I ventured up to the Coromandel peninsular which is on the east of the north of the north island of NZ – if that makes sense. The main reason that I went up was to visit the hot water beach there. There’s a hot water spring under the beach and you can dig a very short way down at low tide and have a steaming hot soak. I arrived at high tide.
Fortunately I’d stopped off in a town called Tairua and the guy in the tourist information place had been most helpful. He’d told me a few extra places that I could go which were picturesque and given me a few walks that I could try. The places were pretty cool and I took some good pictures there. I also went on one of the walks he recommended. I’d have never found out about it without going to the information place – the road to get there was another gravel track and when I got to the car park I was greeted by a sign that only served to increase the feeling of isolation:

This was my first experience of New Zealand tramping tracks. They are a lot more challenging than walks generally are in the UK! It was a lot steeper and more treacherous than I’m used to. The track was marked by luminous orange triangle nailed into trees all along, directing you to the path. Without them there was an occasional possibility of loosing the path in the forest all together. It really made me feel like I was in the wilderness. It was a bit scary on occasion – no mobile signal, difficult path, miles from anywhere. I certainly had the thought that if anything happened to me I’d have to deal with it myself.
That was until I received a text, the mobile coverage was better than I thought. But for a moment there I was totally alone.

One of the joys of travelling – I’ve been told – is meeting new people and having your perspective on the world shifted or added to. Perhaps even change you as a person (hopefully for the better). I was chatting to a carpenter in Auckland who was doing some work on my van for me. As is generally the way of conversations these days the topic turned to the current state of the world economy. He pointed out that the financial rescue packages being put together for the banks were probably being masterminded by Gordon Brown. The ex-treasurer and current prime minister. I nodded in agreement, not really knowing for sure but keeping things easy. I’ve always ignored politics because it’s always seemed too complicated to understand without devoting a large part of your free time to following what’s going on.
However Alex (the carpenter) blew this pre-conception out of my mind with a simple question: ‘so how do people feel about that?’. The simplicity and inclusion of such a statement left me reeling – I mumbled something about not really hearing much about it from the UK. In truth I’d never really considered that politics was something that could be idly chatted about over a beer (we were drinking beer) without actually knowing everything that was going on in the political arena. I am now left hoping that when I get back to the UK I can take part in this kind of gentle political discussion with my friends – who know it may actually be enjoyable!

So, I left you hanging on the news that I had a ‘campervan’, if memory serves. I left Auckland to go to my first WWOOFing farm – Willing Workers On Organic Farms. The experience was pretty cool, but left me feeling slightly negative about Germans. Leaving the farm on 17th November I immediately set out to visit Cape Reinga. This is billed as having a fantastic view out over the meeting point of the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific Ocean. ‘So?’ you may ask, well one is green and the other is blue (I forget which way round). There appears a seam in the sea, very interesting. The journey was to be a simple one, even without GPS I think I could have done it without sweat.
So I set out, the weather was a bit dismal, but I continued without concern as the words ‘of you don’t like the weather in Kerikeri wait ten minutes’ from Corren were still fresh in my mind.
The weather was not improving as I passed ninety-mile beach (a gross lie which I’ll ignore for the moment), so I continued without stopping to look at it. As the GPS distance ticked down to about 30km I hit some roadworks. Slightly more extensive roadworks than we’re used to in the UK. Rather than resurface one side of the road at a time they seem to just rip the entire road back to coarse grit and start again while cars and vans are still using the route. At first this wasn’t a problem, I was well below the advertised speed limit of 70km/h but still making good time and the surface was still quite good.
This did not last. The surface rather quickly degraded to a looser gravel surface and an max speed of 30km/h. This surface had also acquired a top layer of wet mud in the recent rain. This is where driving became more of an art than a science. Let me point out that my van is NOT a 4×4 and I had the distinct feeling that such a vehicle would have made life a lot easier. I was crawling along and at times I felt more like a rally driver than a lawful road user. On some of the corners the use of the steering wheel seemed to be more of a suggestion to the vehicles direction, rather than a direct correlation. In other situations I think this would have probably been a lot of fun – I’m sure that I’d like to try a rally driving day when I get back to the UK – but when two way traffic is a possibility on the road these conditions ‘focus the mind’. Stressful.
After an eternity of this slip-slide driving (10km) the repeated thought that I should turn back is pushed into a definite decision as I am faced with what looks like an impossible hill. I turn around.
However after a minute of GPS indecision – me being unable to decide where to go instead – I turn around again and brave the hill. Damn good job I did too, because in the next 400m (I kid you not) the road reverts back to the solid standard issue tarmac that we all know and love. A few minutes later I arrive at the Cape and park up with a sense of relief. I can hear the question that’s on your lips right now: ‘After that journey, was it worth it?’
I’ll let you decide for yourself.

As you have probably noticed, posts are few and far between at the moment. This is mainly because internet access is a rare thing when out of the city and when it is available it’s quite expensive (comparatively so).
But I have a cunning plan. I will continue to write posts when I’m offline and then put the online when I get the chance. I’ve not decided if I’ll back date them or not – I understand that this has the potential of confusing RSS readers. So from here on in you can expect flurries of posts with rather large gaps of silence in between.

I’d love to be able to say now hold on for a heap of posts, but I have yet to put this plan into action.

But before we get too excited perhaps I’d better describe what I’ve actually bought. When I say camper van, that’s not at all like the VW camper-van that we all know and love in the UK. Firstly mine is a Mitsubishi. Secondly I suspect that it started life as a mini-bus type vehicle. So It’s essentially a mini-bus with the seats ripped out and a big bit of board put in for a bed.
I wasn’t too impressed my this arrangement when I first saw it, but I quickly discovered that I don’t have the funds to buy a ‘proper’ camper van. However on the plus side I should be meeting with a carpenter today so we can discuss improvements to the situation. Firstly I’m getting him to move the bed to the front of the space – rather than the back which is where it currently resides. Then we’ll work out a cabinet syste, to hold a cooker and also some kind of lockable under-bed storage. It’ll be quite nice but I probably won’t be able to ‘sleep rough’ or outside of a campsite for more than two or three days.
Plenty of time though 🙂

While I was in Hong Kong airport I decided to use some of my spare time to change the dates of my return flights to the UK. You see when I booked my flights last year the airline computers did not allow bookings far enough in the future for me to get the rough dates I wanted. I was assured by my travel agent that I could change the date for free the first time because of this fact – it is not my fault that they don’t look as far into the future as I do.
That’s the back story.
So there I am at the airline ticketing desk. The woman says that any change to ticket dates incurs a 50 pound fixed penalty. I know the score, at least I think I do, so I try to explain the above situation. I’ll be honest I didn’t do a very good job. The woman still wants fifty pounds to change my flight date, and if I guess incorrectly when I will be wanting to come back I’ll have to pay 50 again!
In a flash of brilliance – or indecision – I ask for a number that I can call from Auckland instead, so that I can make the decision in a less pressured environment. And also have some time to mull over what the situation is (I like making decisions like this).
So I called today, ‘I’d like to change the return date of this flight’ I say ‘OK’ is the response. As simple as that.
Then even better I blurt out ‘Hold on is it possible to change this to an open ticket’… ‘Sure’
Stunningly easy, flabergasted. Now I have an open ticket home that is valid until 1st August 2009. Spot on!!!

I’ve put some more photo’s on flickr for your viewing pleasure. The link is the same as before (slideshow). The may be a bit of repetition at this point and I appologize for this, it’s a first cut of the photos and will probably get trimmed down over time 🙂

Well I was warned in the guide book, there are not many net cafes in Hong Kong because almost everyone has internet access. Fortunately I finally stumbled across one so life is good!
Beijing was good and quite a busy time for me. Hong Kong has been slightly less manic. I’ve been doing a heck of a lot of walking about the place, trying to shop and such. I’ve come to the realisation that there isn’t any well know touristy stuff to do here. Come to Hong Kong and see…. the skyline? Well that takes all of five minutes. And I’m not going to Disney Land Hong Kong either that’s for sure.
I have been tempted to buy a laptop, but the global recession has reduced the exchange rate to a point where the prices just don’t seem like such a steal as I’m sure they could have. Probably for the best I’m guessing.
I’m definately getting the most out of the very comfortable bed in the hotel, having three months of hard Chinese beds and something with a bit of give is very welcome. Also the shops here don’t open until 10 so having a lie in is pretty much demanded.

Well I’m here in Xi’an, and I’ve seen the terracotta warriors! Score.
Getting from the drop point of the airport shuttle to the hostel was certainly an interesting experience. I was going to try flagging down a taxi but it wasn’t entirely clear how to tell if they were free or not. I’ve since worked it out.
A guy that was on the bus with me offered to help, which demonstrates the generally friendly attitude to tourists I’ve experienced in China so far. Fortunately a very helpful woman at the airport information desk had sold me a map of the town and written down the name of my hostel on three occations, so I was set.
As I was trying to work out the taxis a motorbike rickshaw thing pulled up behind me (yes on the pavement) and got my attention. After haggling him fown from 60 to 40 (go me) we were off for one of the most hair raising journeys of my life.
Firstly you have to understand that the roads in China don’t seem to have any rules that I can make out, more of a philosophy – fortune favours the bold.
So there we are rattling around at speed, on pavements off, cutting up taxis buses, anything, running red lights etc etc. Initially I was trying to get a few pictures to record the feeling, I quickly changed my mind as holding my camera gave me one less hand to hold on with. Then things got interesting, the guy wasn’t sure where the place was so every now and then he would pull over and ask for directions. Then usually have to turn round and go the other way. He did this regardless of the one-way nature of the road we were on. Let me tell you this, I never want to be on a four lane one way street filled with headlights coming at me again. But seeing as I arrived in one piece with only minor mental trauma it’s probably to be counted as ‘part of the experience’ 🙂

I am always impressed by the number of stars in the sky here, it really gives you an appreciation for what we miss in the UK due to light polution. What is quite suprising is how little light polution is needed to obscure over half of the stars you can see in the sky. It’s a real shame that I don’t have the equipment required to get a good photo (I have tried once).