We left the vol house for the last time early on Monday morning again, this time heading for Waipoua Forest (about 200km north-west of Auckland, near a small town called Dargeville) with Glenn, our leader for the week. We spent the week at a basic lodge called the McGregor Centre, complete with a freezer full of dead Possums! On arrival it appeared the water pump had been ripped out and stolen, so we had to stay at the park rangers house just down the road. This was our first opportunity to meet the somewhat of a local celebrity Ranger ecologist - Steven King. A real defender of the forest, Steven is quite a character - he patrols the forest wearing nothing on his feet, adding to his hobbit-like looks! He has spent most of his life converting farmland back into native Kauri Forest and eliminating pests such as Possums brought in from abroad.
On Tuesday, our first full day of work, we helped to clear a section of bush of Australian Privet, an annoying weed which takes over native Manuka forest.
On Wednesday we were given the opportunity to visit the famously huge Kauri trees - famous across New Zealand for their size and relationship with the Maori people. Some of these trees are around 15m in diamter and supported a huge logging trade throughout the last century.
Thursday morning was spent weeding a section of native bush again, but in the afternoon we were given a bit of a treat in that we were involved in a documenary on climate change for Maori Television (a station with a reasonable audience here in NZ). The crew were bascially at Waipoua to film Steven preeching about his plans to restore the forest and help the environment, and a few of us volunteers were filmed planting a new Kauri tree!!
Spending a week with the Kauri trees and Steven King made our month working for CVNZ seem thoroughly worthwhile as he was a very inspiring person to work with. To see the work he had carried out in the Waipoua area in the last 30 years made us realise that as individuals we can really make a difference to the environment.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Saturday 10th May & Sunday 11th May
Our last weekend in the volunteer house in Mt Albert - and we didn't get upto much. On the friday night, we went out for our seemingly customary CVNZ night out in Auckand city centre. On Friday we visited a cool little Mexican place and then on Saturday a few of the volunteers were leaving so we headed to the Belgian place and a fun Irish bar called Father Ted's. We spent Sunday watching films in the house, and then packed up for the last time ready for a week at Waipoua Forest.
Saturday, 24 May 2008
CVNZ Week 3 - Local Projects
This week we were not on a residential project, rather we would be based at the volunteer house and picked up each morning to work on various local project in the greater Auckland area.
Monday - Oakley Creek
A small creek just down the road from the volunteer house - quite close to the Auckland Blues trainig facility and Auckland Polytechnic University. We spent the day lopping willow and mulching (splitting it up into small section to rot away) and cleaning other areas of weeds ready for plantation. Not the most thrilling day so far, but we were onto somewhere else on Tuesday!
Tuesday - Puhinui Stream
We drove all the way across Auckland to the western side of the city. This section of Puhinui Stream is maintained and managed by an eccentric old gentleman called John Smith, who volunteers his own time to help manage, landscape and clean the river and its banks. He quickly got us weeding a section of the river bank and planting tens of new Nikkau palms, Kauri trees amongst others and adding mulch to the base of the plats to prevent weeds growing back.
Wednesday - Oratia Folk Museum
A real treat of a day, and something completely different - today we were involved in helping to restore an early 20th century tram carriage and steam engine at a tiny Folk Musuem in Henderson. CVNZ don't just operate with conservation groups - they are also involved in restoring heritage, and this was a welcome change for us. The work was fun ( I was helping restore an 80 year old engine) but also we had a wonderful homemade soup for lunch and tea and homemade scones in the afternoon. The house we were working at belonged to a lovely old couple with loads of stories to tell. They also had theier own vinyard, and we were taken to their cellar to sample some finest NZ cabernet shiraz!
Thursday - Puhinui Stream
Back to Puhinui with John Smith today - we continued to plant around a thousand new trees and plants on the banks of the stream. It was hard work digging lots of holes, but really rewarding to be planting so many new trees that will grow over the coming years. At the end of the day John treated us to a lovely cake rewarded us with some beers and wine for our efforts!
Friday - Work at the Volunteer House
Today the weather was awful and we re-arranged the tools in the garage and took a stock check for future CVNZ groups.
Monday - Oakley Creek
A small creek just down the road from the volunteer house - quite close to the Auckland Blues trainig facility and Auckland Polytechnic University. We spent the day lopping willow and mulching (splitting it up into small section to rot away) and cleaning other areas of weeds ready for plantation. Not the most thrilling day so far, but we were onto somewhere else on Tuesday!
Tuesday - Puhinui Stream
We drove all the way across Auckland to the western side of the city. This section of Puhinui Stream is maintained and managed by an eccentric old gentleman called John Smith, who volunteers his own time to help manage, landscape and clean the river and its banks. He quickly got us weeding a section of the river bank and planting tens of new Nikkau palms, Kauri trees amongst others and adding mulch to the base of the plats to prevent weeds growing back.
Wednesday - Oratia Folk Museum
A real treat of a day, and something completely different - today we were involved in helping to restore an early 20th century tram carriage and steam engine at a tiny Folk Musuem in Henderson. CVNZ don't just operate with conservation groups - they are also involved in restoring heritage, and this was a welcome change for us. The work was fun ( I was helping restore an 80 year old engine) but also we had a wonderful homemade soup for lunch and tea and homemade scones in the afternoon. The house we were working at belonged to a lovely old couple with loads of stories to tell. They also had theier own vinyard, and we were taken to their cellar to sample some finest NZ cabernet shiraz!
Thursday - Puhinui Stream
Back to Puhinui with John Smith today - we continued to plant around a thousand new trees and plants on the banks of the stream. It was hard work digging lots of holes, but really rewarding to be planting so many new trees that will grow over the coming years. At the end of the day John treated us to a lovely cake rewarded us with some beers and wine for our efforts!
Friday - Work at the Volunteer House
Today the weather was awful and we re-arranged the tools in the garage and took a stock check for future CVNZ groups.
Saturday 3rd May and Sunday 4th May - ACB Hostel
This weekend we were stationed back at the ACB hostel in central Auckland - in a dorm room with 4 of the other volunteers. Although the hostel isn't as comfortable as the volunteer house, it does have an ideal location for heading into town for a night out or doing shopping during the day.
Again on the Friday night we headed out for a few drinks in Auckland, this time heading to a Belgian bar selling expensive beer in pretentious glasses, and then over to a bar at one of the other hostels. On Saturday we took the ferry out to an island in Auckland bay called Rangitoto Island - a huge volcanoe that extrudes from the ocean forming an island and has been dormant for around 600 years. The landscape in and around Auckland is dominated by extinct volcanoes such as Mt Albert, Mt Eden, Mt Roskill and of course Rangitoto. Rangitoto offers one of the best examples of a volcanic dome as there has been no development on it and the crater is untouched by man. It is one of the newest volcanic craters in the Auckland area. We took the hour walk to the top of the cone which is quite shallow due to the runny nature of the lava when the eruption occured. From the top we had the oppotunity to walk all the way around the perfectly formed crater and sample the exeptional view of all of Auckland back across the bay.
On Sunday the weather was awful so we moped around the hostel for most of the day - in the evening the rain got so heavy that we were evacuated from the hostel as the rain set off the fire sensors!
Again on the Friday night we headed out for a few drinks in Auckland, this time heading to a Belgian bar selling expensive beer in pretentious glasses, and then over to a bar at one of the other hostels. On Saturday we took the ferry out to an island in Auckland bay called Rangitoto Island - a huge volcanoe that extrudes from the ocean forming an island and has been dormant for around 600 years. The landscape in and around Auckland is dominated by extinct volcanoes such as Mt Albert, Mt Eden, Mt Roskill and of course Rangitoto. Rangitoto offers one of the best examples of a volcanic dome as there has been no development on it and the crater is untouched by man. It is one of the newest volcanic craters in the Auckland area. We took the hour walk to the top of the cone which is quite shallow due to the runny nature of the lava when the eruption occured. From the top we had the oppotunity to walk all the way around the perfectly formed crater and sample the exeptional view of all of Auckland back across the bay.
On Sunday the weather was awful so we moped around the hostel for most of the day - in the evening the rain got so heavy that we were evacuated from the hostel as the rain set off the fire sensors!
CVNZ Week 2 - Hunua Forest Park
Forst thing monday morning we were picked up at the volunteer house by Dave, our group leader and taken to the volunteer office in Ponsonby to pick up the new starters. Dave turned out to be the best leader we had in our time with CVNZ, he was a kiwi aged around 50 and had lived in Australia working for CVA for about 25 years. He was a lot more laid back than Bruce, but led by example when we were working durin the day.
This week our group was really small and a bit quiter but we all got on really well. as a result we worked hard during the day and had a bit of fun playing cards and watching TV in the evenings. We were based at a cosy little rangers lodge in a small rural village. The Hunua ranges area vast expanse of coutryside encoperating forests, farmland, mountains, beaches and waterfalls. The landscae is similar to somewhere like the peak district back in the UK.
On arrival on Monday lunchtime we dumped our kit and headed up one of the bush tracks clearing out about a 5km stretch of drainage using forks and spades. This gave us a chance to get used to the landscape of the area we would be working in. Althought the work was quite tough, the native bush was beautiful and Dave taught us lots about the native flora and fauna. We also got the chance to see the stunning Hunua Falls - a waterfall of about 14m in height.
We spent most of Tuesday tramping through the wild bush trying to locate existing Possum traps or 'bait staions'. On thing we learned quite quickly is that in New Zealand the only native mammal is one species of Bat - all other mammals on the island are therefore considered to be pests as they endanger the bird population. Possums we brought over from Australia in the past and are now reaking havoc with the native bird and tree species. On Wednesday we continued to located possum traps and make sure they were secured and in the correct place to effectively kill possums by feeding them a type of poison.
In the evenings we took it in turn to cook - Katie and I made a chicken casserole followed by a apple and fijoa crumble which went down a treat. We also introduced the group to 'Pass the Pigs' and we played cards in front of a blisteringly hot log fire. It was really nice to come home to a warm cosy house rather than being at the cold and wet camp!
On Thursday we headed out to the coast to a place called Duder - a section of the park which was run by a scottish ranger called Maggs. The weather wasn't too great at the start of the day so she had us clearing out a woolshed used by farmer to shear sheep and store wool. This was a dirty but interesting job...Kate helped clear out the kitchen quarters which were full of rat droppings and cockroaches! In the afternoon we dug out a new section of footpath and helped retore a section of fencing that had been trampled down by some cattle.
On Friday we headed back to Auckland for the weekend after an enjoyable week with Dave and the rest of the group.
This week our group was really small and a bit quiter but we all got on really well. as a result we worked hard during the day and had a bit of fun playing cards and watching TV in the evenings. We were based at a cosy little rangers lodge in a small rural village. The Hunua ranges area vast expanse of coutryside encoperating forests, farmland, mountains, beaches and waterfalls. The landscae is similar to somewhere like the peak district back in the UK.
On arrival on Monday lunchtime we dumped our kit and headed up one of the bush tracks clearing out about a 5km stretch of drainage using forks and spades. This gave us a chance to get used to the landscape of the area we would be working in. Althought the work was quite tough, the native bush was beautiful and Dave taught us lots about the native flora and fauna. We also got the chance to see the stunning Hunua Falls - a waterfall of about 14m in height.
We spent most of Tuesday tramping through the wild bush trying to locate existing Possum traps or 'bait staions'. On thing we learned quite quickly is that in New Zealand the only native mammal is one species of Bat - all other mammals on the island are therefore considered to be pests as they endanger the bird population. Possums we brought over from Australia in the past and are now reaking havoc with the native bird and tree species. On Wednesday we continued to located possum traps and make sure they were secured and in the correct place to effectively kill possums by feeding them a type of poison.
In the evenings we took it in turn to cook - Katie and I made a chicken casserole followed by a apple and fijoa crumble which went down a treat. We also introduced the group to 'Pass the Pigs' and we played cards in front of a blisteringly hot log fire. It was really nice to come home to a warm cosy house rather than being at the cold and wet camp!
On Thursday we headed out to the coast to a place called Duder - a section of the park which was run by a scottish ranger called Maggs. The weather wasn't too great at the start of the day so she had us clearing out a woolshed used by farmer to shear sheep and store wool. This was a dirty but interesting job...Kate helped clear out the kitchen quarters which were full of rat droppings and cockroaches! In the afternoon we dug out a new section of footpath and helped retore a section of fencing that had been trampled down by some cattle.
On Friday we headed back to Auckland for the weekend after an enjoyable week with Dave and the rest of the group.
Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th- Volunteer House - Mt Albert, Auckland
The CVNZ volunteer house is located in the largely chinese suburb of Mt Albert, west of Auckland city centre. Each weekend half of the volunteer group stays in the house and the other half stays in Auckland Central Backpackers Hostel. This week we were stationed at the house which was a perfect way to relax and unwind afetr a week at the camp! The house is basic but comfortable, with 2/3 beds per room - but it felt really nice to be in a proper house again and not have to share bathrooms and kitchen with hundreds of other backpackers. Another bonus is the fact that we get all our groceries for the week bought for us before we arrive back into the house every friday, so we are in for a relatively cheap 4 weeks. Mt Albert is located on the trainline that heads straight into Auckland centre and takes about 20mins so we were still able to get into town when needed.
On the Friday night we headed into the city centre for our first big night out in Auckland, with all of the other volunteers (about 12 in total). We went to a nice little bar on the harbour front called 'Provodore' and a few other places nearby.
Sunday was spent having a lazy day around the house and packing our bags ready for another week of volunteer work - this time in Hunua Forest, 2 hours south east of Auckland.
On the Friday night we headed into the city centre for our first big night out in Auckland, with all of the other volunteers (about 12 in total). We went to a nice little bar on the harbour front called 'Provodore' and a few other places nearby.
Sunday was spent having a lazy day around the house and packing our bags ready for another week of volunteer work - this time in Hunua Forest, 2 hours south east of Auckland.
Saturday, 10 May 2008
Day 5 and 6 - Bay of Islands - Pahia
We decided to use our free voucher that entitled us to a free trip to the Bay of Islands. Its about a 4 hour drive each way so we thought it would be better to stay over night rather than rush the trip because we new we wouldn't be able to go back! We did the trip throught kiwi experience, we left Auckland at about 8am on saturday morning and drove north to Pahia. We stopped twice on the way once to stop for a bit of breakfast at a honey shop and the stopped again to look at some very interesting public toilets, which had been designed by an dutch artist. They were very strange and we have photos to show you all when we get home!
We arrived at Pahia at about lunch time. The whole system on the bus seems to work very well and we are guessing that it will be pretty similar when we do our Stray bus around South Island. They send round a list so you can choose your accommodation and another list for trips. It appears that the bus company's manage to get a discount on the trips so its better to book them through the driver rather than do them ourselves. We booked ourselves onto a gentle boat trip for the sunday that sailed around the bay and then to the hole in the rock!
The rest of the saturday we took a short walk up to an observation point where we could see a few of the islands and Russel, which is opposite Pahia and still on the Mainland. It was a short walk and we got a great view from the top. We spent the rest of the day looking around the tourist shops. They were alot niceer then any we had seen in Oz and had some really nice gifts! we had a BBQ at the hostel that night and a few drinks in the bar.
Sunday we had to get up early and go on our boat trip. When we got on the boat we realised that we seemed to be on the same boat as a massive bus tour of old American tourists, we seemed to be the youngest people on the boat by about 50 years and they were typical americans very loud and annoying! The water got a bit rough when we went out the the Hole in the Rock and one American lady even asked a memeber of the crew if they thought we were all going to die! The crew memeber replied camly and said no i think we will be alright.
We got of the boat on one of the bigger islands and had a walk up to a hill ( i think we were practically the only people from our boat to do this the tea and coffee seemed more appealing to everyone else!) The short walk was definatley worth it we got a fab view of the Bay of Islands even if it was a bit windy on the top! The water was amazing it was bright blue and green and not what i had expected in New Zealand at all!
After the trip we had to head back to our bus and return to Auckland. The NZ countryside seemed pretty similar to Wales. It is very rugged and hilly and ofcourse we saw quite alot of sheep! From the little bit of NZ that we saw it seems very beautiful and i cant wait till we get to see the rest of the Country!
We arrived at Pahia at about lunch time. The whole system on the bus seems to work very well and we are guessing that it will be pretty similar when we do our Stray bus around South Island. They send round a list so you can choose your accommodation and another list for trips. It appears that the bus company's manage to get a discount on the trips so its better to book them through the driver rather than do them ourselves. We booked ourselves onto a gentle boat trip for the sunday that sailed around the bay and then to the hole in the rock!
The rest of the saturday we took a short walk up to an observation point where we could see a few of the islands and Russel, which is opposite Pahia and still on the Mainland. It was a short walk and we got a great view from the top. We spent the rest of the day looking around the tourist shops. They were alot niceer then any we had seen in Oz and had some really nice gifts! we had a BBQ at the hostel that night and a few drinks in the bar.
Sunday we had to get up early and go on our boat trip. When we got on the boat we realised that we seemed to be on the same boat as a massive bus tour of old American tourists, we seemed to be the youngest people on the boat by about 50 years and they were typical americans very loud and annoying! The water got a bit rough when we went out the the Hole in the Rock and one American lady even asked a memeber of the crew if they thought we were all going to die! The crew memeber replied camly and said no i think we will be alright.
We got of the boat on one of the bigger islands and had a walk up to a hill ( i think we were practically the only people from our boat to do this the tea and coffee seemed more appealing to everyone else!) The short walk was definatley worth it we got a fab view of the Bay of Islands even if it was a bit windy on the top! The water was amazing it was bright blue and green and not what i had expected in New Zealand at all!
After the trip we had to head back to our bus and return to Auckland. The NZ countryside seemed pretty similar to Wales. It is very rugged and hilly and ofcourse we saw quite alot of sheep! From the little bit of NZ that we saw it seems very beautiful and i cant wait till we get to see the rest of the Country!
Auckland CVNZ - Week 1 - Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park
Our month of conservation volunteering with Conservation Volunteers New Zealand (CVNZ) started early on the morning of Monday 21st April. We were picked up from ACB hostel by our team leader for the week - a kiwi called Bruce, and driven to the CVNZ office in Parnell for our induction. An hour later we were on the road, heading 4 hours south to the Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park, to work on a tramway restoration project for a week...
http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/PlaceProfile.aspx?id=34584
CVNZ operates solely on the North Island of New Zealand currently, with most projects within about a 4 hour radius of Auckland. They are relatively new venture as part of the main Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) organisation, and have a reasonably small team working in the Auckland office, with plans in the future to branch out to the South Island.
http://www.conservationvolunteers.co.nz/
Each week we are posted out on a residential trip to an area in need of conservation or heritage volunteers. Our brief for the first week at Kaimai was to help restore a section of 19th Century logging tramway that ran right through the forest bringing Kauri timber back to the townships to be used for buiding and fuel for the nearby goldmines, but also to maintain and restore footpaths and tracks in conjunction with the Department for Conservation (DOC).
Our accomodation was basic to say the least, as we were bush camping about an hours walk from the nearest road. Our campsite contained an old caravan brought in by helicopter and 4 2 man tents...no electricity or running water (apart from the nearby mountain stream). In our group of 7 people we had to work as a team for a week, cooking cleaning and undertaking the volunteer work throughout the day. We got on really well with everyone in the group straight away as most people are of a similar age - either having just finished Uni like us, or heading to Uni when they get home.
Our first day was spent getting orientated in the dense bushland and setting up camp. We had to transfer food and tools from the van and organise meals for 5 nights. On the Tuesday we started work levelling out a section of footpath and creating an area to display a huge felled Kauri tree for visitors to look at (these trees are some of the tallest in the world and are rare due to logging practices throughout the 20th century). The work we were undertaking was pretty much all manual, so it was a bit of a shock at first to be digging footpaths and moving large rocks and logs around, but everyone chips in and we have a good laugh whilst working. We also had to collect pebbles from the riverside and transfer them to spots along the track.
Evenings were interesting at the camp as we had very little to keep us entertained other than general chit chat and jokes and stories. We played a lot of cards and drank a lot of hot drinks as the temperature really plumited in the evenings. We even had our very own camp Possum called Kevin who regularly came to visit us and jump around our campsite. On Thursday we had to travel further up stream (crossing the rives 4 times in bare feet!) to work on a section of pathway towards the sleeping lodge at the top of the forest. This was fun, if a little cold!
Despite the lack of washing, having to eat basic food and put up with cold temperatures (oh and the home made toilet - a whole in the ground to rival Glastonbury) , the week was had work but really fun and we were bush camping in some amazing scenery. Our first week with CVNZ was hard but really rewarding - we met some great people and got the chance to spend some time in real NZ - somewhere we would never have been able to visit on our regular travels.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/PlaceProfile.aspx?id=34584
CVNZ operates solely on the North Island of New Zealand currently, with most projects within about a 4 hour radius of Auckland. They are relatively new venture as part of the main Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) organisation, and have a reasonably small team working in the Auckland office, with plans in the future to branch out to the South Island.
http://www.conservationvolunteers.co.nz/
Each week we are posted out on a residential trip to an area in need of conservation or heritage volunteers. Our brief for the first week at Kaimai was to help restore a section of 19th Century logging tramway that ran right through the forest bringing Kauri timber back to the townships to be used for buiding and fuel for the nearby goldmines, but also to maintain and restore footpaths and tracks in conjunction with the Department for Conservation (DOC).
Our accomodation was basic to say the least, as we were bush camping about an hours walk from the nearest road. Our campsite contained an old caravan brought in by helicopter and 4 2 man tents...no electricity or running water (apart from the nearby mountain stream). In our group of 7 people we had to work as a team for a week, cooking cleaning and undertaking the volunteer work throughout the day. We got on really well with everyone in the group straight away as most people are of a similar age - either having just finished Uni like us, or heading to Uni when they get home.
Our first day was spent getting orientated in the dense bushland and setting up camp. We had to transfer food and tools from the van and organise meals for 5 nights. On the Tuesday we started work levelling out a section of footpath and creating an area to display a huge felled Kauri tree for visitors to look at (these trees are some of the tallest in the world and are rare due to logging practices throughout the 20th century). The work we were undertaking was pretty much all manual, so it was a bit of a shock at first to be digging footpaths and moving large rocks and logs around, but everyone chips in and we have a good laugh whilst working. We also had to collect pebbles from the riverside and transfer them to spots along the track.
Evenings were interesting at the camp as we had very little to keep us entertained other than general chit chat and jokes and stories. We played a lot of cards and drank a lot of hot drinks as the temperature really plumited in the evenings. We even had our very own camp Possum called Kevin who regularly came to visit us and jump around our campsite. On Thursday we had to travel further up stream (crossing the rives 4 times in bare feet!) to work on a section of pathway towards the sleeping lodge at the top of the forest. This was fun, if a little cold!
Despite the lack of washing, having to eat basic food and put up with cold temperatures (oh and the home made toilet - a whole in the ground to rival Glastonbury) , the week was had work but really fun and we were bush camping in some amazing scenery. Our first week with CVNZ was hard but really rewarding - we met some great people and got the chance to spend some time in real NZ - somewhere we would never have been able to visit on our regular travels.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Auckland Day 4 - Auckland Museum
Today we fancied a bit of culture, and decided to head upto the Auckland Museum in the suburb of Parnell. This gave us an opportunity to experience Auckland public transport for the first time proper - and we were impressed by the city link service that operated every 10 mins and cozt a mere $1.60 - (about 60p) for anywhere on the circuit.
The Museum is an impressive Georgian building overlooking the city in a park called 'The Domain'. Entry was free, although we paid an extra $15 each to see thetraditional Moari performance, which was well worth the money. We were treated to over half an hour of traditional dances, songs and battle techniques performed by half a dozen people dressed in traditional Maori costume. The Maori and Pacific Island display was really good and educated us to the history of the Maori people and how New Zealand as a country has come into force. The artefacts and displays were fascinated and Maori culture really seems to be celebrated here. The museum also has a great display of endemic flora and fauna, as well as an informative room dedicated to volcanoes and the countries origins as a land mass - which from a geography point of view was super! A great introduction to the city and New Zealand!
The Museum is an impressive Georgian building overlooking the city in a park called 'The Domain'. Entry was free, although we paid an extra $15 each to see thetraditional Moari performance, which was well worth the money. We were treated to over half an hour of traditional dances, songs and battle techniques performed by half a dozen people dressed in traditional Maori costume. The Maori and Pacific Island display was really good and educated us to the history of the Maori people and how New Zealand as a country has come into force. The artefacts and displays were fascinated and Maori culture really seems to be celebrated here. The museum also has a great display of endemic flora and fauna, as well as an informative room dedicated to volcanoes and the countries origins as a land mass - which from a geography point of view was super! A great introduction to the city and New Zealand!
Auckland Day 3 - City Orientation Tour
The ACB hostel has its own travel centre for booking trips and tours all over New Zealand - it is pretty much the biggest hostel in NZ. The hostel offers free orientation tours with KiwiExperience - a tour guide that operates all over New Zealand. We didn't really know what to expect as it cost us nothing at all, but we got a full day of activities and didn't get a bad day weather-wise. The day started with a trip to the Harbour Bridge, with a guided walk to the centre where there was a bungee jump station and some spectacular views back to the CBD. From here we headed over the bay to the North Shore, where a short up North Head provided some more spectacular views and a bit of history as this was once one of the city's main defence stations from outisde invaders. Next we took a ride down to the trendy suburb of Devenport for lunch and a coffee before heading back into the city mid afternoon. The trip was a really good introduction to the city and gave us a bit more of a sense of perspective and a chance to get of the main strip around Queen Street.
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Auckland Day 1 and 2
We arrived in Auckland just after lunchtime on Tuesday, after a relatively relaxing flight from Sydney. The weather was pretty drab as we hopped on the bus from the airport to the Auckland Cnetral Backpackers 'ACB' hostel in the city centre.
We decided to use Wednesday to explore the main shopping street in the city - Queen Street. We had a look for a new rucksack to replace mine which broke just as we left Sydney. On first impressions Auckland feels quite small compared to Sydney and not quite as glitzy - but the atmosphere is friendly and even a bit more laid back. New Zealand generally feels a lot more English than Oz too, with similar road signs and shops dotted all over the city. There is also a real cosmopolitan feel in Auckland too, with thousands of Chinese, Japanese and of course a large Maori population.
On the evening of our first day in the city we met up again with Katie and Nigel (Katie's Uni friends) for a beer before they headed off to Fiji for a week or so. They had just completed a 2 week your of New Zealand so it was interesting to find out what was worth seeing and doing over the next xouple of months for us.
So this is our base for the next month as we get ready to go and do some volunteering in the Auckland area. We are really looking forward to settling down somewhere for a while, as we feel like we haven't stopped for the past 5 weeks. We now have around 5 days to explore Auckland a bit before we get cracking with the volunteering!
We decided to use Wednesday to explore the main shopping street in the city - Queen Street. We had a look for a new rucksack to replace mine which broke just as we left Sydney. On first impressions Auckland feels quite small compared to Sydney and not quite as glitzy - but the atmosphere is friendly and even a bit more laid back. New Zealand generally feels a lot more English than Oz too, with similar road signs and shops dotted all over the city. There is also a real cosmopolitan feel in Auckland too, with thousands of Chinese, Japanese and of course a large Maori population.
On the evening of our first day in the city we met up again with Katie and Nigel (Katie's Uni friends) for a beer before they headed off to Fiji for a week or so. They had just completed a 2 week your of New Zealand so it was interesting to find out what was worth seeing and doing over the next xouple of months for us.
So this is our base for the next month as we get ready to go and do some volunteering in the Auckland area. We are really looking forward to settling down somewhere for a while, as we feel like we haven't stopped for the past 5 weeks. We now have around 5 days to explore Auckland a bit before we get cracking with the volunteering!
Sydney Day 6 and 7 - Manly and leaving Sydney
We chose to spend our last day in Sydney out of Sydney if that makes sense! The weather wasn't too bad when we woke up so we decided to make the most of the sunshine and head over to the beachy suburb of Manly, only a short ferry ride across the harbour fron Circular Quay. Unfortunately as the day progressed, the weather seemed to take a turn for the worst and we didn't really have the best day in Manly. Similar to Bondi - Manly had a British sea side feel with Ice cream and Fish and Chips and victorian beachfront properties. We didn't feel it was quite as trendy as Bondi, and it felt a bit more old worldy. We ducked in and out of the rain in shops along Manly High St and had a bite to eat in town. The most impressive part of the day was watching the surfers making the most of the inclement weather on the beach, some catching some humungus waves. We headed back to the CBD a little bit damp, but looking forward to a nice meal on the harbour front for our last night in the city.
We chose a lovely little Mediterannean/Adriatic cuisine place right on Darling Harbour, overlooking all the boats and the Maritime Museum. Luckily the rain had cleared by this time so it was a lovely evening. The food was Australian with a european twist - I had a lovely piece of Barramundi cooked to perfection and Kate a nice bit of beef - all for around $30AUD a head. A perfect meal capped of a really enjoyable few days in Sydney, we felt we had done most of the things the city had to offer, but would love to return at some point in the future as it really is a beautiful place.
And so at 7am the next morning tthe Australian leg of our journey came to an end. We enjoyed the vast majority of things we have seen in Oz, even though there were a few weird places along the way, but thats what makes the trip all the more interesting. Highlights we definitely Noosa, Brisbane, Sydney and Byron Bay, but we feel ready to move on and start exploring somwhere new...roll on New Zealand!
We chose a lovely little Mediterannean/Adriatic cuisine place right on Darling Harbour, overlooking all the boats and the Maritime Museum. Luckily the rain had cleared by this time so it was a lovely evening. The food was Australian with a european twist - I had a lovely piece of Barramundi cooked to perfection and Kate a nice bit of beef - all for around $30AUD a head. A perfect meal capped of a really enjoyable few days in Sydney, we felt we had done most of the things the city had to offer, but would love to return at some point in the future as it really is a beautiful place.
And so at 7am the next morning tthe Australian leg of our journey came to an end. We enjoyed the vast majority of things we have seen in Oz, even though there were a few weird places along the way, but thats what makes the trip all the more interesting. Highlights we definitely Noosa, Brisbane, Sydney and Byron Bay, but we feel ready to move on and start exploring somwhere new...roll on New Zealand!
Sydney Day 5 - Blue Mountains
We booked onto an Oz Experience blue mountains Day trip! This involved a very early start. We woke up at 6am which was hard when you are staying in a dorm room. You have to try and get ready with no lights on and without talking! We managed it and walked to the office where we got on the bus and drove out of Sydney towards the Blue Mountains. On the way we stopped at a National Park and saw some wild Red Kangaroos, which was really good. They were pretty tame and we managed to get pretty close to them. I managed to get a great pic of one of them, much better than the ones that Andrew took! Seeing the Kangaroos in the wild was completely different to seeing them in captivity.
After this we headed to the Mountains. Unfortunately when we arrived at our first stop, Wentworth Falls the weather had taken a turn for the worse and there was a huge thunderstorm. Our guide in his wisdom had not brought any wet weather gear with him. So needless to say he decided that the walk would be unsafe in the wet. So we all jumped back on the bus a little disappointed and went over the Furber stairs. From this walk down we could see Victoria Falls and the Three Sisters! This was a really good walk down hill all the way. Our guide was a bit crazy and decided we should do all the little side walks on the trail. We all started to walk down one until our guide came sprinting up behind us to make us stop, because he had just spoken to a couple of guys that had just walked the track and they informed him that it was a 4km track! so we all turned around and walked back! Once we reached the end of the stairs we went up the steepest Railway in the world to get back to the top! this was a much better option that walking up! The Railway was really steep though and in true Aussie style safety went out the window. You would think that on a railway that has a gradient of 52 degrees you might need something to hold you into the train, but no not in Australia. In Australia they make it more fun by giving you really slippy red plastic benches to sit on. I literally had to hold on to stop myself from ending up on the floor! Luckily the train ride only takes about a couple of mins.
After the excitement of the train we then had a lovely lunch and then went over to Echo Point where you get a great view of the Three Sisters.
We then returned to Sydney in torrential rain. the drive back took a lot longer then the drive there as the traffic was really busy! All in all a good day, glad we went to see it, i think we would of preferred it if we had been able to stay there few a day or two.
After this we headed to the Mountains. Unfortunately when we arrived at our first stop, Wentworth Falls the weather had taken a turn for the worse and there was a huge thunderstorm. Our guide in his wisdom had not brought any wet weather gear with him. So needless to say he decided that the walk would be unsafe in the wet. So we all jumped back on the bus a little disappointed and went over the Furber stairs. From this walk down we could see Victoria Falls and the Three Sisters! This was a really good walk down hill all the way. Our guide was a bit crazy and decided we should do all the little side walks on the trail. We all started to walk down one until our guide came sprinting up behind us to make us stop, because he had just spoken to a couple of guys that had just walked the track and they informed him that it was a 4km track! so we all turned around and walked back! Once we reached the end of the stairs we went up the steepest Railway in the world to get back to the top! this was a much better option that walking up! The Railway was really steep though and in true Aussie style safety went out the window. You would think that on a railway that has a gradient of 52 degrees you might need something to hold you into the train, but no not in Australia. In Australia they make it more fun by giving you really slippy red plastic benches to sit on. I literally had to hold on to stop myself from ending up on the floor! Luckily the train ride only takes about a couple of mins.
After the excitement of the train we then had a lovely lunch and then went over to Echo Point where you get a great view of the Three Sisters.
We then returned to Sydney in torrential rain. the drive back took a lot longer then the drive there as the traffic was really busy! All in all a good day, glad we went to see it, i think we would of preferred it if we had been able to stay there few a day or two.
Sydney Day 4 - Chinese Peace Garden and AFL
We had an exciting day ahead as we had booked to see the Sydney Swans take on the West Coast Eagles at the ANZ Arena (formerly the Telstra Stadium) in the evening. So we had a lazy day in the city beforehand, doing a bit of shopping in the Queen Victoria Arcade - a grand old Victorian shopping emporium in the heart of the city. We grabbed some lunch and headed down to the Chinese Garden just off Darling Harbour, to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for an hour or so. This was a magical little haven of tranquility with waterfalls, koi carp and beautiful mock chinese temples. It was really nice to escape away for an hour or so and take a walk around - other than the mass of mosquito bites I managed to attain!
We headed upto Olympic Park on the metro at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, hopng to have a walk round the site of the 2000 Olympics. The park is very impressive, with dozens of big stadiums and arenas dotted about. Everything was beautifully landscaped with huge boulevards and parks between the arenas. This must have been a really fantastic place to view a massive sporting event like the olympics. About 2 hours before the game the atmosphere really began to hot up, with live bands playing outside the stadium and plenty of food stalls selling everything you could possibly imagine. The Aussie's really seem to make an effort with their supporting - the stadium was a sea of red and white with everyone kitted out in the latest Swans merch - from vests to hats and scarves! The game kicked off at about 7.30, and the 44,000 fans made a fair bit of noise. The stadium is gigantic, holding around 80,000 when full, but even just over half full it was a mightily impressive sight. AFL is a frantic sport with lots of tough tackling and whistle blowing. Its really a cross between football, rugby and basketball, the aim is to kick the ball between a set of 4 upright posts -between the middle 2 is 6 points and the outer 2 is 1 point. The Swans crushed the Eagles 101 - 49, so we saw plenty of action - the highlight of which was Barry Hall, a 6ft bald Aussie bruiser forward landing a punch and flooring one of the Eagles guys in plain view of the whole stadium - and he didn't even get cautioned! This was all over the front pages of the news the next day! Justice was done however as later in the game he broke his wrist when he went crashig into the advertising boards at the side of the pitch!
We headed upto Olympic Park on the metro at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, hopng to have a walk round the site of the 2000 Olympics. The park is very impressive, with dozens of big stadiums and arenas dotted about. Everything was beautifully landscaped with huge boulevards and parks between the arenas. This must have been a really fantastic place to view a massive sporting event like the olympics. About 2 hours before the game the atmosphere really began to hot up, with live bands playing outside the stadium and plenty of food stalls selling everything you could possibly imagine. The Aussie's really seem to make an effort with their supporting - the stadium was a sea of red and white with everyone kitted out in the latest Swans merch - from vests to hats and scarves! The game kicked off at about 7.30, and the 44,000 fans made a fair bit of noise. The stadium is gigantic, holding around 80,000 when full, but even just over half full it was a mightily impressive sight. AFL is a frantic sport with lots of tough tackling and whistle blowing. Its really a cross between football, rugby and basketball, the aim is to kick the ball between a set of 4 upright posts -between the middle 2 is 6 points and the outer 2 is 1 point. The Swans crushed the Eagles 101 - 49, so we saw plenty of action - the highlight of which was Barry Hall, a 6ft bald Aussie bruiser forward landing a punch and flooring one of the Eagles guys in plain view of the whole stadium - and he didn't even get cautioned! This was all over the front pages of the news the next day! Justice was done however as later in the game he broke his wrist when he went crashig into the advertising boards at the side of the pitch!
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