What Happened Down There ?
Par Yo en France..., samedi 31 mars 2007 à 23:59.
For once I'll write a post in English. All in English and only in English. I'm not sure it'll ever be useful, or even just read by someone, but hey the concept of this blog is also to be writen for my fellow travelers so here we go.
New Zealand. I have to say that destination was the original impulse to make a trip, which was transformed slowly into a round the world trip (mainly for economical reason, and also because I love to travel... and also because I hate the simple idea of working but shhh) ; why New Zealand ? Because a very good friend of mine settled down there, and because it's a wonderful country, and because of Lord of the Ring (oups I was not supposed to say that).
Therefore my first stop was the current hometown of the friend (we'll call him Erwin 'cause it's how he is called) : Christchurch. A small city, lovely, pleasant, and well that's it but after all it's not that bad (and after seeing Queenstown you just realized how Christchurch is pleasant). We went tramping (a wonderfully kiwi activity involving trekking on non-existing trails, crossing rivers without removing the shoes, sleeping in huts and eating good food because there is no point eating bad one) near Arthur Pass, I visited the Banks Peninsula in a hippy van and got kicked by three farmers (something that apparently never happened before), we went camping near Heron Lake (a wonderfully kiwi activity involving doing nothing near a lake, watching a thai girl daring swimming in cold water, sleeping on rocks and eating good food because there is no point eating bad one) and I stole the hippy van to see if the rest of the South Island was as great as Canterbury.
I went to Mount cook, saw nothing else than clouds ; went to Queenstone, saw nothing else than the rain but jumped from a cableway cabin anyway (it's call Nevis, it's bungy jumping, it's expensive and for the same price you would enjoy a skydive : still sure you want to do it ? - that's what I call being objective) ; went to Milford's Sound, killed a couple of dizains of sandflies and admired the NZ fjords ; went to Franz Joseph Glacier, met the rain again ; reached Abel Tasman National Park and enjoyed taking over the elders on the most frequented track of the country. And finally I met again Erwin who tracked me up to Blenheim to take his van back.
I then crossed the Cook Straight, had a fu***ing hard time to find a hostel in Wellington, left for Taupo, crossed the Tongariro National Park and climbed the Ngausomething volcano ; my last stop was Auckland where I met two friends, meaning two heavy parties, meaning two big hang-over. Booked some flights, fought with a bitch at Quantas (I'll never ever take that company again), drank a couple of Belgian Beers, ... and without even noticing it I was already on a plane to Santiago, Chile.
My conclusion : great country, great sceneries, great people, great time.
Go there. Meet Erwin. Steal his van. And enjoy one of the best place ever.
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