http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , North Island , Auckland , Ponsonby en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:06:38 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:06:38 +0000 Everything Including the Kitchen Sink Gentle ReadersWith the ride about to resume I have been sorting through my gear and preparing for the next leg to Taupo and Wellington. By now you will be so filled with enthusiasm for your own cycle trips that I have decided to provide you with a handytouse inventory. In other words what to take. Right Front PannierSleeping bag and silk linerThermarest i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-453036.html Feral Mike and the Beast of Burden Coming Soon Departure Day is Tuesday 13 October 2009 httpwww.oxfam.org.nzeventsteams.aspashowteampageseventid20teamid3838 My grandfather told me Always wear underpants beneath your kanzu before you mount your bicycle. Foolishly I mocked him and now my heart is a dry ear pod. I was cycling home from the market when a terrible whirlwind blew up http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-443132.html Hi all So we packed up and had a little goodbye BBQ... what a blast... in the Mt. with the flatmatesIt was great.We then headed to Auckland with a coworker from Tay Street... Mel drove us and Pam picked us upSaw wonderful bands Saturday night and enjoyed the music.We enjoyed our time out and Sunday went to the food show fun and then we surprised Gary with Cirque Du SoleilIt was absolutely http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-425252.html February March 2009Still loving it here in Auckland and I am feeling quite at home now. Most of you will know that I got a job with Hawkins Construction Ltd. From Banker to Builder And some have now taken to calling me Bob Disappointingly hard hat and yellow vest didn't come as part of the contractIts taken me a while to get back into working life what do you mean a 44 hour week is stan http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-381491.html I don't think Australia and I were destined to live happily ever after. I had some wonderful times there met some very warm and lovely people and saw some beautiful sights but I also found the east coast pretty samey the weather extreme and somehow I don't feel we were well suited.As I mentioned in the last post I've been to New Zealand before so knew to some degree what to expect when I ar http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-376303.html On 20th Jul and then on the 9th August inpired by the Ponsonby Heritage walk... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-353800.html We got an early start on the day and starting packing. The hostel had kindly said that we could store our stuff until afternoon so we just need to complete the car sale pick up the rental car and head out of the city. About 845 I get a call from our German buyer he is unable to take out enough money today and so will have to complete the sale tomorrow. This is a problem as we have now told the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-352058.html We had decided that we would give the backpacker's car market another 3 day run to sell the van so I headed down there this morning to pay for this. When I got there they said that despite charging the van up it had not been able to start so they were going to get someone from across the street at the garage to come and look at it. They figured it was likely just a fuse and not too major. They http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-352055.html We got an early start on the day and starting packing. The hostel had kindly said that we could store our stuff until afternoon so we just need to complete the car sale pick up the rental car and head out of the city. About 845 I get a call from our German buyer he is unable to take out enough money today and so will have to complete the sale tomorrow. This is a problem as we have now told the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-343760.html We had decided that we would give the backpacker's car market another 3 day run to sell the van so I headed down there this morning to pay for this. When I got there they said that despite charging the van up it had not been able to start so they were going to get someone from across the street at the garage to come and look at it. They figured it was likely just a fuse and not too major. They http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-343758.html Evy and I got up early and went down to the car market to lower our price and throw in some extras a tent stove and sleeping pads in order to get the van sold. The one offer we did have which was way low has now bought a van so we need to find a buyer. The doors of the van have been left open and so the battery is dead. Fortunately they have a charger handy as this happens a lot but it makes http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-343347.html Our second angle of attack on selling the van is going to be the car auctions so this morning I took a long taxi ride out to the suburbs to see how these work. The cars were all more higher end and the prices not that high so I have decided to reduce the price on our van.Meanwhile Evy Joshua and Benjamin went off to check out the local market. On the way there they came across a large park wh http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-343345.html Wouldn't you know it but I left the rear hatch not properly closed while cleaning the van last night and the battery is dead in the morning. Just one more stress that we don't need. I flagged a taxi and got a jump start. The Backpackers car market is a rather depressing place. We ended up parking the van in the same spot where it was when we first saw it and set the price a bit lower than what w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-343343.html heyso im here in auckland got in yesterday at about 1pm local time flight was badly delayed in hong kong hydraulic dunno how to spell it fluid was leaking so we were about 4hrs in the airport when only meant to be 2 the staff brought out snacks and drinks from the plane tho and we got to lie on the floor nice as hadnt lain down for ages apart from that and general discomfort of plan http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-325433.html The land next to the land down unda This is the first time I have been able to write down my travels so here is goes. The flights were surprisingly lots of fun. On my first connecting flight to Charlotte NC I was sitting next to this funny guy. He was in his mid 30s and married with a couple of kids but he didn't act it. He told me to go to Vegas and get fuckin plastered. At around this http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-323796.html Sarah and i had had a long chat about us going all the way to the top to 90 mile beach which isn't actually 90 miles but is very long but to get there you must go on a off road track full of pot holes and wondering sheep and i had put up a big enough argument to insist that there was no way my car was going to make it on this road and i was not going to let her take my car without me being in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-319126.html Hello StrangerI am really sorry for being so slack on my blogging skills The past few weeks have honestly flown by I have had 3 jobs ha a weekend away lots of sightseeing on the weekends and an actual social life during the week..who woulda guessed I am currently working for a consulting firm in downtown auckland helping with client modules to be presented for year long leadership works http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-310694.html Well this weekend was an absolute blast Friday we met up with some of the guys and went to a cool bar called la zeppa that a friend was DJing at and you could see the whole city from the balcony. Then we went to one of the top 100 bars in the world called Crow Bar and saw one of the best bands I have seen in a while Hot Grits. They were fantastic Then we went to Fu Bar again to hear so http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-299060.html Hello Well not too much has happened recently. But I do have a temporary job with a fashion PR firm COCO. It is really cool but commission only so its a bit hard. I am in charge of finding all sponsorship for 3 of the shows for fashion week here in auckland the biggest event of its kind I get a lot of great perks and meeting some cool people. Friday I have to attend an all inclusive pa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-296769.html Well long time no see I am back on the move..this time down under I arrived in Auckland on thursday and now it is saturday. I will try and update everyone every few days or so. The flight over from la was over 12 hours but thank you to some sleeping pills i slept for 10 of the hours. When i arrived Olivia had a bottle of champagne waiting for me keep in mind it is 5am. We had some mi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-295454.html