Over the Andes

Phew! The story continues! I made it back to Santiago on Saturday night, safe and sound, but there was no rest for the wicked as I was up early on Sunday and on my way to Valparaiso! It was easy to get there (once I'd got clear instructions from the staff at the hostel), I just hopped on the metro for 7b stops, then bought my return from the bus station. OK, the people that I bought the tickets from both spoke English, but that's not the point! I had a bit of a doze on the bus, and was somewhat confused to wake up and be confronted with heavy mist, especially as the weather leaving Santiago was once again glorious. You see, no one had told me that Valpa is often swathed in sea mist!

I got off the bus and it was really quite cold. Before I could even get my bearings, a helpful voice said "Hello, tourist information?" Well, why not, it would be good to find out at least which direction to walk in! After a few seconds though, I regretted taking up the offer as "Hello, let me sell you a day trip!" would have been more accurate! oh well, the lady was really friendly and enthusiastic, so I thought I'd hear her out and then politely decline as I usually like to do things my own way. However, the price was fair for a tour of the city and the weather wasn't really great for wandering around in.

Valparaiso

So, I was whisked away to an awaiting minibus, and off we went. Soon though, I started to rue my decision as I thought we'd get to stop for photos - no, we just drove past slowly and I couldn't open my window properly, so it wasn't ideal for snaps. We did eventually make some stops and I captured a little bit of the flavour of Valpa, despite the weather. We then headed to Vina del Mar for lunch. I declined to go into the suggested restaurant and found a supermarket instead. I bought some rolls and a pot of dulce de leche to spread on them!

I found myself a bench by the sea and started to assemble my lunch, using the plastic knife I had to buy. Then from nowhere appears this stray black dog, that was admittedly adorable, but it very nearly had off with my bread! I tried to shoo it away, but to no avail, "Vamos!" didn't work either. i hope the locals enjoyed the Benny Hill style performance I gave them, as I tried to run up and down the promenade to get away from said hound! Eventually I lost it and when it did come back later, I'd managed to wolf a couple of rolls down! Then, we headed back into Valpa to take a funicular ride up one of the hillsides overlooking the docks. The mist cleared a little and it was nice to get a good view of the city before heading back to Santiago.

Once back in the city, I thought it would be a good idea to buy my ticket to Mendoza in advance for the following day. I eventually made it to the correct metro stop for a different bus terminal and queued up for international tickets. However, I overheard the people in front of me also buying a ticket and it became clear that I needed my passport in order to do so. It was safely back at the hostel. I then queued up for customer services to clarify the situation, and indeed, I couldn't buy one without it. Not to worry though, there were still plenty of seats available and the helpful guy there assured me it would be okay to buy one in the morning. He also wrote down the prices and times, so I had all the info I needed. I even timed my journey back to the hostel, so I knew how early I would need to be up the next day!

Back at the hostel, I spent several hours online searching for accommodation in Mendoza. I found one available on HostelWorld, but by the time I had logged in and ordered a Gold membership (to avoid a booking fee each time), the last dorm had gone! Damn it, I couldn't find anywhere else online! The hostel I wanted did state that it held some places open for walk-ins, so I resigned myself to turning up and hoping for the best! I got up at 6.30am on Monday, quickly breakfasted and made my way in good time back to the terminal. It was easy to buy my ticket, as I simply pointed at the piece of paper I'd been given the evening before!

The bus was lovely and even included a light snack, with blankets and pillows. After an hour or two, we began to wind our way up into the Andes and the scenery was stunning! Soon it was time to disembark at the border checkpoint and we dutifully queued up to be stamped out of Chile and then into Argentina. When I got to the booth, I politely said hello and then the guard/official made a shocked sound, like a gasp. Immediately, my face must have dropped a mile, as he started laughing - it turns out that his gasp was in reaction to something his colleague had said, but he found it hilarious that I'd thought it was something to do with my passport and I'd obviously began to panic! Yep, dead funny that!

Back on board, we still had a few hours to go before we arrived in Mendoza. Once there, I was greeted by hostel touts. Now, I technically was homeless at that point, but I am always wary of making a decision just seconds after a very long journey. Anyway, I politely listened to one man but told him I had a reservation elsewhere, a little white lie! Rather than pester me, he then gave me directions to this other hostel and showed me where the ATM in the bus terminal was. He gave me his card and email and a map to his hostel, but there was no pressure and he was just genuinely kind and helpful! His directions were spot on and once at Hostel Lao, I was greeted by another genuinely nice Argentinian. He could offer me a room for one night only - rather than have the hassle of switching accommodation the next day, I decided to look for an alternative, and he kindly let me leave my backpack there and hold the room for that night, until I had another place to stay.

So, I headed off to the hostel that I'd been given the map to. I'd wrapped up well that morning, as buses over here tend to be quite chilly due to the aircon, but all this walking about in the afternoon sun was making me sweat quite a bit, especially as I was wearing two jumpers and a raincoat! I was glad to make it to Hostel Simplemente where I was greeted by Daniel. He let me look at the rooms and was very helpful - the hostel was very small and quiet, but was in a good location and was cheap! So, I agreed to take the room - I just had to walk several blocks again to collect my bag and come back! Anyway, eventually I had sorted everything out, I'd been to the supermarket for some provisions and was chatting away to Peter (Canada), Jurgen (Germany) and Daniel's wife, Romina. I was really glad that I'd found this place!

Yesterday, I somehow slept through my alarm. I'm pretty sure it didn't go off and I think the battery is on it's last legs. It just needs to last another 20 weeks! I had a good wander around Mendoza, looking for an Argentinian flag patch to go with the rest of my collection. now, me being me, I had to get it just right! I found one stall in the market that had them, but they were way to small. Then I found another shop that had the right size, but they were made of the wrong material. The lady there kindly directed me to another store up the street - they had the perfect size and material but also had "Argentina" written across the bottom. well, that just won't do - I know it's Argentina, because it's their flag, doh! No, it had to match the set and after several hours, I'd worn myself out and decided to return to the hostel for a siesta!

Instead, I chatted with Jurgen and Romina and decided to head back towards the Chilean border to visit Aconcagua. Well, to get close enough for a good view without having to trek up it! Romina also helped me to find information about buses to Salta, so I headed off to buy a ticket there, arriving on Friday morning after a 19 hour journey, phew! So, I just chilled out for the rest of the day and formulated a plan for my next moves!

This morning, I went to the bus terminal to buy my ticket to Laguna de Horcones, where I'd be able to get good views of Aconcagua. En route, though, I started to panic as I didn't have my passport with me - I'd needed it the day before to buy my ticket to Salta, even though it is still in Argentina. There was no time to head back for it, so I continued on, with my fingers crossed. The man at the ticket booth luckily spoke English and was again really helpful. he loved my accent and said that it was really "delicate"! It's never been described as that before! Anyway, he explained that if I bought a return for 8pm, I could use it on the earlier service at 4.50pm. However, if I bought a ticket to return at 4.50pm and i missed it, I wouldn't be able to use it at 8pm. Unfortunately, I misunderstood him, bought the 4.50pm one and then realised there'd be no leeway should it take me longer than expected! So he had to re-issue it for me!

Romina had recommended that I walk back along the road from the lake for 2km to visit Puente del Inca. The man at the bus station thought it was at least a 10km walk between the two. So, for most of the journey there, I was worried that I'd not be able to fit everything in before 4.50pm. It would be OK though, as I'd be able to get back again, but it would be very late when I arrived in Mendoza. Anyway, it would all work out in the end! Not long into the journey though, we stopped and two policemen boarded - they wanted to see identification. I didn't have my passport!!! So, I'm panicking just a little bit more at this point. I managed to say in broken Spanish that I was sorry, I didn't have it with me and I didn't have a photocopy either. Luckily, it wasn't taken any further but it turns out that it is illegal in Argentina to travel without ID and I could have been ejected from the bus! Whoops! I guess I really need to keep at least a photocopy on me at all times from now on!

It was just after 2pm when we reached Puente del Inca and then just a few minutes more before I was dropped off at Parque Provincial Aconcagua. Luckily, I could see that it was only a few kilometres back down the road. We had also bypassed the border checkpoint, much to my relief, as I really didn't want to explain to them that I had no ID on me! The walk from the road to the start of the lake path was 2km, so off I paced as fast as possible. I'd been told that the lake circuit took an hour to complete, so I decided to just walk part of the way to Laguna de Horcones and back again, so make sure I'd have time to catch the 4.50pm bus, but because I was doing the route in reverse, I made a few wrong turns! In the end, I was able to complete the entire circuit as it was much smaller than I expected and I was actually back at the point where the bus had left me within an hour! Admittedly, I'd rushed around the park, but I got to see Aconcagua and it was worth it!

Aconcagua reflected in Laguna de Horcones

I then paced it along the road towards Puente del Inca. I had just under 2 hours to get there and have a look around before the bus was due and although I could now tell that I wasn't going to be stranded in the Andes, I didn't want to wait an extra 3 hours by the road for the later bus! As it turned out, I made it back in good time to take photos and have a browse around the market stalls there. Indeed, I had a full hour to spare! Oh well, better early that late! When the bus arrived, it was the same one that I had taken that morning and even thought the driver had a little joke with me that my ticket was for the later service, he still let me get on board!

So, that's all folks, just since Sunday! It was gone 8.30 by the time I got back to the hostel this evening and I've barely had enough energy to have a shower and get online! I guess it hasn't helped that I've only eaten a pack of Oreos today, whoops! Oh well, I should get a good feed on the bus to Salta, and with 19 hours on the road, I'm sure there will be time to have 40 winks or so!

Easter Island

The time had arrived and on Wednesday (after a later than planned start) I was back at SCL and checked in for my flight to Easter Island 3½ hours ahead of take-off! I even managed to get a window seat, the last one, that was in an exit row so I had to be responsible for opening the door in the event of a crash, but at least I got extra legroom! Lan, once again, did not disappoint - the meal was great and I had time to watch two films, Doubt and Fight Club. Well, they turned the entertainment system off five minutes before the end of FC, which was a tad annoying, but who cares, I was about to land on the remotest inhabited land on Earth!

Because I only had hand luggage with me, I was out into Arrivals within seconds - there was no immigration as it was classed as a domestic flight, and the airport was but a large shed and a runway! I soon spotted my name on a board (the first time that's ever happened at an airport, so I was chuffed) and after a short wait, I was soon at the hostel. There I met Jeanette (Netherlands) and Emmy (USA) and we were all chatting away about our various travel experiences. Emmy had toured the island in a rental car, and so me and Jeanette decided we'd follow suit. I was regretting not having more time there and was hoping I'd get everything done in two full days. In fact, that night I dreamt that I'd visited a little island off the coast and got there too late to see everything and then I had to fly home and I'd not even visited Easter Island at all. I was glad to wake up the next day!

So, it was a relief when I did! After a delicious breakfast, Jeanette and I headed into Hanga Roa, the island's only town (or village would be a more accurate description!) We organised a car, some cheese, crackers and water and at 10.30 am, we set off along the coast! It wasn't long before we spotted our first moai (statue) and the cameras were off! The southern coastline was also pretty amazing and was getting absolutely battered by the Pacific. We soon realised however, that we'd need a National Park ticket for one of the main sites further along the coast, which had to be purchased at Orongo, on the other side of Hanga Roa. We therefore decided to tour the complete island and see all the sights we didn't need a ticket for, and head back out again on Friday to do those that did.

Our Little Red Jimny

We continued as far east as the road went and got a glimpse of Easter Island's most impressive moai at Ahu Tongariki. This was what I had been waiting for, fifteen large statues, all standing to attention by the sea. After a lengthy stop there to allow me to take the same photo over and over again (and for some cheese and crackers), we continued northwards and spent an hour or so at Anakena beach, a lovely spot, to swim in the Pacific. Luckily, even though it was slightly chilly, it was a damn sight warmer than the Pacific in New Zealand! The weather was glorious and after all the four-wheel driving and photo-taking, we needed a break!

After we left Anakena, we still had time to head back towards Hanga Roa, but take a detour onto gravel roads to see the last of the standing moai. All day, we had practically had the island to ourselves, apart from wild horses everywhere, but as we arrived at Ahu Akivi so did a busload of tourists. Damn tourists! We had to wait a while for them to clear out of our photos, plus the sun then popped behind the clouds and then there was another long wait for it to reappear, but when it finally did, it was worth it!

Ahu Akivi

By this point, we'd crammed most of the sights in and it was time to head back to the hostel. There, we met Cinthya from French Polynesia and we spent the evening chatting and having dinner. Yep, I decided to treat myself, no more bread and cereal for Emma, I had a lovely pizza and salad! Well, when on Easter Island...

On Friday, I was up early and down at the beach by 8.45 as I was going... scuba diving! I'd not really thought about it being possible on Easter Island, but as soon as I found out that it had spectacular diving opportunities, I felt obliged! I was worried that I'd not have the time to fit in a dive, but after we hired the car, we'd gone down to the dive shops the day before and I booked the earliest one possible, meaning that I'd be able to get as much done as possible on Day One, and still be able to dive safely 24 hours before my flight back to Santiago.

Off I went (again!) in a little speedboat into the harbour and once in the water, I was amazed by the visibility - 40 metres! It was incredible and apparently it can be as good as 60-70 metres out there! We saw an underwater moai (which, admittedly, was a concrete one), loads of moray eels, trumpetfish, porcupine fish... and old anchors! Once back on the boat, the dive instructor was really impressed with my air consumption, as I still had plenty left after 51 minutes. He asked if I did a lot of sports or went to the gym, to which I replied that scuba diving was my only 'sporty' activity!

I then met Jeanette and Cinthya back at the hostel, and after picking up some more supplies, we drove to Orongo, the site of a Rapa Nui village near the top of Rano Kau, the island's largest volcano. The ranger was extremely funny and sweet and after buying our tickets, we wandered around the ancient site. Then it was time for more photos at the crater, and my goodness, it was impressive! It could have been from another planet as around a mile in diameter and filled with a lake covered in unusual plant life.

The crater of Rano Kau

We then headed to Rano Raraku, the major sight we'd missed the previous day, where the moai where originally quarried. It was again amazing, as here there are many different kinds of moai, some of which that were only half calved, and they are just scattered around the volcano, some buried up to their middles, some right up to their chins. It was exactly how you would imagine Easter Island would be...

The moai at Rano Raraku

Friday evening was a quiet one, especially as we had decide, in our wisdom, to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to go back to Ahu Tongariki at sunrise! So at 5.30, we set off for one last time in our little jeep, in the dark. After a wrong turn at the beginning, we made it onto the right road and by the time we arrived at the site, it was still dark. Well, at least we were early and not late, plus we had a great view of the stars. As the first signs of daylight started to appear, we made our way to the moai, with a tiny torch to guide the way. We were then whistled at my a small red dot of light, which turned into a man in a poncho tripping over a petroglyph - "We are filming for TV, you can't stand in from of the statues!" he cried. Well, we weren't convinced as his equipment was rather on the small side, plus there was no cordon or signs to warn us of this, so we were a little peeved that we couldn't get the spot we wanted, but in the end as the sun rose, it was all worth it.

Sunrise at Ahu Tongariki

So, on Saturday, once we'd arrived back at the hostel, it was all systems go - breakfast, shower, pack bags, return car, buy last minute souvenirs (yes, I have the t-shirt, necklace, flag AND moai statue) - before checking out and heading back to the airport. It was sad to leave after such a short time, but I'd felt I done the island proud... plus, I was about to have another great flight again with Lan!

Speaking of flights, that reminds me! I knew I had a tale to tell but in the excitement of my first week in South America, I'd forgotten all about it! Well, before I left Auckland I wanted to contact Qantas to rearrange my flights within SA. Well, at least I'd definitely be able to speak with someone in English that way! To cut a long story short, it was a bit of an effort as the freephone number I had didn't work within Auckland, their office was closed and I was running out of options. But an extremely lovely lady in The Flight Centre let me use her phone, even though she'd closed for the day, and 50 minutes later (!!!) I'd made some big changes! So, now instead of flying from Santiago to Lima, and then Lima to Sao Paulo, I will make may own way from here up to Lima via Bolivia. I then fly from Lima to Quito. From there, I will then overland it through Ecuador and Colombia, flying from Cartagena to Sao Paulo instead! So that's another 3 countries I've added into the itinerary. I don't think there will be much time for rest over before September. BRING IT ON!

¡Hola Chile!

I'M IN SOUTH AMERICA, WOOHOO! Sorry about that, I'm a bit excited by that (and rather jetlagged seeing as I didn't sleep on the plane as I watched eleven episodes of Prison Break instead! The flight was great, I was really impressed with Lan Airlines, especially as I ate everything for both meals and we had really cutlery! Once at the airport, it was back to the old ways of trying to jostle through the taxi touts and to try my first bit of Spanish. Luckily, I found a chap who spoke English who directed me to an ATM, although he'd added a zero onto the conversion of the peso and nearly took my for a ride, literally, and an expensive one that that! However, I knew that all I needed to do was catch the Centropuerto bus into the city centre and my hostel was but a few blocks away. Soon, I'd boarded and within the hour I was in the centre of Santiago!

I'd been a little concerned about my choice of accommodation, La Casa Roja, as I'd booked it by mistake and was expecting a loud, party hostel, but once I'd checked in, I was really impressed with the dorms and staff. Plus, I soon met my new roommates and was back to the ways of Oz - bending the ears of them all with my stories and asking questions about their experiences in South America. I'd missed that in NZ, I just didn't get chatting to people in the same way there. Anyway, it was great to get info and advice from Betty (Austria), Taya (Australia) and Jackie (USA).

I awoke on Monday morning to loud banging, scraping and noisy chatter. I wasn't impressed, seeing as some of us were trying to sleep. I prised open an eye and saw a cleaner moving the lockers in the dorm around so she could sweep underneath them. How rude, I was not impressed... until I looked at my watch and realised that I had slept in until 12.30pm! Guess I needed the sleep! I eventually managed to leave the hostel and have a little wander around the city centre, but I was so tired that just a couple of hours was enough! That night, however, I just couldn't sleep and it was probably around 3am before I nodded off. I was so glad that everyone in the dorm decided to get up early the next morning and rustle their bags and whip their zips as loudly as possible!

Frozen Yoghurt at Patio Bellavista

However, Tuesday was a good day in the end as Jackie and I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art (where most of the exhibits just confused me) and she showed me a little frozen yoghurt stall that she'd found the previous day. now, I haven't touched yoghurt since the mid-Eighties, but I gave it a go and had a medium sized cup blended with pineapple and mango. I wasn't disappointed, in fact it was so delicious, I went back for seconds, this time replacing the mango with strawberries! Jackie then headed back to the hostel, and despite being really tired again, I decided to make my way up Cerro San Cristobal. I was hoping to just walk to the top, despite it being quite a climb, but I couldn't find the path, so I took the funicular instead, indeed it was a miracle that I managed to purchase a return ticket as my Spanish was so bad!

Once at the top, I was glad I'd taken the easy way as the climb may just have finished me off! I visited the chapel and statue and then headed into the park to find some caches! That took a bit of trial and error as I couldn't tell if pedestrians were allowed on all the trails and at one point, I think I nearly entered a substation, but eventually, two boxes were found and I headed back home.

View of Santiago

It took fifty minutes to make my way from the bottom of the hill back to the hostel, and so I was ready for a bit of a rest in my dorm. When I opened the door, the lights were off and some new guests were sleeping, who'd probably just arrived from Auckland. The shaft of light that shone through the crack in the door illuminated the face of a girl in the top bunk opposite me. She looked exactly like my friend Lucy who I met in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I crept out and went on the Internet for a bit. I checked Lucy's profile on Facebook to see if she had mentioned anything about South America on there, but alas not.

Anyway, once I'd spent a stupidly long amount of time uploading only a few photos, I went back to the dorm and the lights were on. Imagine my joy as I was faced with Lucy and here friend Rachel, who I'd also met in Malaysia! So it was hugs and giggles all round as we talked about it being a small world, etc etc. Lucy had said to Rachel that she was sure she "could have sworn that Emma came into the dorm earlier!" That evening, I chilled out by the pool with them and had a large portion of home cooked spaghetti!

This morning, I was supposed to be up at 8am to pack ready for my flight to Easter Island. However, the alarm was promptly switched off but luckily I woke up again at 10! I still had time, but I rushed a shower and breakfast, and packed just a daysack for the trip. Well, for three nights it doesn't seem worth taking my entire backpack on a 5,000 mile round trip! So, I'm just about ready to leave on my way back to the airport. I should be at the airport very early, but I've heard stories about overbooking... and this is one flight I do not want to miss...

Australasia Ends, Americas Begin!

Well, I've had my final week in New Zealand! In hindsight, I did it a bit wrong, but never mind! I should have headed into Northland last Saturday evening as soon as I arrived in Auckland, but at least I got really cheap accommodation here (even though I've had to share it with cockroaches!) Anyway, Easter Monday was very similar to Easter Sunday - I wandered around Downtown again, went to the market, bought a cheap $3 bone pendant (rather than a $60+ greenstone one!) and spent at least an hour in a outdoor pursuits shop looking at daysacks. They had an 11 litre one and a 21 litre one. I, of course, wanted something in between! I'm sure the staff thought I was a nutter, but hey, I had HOURS to kill!

I caught the bus up to Whangarei around 4pm, and 3 hours later, I arrived and thus began the trek to the YHA. I'd been told that it was around 20 minutes walk away from the bus stop, and involved a hill, but you know me, was I going to spend money on a taxi??? Nope. Once there, I had just about enough energy left to cook a bit of pasta and pack my daysack (my old one from Fiji as I never made a decision in the shop!) for diving the next day. So, on Tuesday, I was collected bright and early by Dive Tutakaka and promptly checked in at the dive centre. I'd found a voucher in a magazine the night before for a free lunch, which they happily accepted (so i didn't need to eat the bag of cold pasta I'd prepared the night before!) Soon, I'd boarded "Perfect Day" which is the nicest boat I've dived from yet! Our skipper, Luke, introduced the crew and gave us some info about the Poor Knights islands and it looked like it was going to be a great day at sea!

Poor Knights Islands

Our first dive was at Blue Maomao Arch, one of Jacques Cousteau's top ten spots! I swathed myself in 14mm of wetsuit, and strapped on 12kg of weights!!! That's double my usual amount, so I was a bit concerned I'd hit the seabed like a rock, but then realised that of course, it was to compensate for the extra neoprene! The water was damn cold but extremely clear, the best visibility I've ever had whilst diving. We began our descent and headed through the arch and for the first time, I was greeted with an underwater view that was exactly how I'd imagined scuba diving would be, before I'd ever tried it! The arch was full of shoals of blue maomao and the rocks covered in a multitude of colourful marine life. Shafts of blue light came down through gaps in the arch above, and it looked like David Attenborough was due to arrive at any moment!

It was really interesting to be diving in cold water as there were no corals, but lots of kelp and fish that I'd never seen before. We saw long and short tailed stingrays and an eagle ray silently swam right by, its fins rising and falling like a bird on the wing. After about 30 mins, I was really shivering , but there was no way I was going to ascend until I had to, and in the end I broke my own diving record - 63 minutes!!! Back on the boat, the sun had finally broken through the clouds and so we all sat on deck with hot tea, trying to warm up again! After lunch, we had our second dive at Trevor's Pools, another great spot with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Again, I was really cold after a while, but smashed my new record - 67 minutes! I swear, I could have gone for 70, it was time to head back to the boat! It was a great trip and the crew were smashing.

Once back at the hostel, which was very small but really cosy, I met John-Paul (Ireland) and Kathy (Northern Ireland) and we just chilled out in the TV room watching Tommy Tiernan. I then bent Kathy's ear about South America as she's just spent 3½ months over there. It was great to chat to her as she's stayed in the hostels I'm booked into in Santiago and Easter Island and she put my fears to rest about the former being too noisy and that 2 days should be enough to get around the island after all! Besides, it would be an extra $100 to move my E.I. flights now, so I'm resigned to making the most of the time I've got over there!

Whangarei

On Wednesday, I had a full day in Whangarei so what better to do than some geocaching! A multi-cache, that should have taken around an hour to complete, took up half of the day and had me on the opposite side of town by the end of it! Luckily, after seeing me walk all the way up the main hill, I was offered a lift down again by a kind couple, who became absolutely fascinated once I explained what I was up to! That evening, I walked all the way back to the bus-stop with my gear, although I was sat on the street for over an hour as the bus was 40 minutes late! so, by the time I arrived in Paihia after 8.30pm, I basically dumped my bags and got into bed!

On Thursday, I was up early and bumped into John-Paul, so we decided to head into town and have a wander around. I was just leisurely walking by a travel shop when before you know it, despite not wanting to spend any money until I was back in Auckland, I'd booked a parasailing trip around the Bay of Islands! I swear, that woman could have sold possums to the Kiwis! Anyway, a few hours later, I was suspended high above the bay on a 1200ft rope (NZ's highest nonetheless) and the view was amazing. It was very sedate though and I'm not sure what it going to cut it now in terms of adrenaline after my skydive! Back at the hostel, we watched the World's Fastest Indian, starring Anthony Hopkins. It was really good and surprisingly funny in parts!

Yesterday, I arrived back in Auckland, I collected my Poste Restante and went out last night to Eden Park to watch Auckland Blues play Otago Highlanders in the Super Fourteens. I have no idea what any of that means, but I was rooting for the Blues and the won! However, I didn't realise how much stopping there is in Rugby Union, so it wasn't as high-octane as I'd expected. Hopefully a soccer game in Argentina will change all that!

So, I've just got a few loose ends to tie up here before my ELEVEN hour flight across the Pacific tomorrow. I can't send a parcel home because the P.O. is shut on a Saturday here. I want to change US $100 in traveller's cheques into cash, but it would have to be changed in and out of NZ$ first, meaning I'd lose US $15 in the process! I need a new pair of trousers as I've had to make three repair jobs on them this week, all in one spot! Well, at least I got to use my sewing kit after seven months on the road! I have just bought a new daysack though, I decided on the larger one after all, as I think I'm going to leave my main backpack in Santiago and just have hand luggage for Easter Island. Good grief, this time next week I will be about to leave there and I'm still in NZ at this moment in time! I don't half pack it all in!

That's all folks for New Zealand. It's a lovely country but I didn't quite have the amazing experience here that I thought I would, going on what everyone had told me. I think it's a gret place to share with someone and I probably would have got a lot more out of it had I been able to drive around and camp at my own pace. I'm not sure I would come back here again specifically, but I would hop over from Australia and it's highly likely that I'd be back there at some point in the future, so you never know! However, I was EXTREMELY lucky with the weather here, I jumped out of a plane and swam with dolphins... so it definitely had some great moments!

Next stop Chile and the adventure racks up a few notches I think! I'll have to learn Spanish and cover huge distances if I'm to pack in as much as I want to over the next five months... Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina. Hopefully, there'll be a trip to the Galapagos Islands in there at some point as well, watch this space! Now, I'm not sure when I'llbe back online as I don't think the internet is going to be quite as widespread over there, but I'll be in touch, dear reader, you haven't heard the last of me yet!

Tongariro, Rotorua and Northward Bound!

Well, after the high of skydiving, my stay in Taupo continued to be fantastic! I was up at 5a.m. last Sunday, to undertake New Zealand's finest one-day hike, the Tongariro Crossing! It was dark when I awoke, and still quite dim, when we boarded the shuttle bus as 6am, due to the clocks going back here in the early hours of that morning. By the time we reached the start of the Crossing, the sun was up, and despite being really quite cold, the weather was glorious and looked very promising for the day. However, I kept it in mind that the weather there is notoriously changeable, so I was well prepared with waterproofs, several layers of clothing, a hat, scarf and gloves!

I set off with two girls from my hostel, but after a few minutes of climbing the first sets of steps on the trail, I got left behind a bit while I removed some layers! By the time I'd reorganised myself, they were about 20 metres ahead of me. that's not a lot I know, but I was out of breath already and the steps were killing my calves, so I just let them carry on ahead without me! I then met up with some people who I'd been skydiving with the day before, so once again I had some company! I reached Mount Doom in good time, (sorry, I really can't remember the real Maori name for this volcano, so you will just have to settle for the Lord of The Rings one!), but it was obvious that it would have been way too challenging for me. Especially as I had to be back for the shuttle bus at 3.30pm and the recommended 20-30 minutes required to make the descent back down again would quite likely have turned into several hours for me. Well, I'm scared of heights and slippy slopes, and apparently, the path down is all loose gravel and very steep!

Anyway, the next section up to the highest point of the crossing was enough for me, and I scaled it like Gollum - i.e. on all fours so I didn't fall over! I was rewarded with an amazing view though, of the Red Crater and Emerald Lakes. I was also confronted with an extremely steep path down again that was all loose gravel. So, I decided to go down on my bum! I was the only person doing this, and after several hundred metres, I decided that it was dusty, slow and I looked like an idiot. I managed to summon the courage to stand up eventually and it wasn't that bad to walk down the gravel after all, you just had to really dig your heels in! Once down, I enjoyed a spot of lunch by the lakes.

Mount Ngauruhoe, Red Crater & THAT path down...

The remainder of the Crossing was mostly downhill and passed through more incredible scenery AND I did the Quintuple! The weather stayed glorious all day long and I completed my 5 out of 5!!! I've been ridiculously lucky in NZ with the weather, I genuinely don't know how I managed it!

On Monday, it was still fine so I had a wander around Taupo and took it a bit easier! On Tuesday, I arrived in Rotorua. I took things a lot easier here, again wandering around town and doing a spot of geocaching. It was quite amusing to be walking around a park and then to come across a pool of bubbling hot mud and steam in the middle of it! On Wednesday night, I went to the Mitai Cultural show and it was really great. We saw a traditional haka and more Maori singing and dancing. Dinner was included, a traditional hangi where food is cooked underground on hot stones. I knew that there would be plenty of food that evening, so I'd tried to eat as little as possible throughout the day. It was still a struggle though to fit in two helpings of lamb, chicken, potatoes, kumara, sweetcorn, rice, salad and garlic bread, plus a thick slice of chocolate log!

Champagne Pools at Wai-O-Tapu

On Thursday, I went to Wai-O-Tapu to see Lady Knox Geyser and the amazing Champagne Pools. The scenery there is very unusual and I've enjoyed all the volcanic landscapes of the North Island, in some respects more than the mountains and lakes of the South. Friday was another lazy day in Rotorua, although I did pack in a fair few miles of walking before the bus arrived at 1.45pm, off to Mount Maunganui. I'd tried to book a hostel there on Tuesday, but due to the Easter weekend, I was only guaranteed Friday night. So, at that point, I had no idea where I would be staying on Saturday. When we arrived, the hostel was still unable to confirm a room for me and could only tell me on Saturday morning - which was useless as by that point, I'd need to be on the bus to Auckland or be homeless! The hostel was very nice and we were given free tea and cakes on arrival. However, we were also then lectured upon being quiet, washing the dishes etc and that if we required bed linen, it was an extra $2 to hire it.

Now, it's true that many backpackers are messy and are obviously away from Mummy for the first time, but after 6 months on the road at the age of 28, I don't appreciate being lectured on how to behave appropriately. I also don't appreciate being charged $28 for a dorm room (which is expensive for NZ) and not even having sheets included! So, that made my decision quite easy - I was glad I only had a bed for one night as I was quite happy to get right out of town the following morning! I did however walk around the mount with Dani and Johanna (Sweden) and I introduced them to geocaching! Even though I only had a few hours in Mount Maunganui, I wasn't going to let that spoil my perfect run of at least one cache per town!

So, yesterday I arrived in Auckland, and I'm really bored! Many things are closed due to Easter, the free city tour won't be running again until after I've left on Monday evening, and I won't have chance to do it next weekend as I will only be back on Friday lunchtime. It's a bit unfortunate that I've got four nights in total here, and nearly five whole days, but I'll be in Northland this week with only two full days to explore Whangarei and Paihia. Oh well, at least I never have to get on a Magic Bus ever again in my life, woohoo! I went to use the free Internet they advertise for their customers at their head office. I didn't realise dial-up still existed! It was slow, the PC was ancient and Facebook was a banned site. I'm not quite sure, therefore, how it was able to provide any useful service to a backpacker whatsoever, but there you go! Hopefully, my next blog entry will be a bit more exciting after I dive in the Poor Knights Islands this Tuesday! I hope it doesn't disappoint as it's one of Jacques Cousteau's top ten dive sites in the world!

Brace Yourselves!

Well, ladies and gents, I have to be honest. I've been doing some cool stuff in NZ, but I'm not feeling it like everyone else is. Yep, I've hit a bit of a rut here... I'm fine, but the high of Oz and Fiji had to end at some point I guess. To be fair, I've been on the road for over half a year and to get this far unscathed is quite an achievement. However, never fear, I'm still having a great time and this is still the best thing I've ever done. I'm only mentioning it really as I haven't got much interesting to say about most of the past week. That's OK, it's just been normal, but you know me and my detail - I didn't want to have to describe it all in depth or I would have fallen asleep, never mind you!

Anyway, basically, I left Kaikoura and headed to Picton. Unfortunately, the Magic Bus driver that day was the *%$^$## who didn't stop long enough at Lake Matheson so he was the last person I wanted to see. I think I might complain about him when I get to Auckland as we were faffing around on the bus for ages before we even left Kaikoura, and I think it was his fault we were short on time on Lake Matheson day. Also, he had told the people on the bus the previous day that he wouldn't be picking us up outside our hostel. This is a selling point of the Magic Bus, but no, we had to walk a bit up the road, not too far admittedly, but I was peeved nonetheless - I was lucky enough to get wind of this change in the hostel, but as I'd not been on the bus that day, I could have technically ended up stranded. They seem to forget that not all of us out here are only spending one night at each stop!

Damn, look, I am complaining again! I've been like this quite a bit this week. Moving on... The hostel in Picton was lovely, I took a free bike out for a spot of geocaching and after only an hour, I decided to return as the gears were very dodgy, as was my road sense and I thought it best to quit while I was behind! The highlight of Monday was the free hot chocolate pudding and ice-cream at 8pm, it was absolutely delicious! On Tuesday, it was overcast and drizzly and so I just read books until it was time to catch the ferry to Wellington. That went smoothly and luckily the rain had stopped by then. Once in Wellington, in my stubbornness, I walked to my hostel instead of paying a few dollars for a local bus. It was a good 20 minutes walk there, and with a heavy bag across my chest, in addition to the backpack of doom (no, I love it really!), I was in excruciating pain by the time I arrived!

On Wednesday, I wandered around Wellington with Laurence (France) and we walked up to the top of Mount Victoria and took the cable car to the Botanical Gardens. the weather had perked up too, so it was good to be out in the fresh air. On Thursday, I spent 3½ hours in Te Papa, which means 'Our Place' in Maori. It is a really impressive museum, although I would like to suggest that the next time they catch a giant squid, they put it straight in formaldehyde rather than studying and dissecting it. Yes, I know it was important to have a good look at it, but as a display, it's all manky and dissolving!

Yesterday, I arrived in Napier, a pretty Art Deco town. Again, I had a really cool hostel, but I was only able to spend one night there - because of the awkward scheduling of the Magic Bus, I couldn't spend a convenient two nights there, only one or three. I think the Magic Bus is the main contributor to my recent loss of form. It's really hard to let it go as well, as every time I get on it, I'm reminded of how I made the wrong decision to buy the ticket! Plus, I have this underlying feeling of guilt, or maybe slight failure, that I don't love NZ as much as everyone else does. It's a great country, beautiful with really friendly people, but I can't get all that excited about it. Shame really, but I'm honestly still glad to be here.

However, read on dear reader, it gets interesting from here on in! When I boarded the bus this morning in Napier, the activity sheets went around and rather than not book anything, I took the plunge and let the driver organise today's activities in Taupo. I did a bit of research in Napier to make sure I'd be getting the best deal and I'd spent a fair bit of last night thinking it over in my sleep. I took the clipboard, signed my name, and ticked the appropriate boxes. Done - well, the weather was glorious this morning and ideal for outdoor pursuits. I then spent the rest of the journey listening to my iPod, my heart beating steadily within my chest. Check-in at Taupo YHA went smoothly, and I had plenty of time to drop off my bags and grab a bit of toast before the shuttle bus came to collect me. Oh yeah, sorry, I haven't told you what activity I booked yet, have I?

SKYDIVING.

Yep, you read that right - S.K.Y.D.I.V.I.N.G. Not scuba, SKY. As in plane, parachute, jump out, don't die!!! I'd been considering it for a long time, and Taupo was always going to be the place I'd do it. So, the day had arrived and the conditions perfect, so rather than hang around today and do it tomorrow, I seized the day and booked straight on! So, we were taken to the airfield, signed our lives away and had a briefing about the photo and DVD packages available. Now I hate to spend money (no, really?) but I decided that this was a biggie, so I bought all the bells and whistles and spent way more than I'd budgeted, whoops!!! I think I'll be spending as much time as possible in Bolivia to recoup! I also decided that if I was going to do it, I might as well do it properly and go for a 15,000 feet drop, not just a piddly 12,000!!! That's a minute of freefall, not just 45 measly seconds!

It was time to jumpsuit up, but somehow I was the only person who couldn't go on the next plane, so that meant I had to wait around longer before take off. As you can imagine, my heart's going quite fast at this point, especially as I'm terrified of heights and I had the time to watch the previous plane load jump out. Well, there was a tiny plane-shaped speck in the sky, SERIOUSLY high up, and minuscule white dot emerged from it... it seemed way longer than a minute before the white dot had a minuscule parachute attached to it! "Yeah, but, it'll be all over so quickly when we do it!" I reassured my fellow jumpees! I met my tandem diver, Andy, who was hilarious and would be operating my HandyCam - a video strapped to his left wrist that would capture the entire jump. We did a little pre-jump interview and then off we walked towards the little yellow plane that would spit us out at 2.85 miles high!!!

I'd been keeping myself as calm as possible the whole time and although I was incredibly nervous, i was also really surprised how calm I was. I mean, i can still remember how scared I'd been as a seven year old in Scotland, stood on a mesh floor above a vat of whisky; how Mrs. Hemmingway spent way too long making me go over the scrambling net at primary school! Andy kept asking me how I was and I could honestly reply that I was fine, given that I was about to jump out of a plane. I just thought to myself that it was too late to turn back, and there was no point in getting too worked up about it as it would all be over soon, plus I knew it would be great fun... it was just the exit that frightened me! Soon, I was buckled, strapped and clipped onto Andy, my hat and goggles in position and the door opened. Don't look out, just go with it, remember to keep your legs in, your head back and smile at the camera. Don't think too much, Andy will jump, you are attached to him, you have no control.

No Turning Back Now!

And then I was out. Freefall, 15,000 feet high, nothing but down! Now, I guess you would like to know how that felt, but I can't really tell you! I remember being on my back, then on my front, then thinking Oh my God, I'm out, this is scary, this is happening, crikey the wind is fast and screaming "AAAARRRRRRGGGHHH!!!" and "WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a lot! I forgot about the fact that I had a personal cameraman with me as well, although I think I looked at him a bit and shook his hand at least twice! It was fast, I remembered to breath normally as the air was thick and my mouth dry. And then it was over, Andy pulled the parachute strap and I had chance to pause and reflect on what had just happened!

So I screamed a bit more, looked into the HandyCam and addressed all my relatives individually to state that I was indeed still alive and then shouted "Space! Next time space!" The parachute ride was great fun too and the scenery was stunning. It has been an amazingly clear day today, which makes 4 out of 4 of the "I hope I get good weather" activities! Andy let me operate the chute a little bit left, and a lot to the right, which meant we did a huge spiral and my stomach spun for the first time. I could see all of the lake and really clearly over to Tongariro National Park. A perfect view! Then Andy told me to get ready to hold my legs up for landing. I thought that was odd, as the ground was still a good way away yet. Nevertheless, in no time at all, I could see blades of grass and thought don't break your legs! It was a smooth landing, although once my feet were on the ground, I found it quite difficult to stand up straight and it must have looked as if I'd been on the sauce for a few hours!

Just in case you needed further proof!

So there you go, I'm a member of the 2.85 mile high club! I spent the next few hours babbling incoherently, more than usual, and feeling damn brilliant! If it was a lot cheaper, I would have been up again, no word of a lie! However, even though it was utterly amazing and worth every cent including all the extras I bought, it's not something I'll be doing too often. Got to watch the pennies if I'm to save enough to get into space! So, I'm still on a complete high several hours later and should probably not go wandering into any tattoo parlours or goodness knows what I would come out with! I got a t-shirt included in my skydiving package, and rather than choose one that was really stylish and subtle, mine is quite bold with "200 km/h HEALTH DEPARTMENT WARNING: SKYDIVING CAUSES SERIOUS LOSS OF REALITY" emblazoned in yellow across the back! Well, there's no point skydiving if random people on the street can't read about it clearly, is there???

So, I'm back down to Earth, but NZ is now rather damn cool! Two weeks to go and I'm determined to make the most of it and leave on a high! I've just been to the supermarket to buy some decent provisions for tomorrow as another challenge awaits - the Tongariro Crossing! It's a big one, allegedly one of the world's Top Ten hikes, over 15km through Mordor and Mount Doom (in Lord of the Rings anyway) and the weather forecast looks good. Fingers crossed and that will be 5 out of 5! I'll be a complete wreck by this time tomorrow no doubt, but no pain, no gain! Plus, I've jumped out of a plane - what can't I do now?