Blogs from Parnell, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 5

One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep, One sleep... read more

Leaving Rotorua and the beautiful smell of rotten eggs, we made the short journey up to Auckland - "The City of Sails". It was a bit of a shock to the system to be back in the hustle and bustle of city life so with 16 days left before flying to Fiji we decided to rent ourselves a car and head to the Bay of Islands, Cape Reinga and the Coromandel Peninsula. With one day to spare before picking up the car we took advantage of a free Auckland day trip to see some of the sights. Our first stop on the sightseeing tour was the Auckland Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. Naturally the Kiwi's, with their love for extreme sports, decided to invent a way of throwing yourself off of the ... read more

so heute war nun mein vorerst letzter tag hier...wo ich mich doch gerade an meine mitzimmerinsassen gewoehnt habe und man sich abends im "wohnzimmer"immerhin schon mal gesehen hatte... gestern abend sass ich mit dem einen maedchen,was ich hier kennengelernt habe, noch bis nachts um 4 am gaskamin und haben geredet...it interessant,wen man dann aus unzaehligen leuten doch dann so naeher kennenlernt...sie hat naemlich ungefaehr einiges gemeinsam mit mir...die abfahrtssituation von zuhause,die situation im elternhaus, das interesse fuer die ganzen esodinge,ich nenn das jetzt mal so...,mit denen ich mich so befasse.sie ist allerdings schon 8 monate hier und reist am sonntag nach australien...schade,hat mir aber auch wieder einiges an tips fuer die weitere reise gegeben. heute morgen wollte ich eigentlich richtig frueh aufstehen,um noch ein bischen wandern zu gehen,aber als ich von meinem na... read more

In the fashion of all good barbeques the weather was uncooperative. We had some of the worst wind and rain of the year that day. No worries moved the party inside and partied on. Had an eclectic group from work, IEP and kiwi friends. The big show was to be the fireworks but ended up to be a big much ado about nothing. Marcos and I had just warmed up and used about a third of the box’s contents when the overzealous New Zealand police arrived in their van. They swooped in like the DEA on a Columbian Drug Lord’s villa. The police van sped down Parnell Road with the side and back doors opened and six officers jumped out of the van before it had even come to a stop . They quickly infiltrated ... read more

Couple weeks ago I went with Sarah and her soccer team to a match between North Carolina University girl’s soccer team and New Zealand’s National women’s team. I had to go in style and sport the NC logo for the third string girls, go USA. In the end the good guys, or should I say girls pulled out a 1-0 win over the husky New Zealand women, we’re talking Iowa corn fed girls here. This is officially my 100th blog. Blah blah ha ha….. What a long journey and it just keeps going. For those of you not in the know yet I’m going to be back in the States for 10 days during the first part of August. I’m coming like a freight train and there’s no stopping me (ala Hamish style). This is ... read more