Calvino Travels

Center an Iframe Champagne Pools at Wai-o-tapu You are a traveller. You are sat in an outdoor theatre, bowl-shaped and curving round a small white slab of rock. There is a woman emptying a sack of soap into a hole in the top. Your companions are beside you. The bearded one is desperately taking pictures, afraid to miss the crucial moment. The curly-haired one is leaning backwards, worried that the Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland will spray boiling water on the audience. It doesn't. It erupts, sending a white jet of water and steam straight up into the air. Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland You continue your journey around Wai-o-tapu and visit the Champagne Pool, named for its bubbling surface. It is a 62m well that’s filled with water, grazing the earth's burning crust and drawing heat up. The water steams at 72°C. There is also Echo Lake, a lake dyed green by algae which grows in its warm waters. You walk around...

The Emerald Lakes viewed on the Tongariro Crossing You are a traveller. You grip white-knuckled to the sides of your seat as the Nissan Caravan swings heavily around tight corners on the Forgotten World Highway in New Zealand. Keane’s groundbreaking album Hopes and Fears  is playing on the radio. The bearded one is in the driver’s seat, he's monologuing about Donald Trump or something like that. He's not paying attention to the road or any of the recommended speed signs. The curly haired one, to your left, is agreeing with him politely, but you know that she is in her own world, thinking about food. "So I'm thinking we should have the curry tonight," she interjects. "Yeah, that sounds good." Says the bearded one, but you know he isn't listening, and that this will have consequences later. From the Forgotten World Highway The Forgotten World Highway is 148km of slow road that curves around farmland and nature reserves. It's the ...

Near Murchison You are a traveller. You are sat on the middle seat of a tow-truck racing down the narrow roads leading to Murchison, New Zealand. The tow-truck driver is silent. She seems annoyed that you have decided to break down on a Saturday, of all days. Your travel companions are beside you, wincing as you narrowly approach each cliff face before turning sharply. The bearded one is eating peanuts. The curly haired one is silently shaming him. The driver drops you off just outside Riverside Holiday Park next to a local graveyard. A few mourners are walking slowly among the graves. They look at you with disdain as the mechanic noisily lowers your vehicle from the truck. She attempts to start the van, creating still more noise, and after a lot of revving the car idles heavily beside the graveyard. You park up the van inside the park. At Riverside Holiday Park Murchison will be your home for the next three nights while you wait for the van to not be fixed. Murchiso...

The resulting damage of the Alpine Gardens Landslide You are a traveller. You are stranded on the side of the road on State Highway 6 somewhere in New Zealand's Southern Alps. Your companions are debating whether to leave your broken-down van and walk. The bearded one decides to run up the road to try and find some phone signal. The curly-haired one stays with the van, relaxing in a fold out chair, munching on a packet of Oreos. As the bearded one walks into the distance a pickup truck pulls in. You are saved. The bearded one runs back and puts on his best burly-man voice, addressing the mechanic. "Thought it might be the coolant, so I chucked some water in there," he squeaks, puffing out his chest. He has no idea what he's talking about. The mechanic is silent. He clearly thinks you are all idiots and you've got yourselves into this situation, but he agrees to tow you back to the shop anyway. The view from State Highway 6 The mechanic takes you ...

Isthmus Peak walk, New Zealand You are a traveller. You are sitting in the middle seat of a 20 year old Nissan Caravan chugging desperately up a mountain tunnel stretching away from Milford Sound, New Zealand. The tunnel looks as if it had been carved out by the dwarves of Middle Earth long, long ago. There are metal reinforcements bolted slap-shod along the walls of the tunnel that seem slightly battered and are dripping with water. You expect the whole thing to collapse at any minute. Your companions are silent. The bearded one is trying to avoid potholes on the darkened road. The curly haired one has the permanent grimace of an oncoming driver moments before a head on collision. At the entrance to Homer Tunnel near Milford Sound You survive the tunnel and drive back along the road away from Milford Sound, then through Queenstown. There is a campsite at Moke Lake that can only be accessed by an 8km dirt road. You stay there for two nights. Without any phone signal, you ...

Cascade Creek You are a traveller. You arrive at Escape Rentals in Christchurch, New Zealand, to pick up a campervan graffitied with a viking ship. It looks like something you should set on fire during a riot. "Woah, you're in here for a long time," says the rental guy as he shows you the van, "I guess I should show you how to check the oil." He pulls the passenger seat back to reveal the engine underneath. Your companions are shocked. "Cool." Says the bearded one. "That's terrifying," says the curly haired one. You will be straddling a combustion engine for five weeks, sleeping, eating and driving in a Nissan Campervan around New Zealand. You realise that neither of your companions are paying any attention to what the rental guy is saying. This might come into play later. But you put it to the back of your mind for now. The more pressing concern is how you are going to maintain your sanity throughout the five weeks. Martin...