A Dream Realised

"take me to the fantastic place, keep the rest of my life away..."

For as long as I can remember I had wanted to travel to New Zealand, and witness all the wonderful scenery for myself. I had budgeted my finances for the past year to cater for this trip, and even without working for quite a while I had sufficient funds in place to enjoy the lifestyle that I was currently living, and still keep on top of all my repayments of my outstanding loans, bills and debts.

My first visit down under was via a structured escorted coach tour, which took in both islands and lasted for just over three weeks, staying in top-notch hotels. I was to fly from Manchester to Christchurch via Singapore, and spend about ten days on the South Island before transferring across to the North Island for the remainder of the stay, and then fly home from Auckland.
Being a holiday through an agent, this meant spending the bulk of the trip in the company of about 50 other people, who were mostly retired folks. Naturally it wasn't easy to keep all of the people happy all of the time, but I was just satisfied to finally realise my dream, and I did meet some great friends in Brian & Christine Mountford who were also on the trip. We would regularly share our evenings at one restaurant or another, and we enjoyed each others company. Having said that, there was plenty of time for me to go off and do my own thing...and I definitely did that as you'll soon discover! Lol.

The intention for me for this holiday was to get a taster for New Zealand, and then hopefully return at a later date to explore at greater length any specific areas which took my fancy. If as expected, I fell in love with the place then maybe I could settle down there one day as a place that I could finally call 'home'.
Little did I know that I would return much sooner than I could ever have anticipated!

I left behind a cold and wet British winter and arrived a few days later (after spending a while in Singapore) on the other side of the world, to be greeted by a scorching Kiwi summer. After two long-haul flights most of my companions on the coach party went straight to sleep at our first hotel, the gorgeous Chateau On The Park in Christchurch, due to jet-lag...but not me!
A quick shower and change into T-shirt and shorts, and then I was out to explore Christchurch in the sun!
And that's pretty much how the rest of the holiday went - the old 'uns did the touristy things whilst I tried to venture deeper into the culture and experience some of the other aspects that New Zealand had to offer.

The highlights of the South Island part of the holiday was witnessing the eighth wonder of the world that is Milford Sound, and also on a purely personal note spending three fantastic days in Queenstown.
The South Island is predominently full of mountain ranges and vast lakes, whereas the North Island is more volcanic and has more emphasis on the maori historical culture and heritage.

After spending a few days in Christchurch, we headed off to Queenstown which is universally known as the extreme sports capital of the island!
We took a day trip from Queenstown bound for the magnificent Milford Sound, which is located in the heart of Fiordland in the south-west of the island.
The first sight of Milford Sound is stunning: still, dark waters out of which rise sheer rocky cliffs, and forests clinging to the slopes sometimes relinquish their hold, causing a 'tree avalanche' into the waters. The spectacular, photogenic 1692m- high Mitre Peak features most prominently. We cruised out onto the waters of Milford Sound to witness cascading waterfalls, dolphins and seals - awesome as they say in NZ.

The following day, now back in Queenstown, I took advantage of a free day and realised another dream... to do a tandem skydive!
I hadn't planned to do it, but a company called NZONE had a sales office in town, so I just popped in and booked a jump from the maximum available height of 15,000 feet.
I can honestly say, and I'm not being brave, that I had no fear whatsoever, which is a bit ironic as the slogan of the company states 'Embrace The Fear'. The whole experience will stay with me forever, even the flight up to the point when the instructor strapped to me leaned on me sufficiently so as to ease us both out of the plane. Travelling at speeds of 200km an hour and freefalling for 10,000 feet which lasted about one minute was unbelievable, especially as this included passing through some clouds. Once the parachute was opened I could really enjoy the remainder of the journey back to earth, as the magnificent lakes and mountainous peaks were observed...now this was truely awesome!

Over the next few days we visited the West Coast and Glacier country, and then proceded to travel eastwards back to Christchurch via the beautiful scenic highway through Arthur's Pass.
Once back in Christchurch, we had a bit more free time so I decided to get an addition to my tattoo collection...like you do! Lol.
Otautahi Tatu was a lovely studio located in the heart of the city and I went in and asked for something original, and something to really remember New Zealand by. Incidentally, Otautahi means Christchurch in Maori according to a good kiwi friend of mine, Ange.
So on the tattooist's recommendation I had the outline of the two NZ islands inked into my upper arm, with maori swirls filled in. Without doubt the best tattoo I've ever had done and without doubt my favourite too.

Our journey then took us across the water to the North Island, initially spending a few days in Wellington before making our way north to Auckland.
I must admit the North Island didn't appeal to me as much as the South Island, but there was one notable exception - The Bay of Islands, and specifically Paihia.
Located north of Auckland this area was very tropical and seemed like paradise to me!
One morning I awoke early and went for a walk along the beach at 5am just as the sun was rising. I took a photo on my mobile phone (which appears alongside this entry if you viewing via facebook), and I was overwelmed - the whole place had a magical quality about it.
The following day it rained more-or-less all day, but it wasn't awful rain - just tropical rain, and it didn't prevent me from exploring more in the surrounding area.
A few miles away lies the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the much contested Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between Maori Chiefs and the British Crown.
Opposite the grounds lies a track which ultimately takes you to the Haruru Falls.
I set out on this walk which was approximately 10km in length, and what started out as a pleasant trek along flint footpaths developed into an unbelievable trek through swamps and mangrove forests until eventually the waterfall came into view. The whole trek took me about a couple of hours, but it was typical of most things in New Zealand - you have to experience it yourself to fully appreciate it!

I left Auckland in 30 degree heat, and landed in Manchester a day later to be greeted by snow!
I took the train south to Cheltenham, and then spent the next month looking for work but to no avail. Out of the blue I received a message from an old friend in Crowthorne, Berkshire, who invited to spend some time with her and her young 4 year old daughter. We all got on well and we brokered a deal - I could live there rent free, so long as I acted as a child minder for her kid. It seemed a decent enough proposal at the time, but unfortunately things were to become quite ugly...but not before I decided to return to New Zealand for a proper adventure this time!

Nomadic Steve