CHASING THE SUN

Fishin On The Wild West Coast

2009-05-28T14:50:00.016+12:00

I have conceded, there is no better place in existence to end a trip around the world than Vancouver Island. The rugged west coast; with picturesque snowcapped mountains rising from the still black waters of the Queen Charlotte Strait. The destination; Telegraph Cove on the interior stretch of the Island, our reason; to fish. To drop hooks into the cold depths of the North Pacific Ocean and pull out the monsters of the deep, halibut and salmon.

My father Gordon decided after a long winter working in northern Alberta to fly my brother Damian, brother in law, Terry and myself to this tiny inlet for two solid days of world class sport fishing.

We all met in Comox and by the time we finished the drive to our cabin three hours later we had seen, two deer, several eagles, an otter, two black bears and two doll porpoises. Anybody reading this from overseas that is thinking about heading to Canada to check out the wildlife, Vancouver Island is your place. It is teaming with all the icons of the west coast, so mark it up on your bucket list at the end of this sentence.

Our first day of fishing could be described as an average day for somebody who lives here but for a bunch of boys from Alberta it was freaking great. In less than two hours we had caught our limit of halibut (4 fish) which turned out to be 50 lbs of meat. Approximately every 10 minutes another giant fish was coming over the side of the boat and the sound of the Hong Kong Gong rang out into the morning to announce to all within ear shot that yes we've got yet another fish!

The big winner was Terry who had never caught a fish until yesterday, his 36th birthday. By the end he had landed four for the boat, lucky bastard. I got skunked, no fish for me. On the way in we check the local crab pots to find 7 crabs waiting to be introduced to our stove top.

Day two started out with us fishing for salmon. The down riggers went on and the lines were dropped to 90 feet. Within minutes the rod tip wiggled, and the reel started to wind out, we had a fish. I did my best to push everybody out of the way. After the big fat zero count for me on day one, this lunker was mine. We battled, (I reeled and he fought minorly) ten minutes later I had a 8.5 lbs chinook salmon to whack on the head. Here is my proof.

This turned out to be the only fish for the day. I almost landed a halibut later on but it skipped the hooked with only 30 feet to the surface. The other major highlight was Gordy spilling his guts into sea (chumming) as the water was a bit bumpy with a slight wind out of the northwest. No photo proof but you get the idea.

On the way in we again check the crab pots to find fifteen more of the ugly tasty crustacean. Supper was a rich west coast boil of fresh crab. I never get excited about a meal, but this one was bloody delicious.

After dinner we went for a walk amongst the forest giants. The ambition, gather some souvenir drift wood from the beach. Knowing full well that bears were in the area, we loaded up the Hong Kong Gong and set out down the trail making heaps of noise to scare away anything that could potential eat us. Gong! Gong! Went the Hong Kong Gong.

Seconds before reaching the beach we came atop a fallen log to look ahead and see two bear cubs 100ft ahead and partially up a tree. Their eyes were locked into us and our into theirs. We then shifted to the local surroundings looking for Mama. She wasn't around so we quickly exited the area. The only thing those bears cubs saw next was our backs, and the only thing they heard was the sound of the Hong Kong Gong getting fainter and fainter. My heart was up in my throat and I wasn't the only one in our group to need new and “fresher” shorts. In the end we could laugh about it, but it is easily the closest I have been to a bear, without my normal protection of a Honda Prelude.

As I sit on the plane and head back to Alberta in can reflect. The west coast rules, I love it here and when the fish bite it makes it a lot easier to build a case for moving here. It is definitely on my short list, just wish the sea wasn't so bloody cold here...

Check out the Slide show below.

Collingwood, Ontario

2009-05-28T14:30:00.004+12:00

The last few days have been spent on Georgian Bay in Collingwood, Ontario with Andis folks. Jealous of our time overseas they wanted to get in on the action, so they rented out a place and we packed up Jeepers the Jeep for some backyard exploring. Just because we are back in Canada doesn't mean the traveling is done.

Our days in Collingwood were filled with searching out the local history, usually in the form of old waterfalls and the century old mills that used to flank them. Grey County used to be home to several old mills that would produce anything from flour to lumber to wool. Unfortunately, most are now relics fallen to the naturally harsh elements of the Canadian seasons. That said I am still very impressed with what man can build with his own bare hands, these old mills are a testament to the pioneering spirit that helped shape our nation over a century ago.

Other local highlights was the shale bed beach, home to the fossilized remains of prehistoric trilobites and other critters. In my opinion the shale beach was a perfect place to build a rock tower, so I did.
The resort we stayed in also had a kick ass mini-putt. Built and shaped in the fashion of a real course this mini-putt had it all, real green grass, sand traps and water hazards. Peter, Andis father, managed to harness the power of the planets and scored a hole in one, which he humbly held over the rest of us for the remainder of the weekend.

The few days spent on the freshwater coast was relaxing for us, all of us. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to get to know Peter and Karen, Andis mother, a little bit better.

As Andi and I feasted on the foods we missed so dearly we all crowded around the computer and watched the slide show of our photos, all 2800 of them. Even though we broke them up over four nights its was still a freaking marathon. Kudos to Peter and Karen for sticking through it, I don't know how you made it through picture after picture of high kicks in foreign lands. You both do a very good “Oh yes, very interesting” face!!

Cheers to the two of you for the great week in Collingwood and for making us feel at home after a long journey to the four corners of the earth. Oh yah, Peter, with the power of seventeen black Arabian horses, the cellulose busting power of your log splitter kicks royal ass!!! Be very proud of that purchase, very proud!!

Familiar Ground

2009-05-26T10:59:00.002+12:00

Placing your feet back on familiar soil is always bittersweet after traveling for so long. That said stepping off a plane and being able to see, smell and feel things that seem correct is unexplainable. The unnerving feeling of the unknown is gone, you know how the system works here, no time is lost trying to figure things out and your surroundings finally feel normal. Well somewhat normal I guess.

Your views of the homeland will never be the same. The insight gathered over your time away in foreign territories will only enhance and broaden your appreciation of the things that you missed and the conveniences you take for granted. On the flip side it will also make you wonder why certain elements of life can't be different to reflect what you witnessed in some far off island state in the Pacific. But I guess that what travel does to a person. It forces you to grow, whether or not you are ready for it.

It forces you to face what ever the hell challenge stands in your way; good, bad or ugly. It pushes you beyond the confines of your normal world and acceptance of that is fundamental to success. I will say that we succeeded, we both grew individually and together. We completed our trip around the world and now we are back in Canada.

A land where looking to your left you can see a middle aged man wearing a Coors Light ball cap and to your right a car slows to stop as a pedestrian steps onto the street. A place where you can smell Tim Horton's coffee wafting on the air currents of the airport arrival hall. The sounds of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman come streaming across the radio as you listen to a man from North Bay, Ontario tell you about a friend of his who has a pet Moose. And you believe this man because you grew up here, you know that however absurd it sounds it is probably true. It is a region of our planet that oozes Canadiana and I would have it no other way. All that said, most importantly it is a place where you can reach out and touch family and friends.

Being back in Canada is remarkable because your surroundings no longer feel strange, you can make a joke about Newfoundland and people are gonna laugh. Simply put it's home, and there is no place like it.

Dining Displeasures

2009-05-22T01:52:00.003+12:00

Does Karma have a moral consciences? Is it possible to build up the Karma bank with good deeds, knowing full well that a premeditated bad deed was on the horizon? Are there rules to Karma? We let me back up a few days and fill you in.

Whilst cruising and shopping in the fine city of Amsterdam I was getting hungry. I figured a cone of go fries would be the perfect snack for me. Perfect to stroll along with and watch the world go by would be great. So we looked and looked and looked but no chip shop, but we did see a Pannekoek house. Andy B-lined it for the front door and in we went. What we did not realize was that our meal would turn out to be our biggest rip off of this entire trip. Two pints of Heineken and two cheese and bacon pannekoeks cost us 30 farking Euros, that is approximately 45 CAD. I was pissed, fully taken advantage of by the local pancake jerk.

Fast Forward 30 hours and again we were hungry and looking for a feed. We did manage to find a Argentinian restaurant with a few specials on so in we went.

Dion: What are the specials we saw on the board on the way in?

Waiter: We have a 200g Sirloin on special, ribs and lasagna, the chicken and fish are done for the night.

Andi: I'll have the steak.

Dion: I'll have the ribs.

The food comes a few moments later and on we ate, the steak was nowhere near being cooked correctly. I asked Andi if she wanted to send it back but she shrugged it off not wanting to be an inconvenience. The bill arrived as we went to leave and the steak was listed as 16 Euro. I knew something was not right as I remember the specials board outside did not have anything that expensive on it. So I went out and checked and sure enough the steak was listed as 11 Euro.

Simple mistake I figured and took the bill up to the bar to sort it out. When we presented the issue to the man and he instantly put up a defensive stance as i how dare I question the tab. He kept on stating that we had ate a very good sirloin steak on special and it cost 16 Euro. I told him about the sign outside, the 200g steak for 11 Euro etc. This went on for a while until I took the man outside and pointed at the sign and said "Look 200g steak, 11 Euros you're ripping me off."

The man then pointed to a tiny sign way up in the back corner of the patio, out of the way which said 200g sirloin steak, 16 Euros and then stated the 11 Euro steak was a "Rump steak" not as good.

Well the major stand off started here, as we were obviously being screwed with and we weren't happy, especially with the pannekoek incident still fresh in our mind. We then started to argue back in the restaurant and he offered, very kindly as he put it, to lower our bill by one Euro to 30. We rightfully owed him 26 and then offered to pay 27 being the change we had in our pockets. It was a matter of principle at this point knowing full well that he was trying to snake us.

After 5 minutes of heated arguments Andi said thats it and left the restaurant. Well the fat man behind the counter lost his mind and ran out to try and block her. I have never seen a fat guy (think George Costanza from Seinfeld) move so quickly. Andi got out the door so the bastard then gets up in my face and starts to threaten me. He pushed his face with beatty eyes pulsing to the beat of his heart inches from my face. He was not going to let me leave until he got his 3 Euro. Then he shouts over to our waiter and tells him to call the cops. At this point I was so pissed, I threw the extra 3 Euro at him just so I wouldn't hit him and left. I was shaking for a couple of hours after the incident.

We had been ripped off and it wasn't fair, so I went back 2 nights later after they closed and threw 3 eggs at restaurant, symbolic of the 3 Euros he was ready to fight and call the cops for. I hope it takes him three days to get the yokes off of the front door. He deserved every bit of it. We left Europe the next morning.

Holland - the other part

2009-05-21T11:36:00.008+12:00

If there is one thing the rest of the world could learn from Holland it is public transport. They easy win the best public transport system award from me, which isn't an internationally recognized award yet, but I am working on it. From trains, trams and buses it was super easy to travel within a city and beyond.

One afternoon we decided to, at the advice of several others, get out of Amsterdam for a day and see some of the country side and the other cities and towns that are nearby. We got a day pass for the both of us for 40 Euro, which enables us to ride any train in Holland for the entire day. So we did, we took a day and explored The best thing about this exploration was the frequency of the trains at the stations. I don't think we waited for more than 5 minutes any time we wanted to move to the next town.

So first up was a small town with a huge cathedral and windmills called Harleem. We did a quick lap, took some photos had a coffee and got the hell out and headed to Den Hague. Nice town though.

Den Hague is the center of a lot of international focus, mostly because it is the location of the International Court. It is mostly a government town and it was pretty quite being a Saturday. We didn't stay long but we did get this photo which exhibits the amount of bikes there...

The next stop was Utrecht. This was a very neat town with canals. These canals are similar to the ones in Amsterdam but they have terraces down at water level which house restaurants. We stopped in for a couple of beers and watch all the boats and kayaks cruise by. It was really neat to be surrounded by the medieval cathedrals and Gothic buildings while sinking down a Heineken.

From Utrecht it was off to Rotterdam. Neat city but no photos to prove it. Mostly it is a brand new city, by comparison as the entire centre of town was leveled during the second world war. It is the architectural leader of Holland and was quite a pleasant surprise (modern buildings) when the only thing we had seen in the last three weeks was old old old.

We had dinner a few drinks and got back on the train to head home to Amsterdam. Great day out and we covered a heap of ground. Lots of fun!!!

Amsterdam

2009-05-20T01:41:00.006+12:00

Amsterdam is a beautiful city. After spending a night in the airport in Rome sleeping on benches made of steel and worn out padding it was nice to arrive in a place that seemed a little closer to home. Let me explain, Amsterdam is still Europe, but moving around via public transport is ten times easier when you can read the the maps and instructions and ask question sin english, which means that getting to the hotel is expedited and the bullshit is cut and I can nap in a real bed quicker.

And what a hotel we had. Really I am going to credit the fond memories I take from this city to the comfortable hotel. It was clean, super helpful staff and you got two fried eggs for breakfast. Really it blew most super eights out of the water. We liked it so much that we stayed for the entire week. That decision was also influenced by our desire not to lug our back packs around anymore, as they are heavy and quite full of god knows what. We enjoyed staying still after being on the move for so long. And as I stated above, Amsterdam is a beautiful city so it was an easy place to stick around.

Cruising European cities is fun. You never seem to be in a car, mostly on foot but in the case of this city you get bikes.

We got our bicycles for a few days and covered a heap of ground. We saw the sites, Vondelpark, the canals, the Van Gogh museum, pubs and coffee shops. It was just a nice and cruisey week to end our trip in Europe. Amsterdam was a shopping mecca, if you had all the cash in the world you could probably get rid of it there in a hurry. We didn't have much money so we just got tipsy at the pubs and watch people inclusive of the good and bad street performers.

We even saw one street performer, a fire dancer, that was so horrible it reminded me of GOB from Arrested Development, he did not get any of my spare Euros.

Once we had enough to drink we would take a walk through the Red Light District and get into some serious people watching. A sleazy, yet heavily controlled so you felt safe, area full of all walks of life. I have seen some different places in my 30 years but this zone of sin again is an eye opener. Our favorite place to have a beer was a pub called the Old Sailor right in the hub of it all.

I'll say it again Amsterdam is a beautiful city but eating out can get a bit out of control once and while...

Rome

2009-05-15T20:01:00.006+12:00

Rome is an old city. It is older than the combined age of the original cast of "Threes Company." It was around when Napoleon was a bratty teenager and long before
"Hammer pants." The city is so old in fact that even the dust on the china located at the back of your grandmothers cabinet thinks its old. Get the idea yet?

There are monuments here that were built 28 centuries ago that still stand today in much the same form as they did when they were constructed. One for example is the Pantheon. This building was put together by the Romans to house the deities of the time; Apollo or Venus for example. Today it stands as a Catholic church, much like the rest of Rome, but it still has the worlds largest dome made of stone. I've seen this dome and it is farking huge!

The Pantheon:

Other major tourist draws were things like the Trevi Fountain. A huge fountain as far as fountain sizes are concerned. It depicts somebody doing something and there is a boat load of tourists constantly checking out the roaring waters. We even witnessed a marriage proposal! The legend at Trevi states that if you throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder it will ensure a return trip to Rome and "when in Rome..."

Trevi Fountain:

We were joined by our good friend Stephanie for a couple of days and during that time we explored the cities more famous monuments like the Colosseum. This place was death. We took a tour of the old stadium and pretty much every story included the amount of people or animals that were killed during events. There have been stories of tens of thousands of people killed in a single day! It's bloody horrific if you think about it. Must have been a prosperous business as an undertaker in ancient Rome.

The Colosseum:

We also found out that the old stadium had running water and was covered in marble and was decorated from top to bottom, as was the Pantheon and other major monuments. The biggest question I had was were did all the precious stone go? The answer to that lies in our good friends at the Catholic Church. When Emperor Constantine finally embraced Christianity it open the flood gates on Rome. Over the next 16 centuries and to present day the church has run this town, even the mob stays away from them. Sometime during this rise to power they built the Vatican City.

This place is hands down the most opulent building on Earth. Every inch of this city state has some form of decoration, mostly in the form of marble. All of this precious stone was "acquired" from every other clad structure in Rome. I am not sure how I feel about the Catholic church but by no means did my did my impressions rise by seeing the likes of St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican museums. They are way over the top as far as expressing wealth and in my opinion it is far too much for " a church". Those views however can be hotly debated upon our return in a couple of weeks.

St. Peters Square:
St. Peters Basilica:

One of the highights of checking this area out was the Sistine Chapel. The Granddaddy of all holy places that nobody respects. The apparent rules are "no photos" and "be quite". Meanwhile back in reality about every minute a flash of a camera would filled the dimly lit room for a split second and the local security thugs would peer over the crowd looking for the culprit. Our very own Stephy Sanden was twice warned by the uniformed men about the use of her camera. I was hoping for her to get escorted out the Vatican back door, which everybody knows leads directly to Pope Benidicts chamber where the pontiff himself punches you in the gut and takes your milk money. That said Andy did manage to get a sweet shot of Michelangelo's "Creation." Click on the photo for enlarged catholic contraband goodness.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling:

Meanwhile back in the chapel about every 90 seconds the low whispers would slowly rise to dull talking at which point the paid "Shusher" would express his duty and Shushhh the crowd. We found this entertaining, so we made bets on when the next shhuss would be. We stayed for 5 shusses and then left.

Vatican Museum Opulence:

Salerno, Pompeii and some slippy rocks

2009-05-15T08:19:00.003+12:00

The Campania area of Italy is approximately 1 hour south of Naples on the west coast, nestled up against the Mediterranean Sea. We left Sicily and headed north to the town of Salerno for a few days as we waited to meet up with Stephanie in Rome on the 8^th of May. Salerno is a moderate sized town with an old center. We managed to find a place in the old part of town, a nice bed and breakfast. It turned out that the place was empty leaving us with the run of the house, we didn't even see the owner for 3 days after we check in.

Our time in Salerno was pretty low key. It took us a while getting used to all the shops closing for 4 hours in the afternoon and eating at 9:30 pm at night. So we strolled during the day and ate copious amounts of pasta and pizza and drank the cheap local wine. It sounds life a real sweet time but eating pasta for every meal can old quickly!

One afternoon we decided to get on the train and head north two stops to Europe's biggest archaeological site. Found at the base of Mt. Vesuvius we spent six hours at the ruins of the ancient town of Pompeii. The site itself is massive, it was completely buried in two days following the eruption of the volcano on August 24, 79 A.D. It was very interesting to see the amount of modern day conveniences that were available 2000 years ago (eg. hot and cold running water). It makes you think of how advance the Romans were and we can't even dig a C-train tunnel through downtown Calgary, however that is a side topic to be discussed later on.

Pompeii city:
Center of Town, Volcano in the background:

Frescoes painted in the homes:

It was very cool to walk amongst the homes, theaters, stadiums, markets, baths and even brothels. Everything in the town was perfectly preserved even the bodies of the former citizens. Completely encased in pumice stone many perished in the explosion. Casts were made during the excavations giving frightening detail to events of the fateful day.

Body casts:

Neat place to visit, we recommended it but get the audio tour.

FALL DOWN REPORT

During our epic exploration session of the ruins of Pompeii we came across a stadium used for Gladiator battles and a place of death for many, much like its big brother in Rome, the Colosseum. As we exited from the playing field we had to walk up a long tunnel. The floor of the tunnel was constructed using large (1m square) blocks of basalt. 2000 years of foot traffic had smoothed the rocks over, that coupled with a light wind, a small amount of dust set the stage for a loss of footing.

We were ahead of the victim in question at the time of the event, we did not see the actual slip but we heard it. The distinctive sound of a grip less flip flop sliding across dusty smooth rocks echoed through the tunnel followed by a unnatural “UGHH”. All of the tourists turned and focused on the British man in a very ugly blue polo shirt as he was down in the crab walk position facing the other direction from his initial stride with one hand pointing to the roof as if to say, yeah it was me that just slipped. The flip flop that acted as the catalyst to the slip was approximately 2 feet on his left in good order.

The Death of Taco

2009-05-05T10:13:00.002+12:00

FALL DOWN REPORT

After lifting my bag from the bed to chest height Taco took a tumble. The zips on the pack were not in the proper at rest and safe position which lead to a terrible tragedy. As I lifted the bag the flap folded down and out spilled Taco onto the 200 year old marble. Taco was no match for the metamorphisized rock. He split into three pieces and came to a rest. I looked down to see him staring at me, his ass and his left foot all at the same time, silence fell through the room.

We pondered whether to send his pieces to the far reaches of the earth to be buried in separate locations but decided that gluing him back together would be much cheaper. After much work and several attempts on the third day he rose again. Taco will live on to see the next monument he will just be a bit battered when he gets there.

It's ok though, chicks dig scars.

Sicily, Italy

2009-05-05T09:48:00.002+12:00

Sicily has been a treat. Attracted to the area by and old and dear friend, this small island in the Mediterranean Sea holds a lot of value. We arrived early morning on a Friday of along weekend, which was great as both Khaison and Luisa had time to show us around. Our days were filled scoping out cliff top towns, sea side villas, old ruins, geological wonders and the inside walls of many Sicilian cafe's.

I don't think I have ever eaten this much in my life, every bit of weight that was shed in the South Pacific sea is now firmly planted back on my gut. The meals here have been marathons but delicious nonetheless. Even I can understand that the food here is quite exceptional and the wine is cheap as hell as well.

I would like to formally tip my hat to Khaison and his wonderful wife Luisa for being outstanding hosts, without them living here on Sicily I don't think we would have made it here and that would have been a real shame. The small town of Piazza Armerina is a proper small Italian town, small roads, big cathedrals and lots of old people talking with their hands.

Greek ruins to active volcanoes, cold seas to hot pizza Sicily is a unique place rich with culture and it is not to missed if you are ever in the area.

Roman Shame

2009-05-04T21:51:00.002+12:00

FALL DOWN REPORT

Located in the northwest corner of Piazza de Spagna at the street junction of Via del Babuino and Via della Croce an incident occurred. It was approximately 6:45 in the evening when a tourist was crossing the small road while avoiding the conglomerate of cars, skooters and mini garbage vacuum trucks. Equipped with 2 friends this middle aged female was walking the proverbial runway of Italian high fashion. Her leather jacket was aged red, her hair was big, her pants were skinny denim and her shoes were high in the heal.

As she step up the curb and entered the Piazza (large square) she stepped with confidence until the left spiked heel of silver shoes caught the raised edge of an ancient cobbled stone. Her momentum sent her into a circus act of disaster aversion. Instantly her face went towards the ground like she was headed into a yoga position reminsant of downward dog. Her right arm went forward to stop her body from hitting the ground but never did touch it, her left arm swung high to the air. This was the pinnacle of her situation , she actually did not fall due to the counterweight provided by the Dolce and Gabbana shopping bag firmly gripped in her left hand. If you could imagine her in mid-recovery with her arm stretched out vertical as if to deliver a perfect strike on the bowling lane and her face mere inches from the ground. When the arm swung back down her body straightened back up at the hip, she looked to her friends and her face turned the same colour as her aged Italian leather coat, bright red. Even though she did not fall, she may have well as because she looked just as stupid.

Intro to Europe

2009-05-02T18:43:00.003+12:00

Our arrival in Rome will be a memorable one. After a 12.5 hr flight from Hong Kong we boarded the shuttle bus to the Sheraton Hotel and lined up to check in for our 4 star evening.
Lets reverse here a bit and I can tell you how we ended up in this place.

Three nights ago we enjoying an evening at a friend of our friends in Hong Kong. The topic was Rome and places to stay. A few beers and few minutes online and we had found ourselves lined up for a classy evening at the Sheraton Hotel here in Rome for a very good price (better than a hostel rate). All the T's were crossed and the I's dotted and on we went.

Fast forward to the other morning, we have arrived and we knew that checking in was going to be a bit of a hassle as we were quite early (in fact 7 hours early). So obviously our room was not ready but we were sent upstairs to the sixth floor to enjoy the benefits of the Starwood Room, compliments of the friend in HK that helped book the room on some of his points, which was fine by us.

Once upstairs we were met with another desk as part of a last formality before entry. This girl then dug deeper into our reservation at which point she found out that it was booked under the actual owner of the Starwood points card holder (the friend in HK). They asked who he was and Andi blurted out hastily, my father. All good, Andi was sorted, I on the other hand was not allowed access to the room as I was not included on the booking. Then she mentioned that we were a month early for our room.

I am sorry, “A month?” I questioned. Yes, sir, your booking is for May 28th, 2009, not April 28th. I guess in our online binge searching we inadvertently choose the wrong month. The hotel on the other hand was completely booked with a conference. So long story short, we buggered up the date online, which equates to no 4 star night in Rome and we are back on the backpacker trail tired and hungry.

HAHAHA – sometimes being an idiot can only make me laugh.

Well we thought we were in the clear as we disembarked from the hotel in search for the metro station “150m” away. I am not going to sugarcoat this, we got turned around and got lost. Going completely the wrong direction the hunger started to compound and the situation turned from funny to this seriously sucks. After about 20 minutes of walking with all of our gear getting heavier and heavier with every step we finally got onto the trail that leads to the metro. All was good for about 2 minutes, then it rained. It was the kind of rain that makes you curse the existence of all that is good and evil. We had almost made it to the station when the sky opened but we ended up soaked, no sympathy for the devil.

Once we got shelter at the train station all started to go our way, until we realized that we had no money for a train ticket. I guess during our gross over assumptions of Italy we figured we could find a bank machine near a train station...nope, wrong again. The nearest one was 200m away at the top of the hill, which would mean fighting the monsoon outside.

By this time Andi was shooting death darts with her eyes at me, which meant: “Dion you better sort this out in a hurry or I will stab you with something.” So I did what anybody would do, I reached into my wallet and pulled out the 4 American dollars I was still carrying from San Francisco and talked to every person I could until somebody would trade me for 2 Euros. I was that guy in the train station, but finally somebody took pity on us and helped us out. This was the turning point. From here we got to town, got a room and climbed into bed. I have never been so stoked for a nap, what was even better was that this nap turned into 5 hours of solid sleep, very welcome after a over night flight. Rome gave us a couple of swift jabs to the face to start, but we managed to duck and weave.

A Weekend In HK

2009-05-01T04:58:00.007+12:00

I tried my best to prepare Andi for Hong Kong (HK). HK is Asia and Asia is an entirely different world. No words can describe the vibrancy, the smells, the sights or the population of HK. I told Andi to expect busy, but when we made it to the streets even "busy" looked around thought "Holy Shit!"

We arrived early on Saturday morning and were promptly picked up by a friend and taken back to his place in the suburbs. We then slept for the morning and come mid-afternoon we headed into the city to see what it was all about. We jumped onto the Metro Line (MTR) which took us deep under ground into the heart of Kowloon. I will never forget the look on Andi's face as she ascended the staircase and first set eyes upon the streets of HK. The looked was a cross between "WTF" and "What The Shit." It was a electronics street market and people were hawking everything imaginable from cell phones to power tools. Needless to say that once the initial shock value wore off Andi and I were deep into the bargain hunting. This hunting continued for three consecutive days.

Short breaks were taken to check out the Big Budda, watch some playoff hockey (insert choking sound here (FLAMES I AM LOOKING AT YOU)) and wander the streets of this very cool city.

We had a blast while we were here and the main reason for this was our great hosts. Jeff and Eniko big props to you guys, thank you very much! We also enjoyed how cheap things were; the shopping was fantastic. I got lots of little do-dads for my computer, a gong and some other electronic stuffs. That said on street corners alone I could have purchase but limited too:

turtles,

birds,

clothing,

paintings,

fish,

vegetables,

handbags,

powertools,

cell phones and assceories,

goldfish,

cats and dogs,

make up,

suits,

eels,

shrimp,

and lighters.

A lot of it was general crap but it was just fun to cruise around and see things available on the street compared to in a expensive shop. That said it was tough to get around the crowds of people. It was like Christmas eve at chinook center at 5:30 PM but busier and more crowded. I am happy to say that I never once did get crowd rage, which could be very easy here.

The last few photos are what happens when you drink to much and have time on you hands waiting for trains to show up. Good Times :).

Here is an animation of the kick ass times.

Sydney, Aus

2009-05-01T01:39:00.002+12:00

I have been to a few cities in my time but when it comes down to the brass tax, Sydney takes the cake. It is my favorite city. It has everything I look for while exploring the outer regions; surf, shopping, night life and the laid back aussie life style.

While we stayed there we were put up by my former roommate from Calgary; Sarah Hill and her Mister, Marc Silver. These guys were great to us, a place to crash, internet galore and a few minute walk to the beach make for a pretty cruisey holiday.

While in town I managed to re-connect with more than a few old friends from my first stint in the city six years ago. It was great to meet up for beers or a surf and shoot the shit about old times and introduce them to my lovely girl Andi. For me I just felt comfortable there, which is tough sometimes when you live out of a backpack.

I can't say we did anything super zany or out of the ordinary, we window shopped and hung out at the beach mostly. I managed to get a few last surfs in before we headed off on Phase III of our trip, Hong Kong and Europe. I left my surfboard behind with Sarah with intentions of shipping it back later, traveling with a 6' ½” ironing board in Italy would be a serious pain in the ass so it was culled from the luggage.

Before we boarded our flight, we ate at Bondi Junction which over looks the city. We watched as the sun sunk below the horizon both knowing that this would be the last time we gaze upon a day in Australia for a long time. We were both sad to leave, we like it there very much.

However, Hong Kong awaits in the misty tropics, so we boarded our flight to get a taste of Asia.

Byron Bay

2009-04-26T14:25:00.004+12:00

Byron Bay is probably one of the best places on earth. When I was here six years ago I stayed for five months in total, I would have done it again if I had the chance. Being back here just made me realize how sweet of a place it is. The surf was firing, there has been relatively small amounts of change and the pie shop was still serving up the best raspberry pies on the planet.

Our days were spent on the beach, the nights were spent cooking meals on the outdoor BBQ's and having a beer. A few nights saw us head to the pubs to meet the locals, old friends and stare at the on-going surf films that grace the big screens.

The surf was incredible for the entire duration of the time in Byron, five days in total. Off shore winds and head high surf make for a happy little hobbit. After a few years away from town and it was sweet to come back and see some of the best waves ever come through at my surf destination of choice (the wreck). I pretty much had a grin on my face for a week straight.

One fine afternoon we hopped into ole' Remy and headed north to the water slides. I knew that we would have to go once Andi saw them from the car on the way down to Byron. After she saw them it was like a kid stuck on repeat... “Can we go to Wet and Wild today?” “Can we go to Wet and Wild today?” “Can we go to Wet and Wild today?”. I can assure you that it was a super kick ass day, it was both wet and wild.

Now that we have left town and moved on it easy to look back at this place and understand that Byron is just one of those places that feels right, good vibes, everybody loves it and so do we.

An Ode To My Reefs

2009-04-22T15:38:00.002+12:00

Such a good set of flippers;
You were as comfy as slippers;

So sad our time has ended;
These things just can't be mended;

From the Elbow River to the Aussie outback;
Ohh so many times you were packed!

Carted around the world, 5 countries in fact;
My first set of Reefs, and I'll never look back.

A Forrest

Housekeeping

2009-04-22T14:17:00.003+12:00

Sorry for the delay in updates, I have excuses but you don't want to hear them.

First up please note that the video clips have been updated for the following entries.

Please take a minute to view the clips if you choose, best done when nothing else needs to be done immediately, I am looking at you office workers.

Next item of business,

Meet TACO the Tui Gnome!

After one week of voting and 8 actual votes, Taco was the winner. As mentioned before, Taco will travel with us for the duration of the trip and can be spotted in the slide show on the right hand side of the page. This slide show is updated every so often, so poke through it once in while to get the dirt on where Taco has been hanging out. This slide show is the same one...for now. Thank you for voting.

Here is another FIND TACO!!

Heavy Situation

2009-04-20T23:45:00.002+12:00

The other day were were traveling south along the Pacific highway in a rain storm. I have been in some nasty weather in the past but this was epic rain, think the hardest thunderstorm for hours on end. For a few hours the rain came down in a fashion that would make Noah say holy shit. Our travel van Remy leaked liked the Titanic post iceberg confrontation, everything was soaked and we were quite unimpressed with the entire situation. The rain got especially bad for a few moments which led to poor visibility on the highway. Andi was driving and I was starting to nod off just when we noticed the truck in front of the car in front of us slide to a stop and started steaming. It took me a minute to register what had just happened but I told Andi to get over to the side of the road as quickly as she could and I jumped out into the pouring rain. It was a head on collision on the highway and I was the first responder to one of the vehicles.

I have never been in a situation like this in the past and it was a heavy one, I did not know what to expect as I approached the smashed in Toyota Hilux. The rain streaming down my face I came too the window to see a 30 something guy obviously shaken but conscious. It was first reaction to make sure he was awake and see if he had any obvious serious injuries. As soon as I noted he was awake, albeit not completely with it, I shouted over to the man handling the other car and told him that my guy was alive and awake and I ran to the nearest car to get them to call the emergency line (which is 000 if you are every in Australia and in a similar situation). Just as I was returning to the car a man came running up and declared himself as an off duty paramedic (Ambo) and he took control of the entire situation.

I was shaking until I knew that somebody else was calling the shots, I can't say I knew exactly what to do but all I could think about was keeping my guy awake and to make sure an ambulance had been called.

The other car had a middle aged man and a young boy who looked white as a ghost, but nothing real serious. I overheard conversations of abdominal injuries on the young boy but cannot confirm anything. My guy had a broken leg I think.

In the end the ambulances showed up as well as the cops who then took control of the site but until that time it was up to us the people who responded to the situation to make sure we could do what we can to help these people. It was a scary ordeal as I walked up to the truck not knowing what I was going to see. I am glad that everybody survived but I can say that I don't want to have to do that again.

1770

2009-04-20T23:25:00.005+12:00

The town of 1770 was not much at first sight, so I bought a pair of board shorts and we moved on. Unfortunately 1.5 hrs down the road I realized that I forgot my credit card at the surf shop and we faced a decision of: stay in Bundaberg and go in the morning or turn around and go now. After a stern look from Andi were we back on the road to the town we decided to leave behind.

We got in late and headed down to the beach parking lot. There were greeted with free public BBQ's and a few other backpackers chillin' out and living in their vans, we figured it was a great idea and joined in. So there we stayed at the beach for the night. The next day we awoke to surf, sun and I was reunited with my Visa. It is a common statement, never leave good surf so we didn't and we stayed for 5 days over the Easter weekend. The days were filled with surfing, the nights we went to the pub and watched the live bands. Living in a van down by the sea.... It is a good way to spend a vacation.

One afternoon we came across a biker tour and decided, why the hell not. We paid, jumped on and toured town on our sweet hogs. 60 kids, 50cc's, ape hanger handle bars and a horn that sounds cuter than a bucket full of baby ducks. We were a mean looking backpacking gang of losers, on kick ass looking bikes. It was a scene straight out of “Easy Rider” but we're actually not as cool, we just felt like we were. A three hour cruise left us wanting more, but it was dark out and I had no head light so we headed back to the office and dropped off the bikes.

When we got back to our temporary home to cook dinner a hoard of local teens showed up that were fueled on the booze. This situation was not rare but what added to the uniqueness of the moment was a thin piece of high tensile rope that was set up like a tight rope by one of our new backpacking friends. All of these special ingredients led to a:

Fall Down Report

It was about 2 hours after sunset and the local kids were into it. They seemed intrigued by the tight rope (slack line) and flocked to it like insects to a bright light. At first it was a challenge to try and walk the line, which hovered three feet above ground, without falling but since most of them had the balance of a three legged giraffe this feat was quite impossible. Next the kids tried to one up each other by walking the furthest along the rope, but once a record was set the record holder would then ensure he kept his status by tugging violently on the rope whenever a rival was closing in on the new title. Then out of nowhere drunken teenager “K” came galloping from the shadows at hurried pace, 2 feet from the rope he planted and did a hop with both feet in the air with intentions of landing on the slack line and winning approval amongst the hoard of teens. Unfortunately for the teen, but super beneficial for all spectators, the alcoholic impairments the teen was dealing with completely threw off is timing. The result was a two footed trip at the ankles and a rather embarrassing, not to mention sudden, face plant into the Australian version of Kentucky Bluegrass. You could tell from the distance that more than just his ego was bruised.

Not ten minutes later teenager “K” had recovered from his embarrassing endeavors and reappeared to redeem his status within the pack.

FALL DOWN REPORT

This time he volunteered to be the cargo in a slingshot-esk launching from the slack line. So he did what any volunteer would do in this situation and nestled into the rope discreetly under his buttocks. As nine of his friends grabbed a hold of the rope and backed up, he too slowly marched in reverse until the rope had reached the threshold of it's potential energy and the stage was set. In unison the teens counted in reverse, disregarding the standard three count they started at five. Four echoed through the night, three passed by, at two the attention of all in attendance was had and at one it was as if the planets aligned and a new form of physics fell upon this boys world because at release everything went wrong.

The slack line traveled down the boys legs instead of launching him as intended. The pace of the line as it traveled down the length of the boys legs was unmatched by his balance, the result, a clean sweep. He was taken out at the ankles once again, this time he went over backwards delivering the punishment to the backside of his head, the part missed on round one. The crowd roared as laid star fished on the ground. For many it was a great moment, for one it was the worst moment.

Whitsundy Islands

2009-04-20T23:17:00.002+12:00

This entry is about The Whitsunday Islands. They are an old mountain range that has since been inundated by the sea, the result...a group of islands surrounded by the warm Coral Sea. This place is quite popular for sailors, yachties and backpackers. There was a myriad of options available for seeing the islands, the most popular was a three day sailing trip but we decided that since Andrea will get sea sick in a bathtub we went for the quick and dirty speed boat option.

What we didn't realize was that this company was run by a group of Kiwi's which means that the trip won't just be a quick zip to the islands and back. Minutes into the boat ride the skipper decided it would be a great idea to spin a few donuts and zig zag his way across the bay at speeds Micheal Shumacher would be jealous about. It was a bit eye opening as I thought that this is what the rest of the day was going to entail. Luckily enough the high performance boating quickly ended before my Cheerios became fish food.

The day started with two hours of snorkeling at two different locations, still on The Great Barrier Reef, still just as amazing. From here were off to the one of the best ten beaches in the world. I do not know where this stat comes from but I did not feel like asking the skipper for the back up information for fear of another 20 minute round of sea donuts. Whitehaven Beach was the name, stunning was the adjective. Bright white 99% silica sand makes for a great place to get a sunburn. We were quite entertained by the small reef sharks and sting rays in the water and the squeaking sand below our feet, definitely a cool place to spend the afternoon.

The day was closing out so it was back on the boat for the trip home with the skipper at the helm. The ride home we rendezvoused with the sister ship in the Ocean Rafting fleet for some more high spend hijinks. This time the skipper managed to do a wake slide with the entire boat. Let me explain, we traveled behind the other boat and came in at a rapid pace towards their wake. We rode up the wake and at the apex the skipper turned the boat as quick as he could, pulling the engine out of the water and putting the boat into a full sideways slide on the wake. It was a high performance maneuver best left for wake boarders in my opinion but I wasn't driving. After about six of these, we got nauseous. The ride home was not a pleasant one but whatever it makes for a good story in the end.

Check out the slide show...

Crocodiles!!!

2009-04-05T15:08:00.004+12:00

This entry is about Crocodiles, the big bastards. These things grow up to 8.5 meters in length and become lethal to humans after 1.5m. We saw a couple today that were 4.5 – 5.0m and they looked bloody huge, I can't imagine what a 8.5 grand-daddy would look like. Very scary animal.

Now how did we get to see the crocodiles? Well that is a somewhat boring story that goes like this. We hired a rental van from Cairns, his name is Remy and he will be our wheels, home and magnet for any young female Danish backpackers that need a lift down the coast. It is our intention to drive to Sydney over the next 19 days (a good 2500 km south), so we got in the van for Day 1 of our adventure and headed north for some stupid reason. On the way north we passed by a sign stating crocodile farm 400m on the left. It was a quick vote in the van, 1 vote no (Andi) vs. 2 votes yes (Dion and Gnameless Gnome). We pulled in and went to see the saltwater beasts.

I said it before, they are big bastards, and we lucked out because it was feeding day!!!! On the menu, fish, not that it would matter, these things would probably eat a shopping cart if it was dangling in front of them. These are our video clips and shots of the impressive leftovers of the Jurassic Era. We were only a couple of feet away from them and after seeing the power they have I think my only defense if one got a hold of me would be to crap myself out of spite insuring that his afternoon snack would be ruined.

Later on we went swimming in the Mossman Gorge. We talked to several locals to ensure that we weren't getting into crocodile territory (it's called being croc-wise). I got sunburned again, I obviously haven't been following Baz Lurmans instructions.

The Great Barrier Reef

2009-04-04T17:28:00.010+13:00

Obviously the last entry was completely lies and thank goodness for that as the Great Barrrier Reef topped my list of things to see while in Australia. It is the most extensive structure ever built by living creatures and the only life form on earth visible from the moon. Consisting of 2500 separate reefs it stretches over 2000 kms and supports the greatest concentration of life on this planet. On Wednesday we managed to visit two of those reefs. After a 2 hour cruise out to sea we arrived at our first destination, Mikelson Cay, a sand island in the middle of the sea (see 1st photo). We promptly jumped off the boat and headed ashore for some snorkelling. Dion and I were immediately separated as we set out and I decided to snorkel my way back to the boat.

It is difficult to put into words the beauty of the coral reef. Brilliant coloured fished that swim amongst a garden of all sorts of coral. Schools of fish would pass me by as I happily floated amongst them. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a big sea turtle and almost choked on my snorkel. It swam right on by me barely taking notice. I was awe struck by the grace and ease which it moved through the water. I didn't stand a chance of keeping up to it.

Once I got back to the boat I had the option of doing a scuba dive, which I opted to try. I was really nervous about being in the water and almost fell over with the weight of the equipment, but jumped in. The guide was really good and I was swimming with the fish in minutes. He brought us down to the bottom and we got to stick our hands in a giant sea clam that was about 1 meter wide (aprox 60 years old!). He encouraged us to touch a few of the corals, a star fish and a sea cucumber. It all went by too quick and we were back in the boat to head to our second reef of the day. Dion and I managed to stick together and floated around among even more fish than the first spot. Here is a quick video of the Giant Trevelli being fed.

Unfortunately our day on the reef with perfect windless conditions quickly came to a close and we headed back into Cairns for the evening. This was an experience I will not soon forget and a place I am keen to explore further. If anyone is even considering a visit to Australia this is a Must See!

After my turtle encounter I was feeling lucky and we headed to the local casino to try our luck. Keno was our game of choice but we didn't fare well and left much lighter in the pocket. I think we will be paying for retirement until we are 60!

2009-04-01T21:15:00.000+13:00

How is this for dumb luck, we only have one day to check out the Great Barrier Reef and we get hit with this.

I pulled this excerpt from the Cairns Telegraph, you can't make this shit up:

“An unkempt backpacker from the Netherlands by the name of Henrik Von Hughmor caused a major upset to the delicate eco-system of the Great Barrier Reef yesterday. Allegedly the wax used to dread lock the hair of the 24 year old man reacted with the metallic paint of a “Hot Wheels” toy car (embedded in the dreadlocks) and the salt water creating an “oil cloud” within the water. The resulting cloud has caused 97% of the marine life to retreat to deeper water to escape the “cloud.” Eye witnesses stated seeing the blue '57 Bel-Air toy car bursting at the back of the mans head and the resulting “cloud” dissipating at a rapid pace.

“It was crazy” stated Cory Bull from the United States,” I remember looking over and seeing this cloud emanating from that hippies head, then I got spooked as it got close to me, I barely made it out of the water...but I do remember that a lot of the fish took off.”

Lead marine biologist Andrew Fullovit from the Australian Department of Marine Conservation has released this statement “ The Great Barrier Reef will be closed until further notice due to the mystery “oil cloud” released yesterday at 1:30 PM local time. The hydrophobic nature of the oils present in the cloud are spreading at an extreme pace and are affecting approximately 1 sq km every half an hour. Mr. Von Hughmor is being held by Queensland Police for questioning and charges are pending upon full investigation of the incident from the Federal Department of Fisheries and Marine Conservation”

The estimated hit to the local tourism operations stands to be upwards of 500,000AUD per day during the closure. At press time it was not known when the reef was scheduled to re-open.

Mr. Hughmor was seen being taken into custody yesterday at 3:00 PM with the remnants of the toy car tangled within his dreadlocks. A yellow “Telly Tubby”, a “Mercedes Benz' hood ornament, beads, leaves and a full set of plastic utensils (fork, spoon and knife) were also infused into the mans hair.

The full version of the story is here, it also has picture goodness.

Arrival in Sydney

2009-04-01T01:50:00.004+13:00

We timed our arrival in Sydney well. The sun was rising, the swell was rising and so was our excitement. We were met at the airport by my former roommate Sarah Hill and her lover Marc. From here it was directly to the beach to check the surf and have a bite to eat, over night flights can really put a hamper on the ole eating schedule.

The day was a sweet one, a surf at Manly beach, good friends and getting reacquainted with my favorite city on earth. It's good to be back here albeit only for a day or two. Tomorrow we fly off to Cairns to pick up our camper van which will house us the next 3 weeks as we tear up the East coast of Aussie. This is a fun place, and we are looking to explore some of this lands icons, 40 hours from now we will be swimming on the Great Barrier Reef.

On a side note, we will not be getting haircuts due to the outcome of the recent poll. 4 votes NO, 3 votes yes. If you think we looked like hippies now, just wait longer.

Please take the time to vote in the current poll regarding the Tui Gnome. He needs a name and these are your options. Stay tuned for photos...

An Ode to PY

2009-03-29T23:02:00.002+13:00

This is PY. He was a great motorized work donkey for us. Today we sadly give the keys over to Bob, Andis uncle who will nurture his kind spirit for the coming years. He saw us through rain, sun snow, hills and camping. He helped us navigated past 280 flattened Opossums and we put on approximately 10000 KM, over half of which was done in the last month. Thank you PY, you've done well for us. Did I mention it was a 4x4?

To PY, he's Red and he's awesome!!!!

Top 5's Good and Bad

2009-03-28T20:48:00.005+13:00

Five months it has been since we fled Tonga and touched down in New Zealand. Five months of exploration, work, head scratching and discovery. There have been great days and horrible days but everyone of the have taught us about ourselves, each other and a small place called New Zealand. First impressions of this country unfold and you find yourself thinking “you know, it's not that different from home.” Dig a little deeper, spend a bit of time and ask a few questions and you will discover that just under that surface is a quirky nation where the picture just doesn't “hang straight.”

Today as we head out of the country and cross the ditch to Australia we would like to leave you with our Top 5's.

Number 5 Dislike: Getting A Job.

We found getting a job in NZ as being very tough. We tried very hard to find work, any work and yet we got shut down for the dumbest of reasons. Personally when there is a sign in your window for a sales associate at a cafe and I come in requesting the position it should not be a two week waiting period to work out the details. In my humble opinion that two week waiting period could be condensed into a conversation. I have never in my life encountered a place that will make you fill out a 7 page application form in order to work at the equivalent to a Home Depot. I've never had to hand over a C.V. (resume) to get a job as a laborer. It was ridiculous to no end, and that is why it ranks in at #5.

Number 5 Like: The People

The attitudes and values of the NZ nation are very similar to those of Canadians. Even though life is very different here in many ways the personalities of those you meet will always be genuine. I've been enough places to know when your getting ripped off or unwelcome, here is not the case. People want to know about you, your trip and your thoughts about their homeland. It was very easy to blow 20 minutes at a shop chatting with the owner about anything. Canadians and Kiwis get on very well.

Sub-like (#5a): The question.

It was great to hear the Kiwis dance around the question of “Where are you from?”. They knew outright that we were from N. America but there is no way they were going to offend you by calling us Americans. It made me laugh every time I heard somebody tip toe around the question. I just told them, it's ok to call us Americans, we'll just correct you when you do.

Number 4 Dislike: No Central Heating.

This nation does not know the meaning of insulation, let alone central heating. Either your house has a fire place, a coal stove or you put on a jumper (sweater). We were only here in the spring/summer/early autumn and I can assure you it gets cold enough to warrant heating your house. In winter it will snow and it will stay on the ground, especially in the South Island, yet the answer to a being warm is put on a jumper or grab and extra blanket. Some nights there are so many blankets on the bed I can barely breath due to the weight on top of me, and it's not even winter!!!

Number 4 Like: Moko the Dolphin.

I have already spoke to this in a previous post. You can read it here to refresh your memory. Just an outright great experience.

Number 3 Dislike: No Campfires.

I have a serious issue with this one, it always rains in NZ. For a country that receives up to 7m of rainfall in a year (that equates to an inch a day) you cannot have a campfire in most campgrounds. The campfires we did have were breaking the rules, but we had to eat some nights and that was our only source for cooking. I didn't feel bad when it took us 1.5hrs to get the fire going because the wood was bloody soaked! No campfires is a sucky rule!

Number 3 Like: “She'll Be Right” Mentality.

Rules are just a guideline here, which is why we made most of our campfires. The attitude of “She'll be right” extends down to every last bit of life here. Because the law states that you cannot sue, you CAN do all the extreme sports, you can drive a mini-chopper on the streets and you don't have to wear safety glasses at work. This is a foreign concept to us from Canada. Our laws state that somebody has to be liable for an accident, here you bugger yourself up being an idiot, thats you fault. It is like being in the 1950's were you just don't need to worry about things as much, besides ”She'll be right”.

Number 2 Dislike: The Roads.

The highways here are very un-Canadian. They are narrow, windy and most of all windy. Nobody ever tells you how long it will take to get somewhere, that question will always be answered in km. A 50 km drive can take anywhere from 25 minutes to 75 minutes. People tailgate like its going out of style and drunk driving is a very big issue . There are one lane bridges (that sometime share the right of way with train tracks) where you need to yield to oncoming traffic. Some places you need to ford rivers and the worst thing of all is the twisty nature. Simply put, we get car sick. We can only drive short distances because the roads are back and forth and back again. It gets old in a hurry, me = unimpressed.

Number 2 Like: Barefeet

You don't need to wear shoes, ever. I have hiked, shopped, drove, dined, gone to movies, gone to the pub, worked and banked barefoot. It rules.

Number 1 Dislike: Sandflies.

These little bastards are the spawn of Lucifer himself. They land on you and bite you and you will only realize this until the very last second. By this time it is too late, you will spend the next three days with a welt that itches worse than chickenpox. I hate them with a passion. Click for a view, kinda gross.

Number 1 Like: Mullets!

The hairstyle that rose and died amoungst the populace in the 80's never really died went away here. It is very acceptable to wear the mullet and I have never seen it so embraced. We took these guerrilla style shots for your and our enjoyment.

That's our view of this green island nation, next stop....AUSTRALIA, where there is hopefully some surf!!!

And then there were three...

2009-03-27T20:49:00.006+13:00

I bought a gnome. He will now be travelling with us for the duration of the trip, unless he meets some unfortunate fate, like theft or breakage etc. The gnome is from the Tui beer company, if figured it was a decent deal, I'll explain. When we went to the Tui brewery back on Day one of our south island road trip the gnomes were 40 bucks. Andi said no. Two days ago I could buy a 12 pack of beer and get a gnome, so I did. Here we are, travelling our last few days in NZ with a naked gnome.

Now I will turn to you the five faithful readers of 2 beachtowels, we need help... and you get to play (insert trumpets) NAME THAT GNOME!! Here is all the info you need to get you started... he is 8 inches tall, naked and produced by the TUI beer company. Go to it kids, just leave your suggestions in the comment box below. I look forward to your help.

Furthermore, beacuse I was bored silly last night I have hidden the gnome in the photos below. If you looking to waste a few minutes here is your chance. Double click the photos below to see and enlarged version to search for the Tui gnome.

This is the toughest one...

On a different note we are in the Coromandel Pennisula now, central east coast of the north island. The roads are curvey and we are getting sick of driving, but we did see 13 more flattened Opossums today. Anyway we went to Hot Water Beach today. In the crazy geothermal wonderland that is NZ, you can dig a hole on this beach at low tide and toast your buns in the natural hot springs. I don't know who discovers this shit, but it is very cool free activity!! Check us out:

Note, some people still think that wearing berry smugglers are fashionably ok...

Day 22 - Taranaki

2009-03-23T10:49:00.003+13:00

Here we are on the surf cost highway, the furthest westerly point on the North Island and it is flat as flat can be. There are more breaks here than some Hawaiian Islands and there isn't a bloody wave to be found! My timing in this country has been impeccable for missing every bit of surf. I have not been in the water for 6 weeks. Needless to say I am looking forward to scoring some waves in the near future, if not here then in Aussie where at least the water is warm.

The area of Taranaki is western north island, it is well known for Mt. Egmont, the massive volcano that looks like a perfect cone. Looks pretty sweet now but some day it will blow and smash the smithereans out of NZ. My advice don't be anywhere near this thing when it goes, if you are then you best be kissing your crispy ass good-bye, think Pompeii. Nonetheless it looks pretty cool, eh?

Next topic of discussion... why have the comments died away? We do our best to keep you guys updated with whats going on here almost daily, yet we have no clue of what is happening at home. Babies being born, parties and snowstorms we get maybe a glint of that on facebook but we are feeling kinda left out. Are ya feeling something here on the page?

Let us know.

You read the page?

Let us know.

Got a suggestion?

Let us know!

We've been feeling a bit isolated from home lately so help us out say hi. I don't know, maybe you don't like us because we have long hair...

Enjoy your snow Calgary.

Days 18-20 Northeast Coast, South Island

2009-03-22T19:51:00.004+13:00

The final leg of the south island, the high speed run from Dunedin to Picton, the east coast, generally flat, good Canadian style highways and not much to see in comparison to the sister coast 400km to the west. Our drive took us first to the Moreki Boulders. They are old rocks, they are spherical in shape and everybody goes to see them, we did too and this is our proof.

The city of Christchurch is nice, there were lots of gardens and it was sunny. Hard not to like a place when it is generally pleasant. That is the extent of our report on the city, we camped and it was pleasant. Andi bought a sheep skin to keep her warm for when we stay in the tent and during the day she puts it on the car seat. I am letting her drive more now so I can sit on the sheep in the passenger seat.

We left Christchurch after 2 nights and hit the road for Kaikora. Whales, seals and sea lions is what puts Kaikora on the tourist map. This is your town for seeing the large mammals of the water. We figured we could see the whales in Canada, we already swam with Moko the dolphin and the seals and sea lions were free, take a guess where we went. The seals and sea lions were tired and boring so we scoured the shoreline for shells instead. A couple of finds to smuggle home and we went back to town to hang out. Nothing much going on other than a shitty cover band bastardizing most of Bob Marleys and Led Zepplins catalog. We went to the hostel, watched Almost Famous and went to bed. Kaikora does have some very sweet murals on the side of their buildings, here are a few.

Today was a long day, up and on the road to Picton to catch the 2:25 ferry back to the North Island. A “moderate crossing” saw us listing in our seats for 3 hours. It wasn't to bad for me, I watched “Slumdog Millionaire” and Andi hung out on deck... mostly in the horizontal position.

That's it for the South Island, 20 days of discovery and we definitely feel richer for having done it. For those of you sitting at your desk reading this looking for a place to vacation next year, take this recommendation, South Island New Zealand. An island with more nature than a David Suzuki documentary, more sheep than people and enough beaches to keep you exploring till the revival of the American economy will keep you engaged at every turn of the head. This place is truly stunning but it must be experienced first hand, ask anyone who has been here and I promise you a similar response.

I will leave you with this, I like the South Island of NZ.

Days 15-17 - Southcoast

2009-03-17T18:23:00.003+13:00

After leaving Milford Sound we headed south, way south to the bottom in fact. Bluff, the very bottom of NZ, the end of the road. You cannot go any further south in this country unless you get on a ferry and head to Stewart Island, the forgotten third island of New Zealand. This post does not take into account that there is yet another island to explore so I will now state that Andi and Dion have been to the very top and very bottom of New Zealand, excluding Stewart Island. Here is our picture at the signpost in Bluff.

We spent a night in Invercargill prior to our adventure to Bluff. It cold and the people seemed weird, isolated weird. I cannot put my finger on it but it was just a strange feeling that life different here.

One real benefit was our encounter with the Russian sausage maker at the local market. This man hooked us up with 5 campfire ready garlic smokies. I can honestly say that it was the best Russian influenced New Zealand garlic sausage I have had on the south island. Perhaps they tasted so good because it took us so bloody long to start a campfire that night. All of the wood was soaking wet after the week of harsh downpours that we have been talking about. But man prevails (mostly woman prevailed) and we (she) made fire and we ate like kings (savages).

After a good rest we awoke to the splendor of the Caitlins, a seldom traveled region in the southeast of the south island. Off to the beach we went to explore, there we were greeted with sea lions and a baby fur seal. Super cool to once again be that close to big marine mammals without some loser conservation officer telling us it is not a good idea to “get that close”. We're tourist dammit and this is NZ, where suggestions about how to interact with wildlife are just guidelines, just like any other “rule” in this country.

A few MORE waterfalls and we're back in civilization, Dunedin. A very small big city that holds onto its students as the lifeline for activity past 6PM. We stayed two nights to shave, shower and shop. Lots of old English style buildings and Gothic churches to be seen. We saw the worlds steepest street while we were here. Just think of the steepest street you have ever been on, this one was steeper. We never took photos, try Google image search if you are keen. St. Paddy's day was last night, we went for drinks with two English blokes and a Austrian girl. I couldn't understand the one guy if my life depended on it, apparently we speak the same language. I was a bit dismayed that the green beer tradition is not adhered too down here. That said they had no problem charging 7.50 NZD a pint, at least somethings are static across boarders.

I awoke this morning to a text message from my mother at 6:45AM. Without fail when a night of heavy boozing happens my mother somehow manages to sense that I should be woken early to punish me for my sins. I love her deeply but just what the hell is the importance and more so the meaning of a message that reads “Puddle Ducks”. I love hearing from you Betty but please observe the no text messages to Dion before 1PM Alberta time rule. My sleeping patterns would be greatly appreciative.

Next town Christchurch.

Day 13 and 14 - Milford Sound

2009-03-17T18:13:00.001+13:00

Today we set forth for Milford Sound. Famous in NZ for its stunning natural beauty, famous to the rest of the world because of that scene in Lord of the Rings, much like a lot of places here. For us we bought an overnight cruise on the sound, aboard the Wanderer. Just me and Andi, a couple of Americans and 39 Danish girls aged 18-26. Milford is known for its rain, but we lucked out and caught 2 stunning days of sunshine. That said it was mighty cold on the water that night. We sailed out onto the glacially carved fjord just as all the other day cruises were headed in. Up and down the length of the fjord we stood on deck watching the towering cliffs go by. Ranging from 700m to 1600m they rose straight from the sea, due to the grandeur it was difficult to judge the size, they looked half as tall.

About 5pm the boat anchored and we went swimming. It was bloody cold, Andi made me do it, you are only there once... So we jumped from the top deck of the boat into the deep deep water much to the amazement of ourselves and the other tourist on the boat.

20 minutes later we were skimming across the water top aboard the nature cruise that did its best to teach about the geology and history of the sound. We had an hour of education then it was dinner whilst we cruised to our mooring point for the night. The stars came out and shone all night as we gently bobbed in the water.

I awoke at 6:45 am to some idiot chick blow drying her hair, god know for what reason, I men we were only a good 1 hour cruise and 2.5hr drive from the nearest town. Some peoples kids, eh. I went up on deck to find us cruising once again, this time out to the gentle rollers of the Tasmen Sea. It was challenging to stay still on deck as the boat listed, Andi felt it in her tummy, she didn't like it.

By 9 am we headed back to the dock to disembark, our overnight on Milford was well worth it. If you ever find yourself close to Fjordland NZ do not miss it. You don't know what you are missing.

Day 10-12 Wanaka and Queenstown

2009-03-17T13:54:00.003+13:00

Holy christ it was cold. In fact one day that we were in Queenstown it was the coldest day on record for that day in March. It was maybe 6 Celsius, which sounds like a real delight for those at home, but when you have been hanging in the sun for a few months and you don't have the clothes for it you get cold in a hurry, flip flops don't cut it.
Rant
I would like to further rant about the state of heating in this country or lack there of. Dear NZ citizens: you live in the Southern Alps, it gets cold here, in fact you have a winter season, you should look into installing central heating it is 2009 Seriously there is no central heating here...but you can buy coal to heat your house. Yes coal, that stuff they used to use in the late 1800's to warm a log cabin in the forest. Well in super modern NZ it is still kosher to burn that black lump to warm yourself, besides if your cold you can always just put on a jumper... These people are still smack in the middle of the '50s sometimes.

Anyway we saw snow - on the ground - we were unimpressed and kept driving. The only cool thing about it was the super high possum count, upwards of 60 over three days!!!

We arrived in Queenstown and immediately went to the luge carts, high above the town. We walked up the steep ass hill to save ourselves 44 bucks, we worth it. I will again reiterate how much fun the luge carts are. Anybody from C.O.P. reading this in Calgary here is a business plan:

Step 1: install luge carts.
Step 2: make lots of money.

The next day was "Do something stupid day". We could have chosen from several activities included but not limited to:

Bungy jumping from a bridge
Bungy jumping from a ledge
Bungy jumping from a pod over a canyon - I've done this previously - it gets a check mark from me
Jet boating
White water rafting
Canyoning
Skydiving
Paragliding
Mountain Biking
Aerobatic stunt plane piloting
River surfing
River sledging
Canyon swing
Paintball
Sailing
Rally car driving
etc.

We chose (I chose) river surfing on the Kawarau River, home of this famous shot. The basic idea, put on a wet suit and fins, jump in the river on a boogie board and bash your way through the rapids. Upwards of class 4's on a 6 point scale. The fun was being had by me, Andi was scared shitless. She got a very personal guided trip town the river because the guide held onto her for most of the way down. She was spooked but now she knows what to expect for the next time "Do something stupid day" comes around.

Next stop Milford Sound.

Day 9'er - The West Coast

2009-03-17T13:27:00.004+13:00

The west coast is wet. Soaking wet in fact. As discussed in the last update this area of the world get pounded by rain. And we found that out first hand. I rained in showers all day long, mostly only 15 minutes between hour long showers. Still it is the wet coast so one should expect it, that didn't stop us from checking out the sites.

We set out in the morning to Franz Joseph Glacier. It was pissing rain and a 1.5 hr walk into the glacier, common sense kick in and we left. The highlight of that town was a toss up, the pleasantly surprising public loo (think talking Japanese style can) or the bird flying into Andi's hair and the resulting freak out.

The next place on the road to discovery was the Fox Glacier. A 20 minute walk from the car park and it had stopped raining - for a minute. We made a mad dash for a good viewing spot, but not surprisingly we got smashed by heaven water again. We both got soaked, but in my opinion it was worth it to see a very unique glacier. It is unique due to the surrounding geography. The rain forest lines the confines of the glacial valley. The result, ice and rain forest directly beside each other, the only other place on earth similar is in Argentina. I nerded and Andi got educated, in know she didn't care and she probably hasn't forgiving me yet. Here we are soaked.

From here it was another dash along the rugged coastline and then inland and up over the Haast Pass to the calming plateaus near Wanaka and Queenstown. The Haast Pass was basically waterfall alley. Big amounts of water seemed to be streaming off the hills at every glance. We stopped at several of them because we could. Please consult the slide show for names and photos. The valley narrowed, the road got steeper and the gorge beside us deepened. It all made for a super sweet drive through the mountains. Certainly our favorite so far. The last waterfall we stopped at was called Fantail falls. When we got to the riverbank we were greeted with hundreds of rock cairns. Truly a delight after seeing so many waterfalls (you do tend to get bored with them). We made a couple to help keep the bank tallies up.

Twenty minutes later we were up on the high plateau under a shinning sun, which was very welcome in our opinion. A quick drive past lake Wanaka put us into the town of Wanaka for the night.
A quick window shop and beer and we were off to bed, which is exactly where we wanted to be after a long day of being soaked!

Day 7 and 8 - West Coast of South Island

2009-03-16T20:48:00.002+13:00

The west coast is wet, it has rained and rained and then it rained some more. I guess that is what is going to happen in a area of the the planet that gets upwards of 7 metres of rain a year. Yes you read that correctly, the west coast of New Zealand is one of the wettest places on earth and it can get upwards of 7m of rain a year!!! When you try and camp it sucks. I have conceded that we are just plain idiots sometimes.

So after we left the Abel Tasmen National Park we headed through the Buller gorge to Westport, NZ. Nothing crazy to report from this day, just a lot of rain forest, a cool gorge and we even stopped to look at a earthquake epicenter. It wasn't what it was cracked up to be. We camped in Westport on the coast and got clobbered by a rainstorm, or at least we thought we got clobbered, then the locals said oh yah, "that was a sprinkle last night". I was obviously misinformed.

The next morning we awoke, broke down camp and got the hell out of that freezing ass town and headed south down the coastal highway and got on a train. This train led up us a valley, through some super dense rain forest, that was soaking up every bit of the heaven water coming down, to a wall of limestone. We were in the heart of karst topography.

You see we had signed up for some cave rafting. This was our day to explore the spooky world of underground exploration. Up the hill we walked and into a giant cave, filled with stalactites and stalagmites, wetas, 40 year old foot prints and god knows what the hell else. For 2.5 hours we got informed about the formations and history of the area. We were even told that we were quite safe in the caves if an earthquake hit, I called bullshit when I saw the giant ass rocks on the cave floor that were obviously from the ceiling. Nonetheless we trudge on in wet suits carrying tire tubes.

Why the tubes and wet suits? They were for the underground rafting that was done on the second part of the tour. You see because this is NZ, you can't just show people a cave, you must present a extreme element to it, in this case toobin'. So that is what we did, we jumped on a tube and got in a river that flowed gently through the caves. At this point we shut out our headlamps, leaned back and scoped out the glowworms lining the roof of the tunnels. Like a starry night to look up these worms marked the ceiling leading to our exit. These worms are not comparable to anything else, just a really neat thing to see.

Upon exit of the caves, it was raining, and it stayed that way all the way to Hokitika, were we got a room for the night.

Day 6 - Abel Tasmen National Park

2009-03-09T20:50:00.009+13:00

Abel Tasmen Park, nestled amongst the fjords of the northern region of the south island is one of New Zealand's “must dos”. A National Park created to preserve the rich coastline, marine animals, lush vegetation and stunning golden sand beaches.
There were many options in which to explore the park, most were not right for us. We could have sailed, but it was to expensive. We could have kayaked, but we figured we were not physically up for it. We could have hiked and camped, but decided against it because we would need a real pack mule in order to cart all of our stuff in. We pondered and came to the conclusion that a water taxi would be best.
So we climbed aboard the 10 seater boat and headed north into the park for a hour long skim across the glassy water to our starting point, Bark Bay. Once we arrived at Bark Bay we got dropped off and told to keep left. There we were 20km deep into the Abel Tasmen National Park, our car was 21Km away and our only way to get back was walking, so off we went.

Over hills, through the forest and across the sandy beaches we walked. For hours on end the incredibly well kept trail weaved in front of us, sea to the left, mainland to the right, forest above and below us, the trail kept revealing itself. There were times that even you could take off your shoes and tramp on.

Around every major headland was a golden sandy beach waiting for us. With the sun high in the sky keeping everything nice and warm the sea displayed the perfect invitation for a cool down. A quick swim, an apple and we were off due south, looking for PY.

Half way through the day we came upon Torrent Bay, named for notoriously quick tidal changes due to the flat sandy bottom. The tide was out, so we got to take the 1.5 hr short cut across the sand and clam beds that see the light of day just twice with the cyclical shifts of the tide. We cast our shoes aside and embarked. A couple of wrong stream crossings saw us with no choice but to go over a couple of small rocks, which lead me to the March edition of the
Fall Down Report
With shoes in one hand and feet covered in a thin layer of saturated silt a medium sized wall of rock acted as a barrier to our destination. I climbed over first and noted the flat pancake-esk rock on the over side. I further noted the precarious 32° angle of the rock sloping away from the medium sized barrier, which we had to cross. At this very moment I turned and gave this information to Andi and offered a hand over the impediment. The offer was refused and I carried on without much thought.

“EEEKK” Andi shouted, with a tone that stated Oh, shit I'm falling.

I turned my head to view the events unfolding only to have to duck away from the tethered shoes that were hurtling towards my head end over end...right shoe, left shoe, right shoe, left shoe. Simultaneously the shoes and Andi hit the ground, further proving Newtons first law that all objects fall at the same speed.

The incident investigation report revealed that the silty layer on Andi's feet coupled with the silty slimy layer on the rocks resulted in double the slip and double the trouble for her balance.

The rest of the day was much the same as the first, vista after vistas with sandy beaches in between. In the end it took us 7 hours to complete the 20Km but it was well worth it, that said we were happy to see the car.

Day 6 was a great day under the sun, in the forest on the beach and most importantly not behind a desk. Andi said it best, this is way better than working.

Day 5 - Nelson, NZ

2009-03-06T18:21:00.004+13:00

It's raining again today so we didn't really have much to do. Tomorrow we head into the Abel Tasman National Park for some tramping. Look for that update in a couple of days.

What I can tell you is that we have book our ticket home!

Our itinerary:

We leave NZ on March 30 and fly to Sydney, Aus. It is our ambition to "do the east coast."

April 24th we fly onto Hong Kong for a weekend in Asia. We hope to catch up with a friend from Calgary.

April 27th we move onto Italy for 2 weeks. Plans as of right now have us meeting up with Khaison in Sicily and perhaps a venture north to Venice.

May 12th we fly to Amsterdam from Rome. It is our hope to maybe even check out Paris. After one week in northwestern Europe, we will board a plane to head back to Toronto. We have plans to visit Collingwood with Andreas folks (Peter and Karen) for a few days. We do not have a ticket to calgary booked just yet, but we will be back soon after our trip to Collingwood. At that point we will be broke and ready for hire. Reality will have to set in sometime, at least it will be summer!

See you soon!!!

GIF animations generator gifup.com

Day 4 - South Island, Nelson

2009-03-05T22:58:00.004+13:00

Day 4 - Sunny moving to rain

An early wake up, pack up and drive to the Interislander ferry saw us move south from one land mass to another. We have made the Cook Strait crossing to the south island with our motorized donkey PY. It is now time to explore, first destination, Nelson, NZ.

Km marker 346 from Napier - saw us land on the South Island in Picton, NZ. A couple of wrong turns took us a good 40Km further from our destination, but that is 90% of the fun. We have no photos of the crossings because our battery in the camera died. Too bad for you, buy a ticket and see it for yourself.

Km marker 408 from Napier - Havelock,NZ.
Green Mussel capital of the world, I would be so stoked if I liked Mussels, but I don't so all I could do was buy batteries and take a photo of the big pot of mussels on the roof. Check it out.

KM marker 427 from Napier - Pelorous River, NZ.
This looked like a real nice natural river from the road, so we stopped and had a look. Upon further inspection, we concluded that it was a real nice river.

KM marker 486 from Napier - Nelson, NZ.
It's a hippy town.

Note - we played the Dead Opossum game today. I guessed 4, Andi guess 3. The final tally was 15,nobody wins.

Day 3 - Wellington

2009-03-05T17:47:00.005+13:00

Our second day in Wellington saw us cruising the cities highlights once again. Today our focus was one the Botanical Gardens located on the northern edge of the CBD on the terrace. The gardens wind themselves down the hill toward the city and are quite beautiful. It was a great way to enjoy the nice sunny afternoon, which is rare in this city. The only thing that would make these gardens better is if they rented out the luge carts like they have in Rotorua. Seriously it is the perfect setup, then the gardens would kick ass!!!

Later on we decided to take in a bit of the culture and checked out a local theater production of Tom Stoppards “Rock and Roll.” We both found it boring, long and unengaging. I am glad that we scored student rates. I reckon I am done with the theater for a while.

Here is a slide show of our time in Wellington.

Day 1

Day 2

2009-03-04T11:22:00.009+13:00

Wellington, what a breath of fresh air. A very welcome influx of youth and culture after leaving the stuffy old conservative views of Napier. It is very nice to be back in a city. A place that is vibrant, busy and whole world different to what we have become accustom too. Today was spent doing pretty much what we do upon arrival in any world city, we walked around, cruised the shops and people watched. I can assure you that the hopeless kids of today are wrapped up in the “latest” fashion trends of 1987, bad hair and skinny pants are everywhere.

Wellington also boasts the Beehive, which houses the NZ government:

The bucket fountain on Cuba St. Both loathed and loved by the locals due to its abundance of splashing water making everything within 20 feet of it soaked on a windy day, which is pretty much everyday.

And Te Papa museum.

This is the national museum of NZ. Housing the richest collection of art, artifacts, and interactive exhibits in the country this museum is a great place to kill an afternoon and it is completely free (New York City museums should take note). Heaps of information on Maori Culture and the odd roving exhibit, like the Monet collection that was passing through. We did not get many photos as it was frowned upon, but we did manage to sneak these ones in.
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On a side note, we had a slight panic when I lost our bag check ticket half way through the museum. Good thing nobody got our bag before we did, it only had our wallets, passports and our laptop!!! Whoops!

Tomorrow we plan on checking out the cable car, botanical gardens and maybe even take in a little theater but we'll decide that in the morning because we are going out drinking tonight.

Road Trip- Day 1

2009-03-02T21:14:00.008+13:00

After 3 months in Napier it was time to leave, mostly because we were bored with the town, we both loathed the idiot tourists and we didn't want to work anymore. So we quit our jobs, again, and held a departure party at the house. 26 A Seapoint was rocking (mildly humming) with the friends we met in town.

As the sun set we said our goodbyes packed our stuff and went to bed. This morning we arose, completed our list (which was longer than the Treaty of Waitangi) and got the hell outta town...ROADTRIP!!!

The next month will see us and our motorized donkey (PY) hitting the open roads of the South Island. We have until March 30th to see the rest of NZ.

First destination: Wellington at the southern tip of the North Island.

Day 1 – Sunny 27 C

Left Napier heading south at approximately 11:00 A.M. After 10 minutes on the road we stopped in Hastings (KM Marker 18) for lunch.

Next stop was Woodville, NZ at (KM Marker 127). It was here that Andi relinquished the car keys to me after giving me a number of frights with her behind the wheel. She still does not stay completely in the middle of the lane, scaring the hell outta me when the car is to too far left. My current confidence rating in her driving is 85%⇩. Woodville is also the proverbial fork in the road. From here it is either west to Palmerston North or south to Mangatainoka. The choice was easy.

(KM Marker 166) Mangatainoka, NZ home of the Tui Brewery. We stopped in for memorabilia and a tour. I bought stickers and Andi got drunk. We met some other Canadians as well, but they were quickly on there way when I started to remind them of how poorly the Wancouver Cannots were doing. The tower pictured below was built way back by some idiots. As the story goes they built the thing and then removed all seven floors of scaffolding failing to remember to install a lift or stairs. So there they stood looking up at there masterpiece with no way to access anything above level 2. I applauded their smarts.

(KM Marker 194) Eketahuna, NZ. Giant roadside Kiwi pictured below.

It was here that my dreams of being an Olympic sprinter were killed. I set the camera self-timer for 10 seconds and had approximately 50 m to run. I obviously didn't make it. Somewhere in Jamaica, Usain Bolt is laughing hysterically.

(KM Marker 200) Mt. Bruce, NZ.

We then started playing the Opossum game. In oder to play the game you set a destination, then choose the number of dead Opossums you anticipate seeing between your starting point and end destination. A dead Opossum must be at least 68% complete in order to count as a dead Opossum. All contestants must agree that the dead Opossum is a legal one in order to count. I choose 4 and Andi choose 6. The final count was 5 between Mt. Bruce and Wellington, our final stop for the day at KM Marker 345. Nobody wins the dead Opossum game today.

November in Northland

2009-02-20T14:31:00.007+13:00

We don't really have much to report but figured we would give you something to chew on. This is a slide show of our month spent in the Northland region of the North Island. This slide show includes:

Gumdigger Park (burried Kauri trees)
Sandboarding
Tane Mahuta
Cape Reinga
Ducks
90 Mile Beach
Wairoua Forest (big Kauri trees)
Surfing in Ahipara
Buried Cars
Beaches

Enjoy...

Billy Connelly

2009-02-19T14:44:00.002+13:00

Oh My God... I just saw Billy Connelly in town. This Art Deco Weekend must be huge if it has the drawing power of D list celebrities!!!

Quick somebody get me the editor of E! News Weekly!!!!!

Napier, New Zealand

2009-02-19T10:03:00.004+13:00

Before we leave this town we figured we would give you an idea of what ART DECO is. Please take a second to view the link provided, that way it doesn't sound so lame. For whatever reason people seem to flock to this town to view the historic buildings and get that late 30's feel. The town was rebuilt in the 1930's after an earthquake in 1931 leveled the town. I can appreciate the design and the work that goes into these buildings but personally it's not my style. Here is a slideshow of all the photos we took for our card making endeavor. All the photos are of the buildings in the central business district. There are lots of photos and some repeats.

There is a large fountain that I drive by every night once I am done work. It looks very cool as it shifts colors and water spout arrangements. Enjoy the sweet sweet slide show.

This weekend is Art Deco Weekend here. It is going to be busy and shitty. We are not stoked.

Tryin to Make Money

2009-02-17T13:29:00.002+13:00

What we have done here is a small simple side business. We took a heap of photos from all around Napier, New Zealand. The town is decked out in the Art Deco theme,in fact it is one of the only places on Earth that has a large collection of Art Deco buldings in perfectly good order. Anway there are heaps of tourists here that come to town specifically to check out the buildings. We figured we could spend a 100 NZD and make some greeting cards to sell to the tourists. We we made 200 of them and on Sunday we set a table up at the local market. There were 3 cruise ships in on Sunday so it was the perfect chance to make a quick buck.

Bright and early we set off to the market and set up our table and proudly displayed our product. We waited and waited and waited some more. Throngs of ugly ugly people passed us by, never to descend on our lonely table to purchase the cheap and beautiful cards we made. For hours I sat and watched as mullet ridden toothless "average joes' walked by with nary a glance. I got sunburnt and humbled but I did sell 5 cards, resulting in a 10 NZD profit on the day.

The problem as it turned out was the lack of the cruisies making there way to the market leaving only the locals to look us over. That said we have managed to wrangle our way into a couple of shops in town, resulting in a complete reecoup of start up capital. Hopefully more of the cards will sell at the shops and we can laugh all the way to the bank, no sorry make that gas pump...

12 days left in Napier before we head towards the South Island.

Formal Apology

2009-02-12T12:17:00.003+13:00

Due to an errant link in our last update I would like to apologize to everyone for the music that was provided in the last post.

Let me back peddle a bit. When I completed the last update I followed the link provided on the Moko web page and landed on the YouTube clip provided. However, I failed to realize that the clip was assembled to the musical non-talents that are creed (I will not even capitalize their name because they do not deserve it). For years creed has polluted the airwaves across the world and have now crept into the smallest corners of the Internet and left a slight stain on an otherwise flawless day.

Please allow me to make the following statements:

Please understand that I would never intentionally allow you to hear the "music" of creed. I apologize to you with all that I have. I am truly sorry for any pain caused to your intelligence.
I would like to formally shun Ian and Ralph Brownlie for their creation of "Mahia Magic". the clip itself is quite fantastic, however, one must question the artistic decisions made in the editing room that lead to a final copy being set to the melodic poison of "higher" by creed. It was a very bad and WRONG decision that has ruined the clip.
Lastly, please view this clip in lue of the former as it not only depicts Moko and his playful antics it also provides a much more suitable soundtrack. Please DO NOT view "Mahia Magic' unless forced to. If you do find yourself compelled to view the clip you simply must ensure your speakers are unplugged!

Moko

2009-02-10T09:39:00.002+13:00

There are certain things that happen in your life that you will never forget. Two weeks ago we went camping to the Mahia Peninsula (you may need to zoom out on the map). Despite the gale force winds and leaking tent we had an experience that will never be forgotten. We swam with a wild bottle nose dolphin. Truly an amazing once in a lifetime event. This was not one of those pay to swim with the dolphins tours that you see, this was a remote beach with a rumored single wild dolphin that plays with tourists.

We arrived to see perfect clear glass water and Moko jumping, spinning and playing. We jumped on our boards and paddled out a good few hundred feet from the shore where Moko decided to come and check us out. We didn't even know that he was under us when he rose and bumped Andi from below, knocking her clear off her boogie board giving her one hell of a fright, this was the first we saw of him up close and he was big! He then fully leapt out of the water and jumped over me and my board, then he popped up beside me and lightly body checked me, like a cat would when it is hungry. He then stuck his tail up to let me pet it. He then dove down and came back (and parked himself) up and met Andi face to face on the front of her boogie board, if they were any closer they would have kissed. Andi got scared and closed her eyes, ha ha ha. Moko then suspended himself out of the water up to his flippers so Andi could reach out and rub its belly. As Moko sank back into the water I knew that I would never in my life have a similar moment with a wild animal. I have been close to a variety of large wild animals before but this was the first time that I didn't feel like I was going to die. It was intimidating to have a 165 kg dolphin body checking me but you knew that this was an intelligent being and it was simply curious about us and he wanted to play.

Memories like these are what you search for, you cannot make them, they find you. It was unreal.

We never got the chance to get any photos but here is a web site that catalogues others time with Moko. Enjoy, I know we did.

A small video clip.

Hastings Getaway - FAIL!

2009-02-01T12:23:00.004+13:00

This is a news clip of a couple of guys who tried to escape from a court date in Hastings, NZ. Hastings is the "next town over from us." It's good for a laugh if anything. Look for this clip to be run on every dumbest criminals of 2009 review sometime in December.

Linky

More Craters of the Moon

2009-02-01T12:08:00.003+13:00

FALL DOWN REPORT

During our recent vacation within a vacation I omitted one very important detail. There was a special moment between me and Andi. She fell and I laughed. Craters of the Moon as described in One Day in Taupo is a very geologically active area. In fact it is so active that in places you cannot walk on the ground in the event a misguided step finds you up to your arse in a boiling hot mud pool. Safety precautions have been brought in to advert such incidents in the form of a boardwalk. About half way through our informative stroll the boardwalk eased ever closer towards a crater. The fence at the edge of the crater saw a few tourist leaning over with video cameras trying to catch a glimpse of the bubbling mud below. As we approached the sound of the gurgling mud grew louder and perked Andi's interest. Following suit with the other tourists Andi B-lined it for the fence to gain a better perspective, unfortunately she failed to realize that the boardwalk curved slightly to the left leaving a small gap of free ground between the fence and boardwalk. The ground was roughly 2 feet lower than the boardwalk, which Andi realized while she was in free fall. With her head turned to the right, her eyes fixed on the crater she walked directly off the boardwalk. A small startled scream and flailing arms accompanied her to the ground. This time I was joined by the other tourist when I started to laugh.

Note - the picture above it is not the actual location of the fall down, it is just a reasonable facsimile. Andi for some reason would not let me run back and take a photo of the actual location.

FIRE!!!

2009-01-22T16:46:00.011+13:00

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the living room of our flat diligently updating this very website when I looked over and out the window to see flames. Big farking flames! I thought to myself hmmm... There is a fire ban on, so why is Bruce (our flatmate) burning off the brush? Well during that millisecond of pondering the flames got about as twice as big. So I put down the laptop and went outside to inquire about the particular situation with my flatmate. Bruce is nowhere to be found. In fact there is nobody to be found, surprising really as 5 minutes ago there where 4 other people swirling within the house.

I ran to the front of the house and then downstairs to search for Bruce. He was still M.I.A.. From here I went back to the back yard in the meantime I scooped my phone up to call 111 (NZ 911). Just as I was about to hit send I noticed Bruce just outside the window on the patio crouched down beside the water tap. He looked up with eyes the size of America's financial problems and said "Get a bucket...NOW!" as he was hooking up the hose. "In the laundry room!" he yelped, and turn off the washing machine!!!" We both split for our intended jobs; killing the fire before it burns down half the neighborhood. The fire was already hot enough that the first bit of water to hit the base was instantly turned to steam. I followed quickly with buckets to douse the area as much as possible in order to stop potential flare ups. Once under control I asked Bruce why he was burning off the brush. He then told me about the faulty hedge trimmer he was using to clean up the garden. He went onto explain about how a cattail like piece of vegetation had gotten wedged between the extension cord plug and pluggin for the trimmer, resulting in a small non-threatening ember. It was discarded and not thought of again. Well obviously it had a bit more punch to it. Then the fire department showed up, blaming us for a illegal backyard burn off. I said to him, it was not on purpose and told him go save the neighbors fence which was still on fire.

After all was said and done and we were drinking beer reminiscing about the day Bruce let out a light "Hmmmfff."

I responded with "wha?"

Bruce replied, "You know that fire this afternoon, the one with the fire trucks and scorched fence."

"Yes," I said.

"I think it could have been a cigarette, ya know, I was smoking and just discarded it. Might not have been the pluggins after all. Oh well, we'll never know."

Some good drama here at 26A Seapoint Rd.

Bruce on dousing duty.

The amount of smoke and steam from the fire.

Explanation to the fire brigade.

More explanation... "Yes sir, I was over there when it happened."

Red fire truck parked out front, the other one was down the street.

I didn't have time to take a photo of the actual flames being in panic mode and all but here is a reasonable facsimile of the size. Note - this is not a real photo!

We even made the popular column in the local newspaper, Hawkes Bay Today!

Surf 'n stuff

2009-01-22T16:45:00.010+13:00

Napier, New Zealand is definitely not the surf capital of this island nation. We tried to find work in the surf capital of this island nation (Gisborne) but that just led to depression and hatred for a small coastal city. That said even the sun shines on the darkest places some days. Last week a very large storm in the Pacific sent waves our direction for 10 solid days. I tried my best to get as much surf in as I could, but it still wasn't spectacular. Tony this entry is for you mostly, this is all I got, the surf hasn't been A class but it is still better than trying to cut out a frozen soil sample!

First off, this is once again the view from our patio. This photo was taken the day before the swell hit, note the general lake like features of the water...

Then the next morning the surf had arrived and the right hand point started working. It really is a small weak wave. In fact the Port of Napier is just to the right of this photo. I guess back in the day before the port was built this entire area used to be an A class wave, with a sandy bottom and endless Malibu style surf. There are stories of guys using cars to shuttle the surfers back up to the take off point. Now that the port has moved in, the natural flow of sand (by way of longshore drift) has stopped and now the bottom is craggy limestone rocks. Think ouch like when trying to walk on it - note injury report at bottom of this post.

The area noted in the photos above faces northwest, the swell is coming from the east. So what that means is this: The swell hits the land and wraps around the point, resulting in the waves seen above, small and fickle. If we were to go around the point to the East facing land you will see the brunt of the full swell as noted below. These photos are of Huamoana. I like the photo of all the cars in the car park! This break is a river mouth just on the left of the jetty. I never did go out here as it is "Heavily localized!" Plus there is a lot of water moving and I am just getting my arms back now (physically fit enough to be in places like this).

The next place is further south along the coast in a even smaller town of Te Awanga.

This is where I went out. There is not a lot of push to this wave. It was a very gentle Malibu style right hand point, lots of dudes, lots of waves. I even saw a bikini clad girl tuck her boob back in when it fell out, that was a bonus! These are not the best shots, but they are all I got.

This is me on one of the very weak waves.

Napier has a very steep beach in front of the town. The beach is composed of shingle (small pebbles, like flat river rocks). Because of the steep beach the surf is very dangerous when it get over 4 or 5 feet. There are heaps of drownings here when tourists or kids get to close to the water and are hit by waves and sucked out. Some idiots even go swimming. Here is the shore break in Napier.

Here is me for scale. DO NOT SWIM HERE!

So after a week of surf here is my injury list

Super burnt face - I mean really burnt
One lost fin
Two small scratches on my hand
Four small scratches on my feet
Two embedded shells on my left foot
One embedded rock on my right heal
One deep puncture on my right foot - see below

Napier surf is not the best, looking forward to exploring more of the coastline here to see what I can find next month. We also have hooked Andi up with a body board and wetsuit. She is keen to get in the water...we just need waves now!

Here is a photo album for you...

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Ocean Spa

2009-01-22T16:44:00.015+13:00

FALL DOWN REPORT

It was late evening on a long December night. The sun had just set and we set forth towards the popular hang out on Marine Parade, Ocean Spa. Our intention was to relax some sore muscles acquired during tough work lifting tiles and other assorted heavy stuff. Under the evening stars we sat in the pools soaking in the 38 C water laughing about various things. One of the subjects of topic and much laughter was the then recent fall down Andi had while at Splash Planet. I stated that I would giggle uncontrollably if Andi fell on deck that night. Well approximately four minutes later she did. Rounding a corner to head into the change room Andi underestimated the viscosity of the floor and placed a confident right foot down while making a right turn. Rookie mistake on a slippery floor. Her legs slipped and she ended up bikini clad, red faced huddled up to some small decorative ferns. Once I knew it was just her ego bruised, I laughed. I am a horrible but highly entertained person.

Aquarium

2009-01-22T16:44:00.013+13:00

One would guess that when we conducted the last poll we would eventually do the other activities listed. As it turned out I ended up far to sun burnt after a full day spent surfing, the winds turned onshore and buggered the surf for the day, so we decided to be tourists and went to the aquarium... The National Aquarium of NZ.

Upon entering the museum we were greeted with 2 floors, the arrows on the ground prompted us to go upstairs and poke around. We did and were minorly entertained. The first room was filled with a slim display of dinosaur bones. I've been to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in Toronto which has a great display of dino bones and my reaction there was it's "ok". That's because I have been to the Royal Terrell Museum in Drumheller. Once you have been spoiled with such a rich collection of artifacts a small room "dedicated" to the self taught paleontologist from Taradale complete with an exact replica of her garden shed (used to store her finds) does not quite cut it. Sorry, you did great work Linda but I've seen better. That said, to everybody in Alberta go to Drumheller and visit the museum, it really is that good.

Moving on... next room, a koi pond. I've seen better waiting in line for a Vietnamese sub.

Next room... This room had a Tsunami interactive screen and a 2 Metre crocodile. But as most of you know I will not post a photo of a crocodile unless it is at least 2.2 Metres in length. Sorry, rules are rules.

From here we went downstairs into the Kiwi bird house. It was dark and hard to see them. I still think that the Kiwi bird is a completely made up tourist grab formed by the NZ government. They say that they are nocturnal, I think they say that just so any photos taken of the "Kiwis" (released chickens with straws taped to there beaks) are blurry and not as easy to decipher.

Moving onto the real stuff, the Aquarium part...

First up was the sea turtle. It took a long time to pry Andi away from this display. I had to admit it was a cute creature, but it was a cute creature in a small habitat. I guess that is common theme at any zoo or zoo like facility.

There was more cool stuff in the Sea Room, like this a Colossal Squid in formaldehyde.

Note - Dion used for scale. The Squid is not as Colossal as one would think but when compared to other, normal sized squid, it is in fact quite large.

From here it was onto the Big Tank. The tank was filled with several types of fish, sharks, rays and crayfish. There were probably more types of marine life, but that is all I am going to report on. The Big Tank had a moving sidewalk through it, similar to the ones you find at the Dallas airport (for some reason I think the ones in Dallas get more use**). Essentially the sidewalk takes you on a trip to through the tank were you get witness a small snippet of the seas moving around you. Really interesting.

That was our adventure through the aquarium.

Oh...and then I fought a shark

He won.

** - So clearly a fat joke.

One Day in Taupo

2009-01-22T16:16:00.013+13:00

So yes we are on Vacation. We have been in Napier, a small city in the province of Hawkes Bay for a while now, in fact almost 2 months. We are slowly running out of things to do, so when we both get a day off together it's tourist time. When we get a couple of days off together we leave town, a vacation within a vacation. This trip was inland to a place called Taupo. Taupo is situated smack in the middle of New Zealands geological wonderland. The area is ripe with Volcanoes and lakes. The town was settled on the edge of a caldera. A caldera is a lake that forms when a volcano erupts and leave a massive crater in the ground. This is a major tourist stop, and the other day we discovered why.

The drive over to Taupo from Napier was 2 hours, we stop at a scenic lookout and were greated with this giant waterfall. We took pictures to prove we were there...

This is our proof.

Next up on the agenda was a area called Craters of the Moon. Craters of the Moon is basically a large geologically active crater. There was heaps of steaming ground, bubbling mud pools, tourists, scientists, craters within craters, multi-coloured soils and unique vegetation. There was a small kiosk at the front entrance, while we were talking to the volounteers who run the park, one man stated that he had just felt a minor earthquake. I asked if it was an earthquake or the beans he had for breakfast. He was unimpressed and we were quickly on our way. Here is an assortment of photos and a video.

Bubbling mud. (you might be able to see it if you click the photo and scan the enlarged version, I am pointing in the direction of the mud)

Crater within a crater...

Steaming ground and tourists, maybe some scientists.

Multi-coloured soils and vegetation.

Steaming ground. The hissing in the clip is the actual noise of the steam leaving the earth.

The area has been tapped for geothermal energy, one of the first in the world to harness this natural resource.

The next stop was the Honey Hive. Honey products were both produced and sold here. It was a solid place of commerce. Here was the most exciting part, a bee hive made out of plexi-glass. you could see the bees. My world will never bee the same.

The next stop was the Huka Prawn Park. We heard that this place featured Shawn the Prawn. I was hoping that there would be a Giant Prawn similar to the one in Ballina, Aus. I was sadly disappointed when I found out that there was no giant prawn. But you could pay 20 bucks to fish for prawns or fire golf balls into the prawn pools and try and win money... Take a guess what we did.

Next up was Huka Falls. It is a water fall that is very easily accessable. There were lots of tourists, lots of water and two boats full of suckers who spent 95NZD each to ride the jet boat. They got 60 feet closer to the falls than we did. We still have 190NZD.

This is our proof.

After that we went home and had a nap, lots of things to do makes for tired hobbits. When we woke up we ate and filled up our packs with towels, swim trucks and beer and headed off to a natural hot springs. Located in the middle of town a small creek enters the Waikato River at approxamtely 40 C. The idea is simple, show up, strip down and soak as needed. This was the high light of Taupo. Much better that almost hitting the prawn feeder at the Prawn Park.

We left the next day to drive back to Napier where we both had to work. On the way out of town we stopped on the lack front to get a photo of us and the Volcanos in the back ground. Andy then whispered in my ear that maybe before this trip is out, perhaps she may even bungy jump. Things may just get extreme!

amazing MAZE 'n maize

2009-01-10T09:12:00.003+13:00

Well you voted and now you get it! With the voting results a favorable 4 for the amazing MAZE 'n maize over the 1 vote for the National Aquarium of New Zealand (and 0 votes for the Napier Museum) we were off to get lost amongst the corn. So off we went to get burnt under the 33C sun!

The Maze entrance...

It took approximately 35 minutes to completely navigate the maze. Our strategy was to keep left. It didn't work, always we were wrong with the left turn!

After we found the bridge which gave us an elevated view of the field we decided to switch up our strategy and try rights only for the second half of the maze.

Nope wrong again, more dead ends...

Throughout the maze there were many several information markers to tell you about the theme, which was lost at sea. These "Kernals of Knowledge" lined the pathway to help you navigate and to throw you off the track...

Did you know that seaweeds are protected by there vast numbers? The upper layers of seaweed shelter the lower layers so that only a few plants are sacrificed to protect the entire group. Hmm...Who knew?

Needless to say the amazing MAZE 'n maize was nothing short of....Tremendous!!

Pimpin' my PY

2009-01-07T13:20:00.000+13:00

What to do when you got a day off and there is no surf, again, for the 13th day in a row? You Pimp Your Ride!!!

For 20 bucks at the warehouse I made our car a little more flash...

First up a sweet clear plastic cup holder that fastens directly to the air vent. This Chinease import comes equipped with an expanding base that will accommodate anything from a freshly chilled Red Bull to that super sized Coca-Cola needed for that long drive home at night to see my honey. With this new cup holder, my take-away flat white won't spill all over me, Andrea or our illustrious grey tweed interior.

Next up, the wheels. Is there a better way to make a statement on the pavement than hooking your rubber up with a little LED love? The answer is a resounding NO-WAY, JOSE! Four minutes for the tire valve switch over equates to months of head turning awesomeness. Now, when we're crusing Marine Parade a little shine is gonna light up our rims.

It is not uncommon for us to hear -as we go whizzing by poor suckers on the street who don't have an awesome ride - "Whoa, did you see that sweet Corrolla?" I shout back..."Meet PY, it's red and it's awesome!"

Big Day Part 1

2009-01-06T17:17:00.000+13:00

Big Day was comprised of a day floating on the Tuki Tuki (too-kee too-kee) River and then onto our night activity (see next post). What we figured we were setting out for was a three hour tour but it actually turned into a 5.5 hour tour and a lesson in sunscreen application. Victims included Andreas lower back and legs and Gregs (our flatmate) back. All is cool and we can now call ourselves international river rafters! Take that Hinch's!! Anyway it was a fun few hours of lazy cruising below the beautiful Te Mata peak which marks the southern end of Hawkes Bay, NZ (viewed below as the backdrop in Andreas Bandito photo).

My Bandito of Beauty

Rafting Role Call...

Andrea: `

Dion:

Greg:

Chris:

The Entry Point

More Photos of Te Mata Peak - we actually saw a Parasailer decsending from the upper cliffs while in route.

Before our trip, Andrea was unclear on the proper entry point...

Photo album of the entire day... best viewed when you are trying to kill time at work.

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Big Day Part 2

2009-01-06T11:55:00.000+13:00

So the second half of Big Day was spent at the Black Barn Winery. Every year the winery holds a Film Festival at their Amplitheater. The theater is set amoungst the vineyards on the flanks of Te Mata peak. Nestled into the natural coulees high on the hill you find your spot and make camp for the film. We had a picnic and a few beers, while waiting for dark. From the terraces you can look out over Hawks Bay over Hastings and onto Napier. As the sun sets the film starts. The open air cimena was screening Martin Scorseses documentry of The Rolling Stones in "Shine a Light". Great way to end our Big Day.

This was our view behind Gigantor...

Friend or Foe

2009-01-06T11:22:00.000+13:00

So here we are, Christmas is over and New Years has been written into the books. We figured that this would be just a quick update of randomness.

Below is a photo of Andrea's Uncle Bob. He is obviously the real life inspiration of the Simpsons News Anchor Kent Brockman...

This is what our camera remembers from New Years... Apparently,?? we sang Auld Sang Lang to a Scottish Piper this year??? And Karen, that jarble mess of an international call was Andrea trying to say was "hello, I miss you Mom" when she called you at 9:30 AM on New Years Eve (4:30 AM New Years Day for us).

New Years Day was spent at the local horse track in Hastings, a mere 15 minute drive from Napier. I won a whole giant heap of nothing, while Andi cashed in on $7.50 NZD. We felt like high rollers. Actually it was pretty sweet. You could bring in your own cooler (and beer) and sit out on the grass in front of the grandstand. We had a picnic, bet on the races and drank beer all afternoon. Great way to spend a day!

This is a shot of me, however I do reckon that my pockets should be turned inside out to show off my "winnings".

This is a short video clip of Simon the Seagull. He likes to drop in on the Patio once and while and see whats up. The cat (Bindy) just about got a paw on Simon the other day. Classic example of cat vs. bird.

Here is a shot of the tremendous sunset the other night... "sweet as"

Merry Christmas to all...

2008-12-26T11:11:00.000+13:00

Christmas comes but once a year. It is a special time to celebrate with friends and family. This was a Christmas of firsts for both of us. It was the first year of my life that I did not celebrate with my parents. It was the first time that Andrea did not celebrate the holiday in the depths of winter. It was also our holiday together on Christmas day. It was foreign feeling for her to be standing on the beach in short pants and T-shirt knowing full well that all of Canada was covered in a blanket of snow for the first time since '71. As much as I hate to say it I do miss the cold and dark that accompanies the holiday season, but only for one day...I am already over it.

So how did we spend our Christmas day? Well with Andrea's extended family in New Zealand of course. Christmas eve was spend at our flat talking about traditions with our flatmate Gregg. Drinking beers, wrapping gifts and swapping stories. Both me and Andrea were quite tired because we had worked all day. I managed to get a great surf earlier in the evening as well, best so far! Off to bed for an early start!!!

Christmas morn started off with our stockings...stuff with goodies from Santos Claus...

We then left our place and headed over to John and Susans (Andrea's Cousins) place for gift openings and more cheer. We were joined by Bob and Elen -Andreas grandfathers sister - also joined us and gift extravaganza was on...

The kids (Phalen and Sara) were SUPER stoked for the day. We did our best to supply some fun for everyone by providing the great Mexican Christmas Pinata Tradition.

Everybody had a go at it!

In the end old Rudoplh met his fate and was split across the entire yard. Candies were everywhere and the kids went bezerk. With this the great Kiwi-Mexican-Canadian Christmas came to a close.

It was a great way to spend the day, different from what I am used to by all means, but it was spent with my sweetie and that is all that counts. We miss you all and wish you all a very merry Christmas and joyous holiday season in whatever corner of this world you may find yourself in.

Lots of Love,

Dion and Andrea

Christmas Haka

2008-12-26T10:54:00.000+13:00

What happens when you get a bunch of boozed fueled boys at a company christmas party? The Haka of course. This is now the third haka we have had performed for us by boozed fueled locals, which is much better than the last time I was here when zero boozed fueled locals performed the haka for us...

Good Decisions

2008-12-14T12:17:00.000+13:00

Calgary

Napier

Drunk Kids

2008-12-13T13:22:00.000+13:00

So last night I went out for a sunset surf. It was sweet because I was all alone and it was nice and clean. Anyway just as I am gearing down a small car came flying into the car park and came to a screaching halt. Three somewhat wasted teenagers spilled out of the car and began to suit up for a night session in the surf. Immediately I realized that these kids were ripe for manipulation and I engaged in conversation. The banter went back and forth strewn with lots of Kiwi and Canadian slang. Then I went in for the kill...

Dion: Hey guys, can you do the Haka?

Drunk teens: AHHH YEEEEAH MATE....

The Drunk Kids.

Pretty much the best thing to ask drunk teens to do whenever you come across them. This is the second time we have had the haka performed for us by boozed teenagers, which is 100% better than my last trip here six years ago when zero drunk teenagers performed the haka for us. I will do my best to try and get a variety of hakas on video for your viewing pleasure. I do apologize for the lighting...it was dark after all.

Home Sweet Home!

2008-12-12T12:20:00.001+13:00

The days of living out of our suitcases and carrying all our food in a box in the car boot are now over! Temporarily. We are going to setup in a small seaside resort town called Napier for the next couple of months. http://www.napier.nz.com/

Above is the beautiful view from the patio of our new home! We have managed to get into a swanky flat share on top of the bluff in town. Dion loves that he can check the waves from the window and go down the hill for a surf.

As of today we have both secured work here in town. Which makes Dion especially happy as I have been hanging around in cafes and at the beach waiting for the right job to call me back. Meanwhile, Dion is working his butt off as a labourer (carrier of heavy shit) for a construction company. I have been brought on as a barista in a busy downtown cafe. I am looking forward to unlimited coffee but will miss my unlimited free time :)

Everything seems to be going well just in time for Christmas! Uncle Bob and Auntie Ellen are coming down for the holidays and we will be here with Susan and her family. It just doesn't feel right that it is Christmas when everyone is getting geared up for the summer. We are missing our friends and family holiday season get togethers. Happy Holidays to Everyone!!

Great Gunnar News!!!

2008-12-05T18:46:00.000+13:00

Probably the best photo I have seen in years...Congrats to Gunnar and Joanna!!!

Movember is Done

2008-12-04T18:12:00.000+13:00

Well after a solid 30 days on the grow I can official say that Movember turned out well, as far a growing a moustache it was the best one I have evar put on my upper lip, as far as getting work I reckon it did nothing but hinder me. In fact it was not until I shaved the beautiful piece of man status that I managed to secure work. Note how good I look below:

Before I get into the work details I'd like to thank the five people who voted in the last poll. Upon retrival of the results we did exactly as stated, we went surfing. It was a medium day on the water, not that it mattered as I was alone on the coast and kinda got scared, so I was only in the water for a short period of time. Furthermore even though the results did not state to leave town we did. Gone like a fading image in our rearview mirror is Gisborne. Jaded we left the town with no work or even the potential. We are now in Napier http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Napier%20NZ&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=N&tab=il.

Napier is wine country, with a climate that mimicks the summers of the Okanagan Valley. Known for the lazy summer days and Art Deco decor Napier is a quiant town on the East coast of New Zealand. It is here that I found a job as a labourer on a consturction site. I started off with the promise of three days work and by the time afternoon smoko (coffee break) rolled around I was asked to stay until christmas. It felt good to be making some money again. Andrea also has cousins here, they have been very welcoming to us. It is also nice to hear the Canadian accent again, germans tend to get on my nerves after a while.

Last weekend after arrival in the new town we did what any person should do in Napier...we left town for it's neighbor Hastings and went to SPLASH PLANET. A smaller second cousin to the waterparks of North America but no less refreshing. It was here that an incident occurred. This leads me to a:

FALL DOWN REPORT

Approximately 3:30 Pm on Sunday November 30th 2008. Andrea C. Forrest was walking briskly on the southern deck of the main splash pool of the 'TOOB SLIDE'. During a momentary laspe of thought Andrea step down off the deck and onto the first step that lead into the pool. During slack water this step would normally be covered in approximately 1/2 inch of water, however due to repeatative entry of jovulant youths at the northern end of the pool mild surges were clouding the actual depth of the step. With full commitment Andrea placed her right foot down towards the step, only to find that the step was actually much shallower than her perception had told her. The result, a hastened reaction to counteract and regain balance, it was an overreaction, much like a car in a skid, the overreaction always leads to shame. In this case that shame came in the form of a back leaning stiff upperbody that still had forward momentum. A chain reaction started with the right ankle, it buckled and folded under, then the knee, the left leeg continued straight out as if sliding into second base. Like a Jenga tower falling left due to an improperly balanced base, Andrea flopped into the splash pool. Instant shame fell over her. It was the first time in years that I never laugh instantly. It looked rough but she is ok, just a few braizes to her right foot. It wasn't till she was walking again that I really let the giggles loose...

New Zealand Pre-Work Album

2008-12-02T20:03:00.000+13:00

Here are the photos from our first month in New Zealand... There are lots to see in the four albums...hope you got a coffee!!!

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Tongan Photo Album

2008-12-02T19:57:00.000+13:00

I will continue to state that Tonga screwed us, here are a few photos of the place you should not let your guard down at...

Still some neat beach huts...

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Samoa Photo Album

2008-12-02T19:37:00.000+13:00

Here are the photos we took during our stay in Samoa...a few more than Tonga, we liked it here...

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San Francisco Photo Album

2008-12-02T19:29:00.000+13:00

Simple enough, just push play...

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Gisborne, the first city to see the new day

2008-11-26T19:42:00.000+13:00

We are in Gisborne. Gisborne I can confidently say stands for: "go away from here if you want to work." I am a bit astounded that nobody is hiring in this town, there are 40K people here that seem to be in some perfectly balanced system of commerce. There are what seems to be zero employment holes. Every place in town has given us one of three excuses

Excuse 1: No we are full up

Excuse 2: Economic turn down, go away

Excuse 3: Come back in the new year...

Now this last one gives me the shits. Here we are less than one month to go until Christmas and businesses keep telling us to come back in the new year. What the hell does that mean? How do you not want extra employees for the busiest season of the year??? Is there some sort of giant Kiwi shopping extravaganza leading up to Valentines Day? I don't get it. It is so bloody belittling to have to fill out a application form for a shoe store.

Andrea: Hi, I was curious if you guys were looking for any staff.

Shoe Store: Here is an application form, do you have your resume with you, do you have experiance?

Andrea... Ughhh...OK...right...

I mean seriously is there some sort of shoe polytech school that you need to graduate from in order to be qualified to grab shoes from a shelf in a back room. I mean personally I would like to think I would know how to handle the situation if a customer was to ask for a size 8.5 in red. That said I have never had to obtain a set of red pumps sized 8.5, so I guess I am unqualified. I guess I am a bit jilted that nobody seems to be hiring.

Perhaps a guy gets used to seeing help wanted signs in the window of every store in town for three years and figures it is the same way world around. We have humbly found out that Gisborne is not the same as Calgary. It gets frustrating after a while, I was close to blowing a fuse yesterday when I went to the NZ Wal-Mart equilivant and they asked me fill out an application, again what can I write on a piece of paper that will qualify me to open a box of Gillete razors and put them on a shelf?

So now that we have spent 4 days straight looking for work we did what any unemployed person would do. We went to the brewery in town, got a free tour and got drunk. When that was over we headed down the road to the Cider factory and scored more free booze, it was the best we could do to try and take our minds of not working.

Morale has been low, I can tell you that it is not all fun and games.

Photos of things like a really big tree

2008-11-19T18:46:00.000+13:00

This is Andrea. This photo was takin at the luge run in Rotorua, in the interior of the north island. A lot of people will tell you that when you visit Rotorua you should see the large amount geothermal activity that occurs in the area. This is wrong. Upon arrival in Rotorua, you shall proceed directley to the luge track , pay your money and instantely the fun will begin. I can honestly say that I would fly around the world, to do this (this is my actual reason for returning to NZ after a six year hiatus). It is the best thing EVAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In fact I will come back ina month when a new track opens up. That is correct Scuba, A NEW TRACK! Look closley at the glee on Andis face, you should be able to see it.

Dion doing his best to look cool...

Once you make it all the way to the bottom you ride a chairlift back up, th eluge carts are hanging from the bottom of the chairlift. I reckon COP could make a go of this and make a mint of money as well.

This is what happens when you park your car on 90 mile beach and let the tide come in. I guess this dude got caught in deep dry sand. He was stuck and it was only a matter of time before the tide came in an ran a clinic in car ruining.

Artsy Raglan shot...

A Photo of the Raglan point break doing what it does, breaking at a point. There was a lot of water moving around that day, a bit messy. I mostly watched.

This is my girlfriend, can you see why I date her? Beaut isn't she?

This is Dion at Raglan. This was approximatly 30 mins prior to his 15 minute paddle that saw him, rip a fin out if his surf board and punch a plug through the top deck. That is tech talk for Dion f*&%ked up his board. Oh yah, I am growing my moustache out for MOVEMBER. Google it when you should be working to find out what it is all about. This is week two, Gordy you should be impressed that your son at the age of 30 can now pump out a moustache in 2 weeks.

Meet PY, our car, its a 4WD. It is red and awesome. Did I mention it is 4WD? This is PY at the Raglan Point, Manu Bay.

Here is the really Big Tree, in fact its the biggest tree in NZ. It is called a Kauri and before the greenies got ahold of the idea of chopping them down they yielded the most merchanable timber per tree in the world. Its a big tree...

Just an Update

2008-11-15T12:27:00.000+13:00

We bought a car. Yep a 1991 Toyota Carolla Wagon, and it is 4WD! It is red and awesome. I'd have photos for you if Andi didn't take the car and camera off to work with her today. Oh yeah we have jobs too. Well had jobs, I did my last shift yesterday and Andi is quitting today. I worked a total of 9 hrs and she has held on for 24 hrs. It is tough to work really, i find it so boring and degrading performing a sandwich making service for money.

Actually we are just helping out a small cafe in town for a few days so the owners can take a breather. I make sandwiches for the school kids across the street and Andi makes coffees for the walk ups. SUPER easy work, i reckon one person could handle the entire operation but there are four of us there to make sure it all goes to spek.

We are in a town in the far north called ahipara (http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?hl=en&q=ahipara%20NZ&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il) in the far north of NZ. We took a trip up the cape to the end of NZ, Cape Reinga. On this trip there was sandboarding, picture taking, big trees, old big trees in swamps, a giant chainsaw and a drive along a big ass beach in a bus. It was good, photos to come in another post. I think we will be heading south from here tomorrow and go back to Whangerie for one night at Bob and Elen's house (Andi's grandfathers brother) before we head even further south to maybe Raglan. I bought a wetsuit and there is nothing stopping me from surfing now...except the presence of waves.

More later, stay tuned.

Got a phone number

2008-11-11T21:02:00.000+13:00

Hey kids,

you can reach me at 021 176 8055. This is my cell number. I am not sure of the country code in order to get through to me though. I think it is 011 64... then my number. I could be wrong. That said I have send out a couple of txt messages back to a couple of people, maybe they can jot down the full code in the comments needed to get through to me or to send a text message.

EDIT: Yes you need to dial 011 64 21 176 8055. If you send a text message try either the number i just listed or +6421 176 8055. That should get your message onwards to me.

Ode to a Travel Book

2008-10-30T17:59:00.000+13:00

Just two weeks ago you were a beaming brand new book full of information. Bought for a mere 30.95 CAD you have led us towards great adventure, food and accommodations. In return we have folded, thrown, packed, bent and soaked you. You now bear the wounds of a well seasoned book fit for the shelves of a second hand store. That said we will not discard you, that would be cruel. No, you are bound for the bookshelf at home. Your final resting place will be among the other champions of the past like; Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Australia and the South Pacific the 3rd Edition. Today you fade to the hall of legends, I say thank you for your weeks of service.

Samoan Fia Fia Night

2008-10-30T13:00:00.000+13:00

One of the nights that we were delayed in samoa we had a chance to see a Traditional Samoan Fia Fia. A good thing that came out of the delay as I wanted to see this awesome traditional dance! This is basically the Polynesian dances that you have seen in movies. This one has the men and women dancing together on the stage while there are loud drums playing in the background. All in all, it was about 1 and a half hours of dancing and this is what started it.

After this the lights when down and the fire dancers came out for their portion of the show. It was SO SO cool to see their talents!! They had to warn the front row just in case the fire spread... it never did and they looked in complete control the whole time. A few of the men barely looked over 16 years old!!

A really cool evening to remember!

Ongoing Samoa...

2008-10-30T12:30:00.000+13:00

I apologize for the order here but with things being backlogged due to the incrediably shitty internet available in the islands.

Anyway we have a story to tell...

Dear Air New Zealand you suck for the following reason:

THE FIFTY (50) HOUR DELAY LEAVING SAMOA!!!!!!

Yeah that is correct, we were handing a delightful handful of sit around and wait for two entire days before we got the chance to board the plane and head onto Tonga. With hindsight we should have stayed in Samoa for longer with Tonga being a less desirable place but here were are.

Lets go back to the begining...

Wednesday 4:30 AM: Wake up and head to airport for flight at 6:30 AM.

5:00 AM: Arrive to a completely closed port, no plane it forgot to come from Los Angeles. We know now that it was a faulty fuel pump and the plane was not allowed to fly from LA.

6:30 AM leave airport and head back to Apia (the capital of Samoa) which is a 30 minute bus ride.

7:00 - 9:00 AM - Drop bags back at hotel, get breakfast head to Air NZ to find out just WTF is going on. Get informed that flight is delayed until 11:30pm Wednesday night. We get comp our hotel room and money to take taxi back to airport. We then made friends with a couple of other backpackers in order to save money on taxi fair and spent the balance on beer.

8:00 PM: Head back to airport, check in and clear customs.

11:00 PM: Board plane, do saftey check, and wait.

11:30 PM: Get announcement from captain stating that they were conducting more tests on the same fuel pump to see if it was fit to fly onto Tonga...guess what nope. Everybody deplanes into the terminal.

12:30 AM Thursday: Blankets and pillows from plane are handed out to passengers freezing in the air conditioned airport.

1:30 AM: Snacks handed out from plane to starving passengers in airport terminal.

2:00 AM: Flight is cancelled! We are then told we will be put up for the night at a hotel. This takes and hour to sort out who is going where.

3:00 AM: Leave airport after a serious amount of bullshit waiting around.

4:00 AM: Arrive at 4 star hotel with pool and head to room.

4:30 AM: Go to sleep with assurance that we will be informed when to come back to the reception to get back on the shuttle to the port for our flight which is supposed to be leaving at 1:00 PM.

12:30 PM: Wake up and find out that the flight will not be leaving at the 3:00 PM time, which change while we all were alseep.

1:45 PM: Get informed from other passengers who went to Air NZ office that we will now be leaving at 5:40 AM Friday. Also told we have a 35 dollar per meal allowance at the resturant and we need to be at reception for 3:00 AM to get shuttle.

Spend afternoon at pool.

8:00 PM: Told shuttle is now leaving at 1:00 AM.

10:00 PM: Try to go to bed, no sleep.

1:00 AM Friday: Get up and head to shutte.

1:30 AM: Leave hotel.

2:30 AM: Arrive at airport and line up.

3:15 AM: Check in system goes down.

6:00 AM: Finally clear check in, security and board plane.

7:00 AM: Lift off.

In the end it worked out to be a serious screw up and we were along for the ride. The worst part of it all was the lack of custormer service from Air New Zealand. Not once from the begining of the ordeal to the end was there a posted notice at the hotel or personale available from Air New Zealand to infom us of what was going on. It was all ruomour and hearsay. You had to go their office to get the details. Me = unstoked!

Tonga....Grrrr

2008-10-30T12:03:00.000+13:00

Ok where was I

oh right...

Tonga, you suck for the following reasons:

Theft - it happens in your country, to me and Andrea to the tune of $300 CAD. Stay out of my hut while I am eating dinner assholes!

Friends Cafe in Nuku a Lofa, got us both sick a mere 6 hours after landing on your soil, we spent the next 2 days in bed.

EVERYTHING closing on a sunday - church is not THAT important!!!! (this includes all food outlets, not even water for purchase). It was 3 before we finally found a bakery open, the only place in capital city!

GOLD TEETH look ugly, stop doing it Tongans.

No surf

Almost dening me boarding to the airplane because of NZ errors on my work visa - appenently I was listed as a female on the NZ records, what the hell is that all about.

$100 US flight change fee

Gross dogs everywhere...

Seagrass

Colder water, it was only 26 C

No turtles

Yachties - driving up the prices for everything. A package of pepper for example should not cost $4.00 CAD.

We left a week early, the grass is greener in Auckland.

I have one good thing to say about Tonga, one island we went to had a ship wreck that you could snorkel around. I saw fish. See the photo below. The resturant is called BIG MAMAS YACHT CLUB RESTURANT. Do not stay there is you want to be stolen from...tell your friends.

Coconut goes Boom!

2008-10-30T11:43:00.000+13:00

Actual qoute from Dion.:

"I blowed them coconuts up good!"

2008-10-29T17:44:00.000+13:00

Dear Tonga,

You suck for the following reasons:

to be continued...

Palolo Rising

2008-10-23T11:20:00.000+13:00

This is a story of how the Samoan People fish for a certain coral based worm that rises from the sea bed twice a year, 7 days after the full moon in October and November in fact. We were on the island of Savaii and all geared up to help the people go and fish for the sea based worm called Palolo (Pah-lo-lo). In order to catch the worm we needed to wake up at 4 AM and wade out into the lagoon (shallow water in between fringe reef and beach) and scoop them up with a skimmer and place in bucket. The lagoon was filled that morning with heaps of Samoans marking their territory for their chance to obtain this worm, the caviar of the Pacific. It looked as though it was a National Geographic film with all of the sillouttes of people wading in the waist deep water in the twighlight of the Pacific morning...at least that is what I am told.

We never made it up that morning because we met a Canadian couple that were from Toronto. As with any conversation with Canadians overseas it quickly led to a dispute about hockey. So we stayed up and drank rum and I continuely berated this couple for cheering for the lousy franchise located in Toronto. Needless to say, I slept through the wake up call of crashing buckets and outrigger canoe launches. But I did manage to wake up to a hangover, and a good one at that.

To make matters worse the next day was a travel day back to the main island. This was inclusive of leg one; a 45 minute van ride down windy roads along the coast spotted with random speed bumps. We machositically choose the back seats. Upon arrival at our destination we embarked on leg two; a 1.5 hour ride across a bumpy sea on a ferry loaded with large trucks. the boat lurched and listed, as did our stomaches. And to top it all off it rained...HARD! We were soaked, as was all of our luggage. Upon arrival, we needed to catch another taxi for yet another 30 minute ride. The taxi was a pickup with no topper for our luggage. Because it was the last taxi available we had no choice but to take it. Our luggage did a wonderful impression of a sponge and soaked up all the available water it could. The day was a memorable one.

The moral of the Palolo fish... When met with a one in a lifetime chance to experiance a significant cultural experiance, always make sure the hockey fans in Toronto know that they are just plain wrong!

Beautiful Samoa

2008-10-23T11:05:00.000+13:00

The whole week... and 1 day, has gone by in Samoa and we have been so busy lying around on the beach... Dion finished 3 books!!.. that we haven't been able to post a few pics of what life is like for a Samoan. After a day in the big city of Apia, we headed off to another island, Savaii, and checked into our 'Beach Fale' for the night.

As you can see, it was a spectatular beach hut raised over the lagoon, with plenty of fish swimming in the reef below. A great place!! Once I got used to the geckos on the roof. :)

After a few nights here tired of the spot and headed up the coast to check out a few more fales. Below is pretty much what most of the country looks like... pristine white sand and the bluest water I have ever seen!

We made a stop at the local blow holes and I think this has been Dion's highlight of the trip so far as we were able to get close to these holes in the sea wall and throw in a few coconuts. The blow holes look like geysers from a far but are actually holes in the lava along the coast that blow up the sea water as the waves come in. Movie to follow.... Internet too shitty here to upload. :(

After 4 nights on the other island we headed back to the Main Island where we rented a car and headed up the coast for more sight seeing. We stumbled upon this awesome place that was a lava tube cave. Basically, that means a cave that connects to the ocean and fills up with sea water as the waves crash in. It was like being swirled around in this 50 feet DEEP swimming hole. Being slightly afraid of heights, the huge ladder was a bit much to climb down, but it was totally worth the hike. You can see a very small me at the very top of the ladder here to get an idea of how far it was below!

That is it for me, I want to post this short note before the internet crashes again. Hopefully once we hit New Zealand we will be able to post a few of the videos that we have taken. Hope all is well and winter hasn't fully hit yet!!

Samoa, South Pacific Islands

2008-10-23T10:17:00.000+13:00

Ok Kids...

Has everybody found Samoa in Google Earth? Good... so you know that it is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, right? An Ocean that is bigger than all other Oceans put together, right? So you understand that when in Samoa things sometimes run a little different, right?

Kids: Well no what do you mean?

Us: Example the first...

9:00 pm last night: Andrea and Dion were talking to the boss of the Valentine hotel..." you can get us a taxi to the airport for 4:00 am correct?"

Boss: "Yes no problem, we will even wake you up at 3:45 AM with a knock on the door"

Us: Perfect...

fast forward to 4:30 AM... we wake up, with no knock on the door...PANIC!!!!!! We jump out of bed and secured a taxi and were off to the airport for our flight at 6:20 AM. The airport being a good 30-40 mins out of town we still had lots of time but it was a bit of a heart stopper to realize that we just about screwed ourselves.

5:oo AM: Arrive at airport to find that nothing is open and that Air New Zealand forgot to send the only flight off the island for the week! Yea that is correct, no airplane, no Air NZ reps and a terminal full of confused Palangi (Samoa word for Tourist). We got word that the plane had mechanical problems in L.A. and was never sent out leaving us stranded at the airport! So here we are now, with a full day to kill in the capital (Apia, Samoa) until the new plane leave tonight at 11:15 PM. We fly to Tonga and cross the international date line which means that we will completely lose the day of October 23rd, 2008....whooomp it's gone!

So that is the current update as of today...

the way this blog works, read above for the things we have done and seen in the last week or so...

Hope all is well!

"Two kids who did"

If your going to San Francisco...

2008-10-14T18:06:00.000+13:00

Today was our second day in San Fran, we went to Alcatraz aka "The Rock". It was pretty cool... even though Nick Cage has stepped foot on the island. I figured I would go beyond my personal ban of going somewhere that Nick Cage has been because it is a National Park.

Enough about history though... the highlight so far was the barking Sea Lions at Pier 39.

Did you know about these Sea Lion Facts?

1. Sea Lions Range on the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to the southern tip of Baja
2. Grown males reach 850 lbs and 7 Feet in length, females can grow to 240lbs and 6 feet in length
3. Sea Lions in the wild may live up to 20-30 years
4. One of the biggest dangers to Sea Lions today is becoming entangled in plastic pollution
5. Sea Lions have external ear flaps, seals do not!
6. Sea Lions will bite if provoked

I asked a local what "provoked" meant, he mentioned something about subjecting them to the redneck musings of hockey mom Sarah Palin.

Oh Yeah... We have seen a lot of bums, hitched rides on the cable cars, walked the worlds crookedest street and tried our hand at crab legs too!

Getting Ready

2008-10-12T11:52:00.001+13:00

So here is the deal. Personally I am fed up with certain seasons. Winter I am looking at you. Constantly sucking, year after year. I am tired of your bare trees and blankets of snow. I've had enough and I have convinced the girlfriend to head for greener pastures. Tomorrow AM we leave for a good seven months. First leg of the tour will bring us into the heart of rice a roni country, San Francisco. Don't kill me if that is spelt wrong, I've been trying for a month and cannot manage to get it right. But I don't really care to be honest.

After San Fran (note the ultra hip nickname - for spelling reasons) we are off to the small island group called Samoa. Deep in the centre of Polynesia we will be surrounded by the lush mountains of the rain forest and vibrant and jagged corals of the deep blue. We have a week here to do, well nothing really. I guess that is what retirement is all about. I have my surfboard in tow and Andi is bound and determined to dine on fresh coconuts acquired from the beach.

After Samoa we head south and west across the international date line to the Kingdom of Tonga. We have two weeks here, see above for intended itineraries.

New Zealand is our destination for the first leg of this trip. We have work visas, and no real idea of what kind of work we are going to do. Andi wants to make Lattes, Dion reckons swinging a hammer might be good for him. Well see what happens, the road ahead is about as clear as San Fran on a warm night.

Stay tuned for more musings from the two kids who did...

Calgary

2008-10-11T06:11:00.000+13:00

Well we are definitely getting excited! 2 More sleeps until we fly to San Francisco.
We leave for San Fran Oct 12
Then to Samoa, a little island in the South Pacific on Oct 14
Check it out at http://www.samoa.travel/
Then to Tonga, another little island in the South Pacific on Oct23
Check it out at http://www.tongaholiday.com/

We get into New Zealand on Nov 5!

We had a great time out in Ontario and are hoping to post pictures before we take off!