loooong holiday reflection

Feb 03, 2008 18:45

soooo did not wanna come back to the cold...
And of course the snow storm on Friday.... how appropriate!
I cant belive less than 2 weeks ago I was on a beach in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast!!

This was a fantastic trip, it was so nice to go back to NZ!

I left on Boxing Day, and with a minor hiccup in Denver (thanks stupid Air Canada, why do I even bother!), I was on my way in style in the upper deck to Sydney, and then a short hop on Emirates to Auckland (too bad it was only a 3 hour flight, did not get to use the 900+ channels of entertainment at my seat!) In Auckland, my corporate cab was waiting to take me to the hostel.

The first two days I spent in the Coromandel, with Magic Bus, which was a very convenient way of getting around, to and from the main sights if one is short on time. Cathedral Cove was simply breathtakingly stunning. Then it was up north to Paihia on the 31st for The Rock overnight cruise. Had a fun evening, yay to sneaking booze on board, of course I wasnt the only one :)
The cruise was fun with shooting off the back of the boat, fishing, a nice dinner, some champagne and a beautiful beach the next day to welcome in the New Year. After returning back to Paihia, I rested for the big top end tour on the 2nd. We went all the way up and drove up 90 mile beach and off to Cape Reinga at the top of NZ. I met up with Jay in the evening, and we wondered around Paihia chillin and smokin. The 3rd was a full day of sightseeing on the Magic Bus, and I was very tired when I got back to Auckland in the evening. Up to that point I was running on adrenaline, and the jet lag plus extensive drinking and sightseeing were getting to me.

On the 4th it was a day off, although in the evening I met up with Jay again and we had a smoke in Aotea park, and appropriately walked down High St, which also intersects with Shortland Street :P

After checking out from my 5* on the 5th, I took a bus to Tauranga where I stayed at Nicky's for 5 nights. Tauranga itself was a pleasant small town, and we had a good night out on the 5th as it was Saturday night. Spent the next few days very busy doing tramping around Mount Manganui, Black Water Rafting in Waitomo Caves (which wasnt really as adventurous as I imagined), having a go at Blo-karting, that was fun, and even going clay pigeon shooting with Craig one evening.
Also drank lots of wine, Tui, Speights and ate local cuisine such as anything deep fried from the local takeaway shop, but on Sunday Nicky's mom made a delicious lamb roast...yumm!

I took a bus to Rotorua Airport on the 10th, and it was late, and I got there 15 minutes before my flight was to take off, but of course since it is NZ, there is no security checks or anything, so it was plenty of time :) Arrived in Christchurch in the afternoon, and since Jason was working I had to take a bus to his place in Cashmere. Being on the Red Bus brought back memories. Next day, I ventured on The Orbiter to Ilam, CCE, and walked down Waimari Rd to the Bush Inn centre, stopped by Newnham Tce around my old flat, and took a bus past Riccarton Mall to town. Visiting the Strip, and various watering holes of the past, it was a nostalgic day of wondering around the city. Not much has really changed.
On the weekend, we went over to Akaroa, which is just as quaint and pretty as I remembered, up to the Port Hills, over to Lyttleton and across on the ferry to Darling Harbour, and then to the beach at Taylors Mistake, and Sumner. Monday I went to Brighton, but it wasnt as sunny as it was on the weekend when the temps hit nicely mid 30s, warmest of my trip! I even managed to catch the season opener of Shortland Street, preceded by last years cliffhanger ending! Still the best show on TV!!! even though only Chris and Toni remain from the cast 4 years ago :(

Leaving Christchurch at 5:30am on the 15th via Auckland and Sydney to Brisbane took a whole day, and when I arrived it was raining, and I had my rental car, and it took me a couple round abouts to get comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road again. Since Jay was working I had the next 3 days on my own. Spent the first day in Brisbane itself, a very nice big city with a man made beach right downtown, went to the Lone Pine Sanctuary to see some cuddly koalas and kangaroos, then Thursday drove up to the Sunshine Coast, but unfortunately the weather was very unlike the name suggests. On the last day, sunshine was finally out, and after a quick visit to the tourist hotspot of Surfers Paradise, I decided it was too crowded and headed out of town to a deserted beach around Southport. Friday night, we were going to hit the town, but got too lazy and stayed home creating our own entertainment with Jays turntables and a pipe.

The next day (19th Sat) I flew down to Melbourne to visit Karl, havent seen that guy since he took off for Australia in 2004. He gained a belly and lost some hair, but otherwise is just the same. The wife is nice enough (she even ironed my clothes), and the baby is super cute, but I guess they all are at 2 months old. The first night, some people came over, and we had a big Polish night, which resulted in a huge headache the next morning on Sunday. After many panadols, we went to the city Sunday for a grand tour and some dinner. Monday I took a tour out on the Great Ocean Road, which is the most visited tourist attraction in Australia. A spectacular road carved into a cliffs edge overlooking the ocean, that ends at the 12 apostles, which are geography geek heaven with all that erosion! Tuesday, did pretty much nothing, and stayed at home relaxing, drinking wine and watching movies with Karl's wife and the baby.
It looks like Karl is really settled down from the man we knew just 4 years ago, he quit smoking, and more shockingly doesnt smoke much pot anymore (and for those who knew him back then, that is a HUGE change), has the kid, dog, station wagon, house, picket fence, etc..
He did mention he would eventually want to move back to Canada, but I doubt the wife will want to.

Karl dropped me off on Wednesday morning at the airport and I began my marathon 61 hour journey to Turkey. The flight to LA was again very comfortable, although the woman sitting next to me (who I found out was on the same deal!), was too chatty. Made for a long 12.5 hour flight, especially since United lacks in the onboard entertainment. Speaking of, in the last 5 weeks, I managed to watch a lot of movies!!! Sicko, Knocked Up, Superbad, Shattered, No Reservations, The Departed, Simpsons Movie, The Beach, about 10 episodes of The Office, and same of 30 Rock! Gotta love planes, I never have so much time to watch movies/TV!

Arrived in LA before we left on Wednesday morning, and I checked into Travelodge for the day to relax, shower and sleep before continuing on. A red-eye to Detroit, then off to Atlanta for a shower and another overnight to Amsterdam and onto Istanbul where I arrived Friday morning.

Istanbul is a great city, although much less busy this time of the year, and it was high on my 'to go back to' list for a while, and I still will go back anyday. Had a relaxing 4 days of sightseeing, hanging out at the hostel with some great people, drinking Efes, eating kebabs, and dodging numerous carpet shop touts. Just a great fun city!

This was the first time ever I just transferred through Amsterdam without actually going out of the airport, I guess its worn off its appeal after 9 visits. It was back to North America, and just when I thought I was home, first it was -40 in Minneapolis when we arrived, so the jetway froze, and we had to deplane by stairs (NOT FUN when you only have a fleece!!!), and then my plane to Detroit froze and was delayed by an hour, and I was late coming in, and missed my flight to Toronto. They gave $100 and some miles, but since it was almost 5 hours (which I killed in the WorldClub drinking wine and eating cheese anyway), I wrote for more compensation.

Arrived Wednesday afternoon, and even took a half day on Thursday in Milton, before being snowed in Friday. Going to work Monday, elementary, since 2nd term starts now. I promise this year I will actually look for an LTO... although I am content as it is for now.

Thanks to all the people that hosted me, Nicky, Jane, Jason, Jay and Karl, and of course to the government of Canada for sponsoring my travels.

I have only one more week of benefits left until June, which will be March Break I guess. At least I can sleep easy this time guaranteed I am not getting caught for this trip. I spent 4 months sweating out the possibility I may get caught for summer, but now I know thats also not gonna happen since poor Ed got caught for leaving the country in late September (and after I told him how to ensure NOT to get caught!!!)

I am going to Poland, with a stop for beer in Munich over March Break, wasnt gonna go anywhere, but the ticket only cost $350, so I figured why not. After that, I am working solid (I PROMISE!) until June when the big Asian adventure happens...

outs for real man.
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