Home Sweet home

Well, I have made it home safe and sound, to Toronto at least. I already miss New Zealand, but I am happy to be home. Now I will have to figure out what I want to do next, aside form school, where in the world do I want to next? Scotland and England are up there on the list, but I am also interested in Japan. I have to make some money before I can even think of going elsewhere.

The biggest change that I have encountered so far is the weather, going from winter into the height of summer is a change. Especially a summer in Toronto, the humidity is killing me. The G20/G8 caused quite a stir in Toronto, luckily my flights made it through without much difficulty. Trinette, a friend, came to pick me up with another friend Meaghan, a very welcomed sight. I went home and slept the night away, after having a welcomed dinner of home cooked food.

Thank you everyone for reading the blog, I think this will be my last post. I had a fantastic trip and am so happy that I made the decision to go. Have a good summer everyone, or winter depending on where in the world you are.

At 38,000 Feet and Falling

Well here I am, sitting on Air Alaska flight 703 heading to Vancouver. I have had a comedy of errors as far as flights working together, everything that could go wrong went wrong for my initial departure from Auckland. Weather delays, baggage delays and some more delays just for the hell of it. Our pilot was very appologetic and put his foot down across the pacific, after leaving nearly 5 hours late we arrived into LA 3 hours late, making up nearly 2 hours and traveling at over 1000 km/h for most of the flight. Meaning I missed my flight from LA to Vancouver and was booked onto a later one extending my trip by a further 2 hours. Oh Joy. When traveling just remember two things, coffee and a smile.

Currently I am sitting at 38,000 feet on board the flight using free wireless internet, Joy!!! Here I am, on one of the last legs of my journey, tired and likely quite smelly writing down my whims. I love technology. Well, I have to always look on the bright side, soon I will be in Vancouver and there awaits a shower, fresh food and a big king bed all for me!!!

Until next time!

The First Goodbye

I am getting unsettled, I feel conflicted about the prospect of coming home. I don't feel ready to leave New Zealand, there is so much that I want to so, so much I still want to see, the people and the land have so much to offer. I have enjoyed my stay here, more then I can express in words or any other medium. There are many parts of home that I miss, lots of little pieces which I will gladly welcome, but I feel like I am closing a chapter of my life. I know I will start a new one and begin again, I am trying to console myself.

Moving on to more pleasant topics the picture above is not actually a mountain, but the largest of three volcanoes in the national park just outside of Taupo. The volcano is home to not one but three ski fields, as they are called here, it is a beautiful but humbling sight. In the mid nineties this volcano erupted, I don't believe that anyone was injured but the industry of the surrounding area was greatly disrupted.

Talking of volcanoes, Auckland, where I am right now, is home to 69 dormant or dead volcanoes. I don't think I could live in a city surrounded so completely but it does make for some good walking. Lots of hills.

I am jumping around with this post, my thoughts are running wild. In two days I will be heading to the international airport to begin my journey home, the first leg includes a 12 hour flight to LA. Then a three hour stopover to clear customs and change terminals, let me advise any travels to avoid LA like the plague, while it isn't the worst airport, it is far from the best. A maze of terminals and confused travelers await, I believe there are 9 terminals in total. Then three hours to Vancouver to clear another set of customs, I wonder how much chocolate one is aloud to bring into the country. :D

I will be spending a day and night in Vancouver so I can recover from my 18 hour roller coaster and then the next day fly direct to Toronto to greet the G20 summit as they stream out of my city. Thank you to Trinette who will be picking me up! With coffee no less, it will be a welcome site to see someone I know at the airport.

Well, I will be writing once more in Vancouver I believe, see you all soon!!

Solong South

I am back on the north island after my adventure on the south. I am sad to leave the south but happy to be moving on once again, even if it will eventually lead me home. A few days back I had the experience of skiing in the southern hemisphere, that was interesting. I don't know if I will be doing it again soon, it was fun, but the snow is not what I am used to at all, Eastern Ontario snow is what it was. Hard, icy and on rented gear, I know I shouldn't be complaining, it was a privilege, but I like BC better.

The picture above is of the few from the ski field looking over the Canterbury Plains, like a patchwork quilt covering the plains. It didn't look real, but like a painting of a fantastic world.

Another experience from the south, Hamner Springs, a natural hot pool area where I spent five hours soaking and roasting. My back was so happy with me for that, buses are not the best for you back. I would have never made it out there had it not been for Alicia's family, so a huge thank you to you! I made it skiing and swimming, a great combination.

What else do I have to say, Kiakoura, a fishing town that now relies on dolphins and whale watching for income. While I enjoyed the stay it was an extremely quite day, the town was dead as most people don't want to go swimming with the dolphins in the middle of the winter.

That is a list of my most recent adventures and now I have to head back North through Wellington, Taupo and then finally Auckland. I don't understand how I only have a week left, 7 days in the land, where has the time gone?

Christchurch Chillout

After spending a few days in Queenstown (Tourist town...) I have moved on to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island, population around 400,000. I am staying with a friend who I met a in Canada about three years ago for all of two weeks, we both attended an international physics school held at Perimeter Institute in Waterloo. I know, I have my moments, Alicia is a fantastic lady currently studying Economics at the University of Canterbury and living with her family. It is nice to be in a home once again, there is something so peaceful about a house that is lived in, a warmth.

Living with a real kiwi family is something I am cherishing, there are small differences, but they make it more fun. There is a constant movement of people through the house, grandparents, friends, me, just walk through the door say hello and sit down and get on with what ever they need to do. It is a hub, a meeting place and I am growing to love it. I am planning on spending just over a weeks, to get back on my feet after moving around so much, resting, relaxing and experiencing a true kiwi life.

There one thing that is very similar to Alicia's family and mine, the love for skiing, I know, skiing in June!! I cannot wait! We are planning on heading up to Mount Hutt early next week to get a day of skiing in. I am all smiles about that.

Enjoy the weather! It looks like the sun is heading your way!

Into the Rabit Hole

Well, I just had one of the more amazing expierences in my life so far, by far one of the best parts of the trip too. I went climbing on a glacier two days ago, it was just stunning. Franz Josef, while being a tourist attraction is totally worth it, espcially when you have a good group of people to do it with. We climbed aroudn for about 9 hours, mostly in light weight sweaters and shorts, the sun was quite hot. The picture above is of me climbing down into a tunnle, taken by a friend, it was wet, hence the full rain gear, but worth the cold. The glacier, deceptive in size, seemed small when we first approach it in the morning, but what looked like a ten minute walk to its base turn into 45 minutes. Ice is cold, no doubt about it, but when you get moving, in the sun, you get toasty quite quickly, stopping for lunch only briefly so we wouldn't freeze, we continued along catching up to several other groups.

I could go on all day about the trip, but I have to move on, I only have so much time on the internet. Yesterday we arrived in Wanaka, a ski town, about 4000 normal residences and expierenced our first taste of winter, snow on the mountain tops surround the village. It really reminds me of BC, Vernon, but shunk in the wash. Fantastic community, and a great group of people, I went for a walk this morning and relaxed through the afternoon.

Well, good bye and good night!!! I will update you soon as to what is happening soon, I am almost all the way south and then I have to start trekking north to Auckland to head home.

Into the Able Tasman

Yesterday, from Nelson, a friend and I went for a tramp into the Able Tasman, in the pouring rain. It was a beautiful walk, but we were cold and wet for most of the day... The Abel Tasman is the smallest of the National Parks in New Zealand, being only 200 square kilometers, but it is easy to see why the park is considered one of the Great Walks. Long, unspoilt golden beaches and lush native bush on the mountains around. I was glad to have a walking companion, otherwise it would have been miserable. Rachel, from London England, made everything better, we were missrable together. At one stage of the walk, you have to cross a lagoon at low tide, but there are still channels full of water you have to wade across.... In the summer it would have been wonderful, but we were already so cold. We chose to take off our boots and walk across barefoot, to save our shoes for the other side (wet shoes are terrible) but we didn't take into account the shells... Lots and lots of sharp shells, I mean everywhere. I think it was worth it, it was stunning, the picture above is just one of the many sights. Afterwards we went and had some fish and chips, local caught fresh fish and real chips I might add. It was a fantastic end to an interesting day.

Today, Rachel and I went for a walk in the downtown of Nelson, the city we are in, at the north tip of the South Island. Nelson is one of the best cities I have been in so far, very relaxed and full of culture. It helps that the hostel, the Green Monkey, is a beautiful place. With only 16 beds it is more of a home then a hostel. Our host, Jamie, also from England, bakes a cake every evening and joins us at the pub every night. It is a lovely place, so lovely that I have extended my stay by another two nights. This afternoon, we decided, because of the weather (RAIN) to bake some muffins, cheese and onion muffins, they are so yummy.

Well, on Sunday I will continue down the west coast of the South Island. I hope you all have some sun shine for me!