Kingsgate Hotel Hamilton

... apparently served as Mount Doom in the film 'Lord of the Rings'. Sadly there was nothing for us to see but the swirling white. <br><br>However we hadn't gone much more than 10 mins from this antarctic wilderness when suddenly we drove through a gap, popped out the other side of the hills and the weather changed almost as if a switch had been flicked. The sun shone brightly and there were white fluffy clouds in the sky. The temperature rocketed almost a degree every ...

... hair, tanned, thin, maybe thirty-ish and very arrogant. "Where are you from?" "Ireland" (This could be total BS, he sounds Ozzy.) "Really?... huh. How did you get this job at the hostel?" "Because I'm ... cool. You know not everyone has what it takes." "*snort* wow, and you aren't shy about it, are you?" "Nope. Why should I be?" and a player I: "Can you get this for me, I can't find the end" (hands me a thing of cellotape which I easilly unravel) "Ah! I love you ...

flew from saigon through singapore again, i love that airport, free cinema, showers, three hours from saigon, too singapore, then about 10 hours onto new zealand. didnt sleep on the flight, so i was grand untill we got in the car and went to whangamata to claires beach house. before that we wernt back to pauls place, ate some serious ssambos, then waited till claire came home, an dpacked a bag and hit the road. slept pretty much th ewhole way ...

... at 830am, so we could be finished sooner and have the rest of the day to ourselves. This worked out great. Solscape is an eco-retreat and accomodation place with cabooses, cottages, tent sites, campervan sites and a tipi area for people to rent for the night. The tipi area was tucked in the back of the property and is equipped with an outdoor kitchen, earth oven and run on solar power. Solscape is all about the enviroment, from running as much as possible ...

... exist. By living so far away and traveling as much as I do, I am asking my family to trust me To give me these selfish moments of complete and utter anonymity to live a life all my own. I am accountable to myself first and all others second. There is freedom in that which most people recognize, some people admire and many people envy. What isn't realized is that there is also an exercised caution in living a life only for one's self. That I really don't do whatever I want to ...

... How ironic, that my swear word was the name people kept calling out.) "Wow." says Emma. "That even freaked me out. I'm so sorry, this is really full on! I wouldn't be offended if you want to leave or anything." I looked around at the random people sprawled on the floor; crying, laughing, breathing. I watched as Toby 'invoked' the spirit and touched people with it. I was reminded of the crawling, sobbing old ladies in Lourdes at the Grotto, kissing and touching the wet stone ...

... 23/04/2008 Heute musst ich Christian nicht mal dazu ueberreden mit mir ins Museum in Hamilton zu gehen. Museum ist ihm lieber als ein langweiliger botanischer Garten :) Hamilton selbst ist unserer Meinung nach gross und hektisch. Aber wir sind eh nicht so die Stadtmenschen. 24/04/2008 hmmm... heut war ja gar nicht los, weiss nicht mal was ich schreiben soll. Wir sind in Port Waikato. Hier muendet ...

On to Hamilton to meet Todd, then Raglan for some actual surfing (as I had a cold in Mt. Maunganui, and didn't feel like getting wet...) Stayed in Eagles Nest Backpackers in Hamilton (only did a day-trip in Raglan so didn't stay there overnight). Eagles Nest is run by an a lovely older couple. Quiet and relaxed, let's say.

After two weeks back in Auckland doing an incredibly dull job I was more than ready to head off on holiday for a week - this time to learn to surf. I've wanted to learn to surf for a really long time, and there are few better places than Raglan. On the west coast of the north island, a couple of hours from Auckland, Raglan apparently has the longest left hand break in the world. It's also where a few scenes of ...

... be ready when it is time to come down. Back On Earth Mark Wills Well I hit the charts and I took a trip On this silver eagle rocket ship And now look at me I'm hanging with the stars And I try my hardest not to change But everyone around keeps acting strange People look at me Like I'm a man from Mars. That's what I told her Through the sound check noise of Kansas And the satellite relayed me ...