The Republic …

I arrived around about 10:30am in South Africa the idea was that I would be staying at my my mums niece for the night before heading of into the Africa. My mums niece said that no-one would be home till around 4:30pm. I was fine with this as I would pick up my rental car and go for a drive around Jo'burg and Pretoria and do the tourist thing. Before leaving New Zealand I spend hours and hours looking up things that I could do if I choice so. Armed with my suit case and hand luggage and the tree that I killed with printing out all the info I headed of to Hertz office on O.R Tambo International Airport.

The man that couldn't decide if he should speak English or Afrikaans to me spend sometime filling in paper work for me while I spend the time trying to find my bloody wallet. I thought to myself 'great been in the country 5min and my wallet has already been stolen'. I finally located my Wallet inside of Gary and got my license out for Mr Confused. He took the license and and started trying out how the thing worked which was funny in its own right.

He looked at me and said 'Its Expired' my response was umm no its valid for 10 years it can't have expired. So it turns out I have had my license for 10 years now. I arrived in the Republic on the 10 Nov and my license expired on the 6 Nov. A HIMYM line went through my head ..' Yooou son of a bitch'. I asked him what this would mean and he politely said it looks like I'm walking. After swearing at myself for a while I headed over to a Internet shop on the airport and proceed to type the following in good old Google …' New Zealand High Commission in South Africa'. After ringing them and leaving a message with one of the people there I headed over to a Vodacom store to get myself sim carded.

All of this took about an hour once I had my sim card I was like what do I do now I have x amount of hours to kill before 4:30. So what do I do when I have nothing else to do … I eat! I sat at a pizza place for a while eating and switching between reading the newspaper they provided and my book. Sookie Stackhouse in the novel annoys me that much that I can only do a few pages at a time before having to put it down in fear of wanting to hurt anyone blond.

I finally caught a taxi to head to my Aunties, as I was walking towards the taxi stand my heart was pounding with fear of what I would find. The idea of using a taxi in Africa scares me. However I was pleasantly surprised this was a Merc and a nice one at that driven by a man that was that black that he would need to smile at night so that you could see him. I gave him the address and of we went, as we where driving he asked do I know the place I'm going to. My response was well its family but I have never been there. He was um ok can you ring them of his mobile and ask for directions. This is when I spotted the GPS bracket on his dashboard minus the GPS.

I thought better of it and rang my Auntie from my mobile and he spoke to her to get the directions. After 2 phone calls to my Auntie I decided that he should just drop me of at a shopping Centre near my Aunties place and she can come pick me up from there. I gave the man his money and he left me standing outside a supermarket with my big red suitcase waiting on someone that actually knew where I was.

I spent the next few days at my Aunties trying to solve the drama that was my license. I finally got word from the High Commission and they said yes I can get an extension on my license for 12 months but I had to deal with New Zealand directly. It turns out that it would take 3 weeks for me to get the new license by which stage I would pretty much be heading out of South Africa. Also if I wish to extent my license any further I would have to go back to New Zealand proper and do it from there …. yay. So yes here I was with all these plans and it all pretty much just went to hell and the question now was 'What do I do now' I had 4 weeks in the country and so far I have made it only 15min from the airport ...

Dubai …

A quick Foreword: I bloody hate the photo thing on blogger so you peeps can just deal with the random placing of the photos

I was really looking forward to Dubai I have been here once before in 2005/06 with the ex. So I knew what to expect and after the saga that was Singapore I was hoping that this would be a relaxing 2 days. I arrived in the late afternoon and stayed in the Ibis City Centre not sure if it is in fact the city centre or just a name. However the mall across the road also had City Centre in its name so it must have been.

I spend sometime in the mall mostly looking for international plugs as I decided against bringing the set I have in NZ with me and the hotel in Singapore had international plugs installed as their normal sockets, so haven't had a need for them yet. This mall was massive and yes I kinda got lost in it too. Why one mall need so many shops that sells gold is beyond me. You can even buy the religious outfit Muslim gals wear in Louis Vuitton, Armani and Gucci. Apparently a girl got to have her outfit, shoes and handbag matching even if its all black.

The next morning was going to be the test to see if Flight Centre got it right. I had two things booked for the day a city tour in the morning and a night safari in the desert. Now I have been on the city tour before however since Dubai keep building new buildings every 5 minutes I thought it would be a good Idea to do it again. I was meant to meet the tour bus people at my Hotel reception around 8:30am I waited and waited and started getting really worried, about 15 – 20min later they finally showed up today might actually turn out ok.

We drove around town for a bit visiting the last Sheiks summer palace its pretty much a shack on a dirt patch especially when you compare them to the present royal families palaces which would put any European Royal family to shame. Driving around town was also kind of weird seeing all the buildings in real life after having watched many programs about them on National Geographic. The Burj Dubai Tower being one of them, looked like something that was alive and growing out of the ground. After driving around for awhile and visiting a number of places we got a water taxi's across the Dubai Creek and being a tourist focused tour they took us to the markets to buy shit. At the end they took us to a parking lot where everyone on the bus was put on different transport to head back to their hotels. Myself and another couple where the only once to remain on the bus alongside the tour guide and the driver. The other couple was dropped of very quickly, the tour guide got dropped of at a mall and then it was just me. A whole bus to myself the whole way back to the hotel its nice when your treated in the manor that your deserving of :P .

After having a quick shower and changing into some warmer clothes I went downstairs to the reception to meet the tour bus company again. This time I would head to the desert and have dinner under the stars. We where picked up in a 4x4 it was me an Australian couple and two girls from the Czech Republic. We drove for ages to get out of the city and finally arrived at a national park which name escapes me now. When we arrived there was already other 4x4 waiting I think in total there would have been about 20 4x4s that would be occupying as on the desert excursion. The drivers let the tyres down a bit before we all set off. Our first stop was a falcon show where they demonstrated a few tricks with a young falcon. While we where watching the falcon show a wild falcon came swooping pass trying to drive the tame one out of its territory.

We continued on for a while driving around like idiots on the sand dunes and every so often spotting a few Onyx's. We made one a stop in the middle of no where to watch the sun set before dinner. Even thought there was a lot of people with us, sitting on the dune looking out in front of you and seeing nothing but desert and the sun setting is kind of spiritual and very relaxing for the soul. Its something you should really experience and even though the desert is just sand and a few shrubs there is something amazingly beautiful about it. After the sun set we headed to a Bedouin camp, well it was a fake one tourist trap. Here we had dinner and got to ride on a camel around the camp. The food was amazing and I have to say when I get to Canadia I'm buying an Arabic cooking book. While eating we were treated to a belly dancing show, this girl kept going for a solid 30mins I was just exhausted watching. All in all it was a amazing night under the starts in an Arabian desert. Even thou it all was a bit of a tourist trap and designed to cater for tourist which I generally hate, this however was still worth doing and personally I can't wait for my next adventure that takes me to Dubai.

Singapore …

For those who know me would probably know the story* about why I don't like use 'Flight Centre' and I was pretty adamant that I will never use them again. However I went against my own wish and decided to book my flight through 'Flight Centre Rangiora'. My mother uses them for all her travel needs and so far they haven't fucked it up for her yet. Well when I arrived in Singapore it seemed that my fears about 'Flight Centre' was reconfirmed, however let me start at the beginning.

I landed in Singapore rather early in the morning the Idea behind this was so that I can go explore the city before flying out the next morning. So one of those hop on hop off city tour bus things was organized for me to do during the day and in the evening I was going to go to a night Safari at the Zoo.

The first time I realized that something was wrong was when the Taxi dropped me off at the hotel and I asked them to confirm my booking with the Zoo. The guy at reception informed me that it was a public holiday and that he was pretty sure the Zoo would be shut but will give them a call anyways. Well it turns out he was right as he couldn't get hold of them. He told me to be back at the hotel when they where meant to pick me up and hope they do. Now the reason I needed to confirm the booking was because I didn't know what time they would pick me up. Annoyed I went up to my room and had a shower because at least I had the City Tour Bus left.

I studied the map that was given to me by 'Flight Centre' for the route the bus takes and saw that the Botanic Gardens was semi close to me and that it had a stop there for me to get on. So I got a cab there as it was a bit to far to walk. The main entrance into the park was that busy that the taxi driver told me he will go to the other side of the park where it should be more quiet and easier to drop me off, after all it was a public holiday and everyone in Singapore was out and about. I spent some time wondering across the park to my bus stop and if you like plants the park is well worth the visit.

I got to the the sign post that matched the details somewhat on my voucher for the bus and waited in the hot weather. Finally the bus got there and I hopped on so to speak. The bus driver informed me that I was on the wrong bus and that I should get the double decker one at the main gate. So I hopped of again and wandered down to the main gate trying to figure out where the bus actually stops. Finally it arrived and I presented my voucher to the driver who informed me that he doesn't think its part of his company but to stay on the bus till they get to their depot and then to hop of. So while the bus was driving through the city I started studying the map again and saw that in fact they where going the same direction as my bus was meant to go. When we stopped at their depot I realised we where in the wrong side of town that I wanted to be in. So I hoped of again and with the help of a very limited map tried to find my way to the next stop 'The Singapore Flyer'.

After a lot of wondering and getting stuck in a mall and not being able to find the exit I finally made it to the Flyer. On route there I passed their soccer stadium which is pretty much just a stand on the side of a bay and the field that's floats out in the water. When I got to the flyer, which is basically just a big wheel with compartments hanging of it. I decided to go spin around on it to see the city views it was only when my compartment made it to the top that the thought of Earthquakes crossed my mind. In that moment hanging of a big metal wheel being 100's of meters up in the sky I wanted out and I wanted out immediately. I survived the ordeal of the wheel and got to take some cool pictures from that high up. You could see all the boats lying of the coast of Singapore waiting on their turn to enter the harbour.

 

After my 'Singapore Flyer experience I went to where all the buses stop in search for my hop on and hop off bus again. Well after checking with a number of operators no one could tell me which imaginary bus service I was with. So in the end I had to use the very limited map and just start walking. I spend most of the day walking and angrily texting my mother back in New Zealand to go kick 'Flight Centre' up the ass as I was not amused. After a rather long day of walking I finally caught a taxi back to my hotel and possibly the hope of going to the Zoo. I got back to the Hotel around 5:30pm and no-one came looking for me and I never did make it to the Zoo. As I was falling asleep that night after checking my alarm clock like 400 times to make sure it was set for the right time in the morning. I hoped that my 2 nights in Dubai will fare better then Singapore.

*Story of why I didn't want to use Flight Centre.

In 2006ish me and my then partner decided to head over to Africa to go see where I was spawned. Even though it's a long and backwards way of doing it I decided I wanted to go through Dubai as you have to stop over somewhere on your way to the Republic thats South. So off I went to book with our local 'Flight Centre'. I booked our accommodation in Dubai and the fact the ex didn't eat meat. They told me since there was no connecting flight on the day we where traveling through Dubai that Emirates will put us up in a hotel for the night and I was like sweeeeet.

When we where about to leave Christchurch something told me to check the vegetarian status of our flight. It turns out that my beloved was going to starve all the way to Dubai. I was assured that even thought they couldn't change it for our flight from Christchurch to Sydney the rest of our flight will state that he was a Vego, well long story short only the flight form Dubai to Jo'burg actually had the right details but to the credit of the Crew on Emirates they made sure Mr Grumpy had food each time.

When we arrived in Dubai I was expecting a sign with my name on it spelt very badly but there was nothing so after a while I grabbed Mr Extremely Grumps at that stage's phone and told him to go outside and have a cigarette while I called Flight Centre. It turned out that because of demand Emirates added a new flight a few hours after our plane landed and that we no longer have accommodation and that our travel agent should have told us this. So after a few selected words I informed them that we where stuck in a country that barely speaks English and they better sort it. The idiot on the other side said they could hold 2 seats for me but I would have to book them on my side at the counter. Bear in mind though hat this plane was meant to leave in a couple of hours.

So I ran around like a mad idiot pushing into lines going through security the wrong way and finally got to book the flights and with some luck hoping to get our bags in South Africa at the same time as us. In the international lounge I had to inform my family we will be a day early. On our way back we had a flight from Port Elizabeth to Jo'burg I handed over my e-ticket which turned out to be nothing more then a piece of paper. So I had to buy our tickets again to get on the flight. Luckily the rest for the flying went ok except for that I got food poising in Dubai and the ex got gout in his foot so our 2 days there was pretty much ruined too.

Personally I'm starting to think I should just book all my flights and activities myself in the future.

So it begins …

I left Christchurch Auckland bound at about 9:40am on the 6^th Nov this would be the first leg of my journey around the world. Originally I was meant to spent the night in Auckland but for one reason or another that escapes my mind now. I ended up having to get an earlier flight out of the country. This earlier flight had me leaving at 1:10am on the 7^th Nov, which meant I had to be at the airport at 11pm and as I landed in Auckland at 11am I had about 12 hours to kill.

Mr G&H came and picked me up from the airport accompanied by Cheryl still in her flash clothes from the night before. It would have been the longest walk of shame if Mr G&H didn't partake in each other. We went for a yummy lunch some where in West Auckland, personally I think it was in honour of Cheryl being in the car with us but I could be wrong. We also wondered the central city for a while before dropping Cheryl to her place of residence.

Me and Mr G&H continued to drive around the city for awhile and ended up on top of one of the many volcano's that occupies Auckland city. It was kind of weird thinking that we were walking around the rim of a volcano but somewhat cool at the same time. There was signs every where that said please dont go into the crater as it sacred and you might damage it. My question to those playing at home is how does one damage a volcano crater. Do you walk down it and it shatters like glass and lava starts flowing out of it and as a result you 2012 Auckland City.

Well after sometime of not damaging the crater we headed back to Mr G&H's base of operations to relax before dinner. We had dinner across the road from the SkyTower at some Mexican restaurant where Miss B joined us. As a result of being across the SkyTower me and Mr G&H decided we should brave the SkyTower and go up there. This would be Mr H and my first time up the tower. Now I'm generally fine with heights but I have to say that walkin over a bit of glass god knows how many metre up in the sky is not for me. I did it though as the saying goes “When in Rome”.

After our excurtion up the tower we headed for the airport where Mr G&H dropped me off to catch my plane to Singapore.

When a City Falls ...

This is a film about the Earthquake that just about destroyed my home City of Christchurch, New Zealand. I have watched the trailer a number of times now and each time it brings me to tears. It comes out in cinemas on the 20th November here in New Zealand which is probably a blessing as I will be overseas and will have to buy the DVD. That way I can watch it in the privacy of my own room, as I would probably be crying like a little bitch.

Its all confirmed ... the 'Official Itinerary'

Well after many weeks of pain staking research and many visits to my fellow Canadian Club drinker Chloe at Flight Centre Rangiora I finally have everything confirmed. Well not everything there is still some issues surrounding my car rental but I'm sure its nothing to major.

So here is my Itinerary ...

6th Nov - Depart Christchurch at 9:40am
                Arrive in Auckland at 11:00
7th Nov - Depart Auckland at 1:10am
                Arrive in Singapore at 6:35am
8th Nov - Depart Singapore at 12:55pm
                Arriving in Dubai at 4:30pm
10th Nov - Depart Dubai at 04:40am
                  Arriving in Jo'burg at 10:50am

This part of the Itinerary is only penciled in as I will be driving around in a rental.

10th Nov - Drive Jo'burg - Pretoria
13th Nov - Drive Pretoria - Kimberley
14th Nov - Drive Kimberley - Bloemfontein - Maseru, Lesotho
17th Nov - Drive Maseru - Queenstown, RSA - Grahamstown
18th Nov - Drive Grahamstown - Port Elizabeth
23rd Nov - Drive Port Elizabeth - Kirkwood
25th Nov - Drive Kirkwood -  Sunland - Middelburg
27th Nov - Drive Middelburg - Upington
28th Nov - Drive Upington - Keetmanshoop, Namibia
29th Nov - Drive Keetmanshoop - Luderitz
30th Nov - Drive Luderitz - Windhoek
3rd Dec - Drive Windhoek - Walvis Bay
4th Dec - Drive Walvis Bay - Swakopmund - Windhoek
5th Dec - Drive Windhoek - Ghanzi, Botswana
6th Dec - Drive Ghanzi - Gaborone
7th Dec - Drive Gaborone - Jo'burg, RSA

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Back to my locked in Schedule

7th Dec - Depart Jo'burg at 8:50pm
                Arrive in London at 6:25am

Somewhere in my time in London I will shoot over to the Netherlands to go visit my families ruined Castle.

20th Dec - Depart London at 2:25pm
                  Arriving in Vancouver at 4:25pm
                  Depart Vancouver at 6:00pm
                  Arrive in Victoria, BC 6:24pm

Then there is a whole lot of going with the flow here.

1st Jun 2012 - Depart Vancouver at 8:00pm
                       Arrive in Auckland at 5:00am

3rd Jun 2012 - Depart Auckland at 7:50pm
                        Arrive in Christchurch 9:10pm


So there you have it I be gone for a long time and starting to shit my pants a little about the whole thing. But hey I seem to do my best when being thrown into the deep end. So stay tuned for future posts following my progress around the world.

Till Laterz ...

Mini Road Trip before the Big Trip ...

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Since this year has been all about travel so far I decided to do one more road trip before I leave New Zealand. So in the car I got and drove to Palmerston North to visit my sister. Now if you some how find yourself in Palmy set the GPS for the quickest way out of there. I always forget what a shit hole it is. So I spend a couple of nights with her and her overly religious married flatmate's. Personally I think if I got to spend some more time up there I could have had the 'husband' in my bed without much effort. However I thought better of disrupting their narrow views on life.

On my way back I met up with the Leddie-Crumps in Lower Hutt (near Wellington). I wanted to grab my remaining stuff off Dulcinea and the Leddie-Crumps thought as its a long weekend they might as well fly up and hitch a ride back home with me. (For those that dont know what Dulcinea is go read this blog.) It was weirdly cereal to be on the boat again and kind of a shame that we didn't end up sailing back home form the Americas. I forgot how much I really enjoyed being on good all Dulcinea. However hopefully soon I will get to sail again.

Anyways we got up on Monday morning at some ungodly hour (I blame Emma) to catch the Ferry home. It was a short and sweet trip but it was fun being on the road again. I really think I got the traveling back good now and can't wait for my next adventure, which I will blog about later tonight or tomorrow when I can be arsed.

Well here is a quick video I did for our trip from Wellington to Christchurch nothing to exciting but you get to see the damage that Dulcinea suffered in the storm she got caught in.