Whangarei Boswells Track

I woke up this morning a little before 7 am and went upstairs to say good morning to Jodi and her 3 kids.  Hearing the little girl talk makes me smile.  The accent is so funny.  No offence Kiwis, but the accent rocks.

I take a coffee and head back downstairs to work on my blogs and video editing.  This is my big goal today, to catch up.

Shortly after 10 am I went upstairs to talk to Jodi about where I could do a nice short walk.  She tells me about the Boswell Track, which you can see her house from.  She also tells me it would take maybe an hour; it is a nice short trail.

I should have thought about her words a little closer.  Jodi is a very fit mother of 3.  A short, easy walk to her is probably a death walk for me. 

Anyways, an hour into my stroll I started thinking.  What the heck, I walked enough yesterday, why I am I doing this.  Oh yeah, it is a nice, easy walk, Jodi says.  Then I see the end, the road is in sight.  Woot Woot! I am almost home free.  Nope, a frigg’n monster hill on the road I have to walk back up to get to her house.  Half way up the hill, I feel my life passing by me.  I thought about calling my mom and saying goodbye.  I died on the road, please take care of pet rock.

Okay, Okay, I am full of it. It wasn’t that bad.  I actually really enjoyed it, and had time to make a few short video logs.  Check them out here.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmgIIrdxS7i51ZYJ8eWoA-km4wqmK1mz7

The rest of the day was good.  I worked on blogs and my new channel.  Talk to Jodi about her blog and what she does.  I love getting to know people, and I love telling them about me.  Lol.

Here is Jodi’s blog.

http://kiddykaos.blogspot.co.nz/

It is now 8:30 pm and I hear Al Bundy calling.  

Dargaville to Whangarei

I wake up at 6 am but try to sleep in until 7, as I do not want to leave that early.  Today is going to be another hitchhiking day.  I found out last night the buses here do run on weekends, but only Saturday mornings.  It’s Sunday.

Eventually I get up and head to the common room for internet and bananas.  I plan my next few days, and head out around 9:30 am.

It is about a 25 minute walk to the highway.  Today my back does not like me.  It’s telling me, walking with 2 packs isn’t what it planned for today, but I must push on anyways.

Thumbs Up!

It doesn’t take long and a car stops to pick me up.  It is a man and his wife.

During our 45 minute drive to Whangarei we have a really good conversation about traveling.  She tells me she did the same thing I am doing back when she was 30 and gives me some great tips.  They also tell me they met in Tahiti 15 years ago, while both of them were working on sail boats.  This is awesome!  They tell me all about working on boats, and how to get free passage to other locations and also how to find this type of deal.

I am so thankful for the conversations we had during our commute.  I am starting to see how much I gain from others, and I must start finding ways to give back.  This is now my goal.

45 minutes passes to fast, and they drop me off downtown Whangarei.  I say goodbye to another couple of new friends.  Thank you for the ride and tips!

I message Jodi who is my next accommodations, to let her know I made it and will see her sometime after 3 pm.

I take my time and walk around the harbour looking for a place to eat and relax.  

There are a few good restaurants, but not much in a cheap budget.  I spot a smoking hot waitress with a cute NZ accent, waiting the patio tables.  I guess this is now where I am eating. 

I order a fish on a bun, and enjoy my views.  All of them!

Here is some insight on eating at a restaurant in NZ.

1.       Tips are not given, they are included.

2.       Taxes are in the price, what you see is what you pay.

3.       When you are finished, the bill does not come to the table.  You go upfront and pay it.

With the above, my fish sandwich is $24 NZ, about $18 Canadian.  A little expensive, but not overly if you think about it.

I take my time and walk towards Jodi’s.  It is about a 2 hour walk, according to Google. 

Check out Jodi’s AirBNB here. Jodi's AirBNB

After an hour of walking, it is 3 pm and I am not halfway. Thumbs Up!

The 3^rd car that passes picks me up.  It is an 80 year old man.  He doesn’t say much, just smiles.  I tell him where I am going and without me asking, he drops me off right at the door step.  I guess he knew the address.

I say thank you, and wish him a good day.

I walk down the driveway and meet one of Jodi’s neighbors.  She is a super nice lady and already knew my name.  She is like, “Hi Rob! Welcome to NZ.  Jodi’s house is the one on the left.”  I say thanks.

Jodi meets me at the door and shows me to my room.  Wow.  Very nice with a private patio.  This is where I am sitting right now, writing this blog entry. J

I meet her BF, and we have a nice little chat about the area and travels.  Jodi has 3 kids who will be arriving later in the day.

That’s pretty much my day.  I go to the room, relax and catch up on some work.

What a day, I am tired!

Whangarei is not pronounced with a Wh, but with an F.

Check it out here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whangarei

Ruawai to Dargaville - Santa and Fish

I am leaving Ruawai today in the search for people.  2 days in a town with no internet and an empty hostel.  I feel the need to annoy someone, and I need humans for that.

I eat my bananas, pack my gear and head out to the highway.  Thumbs UP!  How long will it take me today to get a ride? 

Not long, about 20 minutes and a dad and his son pick me up.  They are Christian missionaries, but don’t try to change me.  They only tell me about all the cool people they have met on their travels.  He even stops to let me take pictures of the Tokatoka volcano.

20 minutes later we are in Dargaville.  I say goodbye to another couple of new friends.  Thanks for the ride and chat!

I am here a little early, it is 10 am and I can’t check in until 3 pm.  I decide to go to the hostel anyways to see if I can leave my bags there while exploring Dargaville.  To no surprise they let me check in, but the room is booked for tomorrow, so I only have one night.  That’s OK, because I later find out that Dargaville doesn’t have much to see.  It is barley bigger than Ruawai.  Good News! Santa Clause Parade is today. 

The parade starts at 12, and I am there at 11:45 am.  The streets are empty.  I am starting to think I misheard what day it was.  Nope, 15 minutes later the street is filled with people and the parade starts.  It isn’t like the parades back home.  It is basically just locals walking down the street signing odd versions of Christmas songs. Cool either way.  This is why I am traveling, so see how locals live.  Not how tourist visit.

After the parade I spot a vendor selling fish sandwiches for $5 bucks.  I have to get one of these.  

Fast forward 10 minutes.  I am in heaven, it was so good.  I now have yummy local fried fish running through my blood and I catch myself spinning in circles with my hands in the air.  How can food make you so happy?

With all of this energy I go back to the hostel to find people to annoy.  I fail at this, but my fault.  The hostel has about 8 other travellers.  They are all from Russia and under the age of 22.  I found it hard to strike up much of a conversion.  I am starting to realize I am 36, not 25 anymore.  Sad face! 

Either way, it was an amazing day.  Thanks Dargaville for Santa and Fish on a bun!

Relaxing day in Ruawai

Today was a much more relaxing day.  I got up around 7 am and went for a walk down by the water here in Ruawai, very beautiful scenery but not much of it.  I heard there is a volcano 11 km from me, but as for walking today.  Nah, I am going to catch up on my writing and Married With Children. I am still on season 1.

While in town I skipped over to the Cafe.  Literally skipped!  I stubbed my little toe while walking in gravel with my flip flops.  Coordination at its best!

The cheapest coffee I see if $4.50.  I am cheap, this can’t be.  I ask the coffee dude, if they have a regular coffee. Yes, they have a long dark?.  It’s $5.  Okay, so what the heck, I want to see what a $5 dollar coffee taste like. 

It taste like a $1.70 coffee from Tim’s but more burnt.  Lesson learned.  Keep being Canadian, I mean cheap.

That was pretty much my day.  I enjoyed relaxing and catching up on some work and TV.

Auckland to Ruawai

7 am I awake and Imran is already up and getting his kids ready for school.  He makes us tea, I have a quick shower, and then we are on our way to downtown Auckland.  Imran is a software developer also and works not far from my bus stop.  So I get a free ride.  He is a pretty awesome guy.

The night before I book the NakedBus to Brynderwyn, I will have to find a way from Brynderwyn to Ruawai when I get there.

We arrive downtown around 9 am and I say goodbye and thank you to a new friend.

My bus doesn’t leave until 1 pm, so I dropped off my bags at the information place.  They have bag storage for $5.  Well worth not having to carry them around.

Other than the harbor, Auckland looks like every other city.  Lots of people, malls, shops etc.

While sitting on a bench enjoying my view of the harbor, some crazy Christian man sits beside me and tell me all the good stuff about Jesus and god.  After about 10 minutes I nicely said, goodbye.  This lasts 5 minutes and 2 New Zealand well dressed city representatives ask me if we can have a talk about what makes a community worth living in.  Why not, I have another hour to waste.  They ended up being very patient with my never direct answers.  J lol.

Well it is 1 pm, I am on the bus and ready to head up north to Brynderwyn.  A few pics below of a fun ride.  It wasn't raining, just tinted scratched windows on the bus.

So here is where I want to explain to people about always being nice, even when you want to slap someone.

When I was waiting to get on the bus, two ladies were being a bit pushy for no real reason.  I remember thinking I wanted to ask them if I was in their way, but I reminded myself.  This journey is about meeting people and learning to always be kind. So instead I turned to them an asked if they would like to go ahead of me, I am in no rush.  This paid off in full only 2 hours later.

We arrived in Brynderwyn, one of the ladies from before gets off ahead of me.  I also noticed we are in the middle of nowhere.  There is nothing, it is just an intersection where two roads meet.  I decided to ask her if there is any way to get to Ruawai from here.  She says no, but you seem so nice. I will give you a ride there.  Her husband who was picking her up agrees.  See, being nice in all situations is better.  I am already proving it.

During our 25 minute commute to Ruawai I get a chance to talk Cynthia and her husband Alan about New Zealand, the area I am going too and places I should see.  We had a great ride.

They drop me off right at the hostel door and I say goodbye to another couple of new friends, Cynthia and Alan.  Thanks for the ride!

The hostel door is wide open and there is a sign that reads, “Come in, find a room, and come see us at the gas station.”  Hmm friendly people.

While checking in I noticed I am the only person in the hostel, and the owners inform me, the entire town only has internet at the Cafe, which closes at 4 pm.  It is currently after 4.

I am starving so I walk into the main strip, which is 6 stores.  They all close at 4 pm except the grocery store.  I grab some bananas and a NZ beer (Mac’s Great White Cloudy Wheat Ale).  Finally, I will have a beer. Mmmmm.

I forgot to mention, even the Bar/Pub was closed at 5 pm.

Check out some of the funny pictures of this town. 

A vet clinic that sells meat (surgeries that went bad, still make a profit).  

A closed police station.

Another great day travelling!

Auckland - Imran's house

I woke up thinking, wow, I am finally in New Zealand, and this is awesome!  I got a shower, packed my gear and started walking towards my next location.  It is about a 6 KM walk.

About 1 KM into the walk my back and legs are starting to feel it pretty good.  Guess I am not used to carrying two overweight packs.  Thank god, there is a bus stop and it shows my path matches the route. 

Sitting at the bus stop is a Māori lady.  She immediately starts a conversation with me, asking me where I am from, how my day is, etc.  We had a good conversation while waiting 25 minutes for the bus.

It is only 10:45 am, and I cannot be at my next destination until 2 pm, so I get off at the Mangere Mall.  Kind of a cool mall!  It looks like our normal indoor mall; however, the main halls have no roof.  It is all open.  Mmmm, smell the fresh air.

The mall also has a tone of fresh fruit, so I grab old faithful, bananas.  As I am putting them in my bag, a Māori girl asks me how my day is and then continues on about where I am traveling from, and where I am going.  I told her up north, and then eventually down to the south island.  She tells me she has family up north and she wishes we met sooner, her family love visitors. 

Are all Māori people this friendly?

I leave the mall and start my 5K walk to Imran’s and of course I am taking many breaks to eat my bananas.  At about noon, I am already at the park beside Imran’s.  Sounds like a great place for a nap.

While sitting at the park, a group of teen Māori boys come over and sit with me.  They had 100 questions about Canada and the amazing USA. Some pretty funny guys.  They told me all the places in NZ they have been and places I should go and also that the Māori girls are love Canadians.  Who doesn’t!  Just look this sexy guy below.

2 PM is finally here and I text Imran.  He is home, so I head over to see him.  By the way, Imran is a guy I met on AirBNB.  Check him out here Imran AirBNB . Imran shows me his room and then offers me some tea.  I can tell right away he is a kind hearted guy.

Later that day Imran gets his two kids. I won’t even try to spell his kids names, but they are great kids.  The little one is very curious and smart.  Lol.  He unplugs the TV about 6 times, keeping Imran on his feet all night. 

With the travel, I am pretty spaced out and not even in the mood to think about dinner.  That ended up not being an issue, because Imran cook for us.  I have to say, he is one hell of a cook. 

Well, it is 9 pm I am burnt out, bed time. 

Day 2 completed and I am still enjoying it!

First day in Auckland NZ

I just landed and now need to find a sim card and a ride to my motel and with no surprise; there is a sim card provider conveniently located right in front of me.  It takes less than 10 minutes to buy, activate and use my sim card for the first time.  Again, Canada, why is this is so difficult and here it is made easy.  No background check and all you need is a credit card. 

Now that I have my cell working, I just need a taxi to my motel.  I walk out of the airport and am about to flag a cab, when an airport helper stops me and asks where I am staying.  I tell him the motel name and he tells me he has their number.  He then calls the motel and requests me a ride.  Yup, just that easy again!

30 minutes later a small van pulls up and takes me to the motel.

It’s only about a 15 minute ride to the motel.  I check in and take a look at my room.  Not bad.  Nice shower and beds.  Good enough for catching up on rest and letting my back relax.

I drop my bag and go for a walk down to the grocery store to grab something for the room.  

Here it is about 5 pm and I don’t feel like going out for dinner.

When I get back, I flick on the boob tube to hear some sexy NZ accents, but there are only 3 channels and they are all USA shows. L  Doesn’t matter, 15 minutes later I pass out until midnight.

I look beat down!

Traveling to New Zealand

7 AM EST. I woke up a bit too early, and ate my free breakfast at the holiday inn.  After that I repacked to see what I could get rid of to make my packs a bit lighter.

12 PM EST. My mom and Jack pick me up and we headed to the Ottawa airport.  I think we arrived around 1:30pm.  Nothing to exciting, I checked in, got my tickets to Toronto and Los Angeles.  My original layover was Chicago, but it was changed to Toronto.

The security check and wait to leave the airport was rather quick. 

4 PM EST. We left on time, and landed about 1 hour later in Toronto, with a 2 hour layover.

5:30 PM EST. Here is where the fun begins.  When I land, I find out I have to go through USA customs, and security.  I have never had to do this when commuting through the USA.  Normally we just cannot leave the international area of the airports.  However, it was quick and somewhat painless.  An odd setup though. 

Step 1, scan your passport on first computer,

Step 2, answer questions on computer 2,

Step 3, wait in line to talk to USA custom minion.  Who basically said, “You are going through USA to NZ!” “Yes”, “OK, good bye”. 

Step 4, security check number 2.

So I made it through USA customs, and now only waited 20 minutes to board the plane.  Without luck, someone left their carry on in the terminal.  Security stopped the plane and found the butt head that left it. They then empty all checked baggage from the plane until they found that persons bags and then rescanned them.  Little over an hour later, we were clear to leave.  I was a little worried I would not make my flight in Los Angeles because I also had to get a new plane ticket, which I had no idea where I was going to do this.

3 AM EST. Landed in Los Angeles.  The flight was just under 6 hours and wasn’t too bad.  I think I slept for a bit.

I couldn’t find Air Tahiti, so I asked one of the air port helpers and she tells me to left, go up to the second floor.  I go left and it only goes down and to the outside.  Luckily, I see another air port helper and I ask her.  She tells me I have to go outside and walk from terminal 2 to terminal b, and she also says.  Run, its a long walk.  Uhhhh.

Walk walk walk, I made it and I find air Tahiti counter. Got my ticket, and score me, I have to go through security, number 3.

Security was rather quick for the amount of people and I am at my gate.  They are already loading, so I take a look at my seat number and see the girl switch it when she printed my ticket.  I booked the second last row because it was empty, as of 10 hours ago.  I decided to ask if I can get my original seat back, and they tell me it is not available.  Dammit, this is a 9 hour flight.  The guy says he has a better seat anyways and he was right.  I got a row of 3 to myself. 

7 AM Tahiti December 1.  The 9 hour flight was good.  I slept a lot and watched some TV.  Air Tahiti was by far the besting hosting flight I have been on.  They severed dinner and then breakfast 2 hours before we landed.

Too my surprise I have to go through security again, number 4.  I am not a pro at taking off my shoes and belt, and butting them back on.

The terminal in Tahiti is amazing, check out the picture below.  It was mostly open with palm trees, comfy seating, live music and even a crab walking on the asphalt.   

Oh yea, and it was frigging HOT!!! 30 degrees.

9 AM Tahiti. We leave for Auckland and I even have the same 3 seats to myself.

1 AM Auckland.  5 hours later, I am Auckland and it is now just after noon the next day.  I am officially 18 hours ahead of my family.

Customs was really fast.  I thought in about 10 minutes.  My checked bag was one of the first off of the belt, and then I went through biohazard check.  This was again fast, maybe 15 minutes.

 I AM HERE!!! 30 Hours later.

Final move

The stress of moving is almost over.  All that remains is to remove any garbage, do a final clean and it's done.

If it wasn't for amazing parents and friends, I'd still be running in circles not really accomplishing anything.

Thank you mom for helping me box everything.  And a huge thank you to my dad and Kris little for helping me move everything into my storage unit.

5 days and counting.

Nz cash

Just picked up some NZ bills and the 5 has a penguin :)

Getting closer to being ready all the time.

Another great night visiting friends before I depart

Today I spent way to much time around Brockville trying to find a hikers backpack, when I decided to head up to Kingston.   With perfect timing Dave was just finished his interview with OMS the same time I got there.

After meeting up, we hit two stores and I quickly had a new backpack and shoes.  This means I actually have to pack.

We had missed lunch, so I knew it was time to feed the beast. and no better place to take Dave's Thai Food virginity than Pat's.  OMG - I miss eating there.  Amazing spice, with a perfectly cooked chicken.  So perfect, you can almost count down to heart burn, and your windows being rolled down in the car.

To top off an amazing day, we decided to grab some beers and a few bottles of cheap white wine. We also allowed Melissa to hang with the cool kids that night.

Oh yeah, thanks Ethan for showing me your back end and saying .  Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle.  Father like son.  Maybe when he is older he will wear clothes?

 

Goodbye to the Cadillac

Today one last major hurdle was complete.  I sold my 2007 Cadillac CTS to a very nice couple.  I hope they have very little, if no issues with in.

Best of Luck, and Thank You Linda.

Final day at work part deux

Yesterday was my last day at work and to my surprise, even Beth was nice.  However, she never brought me cake.  Lame excuse, I forgot.

The day started off pretty good, as I was excited to finish off a work order I opened the day before.  I don't know why, but I really wanted to leave on a high note.  Plus, I might need to beg for this job back in a year or so.

As I was deep in though and working very, very hard.  Miss Giggles, IE Boss called me into her office for my final review, and to no surprise she had nothing but good things to say, or of course all I heard was.  Rob, you are awesome, and gosh darn nit people like you.  Thanks Simone for the ego boost, we all know I truly needed.

Shortly after my morning ego boost, the DSU Team got together for lunch.  One of my favorite foods, Paradiso pizza.  MMMM grease, and meat, soon time for my regularly scheduled afternoon nap.  Just kidding!

Half way thorough scarfing down my pizza, the team gave me a nice card and close to a million Hersey Cookies and Cream Chocolate bars.  For the few that know the store about them, this is Beth trying to make me sick on my last day.  Either way, it was a pretty cool gift and also proves she does listen to my stories.

One last shout out to Roland my favorite baker.  After lunch he brought in Apple Crisp and Vanilla ice cream. The perfect way to my heart.

After a handful of goodbyes and safe travels from everyone, I will miss you all and hope to one day see you all again.

Thanks for the great memories.

Final day at CCAC

It's been 3 weeks since I handed in my notice.  All will be missed, some more than others (Beth). 



When I woke up this morning, I realized I have a very hard decision to make.  Do I go into work and work hard, or do I annoy everyone as much as possible.


Stay tuned to find out!



Last Halloween in Canada

Last night I had some pretty amazing laughs.

First off, I thought it would be funny to toss on the bunny suit, grab an empty beer mug, and head over to the Milburn's, hoping it would be just Kerry and Mona.  As normal, I was wrong.  The entire family was there to laugh with me?  Why was I the only one dressed up!

After a Happy Halloween Rye and Ginger, I headed into town to see Brian, Todd and their side kick, Tyler.  Once again, thanks for laughing with me?

It was a great night seeing Sheri, Roberta and the runts.

Happy Halloween everyone!