Beneath The Waves

I'm always impressed by the teamwork of ants but the co-operation going on under the sea is just incredible - we humans think we're so superior on this planet but I'm less and less convinced!

We escaped the smog of Bangkok to arrive on Koh Tao - fairly touristy as expected but let's face it, if something has become touristy there is normally a good reason, and the diving here really is something else. Having been very unsure as to how I would take to scuba diving, I think we're both surprised to find ourselves totally addicted in just 6 days! We were originally planning to just do our Open Water certification and then head to Railay for some rock climbing, but decided as we live within an hour of some of the best rock climbing in the UK but hundreds of miles away from this kind of diving, it would make more sense to stick to the diving a bit longer.

The only frustrating thing is that I haven't tried this until now! It is such an amazingly different and beautiful world under the sea. I imagine we have been spoilt doing our first dives here, but we won't be letting that stop us! There have been so many favourite moments and so much to take in over these last few days but some things that really stand out are our very close encounters with clown fish, sharks and banner fish, and watching the mutualism that goes on between totally different organisms - the goby fish standing guard over the holes of the burrowing shrimp so that one provides protection for the other; the cleaning stations where fish will arrive to be cleaned of parasites by the cleaner fish, one providing the food, the other providing the housekeeping!

However this doesn't help us in our atempts to reduce the number of places we want to see in the world - now we are starting a list of places we want to see underwater as well! Life is undoubtedly too short.

Boats, Tuk-tuks & Wats

There is a phrase in Thai-English - "Same Same...but different". In Bangkok, that phrase has now lent itself to a bar, guesthouse a whole range of "Same Same" t-shirts and other odds and ends, and it is a phrase that feels somewhat appropriate in this city. Bangkok is a city of "Same Same" - it's full of the same stores and fast food chains as any other modern city, has the same cheap guesthouses and ultra modern expensive hotels, has the same traffic problems you get in a lot of places, even has the same designer gear, but then also the knock offs which look exactly the same same as the designer gear!

But despite the same same, this is a city that draws people to it, a city everyone has to see. Maybe it is because it is still, for many, the gateway to south east asia - the city that is the first stop for many travelling to this part of the world as it helps cushion the blow between East and West. After now experiencing it for the first time, I can understand the reasoning behind this logic. This seems to be three cities in one, gradually introducing any new visitor to the region. If you take the skytrain into the heart of the business and commercial part of town I imagine you could be forgiven for thinking you were in any of the modern asian cities such as Tokyo or Hong Kong (although don't take my word for it - I've never been to either of those two places either!), and then it has the guesthouses and streets that have perfected the art of catering for backpackers over decades, and in amongst the modern skyscrapers and knock off market stalls hides the original old town of Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit (Krung Thep for short).

Our time in Bangkok was spent experiencing all three of these different types of city. We needed to change our airline tickets and so headed into the commerical district to the Cathay Pacific office, in doing so, we experienced the new, modern Bangkok. The skytrain is fantastic, a much nicer experience than the underground in London (although that's not difficult) as it whisks you along in air conditioned comfort over the bustling streets below to a place where every road is lined with designer shops, cinemas, MacDonalds, Subways and Starbucks. We then had the fun of the tuk tuk ride to the Khao San road part of town and spent time wandering around the chaotic market streets, and finally we visited the old temples.

Of all these Bangkok experiences, by far and away the best part was visiting the old Bangkok. We took a river taxi along the wide Chao Phraya river, sailing along next to all the other boats that after all these years still bring trade into the heart of the city, and began at Wat Pho (all temples are called Wats in Thailand), with it's resident reclining Buddha and the Grand Palace complex including Wat Phra Kaew. The temples and the grand palace are buildings of such colour. The large multicoloured roofs shelter the intricate gold leaf, mother of pearl and coloured stones that have been carefully hand crafted onto every surface to give a vibrant appearance. The resident Buddha statues that are housed in each Wat range dramatically from the huge reclining Buddha at Wat Pho (probably the size of two double decker buses - but that is just an estimate) to the tiny, but very important Emerald Buddha who has an outfit for every season and looks down from his high throne above gold leaf and jewel incrusted statues. These temples are surrounded by some of the older streets in the city, and if you take time to look above the 7-elevens and the other shop fronts, you can still see some of the old style roofs and the small, uneven windows with carved wooden frames peering out over the vendors and everyday city life that has passed in front of their walls for centuries.

These are wonderful things that give Bangkok its charm, the colourful temples that have stood for centuries looking over the growing chaos around them, the smiling, friendly people, the odd streets and alleyways that can still offer little glimpses of how the city once was, and that muddy old river, that after all these years still provides much of the heartbeat of this modern, same same, but still slightly different city.

Steve

Boats, Trolleys, Wings

So I've been tasked with doing the rest of New Zealand after Milford which means this has to be either ten pages long or a really summarised version - as we're in Bangkok, the sun is shining and a great swimming pool awaits, I'll be going for the latter.

I can't deny being a little disappointed in the Milford track. Don't get me wrong, it is really beautiful as is all of New Zealand and, once again, this is going to sound most ungrateful. But New Zealand scenery is very hyped up therefore has a lot to live up to. So much of it is like the UK lake district, Scotland and the peak district (which I personally think is very beautiful so that is a compliment, just to confirm!) and I must admit that travel, for me, should be about something different.

The sounds are admittedly something we don't have in the UK and are lovely, but my favourite place for scenery was Queenstown without a doubt. We were again very lucky with the weather and had clear blue skies which made Lake Wakatipu look remarkable (sorry - couldn't resist!) and it is unusual to see a place where man's influence can actually enhance nature - the town and consequent boats on the lake really add to the views.

But New Zealand definitely lived up to everything we've been told about activities. "Boats" were covered several times but the shotover jet boat was the best - would have been even better to drive it! "Trolleys" is a real understatement for the luge (but the BTW thing hasn't beaten us yet so we must keep trying!) which was not only great fun but what a view as you speed down the hill! "Wings" highlights were paragliding off Coronet peak and the helicopter flight over Franz Josef glacier. We had already become helicopter fans in Brazil but, as we should have expected, the New Zealand pilot made it much more of a 'ride', so it wasn't just flying so close to the glacier that was amazing!

Our time in New Zealand reads as a list of "dids". In Queenstown we visited a kiwi bird park and, of course, managed to fit in some wine tasting! We also hiked on the glacier at Franz Josef (very different to the Himalayan glaciers, very similar to the Patagonian ones) and did some ice climbing, did the Tongariro crossing and quad biking in Lake Taupo, horse trekking, a Hangi and visited the thermal areas in Rotorura, but my favourite New Zealand experience and definitely up there with my favourites of our trip, was swimming with the dolphins in Kaikoura. We just couldn't believe, considering these are totally wild dolphins, just how many there were and how close they came. It was an unbeliveable priviledge to experience. Apparently it is the underwater canyon that brings them to this area and from what I've heard of swimming with dolphins in other places around the world, it can't get better than this. I would go to New Zealand purely for this experience alone. There were hundreds of them and as soon as we got in the water they were on either side of us, under us, over us, everywhere!

My three favourite moments that will stay with me forever are swimming along side one that was looking me right in the eye all the time, one turning onto his back and then swimming along underneath me, (no doubt very amused at how incapabale I was at keeping up) and having a whole family, including a baby, swim by me. But we all had amazing moments. Ken had eye contact with one for ages as they swam in circles together. Steve, being the amazing swimmer he is, was diving a lot which always interests them and they would follow him down to play! That was incredible for me to watch from the surface, even with my terrible snorkelling skills! I think I appreciated this experience all the more as I couldn't even swim 7 years ago and am still not great in deep water, but all fears were forgotten before I even got off the boat, when I saw quite how many of these beautiful creatures were around us. Even just being on the boat and seeing them jump out of the water and somersaulting was awe inspiring.

And now we have arrived in South East Asia, strangely feeling as though we've just had a holiday from travelling, sad to say goodbye to Steve's folks but happy to be adventuring on. Once again I am surprised by the changes that can happen in just 9 years, but I'm leaving Bangkok to Steve's unbiaised eyes as that pool is still waiting for me.

Mandi

p.s. For anyone who speaks to Ken & Irene, don't listen to them about the van - it was perfect! And if Ken tries to tell you it was Irene that didn't take to the camping, don't listen to that either - the majority of whinging came from a different camp! ;o)

Best Tramp (in the) World?

I don't know a great deal about Blanche Baughan. In fact, the only things I know about her come from the various quotes of hers that I have read on the Milford Track in Southern New Zealand. From the quotes I have read, Blanche was obviously a big fan of this area and especially the stretch of path which connects the mainland town of Te Anau to the isolated village of Milford that sits on the banks of the impressive Milford Sound (which is technically a Fjord and not a Sound). Many people to visit this area since Blanche, obviously share her love for this Milford Track as, despite the thousands of persistent, biting sandflies, it is walked by hundreds of people every week. Blanche, however, loved it so much, she went so far as to call it the best walk in the world (or best tramp as that is the New Zealand word for a trek or hike), a quote that has stuck, and so it had a lot to live up to as we boarded a boat on Lake Te Anau to make our way to the start of the 35.5 mile path...

Before I get onto the Milford Track though, I'm going to backtrack slighly to cover our first three days in New Zealand. We left South America a bit sad at having to leave the continent because we'd had such a wonderful time there, and it also began the countdown of continents we had completed, 1 down only 3 more to go until we were back home :o(. We were however meeting my parents in Christchurch (who would be joining us for the next three weeks) so were looking forward to that. We began our visit to New Zealand in the pretty city of Christchurch where we went punting on the river (well, we sat in the boat while a professional guide punted - a good job otherwise we'd never had made it out of the dock), we took a ride on the tram, watched some street performers, looked at the local architecture and visited the Antarctic centre (Mandi now wants a pet penguin). The following day, we picked up our home for the next three weeks (a nice old campervan) and began the journey south taking in the Moeraki boulders, some nighttime penguin watching and lots of New Zealand roads! After an overnight stop in Dunedin, we ended up in Te Anau on the 23rd January and got settled into the campsite - Mum and Dad would be here for the next four nights, but Mandi and I only had one before heading out the next morning for the four day Milford Track walk. We spent our only night in Te Anau visiting the nearby glow worm caves which may not sound that interesting but was actually really cool, especially when all the lights are out and so all you can see are glow worms on the cave roof and it looks as thought you are looking at a night sky wih thousands of stars. Oh, and Mandi also picked up a a great little poem:

I'm glad that I'm a glow worm,
a glow worm's never glum,
Cos how can you be grumpy
when the sun shines out your bum!

The following morning we began the Milford Track - due to both training for when we get to the Himalayas and also because it was the cheaper option, we were going to be doing the walk ourselves rather than with a guide, however this also meant that we would have to carry all our own supplies for the next four days including food - its definitely a good incentive to eat more when you know it'll make your pack lighter for the following day! The track itself follows a crystal clear river up a valley to a high pass which leads to the valley that would take us to Milford Sound. The valleys are very green, with the river surrounded by trees and vegetation all the way out to the high sided granite walls, resulting in some lovely views if you can brave the sandflies long enough to look at them. It reminded me of a cross between Milau in the South of France and the Yosemite valley in North America - definitely not a bad couple of places to be comparable with. The walk also takes you past the impressive Sutherland falls, which at the time of their discovery were believed to be the highest in the world until, after all the excitement died down, they measured properly and realised were actually the fifth highest in the world. Still pretty good though! We were also lucky enough to have blue skies and warm sunshine on every day of the trek and so Mandi and I walked behind the waterfall when we got there - it meant we got very wet, but it was a great way to cool off in the afternoon heat, although the cold water takes your breath away when it first hits you! Also, it turns out we were the only ones on the track who went behind the waterfall that day so we were even more glad we braved it (plus it has the added bonus that the sandflies can't get at you behind the water). On our last night on the trek we were also extremely lucky as the local ranger (Ranger Ross - a really cool guy with a real passion for his job, the area and the local wildlife) took us out into a spot in the nearby river where he knew a family of blue ducks were often present and we were fortunate enough to spot them - as these ducks are endangered and only ever found in New Zealand, this was a very unexpected bonus - most visitors to New Zealand will never get to see the blue duck in its natural environment as they are so rare. Finally we arrived at the end of the track, the appropriately named Sandfly Point, and caught the boat across Milford Sound to Milford village.

The following day we took time to go on a guided kayak trip out into the sound to get a better view. This also allowed Mandi to get some great pictures (and as it was a two person kayak meant I got to do extra rowing!), we got a break from the Sandflies (they don't come out over the water of the sound) and we also got to chat to Will who has to be the funniest and most entertaining guide in Milford, and probably the whole of New Zealand!

We are now on our way slightly further north to Queenstown and the associated thrill ride activities, leaving the peace of Milford behind. Was it the best walk in the world? Personally, I'd put it behind walks we've done in the Himalayas and South America, but even so, it is a fantastic walk through wonderful scenery, and it's certainly right up there with the most beautiful walks in the world. Now if they could just get rid of all those sandflies....

Steve

PS. This entry should have been posted on the 29th January but we haven't had mych of an internet connection until now, so just ignore the posted date at the top!