Jason Harley's Corner of the Web

With 4 million people and 40 million sheep, New Zealand may still yet prove to be the biggest cultural shock of our travels. People will say it's like, Wales, Scotland, Norway, England (40 years ago) but there is only one way to find out and that is experience it for ourselves.

Auckland 19th - 24th October 2004

Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand (1 million people and no sheep), however tourists are in their numbers and there is a cosmopolitan feel about the place that makes it hard not to like the city.We arrived in Auckland and headed for our hostel in the centre of town. Sorting out the camper van for the coming 4 weeks and a bit of big city delights were the main objectives. Internet cafes galore meant that catching up with the interweb and a bit of late night gaming was in order.

The SkyTower dominates the Auckland skyline and is the tallest man made structure in the Southern Hemisphere. The crazy New Zealanders will let people jump from the top (192m) on a zip wire but a trip up by lift was enough for us and the views over the harbour and 7 volcanic hills was spectacular.

I caught up with friends and you soon realise that living here is good and the suburbs have more to offer that the central tourist streets. Alida, a friend from my Audit Commission days, had us to her gorgeous house (or almost 3 houses in 1!) for dinner, set in the unspoilt countryside with the nearest neighbours a few miles away and only a 45 minute commute to Auckland. Alida moved from England in 2001 and the advantages of New Zealand living were evident although she did complain about the other 4 cars on the road in rush hour so I quickly reminded her of what she'd left behind!

Another friend, Ian, who I'd known from the London Liverpool FC supporters club, had moved back to NZ in 2000. We met him for a meal and another visit to a kiwi's house shows the value you get living in NZ. The highlight of seeing Ian was the room he'd given over to his memorabilia of Liverpool FC, walls lined with photos, scarfs and memories of european trips. He even had a few photos of me from trips away in europe... surprised how much hair I used to have! Great to catch up with friends and more to come in Wellington.

Travels with my 'in-laws'

About 6 weeks ago we got an e-mail from Zo?s Mum and Dad asking if they could join us for 4 weeks in New Zealand so we upgraded the camper van and headed down the airport to meet them. There was a lot of emotion and Zo?was delighted to see them and so pleased they'd made the effort, tears were in everyone's eyes although mine were due to what I'd let myself in for over the next 4 weeks! Bob and Jan (as they will now be known) arranged to stay with a friend in Auckland for a few nights before we picked them up in the Camper Van and headed off to explore the north of the North Island.

Every cloud...

I've done the maths...on average, a dutiful boyfriend may be expeceted to visit his girlfriends parents 3 times a year. I'll be spending the next 27 nights with the 'in-laws' in a smallish camper van. Therefore I will be amassing credit.... 27 nights worth of credit. Translating this into years... 27 nights divided by 3 times per year = 9 YEARS. Therefore, once back in England, I don't need to visit the in-laws until November 2013.

North and South of Auckland 24th-29th October 2004

The camper van gives us great freedom to see New Zealand so we headed up north to Paihai on the Bay of Islands. One of the main attractions was to dive the ship wreck of the Rainbow Warrior Paihai Diving, The Rainbow Warrior. In 1984, the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior was sunk by explosives planted by the French Secret Service, who aimed to stop the ship disrupting plans to test nuclear war heads off New Zealand. The ship sunk killing one person, the french agents were caught (returning their camper van!) and to much embarrassment and political unfriendliness the French had to pay $100 million in compensation to NZ, Greenpeace and the family of the dead. (Dominique... just one more reason, mate!)

The dive was amazing, although the water was only 15C and we needed 7mm wet suits to stop hypothermia. After diving in the coral reefs of the Caribbean and Fiji, we didn't expect cold water diving to be so good. Equally beautiful and colorful, together with the wreck... it was out of this world. They even let us enter the ship to see inside.

We spent a couple of nights in the Bay of Islands before heading off to the west coast, near Dargville and then onto Sandspit, back on the east. The camp sites are all well equipped and set in beautiful surroundings. Back through Auckland and onto the Coromadel peninsular we found refuge in Hahei, which is set on a hot water beach so Zo?and I made our way to the beach and by feeling the sand for a 'hot' spot, you dig a hole which fills up with thermal water for your very own thermal bath. This is the life!

South of Auckland to Wellington 29th October-5th November 2004

Traveling further south and after a night at the foot of Mount Maunganui, we headed inland to a place called Rotorua. We had been warned that as soon as we left the shadow of Auckland that we would see less and less people. However, the camper van allows us the freedom to find those people and for the most part they have been behind us in their cars, shaking fists, as we travel at a leisurely 20mph up the one lane New Zealand motorways.

Rotorua, could be renamed several things¡ Geyser City or Sulphur Town may be crude but the smell of the thermal activity gives it away and when you cannot find a hotel, campsite or even a shopping centers that DOESN T offer free thermal mineral pools, then you know that you ve arrived. (Like much of New Zealand) Rotorua is built on a fault line that produces thousands of hot springs and geysers (and the smell to go with it) but it s an interesting place with it s colonial history, bowling greens and croquet lawns. The local museum gives an account of why anyone would want to build a town on a fault line and delves into the history of why you can t get cold water anywhere in the region (heated up by the hot stuff, you see!). A trip to the local Geyser Farm allowed us to get wet with warm sulphuric water and see some traditional Maori crafts. Geysers and Maori Centre, Rotorua. We followed up the water show with a traditional Maori show, with educational about the culture and a slap up meal cooked in the ground in a the traditional way.

Lake Taupo, in the center of the North Island was to give us our first opportunity to Sky Dive but the weather was over cast and we opted to move on but a beautiful setting for all sorts of activities but this craze deserves a footnote on dangerous activities.

Footnote on dangerous activities

Right from the minute you step from the plane in New Zealand, if there is anything remotely dangerous, then there is a guy charging you for the thrill. In England, if we have a slipperly floor then it is TAKE CARE. Not here, Slipperly floors are the opportunity to put touriusts in a large plastic container called a zorb, and then attach an elastic band to it, push it off a bridge/cliff/skyscraper (delete as required) and hope for the best. Oh and before you ask, yes they will video they whole event for $30. Not wishing to be left out we headed for the National Aquarium in Napier to go and feed some real big sharks.

We had seen sharks in the wild in both Belize and Fiji but none as big as those in the shark tank at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. For a reasonable price you can get in the 1.5 million litre tank with the sharks and look at the dry and safe people in the viewing tunnel. Blair, our dive master was fantastic and fed the larger sharks while we took care of the smaller ones. After feeding time we had the freedom to the tank to see the manta rays and school sharks close up. Bob and Jan took the pictures while we attempted to look the least like the sharks next meal as possible.

Wellington 5th-10th November 2004

After a long drive to Wellington we arrived in Isengard, the fictional Lord of the Rings name for Harcourt MotorHome Park, however this is where the actual filiming took place. Zoe and I went searching for forgotton memorabilia to sell to obsessed LOTR fans on Ebay but it's unlikely that the old Coke bottle we found was actual from the general store in Hobbiton or ever touched the lips of Orlando Bloom. Nevertheless, offers in the region of $300 will be considered. As Zoe's mum and dad leave middle earth for home on the 17th of November, there is a need for them to push on to the south island. Zoe and I have until the middle of Decemeber so we dicided that I could stay in Wellington to catch up with some old Audit Commission friends, while Zoe and the in-laws pressed on to be chased by me in the coming week.

However before we parted the small issue of Guy Falwkes night and Wellington does it with some style. Helicopters trailing fireworks, barges in the harbour and kids setting light to industrial diggers. On top of that I got to meet up with an old friend Peter Jane who moved back to NZ about the same time as I had left Millbank Tower (Audit Commission HQ). A few beers and a few stories later and it was as if we had never been away.

Wellington, in the day light holds a special cahrm as the endless hills and bright sunshine give it a warm feel. With only 400,000 inhabitants (highly proprtioned people:sheep) it has the cultural diversity to match any major capital city. The museums are excellent and free, the shops are busy and trendy, and the food and drink plentiful. I may just enjoy my few days here by myself a litlle more than expected.

The weekend was taken up with Kiwi hospitality, as Alison (who done 2 years work swap from AuditNZ to the Audit Commission), invited me round for a BBQ at her new house. The house is what can only be described as a show room, perfect decor and views to die for over the Wellington hills. Together with it's own Cable Car (Wellington can be a bit hilly) we sat on the sun drench balcony discussing what possible reason anyone would want to live anywhere else. Wellington is growing on me by the second!

Shaun McHale, another old Audit Commission friend, had left the UK to set up the Specialist services for AuditNZ. About 5 years ago he had tried to poach me from the Audit Commission to join him in NZ but for one reason or another that had not worked out. I met him and his young son for a day in Wellington, having breakfast, playing on the beach and all this a 10 minute train ride from his house (yep... you guessed it ... another show room on a hill with views a plenty). My whole flat in East Finchley fits into most New Zealand house kitchens! (Note to self- sell London flat, move to New Zealand, get small house (6-8 bedrooms) with Hyde Park sized garden, live a better life).

I spent the rest of the week enjoying what Wellington had to offer, including a very interesting visit to the Houses of Parliament to see Prime Minister Questions. The parliamentary system is based on the British one, think 120 primary school children, one play-station and a crate of larger, and you'll have an idea about the level of behaviour. Unfortunately, none of the opposition MPs had the guts to ask the most obvious question a PMQs which was - Where is the bloody Prime Minister?... but never the less the questions allowed a good exchange of democracy.

The next morning I hopped on to the ferry from Wellington and took the 3.5 hour journey to Picton and onto the South Island.