Monday 16 November 2009

A quick update

I apologise but this is going to be a very short post. This is mostly due to a lack of pre-planning on my part and a very slow internet connection that has resulted in me taking far longer than I should have to sort out all of my little internet odd-jobs which I wanted to finish before settling into my post writing.

Something that I realised was that I never set the scene for my hike across New Zealand and my previous post just jumped into the fray. So I will set the stage, albeit a little retrospectively.

Our plan has been (and currently is) to road trip down New Zealand, starting off in Auckland and ending up nearly one month later in Christchurch. For those of you who do not know (and don't have the time to look it up on wiki) New Zealand is split into two islands, imaginatively named the North and South islands. The North Island has the majority of the population of the country as well as the capital city - Wellington. By contrast, the South island has amazing panoramic scenery and adrenaline packed activities.

We started our journey in Auckland, in the North island and have steadily worked our way south powered along in our tiny rental car. The previous post just gave some general commentary on my views of the country and the next post will give greater details of towns and activities that were undertaken. xx

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Oh look! A sheep!

I apologise for taking so long to provide the next exciting instalment of my travel adventures. Since my last post, I left Dubai and made my way to Auckland, New Zealand. Suffice to say, Auckland was not at all what I was expecting. Perhaps it was due to the heady heights of commercialism that I had just left in Dubai, but I found Auckland, known to be the largest city (by population) in New Zealand a far cry from the brimming cosmopolitan city that I was expecting. That is not to say that I found it a total backwater, but there was just something that was lacking....

In any case, I didn't make these observations upon my immediate arrival as both Mr F and I were so tired from out twenty-seven hour flight (including the time difference) that once we had located a suitable hostel we passed out and slept the sleep of the dead until the following morning. The following day (Wednesday 28th October if your interested to know) we set off on our excursions. We saw the Sky Tower as one of our highlights of the city - its the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. After witnessing the worlds tallest tower in Dubai just days before visiting the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere, I started to feel like I has seen enough tall towers to last a life time. That is unless someone decides to build another worlds tallest tower in another few years.

Something that I am constantly struggling to get to grips with in the country is the complete lack of drive to work. The vast majority of businesses - including government run institutions, such as museums - do not open until 10am and then shut again by 4pm. Coming from a country (and a profession) that cannot conceive of such a short working day, I fail to understand how any business of any real financial value can be achieved in such a short space of time. If you count out an hour for lunch you have a five-hour work day. That's part time in my mind! Not to mention how badly it hinders my touristic activities! We were forced to stay an extra day in Auckland as the museum had closed by the time we got there at 4.30pm! On the other hand, I can understand why so many people choose to immigrate here, with ridiculously short working days New Zealand is the personification of the phrase "work to live not live to work." Many of the older people we have spoken to have come to New Zealand from the motherland for that same reason. Many of them avid sailors who are afforded the time to pursue activities which they would never have time for in the UK.

A further interesting point is the fact that the price of living here is far greater than I was expecting. From speaking to the locals, it appears that there has been a steep increase (some say as high as 40% in the past ten years) in the cost of living. That factor coupled with the fact that the pound Sterling is currently on its knees against most other world currencies means that we are finding things pretty expensive!

But that is not to say that things are all bad. Quite the opposite in fact. The beautiful countryside and landscape which is similar in many ways to that of the British countryside gives off the impression that you are constantly living in a childhood memory, perhaps of a picnic you had on a warm spring day in a field full of buttercups. Its all very romantic. Moreover, we have been taking our time on this road trip and stopping off at all the local attractions. The quirky characters we meet more than make up for the garish excuse for the towns here. One lady in particular, who we met at a local potters studio was by a long way the most interesting character I have met so far. A child of the sixties she them emigrated to New Zealand in the seventies where apparently the sixties revolution was currently still in its prime. Having enjoyed two decades of hedonistic pleasure she settled at the potters studio to make artwork as her source of income. Its hard to convey the excitement she exuded when talking about her heyday and about current world politics. She was so charming that we bought a little egg separating device in the form of a smiling face from her. I wish we could have bought more, but I think I have already discussed the high prices in New Zealand.

Another highlight is the fact that there are wineries on practically every major road that we have taken and we have got into the habit of stopping of and sampling the produce. I have to say, as someone who has predominantly drank European wines (predominantly from Spain) I am quite taken by the local produce! So much so that we have quickly polished off the bottles that we bought!

Well my time at the Internet cafe is drawing to a close so I will have to close off this post. I will aim to get another out as soon as I can. xx