Sydney & New Zealand Tour

  I  flew into Sydney early this morning, the sun is shining the harbour looks fantastic. I catch a cab to the hotel and then a taxi to Bronte. Bronte is my favourite beach in Sydney . Thats because its a combination of great restaurants and a great beach with a natural swimming pool in one corner. I am here for breakfast, and I always go to the same place, perhaps I am boring, but I cannot help it, its simply awesome, I order by latte, OJ and eggs Benedict and relax to the sound of the sea, the idle chatter of those around me, and unfortunately the sound of the Sydney bus arriving every 20 minutes, which allows its people to alight seemingly right behind me. But nevermind, I can live with that because the sun is out, the sea is sparkling and my breakfast has arrived and its a lot better than sitting in London on the 17th December.

After breakfast its time for a walk, a walk to Bondi,its only a 30 minute walk at most, but we tend to stop off and stare at the surfers and watch the waves crashing in on the rocks below, its a great way to freshen up after 22 hours on the plane.

On arrival in Bondi, its straight down to the beach for a quick read of the mornings papers, the Syndey Morning Herald is my normal Sydney read.

After a few hours, I catch a cab back to the hotel. A quick shower and its out for dinner. Its Longrain tonight, one of my favourite restaurants in Sydney , awesome cocktails and food....

I am not in Sydney for too long, so as I wake at 6am due to jet lag I want to make the most of the sun and being here, I go for a stroll and I make my way through the Botanical garden, observing the spiders in the shrubbery and the Fruit bats hanging from the trees. The Ibis are around and Sydney looks great, the AMP Tower is peeking through the tress and as I round the final corner, the Bridge and the Opera House come into full view. Awesome, I love this place.

I jump on the ferry at Circular Quay to take me to Manly, its not my favourite place in Sydney , but I still like it,  and the ferry trip is relaxing and enjoyable. On arrival I find somewhere to eat and relax before going on a gentle walk along the beach.

I catch the ferry back and prepare for my bridgeclimb, i have done this once before and the views are stunning. Its defiantely worth doing, its about 3 hours from the briefing to the return.I start at 4pm and am due to return at 7pm. They kit us out in overalls and talk to us about what we can and cannot do. Its worth noting that they are very strict on ensuring people dont have alcohol in their bloodstream. The views from the top are great, and they take a few pcitures while your doing the climb which you can buy afterwards, you cannot take your own camera up there.

Once its over, its back to Circular Quay and I catch the ferry to Watsons Bay for dinner at Doyles. Its one of the most famous restuarants in Sydney and well worth a visit. We sit on the terrace overlooking the beach and with Sydneys fantastic harbour stretching out in front of us we raise a glass of champagne and congratulate ourselves on our brilliant decision to come back to Sydney !!!!

On Sunday I flew from Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport to Auckland airport, it was a little disaapointing to leave Sydney's 80 degree heat to find that about 90 minutes over the Tasmin the weather changed and clouds became increasingly present. The flight over from Sydney takes about 3 hours, I flew with Air New Zealand, but Qantas also fly to NZ from Australia . Upon landing I was greeted with strong winds and a lot of horizontal rain. The foos on the plane hadnt exactly been filling so I dashed off to McDonalds to eat something.

I had hired a car through a company called Apex, which is a local car hire firm, which picks you up from the airport and takes you to its depot about 10 minutes away. It was ok, I was left standing 15 minutes outside the terminal for their bus (long enough to run to McDonalds and get the burger of my choosing) and then I had to queue 15 minutes for my car at their Depot, that said they were cheaper than some of the other car hire firms I looked into.  They provided me with a Subaru which was good to drive.

Due to the rain, I didnt hang around in Auckland which is a shame as I would have loved to have seen the harbour in the sun.  Instead to avoid getting wet, I drove for about 2.5 hours to Hot Water Beach , where I had hired a beach front bungalow. The drive was interesting and the clouds increasingly low, as we passed through hills and dense vegetation. Upon arriving I collectedmy keys, donned my anorak and went with my wife for a walk along the beach.

I awoke this morning and the sun is out and Hot Water Beach looks stunning. Its called that because in a certain place on the beach there is a thermal spring... basically it means if you dig a hole in the sand then you can have a "Spa Bath" but actually I just wiggled my toes into the sand and felt the hot water and that was enough for me!

We also walked to Cathedral Cove, a beautiful little spot witgh a stunning array of rocks immediately off the coast... great scenery and very pleasant walks exist in this area.

So I awake and yes its raining!!! I jump in the car and begin the journey south to Rotorua. The journey is not too long a few hours and I arrive at lunch and stop of for a great japanese meal. Rotarua is famous because of the Geysers that are present. These are hot springs that after a while explode into the air, firstly in the form of air and then steam, then gushing boiling water, incredible really, making for a nice photo! We stayed watching for about an hour and then left for Taupo.

On the way to Taupo, and it is to be honest quite a diversion we headed off to Waitomo Caves. These caves are famous for the millions of glow worms that light up the roofs of the caves which you navigate in complete darkness by using a huge canoe. It takes abut 12 people and you are steered through the caves by a professional guide. Its extremely well done and it is a cool thing to see... after an hour of gazing at these little glow worms we headed back to the car for the remaining journey to Taupo.

Taupo is an extroadinary place, its extraodinary because it has a HUGE lake. When I think of lakes I tend to think they are quite small, whereas in fact this is massive. Its actually the crater of a volcano that eruped a very very long time ago, and in good weather it would be simply stunning, however it wasnt, but I could still appreciate its very natural beauty. Fishing, water skiing are all options open to you as a visitor.

I spent the night here gaining sleep for my next trip south.

The Tongariro National Park is roughly in the middle of the north island, its famous because some of the scenes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy were filmed here and you can see why, lots of black rocks, quite a dark type of landscape, really different from anything I have seen before.  We are due to go for a walk tomorrow, I say a walk but that implies a stroll consisting of a few steps across a park etc, but this ealk is a 12 hour hike across the volcanoes. There are as far as I remember 3 volcanoes in the National Park, Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe  and Mt Ruapehu. The village we stayed in a pretty much a 5 minute drive from one of these volcanoes. I was told before I booked to do the walk and agreed to stay here that the village offers great views, and I am sure it does, however it didnt today as all 3 were covered in cloud. And it was cold! That said we went, today we went to explore the area a little but generally, just relaxed and hope that the weather would improve for us to do the walk.

The sun is there somewhere, but we cannot see it, and its windy! There is no way we can do the walk and our tight schedule wont allow us to wait another day... we decide to do a walk anyway, not the walk we had planned but a walk nonetheless. The clouds rise for about 5 minutes, long enough for us to see one of the volcanoes... after that, its gone again. The evening was spent in Taupo...

Up early, and its sunny, pack up the room and begin the journey to Wellington which is situtated on the southern tip of the North Island.  The drive is actually very nice, I cannot recall quite how long it took but I think it was about 4 hours. On arrival in Wellington , we found our apartment, a nice Chalet type house, and the owner had very kindly left food in the fridge for us aswell as some fruit juice.  It was a nice gesture. We went for a stroll and found that the city was both windy and also very hilly. However there was a nice vibe to the place.

After spending an enjoyable evening in Wellington we got up the next day anxious to catch the ferry to the South Island. We checked in and waited patiently for boarding, I had decided to board as a foot passenger that meant, leaving the vehicle with APEX Car Rental and re-hiring on the other side... the logic was that I would save money on the ferry because two foot passengers are cheaper than 1 car load of two passengers.  Not a great ideas as I then had to lug all my bags onto the ferry. The ferry crossing itself, was great, the weather was beautiful and the scenery be-fitting. As we left Wellington, the city looked great. The ferry was pretty busy but there was still enough room to move around without feeling too crowded. The scenery on route was great, you are only really in open sea for an hour or so, afterwards you pass through small inlets and watch as the scenery becomes ever more impressive, in total the journey takes about 3 hours and if you are touring the two islands I would recommend this.

On arrival I went and hired my car again, this time I received a less impressive vehicle, still okay but fairly high mileage in my opinion. The journey through Blenheim wa great and I really regret not staying for a night here. The topography was different from the North Island. We stopped at the wine region called Marlbourogh, a stunning area. We went to the world famous Cloudy Bay Vineyard and look around and bought a bottle as a souvenir of our visit, before moving on to a less famous vineyard for lunch. Staying in this area is also highly recommended.

We were driving to a place called Kaikoura, which is on the east coast of the south island, its only a couple of hours south from Marlborough Sounds.

On arrival at Kaikoura we immediately booked up a trip to swim with dolphins, and I know that many places offer this and it can range from sitting on a boom net as a boat sails with some dolphins, to sitting in a swimming pool and observing some tamed dolphins, this I was re-assurred was the real deal. Swimming with wild dolphins.  We were told to meet back at Dolphin Encounter offices at 0600 hours the following morning.

Kaikoura is a beautiful town with the southern alps behind it and the sea stretching out before it... its a stunning place.  We went to find some dinner, and we decided to have some fish and chips, not the most extravagent but it was cheap and we were very happy.

We went back to our apartment, sat on the balcony, drank a bottle of wine as the sun went down... not bad at all

So we set the alarm for 0530... had some breakfast and set off for our Dolphin Encounter. They are actually Dusky Dolphins and live just off the coast of Kaikoura, evidently they like the very cold water, (unlike me, who cant swim that well and doesnt like cold water at all). We were kitted out in a full wet suit, including the head and shoes. We were taken to the bus each of us clutching our clothes in our black bags kindly given to us by the organisers. There wasnt that many of us, maybe about 16 in total, but I cannot really recall. We were taken to the shore and we all jumped on a fairly small boat... remember its only about 0630... so its still pretty cold... as the boat motors out to sea, the captain explains that the water is indeed very cold, and very deep, lets put it this way you cannot touch the bottom, in fact its about 1,400 metres deep.

We motor around looking for a pod of dolphins, after about 10 minutes, we spot a group of about 60-70 dolphins... one by one we jump in and start making "Dolphin like" noises, mine dont sound anything like dolphins, but I maange to attract the attention of quite a number of dolphins, who have probably never seen anyone trying to swim vertically through the water, my swimming style is I believe unique to me. The water is indeed very very cold, but the attention of the dolphins distracts the brain completely, once you have your breath back, you imerse yourself completely into their world.  It is to be quite honest the most amazing experience of my life, to swim with completely wild animals in their environment is a privilege. If I ever come to NZ again, I will certainly do this again.

After about 3 separate swims with the dolphins, we are given a hose of warmish water to hose down with, and we begin to put on our clothers again. Soup is offered and despite the cold no one minds at all, the experience of a life time makes it all worthwhile.

The boat makes its return to land, and we moor about at about 0930.

Thats not the end of the day for us though, we have also planned to go on a whale watching boat. This is something we have longed to do  and have even done before, but we didnt see any whales, which wasnt great! But thats nature for you, you cannot guarantee anything. We wait in line to board our 2nd boat of the day we are set for the 1030 boat. This time the boat is considerably bigger and sophisticated, with sonar devices and tvs to show you what you are looking at and excellent informative and educational videos about the whales and the area around Kaikoura, this is also a must do.

We were lucky, we saw 8 whales, took thousands of photos and settled back for the trip back to land.

It was not about 1230 and we were now confronted with the journey right across the southern island. It may not be a big island but the roads are not motorways and as a consequence journey times are much much longer than they would appear by a quick glance at an altas.

The journey would take about 7 hours from kaikoura to Franz Jozef a town home to a large glacier.

We set out at 1230...

We arrive at about 9pm in the evening... its a long but pleasnt drive, and we check into our apartment and drive straight into town to find some dinner....

The sun is setting over the glacier which lies directly behind the town and is glowing red as the sun sets... its a beautiful setting...

We awoke and the sun was out which is a good thing because today we are scheduled to do a "heli-hike" on Franz Jozef's glacier, we drove to Franz Jozef and had breakfast and looked at the glacier awaiting our time slot. At around 1130 we made our way to the rendez-vous and were given waterproofs and walking boots with cramp ons for gripping the ice during our hike.

We queued up and boarded the helicopter, the views were sensational as the chopper climbed above the clouds and journeyed up the glacier. Although it looks like the glacier isnt moving because of its size, it is moving this is one of the worlds fastest moving glaciers... however you wont feel it move as I think its only moving at around a few metres per year.

The helicopter puts down on the ice and incredible feat in itself and we all get out and move to a safe distance from the chopper and then we put on our cramp ons.

We begin walking and it becomes really quite warm so off come the watrerproofs and on go the sun cream and sunglasses. The glacier looks pretty smooth from a distance but once your on the ice you realise that its full of crevices, lakes and caves. During the walk (which lasts approximately 2 hours) you encouter these lakes and pose for photos, disappear into small caves and jump the crevices that line the glacier. Its one of the best things I have ever done in my life. Put this event next to the dolphin encounter and you have a truly incredible 24 hours or so.

We return to the meeting spot and await for the helicopter to return to pick us up... the descent is also sensational... if you come to NZ then dont miss out on the dolphins or this...

After a great last night in Franz Jozef again watching the incredible site of the suns red light glowing magnificently on the towns glacier, we begin our meandering drive to the addenalin filled town of Queenstown. We start by having breakfast in Franz Jozef and then move on stopping at Mount Cook. Its here that you can walk to the other site of a lake and in sunlight see a perfect reflection of mount cook in the water. Unfortunately, today isnt sunny, we walk to the other side in the hope that the clouds shift...they dont... and the view isnt there today. but still it was a nice walk. The journey continues and we pass through the southern alps, there is snow on the mountains and NZ is looking beautiful. We arrive in Queenstown after about 4.5 hours driving and check into our apartment.  We go out of for a meal in the main town centre.

We spen the next two days cruising around the streets of Queenstown and taking boats trip across the famous Shotover river that is situated in Queenstown. We had also planned to hire a car and drive to Milford Sound, but after two weeks of near constant driving, and site seeing, we decided to postpone that for another year, it is supposed to be amazing and I would love to do it, but we were becoming tired.. so we decided to rest up in Queenstown for a few days.

By chance, and I dont think my wfie really believed me, there happened to be a one day international cricket match in Queenstown on New Years Eve... excellent, the sun was out and despite it being virtually impossible to obtain a drink or find a clearn public convenience (the toilets were simply the worst I have ever encountered anywhere) its was a good day out... the match was terrible, it wasnt even close, the touring Sri Lankans lost early wickets and never recovered.. the managed about 160 from memory...the Kiwis then chased the runs very slowly....