Nov 30 - Two Flights and Perth Struggle

Woke up shortly after 6 AM today, after nodding in and out of sleep all night on the airport chairs. It served its purpose and saved us a night in a hostel and a bunch of extra travel to and from the city, but it certainly wasn't ideal in terms of waking up refreshed. We wandered to the terminal and checked in for our flight to Melbourne, then did security, exit customs, etc. which are always such a chore to go through with a mess of lines and a poor set-up. The flight was alright and we got movies (although no meal as we had just base level tickets this time) to keep us entertained. I finished watching Dinner for Schmucks, which I hadn't quite finished before we landed in NZ almost a month ago, then a bit of Invictus (but got bored), then Date Night (which wasn't anything special). Brennan just opted to sleep, as he wasn't feeling so great (from the McDonald's he is guessing). Got off in Melbourne and we had 5 hours until our next flight over to Perth. Tried to check in but it was too early to drop bags, so we had Subway and then sat on a bench for a couple hours (there was no good seating in the waiting area of the domestic terminal). We went back to Jetstar to check-in and drop our bags literally one minute after we were allowed to, and the lineup was massive. 45 minutes later we got to the desk and tiredly checked our luggage then lined up for security and then waited by the gate. I had a couple Krispy Kreme donuts (they have none in NZ or Perth) that I have been craving since I left Australia. Boarded the plane and there were no TVs! What a ripoff; stupid discount, no-frills airlines... Listened to music and tried to awkwardly sleep on the too short, too narrow seats with minimal leg room (although a bit better than the last Jetstar flight from Christchurch to Auckland). When we landed in Perth we had to wait on the tarmac for 57 minutes before a gate was ready and we were allowed to get off the plane. Then went through entry customs and got our bags and went outside.

Wham. Mega heat. I think it was 37 degrees today in Perth and it definitely felt like it. We hopped on the air conditioned bus to the city, but it was a city bus, not a shuttle and thus went through a bunch of residential areas (that looked a bit sketchy like a slum), made a bunch of stops and took quite some time to reach the city center. We hopped off eventually and walked to the YHA. We hadn't booked ahead as there was plenty of room when we checked yesterday. Well there wasn't any room today. So we had to go on the internet and scout out a different hostel. Almost everywhere in the city was full. And here we thought Perth was supposed to be LESS busy than the east coast for backpackers. We found one with room eventually and used a map to make our way through increasingly sketchy areas to get to it. Check-in was a gong show and we ended up in different rooms and there is no air conditioning (keep in mind what the temperature was today) and it's generally run-down, but it's been WAY too long of a day, so we said whatever, let's just stay here a night. "Cash only, guys." Of course. Got money from an ATM and paid the front desk then dropped our bags into our respective (yet equally dark, hot and smelly) rooms. We wandered until we found a Woolworths and got some shampoo (as ours had run out our last day in Christchurch) and looked for a pharmacy for Brennan's head/stomach ache. Unsuccessful on that quest, and kind of got turned around in the process, so getting back (in the dark which unexpectedly arrived at like 7 PM) took awhile and showed us even more of the city's dodgy residents and neighbourhoods. It's not so much dangerous sketchy as it is just dirty and slummy. All around the downtown and between the airport and downtown. Things are really not looking promising for Perth and our future in it as working citizens. We're going to check out of this slum hostel tomorrow morning and look for better accomodation (perhaps in Fremantle, which is a suburb) and evaluate what to do next. Right now it seems likely that we fly out of here within the next couple days and go try our luck in Sydney, but it could be that I'm just over-tired and irritable and have had a wicked long day. We'll see how things look tomorrow. But this city needs to pull off a miracle at this point for us to stay 4 months here...

Nov 29 - Grey Cup and Plane Ride

Checked out of of room at the YHA this morning and then migrated directly to the computer area. Surfed the web for a bit while making/eating lunch consisting of the pasta leftover from Dunedin. Then came game time. 98th Grey Cup, streaming live to our computer via a pirated feed for the low, low price of free (plus $4/hour for internet). What an exciting game, right up until the heartbreaking interception in the 4th quarter. Was it worth moving flights and spending loads of money to watch the game? Absolutely. It would, however, have been nice if the Riders came out victorious.

After a bit of head shaking, we gathered our belongings and took a shuttle to the airport, driven by a funny, mildly racist old guy. Did the whole airport check-in/security dog and pony show and off we were to Auckland on a Jetstar plane. Now I've been on some tiny little Westjet planes before, but this took the cake. Between my knees and the seat in front of me there was at best 1 cm of space, which was eliminated when the guy in front of me reclined his seat. The seats are built short, so my shoulders were pushed forward by the curved headrest that they lined up with. The seat width squished me in and I was nearly spilling over the sides of the armrest. And I'm a skinny dude. Imagine what someone 200 pounds+ would feel like in those seats. Luckily it was only like an hour and a half between Christchurch and Auckland, so soon enough we were back on the ground and able to move again outside the plane. We grabbed our bags and enjoyed a delicious McDonald's meal then walked the 15 minutes (outside) over to the International terminal (weird that they're separated like that, no?). Selected a dark lounge area that overlooked the tarmac and watched some planes come in and be unloaded and reloaded by a pack of grounds crew that was quite impressive. Now we get to camp out and hopefully catch a little shut-eye here until we check-in for our next flight tomorrow at 7 AM.

Nov 28 - Christchurch and Walking

The bus stopped at a few places today, but I was in and out of napping, so I missed a lot of the commentary. Had a BLT for breakfast and the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Got into Christchurch around 1 (so a short day on the bus, compared to some of the recent trips between cities) and checked in to the YHA. It's a decent looking hostel, with 4-bed dorms and the beds are staggered so they only overlap a bit (rather than the normal bunk beds that squeak a lot) and allow for more room for everyone. Unloaded the bags then printed our boarding passes for tomorrow and booked the $7 airport shuttle for our flight tomorrow. Then we went walking around town with Bhamini. saw the central cathedral (but couldn't go in due to a jazz concert), an old-looking private school modeled in the Oxford style, booths and live music in the square by the river, and through some shops in the area. Then we proceeded to do a huge loop of a park that could probably fit 50 football fields inside it. The walking built up an appetite and we hit up Subway and got loyalty cards (which we had never seen before but could have gotten dozens of free subs with by now!) and enjoyed some meatball foot-longs. Bhamini wasn't feeling the sandwiches, so we continued on after eating and stopped at a fancy little restaurant where she had a lamb meal while B and I kept her company and enjoyed free waters. Then back to the hostel and tossed in a load of laundry (it's been awhile, so this was much needed). The rest of the evening consisted of movie watching; Zombieland, followed by Mystic River. Tomorrow we get to enjoy the Grey Cup online here and then head over to the airport to fly to Auckland. Since we arrive late and our flight from Auckland to Melbourne is at 8 AM the next day, we're considering saving the money on a hostel and the $20 shuttle (each way) and just camping out in the airport. Besides, what's a year on the road without one overnight stay in an airport?

Nov. 27 - Steepest Street and Lake Tekapo

This morning came much, much too early. Put the stuff together and headed downstairs for some water before boarding the bus. On the way out of Dunedin, we stopped at Baldwin Street, which according to the Guiness Book of Records, is the steepest street in the world. Photos we had seen of it in our guidebooks didn't look that bad, but let me tell you, after climbing it, I believe the claim. I was the first to the top (winner!) and took a much-needed sit down and had some water from the wonderfully placed water fountain. Took some photos, but it's really tough to get a perspective that shows the steepness of the street. After a short rest, we all headed back down the hill and hopped back on the bus. From here we proceeded out of Dunedin and our next stop was Moeraki to see the Moeraki Boulders. Went down to the beach to see the rocks, and there were about 25 or 30 round boulders in the sand/water about 3 or 4 feet tall. Snapped some photos and chilled at the cafe on the hill above the beach until it was time to board the bus again. Went for another hour or so and came to Oamaru, where we stopped at a Countdown and people went in to buy salad stuff and meats for the BBQ we'll be having at the hostel tonight. The one at the National Park was really good, so hopefully this turns out great too. Before Tekapo we had several stops, for food, toilets, photos, or some combination of the three. On long bus days (8 hour trips) we end up being off the bus for more time than we spend in it. One stop was at a big turquoise blue glacier-fed lake for a photo. It looked a lot like a lake I've been to near Jasper, with very cold blue water and mountains surrounding the water in the distance. Our final stop before Tekapo (hooray!) was at a little stone church called the Church of the Good Shepherd, and this also served as a photo stop. Only a short while after the church we arrived at our accomodation for Lake Tekapo (finally!) and checked in. There are two hostels to choose from here and we opted for the non-YHA, because it was a few bucks cheaper and the BBQ is happening there tonight. Showered, changed into fresh clothes and soaked in the sights for awhile before dinner. It's a pretty spectacular view over the blue water surrounded by huge hills and snow-capped mountains in the distance. It's also quiet. So peaceful. And the air is as fresh as it gets anywhere. Should be a good relaxing evening spent here.

I wandered over to the YHA so I could get online (our hostel doesn't have Global Gossip internet) which was a decent little 15 minute hike. As I was editing photos, it started to rain, so I migrated to the common room of the YHA and waited out the precipitation. When it had slowed to a light spitting rain, I jogged back to our hostel. At this point, the kitchen was buzzing with activity as people were preparing the BBQ items. I looked for something to do, but if I tried to help, it would only further crowd the kitchen and all the jobs were already being done. So I chilled outside until dinner was ready. Brennan had been sleeping until this point (since we checked in until now) despite having slept most of the bus ride today. He finally made an appearance shortly before the food did and 25 of us enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by two French chefs. There was a fancy green salad, a delicious potato salad with pieces of bacon in it (a wonderful addition that I've never had in potato salad before), french bread, sausages, chicken wings and freshly made ground beef hamburgers with L&P to drink. What a feast, and much needed, as this was the first meal I'd eaten all day. Then we chatted with Bhamini and some Irish and Australian gals as we half-watched Along Came a Spider on TV. Early to bed and while I need it after the long day of traveling, I can't imagine Brennan will fall asleep easily after the hours of naps he enjoyed today.

Nov 26 - Chocolate Factory and Wine

Another early morning, another early bus. Our driver was good today and told us lots about the areas we passed through. We stopped in Arrowtown, which was a gold mining town way back when, but they passed laws to prevent new style buildings or demolishing old ones, so it still looks like an old town from a Western movie. Couple stops after that for breakfast and ice cream and about five hours after we began, we were in Dunedin. This city was originally a Scottish settlement and has a really cool feel to it. We checked in to the hostel, where we met up with Bhamini (who had gone to Dunedin earlier than the rest of us) and her, Enrico, Brennan and myself headed to the Cadbury factory for our tour we booked onto (Sarah's money and new card from Visa hadn't shown up yet and she didn't want us to have to pay for her so she stayed at the hostel to try and sort out her money issues). We got to the factory and were greeted with chocolate right at the check-in desk. Paid our money and wandered in the entry area, which had a little history of the company, photos, packaging, commercials, etc. We also got to eat a cocoa bean (note, that was cocoa, not coca) which tasted awful; something along the lines of a coffee bean. Then we filed into a little theatre area, where we were given hairnets and snoots (hairnets for the face/beard for guys) and a welcome bag wth a chocolate bar in it. We munched our bars while watching an animated video about Cadbury (the bar they gave us was marshmallow covered in chocolate...not the best, but apparently wildly popular in NZ). Then we had to take off everything loose (watches, chains, hats, sunglasses, etc) and put them in a locker and the tour began. The guide led us through the factory and told us how the chocolate was made, showed us the production lines and asked trivia questions for chocolate bar prizes (surprise, surprise). We were led into a huge purple Cadbury silo where we watched one tonne of liquid chocolate fall 5 stories down into a huge funnel then into a storage container. Apparently they clean this out once a year and feed the chocolate to pigs. Then we got to try chocolate shots, which was like a thick chocolate liquid that we ate with spoons. It was so rich that one shot worth was more than enough. Passed by workers making giant eggs for Easter (already!) and finished the tour with some more chocolate bars. I felt sick after and I think everyone else did too. The chocolate we got was all the weird, crappy kinds. Marshmallow bars and Turkish Delights and flavored stuff, etc. took a toll on the stomach. Anyways, quite a cool tour overall (although I was disappointed we didn't see any oompa loompas or a Willy Wonka impersonator) and we headed back in the direction of the hostel with a bag each of chocolate bars that would have to be consumed at a later date.

Along the way we stopped at the Dunedin train station, which is an old, impressive looking building and took some photos. Apparently the building is the second most photographed in the Southern hemisphere (after the Sydney Opera House), but we've also heard that claim about the Skytower in Auckland and the museum in Rotorua, so they need to get their facts straight. We carried on and came to the oldest church in Dunedin, which is a spectacular, huge, gothic-style cathedral and took some photos of that, then sat inside the quiet interior for a couple minutes. There was a little history room behind the altar about the founders and building of the church, but it wasn't very interesting. We continued on and ran into Sarah and accompanied her to Western Union, where she had been wired some cash, thereby alleviating her money concerns (temporarily, at least) and allowing her to relax for the first time in a couple days. Then we went shopping for groceries! Picked up some tasty stuff and witnessed a big commotion as two junkies with a little baby were escorted out by police after making a scene following a woman making a comment about the child. Dinner and a show. We headed back to the hostel and made dinner. Brennan and I had fusilli pasta with a basil sauce and added diced red pepper and tomato that I grilled in red wine. I know, like five star dining in the comfort of a hostel. Supper was delicious (obviously) and it was accompanied by wine (obviously). Each of us had our own bottle that we enjoyed over the course of a couple hours until they all ran dry. A new girl from Scotland joined our festivities for the evening and filled in the spot that Dan formerly occupied. After the wine was out, we took up a collection and Brennan and I walked back to the grocery store and picked up a couple more bottles. We returned, those bottles were consumed and many laughs were had. I fell asleep on the couch or the floor or something and the others carried on a while longer before going to bed. I woke up shortly thereafter and migrated back to the room as well. I didn't want to miss out on sleeping in a non bunk bed, as I had one of the two regular beds in the room, instead of the usual, old, squeaky bunk beds. Hit the pillow and out like a light. Brennan came back much later in the morning after apparently falling asleep in the TV room. Wine is a cruel mistress.

Nov 25 - Luge and Movie

Began the day with a sleep-in session and wasn't even woken by everyone in the room packing up and checking out, so the day was looking up from the start. Then came breakfast of champions, AKA 6 hard boiled eggs, some dry wheat toast and orange juice (with extra pulp...bleh, didn't read the label closely enough when I bought it) while Brennan went the fried egg route. The eggs were good, but they did remind me exactly of the smell of Rotorua, so I gagged at first, but then got over the smell and enjoyed breakfast. We ran into Sarah, who was up earlier than us sorting out her money issues still and chatted awhile until Brennan and I ventured out to hit up the luge. Walked over to a travel shop and got our tickets then continued to the gondola at the base of one of the mountains next to town. We got a very slow gondola ride up to a restaurant area then walked over to the starting area for luge. Here we were provided with skateboard helmets and then took a chairlift up to a higher point on the mountain. As we hopped on the chairlift, we left the bar up, like we would on any ski hill, but before we got 10 feet, literally every staff member and other customer were pointing and screaming at us "YOU'RE BAR IS UP STILL!!!!! PUT YOUR BAR DOWN!!!!" Holy, chill people...we put the bar down so no one would have a heart attack. If we are capable of going up to the top of Lake Louise over a hundred feet in the air with our safety bar up, I'm sure this little section of hill ten feet off the ground shouldn't be an issue. Alas, we made it safely up, no thanks to the safety bar and walked over to the starting area. The staff member gave us a lecture on how to run the luge (which was basically a go-cart without a motor) and that was "pull the handlebar back a bit to go or all the way back to brake." Our first run was the scenic track, meant to be easier to let you get the hang of how to control the luge and the activity turned out to be quite fun! We took the chairlift back up 5 more times (we got 6 runs with our pass) and did the advanced course those times, which had tighter corners (that they recommend going slow on but they're more fun if you go full speed) and little hill drops to make you gain more speed. It was raining during the luge runs, so the track was a little slick and it helped for skidding around corners. After the 6 runs, we took the gondola back down to the city and headed straight to Subway, for a post-luge victory lunch. Delicious.

Back to the hostel to chit chat for awhile and chill, until boredom set in and Sarah, Brennan, Enrico and myself headed out for coffee. We settled on a little cafe that was on the second floor of a building and looked out onto the surrounding hills/mountains. Coffee is always difficult in Australia and New Zealand, because you can't just get a regular coffee. Everything is like an espresso and/or has lots of foam and is really strong flavored and doesn't have cream/sugar mixed in. Anyways, I settled on a Mochaccino with caramel flavoring, that was actually quite tasty (although more of a Starbucks coffee than the large double double I know and love). We sat for over an hour chatting and sipping our coffees like really trendy individuals in New York or something. Then Enrico and Sarah went back to the hostel while me and Brennan opted to go see Due Date, as tonight was opening night for the movie in New Zealand (despite being released back home on Nov. 4). It was a pretty funny movie (had its moments anyways) and then we wandered back to the hostel. Tomorrow we leave Queenstown and head to Dunedin. Among the highlights of Dunedin are the steepest street in the world, a beer factory and a chocolate factory (both factories complete with tours!) so we'll have a busy day, as we are only there for one night.

Nov 24 - Milford Sound Bus and Boat

8 AM comes depressingly early when you're out drinking until 2 AM, but you only live once I suppose, so 8 o'clock is when we boarded the bus to Milford Sound. It was a 300 KM bus trip from Queenstown but the road was so zig-zaggy that it took much longer than a 300 KM Saskatchewan road trip. The drive was beautiful, past huge lakes and spectacular mountains. Unfortunately, due to the long bus ride, we had to take tons of stops for bathroom breaks, food and photos. After 5 hours we arrived at the Milford Sound harbour and boarded a big yacht-ish boat. It took us on a 2 hour cruise through the fjords of Milford Sound, which was very picturesque and we were taken right up next to a massive waterfall. As nice as it was though, it was like a weak version of the Whitsunday Islands, or like a more mountainous version of Bay of Islands or Abel Tasman National Park. Among the highlights of the cruise was our delicious sandwiches we made today and me discovering it was, in fact, possible to eat a whole apple, core and all. Sarah also demonstrated the odd way she eats kiwis, which is just like a pear, with the skin and all. Fruit lessons, hooray! Then came the 5 hour bus ride back to Queenstown which was agonizing, but we got to watch the movie The World's Fastest Indian, which was about a Kiwi guy who broke the land speed record on his motorcycle.

Back in Queenstown we went to a couple bars we had gone to last night to look for Sarah's wallet, which she discovered she had lost and luckily it was at the second place we tried, with all her money and cards intact. So now it was time for food and because we didn't have supper groceries purchased (only breakfast and lunch stuff) we opted for a restaurant. We picked a Mexican place that appeared to have reasonable multi-person meals in the $30 range. Headed in and it was a very cool atmosphere. Checked out the menus while Sarah called Visa to let them know she had found her wallet (she called them in the morning to get them to put a hold on her stuff) and B and I discovered that the combo meals were like $30 per person. Ouch. So we sucked it up and both ordered a $26 burrito, remarking that it had better be the best damn burrito we've ever tasted. Sarah learned that RBC had cancelled her credit card and her debit card wasn't working either, so she left to go sort that stuff out. We ate our millionaire burritos, which were adequate but nothing special, tossed our money on the table and went back to the hostel. Watched some TV and called it a night. Tomorrow we get to sleep in (hooray!) and might try luge down a hill track (which is actually like go-carts without motors) and hopefully some shinny at the indoor ice rink!

Nov 23 - Queenstown and Ferg Burgs

Hopped on the Naked Bus this morning (which has no requirement for lack of clothing) which was a small shuttle bus size, rather than the full size Magic buses we are accustomed to. The road towards Queenstown was really twisty and we all got tossed back and forth inside the bus. We stopped at a salmon farm for a lunch break, but their EFTPOS (debit/credit) system was down, so no food for us. Continued along and stopped a few times for little breaks. The twisting mountain roads, and turquoise blue streams running alongside the road looked a lot like Jasper or Banff. Eventually we reached Lake Wanaka, which was a beautiful little town and we took the stop time to snag some Subway. The bus then carried onwards to Queenstown, and we were dropped at the bus stop and told how to get to the YHA, but the driver told us how to get to the central YHA instead of the Lakefront YHA. So we had to wander for awhile to find the correct hostel. Checked in and ran into Sarah, so chatted for awhile and she said Enrico and Bahmini were at Milford Sound and getting back soon. So we waited for those two to show up and the 4 of us went to get dinner at Ferg Burger, which is a world famous burger joint. The burger was delicious (albeit expensive) and was probably the #3 best burger I'v eaten, behind the ones in Auckland and Rainbow Beach. From Ferg Burger, we migrated to a bar and had teapots of alcohol/juice mixes that were totally girly, but also delicious. Checked out a couple more bars and Jag bombs were consumed. Then a stumble home and thus ended the night.

Nov 22 - Riders and Movies

Today began with a sleep-in for once, which was great, after all the 7 AM wake up times to catch the Magic bus. Began with some peanut butter toast and an apple as we sat down to watch the Riders game. But we struggled to get a good feed, as our usual source was about a half hour behind on its feed. So B opted to pay money to watch a legit TSN feed, which was terrible quality, but it would have to do. We came in at the start of the 2nd quarter and down in the score. Then the other feed (the illegal one) caught up to the game in real time and was better quality than the TSN feed. That was money well wasted. So we watched the rest of the game on the 2nd feed and cheered as the Riders took out the Stamps. This however meant we had to change our flight, which was booked on the 29th just after kickoff time.

Air New Zealand wanted us to pay $50 to change the flight, a $20 penalty, and the difference between the cost we paid and the cost of the flight now, all of which came out to well over $200. Outrageous. So we cancelled our flight outright with them (forfeiting what we had paid for our tickets) and booked a whole new flight with Jetstar for $150. Well $160 actually, because after we booked one ticket, the price jumped up $20, so we split the extra cost. The airlines here are so frustratingly behind the times and have the worst service I've ever encountered. Oh well, now we fly out 6 hours later on the 29th and we'll get to watch the game in Christchurch. After the game, we had nothing to do, so we went to the TV room and watched movies on the movie channel. First Jurassic Park (classic), then How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (chick flick). That brought us to dinner time, so we went to the grocery store and got a couple frozen pizzas then cooked them up in the oven at the hostel. With dinner, the movie was The Fast and the Furious, followed by Syriana. But Syriana was so slow, boring and political that I ducked out and chilled in the room and surfed the internet. But soon enough everyone else got bored and left too, so I switched the channel and Yes Man was just starting, so I watched that before retiring for the night. Tomorrow we head to Queenstown, which is the adventure capital of New Zealand and we'll be there for 3 nights and probably will catch up with a couple of our super six travel group, but Dan will be left behind as he is staying another night in Franz Joseph, then 3 in Wanaka, which is between here and Queenstown, so that's probably the last we'll see of him. Only a week left in New Zealand, so we'll have to make the most of the limited time left.

Nov 21 - Jade, Gold and Glacier

The bus ride was fairly dull today, but we had a couple stops to break it into segments. First we stopped in a town famous for its Jade carvings and browsed a museum dedicated to the green rocks. Next stop was in Ross, which was a gold rush town, and we watched some of the other passengers learn to pan for gold (which cost them $10 and was super lame, entailing putting rocks in a pan with a vial of gold dust, then slowly pouring the rocks out until the gold was left). A couple hours more and we got to the town of Franz Joseph, which consists of maybe 4 little streets. We picked up some garlic bread and milk to compliment the pasta diner we planned for the evening and dropped them back at the hostel. Then we had to rush over to the glacier hike office and check in. Filled out the forms and got into our waterproof jackets, pants and boots and then hopped on their bus to the glacier. It only took a few minutes and we hopped off into a temperate rain forest. We took a trail that looped through the forest and went from dirt to mud. The forest opened up into a spectacular valley full of rocks ranging in size from pebbles to boulders. Apparently the glacier pushes enough rocks into the massive valley each year to raise the height of the ground by about half a meter. The Franz Joseph glacier was in the distance and we were split into 4 groups, each with its own guide. We walked a couple KMs across the rocky valley until we reached the glacier. Then we zig-zagged up an icy path with crampon (spikes) strapped onto our boots. Got a picture in an ice tunnel, which was pretty much the sole reason I went on this journey. Went up a couple KMs in total, then came back down a different route and back through the valley and forest to the bus. A decent hike overall, with great views and something I haven't done before. The one downside was that it poured rain for a good portion of the hike, so we were all soaked and cold when we finished the 1/2 day journey. The bus took us back to the office, where we got to change into dry clothes and then head back to the hostel for dinner.

The pasta and garlic bread was amazing after the long day of exercise and then the 4 of us who hiked and one other from our crew went to glacier hot pools to relax the muscles after today. There were 3 pools, one at 36 degrees, one at 38, and one at 40. We spent over 3 hours alternating between the three and chatting. Returned to the hostel and played Scattergories with our travel group (the super six as I have dubbed it) consisting of me, Brennan, Dan (St. Louis), Bahmini (Hong Kong), Sarah (Guelph), and Enrico (Italy) as this is the last night we'll all be together in our New Zealand travels. Watched some TV after then a late bed time, but Brennan and I get to sleep in until like 9:30 then watch the Riders game, so it's all good.

Nov 20 - Pancake Rocks and Brewery Tour

Today began as most days do now; on a bus in the early AM. A little ways outside of Nelson en route to Greymouth, we came across a bicycle race with loads of participants that slowed us up considerably and took up valuable time in the day while stuck behind them as they took up a whole lane on a narrow 2 lane twisting road. Stopped for breakfast at a little cafe and then kept on going towards our destination. We had 3 stops along the way: one to take photos of a river gorge, another to do a little hike down to a coastal beach surrounded by cliffs, and a third to an area called Pancake Rocks. This area is named after the limestone cliffs that due to erosion and such have lines across them and look sort of like pancakes. There were some good views, but for all 3 of the stops it was raining (heavier as we went along) so we were as speedy as possible to avoid being soaked. 8 and a half hours after we had boarded the bus this morning, we arrived in Greymouth, which isn't much of a noteworthy place. As it happens, late last night (while we were in Nelson) there was a mine collapse just a few KMs outside of Greymouth, trapping nearly 30 miners and they're unsure if the workers are alive or not. So the mood amongst the citizens of Greymouth was somewhere between gloomy and cold when we rolled in. Did the check-in dealio and hustled over to the Countdown store for groceries for the next 3 days, since there are no supermarkets in Franz Joseph (our next stop).

Just as we finished and dropped our stuff back at the hostel, the shuttle bus came to pick us up for a Monteith's brewery tour we had signed up for. $30 got us a tour of the factory, beer samples and a dinner tonight, so it was a pretty decent way to spend the evening. The tour ended up being very dull and very scripted (terrible in comparison to the XXXX tour in Brisbane). Afterwards, we got to sample the 7 types of beer they had (about an ounce of two of each) and then pour our own glass worth. So the lady stood there and watched as we each poured a glass, then went to the other room for awhile, so myself and a few others poured and quickly drank full glasses of each kind before her return. There was no limitation on amount, just on time, so after the approximately 10 minutes we had between when we could pour our own first beer and when the taxis arrived to take us to the restaurant for dinner, I was feeling mighty fine.

We went to a place called the Railway Station for dinner, which was amazing and included a lamb chop, a burger, green salad and potatoes. Washed it down with a pitcher of beer from the tap and thus the night began. After this, there was chatting, Sing Star karaoke sessions, and even a little bit of dancing. Wandered back to the hostel and called it a night probably too late, as we have to be ready for the bus at 8 AM to go to Franz Joseph tomorrow for our glacier hike.

Nov 19 - Abel Tasman Boat and Hike

On the shuttle bus at ten after 7 this morning to go to Abel Tasman national park. Luckily, the bus wasn't too full, which allowed me to lay across the back row of seats and nap the hour and a bit it took to get there. B, Dan and Sarah also napped I think, but in regular seats...in this case, you snooze you lose, or something along those lines. Once off the shuttle, we got onto an "aqua taxi" that took us up to Torrent Bay: our starting point for the hike today. Along the way we stopped at the split apple rock, which got its name based on what it looks like, and we snapped some photos. Then a fast ride over to Torrent Bay, where we were dropped on a dock. We began the 14.4 KM walk back down, but quickly we were presented with an opportunity to take a 1 KM side track to a place called Cleopatra's Pool, and with a name like that how could we refuse. So up we went on that trail and got to the nice natural rock water slide and pool of water promised on the sign. But leading into the pool was a stream that had massive boulders in it all the way up and around a corner. Being adventurous, I opted to start scaling the rocks and heading up the stream. Dan came with, but B and Sarah opted to hang out at Cleopatra's Pool instead. The boulders took us up a ways on the stream, then we had to switch to a narrow and steep trail on the side of the hills/cliffs that took us around a 90 degree corner. Here the stream narrowed and was much gentler, but finding a path was tricky. We got to a point that we could either jump over the stream onto a mossy, near vertical rock on the other side, or stay on our current side and slide along a steep rock face over the stream on our butts. While I was deciding, Dan opted for the slide, but just as he began it was too steep and he slid down and landed in the stream, completely soaking his clothes and shoes. After I finished laughing I opted to try the jump and nailed the landing (it really wasn't that difficult, just psyched myself out) and then treaded further along the mossy rocks, across the shallow part of the stream and around another 90 degree corner. Here I was rewarded with a big waterfall and a little rock pool in the cliff that looked like a little hot tub. But the water was ice cold, so I didn't go for a swim. I went back over to where Dan was now sitting on a rock and encouraged him to make the jump and go see the waterfall. He did and had no trouble either. Satisfied with a successful side-trip hike, we returned to where Brennan and Sarah were waiting and the 4 of us carried on down the trail.

After a few more KMs we got to a trail that led down to a secluded beach, so we headed down the steep track and had lunch and napped on the beach in the warm sun. Then we headed back up the trail and continued along the main track for another several KMs. In the end we did over 17 KM (almost as much as the Tongariro Crossing) but it was a flat, easy trail for the most part, so it felt like a lot less distance. We stopped at one more beach just before the end of the walk and saw a cool walk-through cave and a tree growing on a single column of rock, high up in the air. Had a beverage at a cafe at the official end of the trail (can of Coke for $4...ouch) and then waited at the Aqua Taxi office for our shuttle bus back. As soon as we arrived back in Nelson, the four of us went straight to Subway and conquered the mean hunger the walk had built up.

Back at the hostel we watched some TV then the movie Push, which was about people with powers. The movie was good but got very convoluted and confusing as it went along. After the cinematic adventure, Brennan and I booked hostels for the next few cities we'll be in, in order to get cheaper rates for booking early and to ensure we aren't forced to upgrade to pricier rooms like we had to here in Nelson. Tomorrow we venture to Greymouth, where a brewery tour is the only thing listed as a worthwhile activity. Franz Joseph glacier walk is after that though, and we'll be there for the CFL Western final, so hopefully we can lock down some fast internet to stream the game with.

Kiwi Observations

1. In Auckland, the walk lights at intersections were animated with moving legs for the pedestrian.

2. Big cities have diagonal crosswalks for major intersections. The lights all go red and you can cross in every direction.

3. The streets are all very clean. In Auckland the street cleaning machines ran all night.

4. The fast food chains are just like Canada, as opposed to the weird or missing ones in Australia.

5. The word "as" is used a lot. For example "sweet as" is a VERY common phrase, but is never followed with something to finish the sentence (like sweet as candy). Other variations are weak as, cool as, broke as, etc.

6. Almost all towns and streets have Maori names (except major cities and some key streets).

7. Hot and Cold taps are on opposite sides of the sink and each has its own faucet, so you have to go back and forth between the two streams to get warm water (ow, hot! oh, cold! ow, hot!).

8. There are no pennies or nickels, and amounts are rounded to the nearest ten cent mark.

9. Flip Flops are called Jandals.

10. A lot of smaller towns have pay toilets.

11. One lane bridges are common. Sometimes there are little alcoves halfway down, but often it's just one lane all the way across, so if there is a car on it, you have to wait.

Nov 18 - Ferry and Highlander

7 AM is when we had to be outside to be picked up by the shuttle bus that took people to the interislander ferry. So well before 8 AM we were checked in and seated aboard the massive ferry ship that departed the Wellington port at 8:30 AM. The ride was relatively smooth, at least as compared to the sailboat in the Whitsundays and the ferry to Magnetic Island. We had 2 options of tv channels in our seating area, one of which played infomercials and the other had shows for children. So after a good while of mindless kids shows, we switched to channel 2, which had finished its infomercial run and we now got to enjoy the wonderful programming that is Dr. Oz. The ferry took about 3 hours to get across to the south island of New Zealand and we got off at the port of Picton. We had to wait for our luggage just like a flight and then we tossed it on the Magic bus that was waiting for us and off we went, southwards to Nelson.

Along the way, the bus stopped at a winery where a bunch of passengers did a wine tasting (including B) but I'm not much for wine, so I opted for fudge tasting at the chocolate factory next door and then bought a nice square of rolo fudge. Back on the bus and our driver (who looked eerily like Joel Samoleski but about 50 pounds heavier) took us into Nelson and off we got at the YHA. Checking in here, we were displeased to find out our previous Magic driver had booked us to arrive a day later, and the 7 bed dorm at $22/night applies to the one room they have with 7 beds in it. So we had to take a 5 bed dorm at $28/night (and that's after our 10% YHA member discount). Scams. A little city with not much to do and we have to pay more than Wellington or Auckland, where there actually were tourist attractions. Alas, we tossed our stuff in the room and joined up with our traveling buddies to go grocery shopping. As soon as we got back we ate dinner, as traveling all day had made us all quite hungry. B and myself enjoyed a hot BBQ chicken, fresh buns, corn on the cob (that was individually vacuum-packed and pre-cooked), Uncle Ben's rice, chocolate milk, and Teddy Graham type cookies for dessert. It was like a real meal at home. It's usually so much work to put together a real meal (with limited time in each place and thus limited groceries and small kitchens usually without ovens, etc.) so this hit the spot without being overly difficult. Hung out for awhile after in the lounge area that had a piano, which Dan could play surprisingly well. Then we picked out a movie to view in the mini cinema. The screening tonight was Highlander. What a weird, awful, bizarre, yet entertaining movie. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!! Oh, and we booked a bus up to Abel Tasman National Park for tomorrow, where we'll do a 1/2 day hike through forest and lots of nice beaches. The weather is supposed to be sunny and relatively hot, so might get to test out the NZ ocean water for the first time!

Nov 17 - Te Papa and Botanical Gardens

This morning I ate the healthiest breakfast of perhaps the whole trip, consisting of 3 kiwis and an orange. Then our traveling group (the crew we've been on the magic bus with for the last few places) headed over to Te Papa national museum and met up with a couple other magic bus comrades who were staying at a different hostel. Spent the next 2 and a half hours wandering through the 6 floors of the museum and its various exhibits. Overall it wasn't very impressive because although it had a lot of content, most of it was boring. But it was a good time killer and something that's a notable tourist stop for New Zealand, so it was good that we checked it out. The problem with just fruit for breakfast is that while healthy, it isn't very good at keeping you full. So after we finished at the museum, our group headed to an Asian fusion restaurant called Chow for lunch. This was the choice of a couple girls in the group and I could care less where we ate, so the 8 of us headed up to the 2nd floor restaurant. The girls then proceeded to order a variety of items off the menu (which was 2 for 1 on that day luckily). It's good that they ordered, because the menu items were extravagent and I had no idea what to order. Banana-leaf wrapped pork bites and carrot/cabbage/coriander veggie sushi rolls and mint leaf/angus beef spring salad, etc. The food came rather quickly but all the dishes were quite small in portion size. So we all sampled the various dishes, which were okay for the most part (except the ones with coriander..blah) but didn't really fill the gap. We exited and went for ice cream for dessert, and my sundae was much more satisfying than the meal had been. Then we headed over to a vintage cable car that went up a big hill and 6 of the group bought tickets for the 500 meter hill ride but it was a beautiful day and that seemed lame so I opted to walk the hill instead and Dan joined me. We headed a couple blocks over then went up the road until we arrived at the Wellington Botanical garden and walked through that, then up a forest trail to the top of the hill, where there was an observatory and a cable car museum. We checked out the museum, which had 2 cable cars and a old pulley system on display. Not very riveting stuff. Couldn't find the rest of the group who took the cable car, so assumed they must have taken a different trail down while we were going up. Checked out the view over Wellington then headed back down a trail into the city again. On the way back to the hostel we passed the Parliament building, nicknamed the Beehive, because that's what it's shaped like. Back at the hostel we chilled out for a bit until the other part of the group returned as well. We got to enjoy rice with a marinara sauce containing bits of chicken for our free meal at that point, which was better than the awful pasta the previous night, but me, Dan and B were still hungry despite the "lunch" and this "supper" so we walked over to Subway and enjoyed the glorious goodness of some fresh footlongs that finally were a real meal for the day. Walked back to the hostel and watched the movie Lord of War and about half of Seven Pounds until the TV lounge was closed for the night and thus it was time for bed. Tomorrow we all take a ferry across the Cook Straight to the South Island of New Zealand.

Nov 16 - Wellington and Mexi food

Was woken up shortly after 5 AM today by an emergency siren going off in the park. Thankfully, it ended shortly and we got to sleep for a couple more hours. We later found out it was an alarm for fires (presumably forest fires). After we were up and had breakfast, everyone filed onto the Magic bus and it drove for awhile, stopping for tea/breakfast at a little cafe. Then onwards to another town, where we stopped for fresh ice cream made in a press with fruit. Tasty snack stop and place to stretch the legs, then back on the bus and all the way to Wellington. We checked in to our Nomads hostel (YHA was full) and then walked around town a bit. It was super cloudy and really windy and chilly. We ventured out for a late lunch/early supper with some other people and settled on Nando's, which is a chain in Europe and features spicy chicken meals. That hit the spot after a long day on the bus and then we headed back towards Nomads. First we stopped at a grocery store and all got some food for tomorrow, and having tonight covered and probably eating Subway tomorrow, B and I purchased only fruits and veggies for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Each night we get a free meal in the pub attached to the hostel, so we went there after grocery shopping and ordered our free macaroni meals. They were so so so awful. Probably a couple hours old, stale, and cold. Ate some, but was very glad we had eaten a proper dinner already.

After the "meal" everyone chilled for a bit then met up to head out for drinks on the town. 8 of us (4 guys, 4 girls) wandered down Cuba Street, which is the pub street of the CBD area of Wellington. We passed a few bars and pubs, none of which were very busy, but it was still early. A couple we went into were wicked expensive with 9 dollar drinks, etc. so we continued until we came upon one with pints for $5, and that was affordable enough for everyone, so we headed into this place called Scotty and Mal's. Ordered a drink at the bar and observed that the bartender was flamingly gay. As I turned to point this out to the group, I scanned the room as they were ordering drinks. Hmm, lots of dudes in this place. Lightbulb. Ohhhh nooooo guys this is a gay bar... The girls didn't care but all the dudes in our entourage were very creeped out. The 8 of us went downstairs where there was seating and no other patrons and shook our heads, laughing about the situation as we finished our drinks quickly, then exited the establishment. Looking at the sign now, the S and M were definitely emphasized. Good thing we had girls with us or that could have been ugly. Moving on, waaaaaay on from that, we all went back to the Nomads pub for a few more drinks and then all headed our separate ways until tomorrow. We're all heading to Te Papa in the morning, which is the National museum of New Zealand (located here, because Wellington is the capital of the country) and we'll probably check out the Parliament building as well if there is time.

Nov 15 - Riders and Climbing

10 AM we were up at at 'em getting the internet figured out for the Riders game. The wifi was too slow so we had to buy 4 hours worth of time for the desktop land line connection at $4/hr. But it did work well and we got good streaming video from an online feed (TSN only has online telecast for Canadian computers...) for the whole game. The first half was terrible play and it was starting to look like the internet money we paid was a waste. But the Riders miraculously turned it around and won in OT for a huge finish that left us cheering in the otherwise empty hostel (everyone else was doing the alpine crossing hike that we had done out of Taupo). After the big win, we chilled out for awhile but the hostel was very boring with only 2 TV channels and no one else there. So we signed up for wall climbing and spent a couple hours doing circuits in the indoor wall climbing room inside the hostel. Around the time our arms and wrists were so sore we had to stop climbing, the hikers arrived back at the hostel, so we returned the climbing gear and chatted about their day. For dinner we cooked up leftover BBQ meats for the Magic bus people (I was grill master, because after all, I am a Canadian, and we do BBQing pretty damn well). Then B and I grilled up the chicken legs we had bought for supper (not knowing at that point that there would be extra meat leftover from the BBQ the previous night) and we had some Uncle Ben's rice to go with it. Delicious. After dinner, a bunch of us had some drinks and chatted in the hostel kitchen for a couple hours, then went for one drink at the pub next door, then off the bed early. Everyone was much more tired than us due to hiking 20 KM that day, but we were fairly tuckered from the wall climbing. More sleep is always a good thing.

Nov 14 - Waitomo and BBQ

This morning we hustled to pack and pound back some breakfast before getting on the bus, which proceeded to drive through to Waitomo. Waitomo is the home of the world famous glowworm caves, and the bus had a 3 hours stopover here, so we signed up for a tour of one cave. 12 of us were driven about 15 minutes from the office to farmland owned by the driver's brother in law, where he parked the van and we got out. We had to walk a couple minutes on a trail and then down into a crevice in the rock face. Down about a hundred feet there was a dark entrance to the cave with a bench that we sat on as we waited for our eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Then the group passed through a little doorway and down a long and very short/narrow passageway through the limestone in pitch blackness except for the guide's flashlight out front. Then the cave opened up a bit and the guide showed us some glowworms and explained what they were and their history and the history of the caves in the area. Glowworms are little larvae with a tail that emits a 1 nanowatt blue light (1 billionth of a watt) so they are pretty dim even in pitch darkness. The light is to attract insects like mosquitos and the worms dangle "fishing lines" of sticky web - sometimes as many as 30 per worm to catch their prey and reel them back in to eat. The glowworms are skinny and about an inch long full grown, then once they eat and grow enough, they cocoon and turn into flies that have not mouths, so they generally reproduce and die within 3 days - often by getting caught in the webs of other glowworms. Pretty sucky life, but they do look cool, and as we proceeded further into the cave, there were sections with hundreds of worms. When there is a big cluster of them, it looks like a dim constellation with a blue tinge. Before we knew it we arrived at the end of the walkway and then turned around and walked back out and drove back to the office in Waitomo. It was incredibly and frustratingly hard to get pictures of the glowworms, because they were so dim and so high up in the caves. We tried every camera setting and they all turned out poorly, often ruined by other people taking pictures with flashes (idiots, how is that going to work?). We still had some time to kill, so me, B and Dan walked over to the rabbit shearing place down the road, where for $2 we could watch a rabbit being sheared. Bargain! The rabbits they had were German Angorra white rabbits. They are white as snow, with red eyes (creepy!) and their fur grows so quickly and so thickly that if they aren't sheared 4 or 5 times a year, they die. They had one out to pet and look at and it looked huge - like a small dog and you couldn't see legs or paws or anything; just tall narrow ears, eyes, nose and a huge ball of fur. The lady there gave the group a talk on the rabbits and the shearing process. Then we got to watch her shear one. To do this, she had to tie all four paws with rope and attach the rope to a device that looked like a medieval torture stretch device, in order to shear it properly. She buzzed away with shears that looked like the ones I shave my head with but that sounded like a tattoo gun. And as she was telling us how the rabbits don't mind being sheared or the device to keep them straight for it, she spun the rabbit to shear its other side. This looked like a pig turning on a spit and was so ridiculous I nearly fell to the floor in laughter. Then she stopped and said she had another group coming in later, so she would finish the shearing then, and left the rabbit strapped up. Worth every cent of the 2 dollar admission.

We all got back on the bus and continued along towards the National Park, which is today's final destination, and stopped in a town along the way to pick up groceries. We all chipped in $10 for a BBQ tonight, organized by our bus driver and B and myself picked up groceries for breakfast and dinner tomorrow (and beers for the Riders game!). We then continued to Tongariro National Park and hopped off at the YHA to check in. Chilled for a couple hours, then helped prepare the meal for the BBQ, which turned out to be a real feast of potato salad, mixed salad, pasta salad, garlic bread, hamburgers, chicken wings and sausages, with ice cream for dessert. Best $10 meal I've had in a long time, possibly ever. After that, we sat for a couple hours and chatted at a table composed of 2 girls from BC, one girl from Ontario, Dan, B, me, a girl from Quebec and a guy from Germany. And that pretty much rounded out the night. Tomorrow morning we get to sleep in til 10 then will watch the Rider playoff game, provided our internet cooperates. Most people are doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and we got to laugh at all them tonight, having already done that tiring journey. Bedtime. Go Riders.

Nov 13 - Tongariro Alpine Crossing and Mordor

Had to get up at 5 AM today. Let me repeat that for emphasis; 5 in the morning. The bus picked us up at 6:20 so we both had to shower, then cook and eat breakfast, make lunch and pack our hiking backpacks. Hopped on the bus and listened to the iPod as we stopped at a couple other hostels in Taupo to pick people up, then drove to another town and picked up more people. Then the bus drove to the Tongariro National Park and dropped us off at the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The "TAC" is a grueling 19.4 KM hike through and over a mountain range then a descent into grasslands and rain forest. We wasted no time and hustled over and onto the trail as soon as the bus doors opened. We booked along at a pretty good pace on the initial trail, as it was wide and groomed (though it still had lots of stones and rocks that we could feel through our street shoes the whole day). After awhile, the track wound around some low cliff-like rocks for quite some time, which were much more difficult to maneuver through as it was a tight trail of dirt and mud with lots of boulders in the way that went up and down and around big pieces of rock. Surrounding the tight trail were open fields in the distance full of lava rocks. Eventually we arrived at Soda Springs, the first landmark on the hike, which was just a tiny stream coming off the mountain, trickling down to the ground. From here we had to hike up. Up and up and up some more. This section was called the devil's staircase and the map said "When you get there, you'll know why." It was section after section of steep trail, with lots of stairs and just when you thought it was over, the trail turned and there was a section even longer than the previous and even steeper. This took quite a long time to get all the way up and the legs were burning once we completed the climb. The result was a big crater area that thankfully was as flat as Saskatchewan. However, it didn't last long and then we had to climb up to the mountain top of some mountain or other that was challenging because there were lots of people climbing up the slope, the slope was narrow, the ground was loose pebbles and dirt and the winds were strong; something in the region of 50 km/hr. And it got cold. So less than ideal conditions, but after a long, tiring climb we reached the top of that mountain ridge. From here you could venture off on a side trail to climb to the summit of another mountain that was higher, but we figured we had enough of a task ahead of us, so we motored on. We also passed the mountain that was used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies and some of the valleys we looked down upon were used for the evil land of Mordor in the movies. Looking at the landscapes and black volcanic ash surrounding them, it was almost too easy for Peter Jackson to use this area for the films, it just works so perfectly. On the other side of the ridge, we had to descend basically the same distance we just climbed (there goes all the vertical progress!) and the ground was loose sand-like volcanic dirt with pebbles. We figured out a way to stay heavy on our heels and sort of ski down it though, which worked well and got us down quickly. At the bottom we came upon the Emerald Lakes. These 3 very cold little lakes (ponds really) were an abnormally vibrant turquoise green (and smelled of sulfur, yuck!). Stopped and ate lunch here and rested the legs for a bit, then packed up and continued on through slushy snow. This made the shoes all wet, and then all muddy when we got back onto a dirt trail that led up another ridge. At this point I really missed the flat land back home. Over the top of this ridge the landscape turned tundra-like and we had to navigate steep, winding trails on a mountainside. This trail eventually led to a warmer (lower) area and the trail wound back and forth and back and forth. It could have been a few KMs less if it just went straight down, but I guess they couldn't sell it as a "full day hike" that way. As the trail wound left and right over and over, the vegetation changed to grassland, then the trail curved less dramatically, but was on a constant decline that was very hard on the legs. So for sections of the awkward decline we jogged and eventually the vegetation changed once more, this time into rain forest. We walked quickly through the forest that lasted the last few KMs of the trail and after crossing over a nice stream, we emerged from the forest at the parking lot. Never before has the sight of a parking lot been so sweet. The ETA for the trail was 8.5 hours, but we had done it in 5 hours and 13 minutes, with probably 45 minutes of that as a lunch break. So the times were evidently overestimated hugely, but that being said, we were some of the first in our group to finish. Because we were early, we had to sit around and wait for the bus to arrive, which was alright, as we used that as nap time and snack time. The bus drove us back to the hostel in Taupo and a shower has not felt that good in ages. 20 KM of hiking through hot and cold and snow and mud and dust does a number on the body. As I stretch out, I notice the following sore body parts: feet, ankles, shins, calves, quads, butt, back and arms. The rest of the night was dedicated to Subway and watching TV. Tomorrow we take the Magic bus down to the National Park, where we'll spend 2 days. Not sure what we will do there now that we've done the hike, but Monday (for us) will be the Rider playoff game, because we didn't want to be on the road and miss that.

Nov 12 - Booking Stuff and Not Much

Noon seemed like a good time to get up today, and since yesterday was so eventful, I think a sleep-in was deserved. Wandered over to Subway for lunch; we've been mixing up our sub choices much more than home and today we both went with the meatball sub, which is nice because the meat is hot (not lukewarm like the microwave or toaster oven makes it). After a delicious and healthy meal, we checked out the waterfront of the lake, which today featured about 150 1-man sailboats partaking in some sort of regatta. Walked back into town and picked up groceries for dinner/breakfast, which has been rare in New Zealand, because we've stayed such a short time in each place that it's not worth shopping for one meal. We took our groceries back and tossed them in the fridge and then booked a tour called the Tongariro Crossing for tomorrow. The crossing is an 19 KM hike through the mountains here and is known as one of the best day hikes in the country. It goes past the mountain that was used as Mount Doom and the valleys used as Mordor in the Lord of the Rings movies. We then went back to a different grocery store and picked up snacks and drinks (Powerade, relax) for the hike. Then we hopped on the computer and booked our plane tickets for when we're back in Australia; from Melbourne to Perth with Jetstar. That still seems ages away. Enjoyed some good American TV after that, and a Japanese ninja game show, then cooked a delicious dinner. Tonight's menu featured BBQ chicken breast, Uncle Ben's rice and milk (for me, B hates white milk so he stuck with Coke Zero). All we were missing was a vegetable to make it a complete meal. But we have apples for tomorrow, so it's all good. I imagine we're going to be sore after nineteen kilometers hiking through mountains, and we have to be up at 5 AM, so now it's an early bedtime. In reality, that was quite a bit that we did, but it terms of the usual adventure level of days, today ranked low.

Nov 11 - Taupo and Skydive

Today was the bus from Rotorua (leaving behind the rotten egg smell, hooray!) to Taupo. There were several stops along the route between cities, and the first was at the spa in Rotorua, then at bubbling/boiling mud pools just outside the city. The pools were exactly as unimpressive as they sound...mud, that due to steam and geothermal water was boiling and steaming in a pool. Snapped the obligatory photo and we continued on a little ways to the Lady Knox Geyser part of what I think was a National Park. We walked off the bus and down to a little ampitheatre that had been built around the geyser with wooden benches to sit on to watch the eruption. A guide came out and told us all (there were a couple hundred people from different bus groups watching) the history of the geyser and then added some soap to break the underwater surface tension and force an eruption. Otherwise eruptions happen rather randomly every couple of days, but that isn't ideal for tourism. So a few minutes passed and he finished his story and then kapow! The geyser shot up about 50 feet into the air, then subsided down to maybe 20 or 30 feet tall and apparently it stays shooting up that height for an hour or so. Got some great photos and we all went back to the bus and continued to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland park area. They wanted to charge us $26 to walk a trail and see some bright green thermal pools, but we thought that was robbery, so we just had a bite to eat instead. Some people from the bus did the hike, and once they returned we all boarded the bus once again. The next stop was at Huka Falls, which were incredibly turquoise and powerful. We had a few minutes to snap photos and admire the surging waterfall that forced 100,000 litres of water per second down it. Onward we went and finally reached the surprisingly large city of Taupo and stopped at the top of a hill to lookout over Lake Taupo. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere and at over 600 feet deep and about the same size as Singapore, it's no wonder it can supply the huge amount of water that surge through Huka Falls everyday. Only a few minutes from here we finally reached our YHA hostel which looked like a dump compared to the one in Rotorua. Regardless, we checked in and walked over to an ANZ to put some money in our NZ accounts. Then we hustled back and got onto the TTS shuttle.

TTS stands for Taupo Tandem Skydiving. We were driven to their office at the Taupo airport and then had to fill out forms and get a briefing on the different photo/video packages. Since this was our first and possibly only time ever skydiving, we opted for the expensive video and photo package combination each. Then we had to wait for the group ahead of us to suit up and board the plane and do their dive and then for the plane to return. Waiting is the worst part. Finally we got to suit up in our dive suits that looked like something Evel Knievel would wear and our harnesses that were tight in several key areas. Met our tandem dive partners that we would be harnessed to and our photographer/videographers and then walked across the tarmac to the bright yellow plane. The plane was tiny and 15 of us squeezed into the open area behind the pilot. There were 4 of us, 4 tandem partners, 3 videographers (one guy didn't opt for the photos/video) and then 2 sets of instructor and student skydivers that were learning to dive solo. The door of the plane slid shut like a garage door and barely had enough room to close. The plane took off and slowly looped upwards over the spectacular forests and mountains and lake. Up and up and up. At 12,000 feet, one instructor/solo dive student hopped out. You see them on the edge and as they drop they're out of sight in milliseconds. Up and up and up some more, all the way to 15,000 feet. The other solo student/instructor exited the plane and then it was my turn. I wasn't a tiny bit nervous until I was sitting on the edge of the plane with my feet dangling out into the air. Luckily there wasn't too much time to worry, as they took an "exit photo" and then heave-ho, out we went. I had asked my tandem partner (who was strapped in the very awkward but necessary position on my back) to do some flips out of the plane, so when we exited we did a twisting flip before he threw up the tiny material balloon that acts as a stabilizer. The first few seconds (as we flipped) I was yelling whooaaaaaa! and it felt like a roller coaster around a hard drop on my body and stomach. But when the stabilizer went up I felt fine and there was no more butterfly feeling in my stomach. What there was, however, was a hell of a lot of wind pressure on the body and face. We all wore leather helmets and cheap plastic goggles, which helped, but when you're falling at terminal velocity (or close to it) there is a whole lot of wind pushing back at you. The videographer flew down and shook my hand and got some footage before flying back up above us. It was tough to do anything except a scrunched up face and the spread eagle. I managed to get off a couple finger gun and rock hand poses and even cracked a smile until it completely dried my mouth and throat out. Then as soon as it begun, the free fall was over. My tandem partner pulled the cord and whoosh, up went the chute and opened nicely (thankfully). Then it was a couple minutes of relaxation and taking in the amazing scenery. It was literally a perfect day for this and across the clear blue skies I could see for a long ways...nearly coast to coast of the whole country. My partner then handed me the reigns to the parachute and let me cut hard left and right by pulling down with either hand. It could cut so hard that it gave me butterflies in my stomach, even more than the jump did. Pretty cool feeling and so much control of the chute. After several turns back and forth, he took the reigns back and piloted us down to the landing strip of grass next to the office. We had to lift our legs up and let our partners land on their feet (or we could break ankles) and just as we landed he said "now stand up quick!" but it was too late and I landed on my butt then had an awkward shuffle back up to my feet once we had stopped moving. As he unclipped us I watched the other 3 people and their partners land in the field. We all walked back to the office and changed out of our jumpsuits then watched the video footage and paid, then took the shuttle back to the hostel. What a rush and for about an hour after the jump, we were all still buzzing.

The rest of the night we spent uploading photos onto the netbook then onto Facebook, then supper. we had planned to eat at a pub with a few pints, but on the way to it we came across a Pizza Hut buffet. Minds made up we went in and paid like $16 (ouch) and began chowing down. The pizza was old though, so the guy tossed in some new stuff and 16 pizza slices, 6 brownies, and 2 jello cubes later (speaking for myself only) we exited and continued to the pub. The place was pretty quiet, but we grabbed beers and sat with a girl who had jumped with us and her friend and between the 5 of us (Dan from the USA was also with us) we had some good convo. There was even some half decent live music after awhile. Then we walked back to the hostel, noticing a super loud, busy club on the way that probably would have been better, but we were dead tired now so it was too late for tonight. Ever since I had landed from the jump, my right ear was plugged up...I think it popped during the drop since I probably didn't remember to swallow and equalize my ears. Anyways, it was just starting to feel normal at like midnight. We planned to leave tomorrow for the National Park, but due to bus scheduling issues and wanting to watch the Riders playoff game, we're going to spend 2 more nights in Taupo and then 2 nights in the National Park, which will mean we aren't on the road on Monday during the game (Monday for us, Sunday for you). So now we can explore Taupo a litle more, which is fine, because there is lots to do here.

Nov 10 - Golf and Stinky Boiling Mud

Today began bright and sunny and in the PM. We wandered until we found McDonalds and enjoyed some Big Mac meals to start the day off as healthy as possible. Then we walked over to the 9-hole golf course (that was dangerously close to the stinky sulfur pools of the town) and signed up for 9 holes. We got a bag of rental clubs that looked half decent, 3 Dunlop extreme distance balls (terrible quality) and a handful of tees each. Off we headed and had to walk a few hundred yards to the first tee box. The course was a bit dry and pretty boring looking. Teed off a huge slicing drive and remembered why I haven't golfed for over a year now. But we both improved as the round went along and had some solid shots here and there. The course was without question the worst I have ever played, with all the grass on the course being a thick, dense, quack grass type strain and the greens and tee boxes cut very long. And the layout of the holes was usually play one hole, walk five steps to the side, rotate 180 degrees and play the next hole. I think it was literally the smallest amount of land you could have 9 golf holes on. Some (most, actually) fairways were separated by maybe 5 feet of rough and the fairways were only maybe 10 yards wide at the most, so often our shots and other golfers' shots were on other fairways and nearly hitting people. Mickey mouse set-up, but I suppose that's what we get in the middle of nowhere, New Zealand. Regardless, it was good to get out and hit a round and it was a good way to kill some time. One thing that was odd is the distances were listed in meters, instead of yards. I know they're on the metric system here, but so are we and golf fairway yardage should be universal.

We celebrated a successful golf round with some TV then a walk through the bubbling mud pool thermal area in a park here. It was pools of mud or murky water that were steaming or boiling and smelled bad. That was it. Whoopee! Went for some Subway for dinner, but they didn't have cookies left and we need our dessert, so we wandered to Countdown (grocery store) to try and find some, but theirs were all old and hard, so we tried the discount grocery store, Pak 'N Save, but it was like Giant Tiger and there stuff looked gross and sketchy. B bought one of the donuts there, but said it wasn't very good. Oh, that reminds me, yesterday I tried L+P soda, because it's the thing they're so proud of here, so have to give it a shot. It wasn't bad and tasted sort of like a mix between Sprite and Ginger Ale. Not the greatest thing ever, but decent. The rest of the night we chilled at the hostel common room and watched TV and even got to see Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a cult classic movie that I had been meaning to see. Unfortunately, it was terrible, with no plot. Oh well. Tomorrow morning we get back on the Magic bus and ride to Taupo, which has several adventure activities to partake in also.

Nov. 9 - Zorbing and Relaxing

Today began late, after a long sleep on a very full stomach from the Maori feast last night. After getting showered up and ready for the day we wandered around until we found a Subway and (somehow) ate lunch. After last night it felt like I wouldn't need to eat for 3 days, but the metabolism is still chugging away evidently. We headed back to the hostel and met up with our roomie (from St. Louis) and all three of us walked to the bus stop a couple blocks away. We took the bus out of town to the farm area where Zorbing takes place. As we stepped off the bus and looked at the hill you get to roll the Zorbs down we weren't super stoked. The hill was tiny; probably smaller than Deifenbaker hill back home. It was a little underwhelming considering we were expecting a massive mountain course. We stood on the viewing platform and watched some kids take Zorbs down the hill and it didn't look all that fun...and only lasted about 20 seconds, but we had come all this way and so many people had said Zorbing was good fun, so we paid our admission and put our stuff in a locker. I should probably explain what a zorb is. Zorbs are giant soft plastic spheres (about 8 or 10 feet tall) with a smaller sphere inside it and the two are attached by rubber bungy cord type things all around inside. There is a zippered opening tube that is used for entry and exit. Anyways, a truck drove the 3 of us up a gravel road to the top of the hill along with 2 girls. We hopped out and the girls went first, opting for the Zorb that is dry inside and you are strapped into a harness, thereby going head over heels down the hill. Looked pretty cool from up top, but we had been recommended to do the wet Zorb, where you aren't strapped into anything and water is added into the Zorb to make it like a waterslide. Dan (the American) went first and took the curved track. There were 2 track options; straight down the hill, or a curved zig-zag track. Brennan went next and then it was my turn. The lady put a hose into the middle of the Zorb (as she had for Dan and Brennan as well) and put a few litres of warm water inside. Then I slipped through the opening and she zipped it closed and shoved me onto the curved course. It turned out to be amazingly fun. the water stays at the bottom of the inner sphere and the Zorb rolls down until it hits a corner, then the water splashes inside and I'd slide up the side, then the Zorb would continue down the next straight stretch, etc. I was always laying down inside (it doesn't toss you around that bad inside) and it was like being on a really wide water slide with lots of corners to slide up on and never really being sure of where you are going or being ready for turns. All in all it was awesome and I was giggling like a little schoolchild when I reached the bottom. We all sat and tried to dry off a bit (hadn't brought towels) and then walked over to a bus stop to watch sheep and cows in the field while we waited for the city bus to come by.

The bus took we got on was going the wrong way, but was close to the turnaround point of the route, so it took us through some residential areas of a neighbouring town, then back into Rotorua. We all got into dry clothes, then spent the next while watching TV. Had some Domino's for supper ($5.90 Large pizza Tuesdays) and relaxed in the common area watching old American TV shows and terrible Aussie/Kiwi knock-offs of American TV shows.

Nov 8 - Smelly Rotorua and Maori Performance

Hopped back on the Magic bus this morning and it took us out of Auckland and up Mt. Eden, where there was a lookout over the city and a big, grassy crater. Snapped some pics and then back on the bus. Had a quick brekky stop then continued to Paeroa and got pictures with the giant Lemon and Paeroa bottle (L + P). L+P is a drink found only in New Zealand and is made with spring water from the town and lemon for flavor. I haven't tried it but B said it tasted gross when he bought a bottle. Then we carried on southwards to Shire's Rest, which is the stopping point for Hobbiton, AKA the hobbit village from the Lord of the Rings that they milk for tourist dollars now. Looked sort of cool but the tour to it was $85 which is weak for just getting to see a hobbit house with a round door. We got to feed some sheep (which are ugly when they're full grown and sheared) and pet some little lambs (which were timid and cute and really dumb). B had lunch and I had a smoothie that was awful despite being described as "tropical." There were exact replicas of the cloaks in Lord of the Rings (made by the NZ company who made them for the movies) that you could buy for outrageous prices.

We continued on down to Rotorua and the smell wasn't as bad as I had expected, but there was a faint hint of eggs in the air from the sulfur springs. We checked into a YHA hostel that is super nice and super clean with wicked good facilities and only $20/night. Tossed the bags into the room and went for a walk by the lake/springs and nearly puked numerous times as the mild sulfur smell got really strong and hit us in hot waves of stench. Gag. Then we got picked up for a Maori cultural show we had signed up for on the bus ride up. Our bus driver over to the cultural village was really funny and taught the bus some Maori sayings and about their culture. We arrived and got a welcome sign of aggression from the warrior actors and then were invited into the replica village. A lady showed us a traditional Maori stick game and we took pictures with a Maori guy decked out in war attire and face tattoos. Then we were shown the method they used to cook the meal; an earth oven that bakes the food with hot rocks. We filed into a little auditorium and the Maoris sang and danced and told stories of their people. Amazing singers and we were thoroughly entertained. Then supper, hooray! Not having eaten since breakfast, I had worked up a mean appetite and the food spread was amazing. Chicken, lamb, fish, salad, potatoes, sweet potatoes, super sweet carrots, corn bread and gravy. Wow. I had two huge platefuls. Then came dessert. There was steamed pudding, custard, fruit salad and an angelfood-ish cake that was one of the tastiest cakes I've ever had. Two helpings of dessert and I was so full my stomach hurt. We had a good chat with two Canadian girls (who we had to sing our anthem with on the bus ride home). It seems weird that we come all this way and still prefer to chat with Canadians, but we have the most things in common with them and can tell jokes that are understood. Back to the hostel and chilled out to let the food digest. Uhh, so full still. Tomorrow we are going to go Zorbing, which is going down a hill inside a big plastic ball (like a hamster). The Canadians are also going to Waitomo to the glow worm caves, so that's another option. And if we have time during our stay, we also want to rent some clubs and hit up the 9 hole golf course here.

Nov 7 - Opo the Gay Dolphin and Lord of the Forest

I bet you're curious to read this now with a title like that!

Up early again for the bus this morning, and it was chilly out. Despite the early start, both of us had slept well due to good beds and big, warm, heavy duvets. Loaded backpacks into the bus storage and off we went. Coming up to Paihia, we had gone from Auckland up the east coast road, but going back we took the west coast road (to mix up the scenery). There were seemingly endless rolling hills with either sheep or rock quarries on them. At one town we stopped to watch an old black and white video about a dolphin the town was named after, called Opo the gay dolphin (gay as in happy). The dolphin showed up in the bay of the sleepy little town in 1958 and thrilled the residents by coming in close to shore and playing with people and even giving kids rides on its back. Tourists flocked in to see Opo and the town boomed, until one night someone tried to fish with dynamite and Opo was killed (only 6 months after he arrived). Continued up a bit to a restaurant for breakfast and to snap some photos of the bay, which the restaurant looked over. Then we continued in the bus down to a giant Kauri tree that is something like 4000 years old and is named the Lord of the Forest. It's a sacred tree for the Maori, who apparently sing to it and such. My photos don't do it justice (just makes it look like a regular tree, when in fact it's like 13 meters across and 51 meters high) and it had the same grand appearance as the massive tree in the movie Avatar. Oh, this morning we picked up two more girls for the bus ride back from a little hostel outside Paihia and they were Canadian (exciting) and one was from Saskatoon! First Saskatonian we've met in our travels (she also went to the U of S and worked at Louis' but we didn't know her...) so we hung out with them on the journey back. After the tree stop we had more driving until a stop for lunch at a quaint little place run by a kindly elderly couple. Fueled up with some soup and sandwiches then back on the road all the way back to Auckland. On the way we each wrote down a trivia question and passed them up and had a trivia contest on the way back. We rigged the questions with very Canadian questions (like ones about hockey and the 2010 Winter Olympics) along with our Canadian comrades and won the contest as a cooperative group of 4.

Back in Auckland we checked back into the same Nomads hostel and got the same room as before (weird) and just chilled out for the evening. B caught up on some tv episodes and I went for a long walk through the region of trendy bars and eateries along the harbour and then over to an arena and checked out a park in between. Even jogged for a bit of it! And also had the best burger of my life tonight at a little portable burger shack called The White Lady (which is listed in Lonely Planet as one of the top things to experience in Auckland). Same type of burger as Rainbow Beach, but even better (deluxe burger with ham, bacon, egg, cheese, pineapple, lettuce, sweet bbq sauce). After walking for quite a long time my legs were really sore, probably due in part to the huge hike the other day to the waterfall compounded by more exercise tonight. Off to Rotorua tomorrow morning early on the Magic bus. Rotorua has a high concentration of sulfur and mud pools, making the city smell like rotten eggs. But besides Queensland, Rotorua has the most adventure activities in the country.

Nov 6 - Bay of Islands and Waterfall

Successfully got up, checked out and went over to the bus on time today (albeit groggily) and off we went at 7:30. Our guide (Mike) is really chatty and gives lots of information and stories to the group. It's just a small bus, with maybe 20 people (at full capacity). We stopped for breakfast at some little town and had delicious BLT sandwiches on ciabatta bread that ranked as one of the tastiest I've ever eaten. Drove along some more and then stopped at the next town Whangarei for a bit and got to check out the info center and the little skateboard bowl in the park behind the building. The angle to drop-in was so steep that it was actually inverted. Back on the bus and onward to another little town the see the famous toilets, which amounted to cave-like bathrooms with nice tile and bottles built into the walls. Pretty weak tourist stop... The roads we're taking up to the Bay of Islands are so winding that it's hard to get comfortable. Keep getting tossed back and forth, and the "holy shit" handles are required. Regardless, we made it to the town we would spend the night in safely and on time. Firstly though, our driver continued on to the next town (a few minutes past ours) called Waitangi (across a one lane bridge that cars on either side had to take turns crossing). Waitangi is where the treaty between the British and the Maori people was signed to form the country and each year their version of Canada Day is called Waitangi Day. We could pay $25 each to see the little museum and heritage park, but decided that was a waste of time and money. Just past the Waitangi site, the bus stopped at the top of a hill (by a golf course!) and the guide pointed to the little town across the bay called Russell, which was the first settlement in the country and originally the capital was about 10 KM from the town. Then we were driven to our hostel in the first town, called Paihia.

We checked in and then walked the 2 or 3 KM back up past the Waitangi site to the entrance to a hiking path to Haruru Falls. The sign informed us the journey to the waterfall was 5 KM....one way...ouch. But we had nothing to do, so off we went. It's weird how sometimes 5 KM goes quickly, and other times it feels like the longest walk in the world. Today was the latter example. A couple hours later we got to the falls, which were okay, but after the hike, anything less than Niagra Falls was a let down. After resting for a little bit, we didn't want to retrace our steps back down the trail, so we walked across a bridge and back to the town on the shoulder of a road. Felt shorter going back, but still a long walk. Had a nap back at the hostel after the 14-16 KM we had just walked and then went to the Base hostel next to ours for a bbq supper. It was $12 and we got a decent meal for that, consisting of a steak, sausage, salad, roasted potato and coleslaw (with raisins in it...eww). We stayed here until late chatting and drinking with a couple Brits and a girl from Toronto. Then off to bed to catch some Z's before having to hop back on the bus tomorrow morning at 8 AM.

Nov 5 - Books and Beers

Today we had brekky at noon (that's breakfast for all you North Americans) because as per usual, we slept in late. Then we headed over towards the harbour bridge, which is a main attraction of sorts that we haven't seen yet. We walked up the bay along the harbour and through the marine industrial area and went right up to the start of the bridge, but walking it would require more ambition than we presently felt. Besides, walking harbour bridges is such a Sydney in September thing to do! Walked back and over to Borders (bookstore) and spent a couple hours browsing through books on everything from travel to marketing to accounting to fiction to biographies. Basically treated it like a library, and couldn't decide on a book worth lugging around in already very full backpacks, so after our fill of reading, we hiked over to Countdown to pick up pasta sauce and juice for dinner, then back to the hostel to enjoy the sauce and juice with leftover spaghetti and sausages. The meal was decent, but the juice (which we chose because it looked healthy) was absolutely awful. We had 2 different kinds because it was 2 two litre jugs for $6 (or one for $5.35) and one tasted healthy with an awful aftertaste, while the other had a flavor reminiscent of the smell of koalas. One glass each and the rest hit the drain; good riddance.

Internet is one of the most expensive parts of travelling down here (behind accomodation and food), usually amounting to $10 per day (though some places had free internet and some had cheaper options) so we decided to buy a month's worth of Global Gossip internet. They are the most prominent internet provider in hostels and a month cost us $100, so that works out a lot cheaper than the $300 it would otherwise be for November. Now we just have to make sure to book into hostels that have Global Gossip from now on. Surfed the net for awhile, then headed out to see what sort of nightlife there was in Auckland on a Friday night. November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day, which is unofficially celebrated here apparently (and celebrates a British guy trying to blow up Parliament ages ago) and this means fireworks. Unfortunately, since it's not an official holiday, the city didn't plan the fireworks and this meant just some random stuff shot off buildings and near the harbour every once and a while. Had a beer at a Mexican place on the wharf, then went to the Fat Camel backpacker bar for another, but neither were very busy. So we went back to the hostel and Role Models was on TV, so we watched that with the rest of the people in the TV room. The bus leaves at 7:25 AM tomorrow for Bay of Islands, so after the movie, we hit the hay.

Nov 4 - Museum and Jackass 3D

As usual, today began after noon. Breakfast of champions again too; eggs and cheesy bacon buns. All fueled up, we ventured over to the central transit station and were directed to a bus that would take us to the Auckland museum, which promised (on their flyer) to be a real cultural treat. Hopped on the bus and hopped off a decent distance down the route at the museum stop. The museum area is huge, first we walked through a huge field used for sports and such, then came upon a gardens area. There were two indoor flower areas, which...were flowers...then there was a fernery, which was a big area with lots of ferns. They love their ferns in New Zealand, and the silver fern is the national plant (and symbol for basically all their sports teams) but for some reason was absent from the fernery. So that was enough plants and flowers for this month, and thus we continued along the path up to the large and imposing museum. Walked in the doors and tried to waltz into the gallery quickly but were stopped by the front desk people and told to get our entry sticker. So we got one each and then he said "there is a donation of $10 appreciated for entry." Now, having only ever been to one museum that I actually deemed worth money (the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, which was free) I was somewhat skeptical that this museum was worth ten of my limited dollars. Brennan emptied his pockets of his remaining change, amounting to three dollars and he mosied along nonchalantly. I had planned to spout off a clever line about the low chance this museum had of being worth my money, but now that'd look pretty bad, so I fished out 3 dollars as well and although it felt like a loss for me, the guy at the desk was very much not impressed with either of us and our donations being short 7 dollars from average. Whatever, enjoy your six dollars for showing us something that should be enjoyed by everyone for free. We headed in and I immediately regretted the 3 dollar donation as we walked past boring old furniture and clothing. Following that was countless carvings and art by maori artists, then eventually displays on the land and ocean systems and animals of New Zealand. These were all okay and something to look at, but there was also a big area about volcanoes and a little room we went in that had a volcano eruption simulation. It was done like a TV news report then a screen showed an eruption, the lights flickered and the floor even shook back and forth. On the highest floor of galleries, there was a huge display on every war and conflict that the Kiwis were involved in. Very cool and without this, the museum totally wouldn't have been worth it (although the volcano demonstation was worth a couple bucks of entertainment). At the end of the (huge and interactive) war gallery (that had actual WWII planes, mortars, replicas of WWI trenches, and a gallery of the development of firearms and swords), there were 3 massive walls of names of Kiwis who had been killed in conflict. There was one Turnbull, although I suppose that means he wasn't a very good soldier...(and no Shivaks...). We exited the museum and wandered back towards the street where the bus dropped us off, but sort of through a different path. Along the way we passed two charming homeless-looking Kiwis that lipped off to us and tried to pick a fight, so we hurried our pace and went on past the mental hospital (ahh, the crazy guy makes sense now) and the actual hospital, back to the bus stop. We took the bus back into town and walked back to the hostel for a dinner of sausages, garlic bread and spaghetti. Delicious! Then we went down to the Nomads travel desk and booked our Magic bus tour tickets for the month that will get us to all the important destinations and complementary day trips to the Bay of Islands (in the North) and to Milford Sound (in the South).

After dinner we got to take in the New Zealand premiere of Jackass in all it's 3D glory. The 3D glasses here are plastic, professional looking ones like back home, but the lenses were blue and red like the cheesy old 3D glasses that came in cereal boxes. The movie what exactly what we expected; hilarious and full of poo and puke and shots to the groin. Wandered out of the film with a gut sore from laughing and exited the back of the mall complex where the theatre is (went in the front to start) and although it was starting to rain slightly, we were greeted by a huge outdoor art gallery of photos taken from the air in all sorts of countries of very unique and interesting things (like flocks of flamingos and reefs and sand dunes, etc). Further past this was a huge map of the world printed on canvas and laid on the ground and you could walk across it and look at the different countries. It was probably 30 x 50 feet. All sorts of cool little things that show up in random places. Back to the hostel and watched the movie Orphan (horror flick), which was super creepy (but terribly written and way too predictable) and much less enjoyable than Jackass. Tomorrow is our last full day in Auckland and on Saturday we'll take our bus tour up to the Bay of Islands.

Nov 3 - New Bank and Minus 5

Last night I couldn't get to sleep until really late, despite laying in my bed restlessly for a couple hours. Probably due to the nap earlier in the day. Woke up this morning as people were leaving the room to checkout (everyone except one girl and us left today) then slept on and off until noon and woke up feeling more tired than when I went to sleep originally. And the water was shut off this afternoon to repair a pipe or something. So we both got up and dressed and ventured out in search of food. As usual, we settled for the first Subway we came across (well, 2nd technically, as the first had much to long of a lineup) and feasted on subs that are cheaper than Australia. With fuel in the tank, we went across the street and set up an ANZ bank account, because our NAB account would incur foreign country fees whenever we used it. Tossed some money in our new accounts and walked over to the Magic bus office. Magic bus offers bus trips around New Zealand and we got a quote for an around the country pass and the lady recommended we book our day trips as we go along (rather than all at once before we go).

We'll probably book the bus pass tomorrow, but for now we walked over to the harbour, checked out the sights of the boats and bay, then went into Minus 5. Minus 5 is an ice bar, which means the bar, seats, walls, glasses, EVERYTHING is made out of ice. We got a 2 for 1 deal, which was helpful, since admission was $25 (including a drink). So we put on mitts and parkas (they made us, our hoodies would have sufficed) and headed through 2 airlock doors into the ice bar. It was pretty small, but the music was pumping and there were lots of ice sculptures. We were the only ones in there and the bartender was a guy from Fiji who actually needed the parka and mitts. We got a kiwi flavored vodka drink each (in ice glasses), enjoyed our drinks and chatted with the Fijian and then went back out into the lobby area. "Pretty cold in there, hey?" asked the European sounding front desk guy. "Not really man" I said, "it gets down to minus thirty or forty every winter in Canada." "Wow, really!? Good for snowboarding though I guess!" "No, not at all. Have you ever snowboarded at minus 40? It's awful."

After our expensive cocktails, we took a very long walk (due to bad directions from the girl at the front desk of the hostel) to a grocery store called Countdown (which is Woolworth's in NZ and even had the same logo for some reason) and got food for the next couple of days. Back at the hostel, we went to the rooftop kitchen and had to wait quite a while for there to be enough room to cook. Finally enjoyed our pasta and garlic bread (and milk from plastic containers, because there are maybe 3 cups for the whole kitchen). Then we got to enjoy the terrible acting of Tropical Thunder. Our room is full again with an entirely new mix of nationalities.

Nov 2 - Melbourne Cup and Auckland

Got up and checked out by 9 AM today, which is notable when we're ususally sleeping until noon. We slung our ever-increasingly heavy backpacks on and trudged over to the train. While we waited we were joined by a lot of dressed-up people who must have been headed to the Melbourne Cup horse races today. The men all wore suits, but it was the women who are worth mentioning. Every, and I mean every woman who was headed to the Cup wore nice clothing (ususally a dress of some sort) but the cherry on the cake was they all wore some sort of hat/hair accessory. Most were small round hats of a fancy nature, many were feathers, some a hybrid of the two. Quite odd to see dozens (and then later at the main train station, hundreds of women wearing funky headwear). I think it's hilarious that on the day of the "Race that Stops a Nation" and is a national holiday and one of the biggest sporting events of the Australian year, we're peacing out and heading to New Zealand. Anyways, from the main train station we took the Skybus airport shuttle and once there, headed for international departures.

Today was the longest I have ever experienced at an airport in order to get on my flight. The check-in with Air New Zealand took at least 30 minutes including the wait and the struggle of getting a boarding pass. I had to provide my Australian work visa and make the details of my return flight clear before the guy would give me my boarding pass. Then another line and customs/security, then another line and exit customs. Showed up 2 hours early and got to the gate just as our plane was boarding, what a struggle. My seat had been changed by useless airline employee also, so now I was in an emergency exit row and I got worried when I saw no TV since the flight includes movies (which was added to the ticket price), but there was a flip-up screen that quelled my concerns. The flight went swimmingly with a tasty meal of chicken pot pie, pasta salad, can of Coke and container of ice cream. I got to watch an odd film with John C Reilly and Jonah Hill called Cyrus, then Dinner for Schmucks, but there was about 30 minutes left in the movie when we landed, so I missed the dinner and the resolution of the conflict. Now I'm going to have to watch it illegally online. See what making me stop my movie during descent and landing does? Makes me have to resort to piracy. Wag of the finger goes out to Air New Zealand. Got off the plane and the legs felt great, due to the huge amount of leg room I had (could stretch my legs out fully the whole time!) but B wasn't as lucky, with a regular civilian seat (the horror!). Went through customs in the airport here (this is beginning to get old quickly) and then quarantine. They're awfully strict about outside fruit, plants, animals, etc being snuck into the country here and fine you heavily if they catch you doing it. So I did a once over of my bags to make sure I had no food that I had forgotten that would land me in jail or something here. All clean. Tossed the bags on the conveyer and waited on the other side and just as my 2nd bag is exiting the scanner the guy stops the conveyer. "Who's bag is this!?" Awwwwww man, what did I forget... Mine, sir. "Over here please, I'm going to open your bag and inspect it. Did you read this card and UNDERSTAND each point you signed off on?" Yes...um. I think so... So he rips open the bag and starts pulling stuff out until he gets to the skimball (squishy racquetball sized waterproof ball that bounces on water). He pulls it slowly out of the bag, squishes it hesistantly like a dog would squeeze a toy he shouldn't have, then drops it back into the bag. All clear, proceed along Mr. Turnbull (It was all I could do to not burst out laughing. At least he had only mistaken a ball for an orange or something instead of me having forgotten an apple in my bag and being fined $400 on the spot and not allowed into the country until I paid it. Outside the terminal (fresh air at last!) we took the shuttle bus to the city center, which equated to a 40 minute ride. It'd be nice if these cities (I'm talking to you Melbourne and Auckland!) built the airport in the city or remotely close to it, not like an hour away. Lucky for us, the shuttle had a stop about half a block away from the hostel we had booked. This was the easiest hostel to find in quite some time.

We checked in and got room keys, ditched the stuff in the room, and then headed out for supper. The fast food chains are just like Canada here (even Burger King instead of Hungry Jack's) and so we opted for Wendy's (God bless American fast food) with a terribly old, stale Dunkin Donut for dessert (they've got nothing on Krispy Kreme). After the trans-fattiest meal of the week, we walked to the mall that's nearby. Checked out cinema listings and were happy to see Jackass 3D opens on the 4th, but disappointed to see that despite promo posters for the movie Due Date saying it opened Nov. 4th as well, it got pushed back to the 25th or something. I guess we'll have to see that one in Christchurch (if the theatre is still standing there...too soon?). Movie prices are still steep ($16) but it's 16 NZD which works out to like $12.80 Canadian with the exchange we're getting here. So much better than the $20 AUD for the movie in Melbourne. Brennan wants to pick up a Lonely Planet book for New Zealand, but they were wicked pricey in Melbourne, so we stopped at a bookstore in the mall to check them out here. This bookstore was huge. We entered on the main floor from the mall, and there was one floor above that, and two floors below it, with a cafe built in. Prices were the same, but in NZD instead of AUD, so more affordable, however he didn't see the one he wanted, so we moved on back to the hostel for chilling/napping to get over the bit of jet lag we had going on. After awhile I was restless and B was passed out, so I went for a walk and checked ou the SkyTower all lit up in the night sky. The streets were so quiet here; barely anyone was outside on the streets. Granted, it was a Tuesday night, but this is the heart of downtown coming into the height of tourist season. Strangely quiet. Then I came back to the hostel and watched Land of the Lost (crappy Will Ferrell movie) on TV then retreated back to the room where everyone was already asleep. It's always tough coming back to a hostel room and finding your way to your bed in the darkness and climbing up onto the top bunk of a creaky bed without waking people up. I'm getting a lot of practice at it though, so it's becoming easier. Tomorrow we'll be booking our bus pass for the country and all of the activites for our month here. If we book it all at once, we can get the best deal. Also might check out the interior of the Skytower, which is the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere (and looks oddly similar to the CN Tower).