Driving on the left hand side of the road, for a left supremist like myself, is fantastic! I got my first chance the other night after a lovely supper at my boss' friend's house. It was dark. It was a gravel road. I nailed it! Score one for female drivers everywhere. Ladies, if you are counting, we are now nearing positive numbers. I do what I can for our fragile sex.
I have also had multiple opportunities to swim in the fantastically salt ocean. I still can't get over how salty it is. Today I went snorking at Goat Island Marine Reserve. The reserve is about a 30 minute walk from my house and is uphill as much as possible. Regardless, it's a walk I thoroughly enjoy. While snorking, I saw Snappers, fishes of unknown names, and a ton of jellyfish. I petted 4 jellyfish (well I touched 4 and had a massive panic attack each time) and had the opportunity to touch many more. However, I was totally not sure if they were poisonous, ouchy, or just generally nontouchable so I avoided them as much as physically possible. Which! It turns out, is difficult to do when the tide is going out and they all end up at the waters edge. In the end, I found out that that particular kind of jelly fish is quite harmless and my panic was completely... stupid.
Other than relaxing, swimming, and tanning, I am still working on renovating the bathroom. We were waiting for the plumber to show up and change the piping (pipeing?, who knows, who cares) but he got sick so we decided to do it ourselves. Thus far we are two woman conquering a bathroom with little to no problems. I must say, it's freaking awesome. I've sanded, cut, replaced, filled, hacked, and just about every other carpentry and plumber related adverb out there. It's really coming along and I'm having a ton of fun. I think a career change maybe be in order. I'm thinking I'll be a travelling plumber and just go around the world fixing stuff and swimming and tanning and fixing more stuff. Yes? Yes!
Hmmmmmmmmmm, well that was a ridiculously short update... but I think it covers the basics. Good driver, great swimmer, rockin' tan getter, superb plumber, and killer traveller. Adjectives away!
Continue in my shoes women of the world.
Julia
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Supercalifragulisticexpealadosous
I love the ocean. I have decided that I cannot live without water around me.
Today I went on a beautiful cliff walk with the lady I'm staying with and her neighbour. The hike took us about 30 minutes and completely took my breath away. Part of the windedness came from running 100 stairs 3 times (600 stairs total), and the other part can from the fact that there are just so many hills in this country. It was absolutely worth it though. The views were amazing, and I haven't had anything resembling a work out in way too long. It's really quite disconcerting. I should get on that.
After our beautiful walk/run/stairs experience, I came back to the house and put together 4 window screens to keep buggies out at night. Unfortunately, these things are incredibly frustrating and annoying and stupid and... and... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But! I managed to do it. My fingers still hurt from pushing pieces together. I guess when the Asian manufacturers designed and made these DIY (do it yourself) window screens they didn't account for the fact that the screen, which goes inbetween the plastic cover and the magnetic strip, takes up space and made the plastic cover and magnetic strip fit perfectly together. Thus, I spent 4 insane hours jamming pieces together that were not designed to be jammed. Can I get an ouch ouch? Ouch! Ouch!
As a reward for completing the window covers, and to finish my hours for the day, I went with the daughter on a nature hike. She is such a cutie. She taught me about rocks and plants. She informed me on how the rivers change and the tides flow. She showed me all her secret spots. And more importantly, informed me that Supercalifragulisticexpealadosous is harder to spell than Mississippi. Good to know!
The rest of my day was spent vegging out, munching on these granola bar square type things, watching project runaway and chilling with the daughter whilst watching 101 Dalmations. It was a good day.
I'm about to finalize the plans for my next job (which I'm being warned sounds a bit like a rip off. But might as well give it a go. It could be fun). I should be heading back to Auckland area between Sunday and Wednesday. I'll keep all you cool cats posted cause I know you are all waiting breathlessly to find out what happens next. Haha.
Much love and work on your spelling.
Julia
Today I went on a beautiful cliff walk with the lady I'm staying with and her neighbour. The hike took us about 30 minutes and completely took my breath away. Part of the windedness came from running 100 stairs 3 times (600 stairs total), and the other part can from the fact that there are just so many hills in this country. It was absolutely worth it though. The views were amazing, and I haven't had anything resembling a work out in way too long. It's really quite disconcerting. I should get on that.
After our beautiful walk/run/stairs experience, I came back to the house and put together 4 window screens to keep buggies out at night. Unfortunately, these things are incredibly frustrating and annoying and stupid and... and... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But! I managed to do it. My fingers still hurt from pushing pieces together. I guess when the Asian manufacturers designed and made these DIY (do it yourself) window screens they didn't account for the fact that the screen, which goes inbetween the plastic cover and the magnetic strip, takes up space and made the plastic cover and magnetic strip fit perfectly together. Thus, I spent 4 insane hours jamming pieces together that were not designed to be jammed. Can I get an ouch ouch? Ouch! Ouch!
As a reward for completing the window covers, and to finish my hours for the day, I went with the daughter on a nature hike. She is such a cutie. She taught me about rocks and plants. She informed me on how the rivers change and the tides flow. She showed me all her secret spots. And more importantly, informed me that Supercalifragulisticexpealadosous is harder to spell than Mississippi. Good to know!
The rest of my day was spent vegging out, munching on these granola bar square type things, watching project runaway and chilling with the daughter whilst watching 101 Dalmations. It was a good day.
I'm about to finalize the plans for my next job (which I'm being warned sounds a bit like a rip off. But might as well give it a go. It could be fun). I should be heading back to Auckland area between Sunday and Wednesday. I'll keep all you cool cats posted cause I know you are all waiting breathlessly to find out what happens next. Haha.
Much love and work on your spelling.
Julia
Monday, November 22, 2010
Blog-ity blog blog
HELLO!
ROAR!
Bet you are surprised to hear from me. It's been a while.
Well my lovelies, I haven't been up to too much. Auckland was rainy for a couple days and I was nursing an ouchie foot/leg and sunburn so I stayed inside for a day or two. When I did get out, it was just to wander with some friends from the hostel and their other random friends. Generally I've been out walking for at least 7 hours a day and doing a random activity as well. For instance, I played 36 holes of mini golf against Richard and Jolan (a Swiss guy who showed up at the hostel a couple days ago). On the first 18 holes I totally kicked butt and placed 2nd of 3 by only 1 point. Richard took the win (and good thing too cause he's a self-proclaimed "sore loser" and I got a hint of his wrath when I drained a couple hole in ones haha). Hmmmmmmmm, other than that it's been a slow couple days. I went to an outdoor fair called the Greylyn Festival with lots of live music, and shops and stuff. Then I hit a couple house parties and the bar. Thankfully my friends from the hostel aren't really big drinkers so we just ran around and had basically sober fun. I also met a super sweet guy from Canada named Joe. Classic! Oh! Did I tell you I went swimming in the ocean? That was cool...
Ok! So let's talk about now since I can't remember the past. I've got a job in Leigh (see pics) doing a bathroom renovation and whatever else my lovely host asks me too do. I came up here yesterday. Remco was kind enough to drive me the hour long ish journey though we made it into a day trip. We stopped at a couple beaches and regional parks. It was absolutely beautiful. We climbed a mountain like thinger, more like a beach cliff. Gosh. We just wandered so many beaches and such an insane amount of beautiful countryside. It's really too much for words.
Today I got up and had breakfast and started sanding down the walls in the bathroom. The old whatever had been torn off the walls and all that remained was rough plaster and this brown oozey looking stuff. It took me about and hour and a half to get it in tip top shape. As I was cleaning up, Cath (the lady I'm staying with) came running in looking a touch frantic and yelled at me to come quickly there were dolphins at the beach! We jumped in the car, drove 4 blocks, and got out to see about 20 dolphins in the bay. They were swimming within 20 feet of the beach. It was absolutely incredible. I waded in a bit and they continued to swim close to the beach. Two swam by me about 10 feet away. There were two ladies swimming when the dolphins first came in and they were so close that I swear they could touch them. I was so jealous. Cath took a ton of pictures of the whole thing but as we were leaving she realized that there was no memory card in the camera so there's no record of the whole thing (other than in my head). Which I suppose is record enough. When we got back to the house, we had lunch and then tore out the bathtub. That was pretty cool. Just me and this wicked awesome lady I met less than 24 hours ago taking a crow bar to a bar tub. Fun times for sure! After that I filled some wholes in the wall, vacuumed up all the mouse droppings from where the tub had been and blitzed down to the beach to shower in the ocean! The water is WAY saltier than I ever expected and I love it. I did some tanning at the beach too and then after drying in the sun I went on a 5km walk to Goat Island Marine Reserve (it's a regional park type thing with a gorgeous beach and kayaking! I'm hoping I can kayak with some hostel friends this weekend). The walk down to Goat Island was incredible. The sun was literally streaming from the sky (see pics for reference) and everything was so vibrant looking. I finally rolled back into town around 7, had dinner, watched tv, put up pics on FB and wrote this blog. I suspect tomorrow with be very similar to today. Hopefully it will anyway.
I would like to close this blog with a 10 Things I Know About New Zealand list
1. Every outlet has an on/off switch
2. The colours here are so ridiculously bold it makes your head spin
3. The sun is completely here different than in Canada
4. Kiwi's are the nicest people!
5. My hostel (K Road City Travellers in Auckland) was the best hostel in the Auckland area
6. Beaches are everywhere and are definitely not created equal
7. There are way too many hills in this country (Love it!)
8. The dolphins are as friendly as the people
9. The roads are a billion times better than the ones in Saskatchewan
10. New Zealand rocks my socks
The End and Goodnight.
Julia
ROAR!
Bet you are surprised to hear from me. It's been a while.
Well my lovelies, I haven't been up to too much. Auckland was rainy for a couple days and I was nursing an ouchie foot/leg and sunburn so I stayed inside for a day or two. When I did get out, it was just to wander with some friends from the hostel and their other random friends. Generally I've been out walking for at least 7 hours a day and doing a random activity as well. For instance, I played 36 holes of mini golf against Richard and Jolan (a Swiss guy who showed up at the hostel a couple days ago). On the first 18 holes I totally kicked butt and placed 2nd of 3 by only 1 point. Richard took the win (and good thing too cause he's a self-proclaimed "sore loser" and I got a hint of his wrath when I drained a couple hole in ones haha). Hmmmmmmmm, other than that it's been a slow couple days. I went to an outdoor fair called the Greylyn Festival with lots of live music, and shops and stuff. Then I hit a couple house parties and the bar. Thankfully my friends from the hostel aren't really big drinkers so we just ran around and had basically sober fun. I also met a super sweet guy from Canada named Joe. Classic! Oh! Did I tell you I went swimming in the ocean? That was cool...
Ok! So let's talk about now since I can't remember the past. I've got a job in Leigh (see pics) doing a bathroom renovation and whatever else my lovely host asks me too do. I came up here yesterday. Remco was kind enough to drive me the hour long ish journey though we made it into a day trip. We stopped at a couple beaches and regional parks. It was absolutely beautiful. We climbed a mountain like thinger, more like a beach cliff. Gosh. We just wandered so many beaches and such an insane amount of beautiful countryside. It's really too much for words.
Today I got up and had breakfast and started sanding down the walls in the bathroom. The old whatever had been torn off the walls and all that remained was rough plaster and this brown oozey looking stuff. It took me about and hour and a half to get it in tip top shape. As I was cleaning up, Cath (the lady I'm staying with) came running in looking a touch frantic and yelled at me to come quickly there were dolphins at the beach! We jumped in the car, drove 4 blocks, and got out to see about 20 dolphins in the bay. They were swimming within 20 feet of the beach. It was absolutely incredible. I waded in a bit and they continued to swim close to the beach. Two swam by me about 10 feet away. There were two ladies swimming when the dolphins first came in and they were so close that I swear they could touch them. I was so jealous. Cath took a ton of pictures of the whole thing but as we were leaving she realized that there was no memory card in the camera so there's no record of the whole thing (other than in my head). Which I suppose is record enough. When we got back to the house, we had lunch and then tore out the bathtub. That was pretty cool. Just me and this wicked awesome lady I met less than 24 hours ago taking a crow bar to a bar tub. Fun times for sure! After that I filled some wholes in the wall, vacuumed up all the mouse droppings from where the tub had been and blitzed down to the beach to shower in the ocean! The water is WAY saltier than I ever expected and I love it. I did some tanning at the beach too and then after drying in the sun I went on a 5km walk to Goat Island Marine Reserve (it's a regional park type thing with a gorgeous beach and kayaking! I'm hoping I can kayak with some hostel friends this weekend). The walk down to Goat Island was incredible. The sun was literally streaming from the sky (see pics for reference) and everything was so vibrant looking. I finally rolled back into town around 7, had dinner, watched tv, put up pics on FB and wrote this blog. I suspect tomorrow with be very similar to today. Hopefully it will anyway.
I would like to close this blog with a 10 Things I Know About New Zealand list
1. Every outlet has an on/off switch
2. The colours here are so ridiculously bold it makes your head spin
3. The sun is completely here different than in Canada
4. Kiwi's are the nicest people!
5. My hostel (K Road City Travellers in Auckland) was the best hostel in the Auckland area
6. Beaches are everywhere and are definitely not created equal
7. There are way too many hills in this country (Love it!)
8. The dolphins are as friendly as the people
9. The roads are a billion times better than the ones in Saskatchewan
10. New Zealand rocks my socks
The End and Goodnight.
Julia
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tumbler on the Rumbler
Ahoy Me-Harties,
This here is your Captian Julia, responsible for all things fun and foreign.
We'll be starting this brief voyage through the events of yesterday by outlining the main activities of the day.
1. Wake-up
2. Check out the firemen
3. Get on a ferry
4. Climb a volcano
5. Fall down a volcano
6. Attack a volcano
7. Get on a ferry
8. Go to a movie
For the first part of our voyage not much else needs to said. Basically I woke up, tossed and turned, and eventually gave in to the sun streaming in my window and went for breakfast.
Part 2 is a touch more eventful. Whilst making aforementioned breakfast, I discovered that the toaster was not working and journeyed forth towards another toaster. While on my tedious journey of one flight of stairs, the firealarm went off. It turns out that someone else had discovered the upstairs toaster wasn't functioning and had used the toaster oven downstairs (like I intended) to make their toast. However, they weren't quite on top of their game and all that was left of their toast was a notable pile of ashes and a ton of smoke. It took the fireteam about half an hour to arrive (all of which time the alarm was screaming away. It made for a tranquil morning.). When they did arrive, they couldn't find the entrance to the building. Luckly I had gone downstairs to see if any of them were cute (they were all in their late 30's or so. nuff said. lol) so I was there to point them in the right direction.
Part three is as unevenful as part one. I went with Stephano down to the marina and we snagged some tickets to Rangitoto, a 600 year volcano just 25 minutes ferry ride from Auckland. We got on said ferry and rode to Rangitoto uneventfully.
Naturally, part four takes part once on the volcanic island. There were a bunch of trails throughout the island but we decided to head "straight to zee top ya, straight to zee top". The scenery was absolutely gorgeous which made the steep and slippery hike to the top much more enjoyable. The paths were all under construction and basically consisted of extremely loose volcanic styled gravel. Additionally, I being the genius that I am forgot to wear proper shoes and was treking in flip-flops. We made it to the top uneventfully though a touch tired. The view from the top of the volcano was absolutely incredible. Rangitoto hasn't erupted since its first eruption 600 years ago and is covered in dense forest. The island is surrounded by some of the bluest and greenest water I have ever seen and that water is dotted with islands and eventually framed by NZ and the city of Auckland.
Part four begins about a quarter of the way down Rangitoto when I stepped, slid, fell, skidded, and came to rest solidly on my right leg. It basically ends there too. Stephano did turn around and yell "Stay there! I want a picture!" But that's really about it. I picked myself up, poured some water on my bleeding leg and continued on my merry way. We made it another 2 quarters of the way down when we realized that the trail we were looking for was actually about 10 from where I fell but due to general concern about me taking another tumble neither of us had noticed. We promptly turned around, treked back up, found our turn for the Lava Caves and were on our way again.
The lave caves were really cool and would have been a lot better had we been more prepared. You were able to climb through narrow passageway and larger tunnels that had formed when the lava settled after the eruption. These tunnels were quite long and really you need a flashlight in order to really explore. You also need proper footwear. Therefore we explored for a while and then turned around to head back to the ferry dock.
I suppose it was at this time that I decided to assault the volcano using my little toe on my right foot. Hence part 6 begins and ends in one swift strike. The volcano won. Well played Rangitoto, well played. Now I'm missing the tip of my toe. Well I guess it's still there, but barely. A lot of blood, however, is definitely no longer in that toe and has been claimed by the volcano. What it's gonna do with it, I have no idea -- but to the victor go the spoils. Thankfully we happened up a couple British ladies pretty quickly and they hooked me up with a bandaid and made my descent to the ferry much less slippery (apparently my flip flop thought that it had earned some of the spoils as well and was collecting as much blood as it could). We arrived at the bottom of the volcano about 45 minutes later without futher incident. Huzza!
Part seven. Got on the ferry and went back to Auckland.
After returning to the hostel, sitting around for a while, eventually cleaning my wounds, and eating a brief supper, Richard, Remco and I went to see RED for cheap night Tuesday (apparently they have that here too). It was a great movie. Highly recommend it. It was random, the use of ammunition and force was gloriously excessive and cast was exceptional.
That's about the end of our voyage through yesterday. Maybe yesterday's yesterday depending on the time differences and when you read this.
As for upcoming adventures today I plan on nursing the wicked sunburn and other ouchies I got climbing Rangitoto and preparing to go work tomorrow. I found a week long (longer if I want) odd jobs/maintainance/gardening job just north of Auckland in a little town right on the coast. I'll be working for room and board and hopefully hitting the beach everyday (it's a 5 minute walk from the house I'll be at). I'm working the details out today and will have more info soon I hope.
Much love from the Tumbler on the Rumbler.
Julia
This here is your Captian Julia, responsible for all things fun and foreign.
We'll be starting this brief voyage through the events of yesterday by outlining the main activities of the day.
1. Wake-up
2. Check out the firemen
3. Get on a ferry
4. Climb a volcano
5. Fall down a volcano
6. Attack a volcano
7. Get on a ferry
8. Go to a movie
For the first part of our voyage not much else needs to said. Basically I woke up, tossed and turned, and eventually gave in to the sun streaming in my window and went for breakfast.
Part 2 is a touch more eventful. Whilst making aforementioned breakfast, I discovered that the toaster was not working and journeyed forth towards another toaster. While on my tedious journey of one flight of stairs, the firealarm went off. It turns out that someone else had discovered the upstairs toaster wasn't functioning and had used the toaster oven downstairs (like I intended) to make their toast. However, they weren't quite on top of their game and all that was left of their toast was a notable pile of ashes and a ton of smoke. It took the fireteam about half an hour to arrive (all of which time the alarm was screaming away. It made for a tranquil morning.). When they did arrive, they couldn't find the entrance to the building. Luckly I had gone downstairs to see if any of them were cute (they were all in their late 30's or so. nuff said. lol) so I was there to point them in the right direction.
Part three is as unevenful as part one. I went with Stephano down to the marina and we snagged some tickets to Rangitoto, a 600 year volcano just 25 minutes ferry ride from Auckland. We got on said ferry and rode to Rangitoto uneventfully.
Naturally, part four takes part once on the volcanic island. There were a bunch of trails throughout the island but we decided to head "straight to zee top ya, straight to zee top". The scenery was absolutely gorgeous which made the steep and slippery hike to the top much more enjoyable. The paths were all under construction and basically consisted of extremely loose volcanic styled gravel. Additionally, I being the genius that I am forgot to wear proper shoes and was treking in flip-flops. We made it to the top uneventfully though a touch tired. The view from the top of the volcano was absolutely incredible. Rangitoto hasn't erupted since its first eruption 600 years ago and is covered in dense forest. The island is surrounded by some of the bluest and greenest water I have ever seen and that water is dotted with islands and eventually framed by NZ and the city of Auckland.
Part four begins about a quarter of the way down Rangitoto when I stepped, slid, fell, skidded, and came to rest solidly on my right leg. It basically ends there too. Stephano did turn around and yell "Stay there! I want a picture!" But that's really about it. I picked myself up, poured some water on my bleeding leg and continued on my merry way. We made it another 2 quarters of the way down when we realized that the trail we were looking for was actually about 10 from where I fell but due to general concern about me taking another tumble neither of us had noticed. We promptly turned around, treked back up, found our turn for the Lava Caves and were on our way again.
The lave caves were really cool and would have been a lot better had we been more prepared. You were able to climb through narrow passageway and larger tunnels that had formed when the lava settled after the eruption. These tunnels were quite long and really you need a flashlight in order to really explore. You also need proper footwear. Therefore we explored for a while and then turned around to head back to the ferry dock.
I suppose it was at this time that I decided to assault the volcano using my little toe on my right foot. Hence part 6 begins and ends in one swift strike. The volcano won. Well played Rangitoto, well played. Now I'm missing the tip of my toe. Well I guess it's still there, but barely. A lot of blood, however, is definitely no longer in that toe and has been claimed by the volcano. What it's gonna do with it, I have no idea -- but to the victor go the spoils. Thankfully we happened up a couple British ladies pretty quickly and they hooked me up with a bandaid and made my descent to the ferry much less slippery (apparently my flip flop thought that it had earned some of the spoils as well and was collecting as much blood as it could). We arrived at the bottom of the volcano about 45 minutes later without futher incident. Huzza!
Part seven. Got on the ferry and went back to Auckland.
After returning to the hostel, sitting around for a while, eventually cleaning my wounds, and eating a brief supper, Richard, Remco and I went to see RED for cheap night Tuesday (apparently they have that here too). It was a great movie. Highly recommend it. It was random, the use of ammunition and force was gloriously excessive and cast was exceptional.
That's about the end of our voyage through yesterday. Maybe yesterday's yesterday depending on the time differences and when you read this.
As for upcoming adventures today I plan on nursing the wicked sunburn and other ouchies I got climbing Rangitoto and preparing to go work tomorrow. I found a week long (longer if I want) odd jobs/maintainance/gardening job just north of Auckland in a little town right on the coast. I'll be working for room and board and hopefully hitting the beach everyday (it's a 5 minute walk from the house I'll be at). I'm working the details out today and will have more info soon I hope.
Much love from the Tumbler on the Rumbler.
Julia
Monday, November 15, 2010
Catch me up if you can...
I missed a couple days... Ummmmmmm oops. Haha.
Two Days Ago
I got lost. A couple times. Haha. Well not really lost but confused and in need of a map. Originally I wanted to go shopping but I couldn't find the bus shuttle to the big mall. I asked about 3 different people where to catch the bus and they all told different places so I just went home. Later when I got the guts to leave the hostel I attempted to make my way to the Auckland War Museum. After a brief (30 minute) unintentional detour I found my way to the museum. However it was too late to go through so I watched some cricket, suntanned, checked out a duck pond and some pretty flowers. In all it was a great day of wandering and relaxing and just enjoying the sun.
Yesterday
Boom. I saw stuff. Tourist Julia was in full motion. I met a guy named Stephano from Italy and the two of us adventured for the whole day. First we went to the Auckland War Museum. It's an extremely impressive building. (See facebook for pictures) We watched a Maori cultural performance. The show was incredibly informative, entertaining, and loud. There were roughly 4 women and 4 men who performed. They did weapons and fighting demonstrations, game demostrations, and a bunch of songs. I'll potentially upload some movies of the performance that I took (no promises though). Stephano and I wandered through the museum. There were three levels to the museum and we averaged about an hour and a half per floor. There were exhibits on the Maori culture, the history of the pacific, wars, and land and sea creatures (amoungst many other things). In total we walked about that museum for 5 hours. Then we walked downtown and saw an outdoor display of aerial photography. There were pictures from all the regions of the world (only 2 or 3 from Canada, apparently we don't have anything cool to look at). The photographer is from France and it was quite interesting to see how he chose to portray other countries, but even more interesting to see how he portrayed his own. There were 2 picutres from France, one was of a junk yard full of semi crushed cars and the other was of a nuclear power plant. Two of the most disgusting sites for his own country. Canada was portrayed fairly well though seriously under-represented. We then went to the Sky Tower and got a birds eye view of the city. It's absolutely massive. Even from such a great height we couldn't see the edge. We were able to find the area our hostel is in though. That was pretty cool. The view of our hostel was blocked by some taller building so we weren't able to see that actual building. After the Sky Tower I convinced Stephano to go buy groceries with me even though we both just wanted to go home and lay down. I think buy that point we have been walking for 7.5 hours straight. We were both so tired that we just grab some food at Countdown (their version of a superstore kinda thing) and then some Domino's Pizza and went home. In total we walked at least 9 hours straight. Oh, also that night I stayed at the YMCA Hostel because I had been to slow to book a room at K'road and they filled up. The YMCA was nice. I wasn't there much. I had a dorm for 4 people but there was just me and an asian girl there. Now I'm back at K'road again for the next couple nights and then I'm off to work.
Today
I checked back into K'road while it rained outside. Stephano and I had planned to go to Rangitoto Island to hike up a volano but decided against it because of the rain. I ended up just hanging out in the common area and showing my friends Laura and Adil the Impossible Quiz (from AddictingGames.com, remember that game... so addicting). They had never seen it before and it killed a solid 4 hours for us. Haha. By the time noon rolled around it was beautiful and sunny and dry outside so Laura and Stephano and I went for a walk through the Auckland Domain (the park where the museum is) and suntanned (I'm a touch burned... :(... ). When it was raining we had thought that we would go bowling in the afternoon but because of the sun we decided to stay outdoors. We ended up in the park as a second choice to the beach (we changed our plans to go to the beach because by the time we thought about it the bus had just left and wasn't going to come back for another hour so it was no longer feasible). When we got back from the park (around 6) Remco had made an appearance and offered to take me and Laura to the beach in his car. I was pretty stoked cause that meant that I was going to get to swim in the ocean. Can I get a "whoop whoop"? We got underway and they foolishly put me in charge of the map. We miss our beach. But! We ended up at another one and got to "swim" in the ocean. The entire swimming area so ridiculously shallow never even reaching my waist but we still had alot of fun. When we got out the sun had gone done, we didn't have any towels or changes of clothes, so we sat freezing on the beach eating chips til we were frozen dry haha and then went home. All in all it was a great time. The ocean is far saltier than I ever expected. I'm still to innocent and uniformed, but I think I'm getting smart... hopefully... haha. I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hostel talking about movies, serial killers, Canada, The Exorcist, and Hitler. Twas interesting to say the least.
Anywho's. That's been the last couple of days. Tomorrow Stephano and I are going to Rangitoto (hopefully its sunny, I don't want to climb a volcano in the rain). I'll keep you all posted.
Hugs and Punches.
Julia
ps. sorry about any grammar or spelling or whatever mistakes, it's late and I'm tired. Please excuse my failings.
Two Days Ago
I got lost. A couple times. Haha. Well not really lost but confused and in need of a map. Originally I wanted to go shopping but I couldn't find the bus shuttle to the big mall. I asked about 3 different people where to catch the bus and they all told different places so I just went home. Later when I got the guts to leave the hostel I attempted to make my way to the Auckland War Museum. After a brief (30 minute) unintentional detour I found my way to the museum. However it was too late to go through so I watched some cricket, suntanned, checked out a duck pond and some pretty flowers. In all it was a great day of wandering and relaxing and just enjoying the sun.
Yesterday
Boom. I saw stuff. Tourist Julia was in full motion. I met a guy named Stephano from Italy and the two of us adventured for the whole day. First we went to the Auckland War Museum. It's an extremely impressive building. (See facebook for pictures) We watched a Maori cultural performance. The show was incredibly informative, entertaining, and loud. There were roughly 4 women and 4 men who performed. They did weapons and fighting demonstrations, game demostrations, and a bunch of songs. I'll potentially upload some movies of the performance that I took (no promises though). Stephano and I wandered through the museum. There were three levels to the museum and we averaged about an hour and a half per floor. There were exhibits on the Maori culture, the history of the pacific, wars, and land and sea creatures (amoungst many other things). In total we walked about that museum for 5 hours. Then we walked downtown and saw an outdoor display of aerial photography. There were pictures from all the regions of the world (only 2 or 3 from Canada, apparently we don't have anything cool to look at). The photographer is from France and it was quite interesting to see how he chose to portray other countries, but even more interesting to see how he portrayed his own. There were 2 picutres from France, one was of a junk yard full of semi crushed cars and the other was of a nuclear power plant. Two of the most disgusting sites for his own country. Canada was portrayed fairly well though seriously under-represented. We then went to the Sky Tower and got a birds eye view of the city. It's absolutely massive. Even from such a great height we couldn't see the edge. We were able to find the area our hostel is in though. That was pretty cool. The view of our hostel was blocked by some taller building so we weren't able to see that actual building. After the Sky Tower I convinced Stephano to go buy groceries with me even though we both just wanted to go home and lay down. I think buy that point we have been walking for 7.5 hours straight. We were both so tired that we just grab some food at Countdown (their version of a superstore kinda thing) and then some Domino's Pizza and went home. In total we walked at least 9 hours straight. Oh, also that night I stayed at the YMCA Hostel because I had been to slow to book a room at K'road and they filled up. The YMCA was nice. I wasn't there much. I had a dorm for 4 people but there was just me and an asian girl there. Now I'm back at K'road again for the next couple nights and then I'm off to work.
Today
I checked back into K'road while it rained outside. Stephano and I had planned to go to Rangitoto Island to hike up a volano but decided against it because of the rain. I ended up just hanging out in the common area and showing my friends Laura and Adil the Impossible Quiz (from AddictingGames.com, remember that game... so addicting). They had never seen it before and it killed a solid 4 hours for us. Haha. By the time noon rolled around it was beautiful and sunny and dry outside so Laura and Stephano and I went for a walk through the Auckland Domain (the park where the museum is) and suntanned (I'm a touch burned... :(... ). When it was raining we had thought that we would go bowling in the afternoon but because of the sun we decided to stay outdoors. We ended up in the park as a second choice to the beach (we changed our plans to go to the beach because by the time we thought about it the bus had just left and wasn't going to come back for another hour so it was no longer feasible). When we got back from the park (around 6) Remco had made an appearance and offered to take me and Laura to the beach in his car. I was pretty stoked cause that meant that I was going to get to swim in the ocean. Can I get a "whoop whoop"? We got underway and they foolishly put me in charge of the map. We miss our beach. But! We ended up at another one and got to "swim" in the ocean. The entire swimming area so ridiculously shallow never even reaching my waist but we still had alot of fun. When we got out the sun had gone done, we didn't have any towels or changes of clothes, so we sat freezing on the beach eating chips til we were frozen dry haha and then went home. All in all it was a great time. The ocean is far saltier than I ever expected. I'm still to innocent and uniformed, but I think I'm getting smart... hopefully... haha. I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hostel talking about movies, serial killers, Canada, The Exorcist, and Hitler. Twas interesting to say the least.
Anywho's. That's been the last couple of days. Tomorrow Stephano and I are going to Rangitoto (hopefully its sunny, I don't want to climb a volcano in the rain). I'll keep you all posted.
Hugs and Punches.
Julia
ps. sorry about any grammar or spelling or whatever mistakes, it's late and I'm tired. Please excuse my failings.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Auckland
Today was my second official day in Auckland but the first day that I really got to see anything. My day started around 8:30 in the morning when I woke up refreshed and raring to go. No jet lag baby. All I do is win. Lol. After checking my email and seeing that my mommy had sent me multiple messages in response to my visa panic assuring me that I would be fine, I wandered out for the free breakfast that I forgot my hostel supplies. It was actually a pretty decent spread. There was cereal, three types of bread, peanut butter, jam, "spread" (not sure what it is exactly), eggs, ham, juice and milk. There was also free tea and coffee (available 24/7). I ate my 2 pieces of toast on the roof patio and enjoyed the 19 degree weather and sun. I then returned to my room and did some research for the day. I checked out banks (finally going with Bank of New Zealand), phone providers (2degrees seems to be the way to go), and a basic map of downtown Auckland.
When I finally ventured forth into the great city, it was about 10am. I promptly started wandering aimlessly figuring that I would find a bank and a phone provider shop at some point during the day. The first and possibly most impressive sight I came upon was an old cemetery/park about 2 blocks from my hostel. It was really quite beautiful in a tragic and uplifting way. The park is huge and covered in old monuments, tombstones, and gigantic trees. Upon exiting the park, I started walking down Symond Street in the hopes that I would eventually end up somewhere. I was lead right by the University of Auckland (an absolutely gorgeous campus covered in trees and old buildings). I think I'll go and explore it a little more tomorrow. Eventually I ended up in Albert Park, another huge park. However, this park was filled with plants and flowers instead of tombstones. After getting a touch turned around, I happened upon the Auckland Art Gallery who as luck would have it, was having a free day. There were quite a few pieces that caught my eye but the most notable was a clothes line with different articles of womens clothing hung on it. The clothing had all be dipped in something (I want to say tar cause that's what it looked like but it definitely wasn't). In anycase the clothing hung as though blowing in the wind but completely still. The whole thing was suspended so that you could walk under and look up into the pairs of underwear and the dresses that hung above. Very intriguing piece. Then, after getting turned around some more and thoroughly embarassing myself by accidently re-entering the same gallery without knowing and confusedly asking the guy at the reception desk if I had all ready been there (epic flail), I headed out and meandered through downtown. Downtown Auckland was busy and beautiful. There were anymore trees but all the shops were different, and a lot of the buildings had old style architecture that I love. Eventually I found my way to the harbour and enjoyed the gorgeous view across to some islands (I should really google to find out which ones I was looking at. Mental note #1). I continued to wander downtown and made it back to the hostel with no trouble at all. I was (and am) quite proud of myself for not getting lost. I'm terrible with directions and I really only referred to my map once. Booya! By the time I got back to my hostel it was about 5 in the evening and I was starving. I ran out to the local asian supermarket that is right beside my hostel and got a huge super for less than $5. I then spent the evening chatting with my hostelmates (one of which is a ridiculously cute boy from Holland. Score!). They have all been extremely helpful in giving me ideas of where to go, things to see (or not to see), and giving me tips about how to travel effectively. I hope to keep in touch with them and possible plan a day outing or two with the cute Dutch boy who just bought a car and a couple of the other peeps. We shall see what happens. I also started applying for jobs today. There are a couple nanny positions around the Auckland area and one on Waiheke Island that I would be very happy with. There was also an odd jobs position just outside of Auckland super close to a beach and a national parkish grounds. It sounds pretty decent. I'm hoping to hear from someone soon. For now though, I'm calling it a night.
Much love to all of you.
Julia
When I finally ventured forth into the great city, it was about 10am. I promptly started wandering aimlessly figuring that I would find a bank and a phone provider shop at some point during the day. The first and possibly most impressive sight I came upon was an old cemetery/park about 2 blocks from my hostel. It was really quite beautiful in a tragic and uplifting way. The park is huge and covered in old monuments, tombstones, and gigantic trees. Upon exiting the park, I started walking down Symond Street in the hopes that I would eventually end up somewhere. I was lead right by the University of Auckland (an absolutely gorgeous campus covered in trees and old buildings). I think I'll go and explore it a little more tomorrow. Eventually I ended up in Albert Park, another huge park. However, this park was filled with plants and flowers instead of tombstones. After getting a touch turned around, I happened upon the Auckland Art Gallery who as luck would have it, was having a free day. There were quite a few pieces that caught my eye but the most notable was a clothes line with different articles of womens clothing hung on it. The clothing had all be dipped in something (I want to say tar cause that's what it looked like but it definitely wasn't). In anycase the clothing hung as though blowing in the wind but completely still. The whole thing was suspended so that you could walk under and look up into the pairs of underwear and the dresses that hung above. Very intriguing piece. Then, after getting turned around some more and thoroughly embarassing myself by accidently re-entering the same gallery without knowing and confusedly asking the guy at the reception desk if I had all ready been there (epic flail), I headed out and meandered through downtown. Downtown Auckland was busy and beautiful. There were anymore trees but all the shops were different, and a lot of the buildings had old style architecture that I love. Eventually I found my way to the harbour and enjoyed the gorgeous view across to some islands (I should really google to find out which ones I was looking at. Mental note #1). I continued to wander downtown and made it back to the hostel with no trouble at all. I was (and am) quite proud of myself for not getting lost. I'm terrible with directions and I really only referred to my map once. Booya! By the time I got back to my hostel it was about 5 in the evening and I was starving. I ran out to the local asian supermarket that is right beside my hostel and got a huge super for less than $5. I then spent the evening chatting with my hostelmates (one of which is a ridiculously cute boy from Holland. Score!). They have all been extremely helpful in giving me ideas of where to go, things to see (or not to see), and giving me tips about how to travel effectively. I hope to keep in touch with them and possible plan a day outing or two with the cute Dutch boy who just bought a car and a couple of the other peeps. We shall see what happens. I also started applying for jobs today. There are a couple nanny positions around the Auckland area and one on Waiheke Island that I would be very happy with. There was also an odd jobs position just outside of Auckland super close to a beach and a national parkish grounds. It sounds pretty decent. I'm hoping to hear from someone soon. For now though, I'm calling it a night.
Much love to all of you.
Julia
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Ta Da!
Safe and Sound yo! I am currently sitting in my lovely hostel which was surprisingly easy to find and type this letter of update and joyification. I made it through to Fiji with absolutely no serious problems (couple minor inconveniences) and even managed to see the town for a couple hours. Walking out of that airplane into 22 degree weather at 5am is a glorious feeling. Yes that's right, I exited the plane into open air hallways and it was ridic hot for 5am. Love it! Then I got my baggage dealt with and hire this wonderful, awesome taxi driver to driver me around for 3 hours for roughly $20 Canadian. He took me to a beach, to Nadi (large town/small city near the airport), to the local produce market and a craft fair. It was incredible. I did a traditionaly Kava ceremony with one of the shop keepers. In it he blessed me, my trip, my family and friends, himself and his shop. It was really quite interesting. Apparently Kava is crushed root of some pepper that cures 2 types of cancer and makes your tongue tingly. (Not gonna lie, for a second when my tongue first started tingling I thought I had been roofied.) I think it might be something a little more illicit though be the face of my random chat buddy from Montana. I shall have to google it.
Anyways! Got on the plane to Auckland after seeing Fijian sights and 3 short hours later I was in Auckland standing extremely nervously in front of the sercurity customs dude. He let me in no problem, didn't ask any questions. That was a major relief. Then I caught the shuttle to a couple blocks from my hostel and here I sit. I am extremely greasy and stinky. Apparently travelling for 37 hours straight will make you pretty gross.
Check out facebook for Fiji pics. NZ ones to follow (probably starting tomorrow).
Love you everyone!
Julia
Anyways! Got on the plane to Auckland after seeing Fijian sights and 3 short hours later I was in Auckland standing extremely nervously in front of the sercurity customs dude. He let me in no problem, didn't ask any questions. That was a major relief. Then I caught the shuttle to a couple blocks from my hostel and here I sit. I am extremely greasy and stinky. Apparently travelling for 37 hours straight will make you pretty gross.
Check out facebook for Fiji pics. NZ ones to follow (probably starting tomorrow).
Love you everyone!
Julia
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Here's to adventure in all its forms.
OK! So. Worst/Most frightening/Stressful day of my life. Getting from Toronto to LA was a breeze, but the getting on a plane from LA to Fiji and NZ was/is a nightmare. I went to check in and the lady told me that I needed to have purchased a return ticket. When I told her she was misinformed and that I had a Visa stating I didn't need a return ticket she told me I was wrong and that I better hurry up and buy a return ticket or I wouldn't be boarding the plane. So 2 stressful hours later of trying to find internet, trying to find power sources and trying to find printing I had purchased a ticket (for the wrong dates) and printed my confirmation off. (Thank goodness for paying my credit card bill off a couple days ago or I would have been screwed mot royally.) Finally, I was allowed my boarding pass and sent through customs. When I finally caught my breath, I pulled out my visa to confirm that I did not in fact need an return ticket and low-and-behold "Outward Passage Waived". Score one for Julia after giving in and spending way too much money on a ticket I'm going to have to change and on internet access and printing I didn't even need. Not to mention that if customs in NZ finds out my newly purchased ticket I might actually get in trouble. Huzza. Score one for the evil gods of travel. Then as I'm re-reading my Visa I realize that I don't have Proof of Funds. No big worry, I knew I didn't have it. My bank told me that there was no such form and not to worry about. However, now I was/is in a paranoid state so I ran about like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find a printing area in the secure area to print of my online bank account statement in the hopes that it would save me from deportation. Fingers crossed it does, cause I did manage to get out of security, print the sucker off, pay way too much, and get back through security in time to sit down and write this whilst waiting for my plane.
I should not be allowed to travel.
So my friends and family. Here I sit, a very stressed and worried Julia, thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong and hoping that none of them do. It's going to be an extremely long day (actually I have no idea how long this is going to last before I can rest easy) but I know that with the prayers of my fam, myself, and maybe some friends who love me, I can get through this without being deported, jailed or generally screwed.
Here's to adventure in all its forms. Wish me well.
Julia
I should not be allowed to travel.
So my friends and family. Here I sit, a very stressed and worried Julia, thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong and hoping that none of them do. It's going to be an extremely long day (actually I have no idea how long this is going to last before I can rest easy) but I know that with the prayers of my fam, myself, and maybe some friends who love me, I can get through this without being deported, jailed or generally screwed.
Here's to adventure in all its forms. Wish me well.
Julia
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