Tag: traveller

An Unexpected Journey

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After finishing working on the cotton farm I started to travel, I left Gin Gin and travelled down to the Blue Mountains. This is the second time Ive ventured this way and just like last time the weather wasnt really up to scratch. I went on a few short walks and saw some beautiful valleys and views, the landscape in this area is just spectacular.

Whilst I was in the Blue Mountains I met two scottish backpackers, one of whom was a mechanic back home, I had been having a few issues with my car shall we say not pulling its weight. So they had a look at my car to see how it was running and they found a small crack in the air intake pipe and fixed it up with duct tape for me.

Wollongong
Jervis Bay
Canberra

I went through Wollongong, Jervis Bay, Canberra, Thredbo, Melbourne and then spent a few days seeing the sights on the Great Ocean Road. The car was still acting a little unusual. I tried at a few garages in Geelong to see if I could get it fixed, none of the places had availability for at least a week and I had already booked the ferry to Tasmania leaving in the next few days so decided I could get it checked when I arrived.

Great Ocean Road
12 Apostles
Sunrise

This is the first time Ive driven onto a ferry myself so it was pretty exciting, I got myself checked in and sorted, I had booked the night ferry, so once I had driven on and parked up I found my seat and settled in for the night. The ferry departed at 23:30, travel time was 11 gruelling hours, although I managed to get a few hours of sleep before I drove off in the morning. I arrived in Devonport and checked into my hostel, I then began searching for work.

Spirit of Tasmania
Devonport
Poseidon Statue

I met some cool people in the hostel and the decided I wanted to stay longer than my previous 2 days that I had booked, unfortunately when I tried to extend my stay they were fully booked for the ongoing months.

I decided to get my car looked at whilst I was waiting on responses from jobs. They had a look and advised me that I would need a new fuel pump, and they could fit me in the following week. I left and travelled over to Launceston at the weekend. Whilst I was driving around I saw a cherry orchard and just emailed them regarding work, they got back to me with good news a few days later after my fuel pump had been fitted. So all was a go and I started work with some cherry picking and apple thinning.

After working for about 4 days of working, Christmas eve was here, I was having more issues with my car, it was jolting and Jerking and losing power constantly, to the point that I knew my car was no longer safe to drive on the road. I basically broke down on the side of the road and called my brother in law as I had no idea what was going on. I tried cleaning the MAF sensor for a few hours on the side of the road before managing to drive for half an hour back to the campsite I was staying at.

I managed to get a mechanic to the campsite on Christmas eve to have a brief look but he said he would have to hook it up to a computer to findout what was wrong. After the Christmas period I tried to get in contact with him but couldn’t.

I booked it in with another garage and they had it for a week until just a few days before new years, they said they hadn’t fixed the issue and could order a part that would arrive in just over a week. I decided to pick it up as when I dropped it off it was still slightly drivable, unfortunately after theyd had their hands on it, it seemed to be 10 times worse and couldnt get enough power to get out of first gear. In fact I broke down 500m from the garage, I walked back to see what they could do and said they were going home and if I could bring it back in the next 10 minutes they could lock it up for the night. I explained that it wouldn’t start and he didn’t really give me any assistance so I returned to my car.

I called my brother in law as I seem to do all the time now when a problem pops up, he gave me some suggestions so I could at least start the car, I managed to borrow a spanner from someone who lived in the area and was able to remove the negative wire from the battery and leave it off for a while to hopefully sort it out, after a few times doing this It seemed to work so I drove slowly in first gear to the campsite and waited till the new year for solutions.

My brother in law was able to bring in the big guns as he had found that a friend of his aunties lived in the about an hour away and had a bit of influence in the area, he was very kind and said he could help in both finding work, getting my car fixed and even offered for me to stay at his if I needed. I expressed that the car was my main objective at the current time and he spoke to a contact he had who assisted me in getting in touch with the fellow who first looked at my car way back on Christmas eve. I dropped it off with him hoping that some good news would soon arrive.

After just over 2 weeks of let’s say a lack of contact he said there was nothing he could do and his friend could check one more thing at the scrapyard he owned before maybe it was time to call it a day and leave the car for good.

My brother in law again kindly sorted this out and the next day called me to say that the scrap man had fixed it. I went to pick it up and the old mate said he wasn’t told anything about the vehicle by the mechanic and just had a look himself and fixed it an hour. I was over the fucking moon!

Little Blue Lake
Trowutta Arch
Return ferry to Geelong

I booked my ferry back to the mainland and left Tasmania the following evening, I returned to my sisters in NSW, she put me up for 2 weeks whilst I searched for a new job. So after being stranded and stuck in Tasmania I was finally back on the road and heading for South Australia.

“C’est la vie”

Eager Endings

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After working on the Avocado farm for 6 months, I left with a bottle of gin, a flash looking gin glass and a cheeky $1000 bonus. I also left with a new job to go to, Penny and Ernst who I worked for on the avocado have a family relation who is employed on a cotton farm. They said that the needed someone for the season which is 6 months but I agreed to 3 months to start with. On the very basic phone interview I was told that there would be tractor driving with chaser bins, which I was looking forward to as I was excited to gain experience in this. Turns out he has people to do the Tractor work and my role was the classic ‘basic bitch’ farm laborer.

So the owner owned 3 farms within 8km of eachother, Karamea is where I stayed in a donga (shed like building) on the farm. Edithville which had a disease in the soil so you had to constantly change your boots when working on that farm and Miegunyah where the owner lived.

My first week on the cotton farm was just cleaning out various pump sites and sheds and helping move farm equipment between the different farms. I was then told that we would be working for the next 10 days straight, getting the paddocks ready for irrigation. This involved me digging out between the furrows so the water could get through. 10 days was a lie though as by the time I was given a day off I had worked just 18 days in a row and just short of 200 hours in total.

So the owner is one of those hot and cold bosses, never know which side of him your going to get. I had a really uncomfortable situation with the him, He was asking me something but I didnt understand what he was talking about (they talk in riddles here so he was talking about the pipes used for irrigation, he was asking me about the “2 inchers” and the “63’s”) so I said that I didnt know what he wanted from me. He then turned to his second hand man and said ‘Am I speaking fucking english’ I was rather shocked and just stayed quiet. Afterwards he went to his office so I went to discuss the incident with him asking what I had done wrong. He just shouted and said I had no innitiative, which made no sense to me. So for the rest of that day I just felt like shit and I didnt really want to work. At the end of the day which was around 8pm, he came to me with his half assed apology and said that it was nothing to do with me and that he was annoyed with another employees mistake. So basically I spent the whole day feeling as if I’d done something wrong when really he just cant manage his emotions.

After this I wasnt inclined to stay longer so I decided to give him his requested 4 weeks notice and leave. I didnt want there to be any bad blood so I told a little white lie and said to him that I had decided to go back to the UK in december to visit for 2 weeks, to which he seemed fine with and then I always have another contact if I’m struggling to find work. Little did i know there would be further questions…

The owner and his employees would ask me various questions about my plans, how much my flights cost and when I was flying. So after they had asked this a few times and my answer always just being I haven’t booked them yet, I thought perhaps I should just check flights and costs. So I went online and checked so I could give an average of what I would have spent on flights if I was actually leaving and give them some dates. They would still continously ask about the flights and plans I had, so I had to pause and think to remember what I’d told the first person who asked so I didnt slip up. After a while I think I’d convinced myself that I was actually going home. I would then get questions on what I would be doing when I returned as they had offered for me to come back and work with them. I had told them I was returning before Christmas on the 23rd and heading down to Tassie on the ferry. Although I then needed to check the ferry’s at that time as its so close to Christmas and it turns out there arent any. So then I had to say that I’ll be going early January.

So, long story short, I’m currently travelling slowly towards Melbourne, ready to get the ferry to Tasmania on the 9th december, where I will then look for and find another Job.

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to decieve“

Sir Walter Scott, 1808

I have other reasons for leaving early too, the tractor work I feel I was promised was non existent, It got very lonely being the only backpacker there and it was getting a bit warm for me, digging holes in the 38 degree heat all day is not fun I can assure you.

The last month was pretty shit, I got pretty lonely on the farm, for the whole 2 months there were no other backpackers or travellers around so I’d just finish work, shower, eat some food and a have a cheeky gin, watch some TV, then sleep and repeat until the last month was over.

I’ve literally spent hours trying to work out how to write how the irrigation works as it is a rather interesting (well to me anyway) so here goes on a basic approach: basically water is pumped out through the river and flows through channels all over the farm. It runs along the top of the fields and this is called a head ditch. Along the head ditch are pipes known as siphons but in all honestly look just like basic black pipes to me. The water is then drawn out of the head ditch by a use of the siphons. Below is a few brief steps to start one.

1. Submerge the siphon in the head ditch

2. Pushing the siphon into the water with your hand slightly over the open end but with a small gap for air

3. Pull the pipe out of the water leaving the end of the pipe in, with your hand covering the open end (field end) of the siphon so its fully sealed

4. Repeat this action until the siphon is filled with water (usually takes 1-3 thrusts depending on the length of the pipe)

5. Once the pipe feels full, let the pipe go as your are pulling it towards the field, removing the seal and letting the water flow, The pipe will then lay on the head ditch and run until you stop it

We would usually do around 100-250 siphons per shift on a field. Each field requires a different amount of shifts depending on size. I think the most shifts that were done on one field was 6 shifts of 12 hours, so to irrigate the full field it would take 72 hours.

So after 2 months of shovelling dirt, throwing pipes, picking up pipes, sweeping, weeding and other general jobs I decided that I’d had enough, I am however happy that I took the opportunity with this job as it was interesting to have the experience and acquire more knowledge about agriculture.

A Series of Fortunate Events

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I’ve recently begun work on an avocado farm or avo farm as they would say in Australia. I arrived in Australia just short of 2 months ago and have already seen quite a bit. I was fortunate to meet someone at my sisters wedding in early March that said his parents were looking for people to work on there farm. So obviously I said yes.

Im lucky enough to have my sister already living here in Australia and her and my brother in law were very helpful in getting me set up and sorted. I managed to buy a car quickly and set off not long after I received the call saying the job was available when I was.

My first actual car

I drove from my sisters house and arrived in Comboyne where the farm is located at the end of March along with a french backpacker who arrived via train, we were both given a warm welcome by the owners Penny and Ernst, they had cooked us a lasagna and we had a few drinks and introduced ourselves and our lives and so on. They have had an incredible life traveling, Ernst being Dutch and Penny from Australia both met whilst working in India, and have done a lot of travelling between them before they settled down back in Australia and bought this farm.

My plan is to stay here for a couple of months so I can save some money to travel elsewhere but to also complete my 88 days farmwork which will then let me apply for the second year visa.

I had arrived first so got first dibs on the accommodation, It was a choice between a caravan or a shed like building! I chose the shed as it was much roomier and looked comfier. The accommodation is only $50 per week which includes the living quarters, a fully equipped kitchen and a toilet block. My shed which is called the Olympian due to the fact it has Sydney Kings Olympic basketball court as its floor and walls. It has a small veranda as I walk out my door which has an amazing view of the hills far away and perfect for a sunrise.

The Olympian
Inside the Olympian
The kitchen
Sunrise from my shed
The view

So… to the work, there’s plenty of it, our first job is to tackle the weeds and other trees growing around the avocado trees. On our first day we were given a bucket with a pair of secateurs, loppers, a pruning saw, a recycled spray bottle filled with round up (a poison to spray on the cuts we make to prevent them from regrowing) a jar of salt, some insect spray and a pair of gloves.

Below is an example of before and after

A tree before I’ve started work on it
And after it’s finished

It’s not a skilled or difficult job it just takes patience and hard work, some of the trees are pretty easy and have little to nothing underneath them but some are heavy with undergrowth, we have done a couple of blocks of weeding now and are about 3 weeks in.

The worst part is Choko’s, a fruit that grows on climbing vines that gets tangled in the trees, they are a nightmare to untangle and trim but we also have to collect all the fruits as they are full of seeds which will just make the amount of vines next year, even worse. I’ve managed to collect around 25 sacks full just by myself so there is quite a lot of them.

In Comboyne it tends to rain quite a bit, we can work easily in light rain but once your soaked it’s pretty uncomfortable so tend to stop if we get too wet. We usually have days off when it rains all day and that’s when we go to the nearest town of Port Macquarie to see sights and do our shopping.

The other lad I’m here working with takes everything a little slow. When we work I tend to do 3 times the amount as him, his excuse is that he’s on holiday but last time I checked it is still a job and should be putting a little more effort in. But the owners leave us to it so hes free to do what he wants. When we go shopping he tends to take an hour for a 15 minute shop, I mean I drive him an hour to the shops and he still makes me wait. I mean It may just be me as when I have things to do I like to get them done so I can relax and enjoy the other parts of travelling.

He recently told me that he used to be a firefighter in Paris… so now we know why Notre Dames roof burnt through, everyone was waiting on him to get ready. Just a giggle I have to myself when he’s going super slow.

There is plenty of wildlife on the farm from leeches to the occasional wallabies. The leeches are very annoying, attach to you out of nowhere and start sucking your blood, it feels almost like an ongoing ant bite. I had one the other day inside my belly button which was pretty grim, we are provided with salt (which you are supposed to put on the leech so it drops off but I tend to just rip them off) and insect spray but they still find a way to get to you even if you cover yourself head to toe.

A leech on the French guy

Only managed to see a few wallabies as they keep pretty far away but they are here and hopping about.

We were warned at the start, of the snakes. The brown snake, black snake and python but have thus far only seen 3 pythons, the least deadliest we are told.

Me and a Python

The farm is 500 Acres, 200 of the acres are avocado trees and the rest is empty space full of trees, small weirs a river and some waterfalls that I’ve not actually yet seen. so we have a 4×4 mule to get ourselves around, somehow two have broken down on us whilst we’ve used them, so third time lucky.

Our first Mule

“To be a farmer is to be a student forever, for each day brings something new”

John Connell

The West Coast is the Best Coast

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After my long trek and first tramping experience on the Heaphy Track I booked a room in a hostel in Westport, had a look around and then lay down and relaxed and did some research as to what would be my first stop along the West Coast. I decided that I would first go to Punakaiki for 2 nights and then decide where to go from there.

I got the bus to Punakaiki the next day. It’s a small town with only a tavern, a café and an information centre. I checked into the hostel and then headed out to explore with an American guy I had met on the bus. My first stop was the very popular tourist spot, Pancake Rocks and it was pretty busy when We arrived.

Snuck over the barrier for that perfect shot

Pancake rocks Is a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through blowholes during high tides.

Pancake Rocks

Unfortunately We went at low tide and missed the blowholes.

Staircase carved into the Rock

We wandered back towards the hostel stopping at some caves to look around before walking along the coast to the hostel. We relaxed for a little and then walked North out of town to a small walking track that lead to a beach with a huge cove and some more caves.

The next day I ventured to the river and hired a kayak, I kayaked up the river having to get out at certain points to walk it as there were rough rapids and a low water level.

Relaxing in the calmer waters

I got about an hour away before I turned back and cruised back down the river, the rapids weren’t too big but I almost crashed a few times into large rocks. I relaxed on the beach until I managed to cut open my toe and then headed back. The sunset on the beach that evening was pretty nice to watch.

The next day I walked to the end of town to start hitchhiking, my aim of the day was to get to Greymouth, which was only 40 minutes away, but there were some sights I wanted to stop at along the way. I was only waiting around 15 minutes before I first got picked up by a local who told me there was some cool beaches to look for greenstone on, having nothing planned for the day I was dropped off and spent some time looking for greenstone, I found very little but it was a cool experience. I then hitchhiked to Runanga that is home to the Coal Creek Falls, I was dropped off not far from the entrance and then I headed down the track for 30 minutes before arriving at the falls and stopping to take in the views and to rest.

Coal Creek Falls

I returned to the roadside and got picked up pretty quickly by a couple heading in my direction, they dropped me off just outside my hostel in Greymouth.

I checked in before heading into town to explore. It’s a pretty small town local shops and businesses. I looked around and then headed back to the hostel to chill out. The hostel provides free bikes and kayaks so the next morning at high tide I took a kayak onto the river, through a lake and then down to the harbour side.

Reflection in the lake
Down in the Harbour

It was peaceful and pretty and a good view of the surrounding hills. I returned hoping to grab a bike and head out for the day but unfortunately there wasn’t one available that was working, I attempted to fix one but didn’t have any luck. I then decided I would just take a walk to the beach.

I walked around 2km out of town before hitchhiking to Hokitika, I got picked up after about 20 minutes of waiting. I arrived in Hokitika and went to the I-site to see what I could do. I had planned that morning to meet my friend Jessie who I had met back in Palmerston North as I was heading South and he was heading North we thought it would be a cool spot to meet up. He picked me up and we headed 25km out of town to visit Hokitika Gorge, the walk was extremely short once we had arrived and lead over a swing bridge to the beautiful views of the gorge and the amazing milky blue color of the water, we spent some time here before returning to town and checking in at the hostel.

Hokitika Gorge and swing bridge
Jessie and me

When we arrived at the hostel we were shown to our room. I then bumped into my friend Janna whom I had met when I was working in Tauranga. I knew she was on the south island but wasn’t exactly sure where about’s she was, so that was pretty cool.

Large driftwood sign

I headed out with Jessie and we went for a swim in the sea and a walk along the beach. We then retuned to the hostel to chill out. Later that evening Jessie, Janna, 2 others and me headed out to watch the sunset at Sunset Point and see the Glow Worm Dell once it had got dark.

Sunset Point

The next morning before we all headed off in our different directions we went for an early morning swim in the sea at 7am.

I checked out of the hostel and walked over the bridge out f town and started hitchhiking to a small town called Heri Heri, practically in the middle of nowhere. The guy who picked me up offered to drop me on the roadside or in this little town, I opted for the town as it was a lot further down the road but first we had to drive to a farm as he was working as a farming consultant. Once he had finished he dropped me off. I waited maybe 40 minutes before getting picked up again by a farmer who was heading home, he took me all the way to Franz Josef which was my destination for the next 2 nights.

I dropped of my gear at the hostel and then headed out to treat myself for my tea. I had a large burger and chips and then took a walk around the small town before heading back.

The next morning I headed off to the Glacier, the start of the track is about 45 minutes walk from town, I could have booked a shuttle but chose to walk. I arrived at the head of the track and headed down towards the glacier. It only took about 30-40 minutes to get there, I then sat down and took in the views for around 30 minutes before following the track back, I then took another track down to Peter’s Pool where you can see a cool reflection of the mountains. Unfortunately you can no longer see the glacier from the pool as it has receded back to far up the valley. I then walked back to Franz Josef to which I relaxed in the sun for a while.

Franz Josef Glacier
Peter’s Pool

Unsure of where I was heading next I did some research and decided to head to the remote town of Haast next, I chose to get the bus to Haast, as the weather didn’t look too promising for the next day.

I took my bus the next morning, the driver was pretty cool and it felt more like a guided tour as he explained the local area and we stopped off at some awesome lookouts and beaches. When we arrived in Haast it was raining pretty bad so I headed straight to the hostel. It carried on raining most of the afternoon so I decided to stay indoors. The next morning I had 2 hours before my bus arrived and the owner of the hostel offered me a bike so I could head out and see the beach, the only reason I planned to stop here. I took the bike out but it was still pretty overcast but had a good ride to the beach and back.

Haast Beach

When the bus arrived I jumped on, left the West Coast behind and headed for Wanaka.

“West side is da best”

Ali G

Views and too much booze!

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I arrived in wellington on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday morning I had a lie in and then headed out to explore Wellington, I took an electric scooter to the bottom of Mount Victoria and then climbed to the summit, it only took around 30 minutes and the views from both the walk upwards and the top overlooking Wellington CBD and the harbour were to say the least, pretty amazing.

View from Mt Victoria

You get a pretty good 360 degree view from the top and from there I saw a beach that didn’t look too far away, as it was sunny and still pretty early in the day I decided I would wander down the other side of the mountain, unsure of where exactly I was going but on an adventure none the less. I managed to find my way to the bottom of the mount and through a residential area, around an hour or so later I arrived at the beach. In front of me lay Lyall Bay a beautiful beach with glistening blue water, the beach is right next to the airport but still peaceful and relaxing. plenty of people surfing and swimming in the sea.

Lyall Bay

I then took a scooter back around the mount along the waterside and returned to the city centre. I walked through town and then grabbed something to eat for lunch and started to walk up towards the botanical gardens, it took me a little over 20 minutes to walk to the top, but when I reached the top I was exhausted and decided that I would leave walking around the gardens to another day and possibly take the cable car up next time.

I returned to the hostel and then later met up with a friend and went for a short walk along the waterside and then to a bar on Cuba Street, spent some time drinking and playing pool, met some locals and then sat down to eat. When the waiter had brought out our food and we had started eating another waiter then brought out the same plates of food to us, we hadn’t realised that it was a 2 for 1 deal so we both paid $21 for two plates of pork ribs with chips and coleslaw. I obviously didn’t eat it all and shared it to some others in the bar but christ thats a pretty good deal. Also the jugs of beer only cost $10 so you can’t go wrong there. I returned home at around 11pm and went straight to bed.

I awoke at around 1:45am when an Irish guy stumbled into the dorm room pissed out of his head, literally just slurring his words and being loud as ever, he climbed up to the top of his bunk and pretty much descended into sleep straight away. Anyway, around 1-2 hours later I was awoken again by his mate who had woken up beneath him, I then heard the sound of running water, I looked down and saw liquid pouring out of the mattress above and down onto this guy below, the guy above had just pissed himself in his sleep and the urine was sinking through his mattress down and splashing the guy beneath him, I was about half asleep at this point but couldn’t help but laugh. I mean in all honesty it was fucking disgusting, who needs to get that drunk. The guy beneath him was his travel mate so I think perhaps he was more understanding as he didn’t wake the guy up and say anything, although if you’ve pissed yourself and your still asleep chances are you won’t be waking up. I think his mate then just decided to just have a shower and sort out his bedding.  

I’ve always detested being on the top bunk, but now I hope that I’m always on the top to save myself from this utter nightmare. I don’t even know what my reaction would be if this ever happened to me. Im unsure if the guy even knows if it happened, I’m sure his mate will inform him though. There was only one girl in the room and I’m pretty sure she moved rooms this morning, I do not blame her.

I have 2 weeks here in wellington, I’m unsure whether to get a job and stay longer or to just relax and then head to the South Island.

“Spontaneity is the best kind of adventure”

Staying at Nev and Debs

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So, I’m not in Auckland any more, I’ve ventured down to the Bay of Plenty, I plan to get work here in the next few days.

I’ve been staying in an Airbnb the last few days on Papamoa Beach,

It’s a lovely cabin at the bottom of Nev and Debs garden, with a really cool set up; inside the cabin there is a very comfortable queen sized bed, TV, desk and chair, shelves and hanging space for clothes, a toilet and sink, a radiator and a very comfy chair.

The cabin

Leaving the cabin and walking to the left over the paved stepping-stones to the covered patio area, almost seems as that’s all there is, but behind, hidden from view, behind the dining area, there’s a corrugated metal shed, inside of which is pretty much a full kitchen with all the amenities you could need.

Patio
To the left
To the right

To the left of this, a few meters away is an outdoor shower, now before you turn up your nose at this, it is actually very nice, the hot water pretty much cycles through straight away, the water pressure is pretty decent and once your inside it gets pretty warm, such a nice and different twist. There is also a strong connection to WIFI.

Shower

What did i spend my few days doing?

On my arrival I unpacked what I needed and set out to have a look around, I crossed the road, clambered over the dunes and looked out at the sea, I walked for about 15 minutes down the beach taking everything in, until I crossed back over the dunes and went into Papamoa Plaza for some shopping and something to eat.

It was raining on Sunday so I decided to wait for it to calm down before I left. Nev and Debs house is literally over the road from the beach. I started walking down the beach, it was so peaceful and the sounds of the waves are extremely relaxing, Its really good to relax and think. I walked for just under 1½ hours, it started to rain halfway for around 10-15 minute and then stopped and the sun came back out. When I had walked as far as I could, I left the beach and went to look around the Bayfair shopping mall, had an early tea and got the bus back to Papamoa Beach.

I asked Nev if he knew a good place in which I could hire a bike, he then offered me his, to borrow, how accommodating is that? I took him up on his offer, He also lent me a lock and a helmet (not something I’d usually wear but it’ll make my mum happy). On Monday I used the bike and cycled from Papamoa Beach to Mount Maunganui. I locked up the Bike and begin my ascent to the summit of the extinct volcano. Some parts of the track were pretty steep and rather strenuous to walk up. The sun was beating down, I refrained from stopping and resting on the many benches littered among the track as I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up and get going again after a break. When I made it to the top I was exhausted, I sat at the top for around 10 minutes before taking some shots of the beautiful views. I spent the rest of the day climbing up and down around the rocks on Moturiki Island.

Relaxing at the summit overlooking the bay

Check out was at 10:00am on Tuesday, I had a lie-in in the morning, showered and then packed up my gear and checked out, I’m pretty sure I will come back and stay here when I need to wind down after a few months in a hostel. Im now staying in Mount Maunganui and hoping to get a job soon.

Going in blind

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I arrived in Hong Kong at around 7am on Monday morning. I had a 10-hour stopover before my next flight later that day at 5pm. I had a decision to make, one I had been pondering the whole flight, do I or do I not go into Hong Kong.

I chose to go into Hong Kong at the last minute, obviously. I wanted to see what it was like, and this being the furthest from the UK I had ever been (so far), it’s an experience I didn’t want to pass up. I didn’t plan on what I would do there or look at any maps prior, I went through customs and continued to the exit, bought some $HKD and a train ticket and left the airport.

The train took around 25 minutes, I arrived in Hong Kong, It was warm, and I mean very warm. It was 32 degrees and very humid, not the kind of weather an English man expects. I had no clue where to go. Expecting coldish weather on my arrival to Auckland I hadn’t any summery clothes, so black Jeans it was!

So… back to Hong Kong, I began to walk around Hong Kong, my clothes already beginning to stick to me. I was walking in some sort of direction, no clue where I was going, no access to the Internet at this point so that was no help from Google maps. I had a look around the piers and some shops until I found a nice air-conditioned mall, no shops inside were open due to it being so early in the morning I presume, but it was cool and I was able to relax. After 2-3 hours of exploring and sightseeing the heat had totally overwhelmed me so I decided to return to the airport.

On my arrival at the airport I booked a shower and relaxed until my final flight to Auckland.

I obviously didn’t see all of Hong Kong as I wasn’t prepared for the heat and didn’t have heaps of time to do anything or go further inland but I would like to go back if my travels take me back through there and perhaps stay a few days.

Anyone who does have a stopover in Hong Kong, Disneyland is not far from the airport, I really missed out there!

“You can leave Hong Kong, but it will never leave you.”

Nury Vittachi, Hong Kong: The City of Dreams