The Snare of Queen's is Wide and Ever-Reaching

Since the magnificence that was Queenstown we moved onto Dunedin and have now arrived in Te Anau where is it windy, cold and the sea is angry. It was tough leaving Queenstown, home to future actor/model Andrew Kilmer and his millionaire sidekicks Adam Mailloux and Doug Freeman, but we have planned to return for one day so that the city doesn't miss out on our presence for too long. We had a great time with the Americans while we were there and are hoping to meet up with them again down the road...If not we will always have "This isn't turkey!" to remember them by.

Dunedin scared us all at first, perhaps because our hostel was in the sketchy part of town and on a giant hill that I would stumble down sober. All in all we felt safe because Andrew has been growing an extremely scary beard that makes him look like a general in the French army due to its thinness. This is the second attempt at a beard on the trip as I didn't shave at all for the first two weeks and had a few stray hairs to show for it. While in Dunedin we ate in some of the fanciest restaurants possible while looking like our usual slob selves. It was almost an act of defiance, with delicious consequences. At one restaurant a girl actually stopped me and asked if I was a Golden Gael...turns out she graduated from Queen's in 03 and had been teaching in Dunedin. To makes things even weirder, her and another friend knew pretty much everyone Andrew has ever been associated with, including kids he may or may not have peed on the daycare sandbox....It took a trip to the other side of the world to meet two girls from Guelph and Scarborough...really funny.

During the day we went on the Speight's Brewery Tour, which was really coll mostly for the fact that we were allowed to drink as much as we wanted for 30 minutes....The best way I can think of following up this tour is with one of a chocolate factory, so we headed to Cadbury World where we were loaded with free chocolate! I still have a headache...maybe from the beer, maybe from the chocolate, maybe both!

We are off for a cruise of Milford Sound tomorrow which should be amazing for picture taking. Should be a romantic day for the three of us. That is if Andrew's beard doesn't get in the way

Queenstown, My Future Home

BEST NIGHT EVER!!!

We are all currently recovering from a great evening out on the town with our American roomates Matt, Patty and Michelle. They've all been great people to hang with and it'll be tough to move on, unless we can convince Matt to come with us, and pose for more strange pictures...

Rolling into Queenstown a few days ago I think Andrew, Adam and I all simultaneously said "Holy Shit" and then almost crashed the car staring at what is probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen. With the city bordering on the lake and the Southern Alps towering over us, the city was the perfect backdrop for the adventures we were about to have.

Our first day was a settling in period and we ended up heading out to a bar for Open Mic Night. Turning down all the requests for me to perform was difficult but I felt it was really time for Andrew and Adam to shine...and shine they did. Andrew throwing down some Ben Harper, Pink Floyd and some original stuff, while Adam showed his skills playing Jack Johnson and The Hip. They did this Canadian travelling contingent proud, and many a woman was seen throwing their panties in the boys general direction.

Day 2 was spent on the Shotover Jet and the Skyline Luge, two of the more fun activities so far. Powering down the river at about 80km/hr and veering into rock walls while Kilmer swore at the mustached driver was classic...as were the six 360 degree spins we did....After our ride back into town we took the gondola up to the top of the city for an amazing view and some luge rides...So much fun. As kilmer would tell everyone we saw, we were all giggling like schoolgirls, which I'm known to do anyways.

Kilmer and Adam capped off the adventure the next day with the world's highest bungy jump at 134m into a deep canyon....I on the other hand did their extreme laundry for them and hiked up to the top of Queenstown Hill (900m)....Somebody went higher!

The Americans celebrated their turkey day in style and then we all decided that it wasn't officialy thanksgiving without booze...and plenty off it. First World Bar where drinks were ordered by the teapot full (its too amzing to believe..wait for pictures) and then some other bar whose name I will never remember.....we'll just call it "Serves Doug $4 Double Jim Beam's and Coke".

And that's where we end up at today...where I'm feeling thouroughly unawesome but laughing at some pretty incredible and unbelievable stories

On to Dunedin

Who's Gonna Buy Me Dinner Next?

I have 10 minutes...and go!

So I've met up with Andrew and Adam on the South Island which has been fantastic! We have already totally exhausted all the movie lines we know and have been recycling them since...Do they have large talons?? Anyways...we made our way to the tiny town of Arthur's Pass and the scenery was unreal...too bad the clouds were about 10 feet from the ground and it wouldn't stop raining..Still we did an unreal hike which left us all breathless (from the view and because we're out of shape). We were all getting a little lightheaded but not until we passed all the clouds and took about 9000 pictures of massive waterfalls and snow toppped summits.

Next we made our way down the West Coast to Franz Josef Glacier (the glacier and the town). Here we met Melissa, a girl from Colorado who I will always be indebted to for paying for all or your meals...Had I known I would have gotten more than fish and chips! But honestly she was such a cool gilr and hopefully this will not be the last that we all hear from each other

Today we climb up and down Franz Josef Glacier...yeah that's right, I hiked that bitch (that's for you Kilmer). Once again, unreal views and scenery. It was hard to believe we were actually walking on a glacier and climbing through crevasses.

Anyways...sorry for the quick crappy post but I gots to run

Post again soon

Peter Gabriel is playing...booyah

I Met A Guy Named Bongo

Bongo is from California. I met him in Waitomo as he was ordering a 3 litres container of beer. I just wanted to let everyone know I met someone named Bongo...to me, this is pretty much one of my happiest moments.

Anyways, I made my way to Rotorua, which is pretty mcuh one big stinkhole. I didn't do a whole lot because once you've seen one thermal pool you've pretty much seen them all. Next was on to Taupo, a beautiful town located on Lake Taupo, the biggest of NZ and bordering the Waikato River, also the biggest in NZ. The view of the mountains out over the water was amazing! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and I ws unable to do the Tongariro Crossing, supposedly the best one day hike in all of NZ. Apparently there were gale force winds and rain, and seeing as I'm so tall and skinny they were worried about me blowing straight off the top of the hill...a risk they weren't willing to take

Instead I made it out to the Huka Falls, a 50ft waterfall that was amazing in how fast the water travelled and with how much force it was moving. I followed this up with a hike to the Aratiatia Rapids which snaked their way through huge rock outcroppings. There is a dam blocking the flow of water except for 4 times a day, and so for me to see it actually happen was awesome. The hiking here has been great. The scenery seems to be ever changing. One minute will be up and down hills and mountains and the next will be through farmer's fields with sheep and cows staring at you...Sheep like to stare.

Cuurently I'm back in Auckland only to fly to the South Island to meet my friend Andrew and his friend Adam in Christchurch. From there we will be travelling together by car. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip if only to have some friends along the way and to avoid the InterCity Coaches which had become my nemisis. So far it seems like I've enjoyed and disliked all the exact same things as Andrew...giving further credence to the fact that we are brothers from a different mother...This trip could be scary

Guide Dogs, Bomb Sniffing Beagles and Caving

So far so good...the flights all went well. I highly recommend Air New Zealand as they provide you with your own personalized TV full of movies, games, TV shows...I was in heaven! I arrived in Auckland about 4 am Sunday (NZ time) and made my way to the baggage claim where they had a dog sniffing all luggage. The catch was that the dog was perhaps one of the tiniest cutest beagles ever, and he had figured out that if he jumped up on peoples bags he'd get a treat...no matter what! This dog was a genius, he'd just act like everyone had something and made out like a king. Somehow when I jumped on peoples bags I didn't receive the same treatment.

I spent one day in Auckland which was enough for me...The city is strange, some sections are very modern but then there will be rows of burnt out old builings across the street. The harbour was beautiful though. Lots of water, lots of volcanoes (something like 72 in the area) and lots of boats. I made my way up to the top of the Sky Tower which is the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The view from the top was unreal.

Later that day I went to a pub to watch the All Blacks (NZ Rugby Team) play France. It was a huge deal in the area and when the bouncer carded me and found out I was there to watch the game despite being from Canada he said "Good on a mate...there's a good lad" I felt strangely happy...and maybe cockney.

I'm currently in Waitomo where I went on a cave tour yesterday. These things are unreal. We had to rappel 27m (100ft.) then walk upstream into huge caverns full of gloworms. Turning off our lights it looked like the clearest night sky you've ever seen. I have a few pictures but they really don't do it justice. We also tubed downstream and ended up climbing back up the same 27m to get out. Overall it was a 5 hour trip and well worth every penny. Possibly the coolest thing I've ever done.

Anyways, off to Rotorua today to see some hot springs, geysers, etc. I'm now travelling with a guy I met from Alaska. We have bonded over the fact that everyone from the rest of the United States thinks we both live in igloos...Good times

I'll talk to you all later and post pictures when I get back. Take care

And We're Off

Just a reminder to all that I will be taking off for three weeks to New Zealand this Friday...Due to the lengthy flight and the invention of time zones I will not actually arrive in New Zealand until Sunday, but that's what we get for having a prime meridian I guess (It's not really his fault). Updating this thing may be a little hit or miss depending on where I'm at in the country or how much time I actually want to devote to sitting on a computer while I could be about touring around, but hopefully I'll get a few words in here or there. If not, keep checking after December 1st as I'm sure I'll have plenty of awesome pics and stories. For those of you who don't know, I'm heading to the North Island for a week by myself to explore Auckland, Waitomo, Rotorua, Taupo and MT. DOOM for all you Lord of the Rings geeks (and by geeks I'm including myself). Following this I'll be flying to the South Island to meet up with one of my bestest friends Andrew Kilmer who I met way back in the HK days, when things were all just a little simpler. For those of you who haven't been fortunate enough to meet Andrew he's a former male model/volleyball star turned teacher and he has written a blog about how wonderful a person I am and how I abandoned him. Check it out, his blog is linked on the right. I'll also be meeting his buddy Adam who apparently was also in HK. It should be good times as we tour around the South and walk on glaciers, mountains, take speed boat rides and drive on the left side of the road while scaterring sheep at every turn.

Hope to keep everyone posted as I go along. If not, talk to you all in December.

And Kilmer, if you read this, I want to go surfing....DO IT!

Reading - "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtney
Listening to - "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson

This brings back memories

One time in first year my roomate and I tried to jokingly start a Rick Astley fan club....Our girlfriends wouldn't even join. But who's laughing now.....hopefully you

Deja Vu

So it's been brought to my attention by a certain nit-picky friend of mine that I accidentally posted the last post two times....The only thing I can say in my defense is that I was so excited about finally posting again that I put in there twice. There Jo..are you happy now? If not we can go out for a peaty scotch.

The getting ready for the trip is going unbelievably slow. I bought a power converter tonight for $50 and immediately wondered if its even worth $50 to have power in New Zealand. I'm not sure why but I picture every male in New Zealand with a giant beard and maybe a machete...where I get that stereotype I'm not sure...but it makes me think I'm never going to use electricity, as if it was a country run by the Amish. I'll let everyone know how that goes.

I also bought a new Bryce Courtney book for the trip with something like 11,000 pages in it. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of reading one of his books, pick up a copy of Power of One and let your mind do some walking...Awesome book.

Finally, I'm starting to get a little worried about staying in a hostel, and only because I'm worried about offending other people. Last time I stayed in Kingston I was apparently hit several times with pillows until I stopped snoring (or did I?), and these were my closest friends. How crazy will perfect strangers go while I sleep away peacefully. Hopefully none of them have machete's.

I'm out