tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4172782508935551652023-11-15T22:55:44.968-08:00babablahblogspanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-82162995144349673202013-01-27T13:25:00.001-08:002013-01-27T13:31:57.617-08:00Maroc-an-roll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Money!</div>
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Marrakech in a nutshell.</div>
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Sunset in Tagazout</div>
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Playing in paradise valley.</div>
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Abandoned cliffside homes near our campsite.</div>
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Village of Imessouane</div>
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Essaouira</div>
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Oasis</div>
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<br />spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-54025346772801896932013-01-18T10:58:00.000-08:002013-01-18T10:58:09.902-08:00This blog is boring, but Berlin was not!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Greeted with a pheasant...of course!</div>
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Really what Dublin has to offer.</div>
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And thats how you kill a lion.</div>
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Berlin Wall repurposed into the East Side Gallery</div>
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Holocost Memorial</div>
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Big ol' Brandenburg Gate</div>
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I'll let you guess which side built this thing.</div>
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<br />spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-8624869459065331622010-06-11T17:34:00.000-07:002010-06-11T17:44:01.874-07:00NoodlesSo i was trying to make a cup of noodles, but I just cant get the scene from episode of little bear out of my head. Little bear taking a bath with his father...ok yeah thats wierd, but then mom gets in fully clothed! Maby they are trying to send the message that it is possible to conserve water by washing your body and clothes at the same time, but only if your entire bear family is there with you but they are naked. Fuck. See it doesnt make any sense.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBaVuFYL0Kod5FyD8tiKJCSiFIded3hiL5U_Y2IcvD1SW3ZHDcSv0q0qTUMrCjMyMmTsCyemj43f-ftYHanMRg_g0eCkTzwEdPrpnpmEnKj1fSSPODNhl9WH7F22D8o0xcSJaSs6RH2ef2/s1600/littlebear.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 235px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481681268494187170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBaVuFYL0Kod5FyD8tiKJCSiFIded3hiL5U_Y2IcvD1SW3ZHDcSv0q0qTUMrCjMyMmTsCyemj43f-ftYHanMRg_g0eCkTzwEdPrpnpmEnKj1fSSPODNhl9WH7F22D8o0xcSJaSs6RH2ef2/s320/littlebear.jpg" /></a>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-37660755792679167192010-05-03T02:00:00.000-07:002010-05-03T02:26:19.879-07:00Exploring the inside of a great white<div align="left">The gang is breaking up. </div><div align="left"><br />Tomorrow, we will all be going our <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">separate</span> ways. I will be on a bus to Christchurch in pursuit of putting numbers in my bank account, Jay and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Trav</span> will be headed for Dunedin and Curt will be catching a bus out of here the next day to find a more <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">permanent</span> locale.</div><div align="left"><br />Lets do a brief recap of what has happened since we <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">FINALLY</span> escaped Te <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anau</span>. We made it to the Milford Sounds on literally, the worst day possible. It was pouring rain. Like <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">abso</span>-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">fuckin</span>-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">lutly</span> record breaking pouring rain. But we kayaked anyways. If you ask anyone about visiting the sounds, they will always say you have to visit it twice. Once when its nice out, and once when its bad out. Well if had to go when it was bad out, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">im</span> glad we saw it at its worst. There were not hundreds of waterfalls, but thousands. Everywhere you look there is water <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">careening</span> hundreds of feet off the steep cliffs and crags of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">fiord</span>. Its amazing, it really is. I've never felt so intimidated as from the pure erosive power that a little rainfall can posses in the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">fiord</span>. So yeah, it was raining, but it was the worst of the worst, meaning it was the best the worst had to offer.</div><div align="left"><br />After the sounds, we junked the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Subie</span>, but not before getting a few satisfying kicks in. She was a good car...well not really, but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">thats</span> what you should say anyways. We then bused to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Invercargil</span> and made plans to go to Stewart Island in the morning. Got ready to go and had the easiest hitching experience to get to our ferry ever.</div><div align="left"><br />We walked in the food store to stock up for the trip with our packs on.</div><div align="left"><br />"Where you guys from"</div><div align="left"><br />"The states"</div><div align="left"><br />"Cool, where are you going"</div><div align="left"><br />"Trying to get to the ferry to Stewart Island"</div><div align="left"><br />"I've got an hour before my flight, wanna lift?"</div><div align="left"><br />Magic, serious magic, no thumbing no waiting no asking no anything, AND he watched over our packs while we food shopped. Pure gentleman really.</div><div align="left"><br />So Stewart Island is kind of special. Its remote, its wild, its basically everything we have pictured this trip to be. But its more than that, its been THE destination from day one. We really thought we would have been here <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">forty</span> days ago, but kept getting side tracked on the way down. We finally made it.</div><div align="left"><br />The ferry over was wild. There were <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">freakin</span> waves bigger than the boat, which kinda added to the mystic. We pulled up and the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">skys</span> cleared, we made it. We landed on the only town on the island <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Oban</span>, which really is just a quite, quaint little harbor town, slightly reminiscent of Maine. Went to the DOC, got our camping passes and started the trek. </div><div align="left"><br />Stewart Island is notorious for rain, and the track is notorious for mud. The parts that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">aren't</span> mud are <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">boardwalked</span>. So it turns into this weird <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">Jersey</span> Shore meets muddy pit type thing. The whole thing is kinda <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">bazaar</span>. We come here looking for rugged terrain and solitude, and here we are, walking up a thousand flights of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">boardwalked</span> stairs. Yeah, I'll be honest, although I loved the scenery and the feeling of being on Stewart Island, the track sucked for me. I was pretty sick the whole time and felt weak-as when I was hiking. I also now know that I have a chronic knee problem from when I twisted my knee on the AT. It hurts the most going up and down stairs, of which there were plenty, and got worse throughout the track.</div><div align="left"><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">Soo</span> I basically got my ass kicked on a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">boardwalked</span> track. Its strange, after the AT which was almost 100k and 7 days, all I wanted to do was keep hiking. I felt like I was one with my pack and could hike forever. But here I was, on a 3 day 32k track begging for mercy. Kinda <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">embarrassing</span> really. </div><div align="left"><br />Whatever, I'll be back one day. Stewart Island IS beautiful, remote and rugged. The campsites were amazingly beautiful and were really enjoyable(I also wasn't moving). So basically the trek was a little rough yeah, but that didn't spoil what Stewart Island had to offer. And to boot, we couldn't have asked for better weather. We got three sunny days from a temperate <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">rain forest</span> which is pretty impressive in itself. </div><div align="left"><br />Oh yeah, we got to talk to some guys on the island that are filming a great white shark movie around the island, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">sweeeeet</span>-as!</div><div align="left"><br />So were back in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-error">Invercargill</span>, about to split up. It has been <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">awesome</span>, I will miss travelling with all these <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" class="blsp-spelling-error">dilbros</span>, but we couldn't have ended it without going to Stewart Island. Perfect. We are going to see each other here and there in the next month or two, but it will be nice to start to act <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_32" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">autonomously</span> and my own thing for awhile. </div><div align="left"><br />So yeah, off to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" class="blsp-spelling-error">Picton</span> I go!<br /> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwo7ixDKJc5NxgU6Yk5mwZcTN5X2MZNqYRl3TO_tbumDfbBx6r-hgI19-lUsJhM462FC8XSm7yla_XcGi5frafd773HsiAXu1Zpq9PZlgi4FOUZ5xBrslVQH9hQpimTwcgPNAq96aROqbe/s1600/DSCN2680.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466970653149438866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwo7ixDKJc5NxgU6Yk5mwZcTN5X2MZNqYRl3TO_tbumDfbBx6r-hgI19-lUsJhM462FC8XSm7yla_XcGi5frafd773HsiAXu1Zpq9PZlgi4FOUZ5xBrslVQH9hQpimTwcgPNAq96aROqbe/s320/DSCN2680.JPG" /></a> Epic</div><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW5aw9fBw0akQGO0AseIuiWUA3LlynBPe0fssn3VR6dxOOQKtDz0O7Bai-hs5pryBd1jRlazyuGhuiCJNHBZSqida43RPeYWDrb5QA_YZyrhrmU9E_Yo0eNuM_nuuL96bUd0oLGkAPceT/s1600/DSCN2698.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466970648447911794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW5aw9fBw0akQGO0AseIuiWUA3LlynBPe0fssn3VR6dxOOQKtDz0O7Bai-hs5pryBd1jRlazyuGhuiCJNHBZSqida43RPeYWDrb5QA_YZyrhrmU9E_Yo0eNuM_nuuL96bUd0oLGkAPceT/s320/DSCN2698.JPG" /></a> Again<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_QPYlfkngm7CeANa1Oj8fwW86yZ4Y3Kayk_f-jFSY9rtvrchoHe0n40UBF3m6-pc8Qd2nsOFH3HeSCYtmz5m9XyckqGcSc-SS5doEpaZADLtgjQDLQ76fDnPOYfn_LsZFoFAUTglgXXq/s1600/DSCN2711.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466970639956519874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_QPYlfkngm7CeANa1Oj8fwW86yZ4Y3Kayk_f-jFSY9rtvrchoHe0n40UBF3m6-pc8Qd2nsOFH3HeSCYtmz5m9XyckqGcSc-SS5doEpaZADLtgjQDLQ76fDnPOYfn_LsZFoFAUTglgXXq/s320/DSCN2711.JPG" /></a><br />Welcome to Stewart Island<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgciVnbljuzppU2iq0wsdyYsREXmdp0fmmEMfToexu5WIyvppPQRwciN831s98FwcexxN7rczxsTrqeLboe0GKPq945UPK4Y3um9v2YodSuphhFrjQNQtlOx8xkOcMt6RyZmHP37i3Tico2/s1600/DSCN2737.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466968166784713266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgciVnbljuzppU2iq0wsdyYsREXmdp0fmmEMfToexu5WIyvppPQRwciN831s98FwcexxN7rczxsTrqeLboe0GKPq945UPK4Y3um9v2YodSuphhFrjQNQtlOx8xkOcMt6RyZmHP37i3Tico2/s320/DSCN2737.JPG" /></a><br />Campsite</div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJOCvtu3ukVGraf2h8N43LmopmQU3UhnWG85fsOOLV1CDACCWqk2m-DpCVX6wIoe4W5ANYFoZOzNl4m6-Chr1gG77DH8T24D7kWobb6DfebxhLFMUNo3v60qt8q3S3Yey7PDZV_dNxtAO/s1600/DSCN2758.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466968158773708178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJOCvtu3ukVGraf2h8N43LmopmQU3UhnWG85fsOOLV1CDACCWqk2m-DpCVX6wIoe4W5ANYFoZOzNl4m6-Chr1gG77DH8T24D7kWobb6DfebxhLFMUNo3v60qt8q3S3Yey7PDZV_dNxtAO/s320/DSCN2758.JPG" /></a><br />Bridge</div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6QAmd41ejUBM6ehNcm23xzK3qsCyXqBQVIXZobFJId_e7q_DbK47aYPizCTvw0Dkbt6M5eHRuITpXfR8fNY1h-yxmdL927QAinbF71a6d779TqJwBzWV-idt-3pysGfPM8Z3qQptlL1M/s1600/DSCN2786.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466968155054858370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6QAmd41ejUBM6ehNcm23xzK3qsCyXqBQVIXZobFJId_e7q_DbK47aYPizCTvw0Dkbt6M5eHRuITpXfR8fNY1h-yxmdL927QAinbF71a6d779TqJwBzWV-idt-3pysGfPM8Z3qQptlL1M/s320/DSCN2786.JPG" /></a><br />Cold and wet...but not walking!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifbAfRk9gGJWbXeaa8qE8vzxqE96a1TOdVmDULUwXSFHL-o89SCBRxyojTP84-PaKI0dnHo2mP3dQSleS03BAOlJ1BdRTBIPmfzM3_0enM9ozS573H4fyFEAGXVtVvKDr-gutsdLb5IULk/s1600/DSCN2791.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466968147452332034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifbAfRk9gGJWbXeaa8qE8vzxqE96a1TOdVmDULUwXSFHL-o89SCBRxyojTP84-PaKI0dnHo2mP3dQSleS03BAOlJ1BdRTBIPmfzM3_0enM9ozS573H4fyFEAGXVtVvKDr-gutsdLb5IULk/s320/DSCN2791.JPG" /></a><br />Candle...I obviously have been messing around with my camera a bit<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVWDXGgRiLWil0TkGZQLpGChKiwlb031Dg5fSpdNBWw3-vjnlO6Cc3rlZ9zZWVL6P8KhmMfUrv55a2OwD04k6UIcOrhKiF8GuemjiTeUpzUq4Xnu0dDTMl9oPzPvAEATCmsRVWQGSCpGm/s1600/DSCN2838.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466968137853861602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOVWDXGgRiLWil0TkGZQLpGChKiwlb031Dg5fSpdNBWw3-vjnlO6Cc3rlZ9zZWVL6P8KhmMfUrv55a2OwD04k6UIcOrhKiF8GuemjiTeUpzUq4Xnu0dDTMl9oPzPvAEATCmsRVWQGSCpGm/s320/DSCN2838.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Hitching back from the ferry</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-71309181972687254482010-04-26T22:48:00.000-07:002010-04-26T23:15:53.886-07:00Trapped In Te Anu<div align="left"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Yeauuuup</span>. Two updates in like 2 days?! What?! What must be going on that is so interesting. Well not really anything but lots.</div><div align="left"><br />Shit has hit the fan for Captain Nate America and the rebel forces. Its pissing rain, and today the car decided it would be good time to die. So yup, halfway between <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span> and Te <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anu</span> on our way to the Milford Sounds, the last squirt of petrol went in the engine, totally frying the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">nanomodulater</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">annihilated</span> the exterior <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">defribulator</span>. Now she won't go...bummer.</div><div align="left"><br />Pushed it across the road in to a grassy nook, packed our packs and hitched a ride to Te <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anu</span>. So here we are at the gateway to the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Fiordlands</span>, cold and very wet, kinda wondering what the eff to do. We are getting her towed to a dump <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tomorrow</span> i think, but this this whole <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">scenario</span> is getting <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">pretttty</span> pricey for us. Oh well, life goes on. </div><div align="left"><br />Because of the rain the road to Milford sound is closed because of flooding and landslides, and will be for a few days. That means no <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Routeburn</span> track even if we could find away to get there(we loose our money too!). Good news is we pushed our kayak trip back, so we can figure out the car and go when it is sunny out. We are still gonna try hitch/bus Stewart Island, but then I <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">definitely</span> need to find work right <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">afterwards</span> as my funds are going to running slim, and I need to recharge for Australia.<br /></div><div align="left">Enjoy the backlog of pictures and the car folly!</div><div align="left"><br />Update: Alright so the phone lines, cell towers and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Internet</span> is out today and I wasn't able to post the blog. Crashed while talking to father <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Maier</span>...sorry dad! It is still raining, and now the road that we came in on is closed as well, so we actually can't physically go anywhere. Hopefully we will be able to get to our car and get it towed tomorrow. </div><div align="left"><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hmm</span> lets see its been a wild day. I have probably watched over a hundred music videos. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Reminiscing</span> about the glory days at 3 Prospect dancing around in the living room like idiots while saying <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">boosh</span>. I also ate a pie and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">accidentally</span> turned my loafers into toast next to the heater. Also thinking about sewing up the holes in my jeans. So yeah pretty productive day! The pie shop was run by a really cool lady that reminds me so much of Sue who I worked for in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Picton</span>. If you read this Sue, I found you a long lost relative in Te <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anu</span>.</div><div align="left"><br />Being honest, I'm pretty bored and mildly frustrated right now. Everything is closing early in town and there is not too much to do when it is pouring rain. But yeah on the plus side its pretty nice being at least dry and warm (we decided to leave the tents in the car). I'm also reading a book right now called the Bone Man of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">Binares</span>, its pretty rad. Its kinda a diary of a traveller in the 70's, who is touring southeast <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">asia</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">india</span>. India just made my next tick list for travel.</div><div align="left"><br />Thinking <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">alot</span> about what I want to do when I get home. Currently, I wanna move somewhere cheap in the city, and become a famous geologist/bike messenger. Who knows though. Last month I wanted to buy a boat and sail it across the Atlantic. Last week I was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">going</span> to build a house in the mountains with Jay. I'm starting to realize that there are <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-error">alot</span> of things that I could do that would make me really happy, the possibilities are adding up. Maybe I don't really know what I want to do, but I know where I want to live. Nowhere really feels like home like the east coast, I miss it man. Nothing is like it. </div><div align="left"><br />Update 2: Bridges out in both directions, trapped in Te <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anu</span> for at least 3 days. Going to the main attraction in town <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tomorrow</span>, the trout <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">observatory</span>. This is starting to cost us <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" class="blsp-spelling-error">alot</span> of money.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDjqCY-Lv-OKh5nNbwFwvc_cHfO0TwhpdW7grsSRs46dW4JzokoqTOLHmkBbznx6mY6zffQK-Tytcjurub-7ojjwhyYBcpCGulsK9-pyIY-jJ_yiRWiUYyOdZbBUUn1Usx_Ga8n2KL3Ns/s1600/DSCN2603.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464695134718159986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDjqCY-Lv-OKh5nNbwFwvc_cHfO0TwhpdW7grsSRs46dW4JzokoqTOLHmkBbznx6mY6zffQK-Tytcjurub-7ojjwhyYBcpCGulsK9-pyIY-jJ_yiRWiUYyOdZbBUUn1Usx_Ga8n2KL3Ns/s320/DSCN2603.JPG" /></a> Fox <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_32" class="blsp-spelling-error">Glacierness</span></div><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJEuP5Awqt_rUu-l4AXagVgLIEpBb8SwWbLnlaPkmttCt-totHtfl9OBKxfESUvOlL_aBhu3RGJ4y6yKUJFUqSHnkhl5LP8L_Cr5jQT0oGZskcYlrMOVJo-VxvLAA_YARKJcCZrHuw1Yb/s1600/DSCN2623.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464695125162907330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJEuP5Awqt_rUu-l4AXagVgLIEpBb8SwWbLnlaPkmttCt-totHtfl9OBKxfESUvOlL_aBhu3RGJ4y6yKUJFUqSHnkhl5LP8L_Cr5jQT0oGZskcYlrMOVJo-VxvLAA_YARKJcCZrHuw1Yb/s320/DSCN2623.JPG" /></a>Morning Hike Somewhere<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYrgIoeF9B0lXXNPiichNdunNCJgYeMZe_38wsQWKnbL-o3SEAsao55hjH3cGGnk5580tJO5C-KT968ezt-NRjyIjTpc7n4XUE8H2FlIhmxcv4cJurPn-ZUSo4VZcRik0VWSZ-rue1Q0O/s1600/DSCN2632.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464695116818308114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYrgIoeF9B0lXXNPiichNdunNCJgYeMZe_38wsQWKnbL-o3SEAsao55hjH3cGGnk5580tJO5C-KT968ezt-NRjyIjTpc7n4XUE8H2FlIhmxcv4cJurPn-ZUSo4VZcRik0VWSZ-rue1Q0O/s320/DSCN2632.JPG" /></a> I stayed up till like 2 in the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">morning</span> feeding the kittens that were trying to jump into the car. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_34" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Surprising</span> right?<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FU2LDlT-8Y5xGwiMP0UuryjUoik49RDV_1LJN4hPz_DACei8m_GBx8-gpao0VVeNVIIEEvXWmCkSdmUcQtJxGWPweTqfHnPRQn048H3Fz2Ti6uTijP5_bJ54Vj8Ex8hj9-otgcQIlZQq/s1600/DSCN2633.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464691264497013330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FU2LDlT-8Y5xGwiMP0UuryjUoik49RDV_1LJN4hPz_DACei8m_GBx8-gpao0VVeNVIIEEvXWmCkSdmUcQtJxGWPweTqfHnPRQn048H3Fz2Ti6uTijP5_bJ54Vj8Ex8hj9-otgcQIlZQq/s320/DSCN2633.JPG" /></a><br />The best part of my morning<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqyiODKr3MG9-pNpS1PLwmXjxGIWTKgrq5uXUPlY9eAOneaidJ8Ez7q8jRtB7HJJs4A8yipYzxqoPrsujHIEt-oS5xJUoZW3gSu5R8O1p27jKjfFbjzBEkXmaFWujF_PrH6PTHsEZUyTg/s1600/DSCN2653.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464691255295312322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqyiODKr3MG9-pNpS1PLwmXjxGIWTKgrq5uXUPlY9eAOneaidJ8Ez7q8jRtB7HJJs4A8yipYzxqoPrsujHIEt-oS5xJUoZW3gSu5R8O1p27jKjfFbjzBEkXmaFWujF_PrH6PTHsEZUyTg/s320/DSCN2653.JPG" /></a><br />We won the rap battle so they couldn't hitch hike on our turf<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7udsQbJkaAf383Sv3Cu5_AI3BxSsCsxqNYGlSr6tKp7wJNDz0mVN_qk-D3msZWYI-voly3FMoBIreNVLD-iiHoq_sFrlVvsVAuA8M9no5-6px5VI79iACafIqF3IgiWVGQJheZuUEv6ob/s1600/DSCN2654.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464691248893149810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7udsQbJkaAf383Sv3Cu5_AI3BxSsCsxqNYGlSr6tKp7wJNDz0mVN_qk-D3msZWYI-voly3FMoBIreNVLD-iiHoq_sFrlVvsVAuA8M9no5-6px5VI79iACafIqF3IgiWVGQJheZuUEv6ob/s320/DSCN2654.JPG" /></a> </div><div>No car...whatever<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwm-meZAWmDbPOKhR4tMjbfwtooCDyH6zZZy4PaZscr-eRdVkaXDuipytQThAZ5hs9Otnc3Tb-6S4LDV6ulzVWJXuSjTzfISyXR6CqHq1CgC4zNOxehrZIhGlLWNHBMbnC9h564ToY3RC/s1600/DSCN2660.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464691240541587474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwm-meZAWmDbPOKhR4tMjbfwtooCDyH6zZZy4PaZscr-eRdVkaXDuipytQThAZ5hs9Otnc3Tb-6S4LDV6ulzVWJXuSjTzfISyXR6CqHq1CgC4zNOxehrZIhGlLWNHBMbnC9h564ToY3RC/s320/DSCN2660.JPG" /></a><br />Flood time<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdz1r7fz0F0YbQBgDaOxkAKvFWrfl7UU1U-kkQw0sd-KMsIMp9slDnLQBnOUandVluRLwyC6pq-Y9N4IlTkzDMK5oUmonw6PfvJp2JNwbmfElZsta2V8FSJAXM9aNeCD602uJDknXT-hM/s1600/DSCN2664.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464691232823995042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdz1r7fz0F0YbQBgDaOxkAKvFWrfl7UU1U-kkQw0sd-KMsIMp9slDnLQBnOUandVluRLwyC6pq-Y9N4IlTkzDMK5oUmonw6PfvJp2JNwbmfElZsta2V8FSJAXM9aNeCD602uJDknXT-hM/s320/DSCN2664.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Why not</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-56627222802299370032010-04-23T22:19:00.000-07:002010-04-23T23:03:51.989-07:00Slightly hung over for the first time in awhile.<div align="left">So here we are...in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span>, just sitting here pondering life and my almost obsessive use of ellipse. One might think this is quite dull in the adventure capital of the world, but nothing is quite adventurous as delving into ones own mind!</div><div align="left"><br />Alright, well seriously, we can't afford to jump out of a plane or blow anything up but we can afford to get drunk one time(we really <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">haven't</span> drank since we left <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">picton</span>). So <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span>, the party capital of New Zealand, has been treating us very well. It is a bit rainy today, which has almost been nice pause to file tax returns and make some travel plans. </div><div align="left"><br />Last time I wrote we were in Christchurch for the blues and jazz...here is the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">jist</span> of what has been going on since then:</div><div align="left"><br />We drove back toward the West Coast via <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Aurther's</span> Pass. Stopped along the way for a few days to do a bit of bouldering in the land of Castle Hill, and lived in a poorly equipped shack for exactly one night. Cave Stream. We then proceeded onward back to the West Coast, and ended up in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Greymouth</span>. Did a brewery tour, and then shortly afterwards visited the pancake rocks. Made knives from hot steel in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">barrytown</span>. Drove south, saw some glaciers, while simultaneously braking down a whole bunch. Travelled to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Haast</span>, were we got the grim news that our car has a very terminal sickness, but cheered <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">ourselves</span> up by sleeping in beds and taking showers. Journeyed through Mt. Aspiring National Park on our way to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wanaka</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span>. Went to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Arrowtown</span>, felt very <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">homish</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">atumnal</span>, while taking in a talent contest for ill-advised <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">eightyear</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">olds</span>. Now we are back in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span>.</div><div align="left"><br />That is the somewhat patchy version of what we have been up to. We are in good spirits and are currently staying in a hostel with beds. As much as I love sleeping in a tent every night, which I might add I really do, it is nice to be indoors and clean. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Tomorrow</span> we are back on the road, and heading towards Milford Sounds were we are going to do a twilight kayak of the sounds, and then do a short track called the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">Routeburn</span>. Hopefully then we will plunge down to Stewart Island if our car allows us and do a bit of trekking there as well. </div><div align="left"><br />The car problem is interesting. I feel like having two really pitiful cars has <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">taught</span> me so much as too what makes these little machines run. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">Heres</span> the problem, in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">laymans</span> terms for all you non-mechanics out there. We have a cracked head, which is leaking <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">exhaust</span> fumes into the radiator. That intern pressurises the radiator and spits out all the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">coolant</span> and water. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Because</span> of this the car overheats like mad. Solution? We have to carry around gallons and gallons of water with to constantly refill the radiator. Its currently losing about a liter of water per 10k which is almost kind of impressive. But it still moves, and even though the engine will keep getting worse and eventually lose all its compression, it will get around for now.</div><div align="left"><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">Alrighty</span>, last but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">certainly</span> not least a meeting of epic proportions. Come June 1st I will be reunited with my brother Sean Marshall in Australia, who I have not seen since we were <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">separated</span> and taken from mother wolf at birth. I am so excited to connect physically with someone from home, especially <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-error">sean</span>, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" class="blsp-spelling-error">instead</span> of through electronics. </div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Basically, its gonna be the raddest ten day surf trip known to man.<br /></div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">I am so excited. </div><div align="left"><br />Thanks for reading the ramble, miss you all lots!<br /></div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Much love<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDvUacpaZWRXiRbSpsK0zVqIUJwuZjo_U4KtMuucHoegRsW8AvBHDqpvvjRDcp5NY5fVhORmFTseD9Pbv4OdTGhEdiD1fWiNHu_x_uI6xeerV0F0HPJfn3V9Pi-q5O9xFtwRabdZefI6g/s1600/IMG_0756.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463577226813383362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDvUacpaZWRXiRbSpsK0zVqIUJwuZjo_U4KtMuucHoegRsW8AvBHDqpvvjRDcp5NY5fVhORmFTseD9Pbv4OdTGhEdiD1fWiNHu_x_uI6xeerV0F0HPJfn3V9Pi-q5O9xFtwRabdZefI6g/s320/IMG_0756.JPG" /></a> Castle Hill</div><div align="center"><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirn5FyV3FsQNUdKd6Zg38cGgzHadPdCg5JCabAUsIWXhx-AMu8CF2WalfXE-npDVjYiJHonMIElX7GL80Y_wMDh3kkmHpORrkUlE9uTwOwreSHR_qmHFniO0KFOkTwaSkIQ0kwOfTWU4-q/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463577224139595458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirn5FyV3FsQNUdKd6Zg38cGgzHadPdCg5JCabAUsIWXhx-AMu8CF2WalfXE-npDVjYiJHonMIElX7GL80Y_wMDh3kkmHpORrkUlE9uTwOwreSHR_qmHFniO0KFOkTwaSkIQ0kwOfTWU4-q/s320/IMG_0783.JPG" /></a> Sunrise circa Castle Hill<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKuGkvS7ey-FofyhC1H8De9oBaX4MWLfwZni_6ahy0QEx-G-KKPZ5P1RbDk-uLH56hbphey_VTK3pPRX5YsttuB2ZeZSDlc-JHXkVPYJaWwNzBX24MUTJAVQrEf6VoBM3b1gazkXE6StHc/s1600/IMG_0799.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463577208812842306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKuGkvS7ey-FofyhC1H8De9oBaX4MWLfwZni_6ahy0QEx-G-KKPZ5P1RbDk-uLH56hbphey_VTK3pPRX5YsttuB2ZeZSDlc-JHXkVPYJaWwNzBX24MUTJAVQrEf6VoBM3b1gazkXE6StHc/s320/IMG_0799.JPG" /></a> We found this really sweet shelter....so we used it.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-lM3-4OT508kxY1gxZM9fpWYt4LdF4X7LNhsyzSPxN6O3eS6ASVcskg8_QzrtY6GLEG-4JCPXq1BkprdPPCYfM0Adoup1yap2eDO5PcZGAl09YcKt31VpJ1dQcNruH5BjjuJfSe3HjD6-/s1600/IMG_0807.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463577201167442786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-lM3-4OT508kxY1gxZM9fpWYt4LdF4X7LNhsyzSPxN6O3eS6ASVcskg8_QzrtY6GLEG-4JCPXq1BkprdPPCYfM0Adoup1yap2eDO5PcZGAl09YcKt31VpJ1dQcNruH5BjjuJfSe3HjD6-/s320/IMG_0807.JPG" /></a><br />Cave Stream<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8voiJJ40ElnEbQlhR1Kai99-ub3Pd6jGhhzA5X9tdefpuvlhpEXyuZyEtg6-NfASYB-CbL2JW4cN6SuFexP0mlsrhZ1iX7yAHLu_Tz6UX50bGFzHu6H6A90BOTAolSAcssYv-Uw_w47VN/s1600/IMG_0828.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463577194855685618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8voiJJ40ElnEbQlhR1Kai99-ub3Pd6jGhhzA5X9tdefpuvlhpEXyuZyEtg6-NfASYB-CbL2JW4cN6SuFexP0mlsrhZ1iX7yAHLu_Tz6UX50bGFzHu6H6A90BOTAolSAcssYv-Uw_w47VN/s320/IMG_0828.JPG" /></a><br />The pancake rocks are so much more interesting after a brewery tour<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vkkx_Dsz6h6f3XgX4mtyr6VOlJF7xEUmKn5qkVMds-kCogYPHK95pVJZk_N3x-kMaEnn_WNaQrDSD7AoaKaNaxojxbDNv04prAdRWi_vZufz5e5zGDIuBTx3mBwh2cFeQ0puY_wDJM6S/s1600/IMG_0838.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463574302927225890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vkkx_Dsz6h6f3XgX4mtyr6VOlJF7xEUmKn5qkVMds-kCogYPHK95pVJZk_N3x-kMaEnn_WNaQrDSD7AoaKaNaxojxbDNv04prAdRWi_vZufz5e5zGDIuBTx3mBwh2cFeQ0puY_wDJM6S/s320/IMG_0838.JPG" /></a> Boys and knifes are like <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" class="blsp-spelling-error">McChickens</span> and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_32" class="blsp-spelling-error">Frenchfries</span></div><br /><div align="center"><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhLzK0S2Azd78rJlIhdRKhCuqLbuiG9P89rsSHdwtboH3-5M8JV5RYplCPPFU8K_a2Hon-s7I1mRgBEU3CsJdW9mh2r09geA7e504skdk2_LegfJgd7oKeERlAFGwZjMsO_XaGh41LJ25r/s1600/IMG_0850.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463574294871278514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhLzK0S2Azd78rJlIhdRKhCuqLbuiG9P89rsSHdwtboH3-5M8JV5RYplCPPFU8K_a2Hon-s7I1mRgBEU3CsJdW9mh2r09geA7e504skdk2_LegfJgd7oKeERlAFGwZjMsO_XaGh41LJ25r/s320/IMG_0850.JPG" /></a><br />Along with making knifes, Stevens house had a gigantic swing, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" class="blsp-spelling-error">minature</span> ponies, ax throwing and a parrot. This is the swing.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJQTpMFZWkZdyOmK62EScmHCCiNwYjzzYsupmqSTPzKOqjSW-VzO7YMCQT1incyqbOfukDpCEhvQIn_4DLfO8MVxSUTTPF5BttlnaS_xluVkeuVc77Xi0n2muk4rYB4yangrkcfhwRBgF/s1600/IMG_0869.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463574287086734242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJQTpMFZWkZdyOmK62EScmHCCiNwYjzzYsupmqSTPzKOqjSW-VzO7YMCQT1incyqbOfukDpCEhvQIn_4DLfO8MVxSUTTPF5BttlnaS_xluVkeuVc77Xi0n2muk4rYB4yangrkcfhwRBgF/s320/IMG_0869.JPG" /></a> Gorilla Mist<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGwJDnkFvFUThiAsaZVEt7nGRyfvMc9vNFLqGCIbF-8IaS1A6n46wAqXBIGcAfrMscBqBwm3sXfkLnj6VStS-cT5ip06HDCiCU2w6O11HIJ7oahSPV8xj99nUQ3pnA669a_MlV8DA39nF/s1600/IMG_0876.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463574275360904258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGwJDnkFvFUThiAsaZVEt7nGRyfvMc9vNFLqGCIbF-8IaS1A6n46wAqXBIGcAfrMscBqBwm3sXfkLnj6VStS-cT5ip06HDCiCU2w6O11HIJ7oahSPV8xj99nUQ3pnA669a_MlV8DA39nF/s320/IMG_0876.JPG" /></a> Terminus end of a very large glacier<br /></div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTs4x1gWLPq6VKm2U8hRkEU3V4bTMUTUFvf9wpNSnR0ygxoyQtZ-1y9YNUKWvGea9JQm8TAOP8LMXckSp1T5TGB728RP_OA5h6_-1S4XOJMH9yZoMWccm9L94bRmokrO-BkomV4I7WK7r/s1600/IMG_0906.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463574272371725138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTs4x1gWLPq6VKm2U8hRkEU3V4bTMUTUFvf9wpNSnR0ygxoyQtZ-1y9YNUKWvGea9JQm8TAOP8LMXckSp1T5TGB728RP_OA5h6_-1S4XOJMH9yZoMWccm9L94bRmokrO-BkomV4I7WK7r/s320/IMG_0906.JPG" /></a><br />Hospital for cars<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ULo4pDH4AfK7V0rGrfOh6LyCZdArILXZJxPRCmDFp3s5UGdEIPwy0hczkHM8yPATqpNw-yBcu2Feuko9qs_y-5ht9S8z9xUd24NlsZbsnYFBrIwjMrJNJRuji5fObwB8doLwEVuTlVFL/s1600/IMG_0945.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463572316678969730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ULo4pDH4AfK7V0rGrfOh6LyCZdArILXZJxPRCmDFp3s5UGdEIPwy0hczkHM8yPATqpNw-yBcu2Feuko9qs_y-5ht9S8z9xUd24NlsZbsnYFBrIwjMrJNJRuji5fObwB8doLwEVuTlVFL/s320/IMG_0945.JPG" /></a><br />Inside a tree<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuqlvuXMN-re7s5BRKGeeCdn8A2CeILo4XCTJRDua9yFPso60tL2zhySRYPpVzLOKDMCfXj1DIEYtx33FjkEwSeA4iLRDyXKjwkLshGrKwvm38RzWua6zyhvK-ARXXY8iD0iF9xtR6xHv-/s1600/IMG_0953.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463572310629051218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuqlvuXMN-re7s5BRKGeeCdn8A2CeILo4XCTJRDua9yFPso60tL2zhySRYPpVzLOKDMCfXj1DIEYtx33FjkEwSeA4iLRDyXKjwkLshGrKwvm38RzWua6zyhvK-ARXXY8iD0iF9xtR6xHv-/s320/IMG_0953.JPG" /></a><br />Mt. Hooker Campsite<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Xfy7nCCX_D11uxz9sKA38yHEsjSSins8e2665m8B1nAhainJ2_JWUGU58QSDl2SDEhTmMx1whYTJNlsNp-Ruw5y57L3dYThfWaQiF4lzivOXFJwUdjBBtTZBaCgLA5uj8Ba-3MtE7CP7/s1600/IMG_0980.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463572300918168098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Xfy7nCCX_D11uxz9sKA38yHEsjSSins8e2665m8B1nAhainJ2_JWUGU58QSDl2SDEhTmMx1whYTJNlsNp-Ruw5y57L3dYThfWaQiF4lzivOXFJwUdjBBtTZBaCgLA5uj8Ba-3MtE7CP7/s320/IMG_0980.JPG" /></a><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_34" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2ea4xRn-UahvFxiFf2hp2czyB5Md4xife6V7ihI0ybm-uIw4nPvyIhpjf71MKZQ4c9Vt0fFGx-6khNmDSdh5ctJysXrSMwe98xOO04ZO-4CAVvAx0fIhGteNRXsoXnU8J6eSpvKHSxiP/s1600/IMG_0988.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463572292838742914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2ea4xRn-UahvFxiFf2hp2czyB5Md4xife6V7ihI0ybm-uIw4nPvyIhpjf71MKZQ4c9Vt0fFGx-6khNmDSdh5ctJysXrSMwe98xOO04ZO-4CAVvAx0fIhGteNRXsoXnU8J6eSpvKHSxiP/s320/IMG_0988.JPG" /></a><br />Did, we indulge just a little bit in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_35" class="blsp-spelling-error">Queenstown</span>? <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_36" class="blsp-spelling-error">yueeaaappp</span><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqwcixz4Wtj5ggbzcmkrGozObJVsr6bkooD5s7zyisyU-3W3Gmy2cWdZQ8oagGrv_6Iz7RwC4LpruFCQhIPNy8xHcxsRGI_arGnq7vYN7K_lUCPz6NSpKmIGQMUxE68w-uW9ExiBPxt4V/s1600/IMG_1010.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463572283134734578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqwcixz4Wtj5ggbzcmkrGozObJVsr6bkooD5s7zyisyU-3W3Gmy2cWdZQ8oagGrv_6Iz7RwC4LpruFCQhIPNy8xHcxsRGI_arGnq7vYN7K_lUCPz6NSpKmIGQMUxE68w-uW9ExiBPxt4V/s320/IMG_1010.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Old-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_37" class="blsp-spelling-error">timey</span> folk in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_38" class="blsp-spelling-error">Arrowtown</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-51818928994089197172010-04-10T16:12:00.000-07:002010-04-11T15:14:47.897-07:00If Hamish ever asks you if you want to go eel hunting...just say no.<div align="left">Hello hello. Well its been quite some time...well rather months since I've attempted to write about our journeys so here it goes, much of it in abbreviated form. Autumn in NZ is now apon us and we have been on the road for almost three weeks since leaving o'le Picton. Life couldn't be better. </div><div align="left"><br />A typical day goes as follows:</div><div align="left"><br />We get up around sunrise. Eat. Discuss. Drive, stop and explore. Find camp. Eat. Sleep.<br /></div><div align="left">While tramping life is even simpler because the track ahead is already laid out.</div><div align="left"><br />We have no worries living a rather simplistic life, and in all honesty, if something is bothersome we tend just not to do it. Beyond the obvious experiences of traveling; exploring, seeing, meeting ect. there is an added bonus in the cadence in our livestyle. Our live's are basically dictated by the day. We wake up around sunrise, and go to sleep an hour or so after dark. There is never in a rush, there's always time for reading, exploring and stopping. We are also all in pretty darn good shape. Hiking, climbing and surfing, and unfortunatly along with a severly reduced calorie diet has made us pretty darn trim (not to say im proud or anything...but i fit into a size small pant!). Its actually quite the healthy lifestyle.The only drawback is that we are easily sidetracked. When we left Picton, I would have assumed we would have been at Stewart Island already, but we havent even made it to the southern alps yet. I also definatly haven't been as cleanly as even I would like. Hot showers are hard to come by, but theres always a stream to rinse up in. But thats ok, we have done so much and so little since we left, it couldnt be better.</div><div align="left"><br />A little run down of things we have done so far in short (pictures will better describe this). We left Picton and to say goodbye to the sounds we explored their far reached by travelling and hanging aroudn the French Pass and the Tennyson Inlet. Booked the Abel Tasman great walk...also strangely known as the AT, and hiked for 7 days taking the inland track back to our car instead of the ferry. Hung out and ran some errands in Nelson (a.k.a. stuffing our faces with BK), and headed of to Golden Bay and the Fairwell spit. Spent a very relaxing few days camping in the middle of nowhere on the beach, then checked out a hippy climbing commune, and headed for the west coast town of Westport.</div><div align="left"><br />Currently, we are camping somewhere in between Lewis Pass and the east coast bound for Christchurch. Just finished dinner, rice and carrots, and just came to the alarming conclusion that my sleeping pad has a hole in it. We actually wern't even planning to go to Christchuch untill two days ago, the same day I might add where we drove four hours to finally get to the West coast. We woke up planning to go to Barrytown to forge knives(killer), found out there was a folk festivile in C-church, packed our belongings, and started driving right back across the country to get their. We have made it work out so we can stop at castle hill (best climbing in the world) on the way back to the west coast and still make knives on next friday. This is pretty much how we have been travelling so far we just do the do.We have seen so many amazing little pockets of NZ that we never would have come across if we weren't doing things on a whim.</div><div align="left"><br />At the time we left, Picton was slowing on down. Friends were leaving and the ussually busy town in the summer was burning out. I enjoyed my last weeks building an ice cream shop from the ground up, but my ambitions trancend the profession scooper world. (side note: there was also a roving gang of teenagers in town that were trying to beat me up) So with the love affair with Picton slowly coming to a halt we just needed to leave and get on with what we are really here to do, travel.</div><div align="left"><br />Thats pretty much the extent of my existance right now. We still have some major priorities for the trip. Stewart Island and Milford Sound are at the top of the list, but right now we just are really enjoying the crisp autumn air on the road. Starting to really get sometime to think about what I want to do when I get back...which is nice.</div><div align="left"><br />I heard things are going better back home. Mainly less snow and more sun, which is always good. I NJ actually quite abit and am pretty jealous I missed out on the Montclair Wilco concert.</div><div align="left"><br />I hope everybody had a splendid easter, I miss you all! I hope this gives a sorta broad perspective of whats been happening for the past month or so, I'll try to actually update more frequently so I won't have to generalize things so much. Thanks for reading!</div><div align="left"><br />Edit: We made it to the festival. Really liking Christchurch. Saw a bunch of amazing folk blues bands. Jazz on tap for tommorrow!<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaondTpDzPe3Qs6_E6J4Tx3KMJ3YODMFHNVMx0uOdaI36KDrS2tw9nB64AKfCi6TgeeV9Es9FiamvxUt-V72wJbVefzRsYb-T1qP_UFSRXFuAxHXlyXAzEU-Qh-bPqZ-B06wtlkRODrZuX/s1600/DSCN2348.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458661016875589138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaondTpDzPe3Qs6_E6J4Tx3KMJ3YODMFHNVMx0uOdaI36KDrS2tw9nB64AKfCi6TgeeV9Es9FiamvxUt-V72wJbVefzRsYb-T1qP_UFSRXFuAxHXlyXAzEU-Qh-bPqZ-B06wtlkRODrZuX/s320/DSCN2348.JPG" /></a> Last morning surf at Robin Hood Bay<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1isUYfTWzKntgrYdHDZGvgIxC-SD10AUL3FCjCc0VrAT-5HdKAjhnmc_r4G2cd2tVjZVJRXpzbdv79J2La1d7uPXRkajo15SjYf2gBtnkz2vK_jaFwXyfRwYS8vMnmgt00lYRk4GgpJO/s1600/DSCN2350.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458660316386173570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1isUYfTWzKntgrYdHDZGvgIxC-SD10AUL3FCjCc0VrAT-5HdKAjhnmc_r4G2cd2tVjZVJRXpzbdv79J2La1d7uPXRkajo15SjYf2gBtnkz2vK_jaFwXyfRwYS8vMnmgt00lYRk4GgpJO/s320/DSCN2350.JPG" /></a> Picton...</div><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UNbwNATQj8T9x0kztBiTS1vrMzNoeWL0xgZ_rRtUGTQk3Q4fKkQy7PQNnMwNQ0h_aw91M9lrjoCgVJV3QlNT6NruAZ2tKhlAfhN6hMIkbyU8fYs-cX_iGYO6yPK6bPlp2JAYQJWYegEb/s1600/DSCN2390.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458660304479711010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UNbwNATQj8T9x0kztBiTS1vrMzNoeWL0xgZ_rRtUGTQk3Q4fKkQy7PQNnMwNQ0h_aw91M9lrjoCgVJV3QlNT6NruAZ2tKhlAfhN6hMIkbyU8fYs-cX_iGYO6yPK6bPlp2JAYQJWYegEb/s320/DSCN2390.JPG" /></a> Tennyson Inlet<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8ihrZo8Id7gPbiTt5E_0jVAzECNHtmbTm5G1JO8uXqTxePcwAS4siEuvl8tEQZjMINfQe8dIbIUpARmkOa9alZ2x6nM-5bi-JfAgFvkizK8du8iycNGEUqWDz4cCiZ4hzlEtt31Ntxhh/s1600/DSCN2495.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458660296785838482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8ihrZo8Id7gPbiTt5E_0jVAzECNHtmbTm5G1JO8uXqTxePcwAS4siEuvl8tEQZjMINfQe8dIbIUpARmkOa9alZ2x6nM-5bi-JfAgFvkizK8du8iycNGEUqWDz4cCiZ4hzlEtt31Ntxhh/s320/DSCN2495.JPG" /></a> Pack Dolphins<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin35IRf8MKVp3HNfPJJge5D1NtKphNIh2qpJrLnrEIJl1A_ZNqf_68UmP7L4gSoGck1OqO9esMkMpl-WwoJJMYeJHzASKy97If43d-qZu1WcFqVBicJRW40yEDJOHW7l3zAAx6hIpGmYVD/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458660294810583490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin35IRf8MKVp3HNfPJJge5D1NtKphNIh2qpJrLnrEIJl1A_ZNqf_68UmP7L4gSoGck1OqO9esMkMpl-WwoJJMYeJHzASKy97If43d-qZu1WcFqVBicJRW40yEDJOHW7l3zAAx6hIpGmYVD/s320/IMG_0036.JPG" /></a><br />Eel Hunting with Hamish...Never again<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrGxomKN1UdPWFMyAhqAtbfnJgBL4OJAU9Y8si3Ep6QExqGIU6EwKILLB6dpZLTMCFOmNsVxFxie_pgv7OxGBR4S5TaBR38g_d8tufCdxJl6t6sMzw8N6_Fyua3o0H-gRfKhDhey_U5UG/s1600/IMG_0056.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458660284228490306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrGxomKN1UdPWFMyAhqAtbfnJgBL4OJAU9Y8si3Ep6QExqGIU6EwKILLB6dpZLTMCFOmNsVxFxie_pgv7OxGBR4S5TaBR38g_d8tufCdxJl6t6sMzw8N6_Fyua3o0H-gRfKhDhey_U5UG/s320/IMG_0056.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div>French Pass<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhye_3Z9aciclxK3leeHSmkZEUH5fAdmBuPbqL2B911VkAKoqcq-tsNH1XKcLq8w7d9wn_i1gfWYEWkG7xgf5od9IgSJ0uycoKVM4A1h-u94ImrN9uoEtD8BRuso_DWJFMlRHvHrfcjQVCm/s1600/IMG_0115.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458658063922279522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhye_3Z9aciclxK3leeHSmkZEUH5fAdmBuPbqL2B911VkAKoqcq-tsNH1XKcLq8w7d9wn_i1gfWYEWkG7xgf5od9IgSJ0uycoKVM4A1h-u94ImrN9uoEtD8BRuso_DWJFMlRHvHrfcjQVCm/s320/IMG_0115.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Kurtismo Clownbaby's Face with a hint of Cable Bay</div><br /><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-ZS7wwIlR_IXPtbwzEunuT0udN5HyamyJ4vJQ5muLrgX55u0oODP6XRSWjXK5JdBbXBbqxLN2QzPYDL7iI1PhJYIAIp6tUZuYyN0kX3LqwtIkkw-KxQvBAvMcxGiMWOBgHYB4q4EbIiB/s1600/IMG_0132.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458658059695499042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-ZS7wwIlR_IXPtbwzEunuT0udN5HyamyJ4vJQ5muLrgX55u0oODP6XRSWjXK5JdBbXBbqxLN2QzPYDL7iI1PhJYIAIp6tUZuYyN0kX3LqwtIkkw-KxQvBAvMcxGiMWOBgHYB4q4EbIiB/s320/IMG_0132.JPG" /></a><br />Music!</div><div align="center"><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJUDjW5LlOjN1NU0qZxeACIVGUyVJ1NAXn2YY0peTgRoPks_XJ677bQ5dTDnV4s1PRdiQ512aaDzftHzw1U9eNn9grgYHMrGDtJxKuHuiijRxs39moxcFBQjJtBkVq2lpVa1ER96wli5G/s1600/IMG_0156.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458658051168575378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJUDjW5LlOjN1NU0qZxeACIVGUyVJ1NAXn2YY0peTgRoPks_XJ677bQ5dTDnV4s1PRdiQ512aaDzftHzw1U9eNn9grgYHMrGDtJxKuHuiijRxs39moxcFBQjJtBkVq2lpVa1ER96wli5G/s320/IMG_0156.JPG" /></a><br />Yup...<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE3IAlHdOAiDumxvJQI5OY00ak1NgGvTmnJ7-vzFR0MygiuzsMteV0LjltQ4IRIOhnJcFO0aJ4P9F618FeTynjBVExwwsab510uPgFwjM0OkoJLy2aLu6UxmCiwjy6r2zdN7BGZ7iPuGZ6/s1600/IMG_0219.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458658042590621042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE3IAlHdOAiDumxvJQI5OY00ak1NgGvTmnJ7-vzFR0MygiuzsMteV0LjltQ4IRIOhnJcFO0aJ4P9F618FeTynjBVExwwsab510uPgFwjM0OkoJLy2aLu6UxmCiwjy6r2zdN7BGZ7iPuGZ6/s320/IMG_0219.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Abel Tasman Morning<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAGAINF_evwGbGneixQFPCzLUQ8DmkgiQfpAtieNQ_JnNnXnp6XgEO6joQYOuOa4n6zIDmS-YbfWPZ8L_bLUZIk_Ru6vGM-Spr4iXgF_12QU9cEvEG5PlacmbFOUS4QDBASszQcwW3-9_/s1600/IMG_0293.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458658029664476258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAGAINF_evwGbGneixQFPCzLUQ8DmkgiQfpAtieNQ_JnNnXnp6XgEO6joQYOuOa4n6zIDmS-YbfWPZ8L_bLUZIk_Ru6vGM-Spr4iXgF_12QU9cEvEG5PlacmbFOUS4QDBASszQcwW3-9_/s320/IMG_0293.JPG" /></a><br />Huddled away on the AT<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-igVOpGvQpyS_-2xGPTX7uYaLKg7faFUFJ4LDKcAt4lcNBUTUi-VpRsEud_nmF9fid9uv-ZtPXSYN50DAEj_dIyavI6ZqHbnmPOhlEZkQRPltBLcYJXMr5WNuzybeM3KfF2m8QzJuju1i/s1600/IMG_0299.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458655004181728258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-igVOpGvQpyS_-2xGPTX7uYaLKg7faFUFJ4LDKcAt4lcNBUTUi-VpRsEud_nmF9fid9uv-ZtPXSYN50DAEj_dIyavI6ZqHbnmPOhlEZkQRPltBLcYJXMr5WNuzybeM3KfF2m8QzJuju1i/s320/IMG_0299.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div align="center">Meth-Lab</div><div align="center"><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnUuoJnHonQA4Wcr30IK4PYqIqDNZLkTDxQl1Ih8drANVn9uKIcF2DZBqEhMAtZibhY_qhEKe04TG1TXLbztZdJJZu1SKpzBl6TcNMN4ugpQnQNsMPZT9i3OWAwE2VeJN-4Vn1dFbcVPr/s1600/IMG_0318.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458654996935944882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnUuoJnHonQA4Wcr30IK4PYqIqDNZLkTDxQl1Ih8drANVn9uKIcF2DZBqEhMAtZibhY_qhEKe04TG1TXLbztZdJJZu1SKpzBl6TcNMN4ugpQnQNsMPZT9i3OWAwE2VeJN-4Vn1dFbcVPr/s320/IMG_0318.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div>Trekkin'<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrC95Tg8cmhde2aikGP0QjZCyPVC9m2WdDXkMhfQJCOkd6Cj_7YMbvb_RcJExbA48c3YkFCxjS43IfPuxuvjdl9yCNkWnhVRncXy3rRO2-9If1HSLUiMbCnvx_RuAUq-sHjJPm9QUQOoml/s1600/IMG_0645.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458654987939631234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrC95Tg8cmhde2aikGP0QjZCyPVC9m2WdDXkMhfQJCOkd6Cj_7YMbvb_RcJExbA48c3YkFCxjS43IfPuxuvjdl9yCNkWnhVRncXy3rRO2-9If1HSLUiMbCnvx_RuAUq-sHjJPm9QUQOoml/s320/IMG_0645.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div>Seriously good Folk band called The Eastern...Check them out<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zGFvG2qzu5t6B8HAxfel8t-LryX8E7YMQHMXMhY5NgfJ7dfWfLbil9liYLszk77srtaXEskZU1gLEKCMYNCylizjZdeA-AY3xxPMejcRRCc0AjFVQK_hrujgcw_2H7N4PzCyxmX7CjT5/s1600/IMG_0634.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458654981308877266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zGFvG2qzu5t6B8HAxfel8t-LryX8E7YMQHMXMhY5NgfJ7dfWfLbil9liYLszk77srtaXEskZU1gLEKCMYNCylizjZdeA-AY3xxPMejcRRCc0AjFVQK_hrujgcw_2H7N4PzCyxmX7CjT5/s320/IMG_0634.JPG" /></a><br />Lots of driving...but we made it<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhr7jhJSnc66ZV9CKklgR_VBQvLHlLCSeU2fJ5vK4EuSpLgvDjHP2gLtRuZystaAxupkG5UKMHRtXSbC8wxSe5ECbm9WzCif-oDWorXpP3Wqtyc3RQiukWnE3aj2BF3FtV4pGsc7BCbLZ/s1600/IMG_0582.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458654973347321730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhr7jhJSnc66ZV9CKklgR_VBQvLHlLCSeU2fJ5vK4EuSpLgvDjHP2gLtRuZystaAxupkG5UKMHRtXSbC8wxSe5ECbm9WzCif-oDWorXpP3Wqtyc3RQiukWnE3aj2BF3FtV4pGsc7BCbLZ/s320/IMG_0582.JPG" /></a><br />Lewis Pass NP<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZg7WRRBcuwZutzDwe6EGiz4Jjwn5o_TC0q7y4kozchbmUFlONJiCkK4u29CMuTc30diMl3E-NQE_TYh4oyvqc86wnr0Tpsz0yHiHuZNvJXg9Vr7Or3llc3i2qJtf-E-AOoUawKA9R8jq/s1600/IMG_0334.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458652880465831922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZg7WRRBcuwZutzDwe6EGiz4Jjwn5o_TC0q7y4kozchbmUFlONJiCkK4u29CMuTc30diMl3E-NQE_TYh4oyvqc86wnr0Tpsz0yHiHuZNvJXg9Vr7Or3llc3i2qJtf-E-AOoUawKA9R8jq/s320/IMG_0334.JPG" /></a><br />Radiant looking Jay<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaIBUQ2asptI4HHBw0IIfKIyI7uJuFPktS67S8QA3V-CmY3qK1JAan1TipMUUcwKhxk1eDjyJ3uSWUCioyNVdHNfOKG0s8Kz0UKnuL3p_ovIOtANRzOeZ9aBomHD6lz-n8_HADdXo3bKhR/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458652869373498354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaIBUQ2asptI4HHBw0IIfKIyI7uJuFPktS67S8QA3V-CmY3qK1JAan1TipMUUcwKhxk1eDjyJ3uSWUCioyNVdHNfOKG0s8Kz0UKnuL3p_ovIOtANRzOeZ9aBomHD6lz-n8_HADdXo3bKhR/s320/IMG_0395.JPG" /></a><br />Sunrise at the hut on the inland track</div><div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59gkgstju1-tnl4pBQoJkAxE39JsCERAQ0bWkrwgSqao-tN8gWaHvjFPzBCQuZvvcuCRXtPOeRPF_g6098JrFmGq5hrt5KvhkS9UeFXJ3RsdYEpACrHdSPCOCD_LDrSMHNiHeuPsx5NFg/s1600/IMG_0467.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458652863110163410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59gkgstju1-tnl4pBQoJkAxE39JsCERAQ0bWkrwgSqao-tN8gWaHvjFPzBCQuZvvcuCRXtPOeRPF_g6098JrFmGq5hrt5KvhkS9UeFXJ3RsdYEpACrHdSPCOCD_LDrSMHNiHeuPsx5NFg/s320/IMG_0467.JPG" /></a>Somewhere circa the Fairwell Spit<br /></div><br /><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioRh9exFfFK_uJ9XMP5mJ4CE195Vk7ZfJgR1AoEgVp1XK7UIgLFly55JIk-jfoLdd6agQSEibCEE30dCLWQk-ktb3Rp8A8TGPCfIY-1A1ZYBmFX8ZHIsITJz-ROIr3gqJrrXP77dLWjOg-/s1600/IMG_0481.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458652850047193346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioRh9exFfFK_uJ9XMP5mJ4CE195Vk7ZfJgR1AoEgVp1XK7UIgLFly55JIk-jfoLdd6agQSEibCEE30dCLWQk-ktb3Rp8A8TGPCfIY-1A1ZYBmFX8ZHIsITJz-ROIr3gqJrrXP77dLWjOg-/s320/IMG_0481.JPG" /></a><br />Campish things</div><br /><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim53fkdtarq_Bm07eNuTZ5BVfBzqq1L7wFLWhPwYRfbjReYBLFf5BDls6-uVAdFhTL0yKgXzmdGQ6gjTF8fP0COd7j_xHfcJXzL4RxMYy1xQ7leJf_uSge-jdpNdnpEBdDt3kGe82SkI1Y/s1600/IMG_0493.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458652840445357922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim53fkdtarq_Bm07eNuTZ5BVfBzqq1L7wFLWhPwYRfbjReYBLFf5BDls6-uVAdFhTL0yKgXzmdGQ6gjTF8fP0COd7j_xHfcJXzL4RxMYy1xQ7leJf_uSge-jdpNdnpEBdDt3kGe82SkI1Y/s320/IMG_0493.JPG" /></a><br />Never too much B&W right?<br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-11366491287313369562009-11-26T19:14:00.000-08:002009-11-26T19:38:57.543-08:00Thanks Giving...In Drag<div align="left">Yo! So it’s been awhile since the last update and if anybody is still reading this here it goes! I guess I'll just start with the jist of what’s going on. Jay is back again working at the now newly opened Cafe Cortado. He is pretty pumped about that except for the fact that he now works like a dog, often doing ten hour shifts. Curt is also doing very well as he has had some trials, at the Cafe as well, and it seems he will be offered a job there soon. Good stuff, now we’re all pretty much employed.<br /><br />Things are going well for me at compass charters. I get to work outside on the sound most of the time, and am learned to deal with my boss Arron. He's actually not that bad of a guy, he really likes me, he is just hard to work with. I am pretty sure he sees me as a younger version of him because he used to travel the world when he was younger. I on the other hand fail to see the similarities other than that. The other people I work with are pretty awesome and they keep me sane. Shirley is the sweetest woman ever. She basically acts like mom. She brings me fresh eggs every week, makes me kick ass sandwiches and makes sure that I eat my veggies. She has also offered to take us out on the sounds in her family yacht, a pretty sweet deal for three dudes that couldn't afford to get out on the sounds any other way. Jeff, the handy man, is also very cool. He never lets anything get to him, and makes work easier to deal with.<br /><br />Ahh it’s been awhile! Three weekends ago we climbed Mt. Stokes, which is the highest mountain in the sounds. We didn't really know what we were getting into, but we wanted to do something wild after feeling like bums after a big night out. Well it ended up that the hike, which is only about 100k, took three hours to get to. The road was so contorted, like seriously unbelievable. We were all getting motion sick, and at most times the lane wasn't bigger than a bike lane, but we got there. It was a rough trek up, and instead of using the time tested method of cutting switch backs into the trail, there were none, we slogged straight up the mountain while going slightly insane. But the reward was great, with seriously serine views of the sound. It’s hard to imagine the labyrinth of bays and valleys that the sounds are without seeing it from an arial view.<br /><br />I started surfing again last week (thanks mom!) in a magical place called Robin Hood Bay! The first day out was pretty interesting. There were spitting over head barrels just firing down the line with 30 mile an hour offshore. It was probably some of the most insane conditions I've been out in with the winds. When you were taking a wave it was like being shot in the face with a fire hose with the blow back. I have gone out a few more times since then in waist to belly high waves and totally flobbergobbined the jim john! It’s actually pretty cool. One of the bartenders at Seamus, Scotty, also surfs and he called to go with him on a session on Friday. Scotty is a seriously cool dude, he’s a professional artist, and also a well known bahrain player (Irish drum). He also was once a professional tree climber, and now teaches ceramic classes. Kinda a jack of all trades I guess, but it was really cool to be surfing with a mate again.<br /><br />Last weekend I found myself in kind of a weird situation, as both jay and curt were working to get the Cafe ready to open so I had some alone time to adventure myself. I decided to go to two beaches south of Bleinham, Ward and Marfield. Ward was a geological surprise! On the beach were these big rocky bulbous mounds that happened to be petrified remains of ancient reef building sponges. It was seriously inspiring, and it reminded me that my geological journey actually began here in New Zealand. I am excited to do something with it sometime in my life...we will see when!<br /><br />This weekend so far has also been quite the undertaking. With Jay working, Curt and I decided to hit the road and head to Nelson. And let me tell you what a day it was! We visited Nelson the most livable slash trendy city in New Zealand, we meandered our way up to Abel Tasman NP, stopped to take a dip, picked up hitch hikers, claimed an island, went on a hike and ate at burger king...twice!<br /><br />I just sorta realized that I was blabbing a bit too much and now have a monster blog. Sorry about that. Nothing much more to add. We are looking very forward to Thanks Giving on Thursday. I made sure to get the day off and we will feast, drink and be merry...but not to hairy! Ha! We are inviting the friends we have made to come as well, so hopefully we won't be dining alone but we will have to see. It's kinda sad not being able to share this holiday with the people we love, but we are going to do our best to remember what it’s all about.<br /><br />Other than that, life is slow. It’s really nice living in a town with a population of 1000. People know us around town as the American boys, everybody says hello to us when we enter bars, it’s just an overall just a very refreshing change of pace. Jay and I have played a few open mic nights around town, although I have to say Jay steals the show I just do the best I can to compliment him on the ole mandolin.<br /><br />Alright, thats enough. Much love everybody.<br /><br />Haha so I since I didn’t get to post this a week ago, when I wrote it I’ll add a little update. I got to go out on the sounds with Arron my boss on Wednesday. It was so sweet, the water was glass for most of the morning. It is a very different perspective being on the water. Oh yeah, and since Arron wasn’t paying us for it, we didn’t help him do any work! It was a treat to watch him scrape algae and mussels.<br /><br />Thanks giving came and gone, and I’m not gonna lie, we kick ass at thanksgiving. We did our best and prepared great food, while dressed in drag. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFRf0IZiU5zmtjUMw5Rv2jz-tmZjTBRj7IZBtDpG82gww0WIkNJjZ41ssnLPMnAR41eaYeMU75cjUHMqciDKP9Ma4AbbQFX6Z_tZI1AHAnq_I0oARWPSkrC2KLLGfjrZQLqgLw54htJdf/s1600/DSCN2060.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408622079456286434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFRf0IZiU5zmtjUMw5Rv2jz-tmZjTBRj7IZBtDpG82gww0WIkNJjZ41ssnLPMnAR41eaYeMU75cjUHMqciDKP9Ma4AbbQFX6Z_tZI1AHAnq_I0oARWPSkrC2KLLGfjrZQLqgLw54htJdf/s320/DSCN2060.JPG" /></a> A glorious set of petrified sponges</div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lb8pzumJ7bK9eU81ovFmRFlXLSuMRLtG5-bJmudCUszA6IcWFP9ZM5tzFbS6MEsyUJWa1oHdeFmkLXjvg7mopsXT2FoZwg_jIe3SR1cF58TuPEI7f2jlIvpAaAKQfJr8t4jtwPfLbahR/s1600/DSCN2056.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408622072762774146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lb8pzumJ7bK9eU81ovFmRFlXLSuMRLtG5-bJmudCUszA6IcWFP9ZM5tzFbS6MEsyUJWa1oHdeFmkLXjvg7mopsXT2FoZwg_jIe3SR1cF58TuPEI7f2jlIvpAaAKQfJr8t4jtwPfLbahR/s320/DSCN2056.JPG" /></a> A lonesome stroll on ward beach<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-MRRX17VJc8Yigmp58_4-PaE02Hb5Xh2kdqCrYpCPUYTdP7hhuvlgnGi7jMplUxZ4vHXwNfrIzufB52dHqRUwiUEiIcm1cEquc9qgwOoZgRYkm0uucKPPnly2knxLZ1aFI-i5NyNT9G-/s1600/IMG_3287.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619925059993042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-MRRX17VJc8Yigmp58_4-PaE02Hb5Xh2kdqCrYpCPUYTdP7hhuvlgnGi7jMplUxZ4vHXwNfrIzufB52dHqRUwiUEiIcm1cEquc9qgwOoZgRYkm0uucKPPnly2knxLZ1aFI-i5NyNT9G-/s320/IMG_3287.JPG" /></a> T-day with the fam<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-8xswXjre1OVVxDW-wgWpJ0tEpoTZ0xgy-2zlt9yyji0B2Pku-HFJkSgaEoB_5dVS84oeEbyE0auvKJ8OsuAwjQVYWwR3Tf1BIStZ9H0vN-QCkmBLi89H9E1lrCiGEuVEEw0a0lm1N-a/s1600/IMG_3245.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619916332911986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-8xswXjre1OVVxDW-wgWpJ0tEpoTZ0xgy-2zlt9yyji0B2Pku-HFJkSgaEoB_5dVS84oeEbyE0auvKJ8OsuAwjQVYWwR3Tf1BIStZ9H0vN-QCkmBLi89H9E1lrCiGEuVEEw0a0lm1N-a/s320/IMG_3245.JPG" /></a><br />Nothing too exciting, just a normal thanks giving<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCM4AzN5eECVthmtHGiGZ87g1aS6uxdmqOobztS2_R6CB08frjG4vKqmKaMHmZYPdN5hXjdpcJNCMU9TGRB91AlSElwoJ80g-sNgj1nhWUwOBb407cktmYji3FIg_NkSmarcJ7xyPH7uw/s1600/IMG_3226.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619906637677826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCM4AzN5eECVthmtHGiGZ87g1aS6uxdmqOobztS2_R6CB08frjG4vKqmKaMHmZYPdN5hXjdpcJNCMU9TGRB91AlSElwoJ80g-sNgj1nhWUwOBb407cktmYji3FIg_NkSmarcJ7xyPH7uw/s320/IMG_3226.JPG" /></a> Before the madness<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX5Kj3whzUr7o1chaBhe0hPuys-h0AQh05zf-LJURKNNkNnk_KY1B2qUmQ9go9VI8_5EaBIWYEJxk9Z7pFMJfgvYKZKQ71Cby9e53w-jDXEwiRYSTY9pmIaike1M3ICl8PcpekMZSDE7l/s1600/IMG_3221.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619901720164402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX5Kj3whzUr7o1chaBhe0hPuys-h0AQh05zf-LJURKNNkNnk_KY1B2qUmQ9go9VI8_5EaBIWYEJxk9Z7pFMJfgvYKZKQ71Cby9e53w-jDXEwiRYSTY9pmIaike1M3ICl8PcpekMZSDE7l/s320/IMG_3221.JPG" /></a><br />The best car ever<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0wcKTa4fPm33yvgJNXZ0rLuPDD91gYA5gT9GhOOyH5RF7NM5jkGxlQsBTAhZQ85IR1s6Z2h1QqCg8JUdmWIis4YR5m2cZEkrKOy0rKyDq88t7_RAbTXQop9Y57BBB-ti9sleIQwyqMYb/s1600/IMG_3211.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619889368131426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0wcKTa4fPm33yvgJNXZ0rLuPDD91gYA5gT9GhOOyH5RF7NM5jkGxlQsBTAhZQ85IR1s6Z2h1QqCg8JUdmWIis4YR5m2cZEkrKOy0rKyDq88t7_RAbTXQop9Y57BBB-ti9sleIQwyqMYb/s320/IMG_3211.JPG" /></a> We just started to realize some of our habits may be out of control. But we have learned valuable engineering skills from it!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mkEC7UjVAJmGkVkDWYtW2nWTq_SuGnmansecKvLOZ-8nCP-J3UxUoNs1GywonVTVUXO3bx5lsPjB-LjiAZfulHcE5DMPg1OW6yab5g1xfxY1VWkSTos5jgVL1cK2CMss7wTnVkJNBh5a/s1600/IMG_3207.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619096089312034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mkEC7UjVAJmGkVkDWYtW2nWTq_SuGnmansecKvLOZ-8nCP-J3UxUoNs1GywonVTVUXO3bx5lsPjB-LjiAZfulHcE5DMPg1OW6yab5g1xfxY1VWkSTos5jgVL1cK2CMss7wTnVkJNBh5a/s320/IMG_3207.JPG" /></a><br />Sunset from our backyard<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhMD5B7mDniY9cQPe-MhC5I-Kl1Q5XAS41srT9N1Rev3KZJDolxQfr3e-MvFZb4e1dbU0ukPOzqNQioFY7xltOYSDQg3B0Wv2fMyHs_34m9U1TW_6eCygo72UJv7IbWq9eM-xS1ft_OmC/s1600/IMG_3188.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619087829083362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhMD5B7mDniY9cQPe-MhC5I-Kl1Q5XAS41srT9N1Rev3KZJDolxQfr3e-MvFZb4e1dbU0ukPOzqNQioFY7xltOYSDQg3B0Wv2fMyHs_34m9U1TW_6eCygo72UJv7IbWq9eM-xS1ft_OmC/s320/IMG_3188.JPG" /></a> Nelson<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ZsJu0QbJB0eyCcm6Nbx8F850ciqasmwgjJMbVqNc0_-5h_zFTz2JlR10KPY8-z6ngxtBSbcQ-wMPlhlxJnw76v7A97x9zrxKGi4i4POm8D2rAX9ctHr7_2d2CKEtEzOr87AAbaG_q9MI/s1600/IMG_3148.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619079068535362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ZsJu0QbJB0eyCcm6Nbx8F850ciqasmwgjJMbVqNc0_-5h_zFTz2JlR10KPY8-z6ngxtBSbcQ-wMPlhlxJnw76v7A97x9zrxKGi4i4POm8D2rAX9ctHr7_2d2CKEtEzOr87AAbaG_q9MI/s320/IMG_3148.JPG" /></a><br />Dominating the summit of Mt. Stokes<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3_O8keNLUXlUlhOa_Z2xwljbyss-SctBW6qxcbVEx2Pj_20SbvgTAHdopi_qJFPSCaWPhAbv6GRbwpZoEn4nP9RUZRkVQV5vmiMXV6UYjdeo1IbvLGD1OfxO2KdhM0G4wgwO5XNUjLFX/s1600/IMG_3121.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619071138755442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3_O8keNLUXlUlhOa_Z2xwljbyss-SctBW6qxcbVEx2Pj_20SbvgTAHdopi_qJFPSCaWPhAbv6GRbwpZoEn4nP9RUZRkVQV5vmiMXV6UYjdeo1IbvLGD1OfxO2KdhM0G4wgwO5XNUjLFX/s320/IMG_3121.JPG" /></a><br />Picton/Waikawa<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1JqNBNufBEdn-M02NkUkjoAM3lpH8wWQVpsjXQ0oJIxb-3Dep2_nDdnaoRKUkI9bH2N8HV-Nia9yC1zJDvkPPsIq1jO3YTPOtdiJlK4Ak5s2c9sfaIbotPQd0n40NQOm4qfMJy2uPP37/s1600/DSCN2143.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619061559954178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1JqNBNufBEdn-M02NkUkjoAM3lpH8wWQVpsjXQ0oJIxb-3Dep2_nDdnaoRKUkI9bH2N8HV-Nia9yC1zJDvkPPsIq1jO3YTPOtdiJlK4Ak5s2c9sfaIbotPQd0n40NQOm4qfMJy2uPP37/s320/DSCN2143.JPG" /></a> Erotic Hippie Sculpture Fest<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWy4SmumvzYOjVAtr4m4bg0T2OkrdA5T_Pd8GVyLDiXctsEnwSmUFapjkOUqwVffnzcXgwSktlBjhyzVisI5dwKoYgV6MTbTc2r6kqMdgidEsPZeJLuHAOx2CeT25mDFZVm-EojuvfCAFd/s1600/DSCN2131.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408618010134568466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWy4SmumvzYOjVAtr4m4bg0T2OkrdA5T_Pd8GVyLDiXctsEnwSmUFapjkOUqwVffnzcXgwSktlBjhyzVisI5dwKoYgV6MTbTc2r6kqMdgidEsPZeJLuHAOx2CeT25mDFZVm-EojuvfCAFd/s320/DSCN2131.JPG" /></a><br />Abel Tasmen<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ2-ZNLk7dcfaYpDVmkScs1JR-NZDypkw0JWDUkntTt2pF_fbaHp-Mh5RDiF7qiRzO8H5LItAm9vU0Y8HakhLDMwK85I16ck0I3STEO2lcIP_gT-SFhUiniXRV7LZUwf-u5dDXrvCJPR1/s1600/DSCN2128.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408618000897340994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ2-ZNLk7dcfaYpDVmkScs1JR-NZDypkw0JWDUkntTt2pF_fbaHp-Mh5RDiF7qiRzO8H5LItAm9vU0Y8HakhLDMwK85I16ck0I3STEO2lcIP_gT-SFhUiniXRV7LZUwf-u5dDXrvCJPR1/s320/DSCN2128.JPG" /></a> Walking back from our island<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY50Qv_OFPlRL6NFnbAVCbPp1NcgQo-U9UIo6hOa4wwzg_neb5hL35hgcD11JW3xfSG93OMI16ieKWnSJY0aveYJEhEceQALOnNeWxlbX7zxzSXjHDBH50TY_tSVxyUWUWNNHSBsq8hNzj/s1600/DSCN2123.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408617999004703410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY50Qv_OFPlRL6NFnbAVCbPp1NcgQo-U9UIo6hOa4wwzg_neb5hL35hgcD11JW3xfSG93OMI16ieKWnSJY0aveYJEhEceQALOnNeWxlbX7zxzSXjHDBH50TY_tSVxyUWUWNNHSBsq8hNzj/s320/DSCN2123.JPG" /></a><br />Teeny Wave<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudx87tUsqY-eaQtroZMuWtlqaONvmD88U-CWxDf0LE23MUlADKmOXc-Ol5NTT8xwl-4Tf-4Of5Mpj0ZLoqYosQAwWCKpSDllrW7lhjKrGoNcqIJWNsWU9WdDzGYnVFCzkatkyvxFBuVeJ/s1600/DSCN2114.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408617988225856834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudx87tUsqY-eaQtroZMuWtlqaONvmD88U-CWxDf0LE23MUlADKmOXc-Ol5NTT8xwl-4Tf-4Of5Mpj0ZLoqYosQAwWCKpSDllrW7lhjKrGoNcqIJWNsWU9WdDzGYnVFCzkatkyvxFBuVeJ/s320/DSCN2114.JPG" /></a><br />Claiming island for america<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn40hQ62pvAEFsoK9IeXuTUtBr2zXpBzqoABId9zRyZEJmDZKnSYF2UT_bdAvesZm2J6fFsA4cJcp5LXxULWu6tCR5iUTKeC8FUh8FzVuYTneEhNRw07XpdSs7b7oaFtmmyYKdWkcBzZQj/s1600/DSCN2100.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408617984864610018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn40hQ62pvAEFsoK9IeXuTUtBr2zXpBzqoABId9zRyZEJmDZKnSYF2UT_bdAvesZm2J6fFsA4cJcp5LXxULWu6tCR5iUTKeC8FUh8FzVuYTneEhNRw07XpdSs7b7oaFtmmyYKdWkcBzZQj/s320/DSCN2100.JPG" /></a> The two most akward french people that we just happened to pick up<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-87323274001285674252009-11-13T13:43:00.000-08:002009-11-13T13:55:47.306-08:00Buzz Aldrin Hates the Moon<div align="left">Had some time here a just a few for the road off my camera. Real post WITH pictures coming soon!<br /><br />Cheers</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7O7HVBpxc1T0ro8OZ4aFt-mZRIEzZX7OFQwo2y5M9AAkVF96QlzsZtAFa_p7DutSW4_UjuQGUw-5mb3sYHQd0IhE5kf2QP2eJ-YvvpI2w5VSh_GPbb-S6vqkOum751Uqm9-oZHvsQBEyv/s1600-h/DSCN2051.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403709741624516226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7O7HVBpxc1T0ro8OZ4aFt-mZRIEzZX7OFQwo2y5M9AAkVF96QlzsZtAFa_p7DutSW4_UjuQGUw-5mb3sYHQd0IhE5kf2QP2eJ-YvvpI2w5VSh_GPbb-S6vqkOum751Uqm9-oZHvsQBEyv/s320/DSCN2051.JPG" /></a> Small sheep got stuck outside the fence, we failed to shepard it back in.</div><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheOT52ePlCqr6zDFzsLH4mkoOtwXR7iR93DivDlOnlu7uSQAzueMQsVEZ2RQshqr4DlY2DTafmpgRnz0XFY97O2aWZITnHtuyjtt9UiW7VtDNPHdQxsInuUIMyrY29FqhURtUjiNR1LYR/s1600-h/DSCN2028.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403709740258062034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheOT52ePlCqr6zDFzsLH4mkoOtwXR7iR93DivDlOnlu7uSQAzueMQsVEZ2RQshqr4DlY2DTafmpgRnz0XFY97O2aWZITnHtuyjtt9UiW7VtDNPHdQxsInuUIMyrY29FqhURtUjiNR1LYR/s320/DSCN2028.JPG" /></a> Jay and curtiepie looking epic atop Mt. Stokes<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVH2AbcC70jub7R0qi1sd629MpUkNGKKR9smrSiPkcGDzwIFlrj51R11GIZ0zeX2q2_H-Kfqbfyke9sOPWLHM4QUPTYxGys7H1Y3_lcSJUanjvPsdS3rzETjS0YqBWybT4GoGS_YGgUlgI/s1600-h/DSCN2014.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403709729566612082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVH2AbcC70jub7R0qi1sd629MpUkNGKKR9smrSiPkcGDzwIFlrj51R11GIZ0zeX2q2_H-Kfqbfyke9sOPWLHM4QUPTYxGys7H1Y3_lcSJUanjvPsdS3rzETjS0YqBWybT4GoGS_YGgUlgI/s320/DSCN2014.JPG" /></a><br />Mt. Stokes the highest mountain in the sounds<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaw31Qujx7EYsU9UtM1CAQBPfQl3hsl8GpfVoWuPSgxEOchIoqHfbBi4nMKywsGAti8UI1It-JQqHp6JN88a2MdLR913UwnLKRRHN06xR33Pojp04e1bva6_hnqvKqqNvpMsEaTOEkqwAP/s1600-h/DSCN1999.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403709726323520578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaw31Qujx7EYsU9UtM1CAQBPfQl3hsl8GpfVoWuPSgxEOchIoqHfbBi4nMKywsGAti8UI1It-JQqHp6JN88a2MdLR913UwnLKRRHN06xR33Pojp04e1bva6_hnqvKqqNvpMsEaTOEkqwAP/s320/DSCN1999.JPG" /></a> Havelock<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXynda-jJW1tt2zz8-Ixc5aoAssVonkOYrhNGh2HWBm2z0FhvrXN-MJTN252TM_pUMAfns7nGq4qRXBb1ENzvrVwBmGZyANpmghUeJL9ER54FdPoK2zBbidLmbw1NUkLp6q6lhLIJGKp-R/s1600-h/DSCN1988.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403709718919204226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXynda-jJW1tt2zz8-Ixc5aoAssVonkOYrhNGh2HWBm2z0FhvrXN-MJTN252TM_pUMAfns7nGq4qRXBb1ENzvrVwBmGZyANpmghUeJL9ER54FdPoK2zBbidLmbw1NUkLp6q6lhLIJGKp-R/s320/DSCN1988.JPG" /></a><br />The snout<br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-30273223247552649732009-11-03T19:47:00.000-08:002009-11-03T19:50:32.259-08:00We are not chefs, just boysWell I can't really believe its November, it came so much sooner than we thought. Its slightly <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">weird</span> that a month filled with cold, falling leaves (have they fallen) and thanksgiving is a sunny paradise here. I'm not really sure where we left off on the blog, so we'll start from last weekend. Curt is here and is fitting into the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Picton</span> lifestyle <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">marvelously</span>. Jay was working last weekend so I showed him the sites around the area. We had a delightful time together that included the discovery of Monkey Bay, which is a little wave cut bay that is a climbers playground. Seriously it has everything, caves, overhang and slab with no need for a crash pad because of the sand below. Pretty sweet.<br /><br />Oh yeah very important! There are waves in Robin Hood Bay! This is one of two surf spots that we can get to without driving over an hour south, needless to say were pretty pumped to see some waist high <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">splooger</span> bombs. Although it is close, it is not easy to get to. You have to drive 10k on mountainous gravel road that pushes the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">chitlin</span> to the max. For real, if you don't drive maniacally fast to get some air into the engine, the car over heats, and the 20k ride ends up taking you two hours. But that said, it keeps the bay very desolate, which is already is picturesque as is, with turquoise water wrapped in lush hills. Hopefully we will get a chance to surf it this week. I picked up a board in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaikora</span> on Sunday, and although its hard to justify spending a large portion of my net wealth on something that really has no practical application, nothing makes me physically happier than surfing. The board is also very me, it is a 6' 0" <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">twinner</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">retrofish</span>, with a slightly ridiculous paint job. Can't wait to shed the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">gnar</span>!<br /><br />Actually, on the way back from <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kaikora</span>, two pretty incredible things happened. The first being witness to one of natures most <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">bazaar</span> events(well, we think its bazaar). We stopped off on the 1 to do a little hike to a waterfall, probably about a half mile in through the woods. We got there, the waterfall was spectacular, but we were more surprised by the presence of seals. In the middle of the rocky woods, a half mile from shore, the not so graceful seal had made the trek to play in the waterfall. There were actually more seals here in the woods, than at the seal colony we visited a few hours prior It was very fitting seeing that Jay was joking about mountain seals all day, but it was seriously an amazing event. Planet Earth would totally do a special on it.<br />Also on the way home, but not as spectacular, we visited one of our future surf spots. It’s a 500m point break, that is back dropped by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">snowcapped</span> mountains. I really can’t imagine the mountains being any closer, it’s a unique place.<br /><br />At home we are planting a garden, spearheaded by Mr. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Romanchucks</span> weeding. We are gonna try to grow the basics, beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and basil. We already have some basil growing, so hopefully the others will come along nicely as well. We are also looking into getting some chickens, as they make delightful household pets! But really, we found a coup in the backyard and with a little work we could have a miniature farm in our backyard, very organic.<br />So the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Chitlin</span> unfortunately hasn't been fairing to well. It sounds like shes about to take a mechanical dump, kinda like Sean's <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Astro</span> van before it died. But being the keen mechanics we are, we decided to get the oil changed...try to do it ourselves. Things got off to a quick start. It took more than 20 minutes for three of us to find the fucking dipstick. But once located, we found that the car was critically low on oil. And although we never technically changed the oil, because we couldn't get the damn oil plug out, we did add oil, and now she runs and sounds 10 times better. Raging success!<br /><br />So yeah, I guess it seems we are really settling in here. At night we usually have some NZ brew and play music, and we work during the day. I hate my boss, hes a dick but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">thats</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">ok</span>. It’s starting to get really nice out, which I hear is the opposite of what is happening at home. I can't really think of anything else to write right now, but its probably a bit long as it is.<br /><br />I miss all of you <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">alot</span>. Keep in touch amigos! I'll throw on the pictures <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tomorrow</span> the library is closing.spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-36431746603568760452009-10-22T18:23:00.000-07:002009-10-22T18:51:20.861-07:00Pie Overloard Sector Six<div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Howdy and hello. Hmm since the last little post a little bit has happened. Last weekend Jay and I took a lovely little trip to Kaikora, which is about 150k south of Picton on the glorious coastal highway. We really wanted to check out this area because we heard there was an abundance of marine life and surf. It was kinda a craptastic day, which we are kinda figuring out is common in the springtime here, but we departed anyways. On the way down we stopped in Ward to fuel up and get a meat pie. For those who don't know what a meat pie is, it is a little pastry filled with meat and cheese that is taking over our lives. They are amazing, we probably eat on average of 15 each a week. Its incredible they don't have them in the states. Further down on the coastal approaching two we were starting to pass some of the surf breaks including a 500m point break. Even in garbagy sloppy blown out conditions, it was producing a nice little, forever peeling, waist high wave. Pretty promising stuff.<br /><br />We got to Kaikora, which is basically a peninsula jutting out into the sea (uplifted wave cut terrace if you wanna get technical), and headed towards the furthest point where we were greeted by seals. We did a little hike, which ended up going through a gull colony and more seals. Seals are really cool and adorable and such, but on the way back there was a lone seal on the track, that was getting kinda aggressive with us, so he had to climb as far up the cliff as we could to keep from getting mauled by a seal.<br /><br />But yeah, it was a really refreshing to get out and travelling a bit again, we felt somewhat stagnet. The hike was great even though it was cold and windy, and we got the dibs on the local surf spots. Apparently the little bay thats only 20k from Picton called Robin Hood Bay, does get some pretty good surf, and were stoked about that.<br /><br />On Monday nights we have made it a tradition to go to Shamus Pub, which is a little Irish Bar at the wharf in Picton. Its seriously freakin awesome, they have a irish fiddle jam session, and people show up all night with their instruments and join in. Last monday, I got to play a mandolin for a brief period of time and a shaker that somebody through to me across the bar. Sweet. There are also a variety of characters that frequent the pub. Probably our favorite is Jim. Jim is about 80 years in age, wears a handkerchief around his neck and looks like he is searching for gold. He is great, as a former surveyor, he loves talking to me about geology, as well as reading us poetry that his has written in his little black book of Jim thoughts.<br /><br />Oh yeah big news! Curt has arrived safe and sound in Picton. We are very excited now to be a gang of three instead of a duo of two. Also with his arrival we can finally put finishing touches on our band. A few more band names have been thrown into the hat including Turd Johnsen and the Retards, as well as Single Steve and the Mixed Drinks. We are excited to make more music although we have been musically stagnant for the past week.<br /><br />Work is going ok. My boss is kinda a condescending ass, but he really likes me and I’m starting to make some good money!<br /><br />We have managed to create five paintings and paint them, below hopefully are some pictures of them that will shed light as to the meaning of our souls!<br /><br />I miss you all, I have three days off this weekend so hopefully there will be some adventures to update soon. Much love.<br /> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUm-dXSVA1O3WtYTwIyqrdD-N8X7bMz7_n2NW4XZ3a_7jVNATSfGod5kJvpQfLqnV0g2Tj4kPWCnEUER30ZfOK0BMPn3OyJPlJqLIbtDexcXyEohKP9esNj9r1PhMQJDp4WP-mocNxGFvS/s1600-h/DSCN1940.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395606448420938850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUm-dXSVA1O3WtYTwIyqrdD-N8X7bMz7_n2NW4XZ3a_7jVNATSfGod5kJvpQfLqnV0g2Tj4kPWCnEUER30ZfOK0BMPn3OyJPlJqLIbtDexcXyEohKP9esNj9r1PhMQJDp4WP-mocNxGFvS/s320/DSCN1940.JPG" /></a> Epic 1 (Sean coined this)</div><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwmdYcLWJyC_FA4YYx0hFl9DmbzaxT3cP1m5YujE-y8xcvL8iInLL_OoQ1hH7UrKWkK6SKDfe-CVKiHsDcrHQ-eDzZOwi-CabdJ0ljzgWI2uXQgWIyY26FQMAq95jGI3YIo8wFgoFyFVmv/s1600-h/DSCN1932.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395606441873017234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwmdYcLWJyC_FA4YYx0hFl9DmbzaxT3cP1m5YujE-y8xcvL8iInLL_OoQ1hH7UrKWkK6SKDfe-CVKiHsDcrHQ-eDzZOwi-CabdJ0ljzgWI2uXQgWIyY26FQMAq95jGI3YIo8wFgoFyFVmv/s320/DSCN1932.JPG" /></a> Epic 2<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmu-BgfkLyvJbu0aUgNyXKsTnFoMgX9TF9SDj6alX0thNqsKJKdp8W6LsQR-Z8khwOEq6EjKcjhks4K3IH4eB9VVBnploO_QCIzxWoGNZZWwX-nL5P29nKJ-PLGK_V0HkDfxMF4Y1_K0bH/s1600-h/IMG_0196.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395604949507589474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmu-BgfkLyvJbu0aUgNyXKsTnFoMgX9TF9SDj6alX0thNqsKJKdp8W6LsQR-Z8khwOEq6EjKcjhks4K3IH4eB9VVBnploO_QCIzxWoGNZZWwX-nL5P29nKJ-PLGK_V0HkDfxMF4Y1_K0bH/s320/IMG_0196.JPG" /></a> Kaikora<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnRV9-96SCOLUjFkOZT54QuE8bc83Jn5a3aXMWPCF06Fca6quuLEFq8AyQ629p0YsMFk9iStXxgr4Lbv7nvV8ipu9ul8ZDA2lK4Nn_CQplPwECwABbdOrhOLqGcVkZSLhNY66faGYAmBA/s1600-h/DSCN1923.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395604935430635954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnRV9-96SCOLUjFkOZT54QuE8bc83Jn5a3aXMWPCF06Fca6quuLEFq8AyQ629p0YsMFk9iStXxgr4Lbv7nvV8ipu9ul8ZDA2lK4Nn_CQplPwECwABbdOrhOLqGcVkZSLhNY66faGYAmBA/s320/DSCN1923.JPG" /></a><br />Art...and not the person haHA!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOExiRRDiJfWihyynMCIuXo8SpzcRXvdGA9A5f6R6p7SNRTv_PFlW2kCz3Lnc6AeZMWh9uGScdXZ5CY2alRbHmDPR0KvCAoRK7goyfwjZ-qkmWu61oJeP1XK597P9Gy9gAvcF4_X6XAlTT/s1600-h/DSCN1944.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395604930708035842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOExiRRDiJfWihyynMCIuXo8SpzcRXvdGA9A5f6R6p7SNRTv_PFlW2kCz3Lnc6AeZMWh9uGScdXZ5CY2alRbHmDPR0KvCAoRK7goyfwjZ-qkmWu61oJeP1XK597P9Gy9gAvcF4_X6XAlTT/s320/DSCN1944.JPG" /></a><br />Epic 3<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMuyoD3Z_DObrd9Tk_e8wXnJAlzuiFwXo4_u-l8zlVEFlvn3Eo9I3G1oCddPi7jhW3B-UWfFWWw9AHnBaY7YmIZyedS6IhQSP4-GIcU5DlGnYA5Z3fpmnvfkE-93yJos9lBC9bfOmd03D/s1600-h/IMG_0187.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395604921697062610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMuyoD3Z_DObrd9Tk_e8wXnJAlzuiFwXo4_u-l8zlVEFlvn3Eo9I3G1oCddPi7jhW3B-UWfFWWw9AHnBaY7YmIZyedS6IhQSP4-GIcU5DlGnYA5Z3fpmnvfkE-93yJos9lBC9bfOmd03D/s320/IMG_0187.JPG" /></a><br />Home!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-38204201618291973532009-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:002009-10-11T20:47:53.154-07:00Life<div align="left">Hello friends! It has been a little while since our last update and currently Jay and I have made great strides in becoming real people in NZ. We are currrently living in Picton and it looks like we probably will be for the next six months. I have have scored a job at a boat charter company called Compass Charters. Its a pretty sweet gig, I get to work on megayachts to which I will never be able to afford and get to work right on the water. I get a buck above minimum wage, which really isn't too bad at 13.50 an hour. Jay is starting a waitering job this week and the Corner Bistro, which also right on the water. Cool stuff, everybody wish him luck.<br /><br />Hmm lets see...oh yeah, we have a house! Jay and I are renting a little bungalo thats only a 10 minute walk from town. It comes complete with shag carpet through out, and it looks like it was decorated by an older woman of sorts, maby even a grandmother! But me and jay are making it home, it has a really nice backyard and a sweet work shop and work area for projects. We have decided that we are going to decorate it with paintings that we paint, which might include such works of art as Dino Fighting Robot, which is my first piece I plan to create.<br /><br />Life is good, I picked up a Mandolin to complement Jays guitar playing, and we have begun writing music again which is very refreshing. we hope to write and play some gigs soon, so Look for some neat tunes coming soon from the Rape House Family Band!<br /><br />The Chitlin has been having a few problems, but nothing that can't be solved with a little love. She turned off the other day while I was driving to work which was neat, and then the same day the battery died, and we had to get a jump in the middle of a storm with gale force winds. Lets see, oh yeah and a big chunk fell off the inside of the car that came from under the steering column, hopefully that one can be fixed with duck tape!<br /><br />We are really excited to be here, the town is seriously georgous, and we have good accesss to surf, hikes and bars. After living in a tent and a car for a month, it is really nice to have a place to go home to, and we get to shower and go to the bathroom indoors which is also a bonus!<br /><br />In other news, I have decided to take it upon myself to build a kayak from wood, and am going to pick up supplies this week. I'm pretty sure this little project will push whatever crafting skills I have to the limit, but I guess I'll give it a shot> It would be really cool to get out onto the sounds and explore.<br /><br />Anyways, I really miss everybody and home, and I am actually kinda bumbed that I am not going to get a fall which is my favorite season. I guess having two summers in a row isn't a bad compromise though! Keep in touch everybody, below are the long promised pictures with cheezy captions in really no particular order.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="left">Oh yeah, I eat meat now.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjnIieRlvJtVjKTh0S29GuRvJMLUM6R_R3yPlSjK48pK7Vapj0crSiMHRrlecUNr4QO8Cf9b-xVYaOdygP_9gzwEo9rSXxj8QESMGc8eNc_3WzEjRI4-Z0Kv9_S8vNI-zi-lIchJHgVCj/s1600-h/IMG_0169.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391553377992892866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjnIieRlvJtVjKTh0S29GuRvJMLUM6R_R3yPlSjK48pK7Vapj0crSiMHRrlecUNr4QO8Cf9b-xVYaOdygP_9gzwEo9rSXxj8QESMGc8eNc_3WzEjRI4-Z0Kv9_S8vNI-zi-lIchJHgVCj/s320/IMG_0169.JPG" /></a> What we do when there is gale force winds outside</div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3g9xRvfbm7zAY96bWPwIJWG-whPE8qjqcC8tOOz2GTLQYB-cN0c3qHtb-HewokySYLtljiyjD60R0u7L8rE_bR_IFH0ynSvDq_8RNbhB7YZcsn0xTVKTDT6yzes-MvWYW2tGAwp8XCX5n/s1600-h/IMG_0164.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391553369743322466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3g9xRvfbm7zAY96bWPwIJWG-whPE8qjqcC8tOOz2GTLQYB-cN0c3qHtb-HewokySYLtljiyjD60R0u7L8rE_bR_IFH0ynSvDq_8RNbhB7YZcsn0xTVKTDT6yzes-MvWYW2tGAwp8XCX5n/s320/IMG_0164.JPG" /></a><br />Say no to duck rape</div><div align="center"><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhTr3xXZYbBeCzdDiGJ6YEzMwoOkV2j1SPw0O4dcTzh9V7tfR4_3Q_Vr9kiGtdzew-JcAmU1uzA79MFCA74xxGhdHjFc15OfHx4tp-Ab9jrnFm8hRKhgzzV-q-qY0pW6CtVVvpt0hfBi7/s1600-h/IMG_0163.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391553364933235602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhTr3xXZYbBeCzdDiGJ6YEzMwoOkV2j1SPw0O4dcTzh9V7tfR4_3Q_Vr9kiGtdzew-JcAmU1uzA79MFCA74xxGhdHjFc15OfHx4tp-Ab9jrnFm8hRKhgzzV-q-qY0pW6CtVVvpt0hfBi7/s320/IMG_0163.JPG" /></a> Ugly picture of picton<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQucxsV1VHWV7VX8o499mTUszqe9l_ApqbrYXd_97zpHPActvLxlFB3r_EdyPubfiB87jW4EudeJnVAlA8vyfv2kRQQvIyeNy3diil9f7ZmCGk_yC4etBwIhnJhYnH00wTP3PXrKQswWTJ/s1600-h/IMG_0162.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391553357182348562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQucxsV1VHWV7VX8o499mTUszqe9l_ApqbrYXd_97zpHPActvLxlFB3r_EdyPubfiB87jW4EudeJnVAlA8vyfv2kRQQvIyeNy3diil9f7ZmCGk_yC4etBwIhnJhYnH00wTP3PXrKQswWTJ/s320/IMG_0162.JPG" /></a> This is where we live!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcSQoBgVQ2wR-QqVtwOKz2RtnqVSGYiaqJ0y5PhQZXRhecFp3UDTFs9Oe8fc16m1x6MXPHKuw_tzrVLg1zk-hDH8vynhqOMX0wl-6OfAk-b2iY42gaJz3eCiTnZPjjVSOEyKzoqBA1dG5/s1600-h/IMG_0159.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391553347894041314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcSQoBgVQ2wR-QqVtwOKz2RtnqVSGYiaqJ0y5PhQZXRhecFp3UDTFs9Oe8fc16m1x6MXPHKuw_tzrVLg1zk-hDH8vynhqOMX0wl-6OfAk-b2iY42gaJz3eCiTnZPjjVSOEyKzoqBA1dG5/s320/IMG_0159.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center">Romantic walk in wellington<br /><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigh7ObTyLhvCfdIEv6Apkk3bujnHRIvwTra4K69hdP878QWoqhssrZQMTRxU_7tCiuUmeqPgy-_PfrjV7HefeNISh3at2bT-_W9qcnCBODaGGRdCvHLzcsjdZb7U36ewCqvacM7pMcJqCI/s1600-h/IMG_0146.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391550945793448402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigh7ObTyLhvCfdIEv6Apkk3bujnHRIvwTra4K69hdP878QWoqhssrZQMTRxU_7tCiuUmeqPgy-_PfrjV7HefeNISh3at2bT-_W9qcnCBODaGGRdCvHLzcsjdZb7U36ewCqvacM7pMcJqCI/s320/IMG_0146.JPG" /></a> Twat a night!<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0ELlSe_SY67CeqGq1l8S-zBU_kP0VyuKD_1w_CrCRoYtsBLPXqfvbfbydJspk8YBEhcMnt5wmJZqKgVAIFKG1ZHsrLqkS-zBZSgvXuX0tu5nswnlpxLWMQcuTM9QGLKgBwe11gx5XLdE/s1600-h/IMG_0141.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391550944028199314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0ELlSe_SY67CeqGq1l8S-zBU_kP0VyuKD_1w_CrCRoYtsBLPXqfvbfbydJspk8YBEhcMnt5wmJZqKgVAIFKG1ZHsrLqkS-zBZSgvXuX0tu5nswnlpxLWMQcuTM9QGLKgBwe11gx5XLdE/s320/IMG_0141.JPG" /></a><br />Scrumptown USA<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DGpWStSp-OnGrMsJ9Akg6N0JhtyOTIFlkZDZ5hgmaWV3boJqjndhhnvMfv0PT7V01v1nXg_dXsQep7eGHo4UJkJQ_1u62oJV1IgXtahwB5D2EcAh1hYqoF1AvPLCfpSGc6pvDfqvGugp/s1600-h/IMG_0129.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391550898016046930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DGpWStSp-OnGrMsJ9Akg6N0JhtyOTIFlkZDZ5hgmaWV3boJqjndhhnvMfv0PT7V01v1nXg_dXsQep7eGHo4UJkJQ_1u62oJV1IgXtahwB5D2EcAh1hYqoF1AvPLCfpSGc6pvDfqvGugp/s320/IMG_0129.JPG" /></a><br />bah<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zJ52V6-McdweLameeWfzhkVmo2VsaeooVIWYNxGkhgAKgC_9LP_jliUz2JSASjSQaFOYm3nvcCfcw2dl-rykj6DwMKs9IJB-_e4tYVIf-lorMuCwu6BVJuA2zywGY4-B_A6uACfYF4hd/s1600-h/IMG_0096.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391550891808324354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zJ52V6-McdweLameeWfzhkVmo2VsaeooVIWYNxGkhgAKgC_9LP_jliUz2JSASjSQaFOYm3nvcCfcw2dl-rykj6DwMKs9IJB-_e4tYVIf-lorMuCwu6BVJuA2zywGY4-B_A6uACfYF4hd/s320/IMG_0096.JPG" /></a> Church on the East Cape<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuISb6gXEuf5dKGg0JMIso2YzZiDut-OGbw5cq1WyeJCwjF8m3bhM-0b6NFu3yChbxUiBwO3xOlWdzAdDPAwun55sPrJT0X_VPK435-uozAEBqeW_xCReef9eKGS8c22__0vTztzYXqXN/s1600-h/DSCN1914.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391549888979164450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuISb6gXEuf5dKGg0JMIso2YzZiDut-OGbw5cq1WyeJCwjF8m3bhM-0b6NFu3yChbxUiBwO3xOlWdzAdDPAwun55sPrJT0X_VPK435-uozAEBqeW_xCReef9eKGS8c22__0vTztzYXqXN/s320/DSCN1914.JPG" /></a><br />The tsunami madness<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxtmEVr6eP-AJ_mjPt_VnclV1iE39bG6tpdzEHpB4MA6DT2eIcnfFxTPo_E0uQAliRIWaym0aeDAKX1xFd_QIfwdMIjGCZf9dgQDc0IJ0cGurBTorb8Buezah0WPjzwKjumdk7B4Dp3w9/s1600-h/DSCN1909.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391549876975928162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxtmEVr6eP-AJ_mjPt_VnclV1iE39bG6tpdzEHpB4MA6DT2eIcnfFxTPo_E0uQAliRIWaym0aeDAKX1xFd_QIfwdMIjGCZf9dgQDc0IJ0cGurBTorb8Buezah0WPjzwKjumdk7B4Dp3w9/s320/DSCN1909.JPG" /></a><br />Waiting for the tsunami slash relishing the view<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlso3NMU704_2mY-sjJk4DOeVuNJUR8LAyKkiVcB8XDDCUs0BFSdA6QU9eLvvy8w-UYQ9VW6NakA8kq6O1Nbs912TBYFa1w-vwdvbC7D0Hdx10CDXYH1tpbyERs9EOadxzCyr0KMgpwVYw/s1600-h/DSCN1906.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391549869412438962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlso3NMU704_2mY-sjJk4DOeVuNJUR8LAyKkiVcB8XDDCUs0BFSdA6QU9eLvvy8w-UYQ9VW6NakA8kq6O1Nbs912TBYFa1w-vwdvbC7D0Hdx10CDXYH1tpbyERs9EOadxzCyr0KMgpwVYw/s320/DSCN1906.JPG" /></a><br />This has happened more than once<br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyC8B2JEXSIV9lxhQhDPC776KcDi5h0Z8aWXliLaFPPgqmeGs-eElJNHoiiZ5I0I5qOZh9qq50TaHHb03QxmDglcqyMgGsyNjcDK97JPdUMwKtoMhkSVnWJ3pmcvrxpyc7gQaz9cQmcpcb/s1600-h/DSCN1874.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391548531211789378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyC8B2JEXSIV9lxhQhDPC776KcDi5h0Z8aWXliLaFPPgqmeGs-eElJNHoiiZ5I0I5qOZh9qq50TaHHb03QxmDglcqyMgGsyNjcDK97JPdUMwKtoMhkSVnWJ3pmcvrxpyc7gQaz9cQmcpcb/s320/DSCN1874.JPG" /></a><br />Lyndle and Strat the radist musicians we have met on our trip so far<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZUHAHzUzMk-BODsMaPhxcX_H2SIOaRvgz9wiBdrm2oRvD36PNKxnxZK1k-mp20V-BQAsKhRO6cb7v6PeQJ-bLmgjRNmWQiaN3lwDvv5RKgaMttwLYUk2X3AhiC2yvCidrfxp5E52x8Sr/s1600-h/DSCN1830.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391548521529684082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZUHAHzUzMk-BODsMaPhxcX_H2SIOaRvgz9wiBdrm2oRvD36PNKxnxZK1k-mp20V-BQAsKhRO6cb7v6PeQJ-bLmgjRNmWQiaN3lwDvv5RKgaMttwLYUk2X3AhiC2yvCidrfxp5E52x8Sr/s320/DSCN1830.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Top of the ridge with Mish and Ben<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_34qBSO-QeX1nTre8duCpmELmeQNFeqqpqNwbQx6Y_99RZ8yJ4azy849EqWIcA45dHq6C4AcFGrlyK7wHFJHkJ5rUky7J8CeoFNRg4fAO7VodK0EpiSvBprl1JzOTtnjIpLWR_u2hoMT/s1600-h/DSCN1825.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391548511386087090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_34qBSO-QeX1nTre8duCpmELmeQNFeqqpqNwbQx6Y_99RZ8yJ4azy849EqWIcA45dHq6C4AcFGrlyK7wHFJHkJ5rUky7J8CeoFNRg4fAO7VodK0EpiSvBprl1JzOTtnjIpLWR_u2hoMT/s320/DSCN1825.JPG" /></a><br />Yeah! We woke up to this!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgocqOidXj2lGOTeWqUPrdbuFjLnVP8Au-jAwoyRCU9nxaWhgTirEU3CjVjr15ic18tvKiIpzfJPyiGgS5bSs7j-5llRtib7DI_sCz9vIUQnpaNjgNfIF89YANeGC5A1fDanTdGBxRtbXGN/s1600-h/DSCN1817.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391548504550588322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgocqOidXj2lGOTeWqUPrdbuFjLnVP8Au-jAwoyRCU9nxaWhgTirEU3CjVjr15ic18tvKiIpzfJPyiGgS5bSs7j-5llRtib7DI_sCz9vIUQnpaNjgNfIF89YANeGC5A1fDanTdGBxRtbXGN/s320/DSCN1817.JPG" /></a><br />Jasonian 5<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqOrU1UICjAQeFqVhxw4oJsQP1r5cxfrTsbC7OGC5iYhRxJbxWEl6yFayG3WWkmeHD7dSIIgwoG86Ca2A1wpJFaTc2Qk20YRL_LrZE6hhdiPHZNebwXwfPoaF0l2Qc7ZJVB48JB7KwZ50/s1600-h/DSCN1797.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391548497458555234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqOrU1UICjAQeFqVhxw4oJsQP1r5cxfrTsbC7OGC5iYhRxJbxWEl6yFayG3WWkmeHD7dSIIgwoG86Ca2A1wpJFaTc2Qk20YRL_LrZE6hhdiPHZNebwXwfPoaF0l2Qc7ZJVB48JB7KwZ50/s320/DSCN1797.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>The never ending pursuit of unhappiness trying to catch a fish</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div></div></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-53290796440942566282009-10-03T19:36:00.000-07:002009-10-03T20:03:20.739-07:00Our tent got what was coming to itHello all! Sorry for the short update last time. I suppose I can elaborate a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">tid</span> more. Last week/early this week we did one of the great walks around Lake <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Whaikaramoana</span>. Besides being epically beautiful, i just really wanted to mention that we met some really great people on the trek. The first night we stayed in one of the huts on the tramp, which was basic but on top of the ridge overlooking the lake. Besides being with a hoard of cadets (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">boyscouts</span>), we hung out with two kiwis Misha and Ben. These were two seriously rad dudes, who we ended up hiking with and sharing stories for the rest of the 5 day tramp. Misha is a PE teachers in a school bordering Auckland, and Ben is a radio journalist for Radio NZ. Besides being fun to hang out with they were <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">extraordinarily</span> generous.<br /><br />As prepared as we were, we were <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">definitely</span> under prepared. We hitch hiked in to the trail head and were hoping to hitch hike out. We were hungry everyday and very cold. It was a good test run to know what not to do on some of the longer treks we want to do. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mish</span> and Ben graciously agreed to drive an hour our of their way to come pick us up at the end of the trail, which seriously saved our butts as we were in the middle of no where. Not only that but they gave us a box of food that they had left from the tramp to take with us along our journey. We really can't thank them enough but hope that one day we will get to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">reciprocate</span> their kindness and hang out with them again.<br /><br />On our last night we also met a singer song writer couple from <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Australia</span>, Lynda and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Strat</span>. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Strat</span> played the mandolin, and they shared songs with us as well as giving us mini mandolin lessons. Pretty cool. They were very nice and we hope to bump into them and play music with them again. The graciously offered there house to stay in if we were to ever visit <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Australia</span>. The people <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">we've</span> met so far have been seriously great, it really makes your rethink how you treat others and want to be more welcome and open to people in general.<br /><br />So yeah we are currently in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Picton</span> on the South Island. Its a very cool port town right off the Queen <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Charlotte</span> sound. Its really <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">gorgeous</span>, think like <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Alaska</span> or something, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">thats</span> what it feels like to us. But yeah, we like it here and are trying to find jobs. I have an interview <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tomorrow</span> at a boating charter <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">company</span> and Jay is getting <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">alot</span> of leads. It should work out. We have already checked out the surf spot, called Robin Hood bay, which would be where we would be surfing. Its super remote and tiny, and seriously stunning. I can't wait.<br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Unfortunately</span>, our tent is not doing so hot. It got pretty destroyed last night in a windstorm, well its kinda shredded and the poles are bent and stuff. So yeah we are kinda homeless right now <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">until</span> we get this little fiasco sorted out, but we are living in the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">Chitlin</span> which is really <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">unbelieveibly great</span>! Just a little more motivation to get jobs I guess. We've got to run the library is closing, but much love to all, pictures will be uploaded <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tomorrow</span> and wish us luck...we need jobs!spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-65102738310947393972009-09-30T15:23:00.000-07:002009-09-30T15:40:47.778-07:00Batman and Robin (A Love Story)Alright, I figured I'd just start this off with the biggest news that has been on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">everybody's</span> mind and put the rumors to rest. Yes, Jay and I are co-authoring a book titled Batman and Robin (A Love Story). It will be released in segments on this blog much like many of the great Authors of the past ( Dr. Seuss) released their master pieces in segments through <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">periodicals</span>.<br /><br />Next biggest news. We survived the tsunami. Early yesterday morning Jay and I were cooking a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">breakfast</span> of hardy proportions, when we noticed that there was a tsunami warning for New Zealand triggered by an earth quake off of Samoa. Since we were say about a foot above sea level in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Naiper at</span> the time, worry us it did! So after warning the camp host, we headed for higher land, well way higher, it was like a mountain in Lock Haven North over looking the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Pacific</span>. We'll the tsunami was supposed to come, and it did kinda. It ended up being less than a 40 cm high, so nobody could really see it from our vantage point.<br /><br />Although the tsunami never really came, the bigger <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">spectacle</span> was how many people were on this cliff type thing with us. It was kinda like that scene in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Independence</span> day where all the people were on the roof of that building to great the aliens except not really because there were no signs welcoming the tsunami. But seriously, people left work, school, basically what ever they were doing to come and watch and be safe. Pretty cool stuff.<br /><br />So since we last updated rounded the East Cape, stayed in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Gisborne</span>, went to the Scrumpy factory, did one of the Great Walks in New Zealand, met some great people, stayed in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Naiper</span>, laughed, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">sobbed </span>and are now heading south toward Wellington where we booked ferry tickets for tonight, to go the South Island. We are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">truly</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">excited</span> to get down there, as neither Jay or I have been yet and we here there is work on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">vineyards</span> down there.<br /><br />My time is running out the post is not finished yet so check back soon for more updates!spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-78259019990924697482009-09-22T00:31:00.000-07:002009-09-22T01:52:47.812-07:00Fish market folly<div align="left">Hello all. Just a short update. We looked for jobs today as we heard there was work to be had in a fish factory nearby (yeah fish!). Unfortunatly it does not look like there is much in the way of seasonal jobs in the Bay of Plenty at the moment, so we are gonna head south towards the south island where we hear there is sheep shearing and vinyard work, or mabye a delightful combination of the two. We are going to go around the east cape near Gisbourne taking our time with the possibility of doing a trek on the way down. As promised, below are some pictures. Many go with the last blog!<br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">Much love...</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384194190446505458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9QAuuZDaPel-9kZutrwmP_FElAK4jtWIChlLDI5gbhNpZKumG8Cm__IUGGVmKjQXB3fEuzX22neiblTDa993TlGbXQol-jsorOg5vlUFqKGCcx8RUaiYv2qtLRGrRqSZqs9jmTkZAENL/s200/DSCN1707.JPG" />Sunset from our campsite in Whaiheke!<br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384195455824313666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5LdzoQESGl-1keqS-Xbj9UitzbJCCg464N0gJ-NJ-2WMl3NFE8Knwyd3tsIdQqf_DIhKXWycH-i1GB34tTiYwxEa3G7rFJ1es9p1PJNNQFKlFLOb8dogxtcxTv5Z4iQDLVwISdmXwblm/s200/DSCN1741.JPG" />We hiked across the island and ended up at Onetangi beach </p><p><br /></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384196990833902930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfn5Nb4NTHKCf9vcKOXMfE8YEJn87QwqY4FVvq3rwQCXvWWPHpwBJOSOTTdXGSPzSXBvvrp5A4oA9dpB8BUO48cLaid5QIEkuUVuNczY7fLNPWGoXHiQziOCNsN_HqplmEGDPTa61TNqUo/s200/IMG_0042.JPG" /> <p align="center"><br />We harvested the freshest of cockle every morning<br /></p><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384196979874439554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6Pk2yYnwtofJkU_T0u7_UULKN1QlOgUq11glst53Mfw6NZQCP4Bjn9DSwGDF6V93ANUgBDx5wo6viDN69mLUAMS-G3EfsPhSE6qhP9pCaNAfrbNVfAYhgCSRUiq_sno6mYImYo91Tyrh/s200/DSCN1748.JPG" />Peace flame in the Ostend market...we wanted to do the peace walk the next day...but you know, we had bigger fish to fry<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 112px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384199617828497330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkvJL6Yd1IegS-xq6LH9EAG_zrwjgD0DrdYHZZGS-qHjcUkWNxkAD85wr02CIztHgzUxs7sIiWFeAi9LUYbN-R6euQdQHWbZ0mvr0rZB5wamUzQ8MpJNijtkzR2jkZeUo8QzfQCa2KSPJ/s200/IMG_0059.JPG" />Having a blast after hiking out of camp and waiting for the bus for two hours<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 112px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384199626170383954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gvXQqCGza1kSsJBLufrTQjsudhetzkzI3f-MiIsz0o80HaAQitPfb1q43p-S7PhCWdyN9RyrdLQAY5WYCzhF5Pnuvz4iWRiyQNoxJzOpgyCBBHeXY26lxFfaWPQjGaCjIZL7cowJmcwi/s200/IMG_0061.JPG" /><br />Driving in the starship destroyer/chitlin </div><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384210839847467170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoann7ZT9KdaoofrRxnSpectm3FCkWTfCk4JD1Zp3LcQQV9CW7cw6nG6czCZ6cDf2iQHNJS0EJ-UeNr_yG1a1kB4h8EsERCJvcPGwud4myblcgNnXZXYVxM2uYqT0vpS5K7Q0trlc_d6IZ/s200/DSCN1759.JPG" />Kicking the chitlin </div><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384195442346850066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXf5vE4PGmwE-TzolapMRhBBq8tsO-Gf-2Bn8p58EFMszkWl4J5g6I4aUGtiSQhoLzhrGdS3Qs8tg9g6Nr6r4yXALKa2IXD6CcvVrGS4HbHteQ0_LHxxiSMyfjwPqtfrzZwWfASWnoW7Y/s200/DSCN1740.JPG" /><br /><div align="center">Friend</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384208605258378802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuZIbzbVGalHeppZGa_Bv-IbtqnT9kZ8Uv6HsjyArR2hW4xlQzT8pHixMXHdr3_A2RRxqQ4Bd9GoXPisq1fuziev0pQ9XvVoGJJtnT1Y0NnaWkZSrxFjrnaUmff74jP6BV7qUnxidHySs/s200/DSCN1775.JPG" /><br /><div align="center">The little ones on the Mount</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384208598550996146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwILhNGFbfgeEWx0bkqTWgpkgQlu4NKB-T68pTIFzy515Bx6DH6zx2eUiu9vYSBhNYD32j7XPSXpaadRvlC7xlhftnp7urKp312cC9jmXWBmDqaWvh7soL6PsovYMcurN2GRyWtB_cAmX/s200/DSCN1770.JPG" /><br /><div align="center">View from the Mount</div><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 112px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384207996345059314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyPyqLCfIKxUGwNsxoW0Sc0c1fqLG6CdboY_7H_E9y3YdQxWumAqDR7a3NoG7cQC2lI82ZVF1TzV2xWsHaogZosbfrlX4_-Cu4a1ihGJOYFhVSRGsu_VFBR8o5xvV7D_gfvW-AaTBogey/s200/IMG_0073.JPG" /><br />Epic<br /><br /></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-63675048903240273892009-09-21T12:46:00.000-07:002009-09-21T12:59:22.061-07:00We own a car.Friends! Family! Relatives! Hello all. So alot has changed since I last updated.After we stayed in auckland for two days, not that we didn't like the city, but we needed to get outof there because it was draining us and the city. After all we didn't come to NZ to be in a city. So after being thouroughly frustrated, which we rightfully should have been, about our transportation situation (no car) we decided to get out of there and camp on Whaikeke, which is an island 45 minutes from Auckland. It was the greatest decision we had made on the trip so far. We got there and took the bus to the last stop and hiked into this place called rocky bay campsite. It was wild, we had this whole freakin beautiful beach to ourselves with only one other camper who we thought was a homeless dude. It turned out that he was not homeless, and his name was Mark. He was pretty interesting/bizzar, he works on an organic farm and built his own house. The relationship between Mark and us grew quickly, and we even exchanged items. He needed a hook for fishing, so we gave him a few, and when we got back to the campsite after a hike we found that he left us two dead and very rotting fish to use as bait. Thanks Mark!<br /><br />The next day, we hiked across the island to Onetangi beach. We came back and cooked food with four Canadians. It was actually really great. We had drinks with them and got a chance to play guitar with them as well. The next day we all went to the market in Ostend and got to talk to these ladys that are doing a peace walk across Whaiheke. They are carrying a tourch that has been all around the world (think olympics), used in parades and cerimonies to promote peace. Cool stuff. We ended our day by parting ways with the Canadians, hitting up the beach in Oneroa, packing up our stuff and heading back to Auckland to try to score a car at the sunday car mart.<br /><br />We stayed at this place on Saterday called the Brown Kiwi, that is outside of central Auckland in this district called Ponsonby. It was pretty rad, the hostel was filled with basically only french and german people who wanted to talk to us to practice their english.<br /><br />We followed some of the germans to the car mart on sunday morning, and ended up buying a car. Yes. Jay and I are now both the proud owners of a 1989 Sizuki Chitlin. It's really some to behold. It has a wopping three cylinder engine and tops out at about 115 kmh. But we love it, it is so sweet. We can now get around NZ freely, and also live on the cheap by camping at night. Transportation is so expensive here. We basically had to buy a car or we really would have blown our money away and not been able to get a full kiwi experience. In two days we have already saved 120 bucks, so its slowly but surely paying for itself.<br /><br />We are currently at a campsite in Tauranga (im actually in the tent right now), that is south of Auckland on the Bay of Plenty. It was a fun trip road trip down, and after getting used to it driving on the other side of the road it was cakework. We climbed Mt. Maunganui today which gave us unreal views of the coastline and the surrounding area. Its amazing, this country is so active and health concious. Its a tough hike to the top, but we saw so many older people and younger people doing the hike. As jay said it, its like they value their lives more than we do in the states by living healthy lifestyles.<br /><br />We are currently going to spend the next few days looking for work in the area. We are in good spirits right now and are looking to get more involved by either volunteering or working. There are lots of nice people here including about 5 other backpackers and their cars doing the same thing we are. We also met this very nice lady Dee, who seems like the campsite mom. She helped us cooked tonight and gave us advice about our travels. Well thats pretty much it right now, we miss you all lots and hope to update soon! Happy B-day Christy!spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-417278250893555165.post-69459470427731590872009-09-15T03:16:00.000-07:002009-09-15T04:00:03.376-07:00Lalaland meets NZ<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnvhC-Q18kAXmGNYDWLO8capUrIYz-Sk45Vpse2hJYG8K557sjwTsdHj20aRITV46WLd61TKWw2Y-d50zNTrGi_B7R8JgJDnLVmur1ioWW6ihOojKGwp7h1FQC2HMStVJ8sEELHdCFzHZ/s1600-h/IMG_0022.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381647180342997490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnvhC-Q18kAXmGNYDWLO8capUrIYz-Sk45Vpse2hJYG8K557sjwTsdHj20aRITV46WLd61TKWw2Y-d50zNTrGi_B7R8JgJDnLVmur1ioWW6ihOojKGwp7h1FQC2HMStVJ8sEELHdCFzHZ/s320/IMG_0022.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHtwMZG9okgXQwKG0C3x12q4be4tlrVxr1fWkqfUkAj8XMD_kYQtYcq3OY5lWNpG8oWLG3bk-hFFjR8Ru-pTBlUXmqI9zT_c8BCk0xUWxVNcnfkHleURKLNcOCCQzKz07ME3pl0FQveq1/s1600-h/IMG_0019.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381647168152864306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHtwMZG9okgXQwKG0C3x12q4be4tlrVxr1fWkqfUkAj8XMD_kYQtYcq3OY5lWNpG8oWLG3bk-hFFjR8Ru-pTBlUXmqI9zT_c8BCk0xUWxVNcnfkHleURKLNcOCCQzKz07ME3pl0FQveq1/s320/IMG_0019.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sdS8ox-HgkAiRmczAMnEbKDIK91v2miSGZAy_b8P_XzMNgcVcuxCM0-9m7TXEze68jrlePq4OFENOnbi6vZnUCe35CkS7hAy_O95YYN2Co_pYDhWpfCRe2FlcR4oXUngOnDaHOp2g4Qn/s1600-h/IMG_0017.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381647162806098546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sdS8ox-HgkAiRmczAMnEbKDIK91v2miSGZAy_b8P_XzMNgcVcuxCM0-9m7TXEze68jrlePq4OFENOnbi6vZnUCe35CkS7hAy_O95YYN2Co_pYDhWpfCRe2FlcR4oXUngOnDaHOp2g4Qn/s320/IMG_0017.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkZCPF9V_yMX03ldZ48kh7N2HXkUY3O7AxQVaq_-KU1OM0gC4lYyrHcqctk5RFKpLhuWAFVKFtvbqI1jKmC-sVMhd22evFJ3xyGMmS9HrpJo21j_PF9RrSDvFU-IwwRPzTzCMhW5T2Ag9/s1600-h/IMG_0015.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381645386017837586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkZCPF9V_yMX03ldZ48kh7N2HXkUY3O7AxQVaq_-KU1OM0gC4lYyrHcqctk5RFKpLhuWAFVKFtvbqI1jKmC-sVMhd22evFJ3xyGMmS9HrpJo21j_PF9RrSDvFU-IwwRPzTzCMhW5T2Ag9/s320/IMG_0015.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qI_rk3TL3Vd_55pZ_GFaB4bWjIGNYaqKTOLFE-RV1cr2IDnRJEY4_mJAfhSReMAtzXnjB_Iqfdx_4s4_EUU1Xdl8vP3ZRdhdBuTt4ETmMCqQbKyRU9esje1hcSkbjUt3JPr-NbT1vFdo/s1600-h/IMG_0014.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381645372484325682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qI_rk3TL3Vd_55pZ_GFaB4bWjIGNYaqKTOLFE-RV1cr2IDnRJEY4_mJAfhSReMAtzXnjB_Iqfdx_4s4_EUU1Xdl8vP3ZRdhdBuTt4ETmMCqQbKyRU9esje1hcSkbjUt3JPr-NbT1vFdo/s320/IMG_0014.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR2XDQrVmprva3KLuWTUswGpPRx4M1TrI4HTKwBnQGR0dRyQEFOnd1ozTSvBRUjJjat4G1FHUQvU7VK5a0wDjJ7b1gzUUWatGFTJ3_f9Rac3rTVH5CpX7-iewQERPc4YWCdYG4ZhsofwY/s1600-h/IMG_0014.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Hello friends. This is our first attempt at writing a real trippy trip blog. We are currently in Auckland trying to figure out how were gonna get around the north island. Were staying in a backpacker hostel called nomad that is oh so hip. </p><br /><br /><br /><p>So yea we started our trek flying into L.A. on a really old crappy plane that Jay and I were both sure was going fall out of the sky. But thanks to the in flight movie, The Proposal, this thought barely crossed our minds. We landed in L.A. around 7 were liza picked us up while simultanously getting yelled at by a turd cop for parking somewhat akwardly. LA was great though, we got to hike in the hollywoodhills (aka right under the giant hollywood sign), thanks to ethan who took us there while liza was at work. It was pretty wild, deserty, and senic. I thought hiking around LA would be easy because, you know, its LA. But it ended up really kicking our ass, the last hour of the hike was straight up hill and it was like 100deg. Being three guys and jacked up with testosterone nobody wanted to man up, and say they were about to hurl so instead we nearly drove our selves towards passing out.</p><br /><br /><br /><p>The next day was highlighted by me and jay buying food for the day at the grocery store with our spare change for a grand total of $5.22. (Not actually the highlight, but still really impressive)</p><br /><br /><br /><p>We ended up our trip in Venice Beach and Malibu, which was seriously hip and georgous. Thank you to all of the LA crew especially Liza and Brit for opening up their sweet Beverly Hills apartment to us for the for days we stayed, we really had an awsome time. </p><br /><br /><br /><p>The flght to New Zealand was 13 hours long it wasn't so bad, because they gave us a pair of fresh socks in case ours got soiled during the flight. New Zealand is amazing, Auckland is so georgous. Its a super clean trendy city, that sits among cinder cone volcanoes and the strangly aqua blue water of the warf. We spent the first day or so getting bank accounts(met the nicest bank guy ever) and tax numbers. Its pretty stressful doing this stuff, and suprisingly takes alot out of you. But day two were done with most of the loose ends, we got to finally do some fun stuff. We went on an Auckland bridge walk with our hostel, in which we thought we were literally taking a walk over the bridge. But it ended up being we got to walk through the framework of the bridge while being tethered to the walkway. The views were amazing, Jay forgot his camera. We got a chance to grab a drink with a few people that did walk with us which was really cool. It was nice to finally get to sit down and get to know people. </p><br /><br /><br /><p>So yea we are somewhat stuck in Auckland for the moment while we figure out our transportation situation. Well I wouldn't really call it stuck, as Auckland is awsome, but Jay and I are really just itching to go down to the south island. We really want to go out and find some solitude and hit some of the treks down there before they get crowded. Hope to update again soon.</p></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>spanning-timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12764058870740611806noreply@blogger.com0