TravelStream™ news feed for member jpkirk on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jpkirk en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:40:32 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jpkirk/2/1220295300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jpkirk/2/1220295300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jpkirk/2/1220295300/tpod.html Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:40:32 -0400 Jess's adventures

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Napier, North Island, New Zealand

New Zealand!!
What a beautiful country!! From the moment we touched down in Auckland, I have seen beautiful scenery everywhere and met some amazing people. The views from our 7 hour bus trip from Auckland to Napier were breath taking and many seemed right out of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The forests especially are straight out of the movies. The mountains/hills are really lush and green considering it's winter here but are small and rolling and are covered with with sheep, cows or reindeer. The sky hadn't had a cloud in it since we arrived and is like looking at a reflection on the ocean, crystal clear and a bluey-green.

Our first full day in Napier, Jen and I were up relatively early considering we had been travelling for a day and a half ( Jen without sleeping!). After clearing the cobwebs out and glancing through the NZ books we brought, we walked from our suburb (Onekawa) to the main city center of Napier. It only took about a half hour and the city is so cute. It is famous for it's Art Deco style and it defenitely lives up to its fame. We also ventured out to the ocean and took some pictures of the rolling waves and the Napia statue. The water is clear and a little rough right now but it's blue colour stands out because the beach is a stone beach, no sand!

After spending 3 hours wandering the town and eating our first NZ meal (fish and chips) we headed back to our house to play with our puppy and go grocery shopping. Our puppy is a 9 month old pittbull named Sandy and she is adorable and loves to cuddle. Now those who don't know, New Zealand cars are opposite from those in North America, the roads are opposite as well. This means that you drive on the right side of the car and you drive on the left side of the streets...on our way to get groceries, we had to drive the car...and it was so weird! I drove while Jen navigated, which is funny considering I almost crashed into a shuttle bus in Hawaii while driving a vespa! But it wasn't really that bad just different and I dont expect it to take long for the two of us to get accustomed to the roads here.

At the house where we are housesitting, we are not alone! We have a roommate named Vicki who is a 25 year old Chinese woman who has been in Napier for 7 years. She was going to school here and she now works at a local sushi shop. When she got home from work and after we walked Sandy, the three of us made a very interesting dinner. We had sushi, a kimchi fritter, kimchi and pasta with meat sauce. Those of you who know me know that I really do not like kimchi but I have to admit that it wasn't that bad, the homemade version was better than the Korean I had.
The rest of the night was spent watching american tv until we all fell asleep... it was a good first day!


New Zealand ~ September 4
up early and on our way to gisborne, like driving from vernon to vanc...except that the road was built along the most hilly place in NZ! Not only hilly but it twists all over the place, in and out of the coast and back into sheep infested hills. it was beautiful and we saw a ton of different animals along the way. just a little bit out of town we had the chance to stop at a hot spring and we took it. it was unreal and so nice after a weary treck. then it was off again to Gisborne...this time jen tries driving and did a great job. in gisborne we grabbed a bite at captain morgans burger joint and that was pretty good and then we walked along the beach to find some statues. the first being that of Nick Young, the cabin boy who first saw nz on captian cooks ship. the second was that of captain cook on a globe with a list of all of his voyages around the world. the final statue that we went to find took us up a cliff ( by car) to a statue of cpt cook that is in the wrong clothing and wrong naval markings. at the bottom of the cliff was a maori meeting house that jen and i were lucky enough to get a private tour of. the structure was amazing and the carvings were extraordionary. we headed toward town to wander around for a couple of hours and then we headed out on the road again toward home. seeing that the trip to Gisborne was "not great" in the morning light, we thought that night driving would be trouble so we headed out and about half way home, the weather turned and it began to rain - then the fuel light went on...it was one of those nights where you can't wait to get into a warm blanket with a hot cup of milo - so thats just what we did - as we watched Family Guy ( jen is now addicted - hahaha)

New Zealand ~ September 6
Jen and I started off kinda later in the day. After walking Sandy by the ocean and having breakfast, we lounged for a bit - kinda cloudy again today. then off we went to the cenntenial gardens. it is about a 5 minutes drive from our house and it is entirely man-made. it is beautiful and it has the most amazing waterfall at the back of the garden. we read about this weird hostel in town and seeing that is was across the road from the gardens, we just had to check it out! What was once a prison here in Napier and is now a backpackers. It also has a tour that you can do - so we did! The prison was in use up until 1993 and was over 100 years old before going out of commission. It was Napiers first and onldest prison and it is still in pretty good condition today. Jen and I took the tour at 3pm today (instead of the night tour) and we had a great time. The tour guide was very good and all the stories and events that she told us about were from former employees, priosonners or family members of either. The prison is extrememly small and still has many of the original gadgets and rooms, such as "the hole" ( small cut-out inside the wall of the prison, no bigger than a modern wahing machine. They still have the hanging yard, rope and gallery in a courtyard beside the "cemetry". The entire tour was great and was realy creepy from the stories that we were told...one of the couples in our group had booked the prison to stay in and by the end of the tour it wasn't looking to good for them - she was terrified and I think that the local comfort inn might have served them better for the night.


Instead of heading back home, we decided that we should do the art-deco walk that is in the Lonely Planet. It took about 40 minutes and it was really stunning to see all the art work and all the restoration that has kept them all looking to great. Feeling a little hungry, we stopped in at the Hog's Breath diner and had appy's before heading back to the house.

Returning from our prison adventure, our garden tour and our walk, we watched the wonderful "Who framed Roger Rabbit?"...what a classic - Jen fell asleep at the end ( she hasn't stayed awake to the end of any of the movies so far). I wasn't exactly ready to hit the hey just yet so I dragged Jen off the recliner and we headed into town to see the art-deco at night...not all that exciting i have to admit...nobody was around, i mean nobody, on a saturday night...weird. Back to the house and into bed to catch some zzz's

September 10~
Our most adventure in New Zealand was by far one of those days that years from now we'll look back on and think that "it wasn't soo bad" or "that's a lot funnier now". It all started with an early morning on the beach which went as usual. Then we were off to town for Jen's first interview of the day, at a bookstore. Hopes were high, attitudes were positive and then the interview - what a sham!! One of the ladies didn't bother to read the resume and the other shut down the interview after tell Jen that the position would be longer than Jen would be here. This is by no means a bad reason, however, they never asked when Jen stopped off the resume, when they called to confirm an interview or even hinted that there would be a time contidition on the position. Needless to say that Jen was not happy about this and so the next hour (at 9:40am) we watched Family Guy and ate chocolate cake.

Happily we headed out for the next interview of the day, once again for Jen. This one was at the YMCA in Hastings, the same position that I had interviewed for and got. As we are heading out in our lovely POS car, I start to realize that the car isnt exactly puttin along at high-speeds....300yards from Hastings our car runs out of fuel. Now i know what you are all thinking and yes we did out gas in it and yes we know how to read a gas gage...the problem is that the gas gage doesnt work and constantly shows empty. So here we are stading on the side of the highway with 10 minutes until Jen's interview. At this point in time, Jen turns to me and with a big cheesy grin says "I'm gonna hitch, I'm gonna try to hitchhike." I instantly begin my protest to this as a couple of cars pass us. Then it happens...we hear a car pullin behind us...and there in a rangerover sits a 40+ yrs man willing to give us a ride to the next gas station. Not only that but he also drives us back to the car, fills the tank and makes sure that we get it started! Nathan the Maori painter is the coolest person in NZ!

I have to say that from there everything started to line up and things finally fell in place. The rest of the day was great, Jen got the position at the YMCA with young kids and we celebrated with burgers at Rosie O'Grady's.
It was one of those days...and it had to happen!
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Waikiki, Hawaii, United States

Hawaii Day 3
I think that we can honestly say that we finished off Hawaii the right way. On our 3rd day in Hawaii we did the most amazing thing we could - we lounged! We went down to the beach, rented bodyboards and got rocked but waves for hours...it was wonderful. We grabbed lunch at Wolfgang Pucks pizza place on the beach and headed beck to the hotel for a naps and to get ready for the nights wanderings. We walked through beautiful hotels that were slightly out of our price range :) but they were beautiful and we were happy just to gaze as we went through. The rest of the night was spend in the hotel pool and hot tubs. It was a great way to spend our last full day in Honolulu, we had the chance to relax, take a breath and absorb all the fun and stupid things we had done over the last couple of days.

Hawaii Day 4 - The end of paradise
Well as they say "go big or go home" and today we went huge! We were up at 5am to catch out shuttle to the Pearl Harbour Memorial. Let me just say now that this was the most amazing and most well thought out memorial that i have ever seen. They had veterans from the the day of the attack there signing autographs, they had a movie depicting the events and the interviews with those who were able to recount the events. Then it was out to the memorial on the water, you'll have to see the pictures to believe this but the memorial is built on top of the remains of the Arizona battleship. It is truly one of a kind. From Pearl Harour, we headed to the battleship missouri which is grounded on the dock. We spent hours on that ship exploring everywhere, the mess hall, the sleeping areas, the captains quarters, litterally everywhere we could. It was a long day and it was sad day as well.
Back at the hotel, Jen and I packed up for our latest adventure, New Zealand. The goodbyes were sad and hilarious and I am happy to say that Honolulu wouldn't have been the same without Brianne and Chantelle, you guys made it amazing! Thanks and I can't wait to hear from you!
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Waikiki, Hawaii, United States

Hawaii Day 1

We're all exhausted from our flight!! 5 1/2 hours on a plane is pretty intense after car travel from as far away as Saskatoon. I can almost guarantee that we all slent like logs at the Waikiki Banyan (1 block from the ocean!). The time difference messed with us a little but we eventually all got up and out of bed by 8:30am ( 11am Vernon time). We spent the next couple of hours walking down the main street which runs parallel to the ocean. We bought some gifts and some items we all needed to get on the way. After walking for what seemed like forever, we decided that we try our hand at vespas...I have to let you all know that i have never done this before and I have to say that we started on a bumpy foot. Basically I "almost" sideswiped into a shuttle bus on the first turn of the say!! Apparently it was "glorious" according to Chantelle and all day I have been the butt of all jokes - I have to say I dont blame them at all. The next four hours were spent touring the eastern part of the island. We went to Diamond Head and tried to do the walk but it was too hot and we all decided to head back to the bottom for some shaved ice. We continued on and went to see some of the luxurious houses and it was stunning.

For dinner we went to the famous Duke's and did appy's along the beach. It was a great end to a busy busy day. We headed back to our hotel walking in the ocean and watching the sun slowly set into the ocean. We changed quickly in the hotel and Brianne, Chantelle and I had a quick dip in the ocean in the dark. It was Brianne's first time in the ocean! Tonight we are all wiped and are going to plan tomorrows activities in the hotel room.



Hawaii Day 2

Today was the most amazing day ever had with 4 friends. Early this morning we rented a Toyota Corolla and starting at 8:00am, we went beach hopping. We started at Hanauma Bay and spent 4 hours on the beach and snorkeling with prison fish, parrot fish and exploring the reef. From there we followed the eastern coast heading up stopping at any beaches that looked good. We stopped off at some areas along the highway to take some scenic pictures and other stops were to do some body surfing in the harder waves. At a beautiful little beach we bought local pineapple and a coconut and ate them on our way to the northern most part of the island. On the road we were on, we were able to drive along the mountain range and see where parts of Jurassica Park, Lost and Blue Crush were filmed.

Somehow during this driving extravaganza, Jen has aquired the nickname Tina ( from Napoleon Dynamite). Yup, she's now a llama. So "Tina" continued to drive us along the coastline and eventually we had to take a big left and cut down to the middle of the island and head back to Waikiki. Along the way back we saw one of the Dole plantations, the Polynesian Multicultural Center and some great scenery. All the way home was filled with uncontrollable laughter and talk / mocking about the great sunburns now ravaging all of our bodies. Needless to say that after we all showered we headed out for dinner but first a stop for a bottle of aloe vera. We ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise and we were so exhausted for a day in the sun, in the car, in the ocean, we all promptly fell asleep at 10:00pm - snoring and all.

Having fun and being safe - more or less :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jpkirk/2/1217489460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jpkirk/2/1217489460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jpkirk/2/1217489460/tpod.html Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:32:39 -0400 Jess's adventures

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Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

*The butterflies are back and I really don't mind this time *

I just got off the phone with Brianne, one of my best friends. The two of us are joning our friend Chantelle and my cousin Jen for a whirl wind adventure of Honolulu, Hawaii in 25 days! The excitement in Brianne's voice was thrilling! As a person who has travelled before, I get excited to see new places and experience new things and cultures but to hear Brianne on the phone tonight brought back some excitement butterflies that I haven't had in a long while. A brand new passport just arrived, you can tell that Brianne has spent our entire conversation talking with a giant smile on her face! Talking to her got me thinking about how great this trip is going to be on so many levels. Brianne hasn't travelled a ton out the country and you can tell she'll be one of only a handful at the airport customes in Honolulu asking for a stamp on her passport. It's amazing what a little stamp can do for your sense of adventure...it's a solid piece of proof that you took that one step farther than your backdoor. Chantelle just got her passport as well and just like everyone else with a passport, the picture they took was less than award winning (Chanetelle claims). Most people get frustrated with that fact but you know what? I love looking at those pictures because it's the funniest thing to see the ladies behind the computers at the airports ask for your picture and glance in your direction...all you can think of is "yup, that's me alright, I spent atleast 30 minutes getting ready for that picture, had my hair just right, big smile, which you aren't allowed to do...this was my best prison photo...and yes thank god, everyone who wants to look at it for the next 8 years gets to see that beauty. Smile."

The next great thing about this trip is that I get to share it with people who I don't get to see all that often. Chantelle is in Calgary and has been for atleast 2 years now, Brianne is on Saskatoon going to school and Jen lives in Abbotsford. With a group like ours we're bound to get into some kind of trouble and if nothing else, we'll have some great stories to share and a ton of stories that we'll try to tell and end them with "you had to be there". We plan on visiting Pearl Harbour and spending some quality time on the beaches. One of the days we plan on renting a car - Brianne wants an Escalade, Chantelle and Jen want vespas...I'm hoping for something with airconditioning.

As for the four of us right now, we're all scrimping all of our pennies together, calling in all debts owed, selling our blood to the blood bank and slowly filling out luggage...As of tomorrow, when we all turn that page on the calendar, daily will be the reminder that our adventure is not so far in the future and once again we will be surrounded by friends.


Travelling is exciting and scary but to travel with your best friends is exciting, scary and is like bring a piece of home with you. I am so happy to be heading out soon and just as happy for the day that I climb down from that plane that has brought me back to my home.
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