Glorious Morning

Today is a glorious day, for many reasons. Last night we stayed up late talking to some Germans and an American, but I still woke up early. I burned my thumb trying to start a gas burner, but that was okay, it woke me up. For breakfast, I ate an egg, which is something I don't eat very often. Also... this is the best part.... I FINISHED MY WEETABIX!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess as a slightly lower note, I finished my low fat berry yogurt as well, which was really gross. I don't care if low fat is cheaper, it is also grosser. But, back to the weetabix. For those of you that don't know, it is bran flakes in bar form. So you put it in milk and crush it up and eat it. It's not all that bad, but when you buy a 24 pack and eat it every morning, it gets kind of gross. There are many different ways to try (key word *try* meaning that success is not really achieved) to make it interesting. You can eat it in milk or yogurt. The plus side of eating it with yogurt is that it doesn't get soggy that quick, so you can eat it at a more leisurely pace (I'm pretty slow at eating in the morning). But, the downside is... if you bought some yogurt... say in a 1kg container and realized you didn't like it, you still have to finish it. Meaning: weetabix+ gross yogurt (strawberry or mixed berry)= gross breakfast. But, if you eat it with milk or yogurt and really want to spice it up, you may mix in bananas! That makes the flavors of those plain bran flakes really come out (not really, but it covers it up a bit). Or you can just eat the weetabix with milk and sugar. If you're feeling really adventurous (or flavour deprived), spreading peanut butter on each bar will really make it taste better. But... after writing all this, I can appreciate the fact that I will not be eating weetabix for a really long time, I will be finding a new, more interesting kind of cereal that will taste better and make me happier in the morning. Yesterday was good, we went to this cultural park called Te Puia to learn about Maori culture and go see geysers and boiling mud pools. Today will be better, because I have eaten an egg and finished my Weetabix. But... I am sure that tomorrow will be best, because I will be having toast with peanut butter for breakfast!!!!!!!!!

Uncomfortable Bus Rides, the Pinnacles, and Overeating

So... it's been a while. We went to Thames a while ago. On the bus ride, I took a seat with some guy because the bus was pretty full. I never realized how big he was until I sat next to him. He was huge, he took up almost two seats! So, I was already seated, so I couldn't move without being rude. I spent the whole two hour bus ride half in the aisle with my arms crossed. My music distracted me until it died. Thames was pretty nice. The hostel was really close and the town has about 10 000 people. The next day, we got a ride out to a hike. It was a hike to the Pinnacles, these rock formations that were originally plugs for volcanoes. Now, after erosion, only the pinnacles remain. The walk would have been okay, but there were thousands of steps cut into the stone. They had been made for horses when the area was used for forestry. Walking uphill on steps is different than just walking uphill on rocks. You have to think about it more, it seems like more work. So the steps were a bit of a challenge, but the scenery was beautiful nonetheless. Then, to get to the top, there were 627 (we counted) wooden steps. It was difficult, but totally worth it when we got to the top. The Pinnacles were gorgeous and you got such a good view from the top. After the Pinnacles, the hike kind of dragged out. Most of the way down was downhill and we'd already seen the highlight of the hike. But at the end, we got to relax by the river and wait to be picked up. We also got to go out for ice cream, which was awesome. I got goody-goody gum drop ice cream, New Zealand's equivalent of bubble gum. It is sooooooo good! Then we went back to the hostel and ate sweet potatoes (kumara they call them), cauliflower, and tomato sandwiches. We also met a Scottish surfer guy who talked a lot about rugby. The next morning, I woke up early and tried to use up some apples that I bought that were bad (no wonder they were in a bag and were cheap). I also donated some clothes to the Salvation Army, I definitely overpacked. When the girls were up, we hit the farmer's market and bought a few Christmas presents. Then we headed back to the hostel to wait for our bus. I was bored, so the Scottish guy taught me how to play this Maori game called "poi". It involves spinning around hacky sacks on chains and crossing them over. It was a lot of fun, but was a lot of work. That took up about an hour and a half. With still extra time, I went in search of a piano to play, but very few churches are open on Saturday, so I couldn't find anything. Then we took the bus to Hahei. The next day we headed out to Hot Water Beach, my first hitchhiking experience. But it was totally okay, we had shovels so I could have hurt anyone weird who picked us up. The beach was much hotter than I anticipated. We had to dig a cold hole of water and divert the hot stream into it. Even then we almost burned ourselves. After getting back, we walked to Cathedral Cove, this gorgeous white sand beach. It was really nice. We hung out with some new people at the hostel that night, eating and reading trashy magazines. I made some tortilla chips, which weren't half-bad. Plus, we gave this German girl peanut butter for the first time! It was crazy, but she really liked it. Today we caught a bus to Tauranga. For dinner, we found this Chinese restaurant. You buy a container and fill it to the max with food. I ate it all. So now I feel really full and bloated, but full nonetheless. Tomorrow we're headed out to Rotorua to spend a couple of days. Then Raglan next, to learn how to surf. I'm pretty excited about that. Everyone in the hostel right now is watching "Family Guy". I think it is more popular here than in Canada! Anyways, wish me luck in downsizing my luggage more.

Bike Problems and Seven Hour Bus Rides

So... we're still in Paihia. I think it's my favorite place so far, it's not too big, everything is close, and people are pretty nice. Yesterday, we decided to take advantage of our hostel's free bikes and kayaks. We biked out at about ten in the morning. We had barely gotten out of town when my chain fell off. I stopped, and tried to put it back on, but it was jammed! Sydney, Bretton, and I worked on it for a while, but to no avail. So we biked (I walked) back into town and hit the mechanic. He fixed it much quicker, only needing a socket wrench and a little pulling. He did it for free too! It was really nice. We decided to continue on the condition that I could not switch into first gear. That would be easy enough in Canada, but in New Zealand? It was harsh. There are so many ups and downs... at least I got a really good workout. But I was looking at everything by thinking of the way back. So if I was going down a hill, I was thinking about how hard it would be to get back up. But luckily, we chose a different route back. We saw Haruru Falls, which were alright. Then we went back, got groceries (I bought chocolate), and then went to the beach to go kayaking. It was a relaxing day after that. But I think I ate so much dark chocolate that I couldn't sleep last night. So... I was totally exhausted for our tour to Cape Reinga today. It was really good, we drove on 90 mile beach, right on the beach. It was beautiful! Other than the really long drive and the fact that my mp3 player decided to die, it was amazing. We went sandboarding on the sand-dunes. That was awesome, but we were totally covered in sand for the rest of the day. We had pasta with a white sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions, and brocolli today. It was pretty good. We're getting ready to leave for Thames tomorrow, I think it's a four hour bus ride. But everything is pretty good, the weather has been quite nice. I'm just trying to get rid of a lot of clothes right now, I definitely packed too heavy. Anyways... I'll talk to you all again soon. Hope all is well.

Volcanic Islands and Motion Sickness

Hi everyone. It's been a bit, I couldn't find decent internet access for a while. So... the day after my first day at Auckland, we went for a hike on Rangitoto Island, which is a ferry ride across. Rangitoto Island is a dead volcanic site. It has black rocks everywhere and some caves. Anyways, it was a kind-of exploration day. You could take many different tracks and travel to different parts of the island. We visited a old war barrack thing. The vegetation was gorgeous, there were these little cactus things all over with flowers growing out of them. There were also some caves, one of which you could walk through, which was nice. And... on the way back, we saw an orca whale, in the harbor! It was really cool. The next day, I woke up at five in the morning (which is starting to be a regular occurence) and could not get back to sleep. So I packed and practiced some scales, arpeggios, and "twinkle twinkle" on the guitar at the hostel. Then we caught a bus to Whangarei. Did you know that "wh" is pronounced like "f"? So it's "fangaray". Anyways, I was so intelligent and booked a hostel five kilometres from town. They offered free pick-up from the bus station, but we would have to get into town ourselves. But when we got there, it was actually quite nice, we were the only ones in the dorms and the owner showed us all these walking trails past Whangarei Falls. The trails provided pretty good access to town. So we walked in and stocked up on food, then pretty much relaxed for the rest of the day. The next day we walked into town again and checked out the Info-Centre, inquiring about diving and snorkeling for the next day. After looking up some information, we went to "ArtBeat", a music/art festival. It was really nice and relaxing. We also stopped by a music store, so I could get my piano fix for the day. I got to play on three different pianos, including one grand! It was very nice. We stopped by a grocery store to pick up some staple foods. But I confess... I bought two extra things that were definitely not necessary. I bought apricot jam, because a plain peanut butter sandwich can get kind of boring after a while. Plus... some aged cheddar cheese. I really love cheese, it adds so much to food, so I think that was a necessary extra. We had pasta (with tomatoes, asparagus, and cheese) and avocado salad (made by me and not half bad). Our cooking skills have definitely been improving. Also, did I mention that we had meat the nice before? That was definitely nice. So, on Sunday we went snorkeling and Sydney went diving. We had a bit of a drive to get in the boat, but it was quite pleasant. This was to be my first snorkeling experience, so I was nervous. We had to sign waivers, even though I am not eighteen, I signed my own. They didn't even ask for ID! I have been surprised by how easy it is to get across the world when you're not eighteen. If you have money and want to run away, nobody is going to stop you. Anyways, the boat ride to The Poor Knight Islands where we were snorkeling was about 45 minutes. We saw two dolphins on the way out. The crew talked about the origin of the island name and such, but what I found most interesting is that almost no one is allowed on these islands. The only people are conservation staff and scientists. They want to preserve the islands from humans. It was said that since almost no humans have set foot on the island, many species have adapted and evolved to become much different. Apparently there are grasshoppers the size of your hand and millipedes over 25 cm long! But I was thinking about how it may be free from direct human contact, humans still have affected the island. Through air pollution, water contamination, etc... they have still changed it. I wonder what the island would be like if there were no effect. Anyways, we all got suited up with wetsuits, fins, masks, and snorkels, then we jumped in. The water wasn't bad, but after a while it got pretty cool. I had to get the hang of the snorkel, so I drank a bit of salt water when I started. But the views! It was amazing!!!!!!! There were fish all around me and so many little organisms floating around in the water. I just kind of floated around in the bay, not really moving myself. But after a while, I started to feel really nauseous. I was thinking, it's mental, just ignore it. So Bretton and I went out further. We saw more stuff and it was really pretty, but then, I started to feel really sick. It told Bretton, so we started to head back. Halfway back, I got sick. At the Poor Knight Islands, renowned for some of the best diving and snorkeling, I got sea sick! I felt pretty ridiculous, I didn't even know it was possible to get sea sick from snorkeling. So we went back, warmed up, ate lunch, then headed back out for a bit more. We got to go through some caves, it was beautiful! Some parts were really shallow, so you could touch all the plants and anemones! Also, we saw a seal, it was so close! It was just swimming and flipping around, having fun. So... I guess overall, snorkeling was completely worth it. I had an amazing time, even if I have a weak stomach. We got back to our hostel at about 5:30. There's this guy at the hostel that always is listening to music. Seriously, he carries a radio with him while he walks. So while he was taking a shower, he had his radio on. I heard him singing along, so I sang with him. It was pretty funny. So today, we headed up to Paihia (which is really hard to pronounce. I think you say it "pie-hea"). We've barely been here, but I love it already. The ocean borders the town and the hostel is big and really clean. I'm missing my flute and the piano, but it's still good. Scrambled eggs with add-ins for supper! I hope I'm not leaving anything out. Anyways, hope all is well with you guys back in Canada! And don't forget to comment.

My Amazing and Terrible First Day

So... I'm in Auckland now. I can definitely say that 13 hour flights are not as bad as one might think, but that may be because of the extensive music and movie choice of our flight (83 movies and 212 albums!). So after we first arrived we had to go through customs. Since I had hiking boots, I had to have them inspected in the biological inspection area. Once I passes, we got our bags x-rayed. Then I, of course, was selected for a "random" search (in case you were wondering, it's always me) of my bag. That tends to freak me out since I'm kind of on my own for traveling. But I got through. So when we were trying to figure out what bus to take to get to our hostel, my backpack zipper broke (just the carry-on one). It broke enough so that it was completely open. So after taking the bus (awesome ride, amazing views) we had to walk to our hostel, which I thought was a couple of blocks away. We start walking, and I suddenly heard the sound of cloth dragging. Bretton's rolly suitcase wheel was broken. That sucked, but we somehow got it working enough to pull. So it's hot and I barely got any sleep on the plane We had one heck of a walk ahead of us. And it was uphill most of the way. By the time we finally reached blasted Parnell, I had sweat dripping off of me. So we dropped off our bags, changed, ate, check in, and then went out for a walk to do a couple of errands. I used up a large chunk of my money by buying 55 hours on a bus for *gasp* $559 NZ! Yeah, it kills me too. Then I had to buy a replacement backpack so we went to this army surplus store with actual army backpacks. I bought a cheap powerade backpack. We also went to an info centre and called home during this time. So this story is in super speed. We had been walking for a while, so we decided it was time to go back to the hostel, but first buying groceries. When you've never really done that for yourself, it's kind of weird. What do I need/want? How much do I need. I bought a lot of on sale things, but I still think that it will take me a while to finish a 1kg tub of yogurt. I think I will temporarily have to stop eating meat though, it's already so expensive, how can I afford it? I was jealously eyeing up this guy's steak tonight while I ate my pasta with tomato sauce and carrots. Oh well, the price we pay for freedom. On the way back from the grocery store, we got lost. Carrying heavy groceries, that was not fun, especially when the walk is all uphill (no lie). Anyways, I'm hoping to get a lot of sleep tonight and somehow stop spending any money. Did I mention that I have a flaming sunburn all over my face and arms? But Auckland is amazing, and we're going swimming tomorrow! All my expectations for this trip have been ruined, but in all the right ways. Talk to you soon, we're listening to the Beach Boys right now.

Before I Leave

Okay... so my blog is all set up and I'm ready to leave. I've repacked way too many times, tried to downsize, remembered more things... in short, my backpack weighs 32 pounds. It could be difficult for me to carry and I'm sincerely hoping that by some act of God, the weight will not affect me, or that I will have more room in my bag. Whatever the case, I am seeing the possibly of back problems in the future. So... I'm leaving tomorrow and am hoping for the best. I have discussed the fact with many people that although this might not be a good experience (which I hope it will be), it will be an experience, and that's what I've asked for. So... wish me luck! Next time I talk to you guys I'll be in California or New Zealand, so prepare for the unknown.