sydney, the last leg...............

i think that i need a holiday to recover from the last week................

Sydney Mardi Gras has been amazing. The city is beautiful and interesting to start with, and then to add on superb bars and clubs, friendly people, and the most spectacular parade and parties, it has been a massive experience, and such a contrast from the last three months of scenery and views. Have made some great friends here, who have made the whole experience even more fun.

Its strange though, it has been easy to sit and describe my adventures in the big outside, but when it comed to this, i am at a loss for words. Just look at the photos and imagine the atmosphere. A blend of fairground, carnival, parade excitement, with thousands and thousands of people all having a great time.

I watched the parade from the roadside, amongst the crowds. The rest of the gang had spent an extrordinarily large sum of money to be in an enclosure with a superior view, bar and food. It was strange being there alone, although soon became part of the immediate audience. A colossal number of floats of all extravagances passed by, some with hundreds of dancers in amazing costumes performing dance routines, others supported by political parties, big business promoting their wares (Ikea was fun)and smaller organisations providing worthwhile and much needed services to the community. The parade lasted for several hours, the last float disappearing down the street to deafening applause and the sound of thousands of whistles calling for more.

The party was huge. Set in an exhibition complex using the massive halls as dance floors with all kinds of music playing, dj'd by international dj's, drag acts and other performers, bars for drinks, stalls for food and areas to sit and chill. It was great to move from area to area and cool off outside before heading off to another dance floor for another boogie. My ticket number was 14820, from one of two vendors, so you can imagine the size of the event. From 10pm to 10am, the sun came up and we carried on partying. I managed till 8.30am without any help, and legally drove back to my accomodation for a rest before heading out mid evening for another night at a city centre club on Oxford Street.

Its now Tuesday morning and the city is all but back to normal. Need to work out my itinerary for the next few days and then head off of of town to a slower pace of life for a while. Ive heard that Byron Bay is good, so i'll probably head off in that direction soon.

missing bits

the last week or so has passed by so fast, without internet opportunity, i shall give you all a small glimpse of where i've been.

in no particular order, photos of:

A Kea on the peak of Avalanche Summit in Arthurs Pass national park on the south island. A 1000metre climb, almost straight up the mountain, my legs didnt work that well the following day!!!

Me admiring the view on the west coast by Pancake Rocks, i just thought you should see a photo of me for once rather than just scenery.

The Frans Joseph Glacier from above in a helecopter, awsome views, later climbed the ice face for 4 hours with a guide. Fascinating and very cold and wet.

View of Frans Joseph village with glacier valley behind, where i stood for ages waiting for a lift. I had boasted that hitch hiking was easy the night before, so i guess i was being punished, it took me over 9 hours to do a 3 hour journey.

Autumn Farm

piccies of Paulies bus, a 1953 model, converted into the most amazing house with all mod cons and beautiful wood paneled interior, he took a crowd of guys to the beach one day. Also a couple of views of the farm, main porch entrance and small part of the garden that i did some work on.

able tasman

photos from my trek in Able tasman national park

the smallest airport in the world, well a small airstrip that services about 20 properties on a private area of land right out in the remote forest.

crossing the freezing cold waters of the estuary at low tide, thigh deep, would have been interesting in the middle of the winter or with a weeks worth of treking gear.

one of many secluded bays of golden sand and water warmer than any of the beaches back home in the UK.

autumn farm

Well. firstly, sorry, no photos. The computer i am using isn't speaking to my camera and no amount of coaxing by me or the staff here can get them speak with each other. So just a load of words again for you all.

Autumn Farm has been running as a resort for gay men for over 27years and it was wonderful. I stayed for 10 days, helpx'ing, mainly working in the vegetable gardens, though i did make jam and help with meals and other chores on occasions. A 14 or so acre site with gardens, orchards, forest, a stream, a small farm and great acommodation in dormitories, little cabins and huts scattered through the grounds.

The afternoons were free and someone with a car usually ferried people off to the beach or out for short treks in the surrounding countryside.

Had the opportunity to walk through some of the famous Able Tasman National Park, through bush and along beautiful golden beaches, wading across estuaries at low tide and past huge summer campsites that are now mostly empty as the kids are now back at school. Absolutely stunning - thanks Gin for the recommendation.

Many of the guests return year after year, which gives the farm the feeling of a huge extended family. Met some wonderful people and shared some great times and left feeling more relaxed and chilled than i have done in a long time.

The bus wouldn't have picked me up until mid afternoon, so i hitch hiked again. All the way to Greymouth, which is well over 350km, cutting across the top corner of the country, turning southwards at the coast, past the Pancake rocks all piled up like they are ready to eat and down along the west coast along a little flat bit of land squeezed between the Tasman Sea and the huge towering mountains with their heads almost permanently in the clouds. Greymouth is self descriptive, even on a warm summers evening so i didn't stay long. Caught another lift this morning and am now installed at Frans Joseph and ready to climb a glacier tomorrow. It rains over 7metres a year here, so i'm probably going to get wet!!! That's a huge amount of rain, no wonder the coastline is so lush.

no more smell

Been busy again, and little chance for internet stuff, so a bit of a catch up again. Have filled a whole memory card with pictures and am on the next one now, but unfortunately have not got it on me to download the amazing sights of geothermal activity at Rotorua. Will try and add some later.

What an amazing place. Huge bubbling ponds of mud, geysers, pools of the most amazing coloured water, steaming in the hot sunshine, some smellier than others with amazing deposits of all sorts of compounds round their edges. Bright yellow sulphur, oranges and greens, blacks and browns, white silica will have to show you the photos.

Great hostel with really great guests, we all shared our experiences and prepared ourselves for the next few days. I headed off to do white water rafting down a river that i had walked along a week or so ago. The tallest fall was 7 metres through a narrow opening in great high rocks, down into a turmultuous pool of thundering splashing water. The raft completely submerged for a few moments before bobbing back to the surface. Our guide instructed us to paddle forwards and backwards, steering us downstream through towering cliffs and a rainforest of lush vegetation for over an hour, before emerging in a large calm lagoon just next to the carpark where we caught the minibus back to base.

Hitched a ride with two fun girls from the backpackers on to Napier, the art deco capital of the country. The whole town was rebuilt in the style after a huge earthquake and fire in 1932. We phoned ahead and booked into a backpackers that was in the decomissioned prison of the town.

en route we stopped off in Taupo for a while, a wonderful sunny afternoon with a few white fluffy clouds floating about the sky. Not long after arriving we were high up in the sky in a birght yellow plane with huge black teeth painted on the front, minutes later hurtling towards the ground faster than imaginable with the most amazing view of the huge lake, farmland, town and mountains in the distance. The airstrip became larger and the sides of the lake disappeared our into the distance before Mike, my guide pulled the rip cord and we abruptly slowed, swung into a sitting position and floated calmly back to the landing site safely on the ground. Skydivig is an incredible experience, not quite as scary as bungy, but lasting a lot longer. It still feels quite amazing to have spent 45seconds hurtling downwards out of a plane and still be fine. Will be doing that one again sometime.

The prison was great, didnt sleep in a real cell, though some were available. The communal showers, washhouse and toilets were the originals, as was the site where the executions happened and where prisoners were punished in stocks until the early 60's.

Spend the day with Annie and Gladie taking in the sights of art deco Napier. We took turns reading the guide book and pointing out the architecture, stopping occasionally for food and icecreams and to take excessive numbers of pictures that will no doubt bore folk stupid back home. The sea was too rough to swim, but the local pool was only $6, including loungers, spa and piped music so we had chance to relax for a while. The museum and aquarium were also excellent, but i've written enough on that.

Recently arrived at Autumn Farm, back on the south island, for a week of helpx and a bit of fun in this wonderful, peaceful gay retreat. Its on the edge of Golden Bay, close to the west borders of the famous Able Tasman Park. Plenty of opportunity for beaches, trecking and no doubt more gardening. The weather is cold and damp,you will be pleased to hear..

kiwi fruit country

Another helpx host, for just a quick visit. Irene and Roger have just moved and needed help sorting out what they want to do with their new garden. Easy!! Have done some fairly drastic pruning, redrawn their out of date garden plans and given them all the advice i can for the future and they are so pleased. They also own a small kiwi orchard which was great to look round and learn what i could.

In exchange got to borrow the car for a couple of days and had a good look round the area, including the great long beach of Papamoa, hundreds of hectares of kiwi and avocado fields, the local towns and even a couple of garden centres. Got to chill on the beach for an afternoon, climb another couple of smaller mountains and get incredibly lost on the unmarked roads out in the country. It all came right in the end with unexpected fiews of the sunset and a moonlight swim before getting home before it was completely dark.

Am now in Rotorua for a couple of days to see what the thermal thing is all about and it stinks of rotten eggs all the time and everywhere. MMMmmmm. According to the guide books, the water is very good for the skin. Hopefully the aroma wears off pretty quick.