Talent Show At "The Arts Factory"

Last Night Arts Factory, that is where I am camping, had a talent show. Everyone in it is just people who happen to be staying here and want to do a little something. The reason I am putting a few video on here to show is because I was completely blown away with how much talent is around one place with normal people that are just traveling.

The first video is the main guy his name is Anthony George and hes just travelling around Australia doing small gigs to fund his trip but the other people were just singing and and playing for fun last night. In his video hes playing a 12 string, get ready to be amazed.(Sorry its not the greatest quality but that's the best I can do to keep the file small enough to put on here)

Byron Bay

"Home Sweet Home"

I have now made my way out of Sydney and up the east coast a little ways to Byron Bay. For my last few days in Sydney I moved down to Bondi Beach to just laze around on the beach and relax before heading on the road again. Unfortunately the three days I spent at Bondi were windy, cold and rainy, so much for my laying on the beach weather. But I still managed to keep my self occupied just wondering the streets and shopping, well not really but I did some serious looking at things I cant afford. The hostel I stayed at was really cool and had an amazing location. It was about ten steps from the beach and had the roof open with picnic tables and chairs so you could hang outside in the sun, if it was nice out that is, and laze about and watch all the craziness that they call Bondi Beach.
After my week in Sydney getting my bearings and figuring out a plan of what to do in the future, well not exactly more figuring out a direction to head, I jumped on a 14 hour overnight bus up the east coast with my first stop being the surf mecca of Byron Bay. Byron is quite a small town but is quite popular with backpackers and local surfers alike. It is the equivalent of something like Jasper but surfboards, wet suits, and swimmers instead of snowboards and bulky jackets. At any given time in the daylight you can spot at least a couple people geared up carry there surfboards to the beach through downtown.
If the town and atmosphere of the town isn't enough to make a person fall in love with Byron Bay where I am staying to the cherry on top. I am camping right now in a place called the, "Arts Factory" and this is one place that I have learned is a truly one of a kind sort of place. The easiest way to explain The Arts Factory is its like Australians version of Thailand. The area of land that its sits on is about 10 acres and the whole place is broken up into different communities sort of. They have the dorm section, private bungalows, then big teepee's you can rent, and finally the campsite where I am staying and has completely sucked me in and I am going to have a hard time leaving anytime soon.
The campsite it self is just a big opening that you throw your tent anywhere you want really but then we our own kitchen, showers, and the Shack. The Shack is just a big gazebo that serves as the main hangout all throw the day and into the wee hours of the morning. The real thing that makes the Arts Factory truly amazing is the people and just the down to earth chilled out atmosphere. In the day there is constantly a musical instrument being play weather its a guitar, bongos, didgeridoo, or something I have never even seen. Then in the evenings it breaks out into a 30, or so, person jam with all instruments and singing until wee hours of the morning.
So as you can see this is my kind of a place, the mornings of sitting around with a guitar and coffee, afternoons of surfing, volleyball, or just relaxing, then the night of jamming and meeting people from all over the world. Its going to be hard to find the ambition to pack up and jump on a bus anytime soon.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Bondi Beach From The Roof Of My Hostel


Just Weird seeing These In The Wild

Sydney, Australia

"The Sydney Opera House"

I have now been in Sydney for around four days just touring the city and trying to figure out a plan so I can see as much of this incredible big country as I can in just under two months. So far I have been staying in an area of the city called Kings Cross, which is actually kind of the, "Wrong side of the tracks" as far as Sydney is concerned, but all is well and I have been kicking around the hostel in the evenings and out to seeing different parts of the city during the day.
When I first arrived to Australia I had no idea what to expect especially with the weather. Its just turning to spring here like New Zealand but the weather is dramatically better. Since Ive arrived its been around 25 and pretty much solid sunshine everyday, which is much better than the 10 and raining I was in before.
I don't really have a lot to report right now though. Ive seen the city and its major sights like the harbor bridge and the, "Sidney Opera House." I also spent a day hanging out with Mason, who is a Aussie guy I met and traveled with for a while in Laos, and his girlfriend. They took me out to Bondi Beach and had breakfast, then sat on a patio looking over the beach and watched the surfers and beach bums for the day while sampling some Australian beverages.
Today I am going to pack up and move down to a hostel at Bondi for a couple days and just relax before making my way up the east coast.
Bondi beach is one of those places that gives you a straight out of the movies feel. The beach is right in the city with a skyscraper skyline, and has roughly 20 000 people on it in the summer surfing or just laying around and soaking up the sun. Then the Ocean front row is lined with shops and cafes that house some of Australia's best shopping and also some of the highest prices for just about anything, great place for a backpacker hey?
Hopefully in the next couple days I can find someone heading up the coast and catch a lift with them instead of taking a bus, but only time will tell. Hopefully next time I have some more exciting stories for ya but thats all for now. This week is my lay back and relax week.

"Again The Opera House (With a Strange Angle)"

"Bondi Beach"

"And Again The Famous Bondi"

"Downtown Sydney's Skyline"

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!!"

Last Two Weeks In Paradise

"Say Hello To My Little Freind"

Abel Tasmen National Park

Once again I am back in Christchurch but only this time it is the end of the road, and my adventures, for a little while. In three days I have a grueling 20 some odd hour flight back to home sweet home. Now that everything thing is in order and I have my flights all sorted, I am super stoked, and to be perfectly honest, I am very excited to take a month and half holiday away from this 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, job that I have had for the last 6 months. Everyday wondering where I am going, where I am sleeping, whats tomorrow going to bring, making hard decisions like should I climb Franz Joseph or Fox Glacier? . . . jeezes what a stressful life I lead. Well seeing as I don't suppose I am getting any sympathy from anyone reading this I guess I will move on.
The Past few weeks have been somewhat hectic, while I was in Queesntown, trying to recuperate from Kepler Tramp, I got the final word that I was coming home for the summer. Seeing as for the first time in months I was actually playing with a schedule (that in it self took some time to absorb) I decided that I needed to travel up the West coast of the South island in order to be able to see all the sights I wanted to see before flying home. So just like that I jumped on a bus, and was of to Franz Joseph Glacier.
Franz Joseph Glacier is not only one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world but it is also one of the very few that descends so low in altitude, because at how fast its going, that you can be walking on solid ice and be surrounded by rain forests and be basically right on the doorstep to the ocean. I spent three days here and took a whole day guided hike up onto the glacier. The little hike was alright, mainly because it was the first time I have ever got to wear cramp-ons and have ice axes, if that's not a way to feel manly I am not too sure what is. But I do have my complaints about the whole ordeal, and I also will say I will never do a guided hike again with that many people in a group, but all in all it was a pretty memorable experience.
Next I moved further north up the west and after two days reached Nelson where I basically just relaxed and did alot of nothing. I know its hard to explain cause in every ones eyes I really haven't done too much for the past half a year but its exhausting. Everyday waking up and figuring out what to do to amuse yourself, buses, packing, seeing new things, and taking pictures isnt all fun a games ya know. So Nelson is where I found a nice little hostel and had a few days of laziness with nothing to fill my days but coffee, movies, and naps.
After a few days of the above schedule I started to feel a little like a waste so I booked a day trip out to the Abel Tasmen National Park to have a day of hiking and Kayaking. Seeing as I have never in my life been in a Kayak this was very interesting and entertaining for me. We paddled around a island marine reserve through perfect crystal clear turquoise waters and golden sandy beaches, I can see why this park is one of the most photographed places in New Zealand. I also made a new friend and I was thinking maybe she could be my escort at a certain somebodies wedding this summer (not sure if that confidential information or not) cause I know I sure don't have one of those! When that little seal jumped up on my Kayak it pretty much made my day worth while, not to mention the other in the group seeing me almost getting flipped into the freezing cold ocean by a baby seal. My guide was also amazed and said that in his 5 years of experience he had never seen something like that before. We continued to Kayak for the rest of the morning, had a ocean shore lunch, then a nice 10km coastal walk back to the bus to bring us back to our beds for the night.

And that pretty much brings you all up to date, from Nelson I travelled to Hanmer springs to spend a day soaking in the thermal pools, then continued on to where I sit now, in Christchurch. I am not too sure how I am going to spend my last few days in New Zealand but I am sure I will come up with something. Thats one very amazing thing about this country, no matter where you are your always just a short hop, skip, and a jump anyway from pretty much anything you can possibly think of . . . . Hm maybe I will go surfing, or snowboarding, or swim with the dolphins, or take a tour of the hundreds of vineyards, or jump out of a airplane. Only time will tell.

Franz Joseph Glacier

Blue Ice and Cave Entrance

Just Me, "Chilling"

Thought This Looked Kinda Cool

"Pancake Rocks" Punakaiki, New Zealand

Blowholes at the Pancake Rocks

South Islands Beautiful West Coast

Ya He Is Actually On My Lap, Seeing As I don't Know Much About Seals I Was Actually A Bit Nervous

One Foot In Front Of The Other

Mount Luxmore Summit

Once again I am back here in Queenstown for another night or so to recuperate from past three days of hiking and torture I put my poor legs through. I just completed the Kepler Track which is a 67 km track thats starts off in the little town of Te Anue and brings you through valleys and forests, up into the mountains, over Mt Luxmore Summit, then across ridges and saddles, and finally back down to civilization.

I Left Te Anue on June 2 around noon and sure never realized what I was getting myself into until I stumbled into the first hut for the first night after climbing over 3500ft and covering nearly 30kms. All you I could think of was, "OK just one foot in front of the other you will eventually get there." My first hut was just above the treeline on the way up to Mt Luxmore, I got there with just enough time to unpack my things, change into dry clothes, make supper, and enjoy and cup of coffee while watching the sun set over the valley that just took me all day to walk through.

Its quite funny when your up in these huts cause once the sun goes down the only light you have is from your head lamp and, as you con imagine, its not exactly toasty warm so you find yourself going to bed at about 7pm because there's really nothing else to do. The first night was definitely the coldest I have spent in a long time. The temperature dropped to about -8 and with no heat whatsoever it took me wearing everything I had brought along plus my sleeping bag but I managed to stay warm and had a great night sleep.

The next day I reached the summit of Mt Luxmore which, as you can see, provided me with an absolutely amazing view making the whole trip worth while. After having lunch on the summit I started hiking down the ridge to drop below the snow line then continued my day and a half decent back to town, strange how far people will walk for 10 minutes on a mountain.

I returned back to town on June 4th (Happy Birthday Mom and Dad) and boy was I was happy to finally reach the end of the path. I started my walk full of energy and feeling good now, three days and 67 kms later, I am completely knackered and and can barely lift my legs let alone walk. Boy what a great way to spend my holidays!

Sunset Over The Te Anue Valley

Climbing The Final Ridge of Mt Luxmore

"All Worth While"