NZ Part 2

We were based in Wellington for about two months while looking for work that was not forthcoming so we ended up working in a hotel, cleaning. It's harsh but great to earn minimum wage for a while, makes you value what you have and we also met some great people from different parts of the World.

While in Wellington we were offered a house sit in Wanaka for a month and a half! We gladly accepted and left our cold house for a retreat to the South Island. The house was in Hawea, North East of Wanaka. It's part of a housing cooperative that bought a large section of land and divided it into subsections. We were welcomed into the community and we were happy to be invited to thier parties and arrange a few movie nights of our own.

With the house we had 2 Jack Russels and 2 Jack Russels crossed with rats. We managed to offload the latter and we had great fun with Luna and Gonzo, I think Clare is keen on getting a dog now...

As well as dogs there were 13 chickens (12 after one got injured and we ate it). They were great to watch and the fresh eggs were the best we'd ever had.

The van had taken a turn for the worse and had to be put down. Or at least sold to a guy from Brazil who asked me if the engine was ok while handing me the money, "yeah fella, it's all good...".

We bought another car (people carrier type) in slightly better condition. We would take a drive down to Dunedin, another nice town with a cool atmostphere. From here we would drive up the East coast to Wellington to visit/ say cheerio to friends we met while living there.

We scooted on up to Auckland pretty quick as we were a little short on money, we did find the time to stop off and say hello to Pats family who looked after us very nicely!

We're now settled in a shared house with 2 kiwi couples. We're in a very nice area called Parnell and are both looking for work to fund the next stage of our travels to where ever that may be.

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NZ Part 1

Running around like loons seeing stuff. Nice to have Rob with us. Impressive is the word when it comes to describing wild New Zealand. An example would be the walk we did up towards Mt Sentinel from Kidds Bush camp ground: you walk up a steep spur then into a valley for a good hour. You reach the hut and from then on there are no paths. You scramble up dry stream beds and wade through long grass to get to the top. A fleeting touch of real wilderness.

A highlight of the South Island trip was a visit to Lee's parents house: a luxury villa called Auturoa . This was made even more cool by Pat and Lee being there! We had a great time and really enjoyed a walk up the Matukituki valley with stunning views and great bacon sarnies in the morning.

If you're in Wanaka and fancy a good feed after a hard days hike seek out the Old Cow pub for great pizza!
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Cayman to San Fran

From La we get on a flight to Cayman Islands (don't ever go via Fort Lauderdale airport - nightmare). We stay with Lee and Pat for about a month and have a great time, especially Christmas.
San Fran is a really nice place and well worth a visit. Make sure you do the audio tour of Alcatraz - very entertaining.
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Whistler to LA

We hightail it up through Seattle to Vancouver and then on to Whistler for some snowboarding! Great fun but I break a rib or two on an icy slope. LA is a hole, nothing more nothing less, absolutely soulless. The beach photos look cool but the homeless folk lining the street bring to reality that the place is pretty harsh and the difference in life between the haves and have nots is a stark one.
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Portland and Around

We venture deeper into the country and are so impressed with the beauty of the country and how bloody nice the people are who we meet. We head to Yellowstone Park which is pretty much shut but manage to see a 500kg bear (in an enclosure thankfully). From the country we high tail it to the Olympic coast and get mugged by a racoon! Funny little animals but smell like a Ferret so not a good pet!
We missed out a lot of where we travelled due to the lack of time but we'll return. Yellowstone is definitely on the list for a place to go walking an camping.
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Chicago to Portland

To get to Portland we have to go a round about route via Las Vegas. Vegas is a very odd place and our 3 hours there were more than enough. From Portland we drove out East and into the snow. Timberline lodge was bloody amazing, the photos just don't do it any justice at all: the sheer size of the timber frame and the massive central chimney! Also, the outside of the building features in The Shining - all work and no play...
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Boston to Chicago

Many nice memories of the Adirondack mountains in the North East, reckon I could go back there again someday.
Chicago is very cool and we managed to get a cheap room in the Hyatt hotel right in the centre!
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New York to Boston

October 25th we set off for America. New York and Boston are really nice. In Boston we couldn't get used to how helpful people were: if you had a map out someone would ask if you needed help every time!
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