Alien: Covenant Review - In Space, No One Can Hear You Yawn...

The bitch might be back, but this time it's hardly war

2012's Prometheus was rightfully ill-received, given its unbelievably incoherent plot and the convoluted mess that was the origin of the once-simplistic xenomorph, not to mention a horribly out of place back story about the creation of both the alien species and mankind itself. From there it seemed only hopeful that its follow-up, designed to act as both sequel as well as yet another irrelevant prequel to 1979’s Alien, would be an opportunity for director Ridley Scott to at least retcon those mistakes and go back to basics, returning us to the horror roots that made the original and two out of its three direct sequels work. 

The End (But Not The End) Of All Things...

Well, what an adventure… Sure, me and Sian didn’t undertake most of the activities including kayaking and surfing (although I did jump out of a plane), but we’re more than happy enough being somewhere we’ve never been before and soaking up the scenery on offer. And it’s almost an understatement to say that New Zealand has a lot. It’s not just the adventure capital of the world - it’s probably the most beautiful country too. Its stunning, breathtaking and otherworldly landscape certainly raises the bar on epic, and, to once again quote our chief experience officer Mark – whom I’m now thrilled to call a friend – “it’s Ireland on steroids.” There’s simply no other way to sum up this country.

A Jam-Packed Week Deserves A Jam-Packed Post

Another reason to do a whistle-stop blog post is that I’m currently on my last night in New Zealand with access to some decent Wi-Fi. Tomorrow we head to Fiji where I expect we’ll experience similar issues to most of New Zealand, and I don’t want to end up with such a backblog of posts again.

Misty Mountain

Take that, Snowdon

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and that less is more, so from here on in, my blog posts will be much shorter. That’s not to suggest I think all my posts up until now have been too long. I’ve simply wanted to share with you my experiences in their entirety as much as possible, but the reality is that, while travelling the world, both time and Wi-Fi are limited. But that’s not a bad thing. That said, pictures don’t do much justice for the scenery. Sure, you’ll think the pictures below - as well as those I’ve already shared - are stunning, but I just can’t stress how they are no patch on seeing the real thing, as they lack the grandeur, the majesty, the striking colours, the depth, and the sheer scope of the landscape. It’s a lesson learned for having not invested in a proper camera before going away, I guess, but then I suppose this is where the writing comes in.

HAWAII 2.0

I’ll start this by saying that the journey from Picton to Abel Tasman National Park can only be described as insanely stunning. Massive mountain ranges and lakes dominate the landscape, but then they do so pretty much everywhere on the South Island. On arrival at the National Park, we caught a water taxi to another floating hostel as the sun fell, but this boat is much more modest in size compared to the Rockboat in the Bay of Islands. 

End Of The North Island

Wellington at night

As we made our way towards the South Island, we stopped over in New Zealand’s capital Wellington, though in all honesty there’s really not much to write about here. The Wi-Fi was decent, which made a nice change considering most of the businesses here seem to hold their Wi-Fi connections hostage so that they can profit from tourists, making it damn-near impossible to keep in touch with family and friends, but also in keeping this blog updated. Please sort this out, New Zealand! It’s your one flaw!

Tropic Thunder

A tropical storm rolls in...

Perhaps one of the strangest elements about New Zealand’s countryside is its constant shifting from British-like plantations and forests, to sudden bursts of tropical environments. Thus far, Raglan remains one of the most tropical overnight stays. 

A Rocky Start...

The view from our (moving) room...

After Auckland, we visited the small coastal town of Paihia, mainland to the infamous Bay of Islands, for two nights. On the way we visited a waterfall far bigger than we expected. The short walk starts at the precipice, which you cross via a tiny metal bridge with no railings... And if that wasn't treacherous enough, the rainfall from a recent cyclone had evidently caused the rapid river below to swell, leaving no more than a couple of inches between the bridge and the water. 

If Hell Is Really That Hot, Then It Must Be Bangkok…

Thanks to very poor WiFi availability here in New Zealand, this post is coming to you a little late seeing as we left Bangkok some nine days ago for Auckland. It’s safe to say that the best way to start this post is to address just how nightmarishly-hot Bangkok – and undoubtedly the rest of Thailand, though we didn’t venture too far from the city. Okay, we drove a good four hours out to an Elephant Day Care centre on the River Kwai but more on that in the next post.