From Beach to Glacier

Before I left the UK I was convinced that one blog post a week would be a good amount. Not too often that it would start to annoy people and not too sparse that it would end up missing things out however, I have realised that a lot can happen in one week exploring New Zealand, a country I am falling more and more in love with by the minute. I would write more often but because so much is happening it is hard to find a time to sit down and write, but here I am sitting in the campervan in the shadow of Franz Josef Glacier finally being able to type some things up. 

Last time I wrote a post we were in Nelson enjoying beautiful weather (and company). The next morning we woke up early (but not as early as originally planned, classic Naefs) and began our journey to Takaka, where we would be spending Christmas. As with any journey here, it is hard to get from point A to B without stopping somewhere amazing along the way. In this case there were two places that could not be driven past, the first being Hawkes Lookout and lookout point that gave spectacular views across the scenery to the sea.

The next stop was the delightfully named PuPu springs. Despite the name this really was a worthwhile detour. An area famed for its spirtual importance for the Maori people (which is unsurprising when you see its beauty) it is found close by to Takaka centre. We were lead around the site by a winding path that took us through woodland, over babbling brooks and finally to a open pool of the clearest natural water I have ever seen. That day was an especially hot one and so the signs reminding us that there should be 'no taking or contact with water' were almost impossible to abide by. 

We arrived in Takaka and found our accommodation, The Rocks, which was a great little open plan cabin with a double bed (which Bonnie and I shared, naturally) and a fold out double sofa bed (for the lads). That evening we ate at the restaurant in the accommodation and were pleasantly surprised with how delicious it was!

The next day, in true christmas eve style we had a huge lie-in and relaxed until the afternoon when we finally decided to get outside and have a look around the town. Firstly we stopped in at the i-site (information centre) and the woman behind the desk warned us that the town was very 'hectic' that day. Takaka, as it happened was extremely quiet compared to the 'hectic' we are used to at home. Some shops had a bit of a queue at the till (shock horror)! The town is full of little hippy shops selling lots of Indian products, organic food shops, tourist souvenier shops, cafes and galleries, lots and lots of galleries! Oli was espeially affected by one gallery which hosted a painting called 'Turquoise' which was composed of squares of different shades of blue and would cost you 1,500 NZ dollars. He still gets angry if the word 'turquoise' is mentioned now, 6 days later (and I would not be surpirsed if this is a reaction that will continue for many years to come). That evening we thought it would be a good idea to have our dinner at one of the many beautiful becahes nearby (they don't call it the Golden Bay for nothing) so we packed the van and headed for Liger Bay. This idyllic plan however was spoilt by the extremely aggressive seagulls, so we ended up sat in the camper eating our meal, looking out longingly at the beach instead.

CHRISTMAS DAY ARRIVED. And although the setting was not at all festive (even if we did put some tinsel in the room and bring a little tree with us) Santa still managed to find me and Bonnie and provide us with a stocking full of chocolate, some strange New Zealand chocolate, but chocolate none the less. We all jumped in the van and tooted along to Patons Rock beach wearing santa hats and singing Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You as we went. The weather, once again, was stunning as we walked along the beach attracting some attention with our Yule tide hats, including a friendly, enthuiastic German girl. The day was spent mostly relaxing. We had a BBQ with salmon, potato salad, sausages, vegetable skewers and haloumi, we went swimming in the not-so-freezing sea and had the traditional afternoon christmas nap, this time in the sun instead of in front of the fire. We ended our time on the beach by spreading some of mum's ashes into the sea. I know she would have loved this holiday, the campervan, the sun, the exploring are all much like the holidays in France we used to have when we were growing up so it was nice to take time to remember her in this beautiful setting. We went back to the cabin and skyped Sally and Alice, who had just woken up on Christmas morning and rang Grandmere and Grandpere to wish them a Merry Christmas!

On boxing day we got up early to skype the rest of the Naefs, who were in the middle of watching the doctor who christmas special and then left the cabin and drive to Motuaka, a town which a national survey found was the number one town that Kiwis would like to live in the whole of New Zealand. Once again the drive there was breathtaking, lots of winding mountain roads which exposed incredible views and managed to throw me and Bonnie around in the back of the campervan quite a bit. Dad had rented a bach (the word Kiwis use for a holiday home, small house thing) right by the beach outside of the town for Oli, Bonnie and me to stay in while he rented a motorbike and did a little tour of his own for three days. When he left on the bike the first day the three of us walked into town (a task that took a lot longer than expected) to help us decide what we would do to amuse ourselves while dad was gone. We went to the local i-site and with the help of a lovely lady called Sheryl and much umm-ing and ahhh-ing booked the activities for the next couple of days. We walked back to the bach after lunch at a cafe and not long after dad returned too. The bike he had been using that day was having trouble starting but luckily he had booked to use a Triumph Bonneville (the motorbike my sister was named after) for the next two days.

The 27th was the day we had booked to go on a walk 12km down the Abel Tasman coastline from Anchorage to Marahau so we started the day by getting a coach from Motuaka to Kaiteriteri beach. From there we jumped aboard a water taxi to Anchorage.

When we arrived at Anchorage the trek started straight away, without a warm-up the path lead us straught up steep hills, the plus side being that we were able to enjoy views right from the start. We kept a good pace during the walk as we passed through parts that could be mistaken for rainforest, over rivers bubbling down the hills and onto white sand beaches, some completely empty and others with people sunbathing, swimming, sailing and doing watesports on the unbelievably blue sea. 

We reached Marahau just as our legs began to ache and ate some well deserved wedges at the cafe there. Bonnie and I had a look around the outdoor gallery across the road from the cafe which boasted large carved wooden statues of Maori figures, traditional jewellery and many other interesting items. We caught the coach home, feeling absolutely knackered and frustratingly burnt our pizza in the unworkable oven. Luckily no amount of burnt pizza or aching legs could ruin the great day we had just had.

Getting out of bed at 7am for kayaking the next day was understandably challenging but we managed it. We caught another coach from Motuaka to Kaiteriteri this time with a great coach driver called Mark who doubled as a tour guide for the local area. He told us about points of interest such as a lake nearby which had the best underwater visibility in the world. He taught us about local trade like the fruit growing business which grows a new hybrid of apple and keeps it under red awning while it grows to protect it from hail but also help it to grow evenly and turn red. He informed us that Moutaka gets more that 2,300 hours of sunshine a year and my favourite fact, that sandflies, the horrible biting insects found in the south west, according to Maori legend were created by a goddess from the spirits of warriors to keep people moving and to stop people staying anywhere long enough to have the chance to destroy the landscape. We arrived at Kaiteriteri beach once again and grabbed a coffee to help ease the early start. We were then given an introduction to the kayaks and headed off up the coast to a landmark called Split Apple Rock, which was a huge boulder just off the beach which had somehow been split down the middle making it look like a cut open apple. We explored the caves on the beach then Bonnie and I swam over to the rock, meeting a very friendly seabird along the way. We managed to climb up to the rock, even if the rocks did cut our hands and feet a little bit (worth it). 

We swam back to the beach and had our sandwiches with Oli and headed off in the kayaks back down past Kaiteriteri beach to a bay just a bit further on. On the way back to Kaiteriteri I swapped with Oli and took the single man kayak which turned out to be much harder than I had expected. I am sticking to blaming the kayak for this because the rudder was stiff (it's not because I am weak at all! How dare you!). Back on the beach, after spending some time sunbathing, we bumped into Zoe and Rex which was really lucky as Rex was due to be staying with us at the bach that night in order to go on his two day kayaking trip the next day. We got home, debated dinner and watched rubbish films on TV. Dad returned from his bike trip, which he seemed to throughly enjoy, dressed head to toe in waterproof yelow clothing (what a dude) then we all watched some more episodes of Rick and Morty (which I highly recommend) and went very easily to sleep.

Rex left for his trip before we woke up and dad went to return his bike while we packed up our stuff. The campervan wouldn't start (classic) so we had to get a jump start but then we were on our way to Hokitika.

 When we got there we went straight to see the Hokitika gorge which was gorgeous (pun intended) however was completely overrun by sandflies who would bite at any given opportunity. We found a campersite nearby, parked up and made fajitas. That night we went to see the glow worm dell which was a part of woodland with hundreds of glow worms. They were mesmerising but the experience was slightly runined by some people using torches and believe it or not FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY to take photos of glow worms! I learnt that glow worms were actually larvae, they glowed to attract prey and that they would sometimes turn to cannibalism, not so innocent after all!

Today we visited the National Kiwi Centre in Hokitika which houses some native animals of New Zealand including eels (aged between 80-120 years) and kiwis which turn out to be one of the cutest animals in the world. The Centre as a whole had a bit of a makeshift feel to it, the fish tanks looked fragile and some of the information about the animals were printed out on low grade A4 paper but that just added to the charm of the place!

We left Hokitika after agreeing that the Tree Top Walk was way too expensive and headed to Franz Josef. As we neared the snow-topped mountains there was a moment when the road was surrounded by palm trees but we could see snow in the background, this country really is four countries in one. Tomorrow we are booked to go up to the glacier in a helicopter but when we went to the glacier info centre at Hokitika they told us it was unlikely to be happening because it is forcast to rain, which would be massively disappointing as it is something we have all been looking forward to. This evening we went to some hot pools and are now parked up at the campsite with the unwelcome rain pitter pattering on the campervan. Fingers crossed the weather improves for our glacier walk tomorrow! 

Another long post, (it was light when I started to write this and now it's pitch black) but I hope you enjoyed it! 

Thanks for reading! 

'Welcome To Middle Earth'

Since my last post our situation has changed dramatically. 

That opening sentence was exciting wasn't it? But don't jump to conclusions. We haven't been abducted by aliens or driven off a mountain. The last time I wrote we had arrived in Auckland to rain and wind and I had been feeling a bit tired of cities, since then I am happy to say our summer Christmas holiday has officially started. The sun is now shining and jet lag is a thing to the past.

On the 16th of dec (if I cast my mind back) we visited Waiheke Island, which is a 40 minute ferry ride away from the coast of Auckland, the day was overcast but thankfully not raining. We arrived at the island, docking into a small peaceful bay and were greeted by our coach tour guide and his tiny puppy 'Otter' (or 'Otto'. My ear for the kiwi accent still needs some fine tuning). He took us around the beautiful island pointing out the bays and vineyards but the best thing about his tour was his dry sense of humour which my family appreciated but seemed to be lost on some people, including a chinese family who fell asleep. After the coach journey we decided to go for some exploring of our own around the island and took a walk along the coast line. The houses that we passed were all incredible and could cost up to $14million (about £7million) so I crossed it off as one of the many idylic places I am unlikely to live. 

The following day we checked out of our hotel and grabbed a taxi to the campervan rental place, which I assumed would be some sort of garage but turned out to be a family home, including five very friendly and funny children who had just recieved a whoppie cushion as an early christmas present (hilarity ensued). On our way there it had started to rain, really rain. Luckily there was an EXTREMELY cute baby called Priscilla with the biggest cheeks I have ever seen, to keep my mind off the weather. We set off from the house a couple of hours later in the campervan, which was very simular to ours just with a fridge, porche wheels and a much less eyecatching paintjob. It's great to be in a familar van which holds so many holiday memories for me. As soon as we began to drive we found ourselves in the middle of a rain storm (another thing to remind me if holidays in the past) so strong that it nearly blew the windscreen wipers off. The rain eased as we got closer to Lake Taupo and left some impressive clouds for me to enjoy. When we got to Taupo, Oli remembered a site where you could camp for free, just outside of the town so we head there. The site was called Reid's Farm and was a lovely relaxed area next to the clear waters of the river with a number of other campers from groups of young people to families.

The next morning, after all sleeping cramped up in the camper, we awoke to blue skies! Oli had a day planned for us which started with going to see the impressive Huka Falls, a natural rapids where the perfect clear blue water turns into angry white crashes and then back again. After the falls we walked arounf The Craters of the Moon which is an area where the hot steam from under the. Earth's crust escapes into the air and makes the landscape look alien (and smell slightly of eggy sulphur). We then went and tasted some local honey produce at Huka Hive (delicious) and then for lunch at Prawn Land (yep, real place) a prawn farm which was open to the public and served the biggest, juiciest prawns I have ever had. Oli had been told by the tourist information people that one unmissable thing was the opening of the dam which was happening at 4pm. After losing track of time we found ourselves rushing to get to the dam and jumping out of the van only to find we had missed it. The day ended with a trip to the local hot spring pools where Bonnie and I relaxed at Oli and Dad played like children on the flume (stoopid boys).

On the 19th we left Taupo and spent to the day travelling towards Wellington along outstandingly picturesque landscapes, including Desert Road, past Mount Doom and through small farming towns which looked like old fashioned American towns, with one small high street. The day was really hot so we had  the windows rolled down as we drove, listening to the CDs I made for the trip. As we approached Wellington it began to get worryingly cloudy again but the moment we spotted the city the clouds seemed to part. We had a drink at a bar next to the Wellington airport runway and drove up and up and up in our little van to Victoria Point to get a view if the city, which as cities go is pretty spectacular. We then drove to Oli's friends house where we would be staying for a couple of nights and made fajitas.

That evening Oli took us out to sample the local nightlife, of which there is a lot. We had a couple of drinks at The Southern Corner which really reminded me of bars in Budapest, and The Cavern Club which was refreshingly empty and played old classics from The Beatles to David Bowie. At one point Oli and Dad went to the bar and I spotted a very drunk man stumbling over to me and Bonnie. He sat down next to us and said 'Are they your boyfriends?', we laughed and I said 'no, but one of them is my dad.'. This seemed to confused him and put an end to the conversation. Dad and Oli came back over at the same time as one of the drunk guys friends came to his rescue. Dad ended up having a chat with them about places of interest in NZ.

Our first (and only) full day in Wellington was full of touristy things. After a late start we visited Te Papa (the national museum) where we darted around trying to learn something factual about the country then jumped in the cable car up to the botantical gardens. We walked down through the gardens and caught a bus to The Roxy, a cinema in the suburbs of Wellington which is owned by the driector of LOTR and The Hobbit, Peter Jackson. It was a beautiful retro cinema with a large wooden bar and lots of Lord of the Rings relics. We went into the cinema which was relatively small but with spacious, seriously comforable seats. We watched The Hobbit no.3 which was pretty good and then had a delicious dinner and cocktail at the resturant (CoCo).

On the morning of the 20th we had to wake up at 6am to get our ferry over to the South Island. The crossing was thankfully very calm and I managed to sneek in a couple more hours of sleep. We drove off the ferry at Picton and headed on the coastal, scenic route towards Nelson. The views at this part of the trip were the most impressive so far. We stopped at Marlborough Sounds for the views of the super green (I swear green is greener here) islands contrasting with the super blue (and blue come to thik of it) water. We drove past bay after bay until we decided to stop at one called Robin Hood bay for a rest. When we left this bay we made it half way up the hill before the petol ran out and we had to stop. A man in a 4X4 came past and offered to drive in front of us as we rolled down the hill back to the bay in search of more fuel. This was a pretty nail-biting experience and when we got back down to the bay Bonnie and I went for a walk on the beach and Dad and Oli walked to find someone with fuel. On the beach there was cold fresh water coming down from the surrounding mountains and flowing up through the pebbles and into the warm sea. Oli and Dad succeeded in their mission and a group of local men came to fill the tank. We continued on the beautiful (sometimes terrifying) winding mountain roads until we reached Nelson. 

In Nelson we met with Zoe and her son Rex, close family friends who we have been going to Glastonbury with since forever and just happened to be in New Zealand at the same time as us. They were staying with their friends Ruth, Joel and their toddler Jonah and we joined them at the house. We had a bite to eat and put up the tent in the garden for Oli and Dad to sleep in. We had a couple of drinks then a well needed sleep.

In the morning we got our stuff together and headed out of Nelson to Mapua, a local seaside village to get some fish and chips. We walked a along a nearby beach and found some petrified wood (you can imagine all the naef punns) and a bath on the beach which was heated by the fire that you lite underneathand filled by a hose. We headed home after relaxing by the sea a bit longer and i got a bad headache while the others had a bbq (typical how I am rarely ill at home).

Today we left Nelson to head for Takaka, where we will be spending Christmas on the beach, how strange. 

Well, bit of a long one but there was a lot to cram in (and I put in pretty pictures to keep you interested)

Merry Christmas, thanks for reading!

Our time in Singapore

I16th december 2014

Singapore was a modern city built up from an old colonial port. It's shiny and clean and hot, very hot. Well humid is more accurate. A thick air that clings to your skin and reminded me a lot of Mumbai. In fact, you could easily mistake the area which we were staying in as Mumbai, the aptly named Little India. 

On our first day there we arrived at the hotel during a tropical rain downpour, dazed and tired and forced ourselves to stay up and went to dinner at a local Indian restaurant. The next day we walked across the city to the CBD area where we found ourselves surrounded by huge glass building and millions of shopping malls all decorated with Christmas decorations which was slightly disorientating as we were sweating and desperately seeking out shade. We visited the ArtScience museum where dad got his head 3D printed and we enjoyed the air con then walked through a giant hotel which resembled three pillars holding up a cruise ship (possibly called the Marina Bay Hotel) to the Garden By The Bay where you find some beautiful plants and a collection of tall structures made to look like space age trees. Around the garden was a faux-german christmas market and, hilariously, a plastic statue of a snow man. 

The following day we decided to visit Sentosa Island, which boasts Singapore's universal studios, an aquarium and a water park. We spent the day in the aquarium (mainly because we forgot our swimming costumes for the water park) and when we reappeared into natural light we were greeted by more lashings of rain. That night, perhaps because of the heat, or tiredness or the food I was not feeling my best and as I talked to Ralph on the big white telephone (I am sure google will tell you what that means if you aren't already aware) Bonnie and dad went out for Mexican food. 

Bonnie and dad at the Garden By The Bay

On our last day in Singapore we hopped on the underground to the China Town quarter of the city and then walked down to the riverside where we looked around the national museum and then had lunch at one of the many tourist restaurants by the river. Our taxi picked us upthat evening from our hotel and drove us to the Changi Airport.

Our trip from Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand was another long journey through uncomfortable seats, numerous movies and airports which all looked the same as the last. We were all relived to exit the plane and know that we wouldn't be entering another one for at least a month, however the arrivals checks at Auckland meant that from landing in the plane to actually getting out of the departure gate took an excruciating one and a half hours (this was mainly on account of my dad carrying some muddy boots with him in his luggage which needed to be cleaned to ensure no biological contamination, or as my dad put it 'a free shoe wash! If I'd have known I would have brought them all!'). When we did finally walk out of arrivals we were greeted by Oli, our cousin who had been living in various locations down under for 3 years, would be joining us in our little van across the islands and was understandably a bit more perky than me, my dad and Bonnie. We all jumped in a taxi to our hotel which is just by the quay in Auckland and decided once again to fight the urge to sleep and instead to go and find somewhere to eat. Auckland is much much cooler than Singapore and I was feeling nippy in my jeans and a t-shirt due to the strong winds which the North Island is renowned for. We are at a uninteresting restaurant which could have been in any marina in the world (including Brighton) and headed back to the hotel where we allowed ourselves to sleep.

This morning I have woken up feeling pretty dazed, a mixture of jet lag and general tiredness is probably to blame. It has also hit me how little baggage I have, especially when it come to warm clothing. A year is a bloody long time, I am coming to realise. Also I have been pondering that the next time I will be in an airport I will be on my own and setting off to Sydney. At this point in time my excitement levels are much less than I was expecting them to be. I am not too worried about this though because so far we have only been in Singapore and Auckland, two cities, and cities were never going to be the main attraction for me. I can't wait to get into the campervan and start doing some real travelling! So much stuff to cram in and look forward to!

Today we get our first taster of 'real' New Zealand with a day trip to Waiheke Island, which is meant to be beautiful.

Thanks for reading x

Jetting off, settling down

Lying on a fluffy bed in the middle of Singapore is amazing. I am sure many people would say that this is due to Singapore being an exciting and innovative city but for me, right at this present moment, it is mainly the bed part that is causing my amazement. After 20 hours of travelling over continents, watching 3 films, eating 3 aeroplane meals and trying every possible position you can achieve on a plane seat attempting to get even a bit of sleep, I can honestly say that lying horizontally is one of the finest pleasures in human experience.
The flights were wondefully uneventful, one from Gatwick to Dubai, a 2 hour stop over, hen another from Dubai to Singapore and the hotel we are staying in (my dad, sister and I) is very nice and smack bang in the centre of the city next to an area called Little India.
So nothing particularly intersting with regards to my journey to blog about. However, arriving at Singapore does signify something more than the end of a boarding pass. This is it. I have left the UK and begun my trip. No more packing checklists, no more lying around in jumpers and no more saying goodbye to friends. At least I still have the comfort of being with my family for a few more weeks before the scary stuff starts.
Anyway, now we are desperately trying to stay awake for slightly longer so our sleeping patterns arent too messed up, I think we may even go and have a look around Singapore! Why the hell not!?