Hacky Sacking

Today was a hangover. We spent most of the morning being taught how to hacky sack with a bean bag by Yuri. Later we get back into the coach, but I forget to close the baggage compartment door properly. Half an hour into our journey and someone shouts out as the compartment door swings open and my big rucksack rolls out, hitting the road at over 50 miles per hour. Luckily, while it does now look like it’s been dragged through a hedge backwards, no permanent damage occurred. We arrive into Franz Joseph that evening.

Baz Vegas

Tonight was Barry Town. This small town from what we could see is no different to any other very small village. A few farm houses scattered around, with tractors and ploughs parked up and down the road. But one enterprising resident had come up with the great idea of opening a hostel here. A bit of an odd idea one might argue, with it being in the middle of nowhere. But what this entrepreneur had noticed is that it is a long journey from Picton to the grand tourist attractions of the south; a long journey that coach-loads of travellers do every day. So it was clear that his idea is exactly what the coach companies had been looking for.

The hostel was Baz Vegas. And after arriving and having our dinner, six large boxes full to the top with outfits was brought out. Amusingly, it was quite clear that the place was fitted out for much bigger crowds, e.g. a fully packed coach. Our coach happened to be quite low on numbers at this point… to be precise: there were only six of us! (Me, Lukas, Tannith, Paul, Yuri and girlfriend) That meant we literally had a box each. A very amusing night ensued, with everyone wearing multiple outfits at a time, and eventually as drinking games started to get involved, a random dare led to all the hair from the top of my right leg being shaved off. The chafing for the whole of the following week was unbearable.

Picton

Today was our boat ride to Picton. This, except for flying, is still the only way of getting from New Zealand’s north island to its south island. While a very short distance (merely a few hours), this pass opens up to the biggest ocean in the world and as such can be incredibly rough. I don’t know what is normal for this boat ride, but when every third wave would completely cover the 8^th floor windows of the ferry, I was impressed. While plates and cutlery were flying everywhere and other passengers were either lying down or throwing up, we decided the best idea would be to get as low in the boat as possible. And to our great pleasure, at the very bottom was the children’s activity world – a playground full of cushions, slides and ball pools. As all the kids were presumably in no fit state to play, we asked the crew very nicely, and were kindly allowed to spend the remainder of the journey in the playground.

Dutch salt licorice

Noddy’s “fact” of the day:

When Europeans finally discovered New Zealand, over 2000 years later than those now known as the Maori, explorers from every nation quickly migrated to this new found land to claim their own little part of it. What this has led to is lots of tiny country-based villages. So you have German towns, Danish towns, French towns, etc.

Today was a travelling day towards the (very English) rainy city of Wellington, but we did manage to stop by a small Dutch village, where I could buy the most delicious salt liquorice (a particular favourite of mine).

Tongariro Crossing

Today is the Tongariro Crossing. This is a challenging day hike across the famous mountain range surrounding Mt. Tongariro. Of course, by famous I don’t necessarily mean that you will have heard of them by name, but just as a taster: today we passed by the stunt double to Mt. Fuji in the Tom Cruise movie “The Last Samurai” as well as the mountain used as Mt. Doom in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Noddy’s “fact” of the day:

The Maori people always greet each other with the word “Keora!” (pronounced Key-Ora).

Kiwis say “Sweet As!” far too often… especially Noddy (despite being born a Scotsman).

Rotorua

Dropped off Francy and Meike in Rotorua this morning. Rotorua is easily the smelliest town I have ever been to. Its tourist industry comes mainly from the number of geothermal sulphur springs that surround the area. Unfortunately, while they do mean there are lots of relaxing natural hot springs, the whole city does smell of rotten eggs.

In the morning I went Zorbing, which is a popular new sport that involves rolling down a hill in a giant plastic ball. Then in the afternoon I jumped out of a plane from 15,000ft. On top of that, we got a lift back in a limo.

Noddy’s “fact” of the day:

No mammals originate from New Zealand. Every single one was imported. Hence this is why so many flightless birds, e.g. the kiwi bird, have evolved here. The kiwi never had a predator, so had no reason to learn to fly. Unsurprisingly, with the possum being one of their biggest predators, they are now a very endangered species.

Uncle Boy

Today was Waitomo, which are miles of underground caves covered in stalagmites, stalactites, glow-worms and underground rivers. Of all the things you could do down there, we decided to do the Haggis Honking Holes, which in short means “underground abseiling”. Climbing on your knees through the tiny caves and swimming through the over-flooded parts was nothing compared to leaping backwards down a 20m tall underground waterfall where the only light is coming from the small torch attached to your head.

Fact of the day:

Glow worms (a type of maggot) glow because of their faeces. They don’t actually have a poo hole, so instead of excreting it they burn it inside them, thus causing the glow. This glow attracts other animals into the glow worm’s nets and like a spider they can then eat their prey.

Once these maggots eventually become adult their mouth closes up preventing them from eating any more. Without the ability to eat, instead they spend the whole day mating until they finally die of hunger. By this time the glow worms should have laid a large number of eggs. Quite differently to many other species, the first child worms to hatch will actually quickly eat their un-hatched siblings in order to give them enough sustenance to grow up.

This evening was spent at the residence of a local Maori (the indigenous people of NZ) who went by the name Uncle Boy. Here a local dance group from the town came in to teach us how to do the Haka, which you may well know as the intimidating dance the All-Blacks perform before a rugby game.