Hi all,
got to Auckland safely and went up the northern-most tip of North Island to Cape Reinga, was really amazing already and I’m only just beginning!
The country is rugged and beautifull, sometimes like a tropical Scotland.
Tommorrow I start my big tour around NZ, expect silly amounts of pictures in a month or so.
Byeee
So the day had finally come, I had bought a cheap rain jacket ($30) and a new baseball cap, my bags were packed and I was sitting in my favourite breakfast café in Newtown (Sydney) eating a “Canadian breakfast”-a big waffle with bacon, banana and maple syrup. It felt good; I had pretty much had enough of working at home for a month and doing the same shopping trips at my local IGA supermarket. A lot of my friends had left apart from an English friend (Tom) and the two Duchies (Carolijn and Muriel), and though we made the most of our remaining time it was clearly the end of an era. There was a light drizzle outside which made the café very cosy, and I was looking forward to leaving the flat and getting on to new horizons.
Before getting on the plane to New Zealand I had time to go visit the Blue Mountains with one of my local favourite Aussies, Dru. First we went body boarding at the North Curl beach on one of Sydney’s northern beaches, which was great fun (and I was pretty good for a beginner!), but also costly as it brought back a cold I had been fighting off. Had a great stay up there, saw the Three Sisters and some really cool views and rode a very steep railway.
Now I know why Dru drives all the way to work from the Blueys – his parents’ house is amazing! And you wouldn’t believe the size of the TV, truly choice for watching the Australian Open semis. I would have stayed another day, but I decided to return to convalesce in the Railway Square YHA in Sydney, in the hope that I would recover from my cold before I got to New Zealand – and it worked!
Botanical Gardens
Well, the time has come, it’s been good hanging out here, but I’m also glad to be doing more travelling again. Off to the Blue Mountains tommorrow, staying with Dru’s family, then Saturday it’s time for New Zealand-I really can’t wait! My blogging might get a bit sparse next month, as I’m quite happy to take some leave from web stuff again!
I also watched Memoirs of a Geisha, and I have to say that it’s getting a far badder rap than it deserves. Beautifully shot and the story etc is pretty good, maybe not Oscar winning material, but good enough!
I haven’t just been lazing around you know…here’s a small site I designed and developed for some cool people!
http://underthebluepictures.com
I hate cockroaches. Especially huge-pumped-up-been takin steroids down the gym-ones. Just as I was enjoying a quiet moment downloading the latest Ricky Gervais podcast, the ugly critter appeared from nowhere and proceeded to scuttle it’s way around my room. After I realised it wasn’t going to just piss off I reached for the industrial-strength bug spray, but it took at least ten rounds of gassing before the little f###er even started twitchin’.
Perhaps my xenophobia was heightened by the fact that I watched the Directors’ cut of Alien last night…
I leave you with a Pearl Jam classic:
Bugs
Pearl Jam
All these…
I got bugs
I got bugs in my room
Bugs in my bed
Bugs in my ears
Their eggs in my head
Bugs in my pockets
Bugs in my shoes
Bugs in the way I feel about you
Bugs on my window
Trying to get in
They don’t go nowhere
Waiting, waiting…
Bugs on my ceiling
Crowded the floor
Standing, sitting, kneeling…
A few block the door
And now the question’s:
Do I kill them?
Become their friend?
Do I eat them?
Raw or well done?
Do I trick them?
I don’t think they’re that dumb
Do I join them?
Looks like that’s the one
I got bugs on my skin
Tickle my nausea I let it happen again
They’re always takin’ over
I see they surround me, I see…
See them deciding my fate
Oh, that which was once…was once up to me…
Now it’s too late
I got bugs in my room…one on one
That’s when I had a chance
I’ll just stop now
I’ll become naked and with the…
I’ll become one
Ladies, good new, your prayers have been answered, the Hoff is back on the market.
Did I mention that the Hoff was singing Xmas carrols here in Sydney? Probably because I shamefully missed it!
That Preacher man from Oxford Street is here*
Time to leave Sydney.
*with his microphone assisted “God is Hip, sinners to winners” freestylin’
Check out the archives, this is the best comic I’ve seen in a long time.
Mm, as I sit here in the appartment listening to the baby screaming, and the wife screaming even more, I reflect on how it’s a further reminder to be careful out there, unless you want a moody (Aussie*) wife and a screaming baby. Heheh.
*In this case…
Just like Slurms Mackenzie, I’m all partied out..went on a big night out last night to a flat-warming party and then a club in Darling Harbour…it was great fun, although sunday has totally been wiped out by the aftermath..but since it was a bit of a party to see off the DD crew who are all leaving this week, I suspect (and right now I hope) that I won’t be out like that in Sydney in my remaining 2 weeks! I’m gonna miss these guys!
But I’m also looking forward to leaving the Sydney scene and the large beer nights, and hopefully heading over to New Zealand to swap random partying for incredible wilderness…