Backpaddock Lakes - Lakes at the Back of a Paddock #mindblown

Wind farm viewing platform, nailed it

The drive over I was worried Sinbad was going to be a problem but he did just fine. I stopped into a place called Palmerston North and got some stuff that the mechanic said would help Sinbad if he got sensitive again. It rained but I did have a couple of scenic stops, including a special viewing platform to see the wind turbines, first time for everything. Imagine if we had those in England. I arrived into Waipukurau and it was raining so I decided to stay in the campsite for the night and then call Trev (guy in charge of the lake) in the morning. The campsite was expensive for what they offered, had a chilled out evening and then the next day it was nice and sunny so called up Trev and he told me there was a guy called Tristan in the house at the top of the road who was in charge of the lake.

Beautiful

Tristan was pretty cool so we hung out then went down to check out the lake. It is man-made, took a long ass time to dig up and then filled from underground springs. There is one boat lake and another cable lake with two System 2 style cables (also homemade), an impressive feat in engineering. Tristan showed me how everything worked and then we went for a wakeboard. Then Trev and family came home and we hung out down by the lake, had a BBQ.

I then pulled Sinbad up by the lake and went to sleep, there was no light pollution so I could open the sunroof and looked up at the sky. It was the first time I had seen that many stars in the sky, it was beautiful.

The next few days were spent by the lake hanging out with Tristan in the sun. There were a number of awesome riders that would come down and ride. I landed my first Raley, technically what I did was called a Galey because I cheated and used the pull from the corner but it was awesome to be able to try new stuff. One day Tristan had a lesson with a young girl called Sam and her parents had just bought a Nautique G23, for the record it is like a tank. I was lucky enough to get a ride on it in exchange for taking some photos, good trade I think. It has a huge wake and even in this lake which is shallower it still kicks you up in the air. 

I took a lot of photos so you have to put up with clicking through them now…

The slalom course gets a lot of action

This is a G23 (or boat tank as it is commonly referred)

Marcus carving round a bouy

Sam wakesurfing behind the G23

Ollie, Eva and Trev playing on a "biscuit"

Hoochie Cole as he is known

Sam throwing a Raley

Tristan playing on his board

Tom proving that not all kneeboarding is stupid

I thought I should take a trip in Sinbad into town to make sure he was working, oh I’m glad I did, he got a little warm on that trip. Fortunately Trev is a mechanic so he took Sinbad with him to work and got one of the other guys to clean him up good. One evening Tristan and I decided that we wanted to go watch The Hobbit and what better place to watch it that where it was made. At the start of the movie there was an intro thanking New Zealand, it made me feel involved with the making of the movie. Unfortunately I am bad luck with cars and Tristan’s car might have exploded a little bit when we got to the movies. So Trev came out and literally swapped cars whilst we were watching the movie, haha. The Waipuk cinema is something a little different to any other cinema I’ve been to. It is like a school theatre with the wooden arms, it was an experience like no other. But a good one none the less. 

Shooting stuff

A couple of days before I left I helped Tristan with a Stag Do, they came down and did a lot of wakeboarding. We also had a clay pigeon shoot so got to fire some rounds into the lake, always a blast, see what I did there? After that the guys were going on a pub crawl with Tristan as their chauffeur, we had to pick Sinbad up from the garage first and then I joined in the excitement. Without going into too much detail there were some international drinking competitions and let’s just say that England came home with gold. You are welcome England!

An awesome place to spend a few days, thanks to the Rowlands for having me.

Woodie’s Wisdom: 5 nights sleeping by a lake does wonders for the soul.

Wanaka - A Crate of Beer, Frozen and Some Old Men

View from the top of the Crown Range

Flip waiting at the top of the mountain

After leaving Queenstown there is a beautiful drive up over the Crown Range. With an amazing view over the mountains I stopped at the top to take some photos. As I got back into the car for the rest of the journey over the mountains I tried to wind my window up as it was a bit chilly. Unfortunately Sinbad refused! The electric motor was working but the window wasn’t moving. So I had to continue on into the sunset with an open window. On went my wooly hat and the heater and it was all good. I got to the campsite (the same one that my parents watched Lewis Hamilton not win the F1 World Championship in 2008) around 8pm. It was only when I got out of the car that I noticed I was missing a flip flop. So I was one flip flop down, one broken window and

A twig holding the window up

the rain starting to fall. I booked myself in for the night, then the campsite owner helped me take the door off (I became a pro) and prop the window closed. I decided to take a leaf out of the US Military handbook and not leave a man behind. I went on Mission Flip to collect the missing flip, I still had the flop. It was about 45 mins away but was so worth it. I now have both flip and flop but decided that I should get a backup pair in case I do something silly again.

Sinbad by the sea

After a good nights rest I had a nice time chilling around the waterfront with my book, bought a new pair of flip flops. For the first time in a long while I didn’t buy a pair of Reef flip flops because they don’t import them into New Zealand. I went with a pair of Hurley ones that have the sole made by Nike, unfortunately they didn’t have a bottle opener. I feel like I failed myself a little but they are pretty comfy so I will take it. I found a lovely little Italian restaurant, called Francesca’s, round the back of a car park. It would appear it’s actually very popular and people came from miles around to eat there. It was really good food and I think you had to be English to work there. I ended up watching a movie with a couple from America, they claimed that it was a Steven Spielberg film, it wasn’t. Fun fact, don’t watch a film called Sanctum, it’s not very good but it is in some way associated with Steven Spielberg.

Awesome car starter from Peter

The next morning I was chilling in Sinbad (still in my bad books) whilst charging my phone. However, when I came to drive away it would appear that I had no battery power, the phone was still charging though. I politely asked a passing couple if they had a booster, fortunately Peter was on hand with the coolest little device and just like that Sinbad was running again. To charge my battery I drove around a lot, taking photos as I tootled around the peninsula. In the afternoon the wind had picked up and I spotted a guy getting ready for a windsurf so went and took some photos. Another guy showed up with a kitesurf as well, supposedly the best wind that you get in Wanaka. A good day to be about.

Windsurfing on Lake Wanaka

American Football day was spent in a really smart bar that did some spiffing food. One of such foods was a loaf of bread filled with a cheesy core and garlic butter. I might have had 2. Football happened. I had been put in touch with a local by a friend from Greece, go Biebs. I had sent him a message but he happened to be at work but popped in for a quick beer beforehand. It would appear we got on, what a surprise. I had been planning on heading off that evening buy Josh mentioned that he was going to be having a day drinking session the next day and invited me along. On the camp site there was a trampoline that is springless, really cool concept so I tried it out. I haven’t been on a trampoline in a while and it would appear it has got harder, after about 10 mins I had to get my inhaler! I did put on a bit of a show for the German campers though, landing a front and back flip in those 10 mins! Earned my sleep though.

The drinking day was a lot of fun; 3 of us and 48 beers. Some may say it was a day well spent. We then went out to a few bars, I honestly don’t remember where we went and the next day I couldn’t even recognise them, whoops. At the end of the night Josh got into a scuffle with a bogan and ripped his favorite t-shirt. It was a lot of fun but it was the most drunk I have been in a long long time and therefore the worst hangover. We both woke up still pretty drunk and thought that we might as well go for a morning swim in the lake, it was fresh. We didn’t exactly rush after that, after breakfast we decided to take my virginity, my Frozen virginity. What is better on a hangover day than watching a Disney musical? Nothing, that’s what!

Slightly hungover swim in the lake

Josh made me breakfast

Frozen and ice cream

At about 5pm I decided to head off to Tekapo, when the hangover was starting to fade. It was my favourite drive in New Zealand so far. Over mountains, countryside and then into the lakes. Just as I came to the first big lake the clouds parted and gave a spine tingling reflection.

I arrived into Tekapo just as the sun was going down, I did miss the sunset but did get a beautiful view of the lake from the campsite. The next morning I headed to the hot springs for a relaxing morning overlooking the lake. I was developing a bit of a cold, it would appear that my aging body can’t handle a full day of drinking anymore. I decided that a relaxing head massaging was in order,

Yummy!

thank you Alicia. She got a little flirting in, telling me I was the funniest customer she had had. I can’t deny it, handsome and funny, these kiwis know what they are talking about. After a bit more of a relaxing soak and steam, teaching a German girl how to use the plunge pool properly, I had a sit out in the sunshine for some food. After making friends with the bar staff and chef, the offered to let me try some of their new menu before anyone else, this could have had something to do with me not being able to pick anything from their menu. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich looking out over the lake. My best meal so far in New Zealand.

Who knows what bird
this is?

I pootled off into the wilderness after my lunch, taking my time but there wasn’t really much to see or do, time just passed. Other than driving back in the direction of Christchurch which I was worried that I would miss a turn and end up back there! To cross from the East to West of South Island you need to go over some rather large mountains. I drove across one that was called Arthur’s Pass, when I was basically at the top of the world whilst also stuck in a valley, fun feeling, I decided to get a little creative with my camping. I have an app that shows where most campsites are in New Zealand (incredibly useful) and as it was getting dark I needed to find one. However on the app the descriptions of the local campsites weren’t exactly stellar. They were all DOC campsites, meaning they are run by the conservation department, also meaning that they don’t have running water and stuff. I went big and went to the one with a tap, also based in the town of Arthur’s Pass, also the cheapest campsite of my trip ($6). Now, calling it a town is a bit of a stretch. The high street was about 100 metres long but that wasn’t even the worst thing. I arrived at around 7.30pm, get Sinbad all set up on the grassy knoll and walked into town to get some food. I went to the pub and asked if they were doing food, the answer was no because they were just about to shut. IT WAS 8PM!!!! You know you live in a small town when no one wants to be in the pub after 8pm. Fortunately the night took a turn for the better on the campsite when some Kea (New Zealand bird) decided to come play.

Meet Kea

They big! Everyone on the campsite got involved with the taking of photos. It was a proud moment for me because people were jealous of the size of my camera, and as I’ve been told on multiple occasions that size matters, haha. I even gave out some free photography advice to a young german man trying to get an arty photo. It’s like those 2 years of “university” weren’t wasted after all.

I did some more driving the next day, I was starting to get the first sense that I was in a rush as I needed to be in Nelson in 3 days from when I left Tekapo! Somewhere along my scenic route I passed a couple of lakes, they were pretty, the mountains were pretty. You know the drill. As I was driving round the side of a big lake I passed one Malibu Wakesetter (for those that don’t know, it’s a boat) and that got my juices going. Then just like that, about 30 mins later, a Malibu Response (for

Steve carving it up

those that don’t know, another boat) pulled out in front of me. Being on my travels I thought, let’s follow it. I did, for about 20 minutes, off the main road and down into a small town all the way down to the waterfront where there was another Response and a group of middle aged men. I thought it was only polite to introduce myself and explain why I had followed him down here. “Not that I was stalking you but I saw your boat and wanted to see where you were going”. They were a bunch of lovely chaps setting up a slalom course. I did a bit of helping out, a lot of talking and by the end of the afternoon they had invited me to dinner and also out on a boat to watch some skiing. I was so nice to be out on a boat again. Moana was turning out to be a lovely little town, the pub was also open after 8 o’clock. I also saw another Wakesetter than had a sparkly purple paint job, well done them.

My new friends, thanks guys

Fly doggy fly

Historic but not for tourists

After a night staying in the most relaxed campsite I’ve stayed in, I could have just driven in and stayed the night and driven out again without paying but I didn’t because I was raised proper like. I had a long day of driving to get up to Nelson, 6 hours worth but I did enjoy the previous few days. Just outside of Moana I saw a sign to a historic bungalow and thought it would be interesting. However, as you can tell from the sign, it isn’t exactly the most tourist friendly attraction. Only open on a Sunday between 2-4. I very nearly hopped the fence to go see but thought I would hold off on my law breaking.

Woodie’s Wisdom: Don’t mess with Sinbad

Sexy underwater selfie

Queenstown - Dream Town

Firstly I want to apologize to my avid fans for the delay in updating my blog, I have been having lots of fun. The good news is that you get to read about it, probably when I get back to the UK, ha. Enjoy.

I arrived in civilization and it was amazing! My first stop was to the backpackers where I was told I could park. Unfortunately they didn’t have any space, retrospectively that was a good thing because they charged a fortune, when you live in your own house $5 here and there is important, remember that. I eventually found a very nice campsite and set up home, made friends with the girl behind the desk, let’s call her Hayley from Burnley. 

This is Queenstown, pretty pretty

Then I made my way into town, I can’t really explain the feeling of arriving here. Given that I had come from Invercargill and other places where people were the exception. Having people around doing stuff was fantastic and I immediately felt at home. Being traditionally English I saw a sign that said “pub” and I was caught. I went in and made my first friend in Queenstown, the barman, also from England. There was a trend emerging, there aren’t actually that many people from New Zealand that live in Queenstown, lots of foreigners working and traveling. At The Pub I walked outside on a beautiful afternoon, sat down next to a group of 3 who were eating what can only be described as poo. Fortunately it didn’t taste like it and they were very friendly. After politely asking if they wanted to be my friends they said yes, who wouldn’t! We had some beers and then went to the movies to watch The Hunger Games. It was a good first day.

A sign from my breakfast spot

The next day was what have started to referring to as “American Football Day”, most people call it Monday. I started out with a visit to Hayley to book some activities. I decided to start small and booked some white water rafting for Tuesday. I spent about 7 hours in a bar called Malbas watching the games, it was an awesome day and made friends with the people who were coming for job interviews. Obviously I looked like a secret owner who wanted to get to know the staff. I also had some of the best wings I have had, unfortunately they didn’t have BBQ sauce, who does that?!

My attempt at a pre-rafting selfie

A paddle high five

Tuesday morning I had a wander around a bit of Queenstown village before I got picked up for rafting. It’s a very pretty tourist town, there are so few Kiwis around. So many British people working in all the shops and activity centres. For those that haven’t been, it comes across like a ski resort but is equally busy in both winter and summer. The drive to the rafting start was sketchy, on a road that wasn't really wide enough for the bus. One turn it felt like we were at the end of The Italian Job. My rafting group ended up being 4 English people and 2 Hollandish people, it's like they put the Europeans together. It was the most fun rafting I’ve done. I was sitting at the front so was the first to get a face full of icy fresh water. My favorite part was going through a tunnel followed by a huge drop of rapids. A great rush and who doesn’t love getting sprayed in the face! After I returned to town I went and entered a poker tournament that I had heard about the day before. It was really good fun and the people playing were really cool. Unfortunately I didn’t come away with any money but I’m blaming that more on luck that skill, obviously.

Bring me ma babyback ribs

The weather on Wednesday was really average so I went and did some shopping. It was one of the most successful shopping trips I’ve been on. I found trousers that fit, not only did they fit but they are also stretchy so one can lunge in them. What an amazing pair of trousers, I fell in love. I also bought some boardies because I could. My back was hurting from driving Sinbad around so I decided that I would treat myself to a massage. Hector was so calm and quiet when he introduced himself to me. However, when that door was closed he was mean and aggressive and it hurt. But afterwards I felt a lot less tight. Fun fact about Hector, he was missing a toe on one foot. These are the exciting tidbits that you find out about someone when you are looking at their toes for half an hour. The best part about the day was my lunch, I was recommended a place called Flame for their ribs, duly eaten and thoroughly enjoyed. Probably the best ribs I’ve ever had, it’s like they were made my Carlsberg. Not a bad day!

My view from lunch

The next morning I wanted something to do that was a bit more chilled out. so had another chat with Hayley, very knowledgeable. She recommended a trip up the Skyline gondola and there was a beautiful view of Queenstown. I had a delicious buffet lunch with said view and headed back down the gondola after taking some tourist photos, and by that I mean photos of tourists taking photos! My favourite part was listening to 2 girls discuss their first world problems, they were definitely on their GAP yah. Quote of the day: “it’s not my fault that my daddy chooses to pay for my stuff”, boom! That was the whole conversation, I had to hold myself back from getting involved. I had a wander around town again and the frozen yoghurt shop I had walked past a couple of days before was actually open so I went in and made friends. I accidentally made friends with the owners because I thought this girl was chatting to someone whilst they took a piss. Fortunately she wasn’t, it was just the toilet and the kitchen were opposite each other, it was very funny but you had to be there. Coincidentally she was the owner and from near Oxford I think so we fell to talking. Always nice to make friends with people that sell food. In the evening I hung out at the campsite and made friends with a single mother from French Guyana, the child (aged 2.5) was adorable but just ran wild. I don’t know how she could travel for 3 months with a small child, I would probably have just put it up for adoption.

Thanksgiving Day Football

Friday was Thanksgiving in America due to time difference so I went back to the pub to watch the American football games. There turned out to be a lot of Americans from Seattle so I joined in with the excitement. For those that know my true allegience, I was quietly routing against the Seahawks because they ruined my dreams. After the game I left for Wanaka, where the adventure was just about to start…

Woodie’s Wisdom: Visit Queenstown!

This made me chuckle because
I'm a child

48 Hours in Sydney

Good evening, this post is a little late in actually getting up. I have been getting distracted by things that are way better than writing a blog.

Sydney was short and sweet, I had booked a hotel next to the airport so I could be up out and early to fly to NZ. My first day was ruined by my attempt at a nap. I landed at 7am after 21 hours on a plane and 3 hours in Singapore. I was doing ok and wasn't actually that tired but thought as it was so early that a nap would be a good idea, noooooo. Probably one of the stupidest things I have done. Actually, not as stupid as setting the wrong time on my alarm, so instead of waking up at midday I woke up at 4pm, cue the jet lag issues of the last few days.

After that, I had a soak in the Jacuze and then had room service, watched a film and then went to bed, kind of. I slept from 10pm til 1am then was awake until 6am, then slept until 11. I don't know what that was, but my body was all over the shop.

Then the fun stuff happened, I decided to investigate the city. It reminds me of New York, smart streets and well maintained, just with a better view from the water. I had some lunch with a lovely old couple called Michael and Sylvia who had emigrated from Burnley 18 years ago and it was the best decision they had made. Their kids had grown up there and they think it has made them better people than living in the small town. One fun fact: the Burnley accent doesn't reduce over time, they could have left yesterday, apart from they were really happy with their lives, ha.

After that I went and acted like a tourist, taking photos in front of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, very impressive design and construction but not as imposing as I was led to believe. The Royal Botanic Gardens however were amazing, the trees were like trees at home, just completely different, you have to look at them closely.

Me in front of the Harbour Bridge

Me in front of the Opera House

Using what seems like the only public wifi spot in the city (Mcdonalds), I arranged a drink with Tash from Bristol. It was nice to see a friendly face, catch up and start my sunburn. Then I had to rush off to get back to my hotel so I could welcome Jess and Bex. Now that was fun, some naked photos covered in money, making it rain in a tutu. Room service, sneaky 3-way, and Jess complaining of the terrible nasty that Minnie done.

This really happened! #lad

The highlight of Sydney was in the airport the next morning, for half an hour we watched people try and use a lift. We were in stitches. Our favourite was parents putting a child into the lift and then not being able to get the trolley in so the kid went down on his own and 5 minutes later came back up with a member of staff. Improved only by the fact that 20 mins later they came back up and missed the floor. Thank you Syndey, off to Christchurch!

Woodies Wisdom: When looking after your child in an airport, don't leave them in a lift!