zoandy

"It reminds me of the American adventure" I hear this for the third time in as many days, as we chug up the road on our way to Tupiza. We enjoyed our time in Tilcara and did a cool walk on the last day up into the desert like mountains. We get up early the following day and get ourselves prepared for the border crossing into Bolivia. The bus from Tilcara was not so luxurious as the last ones and the dust from outside was quite thick. We met a Argentinian who could speak a little English, so as we practiced our spanish, he practiced his English and I must say that his attempts were a little bit better than ours. Oh well, he was going the same way as us and made our border crossing alot easier, and didnt charge us for his translation skills.

The border crossing a lofty 3500 metres above sea level was very easy and our first impression of the Bolivians was a good one, when we were greeted at the immigration desk by the friendlist stamper man yet, shaking our hands with the biggest smile of the trip. The change in atmosphere, colours, faces and dress is immediate, with the local ladies waliking around in their bowler hats and coulourful atire. We pick up another translater, a swiss girl who knew far too many languages and booked ourselves onto a bus to Tupiza, a gateway to Salir de Uyuni the largest salt flats, a prehistoric salt lake in the world.

The bus journey to Tupiza re-emphasised that we were really travelling again, the road was one of the worst that we have been on and can be compared with the one from the Thai border to Siem Reap. We were surrounded by the locals, it was bumpy, it was dusty and at times we thought there was no way the bus could make it, just what we were after! The bus was oldskool and alot of the time we were not even on a road, it was either gravel or we were crossing or driving up the river. Through canyons and tunnels, the scenery was fantastic, red, gold mountains all round, like something out of a wild west film or "just like the American adventure" but with out the log flumes. Tupiza is quite cool and flanked on all sides by some more multlicoloured rocks, it has a few vegetarian restaurants so Zoe could indulge, for a few days anyway. The room is three pounds a night pp, you can find a meal for less than a pound, beer is cheap, I think I will like Bolivia.

We depart tommorow for our jeep safari 3 nights and four day tour of the Salt flats with some English guys we have just met, looking forward to it. We will soon be 5000 m above sea level where the air is fresh and the nights are freezing, Zoe has purchased a new hat and gloves especially for the occasion.

Hola! We are in South America, we landed at 12.20pm after leaving Nz at 5.30pm on the same day. It was fantastic, we flew half way around the world and still gained 5 hours. It was all a little odd and the flight wasnt great, LAN airlines and their lack of english speaking staff meant andy had no entertainment system so had to share mine and I almost had no food, but managed to get a spare vegan meal at the last minute!
We checked into a hostel in Santiago which was essentially a gorgeous old mansion full of English. It was a bit of a shock to the system after 6 weeks of isolation in our van but we confronted it head on, well Andy did by watching Liverpool and getting extremely pissed on a very empty stomach and severe lack of sleep. After putting him to bed at 10 I listened to the fiesta next door until the early hours of the morning before deciding South America is possibly the craziest place in the world. They have siestas mid day and fiestas all night!
We ended up spending a week in what we originally thought was the hostel from hell.... we were warmed to it by the pool, the cheap cheap vine and beer and the fact that we made some awesome friends! Oh and we did a 5 day intensive spanish course with a Peruvian called Jesus (pronounced haysues) who was excellent.
We then headed over the border to Mendoza, a major wine producing city in Argentina.... the border crossing was incredible, orderly queues, effiecient, not to mention the bus we were on. It was a double decker, with a toilet, film, free ham and cheese sarnies. I have to say it made me miss Asia, the chicken buses, the craziness and the peeing at the side of the road. It was all a little too luxurious.
Mendoza was a pretty city, very touristy. the highlight was the winery tour we did on bicycles with our friends from Santiago, you cycle to a winery, partake in some testing and maybe a little tour, then hop back on your bike and head to the next one. Excellent! We had our final meal together as a four that night and got ready for the big goodbye the following day.
Andy and I departed for Salta the following day and Jamie and Rach left for Bariloche down south, another big sexy bus, 19 hours, 4 spanish films and 6 ham and cheese sandwiches later we arrived in salta, tired and on a detox. Its incredible whats the Argentinans eat, its all bread and copiour amounts of meat, the meat counter in the supermarket is choca, the fruit is rather unhealthy looking and everything comes with bread.
Salta was a stunning city, we spent 3 days not doing much, just a little exploring, enjoying the sun. We did go to a museum to see a mummy, that had been dug up from a nearby volcano, 6900m. It was pretty incredible, a boy of 6 of high status that had been almost perfectly preserved in all his traditional clothes and was now kept in an ice tank at -20 degrees. A bit odd, but fascinating all the same.
We then ventured North, where we arrived in an incredibly dusty town called Tilcara, here we finally felt like we were travelling again. No more beautiful cities, Cathedrals and every amenity you could wish for, instead a dusty town, surrounded by cacti. It still has internet and an atm, but its the least civilisation we encountered for a while and we loved it. We stayed in a hotel-homestay which gave us the perfect opportunity to practice some spanish as no-one speaks a word of English. There is an inca fortress, style settlement that had been really well preserved up on a hill overlooking a valley, the Andes and many Cacti, we spent a morning exploring and it was awesome. The climate was fantastic too, hot during the day but windy and dry and very chilly at night, it made a nice change from the humidity, plus we got the chance to aclimitise at 2,500 before Bolivia.

We arrived in Wanaka and liked it immediately, its a gorgeous little place with a fantastic lake flanked by awesome snow covered mountains. We liked it so much we got a bit flush and thought we would treat our selves to a massive curry. After exploring what Wanaka had to offer and getting lost in a maze at puzzle world we travelled on towards Queenstown, stopping off for some cheese, yum and a pint at Arrowtown. We camped for free by another beautiful lake just outside Queenstown. Queenstown was ok, really tourist driven and quite pricey, we looked at the activity options, decided, eventually, that they were all a little to expensive and decided to get out of there with our bank budget still intact.
The drive to Milford sound was fantastic, through the fiords, past amazingly steep snow covered cliffs and massive waterfalls, due to the rain everywhere we looked. The road is really scenic and one of the highlights was the tunnel through one of the mountains, awesome. The drive doesnt really get you prepared for the sound, which isnt really a sound, anyway, once you get there the scenic feel disapears as you are greated by the hords of tourists waiting to depart on their cruise. We really wanted to kayak around the fiords the following day but decided the weather was too crappy and booked ourselves on the last and cheapest cruise of the evening. Instead of improving the weather got steadily worse as we waited. The cruise was cool though and you have to be pretty lucky to go to Milford sound with its 7 metres annual rainfall, one of the wettest places in the world and have good weather. So we got our pac a macs on sat on the deck with our free cups of tea and got soaked. After a night in the car park we set off back up the tunnel and past the amazing scenery towards the Catlins, Southland.
We loved the Catlins, spending a couple of days exploring, We saw sea Lions bathing on the beach, we explored the lighthouses, took in the awesome green rolling hills and walked to numerous fantastic waterfalls. Ace. Still no penguins though! Next stop was a trip to Dunedin to visit Niki and partake in a little bit of an all day session, good fun and great to catch up. We checked the Penisuala out and drove to Omaru where at last, after about an hour and a half wait we saw our first penguins in the wild. It was fantastic. A penguin man, who loves them and is always looking out for them started chatting to us and told us loads of cool stuff, while we watched them waddling up the beach.
Next stop after a pretty big drive was Mt Cook national park. The first day in the park we couldnt see anything as the Rain poured down. We did walk to the Tasman Glacier and Glacier lake, which is pretty cool with its massive Ice bergs floating around. We woke up in the morning,to an amazing site of a completely coverded snow capped mountain. We got out of bed early and set off on the searly tarns walk. The walk was pretty challenging scrambling upwards for 500 metres and about an hour and a half. It was well worth it capturing some of the best views of the trip and of our lives. you get to the searly tarns ridge where there are two small lakes, which at this time of year are covered in ice and you have a panaramic view of about 280 degrees of Mount cook and his neighbours and the valleys below and either side, the view stretches for miles. Fantastic! we fall back down the hill past the several avalanche zones and hop into our camper and cruise away, with Mount cook looming in the background we drive onwards to the turquoise lakes with stunning views all round and onwards to Fairly where we camp for the night after a few beers and some more chilli con carne, without the carne! We decide that we have got enough time to take in the two passes, Arthurs and Lewis pass. The drive through Arthurs pass took us two days, during which time we stopped off at some limestone cliffs and explore the rocky outcrop, it was really cool with thounsands of these limestone hills and cliffs creating some strange shapes and ace places to climb, and we climbed up the Temple basin, which must be one of the most unaccesible ski fields, no skiing now though as the season just finished. The walk was good, and we said hello to some of the local cheeky birds the keas.
Back across the south island this time on the Lewis pass and via the thermal springs of Hanmer, where it snowed on the surrounding hills while we were there and Kaikora where we decided not to do a whale watching trip because it was again a little over priced. Kaikora itself though was surprisingly beautiful and deserved its slogan of "where the mountains meet the sea", also it does an awesome fish and chips.
We cruised past Christchurch and down the Penisula to the lovely quaint place of Akaroa, which was the only french settlement in New Zealand. Really beautiful town in an awesome setting amidst some volcanic landscape. Back towards Christchurch and we say adios to our companion (the camper) and with our full depsoit back in our pockets despite a few scratches and a chipped windscreen. We spent a few days chilling in Christchurch taking in the sights, indulging on my last fish and chips for a while, and preparing for our trip into the land of the andes and the lingo de espanyol.
Adios!

The Journey from Wellington to Picton via the interislander cruise was really cool, crossing the Tasman sea and through the Marlborugh Sounds, The sounds were amazing and most of all sunny. We kept a close eye on the waters to see if we could spot any Whales or dolphins, and guess what, oh yes, no luck again, never mind though in didnt dampen our spirits on the ferry and the views were more than enough. Picton was quite pleasant but we decided to set off asap and cruise down the Queen Charlotte road and drink in some more awesome views, of rolling hills, dotted inlets and islands and the turquoise waters. Fantastic, being a little tired we didnt want to go to quickly so we stoppped off and decided to check into a lovely little campsite over looking the sea, after a small walk down the Queen Charlotte track we had a few beers and chilled out in the sun, just what the doctor ordered.

The next day we drove onwards towards the Nelson district, famed for its sunshine and the Abel Tasman National park. Nelson itself was nothing to write home about, so I wont although we did go to the W.o.w museum; World of Wearable art museum, I wa a little dubious but it was pretty cool and some of the designs were pretty out there, also it had a clasic car section so that kept me entertained. The Abel Tasman National park was awesome. Beautiful golden beaches hugging some forested coastline, mostly only accesible by boat or by foot. We spent a couple of days in Kaiteri. Lovely little spot on a fantasic beach. On the second day we got a water taxi to apparently the best part of the coastal walk and walked for three hours, excellent walk although not as good as the next day. We drove to Totaranui, north, and set off by foot along the coast to seperation point, amazing walk along gorgeous beaches, around isolated coves, and scrambling up and over rocks, also when we got to seperation point we were greeted by a little display from a group of seals showing off in the sea, playing and chilling on the rocks. It was amazing. Next stop north was the golden bay area which was really cool and quite hippy, with alot of the new age types floating around and veggie food galore, Zoe loved it!

Heading south we drove to Murchison where we camped the night this is our gateway for the West coast and and hopefully some views of some snow capped mountains as the brochures promise. The brochures also promise rain, rain and endless rain and thats what we got. The coast line down the west coast is quite dramatic and and rugged with massive waves battering the cliffs and beaches. Fantastic drives. We got some glimpses of snow capped mountains through the cloud but they were very few and far between. The highlights of the West coast were the Punakaiki rocks (pancake rocks), which are limstone cliffs and rocks jutting out of the water, they have taken weird shapes due to weathering and when you visit you can really see why, with the waves smashing against them and through crevases etc creating blow holes, caves, tunnels and there pancke like shapes, really impressive; The Buller Gorge where the water has turned an amazing blue colour due to the rock flour in the water, really impressive and not many tourists which is always a bonus; and of course the Glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. After getting stuck in some garvel and having to dig ourselves out at 7am, We decided to spend a little bit of money and do a walk on the Fox glacier, and it didnt dissapoint; really impressive walking on the ice in our crampons through blue ice crevases with Mount cook and Tasman looming in the background, behind partial cloud cover! Really cool stuff.

We drive onwards south firstly in search of penguins at Jackson point, no luck again and then to Haast, the weather in Haast was still shocking, and the next section of our drive, was supposed to be spectacular so we didnt know whether to stay in Haast or drive on, Haast was very dull so after a coin toss we decided to drive on, it turned out to be a good decision. We drove down Haast pass towards the central lake district via two huge lakes to our first stop Wanaka. The drive was incredible as the cloud lifted and the sun shone we were greeted by huge snow covered mountains in the Mount Aspiring National park, the drive and the massive Ice cream made this section of our trip truly memorable, next stop Wanaka.

We hired a campervan for 6 weeks, deciding to shun the backpacker buses and do it ourselves..... in style, we hired a camper rather than buying one as it was cheap as chips. We got a pretty cool one, you can even stand up in it, it has a two hobs, a mini grill and a sink, swish ay!!
Our first day, Andy drove, I was too scared of driving a beast on the motorway, we stocked up with food, enough for about a month, beer and vino and off we drove. We headed for the Coromandel where we spent a couple of days, the area was stunning, we absolutly loved it, so remote, we hardly saw any other campervans, which in NZ is an acomplishment! We slept out by the open for the first two nights, limited showers for us as of now and it was lovely, so peaceful, cooking our noodles under the stars! Oh and as an added bonus we got a free mini dvd player, so we are immersing ourselves in a bit of NZ culture and watching the first series of Bro Town, a cartoon based in Auckland and its ace.
We really put the van through its paces in the first few days, we went off road (unsealed tracks) for 50% of the time, at about 40km/h! We later read that you shouldnt take it on unsealed roads, which is pretty much impossible, so we will probably be saying goodbye to our hefty deposit! We headed to Hahei next via some beautiful white sand beaches and spent a day there, exploring the area, we did a walk to a huge cove and spent the afternoon in a self built spa ( a hole we dug with our hands) on hot water beach, which is suprisingly very very hot!
Next stop was Papamoa where we Sarah, Steve and Dyl were having a weeks holiday, we checked into the campsite they were staying at and spent two days with them by the sea. It was a really nice way to say goodbye, we had fantastic weather, walked up the 'Mount' and played on the beach and went out for a lovely meal. It was sad to say goodbye as they have been such good hosts and its been so lovely spending time with them and getting to know Dyl who is an absolute credit to them!
We then headed towards the East Cape, via a giant kiwi and some kiwi tasting. The East Cape is a largely untouristy area of Nz, with a high Maori population. It took us two days the drive the whole cape and on the way we saw numerous 'Maraes' (Maori meeting houses) and another awesome bit of coastal NZ, the drive was incredibly long and windy but worthwhile to get off the beaten track.
We checked out NZ's longest pier and it was incredibly long, then headed to Gisborne, the first city we had vistited after Auckland. The smaller cities are very odd, they are like English towns and generally very uninspiring! It was the eve before Andy's bday so we got some fish and chips and ate them on the beach, before sleeping in a carpark overlooking the beach!
Up for sunrise and present opening, I brought him, flight of the conchords, a surfs up watch, some sweeties and a mini connect 4. We set off really early and headed to the Mahia Peninsula, I drove as a birthday treat! ha ha! It was really easy though, the Mahia Peninsula was beautiful, rolling hills and rocky cliffs. We then headed inland towards Rotorua where we wanted to spend the night. We made a bit of a school boy error and drove through the Te Urewa National Park, it was really beautiful, huge lakes, massive waterfalls, however 107km of unsealed, potholed roads. It took forever and ever, and everytime we came to some sealed road and picked up a bit of speed it would end and we were back to gravel! Very exhausting! We made it eventually and arrived in Rotorua in time for a soak in a thermal spa in the campsite. Rotorua is NZ's Thermal City, there is thermal stuff everywhere, water bubbling and steaming, mud pools gurgling and spitting, it really is amazing. Seeing as it was Andy's bday and we had had a super tiring day we decided to treat ourselves and went out for some beverages and an Indian, yummy!
The following day we did the Luge, which is a toboggan style thing, where you hurtle down a hill pretty damn fast! Lots of fun and awesome views! We then headed to Orakei Korako, a thermal wonderland which you reach by boat. They used some of it to film Walking With Dinosuars. Its like exploring some kind of lost world, so cool, we saw a geysers, a huge cave, lots of bubbling water! They had free camping in their car park so we slept across the water from it, very spooky!
Next stop was Taupo, Nz's biggest lake, via a high ropes course....... wow, it was sooo much fun, despite the fact that it was freezing! We were taught how to be-lay, then we had to climp giant logs and walk across bridges and logs, with no hands!!! Neither of us fell, luckily! The best bit was climbing to the top of a log then jumping off to grab hold of a swing!
Tongariro National Park next, and it definately wasnt the weather for it! We drove through the rain, mist and Alpine shrubbery and used our imagination to visualise the three snow covered volcanic peaks that should of been on the horizon! We gave up on our plans of doing the Tongariro crossing ( a very famous day walk) and exploring the villages and just hit happy hour instead!
We awoke the following day to blue sky and decided to hit the slopes, first time for both of us, so we got kitted up and head off up the volcano! We were in for a pretty rocky drive as half way up, the ice came into play and we sat and wheel span for about 10 mins! It was awful, I thought we were going to roll back down the hill and hit the mile long queue of people behind us! Luckily though it wasnt just us, numerous people were stuck, we just had to wait for the man with the puffer truck to come push us up! Very stressful start to the day and another scratch on the van, but we got up there in the end and just in time for our beginners lesson! To be frank I was shockingly bad, I just kept falling over and ploughing into people, very very embarrassing yet funny as its soooohard to get back up, I was like bambi with elongated feet. However with a bit of coaching from Andy, who was surprise, surprise awesomely good! I got it and it was bloody awesome, plus we got to see the volcanos in all their snowy glory!
Our luck with the weather lasted a day and the following day as we headed down the Kapiti coast we were battered by rain all day, in the end we just gave up and chilled in our van! I almost got sea sickness in the night as the wind rocked us so much, it was pretty rubbish, im sure we almost tipped over! We got up early and headed straight to Wellington which we loved. It gets such a bad rap as a capital city but we thought it was amazing, really grungy and super cool. We went to Te papa, the NZ museum and it was amazing, so many good exhibitions, we spent hours wandering around! We also went for a swim (mainly for a free shower), checked out the botanical gardens, went to the observatory that wasnt open and finally did a drive around the coast which is beautiful. We love how all the major cities are by water, which means they have some excellent beaches within tiny driving distances. We saw lot of sufers in their full wetsuits and they must have been freezing! At the end of the coastal drive their is a walkway to a seal colony, we walked for an hour and a half and came across a colony of fur seals and they were big lazy ones too! Really cool to see, especially when they get off their lazy asses and get in the water for a good splash!
Next stop..... the South Island, fingers crossed for good weather for the ferry crossing!