On the way to the UK.

Last night, I left the hostel in Hong Kong early and caught the bus to the airport, arriving at around midnight.

The flight from Hong Kong to London isn’t until 8.15am, so I took the opportunity to stretch out on a couple of seats and have a kip. This is the first time I have slept at an airport and it wasn’t too uncomfortable, not that I would recommend it on a regular basis!

Up at 4.00am and found one of the cafes had just opened, so sat down with a cup of tea. I spent a couple of hours on the free Internet doing some catch-up work on the blog, adding in some New Zealand visit items from about 11-15 February. This currently leave a gap covering my return to Rarotonga and a couple of days in Wellington. No pictures as yet, but I’ll format some shortly and add them later.

The trip has been cut short for reasons which will become obvious in the next few weeks, but not a topic for the blog at the moment.

This is likely to be the last blog entry from outside the UK on this trip, as I have to check in shortly and I don’t know if there is a useable wi-fi connection air-side. Other additions will come from London over the next few days.

It will be good to see people back home again – family and friends. Those of you who have kept me company in email and live chat and those of you who have been reading my musing as I travelled around the globe.

To all of you, whoever and wherever you may be – thank you for being there!

I really despise this place.

Since I’ve been here, I have been accosted in the street about forty times with people trying to sell me accommodation, restaurants, fake watches and prostitutes.  I’ve also had one attempted pickpocket.  And, I’ve only been here for six hours.

In many ways, this is not a surprise.

I am here because I am on my way back home to the United Kingdom. It is a long story and I’m the ending is still being written.  My trip was scheduled to be for about six months, bringing me back to the UK in June. I will be back at the end of February.

The reasons that the trip has been cut short is due to what happened while I was in the Cook Islands. Nothing to worry about by the way! I’ll tell the story in full later, when I have a better and  more private connection than this Internet cafe I am suffering in Hong Kong.

 I know that people say Hong Kong is a fabulous place, but to be honest, I don’t see that. What I do see is a city/country of seven million people, all of whom seem to be on the street at the same time. It is the crowds I don’t like in many ways - it makes me feel claustrophobic.

I have never been in a place anywhere that I have wanted to escape from quite as much as here. Well, one place matches it actually – a rather unfortunate experience in a Wiltshire school about 10 years ago.

My flight from here is due in a couple of days and it can’t come soon enough.

It is hot here today – again.

No updates for a few days, for several reasons.

Firstly, I am not in New Zealand at the moment, having back-tracked to the Cook Islands. I like thsi place so much that I wanted to come back again for a second visit. The place I am staying is great, but internet access by wi-fi is almost impossible and the local internet cafe connection is very s-l-o-w. When I find a better connection, I’ll catch up on the diary and pictures.

Well, I say pictures – that could be tricky. My digital camera stopped working properly this morning. Switch on and the screen is just pure white, with a black blob in the corner. It appears to be taking pictures and the zoom works, but until I plug it into the laptop this evening, I won’t really know. I don’t want to have to buy a replacement, as this one is only just over two months old. But, then again, I don’t want to not have pictures of the rest of my trip. Hey-ho!

Today, I went out on a fishing boat, met a local radio ham and visited a local FM comercial station. The station asked me to record a commercial for them – a fishmonger!

Enough for today – time for supper.

Boy, is this a l-o-n-g day!

It all started waking at the YHA Backpackers Hostel in Rororua. Over breakfast, I met Lois, who came and sat at my breakfast table for a chat.

Leaving the hostel by 10am and into the car to drive north to Auckland. The GPS took an interesting route to avoid Hamilton, meaning I saw some more countryside and small villages, rather than more of a highway. It rained fror much of the journey, stopping a few minutes after I dropped off the hire car. Killing a few house in Queen Street Auckland and it was time to take the bus to Auckland airport.

The flight for Rarotonga left at 9.45pm, taking four hours. I crossed the international date line, flying east and almost exactly midnight. The clock moved two hours forward, but a day back. This gave me a 24 hour Saturday in New Zealand and, by the time I arrived, a 20 hours day in Rarotonga. In all, a 44 hour Valentine Day, without a Valentine in sight.

The Vara Bungalow where I will be for the next few days is a self-contained building with a bedroom/living room/kitchen in one, with a separate shower and bathroom. There is an outside deck facing the sea, which is about a quarter of a mile away.

Regular reading will realise that the trip to the Cook Islands is a back-track. I decided to take another lok at this beautiful place while I was still in this part of the world. There are other possibilities I am looking at as well, more of which perhaps later.

Why do anything if you are tired?

The trip so far has covered some 49 nights, most of which have been in some sort of shared accommodation. Tonight was the first time that I resorted to earplugs to drown the snoring of two of three dorm-mates.

An interesting comparison from the UK last summer, was that I had to use the earplugs almost every night. Why do people in the UK snore more that in other parts of the world?

Today, I did very little. Walking around Rotorua, taking the occasional cup of tea and sticky cake was all I wanted of today.

Tomorrow is a long day, so an early night was called for.

And it really pongs!

After a night at the Tiki Lodge near Lake Taupo, the schedule called for a drive to Rotorua.

The town and surrounding area is famous for being at the centre of New Zealand’s north island Geothermal spring. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so when I spotted a road sign pointing to “The Craters of the Moon”, it was time to find out. The craters lacked any aroma, but seeing the ground steaming was very special.

The next stop was to prove very smelly. The Wai-O-Tapu Termal Wonderland is a large area of thermal springs, lakes and significant smells which can make you feel sick at times. The smells from here were with me in the car and on my clothes for a couple of days and hard to shake off.

For the next two nights, I stayed at the YHA Backpackers in Rororua.

A BRIT VISITED: 13 FEBRUARY 2009

SCORE: 9/10

The National Aquarium is in a new stingray shaped building on the waterfront in Napier.

The self-guided tour starts in a dinosaur discovery area which shows the history of these creatures in New Zealand. It was only in 1979 that the first dinosaur bones were discovered in the country.

Live displays include crocodiles, piranhas, tropical fish and, curiously, a kiwi.

The Oceanarium is the pride of the Aquarium and is viewed from an underwater walk-through tunnel. Home to sharks, stingrays and hundreds of fish, the visitor can almost touch them as they swim overhead. Divers hand-feed the fish twice a day at 10.00 and 14.00.

There is a small cafe and a well stocked gift shop at the exit.

A BRIT VISITED: 11 February 2009

SCORE: 8/10

Napier's Art Deco Theatre

DAY 47: NAPIER TO TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND

A morning in the art deco town of Napier.

The town of Napier is an art deco town. The buildings reflect the era well and significant effort has been put into the preservation iof buildings.

Along the sea front in Napier is a Marine wildlife place and the New Zealand Aquarium. The two are close together and cover quite different sepects of marine life.

Radio Taupo office sign

A leiseurly drive with some more rain brought me to the town of Tapuo. During a walk through the town centre, I saw the entrance to the town’s radio station. Never one to miss an opportunity, I called in and received the 50 cents tour. Tapuo has a population of around 22,000 and the radio station employs a dozen people fulltime. It also acts as the relay for five national commercial syndicated services, inserting local adverts and jingles. In effect, the 12 people run five radio stations.

Tonight I check in at the Tiki Lodge hostel.

Criterion Backpackers

Yes, it really is art deco.

In fact, so is most of the town centre, which is the charm of Napier.

The Criterion is right in the centre, on a pedestrian street above the shops.

The place is very well kept inside, with furniture in the lounges and dining room in art deco style. Decoration is good.

Art deco dining room and TV lounge

The three person dorms have a bunk and a single bed. Do NOT sleep in the single bed, as it is only 5’8″ long, unless you are very small. I woke up to find my feet pressed against the end headboard (footboard?) which gave me a backache which has lasted several days.

Other than that, the place is well appointed and certainly worth a visit.

A BRIT VISITED: 10 February 2009

SCORE: 5/10 due tot he bed, otherwise 8/10

And how!

This morning, I was woken by heavy rain on the window of my room in Wanganui. Rain was to be order of the day across the north island. After checking out from this remarkable hotel, I set the GPS for Napier, on the opposite coast from Wanganui.

The cross country route was on some winding and steep roads in places, past a couple of rock falls and some remarkable if wet countryside.

Along the way, I spotted and visited two small community radio stations, The first was Radio Woodville and the second Radio Dannevirke, both taking their names from their home towns.

The rain eventually eased at 4pm, which was about when I arrived on the east coast in Napier. Parking here is more of an issue than anywhere else I have been and the car is currently about a quarter of a mile from the hostel and needs to be rescued tomorrow morning by 10am, to avoid a parking ticket.

Tonight’s bed is at the Criterion Art Deco Hotel in Napier. And art deco it is, like much of the town centre. I declined to join a tour of the town but later spotted a group of tourists snapping pictures of a deserted rather unremarkable art deco building, while being shouted at by the tour guide.

I had walked past a Singapore restaurant on my way to the hostel. There was a huge and loud argument going on outside between the husband and wife owners. The wife appeared to be winning. Temptation got the better of me and I went there for a meal. The argument appeared to be over and the food was both good quality and well priced for my budget.