Pete's Blog 

South America

After an emotional farewell to our campervan that had been our home for 5 weeks we finally flew out of Auckland after clocking up a whacking 4494km on the road. A night in a decent hotel was very welcome and the pool, sauna, room service and cable TV all got good use.
The flight out of Auckland to Santiago, Chile was a 12 hour flight from hell in the "flying creche". Screaming brats constantly woke everyone up and the only redeeming feature was movies on demand (shame there wasnt enough Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon on demand to go with it!).
Spent a few days in Chile walking around in a jetlagged haze, with Mel trying to remember her Spanish and me trying learn important things like "with milk" and "no mayonnaise". Met a few Ozzies and Kiwis and went out with a drink with them and swapped the usual traveller stories of bargains, nightmares, dangers, highlights, etc...
After 3 days in Chile we flew north to La Paz, Bolivia which rests at 3600m above sea level (when we did our skydiving we were required to use oxygen masks above that altitude!). Going to Bolivia so soon was probably a mistakle as for the first few days we had to get over Altitude Sickness as well as Jet Lag, not fun, we slept more than anything else. After 3 days in La Paz we are now acclimatized and can walk down the road without running out of breath and needing to lie down. My Spanish is coming on a bit and a Mel is now babbling like a native.
Today we are off to Salar De Uyuni which is the Salt Desert in the South of Bolivia. A 3 hour bus followed by a 7 hour train journey awaits, joy!. Have started reading Lord of the Rings so that should soak up some of the time. I??m also looking forward to taking some pictures as so far we have only seen 2 South American cities which aren??t exactly pretty or photogenic. Back on Wednesday...

Rotorua, Waitomo and off...

Rotorua was not quite as nice a place as Taupo, it has more
geothermal hot springs and mad stuff like that, but boy dos it stink!!! The sulphur rotten eggs smell is even noticeable in the town. The funnest thiwas going on the Zorb which is a giant beach ball that you get harnessed into before they roll it down a large hill - great fun!!!

Before leaving NZ we went Black Water rafting at Waitomo Caves. Who's idea was that!!!! Floating in the dark in an inner tube in the freezing cold! Its a shame we went out on such a bum note as New Zealand has definitely been our favourite country so far.

I was about to write about our first few days in South America but I am now about to get kicked out of the Internet cafe - it'll have to wait until tomorrow...

Buenos Noches...

New Zealand Pics

First batch of New Zealand piccies are here

This is best (alledgedly!) of the piccies from the South Island up to and including Queenstown.

South of the North

Having a great time and weather at Lake Taupo this weekend (much better than last weekend!). Got extremely drunk in Wellington on Thursday after going to the theatre to see a play 'Gargarin Way' but still managed to drive 300km the next day (up to 3800km now) before crashing out knackered. Yesterday and today have been action packed and involved 2 visits to volcanic spa baths, 2 barbecues, a visit to the geo-thermal area 'Craters of the Moon' and last-but-not-least a 47m tandem bungy jump over lake Taupo itself. The water was so clear you could see the bottom, got some great pics but only prints no digital shots.
The scenary is very different here, nowhere near as many mountains but more volcanic/geothermal activity. Its not unusual to be out in the countryside and see steam rising from part of the landscape.
Only a week away from South America now. Mel and I have grown quite attached to our campervan, it will seem weird not having it anymore but it will also be nice to not have to put my shoes on before having a shower...
Lake Taupo is an extremely nice place - might do another bungy jump tomorrow before a late drive over to Rotorua.

The North of the South Island

Last day in the South Island today. We catch the ferry from Picton at 1:30pm tomorrow to cross to Wellington in 3 hours. Have been to Blenheim, Nelson and Picton in the last 4 days over the Easter weekend but have not done a great deal as just about everything shuts here for public holidays. Looking forward to having a look around Wellington tomorrow evening and on Thursday when we will have the whole day there.

Very British Weather

After what seemed like never-ending good luck with the weather (save for one ealry morning storm that scuppered the ballooning in Alice Springs), we have finally had some bad weather courtesy of the impending New Zealand winter. Rain and cold nights (especially when your sleeping in a van!) have featured a lot in the last few days. Although it's not been all bad. We did have a great day at Franz Josef glacier which included a helicopter trip up to the glacier itself, but that too was affected by strong winds that prevented the planned 'helihike' that would have enabled us to explore the ice caves on the actual glacier (the irony being earlier in the day we had a very unnsuccessful attempt to fly our stunt kite and then there was bugger-all wind!). We are now in Kaikoura and it is pissing down. Fingers crossed it will clear up tomorrow as we are going whale watching. On Easter Sunday we plan to spend the day getting plastered on a wineries tour in the Marlborough region - at least the weather can't bugger that up!

Cook Islands photos

A selection of photos taken by me and also by Mel with her new camera - better than mine! :0( are here.

Also have a first batch of New Zealand ones and a few left over from Australia but they will have to wait.

Leaving Queenstown today to head North to Wanake and beyond...

Adrenaline Town

Arrived in Queenstown on Wednesday afternoon in fine weather but knowing that bad wetaher was to follow. So not wanting to miss an opportunity we proceeded straight to the NZone skydiving centre in the middle of town and an hour later we were both plummetting at over 200mph towards the ground from 15,000 ft above the ground in a tandem skydive. Freefall lasted 50-55 seconds during which time we fell 10,000 feet and chutes opened at 5000 feet for a 5-6 minute gentle cruise back to planet earth and a safe landing on two feet.

Words cannot decribe how accelerating to terminal velocity feels, but you can probably get and idea by looking at the expression on my face in the photos here - a heady mixure of terror, excitement and sheer thrill... totally awesome. We enjoyed it so much, we're planning on doing another in Rotorua in the North Island in a couple of weeks time.

East to West

In Te Anau at the moment which is a picturesque village next to the biggest lake in NZ (Lake Te Anau). Have spent a few nights here and went horse riding on Monday and yesterday drove to Milford Sound for a cruise on the fjord. Took loads of pictures of breath-taking scenary. Decided to avoid the Catlins Forrest area on Monday when we came here because it was pissing down and the decision paid off as the weather here has been very good - sunny, but still the coldest on our travels so far, as was to be expected. A pair of thermal 'long-johns' was a good investment.

Going to head to Queenstown today and spend some time (and money) there jumping off and out of things.

Have driven over 1500 km in NZ now.

Still in Dunedin

Off out for dinner tonight (Saturday) and then onto a club in town. Have spent the last few days driving around the Otago pennisula which is stunning, but the weather has been a touch patchy. Going to leave Dunedin tomorrow and head out towards the Catlins on our way to Milford Sound and Queenstown. Might try and catch the France v Engaldn 6 nations match tomorrow morning if I can find a telly that's showing it. I don't mind losing to the Irish but to the bloody French - no way!