Trip down under - Perth ,Auckland, Christchurch

PERTH


Well after a 3 week jaunt down south which included stays in Perth, Auckland and Christchurch I should be saying things like “I’m happy to be home”. The truth of it is however, excluding the draw of friends, family and more importantly, my wife, I feel like I have been robbed!

Why the hell did they build Australia so far away and give them those awful accents. I mean, the rest of South Africa would have been there a long time ago if someone had told us how good it really is despite the above. The first thing to hit me upon arrival was the efficiency and organization of Australian ground staff as you entered the terminal building. You did not even have to look lost, an expression I perfected, before being helped on your way.

Before entering the customs area you are requested to fill in a card with a few question the likes of which included, “have you been in Africa in the last 30 days?”, “have you been in a river, stream, lake or wilderness area in the last 30 days?”, “are you carrying skins, feathers, animal products…?” to which I of course replies “yes”. This immediately raised the hair on the back of the customs officials’ head when I handed the card to her so she approached me, rubber gloves first!

Don’t be clever or try to deceive this bunch, they are sharp have seen and heard it all before and can actually speak English and understand it well, something we are not used to when flying internally in SA.

All your “sporting” equipment is checked for cleanliness and God forbid if it is wet, dirty or old, or worse still, if you forget to mention you have hiking boots in your suitcase as was the case with a traveler in front of me who “forgot” to mention he had boots on his declaration!! They were plucked from his suitcase and deposited in a yellow wheelie bin without hesitation or argument never to be seen again. This confiscation is done with an air of pleasantness as they well know that any argument and you are not going to get through the pearly gates! Any foodstuff or drink, including bottled water or coke do not make it past the yellow bin and if you don’t bath too often well you know where you are going to end up – so sorry for some of the British !!

They are hell bent on not allowing South Africans to bring our “bugs” to Australia despite the fact that they have one of the deadliest snakes in the world and the box jellyfish will kill you without you ever seeing it. But this aside, it is not a hassle if you stick to the rules and in Australia they have rules aplenty.

Generally passing through customs is quick and painless and mostly the rubber gloves are thankfully, not needed!

Perth is paradise! Yes, maybe I was on holiday and maybe brainwashed by a successful ex pat who was singing its’ praises but to be honest, nobody needed to sing to me. It was right in front of my eyes. In 5 days I did not see one piece of paper on the streets but I did see one small plastic bottle in the gutter and suspect that someone was going to hang!! 

But honestly, everything works, is clean and everything seems to be newly painted. Women go to the beach or hike on their own and bicycles are left for days on the front lawn (mothers must be tolerant!). They do not disappear. I played volleyball on the beach and was horrified when everyone left for home and left the poles and net standing. It was still there the next day! But the boys work and play hard and it is VERY expensive. At R42 a beer you are not going to be a cheap alcoholic. But it is all relevant and people are earning and living well. I was told that Perth is now challenging to be the 2^nd most expensive city in the world behind Tokyo, ousting Sydney from this spot. Beach bum as I am, I enjoyed the warm water and lack of waves due to an offshore reef. This means miles of perfect beaches to match the perfect people.

People stick to traffic signs and speed limits, whatever those might be? Dogs know where and when they can go and their owners can pluck a suitable plastic bag from the many strategically placed boxes holding their “toilet bags” to clean up after them and surprise surprise, they do !! I saw a teenager run across the road to throw an empty chip bag into a rubbish bin. I could swear I saw wings on his back but I had been to the pub and had such a headache from the bill, I could not be sure.

AUCKLAND
So after a taste of Perth city I headed for my next stop Auckland.

Accommodation with a friend of some 40 years who lives north of the city and owns a sizeable off shore boat made this trip memorable. We virtually picked up from where we left off and discussed friends and family well into the first night. His “little” brother visited. I remembered him from the age 8, he brought along his wife and 2 grown children. I did not feel old. They had grown up and bred and I had stayed the same!

While shopping for an overnight boat trip I played “spot the New Zealander” as there seemed to be more Asians around than locals. Considering how many South Africans now live there I cannot be biased but it does look like their numbers far exceed any nation, locals included !

Survival nowadays in New Zealand is not easy as the “Yellow wave” has had a huge impact. Manufacturing is at an all time low and cheap imports abound. Heard about this somewhere else? But a good trade or useful degree will see you sitting pretty in a land filled with natural beauty, history and abundant outdoor opportunities. From what I saw, New Zealanders have all the toys, live near and use the sea exploring nearby islands, fishing and generally playing in the water.

Snorkeling in calm water and having some good catches of fish for the pan and feeding sting rays off the back of the boat made my stay special but with 2.4 boats to every resident I would think that most would enjoy the benefit of the sea in the 4 days of summer they have a year!

After trips to the city, scouting for kiwi’s on an island, a visit to Mt. Eden towering above the possibly more famous “Eden Park” rugby ground, and a fantastic visit with life long friends, it was off to Christchurch.

CHRISTCHURCH


A mate that I fished with for many years in South Africa greeted me and we set off to his home to meet yet more South Africans one of which by co incidence was in the class ahead of me in high school!

Mark had planned and prepared for the next 7 days of my visit which saw us travel from Christchurch to fish several rivers in what is known as the Mackenzie District including stops at Temuka, Fairlie, Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki which look onto Mount Cook then on to Twizel and  Lake Ohau and as far south as Omarama.

We camped in some of the numerous camp sites and although it was peak season there was never a crowd.

Camper vans are a favorite past time and there are thousands on the roads. Easily hired and well kitted out it is certainly the way to travel but we made do with me sleeping in the back of the station wagon and Mark in a 1 man tent. But we were well equipped which means we always had cold beer!

The days prior to my arrival had seen south island have some heavy rains and the larger rivers we wanted to fish were in spate and off colour. Not dirty, just a milky turquoise which looked pretty but was unfishable.

 We did find some clear water in the smaller tributaries and seeing 3 pound and above fish in gin clear water has amazing.

This does not do your casting much good as the nerves take over and a steady hand is needed for an accurate cast. Despite this, I landed a fish on my second cast in NZ and my second fish in NZ was a brown trout of 3 pounds. My largest of the trip was one of 5 pounds and not really big by NZ standards but huge by mine. I was happy that I had got such a fish and learnt the ways of fishing New Zealand, far different than ours here in SA. Even in these “poor” conditions there are literally thousands of rivers to fish and getting to them by foot, boat, car, plane or helicopter spread the crowd so that meeting a fellow fisherperson is not a regular occurrence.

It was strange to fish in hot weather and swim in the water while looking up at mountain ranges peaked with snow. With skiing a national pastime we passed many resorts and marked slopes but all the action was on the many lakes during this summer.

Fortunately I did not experience a rumble or any form of earthquake during my stay but evidence of their destructive power on buildings was very evident in Christchurch town. Admittedly it was the older buildings that were affected and some newer glass and brick high rise building were not affected at all. Churches had their steeples removed “just in case” they came tumbling down and it was strange to see them laying on the ground next to the church being reinforced before being put back in place! Patches on the roads were evidence of repair work done on cracks from ground movement but it was the resultant mud which eventually dried to leave a fine sand which caused most of the problem. Getting into every nook and cranny this fine dust clouded the city for ages before it could be controlled.

Christchurch is clean and has a beautiful river (The Avon) running through where boaters enjoy a ride through town. Quite and safe it is no wonder it is another favourite of migrating South Africans.

My trip ended with me having accomplished all my wishe,s to see old mates and to get a taste of the cities I visited. OK, maybe to catch a bloody great trout as well and as far as I am concerned, all round it was mission accomplished. The worse thing, of course, 20 hours of flying and having to go back to work. 

Greg.

17-01-2011