Journal:

New Zealand - Auckland, 28 Nov 2001

We are staying at the Auckland Central Backpackers, which is a monster hostel with over 300 beds and a rooftop bar. It is actually quiet a good place to stay. We organize ourselves for our travels around New Zealand at the travel center at the hostel. We are going to leave on Friday. That gives us a day to relax in Auckland before doing the tour thing again. We are going to take the Magic Bus around New Zealand, rushing through the North Island and taking a little more time in the South Island.

We bump into Steve, an American guy from our trip on the tall ship (around the Whitsundays). He is staying in the same hostel as us. We meet Steve in the bar later that evening for what turns out to be a decent session. Most of the people we talk to are going on the Kiwi Experience (which is the main competitor of the Magic Bus). I wonder if we have chosen the wrong company... time will tell.

New Zealand, 29 Nov 2001

After not sleeping on my last night in Sydney, I did not emerge from my deep slumber until midday today. The day was then spent updating my journal and wandering around Auckland. I have been very slack in my journal keeping of late, which was a direct consequence of my involvement with Sarah. I expect to now get back to my usual diligent self.

New Zealand, 30 Nov 2001

After a respite of just one day, it's back to early starts again. Auckland is at the top of the North Island of New Zealand. We will travel south from Auckland, take a ferry to the South Island, travel counter-clockwise around the South Island, and back up the North Island to Auckland in time for Christmas.

Our bus driver for the first leg of this trip (as far as the ferry to the South Island) is Karl. The Magic Bus is mindless travel... each day the driver tells you about all activities along your route, books accomodation at your destination, and your onward journey the following day. The Kiwis really have made it easy to travel around. The bus is about two-thirds full, with a reasonable mix of people.

On the first day, we make friends with quiet a few people, including Paddy and Mandy (from Ireland), Mattias (from Sweden), Erin and Nancy (from Canada), and the irrepressible Brendan (from Ireland). Paddy and Mandy are a very nice couple from Donegal and Tyrone respectively. They have been working in Sydney for the past year and are embarking on some travels before returning home. Mattias is a really sound and extremely funny guy, who is traveling on his own. Erin is one of the loudest people I have ever met, but if you can get past the sonic boom-like greeting, is a really nice person. Nancy is a teacher from Ontario, who is on a 6 month break from her teaching job. (I fancy Nancy!) She has just come from a four week trip to Nepal so I am pumping her for as much information as I can absorb. Brendan is a retired teacher from Westmeath who, in my opinion, is the heart and soul of this party.

The New Zealand countryside is beautiful, with undulating green hills. Our first stop on our southward journey are the glowworm caves at Waitomo. We take a guided tour that has us walk into the caves and then take a boat out at the other end. The thousands and thousands of glowworms are very spectacular, lighting up the roof of the caves.

Tonight will be spent in Rotorua, also known as the thermal capital of New Zealand. As you travel around Rotorua, there are clouds of steam everywhere that you look. These clouds of steam are caused by thermal springs. We spend the evening at a Maori cultural village. After demonstrations of various aspects of traditional Maori life and culture, we enjoyed a meal. Our dinner was cooked in the traditional Maori way (called Hangi), with the food buried under ground for a few hours with hot coals. To tell you the truth, it tasted a little funny. But, because the Maoris have "entertained" us for so long, we are starving and wolf the food down. One of the highlights of the evening was a rousing rendition of that old Maori traditional song "You Are My Sunshine" (I think it's actually the state song of Mississippi, Louisanna, or somewhere like that).

Then it was back to town for a great night out. We celebrated Davie's 30th birthday in appropriate style, with innumerable rounds of beers and shots. We started at the pub and then moved on to a Maori nightclub. There were quiet a few of us from the Magic Bus there, and we were joined by some other people that we met in the pub. Davie was receiving considerable attention from Gemma (someone that we met in the pub), but he didn't return the favor. I, on the other hand, spent most of the evening flirting with Nancy (but to no avail). The highlight of the night had to be Brendan (the retired schoolteacher) who was dancing up a storm.

New Zealand, 01 Dec 2001

It looks like we are going to be getting up at much more respectable times in New Zealand. In Australia we were getting up at some very unsociable hours, but the Magic bus leaves at about 8.30 in the mornings.

Today is the first day of the summer in New Zealand. However, you would hardly think so given the current weather conditions. It is raining today and the forecast is for rain for the next few days. It puts a bit of a damper on things, but what can you do?

Our plan is to do the Tangariro Crossing tomorrow. The Tangariro Crossing is supposed to be the best one-day hike in New Zealand. Most people on the bus plan to do it. However, the bad weather might hamper our efforts.

Before leaving the Rotorua area, we visit some boiling mud pools, a geyser, and a thermal reserve. The boiling mud pools are a little disappointing because there is a layer of rainwater on top of the mud, which mutes the bubbling effects. The Lady Knox Geyser is very spectacular, albeit a little bit of a circus show. At 10.30 every day, a large group of people congregates to watch a park ranger drop soap powder into the geyser in an effort to spur it into action. A few minutes later, the geyser ejaculates a 20-meter fountain of warm water. The Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland is 18 square kilometers of craters with boiling water and boiling mud. Because of mineral deposits the water in different craters has different colours.

Tonight, we enjoyed a bbq and the requisite couple of gallons of beer in Turangi. I was a bit of a social butterfly, spending most of the evening floating from one group of people to the next. As the evening wore on, there were a couple of reasons for celebration. First there was news of the World Cup draw, with Ireland getting a reasonable draw and England getting a difficult one :-)

New Zealand, 02 Dec 2001

It is cloudy and wet and we are advised not to go on the crossing. So, we get back on the magic bus and head for Wellington. We will try to do the hike when we return to the North Island in a few weeks time.

Of course, as the morning progresses, the weather clears up. It is still cloudy, but the rain has stopped. However the low cloud cover means that we cannot see much of the scenery. We start travelling along what is known as the Desert Road, which Davie noted was more desolate that anything we had seen in the Australian Outback.

On one of our stops today, myself and Brendan go jet boating. It was a nerve-racking experience, with our driver doing his best to frighten the life out of us. We were on a man-made lake, with several islands providing great high-speed turns.

We got into Wellington in the mid-afternoon, which gave us enough time to pay a quick visit to the world-renound Te Papa museum. However, I wasn't in much of a museum mood and went for a wander along the waterfront instead. My enduring memory of Wellington is the wind... I can see why some people claim it as the windiest city in the world.

Tonight, a big bunch of us get together at our hostel (Downtown Backpackers) for food, drink, and merriment. After a great meal, we enter a killer pool competition. There are about 30 people in the competition, including a bunch of cocky English gap-year kids. We almost raised the roof when Nancy ended up winning the competition, much to their displeasure. And then she took her 50 dollar prize money and bought us shots.

Tomorrow, we will be breaking up our nice little group, with Brendan staying on the North Island and most other people staying in Wellington for another day. It is a bit of a bummer because myself, Davie, Brendan, Erin, Nancy, and Mattias have become a tight group. Throughout the evening Erin and Nancy make several references to how much they are drinking while travelling with the Irish boys... Davie tries to explain that he is not Irish, but his clarifications fall on deaf ears.

New Zealand, 03 Dec 2001

Today we took the ferry to the South Island. The brochure describes it as a wonderful trip through the majestic Cook Strait. All we see is low-lying clouds. And then at the far side, we get on a South Island magic bus. Davie is delighted to discover some fellow Scots on board. Alan and Alastair are a couple of 22 year old farmers on their way to Australia for a year. And Nicole is a young lassie from Paisley on her way home after a year away.

Our bus journey to the town of Nelson is interrupted by two landslides on the road (an indication of just how much rain is falling down here). On our arrival in Nelson, we were amused to bump into Sarah and Lizzie (who we had met in Fiji). A bunch of us go out for a few beers this evening, but are tired and head home fairly early. Davie was delighted because tonight I was sitting at a table with four other Scots... usually it is the other way around with Davie hanging out with a bunch of Irish people.

New Zealand, 04 Dec 2001

We spent today in Abel Tasman National Park. We had hoped to spend a half-day sea kayaking and a half-day hiking, but we were the only two people who had signed up for this option and the tour company required a minimum of four people. So we joined most of the other people from the bus on the full-day hike.

We took a bus to Abel Tasman. It is incredibly beautiful, with tree-covered mountains meeting the sea at golden beaches. We then take a boat up the coast for an hour (to Bark Bay) from which we hiked back to the bus. We hurried along the hilly trail, covering the 20 kilometers in just over four hours. And the weather even picked up for us, with no rain and an occasional appearance by the sun.

Back in Nelson, we meet up with Erin, Nancy, and Mattias for another evening of the inevitable imbibing (with the Irish boys). The highlight of the evening was when a kilt-clad Alan was groped by a latter-aged woman. The [much] older woman then proceeded to give Alan her phone number and offered him some encouragement to call her. I had visions of what I imagine my sister Sheila will surely be like in the not-too-distant future. Only joking :-)

New Zealand, 05 Dec 2001

Today was overcast with drizzle for our trip further down the west coast to Greymouth. We saw some spectacular scenery today. The South Island of New Zealand really is something special when it comes to scenery. On a visit to a seal colony, Marie Chantal (from Montreal) explained to us that the French word for seal is phoque (you can imagine the play on words that followed). The best sight of the day ware the Pancake Rocks, which are a series of rock formations that look like stacked pancakes.

In the Australian Outback, our drivers would warn us about when the next toilet stop would be. On the west coast of the South Island, our driver warns us about the next bank and the next phone will be. It seems strange to think that there would be no bank for a couple of days, but it is fairly desolate here.

Davie sat beside Mattias on the bus today and was not very amused when Matthias fell asleep on his shoulder. I thought they looked really cute together, but Davie doesn't share my opinion.

We fell for the $3 all-you-can-eat bar-b-que trap tonight by afterwards spending an absolute fortune on beer. I was drinking with Alan and Alastair, which was a little frustrating because they were a little shy when it came to visiting the barman. I decided to switch drinking partners and got chatting with Scouse Emma, Big Emma, and Rachel from the North of England. Scouse Emma is an Everton supporter who is going out with a guy from Cork, which provided plenty of chatting material. I also made friends with Jyote and Gee, a couple of lunatics from Oz and Scotland respectively. The craic was mighty. I even went up with our group to sing a song (or should I say mime a song) in karoke... a small miracle indeed.

New Zealand, 06 Dec 2001

Weather-wise, today is a truly depressing day. Heavy winds and rain conspired to bring back memories of wintery days in West Cork. The windows of the bus are so steamed up that all we could see was condensation. However we have formed a little clique and the craic on the bus is beyond compare. Davie, Mattias, Alan, Alastair, Katie, Jyote, Gee, and I spent the day joking around and laughing. Davie and Mattias are sitting together again, although there is a visible gap between them today and Davie has his elbows primed in case Mattias nods off the sleep.

In hushed discussion, the male members of the bus have voted Katie to be the 'babe of the bus'. Katie is a 20-year-old American girl who looks and acts like she belongs in a rock video. She attends Tufts University in Boston, and is on her way home from a year studying abroad in Sydney. Even though she is underage in the States, she knows most of our old stomping grounds. Alan and Alastair, both being of similar age, fancy their chances.

There is an old guy on the bus from Saratoga in upstate New York. I make the mistake of talking to him about the horse racing at Saratoga. He latches onto this and proceeds to use any and every opportunity to tell me all sorts of useless facts about the horse racing there. His name is Paul, but for some reason I thought it was Mick. After calling him Mick for a day or two, he returns the favor by calling me Davie. Fair enough.

This afternoon most of us hike the Franz Josef glacier. Because of the weather, this hike was closed in the morning. However, by the afternoon, the advanced route up the glacier was open. The hike to get to the glacier was one of the best hikes I have ever undertaken. We had to link arms and cross raging river torrents, we had to use fixed ropes to pull ourselves up certain parts of the trail, and use ropes to control our decent of certain parts of the trail. And then we put talons on our boots for the actual hike on the glacier. The only pity was that, because of the rain, we couldn't take our cameras out and record the occasion for posterity. Afterwards, we felt like drowned rats, but were exhilirated. Well, all of us except for Davie who thought it was "all right".

That evening, we went to the Blue Ice Cafe in Franz Josef. This was a really cool bar, with great decor and fantastic chill out music. During the course of the evening, Mattias made a move on Katie. As Gee would say "durty, durty, durty". Now that Katie is no longer eligible for voting, a quick re-poll for babe-of-the-bus reveals no clearcut winner.

New Zealand, 07 Dec 2001

Another day of wintry weather, another day of steamed up bus windows, another day of merriment on the bus. We visit the majestic Lake Matheson but do not see a thing; I have to rely on a few postcards to see what it looks like. There is not much else of note today as we make a bee-line for Makorora.

We get to Makorora in mid-afternoon and actually have some time to ourselves. It's fantastic to just laze around for a few hours and not have a set agenda. And low and behold, the sun comes out for us. We dry clothes, hang around, chat, grab a little nap, and go for a little hike.

Our driver has organized a bar-b-que and a couple of kegs of beer for us tonight. The evening is spent playing drinking games, volleyball, and then more drinking games. We quickly drink the two kegs and have a whip-around for another keg. To help matters along, I auction Alan off to the highest bidder. Davie gets "the prize" with a bid of $10. We re-christen Katie with the name Britney because of her likeness to Britney Spears... she is not very amused but unfortunately for her the new name has really caught on. Naturally enough, the evening degrades into the usual outstanding drunken mayhem.

New Zealand, 08 Dec 2001

I was delighted to wake up to an earthquake this morning. I am not sure what it reached on the Richter scale, but I would say that it was decent enough. A good omen for my skydive this afternoon perhaps?

Our brief respite from the rain yesterday afternoon was just a bit of a tease, as the rain returns today. Because of the weather, our skydive is cancelled. Myself, Alan, and Gee are a bit disappointed.

Matthias gets off the bus at Wanaka. Brittney was supposed to get out as well, but decided to stay on the bus instead. Mattias, who was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to spend time with her away from our company, is gutted. The broad smiles on our faces do not help comfort him.

We stop at the site of the first commercial bungy jump this afternoon just in time to see someone walk away with a separated shoulder. Anybody who was trying to decide whether or not to do a bungy jump, didn't have much problem deciding now. But there is no stopping Britney and Marie Chantal who have signed up for a series of three jumps.

We arrive at Queenstown in the mid-afternoon and wander around the town. Queenstown is a lovely chilled out town. It has the feel of a ski-resort in summertime. We are going to stay here for a few days. We make some preliminary investigations with regard to making a trip out to the Milford Sound on Monday. And myself and Alan book a 12,000 foot skydive for Sunday.

Saturday night in Queenstown produces more of the usual antics. A very big group of us head out for a night on the town, with Alan once more donning his kilt in search of attention. Because everyone is a bit tired for the non-stop partying, the evening didn't swing into the full revelry of previous evenings. I think that a rest is in order.

New Zealand, 09 Dec 2001

Today, we enjoy the sheer unadulterated joy of sleeping in until about 10.30 in the morning. A lazy day then ensued, as we organized our trip to the Milford Sound, enjoyed lunch at a local Irish bar, and strolled around town. Then we took a gondola ride up a nearby hill that overlooks Queenstown. The scene from the top of the hill is truly stunning.

Myself and Alan return in time for our skydive pickup at 5.30. Our nerves are in check until we see the briefing video, after which we make a quick dash to the nearby supermarket for a six-pack. But then we are afraid to drink the beer in case it induced an involuntary relief of fluids as we hurtle towards the ground. We share several nervous smiles and a few short sentence fragments over the course of the next hour as we await our jump. We look at a nearby mountain that is 6000 feet in height, noting that we will be jumping out of a plane at twice the height of that mountain.

A small propeller plane takes us above 12,000 feet. I decide that it would be a good idea to try and develop some kind of friendship with my tandem jumper (who is from Zimbawbe), thinking that it might encourage him to take extra-special care of me as we plunge towards the terra firma. I blurt out that I would love to visit Zimbabwe. I notice his face go red and the veins in his neck starting to protrude, as he could not contain his anger, telling me about that "black monkey of a president who is ruining his country". (Mental note: do not talk to someone from Zimbabwe about their country when they have your life in their hands.) Alan and I bid our farewells, share a sweaty handshake, and nervously grin as the door of the plane opens. I then have a little shuffle and a quick readjustment of the family jewels to ensure that they are not beneath the harness, which we have been told will dig into our bodies as we freefall. I am first to jump. At first, sheer terror takes it's grip as I hurtle towards the ground at 200 kilometers an hour. But then I relax and enjoy 45 seconds of freefall, looking around at the scenery. Then the chute opens, and it feels like we are dragged upwards at an even faster velocity than we were falling. And then we enjoy a lovely peaceful decent and the opportunity to take some photographs. After landing, we embrace and kiss the ground before making our way to the awaiting beer. Immediately afterwards, we are hyperactive and convince ourselves that now we can do anything we want. The euphoria carries over to the evening of celebration that envelops.

We go to one of those fake "authentic" Irish pubs. What has become the usual assemblage is already there (about a dozen people that we have met along the way). The only scandal of the night involves Mattias and Emma (from Bermuda).

New Zealand, 10 Dec 2001

The Magic Bus organizes an optional trip to the Milford Sound that costs an extra $129 New Zealand Dollars. Myself and Davie decided a few days ago that we were going to hire a car and do it ourselves. Over the course of the past few days, a few people have expressed an interest in joining us. In the end, there are eleven people in our group (Myself, Davie, Alan, Alastair, Mattias, Scouse Emma, Big Emma, Rachel, Marie Chantal, Brittney, and Helen). Yesterday, Davie hired a 12-person minivan (for a cost of $18 a person, including fuel) and we get up at the crack of dawn to embark on our journey. We arrive at the Milford Sound after a 4-hour drive, and board a cruise of the sound (that costs another $50). We enjoy good weather on our drive there and back, but while we are at the sound, the rain pours down and the low cloud cover ensures that we cannot see the top of the cliff walls. However, it does look very mystical in a Lord-of-the-Rings way.

The highlight of the afternoon was the addition of the word "slapper" to Mattias' vocabulary. After telling us about his exploits with Emma (from Bermuda) the previous evening, we took great pleasure in letting him know that he was the fourth person she had kissed so far on the trip. And one of those four was a quasimodo-like Kiwi called Hoppy. Mattias felt really good about himself after hearing that. But, probably the worst thing about the entire affair was that Mattias is currently sporting a huge cold-sore on his lip. What a perfect match for one another!

Our group will be splitting up tomorrow, with most people going their own way. As such, we feel that a big farewell session is in order. Tonight the three North of England girls (Scouse Emma, Big Emma, and Rachel) drink us lads under the table. Today is the first day that we have really hung out with these girls properly... they are really nice and prove to be a good laugh. After many a teapot of shots and quiet a few beers, we stumble back to the hostel to bid our farewells. A drink-induced camaraderie leads to the exchange of email addresses, mobile numbers, hugs, and promises to meet up later in the trip.

New Zealand, 11 Dec 2001

After a short sleep in my bed, I stumble to the bus and then sleep my way to Dunedin. Dunedin is a supposedly Scottish city, named by Scottish emigrants in honour of Edinburgh. However, the Scottish influence is not very evident to myself or Davie.

Once more, we have resolved to abstain from that lovely elixir of life. We have made this resolution partly for health reasons, but principally for financial reasons. My budget did not anticipate such a hectic, and in turn expensive, social life.

The past couple of weeks have been like a twisted version of Groundhog Day. While the movie script has the subjects awaking the same way every morning, we have been ending each evening the same way... in the throws of drink-induced racous celebrations. Each day we vow to abstain from alcohol for the approaching evening, but then when the sun sets, the warmth and revelry of a nearby watering hole lures us into another excursion of imbibing. What a great life we live! However, we are now steadfast in our determination to sample sobriety for a few days.

Soon after our arrival in Dunedin, we get on a tour of the local wildlife. We visit the Otago peninsula to see albatross, seals, sea lions, and penguins. Our albatross sighting is not very successful, but the seal, sea lion, and penguin sightings more than make up for it. While on our way back from watching the penguins waddle up the beach on their way home from their day at sea, we are chased by a sea lion. Our guide is very calm, allowing the roaring sea lion get within a few feet of us. I am reassured by his calm demeanor. Later, after hearing our guide recount tales of being attacked and bitten by sea lions, I learn to never trust anyone again.

New Zealand, 12 Dec 2001

A glorious sleep in is followed by some retail therapy (i.e. shopping). I am now kitted-out like a Kiwi with a full outfit of Kathmandu-labeled klothes.

New Zealand, 13 Dec 2001

New Zealand has more golf courses per head of population than any other country in the world. So, naturally enough, Davie and I decide that a round of golf is in order. Although I shoot a poor score of 117, I am delighted because I feel a big improvement in my game. Davie is totally disheartened with a score of 152.

New Zealand, 14 Dec 2001

I am awake for a non-descript journey from Dunedin to Christchurch. We are now making our way up the East coast of the South Island.

Christchurch, like many New Zealand cities, appears to be a city without a soul. In general, Kiwi cities have a similar appearance to cities in Ireland and Britain. However, in my opinion, they don't appear to have a comparable atmosphere. Without question, the big draw to New Zealand is the natural beauty of the landscape and the adrenaline-inducing activities.

An evening on the beer passes like a hibernating squirrel (i.e. quietly). A visit to a quiet Irish bar, followed by a visit to a [possibly] gay bar, left us thinking that the population of Christchurch is almost entirely male.

New Zealand, 15 Dec 2001

We spent today on the trans-alpine scenic train. This is another of those reputed "world renowned train journeys". We traveled through 19 tunnels and over 7 viaducts on our way through the Southern Alps and across the South Island to Greymouth. And then, after a brief respite, we made the return journey to Christchurch. The scenery is truly spectacular with undulating green hills sandwiching the snow-capped mountains. The train hugs the mountain providing fantastic views of river valleys below. Somehow, after sitting on our arses for an entire day, we conspire to be tired after the journey and take it easy for the evening.

New Zealand, 16 Dec 2001

We enjoy a lazy journey to Kaikoura today, arriving there at midday. The afternoon is spent on boat in search of dolphins. We come across a pod of between two and three hundred, with about 75 of them visible at any one time. The type of dolphin that we see is the dusky dolphin, who are the most energetic when it comes to jumping out of the water.

New Zealand, 17 Dec 2001

On the move again today as we take the short trip up to Picton and catch the ferry back to windy Wellington on the North Island. While about to board the ferry, I bump into Dave Russell and Siobhan (old acquaintances from Cork). It's great to accidentally bump into someone from home when traveling around the other side of the world. Of course my brain is not fully functional and I go up to Dave, addressing him as Jack (his identical twin brother). That evening in Wellington, we are back on the beer as we enjoy a few nice pints with Dave and his friends.

New Zealand, 18 Dec 2001

Today, the rain returns to haunt us, although we don't mind too much because we are spending the entire day on the bus. A brief visit to a winery near Napier punctuates a long day of traveling. (The winery was coincidentally called "sileni" - one of my geeky sister's monikers in the online world.) Then we arrive in Taupo only to learn that the Tangariro Crossing is closed yet again. We had tried in vain to do this hike on the way down the North Island and now we are prevented from doing it on the way back up as well. Well, at least that means that we can go out on the town tonight!

Davie got out of the bus at Napier. He will do a wine tasting tour tomorrow and will catch up later on the trip.

Mattias and myself have a very similar appearance, with a similar build and shaved heads. Tonight, we go for a quiet beer in a local establishment. Upon entering the pub, we notice that everyone is looking at us. A glance in the mirror reveals that with our freshly shaved heads and tight t-shirts, we look like the last remnants of Hitler's Youth. This contrasts strongly with the appearance of your typical Kiwi. Your typical Kiwi looks something like Shaggy from the Scooby Doo cartoon, with scraggly hair and a loose-fitting t-shirt... not too unlike my appearance until recently. We have a very quiet night and head back to hostel early.

New Zealand, 19 Dec 2001

We have not totally given up on doing the Tongariro Crossing today. We get up at 5.45 in the morning to see if there is any chance of doing the hike. As luck would have it, the rain has cleared and we hastily scramble to make the arrangements. The crossing was as inhospitable as an Irish publican on Good Friday (Irish pubs are cruely forced by law to shut their doors on Good Friday). In truth, it was not so much a hike through wonderful scenery as some good exercise. Low-lying cloud and mist meant that we could not see much further than 15 meters around us. And a 50-kilometer an hour wind made things uncomfortable as we navigated along the ridge. A steep and arduous ascent was followed by a wonderful walk past craters and emerald lakes, and then we enjoyed a glorious decent past more geothermal wonders. Mattias and I complete the hike in less than 5 hours. Although the scenery did not match the postcards, at least it did not rain.

New Zealand, 20 Dec 2001

I took the short trip to Rotorua today, where I met Sarah (with whom I was traveling in Australia). Sarah has unexpectedly flown to New Zealand for the few days leading up to Christmas. Today was spent getting reacquainted. In the evening, we enjoyed a spectacular thunder and lightening storm from our balcony while drinking a lovely bottle of wine.

New Zealand, 21 Dec 2001

I spent half of today in the library, researching a potential trip on the trans-siberian railroad. We are thinking about taking this mammoth train journey after the world cup next summer. If everything works out, we will take the train from Beijing to Moscow with a few stops in Mongolia and Siberia.

We saw "The Lord of The Rings" at the movies tonight. Ever since we arrived in New Zealand, the media have been making a big deal about this movie. Kiwis are hoping that this New Zealand-made movie will have far-reaching effects on the struggling economy here. They are hoping to kick-start the local film industry, develop supporting tourist infrastructure, and boost tourism levels. The movie was entertaining, but because I have read the book, it was difficult for me to form an opinion about the movie itself.

New Zealand, 22 Dec 2001

This morning we went zorbing. A zorb is a big inflatable bouncy ball. The idea is to get into the middle of the zorb and be pushed down a hill. There are two options, a dry zorb or a wet zorb. With the dry zorb, you are strapped into a fixed position with a harness and sent on your merry way, head-over-heels down the hill. With the wet zorb, they do not harness you in and they throw a couple of buckets of water into the zorb (for the refreshing washing machine effect). Sarah and I climb into the zorb at the same time to do a wet zorb together. We emerged from the rinse cycle all smiles, wanting to do it again.

The afternoon was spent shopping and walking around Rotorua. One could easily spend a week or more in Rotorua. It is the tourist hub of the North Island, offering many activities and attractions. It is an area of high geothermal activity with steam vents, pools of boiling water pools, hot mineral baths, and bubbling mud pools in abundance. You need only take a short stroll through a local park to see all of the above.

In the afternoon, we met up with Davie on the Magic Bus for the short ride to Mount Maunganui. There is a rumour circulating around the bus that our recent earthquake experience in Makarora had a magnitude of 6.0 and an epicentre less than 20 miles away. Hopefully I will be able to validate this information soon.

New Zealand, 23 Dec 2001

Mount Maunganui is a beautiful beach resort. It is situated on a peninsula, with a spectacular mountain rising up and dominating the skyline at the very end of the peninsula. A little bit of shopping in the morning is followed by the short journey to Auckland.

In Auckland, we bump into Oliver from Germany. Davie, Sarah, and I had been on a tour of the Australian Red Center with Oliver. The four of us, along with a few other Magic people, enjoy a big night out on the town.

New Zealand, 24 Dec 2001

I bade farewell to Sarah this morning, as she returned to her relatives in Melbourne. Then, this evening, I met Ben Harrison for a few drinks. Ben is an old colleague from my days at Curl in Boston. After a few enjoyable pints, myself and Davie slipped into the Auckland night for some more revelries.

New Zealand, 25 Dec 2001

Happy Christmas! It doesn't seem like Christmas here. Not only because the holiday is being spent away from our families and in unfamiliar surrounds, but also because there is not as much fan-fare in these parts for the holiday. It seems strange to not be visually and aurally assaulted by sights and sounds of the holidays. For some reason, the retail world over here has not caught onto the holiday fervour in the same way as it has in Europe and America.

To celebrate the occasion, Davie outdid himself and prepared a home-cooked meal. We couldn't get turkey, but chicken was a reasonable substitute. We then dragged our over-stuffed selves onto the couch and enjoyed some seasonal television.

New Zealand, 26 Dec 2001

Today was spent flying from Auckland to Singapore. At our departure terminal, I was intrigued to see a Muslim on his knees praying towards Mecca. A final prayer before his suicide mission perhaps? After a close examination of his shoes, I was convinced that they did not harbour any incendiary devices (there was very little heel). Although, I was concerned that he was carrying more carry-on baggage than anyone else. I carefully noted that he was sitting behind us, keeping a watchful eye on his movements. I'm sure he felt the power of my intense stares, and decided to abort the mission... Walter Mitty saves the day again!

Spending:

US$2100 for 4 weeks

Top of Page