After night out in Santiago (OK place but a bit drab) drinking the local Piscos Sour with some locals I flew 5 hours back to Easter Island.  

 

It´s been a fun four days or so here.  Weather has been mixed with alot of rain.  In fact the whole island is basically the output from three big volcanoes so when it rains the water just runs off the rocky land in hundreds of muddy streams.  but is is very atmospheric with the mysterious Moai statues scattered around the coastline.  I´ve been up at the crack of dawn photographing them in moody b&w.  Hopefully got some ones tho the camera through a bit of a wobbly yesterday possibly due to dampness.

 

the diving here is phenomenal.  Yesterday did a 31m dive on the Birdman island with 40+m of visability.  Not too much fishlife but dramatic location diving along a 100m volcanic wall

 

Today I´m due to leave and go back to mainland Chile before heading up to Peru for two weeks motorbiking.

Had the best day today, almost my last in NZ.  Went out in a boat this morning to go whale spotting and we were duly rewarded with not one but two gigantic sperm whales plus the Wandering Albatross (the big daddy od the sea bird world) and Hector's dolphins which apparently are very rare but they all look the same to me.   The whales were cool and I got a fantastic classic wildlife shot of the whales tail, with the sea and mountain ranges in the background. 

Control the new film about Ian Curtis debuted in Cannes yesterday and has got rave reviews by those who have seen it.  Still not sure who will go and see it, though I definitely will of course, tho it is not due for official release until September in the UK.

 

Independent article:

 

Guardian review:

 

 

Post Script on New Order:

Control also comes on the news that New Order have split up and this time it looks like it will be for good.  I guess Barney and Hooky are never going to get on again and the sales for the last album were shite.  So they must have thought Why bother?  I'm not too bothered myself.  I saw them four times since they reformed in 97 and that is probably enough. They were beginning to look like a nostalgia act rather than the innovators of their heyday. 

I am at a turning point in my travels, leaving Australasia and slowly heading back to the UK via South America.  I've been a bit philosophical of late, perhaps as a result of spending alot of time on my own in NZ. 

 

I've found myself suprisingly (to me) feeling a little homesick.  Not only for wanting to see my friends and family, but also for Blighty and London.  Visiting many of capital cities I have found them wanting when compared to the liveliness and history of London.  The Australasian cities, with the exception of Sydney which has it's own unique attractions and is undoubtably a world class city, many of the major conurbations lack any discernable atmosphere.  They may have a couple of surving Victorian buildings, but most of them are full of identikit and bland modern retail units.  

 

I'm also missing the BBC (tho' the web helps) and especially, being a news and current affairs junkie, Radio 4.  Most of the news in NZ is trivial, and provincial.  International news hardly gets a mention.  To remedy this I got The Economist yesterday and devoured all of it in one evening.

 

One of the paradoxes of travelling is that while you have alot of time to do what you want, it is not that relaxing.  Life can be a succession of dashes to the must see destinations of the particlar country you're in.  There is something to be said for choosing one place, like India, and just staying there, rather than trying to cram alot in. 

 

Also, life to some extent is on hold.  While I'm on my extended holiday my friends all seem to be busy doing well at work, moving house, studying for MBA's, getting new jobs for cool start ups, having babies.  I'm not sure which is the more worthwhile.  Perhaps this is because NZ is not challenging enough, and it's not copmpletely fulfilling my need to be bombarded with new experiences.

 

Of course, this is only a temporary feeling, and I guess for most people reading this, it's like, what are you on about.  Enjoy your time off and enjoy it. I wish I was there etc.  But the hectiness of living in the Western world, for all it's stresses, is an exciting and generally rewarding life.  

 

Anyway, enough of this.  I've got some super cool things coming up. The next destination is Easter Island and that is going to be fantastic I'm sure - great photography beckons plus some diving.  And then two weeks of motorbiking in Northern Peru with four Brits - that is going to be superb, and my temporary lull will soon be forgotton.

 

 

Just got a few more days here now.  But the last few days have been wonderful for wildlife.  I spent an afternoon watching some Albatross and their chicks at the only mainland nesting site in the world (Otago peninsular) and also walked for miles along a deserted beach and got within 10 feet of a large and rare Hookers sea lion.

 

Today I am in Christchurch which is a lovely place especially in the warm sunshine everyone here is enjoying today.  I feel at home here, partly because it is quite English, and partly because the central streets are all named after the places I grew up in - so Hereford St, Cheltenham St etc. 

 

I have really warmed to NZ - I found it too quiet at first.   And Auckland is dullsville (especially coming from Sydney and Tokyo).  But the countryside is frequently breathtaking. 

 

Hitting the road again this afternoon, and Auckland and the flight to South America beckon

 

Had a superb week here in the south Island.  Sky jumped from 15000 feet, and have done three bunjees including the giant Nevis which is a 134m leap.  Quite terrifying and a good way to wake up in the morning.  Elsewhere the countryside is just as awe inspiring, especially the fyord area of the South West coast of the North Island. 

 

Tomorrow I am off to Stewart Island to see if I can spot any of the suprisingly elsuive Kiwis.  The birds that is, not the huge strapping rugby playing human inhabitants.  Talking of strapping kiwis, a particulary strong Kiwi bar girl managed to snap my visa card in half while she was swiping it.  Dozy #####.  Anyway after giving her the low down on how I was travelling the world and that my travels depended in no small part upon the afore mentioned card, she did give me free drinks all night.  Which went some way to making feel less pissed off but still a bit of a bugger..

Well I have now reached the middle of the South Island NZ in my bad boy motherfucker van.  I realised what the graffiti says on it today - it says "Hostile".  Not very friendly but anyway.  Er, so I am now at the Franz something glacer.  Just killing some time in the internet cafe while the queue of 20 something travellers booking their glacier next door goes down.  Going to do an all day walk on the big glacier tomorrow.  Figure I better do it before it disappears, which could be anyday now if one believes some of the more alarming global warming stories.  Had a great day y'day kayaking with some other British lads along the Abel Tasman coastline, guided by a typically friendly and knowledgable Maori. 

 

 

 

I love this story....