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[Neyvn]

So here I am. Resting in my Hotel room bed as my partner is making herself ready for the day. As I waited for my turn in the smallish ammenities I thought that I could start a Journal of sorts so that I could share my travels with you all. So what better time to start then the beginnng.

We touched ground here in New Zealand, Auckland around 12:15 this early morning after leaving Australia at 7:15pm yesterday. The clocks turned back an extra 2hrs but it didnt really matter. while the plane trip was uneventful thankfully I did expeiance a painful pinching and stabbing pain across my brow as the plane decended from high altitude. Its still slightly there but panadol is keeping it down, dont know what caused it as its my first time travelling overseas and at that high of a cruising altitude. We landed safely and made our way to the taxi that would get us to the hotel. 75NZD shorter later and a good couple of hours sleep. We are back to where I started this entry and now about to get ready to go down to Breakfast...

So anyway I will be trying to post each day my big happinings and ask any Kewi Bay12er or any othere Traveller to this fine Country to give me Ideas on what we should do while we are here. Pehaps some Auckland Dwarves might want to meet up for a drink or few sometime. Untill then Bay12 Be Happy...

[Svarte Troner]

Yeah where's my all expenses paid two week vacation.

[Neyvn]

Well sorry that I am very lucky to have a Flybird for Girlfriend who has rellies here in New Zealand and the second half will be with them and not to mention she is a very smart coin saver who last year sat up from reclning on my bed while watching telly. Dashed over to me at the computer and said. "Hey guess what. Your coming to NZD with me." Forced me out of my seat and theb bought the tickets then and there. ;p

[Gunner-Chan]

You know if you want a blog you're better off starting a blog on a diffrent site like blogger or wordpress than a topic on here for it.

[Neyvn]

I dont blog and holidays like this are uber rare for me that I am very excited and just wanted to share my excitment and to be able to "tell" someone about it so I dont explode :p

[Delta Foxtrot]

Not much of a traveller myself, especially in that part of the world. Have fun though, should be sunny and warm there.

You know if you want a blog you're better off starting a blog on a diffrent site like blogger or wordpress than a topic on here for it.

Not sure if this is the correct sub board, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the first of its kind on B12 forums. And it's not like this "blog" would last over two weeks from the looks of it.

[GlyphGryph]

Spend some time down in Waitomo, there's some amazing caving trips down in that area. Can easily spend most of a day exploring the underground.

You sticking mostly to North Island, or going to spend some time in the south as well?

I miss home, and I don't live there now, but I can at least point out some fun stuff:
Adventures
Waitomo Caves
Surfing, usually southwest of Auckland.
Lots of beautiful beaches and opportunities for ocean kayaking to the southeast, and decent stuff due north. But I think its mostly better in the Waihau bay direction myself - lots of beautiful carved rock and whatnot.
To the Northwest of the cities there's a fun place called tree adventures, I think - like an obstacle course, but well over a dozen feet above the ground.
Jumping off the Auckland bridge, the skytower, or hitting that... sling thing I can never remember the name of, right in front of the skytower. All are fun.
Also plenty of places to go hiking - I really like over near Ruapehu, because you can go skiing if conditions are alright, and swimming and hiking if it isn't right for swimming. There's a really cool trail with a big ass waterfall and a different, smaller waterfall you can jump next to and follow it into the pool. Its a reasonable height and not as terrifying as some of the similar jumps they have around. If you're interested I could probably be more specific.

Food
Enjoy it while your in Auckland because it will get harder to find the further away you get. There's good food around elsewhere (really nice sandwhich shop southwest of Dunedin, great place) but Auckland has the best quality density and variety. Wellington and Christchurch isn't bad either. Soooo...
Get some Turkish pizza on main street. That stuff is fucking delicious. I will be envious.
Angie's Kitchen, on Mount street (just up the hill, off wakefield, off Queens) - delicious Mamak Me Goreng. Amazing. 99% of the time. If they try to give you shit with frozen vegetables, send it back and tell them to give you some real food damn it.
Get some Hell Pizza or some Murderburger, if you're in the mood for pizza or meat. Hell also does dessert pizzas! (I don't actually think Hell is that great, but the desert pizzas are something I haven't seen elsewhere.)

Around Auckland
Karangahape Road is good for nightlife - good bars, concerts, that sort of thing.
Lots of nice parks, and good museums. I like their... tech museum, I forget what its called. Auckland art museum exists if your into that, I guess... If you're interested in Museums, I'd head down to Wellington instead.

If you go to south Island:
Spring&Fern bar in Nelson, great beer, let you fill your own bottles. I ended up filling three milk jugs with the "Scrumpy" wine to take with me last time I was there.
Ride the little train around when you get off the ferry! It's only a quarter, and worth it for the picture and because the guy who runs it is awesome.
I spent a week hiking in Kahurangi park - spend at least a day or two there yourself if you can. It's some of the most beautiful hiking scenery I've seen. Even the giant carnivorous land snails were beautiful!
Te Anau is a lovely little town with same great and easily explorable wilderness just over the lake (walk around or take a boat). I've spent maybe two weeks there, total, and I've never not seen a rainbow, and usually it's several per day, just hanging out.
Fiordland is absolutely beautiful, and Keas are awesome! In fact, this might well be the most beautiful place on EARTH I've ever seen - there's one part with a long tunnel that comes out onto this lush valley, this huge gentle slop down the ocean, the road curving away, birds everywhere, cliffs to either side with dozens of waterfalls racing down them, and the whole thing covered by this glistening fog. It helps if the people your with, like the ones I was, have prepared the themetrack to Jurassic Park and play it just as you come out of the tunnel into the sunlight.

[Neyvn]

Thanks for the info Glyph...


Anyway. Yesterday we had made plans to do some leg work and have a bit of a hike around the hills and dead volcanos of the Auckland area. But the weather made us change our minds. so we walked and checked out the cities main shopping street before catching a shuttlebus to the Kelly Tartons Aquerium. It was wonderful. You start off checking out the recreation of some of the Antarica expiditons and alot of information about the men who trecked to the south pole and nearly made it back. There was even a little challenge of sticking your hand into a tubing of water kept at polar tempretures. I kept mine in for a fast count of 63 which is about 40sec. Would have kept it in longer but we had to move on. And omg the Penguins they are huge. They have a large clutch of penguins and there was even a few teen penguins. Fluffy brown. We ended up catching onto the end of a feeding event where someone would talk about the fish in thier tanks while giving them a feed. I must say if anyone goes to New Zealand. Go to the Kelly Tartons Aquerium... We endes the day tired and went to bed early with a slight head cold and in preperation for today. The caves...

[Kilroy the Grand]

Get a bag.
Fill it with kiwis (The bird and the fruit)

Become viking lord of New Zealand