NYE 07-08

Aight guys, in Gisi now, and it's hot as!

The weather is great, and I'm feeling pretty good. Not as psyched as X-Mas, but still feeling the vibe, sort of. Don't know why, but yeah, odd feeling. Nothing to worry about though.

I drove from Tuts yesterday, and that took me a good two hours. I had to take a power nap....wait, yeah, I met some people on my boat, and I told them that I would be sleeping in my car for the night, because i was going to pack my tent down while it was dry, and then they invited me to stay at their motel room with them. So I snuck in late at night, pretending to be a visitor, and then ending up crashing there. We all woke up at 05 in the morning, and then left at 05.30, and so I was pretty tired, but I got to see the sun rise along the coast and mountains which was amazing! Around 8-9 hours into the drive, I was just way too tired, and decided to stop at rest stop under a tree and take a power nap, and wow did it feel great. Popped in my ear plugs, dropped the drivers seat back, rolled down my window, and fell asleep. It was nice. Kind of worried that somebody would try reaching in and knicking something, but I set my legs and body up so it would make things a bit harder. It's all good. But yeah, 12 hours later, and some of the best scenery ever, I was in Gisbourne, looking for a place to crash. I found one, a bit dear, but well worth it. Got to hang out with some Kiwis and a Swede, which was entertaining.

Aight guys, this place is pretty expensive, and doesn't support USB ports, so I'll have to update my photos a bit later,ok? Choice!

Happy New Year Guys!!!

Best yet..

This Christmas was probably the best one I've had ever! Seriously! I'll tell you guys why.



On the 23rd I was getting kind of worried about how to fill up my time on the 24th considering the circumstances (by myself and my day off), and so I got a great idea, go on a fun dive! I called the shop and checked out if I could take go out on a fun dive the next day and they gave me the all go. Sweet as! I wake up the next day, nice and early, and the weather is amazing! A bit cloudy, but nothing too dramatic. Get down to the shop and find out that I would be able to dive with one of the staff that day who was also going out for a fun dive, which was perfect, because that gave me my buddy for the day. Get on the boat, and the customers on board a happy bunch, and the ride out proved to be pretty calm compared to the other days where it's been an average of 1-2m swells. During this time the weather is still holding, and I do two dives that day which were both really great! Saw a bunch of stuff, and I got a good deep dive in there as well (27.6m). And the boat ride home was even better since we were surfing the waves back, it made the ride even smoother.



So far, so awesome!



I get back on land and get my new schedule sorted from the dive shop, and head back to camp to prepare for the evening to come (the temperature now is about 25 degrees and full on sun!) I go to the communal room and find Rob sitting there with someone else. So I join them and watch some TV after a "hard days" dive for about 30 minutes and felt I needed a small lie down. Go back to my tent, lie down, read a book, remembered I need some desert, so I went and bought some ice cream at the dairy, and finally have a small nap. Like I said, the temperature was just amazing, and the sun is on my tent full blast (read: hot as hell or sauna) and after waking up in a pool or my own sweat, I figure it best that I go and take a shower, and clean up for my big meal.



After trimming my goat tee, shaving, and taking a nice 7 minute shower (yup, that's all I get for 2.50 SEK) I head back over to my tent and put on my nice clothes which consists of my khaki cargos, black shirt, and shoes (decided against wearing jandels this evening). And finish it all off with some deo and some wax in my hair. I felt like I was on top of the world, and I was super excited about the feed waiting for me.



The night before I did a small food run down in Whangarei and bought me 3 steaks, some spuds (potatoes) and some delicious chili/walnut dip for the meat. And when I got back to camp, I put the meat in a marinade consisting of ground chili, salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil. That got to marinade over night and while I was out diving the following day. So, I got out all of the ingredients and started to make my dinner and while I was cooking, a Canadian girl invited me to her table for some drinks when I was done cooking. Before she approached me, I was really happy, and after the invite, I was super stoked! The night seemed to be getting better and better as the minutes ticked by.



Once I was done cooking, I make my way over to the Canadian girls (she was with a friend) table just outside of the kitchen. After making the quick small talk, I dig into my meal, and wow guys! It was...orgasmic? No, I probably wouldn't go that far, but it was probably one of my best meals I've made so far! And when I was done eating the steak, I quickly ditch my plates and dig into my little ice cream that I had bought my self (cookies and cream in a cone). It was a perfect ending to my dinner!



Once all the food was dispensed, the liquids were brought into the picture. Now, do you remember me talking about how I got a present from the German couple a while back, yeah, well I opened it, and it was German Xmas drink. Yeah, well, we didn't really touch that, it was too much like Jagermeister, which just brings shivers down my spine. But it's a funny bottle (damn, I didn't take a photo of it, next time) either which way, and a very kind gesture of them. Anyway, we started talking and drinking, talking about how I was celebrating Xmas on the 24th and not 25th, how different cultures celebrate Xmas differently. It was great. After a while, the girls tell me that they have some fireworks to get rid of, so I recommended that we go to the local beach and fire them off, and they thought it to be an excellent idea! I grab each of us a beer for the walk down, and we make our way to the beach like the Froddo was heading off to Mt. Doom.



When we get the beach, the girls regret that they didn't bring their swim gear, and I innocently suggest that clothes aren't required. And boo yah, we go for a good ole night swim with the full moon lighting the ocean (and three more moons in the water, think about that one). We're swimming around for a good 15 minutes and decided it was time for some fireworks.



Get out of the water, pop on our clothes and start preparing for the big beach finale. Which proved to be not so spectacular after all, but fun either way.



We head back to the camp, and half way there, we have a massive group hug in the middle of the road because we were in NZ, it was my Xmas, and it was Jessie's Birthday in Canada (oops, yeah, the girls names were Jessie and Kristin). We plopp ourselves back on the bench and continue drinking (champange was opened for Jessie's bday) and start playing some cards, and talk even more about God knows what. This goes on until about 04.30 in the morning when we were just finally all way tired after everything.



Head back to my tent, with a huge smile on my face and fall into a beautiful sleep (followed with a small hang over in the morning).



So let's round all of this up, eh?

• Great weather


• Great dives


• Great food


• Great company


• Skinny dipping under a full moon


• Fireworks

Seriously guys, how can you beat that? Oh, and I got my Christmas came true too! I wished for company during the evening, and I got it, and then some!

Now you know why this Christmas so great this year! I have now proven that you can still celebrate Christmas by yourself and have an awesome time!____________________________________

The next day wasn't as great weather wise mind you, it was raining all day, and just all around grey. So I felt kind of sorry for the rest of people celebrating on the 25th. And I was invited to the home of the camp manager, and had a couple beers with him and his wife, which was really nice. And they treated me to some nice ham, home made chou chou, and hot mustard. Yum is the only way I can describe it :D

So as you can tell, I'm still having a blast, and today I'm going on a small road trip along the coast by myself just to get out and about and try to get some good photos too.

Here are some photos guys, enjoy!

Photo update...

Been sitting infront of this computer for too long writing a report on nudibranchs, so I'm just going to post up some photos for you guys. Sowwy!!!!


MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What a delay...

Sorry guys, it's been a busy times the past couple of days. I had to study up for some pretty important exams for my DM course, which I finally finished today, and passed! Excellent, eh?! So, now I'm more than halfway there to completeing this course, which just feels great! I can't believe I've taken myself here, and done what I've done, pretty surreal, but feels absolutely amazing.

For the past couple of days, I've been hanging out with some Canadians and been having a blast with them, playing some hacky sack, frisbee, and volleyball. And yesterday we were going to go and hunt ourselves some muscles, but upon arriving to the beach and scoping out the waves, we all decided to do a tactical retreat (read: chickened out). Mainly because the waves were breaking exactly over the point of where the muscles were, and we didn't feel that the food in exchange for our lives just wasn't worth it. So instead, we went back to the campsite, got some cash, and went to the local pub/restaurant to have ourselves a good feed (kiwi for meal) and drank some beers with some of the other backpackers at the camp. Ended up being a good night, a bit expensive, but well worth it. :D

Also, Rob, my meat contact here in Tuts took me for a ride into the local bays just to show me around, and wow! The houses that are there are just amazing! They're the most beautiful houses ever! Right by the beach side, over looking the ocean, modern designs, and even old school ones that I prefer even more. I'm going to make it a mission to go out there one day with my camera and take some good snap shots, eh? Try and take some HDR photos for you guys, and then you'll really shit a brick!

Speaking of which, I was part of a lamb slaughter that happened around the campsite. Okay, let me rephrase that, I personally didn't take part in any actual slaughtering, I was just there documenting the whole event. Rob was the one who told me about it, and said that it would be okay if I came by and watched. It was a pretty weird feeling mind you, standing there, taking snap shots of an old farmer gutting and skinning the sheep. Not exactly the most touristy thing to do, but interesting either which way.

And on that note! Talk about doing random, non-touristy activities, I went up to Paihia to hang out with Cam due to all the dives being cancelled on account of 3-4m swells out at sea. So I went up north and got setup into a caravan at Cam's parents campsite and while I wasn't studying, I was given a job opportunity which can earn me some big bucks later on in the summer and even in Sweden. It was to scrub the hull of boats sitting in the marina. Yup, you read that right, I was scrubbing the bottom of boats for the better part of a half a day (until Cam hurt himself), I was snorkelling, and Cam was under the boat in his scuba gear. The visibility was about...10cm, so that was an experience all in itself. But yeah, upon surfacing after our 2nd boat, Cam wanted to show me the inside of an oyster that you could pick up in the marina (not edible though, because they filter too many chemicals and toxins) and borrowed my knife to open it up. You can see where this is going, I bet. Anyway, ends up with the knife piecing through the shell of the oyster and cutting Cams pinky finger - bad. We start packing our gear together, throw it in the car, and start hauling ass to his parents place. And on route, we started to joke about how we would diplomatically explain to the other customers that we had to end the work because of stupidity. The best we could think of was something along the lines of: Due to unlikely events, the following planned dives had to be aborted because a diver was injured in the line of duty. We never got to say that though, which was a real bummer. When we got to his house, and showed his dad the cut, the first thing his dad said was "Holyshit Cam!" with a look of "You bloody idiot". He went off the hospital to get it checked out, because it was pretty deep cut apparently, and I had to go back to the marina, and talk to the final customer that we would have to return later on when we had fully capable divers. I then went back and took one of the best showers I've taken in a long time, then did some studying while I was waiting for Cam to return. After about an hour or so, Cam finally got back, and had too big bandages on his left hand. The knife had cut more than his pinky, it had cut the ring finger too (it was double bladed knife as you might of guessed already), and the doctors reckoned he was only a few milimeters from severing his nerve and big blood vessel too. So all he got was some butterfly bandaids, which really bummed him out, because he wanted to get stitches for the first time in his life. All is well now with him though, we went out that following night, and got to meet some of his friends, and then met some Swedes outside of the bar too. And two of them gave me one of the weirdest compliments ever (so far), they both thought I had really nice teeth compared to other people from Stockholm. Yeah, didn't really know what to say to that, so I just smiled, and said thank you. Cam felt I should of asked them if they wanted to lick them (wink wink), but yeah, no go on that comment.

Hmm...yeah, a lot of fun down here guys, I really recommend it.

Also, finally slept in my tent for the first time last night, it was pretty nice, a lot cooler than sleeping in the cabin which is just rediculously hot at night. I slept on a Therm-a-rest matress for the first time in my life, which was...yeah. I slept a bit, but I'm going to need to get accustomed to it. And there's more space in my tent that what I anticipated, which is great, because I can sleep with all my belongins in there at the same time which is really practical for later on in my trip. Going to send some stuff home soon though, like my diving books, and stuff like that, and some clothes too, I have way too many, now that I bought clothes and what not.

Phew guys, I'm running news to tell - NO! I remembered something really important! I'm going to be celebrating Xmas with Dalal and will be heading down to Gisborne for New Year. And it's a pretty good chance I'll be meeting the Canadians down there too, which would be pretty sweet. My goal with that spot is to try to be on the most Eastern part, and be one of the first people in the whole world to see the first sunrise for the new year. I think it'll be awesome! It's okay, don't be jealous...trying think of a reason...nevermind, be jealous :P Just kidding guys! Wish you were here so we could do this together, would be pretty sweet.

Aight guys, catch you later, take it easy, cause you know I am!


View Larger Map

Photo Post

Sorry guys, don't have any time to write anything too lengthy, but I recommend you guys check out my map, and photo album...but here are some photos for you guys!

Bloody expensive!!!

Hey guys! So this is going to have to be short post, cause they want 30SEK an hour, which is just crazy!

I'm currently not in Tutukaka, but on a mini road trip (in Paihia at the moment) with some people who I met from a course that I was assisting with. It's raining pretty hard to tell you the truth, but it's bearable. The dives were cancelled for the whole weekend, and I don't know when it's going to let up, however, I will return to Tuts on Sunday though and continue my course.

Wow, not a whole lot to tell you guys, no sharks have been spotted yet, but I have seen a couple of rays and a bunch of eels. Bigger buggers too!

But I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short too. Running out of time!

I promise I'll write a bit more when I get back to Tuts!

Ciao guys!

News Bulletin

Hiya!
This is going to be a quick post, don't have any new photos for you guys, sadly :( but I'm doing really good! I'm currently an assistant to the instructors, so I'm helping them with their courses, and helping/meeting some new people, so that's really cool!

I partied last night, which was pretty nice, but not as spectacular as I thought it would of've been. And I finally got to see a Haka, performed by the local champions. I thought it was semi impressive, but pretty short. And that's pretty much what the locals thought of it as well. Their main griff about it was that there weren't enough men in it, and that it was too short as well. However! They did some traditional singing which was absolutely beautiful (you guys notice how I've been using that word a lot lately?).

Man, it's great down here with out a doubt. Sure it goes a bit slow, but when something is happening, it's all good, and everybody is happy. No frowns down here (unless their beer out).

Aight guys, that's going to have to be that for now, so I'll talk to you guys later!

Oh, the local fisherman hooked me up (no pun intended) with some fresh snapper fillets, and DAMN that was a good feed (more local lingo)!

But sweet as (even more lingo) guys, gonna bounce now! See'ya!

Christmas comes early this year

I've had quite an adventurous couple of days here so far, a bunch of small events been going on keeping me occupied.

One of which was my little hike to the local lighthouse, which was just amazing! Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me on this one (and I don't plan to make the same mistake twice mind you) and so this is how it all started:

I was sitting in my room studying, when all of a sudden I was greeted by getting a new room mate called Helen from Germany (she was here for 3 weeks visiting her sister and brother in law who were also at the camp) and after the formalities, we all went to bed because it was pretty late. In the middle of the night, I wake up to a loud howling, I couldn't really figure out which direction it was coming from, but I thought it was the heater that we had our room which Helen had put on. I decided it was the heater that was running and thought nothing more of it. Upon waking up in the morning, I hear the same howling, but this time at a different and varying pitch, and that's when I realized that it was the heater, I get out of my sleeping bag and look outside and almost had to change my undies. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but we were basically in a small storm. I haven't seen rain like this for quite some time, it was just crazy! Winds which were just totally out of control, and the first thing I thought about were the people that were on their way out to do some diving at the Poor Knights, and wondering if Helen would be able to cope (she was on a trip prior to her arrival at Tuts where she got sick). Anyway, I go and eat some breaky, and thought it would be a good opportunity to do some studying, and return to my dorm after doing my dishes.

After hanging out for a while, I see Helen come out from behind the curtains covering her side of the room, and realize that she had been lying there the whole morning. Obviously, Dive! Tuts canceled the diving for the day because of 40knot winds and 3-4 meter out at sea. She goes out and gets some breakfast, and when she returns we start playing some card games. This goes on for the next couple of hours, and by the time it was around 15ish, she comes up with a great idea that we go on a walk, because we had been stuck in doors the whole time and the storm had calmed down a lot as well. I recommended that we try to get to the lighthouse off the coast, because I thought it offer a good view from there. So, we both get out stuff together and head out towards the lighthouse. This walk would of have taken us about 1hr 30min, starting from the trail head, and the walk to the trail head took about 15min, so a total of around 1hr 45min. Sweet as, no problem. Once we get the trail head and start making out way towards the water crossing (the lighthouse is on its own separate island), I begin to think about the tides, when they come in and go out, but decide not to mention it to Helen because I was afraid she would chicken out and we would have to turn around.

We finally get to the water crossing after walking down some pretty steep steps, and I judged that it was going to be too much of a trouble. There was water covering the crossing, and could easily discern where the water was shallow, and where it wasn't. There was one part that was a bit of a concern, because I could tell the water wasn't breaking over it, so I concluded that it was a deep area. I guesstimated it was about calf deep, and once I got to it, I decided it was best if I just took off my shorts, and cross in my boxers. Helen thought this was pretty amusing obviously. A crazy sweet in red boxer shorts, holding a pair of shoes in one hand, the his sweater up with the other. And then I jump in and realize it was WAIST deep! Awesome! Helen kept her pants on and crossed over without any real problems (I did have to convince her it was worth it though - while in my boxer shorts). When we started making our way up the hill, the rain had stopped, and it felt like were in the rain forest or something, I swear! It was just incredible how it shifted from beach to tropical rain forest over a distance of 3 meters! (going to get photos of it). Once we got up to the top of the hill, we could see the Poor Knights Islands which was pretty cool. However, this particular day, it was f*ckin' awesome! Why? Because, the second we got up there, the clouds parted over one area, so the sun light ONLY hit the islands, which have light cliffs faces, and were just lit up! So with the Knights lit up like that against a gray background, the view was just stunning! We were up there for maybe 20 minutes just soaking it all up, and when we decided to turn around, the clouds covered up the sun again to hide the Knights. Was that sign maybe? Who knows?

While we were walking back down to the crossing, I was thinking about which tide was active, and if so, how quickly it went. As expected, it was the high tide that was coming in, yay. I could tell the water had come up a bit, and decided that I should cross first, this time fully clothed, and with my shoes on to increase my grip and free my hands. When I got it, it was chest high! I got pretty wet. For some strange reason, Helen took off her pants to see what I went through, and crossed over with only that. Interesting. No problems with that either.

When we back on the road, the sun was setting, and Oh-My-A-Godah! The lighting was absolutely incredible! The sun was low and behind the hills, giving the hills a red orange outline, like it was burning on the other side of them. Then the clouds were kind of low, so it looked like there was small gap between the hills and the clouds, giving it a really wicked background. Also, clouds were rolling up over the hills, and flying upwards, dissipating into the air like it was smoke. Surreal man, surreal.

Now you know why I don't plan on leaving my camera behind again, eh?

When we got back to the camp, I started talking to Helen's brother in law, JP, who was a pastor. One of the coolest looking pastors ever! It was like a shorter, chubbier version of Fred Durst (meant as a compliment in every way!) who's really into snow boarding, and living an alternative life style. And he was so calm, so chill, really cool guy! We talked about everything: life, philosophy, religion, his job, his vacation, my trip here, everything, it was excellent!

So, after they did their diving during the day, we hung out in the kitchen during the night, and played some poker using macaroni as chips, and he tells me that he and the girls have gotten me a Christmas present. How cool isn't that, eh?!

They were leaving the next day, and I got it in the morning when they were leaving, which was really kind of them. They gave me their email and told me to contact them if I'm ever in Japan (yeah, forgot about that, their going to Japan to start sort of youth program) or Germany. Wicked man!

Those are the main activi - No, I forgot something else aswell! Haha! Cam, another DMT (Dive Master Trainee) took me out to hunt muscles. It was totally off the hook! We went to a surf beach, and the waves were pretty good that day, which spiced things up a bit. So we snorkled out to where we told we could find them, and it was intense man! When the wave was pulling back, I was standing on hundreds of them, waist deep. And that's when I tried going for them, which was harder than I thought. You have to use your best kung-fu grip on them to get any of them, and time in the waves, which was part of the trick. I got a hold of maybe 10, and Cam got about 30 after going at for about 20 minutes. He prepared them, and they are an acquired taste mind you. But good with some garlic and butter.

Man, my hands are tired now, ok, last 'story'.

I had a day at the swimming pool today for my DM course, it was to teach us how to teach others skills in the water. Basically, how to mime things out. Funny as hell. After going through all that, we had a stress test. This stress test was pretty crazy, he was what we had to do. Cam and I had to switch over gear, under water while buddy breathing (buddy breathing is when you share one regulator between the two of you). No problem, or so I thought. I knew that my instructor would be doing something to us under the water, but I didn't know what. The test begins (our plan was to switch over mask, BCD, and then fins): all hell breaks lose, the instructor is removing our gear, unclipping our BCDs, turning off the air, ripping off our masks, everything she could think of to make it harder on us, she did it. Ended up with me "cheating" twice by using my reserve regulator to breath (I challenged her call on this one by say it was resourceful, and that I was solving my problem the way I was taught). Oh, I also got really pissed at her, so I gave her a really hard push so she would bugger off for at least a second for me to fix my gear. It was all good fun! I passed all the tests that day, so it was all good.

Aight guys, I've written all I can write now, here are some photos, enjoy!

Swimmers Digest

The week so far has gone super fast, and it's been just absolutely great! What can I say? I guess McDonalds got it right: "I'm loving it!"

Two days after diving I had some problems with my ears when I was coming back to the surface, it was as if I couldn't equalize up on the surface. Extreme pressure was on my right ear especially, which was super painful, and discomforting. And after a brief visit to the doctor, she told me that it was some water that was trapped behind my ear drum that was causing the problems. I've been given some medication that should take care of the problem, hopefully it will. But we'll see about that. So yesterday I was on board one of the boats helping out instead, and that was a lot of fun. Just helping a bunch of new kids with their gear, and then helping out on board the ship like changing the gas cans and what not. Did some sea kayaking too which was a, as everything else here, really chill. And after doing that for maybe 20 minutes, I was sweating through my t-shirt and thought it would feel great if I got in the water to cool down (it's about 17 degrees Celcius). I jump in without getting my head wet, and while I was in the water, Michelle, my DM instructor thought it would be a good chance for me to do one of the tests, and me being the dumb ass I am, I said, sure, why not!

The test was to thread water for 15mins, no problem I thought. I start, and then I realize I'm treading in salt water! Haha! Super easy man, no problem! That meant I could easily switch between my arms and legs and not get tired for a really long time! However, the only problem was that the water was only 17 degrees. Why is that bad? Because water is 21x as conductive as air (translates to you'll get colder in water 21x as fast than if you were in the open air), my plan was then to thread with both arms and legs to get my heat up, but at a very calm pace. After 12 minutes, Michelle decides to spice it up a bit by giving me two 1KG lead weights for me to hold on to. Yay. To spice it up even more, she tells me that I had to hold the lead weights above me head with my elbows not allowed to go underwater. That was tough. The first minutes felt like it had been 5 minutes, and then I ask how much time is left, while my head was bobbing up and down, gasping for air (trying to time my exhales and inhales) I hear the worst answer ever: "Uh...about 1 or 2 minutes?" I replied: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 1 OR 2 MINUTES?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!" She decides to give me 1 more minute, and I saw Ben another instructor close by and ask him to come by my side to grab me because I was about to collapse. Michelle begins to count down 15 seconds....10 seconds....5 seconds....3 and half seconds....DONE! I turn to Ben and drop my hands under the water, tread towards him and give him my weights, swim to boat, jump up onto the back and look like a dying seal on the back deck. But I did it, which was really good. And it felt good having done it on the spot. That was my near drowning experience for the week.

Oh, and I almost crashed into another car while driving over here! That was the 2nd most terrifying close encounter I've had while in a car. So I come around a corner, and then I see two cars in both lanes - both coming towards me! This winding road is a 100km/hr road (in Sweden it would of been a 50 road) so every car is going fast. Anyway, I come around the corner, see the cars, sh*t a brick, and slam on the brakes. I don't lock the brakes, but I gave it a nice hard push, start honking, and mentally start preparing my self for the impact and everything that would eventually follow. The car that was in the proper lane, slowed down too, and allowed the car doing the over taking to squeeze in a bit faster so disaster was avoided. And man, I was panting for dear life after that one. I was really pissed at the driver wondering what the hell she was thinking (yes it was a woman...no comment) and started to think that she was just a complete nutter. And while I was driving down a road, I almost put myself into a similar situation. It was a straight road, the car infront of me was doing 75 on a 100 road, so that was a bit annoying. I pop TM into 3rd gear, and start to accellerate, and then I start to over take the car. I know that there was turn up a head, which I had planned for, and I was expecting a car to come out of it how I would react to it. Bam! A car comes out, but I had planned it all pretty well, so there was nothing to worry about but I was thinking what would of have happened if I waited only 1 more second, then there would of have been a serious accident. Point of this story: If you're driving a '92 Toyota Corrolla with a butt load of miles on it, don't expect to be able to do any good over takings on a two laned road. I've learnt my lesson, I'm not going to do unless I can see for a very a long way a head.

Sweet as guys!

What else is new? Oh yeah, met a really cool girl from Kuwait who is doing a fellowship where she's given a bunch of money to travel the world for a year while doing some research. So she's bene traveling for quite a bit, swimming with sharks all over the world (her research was how different cultures view sharks, or something like that). I taught her some good card games that would help her along her travels (breaking the ice and what not), hopefully they'll be as useful for her as they have been for me.

Aight guys, that's it for now, and yeah, don't use the following ingrediants at the same time: garlic, onions, red bell pepper, carrot, beans in tomato sauce, and fresh tortillini. Most revolting things I've ever concocked. Ewwwwww!!!

Here are some pics your way!

Report from Whangarei

Hey guys! So much has happened since I last posted. I've met a bunch of people, and I'm now a qualified PADI Rescue Diver! Sweet!

I don't even know where to begin! Okay, how about my drive up here to start with.

Before I left Auckland, I got my backpack returned to me, fully repaired (excellent!) along with a nice 40L duffle bag as compensation for my troubles. When I left the drive way of my host there was a slight drizzle going on, and it just kept raining on and off for the next couple of hours, and got heavier too. But when I started getting closer to Tutukaka, and driving through the most winding roads ever (I felt like a rally driver in TM). And before I was at the apex of the hill over looking Tutukaka, it stops raining, and my eyes are met with one of the greatest views ever man! Seriously, you see a bit of the bay and all the surroundings, and wow, it was just heart warming guys, seriously. You have to come and check this place out!

The second I got down the harbour, I started to look for the dive shop and found it in a jiffy. Went in, introduced myself, and got everything sorted. Next stop: to find where I was going to crash. Found it without any bigger problems, and I was greeted by another diver who I was going to share the dorm with. He's a Kiwi who's pretty laid back (like all the other Kiwi's down here). After having settled in and took a small hike around the area, I thought it was time for some food. I ended up going to the most expensive place here! So for a 100 SEK, I got a steak burger (like a normal burger, but a real steak instead) and a beer. Not worth it in the long run to tell you the truth.

The next day I got to go and do some diving to get my dives up, which was a lot of fun. The visibility wasn't the greatest, but it was nice either which way. We entered Rico cave aswell, which is the world's largest bubble cave (with amazing acoustics, apparently there have been concerts in there!)

Anyway, there was a woman there who was also in my dorm whom I had been sharing the dorm with, and she had a small panic attack, and I talked to her later on the boat to see what happened. Anyway, she thought that I was so nice, and that I reminded her of her son, so she gave me 20 NZD (about 100 SEK). Weirdest thing!

The next couple of days I got started my Rescue Diver course, which I finished today. The course was pretty tough I must admit, but a lot of fun! Like how to handle people who are panicing under water, above water, how to retrieve unconscious divers underwater, and a bunch of other skills.

Also during those couple of days I got to meet a really nice couple who treated me to dinner! It was awesome! I got to taste some NZ crayfish (looks like a lobster just minus the pinchers). It`s an aquired taste, but I`m sure I can get used to it :D They gave me their phone number and told me to call them when I was done with my Dive Master course. I`m pretty sure I will, they were really cool, and really nice.

Today is my day off, and tomorrow I`m going to start with my Dive Master course. Really excited!

I don`t really know what to write guys, there`s a lot happening, but things that you have to be here to fully understand and appreciate.

Oh yeah, and Tutukaka in itself is a bloody ghost town at night. There`s nothing here but tourists. All the locals live in surrounds bays, so the only people I get to hang out with are people at the camp or at the local pub (too expensive). And most people are only here for a day or two only, so it kind of feels like my life at high speed. What I mean by that is that I meet all these great people, and then they have to leave! I expected that, but still, a bit tough (don`t worry dad, I`ll manage!)

But here are some more photos and words/phrases that I`ve learned down here:

Words & Phrases
dear - to be expsenive (Fruits and veggies are pretty dear)
sweet as - cool (you caught that, sweet as!)
dairy - convience store (you can buy some milk at the dairy, but it`s a bit dear)
done as a dogs dinner - all sorted or all done

Photos