Seems the Kiwis were just being nice.

I'm about to leave Melbourne today. It's a fantastic city. Around 3 million live here in this beautiful coastal town. Public transportation is great, so it's really easy to get around. And there's plenty to see and do. Plus the food options are broad. Overall I loved it. Seems like a great place to live. And apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so. Melbourne was voted the number one place to live in 2005 and has ranked in the top 10 the last couple years. It's a place I'm sure I'll return.

I've kept myself pretty busy the last several days. I wandered around, exploring the different areas by foot and tram. I visited a bunch of ad agencies. And I had some good food. I had a delicious Chinese meal with an old co-worker from New York. Jason McQuoid, along with his wife Becky, and their friend invited me to join them at Lau's Family Kitchen. We had a feast of small seafood dishes. It was wonderful to go to a nice local place with a table full of nice locals. It was also fun to catch up with Jason. He pointed out all the places worth seeing in and around Melbourne. Including the Great Ocean Drive, which I did yesterday. It's a gorgeous coastal highway that leads up to the twelve apostles. I'll load the photos when I can. You really can't believe how slow these computers are.

Melbourne is an easy place to just wander. Interesting architecture, shopping, museums, a huge open market, and great looking cafes everywhere you turn. Made me want coffee every couple hours. But I had to slow down because I was getting a little jumpy. I have to say though, the Australians take their coffee a bit more seriously than the New Zealanders. The menus look the same, so I was pretty confident when I ordered my long black with milk and sugar. But here I was met with a disapproving, annoyed and confused look. "Milk in a long black? But then it isn't a long black!" Oh, I said. Well, then what should I order? I was told I wanted a flat white. Okay fine, I'll try. So a flat white is delicious. But it seems like it's a whole lot of milk with only a little bit of coffee. Tasty, but too much milk for me. My tummy doesn't approve. :( So I decided to go back to my original order. Making sure to smile more and ask, rather than order my inappropriate coffee. I manage to get what I want, along with plenty of raised eyebrows. I'm not sure what's up with the 'tude. It's not like they're drinking it. Oh well.

Like I said though, overall I love Melbourne. I think I could be happy here hanging out for a while. But I'm the move again. I fly up to Cairns (pronounced 'cans') this afternoon. I'm looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather. Hopefully the weather will be nice - I start my diving class on Tuesday. :)

Alright. I'm off for now. Cheers.

What I know so far...

In New Zealand, I order my coffee long black with milk and sugar. Hot milk if they ask.

Driving on the left side of the road isn't so bad. Although roundabouts are still a little tricky.

Kiwis are some of the nicest, most generous people on the planet.

Hikes are infinitely better when equipped with an ipod.

I have no problem eating at a restaurant alone.

I want to learn more about wine.

It turns out I really enjoy white wine.

It's easier to get up early when you go to bed early. And it's easier to go to bed early when you've had a full day.

The Aveda shampoo/body bar for men rocks.

Coffee is my favorite part of the day. I look forward to it as I fall asleep.

If I'm alone for more than three hours I talk to myself. Out loud.

You can get ready fast when you wear the same thing everyday.

Hostels are much better than I remember from college.

Always look both ways when crossing the street.

Traveling solo isn't at all lonely. But it is random.

NZ is a small country I could return to a million times.

Contacts help me see clearly.

So the other day I was in Kaikoura. It's a coastal town on the east coast of the south island. Beautiful. The place I was staying was right on the water. Again, amazing. I had an ocean view with a giant snow-caped mountain behind it. (I was on a bay). So as I was getting ready for bed that night my roommate, a lovely girl from Madrid, suggested I get up early to see the sun rise. She said it was absolutely magnificent. It sounded like a good idea to me so I set my alarm. When the alarm went off the next morning I sat up in bed and looked out the picture window to the water. The sunrise was amazing. Pinks and oranges flooded the entire bay. I squinted to the bright light. I was in awe. Just then, the light went out. Apparently, without my contacts I somehow mistook a streetlight for the sun. Yes, I'm blind. I laughed and said out loud, "wow, that's funny," and went back to sleep.

Checking in.

Hey there friends and family. I just wanted to check in quick to let everyone know I'm still here. I've done so much I don't even know where to start and don't really feel up to getting into it all right now. So I'll just say that New Zealand is quite possibly the most beautiful place I've been. Like, ever. It's really amazing. They say there are four seasons in one day, which I've found to be true. And in the last couple weeks I've noticed that my mood tends to change with the seasons. Which is good I guess. I've felt everything. Excited, nervous, anxious, awestruck, and totally content. Every day is different. And I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing.

I'll upload all the pictures when I can. Although I can't imagine they'll do it justice.

Hope all is well.

Racing through the north island.

I made it to Wellington. I dropped off the car a while ago, checked into my room and am out wandering around. So far I can already tell I like Wellington. It's funny how quickly I can usually tell. They call it the windy city. I haven't noticed so far. But just from my quick stroll, the architecture seems more interesting and diverse than it did in Auckland. And the overall vibe feels more comfortable to me. We'll see if it stays that way.

So I've had a great few days. Basically after I left Auckland everything got better. Rotoura was nice. Smelly, but it didn't bother me. I had a great hike around Blue Lake and through the redwood forests. The weather couldn't have been better. I also decided to go to one of the many Maori Hangi dinners. I was a bit worried it would be too touristy, but I quite enjoyed myself. There are a bunch of different groups/tribes that do this. I went to the Maitai hangi. They put on a concert where they explained the traditional dances, songs and fighting rituals. Then we had a huge dinner that was cooked over rocks underground. They serve a bunch of meat, but they had plenty of kumara (sweet potato) and other veggies that filled me up. We also had short nature hike after dinner featuring native trees and glow worms. It was nice.

Rotoura is known for it's geothermal activity. Which is what makes it so smelly. I went to a place called Wai-O-tapu, a geothermal wonderland, with a British med student I met at the hostel. Interesting enough place. It's worth checking out. I've got some okay pictures, but because it was a cold morning, the steam clouded them up. The water in some of these craters was like 78 C which is what? I don't know, but really hot. So it didn't make for very clear photos. Oh well.

So then I headed down to Taupo. I took a little tour of part of the lake. It was a nice afternoon for that. But then it got so cold I could hardly stand it, so I decided to go to the spa to warm up. They have these private mineral pools that are basically like a hot tub, but different. A little bizarre, but nice. I was sure to keep my head above the water because I guess there's a risk of some kind of meningitis, which I'm not totally sure of the details but am quite certain I don't want. The town of Taupo itself isn't very pretty. But the surrounding areas are beautiful. And the place I stayed had a great view of the lake and snow capped mountain.

The next day I got up early and had an amazing drive to Napier. Green mountains peppered with sheep. And because it's spring time here, there are tons of baby sheep everywhere. They're pretty adorable.

Napier is a place I'd like to spend more time. It's a very small city. I think the population is something like 50,000. But it's right on the water. And from what I could tell, it's got a nice energy to it. I spent an afternoon touring the local wineries. Which, I've just discovered is something I really enjoy. There are a bunch of vineyards in the Marlborough region on the south island. I think I'll check those out when I get there.

So. So far I've seen a lot of great stuff, but I feel like I'm racing. So I think I'll slow down a bit when I head south and focus just on the very northern points of the south island. It's clear I'll have to come back to NZ. Probably several times. When I tell people I'm here for a little over two weeks everyone always laughs. Almost like it's so little time why bother? Maybe it's the places I'm staying, or the people I'm staying with, but three months of travel is nothing to them. Most people I meet are in NZ for three months or more. I haven't met any other Americans yet - besides the two living in Auckland. Maybe that's the difference. The British get a standard of 4 or 5 weeks vacation, and the Europeans even more. In general I don't think Americans take enough time off work. I know there's a million reasons why, but it's too bad. It's funny though. My trip seems long to my American friends and way too short to everyone else I meet. Right now, it seems just right to me.

Okay well I'm going to go explore Wellington. I'll check in again when I can.

Pretty and not so pretty.

Okay, now I'm really going, but wanted to give you at least a couple visuals from my trip so far. :)

And just so there's no misunderstandings - I am having a great time.

Sorry about the photos...

So I added a few more pics, but accidentally added some duplicates. Sorry about that. I'll add more variety when I get to a faster computer lab. I do have some nice ones now.

I also have more to say, but will have to do it another time. This place is about to close and I'm going to go grab some food. Getting up early tomorrow and driving to Napier. Hoping to get there in time to join a wine tour. I'll let you know.

Climbing and driving.

So things are going well in NZ. I spent my last night in Auckland at a friend of a friend of a friend's place. It was great. My host was extremely accommodating. He gave me a comfy bed, good directions,travel advice, a nice conversation and he even cooked me dinner. Thanks Robyn.

I left Robyn's place in Westmere, Auckland early Thursday morning. I took the bus down to city center where I got my rental car. I decided to rent because it gives me the most flexibility as I go. Which is especially nice since I'm not really sure where I'm going. So I got my car and drove south. I needed to be in Rotoura by 5ish, but had plenty of time to get there, so I took my time and stopped off at Mt. Maunganui. I had a nice lunch by the water followed by a hike up to the summit. Now I had done some walking in Auckland, but clearly that didn't get me in shape. The supposedly easy hike to the top nearly wiped me out. I made it, but was totally embarrassed each time I was passed by joggers and the elderly. It must have been jet lag. In any case, the hike was beautiful all the way up and even better at the top.

After returning back to the ground I treated myself to an ice cream and I was on my way to Rotoura. I was pretty proud of myself for being such a good driver. After all, I was in a foreign country, driving on the left with the driver's seat on the right side of the car all by myself. Well, things were going well. Stupid round-a-bouts. I'm not exactly sure what happened. Although, I'm pretty sure it was my fault. And after we pulled off to the side of the road, the scruffy kid laughed as he explained that it was my fault and that I cut him off. "No worries," he said. Sure, no damage to his car. He had a big truck with those huge black bars all over the front bumper. They protected his vehicle, and put a pretty good dent in the side of mine. Hmm. Well, it's a rental. I have insurance. Lesson learned. But now I'm even more nervous in the stupid round-a-bouts.

I'm here.

So I landed in Auckland without a problem. In fact, the flight over was actually quite nice. It was only half full, so I had an entire row to myself. It was wonderful. I had dinner, took a sleeping pill, layed down and we were there.

I took the airbus into Auckland. The first thing I noticed was how incredably nice everyone is here. Including the bus driver, who got me exactly where I needed to be. I was meeting the girl I planned to stay with for the first couple nights at her office at town hall. I arrived a bit early, so I grabbed some coffee and started flipping through my guide books. I decided to check out the Sky Tower. It's the tallest self standing point in the southern hemisphere, I guess a couple meters higher than the Eiffel Tower. And as it turned out it was just around the corner from me. I also thought it may be a good way to get my bearings. The views were great. Even though I knew that Auckland was surrounded by water, seeing it all was still a bit surprising. And because the Sky Tower is in NZ, it was no surprise that people jump from the top about every five minutes. So that kept me entertained for a while. I think the Sky Tower is worth a visit, but I have a feeling it's a tourist thing. Kinda like the Empire State Building in New York. The locals just don't go up. But that's okay. I'm not a local.

I met Deborah at her office as planned. I met her on couch surfing. I don't think I've posted anything about that yet, but it's a great site that allows travelers to meet and stay with locals. Check it out if you like. couchsurfing.com Anyway. Deborah is nice. We grabbed lunch and then I left my bag at her office as I wandered around. I'm not sure if it was me just being tired or overwhelmed or what, but in general, I was not impressed with Aucklalnd. At least not my first impresstion. It seems like an average city, nothing really standing out. I had been told this before too, so maybe that was scewing my opinion. I'm not sure.

But the next day, after a good night's rest, it seemed better. I walked all over down town. Again, all the people I ran into were extremely kind and helpful. Then in the afternoon I took the ferry over to Devonport. It's an older part of Auckand. I had a lovely afternoon over there. It was a much less typical city. No McDonalds, Denny's or Starbucks. So I hung out there for a while.

Today is my last day in Auckland. I'm getting a slow start. It's been pouring all night, so I'm not too anxious to get out there.
I rent a car tomorrow and drive south. I'm going to try to get town to the glow worm caves before heading over to Rorotura before dark. So that's the plan. I'll check in again when I can. When I get a chance, I'll upload more photos on my link. Although I did add a few yesterday if you'd like to take a look.

Okay, I'm off. More later.