Finding My Fix: Chronicles of a Travel Junkie

I had a dream about an earthquake. And another one about Zombies.

Our trip to Fiji has had some interesting rather quick developments. The other American who was supposed to be coming on the trip has dropped out due to financial reasons (damn being American and having to pay for your education!), so now a Canadian has taken her place. Our “girls week” will no longer be girls week, since, as far as I can tell, the Canadian is not a girl, and a German guy has decided to tag along. This brings the count to: 3 Germans, 1 Singaporean, 1 Canadian, and 1 American. But it will be fun!

This weekend, we are renting a car and heading up to Taranaki. Taranaki (I was reminded by the New Zealander I met in my physics lab) is where they filmed the Last Samurai. I don’t really know what to expect with that.

Several nights ago, I went to Murphy’s pub because we were supposed to be discussing our trip to Taranaki this weekend. However, two of the girls didn’t show, so it was just Camille and me. We stuck around for the quiz night to see if we could win. A man came up to our table and asked if we wanted to join him and his friend for the quiz. He said they needed some young people to answer the young people questions, as they looked to be in their fifties. The one man had very bad arthritis, poor guy. He used to be English, poor guy (just kidding), but moved to New Zealand 30ish years ago. The other one said that they had both found themselves “unexpectedly alone” about five years ago and so they decided to start living together. They go to Murphy’s every quiz night they say (which is every Tuesday), and they have an interesting take on alcoholism–pride. We managed to get 7th to last place, so we’re mediocre. And thanks to the fact that mum is a scuba diver, I got the answer to the question of what country has the second largest reef. Belize.

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I did my laundry today, and when I got to the laundry area, there were no free washers. A guy was standing waiting for one to finish. When it did finish, he opened the lid, and looked inside, stepped back, ... [Continue reading this entry]

I think I would like to report that this afternoon, for the first time since I arrived on this island, I felt fully comfortable with everything, with my decisions in coming here. I felt almost at home you might say ... [Continue reading this entry]

Hell's Gate Geothermal Hotsprings and Spa, near Rotarua. And again, sorry they're so big. Sorry some of them may look dark depending on your computer, and some look like repeats. And finally, sorry but I have no pictures of Auckland. And ... [Continue reading this entry]

Pictures!!! Sorry they're so big. Sorry some of them may look dark depending on your computer, and some look like repeats. And finally, sorry but I have no pictures of Auckland. A typical "highway:" [Continue reading this entry]

HAPPY FOURTH! First day of classes went well. I met one Kiwi in my Maori studies class, she seems like a cool person. My cognitive psychology professor is either American or Canadian and has the most obnoxiously inflected way of talking. ... [Continue reading this entry]

The All Blacks slaughtered the Lions, again. 48:18 I believe, effectively winning the series and giving all of New Zealand an excuse to drink, a lot. And maybe I should mention also that it gave the Brits an excuse to ... [Continue reading this entry]

This entry is basically only to say that after the nature reserve, we drove to Wellington. It's also to inform you that I'll write about our arrival in Wellington at a later date, because right now I need to go ... [Continue reading this entry]