Chopper On Tour

Orkland...and goodbye NZ....

Righto. Left the City of Sulphur for Auckland via Waitomo on Thursday and I gotta say that it was the most enjoyable journey that I've had to far. Ray the drives was a total leg end and we hit it off from the start (so to speak) I think that's because I was the only one of us on the coach that actually understood his jokes. They were a little to crude for the girls from Hong Kong and they went straight over the heads of the old couple from Mansfield.

The coach left Rotorua heading through South Waikato, and then a strange little place called Tirau, 54km south of Hamilton. Tirau is rather oddly famed for it's obsession with corrugated iron, said material having been used to create a Giant Dog and Sheep in the town centre, the Dog doubling up as the Vistors' Centre. From there we headed to Karapiro for a stop. Karapiro is home of the New Zealand's Annual National Rowing Championships and way back in 1978 was host to the World Rowing Championships, should you ever go there the very proud locals will not let you forget it!

We then headed through the King Country (named after the Maori King Movement.. and I ain't talking dysentary here folks). Shortly before lunch we made it to Waitomo, to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, one of the North Island's premier tourist traps.. I mean attractions. The cave has been know to the local Maori for many years, but the first European to explore it was an English surveyor called Fred Mace. It really is an awesome sight as you cruise underground with a Milky Way of little lights overhead. The only disappointment is the popularity of the cave as group after group is shuttled through there relentlessly throughout the day and with very little personality to the tours.. That said it truly is must see.

Ray then took us to the Angora Rabbit Shearing Shed (basically so he could get his commission from the absurd amount of shite that the Hong Kong girls planned to spend at the shop). Shearing Rabbits didn't and still doesn't get me going in any way whatsoever, definitely one to miss, thanks Ray.

Next stop, Ngaruawahia, a very important centre for the Waikato Maori people and the home of the present Maori Queen...wait for it.... Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and The Ngaruawahia Regatta is held here every March (THE major event in the Waikato Maori calendar).

Shortly after 6pm we finally made it to Auckland, the City of Sails (not sailors Al!). As soon as I got off the coach the skies opened... they've not closed yet either and it's Saturday afternoon!

Now the rain has totally stuffed my plans to go to the Bay of Islands.. I had to make a call on whether to risk the weather or head further up North to check out the best of NZ's beaches. I did however make the right call as the Northland has been subjected to awesome thunderstorms for the past few days. I have used my time in Auckland wisely though and done all that I wanted to do here, even met some nice people, oh yeah and some freaks but bear with me on that one, all will be revealed in a few paragraphs time.

So yeah, Auckland. Got a bed in a hostel right in the heart of the City, just metres from Queen Street (yes Al, QUEEN street), the equivalent of Oxford Street back home I guess, only about a tenth of the size. Friday I headed on a monster walk around the City (@5 hours) to get my orientation sorted and get myself to 'Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World'... on public transport, which gladly proved to be ridiculously simple, take note Ken. Check out the website, as there's a great story behind this place, and it's a definite must-see for visitors to Auckland. Oh yeah and I also walked past none other than actress Madeleine West... WHOOO! I hear you cry, you know Dee Bliss from Neighbours . Yeah I know, sad huh, what's more sad is that I actually saw her three times that day in three totally different locations. But hey she's not hard to spot as sadly she's about the most attractive female here... aaaanyway.

Other spots on the tour have been The Skytower, the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, totally incredible views... when the mist clears that is, and home to the short-browning Sky Jump... err count me outta that one kids.

I also headed to the highly rated Auckland Museum which I can safely say didn't disappoint. The trip to the Museum takes you through the beautiful city district of Parnell, roughly speaking the Chelsea of Auckland and well worth a visit, it's beautiful.

Now, oh yeah the freak story.. Well this occurred on the ground floor of the Auckland Museum, in the Auckland City History section. There I was minding my own business swotting up on 'Auckland through the ages' when a middle aged English 'gent' with his young daughter made some dull comment to me about something that slips my mind. Anyway, he asks me where I am from etc, he remarks he's English etc, moved here with his Kiwi wife etc etc. He then asks me what I think of NZ, I tell him it's great etc.. THEN he starts ranting on about the amount of 'sh**-stabbers' as he chooses to call them and how all the 'ni**ers' from London seem to be making their way over here with all the 'rag-heads' and Iraqis.... Hmmm, it is at this point that I say to him. 'Excuse me pal, I'm not interested in this, I'm not a racist and I don't want to listen to this otherwise I might do something I'll regret..'.. So I turn on my heels and walk away, as I do this he shouts across the Museum, 'I'm not a racist!!'... Yeah, whatever mate. But I actually felt good about that after I walked away, as Number 1 he was a big bastard and Number 2 he got me well pissed off it would have been easy to just stand there and continue the 'conversation' but it was satisfying to basically put two fingers up at him and walk off, oh yeah and Number 3 Museums are totally the wrong place to hit people!

So there we are folks, that's basically Auckland, nice city, lots to do see but I gotta get some sunshine so Sunday afternoon I'm off to Sydney to do just that. New Zealand is an incredible country, a microcosm of all the World's natural attractions. The two islands as you can tell are totally different in character, almost different countries it seems. Distances are all manageable so it really is a great place to travel around and it's affordable so it remains for me to say. SEE THIS PLACE.... SOON!!

I will leave you with another question and it's one that has been grating me for the entire time that I have been away, and I dare say that in my time in Australia I will ask myself this question many more times... it is: Why do the English take it upon themselves to not only talk utter shite when they head to the other side of the world, but also behave like total arseholes?
Please enlighten me my friends.... I will update you on Australia once I get my sorry as over there, and believe me it is a sorry ass, I think I had some dodgy sushi some time yesterday.

posted by Ed Beesley @ 2:38 AM