Back in more familiar territory…and more familiar weather..!?..

Me bowling (nearly full pace!) against 6 year old Matthew…the boys are unbelievable – slogging it left, right and centre..!?

Ben, Sarah, Matthew and their uncle Andy..!! )

So there you have it…I’m back in Carrick, have cut the jungle that was my garden, unpacked my clothes, caught up with a few people, surprised Pete by arriving in the pub on my first night back, and am now trying to reassess what on earth I’m going to do…I need to find a job, and I need to either build a bridge between Belfast and London or else myself or Sal will have to move…it’s all up in the air, but I’m sure something will work out…

For those who have followed this blog while I’ve been away, thankyou and farewell…and for those who haven’t been…well you won’t be reading this anyway…

Who knows, maybe I will start a new adventure and restart this blog…but I doubt it for now…

…and just remember – if you’ve enjoyed reading this blog half as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it…then I’ve enjoyed it twice as much…cheerio

I’ll just stick up a load of photos (not particularly good ones but it’ll give you an idea nonetheless) for those that might be interested.  The ceremony took place in a big area of native bush that belongs to Sheree’s folks, and is just an amazing place – they have spent the past seven months working non-stop to get the place ready and the result is just amazing…I know my photos won’t do it justice, but hopefully you’ll get some sort of idea…

We then went to a local hall that we had decorated the night before for the reception, where for once I didn’t actually have to make a speech..!!..although I was MC for the evening so did take the opportunity of saying a few words while the mic was in my hand (not like me!?), and I passed on best wishes from all the crew back home…

Sean, Marty, Johnie (the best man) and myself outside the house before going to seal Marty’s fate

A couple of nice ponds built at the entrance to the wedding area – the water ran out of the ponds, down a waterfall/stream and under…

…’Marty’s Bridge’…this was actually built from scratch by Marty and is a masterpiece!  The water then flows on down into a stream which runs through the bushland

The ceremony area itself – lots of seating was made, an isle, and a gazebo…

Little Kiera (my new best mate!?) – Des (my other cousin – Marty and Sean’s older brother) and Renate’s  little girl…she walked down the isle first spreading rose petals…

…followed by the star attraction – Sheree with her Dad…

They both made their own vows and managed to remember them all word for word – big effort!

awww…think I might cry…

Zoomed out a bit just to show you…um…the back of peoples heads…

Get a room..!!

Marty looking remarkably calm for someone who has just signed his life away…or is that nervous laughter…?…

Kiera stole my camera for a bit and the result was lots of photos of the ground and people’s knees…but she did manage to get this one of her mum and dad!!

Nibbles and drinks up at the BBQ area while the bridal party got there photos taken

Not a bad spot for a picnic…

Lots of space to sit around…

…or go for a walk along the bush paths…I helped build this one – it goes a way round the corner…to a dead end where there are a pair of nesting owls, or ‘morepork’ as they are called here apparently…

Johnie and Sean beside Sheree’s wheels for the day – a nice Ford Mustang..!!

Uncle Des doing what he does best…talking..!! ;o)

A few of us headed back to ‘our’ house after the reception, and of course Marty had to keep up tradition and carry Sheree across the threshold..!!

So there you have it – Marty and Sheree are now married…and I have only two days left in New Zealand…I am flying out of Auckland on Wednesday night and will be landing in London on Thursday night…the end of quite an adventure it has to be said…it’s been fun indeed…apart from all the travelling I did, it has been brilliant to be able to come over here and meet all the guys on their own turf!  I have finally met the legendary Sean and it has been great craic hanging out with him and Marty (perhaps a little hard on my liver mind you! Perhaps it was best that Pete didn’t come over and complete the foursome – the word ‘carnage’ comes to mind!?).  Des (Jr) and Renate have been brilliant as well, welcoming us round at all hours to watch the Liverpool matches on their massive HDTV (and Des also cooks a mean BBQ!), and of course it has been brilliant to meet wee Kiera and Cian – their 2 year old boy who is also a legend but I didn’t manage to get a photo of (he never stays still for long enough!?).  It’s been great being ‘Uncle Andy’ on the other side of the world and I’m going to miss them too..!!

I must apologise to Sean and Sheree for a not entirely flattering photo of them but this is about the only photo we managed to get of me and my new best mate Kiera having a laugh! )

Of course it was also great to stay with uncle Des and Debra in Sydney and then catch up with them again at the wedding, and also to catch up with my aunt Emma who I hadn’t seen in a very long time and meet the boys’ stepdad, Rob.  All in all a great trip and entirely worth every penny that I now definitely don’t have..!?

Oh, and did I mention I also met an awesome girl from London in Australia and am ever so slightly looking forward to seeing her again in a few days time in London..!! )  I’m not sure exactly how long I’m staying in London with Sal, but I should be back on the sunny shores of Northern Ireland by the end of April or first couple of days of May…I know I know – you must be sooooo excited..!! )

So, I guess this is the last blog entry I will write on my travels, although I will write at least one more when I get home because I know you would all be terribly worried if I didn’t bring this beautiful story to a conclusion with a few photos of me home safely…so until next time…come on Liverpool against Arsenal!!..7am kickoff on Wednesday morning…can’t wait to get back to watching matches at proper times..!!..peace..

It wasn’t a ‘great’ day weather wise, but it was still ok to go out…Marty and myself were beginning to think we might regret buying those pies on the way for breakfast, but thankfully everything stayed down…Darryl caught a load of red snapper, but only two of keepable size…I think the bag limit is ten per person per day, so we didn’t exactly have the most successful day, but still great craic.  I caught 3 small red snapper and 1 yellowtail, and Marty caught…..1 small Red Snapper…It was good just to get out and try some fishing for different species of fish than I’m used to back home…anyway, a few photos for those of you who haven’t fallen asleep yet…

Darryl’s boat – it is a full cream beast..!!..

Darryl with one of his ‘keeper’ red snappers…they have really sharp spines on their fins, hence the towel…

Me with one of my red snapper…real fisheries scientists don’t need a towel…(you just can’t see the spine through my right thumb and the tear in my left eye…)

Marty just spent most of the day sitting like this.. ;o) only joking!!..basically every time we dropped the line down we got a bite but hooking them was so difficult!?..Darryly obvioulsy had the nack…and also decent fishing equipment that wasn’t older than I am..!?..(which is actually getting quite old!?)

So there you have it…bet you’re glad you tuned in again, eh..!?..it just gets better and better…my back is still a bit dodgy but I’ve rested it for three days and am going to try it on the gold course this afternoon with copious amounts of deep heat rubbed in…this is our last chance before uncle Des comes over with his clubs and we all head out for a game on Thursday or Friday…should be interesting..!?..

It’s also only NINE DAYS until I fly out of the southern hemisphere and back to London..!?..madness…I don’t know how long I’ll stay in London with Sal for…and then there are rumours I might fly back to Belfast ‘via’ Edinburgh to visit the lovely Simm’s…who knows…the world is my lobster after all…

Anyway, again it’s been a while since my last post, but that is because there isn’t as much to report.  I’m just chilling out in Hamilton with Marty and Sheree, waiting for their big day which is next Saturday…I bought myself a new suit for the occasion…and shoes…so still have to work out how to get everything back home…I may need to be ruthless and unsentimental with all the bits and bobs I’ve picked up over the past five months..!?..

It’s been pretty good actually because Matry has been off work quite a bit and we’ve been able to hang out quite a bit…that is to say we’ve been playing a lot of golf..!! )  We also went clay pigeon shooting at one of his friend’s house which was pretty cool

I have to say Marty looked waaay to comfortable with a shotgun…I tried to explain to them that back home we’re not used to having such a long barrel – we prefer to saw them in half…

Marty and Sheree’s ‘local’ is a pub called the Cook…Marty is pretty friendly with the owner which is pretty handy…not many pub owners would let you fall asleep on their sofas in front of the big tv and leave you there all morning…(ok ok that only happened once on my first night/morning in New Zealand, but it’s still an ongoing joke…it was a long night!!).  Every Tuesday night the Cook has a poker night, which is free to enter, and is always good craic.  There are usually quite a few good players down and it’s not often that either Marty or mysef would even make it onto the final table…but I think you know where this story might be heading…last Tuesday was Andy’s night – cleaned up all round me and came first – $50 bar tab for next week, yeeeooo!!  Don’t worry mum, I’ll use it to buy fruit juice and coca cola…ahem…

So that’s pretty much it – golf, beer, poker, golf, reading (lots of reading actually!?), golf, beer, driving range, golf, sunshine, beer and…golf…

Actually yesterday, Sheree’s boss took us out on her jet bike for a bit of a laugh – Marty and I had never been on one before, but gees if I hadn’t spent all my money travelling I could’ve been tempted when I get back home..!?..just like a motorbike on water..!! ) I’ll leave you with a few photos…

OK, so it was pink, but it was still good fun..and pretty darn quick..!!

I want one..!!!

Marty…was…lovinit..!!

I think with wedding nerves kicking in he was trying his best to lose Sheree and make it look like an accident..!!…

…but she managed to hang on AND pose for the camera every time..!?

So there you have it…I’m still alive and kicking…not long now until I start the long journey back…and I’m reeeeally not looking forward to that bit..!?..for now though, it’s dry, the sun is shining…think I might go for a round of golf…

It was a pretty good day over all actually…started with a BBQ at one of the guys houses, followed by some pool, followed by karting at a big indoor karting track.  A format I hadn’t raced before – teams of two and continuous racing for 60 laps changing driver every 10 laps…well anyway, to cut a long story short…Seany and I won!!!  Sorry Marty – you know what they say about second place…first loser!!  After that we headed into town and…..that’s where the story ends…this blog has a sensitive audience remember..!!

Apart from the Stag doo I haven’t really been getting up to much lately, hence the lack of blog updates or any good photos…I’m more or less killing time until the wedding and work never materialised…so it’s a bit of this and a bit of that, a bit of golf, a bit of the driving range…Sean and I played last week against Marty and a guy Clarke and we lost by 1 shot over 18 holes..!?..Sean is now away in Auckland but I have vowed my revenge on Marty this week…!!

What you can’t see is where the ball lands…but anyway, it’s all about having fun isn’t it..??

I’m now living with Marty and Sheree again and routinely get beaten up by a 7 year old girl on the trampoline…they live with a girl, Emma, who owns the house and she has two daughters, Kayla (12) and Grace (7).  Grace is just a bundle of energy and NEVER stops..!?..all good though…

I’ve changed my flights to come home at the end of April…funds are diminishing rapidly and Pete is no longer coming over for the wedding so I’m going to leave after the wedding and let Marty and Sheree have a proper honeymoon without having me getting in between them..(not literally!)…

Sorry for the boring blog, but hey at least you know I’m still alive..!!

The next major stop after Queenstown was Franz Josef glacier…I was planning to go for a guided walk on the ice, but it transpired that it didn’t actually happen…Sal had already done the trip before with her dad anyway so she didn’t miss out…I still wasn’t feeling 100% anyway and for some reason I wasn’t as psyched about going onto the ice once I got there as I was on the way there…maybe it was the busloads of tourists all piling down to do it…I dunno…Sal tried to convince me that it was one of the best things I could do in New Zealand, but I wasn’t persuaded…I think I’ll save my first glacier hiking experience for a more unspoilt and less touristy location…like when I finally make it to Alaska or something sometime in the future…when I’m rich…hmmm…anyway, we still had a nice relaxing time in Franz Josef, including a really nice secluded hot pool in the middle of a forest…we have grown rather fond of lying in hot pools..!! )

From Franz Josef it was a long drive north to Abel Tasman national park – all forest and rugged coastline…we stayed at Kaiteriteri on a campsite and took a ‘AquaTaxi’ right up the coast to near the top of the national park.  We got dropped off on a remote beach, then walked a couple of hours along the beaches and through the forest back to another remote beach where we got picked up again by the AquaTaxi…the seas were pretty rough, but that just made it more fun..!!

This is just a ‘Department of Conservation’ campsite we stopped at on the way between Queenstown and Franz Josef.  DOC campsites are generally in beautiful, remote locations and rely on an honesty system to pay and display your fee.  There are generally no or just basic facilities (like a ‘bush toilet’…mmm) so the fees are only a couple of quid per person…we liked these sites..!!

On the way to Abel Tasman…you don’t get these signs at home…it’s just for the tourists mind – I reckon the chances of running over a penguin are practically zero!!

The AquaTaxi waiting on the beach at Kaiteriteri

Another AquaTaxi blasting along beside us…fun fun fun…

Typical scenery on the walk to our pickup point…alright I guess…not exactly Carrick seafront though…

Now, I have shown a lot of photos of spectacular scenery in New Zealand…and there is a lot of it…but I can’t pretend it is all natural beauty…we all know that New Zealand apparently has about 40 sheep to every person or something like that…a lot of farming…a lot of cows too…and a lot of forestry…below is a typical example of what you can be driving through when not in the spectacular natural beauty of untouched mountains and coastline…

The ‘other face’ of New Zealand – spectacular mountains and glaciers in the background, with rolling fields, planted pine trees and clear felled forest in the foreground…

After watching the Liverpool vs Real Madrid match in an internet cafe in Nelson at 9 in the morning, we headed south again towards Nelson Lakes national park…a beautiful area…we parked up in a campsite beside Lake Rotoiti which apparently has good trout fishing…I hired (and then bought) some gear…didn’t catch any…but I did see one..!!…but as I always like to say – there’s more to fishing than catching fish…especially when you’ve got scenery like this…

Driving towards the mountains of Nelson Lakes national park…watch out for those kiwis..!!

Lake Rotoiti…not a bad backdrop…

Me trying to catch a rainbow…

Turns out Sal is quite the fisherman, I mean woman…definitely woman…

From Nelson Lakes national park it was back towards Christchurch on our final leg of the trip…we did however detour north again to drive through Marlborough Sound – another nice coastal drive of fiords and nice views…

The ’sounds’ or fiords are really only accessible by boat…but the coastal drive still offers some nice views..!!

Another self portrait…I’m eating candy sticks…

Sal making our staple lunch of peanut butter sandwiches…well actually Sal added jam to hers…dirty dirty dirty…

From Marlborough Sounds we then headed south to Kaikoura where we went whale watching…did I mention we went WHALE WATCHING..??..ok ok so you already seen the photos in the last blog, but what the heck – here’s a whale’s tail..!!

Awesome…

I booked into a motel with SkySports in Kaikoura to watch the Liverpool Man Utd match…do we need to mention the score again..?..ok, maybe just for those who haven’t heard…Man Utd 1 – 4 Liverpool…!!..that is Man Utd scored one goal…Liverpool scored four goals…at Old Trafford…I believe the BBC website quoted it as a ‘humiliation’…anyway, we headed to a wee bar in the evening for food before the 1.45am(!?) kickoff, and I calmed the nerves a bit with some ‘Sheep Shaggers Lager’…

This was my general expression all the next day…

So anyway, after Kaikoura it was back to Christchurch to leave the campervan back…we detoured for one night in Hanmer Springs which is famous for, you guessed it, it’s hot pools..!!..then drove for one last day the 150km or so to Christchurch…

We passed this river on the way to Christchurch, but this is pretty typical of all the rivers in the summer…I’d love to come back in winter and see these at full flow..!!..

Driving into Christchurch I really felt like this part of my journey was coming to an end…though I’ll not be back in Belfast just yet..!?

So there it is…we left the campervan back in Christchurch, had one night there and then flew to Auckland the next day…we stayed in Auckland for one night in an airport hotel as sadly Sal had to leave at 4am to begin her long journey home…it’s been an amazing month and I’m so glad she was able to stay around for that bit longer, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end…she’s now in mid air on her way back to London as I sit typing this in Hamilton (Marty and Sean came and picked me up later that morning and I’m now staying with Sean) so it’ll be a while before we see each other again…I’ll give you a second to get a tissue before you read on…

I now have a month before the wedding…and then some time after to kill…I may start looking for that job again in earnest…I have been given a contact for the fisheries division in Environment Waikato, which is just down the road from where I’m staying…something might come off there…otherwise I could be playing a lot of golf for the next couple of months..!!..that would be a shame… ;o)

The vessel…70km/hr top speed catamaran..!!..

Sperm whale exhaling..you only see this first third of it’s body as the rest is under water…

…until it dives..!!..

Pretty close to shore – probably only about 3 or 4 nautical miles offshore – the continental shelf drops to 1000m just off the coast…apparently one of the few places in the world it does this and the reason for so many whales close in…

Normally you’re lucky if you see 2 or even 3 whales…we saw SIX up close, and there were even two together at one stage..!?..pretty mental…very lucky…

There were also lots of albatrosses flying around too…which was pretty cool…

Anyway, let’s hope my luck holds tonight for the Liverpool Man U game…

So, I last left you in Dunedin in the pouring rain…it ACTUALLY rained solidly for 4 days and 5 nights…mad…I was expecting the Ark to appear round the corner and take me home…but finally the rain stopped and we continued on our journey south and west.

We have basically driven from Dunedin down the east coast (after a detour out to the Otago Peninsula), through the Catlins National Park (which is spectacular) to Invercargill, then up through Fiordland National Park (which is even more spectacular) and then up to Queenstown (which is where I am now…).

So – that was the plan…and here are the photos…well, some photos…obviously I’m missing a LOT out..!!..

We went to Sandfly Beach (aptly named!!) on the Otago Peninsula to try to spot some Yellow Eyed Penguins – the rarest penguins in the world apparently…more about them later, but here’s a sea lion for now…these guys are just everywhere..!?..this is as close as they recommend getting – apparently the big males can get a bit frisky…reminded me of Graeme actually…

The Catlins are pretty amazing…we just drove round the coast, stopping when and where we fancied it and enjoyed the scenery and wildlife…it’s basically all rugged coastline, sea lions, yellow eyed penguins and other birds and wildlife…I also learnt that New Zealand Fur Seals are actually in the sea lion family and aren’t actually ’seals’, hence the confusion with my last post…anyway…

Lots of nice coastline…

We actually camped at the top of a cliff were there was apparently a good chance we’d see Yellow Eyed Penguins coming ashore in the evening to feed their chicks…so armed with binoculars and cameras we waited…and sure enough – a few came…

At most beaches there were signs warning people to stay of the beach after 3pm to let the penguins come ashore…though this was invariably always ignored by some W*%$@?! (usually of a particular nationality…that I shan’t name lest I be branded a racist bigot…but my perceived stereotyping before I left is all true..!!) who just waltzed onto the beach, right up to the penguins, blocking off their route to their nest, just so they could get a photo..!?..the above photo however was taken at a beach were the signs apparently encourage this…I really don’t know…I preferred watching from a distance…

I thought this was quite funny…this was at the ‘yellow eyed penguin campsite’ – the access to the beach was basically blocked off by this sea lion lying casual as you like at the top of the path..haha…

Me standing at Slope Point – the southern most point in New Zealand

We drove through Invercargill and called into the hardware store where Bert Munroe’s original motorbike was – the ‘World’s Fastest Indian’ – still the record holder for the motorbike land speed record.  We’d just watched the film while sheltering from the rain in Dunedin…

So now it was onwards and upwards – Fiordland bound – we stopped off at Lake Hauroko – the deepest lake in New Zealand (462m)

It was a 30km drive along a gravel road to get to the lake (and our nice campsite)…we survived – the van didn’t…quick wheel change later…

This little bird was a torture at our campsite near the lake – it kept flying into our van and pooping on everything..!?..very cheeky…

A typical campsite…the view from bed…

Leaving the coast and the lowlands behind…heading into the (spectacular) mountains and winding roads of Fiordland National Park…

Not bad scenery to occupy the driving time…

We went to Milford Sound – the only really easily accessible ‘fiord’ and took a boat trip through the fiord to the Tasman Sea…the scale of the whole place and the size of the cliffs from the water is just incredible…photos won’t do it justice, but here are a few from the boat…

That ‘little’ red and white boat is actually a massive cruise boat that takes big swarms of tourists out…look at the size of the cliffs rising up out of the water…oh, and it rains 8 days out of 10 here by the way – 7m of rain a year..!!!…

That’s the same big boat nosing into a waterfall…

Another similar sized boat against the cliffs…

This is the “Harrison River’ flowing through the ‘Harrison Valley’ and out into ‘Harrison Cove’…

We had planned to just do a cruise in Milford Sound, but the next day we got one of the 2 days out of 10 where it wasn’t raining, so we took to the skys in a helicopter…absolutely awesome…this is just looking down the Fiord on the way up…

The flight path took us over Harrison Cove…

…up Harrison Valley…hugging the cliff walls and mountain tops – so close…

Up to the summit of Mount Tutoko with the glaciers clinging to the mountain…

…where we actually landed on the Tutoko Glacier on a perfect blue sky day…

Awesome…and I’m not allowed to use that word lightly any more…awesome is only to be used when something actually ‘inspires awe’…

The flight back down took us over mountain peaks, glaciers, frozen lakes with ice bergs, then forests and valleys…brilliant…

The helicopter was a lot smaller than the one I was in in New York a few years ago…and the pilot liked to throw it about…flying at 90 degree angles around the edge of a glacier and swooping down into forested valleys…I wore my flying sunglasses to hide the fear…

After Milford Sound we drove to Queenstown – back to civilisation…passing this interesting fishing shop in the middle of nowhere..!?..

Looking down on Lake Wakatipu from the gondola in Queenstown – heading up the mountain for some ‘Luge’ action – little gokart things…

ok ok ok…so we’re now in Queenstown…and when I get back I know the first question people will ask when they hear I was in New Zealand is…”Did you do a bungy jump..??”…..

….well….YES I DID..!!!!!…I need to buy some more underwear…

Kawarua River – the ‘original and first’ bungy in New Zealand…43m high…ok, so there are much higher bungy jumps about in the world now, but you stand at the top of that 43m bridge and tell me how easy it is to throw yourself off it with nothing but a rubber band tied round your ankles..!!

Scary bikkies…

5..4..3..2..1..

“I love you MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM..!!”

Well…where was I…?…oh yes – Bay of Islands in the North Island – parasailing and all that jazz…well things have moved on from there, as you would of course expect from a jet setter like myself…where to begin…I know – the beginning…

After Sal’s dad left from Auckland we were left with a few decisions as to what the flah we were going to do for the next month that Sal had decided to stay…we had pretty much exhausted the North Island (or at least all that I wanted to see for now – I was pretty sick of driving around that island after 3500km!?) so the plan was to head to the South Island, but we wanted to try and do things on as tight a budget as possible, so we decided upon and eventually found a great wee camper van (a proper one this time!) to have for the next month as both our wheels and our home!  There is no point trying to explore New Zealand without a car, because, well…there’s just no point…you need a car..!!..so we flew to Christchurch from Auckland and picked up our new ride…

Our wheels and home for the next month (not a bad spot for our first campsite either – a wee picnic site just south of Christchurch)

The plan is to drive about and see lots of stuff while staying at free campsites or overnight spots as much as possible.  Basically, you pay about $30 for a campsite to get electric, showers and toilets…we don’t really ‘need’ all of these and can normally get by without some or all of the above..though we do stop at a campsite (or at least a shower!) every now and then..!!

So anyway…the plan for the statr was to head south from Christchurch along the east coast, detour towards Mount Cook (the tallest mountain in New Zealand), then head on to Dunedin.  There are a couple of ‘turquoise’ lakes called Lake ekapo and Lake Pukaki which are, as the name suggests, brilliant turquoise blue.  The photos won’t do it justice – just trust me!  The lakes are apparently so turquoise due to the finely ground rocks which give a suspended ‘powder’ in the water which reflects a brilliant blue with the sun.

Lake Tekapo

The water, incidently, is glacial water flowing from glaciers around Mount Cook, so although the lakes look absolutely stunning and inviting to swim in – they are actually FREEZING..!!.. of course that didn’t stop me…

Only one way to do it – straight in, no hesitation..!!

Any Daniel Craig fans..?..ok ok, I can but dream..!!..

Sal and I sitting in front of Lake Tekapo

After staying at Lake Tekapo for a day (and enjoying a great evening in the hot pools and spas with the sun setting over the moutains…) we headed on towards Mount Cook which took us past the other turquoise lake – Lake Pukaki…funnily enough Pete, this was best seen from Peter’s Lookout…

Can’t escape him…

Nice view though – that’s Mount Cook in the background…

Of course I swam in Lake Tekapo so I couldn’t not swim in Lake Pukaki (which incidently was even colder!!)

Did I mention the water was really turquoise..?..

Our campsite at Mount Cook…thats not it in the background – Mount Cook itself was just hidden from the campsite and required a 3 hour walk for the best views…)

Me sporting my new leather Crocodile Dundee hat, sunglasses and beer (only the hat was leather I mean – not the sunglasses and beer)…

The camper van in ‘day mode’…

Sal and I doing a self portrait on our walk to Mount Cook…I love my hat…

Hello!!

That’s me with Mount Cook in the background, and the edge of the Hooker Glacier – the Lake (Lake Hooker) is absolutely freezing – even I wouldn’t go swimming there – there are big icebergs which have broken off the glacier face and are just floating in the water..!!

Some of the aforementioned big icebergs…

We were told Mount Cook apparently goes red at sunset…it does…

We stopped at Lake Ohau on our way to Oamaru  – a town about 100km north of Dunedin where we hoped to see penguins coming on to the beach…the weather was deteriorating quite badly by the time we got to Oamaru though so we gave up and parked up for the night on a cliff by the sea with the wind howling…

A nice we bar in Oamaru…

We had planned to take the drive to Dunedin pretty easy as it was only 100km and there were lots of nice things to see on the way, including penguins and seals/sea lions, but the rain was chucking it down and we just headed straight to Dunedin with just one stop to look at some ’seals’ (according to the sign) that I’m pretty convinced were actually sea lions..!!..someone please correct me if I’m wrong!? (They had ‘ears’ and were walking along with their back flippers tucked underneath..I thought that meant sea lion..!?)

sea lions/seals…the decision is yours..!!

The most recent photo on my camera of the tarmac just outside the camper van…it isn’t all sunshine you know – it’s been doing this ALL day..!?..ok ok, so it’s the first rain I’ve seen in 2 and a half months but still..!?..

So there you are…I’m now in Dunedin…in the rain…we’re going to meet a girl that I work with from Dublin for a few beers later so I best be off to do something constructive…we’re spoiling ourselves tonight – electric, toilets and showers…yesss…

I had scheduled in to meet Sal and her dad in Wellington after a week and then to meet them again and stay with them for three days in the Bay of Islands up north for the last part of the trip before her dad flew back to the UK and Sal and I went back to Auckland…and that is indeed what happened…funnily enough…

Anyway, I digress…the trip…the photos…I know you’re dying for me to continue…

Let’s start with more Lord of the Rings shall we..!?..I spent a couple of days in and around the Tongariro National Park – that’s where I did the trout fishing (see last post!)…and I did mention that the Tongariro River flowed out of the mountain range that included ‘Mount Doom’…or Mount Ngauruhoe as it is actually called…

…well here it is – Mount Doom on a cloudy day…it actually almost looks like it is errupting!…but it’s not…don’t worry…though apparently it is due…

I was driving along behind this car which made me think of Colin and Sharon..!..there are so many personalised number plates here…it’s weird…everyone has them…

Te Puia in Rotorua – a really active volcanic area with boiling mud…

…and geysers…

On my way to meet Sal in the Bay of Islands I thought I would take an extra day and head right to Cape Reinga at the north tip of New Zealand…just so I could say I’d been there..!?..this would also take in the Ninety Mile Beach which I thought would be quite cool…

My trusty ride sitting on Ninety Mile Beach…which is, as it’s name suggests, a beach that goes on for ninety miles…well actually its more like 90Km, but who am I to argue with the New Zealand tourist board, eh…

OK, bad quality photo I know, but it was taken by someone else and emailed to me…this is me on the left ’sand boarding’ down a massive (they were actually named the ’Te Paki Massive Sand Dunes’) sand dune at the back of the Ninety Mile Beach…basically a body board, a massive steep sand dune…and a LOT of speed..!!

Now this photo mightn’t ‘look’ that impressive…ok it’s ‘not’ that impressive, but those waves are actually created by the Tasman Sea meeting the Pacific Ocean at the very tip of New Zealand – come on people – you gotta admit that’s even a ‘little’ bit impressive…Sal and her dad weren’t convinced…

Now…the three days in the Bay of Islands were fun…I met up with Sal and her dad (who thankfully is pretty cool and not at all scary..) and had a few nice days chilling out, swimming and doing some fun stuff…part of which was me larking around in an adventure park with lots of swings, climbing walls and stuff…but the highlight was the trapeze..!!..I took to it like a natural if I do say so myself…I’m thinking of joining the circus…it was quite scary, but I didn’t fall off once, and I even dismounted with a forward somersault at the end…I did try to upload a cool video but it didn’t work so all you get is this action shot as I’m just about to launch off one bar and onto the next…hence the strangely contorted body shape..!!

Fun fun fun…

The highlight of the Bay of Islands (and probably the North Island) was on the last morning, when the weather cleared enough to do New Zealands HIGHEST parasail..!!..I had always wanted to do this so what better opportunity than at 1200 feet in New Zealand..!!..

A promo shot of the boat…

…but just to prove that I did indeed do it myself..!!..

This is the reason for the facial expression above..!!

All good though..!!

So that’s about it for now…Sal’s dad is now probably still in the air somewhere on his way back…and she and myself are currently in Auckland trying to devise some sort of plan as to what to do for the next while..!?..obviously the ‘work’ part of my ‘travelling and working’ hasn’t quite materialised yet..!?..life sucks eh…