new zealand and rarotonga 2002

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What a difference 10 years makes! New Zealand had changed a lot since I last visited, on my around the world trip. They really seem to have got their act together concerning tourism and it's now big business. But lets start at the beginning, in paradise - Rarotonga. Angela and I miraculously managed to get a month off work at the same time and booked our NZ flight taking in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Rarotonga came highly recommended by my parents and two of my sisters, one of whom had stayed there for over month! And what a place it is. Relatively unspoilt, hospitable locals, good beaches and no hassles. We booked accommodation over the web and stayed at the Puaikura Reef Lodges a great choice, run by some friendly kiwis - big airy rooms, good price, pool, nice setting - I'm glad we didn't stay in one of the bigger resorts. After sleeping for about 24 hours, we then hired a scooter (for about £10 a day) and set off to discover the island.

Rarotonga's only about 20 miles in circumference and can easily be travelled around in a couple of hours. Muri Beach is definitely the most picturesque part of the island, although most it's reef was deliberately destroyed to create a safer swimming/sailing lagoon. Some great food can be had here, at the yacht club and which also hires out sea kayaks. So for better snorkelling, we sneaked onto the Edgewater Resort's beach and saw plenty of different fish (trumpet, picasso etc), although currents can be strong here, so it's not for non-swimmers! We also really enjoyed the lack of hassle here. The locals are all very friendly, there's no poverty, virtually no crime and no rip off merchants either. Air New Zealand fly there every couple of days and it makes the ideal pacific stop-off. Air New Zealand made a huge difference to the whole trip. I was not looking forward to the flight but the extra legroom on their planes makes all the difference and I'd happily fly with them again (in fact I've already booked my next New Zealand trip with them!).

After a relaxing few days we took the very early morning flight to Auckland, where we took in the sights (we liked Devonport in particular) and picked up our hire car from Ezy Car Rentals. We then headed south towards Tongariro and the volcanos, stopping in Waitomo to look at the caves where I went pot holing. There's also a Kiwi bird house near there, one of the best in NZ. So if you've not seen one of these strange creatures before, it's a good place to visit. In fact Angela was so taken with these birds that we subsequently returned to Stewart Island on a future trip - the only place you're likely to see Kiwi's in the wild. We stayed at the first of several Top 10 holiday camps in a tourist cabin - much nicer than a motel, but book well ahead in the summer. Then it was on to the rather naff Raratonga (nice curry though) before heading to the Coromandel Peninsula (see left), another corner of paradise. Then a short flight took us to Christchurch in the south island, where we picked up another hire car and headed south towards Dunedin.

We stopped in Dunedin and the following day took a trip out to the Otago Peninsula to see the Albatross, Yellow-eyed Penguin and Seal colonies, with Elm Wildlife Tours. This daytrip was a lot better than I'd expected, since I'm not a bird watcher. You can get very close to penguins and the albatross are massive, amazing birds. We then drove to Queenstown where we met up with my sister and her boyfriend, who were there on holiday too. Queenstown has changed a LOT since I was last there and has lost much of its small town feel and become the tourist mecca of the south island. This is a bit of shame, sure there are more options, restaurants, choices, but it's now just too busy. Whilst Angela took a look at the Bird House, I went for a blast off road with Offroad Adventures which the local dirt bike tour operator. Minimal safety equipment was given out (eg. no chest or knee protectors), but we kept the speeds low and there were only a couple of low speed tumbles and a good time was had by all. The next day we took a fly/cruise to Milford Sound (see below), definitely the way to get there if the weathers good and you're short of time - there are countless options like this from Queenstown (fly/cruise/fly cost us NZ$300 each). Then over to Wanaka, a pleasant relief from the hubbub of Queenstown. We hired bikes and also drove up towards Mt. Aspiring, on dirt roads, which I'm sure wasn't allowed in rental car, before doing a hike up to Rob Roy Glacier.

We a bit unlucky with weather as we travelled up the west coast, although the torrential rain made for some spectacular waterfalls in the Haast pass. We were only able to see the bottom of the Franz Josef glacier, but at least we weren't cycling this part of the route - we saw some very cold and wet cyclists en route! We had our best meal of the trip at the Bay House Cafe in Westport on christmas eve, before heading up to walk the Abel Tasman track, starting on boxing day. We did the track south to north, camping twice on the way. Although camping is definitely the way ..

to do the Abel Tasman, be careful with the food and drink you carry! It weighed a ton the first day but soon lightened up after we scoffed most of the food (store it properly too or the possums will steal it!). By the second night we'd nearly finished off our food so had a meal at the excellent Awaroa Lodge. But be warned this place gets VERY busy and we only just managed to get a table. I'd definitely recommend this as a base to see the Abel Tasman if you didn't want to do the whole walk. Stunning location and good food and you can take day walks to most of the interesting parts of the track from here. It also gets surprisingly cold at night here, so take at least a two season sleeping bag. After a much need shower and curry in Nelson, we headed for Picton from where we took a day trip to through the sounds to a preditor free bird reserve (see left) and the main anchorage used by James Cook on his many voyages around New Zealand in the 1760-70s.

Then down the barren/dry east coast towards Christchurch, we stopped in Kaikoura for some whale watching, just managing to get a room in town. We rescheduled our boat trip and were very glad we did so! Not only did we see five sperm whales (you usually only see two or three) but our original trip was cancelled due to high winds - this isn't uncommon so book an early boat trip if possible, the winds can increase after lunch! We spent our last night with Gillian, a school friend of Angela's, who had emigrated out there a couple of years before with her family - they had a fantastic house, we could only dream about owning similar in the UK - I can see why people emigrate there. We spent the evening (new years eve) on the beach with some of their neighbours, before having to return to the UK the next day :o(   We liked New Zealand so much, we'll be back there later in 2003!

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