Melting

I can’t believe I have been traveling for almost two months now. I had 6 weeks in New Zealand, and it really wasn’t enough time to do everything I wanted. I had to cut a few things out and would have liked a few more weeks to go to: the Coromandel Peninsula, Mt. Taranaki, Golden Bay, Napier and Stewart Island and the Catlins. If I had to do it all over again, I would have planned on three months and bought a car, but seeing as I can’t do it over, I am satisfied with what I did. And three months in New Zealand would have been very expensive as well. For those who are planning on traveling in New Zealand or just curious, here is a sampling of the costs of things here. I’ll post in NZ dollars, as exchange rates and things change. Right now, my rate is about US$0.75 to NZ$1.00. [read on]

I’m back in Christchurch for the third time now and staying again at what I think I’ve decided is my favorite hostel in New Zealand, Dorset House. Since I didn’t have too much planned for my last day here, I really wanted to sleep in and get some rest, but I was awoken early this morning to, of all things, hail pounding against the window. It was really strange, the weather here usually isn’t so violent, just rain or sunny etc. But it was really coming down, and everyone in my room woke up and watched it come down. I managed to go back to sleep for another hour or so and when I woke up again, it was sunny but cool and really windy, just like September in Chicago. [read on]

If I had to guess, I would say that Milford Sound is probably one of the top three most visited destinations in New Zealand.  When it was first discovered by James Cook, he called it a Sound because the word ... [Continue reading this entry]

(Happy Belated Birthday to my friend Vicki. Sorry I'm a little late! Hope you had a good day.) The past few days have again flown by, as I've been going at a pretty fast pace trying to get everything done that ... [Continue reading this entry]

As most people have experienced at some point while traveling, the weather can have a huge impact on your time spent in a certain place; what activities you do, how much a city appeals to you, etc. A much needed ... [Continue reading this entry]

Warning: This is my first PUI (Posting Under the Influence), as I've just spent 4 hours in an English pub watching the Super Bowl. Not really the same without the commercials, and sort of sacriligious to see ads for soccer ... [Continue reading this entry]

I am in Wellington right now, the capital of New Zealand. Today was a nice day. The weather was good, I saw a lot in my short time here, and am getting some things done. My time in Wellington did ... [Continue reading this entry]

When I started to research my trip to New Zealand, I managed to watch a television show on the Travel channel in the States called A Royal Tour of New Zealand. The Prime Minister Helen Clark took an American journalist ... [Continue reading this entry]

I'm back in Auckland at the moment, staying with an old friend of mine from Oak Park, Walt N. It's his 30th birthday today, and he and his wife Jules are having a big BBQ for him tomorrow, so I'm ... [Continue reading this entry]

After my last entry my day continued on in Auckland. I decided to go up into the Sky Tower, which offered an impressive view of the city. Auckland reminds me a lot of Seattle. It sits right on the water ... [Continue reading this entry]