Cybil

Just got back from a long weekend in Auckland. After a few days moping around in Whangarei with Deb's family, I decided I needed to get out and start traveling again instead of sitting around dwelling on having my bags stolen. I set out on Friday morning and arrived in Auckland around noon. I dropped my bag off at the hostel and set off to explore. I ended up at the SkyTower, which is the Southern Hemisphere's largest tower at 328m. Shorter than the CN Tower, but with some amazing views. I went on a clear day and the view from the top was fantastic. There's 3 different levels you can look from, and the highest one is the best. You can lean on the walls and see for miles. I could have spent most of ... read more

Deb and I set out to explore Northland for a week before Chris' 21st birthday on Saturday. On our 4th day of roadtripping we made it to Ahipara, a surfer's paradise. We woke up and drove to Shipwreck Bay, where you can walk along the points during low tide and see sand dunes. It was approaching high-tide, so worrying that we might get caught being thrown in the water, we put our cameras in a plastic bag, threw our wallets in the locked glove compartment, hid everything in the trunk and set off to walk around the rocky point before we couldn't get past. The walk was beautiful. The jutting rocks, the beautiful blue water, the giant sand dunes beside us. It was awesome. Deb was adventurous and set out to climb the dunes, while I ... read more

I made it! After a total of 26 hours on 2 planes I arrived safely, though travel-worn, in Auckland, New Zealand. The trip was pretty boring except for when I was escorted to my next plane in Hong Kong due to my Toronto-HK flight being late. Didn't have to run this time though, so that was a bonus. After a painless trip through customs and quarantine, I was greeted by my friend, and travel-buddy for the next couple months, Deb. For those that don't know, Deb and I were both English teachers in the same town in Japan last year, and have been through some interesting things together. I hadn't seen her since saying goodbye in August, so I was pretty stoked to see her and start my trip! We dropped my things off at Deb's ... read more