Goldie to Peru and more

A 53-day adventure by David Read more

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Trip start
November 26, 2016
Goldie to Peru and more David Fine
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Day 1
Saturday, November 26, 2016 at 3:24 PM
☀️ 12 °C
Altitude: 334 m
New Zealand Queenstown -45.03464, 168.6650745°2’5” S 168°39’54” E
Queenstown nz
November 26, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
Just arrived in Nz, Going to a wedding in Queenstown. The weather is terrible and i have to wear a jumper plus a jacket which is crazy considering its the 26th of November.

It's a great town with amazing mountains in all directions and a solid lake in the middle. I was the only person at the airport with a kite and a surfboard.Read more
INA FINEWhy am I not suprised that you were the only one with a surfboard and kite.
11/30/16Reply
INA FINEBut I bet you will use them!!
11/30/16Reply
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Day 2
Sunday, November 27, 2016 at 10:29 AM
☀️ 6 °C
Altitude: 335 m
New Zealand Queenstown -45.03448, 168.6651245°2’4” S 168°39’54” E
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day 2 Queenstown
November 27, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
It's as cold as it looks. Last night it snowed and it was 6 degrees when I woke up.
It's wedding day today and it's at a winery. It's not raining which is a bonus.
Had a few drinks last night and this place is cool. I wish I could mountain bike as the town is surrounded by mountains. I can see the place going off during a winter season.Read more
Chris Talbot Amazing
12/7/16Reply
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Day 2
Sunday, November 27, 2016
☀️ 6 °C
Altitude: 318 m
New Zealand Cowcliff Hill -45.00989, 168.9102445°0’36” S 168°54’37” E
wedding
November 27, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
It's in a barn and it's freezing. The dinner is in a fancy tent.
Dinner was amazing and there was great views and plenty of wine and beer
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Day 3
Monday, November 28, 2016 at 5:29 PM
☀️ 6 °C
Altitude: 179 m
New Zealand Lumsden -45.73813, 168.4416545°44’17” S 168°26’30” E
lumsdon
November 28, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Very quiet town with a nice pub which is where we are staying.
Amazing lunch today with the crew from the wedding. As far as I am concerned there aren't any bad meals in this country. Even the food at the pub.
Tomorrow we will cruise millford sounds.Read more
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Day 4
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
☀️ 6 °C
Altitude: 265 m
New Zealand Milford Sound Airport -44.67332, 167.9271444°40’24” S 167°55’38” E
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millford sounds
November 29, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Lots of driving though amazing scenery. Wow so many waterfalls. Possibly the most impressive drive ever followed by an equally impressive boat trip.
I do miss the warm weather
Nate Eguia Nice runners mate! Keep the pics coming
12/5/16Reply
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Day 5
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 8:48 PM
☀️ 6 °C
Altitude: 150 m
New Zealand Franz Josef -43.38791, 170.1831943°23’16” S 170°10’59” E
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wanaka to fox glacier
November 30, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Wanaka is awesome. I could maybe live there but I won't.
Awesome lake (nearly went kitesurfing yesterday and today was no wind) good food good vibe etc.
Drove up to treble cone and watched paragliding, fed eels and looked at a few sites. Today was the first day without wind and it is absolutely stunning. I even wore shorts briefly.
Went to fox glacier. Wow. Very sad that it is dying/ retreating.Read more
Chris Talbot That's incredible. It's only taken eight years to destroy what took hundreds of thousands of years to create. So sad.
12/7/16Reply
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Day 6
Thursday, December 1, 2016 at 5:55 PM
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 28 m
New Zealand Woodpecker Bay -42.02628, 171.3899742°1’35” S 171°23’24” E
Franz josef glacier to a random surf spo
December 1, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Stayed at the glow worm backpackers last night. Went to the pub with open Mic and then did a bush walk with glow worms very cool.
Today we went to franz Joseph glacier then drove up to punakaiki where I surfed alone. We are staying in an air bnb which has $1000 views on a backpacker budget. It's not on the grid and dosent have sewage but as I said the view is epic.
Tomorrow we get the ferry to the north island and probably party in the nation's capital Wellington.Read more
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Day 7
Friday, December 2, 2016 at 2:04 PM
🌙 24 °C
Altitude: 308 m
New Zealand Kenny Isle -41, 17441°0’0” S 174°0’0” E
ferry from South to north
December 2, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
See you later south island. The scenery is amazing. Amazing mountains, amazing glaciers, amazing beaches, rivers and roads. If you like driving it's bloody amazing.
We woke up in picturesque fox river and drove to picton. Basically from West to east following rivers through the middle and then through the Marlborough wine region. Kinda like nth Queensland is for sugar kane but replaced with Vineyards.
I am now on the ferry to north island. Next time I will kitesurf it. 30+ knots outside should be fun. Mark, Bernie, Randy and anyone else.
Wellington tonight. Going to find some kiwi reggae bro.
Hurry up and warm up nz it's DecemberRead more
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Day 7
Friday, December 2, 2016 at 10:19 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 11 m
New Zealand Wellington Ferry Port -41.29459, 174.7804641°17’41” S 174°46’50” E
Wellington
December 2, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We enjoyed a Thai dinner followed by a brief visit to one of the many bars. Unfortunately I didn't get to see one of the great kiwi reggae bands that I love instead it was an average dj but not terrible.
Sadly we don't have time to spend in Wellington so we will push on up to rotorua.Read more
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Day 9
Sunday, December 4, 2016
☀️ 21 °C
Altitude: 182 m
New Zealand Mount Maunganui -37.63118, 176.1712637°37’52” S 176°10’17” E
mt Maunganui, Tauranga
December 4, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Saturday we drove from Wellington to mount Manganoui or Tauranga (both names are probably miss spelt.
Caught up with Mike Blincoe the old bass player from the high grade. It was crate day which means you have to drink a crate of beer. The crates are wooden and full of long necks. I felt like Jake the muss from once were warriors. Sadly I failed but blincoe did manage to force a number of shots down my throat and sadly Sunday morning was very painful.
Mike got me to walk up mt manganoui followed by a cafe for breakfast. What a sweet town. Reminded me of the Goldie with lots of fit bodies walking around in exercise clothing.
We then visited some friends of Holly's for an epic BBQ dinner. Mmmm smoked chicken.
After the feed we drove to raglan. As usual it was nice and bendy.Read more
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Day 10
Monday, December 5, 2016 at 9:36 AM
☀️ 19 °C
Altitude: 8 m
New Zealand Putoetoe Point -37.80028, 174.86937°48’1” S 174°52’8” E
rotarua
December 5, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
What a stinky place this is. However the volcanic activity is crazy. I saw all sorts of crazy things. Green water, boiling mud, vents and creators. It was very nerdy.
After all that nerd stuff we went to the thermal hot pools. Very nice place to relax and chill amazing views and a good arvo.
Didn't bother spending the night in rotarua. It seems like the usual nz town. Lots of activities nothing under 80$.Read more
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Day 11
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
☀️ 21 °C
Altitude: 11 m
New Zealand South Head -37.81418, 174.84237°48’51” S 174°50’31” E
Raglan
December 6, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Raglan is a beautiful place. Definitely has resemblance to Byron Bay. Trendy, organic, wholesome. The waves were small and slow going. 1 guy had a foil surfboard which looked cool hopefully the waves get bigger.
Solscape is an awesome place to stay that's a lot like the arts factory in Byron Bay. We are staying in a caboose which is an old train carriage.Read more
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Day 12
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 6:51 PM
⛅ 20 °C
Altitude: 12 m
New Zealand Auckland International Airport -37.00782, 174.7819537°0’28” S 174°46’55” E
Raglan pumps 3-4foot
December 7, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Raglan was epic surfed for 3.5hrs and did a lot of backside turns. It was a beautiful day with no wind even at 1.30pm.
INA FINESo it was worth it taking boards and kite. Good on you Dave.
12/8/16Reply
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Day 12
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at 7:03 PM
☁️ 20 °C
Altitude: 12 m
New Zealand Auckland International Airport -37.00785, 174.7822737°0’28” S 174°46’56” E
Auckland
December 7, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
I was very excited to see an old friend in Auckland since last seeing Chris at his wedding he's had 3 kids. I wanted to see if they were as crazy as him.
After leaving raglan in the afternoon we met chris at the pub where we joined a few of his colleagues and drank some NZ beer. It ended up being a big night. 😎
In the morning we met his awesome children and had a great tasting breakfast.
I managed to squeeze in a kite on my new baby followed by some lunch and a look around.
Nearly got stung 200$ bucks at the airport for having 3 bags so I just put everything with the surfboard and saved some dough.
My last meal was at pita pit which was fitting as Chris is their boss.Read more
INA FINEA new kite?
12/8/16Reply
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Day 14
Friday, December 9, 2016 at 6:09 PM
☀️ 24 °C
Altitude: Sea level
Ecuador Montañita -1.81979, -80.756961°49’11” S 80°45’25” W
Ecuador, Montinita
December 9, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
After multiple days of travel we have made it to Montinita Ecuador.
We flew from Auckland to Buenos Aires delayed. Then lima spent the night and day followed by a delay and then eventually guayaquil spent the night and a 3hr bus to Montinita.
It's a great little town with plenty of restaurants and bars all on the beach. We have found a great beach front room for 30$us and booked ourselves into some hardcore Spanish. Starting Monday we will do 16hrs of Spanish over 4days.
Basically we are stuffed doing much here. Lots of smiles and hand gestures to do anything.

I have loved the music here, loads of salsa and reggae. Even though I hate pop music south American pop music is so much better than Japanese or Indonesian pop music.Read more
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Day 16
Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 10:56 AM
☀️ 25 °C
Altitude: Sea level
Ecuador Montañita -1.8198, -80.756961°49’11” S 80°45’25” W
Montinita
December 11, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Finally relaxing. 2 weeks of travel and only once did we stay in one place for more than 1 night. We will stay in Montinita till Thursday/Friday.
Spanish school starts tomorrow with 4hrs a day. This place is magical. Probably a south American version of Bali. It's meant to have good surf but while I have been surfing it hasn't been world class. Did a walk through the rockpools enjoyed an amazing sunset and partied to some awesome reggae hip-hop/salsa bands. Drinking is very cheap and encouraged.Read more
Emdee FineSounds very nice there, despite the flat surf. Drinking encouraged? Wouldn't be the drink sellers would it?
12/16/16Reply
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Day 21
Friday, December 16, 2016 at 10:35 AM
☁️ 26 °C
Altitude: 7 m
Ecuador Aeropuerto Simón Bolívar -2.15012, -79.884682°9’0” S 79°53’5” W
adios Montinita
December 16, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
After a week it was time to 'make like a deciduous tree and leave'.
A dodgy biology joke i know but it's ok because I am off to the Galapogus islands, the destination for biology nerds. Over the next 2 weeks i expect to meet loads of nerdy biologists and divers.

Montanita was a great place to spend a week and learn some Spanish. The lessons were hard core 4hrs a day. Unfortunately I never scored decent waves. I think I was unlucky and there really wasn't a lot of surf anywhere. The town had great food good, music and a great vibe similar to Byron. I did visit a church on a headland that was really nice open air great views of the beach. If you couldn't decided on a beach or church wedding this spot would tick both boxes.

We arrived at the airport today and our flight to San cristobal was cancelled. But we're able to fly to balta/ Santa Cruz so no biggie we hadn't booked accommodation and it will be slightly more convenient as we will start our cruise from there😎🤘
As usual the flight is delayed. That's 100% for South American Airlines 🤗Read more
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Day 22
Saturday, December 17, 2016 at 3:00 PM
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 8 m
Ecuador Mapasingue -2.1667, -79.92°10’0” S 79°54’0” W
Santa cruz, Galapogus
December 17, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
We spent 3 days in Santa Cruz before heading off on a boat cruise. From the moment you arrive nature hits you in the face. The island is dry around the edges but lush in the middle. As you drive across the island from the airport you get a good chance to see it. In the middle giant 150 yr old tortoises walk around. They are everywhere. After finding accomodation in Santa Cruz we went off to the Charles Darwin research center. It was good but we expected it to be bigger and more significant, however just walking around anywhere is fun as there are iguanas, sealions everywhere and loads of birds and sealife.
Over the 3 days we visited tortuga beach for a surf, snorkeled in a rift and snorkeled at issabella island. It was all very fun but we were pumped for our boat trip.Read more
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Day 25
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 8 m
Ecuador Mapasingue -2.1667, -79.92°10’0” S 79°54’0” W
boat life pt1
December 20, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
The boat tour started rather slow. Turns out the first stop is Santa Cruz which is where we have been for the last few nights.

We saw 2 massive volcanic creators, visited a tortoise ranch and walked through some lava tunnels.
There were 10 people on the boat and I was the second oldest ( not what we expected). Every one was very cool and I was the first to jump off the roof of the boat.

After driving through the night we arrived at st James Bay. We walked along the rocks for a while and wow. It's just amazing! Sea lions iguanas of all sorts and manta rays in the distance. What's amazing is that all the animals aren't worried about humans. You can find yourself very very close to everything. We even saw a shark attack a sealion. We then went snorkeling and were completely blown away. Sharks, turtles, fish and sealions. There were so many turtles you couldn't help but bump into them while swimming.

In the afternoon we had another beach walk at a different location and a snorkel at buccaneer Bay. Saw sharks and a eagle ray along with plenty of fish and sealions.Read more
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Day 26
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
⛅ 30 °C
Altitude: 8 m
Ecuador Mapasingue -2.1667, -79.92°10’0” S 79°54’0” W
boat life pt 2
December 21, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Woke up at st Bartholomew island. Hiked a volcano, saw a couple of penguins, did some posing with an amazing backdrop followed by a snorkel. We saw a bunch of sharks, fish etc and swam though some rock tunnels.
In the arvo we walked around a lava field while it's probably pretty boring the people we were with are a lot of fun and we enjoyed posing for funny photos. The Americans on the boat brought Santa hats for all (Cheers). As you might expect we had a snorkel followed by a huge dinner of lobster.Read more
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Day 27
Thursday, December 22, 2016
⛅ 26 °C
Altitude: 41 m
Ecuador San Cristóbal Airport -0.9078, -89.60710°54’28” S 89°36’26” W
Boat life pt 3
December 22, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Woke up at North Seymour island. It was an early start as some members of the cruise had flights to catch.
The island has loads of birds and actually some waves.
We saw Frigates which have an amazing red pouch that they inflate to attract females. We also saw Blue footed booby's which showed us their mating dance and caught sticks that we tossed in the air. We are told that this is how juveniles learn to fish.

It was another amazing place and once again I was blown away by the wildlife and how unafraid they are of humans.

We wrapped up the cruise and caught another boat to san cristobal island. This island has surf 🤘😎Read more
INA FINEDefinetly need south America, Galapagos specially on my list of places to visit. You have inspired me. Love and a happy travel Xmas.
12/23/16Reply
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Day 31
Monday, December 26, 2016 at 4:08 PM
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 11 m
Ecuador Shipwreck Bay -0.89897, -89.609230°53’56” S 89°36’33” W
San Cristobal, Galapogus
December 26, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
San Cristobal is an awesome island if you are a surfer. It's also a great place as it seems to be the upmarket island where everything is a little newer and obviously a little bit more expensive. (We did it pretty cheap)
When we arrived the surf was a little small so after 1 day we went to Kicker rock where I dived and Holly snorkeled. I was very excited to see a hammer head shark along with loads of white tip reef sharks, Galapogus sharks, turtles and tons of fish.
The last couple of days i have been surfing. The two spots include Cannons, a left hander on a navy base thats dangerously close to rocks and punta Carola a world class right point. Both waves are easy to access. Cannons had howling offshore while Carola was a little sideshore but up the face. I did score Carola with light winds by myself at 3+ feet which was magical.
Surfing with so much wildlife around is weird. I had a sealion bite my leash and often mistook the turtles and sealions for rocks or sharks.
The crowds were very minimal and waves were quality. All photos are from the small day before the swell picked up.
It's been an amazing place and we can't wait to see Peru.Read more
Emdee FineWow, The Galapogas look fantastic. We've survived Xmas. The chooks are going to another nice family today - I've had problems from their lice for months now and we don't seem to be able to live with them any more. Our new boat is great. Lovely new Tohatsu motor. Lots of love, Michael
12/26/16Reply
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Day 32
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 14 m
Ecuador San Eduardo -2.17617, -79.91352°10’34” S 79°54’49” W
Quayaquil
December 27, 2016 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
After 10 days in the Galapogus we left for Quayaquil where we had to spend a night before bussing it down to Peru.
I wouldn't recommend Quayaquil as a tourist destination but we gave it a Crack. We also saw the latest starwars movie (Will it ever end).Read more
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Day 33
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
🌫 0 °C
Altitude: 3 m
Peru Quebrada Camal -4.10103, -81.042854°6’4” S 81°2’34” W
Mancora
December 28, 2016 in Peru ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
Well we arrived around 1030pm so booked an air bnb and thee place was below par. We walked around the town and found a few bars all playing extremely loud music but nothing all that appealing. Reggaetonk is the main style but it's nothing like reggae. In the morning we decided to bail on Mancora as it felt very touristy in a b grade gold coast way.
We will head down to Lobitos.Read more
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Day 37
Sunday, January 1, 2017 at 7:03 PM
🌙 26 °C
Altitude: 8 m
Peru Punta Lobitos -4.45489, -81.285524°27’18” S 81°17’8” W
Lobitos and NYE
January 1, 2017 in Peru ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
Lobitos is a weird small town that seems to have a small oil industry and an epic surf spot. There are about 80 oil rigs in the distance (most are abandoned)
The surfing consists of two left hand point breaks and a third one 15min walk away. However we were skunked with the same old story. 'You guys really missed it. You should have been here yesterday'. Not quite true but you shouldn't let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Anyway we have surfed and kitesurfed every day and bigger waves are on the way. Last night was new years eve which was a fun little party. We hung out with some Argentinian friends and ended up dancing at a small bar on the beach playing a good selection of salsa and reggaetonk. We will head off in the next day or two.Read more
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