A slice of lovely familiarity in a year of exploration ...

Day 136 - Wednesday 28 May 2008

Well - I've just read my first Bill Bryson book ('Down Under' - I'll leave you all to work out where it's about) and have been really happy that he does just what I stumbled into doing - tells you what he's been doing, recounts local facts and walks a lot (which pigeons also do the world over despite their wings - lazy bloody sky rats!) - so here we go again!

The family Rousey (James, Jo, Ashley and Chloe) have been fabulously putting me up here in Langwarrin just outside Melbourne and my stay in paradise (compared to dorm living!) is sadly almost at an end - it's been a great chance to recharge the batteries, give the legs a rest and surround myself with normality again - in fact if I closed my eyes I could almost be back in England - such is the familiarity of Australia, a lovely family and a great, old friend

The journey here from Christchurch involved my first ever double-flight-day as I headed from Christchurch to Sydney on Qantas and Sydney to Melbourne on Virgin Blue (which with that name really should involve naked cabin crew) - all straightforward, everything on time and a New Zealand airport that's got kind of a pre-9/11 security flavour - the in flight movie to Sydney was The Bucket List and it reminded me of the enormity of what I'm doing - as the days have ticked on this has been easy to forget - sea kayaking on Milford Sound now feels very much like 'the norm'

Early days here were used to try and organise a visa for China - a rainy, sombre morning was met with a 'computer says no' response from the consulate here in Melbourne - I can only guess at 'Free Tibet' demonstrations and that bloke who launched himself at the Olympic Torch in London - whatever way - I've had to resort to Visa First's service and more travel lessons about trusting others (my passport is currently not in my hands) - it'll all be worth it to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall

Now Rousey has been a total legend in showing me his adopted country - Melbourne and the surrounding 'bush' - in my world Australia (heading out to in) consists of the ocean, the city, the bush and the outback - the outback we won't hit but we're all over the city and the bush

In the bush we've headed up Mount Dandenong and got a look back at the Melbourne CBD skyscrapers back towards the ocean (CBD or Central Business District is term for downtown in NZ and here) - we've also checked out William Ricketts Sanctuary in the Dandenong Ranges and I got my first taste of Aboriginal culture - William Ricketts was a wacky artist who specialised in clay sculptures and spent years of his life living amongst the Aborigines - he then lived high in the Dandenongs and the Australian rain forest placing these sculptures and developing a belief system that probably confused him as much as me!












The next day we went even further north and hit the Yarra Valley - now if there's one thing I've learned in the last few months it's that half the world has itself down as a wine producing expert - USA tick, Chile tick, New Zealand tick and now Australia tick - I wouldn't mind but they can't ALL produce a world famous Pinot Grigio - I think the definition of 'world famous' seems to be that they have a web site - anyway - the YV was a fabulous Sunday afternoon activity and, judging by how busy the Cellar Doors were, cruising them (there are 70!) is a popular activity here in Australia - hats off to Rousey for being a 'bloody legend' and doing the driving leaving me to sample a few and leave Yering Station with a world famous Pinot Noir!














We'll leave the bush for a second and mention one of Australia's (and probably the world's) great cities in Melbourne - we used a whole day exploring St Kilda (a hip city suburb next to the ocean with it's own pier), the Yarra River, Flinders Street Station, the regal shopping arcades, Eureka Tower (the best presented high city view in the world so far and even better than Sears Tower) and capped it all with a random highlight form this whole journey - footy at the MCG!

That last phrase translates as watching a game of Australian Rules Football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (the world's best cricket stadium if size matters) alongside 78,205 other fans - a game that, very often, resembles schoolboy football when players scramble around an impossibly small space only for the ball to break free and the game to open up - for the record the Collingwood Magpies destroyed the Geelong Cats 134 to 78 and again Rousey came up trumps with seats right behind the goals just a few rows back from the front - you could almost smell the testosterone - and the humiliation - Geelong were top of the Australian Football League!

And to finish off the familiarity has been heavily enhanced by my return to a golf course - now the months on the road have not been kind to my golf swing - it's looking a little longer than normal ands the ball's straying a little further than usual from the hole - a 10 was interesting after the perfect tee shot - Rousey has pleasurably destroyed me around a couple of wonderfully open access, cheap golf courses - Sandringham (pronounced with the H sound) and his home track of Lang Lang (an Australian Ross-on-Wye Golf Club) that's tight and when off line dusty and difficult! - Melbourne has an astounding number of these courses nestled alongside the world renowned Royal Melbourne - it's not difficult to see why Australian players are taking the world and especially the PGA Tour by storm - in fact the only pain is carrying around a bucket of sand to replace your divots - mind you - it's not that hard - a trolley culture here!

And as if all of this wasn't enough then Rousey's come up with a couple of tongue in cheek Australian experiences - Pin Oak Court was clearly (even in the dark?!) Ramsay Street and for years I believed it was very long - but that was a clever Neighbours cameraman and it's incredibly short - but sure enough that's where Daphne stripped at Des' bachelor party in the first ever episode (I remember being off sick at the time from Newent Community School and watched it twice - lunchtime and late afternoon!)

And you've got to love kangaroos - we were sadly too late to get into a park run by Victoria State after the Dandenong Ranges adventure - but Swifty would have been proud of 'Tracker Rouse' who headed fearlessly into Dandenong Police Paddocks Reserve and got us right up close to a group of 6 who decided to 'boing' in our general direction like were in Jurassic Park when the Gallimimuses flocked towards Alan Grant and those annoying kids - a couple of the kangaroos were about the size of those dinosaurs!

It's almost over and out for Melbourne (but we'll be squeezing in more action before a train ride on Sunday inland and north east) and Sydney Harbour Bridge awaits - thankfully the real thing - and not the hockey bloke in Gloucestershire who changed his name to exactly that by deed poll - now there's a genius - if it's as good as everyone says then maybe I'll do the same ...

The kingdom of Rohan ...

Day 126 - Sunday 18 May 2008

OK - I'll admit that on Saturday I had a final treat here in New Zealand and paid lots of money for a 4 wheel drive adventure across the Canterbury Plains into the Southern Alps to Mount Potts High Country Farm to stand on the top of Mount Sunday - but ...

I closed my eyes for one second - transported myself into the mindset of JRR Tolkein and Peter Jackson - and I'd arrived at the city of Edoras in Rohan - I was Aragorn - beard and all!



















Well - I can but dream - it's an illusion of course - but this is where Peter Jackson decided to create, in my opinion, the most dramatic of all The Lord of the Rings settings - I'm stood here right outside the front of the Golden Hall and behind me is where the other buildings at the front of Edoras were positioned - it's pretty much where Eowyn stood and soaked up the 360 degree view of snowy mountains - a 'secret valley' is how Sir Ian McKellen described it - I'd describe it as my second favourite place in New Zealand behind Milford Sound - 'I bloody love it!'

This is the view we had when we arrived - we were driven by the very friendly guide Rex who worked in production on the movies and kept his cards very close to his chest when he regaled us with stories from the sets - I reckon he was either over protective or just pretending he was there!
















It's hard to describe the scale but from this vantage point it's probably 10km to Mount Sunday that you can make out just below the middle of this shot - Mount Sunday is at 611 masl and the highest mountain around is at Mount Potts at 2184 masl - the entire valley was carved by another huge glacier back when we humans were in nappies yet the rocky outcrop that was to become Edoras somehow resisted and ends up standing out proudly

Here it is again from a closer view (salty spots on the lens and all!) and this view for me really epitomises the harsh high mountain landscape of this part of New Zealand - the touch, tussocky grasslands are clear to see in the foreground - and it's about form this angle that Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli first rode into Edoras - really - go and get The Two Towers out and check it (I'd kill for a portable DVD player right now!)











Rex of course had plenty of items for embellish our photos and this flag had the 'Property of New Line Cinema' tag still attached to it - sweeeeet - you'll see that we had an unreal day of weather again - it wasn't even windy which this location was notorious for - I'm practically lying this flag out to get the shot - to the right of my left hip is the final Beacon of Gondor that saw Aragorn sprint into the Golden Hall and demand that King Theoden send his Riders of Rohan to help Gondor - oh yes!
















So what a crescendo to end my New Zealand antics - and what final antics they've been - having arrived in Christchurch late on Friday and having negotiated half the world - something, somehow contrived to land a friend of mine from days in The Lawn Tennis Association on the table opposite in Mum's restaurant (not Wyn's) on the corner of Cathedral Square at exactly the same time as me - she'd also made her way half her way round the world (the other way!) and had been in Christchurch for just a couple of months - wow - Melissa - it was a real joy to bump into you and Josh and a huge thanks for having me round to visit on Saturday night - I don't buy all that 'small world' crap (that's quoted by people flying everywhere who should try some overland travel and then make the same statement) - but a weird and spooky world - definitely!

I'm not making it up - here they are in their very cool, sweet as, urban-Kiwi apartment - complete with retro-boxing gloves - these guys are stars!











Christchurch by the way was built to replicate a classic Church of England community based around a massive Anglican Cathedral - they succeeded and the place is full of English street names, pubs, a meandering River Avon and an Arts Centre that was Canterbury College and could easily be in Oxford or Cambridge - lovely and comfortable - just like my now-broken-in-and-not-nicked-yet North Face pants!











But tomorrow that's it - my time here is over - and this is the first time on this voyage of discovery that I'm genuinely very sad to leave somewhere - it'll all be forgotten when I see Rousey of course (I hit Melbourne tomorrow night) but I'll allow myself this bit of reflection on an incredible few weeks now

Usually after about a week in a new country I start to make a list in the old Moleskin notebook about what issues are standing out and making it unique - here it is word-for-word for New Zealand!

Equality = professional netball on TV and 3 most important people in House of Representatives are women
Awesome second hand bookshops
Superb recycling and 5 Green Party in House of Representatives
Coffee shop overload but loads of independents and very, very few Starbucks
Flat white coffees!
American (not British) brands on the high street
A constitutional monarchy but the people (not the Queen) in charge
The happiest people I've seen since Colorado
Everything's 'sweet as' when it's OK
The bus drivers are the most customer friendly in the world
Hokey pokey ice cream
Aotearoa (Ow-tear-or) in Maori
Lemon and Paeroa drink
The countryside's diversity in short distances is mind blowing and still looks untouched by humans
Very direct rugby commentary about a player play acting - 'was that an Oscar?' - 'definitely a nomination' - sweet as!
Sparrows fly indoors to coffee shops resembling Snow White and the Seven Dwarves!
Turqouise-y clear rivers
Deer, cow, sheep and alpaca farming
Nuclear free and making a stand against the USA!
A big Asian population and many Asian tourists
The best, by far, set up and philosophy of any country for backpacking and travelling!
And ... the Autumn is the best time to come ... well done Jez you fluky bugger!
















See you on the other side of the Tasman Sea - but not for a while - me and Rousey have got some hanging out to do!

Pining for the fiords ...

Day 124 - Friday 16 May 2008 (Blog 2 of 2)

Pictures speak a thousand words and it's now heading fast towards midnight and I'm grateful for this all night internet cafe in Christchurch

But in a change of style for 'If Indiana Jones can do it ...' I'm going to try and shut up and let you absorb this post in a different way

It's enough to say that, after much looking, I've found the most stunning place on earth - really - and for now anyway - more dramatic than Yosemite National Park in California and Arches National Park in Utah - more mind blowing than Macchu Picchu in Peru - it's Fiordland National Park in the south west corner of New Zealand's South Island - and it's my favourite place on planet earth ...

Mirror lakes on a cold and crisp morning on the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound
















The distant Mount Pembroke and Pembroke Glacier shrouded in cloud on the north side of Milford Sound (right)
















This waterfall is just over 150m high and is situated right at the 'end' of Milford Sound
















A beautiful morning on Milford Sound and Mitre Peak at 1692 metres soars out of the sea and through the clouds on the south of the fiord (left)
















The view back towards the Te Anau to Milford Sound road from the middle of Milford Sound
















And if you were wondering how I got these shots so close to the water it's because I saw Milford Sound by sea kayak and it's the only way to get a life changing experience so if you go please don't use a big boat...











(For the record a fiord is formed by a glacier pushing out to the sea while a sound is formed by river pushing out to the sea - fiords are U shaped and sounds are V shaped - Milford Sound is incorrectly named - as are other Sounds here - so Fiordland National Park was created and named to amend the problem!)

Please find 5 minutes in your life to study this link and plan your visit (I bet you'll thank me!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound

One of the most satisfying weeks of my life ...

Day 124 - Friday 16 May 2008 (Blog 1 of 2)

Hold on a second am I achieving all of this - it's been a week that I'll never forget here in New Zealand and the time I've had has rapidly vaulted this unbelievable country to the top of my favourite countries in the world list (we'll leave the leave the USA out which gets far too much of a leg up from Rich living there!)

So much to say and it's pretty late, I've 2 blogs to do and I've got to be up early for another busy day tomorrow - it's non-stop here as well Sally!

Since you saw me last (sort of!) I've been Jez 'action man' Lemarchand and the testosterone flying round my system is making me dangerous right now - I'm unearthing a whole new me and boy do I need a good job when I get back to afford new kit for my new skills and interests ...

The countryside and scenery as you traverse your way down the west coast of the South Island (and indeed the whole of the country) just gets better and better and better - it's like they lined it all up for travellers heading north to south - 'OK everyone, let's show them a bit of what we're like then blow them away in the far south west'

When we negotiated our way down from Franz Josef to Wanaka the bus driver had enough time to stop off and show us one of millions of quiet, un-eartlhy, have-it-to-yourself beaches - check out the only footsteps that graced this beach for a week ...











Now for my first crack at the outdoor lifestyle this week I went mountain biking - not golfing Sal C so sorry honey and it was a good tip off but this got the adrenalin flowing about a million times more - although the photograph was taken to show off the peaks of Mount Aspiring National Park in the distance (which LoTR fans were used in the background when Gandalf was saved from the top of Orthanc and flown by Gwaihir, a huge bird, to Rohan) I bike down a pine forest for the first time

Now mountain biking is hair raising at the best of times but stick in a steep downhill incline, closely growing pine tress, banked corners and a disregard (ish!) for your own safety and you have a top day! - my legs were knackered by the end of it (you have to cycle uphill to go downhill) but I loved it and the trails were all marked out like a snowy mountain and my bike handling skills were a million times better than the Slick Rock all those months ago!











And Wanaka (careful you don't drop the odd a!) was the serene alpine retreat - kind of - because in this part of the world it seems the population know nothing about sitting still - I have to come back and snowboard here - although as one local told me 'the snow's wet and the runs short!' - the opportunity of beds for 10 quid a night in fabulous YHA hostels and the accessibility of these incredible towns makes it a cheap option despite a long flight

I headed off to Queenstown and was met by an even better mountain range than those from Mount Aspiring - the Remarkables sit above this place fit for a Queen and threaten to fall on top of it should a fault line shift too far one night - speaking of which I love this shot of the green buoy just off shore on Lake Wakatipu with the Remarks in the background showing off their snow dusting (although it's now sunny everywhere in New Zealand after my start off in rain)
















And the next day (OK - one cloudy one!) I hiked up Bob's Peak to get the classic view of Queenstown and bumped into a sharp photographer who snapped me a bit out of breath having not realised quite the distance through the forest - to the right of my left hand is the awesomely placed Queenstown Golf Club with 'downtown' to the left of my right hand - and there's those Remarkables again!











But that was just a warm up for my afternoon of making good on a promise to myself of 2 years ago to learn rock climbing - I'm very glad Martin and I didn't go for the indoor option in Wolverhampton - because Queenstown Hill was a bit more thrilling

Now I have no pictures to prove my activities but I can show you the link to my instructor Helen's company (well it wasn't her company I don't think but that's a trifling matter)

http://www.rungway.co.nz/rockclimbing.htm

The main picture is very close to what we were doing and we got a fantastic 4 hours out of the deal (me and my climbing buddy Joaquin from Santiago in Chile strangely enough!)

This new activity did so much for me by proving that I can trust other people and equipment with my life (I fell twice on the last ascent of the day and 'enjoyed' dangling about 100 metres up a rock face slamming my right side into the rock hard - ouchie - go hard or go home!)

It also tested me fear of heights (remember me leaning forwards in Zion National Park) and I passed - just as I thought - I can conquer what I've decided is only mild - and the method of rappelling and belaying feels way safer than you'd think - it's pretty crazy and exhilarating to have to look through your feet for foot holds and see 120 metres below you to the ground (that's the highest we went up!) - but just typing this is making me excited again!

And like Robbie J says I 'tested myself' and won - I managed to climb a grade 14-18 ascent (there's 32) on my first afternoon of rock climbing - ever! - now to get a gauge of how proud I should feel that night I asked Helen how many people do that on their first go - she said 10% and that it's about as difficult climb as there is in GB - 'he shoots, he scores!' - I'm not overly convinced she's right about the GB bit but I'll take it for now - she was a champ and persuaded me after my two falls to go for it again and I made it - 'it' was placing all the weight of my body on my left toe on a ledge about 1cm wide - while reaching with my right hand and right foot up to holds about a metre higher up the face - and then, I kid you not, leaping for these holds - all 100 metres up - wowzers! - it was worth it - from the top I looked around 360 degrees and saw snowy mountains and an alpine lake - I want to do it again already ...

And if that wasn't enough I decided to try these out the morning just before I left Queenstown











The Kawarau Jet shot us up the Kawarau and Shotover Rivers spinning us round and soaking us - narrowly avoiding gorge rocky walls - skipping over very shallow ice blue clear water - and all the time I was having a good time I wanted to drive! - when you've rock climbed the day before it's pretty hard to let someone else be in charge - it was thrilling - but I think I've just readjusted my body to the definition of a thrill - my copy of The Climber magazine is looking well thumbed ...

For a final Queenstown LoTR moment (they filmed loads around Wanaka and Queenstown because of their incredible location) I skipped around Queenstown Gardens for this photograph of Deer Park Heights - this is a mountain just under 500 metres high and just outside Queenstown - you can see it from the Bob's Peak shot - it was the first time since I left the wet rain forested west coast of the South Island that I saw tussocky grass and that yellowy colour around rocks - it's backed by those Remarks again - and you may be able to tell that is was used heavily in The Two Towers - for the sequence when the wargs attacked (hear me speaking in the past tense like it actually was history!) the people of Rohan heading to Helm's Deep - Legolas' incredible leap onto his horse you will remember ...











For this post all that's left to say is please ignore the spot created by soaking my camera on the west coast a few days earlier!

And read on for blog 2 of 2!

'Ashes and dust Maximus'

Day 117 - Friday 9 May 2008

There are some days in life when you get that reminder when we have our very small time on earth and we are but a small significance in a bigger game - today was one of those for me - and seeing your first glacier will do that to you!

Just check it out ...

This is the Franz Josef glacier and I'll give it the Austrian spelling after the King at the time (it was discovered by a fellow countryman) - it's power, size and majesty are like nothing I've ever quite seen before - I found myself repeatedly looking skyward for signs of the multitude of heli-rides that are offered to view it only to remember that what I could hear was the rumbling of water, ice and rock in the River Waihao

The way this big old brute works is that air from the Tasman Sea is forced quickly upwards by the Southern Alps causing it to drop loads of rain on these West/Wetlands that falls as snow in the Alps - repeated falls of snow freeze on top of one another and this ice falls downwards off the steep slopes - this ice rides on a river of melting ice and this force drags rocks off the surrounding Alp faces - if the ice melts quicker than it being replaced by snow the glacier retreats - if the snow falls quicker than it melts the glacier advances

It may surprise you to know that the glacier is currently advancing (affected by snow that fell 5 years ago 'cos that's how long it takes to have an effect!) - but today has also been another epiphany for me about global warming - sold - no real need for me to consider that one anymore - where I'm standing to take the opening photes of this blog was covered in ice just 150 years ago - it takes about 30 minutes to walk from that spot to the front (terminal) of the glacier that you see in the valley opening - and that ice is about 75m high! - I make that about 1.25 million square metres of ice - in 150 years - that's crazy, mind blowing and I hope you get a feel for it without being there

I switched into Del mode today and took another raft of photos - well - the first time you see a glacier's a momentous day - the ubiquitous photo seems to be the 'reflected off a pool of water' shot - so here's my attempt of which I'm very proud - the Autumnal orangey glow of the undergrowth is cool - and thankfully the sun came out this afternoon to get shots like this - I have another set from this morning of 'glacier in rain' - including a cracking one of me, soaking and totally out of focus with the underside of the lady's brolly who took it for me lining the top of it - were it vaguely in focus it would be on here!

I hiked up to the glacier from the quaint town of Franz Josef that has to have the most pictureskew backdrop of any little town anywhere - as well as saving money it actually added to the whole adventure - I was passed by many doing the shuttle bus and I have walked about 12km today - but it made the day and enabled me to jump down to the river bed and get shots upstream (although I did sink far too fast for comfort and literally leaped onto rocks before my socks reached the sand/crushed stone at one point!) - scrambling over rocks strewn aside by the forces of nature also reminded me of being a kid again (this journey keeps doing that and 'cos I had the best kidhood ever that can only be a brilliant thing)

I've finally worked out how to bring mountain tops into distant shots - lower the brightness setting manually and they no longer disappear in to the sky - I should have asked you about that before Dad! - and I adore this next one I grabbed about 1600 hours - for those in the LoTR know (I'm not typing The Lord of the Rings anymore from now!) these mountain peaks in the Southern Alps include Mount Gunn (though I'm not sure which of the two it is!) and were used to portray the Lighting of the Beacons when Gondor signalled to Rohan to come and fight Sauron's forces in the most amazing battle ever to hit a move screen!

And so I'm right down the west side of the South Island now and here's a shot from a place called Punakaiki - we stopped there for a quick lunch stop and I pretty much ran out in a rainstorm to get a view of New Zealand's version of the Big Sur - crashing waves and driving rain have found their way onto my lens and I'm hoping my latest 'dark spot' dries out!

And I got here by the Inter Islander Ferry that swings round Wellington Bay and leaves you in the incredible micro-climate of Picton where I negotiated my first sound and struggled to work out that while everywhere else in New Zealand is cold and wet why is it warm and sunny here?! - just check out that turquoise sea - it's to die for! - well - at least suffer a nasty rash for!

The northern end of the South Island is home to Abel Tasman National Park which I have already noted on my list of 'must sees' for when I return here - it's accessed by yet another fantastic little cafe town called Nelson that's home to New Zealand's best arts and crafts community - I couldn't help but drop into the ring makers who produced the designs and then actual rings for the LoTR - the were done by Jens Hansen who's now passed on and left the business in the hands of his sons - I promised to give them a plug ('cos I clearly wasn't buying!) - so - http://www.jenshansen.co.nz/

In the past I might have observed from a distance but the Jez of today barrelled right on in and was welcomed wonderfully by the top Barbara - far from being fed up of Lonely Planet reading fans she happily gave up her time to show me the rings (the One, Sauron's, Elrond's and Arwen's) - and most notably the huge ring actually used in the close up shot when it's picked up by Boromir in The Fellowship of the Ring - he shoots, he scores! - I love this shot - it's not as in focus as I thought from seeing it on my camera but the huge smile rubber stamps my geeky streak!

Simply lovely Wellington

Day 114 - Tuesday 6 May 2008

Me and Rob checking out his new home ...

















Get off the road ...

















Modern Maori carving from te Papa ...













The Beehive ... but then you guessed that!












Arty Wellywood shows off it's skills ... and if you look closely through the bay ... it's nearest snowy mountains!












The Taranaki lookout ... minus Mount Taranaki!












Tongariro National Park seems to have lost Mount Ruapehu ...















If you're not happy where you are and are looking for a different place to live that has something for all tastes and is a very amenable place to live then you need to come and try on Wellington for size!

I've just about expended my 4 days in New Zealand's capital city (although Auckland aren't too chuffed about that) and I'll be leaving tomorrow saddened but buoyed by the excitement of seeing the natural delights to come on the South Island

And until I visit again (which is a must) I'll have very fond memories of this incredible place - I've renewed an old friendship, soaked up some real life Lord of the Rings, learned about how New Zealand is governed to be such a cool place and acted all cosmopolitan in scores of top class, free to the people, museums - can I come and live with you Rob?!!!

My old friend from Newent Comprehensive School, Rob Buckland, has just re-located out here and (if all works well when his family reach New Zealand very soon) will have swapped Liverpool for a house on a hill overlooking Wellington Harbour one way and the Kaikoura Mountain Range the other way (that have just had their first dusting of snow for the Winter) - now there's a smart guy ...

And if I could find a USB port on this computer you'd see us hanging out - so we're back to the days of South America and I'll add them later - but I do love this internet place for the log in screen telling you to use Mozilla Firefox and requesting that you only use Internet Explorer as a very, very last resort - yes!

We had a top day on Saturday with Rob navigating us around his new city - we headed up to Wellywood's high points - if you didn't know Peter Jackson and The Lord of the Rings movies were produced from here so that's why it's Wellywood - in fact New Zealand is certainly making the most of their Rings connections - I wouldn't say ashamedly 'cos I love them but it's pretty difficult not to move around a hostel without seeing a Rings adventure being advertised - and I'm off topic quickly - Rob and I headed up the cable car from Lambton Quay to Kelburn where you get a good look at the Harbour and the CBD (Central Business District) - but the real deal is a trip up the higher 360 degree lookout of Mount Victoria - where the wind blows straight up the Cook Strait (the Island separator!) and does it's best to knock you over - the views are stunning and it's memorable seeing and feeling the planes coming in to land over sooo much sea

Mount Victoria has an added bonus that if you walk (like we did) you go straight through a wooded area that was used to film the hobbits leaving the Shire where they were almost trapped by one of the Nazgul - and I've got a picture of me in the now legendary location of this 'get off the road' action! - well - around there anyway - thanks for hunting around Rob! - I've worked out that it's incredibly difficult to track down the locations despite my 'Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook' unless you have GPS - and I've made a promise on the South Island just to soak up New Zealand for it's own natural beauty - and not what it's been made to be by the genius of Peter Jackson - this will be easier said than done - I'm already considering a very expensive trip to Edoras - I mean Mount Potts - see!

We rounded off the day by seeing Iron Man in the Embassy Theatre - the Embassy sits at the end of Wellington's entertainment district like an altar at the end of a church - it hosted the Lord of the Rings premieres including the world premier of The Return of the King - a movie that it got a complete overhaul for and is now delivering a world class movie experience - the best anywhere for me alongside the Arklight in Los Angeles - a top movie to watch there as well - the seats were shaken and rumbled by the sound system - and the action that came thick and fast - it's well worth a watch - if you forget the Afghanistan setting - and how hot does Gwyneth Paltrow look in it?! - I agree usually - but check her out ...

Wellington also has a world class museum called Te Papa that cost millions recently and is right on the waterfront - I lost a whole day there and think it cured me of comparing them all to New York's Met - a superb Maori collection again and an incredible Maori 'community' area that had some beautifully intricate wood carvings from renewable wood sources - New Zealanders are the best environmentalists I've ever seen - Swifty and Nev'd love them! - I also brushed up on the different ways that rain and glaciers shape the land - rain falls and cuts steep narrow gorges when it flows down the mountain - but when that same rain freezes it expands and carves a huge chunk out of the mountain creating a flat, debris filled valley - I even drew a picture of it in my notebook - inspired by my brother Rich's scribblings clearly - only a bit better than his?!!!

I also discovered a crazy but cool idea for a golf like game played over uneven terrain and not needing the expenses of a green - I thought it looked really cool - check it out boys - you can swerve your drives and everything - not a problem for the wee bald fella, Matt, I know but for some of us!

www.golfcross.com

After doing some travelling chores and visiting my first Embassy/Consulate of the journey yesterday (it's visa time soon and Indian for the record!) I did the only honourable thing - and visited the New Zealand Parliament Buildings to find out just how they get this awesome country to work - I say that because it's a breath of fresh air to visit a country where, in their most important buildings, everyone's warm, friendly, welcoming and no-gun wielding - I even got to sit in their House of Representatives because the House was in recess - but then it was the same at the Capitol in Washington and the closest I got there was having my water taken off me and being shown the rooms used a couple of centuries ago!

Now - they're a constitutional monarchy here - which as far as I can work out means that good old Lizzie 2 is represented by a Governor General who is currently Anand Satyanand - but it's the people of New Zealand who hold the power and govern their country - they've got a Minority Coalition Government at the moment which means that the party in power (Labour under Prime Minister Helen Clark) need the support of other parties to function - and it's proportional representation here for the House of Representatives (not first past the post so your vote for a less popular party really means something and the greens have plenty of representation for example) - similarly there's no upper House of toffs who can chuck out bills they don't like - I think it all sounds pretty ideal - and it's a bit of a British/German hybrid - our influence is clear to see - the House looks just like our House of Commons and everyone sits in the same positions - i.e. Prime Minister front right of the Speaker etc.

I should also mention the spectacular architecture of one of the Parliament Buildings from the British architect who designed Coventry Cathedral (Sir Basil Spence) - it's called the Beehive, is occupied by Cabinet Ministers and splits opinions almost quicker than the Treaty of Waitangi from 1840 - a document I also saw yesterday in a very Mission Impossible high security vault - the interpretation of the English/Maori translations culminated in ongoing payment settlements between the Government and Maori iwi (tribes) - I don't want to open a hornet's nest (just like Alan Partridge) and this isn't Newsnight so here's the link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_waitangi

And I could go on about the maritime-y Wellington Museum of City and Sea, the Reboot art display at the City Gallery Wellington, my viewing of The Fellowship of the Ring at the New Zealand Film Archives or my trip around the Wellington bays to Miramar on a warm and sunny afternoon

Miramar is not the place where the US Navy test their fighter pilots and planes - it's the Wellywood suburb where 3 Foot 6, Weta and Wingnut Films are based (sadly I saw none of them because I had no directions and I'll leave knowledge of what those are to those of you in the know) - it's very simple and very un-Hollywood - in a cool - let's be the world's best right now and have a beer or climb a mountain to celebrate kind of way!

And for the observant amongst you I just need to add details of my time in the middle of the North Island - simple - it wazzed down! - I still made the most if it mind you and am now really glad I spent out on Goretex - but sadly I didn't see Mount Ruapehu (an active volcano that sits in the heart of Tongariro National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage Site) - where I should have been seeing 3 volcanoes actually all I saw was rain clouds - and heavy, heavy rain!

So instead of doing the Tongariro Crossing across the top of them I contented myself with the small, isolated out of season snow towns of National Park and Ohakune - and a classic New Zealand rain forest walk through the Erua Forest to the Taranaki lookout (or rain out!) and the Mangawhero Forest Walk respectively - again - pictures will be posted so please check back!

I did love getting into New Zealand's isolated spots - the tranquility is breath taking - and I've learned that the sky here is just like a canvas that the greatest powers paint on - all the shades of blue, white and grey in the spectrum - and sooooo many rainbows!

When I was in Ohakune I visited the Powderhorn Chateau and made like a Lord of the Rings fan - the cast stayed here while filming on Mount Ruapehu - I swam in their hot pool and sipped coffee in an alpine bar that saw a couple of legendary Rings parties - it's complete with pictures of hobbit actors!

But that's it and my time on the North Island ends on a ferry crossing tomorrow morning at 0900 - I just wish I hadn't visited the exhibition about the Wahine disaster of 1968 - think Herald of Free Enterprise - anyway - it's sunny and calm here now - so it promises to be spectacular - the scenery I mean - not the Cook Strait - see you in the south!