New Zealand So Far

Ok, Skipping over all of Bali for now.

I came to New Zealand because my best friend Scott is here working for about a week and we rarely have any opportunities to travel together, so I figured I'd jump on the chance and let him play tour guide. Unfortunately, I only have 3 weeks here before I have to go back to work and the real world, and about one of those weeks has been spent in and around Auckland while Scott does his Lumberjack gig for the Royal Easter show over Easter weekend.

I arrived just over a week ago, met Scott and Stirling in the Airport, and went immediately to Rotorua to meet up with the rest of the Lumberjack crew and cram in a few sights in town. Our hosts, Ben and Michelle let us crash at their awesome little place right on Lake Rotorua and I got to see the farm and show site where Scott was working last year. After a day of axe-throwing, beer, and the first steak dinner I've had in months, we spent the next day wandering around town and (briefly) checking out the hot springs that Rotorua is famous for. In the same day, we raced up to Auckland to catch a ferry to Waiheke Island for a couple nights. After a bit of an ordeal and a lot of confusion (organizing 9 people who don't know what is going on proves to be difficult) we made it to Waiheke and I spent a day with Michelle, Olivia and Shana (2 American log-rolling/boom-running/lumber'jill' gals) . We all went for an epic run/hike along the coast of Waiheke and saw some gorgeous scenery, then downed some wine and incredible bruchetta at the Stonyridge vineyards before crashing in the afternoon. We met up with the boys again later that night (they were setting up for the show) and headed to Auckland for Easter Weekend.

While the lumberjacks set up and did shows I spent a couple days on my own in Auckland, checking out the Art Galleries, waterfront and harbour, the University of Auckland (by mistake, it was raining/hailing and I needed get under cover) the Auckland Museum (which was really, really good), Queens Street and K-Road. I took a ferry from downtown to the old suburb of Devonport on the north shore and did a couple little walks up the old volcanoes to get photos of the city skyline before wandering through the shops there. Devonport had some cool old buildings, lots of quaint white picket fenced homes and a random little museum with lots of old trinkets. In between day trips and random wanderings around Auckland I spent 3 days at the Easter show with Scott and the gang (I'm starting to feel like a Carnie) watching the lumberjacks and the other events put on for the fair. The Easter show vaguely resembles the PNE back in Vancouver, but with a bit of a New Zealand twist, of course. I tried my hand at sheep shearing, took a ton of photos of the Lumberjack show for the guys and wandered through the weird Cat Shows, dog shows and farm displays. I was getting pretty antsy about missing out on the rest of the country with my very limited schedule here, but I was surprised to discover how everything shuts down here for Easter, so I didn't have a ton of options anyways.

I'm in Whangarei now, about 2.5 hours north of Auckland, along the east coast. I arrived a bit late, so I'm not going to have much time to explore on land here, but tomorrow morning I'm heading out on a dive trip to the Poor Knights Islands. After 2 dives, some kayaking and boating around the islands, I'll head back to Whangarei to meet up with Scott and head further north to the Bay of Islands. That's all I know so far... the rest of the planning is supposed to be up to Scott...