2023 April 15th - May 15th, NZ, Tonga & Fiji 👍

 2023 April 15th - May 15th, New Zealand, Tonga & Fiji

Dateline: 2023 April 15th, Toronto, Canada 

The final (ever) antipodean sojourn

One of many many hikes
I've anticipated doing the Milford Track
When it comes down to it, I realise, or more likely
just decide not to bother

Flying into Queenstown (top right) over the Southern Alps
An incredible experience on a cloudless day

Queenstown
View from my hostel  patio
complete with another load
of airborne tourists

Arrive in Queenstown, South Island
Not sure if I've got Covid, so just try
not to cough at immigration

Queenstown is central to the hiking, water and snow
activities. It's incredibly popular, so accommodation 
is outrageous 
What on earth am I going to do here for nearly a month?

There's very little about Queenstown that's not to like

I've decided to climb a peak over yonder
No particular reason

When I booked my flight to/ 
from NZ, I had the idea of 
doing the Milford track

This one. Possibly to decide if I'm still fit enough
for a grand trek

 

It's a perfect day to hike around

Turns out the entire area, apart
from a few footpaths are
 private
property, so I have to
settle for a walk
A lot of roads

I've used my old trick of finding the best
(most google stars)
in town, then getting their best room
Great view

At least everything is close in town

Here in a college cafe I ponder my next 12 days

There's a big hill above town

Queenstown is rather small with most building
being along the lake towards the airport

Still testing my age abilities

It's only about 800 metres vertical, and surprisingly....
I want more

It feels like a decent hike

So ignoring the "Private Property" signs

I head out for maybe another
5Km. Waste of time though

Such a gig

Nomads, my hostel is pretty good
I use the kitchen with piles of other and have to 
fight for decent pots, pans and utensils

Some here are literally living on bread (in a bag)
and water. Mine is very sophisticated

The hostel is very popular. I've booked in for 3 days
In my original design for NZ, I should be heading
off to hike the Milford Track now

The lake has, of course, many restaurants which I try out
for my morning coffee in the sunlight

For some reason, when I tried 
the Milford track website and
it said nothing available
I was actually quite relieved

As I've only pre booked 3 days (good call if I can hike
the track), when I tried to extend my stay 

The hostel was full, at least, all except the dorms

So I booked another place, about 10Km away

And hiked there with just a small backpack of 
overnight stuff
Found a fantastic pub for beer, and local cafe for steak dinner

And back. Stunningly beautiful

Of course, what else could it
lead to?
Note that Jims Way has a
"No Exit" advisory
Moral or Irony? 

And head back around my 
previous hiking route

There's a large park here pretty much in town
Typical of NZ
Lots of places to commune
I commune
with booking a flight from Hawaii to Toronto
My exit is set. Now to fill in the details till then

It's fall here, so the colours are just as stunning as Toronto

I've booked, last minute of
course, one of these
Paragliding

I must admit that I'm still not sure of this
BUT! I have my pilot
He walks me through the process of take off

I haven't done anything like
this since I took a course in
hang gliding in South Africa
in 1977

On a wing and a prayer?
Not for me thanks 

It's very pleasant up here. 
I ask him to swing about. It's stomach churning

What a view, totally spectacular once you relax and can start to take it all in

Of course, Queenstown is the most perfect place for this 

My pilot is from UK. I discuss the current Geopolitical situation with him

I guess you need to be pretty alert and active to 
fly this thing, with me, take these sort of shots

All too soon, we are done
And land safely

Definitely a blast
As I had a glide, I have 
access for another ride in
the gondola up again
Bikes are a very popular 
item here

The sun is setting 

And I pass the time with mood shots

The season is almost over
There will be one more day
then this lift will be shut for a 
total renovation ove winter

That's pretty much the last ride of the day

I whip up an acceptable
breakfast in the hostel
kitchen before my Ben Lomond
trek
Food here is surprisingly difficult
to source. Turns out the decent
supermarkets are out of town

I start at lake level, none of this
assisted hiking on the chair lift today.
Google gives me a starting
point that doesn't exist 

But after heading ever
upwards, it finally works out
These kids are very keen
I see lots heading up as
they barrel down

The observant regular reader would notice the 
similarities with this and a certain hike in the Himalayas

Two and a half hours later, I'm at the same
elevation, just under the starting point of yesterdays
parasail flight

I'm heading to the "saddle" of the local hill
Ben Lomond

Stunning landscapes

And it never seems to end
Several people, probably
well meaning, stop and ask
if I need help. I guess it shows

And eventually, it does end. Time for a victory smug.  A seat at the top, with view
Milford track is somewhere over there. I'm not sure if I could have made it

Well, not quite the top
But, yep, this is it
Ben Lomond saddle. 
My final destination
The peak behind is 2961m

As ever, I came almost unprepared
It's quite cold if you are out of the sun

McVities Hobnobs
(essential supplies)_
 and a pint of milk

I've climbed form 330m to 1325m
From 11AM to 15:30PM 4.5 hours
I brought almost zero weight in my backpack
 The peak is another 1500m
GASP! No thanks

For those so minded, the ablutions block
A helicopter comes once a year to take whatever is deposited, away

It's a lot faster going down, but after 4.5 hours
it's bloody hard work folks, well it is if you're 72 

On the way down, the views are very special
This is the bonus of these hikes (apart from getting back ok)

And the lake keeps getting bigger

Yeah! Yeah! You definitely did nearly half of a hike this time

It's no longer a hunch over on your walking pole

Can you believe this? 

But my poor old knees didn't like it
Not quite vertical drops here

You have got to be joking!
Biking up the bloody hill

Kids!

I'm getting really bored with Queenstown
As lovely as it is, I'm done here

Once again. the Queenstown hostel is full, so I head
over to Arrowtown for a couple of nights

I've checked into a pub and
headed out for an easy hike

Prior to my fight to Wellington

Once again, very pretty
But, I'm bored with pretty

It's a lovely place, if only I was a bit fitter or younger
I could have taken the Milford Track
Now, never to be and I'm ok with that.
I depart

To Wellington. My view from my fantastic Airbnb

Now there's a new take on my old friend

How on earth am I going to while away a week here?
Start by climbing hills I guess 

Wellington is in a huge enclosed bay

I not only have an executive pad, but also an executive kitchen

As the capital, it also has culture. It was a very pleasant
surprise and interlude

A display on Gallipoli at the
National museum

Twice life size
Hard to deal with

All based on letters from
participants

There's a lot of good stuff here
This shows where all the islanders traveller to/ from
to populate the Pacific islands

A Maori meeting hall

And my evening view

Another trip to the museum
This about textiles, I know, but just for comparison 
purposes

I had this vague idea about crewing at a marina
Like a lot of my NZ ideas, total waste of brain power

Art on the waterfront
I've done it! A wonderful week
in Wellington, but I was really 
only kicking the dog ends in the gutter. 

Passing the time
Food was much better though
After a whole week, it's time to  get out of here!

And with that, I'm off to Tonga, a stop in Fiji, then investigate one of David Attenborough's adventures from my 60's TV watching. Lets hope..... 

I have great hopes for the place

My hotel is also pretty crap. A pool but very little else
The sea wall is pretty much the only excitement here

This church was supposed to be an "attraction"
It's derelict and abandoned

Burial site for the kings of Tonga

It goes downhill from these exciting tourist spoots

There's pretty much nothing except stone age
settlements. Well, conceptually stone age

With pigs and abandoned vehicles

A market without much in the way of edibles

There's only (as I find out) 2 decent places to eat on the island
This is one of them. The best lobster I've had since Dar es Salaam

And there's a lot of nasty dogs trying
to dissuade you from going anywhere

It's a good walk out of town

I've found a better hotel on the outskirts of town
The food is not excellent, but it is good enough to
not look for better for a few days

Well, at least it has some kind of budget here

And why not. Great shakes here
Also a hangout for NGO staff

The local market. I know, dull, dull dull!

This is the royal palace (abandoned, of course)
There is less than no reason to come here
Can't believe this place is so totally crap

And this is the (derelict and I think also abandoned)
the British embassy
There really was nothing here to see or do
Once again, it's too boring to be in and I'm glad to leave

Arriving in Fiji. A suitable welcome?
Airport revellers

Downtown Nadi, Fiji
 It's not a tourist centre
but has at least one decent cafe

It's finally time

Not one of my best haircuts
How does it work?
Ah yes, it will grow again
I did a dreadful review of them
on Google for these guys
(they were incredibly
over rated due to wedding
parties)

Marina on Denarau island
Too far to walk

I spend a lot of time watching birds in the trees. Good for shade too
Once again, there is no reason to come here, maybe some other Pacific islands are ok, or better, but it's neither of these

A serenade to dining
Pretty much my main
activity now

Looks idyllic? Well, more possibilities than Tonga

Fiji sunset. I could not work out what the attraction
was here, yet hotels are $1500 per night

It's times like this I wish I was
into cooking stuff other than
boiling eggs

Nadi is a bit of a lost cause. Even the beaches are
sub standard here
I found the Crowne Plaza hotel 

 My final night here, so it's 
time to make my air dinner
6.5 hours of flight. I did
need these

It has a great restaurant, and view
Once again, I find a suitable place to pass the time
and let my hair grow back again

Once again, I'm really glad to get on my flight out of here. This is a sad reflection on my choices

But maybe not all my fault. I have an overnighter at  Honolulu airport, It also turns out to be dreadful. Everyone waiting for morning flights (mine leaves at 6AM to San Francisco) in a special (outdoor can you believe) guarded holding area. We are told at 4:30AM we can go as the airport is opening up again. It wasn't but eventually I get checked in (first class ticket and I still have to queue up with the rabble). In the San Francisco) business lounge, I cock up the time as the wifi does not update local on my phone. I'm the very last person on board. I'm a mess. I think this is an indicator of how my travelling days are numbered

Maybe, to be continued, maybe not...... Watch this space. 

I'm glad I'm not travelling any more! 

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