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On the Varieties of Nature

a travel blog by Alex Kent

Obadiah Walker, writing in the 17th century, recommended travel abroad to:

"...learn the Languages, Laws, Customes, and understand the Government, and interest of other Nations... To produce confident and comely behaviour, to perfect conversation... To satisfy [the] mind[s] with the actual beholding such rarities, wonders, and curiosities as are heard or read of. It brings us out of the company of our Relations, acquaintances and familiars; making us stand upon our guard, which renders the mind more diligent, vigorous, brisk, and spiritfull. It shews us, by consideration of so many various humours, and manners, to look into and form our own; and by tasting perpetually the varieties of Nature, to be able to judge of what is good and better."

He also praised its ability to break the habit of laziness, disentangle the traveller from "unfitting companions" and reform the vice of drinking. Hmm.

So, I’m setting off around the world in search of rarities and wonders. Much to Obadiah’s doubtless disgust however, I fully intend to laze, drink, and maybe even make some ‘unfit’ friends along the way. Hopefully it won’t ruin my chances of returning more learned, comely and formed in my humours. After all, with the prospect of ‘perpetually tasting Nature’s varieties’, who could resist?!
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Long distance training

Lima, Peru

Bus.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on November 12, 2007 from Lima, Peru
from the travel blog: On the Varieties of Nature
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City of Sails

Auckland, New Zealand

Feeling dazed and disgusting after a sleepless flight and the shameless theft by some higher power of my 29th November 2007, we arrive in New Zealand to comically dire warnings telling us, in effect, that Kiwi customs officials are an elite, highly trained and ruthless force who will not hesitate to inflict all kinds of pain and retribution on any individual found with so much as a spec of dirt on their walking shoes. Luckily neither myself nor either of my two new companions, Alan and Mark, are thus apprehended and before long I am united with Brent, a family friend who has very generously offered to pick me up at this ungodly hour and put me up in his fabulous home for the weekend.

Auckland turns out ot me a gorgeous city, with the skyline not far from aesthetically perfect, and the myriad boats at every turn truly earning its nickname 'the city of sails'. The ever hospitable couple I am staying with invite my two Irishmen to come and stay as well (having never met me before, let alone these two complete strangers!), and arrange for a friend of their son's to come round and say hi as they will be away for the weekend. He in turn takes it upon himself to drive us around the city showing us the sights and entertaining us, demonstrating from the off the unswerving friendliness and obliging nature of New Zealanders. Despite relishing the (more than) home comforts, we decided to make the most of our time and get out of Auckland for the weekend to explore the north, so we hired a car and set off into the unknown.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on November 30, 2007 from Auckland, New Zealand
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Island Hopping

Paihia, New Zealand

By way of the sweet little fishing harbour at Omaha Cove in the town of Leigh, which was strangely reminiscent of parts of the southern Cornish coast, and a chilly snorkelling session with some huge snapper at the Goat Island Marine Reserve, we made our way to Paihia: gateway to the beautiful Bay of Islands. There we booked ourselves on a half day cruise which motored around the scattered archipelago telling us about the past and present of the islands - from Russell, the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand to Motuarohia, where a repressed and bullied Maori servant retaliated by going on a killing rampage - splitting his fellow servant's head with an axe and then murdering his employer's whole family, to another spot (Moturua?) where a fabulously wealthy Kiwi has built himself the ultimate weekend retreat, with a gadget filled underground layer worthy of Batman, and a passageway hollowed out of the headland so that guests arriving at the shared jetty in the adjoining bay will not be inconvenienced by the two minute walk over the top!

Although the weather was not great (setting the theme for our entire time in New Zealand) the trip was gorgeous, and whet our appetite for the increasingly lovely sights to come.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 1, 2007 from Paihia, New Zealand
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Too Much to See, Too Little Time

Omapere, New Zealand

From the Bay of Islands we drove a north-western loop round to the beautiful scenery of the west coast and stopped for a scrumptious fish burger from a cafe that didn't sell any soft drinks as they were available at the service station next door - what a wonderfully community-minded business plan! Munching it down in the beautiful environs of Omepere, I suffered once again the biggest frustration of travelling - the more you see, the more you realise there is to be seen. Here, green wooded slopes sweep down to a vivid blue inlet which is backed against huge slopes of Golden sand - apparently a favourite spot for sandboarding, where you hurtle down the slopes and in to the water (amazing!), but unfortunately we didn't have the time to stop and give it a go. Continuing cross country to rejoin Highway 1 for our journey back to Auckland, we drove through endless remote little homesteads set in stunning surroundings and marvelled, not for the last time, at how unpopulated New Zealand is.

Back in Auckland our returned hosts whipped up a fabulous meal, reminding all three of us how much we missed home cooking, and spent the evening entertaining us with stories of their travels and giving us hints and tips for our onward journey.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 2, 2007 from Omapere, New Zealand
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I Gotta Get Me a Beach House

Coromandel, New Zealand

Well rested, well fed, and with the amazingly generous offer of the use of their beach house on the Coromandel Peninsular, we parted company with our hosts, and with Auckland, and headed east. After a couple of days' driving around we thought we had begun to get used to New Zealand roads, but nothing could prepare us for the coastal route along the peninsular through Coromandel Town, where we stopped for lunch and a wander around, and on over the headland to Matarangi. Seemingly 50% of the bends had 25kmh advisory speed limits, and often even that was optimisitic. So we twisted and turned our way along glorious white beaches, sapphire waters and awe-inspiring native forests and blessed the automatic gearbox in our hire car. Some of the views afforded out over the islands off the Coromandel bay were staggering - I fell in love with the peninsular immediately.

Once at Matarangi we made ourselves at home for a few days while we explored the local sights - the stunning white arches and stacks of Cathedral Cove; the bizarre subterranean volcanic springs at 'Hot Water Beach'; the bustling little town of Whitianga. It was a few days of absolute bliss - long dawn walks along the beach, cup of tea in hand; delicious barbeques and relaxed outdoor suppers; boozy Monopoly marathons; clear Mediterranean light; clean, broad beaches and green inpenetrable hills. I would love to have stayed longer and walked myself into a deep sleep every day but, as ever, the clock was ticking.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 3, 2007 from Coromandel, New Zealand
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Rain, Rain Go Away

Rotorua, New Zealand

The guidebook made a flippant aside about the smell lingering over this volcanic vent of a town. We laughed it off.

Then we arrived and took it a little more seriously.

Quite why anyone would choose to live in a town that smells perpetually of eggy farts is beyond me. Perhaps it's the proximity to pools of bubbling clay-ey sulphuric mud. Perhaps not.

Anyway, besides the smell Rotorua offers a wealth of outdoor activities from the standard - white water rafting, to the bizarre - mud bathing for instance. We were tempted by the zorbing (strap yourself into a huge inflatable sphere and roll down a hill) ... until we saw the hill, all gently descending 20 metres of it, and decided that it really wasnt worth paying over ₤1 a second for.

Plus it was raining.

So we left.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 5, 2007 from Rotorua, New Zealand
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Come Again Another Day

Taupo, New Zealand

It was still raining when we reached Taupo, which ruled out our sky dive hopes.

Besides a satisfyingly torrential waterfall in the same beautiful turquoise of my Guatemalan favourite, Semuc Champey, there was nothing more to see.

I mean to do central north island New Zealand no disservice, but it wasn't gripping us. Plus, having seen the waterfall we were drenched to the skin as the sky mercilessly bucketed down everything it had.

We left.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 6, 2007 from Taupo, New Zealand
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Oblivion

Wellington, New Zealand

Due to the boys having rather stringent requirements about where they spend their weekends - basically demanding a large settlement well populated by females, beer and dancing venues, we spent a couple of days here but shamefully I have little to report. After a month of fairly non-stop travelling I decided to treat myself to a short while of nothingness and consequently over-indulged on our first night, slept a lot, and saw very little of New Zealand's capital city. The hostel, however, was definitely noneworthy - a huge YHA, it was more like a Travelodge that a hostel and probably somewhat characterless, but absolutely spotless, and the communal kitchen was worthy of a professional chef. I couldn't stop marvelling at the 'salon professional' hairdryers in the bathrooms, and at the electronic key-cards which automatically locked you out of your room after 10am if you hadn't paid the next night's fee!

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 7, 2007 from Wellington, New Zealand
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Home Sweet Home

Nelson, New Zealand

From Wellington we caught the inter-island ferry into Picton and were blessed with a beautiful day, which not only made my first (and last) real impression of the capital city a good one, but made the entire crossing from the pillar box red tugs in the harbour to the grand beauty of Marlborough Sound as we entered the south island absolutely beautiful. New Zealand is full of 'sounds', particularly in the south western fjordland and unfortunately, due to our tight schedule, this was the only one we got to experience. Milford Sound, down in the fjordland, is the most famous and the treks around it are reckoned to be some of the world's most beautiful. Definitely one for the future. As it was, the glittering dark waters of the Marlborough meeting its dramatic plunging forested slopes gave me more than enought to gaze at in awe. Houses perched on tiny private beaches seemed dwarfed by the green mass towering above them - hills so steep and densely grown that in most cases not even an access road connected the houses to civilization - a boat being the only means of transport.

In Picton we bee-lined for a nearby rental company and very easily negotiated a great rate on another car for two weeks, opting for a manual this time which caused lots of initial confusion as we each took our turn at the wheel! Plunging straight back in to the twisting turns of another coastal road, we headed for Nelson, which our Auckland hosts had recommended, and enjoyed more staggering scenery along the way.

[Note - I am aware that superlatives and hyper-enthusiastic adjectives may start to sound tediously formulaic, but it is impossible to witness the landscape of New Zealand without marvelling, constantly. At every turn, particularly on the south island, are vistas of incredible beauty, grandeur and remoteness. It is as if someone had been given a model countryside set and has picked all the best mountains and forests, beaches and rivers and indulgently pieced them all together in one little corner of the globe, utterly forgetting to add people to the mix.]

So, to Nelson, a sweet little town with a pleasantly bustling atmosphere, and home to my favourite hostel from my time in New Zealand. At 'Accents on the Park' you feel rather as if you are staying in someone's home with a smart, clean but very homely feel to the living room, landings and bedrooms; warm, well-lit, comfortable bathrooms; and downstairs the most wonderful bar. When I walked in, the REAL, LIVE Christmas tree, the English country pub feel, and the casual local atmosphere immediately choked me with a wonderfully sentimental nostalgia. Gerry, a one-time Bristolian, served up delicious wallet-friendly food and a cider, and all three of us were very happy. If you go to Nelson, stay there.

At the local pool, where we had been drawn by a craving for exercise, a characteristically friendly Kiwi turned our goggle-buying mission into a bubbly but surreal 10-minute chat, and we exhausted ourselves doing some lengths. The sun even came out for our walk home! Finally we had shaken off the north island blues.

The next day we drove west to the Abel Tasman National Park - an absolute dream of remote, driftwood strewn beaches and gloriously green rainforest. We arrived too late to do our intended kayak up the coast and walk back, but instead opted to take one of the coastal paths through the park for a few hours and get a water taxi back. It is a stunning place. The following day we returned to give some kayaking a go, and visited the impressively incongruous 'split-apple rock' and a few pretty coves around Marahau. Abel Tasman is another place that merits a few days trekking and camping, and there were some great beach-side cabins which can be reserved in advance and really tempted me to return one day and do it thoroughly.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 9, 2007 from Nelson, New Zealand
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The Middle of Nowhere

Punakaiki, New Zealand

After our session on the water we started the huge drive down to Punakaiki, and while the boys dozed I enjoyed an idyllic drive through some of my favourite scenery from the trip - along the Owen River, which meanders its way through broad, flat flood plains fringed by beautiful banks of verdant willows and other trees, tumbling its wide, golden-clear waters over a shallow pebbly bed and sandy shores. A few homestay guesthouses along its course would have made a fabulous place to stop off and enjoy the area, but just to drive through with the company of my own thoughts and two silent passengers was an incredible lovely experience.

The scenery changed as we entered the Buller Gorge - striking rather than tranquil, but equally beautiful. Here turquiose waters pour through a dramatic forested valley, churning over rocks and creating dramatic flashes of contrasting colour as you drive along its course. We stopped to cross the hairy Buller Gorge Suspension Bridge and stretch our legs with a little stroll through the forest on the other side and then pressed on towards the coast.

When we arrived in Punakaiki the weather had closed in and the stormy grey sky, choppy sea and chilly, horizontal rain were more than anti-climactic. Then discovering that all shops and eateries in the vicinity were closed and the nearest supermarket a 50 minute drive away we nearly despaired, but we managed to cobble together a meal by buying up the entirety of the meagre offerings behind reception (along the lines of tuna, instant noodles, beans and an egg). The evening was utterly redeemed by our discovery of a fabulous hot-tub on the lawn where I soaked for an hour and a half, the cold wind and rain and the brooding sea view making the warmth and comfort even more enjoyable!

The following morning the weather was just as grim so we forsook a visit to the nearby 'Pancake Rocks' (I don't know ... if you go, let me know!) and, via breakfast in the impossibly uninspiring Greymouth, headed towards an afternoon trek on the Fox Glacier.

permalink written by  Alex Kent on December 11, 2007 from Punakaiki, New Zealand
from the travel blog: On the Varieties of Nature
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