Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

To my friends (and the family at a push),

It’s that time again, so I’d like to write about my last 7 days on the south
island of New Zealand….Drove west through the mountains to the west coast
of the island, staying in the sleepy town of Westport for the night, having
the whole hostel/house to ourselves, a welcome sight after 2 days on the
floor. We spent the following day checking out another seal colony at “Cape
Foulwind”, sighting “pancake rocks” (nice blowhole to watch) and then on
into Greymouth. I was told the west coast to be wet, and sure enough, it
rained during our stay in both towns, reminding me of our stay in
Christchurch- c’mon spring!! Did a brewery tour as well as checking out a
load of live bands at a local pub, who were touring together. Had a couple
of really good acts, playing some of my favourite songs, such as Zombie
(Cranberries), Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Are You Gonna Go My Way
(Lenny Kravitz)…so they were great in my eyes.

The next 3 days were spent further down the coast, away from th flat coastal
plains and into the southern alps, in the form of Franz Josef & Fox
glaciers. The weather was crap for two days, so we had to just chillout at
the hostels and wait for a break- we did attempt a walk, but I got soaked
through in 2 minutes. Our 3rd day in the glacier region was awesome, as I
convinced the other two to join me on a full-day hike onto Fox Glacier, as I
heard the weather would improve. We were driven up to the glacier terminal
in old Bedford buses and saw the huge ice cave that was formed by the river
under-cutting the glacier. We we making our ascent up the valley side and
though the rainforest when we saw a colossal section of the cave roof
collapse and dam the river- 100’s of tonnes of ice crashing down. We saw
this happen 3 times, with our passionate guide saying it’s the most activity
he’s ever seen on a glacier in his whole career. Eventually the river
shifted the ice dam, moving blocks of ice weighing severla tonnes like they
were wood!! It got even better when we shoved our crampons on our boots and
began our actual ascent of the glacier itself, initially climbing ice steps
and then slowing our climb, as our guide had to cut fresh foot holds for us
using an ice pick/axe, as we were negotiating a new route. That’s the
benefit of a full day hike- we could reach further into the glacier. My
crampons made ice hiking as easy as walking on rough granite with shoes,
amazing grip. The landscape was incredible to observe- I was always looking
around at the immense ice field flanked by rock-strewn forested valley
slopes with their cascading waterfalls. I loved how blue the ice looked,
plasma blue as if it was florescent, shining with the white to produce this
big natural mosaque that was so pure to see. The ice pinnicles/ rifts/
caves/ gullies were great to see and navigate through/ around, absorbing me
complely so that all I thought about was the moment. I strayed off the track
a couple of times, taking pics, so got a reputation by the guide, who
naturally knew my name…good or a bad thing?! Very well-humoured. I froze
my arse off when we stopped for lunch 2/3rds of our ascent up, but stayed
warm for the majority of our hike- wearing 3 layers with a nice wind chill
We reached the ice wall around 5pm, signalling the end of our ascent and
the point to take in the mighty view of the glacier we had climbed, before
descenting on our pre-cut route, plus a couple of new sections which had to
be cut. After 7 hours of hiking, 5 of which on the actual glacier, I made a
bad-ass curry for everyone and thought that this was one of the best
experiences of my life.

Out of the cold, we headed further south for 6 hours, stopping in Haast
where I suddenly saw blue skies again (deprived since the Abel Tasman
national park), so it was a great sight to see. The road scenary morphed
from high alpine terrain and their acompanying low-slung green fields with
lush forests to a mediterranean landscape of dry vegetation to the beauiful
colbalt-blue lakes of Wanaka abd Hawea. The lakes were so nice to drive
alongside, as their blueness was offset by the green fields and the backdrpo
of the southern alps. No sign of human life on the lakes, or most of the
road (no change from the rest of NZ!!). After the lakes, we drove through a
french/ north-italian feel landscape of picturesque fields, small
settlements, alpine trees, vineyards and rolling hills that made a perfect
blend for photographs. The sun shining on us since Haast made it look even
prettier- amazing what a bit of sunshine can do!!

Got into Queenstown around early evening, checking into to a hostel, who’s
decorator must’ve been spun out on magic mushrooms and acid- so much random
colour, like someone had put a stick of dynamite in a dulux warehouse.
Spent 3 nights in Queenstown, doing grade 3/4 whitewater rafting down the
shotover river, navigating such rapids as “jaws” and “oh shit”. A lot of
fun, especially hurtling through a 350 metre rock tunnel created by gold
miners. The canyon we were travelling through was impressive to see. Did a
134m bungie jump a couple of hours after that, plunging into the canjon from
a gondola suspended above the canyon i.e. no tower, just a pod in the sky.
Amazing rush felt when I dived off the platform and free-fell towards the
river, just like I remembered my first bungie when I was younger. Got a DVD
and pics, so you’ll have to see! The following day, I did a rock climbing
course with a pro mountaineer for the whole day, as I wanted to learn more
techinal things about climbing and improve my technique. Blessed with
sunshine both days of doing stuff and also met the German couple I
befriended back in Fiji- by arrangement. Great to see them again and
exchange stories!! So, the last week was really active for me- a lot of
beautiful things seen and adrenaline stuff done

Write again with more tales. Hope everyone’s fine. Thank you to all of you
who wrote me an email- I tried to reply to them all!

Cheers,
Oli

Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

Number six, hopefully you’ll like it…

So, landed in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand on November
8th and spent the entire time on the bus ride into the centre of Christchuch
thinking “i’m home again?!!”. What I mean by that, is that the buildings
are really similar to that of England, all colonial with their lawns and
garden beds, the shops and restaurants look the same, the people dress the
same, the road names are all English names, people drive on the left and
finally….the climate’s the same. The initial weather was wet, cloudy,
windy and cold, just like a winter’s day. Spent 2 nights in Christchurch at
a couple odf different hostels and looked for a cheap car to buy, with no
luck. Ended up hiring a Toyota Corolla for 19 days, and had a girl from
Israel tag along for the ride, called Yaara.

Drove north to Hamner Springs on the afternoon of the 3rd day, driving
through sheep-grazed pastures up a gauze-covered river valley to the
foothills of teh region, away from the coast, where we eyed some cool
picturesque valley views from up high, watching the river cut its way down
to the sea. Hamner Springs was a really pretty town, having an alpine
setting of pine trees, wooden lodges and green hills with thaty fresh smell,
like a crisp spring day. Stayed there for a night and then went to the
springs complex, relaxing in the sulpher/ hot spring pools before heading
back to the coast in the afternoon to the pretty seaside town of Kaikoura.
This place is famous for its sea colony and whale watching, so we did a hike
to the colony, where I was able to get about 2 metres from this big fat seal
to take a picture. From there, we continued our drive north, passing more
fields along the coast, before heading up into the hills again and dropping
onto the plateau that makes the north east of the south island. Here, the
landscape changed again, to vineyards, indicating we were near to out
sleeping stop for tne night, Blemheim. Did a wine tour on the following day
at Montana winery and found that I quite like their famous white wine
“Sauvignon Blanc”, plus learnt how to appreciate a wine. Still doesn’t beat
tea!! Drove to the port town of Picton after that, which like Blenheim, was
small, picturesque and had a really nice relaxed colonial feel to it.

We ended up in Nelson after that, which is my favourite town so far in NZ-
lovely mediterranean climate like the other northern towns (why they produce
so much decent wine!!), great pub/ cafe culture, beautiful colonial
buildings and a great mansion hostel to stay in. From here, we spent the
following 3 days treking in the Abel Tasman national park, covering almost
50km of coast, seeing loads of beautiful bays/ beaches, going through
forests and making well-timed tidal crossings of rivers that offer no
alternate route. We stayed in a couple of wooden huts enroute, providing
shelter, heat, toilets, a mattress and running water- nothing more. I didnt
bring a sleeping bag, as I only wanted to take my day sack and pack the
essentials- a stove, clothes, camera, water/ food and music. That meant
that i spent both nights by a gas gas heater or an indoor inclosed log fire,
which I kept going until 3am on the second night. The accomodation was so
basic, that it really made me appreciate the company of others and do the
simple things like drink tea together and make conversation, playing cards.
Had a bizarre moment when I was playing a new card game with a dutchman, an
israely, 3 germans, 1 Russian and another brit. Made a new friend, who
lives in Germany and i’m sure I’ll see next year.

The national park was so beautiful, even though our 2nd day of hiking
involved being rained on throughout the whole afternoon, being sandblasted
and going knee-deep in icy river water at 7.30 in the morning. The rugged
forested peninsulas and bays were really great to see, and the people were
really friendly. I did end up swimming on the 3rd day, as it was so sunny,
but doesn’t compare to the bath water that is Fiji!! I reckon the trekking
and our general stay in the north of teh south island were the best parts so
far.

Write back to me if you like, it would be great to hear from you!!

All the best, Oli

Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

A bit late….I’ll reveal why later.

Yep, so from where I finished, we drove from the capital (Suva) south and
then along a pretty coast road that runs all the way to the west of the
island, including a stretch of road known as the “coral coast” for the
offshore coral that you can see from the road. We stopped at Pacific
harbour to take some pics and then Sigatoka national park, where there’s
huge natural sand dunes. Our “guide” got us lost, revealed that this was
his first long trail and also revealed that the walk we made him do was his
last for the day. He had been at the Park for two weeks, as a ranger, but
was knackard after the trek, but a funny guy. I was sand blasted constantly
on the dunes and got a mouth full of sand whenever I tried to shout
something, great views though

On 31st, we took a catamaran from the mainland out to the island group to
the west of the main island, with the intention of hopping a few islands.
Landed on “Bounty Island” by mid-morning, greeted by guitars, singing, white
sand beach, palm tree-clad interior and colbolt blue water- yep, looked
sweet to me. Jumpd in and snorkelled ASAP, blown away by the healthy coral
colonies and all the colourful fish that went with them- better than any
Caribbean island I’ve been too, and may rival the Maldives, it’s that
impressive. There wasnt a cloud in the sky and the water was around 27oC,
good visability. Snorkelled, Kayaked and walked around the whole island
during my first day, only being 40 hectares big, just like the postcard
tropical islands.

To cut a long story short, Ben and I had told ourselves that we would leave
Bounty island after 1 or 2 nights, but I fell in love with the island as
soon as I set foot on it and stayed for 7 nights!!(Ben left after 4
nights-skint). I did manage some island hopping to Treasure island,
Honeymoon island (great deep snorkelling), Castaway island, Plantation
island and another one I cant remember how to spell.

So yeah, my “island hopping” on prodominatly one island involved a dream
routine for me everyday: 1) 7am wake up to snorkel when the water’s dead
calm, breakfast (copious amounts of tea and pinnapple)
2) snorkel around the island after breakfast for a couple of hours and then
crash in a hammock to listen to my music and maybe read a bit about NZ.
3) BBQ lunch, followed by my afternoon snorkel on a favourite part of the
island/ Kayak.
4) 3pm “tea time” (get the impression it was a Brit colony?!!). Normally
steam through 8 cups of tea in the space of an hour, standard.
5) Snorkel again/ watch sunset from otherside of island.
6) Evening dinner/ drinks/ cards in evening.

The only things to add to the above was island hopping, drinking Kava
(narcotic drink), winning a bottle of plonk on my final night to drink under
a full moon and beating a German at a Kayak race around the island.

Sounds very simple, because it was, but it was absolute perfection for me, I
couldnt have had a better day than the ones I had. So much so, that even
now, I contemplate going back out to the islands for more fish gazing and
sun loving. The island only had around 60 people on it, max, so it was very
relaxed and you hardly saw anyone,except at meal times. Met a nice German
couple from Cologne who were great company throughout my stay. The staff
were so friendly towards me, I got to know most of them, and they knew my
love for the sea/island. It was a running joke that everyday a member of
staff would come up to me and ask “are you leaving today?”, me replying,
“no, just one more night”. Literally, they would ask me everyday and
everyday I would say no, lengthening my stay from a casual 1 night affair to
over a week of pure tropical island bliss.

I can safely say that this is the only country I’ve travelled to that I DO
NOT want to leave, and has Oli written all over it, my Valhalla.

Off to NZ tomorrow, write to you lot from there- still think of you lot when
I have quiet moments of peace

Oli