Blue Mountains and Bondi

The rest of our week in Sydney we filled with fun. We went to Bondi, walked to Clovelly, had drinks in cool bars, exquisite brunches at Lucy’s friends Shar and Tristan’s house, BBQs in parks and went trampolining at night (SO much fun!). Luce, her boyfriend Andy, Bro and I spent two nights in a gorgeous little cottage in the Blue Mountains, tucked away with a fire and a hot tub, and lots pink bubbles. We did bush walks (sometimes in the rain), saw the 3 Sisters, played lots of card games, got merry on some rather delicious coconut tequila, and I beat everyone at Poker! What a lovely few days to round off our week in Sydney!

Our lovely Gully Cottage in Katoomba (thanks for the pics higs)

The Blue Mountains (they look blue because of a chemical given off by the Eucalyptus trees which causes Rayleigh Scattering)

Bondi Beach (looks sunny but it wasn't really)

Bouncing on a Saturday Night!

Brunch of Dreams!

Walking in the rain

Me winning at Poker

Lucy loosing at Poker!

Harbour Bridge and Afternoon Tea

The best thing about Sydney is that there’s a Higgins in it. This girl is an absolute dream and I got to spend a whole delicious week in her company!

Before I arrived, Luce had very cryptically asked me to ‘reserve Friday’ for a surprise, and was given no instructions other than to wear covered shoes, and was just told that I would be breathalised!! So I caught the ferry from Manly where I’d spent the night and met her at Hungry Jacks in Circular Key at 8.15am for my surprise. And what a surprise! We were walking over Harbour Bridge!! I have to mention 4 more very special people here as this was an early Birthday present for me from my wonderful Uni ladies, Luce, Cat, Sarah, Sara and Emily-you lot are legends, thank you!! What an awesome pressie! :)

So we were whisked off, breathalised, dressed in crazy jump suits, shoes (turns out my shoes were still illegal so I was given a very trendy substitute), baseball caps, hankies (?!!!) and factor 30 sunscreen (they do love their health and safety, the Ozzies) and off we set in tow of Romeo (yes Romeo) our very Australian guide (think Steve Irwin. On a bridge). The climb was great-it actually goes pretty high and you get spectacular views over the harbour. We also learnt a lot about it, including the fact that 16 people died during construction, and that the 4 granite towers on either side of the bridge are simply there for show, to make it look more sturdy. Romeo has taken more than 3000 trips up the tower, but I asked him how many celebrities he’d taken up and he said none L Apparently 1D went up the other day though, BZL (Before Zane Left), and also apparently you can get married up there. Who knew?!

When we’d finished, Luce treated me to an incredibly scrumptious Afternoon Tea in a very fancy restaurant. It was insanely good and I drank faaaaar too much tea and ALL of my cakes. YUM!

Let me tell you a little about this lady. Within 24 hours of being in Sydney she’d got me to play a game of netball and attend a 7.30am F45 fitness class cos that’s what she does. She is a machine-she plays for 3 netball teams, takes fitness classes, has an incredible “I-want-one-of-those” job (called something like Chief Fancy Clever Cloggs Sub-Editor) at New Idea Magazine (like Australia’s Heat Magazine), she is without doubt one of the most warm, sociable and friendly people I know, and also one of the most loved, probably because she is such an incredible caring and loyal friend, and I am very lucky to have her in my life. Aren’t lucky to spend a whole week with her?!

Australia Part Deux -Sydney

We’re back in Australia, hurrah!! Apologies for my absence-I’ve had a super busy fun week and haven’t had a moment to stop and write, so here’s a quick low down on what we’ve been up to.

We arrived, very excited, in Sydney on Wednesday and were met by a very smiley Lucy before she had to run off to work. Thursday we took the ferry from Circular Key to Manly in the sunshine. For anyone who’s not done it that’s a trip in itself as you pass the Harbour Bridge, iconic Opera House and bob along out of the impressive harbour to Manly. I couldn’t get over the fact that people get to do that as a commute each morning!! Beats London traffic on my bike!

We met my very lovely friend Ben Rockett, just after lunch and he had a surprise visitor, Mr Jumping Jack Flash. These two are pretty impressive chaps as Ben broke the World Record Cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats and back a few years ago, and Jack (who I hadn’t seen for about 5 years) had just cycled (yes CYCLED) from the UK to Australia. Think about that for a moment. That’s insane.

So the four of us had an awesome day having a lazy tour of Manly in the sunshine, swimming in the bays, drinking beer in the sun and finally a BBQ (back in BBQ Land-hurrah!) on Little Manly beach as the sun went down with a glass of wine. Picture perfect. 

So good to catch up with some old friends...rather surreal to be doing it on the other side of the world!

Until next time...

So we’ve come to the end of our New Zealand adventure, and I’m sat on the plane watching the sun come up over the cloudy Tasman Sea wondering what adventures we’ll have next.

We had a truly brilliant time Wwoofing with this wonderful lady, her cheeky little dog Scooter, and Natasha, Precious and Rachel our 3 marvellous chickeny friends who accompanied us around the garden in what-ever we were up to (alas more for the grubs in our wake than our company).

Precious having a dust-bath!

Golden Bay is a simply magical little corner of NZ which could so easily be overlooked as an unnecessary detour. We just loved it and spent our spare time visiting golden beaches, fresh-water springs, bird-watching on the Farewell spit, hunting down waterfalls, sipping coffee in Takaka and drinking locally-brewed cider and ale in an incredible pub called The Mussel Inn (worth the journey to Golden Bay all by itself-Dad you’d love it!), and listening to live music (Bella Kalolo is awesome-look her up!) with the locals. It really was our tiny piece of paradise in New Zealand!

We feel distinctly like we’ve started our trip on such a high that everything else now has so much to live up to! SO...come on the Australia, give us all you’ve got! 

Flip-flopping the Abel Tasman

Today I said a sad goodbye to my trusty flipflops. 

Let me start at the beginning. After waving Golden Bay a fond farewell, we hopped our way over the hill to Marahau on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park. We’d already spent one night on the stunning Totaranui beach on the other side of the National Park the night before starting Wwoofing and that was just beautiful, but we’d been told time and time again that it was worth visiting the other side too, so here we were. We arrived early afternoon so spent the first day just lounging on the beach (all to ourselves as usual and just stunning!) reading and having a dip, so it was the second day where we ventured along the highly acclaimed coastal walk into the park. You basically meander your way through the forest, sandwiched between the hillside and the beach, where you crawl past picturesque cove after picturesque cove, each of which has at most a spattering of people, at best, no-one else!

This is one of NZ’s ‘Great Walks’ and you can spend 4 days walking the entire length of coast to Totaranui at the far end. We only had the best part of one day, and our budget didn’t stretch to getting a taxi boat home which meant a round trip for us! This is great, until you get to the very furthest point of your walk…and then your flipflop breaks!

These aren’t just any flipflops. They were a birthday present from Mum two years ago and are my shoe of choice in any climate over 10°C. They have been dragged around Gambia, the streets of London and since leaving the UK at the start of Feb have only been replaced thrice (once for the wedding and twice on the plane) so can now add volcanoes, glaciers, waterfalls and forests to their conquests (indeed Brodie and I scoff at signs suggesting ‘sensible footwear’ and wave our flip-flopped feet in defiance at any booted-person we pass). What I’m saying is these are hardy, much-loved pieces of attire in which one can trust. But alas they let me down at the worst possible moment.

Incidentally this happened to me once before when climbing a mountain near Hong Kong. After being advised to take hiking equipment, and being told ‘it’s not suitable for girls (!!)’, Holly and I proceeded to trek up the massive hill in what we had on…and half way up my £2.99 Primani flipflop broke. That time I had a hair band I could tie-it together with and it worked fine from then on (hurrah!). This time it was irreparable which meant only one option-walking the entire way back in bare feet!! So I’ll leave you with the image of Brodie flip-flopping along in his super-short-closet-but-not-so-closet swimming shorts and me scurrying along next to him in barefeet and a summer dress (occasionally swapping which was perhaps even more comedy as his flipflops are waaaay too big for me so I looked a bit like a duck), as we passed dozens of hardcore trekkers in their walking boots and camping gear looking at us like lunatics!

RIP flipflops.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

There’s nothing like dangling on the edge of an aeroplane at 13,000 feet to make you really appreciate your mum. So mum, I hope your ears were burning cos there was a lot of love coming your way as I balanced on the edge of a rather unsubstantial-looking little plane strapped to a large South African named Scruffy earlier today! 

I’d decided to do a skydive while I was here a long time ago, to tick another thing off my bucket list. I decided not to tell mum, as I think these things are better told in retrospect to avoid unnecessary (but obligatory) motherly worrying.

We left it until the last minute to book though, (secretly hoping it would be too late) but alas they could squeeze us in at 3pm, so we suddenly found ourselves nervously awaiting instructions in a random little airfield in Motueka, not quite knowing what had hit us!

We got suited and booted and instructed (rather briefly), and packed like sardines into the back of the plane, and up we went, trying desperately not to wee ourselves with nerves (makes you think twice about my post title doesn't it?!..). I was the second to go and bloody hell I was petrified when that door opened, but you don’t have time to think before you’re plunging towards the Earth with your stomach left somewhere up with the pilot!

5 minutes later you’re on the ground wondering what the hell happened to you, and feeling absurdly pleased with yourself for being so clever and not dying, even though all you’ve actually achieved is 

not getting your feet in the way as someone else pushes you out of a plane. I have to say though, that was one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done, and definitely definitely worth it!

So ma, I hope you’re pleased we’re not dead, and I hope you have an absolutely marvellous Mother’s Day xxxxxxxxxx

Naked cycling...

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WWOOF!

Our first attempt at Wwoofing-Golden Bay

For those of you who have never heard of it before, Wwoofing stands for 'Willing Workers on Organic Farms’. The gist is that you work 4-6 hours a day in exchange for food and lodging. To us it’s a means of prolonging our trip by not spending money, with the aim of getting some work done and having a bit more of an insight into how the locals live (Nb. ‘organic farm’ is a loose term-basically it seems to be any work in an outdoor/environmentally friendly capacity).

We certainly lucked out on our first experience. Victoria, our host is simply wonderful. She is a retired radiographer, and self-named ‘Hippie’ and ‘Political Activist’ who lives on 10 acres of land on a cliff overlooking Golden Bay, on the Northern coast of South Island (a renowned Hippie-community). She is extremely well-known and well-respected within the local community, and spends her time fighting to improve the lives of those around her in any way she can. She is the proud founder of the ‘Love Revolution’-a concept she created with a friend, by which the idea is that every day you do at least one good gesture for either yourself, for someone else, or for the environment (in roughly equal measure). She’s definitely someone who makes you aspire to be a better person, and I am frequently blown away by her positivity, despite a number of hardships she’s had to endure throughout her life. A genuine gem. She is also a shit-hot cook. Winner.

Our duties each day are all out in the beautiful garden in the sunshine, and mainly involve weeding. As perhaps the least green-fingered biologist that ever existed, this suits me down to the ground (excuse the pun). Killing things is my forte. Brodie is an absolute stalwart in the garden-he’s finally found a use for his muscles aside from pushing a bar around the gym, and has been digging up flower beds left, right and centre. We are kept company all day by the three chickens (Natasha, Rachel and Precious) who wonder around pecking up any bugs we uncover, and the cutest little Jack Russell called Scooter who is simply so cute we are all putty in his hands!

When we finish work we have a dip in the sea on Victoria’s private section of beach, then rinse off in the super-hot solar outdoor shower overlooking the sea. Jealous much?!

When we’re not working we are free to explore the area-with waterfalls, springs, beaches and cafes galore we’ve been pretty spoilt so far. Future Wwoofs have a lot to live up to! 

My Grandpa

Today I lost my dear Grandpa. He died peacefully and apparently wasn't in pain. And Dad was there beside him, holding his hand. 

While this is extremely hard for me, I’m also happy. Happy because I know he was ready. Happy because of the wonderful life he lived, so so happy that I got to have him in my life for all of my 28 years and for all of those wonderful wonderful times, throughout my childhood and my adulthood where I was lucky enough to have him beside me, happy that we have so much to celebrate about his life and happy because he can now be with Grandma, where ever that may be.

I like to think he’s not gone, but instead he’s in a little piece of all of us he’s left behind- his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, his dear friends and everyone who’s been part of his glorious journey. I hope he’s proud of his legacy and the wonderful family he’s made around him, and I thank him for growing me into the person I am.  

xxx

Edmund the Camper (and the time we stole a shower)

So I’ve decided I quite like camper-vanning. And I quite like driving an automatic. It’s like driving a go kart, which definitely adds a certain thrill to your journey. Mum wants to know how we’re getting on living on the road, so I thought I’d share with you some things we’ve discovered while camper-vanning so far.

Firstly meet Edmund. He’s our trusty camper who is a bit like the third member of our little party. He’s rather old (we think 1999) and has done a whopping 336,000km so he deserves respect. He is dwarfed by most other campers on the road (hello budget) but he’s got a damn-site more character than most. And we love him for it.

OK, so some things we’ve learnt so far on our journey…

1)      We are both deaf

2)      We are both inarticulate

3)      That the previous 2 points make for some rather comedy/annoying /entertaining conversations.

4)      I am a bad driver (no revelation). This is particularly apparent when Brodie grabs the door handle in terror every time I drive round a corner (rather reminiscent of my early driving avec Papa Salter-remember Dad?!). When you consider how far we’ve driven so far, that’s a lot of white knuckles! He assures me it’s just the roads and not my driving, but I’m no fool.

5)      I can lose any single item within 5 seconds of finding it.

6)      Brodie can find any single item within 5 seconds of me losing it.

7)      There is only so much fresh pasta you can eat in any consecutive meal without going crazy (Ad-you thought that meal we made in Hepburn Springs reminded you of your student days, well we have taken it to another level. Today I bought Nutmeat. Yes it’s as bad as it sounds).

8)      Brodie is quite simply talented at finding unique hiding places for our valuables. Genuinely he’s like a squirrel on a mission (and is like a puppy-dog with 5 tails when he finds a new one). Leaving the van for just a 10 minute outing becomes a covert mission of great importance.

9)      Pants have more than a day’s usage on the road. In my case this is rather out of necessity than choice as I appear to have left half of mine in Melbourne (sorry Leas). In Brodie’s case I think it’s less necessity and more novelty.

10)   Showers are hard to come by when you only want to pay $6 (£3) per night to stay somewhere.

This last point is rather significant as it means we at one point went 4 days without a shower (apart from a dip in a lake and a hair-wash in a stream). I am aware this is distinctly gross. However each day we say ‘we must find a campsite with a shower tonight’, then get lured in by the wonderful beauty of the Department of Conservation (DOC) campsites which are all in simply stunning locations and get lured in by the super-cheap fee, and low and behold it’s another stinky night without a shower.

On the 4 day streak (our record so far), we finally broke the trend by stealing a shower. This was a highly planned, and very cloak-and-dagger/drive-by type setup, whereby we targeted the largest holiday camp we could find in Te Anau. One of us then drives to the most inconspicuous spot and waits in the driver’s seat while the other one runs in and has The World’s Fastest Shower, and then we switch (incidentally it’s also where I managed to do an entire underwear wash in 3 minutes flat). Then we get the hell out of there as quick as we can, adrenaline racing. We decided that we’d make pretty pants bank robbers if that’s how scared we get stealing a shower.

Brodie's idea of packing

My idea of packing!

All in all though, we bloody love our little trio. We’re so lucky we have the flexibility to explore this fascinating country and just follow our noses down any nook and cranny we come across. 

Thanks Edmund you little gem!

Wanaka and the Glaciers

Wanaka is beauuuuutiful (sorry for sounding like a broken record). We stayed a night on the lake which apart from the attack of the sandfly (you haven’t heard the last of those), you couldn’t have a better spot. Our plan was to head to Fox Glacier, but it took us about 4 hours to get 20km from our campsite as at almost every turn there was another viewpoint/nature trail/river to see, and at each one we’d pile out with our cameras and go exploring. We found ‘blue pools’, rope bridges, more waterfalls, forest walks and crazy pieces of art. This part of NZ is covered in thick, rugged, temperate forest and it’s just beautiful, and so much fun to explore.

We eventually made it to Glacier country. Having been told before we left by almost everyone who’d been that a Glacier walk was a must, and Bro having already been on one was really keen to return, but we’d been given the heads up before we’d left Queenstown that this is now a lot harder than it used to be. Unfortunately over the last 7-8 years the glaciers have retreated significantly due to the warming climate, and a regional increase in rainfall in favour of less snowfall over the Southern Alps. Now you can only actually walk on them via a rather expensive helicopter trip which drops you much higher up. As you can guess this wasn’t in our budget, which I must say I was rather disappointed about. Another wake up call about our ever apparent changing climate.

However, you can walk up close to the terminal face of each glacier via a steep walk up the valley, or to various viewpoints of them. A poor substitute, but still an experience.

So on the first day we took the walk to Fox Glacier (my favourite of all the mints!). It’s startling how much it has retreated according to the photos (so much so that Bro initially didn’t recognise it from his previous visit 10 years ago). It’s still rather impressive, but it all feels a little bitter-sweet as you know there aren’t likely to be many more years where people can view it like that, and perhaps a visit to Fox Glacier won’t be on the menu when my future kids come to NZ one day.

We consoled ourselves by spending an hour in the hot springs in the nearby town of Franz Joseph.

Our attempts to view the Franz Joseph Glacier the following day were thwarted by a serious rain storm. And this wasn’t just any rainstorm, this lasted all day. And all night. Relentlessly….That means without stopping. At all. It sucked. However we did take solace in the fact that we’d rather be stuck in a rainy camper together than sat at home marking. Silver linings.