Back in Auckland

My posts are a few days behind but I'm trying to catch up. I've been back in Auckland for two days now, I got tattooed yesterday by Liesje at The Tattooed Heart, it was my second tattoo and a bit of a different experience from my first. It was all good though Liesje was an awesome artist and was really interested in my travels, we talked for most of the session. She was really fast but we didn't get it done in one sitting so I had to come back the next day. Which made it much more uncomfortable. If I ever come back to NZ I'll get work done by her again for sure. I can't post any pictures of it because I'm lacking a laptop or iPhone right now but you'll see it eventually. My left arm has almost no room left now.

I'm going to the All Blacks game tomorrow, and meeting up with Morag and Martyn, a Scottish couple I met in Australia hopefully we can have a few drinks. I'm not sure what I'm doing next or where I'm going. Possibly South America or maybe the US.

Queenstown.

Turns out two weeks of little sleep, constant drinking, and eating nothing but burgers (burgers here in NZ are the best I've ever had), and pub food will make you sick. So far it's just a stuffed nose and sore throat, and luckily I've only got one more night on the bus before heading back to Auckland.

Queenstown is awesome, I only have one night here. I really wish I had more, Queenstown feels like a much cooler Banff. Once again ski town but everyone walks around in t shirts. There seems to be more bars and more restaurants and more to do. It sits on a huge lake surrounded by mountains and with the lack of snow in the town there's so much to do other than ski. Mountain biking, luge, bungy jump, canyon swing, boating, golf all sorts of stuff. Me and the other guys went to Fergburger, which everyone told me i had to go to while in New Zealand, it was really good but a bit over hyped. Its open 22 hours a day and its always at least 30 minute wait. Afterwards Andy I took the gondola to one of the mountains to get a few photos and a few beers. My last night out we went to the base hostel bar, which was like any other base hostel bar. Next we went to The World Bar a pretty cool bar a few friends recommended it. They serve drinks in tea pots and there's cool shit on the walls, but it was pretty much like any other bar. The bars were pretty busy considering it was a Tuesday, Josh our driver says it's like this pretty much year round.

Kiwi ex again

Had a couple more great days on the bus. We stayed at the Pu Pub, a little redneck pub that kiwi experience has been going to for years. The tradition is to have a costume party with everyone else on the bus. The girls teamed up as the Spice Girls, Andy bought a creepy porcelain doll and wore a Davey Crocket raccoon skin hat, another guy named Andy who hopped on that day dressed up as a classy Mexican I guess? Josh our driver was a lady cop, I myself went as a gay biker. Surprisingly I won for best costume. I received a free canyon swing (a giant bungee jump followed by swinging down the canyon) in Queenstown but sold it to Andy for four beers.

We are now in Franz Josef for two days with lots to do. Just about everyone did the Glacier Explorer. For 250 bucks we were flown to the glacier that sits above Franz Josef in a helicopter then we strapped on our spiky boots and started climbing the glacier, we squeezed through tiny trenches and caves. It was way better than I expected. That evening we watched the All Blacks vs. The Wallabies (Australia) and had a few beers.

Sunday some of us went kayaking, I could hardly squeeze my fat ass in the kayak but it was still awesome. After Franz Josef we headed to Wanaka, a ski town here on the south island. When I think ski town I immediately think of Banff and Jasper, and Wanaka isn't much different. However, there is no snow here. It's peak season for skiers and snow boarders but there isn't any snow on the ground and it couldn't be colder than 12 degrees. I guess they rarely get snow in the towns but lots up on the mountains. There's a movie theatre across from our hostel it's only one screen but instead of seats they have couches and even a convertible you can sit in. Plus they sold freshly baked cookies, beer, wine all sorts of stuff. It was pretty awesome, they had an intermission which was a little annoying seeing as our film was only an hour and a half long. But then you could get more beer. At the hostel bar that night they had battle of the buses, two other touring companies are following a similar route as us so we had some fun games at the bar. Our team although the smallest was by far the loudest, drunkest, and most competitive. The bar staff mentioned that was a common theme with Kiwi Experience buses. We played killer pool coming in second, first in karaoke , and took 4 out of the top 5 spots in horizontal bungy. A relay where you partner up and one person races to the bar to grab a pint while attached to a bungy rope. They stretch out the last few meters and race back with the pint. My partner Alice and I were the team to beat until the rest of our bus surpassed us. We won some free bungy jump passes and pub crawl tickets.

Kiwi Ex

It's been an awesome few days riding around on the Kiwi Experience bus, also known as the big green fuck bus, the vagina liner, ect. I guess it's pretty crazy in the summer time. I've met some pretty cool people so far. Since Hot Water Beach we stopped at Waitomo where some people went black water rafting, basically tubing through caves, I did a walking cave tour with a couple people from the bus. We had our first pub night at the hostel and got everyone out, I was the first one out in the pool tourney. We left and hit up Rotorua a resort town surrounded by natural hot springs. The park even had some but they are almost 100 degrees celsius, most of us went to the Maori village in the evening. It was basically a Hawaiian Luau but with better food and some demonstrations on Maori culture. I particularly liked the tattooing, they used to carve the design in their skin with a rock or bone basically like scarification. Then they used a dye made of mud, dog shit, and bark and rub it into the skin and then cauterize the wound. Pretty painful, especially considering both men and women would get them on their faces. People even died during the process. Next stop was Taupo again surrounded by hot springs but most of these were fine to sit in. The locals would fill up the park with some beers and just sit in the hot pools, I love the liberal drinking policies here. We had two nights in Taupo so with the chance to sleep in everybody went out to the Base Hostel. It was a pretty great night, again having everyone together was good. I promised two girls in my room to take them out for brunch in the morning it seems to be a common theme on my trip. I go out drinking and tell some girl I'll go out to eat with her or accompany her on her first tattoo and we're always too hungover to follow through or I don't recall my alcohol induced plans.

I only get one night in Wellington which really sucks, it looks like such an awesome city. Many people spoke very highly of it, more bars, restaurants, and cafes per person than New York City. Everyone else is staying for three days to keep the group together. I have to continue on though, we went out for my birthday and I dont remember coming home but I do remember being in a Chinese place at 4am. I was up by 6 to catch the ferry to the south island. So feeling like shit and with a new group of people I was pretty homesick. We stopped again for the night and started drinking again, the best hangover cure. Josh the bus driver and I stayed up late drinking whiskey and talking about the Maoris. I explained how poorly Canadians have treated our natives in the past and the differences I've seen between native Americans and the Maoris. Only a week left on the bus then back to Auckland for a tattoo and the All Blacks game.

Kiwi Experience

I started my bus tour yesterday with Kiwi Experience. It's pretty cool so far, but with a new set of people I have to start over again. Plus it's a hop on hop off bus and I'm only doing the minimum of two weeks, so I'll constantly be with different people. Right now I'm one of only two Canadians, the other guy is from Vernon. He's been working at a ski resort for the summer on the South Island. Everyone else is from the UK or Germany. The ratio is really good, theres 30 of us and only 7 guys. It seems like everyone is either at the beginning or end of their journeys as well. It's pretty cool to share stories and travel suggestions, two Scottish guys drove from NYC to LA in 6 weeks. They spent a week in Vegas and only paid 150 for 5 days in a hotel on the strip.

Every stop there's something to do, last night at Hot Water Beach we dug up holes to sit in and the water that seeps up through the beach is incredibly hot. Some were about 70 degrees Celsius, we stood with our feet in and had a few beers discussing the usual backpacker shit. I have to be back in Auckland for a tattoo appointment and to see the All Blacks play, so I only get to spend a day in almost all of the stops.

Leaving Auckland

Today was my last day here in Auckland, no one really spoke very highly of it before I came here. However, I met some cool people and decided to hang out for a few extra days. I've been sharing a room with two Americans: Patrick from Florida and Rachel from upstate New York. Patrick is young and looking for a job here, I don't know why he's leaving in two weeks. Rachel is a bit older than me, though she doesn't always act like it. She's a little ignorant when it comes to current events, but she's fun to drink with. Chris is a 27 year old programmer from the UK whose designing his own iPhone apps. He definitely shares his sense of humor with me, and his love of drinking. There's also Mikka and Sabrina, two hilarious Germans who definitely break the German stereo type. We went to Devonport a neighborhood where the houses are storage 125 years old and worth millions despite being so small. Skytower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere was pretty cool. It had great views of Auckland, the harbor and surrounding islands. You could jump off it for a few hundred bucks, and also walk outside along the top of it. We decided to have a few beers and enjoy the view. Today Chris and I rented a car and went to Hobbiton. Patrick from Florida is in the hospital for something so we asked thus random German gut if he wanted to tag along. It was about a two hour drive south of Auckland but well worth it. They filmed all three of The Lord of The Rings movies and recently The Hobbit films there and its all still standing. We really lucked out and only had the three of us and a Spanish women on the tour and our guide let us go in some areas where most weren't allowed. It was one of the coolest places I've been yet, our guide gave us leaves that had fallen off one of the fake trees, and let us take lots of goofy pictures. Tomorrow I leave for my bus tour, I'm excites but also worried. I have to make all new friends after leaving the awesome ones I've made here in Auckland.

Auckland

So far Auckland blows, the hostel is nice but it seems like it's pretty far from anything fun or interesting. Although it is down the street from Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano. The view from the top is supposed to be great but with the shit weather Auckland is having I'm going to wait a few days.

Today I booked a tattoo consultation and appointment for the end of the month, sorry mom and dad. The shop seems friendly, I haven't met the artist yet though. I'll see her on Friday. I think I'm going to book a bus tour with Kiwi Experience, it's described online as a "drunken orgy for under 25s" sounds great to me. It's a hop on hop off tour so if you like a certain stop you can stay and wait for the next bus. The tour can be as short as 13 days or as long as a year. I'm trying to meet up with a Scottish couple and their English friend, they're going to do the tour too.