First time in Australia
Been on the move the past few days…. a plane ride to Wellington, a jet to Auckland, a nite in Freeman’s Bay Lodge in Auckland (got my passport with my new Viet Nam Visa) and a bus to the airport for my ride to Sydney, Australia. The flight was uneventful (Air Argentina), the lines for passports, customs (mainly food control) and baggage claim were long. And there was Glen, my friend from the Greek islands, there waiting for me. the last time I saw him was Oct. 2009 when we had a great dinner outside in a square in Athens.
Glen brought me back to his apartment which is a highrise with a great view of Sydney. We went for a drive over the famous bridges and a walk across from the opera house. We went out to a great Vietnamese dinner and I fell asleep real fast and woke up early (still on Auckland time which is 2 hours ahead of Sydney).
today we went to Botany Bay across from the airport and had a nice coffee and watched the planes taking off and landing. we also went to Centennial Park and walked around the lakes and watched the ducks, swans, ravens, magpies and turtles doing what they do. Australia is different than New Zealand, I think it is a little closer to USA…but there are some wonderful different things here. Got my laundry done, took a nice shower and I am being treated like a King here…. thanks Glen
Back to Auckland today
They had a movie last nite at the hostel… 8 mile, about Mr. Slim Shady.. it was pretty good, but I need to download it and get the subtitles… Today I am headed to the Christchurch airport to get a plane to Auckland… We are going to land at Wellington first, so I should get to see plenty of NZ from the air. Checking into Freeman’s Lodge in Auckland, spending the nite, retrieving my passport and then I am off to Sydney. Glen, my friend from the Greek Islands will pick me up and show me the town.
I have counted the take off and landings I have made over the past year and it is up over 40..wow.
Have a good week (for those with jobs).
ciao
Saturday Jan 8, 2011
Went out with the kids last nite and enjoyed bar hopping… Nothing new about young people drinking too much and being loud and mixing their drinks… I guess you need to be about 30 before you figure it out. I enjoyed the live music, no smoke and a few beers and a couple of shots…
Woke up this morning and got my stuff together and checked out from the Black Sheep Hostel. I had no bread so I made some french fries, some onions and a little avacado. i went down to the city with Dino from Manchester, UK and we got to see a professional Rugby game, my first. It was a real big deal with plenty of people there, tv cams and a cheering section. The game is simple and interesting with plenty of scoring. We were near the gondola which goes up the mountain for a good view of Queenstown. All throughout the game paragliders were circling over head and landing in a nearby field.
I got the bus at the hostel and it was a new Mercedes Benz bus and I sat in the front seat next to the driver. Everything was kool until we picked up the last person who had to sit next to me. I was amazed at the size of the woman who was getting on the bus. She was a Maui woman of gigantic size. I thought this was going to be a miserable trip. Once she got up to the front seat and wiggled her way into the seat we started to talk. She was travelling from Queenstown to Christchurch to see her first grandchild who was just born. I gave her some info on being a grandparent and the ride turned out to be excellent. This massive lady with a proper British accent was amazing. She pointed out Mount Cook, the highest point in New Zealand and told me so much about farming and fishing on the south island. They were playing oldies on the radio and she knew every song and sang along. When we got to Christchurch I gave her a little kiss on each cheek (that is a Brasilian thing to do) and we said goodbye. I checked back into Friendz hostel made some pasta and slept for 12 hours. Sunday will be a down day for me, might take another walk in the gardens here.
I have been travelling so much the bus rides, the towns, the people and the scenary are starting to all blend in… Nice to be back in the town where I spent my new years… plenty of good memories on the road.
Sometimes the worse things turn into great things.
Bar crawl in Queenstown, NZ
Leaving today for Christchurch…a 7 hour bus trip through some nice places… Our dorm room got filled up by some English and Australians and it was great having some nice people around me. They convinced me to go on an organized pub crawl last nite. It was very interesting drinking a couple of beers and having a shot of spirits at 6 different bars. It was mostly kids but I enjoyed myself. Plenty of music, live bands and dancing. I went back 2 bars early and woke up this morning with a clear head. Today I plan on just hanging in the park/beach and getting my 3 pm bus.
Yesterday I went with a couple of guys to a Thai place and had a veggie plate of noodles and other things (not sure what was in it)… but I now like Thai food. I think it was really about the first time I have had it. I know I will be seeing some very interesting food when I get to SE Asia.
Sunny days now and I am looking forward to Oz.
i got nothing
Jan 4, 2011
still in Queenstown, NZ…until saturday when I get a bus back to Christchurch, NZ. My days here are very comfy, staying in a nice clean hostel on the hill above the town. I walk around, cook great food, have coffee and free wifi at McDs and I sit around talking to people and I have watched a few good movies on my computer… Last nite I saw On Bruges with Colin Farrell and I enjoyed it very much.
Today some Italians came into the hostel and I met a girl from Estonia. I am finding out that the hostel has Brasilian workers and I love to talk to them about their country and use my little bit of their lingo. I really do not have much to put into this blog, my days and relaxed and slow… Tomorrow I get a bus at 8am and take a tour of Milford Sound. I also will take a 3 hour boat trip… a real expensive tourist thing to do but so many people told me not to miss this place.
Well that is it…I am sure there will be more news and pixs in a few days. Cheers Mates.
Dec 31, 2010
last day this year… I got up and walked up to the Christchurch Art Museum. I was lucky enough to get a nice tour of the place. Once again, a mix of modern art and good old “you can tell what it is art”… They had some real nice pictures of ships in NZ harbors and pastoral scenes. Nice to have someone explain the pictures to you.
I then went and walked through the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. Very nice place full of people, I was amazed at the size of some of the trees. I put up a picture of me next to a real big one.
Later on I plan to go and have a nice Indian dinner and then go to Cathedral Square and be entertained by rock bands and fireworks.
I bought a bus ticket and hostel room (Black Sheep Lodge… I think mom would get a kick out of that name) in Queenstown. I leave Monday Jan. 2, 2011 and will be staying there until Jan 7 and then probably return to Christchurch so I can fly up to Auckland on Jan 10th. I hope to get a day tour of Moffit Bay when I am in Queenstown.
Jan 1, 2011 (McDonalds free wifi in downtown Christchurch)
Last nite I went to a local India place with a retired professor from southern California. I had rice, califlower, potato and some kind of pomagrante sauce and some garlic bread. The food was from southern India, very spicy, and it was excellent. I took my time eating it, had a glass of Merlot and really, enjoyed my fancy dinner. (about 20 US bucks). It was nice talking to an educated man.
After dinner we walked up to Cathedral Square and joined 25,000 people there. They had a great stage, great amps and a very big TV screen in front. all the entrances had cops and no drinking signs. The music consisted of 2 guys and 2 dancing ladies playing old American disco songs. Then a real big rock band with a big lady singer came on. They had a horn section and played for several hours.
After 2011 happened they had a fireworks show from top of one of the buildings on the square.The people of Christchurch have had it tough, a major 7.1 earthquake Sept 10 and over 3000 aftershocks since then, including a vey large one several days ago. There are many buildings still closed and you can see cracks in many of the old buildings. The cross on top of the cathedral fell down.
So it was a new years event that I will not forget. I feel very lucky to have the chance at seeing these things. My friend from California had a theory on all my good luck on the road. He told me that I take chances (which means I do not plan everything ahead of time) and the amazing things I have experienced is a reward for the chances I take.
Of course the kids in the hostel started to drink way too early. The girls in my room were looking for their phone and did not know what happened to all their money. The last thing they knew they were in an Irish pub some place in town.
My room now has 2 girls from Taiwan (“not China”), one Korean guy, a guy riding a bike from the UK, a german and a Scottish girl. I am still getting lessons in Chinese and Korean…. writing down all my new words in my notebook.
Today I plan on getting a bus to the waterfront, getting some veggies, fixing a nice dinner and watching a movie at the hostel. A beautiful sunny day here with about 12 hours of sun… We are south of Tasmania and tomorrow I wake up early, get picked up at the hostel and then a long bus ride to the south central part of the south island…to Queenstown. gonna put up some pixs… my links are on www.helderweb.com and how about some comments, if anybody is reading this thing… I will also accept spelling corrections.. Happy 2011 to all those I love.
Viet Nam Visa
after being closed for the past 2 days I got to apply for a visa at the VN Embassy here in Wellington. It cost 110 NZ dollars and I had to find a Post Office open to obtain a registered envelop. They are going to send my passport back to me care of the Auckland Hostel. I hope it works because I can not leave NZ without my passport. I tried to get a visa before I left USA but you can not apply before 6 months and I was headed to Brasil and could not do it.
Hopefully i can get my India visa in Singapore or HK. pain in the butt, it seems with all our computers the process could be done on site… today will be easy…hanging at McDs drinking coffee and using their wifi. tonite I get the ship to the south island. had a nice time saying good bye to my friends here. I even played guitar with another traveller. Believe it or not, he offered to give me his little guitar… amazing huh. I told him, that it was just too much to carry a guitar with me. but karma is working for me. I got my exercise in today by walking all around this town looking for an open post office.
Yesterday I took a tour of the NZ Parliament. It was very nice.. the tour brought us all through the place. The parliament has signs all around the debating chamber with the names of places on earth that NZ has sent soldiers. I was amazed at how many places I have visited where they fought especially Crete and Gallipoli in Turkey.
Last nite I had a great conversation with a beautiful lady from Sao Paulo. I loved using the little Portuguese that I know and my love for Brasil showed. She told me that is where I was going to live. Well maybe in the winter time.
sunny day here and I feel great.
South Island Tomorrow
Will get a night boat over to the south island late tomorrow, then a train to Christchurch for the New Years. I bought a flight from Christchurch to Auckland for Jan 10 and then off to Sydney the next day. It has been windy and somewhat “not hot” here. Today I visited the Parliament and took a tour. Very impressive!!! A group of us nerds are sitting here in the dinning room with our little netbooks. Eddy from Aberdeen gave me plenty of new movies… I now have the HD set of Lord of the Rings…just need to find the time to watch it.
Visited the Embassy of Viet Nam and India today. Getting the visa’s will be trickly, probably get the Indian one tomorrow and the VN one in Singapore or Hong Kong. The trick here is that they take your passport for up to 10 days… seems like a big problem to me now, but I am sure it will work out.
hope all your driveways are now clear from the white stuff.
Have been working on my website and now I have some links up to this blog… still a work in progress.
Robt.
Stuck for a few days in Wellington, NZ
the boat over to the south island has been booked pretty solid… I finally got a ticket late Wed to get over there. Then I take a train later in the day to Christchurch. Will arrive there and I have a hostel paid for. I bought a plane ticket back to Auckland on Jan 10 so I can fly to Sydney on Jan 11, 2011. So I am all set up for New Year. I will see how much of the south island I can get to see… It is not about the quantity of places but the good times seeing things.
Yesterday I went to the National Museum here in Wellington with my 2 french friends… it was packed with people, as it was Boxing day. The place was very nice and we only saw half of it. Plenty of displays about the earthquakes and fault lines and volcanoes. It is right on the sea and the sea was rough yesterday.
After a failure of a dinner the other nite I treated myself to a real good one here. Salmon, great veg sauce and some wheat pasta. It was so good and I have another little piece of fish for tonite.
This city is windy and it got a little cold last nite, I walked the streets and sat down to listen to a street guitarist. He had his guitar tuned to Em and he was an expert. I just relaxed looked at the buildings and thought how wonderful it was that I was able to get to a place like this. Wellington now is a place for me, not just a name.
Not sure about today, I am sure I will walk around the city… it is nice to have access to free wifi. I spenty plenty of time in Brasil, just looking for a wifi signal. Next time I travel I will have a smart phone.
this will have to do for now… Christmas was sure different this year.
