Gav’s Blog - Gavin Hudson’s Blog

Well, I’ve got to say I was pretty gutted to leave Queenstown behind. The South Island of New Zealand has to be one of the most stunning things I’ve ever seen. You almost don’t bother taking photos of breathtaking views, because you just know that around the next corner awaits something even better. You can see how Peter Jackson had no problem filming Lord Of the Rings here; everything just screams drama at you. I’ve been to a couple of places where LOTR was filmed around Queenstown, but they could have easily been anywhere in the country.

My words and photos can’t really do it justice, but I think this video might give you an idea - it’s not often that I’m lost for words! I can only say that you HAVE to come out here and see this for yourself.

So to catch up, what I’ve done so far is to land in Christchurch, on the East of the South Island, cross over to Greymouth, and travel down the spectacular West coast. Then onto Wanaka (tee hee!) and Queenstown, which is a great little city with views to die for and plenty to do in both summer and winter. Activities done so far include; Drinking, swimming, stone skipping (record = 9) cavorting, glacier climbing, cricket watching, skydiving (my favourite, definitely - even the plane journey was great with the views over Mount Cook and the Fox Glacier, as well as out over the sea - see my vids of these, they’re on Facebook, and should be on YouTube at some point), lots of sightseeing, Fergburger eating, walking, Frisbee golfing, golfing, motorbike driving (don’t tell Mum!), and the biggest bungee jump in New Zealand. Not bad for two weeks, eh?

Now I’m up on the North Island where 75% of the 4 million population lives. I flew into Auckland on Tuesday 4th March where Andy picked me up from the Airport and showed me the sights. I’ll be back in Auckland at some point so will leave my thoughts on that until then. Then it was the 2 hours down to Hamilton and the cricket! I managed to blag the last room in town at the YWCA! It might not be that fun to stay at the YWCA (e.g. $10 if you want to bring a visitor back to your room, *apparently*) but it was cheap at £10 per night for your own room. Hamilton is a nice little student city of and was certainly rocking on a Thursday night. They say the Kiwi bird is an endangered species and difficult to spot in the wild. Well, there were a fair few out in Hamilton last night, and they didn’t seem as shy and retiring as the ornithologists would tell you! After seeing Brendon McCullam out with his Doris, I see why his confidence at the crease is so high when she’s watching from the pavilion.

The cricket was great fun - it’s not been the most thrilling of test matches, but the atmosphere on the grassy banks is superb, with people from all over the UK coming to watch. Everyone seems to have their cricket club and football shirts everywhere, which lead to plenty of talking points. Quite a few people had a few facts to tell me about Hyde United as it happened! I had my Hyde flag out, and it was certainly seen on telly, as was I a few times. Thanks for the person who texted me today to tell me to put some sun cream on my belly as I was looking a bit burnt! You’ll be glad to know it’s now going nicely brown. He says.

Anyway, the cricket has varied from intriguing to skilful, and down to tepid. The first day finished about honours even, with NZ on 265-7, after a great knock from McCullam and decent contributions from Fleming and How. Day 2 belonged to the Blackcaps as they piled on the runs from the start, and Ross Taylor (who the day before had been introduced to the crowd as “With a top test match score of 17, please welcome Ross Taylor”!) getting his maiden test ton. With a couple of wickets off England at the end of the day it wasn’t a good day for us. Today’s days play was just turgid, with only about 180 runs being added for the loss of 4 wickets - Strauss and Vaughan seemed to be going well (albeit at a slow run rate) but after that even the irrepressible KP seemed to just dig in. This has draw written all over it! At one point the run rate dipped to 1.99 runs per over, something even Sir Geoffrey of Boycott would’ve raised an eyebrow at. I even caught David “Bumble” Lloyd having a nap out the back of the Sky box. I had a chat with him later, and he agreed it was down to the really placid pitch. *OBVIOUS COMMENT ALERT* Bumble is a really nice bloke in real life, as well as when he’s on the telly. I think we all reluctantly agreed that England took the right approach to the game, as they were never going to win it, but it’s not great to watch. At one point I nipped off to get my hair cut, get some cash out and buy some ice creams for the troops, and missed a grand total of 4 runs. Regardless of this, due to the great sunshine (all cricket should be watched with a beer in hand, in the sun from grassy banks!) I had a pretty good day really and can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing. The fans are a real good bunch - it’s not all about the actual Barmy Army, though. There’s plenty more of us, and pleasantly, most of them seem to be good gravy-loving Northern lads who all play cricket. Not too much Landaaaaan, which is nice! I’ve met a good bunch, and we’re all meeting up again in Wellington.

If you’ve made it this far, give yourself a pat on the back, you’re nearly there!

I’m now in Rotorua, and have just been for a soak in the geothermal pools at my hostel, as you do! It’s a geothermal spa town, which is all very nice, but the whole town smells a bit of rotten eggs and sulphur! Tomorrow I’m back on the Kiwi Experience bus heading over to Waitamo (possible black water rafting) then onto Taupo for lots more outdoorsy stuff and making my way down to the capital, Wellington, for the 12th March in time for the second test which starts on the 13th - I can’t wait!

I’m sat in the bar at the moment on my laptop watching a really good game of Super-14’s rugby, I’m hoping to get to a game while I’m over here. OK, well thanks for reading, and as always, let me know what you’re up to or if you’re interested in anything in particular about my travels. Loads of photos on the right there!

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