As we had previously booked our north island to south ferry online we were getting short on time and wanted to explore Wellington before leaving. This therefore required a 160km drive to arrive in Wellington at lunch time and find somewhere to park the van which allowed us to sleep inside. Rowena’s lodge offered this and at $15 per person per night was the cheapest offering in the city.

Upon checking in there was a heated argument between the proprietor and a fellow guest which involved a slanging match ending in the guy being kicked out. First impressions are so important. The hostel is a bit rough around the edges, some eclectic staff members and has some very funky smells in the communal areas, but it was cheap enough to get past this and we always had the safety of the van to hide away in.

For most of the day it rained so we opted for a visit to the Te Papa Museum located on the waterfront. Home to the relics and tales of New Zealand’s past Te Papa is a big museum and would require half a day if you were to explore the whole place. We only had 2 hours and some of the exhibits were closed so we made our way from the top back down to the bottom taking in contemporary New Zealand art to 20th Century paintings. This led into more of a museum layout with life-size exhibits of people’s homes during the war, the effect of the Commonwealth and then going way back from Maori living and to the Dinosaurs. It is a pretty comprehensive museum and plays host to the only Gigantic Squid on show in the world.

When we left the museum it was still raining so we had a stroll around the waterfront and back into the city passing by another Occupy event and the City Gallery before meandering around the outdoor shops. We’re getting ideas for our big trekking expedition in Nepal so nearly every outdoor shop draws us in. On our way back to the hostel we stopped off for a drink at a quirky bar next door to a theatre in the artsy district. When we crossed over the road there was an artists exhibition taking place, the opening night was the week before but the artist wanted to conjure more interest by hosting a live installation. As soon as we were in the gallery the artist introduced himself Jon Drypnz and for the next hour or so we stood chatting about travel, art, politics amongst other things whilst enjoying a complimentary beer. He had a nice big space to work with as an artist in residence and used the space to play with the contrasts in liberal v’s conservative. We added our own illustration to the wall art taking place. The wall was very clear at that point so we did feel a little self-conscious but what the hell…Helen did a Fine Art degree and Dave design so we were sure we could contribute something!! ha ha!

Back at the hostel we stayed in and cooked along with the rest of the backpackers before escaping to our van.

We had a morning in Wellington to kill before going to get our ferry at 1.30pm so we went out in search of a few items that we’d been meaning to get for a while. One was to swap our first Jo Nesbo Harry Hole novel, but for some reason this was proving to be difficult! We wanted to swap the first book for the third, but nowhere had any Nesbo’s in stock. Helen was trying to educate the booksellers but to no avail. Eventually we settled on a swap with a ‘Rough Guide to Nepal’ in order to start planning a little for our trip there in Spring, we bartered and managed to get 2 extra dollars off the price! Bargaining in a Western country, it can be done!

We then bought some DVDR’s to catch up on burning our work to disc and we also picked up our Christmas cards to send home from a lovely gift and card shop on one of the main shopping streets. At the top end of Cuba Street we found a cool coffee house that was once an old clothing shop, there were lots of vintage boutiques, and good little places to explore. In terms of the city and what it has to offer we really enjoyed exploring the streets and the coffee really is good!!

So following on from our morning we drove to the Bluebridge Ferry Terminal which is very close to the centre of town and we ended up parking and waiting for over an hour before boarding the ferry. The ferry crossing to start with was choppy and neither of us really felt like moving from our seats, but a few hours into the crossing it did settle down so we explored the outside decks and enjoyed a very good hot chocolate and gingerbread kiwi to settle the sea sickness! It seemed to do the trick!

We got into Picton after a slow pace cruising through the beautiful Malborough Sounds and from there we made our way to Blenheim to meet up with friends Vic and Dave who we know from the UK. It was Vic’s birthday and so we joined in with the celebrations which involved champagne, a family meal cooked by the other Dave, speeches, wine and a birthday cake. Our first taste of a New Zealand home and it was a lovely evening indeed. Thanks to the Gillan’s for making us feel so welcome.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Our Qantas trans-pacific flight was easy enough with over five hours of sleep to pass the time and the obligatory movie or two. We all know what airplane food can be like, but recently both of us have been fairly impressed with the offerings. However not this time! Dave’s fish dish was very dry and Helen was only given the option online of setting a Vegetarian Indian Meal which was below par, even including a chickpea curry breakfast! Whilst everyone else got cereal, muffin, egg omelette with mushrooms (and bacon) etc. After some bartering with the slightly unfriendly air hostesses, (who even said that maybe next time we should bring our own food for Helen! She only avoids red meat!) eventually we managed to get a spare continental breakfast! Victory!

Landing at 9am New Zealand time we headed for our pre-booked hostel Garden City Lodge using the fixed price shuttle service which cost $36 for both of us and our luggage. The hostel is located just outside the main part of the city in Parnell on a quiet side street. We checked into our small bunk bed twin room which was basic for $60 per night, but good enough with shared bathrooms, a mid-sized kitchen and good communal areas downstairs. We bought a quick sandwich at the Italian Bread Shop before heading into Auckland through the park to look for the Backpackers Car Market to see if there were any decent camper vans for sale as we didn’t want to rent like we did in America.

The Backpackers Car Market was shockingly bad, overpriced, poor quality and poor choice of vans and cars. We decided the most important thing was a new mobile as our American phone would more than likely cost too much to unblock. After some backwards and forwards between shops we found our new phone and SIM for NZ, let the van hunt continue. Stocking up on provisions at the Countdown supermarket we headed back to our lodgings to cook up some dinner, it had been a long day!

We spent most of our time in Auckland looking for a van to buy rather than sightseeing. We checked out the adverts on the hostel wall and gumtree (at this hostel you only get 100mg of free wi-fi, it’s $10 per 100mg after that) and we managed to find a couple of possible candidates to purchase in a much more reasonable price range than at the backpackers market, and made some appointments to view the next morning. We really wanted to get something ASAP so we could get on the road and start exploring as well as beat the peak season backpacker rush for vehicles. One possible candidate was situated just around the corner so we decided to view that evening as it looked promising.

After a short walk we arrived and started to give it the once over. The van looked in good condition with no rust in the arches, practically new tyres, relatively clean, converted with a double bed in the back and cooking space, recent repairs to radiator and a new battery. After meeting with Jodie and Sam, the current owners, who showed us around and answered our questions we went for a little test drive around the block, the Mitsubishi L300 Sportpac handled gracefully enough and we said we would sleep on it. Before we got back to the hostel we had decided we wanted her and contacted Jodie and Sam to say yes to the purchase. Prior to some garage tests… We just bought ourselves a camper van!

The following day we booked a garage appointment on Parnell Street to give the van the once over for any issues that we couldn’t figure out ourselves. For $85 worth of peace of mind its definitely worth it and there was only a minor issue that was fixed and we were good to go. We withdrew the money over the counter at a local bank rather than accessing lots of cash machines and then signed a couple of documents with Jodie and Sam, got the van registered in our name and within 30 minutes we were the legal owners of Po. A spot of 3rd party insurance through Travellers Car Insurance and we’re all set for our New Zealand adventure. Tomorrow we would head north in our new home for the next two months. Before the day was out we went to the Warehouse store in Newmarket and bought some additional gear for the van; toilet roll, and extra chair, pillows, sheets and a few other necessary items for our new home!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We got up early and made our way back to Timberline Lodge ready for our hike. There is free parking in the overflow carpark outside of ski-season so we took advantage of this. We took trail number 798 and the first part of the hike took us to the Silcox Hut this was only just over a mile but it was very steep and we reached over 6,950 ft (2,120 m) we had clear skies and again fantastic views down through the valley below.

There was a group of snow-boarders being filmed and setting up tricks and jumps for the day, very cool! We walked across the top of the path to the cable car station and then took the trail down to meet the Pacific Crest Trail, this first loop is only around 2.5 miles but the terrain is pretty hard going. When we reached the PCT we found a little station mapping out the area and when there we bumped into Ryan, his 2 year old daughter Corah and their energetic collie Gracey.

We instantly got chatting and he included us on his backcountry permit so we decided to hike with them for the rest of the morning. We’ve found people to be very helpful and informative in Oregon, never shy to  welcome us to their neighbourhood! This part of the trail goes through lush meadows and all the while Mt Hood towers above, we stopped at the Zig Zag river area, enjoyed and quick lunch and then turned around. On our way back we took part of the 798 trail back to the Lodge. A fantastic walk covering around 7 miles or so in distance with amazing views all the while, we thought this would be a great place to come back to in the winter.

The next part of our road trip continued and we made our way to Sisters, around 2.5 hours away. We left mountains and forest area and went straight into desert, all part of a USA road trip! When we got to Sisters we set up our tent in The City Park Campground, back to our $12 a night camping fees. When the camp host is off duty you have to call the town hall for the code to get into the showers, again the method of payment was through the honesty box.

We had a stroll around the town, a little like a stage set but and perhaps a sleepy place but it has a good choice of eateries and nearly every weekend there is some sort of festival taking place so we thought it would be more interesting during those times. Still we were happy in our little campground, enjoyed a good dinner with a decent bottle of wine, and the temperature was good until bedtime.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We had a late start to the day with the idea that we wanted to set the tent up to give it a clean, do some writing and clothes washing. So by 1pm we were ready to set off and we walked to a local Dim Sum restaurant called Dim Sum King! It pretty much lived up to its expectations but we always forget that they don’t tend to have a big vegetarian or fish selection in these places! Even the sticky rice had minced pork inside!

After some research into car hire and a trip to REI‘s flagship store we managed to pick up a few essentials for our camping trips ahead. We continued our urban hike through the hilly streets to the funk that is Capitol Hill. It’s very different from the main parts of the city and offers more of an eclectic atmosphere with lots of bars, cafe’s, vintage shops and restaurants. We stopped for some food at Oddfellows, perhaps not so great for the budget conscious but we shared a salad, a veggie lasagne and some fries, which was more than enough for us both and the food was very good! This place has kept it’s charm with original features, signs and a mish-mash of wooden furniture.

With our stomachs full we continued to wander the streets of Capitol Hill and a few doors down from Oddfellows is the Elliot Bay Book Company where we picked up some Joe Nesbo novels (one of which we dug deep for in the bargain books area) and a couple of notebooks for us to draw in, write and so on. The bookstore is amazing, it’s got a lovely charm to the place within its layout and it has a huge listing of books available, really something that we could do more of in the UK! We finished our evening by walking back through the streets from Capitol Hill to our neighborhood! We probably clocked up around 10 miles or so – if you’re doing Seattle by foot, wear trainers!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Today we gave up on the idea of yet more bike riding misfortune and decided to use our legs. After an early morning run around Battambang and some breakfast we headed out to look at the french influenced buildings around the town and stop by at more temples. In the afternoon we headed out to the train tracks once more but this time to the abandoned railway tracks. Children playing in the wasteland that was once a French operated train yard, which is now home to people living on the perimeter of the town and is a dumping ground for their rubbish. We headed back towards the hotel with cameras poised. Toyota must have a huge market share in Cambodia, almost every car you see is a Toyota Camry, they love the Camry! More work time on the roof and a few drinks before heading off to the White Rose again for some cheap food, one vegetable and one fish Khmer curry.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

On the morning of the 8th we enjoyed a good breakfast from the Hotel including a choice of eggs, bread, fruit and juice. Afterwards we set off to research a few options for tours in the area. We had planned to do a tour to Ninh Binh and Tam Coc with Maayke and Paul so were shopping around the various fake Sinh Cafe‘s across the city to find out the best deals. They’d already sourced somewhere that would do the trip for $16 with bikes included for one part of the trip. After a while and battling through the many scooters we ended up back at the same place and booked the trip for the price they’d agreed. We’d arranged a part-payment trip in case there was anything we weren’t happy with; often you’ll find there are many cheap tours and you’ll never know which one is better than the other. We thought it would be a good day out of the city anyway so went along with this.

Afterwards we went off to do some more research into the other part of our trip interest: the Halong Bay tour. Helen had read up on a few more reputable companies offering slightly better value tours so we started with Ethnic travel who didn’t really have a very welcoming atmosphere and soon decided we wouldn’t be booking with them. We found Ocean tours around the corner who’s 3 day 2 night tour with one night on the Island in a bungalow to be the best on offer but still had a look around. In doing so we met Justin and Jules who were doing the same research as us, Dave stopped them as soon as they walked out of one of the other tour agencies and we started chatting about what information that have and so on. Before long we were enjoying lunch with them and went back to Ocean Tours to get a better feel for what they were offering.

After a few more drinks, a walk around the city into the French Quarter and then back to Ocean Tours we’d decided this was THE tour for us and we all booked it together! We knew that at $175 we were paying a lot more than many other tours on offer but decided that it sounded far better than some of the other less tailored trips and we liked the sound of staying in a bungalow for the night!!

So with that sorted we went back to our now hostel Gecko (we’d moved out that morning as we wanted to save some money by staying in a dorm and rendezvous had no more availability) met up with the others and went out for food to Koto, a restaurant in the south-west of the city which trains up street-kids and the homeless to be chefs and working in the kitchens. The food was very good indeed and it was packed so it was good to see the restaurant supported in this way.

On the 9th we were picked up at 8am for our day trip to Ninh Binh and Tam Coc. The weather had been pretty chilly since we’d arrived in Hanoi although we were acclimatised to this and to us it felt okay, but there was some rain forecast for the day so we took extra layers with us. Leaving Hanoi the bus stopped several times to pick up other people and groups on the tour and before long there were around 20 on the bus. It took around 2.5 hours to get to Ninh Binh with one stop and we spent a lot of this time chatting to Bekka and her husband from America who are now living in Beijing, we exchanged stories of China and it passed the time nicely.

Our first stop was at 2 temples, which held the first and second Emperors of Vietnam. A few people on the bus were a little annoyed as they’d been sold the bus ticket as bus fare to Ninh Binh and not a tour, they had to go to the temples first before being dropped off in Ninh Binh…be warned this happens quite a lot over here!

The temples were okay but we have seen many amazing shrines and temples over our time traveling, so it takes an amazing day with the weather and a spectacular site to impress us! Have we become Temple snobs…?

We were supposed to be cycling from the temple site to Tam Coc where the rest of the tour bus was traveling to for lunch. As it was raining and very windy we decided against this and joined the bus to go straight to the restaurant. It was a good job we did as it would have taken us much longer to reach the port than the tour allowed for and would probably have missed our lunch…to be fair though that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. The vegetarian option for Helen and a few others was quite poor with the best thing on offer being a plate of chips for 7 to share. We mentioned this to the tour guide and he was very apologetic but it’s more down to the restaurant than him.

Following lunch we went over the road to the rowing boat tour and met the lady driver who took us out on her boat. She was quite agile often using her feet to row and we had a paddle each so we could both add some gusto to the pace. We passed under caves and one by one the boats traveled along the river. It’s supposed to be the land version of Halong Bay with many karst peaks engulfing the landscape. It was quite similar to what had surrounded us in Yangshou and we both felt Yangshou is a more impressive place.

The boat tour was good fun, and we even bought our guide a drink and snack which she shared with us, we had to bargain for this and the woman selling the goods on her own boat wouldn’t leave us alone until we did! We didn’t mind too much though as we felt our guide was doing a very good job indeed.

At the end of the tour we were pressured into giving a tip to our guide but we felt we’d already tipped her in buying her drinks and snacks along the way so made for a sharp exit to the bus. There were people selling souvenirs and market items along the pier front and some were selling dog meat. By now we have become used to seeing this sort of thing on sale, funny how you get used to customs so quickly but its always the topic of conversation when you first see it.

We had a small confrontation with our tour guide on the bus back to Hanoi. As we had monies outstanding to pay he was asking for us to complete the payment. We mentioned that we’d agreed a price including bike hire but as we didn’t use the bikes then we wanted to pay the price quoted to us excluding bike rental. He got quite angry about this and said we have to pay for the bikes as the restaurant paid for fuel to get them to the site for us to cycle, but we saw many bikes there so we felt this was not the case. We were happy to pay but just not for the whole fee and he didn’t say when we said we weren’t taking the bikes that we would still have to pay for their rental. He rang our tour company and Helen agreed a price over the phone which mean’t we paid some of the cost towards the bike but not all. Our chirpy tour guide was no longer quite so happy and he settled into a grump until the bus stopped to pick up his girlfriend.

Another lesson learned! Still we had managed to get back some of the money so it was good to know there are some principles in place. When we got back we ate at a great local restaurant and for a good price. We went back and packed ready for our Halong Bay trip leaving at 8am the next day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Last day in Shanghai and we had some catching up to do with the blog so we stayed in the hostel cafe until midday and then went out in search of some older looking parts of Shanghai. On our way to Shanghai old town and the YuYuan gardens we bought some fantastic street food in the form of potato noodles, chives and spice…yum! This definitely set us up for the rest of the day and we walked onwards to YuYuan. Shanghai does have historic sites but many of them have been very modernly updated, it’s difficult to see past the sparkling gold exteriors and more plasticy looking brick work.

In amongst the streets here are hundreds of tourist shops selling typical Chinese craft and souvenirs along with famously long queues for the most well known dumpling restaurants and tees houses around. It seems to be the place for tourists to swarm towards and have their photographs taken. We did however find the less frequented YuYuan gardens, perhaps because you have to pay 30yuan to get in…? Who knows, but it really isn’t a place you should miss if you do visit Shanghai because it contains it’s original features, stone work and gardens, it does take you away from the crowded streets and manages to keep a sense of serenity about it.

On our way back we walked by People’s Square, which wasn’t very busy and then caught a quick tube back to East Nanjing rd, back at the hostel more pool was played, more defeats but not for Dave. We stepped out for some local cuisine, experience the troff style toilet and we packed ready to leave the following day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)