Last days in Cairns and on to New Zealand

Hello!

Last time I wrote I had just come ashore after my diving trip on The Great Barrier Reef and was recovering from a pretty heavy night. Having arrived back in town I had gone to a hostel called Leo's with some guys from the boat. Leo's is a cheap place near the town centre and is owned by a stocky and extremely cocky Italian Australian called Charlie. I noticed that most of the staff were travellers and usually pretty girls and that Charlie was a bit of a pervert coming onto every female who walked through the door no matter how young. He had a load of croanies working there too who all had that way about them. The place seemed relaxed though and also had the best coffee in Australia, which isn't saying much. The coffee was awful in Australia! Most of it tasted more like Bovril.

The first day we had a pretty bad hangover and went to the cinema where I met up with Diana again. It was the first time I had been to the pictures since Myanmar and I was shocked at the price and the fact that the theatre was empty. We saw Amitiville Horror which scared the crap out of me and then Sahara which was very cheesey but good fun. Afterwards I went for dinner with Diana and it was very nice to spend time with someone more on my wavelength again. The backpackers had become a bore and the guys were slowly moving on one by one starting with Sean who flew back to the US and Matthias who flew back to Zurich. Then Daniel and Joachim who were driving down the coast to sell their van. Daniel was going on to Asia while Joachim was going to try and hitch a ride to Darwin to search for a place on a yaht bound for Malaysia or Indonesia. They had been great fun to hang out with and when they left, things were a little boring and the hostel began to give me the creeps. I had met a Dutch girl called Maartje in the hostel who had been propersitioned by the owner. She had been asked to move room and was given the choice of a dorm or Charlie's house. He later asked if she would sleep with him anyway! He generally tries this with every girl who walks through the door and gets them to work behind the bar as soon as he can. The cuter the girl the more likely it is that she will get the job, much to one German girl's disgust when her shift was cancelled the moment two blonde 18 year old Swedes arrived. They were very pretty though! Maartje really had the creeps after Charlie's offer and soon left bound for Darwin.

I spent the following evenings with Diana. One particullar night we went out for some drinks and being late I walked her to her hostel where we found a group of 18 year old backpackers fresh out of school, sitting up drinking and listening to music. The manager came out and ordered everyone to bed and an immediate stop to the music which was fair given that it was 1am or so. One kid decided to turn it up so I asked him why he wanted to get everyone kicked out. His reaction was to turn the music up and down saying "is it too much for you, is it too loud" over and over making sure he interrupted our conversation at every opportunity. Any of you who know me well will know that this is not the ideal approach and my blood began to boil. Being about twice his size I decided I'd just go home but I really was about to remove his head from his shoulders as he had ruined a very nice evening and had become so aggressive. It was past his usual bedtime I think and his mum wasn't around to give him a clip around the ear. I think it all went to the poor boys head. This unfortunately is a tipical night out in Cairns. Lots of very young backpackers, away from mum and dad for the first time and with too much money to spend on beer. The Woolshed is the worst place with kids getting very arrogant and aggressive. Many older travellers just stay in and do some cooking or read a book avoiding the organised pub crawls put on by the hostels. One group must have had 50+ people. At least I had finally learnt that the smaller hostels were a better bet. The large megahostels are just not worth the hastle and cost.

The next day myself and Diana met up and decided to get away asap and head up to Cape Tribulation. In the morning I went to get a car and then back to the hostel to checkout. Charlie was on form and told me it was a public holiday and I couldn't checkout. This went on for half an hour and then he stopped pulling my chain and let me check out but only when he explained that he would keep my $10 key deposit as a booking for when I returned in 2 days which I had no intention of doing. I knew what he was playing at but also knew he would happily stand there and feed me line after line of crap until the cows came home. Wanting my camera out of the safe with as little fuss as possible, and there was a little fuss about that too, I left my $10 and went to pick the car up. When filling in the forms the woman behind the counter asked where I was staying in Cairns. When I said Leo's she broke into laughter. 'I used to work there!' She had quit one morning having had enough of the charming Charlie. Figures! I have to say though it was all very colourful.

I picked up Diana and we set off with the most beautiful weather I have had in Australia. As we drove up the coast we stopped a couple of times at the various beaches. On one beach which was especially beautiful, there were hundreds of small blue crabs running up the beach. It was like being in a David Attenborought film. They were so cool. If you chased them they just dug a hole and dissappeared in seconds. We stopped in Port Douglas on the way which is a very nice holiday town. It's small and underwhelming given the rave reviews you get from other travellers but it is very nice. In town there was a market which we had a look around with lots of fresh fruit and veg, art and handy crafts. We bought some fruit and veg from a wonderful Italian green grocer from Sicily. He was very charming, funny and cheeky and made Diana blush, 'Oh you arrrre veery beaaaautiful laaaideee!'

After the market we headed up to Cape Tribulation stopping at Daintree on the way. Daintree is so tiny it's quite rediculous. We did see a crocadile though from the jetti for the boat tour that seems to be the only attraction in Daintree. The scenery was beautiful just driving around the Daitree river so we didn't take the boat tour and took the ferry to Cape Tribulation across the Daintree river. This was my 2nd time up here and it is such a lovely area. Very relaxed and very naturally beautiful. It would be great to come up here in a 4x4 as there are many unsealed roads leading into the rainforest. We checked into 'Beach House' where I had stayed before and had a break from stodge and chips with a big salad, cheese and wine! The next day we took a steady drive through Cape Trib stopping for some walks and some food including a stop at the Daintree ice cream factory. We then took the return ferry and headed back to Cairns via the northern Tablelands which I had missed last time. It was very beautiful farm country with cows sheep and horses and as the sun set we passed some gorgeous scenery. Again the people were much nicer out or Cairns.

As we pulled into Cairns we both checked into Bohemia where I had stayed before and liked very much. It's a great little hostel if a little far from the town centre. We had a great little trip and I felt I was only just started to enjoy Australia which goes to show what a difference the right company can make. I was due to fly to Auckland the following morning and Diana was due to catch the bus to Townsville so we went for a walk and got some Chinese food before heading home. I was tempted to carry on down the east coast now that I had found someone good to travel with but had my heart set on New Zealand and time was pressing on. So the next morning I dropped Diana at the bus stop and headed off to the airport. It felt strange to be moving on again. Although I had not been in love with Oz I had been there for about 5 weeksand become used to it. At the same time it felt good to be on moving on and I had a lot of fun in the last week travelling around with Diana so I was leaving on a high note.

The flight to Auckland was longer than I had anticipated and I met an elderley couple from Whangerei, North Island, on the plane. They were into scuba diving, bungy jumping and canyoning! and were very nice inviting me to stay should I pass that way. I had heard about the hospitality of people from that area and it was a good omen of things to come. Arriving in Auckland I had no accomodation booked and calling around gave me my first eye opener. Mobile phone calls cost a bomb here. I booked into a hostel and got on the bus. The very friendly bus driver turned out to be quite a traveller and had spent some time in Vietnam which we had a long chat about and he let me travel for free! The drive into town passed through the wooden housed suburbs and then into the busy town with small, bars and cafes everywhere. This is much more like it! It reminded me of a cross between Hampstead and Stockholm and I felt comfortable immediately. I had booked into Auckland Central Backpackers, the largest in town and while it seemed to be a huge processing centre for travellers it is in the centre of town and has all the facilities I needed to get started. My room mates seemed very nice too. At last people of my own age!

On my first proper day I met up with Olivia who I had travelled through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand with. It was great to see her again as we had become good friends and we got the chance to catch up over the next few days. I also changed all my flights as I had made a plan that I was happy to stick to. I had decided to take advantage of the New Zealand winter and do a season of skiing which begins in early June so I will not leave New Zealand until 19th August giving me 3 and a half months here. I had to fix my flights now as the flights across the Pacific Islands to America are so busy especially over the next 4 months with many Americans holidaying in the Pacific. I also decided to buy a car for the trip and buy some skis rather than waste money hiring. My search for a car in Auckland was unsuccessful leading me to a backpacker auction which was full of crappy vans, the owners' faces lighting up desperately when I arrived as there were no customers. Definatley a buyers market then. One quick look was enough to tell me I didn't want any of these cars and I left.

After a few days I got a call from Tozan who is a very old friend from home. We grew up on the same street and I knew he was living in New Zealand with his girlfriend Tracey who is a Kiwi but about 18 months ago Tozan knocked on my door in London out of the blue and we got chatting. This is when I decided I would visit New Zealand and the idea for this trip began. Tozan lives in Hamilton which is about 1hr 30mins south of Auckland. He came and picked me up and after a beer in Auckland harbour we headed down to Hamilton. I was surprised to find a really nice town after being warned off by it's boring reputation. That evening we went out, Saturday being the busiest night and the night life was great with lots of little bars and a very continental feel. The people were really nice and friendly and it didn't take long to meet people which is a huge contrast to Australia.

There are many car dealers and auctions in Hamilton making it an ideal place to search for a car. Auctions are very popular here and much safer than home. You can test drive the cars, get a mechanic to check them for $65 (27 quid) and all cars have a history check done. I found a 1988 Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4 at the back of the lot which nobody wanted. It was a lovely old honest car with everything working, a brand new MOT and registration till September and I haggled them down to $1500 (£600!) Bargain!!! It even had a ski rack and cow bars. The outdoor shops are also much better here as life is much more outdoor oriented here than in Auckland. By the end of the week I had found some warm clothes and a ski jacket. The climate since arriving was varied with cold spells followed by warm sun followed by rain and wind. Not many people have central heating here either and the week in Hamilton had become very cold.

Kiwis love the outdoors and sport. Tozan plays football every week and Tracey plays netball. We went to watch Tracey play netball and I had a real feeling of role reversal as we sat watching and talking about clothes while the girls shouted loadly and got worked up about the game. We were at a huge park with dozens of netball courts where the local league takes place every weekend. All the games run to the same schedule with load speakers signalling the end of each quarter. There were hundreds of girls playing and they all wear proper uniforms and take it all very seriously with sponsors and proper referees. The role reversal carried on at home when Tracey and Megan, Tracey's team mate, sat down to watch the netball on TV with a drink while we made dinner. Quite funny.

I was enjoying a break from the travel and a slice of normality so for the last coupe of weeks I've been doing a lot of cooking and cleaning and just catching up on healthy food and sleep. I also bought some 2nd hand Rossignol carving skis and some really cool Salomon boots from a great shop in town that sells skiing and diving gear. The boots were a pretty good deal as they were in last years colours. I bought ski pants, gloves, poles and goggles too as well as a ski holder for the rack on the car. In between all that I went to watch Tozan play 4 aside football and caught up with Tessa, who I had worked with at Arup, and her boyfriend Jon who have been travelling in the oposite direction to me having just come from South America. We spent a day at the thermal springs around Rotorua and then I brought them up to Hamilton in the Pajero. That evening we went to a pub quiz and the following day I gave them a lift up to Auckland where me and Tozan went up the Sky Tower. This was great fun and gives a fabulous view of the whole of Auckalnd which is very beautiful from up there. Some people choose to throw themselves off on a bungy. I preferred a coffee in the Sky Lounge thanks....caffeine man....what a rush! After that we had a kebab and went home to Hamilton which is where I am now.

The last few days I have been getting over another cold and making litres and litres of Humous with Tozan (he's Turkish) which he intends to try and sell to the local kebab shops and restaurants. We might have go around town pretending we've just arrived from the middle east selling it in a cart...who knows. I should be moving on soon and am looking forward to enjoying the landscapes with my camera and skiing with as little injury as possible. I think I'd better check my insurance!!!

Although it's very nice here I must admit that I still miss Asia and I have at long last found the time to put all my pictures online. You can view the organised sets at http://flickr.com/photos/kavehshirdel/sets

The latest images are on the homepage at http://flickr.com/photos/kavehshirdel

I am further from home than ever before so let me know what's happening.

Love Kaveh.