In Search of Elves

some more photos....

some photos today. I am back in paihia and feel much better for it. My last night at the last campsite was horrendous - there was a huge storm with thunder and lightning - the wind was so strong some of the tent pegs were pulled out the ground. It was so wet and windy. Thankfully it is sunny here. I am going to do the odd trip and get on with some more writing.

Enjoy!

Well, after a blissful week in paihia, I drove an hour north to my next campsite in Tauranga bay. I have now made a change in my plans. Having booked to be here for 3 weeks, I am now heading back down to Paihia. The owners here are having a baby and have left their mother in law in charge. She is very unfriendly, unhelpful and rude. I had prearranged to have someone put my tent up but she said no one could do it - and then made two other guests do it. Getting any info from her has been like pulling teeth. There are only a few other guests around, most of whom are pretty unfriendly too, although I did have a nice supper with a Kiwi couple last night; we ate freshly caught snapper which was delicious, and watched the sun go down over the beach (the sun had a huge halo round it). Whangaroa harbour, the nearest town is also deserted and too quiet. It is pretty just as the campsite is pretty but that doesn't seem to be enough to make it any good here.

It was a beautiful day yesterday. I went for a short walk down the beach to rock pools covered in muscles (supper tonight). I've come to a local hostel which has the only internet in the area - the next place is an hour away. I have started my book, which is extremely exciting.... I am bursting with ideas and would love to write the whole thing in 24 hrs (so not going to happen!) I am keeping everything crossed that I will see dolphins before I go but so far nothing. Once I am back in Paihia I will do a dolphin trip or two plus a helicopter trip if possible, so I can see the views that other people can walk to see. (donations to: Parsonage Farmhouse......... ;-)

The sky is full of grey clouds today so I can't take any photos. Hopefully the sun will be back tomorrow becuase I do want to take some photos before I go.

My feet are getting eaten alive by sandflies. Plus I have blisters and sun burn on them. They aren't happy. I'm dipping them in cool water every now and again because no creams are working. Plus the only reading material at the campsite is Mills and Boon. Oh dear God.

Yeah yeah, you are in the middle of winter and it's dark and cold and you've got Gordon Brown in charge. But I have to read Mills and Boon people! My brain is turning to mush.

I have just had two AMAZING days on a boat. To see the trip I went on, go to www.rocktheboat.co.nz It was as great as it sounds. The people were really nice, we did a shooting competition, we fished (someone caught a shark which was released), we had a barbecue, we went to the most amazing deserted beach and snorkelled and saw some cool fish (although the water was freezing - 16 degrees!) I came out pink, it was SO cold. Some people dived for mussels and sea urchins, which we all ate - the mussels here are enormous, I couldn't believe the size of them.

There were also some muslim women aboard, and they bought their shisha (god I can't spell that word) - so we sat around and smoked all evening and listened to middle eastern music, it was so cool. When snorkelling, they had to wear wetsuits over their clothes and wear swimming caps, I felt sorry for them (although they were probably warmer than the rest of us)

My camp site is so pretty. I have met a lovely man, aka tent-putter-upper Quentin. He is funny and having supper just by a waterfall is lovely. He brings me pineapple juice in the mornings and picks me fresh oranges from a tree. :-) He has a very nice French accent too. It is nice to have a little holiday fling.

I leave on Wednesday, for a lovely deserted beach up north and I can't wait. The owner of the camp site where I'm staying is a mean, grumpy, horrible man but at least he isn't around much. He has had the police out a couple of times to accuse his staff of things they haven't done and he gets through a chef every 3 weeks, which is a shame because the one he sacked 2 days ago was a very good cook.

Physically I am struggling. A lot. There are times when I want to cry and go home, when my body hurts so much. But emotionally it is fantastic being here. I feel like a big weight has lifted. It is a real treat knowing I have a few months of this. Plus the sun is SHINING!

I have arrived in Paihia. I spent the last three nights in Whangerei and had a good time but left exhausted and very sore. I was staying in a little campsite, but in a hut so not outdoors. The day after I arrived I went out on a boat trip to the Poor Knights Islands. It was a fun trip, I met lots of great people and saw the largest sea cave in the world. I went snorkelling once but to be honest it was too much. The wet suit restricted me to the point that it hurt all my joints to swim and after 20 mins I had to get out because the pain was bad and I was exhausted. Everyone else got to be in for about an hour and a half. I was compromising by snorkelling rather than diving and thought I'd be ok, but evidently not. But hey at least I can still snorkel in a swimming pool, where you see......nothing.

Some of the divers saw stingrays and moray eels. I didn't see much - but there were thousands of little non-stinging jellyfish which looked like a cloud of ghosts in the water. They were so pretty, they looked like mushrooms. We also saw a fur seal on the rocks having a nice scratch.

Yesterday I had a lovely lunch in a restaurant in Whangerei Town Basin. Then I drove up a mountain and admired the view, and stopped off at the waterfalls. By that point my back was screaming so I lay down the rest of the day.

It was a beautiful, stunning, gorgeous drive up here. Mountains, bush, rivers. Paihia, despite it's reputation for being horrible, is really nice. I am in a rather empty campsite by Haruru falls. A French guy called Quentin just took 2 1/2 hours to put my tent up, he went soooo slowly, but he was a nice guy so I just let him take his time. My tent looks great up and I can't wait to have my first night there. I just went out to lunch and had a yummy chicken salad. I am still in Paihia (the falls are nearer Waitangi) just buying postcards and to come online, because it is slow and expensive at the campsite, plus the owner is verrrry grumpy.

I am so pleased to be here. Physically I feel like I'm dropping. It's too much. My body wants to stop, but mentally it is the best thing ever for me to be out there, so I'm just dragging my body around with me. The sun is out, I'm by the beach, and I'm off on a boat trip on Saturday, overnight. Dolphins!!!

I have made it to Whangerei and am staying in a small but pretty camp park.

Yesterday I drove 1 1/2 hours to Goat Island marine reserve and stayed in the Goat Island Campsite. It was absolute heaven. There were hills and valleys, forest and beautiful blue sea. I had a bit of a meltdown there though - it was in the middle of nowhere and because the driving had hurt me I felt pretty vulnerable and worried about how my pain is going to stand up to travelling. I was pretty homesick too. I think it was just exhaustion though because after a rest I went and sat with a lovely Dutch couple and we drank wine as the sun went down. I then sat round a huge log fire with some of the other travellers (although it was really empty there) and had a nice chat with an English woman who is here with her 2 year old and partner and working her way round for 4 months.
The campsite was just undescribably gorgeous - so I wish I had felt better and could appreciate it more, but I've got myself together now.

I was a very long drive here - about 2 hours which for me is pretty hard. I've been lying down for a while. Whangerei itself is not very nice, kind of like Uckfield, but there is amazing snorkelling here so I'm hoping to go on an organised trip tomorrow. The drive here was really pretty - lots of mountains covered in forest and a view over to Bream Bay. This is definitely nicer than Auckland! I haven't come across anywhere I could live yet though. It rained a bit as I set out but it's back to blue skies now. I loved listening to the NZ radio station as I came over. There was an advert for 'Sussex Mens' Clothing,' but for Orewha, and one saying 'Get some poo on your shoe' which was for a farming show. I've seen lots of cows so far, one goat, but no sheep!

There is a pool here, and I think I will go out for supper because I'm v tired. This trip is proving hard in the way I thought it would be hard - ie I need more care than I'm getting - but so far people have been very helpful and lots of people at Bamber House (hostel in Auckland) did washing up for me and shopping.

The internet is pretty expensive here, so I might not get back on till the day I leave. Off to look at brochures!

Well, it's my last day in Auckland today, I leave tomorrow morning.

Yesterday was a bit of an adventure. I got the bus into central Auckland ($1.60). Some of the buildings were really nice. I then meant to get a taxi to the car hire firm but there were just none around. Nada. So my poor legs had to take me there. I could feel them getting more inflamed by the minute, they really hurt. But finally I got to the right road, just by the port, and picked up my little automatic, 'CK'. They just handed me the keys and said off you go, so I headed off straight into central Auckland, eek!! It was scary, particularly because I've only driven an automatic once before (at least I had done it that once) and because in central Auckland there seem to be no street signs - possibly one for every 6 roads, so it was slight guess work.

I got back to my hostel, put my chair in the car (it fits!) and headed out to a little industrial estate to buy a tent. I got the most amazing one for $299 - it's Huuge and his name is George. No, I didn't name my tent. That's what it's called. George and me are going to have so much fun over the next month. I bought a light to hang inside the tent and a sleeping bag and a little camping stove. Then I came back to the hostel.

In the evening, I cooked myself some prawns ($4 for a huge bag of king prawns) which were honestly the nicest prawns I've ever tasted, they had so much flavour. Then I jumped in my little CK, which doesn't really like going more than 10mph, and drove up to the top of Mount Eden, a dormant volcano. From there I watched the sun go down with a panoramic 360 degree view of the city. It was breathtakingly peachy.

Today I am really sore having had to walk yesterday. I went to a little french market where I was supposed to meet someone for coffee but he didn't show, so I drank nectarine juice and ate a lovely crepe and headed back. I'm so disappointed not to have met the guy I was going to meet, but I waited 40 minutes to no avail. Never mind.

I am going to go to bed now, and have a rest. My bed has a heated blanket which is lovely. Today and yesterday have been gloriously sunny, with blue skies and a light breeze. I am very much looking forward to driving up to the north for it's beaches and slower pace. It's lovely here but I don't want to be in a city.

It sounds cold in England!

off to pick up my car hire today and to buy a tent. I'm excited about getting going on sunday and getting to the beach.

I am finally in Auckland!! and the sun is just about starting to shine after a few gloomy days.

I arrived on monday morning after about 8hrs delay total, and once I got into the airport there was a fire alarm, so I was not happy. But the flights in general were not too bad. I saw a beautiful, full circle rainbow over the Brunei jungle as we left, it was absolutely stunning and magical.

The hostel I am staying in is really nice. It's a big old colonial home which lots of space. The staff have been fantastic helping me with shopping and stuff. Dawn and Claire took me yesterday and spent the whole time saying 'disgusting' as I picked out vegetables. I think they think I am a little strange! (don't say a word, Sarah) Last night we had a nice barbecue for someone's birthday. It was a bit crazy with dancing on the tables. I was given two pieces of advice. One: get as stoned as possible and hitchhike around for maximum fun (no thanks). Two: go home immediately to avoid horrible hostels (er, no thanks either). There are a lot of German travellers here, even the German travellers think there are too many other Germans in New Zealand. The place is packed with them.

So far I have been sleeping off my jet lag, which has been much needed, and just slopping around here. Tomorrow I pick up my car, which will be great as I get to see central Auckland, and then on Sunday it's off to the Bay of Islands which will hopefully be much sunnier. One of the staff might be driving me up Mount Eden today because the views are supposed to be stunning. It depends on whether the sun comes out.

Right, off to relax some more. Love to all.

oh yes - it gets dark at 8pm here!!!

I am currently at Brunei airport, waiting for a flight to Brisbane that has been delayed by 5 hours. So far it has been a hard journey - very long flights and time feels like it keeps jumping. I have no idea what time it is now. I think I'd like to be asleep though. I have two more flights to go, one of 7 hours and one of 3 so I hope they pass with no problems. The Brunei air hostesses are so beautiful and their uniform is so elegant. They are so feminine.

When I got to Brunei (which looks lovely, very lush and green and hot at 31 degrees) I had a sit in a massage chair. I think they might have got a very poor person, cut off his hands and secreted them in the chair because it was AMAZING. My buttocks were squeezed, my shoulders were pounded and my calves were rolled. It was lucky the lounge was fairly empty because I kept emitting small 'oohs!' at what was going on and getting terrible giggles. I met a lovely elderly Australian couple who were using them too and both also 'oohing' with gusto. They are waiting for the same flight as me.

I am SO PLEASED to be on my way. I need some spring weather and light and some new surroundings. I had a moment on the plane of sheer exhaustion when I did have second thoughts... my legs were shaking and out of control and my chest felt like it was getting bad, but I tried to think about all the things I will see and just hang on through it. I got some ginger ale to help with my sickness (caused by my ribs not the flight) which worked well, and I'm about to get some fruit and salad for lunch.

On the plane I watched The Simpons movie and Hairspray (I love that film). But otherwise, I've just been sleeping. When I first got on the plane, there was a very bored looking man sitting next to me. He had his eyes closed and seemed to want some peace, but I proceeded to check out every gadget on my seat which made it go up and down and open every complimentary item from lip balm to earplugs, and annoyed him terribly. Ha! Sorry, I was excited.

Hopefully my next post will be from New Zealand and I can get on with recovering and then having some fun.

I am so nervous! Holy moly, I'm going to be in New Zealand in a few days time.

Eek!