Last Night in New Zealand

"Cape Reinga"

Here I am back in Auckland for my last night in New Zealand. Tomorrow I jump on yet another airplane and set off to Sydney to explore Austrailia. After taking a short flight from Christchurch a few days ago I decided that instead of staying in the city bumming around for my last few days here I would rent a car and go and explore the Northlands seeing as it was one of the places that I had not seen yet.

So after sitting around and trying to get up enough courage to drive out of a city that has more than a million people on the left hand side of the road I decided it was time to go and I went and picked up my car and was on my way. Its funny the things that seem scary sometimes, for example I was much more at ease getting thrown out of an airplane than I was trying to weave my way through a big and unfamiliar city on the wrong side of the road.

The first day of my trip consisted of about a 4 hour dive up the east coast to a little town called Paihia. The first half an hour or so was a little stressful but once I was outside the city I started to relax and really enjoy the drive. After I was around a hour outside the city I drove passed two hitchhikers and considering I did that for three months I thought it was my duty to pick them up. It was weird cause the whole time I was hitching I only got picked up by locals and it turned out the people I picked up were Kiwis. They were also headed north so I decided I would bring them as far as I was going which was a pretty decent hitch. They turned out to be super cool and it was actually super nice having other people to visit with so when I got to Paihia I didnt have the heart to make them go and stand on the road in the pouring rain so I ended up driving over a hour more, dropping them off, turning around, and heading back to my bed for the night, needless to say they were quite grateful hitch hikers.

The next day I decided to drive up to Cape Reinga, which is the northern most point in New Zealand and its also the The Pacific and the Tasmen Ocean meet. The Maori people believe the the cape is where the spirits of people who pass away leave New Zealand.

When I left Paihia in the morning the sun was shining and it was quite an amazing day but as I drove it got worse and worse until I finally got the Cape Reinga and seen nothing but fog and rain. I was quite disappointed but I guess it was cool looking in a different kind of way. The drive back I took my time and stopped at Ninety mile beach which may be one of the coolest things I have even seen if you have a truck. The beach itself doubles as a highway during low tide and the speed limit is even 100Kmh, now I understand why I had to sign a contract saying I wasn't aloud to drive on beaches with my car.

I spent the next two nights in Paihia again and just did little day trip but unfortunately the weather was lousy so I didn't get to see everything in perfect conditions, when the Northlands are suppose to be amazing, but I guess Ill have to leave that for another trip if I ever end up back here again.

Today I made my way back to Auckland, dropped off my car, and am going to just relax and get a good night sleep. Tomorrow is only about a three hour flight but with all the buses to airports, checking in, customs, and such it will be another full day of transportation before I am relaxing in Sydney tomorrow night. Good Times I sure love airports!

"My Nissan For Four Days"

"Haruru Falls in Paihia"

"Coolest Highway Ever At Ninety Mile Beach"

"Ninety Mile Beach And My Jandals"

"Biggest Kauri Tree In New Zealand"

The Trunk Base Is Over 17m Around!!

Back To Paradise

"Over the Endless Pacific"

"My Night In Honolulu"

Well after my holiday away from my holiday, I am finally back to Christchurch, New Zealand for the last time. I flew home for my brother Justin's Wedding about two months ago and now I am back to the backpacking life. As with everything in this trip, it seems that nothing can go completely smooth and easy, but I guess that's where the story's Ill be able to tell forever come from. How much fun would it be saying I got on a plane, made all my flights, and got home without one problem.

It all started when I first got on my plane in Christchurch to fly home in June. I was so scared to sleep in and miss my flight I slept on the floor, well I rested on the floor, of the airport for the night. The morning went smooth, I woke up, checked in, and was boarding the plane on time. The first flight to Sydney was good, its a little three hour flight, pretty much a warm up for the torturous flight from Sydney to home. Once we landed in Sydney my trip went from smooth to as bumpy as it can get.

As we were taxiing towards the gate at the Sydney airport the flight attendants informed us that all the loading gates were being used so there would be a short delay before we could get off the plane which if a person was staying in Sydney its not a big deal but as for me and a couple of the others who were trying to catch an already tight connection, BIG DEAL!!

After we were finally able to get into the airport, not to mention me sprinting though the airport like in the movies, I finally got to my connection in time to watch it take off. So there I was in Sydney with my flight on its way to Canada. After sitting down and thinking about my situation for a minute I got up and set off to talk to someone from Quantas to see what they were going to do for me. After about an hour of them telling me I should have had enough time to make my connection I finally convinced them, or they just got sick of me talking to me, to fly me home on another flight free of charge. Three hours later I was in the air and on my way home with connections in San Fransisco and Vancouver.

My San Fransisco connection went well but once again in Vancouver things got a little bumpy again.

To truly understand what I was going through a person has to understand how good of a mood I was in by the time I landed in Vancouver. My day started in Christchurch where they wouldn't let me board cause I didn't have a Auzzie Visa, then I missed my flights and had to argue for hours before they would pay for it, and to top it all off I hadn't been able to smoke in about thirty hours. So there I was, in the land of the maple leaf, home sweet home. I walked into the airport thinking this stop was going to be a breeze all I had to do was go though immigration, pick up my bags, and finally get to have a smoke, easy right? WRONG! Not only is Canada the only country that doesn't have a separate line at customs for residents (I was in line for about an hour) but once it was finally my turn they interrogated me and I am sure it took me longer to clear than anyone else in the building. Oh well with that out of the way all I had to do was pick my backpack up and go outside, once again easy right?WRONG!

So there I am standing at the carousel watching all the luggage go by and watching the luggage slowly disappearing until the carousel is empty and I am the only one standing there wondering where exactly mine is. Once again I off to talk to the Quantas representatives, that I love so much, but by this time I was past the point of caring and I pretty much just said my luggage was missing, signed a paper and was headed outside within 30 seconds to lower my stress level with my friends Tim Horton and Players Light.

From there on the trip was smooth, I flew home spent the night in Edmonton and was back in Pierceland the next day. I was very lucky that I was flying home because I didn't get my bags for over a week and if I would have not had enough stuff to get by at home I am not too sure what I would have done.

The two months I spent at home was great but very rushed. A few days after arriving in Pierceland I went to work for a month, then to a family reunion, then my brothers wedding, and finally back on a plane to return to my trip. Its was pretty much a blur.

And now that brings you pretty much up to date with my travels, I arrived here in Christchurch last night with an almost flawless trip besides the three hours I spent getting searched in the Christchurch airport. Apparently it was a random search but it was funny cause if you looked around the room they shoved us in, it was all 23 years old guys with piercings and whatnot. If it was so random where were the 60 year old couples, but oh well. Now, today, I am flying up to Auckland to amuse my last few days in New Zealand touring the Northland. My flight to Sydney is on August 30th so I am kinda playing with time and have lots more to see in the next 5 days, hence the reason I chose to fly to Auckland even though it costed me an arm and a leg.

Well now that I am back to my adventure I will try and update this blog and let you all know what I am up to as often as I can so stay tuned!!

"Justins Wedding Party"

"Me And Jonah's Tony Hawks!!"