First Impressions

Having been in Ecuador 10 days now, 5 in Quito, 5 in Otavalo, my "top 5" first impressions are...

1. It´s dirt cheap
2. The local men make you feel like you're a supermodel
3. The only other nationalities that appear to be visiting are the Swedes
4. The food is awful
5. All Ecuadorians are short

New Zealand In A Nutshell

I´m not doing too well updating the new blog am I? In fact, I have not even accessed it since I created it in NZ. Until now obviously. From Quito/Ecuador! New Zealand feels like a million years ago, but here goes...

The North Island. Quite pretty with the lush green countryside, rolling hills & thousands of sheep! Actually, at times you could be mistaken for being in parts of Scotland or Ireland. But overall it didn't really do it for me? Auckland to start with, is what I can only describe as a souless city. Maybe the torrential rain didn't help, but I can't say I was sorry to escape less than 48hrs after arriving!

Rotorua I thought overrated. Many would argue, but I couldn't see what all the fuss was about? Although the Wai-a-Tapu Thermal Pools ( translated..Sacred Waters) were great. Even in the rain! The 80minute walk viewing everything from collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud and water, the spectacular colours of the acid and artist palette lakes...all pretty impressive. The nearby Huka Falls were also well worth the visit!

Lake Taupo was an impromptu stop on my journey south. The town although small, is pretty and quaint. Even in torrential rain. (Are you seeing a common theme here?) Taupo is another adventure / adrenalin town, but with the rain bucketing down nothing was actually operating. So, what do all bored backpackers do to kill time? Head to the pub of course! A bunch of us from the hostel headed to the delightful Mulligans for the weekly quiz night. With our very knowledgable and "worldly" team, we came an impressive second place and of course celebrated until the wee hours of the morning. I have to say I was feeling rather "delicate" just a few short hours later when I had to board a bus to leave town! It was also then that the sun decided to shine for the very first time since arriving in NZ! At least I got to witness the great view across Lake Taupo, straight out to the volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park before departing. It would have been nice to stay another couple of day´s and explore all Taupo has to offer, but the South Island was calling!

I did spend a couple of day's in Wellington, the nations capital before leaving the North Island. The weather was good, there were beautiful Victorian buildings all along the steep streets, the Botanic Gardens were lovely, there's a great live music and cafe scene and the Te Papa Museum is a must do! It was surprisingly a great couple of days to end my time on the Nth Island.

AND THEN THERE WAS THE STH ISLAND! Right from the ferry trip to Picton, I was nothing but impressed. It was an almost immediate transformation from the North. The weather was fabulous. Cold, but clear blue skies every day. All snowcapped mountains, turquoise lakes and the wild & rugged western coastline. Absolutely stunning all the way down through the Southern Alps. It was exactly as I had hoped.

And what better way to celebrate this little piece of paradise than to throw myself out of a plane! 13,00 feet up, free falling up to 200km's p/h for close to 4km's, followed by a relaxing 4minute's or so of floating about, admiring the surrounding views. It was absolutely brilliant and the highlight of my NZ trip. Words can not describe the feeling, but I will say it's not at all what you expect. And you don't feel like you´re falling at all, you are flying! And it's soooo quiet. Very surreal. A potentially addictive hobbie!

Another highlight was the Franz Josef glacier hike. Before leaving Sydney, my friend Paul could not emphasise enough that Franz Josef was a must do on my visit to NZ. I am so glad I took his advice. After hiking for about 50minute's to reach the terminal face, it was on with the ice talonz and on our way up. I actually found this more terrifying than jumping out of a plane! Maybe because mother nature can be so unpredictable? Regardless, the heart rate was up and pumping the entire day! Mostly adrenalin, the rest hard work. It wasn't too difficult as such, but pretty steep to the point we would often have to stop to catch our breath. As well as going up, we hiked along narrow ledges, deep crevasses, drops of hundreds of metres, through slush, over black ice, the beautiful blue ice, through ice caves, all while witnessing the fantastic 360 degree views.

And of course, Queenstown. Bustling, touristy, adrenalin junky filled Queenstown! On the northern shore of Lake Wakatipu, surrounded by snowcapped mountains, it really is quite breathtaking. The remarkables are just that. The view from the top of the skyline gondola is fantastic. The 800m downhill luge ride is a must. As is a Ferg's Burger and a teapot from the World Bar. Need I say more!

Well this is New Zealand in a nutshell, so I´ll stop rambling. I could rave on for ages about this layed back, pristine, adventure filled country. I'm just sorry it took me so long to get over there and have a look!

A tad late, but...

A couple of years back, my friend Liam and I did a road trip from the West to the East Coast of Canada. "Ghetto-Fabulous" quickly became the christened theme for our trip. We were somehow always drawn to our own little ghetto-fabulous part of town where we would end up bunking down for an interesting evening or two! It was destined from the start really. Liam's faithful dodge broke down only a few hours into the trip. It was then we experienced our first ghetto-fabulous moment. Without going into detail, we also thought it would be our last, however destiny had other plans....

Upon arriving in Auckland, New Zealand I find myself having flash backs to those ghetto-fabulous moments? A little less on the fabulous! A cold, dodgy hostel. The very seedy end of town. With let's say, some quite "interesting" characters sharing my 6 bed dorm. I am not quite ready to face the world of ghetto-fabulous alone. Not in NZ anyway! Sth America maybe, NZ nah.

Anyway, as I sit here in the cold hostel internet room, creating a blog that I promised a few persistent friends I would do, ghetto-fabulous is obviously on my mind hence the name!

I will report back sometime soon with an update from the land of the kiwi! Hopefully without too many ghetto-fabulous moments just yet...