Archive for the ‘New Zealand’ Category

I lost my big toenial today, finally! And yes, it is a normal thing…

Wow! Today was awesome. I went out to the Mount Aspiring National Park and don’t know if I had more fun on the trail or just getting there. It’s about 50K outside of town to get there. The first 30K is on paved roads with two-lane bridges, the next 15K is on gravel roads with […]

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Long Time Coming

Whew~ It’s been a while since I’ve written on here. Lately I’ve been grappling with the decision of work. The questions of course entailing: “Do I want to work?”, “If so, where do I want to work?”, and “What do I want to do?”. And after tossing it back and forth for a while traveling […]

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4 Hikes, 3 Nights In The Car, 2 Sore Legs, 1 Tired Andy

Avalanche Peak (a.k.a. The coolest peak name in existence) was very difficult to say to least. Sitting in the Southern Alps, just outside a little town called Arthur’s Pass; where the mountains create their own weather and make it rain 175 days a year on the village. The peak is reachable via two routes, Avalanche […]

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Akaroa Akaroa Akaroa

Mount Fyffe proved to be much more than I thought it would be. Just outside of Kaikoura lays the parking lot to the base of this peak. I don’t know how I pick all these steep uphill hikes, but this was by far the most challenging one I’ve done yet. Starting out at sea level […]

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South Island Baby

I took off…..a while ago from Taupo and decided to head to Wellington, which ended up being my longest travel day thus far. Most the towns are nice and close and travel days have not been more than two hours in the car. It’s nice because it doesn’t take up a day, you can arrive […]

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E-Mail Message

October 26, 2005  Hi Everybody, Just wanted to write a quick note and let everyone know how I’m doing. It’s been nearly a month since I left the States and came to New Zealand. So much has happened between now and then I don’t know where to begin really…… Then I first arrived in the […]

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Tongariro Crossing

I’m feeling better and have been in Taupo for nearly a week. I’m getting caught up on a few things and figuring out where I’m headed next. It looks to be Wellington at this point where I will crossover on a ferry to the South Island. I hope to have about a month down there […]

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To Taupo From Rotorua

Red Woods – This was a descent hike with the highlight being able to view the Whakawhara thermal park from above. It also takes you through a large forest of California Redwood Trees, which were introduced nearly a hundred years ago, but don’t grow to their enormous size as they do back in the States. […]

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YMCA – Incase You’re Having Trouble, Try This….

I recieved this email recently and thought I’d share incase anyone was having problems…. “So, funny story for you. You know how we would always joke that stuff didn’t work and then just having you walk into the office would miraculously fix everything. Well, I’ve got one better than that. Our printer has been on […]

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From the Caves of Waitomo to the Volcanic Plateau of Rotorua

October 16, 2005  In my new set of wheels I set off again from Orewa this time heading South to a little village called Waitomo where I spent a few days. For being so little it had a lot to offer and see. I was a bit of an idiot in the Peri Peri Caves, […]

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