Newborn

Monday January 21st - Thursday January 31st


It's a bumper edition of the blog this week but only in terms of days covered rather than content. It's been a strange ten days or so with a lot of time spent driving around without actually achieving much. We've changed that in the last couple of days but I'll keep you hanging on for now!

We just want to pass on congratulations again to Rachel's brother Jonathan who has just become a dad for the first time with his partner Thais giving birth to a little baby boy in Rio de Janeiro. We may have to wait a little while to see them but all the best from the new auntie and uncle!

So, exactly how have we spent our time this week? The main aim of our time in Wellington was to arrange our Russian and Mongolian visas for the final leg of our journey. Getting the Russian visa would be our main issue we thought and as we arrived at the embassy with its steel gates and a security guard talking to you in Russian through the intercom we didn't have any reason to suspect otherwise. Entering the embassy we were in a pretty soulless space with a humourless lady looking after us. Still she was happy anough to take our cash and told us to return on Monday. We duly did this, saying please and thank you in as polite a British accent as we could muster, we'd even dressed smartly, and there waiting for us were our passports with visas inside, hurrah! The Mongolian ones in contrast were a piece of cake. We arrived at the consular general's house, let ourselves in the front gate and met him in his lounge. After a brief chat and a check of our application forms he called in his wife, who had to interrupt her cleaning schedule and between them they said they could do the visas in an hour, the cleaning could wait. Sure enough after we'd pottered off for a spot of lunch we returned to find the visas all done. We've now got all 3 visas and some tickets waiting for us in an office in Beijing so we will be on the Trans-Mongolian train in 4 weeks time.

In between the bureaucratic work of the week we headed up the east coast of the North Island and took in Napier, site of a huge earthquake in the 1930s and as a result has some fantastic art deco buildings. We also stopped at Gisborne, site of an earthquake measuring 6.6 about 6 weeks ago that we'd felt more than 300 miles away in Picton on the South Island. Following the success of our stay in the jailhouse in Christchurch we tried it again in Napier in a much more rustic jail. Not used since the early 90s and previously home to not only criminals but the criminally insane. Some of the cells are rumoured to be haunted but the only sounds at night we heard were 'crazy' German backpackers.

We did manage to do some walking as well in the largets National Park on the North Island, although we did have the unusual sensation of walking in the rain, it had to happen some time. This was a walk from Lake Waikaremoana to Lake Waikereiti, a 20km hike through dense forest. It was good to stretch the legs after a few days in Wellington.

Yesterday however we stretched our legs and all manner of other things besides when we did the Tongariro Crossing. This walk is regarded as the best one-day walk in New Zealand and for good reason. We started it bright and breezy at 7.30 with around 20km ahead of us and a climb of around 750m. To make the walk more interesting we were also going to go for the ascent of Mount Ngauruhoe, another 650m up in a distance of 1000m. Yep it would be steep. To add to the challenge it all had to be done in 8 hours to ensure there was a seat on a bus to take you back to the hostel. By 9.00 we'd already yomped along at a good pace and with the sun rising but hidden behind said mountain had made good progress. This left us in a buouyant mood as we tackled Ngauruhoe. The guide times for this part of the climb are 90 minutes up and 30 minutes down. On the way up you are literally scrambling your way up on rocks, scree and anything else you can get your hands on. It's a very difficult climb but once at the top the views are fantastic and you can see for tens of miles. We'd been blessed with another good day so took our time to appreciate the views. Downhill is a completely different affair as you do a kind of downhill scree slide/bump/fall/ungainly descent (in my case!). It's great fun and takes away the memory of the climb nicely, although the bruises and cuts I sustained may take a little longer to go. Strangely Rach was much more controlled and made it down in one piece.

The remainder of the crossing had to be taken at something of a pace as we'd taken 2.5 hours to do the Ngauruhoe climb but we still had time to appreciate the scenery we were passing. The views of Red Crater, Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake are fantastic and you have to remind yourself that you're walking across volcanoes. In the case of Tongariro it's not had any activity for 2000 years, but in Ngauruhoe's case it's around 30. You see plenty of steaming vents and smell the sulphur. It's a fantastic walk and even the huge numbers of people you have to navigate through don't deter too much from it.

Following on from that high Rach decided to take things even higher today when she took it upon herself to jump out of an aeroplane at 12,000 feet. Sadly I couldn't join her as they have strict weight guidelines and I was 5kg too heavy (and a big girl's blouse but the weight rule sounds better!). A few delays in the take-off times kept her nerves jangling nicely but when her time came she got into her fetching jumpsuit (apparently a fragrant smell of sweaty man) and boarded what can only be described as a packed aircraft. 15 minutes later she was jumping headfirst towards Lake Taupo strapped to a chap called Mikey and 45 seconds later she had a parachute above her head. I was watching from below and it looked good from where I was standing (on terra firma) and when she made a perfect landing she was full of smiles and still wobbly legs. Nice one Mrs Cawte!

We're heading off on a 3-day canoeing trip tomorrow before heading on north. Just 14 more days in New Zealand left now so making the most of that.

The 24/7s:

Monday 21st: Overcast conditions but still possible to burn

Tuesday: Enter! You want Russian visa? Many dollars

Wednesday: Despite peak season always room for tents

Thursday: Maybe Marmite does stop sandflies biting you

Friday: New Zealand lamb? Rude not to really.

Saturday: Goodbye flip-flops, you served me well

Sunday: Will Russians let two honest Brits in?

Monday 28th: We shall travel on the Trans-Mongolian

Tuesday: It's now Auntie Rachel and Uncle Jon

Wednesday: The Tongariro Crossing with added volcanicity...done!

Thursday: Did she fall or was she pushed?