Col's New Zealand Adventure - 10 Years on...
INTRO
When I first sat down to write this intro, it was Nov 11th 2016. Well over 8 years since I had the trip of a lifetime in New Zealand. As I approached the finish line of typing up this diary, and adding a commentary for each entry, I was actually only three days away from the ten-year anniversary of the day I set foot on a plane to fly to Singapore.
It has taken me well over a year to put what I thought would be a few easy words about the trip, into something that did the experience justice.
In my defence, I have been busy… Still, I only just made the deadline to begin publishing my diary in ‘real-time’.
Ten years to the day of each entry in my diary, I will post that entry, along with a commentary and any photographs. The hope is that you, dear reader, can follow my adventures on a daily basis, over the next month.
But why New Zealand in the first place?
I was initially inspired by the behind-the-scenes documentaries on the Lord of The Rings DVDs. Simple as that. Though, that is not to understate the skill and the passion of all of those documentary films that make up the boxsets. They literally inspired me to get off of my bum, and to go to the other side of the planet to see this place for myself. My subsequent research into New Zealand seemed to reveal an adventure-filled country, full of vibrant, warm people, all with a shared love for The Land.
Ten years to the day of each entry in my diary, I will post that entry, along with a commentary and any photographs. The hope is that you, dear reader, can follow my adventures on a daily basis, over the next month.
But why New Zealand in the first place?
It was this connection
to the natural world which appealed to me, and the upbeat nature of the people
of New Zealand, that inspired me to take what was, then, a scary leap into the
unknown. With no friends or travelling companions able to come with me, and
having never been anywhere on my own for anything longer than an overnight trip
to London, the idea of going literally to the other side of the planet, on my
todd, was one of the biggest and most audacious decisions of my entire life.
What follows here are
the entries from the diary that I made on this trip. I tried to keep up to date
every day so as to serve a reminder of the journey. Whilst at times the reality
of the decision to go by myself threatened to overwhelm me with crippling
loneliness, the notion of keeping the diary became a lifeline, and at times it
was my only friend.
Having not read the
diary for many years, but now having finally typed it up, these ancient diary
entries do not read as the epic magnum opus that my hazy memory vaguely recalls
itself creating! In fact, most of the diary entries seem fairly uninspiring,
and instead reveal the scope of my loneliness (at times) and obsession with
finding mundane creature comforts (beer, fast food, and the occasional cup of
tea) within which to root myself. A constant search for something familiar, in
order to get through the day to day in a land of the unknown.
As such, in order to do justice by New Zealand, its people, and the
friends that I made along the way, I felt compelled to add a “post-commentary”
to each diary entry here on this blog. If I left it for my diary alone to tell
the tale, it would be a very biased account of New Zealand, mostly focused on
the parts of the trip where I felt out of sorts. After all, it was always
easier to write the diary when I was on my own, and feeling a bit lonely.
The real story actually lies between the diary entries, the bits not fully written about, the adventures in the gaps… Of course, the fun stuff is also evident in the many photographs I took along the way. As such, I hope the images and commentary provided with each entry paint a much more accurate (and hopefully entertaining) view of New Zealand and the life-changing affects that it had on me, than the diary notes alone ever could.
The diary as originally written is obviously full of shorthand, and
quite atrocious grammar. Whilst my typed up 2016 grammar may not seem like much
of an improvement at times, I have nonetheless tried to strike a balance
between my natural ‘writing voice’ as it was then, and something that is
human-readable now.
I’ve also added context where required to flesh out the events being
depicted. In short, I make no claims that this digital version of my diary is
an accurate copy of the written original, but I do hope that it is a readable
improvement upon it.
The haphazard nature of diary writing means that some entries were
written days after the event itself. Where the diary has ‘jumped’ in time, I’ve
made a small note of the date in brackets. I hope that this does not interrupt
the flow too much, but I have left these notes in so as to show where my head
may have been at the time of writing, and to show which days were filled with
more adventure (and therefore later entries) than others.
Who am I writing this for? Unashamedly, mostly for myself. My constant photography over the years is a manifestation of what I am realising is an obsession with mapping my own past. This diary has remained un-typed for far too long, and the process of getting this far has taken ten years! I finally get to add the text commentary alongside the photographic journal, at long last.
Of course, I sincerely hope that other readers (you!) enjoy the fruits
of my labour, but I make no apologies for writing in my own ‘voice’. Since this
adventure took place, I have of course married the amazing Warrior Wonder
Woman, Hazel Warhurst. Together, we have also brought into the world our
beautiful, intelligent and magical daughter, Robyn-Hope.
I have never really delved into the details of this New Zealand trip
with Hazel, and won’t be able to do so with Robyn for many years yet, but I
hope that the depiction here reveals much more detail than I’ve ever been able
to previously impart, that it provides a bit of inspiration, and for better or
worse, reveals some of the mechanics of what made (or still makes) Daddy tick.
Finally, in order to preserve the privacy of some of the folks who
shared in these adventures, I have deliberately fuddled, muddled or mixed up
some names as initials. Though I’m sure most of the people I met would not mind
(and indeed, I hope if you are reading this, then it has triggered some amazing
memories of your own) I did not want to make assumptions. As such, I hope I
have found the right balance of accuracy and anonymity, and that I retain the lion’s
share of embarrassment purely for myself in any of the escapades depicted here.
I can’t wait to do it all over again! Perhaps you would like to come
along?
Col (Nov 2016 March 2018)
TRAVEL DETAILS
FLIGHT ITINERARY - 2008
MANCHESTER (Mon, 17th March) -> SINGAPORE (Tues 18th
March)
SINGAPORE (Thurs, 20th March) -> AUCKLAND (Fri, 21st March)
SINGAPORE (Thurs, 20th March) -> AUCKLAND (Fri, 21st March)
AUCKLAND (Fri, 18th April) -> SINGAPORE (Fri 18th,
April)
SINGAPORE (Fri, 18th April) -> MANCHESTER (Sat, 19th April)
SINGAPORE (Fri, 18th April) -> MANCHESTER (Sat, 19th April)
NEW ZEALAND ITINERARY
Bus Tour provided by Kiwi Express
Route: “Funky Chicken” + “Milford Sound Excursion” – 27 days
Route: “Funky Chicken” + “Milford Sound Excursion” – 27 days
Worth noting that the price for the four
flights, the whole Kiwi Express four-week bus tour, two nights accommodation in Singapore (outbound) and insurance all came in at ~£1550.00
I dread to think what the cost would be now!
TRIP CALENDAR
DAY
|
Week
|
DATE
|
WEEKDAY
|
START
|
END
|
1
|
1
|
17/03/2008
|
Mon
|
Manchester
|
Singapore
|
2
|
1
|
18/03/2008
|
Tue
|
Singapore
|
Singapore
|
3
|
1
|
19/03/2008
|
Wed
|
Singapore
|
Singapore
|
4
|
1
|
20/03/2008
|
Thu
|
Singapore (Dprt)
|
Auckland
|
5
|
1
|
21/03/2008
|
Fri
|
Auckland
|
Auckland
|
6
|
1
|
22/03/2008
|
Sat
|
Auckland
|
Whitianga
|
7
|
1
|
23/03/2008
|
Sun
|
Whitianga
|
Rotorua
|
8
|
2
|
24/03/2008
|
Mon
|
Rotorua
|
Waitomo
|
9
|
2
|
25/03/2008
|
Tue
|
Waitomo
|
Taupo
|
10
|
2
|
26/03/2008
|
Wed
|
Taupo
|
Taupo
|
11
|
2
|
27/03/2008
|
Thu
|
Taupo
|
River Valley
|
12
|
2
|
28/03/2008
|
Fri
|
River Valley
|
Wellington
|
13
|
2
|
29/03/2008
|
Sat
|
Wellington
|
Nelson
|
14
|
2
|
30/03/2008
|
Sun
|
Nelson
|
Westport
|
15
|
3
|
31/03/2008
|
Mon
|
Westport
|
Lake Mahinpua
|
16
|
3
|
01/04/2008
|
Tue
|
Lake Mahinpua
|
Franz Josef
|
17
|
3
|
02/04/2008
|
Wed
|
Franz Josef
|
Franz Josef
|
18
|
3
|
03/04/2008
|
Thu
|
Franz Josef
|
Wanaka
|
19
|
3
|
04/04/2008
|
Fri
|
Wanaka
|
Queenstown
|
20
|
3
|
05/04/2008
|
Sat
|
Queenstown
|
Te Anau
|
21
|
3
|
06/04/2008
|
Sun
|
Te Anau
|
Queenstown
|
22
|
4
|
07/04/2008
|
Mon
|
Queenstown
|
Queenstown
|
23
|
4
|
08/04/2008
|
Tue
|
Queenstown
|
Queenstown
|
24
|
4
|
09/04/2008
|
Wed
|
Queenstown
|
Christchurch
|
25
|
4
|
10/04/2008
|
Thu
|
Christchurch
|
Christchurch
|
26
|
4
|
11/04/2008
|
Fri
|
Christchurch
|
Kaikoura
|
27
|
4
|
12/04/2008
|
Sat
|
Kaikoura
|
Kaikoura
|
28
|
4
|
13/04/2008
|
Sun
|
Kaikoura
|
Wellington
|
29
|
5
|
14/04/2008
|
Mon
|
Wellington
|
Wellington
|
30
|
5
|
15/04/2008
|
Tue
|
Wellington
|
Taupo
|
31
|
5
|
16/04/2008
|
Wed
|
Taupo
|
Taupo
|
32
|
5
|
17/04/2008
|
Thu
|
Taupo
|
Auckland
|
33
|
5
|
18/04/2008
|
Fri
|
Auckland (Dprt)
|
Manchester
|