the rugged south island!

hey guys! Sorry its been like a week since my last post...... had some issues with my computer and havent had much wireless or anything.. Found out last week that I had 0% space left on my hardrive... yeahhhhh that wasnt that good for uploading like 800 pictures at a time. It was a wee bit frustrating, so i had to delete a bunch of things off my computer, that didnt help much and then ended up using my USB to save other pics and had to buy another memory card for my computer... anyhow, enough complaining.... soooo where did i leave off... wellington, sunday morning i caught the Interislander ferry across the Cook strait to Picton and the south island. It had been raining for about 2 days in Welly and thus making the crossing a bit of a shaky one. It is already a bit rough on a nice day, but the captain was like welcome to the washing machine! haha. It wasnt that bad actually, but the top oberservation deck was closed due to weather and thus making the rather scenic crossing over the charlotte sounds less appealing through the window of a giant boat. Ferry took about 3 hours or so, with the last 20 i got to go on the deck because the weather had cleared a bit and started to see blue skies again as we came into Picton, just a small port town at the tip of the south island. I couldnt catch the bus till the next day so i hung around picton for the afternoon and did some cook treks out to see the sound better. It was beautiful! Picton was a nice little town and the hostel that i stayed at was probably the cleanest and one of the nicest that i have stayed at so far... it was run by a man and a woman and they did all they could to make everyones stay go nice. I coooked a nice meal for myself and got a bottle of savignon blanc, which is produced locally as wineries are scattered much across NZ... Like i said before i am growing more and more to like a nice glass of wine... Caught the bus on monday the 18th on my way to Nelson, which is supposed to be the sunniest place in NZ recording something like 3600 hours of sunlight a year, a nice change from the weather in Wellington. Stayed at a rather busy and pretty nice hostel called Paradiso. I was staying in my tent there. But i got to play volleyball!!!! Figured i would have gotten the chance at the beach when i was up north, but not once. Took a walk my first night to the geographical center of NZ which is located on a hill overlooking Nelson.. it was only like a 20 minute walk but it was a really nice view over the water and out to Abel Tasman national park. I would then visit the park the next morning and we drove like an hour to it and then took a water taxi about 40 minutes up the beach, they dropped us off and then we walked back to the landing point. We had an option for a 4 or 6 hour walk..... I figured i would go all in and do the 6 hour walk. It was pretty with amazing golden sand beaches... but i think i should have done the 4 hour walk instead. It was a bit of a warm day and turned to a pretty tiring afternoon as i thought i was rushing back to catch the bus back to Nelson.... It was about a 25k walk in total and the last like 1.5k i decided i had gone to far and thought i had to backtrack an extra couple of K to get back to where we were getting picked up.. i kinda had a lapse of judgement.. haha i was tired and got really upset with myself for walking more than i had to...... turns out i was like super close to where i was supposed be but i figured it out with a little help from canadian guy named Ben. Was super tired after that walk. Spent the next day in Nelson and just figured out what i could do with my computer and checked out some of the local sites. It was a bit rainy again, but it wasnt too bad out. That night i went to set my alarm on my watch so i could wake up for the busride to Greymouth and the watch died.... greaaaat... pretty much my way of knowing when to wake up for all the early morning buses and everything else. So i set the alarm on my ipod which i had never done before and prayed i wouldnt miss the bus...... soo around 2am that night i woke up paranoid about the time and there was this crazy noise outside my tent. I knew it was some kind of animal but i wasnt quite sure what it was.... i assumed that it was a possum because they are supposedly like everywhere here. I tried to shew it away and it decided it wanted to stay another like 20 minutes making rediculous noises....... woke up and had no idea what time it was in the am, turns out i had plenty of time to pack up.... it was raining again though and it was a bit miserable trying to take my tent down and pack my bags.... got on the bus on thursday morning and we headed towards Greymouth. Stopped a few times on the west coast, once at a beach which has a seal colony which was pretty cool and then at this other place called punakaiki rocks or pancake rocks. It was cool as well. Its 1215 am right now as i am writing this, so i apologize if i am not being the descriptive. Got into Greymouth and was warned that it wasnt that special of a place. Decided to go on the brewery tour at Monteiths, cuz it had a voucher for dinner with it as well so it was a good deal. Went to a pub after witha buncha international people from the bus and we got 6$ pints which is super cheap for NZ, decided to just have fun with it........ it was about 2 am by them time i walked back to the hostel, which i forgot was animal themed. It was called Noahs ark and each room had a diffferent animal all over the place. I ended up in the monkey room with two of my new swedish friends. Anyhow, got a little turned around walking back to the hostel after being at the pub and stopped at a petrol station (gas) and there happend to be a policeman there and i asked him for directions, welllllllll he decided to give me a ride, haha...... it was funny... i was only really a street away from where i was supposed to be, so it wasnt that bad..... i realized no one else from the bus was staying any longer in greymouth but i had forgot to book for the next day to Franz Josef, where the glacier was....... so the bus driver didnt know if there would be a space for me cuz he already had 55 people and only 49 seats.... got up with everyone else in the room, a bit tired stilll from my late night adventure and happens i could still catch a ride on the bus.. i was happy...... made a few stops between Greymouth and Franz Josef, one at a little gold mine village called Ross and another at a Green or Pounamu stone factory where we saw the artisans making all sorts of cool jewerly and like things....... Got into Franz Josef and the weaher had cleared up finally. Decided i couldnt really afford a guided glacier walk so i did the valley walk to the glacier with Simon from Sweden and then went my own way and took a ton of pics. It was a breathtaking site.... its a World Heritage site and for good reason. Its so amazing to see all this green mountains and then this giant ice glacier. It almost doesnt make sense to me.... spent a good 4 hours or so just chillen near the glacier, Get it?!!, chillen! haha.... ok im tired and sense of humor is poor, but anyway, walked the 5k back into town where the hostels were, hung around, made some dinner and then did a cool little night walk with 3 australian girls to a trail that has glow worms, much like the ones in Waitomo, but without the caves. We took a torch, (flashlight) but we really didnt need it. They were some crazy girls, but funny as all get out.. we kept scaring eachother as it actually was a bit spooky being on a dark trail winding through native rainforest almost.... we thought we would scare some other people so we stood in a dark place and turned out torch off, turns out the people we were scaring werent who we thought and we nealy gave this german???? lady a heart attack, felt a little bad about that.. haha....... slept in bit this morning which was really nice and then did about a 15-20k walk called the Alex Knob, which runs kinda near the glacier and gives some pretty good views. It was rather warm today and i was sweating only a few K in..... this was really the most rainforesty type walk i have done, as the west coast of the south island get heaps of rain. but it was beautiful, but ruggen trail...... i am in shape, but it was a bit tricky in some places.... i didnt end up walking the whole way up.... the DOC sign said that it was an 8 hour trek return, i walked about 3 hours in and decided not to go up to the next lookout as the clouds were covering the higher peaks anyway.. sat up there for a bit and relaxes and ate some snacks and just admired the shear beauty of the glacier, the amazing waterfalls falling near it and the snow covered peaks around it....... the walk back down was challenging as well, but didnt seem like it took as long... did a small detour to Wombat lake and it was very serene.. also got to see my first Kea or mountain Parrot!!! they were pretty cool and rather large, i snuck up on it with my 400mm lens on my camera, but im not sure i got a good pic as the lighting was rather crummy..... got a bite to eat when i got back to town, took a shower and got on the internet again for the first time in almst a week. Played some cards with my Aussie walking buddies and the swedish kids and here i am now...... deff need to crash and get a little sleep. Bus leaves at 745am for Queenstown, and we dont pull in till about 5ish, which is gonna be a loooonnnng day.... not sure if i am going to go straight to Queenstown, or make a stop in Wanaka and stay a night there, i have heard that it is nice......... then Queenstown and a day trip out to another world heritage site, MILFORD SOUND! which is a very iconic NZ scenery, reallllllly looking forward to it...... anyhow, i cant believe i have been here for almost 4 weeks now! its crazy! i have been having quite an amazing time and it is a beautiful place and easy going, I WOULD RECCOMEND YOU ALL COME SOMEDAY IF YOU GET THE CHANCE! OK, bedtime for me! i will upload more pics to here and facebook in Queenstown! cheers!

hey all! This is gonna be a short blog I swear! The last couple days have been very quiet and kind of relaxing which is fine. Stayed at Hannies and extra night and the weather has turned crapppppy, true wellington style im told!, raining and cold for the last 2 days... blahhh.... Got dropped off in center city this morning and left my stuff at the Base Hostel because I couldnt check in till later. Took a very rainy walk over to Te Papa the National Museum of NZ. It was opened just about 10 years ago, but it may be one of the coolest and most interactive museums i have ever been in. It was a perfect day to escape the rain and just meander through the museum. There were some really cool exhibits on how NZ was formed and all the volcanic activitiy around it. There was also this giantttt squid that was caught off the lower southern island near antartica....... there were some pretty cool Maori exhibits as well. i spent a good 3 1/2 hours in the museum and then walked around a bit since it had sort of stopped raining. Ate at Burger King for the first time since being here and it was in the coolest old building and the food wasnt half bad, though it still wrecked a little havoc on the stomach later on, haha..... checked into the hostel, took a little break and then journeyed out to find Victoria University. I got a little turned around on the map, but finally found it, It's way up on the hill overlooking the city and the harbour, a little like Hartwick overlooking Oneonta! The campus isn't that pretty..... idk, i mean not compared to the Wick, but it certainly is going to be different. We shall see! Ventured back down the hill and grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and here I am now. Thinking about grabbing a couple of beers tonight at a local pub, the rains been a bit depressing and i could use a little human interaction, the last couple days have been almost too quiet....... But it will be a light night, first off I dont have tons of money and second, i have to wake up at 630 to catch the shuttle for the Ferry Crossing over the choppy Cook strait. It's a 3 hour ferry ride to the south island. I will land in Picton, a little port town and stay one night there, then get picked up by the bus on monday and head to Sunshine capital of NZ Nelson. Thinking i am going to explore the Abel Tasman National Park a bit while i am there.... Well thats all for now, no new pics, or anything so just check back in again another time!

Wellington

Good Morning! It is Friday the 15th of January already!? How did that happen? I have been in NZ for about 3 weeks now, on the road for two and I pretty much tackled the North Island. I am currently just outside of Wellington, soon to be my home for 4 months, staying with an ex-water polo player from NZ. Drove from Taupo to Wellington yesterday morning into the afternoon. It was a pretty long drive and we went across NZ's only true desert, which wasn't much like a desert you would think of but it was pretty barren. Saw the other side of the Tongariro national park and the other volcano which inspired Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings. Which we watched in the hostel the night before! haha. Stopped through a few small towns along the way to Wellington and then drove into the city. I am not a huge city person, but from my first impression Wellington seems pretty nice. It has population of about 400,000 people and is the capital of NZ so their is a lot of cultural and entertainment perks to the city. It is also home to Te Papa (meaning our place in Maori) the national museum which is considered one of the most amazing museums in the world, apparently its technology is like a couple years in advance or something. I havent gone yet, but it is free and I will probably visit it frequently once i settle down. Wellington is not known for its beautiful weather, rather its terms Windy Wellington and often it is gray and raining, like it is at the moment! But when we pulled in yesterday is was a beautiful day, warm and with blue skies! We drove through town a little, having landmarks pointed out and told that there is at least one earthquake everyday in Wellington as it lays across a pretty major fault line! Usually don't feel the quakes at all, but they said that you will occasionally feel a little shake here and there. Should be fun! We then drove up to Mt. Victoria to overlook the city and the awesome harbour. It was quite the view of the place I will call home. Got dropped off in city center at the hostels, tried to make a call on the payphone, wouldnt accept my card and so i got some coins, and they didn't have a coin slot, so I had to wander down the street searching for another payphone. Didn't walk to far, but at this point i had my huge hiking bag, nearly 30+ lbs full and my camera/laptop bag on my front. I deff overpacked, but Hannie told me I could leave a few things behind as i go to the south island and then pick them back up when i come back through for Uni. Deff will be nice to lighten the load! Finally got a hold of Hannie and got picked up to head to her flat like 20 minutes outside the city. She was having like 4 of her girlfriend's over for dinner so I kind of felt like I was interrupting ladies night, but she said it was fine. She made an awesome dinner, rice and curry and a great salad and I had a few glasses of wine. I usually don't really like wine that much, but there are some amazing wineries in NZ and I have taken a liking to wine now. Deff not a connasuer (spelling?) but I think it's a nice change from drinking beer mostly. One of her friends also brought her mom's homemade gingerbeer which was awesome as well! So tasty! Hannie works at Victoria University, where I will be attending, in the Classics department and all of her friends were in the field as well. It was really neat talking to them as some of them were going on for their PHD's and talking about that process a bit. It was pretty cool. Went to sleep around 12ish and slept in a bit, to about 930. Which is pretty late because most days i've had to catch a bus around 730 or so, so I have a programmed wake up time of about 730 now. Hannie had work today, so I am going to try to get a hold of Siany, a current kiwi water polo player at Hartwick, and see if I can catch up with her today. I am planning on heading down to the South Island on Sunday and I have to take a 3 hour ferry ride across the cook strait. Heard it can be a bit of a choppy ride! I am not a huge boat person, but I doubt i'll get sick since their pretty big boats. So from here on out I have about 3 1/2 weeks left to travel down both sides of the South Island and make my way back to Auckland before February 10th or so, then meet up with the other study abroad kids and settle in a bit. Well that's all for now, mite be a few more days till I get online again! Cheers all!

Hey everyone! Let's see where did i leave off..... So I left Auckland on Saturday morning. Glad to get out of the city... Drove pretty much all afternoon through small towns and more farms. Hard to believe how many cows and sheep their are in this country! Haha. Pulled into Rotorua that afternoon and stopped by Agroventures, a place where they have all sorts of adrenaline rush rides, which are overpriced AND were stopping there when i go back to Rotorua for Australearn cultural week. Then went and stopped by the Redwood forest which was really beautiful. Dropped off that night at Kiwipaka hostel, decided to stay in my tent for a couple nights. Had some cool tent neighbors, Galen from Scotland and Star from Canada. Speaking of Canada, I have been mistaken for a Canadian about 4x now. haha. I actually don't mind much. Eh? Went out on a walk that night to try and find the grocery store and i wandered around for a good 2 hours, it helps to have a map! Rotorua is a geothermal wonderland aka realllly smelly as there is sulpher everywhere. There is steam even coming out of the sewer vents. Finally ended up at the government gardens where the Queen stayed when she visited NZ. It's a pretty cool place. Finally found the grocery store and then walked back through a park we were warned not to walk through at night. haha. It wasn't that dark. Signed up to go whitewater rafting in the morning. It was through a company called Katiaki rafting and the rapids are class five, which is the highest. Their company is the only commercially operated rafting company to raft down a 7 meter waterfall! Thats like 21 feet! It was a beautiful day and it was AMAZZZZZING. Such a blast, the guides were awesome and the ride was sick. I ended up in a raft with with a girl from Maine, One from germany and one from Holland. We all paid like 7$ and got a cd of the pictures. I was so exhausted that afternoon! I also think i got a little sick.... I made a stupid judgement of error and had bought some like salami at the store the night before, didnt even think about refridgerating.... felt like i was gonna throw up kind of that afternoon and my stomach was just in such a knot...... learned my lesson. Spent the next day in Rotorua as well, but it was a bit of a lazy day. Got on the bus monday morning and headed to Waitomo caves. Its a pretty cool little place but we stayed for like 3 hours. Most people went black water rafting and spent more money, but i just went into the caves where we had this guided tour through the caves and they had these really cool things called glow worms. So the cave was super dark but up top on the roof of it there were all these glowing things. It was pretty cool. Sat around for a couple of hours talking with a couple girls from Germany. If I were to take a tally of where all the people are from who i have met i think that the german travellers would win. Went on our way to Taupo, got here and stopped by Huka Falls, New Zealands version of Niagara falls. Stayed in a YHA hostel and made plans to do the Tongariro crossing on tuesday. It is supposed to be the best one day trek in the north island. The weather up there can change very rrapidly and so we werent really sure we would be able to do it or not. Woke up at 530 am to catch the bus at 6. We were told we could go do it. But the guide warned us to take warm clothing and plenty of food and ater just in case the weather changed drastically and we stuck on the volcano. Oh yeah, Mt Tongariro is the biggest mountain on the north island and has 3 volcanoes around it. One of them which is still active. Last eruption was in 1996. We got there in like an hour and it was the first time since i left NY that i was cold. It was probably 35 degrees at the base of the walk. And their was snow up on the peaks. I was wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a thermal shirt, and wool sweater. I was warm enough, but i had to put on my gloves and a warm hat. It was a total 19.5 kilometer walk. They dropped us off there and then would pick us up at 330 at a park on the other side of the walk. So thats like a 12 mile or so trek. It was amazing! The snow topped volcano and the unchanged countryside was beautiful, but cold. haha. Started the trek. Oh by the way I had on a hiking pack, had emptied out most of it in the hostel, but still was carrying about 20lbs. I knew it was gonna be rough. The first 5k was relatively flat and not to bad but then the next half was super extreme. haha. I was pretty sure i was in shape enough to do this walk. It was deff a challenge, but it was amazing. Got up to the center of the first crater and walked across it. The snow was becoming a bit more evident, but it didnt cover everything. But the wind was howling and the blue skies started to change some as we got higher up towards the clouds. Another steep ascent and the wind was blowing like 35 miles an hour and prolly only 10 feet visibility. It was as if i was climbing everest or something! Took a little rest at the highest point and made a stupid mistake. Had a photo taken and then continued on. Started to head back down and went to grab something out of my pack and realized i was missing one of my camera lens's. I was a littled frustrated. I figured i hadnt left it too far up because i remember changing my lens not to far up. Started to make my way back up, but realized how hard it was to go back up with the wind. Then, Thankfully, a man and his wife from London who i had spoke with a little earlier called to me and asked if i was missing a lens. I was so grateful! I was going to get very upset with myself if i lost my $200 lens on top of a volcano or someone picked it up. People are good in nature and I was happy. Started back down the path and reached the most amazing spot, the 3 baby blue geothermal lakes which stood out drastically against the arid and rocky desolate landscape of the volcanic area. I was getting pretty exhausted at this point and I was only like 10k into the whole walk. Took a lunch break and got some more great photos of the larget of the volcanic crater. It was breathtaking. Finished the last 9k in a slow pace, taking more and more photos. Had an amazing panoramic view of Lake Taupo and the other mountains nearby, by the way, Lake Taupo is supposed to be the size of singapore. It was the 4th volcano in the area and it erupted a few hundred thousand years ago and created this monster lake. Got back down the trail to the other carpark around 330 after leaving originally at like 730 for my walk. The last 2k seemed to drag on forever and i was just ready to be off the mountain by then. haha I fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hostel and then grabbed a bite to eat and sat in the hottub for a while to ease my soreness. Got a decent amount of sleep, minus this old guy who was in the bed next to me who must have had one of those holes in his neck from smoking or something. So every breath was like super loud. Didn't mean to sound upset, but i really just needed to pass out. Woke up this morning and here i am. Going to relax today and then back on the bus tomorrow to Wellington, the capital and where i will be attending university. I am going to stay a few days with some Hartwick best, but i am really looking forward to the South Island. Well until i get on again, adios all!

The far north!

helllo to all! Its 7:30 on Thursday night and I am in Auckland city, just on the other side of the skytower. I am exhaussssssted! Litterally could fall asleep right now. I am not much of a city person, so unlike most of the other hostel-ers who will prolly go to the bars tonight, I will prolly just go pass out. Lameeee... i know... Haha, but last nite in Paihia I had a good 7 or so beers with 4 German guys and an Israeli. It was fun. We all just shot the shit and it was just a chill night outside the hostel. All talking about whatever and enjoying some cheap beer. Nothing better! haha.... ok so i skipped a couple days... so last time i posted i was at Coopers Beach. That next morning after staying in the suite i got dropped off prolly 5 miles down the road at a holiday park on Hihi beach. Deff off the tourist path, and their wasnt even a store there, but it was really beautiful. I was just afraid that I would have to hitchhike all the way back to Coopers Beach to catch the bus the next afternoon with my like 35lb pack! Man i deff overpacked and get a killer workout everytime i walk more than like 5 minutes! And it hurts on the sunburn I managed to get.... soooo i hung around Hihi beach for a while, took a bunch of pictures and set up my tent behind a camper van. Didnt really have any food besides a couple apples and some granola bars. haha. There was like a mini little camp store at the office so i bought a loaf of bread and some salami ( i think). haha. and pretty much over the next day ate the whole loaf of bread and the like 12 slices of salami. Nutritious eh?? haha. Went swimming a bit and decided to dig for mussels, even though I had no idea what i was doing. Kind of just started digging in the mud as the tide was going out. I found prolly like 20 or so, but had no idea how to know if they were full grown or how to cook them really, or a pot to even cook them in. So i put them back in the water, hoping i didnt somehow kill them in the process. Went back to the beach at sunset, and it was beyond amazing. Took my camera down and was kind of being a beach stalker, haha, but it was worth it. Got some cool shots and then followed the sun going down as well. Went back to my tend as it was getting dark and was gonna go take a shower and the camper in front of me invited me to eat with them. They had grilled up some things and even offered me like 3 drinks out of this like bag? It was like vodka and orange juice kind of. The dad of the family kept telling me how much he liked Americans and we all talked for a bit. It was pretty funny and I was happy to have a little company and they were so nice. Seems i haven't met a kiwi who hasnt been amazingly hospitible (spelling). They even offered to drive me to Manganoui which is like 1 kilometer from Coopers Beach where i needed to be picked up. They dropped me off the next morning around 1130 or so, the wife gave me her business card and her address if i ever was in Fongaray and neeeded a place to stay! Sweet as! Called to make sure the bus would pick me up, then started the like mile or so walk to Coopers beach, decidng against hitchhiking and just go for it. It was quite hot but i made it in like an hour with a few rests on the side of the road. Sat on coopers beach for like 2 1/2 hours just reading and relaxing. Dont know why but my arms and legs are super tan, but my stomach doesnt tan much, so i look rather like i have the worst farmers tan ever. SO i had my shirt off while i was reading and well, that night realized i was soooo pink all over my stomach and chest. I had sunblock on my arms and face, but forgot to put it on my stomach, give it another day or 2 and it will brown up, but it sure makes sleeping a bit uncomfortable. Caught the bus that afternoon all well, got back into Paihia, tried like 4 hostels, they were all booked. A guy came in behind me and we offered to drive me over to the one i had stayed at previously, i was just glad not to have to walk with my pack again. haha. He was from Israel and had baught a car in Auckland. We got seperate rooms in the the hostel, but went and grabbed a bite to eat with our new German friend. And now where i started the post. We grabbed a few beers from the grocery and just sat outside the hostel. Had to wake up around 7am, which was a bit rough, to pack up and catch the magic bus back to Auckland via the west coast. Made the bus and we did some cool stops in these little villages for lunch and visited the 2nd largest tree in the world behind the Redwoods. Its called a kauri tree and it could supply enough wood for like 10 houses. It was enormous. Rode sleepily back to Auckland, hit a traffic jam and rememberd why im not a huge fan of the city. Got a bed in a much larger hostel than previous nites and here i am. Gonna wander around Auckland tomorrow, then stay another night and catch the bus to Rotorua on Saturday, which is like a geothermal wonderland that aparently reaks of sulfer but is a cool spot. I am pretty pumped so far this trip has been really great with relatively few issues, Unlike my new German friend Martin whose rented bungalow burnt down when he was in Thailand! He was charged like $5000 Euros for the damage and almost ended up in a Thai prison! haha.. makes me feel like i have had pretty smooth sailing so far! Well my wireless is running out. Until next time!

Good morning from Coopers Beach! I am about 3/4 of the way up the very north island on the east coast or the pacific side. I left off on sunday in Paihia after the bus forgot me, spent the day kinda relaxing. Went for another trek along a different beach, took a bunch of photos as always. There was a sandcastle building competition! There were some really great entries! Spent that nite in my tent for the first time for $10 NZD a nite, so like $7 US prolly. Slept all of like 3 hours maybe. Just couldnt settle in. Got up at 6am monday to get packed up and catch the bus to Cape Reigna, which is the very most northern point of NZ. Caught the bus this time, our drivers name was spike and he was crazy. haha. It was the first crappy day ive seen while ive been here and the first time it had rained in the northland in like 2 months! We got up to 90 mile beach (funny cuz every other measurement is in kilometers) and there were 2 meter high swells on the ocean. It was pretty crazy. I guess that would have been the Tasman sea actually. We drove the bus prolly 35 minutes right down the beach!!! It was a pretty crazy experience. Its actually like a road as it had a speed limit. We had to go fast cuz we were racing the incoming tide, because there was a full moon on the 1st, and because of the rain and the hugeee waves. Our busdriver had been on this trip 550 times and it turns out theres a bluff that we were supposed to pass to get to these sand dunes. Well we tried for a good 20 minutes but he finnally made the decision to turn around. HIS FIRST time bailing out! I could tell it hurt his ego a bit, but he knew it wasnt safe! A few people on the bus were freaking out! It was kinda funny. So then we had to race back down the 35 minutes we had first come on the beach again racing the tide!!! and then drive another hour and 10 minutes to the dunes, instead of the extra 15 we would have had to from the bluff!! It was ok though. We got to the dunes after driving the bus through a river, and Spike took us up a 150meter dune with our boards, showed us how to go down and i went 2x!!! It was a blast! Prolly was only going like 20 MPH down the dune but it was still fun. It was rainy and cold however so it was a bit chilly in just my trunks!...... from there we continued on to Cape Reigna where there is a lighthouse at the very tip. This land is very sacred to the Maori as it is believed to be the final resting and departure place for their spirits as they die and make the Journey to Hawaki, or their original homeland. It was somewhat desolate land, but amazingly beautiful. I am still amazed by the rollling hills that all the sudden collide with the ocean. This is also the point where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific tides hit one another! They are opposing tides and it was quite a sight to see. It was verrry foggy and misty at the cape, so it was unfortunate, but it started to clear as we were walking back to the bus. At the lighthouse there is a big street sign type thing with all the distances to places around the world and in what direction they are. There was LA, London, the Equator, Buenos Aires. It was cool. Got back on the bus after an hour or so there. Drove through the largest man planted forest, as forestry is a huge industry here. Then stopped at the Ancient Kauri forest where the biggest trees in the world are. There was actuually a staircase carved out of one of the huge logs and it went up to the second floor. These kauri are protected now, but the ones here were dug up from swamps and dated to around 45,000 years ago! There were all sorts of cool souvenirs and statues made out of the logs. Even a couch that had a $15,000 price tag! Got dropped off at Coopers Beach after the driver forgot about me one more time. I had a contact named George Van Valkenburg here. He used to live in Salisbury, my hometown, across from where the post office is in that really cool old house thats been renovated. He moved to NZ about 30 years ago and he and his wife have a B&B right on the beach. He wasnt around when i got here, but his wife Janet was. She is from the states too. We talked for a while and she told me I couldnt stay here. I understood cuz this is their busiest time of here. However there was 1 suite which was vacant. As we were talking someone called wanting to book it, but they had 5 people and theres a 4 person limit. Around 630pm or so Janet was like, You might as well stay in the suite tonight, because at this point it doesnt look like anyone is going to come. I was amazed, she seemed a bit weary to do it, but this place goes for $250 NZD a night! She no sooner told me that, literally 2 minutes later, a woman walks in asking to stay the night!! Janet was like sorry, we dont have any vacancy!! Man i was lucky. The place is really nice, just a bottom floor, but with a living room, awesome bedroom, I GOT TO SHOWER!, and a little kitchen. With views right out to the ocean. And wireless! so i watched a little tv for the first time in a while, used my laptop and got some goood sleep! and here i am now, blogging while looking out the window at a sunny blue skies and the sound of waves behind me.......... man im lucky. Tonight i am going to stay at a campsite down the road. Then get picked up tomorow, wednesday the 6th and go back to Paihia for a night, then catch another bus on the 7th to venture back down towards Auckland to make plans for the rest of the North Island. Well i have to check out in about an hour, so im gonna pack up, maybe shower one more time and say my goodbyes.

a few pics that i meant to upload!

hey hey hey! wew..... where to start... its been almost a week since ive really been able to post anything. Lets see, soooo I want to thank the Blacketts for their awesome hospitality. Jess Dorman picked me up last tuesday and took me to her house just outside Auckland city. It was a beautiful house and her family was a riot. I walked up to One tree hill just outside her house and it was a pretty cool sight of the whole city and tons of sheep! Those things are everywhere. Got talking with this australian lady for like an hour and a half on top of the hill. It was pretty funny. That night i tried to some Kiwi pizza. Certainly not the same as good old Sal's but it was interesting. I have been trying food all over the place and trying not to be picky and so far its great. I think that the portion sizes are most alarming. US seems to supersize everything. haha makes sense why so many americans are supersized themselves.... That night jess took me out to meet a few of her Uni friends at a mexican bar just outside of the skytower in downtown Auckland. It was pretty cool. Such a nice city. Didnt seem to have the same hustle and bustle as New York yet there are still like a million residents. The next morning we headed off to her bach (no i am not spelling beach wrong) but rather a bach is a beachouse. The difference between the two is that a beachhouse tends to be a rather luxiorous place, while the bach is a bit more lowkey. The ride to Mangawhai was pretty. Leaving the city and going into the countryside was neat and its quite like home actually. Rolling hills and a ton of farms. We drove through this kind of dense wooded area where apparently a section of Lord of the Rings was filmed. it actually did look familiar. The bach was awesome. its right on a tidal bay that connects to the ocean. it was low tide so i went for a walk up the beach as jess napped. The Dormans were such awesome hosts. They also had some family friends from the UK staying witht them the same nites as i did. Sarah and her daughter Alice. We all hung out and it was fun distinguishing differences between the kiwi accent and the british. That nite we went to dinner about 45 minutes away at another friends house. Theres was actually a beachhouse and it was impressive. Glass walls almost all the way around with just sliding doors to let air and light in. Decorated to the nine's, its certain they had a bit of money. We had an amazing dinner of lamb and kiwi potatoes which are actually a mix of sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. More mussels, salad and tiramisu for dessert. Oh before i forget there were pink sheep on the way! a great debate centered around how they were pink, whether it was dye on the outside or whether they actually fed them things that grew pink wool. haha i was slightly gullible! At the beach that same day i quite stupidly forgot i had my cell phone in my trunk pockets and pretty much killed my phone i had for all of like 2 days..... haha..... oh im special........... tried our hardest to dry it out, but that didnt work...... the next day was new years eve and we went back to the beach but did an awesome and stunning trek alongside the moutains overlooking the white sand beach. it was so cool. then we walked the beach back and walked through this super cool rock archway. Jess had other plans for NYE and i was getting picked up by the Tour bus the next morning closer to their house, rather than driving an hour and a half back to Auckland. Had a great dinner with Jess's parents, Sarah and Alice and then we went to the Mangawhai tavern to bring in the new year. it was a cool tavern, with most of the doings happening outside where a few bands were paying. Drinks were a bit pricey, but i hadnt really spent much money at this point so i didnt mind enjoying a few. Said some goodbyes the next morning and jumped on the magic bus to Paihia in the bay of islands. I am still here at the moment, sitting at an open fronted cafe overlooking the beach. I didnt realize how tropical this place is. Spent the first afternoon after i settled into the Hostel doing a cool trek called Haruru falls. It was about a 5k walk through the bush and a neat mangrove swamp. The falls at the end were pretty cool. Wish i didnt have all my gear and camera equiptment tho! I would have jumped into the water like all the others were. it was prolly a good 25 foot drop but it looked like a blast. The walk was also a reserve for some of the last kiwi's in the north island, though their nocturnal, so i didnt get to see any. Grabbed some food and walked around that night. Hung out with 4 NZ'ers in my 6 bed hostel room. Talking about uni and things in the US. They were super chill. So that was the 1st. The 2nd i went over to Waitangi where the treaty grounds are between the Maori and the Pakeha or Europeans. Its quite a historic site. Saw some really neat things. A giant Maori war canoe was awesome and the lodge with all the great wood carvings was pretty cool as well. That afternoon i used one of the hostels sea kayaks and paddled out to Motomaire Island. It was about a 20 minutes paddle. but pretty secluded once i was out there, minus the crazy bird that kept dive bombing me!!! haha. i think i may have been kinda near its nest. Did a bit of walking around and in and out of the souvenir shops towards the end of the night. Then walked and sat on the beach as the sun was going down, though it was opposite the beach. Back to the hostel my nz roomies were gone and i had like 4 korean girls and another girl from Europe somewhere. Didnt realize that these hostels were co-ed. haha. even the bathrooms are! it was alright tho. Except i really wanted to get a good nights sleep and was in bed by 10, but they were up till like 12 and there was only one light so it was one. and someone was talking loudly outside my window as they smoked a few joints. haha. needless to say i slept some, but was concerned i wouldnt wake up for the bus that was supposed to pick me up around 730am. Well i woke up, but for some reason my alarm went off like an hour early. I didnt realize it, made a mad dash to pack up and such and then realized it was barely 645. haha. i had turned in my keys already so i just like sat by the road with my pack. Wellllllll the bus never came. haha...... i was a little peeved. Went to the bus place and they rescheduled me for tomorow, Monday the 4th. Didnt plan on staying another night in Paihia, so i checked out of the hostel and walked with my veryyy heavy pack about 20 minutes to a camping site where i only paid 10$ nzd or like 7$ US prolly. Put my tent up, took a nap and here i am sitting in the cafe mooching off wireless! I bought a sandwhich tho, so i am a customer. haha............ soooo this afternoon i am going to do another walk because i have some time to spare, do the day trip (not missing the bus) to Cape Reigna which is the very northern tip of NZ along 90 mile beach. on the way back down i am going to get dropped off in Coopers beach where i have a contact George Van Valkenburg who grew up across from the post office in my hometown. He owns a B&B along the beach up there. Spend 2 nights there then back to Paihia wednesday night, where i will catch the bus back towards Auckland on Thursday morning, going down the west coast. It may be a few more days before i get some computer connection! But i hope everyone had a great New Years! and to all my Hartwick friends heading off on their J-term adventures in the next few weeks have a blast and enjoy!!!!!!!! love to all!