Well it has been a long time since I posted here - which in part is due to the lack of time to sit down since then, and also in part due to my inability to actually write something down.
BUT I will now take the oportunity to post a little bit about what has happened since then.
Well, first after staying the night at that little motel in Kentucky for the night after the concert I proceeded up north again into Ohio to Cincinatti to meet up with a long time friend from EVE (I have alot of these people stashed around the states :P) and spent an afternoon with him, where after a while we went to a bar and I was shouted a few beers while we talked and chatted for the night, not too long before midnight myself and my friend Mina headed up back to her parents place, where we where planning to stay that night, just outside Columbus, Ohio in a place called Mt. Gilead - a really nice place out in what the American's would call the arse-end-of-nowhere but for me it was more akin to just living a few minutes outside of town (windy roads confuse these people)
After staying the night there we got up the next morning to see some of the local sights, which starred the burial place of one of the Presidents of the USA, and this monument is the largest outside of Washington D.C. itself, which was pretty neat - however the best bit about it is the fact that when we turned up there, there where a couple of guys working on cleaning it up and fixing some of the weather damage to it - after pronouncing that I was from Australia the guy on the ground waved us up and opened the gate (which never is open to the public) so we could walk in around it freely - which was pretty amazing.
After spending a little while around there and taking as many pictures as I could with my phone camera (my actual camera suffered a severe bout of dead-battery-itis) we headed on back past a few memorials and a few other little neat places around town.
The following day we headed back to Buffalo, NY so my friend Mina could go to work.
Thus I got a day or so of "rest" which consisted of sleeping almost the entire time, which helped to adjust the body clock substantially.
After this short break which included a quick look around Buffalo itself which included a short jaunt up to see Niagara falls finally, which was incredibly spectacular.
Then it was off to New York City.
Which was spectacularly timed to co-incide with a snowstorm.
After stopping in Syracuse, to meet my hosts daughter who is attending Syracuse University there, the road to NYC was treacherous and icy, that being said Mina has lived in Buffalo, NY for the past few years and is a very very very capable snow/icy weather driver as well so we got through without any incident.
Now, New York itself, what an incredible city.
It really is quite small for what it is, but everything is just so huge!
Towers are prominent EVERYWHERE and even the grand old Empire State Building is EASILY overshadowed by much larger buildings now.
The hotel I stayed in, the Park Central (It was one block from Central Park, which I never noticed untill the afternoon I left!) was a lack lustre hotel, it looked nice but the parking was expensive, the rooms...left alot to desire, the phone's didn't work - the toilet backed up, the room was like a furnace and the beds where shoddy - but it was New York.
The second day after arriving at sometime well after midnight was a day spent walking down around Broadway and the local streets and gazing at all the big buildings and various places, we even stopped at a "Hard Rock Caffe" (Not to eat) and admired everything they had on exhibit - which included some impressive memorabilia from bands like The Beetles to others like Disturbed and 3 Doors Down.
After leaving there and walking back up to the hotel we prepared for a night out and went to see the broadway show "Phantom of the Opera" which is the longest running broadway show, ever.
And may I say, it was incredible. The performances where flawless, the music powerful and clean and the entire feel was spectacular.
However, after that was done myself and Mina did need somewhere to eat quite badly, and I having spotted an interesting place called "The Australian" nearby when browsing google maps decided to hail down a cab and take us there for the night.
And well, after walking in to a quiet pub, the bartender welcoming us in and I was introduced by Mina as the guy from Australia, Tasmania was quickly offered something tottaly unexpected, James Boags Premium Lager.
Now I simply couldn't refuse this, as no cards where required, nothing at all except that I was Australian, and that apparently was enough.
So, after a "few" more beers, a shot of something nice and tasty, and a good old steak meat pie I decided that at about 11:30-12:00 we needed to get back to our rooms as we had to drive down to D.C. latter that next day.
Well, next morning comes around, and this prooved to be simply put, the worst damn day I have had this trip.
1st up, when we tried to call down to the front desk to have a late checkout booked in, the phone was dead and broken, so we decided to simply haul arse and get ready before that.
So, get ready we did, we brought our stuff down by hand and waited out the front, nicely - a man who was one of the drivers for the parking garage shuttled us down in a nice Volvo to the garage so we could dump our bags in there.
That wasn't so bad, so out we go to the main street again and decide to catch the subway down to the bottom of the Island so we could go out and see the Statue of Liberty.
Well guess what, the next quite horrible thing happened just then.
As we where buying the subway tickets, my friend Mina's VISA card got eaten by one of the machines, which then took us a good 30-45 minutes to have someone to even come and look at the machine, who then told us he would get it removed eventually so we should leave the name and head out, and check back when we where done with what we wanted to do, so we said "sure" with blind faith.
Well after jumping on the subway and shooting down to the ferry, getting lost for a while and having a nice police officer point us in the right direction we finally got tickets on the ferry and headed out to the Statue of Liberty.
That ferry itself wasn't a bad trip, after clearing airport like security with relative ease (Once again Mina got picked on, but nothing was out of order) we went out and back without a problem.
However after finally getting back to the subway station a new person was on duty and he knew nothing about the card, so after a bit of a meltdown, I calmed her down and we got the card cancelled and the new one ready.
So, that being done we got the car and headed off down to washington.
Which is where I am now.
Just.
BECAUSE as the grand finale to that day, when we went to check-in our reservation had been taken, and after a bit of argueing, convincing and prooving that it IS us who has the reservation not some joe-blow who had it.
Finally, after a while we got ourselves a nice room (REALLY nice) and crashed into the beds.
Come next morning it turns out, that we where right (the bad day had ended and things where good now \o/) and the person who had our reservation just had used the automatic checkin and had the same initials...
But anyway, with our room confirmed and the parking finally sorted we got to spend a day just lazing about Washington and heading up to join our friends the Ashton family for one final night of gaming together.
And last night we visited the Lincoln memorial and a couple of other things.
And now.
Time to fly.
I look forward to retelling this all in person, this is my last entry for now.
Thank you all in America.
Thanks to all at home as well.
It's time to go back to some sort of normality, much to my dissapointment ;)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Leg 2: Concerts
Well last night I went to a concert that starred Breaking Benjamin and 3 Days Grace - both where quite impressive, Breaking Benjamin's performance was energizing and great fun while 3 Days Grace was spectacular for their lights and fireworks (including towers of flame!) and yes I have Photo's and yes they will be uploaded soon™.
All in all it was a great night, even with the half hour drive back to the motel, which ended up being a nice enough place, with a free breakfast and free Wi-Fi which is a nice change from the more expensive hotels that charge you for both!
Well, now on my way to Cincinnati Ohio, to see the Newport Aquarium (which while part of Cincinnati is actually in Kentucky... go figure eh?) and hopefully to catch up with another of my EVE-online friends, that is if I can get him to check his phone the usless turd! :P Yes if your reading this you know who you are!
Well after that we head back on up to just past Columbus and into Marion, OH again before heading back into NY and stopping off to see Niagra falls, so that should be fun!
Will blog again soon, maybe latter tomorrow or close to that.
All in all it was a great night, even with the half hour drive back to the motel, which ended up being a nice enough place, with a free breakfast and free Wi-Fi which is a nice change from the more expensive hotels that charge you for both!
Well, now on my way to Cincinnati Ohio, to see the Newport Aquarium (which while part of Cincinnati is actually in Kentucky... go figure eh?) and hopefully to catch up with another of my EVE-online friends, that is if I can get him to check his phone the usless turd! :P Yes if your reading this you know who you are!
Well after that we head back on up to just past Columbus and into Marion, OH again before heading back into NY and stopping off to see Niagra falls, so that should be fun!
Will blog again soon, maybe latter tomorrow or close to that.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Leg 2: Ohio
Well I have been in Ohio for a couple of days now, I have seen a bit of Columbus city, the Ohio state University down there and its large areas that it takes up, as well as taken down some of the places that my friends over here have stayed and lived after watching Avatar in 3D for a second time, this time with a couple of others which was a little funny - the reactions to the 3D was amusing!
Today I got shown around Marian town, a little place that is essentially in the middle of nowhere but it has some interesting things in it.
One of these is the largest memorial to a president outside of Washington D.C. - and its for the ex.president who died in office, Warren Harding. [Photo's HAVE been uploaded so you can see nice pictures of it] and courtesy of some luck myself and my friends where allowed INSIDE the monument - usually it is blocked off to visitors, but some workers there let us in and we talked and had a nice look around *quickly looks left and right* I even managed to score a piece of the marble that was loose from that place.
Tomorrow looks like being the last semi-full day in this household as after that we head on over to watch a concert that is a few hours drive out, AGAIN - everything here is a *few* hours (ala 4-5) so leaving early is always handy....
Hopefully I can snap some more pictures now my Camera's batterys have been recharged - unfortunately the combo of my USA->AUS powerpoint adaptor doesn't work with the charger for my camera batteries so I borrowed one from around here after luckily spotting it.
All still going well and I am liking the lightly warmer weather here, its still snowy and icy but at least it wont bite you when you step outside for more than a second.
It's kinda amazing to think how long I have here.... and how short a time I have left, although everyone seems to love to pile the international crap on the USA I am kind of liking it over here - that being said the people I am staying with and meeting are wonderful people, kind, intelligent and friendly.
Hmmm... that being said they still arn't the most well informed people I have met, today I got asked by one of the elder children (about 15 odd) i am staying with, after passing an American Civil War Memorial and a WWII Memorial whether Australia had fought in World War II... I was, a little dissapointed at having to point out his mistake - and informed him as to what area's we had fought in, which ended up in a long conversation about Americans and their foreign involvment policy.
So as nice as these people are, the government has them all hoodwinked, they may be intelligent and smart but the propoganda here is so thick you can almost swim in it.
Ah well, things are the way they are and I can't change them all, just a couple here and there for now ;)
However being nearly 3am here, this will do and sleep becons, untill next time!
Today I got shown around Marian town, a little place that is essentially in the middle of nowhere but it has some interesting things in it.
One of these is the largest memorial to a president outside of Washington D.C. - and its for the ex.president who died in office, Warren Harding. [Photo's HAVE been uploaded so you can see nice pictures of it] and courtesy of some luck myself and my friends where allowed INSIDE the monument - usually it is blocked off to visitors, but some workers there let us in and we talked and had a nice look around *quickly looks left and right* I even managed to score a piece of the marble that was loose from that place.
Tomorrow looks like being the last semi-full day in this household as after that we head on over to watch a concert that is a few hours drive out, AGAIN - everything here is a *few* hours (ala 4-5) so leaving early is always handy....
Hopefully I can snap some more pictures now my Camera's batterys have been recharged - unfortunately the combo of my USA->AUS powerpoint adaptor doesn't work with the charger for my camera batteries so I borrowed one from around here after luckily spotting it.
All still going well and I am liking the lightly warmer weather here, its still snowy and icy but at least it wont bite you when you step outside for more than a second.
It's kinda amazing to think how long I have here.... and how short a time I have left, although everyone seems to love to pile the international crap on the USA I am kind of liking it over here - that being said the people I am staying with and meeting are wonderful people, kind, intelligent and friendly.
Hmmm... that being said they still arn't the most well informed people I have met, today I got asked by one of the elder children (about 15 odd) i am staying with, after passing an American Civil War Memorial and a WWII Memorial whether Australia had fought in World War II... I was, a little dissapointed at having to point out his mistake - and informed him as to what area's we had fought in, which ended up in a long conversation about Americans and their foreign involvment policy.
So as nice as these people are, the government has them all hoodwinked, they may be intelligent and smart but the propoganda here is so thick you can almost swim in it.
Ah well, things are the way they are and I can't change them all, just a couple here and there for now ;)
However being nearly 3am here, this will do and sleep becons, untill next time!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Leg 2: Buffalo
Well after a long trip from Washington D.C. I have made it up to Buffalo, NY.
The trip itself was fine, however towards the end the "lake effect" snow hit us and we ended up driving through a minor snow storm on the outskirts of Buffalo.
Speaking of snow, its everywhere here - every night so far it has snowed and quite heavily.
still feeling a bit under the weather from the flight, jetlag is a real killer if you let it get to you, hehe.
Well the past couple of days have just been rest days and a little sight seeing around Buffalo itself. I then head off to Ohio for a few days and then onto see a concert nearby while hopefully stopping in Cincinnati to meet up with another friend from EVE.
Staying in Buffalo has been an interesting experience - I was taken to a local grocery store/supermarket called "Wegmanns" or something like that - in any case it has everything there, they make most of the bread and biscuts and such in house where you can see them doing it.
they have pre-cut and ready meals, all you have to do is mix it together and cook it, it was really quite amazing, they also offered a cooking class during the day, about lunchtime near the entrance for people to stop and watch, just amazing.
And for the first time while being here I had Starbucks Coffee, and may I say it's nothing super special but they have some really weird coffee's.
Oh and the serving sizes are still huge....
Speaking of huge, and I know I go on about this alot but it really is an amazing thing...
the toilets right? They are also quite large - long and shallow, I didn't pay attention to this untill I was at a truck stop on the way to Ohio and looked at one of them for more than half a second and then at one of the truckies coming out - now it makes perfect sense... they are all obese balding men and thats the only Toilet that they could fit on!
Gotta love America eh?
Well Ohio should be nice and I will take lots of nice pretty pictures.
The trip itself was fine, however towards the end the "lake effect" snow hit us and we ended up driving through a minor snow storm on the outskirts of Buffalo.
Speaking of snow, its everywhere here - every night so far it has snowed and quite heavily.
still feeling a bit under the weather from the flight, jetlag is a real killer if you let it get to you, hehe.
Well the past couple of days have just been rest days and a little sight seeing around Buffalo itself. I then head off to Ohio for a few days and then onto see a concert nearby while hopefully stopping in Cincinnati to meet up with another friend from EVE.
Staying in Buffalo has been an interesting experience - I was taken to a local grocery store/supermarket called "Wegmanns" or something like that - in any case it has everything there, they make most of the bread and biscuts and such in house where you can see them doing it.
they have pre-cut and ready meals, all you have to do is mix it together and cook it, it was really quite amazing, they also offered a cooking class during the day, about lunchtime near the entrance for people to stop and watch, just amazing.
And for the first time while being here I had Starbucks Coffee, and may I say it's nothing super special but they have some really weird coffee's.
Oh and the serving sizes are still huge....
Speaking of huge, and I know I go on about this alot but it really is an amazing thing...
the toilets right? They are also quite large - long and shallow, I didn't pay attention to this untill I was at a truck stop on the way to Ohio and looked at one of them for more than half a second and then at one of the truckies coming out - now it makes perfect sense... they are all obese balding men and thats the only Toilet that they could fit on!
Gotta love America eh?
Well Ohio should be nice and I will take lots of nice pretty pictures.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Leg 2: Washington D.C. Final Night
Well its the last night in Washington D.C. before I head up to Buffalo area to spend some time around there and enjoy the sights and scenery for the next while.
D.C. has been a real experience, after getting lost about 10 different times and yet managing to get where I wanted to everytime in the end I learnt that the system in Washington is madness at first but once you know what to look for it becomes much easier.
I have now been around the White House, the Capital buildings in D.C. and seen the outside of the Smithsonian and the various memorials around here - however due to some shoddy weather and mad traffic I have only 1-2 photo's but the memories are there and I am very thankful for those - maybe on the trip back I can get some more Photo's.
It was a really amazing thing though, to wake up one morning where I slept in a Hotel 2 blocks away from the White House, and see it down the street - one of the most powerful men in the world sleeping over there and everything - and then earlier in the day driving past the Pentagon...
Just pure Madness really, its really stunning to simply sit there and look at it, all the time its seen on the TV and in photo's but you never really identify with it as a place... well I do now - I know the streets around it, what it looks like and how truly amazing it is in person.
I must also thank the hospitality of my friends from the EVE Online game I play, the family I ate with for a couple of nights and their wonderful company along with a couple of other people who made me feel so welcome in this huge city.
Everything is just so huge though, all the streets - the highways, the meals! oh gosh the meals! 1 meal is enough to feed two normal people I swear!
I saw Avatar 3D at the Cinema today (Which was absolutely stunning mind you) with my host Mina, who is doing so much to make me feel welcome - but we ordered one LARGE drink, and no joke this thing was so huge that it took the both of us to finish it, even then it was an effort... the popcorn we had barely got touched as well as it was just too intimidating for me!
Speaking of drinks though, I finally got some nice alcholic drink today while at a Seafood Buffet in Washington's waterfront area - Mina ordered a mixed drink that was supposedly potent, she took a couple of sips and got quite tipsy so I offered to finish it - did so and wasn't even slightly affected, annoyed a little she proceeded another and ordered me to drink so I did and still wasn't affected.
Thus I conclude Americans need to learn to drink properly ;)
Hmmm, what else... ah yes! driving on the wrong side of the road!
SO AMAZINGLY MINDBENDINGLY MADENING!
Driving on the righthand side, instinct tells me that the car should go round a corner on the left? and WOOOOSH! there comes a 4x4 that is easily 3x larger than the little Kia I am in and is on the LEFT!
The amount of double takes I have done in situations like that is starting to get to me!
Its just crazy, that and how large all these Highways are and how straight and long the road are.
ah well, thats what I will just have to get used to I reckon.
I will upload more pictures and other things gradually as well as the couple I have from washington sometime in the next couple of days so keep that link I posted earlier handy all!
D.C. has been a real experience, after getting lost about 10 different times and yet managing to get where I wanted to everytime in the end I learnt that the system in Washington is madness at first but once you know what to look for it becomes much easier.
I have now been around the White House, the Capital buildings in D.C. and seen the outside of the Smithsonian and the various memorials around here - however due to some shoddy weather and mad traffic I have only 1-2 photo's but the memories are there and I am very thankful for those - maybe on the trip back I can get some more Photo's.
It was a really amazing thing though, to wake up one morning where I slept in a Hotel 2 blocks away from the White House, and see it down the street - one of the most powerful men in the world sleeping over there and everything - and then earlier in the day driving past the Pentagon...
Just pure Madness really, its really stunning to simply sit there and look at it, all the time its seen on the TV and in photo's but you never really identify with it as a place... well I do now - I know the streets around it, what it looks like and how truly amazing it is in person.
I must also thank the hospitality of my friends from the EVE Online game I play, the family I ate with for a couple of nights and their wonderful company along with a couple of other people who made me feel so welcome in this huge city.
Everything is just so huge though, all the streets - the highways, the meals! oh gosh the meals! 1 meal is enough to feed two normal people I swear!
I saw Avatar 3D at the Cinema today (Which was absolutely stunning mind you) with my host Mina, who is doing so much to make me feel welcome - but we ordered one LARGE drink, and no joke this thing was so huge that it took the both of us to finish it, even then it was an effort... the popcorn we had barely got touched as well as it was just too intimidating for me!
Speaking of drinks though, I finally got some nice alcholic drink today while at a Seafood Buffet in Washington's waterfront area - Mina ordered a mixed drink that was supposedly potent, she took a couple of sips and got quite tipsy so I offered to finish it - did so and wasn't even slightly affected, annoyed a little she proceeded another and ordered me to drink so I did and still wasn't affected.
Thus I conclude Americans need to learn to drink properly ;)
Hmmm, what else... ah yes! driving on the wrong side of the road!
SO AMAZINGLY MINDBENDINGLY MADENING!
Driving on the righthand side, instinct tells me that the car should go round a corner on the left? and WOOOOSH! there comes a 4x4 that is easily 3x larger than the little Kia I am in and is on the LEFT!
The amount of double takes I have done in situations like that is starting to get to me!
Its just crazy, that and how large all these Highways are and how straight and long the road are.
ah well, thats what I will just have to get used to I reckon.
I will upload more pictures and other things gradually as well as the couple I have from washington sometime in the next couple of days so keep that link I posted earlier handy all!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Leg 2: Washington DC
Well I am in Washington safely, everything is working out fine - my lovely friend Mina is amazing and isn't evil or anything bad as the naysayers might have cried out, but anyway - after a couple of nights sleeping off the Jetlag I am once again a human being (or as close to it as I come ;) )
had some "Red Robbin" food today, its a sort of fast-resteraunt, a mix of fast food and such, and by the lord the serving size was HUGE! I managed to eat it all however, it was alot of food.
Currently staying a friends place from EVE, he and his family are wonderful people and amazingly nice so it seems like I am staying here for a while and then I have a hotel room back in DC to stay at tonight, so another couple of days in DC is the way it goes, lots more to post but for now this will do untill I can have some time to sit down and splurge about all the things that have happened in detail since leaving NZ.
had some "Red Robbin" food today, its a sort of fast-resteraunt, a mix of fast food and such, and by the lord the serving size was HUGE! I managed to eat it all however, it was alot of food.
Currently staying a friends place from EVE, he and his family are wonderful people and amazingly nice so it seems like I am staying here for a while and then I have a hotel room back in DC to stay at tonight, so another couple of days in DC is the way it goes, lots more to post but for now this will do untill I can have some time to sit down and splurge about all the things that have happened in detail since leaving NZ.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Leg 2: Los Angeles International Airport
Well after a VERY long flight (most of which I slept in short bursts) I am now sitting at the departure gate for my flight to Washington D.C. in about 55 minutes.
The flight itself was good, even if I did feel a little unwell for a part and cumulated in a right ol' upchuck as we landed (was very bumpy) but I didn't even notice touchdown so thats good.
Customs was a breeze, baggage got sent off to transfer and some nice (albiet HUGE) black volunteer came over and showed me where to head once I got out of the International area - which I was much obliged to and crosses LAX in 5-10 minutes with his guidance (;) )
Now its just a little more waiting and I can start gawking at USA and slow down and enjoy things (traveling at over 900km/h for 12 hours does weird things to you!)
Ahh, just typing this is giving me the shakes - I AM FINALLY HERE! HAHAHHA!
If you could see my grin now it would go from ear to ear!
I will upload a couple of photo's I took while the sun came up over the Pacific ocean this morning. ;) it was pretty specky.
The flight itself was good, even if I did feel a little unwell for a part and cumulated in a right ol' upchuck as we landed (was very bumpy) but I didn't even notice touchdown so thats good.
Customs was a breeze, baggage got sent off to transfer and some nice (albiet HUGE) black volunteer came over and showed me where to head once I got out of the International area - which I was much obliged to and crosses LAX in 5-10 minutes with his guidance (;) )
Now its just a little more waiting and I can start gawking at USA and slow down and enjoy things (traveling at over 900km/h for 12 hours does weird things to you!)
Ahh, just typing this is giving me the shakes - I AM FINALLY HERE! HAHAHHA!
If you could see my grin now it would go from ear to ear!
I will upload a couple of photo's I took while the sun came up over the Pacific ocean this morning. ;) it was pretty specky.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Leg 1.5: Auckland Airport
Well I am successfully through Auckland customs and I am now waiting for the plane to land so I know which departure gate I will be using!
Things went smoothly so far, the morning was gentle and easy however my Aunty Sandy is now my only way of getting camping gear back to Aus as the Australian customs are likely (99% chance) of having to pull apart all the gear and check it since I have been camping... this costs a "few hundred dollars" according to the guy we spoke to, so it will just have to wait - Sandy said she would look after it for me, god bless my Aunty! Oh and I also got some new shoes (See I did it mum!) and through my old ones (:( I liked those shoes!) however they had two large splits down their sides by now.
Hopefully things keep going smoothly and I reach Washington DC latter today/early tomorrow (whichever timezone you prefer!)
Will post again when I get to my hotel in D.C
Things went smoothly so far, the morning was gentle and easy however my Aunty Sandy is now my only way of getting camping gear back to Aus as the Australian customs are likely (99% chance) of having to pull apart all the gear and check it since I have been camping... this costs a "few hundred dollars" according to the guy we spoke to, so it will just have to wait - Sandy said she would look after it for me, god bless my Aunty! Oh and I also got some new shoes (See I did it mum!) and through my old ones (:( I liked those shoes!) however they had two large splits down their sides by now.
Hopefully things keep going smoothly and I reach Washington DC latter today/early tomorrow (whichever timezone you prefer!)
Will post again when I get to my hotel in D.C
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Photo's!
http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz348/nztous/
This should be the link for the pictues I am uploading, hopefully it works and if it does, enjoy!
This should be the link for the pictues I am uploading, hopefully it works and if it does, enjoy!
Leg 1.5: Auckland Preperations
Well its nearly time to get everything togethe and get ready to fly to the USA.
The last few days have been good though, I spent most of the time staying in Auckland itself at a friends place, one of the guys I met when I did the Milford Sound track.
So I visited the Maritime Museum and the Auckland Museum along with a quick stopover at Mt. Eden and to have a look at its big crater (Which was actually pretty neat)
I am slowly uploading some photo's and will have a compilation to post hopefully latter today.
The last few days have been good though, I spent most of the time staying in Auckland itself at a friends place, one of the guys I met when I did the Milford Sound track.
So I visited the Maritime Museum and the Auckland Museum along with a quick stopover at Mt. Eden and to have a look at its big crater (Which was actually pretty neat)
I am slowly uploading some photo's and will have a compilation to post hopefully latter today.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Leg 1.5: Auckland Reloaded
Well I am back in Auckland again, for the final week before I fly to the USA.
Having just got "home" from the Big Day Out i have to say I enjoyed it quite alot, even though the amount of people was mad and the small of drugs was quite literally everywhere the bands where great, I saw Mastodon (who I had never heard of before but where quite good), Powerfinger who where awesome and a few others, closing finally with the band Muse and the incredible mosh pit which I found myself in for the first 3-4 songs before I chickened out and pushed out through the amazingly packed crowd.
All in all a good day, a couple of drama's with the kid who's parents I was staying with - but after finally ditching that trainwreck I had a ball, ALOT of Eyecandy and interesting sights, along with a few jokers scaring people with costumes that made them look like they had been in a train wreck :P
I am looking forward to trying to let my shoulders finally recover as they are still very sore from all that pack hauling - everything else is fine and back to normal levels, thankfully.
Hopefully going to spend a couple of days with one of the guys who walked the track with me know, turns out he is an ex EVE-online player and has some similar interests to myself and is good fun to be around so that should be a right hoot, after that its a toss up whether to go up north from Waiwera and head to the bay of Islands for a day or two.
So, fingers crossed all will go well and I will continue having as much fun as I am right now
P.S. Photo's are coming soon™ as uploading 300 photos takes ages :P
Having just got "home" from the Big Day Out i have to say I enjoyed it quite alot, even though the amount of people was mad and the small of drugs was quite literally everywhere the bands where great, I saw Mastodon (who I had never heard of before but where quite good), Powerfinger who where awesome and a few others, closing finally with the band Muse and the incredible mosh pit which I found myself in for the first 3-4 songs before I chickened out and pushed out through the amazingly packed crowd.
All in all a good day, a couple of drama's with the kid who's parents I was staying with - but after finally ditching that trainwreck I had a ball, ALOT of Eyecandy and interesting sights, along with a few jokers scaring people with costumes that made them look like they had been in a train wreck :P
I am looking forward to trying to let my shoulders finally recover as they are still very sore from all that pack hauling - everything else is fine and back to normal levels, thankfully.
Hopefully going to spend a couple of days with one of the guys who walked the track with me know, turns out he is an ex EVE-online player and has some similar interests to myself and is good fun to be around so that should be a right hoot, after that its a toss up whether to go up north from Waiwera and head to the bay of Islands for a day or two.
So, fingers crossed all will go well and I will continue having as much fun as I am right now
P.S. Photo's are coming soon™ as uploading 300 photos takes ages :P
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Leg 1: Milford Track
Well, I have finally slogged it out and made it through four days of hard walking through the Milford Sound "Tramping" track in the Fjordland area in the South Island of NZ.
The track itself was an amazing thing to walk, enourmous mountains wherever you look and litterally hundreds of waterfalls streaming down the sides, and this was on the first two days which where clear as day and nice an warm, days three and four which consisted of the McKinnon pass and "tramp" to the Sandfly point respectively where the most murderous of the lot.
McKinnon pass is aproximately 1156m high at its tip, we climb from 600m to its peak in 2 hours or less (record is 45m according to the local hut ranger :O).
And foolish me climbed it TWICE!
1st time was on the 2nd day when it was clear so I could see the amazing views and get some pictures while the good weather lasted, and then again the next day when a full on storm rolled on past and dumped a F*** ton of snow on me - now clever old me was walking up the mountain and getting hot in all my thermals and extra layers so I stopped to have a drink and take some off - well by the time I got to the rest hut on the top of the mountain I was frozen stiff, dangerously cold not thinking clearly other than "Goddamn I want some dry warm clothes!"
However, with my omnipresent Aunty Sandy watching over me it took me 15 minutes, two more layers and a couple of nice warm cups of water to get me back to normality (Much to Sandy's relief - however she still hasn't let me forget it, nor would I want to, I know I learn the hard way but that was pushing it a little to far)
However after slowly walking down the opposite side of the mountain and recovering rapidly I was completely fine and pushing on.
I will now take this moment to balk at the sheer stupidity of my actions to pack such a heavy pack - weighing in at 18kg BEFORE I load up with 2kg of Water my pack was the heaviest I heard of - the average was 8-14kg.
BAD IDEA - my legs where so burnt out by the end of each day a half hour massage was needed on thighs, knees, ankles, calfs to make sure they would actually move the next day.
Now, back to the story!
Day four was our last day and perhaps the most fun, we woke very early as per the Rangers instructions after he informed us aprox 300mm of water was to fall that night, and to be ready early incase we needed to be helicoptered to the boat (We all LOVED this idea) so up we bounced, packed our packs and had our meals and waited.|
Come 7am the ranger says to us all that the stupidly expensive equipment they use to monitor water levels hadn't been working for the last hour so we had to simply push on out and see what its like for ourselves - so we thought, sure its probably so high it broke it, Yippe! but we where wrong, after a gentle 2 hours walking past some impressive spots we came to a point where the ranger stood with his pole and gestured onward with the words "Its only about here [knee to thigh] deep water for about four hundred meters, you'll be right - have a good time!"
I thought to myself "Bastard! but oh well it might not be that bad" and actually it turned out to me amazing, the previous nights downpour had melted alot of the snow on the mountains and the waterfalls where twice as many and twice as fast and powerfull as before - truly a sight to behold.
And thus we tracked for another few hours, through water puddles knee deep, ankle deep or simply about to flood the bridges we walked over, right down to done dry stretches with little Wekka birds wandering around searching for food (NZ birds are very friendly, just watch out for the Kea's [look at them on google and such, funny birds but with a bad set of habits!]).
This being said, my Aunty is a slave driver! After getting my 3 layers of socks soaked through I wanted to stop for a moment to empty it out, alas Sandy said "NO, its part of the experince and a waste of time, come on!" and I growled and said fine.
This was a bad idea... the waterproof sock I had on where sealing the water IN as well as OUT, so thus my socks had soaked up half of Milford Sound in them by the time we finished at Sandfly Point, not to mention making my feet twice as heavy and hurt twice as badly! But in the end it was all worth it - the track was amazing even if it was a killer, the sights as incredible as they are dangerous.
I may give the Kiwi's alot of shit, but damn they know how to find the good scenery.
The track itself was an amazing thing to walk, enourmous mountains wherever you look and litterally hundreds of waterfalls streaming down the sides, and this was on the first two days which where clear as day and nice an warm, days three and four which consisted of the McKinnon pass and "tramp" to the Sandfly point respectively where the most murderous of the lot.
McKinnon pass is aproximately 1156m high at its tip, we climb from 600m to its peak in 2 hours or less (record is 45m according to the local hut ranger :O).
And foolish me climbed it TWICE!
1st time was on the 2nd day when it was clear so I could see the amazing views and get some pictures while the good weather lasted, and then again the next day when a full on storm rolled on past and dumped a F*** ton of snow on me - now clever old me was walking up the mountain and getting hot in all my thermals and extra layers so I stopped to have a drink and take some off - well by the time I got to the rest hut on the top of the mountain I was frozen stiff, dangerously cold not thinking clearly other than "Goddamn I want some dry warm clothes!"
However, with my omnipresent Aunty Sandy watching over me it took me 15 minutes, two more layers and a couple of nice warm cups of water to get me back to normality (Much to Sandy's relief - however she still hasn't let me forget it, nor would I want to, I know I learn the hard way but that was pushing it a little to far)
However after slowly walking down the opposite side of the mountain and recovering rapidly I was completely fine and pushing on.
I will now take this moment to balk at the sheer stupidity of my actions to pack such a heavy pack - weighing in at 18kg BEFORE I load up with 2kg of Water my pack was the heaviest I heard of - the average was 8-14kg.
BAD IDEA - my legs where so burnt out by the end of each day a half hour massage was needed on thighs, knees, ankles, calfs to make sure they would actually move the next day.
Now, back to the story!
Day four was our last day and perhaps the most fun, we woke very early as per the Rangers instructions after he informed us aprox 300mm of water was to fall that night, and to be ready early incase we needed to be helicoptered to the boat (We all LOVED this idea) so up we bounced, packed our packs and had our meals and waited.|
Come 7am the ranger says to us all that the stupidly expensive equipment they use to monitor water levels hadn't been working for the last hour so we had to simply push on out and see what its like for ourselves - so we thought, sure its probably so high it broke it, Yippe! but we where wrong, after a gentle 2 hours walking past some impressive spots we came to a point where the ranger stood with his pole and gestured onward with the words "Its only about here [knee to thigh] deep water for about four hundred meters, you'll be right - have a good time!"
I thought to myself "Bastard! but oh well it might not be that bad" and actually it turned out to me amazing, the previous nights downpour had melted alot of the snow on the mountains and the waterfalls where twice as many and twice as fast and powerfull as before - truly a sight to behold.
And thus we tracked for another few hours, through water puddles knee deep, ankle deep or simply about to flood the bridges we walked over, right down to done dry stretches with little Wekka birds wandering around searching for food (NZ birds are very friendly, just watch out for the Kea's [look at them on google and such, funny birds but with a bad set of habits!]).
This being said, my Aunty is a slave driver! After getting my 3 layers of socks soaked through I wanted to stop for a moment to empty it out, alas Sandy said "NO, its part of the experince and a waste of time, come on!" and I growled and said fine.
This was a bad idea... the waterproof sock I had on where sealing the water IN as well as OUT, so thus my socks had soaked up half of Milford Sound in them by the time we finished at Sandfly Point, not to mention making my feet twice as heavy and hurt twice as badly! But in the end it was all worth it - the track was amazing even if it was a killer, the sights as incredible as they are dangerous.
I may give the Kiwi's alot of shit, but damn they know how to find the good scenery.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Leg 1: Auckland - Go Day!
Well, on the morning of the day we leave I finally got a nice restfull sleep, I think my body clock has ajusted enough now that my sleep patterns arn't fooled by the time displayed on my computer! (Stupid thing is on Aus time, but I can't be bothered to change it)
In any case its just a matter of time now untill we pack up an head down to Queenstown and spend a couple of hours driving to reach our destination.
Weather looks like its going to be "cold" (APPARENTLY 15 C is cold... weakling Aucklanders!), but we are expecting at least one day of rain, which will be a pain but oh well - comes with the bushwalking idea.
However this will more than likely mean this is the last blog for a while, I won't be able to take my laptop while away so unless I find a place to log on while I am not here this will be the last untill I get back on about the 14th
In any case its just a matter of time now untill we pack up an head down to Queenstown and spend a couple of hours driving to reach our destination.
Weather looks like its going to be "cold" (APPARENTLY 15 C is cold... weakling Aucklanders!), but we are expecting at least one day of rain, which will be a pain but oh well - comes with the bushwalking idea.
However this will more than likely mean this is the last blog for a while, I won't be able to take my laptop while away so unless I find a place to log on while I am not here this will be the last untill I get back on about the 14th
Monday, January 4, 2010
Leg 1: Auckland - Preperation Days
Well nothing much of anything happened today, other than a "quick" drive across the island to visit one of my Aunty Sandy's friends who leave on a hill overlooking one of the larger beaches, and when I say large I mean large, this thing was easily a good five to ten kilometres long on the part I could see, but was probably double that end to end. It was a beautiful day though, shining and clear skies and barely any real wind.
The timezone difference has caught me out all ready, my body clock is still running on Australian time as the difference wasn't that big, hence I woke up at 8am Aus time, but it was 10am here... which was probably latter than needed it to be.
After visiting a friend of Allen's down at a beach on the wast coast (opposite side of the Island :o ) for a couple of hours and looking at the black sand, which is actually proper black - its apparently Iron-Sand, which makes it hotter and darker (well no duh, its black!) we came back to the house in Waiwera and relaxed for the day, so another day of preperation finishes without much happened, however come the 6th (the day we fly out) I think things will get a bit more hectic ;)
The timezone difference has caught me out all ready, my body clock is still running on Australian time as the difference wasn't that big, hence I woke up at 8am Aus time, but it was 10am here... which was probably latter than needed it to be.
After visiting a friend of Allen's down at a beach on the wast coast (opposite side of the Island :o ) for a couple of hours and looking at the black sand, which is actually proper black - its apparently Iron-Sand, which makes it hotter and darker (well no duh, its black!) we came back to the house in Waiwera and relaxed for the day, so another day of preperation finishes without much happened, however come the 6th (the day we fly out) I think things will get a bit more hectic ;)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Leg 1: New Zealand - Auckland
Well I made it, in one piece amazingly enough, for a first solo international flight it was a piece of cake - the flight was comfortable and enjoyable, the service and meals nice and welcome, the drinks cold and refreshing and the inflight entertainment kept me amused the entire way with a good viewing of Transporter 3 (God I am a sucker for a good cheesy action flick :P)
May I say though, New Zealand, for all its Sheep Molesting untamed bruteishness is an amazingly beautiful place, the landscape is stunning and I haven't taken any pictures but in the morning I think I will take a couple of happy snaps so I can document what an amazing place this really is.
(Even if they do name all the cars wrong, its a Subaru LIBERTY nor a Legacy! silly Kiwi's...)
Ah well, the next couple of days should be good, get some of my time-grounding back and get sorted for the trip down south, but after the rigmarole of the International flights the local 1 hour 50 minutes from Auckland to Queenstown will be a breeze, and I am looking forward to getting back into Queenstown, its such an amazingly beautiful place and I can take pictures of my own of the Remarkables and the other spectacular places they have to offer down there.
For now I think another beer and a bite to eat before some rest will be a nice way to end a great day.
May I say though, New Zealand, for all its Sheep Molesting untamed bruteishness is an amazingly beautiful place, the landscape is stunning and I haven't taken any pictures but in the morning I think I will take a couple of happy snaps so I can document what an amazing place this really is.
(Even if they do name all the cars wrong, its a Subaru LIBERTY nor a Legacy! silly Kiwi's...)
Ah well, the next couple of days should be good, get some of my time-grounding back and get sorted for the trip down south, but after the rigmarole of the International flights the local 1 hour 50 minutes from Auckland to Queenstown will be a breeze, and I am looking forward to getting back into Queenstown, its such an amazingly beautiful place and I can take pictures of my own of the Remarkables and the other spectacular places they have to offer down there.
For now I think another beer and a bite to eat before some rest will be a nice way to end a great day.
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