Roon the Globe

A taste of the Pantanal - our wetlands adventure!

dancinnadz — Mon, 4 Jul 2016 03:44:00 GMT

So it's been a few days since we left The Pantanal for Sao Paulo and about time I updated my blog! I've not had much downtime in SP as we only had 2 full days due to travel arrangements. We probably only covered about 5% of this beast of a city but seen what we wanted to see. Anyway I plan to cover that in a separate blog, it's time for the lowdown on The Pantanal.

Planning this trip was not easy to fit into 3 weeks, especially when we both enjoy a mix of city breaks and seeing wildlife. The decision to visit the largest wetlands in the World was a toss up between that and spending 3 days at Ilha Grande (beach spot) between Rio and SP. Figuring we can do a beach holiday in Europe at any time in life we decided to see a bit of Brazil's impressive wildlife species. It was definitely the right decision! Although the journey was not an easy task into the middle of Mato Grosso state we made it after about 12 hours from Iguazu Falls - 2 flights connecting in SP and 2 taxis to the hotel. Our hotel was wrongly marked on booking.com and not in a small village as we expected but 65km further down a dirt track! I will not go into the ins and outs but we were saved by a random Brazilian tour guide based in Pocone (gateway town to the Pantanal) who got us an airport transfer to the village then personally drove us to our accommodation.

On arriving at the accommodation around 7pm we were welcomed with some fresh piranha soup which was umm tasty (even Niall the non - fish eater tried it!). We were full board with buffets at each meal time - I have probably put on about a stone in 3 days with all the cakes and rice I've consumed! There were only 6 of us staying at the hotel so it was great having some peace and quiet after all the city action. It was pretty much just us and the birds for 3 days!

Obviously the reason we trekked this far was to see some native wildlife and many say it's better than the Amazon here. The reason is you can actually see the animals and not just kilometres of dense jungle. Another benefit is we are in the dry season which means dirt tracks are passable and animals and birds can almost always be found around the nearest watering hole. They weren't wrong - on the way to our hotel we saw so many birds, including a rhea (ostrich family). Also 2 giant anteater which are supposedly hard to spot, 100s of caiman alligators and a family of capybaras (world's biggest rodent at 1 metre long). I was sold on the place before even arriving to the hotel!

The hotel was pretty basic, well probably luxury standards in these type of areas but had a lovely pool and gardens. The staff were helpful, friendly and didn't speak a word of English which made for some interesting conversations in Spanish/bad Portuguese. They arranged wee trips for us on the first day so we took a short hike early doors. This was your breakfast at 7am kinda place, as the animals are out at this time and we saw some hooded capuchins (really cute monkeys) hanging around. Later in the day we took a boat trip with the Brazilian Steve Irwin who fed a caiman with fish he had caught in the river, plus a hawk and a giant stork. I'm not much of a birdwatcher but I was blown away by the amount of species we saw and kinda turned into a spotter for 3 days, ticking each one off my list. Afterwards we were taken to a farm about 1 hour down the dirt track on the back of a jeep. They then took us on an even smaller boat (eeek loads of caiman!!) to watch the sunset which was stunning! The only bad part was it got dark and on the way back we were hit by beasties the whole way..so glad I had my scarf on to cover my mouth! The mosquitoes were, as expected, horrendous. So at dusk we had to cover up and cover ourselves in DEET repellant.

The next day was a chilled one by the pool, i was pretty thankful for that after such an action packed holiday. We could finally get some tanning done aswell!

On our last morning we were taken on an early morning horse trek. I was quite apprehensive at first given we had no protection or helmets and I'd never been on a horse as an adult, but sometimes you have to take a risk in life. It was a lovely wee jaunt for 1 hour and we saw some marsh deer hiding in the bushes on our travels. Safe to say my arse was killing me afterwards (and has been for the last 2 days since!)

Overall the Pantanal was worth the trek but the only thing I would have done differently is organise an English tour guide. I'm really not a big one for organised tours and after researching this area and seeing the expense of them we decided to "wing it". However this is one place where you can't really do that, it's the middle of nowhere and having a knowledgeable guide will help you spot things that you wouldn't ordinarily notice making it a much more worthwhile experience. We had contemplated hiring a car, thank God we never after seeing the roads - it was jeep and truck friendly only! Luckily the hotel had things planned for us otherwise we wouldn't have seen as much of the wildlife that we wanted to. It's definitely somewhere I would return to and perhaps spend a full week doing a safari, but this was a great little taster.

The next blog I'll be talking about our whirlwind trip in the concrete jungle of Sao Paulo, 3rd largest city in the world!

Somewhere over the rainbow lies Iguazu..

dancinnadz — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:49:00 GMT

This is the first day I've actually had some down time and not written my blog on a bus / plane or airport en route to the next place! I just wanted to post a quick update on possibly my favourite place yet...Iguazu Falls or Foz Do Iguaçu (Brazilian) or Cataratas de Iguazu (Argentinian).

The most amazing thing about this place is the fact it's somewhere I didn't know about until about 5/6 years ago when I was travelling before and researching where to visit. It's hardly documented or promoted in Europe/UK as a destination, unlike the touristy Niagara Falls, but is apparently much more spectacular. It falls between the 3 borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay right in the heart of South America - perhaps it's slightly inaccessible area is the reason not many Europeans visit.

We had the choice of a 19 hour bus or a 2 hour flight from Buenos Aires so given our lack of time the flight was the only option. We flew to the Argentinan airport but were staying on the Brazil side - logistically a pain in the arse when you land at 6pm and have to drive over a border. Anyway it was less painful than I thought as we were too late to bus it so had to take a pretty expensive taxi. The driver was great and made sure we had our papers etc and what to get stamped when we wanted to cross again to the Argentinian national park during our 2 day visit (you MUST see the Falls from both sides if you visit..both very different experiences!).

On the first night we were tired and hungry so headed out and by chance found a family-run Italian restaurant called Vo Bertila - it was mobbed and we waited 30 mins for a table so figured it must be good (On later investigation it was no. 2 on Trip Advisor!) I had my first Caipirinha which is Brazil's famous drink made of cachaça liqueur, lots of fresh lime and spoonfuls of sugar to sweeten. So refreshing!! It was an early night as we had to be up early doors to investigate the Brazilian side of the falls.

Seeing the falls for the first time was quite emotional as i'd Googled it so many times and seen so many photos! The Brazil side gives you a great overview of them whereas the Argentinian side is where you can get up close and personal and feel the water spray at your face. My highlight was the Devil's Throat fall which is the fastest with the most gallons of water per minute. Standing at the top looking down is very spiritual (excuse the cheesy moment) and you don't have much to say but just watch it for a few minutes in awe! I almost had to be dragged away from it after a good 15-20 minutes. The most stunning part is that there is a permanent rainbow over the falls when the sun shines - it really is paradise.

We spent a day on the Brazil side plus managed a visit to the Bird Park which was great to see lots of different species - my favourites were the toucans! The Argentinian side was a full day event as there are lots of trails to reach the falls so we explored 3 of about 9km in total which had us totally shattered. Safe to say it was an early night in preparation for the 3.30am rise to catch a flight to the Pantanal, our second nature - filled part of the holiday.

The last thing I wanted to say on this blog is food-related (as usual). We discovered a great wee buffet restaurant just 5 mins from our hotel which was our first venture into the Brazilian kilogram buffets! You basically fill a plate with whatever you like - salad, meats, fish, rice, feijoada (Brazilian bean stew) & pasta and you pay per weight. It's fresh, tasty, homecooked food and super cheap, plus no waiting to be brought your food or pay the bill! We had been eating out in restaurants almost every night in Argentina & Uruguay so it was definitely a recommended way to save some pennies - especially after a long day of walking when you really just want to eat your dinner and go.

Anyway, speaking of food I'm off for dinner now. It's our last night in the Pantanal so my next installment will be all about the nature spotting we've been doing here which is incredible!

On the hunt for Chivitos in Uruguay

dancinnadz — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 10:39:00 GMT

Arriving in Uruguay was a stark contrast from Buenos Aires considering it's only 1 hour by ferry. It's a very green place with lots of farmland and reminded me much of home, seeming like a world away from the hectic, dirty city we had just left.

The ferry terminal in Colonia was a short bus ride from the capital of Montevideo so we headed directly there knowing that we'd be spending a night in quaint Colonia on the return leg. On arriving at our accomodation we heard those words you never want to hear when travelling, "There is a problem with your booking". Not to worry, Booking.com saved the day and we trekked only 15 mins to a new hotel which was actually much nicer than the first B&B. Every cloud, they say!

First impressions of Montevideo? I felt ever so slightly less safe than in Bs Aires. Maybe it was to do with the fact we stayed in the old town, where street lighting was poor and it gets dark around 6pm so it means you have to walk home in the dark. There was a noticeable amount of poverty and many derelict buildings so I suppose that added to the feel. We stuck to the main streets as much as possible and soon found a strip of little cafes & restaurants to have a drink. It seems they love their afternoon tea in Argentina & Uruguay as at 6pm all the cafes are full of people ordering "Meriendas" - coffee and pastries or toast. We tried coffee in El Copacabana which was generously served with soda water, a shot of OJ, a skoosh of fresh cream & a wafer biscuit on a wee silver tray. It was great and not bad for under £2! In the evening we tried a wee restaurant called Jacinto - what you might say a "hipster place" but it was very cosy, candlelit and we got the full place to ourselves as it was a Wednesday night. The food was incredible and had weird combinations that just worked so well together like aubergine & pomegranate!

Our second day was spent exploring La Rambla - the walk/bike pathway along the coast. This was a great way to see the city and gave me a much better impression than the first day as we headed into the newer, modernised districts. I managed to talk Niall into hiring bikes rom Orange Bici and we spent nearly 4 hours going along the coast stopping at a lighthouse, the Montevideo sign and finally for a Patricia beer and some papas fritas (chips) before the return journey. The weather was dry, slightly chilly but just nice for this kind of activity. It was our last night so even though we were starting to get sick of eating out (this actually does happen to me after about a week!)..we settled on a cosy, family run Italian-influenced restaurant in the old town. I finally tried the Milanese dish (veal with breadcrumbs) which is popular throughout the country and it was such a massive portion but very tasty!

Our final day in Uruguay was by far my highlight. We retraced our footsteps back to Colonia del Sacramento, a small port which was discovered by the Portuguese and known as a smugglers port. It was tiny, with cobbled streets and a medieval feel to it with lots of ruins. We spend a couple of hours exploring it and looking for somewhere to eat a Chivito - the infamous Uruguayan sandwich. We got 2 from a food van and oh my God it was a heart attack in a bun. Thin beef steak, fried egg, cheese, bacon, ham, onions, lettuce and I have no idea what else was layered inside a bread roll - they serve it in a bag so you don't drip it everywhere! I think I ate about half and couldn't eat anymore so fed it to a stray dog :)

After our big feed we were taken to El Nido (the treehouse) via Airbnb for a cosy night on a farm with some friendly dogs! It was so picturesque I really could have stayed a couple more days and sat with a book or done crafts. They welcomed us with homemade bread & jam plus a banana loaf - such a nice touch which you'd never get in a hotel! It was the perfect relaxing stop after all of our city adventures and recharged our batteries for the next voyage to Iguazu Falls.

On 25th June, we travelled from Uruguay to Brazil, via Argentina by plane, ferry, bus and taxi. A bit mental but we just about made it with our tight schedule! We are now in Foz do Iguazu (Brazil) for 3 days and I'll talk more about those adventures in my next blog!

Thanks again for reading!
N x

Bonita Buenos Aires

dancinnadz — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:17:00 GMT

It was our first super early start this morning to get the ferry from BA to Montevideo at 9am. We're now en route so it's given me time to talk about our first few days in the city, which has been non stop!

We landed in a fogged-over city with almost no visibility on Sunday morning. I actually thought we had touched down in Glasgow as it's such a common sight when coming home, however I give them their dues it is right in the depths of Winter. We had good intentions of heading straight out to explore but after no sleep on a very uncomfortable 13 hour flight and the fact we got an early check in at the hotel, it was straight in bed for a 3 hour siesta!

Our hotel was right in the city centre in Recoleta area, perfectly located to walk or take a bus to other areas of the city. We spent the afternoon taking in the surroundings in the "micro-centro" and were surprised at how much we felt like we were in Europe. I had read that Buenos Aires was the perfect mix of Paris & Madrid, and this seemed to be spot on! Large tree-lined boulevards, pretty and colourful colonial apartments and laid back, friendly locals made me feel right at home. The fact it was a Sunday meant things were a bit quieter than usual, so we found a local bar for our first meal - omelette and revuelto which is a dish of scrambled egg, fried potatoes, onions and ham. No meat to be seen yet! I think our long journey had taken it out of us so it was an early night to get set for the next day's adventures.

Day 2 saw us venture further afield to the la Boca neighbourhood. After some confusion on getting a bus card which you had to buy at a kiosk then top up in a shop, we managed to find the correct number of bus in the overwhelming network across the city. There is a metro in BA but it's a bit like the Glasgow one in that it doesn't really cover the whole city so buses were the way to go. I just love taking buses in a new city as it's affordable plus you get to take in the city (unlike the underground!). The bonus is you get a wee snippet into local's lives. On the downside, working out where to get off is always a challenge but we managed to make our way without a major problem. La Boca neighbourhood is the most colourful district in BA located near the port. Back in the day, immigrants settled here mainly from Genoa and made the place their home. The homes are small and boxy, made of corrugated iron and painted all the colours of the rainbow. There was some interesting graffiti pieces scattered around the area also. The neighbourhood nowadays is known to be a bit dodgy so it's recommended not to go off the beaten track. We wandered around "El Caminito" (the little street) and up towards La Bombonera which is the stadium of the famous Boca juniors football team. After a refreshment of Quilmes (the local beer) we headed back to our neighbourhood for the cheese-iest 4 cheese pizza I have ever eaten and some empanadas which are what can only be described as Argentinan Greggs steak pasties.

Buenos Aires has alot of influence from Italy, notably the food, so you can find traditional pizza ovens and ice cream parlours on every street. Another big thing they are known for is meat, specifically big juicy steaks barbecued and served with chimmichurri salsa (like a pesto of parsley, garlic, olive oil). I thought I'd be eating steak everyday but it actually wasn't til the 3rd day we ended up sampling a Parrilla-style meal.

On our last day, I gave into Niall's request of a stadium tour at River Plate - the most successful Argentinan football team (you learn something new everyday!). The stadium itself was not the most glamorous as the level of health and safety is slightly less than Europe. They actually have standing areas right in the God's which gives me the absolute fear about falling off! Anyway it was interesting to see, even for a non - football fan like myself who's only ever set foot in the Bernabeu and Dumbarton football stadium ;)

The afternoon took us to another neighbourhood of Palermo Soho: what you could call the trendy, hipster area of BA. It was full of wee cafes, quirky boutiques and plenty of parilla restaurants! We finally found "the one" after some Trip Advisor research and it seemed to be one of the best in the area. The waiter was dead-pan, but the food amazing. We ordered chorizo criollo ( Argentinian sausage) and provoleta cheese which is like the halloumi equivalent, fried up with herbs. So calorific but tasty! For our main course we shared a "bife de chorizo" which is actually a sirloin steak and some papas fritas (chips). Now, at £12 per steak we thought oh it'll probably not be that big but the reviews had recommended sharing a steak as they were so large. They were right - I honestly thought he had served us 2 steaks but they had just cut it in two haha! This was all washed down with a bottle of red from Mendoza and the best part of it? Under £20 a head and a bonus wee Limoncello after dinner shot! It was such a good feed that we didn't need to have dinner either and just had ice-cream later on instead.

Our Tuesday night was mainly spent trying to digest the massive steak as we looked to our next stop, Montevideo the capital of Uruguay. The 6am alarm was set and we're now looking forward to exploring a new city and country.

Roon the Globe the opposite direction..

dancinnadz — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 21:32:00 GMT

It's been a long time coming but i am finally getting to fulfil my dream of reaching the continent of South America.

This was something i wanted to do as part of my trip 5 years ago but just didn't have the time or funds to manage it. So here i am, backpack filled once again, getting set to fly to Buenos Aires. This time i have a travel buddy, my boyfriend Niall. It's his first time travelling outside of Europe & North America so i'm sure it's going to be an eye opening experience for us both.

This trip will be much shorter than my last at just 3 weeks, and will be more "flashpacking" than hostels but still managing to squeeze plenty of sights in. Here is our itinerary and i hope to update my blog in each location so stay tuned (wifi permitting!):

Buenos Aires

Montevideo

Colonia de Sacramento

Iguazu Falls

The Pantanal

Sao Paulo

Last but not least...Rio De Janeiro

I can't say which place i'm most excited about - i'm just buzzing to get out and have another adventure and explore new places :)

Hasta Luego!!

Back to the Shire..Reflecting on my Tour of the Globe

dancinnadz — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:11:00 GMT

I've been thinking about writing my final blog of this trip for the last 2 weeks. How on Earth am i meant to summarise 10 and a half months travelling and working my way through 3 continents? Seeing hundreds of sights, trying dozens of varieties of food, using countless modes of transport, meeting so many different people. Basically a sensory overload which i think is impossible for most to take in.

Nothing really prepares you for coming home after having all of those experiences. Back to the safe normality of home, where everyone knows your name, where you can shower without wearing flipflops, venture outside without a map and have a proper cup of tea whilst sitting under a fleecy blanket on the couch. I spent 2 days of feeling extremely sorry for myself during the worst come down of my life which involved lots of tears. Thankfully my friends and family quickly picked me up from that with big hugs, plenty of alcohol, dancing and laughs.

I had a wee travel journal during my last trip to Europe and on the last page was a list of my bests & worsts so i have decided to do the same for this..since i feel i've spoken enough about them individually in my blog i don't want to write another screed, so here we go..

BESTS

CITY: Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) - Eclectic, good food, cool buildings & cheap markets

SIGHT: Temples of Angkor (Cambodia) - like stepping back in time by about 2000 years

HOTEL: Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas - 5 star luxury, well earned after some slums i'd been in

PURCHASE: my Nikon D3100 camera in Singapore

SUNSET: Koh Tao (Thailand), stunning sunsets over the sea with a Tiger beer every night

SUNRISE: Waya Lai Lai in Fiji, 5am hike to the top of the wobbly rock to watch the first sunrise of the world over the Pacific ocean.

WEATHER: Fraser Island (Australia), after it rained for a full week on my way down the East Coast it was even more appreciated to have blazing sun for 3 days.

DRINK: hmmm got to be Phi Phi's lethal buckets with Sangsom whisky & redbull & coke :D

FOOD: my Thai cooking course, Chiang Mai..green curry, mango & sticky rice, spring rolls. YUM

VIEW: i can't actually pick one, but i have to. In New Zealand my mouth was open most of the month looking at the mountains, lakes, sea, beaches etc. So it has to win! Even though Grand Canyon comes a very close second.

PEOPLE WATCHING: Venice Beach (LA), full of wahoos and street performers, best free entertainment EVER

HELPFUL PERSON: too many to mention, i'm not going to start.

WORSTS

CITY: Singapore, too clean

SIGHT: Christchurch, not because it wants to be that way and not that it stopped me having a fun 4 days there but you can't get away from the destruction that has been caused by Mother Nature. Also, wouldn't stop me going back again!

HOTEL: can't even remember the name of the shithole i stayed in Kuala Lumpur where i almost got raped by a wildebeast. Either that or the crack den in Tauranga (NZ North Island). There have been a few baddies unfortunately.

PURCHASE: buying black work trousers and shoes in Cairns, Australia was definitely a low point

SUNSET/SUNRISE: stupid question, don't think there's such a thing as a bad one.

WEATHER: driving down the Big Sur on California's coast, just a bit foggy!

DRINK: the evil GOON in Australia, boxed wine which contains fish eggs & damages your brain.

FOOD: i tried snails in Seville. Just like mushrooms, with eyes, and internal organs. Boak.

VIEW: Golden Gate Bridge, San Fran's iconic bridge which decided to cover itself in fog for the 3 days we were there.

HELPFUL PERSON: the owners at hotel Wildebeast in KL..hence the reason i moved out the next morning.

I'm sad that this is the last wee blog of my round the world trip, and just want to say thanks to everyone who has kept reading the whole way through my year. I'm contemplating another blog for when i start a new chapter of my life in Madrid come August so it might not be the last you hear from me!

En Route to the Grand Canyon

dancinnadz — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:10:00 GMT

On the Friday we had to head to the airport to pick up our car which we'd be spending the next 2.5 weeks driving around the West coast in..it was a nice silver Ford Focus, bigger than we expected and had aircon..thankfully! I had actually been finding it quite cold in LA cos it's next to the sea, but i knew as we headed into the desert the temperatures were going to be pretty unbearable and i was right. On the first day we left LA and headed inland to Joshua Tree National Park, since our original plan of San Diego was scuppered due to it being the weekend, summer holidays and very expensive accomodation. The temperature on the car thermometer went from 77 deg in LA to 112 at one point during that drive..crazy! The landscape changed so much in the 2.5 hour drive and we eventually arrived in Joshua Tree, we actually stayed in the next town, 29 Palms, in a motel. Laura had been the pilot all day because i was a bit nervous about driving on the WRONG side of the road initially but took a turn when we had to go along to the wee town for dinner. It's actually ok driving here because there are no gears to worry about but you just need to really concentrate when turning corners! We found a wee Western saloon bar and ate some typical American food - burger and hotdog, while some really bad karaoke singers entertained us!

The next day we shot off early to try and beat the heat and explore Joshua Tree National Park for a bit. We drove along a loop road in the park and the landscape was unreal. The wierd looking trees and the massive rock formations looked like something out of a film! It was already hotting up at only 10am so we started heading further East towards Grand Canyon territory. The landscape was just incredible in the desert and feels like you are driving on the moon sometimes as it's so vast. It was still quite a long drive so we had planned on stopped off at a wee town overnight but unfortunately when we arrived there it was Saturday and a rodeo was taking place so all the motels were booked up. We had a pitstop for food and continued on to a wee town called Cottonwood where we stayed the night.

The next day we were planning on heading to the Grand Canyon which was about 2 hours away. First we passed through a beautiful town called Sedona which is full of massive red rock formations in the shape of teapots, Snoopy and a massive boat and loads more. We had a wander around to take some photographs then headed back on teh road to the Grand Canyon, unfortunately this didn't last long as we drove over something on the freeway which punctured our tire and we had to pull over. We were so glad that we'd paid for roadside cover at that point cos neither of us knew how to change the tire to the spare and a guy was with us within the hour. That kinda ruined our plan of going to the Grand Canyon as we still had over an hour to drive, but luckily it had happened just outside Flagstaff which was where we had planned on staying that night after a trip to the national park. We headed to the only garage open on a Sunday and got the tire repaired, it turned out the tire pressure sensor had snapped inside the tire aswell so was giving us an error message inside the car. We just decided to camp up for the night and spent the afternoon chilling in the park in Flagstaff then went to an Irish pub for some dinner.

We started fresh on Monday morning driving up to the Grand Canyon national park which took just over an hour. It's strange driving in there as you don't see anything until you park up and start walking towards the canyon itself. We were on the South Rim and it was already getting quite busy, but as you head through the trees onto the main walking path and see the canyon it is totally breathtaking. It is so big that it just looks like a massive sheet of scenery painted in front of you. It's hard to get any perspective because it's so vast and apparently the people who discovered it thought that the Colorado river flowing below was only 6 foot wide when it was actually about 90 foot wide at some parts. Since it was so busy at the beginning of the main pathway we started hiking along the rim path which calmed down as it was so hot people struggle to do much walking. We got some really great photos without any fences in the background and managed to catch 2 interesting talks along the way about the geology of the canyon and about California Condors. It's amazing that all of the layers have been formed over millions of years by sea, wind and mainly by the Colorado River's erosion over the years. It was unbelieveably hot by lunchtime so we just made sure to make loads of wee stops for water but we managed to last about 6 hours in the park itself so that was pretty good going considering it was about 35 degrees!

We still had a bit of a drive between the Grand Canyon and Vegas so after our day exploring we headed Westbound and stopped off at Denny's on the way for dinner - and we had breakfast though haha! French toast, eggs and pancakes yum yum! We made it along to Kingman by about 9pm and stopped there for the night before our drive to Vegas the next day which we were so excited about!

LA - land of tacos & plastic faces

dancinnadz — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:46:00 GMT

I arrived in LA about 1pm after an overnight flight from Fiji, the queue to get through security and pick up my baggage was ridiculously long as suspected so i never actually made it to my hostel til around 4.30pm. I was staying in the Venice neighbourhood which i heard wasn't safe to go around at night time so pretty much headed out straight away and got some tacos then walked down to the beach. On the map the beach looked only a few blocks away but it was my first taste of how big LA actually is and took me about 25 minutes to get there. There was alot going on since it was the weekend, massive cars driving about playing music and a good buzz about the place. Venice Beach is absoulately massive and stretches along the coast til it reaches Santa Monica..but i decided not to head along that way since it was getting quite late. I had ran into a few weirdos trying to talk to me cos i was on my own so i knew i'd need to be a bit careful about where i went and just headed back to the hostel for the night.

The next day i decided to head up to Hollywood Boulevard to do the typical tourist thing and check out the Walk of Fame, it took me over an hour on the bus to reach downtown LA, pretty much on one straight street the whole way then i hopped on the Metro train into Hollywood. When i stepped out onto the street it was absolutely mobbed with tourists, as i was right next to the Chinese Theatre where loads of buskers are dressed up as celebrities and cartoon characters. I managed to spot Michael Jackson, Marilyn Munroe, Samuel L Jackson, Spiderman, Spongebob Squarepants and Tinkerbell all within the same vicinity - bit surreal! I spent most of the day just wandering around the boulevard looking at the stars and the shops. I even managed to spot the Hollywood sign on the hills in the distance, kind of covered by smog but amazing to see it in real life! I was also really surprised to see how much of LA is Spanish influenced and most signage is bi-lingual, it's been a great way for me to practice reading and listening to people speaking.

On the Tuesday i went into Beverley Hills and seen how the other half lives! I jumped on a bus which took me along to Santa Monica, i ended up having a wander round the shops there which was really nice in the pedestrianised street. It was a lot cleaner and more upmarket already but nothing prepares you for stepping off the bus in Beverley Hills. I had been getting by without a map for the last couple of days but realised i had no idea where i was when i stepped off the bus this time so managed to pick up a guidebook in the Beverley Hills Library. I headed straight down to Rodeo Drive which is where all of the designer stores are. The place is just jumping with massive cars, bling and women with plastic surgery! After that i started heading up one of the streets where celebrities live but once again underestimated how big the place was so never quite made it to Elvis' house unfortunately..but some of the mansions on the way up there were amazing. All different styles of building and made of different materials with big cars sitting outside in the drive, the streets were empty though and it sometimes makes you wonder how long these people actually spend in their massive homes.

After a couple of tiring days walking around i decided to have a chillout on the Wednesday and Laura was arriving late afternoon so i wanted to be around for her getting to the hostel. It was good to relax for the day and i didn't even leave the hostel all day :) Laura finally arrived about 5pm and it was great to be reunited after 10 months! We had a good catch up that night and had booked a private room in the hostel which was like a 70's throwback. There was actually a bath and a toilet in the room with no wall separating them from the sleeping area, except for a bright orange seat in front of the toilet..very bizarre. Anyhoo we had quite an early night so we could make the most of the next day cycling to Santa Monica.

We headed out quite early on the bikes we had hired from the hostel along the Venice beach boardwalk which runs along to Santa Monica. There is so much going on down there it's unbelieveable - constant entertainment just from people watching. There's a skatepark, a gym, loads of market stalls and shops and so many homeless people. We kept heading towards Santa Monica, and when we arrived there took a walk along the famous pier which you see in so many films. The weather was so nice, about 26 degrees so not too hot and nice and breezy. We turned back to go and see what else was going on in Venice, and by this time in the afternoon it was getting really busy. Loads of street entertainers and weird people floating around, anything goes in this place. We ate some questionable cheap pizza for lunch and watched one of the street dance shows going on..which we soon realised was so scripted and the same crowd participation going on the whole way along the board walk - they must have been part of the same dance crew trying to maximise their takings!

We were both shattered and a bit burnt after being in the sun all day so spent the evening planning our trip for the next few weeks as we had to pick up the car the next day.

Kiaora New Zealand..it's been a pleasure!

dancinnadz — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:46:00 GMT

I'm on my flight to Fiji and thought i would make use of the 3 hour flight to update you on my last few days in New Zealand.

After the only negative part of my time here in Tauranga, i made the best decision ever to head up the Coromandel Peninsula to Whitianga. This is just to the East of Auckland and only about 3.5 hours drive away so it was ideal to finish off the trip in yet another beautiful beach town.

It was a bit of a winding road heading up there, as we drove through rainforests and around mountains but when i finally arrived in the small town of Whitianga it was about 5pm and already getting dark. The hostel i was staying in was perfect in every way, big comfortable mattresses and an en suite bathroom in the room - it was all new looking and completely spotless. I deserved it after the last place!! The only negative was the Kiwi Experience tour bus also stopped there every night so it wasn't as chilled as i would have liked it to be. If you haven't travelled over here, it's basically an 18-30 tour bus around the country, great fun if you're just up for getting drunk every night and want to meet people and never want peace & quiet (when i say people, it's mainly folk from Britain as i met the first 2 Scottish travellers when i was there!). For people wondering why i didn't do this tour, i don't think it allows you to see things off the beaten track and plan your own journey like i have managed by travelling on the local intercity buses. I also can't be arsed with 18 year olds getting pissed everynight, throwing up in dorms and spending the whole time hungover and not able to do anything during the day. I must be getting old eh? It is each to their own i suppose! I actually met a couple of nice girls in the rooms so i don't want to completely stereotype them but most backpackers not travelling on the big green bus will normally run a mile when they see it coming hahaha.

Anyway enough about that, more about the country. I had really wanted to go to Hot Water Beach which is one of the main sites to visit, but little did i realise it was far too far to walk there from the town and you need a car. If i ever travel here again i will do it by car, no question! However i made do with an amazing cliff walk which took about 2 hours all in, not too hard going. I had to get a wee passenger ferry across the estuary which took all of 5 minutes and then started heading along the coast, passing the most beautiful beach on the way called Cook's Bay. The sea looked so blue because the sun was out and there were lots of wee islands in the distance, it actually reminded me so much of Krabi in Thailand and they apparently filmed a bit of the Narnia - Prince Caspian film up there. The tide was still going out so i had to go back onto the road to get onto the walking track up to Shakespeare's Cliff. It was quite a steep hike but so worth it when i got to the top..there was no-one else there and it had to be the most peaceful place i have been just looking out at the sea. The views looked out over Mercury Bay to the left, which was named by Captain Cook when he landed in the late 1800's and out to the right was Lonely Bay, which i didn't walk down to but looked absolutely beautiful. As i headed back down the tide had gone out a little more so i could walk along the sand, by this point the temptation to dip my toes in was too much so i ended up with my shoes off..it wasn't too cold but i certainly wouldn't have went for a swim!

I headed back to the ferry and across to Whitianga and decided to take a stroll along the beach there. There were so many seashells it was unbelievable, mountains of them just piled on the beach. I managed to take a couple..lets hope i don't have to declare them in customs like my dad did with his piece of wood from Australia hahaha. I munched my picnic looking out to sea and decided it was just about ice cream o'clock so i managed to find a wee place just off the beach. One of the best i've had and it was only 1.50 (pounds) for 2 massive scoops..i was well impressed! I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the wee town and bought some more beads for my bracelets. Later on a took a walk alongside the estuary which was really nice as the sun was starting to set. Some of the houses around there were amazing, so massive with the nicest views! All in all it has to be one of the most beautiful places i visited in the North Island, it must be 100 times better in Summer i imagine.

I was quite upset to leave Whitianga as reality set in that i couldn't stay in New Zealand forever and i had seen the best it had to offer. I wasn't too excited about Auckland as no-one i've spoken to has recommended anything, other than going up the Skytower which is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere apparently. I arrived about lunchtime in Auckland and although i had to walk 15 minutes to get to it, i had booked another belter of a hostel. Well when i say belter, it was clean and had a comfy bed. I headed out to the city right away as i only had 1.5 days there and i wanted to at least give it a chance :) it was so weird being in a bigger city after being in such small towns, and there was even a motorway!

I was out on the hunt for a new bikini, i only have two and one has been with me since the beginning of my trip so safe to say it's well needed. Unfortunately since it's coming into their Winter, i could only find one shop with swimwear, and it was about $200 for a bikini..no thanks. Maybe i'll get a new one in Fiji. After a wander round the shops i just headed back to the hostel and had a pretty chilled evening. The hostel was kind of in the middle of nowhere so i struggled to even find a shop nevermind a supermarket, so it was noodles for dinner unfortunately. The next day i decided to head to the Auckland Museum as i hadn't yet seen any Maori performances and they had one showing every day. I'm so glad i decided to do this, as i had to miss out in Rotorua cos it was about $90 for a dinner and show and i wasn't too bothered about the meal. I'm glad i waited as i got to see the show for $20 and access to the museum so it was a nice wee afternoon. The show was mainly dancing and singing and they showed us some traditional weapons and items they used to train and strengthen themselves back in the days when they hunted. The last song was the Haka, which most people know of as the routine than the All Blacks do before they play a game to psyche themselves up, this one was very powerful and loud even though there were only 3 men and 4 women! I couldn't have left the country without seeing this!

I was quite glad to leave Auckland this morning as it was really wet and cloudy (it always is apparently) and it felt like flying out of Glasgow taking about 20 mins to get through the clouds! I'm now very excited about arriving in Fiji for some much needed beach relaxation and island hopping after lugging my beast of a backpack around every 2 days. It's also only 9 days til i fly to LA for my last stop and just over 4 weeks til i'm home now so the time is ticking down towards the end of my trip..i'm so excited that i'm going to see all my family and friends again so soon and unlike most backpackers i'm not going to dread coming home one bit :)

Rotorua..the eggy city!

dancinnadz — Sun, 5 Jun 2011 15:26:00 GMT

On the road heading from Taupo to Rotorua you can see all the signs of what is going under the ground beneath with all of the steam rising out from random areas in the fields. I loved the wee bus driver cos he was giving us so many facts about the area (sometimes they don't bother) and he told us that the Earth's crust was half as thick over that part of the country than any other normal place in the World..scary stuff! The stench of egg when you arrive in the town is unbelieveable due to all of the sulphur coming out of the ground.

I dropped my stuff off at my hostel, which was one of my favs so far cos i didn't have to sleep in a bunk bed, and headed out for a walk through the park and down to the lake. It was amazing that they have bubbling mud pools right in the middle of the park, absolutely reeking though! I also wandered through a wee Maori village next to the lake which was cool..and loads of the houses in the town just have random bits of steam coming out from their garden. I can't imagine living somewhere like that! I had been recommended a really good ice cream shop in the town so obviously made a pitstop there on the way home hehe. The hostel i was staying in had a really cosy lounge and DVDs, luckily i met 2 girls who were working their way through Harry Potter films so ended up watching about 3 of them while i was there!

The next day i had booked to go on a tour around Wai-o-Tapu geothermal park. It's basically the best place to go and see all of the geothermal activity and how it has affected the land over the years. First they took us to a massive mud pool which was bubbling away furiously and stank so badly..would not have fancied jumping in there cos it looked roasting! Afterwards we headed to the Lady Knox Geyser which they set off everyday at the same time (so it's a bit contrived really). Apparently they just do this so the public are guaranteed to see it, otherwise they would not know exactly when it was going to erupt everyday. They throw some chemical in which causes it to erupt and it goes on for about 45 mins and it can get up to 20 metres high. It was pretty impressive! The next part was without a doubt the best part though..they took us to the area where they have craters and pools which you can walk round in just over an hour. There were loads of bubbling craters, with crazy yellow and green colours because of the chemicals. There was a part called the champagne pool which was a massive lake steaming away and bright orange all the way around the edge. My favourite part had to be the Devil's Bath though which was a small lake that was bright green coloured..it looked so poisonous! Really you have to see my photos to appreciate it so i'll get them uploaded on the blog soon. I was lucky to have had a good day which wasn't too cloudy so the colours came out really bright.

I had been humming and hawing over whether to book another tour for the next day (NZ fundage is running low) but i had really wanted to do the Lord of the Rings movie set tour which takes you to Hobbiton. It's a massive sheep farm where they filmed all of the parts in the Shire with the wee hobbit houses and it looked pretty cool, plus i was also told the filmset had been newly rebuilt as they were due to start filming in February (which has now been put back to November). So that made my final decision, plus the fact i never know when or if i'll be back here again. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worst and it was really cloudy, but luckily the rain stayed off until the tour was finished. It was about an hours drive outside of Rotorua and when we got dropped off we were herded into the sheep hut to watch a sheep shearing show (try saying that fast). I also got to feed a wee lamb with a bottle which was so cute! I didn't realise sheep shearing was like a sport over here but the guy told us the fastest person can shear 833 sheep in a working day. After that we jumped into a mini van and drove about 5 mins over the hills to the set, you can tell why Peter Jackson chose it for the film because all you can see are rolling green hills and trees as far as the eyes can see..it was beautiful. When i got my first glimpse of one of the hobbit holes i was so excited (i know, what a loser!) and little did i know there were 40 of them built for the movie! The guy who took us on the tour was great and knew his stuff, so he would tell us exactly where parts of the film were made as we walked around the wee village. The attention to detail in the set is unbelieveable, the houses and gardens look aged, they have wee trees and bushes planted around them and even a pumpkin patch. The coolest part was the massive oak tree above Bag-end, which was completely fake and had thousands of leaves imported from China which people had to stick on by hand. I have plenty photos of this all but i'm not allowed to publish them online as i signed a disclaimer with the film company that means i can't til the Hobbit movies are released. All in all the tour was amazing, and they ended it by giving us a wee munch in the cafe - a pie, a cookie and an apple. The only negative i would say is that you can't actually go inside the houses..but you can see why they don't as thousands of tourists passing through would wreck them no doubt.

So that was that, Rotorua has to be one of the best places in the North Island to keep you entertained..extreme sports, walking, kayaking, spas..i could have stayed for a week. But it was time to move on further North.

I had a bit of a shitter in Tauranga when i arrived on Saturday night..it was pissing it down and all of the hostels i had called were fully booked as it was a holiday weekend. This weird old American man ended up tagging along with me from the bus as he was looking for a hostel aswell. I think he was a bit of a weirdo so i was glad when i bumped into a German girl at one of the hostels and she had been told to go to one which was the only place that had beds. When we arrived, we knew why. It was an absolute shithole, the guy on reception was a total junkie, they hadn't even made up the beds and it stank of piss. I didn't have much choice though so we checked in and paid $25 for the luxury of that (along with the random American guy) and the dorm was rank..some guy was living there and there was shit all over the floor so we pretty much just dumped our stuff and went out for food while the old man went to bed at about 7.30 haha. When we got back the noise in the place was unbelieveable, but we tried to sleep anyway and some stupid junkie girl was banging on our door looking for someone at one point. I think i eventually nodded off about 3am for fear of being robbed. It was one of those hostels that young folk are put in when they run away from home...im sure of that! Anyway we got outta there by 8.30 in the morning and i had booked somewhere else to stay the night thankfully so headed there for a shower.

I've had a pretty chilled day here, was too tired to do any walks so i'll save that for my next stop in the Coromandel Peninsula.

10 Loves About Solo Travelling

dancinnadz — Wed, 1 Jun 2011 17:24:00 GMT

After reading my 10 hates about travel you might think i'm being a bit negative..but not to worry there have been lots of things i have loved about the last 9 and a bit months too. So much so that they outweight the negatives by a large amount so here we go..

1. Freedom

You can do whatever you like, whenever you like, pretty much every day. There's no-one else to consider and you can be as selfish as you like since it's your own time.

2. People

It's the best way to meet interesting and like-minded people where all stereotypes are cast aside. People are living out-with their normal context and are generally more fun to be around without the normal stresses of life.

3. Food

You can try authentic foods in whichever country you are in in the World. Everywhere has a speciality and the best for me by far has been masaman curry in Thailand.

4. Landscapes

It's amazing how every country looks so different and so do the areas within it. I rarely fall asleep when travelling on the road because you miss so much of what's going on outside the window! Places can give you a culture shock like in Cambodia or they can remind you of home like in New Zealand.

5. Photographs

Professional, amateur or just for the memories, you can always find something new and exciting to take photographs of when you are on the go. Most of the time you don't even need to edit them because the subject is naturally perfect already.

6. Challenges

Everyday you feel a sense of adventure because you are somewhere new. Depending on the country obviously the challenges can be greater, things as simple as ordering a meal can be difficult when no-one speaks English. People might laugh when i say this but travelling is hard work, trying to co-ordinate how to get from A to B, where to stay and what to do within budget and within your time constraints if you have any.

7.Hostels

Finding a really good hostel is always a bonus, they are really the cheapest places to stay and best places to meet people if you're on your own.

Most of them offer the bare minimum of a bed, a shower and kitchen facilities but if you spend some time looking or take recommendations you can find some really great ones with free extras. Some of the better ones i've stayed in have free unlimited wifi, free breakfast, free tea & coffee, free chocolate pudding, TV/DVDs, hooks (alot of places have nowhere to hang things and it's a simple thing!), a locker in your room, a bedside lamp, mini locker and plug socket at the head of the bunk, a hairdryer, oil & herbs in the kitchen.

8. Self-image

This is something which becomes less and less important the longer you are away from home because people never judge you on what you are wearing like they do back home. It's great to be able to go outside in the oldest, wrinkliest clothes with your hair sticking up everywhere, no makeup on or shoes and know that no-one is going to bat an eye-lid (well most of the time!)

9. No Work

quite self-explanatory, there's no job to go to everyday, no 9-5 rat race, therefore no stress!

10. Weather

You get to experience alot of different climates which can be really extreme when you compare them to back home. For me, the sunshine wins everytime and i find places alot more beautiful in the sun. However there are also times when hot, sticky weather can become too much, especially in big cities and you actually enjoy a bit of rain aswell so it goes both ways really.

Napier, Art Deco & Lake Taupo

dancinnadz — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:22:00 GMT

I'm about a week behind on my blog so pretty much just a quick one what i done in Napier and Taupo (considering it wasn't all that exciting).

It was around a 5 hour journey to get from Wellington to Napier, but there wasn't much in between that i wanted to see so i decided just to head straight there. Napier is famous for a couple of things, what i never knew before i arrived is that it's the place which gets the most sunshine in NZ (honestly i didn't plan it but it was sunny for the 2 days i was there). It was also completely rebuilt in an Art Deco style in the 1930's after an earhquake devastated the whole central area (seems to be a running theme in this country).

I arrived quite late in the afternoon so ended up just taking a walk along the shore and found an amazing ice cream place so sat and enjoyed that whilst the sunset. The hostel i was staying in was small and friendly and they had free wifi, but it absolutely baltic unfortunately cos they had no heating! Anyhoo i cocooned myself up and managed to have a half decent sleep and the next day i was up and out to head up to a lookout point called Bluff Hill. I must be so unfit right now because i was huffing and puffing at the steep parts but it only took me about 45 mins to the top and it had amazing views of the bay and the port below. After about an hour sitting at the top i headed back down for a float around the wee town and bought some more thread for my bracelet making.

The next morning i was up bright and early to take my bus to Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in New Zealand. I only had a night to pass through there so luckily i arrived pretty early and had the rest of the day to go on yet another walk! I ended up heading up towards Huka Falls, which was about a 2 hour round trip so not too bad. I had now entered volcano land so en route there were some hot springs which you could have a pit stop in..i planned on doing this on the way back but unfortunately there were about 5 people in the pool and i didn't want to plonk myself right inbetween them all. It was a really nice forest walk alongside one of the rivers which leads out from the Lake, and the water was so unbelieveably clear and blue. When i eventually reached the falls it was so noisy and they had a wee bridge over one part..the water flows really fast because it's so narrow and you wouldn't want to be in a boat going down it! I have some cracking photos to put up when i eventually get some free internet to upload them. On my way back i passed by one of NZ's many bungees, this one they dunk you in the river and i was lucky to watch one guy poof out on it and another guy jumping. I have to say there's still nothing that would make me want to do it! I went back to the hostel and after watching some movies i had a pretty early night (yet again!) as i was off to Rotorua about 10ish the next morning.

10 Hates About Solo Travelling

dancinnadz — Sun, 29 May 2011 18:01:00 GMT

People always write about the amazing things when they travel, nobody at home gets to see the other side of the coin. Since i've been on the go for 9 months travelling now, i think i'm just about qualified to write about both sides of my trip. I couldn't wait until i was home to do this as i probably would have never found the time to write it and it's always going to be fresh in my mind whilst i'm still on my travels. So here goes!

1. Shopping bags

Anyone who has travelled in Australia or New Zealand will understand this, the majority of backbackers here will be carrying a backback and a coolbag or recycling bag from Coles or Woolworths filled with their food stash and their name graffitted across it. It's too expensive to eat out every day in these countries so generally you have to cart around your pasta, bread, oil, tea/coffee or whatever from place to place. Total pain in the a#$&.

2. Travel Towels

The bain of my life. A large hankie which masquerades itself as something to dry you after a shower which in turn will dry really quickly so you can put it back in your rucksack without it smelling of mould when you pull it out at your next location. Reason it can dry so quickly: it doesn't actually absorb any water in the first place, it just "moves it around". If you have one you know what i'm talking about.

3. Loneliness

As much as travelling alone gives you freedom, sometimes it gives you too much time to yourself which makes you start to go slightly insane and think why the hell am i here in the first place and not back at home with my friends and family. Definitely one of the major lows or travelling, but can be easily combatted by making small talk with people in hostels or wherever until you find someone you get along with who can be your NBFNF (new best friend not forever) for 2 days or however long you will be there for!

4. Home comforts

Sometimes you just want to go and curl up on the couch with a fleece and watch a DVD or your favourite program on TV and not be hassled. Unfortunately there are always about 12 other people who want to do the same therefore you end up watching some shite about antiques or a crap comedy show. Or in the morning you just want to get up and go and make your breakfast in your jammies without talking to anyone - no can do in a hostel!

5. Cooking

Cooking for one is generally a nightmare, cooking for one in a hostel to put it bluntly - is a bloody nightmare! This is why you have to stick to basics like pasta and noodles cos the majority of the time you are fighting for space on the cooker and a pot to put your food in. Travelling in cheap countries saves a hell of alot of hassle as you can just eat out every night and you don't need to carry a Coles bag to every place you visit.

6. Dorms

Hostels are the cheapest place to stay so most backpackers don't have an option. Unfortunately it also means sharing your living space with other people, some of whom can be inconsiderate eh..people. I've heard some horror stories though, about people bringing their boy/girlfriend/drunken target back to the dorm for the night..i'll say no more. Earplugs have become my best friend and luckily the worst thing i have had to contend with is really loud snorers.

7. Plastic Bags

This probably could have been covered under no 6. but it's one of my pet hates so i thought i would give it a line of it's own. People who use plastic bags in their backpack and wake you up at unsociable hours rustling around to find something. If you are reading this and are one of the crime committers then please stop and put your things in a bag which doesn't make any noise.

8. Public Transport

A scenic roadtrip can quickly turn into misery when you are landed next to a smelly old man, or a crying baby. The freedom you may have at home with your own car will be taken away from you as you are forced to use the cheapest travel option - normally buses, trains & ferries.

9. Clothes

You have a limited amount of space in your bag to fit all your gear so this usually ends up with you just having only 1 of everything, except from underwear of course which i always believe in carrying about 10 days supply of so you don't have to do laundry every 2 days! It's funny how you can get creative with fashion when you only have 1 pair of jeans, shorts, shoes, leggings and jumper.

10. Fast food

I'm an absolute hater of going to fast food places in general (unless i'm hungover), but even moreso when i'm in another country. However somedays when you've had a tiring journey, you're disorientated and you're starving, there is nothing like the feeling you get when you see the big golden M shining from a building.

10 Loves are to follow in my next post...

Welcome to Wellywood!

dancinnadz — Sun, 29 May 2011 17:29:00 GMT

I hopped off the ferry in Wellington - the much disputed capital of New Zealand. I didn't have very high expectations for the city as people had told me only to spend 1 or 2 nights there but i was pleasantly surprised at how nice a wee city it was. By New Zealand standards, cities are pretty small so there are only something like under 200,000 people living in Wellington.

I dumped my bags at the nearest hostel to the bus station and headed out for a walk along the harbour and it was a lovely sunny day (which always helps!) The main attraction i wanted to visit was Te Papa which is the National museum and it apparently takes a full day to get around it so i was glad i'd have something to fill my day with. I managed to make my way around one floor in a couple of hours before it closed and the main highlight was the colossal squid which my wee cousin had told me about before. They caught it somewhere near Antarctica and it is the World largest squid on display in a museum - i could hardly fit the full thing in a photograph it was so massive. Sitting in a huge glass tank i think it was about 4.5 metres long and they showed you it's eyes and "beak" on a video, pretty disgusting! Afterwards i had a bit of a float around the city to look at the shops and i was craving a pizza, i couldn't find Domino's anywhere so i eventually ended up in a Turkish fast food place and tried one of their pizza breads. It was actually delicious, bit different from a normal pizza but yummy. By the time i headed back to the hostel one of my room mates was watching Sex and the City on her laptop so that kept me entertained for a few hours. The one bad thing about my netbook is it doesn't have a disk drive so i can't just put a DVD on whenever i want to - need to invest in one of those external ones me thinks.

The next day i was up bright and early to take the bus a little bit out of the main city to the Weta Cave, which is where alot of famous films have been edited and created by the legend Peter Jackson and his team. To mention a few: Lord of the Rings, Avatar, the Lovely Bones, Narnia. It was free which was a bonus, but it's a pretty small wee museum, more like a shop actually, full of the merchandise, sculptures and weapons from various films. The highlight for me was a documentary for half an hour which was a behind the scenes of how Weta came about and how they create alot of their characters - from special effects makeup to digital effects. I'm now itching to watch the LOTR films again!

I headed back into the city for the afternoon and spent another few hours in Te Papa museum. This time i headed for the 4th floor and there were interesting displays on Maori culture and how they found New Zealand pre-Europeans. Another part which was interesting was about refugees living in NZ from all over the World (Sudan, Iraq, Vietnam etc) - there were basically lots of wee videos from young people who had escaped their countries for a better life in NZ. I had never thought of this country as being so multicultural because it's in the middle of nowhere but it really is, and particularly in the North Island. There was also a really cool display on earthquakes and volcanoes - which as you know completely cover this country as it sits on the border of 2 tectonic plates. I had no idea how many earthquakes and eruptions there has been here but the timeline was pretty scary, and i have to say people are brave here! They also have a mock-house set up so you can go in and experience an earthquake, which actually freaked me out even though i knew it wasn't real.

I have to say, there wasn't a great deal of things to do in Wellington - other than the usual city things like shopping, eating and drinking which lets be honest isn't a lot of fun on your own! But despite this i really enjoyed the museum and the film studio and it was nice to be somewhere with a bit of buzz around it after being in such tiny towns for most of the South Island. Oh and here's a fun fact, while i was there they were debating whether to put up a Hollywood-style "Wellywood" sign up on the hill, how tacky is that!

Next stop, Napier - the Art Deco city :)

Non-Adventures in Nelson

dancinnadz — Thu, 26 May 2011 19:02:00 GMT

After a great 3 days in Kaikoura it was time to move on Northwards and i decided to head to Nelson which is a pretty central town at the top of the South Island. En route we passed through wine country Marlborough and it was fields full of grapevines as far as the eye could see. I guess this was the first time i missed having the campervan with my parents as we would have definitely stopped off there for a wine tour, however getting drunk on the vineyards yourself isn't really my idea of fun!

I arrived in Nelson mid-afternoon and checked in at the Tasman Bay backpackers (had to name check them as they do free chocolate pudding & ice cream every night - amazing!) My main reason for heading in this direction was to do some coastal walking in the Abel Tasman national park which looks amazing with white sandy beaches. Unfortunately after a good week of weather, luck wasn't on my side and i was told that rain was forecast for Wednesday & Thursday. Since it would have been a day trip for me to get there and $50 all in, i figured it wasn't worth taking the risk to go and have rubbish weather. I have learned my lesson from the Whitsundays and paradise can quickly turn into the pits when it's cloudy and raining. In any case i had quite a nice couple of days just chilling out. Wednesday was a complete washout so i ended up checking out a wee farmer's market (when i say wee, there were only about 8 stalls haha) then i went to this brilliant shop called the Bead Museum. I've been buying bracelets in every country i go to pretty much and i hadn't seen any i've liked in NZ yet so i decided to buy some beads and make my own - perfect rainy day entertainment! There was such a big choice it took me about half an hour to collect some nice ones and head back to the hostel. Luckily the hostel i was staying in was really cosy, they had a wood fire and comfy couches so i pretty much just vegetated there for the day making jewellery, reading and studying some Spanish. I met some really nice girls too so it was good to have some company for the time there. So far i've been surprised at how many people actually hitchhike in New Zealand, and girls aswell. I always thought it was such a dangerous thing to do but most of the girls i met in the hostel had been hitchhiking their way around and seemed to have no problems at all. In any case, i still wouldn't ever think about doing it by myself, moreso for the fact i like to know what i'm doing and where i'm going and at what time, and i would hate to be stuck somewhere for ages if no-one picked me up so i'll just stick to buses for the time being! (Ok i won't lie..i would really just have the fear of being abducted by a serial killer).

On Thursday the weather cleared up a little bit, it was dry at least, so i decided to take one of the free bikes from the hostel and go for a cycle along the coastline. I didn't go very far to be fair but i made it along to a sandy beach about 45 mins along and it was a nice place to sit and have a sandwich and enjoy a bit of sunshine. Someone had told me the rain was due to start again later in the afternoon so i headed back to the city centre and decided to go to the cinema. I stopped in at the supermarket to get some popcorn & sweets first and had a major panic when i locked up the bike and lost the wee key for it. I emptied my full bag outside the supermarket and there was no sign and i was just about to head back to the hostel and tell them i needed some pliers (i actually contemplated buying them in the supermarket but how dodgy would i have looked!). Eventually i triple checked my pockets, and found it in the "safe pocket" inside my jacket. Panic over! I ended up going to see the Hangover 2 and it was hilarious, they filmed it in Thailand and mainly Bangkok so it was funny being able to say i've been there. Afterwards i made it back to the hostel for my chocolate pudding at 8pm and had another early night, in bed reading by 9pm. It's been so strange here so far cos i've been heading to bed so early, but to be fair in the small towns there's not much to do other than go out and get drunk and i'm not really up for doing that every night so i'm now living the life of a granny.

That's me now heading over to Wellington on the ferry, just my luck the sun was shining as i left Nelson however i can't justify adding anymore days onto there and i'm sure there are more beautiful walks to come. So it's goodbye to the South Island - it's been amazing and i hope the North Island impresses me just as much!