I'm going to Oz guys and girls, I've bought my ticket and will be leaving April 24th, and will return the 30th of May. Sweet as!
That's all I wanted to say. Otherwise, life is great. But could be better with Ms. D by my side.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Time to leave - for a vacation
So, as I said, I was pretty down on saying good-bye/see-you-later to Ms. D, but good news guys, it won't be long until we meet again. It's probably going to be about 1 month until we meet each other again, and do some hardcore traveling together. "What on God's earth is he talking about?" is maybe what you're asking yourself. Well, what I'm referring too is that I'm 99.99999% certain that I'm going to jump over to Oz and spend about a month with Ms. D there. And when I fly home, she'll fly home with me, and then she'll be here for about another month (NZ that is), or two. And in total, with her doing the math, we'll have about another 3 months together!!! Yippy!
I'll most likely find somewhere to settle down after Oz, to start building up my buffer again (something I don't really have to do, but something I want to do). Then I'll most likely wave good bye to TM, because I'm spending more money on it than I planned (not repairs, but gas and what not). But we'll see, who knows what will happen. If you're lucky Ruffus, you'll get to cruise around in TM with me for a bit. If not, we'll sort it all out :D
But time is running out now, talk to you later!
I'll most likely find somewhere to settle down after Oz, to start building up my buffer again (something I don't really have to do, but something I want to do). Then I'll most likely wave good bye to TM, because I'm spending more money on it than I planned (not repairs, but gas and what not). But we'll see, who knows what will happen. If you're lucky Ruffus, you'll get to cruise around in TM with me for a bit. If not, we'll sort it all out :D
But time is running out now, talk to you later!
Monday, March 24, 2008
The end -
- for one of my many chapters in my life at least.
Ms. D left on the ferry this morning, and boy, was it hard letting go of her. Tears were streaming down both our faces when we departed. I think it's probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Why you may ask? Because, both of us were in love with each other, and totally infatuated by one another. Our last couple of days together were probably the best during our whole road trip. Did some camping in the Abel Tasman, where we had a fire, I found a sea horse in the water, did some small tramping, a lot of talking. It was the best simply put.
Last night she gave me two presents: a Maori necklace which symbolises eternal friendship, and a scrap book of pictures with the two of us together. Both of which were really good :D
Enough of the sappy sad stuff, eh?
Today I'm in Nelson, and I'm probably going to be here for the next week, just hanging out, sorting stuff out as to what I want to do with the rest of my time and where I want to go (read: slowly getting over Ms. D). Staying at a hostel that she had recommended, and I'll most likely be working for the accomodation (don't worry dad, still got some $$$ to spend, just doing it to cut down costs). And I picked up a hitchhiker around Picton and gave him a ride to Nelson too, so I guess we're gonna be hanging out for the next day or two, we'll see how it all unfolds, eh?
There's a bit more of what I could write as to what Ms. D and I have been up to, but as you can tell, it would be a bit embarressing to start crying over the keyboard right now, so I might write about it later. All you need to know is that I'm happy, and that I'll through this :D
See'ya guys,
Photos
Ms. D left on the ferry this morning, and boy, was it hard letting go of her. Tears were streaming down both our faces when we departed. I think it's probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Why you may ask? Because, both of us were in love with each other, and totally infatuated by one another. Our last couple of days together were probably the best during our whole road trip. Did some camping in the Abel Tasman, where we had a fire, I found a sea horse in the water, did some small tramping, a lot of talking. It was the best simply put.
Last night she gave me two presents: a Maori necklace which symbolises eternal friendship, and a scrap book of pictures with the two of us together. Both of which were really good :D
Enough of the sappy sad stuff, eh?
Today I'm in Nelson, and I'm probably going to be here for the next week, just hanging out, sorting stuff out as to what I want to do with the rest of my time and where I want to go (read: slowly getting over Ms. D). Staying at a hostel that she had recommended, and I'll most likely be working for the accomodation (don't worry dad, still got some $$$ to spend, just doing it to cut down costs). And I picked up a hitchhiker around Picton and gave him a ride to Nelson too, so I guess we're gonna be hanging out for the next day or two, we'll see how it all unfolds, eh?
There's a bit more of what I could write as to what Ms. D and I have been up to, but as you can tell, it would be a bit embarressing to start crying over the keyboard right now, so I might write about it later. All you need to know is that I'm happy, and that I'll through this :D
See'ya guys,
Photos
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Really quick.
Hey guys! I'm in Hamner Springs right now with Ms. D and just going to the thermal pools and just kicking back and soaking up the clouds!
Sumner was really nice, small town feeling right by the beach. Reminded me a bit of Spain, and a bit of Auckland (duh!).
We'll be leaving tomorrow along the 7 Highway northbound through Lewis's Pass, and do some camping along the way :D
But my time is up now, so I'll talk to you guys later, aight?
Have a good one, and take care!
Sumner was really nice, small town feeling right by the beach. Reminded me a bit of Spain, and a bit of Auckland (duh!).
We'll be leaving tomorrow along the 7 Highway northbound through Lewis's Pass, and do some camping along the way :D
But my time is up now, so I'll talk to you guys later, aight?
Have a good one, and take care!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Not dead just yet...
Hey guys, how you doing? All good I hope. I know it's been a while, but I've been up to quite a bit as you can imagine.
First off my mom and sister were here (as I've mentioned several times) which was great. We did a lot of things together, which got me exhausted really fast, since I wasn't used to that pace any more. That meaning I was so used to just hanging out at the hostel, maybe going to the beach, eating ice cream and what not. But then they came, and the pace became a lot more intense. We did several activities in Paihia which I've never done before, like: Dolphin cruises, day sailing, and eating-out-at-expensive-restaurants-while-dressed-like-a-beach-bum. The best was probably doing the day sailing because it was just so cruisey (no pun intended). We also headed up to Cape Reinga, and mom and the Troll had spent a day on a small island in the bay (Roberton Island) while I went on one final dive with Cam, which was just AMAZING!!! Caught another crey, which we ate that same day, which was also pretty yummy :D
We then headed down to Thames to meet up with Ms. D and do some small activities down there. Well, it ended up being a waste of time. Ms. D was there, and that was great, but there's not a whole to do in Thames, so the next day we drove to Hahei over the mountains, which was pretty much suicide for TM, but she made it through it. This is with all my stuff, my Fam's and Ms. D's gear. I was pretty impressed! Once we get to Hahei, we start looking for a place to stay, and we find a pretty nice place quickly, which was decently priced too. Get settled in and start figuring out what to do next. Well, Hahei didn't have a whole lot to offer either. We took a stroll along the beach which was near by to take some photos and so Rebecka could play in the water for a bit.
After Hahei, we start making our way to Rotorua after having dropped off Ms. D at Turonga so she could climb a Mt. Monganui. But ended up with her arriving to Rotorua the same day because some butt hole was going through her stuff when she got back from her hike. But Rotorua was a bit more exciting. We did the Zorb that I told you guys about! It was fun, but not worth the money you have to pay for it. Mom found an Asian Supermarket and bought some long sought after black noodles that she loves! So we had Asian night at our hostel (X-Base, which was crap, don't go there!). On the 2nd day, we went to the Tamaki Maori Village show, which was pretty fun. But the best part of the whole evening was probably the bus ride there and back. Our driver was called Tata, and he was just hilarious! He got the whole bus involved when were driving there. So, he got us to pretend we were in a waka (Maori canoe), and he was leading us, and we had to scream 'Hi!' after everything he said. He got us to sing songs from our nations. We drove in a round about several times while singing "She'll be coming around the mountain". And then we got to the round about by the police station, so he says "Okay, my cousies are working in there, so we have to do this quietly", so we sing softly the same song while in the round about. Man, there's so much more! He taught us how to say McDonald's in Maori, and wow, I really recommend it! Just for the bus ride alone it was worth it! Also, while we were driving we chose a Chief to represent us when we enter the village, and you can see in the photo how the chiefs are all lined up, and how they are challenged by the village warriors. And interestingly enough, Maori is the only culture where aggression is used to welcome a new tribe or challenge their peace. When they were done with that show, they let us walk through a Maori village, and gave us a show of a Haka. All of which was pretty impressive. I tried to get some good shots, but they were too far away.
After the show, they had prepared a bunch of food in a Hangi (Maori way of cooking food in the ground). It was an excellent feed!
We then had, as I mentioned, a very entertaining ride back home :D
The next morning, we all (Fam, Ms D and I) head out to the Luge. It's basically a small motor free go cart which has a small brake on it. It was a lot of fun, and damn is Ms. D good at it! I tried to beat her, but nope, no go at all, she's disturbingly fast in one of those!
At the end of that, it was time for my mom and sis to get on the bus to Auckland. Now I had volunteered to drive them to there, but my mom insisted that they take a bus, and hang out in Auckland for the remainder of the time while Ms. D and I head southwards. After saying good bye to them (which was awkward now that I think about it, they're on the other side of the globe now!) Ms. D and I sit in the car and start figuring out how to take ourselves south. We decided to stop at Waiotapu thermal springs, and check it out (interesting, good shots, not really worth the money). We drive through Taupo, and go into Pak'n Save, and low and behold, and I meet two guys I had met in Paihia who were pretty cool.
We then start heading further south, and decide to crash in the Tongariro National Park for one night, and then keep on moving the next day. And boy, the drive out there was just amazing! We saw Mt. Doom for LoTR (Lord of The Rings) and just amazing landscape! It makes me want to weep when I think about it.
Upon waking up, we get our stuff ready for the long drive down to Wellington, and along the way Ms. D kept on pointing out places where she hitch hiked from and other random things like that, it was pretty neat.
We finally get to Welli, and find a hostel where we could crash at, Wellywood Backpackers. We went to the movies there, and watched 10,000 BC. Save the money and rent it, that's all I'm going to say about that. Also had a falafel kebab that night: choice!
Wake up, get on the ferry, and make our way to Picton. After 1 movie (Hairspray) and a lot of cards, we finally arrive and start driving towards Hokitika. While we're driving, Ms. D is trying to find us a place to stay, and we ended up with no good results. So she starts looking on the map and starts to read it like I've never done before: looking at all the small icons on the pages. She sees a little spot where we could camp, I was a bit skeptical to it at first, but once we got there and checked it out, I was totally stoked! It was right next to a beautiful lake, with a mountain on the other side. You couldn't ask for more! And it only cost us 12NZD a night for the both of us! Sweet as! Next day we go to the iSite to pick up our Wildfoods Festival Tickets and get ready to eat some crazy foods.
We see the festival, and the vibe was just off the hook! People were dressed up in crazy customs, everyone was happy, and all was good! I don't really have a lot to say, because I'm too lazy (and because I'm losing feeling in my fingers from all this typing), but I'll tell you what I ate: Huuhuu grubs (tastes like peanut butter), mutton bird w/fried bread and golden syrup (salty and fatty, but good), Kangaroo (yummy), Crocodile (not too bad), cricket satay (crunchy), smoked eel (fatty and grainy), venison sausage (delicious), and finally a bunny burger (very tasty). On top of that we had some waffles and a Dutch doughnut! Yummy!!!
Oh yeah, on the 3rd night in Hoki, we crashed at a lodge to do some laundry and take a shower, and we had the whole place to ourselves! It was pretty wild man!
3 nights later, we start heading towards Christchurch via Arthur's Pass. Again, amazing scenery! Ms. D found another camping spot we could stay at, and it turned out to be just amazing! We set up camp, and I made a camp fire for us (only with one match bro!) and we had a nice dinner of pasta and tuna. The skies were super clear, and Ms. D and I found our own star, and we just hung out by the camp fire talking all night long. It was so nice man! I slept outside on my mattress and Ms. D stayed in the tent. I slept like a baby, except my face kept on freezing like no other, and so I woke up at around 5, fresh as rain, and decided to remake the fire again. This time I didn't use any matches! I just used two small coals from the previous fire and started a new fire with those. Man, I felt like such a bad ass. Who wouldn't, right?
In the morning I found out that Ms. D had been freezing the whole night, along with being awake the whole time while I had been awake. Ends up with me watching a beautiful sunrise and taking photos for the two of us.
Not a whole lot to say after that. We drove to another camp site which was pretty crap, but free, and ended up driving up half of a mountain, and putting TM to it's limits! We got a good view out of it, but waste of time and fuel.
We got to Christchurch yesterday, and found that all the hostels were fully booked, and finally found a place outside of ChCh in a small town called Sumner. It's so nice! Really fresh and homey feel to it. Going to take some photos of it so you can see what I'm talking about. And now I'm at the internet cafe destroying my fingers for you guys. And I've got some photos for you guys. But you're going to have to go to my web album to see them all: Ollie Doing NZ
In the mean time guys, I'm going to be hanging out with Ms. D and enjoying our time together and taking some great photos at the same time :D
Take care guys, I'll try and keep you posted...via smoke signals.
First off my mom and sister were here (as I've mentioned several times) which was great. We did a lot of things together, which got me exhausted really fast, since I wasn't used to that pace any more. That meaning I was so used to just hanging out at the hostel, maybe going to the beach, eating ice cream and what not. But then they came, and the pace became a lot more intense. We did several activities in Paihia which I've never done before, like: Dolphin cruises, day sailing, and eating-out-at-expensive-restaurants-while-dressed-like-a-beach-bum. The best was probably doing the day sailing because it was just so cruisey (no pun intended). We also headed up to Cape Reinga, and mom and the Troll had spent a day on a small island in the bay (Roberton Island) while I went on one final dive with Cam, which was just AMAZING!!! Caught another crey, which we ate that same day, which was also pretty yummy :D
We then headed down to Thames to meet up with Ms. D and do some small activities down there. Well, it ended up being a waste of time. Ms. D was there, and that was great, but there's not a whole to do in Thames, so the next day we drove to Hahei over the mountains, which was pretty much suicide for TM, but she made it through it. This is with all my stuff, my Fam's and Ms. D's gear. I was pretty impressed! Once we get to Hahei, we start looking for a place to stay, and we find a pretty nice place quickly, which was decently priced too. Get settled in and start figuring out what to do next. Well, Hahei didn't have a whole lot to offer either. We took a stroll along the beach which was near by to take some photos and so Rebecka could play in the water for a bit.
After Hahei, we start making our way to Rotorua after having dropped off Ms. D at Turonga so she could climb a Mt. Monganui. But ended up with her arriving to Rotorua the same day because some butt hole was going through her stuff when she got back from her hike. But Rotorua was a bit more exciting. We did the Zorb that I told you guys about! It was fun, but not worth the money you have to pay for it. Mom found an Asian Supermarket and bought some long sought after black noodles that she loves! So we had Asian night at our hostel (X-Base, which was crap, don't go there!). On the 2nd day, we went to the Tamaki Maori Village show, which was pretty fun. But the best part of the whole evening was probably the bus ride there and back. Our driver was called Tata, and he was just hilarious! He got the whole bus involved when were driving there. So, he got us to pretend we were in a waka (Maori canoe), and he was leading us, and we had to scream 'Hi!' after everything he said. He got us to sing songs from our nations. We drove in a round about several times while singing "She'll be coming around the mountain". And then we got to the round about by the police station, so he says "Okay, my cousies are working in there, so we have to do this quietly", so we sing softly the same song while in the round about. Man, there's so much more! He taught us how to say McDonald's in Maori, and wow, I really recommend it! Just for the bus ride alone it was worth it! Also, while we were driving we chose a Chief to represent us when we enter the village, and you can see in the photo how the chiefs are all lined up, and how they are challenged by the village warriors. And interestingly enough, Maori is the only culture where aggression is used to welcome a new tribe or challenge their peace. When they were done with that show, they let us walk through a Maori village, and gave us a show of a Haka. All of which was pretty impressive. I tried to get some good shots, but they were too far away.
After the show, they had prepared a bunch of food in a Hangi (Maori way of cooking food in the ground). It was an excellent feed!
We then had, as I mentioned, a very entertaining ride back home :D
The next morning, we all (Fam, Ms D and I) head out to the Luge. It's basically a small motor free go cart which has a small brake on it. It was a lot of fun, and damn is Ms. D good at it! I tried to beat her, but nope, no go at all, she's disturbingly fast in one of those!
At the end of that, it was time for my mom and sis to get on the bus to Auckland. Now I had volunteered to drive them to there, but my mom insisted that they take a bus, and hang out in Auckland for the remainder of the time while Ms. D and I head southwards. After saying good bye to them (which was awkward now that I think about it, they're on the other side of the globe now!) Ms. D and I sit in the car and start figuring out how to take ourselves south. We decided to stop at Waiotapu thermal springs, and check it out (interesting, good shots, not really worth the money). We drive through Taupo, and go into Pak'n Save, and low and behold, and I meet two guys I had met in Paihia who were pretty cool.
We then start heading further south, and decide to crash in the Tongariro National Park for one night, and then keep on moving the next day. And boy, the drive out there was just amazing! We saw Mt. Doom for LoTR (Lord of The Rings) and just amazing landscape! It makes me want to weep when I think about it.
Upon waking up, we get our stuff ready for the long drive down to Wellington, and along the way Ms. D kept on pointing out places where she hitch hiked from and other random things like that, it was pretty neat.
We finally get to Welli, and find a hostel where we could crash at, Wellywood Backpackers. We went to the movies there, and watched 10,000 BC. Save the money and rent it, that's all I'm going to say about that. Also had a falafel kebab that night: choice!
Wake up, get on the ferry, and make our way to Picton. After 1 movie (Hairspray) and a lot of cards, we finally arrive and start driving towards Hokitika. While we're driving, Ms. D is trying to find us a place to stay, and we ended up with no good results. So she starts looking on the map and starts to read it like I've never done before: looking at all the small icons on the pages. She sees a little spot where we could camp, I was a bit skeptical to it at first, but once we got there and checked it out, I was totally stoked! It was right next to a beautiful lake, with a mountain on the other side. You couldn't ask for more! And it only cost us 12NZD a night for the both of us! Sweet as! Next day we go to the iSite to pick up our Wildfoods Festival Tickets and get ready to eat some crazy foods.
We see the festival, and the vibe was just off the hook! People were dressed up in crazy customs, everyone was happy, and all was good! I don't really have a lot to say, because I'm too lazy (and because I'm losing feeling in my fingers from all this typing), but I'll tell you what I ate: Huuhuu grubs (tastes like peanut butter), mutton bird w/fried bread and golden syrup (salty and fatty, but good), Kangaroo (yummy), Crocodile (not too bad), cricket satay (crunchy), smoked eel (fatty and grainy), venison sausage (delicious), and finally a bunny burger (very tasty). On top of that we had some waffles and a Dutch doughnut! Yummy!!!
Oh yeah, on the 3rd night in Hoki, we crashed at a lodge to do some laundry and take a shower, and we had the whole place to ourselves! It was pretty wild man!
3 nights later, we start heading towards Christchurch via Arthur's Pass. Again, amazing scenery! Ms. D found another camping spot we could stay at, and it turned out to be just amazing! We set up camp, and I made a camp fire for us (only with one match bro!) and we had a nice dinner of pasta and tuna. The skies were super clear, and Ms. D and I found our own star, and we just hung out by the camp fire talking all night long. It was so nice man! I slept outside on my mattress and Ms. D stayed in the tent. I slept like a baby, except my face kept on freezing like no other, and so I woke up at around 5, fresh as rain, and decided to remake the fire again. This time I didn't use any matches! I just used two small coals from the previous fire and started a new fire with those. Man, I felt like such a bad ass. Who wouldn't, right?
In the morning I found out that Ms. D had been freezing the whole night, along with being awake the whole time while I had been awake. Ends up with me watching a beautiful sunrise and taking photos for the two of us.
Not a whole lot to say after that. We drove to another camp site which was pretty crap, but free, and ended up driving up half of a mountain, and putting TM to it's limits! We got a good view out of it, but waste of time and fuel.
We got to Christchurch yesterday, and found that all the hostels were fully booked, and finally found a place outside of ChCh in a small town called Sumner. It's so nice! Really fresh and homey feel to it. Going to take some photos of it so you can see what I'm talking about. And now I'm at the internet cafe destroying my fingers for you guys. And I've got some photos for you guys. But you're going to have to go to my web album to see them all: Ollie Doing NZ
In the mean time guys, I'm going to be hanging out with Ms. D and enjoying our time together and taking some great photos at the same time :D
Take care guys, I'll try and keep you posted...via smoke signals.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
sweet as, bro
The time has come, and I've finally left Paihia for quite some time now. I left today with mom and sis, and we drove down to Thames, which took us about 5 hours, not too bad. The family finally got to meet Ms. D, and my sister really likes her (thinks we should move in together) and mom likes her too. All good.
Heading over to Hahei tomorrow to do some sitting in at the Hot Water beach, so that's going to be a either a short drive or a long one, it all depends on which route we decide to take. After which we'll be heading down to Rotorua and try to do some fun activities down there as well. Speaking of which, did a dolphin viewing cruise, sailing cruise, diving trip with Cam and a trip up to Cape Reinga with mom and sis. It was choice. The sailing cruise was on a catamaran which was just unbelievable. We got catch our own mussels, and did some free diving and caught a kina to show mom how to eat. And on the dive with Cam, I caught another creyfish which I prepared for mom, and she liked it a lot.
View Larger Map
Thames by the way is a very small town with not a whole lot to offer. There's some activities in the area, but nothing too exciting. No real party town mind you. Going to be meeting Ms. D up there as well, but she's going to be getting a ride with a couple of Dutch guys because there's zero space in TM :( Speaking of which! I got new window wipers and a FM transmitter for my iPod for TM, and I'm super stoked! Woohoo! Letting the good times roll, with some theme music ;-P
Once my mom and sister leave, Ms. D and I are going on our own little adventure down to the South Island, to Hokitika.
View Larger Map
Why you ask? Because we're going to the Wild Foods Festival on the 8th! Boo-yah! We're gonna have some crazy things going down our throats that day, let me tell you. I'm going to try and take as many photos as possible so you can't saw I was lying about anything. I know you guys really won't think that, but you know what I mean.
Any way guys, gonna go grab some shut eye now. Sorry, no pics coming from this comp. Maybe later. Aight guys, ttyl!
Heading over to Hahei tomorrow to do some sitting in at the Hot Water beach, so that's going to be a either a short drive or a long one, it all depends on which route we decide to take. After which we'll be heading down to Rotorua and try to do some fun activities down there as well. Speaking of which, did a dolphin viewing cruise, sailing cruise, diving trip with Cam and a trip up to Cape Reinga with mom and sis. It was choice. The sailing cruise was on a catamaran which was just unbelievable. We got catch our own mussels, and did some free diving and caught a kina to show mom how to eat. And on the dive with Cam, I caught another creyfish which I prepared for mom, and she liked it a lot.
View Larger Map
Thames by the way is a very small town with not a whole lot to offer. There's some activities in the area, but nothing too exciting. No real party town mind you. Going to be meeting Ms. D up there as well, but she's going to be getting a ride with a couple of Dutch guys because there's zero space in TM :( Speaking of which! I got new window wipers and a FM transmitter for my iPod for TM, and I'm super stoked! Woohoo! Letting the good times roll, with some theme music ;-P
Once my mom and sister leave, Ms. D and I are going on our own little adventure down to the South Island, to Hokitika.
View Larger Map
Why you ask? Because we're going to the Wild Foods Festival on the 8th! Boo-yah! We're gonna have some crazy things going down our throats that day, let me tell you. I'm going to try and take as many photos as possible so you can't saw I was lying about anything. I know you guys really won't think that, but you know what I mean.
Any way guys, gonna go grab some shut eye now. Sorry, no pics coming from this comp. Maybe later. Aight guys, ttyl!
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