Home Sweet Hamilton

From Takaka, we explored the pretty little town of Nelson browsing shops in the rain for a day or two. The hostel here was awesome – freshly renovated, clean beds, and lots of little places to hide away for a rest from the other crowds. It wasn’t just the 18 year old english crowd at this place but quite a mix of people. Since the rain in Takaka, we have taken to games of Scrabble, which is usually found at each place we stay in the games cupboard. Good for some mental stimulation.

On the road to Picton, we treated ourselves to some Fish and Chips at Havelock and were warned when ordering about the fish being pre-processed when breadcrumbed. We didn’t click and ended up with a pre-shaped piece of fish. A bit disappointing, as fish n’ chips is all about an almost rustic meal sitting in a car somewhere (as it was raining). This one seemed like something from the oven. Where was the greasy goodness??

Travelling onwards we stopped in Picton for the night and after 11 weeks of travel we reached our limit as we were shuffled into a 10 bed dorm. We must be getting a lot older as we longed for a smaller 6 bed or a private room. Spending the night stuck in the geometric center of the room secretly shaking other bunks nearby to stop the sawmill sounds in the night was probably the end of the tolerance. Previous experience taught me to close all the curtains first, and open the windows to relieve the smell of wet towels. Was an ok night but now we are ready for a decent break in a bit of luxury (i.e. no bunk beds) before we end up in Africa for 6 weeks.

We ferried to Wellington and met up with Stu and Suki for a good few nights of catching up and retiring to a comfy room and private bathroom each night. From here we prolonged driving plans and stayed with another friend a little up the road on sunday then did a big 8 hour drive up to Hamilton on monday. It was perfect driving weather, and we clocked up 2234 km overall on the road trip. I loved every driving minute. Beautiful scenery and a sense of exploration.

The car is now returned and we are staying in comfort at my parents place for the next month. So nice to have laundry on demand, unlabeled food in a fridge, a dishwasher and free internet access. Driving around Hamilton, its still the same but just held the V8 Supercars the weekend before so half the roads are still a street racetrack. Good for pretending you are part of the races even if driving in a chunky 4×4.

The next few weeks will be spend catching up with people wherever I can. Will put up plenty of photos from any happenings where explanations would just bore you.

111 Emergency Call.

Another hostel, another fire alarm. The last one was back in 2004 standing in Sydney’s King’s Cross at 3am while we waited for it to stop. This one was a little different as no one was around.

We were had shifted to the “apartment” at our hostel in Takaka which is a room off the back of a garage. Cozy enough. After a few hours sleep we got woken by an ear splitting sound. Being in complete darkness, I felt along the wall in the direction of the sound, but found nothing. I was thinking smoke alarm at this point. We turned on the light, then continued the search to find a small fire alarm speaker behind the tv. Uh Oh.

Wandering outside to the house we could here the main fire alarm, and checked the wood fire in the lounge, all seemed fine but the siren was starting to hurt my ears. With it being so loud we wondered where everyone else was, and I suggested banging on the owners room, but Amber’s panic took over an she called 111. We didn’t know what caused the alarm and since no-one else was around we thought we were the only ones there. We heard the volunteer fire siren, then the engine came are a few minutes. They searched the premises and found the owners sleeping out the back, and a guy in the dorms (next to the alarm). Everyone had been drinking the night before and was asleep to the world. We stood in the rain once again for ages until the false alarm was called, and we headed back to bed.

The owners had just taken over the hostel so this was a pretty good test run for such thing, and something you can’t plan during the day. No idea where the fire was but they got it all checked out the next morning. It was surreal to think back as the place was deserted when we looked around and just kept thinking there is no way that everyone could hear that. But apparently there was.

State Highway 6

We have finally arrived back in New Zealand after 2 1/2 years away. We spent our first 2 nights with Sarina and her family, which was awesome to catchup again. Had been a long long while. Then we got a hire car, and hit the road. Cutting across the country to cruise up and down state highway 6 along the west coast. The towns aren’t exactly amazing but offer cozy stops, but the scenery along the way is awesome. Driving through mountain passes, beachside drives, through forests, farmlands and glaciers.

Our big achievement was climbing Fox Glacier, which Amber was done with the second we hit the ice (Canadians are hard to impress with ice and snow). We climbed through forest in the hills lining the glacier, then donned the crampons, and trekked across the ice looking up towards the mountains and back down through the valley. Then sideways at the massive cracks in the hills which sit on an active faultline. The ice was cool - lots of formations, and tints of brilliant blue when the sun hit it properly.

After being hassled by some loser teenagers in Westport, we drove again through some nice scenery over a massive hill to a place called Takaka, which is a little “Woodstock children” town at the top of the South Island. And it’s currently raining, and raining hard. Spent the day wandering the little town, then driving out to the next town for chocolate then back to a local pub for a bowl of fresh mussels. What else can you do when it’s raining.

Off to Nelson tommorrow for some more crafts, fine wines and back on the tourist trail. I love driving the NZ roads, they are fairly quiet at the moment, and each turn offers spectular scenery. One of the best places for a road trip in my opinion.

Canada, eh?

Last week while in Singapore we got news of a letter since to Canada regarding our partnership visa. It was in the final stages and just required my passport and some recent passport photos. Since it’s been processed in the Sydney office, we emailed the address given, and they actually responded mentioning that we could have it processed in person. In the UK there is no actual contact with your “case-worker” so we were excited at this.

So today we got up early, went in at 9am and got everything processed. I now have a permanent resident visa for Canada. Yay! All a bit of an anti-climax to just get a sticker in my passport after 6-8 months of endless organising and document collecting every week.

Now I just have to pass the induction test and i’m allowed into the country:

1) Ride a Moose.

2) Watch a live ice-hockey game.

3) Drive a comically oversized pick-up truck on the flat prairies.

4) Learn to say “Fries” not “chips”.

5) Own at least 1 checkered shirt.

6) Expect to drive at least 1,000km (each way) for a holiday.

G’day Bruce.

After a week of shopping and exploring in Singapore and starting to feel the strain of traveling for so long (2 months now), we currently find ourselves in Sydney. Mingling in with a culture similar to our own once again, we can relax a little especially with the temperate back at a bearable level. I was starting to get used to the heat of Asia in the end, but just knowing you will sweat every day leaves you unmotivated to see any sights, instead opting to hide in the air-conditioning.

We have been wandering around the city meeting up with everyone here who I know and haven’t seen for a good few years is a nice way to spend a few days. We aren’t too interested in any sights as we saw them last time, and since then Sydney has become a pricey little place. Travel and shopping isn’t too bad, but some of the food is extreme. $3 for buttered toast in places, and $15 for a gourmet bagel was the highest we have seen. Down to 2 meals a day to keep some of the cost down.

I like Sydney. There is a bit of every kind of culture here and not just restricted to the downtown area. Each suburb has it’s own vibe and thing going on – markets, cafe’s, shops etc so you never have to leave. A little like London in a way. The weather is nice, and such a variety of people all doing their own thing makes it an interesting place to be. Be nice to live here a while and fully experience it all.

We fly off to Christchurch in New Zealand tomorrow. It’s been a little over 2 years since I’ve been home so really looking forward to seeing it all once again and exploring a little of the parts I haven’t seen.

If you are around, see you on the farm April 25th for our little party.

Sleepless in Singapore

For some reason we haven’t been sleeping too well while in Singapore. Could be the 17 bed dorm below our room or another reason. Thinking about daytime naps to help avoid the heat, as I’m sure thats what the locals do. It’s been a day of restlessness. There is only so much to do in this city, and anything possibly cool like the zoo is simply discouraged by the relentless heat. Done with shopping malls, and will be sending our haul off to Canada tomorrow before preparing to head to Sydney. It’s our first day of really doing nothing, and brings up thoughts of how we could have better spent our time. Sure, I know having a few months off switching countries is enough, but you do want to see the most you can along the way. There is so much in Asia to see, and although our change of plans let us see a little more of Thailand and Vietnam we are keen to return. Better to want to go back somewhere and leave on a high then be struggling to get out.  Everything has a cost though, and juggling flights for that extra day or two somewhere will cost you in the end. Taking it as a day of rest to plan out the driving trip in NZ next week!!

In a moment of realisation, we have ditched the campervan in NZ and gone for a rental car instead (from another company) getting a nice deal on relocating it to Auckland from Christchurch and reducing the price in the process. The main reason is as we were looking into the cost of staying in campsites and driving around the place the costs began to mount up. $32 for 2 people to stay on a patch of dirt is way way too high to pay each night. Sure there are conversation campground, but it also means tracking them down as well. We traded the novelty of staying in a van, and will pay the extra $10 a night (total) to stay in a bed in a hostel. Even with this the price difference of car vs van is about $1000. Crazy.

If anyone wants to meet us along the way in NZ, we set out next Thursday and our route is something like: Sarina’s House in Christchurch – Greymouth – Fox Glacier – Westport – Takaka (Golden Bay) – Nelson – Picton – Stu’s House in Wellington. The rest isn’t decided yet.

Off to check out the local Sushi place for dinner. Yum. But will leave a mention of some of the signs seen around Singapore. It’s know as a “fine” city with a penalty for everything – littering, smoking, eating/drinking, no durians, etc. But many shops have made up their own rules and displayed signs as well. Pretty sure they aren’t in jest…

“No photos, $5 fine” – Chinatown Mannequins
“No food wastage, $5 per 100g” – At a lunch buffet
“No research or photo taking” – CD Shop