Around the World

4月 2017 - 1月 2018
  • Simon and Blake
Simonによる282日間のアドベンチャー もっと詳しく
  • Simon and Blake

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  • Dunedin

    2017年8月19日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    After a lazy breakfast we headed into the centre of Dunedin for a day of exploring. Dunedin is a strange city and reminds me of a cross between Plymouth and Bristol. Like Bristol, there are a lot of Victorian buildings and graffiti but then driving into the centre I felt like I was driving into Plymouth, very strange. It was also really quiet and there was hardly anyone around considering it was a Saturday. We later found out that it was because it was the day that people roll Jaffas down the steepest street in Dunedin so that may explain it (we are also completely gutted that we missed this). More about this coming up in a later post.

    We found a graffiti arts map in one of the leaflets we picked up so we set off in search of the various pieces. Some of them were incredible! After a picnic lunch on the Octagon which is in the centre, we had a look around the art gallery as it was free. There was some very strange art in there and I'm not going to lie I didn't really understand any of it.

    Our next stop was the railway station which is apparently one of the most photographed railway stations in the world so thought it would be worth a look. After marvelling at its grandeur and a quick snap we headed back to the van and parked up for the evening in a pub car park (which we were allowed to do may I add). This worked out particularly well for Simon as the All Blacks were playing Australia and this particular pub was showing the match so after dinner we headed into the pub for a pint and to watch the ruggers. Simon really enjoyed the game and I particularly enjoyed the free wifi the pub had to offer!
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  • Day 2 - Dunedin

    2017年8月20日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    After our latest night so far watching the All Blacks smash Australia we were in no rush to get up. It was also raining pretty bad so we decided to just get some shopping done and visit a dump station. We were also out of Netflix downloads so naturally we went to McDonalds, grabbed a couple of cheeseburgers and fries and sat there for over an hour on a download mission.

    Whilst tucking into our cheeseburgers we decided that as we had no rainy day activities on the list for Dunedin that we would park up the van at the beach spot from the first night and binge watch the Netflix we had just downloaded. We had a late lunch and then made ourselves a very comfy bed and that's where we stayed until we went to sleep. Due to the very late lunch we weren't feeling that hungry so dinner was a packet of Doritos and some salsa. A super lazy day but one that is needed every once in a while.
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  • Dunedin - Oamaru

    2017年8月21日, ニュージーランド ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    We found some cheap tickets for the Cadbury tour so thought that it would be rude not to go! The price to pay for them being so cheap is that we had to be there at 8:50am so it was a very early start.

    I knew this tour would be good when no sooner had it started we were given a little bag with some free chocolate! Our tour guide started by talking about the main chocolate bars that this particular factory makes and considering the chocolate addict that I am, I hadn't heard of hardly any of them! This is because the majority of what they make here doesn't even leave New Zealand. Their speciality are Jaffas which are a firm Kiwi favourite and apparently inspired by our Jaffa cakes. They don't look anything like a Jaffa cake though as they are round chocolate balls covered in a red candy, orange flavoured coating. They also specialise in marshmallow bars which include the 'Perky Nana' a banana marshmallow covered in chocolate, the 'Pinky' a strawberry marshmallow covered in caramel and chocolate and then the 'Chocolate Fish' which is a fish shaped marshmallow covered in chocolate. These Kiwis sure like their marshmallow. By the end of the tour we had a selection of these chocolates to try and if I'm honest marshmallow is completed overrated. If I have a chocolate bar and the majority of it is fluffy marshmallow I feel a bit cheated! Think I'll stick to the hard stuff.

    Our first stop was the sensory station. After a quick explanation of how Cadburys make their chocolate we were handed a small plastic cup and were let loose on the liquid chocolate train! It was only around 9:30am and we hadn't long had breakfast but that didn't stop us. You could choose from melted white, milk and dark chocolate and then choose some toppings to put on the top. We both went for half white and half milk chocolate with a sprinkling of pretzels! Whilst we were tucking into the chocolatey goodness a lady showed us how they tempered the chocolate to give it its shine. Our guide then took us to see the special machines (sugar pans) that coat the Jaffas and gave us a little packet to take home! This is where we also learnt that we missed the famous Cadbury Jaffa Race which is where 25,000 Jaffas are numbered and rolled down the steepest street in Dunedin (and the world). The owners of the first five Jaffas to reach the bottom win a prize.

    On the way into the factory we passed a giant purple silo which was our next and final stop. Here we got to see a ridiculously large 28 meter high chocolate fountain which, if nothing else was pretty cool to watch.

    After the tour we were still feeling very disappointed that we missed the Jaffa Race, so we decided to drive to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world to check it out. Well all I can really say is, it's a bloomin steep street that we felt obliged to walk up. At the very least I thought it may help burn off the significant amount of chocolate I had already eaten that morning. On the way up we could see the remnants of the many Jaffas that hadn't made it to the bottom of the hill. As we had been given a packet of Jaffas we thought that it would be rude not to roll one down the hill (only one mind as it is chocolate after all and we don't want to waste them). We watched it bounce down the hill, rebound off the curb and then land in someone's garden. We took that as our cue to walk back down the ridiculously steep hill and head back to the van.

    Turns out that you can achieve a lot in a day if you get up really early so as it still wasn't even midday and the sun was shining we headed over to the Otago Peninsula for a scenic drive along Portobello Road. It was a gorgeous drive. At the end we stopped for some lunch before heading back to Dunedin via Allan's Beach to see if we could spot some seals. On our short stroll along the beach we passed two seals sunbathing on the sand. They weren't bothered by us at all and were happily napping in the sun. They were pretty cute and it was cool to see them so close.

    Now on our Cadbury tour, the guide mentioned that the All Blacks were playing Australia on Saturday in Dunedin so after hours of pondering we decided to head to the ticket office to see if we could get tickets. It does involve keeping the van for an extra night and tickets are nearly $100 each but when else are we going to get to see the All Blacks play in New Zealand! We will just have to do a lot of Woofing (volunteering in exchange for accommodation and meals) when we get to Australia. The joy on Simons face when he came running back from the ticket office with two tickets was a picture!

    We then made our way to Oamaru which is around an hour north of Dunedin so that we could have a full day of exploring the next day.
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  • Oamaru

    2017年8月22日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    I was really excited about Oamaru. Not only is it supposed to be a quirky Victorian, steampunk town but it is also the home of the little Blue Penguin colony. We started the morning with a wander up and down the main streets, past the old Victorian buildings, popping into quirky vintage shops and galleries on the way.

    After lunch we wandered down along the harbour, past hundreds of cormorants that were nesting on one of the old wooden docks. We then popped into the Blue Penguin colony to buy our tickets to watch the penguins return home from their long day at sea. The viewing wasn't until 6pm so we walked up to a viewing point where you could see out over Oamaru.

    At the i-site we had visited in the morning, the lady had said that we may be able to see some Yellow-Eyed Penguins if we headed out to Bushy Beach. We had a few hours to kill so we headed out there and hid in a hide for around an hour. There were a few seals on the beach but no penguins so we made our way back to the main town in time for the Blue Penguin viewing. Even if there had been some Yellow-Eyed Penguins, it would have been very difficult to see them without binoculars as we were so far away from the beach.

    The Blue Penguin reserve had around 350 nesting boxes that the penguins used. They were completely wild but the reserve was a safe place for the penguins to call home. For the viewing, we were seated by the edge of the sea so that we could see the penguins come out of the sea, climb out on the rocks and head back to their homes after a very long day fishing out at sea. Whilst we were waiting for the first penguins to come home we were given some penguin facts. They wait off shore and then swim in together as a raft so we were very excited when we saw the first group swim in. Blue Penguins are only 30cm tall so they are pretty tiny. It was so cute to watch them clamber up the rocks and then run into the reserve. There they would congregate under the walkway and prune themselves. In total we saw around 100 penguins come back in around 4 separate groups. Unfortunately we weren't able to take any photos. This is because if the penguins get scared they won't come home. There were a couple of fur seals asleep on the rocks where the penguins climbed out. The seals don't eat penguins but they don't know that so some of them took a long time to sneak past them. I could of sat and watched them for hours however after around an hour and a half the viewing was over.
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  • Oamaru - Akaroa

    2017年8月23日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Our water was low and the waste pretty full as we hadn't been to a dump station the previous day so after breakfast we decided to go to the local swimming pool for a wash. For $5 each we had a nice sit in the jacuzzi for 15 minutes and a normal sized unlimited hot water shower.

    We then made our way to the Steampunk HQ which is another one I'd been pretty looking forward to. The lady explained that steampunk is a futuristic idea of what life could have been like if electricity had never been invented and everything still rain on steam power. It is often based around 19th century Victorian England which is why it fits in so well in Oamaru. To me it's just cool stuff made of junk but I love it! We were also told to look out for a couple of interactive bits, in particular a time portal in the second room. This steam punk collection also revolved a little around a skull theme which with the low light light was actually pretty trippy. Especially when you think the other person is behind you only to spin round and see one of these things staring at you.

    The first interactive piece was a pipe organ however each key was a different sound bite of music, voices or noises. It definitely kept us entertained for much longer than it should have. In the second room, we made our way to the time portal. This was a small mirrored room which had hundreds of lights hanging from the ceiling. Once you pressed the red button we were mesmerised by a 2 and a half minute light and music show. It was so incredible that when it stopped we instantly pressed the button so that we could watch it again. Blake could have quite happily stayed in there all day! Out in the yard were some bigger pieces. A giant tricycle made mostly from an old tractor was one of my favourites along with a fisherman sat on top the roof.

    We then decided to make our way up towards Christchurch as we want to spend a few days there before heading back down for the rugby in Dunedin. The weather looks great for the next couple of days so we have decided to head to Banks Peninsula first which is on the coast behind Christchurch. Here they have some good walks and wildlife cruises that we may check out in the morning.
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  • Akaroa - Christchurch

    2017年8月24日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Akaroa is a small French settlement town around 90 minutes out of Christchurch on the Banks Peninsula. The Peninsula is formed by the 2 volcanoes that sit on it. It's a pretty little town sporting all things French. In the morning we had a wander through the village and along the harbour to a lighthouse before making our way to Christchurch.

    We took the scenic route out to Christchurch which took a bit longer however the views were incredible. The sun was shining as well so it was a really nice drive. We found a free camping spot just outside of Christchurch in a town called Lyttelton, on the edge of the Banks Peninsula where we parked up for the evening. It took a while to find the right spot as there wasn't a single sign in sight. If you park in the wrong spot you can end up with a $200 on the spot fine but in the end we made an educated guess and fortunately didn't run into any problems.
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  • Christchurch - Hanmer Springs

    2017年8月25日, ニュージーランド ⋅ 🌙 37 °C

    For our day in Christchurch we got some hop on hop off tickets for the tram. It's a great way to explore the city and hopping on and off the tram meant we could jump off and explore. The tram driver also gives you some information about the city as he drove around. There were 3 trams in service today and we happened to hop not only the oldest and prettiest tram but the same tram that Prince Harry rode when he visited.

    Christchurch itself was very badly damaged back in the 2011 earthquake and is still recovering. The city is full of construction workers and the majority of the buildings are covered in scaffolding. According to the tram driver there are a few stores due to open up soon however they still have a very long way to go. I didn't expect the city to have so much building work still going on 6 years later. We passed a very moving memorial to the 185 people that lost their life in the earthquake. It was 185 empty white chairs and each chair pays tribute to a particular individual. We also went to the see the Cardboard Cathedral, the roof of which is made out of huge cardboard tubes and again was built post quake.

    We decided to make the Botanical Gardens our first stop on the tram. We passed people punting on the river and walked past lots of daffodils and snowdrops. After a short stroll (as Simon was bored of gardens by this point) we walked down to the art gallery as the tram driver had recommended going to see the Len Lye exhibit. The exhibit focuses on sound, light and motion and it was actually pretty good. There were around 8 pieces in total, some of which only moved at certain time intervals. A few of them were huge fibre optic tubes which moved around, not dissimilar to the smaller version I had as a kid. One of them was red and yellow and when it moved it resembled fire.

    After the exhibition, we headed to the Re:start Mall. Because of the earthquake, the majority of the retail shops were damaged so they created a new mall out of shipping containers. It's pretty cool and they have lots of different food places, a bit like Whapping Wharf in Bristol. We then hopped back on the tram to continue our tour of the city, getting off at New Regent Street. The street was built in the 40's entirely in the Spanish Mission style. There was also a delicious gelato shop which we may have walked into by accident and came out with some to die for salted caramel ice cream and some fudge and peanut butter concoction that was also delicious.

    For the evening we had bought tickets to the spa and pools in Hanmer Springs which were around 90 minutes north of Christchurch, so after our ice cream we headed out. Whilst it was freezing outside, the hot pools were lovely and hot. From sulphur pools, to mineral pools, we spent a nice hour or so relaxing before heading to a nearby free spot to camp for the evening and rustling up some tuna and pasta.
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  • All Black Vs Wallabies

    2017年8月26日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    After a relaxing evening in the spa last night we awoke realising we had a very long drive in front of us. Hanmer Springs to Dunedin would be at least 6 hours of driving plus a stop for lunch and a 'must visit' bookshop that was en route.

    Blake took the first stint and drove a respectable 3 hours. I started out well being co pilot only to fall asleep for about an hour. I woke up just in time to get the map out and realise we were minutes from Chertsey Book Barn. We had read about the Book Barn in the Campermate app and it was like nothing we had seen before. There must have been thousands of books in there. As well as on shelves there were boxes and boxes of books stacked all over the place. The gaps between were very narrow so you had to weave in and out of the books. There were some very serious book readers in there with printed pick lists but to be honest I think that's the way to do it. There are so many books it's hard to choose.

    Back on the road we finally made it to Dunedin in time for some left over chilli before walking to the stadium. As we got closer to the stadium the streets became more and more packed and the atmosphere was rising. We knew after last weeks game we were in for a treat. We got to the stadium and caught the end of the warmup. There was also a mass of empty seats in front of us which were filled by some very wasted kids who I don't think caught much, if any of the game. We stood for the national anthems and away we went. Unfortunately the Haka was performed facing the opposite end from us but it was still incredible to watch live. The big screens meant we saw what Australia would be seeing.

    The game kicked off and it wasn't long before Australia intercepted a pass and scored the first try just in front of us. A lot of NZ fans around us were slightly in shock. Not long after the restart Oz were looking hot and scored another two tries! 0-17 from the visitors and we had a serious game on our hands! It was close throughout and only won by NZ in the closing minutes to leave it 35-29.
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  • Dunedin - Christchurch

    2017年8月27日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We had to get the van back in Christchurch by 3pm and we wanted to drop our stuff off at the Airbnb beforehand so we set our alarms for 6am. We eventually managed to drag ourselves out of bed and were on the road by 7:30am. I did the first 3 hours and then Simon took over after lunch. It wasn't all plain sailing though. We had to return the van with a full tank of diesel and we knew there was a cheap garage in Ashburton. We therefore didn't really want to fill up beforehand but we were running low on fuel. Around 80km from Ashburton the petrol tank read around 86km to empty. We therefore decided to risk it for a biscuit and soldiered on but I can tell you now that was a silly plan. Around 40km out of Ashburton, the gauge started decreasing dramatically and before we knew it we had less than 25km to empty. At this point we quickly googled the nearest petrol station which was 12km, crossed our fingers and headed in that direction. Around 9km from the garage the gauge went to empty and not long after that the van started to struggle! We were in the middle of nowhere and we definitely weren't going to make it. We carried on until the van cut out altogether. Now despite paying the zero excess waiver, if you break down because you're a muppet and run out of fuel you have to cover all the recovery costs yourself. As if by luck though, we happened to break down outside one of the only houses for miles around where there was a chap sat in the garden. Simon went in to see if he could give us a ride to the station and he very kindly agreed. He even had a jerry can which was last filled up with diesel. Someone was looking out for us today! I'm so pleased as 9km was a very long way to walk and even then we probably wouldn't be able to buy a jerry can. Simon went off with the chap in his truck whilst I stayed with the van. It then wasn't long until we were on our way again. Fortunately, we didn't run into any more hiccups and we made it to Christchurch in time to pack up our things, empty the van and drop our bits off at the Airbnb.

    And that marks the end of our journey in the campervan which we fondly named Clifford or Cliff for short. It has been a love, hate relationship but he did us well on our 6,899 km adventure around New Zealand.
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  • Christchurch

    2017年8月28日, ニュージーランド ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Sleeping in a normal bed for the first time in 6 weeks was heavenly. For once we didn't wake up with sore hips and shoulders. We also woke up to a continental breakfast laid out on the table of muesli, cornflakes and toast, a much welcomed change to porridge. Our Airbnb hosts, Chris and Andrew, were kind enough to let us leave our bags at there house as our flight to Melbourne wasn't until 9pm. This gave us another full day to explore the last bits of Christchurch that we didn't manage to do on our last visit. We hopped on the bus and made our way to the botanical gardens as we knew our way to a few stops from there.

    Our first stop was the Art Gallery again as we only managed to see one exhibition last time. It just so happened that we managed to get there 10 minutes before 'Blade' from the Len Lye section would come to life. It only comes to life once a day and we had missed it on our last visit so we went to watch that first. We then wandered around the next floor until we'd had enough and were on our way. When we last visited Re:start we had discovered lots of food stalls which looked and smelt amazing so we headed there for lunch. There was lots to choose from but I went for a spicy lamb souvlaki from the Lebanese truck and Blake went for a falafel platter.

    Once lunch was done we went in search of the dance mat and giant arcade game. Since the 2011 earthquake, a creative urban regeneration initiative called Gap Filler has been putting up creative projects in the vacant sites around the city. The dance mat and arcade game were two of these initiatives. Unfortunately when we got the dance matt it was out of order but Blake had a token boogie anyway. The giant arcade game was space invaders which has a giant screen on the side of a building and a giant joystick on a controller on the opposite side of the road. The controller only went right for some reason but after some nifty footwork I managed level one before being killed. We were all mooched out by that point so we headed back to the bus stop. After collecting our bags from the Airbnb, we made our way to the airport. This was the end of our 7 weeks in New Zealand and the beginning of Australia, our new home for 4 months.

    After a 4 hour flight, we landed in Melbourne where we made it through customs in record time (a term almost never heard of when passing through Australian customs). Blake's friend Maddy was kind enough to pick us up and has offered us a base for the next two weeks!
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