I'm in London and almost home. :-)

Only abut ten hours to go. Thank God. The flight from Singapore (14 hours) was not that bad, thanks to sleeping pills I was only awake for the first hour and a half and the last hour. I slept most of the way. I did wake up a few times for the loo. About 4 hours into my sleep I took another pill and sent me right back to la la land. Now I am killing time in the BA lounge trying to warm up. After 31 days with the temp never falling below 20c it's 3c in London. Of course I am in a short sleeve shirt and flip flops. I was smart enough to wear long pants but left my fleece jacket in my checked luggage. I also have on the socks they give you on the plane which is helping my feet, but look rather strange with flip flops but I don't care.

So what did I think of Singapore? Not much, it was not my kind of town. Although I felt like a giant walking around town. I am looking forward to getting back to the states.

Thanks to all who have been tracking my travels. I have had a good time updating the blog.

This will be the last post for a few days until I get my photos developed and posted on the web. Once that is done I will give you the address to view them if you would like. 95% of them are of New Zealand. I have just a roll or two of Australia and not one of Singapore. 24 rolls in total, or about 1000 photos. I will only post the ones I like so don't worry about having to go through that many.

Ok now I am just rambling again, trying to kill time until my next flight in just over 2 hours. By the time you read this I should be home or close to it.

A special thanks to all who sent me emails while I was gone, it was nice to hear from everyone. It made me feel like I was never alone. I think I am going to take a class in grammar and spelling in the future, I know they could use some work. "Hooked on Fonics" didn't work for me. ;-)

I'm coming home

Over the next 25 hours I will be in the air most of the time but back in Newark by 12pm Tuesday. See ya then.

I feel like Bob Harris

This will be Lost on most of you In many ways but some of you may be able to make the Translation.

I'm in Singapore

It's 10:30 pm on the 12th, I just got in and I am going to bed, I am still on Sydney time so I feel like it's 1:30am. I will let you know what the place is like tomorrow.

Sydney aka Little New York City

This place is second only to New York City for me. It is a cool, hip, trendy, cosmopolitan kind of town. You must come here. It is a beautiful city to explore with tons of great buildings and shops. I can't say enough about it. If I had to pick a place to live in this would make it in the top 5 to choose from. (in no order - NYC, Middlebury VT, Sydney, Slea Head a tiny town on the west coast of Ireland and Vancouver, BC)It has everything you could ever want in a city plus the beaches are just minutes away. The people here are so nice and easy going. The pace is about the same as New York but without the biting charm that is NY. Does that make sense to anyone but me. Put another way, it's softer, and not as tough as NY. I look forward to seeing more of the city in the morning.

I went up the Sky Tower today and took some wonderful photos of the city. Like I said earlier, I can't wait to come home and bore you all with my photos. For those of you who I may not see don't worry I will put them online for your viewing pleasure.

Hey mom, the prayer circles are working. Keep it up lady. Speaking of moms, why don't you pick up the phone right now and call your mom and let her know how much she means to you. If your mom is no longer around, pick up the phone and call a person you may not have talked with in a while but has been on your mind, let them know you are thinking of them. We tend to take for granted the ones we love the most, don't. Thanks to those of you who think about me, I can feel the love all the way around the world.

Got to run, the singer in the bar started up again and man can she sing.

Getting you up to date.

I spent 45 min last night writing this out and the computer crashed right before I posted so here goes again.

Yesterday in Cairns:
Checked out of the hotel, dropped off the car and grabbed a cab to the airport. I meet a really nice Aussie, Rodney, who is the sales manager of a VW dealership in Townsville, south of Cairns. He and I talked for about an hour and a half about a ton of different things. Great guy to hang out with. He offered to buy me a beer but at 11am water was all I needed. Thanks Rodney for showing me what a true Aussie is like.

I hopped on the plane and headed for Sydney. The food and service was great. So much so I went to tell the flight attendants how much I loved Quantas. They where so happy to hear it. I talked with three of them for about a half hour. I would have talked longer but we had started our decent into Sydney. A few minutes later one of them came up to me and said they where so happy that I told them how good there service was and she slipped me a nice bottle of Australian wine to take with me. You catch more flies with honey. All three of them where so nice to chat with. We talked about my trip, places they had been in America, how I lost all the weight and just random stuff like vegemite (some awful tasting yeast product they seem to like. But then again they put beets on hamburgers here.)

I had to make a change to my ticket so when we landed I went to the British Airways counter to make the change. Instead of going back to the arrival area to catch a cab I waited for one at departures. What a serendipitous choice that was. I got what I consider my best cab ride ever. He and I talked the 30 minutes it took to get to my hotel (more on this later). He told me places I had to see and what I could avoid. Another great Aussie.

So to all the people I meet and talked with yesterday. Thanks for showing me the true side of Australians. Kudos to all of you for making my day so nice.

Now the hotel. The book called it first class accommodations. Sure if you are homeless it would be first class. To say it was first class is like saying Motel Six is a 5 star resort. It sucked plain and simple. I was in a room that was on a busy street and I got very little sleep because of it. Every time a truck or bus would come by it would wake me up. Or the idiots above me who keep opening the sliding glass door that shook my room. So since I couldn't sleep I went down to use the computer to write this. Of course it crashed right before I was going to post. 45 min (10 bucks) wasted. I finally got to sleep around 4 am. The idiots upstairs decided to open the sliding glass door at 6am waking me up. Now I was pissed. I like and need my sleep. This is no shock to any of you. I went downstairs and told the guy at the desk I wanted a new room for the next night. He was not sure what to do. So I went back upstairs called my travel agent and had her book me a new hotel. The Swissotel, a very nice place. Oh yeah I forgot to mention the fire alarm going off and having to evacuate the building. More fun, but it is behind me and I can't change any of it so time to move on.

So here I sit, using Swissotel computer, for free I might add, as I wait for them to get a room ready for me. It's 9:30 am right now on Friday. I am going to try and get my cabbie from yesterday to pick me up and drive me around the city for a few hours and act like a tour guide. I did this when I was in Dublin and found it was one of the best ways to see a city. If not I am going to just do a walking tour. I need to see the Sydney Opera house, the harbor Bridge and Bondi Beach. Everything after that is gravy. I leave for Singapore tomorrow around 5pm so I have a day and a half to check this place out.

My brother Kevin seems to like seeing his name appear on the blog because he sent me 5 bucks for a Guinness when I get to London.. of course it will be 5am but what the heck, they give to new moms in the hospitals in Ireland so why not. That brings his grand total up to $25.05, good on ya mate.

A side note to Bob and Cathy Auten - get the hell out of Florida aka "Gods waiting room", the place is the just like the movie "Groundhog Day" and you know it. Come back to New Jersey, we all miss you. I am sure pop can find you a nice place that he would only charge a modest rate for. Or move in with Tom Howtiz (sp?), I sure he would love the company and help finishing off his house. (sic) If not, I will buy a place and you can move in with me. We can sell more crap on ebay to pay the rent.

As for my Dad and Janet who are currently in New Zealand, how about an email telling us about your travels? I would love to know your thoughts on the food and the places you have been.

I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to boring you all with the 30 odd rolls of film I have taken so far.

On to Sydney this morning

Of course the weather in Cairns is the best it has been since I got here, such is life. Nothing new to report, just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.

The reason

First, I am fine. I thought about if I was going to write about this a lot last night, I went back and forth about it but here goes.

I miss you guys. The trip has been OK but I am just ready to get home. Traveling by yourself for this long is much harder than one would think. I have seen some great places on the trip but I need to get back home. I know this for sure, I will never take being an American for granted again, I don't care what the rest of the world thinks of us. It is the best place to live and the greatest country in the world. I miss it. When you step away from your normal life you start too see the things and the people you take for granted everyday. When they are gone, it brings them in to sharp focus. I have always considered myself somewhat of a self contained unit who could provide everything I need for myself, I could not have been more wrong. I have a new found respect for the people in my life who I care about and who care about me.

If nothing else the trip has been worth it for that lesson alone.

I am sorry if I had you guys worried with the last post but yesterday was very hard on me emotionally. I was about 5 minutes away from just getting on the plane yesterday afternoon and coming home right then skipping Sydney and Singapore.

I leave for Sydney tomorrow and will spend 2 days there. Then 2 days in Singapore. The flight from Singapore gets me into London around 5 am and there is a 8 am Flight to Newark. I am not sure if I am going to hop on that one or spend a day in London and catch it in the morning. I will keep you up to date on my return.

Oh yeah, the sun has made its first real appearance in Cairns. I had a 2 hour window yesterday and found a plane and pilot for a quick flight to the reef for photos. This morning it has returned and I will spend some time on the beach.

I will be home soon

For reasons I will not go into right now I just wanted to let everyone know I will be back in New Jersey on or about 15th. If I feel up too it I may post why, but not now. Please don't send me emails asking why. You will find out when I am ready.

Thanks
Sean

Cairns - The weather, well it...

The word you are looking for is sucks. I have had and will continue to have rain for the rest of my stay in Cairns. I guess this is why it's called a tropical rainforest. The sun has yet to come out for more than 5 min. I was going to do a reef tour by air or sea but with the weather being this bad I am not going to waste my money. A flight over the reef is out because without sun and low cloud cover the photos would not be worth a damn. And I am not going to sit inside a boat for a few hours to then snorkel without sunlight, not my idea of fun. I need to come here in September or October from what the locals tell me. The other option is a tour of the rain forest. Not on your life, you put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt then go to a steam room and walk around for a few hours, sounds fun doesn't it. If I had a waterproof camera I would consider it but there is no way I am taking my camera into that. So without a camera there is not much point to it.

So what will I do? That remains to be seen. I don't have all bad news. Today when I checked into my hotel they gave me an upgrade on my room. It is a corner room with a great view. I was getting settled and grabbed the extra pillows out of the closet when two $50.00 bills came out with them. That's $80.00 US, not a bad find. I guess a past guest hide it up there and forgot about it. Now some would say I should ask at the front desk if a guest called about it but you and I know it would go right into the pocket of the person at the front desk. This brings me back to even from when I started here two days ago.

I have my flight booked to Sydney on the 10th and will stay the two days I had planned. I will then go to Melbourne for two or three days at the most. The more people I talked too the more Melbourne came up.

I spent this morning in a bar with 5 other aussies watching the Superbowl. I was going to go to the casino and place a bet on the game, I am now glad I didn't. What where the Eagles thinking with that clock management in the last part of the fourth quarter? Don't get me wrong, nothing makes me happier than to see Philly lose. I had a coke and a few glasses of water the whole game, while 4 out of the 5 aussies drank more beer in that time than I thought was possible. Dad's friend Ray told me about trying to keep up with aussies and drinking, it can't be done. Even in my heyday these guys would put me under the table in a second. The amazing thing was after the game you could not tell that they had just had about a 12 pack each. I would love to know how there livers are somehow different then the rest of the world. I am not exaggerating, these guys can pound beer like it was water. Maybe my friends Doc or Lobster could hang with them but not mere mortals.

I will most likely be back in the states around the 20-25th of Feb. I am finding I don't need as much time in places I thought I would. Plus I miss home and good food. I have been told the food in Singapore is great but I am not holding my breath. The only advantage to the crappy food is I don't eat much of it. I don't feel like I have lost any weight, I sure haven't put any on. I have also been doing more walking in the past few weeks then I have done in the last six months. Most of that is trying to find a restaurant that has somewhat normal food. Those of you who know how picky I get about food will understand that I will never eat something that should be served alone but the chef insists on adding some special touch he came up with. Here is an example of what I am talking about. I want a steak, cooked medium rare with a side of potato or rice or even a vegetable. But instead they have a steak covered with a mango chili chutney. I just want a piece of meat, plain and simple with a touch of salt. Now I know I keep coming back to my rants on food but let's be honest, I know what I like and I know what I don't. At age 37 I am not going to all the sudden begin to like cooked vegetables, any kind of fruit that is heated on a main course, etc. The fruit thing is one of my biggest pet peeves. Hot fruit is good in an apple pie not on meat.

I guess I am just miffed about the weather and have nothing else to do but write this stuff. So I rant. I can see why people here drink so much. I am having a good time, I don't want people to think I am not. The weather has got me down that's all. Take a look at weather.com and look at the sat photo of Australia and you will see the low pressure system sitting in the big "U" shaped bay in the north east corner of the country. It hasn't moved in days and it is not going to move in the near future.

There is another hour gone and as it is getting close to 5pm, it's time too start my search for a place to eat dinner. Thanks to those who take the time to read my rants.

I almost forgot, a huge shout out to my big brother Kevin for coming though with a $20.00 donation. That brings his grand total to $20.05. You da man.

Hello from Cairns Australia

Oh my God is it hot, I'm talking Africa hot, Tarzan couldn't take this heat. I got into Cairns (pronounced "cans", why they have the "i" and "r" I don't know) around 9:30pm local time after a long day of travel. I left Christchurch around noon and headed to the airport. I dropped of the Tan Titan, (he will be missed) and got a ride to the airport. I had a nice three hour flight to Sydney. Then a 2 hour layover until my flight to Cairns, which was another 3 hour flight. The moment I stepped off the plane the humidity hits you like sucker punch to the chest. I had just come from a nice cool and very dry plane (25% humidity on most planes) to the 90% (at least) humidity and 85 degrees of Cairns. I made a bee line to the outside as nicotine levels had reached a dangerously low level. I truly felt I could cut the air with a knife. The nice thing is my skin is no longer dry and flaky. I hopped in a cab for the short ride to my motel. I got my room key and found my room overlooking the pool. As I opened the door it was hotter in my room than outside, not at a good feeling. The first thing I did was figured out how to get the A/C working. I then put on my swimsuit and went down to the pool to try and cool off. The pool was about 5 degrees cooler than the air but it was enough to cool me down. After about 30 min just sitting on the steps I went to the room which now was still warm but now much drier. I had crossed 3 time zones so I was very tired when I finally got to bed around midnight.

I woke up this morning around 8 to the sound of a heavy tropical rain. 5 minutes later it was gone. I didn't want to leave the room because of the heat and humidity. You have to remember I just spent 3 weeks in what I can only now, call great weather in New Zealand, never to hot and humidity never above 60%. I walked around for a for the next 5 hours in town. The rain would come in buckets for five minutes then go away. Some times it would just rain lightly, which is the best because you don't care about walking in it. Sure it gets your cloths slighly wet but after it stops you dry out quickly, plus it does cool you down for a bit. I have never been one for walking in the rain but here I have no problem with it, as long as you are inside or under cover for the heavy downpours. I picked up a rental car for the next 4 days. ("Baby Blue" a tiny Toyota Echo) I didn't think I would need one until I got here and figured out how far the beaches are from town (about 6-8 k) and I am not walking that far in this heat. I would say about half of the shops were closed, as it is Sunday, so I just looked around to see what the town has to offer. I found a shop that sells only digerydoos (sp?) and sat there for about 45 minutes learning how to play this native instrument. I got the hang of it after awhile. It is not as easy as it may seem. I am not sure if I am get one and have it shipped home. The other place I went to was a gallery of a local photographer. For those of you who have told me I take good photos, let me be the first to tell you, I am a child compared to the work of Peter Lik. I walked around the gallery for 45min in awe. Checkout his website www.peterlik.com I picked up his two coffee table books, one of Australia and one of America and had them shipped home. The website gives you an idea of his work but to see it up close, it is amazing and huge, the average photo was 20" by 50" panaromas. I walked around looking for a place to eat lunch, hoping for a change from NZ. I won't hold you in suspense, it is not all that different. I do learn something new everyday though. I ordered an cheeseburger (I expected exactly what I got in NZ, and that's what I got, some sort of "meat product" infused with onion) and a vanilla milk shake. On the menu it had milk shake or a thick milk shake. I figured I would get the regular and I didn't want a lot of ice cream. Little did I know if I wanted ice cream I needed to get the thick shake. There idea of a milk shake is take some milk add some vanilla flavor and whip. I guess they didn't lie to me, they shook up some milk. I will know better in the future. (I would kill for a Jersey Mikes giant #13, heavy lettuce, heavy mayo, salt, oregano, oil and vinegar. Could someone get it for me, pack it in dry ice and mail it to me, please, I'm not kidding, when I get back to Newark I may drive to Bay Head just to get one.)

So what is my agenda for the next few days? I am trying to find a place to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. It starts at 10am here so finding a bar that's open will be tough. I was hoping I could watch it at the motel but the tv channel selection is weak at best. I plan on doing one day diving on the Great Barrier Reef and one day exploring the rain forest. I have yet to book anything because the weather right now sucks for both. There is a low pressure system just off to the west that is giving us this lovely weather. (I just noticed that below the equator low pressure systems spin clockwise and high pressure spins counter clockwise. Opposite of what I am used too. This explains the whole bathtub drain thing you have always heard about.)

I am still leaving here on the 10th for Sydney. I have two days booked for the city. I think this will be enough to see the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House and some beaches. Other than that I have no other interest in big cities. (I have already been to the greatest city in the world, New York City, no other city come close.) After that I am not sure if I will go to Adelaide, Melbourne or Hobart in Tasmania. I will make that choice tomorrow at the Quantas ticket office.

All right enough for now. Hugs and kisses to those who want them, bag tags to those who don't. What's the capital of Thailand? ;-)

Hanging out in the Christchurch Airport

I have a few hours to kill here in the airport. Luckily I am about to hang out in the Quantas Club. There is nothing like free food and drinks along with a internet connection to make a wait seem easy.

I had a lot of leftover postcards and stamps from NZ, so expect cards in the next few weeks that don't say much. Everyone got the same letter on the card. I was not in the mood to write out what I already have written on the blog. I had 17 cards to do so it was some what of an assembly line of sorts writing them out.

Back to my rant about the food in New Zealand. I was going to leave this alone but I have to let it out. It sucks, plain and simple. I had 2, count them 2 out of about 40 meals I enjoyed. The first was when I was in Coromandel Town and had dinner with the staff of "The Peppertree" restaurant my friend Jen and her husband Brown own. The next did not come until I got to Queenstown and on the last night there I found a place called "Winnie Bagos" where I had a great thin crust pizza. Other than that the rest was lame. Even the fast food (KFC, Mickey D's, and BK) wasn't good. The ketchup and mayo are somewhat different and give it a strange taste. It took me awhile to figure out why the food is bad and then it occurred to me, this country was settled by the English. The English are not know for there cuisine, think about how many Italian, French, Asian, Greek, Middle Eastern, restaurants you find in America. Sure, you may go to an English style pub, but that is for the beer not the food. When was the last time you said to friends or family, "hey lets go get some British food"? Now I don't want to offend anyone but it's true the Brits think fish and chips are the pinnacle of great food.

So how would I sum up my trip to NZ? I had a great time in many areas I visited and a not so great time in others. If someone asked how they should see the country I would tell them to fly into Auckland, rent a car for 7-8 days. Then drive up to the Northlands and visit the Bay of Islands, crossover to the west coast and see Ninety Mile beach and head south to Auckland via the National Park I drove through. (the name escapes me now). This could be done in 2-3 days, giving you plenty of time to see that area. Next I would send them to the Coromandel peninsula for 2-3 days. Hanging out in Coromandel Town and then head over to Whitianga on the east coast. I would then head south to Rotorua and Taupo for a few days then return to Auckland for a flight to Christchurch and rent a car for 7 days. Spend a few days in Christchurch and head south to Queenstown. Mount Cook would be a good side trip on the way to Queenstown. Go through Wanaka to get to Queenstown. Then spend the rest of your time in Queenstown. It was by far the place I would comeback too in a heartbeat. There is a ton of different things to do in the town. Then fly home. Wellington and the trip over the ferry was nice but can be missed. Also the west coast of the south island was fairly boring, the same scenery over and over, Tasmen sea to your right and mountains to your left for hours on end. When you first see it, it's nice but after three hours it gets tiresome.

The big question about any place you go is would you come back? Yes I would, for Coromandel and Queenstown only. The rest I have seen. Now I don't want people to think I didn't enjoy the other areas I visited but didn't mention, it's just they weren't all that special.

So, onto Australia for the next 8-12 days. I am sure of the following. Four days in Cairns then a flight to Sydney for two days. This is all that I have planned for now. I may stay an extra day in Sydney then go to Adelaide for 2-3 day then onto Singapore. I have ruled out Italy but I may have told you that already. I want to go to Italy with someone with me. Any guesses on that person is? Hey it could be you!

All right, time to go enjoy more free food and drink. I will catch up with you in a few days as I will be arriving late into Cairns tonight and will go right to sleep when I get in.

The Christchurch Update

Greetings from the city of Christchurch. I arrived in the city yesterday afternoon around 5:30. I had an easy drive from Queenstown to get here. The roads where mainly flat and straight, which was a nice change of pace. There was hardly any cars on the road so it was a low stress drive. I hooked up with two other cars and we took turns taking the lead. The speed limit here is 100k or 62 mph. With the three of us cruising most of the way at 115-120k or 70-74mph. This made the drive that much quicker. I stopped on the way and took a side trip to Mount Cook (NZ highest). There is only one road in and out. It was a detour of 100k round trip. I only got about half way there when I found the picture I wanted. I noticed clouds starting to come in from the east and was afraid I would get there the same time the clouds did. So I turned around about halfway and continued on to Christchurch. I stop a few more times to get more photos of Mt. Cook from a distance. I look forward to seeing the photos from there. The lake was a grey blue color, well blue with a shade of grey. I can't say I have ever seen water this color but I am sure all glacial melt water looks like this.

About an hour south of Christchurch I picked up some passengers, 4 kids from Sweden. Three blond girls and one guy. I am not sure which one (or more ;-} ) of the girls he was hooking up with but his choices are good looking, good looking and good looking. What's with the Swedes? (sp?) I have yet to meet one that wasn't good looking. They where in there early 20's and spoke English better than most Americans. It was nice to talk with them about there travels and places they had seen and where they where going. I dropped them off just outside Christchurch so they could catch another ride to Picton 4 hours north.

I headed into town and tried to find my hotel. In every other town or city I have come too, there a signs directing you to the main info center. I could not for the life of me, find one. I remembered that where I dropped off the Swedes was near the airport. I headed back out of town and on to the airport. I know they have an info counter. I got there and found out I was less than 3 blocks away from the hotel when I was looking in the city. In the words of Homer Simpson, "Doh". I drove back into town and checked in around 6:45. The skies where overcast and not a break in them, just a solid wall of white. The weather forecast for the next day was more of the same. I grabbed some dinner and went back to the room to watch CNN post State of the Union commentary. I am getting a little tired of people railing on America. If you don't like it, don't buy our products and for God sake stay out of MY country. Sorry about that I am sick of the America bashing I hear from most people. One guy tried to tell me the reason so many people died in the tsunami was because America knew about it but didn't tell anyone about it. I asked him if he was the village idiot and walked away. (rant over) I read until around 11:30 and got some sleep.

When I woke up this morning the skies where the same as yesterday, a solid sheet of white clouds. I looked over the map and headed to the coast to the town of New Brighton Beach. When I got there I noticed a break in the clouds. I did a sun dance in hopes of coaxing it out. This is the first beach I have come across in NZ that reminds me of home. The sand was very fine with a touch of black too it. This may be leftover volcanic sand, it was much finer than the sand in NJ or NC. The surf was just ok, with swells about 2-3 feet. This did not deter the surfers from going in. The sandbar extended from the shore out about 600 ft out. At the end of the pier, which is about 1000ft, the water depth is only 8 feet. The sun started to come out while I was sitting there watching the surfers. I decided I should head into town and enjoy it there. I first went to the Botanical Gardens. What a place, worth the time to come and visit. The place is huge. I spent the next 2 1/2 hours walking around and taking pictures. The sun was starting to really take over from the clouds now. What a day it was turning out to be. I then headed into the city center and drove around trying to find a place to park. As luck would have it I found a parking deck right in the middle of the city. It is in central shopping district. There is a large square where vendors and street performers hawk their wares. I watch a great street performer for about 20 min, walking on broken glass, telling jokes and juggling fire. I spent the next few hours walking around the city.

That brings you up to date. I leave for Australia tomorrow afternoon. It maybe a few days before I get a chance to update you guys.

Look for new postcards in the mail over the next few weeks. From what I can gather, it takes about 2 weeks to get to you. If you asked for one but have not gotten it let me know.

Thanks again to all of you who keep up with my travels. It make doing this worth it.
Running out of internet time.
later dudes

I Love Queenstown

I am have a great time in Queenstown, so much so I am staying an extra day. There is so much to do in this town. Of course most of those things cost money but it is still worth it.

I spent yesterday sightseeing. I took a flight (7 seat Cessna, single prop) over to Milford Sound in the morning. It was about a 1/2 hour flight, of which 15 of those minutes I was flying though the Southern Alps, what a blast that was. I was flying between mountains and going over the low passes. I think the people in the back where a little freaked at first but when we landed (pilot did that part) they told me they thought it was cool I got to fly. I took some pictures and waited for the return flight with a different pilot. On the way back I sat in the back of the plane to get some photos. I took 3 rolls of 36 exposures. I had to hold the camera to the far back window and hope for the best, I will see how they turn out. I had to do this to try and get the widest field of view without the wings showing up too much. The views of the Southern Alps are fantastic. Most people take the bus tour then a boat tour and return by bus. This takes 12 hours. My trip took only 2 and I got to see so much more than most ever do. I skipped the boat ride, I just was not what I was into. I have seen dolphins, puffins and sea lions before so I don't feel I missed much.

When I got back I spent the afternoon walking through town doing some window shopping. What I have figured out is I have so many people who I could by gifts for that I would need another suitcase. Having said that please don't expect anything expect postcards and the photos when I get back. If I see something that just screams out to me, I will buy it.

Later in the afternoon I stumbled upon something I had not seen before in Queenstown, a Casino. I had seen the one in Auckland but decided not to go in. But I just had a good feeling about this place so I went in. It is a small place, they have about 100 slot machines (called pokies here) a few craps and roulette tables and three blackjack tables. No one was in the place, ok maybe three people playing the pokies but all the tables where empty. I sat down at the blackjack table and got 200 in chips on a $5 table. I was betting $10 as my min and $25 max. I hit 5 blackjacks in the first 12 hands. A few more people showed up and everyone was doing well. Now anyone who has ever been to a casino with me knows I smoke like a chimney when I am at the tables, it keeps me relaxed. As of Dec 10th of last year smoking was banned indoors. I thought that would be a problem but it wasn't. They had a nice deck to go smoke on outside, so when the dealer would shuffle we would go out and grab a smoke. (Am I just rambling now?) It works out nicely, by the time I finished my smoke the dealer was ready for the next round. Over the next 1 1/2 hours I was never down below my initial $200. I walked out with $110 for the day. I was up $200 but got waxed the last 6 hands. I had great cards but the dealer keep drawing just 1 or 2 above me. So I took the cash and ran. The way they play blackjack here is just about the same as home except the strange way they deal. I will try to explain this, the dealer gives the players one card and his one card as normal then we get out second card and he does not give himself his second. The dealer then gives everyone the cards they want before he takes his second card. I am not sure why they do it this way but it was strange.

I grabbed dinner at a little cafe and read over some travel stuff. During the week the town is not as hopping as it is on the weekend. I was going to go to a pub but they don't get going until around 11pm. As it was only around 8, I wasn't going to sit there drinking in a mostly empty bar by myself. I have been there before in the past, it's not a good look for me. Plus as most of you know I really don't drink anymore so two beers and I am loaded. I headed back to the hotel for the evening. I hung out with people a few rooms down. (We all have a large common balcony.) A dad with is daughter (26? Maybe) and her daughter (18 months) on vacation. I had a few drinks with them just hanging out chatting about NZ and OZ. I then went in and read until I went to bed around 11:30. The lack of good TV is nice. (what Sean is happy about not having TV, does he have a fever or something?) It keeps me from just lounging around in the room at night. Most nights here in Queenstown I hang out by the lake, which is right in front of the hotel. The fact that the sun sets so late makes it a nice place to read at night.

For those who might have been concerned that I was not having a good time, let me put that to rest, Queenstown has done wonders for my outlook. I know I was down for a few days, starting with the gout and lasting the next few days. What can I say, I was in a funk, call it UMS (ugly mood swings) I was also somewhat homesick during that time. When you are not feeling well and are away from friends and family you can't help but feel somewhat alone in this big world. The other issue was the lack of a major landscape change made things tough. I felt like I was going over the same ground. This is why I did the long drive of Picton to Queenstown, and I am glad I did.

So where does that leave me? I will spend today doing some more sightseeing and driving to some places for photos. After I check out tomorrow I will figure out which route to take to get to Christchurch. I have to be there by Friday, as I leave for OZ on Saturday. I still may go to Dunedin for one night and then on to Christchurch. But I am torn on which way to go. I would like to go to Mount Cook, the highest in NZ but this takes me in the wrong direction for Dunedin but does get me closer to Christchurch. I will mostly likely flip a coin if I can't work out the pros and cons of both places.

Thanks to those who write me emails, It is nice to keep in touch with everyone. Keep them coming.

Until later.

The Missing Update

Can I tell you how upset you can get when you spend 40 minutes working on your latest blog entry and the stupid *&%^ next to you kicks the power plug out of the wall and then says nothing, it didn't effect her computer. SERENITY NOW!

Ok now to start over.

I'm still upset hold on.

Nicotine has a wonderful calming effect.

I left Wellington on the Thursday afternoon high speed ferry "Lynx". The views leaving Wellington made for some good shots as did coming into Picton on the south island. I checked into a motel in Picton had some dinner, checked email and went to bed. The next morning I got 0n the road after a quick bite to eat and email check around 10am. My plan was to head to Nelson and the surrounding area before heading to Westport for the night. Things quickly went pear shaped. I missed my turn for Nelson and by the time I figured it out I was to far past to back track so I kept heading west for the coast. I picked up a hitchhiker in Murchinson and asked where he was going? He told me Christchurch, which could not have been further than my destination. I looked at the map and figured out a town I could drop him off in and still not take me out of my way. I asked if I was better off going to Westport or Greymouth for the night. He said Greymouth for sure. So we got on the road and for the next hour talked about New Zealand and the different areas I had been. The topic quickly turned to politics and "W". I try and stay out of this as much as possible by directing questions to them about the Maori and the land rights claims. This is the best way to end political discussion. Not that I don't want to talk about "W" and the war but that's not why I am here. I dropped him off in Springs Junction and made my way to Greymouth. I was starting to get somewhat down about the lack of change in the landscape from the north island, everyone had raved about the south island and how much better it was than the north. To compound this issue the weather turned and the clouds rolled in the closer I got to the west coast. I had been told that the coast can get socked in with this kind of weather for days. I got to Greymouth and figured there was no way I was going to spend the rest of the day in this kind of weather and as it was around 2pm I keep heading south. I called Christy to try and cheer myself up. I started to tell her of the issues I has having and I needed to vent for a few minutes, of course I lost cell service and didn't talk for more than a few minutes total. The lift I was hoping for was just another disappointment in a day filled with them. Was nothing going my way? About an hour later the sky began to clear and the clouds where gone soon after. I decided to make my way to Hasst for the night about three hours away. This would give me a great head start on the next mornings drive to Queenstown. As I got south of Fox Glacier I picked up a Canadian from Vancouver. He was going to a town just north of Queenstown called Wanaka. I asked how long it would take. He said we could get there by 9pm and I could make it to Queenstown by 10pm. So off we went. We talked for the next 3 hours about his trip and places to see. As we headed back inland, south of Hasst the landscape was getting much better in the Southern Alps. We stopped multiple times for some great photos. Well maybe things where turning my way. I was able to get him to Wanaka right at 9 like he said. I dropped him off and ran into town to check email and look for a hotel in Queenstown for the night. I was starting to get tired and was going to stay in Wanaka for the night but felt I was this close and the sun had just set, I should press on. The road from Wanaka to Queenstown was another good road for pictures but didn't stop to take them. I was too tired and the light was fading fast. As I crested the last pass before heading down to Queenstown I could tell this was a great spot for pictures and would come back in the morning. After some issues with the hotel reservation I had made, online showed a room available for three days but when I got there they said they had no rooms for the next three days. He did say he had a room for the night but not for Saturday or Sunday. At this point I didn't care, I had driven 950 kilometers over the past 12 hours and I wanted a bath and a bed. The room didn't have a bath but the bed would do. As tired as I was, I was unable to get to sleep until after 1:30 am.

The next morning they found me a room at another hotel. After I checked in the first thing I did was to drive about 20 minutes out of town to the mountain pass I came through last night. It was one of the best places so far for photos. I can back to town and started walking around and checking things out. I booked the Awesome Foursome for the next morning, starting at 8am and going all day until 6pm (more on this later). I had dinner and chilled for the rest of the night watching the Australian Open Tennis as I was stilled wiped from yesterdays long drive. I turned off the lights and TV at 11pm, knowing I had to be out of the hotel at 7:30 to the start of the awesome foursome. Insomnia or the thought of a 135 meter bungy keep me awake until well after 2am. That sucks!

Tired but ready for the day I awoke around 7am and showered, got dressed and packed what I needed for the day. I go into town and get on the bus out to the first part of the awesome foursome, the bungy jump. Words cannot do justice to what is like to be in a "pod" suspended from overhead cables over a gorge 135 meters (over 400 feet) up with a bungy cord strapped to your ankles. The pictures will tell this story better. I was the fifth person to jump. My only fear before going out to the "pod" before my jump was I might crap my pants during the jump and that a photo of that would show up on the internet later. Trust me look down 450 feet from this thing and it will make anyone think the same thing. The jump went great. They strapped all the gear on me, got me out to the edge and counted down. At the word Bungy I jumped. The feeling is great, much better than jumping out of a plane. To look down and see the ground coming at you so fast, just when you think you are going to die the bungy takes hold and slows you down. The rebound up is great taking you about halfway back to the pod then the drop again. After the second bunch back up I release the ankle harness and hang from my waist. They them send a cable down which clicks in automatically and hauls me back to the pod. What a rush! Part one done.

We drove back to Queenstown for part two, the Shotover Jet boat ride. This is a 20 ride on a jet boat through the canyons of the Shotover River. The boat is basically two big V6 engines that suck water from the bottom of the boat and then shot it out the back just like a Wave Runner. It handles exactly the same of the wave runner with the ability to do a 360 turn on a dime. I have some video of this I shot with my digital camera. I will put up on the net at some time in the future. It was fun and a bit scary at times, they drive very close to the canyon walls. Part two complete.

Part three begins with a short 20 minute drive up river and wait for the helicopter. This was the part I was really looking forward too behind the bungy. Six of us piled in and every had a headset but me. Helicopters are loud. The main problem was I could not hear what the pilot was saying about the areas we where flying over. Also I missed what someone said that got him to fly like a crazed maniac but it was fun. The flight lasted about 6 minutes and dropped us off at the river to begin the white water portion of the trip. I have no idea what to expect when I get the pictures back because I was sitting in the middle seat on the helicopter. Part three done

Part four down the river was a let down, they talked about a few class 4 rapids but having been through class 4 and 5 rapids on the Colorado, these guys are very generous with a class 4 rating. We had what I thought was a 2 very good class 3 but I would not give it a 4. That took about 2 hours to do. At which point they brought us back to town around 6 pm. Thus ending the Awesome Foursome. I will call the Awesome Three and a half.

I was beat from a day outside in the heat (luckily it was cloudy all day) and somewhat tired from paddling, but you guys know I wasn't paddling that hard anyway. All my paddling got used up on the Green and Colorado rivers. Ask my Outward Bound buddy Jacob Dimond, he has also given up his paddling days after that trip. (We where the only two on a boat of six that did any paddling for two weeks.) I finished the night by watching the men's final of the Aussie Open and watch the pride of Australia Layton Hewitt start off strong then got waxed the next three sets.

Now on to today, Sleep in until 9:30, I need to catch up on sleep and I am glad for it. I spent my morning doing my laundry at the hotel and planning my next move. I finished that and getting all of my other junk organized. It is amazing the crap you collect over just a few weeks on the road. I have more local maps than I know what to do with. The nice thing about New Zealand is every town has a state run Info Center to tell you anything you ever wanted to know about that town. They can also make bookings for you for anything from a day trip to a hotel to a airplane flight. At everyone they are always handing you a map of the area to show you anything. I love being able to walk in and in few minutes have the skinny on any town I show up in. The really small towns only have a big covered outdoor map with attraction's show around it. Much like you would see at the beginning of a national park. Around 1pm I started into town to grab some lunch and check e-mail. I did the first half of this post but the day was so perfect I had go walking around town. I made my way up to the Gondola just outside the town center and took it too the top of the small mountain (or large hill, how do you tell the difference?) that overlooks the town. What a view, this is not to be missed. I got some great photos and then looked in to tandem Paragliding but it felt it was to expensive so I did the mountain luge. Let me explain, for those who have been on an alpine slide will understand the concept. For those who don't know what I am talking about skip to the next paragraph, I don't feel like getting into great detail. (It has taken me 35 mins to write this far from part 2 of the awesome three and a half. I don't type quickly and revise mid sentence sometimes. I could also use a grammar lesson I'm sure.)
Anyway the car you ride in is about the same size and same concept of the alpine slide. The difference is in the track. This one stays on the top to the hill and only drops about 400 vertical feet total over an 800m track. It is not a sort of waterslide track like the alpine slide but a concert track about 6 feet wide. The turns are banked with guard rails on the outside. The track is fast and I didn't go all out. If you loose it on this, it would be just like bailing on a bike at speed. Road rash is not your friend, take it from someone with first hand knowledge of how to stop one's body on pavement with your face. (Go cart - 1987 - Whittaker Woods - rocks in chin - 4 stiches) But back on topic, I enjoyed the ride but left it at one. I was afraid I would like it the more I did it until I over did. Hey, safety is no accident! It's all fun and games until someone needs a a skin graft. I took a few more pictures and headed down the gondola. Grabbed some dinner and came to the internet cafe to do this, right now, this is live. (well for me at least)

What to I have ahead of me? I am going to do an air tour of the Milford Sound in the morning. People tell me it's the most beautiful place they have ever seen, I then ask if they have ever been to Pittsburgh? I will see how it stacks up with the steel city tomorrow. My afternoon is free but I am sure I can find new and interesting ways to spend money. This is an expensive town, I wanted to get my film developed until I found out to develop a roll of 36 with single prints and a cd is over $32NZ or around $26US. Forget that jack, I will do it when I get home. My next move will come on on the 2nd, I am going to the east coast to make my way up to Christchurch. I may stay in Dunedin but I am not sure right now. I will make up my mind when I start driving. I will be leaving New Zealand on the 5th and making my way to Cairns (pronounced cans) on the Great Barrier Reef on the North East side of Australia. I was thinking of heading back up to Auckland for a few days but I just don't see it happening. After 3 days in Cairns I am flying to Sydney for sure 2 days but may extend that. After that no one knows.

OkI just hit my hour mark and it is time to wrap it up. A special thanks to my sponsor, for the Awesome Three and a Half. Hey the donation button works better than hoped. Sorry for any spelling and gramatical (are there two "m's" in that word?)

....bartender

Last Night in Wellington

It's almost 10pm and I am leaving for the South Island tomorrow afternoon. I was going to go this afternoon but when I got up this morning my gout was almost gone but enough for me to know if I pushed it today I was risking a flare up. So I stayed in Wellington again today, I was able to find the filter I have been looking for. The 18% gst (general service tax, I think) kills me on everything, and there is no way I can get that back unless I buy something and ship it out of the country or some crazy thing like that. Most places advertise including the gst which makes things less shocking when you know it is included. But I was happy to find this filter, it is mainly just to protect the lens glass it is worth paying more for it here.

Tomorrow I will be staying in the town I get off the ferry, Pictin. From what I have been told the chance for photos are good on the ferry ride. I am also taking the cat boat ferry which gets me in 30 min faster than the normal ferry. The weather is going to be nice again for the next few days, I will then figure out which direction I will go. I also have to look at time frames with my rental car and if I have to extend my rental or can I get to everything I wanted in the time remaining on the rental. These are the issues that keep me awake. Well not really the things that keep me up at night are the heartburn from the food. No I'm just kidding about the heartburn but not about the food, it realy is quite strange. I don't know maybe it's just me, I know I have a strange taste palette. Must stop rant now. My Irish hitchhiker told me about the northern point of the South Island, Farewell Spit I think. That will depend on the weather. I am going to talk to as many people as I can to find out which is the best coast to travel down, the east coast and the Pacific Ocean to your left or the west coast and the Tasman Sea to your right.

I have picked up a book on Capt. James Cook. He is quite an interesting fellow. Janet had a good book about him I started before I left before I left for the trip, but had to leave for Dad to read. ( J - if you can, bring the book just in case I catch up with you guys in Auckland, which is looking good at this point.) I will let you know if it is worth a read. Speaking of reads I read "State of Fear" by Michael Chriton (sp?) I was a good read on envoirnmental issues. Stopping this tangent now....complete

Sorry about that pause, which you will never know about unless you read this but I digress as I address the issue of an empty pint glass. Now fixed and ready to move on. Yeah thats a good idea move on. So until later, ... um later.

Time for the update I have been putting off.

I can procrastinate with the best of them, I am sure there is someone out there who has been putting of sending in things but I am the pot calling the kettle black.

So When I left Coromandel the drive along the Pacific Coast Highway was great. Once I got about 70k south of Coromandel the views got bland. I was going back and forth in my head about the fact I could be in Ireland or Vermont with only the palm trees giving it away. I had only driven for a few hours when I reached Lake Rotorua. The town was bigger than I thought it was going to be. I have trying to find a 77mm UV/Haze filter to protect my new 17-35mm lens I still can't get enough of. So every big town I check the local photog shops in hopes they have this rather large, non-standard size filter. I stop by the local Info stand and ask about hotels in the area. They set me up with a nice new place called IBIS, it's part of a chain, like the comfort inn's. This one was second from the bottom but still very nice. I small room yes but very clean less than 2 months old. I looked out the window and the Pizza Hut glowed just behind the hotel. I was drawn in like the Millinium Falcon to the death star. It was nice to get a thin crust pepperoni that tasted like home. OK, I was going to hold off about this but I can't. The food, well it, it sucks. Or at least 90% of the non fast food I have eaten. For example I wanted a cheese burger with lettuce and mayo and a side order of fries. The burger comes to me and I see they have put tomato on it, I leave it because it looks good, not a hot house but fresh. Well what I miss the the so called ketchup or tomato sauce, it's not the same. Next it had carrot shavings mixed in with the iceberg, a hugh no no. The topper was the meat was infused with onion, like a White Castle slider. Not a great taste when you are not expecting it and hate onions. But enough of my food rant, I could go on but I will save that for a later time if needed.

So back to Rotorua. I find out about changing my ferry crossing (now changed for the third time due to the gimp) and where the photog shop are. I leave the shops for the morning and check in and chill out. The weather has turn and it is now rain so I stay in for the night and watch some TV and try and catch up on the news. The next morning I head into town after checking out and go to both photog shops and strike out at both. I then head for Lake Taupo just a short 90k down the road. The trip was quick and boring. The lake is very large, the largest in New Zealand. It is loaded with trout. I find the info center and look into what the area has to offer. I made my way out of town a few k to Huka Falls, it was not a huge drop, only about 20 feet but the color blue water and the shear volume that go over every second is amazing. The sign said it is like draining 2 olympic size pools in a second. The other place I checked out was a place knows as "craters on the moon". It is an area around 50 acres with small steam vents, most small bowl shaped depressions about 1 to 2 feet deep. Small where huge, 30 foot diameter. I walked around for about 45 min and took a bunch of photos. The light was not great but I hope it will give the shots a more haunting feel. I then checked into the Chlemswood motel just outside of the town of Lake Taupo. It was a good room for the money but a joint who's prime was the early 70's. But I meet a nice lady, Chrissy, who now live in Oklahoma. Her husband runs an ARCA series car. This the class below the Busch series in Nascar. She and I talked for about 2 hours about my trip and things I should do. She was very helpful with ideas of places to see and places to avoid. That night I go back into town to grab some diner. The choices were limited so I went to Hell. Hell Pizza, it is a small chain down here. It wasn't bad but the Kiwis are big on putting sauce onto pof pizza, not more pizza sauce but BBQ sauce for one. I will leave it at that I don't want to get that rant going. The pizza was not bad, I talked with Chrissy and her husband and sister in law, who I think owns the motel. Very nice people to chat with. Turned in early.

The next morning I go in to town to check email and grab a bite to eat. On the way out of town I see a hitchhiker with a sign for the town of National Park. He jumps in and I ask him to show me on the map where we are going. The road will take me on the backside of the mountains I was going to see but the back side will be nice also. His name is Dermitt and he is a 28 year old from Cork, Ireland. For the next two hours he talked about his trip and places he has been. He got here in late October and has been traveling all over the two islands. We talk about Ireland and my love for the place. We stopped and took some photos along the way of the mountains, still snow covered in the heat of summer. The tallest is 2797 meters or around 9000 feet. I drop him off at the hostel and keep heading south. There are only a few places I stopped for photos but the ones I got are good. As I keep heading south I am looking for a nice place to stay for the night. As the day drags into afternoon I decide to make it to Wellington for the next few days.

I found a great place to stay for the next two days. Little did I know 2 would turn into 4. The first night I went walking around the area but didn't see many resturants so I headed back to the hotel for dinner there. I had a good steak and cheesecake. The next morning I got up and made some calls home to check in with the parents. After that I went up the cable car to the Botanical Gardens and Obsevatory. I went to the obsevatory for a lesson on the southern starts. I now know how to find the southern cross. When I got out it was drizzing so I headed back to the hotel and watched some tennis from the Aussy Open. Later that night I hopped a cab down into the city where the restuants and bars are. I walked around trying to see what grabbed my fancy. After an hour walking around I grabed a six inch sub from subway, I know but the luck I have had with the food here I get very particular about what I eat. I head back to the hotel and catch a movie before bed. I woke up around 1:30 with a pain in the big toe. I know that this means I need advil quickly and I may catch the gout before it gets out of hand. I take a sleeping pill so I will get a good rest and not toss and turn because of the pain. I awoke to the pain I had been able to stay away from lately. My toe was killing me. The sleeping pill did it's job becuase I was able to sleep until 7:45 am. I go to the front desk and ask about a doctor. They tell me that it is a holiday and the only place was a afterhours doc in the box place a few minutes down the road. So I go and hang out there for a while before they see me. I explain everything to the doctor and tell her what I take back home when this happens. She writes me my scripts and I fill them next door and get back to the hotel for an interesting day of pain meds and a pill that cleans me out, so to speak. Need less to say yesterday was spent in the room with my foot up most of the day.

Today is better but not great. I am able to move around more today and don't feel the need to keep it elevated. Thus giving me time to finish this. The plan for the rest of the day will be spent checking out the next few days travel. I leave for the south island tomorrow at 3:30pm. So until I write again, later.

New kind of post card request

If you would like to have a postcard sent to someone on your behalf just donate 4.00 and let me know what kind of postcard to send and what you would like written on it. For those who have requested I send cards, you should start to see them show up soon. I will continue to send cards to those who respond to them with an e-mail. The 4 bucks covers my cost of 80cents to 1 buck per card then 1.50 for postage the rest is just for the cost of pens walking to the post and such.

I have started a long description of the last few days. I am working on it in chunks. I lost about 20 mins. of work because of an issue with saving so I have put on hold for the night. I will update it in the morning. Check back around 4pm EST for at least some of it.

I miss everyone and want to thank those who take the time to keep on eye on me. Also most have figured out that spelling is not my strong suit, so if you see something I have buggered up let me know. Your thinking, whats with the buggered? Has he picked up the lingo already? You better believe it mate.

PS. Betsy if I find out you straped on skis I am going to pummel the %#*^ out of Tad Hamilton for letting you. You hear me Tad, thats right I'm typing at you mister. Watch your step or you may just find doctored photos of you appearing on the net. Stay off the snowboard also. Get some brady and make a fire and chill out and watch movies and eat.

Map of New Zealand

I have had some requests for a map to show everyone the areas I am visiting.

I'm Gimpy

I woke up late last night knowing what the day was going to bring. A bout with gout, for those not in the know, check webMD. I got up and went to the doc in the box here in Wellington. I picked up some meds and I will see how they work. I am going to stay one more day now. I was going to go tomorrow but I want to see if I got to it quick enough to keep it under 3 days or until I feel I could drive without too much pain (right foot). Now mom don't get on me about my diet, I haven't been eating things I shouldn't. So I spent most of the day in bed with my foot up. I was going to go to a sports bar to watch the Steelers lose. I am now glad I didn't. I was going to give a long update but my foot is starting to hurt again, time to get it elevated.

Good thing I'm not in Australia, I hear they like to throw gimps on the barbie.

Until the electrons fly again.

To my friends and family on the east coast

Please be safe in the blizzard conditions. I just watched a the weather channels coverage of the forecast over the net. Looks like NJ is going or is getting hammered. Just be safe, I want to come home and see everyone. The weather in Wellington today is not great but I will take this any day over what you guys are getting hit with.

PS. Go Steelers

The weather is much better

When I got up the sun was out with a few scattered clouds and it is going up to 73 today. I am going to leave the Lake Taupo area and head south. I may make it to Wellington today (sat) but I will see how the day goes. I enjoy the fact I don't have a set plan. As long as I am at the Wellington docks by 8:30 Monday morning for the ferry crossing.

Daylight is burning, got to get going.

I didn't make it as far as I had hoped yesterday.

The drive down from Coromandel was nice but the weather was not the best. It was cloudy all day with spots of showers. So instead of driving to Lake Taupo I deceided to stop in the lake Rotorua area for the night. I didn't do much last night, for some reason I was very tired by the time I checked in. This was another reason for not going to Taupo. I have looked at the map and Taupo is only about 90k away so I will check out the town this morning and get on the road this afternoon for Taupo.

Keep those e-mails coming. I always enjoy hearing from everyone. It is always a nice surprise to login and find some e-mail from home.

I will update if I can this evening.

The donations are flying in.

I have begun to receive donations for the trip. Feel free to send me money and tell me what to do with it. ie - send me the money I need for the awesome foursome in Queenstown, http://www.combos.co.nz/shotover.html#awesome Or just send me gas money.

Thanks to the following friends
Dad - My first donation (but not his first donation, he's been doing it for years)
Bland Motley - Sent me cash so I could call Christy
Joann Ordille - Brought me a drink
Kevin Allocca - Brought gas for 3k - 5 cents does not go as far down here as it does back home Kev.

Go to get on the road. More to follow.

The Tale of the Tan Titan

Let me begin with where I left off last. Talking about the Northland. I spent the night in the Bay of Islands in a town called Paihia. It is a seaside town that makes it living of the families on vacation. There are lots of boat trips to the islands in the bay. I choose to skip this due to the fact it was a 5-6 hour boat trip with a stop on a small outer island. Not really my thing. I started my drive north, stopping along the way to take pictures. My next stop was Doubtless Bay for a few quick photos. SIDEBAR - (The 17-35mm Nikon lens I got before the trip is worth every penny I paid.. Don't leave home with out a wide zoom lens like this.) I few klicks down the road I come to the bottom of ninety mile beach. This is the almost the top on New Zealand's north island. The Tasman Sea beating the coast. Like a jockey whips a has been to the last furlong. (Sometimes my imagery is stunning (I am in a bar that has internet access)) As far north as you can see, this ribbon of sand going straight into the horizon. The wind was blowing like Lewinsky. I stopped in Kaitaia for a quick bite to eat and then looked at my route for the rest of the day. A local in Paihia told me about a back road and ferry to get where I was going. He said the ferry leaves every hour on the hour, be there or wait. So I thought I would give it a go. The backroads are not all that different from any mountainous region, but at least it was sealed (rock over tar). I keep pushing the White Whale through swichback after swichback. Becoming more confident with it's handling. The air pressure made a ton of difference. Before I made the pressure change she was loose in and tight out but now she was as neutral as I could want. I noticed I was not going to make the 2pm ferry, how did I know this, I watched the 2pm ferry pull away 2 minutes before I got to the dock. So a opened the windows,cranked up the ipod (a must have for all trips) and chilled in the back of the RV. I then continued on south to Hokianga Harbour. This was a spectacular place. On the south side of this large harbour was green mountains, on it's north side Sand dunes gently slopping to the sea. I stopped at many different locations for photos. This was the last thing I would stop for today. It was 4pm and I wanted to get father south for the night. The next three hours where mainly road I had traveled. I ended up south of Auckland for the night.

And that is where we pick up the story of the Tan Titan. I wake up and take the RV back and get the Toyota and begin my drive to Coromandel Town to visit with Jen and her husband "Brown". I called home and while doing so missed my exit. I grabbed the map and saw a back road that got me back on track. I started down this road winding back and forth over the next 25k. The Titan then showed his true colors, handling the corners, smoothing out the bumps and the turbo giving me all the power I needed. I made the drive I loved the other day again, this time a little slower than in the rental car but the Titan showing no ill handling. I meet up with Jen and told her about the RV and that I was going to stay in town for a few days. She told me her mother in law owns the motel a block away and she will take care of it. I chilled out for a while, wrote postcards and walked around town. Later that evening I headed out to capture the sunset. I drove a few klicks out of town and found a nice hill to get some shots. As I was about to move locations a older couple came over and started to chat with me. Well we got to talking about why I am here and if they could tell me where some good vantage points where. They invited me back to there house to shot the harbour from there back deck and the sunset from the hill in front. I talked with them for over forty minutes before I had to go for dinner. Great people. I headed to the restaurant Jen and Brown own and waited for the staff dinner. He chowed on some great food and just hung out talking. around midnight I helped them close up and then went to bed, or so I thought. I happened to turn on CNN and they where covering the Airbus A380 introduction so I got sucked into seeing the huge plane get unveiled.

This morning I got up and decided to go to the top of the peninsula to Port Jackson. 40k north of town and all gravel road. This is when the Titan came into his own. the huge tires eating up the gravel and spitting it out. (remember I'm in a bar, I am going to ramble on from time to time) I stop many times for some great pictures. The road was at best 1 1/2 lanes wide and at worst down to one. The good thing is there is not much traffic on the road. I passed 30 cars going up. I then backtracked 15k and headed east to Port Charles , again good photos. I then backtracked from here to Kennedy Bay. A spectacular view coming out of the mountain pass. On the last pass coming back to Coromandel Town I stopped for the best shot of the trip. To my right 5k away the Pacific and Kennedy Bay and to my left Coromandel and the Hauraki Gulf, and 30-35k due east of Auckland. I drove no more than 100k and it took 4 hours, but the photos will make it worth the drive. Only once did I wish I had on a pair of depends, in a narrow section of road a few miles from town I and another truck come with in 15 feet of a head on. Both of us came out of blind corners.

Ok I have been typing and correcting this for some time now and have neglected my beer. So for now....

The Tale of the White Whale

Call me Ishmael, I have slayed the white whale. Well slayed is strong word. I have returned the RV. After two days of driving this pig my back was killing me. I took it back and got a Toyota Land cruiser, 4wd Turbo Diesel. This is a much better choice. The draw back is I can't sleep in it but that RV was just not going to cut it. The RV did drive better after I made an air pressure adjustment, I had it dialed in yesterday driving mountain passes and long valleys. If the seat did not kill my back so much I would have keep it. I had learned how to drive it yesterday, the four wheel drift was quite fun on some of the back roads, the heal toe work was a bit tricky.

I spent the morning in The Bay of Islands, then traveled north and west up to Ninety Mile Beach on the west coast. It was cool to start my day on the Pacific Coast and drive a few hours to the Tasman Sea on the West Coast. I then headed south and drove though the mountains and returned to Auckland for the night.

I dropped the RV of this morning and picked up the Toyota. It is raining today so I am going to make my way back to Coromadel Town for a few days to hang with Jennifer and her husband drinking and eating.

I will give a better description of the places I went too yesterday in a day or too. I don't have my maps handy right now and the town names are hard to remember.

Thinking of a change in the New Zealand plan

I need to start by saying the RV is death on wheels. So much so that I am thinking of taking it back and just getting a rental car. Now the story. I picked up the RV (a converted Toyota box van with a bubble top) they show me what I need to know about the features and send me on my way. I start to drive away and notice a pull to the left. As I get it up to around 50 mph I really begin to notice how much it is pulling. I stepped on the brake and it got worse. I turned around and headed back to the RV shop. I tell them the issue and that I would like a new van. They take it to the shop to look at. After about 15 min they come and tell me that the mechanics had looked at it and decided to replace the front tires and then test drive it. Another 10-20 goes by and they come back and tell me that the new tires helped but there was still a pull to the left. I tell them that I do not want to drive it for the next 21 days like this. He leave ands returns a few minutes later and tell me that it needs an alignment and they can't do that here. He offers me a card for a Firestone repair shop that I can take it to in the morning. I told him I was not going to take care of a problem on a rental. I asked about getting a credit and a rental car if he could not get me a replacement RV. He left again for 10 minutes and came back and told me they did in fact have a replacement and would bring it around. I get in this and start on my way. It drives fine so I make my way to the Highway. It is not the fastest thing on the road but it did 60 mph fine. My only complaint was that the shocks felt spongy but this is do to the extra camper top that makes it some what top heavy. I would not get the full effect of this extra 2 1/2 foot hump on the roof until I got of the highway (not many of them) and on to the state roads. The twists and turns make it drive like a drunk prom date on roller skates. Then as soon a you get into a clearing of just fields the wind takes over from where the curves left off. Blowing you around the road. It not bad if you easy back into the correct path, avoid sudden turns. This takes some getting used to, I have almost mastered it. The drawback is a tend to get white knuckled in the clearings. At least I could control my speed on the curves. Even after getting out a few times on the road to walk around my back is killing me. Not a good sign for the fate of the RV. I am going to sleep on it tonight and decide if I put up with the dangers involved. Also knowing the driving I want to do in the south is going to be harder than the north island. I will let you know what the outcome is.

My current location is The Bay of Islands on the north east side of the north island. I am looking into some tours to do in the morning. There are lots of things to see in this area. I am thinking of doing a half day boat trip or a 1 1/2 jet boat ride or a airplane tour of the islands. The one with the best bang for the buck is going to win out. This will also give me some more time about the RV.

The drive up was fairly boring compared to yesterdays trip to Coromandle Town. If I had to describe what it looks like the best thing I can think of and very close to driving in Vermont in the middle of the summer. Not too hot or humid, you are either driving though a valley surrounded by mountains in the distance or driving thought mountain passes. I did not see much water today so I felt I could be in Vermont. Other than the fact the steering wheel is on the right and you drive on the left.

A special shout out to my first donation. To the donor, who will remain anonymous, much thanks. I put that out there as a joke but if it works, who am I to complain.

That's about all I feel like writing about for now I will let you know how things turn out.

First Day in Auckland

This is going to be quick, I have limited time. I picked up a rental car for the day and went into Auckland City Center. I went up the Sky Tower and took some great shots of the city and for you U2 fans, "One Tree Hill". I then headed over to the Coromandel Peninsula and made my way up the coast to Coomandel Town to see a friend from Richmond who lives here, Jennifer Harned, she and her husband own the Peppertree restaurant. We hung out for a few hours drinking and talking. She had no idea I was coming so it was a great shock to her. The road to Coromandel Town is one of the best coast routes you can drive, the road twists more than a Diary Queen soft serve cone. I recommend this drive to anyone, do it in a Mini Cooper S if you can. The views are amazing. I am now getting ready to pick up the RV and Head to the Bay of Islands.

That's all for now.
Sean

Greetings From New Zealand

It is now 8:30 am Sat. (2:30 pm fri on the east coast) in Auckland. After traveling for the last 20 odd hours it is nice to be here. The weather is warm, about 65 f, overcast and I have on my shorts and flip flops. Today is a rest day for me but I was able to get some sleep on the flight so I am not tired right now, that may change this afternoon as the time catches up with me. I am most likely going to rent a car for the day and go explorer the city. I had planned on sleeping most of the day so I have no real plans. So far everything has gone as planned with the travel plans. I will pick up the RV tomorrow and start my trip up to the Northlands for 2 days. I am not sure if I will be able to upload photos to this site but I will try as I go along. I have left my laptop at home and I am at the mercy of internet cafes for updates, which may or may not let me copy photos from my camera to their computers for uploads but I will try.

For those who need to get in touch with me should do so via e-mail. My Verizon cell phone does work down here at a cost of .75 per min. So if you must call please make the message short and to the point. The time difference is easy to figure out. From Eastern time subtract 6 hours but add a day. I.E. 3pm Friday eastern is 9am Saturday for me.

That's about all for now. I will be sending out postcards to those who have asked over the next few days, but don't hold me to that. The are going to be short and sweet.

If anyone has friends in NZ who would like a visit contact them and then let me know if they are on my way. I would always love to get the skinny from a local. This goes for NZ and OZ (Australia) Singapore and London.

Bye for now. Sean

Around the world in 60 days

I have purchased an around the world plane ticket.
The trip so far:

Starting January 13th 2005:
New York (Newark) to Auckland New Zealand via Los Angeles.
I have rented a conversion van to live in for the 3 weeks. I will be driving a 18 day tour I found on-line with some slight modifications. I am going to take as many pictures as I can. This is the main goal for the trip. I will be on the north island for 8 days then take a ferry to the south island for the next 13 days. I drop the van off in Christchurch and fly out to Sydney

Christchurch to Sydney to Cairns Australia
I will spent the next 2-3 weeks traveling Australia starting in Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef. I most likely will be there for 3-4 days then fly back to Sydney. I will spend 3-4 days in Sydney. I have a train pass that allows me to go from Sydney to Perth on the west coast. The pass is good for 14 days so I can take my time getting out there. I plan on doing the trip over 8 days stopping in the bigger towns on the route. I am not sure exactly how long I will stay in Perth, but I am figuring 2 days before flying to Singapore.

Perth to Singapore
I will spend 3 days in Singapore. This small island should not take that long to see.

Singapore to London
I will spend a few days, likely 2, in London before taking a few side trips including but not limited to Holland, France and Italy. I will know more on this portion as the trip progresses.

London back to Newark
I should be home on or around the 10-12th of March, give or take a day or two.

Plans for New Zealand are close to the final version. Australia plans are about 40% done. The rest of the trip are just broad outlines at this point.

More updates to follow in the next few days.