Solo Travels, Pt 4

The New Zealand adventure began well, it was a bright morning in Christchurch (I’d had to wait in the airport until the car rental place opened at 8:00am), and I was now in control of a Daihatsu Sirion – possibly the ugliest car I’ve ever driven. It feels terrible as well, but it was free hire, so I can’t complain. Then, it was up the East Coast of the South Island for the first time, and it was a wonderful drive.

You soon get out onto the coastline, and from then on, every corner felt as though it opened out onto picture perfect views. My photo’s don’t quite capture it, but the sea was a perfect shade of bright blue, the sun was bright, the sky clear, and the road quiet. On the other side of the car were steep cliffs towering over me, occasionally punctuated by a glimpse of the local train tracks, or a tunnel through the rock. I pulled over at so many parking spots as the view continued to astound me, before I finally pulled into Kaikouri – a coastal town which seemed to epitomise the road.

After I’d pulled in, I walked straight onto the beach to spend about 10 minutes staring at the view. It was astounding – perfect sea, sky, etc, and in the distance to the North – snow covered mountains. If this place was better known about, it would have long since become the New Zealand Monaco, a millionaire’s retreat. As it was, I was able to get some very affordable fresh fish and chips from Coopers Catch, before grabbing a Hokey Pokey (bits of broken up Crunchie) ice cream to enjoy on the beach before setting off once again. #Fish and Chip rating: 10/10#

I made it to Picton just before 4:00pm, and headed down to the beach to check out this city for the first time. Our previous visit to New Zealand had seen us fly straight through Picton, so I took the opportunity to wander through the shops before going on a self-guided walk to a viewpoint of the local Sounds, and then down to Bob’s Bay – named for fisherman Bob, who no-one seems to know anything about, or why the bay is named after him. With the sun high in the sky, and me utterly tired out, I retired to a local pub to grab some Bangers and Mash, a pint of local Speights Ale, and watch the Ashes.

The next day was a horrendously early start, boarding the ferry at about 5:00am to go to the North Island. It was far too cold to be standing out on deck again, and since we took about a million photos of the crossing last time we took it, I spent most of the journey in the warmth. I arrived in Wellington about 9am, where stadium #2 can be found!

Westpac Stadium
There was no game there this week (they’d inconsiderately moved it to Christchurch as soon as I booked my flight tickets), and I couldn’t get past the gate while they were preparing for a Bon Jovi concert, but at least I got to here. Then, though, it was a long drive up to Taupo…

On the way, I had to pick any of the towns I was passing through to stop for lunch, and naturally, it could only be Bulls. They certainly do love their puns in Bulls, and I did the most touristy thing of taking about 50 photos of every sign la-bull-ed with the word “bull” in it.

Taupo is another pleasant city, and being lakeside, there are plenty of activities to enjoy. I was half-tempted to have a go at the parasailing, but ultimately decided better of it. The one chap who I did watch have a go seemed to be really struggling to take off, twice just running into the lake and falling over before he finally got airborne. I walked the shops for a while, before getting my daily intake of fish & chips from an Irish bar, which had the added benefit of again having the Ashes on, so I could watch us take the lead. #Fish & Chips rating: 8/10#

Sunday morning was a much more relaxing affair (well, apart from when I was convinced I’d lost my phone for about half an hour, only to find it underneath my bag), and the drive to Rotorua was only just over an hour. That meant I arrived in plenty of time to visit the Skyline, an activity we’d missed out on our previous trip to Rotorua. The main activity at the top of the hill was luging, and never one to pass on a racing opportunity; I was soon in my kart. They were more like small gravity-powered karts than luges, with the tracks wide enough to overtake, and the corners difficult as I would find out. I tried the beginner track first, which also has occasional stopping points for photo opportunities, then the intermediate, with faster sweeping corners. By this point, I was firmly convinced I was a racing driver, and decided to time myself down the final 1km advanced track…

Which was probably a mistake. I pushed as hard as I could all the way, grabbing a moment of airtime on a particularly steep track, before having a slight disagreement with a corner near the end. I felt I could turn at that speed, but physics disagreed, throwing me onto the embankment instead. Not to be deterred, I jumped straight back up (as much out of embarrassment, and wanting to finish my lap, as anything) into the kart, and finished the run. I can tell you that I took either 64 or 124 seconds to do it… I thought it was 64, but that would suggest I was doing nearly 60kmh, which seems a tad unreasonable. It wasn’t until later that I discovered the extent of my driving incident – a few lovely cuts and grazes up both my legs. In all though, a lot of fun to do.

Back into town, I found a place to get lunch (the fish and chip shop we all visited on our previous time in Rotorua), and went and hung out at the lakeside market for the early part of the afternoon, before coming back to write this blog! #Fish & Chip Rating: 9/10# Spending the rest of the afternoon chilling out in the back garden of my hostel, I soaked up the sun, and read a few more chapters of my book. I even had a partner out the back – the owner’s dog had come and laid next to where I was sat to try to cool off in the shade.

The drive to Auckland was wholly uneventful, and the afternoon was much the same. I found a local shop that sold me a lovely chocolate milkshake, and had the Ashes on, so I spent some time there. As the afternoon wore on, I went to catch my bus to the airport, and settled to watch the sunset and wait for my flight.

And finally, here are the winning fish & chips from Kaikouri!