I booked a bus ticket to Rotorua which is about a third of the way down the North Island situated next to a big lake (Lake Rotorua). It is famous for its level of geothermal activity with all sorts of sulfurous gases and hot springs leaking up from the ground, which gives much of the area a somewhat eggy stench.
Upon arriving there I had somewhat vague notions of walking round the entirety of the lake itself. I quickly decided against it as it was (and still is) fucking huge, and would have taken me a month. Instead I ended up hiking to a very small village next to another small lake and camping by the shore for a night. Unfortunately I had managed to fall asleep in a logging area and I was woken about 5am by the sound of huge trucks and diggers arriving in my area to tear the place apart, so I quickly retreated to a safe distance and set off back to Rotorua. The area isn't great for hiking and camping, so I decided to move south to Taupo which is in many ways quite similar. Its a town located on the north of the largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Taupo.
There I was hit by another stroke of bad luck, I had arrived just before the start of an apparently famous Iron Man competition which is a bit like a marathon around the lake. This meant finding a site to pitch my tent was a bitch but eventually I managed to find a somewhere and sampled the local fish and chips.
A comment is necessary about New Zealand fish and chips as, frankly, they are disappointing. A lot of the time the chips are more like fries (I like my chips chunky damnit!) and they do not have ANY vinegar there! Just salt, and they tend to put too much of it on the chips. They do not have cod or haddock there in large quantities (usually) and instead have a variety of other local fishes, which are just not quite up to the task. On the plus side, they are comparatively cheap (one of the few things in New Zealand that I could consider less expensive than the UK) and the portion sizes are reasonable. Still, being able to travel to the other side of the world to stand in line waiting for fish and chips is a delight of sorts, God Bless the former British Empire.
After staying a few days there I once again become bored, it wasn't really what I was after in New Zealand, although the air was lovely and fresh there. I once again got on a bus to small village right at the south of the lake whose name I have forgotten. I camped there for a few nights and ate cake whilst finishing off the second Lord of the Rings book (The Two Towers). This brings me on to a point about books and backpacking. Books weigh far too much to carry around for any period of time, except for maybe smaller paperbacks. This means that as soon as you finish a book you have to leave it behind, which for me is heartbreaking. Fun fact: floating around New Zealand somewhere is a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring I bought in a Waterstones next to Trafalgar Square. In retrospect a Kindle would have been a godsend but they were still fairly expensive back then. Books over there tend to cost a great deal more than in the UK, best sticking to second hand works if at all possible. A new book can set you back around $30 or more, sometimes $40 which is a lot of money to have to leave behind on a regular basis. That said, it was often possible to pick up new books from hostels and campsites for free as other like minded backpackers would also cast off their own literary wares upon completion.
Next I decided to head off to Wellington at the bottom of the North Island, which despite being only the second biggest city in New Zealand is the capital city. Its population is less than half that of Leeds, New Zealand has very few substantial urban areas (especially in the South Island). From there I was going to start my backpacking proper, as I prepared to take a night ferry across the Cook Sound to Picton, at the top of the South Island.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
New Zealand chronicle
As they often do, my thoughts today turn consistently to New Zealand. As a means of unpacking all that I experienced, I thought I would do a series of chronological posts, starting with my arrival in Auckland on March 1st 2010.
I set off from High Bentham train station at about 9:30 in the morning and spent the day in London (Feb 27th). I changed about £800 of cash into NZ$ at what eventually turned out to be an excellent exchange rate (near enough $2.2 to the £), before going to a cheapo Travelodge for the night booked right next to Heathrow. Rather embarrassingly I managed to get lost on the way there, having only some poor, briefly scrawled directions on a scrap of paper to guide me in the dark. I had to resort to ringing my dad and he guided me there sitting at the computer using Google Earth. Not a particularly auspicious start to the journey! My feet were killing me, having spent hours walking about in the dark so I went to bed early and woke up about 4am and set off for the airport. I believe my flight was around 9 but can't really remember. Check in went smoothly, and I treated myself to an overpriced Full English before I boarded.
The flight itself was 24 hours long, with 3 stops; one in Dubai, one in Brunei and finally one in Australia somewhere, I can't remember where. Technically due to the +12 hour time difference it was a 36 hour flight. Its certainly one of the longest flights you can take in the world, and it really was so dull. I watched all the usual in flight movies and TV series on the build in screens but they only entertain for so long. It was dark when we stopped in Dubai so I don't remember it, Brunei was SO humid, even walking to the terminal and back bought me out in a sweat. All the windows were dripping with water!
Eventually we touched down at Auckland International Airport, built a couple of miles out from the city proper. It was about 3am when we landed, and the first thing I remember was the freshness of the air, it was like a fresh sea breeze magnified many times. It took many days to get used to it, for whatever reason (presumably far fewer people) the air is much cleaner over there. I managed to find a minibus service delivering people to central Auckland for $30. It was still dark, and I couldn't book into my hostel until 10am so I wondered around central Auckland for a while eventually tiring and finding a seat in a near empty plaza.
It was then that it hit me: I was on the other side of the world! I didn't know anyone here. It was very exciting! I had arrived with no plans at all (other than 2 nights booked in a hostel) and no real experience of foreign travel. If I could go back in time to any moment it would be this one with everything stretching out before me. Finally 10am arrived and I chucked my extremely heavy rucksack in my 16 person dorm room before striding out into the city to attempt to plan something resembling a holiday.
I set off from High Bentham train station at about 9:30 in the morning and spent the day in London (Feb 27th). I changed about £800 of cash into NZ$ at what eventually turned out to be an excellent exchange rate (near enough $2.2 to the £), before going to a cheapo Travelodge for the night booked right next to Heathrow. Rather embarrassingly I managed to get lost on the way there, having only some poor, briefly scrawled directions on a scrap of paper to guide me in the dark. I had to resort to ringing my dad and he guided me there sitting at the computer using Google Earth. Not a particularly auspicious start to the journey! My feet were killing me, having spent hours walking about in the dark so I went to bed early and woke up about 4am and set off for the airport. I believe my flight was around 9 but can't really remember. Check in went smoothly, and I treated myself to an overpriced Full English before I boarded.
The flight itself was 24 hours long, with 3 stops; one in Dubai, one in Brunei and finally one in Australia somewhere, I can't remember where. Technically due to the +12 hour time difference it was a 36 hour flight. Its certainly one of the longest flights you can take in the world, and it really was so dull. I watched all the usual in flight movies and TV series on the build in screens but they only entertain for so long. It was dark when we stopped in Dubai so I don't remember it, Brunei was SO humid, even walking to the terminal and back bought me out in a sweat. All the windows were dripping with water!
Eventually we touched down at Auckland International Airport, built a couple of miles out from the city proper. It was about 3am when we landed, and the first thing I remember was the freshness of the air, it was like a fresh sea breeze magnified many times. It took many days to get used to it, for whatever reason (presumably far fewer people) the air is much cleaner over there. I managed to find a minibus service delivering people to central Auckland for $30. It was still dark, and I couldn't book into my hostel until 10am so I wondered around central Auckland for a while eventually tiring and finding a seat in a near empty plaza.
It was then that it hit me: I was on the other side of the world! I didn't know anyone here. It was very exciting! I had arrived with no plans at all (other than 2 nights booked in a hostel) and no real experience of foreign travel. If I could go back in time to any moment it would be this one with everything stretching out before me. Finally 10am arrived and I chucked my extremely heavy rucksack in my 16 person dorm room before striding out into the city to attempt to plan something resembling a holiday.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
2012!
I do like the end of the calendar year as its a chance to take stock. Was unable to think about it in great depth before as my girlfriend was up in Leeds over the New Year, who was often being sick ¬_¬ live and learn springs to mind!
This year will contain far more uncertainties than 2011, as this is the year that I graduate. I hand in my dissertation in September and then the ceremony itself it mid-December, so at the very least its a while off. This big uncertainty is what I will do afterwards, as the jobs situation is, and will remain, awful for quite some time. Thankfully my situation is a fair distance away from a lot of graduates, but not by much! Bottom line is I have no idea what my situation will be in 12 months time, there is a good chance I won't be able to find work. I'm pretty picky when it comes to jobs, and I make no apologies for that. There are whole swaths of jobs now that I won't even consider. I know some postgraduates who do not feel the same but I cannot relate. Being unemployed really isn't so bad! Always important to bear in mind that there is only so much you can do, you are not immune from broad economic trends. The remnants of the welfare state will at least not leave me completely out to dry. I just don't feel like I have the energy anymore to lie and bullshit my way through a whole load of graduate selection programs, they really do suck. After several years of intellectual honesty and exciting discovery its not a pleasant feeling to sink into the nasty world of job applications doublespeak and general awfulness. Anyway that’s a while off yet...
The real obstacle to overcome this year is my dissertation! If its a good one a distinction beckons, if not that I shall have to make do with a respectable merit. At this stage it could go either way! I am thinking of making some pretty big changes to my research based on feedback from the conference, I have a research proposal to submit in week 7 of this semester. The real work will be done over the summer, but by then I need to know precisely what it is I need to be doing!
I am looking forward to my last remaining taught module on late Imperial European history. The precise title escapes me for the moment, and I has been hoping to pursue a military module but no doubt I will be able to read up on military issues regardless. The module coordinator is also my dissertation supervisor, so it should prove easy enough to do a couple of military essays. It will be a strange feeling finishing the module, as that effectively ends my taught education that began in primary school! After this point there is no more teaching that can be done, you are on your own. Although perhaps I will opt to do another taught MA in the future so maybe not!
This year will contain far more uncertainties than 2011, as this is the year that I graduate. I hand in my dissertation in September and then the ceremony itself it mid-December, so at the very least its a while off. This big uncertainty is what I will do afterwards, as the jobs situation is, and will remain, awful for quite some time. Thankfully my situation is a fair distance away from a lot of graduates, but not by much! Bottom line is I have no idea what my situation will be in 12 months time, there is a good chance I won't be able to find work. I'm pretty picky when it comes to jobs, and I make no apologies for that. There are whole swaths of jobs now that I won't even consider. I know some postgraduates who do not feel the same but I cannot relate. Being unemployed really isn't so bad! Always important to bear in mind that there is only so much you can do, you are not immune from broad economic trends. The remnants of the welfare state will at least not leave me completely out to dry. I just don't feel like I have the energy anymore to lie and bullshit my way through a whole load of graduate selection programs, they really do suck. After several years of intellectual honesty and exciting discovery its not a pleasant feeling to sink into the nasty world of job applications doublespeak and general awfulness. Anyway that’s a while off yet...
The real obstacle to overcome this year is my dissertation! If its a good one a distinction beckons, if not that I shall have to make do with a respectable merit. At this stage it could go either way! I am thinking of making some pretty big changes to my research based on feedback from the conference, I have a research proposal to submit in week 7 of this semester. The real work will be done over the summer, but by then I need to know precisely what it is I need to be doing!
I am looking forward to my last remaining taught module on late Imperial European history. The precise title escapes me for the moment, and I has been hoping to pursue a military module but no doubt I will be able to read up on military issues regardless. The module coordinator is also my dissertation supervisor, so it should prove easy enough to do a couple of military essays. It will be a strange feeling finishing the module, as that effectively ends my taught education that began in primary school! After this point there is no more teaching that can be done, you are on your own. Although perhaps I will opt to do another taught MA in the future so maybe not!
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