The Land of Oz

I have yet to see Lions, Tigers or Bears, but what I have seen here in The Land of Oz are Asians, Bats, "Suits" and Cockroaches (will explain further.) Although fairly prevalent in New Zealand, Sydney seems to have a very large Asian population and they make up a large percentage of the city's tourists. I got my foot stepped on two times by Asians trying to take pictures (once running in the park and another time on the ferry), and always seem to get caught up in some massive tour group. Between the 70 year old Chinese man who was jumping out of planes with us in New Zealand, and the consistent amount of Asians I have seen, I am amazed at the worldliness of those in their culture - they really are world travellers (who love to take pictures)!! In the heart of Sydney there are the most amazing Botanical Gardens which I've had the pleasure of jogging through twice since I've been here (Yes, I am still jogging because if I am going to do this travelling stuff for a full year, I can no longer consider it a "holiday".) Like a scene out of "The Birds", I looked up to see BOUS - bats of unusual size (Princess Bride reference for those who don't know it) swarming over my head. The Australian bats have it a lot better than the American bats though, they are about as big as seagulls, don't fly using radar (they can see), and of course, they get a view of the Opera House every morning. Granted I haven't gotten to the "outback" yet, but I imagined Sydney to be a little different, it is a real bustling city. Just like New York everything is moving fast and it seems everywhere I look there are people in suits. I was even at the beach today and saw a lady walking around in a suit!


The hostel I stayed at in Sydney is probably the grossest I have encountered so far on my journey. The other night as I hung up my bathing suit to dry, I saw something scurry on the wall next to me out of the corner of my eye. Fortunately there is a French girl in my room who basically lives here (because Sydney is so expensive, its cheaper to live in a hostel than rent a room), and I guess from past experiences has bought Cockroach spray which she left on the desk. At this point the battle ensued. I was spraying the critter with a crazed passion, like my life depended on it. It was running and jumping like an Olympic athlete. It ended up jumping into my bag, which I carried at an arms length away into the hallway and dumped out. I had sprayed him enough that I stood there and watched him die. After I had carried his corpse to the trash can I headed back into my room, and looked up at the wall. Apparently a death memo had gone out, and my dead friend's relative was there on my wall to avenge. At this point the stand-off started. I waited 20 minutes in the hallway (in my underwear) watching, waiting, and he did the same. Finally someone came along and climbed up on the bed, brushed him down, and threw him out the window. Turns out my hero was not only from Connecticut, but even went to my high school (although he is 10 years younger than me)!!!! I finally began to understand what they mean when they say "it's a small world!"


A couple more fun-filled days in Sydney included a 1 hour tour of the Sydney Opera House (which I was shocked to learn took 16 years to build), an evening trip to see a 3 hour Italian opera called Tosca where my friend Aliette and I sat behind the Governor of Australia (but couldn't stop giggling through the entire performance; I am pretty sure the Opera is not for me), a nighttime Harbor walk with Tim and Stef, and a day trip out to The Blue Mountains with Stef, Tim and Aliette. The landscape out to The Blue Mountains was beautiful, but the mountains were as blue as the purple mountains majesty are purple, which I hear aren't purple at all. With several Disneyesque characters explaining how they used to mine the area, a ride on the "steepest rail car in the world" (and a failed second ride, they caught on to our 'we left our camera at the bottom' ploy) and an attempt to speak like Ozzie's and not use the word "the" for the entire train ride home.


Last night I took an overnight Greyhound bus to Byron Bay (which is GREAT because I don't have to spend money on accommodation), where I rented a bike and rode around town, and met an awesome guy named rob and i... no we, decided to get married. No not really, but he did ask me, and he also wrote that last sentence. I have a surf lesson tomorrow morning and another night in Byron Bay before I head up north to Surfer's Paradise!

Single Serving Friendships

On the road, you rarely get a second helping of anyone. Most backapckers are so wrapped up in doing their own thing that the time you spend together is brief - planes to catch, buses are leaving, you're going this way and i'm going that way. I can't tell you how much time I have spent trying to get to know someone, only to find out they are hopping off at the next bus stop. One of the reasons I decided to plan this adventure was to be a little more interesting and to get away from the small talk of life. When friends and family asked me "so what are you up to these days? Got a boyfriend yet? Bought a home? How's the job?", I could shock everyone with my ingenious plan to travel the world, and cut through all the small talk. Little did I know that I would be wrapped up in the same chit-chat thousands of miles away; "where are you from? how long have you been travelling? where will you go next? how old are you?" After a single serving of each person, you both go on your merry way, and even if you want a second helping (lets say from a very hot guy) you can't have it because backpackers are made to be on the road.

I'm here in Christchurch New Zealand, staying with my friend Torry who I have spent lots of time with over the last 10 years. The best part is that we don't have to small talk and I get my own room which has put Christchurch on the top of my list of places I've visisted. It's actually 11:00am on Thursday and I am still in bed - why not!? After smores and bonfires at Gunns Camp last week we headed to Invercargal. Since Metro, the bus driver, has become my oldest friend on this trip I took it upon myself to be his self-appointed co-pilot, which includes front seat driving privaledges, access to insider information and of course the rights to change the music. Although the rest of the bus wasn't into it, I instituted a "POWER BALLAD MORNING" and belted out such classics as Phil Collins Take a look at me now, and Starship's We Built this City on Rock and Roll. In the words of Metro, "I have never been so happy."


Invegargal is the New Jersey of New Zealand, so after a quick walk around and a couple freak-show sightings I decided to sit in the Hostel's TV room and watch the Lord of the Rings (One and Two.) That night we all headed to a comedy show at the local pub, which turned out to be pretty hysterical -anyone who puts rubber bands on their face and tries to talk should get their own show.


Catlin's way is the southern most coastal road that runs along New Zealand (and no, shockingly it wasn't named after yours truly.) We stopped and looked at petrified forrests, lighthouses, and beautiful beaches on our trek from Invecargal to Dunedin, and arrived in the city around 5:00pm. While some people went on a brewery tour (Timmy), I walked around the city and explored. After a bunch of us went out for the MOST amazing Indian food I have ever had we headed to a weird 70's disco club called Fever (which had 3 people in it, one of which had a full suit on and loved to disco dance), and then to a college bar called the Stock Exchange. The next morning I went on a 9:30am tour of the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Factory, which I would have slept through had I known that the factory was in fact closed on Sundays, but the tour guides outfit pretty much made up for the dissapointment. With a bright purple pair of overalls, he didn't appreciate my parting question of "does the purple teletubbie know you raided his wardrobe?"

Another two nights in Queenstown, which has been by far my favorite city along the way, meant another bungee jump (off The Nevis which is over 400ft!), another ferberger (collasal sized beef patty this time with pinneapple and tomatoe relish, soooo good) and more adrenaline pumping activites (I also went up to the top of the look out on a gondala and then lugeing down the mountain on these little go-karts passing people at high rates of speed.) I arrived in Christschurch after a 7 hour bus ride two days ago and Torry and I spent some time walking around the city yesterday. There is a beautiful cathedral in the center of town that we walked through, which prompted me to wonder why this town is called Christchurch, but then I bought some caramel chococlates and stopped caring. Today we are headed to the beaches although the weather is overcast and rainy. Tomorrow I fly to Auckland for a Valentines day flight to Sydney, Austraillia!

Adrenaline Junkie

Hi my name is Caitlin, I am an Adrenaline Junkie, and New Zealand is made for people like me. Although bungee jumping is derived from an ancient tribal ceremony (but then they used long reeds and attached them to their wieners, not their feet!), the way we know bungee jumping today was INVENTED in New Zealand back in the 80's. When I went skydiving in the USA there were two places close by, and by close by I mean about 2 hours away. In New Zealand you never have to drive far to skydive, there is a place to do it in every town. These islands offer white water rafting, jet boating, sledging (going down a river with a little floating device), para sailing, hang gliding, paragliding, zorbing (a huge ball half filled with water that you roll down a hill), helihiking, extreme karts, and soooooo much more AND I'm addicted to all of it. I can finally understand why my cousin Brendan has spent so many years out west mountain biking and snowboarding, fending off "real jobs" - I could make a career out of doing crazy stuff!!
After leaving Makarora we headed briefly to Wanaka, a small town right on the water surrounded by huge snow capped mountains (but that seems to be the way all the towns are here!) On the way from Wanaka to Queenstown we stopped at the first ever created AJ Hackett Bungee Jump at The Kawarau Bridge, 43 meters above a river. I wasn't going to jump because I wanted to spend my money on The Nevis a bungee jump in Queenstown that towers above the rest at 134 Meters, BUT after watching the "get pumped up promotional video" I couldn't say no. So instead of buying just the Nevis I bought The Thrilology (a 3-pack for the Kawarau Bridge, The Nevis and The Nevis Arc Swing) for a mere $450 New Zealand Dollars (about $375 American Dollars.) The wait time was 5 minutes, I got my feet all strapped in and headed out to the ledge. After posing for pictures they said "ok jump", so I did! My swan dive was so far out that I didn't touch the water at the bottom like I was supposed to, and I jumped so quickly that my videographer missed the first part of my jump!! Besides the overwhelming feeling that your eyeballs might pop right out of your head, the feeling is amazing. I jump The Nevis on February 8th - I can't wait!
Even though everyone described Queenstown as a tourist trap, I loved it. First off they have a place called Fergberger, known for the largest and most delicious burgers in New Zealand and I can't vouch for that!! Secondly, they have a beautiful lake surrounded by a running path and rocky beaches, so I got in a long run and a couple of swims. Lastly, they have an amazing night life with tons of bars and people out having fun. I stayed there one full day and then we headed south, took a ferry out into The Milford Sound (which is just plain gorgeous), and then back to our accommodation for the evening, a place called Gunns Camp. The metal huts that make up Gunns Camp were constructed back in the 1930's for the workers building the only tunnel to the sound, and although they have some historical significance, sleeping in them was another story. At first a sight for sore eyes, they turned out to be pretty comfortable (probably because I stole the only double bed in the whole place.) The only thing I could have done without were the millions of sand flies (they look like gnats but BITE) and the power going out at 10:00pm. After our meal of "bangers and mash" (sausage and mashed potatoes), I made our bus driver Metro get us all smores. The most hysterical thing I have seen so far on this trip are a bunch of foreigners trying to make smores and asking us Americans the perfect way to do it. I, of course, have my own style that comes from sheer lack of patience (I let my marshmallow burn, then melt my chocolate with the burning mallow), which most people didn't adopt. Even though we had to make them on biscuits (cookies) instead of graham crackers they were a hit here in New Zealand. Glad to know I can carry the tradition overseas!!

Too much blogging?

I was recently told by someone that I am "blogging the sh*t out of my trip", so much so that they didn't actually read the text, but at least looked at the 3 pictures. To be honest, keeping an electronic diary has become quite a burden. I have never been the correspondence type, nor the person who whips out a camera everywhere I go to take pictures - BUT I am trying. My sister keeps reminding me that this is my journal that I'll read years later, so for those out there who can't swallow all the text, I'm sorry, I'll start posting more pictures.
New Zealand is made for backpackers. As we travel along the country side in our bright orange STRAY bus, we pass at least 10 other similar buses (Kiwi Experience - "The Green Drunken Sex Wagon", filled with 18-24 year olds looking to get drunk and score; The Flying Kiwi - designed for the more outdoorsy types as they have mountain bikes attached to the back; South Island Tours - filled with people 50+, except for that one young person who wants to kill their travel agent) and at least 30 small camper vans (designed for those who want to explore the country without a guide and 40 other people.) Each town has at least 5 hostels; I have yet to see a nice hotel. Everywhere I go I see people tramping (not what you think I mean - in NZ this means hiking), with huge backpacks and hiking boots. Cafes and restaurants have signs for "backpackers welcome". You're probably wondering what kind of people are backpacking. In my bus right now (its a hop on/ hop off bus so the people are ever-changing), there are lots of Germans, Dutch, Canadians, and English - there is one other American guy from Oregon. About 75% are under 25, and about 50% are travelling alone. 100% have bigger bags than me. One of the girls today told me she was dreaming about poopies last night. Everyone is always asking for help with their English, and since she didn't ask, I figured she was actually dreaming about poopies. Turned out she meant puppies, but I had a good laugh.
After Abel Tasman we headed to a "nowhere town" called Barrytown. Since there is nothing to do there, each night (except Mondays and Thursdays) a Stray bus rolls in with people ready to get drunk. Two local teenagers actually walk 7 miles each night to hopefully hook up with some drunken Strays. Our theme party was "anything but clothes" which of course made for some scandalous outfits (ace bandages seemed like a good idea hours earlier when I was at the dollar store.) The next morning our hungover bus (except me, of course, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed) headed south to Franz Josef and spent the night at the Rainforrest hostel where I had to do laundry, again! The next morning at 8:15 I hiked the Franz Josef glacier, and discovered the ONLY word that rhymes with Tampon, a CRAMPON! I want to have these things in my everyday life, not just on large hunks of ice. They are spikes that attach to your shoes, I called them "Spidey Shoes", because you could walk on ice, snow and rocks and never slip. After 8 hours of climbing and digging into the ice, I came off the glacier and went right to the hot pools to sit and relax. This morning we headed out to where we are now, Makarora. We made a couple of stops to look at waterfalls, the fox glacier, and the southern alps. Basically watch The Lord of the Rings and you will see what I am seeing everyday. When we got into town (I say town, but it is a hostel on a hill, and thats it) we hopped on some JetBoats and rode about 50mph on this shallow river doing spins and turns and getting wet. Just another adrenaline pumping day here in New Zealand!!

I've found Paradise

It's Thursday evening here in New Zealand around 5:30pm, and because of my handy new Timex Ironman watch I can flip back to USA time with a click of a button - its 11:30pm yesterday for you guys! It has been a couple of days since my last post because time really does fly when you're having fun, and with all the daytime adrenaline pumping activities and the evenings festitivies there hasn't been much time to write. Thankfully my watch also tells me what day it is, or I might completely lose track of time here in paradise. I have spent a good majority of my first week here in NZ wondering why more people don't live here. Timmy was telling me that Washington DC has a larger population than the whole county of New Zealand. With amazing mountains, lush forrests, the MOST beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and some of the hottest, tannest, scruffiest, fun-loving and funny men I have met, I'm surprised there hasn't been a serious American emmigration. Although there are some things Americans (like myself) would hate; what I like to call "New Zeland time", everyone takes forever to do everything; the metric system, I never have any idea what temperature something is, how tall something is, nothing.
After my last post at the Maori camp, we headed early the next morning to Rotorua where I hopped off to white water raft. Six beautiful male instructors got us all suited up in flotations devices (they don't call them life jackets anymore because they will not save your life if you're too dumb to not swim when drowning), booties and helmets. Although the trip was brief we took the raft down the largest waterfall that commercial rafts can go down in the world. Our guide, Chunk, didn't seem to take anything too seriously as he was really hungover, but we all survived. Then we headed back into Rotorua to pick up the other bus members who didn't raft and then we all headed to a town called Taupo. While the others went skydiving (I didn't do it, since it costs $300 and I've already done it twice), I grabbed a coffee and went to the grocery store with a girl name Verina I met on the bus. When the rest of the crew came back that night we all headed to a Bar called Mulligans (because my new busmate shares the same last name), where we all wore different hats provided by the bar - I rocked the pink cowboy hat most of the night - and told the locals it was my bachelorette party as I was marrying a native Kiwi (what they called people from New Zealand) I had only known for two weeks.
Very early the next morning we hopped back on the bus which at this point is growing very smelly, and headed to National Park, where I had been hoping the weather would hold up to hike the Tongorria Crossing an 8 hour hike through three volcano craters, one of which was Mt. Doom from The Lord of the Rings. Luckily we got the OK to hike and headed up around 10am. The 500 steps in the second hour nearly killed me. Most of the first 3 hours was uphill which prompted the guides to create fast and slow groups so we all could go at appropriate paces, (of course Captain Competitive was at the front of the fast group), and after about 4 hours we arrived at the summit, which is about 2,000 meters high (as previously mentioned, I have no idea how high this is.) The views were breathtaking and of course, knowing that The Lord of the Rings was filmed there was pretty awesome. The last 3 hours we got caught up in a serious downpour where I got to test my brand new Marmot raincoat which held up perfectly, unfortunately my shoes and pants didn't. I arrived back at the hostel looking like a drowned rat, to my 5 other roomates, another load of laundry (that is the territory that comes with having only 3 pairs of underwear) and a hottub (which I got in immediately.)
Ok what day am I up to - Tuesday I think? It's a tough life out here, I can't even remember what I ate for lunch, nevermind what I did two days ago! So we left National Park and heading to Wellington. On our way we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and a hot spring hole that supposedly had natural healing powers. There were so many people crammed into this little hole that I think my healing power went to someone else. We arrived in Wellington, a city that reminded me of a combination of Denver and San Fransico, around 2:00pm. After getting set up in the hostel, headed straight to the National Museum. It was a really modern museum with a lot of touch screens and interactive exhibitis which certainly made it more fun than your typical museum. At 5:00 Tim, Emer, Liz and I did a little shopping so I could satisfy my desire to fit in with the other "fashionable" backpackers, but when I came out of the store and was asked what cute things I bought, I pulled out a pair of black running pants and two athletic shirts - I just can't get the practical thinking out of my head!! We then ate a delicious dinner at a Malaysian restaurant, and took the WEllington cable car up to the Botanical gardens to watch the "California Deamers", a 1960's cover band. At the end of the rivetting performance we walked through the gardens which are lit up amazingly by the city. In an failed attempt to catch the Cable Car back down to the city, we got lost in the dark part of the gardens, Liz fell in a hole, and we had to spend $25 on a cab to get us to the Cuba street bars. After a couple of bar hops, and no cute men to prowl on, I headed home for the evening.
Yesterday morning I caught the 7am ferry to the South Island. I sat outside for the 4 hour ride because the mountanious coastline was amazing to watch. We landed in Picton (to those of you who know me, you probably can guess why this town held a special significance), but only stayed there briefly on our bustrek to the Abel Tasman national park. After a long day on the bus and a quick grocery store stop, we arrived at Old MacDonald's farm in the Abel Tasman Natiional park last night around 6pm. Our busdriver, Metro, made us some mussels and we all hung out around a fire pit and ate our homemade dinners (I had a bowl of cereal and a roll with turkey on it.) Old MacDonalds is a little more rustik than some of the other hostels. This whole hostel jumping experience has been like one big camping trip - you never really feel clean, there are bugs in your room, the food is sparse, you are bunked up with lots of people - you get the idea. At 9am this morning I set out to do a 3 hour hike through the park, which was spectacular. The scenery is like paradise - white beaches, blue/green water, lush green jungles - and the best part is (as I previously mentioned) no one lives in New Zealand so it pretty much felt like our own private island. When we got to Anchorage bay we hopped on a catamaran and sailed around the island for another 4 hours. Even though I got a ridiculous sunburn on my stomach (which is still white and pasty from CT temperatures) it was overall an specatuclar day.

Travelling is a Fashion Show?

Granted I didn't do as much planning or reading prior to travelling as I could have, but I did do some. The travel books I read talked about small backpacks that hold just what you need: wickable shirts that can be worn several times and washed in the sink, convertible pants that zip off into shorts, resuable underwear with a tagline of "17 countires, 1 thong", sandals with criss-crossing cloth straps that look hideous but are practical, and I even decided to go "braless" after reading bras were not necessary. For a girl who has been told she NEVER wears the same outfit twice, coming to grips with the fact that I have to sacrifice my fashion for this trip was bearable, with the idea that everyone else would be unfashionable too. Well, I have been shocked to learn that this is not the case. 95% of the girls I have met so far (and they are from everywhere - US, Germany, Holland, Canada, etc.) have huge backpacks , filled with at least one pair of jeans, leggings, nice underwire bras, several bathing suits, necklaces, bracelets, cute shirts and jackets, hairdryers and one girl even had a small iron! Needless to say I have already gone out and bought a pair of flip flops because my "practical shoes" are hideous, and plan on buying a few more pairs of pants and shirts. 3 days in and I have already had to do laundry, which certainly makes me realize that only 3 pairs of underwear was never a good idea.



After I left Auckland two days ago our bus travelled to a small surf town called Hahei on the northeast coast of NZ. We arrived there in the early afternoon and I spent the next 3 hours Sea Kayaking along the Coromandel Penninsula. The instructor told me to pick a strong man to paddle with (as the kayaks were two seaters), but I was stuck with Timmy. He wasn't too strong, but he did let me sit in the back and steer. We paddled for about an hour, and then parked the kayaks at Cathedral Cove, got out took pictures. I swam out in the ocean and jumped off a large rock (and managed to scrape up my legs), and our instructors gave us some flat whites (coffee with milk) and biscuits (cookies) back on the beach. If you google Cathedral Cove you will get a glimpse into the beauty of these beaches - true paradise!! After kayaking we took a quick drive over to Hot Beach, which is a exactly as it sounds. Under the sand in particular spots there is volcanic activity which, if you dig just a litte, you get boiling hot water pools. Unfortunately I remain confused when trying to figure out celius and farrenheight degrees (so I won't even try to guess the exact degree), but this water is hot!!! That night we all went back to the dorm and ate a traditional New Zealand BBQ - sausage, lamb, pumpkin, (yes pumpkin is used for more than halloween carving here in NZ), white sweet potatoes, and ice cream!

I made a point on my first travel day to try and not fall asleep on the bus because I wanted to see the countryside. Besides a few slips today I have been pretty attentive to looking at my surroundings. The landscapes so far on the North Island have been California meets England, with a twist of the Amazon Jungle - large open fields with trees and hedges marking off the borders to different farms, and then a few minutes later huge baren hills roll out of the ground covered with dry brush and palm trees, and then the zig zag mountain roads take you through what appears to be an amazon jungle surrounded by a spectacular ocean view. In this case, even though the bus is cramped, hot and bumpy, it certainly is "about the journey, not the destination."

Yesterday we arrived in the mid afternoon at Raglan, a true surfer town as it boasts the longest left break in the world. I am not entirely sure what that is, but I think its just a really long wave. We checked into a really neat surfer hostel where there aren't even locks on the doors; "no worries!" I went down to the beach although the weather wasn't fantastic and took a long walk. Later that night I went back to the hostel where we had to make our own dinner (that seems to be the best way backpackers save money.) We left Raglan early this morning (8am departure) and headed to the Waitomo Caves. I decided to book the "Haggas Honking Holes" tour which was an action adventure tour, where I was told I would get wet! Even after I put on the full wet suit and wellington boots, I still didn't expect the type of adventure I got. The only thing we weren't allowed to do is pee in the wetsuit (which of course I asked.) After you learn a little about ropes and repelling you walk down a field and single file enter a creepy looking hole in the ground. I spent most of my day wondering what crazy person decided to enter these caves in the first place, but I guess in the 60's this became a sport and now most of the thousands of caves are actually mapped out, and some people treat is as an afternoon "hike." The caves were dark, wet, slippery, and when I looked up there were huge black spiders above my head. We repelled down dark caverns, into waterfalls and large pools. Most of the spaces we had to climb through were ridiculously tiny, we even had to do the army crawl a couple of times. I kept my flirty antics with the instructor high, and even the darkest crevasses remained light and fun. Three hours later we popped back out of the earth, and after emptying the water out of my boots and taking a hot shower we headed back to pick up the rest of the crew. Needless to say, it was an amazing (but WET) experience.

We headed from there to where I am now - a small town called Marae. We are staying at a Maori meeting house, which houses the native Maori tribe of New Zealand. We got to eat their traditional meal, and watch a traditional Maoiri performance, and then had to perform ourselves. It was interesting. The best part is watching these young tribe members go from grass skirts and long wooden spears to leaving the performance in their beaten up hondas wearing billabong shorts and american baseball caps. Now we are all in one big room with about 40 mattreses on the floor while I steal native Maori internet. Definitely makes for rough sleeping conditions. Thank God for ear plugs and face masks.

Tomorrow I am going white water rafting in Rotorua. I'll check in when I can!! In the meantime, I gotta buy some more clothes to keep up with the "backpacker fashion trends!"

Patience is a virture (I'm working on!)

I've realized in just the short 24 hours I've been travelling that this trip is going to teach me patience whether I like it or not. Buses, figuring out transfers, waiting in lines (and I swear I am cursed with being in the eternal slow lane), sleeping in crooked positions on planes, not knowing where you are or where you are going, having 7 other roomates to deal with -- all of these things, in my normal life, would irriate me. I'm doing my best to force my brain to reboot and switch from "normal mode" to "travel mode" as soon as possible or I may have to drop a couple thousand on a room at the nearest Ritz and a couple of hours at a day spa! I have a feeling, like any new situation, that this is going to only get better as I go along.
The flight from JFK to LA was really productive - I watched 2 movies, 3 episodes of Californication, ate about 7 bags of free pretzels and peanuts and slept for 0 hours. The flight from LA to Tahiti (Tim only told me on our way to the plane that we had a layover in Tahiti) started the irritation process - in the one hour layover we had to leave our terminal, catch a bus to the other terminal, then run through crowds of people who had the MOST luggage I have ever seen, and eventually sat and waited for our flight (which without any announcement took off 45 minutes later than scheduled.) I had already jumped the gun at this point on taking my first sleeping pill, and after boarding I was asleep before we even took off. The Tahitian airline, Air Tahiti, is a little "ghetto" - they only offer about 5 movies (real quality ones, like Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and some movie starring Bruce Willis where he's trying to kill human looking robots) that played on a loop, so you'd have to hope you caught one of these classics at the beginning. About 10 hours later we landed in Tahiti and had to exit the plane so they could clean it, which was neat because now I can actually say I have been to Tahiti. It was hot.. that's all I know about Tahiti. 5 hours later we landed in New Zealand and I finally felt like this trip had begun.
We met this little old man on our plane name Warren, who was 90 years old and going to live with his son in NZ for his "last days." He liked Timmy and I enough, well at least me, to offer us to come up to his son's house on the Bay of Islands and sail with them for a day, which I thought was pretty nice. But I've always said "never go sailing with someone" because its the BEST way to kill them without anyone knowing, so we decided to stick to the beaten path instead. We arrived at our hostel around 2:00 local time and got settled into our room - 4 sets of bunk beds filled with two other Americans who are also blogging www.danandjon.com, two Canadians, one Swedish guy and a random asian guy no one has seen since we got here. Tim and I walked around New Zealand, a busy city that seems to me to be a complete mish mash of architecture, from brick to stone, to glass to concrete jungles with sprouting palm trees next to a Dunkin Donuts and Prada stores. We decided not to stay here long, and booked a 21 day bus excursion through both islands starting at 7:50am tomorrow morning. It's with a company called Stray, which focuses on getting New Zealand visitors "off the beaten path" and does a lot of hiking and nature related excursions (which of course, I am excited about.) We ate at a Medterranian restaurant we found in Tim's guide book, which was delicious and cheap because we just didn't think eating at Subway or the 24 Wendy's would really be imersing ourself in the New Zealand culture.
Although they have free fruity punch and a "battle of the sexes"at the Globe bar downstairs, I think it's time for me to hit the hay (I mean, it is 3:20am CT time!) I'm sure I'll hear all about the crazy bar happenings from one of my seven roomates at 2:00 this morning. And don't worry, I'm trying to work on my patience for Timmy's sake.