The Northland

Took the Kiwi Experience bus up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands today. The scenery on the way up was gorgeous... so green & lush. I pretty much just stared out the window for the entire 4 hour drive. I’m staying at the Bay Adventurer, a hostel recommended to me by Marissa.. very nice & beachy. It even has a pool and a hot tub!

I spent a good amount of time today planning the next leg of my journey. I wish I didn’t feel like I was in such a rush to cover ground... but I guess my original plan to see every inch of the country was a little unrealistic. I bit the bullet and bought a flight from Auckland to Nelson, where I’ll be staying at a hostel Amy recommended. From there I’ll work my way down the West Coast to the Franz Josef Glacier and then Queenstown, where Mom’s arriving. At least that’s the plan at the moment!

For now, I’m just going to enjoy my time here. Tomorrow I’m doing a day trip up to Cape Reinga (very tip top) and 90 Mile Beach, then Sunday I’m going to take a cruise to see and potentially swim with dolphins!

Here are pictures from the bus ride up, Paihia, and Russell (a ferry ride across the bay). I spent awhile sitting on the beach in Russell listening to Season 2 of the Ricky Gervais Show podcast. I probably looked like a maniac because I was very literally laughing out loud in response to no visual stimulus! Oh well!

first day of doing stuff

So today I went down to the wharf and caught a ferry to Rangitoto island. It’s the most recent and biggest volcano in the Auckland volcanic field. The island is pretty much untouched. They’ve worked hard to rid it of invasive species... they make you check your shoes for dirt and seeds and your bags for stray ants and rats (!) before you go. There are bathrooms right where you get off the ferry but there’s nothing else. You have to pack your own food, water, etc.

I climbed the main track to the summit, then circled around the crater rim and climbed back down just in time to catch the ferry back to town. It’s very cool... the terrain is a mix of black crumbled lava and really rich and varied plant life. When you get to the top you have a great view of all the surrounding islands as well as the Auckland skyline.

When I got back this afternoon I grabbed a quick sandwich and took it to Albert park, which has REALLY cool trees that I wanted to climb but refrained.

After that I walked around the shops for a bit (all too expensive for me) and came back here. Tomorrow I leave for the Bay of Islands!

Behold: pictures!

crack IS available here

It must be fate. There is a Dunkin’ Donuts pretty much across the street from my hostel. Next to an EB games.... next to a McDonalds... OH globalization. Anyway, I couldn’t resist. I woke up bright and early this morning (going to bed at 8PM will do that to you) and ran over to get a medium iced coffee extra skim milk... a taste of home. NO ICED COFFEE! Just “frozen coffee”... i.e. coolata. So now it’s official, I am roughing it :-)

I just booked a “kiwi experience” tour to Paihia and the Bay of Islands. It leaves tomorrow.. I’m very excited. Today I am going to take a ferry over to a volcanic island. I haven’t decided which one yet. Yay caffeine!!!

made it!

So I've arrived!! After many gruelling hours of sitting, waiting, more sitting, more waiting and on and on, I have touched down on solid ground in Auckland. While I did get a little bit of sleep on the plane, I think I will sleep well tonight (if I can stay awake to sleepy time... my watch says it's 6:20 but my computer thinks it's 2:23AM!).
My only exciting sight-see so far is the Sydney Opera House - from above, in a plane. Still cool though... that sucker is BIG!

Hopefully tomorrow I can work on planning the first leg of the journey (ideally the Northland) and also get out to explore Auckland a little. I'd also like to talk to a professor of ABA at the University here that I've emailed if I get time.

Staying in a hostel... well... it's interesting. First of all, it turns out that I booked in a different Base Auckland than I thought I was. I read the review and decided to book in BaseAuckland, but instead I booked at BaseAuckland Central. No biggie. It's just massive, and the "girl's only" deluxe floor is really just a wing with no bathrooms in it... so you still have to go to the co-ed side of the floor to use the loo. The shower had a pretty interesting twist, actually. I think it was a water/money saving device. You know the sinks where you press the handle down and you get maybe 10 seconds of water before the handle pops back up again (NLG has them)? The shower is like this... so if you want a continuous stream of hot water you have to make sure you're pressing that button in every 10-15 seconds. It's kind of a brilliant move environmentally, but as a spoiled wasteful American I was a little thrown off at first. Whatever... hot water is hot water and I just needed to was the travel-stink off!
The other thing about staying in a hostel is that I feel OLD!! My roommate (so far just 1) is also not a teeny bopper though, so that's good.

The really good thing, though, is that a lot of the tours & travel companies have bases right here, so tomorrow I just need to walk downstairs to plan my trip. There's also a bar/restaurant on site... and I am getting very hungry.
Finally: the Qantas portion of my trip was much more enjoyable than my American Airlines portion. Qantas still believes in the old-fashioned notion that they should FEED you when they confine you in one place for many hours at a time. AA now charges for food unless you're first class. Pretty frikkin cheap.

Oh! And Dave! I finally got to see "Up in the Air" on my flight... very thematically appropriate. It made me wish I had a special preferred card and got to fly first class. Except not in a deep philosophical way. The seats just looked comfier.

More tomorrow!!

fun hiking, trip approaching

Connor and I hiked up Mount Wachusett with Alison & John today. It was really fun and I got a good chance to try out my hiking shoes for the first time on hiking terrain. They worked great, so they're ready for the trip!

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get everything I'll need into the backpack I'm bringing. I'm also trying to figure out if it will be possible to get to all the places I want to see in the amount of time I'll have. The answer is definitely not. So I'm going to have to start weeding out and picking a few places so I can actually enjoy my time in each place and not feel rushed. When you calculate in travel time, I really only have 21 days there, and New Zealand clearly takes more than 21 days. But hey - it's better than nothing!

I'm also trying to get myself prepared for the idea of not being HOME for this long. I haven't been away from Connor, work, or the kittens in a LONG time. Hopefully skype will help me avoid homesickness. There are several cute kittens, several cute geckos, and one cute boy I will really miss!

haircut!

Now I'm definitely ready. No hair weighing me down. Also: dani's pregnant again! Yay!!

it's getting closer!

I had my last day of work for 5 weeks on Friday. It was a very weird feeling. I will definitely miss all of my kiddos & talking about the kiddos with my coworkers. When I quote certain individuals in New Zealand, I don't think it will go over as well.

Watching a good bit of Flight of the Conchords to get in a kiwi mood. Someone informed me that Rhys Darby is currently playing in NZ... it would be awesome if I could catch his stand up!

I'm working my way through my get-ready list: thin easy-to-pack clothes, sunglasses, toiletries bag, etc. Now I really need to start studying for the BCBA exam... harder to motivate myself for that.

Oh, and one other thing... Connor found a lost cockatiel at the track on Friday. So we're bird-sitting while we post ads on craigslist and put fliers up in the neighborhood. He's really a sweet guy... very chirpy.

getting ready for NZ

Trying to get all of my ducks in a row before I leave in 2 weeks! Figured I'd better practice writing in my blog again. Very excited for the trip. Just need to make sure I let my health insurer, bank, credit card, etc. know that I'm leaving, figure out how to pack 1 backpack for a whole month, and figure out where I'm going to visit and how I'm going to get there :-)

Also, taking the BCBA exam on the Friday before I leave. Should probably study for that. Don't know why I'm writing like Rorschach.