Past Days

Here in Taupo now, will be a few days till the update

But, yesterday I did something I never thought I would do in my life, jumped out of a plane 12,000 ft up in the air. Not sure where my motivation came from but the fact is I did it. Got some legendary pictures and a full dvd of the jump.

Today I hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, NZ's best one day hike. Here's an unbelievable photo to hold you over

Out

Napier

Not much goin on today, very mellow travel day, just gearin up for the final push.

Left the beautiful city of Wellington around 8 this morning. Was a great 2 days/2 nights there, really enjoyed it.

Had a 5 hour bus ride into Napier, with not too many stop offs in between.  There was a coffee break where I of course got my cappuccino fix but other than a few toilet stops, not much to see or do on the way.

Napier is a small coastal town, and is referred to the "Art Deco Capital of NZ." As you may imagine, not really my sort of town.

The weather was very cloudy with a few showers off and on so wasn't missin out on too much.

By the time we arrived in Napier around 2pm, I had to deal with some upcoming travel obstacles. Basically the magic bus wasn't going where I needed to go so I had to find alternative means of transport, therefore leading to accommodation day changes. Was a bit of stress but think I got it all sorted out, just all part of the journey. I read a quote the other day which I really enjoyed, thought it somewhat exemplified the way I do things, "Overprepare, then go with the flow." I don't necessarily over prepare but I always have some sort of organizational structure intact.  Sometimes if I try to just go with things I find myself worrying too much and always take matters into my own hands before things may eventually get out of control.

Anyhow, one hell of a lineup coming up for my final 8 days, crazy to think about how little time remaining.

I walked along the ocean for a bit and just took in the great sound of the waves crashing for awhile.  Had a good reflection of the past and the great future to come. Sometimes the days where there isn't much goin on, they are just as satisfying as the adventure packed ones.

There is a pretty busy downtown area here, all mini novelty and artsy shops and cafes. The downtown area led out to Clives Square,a nice little park filled with skater teens and book readers.  

From there I pretty much saw all the town had to offer and headed back to my hostel via the seaside walk again. I don't think any town can be a disappointment with an ocean beside it.  Quite a rocky beach and heaps of drift wood but still a beach and ocean, can't go wrong.

Getting excited for my next 3 day stop, Taupo, should be the highlight of the North Island.

Few things:

- The beard is coming in alright, not as well as I thought 3 weeks into it though. Although not having to shave every day, or every 3-4 days to maintain my clean baby face look is a great feeling. shaving sucks, have never really enjoyed it.
- From above, I've given up all hope in ever growing a full mustache, just don't have what it takes, ill never be a mexican garibaldi
- Internet is expensive here (6 NZ dollars an hour) and greatly miss my free mcdonalds internet connection.  But I do save heaps of time writing these posts offline.
- Ive added up all my estimated expenses for the next week, should be on the plane home with around 200 dollars left, just gotta make sure I don't take any apples into US customs.  Maybe Ill just make a GRAND return and try to smuggle a sheep in my bag!
- I met a girl from Iceland today, first time I have ever encountered a person from that country. I like what I see
- A bit of an older crowd that travels around New Zealand, quite opposite of the east coast in Australia. Sometimes I am amazed at the 70+ aged people I see traveling around, mostly pairs of women.
- Dave Matthews has given some amazing road tunes as well as great for falling asleep too

Sweet As

Wellington

Day 1: Wednesday February 24, 2010

Had an extremely smooth day of traveling today. By the time I got on my airport shuttle in Christchurch at 1 pm, it took only 3 hours travel time and was checked in safe and sound in my Wellington hostel at 4pm. A great travel move by me flying. The ferry connecting the north/south island takes 3 hours itself, plus I didn't have one more overnight stop in the north islands town of Kaikoura, where I have already stayed a few weeks ago. The flight from Christchurch to Wellington was only about 50 minutes. I paid around 40 US dollars for the flight including checked baggage, great price! (Airline was Jetstar). The ferry ride would have cost a little bit more than 40.  It was a wise move. After getting off the plane in Wellington I boarded a luxurious shuttle bus that took me 8kms into the city center, the bus had free wifi, pretty sweet.

Wellington, New Zealands capital, is a great city pumping with heaps of restaurants and cafes. It is the sister city of San Francisco and definitely noticed a few similarities.Harbourside is a great area bustling with massive amounts of bikers, walkers and runners. They have a cable car too but never checked it out. The city is also built on a fault line.

Very San Francisco-ish

Since I arrived late afternoon didn't have much time to do any big activities so I took a stroll along the harbour rocking out to some tunes on the ipod. Caught the sunset and snapped some photos and headed back towards my hostel.

Day 2: Thursday February 25, 2010

Today I woke up to a little rain as I had a pretty good sleep in. After breakfast I made way to Te Papa, New Zealand's National Museum. Now I am never one to enjoy museums but was quite impressed with this one, I spent well over 2 hours in the 6 story museum and enjoyed every moment of it. I probably never would have given it a gander had admission not be free but yes truly a great enjoyable learning experience.

The museum had a bit of everything, with my favorite exhibits being the colossal squid, volcanoes, maori history, and greenstone collection.

The colossal squid was a recent addition in the past 2 years. A New Zealand fishing boat caught it accidentally while down near antarctica. The squids eyes are apparently the size of soccer balls, crazy. Saw some live video of the catch, all pretty interesting.

Great day at the museum, expanded my knowledge on the culture and history of New Zealand.

Afterward I made my way up the nearby Mount Victoria for a panoramic view of the city. Wellington is also given the name Windy Wellington, well today gave some glimpses why, was pretty windy in the afternoon. The hike to the summit was a pretty steady climb. The summit is 169 meters high. Although a tiring hike, I kept thinking back to the hike I did a week ago where I climbed 1300 meters, and told myself all these small climbs are nothing.

Many areas in and around Wellington were used for filming spots for the Lord of The Rings series. The track up to Mount Victoria showcased one of the film sites. Can't recall which movie but it was the part in the woods where they are being chased by the black horse rider. Don't think I found the exact location but definitely the general area, still something to claim.

Once I reached the summit there was indeed a very good view of the city, a 360 degree panorama, saw the airport and all. Unfortunately it was extremely hazy and photo conditions were not ideal.

Anyhow still a good view and enjoyed the hike back down to town thru the forest.

With not much else to do, I trekked again harbourside and made way for the Parliament building. It is called the "Beehive" so I figured I would just go and see what it was all about.

Anyhow, it was about 630 and I really didn't have anything to do and I didn't want to waste time sitting around in the hostel. I decided to hike back up Mount Victoria to catch the 8 oclock sunset. Besides, the extra training couldn't hurt as I have my final New Zealand hike in 4 days that weighs in at 20 kilometers and 8 hours long. I will be trekking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, known as New Zealand's best one day hike, expect a great review.

Took my time as I hiked back up the mountain and took in the great surrounding and tranquil forest.  When I reached the summit, down below was still hazy, but once sunset came it didn't matter. It was a great one and got heaps of great photos. Just a few.

Back down in the city I decided to eat out as I approach my final days here and with limited chances to eat my favorite Oz/NZ eat out food that doesn't seem to exist back home, Kebabs. It was my first Kebab from New Zealand and too be honest didn't come close to that in Australia but nonetheless still very tasty. Like I felt when I departed Europe, I will miss the Kebabs.

Few notes:

- Been making a new sandwich, I call it the HHCC. Hummus, Ham and Cream Cheese. The hummus I use is roasted capsicum but chili powder is a crucial additive. Great for days on long bus rides and quick eats. Very tasty.
- I eat atleast 1 banana a day and usually 1 or 2 apples
- Sometimes I buy milk when Im in a city for more than 2 days, I drink an entire liter in one sitting.
- I drink an average of 5 cappuccinos a week.
- Still loving the tap water here, so good
- Got some great adventure activities coming up, mainly underground cave water tubing. Can't wait
- My final days, around 10, seemed to be all planned out and have a perfect schedule lined up.
- my digital camera is absolutely beat, the thing is a trooper and is just as world traveled I have been. glad its held up

Stay Classy my Friends

Christchurch

Tuesday February 23, 2010

After a pretty long and sleepy day on the bus, we made it into Christchurch around 2 oclock. For you dedicated readers, you will know that Christchurch is the city where my entire New Zealand journey began a little more than 2 weeks ago, thus completing my south island circuit.

Last time in Christchurch I only had about 7 hours there, and I spent most of them in bed since it was past midnight when my plane arrived. I now got to experience the city in the day light, and in the very warm 29 degree celcius sun. It is a very english city with a european feel to it.

It's a pretty good size city, 3rd largest in New Zealand I believe. I didn't find that there was much to do though. The main spots of interests is Cathedral Square and the Botanical Gardens. Took a pretty good nap in the gardens before making my way back thru town back to my hostel.

In the night,I met up with some friends from the bus, Holly, Stef and Paul, all from England. Tonight was Pauls 25th birthday. I skipped out on their thai dinner but met them after for a few drinks. Christchurch definitely isn't a party town, especially on a tuesday night. Anyhow we still made a good night out of it with some sparkling vino, chocolate cake and a few beers at the local pub.

As we were heading back to our hostels we came across a bar with about 10 people in it and a live music. We decided to check it out and get one more round of beers. Well the live music was that off guitarist/singer and songwriter Ollie, or Oliver. What a find in the New Zealand music scene. He plays daily around bars in Christchurch and has toured around New Zealand and Australia. He played mostly covers but unbelievable covers, my favorites being some Pearl Jam, Ben Harper and Black Seeds songs.

I went up to him after the show and expressed my liking to his music.  He ended up giving me his demo album and contact details. I know good music when I hear it, he's great.  You can check his music out at www.oliversmusic.com  

Nights like that are special when you just check out a small music scene and you just get blown away. For someone that is so fond of music like myself it really a great feeling to come upon such talent, especially playing music that is right in my music spectrum.

I said goodbye to my british friends as they are taking off for New zealand on Thursday and headed back to the hostel.  Made the most of a night in a town where not much was going on.  Sweet As

Lake Tekapo

Monday, February 22, 2010

After leaving Dunedin, the bus continued up the east coast. Our first stop were the Moeraki boulders. The Moeraki boulders are some huge great rocks just scattered across the seashore renowned for their unique spherical shape.  Pretty interesting.

The bus then began to leave the coast line and head inland. Our next stop was the Mount Cook Salmon Farm, supposedly some of the best quality salmon you can get in the world. The place offered free fish feeding but the salmon weren't to friendly today as they really never came out near the top of the water.

Afterwards we made way to Lake Pukaki, an insanely smurf blue colored lake with an outstanding view of the nearby Mount Cook. The color of the lake is caused by the so called "rock flour" that boosts the glacier blue color in the water. Unfortunately it was a bit hazy in the distance and the pictures truly didnt look as good as the actual view, but you're gonna have to take what you can get.

Our destination for the night, Lake Tekapo, was just a short bus ride away. Lake Tekapo was just as beautiful as Lake Pukaki.  The color of the lake just didn't look real to me, although my polarized sunglasses did give it a pretty good enhancement. Not much to do in the town of Lake Tekapo except just enjoy the lake and that's exactly what I did. I did a pretty good walk along the lake, taking some pretty great pictures along the way.

In the early evening I grabbed a table outside my excellent lake side hostel and brought out the laptop. I cranked out some blog posts and enjoyed the sunset with a few Steinlagers. Pretty great atmosphere for a creative writer like myself.

Side story: As i was going to fetch a few more beers in the fridge in the kitchen hostel I was approached by 3 asian girls who seemed to be having difficulties opening a can. They wanted me to show them how to use a can opener.  I gladly showed them and opened the can. They were just soo amazed on the whole contraption. I got a pretty good kick of it, and then later thought how the hell do they usually open cans?  They were about my age, and there were 3 of them, was surprised not one of them knew how to use it. I gave them about a 2 minute training, I still dont know if they understood how it worked as I had to open their second can as well.

Lake Tekapo is the best place in New Zealand to view the stars, and possibly the world claimed by some scientists. The lights in Lake Tekapo are all special lights to maximize star viewing and no light in the entire city shines upwards. There were some pricey guided tours up in the observatory but I figured I could enjoy them just as much lakeside. Unfortunately though in the nighttime it was pretty cloudy and the stars weren't too visible. Thats alright, another time.

Dunedin

Sunday February 21, 2010

The next leg of my journey took me to Dunedin. Dunedin is a small town, mostly known for its Scottish Heritage and Otago University, the first university established in New Zealand.

The bus got into Dunedin early afternoon. My hostel, YHA Stafford Gables, was originally a hospital, and since has been transformed into a hotel then a hostel. Difinitely had an old small cottage feel to it.

I spent most of the afternoon walking around the town. There was some event going on as the scottish heritage was in full swing. In the city center there was some sort of bagpipe band competition. I stayed for a couple of performances, they were all pretty solid. The sound of the bagpipe has always captured me, nice sounding instrument.

From there I walked further outside of town to cruise around the citys Botanical Gardens.

With my great luck there happened to be a festival going on there, it happens once a year. It was just finishing up but got to hear the remaining set of this bluegrass/string band. They weren't bad, did a pretty good rendition of Proud Mary to end the set.

After my stroll thru the gardens, I headed into the college are of the town. The students return to school next week so some of them were just arriving and movin it. It made me really miss college and remember all my great times at Uc Davis. I really really started to miss it, especially seeing groups of people sitting outside drinking beers and throwing some hamburgers on the barbi. I was unfortunately in Dunedin one weekend to early as next week is the offical welcome weekend for the students and I've been told by some Kiwis it is one hell of a party. Too bad.

Building on Otago's Campus

I then made way back to the city center where you can spot a massive purple silo. This was one of 3 major silo that holds the chocolate for Cadbury. Cadbury Dunedin's factory is the companies only New Zealand factory.

Next up was Central Station, supposedly New Zealands most photographed building. Anyhow it was quite a beautiful station. Only 1 train runs out of the station nowadays and its just some old train rail thats supposed to be pretty scenic. Anyhow, I figured if its New Zealands most photographed building, I better snap a few photos of my own.

The town was pretty dead during the night so didn't do much. The hostel had a tooftop garden where I ate my dinner and wrote some blog entries. I did accomplish to finally do my laundry so I am free of laundry duties for my final two weeks. Should be interesting of what clothes I decide to leave here, ive worn the same 6 shirts for the past 5 months, pretty impressive if you ask me, Im not even that sick of them either.

The next morning on the bus, we had one final quick stop on our way out of Dunedin, Baldwin Street. Baldwin St. is the world's steepest street. This really didn't interest me as it didn't even seem that steep.  I guess the 2nd steepest street in the world is in San Franscisco, so maybe im just used to steep streets in general. Alot of people thought it was great and they walked up it.  It was just a bit too touristy for me, its just a stupid man-made street. I'de much rather use my time and effort walking up one of mother natures beautiful mountains or hilltops and seeing stunning surrounding natural scenery, just my opinion. But yes, I have been on the worlds steepest street, and no I havent walked all the way up it, just a pitty. To fortify how touristy this lame street was, there was a booth at the top where you could purchase a certificate saying you walked up the worlds steepest street for a mere 2 dollars.  Laughable. I think I have a pretty good idea of the type of people who actually buy these certificates.

Over and Out

Queenstown

The town of Queenstown, New Zealand has to be one of the greatest little towns in the world. Some claim it is the adventure capital of the world which it might be. One thing that is definitely true is that it is the Party Capital of New Zealand.

I could have stayed in Queenstown for a couple of months, its not that big but there are things always going on and it just felt good being there.  I'de imagine it would be quite the fun place to be in the wintertime as well.

Day 1: Thursday February 18, 2010

After my day at Puzzle World in Lake Wanaka, I boarded the Magic Bus heading for Queenstown around 230.  On the way we had two stops, Jones's Fruit Stand, and the Worlds first commercial bungee jump over the Kawarua river.

Jones's Fruit Stand was pretty great. Started by a woman that used to be a backpacker and decided to start an orchard and a fruit stand. It is a huge it with the tourists, mostly the asians however. The free sample table was just teeming with them.

The Kawarua river bungee site was a good stop as well.  Crazy to think that was the first bungee jump in the world. The creator, AJ Hackett has since set up hundreds of other jumps, making him quite profitable. Saw a few people jump, it looked pretty fun. If I had all day there I think I might have given it a go, not a joke, I was considering it. The jump was 43m high, a big difference from the other major bungee site in Queenstown, weighing in at a whopping 147m.

The bus arrived into Queenstown around 530.  In all my travel books and anyone that I have ever talked to that has visited Queenstown, they all recommeneded Ferburger, a local hamburger joint. I was anticipating this day for awhile as I heard such great reviews about it. About 10 of us from the bus gave it a try.  Well it exceeded expectations and I can say without hesitation it was the best burger I ever tasted. Now America is known for its great hamburgers so I was skeptical going into it, but Fergberger is the real deal. The bread, the meat, the sauce.  I would go back to Queenstown just to get another. It is not just a hit with backpackers, but also locals. The burger joint is open till 5 am everyday, to cater to all those late night partyers.

After the ecstasy I achieved while eating the burger, I was eager to see what this party capital of NZ was all about. First I had to digest it a bit and took a stroll along the lake with a Brasilian girl I had just met on the bus Danielle.  The sun was just setting and provided a great view of the outstanding mountains, "The Remarkables."

Afterwards, still full, i met up with a group of friends at the Buffalo club.  My mates staying at another hostel had a 2 for 1 drink deal with their hostel key so the price was right all night till midnight. To make things better, thursday night happened to be Buff Ugly night, a Coyote Ugly knockoff.

Oo what a night. Not only where there these beautiful girls (plus one big girl for those chubby chasers) dancing on the bar, but the night also included a wet t-shirt competition which was open to any girl in the bar. Nights out are always great when there is a wet t-shirt contest and you see these dumb girls put their boobs on the line just for a quick couple minutes of attention. Winner however did win 200 dollars.
In the bar I ran into a long old friend, Brendan, the guy who got stung by a jelly fish back in Australia and I pissed on his leg. It was pretty funny thinking back on the whole story. He calls me his hero.  But then again, he may be true, what if I did not urinate on his leg that one day? Maybe I did save his life. Definitely a great first night out in Queenstown.

Day 2: Friday February 19, 2010

Had a pretty solid sleep this morning after a great night out. Met up with Konrad around noon ish at his hostel. Recovered a bit and played some card games with Jitska, a dutch girl from the Magic Bus.

From there, Konrad and I walked up the street a bit and took the gondola ride up the nearby mountaint which provided great views of the lake and surrounding mountains,

Also up top was a luge ride. One of only 4 in the world like it. We gave it a go and it was pretty fun.  Actually had some pretty decent speed. I wanted to go again after but I am holding out for Rotorua, where there is another luge and it is supposedly better.

After we made it back on the mountain, we got our daily cappuccino fix at a great lakeside cafe.

Nighttime about a group of 10 of us got together for a mexican dinner. I would have much rather opted for a second night of Fergburger, but figured it would be could to interact with people and save some money. Had some great chips and guacomole as an appetizer and the main meal were burritos. I got away without doing much of the cooking so was on dish duty afterwards.

Afterwards we hit the town. The scene was a bit more mellow than the night before at Buffalo bar but we still all had a great time. Afterwards we went to more of a real club, World Bar. You may recall there was also a World Bar in Kings Cross in Sydney. Ended the night there and made it back to the hostel around 330 where I only got around 4 hours of sleep before it was time for my day trip to Milford Sound.

Day 3: Saturday February 20, 2010 - Day Trip to Milford Sound

I woke up from the limited sleep feeling great. Headed to the nearby convenient store, picked myself up an apple danish and chocolate milk and I was good to go. Today was a great day, will go down as one of the highlights of my New Zealand trip. Milford Sound is the most popular tourist attraction in New Zealand and am not ashamed to say I followed all other tourists.

The tour consisted of a 5 hour road trip to Milford Sound, then a 2 hour cruise, then once again a 5 hour return bus trip to Queenstown. If you know how to add, that is a 12 hour trip, made for quite a long day. The bus ride itself was one hell of a tour, taking us through vast valleys and just a huge scenic playground. We stopped frequently along the highway taking in all the beauty this place had to offer.

Our bus was called the Milford Discovery, Konrad cleverly liked to call it the Milf Discovery. We also had about 6 asians on our bus. I still can't get over the amount of pictures they took. I took atleast 20 pictures for them. They will take pictures of ANYTHING

Been a pretty long post so far, just gonna lay down some pictures of this great day. Not much else to say anyhow. Just one of those places where nature itself just captivates you.

Konrad and I

On the bus ride back to town, Konrad was dropped off at Te Anau, a town about 2 hrs from Queenstown. We parted ways since he was doing a further south tour here on the south island. He was a great hiking buddy and a great guy to be around. we became very good friends in only a week.

Back in Queenstown, I was just drained from the day trip. I made way down to the lake to catch the sunset and photograph the glorious Remarkables one last time.

 It was my last night in Queenstown and I was hungry. I headed to Fergburger where I ordered Mr. Big Stuff, a massive burger with Edam cheese, BBQ Sauce and Bacon.  WHoo what a burger, I am missing it so much just as im writing this a few days later. The Mr. Big Stuff burger reconfirmed that Fergburger truly is the best burger I have ever had.

From there I digested my food a bit with a final stroll around town. Ended up seeing some people from the bus watching a firedancer near the lake. They were drinking a bottle of wine so I headed to the nearby liquor store and bought myself a personal 6 pack of Steinlager. I was so full but the beers tasted good. I originally planned on goin out but none of my friends were going out and I realized how tired I was from the full day of traveling. I knew I had some great 2 previous nights out so wasn't too worried about it.