Phillip Island

My housemate and I decided to take a last minute weekend trip down to Phillip Island. We left just after 7am Saturday morning and headed down the Princes Hwy. We made good time, arriving at Grantville by around 9.30am. I’d read about the mini-golf at Maru Koala Park, and being the mature 20-somethings that we are, we just had to stop for a game.

We were the first customers of the day and after a quick coffee we headed out to the extensive pirate-themed course. It was quite an impressive set up, with a large boat (that you’re not allowed on) and several other decorated buildings and themed music. The golf itself was quite disappointing, being fairly easy (not that we were trying too hard). I’m fairly sure we missed a hole at one stage, and at the end, the ball disappears into a Aussie-outback-themed hut. As I only hit mine in, we headed back in with the other and I was getting ready to apologise for losing a ball when they informed me that that’s where they’re meant to end up. Very confusing. We skipped the koala park part and kept moving down to San Remo.

By the time we got to San Remo, we needed some more air, so went for a nice walk down the beach away from the crowds.

Eventually we headed back to the car and we decided to head across to Phillip Island. Within just a couple of kilometres, we saw a sign for a farmers market on Churchill Island, so decided to take a detour there and to the visitor’s centre. Thankfully we managed to pick up a map of the island and were given advice about some beaches to visit and about the Penguin Parade, which we decided we might as well see while we were there.

By the time we looked at the farmers market, it was approaching the time we had indicated to the B&B we would arrive. The place was called Otira, and was easily found by their instructions. We were met on arrival by an old dog (Dougal), followed by Robyn, the owner of the B&B.

Check in, such as it was, was no problem, and the room was beautifully presented in the main house. As noted on their website, we had afternoon tea on arrival (although it was even lunch time) with a delicious homemade carrot cake. Robyn’s husband John came out and told us all about the farm, how it used to be (he’s lived there all his life), how it is now, and offered to take us out to feed the 2 1/2 month old lambs.

Clutching warm milk in old Corona bottles with a rubber teat, we headed out with John to a small paddock. The lambs devoured the milk and headed off for a nap, while John took us down to the shearing shed and show us Dougal at work as a sheep dog. It was great to see a small herd of very fuzzy sheep (the shearing was happening when his sons arrived the next day) and an old dog doing what he loved.

As Robyn had suggested a beach at the end of Ventnor Beach Road, we decided we had nothing to lose in heading down and taking a look. We found an almost empty sandy beach with small areas with rock pools – it was fantastic. We took a lazy walk down to a point and then headed back again to go and get some lunch. We headed into Cowes and tried to find somewhere that wasn’t taken over by tourists – unfortunately that meant eating Burger Edge. There’s something wrong about going away and eating at a chain restaurant/eatery.

After that we went for a drive and completed a loop of the island through Rhyll before heading down to another beach – Smiths beach, which is popular with surfers. There were more people here, but we had a walk down to the rocky end of the beach anyway before moving on to see the Nobbies. Heh.

The Nobbies were even busier than the beach, with several busloads of tourists visiting when we arrived. We stopped for a cup of tea in the generic visitor centre and looked at heading down the boardwalk to take a better look, but the crowds of tourists and seagulls put us off. Instead we went back to the B&B for a rest before the Penguin Parade.

The Penguin Parade was quite an experience. The tourists and crowds were frustrating, but for the most part all behaved themselves. The penguins of course were cute, and arrived just after the sun went down and continued for over an hour in dribs and drabs. I’ve only ever seen them in the wild at Granite Island, in much smaller numbers, so this was very impressive. After they come up over the becah, you can walk along the boardwalk and watch them heading up to their burrows, even see some of the chicks coming out to meet their parents.

An early night was calling, so we grabbed a snack and went straight to bed. Breakfast the next morning was quite an affair – a huge choice of courses including cooked, all fresh and delicious, served in the well-presented dining room with silverware. I could almost get used to that. Another couple had arrived late the previous evening so we stuck around and had a chat with them before settling up the bill, saying goodbye to the lambs and heading off with a loaded car.

Before we left, we thought we’d try one more walk so headed to Pyramid Rock, where you can walk along the cliff down to a beach. We walked to first lookout and found ourselves nearly getting blown away by the winds that had come in overnight and decided it would stupid and probably dangerous to continue, so got back in the car and kept moving.

A few stops on the way home and we were back in the living room by 2.30pm or so. A wonderfully quick getaway.

Great Ocean Road etc (Part 3)

After raining all night, Monday was a little worrying to wake to. We had decided to head up to Hopetoun Falls, but there were two routes to get it. With one being labelled a track, we were unsure whether we’d be able to get through it in a Toyota Corolla, so we headed back to the information centre to double check what sort of condition it was in. Instead, she recommended that we go back the way went the day before and along the Turtons Tourist Track. This worked just fine for us, and Turtons Track was simply beautiful.

The small of the other track down to the falls however, was a little more worrying, and the turn off for the waterfall even more so. Taking it nice and slow, and seeing virtually no tourists, helped us to arrive in one piece. Still raining, we headed down into the rainforest to the Hopetoun Falls, which were worth the walk down (and the fear of having to get back up the hill). Again, photos to come.

Next we decided to head to the Triplet Falls, but getting lost and having to do a u-turn when we realised we were heading back towards Apollo Bay, we decided to stop for an early lunch instead. Kat and Trav discovered the small area of Redwoods just near the Hopetoun falls, and we went exploring. The area is simply stunning with the towering Redwoods and beautiful stream running past.

By this time we deemed it late enough that most tourists would have left and we could go to the Otway Fly – something Kat had really been looking forward to. It was still raining, and at the bottom of the rainforest, we might have stayed slightly dry, but 27m up, there was no chance. Still, the views were something different, and the 47m tower was fun (if only to see Trav so scared!) The walk back to the visitors centre wasn’t quite so fun, but headbutting the dinosaur at the end of the walk was worth it.

After that, we decided to take the same route back to Apollo Bay, along Turton’s Track and through Skene’s Creek, wanting to stick to roads that we knew while it kept raining and was getting darker.

Again, we had to dry out all of our clothes, and decided to have another lazy night in with ice cream, nachos and the projector.

The next morning we started our way out of town. We came back along the Great Ocean Road again, wanting to have another burger and chips at the same cafe! Between Lorne and Geelong though, we headed inland and came in through Geelong and back to the city. The rest of the afternoon was a chance to dry off and catch up on washing before we all went back to work.

Great Ocean Road etc (Part 2)

Sunday (7th) dawned earlier than usual for us, so after our complimentary continental breakfast (only until 9.30am, but considering we were the only ones in our unit, I’m sure it didn’t just disappear after that time), we headed down to the tourist information building to get some better maps and details about the waterfalls and walks.

Deciding to take it easy for the day, we headed to Stevenson Falls, up near Forrest, which was considered either a 20 minute or 1 hour easy walk, depending where you took the car. As we got up to the turn-off, we ended up on a narrow, almost gravel road, which caused initial panic, but became easier as the weekend went on.

As we came up to the carpark (a campsite), we could see that the road to the second carpark was open – which would mean a shorter walk – so we took it and without getting bogged, arrived in the carpark.

The walk was easy, and very nice, just as the brochure described! The path was pretty wet, but no rain was seen (yet), and we had no problems getting up to the waterfall.

The metal platform caused some problems, with the feet of my tripod slipping through! I still managed to get some shots (to come), and the area was simply beautiful. Travis let his adventurous side come through as he climbed over the other side of the river, then up onto the massive rocks in front of the waterfall. I could see it all ending in tears, but he’s home and we’re all fine! This was also the point where I noticed all the lichens and fungi growing – obviously, being a rainforest, the damp and dark conditions are perfect for it.

As we headed back to town, it was decided that I was getting fish and chips for lunch, to keep me happy and quiet. It was delicious, and there is nothing quite like eating fish and chips, on the coast, in winter while it drizzles!

Instead of heading to another waterfall (we’d seen two, we’d seen them all), we decided to take a look at Mait’s Rest walk – which takes you past a 300 year old myrtle beech tree. Again this was a very easy walk, which unfortunately meant there were lots of children, but the forest was so dense that you turned a corner and could barely hear them. It was stunning – although I’m disappointed they didn’t point out this specific tree; we’re left assuming that one of the many huge trees is 300 years old and the rest are only 200-and-something!

The rain was coming down quite steadily by this point; Kat kept pointing out that we’re in the rainforest in winter and I kept arguing that the rainforest could do without rain for a couple of days. While we were out in that direction, we decided that our last stop of the day would be the Cape Otway lighthouse.

Although I couldn’t see it from the carpark, the lady in the shop was adamant that it was just over the hill, so we paid our preposterous $15 and went through. The rain and wind was a little disruptive, but we skipped the communications museum and went straight up to the lighthouse. Grateful that we made the climb to the top, the views were amazing and the wind from up there just exhilarating. Looking out to the rough sea, it’s obvious why the lighthouse was necessary. Travis was only a little bit scared.

Coming back through, we also managed to buy discounted tickets for the Otway Fly, which would be one of the activities the next day. All that was left was getting home to dry out before dinner.

The gas heater turned out to be a godsend, as our jeans and shoes all went in front of it, as well as ourselves. Thankfully we managed to drag ourselves out to dinner, and we went to Cafe 153, which was slightly disappointing. The food was tasty but nothing special and the service was a bit of a let down, but at least I managed to get some seafood for the second time that day!

Great Ocean Road, Apollo Bay, The Otways and The Rain (Part 1)

Before we (Kat, Trav and I) had realised it was the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, we had arranged to go away for four nights to Apollo Bay and the Great Ocean Road. Of course, once we realised this, we had already booked an extra day off work and were hyped about it, so we just had to get a move on and book the accommodation quickly before it was gone!

We left on the Friday night (5th June) after we’d finished work, and headed down to Torquay. Of course, an accident on the West Gate delayed things by half an hour or so, but all in all, a relatively quick trip was had. A stop for fast food in Geelong, Kat’s first booze bus and we arrived in Torquay by 9pm. We stayed in a small cabin there just overnight before moving on in the morning.

We took a leisurely drive down the Great Ocean Road the next morning, stopping frequently at the lookouts and towns. Our first stop was Aireys Inlet, where the Split Point Lighthouse is. We had a walk down to the beach before heading over to the lighthouse (which we didn’t go up) and wandered around in the sunshine before moving on. I’ve since found out that this is the same lighthouse from the TV show ‘Round The Twist’ and would have been much more excited there had I known that!

I can’t remember the other various stops that we made, but we timed it so that we came into Lorne just before lunch time. After a quick walk around, we decided on a place called ‘Bottle of Milk’ which served large burgers accompanied by loud music. Very delicious, and we even stopped again on the way back!

Just as we were finishing, a couple of friends I know from Flickr came in, so we hung around for a quick chat before leaving them to their food. It was a bit of a shock seeing Melbourne people out of town like that!

On the way out of Lorne, we spotted Sheoak Falls and decided to stop for a quick look. The walk up wasn’t exactly easy on my ITBS, Kat’s legs or Trav’s lungs, but we got there and managed to have a look around before more people arrived. We only went to the bottom lookout, deciding that as it was, getting back to the car would be a struggle! Unfortunately, this set the tone for the weekend. If only we’d have been fitter and more prepared…

After several more stops and more beautiful weather, we came into Apollo Bay in late afternoon. On arrival, we couldn’t see anyone there to check in, so we left a message and went to grab a drink. After they had called back and directed us to another building, we checked in, paid and were then directed to our own 2 bedroom unit on another site. It was an older unit, mostly decorated 70s style (wood panelling, old gas heater and stove), but was ours for three nights so was quite convenient.

The rest of the afternoon was relaxing, and we had a look around town and just rested our legs. Although the TV had a few issues, we had brought laptops and a projector, so could cuddle up and watch a movie after dinner.

Adelaide

After it being a good year since last visiting Adelaide, the arrival of a football game between my friend’s team (Hawthorn) and my team (Adelaide) in Adelaide seemed like a good excuse to go back.

It was a difficult trip, with the Skybus to Tullamarine leaving from Southern Cross at around 5am, requiring a ridiculously early start on our part! The trip to the airport, checking in and the flight itself were all very smooth – especially considering we were flying with Jetstar!

Adelaide at 7am was fairly cold, but we managed to find the bus (which was running on a Saturday morning) and get into the centre of town. Finding the hotel was no problem, but check in wasn’t until 2pm, so we had some time to kill. Luckily we could leave our big bags in the hotel while we explored the early morning city. After walking up Rundle Mall, Rundle Street and looping back around on North Terrace, we stopped for a bite to eat (brunch?) at a small cafe called ‘Not Coffee’.

As we weren’t staying with my Grandma this time, we went to see her later on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the buses were over an hour apart so we ended up getting a taxi out into the inner suburbs. As my friend is vegan, I had baked some cookies to take with us to save my Grandma stressing over finding something vegan. As it turned out, she did have some other biscuits in her cupboard which were milk/animal-free, but little else!

Back in the city, we got off the bus and went in the Central Markets for a look around – not much has changed – and then back up through Victoria Sqaure. Many a photo was taken.

Thankfully after that we could check in and had a little nap so that we wouldn’t crash too early that night. Our hotel was the Adelaide Paringa Motel, which despite the old decor, was clean, cheap and cheerful. The receptionist was quite amusing too, making sarcastic comments about the ’sights of Adelaide’!

We went out just as the sun was going down and went down to the Torrens, opposite the Festival Centre to scope out potential night-shooting places; unfortunately we came up with very little and didn’t go back down there later.

Dinner that night was at a delicious Thai joint in Hindley Street called Mekong Thai. The prices were reasonable (especially for booze), the food delicious and service fantastic. I’m still trying to establish what was wrong with it!

That evening we headed down to Rundle Mall to take some night shots. A surgical mask on the pigs covered the hilarity of the swine flu panic, and then the balls and some other long exposures were enough to cover a night shoot in Adelaide. The idea of a warm hotel room and a good nights sleep was just too tempting, so we had an early night.

Sunday; the day of the footy. Without too much before the early afternoon game, we took a quick walk down King William Street to do some shooting before catching the bus out to the game. I’m still in awe that the public transport is so readily available and civilised.

The game itself was OK – we played well, but could have played better. Hawthorn didn’t deserve to win, but we could have fought a lot harder and won by a bigger margin. Overall though, very happy result and a great atmosphere for the game. The little bit of rain was only a little off-putting but thankfully didn’t last too long.

After catching the bus back into the city (still in awe), we headed back for a rest at the hotel and then out for an early dinner again. Again we settled on Thai, but this wasn’t as impressive (down on Rundle Street), and then a couple of (dirt cheap) pints at the Exeter to keep us warm before walking back down to our hotel.

Monday morning was free for us until around 1pm, so we took a last walk around the city for photos. A loop took us up onto North Terrace, through the museum/university area, back around down Frome Road, down towards Victoria Square and back along Rundle Mall to our hotel. By this time, we were both ready for a sit down! The journey back was uneventful other than a 20 minute delay on the flight, and we managed to get home between the light showers of rain.

Christchurch

So, Christchurch was slightly colder than Wellington and gave the impression of being smaller (although actually has around 300 more people according to the last census.) The next morning was fresh and clear though, so I decided that it would be a good day for, suprisingly enough, walking around and taking photos!

My first stop was the tourist information centre though, to see if I needed to book anything. I ended up buying a ticket for the International Antarctic Centre, one of the few sights that interested me. I would have liked to do the wildlife centre and traditional Maori cultural experience, but I couldn’t justify the cost or the time. Perhaps next time.

After that, I headed to the Southern Encounter, which is in Cathedral Square and is essentially an aquarium but with the added novelty of having a pair of Kiwi birds. The place itself was relatively small – as could only be expected in its location – but was quite sad to see the small tanks. They have a fair amount of native Kiwi sea and river life, including seahorse, frogs, yabbies and eels. Obviously, the novelty of the place is being able to see the Kiwi so easily. When I went in I was told that they wouldn’t be up until 10.30am and although I tried, I couldn’t waste that much time in there, so I went out to the market in Cathedral Square instead.

It was mostly tourist oriented, with a lot of Maori jewellery and sheepskin slippers. The highlight for me was the knit-wear stall though. I had been trying to find some Kiwi yarn to buy for my housemate, and she seemed like the best person to ask! She marked a place on my map called Knitworld and I decided to go down after I had seen the Kiwi!

I headed back in and one of the birds had just woken up, so it was wondering around at the front of the enclosure (which was a decent size) looking for food. They’re beautiful birds, and much bigger than I had thought. As much as it was made for tourists, it was certainly a beautiful experience.

After that I headed out toward Knitworld – mostly through residential areas. Someone even asked me for directions to a hotel on the way – as if a camera and day pack isn’t enough to put people off! Knitworld was a great shop – full of, surprisingly enough, yarn, from floor to ceiling. It was another beautiful sight!

To take full advantage of the weather, I decided to loop back past the Hagley Park (where the Ellerslie Flower Show was taking over) and stop in the Botanic Gardens for a while before finding some lunch. On the way over though, I went past two fantastic places. The Cupcake Parlour, which was a delightful pink building selling some stunningly decorated cupcakes, and a few doors up, The Cheese Monger, with some of the best smelling cheese I’ve smelt! I left both of these but after a few steps, went back into the Cheese Monger and bought some bread and two cheeses – Paki-paki and a smelly blue one whose name escapes me – before I went on to the Botanic Gardens for a mini picnic.

Given that my legs were struggling at this point, I decided to take it easy and not walk through the Botanic Gardens all afternoon. Instead, after a long break, I headed into the Canterbury Museum, which was interesting enough but I didn’t spend too long there as some of the exhibitions were either too busy, or disinteresting for me!

Instead I continued on and went to the Christchurch Art Gallery which another purpose built modern building, absolutely stunning. I wondered around but found little of interest – some modern art, some architecture and a large collection of traditional work. Most of the contents are by New Zealand artists, not that I want to link the two! One that stood out for me was Gottfried Lindauer, who had several Maori portraits hanging. They were quite striking.

After this I decided I needed a break, so I went back to the hostel for a break. One of the girls had left the room (and thankfully the other two were nowhere to be seen), and a man had been moved in – he seemed bewildered that he was in a female room, but he was only there for one night. I read, relaxed and recharged (no, really, my batteries were lacking), and headed out for dinner as the weather deteriorated. It took me a while to decide where to go, but rain eventually pushed me toward a quiet Japanese grill/bar, rather than overpriced fish and chips from an American-style diner.

Just after I had had my first course however, a big group of raucous ladies came in for their dinner. The waiter moved me to table further away (I had been directly next to them), and the rest of my meal was quite enjoyable. I had a selection of skewers with meat and seafood cooked in various sauces – quite delicious!

It continued to rain, and as the wind was picking up I thought it best to call it a night and not risk my stick-like tripod and an umbrella trying to take long exposures. I was grateful for an early night – considering I spent so much time in my sleep trying not to fall of the best (it was a raised one), or knock my alarm off it, I needed all the sleep I could get. The other two girls weren’t exactly the most considerate when they came in at 4am either!

As I couldn’t sleep the next morning, I headed out early before I caught a shuttle bus to the Antarctic Centre. It was an interesting place, with lots of informative displays and hands-on things. One of the highlights of the trip is meant to be an Antarctic storm – they have a section where it’s -8C, and you can put on a big jacket (and rubber over-shoes to keep the snow clean!) and they turn on the windchill and turn down the lights. It was interesting to say the least, but not quite like Rovaniemi in winter!

The other main highlight is the penguins – which are actually native to NZ and not Antarctica. It’s more of a rescue centre for them – most of them are missing flippers or feet or eyes, and there are very few breeding pairs as most of them are older than any wild ones would live.

Next it was a chance to see the HD movie which turned out to be a pretentious piece of rubbish, panning across different landscapes. Sure it was beautiful, but I’d rather watch Planet Earth any day!

I missed the Hägglunds ride though because my back and legs were already sore – I thought it best I not push myself because I still had most of that day and the next morning to go! I really regretted choosing a YHA over a hotel at that point!

Back in the city it was cold (around 12 degrees) and raining on and off – my lucky stint with the weather could only last so long and I think I did pretty well!

I went on the tourist tram that runs on the one track around the main centre, which was interesting with a commentary from the driver. I got off around New Regent Street because I thought I would stop at the Copenhagen Cafe for lunch, but unfortunately it was packed, so I headed down to Esquires, which was a crap chain – I paid for the pleasure of eating a soggy sandwich and sugary hot milk (apparently hot chocolate). Eventually I headed back to the hostel to pick up the Rough Guide then went out again to the Provincial buildings. There were no maps or information brochures, so I just wondered around until I found things to photography – there were some beautiful rooms with wooden beams and high windows. After that, it had stopped raining again, I headed back to the Arts Centre for a closer look. The arts market was in full swing, and it reminded me of a smaller version of Covent Garden in London.

I bought a beautifully decorated cupcake (similar to those at the Cupcake Parlour) and it started to rain quite heavily, so I thought it best to stay and look at more pretentious art work throughout the Arts Centre. There were some nice pieces, but the prices put me off even thinking about buying anything! After I ran out of that, I headed across to Annie’s Winebar and Restaurant for a rest (as my knees were struggling, despite still being taped) and a couple glasses of NZ’s finest! Of course I forgot to note down what I had, but there was a Marlborough sav blanc and a chardonnay I believe.

After heading back to the hostel for my free drink and more clothes – the temperature was dropping – I went out for dinner. I ended up at a place I had noticed the night before, the Mexican Cafe. The food was reasonable, but jalapeños were disappointingly mild. I had a ‘fire and ice’ margarita though, with chilli infused tequila, which was quite delicious! Definitely something I need to investigate.

With all the walking catching up with me, I decided to have a lazy night and headed to the communal area and watched some TV for the first time there. Chuck and Lost seemed to be the choice, neither of which appealed to me, but kept me awake for long enough until I could head to bed and not think of myself as pathetic!

My last day in Christchurch was slightly warmer and brighter, which was nice. I checked out early, put my bag in the lockers which were now working, and went for my last look at Christchurch. I took the tram run again, this time in an open part of it to take photos, and took it all the way around. After that I walked a little more, taking my last photos, getting the last souvenirs, and had a snack before getting my bag and heading off for the shuttle bus.

At this point I was excited to be going home and wondered what could possibly go wrong. Unfortunately, it was then that three ditzy English girls/backpackers arrived at the bus. They all spoke as though they were slightly stoned and a little brain damaged. Little did I know…they followed me through check in, through security, sat next to me at the cafe and were then diagonally opposite and behind me on the flight. Oh, and they waited for their luggage next to me. Thankfully they were on the other end of the Skybus and I could finally get home in peace!

All in all it was an uneventful trip home, minor delays with luggage, some good duty-free shopping and a thankfully empty tram so that I could travel with my backpack without struggling too much. Knowing that I didn’t have work the next day just added to the tranquility of my house.

Wellington Pt. 2 to Christchurch

After planning to get another early start, I didn’t leave the hostel until around 10am, which probably appropriate as it was a Sunday (8th March) and things wouldn’t be open yet.

First up was a ride on the cable car from the other end of town up the hill to the Botanic Gardens. As most people had suggested, I planned to walk back down through the gardens, but unfortunately my knees were disagreeing with the plan so I wandered around a little bit, saw the museum and came back down via the cable car. After that I walked through the ‘built up’ end of town, the CBD and ‘high street’ shopping area.

My aim was to reach the Beehive and Parliament, which I did the long way around. The area was very quiet, being a Sunday, but there were a few tourists and I did my best to keep them out of my photos as I went around to get different angles. I then headed into the Beehive (executive parliament) as I noticed it was open, and there were tours being run, but with no photos allowed, I had little interest in it.

I planned to have a look at old St Paul’s Cathedral up the same end of town, but before I reached it I found the new St Paul’s Cathedral. The pastel pink/coral colour first caught my eye, then the grotesque angles and lack of external decoration (hoping it might detract from the colour). I honestly felt it was more ugly than Guildford Catherdral in England – which, constructed with red brick, is hard to beat. I didn’t go in because there was a Sunday morning service in progress. Thankfully when I came to Old St Paul’s Cathedral, it was a beautiful old wooden building which apparently had strong links with the American Marine Corps which was stationed there during WWII – there are several flags and mentions of it.

I had heard a little about a pub called The Backbencher up this end of town – apparently full of satirical political jokes and puppets. I came across it as I headed back into the town centre and stopped to have a drink of the NZ brew Tui. Granted I didn’t many of the political references – knowing very little about NZ politics – but the puppets were impressive and it was a great place with brilliant staff.

I meandered my way back into town, seeing various buildings which I would have been interested in but which weren’t open, and finally headed down to the water where I found the Museum of Wellington. Smaller than Te Papa, and more specific to Wellington, they had some very interesting displays – including 100 years of Wellington, with a notable event for each year, complete with memorabilia. The display on the Wahine disaster was by far the most interesting – although, as could be expected, depressing.

As I went back into the sunshine, I was feeling peckish so made for a small cafe near my hostel called Felix. Service wasn’t the best, but the scrambled eggs and sourdough toast was plentiful, well-priced and delicious. After stuffing myself there, I headed back to the hostel for an afternoon nap (again!) Unfortunately this turned into just a rest.

A few months ago, I had spoken to a friend from Melbourne and found out he would be in Christchurch while I was there, and we had discussed meeting up. I SMS’d him on my last day in Wellington, planning to arrange something for the next evening in Christchurch, but he replied that he was on the boat to Wellington then. We eventually arranged to meet for dinner that night once he had come into town, and left it at that.

When we finally agreed on a meeting place, I came to the corner and they (him and his partner) were both incredibly shocked to see me. They had thought I was another friend of theirs called Jake, and the last person they had expected was me! After getting over the shock, we walked down Courtenay Place for a late dinner and finally ended up in Coyote (a second time for me) – which I was definitely not opposed to. We discovered they had a short wait for a table, but it gave us a chance to have a drink and catch up. It was good to see a friendly face while away from home.

After a delicious dinner and some good beer, they headed out of the city to their accommodation and I went off to take some more night photos. Again, I did not feel unsafe, but knowing that I had an early start the next morning (6am!) I decided to head back relatively early. Back at the hostel, one of the guys from my first night had moved out to his own place, and another German bloke had come in – another tourist though.

The next morning I had to rise bright and early – I was catching the ferry down to Picton on the south island and the bus to Christchurch. The Interislander ferry check-in was around 7.30am, but the shuttle bus from the hostel left between 6.45am and 7.15am – meaning I needed to be up, ready and checked out by around that time. The guy who had moved into the room the night before was also catching the ferry, so getting up wasn’t too much of a problem.

The bus arrived, with another large and overly enthusiastic Maori driver, who thanked us for travelling with him and encouraged us to join in praising the lord. A few smiles were exchanged between passengers, but overall it was nice to have someone so friendly first thing in the morning!

As I checked in for the ferry, they asked if I had already checked in because apparently that’s how the computer had me listed. Obviously I hadn’t, but they found a boarding pass that had been printed an hour earlier and said to go on through. As I boarded the boat, they scanned the pass but it said my ticket had been cancelled. A second scan, and the same thing. The guy just shrugged and let me go through – I was utterly confused but thankful I was allowed on the boat.

As I came off the boat, I had an hour or so kill before my bus left (from the ferry terminal), so I caught some sunshine, – it had only rained while I was on the ferry – had a snack and checked my email. The bus was on time but the driver less excitable than the earlier one. I decided to catch up with some napping between admiring the countryside as we travelled down to Christchurch. There was one stop in Kaikoura, which was small but apparently a gateway for nature.

The journey was uneventful – the area is beautiful, wild seals all along the coast and black volcanic sand. It rained on and off, but not while we stopped, or once we had arrived in Christchurch. My luck with the weather continued!

I had picked up a map in the ferry terminal and managed to find my hostel, just a block away from where the bus dropped us off. This time I was staying in a YHA hostel in Manchester Street (nearly all of the streets in Christchurch have English-themed names). After settling into my room (this time all females, none particularly friendly), I checked out the lockers so I could drop one of my cameras for the evening again. After being told where they were and how to work them, I lost $6 to find out they weren’t working – then I was told that someone is coming to fix them tomorrow. They couldn’t give me a refund, so I headed out for dinner.

Having read several guides on Christchurch, one place had stood out as being particularly good for seafood – a restaurant called Dux De Lux. I found it on the corner of the Arts Centre (a block of art-y shops, boutiques and cafes) and headed in. On entering I found that, rather oddly, I had to read a menu on the wall and queue up to order. Taking a tray with my drink (a dark Hereford Bitter, award winning apparently) to find a table and just sit to await my meal. Only five to ten minutes later, my seafood jambalaya (actually seafood risotto) came out – which meant it was either undercooked, or had been sitting there. The latter turned out to be true. Unfortunately the entire meal was disappointing – the seafood was mushy and overcooked, the risotto was cooked in what tasted like tinned tomato soup with a little chilli and the salad was soggy.

To add to this, the older couple next to me, who were also tourists, were also bemused by the unconventional serving methods. They sat down to their main courses, wondering where the vegetables that the husband had ordered were. After he lay down his cutlery from his main course, they were bought out and laid down – as they took away his main plate. All in all, it was an odd dining experience, and I was left wondering how they had such a good reputation – although the awards for beers were well warranted.

Again, I took some night photos on the way back across town to the hostel. I found the fourth occupant of the room just heading to bed as I was, a Canadian girl who was heading off the next morning in a hire car with some other backpackers. Add her to the Northern Irish girls and I think I preferred the company of the male-dominated dorm room.

Travelling makes me SICK

No, really. I have a cold and am feeling sorry for myself in bed instead of going to the airshow, which I’m quite sad about. On the other hand, I can rest and get some things done that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. So here we go, the first installment of my trip to New Zealand!

Not liking to leave anything to the last minute, I was borrowing a backpack from Kat at 10pm on Thursday (5th March) – a back-up plan in case I couldn’t find my own one on Friday (6th March) morning. I went out nice and early and did manage to find my own one, so came home by 11am and got packing. I changed my mind about cameras a few times, but eventually settled on just two – my Olympus OM-1N and Canon EOS 10D (with zoom and wide lenses – just in case). I took a mixture of black and white and colour film for the Olympus, but concluded I would probably only shoot black and white on the film because I can process it myself, and colour on the digital.

Eventually got on my way, no major problems (I’d left in time to account for the train delays – a passenger was sick on the platform at Flinders Street Station) and got to Tullamarine in plenty of time. Checked in, found something to eat, had a look at the duty-free (planning to purchase on the way back in) and through security.

Most times I’ve gone through airports in the last few years, I’ve had camera/cameras and film on me, and most times I get asked to take them all out. This time though, they didn’t bat an eyelid and I went on my merry way with no questions asked.

The flight itself was uneventful. The headphone jack didn’t work, and I didn’t want to move seats, so I read most of the flight (1984 by George Orwell – for a third or fourth time now) and tried to keep sane when I started getting dizzy during the descent into Wellington! It was a horrible feeling, but I didn’t vomit and I’m here to tell the tale, so it can’t be too bad.

As I collected my luggage and came out, I was under the impression that I would have to take a taxi into the city because the shuttle buses stopped at 11pm (I flew in after midnight). I came out and a member of airport staff was pointing out where a shuttle bus was waiting for people. I headed over and a larger-than-life Maori guy greeted me enthusiastically, asked where I needed to go and stood around smiling at everyone until we were ready to go. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome to NZ! It was still raining though…

He dropped me at the door of my hostel, Nomads Capital in Wakefield St. Now, I booked this a month or two ago, and specifically booked a female only dorm – thinking it would be quieter without snoring. I didn’t think to ask when I checked in, so headed up to my room and as I opened the door was hit by the smell of sweat and aftershave – this was obviously not a female dorm! About 20 minutes later, the two other occupants came in and as suspected, both were male. Both were ‘living’ there. They were friendly enough, and after the introductions, they went straight to sleep, and thankfully didn’t snore. Unfortunately I still didn’t sleep too well with the stuffiness, the uncomfortable bed and not being used to other people around me. As far as I could tell though, the room was quite clean and bathroom small and functional.

In the morning (Saturday 7th March), I double-checked what I had booked and it turns out they had received no such instruction – probably because I’d booked through an external website. They offered to move me, but I was content there and the smell wasn’t too bad when the door was propped open to let a breeze through!

So I headed out on my first fresh morning in Wellington, and thankfully it had stopped raining. A beautiful blue sky awaited me, so I headed out with my cameras and went down to the tourist information centre, then through Civic Square and down by the water to get to Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. It was free entry, but with a half an hour queue and small fee to see the Monet exhibition. I had arrived just before it opened, and decided to walk around before tackling the line for the Monet exhibition because it seemed that people were going just to see that.

The museum is a beautiful, modern building with quite a lot of natural light in the halls. The exhibitions were interesting, if a little small at times. The Maori history in particular was quite interesting, and I noted that there was a lot for the kids – hands-on displays etc. There was also, intriguingly, a Scottish display! Apparently NZ has a large population of Scots, and many of the belongings from the first immigrants are housed there.

After I walked around I decided to get in line to see the Monet exhibition. It didn’t take as long as I thought, and gave me a chance to read the brochures I had picked up that morning! On entering I was asked whether I wanted to have my cameras put in the cloakroom (photography is not allowed in this exhibition) but I pointed out I’d put the lens caps on and wouldn’t be taking any photos and they accepted that and let me in.

Generally in the museum they had no problems with taking photos – so long as it wasn’t of the displays and was only for personal use. This was fine for me, and after being told that on entry, I had no other problems. It was nice change to, for example, the State Library of Victoria, where I was watched and reminded all the way through not to use flash.

The Monet exhibition was beautiful, with a few other Impressionist pieces thrown in to show the history of how the art developed. Well worth the wait and cost, I was glad to have been able to see it.

After this I was feeling peckish, so headed along to Courtenay Place hoping I could grab something to eat. I found a place recommended to me by a colleague, Coyote, and decided to give it a try. The breakfast quesadilla was my choice, and it was delicious! Shame the orange juice wasn’t fresh, but you can’t have everything.

After my late breakfast, I decided I had best take advantage of the good weather and decided to walk down along Oriental Parade, where there’s a beach and a lovely wide footpath (even wider than the rest of the city – which was wide enough).

The sun kept shining and a lot of families were out enjoying the weather, there were even a few kids swimming in the 50 metres between the the life-savers’ flags. I began to notice a trend – that a fair number of people use skateboards or longboards as modes of transport – the wide and flat footpaths are ideal for it.

I walked out a way before I turned to come back the same way and went into the city around Kent Terrace and Vivian Street – so I could see Cuba Street/Mall as I looped back. It was interesting to see a different city, although at times it did feel like just another urban area. The people just spoke a little differently.

Cuba Street/Mall was different to how I had pictured it, but was still interesting with the huge blending of people – tourists and locals – who seemed to engulf it on a Saturday afternoon. The fountain in the mall was interesting – I can’t say that I liked it, but it is mildly amusing for children to get too close and get splashed.

I went down to the tourist information centre again so that I could see how I could get to Mount Victoria – apparently some of the best views of Wellington – and after being given a bus number and timetable, I realised that it didn’t actually run on weekends. Sadly, given that I was only there for Saturday and Sunday, it meant I didn’t get to see Wellington from there.

As the afternoon kept going, I was lacking in energy, so I headed back to the hostel for a rest. This turned into an afternoon nap, which was quite good as no one else was in the room! I had a couple hours rest, and sorted out all my camera gear again. I decided to leave my SLR in the locker as I took out my tripod for the evening, shooting only digital as I’m not yet used to longer exposures and don’t want to waste a lot of frames.

As I was loosely planning my trip around a Rough Guide from 2006, I tried to double check on activities and places before I headed out my way to see them. Unfortunately I didn’t check that for the restaurant I chose for my first night, a traditional Maori one, and so headed out only to find it had closed. As I headed back into the city, I remembered my colleague also recommended a kebab joint, so I went in and had my first ever kebab – and certainly won’t be my last.

I walked down by the waterfront as the sun was setting and took some longer exposures, including some which I planned to merge together to create HDR images. At no point did I feel unsafe in Wellington, even at night on my own, and decided to shoot again the next night too.

This was my first HDR attempt, which I’m relatively happy. It’s only two exposures – the sky and the building.

I headed back to the hostel, and as it was a Saturday night, the boys from my room and I went down to the hostel bar (Blend) for a few drinks (I was given a 2-4-1 voucher when I checked in) – but I began to realise that some types of backpackers were quite annoying and was glad to get to my bed that night.

Our room was now full too, as a young German guy was moved in – although he was actually looking for place to stay as he had just moved to Wellington to study. Being the only tourist in the room was a little strange, but they didn’t hold it against me and I was enjoying my stay. And as uncomfortable as the bed was, I was glad to be off my feet!

Journal

As my NZ trip fast approaches, I’ve thought about how I kept diaries on all my previous holidays. When I was eight and, as a family, we backpacked around Europe, I was forced to keep a journal of what saw and did each day. At the time it was, obviously, quite monotonous, but over the years I’ve come across it in boxes and on bookcases and flipped through some pages and it’s surprising how much I can actually remember just from a few lines of it.

I’ll definitely keep a diary while I’m away this time, which will probably be a basis for here when I update, but also a written reminder in its own right (I’m old fashioned like that).

This has got me thinking though – I’m considering typing up that journal from the ‘big trip’ when I was eight. If I can work out how, I’ll add a separate blog to this account (I believe I can?) or I’ll just add it in to my regular posts. I plan on typing up the exact entry from the journal and then adding my own notes of what I can remember to it.

I believe I have thrown out my diaries from trips to America, Canada and assorted trips in Europe (France, Germany, Finland etc.) but if I come across anything, I might add them too. Otherwise I’ll just type an account of what I can remember.

All of this thinking about travelling has been playing with my mind and I keep mentally planning mega-holidays for myself in years to come. Of course, in the words of Homer Simpson, “40 seconds? But I want it now!”

Time flies..

..When you’re procrastinating.

The last few weeks I’ve spent thinking about things I need to buy for going to NZ, debating whether to take a backpack or suitcase, which padlocks to buy.. the list goes on. Unfortunately, on Monday someone at work wanted to confirm that I was off from next Friday. It scared the bejebus out of me to find out that she was right; this holiday has snuck up on me too quickly.

So, the past couple of nights I have started looking at my plans. I have most of the things I need booked, I have lists of what I’d like to see/do while I’m there and have decided to take a suitcase due to my neck being a bit temperamental recently (and the problem of not owning a backpack).

I managed to get to Ted’s camera shop today and bought a new camera strap that’s softer on my neck, a small camera bag to fit in my daypack and a small light tripod which I can carry around while I’m there. The tripod was a big debate for me. I don’t shoot very much night stuff, but I knew if I didn’t take one I’d regret it. However, I didn’t want to take my bigger, heavier one because it would be a pain to carry around if I didn’t use it. Now that I have something new, I’m determined to use it while I’m there!

I’m really quite excited about this trip – it’s my first holiday on my own which means I can do what I want when I want. I’m doing it on the cheap in a couple of hostels, which gives me a social aspect if I need it, but I think I’ll value the independence and ability to explore on my own – especially the Impressionists’ exhibition at Te Papa which I found out about yesterday! I’ve always had a weakness for Monet, and to find out there is going to be a huge collection there is thrilling.