Some Highlights

I posted a new slideshow with some of the best pictures from the west coast.

Some Fun on the Streets

After a couple of days travel, (which were quite the experience) I'm now in Auckland. The story goes something like this. I had planned on sleeping at the ferry terminal until morning, but as it turns out they don't allow that. So two girls from San Francisco who were planning on doing the same thing, headed into the city. They had a bus to catch at the railway station, so they were going to sleep there. I figured I'd head into the city and try and find a backpacker. The only one that I could find which had a 24-hr reception was full. I spent about 2 hours walking around to other places (which were also full). The city was pretty much dead at that hour. (though I did meet a nice man who was wandering around mumbling to himself) So I laid down on a bench by the museum, which looked like a pretty nice spot, but as I laid there I felt a little weird so I went back to the railway station where the americans were and we hung out just outside until it opened around 5:30. Pretty fun night.

In the morning I started to hitchhike north, but then I remembered that Michi and Valdi had told me about a rental company that rented relocation to Auckland for 15 dollars a day. So I dropped into the Ferry terminal to use the internet and found a car that was free for 2 days to get it up to Auckland. I thought it would be an old little car that would just barely make it there. As it turns out it was a 2008 Camry. Very nice. So I had a quick but pretty nice 2 day trip up to Auckland.

Joe and I won't have a lot of time when he gets here so I think I'll try and see a little of Northland before he shows up. Once he gets here we're going to do a whirlwind tour of (at least part of) the north island. I'll be seeing you all pretty soon. I'm excited about that.

To The North

I'm sitting at a computer waiting for the ferry which leaves at 10.25. It's a 3 hour trip so I'll be getting there at about 1.30 in the morning. Not really sure what I'll do when I get there. Probably sleep in the lounge until it's really morning. Joe will be here in a week. I was going to do a little work until then, but I'm not sure I will be able to find anything. This last week has been really fun, traveling the west coast with Michi and Waldi. They will be on the south island for another week and then they'll be up in Auckland. I think we'll get lunch with them when I pick up Joe there.I'll try and let you know how everything is going and post some pics soon.

Quick Update

I figured I could give you all a quick update. I met up with Michi and Waldi in Queenstown and we dicided to travel the west coast for a week together. They had booked a car from Christchurch so while they went to pick it up I rented a car for two days and went down to Fiordland. I spent a day traveling from Te Anau to Milford Sound via the Milford Rd. It was absolutely brilliant. Amazing temperate rain forest. On Wednesday morning I took a Milford Sound Cruise which was also pretty amazing, and then headed back to Queenstown where I met up with Michi and Waldi. We left for the west coast on Thursday morning. I have been taking a ton of pictures, and when I get the chance I'll post a bunch and tell you more about the trip. Until then, Stay Classy USA.

Moving On

Well, my time in Cromwell has come to a close. Yesterday was my last day at work and tomorrow I will be traveling to Queenstown. One of the guys I work with has a van and he was planning on going so I'll ride with him. I'm not 100% sure of my plans for the rest of the month. I'm thinking at this point I'll rent a car for about a week and travel the west coast. I have been wishing I'd seen a little more of the South Island before I left. I think I'm going to miss everything south of Queenstown, but there is no way I'll be able to see everything with the time left, so that might have to wait for another trip. After a week of travel here I'll be heading up to the North Island. I really only have three weeks left so I'll probably work a week in the bay of plenty, and then Joe comes. What a solid guy, that Joe Leman. He's pretty awesome. We'll just spend the week traveling around the North Island.

We are hoping to have a BBQ tonight as kind of a splitting up party. BYO meat. We had one Tuesday, and it was a lot of fun. This has been a pretty awesome group of people to work with. Very diverse and tonnes of fun. (a wee bit of metric humor there)

I'm kind of looking forward to coming home. There's something about Americans that I miss a little. I'm not exactly sure what it is. It might just be that I don't have to explain things as much, or that our experiences are just a little bit closer, but there's a little bit of comfortableness that there is in being with Americans in general and my friends specifically. The relationships where you're beyond the finding out about a friend stage, and just able to spend time are a little lacking here. If I were that kind of person, this would be the part where I would encourage you to reflect and be thankful for the close relationships that you have, but I'm not really so I'll let you come to that reflective state on your own.

Anyway, I'm not sure what my internet access will be like, (especially if I live in a car) so I'll take lots of pictures, and keep a journal every day (full on sarcasm) so I can fill you in on the west coast.