Road Trip NZ

Springfield, Okarito, Wanaka, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Mt. Cook, Kaikoura, Picton, Nelson, Karamea, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Te Araroa, Whakatane, Whitianga, Coromandel, Waihi Beach, Auckland: NEW ZEALAND, 27 Feb - 5 April 2011

From pristine, touristy Queenstown, where myself and Ciarán did a sky dive (an "awesome" experience, as Kiwis say),

to welcoming the world's first dawn in the remote, mainly Maori East Cape, my five weeks driving around New Zealand were "sweet as".

Myself and Ciarán started our tour of the South Island (which is bigger than Ireland but has only a population of one million people) by flying to Christchurch five days after the devastating earthquake. We collected our rental car at the airport, so we didn't go into the city itself. Being in a country dealing with the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster reminded me of being in Chile last year after the Concepcion earthquake and made me wonder how Ireland would handle something similar.

For a road trip, it involved a lot of walking. New Zealand is a country where natural beauty is complemented by a great tourist infrastructure, with helpful tourist information "i-site" and Dept. of Conservation offices ever present, which all makes "tramping" relatively easy to do. But then again, given that my recent long hikes in Ethiopia and South America were greatly aided by backpack-carrying donkeys, the fact that we had to carry our own gear, including tent and food, made my hikes in NZ more than just a walk in the park.

With Ciarán, I combined the Greenstone and Routeburn tracks into a great four day loop, and then we did two days of walking along the Queen Charlotte Track. When Ciarán left to get a flight out of Auckland, I walked the Heaphy Track over four days. Each walk was different: some were through alpine valleys;

some were partly coastal;

and one included sightings of dolphins. Although having porridge for breakfast, ryvita and tuna for lunch, and pasta, pesto, cashew nuts and a carrot for dinner every day was a bit repetitive, my tramps in NZ made me want to do more long treks.

After tourist activities including a whale-watching boat trip in Kaikoura and a cruise around the spectacular Milford Sound, I stepped off the tourist trail in Wellington. There I met the parents of my friend Jason, who treated me to a tasty home-cooked meal, and I stayed with my aunt Jacqueline. My visit coincided with that of my first cousin David, his wife Alexandra and their bright blue eyed daughter Morgaine. It had been over ten years since I last met David, and it was very nice to spend some time together with them all.

New Zealand is an interesting country of one lane bridges, expensive books, tasty pies, chatty shop assistants and barefoot shoppers. I've really enjoyed my time here and I'm looking forward to coming back for the rugby world cup in September.