Fri 6th March: To Indonesia via Sydney

FACT: Kiwis who emigrate to Australia raise the I.Q. of Both nations....Mensa

Leaving NZ today. It was nice but I'm looking forward to seeing Southeast Asia more. A long 20hr day ahead with a 7 and a half hour wait in Sydney between flights. Up at 5.30am. The flight from Auckland to Sydney is three hours. They show the latest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace during the flight. Bourne is killing Bond hands down!!

Its a beautiful day in Sydney..... so far as I can see from the observation windows in the departure lounge. Without a visa I have to stay put in the airport and there's feck all to do. The high rise city centre looms on the horizon some miles away but no sign of the harbour bridge. I spend a couple of hours updating the diary and trying to write up all the stories Kelafi told us about his life when we were on Uoleva. Apart from that you gaze out the window and watch planes take off and land. So much time travelling is spent waiting. Waiting for, planes and trains.... and ferries that may or may not show!!

The hours pass by. I read a local newspaper. The big news lately in OZ has been the huge wildfires in Victoria and the flooding in Queensland. I think the death toll in Victoria is up to 300 now. I spoke to a Sydney copper who's heading for Bali. At the height of the fires he and 300 other colleagues from this state were drafted in to assist Victoria state Police in helping with the fires. This is the first time that type of cooperation has occurred in Australia. He said at the height of the fires, flames were spreading at a rate of over 100kmh across the bone dry bushlands. Victims were incinerated to ash and the only identification possible was by finding teeth. He said it was quite difficult to cope with at times on encountering some of the tragic stories. The fact that he is now flying to Bali for a break perhaps suggests the traumas involved.

In Sydney the big news is the rise in shark attacks in the waters around the city. Three attacks have occurred in the past few weeks not counting "encounters" which have caused beaches to be closed. Water police on a body recovery in Sydney harbour had the remains snatched out of their hands by a great white and had to leave the body to the shark without any identification being made. Coogee beach was forced to close after a swimmer was "harrassed" in 1m of water.

By 5.30pm we were on the flight to Bali. I bought my round the world ticket with BA/Quantas. However Quantas have offloaded the Bali leg to Jetstar, an Aussie budget airline. They've made a profit on my ticket when I bought it now they've made an even bigger killing by dumping RTW tickets on to this no frills airline. Annoying. You have to pay for your food and on a point of principal I don't buy any of their overpriced garbage, eventhough I'm starving because I assumed there would be food on the flight so I didn't eat before boarding.

It's 10.30pm local time by the time I got to the hotel in Kuta, 22hrs since leaving the hostel in Auckland. I decided to stay here because it was handy from the airport. I drop my stuff in the room and go out to get a bite to eat and a very quick look at Kuta. I walk up one of the main streets, Legian, lined with nightclubs, restaurants, bars etc. Its warm and humid here. Such a change from NZ but not as humid as Tonga. Even so I can feel sweat roll down my back as I stroll around. The streets are busy with hawkers offering motorbike rental, hash, massages both legitimate and dodgy.

An Indonesian guy sitting in a doorstep, smoking, shouts in an Aussie accent "Allo Mate, You want transpot? "No Thanks" "You want hash?? "No Thanks" Ten yards down the street a black lad with dreadlocks and a Bob Marley vest asks the same thing. "No thanks" This continues nearly every 30-40yds. Deeply tanned, blonde Aussies and Europeans stroll up and down the street, checking out the best bars and clubs. Dance music blares into the street. But there's not huge crowds of tourists here. It isn't the high season in Bali. I pass "Ground Zero" the site of one of the notorious blasts during the bombings in 2002. A big memorial now stands on the site of the nightclub where some 200 people died. A large marble plaque lists the names of the victims by nationality.

The road is clgged with traffic. Hundreds of mopeds and motorbikes whizz around town. You can hire them anywhere. Every second guy on the street seems to be offering you one. The amount of people on mopeds is staggering. The street lighting isn't very bright in places but the road is lit by convoys of these mopeds flitting in and out between slow moving cars. A haze of exhaust fumes wafts through the town like a mist. I pass by souvenir stalls selling Bali T-shirts, fake shades etc. " Allo Mate, you wanna look?? You shopping??" I see guys around the bars hold out small green packs that appear to be sticks of wrigleys spearmint chewing gum. I wonder "What in the name of Jaysus are they selling chewing gum for??" Next time I look more closely and see "Ephedrine" on the label.

A lady gently takes hold of my arm. She smiles. "Hey Mistair, you want massage? very good price, one hour" "No Thank you" She draws closer and whispers "you want girl?" "Good price" "She young and beautiful. Twenty one, Twenty three, Twenty two...." "No Thanks" This lady was one of the more discreet madames. More often they just ask. "You want massage" "No Thanks" "Jiggy-Jig??" "What?? No Thanks". One girl passing by on a moped stops, smiles and says "Jiggy-jig??" A middle-aged woman on a moped, with a younger girl in tow slows, arches her eyebrows and says "Jiggy-Jig". Eventually you just start to laugh. Drugs, massage, jiggy-jig, shopping and mopeds, that seems to be Kuta. Of course, you always have a pint!! "Go on, Go on, Go on" "No Thanks" No Thanks" "No Thanks". This becomes the most common phrase I utter in Kuta. People say "Good Morning" I almost say "No Thanks"

Thursday 5th March: final day in Aoterea

Another night of little sleep. As soon as I went into this dorm, a small 4-bed with creaky bunks, I knew it would be noisy. I just didn't realise how noisy it would be. The room overlooked a nightclub and with the smoking ban here in NZ we listened to drunken clubber all night. Some time after midnight a Jap lad came into the room with some bottles of beer a proceeded to drink them in the room. He didn't have a bottle opener and spent an age trying to open them. I wanted to punch his lights out yet I lay there and said nothing, merely becoming more annoyed. In the morning he got a frosty reception from the rest of us. I hate hostels.

I intended visiting Rangitoto today. Its a volcanoe out in Auckland harbour. I went down to the ferry terminal only to find out that the ferry was cancelled due to the weather conditions. It was a dull blustery morning in the city centre but the wind was a lot stronger out in the bay. The water was churning with spray being whipped off the tops of white-tipped waves. Rain was on the way. I decide to take a look in the nearby maritime museum. When I came out 90 mins later the rain had started and was down for the day. As a result the last day in Auckland was low key. I bought a guide to southeast Asia and started planning for the next leg of the trip

Wed 4th March: National Park-Auckland

I didn't sleep well last night. I kept getting disturbed. I was in an 8-bed dorm and all the rest were doing the crossing today so they were all up early. Two lads in particular made so much you'd swear they were mounting an expdedition to Everest, not doing a feckin little one day hike!! They'd woken everyone up last thing last night as well. My toleration of noisy people is beginning to wear thin.

Seeing as I was awake I got up to watch the sunrise. The air was clear again this morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, such a contrast to how the place looked when I first arrived nearly 2 weeks earlier. I had breakfast and, when everybody went off to do the hike went back to bed until 10am when I had to vacate the room. I got back to Aucklnad today but the bus isn't until 3pm. The weather was glorious so I went out for a coule of hours towards the volcanoes to take in the views for one last time. Such a difference the weather can make to your experience of a place. Half the time in New Zealand I've been grumbling in the rain about how much the place has been overrated but sitting here looking over towards the volcanic cone Mt Doom standing out against clear blue skies there's nowhere else I'd like to be.

The bus arrived on time and it wound its way northwards through TeKuti, Hamilton etc to a cloudy, overcast Auckland. Arriving in the city at night the city centre presented a fine sight with its tower blocks all lit up. It was only a short walk from the bus staion to one of the city centre hostels.

More of Tongariro crossing

Tues 3rd March: Mt Doom and the Tongariro Crossing

I'm up at 6.30am. Its still dark. A bus leaves the hostel at 7.15 to bring hikers to the start of the trail so the Hostel is a hive of activity at this hour with people rushing around getting themselves ready. I make myself some breakfast and sandwiches for lunch in the hills. As I buttered the bread I looked out and couldn't believe the sight in forn of me. There was Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) in full view, clear of any clouds. The air was so clear the dark silhouette of the mountain looked razor sharp. The sun hadn't yet come up but it was getting bright and the light, wispy clouds above were beginning to turn pink as the sun approached. Dawn was beautiful. The sun rose to the right of Mt Doom leaving it in dark shadow. It stood out in sharp relief against a pink sky with the clouds turning blood red. It was one of the most spectacular sunrises I've seen. Unforgettable. The air was sharp, cold and clear. I couldn't wait to get onto the mountains.

Some 30 of us from the hostel were doing the hike today. We clambered on board the bus which took us over to the start of the trail and, by 7.50am, we were following a path into the hills. There were many other buses in the car park. A lot of people milled about at the start There were a couple of school groups amongst the trekkers of all ages. There would be a big crowd on the trek today. I decided to get moving. Off to the right lay Mt Ruapehoe, an active volcanoe on which a winter ski resort operates. The volcanoe erupted spectacularly in the mid-90's.

We started off crossing a stretch of moorland. The sun was still low in the sky so the mountains loomed over us in dark shadow. We followed a narrow valley to a ridge at the base of Mt Ngauruhoe. It was all quite easy. Instead of scrambling up a scree strewn slope there were steps and pathways which facilitated the climb. That doesn't mean to say I wasn't puffing by the time I got to the top of the ridge but compared to Villarica in Chile it was a cakewalk. I took a breather at the base of Mt Doom. The landscape up here looked like something off the moon or Mars. It was bleak. There was no vegatation. A flat basin led from the base of Mt Doom to a second steep ridge which rose up the side of Tongariro. I was pushing hard as I intended taking a side route to climb Mt Tongariro and we had been told if we intended doing this not to delay in order to be down in time to meet the bus on the far side at 4pm. Quite a few climbed Tongariro. a small group set about the more difficult slope of Mt Ngauruhoe itself. I preferred the doing Tongariro as the shots from there are more spectacular. Those of us climbing Tongariro were all pushing that little bit extra and quite a few of us were blowing hard when we reached its summit.

The views from here were stunning. Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) stood high above us and in the background lay the snow-flecked slopes Mt Ruapehoe. A few of us sat in silence munching on our sandwiches and drinking in the views. It was one of those places you didn't really want to leave. Regaining the main route we passed along the rim of the 'red crater', the principal vent of Tongariro. All the volcanoes are active here but it was this crater which showed the most obvious signs. Sulphurous steam vented out from the crater and from its sides as we slipped and slid down its slopes. Two small brilliantly green lakes lay at the base of this slope. Accompanying them were strong wafts of Suphur. I didn't delay too long, not wanting to remain in rotten egg/fart infested territory any longer than necessary. A short walk across a level plain and a brif climb brought us to the shores of a larger lake. I took a breather here in clear cooler air. After this it was basically downhill all the way to meet the bus down in the lowlands. We left the spectacular views of the volcanoes behind and took on the more conventional mountain sights. While it was beautiful. After what we had just passed through it seemed almost bland.

Some 6kms from the finish there was an overnight hut perched on the side of the mountain we were descending. I took a breather here. I had plenty of time to kill as the warnings we had recieved about not having much time proved a little over the top. Having pushed hard earlier on though I was beginning to feel it now so a breather and a top up of the water bottle was welcome at this hut. I bumped into an Austrian girl here called Katherine. Our paths had crossed a few times since Mt Cook on buses nad in the same hostels but while we had said hello we'd never actually spoken. She sat down for a breather and we chatted finding out where each others travels had led. As soon as we started talking we didn't stop and chatted the whole way down the mountain. The last 6kms flew and instead of struggling down to the bus I barely noticed the time passing. It was a pity we hadn't started talking sooner. Down at the bus Katherine met her bus and went off to Lake Taupo where she was staying for a few days. She's keeping a blog as well (http://travelkat09.blogspot.com) so I'll have a wee look to see how her travels progress.

Waiting for the bus, everybody sat or lay in the sun. By now there were a lot of tired bodies, mine included. The weather had been perfect, as good as I had hoped for. The crossing was probably one of the most spectacular hikes I've done. It certainly redeemed New Zealand for me. Back at the hostel I ate well this evening, everybody did.

Mon 2nd March: Mt Taranaki and Back to National Park

I woke up at 7am to see if I could get some dawn shots of Taranaki but the place was covered by a heavy fog. This appeared to end any hope I had of seeing the volcanoe. I wasn't hanging about in Stratford. I was getting an early bus to National Park in the hope of decent weather and doing the Tongariro crossing at the second attempt.

I got the bus at 8.50am. Five miles out of town the fog cleared. I looked back and there was Taranaki standing clear under blue skies. As it was so unexpected the sight of this huge volcanoe almost took my breath away. It was beautiful, a classic volcanic cone standing high above the surrounding plain. For the next 10 mins while it remained in sight I tried to get as many photos as I could in the hope that one or two would be decent. I cursed the driver who was rattling along at 40-50mph bumping me about as I tried to keep the camera steady.

We had to change buses at Whanganui and this meant a stopover for 90 mins. The staff at the bus station allowed me to drop my rucksack in an office so I could have a look around town. It was a lovely town. A very picturesque little place on this sunny morning. A lot of the buildings and shopfronts dated from early in the last century and have been mantained in good condition which gave the town centre a lot of character. The break went by very fast and, sooner than I would have liked, I had to leave Whanganui.

I'm looking forward to doing the Tongariro crossing tomorow. Its one of the top one-day hikes to do in New Zealand. You cover some 20km following which climb up and take you through some spectacular volcanic mountains. The sights are supposed to be dramatic. For the last week I've been checking thweather forecasts and tomorrow the weather is supposed to be fine. When we arrived over in National Park the weather was a lot better than the last time I had been there but cloud still covered the tops of the mountains. The latest forecast suggests tomorrow will be fine, as has been predicted. People in the hostel who did the trek this morning said it was great and while I'm hopeful of fine weather tomorrow I'm not expecting it. By the time the sun goes down this evening there are heavy clouds on the mountains. The signs aren't good.

Sun 1st March: To Stratford

I decided to take a chance on going up to Stratford today to see Mt Taranaki. The town of Stratford is also curious. Its the closest town to Taranaki and is named after Shakespeare's home town. Many of the streets are named after characters from his plays. I end up staying in Romeo st!! Apt or what??? It sounds like a quirky little place but its Taranaki I really want to see.

Leaving Wellington on yet another dull damp morning it brightens up as we head north but the day remains showery. We leave Wellington at 10am. Its a 6hr journey to Stratford with a 40min break at Palmerton North.

Approaching Stratford the lower slopes of Taranaki were visible but the upper half of the mountain was covered by heavy rain clouds. Showere could be seen sweeping across the lower slopes. In Statford, however, the afternoon had brought bright sunshine. Once I found the Hostel it didn't take too long to look around town which consisted of one main street. It was like many of the small towns I'd seen through the American mid-West. The kind of place you barely noticed if you passed through on a car or, on a bike, you might stop to buy a drink and keep moving. In the centre of town there was a tall clock tower. It was supposed to look like a Tudor building of the 16th century but it didn't succeed. At certain times of the day small figurines emerge from the tower to recite passages from Romeo and Juliet. I passed by at 7pm on my way to the supermarket as the little 'performance' took place and I joined 5-6 other blow-ins to stand and watch. That was about as exciting as it got in Stratford. There was one Irish bar on the main street but when I looked in it was empty. As the evening darkened and Taranaki remained shrouded and out of sight I wondered if I'd wasted a day making this journey.