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Around the World
  • Simon and Blake
апр. 2017 – янв. 2018

Around the World

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Beachcomber

    4 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Breakfast this morning contained hash browns and bacon so you can imagine how happy Simon was! After devouring 4 hash browns and lots of bacon we got ready for our Seaspray Sailing day.

    There was a slight panic in the morning when I realised that we had forgotten our voucher for the sailing and the guys on the boat said that we may not be able to go without it and couldn't go back for it. They did however let us on so all was well. Phew!

    Our sailing boat for the day was called the Jolly Bula and we were greeted with bubbles, fruits and cakes. This was going to be a good day. We also had a free bar all day so we wasted (well mainly Simon) no time in getting started on that. Our first stop on the boat was the Castaway island where they filmed Castaway staring Tom Hanks where you could find HELP ME written in the sand with coconut shells. It is an uninhabited island (except for Wilson) as there is no source of freshwater here. We had an hour on the island to explore and go snorkelling. We saw all kinds of amazing, colourful fish. The water is so clear here!

    After around an hour we went back to the boat for a BBQ lunch. There was so much food, including chicken skewers, sausages and fish! Delicious! Our next stop on the boat was an island which contained a village on which around 600 people live. It even has a medical centre and a primary school. After they told us a little bit about island life, we experienced our first kava ceremony. Kava is a special drink that Fijians drink made from the root of a plant. They do some singing and then hand you a bowl of kava which is nothing like the delicious alcohol and looks a lot like muddy water. Before you accept the bowl you have to clap once. You then drink the kava , hand back the bowl and say vinaka which means thank you followed by three claps. It was disgusting! It was nothing like I expected and had an almost spicy flavour, which left your mouth a little numb afterwards. Needless to say we didn't have anymore.

    The men on the island work on neighbouring islands, go fishing, or farm the island whilst the women earn money at the shell market where they sell all kinds of tourist tat to us tourists. We bought a fridge magnet for our collection and then went on our way. Before getting back on the boat we walked through the village so we could see the houses and the primary school and observe the island way of life.

    Back on the boat we had more cakes and then headed back to the island. On the way the crew played the guitar and sang lots of songs, some of which were quite funny!

    Back on Beachcomber we were completely shattered after a day of drinking in the sun and Simon fell asleep before dinner. I think he would of stayed like that until morning if I hadn't woken him. We definitely headed straight back to bed after dinner though! Rock and roll!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Wayalailai

    5 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Feeling rather refreshed after 11 hours sleep we both woke up and started to pack our bags to move islands. We headed to breakfast a bit earlier too as we missed out on baked beans yesterday!

    After breakfast we waited for the Yasawa Flyer which acts as a giant taxi between the islands. About an hour later we had landed on Wayalailai where we were greeted with more guitars and singing. After our introduction and welcome orange juice we were led up to our room which was unfortunately not as nice as we had been used to on Beachcomber. I think we may have been slightly spoilt there.

    We got changed and headed down to the area that has some sun loungers for an hour of tanning before lunch was served. We had breaded chicken, chips, salad and fruit. It all tasted really nice but was by no means hot. We then made our way down to the beach for some more tanning and a little swim.

    One of our activities on Wayalailai was a summit walk so we opted for the sunset walk as opposed to the sunrise walk which started at 4:30am. We left the village around 4:10pm when the sun was still beaming and made our way pretty quickly uphill. It wasn't long before we were wet through with sweat and panting out of breath. I thought this was supposed to be the holiday from all the trekking in South America! About an hour later and we had made it to the top. Needless to say it was well worth the trip! The views and the sunset were amazing and the new camera has lots of settings we could play with. Like all good things that go up we too had to come down however now the sun had gone and it was rapidly getting dark. We had our head torches and phone lights but it was a bit tricky in places. Luckily there were no major falls.

    We only had 15 minutes or so before dinner so we quickly jumped in the shower. It was made even quicker by the fact the shower was BALTIC. Tonight was a traditional Fiji night so on the menu was some lovo cooked food (which is a way of cooking it underground) with some nice salad and other bits. We sat down and couldn't locate any cutlery, we then looked around and realised everyone was eating with their hands. It was at this point I wished I hadn't put so much coleslaw on my plate!

    After dinner we were taught some dance moves similar to the Macarena but Fiji style and then we went on to play musical statues. It was all a bit strange but we went with it! After Blake fell for a trick to get us to move we were the first out. Normally I hate losing but it was only dancing and it meant we could sit down!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Wayalailai

    6 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We were definitely spoilt on Beachcomber. The accommodation and food was really good. Here, you have to get to meals really early otherwise there is nothing left. We therefore went down to breakfast early as we didn't want to go without. Luckily this place is in paradise so you don't mind too much.

    For breakfast we had French toast, pancakes and porridge. It was all cold except for the porridge but we stocked up as we needed our energy for the mornings activity, swimming with sharks. I was a little nervous about this as I wasn't sure how big these sharks were going to be.

    We headed down to the beach to collect our flippers, got on the boat and headed out to the reef which was really far out from the shore. When we arrived they parked up and we jumped in. You didn't even need to look for the sharks or fishes as they were everywhere. The sharks were white tip sharks and the biggest was about a meter long which was a good size. I still wasn't a massive fan when they swam right towards me though. The fish were amazing, and there were so many colours. We have some good footage on the go pro too!

    We arrived back on the island just before 10am and then had the rest of the day for relaxing. Lunch was served up on the beach and we were allowed to use cutlery with dinner. We made a quick escape before they tried to make us play more musical statues though.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    White Sandy Beach

    7 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We were greeted at White Sandy by the traditional music, singing and a big Bula! We were shown to our accommodation which has to be the worst yet. Our bathroom smells like a public toilet and doesn't even have a sink. It's gross! After dropping our bags we sat down for a tasty lunch of rice and vegetables. The portions aren't very big here so I think Simon may be hungry.

    We decided to save our snorkelling trip till the next day so we had a lazy afternoon on the beach.

    Dinner was another Fiji themed night like the one in Wayalailai. This time however they went one step further and not only did we eat with our fingers but also on the floor. The food was again lovo cooked (underground) but it was very tasty. There were a few things however that weren't quite to my taste. The first of which were the sea grapes. They are green slimy seaweed type things that you can see when you go snorkelling as they grow on the reef. It's quite an acquired taste almost like pickles but with salt water filled bubbles when you bite into them. I also wasn't particularly keen on the muscles, if that was even what they were.

    Dinner was followed by some good old Fijian entertainment. To start with, the staff performed a selection of dances and songs for us and then we had to join in. The dance was similar to the Macarena style dance we did on Wayalailai with a twist. After the dances we played games. The second one was a bit strange. You had two circles of people, one inside the other and you had to walk around in opposite directions until the music stopped. When the music stopped, someone shouted out two body parts, for example nose to bum (yes that actually happened) and the person in the inside circle had to put their nose on someone in the outside circles bum. They were like an extreme type of getting to know you games. I did manage to win this one though!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - White Sandy Beach

    8 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    At the sound of the mornings drum roll we woke up and headed to breakfast.

    After breakfast we were meant to be swimming with manta rays, an activity we had both been looking forward to, however the mantas hadn't been seen for over a month. We heard a few stories as to why they weren't there, one being the warm water stream they followed not being here yet and another that Australian scientists had disturbed them whilst trying to electronically tag them. Mantas are supposedly very sensitive and intelligent animals so if they feel threatened they will leave an area and not come back. Because of this we just drove out to a nearby reef and snorkelled there. It was incredible to see all the life and fish down there. Our guide at one point just handed Blake a giant blue starfish and we were even face to face with some unwanted jellyfish at some points!

    We had no time limit (Fiji time) on this activity so we were in the reef for quite a while before hopping in the boat and driving back to our island. We got back shortly before lunch where we had vegetable fried rice. It was super yummy but the portion size here is disappointing.

    For the afternoon we did a mixture of sunbathing, hammock chilling and reading/listening to podcasts.

    Dinner was a bit more chilled and we were able to use cutlery to eat our three courses tonight. There is no TV in this resort so after dinner I headed over to the neighbouring resort with a few others to watch the last Lions test. Disappointing result but a tie is better than a loss!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Nabua Lodge

    9 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Fiji is very Christian so Sundays are traditionally a day of rest. There were therefore no activities planned on White Sandy except for a church service in the morning so we had a lazy morning chatting to Valerie and Luig, a Belgian couple that have had the same itinerary as us so we have been together from the beginning of our trip.

    The boat arrived around midday to take us to our next island, Nabua Lodge. From the moment we stepped off the boat we knew it was going to be a lot nicer here. All I wanted was a bathroom that didn't smell like a public toilet and we got that and so much more. The room is huge and very clean. We get electricity 3 times a day and we even have hot water and a sink! At first it didn't look like we had a bathroom at all but then the lady opened the wardrobe and revealed our secret ensuite. It's like Narnia! We feel so much more comfortable here. We spent 2 days on White Sandy with another couple from the UK and they have also moved across to Nabua so there is a little gang of us now which is really nice.

    After lunch we pottered around taking photos until it was time for afternoon tea. A few minutes down the beach there is a small lodge where they serve afternoon tea and cake for $6 so we tucked into an enormous slice of chocolate cake which was delicious!

    We then spent the rest of the afternoon chilling. Simon befriended a little ginger kitten who fell asleep on his lap for ages until we realised that he had fleas and was evicted!

    For dinner we had our first meal without rice since we arrived on the islands. They love rice and serve it with every meal! Today however we had mashed potato and battered fish. It was cold but a much welcomed change from white rice. Sundays are apparently international night so we all had to sing the national anthem from our home country. There were 6 people from the UK so fortunately we didn't have to sing it by ourselves. Two of them did make a sneaky exit though so it was down to the remaining 4 to sing God Save the Queen in our best voices. There were also people representing the US, Australia, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland and of course Fiji. We thing we did learn is that ours is by far the shortest. The Fijans, never passing up the opportunity to play a game, played a game which involved flipping two coins and guessing whether they were going to be heads or tails. The winner got a free beer! Simons eyes lit up at this point and he was determined to win. He did and thoroughly enjoyed his free can of Fiji Gold.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Nabua Lodge

    10 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We woke up and headed over for breakfast at (you guessed it) the sound of the drum.

    After breakfast we had a cave trip which was included in our package. We were a bit dubious about this one as we had to sign a waiver to do it. After a ridiculously bumpy journey there, we pulled up to the caves with very sore bottoms. After a short briefing we made our way up some steps and into the cave. The ladder at the bottom dropped us into a rather cold pool and we swam into the middle of the cave. It was quite impressive but also pretty full of other people. We had an option to swim underwater into a second cave but this required a mask which our resort refused to provide us. After some negotiation we arranged to pass masks back through to other people that wanted to swim through.

    It was only me that made it through. Blake was a bit nervous as they described it as you had to swim 1 meter down and 2.5 meters across for 3-5 seconds underwater. To say it was an anti-climax is an understatement. The second cave was pitch black, pretty tiny, super cramped when we made it in and the story the guide told was missed due it being so echoey. We swam back through to the main cave and made our way out. The journey back to our island was another bottom breaking ride. Some people paid 85 Fijian dollars for the trip and it definitely wasn't worth it. We would have been very disappointed if we had paid that.

    We had lunch shortly after returning which wasn't rice! Instead we had pasta in a sauce with cheese. After lunch we just topped up the tan on the beach.

    At 3pm we made our way to the tea lodge for our daily dose of tea and cake. Another great chocolate cake this time with raspberry sauce on top. It was delicious! There were also so almost newborn kittens that kept us all entertained.

    Not wanting to spend the rest of the afternoon in the sun, we introduced Matt and Caroline to Phase 10.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Nadi

    11 июля 2017 г., Фиджи ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today started with more breakfast at the sound of the drum but not before packing our bags. I may have set the alarm a tad too early as we were packed and ready about 30-40 minutes before.

    After breakfast we checked out and waited for the boat to take us on our Blue Lagoon snorkelling trip. We had heard a lot about the Blue Lagoon and how beautiful is was so we had high expectations. It wasn't long before we started to pull up by the coral and already we could see hundreds of colourful fish! We geared up with our snorkels and dropped off the side of the boat with some bread (fish food) in hand. This was instantly the BEST snorkelling we had ever done. The fish came from every direction feeding from our hands.

    After swimming around and seeing many different kinds of fish including a cute family of nemos in an anemone, we made our way towards the shallows. We waited for a while as our guide was nowhere to been seen and started to get a bit nervous that we may miss our boat back to the mainland and more importantly lunch. After around 45 minutes he appeared out from under a tree where he had fallen asleep in the shade! On the way back to Nabua we stopped at a 'ship wreck' but I'm not sure if you could really call it that. It was less Titanic and more of a little boat wreck. But still, it was something I had never seen before and lots of fish had made their home in it.

    Back on Nabua we had our final supper with all the gang and waited for the Yasawa Flyer that would take us back to the main land. We were joined on the Yasawa Flyer by Valerie and Luig, Caroline and Matt and Lena and Camilla. Only Valerie, Luig and us were going all the way back to the mainland however which was a slow and bumpy 5 hour journey. We decided to sit up on the sun deck to catch the last of the sun before we headed to New Zealand. The further South we headed, the bumpier it got and at some points the water was splashing us on the top. The crew also stated handing out sick bags!

    Back on the mainland we headed back to Smugglers Cove where we showered and then went down for dinner with Valerie and Luig before our last sleep in Fiji.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Auckland

    12 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Our flight from Fiji to Auckland was just under 3 hours and we arrived in Auckland just before midday. It took a very long time to get through customs as New Zealand are very strict on what you can bring into the country. As we had been hiking in rural areas in the last 30 days we had to have our shoes inspected. They were both fine but I felt sorry for the lady as after 3 months of lots of hiking let's just say my trainers weren't as fresh as when we left the UK. After clearing customs we went in search of the Skybus to get us to our Airbnb for the next 3 nights in Mount Eden.

    We are staying with a couple called Paul and Matt in their apartment which is really nice. The downside of houses in New Zealand though is that they don't have central heating or double glazing. Auckland is also currently experiencing its coldest winter in years so it's pretty chilly! God help us when we get down south.

    We are yet to do any planning for this trip so the plan for the afternoon was to do some planning. It didn't go so well though so we set off to Countdown, a nearby supermarket to stock up on some bits. Paul and Matt are vegetarians so we are not allowed to cook meat in the house. We therefore opted for a quick and easy dinner of ricotta and spinach ravioli and a tomato sauce.

    Paul and Matt don't have central heating but they do have an electric blanket which is amazing! I am never going to be able to get out of this bed again.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Auckland

    13 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    After a nice lie in from our long day of travelling we woke up to a table of goodies including toast and peanut butter, a little jar of yogurt with nuts/seeds on top and fresh coffee. It was very fancy!

    As we were staying practically half way up Mt Eden we thought that as it was dry we'd walk up to the top. The views from the top were awesome although it was super windy. I think any small child would have been blown away! After snapping up some 360 degree goodness we made our way down to Mt Eden village for a wander around the shops. It very much reminded us of North Street except the nik nak shops were full of new and exciting tat that we'd never seen before. It's a good job there is no space in our bags otherwise Blake would have been buying it all.

    We popped back to our Airbnb and good timing it was too as it started raining pretty bad. We decided it was best to make some sandwiches and headed to Auckland museum for the afternoon. Like our first week in Rio, the lovely bus driver honked his horn at us when we started walking in the wrong direction and directed us to the museum. When we got there we didn't realise how big it would be. Over the 3 story's there were various different sections including Maori culture, WWII, New Zealand flora and fauna as well as a special world wildlife photography exhibition. One of the finalists was from Bristol who had taken a picture of a fox in Bristol which was pretty cool. The Maori section was really good and we got to see some beautiful carvings as well as a huge canoe that could fit 100 people!

    After a few hours of walking we were exhausted and made our way back home via the supermarket where we got some bits for a veggie chilli.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 3 - Auckland

    14 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    We found ourselves a free walking tour around the centre of Auckland so headed out to the meeting point after breakfast (another splendid spread from Paul). We even managed to wangle a free ride on the bus as we only had a $50 note and the driver didn't have any change. He didn't seem very happy about it but he let us on anyway.

    The tour was really good and enabled us to see the highlights of city centre. It reminded me a little bit of Bath and there are some really cool shops and coffee spots around. We also learnt a little bit about the Maori culture and stopped off at the Art gallery to see some amazing portraits of famous male and female Maori's, painted by Goldie.

    After the tour we met up with Valerie and Luig who were getting tattoos (crazy kids), before heading to a Belgian pub for some Belgian beers. The pub was called The Occidental and as we learnt on our tour, the second pub that opened in Auckland. It was opened as the lawyers and other important folk in the city didn't want to drink in the same place as the criminals and other low life's. They didn't however want to change the location so it is literally next door to the original pub. Very funny!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Auckland - Whangarei

    15 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We woke up to a cooked breakfast of hash browns, scrambled egg, beans on toast tomatoes, courtesy of Matt, which was a real treat! Paul didn't join us though, I think he may have had a little bit of a sore head from the wine he drank the night before.

    After breakfast, we set off to pick up the campervan. We decided to get an uber there as for an extra $5 it saved us an hour and five minutes travelling time and 3 buses. Once we had completed all of the relevant paperwork and the lady had shown us around the van we were on our way. It's a ford transit with a toilet, shower, fridge, microwave and a 2 hob gas stove. We were very excited to get going but had to go back to Mount Eden first to pick up our bags.

    After collecting our bags and saying farewell to Matt (still no sign of Paul) we set off in search of a Pak n Save. Pak n Save is the cheapest supermarket in New Zealand so the perfect place to stock up on supplies. We did however manage to spend $150 but it is the first shop so had to buy everything. Let's hope future shops will be considerably cheaper!

    With the van stocked, I made a quick sandwich for the road and we were off. The perks of driving your home around with you means that Simon can be easily fed at all times which will make for a more pleasant road trip!

    From Auckland we took route 1 up North with a little stop in Orewa for a cup of tea in the van and a stroll along the beach. By this point it was around 3:30pm so we decided to get a wiggle on to Whangarei as we are staying on a couples property and they were going out for dinner so asked us to arrive before 6pm. We made it there with 1 minute to spare and were greeted by Eric and his wife (I'm calling her that as I can't remember her name). It's a paid site but for only $15 it was a bargain and we even get power. As it was our first night in the camper we thought we should break ourselves in gently. Our first meal in the van was a chilli con carne courtesy of Mr Thatcher.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Whangarei

    16 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    It was a chilly first night in the van so we didn't get the best nights sleep. We will need to be more prepared tonight with hot water bottles and blankets. Despite the cold we slept in till nearly 8am. For breakfast we had porridge and honey. We did have to warm up the honey before we could use it as it was solid due to the cold. Eric also popped in with some oranges which was very sweet.

    The Lonely Planet mentioned that there were some good walks around Whangarei as well as some free caves were you could see glow worms. We therefore set off to the tourist information centre to pick up some guides. The lovely lady gave us a variety of trail maps around the area as well as some information on the caves. She did say though that when there has been a lot of rain (and there has been a ridiculous amount of rain) that the caves are flooded and will be waist deep so prepared to get wet. Now I'm not afraid of a bit of water but waist deep seems a little excessive so we decided against seeing the glow worms! Instead we opted for the Hatea River Walk to Whangarei Falls.

    We parked up in the town centre and made ourselves a packed lunch before heading off. The walk took us along a short boardwalk through some mangroves and then into Parihaka Forest. It was a really beautiful walk through the forest alongside the river. We also passed through AH Reed Memorial Park which is a remnant of the original kauri forests. The kauri trees are absolutely enormous and some are 500 years old. You walk through the park on a canopy walkway to protect the kauri trees as many of them are getting sick. To help prevent the spread of bacteria which they pick up in their shallow roots, you also have to clean and spray your boots on entering and exiting any forest areas.

    After the forest we continued on along the river until we reached the waterfall which looked beautiful in the sunshine. The weather today has been amazing. The sun has shone all day and we were very comfortable in just a t shirt and jeans.

    After the falls we headed back to the van via the same route and popped on the kettle for a cup of tea. I love taking our home with us wherever we go as it means I can make a cup of tea whenever I like (and after 3 months in South America with no tea, it's a lot!)

    We decided to head back to stay at the same spot as we did last night. It's cheap for a powered site and the owners are lovely. We arrived back to Eric washing his boat after a day of fishing and he was keen to show us the snappers he had caught. Later on he even knocked on the van and invited us over for some brandy. I'm not really a brandy drinker but I had a small glass to be polite whilst Eric told us all about his fishing escapades. He is very sweet but boy can he talk, bless him. After we'd made our escape, we cooked up a campervan classic of bangers, beans and mash!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Whangarei - Whangaruru

    17 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We bid our farewells to Eric and his wife and continued on our route up North. Not far from where we were staying was Tutukaka Harbour where Eric had mentioned there was a short walk that you could do to a lighthouse which was nice. You could only reach the lighthouse at low tide though but when we drove past, the signs looked good so we pulled up. It was another lovely sunny day and we strolled across the green grass and you could hear the birds. I am slightly concerned that Simon is becoming a twitcher as he has started taking hundreds of pictures of literally ever bird he sees! I have also recently learnt that when he was little he owned his very own pair of little binoculars and selection of bird books! To get to the lighthouse you have to walk across the causeway (hence the reason for low tide). If the tide was going out we would definitely be fine but if it was coming in then we would probably have gotten stuck and / or very wet. After much deliberation and then checking the tide times we decided not to risk it. I think that was the right decision as whilst we had been pondering whether to cross, the tide had already come up quite a bit.

    After our failed attempt to see the lighthouse we continued on our way up along the Tutukaka Coast to Matapouri and stopped by Whale Bay. Here there was a fairly short walk from Whale Bay to Matapouri Bay and back again which we did to build up an appetite for lunch. For lunch we cooked up some scrambled eggs on toast and ate them along with a cup of tea on a picnic bench overlooking the sea. Such an amazing view!

    Our stop for the evening was a place called The Farm, near Whangaruru which is a working dairy farm and sounded pretty cool. After lunch we made our way up there with a brief stop at a coffee shop for some delicious cake. The owners also had 2 enormous New Foundlands which were super cute! One even tried to get in our van when we were leaving and I would have quite happily stolen him but he was a little smelly!

    When we arrived at The Farm it was not as cool as we had originally hoped. As I mentioned, it is a working dairy farm so they employ a few woofers (volunteers who work on the farm in return for food and board) and the woofers were really weird! One chap was from New Zealand and when I bumped into him in the kitchen and he found out I was from the UK, he repeatedly made comments about how I had come over here to ruin his beautiful country. He then proceeded to tell me about all of these beautiful spots in the North island that we could visit but he wasn't going to tell me where they were as they didn't want tourists there! Needless to say after that, me and Si stayed in the van as much as we could and made very quick strategic visits to the bathroom so as to avoid speaking to anyone!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Whangaruru - Karikari Peninsula

    18 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We woke up at the farm, had a quick shower and an even quicker breakfast before making a hasty getaway. On today's itinerary we had the Bay of Islands.

    We made our way towards Russell but it was only after getting there we realised Russell doesn't face the bay but rather all the boat trips around the islands leave from there. Unfortunately we missed the morning trips and were much too early for the afternoon so decided to pop a couple minutes up the road to do a walk to Tapeka Point, a perfect spot to look out on the islands. We parked up and made our way round to the start of the walk. It wasn't long before I slipped and realised I hadn't changed into my hiking shoes. Being too lazy to walk back to the van and sure the track wouldn't get much worse I decided to go on. BIG MISTAKE! I did make it there and back but not without almost covering myself in mud many times! The views from the top were incredible!

    Back in the van we headed to the car ferry which offered a nice shortcut on our drive to the next overnight spot. Once on the other side Blake remembered a stop mentioned in the Lonely Planet that was only a very short detour in Kawakawa. It was a famous toilet (I know I thought the same...) designed by an Austrian artist called Friedensreich Hundertwasser who's work can also be found in Vienna and Osaka. We pulled up and the place instantly didn't feel good. We were told that some areas can be a bit gangland eske up North and this felt very 'Sons of Anarchy' all of a sudden. Blake was polite and made use of the toilet, took a quick snap of the outside and we were on our way out again!

    The afternoon didn't get much more exciting after that as we visited a supermarket and a dump station to empty the van and refill the water tank. We then headed to Tokerau Beach, a free spot to sleep over night. We pulled into the camp just as the sun was setting and the views over the beach were awesome. We quickly parked up, put the kettle on and opened the sliding door for a cuppa with a view!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Cape Reinga

    19 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    We woke to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and to the most incredible view over the sea. This place is amazing! After breakfast we had a walk along the beach before making our way to Cape Reinga, the most northerly point on New Zealand. Simon was also going to let me drive the van today so I was extra excited.

    Cape Reinga is a particularly special place for Māori people ad they consider this the place that their soul comes when they die before it departs to the spirit world. When we arrived we parked up and walked down to the Lighthouse which sits on the end of the peninsula. Here the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Sea and you can see the wave crash together which is pretty cool. To the right of the lighthouse we could see an 800 year old pohutukawa tree of which the Māori people believe the souls slide down its roots. It was an amazing place and great to see out over the 'end of the world'. As Cape Reinga is a sacred site you are not allowed to eat or drink there so we started heading back South and stopped off at Tapotupoto by the beach for lunch.

    We then continued the long journey back down South. You get such amazing views when you are driving around New Zealand that you really don't mind the long drives. To break the journey up we were spending the night near Opononi in a very cheap campsite. Due to a rather long stop at Mc Donalds to steal their wifi so we could update the blog (as we hadn't updated anything since Fiji) we arrived at the camping spot in the dark. We were however greeted by a very friendly (and possibly drunk) Ozzie called Nash. He helped us park the van as people had been getting stuck and then gave us some fish (I have no idea what kind) that he caught that day which was very sweet. Simon was extremely pleased as it added some meat to what would have otherwise been a veggie dinner of pasta and pesto.

    When clearing up from dinner disaster struck when we discovered that the sink wasn't draining! After an hour of moving the van and taking everything apart we gave up and went to sleep, deciding to call the rental company in the morning.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Koutu - Port Albert

    20 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    We woke up to the wind rocking the van from side to side but the views when we opened the curtains were pretty incredible. Again we were only a stones throw from the water.

    Unfortunately the sink still hadn't drained away overnight so breakfast was a ham sandwich rather than our usual porridge, coffee and yogurt. We parked on a bit of an angle so decided to pack up the bed, wash the dishes from the night before in a bucket and head back to the dump station we visited last night to try and get the sink fixed. After no success and the rental company recommending household unblocker we decided to shower and get changed in the van on the side of the road before heading out in search of a supermarket.

    En route to the super market we drove through Waipoua Forrest. We had planned to go for a nice long walk to see some Kauri trees but the weather wasn't the best today and we were still in crisis mode with the sink! Instead we opted for a two minute walk to see THE biggest and also thought to be the oldest Kauri tree Tane Mahuta. Said to be over 2000 years old it was literally the biggest tree we had ever seen!

    The Kauri trees in New Zealand have unfortunately contracted a disease meaning they're all slowly dying. This is thought to have been spread by dirt on people's shoes and the shallow roots the trees have picking up a bacteria so we had to scrub our shoes on the way in and out of the Forest including a squirt with disinfectant. The track is also a platform which is a foot or two off the ground.

    We popped to the information centre and coffee shop to see if there were any other short walks we could do but a Devonshire cream team and latte got the vote. Blake was mortified to discover that the 'Devon tea' as it was advertised didn't come with clotted cream but instead squirty cream!

    We then headed to our next overnight spot taking a quick pit stop at a Countdown to buy some sink and plughole unblocker. 15 minutes later whilst we ate lunch in the car park (I love driving our house around) and half a bottle of the unblocker showed little sign of fixing our problem so I headed back in to see if they had a plunger. About 10 minutes of funny noises, poisonous liquid squirting towards my face and maybe some effing and jeffing the sink finally decided to empty. We ran some more liquid and water through just to be sure and headed to the nearest dump station to empty it all out.

    Luckily our campsite was just around the corner so we pulled up and wrote all the blogs (including this one) as our fans have been complaining of little activity including the odd question of 'are you still alive?'

    We also spotted a McDonalds around the corner so we're off to upload all our our posts and a cheeky Big Mac :)    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Port Albert - Waitomo

    21 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Today was a 300km driving day to get us to our next destination so we had a chilled breakfast before getting on our way.

    We decided to keep following the twin coast trail through Helensville and on until we hit Auckland as it was a bit more scenic than just getting on the motorway. We decided not to stop in Auckland but to carry on to a dump station in Takanini which had toilets and showers too. Places that combine all necessities is like Christmas come early when living out of a van. After having a spot of lunch we we were back on the road.

    Tonight's free camping spot was a pub / restaurant carpark called Roselands (which boasted an all you can eat beef casserole with roast potatoes for $10 although we discovered later they had actually bumped it up to $15) which was a short drive down the road from the Waitomo caves. Waitomo is famous for its glowworm caves which you can visit in a variety of ways, some crazier than others. We opted for a 3 hour tour that involves being in a wetsuit with a rubber ring and floating through the caves. There's also some climbing and waterfalls that require navigating involved.

    After we had our fill of food we headed back to the van and set up the bed. We weren't long led down before the whole van lit up, a couple seconds later came the loudest clap of thunder I ever heard! We had heard in the pub the tours are often cancelled due to the amount of rainfall and high water levels so the holidays worst weather so far was not a great sign for tomorrow's caving.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Waitomo

    22 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Waitomo is famous for its caves which people flock from all around to see the glowworms. There are a variety of ways that you can visit the caves but we opted to explore the caves on rubber rings. We arrived at The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co. nice and early, ready for our caving adventure to find out that the cave was flooded so we wouldn't be able to go today!

    There isn't a lot else to do in Waitomo apart from caving so we went for a scenic drive to see a natural bridge, a small cave and a waterfall. The Mangapōhue natural bridge is formed from the remains of an ancient cave. Despite the rain, it looked incredible. Our next stop was the Piripiri cave. We had to take a torch as it was pitch black but there were some pretty impressive rock formations inside. Our last stop was Marokopa Falls, a 43m waterfall. One good thing that came from all the rain was the serious amount of water that was crashing down it! We got a quick picture and then headed back to the van as we were getting pretty wet!

    To keep the twitcher happy we visited Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park. Here we got to see some Kiwi's which was pretty cool. They are very funny creatures as they look more like a mammal than a bird and have really tiny wings that you can't see so they walk around a little bit like a dinosaur searching for insects. They are super cute though. They also had a variety of other birds for Simon to get excited about, including mountain parrots, parakeets and falcons. They also had a couple of rare tuatara which are an iguana type reptile.

    Tomorrow we are heading to the shire, to the real life Hobbiton movie set so we picked a free spot to camp near there so we wouldn't have to drive very far in the morning.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Hobbiton

    23 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Just driving to Hobbiton felt like we were already in the Shire as we were surrounded by rolling green hills. It was also a misty morning which made it even more exciting. Its a guided tour so we were ushered on to a bus which took us down to the movie set. Our bus driver, despite not looking old enough to drive, was very cheerful and gave us some random facts. The Farm where Hobbiton is located is still a fully working sheep and cattle farm however none of the sheep appeared in the movies. This is because Peter Jackson thought that they looked too modern so he used an old English breed of sheep instead. One thing that we learnt as the tour progressed is that PJ was nothing less than a perfectionist. His attention to detail is incredible, even down to the trees in Hobbiton.

    Once we were by the movie set, we jumped off the bus and the tour continued on foot with our lovely guide Becca. The set is absolutely incredible. There are 44 hobbit holes in total however nearly all of them are empty shells as the insides were constructed in a studio. The exception to this is Bilbo's house in which only the entrance hall is constructed. We weren't allowed to go in that one though. The hobbit holes are also a variety of sizes. Some are small to make characters like Gandalf appear very tall and others are bigger to make the hobbits look hobbit sized! We walked around all of the hobbit holes whilst Becca gave us some more interesting facts. The tour then finished at the Green Dragon Inn where we got to enjoy a nice cold cider and beer. If you're not into the movies or books then you would of hated it but for us it was awesome! We loved it so much we thought it would be a good idea to purchase a souvenir from the gift shop and we now own a lovely tea tray. The funny thing is that it was Simons idea to buy it! At the moment it's quite happy living in the van but I'm not sure how we are going to fit that one in our backpacks?!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Waitomo Caves

    24 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    After a rain free night and clear morning everything was looking good for the caving trip today.

    We arrived at Kiwi Caving and were told everything was good to go. The water level was still slightly high but that would just add to the fun apparently. We were also the only two on the tour so once again we had a private tour with our guide Beth. A short drive to the changing rooms and some snazzy wetsuits, welly boots and hard hat later, we were ready to go. We were also kitted out with a harness as this tour included a vertical abseil into and climb out of the cave.

    After a quick practice of speed control on the abseil cavers rack with a rope tied to a fence we were led to the caves entrance. Blake was first up and her terrified face and little yelp as she went over the edge was followed by a huge smile as she disappeared into the cave. I was up next, shortly followed by Beth. Once at the bottom we could fully experience the full force of the water gushing through the cave. The next lesson was crossing the water by walking further up stream then diagonally walking across using the water to take you over.

    We then headed up stream and walked along the side wall of the cave and across a small wire bridge. It wasn't long before we had our first stop and turned our lights off to see the glowworms. As our eyes adjusted hundreds of little yellow glows started to appear. It was pretty cool and Beth even pointed out a couple of glowworms up close. They are funny little creatures really. The spend around 9 - 12 months as worms before they turn into a fly. As a fly, they have no mouths so only live for up to 48 hours as they can't feed. In those 48 hours they do nothing but mate / lay eggs.

    It was then time for the black water rafting bit in the rubber rings which was really fun and a much easier way to explore the cave, although there were some mini waterfalls and a couple of stray rocks that hit your bum if you didn't have it high enough.

    Deep inside the cave there were lots of crawl spaces. These tiny little spaces were mostly stops for action shots but one took us through to a little room with a bigger waterfall where we stopped for a hot squash refreshment. There was also a bit with a deep pool which you could swim across to a natural slide in the corner. I for some reason made a right meal of climbing up but Blake flew up and we both slid down.

    You would think that it would be really cold down in the cave but it wasn't at all. The air was really humid and the wet suits were really thick (for this reason we were specifically warned not to pee in them as it would stay in there and Beth didn't fancy washing it out) so we were quite warm at times, even Blake wasn't cold! Splashing into the pool at the bottom of the slide was a bit of a shock though as the water went down your back!

    Once we had gone as far as we could go on the tubes, we explored the cave further on foot. After checking we were a couple, Beth took us to the 'Honeymoon Hole' which were two holes next to each other which you had to pull yourself through for a picture. One of the holes was considerably smaller than the other one so Beth lined Blake up for this one. After barely getting her head in she decided that one wasn't for her so we swapped and got the picture before I struggled to pull my body through the end. It was super tight to be fair!

    Before we made our way out of the cave, we stopped again for another hot squash and some chocolate whilst we enjoyed the glowworms. Here they were even more impressive than before! There were so many of them. Beth even pointed out a cluster of baby glowworms which was pretty cool.

    Back at the entrance to the cave we harnessed back up before the fun climb out. All in all the activity was around 4 and a half hours and to say we were pooped was an understatement!! We made our way back for a hot shower, hot soup and watched the pictures on a big screen. All in all it was a great day and a really awesome activity.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Rotorua

    25 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We were camping on the lake so decided to start the morning with a stroll around the lake (well part of the lake as it's massive) to Sulfur Bay. The first thing that hits you as you walk around the lake is the eggy smell. It's also strange to see steam rising from the bushes and tiny mud pools bubbling. You wouldn't think it would be safe to live around these thermal areas let along walk past them. There are lots of signs everywhere warning you by to stroll from the path as some of the water is over 100 degrees! We won't be doing a swimming here!

    We had planned to visit the Rotorua museum in the afternoon as it was supposed to rain however we walked past it on our walk to find it was closed which is a shame. The museum is in a gorgeous building which unfortunately falls well below earthquake safety standards so is closed for the foreseeable future. With a quick snap of the outside we walked back to the van through the Government Gardens with a quick pit stop to play in the park on the giant seesaw!

    In the afternoon we headed to the Redwoods Forest for a walk. We opted for a 2 hour trail which included a spot where you could see the Te Puia geyser. The geyser goes off approximately 20 times a day so we had to be patient. We were lucky though and can't have been waiting more than 15 minutes before the geyser erupted.

    Our walk continued through the forest but came to an abrupt stop when we reached a bridge which was fully submerged in water. We then had to turn around and ad lib our way back to the visitor centre. It was a nice walk though and the rain held of which was good.    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Rotorua

    26 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    Today we decided to fully immerse ourselves in Rotorua's thermal activity and what better place to do that than Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. We got there early as we didn't want to miss the Lady Knox geyser erupting (which happens at 10:15am prompt every day with some gentle encouragement from some organic soap). It was pretty cool to see it up close but because we knew it wasn't a natural eruption it took some of the magic away and wasn't as impressive as the one we'd seen from afar yesterday. After the eruption, we headed into the park which is pretty stinky however I have now been sharing a confined space with Simon for over a week so it wasn't much different!

    The pools and craters were very impressive and there was steam rising from the ground every which way you looked. The colours were also amazing. These are all due to the different mineral elements and include bright orange, yellow and green. There were also bubbly mud pools which reminded me of Shrek's swamp and if you could tolerate the smell were mesmerising to watch.

    For the last 2 nights we have been staying in a car park on the lake so tonight we have opted to stay in a holiday park so we can have proper showers and charge all of our electronics! The park even has hot pools so as soon as we had parked up we dug out our swimmers and went for a dip! We are both pretty sore from the caving still so it was lush to relax. When we plug into the electric we also get heating which is a very welcome treat as despite the sunshine today it has been pretty chilly!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 3 - Rotorua

    27 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    This morning we were heading to Skyline park to do the luge courses, an activity I saw online years ago and have wanted to do it ever since! They are like little go karts / toboggans that you simply tear down a track in, with a simple push forward to accelerate and back to slow down style brake / steering system.

    To get to the top, we took a short gondola ride that had great views across the town and lake. Once we completed the luge track we then got a chairlift back up which resulted in very wet bottoms! The pass gave us 4 goes on the track. There were 3 in total but he advanced was shut as the track was too wet, which left us with the scenic and intermediate. It was so good I might have to check the one out in Christchurch too!

    For lunch we drove and parked up in Kuirau Park, a free thermal park. After lunch we walked around the various pools. We saw more bubbling mud pools and smelly smoking holes in the rocks. The steam at times was so thick that you could barely see where you were going!

    In the evening we had a booked a Māori village experience, to learn so more about the Māori culture. The entertainment began the moment we stepped on the coach with a quick Maori language lesson and some group paddling to help paddle our waka (boat) to the village (this part required a lot of imagination). The most important bit for us to remember though was Kia Ora which means, hello, welcome, goodbye, go well etc. Once at the village we all congregated on the steps in front of a big open space. All of a sudden all the lights went out (unplanned) and we were all stood in darkness for about 15 minutes. When the generator eventually kicked in and the lights came back on the Māori men came out and performed a challenge which was to determine whether we came in peace. This involved a lot of running around, shouting and some serious tongue poking before they laid out a peace offering for our chosen chief Shami (a poor Irish guy on our coach that got royally stitched up). We were told not to smile or laugh during the ceremony as it is incredibly sacred to the Māori people. Once they had established that we had in fact come in peace, the Māori chief greeted Shami with a traditional greeting which is 2 touches on the nose (the same greeting that Boris Johnson compared to a head butt, that man is a moron). All aquatinted we were then accepted into the village. It was pouring down with rain so sadly we didn't get to see much of the village but we did have time to see how they cooked our dinner. It was cooked 'hangi' style which is like a giant bonfire burnt down in a hole in the ground with volcanic stones on top. Once smoking the food rests on top and is covered with hessian sacks. It is then slow cooked for around 4 hours. It smelt delicious when it came out!

    We were then led into a big room with seats and a stage where we learnt more about the Māori culture with the chief and watched dances, poi performances and hakas. It was then our turn to join in, Blake bailed on the poi but I got involved with the haka and it was a good laugh.

    Next up was dinner and it was an eat all you can eat buffet with chicken, lamb, fish, and all the trimmings. Two huge plates later and I was stuffed. The food was so delicious and you could taste the smokey steamed flavour in it all. For dessert there was a choice of pavlova, steamed pudding with custard and peaches. I went for the steamed pudding with custard but our dessert queen had to try a big bowl of all 3! It was quite funny as the girl opposite ate like nothing and her face each time Blake came back with another bowlful was hilarious. We left the village feeling ridiculously full. I think that is the first time since we have been away that we have seriously over eaten!    Читать далее

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Taupo

    28 июля 2017 г., Новая Зеландия ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    The all you can eat Māori feast must have taken it out of us as we didn't wake up till around 9:30am! That's what eating 3 desserts does! They were all very delicious though!

    After some breakfast and a very quick shower we packed up and headed towards Taupo. Our showers have to be super quick in the mornings as there is only enough hot water for one 3-4 minute shower. After that you have to put the boiler on again and wait another 20 minutes for the water to heat up. To save doing this twice, we both shower with one lot of water. I am slowly mastering the art of quick showers as Simons showers are getting much warmer (they usually get cold about halfway through).

    Taupo is a fairly short hour drive South from Rotorua. Just North of Taupo you can find Huka Falls so we stopped there for some lunch before heading to see the falls. The falls are very small at only 10m but boy are they fierce. The power of the water rushing down the river is immense and it was really loud!

    We then headed into Taupo to stop at the trusty tourist information to get some information on things to do in the area. After stocking up on numerous leaflets as it was a bit of a dull afternoon we decided to head to the museum as it was only $5, bargain! It is only a small museum however they had a nice little Māori exhibit as well as the Garden of Wellbeing which won gold at the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show (and they are clearly still very proud of that). My favourite however was the 1950's caravan which was kitted out as if someone had just popped out as well as a cute corner shop with lots of very old tins of food and other bits.

    We then found ourselves a cracking little freedom camping (free) spot for the evening at Five Mile Bay and set ourselves up for the evening with a glorious view of the sunset across the lake.    Читать далее

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