12 March 2009

I have been in New Zealand for just over a week now. I haven't had much of a chance to write yet, as I have been very busy doing lots of things. I have been meeting a ton of great people also. So far, I haven't seen anything stunningly beautiful in NZ, but it is nice. Lots of green, rolling hills, and pastures. I am on the North Island right now in a town called Taupo for the night with a friend.
Day 1: I got pounced by a beagle at the airport waiting for my luggage. His owner was a Customs official. He asked if I had any fruit in my bag. I told him that I had just eatin a banana and that's probably what the dog smelled. Then he looked in my bag and I remembered that the airline gave me an plum sized apple. I said, "oh wait, I do have a little apple". He replied that had I not told him, I would have been in trouble and would have had to pay a fine. Good thing I remembered. Not like I was really trying to smuggle an apple into New Zealand. Heck, it probably came from New Zealand. Then I hung out with an English girl, Charlotte, whom I met at the airport. Went to the Skytower, Kelly Tarlton Antarctic Exhibition something or other.
Day 2 Hung out with Charlotte again for a bit then I did the Coast to Coast hike through Auckland. It's 10 miles from the Tasman Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Halfway through, I met a Swiss guy, Urs, who was also doing it, so we chatted the rest of the way and finished together.

Day 3: Didn't do a whole lot because it was raining, but hung out with a couple, Matt and Jess, from Auckland who I met in Otovalo, Ecuador.
Day 4: I went to Waitomo Caves, in a very, very quiet part of the country and went tubing through a cave full of glow worms. Chatted mostly with a German girl, Carina, then a Canadian girl, Jill, and a French guy, Paskel. We all went to the one bar in the village, Curly's ,for a few hours.
Day 5: Off to Rotorua, I stayed with a girl, Erin, I met in Norway as we were both exchange students at the same school back in 2000-1. We went to a BBQ. I stayed there (Erin's) one night, then I stayed with her parents for the next several nights where I met a guy from Philli, Chris.

Day 6: Still in Rotorua, hung out with Carina because she was in Rotorua a couple days as well. We walked around the town, along the lake and a place called sulfur point. Rotorua is a geothermal hot zone, so there are hot springs and vents through out the city. Then Erin had some people out to an Indian restaurant because she was leaving in a couple of days for Santiago, Chile to see South America for five months. Next night at Lorraine and John's (Erin's parents), I met a couple from Slovakia, Luca and Sasha.

Day 7: Carina persuaded me to go for a horse back ride. That was fun considering that I haven't been on a horse since I was 15. The people who owned the ranch, own the gray horse that starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. After that, I went mountain biking on some world class (to me) trails right in town with one of Erin's roommates, Morgan.

Day 8: Erin's mother drove her up to Auckland to get on her plane. I rode Erin's brother's mountain bike around Lake Rotorua, 26 mi (42 km). I took a nap after that. Later, Lionie, another roommate off Erin's, offered to take me to another BBQ. I met several more people there, in particular, Marcus who has been showing me much of the area in the last couple days.

Day 9: Marcus took me to Tauranga, on the Pacific Coast. It was nice, but VERY windy. We hiked up this little hill they have there. He wanted to do some rock climbing. I didn't have any climbing shoes, so I just went bare foot. It wasn't anything too difficult. He showed me how to make cheese and spaghetti toasties, and he exposed me to feijoa. That night I cooked the only thing I know for Lorraine and John, spaghetti. It wasn't the best, but I gave it my best. I suppose I haven't cooked it in a very long time though. After dark, Marcus took me to this place about 30 mins. south of town the locals call Hot & Cold. It's an area where a hot spring joins with a river. It's great! You just sit wherever you feel most comfortable, and it can get HOT!

Day 10: Marcus took me running and around Blue Lake (5 km), then for a swim in the clean, clear, cold water. On our way to Taupo we went to Wai-O-Tapu which they call a thermal wonderland. It was cool, but I've been to Yellowstone, that is better.

Tomorrow, we are going biking again. Back to Rotorua for a night and off again. I will be going to Taurangi with John to climb some mountain with a Maori name I can never pronounce, and then to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. I will be meeting with my friend Andrea, from Texas, who I met in Ecuador, and now NZ, but never in our own country. We will be touring around a bit together as we are both on similar plans, The No Plan Plan.
Things I have noticed since I've been here:
MUST look right, then left; not left, then right when crossing a road.
Sitting in the "passenger seat" aka the driver's seat to us.
Round-Abouts!!! These are ingenious, why can't the US use more of these?
Typically you see a yield and not a stop sign. Who needs to stop anyway?
Very narrow, winding roads. Mostly tar and chip.
Fuel starts at 91 octane. NZ$1.63/liter, X 3.785 (to make gallons) = NZ$6.17/gal / 2 (exchange rate) = US$3.09/gal not too bad.
Small cars!!! Do you really need your SUV or huge truck?
Internet sucks here for being a developed country.
Innovative and cool things, in order to have electricity in a hotel room, you stick your key card in this little device next to the door. That acts as a main power switch. Pull it out when you leave, otherwise you lock yourself out. Get it? Think about it, this ensures you turn the lights out when you leave your room. Very cool. Why can't we have things like that?
Cool toilets with a little button and a big button. Little is for little business and the big one, well... Conserve water with most flushes, brilliant!
2:1 exchange rate!!! Okay, so maybe it's not Southeast Asia or anything, but it's cheap! Maybe it's because things cost more in Alaska, but I find myself paying what I would at home, or less, only you cut it half half when you've converted it to US$. Cheap beer, cheap food, cheap rooms...
I'm only three hour behind Alaska, just a day ahead!
People recycle A LOT! They also compost A LOT! They turn off lights when not using them, they turn off water when not needed. They hang dry clothes.
They use these cool two drawer dish washers. You can wash one drawer and keep filling the other.
Not sure about a lot of the country, but Auckland seems to be VERY multicultural. LOTS of different people from all over SE Asia, India, other various parts of the world.
The 220 volt electricity uses a different power plug.

Words:
Our English - There English
hiking - tramping
trail - track
big truck - lorry
trunk - boot
wind shield - wind screen
sandals - jandals
rappelling - abseiling
dinner - tea
gas - petrol

...and many others.


These are a few things. I could probably ramble on longer if I wanted. But for now, that's it.
I hope everything is going well with everyone. I hope to hear from you soon,