Over the Pond

Tomorrow I leave Auckland for Melbourne, and have to sort my life out and find a job for a few months. I'm going to miss the freedom of travelling, but it'll be nice to be in one place for a while, and I'll be staying with family there. 

But I am going to miss New Zealand a lot. Its snowy mountains, misty forest-covered hills, sparkling clear lakes, spectacular glaciers, golden beaches, vivid colours, volcanic rock formations straight out of Lord of the Rings, the charming Maori accent, activities galore, parties and relaxed atmosphere. 

People say you're either a New Zealand or Australia person, and I've loved NZ. Come on Australia, top this and I'll love you forever. 

Full Circle

And I'm back in Auckland! Where I started my New Zealand adventure a month ago. I've finished the Kiwi Experience now, and I've got three days left until I fly to Melbourne on Thursday. It was nice because I was the first person on the Kiwi bus when I started, and I was the last person off when I got back here.

Auckland is a good place to spend a few days. It's New Zealand's biggest city, with a third of the country's entire population living here. But it still doesn't feel busy or crowded in the centre. I think it's quite spread out. There's plenty to see and do, but so far I've been content just to wander round the centre and enjoy being in a city again. Even Wellington feels like a town. But I have been used to sprawling Latin American metropolises. 

It's properly winter now, being mid-June, and yet Auckland is 18 degrees and sunny. This is British summer! If this was my winter I'd have nothing to complain about. But it is weird that there are ice rinks up and winter lights, but it's not Christmas. It feels very incongruous. Southern hemisphere problems. 

Parts of Auckland remind me a lot of my hometown of Birmingham, so it's nice to have some familiarity around me. 

It's also very multi-cultural, with a large population of Pacific islanders and Asian people. There are so many Korean and Japanese restaurants around, I'm in heaven! If only my budget would stretch to eating out for every meal. 

I was worried that my last week here would be dull, but I met a great group of people in Taupo a few days ago and most of them are in Auckland for a few days like me. So it's been a lot of fun. Tomorrow I think I'll do the Sky Tower, the southern hemisphere's tallest building, and possibly take a ferry to New Zealand's answer to the Hamptons, Waiheke Island, on Wednesday. 

I've got to enjoy my last few days of freedom before I land in Melbourne and have to find me one of those job things people keep talking about. 

Fush n Chups

Well New Zealand is off to a flying start. It's such a jam-packed itinerary with the Kiwi Experience there's barely time to stop and think.

Yesterday I was picked up by the bus in Auckland, and I was the first person on it, but it quickly filled up, with just one seat spare out of 55. So there's a lot of us! The driver was exactly how I'd imagined, overbearingly a *cool dude* playing the clown, with the occasional casual racism thrown in for good measure. 

Most of the people on the bus are Brits, as I'd expected, and young, also as expected. There are some proper lads on this bus, who I don't have a lot in common with. But I've met some really cool people. Generally the more mature, and older, passengers. I think I'm getting old... 

So from Auckland, we headed to Hot Water Beach and our accommodation there. The beach was beautiful. Lonely Planet voted it one of the top 25 most beautiful beaches in the world. Not too shabby. But more than that, its name comes from the pools that you can dig in the sand, which fill with naturally hot water from the ground. And I mean hot. Sometimes it was too scalding to stand in the pools. 

It's autumn here now, but the days are still quite warm here in the north, and yesterday it was very sunny and pleasant. So our next stop - Cathedral Cove - and the hike there, were lovely. The Cove is so worth going to. The rock formations are nothing short of majestic, and we were there at sunset, so the volcanic islands offshore shone with the orange light and the clouds hanging over the ocean turned violet. 

I finished the day with my first fish and chips in three months since I left home. And it was a Friday - chip night! I even treated myself to some Cadbury chocolate for dessert. Living the dream. 

Today we came to Waitomo. This is something I've been looking forward to for months - the glowworm caves. There are lots of options for going into the caves, including wet and dry ones. I went for the second most extreme wet option, so there wasn't an abseil or zip line, but it was NZ$100 cheaper. With the Kiwi Experience we get discounts for all the activities we do, so it was NZ$90 for the 'Black Labyrinth' with the Legendary Black Rafting Co. 

Now I really wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this trip, as I get a bit claustrophobic, and I didn't know how I'd cope with two hours in the dark. But I absolutely loved it. 

We were given all the gear - thick wetsuits, helmets with torches, and rubber rings for the black water rafting element of the trip. The guides were very nice, and talked us through what we were actually going to do. 

The limestone caves are beautiful. And you're accompanied the whole way through the twists, turns, tunnels and the occasional waterfall by the ethereal glow of the glowworms on the roof of the caverns, clustered around the enormous stalactites. At one point we all switched off our head torches and looked up at them. Such a sight. 

Everyone's hands got extremely numb by the end of the trip, but the wetsuits kept our bodies warm enough. Even when we were jumping backwards from the top of waterfalls into the splash pools below. 

It was such a good experience, and something I might have skipped if I wasn't doing the Kiwi Experience. That's one of the main reasons I paid the extra money for the bus trip, rather than just going for a hop on hop off intercity bus pass. I want to push myself to do things I wouldn't normally. Now is the time in my life to do these things. 

The crazy schedule continues tomorrow, with Hobbiton (omg) and the Maori cultural dinner and show in Rotorua. Can't get enough! 

No Pink This Week

Oh New Zealand! Right from when I stepped off the plane I was comfortable here. It's so similar to Britain. Wandering round Auckland this afternoon I felt like I could be in a district of my hometown that I just hadn't been to before. 

But a big difference is the cleanliness. I barely saw any litter on the streets all day. I'd been told that New Zealand is a clean country, but it's a really clean country. And everyone I've come across has been very friendly. And I feel so safe, even wandering round unfamiliar city streets at 6am this morning. So far, this country is doing it right. 

Getting here was on the shortest 13 hour flight ever, after my 24 hours on a bus last week. That trip actually feels like ages ago. So much has happened between then and now. 

And now, here I am, missing a Wednesday from my week and a bit sleep deprived, but wandering round the town made me feel very at home. For one thing, it rained. I haven't seen rain in weeks. But the temperature is comfortable, about the same as Santiago was. So I haven't been thrown in at the deep end just yet. 

Earlier I was thrown into some kind of familiar food-related ecstasy though. I went shopping for lunch, and came across a treasure trove. Baked beans, British tea, Patak's curry sauce, Bisto... And all the Cadbury chocolate I could ever want. And in fantastic flavours we don't have in the UK, like Rocky Road. What did we do to not deserve that!? 

But there's already been some reverse culture shock. I keep wanting to 'Hola' people, and almost throwing toilet paper on the floor, because there's no bin for it, because the plumbing works here! Heaven. And there are no stray dogs. And they drive on the left, so I keep looking the wrong way when crossing the road. South America could kill me yet. 

So on the whole, New Zealand, with its autumnal leaves (I haven't seen deciduous trees in months), Maori language option on ATMs, and singing pedestrian crossings, is hitting the spot. 

Doesn't mean I don't miss Latin America just a little though. 

Tomorrow I start the Kiwi Experience bus tour, heading to the first stop at Hot Water Beach. I'm not sure how beach-appropriate the weather will be, but the area looks beautiful. Time to start my New Zealand adventure! And quite possibly put on weight. I've missed a lot of food... 

Adiós

Tomorrow I leave South America. After three months, six countries, and countless unforgettable experiences. The time has passed unbelievably quickly since the 20th February, when I first touched down in fabulous Rio. This section of my journey ending has kind of sparked a quarter-trip crisis. I certainly didn't think I'd be this sad to be leaving this continent. Not because I didn't like it, because god knows that's not true, but because I didn't think I'd have time to get emotionally attached, having moved about so much. But apparently I can't not get emotionally attached. 

Having said all of this, I am so excited about New Zealand. Travelling there will certainly be easier and less stressful than South America. I wonder if that will make it less exciting. 

My last few days have been here in Santiago. It's a nice city - very modern, with lots of green spaces and an interesting blend of historical buildings and sparkling skyscrapers, one of which is the tallest building in Latin America. This evening I went and watched the sunset from one of Santiago's hills, Cerro Santa Lucia, and had a bit of reflecting time. 

The last few days were made especially nice by staying with my friend who lives here. He very kindly invited me to stay with him, so it's been a comfortable few days. And on Friday night I met up with a couple who were on my salt flat tour, so it was nice to see them again. 

I'm not planning a wild last night, but I think there might be wine involved at least. Chilean wine is so good, and half the price it is in the UK. 

And even though I'm taking a giant step across the Pacific tomorrow night (and losing a day in the process) it's definitely not goodbye to Latin America forever. In the last three months I've just scratched the surface of what this place has to offer, and my head is brimming with ideas for future trips. So I guess it's not adiós, it's more hasta pronto. And I feel better about that.