Allison's New Zealand Adventures

home

2006-07-03T23:40:00.000-04:00

hey. so i've been home for almost three weeks now. this are pretty much the same. i got a job working at zingerman's, a deli that is a local legend. it's pretty good so far. i will be moving out to an apartment in september when khai gets here! and my birthday is on july 5th! other than that, not much news! it's good to be home though. good to see everyone again. and it's been really nice and warm here so that's good.

my computer is broken so i can't put up any new pics yet. hopefully it will be fixed and i get get some pics of home up.

al

Rarotonga!

2006-06-10T20:02:00.000-04:00

I got back from rarotonga last night. it was so amazing. the weather was great, about 80-85 degrees everyday. the water was so warm and clear. i just posted the pics so check them out. i don't really have any good stories, i spent most of my time reading and sleeping. and eating lots of papayas and bananas.

see everyone on the 14th!

allison

new pics

2006-05-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

just posted a few random pics. nothing too exciting. i will be putting up heaps of pics after i come back from rarotonga in two weeks. i go on june 3. so check back for those.

Auckland

2006-05-18T03:55:00.000-04:00

i'm back in auckland finally. i got here about three days ago. it's much colder up here than it was last time i was here. but compared to michigan autumn it's nothing.

the trip up here was horrible. the ferry ride between the two island was so rough. the boat kept going up on huge waves then crashing down. dishes were breaking everywhere, people were throwing up everywhere. it was so bad. i took so much dramamine that just fell asleep. then i spent one night in palmerston north visiting Cameron in the army. that was really fun. we went out dancing and i got back to my hostel at 5 am. my bus left for auckland at 10 am. that sucked. the ride was 10 hrs. it rained the whole way and the bus was freezing. the roof was leaking too, all over my seat. not fun.
i finally arrived in auckland and khai picked me up from the sky tower. i've just been hanging out. my friend Mimi is staying in auckland for a bit so i'll see her a few times probably. this weekend and next weekend i have two 21st birthdays to go to on waiheke island. that will be fun.

other than that not doing much.

rarotonga on 3 june, auckland 10 june then home 14 june!

allison

Leaving Motueka

2006-05-10T01:53:00.000-04:00

so i leave mot this friday, the 12th. i get on a bus to nelson, then i get another bus to picton. total time, about three hours. my friend mimi will be travelling with me though. so it will be ok.
then i get on the ferry to the north island, to wellington. i will spend one night there and get another bus to palmerston north, 2 hrs, to visit my friend Cameron in the army. will spend one night there and get ANOTHER bus to auckland. that one's about 10 hrs. fun.

i have no other news, i've been doing nothing here in mot. so hopefully after this weekend i will have better posts.

i only have one month left here. time has gone fast. i'm in auckland until 3 june, then i go to the cook islands until the 9th. then i leave auckland on the 14th! then i'll be home.

a

MORE pics

2006-04-27T22:39:00.000-04:00

I just put up some pics i scanned into my computer. There are a few from the first few days I was in NZ and then some from Waiheke Island and xmas at Anahata. They're a little fuzzy because they're are real photos that I scanned.

al

Pics

2006-04-25T16:44:00.000-04:00

A few more new pics are up. And all new ones are labelled.

mot cont.

2006-04-23T18:18:00.000-04:00

i'm still in motueka. khai was here for the last two weeks and just left this morning. now i have to entertain myself. i still have the animals at least.

it's been so rainy here the past few days. the river behind the house is so full. it looks like the mississippi. the dogs get really restless and bored when we can't play in the river. i'm fairly bored as well. i have less then three weeks left here though, khai's visit really made the time fly.

i put up heaps of pics the other day. they don't have captions yet. the internet here is so slow and it takes forever to label them all. keep checking though.

i'm off to vaccum dog hair. fun.

alli

Motueka

2006-04-06T01:24:00.000-04:00

I'm back in Motueka housesitting for five weeks. it's good to be back in the south island again. a lot less people, more stars. i'm here watching arlo and mojo the dogs and janice and john the cats. they will keep me entertained while i'm here.
khai is coming to visit on the 10th, that's monday. i'm really excited.

the big news is that i learned how to drive a manual! not only did i learn to drive a manual, but i learned on the wrong side of the road! i'm still getting the hang of it but i drove to the airport and back, which is a two hour trip. i didn't stall once.

the house is great. it's owned by two americans so it's not like most of the homes down here. there's lots of space and it's on the motueka river. the dogs love to play down there.

i just put all of my pics up on the website.
http://photos.yahoo.com/amfrit

there it is again. check it out.

a

back in auckland

2006-03-27T19:17:00.000-05:00

i left queenstown on 13 march around 7:30 am. it was one degree celsius. brr. after an 8 hour bus ride through the middle of the south island. pretty deserted except for mount cook which was covered in snow.
got to christchurch and spent one night there. my flight wasn't until 8 pm on the 14th so i spent most of my time walking around and people watching.
the flight was only one hour. if i had taken the bus and ferry it would have taken almost 20 hours. crazy aye.
so now i'm in auckland staying at my friend khai's house. there are two other guys who live here and all three of them work at the same place. so i'm pretty bored all day. i've been taking the bus to different areas and just walking around and getting coffee and stuff. the beach is pretty close so that's good. it's stills so hot here even though it's autumn. today's its almost 25 degrees and so humid.
i'm here until 4 april. then i catch a flight back to the south island to motueka where i will be housesitting until mid may.
still no pics yet, i left my camera cable in mot so as soon as i get there i can put all of my pics up.
that's it for now.

allison

queenstown finale

2006-03-11T17:36:00.000-05:00

yesterday i went on a 13 hour tour of milford sound. you know, the one from lord of the rings, blah blah blah. was good but really long. and i was the youngest one on the tour. it was pouring rain and windy and cold in the sound but i got some amazing waterfall pics and a pair of bottlenose dolphins swam along with our boat. and we saw seals. they were very cute. all in all it was a good day. i paid 140 dollars for the whole day, so it was worth it. this part of the country is so beautiful and there are so many activities. tomorrow i go to christchurch then fly to auckland.
later

allisina

Queenstown and such

2006-03-09T23:23:00.000-05:00

I'm in queenstown now. I love it here more than i love dunedin. it's pretty touristy and there are too many americans but it looks like a ski village or something. it's a small town surrounded my snowy mountains and a crystal clear lake, which is freezing. 5 or 7 degrees or something.
i'm staying in a cool backpackers called bungi backpackers. i got here yesterdays and treated myself to a nice dinner. the food here is amazing. this is the first town i've been two with fine dining restaurants. and good news...i heard on the news yesterday that nz desperately needs chefs. they need about 7000 a year to keep up with the demand. they may also be making it easier for chefs to immigrate to nz. so i might be making a big move soon. i would probably come to queenstown. more tourists and more money.
today i jumped off the side of a cliff. it was on this thing called the canyon swing. www.canyonswing.co.nz. pretty awesome. you freefall for 60 metres and jump from a height of 109 metres. at top speed you are travelling something like 125 k/hr. i jumped off backwards. good times.

what else...

i'm going out for mexican in a few minutes for my friends birthday. this is the first time i will try mexican food in nz. i will let you know how it is on my next post. either will be really good or really bad is suspect.

i think that's all for now. tomorrow i go to milford sound. that's the thing in lord of the rings 1 where they are in the boats and there are huge rocks surrounding them. in the movie the rocks are carved into faces or something. i'm pretty sure i won't be seeing that tomorrow. it's about a 2 hr boat cruise. should be good.

alli

Dunedin pt. 2

2006-02-25T20:53:00.000-05:00

i'm still in dunedin. this past week has been kinda crazy. it's orientation week here at otago university. and here i though michigan state kids were crazy. these people don't take a break. all they do is party. and since the drinking age here is 18 ALL of them can go to the bar and drink. i have to say i do feel pretty old right now. i have seen some good shows though. concord dawn, katchafire, hollie smith and the biggest nz band at the moment, fat freddy's drop. if you haven't heard them yet, go to their website, they are amazing. but now i'm pretty exhausted and tired of hanging around with people that are still really excited about drinking at the pub. i think i will take a break and go to the beach more. classes start tomorrow anyways, so the beaches should be empty during the week. i will only have to share the sand with the seals from now on. so i'm here until 8 march then to queenstown and a bit of travelling. then flying up to auckland for 3 weeks or so to stay with a special someone ;)

oh yeah, got another cell phone. 0273584021. don't ask why i have two, it's complicated.

laurie if you read this i'm really curious as to what your prediction was about me! you ladies may have been right!

and sheila text me! or send me an email with your number so i can text you.

allisina

Dunedin!

2006-02-13T00:53:00.000-05:00

So i'm in dunedin now. i think this is my favourite city now! it's great. reminds me of ann arbor or something. but more scottish. the best university in the country is here, otago university, so it's a nice college town. has great shops (!) and good food.
i'm woofing at a bed and breakfast called arden house. its really great. i'll probably be here a month. right now the owner has left me and two other girl woofers in charge while she's on holiday. the b and b is at the top of the worlds steepest road! i walk up and down it at least once a day. it's killer.

so that's really all for now. uni starts soon, so i'll be going out with some people i know that go to univ. of otago. should be fun. college all over again!

a

lifestyles of the rich and famous

2006-02-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

so after one night in the hostel i was invited to stay at my friend mike's rich uncles house. the house i'm in is so big. all made of glass and marble and probably gold too. it's amazing, they're letting us stay here as long as we want, they are letting us use a car, the food here is so good, and there is so much of it.

i think we are leaving tomorrow and hitching down to dunedin for the weekend, then maybe coming back up here for a bit. i could stay here forever though, although i do feel like i'm too dirty or something to be in this house. just imagine, everything is white, everything. the floors, the walls, the linen. crazy.

alli

what a week

2006-02-06T16:56:00.000-05:00

Hey there, I know it's been a while, you know how it goes. So after i left anahata i went to lake taupo for the weekend and stayed at the mansion for a friends 21st, very fun. then i got the bus to wellington where i stayed in a crazy/crappy hotel called the wildlife house for two nights. welly is very cool by the way, much better than auckland. then i got the ferry to the south island last tuesday. a three hour ride on a sweet boat with a movie theatre, bar and good food. the ocean was pretty rough so it rocked a lot, but the views were amazing, really blue water and green mountains as we sailed through the sounds. really cool. then we got the bus to nelson where we (me and rachel) stayed for one night. met up with a friend that i met at anahata. next day we took the bus to motueka where we got picked up by mike, the owner of the farm we were woofing at. his place was interesting. slept in a caravan with no electricity, solar heated water and a long drop worm composting toilet in the middle of the bush. yeah. good times. saturday went to an outdoor dance party in the middle of abel tasman national park, "slept" in a car and nearly froze to death. more good times. next day went to kaiteriteri beach, very beautiful but windy. that night left the farm stayed at a friends place in motueka. monday morning split from rachel and took the bus to nelson where i met up with mike from anahata. we then hitchhiked with two israeli guys blasting dance music to blenheim. then hitched with a guy and his two sons to christchurch. it was like a family outing, we stopped to watch seals and surf and have lunch!
so now i'm in christchurch at a nice hostel looking for a wwoofing place. this is a great city, maybe my favorite so far. looks very english or something.
so that's where i am now, no pics til april though, left my laptop in motueka until i housesit for john and betzy. you'll just have to be patient.

al

Update

2006-01-22T22:19:00.000-05:00

So i'm still here at anahata, its hard to leave this place. friday morning i am actually leaving though. i'm getting a ride to taupo with my friend khai where we will be staying for the weekend. it's his friends 21st birthday and they are renting a house. i'm really looking forward to that. then sunday i take the bus with rachel to wellington where i'll be for sunday and monday nights. then i'll head to the south island finally.

back to 21st birthday parties. on saturday night i went to my first kiwi 21st. although the drinking age is 18 the 21st birthday is a bigger party. i don't know. but they do this think called yard of ale, and yes i realize that they don't use yards here, the kiwi's get stranger and stranger as time goes on.
so the yard of ale is a big glass, see my yahoo photos for reference. they fill it with beer and you are supposed to drink it as fast as you can. quite a sight.
the party i went to was on waiheke island. so we took the 7 pm ferry over there went to this party, went to bed at 6 am and then took the 8 am ferry home to auckland. eventually we stumbled in to anahata at 10 am. good times.

backing up again, friday i went to Big Day Out. basically a huge music festival that goes on all day and night. i saw iggy and the stooges, white stripes and tons of kiwi bands. check the website. www.bigdayout.co.nz i think. was lots of fun. almost died in the mosh pit at white stripes though.

going back in time more...the other weekend we went to a club called boogie wonderland, it's a 70's style disco with a light up floor and all. we all got dressed up in 70's gear and went dancing for hours. i'll get those pics up soon. the night after that we went dancing again, this time a club that's open until 8 am. these poeple love their dancing.

so thats what i've been doing lately. it's been really hot and sunny, i'm very tan.

um i guess that's it for now.

a

Finally!

2006-01-12T22:17:00.000-05:00

So i know i've been so bad about keeping this up, i've just been having a lot of fun, sometimes i can't be bothered to get on the internet and sit down and type something interesting.

I'm putting some new pics up on the yahoo photos site, i think they're mostly from xmas and new years, plus some from random nights.

i'm still at anahata, will be here until 25 jan, then i think i'll take the 12 hour bus ride, which is overnight, to wellington, meet up with a friend, maybe stay a couple of nights there, then take the ferry over to the south island. i'm not sure where i'll be going there though. we'll see.

the weather is great here, it's been about 25 celcius here all week, so sunny. i'm getting too tan though, the sun is so strong here.

other than that, i've been pretty boring, i haven't really gone anywhere, but i've been having so much fun. so just check out the pics and i'll try to post something more exciting.

al

stupid internet

2006-01-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

so the internet has not been working properly and thats why i haven't been posting.
but here's a quick one.
happy holidays, xmas was crazy here. new years was also fun. i watched fireworks shoot off the skytower in downtown auckland, then went to denny's, which is so much better here.
when i have a little more time i'll post a long one with details. i'm about to go to work clearing trails in the bush or something.

soon.

allison

Back at Anahata

2005-12-18T18:54:00.000-05:00

so now i'm back at anahata, it's raining again. i seem to bring the rain with me wherever i go. oh well, at least it's not snowing!

i came over from waiheke island last night on the ferry. i spent five days there in a hostel that was 130 steps up from the beach. and i mean stairs, straight up. nice place, i'll try to post some pics. it rained almost everyday, but sunday was perfect. i got pretty sunburned, but it was really fun. i met an english traveller in coromandel and had been travelling with her until yesterday. it was good to finally have some company.

now i'm back at anahata until 23 january. it will be good to be here for xmas and new years, i'm looking forward to it. it's good to have all of these people around after the asparagus farm lonliness.

that's all for now, look for the next post to be a good story about getting lost in the middle of nowhere at 2.30 am on waiheke island...

allison

waiheke island and coromandel town

2005-12-13T18:14:00.000-05:00

so now i'm on waiheke island. it's really nice, the hostel is right on the beach. i met a girl in coromandel yesterday from england. she decided to come with me to waiheke and so i have a travelling buddy for a few days. it's nice actually.

two stupid things i've done in the past few days:

1. stubbed my toe so badly that the whole tip of my big toe is torn off..really gross, i think i damaged some nerves because i can't feel it and it doesn't hurt.

2. we didn't get off the ferry when it stopped at waiheke. it was very embarrassing. we had to have them turn around and go back to the dock.

all in one day

al

one quick thing...

2005-12-11T03:42:00.000-05:00

i just saw a commercial for those mosquito lantern things...but here they're called MOZZIE lanterns! weird ay? mozzie?

a good read

2005-12-11T01:16:00.000-05:00

so since i've been in hamilton i've had time to do a lot of reading. i brought along a 704 page book called House of Leaves by mark z. danielewski. i've just finished it. both elena and emily said i should read it, so i did, and it's really good. but i think i will have to reread it to really understand it. lars i think you would really like it.

allison

RIP

2005-12-10T06:56:00.000-05:00

i'd like to have a moment of silence on my blog for sheila's camera

thank you

can't sleep

2005-12-10T06:42:00.000-05:00

so it's 12.42 am sat night sun morning and i'm not tired. i should be, i got up at 6 am to pick then went to raglan for about 7 hours. raglan's cool, it's a little surfing community on the west coast of the north island, bout 3/4 hour from hamilton. a good change of pace. i had excellent fish and chips, kumara chips (like sweet potato) and good coffee. and i saw a waterfall called bridal veil falls, that was cool. check back for some pics later.

then we drove back and had to stop at the warehouse. it's a mix between walmart, sam's club and target. they have everything for really cheap. i bought sunglasses and gum. exciting. then we had to stop at foodtown. so we didn't get home until late, then i watched a movie and now i cant sleep. but i don't have to pick tomorrow, just cook, which is fine. i haven't been doing any work anyways.

so monday i leave to go to coromandel town, north of here. i stay there one night at a backpackers called the lions den. then i take a ferry to waiheke island which is in the gulf about a 30 min. ferry ride east of auckland. it's nice there, lots of rich people and great beaches. there i'll be staying in a hostel that's on the beach and a five minute walk to my friends house. should be nice. all for NZ$20 a night. you do the conversion.

then i'll take a second ferry on sunday night to auckland and head back to anahata community where i'll be for 5 weeks. also, i'm going to Big Day Out, a huge concert that goes on in multiple cities, i think the biggest is in australia.
how's the snow back home? it's warm here, about 22 degrees celsius. i'm going to spend xmas on the beach!

al

pictures!!

2005-12-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

http://photos.yahoo.com/amfrit

finally, pictures!

there aren't that many yet, but keep checking back

al

random phrases from nz and their translations

2005-12-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

1 "good on you" = good job

2. "bollocks" = i'm actually not sure what this means, i think they say this in england too. i think it means something like no way.

3. "how you going?" = how are you

4. a "lolly" is actually a piece of candy

5. the word "cookie" is not in their vocabulary, here it's called a "biscuit"

6. "sort it out" = something you would say to someone if they looked as if they were struggling to do something. used instead of "you can do it" or "figure it out"
Other random things:

1. they don't have pennies here in nz, everything gets rounded up or down

2. one of the most popular cheeses is called tasty cheese...that's it, just tasty cheese, and yes, it is pretty tasty

3. dinner = tea, so instead of saying "it's time for dinner", you say "it's time for tea"

4. pudding = dessert, see above example

5. they the most amazing invention here...hokey pokey ice cream. it's vanilla with chunks of a butterscotch like candy (lolly) in it. it's not really butterscotch, tastes more burnt than that, like nothing we have at home.

6. they say the word "man" a lot...eg "come on man!" and everyone says it, even old people.

7. one of the best is "sweet as". as in "that car is sweet as". almost any word can be substituted for sweet. cold, hot, hard, soft, dirty...just about anything, but sweet seems to be the most common. "that's sweet as!" sweet as what?

all is on

phone number

2005-12-06T18:28:00.000-05:00

here's my phone number while in nz...i'm pretty sure i won't get any calls on it, but here it is anyways:

0211074866 and the country code is 64. i'm not sure if you have to dial a one first or not.

...another thing i've learned about nz...

2005-12-04T00:07:00.000-05:00

no shirt and no shoes doesn't necessarily mean no service.

and on a totally different note, yesterday i chased a peacock across an asparagus field. that was my entertainment for the week i guess. good times.
i can't wait to leave hamilton! i'm so bored!! i've had to cook three meals a day for two weeks, and the only tool i have is a steak knife! ahhhhhhhh!

alli

...things i've learned about nz cont....

2005-11-29T15:12:00.000-05:00

6. the fuzzy brown fruit with the green flesh, that's a kiwi fruit. a person that is from new zealand, that's a kiwi. don't you dare mix them up, i found that out the hard way...

7. kiwi's don't eat ketchup

8. asparagus is very hard to pick, so next time you buy some, take a second and think about the poor person who had to pick each spear by hand.

9. kiwi's don't much like american's

10. sheep are completely adorable, and no one should be eating them

asparagus

2005-11-26T17:09:00.000-05:00

so i picked my first bunches of asparagus today. got up at 6 am to do it too. it grows straight up out of the ground, and it grows everyday, so everyday we pick at 6 am. hamilton is quite boring, but i guess i'll be saving money this way. and i'll be catching up on my sleep. great asparagus farm though, complete with chickens (chooks here) and a goat named garry. i'll probably never eat asparagus again after this

allison

moving on

2005-11-24T13:12:00.000-05:00

today i leave anahata and the northland. my next stop is hamilton which i guess is farm country. so i'll probably be really bored for the next two weeks. after that i head north to the sunny coromandel which has some great beaches i've heard. then i'll be back here at anahata for xmas and new years. or at least that's the plan as of right now.

hope everyone is enjoying the snow. hahahahha...are you ready for a sunny xmas sheila?? i am.

alli

Thanksgiving

2005-11-22T20:56:00.000-05:00

tomorrow is thanksgiving, and i don't get to celebrate this year. i think this will be the first time that i don't. so i just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving, eat a lot of food for me. also, i got a cell phone, but i don't have the number with my right now, i'll post it soon, or you can call my mom, she has it.not that anyone will call me, but just in case.

al

Things I've learned in NZ thus far:

2005-11-19T15:47:00.000-05:00

1. Upon closer inspection, i've realized that they don't speak a word of english.

2. The words heaps, aye and mean are used more than any other.

3. Kiwi males are gentlemen.

4. Vegemite is gross, but i already knew that i guess.

5. There are no critters, just birds.

6. Crossing the street is a chore.

7. They love techno/electronic music, and they love to dance.

...to be continued...

al

centrepoint

2005-11-16T14:53:00.000-05:00

this place has a really interesting past. go to the google new zealand search and search for centrepoint. a crazy guy named bert claimed he was god ran the place, then they got busted for manufacuring drugs.

the past few days have been fun. i've been doing more swimming and hot tubbing than work though.there are a group of younger people here, all about 20, they're going to take me out this weekend i think. should be interesting. look for sunday's post.

you know what's great about nz, there are no squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, or anything. one guy told me he only knew what a chipmunk looked liked because he saw one on tv. he though they were about a foot tall. so funny.

well, time to work, i get to paint today.

alli

I made it

2005-11-13T13:24:00.000-05:00

well i made it, just barely though. it took 30 hours for me to finally get to my first destination. lax was awful, tahiti was amazing and new zealand is so beautiful. it's so lush and green and it smells so good. kind of like hawaii. the best part is, i havne't seen one stupid maple tree. the first place i'm staying is cool.www.anahata.com...i think. or just search for anahata community new zealand. it has a great history of hippies and guru's and stuff like that. i went into auckland yesterday to look around. it's pretty cool. i went up in the skytower, the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. so scary but the view was great. auckland is a cool city, a little like vancouver, but with the hills of san francisco. that's all for now, time to go to work.

allison

Leaving Today!

2005-11-09T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, I leave today at 5pm. I won't arrive in NZ until friday at 12 noon though, weird eh. I get to stop in tahiti though, so that should be cool.

until next time,

allison

Leopold Bros. Tonight

2005-11-05T12:14:00.000-05:00

Hey come join Sheila and I at Leopold's tonight. We'll be there around 8:30. Bring friends.

Don't make fun of me justin

2005-10-19T19:15:00.000-04:00

you can't make fun of me because you play just as much as i do!

anyways...to all of you who care, i leave nov. 9th. my last day of work is the 1st and i think my co workers are trying to get people together to come hang out at conor o'neills after work that day. so around 4:30 or anytime after that , come to conor's and get drunk with us.

First Blog

2005-10-16T21:56:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, this is just a test blog, nothing interestin yet. But I'll be posting all of my travel adventures here soon...