Wellington prt 1

I had been looking forward to my arrival in Wellington for a few reasons. A big one was seeing my friend Anne Hall again. We worked together at Monster By Mistake's second incarnation and she put up with the worst of my puns, so she has my eternal respect. Speaking of which her name is actually Anne E. Hall and there is not a Woody Allen joke you can make that she hasn't already heard so please don't bother. She works at Weta (the studio that did the effects for Lord of The Rings and King Kong for my non-animator friends) and unfortunately had to work even on the Sunday I arrived as she had some big deadlines ahead of her. Actually as much as she felt bad about this I thought it was perfect, I could explore the city in a unabashedly touristy way and hang out in the evening with someone I knew which was a great change of pace. I love meeting all these people but a dose of the familiar was perfect.
I got into town and tried to get my bag stowed at a local hostel but there bag room was too full so I lugged it just down the road to the Te Papa Museum where I spent the afternoon.
Te Papa is Maori for "Our Place" and they had a free bag check, even for a huge backpackers bag. Of course it had some good Maori stuff and European settler history. I also found out about the Moa. An extinct bird in the same vein as an Ostrich but bigger by about 2 feet. It only disappeared possibly just over a century ago. It was the biggest bird to have ever existed.

I gave Anne a call at the end of the day and she picked me up from out front of the Te Papa. Still conditioned by North America I tried to enter the drivers side of the car thinking it was the passengers side. You would have though Anne already sitting there would have clued me in.
Anyway we zipped off to her apartment which is up a hill. Way up! New Zealand is a country of hills and Valleys but Wellington is pretty sever even by that standard. Anne's place is actually the second floor of a house on a hillside so steep that you can only access the house by a staircase that bridges the upper road with the one that runs along the base of the hill. The walk home will keep you fit and in return you get an amazing view from the living room.

Once my stuff was squared away in the living room we walked down the hill into the downtown core to meet some of her workmates at a Belgian restaurant/bar. It was cool to talk shop again for a little while. When any of the Backpackers find out what I do I have to explain what I do from the most basic point, here I was with colleagues again and that was a nice change of pace too. Anne's friends were great including her roommate Ula who was very relaxed and accommodating about me invading her home. So big props to her.
From there it was a slightly drizzly hike back up the hill and a good night's rest in front of a huge window overlooking the bay.

MOUNT DOOM!

This is the mountain that was used as Mt.Doom in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. We stopped on the road from Taupo to Wellington for a snapshot.

Rotorua to Taupo

I'm backing up a touch to the morning of the skydive. I was still in Rotorua when I got on the Magic bus to Taupo. It's one of the short legs of the bus route so we made several stops. We were still in a very active volcanic region so we started with a look at a boiling, bubbling mud pool. It's more fascinating than it sounds. Next was a geyser that goes off every morning at 10:15. This was actually rather cheesy because it turns out it's not like Yellowstone's Old Faithful. It goes off because at 10:15 a park ranger gives a little talk and then pours a small bag of bicarbonated soap into the geyser to set it off. It would still erupt on it's on but on an irregular pattern of 36 to 48 hours. Still it entertained me ... briefly.

To round out the natural phenomenon tour the bus stopped at the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Reserve (or Thermal Wonderland as it says on the gift shop). It's a one and a half hour walk around a whole series of formations and pools that are coloured and affected by the underground heat and minerals being pushed to the surface. It was awash in strange hues. There were bright mint green and butter yellow pools. Rocks trimmed in near day-glo green from sulphur and trees painted rust by mineral leaching. Some may call it sacrilege but I enjoyed it with my headphones on and myiPod playing. It was cool to step away from the group and witness it from inside my own head space.

From there it was off to Taupo and skydiving. I was let off the bus outside town at Taupo Tandem Skydiving along with 5 others. after our safety instruction they suited us up and we loaded onto the plain. My skydiver was an Israeli dude namedElad . He was cool and confident but not gruff, so that worked for me. I must have been getting quiet from the nervousness because he kept checking on me.

The strange thing about skydiving is the first five seconds. You body has an amazing visceral reaction. "Holy Crap I'm Falling!" but after that you brain is confused and says, "well if I was falling, I'd be done by know, right? So I must not be falling, everything is OK!" It really is wild and you barely have time to appreciate it. The free fall was almost over by the time I remembered I didn't have to look straight down and could check out the scenery. But for me it was less about the view than the sensation. If you have the means and can screw up just a bit of extra courage, I highly recommend it.

After that I was up for a relaxing evening. At the hostel I manged to collect a group and we sauntered into town to check it out and grab some dinner. We were 3 Canadians and 2 Brits. Our youngest was just a year from graduating college and our oldest was the mother of 2 boys in their 20s. Two teachers, a horseback trainer, a helicopterpilot and me, an animator. I definitely like the social aspect of backpacking.

Taupo was hosting an A-1 car race that weekend so their were no accommodations to be found anywhere in town. Luckily our bus driver warned us and we were allpre -booked. This all resulted in a "big" street party on the main drag. Frankly I expected more. It wasn't very crowded and a sort of mediocre 80's/90's cover band was on stage but the the atmosphere was good and the combination of a superb dinner and entertaining company was a perfect close to a great day.

The Picture That Will Make My Mother's Head Spin

Yes That's real. No I won't be making a habit of it. Yes it was fun and obviously I'm now on the ground and safe so stop worrying and enjoy the blog. BTW don't be afraid to send comments. It's nice to hear from you while I'm on the road.

ZORB!

I stayed in Rotorua a second night which gave me a full day to check out some of the local tourist activities. The one I wanted to do most was Zorbing. So I hooked up early with Eyal and Shirley (an Israeli couple I met on the bus) to head out to the Agrodome. A small local entertainment complex based on the local agricultural industry. Since it's original conception it seems to have been over taken by various rides and activities that have nothing to do with farming.

Zorbing is simple. It's a giant inflatable plastic ball with a smaller ball inside. They put you and maybe a friend, add some water to eliminate friction and then push you down a hill. It sounds more violent than it is. It's just hilariously fun. It's a bit pricey for what it is but Eyal and I couldn't resist a second ride. The first one we did together, the second time he went with Shirley who was nervous and I took the "Zig Zag" track which through you around a little more so you have to go solo. It was great.

We had just missed a shuttle which only ran once an hour so we walked over to the sheep sheering show down the road at the Agrodome proper, but it was only twice a day and we didn't want to wait till the 3pm show, but while figuring that out and getting some lunch we missed another shuttle. A few mix ups and misread/misunderstood bus schedules later we finally got down the road to a local gondola attraction that goes to a mountain top view and luge track. Not Olympic luge mind you but a small plastic go cart that is gravity driven down a hillside track. That took up a good chunk of the afternoon.

Afterwards we did much better with the shuttle and arrived at the Government Gardens. It's a beautiful park with a bowling green which includes amongst other things the Rotorua Museum of Art & History. It's a small museum with some good Maori stuff and a not bad video (cheesy special effects) mixing the real history of the North Island, the thermal and volcanic activity, and the Maori legends that surround it. Shirley and Eyal were not so into it so they took off and I rejoined them later at the "world famous" Polynesian Spa. It's a spa with mineral hot baths that come from the local thermal vent but have to be cooled before people can use them. The water original comes out of the vent at over 200°C.

That pretty much wrapped it up for us and we headed back to the hostel. By the way Eyal was the guy who was out "chief" for the Hangi the night before so when we came across our shuttle drive we stopped and chatted for a bit. The driver was a super friendly guy, but it was late so it was off to bed for all of us.

Worms in Waitomo and Dinner in Rotorua

Another early start got us to Waitomo around noon. Waitomo is home of the glow worm caves. Caves where bio-luminescent larvae hang from the ceiling. There are several ways to see them but the most entertaining seemed to be the tubing option. So with 2 guides (including a guy with only one top tooth named Winnie the Pooh) and wearing welly boots, diving suits and miner's helmets we descended into darkness.
It's amazing. The worms make shifting constellations as you float under them. You also get to slide down 2 small waterfalls for a little added excitement. But the cool part really was the view.

The bus company doesn't always plan well for meal breaks (depending on the driver) so I was starving by the time we rolled into Rotorua but I down a powerbar and tried to save room because tonight was a big night. I was going to the Maori Hangi and Haka. The Hangi is a traditional Maori meal cooked on volcanic rocks that are heated all day on a pire before they are buried in a pit with the food to slow cook. The Haka is the traditional greeting dance that the Maori use to intimidate enemies and measure the bravery of friends. It's not a perfect description but if you want a better one, well you obviously have the Internet, go look it up and report back.
The show was at Tamaki, an historical Maori village set-up just outside town. It was great although at times very touristy and a little to softened toward that end but I had a great time. The show started with representatives from each shuttle bus acting as visiting chiefs having to stand up and face the Haka, followed by a walk through village and a concert of traditional Maori musical arts, most of which was backed with a less than historically accurate guitar.
For dinner I sat with a bunch of other people from Magic Bus and I was already making friends so it was really comfortable. i didn't feel at all like I was on my own and the food was good. In the end though my favorite part was right at the end. All the people who work there are actual Maori and as out shuttle bus drivers stood up to collect us they stopped and performed a Haka. This was what I wanted to see. It was something genuine, part of their living history. It felt like we were for a moment not watching a show, but guests in their home.

Road to Whitianga (Footy-Yanga)

Despite the pub I got up at 6:30 to catch the first leg of my bus tour. We set off at 7:30. Before leaving Auckland we drove to the top of the Mt. Eden the highest of the over 60 volcanos that the city sits on. It's a national park and cows roam free on the hillside to keep the grass trimmed. They used to keep sheep but to many people were stealing them. Just make your own jokes here, it's too easy for me to bother. The bus rolled on through Thames, Coromandel and Tairua befoe a stop in Hahei, home of the hot waves beach.
Like much of NZ it has underground thermal activity, but here it's near the shore line so people dig pits in the beach to bring heated water to the surface. The pits mix it with the incoming sea water to make it cool enough to sit in as your own spa pool. By the time we got there the tide was already moving out and ripping the pits apart so all we could do was dig our feet into the sand and feel the heat come up followed by a dip. I actually got a very minor burn on the underside of two of my toes. It would have been worse if I hadn't lept out quickly.

I signed up for Sea Kayaking so I went to that next while others were taken on a hike and then to there hostels. We took the Kayaks out on Mercury Bay to an area called Cathedral Cove in the Te Whanganui-A-Hei Marine Reserve. There were people there form several tour groups and I shared my 2 man Kayak with a guy named Dermot. Funny enough he produces childrens television in englan so we had a lot to talk about. Early on while trying to get close to our guide so he could tell us bout the area we actually managed to flip the Kayak. It was actually our guides fault cause he tugged to hard on the bow, but I had already been in the ocean at Hahei so i didn't care. I'm just glad the dry storage was as good as he said because my camera and iPod were in there. They are still working great.
We paddled around a series of amazing islands left over from a giant volcanic dome that existed several thousand years ago before landing on a secluded beach called Cathedral Cove. Our guide, Ross made us hot drinks on the beach while we checked out the view. The weather kicked up a bit on the way back so my arms were totally spent by the time we got back.

Afterward the Kayak company dropped me off at my hostel which was appropriatley named "On the Beach"
I walked in to town with some of my fellow backpackers for dinner and drinks before turning in early.

This is the view I woke up to.

Arrival in Auckland

I slept ok but not great on the second leg of my flight (Hong Kong to Auckland) but it was enough to hit the ground running. We got in a little early, so it wasn't even 7:30 when I got out of customs. New Zealand is so ecologically sensitive they inspect any food you have and your hiking shoes. I used i-site (NZ tourist info) to set up a hostel before I left the airport and took the shuttle straight there. The fresh smell of lush green and the open sky struck me as soon as I exited the terminal.
Auckland is small but metropolitan. Unfortunately it doesn't have it's own particularly strong character or style. It struck me right away that I wouldn't need more than a day to see it. In fact it took less. By the time I dropped off my bags at ACB Backpackers, got some food, toured the nearby neighbourhood, checked in with Magic Bus (my tour company) and returned to check my bags into my room it was already 1pm. It seemed like a late start but I managed to pack the afternoon. I took a ferry across the bay to a Cape Cod-esque community called Devonport where I got some good exercise tramping up Mount Victoria. At 81m it's hardly a mountain but it is quiet a hike especially if you fore go the winding pavement for a straight push up the grassy side. I was glad I went, the view was well worth it.
I followed that with the Auckland Museum. Oops! There is an Auckland Museum and an Auckland ART Museum and you better be specific or you end up at the wrong one. Combine with a less than thorough reading of a bus chart and you end up at the museum 20 minutes before it closes, or at least I do. The guards were incredibly nice and understanding. They let me sneak in with my daypack even though I was supposed to check it and one of them walked me straight over to the Maori art section which is what I had come to see.
After a quick dinner I headed over to the "Sky Tower" at the "Sky City Complex." It's a small CN tower with a casino and mall at the base. It's the tallest building in the southern Hemisphere. I find they use he "southern hemisphere" as a qualifier to make many of the local sights sound a bit more important. I figured I'd give it a look anyway. I'm glad I did because as I arrived there were Polynesian dancers in the city square out front giving demonstrations. They were great.
The tower itself was not a stand out but it was also a grey day so visibility was low.
I finished the day in The Globe a backpackers pub underneath my hostel. It was the most incredible hostel pub I've ever seen. It was like any other bar except it was hopping on a Monday night. A great part of the backpacking experience is the swirls of social activity at the pubs and on the buses. It doesn't matter if you drink, it's just good to hang out with people and I spent the night chatting with my roommate for the nigh who was an IT guy from Orange County and a Masters Art Student from Whales.
To keep things tidy I'm going to do as many posts as I can today/tomorrow but separate them into bite size chapters. I'm in Wellington right now.

Hong Kong, It's the set of Blade Runner but with escalators.

I managed to sleep maybe 7 hours on the first plane although it was broken up by weird random moments of awakening. So I was somewhat fresh when I left the airport. A bullet train took me right to the edge of Honk Kong's city core.

It's an intense weird place. Like Tokyo it exists vertically, a mishmash of striking modern glass towers scattered amongst bland, aged, soot laden concrete blocks that reach just as hard for sunlight but never quiet reach the same heights.

All of this is accentuated by the fact that the city is basically in a gorge. As you look up any street from the train each street ends in a cartoonishly tall mountain wrapped in thick Asian vegetation.

I didn't have too much time so I got a walking tour pamphlet and some advice from the very useful tourist info booth at the Hong Kong Airport. When I arrived in town it wasn't even 8:30am so all the exciting shops and storefronts on the tour were still closed. None the less you could feel the days buzz of activity starting to hum. I think it's because all the buildings and streets are so tightly packed together. It starts your neurons tweaking even when nothing is happening.

I was surprised at how western a place it was, despite British rule I expected a more Asian identity. All the street names were in English. Not translated to English, but actual English names. "Hollywood Road" is a main drag. I saw more European faces walking around there than I ever had in Japan, even in Tokyo.

I followed about half the walking tour and by the time I was done with that the stores were all open. I stopped at Chinese medicine store and tried a "health booster" drink he was selling. I think it contained dried antlers. I'm serious.

After 20 hours breathing the recycled air of my fellow passengers I figured it couldn't hurt. Especially since the guy who was sitting in front of me and over one took ill in the middle of the flight and had stewardesses scurrying about like squirrels on the last day of wall-marts big nut sale. At one point he passed out and I though he was dead. Lucky for me (and I guess him too) he was fine but I didn't want to take any chances with his bad mojo.

I followed the tour with a hike up the to the high end of the city. A tram takes you from there to the ingeniously named "Peek." Its a 7 story tower and accompanying mall that overlook Hong Kong and the harbour. The view was spectacular in the mist but of course it was hell on my camera. All I got were murky pictures. None the less I enjoyed it.

From the tram I took the escalator system back to the train. Yes, Hong Kong is so steep they have built the world's longest system of escalators to get you from one side of town to the other. It's an amazing feet. It's like they all live at the mall. It was so efficient that it domino affected me all the way to the airport where I had time to really take the place in.

The Honk Kong airport is so huge it becomes abstract. It's hard to keep track of where you are. There is a shuttle train just to get people from customs to the departure area, and moving walkways everywhere.

Honk Kong was unique but so compact that if I never get back I'll feel I've seen something that really is reflective of it. I think it was the sign at the Peek Tram that encapsulates the feeling of being in Hong Kong Best. "Cash or Octopus"