24. Back in the UK

This return back to the UK, after 5 months "on the road", was planned to give me the chance to spend time with Mum, to catch up with friends and to sort out one or two domestic matters (I won't bore you with the details!)  Fitting everything in to just one week was going to prove my biggest challenge!

With Mum's Birthday and Christmas falling together I had booked tickets to take her to see the show "Jersey Boys" in London. Bad weather had prevented her from seeing the show the year before.  Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and with songs like "Sherry", "Walk Like A Man" and "Oh What A Night" I knew my Mum would love the music.  This combined with a great story and stage show have resulted in it winning many top awards!  

We both loved the show, and combined with a great lunch with Freya in Pimlico before, it made for a perfect day out, not disrupted by the snow this time around!

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A visit to a rainy and windswept Rye in East Sussex meant that after our fish and chip lunch Mum and I only got the chance to see the famous windmill and feed the ducks before heading back home!

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Amongst those I did get the chance to see it was great to catch up with a few of my work buddies!  Sadly one person was a little disappointed with their food that evening though:

Maybe it was his 12" Partridgesque dinner plate that made his desert look so small? Check out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swJFOE49LRQ

As it turned out, there are just not enough hours in the day and I wasn't able to get to see everyone that I had wanted to! Most importantly spending the week with Mum meant a lot to both of us. I boarded the flight to Calgary pretty exhausted but happy about the week just passed, and also excited about the prospect of seeing Svan and the next part of our adventure, in the snowy mountains of Fernie, British Columbia - bring it on!!

23. New Zealand

NZ is a place that I, along with many others, have always wanted to visit. Anyone I knew who had been always came back with great memories and stories to tell!  Clearly it’s a long way from the UK so it’s not normally an option for your "average" 2 week holiday!  So what better opportunity would there be to spend an extended break in this amazing country than during my sabbatical?  Having already spent so much time around mountains in Canada and the thermal activities of Yellowstone, our idea was to take in some different experiences that we hadn’t done before but that would still be special and unique to NZ.  We looked forward to seeing its amazing coastline and beaches and to maybe try our hand at one or two “extreme” activities.  We arrived with no clear plan of exactly where the trip would take us, or as it became referred to the “no plan” plan.  Not easy for two compulsive planners!

Upon arrival in Auckland and seeing road signs or looking at a map for the first time it soon became clear that my first challenge would be to actually pronounce some of the Moari town names that we might visit, or to say them without starting to giggle when I read names that contained “Puke” or “Whaka” (pronounced “Fucka”) – more of this later! 

Above is a map of the North Island where we spent all of our time - we never made it further South than Tongariro National Park - there was just simply too much to see and do; here are just a few of our adventures:


1.     Sand boarding in Hokianga Harbour, Opononi (near Kaitaia)

This was a great experience, and one that neither Svan nor I had done before!  Having done the water and snow "thing", sand seemed like the next logical option! 

A few photos from the day

And here is a fun little mini-movie I put together: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKpzRmVVxi8

2.     Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Tongariro National Park

The track was closed for a couple of days due to high winds but we finally got to do this hike of nearly 20km (rated as NZ's #1 Day Hike)!  It includes an elevation gain of 800m, before descending back down 1100m.  You get to see glaciers, great volcanic craters and the remains of the last eruption plus thermal pools.  It is truly awesome - one of the best hikes we have done during this entire trip - although very popular with tourists, I would highly recommend it to anyone!  I couldn't say the same for the "Crossing Backpackers" - the youth hostel where we had to stay the night before the hike. Everywhere else was sold out. This is definitely a trip full of 1st time experiences, however the youth hostel experience is one that I don't need to repeat!

Check out the link below for more photos and information from the main site:
http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/

3.     Whitewater rafting on the Rangitaiki River near Rotarua

This 14.5km raft along the Rangitaiki River included Grades 2, 3 and 4 Rapids (Grade 6 being the highest, but these are not commercially raftable in NZ).  It was our first time and a fun experience with a great company called Wet N Wild http://www.wetnwildrafting.co.nz/ There are only a few photos of us waving our paddles on safe waters (below). Most of the 3 hours we were simply holding on to the boat or paddling frantically as instructed to prevent capsizing or worse. A great thrill!

4.     Hole in the Rock Boat Cruise, Paihia, Bay of Islands

This boat trip around the Bay of Islands showed off some of NZ's most beautiful coastline.  The highlight of the trip was going through a hole in a massive rock which isn't always possible. The gap only just fits one boat and the tide/waves can make it very dangerous. Going through was like being on a roller coaster.  An added bonus was a helicoper fly past taking video footage for a marketing video, we felt like we were filmed by the papparazzi!

Check out the link below for my own mini-movie of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr4J5WXLYS4

5. Kayak Trip to Rangitoto island, Auckland

This was a great one day adventure which started with a 6km kayak across Auckland harbour, dodging various ferries and container ships along the way!  We then hiked to the top of the volcanic island of Rangitoto, had lunch there and enjoyed the magnificent views across the harbour, numerous islands and of course the city itself, before hiking back down and making the return 6km kayak trip.  We were lucky that conditions were supposedly "benign" with waves still up to 3 or 4 feet high at times.  This combined with the fact that Svan was sharing a double kayak with someone (me) who had already capsized twice this year, certainly made her feel a little "uneasy".  I am pleased to say that we made it without any incident apart from having to deal with our rather eccentric guide Graeme who had a habit of telling us to "stay close" before then paddling off into the distance, in spite of our best efforts to keep up!

Svan with views from Rangitoto Island

There was so much to do and we had so much fun, it is difficult to tell all. Some other highlights for me, with cool photos and fun memories from NZ include:

The amazing 100m high sand dunes at Cape Reigna

At Cathedral Cove

Svan at New Chums Beach, rated in the Top 10 Beaches in the World - and it was virtually deserted!

Again at New Chums!

Mountain biking in Whakarewarewa Forest, Rotarua

Svan at the Waikite Hotsprings near Rotarua

Our goodbye party with Patrick, Anna and not forgetting Mauser (Pat's cuddly cat, also known as 'killer')!
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We arrived with only a few ideas of places we wanted to visit, people for Svan to catch up with and things to do.  Let’s make this clear, for 2 “planners” as Svan and I are (clearly me more than her ;) ) we had no formal plan!  Apart from our initial hotel accommodation in Auckland we had nothing booked, we could go wherever our mood took us. Oh yes, this was definitely the “no plan” plan trip.  Strangly enough this 'unplanned' style of travel is not popular in Germany! ;) 

At the first 2 of Svan's social gatherings I had to smile when 2 different guys both commented to me, completely independently, that Svan had not changed after 20 years, and that I must be a “very brave” guy!  Hmmmm who'd have thought it! :)  It’s also amazing the things that come out during these re-unions…  it turns out that Patrick’s pet name for Svan was “Concrete Lembke”!  This was not for her will of iron or core of steel it was for her ability to be able to sleep through virtually anything, from parties in neighbours houses, thunder stroms or even earth tremors!

Patrick was a great guy to hang out with, and he was kind enough to let us stay with him at his place in Titirangi (yep pronounced as it is spelled). He teaches at a local school and we loved his stories of how he has to try and persuade his students not to speak “gangsta” as even though he understands them, the examiner wouldn’t!  Aside from boxing and triathlons his other great sports passion at the moment is stand up paddle. This we also got to try. Our pre-NZ training, ie paddling on the 'floating yellow islands' in Florida, came in handy! The real paddle board was a bit more unstable but way more fun!

We were warned of "Orcas" out in the harbour and that we should not be fooled by any of the “re-branding” - they are "Killer Whales"!  They had that name for many years with good reason, and we should definitely paddle faster should they be spotted. Luckily we survived the day without any large fins in sight.

Me with Patrick

Svan during one of Patrick's boxing classes - she won this fight by KO, and according to Patrick she is heavier than she looks! ...now who is the brave man?

We covered nearly 3500km on our travels during this part of the trip and didn't even reach the South Island!  We travelled to the very tip of the North Island, where at Cape Reigna 2 Oceans meet (the Tasman and the Pacific) and you can literally see waves colliding from two different directions - amazing!  We travelled down as far south as Hawkes Bay and The Tongariro National Park, and visited the Coramandel Peninsula and Bay of Islands and Bay of Plenty.   We ended this trip with more great memories and Svan was able to re-light her friendships with many 'old' pals after being apart from them for so many years on the other side of the globe!  Even with over 4 weeks to spend there was not enough time to see and do everything that NZ has to offer! 

What next? I will be returning to London briefly for my mother's birthday and Svan will visit a friend in Portland .... and then we will finally hit the snow. Our next big adventure will take us back to British Columbia - primarily Fernie in the Canadian Rockies - where we will spend 12 weeks. So watch this space!

...but stay tuned for a bit longer. My quick NZ language guide for the naive traveller such as myself:

1. Do not think this is 'French'
 
It was when I called the hire car company to arrange collection of our car in Auckland when things first started to go wrong!  I advised them that I had a booking to collect a car from a place I referred to as “Manger” which I pronounced similar to the French verb “to eat”.  There was a brief pause then a slight snigger at the other end of the phone. The lady in her broad Kiwi accent then laughed and said oh you mean “Mangere!” (pronounced Man-ger-e).  Apparently in Maori all of the letters in the word are pronounced!  Probably another of the many reasons why NZ is so popular with Germans! ;)

2. Not everything that looks rude is 'rude'

With my very juvenile sense of humour, I was seeing “Puke”s or “Whaka”s (pronounced “Fucka”)  wherever I looked!  Sadly there is no exciting explanation for the word “puke” as in Moari it simply means “hill”, and in spite of extensive research I am unable to find the “Whakamama” to go with “Whakapapa”!

3. Then finally, those "give me a break" words

Some are virtually or completely unpronounceable!   I could at least attempt names such as the “Whakarewarewa” Forest.  This is a beautiful forest of Californian Coastal Redwood trees near Rotarua, but please don’t ask me to say it!  Then there is the Guiness World Record holder for the longest place name in the World, which goes to:  Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu

Where do you even start?  I am not sure what the locals were smoking when they named this hill in the Hawke’s Bay area, and for a hill it doesn’t even have “puke” in it!?!   


 

22. Florida

Arriving in Florida was not only a mid-point of our sabbatical, it also offered us some time to 'neutralise' our senses so that we could absorb more of the many great sights and experiences we have planned. During the trip to date we have had so many amazing times, seeing and doing pretty unforgettable things, we didn't know how to express and memorise them in their full glory any longer. Unbelievable but true, a certain travel "fatigue" had started to set in, noticeable on our way to Yellowstone. 

Clermont (near Orlando, Florida) for us was not a place we wanted to go to for cultural reasons (even if Disney could be mistaken for such), there are also no mountains or grizzly bears, but we have spent many holidays in Clermont in the past enjoying their weather, the many lakes and most of all watersports. Also the number of golf courses in the area has not gone unnoticed. It was here we wanted to chill and relax, finally enjoy true summer weather, work on our wakeboarding skills and swing the golf club. Svan had found us a lakeside cottage on Lake Louisa to make our home for 5 weeks - bliss - ...then again, also a big change. What if it would feel like  "Groundhog Day", what if we got bored or heaven forbid, if one of us got injured? Well we had some plan Bs, including a drive to the  "Keys", visit the space centre or maybe even check out a themed park or two! Famous last words - one day we woke up and had to leave. Not a single Plan B was put into action as Plan A was just too good  ;-)

View of Lake Louisa next to our cottage

Svan chilling out at the cottage

Lake Louisa at dusk

From the photos above you would think it was always beautifully tranquil, and yes for the most part it was. For those of you in the know, September and October are hurricane season in Florida. We didn't get any real storms in Clermont but a weekend of some interesting monsoon style rain:

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Most of the time it was sunny and calm, giving me the chance to perfect my "Australian" style cooking - steak, marinated chicken and peppercorn pork featured regularly on the menu!

Golf also was a regular past-time throughout our stay and a nice change to the very physical wakeboarding:

Playing the 7th at Palisades Golf Course

Playing the 2nd at Swiss Fairways - this place had a different kind of water hazard with the "Swiss" ski school situated inside the golf course!
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Svan, Bill and me playing Lake Buena Vista Lake Golf Club at Disney
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Playing the 5th at King's Ridge Golf Course

The things you do for love!! - Trying to retrieve Svan's ball on the 12th at King's Ridge Golf Course - I'm afraid there was no happy ending for Svan's ball but I'm relieved to report I didn't find any alligators!

We viewed wakeboarding as our "day jobs" and rode Monday to Thursday each week at "The Wakeboard Camp" situated on Lake Minneola (www.wakeboardcamp.com).  We took the "long" weekends off to recover and do other things.  Even though we only rode 2 sets of 30 minutes each day, it being such a high impact sport it is still pretty tough on the body, and most afternoons we visited the local gym (Anytime Fitness) to stretch and twist our bodies back into how we were supposed to function. I even worked on my jumping skills in the gym - needless to say, some of our exercises were observed with disbelief and amusement by the locals who were there mainly to lose weight or sociallise. After two weeks, Svan admitted to feeling quite self conscious as she must be the only woman there who didn't wear make-up and was looking quite 'yuck' (her words, not mine) as a result of sweating - shame on her! All in all, we were very active as the photos below confirm. 

Svan's tail grab!

Just before landing an "Olly Backside 180"

Svan attempting a "Back Roll"

Svan with coach and pro-rider Bob Sichel

Landing a "Wake to Wake" jump

Receiving instruction on how to improve my "ollies"

Svan receiving instruction on how to improve her position for her "regular 360s". 'Ollies', 'wake to wake', etc - a whole new language was learnt to communicate.

During our stay we were lucky enough to spend almost every 'working day' with our friend and head coach Kyle Schmidt. He is on the photos above and you can see that even when facing away from us, we were still under his watchful eye in the mirror. No gentle suggestions were made but clear instructions were shouted towards us - his favourite words are  "HARDER!" or "BIGGER!" which inspired the 1st of the videos (below) that I put together with my new 'Power director software'! Not that I needed any new hobbies but at least this new hobby doesn't physically exhaust me as much as the others. 

Wakeboard is not all about riding - our arms would drop off - but about hanging out in the boat, putting the world to rights or just being silly. With Kyle's influence we didn't just learn about the sport but as Svan says, we bring out the 'worst' in each other. I believe, she meant that in Kyle's company both his and my "boyish" sense of humour flourished!

We got to meet some other cool people along the way including (front right) Alejo a professional wakeboarder from Argentina who we got to see ride over a couple of weeks - he was an  amazing rider and a very cool guy! 

Wakeboard camp also gave us the chance to catch up and spend some time with our friends Bill and Mary who live in Clermont. Bill is the manager at camp.

Here at Outback, enjoying a steak with Mary and Bill!

Svan finally getting the chance to try her hand at stand up paddle, and we both stayed above water!

As mentioned before, video editing became a new hobby and to learn, test and experience how to use the software, I needed ammunition. Svan hardly saw me for days as I immersed myself into the tutorials, only to come up for air, requesting her to ride a certain way so that I can video new material that would fit with the music and plans I had. Oh I will regret admitting to it, as she will just nod knowingly, stating that 'she is sooo tolerant', but as we all know, I am the most tolerant person in this relationship! Anyway, I have uploaded some of the mini-movies in which I hope to have captured at least a bit of the fun we were having. I am open to suggestions for improvements as this will influence what can be done when we are on snowboards and wizzing (hmmmm - maybe I will need to speed up the video for that ;-)) through the trees in Canada next month.

Please remember to turn up the volume when looking at these mini-movies:

1. Harder, Faster, Bigger, Stronger (featuring Kyle and me)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tr3GywXA6Q

This clip is about the drills that Kyle put me through to get my 'switch' riding (right foot forward as opposed to left foot forward, which is my "regular" stance) into better shape! For the next set of tricks this was urgently needed and hard work.  At the start of the trip I spent many of my full sets (30 minute riding sessions) in switch and especially my toe edge - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. This video shows a number of the drills and Kyle's 'encouragements'. I got to the stage where I would wake up during the night hearing him shouting "harder" or "bigger"! Oh boy, this is scary ;-)

2. You Spin Me (featuring Svan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_XV2fj4X-U

This video is all about Svan's riding!  She landed her first 360 trick (a big milestone in wakeboarding)  - man I was so proud of her and will never forget her reaction.  Check out her little victory dance and fist pumping on the water ;-) As usual, once she landed it once she could land this (frontside, healside 360) just about every time and even "wake to wake". I am sure this is not normal - is she an android?

3. Galvanize (featuring Svan, Kyle and Me)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMdgkoeXc3U

This was my favourite video. I had checked out the professionals on video and some use helmet cameras - that's what I wanted. When Kyle had the camera, and we wore it for a couple of sets wakeboarding, it then took time to piece it all together ...and no kidding it really did take time ...but I love the result. The whole experience was so cool, even if we did look like aliens with our yellow helmets with their video "antennas" on top!  We felt like pros riding even if we didn't land any of our back roll inverts!  

4. Room At The Top (featuring, Svan, Kyle, Bob and Me)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lchQoKqHplw

I put this video together during our stopover at LA airport on the way to Auckland. It contains the "best of the rest" - the footage that I hadn't used in the other videos. It think it captures some fun moments where we landed jumps, or just missed them, and even my enthusiams - not for a new trick but for getting one of Kyle's wakeboard questions right!

   

Oh and let's not forget, during our stay in Florida, Svan and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary. Where has the time gone? We indulged in huge amounts of beef carpaccio and champagne. Oh this certainly is the trip of a life-time that I had worked for so hard for many years... 

Our time here truly flew by!  We laughed at our worries at the start of the trip about the "Groundhog Day" feeling and teased each other about "stealing the time" - where did those 24 hours each day actually disappear to?? We could have happily extended our 5 week stay to 8, but with New Zealand calling that was not an option!  After this settled period we felt ready for our next adventure where we would explore the North and maybe also the South island - "time thievery" permitting of course!  Even though we would just miss the "hullabaloo" of the Rugby World Cup, hopefully some of the feel good factor from New Zealand's historic victory would still remain!  

NZ was a place where Svan had actually lived a few years back, whereas I had never been.  This sounds like having your own personal tour guide - bring it on, let the adventure begin...


[Note:  I have finally got the opportunity to update Section 19 of the Blog on our Roadtrip from the Yukon to BC to include a video showing the grizzly fishing for salmon in Hyder, Alaska - truly amazing!]