Peru

Peru is the last country on this trip - bringing me closer to the final destination of London. Here I met my sister for another walking trip, like Nepal. The flight from Hawaii, to San Francisco, to Houston, to Lima was long long LONG! After being in Oz, New Zealand and the United States, South America was a welcome return to crazyness, though on a lesser scale to Asia. I jumped in a sunshine taxi, windows down, latino music blaring from the tinny speakers - I soon remembered that I needed to brush up on my Spanish. My sister had booked a hotel for just one night. We were to fly to Cusco the next day to begin the Inca trail.

The flight to Cusco was delayed, by at least 4 hours. We sat in the small, busy airport and sampled the local beers. I also tried ceviche, a Peruvian dish of raw fish marinated in citrus juice and served mixed with chilli - very very tasty, if a little harsh on the stomach. Eventually the weather clears and we're loaded onto a little plane, with posh cream seats, that's only 3/4 full. The flight's bumpy due to the turbulent cloud over the mountains. It's so bumpy that if not for the seat belts our heads would be bouncing off the roof. We're given cute little Peruvian airlines boxes containing lunch. The landing's great - skirting under the clouds and around the hills, then down valleys before landing. I could feel the altitude and cold as soon as we're off the plane - at the back of my head was a little concern about altitude sickness - flying straight to 3400m - but we felt fine. Maybe being at 5000m in Nepal five months before, or 4000m in Hawaii one month before had helped.

 Here is a rough map of the route I took.

The big island, Hawaii

The little 50 seater jet from Honolulu to Hilo was great fun. I couldn't stand upright. It took off what seemed like vertical then banked steeply squashing you into the seat. The weather was stormy which delayed us 30 minutes. The flight to the big island only took 45 minutes. You NEED to hire a car on the big island - it's more Polynesian than American, and public transport is minimal. The conversation with Avis went something like this;

Me: Hi! I'd like a car for 3 days - what's the cheapest you have?
Avis: We have a special right now - for $90 a day you could have that;
          *points to bright blue convertible Mustang*
Me: *wide-eyed* ooh, I'll take the Mustang!
Avis: Great! You won't regret it!

 So there I am - sitting in a purring, left-hand drive, automatic Mustang in the pitch black airport car park. I've not driven a car in over a year. I change from park to drive, release the handbrake and cruise out of the airport - ill prepared but ready for adventure - I know Volcano village is about 20 miles south-west. It's raining hard, then clears quickly leaving an incredible vista of the stars through the windscreen (shield?). I take it easy, I have no idea what this car's capable of - I notice that the traction control is on and sports mode is off - I think I'll leave it like that for the moment.

Volcano village is tiny - one general store, the lava cafe, a Thai restaurant, a petrol station and some tourist accommodation. My hostel was called HoloHolo and was hard to find down some tiny dark roads. The hostel is deathly quiet, and quite cold. In the dorm room were two US geologists studying the volcano - they were getting up at 3am the next day to go to the lava lake - something that's off-bounds to tourists. I asked if I could join them, but special permits were required.

My reason for coming to this Island was to see some lava. The geologists said that the walk from crater drive was now 7 miles over old lava terrain, and impossible if you didn't know where to look for the lava. They suggested going from the north side, but it would require a guide as it would be on private land - costing $300 on your own, or $150 in a group. Also the rain was a factor - it was constantly raining heavily. As time went on I didn't find people willing to shell out $150, and I wasn't prepared to pay $300 - so the lava idea faded.

I took a drive in the rain down crater drive, where you pass various dated lava flows. The road winds down a huge hill to the sea and then the road stops abruptly, where a 2003 lava flow decided to cross! It's from here that you can hike 7 miles to the active flow if you so wished.

Lava says no to road

A flow from early 2000

I spend the last night before flying out in Hilo at a little guest house slightly out of town, called the Hilo tropical garden hostel. I meet up with two gnarly Alaskans who'd fled to Hawaii from the oppressive cold - as they (and many Alaskans) do every year. We drive up to the observatory at Mauna Kea. An interesting drive that steadily climbs and climbs and climbs, seemingly never-ending. The only indication that you're getting higher is the car using more and more fuel. We hit the clouds and heavy rain for 10 minutes then pop out into brilliant sunshine, and the observatory at around 13,000ft. From base (at the bottom of the Pacific) to the peak (33.000ft) it's twice as high as Everest (base to peak) We're not able to drive to the summit in my muscle car - this is only accessible by 4x4. There's some great little walks around the area on the red martian landscape but the wind-speed is incredible!

O'ahu, Hawaii

I arrived in Honolulu before I left Sydney. Crossing the international date line fiddles with the mind a little. This became especially apparent when I arrived at the hostel on Waikiki beach and asked to check in. On seeing the a frown and and pursed lips on the face of the friendly receptionist I immediately realised that I'd not actually booked a room for that night. I could only think of the high-end hotels around the area and how much this mistake might cost me! Sleeping on the beach popped into my head, but in raining season probably not an option. I popped on the net and checked for any spaces in hostels - but of course, with new years eve the next day, there was nothing. I ditched the bag and went on a rece to the hotels in the area to get an idea of prices. All were between $350 and $450 per night, and seemed to be only the high-class rooms - although I must admit it was tempting to grab a penthouse suite with spa, and full sea-view for one night. Eventually (and quite close to the hostel) I found a hotel that had a $125 room - I took it immediately!

Back at the hostel I grabbed my bag and got chatting to a friendly, cute girl from New Zealand. We were both heading down the beach so decided to hang out. I had to get changed into my swimming shorts at the hotel but the room wasn't ready. The receptionist said I could use the bag room to get changed, but there was CCTV with a monitor in reception - she promised not to look and I donned my shorts, superman style.

The next 18 hours, we decided, was our new years eve - a sleep-deprived whirlwind of conversation, sunshine, swimming, cocktails and terry-towelling jumpsuits - I've rarely had such a fantastic, instant, connection with someone. At 5am the next morning I waved my new partner-in-crime off in a taxi - she, sadly, had to fly home.

After catching up on sleep I moved to the hostel, where I had a booking for that evening. The official new years was that evening, but I wasn't feeling it - dramatically missing my Kiwi buddy. In my hostel room were some welcoming Argentinians who'd already started the celebrations - they thrust a beer in my hand and the party, once again, started!

At midnight thousands gathered on Waikiki beach to watch the fireworks. Afterwards we did a little clubbing, dancing about to some dubstep then ended up swimming in the sea around 3am. The dip sobered me up quickly and then I had to go back and get some kip. New years eve (part 2) complete.

Christchurch, New Zealand

Christchurch feels like a ghost town. Looking at the still-evacuated security guarded buildings, empty car park like spaces, spire-less Churches and shops with fallen chairs and fluorescent light dangling down anyone would think this happened yesterday. It's horrifying to walk around - one can only imagine the terror. Being here on Christmas eve/day makes it even quieter - there's almost no-one about. But the spirit of the people to bounce back is very evident - pop-up things have popped up everywhere; old buses turned into bars; shipping containers turned into a mall; palettes turned into a makeshift theatre and gig venue; street corners into mini-golf! When I was there they'd just opened up the area around Cathedral square, with a view of the battered Cathedral and the promising plans for the future. It's going to take a long time but you can feel the optimism. I'm sure this is going to be a stunning city once again, but with a green and youthful edge.

Hope shines

  

Mount Cook, New Zealand

The entry into Mount Cook national park wasn't anything special - mainly because of the low, drizzle-dropping clouds.We past a glacial lake, which is supposed to be bluer than blue, but today was just blue (the coach drivers words not mine). Arriving at the YHA there was nothing to be seen around, and the rain was relentless so after a brisk walk about I retreated to the common room and did some reading. The hostel resembles an alpine chalet - and makes me think about dusting the snowboard off. I pop a few emails home to friends to see if any plans are afoot. There's a sauna - I've always wanted to like saunas but feel like I'm going to die. I can sit for about 2 minutes before gasping for cool air. It mocked me every time I walked past! 

Next morning I'm up at sunrise and out. The weather had cleared and the surrounding mountains were super-epic! The sun was scorching a hole in my head within two minutes, I had to break out the hat. I'd make a cheese sandwich and bought some peanut bars, and also stocked up with water. There's a nice walk up to the glacier face (or as close as you can get) called the Hooker trail. It reminded me of the trek up to Everest a lot - with cute bridges and rough scree-like terrain. It takes about 2 hours to get there. On arrival I was amazed to see an iceberg - I've never seen an iceberg before. It's was just there, sitting in the lake, looking kinda stuck on the bottom. I wonder how common they are. The other walk is called the red tarn, or tarn... I  forget. This walk's steep up, with some nice views. I would say the most scenic part of this whole area is on the glacial plains though - with the flowering lupins and the soft blowing grass you would be happy to lay in the grass and never wake up again :)

I wanted to do a stargazing tour, and the YHA had a poster with a 10% discount. They called for me but the company said the offer had been retracted. They had one space left on the tour and I asked If I could get that for the 10% off price - they said no. I decided to go solo and wondered off onto the plain. The stars pop out of the sky from everywhere - billions and billions! I didn't had a release or tripod to get the absolute best shots but here's my efforts;