Post #24 A very special place

Saturday's little excursion was so fantastic that it deserves a small post of its own!

It was really very special. Having contacted the guy in question the previous weekend, I ended up hanging around in South West Rocks longer than planned (not a bad thing) in order to be able to visit his place. Unbeknown to me at the time, he runs only two 'tours' per week for a maximum group of four down to, as in this case, just one. I was "keen" enough in my emails to him to secure a slot! It was worth it...




The background: the chap I was meeting is Dennis. In 1918 his grandfather started farming this piece of land and, as was the case then, the government financially encouraged him to drain the area of wetland. He failed, thankfully. Dennis spent a few childhood years there and then went off to be a Structural Engineer in Sydney. The farm went to his uncle who, in 1989, offered Dennis 110 acres including the wetlands. Dennis moved back with two aims... To preserve the wetlands and to grow threatened and endangered species of bush fruits and trees. The place is magic!

I got there, as agreed, for 7:30am and was met by the most gentle, welcoming and genuine Dennis. He explained that he is trying to balance the need to raise awareness of the wetlands, and the necessary cash to keep it well-managed, against the desire to not make it too tourist intensive.

We got straight on the water and he paddled me around the wetland area for two truly amazing hours.




It was beautifully peaceful and calm with only the bird-calls hanging in the air along with Dennis' fascinating commentary on all things flora & fauna as well as the history of the place.








The wetlands is home to 400 Black Swans, Flycatchers, Azure Kingfishers which were darting across the water, Jabirus, a pair of Ospreys that nest there every year and more than 100 other species of birds. The water is packed with prawns and is now officially recognised as one of the major Mullet nurseries on the east coast... The water was teeming with them which is where they stay until a flood takes them into the river system and the ocean. Eels were cruising next to us, there were areas covered with water lilies and some exceptionally rare orchids.




I could keep going all day about the place! It was truly magical and I felt very privileged to see it.




When he first bought the place he struggled for years to get any government recognition of the wetlands' importance and it sounds like he had to persevere (up to parliament level) for many years to get to where he is. He gets no State financial input but now, at least, the place is recognised as a rare and essential example of Coastal wetlands in Australia, worth preserving, with scientific interest ever increasing. (as an example of bureaucracy, Dennis has to, in fact, pay a levy each year for owning 'farm land' that he doesn't graze cattle on... Even though it's under water!).

The second part of the morning was spent walking around his land... 100's of Macadamia trees, citrus groves, an amazing organic veg patch and hundreds of endangered "bush tucker" trees... Much of the citrus produce is 'rare' and his wife value-adds by turning them into jams etc. I was so enthralled that I forgot to take any photo's but walking through the trees he would stop to have me taste...

Finger Limes:
looked just like Okra (or Ladies' Fingers or Bhindi Bhaji... I know M Beglan will be rolling around on the floor at this 'joke' but everyone else will be wondering what I'm talking about!)
Anyway, when you break them in half they are full of what looks like translucent caviar... Each little bubble pops in your mouth with an amazing lime flavour... Brilliant in salads and on seafood apparently. "Bush Caviar"... Fantastic!

Lemonades:
a small citrus fruit that looked like a large lime however it can be eaten like an orange and, I don't exaggerate in the slightest when I say, they taste like the best lemonade you've ever had. I could have sat next to that tree and eaten them all day!

We passed trees whose leaves, when he picked one and passed it to me, tasted of liquorice and then another of lemon and so it went on. I tried a "Bush Plum" that is now recognised as having incredibly high levels of detox power. Leaves whose inherent chemicals are now used in surgery, those that led to the application of penicillin; and many more besides. Fascinating, educational and, all round, an amazing place.

Dennis then made me some pancakes and ice-cream with which to sample the jams and syrups they make along with some gorgeous figs he popped off to pick for us. All thoroughly delicious!

The final piece of this jigsaw is that the Aborigines knew all about, and used, these 'bush tucker' and 'bush medicine' trees and plants thousands of years ago. Western medicine is now only just taking them seriously with credible and applicable results. The path of the Aborigines has been somewhat troubled recently and much knowledge has been lost within their communities so Dennis runs school-workshops, teaching the kids about their lost knowledge.

I'm sure these ramblings might be quite dull without photo's punctuating them so here's a final one of Dennis pointing out something or other...




We chatted for a while longer then, after 5 hours there, I headed off for the hustle and bustle of the real world. All for £40!

The story of that day would not be properly represented without mentioning that, sadly, whilst on the water, we discovered a shared experience of leukaemia. He lost his daughter when she was in her twenties. Tough old world.

I'm so glad I got to visit him and see his extraordinary, little slice of paradise... We need more people like Dennis fighting for what is important!





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Location:Valley of the Mist

Post #23 The Turn for Home (The last photo is a spider if anyone has issues!)

Last week was five days spent back in Sydney. I arrived from NZ late on Monday and hadn't planned to spend so long back there but it was sunny and it was Keeley's birthday on the Thursday. I didn't do too much (which was nice) other than 'hanging out', watching the Australian Surf Open on Manley Beach which was far too cool an event for me but fun anyway and then Keeley's birthday drinks in Manley on the Thursday night: met lots of her pals there and had a good time. Ali Pignon was there too which was a surprise and lovely to see her (for those who know her!).




... The comings and goings of the Circular Quay ferries. And an alternative view of the bridge...




So the plan for this final leg is to explore the east coast, heading north from Sydney to Cairns and beyond. With that in mind I was going to rent this for six weeks:




But after much deliberation I just wasn't happy with some of the internal fixtures and fittings... So Ikea! I decided therefore to head a little upmarket and opted to live here for the next six weeks...





Much more like it!

The bottom end of the camper rental market is dominated by Spaceships, Wicked & Jucy; with names like that, potentially aimed at an age group a little south of mine? Regardless, this costs me 50Ausd per day and is (generally) fine. (on that note: the exchange rate when I arrived was 60p/dollar and now it's 69p/dollar!). The USP for Spaceships is this little canvass 'bubble' that can be attached to the tailgate to give more room and a slightly reduced sense of claustrophobia at night!




I have my suspicions that the suspension struts are filled with blancmange and, in addition, the steering is a little 'vague' (although there's nothing vague about it's inability to go around roundabouts above walking pace) but with these limitations borne in mind, it is, in fact, perfectly adequate. Actually, that's a very good word for it... Adequate!

So, a week ago, I headed north along the east coast. The contrast with the west-coast road trip was immediately apparent. There I would barely see another car in a day and would travel through vast areas of 'nothing' whereas here I immediately got stuck in a traffic jam heading out of Sydney and, so far, have been on much busier highways and in much busier towns. First I stopped at Port Stephen's (Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay & Anna Bay) which was beautiful but packed with Sydney-siders on hols. I camped near the beach and the next morning had breakfast wondering why it was so popular...




Deciding this was too busy (don't be fooled by the 7am photo!), I headed 80km north to Seal Rocks which had been recommended by somebody along the way. What a great spot! I ended up spending 3 days there...




A campsite, a small store, a cafe and no phone signal: perfect! I'm beginning to realise that many of the places I like the most are normally down a dead-end road and have no phone signal!




Dragging myself away, I am now in South West Rocks, a seaside village of equal beauty and whilst a bit busier still very charming...




I've been here 4 days now (long enough it would seem to be invited to a house-warming party!) and am enjoying just relaxing in a few places and living the "beach-bum" life for a while. The van is full of sand and smells of prawns and sand worms (fishing bait)... But it's home!




This is the current location! A secluded bay just out of town. This morning was a typical Aussie vacation morning... Woke at the beach, stood waist-deep in surf fishing, caught some Whiting and Dart, cooked said fish on the beach for lunch and shared them with a local surfer-dude who supplied the 'cold ones'. Perfect. It's currently around 28-30 and I can't tell you how much easier that temperature is to travel in compared to the heat/humidity in WA. Bliss...




... Still strange creatures!

Other than that... I'd thought I left the menace of sand flys behind in NZ but it lives on, here, in NSW! A small swarm must have followed me in to the van last night and subsequently my back has the topography of the Alps but each mountain is, in fact, a little volcano of histamine. Great! They really are insufferable buggers!

Also, I'm seriously considering missing out Uluru. To come to Australia and not see it feels criminal but, right now, it feels akin to travelling to the moon to look at a piece of cheese. It's a huge detour, not en route to anywhere useful and bloomin' expensive! Who knows...

Finally, a Huntsman trying to hitch a ride! (painful bite apparently; not venomous!). Big fella: I still don't like spiders...





So, must try to sleep as I'm on the move from 5am tomorrow to meet a guy who, hopefully, will paddle me around his 200 acre wetland 'back yard' on a canoe to see the "incredible" wildlife there... I'm hoping to see Ospreys amongst other things.



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Location:South West Rocks, NSW

Post #22 Christchurch, Dunedin & Arthur Scargill

You might be wondering what £16 per day gets you in the NZ car rental market? Well, once it's going it is actually fine. A certain level of violence is required to get it into first and second gears and, if there's the slightest incline, it accelerates like a tectonic plate but otherwise, all good...





There was a lot of news coverage here about a few Kiwis who appear to have got a little over-excited in London on Waitangi Day recently and behaved badly after too much booze... Kiwis/London/drinking... Who'd ever have thought those three words would be used in one sentence...




Meanwhile, in Little Wanganui, Waitangi celebrations were much more sedate although I must draw your attention to the very exciting new novelty addition for this year, not to mention the raffle prize extraordinaire! I didn't win.

Christchurch was the next stop. I'd been unsure about visiting the city centre and, in effect, being a tourist to other people's misfortune but around and about NZ I'd met several people from C'Church (all were taking a week or two vacation to "get away from it all") and they would always urge me, in their words, to go see what Mother Nature can do. Meeting these people around the country had often been quite emotional; some had lost almost everything. One person I met was left with the clothes they were wearing and an umbrella...

The big difficulty seems to be not only the lasting damage from the big quakes in late 2010 and then Feb 2011 but just how protracted the further quakes and aftershocks are. Every time they feel like they are starting to move forward the city gets hit again and the uncertainty means that insurance companies are reluctant to pay out for rebuilds. There are still people who have not been let back into their homes, for over a year now, and there are plenty of people still living with their families in motels. Crazy.




The 'Red Zone' above is the area that was either destroyed or needs to be demolished. The whole zone is fenced off and you can't get in. Businesses or homes in 'Green Zones' are confirmed to be structurally sound but the big problems are for people in 'Orange Zones' where, a year later, because the task is so vast, their buildings are yet to be signed off or condemned. They are completely in limbo and can't even leave, for a new life somewhere else, if they want to as they are potentially still waiting for insurance pay outs for buildings/possessions etc. It's one big, complicated mess! Some think the city should be rebuilt; some think it should be forgotten. All very sad but wandering about the city, you do feel the resilience and positive attitudes of many here.




Pretty much every commercial building I saw, outside the Red Zone, is empty and daubed with the spray can paint used last year to confirm that no one was left inside. If this city is to be rebuilt it is years and years away from completion. Still the aftershocks go on with around half a dozen a day. You can always google for photo's if you want and see what happens on a daily basis at www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz

So from here it was south to the very charming town/city of Dunedin. There's about 120,000 people here and 22% are students. Lots of cafes, bars etc etc. It has deep Scottish roots with vague Scot accents, kilt shops and even the dulcet tones on the streets of cats being strangled. Sorry, bagpipes. The city was settled by some Scottish Christians who were unhappy with the debauched direction that other Christians were heading in, back home in Edinburgh. So in the 1800's Dunedin was built as a 'copy' of Edinburgh. It's very nice...




...rather grand railway station!

And my favourite place, Alley Cantina (of course)...




From Dunedin it was further south to Invercargill (every time I say that name, I think of Arthur Scargill for some odd reason) via a side trip into central Otago and then back up the coast, through the Catlins, to return to Christchurch.

Lots of good walks...




And, continued, beautiful scenery...




I was even lucky enough to be able to watch two whales for a while that were maybe 3-400 metres off the south coast. Amazing.

I don't know why I found this sign so entertaining...




Maybe because the dog just laid an egg?

Finally, a couple of pics from a couple of weeks ago when I took a great walk at the start of the Heaphy Track...




Really stunning spot




... One wobbly bridge!


And my favourite cafe in NZ. The Cowshed at Gentle Annie Point. Probably 50km from civilisation and just perfect.





You couldn't be more relaxed there if you tried...

Ciao!


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Location:Wairakei Rd,Christchurch,New Zealand

Post #21 "The Motorcycle Diaries"...

A little admission... The Camper Van here in NZ definitely had a 'camper' element but a little less of a 'van' element. You could say it was a little more 'bike'.

Actually, it was completely bike...




Excuse the slight deception but I figured a few people might prefer to know that it was an adventure on 2 wheels, after I'd returned the bike! So I can now come clean, having handed the bike back to the rental company after 28 days riding around NZ. Here's a little recap now I can mention the bike!





For the aficionados: a BMW f650GS Single, complete with luggage panniers, top box and, of course, all the necessary clothing. Brilliant!

I quickly discovered that NZ is a big destination for motorcycle tours, predominantly for one reason... Their roads which really are out of this world for two reasons. They pick their way through the most incredible scenery and they are beautiful on a bike, twisting and turning all day long. The roads are also relatively quiet. Fantastic! NZ lays claim to a number of the "best motorbike routes/roads in the world", and I rode nearly all of them, sometimes turning around just to ride the road again!

For the interested: look on Google Maps - Start at Picton, NZ; Destination of Nelson, NZ. You need to zoom in on Picton to see what the road is really like but it will give you an idea of one example of a great road! Queen Charlotte Drive.

The hired kit also came in handy when not on the bike...




I won't bore you with lots of motorcycle stories but here's a summary...

There were a couple of downsides (but none great enough to make me regret being on 2 wheels). It's impossible to carry any meaningful food and so the last month has seen far too much in the way of Fish & Chips and the like! Secondly, the famous NZ weather... 4 seasons in a day is an understatement sometimes. I've got wet a few times more than I expected but nothing too troubling beyond the two occasions when I was wet through to the skin, however the wind was from time to time a bit of a pain in the derriere!

The positives, however, were right up there. A motorbike gives you total immersion in where you are. You are much more connected to, and involved in, the moment so an eagle flying along side you feels magical. You feel almost part of the mountains, coastline or wide open plains of Otago. The smells of where you are feel like they are being injected into your nostrils... You smell the ocean before you see it and smell flora as you pass by (the same is true for dairy farms unfortunately!) it's an amazing way to get around a new place and a very different experience to driving through... You are much less able to look around whilst going along but that makes you stop much more often. Also, the journey itself is so much more a part of the experience and not just a means to an end... Sometimes I'd end a day's riding feeling like the bike had barely been upright all day... Just so many turns!




Here's the bike waiting to get on the Inter Islander ferry with my 'new mates'. Actually, being Harley Davidsons, the riders aren't "mates" with anyone beyond other Harley riders but they were actually really helpful once we'd ridden onto the ferry... you are given an assortment of ropes, straps, ratchets and hooks and have to tie-down the bike to 4 points on the floor to stop it falling over with the boat's movement. Hadn't anticipated that and the Harley boys really helped me out!

I must admit to sleeping in the tent only about a third of the time... Weather, tiredness or aching muscles led to motels or campsite cabins being very tempting!





Here's my little cabin that I stayed in whilst in Karamea (from the left of the door on the left to the right of the righthand window). £15 per night. Perfect! Bed, desk, chair. What more do you need? And with this on the other side...




On the previous subject of meeting people. Kiwis stop to chat at any opportunity but I think a bike like this with panniers etc, that looks like it is obviously on a journey, attracts even more interest. Stopping at a fuel station nearly always resulted in a 20 minute chat. Arriving in a couple of the more 'out of the way' villages saw a near 'minor-celebrity' welcome. Although I suspect they may have been hoping for Ewan MGregor or Charlie Boorman! Still, they hid their disappointment well when I pulled off the helmet...

There's lots more to say about the bike but it will probably only mean something to one or two so I won't bore the rest of you. Needless to say it was an amazing opportunity and the roads... Ah, the roads!




Incredibly I've now been in NZ for more than 5 weeks and only have a week or so left before heading back to Oz. In shortening the whole trip, I cut a fair bit of time out of the NZ part and whilst I could easily spend the same amount of time again here, I've seen pretty much everything I'd originally planned to and lots more besides. Having fled the south east corner of the South Island last week because of pretty serious gales (which I ended up riding through anyway!) I'm heading straight back down there to see Dunedin, the Catlins and a couple of other things. My transport now is a little less exciting... A 1999 Nissan Sunny with 250,000km on the clock. Can't complain though as it's costing me £16.50 a day!

Finally, some conspiracy theories! I've never really spent much time on such topics beyond the ones that claim the moon landings didn't happen and the CIA shot JFK. Anyway, I recently got talking to a very nice, intelligent, guy who looked at me with the same incredulity that I viewed him with (because he couldn't believe that I didn't subscribe) when he told me, with complete conviction, that the following are true...

1. "Chemtrails": the trails of condensation from jet airplanes are in fact clouds of chemicals being sprayed on us all by the authorities. Normally the US govt.

2. The London Riots recently were an 'experiment' in civil unrest, instigated by the US govt.

3. The Christchurch Earthquakes were all man made and were created by the US govt using a weapon they have called HAARP.

4. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in the US has more power than the govt and has hundreds of concentration camps in the US.

5. New World Order: I can't even begin to explain. Read about it on Wikipedia!

They all feature on Google and YouTube...

A-MAZING! Utterly amazing.








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Location:Yaldhurst Rd,Christchurch,New Zealand

Post #20 Milford Sound

Following the sign on how best to use a loo, here's another public service sign...




Nobody likes to lose a mitten.


The only parrot to have adapted to living in high mountain conditions is the Kea Bird in NZ. It can be up to 50cm long and weighs up to a kilo... It also has a very strong, hooked bill. Now, here's the interesting bit: part of the adaption was to learn to mob sheep, en masse, and use their powerful bills to eat the fatty flesh around the sheep's kidneys! It doesn't kill the sheep who can tolerate it but subsequent infection etc is often a side effect, hence farmers used to be able to shoot the parrots until they recently became protected. Amazing.

So heading towards Fiordland was yet another incredibly scenic journey, arriving in the 'gateway' town, Te Anau. All very pleasant there. En route, I skirted through the edge of Queenstown but did not bother taking a look beyond that. Te Anau is a very pleasant, lakeside town full, basically, of people heading for Milford or Doubtful Sound. My plan was to drive up to Milford and then, the day after, take a boat trip from Te Anau to see Doubtful.

The drive to Milford Sound, as those that have done it will know, is both beautiful and spectacular.




With some interesting places to see on the way, such as "Mirror Lakes", so named for obvious reasons...





And beautiful views (and roads)...








Arriving at Milford Sound was pretty special. It's, unashamedly, a major tourist attraction and you can see why...




This was my first view of the Sound, mid morning. Beautiful. The options are to cruise through the Sound on a boat or fly over it. I headed to the ticket office to get a boat ticket for the 12 noon sailing to discover a rather large queue... Not just of people but of bus loads of people.

So I went for Plan B...




I had a very funny 30 minutes at the airfield before 'climbing aboard'... Lots and lots of people were heading to the airfield for light-aircraft flights through the Sound but nobody seemed to be talking to the guy with the helicopters. I now really wanted to take a flight in it but I needed two further accomplices before it was financially viable. The chap who owned the business had nothing booked until late afternoon.

I must say that I really enjoyed the next ten minutes "selling" the flight to anyone I could find! First I jumped on a minibus full of Koreans but that didn't prove fruitful and I was politely asked to "get off the bus" as they were bequeathed to the company running the plane flights. I finally found a nice Scandi couple (complete with 10 month old) who arrived in a camper van to take a plane flight but I dragged them over the to Chopper centre and signed them up. I got my pre-agreed discount for getting more business and a job offer which I politely declined!

The flight proved to be amazing! 45 minutes of sheer exhilaration... The Sound you've seen but here's a couple of others...





It was quite windy and the helicopter was flown very, very close to the mountains to get lift... Bearing in mind that these photo's are on a compact with a relatively wide angle lens, below was taken just a few seconds after the photo above...





Absolutely incredible... Complete faith in a complete stranger!

Our ultimate destination was a landing on the glacier, high above Milford Sound... (which Scandi 10 month old took in his stride without a murmur!)









it felt like standing on top of the world for a moment. On that theme, the backdrop was Mount Tutoko (just shy of 9000 feet) which Hillary used as a practice climb when he was preparing for Everest... He never conquered it!

This was a thrilling ride and a great way to see both Milford Sound and the surrounding mountains. I'm very glad there was a queue at the quay!





I spent the rest of the day at Milford Sound and then headed back to Te Anau, back through the rather intimidating (and very dark) Homer tunnel.

From here the plan rather fell by the wayside. I had a morning of trout fishing lined up and a short trip to Doubtful Sound. Both were cancelled due to (again!) unseasonal gales. Seriously windy! I could either stick around for 2-3 days and wait for the deep low to move on or... Move on myself. Having limited NZ to a shorter than originally planned amount of time, I opted for the latter. Doubtful will have to wait to next time and as for trout, they are becoming a real challenge bizarrely with a number of attempts scuppered, mainly due to weather.

I pulled over for a rest and this train appeared from nowhere... NZ is full of surprises!





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Location:Te Anau