2003 - Aukland - Rachel & Ben's pad

April. Jo and I take a 30 hour flight via Korea to New Zealand. Great flight, dig those plastic trays of noodles and Miso soup. Delish.

Grab a ride out to Hern Bay to Rachel's apartment; sun is blazing, cicades are buzzing, can hear children playing in yard of nearby school, and I'm thinking 'wow I'm on the other side of the world....' and get a mental image of the Earth and me walking upside down.

The door key has been left as planned, Jo and I get inside without a hitch; seeing Rachel's place my jaw drops, it's utterly gorgeous; I laugh out loud, happy that my crash pad and base camp is so luxurious.

I went for a walk and thought I was okay (no jet lag) until I tried ordering a coffee and my brain turned to mush. Flat whites and Long Blacks are the right words to use! *smiles*

Grabbed our hire car: enter AMF 915, the car, the baby, the adorable cruise machine. It got nicknamed 'A Mighty Fine 915'... this was after I got used to driving an automatic (including braking): cringy memory of pulling out of the car rental garage into a main flow of traffic and putting foot on brake pedal (however, used left 'clutch' foot' which resulted in the car screeching to a halt, oops, bet those garage guys were shaking thier heads convinced they would never see the car again!)

2003 - Whangamata Beach - New Zealand - Oj, Djr

Leaving Aukland we headed South on the SH1 and instantly diverted from our itinerary by adding the Coromandel Peninsula into our trip. We tried to reach Catherderal Cove but time was against us so we settled for Whangamata which was simply fab. Big waves crashing down and almost nobody around; I jumped out my clothes and ran into the water - welcome to the Pacific Ocean. There was a guy standing nearby up to his waist, I exclaimed how amazing the beach was, he replied in a pure Kiwi accent, "Yeah, you don't get surf like this in Weston-Super-Mare!". I almost fell over laughing, Weston is a mud beach a stones throw from Bristol.

Then drove down to Waitomo; this was our first day of proper driving in the open country. It was beautiful; as we got closer to Waitomo the scenery changed and the lumpy green plains really reminded me of Hobbiton in Lord of the Rings.

Also discovered a total lack of radio stations; and on the rare occasion we did find one, it was either a) people talking, b) adverts, c) music from the 80's. There was a real 80's thing going on over there.

2003 - Waitomo - Djr, Oj

Waitomo was my first experience of civillisation outside Aukland, and our stop over since leaving the big city earlier in the day. We stayed at Juno Hall, a backpacker lodge, and I was struck by the contrast between city and rural.

We braved the Waitomo Tavern, that looked more like a community hall.

Woke up early next day, across the road to the Black Water Rafting, I blew my brain out on two cups of Atomic Expresso, before we all got rubbered up, grabbed a huge tyre inner tube and clambered down into underground limestone caverns; I got to jump backwards off a waterfall in total darkness; float down an underground river gazing up at glow worms, it was like having the most incredible display of stars close enough to reach out and touch. Beautiful.

2003 - Papamoa Beach - Djr

The plan had been to head to Whakatane to do a trip to White Island the next day; on the way we stopped off at Papamoa Beach, one of my favourite moments; the sea was warm, the waves massive, and I had delicious fish & chips served in newspaper, sitting in the sun looking out at the sea. Great moment.

White Island trip was fully booked so we juggled our itinerary and headed South to Rotorua

2003 - Wai-O-Tapu - Djr

You smell Rotorua before you see it. Driving along at night the car was suddenly swamped by the musk of bad eggs; I turned to Jo and said, "Was that you?"

I was surprised by the grid-section structure of the city; very American but somehow much nicer. Our motel 'Gibson Motel' turned out to be a palace, there were so many different rooms and neither of us could believe how cheap it was. We even paid a little bit extra for a unit with a 'mineral pool'. This sounded nice, and looked great, much like a circular ceramic spa-bool set into wooden decking outside our bedroom. I turned on the tap on got a whiff of eggs, thought it was just the pipes clearing themselves of gas; left it to fill for a while but when I came back to check on it I nearly gagged on the stench. It was an amusing incident.

We were tired so grabbed a bottle of wine from the garage across the 'square' then settled into to watch SEVENTH SEAL.

Next day headed out to Wai-O-Tapu, a geo-thermal area near Rotorua; approaching hills smothered in dense green tropical foliage, vast white plumes of steam slowly drifting up from it all. Saw the Lady Knox geyser, then did a two hour walk around various pools of sulphur and bubbling mud, well worth the trip.

Later we were taken to Tamaki Village for Hangi; it's a Maori run operation, done for tourists, but the experience is so authentic and done with so much energy and enthusiasm you forget it's a 'show' and find yourself immersed in a period of time long ago. Our driver greeted us in over 40 languages; arriving at the village we were challenged by a youg warrior - a spine chilling experience - then allowed to enter. After walking amongst a completely crafted village, nocturnal gloom pierced by numerous fires, we were taken through to a large hut and entertained with Maori dancing and songs, shown how 'games' are used to train Maori children for war. The conclusion to the evening was the Hangi, a feast of meat and vegetables cooked in fire pits dug into the earth- the meat was so succulent it literally fell of the bone. Divine

2003 - View from room 305 - Skotel - Whakappapa Village

It was the same day we had left Rotorua in the rain, driven down through Huka falls, and past Lake Taupo. Our destination was Whakappa Village in the Tongariro National Park.

The Park began with this steep ascent up through dense woodland, then we popped out onto this narrow road running along an immense barren plain; the light was grey and a feeling of bleak desolation settled on my mind; some of the drizzle clears and as if out of nowhere to our right are these vast, and I mean incredibly sized volcanos. The moment is burned into my memory because I vividly remember feeling scared, I felt fragile and vulnerable as a human being amongst this fierce display of Nature.

At one point I pulled over - there are no other cars - climbed out and stood there in the light mist, gazing up at these 'god like monsters'.

Turns out Whakappapa Village was right between them.

The village is one street, a visitor centre, two hotels, a shop, a pub, and a cafe. It is a wonderful place. In the shadow of Mount Ruapehu (used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings), with views of Mount Ngauruhoe and the Mangatepopo Saddle, and of the surrounding lands for many dozens of miles. I instantly felt at home there.

Our hotel was Skotel, a rambling wooden structure that turned out to be my fondest memory of the entire trip. Just a lovely place. Especially our room, room 305, that was almost a pod attached to the outside of the main structure, with a wall of sliding french doors leading onto a small balcony that gave the most incredible views of the world. That night my fear quickly turned to awe as I admired those menacing volcanos in a new light; and then the sun began to set and I was touched by the hand of an angel because I have never seen light like this. The sun set lasted an age, incredible colours banded the sky then merged into a blaze of golden light. I realied that as I was sitting there watching the sun slip beneath the rim of the world, the people I knew in England would be waking up to see it rising. I wanted to ring somebody back in England and ask 'Can you see it yet?'

Skotel saw us stay there 3 days. The balcony of room 305 became a place of ritual; in the mornings I would sit there in the misty dew drops drinking hot chocolate, breakfast was toast with lots of penut butter and jam. Every night we ate sitting on sofas in the bar (the food there is superb), drinking wine and virtually falling asleep there, because everything was so friendly and cosy.

I've been mulling over the novel idea for 'Edge' for 2 years now and looking for a place to set it; I had been considering Champoluc in Italy, but this place just became it for me. So I'll be renaming Whakappa Village to Taranaki Village, and the story will take place in the Zen Dow Resort.

2003 - View from room 305

Mount Ngauruhoe, didn't realise that in over 24 hours I'd be climbing up this thing as part of a 17 km trek.

2003 - South Crater - Djr

We were dropped off at a hut at the base of an active volcano and told we'll be picked up in 8 hours 17km's away on the other side.

We had to clamber up a 300 metre high vertical rock face to get into this thing. This is the inside of a volcanic crater. It's so big you can't see the far side.

2003 - Djr

We're now 2km's up, the wind is strong enough to pull you over.

Tongariro was a high point of the trip and hard to beat. Sad to leave Skotel. The next couple of days were grim. Long trip to Napier was a let down: bad omen of a dead dog lying in the middle of the road. We tried to improve our situation and drove late into the night to cross from the East to West coast to Wanganui. Nice town but the next day saw us stuck on the 100 KM Surf Hellway.

Finally escaped Surf Hellway as the sun began to set; (memory of trying to race the sun to the shoreline so we could at least see it set but even that failed this cursed day).

The drive became enjoyable as we plunged South towards the big city.

Wellington is vast, memory of cresting a hill and seeing the sprawl of city lights covering the hills around a bay.

Driving into the centre of Wellington was very cyber as we cruised through deep canyons of narrow streets with lots of neon in Eastern scripts.

Got into a hotel, headed out and immediately found a fab cafe called Expressoholics. Drank ourselves silly on wine until after midnight.

Next day had breakfast then parted company as planned, 'See you at sunset'. I did very little. Sat in cafes, thought a small amount about stories, walked and dwelled on what my life was about at the moment; found a place that sold audio tapes, I grabbed a handful and when I went to pay for them the assistant looked at me and said, "Let me guess, you're cursed with a hire car that only has a tape deck." Apparently the only reason the store continues to sell audio tapes is because of people like us. Wellington is a very nice place but I can't say it touched my soul.

The following day I took in the Te Papa museum then joined Jo on the ferry across to Southern Island.

2003 - Nelson - Oj

3 hour ferry ride to South Island. Pulled into Havelock for the night. Delish green-lipped muscles.

Drive to Nelson was twisting road with tight curving bends, usually ascending or descending steeply at the same time.

By time we arrived in Nelson we both felt strangely flat, drained of energy. However, after grabbing breakfast in a fab cafe (yummy salmon bagel and strong coffee) and checking into our motel and ringing up a couple of companies we got our agenda back on-line.

That afternoon we did quad-biking; about eight of us ride up into richly forested mountains, speeding along dusty trails, then carefully cornering on the switchbacks. Finally popped out on top and had a picnic with an incredible view of Tasman Bay. Getting back down, the guide let us burn off our adrenalin on a 'fun' track where you blast around two at a time, skidding on gravel bends and plunging through water (if you want).

It put both of us on a grinning high; drove back to Nelson and decided to find the beach there. We were delighted to find it was big, clean and almost empty. Chilled out in the late afternoon sun, happy with life and with this moment. Also, today was our One Year anniversary as being in a relationship - we discovered a wonderful restaurant perched on wooden stilts over Tasman Bay, with an open balcony where you can drink divine wine, eat incredible food and with the sun setting around you and blazing off the tranquil water.

We like Nelson.

Next day we parted company; Jo went to lie on the beach, I took the car and drove West into the mountains toward Muchison and joined several people to go white water rafting. Great experience and probably my favourite activity of the trip; I loved the way a group of strangers suddenly had to act as a tight team as our guide shouted 'Paddle forward,' then, 'Stop', or warned us about rocks under our feet; there were long periods of just drifting along fabulous stretches of river where the water was so green and so clear you wanted to fall overboard, and other times when everything is a cacaphony of people whooping, guide shouting commands and water roaring around you.

Driving back to Nelson I could not get there fast enough; I wanted to see Jo, I couldn't wait, a lovely feeling. We met on the beach and chilled for the whole afternoon; getting back to motel they had changed our room as arranged (they had reservation problems and wanted to accomodate us), so we moved from a simple room unit to a palace. We bought a Chinese takeaway, some wine, and enjoyed a night in.

2003 - White Water Rafting

2003 - Boat Shed Restaurant / Neslon - Oj

Jo and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary here.

2003 - Abel Tasmin National Park - Oj

We were too late for Kayaking so spent a day wandering around a vast deserted coastline. Shame about the bloody wasps. Jo had her last boiled sweet stolen by a monster bee.

2003 - Kaikoura - Swimming with Dolphins

We wanted to spend as long as we could in Nelson, so we stayed there almost until nightfall. Then started our drive South to Kaikoura. An incredible journey for me. Jo was driving when the road hit the East coast and hugged it for 70 km's. Memory: full moon in a solid black sky, vast ocean out to my left, jagged volcanic rocks piercing the shore, ripping the tide into a frenzy, my imagination locking onto HP Lovecraft, the Pacific Ocean, Polynesian cults, the basis of the Cthulhu Mythos, I'm looking at the ocean and I'm picturing the sunken island of R'lyeh out there, dark Gods spurting through the vast expanse of sea and space, suddenly the volcanic rocks morph into misshapen heads of beasts lurking by the shoreline, they turn those heads as we fly past in the car, the only vehicle on the road for miles.

Memory of finally looking away from the ocean to my left and looking at the bulwark wall of the cliff dominating the road on our right; looking up and suddenly seeing the incredible mountain range, snow white peaks gleaming in the moonlight above whisps of mist.

Enter Kaikoura. Complete contrast to Nelson. Seems to be one street and a railway line squeezed in between the sea and the mountain range. Check into a motel; odd that they ask for both nights payment in advance. Not until 3am that I discover why, when the first freight train rumbles by less than 10 metres from the window of our room. It was more amusing than distressing. Memory of lying down to go to sleep with the sound of the surf pounding through the window, images of a shark in my mind, a shark that is out there now, swimming, dead eyes glinting in moonlight lancing down through dark waters....

Next day up early, join a number of people on a fast boat, rubber-up into wetsuits and go looking for dolphins. This is not a tame swim with trained dolphins in a bay or pool. Our welcome breif tells us that the dolphins are totally wild, they're not there to entertain us, indeed, it is we who will be entertaining them!

We were taken way out to sea, way out; the pilot of the boat grins as she says "Today is a good day, our spotters say there are hundreds of dolphins out today"

And there were. We see them, countless fins slicing through the water followed by curved backs skimming water then vanishing below the surface.

The boat takes us out into the middle of the pod, a horn blows and we all quickly slip off the sides into the water. This is my first experience of swimming in the ocean; the cold claws through my wet suit and clutches my chest, I can feel my breathing speeding up, a huge swell lifts me up, the boat is out of sight for a few moments, then I drop and now the boat is far away. Shit! I'm picturing a 3-D painting of the shore area, complete with an illustration of the several miles deep ocean trench we're swimming above right now. Miles down.

I'm looking down, I'm underwater, and whoosh something streaks past beneath me. It's a dolphin, suddenly followed by three more. I get a pulse of excitement. More arrive. I can see them in the distance with other swimmers, curving round in tight arcs and streaming past, or even just drifting for a good look. One dolphin aproaches me and makes eye-contact, it's incredible; then it banks into a tight curve, I spin myself round to keep up and we go round and round and round, so much I feel dizzy when I stop. Several more come over and do this.

After a while the boat crew call us back, we shoot further along to catch up with the dolphin pod, then all slip back in to be amongst them. Clambering up the steps and pulling yourself inside you're struck by the rocking of the boat; your stomach churns, saliva pours into your mouth. A handy stack of buckets stood close at hand. After the final swim the boat crew attend to you, giving you hot chocolate, and sticking a hose pipe down your wetsuit to heat you up with warm water.

Back on shore Jo and I are in a state of awe. What an incredible experience. What a privallege. Jo spends the rest of the afternoon on a stakeout, waiting for the Olive Branch to open so she can reclaim her bag she left there the previous night.

2003 - Kaikoura - Djr

You can make out the snow-capped mountains in the background. Along with Tongariro, Kaikoura was a soul-enriching experiernce. Truly, magical.

This beach went on forever, black volcanic pebbles that hissed with every retreating wave dragging them back. I spent an age sat on my haunches watching the waves coming in, and listening to it all and smelling the raw ocean.