Tramp no. 1 - Queen Charlotte Trek

Tramping - aka, walking for multiple days in the remote mountains and wilderness of New Zealand with all of your food and accommodation on your back!!!

Having survived New Years (and being breathalised four times in an hour on News Years Day ;-) it was time to plan and make our first Tramp in New Zealand and what better place to start than a 4 day/3 night Tramp across the mountains in the very 'Sounds' which we had sailed through on our ferry trip to the South Island.

With Vivian safely parked up for the few days we jumped onto a 'water taxi' with our backpacks for our one hour speedy trip into the Sounds and to our drop-off point for the beginning of our Tramp. The plan being to then basicly walking back to civilization over the next 4 days.

Four days later, and with 71km completed on foot, we arrived safely back in Picton for a well deserved beer and shower. What an amazing walk with just stunning views and beauty around every corner and over every hill.

 

Then time to hit the road heading South...

2011

Having arrived in Picton on the 30th December what we had not realized was that they had experienced some really bad weather recently and that many roads in the area were closed due to mud slides etc. from the mountains.

Now, this was a complication we had not planned for especially as we had discussed the idea of spending New Years Eve on a remote campground in the middle of these stunning 'sounds', which would almost certainly require us driving across some very rough roads, even before the bad weather. Also, the camp grounds we were targeting, were very remote and basic too. These places did not have showers and kitchens and you would be lucky if they had a tap supplying dirty water and a 'long drop' toilet which I probably do not need to describe why it is actually called a 'long drop'... :o)

Having popped into the local information office in Picton to inquire about these campgrounds we were told that the one we wanted to go to would be impossible to get to. The road would be impassable due to the mud slides and extremely dangerous! Monika and I looked at each other when we heard the word "dangerous" and I could see she was thinking exactly what I was... let's go for it!!!

Check List:
Water tanks - full
Newly acquired BBQ - packed
Plenty of NZ lamb and steaks - in the travel fridge
Beer - Check
Wine - Check
Shots - Check

And off we went, not knowing what lay ahead of us.  One hour later we arrived at the campground, with not a single problem on the road and with not seeing a single car.

Apart from some local Kiwis who looked like they had been there at least a week we had the pick of the campsite for the best spot to park Vivian and settle in for New Years. And, WOW, did we find the most amazing view from our 'bedroom' window.

We started the BBQ at 6pm on New Years Eve and was still eating and drinking at midnight - our watches, and the cheers from the other campers, being the only way to synchronize midnight. Welcome to 2011 Monika, I love you!!!

 BIGGG English breakfast (alias life-safer ;-) the next morning

The land of the long white cloud

New Zealand with so much Maori culture and history before the so called Pahika (white man) claimed the land for the British Crown, courtesy of James Cooks discovery in the 1700's. Now you could argue that the Dutch actually had discovered NZ prior to Cooks landings, courtesy of their own Mr. Tasman who was too scared to land (long funny story) and that the Maoris did not actually own New Zealand anyway as they were immigrants in their own right, but this would be a long complicated digression from our travel blog :o)

So, back to New Zealand and what the Maoris refer to as the Land of the Long White Cloud - this from their own stories of canoeing over the horizon from their own remote islands in the Pacific and seeing the white clouds hanging over the mountains (which stretch the length of the South Island like a spine) of a remote land which they then went on to land and populate.

With Christmas being the peak period for all travel in New Zealand I had already decided that we would start our trip in the South Island and had pre-booked our Ferry to the South Island for the 30th December, giving us three days to travel the length of the North Island to be in time for the ferry.

Our first night after arriving was in a local caravan park, in the suburbs of Auckland, so we could both start to get used to Vivian and sleeping "in her". Luckily it was also a transit park for people returning their rental vans back to the airport the following day and gave us a great chance to begin 'acquiring' things for Vivian that people did not need anymore ;o)

With our first night over we hit the road heading South and with a stopover at some amazing caves for a bit of 'canyoning'.

We then headed further South to visit some old friends of mine, living near to Wellington, and from where we would catch our ferry the following day.  This also gave us a chance to experience our first bit of 'freedom camping', this is something which we will talk more about later on in our blog...

View from our "bedroom window" whilst freedom camping

Although a whirlwind road-trip so far, Monika had begun to get a feel for New Zealand. With the sun shining, early morning of the 30th, we boarded the ferry for the South Island and were treated to some amazing views and sights as the ferry sailed through the 'sounds' as we got closer and closer to our arrival port of Picton - I have said this before in the past, but this is still the most stunning ferry crossing I have ever experienced anywhere in the world.

Our new friend Vivian

Now I must admit this was one of the harder surprises for me to keep...

As some of you know, en-route to Tahiti to meet Monika I flew through New Zealand and stayed for a few days with the task of trying to find us a car at the car market with which we could travel through New Zealand with. What Monika did not know was, that even before I had landed in New Zealand, I had already found and purchased a small camper van which I then picked up during my few days in New Zealand. I then arranged to park this in the long term parking at Auckland airport before flying off to meet Monika in Tahiti...

For the next four weeks I had to tell Monika I had failed in my quest to buy a car at the car markets in Auckland and how useless I was! ;-) ... I also told her that the car rentals were way to expensive, as this was peak season in New Zealand, and I was not sure what we was going to do. I did, however, tell her that I had found a small 'rent-a-dent' rental company who had an office close to the airport on the far side of the long term car parking area and they had told me they might be able to help. You see where this is going now ?? :o)

Upon our arrival at Auckland airport and declaring all of the shells and coral we had "stolen" from the beaches of French Polynesia we loaded up the luggage trollies and headed for the car-park and this rental company. Half way across the car-park, with Monika scanning the horizon for this rental company with no success, I stopped and suggested that we took this van we were standing next to instead and handed her the key.

May I introduce you to Vivian, our 'home' for the next 3 months. The look on Monika's face as she jumped up and down screaming like a lottery winner was definitely one to remember. I think I earned a few "brownie points" with this one! :-)

The Christmas Day that never was

After a wonderful time on the islands of French Polynesia it was, with some sadness, that we took our last flight from the remote Motu of Rangiroa back to the main French Polynesia Island of Tahiti where we had begun our journey 4 weeks before and from where we would take our international flight to New Zealand.

... and yes, we spoiled ourselves once more with this lovely beach bungalow in Rangiroa!

So many special memories from the last 4 weeks but one magical moment was when diving in the Tiputa Pass of Rangiroa, with the sharks keeping a safe distance from us a dolphin twice as long as me and 3 times as wide (no sarcastic comments please) swam through the middle of us and spent a minute exploring who these strangers were in his world - just amazing!!!

OK, back to Tahiti. Having arrived there on Christmas Eve this was perfect for the Austrian who, of course, celebrates her Christmas on Christmas Eve. Having spoke to other travellers it was recommended that we head down to a Chinese food court near the harbour. With our Christmas cards exchanged this is probably the first time I have sat on a plastic chair eating Chow Mein (and drinking beer from a paper bag as alcohol was officially not allowed) on Christmas Eve - as always, it was a very special and memorable time!

 A lovely but very "different" Christmas :-)

 Our waiter (or waitress???) ;-)

As some of you know, Christmas for the British side of this couple is celebrated on Christmas Day itself (Christmas Eve is normally down the pub). 07:00am Christmas Day morning we were checking in for our flight to New Zealand and at 9:00am, to the roar of the 747 engines, our plane lifted off headed for New Zealand.

We safely landed 5 hours later on Boxing Day (26th) in Auckland!? ... Hang on a minute I cried, where is my Christmas Day??? ... International Date Line - we had just fast forwarded 24 hours. This has to be the first time in my life I have never actually had a Christmas Day - I spent the next few days in protest, wearing a Christmas paper hat everywhere we went in public. (Comment from Monika: You will not believe how often James cried for his Christmas Day and how many strange looks we got when James walked around with his bright red paper Christmas hat...! ;-)