Connor

The Beautiful Bay

zedordead — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Left Auckland an unbearable 7:30 in the morning on the first leg of “The Full Monty” Kiwi Experience. Thank god for coffee is all I say, without a rushed Starbucks I think the first day would have bee null and void for me! The bus headed out of Auckland and North to the Bay of Islands on the East coast. Not much to see along the way so bar one stop, for something to eat in the Beehive café, we rushed our way to Paiha for lunch time. I think my Vegemite/Marmite intake has more than trebled since I got here!

All five of the BUNAC guys who are doing Kiwi Experience, checked into a room in the “Pipi Patch Lodge”, which is another Base hostel like the ACB. The hostel is literally 100m from the beach, so I obviously spent my afternoon in the 27°, basking my “see-through”, milk bottle of a complexion… under a healthy dose of factor 40 though!

At this point I think it is my duty to big up the traditionally ‘un-cool’ usage of high factor sun cream! You see the Kiwis may be blessed with a pretty decent climate: they get pretty hot summers but with enough rain to base a lot of their economy in agriculture. But unfortunately thanks to the massive hole in the Ozone layer directly over the place, Mr. Sunshine comes along with his friend, Mr. Second-Highest-Worldwide-Skin-Cancer-Rate. And so you see that lad, such as my self, without a single drop of melanin to show for doesn’t really stand much chance on Portrush beach (no actually) never mind under God’s giant South-Pacific magnifying glass that hovers overhead. Hell I’m surprised my organs don’t burn through my glassy dermis! They don’t sell under SPF 25 here anyway, so no bashing me when I return as white as ever!

Anyway... Apart from Craig and my heroic swimming efforts (against the tide) to claim a small island for ourselves, there wasn’t much drama that afternoon so we went back to the Pipi Patch to enjoy the BBQ we had booked for. After a pretty decent meal, consisting of the much needed nutrients that MackyDees and BK just can’t supply, we headed out to the hostel bar for a few and then to ‘the Salty’ to listen to one of the shittiest play-lists I have ever heard! If I wanted to listen to music like that I would head to the Bot. I may hate myself at a later date for saying this, but fuck it was worse than the Bot. It was good to see everyone loosen up with a couple of Tuis in them, so I guess in a round about way Shakira and John Bon Jovi aren’t so bad. But seriously ugh yuck.

The next morning I found that it’s just as hard to get up at 6 a.m. without a hematology lab in your path as it is with. The day trip bus left early, through the pouring rain to go up to the Northlands. The bus drove through miles of desolate-looking farmland and droughted forests (kind of reminds me of somewhere…) with barely a house in sight, finally stopping for a walk through a Kauri rainforest. It was pouring in true rainforest style by this stage, which made the walk along the tourist-ridden platform a bit of a pain but I trudged on in my wee Peter Storm to see the second biggest (notice a pattern here?) trees in the world. Pretty cool actually, but I was too busy trying not to slip while keeping my eyes peeled for Kiwi birds and moaning about the weather; who says us boys can’t multitask?!

Straight on up then, past the rain clouds to Cape Reinga. This is the most Northerly point and where the Tasman Sea and (specific) Pacific Ocean meet, which is not as dramatic as my little brain imagined it! There was a lighthouse and a signpost and a sign to tell me I was 18029km from London, and even further away from Northern Ireland I guess! Oh and not forgetting a not so amazing tree on the cliff, which our guide went on and on about.

Next on the agenda we headed to the massive sand dunes at Te Paki stream for definitely the best thing I have done so far, sand boarding down them at 90kmph! The trek up the dunes was bloody hard but at the top, with my heart racing I got on the board and fired myself down the thing face first! The first incline was amazing and I shot down the thing, screaming like a wee girl until I came to a stop on the other side of a stream! I even coped with the pain of the climb to go up (and down) three times! Check out the video, this was great fun!

Next drive was down the flatteringly named 90-mile beach, as it is only 67km long! (I should have asked for a refund) It was cool if not a little scary to drive at 100kmph on the sand, bumps and all! We stopped near the end for a swim and surf in the great waves as well as snapping some good photos, it felt so bleak out there.

Final stop was for “Fush ‘n’ Chups or Chups, but not Fush on its own, and maybe with tomato sauce, or vinegar, or not, and you put it on yourself” the guide announced to us, as if we were unaware of the concept of a chippy! Pretty sure all Kiwis think they invented this fine, local delicacy, maybe Captain Cook accidentally dropped his kipper in batter and boiling fat on his break from Maori-massacring. Finished up the day with a few beers on the beach, the stars where fantastically bright and the sand bugs ate me alive…

On Monday a few people grabbed swimming stuff and walked through Waitangi (where the treaty was signed) and along the inlet to Hararu Falls, again keeping out eyes peeled for Kiwis! This was Kiwi territory after all; shame the bastards only come out for two hours a day! Seriously, it’s like the crappiest animal in the world!

Tuesday brought the first lye in for quite some time, which was gladly accepted by all the guys at least! Eventually we dragged ourselves to the docks to get the ferry out to Urupukapuka Island (no actually), where I really went out there and… lazed around on the beach! And after a week I saw my first Kiwi sheep here, I’m pretty sure they were more tanned than me! Ugh!

The next day was the lovely Craig’s very own 23^rd birthday! So on his request we got ice cream, a beach ball and used our awesome originality to come up with a birthday day at the… beach! That night we ended up in the Salty yet again, but this time I had no money for the Liquor, so had to have my head hammered by Fiddy and friends for hours!

The last day in Paihia was spent avoiding the downpour outside by slowly vegetating in front of quality Kiwi day time TV. Headed back to the ACB in Auckland later that afternoon, not sure what I’m going to here for another two nights! Have to wait for the next bus to the Coromandel on Friday, and Auckland is a bit of a bore by now! Looking forward to more of this country and more sunshine I’m hoping!

Awesome Auckland

zedordead — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:41:00 GMT

My last flight for hopefully a long while was delayed by a couple of hours which gave us time to browse the overpriced crap in Hong Kong international! It seriously was more expensive in duty free than it is in shops back home! After another, less painful, ten hour flight with the awesome Cathay Pacific crew, we got to Auckland at about two p.m. local time. That's one a.m. going by the time that was running in my head after a sleepless flight, thanks to the twat in front of me who was testing his chair to see quite how much he could reduce my leg-room by! For a 6"2" guy this was pretty unpleasant and probably increased my DVT risk!

The security was interesting in Auckland airport! It took over an hour to get through the three security checks, to make sure we weren't going to bring mud in on our boots or go and feed a Kiwi bird a deep fried mars bar! But we finally made it through where two bright faced IEP (International Exchange Programmes) people met us. They brought us to the Kiwi Experience bus that would be taking us to Auckland Central Backpackers. The heat was a welcome feeling to us after the horrendous downpour we got in Hong Kong, 26 degrees met us as we walked out of the excessively air conditioned airport! Only one stop along the way, to observe the fourth most sprawling city in the world from Mount Eden. It seems Kiwis really value their space, as their biggest city goes on for miles, gobbling up the suburbs that were once five separate towns.

We arrived at the ACB at about four were we checked into this massive, ten-story hostel which really couldn't be more "Central"! Immediately the ents manager jumped on the jet-lagged and vulnerable, and coerced us into a $10 pizza and beer night in the hostel bar! In all fairness though, unlimited pizza did come as a welcome three a.m. (jet-lag) shock to my system, as did a hot shower and a static bed!

Next morning we had to go to an IEP induction session in a building just across from the hostel. It was pretty basic stuff but reassuring to hear the facts nonetheless! Three different representatives talked to us about finding work, the various ways people travel around New Zealand as well as a basic culture and history lesson (Lonely Planet type stuff). It took about three hours and I was pretty in the need of some caffeine by the end of it, lucky there was Starbucks next door! When we arrived back at the hostel the Kiwis were up in arms getting ready for the Blackcaps twenty-twenty-cricket game against England. They spent about ten minutes calling us “Poms” and telling us how badly we were going to loose, so we thought we would head out to Eden Park to see this awesome Kiwi victory!

We arrived just after the game started at about 19:15, England had won the toss while we were queuing for tickets amongst just about every jafa (Just another fucking Aucklander) in New Zealand! They chose to bat and came out with a 200+ score (can’t quite remember the specifics), despite the abuse being hurled at them from the Kiwis both on the pitch and off! Craig and I hit up the food/drink stalls during the changeover and queued for 25mins for a disgusting battered sausage, chips and two beers. Sitting in the terraces with the food I found out first hand how lethal ketchup can be! Or rather the guy in front of me in a white T-shirt did!

The Blackcaps (New Zealand’s 2020 team) came out to a massive roar from the crowd! Practically every person in the place was on his or her feet for half the innings! That’s when things started to go wrong for the Blackcaps, Peterson took three wickets in the space of two overs and the Kiwis just weren’t hitting the big shots. So after fifteen overs of the twenty we all knew England had this one in the bag! Just time left to head back on bus filled with drink/angry Blackcap fans!

Wednesday morning and we were on our way to the beach when the guys ran into this guy Andy who is a driver for the Kiwi Experience bus. He offered to give us a lift out to a local music festival just out of town called Groove in the Park. As everywhere else was closed due to Waitangi day we hopped into his car, a little concerned about how many celebratory beers he had but still up for a bit of fun…

Groove in the Park was about half an hours drive with five of us packed into Andy’s company 4x4. The music was really just local music and a bit crap except for one band called Supergroove, who kind of ripped of Rage Against the Machine and the Chillis for two hours in the blistering heat. But the day wasn’t really about the music, we just chilled out in the bar area and enjoyed our surroundings! It seemed like a good introduction to New Zealand partying!

We left early to get some food considering the price of the hot dogs and that we didn’t have much cash left for a ride back to Auckland. Craig and I eventually found an Asian food store that sold eels, lots of noodles but more importantly cheap pasta and sauce! Oh and Vegemite for some awesome packed lunches!

Again on Thursday morning we go up with the intention of doing something completely different from what we ended up doing only to find some more fun. There where free Auckland tours from all the major bus companies which we thought we just hop on but they were already fully booked so we ended up booking for the following day and asking the reception woman “what’s good round ‘ere?” …what bunch of tourists! She advised us to take the ferry somewhere, so down to the terminal we went!

We chose to go out to the volcanic Rangítoto Island for $20 and left the mainland at about midday. An incredibly windy, thirty-minute journey and we were at this beautiful island that looked like the setting for Lord of the Flies or Lost! We hiked for an hour up the dirt track that meandered through the packed together trees and black volcanic rock left from the last eruption. The views over Auckland from the highest point in sight were fantastic. We had to rush back down the mountain so as not to miss the last ferry at 3:30 but we managed to squeeze in a trip through the volcanic caves that are half way down the peak. The whole place had an eerie ‘lost’ feeling to it!

We made it back to the hostel that afternoon and I made a decision (I know miraculous!) to book onto the Kiwi Experience “Full Monty” ticket. It cost around £500 and gives me pretty much limitless travel around both islands for a whole year so it seems like the best plan. So I got ready to go out and about for the first night in Auckland.

We headed to the Globe bar in the basement of the ACB just for a couple of pints and a pool tournament (I got my ass whipped) then went on the wander looking for an Irish bar (I don’t know why?!) which we eventually found down near the docks! They didn’t even serve Guinness!! But there was a singer playing Nick Drake covers so that was good enough for me!

The last day I spent in Auckland I got up bright and early for a round of Vegemite on toast and the 7.30 free bus courtesy of Stray. We got picked up by a loud guy with a half Canadian half Kiwi accent in a cooling oil powered bus. He was so enthusiastic about everything and inevitably tried to sell us Stray bus tickets even though we had already booked with Kiwi Experience!

The tour took us first to the base of the sky tower where we watch this guy Pablo throw himself off the biggest structure in the southern hemisphere attached to a cable! Later that afternoon we headed off to the beach in Davenport for ice creams (Andy is cool) and an incredibly salty swim! As well as this we went up Mount Eden (again), where we were entertained by our tour guide getting into a fight with some Koreans ho climbed into the sacred Maori crater! All in all the tour was worth every penny of what we paid for it!

Just got packed up and ready for the journey North that evening! The Bay of Islands is waiting! First stop Paihia!

Hong Kong Phooey

zedordead — Sun, 3 Feb 2008 22:15:00 GMT

So… Hong Kong! I got here on Friday morning after an almost sleepless twelve-hour flight. The movies we’re pretty good though! I watched Superbad (on Oliver’s recommendation), The Bourne Ultimatum and Into the Wild (Best film I’ve seen in ages); I guess it was no wonder I didn’t get any sleep!

All I can say is that this place is totally alive! The first thing that hit me was the sheer abundance of colours. Everywhere you look there is massive bright signs with Cantonese letters on them, 60ft advertisements screaming at you to buy some detergent or go to see some play!

As well as this the real variety in the people came to me as a shock. The teenagers and twenty-somethings are all so so fashionable, all with completely different senses of style and cool; the middle-aged people (the few of them that you see) are the studious ones in ; suits with briefcases in tow who you see on their way home after 9 o’clock (yeah pm!!); and then there is the older generation, who in general seem a world away from the rest. They’re the ones bustling around the street markets with bags filled with fresh cuts of meat or fish that has just been killed at the stall in front of them! The divide between young and old seems huge.

We arrived early on Friday morning and after a 45 minute drive across the many suspension bridges and tunnels that connect the 200 or so islands, we arrived at the South Pacific Hotel Hotel on Hong Kong Island. After checking into the room, a few of the group went for a walk around the area and to get some dinner (UK time).

Twelve of us walked through the busy morning streets in the Time Square area. We eventually found a local noodle bar and got forced into chairs by the frantic hostess. I ordered a manly, "very hot" bowl of Singapore noodles and slurped them down, making quite the mess. The locals gave us funny looks for eating a dinner meal before eleven o'clock in the morning but we were still on GMT and wanted some local food. Once we had all slerped our way to satisfaction, three of us wandered around the area, just to get a feel for the place before returning for the jet-lag antidote of four hours of sleep and a lot of water!

Later that night, those who could drag themselves away from their pillows, drearily got the "Star" ferry boat across to Tsim Sha Tsui and watched the laser display that happens every night at eight. It was pretty cool to see but we all couldn't help thinking that it was a total waste of electricity! We went to Spaghetti House for dinner (cliché white people, I know!) and then just headed back to the hotel.

Next morning we had our "Western Style" breakfast bright and early at eight a.m. and got the MTR from Causeway Bay to Admiralty to feel dwarfed by all the sky scrapers and walk around Hong Kong Park. Some of the buildings were higher than 80 stories, I just couldn't stop looking up and walked into quite a few suits!

Hong Kong park was pretty cool. The surrounding area was so built up, I guess it's good to have a bit of a green break in the middle of all that stress! There was an big botanical garden with cacti and orchids and just about every plant you could ever think of and an aviary with parrots and the like!

We got the MTR back for two so we could join the others for an organised tour of all the 'big sights'. In spite of the monsoon rain we went up Victoria Peak to see the classic view in all its misty glory. And then out to Aberdeen (yeah actually) fishing village for a quick rainy boat ride.

I always find it weird to look at people living their own lives as I glimpse it briefly. Like there were loads of families living on the river in house boats and our guide told us that up to ten people can live in the tiny things! Most of them are fishermen but are facing the government evicting them and changing the area completely as demand for housing rises further (along with the buildings).

We then went to Stanley market which had all the usual knock off crap. Nike trainers with the swoosh the wrong way round, SQNY diskmans etc... (I'm exaggerating). I got a patch for my rucksack and a Guardian from an international bookstore (lack of internet=no current affairs).

We finished up the day with a traditional Chinese meal in a restaurant on the 65th floor of a building! The glass front of the elevator was pretty terrifying and when the weight alarm went off I was out of there the instant the second the doors opened! The meal was pretty strange but unlike most I waded through it and actually quite enjoyed the purple bean-soup for dessert!

We all went out for some drinking and bonding yesterday night. Clearly someone misses home already as we ended up in an English pub called the Old China Hand, who luckily served a good pint of G.

This morning pretty much everyone lay in late and lounged around the hotel all morning! Every one of those four pints were out to get me apparently! We checked out and headed to the airport via a Taoist temple in Kowloon which was packed out because of new year apparently, and disgusting bird and flower market. And so here I am waiting in the airport...

Packing for the Big Bad World

zedordead — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:07:00 GMT

So this is my first post. Not really sure what I'm going to write in this space as the months go by, but be assured it will be well written prose with a close-to-perfect grammatical style (except in moments where artistic licence is required).

These past couple of days have been full of the kind of things any reader might expect them to be; there has been the frantic buying of insurance, phone cards, camera film, most importantly ultra-absorbent underwear; the tearful good-byes at the last supper; the reluctance to begin packing or in anyway validate the rumour that I am going anywhere out of routine.

You should see the state of my room right now. At some point my rucksack and the (thinned out) giant pile of detritus that stares at me from the corner, are going to have to coalesce, but for now I'm feeling pretty satisfied with myself for reducing ten tee-shirts down to five and putting them in a compression sack.

For those of you who attended, I would like to spread my humble gratitude for the brilliant going away party you all gave me on Saturday night. It meant so much to have all my friends (minus faders) in one place for a night of self-gratifying ego-mania (You know as well as I, that this is my drug of choice).

Well now, I probably won't be posting from Northern Ireland for some time as I will be sleeping on an uncomfortable airport bench in Heathrow in just about 72 hours. So I'd like to take this opportunity to say some sort of a good-bye to everyone who is reading this. I hope to post from Hong Kong or maybe even P45 London but until then make sure you're safe guys!