Home » New Zealand Fiji » Michelle's Grand Tour (part I)

Michelle O'Riordan takes a year from rowing and travels the world. Part I - Final Installment.

Michelle's Grand Tour (part I)

Michelle O'Riordan
2006-03-12 12:36:42

Displayed times (last time: )

Being that I have never owned a car before this was going to be a tall order. Where to begin? What make to go for? - Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda - and what type - a van, a hatchback an estate and what about the price? - what on earth was a good buy and what was not? That's not even mentioning when you settle on seeing a car and you have to look for goodness knows what signs that there is problem/defect/rust/dodgy engine/suspension etc... I hate to admit it but if I had ever needed a man more it was now - and who should be my knight in shining armour?. Gary of course, the american Ben Nevis bungy jumper. I still can't get over how easy it all was - before I knew it I was clutching the keys to my very own white toyota corolla 1987 station wagon (estate). He is not my 'car' any more, he is 'Elton' - how I will ever be able to bring myself to part with him when I leave these fair shores I don't know.

Lucy arrived at last and I turned into a blubbering wreck I was so happy to see her! Imagine what I will be like when I come back!! I was determined not to let her succumb to jetlag so we spent the day keeping busy and planning our route around the islands. The next day we were off on our adventure - having done the organised tour, I was looking forward to the freedom of going wherever took our fancy!
Lucy on Avalanche Peak ridge

I was naive to think we would have all the time in the world.....as it turned out, it was just as full-on as the tour had been but we did manage to see loads! There was no slow-easing into the travelling life for Lucy - oh no, on our first day we climbed up a mountain and I mean literally climbed...with all fours it was so steep! The mountain was called Avalanche Peak and it was so windy on the top we thought we were going to get blown off as we clung to the ridge like Frodo on Mount Doom!
Franz Josef Glacier

After this bracing start we wanted more...and ...