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John Cross
Welcome to my blog! I landed in Auckland on Feb 22 and plan to wander my way south until I find a place to call home. I have a 3 month visa for New Zealand but hope to find a Civil Engineering job to extend my stay. Wish me luck!Off Again
Travel Blog Posts
May 24th 2010
Its been a while since my last post but I'm feeling motivated! I left the beachfront of Napier and worked my way down the North Islands East Coast with a brief stop at Cape Kidnappers and then inland to Palmerston North. Palmy is a college town where I was meeting an acquaintance from home (Jenny) who is in Massey University’s Veterinary program. Although we hadn’t met in person, I was looking forward to hanging out with a fellow West Virginian! She and her roommates, Lauren, Kelly, and Pre gave me a warm welcome and I spent the next couple days with a house full of college co-eds! haha Seriously, I had a great time and hope they know how much I appreciate their hospitality. After getting settled on Thursday afternoon, we all went out for drinks ... read more
April 11th 2010
After a quick trip to The Turangi Library for some free internet, I headed east for a scenic 2 hour drive across New Zealands Central Plateau, thru the Ahimanawa Range and over the Maungaharuru Mountains, to the coastal town of Napier. I was anxious to keep moving south, but had heard good things, and I'm glad I made the trip. Napier sits in the Hawkes Bay Region, and is known for its vineyards, fruit orchards, and sheep farms as well as being the Art Deco Capital of New Zealand. In 1931 the city was destroyed by a massive earthquake (7.9), leaving much of the town to be completely rebuilt. Art Deco was the style of the times and Napier has kept much of its historic center intact making it an attraction for architecture buffs from around ... read more
April 7th 2010
With the fishing temporarily out of my system I set my sights on new horizons in the town of Turangi. I had been camping for the past week as well as spending most of every day on a stream by myself...'people-withdraw' was setting in! I found myself striking up conversations at grocery stores, gas stations, fruitstands, and campgrounds, it was time to check into a hostel for a couple days! At the Extreme Backpackers I found some friends to split meals and a German tramper, Sven, to do the 19km Tongariro Alpine Crossing with. The Tongariro Crossing is rated as the best one day hike in New Zealand, weaving thru ancient craters and active volcanos with vast panoramic views to the ocean and over the surrounding floor. We set out on a 730 am shuttle bus ... read more
April 7th 2010
I was excited and a little nervous to get behind the wheel of my new (17 yr old) Subaru. I had test drove a couple cars in New Zealand so I had a feel for driving on the left hand side of the road, but negotiating round-a-bouts and surprise one lane bridges on the highway is another story! Ha I had a couple close calls but made it down to Tuapo without any major incidents. It was well after dark on a Sunday evening when I arrived and I found the Flashpacker Hostel was one of the few that was still open, so I booked a dorm and went in search of food. I was looking forward to driving around town rather than having to walk but when I tried the key, there was no response! ... read more
Road Trip to Rotoroa
Published: March 30th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Central Plateau
March 30th 2010
Eager to get on the road and see the country, I set off with two Dutch Hostel mates (Bo and Erwin) as they made their way south in a rental car bound for Queenstown. There were rumors of backpackers with cars to sell outside of the city on the cheap so I climbed into the Toyota Vitz (aka clown car)and we took off down the wrong side of the road! Haha The guys were pretty comical, all of Holland is basically flat so every hill we went over and every mountain we saw in the distance got a lot of laughing, clapping and high fives, all to the rhythm of German Techno. We drove thru Hamilton and stopped about 3 hours South of Auckland for a beer in Rotoroa. While we were there, our waitress keyed ... read more
February 22nd 2010
Hello all! It looks like I will be playing catch up on my blog, sorry for the delay! It was a long day/night of flying but I made it! I flew from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia (1hr), Philly to LA (6hrs) and then on to Auckland (12.5hrs). The flight out of Philly was delayed 2 hrs (which was how long my layover it LA was supposed to be) so I had to make a quick sprint in LAX over to the Air New Zealand terminal. Surprisingly, my checked luggage made it on the plane too! After landing in NZ and having my tent and fishing gear searched by a bio terrorism guard and his dog I caught the 6am Airbus to Central Auckland for $16NZ and had breakfast with a couple (Pete and Suzanne) from Washington State. ... read more
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