April 22nd

On Thursday (the 22nd) I flew back into Auckland. When I got to customs…I was the first and only person in line, then when I got my bag…it was already on the carousel. Nothing even close to that has EVER happened to me before. It took less then 5 minutes! Amazing. I ended up taking a naked bus (that is the bus company name…no one was actually naked) to Hamilton, where my friend Kirill picked me up and brought be home to Steve (my car). He was just where I had left him. I realized while I was away that I have developed an attachment to my car, I suppose because it’s been the only constant thing in my life for the last 6 months.

In Hamilton is where my body started to fall apart. In the course of the last two days I have completely lost my voice due to a nasty sore throat, developed a cough and runny nose, broken out into gross in infection and lost my memory. I’ve started a habit of leaving something wherever I go. I left my towels in Hamilton, and my favorite sweatshirt in taupo last night.

But even after all of that. It feels really good to be back in New Zealand. Like I said before, I am on my way back down to the south island to rent a flat for a bit in Dunedin. The thought of being able to sleep in the same place for more then two nights sounds like a dream come true.

p.s. keep in mind that there are about 5 new posts after this one. check them out!

April 19th

On Monday morning I took a flight into Melbourne, where my friend Jack met me at the airport. We toured the city, had pumpkin pizza for lunch and headed up to the top of the tallest building to take in a view of the entire city. The next day I went on a 14 hour day trip to Great Ocean Rd. I was a long day, but very worth it. The main attraction was The 12 Apostles, which are (or used to be) 12 rock formations sticking out of the ocean off the coast. look for pictures below. We also saw some wild koalas- so cute! They were so close we could touch them…but we didn’t want to because they’re not very nice and they have chlamydia.

April 15th

The next day we took the train into Sydney, where we had a wonderful first night enjoying the city lights. The Sydney Opera House was pretty amazing to see in real life, as well as the harbor bridge. Sydney is a very cool city. I don’t know if you could ever run out of things to do. We took the ferry over to the zoo (which is the coolest zoo ever) on Friday, and sadly Martha left on Saturday. So we all said our goodbyes, and Paul and Karen headed out for their last day in Sydney, and I went shopping, and to Chinatown, and to the art museum, and then another art museum, then did some more shopping, drank lots of coffee, rode the monorail, ate KRAFT MAC and CHEESE, and generally relaxed for a couple of days.

April 11th

On the 11th, Martha and I flew into the Sydney airport and met her brother and his girlfriend there (Paul and Karen). We then hopped on a train, then a bus, and then another train, before we met our friend Lindsay and drove the hour and a half to her house. Needless to say it was a long day of travel, but well worth it. Lindsay lives in a little town called Broulee. Her flat mates were fantastic. She took us down to a beautiful bay for a day of lying on the beach, and to a couple of cute little towns to shop around in. we also got to see wild kangaroos too! we then took the train about an hour north to a town called Wollongong. It’s like a mini city on the coast. We had a lot of fun- once we found our hotel and fed Paul.

the last month

At this very moment, I am sitting on the ferry heading from Wellington to Picton, where I will stay the night.

As for a recap of the last month or so (I know its been a long time), here goes:

After I visited Queenstown/Wanaka I made my way back to Dunedin where I house/dog sat for about a week. After which I made my way back up to Auckland to pick up Martha in Auckland. She arrived on the 5th of April (I can’t believe how time is flying by). I picked her up and we headed up the coromandel peninsula, where we relaxed on some beaches, went to cathedral cove, and attempted an even at the hot water beach (but there were too many people). Then we drove to Taupo, where we were going to go skydiving before Martha backed out. We bummed around and met lots of new people. The next day we headed back up to Auckland. We picked up my friend Kirill and decided to have a night on the town before we left the country. We had a good time to say the least…but then again, when do I not have a good time.

April 18th, 2010

it's been way too long since i've posted one of these things, and i don't have much time now. but i just wanted to give an update.

at the moment i'm in Sydney Australia. it's such an amazing city! tomorrow i'll be flying down to Melbourne to visit some friends that i met WWOOFing a while back. i can't wait to see them.

then it's back to New Zealand again. i don't know yet for how long or where exactly i'll be, but i'm looking forward to it. i'm really the luckiest person i know. what a great adventure i'm on!

more to come soon. pictures too.

March 17th-24th

WANAKA and QUEENSTOWN

Wanaka: The place where dreams are made.

I had the pleasure of spending about 4 days in Wanaka. It’s an absolutely stunning place. I spent my night staying in a hostel, and I spent my days wandering the town, hiking, kayaking, and just a bit of shopping. Then I was off to Queenstown, where I did a bit more shopping, got a tarot card reading (very cool by the way), some more hiking, enjoying a REAL hot chocolate at Patagonia Chocolates, a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, and admiring the general splendor.

Needless to say, I took lots of pictures. So here some are: