From South to North

Our experience of cities here in New Zealand has been very different to what we have found in the countryside. The towns are all very new and not much is happening in them, it seems. Maybe we are missing something but so far the impression is - new, functional, provides the basics, has some charm but no real history or substance.

Strangely, the capital (Wellington) is the 3rd largest city in the country - Auckland has 1.4M inhabitants, Christchurch 350K and Wellington a few thousand less. Still, we found the same in Auckland and came away untouched. This is such a contrast with the countryside, where we've been in awe most of the time. As I've said before, the countryside has so much more to offer than the urban life here.

For me, the word Christchurch has always had a special resonance. One of the first TV sports I remember watching was the Commonwealth Games, held in CHch (as the locals call it) in 1974 when I was 7. Later, in 1985, I applied to Oxford University to study Chinese at Christchurch college which, according to my Classics teacher Mr Watson-Wemyss, is the most distinguished. (I was accepted and yet turned down the much-sought after place, firmly believing that my success or otherwise should rely on my character rather than the University I went to...). Somehow I had hoped to have a memorable experience in CHch itself, but after cup of coffee, a wander round the shops and a few hours in the Internet cafe, Nicki and I looked at each other and said "let's hit the road".

Driving back up for the ferry to the North Island, we stayed at Kaikoura where we took a bed and breakfast room overlooking a beautiful bay and got frightened by a huge dog staying in the room opposite us. We also saw an angel on a spoon in the clouds (look carefully at the picture... we weren't on drugs, really...)

Then onto Picton the following morning, and on the ferry we met Peter again, the Belgian guy we had made friends with on the Milford Sound Ferry. He was suffering because he needed to find a place to stay in Wellington and everything was booked - due to an AC/DC concert that night! Every single place was booked and people were renting out their spare rooms to accommodate the 35,000 people coming (the ferry was full of Rock T-Shirts and leather). Once through to the other side, we drove Peter to a tiny village 40 km outside of the capital where he found a B&B in a back street.

The next destination has been Napier and Gisborne, where we have faced the first bad weather for weeks. We're conscious that the winter has been bitter back at home so no complaints to have an almost totally rained-out day today, the first we've had since Boston back in late October.

So the washing is being done, blogs are getting written, books being read and plans for the future being made. We've found some great ideas for future businesses and directions after we get back and realise it will be "back to the real world" before we know it, so we savour the time and the joy of the ride every day.

Two Footnotes.

Here is a New Zealand Wood Pidgeon, as captured by Nicki - beautiful, isn't it?

And we just read that the air-lift out of Macchu Picchu has been completed, after terrible floods have resulted in serious problems. Tourists were stranded at the nearest town, Aguas Calientes, and the the main site will be closed for weeks, while the trainline from Ag Cal to Cusco needs months of repairs. This is a disaster for the local people who rely massively on tourism for their income and livelihood (don't forget that the majority of the country live on less than $2 per day). To my shock, the BBC have posted a news clip in the main story on their website showing how excited a couple of tourists were to have a helicopter flight (1300 people have been airlifted out at huge cost to the Peruvian tourist board). The real story is the hardship those local people will face and how long it will take to bring a beautiful wonder of the world back to full accessibility - not the "excitement" of the disaster. We were so lucky to be able to see it in November.