Somebody’s gotta do it folks!

Yes New Zealand has been a bit of a busman’s holiday, what with the bureaucracy, the fines, the weather and the locals who aren’t very happy with their lot. We could well have been back home, or as Arlo would put it, in a massive, massive, massive Scotland! However – South Island is just bloody jaw droppingly, stunningly beautiful. So much so that it even makes up for the majority of the island being one big 3G blackspot! In the South, it’s all just there for you to go see, walk, climb, swim. There’s little in the way of flashy ‘attraction’ like ramping up or charging for stuff. It’s like the South’s mentality is; come and see our beautiful country, we love it, so will you – just don’t shit/ leave your shit all over it. DOC sites are everywhere with toilets and well laid out camping spots. Yes, they seem to openly despise the Chinese tourists and those on the west coast talk of a government that puts little their way despite it being a major draw for the income generating tourists but if your respectful of the place, they’re alright with you.

Major highlights: The city of Christchurch, that feels more like a big town, Mountains, Glaciers, Forests, Single lane bridges, Lake swimming, Mountains, Hot springs, Seals, Waterfalls, Bungees, Luge rides, Gondalas and Ski lifts, the Colour of the rivers and streams, the Air quality, the Tunnels and Fiords,…………did I mention the Mountains?

Now North Island is a different beast altogether. It’s all hot springs, geysers and mud baths, caves, whitewater rafting and skydiving, gloworms and jetboats. Whilst we’ll always remember the smell of sulphur, digging our own hot bath hole at Hot Water Beach and the hikes to Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel and Mount Maunganui on Tauranga, Huka Falls, the Aratiatia Dam, the best bikes and bike path in Taupo and the Segways. We’ll remain a bit disappointed in what seems to be big business both over egging and over pricing anything remotely deemed an attraction. I haven’t yet worked out if this is just simple economics; the Mauri community will often own a majority percentage of a cave say, shared with the government, run by a private company (THL own/ run most things NZ, having a monopoly on campervans and most big ticket attractions). So I get it, they all want their cut of the tourist action. But 12 years ago when we were here, it all seemed a bit more ‘local’ and simple. The big chains hadn’t moved in yet and whilst towns still function very much as town’s should today, rather than, as we have around the UK, big superstores or retail parks leading to boarded up shops, next to charity shop, next to pound shops, and a Greggs if you’re lucky/ unlucky depending on your perspective on all things pastie. It all just seems a bit mucky that these things have been turned into overblown major attractions, often serving the many Chinese who aren’t particularly welcomed in the nicest of ways. On the flip side, the campsites in Rotorua, where the geothermal activity under the whole area provides power and hot springs for all, pull out all the stops to give you access to it all right on your campsite, which only makes it feel more crazy to be charged an arm and a leg to access the same thing over the road. We actually went to the mud baths, where they limit you to 20 minutes in the mud followed by a sulphurous hot water pool. Even the kids said ‘what’s the point, we have the sulphur pool at our campsite, don’t need to go in another’. We didn’t stop. And the ‘must do’ gloworm caves were no more spectacular than the gloworm dell we were able to explore in the South Island, mainly because that felt more intimate, like we’d just stumbled across it.

We definitely did the right thing going down the campervan route (despite the hiccups). It reminded us of our own van back home and the van we want to create for ourselves on our return. It’s also truely prepared us for our next cultural shift as we head to South America; First stop, Chile!

We’re officially halfway through our trip! Eek! How did that happen! So, it’s time to clean the tents, throw away any food and fill the bloody forms in accurately!

On a final note, to add to Colette’s rant. The whole tent and fruit thing, Come on New Zealand! The tent went the same places as our footwear did that we walked into your country in! What about the bloody dirt in them? and ‘we have no fruit flies in New Zealand’ my arse! As our first host, Sally chatted away to us the next morning, cleaning the abundance of apples from her garden, she’s there swatting away at, no, what on earth could that be? Bloody fruit flies! Still, it’s a good way to pay for the earthquake repairs innit!