The day started wet, but relatively mild. The flag was flying rather limply:

And as we are moving on to the U.S. of A. tomorrow, it was time to find it a new home in Hokitika, so here's a last view of it:

As we're on the outskirts of Auckland, we couldn't leave without doing all the things tourists in Auckland do. So we found the relevant bus into town and an hour later we were wandering around Downtown Auckland.

You can't help seeing that there's a rather noticeable building in Auckland:

(http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/Attractions/Skytower.html)

It's called the Sky Tower and is “the southern hemisphere's tallest tower”. Looking at it closer up, it looks rather high:

And has an interesting structure right up near the top, a sort of walkway and platform:

So I went in the doors and spoke to a nice young lady who gave me a rather fetching yellow and blue suit to wear and then strapped me very tightly into something like a parachute harness. She then put me in a lift and told me to get out at the very top floor. She didn't warn me that when you stand in the lift and look down, you can see all the many floors of the Sky Tower, rapidly disappearing below your feet through the glass floor:

So I got to the top in about 40 seconds, and after admiring the view:

tried to find which of the many glass panels was actually the door to the great outside. I found it eventually and two enthusiastic young men welcomed me onto to a platform some 630 feet above the streets below:

They suggested that I peer over the edge, which I did and saw this:

It looked to me as though the crossroads with the large red bus turning, was directly below me, but I was assured that in fact the red target area below that in the picture was actually directly below us:

Then it was time to prove that I was the only person in Auckland on the 25th May 2009 who was brave (stupid) enough to jump off the Sky Tower on a rather cold, windy winter day. So I jumped .....

and then I stopped!

I was suspended a few metres below the platform by two blue cords holding me in position, but facing basically downwards. Look up for the camera they said, but it wasn't very easy, my neck didn't bend that far.

Instead, as I spun round and round, I became aware of rather a lot of people in the restaurant below the floor I'd been on a few seconds previously, taking photos of me as I hung there 20 feet away from them with a 620 foot drop below me:

I was expecting that the (hopefully) strong cable I was attached to would allow me to descend at a reasonably controlled rate.

It didn't! So far as I could tell I was in freefall and the target area was approaching very fast, but the guys up top knew what they were doing and I rapidly slowed to a halt, still in a horizontal position, onto the target platform feeling a bit foolish that I hadn't landed on my feet like all the youngsters in the promo videos! (http://www.skyjump.co.nz/)

But the nice young lady on the target area:

was very polite and helped me to my feet and asked if I'd enjoyed it.

When I'd recovered my breath, I said that I thought I had enjoyed it and she then told me that as nobody else was idiotic enough to jump off the tower today, they'd be happy to let me jump off again for free as they needed the publicity of people being seen to jump!

Actually, that's not quite accurate, but I did go up for the free second jump and this time went off the platform backwards and without the pause for the diners. It was every bit as exhilarating as the first jump and I landed just as embarrassingly.

Then I managed to find Barbara, who'd determinedly ignored my flying lessons and had gone off to find a post office to send the flagpole off.

We had a nice cup of coffee, especially well decorated:

And went back to being normal tourists, looking at the gift shops, walking around the harbour, etc.

Off to LA & San Francisco tomorrow, so reports of our progress may be delayed.

written by  Saros on May 25, 2009 from Manukau City, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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Another bright start; we've been really lucky with the weather considering it's going into winter here.

An early start as we had a longish drive over the Coromandel Penisular to get to Coromandel in time for the 10:15 train, with a brief stop to admire one of the many lovely views:

We made it with minutes to spare and bought our tickets.

Barbara had read about this railway line (http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz) in some of the guide books we'd bought in England, and was obviously excited about the trip:

Once we were all seated in our little narrow gauge railcar:

and our driver/commentator had checked our tickets:

we were off, rattling up the narrow track into tunnels:

over bridges with frightening drops and through dense rain forest at what seemed to be great speed, but probably wasn't quite as fast as it seemed:

One of the more spectacular engineering feats (the whole thing is incredible) is a bridge over a deep gorge:

it is not just an ordinary rail bridge, but a double-decker:

The line twists and turns, goes around in sharp loops, up 1 in 14 gradients, and where the hillside is too steep even for that, it zig-zags up the side of the hill so that one moment the train is going one direction, it stops momentarily while the points are changed, then sets off uphill again, and we're looking down twenty feet to the track we were on just seconds previously:

All the way, there are interesting items of pottery to amuse and entertain:

and unusual construction techniques such as these restraining walls made of hundreds of wine bottles:

The story of this railway is that Barry Brickell, an artist and potter, but also a self taught civil and mechanical engineer, constructed this amazing railway virtually single handed over several decades to get clay and firewood down the hillside for his pottery.

When the costs of building the railway became significantly greater than the return he was getting on his pottery, his bank manager suggested he should open it to the public. It now carries typically 35,000 passengers annually, more than most of the Rail New Zealand lines!

Up and up we went. At one point the line suddenly turned away from the hillside and started going out into the void:

Hoping the brakes were working, we again waited a few seconds for another points change:

before setting off for the terminus of the trip, the Eyefull Tower:

Ten minutes there to enjoy an explanation as to how the railway came into being, and the views:

then it was back to the trains for the descent to civilisation:

All in all, a very worthwhile stop – highly recommended.

On south down the Pacific Coast Highway again to the Waiau Falls. Not quite as spectacular as we might have hoped, but we got a photo there anyway:

And on the way back down the unsurfaced road, we stopped in at the Waiau Waterworks (http://www.waiauwaterworks.co.nz); a fun park with all manner of entertaining watery creations. This huge pendulum clock is water powered:

and amusing things to read and see:

And animals including some alpacas in various states, alert:

awake (just):

comfortable:

Then, with our sightseeing finished for the day the weather changed to miserable, which didn't matter in the slightest as we only had to drive to Manukau (near Auckland) to camp for the next two nights in preparation for leaving New Zealand.

written by  Saros on May 24, 2009 from Manukau City, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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Another lovely start to the day, and it only got down to freezing point overnight, so warming up a bit!

The Top-10 site at Papamoa Beach was good, and our site had a great view of the Pacific as well as being close to all the amenities:

Sea, sand, surf and s--!

That's sun by the way, lots of it today.

We set off after breakfast to follow the Pacific Coast Highway to the Coromandel Penisula. A stop at Katikati for coffee, then on through Bethlehem to Hahei and the 'Hot Water Beach' where you're supposed to be able to dig a hole in the sand at low tide, and it should fill up with hot water, in which you can then have a pleasant soak.

Unsurprisingly, it was a popular beach and lots of people were digging holes, but we weren't aware of anyone finding a seriously hot bit. But it was a nice beach in its own right, with surfers doing their thing:

And occasionally wiping out:

It was interesting watching them getting out through the big waves; quite a challenge. One young surfer in particular seemed like a good subject to follow:

The fact that this surfer was young, blond and wearing a bikini, was of course, irrelevant ....

As she swam out, the waves got increasingly daunting:

A brave young lady! When I'd been swimming in waves very, very much smaller than this the previous day, they had seemed daunting enough. Waves this size must look horrendous when they tower over you:

Moving on, a short drive took us up to the parking area for the Cathedral Cove. A moderate walk with significant ups and downs took us along some lovely coastline:

And the usual array of different flora and fauna:

Cathedral Cove was very nice. At the highest tides it would have been cut off from the more southerly beach the footpath leads down into. A sizeable arch allows passage through a headland to the cove:

At the state of tide when we got there, it only involved a paddle to go through to the cove:

but well worthwhile, many lovely views:

Including this one before we set off back:

A last view of the island strewn coast before finding our campsite for the night:

written by  Saros on May 23, 2009 from Hot Water Beach, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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A bright start, but what a cold night; inside the cab of the motorhome it was -2°C, so presumably colder than that outside.

The Top-10 site in Rotorua was a bit disappointing, the internet access was so slow that I wasn't even able to upload the few photos and text for the blog in the one hour of time I paid $7.50 for (I did get a refund) and the hot tub was locked well before 8pm (its advertised closing time), so we didn't get to enjoy that either.

Anyway, we moved on to Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty. We'd read that there was a waterfall somewhere and were directed a little way down Strand Road, where we found a big rock with a tunnel through it:

But no waterfall .... we did find some steps though, and they had some interesting decorations. Apparently, this is called the World's first Vertigraph:

A few hundred steps later, many of them beside a small waterfall (rather insignificant due to the lack of recent rain here), we came out at a viewpoint high above the town:

There were some good views out over the bay:

Then on to the Okere Falls:

In the midst of yet more rain forest, a fairly sizeable river drops through a series of moderate drops between foaming pools:

The water alternates between black, dark green and white, and looks immensely powerful:

We met a canoeist at the end of the track we climbed up beside the river, who told us that the river was currently still quite low at about 400 m³/s, it can get up to 1,400 m³/s apparently.

Along the way, we encountered some nice examples of the Pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) tree, also known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree:

Moving on, we arrived at our next camp for the night at Papamoa Beach (http://www.papamoabeach.co.nz/). Another great location, literally on the beach with the pounding Pacific surf just a few tens of metres away:

And great views up the beach of the sunset:

Despite the scepticism of the girls in the site office, I was determined to get a swim in the New Zealand Pacific, even at this time of year (they thought it rather too cold), but I have a good covering of insulation:

written by  Saros on May 22, 2009 from Papamoa, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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Another bright sunny start to the day after a cold night. Elsewhere on the North Island, roads were blocked with snow, so we're not complaining. Our campsite in Hamilton was basic, but had all we needed.

We found some interesting fungi sharing our parking spot:

Then set off for Cambridge, where we parked outside the town hall for a coffee and some shopping:

Moving on again, a very pleasant drive through interesting countryside to:

Another coffee, this time with an interesting backdrop, note the rocks steaming gently in the background:

When we were ready, a boat came to take us across Lake Ohakuri. Barbara gritted her teeth for the crossing, even though it was only about 30 seconds!

Alighting on the the far side, we walked a short distance to find a warning:

and indeed, a little stream of water just under Barbara's hand by the boardwalk had water that was too hot to leave one's fingers in. Elsewhere it was much hotter:

This particular thermal system (Orakei Korako) has amazing variations in a relatively small area, from steaming jungles:

to cliffs with caves where boiling water erupts at regular intervals from caves, sending steaming torrents down the hillside:

And then there are delicate plants in amongst the violent extremes:

Curiously, this seemed to be Manuka, from which bees make the honey, but the plant also has another name it seems:

Further on are boiling pools:

which bubble and writhe like a living animal:

Some pools are deep and clear, but still hot:

There are cliffs like solidified waterfalls The Golden Fleece Terrace):

Steam frequently obscures the views;

And almost everywhere, little pillars of steam rise up:

There's a big cave:

With nice silver fern trees around the outer edges:

And boiling mud pools, which make the most deliciously disgusting gloopy noises:

And appear to almost be alive:

We had to drag ourselves away eventually as the day was ending and the park was closing. Even the car park bade us a steamy farewell, then on to Rotorua for the night.

written by  Saros on May 21, 2009 from Rotorua, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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Another sunny start to the day. Here are the pools we enjoyed (photographed on the way out):

We were sorry to leave this particularly nice campsite (http://www.waitomopark.co.nz) as it would have been fun to try out the cold pool and the trampoline and the many other facilities.

But we had booked three activities, eschewing the Black Water Rafting (like white water rafting but in total darkness! http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx) in favour of the more sedate options, so set off after a good breakfast (black pudding now on the menu :-) )

First on the list was:

A lovely introduction to the caves of Waitomo with many stalagmites, stalagtites, pillars, etc.:

All nicely lit and no restrictions on photography as is so often the case in such places, so that you have to buy their postcards in order to get a picture to remember it by. The whole tour was much longer than we expected, but all at a gentle pace, and well commentated on by our guide.

Once finished, we had a bit of time to spare before the next underground adventure, so we set off on the Ruakuri Bushwalk, which was lovely. Dramatic views of waterfalls, fast flowing rivers and rain forest, from some nicely constructed walkways high above the forest floor:

Then back to wait for our guide to the next cave system:

While waiting, we studied some of the flora:

and fauna:

before our friendly guide Rich:

led us through a substantial steel door into a dimly lit tunnel with small multi-coloured lights illuminating just the floor as far as another door. This further door wouldn't open until the first door was closed and pressure differentials equalised. It opened onto another dimly lit chamber, but instead of going horizontally away from us, this chamber disappeared vertically in a dizzying drop of spiralling orange lights:

As our eyes accustomed to the low lighting levels, we could see that the chamber had a pathway winding down and round the walls of the cylindrical chamber at a gentle slope; easy enough that wheelchairs could even be used to descend the 60' depth to the start of the cave tour.

The cave itself was spectacular. Loads of weird and wonderful rock formations in all sorts of differing patterns:

There were delicate curtains:

But best of all was our first glimpses of the incredible glowworm displays:

These glowworms are mostly larvae (otherwise called maggots, but that didn't sound as good in the advertising) and illuminate the end of their tails to attract flying insects which come in through the river caves. Once an insect gets close enough, it gets ensnared in the sticky threads exuded by the larva:

And for the record, here's a photo of us deep underground:

A bit further on, we came out onto a platform suspended above the river that flows through the caves (and brings food to the glowworms). In addition to the noise of running water and distant waterfalls, we could hear various shrieks, oohs and aaahs from the intrepid black water rafters. In fact, 'raft' is a rather misleading term as they are all equipped with a personal tube, just the right size to sit in. Here's a group en-route to the caves:

As we stood on the platform in the dark, the group of unsuspecting rafters floated past us, unaware that we were there. The whole underground trip was surprisingly long, and the cave impressively fitted out with steel walkways suspended above the cave floor to minimise the impact on the environment.

On exiting, after our first coffee of the day, we then set off for the last of our trio of subterranean sorties. This one not only had another interesting and informative commentary, and a long underground walk, but culminated in a gentle boat ride down yet another river. This one also had glowworms, but where we'd previously seen maybe hundreds of them, here there were thousands. Some were close, many further away, covering, it seemed, almost every surface of the cave.

Sadly we weren't allowed to photograph or video in this cave, but realistically, it would have been all but impossible anyway from a moving boat (the previous glowworm photo required a four second exposure time).

All too soon, it finished and we left Waitomo for a relatively short drive to Hamilton.....

Practice night, 8 bells, but only 6 of them up and not many ringers due to absence. It was nice to ring again, but my last opportunity until I get back to Fairford!

This is the tower with Jeremy Burslem's brother whose grandson is also learning to ring. St Peter's Cathedral sounds very grand doesn't it, but only 8 bells with a heavier tenor than ours (St. Mary's Fairford). The web site (http://www.stpeterscathedral.nzl.org/bellringers.php) is good. They finished at 9 pm especially for me as they would otherwise have gone home at 8.30!

Here's Charlie waiting outside the cathedral in the motorhome:

Back to the campsite. A bit grim as it's very cold and not nearly as good as last night.

written by  Saros on May 20, 2009 from Hamilton, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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A bright, warm and sunny start to the day. Barbara enjoying the sunshine while brushing her hair:

A metre or so from the back of the motorhome, a blackbird was also enjoying the campsite:

In due course we set off for our next destination and stopped in Inglewood for stamps and found this nice water feature commemorating the Polish settlers' contribution to the development of the district:

It was an interesting place generally:

And provided us with tantalising glimpses of the snow covered slopes of Mt. Tanaka (aka Mt. Egmont) but still not the whole thing:

Then we turned onto the:

What a wonderful road! Not for anyone in a hurry, it winds through steep valleys, some forested, others left as pasture for sheep to gently graze.

And for much of the way, the route is followed by a railway which, if it were used by passenger trains, could be another of the great rail journeys of New Zealand. Sadly, it has not been used by passenger trains since 1983, though the track is in good condition and can be seen below us here where it goes into a tunnel under us:

It reappears on the other side of Pohokura Saddle:

Spectacular though the views are, the huge areas of pasture and woodland were once rain forest like this at Whangamomona Saddle:

but much of it was cleared by slash & burn (as they're doing in South America currently) about 100 years ago.

Apart from the odd sheep farm, there was little habitation until we got to the Republic of Whangamomona with an interesting hotel that we couldn't pass up as a coffee stop:

It was filled with interesting old photos:

And the internal décor was as nice as the outside:

With a warm fire to encourage visitors to stay a little longer:

But the road beckoned, so on we went, Barbara now driving. The road changed to unmetalled, but still basically good, though we did notice and comment on the unusual preponderence of potholes. Had it been in England, we would have expected much worse, but in New Zealand, this was quite unusual, even in such a remote and little used road as this:

And then rounding the next corner, what should we find:

A team repairing all the potholes, who helpfully moved the truck out of the way so that we didn't even have to stop. With a friendly wave to them, we continued on our way down a much improved surface:

Another stop was at a parking place in a fairly remote bit of rain forest, where there was the sad tale of the surveyor Joshua Morgan, who died here of peritonitis in 1893 aged 35, before help could be brought to him. The spot is beside a fast running stream with little waterfalls:

Pressing on, we hadn't seen any signs warning us of rockfalls, but it was obvious that they were a possibility as Barbara was having to pick her way around numerous obstacles:

In places, the road was still passable:

And in others, long sections were one-way only:

Fortunately, we didn't meet any of the heavier traffic in such sections:

Quite how these drivers coped with the seriously narrow bits, hairpin bends and steep slopes, we don't know, but there were more of these heavy vehicles than motorhomes/campers as we found on most other routes.

In due course we got to our destination for the day and checked in at one of the nicest campsites we've yet been to:

After supper we spent a very pleasurable half-hour sipping wine in the open-air hot tub, admiring the Southern Cross above us (picture witheld for reasons of modesty!).

written by  Saros on May 19, 2009 from Waitomo Caves, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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A calmer night last night, and we woke to a great view over Pukerua Bay with dappled sunshine on the breakers. Once we'd packed and sorted ready for travel later in the day, we popped over to Margaret & Ashley's where we met friend Prue and had a nice chat about all sorts of things.

While chatting, the weather changed from Normal to exciting! Torrential rain, gale force winds, sharp hail, thunder, lightning, almost everything the heavens can offer except snow. Fortunately I'd already backed the motorhome down the steep slope and onto the road below, because it would not have been easy after the weather arrived.

It eased off after a while and we set off at midday with fond farewells to Margaret & Ashley for somewhere north of Pukerua Bay; we weren't too sure exactly where, but New Plymouth was one target. We made good progress despite a few stops for coffee and lunch in an interesting wooden café with a little turret and spire in Waverley.

Driving north up Highway 1, then through Wanganui on Highway 3, took us onto Highway 45 – the Surf Highway. It sounded more exciting than it actually was. We could see the sea in a few places, and even the odd breaker, but it wasn't as exciting as the west coast of the South Island.

All the way around the Surf Highway, we had our first volcano to our right: Mt. Taranaki, 2,518 metres high, but the most we could see of it was some distant foothills as it was constantly shrouded in cloud. Therefore, we didn't end up taking a single photo today, so here's a satellite view of the area thanks to Google:

written by  Saros on May 18, 2009 from New Plymouth, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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Wow, what a night! Winds of 140 kph (87 mph) reported, though I reckon that we (our motorhome) was being subjected to even greater speeds than that due to its high position at the top of a slope. The motorhome was rocking and creaking and because we were parked at the top of a very steep slope, I was really worried that if the handbrake partially failed, we'd be going backwards into something or other at a significant speed. So at some early hour of the morning I got out of bed (neither of us had got to sleep anyway due to the noise and movement) to try and pull the handbrake on even harder.

I was also worried about the flagpole which was still up, but I wasn't convinced that I'd be able to keep my feet on the sloping ground, in the dark, and in the terrific winds, so that had to just fend for itself.

Eventually, the alarm went off at 7am, a bit earlier than usual as we needed to catch an early train into the centre of Wellington for Barbara to ring at the cathedral for the morning service.

Now that it was light and the winds had eased a bit, it seemed safer to venture out. I found the Union Jack windsock tangled in an adjacent hedge, nearly at ground level, and the pole looking as though it was half the length it should have been. But I unstrapped it and lo and behold, the pole was absolutely fine, but a couple of sections had just telescoped into each other as they're supposed to do, and the windsock was okay too, just its hook a bit bent. It looked as though the pole must have got blown right over until the windsock was nearly at ground level, and then it got tangled and eventually the hook gave way due to the tensions involved.

It was still wet and windy on the short walk to the station, so we were dressed appropriately. The train arrived nearly on time, and we had a comfortable ride into Wellington centre through all the suburbs.

A bit of detective work resulted us soon finding a big pink building:

which we concluded must be St. Paul's Cathedral, and Charlie even managed to locate another ringer who let us in the ringer's door at the side. There must be something about the look of a ringer that sets them apart from 'normal' people!

The cathedral has several unusual aspects to its bell tower. Firstly, visitors are actually encouraged to come up and watch:

And the access is via a lift:

And when you get into the tower, not only can you watch up to 14 ringers ringing:

But you can also see on a reasonably large screen TV, a really good live view of the bells moving in the chamber above, as the ringers pull on the ropes:

And for any ringers who might be reading the blog, here are the bell details (27¾ cwt tenor):

Then it was time to finish for the 10am service, the ropes were put away and a few ringers showed us the way between several high-rise buildings to Old St.Paul's Church.

What a beautiful church! Constructed all in wood, it's now so hemmed in by modern buildings and trees that it's difficult to photograph from the outside, but this drawing gives a good impression:

Inside it was just as lovely – all dark wood with slightly lighter pews. Also not easy to photograph as it was so dark, this photo was a ½ second exposure:

And the five ringers were equally difficult to photograph as the ringing chamber was tiny – no room for anyone else in there, but a gated doorway did allow a view in. Here's Barbara (very blurred due to the ½ second exposure again) and another ringer:

An interesting aspect of this ring was the perspex floor to the bell chamber allowing visitors to see the actual bells just above the ringers.

When the ringing was finished there, we were kindly invited to a coffee in the vestry, before we set off into town to be tourists. A very pleasant harbourside walk, especially as the rain had by now been replaced by bright warm sunshine, albeit with a bit of a breeze:

took us to Te Papa Museum which had all sorts of fun and interesting exhibits from Maori culture:

to other 'cultures':

Then we found our way to the famous old cable car, which started off underground, or so it seemed. Presumably built over by more high-rise buildings, but eventually climbed steeply out of the more commercial areas of Wellington, through residential areas for the wealthy, and up to the University and Botanic Gardens, where the views just got better and better:

The Botanic Gardens had a nice map showing where the cafe was (it was lunchtime and we'd skipped breakfast) and all the other good things to see.

It looked like a straightforward and pleasant walk to the far end of the park for lunch, so off we set. What we hadn't realised was that the map didn't include contours, and contours there were in abundance. Our knees were starting to protest by the time we found the delightful cafe, populated by friendly people and many sparrows.

Many nice flowers:

And interesting plants later:

We made our way back to St. Paul's Cathedral:

for a third ringing session. There were still lots of ropes:

and Charlie was by this time having difficulty staying awake, so as soon as it was finished, we made our way back to the station and back to Pukerua Bay, where Margaret had prepared another lovely meal for us.

Hopefully a quieter night tonight.

written by  Saros on May 17, 2009 from Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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A dramatic night with heavy rain and the occasional flash of lightning and rumbles of thunder over our beachside campsite at Pohara Beach (www.poharabeach.com) in South Island's lovely Golden Bay. This view over the bay is just a few metres away from where we were camped:

And, as you can see, the sun was out and the day looking very promising. Here's the view 180° around from the previous one:

And then off on the longish drive to Picton for the morning ferry to North Island. We made a wrong turn at one point, but it had its rewards; Barbara found a stall selling bags of seven kiwi fruit for $1 (about 40p) while I photographed this view:

After a dramatic drive back over the high pass to Motueka we stopped for a coffee and Barbara took over driving. A pleasant drive around Tasman Bay, through Nelson and on over more dramatic roads towards Picton.

All of a sudden, Barbara braked hard and did a handbrake turn down a rather remote country lane, which we later learned was called “Happy Valley”. I hadn't seen the sign that Barbara had, and hence was a little surprised when we rolled into a sheep farm with this sign:

After some misgivings I allowed her to sign us up for an “adventure”! Off we went to don suitable protective clothing:

And now clad from head to toe in mud-resistant plastic, we were introduced to our steeds:

Barbara chose to ride with Fletch for reasons yet to be determined!

Then after a brief explanation of where the brakes, gears, starter and accelerator were, we had a quick practice around the beginners' field:

and when nobody fell off, we were considered expert enough to set off across country. I say 'across country' somewhat advisedly, as we didn't know it then but a lodge up in the hills was our target for the afternoon:

This view might give a better impression of what was involved. The little red box shows the previous view:

So off we bounced through fields of sheep and up narrow rough tracks through logging areas where the smell of pine was positively delicious. A stop part way up to admire the view:

Which was rather good:

And on we went up to the lodge where Fletch unveiled a very welcome snack of cheese, biscuits, coffee, tea and chocolate biscuits, and I realised why Barbara was so keen to ride on his quad bike: the shorts!!!

Still grinning:

we were strapped into a serious bit of machinery:

in which we were about to travel about a mile out across an adjacent valley at speeds up to 78kph. This is the view and the little red rectangle shows where we were aiming for:

Fletch released the brakes and we gathered speed and hurtled down and out across the forest. The sensation of speed was mostly due to the wind pinning us into our seats; we were so high above the trees that it didn't seem as fast as it actually was.

After a while we slowed to a halt at the bottom of the long cable arc and the brake was applied and the cable pulled us gently up the far side of the valley in almost total silence apart from the birds chirping below us.

In due course we stopped a mile away from the rest of the party. Fletch released the brakes again and we set off backwards at some speed. When we eventually slowed to a halt. The serious machinery:

whirred into life again and pulled us back to the three youngsters (20-somethings) in the party who hadn't been intending to do the SkyWire, but having seen us having so much fun, decided that they ought to have a go as well. So Barbara gave up her seat for the girl and all three joined me for a second run. Once we were back up, and the machinery packed up for the night, it was back to the bikes, Barbara leaping hurriedly onto Fletch's bike for the ride back down:

On the way, we stopped at an otherwise unremarkable bit of track where Fletch introduced us to Mareikura. Mareikura we gather means 'noble lady' and this lady is estimated to be some 2,000 years old, judging by her girth. This shows a small part of her:

She's some 150 feet tall and has a substantial trunk. In the past, trees ten times her size (and hence age) have been felled for flooring and ships' masts, but Mareikura remains as the oldest matai tree in New Zealand, and as they only exist in New Zealand, she's the oldest in the world!

In due course, we got back down to the sheep pastures, and being by now experienced quad-bikers, were allowed three laps of the fun course, complete with muddy puddles to get really wet with, and a bit of loose gravel to make it feel fast when we skidded a bit. All in all, it was great fun, much better than I'd expected as I hadn't had any particular desire to go quad-biking, but http://www.happyvalleyadventures.co.nz/ were thoroughly professional, helpful and fun, and we can thoroughly recommend them to thrill-seekers of all ages.

Then on via Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton (www.pictontop10.co.nz) for the night.

written by  Saros on May 15, 2009 from Picton, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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