Saying goodbye is the hardest part of travelling. I think all travellers will tell you the same thing.

The people I have met travelling are the most amazing people one could hope to meet in life. It always astounds me how many incredible people I meet on the road. I think there is something very big that brings us all together and it’s something we all understand about each other, but could never explain.

Our relationships are short but they can be as meaningful as any. Travelling is what has brought us all together and it is inevitably what will tear us apart. Saying goodbye is something I find myself doing very often, and it never gets any easier.

The people I have met on the road mean more to me than the road itself.

From Auckland North

It’s been more than a few days since my trip has begun, but believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve gotten any proper internet and time to update you all. 

Things cost a lot here in New Zealand, is something I’ve learned, and hostels don’t like to give out free internet. Lots of free barbecues, but that’s about it. 

I spent my first two days in Auckland, not doing much, just getting myself situated. I bought my bus pass with Stray travel. I’ll be doing the stray everywhere pass. cuz I don’t wanna miss a thing. 

Auckland don’t impress me much. Then again I was jet lagged and the weather was horrible. 

On the morning of day three I was picked up at my hostel by stray and we were off to Paihia. The bus driver was great and got us all talking to each other. We stopped to see a giant Kauri tree (but it was just a baby).

Next stop was the goat Island Marine reserve to go on a glass bottom boat tour. We were lucky enough to see some eagle rays and a whole lot of snappah.

The highlight of the day was the Native Bird Recovery Centre. and wow, I never though I would say that. The reason why it was so great was Robert. The guy who runs the place. He is so passionate about what he does there and he has an amazing connection with the birds. They call him the bird whisper. I hope I can be that passionate about ANYTHING at some time in my life. We also got to pet a one legged kiwi which was pretty cool.

The hostel that night was having a barbecue in the bar. I stayed at the base hostel which I didn’t think was too bad. Most Base hostels are horrible. As a general rule, don’t stay at them, this one was an exception. 

After the barbecue we drank cider on the beach, sampled some NZ wine. 

Cape Reigna Dune Rider Day trip

I highly reccomend this trip. It is 100% worth the money. 

They take you around in a semi with passenger seating. You go to see the gum diggers mine where there is a 150,000 year old piece of wood (ooo), an extremely beautiful white beach, cape reigna, dune boarding, and then out for fish and chips.

Cape Reigna is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. it’s lush and green with cliffs and sand dunes in the distance. The tasman sea meets the Pacific ocean there and you can actually see them crashing into each other. It’s extremely windy, I lost my footing a couple times. 

Sand boarding is FUN. It’s pretty difficult getting up that sand dune, especially the second and third time, but it’s so worth the burning legs. You’re given a boogie board and you slide down the dune head first. Sand get’s everywhere and it’s wonderful. 

The fish and chips shop is said to be the best in the world, and it was pretty damn good, but I was also starving after a long day of activities, so my judgement was a bit off. 

Back to Auckland

The bus didn’t leave until the afternoon so I spent the morning touring the Waitangi treaty ground and doing a hike through a mangrove swamp. 

The hike was really cool. It was the Haruru Falls Mangrove Walk. We didn’t have time to finish the whole thing, so we didn’t see the falls, but the mangroves were cool and I would totally recommend this walk to anyone who’s in the area. It’s 1.5 hours one way, easy, and well maintained. 

A lot of people travelling to New Zealand decide not to go north of Auckland. I almost passed up on it myself, but I’m so glad I didn’t. It’s a really beautiful area and there’s lots to see. You really don’t have to spend a lot of time there, I was only there for 2 nights and saw all I needed to.

In raglan NZ. It’s a cool little surfing town. Good vibe. I would highly recommend you spend some time here if you’re ever in new Zealand. Ill definitely be back at some point. It’s beach was featured in endless summer if that means anything to you. Sorry for the lack of updates and photos, internet is hard to come by, or at least Internet that’s cheap enough for uploading photos and videos. Expect things eventually.

Flying to Auckland and the Mystery Rock Star

My first flight was to LA, and was about 4 hours 30 minutes. Not a problem, but when I arrived in LA I found that my flight to Auckland was delayed, because of a mechanical problem… reassuring. I spent 4 hours in LAX trying my best not to fall asleep. When we finally left it was 4:00am Toronto time and I was on my last legs. 

The second flight was 15 hours I think, I don’t really want to know how long it was. I slept quite a lot actually and managed to stay sleeping until 6:00am (1:00pm toronto). 

The guy sitting next to me turned out to be some super famous musician. I didn’t recognize him, but finding out he was on an international tour was a bit of a hint. I asked him where he was playing tonight in Auckland and he said Trust STADIUM, so that was another hint. Really nice guy, friendly, and didn’t mind me getting up 100 times to pee in the night. 

Yay mystery rock star. 

If any of you feel really nice you can try to find out who he is… he’s bald, got a goatee, maybe mid thirties, tatoos on his arms.. uhh yeah, i really want to know who this person was… I should have asked but I felt kind of bad “uhhh, so who are you anyways?” 

I walked a bit with someone I met at the hotel and then we got groceries, deciding we would cook tonight and share the cost. Now I’m just trying to stay awake until 9:00, at which point I will allow myself to sleep

Greeting for Toronto Pearson

I made a video, but didn’t have time to upload it. so expect a late video in two days when I get to Auckland :)

This morning I went out for Brunch with Mom and Dad and it was amazing. They had brown paper table cloths and crayons, so you know they’ve got their shit together. It’s also family day so the whole place was filled with families (including mine). 

I’m sitting in the airport and I have about an hour until boarding. My first flight is to LA where I have a 2 hour lay over followed by a 20 hour flight to Auckland. I’m not too concerned about the flight, I’ll be sleeping most of the time so it shouldn’t be too bad. Even if I can’t sleep I like flying, it forces me to sit and think, or read, or listen to music. Relaxing.

I don’t know how much free time I’ll have in LAX, so I’ll write again either in LA or in Auckland. 

Here’s me being awkward at the gate:

integers asked: regarding your post about the famous musician, could it be one of the guys from system of a down? google image them and have a squiz.

ok, so I’ve done some searching, and I’m not totally sure, but I think it was Aaron Lewis. It doesn’t really make sense, but that’s what I’m thinking… I really should have gotten a closer look at this dude.

UUUHHH :(

the internet in this hostel is NOT free and it’s paid by how much data you use, so uploading a video aint gonna happen tonight, oh well.