Matt & Mercaders - The World Tour

Gallery: Peru

matt_and_mercaders — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:43:00 GMT

TRAVEL NOTES: The Incident On Day Two

matt_and_mercaders — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:08:00 GMT

Amazing scenes aboard the Golondrina.

Day 2 at The Galapagos Islands began with the announcement from one of our colleagues, Bert, that $150 was missing from his safety deposit box, apparently locked in his cabin.

After lunch Bert called a meeting asking us to check our belongings to see if anyone else had lost anything. The Captain, a fairly miserable character, took a considerable amount of offence to this and addressed us via an interpreter - our tour guide Fabrizio. At this point the tension intensified as the Captain announced that we, as a group, had ten minutes to find the money or we turn back to the port to file a police report. There was also a lot of bleating about his crew being impeccable, trustworthy etc., that no one else could have boarded the boat, and that he held the only other key to the safety deposit boxes in our cabins.

This didn't go down well. Furthermore, Bert wasn't keen to go back. He wasn't going to disrupt everyones trip but they put this form in front of him which if he signed said that none of the crew had stolen anything and if he didn't sign it we went back. Cue a tug of war between Bert and the crew. It was a crazy period that was finally brought to a swift end when another member of our group realised he had lost $600.

We headed back.

An hour later we hear sirens from the Navy Police as they saddle up against the Golondrina. Incredible moments as the officer gathered us together. At this point I got as close to realising my dream of being in an episode of Inspector Morse as is ever likely. It was amazing. The officer had a list of all our names, and then something incredible happened. "Who is Mercado? Mercado? Where is Mercado?". Could Chloe be the number one suspect in this crime? I have to confess, she had been displaying some pretty eratic behaviour. "That's me" came the vulnerable response, "That is my name too!" said the officer. And so she survives another day.

The officer made some pretty scary comments. "This boat will not continue if we cannot find an outcome to this crime" being one of them. An hour or two of cabin searches and interviews and the officer conceded that it would be bad for Galapagos tourism if we didn't get underway. Then Fabrizio stunned us all by saying that the owner of the boat had decided that the victims would be reinbursed and, wait for it, every member of the crew fired.

Imagine that, 5 days on a boat with crew that were on their final voyage. The banter between us at this stage reached fever pitch. I for one for throwing out conspiracy theories left, right and centre. I was in my element. There was definetely something fishy going on and it wasn't that nights tuna salad. Earlier in the day we had gone ashore and on our return a few guys noticed a boat was pulling away from the Golondrina. For some reason or another, none of the crew were interested in this bit of evidence. The crew weren't exactly showing symptoms of people who had lost their jobs.

On the other hand, Bert had been pretty badly scarred by the experience. All trust was gone. He was displaying tell tail signs of paranoia. From this point on he didn't go anywhere without his rucksack, which contained anything of value. At dinner the bag sat between his legs, on walking tours he would take it with him. He even found a waterproof bag that allowed him to snorkle with it. Bert was an outstanding character.

The whole escapade added to our experience. The members of our party were like-minded in that it wasn't going to affect our Galapagos trip and I for one was $750 better off. Joke.

Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands

matt_and_mercaders — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:03:00 GMT

Ecuador was next on our hit list and we were there to realise an ambition of Chloe's - The Galapagos Islands. For all we had heard it promised to be an outstanding part of our travels and it delivered. An unbelievable place.

But more of that in a minute because what took us by surprise was how much we liked Ecuador's capital, and our first stop, Quito. Our previous destination, San Jose, probably gave Quito a helping hand in that it was so rubbish that by comparison we already loved our new environment.

We stayed in the new town which had a really modern feel, so unlike Central American cities, with much more fashionable venues to hang out at. It had a totally unique feel to anywhere else we had been. Quito is a city in the clouds, its altitude means that in the evening you can see the cloud moving past the street lamps. Its eerie - especially when you hear so much about the threat of street crime.

We went out of Quito to the nearby equator line. That was cool. Then we explored the Old Town of Quito which really sets it apart from other cities. Old cobble streets, Churches on every corner, pretty squares and plazas and intersting Ecuadorian characters at every turn. Up on the hillside over-looking the city is the Virgen de Quito which is Quito´s version of Rio's Christ the Redeemer. It's huge when you get up close and the views of the city from inside the statue are amazing.

And so to Galapagos. Wow. We boarded our boat, The Golondrina, with a motley crew of tourists and a motley crew. Here is a summary of our colleagues:

A German couple - could speak far more english than they would let on
Two french ladies - could speak far less english than anyone
Two Californians - Steve and Elizabeth, co-investigators in Bert-gate (see: The Incident On Day Two)
An Aussie and Kiwi couple - lived down the road from us in Chis a few years back
A Chilean and his 16 year old girlfriend - nicknamed Magnum because he used to be a P.I. in Chicago before going into the Fruit Machine business. This guy was the million dollar man.
A Mexican and his wife - Old mates with the Chilean. Now chief doc at Chicago and US Soccer teams.
Bert - German implicated in Bert-gate, great chap
And Ken, the Japanese pop star - the icing on the cake. This kid was social gold.

Our guide was Fabrizio ("call me Fozzy") one of the nicest people I've ever met. He was born on the Galapagos Islands and he was as passionate as they come. The tour was 5 days and by the end of it you really see a startling variety of nature and wildlife.

Sea lions, tropical fish and coral, lizards, flamingos, hermit crabs, snakes, pelicans, marine and land iguanas, hawks, finches, doves, sharks, manta rays, sting rays, turtles, tortoises, blue footed booby birds, frigate birds - the list goes on.

I wont do a run down of each day because it really is about seeing everything that the islands have to offer but I will give a few of the highlights:

Swimming with sea lions on one of the best beaches of our entire travels
Snorkelling with sharks
Checking out 150 year old tortoises
The incident on day two
Some entertaining evenings on the boat

The last of these highlights makes me think of Ken. He lives for music. Singing at every possible turn on one night we persuaded Ken to give us a song one night. Picture this if you will - We were on the top of the boat, Ken looks to the sky and so begins "are the stars shining tonight?" before breaking into a truly stunning song about the sky at night (the name of the song escapes me).

This young man's life is one long music video. When we were swimming with sea lions in the surf, Ken was striding along the beach belting out his favourite love songs. The sun was setting behind him and it was like we were watching our own private music video. Words cant describe it.

A thoroughly enjoyable time on the boat. We all got on so well despite language barriers and other differences. We particularly got on with Steve and Elizabeth hooking up with them for a night out in Quito on our return. And although I may not have gone into great detail about the up close and personal moments with the wildlife it truly was the star of the show - sorry Ken, you were a close second.

Gallery: The Galapagos Islands

matt_and_mercaders — Wed, 4 Mar 2009 01:35:00 GMT

Costa Rica

matt_and_mercaders — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:01:00 GMT

We met Cara and Polly in the city of San Jose and it was all very exciting as I hadn't seen Cara since we left England in July. After a quick catch up they jumped on a bus to head to Puerto Viejo, on the coast, where Matt and I would be joining them the next day. We spent the rest of the day in San Jose, where we had found ourselves a really lovely hostel. That was about all that was lovely about San Jose to be honest. We spent a further 4 days there at the end of our stint in Costa Rica and it didn't really get any better. It is not an attractive city and is lacking in any real culture, it is very busy but you can't walk anywhere at night as it is too dangerous. Other than going out for lunch and dinner, which is very expensive, and visiting the few random museums there isn't much else to do.

Puerto Viejo is a surfer/traveller town on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. We were very kindly being put up by a guy called Edwin, a friend of Polly's family. I must just dedicate a little time to describing Edwin as he was such a feature of our time in Costa Rica! He is a mid-forty year old, ex pro-surfer - he was actually the first person to surf in the Antarctic. He originates from Argentina but, after spending time in various different parts of the world, has now been settled in Puerto Viejo for many years. He is a great big bear of a man, not fat you understand, just big and very kind and gentle with a very soft voice. He lives in a gorgeous bungalow that he had built in the jungle, about 15 minutes drive from the main town, that has completely open sides.

Known to make comments such as “No don't turn it on, I'm done with light for today” and “surfers love sushi, it helps them connect with the ocean” and even “the economy is like malaria man – you've got to ride it out”... he is basically a hippy, but intelligent with it as he can speak about 5 different languages. Anyway, he also has two other bungalows in the jungle, complete with open sides but these ones have netting round them, one of which he was very kindly allowing us to stay in for the duration of our stay.

That first night we headed over to Edwin's for supper where Cara and Polly, both chefs, were cooking the first of many delicious meals that me and Matt were to enjoy over the next couple of weeks. We also met Mika, a 20 year old Russian princess who was travelling round Costa Rica for 3 weeks and was staying in one of the rooms in Edwin's bungalow.

After much drinking by us and some excellent chat over the course of the evening, Mika persuaded us to head into town to go dancing. We were all having a great time in a little salsa bar, the rum and cokes were flying around, we were all confident that our form was great, Mika got her little dance ... then decided she wanted to go home. With only enough money between us for one taxi ride home and no chance of getting us out of the bar at this stage, not to mention the fact that the whole thing had been her idea, things took a small turn for the worse. The rest of this night is probably best documented in the photos we have of us looking exuberant, raucous, and probably a bit rough, whilst Mika refuses to even look at the camera.

The next day the rain started. It was torrential and it didn't stop for our entire stay. We hung out in the bungalow until it seemed like it had eased a bit and then donned our waterproofs for the long walk into town. We had decided to rent some bikes as a means of getting around. Our bikes were old and simple but effective – they even had little baskets on the front to keep things in. They don't have brakes, you basically have to pedal backwards when you want to stop.

On day two, the rain seemed to ease slightly so we decided to go for a lovely long bike ride to the next town along. So, looking like Elliot and his friends from ET, we precariously set off down the bumpy, rocky track that lead to the road. After no more than 3 minutes the heavens opened and we were soaked through within 30 seconds, no lie. We looked like we had jumped into a swimming pool with our clothes on. After pointlessly taking shelter at the end of the track we came up with the only possible solution – we would go to the shop, stock up on some food and loads of booze and head back to hang out in the bungalow. And this we did... for the next four days, interspersing our time with a lot of cards and retro games, eg consequences.

Our plan was to go from Puerto Viejo to Bocas del Toro in Panama but, due to the rain, the boarder crossing had washed away. Instead we headed over to Jaco on the Pacific Coast where a friend of Edwin's was going to give us a reduced rate at his yoga retreat. The one thing we all agreed on was that we needed to be nearer the town. Jaco is a formally beautiful beach location which is now so overdeveloped you can't even see the beach anymore. We got off the bus and hopped in a taxi to the address Edwin had given us – 10 minutes later, we arrived in the middle of nowhere. But it was a lovely little place with a pool and a bar and we were only going to stay for a couple of days ... so we decided to stay despite our earlier agreement.

We spent a couple of days relaxing by the pool, enjoying the sun and warmth – at least me and Cara did. Polly and Matt became a little restless and while Matt could fill his time playing in the pool or on the internet, Polly would frequently disappear, complete with massive headphones, on long, punishing walks.

We did have one night out in Wacko, as it came to be called, but predictably this was fairly dreadful.

Our next and final stop was Montezuma, a little hippy town further down the coast. We took a boat trip over there, during which we were lucky enough to see some dolphins. They were swimming around the boat and it was really lovely to watch them.

Our main aim in accommodation this time was to definitely be walking distance from the town, and if possible have access to a kitchen so we could save some money by cooking. After finding a couple of possibilities, we were put in touch with Heraldo who had a little house, just up the hill, that was in our price range. A little walk up and down the hill each day sounded fine, good for us in fact, plus we would have all the amenities of a house. 15 minutes later when Heraldo had driven us up a vertical hill we arrived. It was really nice and we were here now, and it would be easy to get a taxi ... we decided to take it.

The next few days were spent lazing around on the beach, enjoying some yummy home cooked food, avoiding the crazy eyed, hectic, paranoid Heraldo and, the highlight, indulging in our daily happy hour cocktails at the smart little hotel, Ylang Ylang.

After Montezuma it was back to San Jose for Matt and I and on to Panama for Polly and Cara. Costa Rica itself is pleasant but nothing much to write home about, however, our time will become another highlight because of the good times we had there with Cara and Polly.

Belize

matt_and_mercaders — Mon, 2 Feb 2009 01:53:00 GMT

Our first stop in Belize was a little place called Corozal which we were using as a pit stop, for one night, before heading out to the Cayes. We had booked into a little hotel and were greeted on our arrival by the American owner – well, technically, we weren't exactly greeted by him. It was more a case of ringing the bell and banging on the door with no response. Matt finally managed to get in only to be told by a rather large American man, who he presumed was a guest, that Gwyn, the owner, was asleep in his room. After being reassured by this, basically drunk, man that it was okay to knock on his door, a bleary eyed Gwyn appeared to check us in. He was very pleasant, if a little brusque, and kept insisting that we join him upstairs for a drink. I was completely against the idea but Matt felt we really should.

So, after dumping our bags, we cautiously made our way upstairs where we were greeted by a slightly worse for wear Gwyn and the aforementioned drunk guest. We proceeded to hang out with these two random characters for a few drinks, during which time a couple and their 3 year old turned up, also guests. As time went on it became clear that Gwyn was a raging alcoholic as he alternated between falling asleep slumped on his stool and trying to feed his new puppy beer. A strange introduction to Belize certainly, but not altogether unpleasant.

The next morning Gwyn, following a coffee for Matt and himself infused with a whopping shot of rum, kindly loaded us into the back of his truck and gave us a lift to the dock where we were catching the Thunderbolt over to our first proper destination, San Pedro. Gwyn however didn't just drop us of, he actually stayed on that dock and waved us off like we were long lost friends. Quite extraordinary behaviour but nice all the same.

Belize is a lovely place to while away some time and over the next couple of weeks we hopped between San Pedro, Caye Caulker and Placencia. To be honest they are more holiday destinations than traveller venues but with lovely beaches and fabulous weather we certainly weren't complaining! The people are very friendly and so relaxed they are virtually horizontal most of the time. We would spend our days lazing on the beach, making good use of luxury resort facilities (I should point out we weren't actually staying in these resorts) and wandering the, often single lane, sandy streets.

By the end of our time in Belize we were extremely relaxed, a little browner but definitely ready for a change of scene – thus it was that we made our way to Costa Rica where we were meeting up with Cara and Polly...

Gallery: Belize

matt_and_mercaders — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:45:00 GMT

Gallery: Mexico

matt_and_mercaders — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:44:00 GMT

Gallery: New Zealand

matt_and_mercaders — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:41:00 GMT

Gallery: Australia

matt_and_mercaders — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:39:00 GMT

Mexico

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:56:00 GMT

We found our self in Mexico (and on this Central American leg of our travels if we are honest) because I wanted to learn more about the Mayan civilisation. Inconveniently for me, the Mayans were similar to the Incas in that we don’t actually know a great deal about them and most of what we do know is guesswork based on the ruins they left behind. These are based in the Yucatan peninsular region of the country.

I can’t speak for Mexico as a whole, however, all through the Yucatan the people we encountered were nice. Unusually so. You really notice. Even in Cancun which is an appalling place. After a few days there getting our plans sorted we headed for the town of Merida. Another country, another new culture and Merida is as good a place as any to get a realistic dose of the way of life of the region.

The town was pretty with nice squares – they have all day festivals on Saturdays and Sundays with street music and dancing. A good atmosphere to be amongst. The food though, sorry Mexico, is not good. You can forget Mexican food from home because the authentic stuff is dripping in fat, stodgy and accompanied with questionable cuts of meat. Where the food fails, however, the ruins pass the test. From Merida we visited Uxmal which had Pyramids and tombs and ball courts and loads of other curious features.

Back in Merida, we tested our Spanish when attempting to get a replacement phone for the one we had left on a bus... It was a comedy hour but we got a result despite our vocab shortcomings – you try saying SIM card and pay-as-you-go in Spanish. From Merida we made our way to Tulum with a stop off at some more ruins, this time at one of the newly appointed 7 wonders of the modern world: Chichen Itza.

It was busy but impressive and despite the formidable pyramid taking centre stage the highlight for me was always going to be something a bit random and, in Chichen Itza’s case, it was the platform of skulls. Around this stone platform were carvings of hundreds if not thousands of skulls. The platform itself was used for displaying the decapitated heads of enemies and sacrificed prisoners. According to the placard the platform “reflected the obvious intention of frightening neighbours and potentially rebellious subjects”. This is the sort of thing I came to Mexico to see.

Tulum is a traditional backpacker stop. There are more ruins but this time perched on the cliff edge next to white sand beaches and the turquoise Caribbean sea. In our case overshadowed by grey clouds and occasional rain. On top of this the hostel was rubbish. Chloe took particular offense the standard of the hosts jokes. Anyone who knows Sam Moore will appreciate her frustration. I think they had bed bugs too – Chloe’s face was swollen for the whole time we stayed there. On a positive note we met a German called Ralph on the last day of his travels who insisted on treating the swollen Chloe and I to a meal. Every cloud...

St Lucia

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:29:00 GMT

I wont go into great detail about St Lucia as it hardly constitutes travelling (with the exception of getting there: Christchurch-Auckland-LA-Dallas-San Juan-St Lucia). We met up with Chloe's family who spend Christmas there and after Christmas we were joined by my family. We had an amazing 3 weeks there (the time was dictated by the flights we could get and not greed!) with a huge a array of highlights. Including:

Seeing family after 5 months away - unforgettable
Andy´s insistence on having the most ridiculous cocktails on the menu
Emphatic table-tennis victories with Noosh Mercado
Mini-tennis victories against Andy and Dad
Dad deciding it might be a good idea to try water-skiing despite his dodgy knees - and then limping back to his sun lounger
The worlds best steak at The Big Chef
The Bonehills putting on an awesome Christmas feast
Dad becoming friends with a local rasta
New Year's party back at 502
Stef Mercado's 2 foot cigar
Milkshakes and Ribs every day
Clives omellette
Ludicrous secret santa presents e.g. A glue gun
Two boat-trips
Susanna and Brian's daily watersport activity
Dan Jude's jean selection (red, green, white and electric blue...)
Dan Jude rage at a 12 year old (he made the kid dance for him)
and many, many more

TRAVEL NOTES – What I've Learnt About Chloe

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:25:00 GMT

Here is a selection of things that I've learnt about Chloe since we set off. This is an ongoing list so be sure to check back for an updated list. You'll probably find a What I've Learnt About Matt list on your return too.

Chloe...

1. is able to predict the time to an astonishing level of accuracy. Recently, when tested at random intervals, she has consistently been within 4 minutes of the actual, Casio recorded, time.

2. has some form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Inherited off her father this affliction means that my girlfriend has 'routines'. For example, brushing her teeth in a particular order.

3. is scared of butterflies.

4. is incredibly frugal with money. Like today in Mumbai - i've just haggled my way to buying her a t-shirt for the equivalent of 1 pound 20 pence. She was convinced I could have eeked an extra 5p off the lad.

5. has a remarkably powerful sense of smell. A mild odour to me can virtually knock her out. Imagine me taking her to India for a month!

6. ran an insect hospital with her friend Harriet when she was young. "How did you choose the insects?" i aksed "Any insect that we thought needed some medical attention" she replied. "But not slugs... Harriet refused to tend to slugs".

7. had a male aupair named Pascale. He used to iron clothes a lady's nightie

8. had a well documented fat stage at uni. The food responsible: Mars Bar toasties...

9. can do an uncanny aussie accent.

10. has a favourite planet. Jupiter. In her own words "always has been, always will be, I'm not sure why but I do love its big red spot"

Ashburton & Christchurch

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:24:00 GMT

Ross, an old family friend from Shropshire, moved to New Zealand a few years back so we decided to pay him and his girlfriend Ceci a visit. The campervan and us rolled into the agricultural heart of NZ, Ashburton, and into the curious world of Ross Appleby. Free from the constraints of family to put him straight Ross has cultivated an alternative world in which to live.

For instance, Ross has a toilet in his lounge. 'Rescued' from the garden he placed the porcelain loo in the corner of the room - taking the liberty of fitting a powerful spotlight (artistically emanating from the u-bend) and a semi-transparent toilet seat. This creative use of space has not gone down well with Ceci, who would understandably rather see it removed but, in fairness to Ross, the soft blue glow grows on you. In fact, I might just fit one myself.

Another example of Ross' world is the absence of Christmas spirit. Again, Ceci seems keen to get involved in the festive cheer so it was with some bemusement on her part when we answered her question "when do you buy your Christmas tree in England?" with the answer "early December". Ross had informed her that it was tradition to buy the tree on Christmas Eve and remove it on Boxing Day. He genuinely seemed gutted that his masterplan had been rumbled. Bear in mind that Chloe is the living embodiment of Christmas and you've got a great battle on your hands.

On the same day that we bought 40 Christmas lights for their miniature Christmas tree, Ross took Chloe and I on a farm tour. He's got a great set-up down there and we learnt a lifetimes worth of crop knowledge (as well as covering off the huge irrigation systems which I had become slightly obsessed with on our travels - the centre-pivot a personal favourite).

Ashburton itself is a farming metropolis and not a lot else gets a look in - directions to their house included "turn right at PGG Wrightson, you cant miss it, just keep your eyes peeled for the worlds largest combine harvester: the Claas Lexion 580". A quick tour of the town included the site of the Church. Not the Church itself, because that had been towed away a few months previous. Not enough demand apparently. Another highlight was being ID´d for beer in the supermarket. Given the obvious visible signs of ageing I suffer from this was a source of great pride.

We enjoyed a few relaxing days in their company and they really looked after us. We owe them a great deal for looking after us so well. Ross' world was great fun and I look forward to seeing Ross and Ceci when they are next in England. Hopefully, by then I will probably have the toilet-lamp in operation.

We rolled into Christchurch for a few un-noteworthy days before taking on the mammoth journey to St Lucia. Final stop before heading to the airport was the campervan depot where we were charged an unmentionable amount of money for a replacement windscreen due to 2 chips in our windscreen that couldn't be repaired. It left a bit of a sour taste in a mouth which went well with the foul smell of my arm (which had been lowered into a septic tank to retrieve the holding tank lid that had fallen in when I emptied it). I swore Chloe to secrecy on this little titbit but on reflection it seems a shame to omit it. Despite these late ordeals that campervan remains one of best travel investments we have made.

Queenstown & Milford Sound

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:23:00 GMT

Queenstown

We liked the atmosphere in Queenstown as soon as we arrived. It's really buzzing and busy at the same time as being quite quaint with cosy little pubs and cafes. One of the first things we did was book ourselves onto a white water rafting tour. We decided to go for the slightly harder rapids, difficulty rating 3-5 (5 being the biggest there is) and I personally felt quite proud of how brave I had become over the last few months – look at me, I'm growing. Of course it was with a somewhat pinched expression and clenched hands that I actually set out early the following morning.

We all signed our lives away before boarding the bus that was to take us to the start point. We were given the usual induction and safety spiel that one is always given before undertaking one of these experiences – oh except this time we were told that people had actually died. I mean realistically I knew this was always possible, but the cold and impassive way that this was relayed to us, did actually make me think twice about the sensibility of this escapade... but then I saw Matt's face and I knew there was to be no backing out.

We were put into our groups and assigned our group leaders – we actually had two, one of whom was being examined to determine whether or not she should qualify as a raft leader. Feeling good at this stage, feeling reeealy confident. We were given our whistle stop tour of the instructions and asked to demonstrate them a number of times to ensure, I suppose, we could tell our left from right and actually listen (you would be surprised how hard some people find this). Then before we knew it we were off! I didn't realise beforehand that you don't actually sit in the boat, but rather on the outside edge with your feet linked under the seat in front to hold you in... I mean seriously, what?? I couldn't see how I would have a hope in hell of staying in and listened extremely carefully to the different procedures to follow if one was to fall out of the boat, whilst thinking “please, please don't let it be me, please don't let me completely embarrass myself, or worse, kill myself”.

The first few easy rapids went without hitch – one of the German girls in our boat who was next to me did nearly tumble out but I was on the case and grabbed her leg... proud face. We all seemed to be able to follow the instructions and were even managing some amusing banter with the leaders. Then at the next rapid, slightly bigger and longer this time, disaster struck! Okay, it wasn't really that bad, nobody fell out or anything, but as we were all sat in the boat (one of the moves we were taught for when you are going down a rapid) somehow the boat got trapped between two massive rocks. The two leaders were desperately trying to get us out of the gap whilst we all sat there wondering what on earth was going to happen. Then eventually, a couple of the leaders from the other boat jumped out and gave them a hand and we were free at last, all quite exciting drama really.

The rest of the experience was brilliant and we had a lot of fun, especially doing the big rapid right at the end that got us all soaked. I feel I should point out that although we got to do lots of rowing and moving around the boat to aid with steering, the real hard work and technical stuff is done by the leaders, we just went along for the ride. This of course makes sense when you consider none of us had any training at all and makes it all the more fun.

That afternoon it started to pour down with rain so we found ourselves an awesome wine bar with a massive roaring fire and set about really relaxing. Our friends Nicola and Shane were also in Queenstown so we had planned to meet them that evening after they had done their rafting. Obviously we had only met them once before and realised just before we met them for the second time that we were mildly pissed (or really quite drunk in my case) and perhaps this wasn't appropriate given the circumstances. Well, we needn't have worried, they are Irish for goodness sake, they jumped right in with us and about 7 hours later we rolled out of the third bar having had a thoroughly entertaining evening.

We met up with Nicola and Shane the next day for a wander and another couple of drinks. It was at this point that the four of us discovered a shared love for all things sweet and Matt and I were introduced to one of the places that is emblazoned on my memory: The British Lolly Shop. I think at this point in our travels, finding this gem was more exciting than Charlie entering the chocolate factory, NO JOKE! It was only small but FULL of sweets and chocolate, but not just any old sweets and chocolate, oh no, we are talking British imported, retro sweets and chocolate! There were huge jars of chocolate eclairs, midget gems, toffees, lemon bon bons, pear drops, fizzy cola bottles, I mean I could go on and on. Not only that but there were bags and bars of things we had been dreaming of since we left London – minstrels, munchies, maltesers (you can't get any of these in any of the places we had been by the way), wham bars, fudge, the classic caramel bars, chocolate orange... seriously I need to stop now, even talking about it is making my mouth water! Needless to say we all went to town and probably had one of the proudest faced photos of our entire travels!

Our time in Queenstown had come to an end and after a final farewell to Nicola and Shane we packed up the van and headed off to Milford Sound for our next adventure...

Milford Sound

The journey to Milford Sound took in some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen. Matt in the drivers seat, me as always enjoying the ride as a passenger, kept stopping the van to get a proper look, it was that good! The closer we got the more dramatic the view became.

On arrival at the one and only campsite in Milford Sound the sky completely clouded over – not a great way to make the most of the view but pretty common apparently. We booked our Kayak tour for the next morning, which would consist of about 4 hours of kayaking amongst the mighty Milford Sound landscape, and settled in for the evening, being ultra careful as we went in and out of the bus not to let any of the disgusting sand flies in – they tried really hard.

Early the next morning we were collected and taken down to the small dock where we would be kayaking from. After being given our outfits – some lovely stripey thermal leggings, life jacket, wooly hat and skirt (that's the rubber thing that your wear round your middle and hook over the bit you sit in so as to stop the water getting in) – and a quick demonstration of how to use the oars, we were ready to be loaded in to our two-man kayak. We were a little wobbly as we were pushed into the water (me at the front) but managed to make our way over to our group. This is when we got our first glimpse of the impressive Milford Sound from water level – except it was drizzling and cloudy and we couldn't really see all that much, but it still felt awesome to be paddling around surrounded by this incredible scenery.

We managed to paddle our way to an amazing waterfall and our guide took us right up to the bottom of it so we could look up. Occasionally during the morning, a massive cruise ship would sail past and anyone who wasn't completely up with the group had to make a bit of a dash for it so as to avoid any unfortunate incidents. It is quite important that you and your partner stay in time when paddling in a kayak, this makes it smoother and easier for both. I was at the front and therefore Matt was supposed to keep in time with me, and I was really going for it and trying hard so I secretly thought he'd be quite impressed. It wasn't until near the end, when there had already been a few minor disagreements between us, that he pointed out how slowly I'd been paddling! Furiously I decided we were on no speaks – clearly impossible when trying to return home safely in a kayak.

All in all it was great fun, pretty tiring but a great way to spend a morning and attempt to see Milford Sound. We spent another night in the campsite which meant we were able to return the following morning when the sun was shining and the sky clear and see Milford Sound in all its glory – and it really was spectacular.

We then headed back to Queenstown for one night before making our way to Ashburton to stay with Ross, a friend of Matt's from home.

Glaciers & Wanaka

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:22:00 GMT

Taking the winding road out of Akaroa we were soon into the countryside again. We were heading for Arthur's Pass, a road that weaves over the spine of NZ's mountain range and its assoicated ski fields. Blessed again with ludicrous views and perfect weather I have a further opportunity to alert you to how stunning NZ scenery is.

We eventually arrived in Pukekura, an odd place, which consisted of a pub, a giftshop and a few spaces for out-of-their-depth-and-frankly-a-bit-nervous campervan enthusiasts. Pukekura and its inhabitants (population 5) have a pathological dislike for possums. Introduced from Australia these critters are a real menace to NZ. The Department of Conservation can't control them and the tireless battle to eliminate them has been picked up by this village. Most dishes contain possum roadkill as their principle ingredient (drivers aim their cars in their direction so the roads are littered with their corpses) and I even noticed a sign that read "Possums: Chickens of the Forest".

Chloe was pretty unsettled here - and I don't blame her. Puke bore all the hallmarks of insanity that remote places seem to promote. I could't help but be reminded of a B&B I stayed at in John O'Groats that had similar characteristics of madness. The sun was barely up the following morning by the time we blazed a trail out of Pukekura (blazing a trail perhaps a little generous to the Campervan). We moved onto the Glaciers.

En route to the Franz and Fox Glaciers I picked at the remnants of my A-Level Geography glacier knowledge in a bid to impress Chloe. By now the campervan had become our own remote destination to go mad in typified by brain numbing glacial statistics from me. Another incident involved the two of us belting out a word perfect rendition of Always by Bon Jovi - an inclusion in this blog that I'm sure I will live to regret.

At the Franz Josef glacier there was loads of info on glaciers and although she never said anthing I think Chloe was impressed with the overlap in my glacier stats and the info placard...

The glacier was good to see, another example of the diversity of this country, but we didn't have the inclination to hike it or the money to take a helicopter over it so we moved onto Fox glacier where a road closure prevented us from getting up close and personal.

As we made our way to Wanaka more outrageous scenery ensued and at the end of our journey the town itself was beautifully set against a lake. In our one night there we found time to feed some ducks and I introduced Chloe to skimming stones - this crucial rite of passage somehow escaping her until this very moment.

Next stop - Queenstown.

Kaikoura & Akaroa

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:19:00 GMT

Kaikoura

We decided to make Kaikoura our first stop on the South Island. It sounded like a sweet little town and apparently we might see some seals. That was no lie. As we approached the town, I spotted a seal on the rocks below. On closer inspection we discovered an entire colony of the blighters. There were males and females, big ones and small, all blubbering about on their big bellies making their strange sound. I didn't really look at them as being sweet, partly because two were getting into quite a serious argument and partly because you are told not to get too close as they are pretty aggressive and very fast. It was incredible to see them in their natural habitat, just going about their daily business.

Kaikoura has the most stunning surroundings. The main street winds along next to the sea with an immediate backdrop of huge, snowcapped mountains. To give you an idea of how enticing this view was, it compelled us to head out for a fifty minute run the next morning to appreciate it.

Kaikoura is known as the place to go on a whale watching tour. However, with the budget in mind we decided we couldn't do everything and felt we should save our money for swimming with dolphins. Instead we headed off on a walk that also took in a few look out points, supposedly good for spotting different wildlife. Anticipating a scenic but shortish walk we only had one bottle of water between us. By the time we had trekked up, down and round several hills, in the boiling heat, been confronted by sheep, cows and I think there may even have been some goats, we were weak – real weak. And desperately in ANYTHING in exchange for water? That was us. Of course, we did eventually get back to the campsite and get some water and the good news is we even spotted a whale from one of the look outs. Well, it was pretty far away, but we were almost certain it was – we've even got a photo.

After a couple of days we loaded up the van and headed for a little town called Akaroa...

Akaroa

Ah, the lovely Akaroa. Akaroa is a quaint little town with a French heritage so most of the shops, restaurants and accommodation have French names. We were staying in a campsite on a hill high above the town, but a steep path of steps meant you could walk to and from it.

The main reason we came to Akaroa was to swim with dolphins. It is home to the Hector dolphin and can boast the highest density of this endangered breed.

We had booked ourselves onto the first trip of the day so it was very early on a grey and windy morning that we set off in the bus. We were running slightly late and I had forgotten one of my important van duties (I always prepped the inside before driving while Matt did the outside jobs) – locking the fridge. So as we made our descent into the village we peeled round a corner and the fridge door swung open. A few things toppled out, including the houmous pot which parted company with the lid, spilling its contents onto the carpet floor. It was before 6am, we were in a hurry, I cried – the less said about this the better!

The campsite owner had told us we should park behind the fire station. As we drew up we saw some parking spaces out the front of it, but Matt was insistent we'd been told to go behind. So, despite the fact we had to open a huge metal gate, there were no other cars there other than the fire engine and there were no appointed spaces, we parked the van at the back and headed for the dock.

We met up with our group and group leader, donned our fetching wet suits (extra thick in some vain attempt to offer protection against the freezing water) and climbed aboard the boat. There were only eight of us in our boat and we immediately made friends with an Irish couple, Nicola and Shane. The water was very choppy but apparently this is a good thing as the dolphins feel braver and are more likely to swim close to you as they know they can get away quickly. Matt spotted the dolphins first (he was very proud) so the boat was stopped and we waited to see if the dolphins would approach us, which is a sign they are happy for us to be around.

The dolphins started to swim around the boat so after being told to expect a “religious moment” upon entry we started to hop into the water. This was no lie, the water was freezing. It didn't even make me want to scream, in fact it made us mute for the first minute – our think our bodies went into shock. But it wasn't long before the dolphins started to appear and the water was forgotten. Now for those of you that think that swimming with dolphins involves dolphins gently bobbing around you and inquisitively nosing about your person whilst you stroke them (like I did) you are wrong. It is a much more raw experience. They were surfing the choppy waves as they approached us and they swim right past you, very close, but at quite a speed. I was left in no doubt that these are wild animals, and yet they had no reason to continuously swim around and past us, again and again, other than the inquisitiveness and trust they showed in us. This is what made it one of the most incredible experiences I have had. Normally there are about three to five dolphins swimming with a group but, probably due to the roughness of the sea, there were about fifteen of them with us that day.

We took it in turns to bang two pebbles together. This is a sound that the dolphins recognise and respond to and it is incredible. I found myself a very small way off from the group and as I knocked the pebbles together the dolphins were everywhere around me, under, circling, so close they were virtually rubbing my shoulder. It is really hard to even get across how amazing it was.

After about 40 minutes in the water the dolphins slowly began to swim away and we began to realise how numb we were! So we boarded to boat to head back (it was ludicrously choppy by this point – the rest of the trips that day were actually cancelled so we were lucky).

After collecting our certificate and bidding farewell to Nicola and Shane (who we were to meet up with later in our travels) we made our way back to the bus. There was still nobody around and also no angry notes on the windscreen – so far so good. I opened the gate as Matt drove the van and then it happened: a very angry fireman stormed up to me, as I cowered by the gate, and demanded to know what the hell we thought we were doing parking in a fire station. In that second it dawned on me how absurd it was that we'd done this, clearly we should have used the appointed spaces out the front, what were we thinking?! As I stumbled and mumbled some kind of poor explanation and apology Matt approached and an identical scene unfolded. Safe to say, we had learnt our lesson as we left with our heads hanging.

We finished our time in Akaroa with a delicious dinner in a wonderful pub garden, a few too many proseccos (I think we were a bit caught up in the moment after the dolphins) and a hilarious French waiter. Then it was off to the glaciers...

Taupo & Wellington

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:15:00 GMT

The journey to Taupo threw up a few surprises. On our way into the town of Tirau I noticed a new and impressive factory adorned with 'Corruagted Creations' signage. It was a big building and I couldn't imagine that there would be that much demand for their services. That is until we entered the town. I have just spent a few minutes on the internet looking (successfully) for Corrugated Creations and have learnt that Tirau is the self-titled 'Corrgated Iron Capital of New Zealand'. You had better believe it. Nearly every store, bar, restaurant, service has one of their creations. A corrugated pizza, ice cream, scissors, but my personal favourite – I really regret not taking a photo – a 10ft, at least, corrugated Jesus. Frankly, it looked ridiculous. To be honest, I'm not convinced that corrugated iron is the most forgiving material when it comes to the subtle detail of facial features so He had the look of a cartoon character. Anyway, check out their work at http://www.corrugatedcreations.co.nz and for an idea of their Jesus piece check out their Good Shepherd in our NZ photos. Brilliant.

The last 10km before entering Taupo were a real treat and when we arrived we were impressed too. Its pretty stunning with excellent views over the lake. A bit of local knowledge for you: Lake Taupo is in a crater of a volcano, and some of its previous eruptions are the biggest ever (Freddie, feel free to add some specific Geography stats) for example, the last eruption destroyed most of the North Island and was twice the size of the Mt St Helens eruption. Here endeth the lesson for today.

The day we arrived coincided with the beginning of a cycling event and clearly their hard graft left a mark on us because we decided to sign-up for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing the next day. Its a beast of a trek, 19km in total, and considered the best trek in NZ. I don't walk fast and I don't really walk far (God bless the car), however, I'd put on a few pounds in Australia and I love a challenge. After all her running Chloe was as fit as a butcher's dog so no hesitation from her either. I confess that at this point I omitted to tell her about a friend of mine who had fallen down the volcano, breaking numerous bones, been airlifted to hospital, on this very trek, and in his own words “left a part of his brain on the mountain”. The outcome for us was gratefully very different. If I describe it in detail you'll get bored of the usual hyperbole so lets just say it was a highlight of our trip so far. Completed in 6 hours flat.

Taupo was a good place, with more than its fair share of thermal activity so we dutifully went to a thermal park to check out what all the fuss is about. There was plenty of steaming water, bubbling mud and the like and it made a nice walk too but thats perhaps being a bit generous to the overall appeal of the place.

Similarly, Yuka falls, another local attraction that was just about worth a look. Apologies for the lack of enthusiasm - it's our own fault. The problem is our standards are now set incredibly high and they have become pretty unaccommodating to the supporting artists of the tourism trade. Lord only knows what kind of reception the Kew Bridge Steam Museum (with their finest collection of stationary steam pumping engines in the world) would receive if we were to pop in back home. Apologies to our reading steam enthusiasts. So you should probably take my views on the thermal park and Yuka falls with a pinch of salt.

Next stop Wellington for the ferry to the South Island. We did one night in Wellington and I think it is probably a good town – we didn't stop to explore as our schedule was unforgiving and NZ cities aren't internationally renowned. On the other hand, throw in some corrugated iron and it could have been a different story.

Auckland & Bay of Islands

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:14:00 GMT

Auckland

We arrived in New Zealand in the middle of a torrential downpour that didn't really stop all night. Already feeling slightly anxious about the campervan I had been talked into hiring for our three and a half weeks travelling through the country, the grey skies and rain did little to appease these feelings. Matt, on the other hand, was feeling thoroughly pleased with himself. He had got chatting to the woman sat next to him on the plane, while I watched Mama Mia, and it turned out she was Dan Carter's aunt (He is a New Zealand Rugby player for those of you that don't know – of little interest to me but very exciting if you like rugby apparently). Or so she said, she may just have been a crazy lady, but she did give us some great tips for our onward journey.

Only having an evening and half a day in Auckland meant that there was little time for anything other than a quiet dinner that first night and picking up few bits and bobs the next day before heading back towards the airport to collect the campervan. I therefore can't say we were overly enamoured with the place but we did meet some incredibly friendly New Zealanders in that short time, which was a sign of what was to come. The campervan.

Ah, the campervan. On first sight of what was to be our home for the next three and a half weeks my spirits were instantly lifted. It was REALLY clean, inside and out! It had everything you could possibly need, all crammed into the back of a ford transit van – quite amazing really. There was a sink, a grill, two hobs, pans, plates, glasses, a loo and a long seat that opened out into a bed. The bed was actually bigger than those in lots of the hostels we've stayed in so Matt was overjoyed. So, after a through induction on how to use everything, a discussion over insurance (we didn't go for full windscreen cover – why would we......that decision was going to come back and bite us....), a final check over the vehicle and a “honk honk”, we were on our way to Bay of Islands!

Bay of Islands

We arrived in the little town of Russell in Bay of Islands for our first night in the 'Turnham Team Bus' (Turnham over equals Matt's football team, the name was somehow derived from that....!). Russell is gorgeous! It's a really quaint little town with a great pub, pretty houses and buildings and a really friendly atmosphere. We were staying in a really spacious campsite, about 5 minutes drive outside the town, which was virtually empty whilst we were there so it was very peaceful.

The scenery as we drove up to Bay of Islands was stunning and gave us our first real taster of the sights we would see as we travelled through the country. Russell is set in beautiful countryside next to the sea, but unless you're doing a tour there's not much to do. We did go for a walk past a flagstaff that had some interesting history.....but it escapes me right now. Russell is one of the many places in NZ that offers 'swimming with dolphins' or 'dolphin spotting' tours. We both really wanted to swim with dolphins but decided to wait until later in the trip. Instead we decided to do a boat tour that takes you round the sights, but will veer off to see dolphins if they get a radio announcement to say they've been spotted – which luckily for us did happen on this trip.

We boarded the boat, on what I must say was a fairly grey and chilly day, with about 30 OAPs. Now I don't want to be rude about the older generation because, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, they do still serve a purpose, but please picture this scene every time it was announced that there were dolphins visible: hoardes of old people pushing and shoving their way to the side of the boat, pretending they don't know they've stepped on your shin, whilst loudly discussing the merits of their different cameras or shouting words of encouragement to each other such as, “wonderful Elsie, aren't you good at this” or “Did you get it Gerald? Oh you missed, try again”. Not quite the serene experience I'd had in mind.

However, luck was on our side. Matt and I, by chance, went and stood at the back of the boat where there were about two other people. All of a sudden we realised we were being followed by a pod of 3 dolphins, two big and one small (I like to think it was a family). These dolphins were literally surfing in our wake, it was incredible. They had no reason to be doing that other than for pure fun. So much fun in fact that the little one did this amazing dive out of the water, made a huge arc, before giving a little flick and going back in. Somehow Matt managed to catch it all on camera using the flicker device – he was really in the good books! I should just mention the 'hole in the rock' which is literally a giant hole that has been naturally created in the rocks. It is big enough to fit a boat through, although this was a slightly hairy experience.

It wasn't all plain sailing in Russell however. On our second night in the bus we were settling ourselves into bed for the night when a loud, flushing sound started emanating from the 'bathroom'. I stood stock still in my customary panic mode whilst Matt made a heroic leap from the bed to attend to the situation. The loo was basically continuously flushing itself, for no apparent reason, which would ultimately result in the holding tank overflowing. You can imagine what that would look like. However, Matt rescued the situation with his quick thinking by jumping out of the bus and removing the holding tank, trying not to get covered in wee in the process.

Meanwhile .3,000 mossies saw the light and decided to make a break for it and started dive bombing into the loo cubicle. At this point I finally gained enough composure to slam the door on them. To receive the final feather in his cap, Matt Dundee returned to the bus and set about decapitating those suckers with a tea towel. It was a total massacre. So, slightly earlier than we would perhaps have liked, we left the lovely Russell to get the van fixed en route to Taupo, our next destination.

I should just mention 'Sheepworld', our campsite for the night. It's a working farm – sheep shearing demos being a popular favourite – that had some very cute camping spots, each with its own bathroom. There were lots of random animals everywhere, many of which are tame. It was lovely.

Sydney & The Blue Mountains

matt_and_mercaders — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:11:00 GMT

We tried to take a budget flight from Byron Bay to Sydney but Australia had had a bit of rain and the runway had warped (Australias version of leaves on the line?) so we were driven by bus to Surfers Paradise to get a replacement plane. We had some time to kill so we went for a little wander, Chloe even got a haircut.

My old mate Duncs picked Chloe and I up from Sydney airport. He and his wife, Claire, had moved to Sydney a few months previous – a sad loss for London not that you find them shedding any tears – and they were already lapping up the Aussie lifestyle i.e. hitting the beach after work, regular barbecues, a summer...

We had a great time staying with Duncs and Claire, it was great to see them for a start – the first familiar faces seen for 3 months – and they really looked after us. Duncs had a Huntsman spider, the big ones, in his garden. He calls it Fat Tony. We used to check on it every night. Duncs and Claire also got an official pet in the form of a puppy, called Winston, who was great fun to play around with.

Their house is in the Paddington area and located conveniently, for Duncs, between two pubs, The London & The Grand National. Its a nice neighbourhood close to Centennial Park which is typically Australian with its bizarre array wildlife. Its also a 10 minute drive to some of Sydney's finest beaches. So that's; pubs – tick; parks – tick; beaches – tick. Good work.

We had some other friends to catch up with in Sydney: Helen (uni mate) and Blair (school mate). One weird Sunday afternoon in The Grand National I called Helen to arrange to meet her and discovered that she not only lived on the same road as Duncs and Claire but opposite the pub. A few drinks later and Blair walks through the door. An amazing coincidence – we didn't even have to leave the street to see everyone. We met up with them a few times before we left Sydney and one each occasion it was great to see them. Andy and Vicky, from the Whitsunday Islands sailing trip, also live in Sydney and we shared a nice catch-up lunch with them too. All in all a very social Sydney.

We gave the city a good explore too. We ticked off all the main sights; went to the aquarium, did the bridge climb and walked the the coastal path with all its associated bays and beaches. We hired a car too and went out of town for a few days to see the Blue Mountains. We'd heard a lot of good things about them and they lived up to the hype. Awesome views into the canyon. Whilst there we did a trek along this path that was like walking onto the set of I'm a Celebrity... it was brilliant.

Before returning to Sydney we headed to Jenolan Caves, the world's largest limestone caves. I wont bore you with the details but if you're in the area make sure you pay them a visit. Back in Sydney we saw the latest Bond film and cooked Duncs and Claire a thank-you meal (spag bol – a bit too bacony if I remember correctly). We owe them a great deal for looking after us so well – they both put a lot of time and effort into making sure our time in Sydney was all it could be. And they succeeded, our time with them is a highlight of our travels. Hopefully, we can repay Duncs, Claire & Fat Tony the favour back in Chiswick.

Noosa & Byron Bay

matt_and_mercaders — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:06:00 GMT

Noosa was a nice place. We stayed in a good hostel near a typically huge beach and ate at a restaurant that had these incredible lamb and mint pizzas (see Travel Notes: Incredible Food). It was a great place to hang out and get some beach time – remember India hadn't delivered in this area and the weather in Port Douglas was a bit grey. Of all the places we went in Australia Noosa had the most appeal Chiswick-on-Sea.

Aside from walking the headland (this was a coastal path that went past small coves, limitless flora and fauna and, most excitingly, a nudist beach) our days were not particularly laden with activities. We did, however, take a trip to Australia Zoo – Steve Irwin's family zoo.

This is a real highlight – simply one of the best things to do in Australia. The zoo is so well set up that it doesn't feel like a typical zoo. The animal handlers walk around with various creatures for you to stroke, hold and learn about (Chloe again on hand to meet and greet). The kangaroo and koala enclosures are highlights.

In total we must have spent an hour with the kangaroos alone. There are loads of lizards milling about, just wandering around the visitors. The first time we saw one we assumed it had escaped. It turns out they're wild but the zoo is a cool place for them to hang out. They like it there. Imagine that at Chester Zoo – shall we agree on ten minutes before some kid has a got one in his hands trying to force feed it a Magnum?

So that was Australia Zoo and Noosa.

We moved on from there looking forward to Byron Bay as we'd heard so many positive things about it. The accommodation we booked was fantastic. It was a hell of a walk into town but worth it . It kind of reminded me of how Dad used to park ' miles out of Shrewsbury so we could get free parking. Talking of free, their breakfasts were amazing. I don't go in for muesli but I had this home made stuff everyday – I developed this love affair and got so into it I started throwing banana, honey and natural yoghurt in too. Took the raisins out obviously. Yep, I had a breakfast changing moment in that hostel.n Never before had I strayed from my staple: 3 cups of coffee and the sweeter offerings from Kellogg's.

If you look at Byron Bay on a map it bears a striking similarity to Noosa. Two great beaches with a national park headland in between. The towns couldn't be more different though. We struggled for decent affordable places to eat in Bryon Bay. You either went for the food that over the course of five days would kill you or the better options. So we alternated. On a positive note Chloe discovered that she does like sushi.

Whilst in Bryron Bay it is law to pay a visit to a town called Nimbin. It was a hotspot for hippies in the 60's and now, like a controlled experiment, you can go back and see how they turned out by visiting there little town. Most backpackers go there to buy weed – which is easy to achieve from the endless supply of crusty Nimbians who approach you as you get out of the minibus. Whilst in town we popped into the Museum of Marijuana (have you built a picture of Nimbin yet?) , and bought a chicken wrap that was awful I went on to supplement it with the worlds largest bowl of potato wedges.

The minibus driver had promised a tour if we wanted it and on our fourth walk of the 'high' street we decided this might be a drug free way of killing some time. The bus driver/ guide took us around three spots of 'interest'; an alternative energy company, a candle factory and natural rock formation that the aboriginals considered sacred – and what drew the hippies there in the first place. I played the model tudent during the tour:

Me: That was interesting, what did he say about the thermal generator that...

Chloe: I DONT care

We also bought a candle at, you guessed it, the candle factory. On the way back, on the outskirts of Byron Bay, the driver announced: “at the end of this journey the local police sometimes like to give us a little greeting party so if anyone made any 'special' purchases and would like to get off early please let me know”

Half the bus got off.

We did further walking in Byron Bay, again around the headland (no nudists) and down the beaches. We got lost this time so ended up walking the second furthest of my life (first place: when Gran took her grandchildren on a nice day out at Brown Moss – circa 1986 – and forgot where she parked the car). Other events worth a mention; the fruit bats are ridiculously big swooping around; a rainy night in watching Midsomer Murders and a morning comforting our hostel receptionist. She had accidentally received an email, intended for the owners of the hostel that included some pretty derogatory things said about her, from her boss. Endless tears.

Great Barrier Reef & Whitsunday Islands

matt_and_mercaders — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:45:00 GMT

When we landed in Australia we had passed through Europe, survived Egypt, experienced India and explored Hong Kong – so it was quite odd arriving somewhere with no significant cultural or language differences from home.

Which was a great relief.

Cairns was the first stop, an unremarkable place with enough tour agents to sink a jolly roger booze cruise. We spent a few days there doing some planning but Cairns will be remembered for a phone call we received from Amy and Andy: she called in the early hours of Australian morning to give us the outstanding news that she was pregnant. I offered congratulations and, if its a boy, Matt as a suitable name for the unborn tot and then drifted back to sleep.

Port Douglas was our next port of call and it was a great little town. Huge beach and nice high street but quite upmarket so not typical backpacker territory – we loved it. As well as a marathon planning session (in an internet cafe with world beating ice cream shop attached – Honeycomb and Boysenberry varieties our personal favourites) and a few trips to the beach we did our Great Barrier Reef trip from Port Douglas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef).

Taking this trip from Port Douglas gave us a bit more freedom from the crowds of Cairns. Our Gap Year friends carefully negotiated the next great threat to our G-Bar-Reef experience was our old foe, the weather. Apparently, it affects the visibility – rendering the whole thing pointless – and provides a choppy and uncomfortable ride out there to boot.

We held out for two days because of the weather, however, with bus and accommodation commitments coming up we had to bite the bullet. As it turned out, delaying a few days paid off and the weather was great. At the first two reef stops we did some snorkeling around the coral reef, which had been preceded by a briefing on what we might expect to see. That was pretty amazing – our first experience of tropical fish and coral up close – you could spend hours drifting around.

The third trip was the best. We split into two groups and went on a snorkelling tour of the reef with a guide. He would dive to the bottom, pick up a sea cucumber or something equally odd, bring it to the surface, pass it around (Chloe loves this bit) and tell us all about it. There was also this Rainbow fish called Maurice who was a bit of a pet of the trip staff. They feed Maurice every time they go to the reef and in return he swims around allowing tourists to touch him (enter Chloe stage left). We loved this trip.

We left Port Douglas to return to Cairns in a mini-bus run by a rafting company. The driver was a bit mental. He was a big fan of thrash metal, not looking at the road, shouting and looking a bit disturbed. Alive and unwell we had time to kill so we went and saw a movie (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) before jumping on the late bus to Airlie Beach.

Long journey bus drivers are worth a mention. They are a curious bunch - one part anger, one part bitterness, topped up with the unique Aussie sense of humour. Some examples: the Airlie Beach driver gave us a 5 minute dressing down before the bus had even left the station. With the exception of Chloe sitting in the wrong seat (an offense that make his face turn purple with rage) it was a little early in our journey for anger. It seemed as though he was so scarred from his previous experiences that the talk was necessary Lines like “I don't get paid to pick up your rubbish” and sitting in the wrong seat is a waste of my time and yours” lack the welcoming spirit of “welcome aboard and thank-you for traveling with us”.

Another character insisted on saying “right, lets get out of here, i am sick of this place already” after every stop. It was kind of like his catchphrase.He liked a lecture too: ”let me tell you story about a someone who stretched out to sleep leaving their legs streched out across the aisle. Well when another passenger tried to climb across those legs at the same time as the bus stopping suddenly he got both his legs broken. Don't stretch your legs across the aisle”.

Anyway, I digress. Arriving in Airlie we checked into our digs, booked our Whitsunday Islands sailing trip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitsunday_Islands) and have a look around. A bit like Cairns has the requisite 2000 tour operators and a lagoon. These are quite popular – they landscaped outdoor pool for people to congregate at in the absence of a beach.

The Whitsunday Islands are amazing. We delayed booking our boat because we had some good advice from my mate Dave who rightly said don't bother unless you get the weather. You really do need the weather for this one. We got to our base for the trip, Airlie Beach, got the weather report and immediately booked our boat. She was a belter of a boat too. The Getaway catamaran. Only 8 on board and we got a great deal because we booked last minute. When we got on board we met a couple honeymooning and we realised we'd really lucked-out.

As it turns out the newly wed groom was Australia's number one Bryan Adams impersonator. Is he any good? Judge for yourself: http://www.myspace.com/heavenbryanadamstributeshow. He also looked like Chloe's sister's boyfriend Clive. Separated at birth to be honest. Even the mannerisms and personality. Uncanny.

Andy and Vicky were another couple on the Getaway. They had great chat so we liked them too. So much so we met them in Sydney later on our trip. Vicky's parents made up the remaining passengers and all-in-all we had a great group to be spending our trip with.

The trip was a leisurely cruise around the islands taking in the classic sights of Whitehaven Beach (ridiculously stunning), a bit of snorkelling around some reef and parking up the boat in some secluded bays at night. We sat around sharing stories, drinking, and generally having a great time. Bryan Adams came into his own in the evenings. A great Aussie character, he was great value on the boat. As well as sharing some anecdotes about deaths from dangerous Aussie critters he got me quite excited about seeing some fruitbats. An all round asset to our trip no doubt about it.

Highlight of the trip came on the final day when we stopped for some snorkeling at a sand reef and swam with a turtle for a bit. Its quite weird when you come across things like turtles in their natural habitat. I saw a stingray swim past and was quite proud but the turtle find by Mercaders took the biscuit. She had hoped we would do this at some point on our travels so for it to happen here was amazing. She loves turtles.

Next stop Noosa Heads.

Hong Kong

matt_and_mercaders — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:42:00 GMT

Arriving in Hong Kong airport was like arriving on a different planet after India. It is the most impressive airport Ive ever seen, so modern and efficient looking and absolutely spotless. I think by the time we were aboard the 3-stop train that took us right to where we needed to go, wed already decided we loved Hong Kong.

And things just got better. Wed decided to give ourselves a little treat and book ourselves a hotel for the few days we were there, but obviously the budget needed to be taken into consideration so we used lastminute.com. Well Hotel Jen turned out to be a real find! We had somehow ended up, quite legitimately, with this Executive deal which entitled us to free internet in the room and up to 100$HK worth free from the mini bar. It also included a cooked breakfast up in the special Sky Lounge – it gives a great view out over the city.

On top of this, we were invited to spend two hours each evening in said sky lounge, guzzling delicious free cocktails, made to order! Oh and little Chinese nibbles too. The waitress would even come up to our table, ten minutes before the two hours ended, and tell us to get our last order in before time was up. So there we were, two slightly weary travellers, with only 2 outfits to our name, mixing with the execs up in the Sky Lounge.

On our first night we headed out to the area of Lan Kwai Fong and Soho for some food. Id like to say we got straight into the new culture and had a delicious authentic Chinese meal. But that would be a lie because in actual fact we were both desperate for a bloody burger and chips, with Mayo! It was a Saturday and the whole area was buzzing and there was a really good atmosphere, it really wasn't dissimilar from being out in London. We went to a bar and had a couple of cocktails and basically just drank in the atmosphere of a really cool city.

Due to aforementioned budget, we had to think of ways of exploring this city without it costing too much. So we armed ourselves with our free guides and headed out the door and spent the next four days walking everywhere, or getting the occasional subway (SO efficient).

We took the subway over to the Island of Kowloon. We did two separate walks here over the days. One takes you through the old part of the island and some areas of it are quite run down. Its also full of markets, and not just for material items – there was a Goldfish market and a Bird Garden (but really a market selling birds), a flower market and a jade market. Jade is actually very popular in Hong Kong and its an old tradition to carry it on your person as they believe it protects us. Apparently. Basically everybody has now cottoned on to this and are selling all kinds of bits and bobs made with jade, or rather different materials masquerading as jade. The market was full of the stuff but there is a street, Jade Street in fact, where there are some shops selling legitimate jade for a high price.

The second walk we did in Kowloon was in a much more modern part of the Island. There are some huge, incredible shopping malls and designer shops (only window shopping for us though!). We saw the clock tower and also walked down the Avenue of Stars – not many I knew but still stars. We caught the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong Island.

The rest of our exploration saw us having a great time on and around Hong Kong Island. We went up the Worlds longest covered escalator in Soho and visited the Man Mo Temple, where there were a lot of shrines and lanterns burning. We went on the Peak tram up to the Peak Tower Sky Terrace. You can basically look out at the best views of the city. The Peak tram is a tad hairy as it takes you up an incline so steep that buildings look like they are leaning at a 45 degree angle.

I must just talk about the plane check in system in Hong Kong for those of you that don't know about it. On our last day we checked out of the hotel and got a short cab ride directly to the central train station. Here we queued for all of 5 minutes before being very efficiently checked in for our pm flight. Off went the bags and all we had to do was spend a leisurely afternoon in Hong Kong before heading out to the (super cool) airport and calmly going through security and boarding our flight to Australia. Really, it was that easy.

Oh there was just one more stop – to the M&S food market! Seriously, we were so excited – that will be a bag of American style chocolate covered peanuts, a packet of chocolate Viennese biscuits...

Alleppey, Goa & Mumbai

matt_and_mercaders — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:14:00 GMT

Alleppey

The reason for going to Alleppey is to take a houseboat trip around the backwaters. It’s a top activity to tick off when you’re in the Kerala region of India. And to be fair it lived up to the hype. You have to be fairly relaxed by the time you get on the houseboat though because it’s a pretty laid back experience i.e. uneventful, so if this is your first stop from Terminal 5 you´re going to struggle.

We went for a 2 day cruise. The boat was a recommendation (and a belter). This boat had everything on board – en suite bedroom, kitchen and lounge with TV and DVD. The lounge had two recliners looking out in the direction of travel. The 3 staff, for just Chloe and I, bring you food and drink every hour or two so all you have to do is sit back and soak up the surroundings. It’s sort of luxury but, being India and all that, not quite. Kind of like sipping champagne out of a beer can.

To paint a picture the surroundings include – locals having their morning washes in the water, passing through remote villages, beautiful scenery, little boats paddling past with varying contents. And that´s it. It sounds quite mad and it is really. It is simply very peaceful and relaxing. At night we pulled up next to this little house where there were loads of puppies playing by the waters edge. When they finally stopped yapping Chloe made me go and check they hadn´t drowned. True story.

Goa

After disembarking ´Sprite´ we got a taxi back to Cochin to get a train (yesss!) to Palolem beach in Goa. Most reports about Goa from fellow travelers had been unsympathetic. 3 weeks prior to our arrival all the unlicensed properties along the beach front had been bulldozed by the council - an annual occurrence by all accounts that left the place looking like a cyclone had hit it. When we got there, Palolem beach version 6 was well under construction. I don´t know if the licenses to sell booze are hyper-restrictive or if they just love to build?

Palolem beach had all the trademark features. A perfect slice of sand, gawkers and covert undercover photographers. On top of that, a little bit of Bank Farm, some cows wandering amongst us. Weird. Despite the home comforts of the cows we didn´t rate Palolem. Our accommodation was rubbish, food options a bit weak and the aforementioned beach, well, you know by now. Also, the end was nigh. Next stop Mumbai and then Hong Kong. We´d been to Mumbai so we knew the drills there and frankly we were excited by Hong Kong. We did, however, have a great incident on the way back to Goa train station…

Palolem beach was 45 mins from Goa station. Getting on this train was crucial if we were to make the next leg of our travels onto Hong Kong. Getting flights and trains that match at shortish notice is virtually impossible so if we missed it we were stuck in India. The taxi picked us up at 6.45am and seemed intent on taking us to the airport instead of the train station. I think we had just about got through to the driver that we needed the train station but, alas, we weren't to find out. His car breathed its last breath on that journey, slowing to a standstill, 20 minutes from Goa station.

In what has now become an oft-quoted saying, the driver uttered the immortal word “problem”. At this point we panicked thinking that we were heading for a 2 week Indian extension. He saw this in our faces and quickly hailed a rickshaw to pull over. It wasn't a taxi rickshaw but one adapted to carry tools, stock boxes, maybe livestock. He wasn't even a taxi driver. Our driver successfully persuaded this random chap to take us to the station. I loaded our backpacks and Chloe into the back of this contraption and we were off.

I have to admit, it was hilarious. Every bike and car that overtook us did a double-take. Two white tourists hanging out the back of this Indian bloke's rickshaw. We looked ridiculous. Then he drops us right at the entrance of the train station. A flock (official term) of Indian folk staring as we awkwardly climbed out the back of his motor. In terms of jaw-dropping weird entrances this one is only rivaled by the time my dad dropped me off at cubs in a tractor. We made the train.

Mumbai

Oddly, we were glad to be back in Mumbai. The hotel that we thought was gross first time round had a homely familiarity. We knew our way around the Colaba area and we got to hang out at Leopolds again. We were in Mumbai for one night so we spent a lot of time there, hanging around, venturing out simply to buy the odd stone carved elephant (p&p 400% greater than the cost of the elephant) and going to the Cathay Pacific offices to sort out an issue with our tickets. Mumbai was beginning to get into our blood. A month later there was all the bombings around Colaba including attacks on Leopolds itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Cafe).

So next stop Hong Kong – what a city – but not before one final escapade en route to Mumbai airport. We should have known, but we didn´t, there was a hindu festival happening and we got stuck in the middle of it. And by the middle of it I mean the middle of it. Lorries filled with people, costumes, papier-mâché deities, music blaring from speakers. Our taxi didn´t move an inch for half an hour as this procession worked its way around us. You obviously know we made it on time so I´ll spare you any more melodrama.

TRAVEL NOTES: The Journey to Cochin was the Worst Journey of my Life

matt_and_mercaders — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Rickshaw – Train – Train – Rickshaw – Taxi – Taxi – Train – Rickshaw – Ferry – Rickshaw (29 hours)

The above summary breaks down the only way we could get to Cochin. The reason was typically Indian so I will spare you the details. What happened en route is far more interesting anyway.

It began at 6 am in Hampi. The rickshaw driver didn't show up. Probably so affronted that I had negotiated him down to 20p he'd decided it wasn't worth it. Luckily, Restaurant-Gopi rang Rickshaw-Gopi and we were on our way. The next two trains were uneventful. The usual shenanigans on Indian Rail but nothing out of the ordinary. We got off the second train at 8pm in an insanely remote town called Birur – we were 14 hours in. This is when things got weird.

No trains from here so we had to resort to a taxi for what should have been a 2 hour drive to Mangalore. Here we were supposedly going to spend the night before carrying on our journey. No sign of any taxis at Birur station. We're hussled into a rickshaw and driven to a taxi rank. As soon as we got out of the rickshaw a gaggle of taxi drivers surrounded us. Its really dark and foreign and frankly a bit unsettling. And so the negotiation begins.

It was a strange scene. Two white English tourists facing 8-10 male Indian taxi drivers (they were working as a team so my usual trick of playing one off another was useless) trying to work out a deal. Once that was struck the atmosphere instantly changed and they turned into their alter ego - ultra friendly Indians. They get all fascinated by you, all trying to carry your bags for you, opening doors for you. There was some lively banter as they worked out who was the most suitable driver in the group to take us the distance. The significance of this banter was soon to be realised. This was not a journey for an amateur.

The road was a shambles as soon as we set off. I am not exaggerating when I tell you we were grinding to a near halt every 50 metres to negotiate huge holes in the surface. The map showed the distance to go as roughly 2-3 hours. It was going to be a long journey if the quality of the road carried on like this...

And it did. For 7 hours. The reasons for the staggering amount of time it took us from start to finish is threefold. One – the road did not improve. Stop, start, stop, start, stop, start, you get the picture; two – what appeared a relatively easy stretch of road on the map was actually a mountain. No indication of this on the map of course. Endless winding bends (and stopping of starting) and 10 metre visibility thrown into the bargain because now we're in the clouds. Three – when we got there the driver didn't know Mangalore from Manchester.

(Further reasons include; the driver stopping for some food “last chance before mountain – no turning back”; the driver getting out to pray to the mountain Gods at a shrine; and the road only being wide enough for one and a half vehicles so when buses and trucks came careering towards us priority goes to the biggest vehicle i.e. not us. The driver played a dangerous game of chicken on every occasion. Terrifying.)

In Managalore we stopped 3 times to ask for directions. First guy – no idea. Next up, two lads who were fascinated by Chloe (being a white girl) who used the time when the driver was asking them for directions by staring through the back window at her. I wound up the window. Undeterred, they changed tack and peered through the front passenger seat window to get a better look. I shined my torch in their eyes. Their little squinting faces is a memory I will cherish forever. The third and final time we pulled up next to another two lads. They were typically passionate, in an Indian way, about getting us to our destination. So persistent were they that they insisted on getting in the taxi with us and accompanying us to the hotel. When they opened the back door they saw Chloe (a white girl) for the first time so panicked and instead chose – both of them – to sit in the front passenger seat rather than use the ample room around us in the back. Amazing scenes at this stage as Chloe and I sit in the back whilst 3 Indian men crammed into the front of our taxi animatedly direct us towards our hotel.

'The Journey' had left just enough time for 2 hours kip before our early morning train to Cochin. Of course, we overslept - luckily by only 25 minutes. The next half hour of will-we, wont-we make the train was pretty fraught. Mangalore is not a city to be stuck in. We made it and, after arriving we had one final kick 'em while they're down incident - our rickshaw driver wouldn't take us to our destination (a trait we're now seeing the world over). Every place we wanted to stay was either full, closed for refurbishment or permanently shut. Resistance is futile - and it genuinely is with these guys - so we settled for a nice little venue recommended by our lying driver where he could earn a few pence comission. We had a few further incidents with this very same rickshaw driver over the next few days, but these tales can wait for another day. So that's it. 29 hours.