Hello from the surf capitol of New Zealand.
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Later Guys!
Please dont fart anymore!
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I think the last time I wrote i was in Whangamata, well I've been through a few towns and cities since then and had my fair share of adventures.
I think one of my best memories already here in New Zealand has been Kati Kati, where I stayed on an elderly couples farm, with one other Swiss guy named Toby. He is also a Mountain Biker.
We decided to go for a day hike the second day there, so we hitchhiked through the dirt country farm roads until we reached the trailhead. Not much of a trail, there were 11 river crossings total, only 1 with a bridge. Luckily neither of us fell in, which is a miracle considering we were hopping and jumping on slick wet rocks. After the river crossings (about 6k of them) the trail climbs up a steep ridge and at the top the waterfall is visible. But thats not enough, we decided to continue on to the top of the waterfall where the trail ends, and have lunch. Its hard to tell from the photos but there is a rock outcropping at that juts out into the air at the top, nothing but a 120 meter drop below us. We had lunch on it. It took us 5 1/2 hours round trip, but it was worth it.
After Kati Kati I stopped by Tauranga. I spent 2 nights in a Hostel with 45 Germans. EVERYONE there was German. I think there was one Austrian. It was fun, but I was happy to get out of there. They're a little crazy. I've never been is such a heated game of Uno in my life (think of the video of the angry german kid playing ut, that gives you some kind of idea)
Now Im hanging out in Rotorua, its a neat place theres tons of thermal activity around here, even the sewers have sulpher and steam coming out of them all day. The hostel I am not has a hot spring hot tub. Sweet as.
Oh yea, and in a few hours I'm about to go Zorbing. What the hell is Zorbing you ask? http://www.zorb.co.nz/
Woot.
Out of the city, woohoo!
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Anyhoo, is winter hitting HMB yet? Im going to miss hearing the swells smash up against the coast and the wind and rain through the eucalypsus.
Actually, I wont miss it that much ;)
Still here
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For ANYONE thinking of travelling outside the United States, take this advice.Watch as much MTV as possible before leaving!!! Cause you know, its like, totally wicked sick over here. Pop knowledge will GET YOU IN.
So I was supposed to leave this morning to the Coromandel peninsula, well turns out there was a misunderstanding and the ferry I need to take doesnt run today, only tomorrow. So I’m staying in Auckland for one more night. At the Camel Hostel (2 humps, guranteed!) Its a sick place. So Im not too bummed out about having to stay one more day.
I walked around for a few more hours today, everywhere I went people are just smiling and laughing, silly hobbits they are! I went to a record shop, and the dude working there was wearing a t-shirt with the California state flag on it. Yeaa. We’re kinda a big deal around here. Us Californians. Heres more pics from the last 2 days.
The ball is rolling
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Whew what a day. I did a lot, didnt have much fun as yesterday but I feel good that I got a bunch of things done. Of course you dont care but I Got a
NZ bank account
Tax number
new cell phone for $50
bike
a minor british following.
I went to Adventure cycles and picked out a bike, I also got the chance to talk to a german couple who had just finished their tour of NZ by bike and were heading off to Asia. After that I went shopping for a phone on one of the main streets, I ended up stopping in a gaming store and talking to a Kiwi about Magic cards for about 45min. Woot.
The hostel here in Auckland is cool, but I don’t think I could spend my entire time in NZ in hostels like these. It seems like a lot of the people here are just around to hang out with other backpackers and get laid or whatever, not really to see NZ. You can tell just by the advertisements and the atmosphere. I really cant wait to get on the road and go to the more out of the way places where I will hopefully meet some more adventurous people.
Last night was absolutely crazy. The bar started off by giving out a bunch of free vodka punch, and then some free beer vouchers, and then the DJs came. I stuck out like a sore thumb in my flannel shirt (wont be wearing that again). I met a swedish guy and two british girls and we all hung out all night, danced a lot, and talked about music. the Swede was hilarious, bright blonde hair, blue eyes, silly accent and completely metrosexual. We talked a lot about things and he had some intresting views on America, he said the USA was the coolest thing in the 90s, but now he says it is more compareable to Soveit Russia, still powerfull but not so cool.I guess the whole MacDre hyphy thing hasnt really hit here yet, only 2 of the “thug” guys knew what I was talking about, I felt pretty cool knowing more about it than them, apprently they thought so too because I was invited into thier party van. I didnt go with them though cause I liked my new found friends better. From then on I was referred to as “The guy in the shirt.” Anyway no partying for me tonight I’m getting picked up at 7am by the guys Im getting my bike from so we can set it up and all. I can’t wait to get on the road.
More pics of course:
Cool gaming store, I talked to a Kiwi for 45min about Magic cards.
“I am an Emo” and “Sheep Sick”??
Sweet as, bro!
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I did a lot of exploring today! This time i walked far away from the reach of most tourists, so I got some genuine local New Zealand experience. I visited a nice grassy park, where people were playing rugby and skating in a skate park. After that I went to a market, that was full of hilarious novelty items. My favorite was this guy selling ties with all kinds of crude drawings on them - from humping pigs to erict penii and vodka bottles. There were some cool smoke shops and clothing stores too. I did some more wandering and then came back to downtown. The neighboring bar is having free punch, sausages and a tequila shot at 45min, so I’ll go check that out. Here some pictures I took today.
Can you spot the 2 things I like in this picture? You’d thin I died and went to heaven!
the Sky Tower.
“Learn to Spray”
Second day in Auckland
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Well this would be my second day here in the wonderful city of Auckland, I plan for today to go a little better than yesterday. I spent most of my time Saturday walking around the city looking for a bike shop that had moved, and when I finally did find it, was closed. In a way it was good though, I am pretty familiar with downtown Auckland already, and I’m starting to get used to the cars driving on the wrong side of the road. I’ved talked to some fun people already, all from everywhere but New Zealand. The hostel is neat, huge, and there are tons of people here. Very hip and young. 2 people in my dorm room are sick :(
Im not sure what I’m going to do today yet but Im sure it will be great.
See ya.
Austin.