sight of two Westerners, having just got off the train, handing a roll of cash to a young Thai woman in the middle of Bangkok station would have looked!  Still, our consciences were clear!

After a short taxi ride (where the taxi driver did his best to rip us off by claiming the meter wasn't correct), we arrived at our hostel, which was called Phiman Water View, so called because it was situated on the bank of  the Chao Praya River.  As we'd soon find out, you actually get a much closer view of the water than you'd like, as it floods the surrounding alleys and houses at high tide, forcing you to wade through sometimes knee-high water (and goodness knows what else!) to get back to the hostel.

Our first encounters with the 'flamboyant' staff made us wonder why the hotel wasn't more extravagantly decorated.  As one member of staff introduced the other - "This is the maid - his name is Boy" we wondered if they'd got the wrong idea about us but thankfully our room was a twin as we had asked for.  After settling in we received an email from Steven Johnstone, a friend of ours from back in Glasgow, who is travelling the world  (in the opposite direction from us!) with his girlfriend.  They had just arrived in Bangkok so we set off to meet them at their hostel on the famous (or infamous) Khaosan Road.

The first experience of Khaosan Road is pretty overwhelming - street vendors selling insect snacks (we all tried one of the locusts - crunchy and really only tasted of soy sauce!), tuk-tuk drivers (tuk-tuks are motorbikes which pull a carriage behind them which can seat 4 people) trying to get you to take a ride with them, tailor salesmen trying to get you to buy a suit that you don't need and, perhaps most annoying, the ladies who pester you when you're sitting having a beer trying to get you to buy a wallet, lighter or wooden frog complete with croaking sound effects.  When you have walked up and down the road a few times every day for four or five days, as we would do, it soom becomes a little corner of hell.  

On this occasion, after meeting Steven and Lisa we retreated to a nearby bar for what was supposed to be a few beers and a catch up on our respective travel stories.  10 hours later and having thoroughly caught up, we were all hanging out the back of a tuk-tuk on our first of many experiences of the the most popular mode of transport for tourists in Bangkok.   This heavy session would result in me being completely useless due to a killer hangover the next day, which in turn resulted in me taking my anti-malarials incorrectly and damaging my stomach, causing me to have to take medication for the next week which would prevent me from drinking alcohol for that period, which scuppered our plans of going to Laos and going tubing - quite a lot of consequences from one drunken night!

When I finally did recover, we spent a lot of our time in Bangkok travelling on the slow boats on the river, taking it to Chinatown and the Wat Arun temple.  We also managed to track down a pub which allowed us to channel hop and successfully find the Scotland v Lichtenstein game, at two in the morning.  For the first ninety-six minutes this was looking like a wasted effort, but Stephen McManus's last minute winner made it all worthwhile, and earned us some baffled stares from the bar staff as we celebrated like we'd actually won the World Cup.

After fours day in Bangkok, we'd had enough and booked a bus to Cambodia for the next day.  While packing that night I had the horrific revelation that I had misplaced my passport (so many amazing stamps - gone).  The result was that the trip to Cambodia was off and, due to the British Embassy closing for a half day on a Friday, we were stuckin Bangkok for at least another three days.  To take the edge of this disappointment, we changed hostels and found that our new 'hostel' which was the same price as the fruity one by the river, was pretty much a luxury hotel. 

The weekend passed quickly and on the Monday I was able to obtain an emergency passport from the British Embassy and a new visa from Thai immigration.  Equipped with this we set off early the next day and took a local bus to the Cambodia border.  After greasing the palms of two Cambodia border policemen (this was standard practice if you didn't go to one of the over-priced visa 'agencies' for your visa), we had our Cambodian visa and along with an Israeli fellow we met at the border, took a taxi to Siem Reap.  

Cambodia

Siem Reap:

After arriving in Siem Reap, we were taken to our hotel (which was pretty luxurious considering the price we were paying) and were greeted by Asean, a young guy with really good English who gave us some good advice for the next days, giving us possible itineraries for our temple visits.  The advice was obviously biased as he wanted to be our driver for the temple visits, driving us in his tuk-tuk the sometimes not insignificant distances between each temple, but we decided we'd heed his advice and take a three-day pass for the temples and have him as our driver.

Our first night in Siem Reap was a bit of a shock to the system as we encountered for the first time young children (some as young as 5) aggressively selling postcards, books and t-shirts.  This was a sadly common sight not in only Siem Reap but at pretty much every Angkor site.  The advice from Lonely Planet is not to buy souvenirs from them - any profits from the sale are not kept by the kids but passed onto the adult that they're selling for.  Also, any sale is seized upon by others and before you know it you are swamped by them.  Still, it was very difficult to refuse, especially when they pleaded and pleaded and claimed "I don't have any money to go to school".  Some accepted early on that you weren't going to buy anything and tried to engage in chat instead.  "Where are you from?", "Ah, Scotland, Edinburgh is the capital" was the surprisingly knowledgable opening gambit from most of the children.  One girl in particular sticks out for her humourous chat - "ah Scotland, do you speak Gaelic" she asked.  When we said that we did indeed, her response took us aback.  "Do you know pog mo thon?" (Gaelic for kiss my arse) she asked cheekily!   After we had stopped laughing we decided to reward her with a small sale - a large bottle of water.   

The Khmer empire, or Cambodia as its now known, built several hundred temples between the years of 900 BC and 1200 BC in the area known as Angkor, near to Siem Reap.  The ruins of these temples, collectively known as the Angkor temples, are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  They vary in size, shape, look and architecture, with the jewel in the crown being Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest religious monument.   For 3 days straight we visited 4 or 5 ruins each day including taking in sunrise at Angkor Wat and sunset at another ruin.  The fact that we didn't get bored is testament to how impressive each one was.  The only problem was the fact that there were so many flaming people at each and every temple we went to!

Phnom Penh:

After a reasonably straightforward 7 hour bus journey we arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.  It was immediately obvious that it was less "in-your-face touristy" than Siem Reap, as there were nowhere near as many tuk-tuk drivers or children selling postcards on the street.  After having settled into our hostel we took the 10 minute walk to the riverside where most of the tourist-friendly pubs and restaurants were located.  We had a nice meal and a few beers and tried to ready ourselves for the undoubtedly unpleasant experience which awaited us the next day when we were to learn about the suffering of the Cambodian people at the hands of the tyrannical Khmer Rouge regime (the Communist Party of Kampuchea) which ruled Cambodia (or Kampuchea as it was known then) from 1975 to 1979.

Our first visit was to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Musuem, site of a former high school which was used by the Khmer Rouge as the "Security Prison 21", or S-21 as it become known.  The classrooms were converted into prison cells and torture chambers, and the rooms remain today as they were when the Khmer Rouge abandoned them in 1975, including the building where the last inmates were killed and left before the Khmer Rouge fled.  Although these rooms only contain the rusted metal beds, the photo on the wall of that specific bed with a corpse lying on top of it has a shocking effect.  Thousands of photos of some of the roughly seventeen thousand inmates who passed through the prison, including some of them in death, are shown on the wall.  Of those seventeen thousand only twelve (twelve rather than twelve thousand) are known to have survived.  All were horrifically tortured in the prison and most were marched to Choeung Ek, fifteen kilometres away, to be murdered.

After leaving Tuol Sleng we were then taken by our tuk-tuk driver to Choeung Ek, or the Killing Fields as its better known.  Choeung Ek is now a memorial park for the dead, with a commemorative Buddhist stupa, filled with the skulls of some of the victims, at it's centre.  The information centre is the first place to stop in the park, and it gives details of the Khmer Rouge regime, headed by the happily now deceased Pol Pot.  Four other senior members of the regime are currently being indicted by the UN led Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal.  Of the four, only one, known as Duch, admits his crimes and has apologised for them.  Having read of the horrors that took place there, we then viewed some of the mass grave sites.  Some of things described that took place there are too awful for me to even write about.

We didn't do much for the rest of the day, in fact, we tried to view the Killing Fields movie as we were interested to see how it portrayed what had happened.  We didn't succeed that day but managed to see it the following night, and I can recommend it as a very good watch.

Thankfully there are other, cheerier sights in Phnom Penh and the next day we visited them, including the Central Market, the National Stadium, the Wat Phnom pagoda and the Independence Monument.  After a contrasting week of culture, history and commemoration in Cambodia, it was time to ship out to 'Nam, where we would spend most of the remaining 4 weeks of our trip.

Vietnam

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City:

Travelling into Vietnam you immediately get an idea of the number of motorcycles and mopeds there are on the roads compared to cars.  When you actually get to Saigon, you wonder whether there's anybody that lives in the city that doesn't own a motorbike!  It's fascinating to stand at a junction and watch the traffic, and be amazed that there are no collisions as some of the driving on show is appalling.  The honking of horns is constant, and crossing the road can take an awfully long time until you actually see how the locals do it.  Basically the trick is to just walk and let the riders avoid you.  Easy to say, not so easy to get your legs to do when there's hundreds of bikes bearing down on you!  The fact that its pretty much impossible to walk on the pavement doesn't help, as the pavements are almost totally covered by parked motorbikes or street stalls, and so walking on the road and trusting the riders racing past you is par for the course in Saigon (and also in Hanoi).

The main tourist attraction in Saigon is the War Remnants Museum.  When you find out that it was renamed from the Museum of American War Crimes you get a good idea what the main theme of the place is!  I'm sure when most people hear about Vietnam, they automatically think of Platoon, Apocalypse Now or any of the multitude of Vietnam War films and we were no different so the museum was an extremely interesting source of information. As well as having some impressive military equipment on display outside (including an M48 Patton tank), it gives a damning account of the American military's activities during the Vietnam War, including the use of napalm on civilians and the use of "Agent Orange" a chemical defoliant spray used to remove the Vietcong's forest cover, but which was extremely toxic and is even today causing birth deficiencies in the affected areas.  It is obviously an extremely biased account, but reading about the various atrocities and the massive political opposition that the military operation faced from countries around the world, you are left wondering why on earth they went ahead with it and continued when it became clear they were fighting a losing battle.

After getting kicked out of the war museum due to it closing for lunch, we had our first taste of the popular Vietnam dish Pho, or noodle soup.  We plumped for the Pho Bo, with beef, but seafood, chicken and pork varieties are also available.  Like a lot of the food we tasted in Vietnam, it was tasty, not too spicey and not too different to the tastes that we are used to in the West.  That said, eating Pho for breakfast, as many do in Vietnam, was not something that appealled to us!

After lunch, we headed to the Reunification Palace, the scene of the end of the Vietnam War when a North Vietnamese tank crashed through its gates.  It was formerly home to the President of South Vietnam and is maintained as a museum where you can see the elegant conference rooms and dining rooms  as well as the war room and the US UH-1 "Huey" helicopter on the roof.

The next day we were picked up bright and early for our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels.  After an obligatory stop at a tourist-trap pottery and craft site, we arrived at the tunnels and were shown around.  The frightening array of man-traps was the most memorable part, with different mechanisms designed to maim and kill anyone unfortunate enough to tread on one.  We were allowed into a small section of the tunnels and had to make our way to an exit about 20 or 30 yards away.  Crouched over, sometimes crawling on hands, we got to appreciate just how cramped and uncomfortable travel in these tunnels would have been for the locals (although to be fair, they were probably a lot shorter than I am!).  The tour ended with us a viewing a Vietnamese propaganda film, telling us about the lives of the locals and how they clubbed together against adversity, to kill as many American soldiers as possible!  Those who managed to kill the most were awarded the "American Killer Hero" badge - it was uncomfortable viewing for me, I can't imagine what I would have been like for any unfortunate Americans sitting through it!  

Mekong Delta:

The next day we set off for our two day trip in the Mekong Delta, an area in south Vietnam, where the Mekong River empties into the sea.  A packed morning on the first day included a trip to a coconut candy making factory, a tasting of Vietnamese fruits (accompanied by traditional music), a relaxing trip on a rowing boat along a narrow channel, a tour of a rice noodle factory and finally lunch at a traditional restaurant.  As the one day trippers boarded a bus back to Saigon, we took a 2 hour bus trip to Can Tho, the commercial centre of the Mekong Delta, where we checked into our surprisingly decent hostel.  

An early start was required next day as we were going to the Cai Rang floating market, the largest floating market on the Mekong Delta.  The market is busiest between the hours  of  7 and 9 and so it was during these times that we took a small tourist boat to the market, and then transferred in two groups into even smaller rowing boats for a leisurely tour of the market and the multiple boats selling their vegatables and plants.  Each boat has a long pole on which the owner hangs a sample of the type of merchandise for sale but the items are sold in kilos and so juice and water were the only purchases made.  After a quick visit to a rice factory, we boarded the bus for the 5 hour drive back to Saigon.

Da Lat:

Our next destination was Da Lat, a little town in the Central Highlands, where the climate was markedly different from most of Vietnam, the altitude reducing the temperature to an average of 17 degrees.  Our first walk into town was a refreshing change from Saigon, wide open pavements, MUCH less traffic and a lot less pestering by motortaxi riders.  

The next day we set off early for a day tour of the surrounding countryside on the back of the motorbikes of our guides from the hotel.  Our first stop was at a cricket farm where we enjoyed a mid-morning snack consisting of the a bowl of the local residents.  They are a delicacy in Vietnam but I can't see them catching on back home.  The rest of the busy morning was spent wandering round a local market (where Westerners were  rarely seen so we were afforded celebrity status!), touring a silk factory and visiting a nearby picturesque waterfall. 

Lunch was to be at the family home of our guides, an impressively large house apparently funded by  the nearby coffee farm owned by our guides' parents.  While one of the sisters (a Buddhist nun) was preparing our lunch, we took a walk around the surrounding village and were taken into the house (actually the shed) of one of the poorer families in the village.  An interesting conversation took place via the translation of our guide and we learned of some of the local customs.  This included the fact that in order for a marriage to take place, the family of the prospective bride must pay the family of the prospective groom for their son.  The currency is cattle and the price decided by the son's family.  Unfortunately for the groom, this effectively makes him the property of his new extended family and his workload is adjusted accordingly (I don't want to use the word slave but it seemed to be approaching that level).  We also learned about a family in the village that were feared and alienated by the rest of the village as they believed them to be 'ghosts' with power of life and death over others.  When our guide spotted the mother of this 'ghost family' passing and invited her in, the atmosphere became decidedly tense!  I've since checked my photos of that day and I can confirm that she shows up!

After our delicious vegatarian lunch, we learned of some Vietnamese customs and played some entertaining drinking games (without the drinking element!) before setting off back to Da Lat.  To round off an excellent day, the group had dinner together at a local restaurant and we were taken to an interesting club where live music was on offer (some sung in Vietnamese, some in English).  

We spent our last day in Da Lat seeing some of the tourist attractions in the town, including the Crazy House, a bizarrely designed guest-house which looks like a cross between a tree and a fairytale castle and taking the impressively long cable-car ride over the pine forest to the hill-top pagoda on the other side.

Nha Trang:

Our next stop was Nha Trang, a beachside town, where sunbathing, snorkelling and boozing seemed to be high on the list of things to do.  Unfortunately the weather was not kind to us in the couple of days we had in Nha Trang, the rain was pretty much constant and excursions to the beach were brief.  We did finally got to meet up again with the Mancunian couple we had met in New Zealand and so, having heard in our hostel about a new Mexican restaurant that was opening that night (and more importantly was offering a free buffet!) we headed there along with our Mancunian friends (who were joined by 3 friend of theirs from back home who were travelling separately).  A night of excellent free food, lots of free shots (vodka and jagermeister) and sombrero wearing was the undoubted highlight of our time in Nha Trang.

Having seen our plans for relaxing days on the beach washed out, our only other wish for Nha Trang was to ride on the world's longest cable car across sea, going from the mainland 5km outside of Nha Trang to Hon Tre Island.  After an hour's walk from central Nha Trang we were horrified to find out that there were no ticketing options available for simply riding the cable car to the island and back.  Instead a day pass for Vinpearl Land, a classy resort with spa, amusement park and shopping mall and which was vastly over our budget, had to be purchased. After silently cursing the owners of the resort, we returned to central Nha Trang in a taxi for a day of sitting about before boarding the sleeper bus to Hoi An.

Hoi An:

After an extremely uncomfortable night on the sleeper bus, which consisted of being kept awake till 4 am by Vietnamese power ballads playing over the speakers before finally getting a few hours kip in the cramped, uncomfortable bunks, we reached Hoi An.  

Hoi An has a major reputation for clothing production and almost as soon as we had stepped off the bus we were targetted by sales people trying to attract tourist to the family tailor or dress shop.  The prices were extremely reasonable, but the hassle of carrying the extra load around until going home resulted in us passing on the hundreds of offers we received while in the town.

Hoi An old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is probably the most beautiful town that we visited in Vietnam.  The narrow streets were normally free from motorbikes and the walk by the river was gloriously peaceful.  A ticket was required to visit some of the tourist attractions, including the 16th century built Japanese Covered Bridge, built to link the Japanese and Chinese quarters at the time and the hilariously named

As well as exploring the town we managed to pack in a trip to the nearby My Son ruins (which, to be honest after seeing the Angkor ruins, were a little disappointing) and a 2 hour boat trip along the Thu Bon river, which included a laughable attempt by both of us to cast a fisherman's net (it was considerably harder than he made it look).  We rounded off our time in Hoi An with probably the nicest meal that we had in Vietnam, as we visited a little restaurant on the river that we had been recommended by our Mancunian friends.  Red snapper on banana leaves - delicious!

Hue:

Our next stop was Hue, a really interesting city split in two by the Perfume River.  The main tourist attractions in Hue sit inside the Citadel, a large walled area on the North while the more modern area on the south bank is where all of the hotels and restaurants are situated.  

On ourt first day we spent our time in the Citadel, looking around the Imperial City and Palace enclosure, the massive flag tower and the war museum.  Despite being unsuccessful in finding a pub that was showing the Czech Republic v Scotland game we unfortunately managed to see it online on a hotel reception PC.  We were also amazed to find an actual bona fide supermarket in the city, and visited there a few times!

On our final day in Hue we took a boat trip along the Perfume River, stopping at the Thien Mu pagoda.  As well as being an impressive structure in its own right, the views of the distant mountains made the trip worthwhile.

Hanoi (part one):

After another uncomfortable night on a sleeper bus, we arrived in Hanoi.  We had been warned about how hectic and busy the city was and, after we had been dropped off in the taxi and walked along the narrow lane to our hotel, we definitely agreed with that assessment.  The lane was a makeshift market with mostly women selling all sorts of produce, including frogs, fish and vegetables, and the little space between the traders on  either side was taken up by beeping mopeds and and motorbikes.  From 5 in the morning until 8 or 9 at night, the noise outside the hotel was one of sheer bedlam!

One of the sights in Hanoi we were most eager to visit was the mausoleum of former President Ho Chi Minh.  Unfortunately we had timed our visit badly, as he was off on his annual maintenance trip to Russia having his body embalmed again!  The actual mausoleum itself wasn't much to look at so we made our way to the nearby Ho Chi Minh museum, which seemed to contain a lot of bizarre artwork in no way related to Ho Chi Minh!

Halong Bay:

After just a couple of days in Hanoi we were ready for a slower pace of life and we got just that on our 2 day tour of Halong Bay, a stunningly picturesque stretch of water dotted with little islands.  We toured the bay on a Chinese Junk style boat, eating and spending the night on the boat.  The photo opportunities were endless as the boat weaved its way through the variously sized islands in gloriously hot weather.  It was our last organised tour of the trip and it really didn't disappoint.  

Hong Kong:

After spending our last day in Hanoi doing last minute souvenier shopping, and sampling the incredibly cheap local Bia Hoi (freshly made beer) we left Vietnam and boarded a flight for Hong Kong.  Our original plan had been to travel overland from Vietnam, through southern China to Hong Kong but due to some ridiculous visa rules (you could only get a Chinese visa in Hanoi if you'd had one in the past) we were forced to shell out for a flight and miss out on another country for our list. 

On the bus from the airport we had to readjust to sensible driving practices including the use of lanes for overtaking and liberal use of the horn.  After a refreshingly straightforward bus journey from the airport we arrived at our guesthouse in the presumably ironically named "Chunking Mansions" building in the Kowloon area.  From the look of the building from the outside and the stairwell, "Deathtrap Mansions" would probably have been a better name.

The next day, after a delicious breakfast at McDonalds, we took a walk to the harbour front and got our first glimpse of the amazing view across the water to the skyscrapers of the business district.  We walked along the harbour front, taking in the Avenue of the Stars, a section of the promenade dedicated to film industry professionals from Hong Kong.  Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li were among the hundreds who were had there names etched in stars on the concrete.  Finally that day we took the ferry across the harbour to Hong Kong island where the business district is located.  We realised there wasn't much to see over there but we sat outside the CIty Hall and wondered why there were so many women sitting around doing nothing.  It was the weekend but there were an abnormal number of them having picnics and playing cards.  We never did find out what the story was with that!

The next day we decided to go to the Peak, a shopping and restaurant complex but, more importantly, an amazing viewpoint over the harbour.  Even the bus there offered spectacular views as we wound our way up one of the many hills that surround the harbour.  However, the panoramic views from the Peak were even more amazing and, as was the case with many places we had visited, the photos taken didn't really do it justice.  That evening we got into our smartest clothes and heading to the Aqua Spirit bar, an incredibly swanky and rather expensive cocktail bar, 90 floors up and overlooking the harbour.  One of my friends had given me some money on my birthday and specified that I had to spend it there (thanks Ali!).  We took in the light show (basically a display of lights and lasers placed on the skyscrapers across the harbour) and sipped some delicious cocktails, including a caipirinha, which we had discovered when in Rio.  To round off the night we decided to get a beer each to take back to the hotel with us and, while filming a clip a video clip in the 7/11 shop for our friend to show how a classy night was ending, were threatened by a member of staff with a phonecall to the police unless we stopped taking photos!  Despite vigorous questioning she refused to reveal what exactly we were doing wrong by filming in there!    

And then, after a few hours of killing time on the last day, it was time to head to the airport and head for home.  It has been an amazing six months.  We'd been to places that we had always dreamt of visiting, seen sights that we would never forget and met people that we would stay in touch with.  And yet strangely we were looking forward to going home and seeing friends and family.  And sleeping in a proper bed and having more than 4 t-shirts to wear!

Graham



I've Been to a Land Down Under

Here's a not so brief account of our time in the land of Rolf Harris, Crocodile Dundee and  Dame Edna Everage.

Adelaide:

A lot of people that we spoke to in South America and that had already been to Australia had the same reaction when we told them that we were starting our Australia leg in Adelaide: "what are you going there for?".  Undettered by this we were determined to find out for ourselves if there was actually anthing to do and see in Adelaide.  By the end of the few days there, we were of the opinion that for a short stay it was easy to keep busy.

Adelaide is extremly bike-friendly so on our first day, we took advantage of the free bike-hire in our hostel and took a cycle round part of the city, and through the central parklands, along the River Torrens.  The palindromic, sea-side suburb of Glenelg was just a short tram-ride away and so, after returning the bikes, we made the journey, taking in the pleasant view from the pier. 

One of the things we were most looking forward to doing in Adelaide was the Coopers Brewery tour.  Coopers are a local success story, now exporting their beer to multiple countries all over the world, including the UK.  Their Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale range can be found in some supermarkets and practially all specialised beer outlets.  Due to their rapid increase in production levels, they moved to a huge, custom-built site around 10 years ago.  On the tour of the brewery it was apparent how much thought for the environment had been put into the design of the facility, with water and power usage being kept a minimum.
  
After seeing the brewing room and the enormous bottling and packaging area it was time for the main event of the tour; the tasting.  We were given samples of all of Coopers range from the low-carb Clear to the 10% vintage range.  This in itself was not a trivial amount of alcohol, but once the full range had been sampled we were offered a choice of beer for a schooner (half pint).  And another.  And another!  Very good value for money at $22!

The next day, an early rise was required as we had arranged for a trip to nearby Kangaroo Island.  Regretting the 2 pints of Coopers we decided to have after returning from the brewery, we set off for the bus at 6, which took us to Cape Jervis where the ferry to Kangaroo Island departed from.  A choppy crossing did nothing to help our states, but I had recovered by the time we reached the island and collected our hired car.
 
Kangaroo Island is famed for its natural beauty and the range of wildlife that can be seen here. In fact, when being briefed by the hired car company, the possibility of hitting wildlife was stressed to us again and again.  The main point for our visit to Kangaroo Island, however, was that I wanted to visit the place where my late brother-in-law Dougal had tragically lost his life 7 years before, in an attempt to rescue a fellow tourist.  The accident occurred at Remarkable Rocks and after a 3 hour drive, which featured a miscalculation in directions resulting in us driving 20 miles along a dirt road, we made it to Remarkable Rocks.  A memorial plaque to Dougal and Daniel (the local tour operator who lost his life in the same accident) is to be found in the information shelter, along with warnings about disobeying the "No Access" signs, which is just what happened in the case of the person Dougal and Daniel attempted to rescue.  The weather was foul the day we were there, it was hard to even stay upright while standing on the rocks, and so after a short time wandering around the rather eerie place, I was glad to leave.

Melbourne:

After a mammoth 12 hour bus and train journey from Adelaide, we arrived in Melbourne.  Our hostel was in the St Kilda area of the city, but the excellent tram system made it very easy to get in and out of the centre of the city.
  
One of the draws of the hostel we initially stayed in was a free pancake breakfast every day so we eagerly rose on the first day and headed to the kitchen where the pancakes were being freshly made.  Half an hour later we were full and ready to face the day.  A downside of this was that we had to listen to the big-mouthed pancake preparer chatting with one of her friends and announcing all the most intimate gossip of some of the presumably long-term residents of the hostel - and I mean intimate gossip!  She repeated this the subsequent day to confirm what a complete and utter moron she was.  This daily ritual, combined with the fact that our room was directly above the noisy smoking area for a busy pub, resulted in us changing hostels after a couple of nights.

Melbourne is an extremely cosmpolitan city.  One startling statistic we learned was that it has the highest Greek city population outside of Greece and the highest Italian city population outside of Italy!  It also houses a large number of Asians in the unsurprisingly named Chinatown area.  As well as giving Melbourne an amazing variety of cuisine options, it gives the city a very cool, multi-cultural, New York-like atmosphere.

We spent several days seeing the tourist attractions dotted around the city centre, including Federation Square and Flinders St Station at the very heart of the city.  A free tourist bus and tram circuited the attractions, making it extremely easy to see everything, including the National Museum, St Paul's Cathedral and Queen Victoria Market.  The vast city library houses a Ned Kelly exhibition, giving the story of the life and death of the famous outlaw.  It also usually houses actual pieces of his armour, but we were unfortunate enough to go to the library on a day when the armour was on a tour of the country!  Of course, despite the free transport on offer, we also performed the Lonely Planet walking tour of the city.  One site which we missed out on, only finding out about its existence after having left Melbourne, was AC/DC Lane, a street in central Melbourne named after the legendary rockers.  Missing out on this photo op was devastating for us!

Melbourne is big on sports too.  As well as the amazing, 100000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which hosts AFL (or Aussie-rules as its known back home) in the winter and cricket in the summer, it can also boast the Rod Laver tennis complex, which hosts the Australian Open, and the very recently built AAMI stadium, built for hosting football and rugby.  It was to the AAMI that we headed for our first taste of football on Australian soil, to watch the A-League debut of Melbourne Heart, a newly formed side and the second Melbourne team in the A-League along with Melbourne Victory.  Although the 10000 seater stadium was far from full, a reasonably healthy crowd created a pretty good atmosphere, despite the shockingly bad club song introduced before kick-off and the eventual 1-0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners.

The following evening, we experienced a rather different atmosphere when we attended the MCG for an AFL game between Essendon and Carlton.  We were accompanied by 2 Melbourne residents, Miriam (a Kiwi) and Karmen, whom we had met in Buenos Aires and kept in touch with.  We bombarded them with questions about the rules, but to be honest, I think we knew as much about the rules as they did!  The crowd was extremely vocal, probably helped by the beer on-sale inside the stadium.  It's an all-action sport, and there are very few breaks or lulls in the excitement so it makes for a really enjoyable spectacle, especially with a beer in hand. The league culminates in a Grand Final, played at the end of September.  This year's was contested by Collingwood and St Kilda with the first game ending in a draw and the subsequent replay being won by Collingwood. 

Melbourne made a big impression on me, it's probably my favourite city that I've visited on the trip and is somewhere I could quite easily imagine myself living.

Sydney/Blue Mountains:

After another overnight bus (we had by this point purchased a Greyhound bus pass which would take us from Melbourne all the way to Cairns), we arrived in Sydney and headed straight to the Springwood in the Blue Mountains.  This is where a first cousin of my mother's, Elizabeth, and her husband Hugh live and we were met off the train by Hugh and immediately made to feel at home in their house.  Hugh, on his way to a family get-together where Elizabeth was, dropped us off in the Blue Mountains national park in the town of Wentworth Falls, having suggested a good walking trail for us that afternoon.  

For a couple of hours we navigated some of the trails fairly well, apart from a disastrous detour where we ended up on an "advanced climber" track and after reaching what appeared to be a dead-end, returned up the track rather than attempting a suicical descent of the cliff.

The views were amazing, the bluish mist which hangs over the area (caused by the vapour given off by the Eucalypus trees) and which the area is named after, clearly visible across the valley.  Finally, we walked back into town and, after a late lunch took the bus back to Springwood.  When Hugh and Elizabeth arrived home later, they treated us to a barbeque dinner and we got to know each other, never having met before this trip which made their hospitatility all the more impressive.

The following day we all took the journey to Katoomba, probably the most popular tourist spot in the Blue Mountains, and home to the 3 Sisters, 3 stacks of rock which sit next to each other and which an ancient Aboriginal tale states were originally 3 human sisters who were turned to stone by a tribal elder in order to protect them from an imminent battle.  The death of the tribal elder during the battle was a bit of a blow to them though, as it meant that they were never turned back into human form.  Bummer, huh?  Still, they have a cracking view over the Jamison valley from their resting point if that's any consolation to them.

Taking the Scenic Railway to the bottom of the valley - the steepest passenger railway in the world and formerly used to haul coal up the cliffside from the mines below - we walked for a couple of hours along the trail.  Hugh  was an excellent guide, giving us lots of useful information on the wildlife and plants in the area, trying to be heard above the piercing, high-pitched squawk of the numerous White Cockatoos.  Having relied on mechanical means to descend the cliff side, we had to revert to physical exertion to get back up, climbing the Giants Stairway, 900 steps carved into the cliff-side.  Sweating buckets having reached the top and in between 2 of the 3 Sisters, our reward for the climb was a spectacular view over the Jamison valley.  After a short walk, a trip on the Skyway cable car brought us back to where we started and ended an energetic and enjoyable day.  Later that evening, as Hugh took us through his photos of their trip to the UK and Lewis from a few years back, we were amused to see some familiar local characters from their photos of Stornoway, including a guy known to Ally as Uncle Fidget!

After saying farewell to Hugh and Elizabeth, we took the train back into Sydney the next day.  Our first day in Sydney was a washout however, as by the time we had walked into the centre of the city from the Kings Cross location of our hostel via the Botanic Gardens, the rain was torrential.  So we sought an indoor activity, settling on a trip to the cinema to watch Inception, an excellent movie which requires large amounts of concentration!

The following day the weather had cleared, so we walked to the Sydney Opera House and admired the view over to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, before taking the ferry across the harbour to the suburb of Manly.  We spent a few hours there, walking the length of the very nice beach and childishly trying to find the most amusing sign containing "Manly"; "Manly Boatshed" and "Manly Life Saving Club" being the 2 overall winners.

The next day, a walk of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was called for, and so, after finally finding how to get onto the bridge, we walked the length of it.  You can in fact scale the bridge, and hundreds of people do that every day (including such well-known faces as Robert De Niro and Bill Clinton according to the photos in the climbing tour agency's office) but we felt that the 200 hundred odd dollar outlay couldn't be justified so we settled for appreciating the view over the harbour from a few hundred feet below.  

Our final item to tick off the Sydney sight-seeing list was a trip to the famous Bondi Beach.  The weather in Sydney was as changeable as back in Scotland at this point though, and by the time we had reached the beach it was grey, wet and overcast and very much bereft of bikini-clad babes.
  
Another overnight bus awaited us but, while enjoying a last pint in Sydney, I managed to spot a former Home and Away star (Rhys Sutherland for any fans) and have a little chat and my photo taken with him.  Considering I approached him with "Didn't you used to be in Home and Away?", as I couldn't remember the name of his character at that point, he was pretty obliging and even mentioned that he'd spent last new year in Pitlochrie!  Judging by some of his storylines in Home and Away, it's a miracle Pitlochrie wasn't hit by some freak natural disaster during his stay there.

Byron Bay:

Byron Bay is a beachside town, very touristy and with not a lot to do other than lie on the beach.  So for the couple of days that we were there, we did just that!  The weather was good, the sea was warm and we had books to read so our couple of days there passed very quickly.  Our exercise was provided on the last day by walking to the light house which overlooks the beach and town, and taking in the sunset from there. 

Brisbane:

A short bus journey to Brisbane, and we had crossed over into Queensland, known as the Sunshine State for obvious reasons.  Again, we had been told that there wasn't much to Brisbane but we found it to be quite an interesting place, spending most of our one full day there walking the city centre, aided by our Lonely Plant guide.

Rainbow Beach/Fraser Island:

Our next destination was the little beachside town of Rainbow Beach, named after the colourful sand dunes which are found there.   Tourism in Rainbow Beach centres around trips to nearby Fraser Island, considered to be the largest sand island in the world, and it was for that reason that we were in town.  At the briefing the day before the tour departed we met up with our group for the 3 day tour.   They were a group of 4 Irish girls and 2 cockney siblings.  We got on well with them straight away and much of the next 3 days was spent talking in Cockney.  It's unusual to be in a situation where you get to take the piss out of someone's accent rather than have it ripped out of you!

The next day, after having packed all of the food and camping equipment, we set off in our 4 wheel drive jeeps.  Everyone who could drive would take turns in driving over the 3 days, and with the lead car being driven by an experienced guide, it was fairly straightforward.  Driving on the sand was fun though, and the driver's seat was often the best place to be with the cramped conditions for the 5 people who had to sit in the back.  

After the short ferry ride to the island we set off along the seemingly endless beach to set up our campsite.  On this journey we saw a big, dead turtle on the sand with a large chunk having been taken out of its shell by a shark - if we needed any confirmation that the strict instructions not to swim in the sea should be obeyed, then this was it!

After having set up our tents (Cockney Dan, Ally and I were in one tent) and having had lunch of ham salad sandwiches (after Fraser Island I can appreciate where the 'sand' in sandwiches came from), we drove to Lake Mackenzie, a beautiful fresh-water lake where we could swim and relax for an hour or two.  By the time we returned to camp, the sun was setting and the race was on to get dinner cooked before darkness fell.  The lads were in charge of dinner on the first night and we rustled up steak, potatoes, vegetables and sand.  Delicious!  Once the dishes were kind of washed (it's pretty tricky when there's no soap and everything has sand floating in it) we settled down to make a dent in the considerable amount of beer and goon (goon is cheap - very cheap - australian wine)  that we'd brought to the island.  Several hours later, we had succeeded!

Nursing a considerable hangover the next day I was glad that I had performed my share of the driving the previous day.  We set off for Indian Head, a headland and lookout point from which we had been guaranteed that we would see at least one whale.  Sure enough, after clambering to the top we saw stingrays, dolphins and whales in the water beneath.  After some of us had returned to the jeeps, Jake - the lead driver and ultra-laidback surfer dude - who remained up at the headland for a little while longer, spotted a shark in the waters below.

Before continuing the heavy drinking we visited the wreck of the SS Maheno, a luxury liner built on the Clyde in 1905, which ran aground in 1935 while being towed to Japan and which was used as a target for bombing practice during the Second World War by the Royal Australian Air Force.

That evening while at another group's campsite we saw a dingo roaming around (we had seen quite a few over the course of the trip) and as instructed, we made lots of noise to scare it off.  When we returned to our jeep we found that our rubbish bag had gone missing and had in fact been dragged by the dingo halfway to the beach and ripped open!  Thankfully there wasn't too much devastation as the patrolling rangers can issue on the spot fines for littering.

Our final morning on Fraser Island was spent at Lake Wabby, another fresh water lake inhabited by catfish.  After a couple of hours relaxing there, it was time to listen to the group's theme tune one last time (Chas and Dave's 'Rabbit' in homeage to our cockney friends) and head back to Rainbow Beach for a shower, an early (sober) night and failed attempts to get the sand of Fraser Island out of bags, shoes and body cavities.

Bundaberg:

Our next stop after Rainbow Beach was a night in Bundaberg, mainly famed for the Bundaberg Rum which is produced in a distillery there.  It's a nice little town but, having decided we weren't going to shell our for the distillery tour, there wasn't a lot to do.  Probably the only thing of note to mention about our stay there was that we spent the night in a hostel called Cellblock, which was formerly a prison!

1770/Agnes Waters:

The village of Agnes Waters was our next destination and we decided it was time to get some more exercise under our belts.  So hiring bikes, we took a tour of the village, seeing a local kangaroo hot-spot, the lookout across that section of the Queensland coastline and the nearby village of 1770 (so called as it was the second landing site of Captain Cook and the Endeavour in May 1770) where we realised there was nothing much to see at all.  

Airlie Beach/Whitsunday Islands:

After another overnight bus we arrived in the town of Airlie Beach, a nice little town with a large marina where boats of all sizes depart for the Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands every day.  We were in town for a Whitsunday Islands trip and after checking in for the trip we relaxed by the man-made lagoon in the scorching temperatures.  The following day, however, the weather had turned and as we walked to the marina with our 'slab' of beer, the rain was torrential.  The ship we were on, a little catamaran called the Tongarra, was supposed to house 20 passengers, but there were actually only 13 of us onboard; 15 including the hilarious, Kiwi, Will Ferrell-lookalike skipper Noel, and the friendly Tasmanian cook Shani.  We sailed for 3 hours out towards the islands before anchoring for the night and enjoying a delicious dinner of barbequed fish and salad for dinner (there was enough food on the boat to cater for 20 passengers so we feasted at every meal!).  Some heavy drinking followed, resulting in much hilarity when the ship's puppet (which we called Stevesie) was discovered and everyone's puppeteering skills was put to the test - I think you probably had to be there!

The next day we set sail early for Whitsunday Island and, after coming ashore, took the short walk to the lookout over Whitehaven beach.  The view was stunning, the white sands of the beach and the aqua blue water stretching over a huge distance.  It's said to be the most photographed beach in Australia and it's easy to see why.  After exhausting the photographs we headed down to the beach and spent an hour or so there before heading back to be picked up by Noel in the dingy and transferred back onto our floating home.
  
After lunch it was time for some snorkelling.  While Shani was preparing to give us a briefing, a family of whales passed extremely close to the boat and practically did a full circle around us which was extremely cool.  After the whales had disappeared into the distance and Shani had finally delivered her briefing, it was time to get into the water.  It was the first time I had ever snorkelled and, I have to say, I look prettay prettay good in a wet-suit!  It took me quite a bit of getting used to and, as a fairly weak swimmer, I was glad for the 'spaghetti' float we had all been given.  I saw lots of fish of varying sizes, but missed the large turtle which others in the group had seen.  

Our final day on the Tongarra saw the best weather of the trip and our final snorkelling trip gave us the clearest view of the coral on the ocean bottom and the shoals of multiples types of fish surrounding us, after which it was time to return to shore.
   
Cairns:

Cairns was our last port of call in Australia and we had been told to expect roasting hot temperatures.  Instead, we got comfortable temperatures but almost constant rain and it was in these conditions that we took our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef.   The sea was really quite choppy and a couple of girls onboard were really seasick (being experienced ferry travellers Ally and I didn't suffer from this!).  This made the snorkelling quite challenging as the current was quite difficult to swim against.  It was actually warmer in the water than out of the water though, with the water temperature at a toasty 28 degrees.  The sensation of being in such warm water but being pelted by torrential rain was very strange.
  
We had several snorkelling opportunities at different spots during the day and, even though the water wasn't as clear as it would have been on a clear, sunny day it was amazing to see the different types of coral covering the ocean floor.  

We had originally planned to stay in Australia for seven weeks when we booked our round the world flights, but had reconsidered after hearing the horror stories from fellow travellers as to how expensive the place was, and had reduced our time to five.  We'd had a lot of fun in Australia, met some great people, spent a lot of money, drank a lot of beer and spent more time on the beach than either of us expected we would.  Although we had only really managed to see the east coast, we still covered a lot of ground.  But now it was time to leave the comfort zone of an English-speaking country and head to the madness of South-East Asia.

Graham

New Zealand: Like Scotland but Further

North Island

Auckland:

After a 14 hour flight from Santiago where we lost the 3rd July (crossing the international date line) we touched down in Auckland in the early hours of the 4th July.  Before exiting the plane, the pilot came over the intercom with the news that Germany had handed Argentina a 4-0 cuffing while we were in the air.  This seemed to go down well with the numerous Brazilians on the flight (bet they weren’t so chirpy the day before when they were sent packing by the Netherlands) but not so well with Ally and I, as we both had outstanding bets on Argentina winning the tournament!  

Auckland is a fairly standard, unspectacular city and we didn’t find that there was much to do.  Couple these traits with the fact it rained for the whole time we were there and it’s safe to say that it didn’t leave a lasting impression on us.  We did go to the top of the Sky Tower to get a view of the city (which is spread over a massive area geographically and is built on over 20 volcanoes) and took a ferry to the nearby volcanic island of Rangitoto, walking to the summit of the volcano to get an impressive view back across the harbour to Auckland.  

When buying lunch one day we discovered that the man serving us was a Glaswegian and so got talking to him.  It turned out that in 5 weeks time he was returning to Scotland to get married and was spending his honeymoon in Lewis!  A chance encounter which cheered us up in the perpetual rain, especially when he gave us our pita breads for free!  Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch!

While in Auckland we planned our travels in NZ.  We decided to divide our 3 weeks by spending 1 week in the North Island and 2 weeks in the South Island, as we’d been advised by several travellers that we’d met in South America and who’d come round the other way that there was more to see in the south.  So we opted to buy a bus pass to get us round the various places in the North Island that we wanted to visit, the pass being calculated in hours of travel. 

Waitomo:

Our first place visited was the tiny village of Waitomo, famed for its underground caves.  There’s not much to Waitomo, the village is geared around the cave tours and not many people actually stay a night there.  When we got there and checked into our hostel we were told that another site in Waitomo popular with tourists was the “Shearing Shed”.  At first we thought to ourselves that we wouldn’t be interested in that as we’d seen sheep being sheared before, but when we were told that it was in fact giant Angora rabbits that were being sheared rather than sheep, it took on a totally different dimension!  So along we went to the daily shearing session, unsure of what to expect.  First of all you could view the rabbits which were on the premises as they required shearing (apparently they can die of heat exhaustion if they’re not sheared) and boy oh boy these were some big rabbits!  Then, when the time arrived, one of the rabbits was brought out (it felt like a public execution so I booed the rabbit as she was taken out) and her front paws and back paws tied to a device which stretched her out and allowed her to be spun around like a rotisary chicken.  And then the shearing took place.  We were assured that the rabbits didn’t mind this being done but, to be honest, she didn’t look particularly happy.  Quite an incredible amount of wool came off and we were invited up to closely inspect the victim, er sorry, rabbit.  I’m not ashamed to admit it was probably one of the funniest and most bizarre things I’ve ever seen and more than justified the trip to Waitomo! 

After a swift exit from rabbit Guantanomo Bay, we headed to the caves.  There are 3 cave systems which can be toured but we had chosen to just see the Glow-worm caves, so called because, unsurprisingly, of the number of glow-worms you could see inside.  After a tour of the cave system, which featured some very impressive stalagmites and stalactites, we boarded a small boat and the guide dragged us through a series of water-filled, pitch-black caves which had thousands upon thousands of glow-worms shining on the cave roof.  It was an amazing spectacle.  Sadly, as the glow-worms are scared by light and sound (and cease glowing in that state), no cameras are allowed to be used in these caves so I have no photographic evidence that I was there!

An early rise was required the next day in the hostel in order to watch the Netherlands v Uruguay semi-final, which kicked off at 6.30 am NZ time.  It was an enjoyable match, during which we met John-Henry and Helen for the first time, a couple from Manchester with whom we spent a lot of time in New Zealand as a whole. 

Rotorua:

Rotorua’s fame is built around the geo-thermal hotspots that the town is built upon.  Numerous hot springs and geysers can be found around the town.  On the plus side this makes it a very spectacular town to walk around, with steam emanating from the ground and mud boiling threateningly all over the place.  On the negative side, a smell reminiscent of a post-Christmas dinner fart permanently hangs over the town.  Apparently you get used to it after a while but after spending a day there I was still gagging on it.

After arriving in Rotorua, we walked the 5km or so round the town, guided by the Lonely Planet walking tour.   This took in the museum (which we visited the next day), the steaming shore at Lake Rotorua and the historic Maori meeting hall and burial ground.  If you’ve ever seen the NZ film Once Were Warriors, then this is where the funeral takes place near the end.  If you’ve not, sorry for the spoiler but you should see it, it’s really good!  They are really impressive, ornate structures and you really get a sense of their history.  Less impressive and historic was the 4x4 car parked nearby with the number plate “Seltic - Mon the Hoops”.  Just goes to show, you get glory-hunters all over the world.

The next day we visited the Rotorua museum.  The museum building was formerly used as a sanatorium where people travelled from all over the country to be treated for various ailments using different hot springs, mineral baths and electrolysis and the museum, as well as detailing the geo-thermal activity in the town, explained the various treatments which used to be performed there.

Taupo:

The next stop was Taupo, a town located on the shore of Lake Taupo, a lake formed in the massive caldera of a super-volcano.  Trust me, when that thing goes off, you do not want to be in New Zealand!  After arriving and spending the evening in our hostel we made friends with a Czech fellow named Jiri who accompanied us the next day on our walk to the Huka Falls.  

The Huka Falls are the main attraction in the beautiful Wairakei Park.  Walking for an hour through the park to the falls, we were treated to several stunning views of the Waikato River, many of which were reminiscent of Scottish scenery.  Now having been to the Iguazu Falls, the Huka Falls kind of pales in comparison, but the boiling torrent of water running through a narrow channel in the enclosing rock before falling 20 feet still gives a sense of the awesome power of nature.

On the walk back to the hostel we had our first taste of a New Zealand pie.  Beaut Bakery’s Steak, Cheese and Bacon pie was well worth the wait!

Napier:

Making good progress down the North Island, our next stop was the quaint town of Napier.  Famed for its art-deco buildings and sitting on the East coast, Napier is a really picturesque place.  That said, there’s not an awful lot to do so, after having walked the town, (again assisted by the Lonely Planet guide) we amused ourselves with a round of crazy golf before the bus to Wellington.

Wellington:

We arrived in Wellington on a Saturday night and even from the short walk from the bus station to our hostel, we got the impression that it was a livelier, more happening city than Auckland had been.  

Our first morning in Wellington was spent in the Te Papa museum, an amazing place which, among other things, houses the preserved remains of the only colossal squid ever to have been fished from the ocean.  It’s a pretty amazing sight and looks like something out of a science fiction film.  During our first visit to Te Papa we also checked out the Geo-thermal section which housed some very cool computer animated depictions of eruptions and a little house that you could stand in to experience an earthquake.  (If we’d been in New Zealand 6 weeks later we could have discovered what that felt like for real!).  The following day we returned to complete the levels that we had not had time to visit, including one dedicated to migration which mentioned the huge number of Scots who had emigrated to New Zealand over the years.  In total we spent about 5 hours in Te Papa.  I can’t recommend it enough!

The World Cup was drawing to a close and, aided by the loudest snorer I’ve ever come across (and that includes you Ali - I think he had some serious underlying medical issues),  I managed to get up for half 6 to watch the 3rd/4th place play-off and the final.  I was glad I made the effort to see the Germany v Uruguay game as it was a cracker, the final, not so much, although the best team triumphed.
 
As had become customary, we completed the Lonely Planet walking tour, taking in the lovely harbour front, the Beehive parliament building and the little funicular.  Beer being pretty expensive in New Zealand instead of hitting the trendy pubs, we bought a couple from the off-licence and played scrabble in our hostel with our Mancunian buddies, John-Henry and Helen.  Rock ‘n roll!  After just under a week, it was time to leave the North Island and take the inter-islander ferry to Picton in the south island.  The scenery on the ferry journey was  incredible as the ferry wound its way through the multitude of tiny islands in between the north and south island.  I’ve never been to Canada before, but the scenes were reminiscent of how I’ve pictured Canada to look.

South Island

Christchurch (part 1):

After arriving in Picton on the south island (which was in itself a very picturesque town), we took the bus to Christchurch, which initially winds its way along the north east coast, giving some fantastic views of the coastline and ocean.

We arrived in Christchurch extremely excited at the prospect of staying in an actual real house for the first time in a while.  This was because my sister’s brother-in-law, Ken, has stayed in Christchurch for a few years and, luckily for us, has recently purchased a 3 bedroom house!  Ken met us off the bus and, after a quick beer, took us to his very switch abode just outside of the centre of town, near the hills.  We then discovered that, not only were we going to get a room to ourselves, we had double bed each – amazing!  

As well as making us feel at home, Ken was kind enough to leave us his car to use the next day, while he took his motorbike to work.  We used this to travel into town and strike an excellent deal on the use of a camper van for the following 10 days!  The price was such that we didn’t even mind that it had gaudy images of people’s faces painted on the side of it!  After achieving that we took a drive into the hills, timing it perfectly for sunset, to get a great view back over the city.

Nelson/Motueka:

I had been given the address of a distant cousin of mine, Kenny, originally from Stornoway, who had settled close to Nelson.  I had spoken to his wife the evening before and she had told us to come and visit their house.  So, after picking up the camper van in the morning, we headed off from Christchurch to make the 5 hour drive north east.  The drive took us through the Lewis Pass, a spectacular stretch of road which snaked between the mountains.  As was the case with many of the roads in NZ, it was extremely fun to drive with sharp corners and sharp ascents and descents and with scenery so beautiful that it’s difficult to keep your eyes on the road.  Spirits were high as we looked forward to living in the great outdoors for 10 days and as Ally cranked the stereo and we sang along to Big Country, it could have been the opening scene in a corny American disaster movie.

When we reached Nelson darkness had fallen and, after calling Kenny and getting directions from him to his house in nearby Motueka, (and hearing his still surprisingly strong Lewis towny accent!) we finally reached his abode.  Kenny welcomed us into his barn and immediately filled a glass of home brewed beer for us while introductions were made.  After a few glasses in the barn, Kenny took us inside to meet his family, his wife Helen and their 3 boys.  We were spoiled rotten, with a delicious roast dinner and as much home-brewed beer as we could drink!  Kenny and his boys are pretty handy on the eukeleles and they gave us a spectacular rendition of Status Quo’s Rocking All Over the World – brilliant!  Our first night in the camper van was spent not actually in the camper van as Kenny provided sofas in a warm house for us to kip on!  

The next day, after a hangover-curing fry-up, we headed for the nearby Abel Tasman national park and took a refreshing 3 hour walk which included seeing our first dead possum close up.  The possum, native to Australia but intoduced into New Zealand by man, is a despised creature in New Zealand.  Huge areas of forestry have been sprayed with poison (1080) to kill them but, controversially, this poison also kills anything and everything else living in the affected area.  

After stopping for supplies and a few hours drive towards the West coast, we stopped for the night at one of the many "Conservation Area" camping points in New Zealand, maintained by the Department of Conservation and providing limited facilities for campers.  One of the reasons they are provided is to try and prevent free camping (stopping a camper anywhere and staying the night there) which has become a problem in NZ due to the huge numbers of camper vans in circulation.  This particular stop-off point was free of charge but the facilities consisted of only a drop toilet.  After a fine meal of noodle and chicken cooked on the gas stove, we allowed ourselves only an hour of the back light on (so as not to drain the battery) before turning in at the ungodly hour of half past 8!  

West Coast:

The next day we set off and made our way down the west coast.  Our first stop was the little town of Westport where we found very little of interest.  Carrying on down the coast we stopped off at the Punakaiki pancake rocks and blow-hole site.  The limestone cliffs have been eroded in a manner that has left the rock-face layered in the appearance of a squashed pile of pancakes.  The erosion of the limestone has also resulted in a vertical channel being burrowed through it.   When a wave crashes into the cliff below the spray is channelled upward through the hole in the rock and shoots out in a jet of water, similar to a whale's blow-hole. As well as the pancake rocks and blow-holes, the stunning views north and south along the coast made this stop more than worthwhile.

Our next stop was Greymouth where we intended to stay the night at a holiday park.  However, when we arrived in Greymouth late in the afternoon on Saturday, we found that the town had shut down, no shops were open and the place was like a ghost town!  So we decided to drive an hour down the road and found a nice holiday park in Hokitika where we had the luxury of a powered site, giving us endless light for reading and heat from the convection heater supplied by the good people at Escape Camping Ltd!

Our first stop the next day was at the Bushman's Centre in Pukeka.  As well as the shop and museum, there you can find the famed Roadkill Cafe, slogan "You Kill 'Em, We Grill 'Em".  The menu is fairly standard though, apart from the Possum Pie which they used to sell for 4 dollars but, due to government regulations, they are now unable to sell.  However, make a  4 dollar donation to the charity box and they'll give you one for free!  It was too early in the morning for us though, so we settled on coffee and pancakes.

Continuing down the coast we came to the little town of Franz Josef, a town centred around the nearby Franz Josef glacier.  Helicopter rides over the glacier are available and also guided walking tours up on the glacier but, short of time and having been advised that the views of the glacier deteriorated the closer you got to it, we walked a kilometer to a viewpoint and looked at it from afar.  Driving to the glacier walk car park, we passed several signs indicating where the glacier had been 50 and 70 years before and were shocked by how far (probably a good couple of miles) the glacier had receded in that relatively short time.  

Glacier-daft, we continued on to the next point of interest, the Fox glacier.  Again the little town was dominated by adverts for guided glacier walks, helicopter rides and sky dives (tragically 9 people were killed in the last week when an aircraft taking tourists up over the glacier for a skydive crashed).  This time we had been informed that the best views were offered close up to the glacier and so we set off to walk up to the glacier face through the vast valley which the glacier had carved out and, similar to the Franz Josef glacier, had receded back through.  The little glacier pools that had formed in the valley were the most amazing shade of blue, presumably because of the minerals that had formed.  We were able to get quite close to the glacier face and were struck by how dirty the ice was, where the dust and rock eroded by the glacier had blackened the ice.  We were also slightly disappointed that the ice-skating polar bear from the Fox's Glacier mints advert seems to have been phased out.

Wanaka/Queenstown:

Heading inland from the coast the next day, the scenic town of Wanaka, situated on Lake Wanaka was our first stop.  After relaxing by the lake for half an hour we headed out to the edge of town to Puzzleworld, a little tourist attraction featuring a maze, a room of illusions and an assortment of puzzles to irritate you in the little cafe.  We decided to skip the maze and instead entered the room of illusions.  Multiple optical illusions await, the highlights being the tilted room where, completely inexplicably, your sense of balance goes out the window, and the room where someone standing in one corner looks tiny while someone in the other corner looks massive.  Baffling but very cool!  After frustrating ourselves for an hour on the mini puzzles in the cafe we headed to Queenstown, where we had the relatively luxury of camping outside a hostel and being able to use its facilities.

Queenstown is a town that is famed for its skiing.  Unlike other parts of NZ, its busiest during the winter months as thousands of ski dudes and dudettes descend on the town to get their fix of the white powder.  Snow, I mean.  So, masquerading as skiiers and answering frequent questions of "were you guys on the slopes today?" with the stock answer of "er, yeah, it was totally awesome dude", we headed out for a night out with our fellow non-skiing Mancunian friends.  We had been told of one bar which ran "Moustachioed Mondays" where 30 dollar bar tabs were up for grabs if your face was adorned with some kind of moustache, so Ally and John-Henry shaved a pretty cool handlebar number in while Helen and I (having shaved the night before!) were forced to draw ours on.  It was worth it though as 2 out of 4 of us won the bar tab so a cheap night was had!

The weather thwarted our plans to head up the gondola cable cars the next day as it was overcast and wet so the views from the top of the hill would have been limited.  Instead we contented ourselves with a walk in the park where I showed off my completely useless skill of stone-skimming.  For dinner we visited a Queenstown institution, Fergburger, a fast food joint famed for its tasty burgers of all varieties.  Choosing a Mr Big Stuff (2 hunks of beef, bbq sauce, salad) Ally and I were both amazed as it actually lived up to everything we'd heard about it!  It's probably the best burger I've ever had.  In fact it was so good that we returned the next day to try a "Chief Wiggum", pork belly with an apricot mayonnaise - delicious again!

Finally, on our last day in Queenstown we had clear, dry weather and so we took the Skyline gondola to the top of Queenstown hill to take in the spectacular views of the Remarkable Mountains, Lake Wakatipu and the town below.  We also tried luging, a kind of sledging done on a windy, fast artificial track which was a whole lot of fun!

Dunedin:

After our failed attempts to find a free place to camp close to Dunedin, we spent the night in a holiday park and drove the shot distance into Dunedin.  Dunedin, if you didn't know this, is named after Dun Eideann, the Gaelic name for Edinburgh, and shares many of its street names with street names in Edinburgh.  FIttingly, when we were there the weather was grey and wet.  There wasn't an awful lot to do (we forgot to go and visit the steepest street in the world - doh!) but we did find our way to the Scottish Shop where we picked ourselves up some Highland Toffee and some Tunnocks Snowballs!

Driving to our campsite for the night, with night just falling, we realised that we were passing through Moeraki, scene of the Moeraki boulders.  These boulders (10 or so of them) are huge, almost perfectly spherical, rocks which were discovered on the beach.  In the almost pitch-dark we decided to walk the path down to the beach and peer through the gloom and rain to try and see them.  We saw their outline and Ally took some photos, most of which pretty much look like photos of rain in the dark!  

It being winter in New Zealand, we shouldn't have expected our plans to be unaffected by the weather and indeed they weren't.  The weather at Mount Cook the next day hadn't improved much and a thick layer of cloud hung over the tiny town and the surrounding mountains, so that Mount Cook was completely shrouded.  The forecast was the weather might lift the following day but that would have left us stuck in the town for the whole day , and there was literally nothing in the town other than a hostel and visitor centre.  So we took the decision to drive an hour and a half to Lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo:

Like so many towns in the South Island, the eponomously titled town on the shores of Lake Tekapo has been developed in a truelly spectacular location.  Mount John, just outside of town, has an observatory and cafe at the summit and so, after enjoying a coffee, we took in the 360 views of the Mackenzie basin and the fantastic view of the town. 

The weather had indeed improved the next day and we were just about able to pick out Mount Cook in the distance from the lake shore.  The clearer skies also brought out the amazing light-blue colour of the water.   The improvement in weather was just in time for the happy couple getting married on the shore!  

Christchurch (part 2):

Returning to Christchurch that evening we were actually quite sad that our camping adventure was coming to an end.  A delicious take-away curry and good sleep in an actual bed soon removed these thoughts though and after returning the camper van safely the next day our thoughts turned to planning our time in our next destination, Australia.  (See the link to the next update there?).

Graham

Links to photos: