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9 months Sabbatical
  • Louis Le Poidevin
  • Hannah Clarkson
  • Louis Le Poidevin
  • Hannah Clarkson

9 months Sabbatical

September - October 2019 Read more
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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Lambai island exploring. Turtles galore.

    November 23, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    All finished breakfast by 9.10am! Maybe a heavy booze night makes you feel more awake in the morning. Will have to further test this theory.
    Straight to the north west corner to see a big ball rock thing called Vase rock. (Dad called it Chodyknobend rock). Did the usual Le Poidevin move of walking a further 10m to everyone else and having a bit of beach to yourself.
    Straight into the water for a dip. A strong current, lovely and warm water with Turtles everywhere. Great visibility. Lovely!
    Tried to find a cafe for a while along the coast. Eventually found a coffee shop which made an excellent tuna sarnie and latte float.
    Down to another beach for a glorious swim, so warm! Turtles and lion fish. Plus swarms of Chinese people all with life vests on, tied to their leader.
    We cruised down the East coast seeing the harbour and more tropical coast line. Everyone here drives motor bikes.
    Up to the 7-11 to pick up some more red wine and beers and back to the balcony for sunset and drone flying 😁.
    Curly fancied a pizza so we took the bikes along the coast road. Got lost a few times, I asked a random shop were the pizza shop might be and we got some rough directions. Found the Luna pizza van which did fantastic pizza, including a banana and chocolate one for dessert. Yes yes yes!
    She gave us some recommendations of what to do on the way home, including looking at flowers which only open at night and crab crossing. Half way to the flower place, my electric battery on my bike died. The bikes are very heavy, and not really suitable for just pedalling. We were not that far from the rental place, so I rode it back there. They then swapped all our batteries just in case.
    Loads of night time tourist groups on scooters seeing random sights on our way back. Like hells angels does 50cc tourism. Funny to see.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Lambai Island. South Side.

    November 24, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Started with a breakfast of chips and pancake with meat and veg. Curly couldn't hack it so made it her mission of the day to find fruit and flavoured ice.
    We set off toward a walking path with caves made of coral. Pleasant walk but with sharp pointy rocks. Drove to the East coast for more swimming with turtles. Quite strong tide, so we swam against it and drifted back. Dad found an 'octopus', was in fact a rock...
    Cycled to Black Devils Cave, where some Dutch were killed and their slaves freed to live amongst the rocks.
    Fantastic ice smoothy, and amazingly intricate wooden carvings. From there went to get some salad lunch and onward to the beach below our accommodation. Big swell coming in. Dad and I went out. I did some body surfing with the camera. You needed to line up with the rows of coral to avoid being sliced on the rocks. Cool and fairly sketchy.
    Back for a quick wash up and out to find some dinner.
    We cycled to a DIY BBQ. Loads of food in freezers, where you help yourself and cook it yourself. Almost certainly all got food poisoning now, but we will find out tomorrow 😝. Nice and tasty though, but all fully stuffed!    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Leaving Lambai Island

    November 25, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Another breakfast of chips but this time with an eggy bread sandwich - unsure of the filling. Then time to check out of the Campzone.
    Before heading to the ferry, we managed to sneak in a final attraction on the island, A boar trench. Then we took the scenic route to the Bike Rental and returned the bikes. Walked the short distance to the ferry terminal and realised there was an hour wait for the next ferry back to the mainland. Just enough time to squeeze in another quick snorkel at the beach next to the port.
    Then a speedy and relatively smooth crossing. Before picking the car up from the 24hr car park we wandered through a cool fish market, with all sorts of fresh and dried fish on offer.
    Finally back at the car and made a plan to head South! Found a place to stay a few towns away from the main tourist area. Checked into our accommodation which was all white and blue - very Mediterranean. Then got some lunch from the 7/11 and headed to the beach. Tried the famous bubble tea which was a bit weird. It turned out to be difficult to find a sheltered spot and we started to get sand blasted. So decided to drive to a nearby recommended deer park. Had a walk around the area and through the minor and major gorge and got a good view of the coast.
    On the way back we stopped for dinner at Smokey Joe’s, a chain of Asian tex-mex restaurants. Very tasty and a good atmosphere.
    Then back to the room for a beer and film! Great to have a comfy sofa in the room.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1

    The Southern most point of Taiwan

    November 26, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Woke up and as breakfast wasn’t included we got a selection of fruit and yogurt from 7/11 - our go to shop! Much healthier than our last few days breakfast.
    Decided to just head off and stop at any attractions along the way with no real plan and no end destination for now.
    First stop - the southern most point of Taiwan and a short walk to a viewing area.
    Second stop - lunch. A local restaurant with tasty rice, noodles, soup and Rog Pretty much had a plate of onions! Curly was adventurous and tried an asparagus juice - not as tasty as the food.
    Third stop - very much off the beaten track with Curly following a well mapped tip to a wild hot spring. We scrambled over some rocks and to the edge of the river to find a pool of hot water!
    Fourth stop - a random hotel with a hot spring. A bit of an eye sore from the outside but nice enough on the inside - especially for the price 8 quid a room. A quick dip in the hot spring and then to a traditional Aboriginal restaurant to try a selection of tasty meals.
    Before heading back to the room a quick stop off at 7/11 to pick up some post dinner sweet treats and tasty wine. Louis nearly stood on a snake on the way home - checked the picture online and turns out it was quite a dangerous one!    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Heading North up the East coast

    November 27, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Left our accommodation and headed towards a surf open, in search of some surfer dudes!
    On the way we stopped at a tourist attraction where the water in the stream appeared to flow upwards. Sampled some local fruit and coconut juice. Curly created some excitement by setting off the emergency alarm in the toilet thinking it was the flush.
    Found the surf competition and watched a few heats before heading off.
    Tried to find what we thought might be a sheltered bay for snorkelling but the winds were a little too high. Instead walked out and around the small island.
    We then made the long journey further North so we could wake up close to the Taroko Gorge.
    After some great driving by Louis we arrived at our accommodation at Manbo beach. Our rooms weren’t quite ready so we had a beer at the bar. The hosts provided lots of complimentary tasty snacks. After checking out our rooms we went back to the bar for a pizza and some more beers.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Birthday celebrations and a gorge

    November 28, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Woke up early to make sure we could get to the Taroko Gorge and access the hikes. Started with some presents for Rog and then a birthday breakfast on the beach!
    Checked out the tourist information centre to find out which walks would be possible. Turns out there were some nice trails with parking so we decided to start with them. Baiyang trail took us through the gorge with great views, dark tunnels and ending up at a water curtain where you could walk through some of the waterfall. Lots of Asian tourists offered us their poncho’s - even though we already had our waterproofs we put on the extra layer.
    Found a spot for a birthday picnic and a rest.
    Then attempted to find a wild hot spring - turned out to be quite a dangerous route down, which had been closed off to the public and we decided it was too risky so were sensible and gave it a miss.
    Instead found a short walk to see more of the Gorge and an opportunity to take some drone footage.
    As it was getting dark we drove back to our accommodation and went to the beach for birthday drinks and nibbles. Then back to the bar for more pizza, wine and beer!
    We then finished the night with drinks, cards and birthday cake on the terrace outside our rooms. Quite a lot of wine was consumed for the birthday celebrations.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Crayon day

    November 29, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Breakfast was not on the beach, so took a short walk and flew the drone before setting off towards the crayon factory. Had a brief stop off on the coast to take some photos. The whole East coast is steep sided, rugged and covered in rainforest type vegetation.
    Crayon factory was not quite what we expected with more of a make your own Crayon rather than where they actually manufacture them. We still had fun compression moulding our own crayons into the shape of Taiwan and painting our arms. After much debate we drove all the way to the North of Taipei to a hot spring area. They had a small hot spring in our chalet, so we all had a go in that.
    Then a meal in the empty restaurant. Much like chinese from home.
    They were playing Christmas songs, which didn't feel quite right, given it is so hot.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1

    Off to New Zealand

    November 30, 2019 in Taiwan ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Up for a nice breakfast of salad, sausage, egg and hash brown. They were playing christmas music, so I suppose that made it our Christmas day meal. No where near as full or pissed as usual for Christmas.
    We slimmed down our packs by handing a few Kg to Curly to take home.
    Started our Teddy tour with a car park walk, followed by another car park we couldn't even enter to get access to do a walk. We took the navigational reigns off him and went along to a small pond with a 3 min walking route. Lovely.
    We wanted to get a bit closer to the airport so started the stressful drive through the city. Too many bikes and merging lorries for my liking!
    Got to a rotating restaurant for lunch over looking the beach. Had some chinese tasting food, very nice. Made us all feel pretty dizzy, even though it was only rotating at 1 RPH.
    Made it back to the airport to handover the hire car.
    Few beers with the family to get rid of some coins and we were off to New Zealand!    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Auckland, New Zealand

    December 1, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Landed about 10.30am, declared our muddy shoes to the customs man, who then waved us quickly through. Took a free transfer to get our lucky camper. Home for the next 3 weeks. Self contained with shower, toilet and only 500,000 km on the clock.
    Picked ourselves up some bedding and costed up getting camping kit from a local shop called warehouse. We decided that hiring would be cheaper as and when needed.
    Scoffed a dirty burger and went to a very overdue laundry spot. I think the pants must have made their full way around the back to front, inside out, back to front inside out cycle. T shirts were becoming as my dad describes them 'full'.
    The air con was not working in our not so lucky camper so went back to the rental place to negotiate some money off. Money saved will pay for a few NZ wine tasting tours I'm sure. 🍾🍷
    Knackered, we went to the nearest campsite for showers and route planning. Since Hannah has been to New Zealand before she fell asleep, so I have now planned the whole route for the next 3 weeks. Whoop. Tomorrows first activity, camera shopping 😁.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Raglan, start of North Island. NZ.

    December 2, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Off and on the road by 9am. Had to try and track down a camera shop as my camera got damaged by a wave. First one reccomended we discuss with Canon directly and luckily they were just down the road. Very nice man with a lord of the rings dwarf beard said he would give me a note for insurance. Whoop.
    Admin done we started driving south towards Bride Veil Falls. A lovely 50m high waterfall, surrounded by lush vegetation. Weirdly, all around this spot the whole area looks like the green grass land from The Shire.
    After that we hit the coast and came across a dirt road going north. I fancied going to Raglan to see if we could hire some surf boards. The dirt road felt like it was going to shake the camper apart. Glad to get off it without a wheel falling off. Views along the cliff were amazing. It's like Cornwall on steroids.
    Found a spot from the local council website that was marked as permitted for camping. Went to the tourist info to confirm it was ok, and she said it was absolutely not ok. She had a meeting with the council the next day, so was glad we highlighted it.
    With a little bit of light remaining we walked along the beach to a fish and chip place. 10 dollars for flounder and chips. Bargain. Never had it before, easy big bones and tasty.
    Back to a different (and confirmed as safe) free camping spot for the night.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Glow worm caves

    December 3, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Got up and checked the surf. Bit of a mushy white wash with strong cross winds so decided to go for a different activity. We were fairly close to the Glow worm caves so booked into one of those with abseiling and black water rafting. Arrived a bit early and had some lunch. Quite quickly some mega wind and rain came through. Our van was a rockin. Got kitted up and headed down into the cave. Had an initial 27m abseil then walked into the caves. Big eels everywhere. About 100m in we stopped and turned off the lights. Amazing number of little blue lights from the glow worm bioluminescence. Just like looking up at the stars. Then floated back down the stream on inner tubes. Slightly tricky climb to get out again. Wasnt allowed to take my camera down 😫.
    By the time we got out, the weather had cleared up. We booked in for a 3 day rafting trip down the Wanganui river with a company that Curly reccomend. Drove towards there and stopped off in a free camp site, 20 mins down the road for the night.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Wanganui river - 3 day journey

    December 4, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Day 1
    6am start for the canoe trip so we were up at 5.20 to drive to the start. Looks like most people are not on time, so the lady was pleasantly surprised we were there. Got a nice bit of home made honey and toast and a cup of tea, followed by a safety briefing. Which basically said it is quite likely that you will fall out of the Canadian style canoe.
    We packed our belongings for 3 days, plus hired camping stuff, into 6 waterproof barrels and we loaded into a bus to be taken to where we would join the river.
    An hour an a half later we were at the start. The Wanganui river goes all the way to the coast but we opted for the 3 day 2 night version. We were first ready and after a brief check that we knew what we were doing we were off.
    Glorious sunshine, some fun grade 2 rapids and an amazing steep sided tropical valley.
    Did some paddling, a lot of sitting and watching the fern trees and tropical jungle float by.
    Had lunch whilst floating and about 4pm landed at the first Department of Conservation camp site. A charming couple were there to greet us. It is only accessible by jet boat and they are there volunteering for a week, before the next set of people take over.
    Met a few people as they paddled in in drips and drabs. Almost all of them were walking the length of NZ, from the north to the south. One lady was running it! Doing a marathon a day. Mental.
    With Sand Flies eating every bit of exposed skin even with the 95% deet we retired for the night.

    Day 2
    Rain on the tent woke us up. Uggghh. We Waited about 30 mins but it still was not stopping so we got up anyway. Most people had left or were already leaving.
    We packed up the tent in between showers and got on the river. Had breakfast whilst floating. Made it to a stop off where you can do a 40 min walk to a bridge called Bridge to Nowhere. Nice walk with only a few people on it. At the end a concrete bridge built by 4 guys in a couple of years. Now not very well used.
    Back on the river we had a few breaks in the showers so managed to get the drone up. Made you realise how far away from civilisation we were. If you wandered off from the river, you would never be found.
    Got down to our private campsite (cheaper than the DOC one, which was fully booked) Full water proofs on, not from the rain but from the sand flies. Nasty bastards.
    They had a bar, so walked up the hill to find amazing views and a fridge full of cold beers. Lovely.
    Back down to play some cards and chat with some of the others. Having pizza bread dipped in beans. Tssk, ohh sir.

    Day 3
    On the river by about 7.45am as we needed to be at the pick up point by 1.30.
    The guides said that there was some mega rapids on the last day. So was quite looking forward to them. Pretty exciting when we did hit them with the boat 1/4 filling with water. Tempting to run them again, but did a drone whilst others went through to see if there were any capsizers. No luck.
    Made it to the pickup point and was greeted by a chocolate muffin. After an hour and a half drive, with views of mount doom, we were reunited with the van. Good little adventure.
    Next step, onwards towards the Tongariro crossing.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Tama lake walk

    December 7, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We were due to do the Tongariro crossing. Our bus was meant to leave at 4.50 which meant a very early 4.15am start for breakfast and faffing.
    Got to the bus and the driver gave us the low down for the day. He said that it was 80% likely that we would see nothing due to cloud and that it would be a minus 8 wind chill with 60kph wind gusting 80.
    He asked if anyone wanted to get off the bus and try another day.
    One brave couple put up their hands, which then allowed the rest of us to also do the same. In the end, everyone got off the bus.
    Instead he recommended the Tama lake walk, still 6 hours but not as high up, so better weather. He suggested we go straight away, as we were already up.
    So we fought off the urge to go back to bed and drove to the start of the walk. We were on the trail by 5.30am. It was a lot like Dartmoor, cold, windy and only about 40m visibility from mist and cloud.
    We only saw another 2 couples all the way to the top.
    As we got to the top, the clouds started to part and we got some sunshine. Still very windy on the high ridge with great views over the upper and lower lakes.
    Very slippery underfoot from the small volcanic round stones.
    The weather got better and better as we walked back to the town where the camper was parked. Once back we made a plan to head to lake Taupo about an hour north. As the weather was still not looking good enough to do the crossing for the next few days. 15 mins in and it was bed time! Couldn't stay awake so we both had a nap in the back for an hour.
    Cruised up to the main town to find a non existent camera shop and then found a campervan site on the edge of the lake for wine, noodles and an early night.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Jet boat on Waikato river - Taupo

    December 8, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The weather forecast suggested today was going to be a wash out, with heavy rain, high winds and thunderstorms. So we had researched some wet weather activities.
    Activity number one - speeding through the rapids on Waikato river. We headed to the information centre for the best deal we had found and got booked on the 10am jet boat trip. We quickly drove to the centre and got kitted out in our waterproofs and life jackets. Turned out we had the boat all to ourselves, which was great! He said we seemed like we had the common sense to hold on so he was happy for Louis to take his GoPro and capture some videos of our 35 minutes of high speed river fun.
    The guy stopped a few times to give some facts about the river but Louis was more interested in the facts about the boat - 100k to buy the boat, we reached speeds of 90kph and it typically burns 2l a min of fuel 😳.
    After an epic way to really wake up in the morning we headed to Lava glass and watched some glass mushrooms being produced and heard a little about the process.
    We then went to take a look at Huka falls, an impressive and powerful flow of water heading down the river.
    Then to avoid a down pour we popped into Huka Honey hive and tried a selection of local honey and alcohol - very tasty.
    We decided then to go and watch the Aratiatia Dam open it’s flood gates, which it does 4 times a day. We got to see the river fill up in minutes, pretty cool And back in the van before the next thunderstorm too - great timing.
    While there was a pretty heavy downpour we drove out to the thermal spa - a wild hot spring alongside the river. Unfortunately, the recent downpours meant the spring was a little cooler than normal so we just dipped our feet.
    Then the only way to end a rainy day, a trip to an old school cinema to watch Frozen 2.
    We even squeezed in some Sunday night admin, working out the dump stations and getting the van in order before heading back to the lake to set up camp for the night.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Taupo by pirate boat

    December 9, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    No real plans today, after yesterday where we managed to cram in loads.
    Our first stop was to book the Tongariro crossing for tomorrow at the tourist office.
    We went to the moon crater walk but was closed for filming.
    So booked a sailing boat to see some rock carvings. The boat also included beer and pizza. 😁. Had a very knowledgeable lady at the helm who told us all about local volanology info. Apparently the lake is a super volcano, which is well overdue.
    Very relaxing and informative.
    Did a small amount of shopping followed by sitting on the beach on the lake side. I think this is probably the first time in 2 months we have actually stopped and done nothing for over an hour.
    Got to the campsite and got onto the high ridge with a great view. The lady next to us got very arsey about us spoiling her view, even though we were well out of her way. She also had words with anyone else who parked near us. She then proceeded to spend most of the evening on the bench by the beach. Some people must just enjoy being angry.
    With a 5.20am start tomorrow morning we started to get all our hiking gear ready and made some food. Then watched the sunset whilst having some wine.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Tongariro crossing. 20km of epic walking

    December 10, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Up at 4.45am. Scrubbed the teeth and shovelled some coco pops down. Took our packs to the side of the main road for our bus which was due to arrive at 5.20am. The forecast was for wall to wall blue sky, and it was exactly that. A perfect day for doing the 20km Tongariro crossing. We started the trail at 7am.
    The hike is relatively easy with a few steep parts thrown in. Passed Mount Doom from the lord of the rings on the way up. Then onwards to a big plateau, a red crater, emerald lakes and a blue lake.
    The decent down after the red crater was fairly tricky with slippy little pumice rocks underfoot which were nice and round, perfect for rolling your feet on.
    The last 2 hours were down a gentle slope leading into a forest. Back by 2pm.
    Made it down and got straight onto the first bus which was there. This dropped us back at the campervan and then we headed straight to Napier on the east coast. Napier is a wine making area, so I wonder what the activity for the next few days will be.
    Easy drive, picked up some steak, mushrooms and creamed corn for dinner. This was way more hassle than it was worth in such a confined cooking space, made more difficult by the fact that we ran out of water whilst Hannah was having a shower. Making washing up a bit tricky.
    Legs feeling tired we were ready for bed by 9. A good walking day.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Tolkien's favourite words.Cellar Door...

    December 11, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Actions speak louder than words, so we visited 5 today.
    Went briefly to Napier to get some info from the Tourist Info about where to rent bikes. Found the perfect spot right next to a campervan site. Hired some bikes and set off for some wine tasting.
    Consisting of:
    1) Clearview - very tasty.
    2) Elephant hill - alright wine, better setting.
    3) Black Barn - good chips and cheese.
    4) Te Mata - lost count of how many we had and convinced the lady serving we hadn't had enough.
    5) Akarangi - very clever Psychologist chap asking lots of big worded questions to Hannah.

    The area is famed for Chardonnay and Syrah. The Syrahs were not to my liking, but some of the Chardonnays were nice.
    Got back to our campsite to find a load of people parked around our van. Guy came over to let us know they were gathered for someone who had just passed away. Didn't mind us being in the middle, which is good since we were in no fit state to drive, just checking we weren’t being too disturbed.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Steak, wine, art

    December 12, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Had a slightly later start, as the party around our camper continued until the early hours of the morning. With rain forecast and no clear plan, we drove to Te Mata viewpoint, which gives panoramic views over Hawkes bay. On the way up we stopped at a Honey farm, to top up the breakfast with a few varieties of Honey.
    On to the tourist office to see if they had any art galleries to view. One called crab farm was both a winery and art studio, so we headed for that. Very nice 3 mini wines tasted, a steak sandwich shared, and art gallery visited we headed north towards Taupo and Rotorua. We stopped at campsite on a lake. Gloriously warm, but quite a few insects. Hannah has been on a non stop ichathon with over 40 bites on her legs. So was not keen to stay outside for long.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Maori cultural village

    December 13, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Started the day with a trip to Wai-O-Tapu. An active area with sulphur smells, hot and multi coloured lakes.
    They have a fake geizer which they pour soap into and it erupts. After an hour and a half of walking around we had seen the sights to headed towards Rotarua and the I site information center. They said the best thing to do would to see a Maori cultural visit.
    I still had not managed to get a new camera after mine got damaged, so found some big camera shops and picked one up. Whoop. Gave the old one to Hannah, as I'm nice like that 😁
    We checked out the free campsites and none had any spaces, so had to check into a proper campsite. At least in could get all 12 gadgets on charge and cram in some admin.
    With the Maori pickup at 6.20 we tried to do some quick laundry. Frustratingly the driers were totally ineffective so we had to leave all our clothes in there, whilst we set off on the bus to the Maori Tamaki village.
    Village was cool with an intro to the culture and the Haka. Quite interactive followed by a big feast. With the number of people there, they must be making a killing! Got back to the campsite to run the drier a few more times before bed.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Hobbiton - from Lord of the Rings

    December 14, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Well what a day!
    Started going round a market and picked up some coffee and pastries. Our tour around Hobbiton wasnt until 3.20pm so we had plenty of time to do some activities. Decided on a giant redwood forest walk. Huge trees and a very tranquil walk. A few pools which were filled with vegetation but were still crystal clear. Must be the volcanic area making it super acidic so nothing can grow in it..?
    Hannah worked out half way round that she had been there before. She found a photo of exactly the same clear pool 🙄. It hasn't changed in 7 years.
    From there off to Hobbiton. We (mostly I) listened to the Fellowship - lord of the rings movie on the radio to get into the spirit of it.
    Arrived and were taken on a tour around the movie set. Amazing area, 40 odd hobbit holes scattered around the valley. Saw one of the most expensive props ever made. A fake tree above Bilbo's house, with thousands of individually attached leaves.
    We walked through hobbiton, to the Green Dragon pub, where we had a cider and an ale and got to sit overlooking a lake and the party tree. Glorious.
    With the tour done and an ice cream had, we set off North. I'd planned in a stop to the highest waterfall in the north island. We stopped and walked 45mins to the lower viewpoint. A bit covered by bushes, but still a very impressive waterfall. Managed to sneak in a bit of drone time as well.
    With it starting to get darker we headed towards our campsite. I turned the lights on.... nothing. Ugh ohh. With about 20mins to go, driving on the main highway, we were going along with only side lights. Managed to stay close to a van so could see where we were going. The last 100m we turned off and drove by the light of the hazard lights. See for a bit, stop, see for a bit stop. Safe and sound, time for a plate of spaghetti with sausages!    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1

    Heading north

    December 15, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Woke up in the car park campsite that we had to ourselves. Decided the view wasn’t good enough to accompany our breakfast so we took a short drive to a nearby bay, parked up and enjoyed a waterfront view to start the day.
    Then headed further north to a surf spot. Lovely beach and some good surf but unfortunately there was a surf life saving competition on so the rental shops were closed. We watched a few rounds of kids competing and when the wind picked up we headed back to the van to explore trip advisor.
    Top of the list and close by was karangahake gorge so we set off. We arrived as it started to rain so I had a little nap and Louis did some admin. When the sun came out again we did a walk through the gorge and a tunnel that was running through a section, quite cool.
    We were then on the road again and heading further north to some free camping spots. The Lord of the rings movie has been the soundtrack for our past few journeys, with Louis reciting most of the film!
    We found the free camping spot, which had a great view of the beach. Next to us was a walk to a 360 view of the area which was well worth the climb. Some pretty impressive houses too.
    Back to the van for a shower, beer, pasta while we wait for sunset.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Cathedral cove and Hot Beach

    December 16, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Parked up and started our walk to Cathedral cove. An archway in the rock about an hour walk from the car park. Very nice beach if a bit crowded. I went for a swim with some big dumpy waves. Great fun.
    After we got back we decided to drive to hot water beach, where you can dig down into the sand and get to mega hot water from the geothermal activity below. We stood around some holes which other people had dug and pounced on a big one which other people were leaving. Sat around for about an hour, watching people dig in the wrong spots only to find cold water and also people wandering into a clear patch, only to find the water was scalding on the feet. Lots of aggh in different languages. Hannah got out and one side of my puddle was instantly pounced on by a family. Time for me to leave as well I think.
    With our lights still not fixed on the van, we headed for the Village of Thames before it got dark.
    Got an amazing spot overlooking the sea for the evening.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1

    Rainy day

    December 17, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    The forecast was for big rain, so the plan was Gold Mine, followed by Cheese Factory.
    Gold mine was run by an old engineer. Told us all about how the Cornish used to mine in the area for bullion-gold and silver. Very cool process and proper industrial engineering from the 1940s. This included a walk around an old mine shaft. I think I would be too tall to be a miner.
    Off to the cheese factory. This turned out to be more of a cheese shop, with only a tiny factory behind that you could not go into. So had some cheese with more cheese for lunch. Brielliant.
    After 30mins on trip advisor, we conclude that there was nothing to do in the local area, so headed to auckland to go round their art gallery. Not much to my taste apart from some very realistic Maori portraits from 100 years ago. A lot of the other stuff looked like a drunk child could have done it.
    Booked into a campsite close by, the proceeded to sit in Auckland traffic for 30 mins. Rush hour is rubbish!
    Made it to the place and got ourselves prepped for Waiheke island tomorrow.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Waiheke Island - wine tour

    December 18, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Got up to more rain. Decided to stay at the same campsite again so managed to leave the van there whilst we headed off on the bus to Auckland and the ferry onto Waiheke Island. Super windy day, but the fast cat was heading at about 30 knots, wind straight behind so it felt completely still air at the back watching Auckland go by.
    Landed on Waiheke and boarded our hop on hop off vineyard tour bus. Today was going to be a day of wine tasting.
    We visited:
    Wild - 5 for $15. 6/10
    Stonyridge 3 for $15. 4/10
    Te Motu - 5 glasses. 7/10 And accidentally purchased 2 bottles, as they said tasting fees would be waived. I thought he meant both tasting fees (20 each). Unfortunately not, so ended up spending more than we should have on 2 bottles of tasty wine. Christmas prezzies.
    Alibi brewing - selection of beers and ciders. 6.5/10
    Batch - 3, plus a mammoth sized pavlova plus ice cream for $30. 7/10
    Couldn't even finish the pavlova it was so huge.
    By this time everything was closing down, so no more tasting.
    Bussed back to the main town and walked to our backpacker lodge. Lots of drunk 18 year olds around. We couldn't be bothered to chat to or open any of our bottles, so chilled out in the comfy room.    Read more

  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Waiheke Island - day 2 wine and beach

    December 19, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Up and out to walk to get ourselves some breakfast. Found a coffee shop called Found and had a pastry and a coffee. I got my hair trimmed whilst Hannah had a second coffee.
    Just about ready for some more wine tasting we took a hop on hop off bus towards the north coast beach called Onetangi. Glorious beach with a few restaurants overlooking the water.
    25 min walk along the beach took us to the first vineyard called Capita miro - 5 for $15. 6.5/10. Bean bags outside on the grass. Very Mediterranean vibe.
    A 5 min stroll through the vines brought us to Obsidian - 4 for $15. 5/10
    Tastings done we went back for lunch at the highly recommended Three Seven One restaurant. Had a fab lunch including deep fried cabbage and a few glasses of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Then proceeded to soak up some rays for a few hours on the beach.
    Got one of the last hop on hop off buses to the ferry. Windy trip back to Auckland.
    Back on dry land we did a small bit of Christmas shopping. Didn't find anything fun. Then off to the Sky tower. Hannah wasnt mega keen as had been up before, but we got a nice views and sunset when we got up to the top.
    Got to the bottom and just missed our bus. So had to wait around for 30 mins. Made it back to the van and finished off the last bits of food we had.    Read more

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