[Day 12-13] Grape Juice, Gorgeous Views, & Baby Bunnies

From Rotorua you cruise to NZ wine country: Hawke's Bay, located just outside the beach town of Napier. The trip is absolutely stunning as scenery here is magnificent and never gets old. Sunshine finally smiles down and reminds you of nature's vibrancy.

While driving you accidentally cut a car off. Immediately a scowling Maori boy no older than 5 sticks his torso out the window and flips you the bird! Brad & you bust up. They pull into the other lane, speed up and see you both laughing. In the passenger seat is another boy around the age of 8. His eyes become half-dollar coins as he also gives you the finger! You're in tears. The driving mother turns around to face you. A cigarette dangles from her lips as she shakes her fist and yells though the car's back window. This adorable family continues expressing such kind sentiments as they turn away at the intersection. Oh you crazy little locals! Lol.

Friends at the Auckland hostel recommended a bicycle winery tour... wine-tasting on bikes in the New Zealand countryside? Count it! You begin to realize that anything + 4 great Swedish girls sounds really cool. Lol. Anyways, you all rent bikes from a sheep herder and peddle a good 7 miles or so throughout the region. It's Springtime. Travel within thriving farms and lush orchards, down dusty old roads bordering blossoming gardens and never-ending vineyards. Ride between the grapevines, immerse yourself in the landscape. Beautiful. You try to capture the moment on video, slam into a post, and fly off your damn bike. Brad just laughs and speeds by. “YOU-ARE-AN-IDIOT!” he shouts. Haha whatever bro. I rode my bike between winery grapevines.



You all learn about the local wine industry, which predominately bottles Bordeaux blends, syrah, pinot gris, chardonnay, and viognier. You meet blissful orchard owners and experience the countryside rather than merely observe it from the windows of your cozy RV.

Lunch happens at the base of a huge hill. Feeling energized, 5 of you hike to the top, from which you experience a spectacular view of the entire region and 13 peculiar lanes of vine. Run down the middle lane. At the end you meet Carlton the farmer. He informs you that 4 baby bunnies are sleeping nearby and you can keep them all since they're a pest. WHAT!? You jog over and pick up these fantastically adorable little creatures (the tikes can't even open their eyes yet!) Bring 'em to back the group... everyone flips out and spends half an hour engrossed in the moment, playing and cuddling with 'em. Eventually you all return from dreamland and replace the furballs. Walk down the hill and continue the tipsy trek.

It's 4pm. Everyone returns to homebase and you chat it up with Mary the pretty rental girl. She graduated from nursing school the day prior and is in a glorious mood. Asks if you've checked out the Te Mata lookout point in Hastings (next town over). Nope. She insists on leading you all there. WHY NOT?! Everyone piles into the RV and drives the windy road up to the summit of Te Mata. You relax in the bed in the the back, open the windows, stick your head outside and smell the air. Suddenly the trees disappear and you're there. The view is among the most incredible things you've seen. Flowing mountains, a vast ocean, rivers, booming green grass, perfect view of PGA's #1 golf course (don't golf... forget the name... Mary said it was #1). It is entrancing. The moment fills with importance as you realize that pictures don't do the experience justice....

[Days 10-11] Stench, Debauchery, Adrenaline

Rotorua is known for awesome geo-thermal hot-springs... they're a trip to see but the steam is full of sulfur and shrouds the city in the disgusting smell of rotten egg... and it comes in whiffs! You'll be walking down the street, enjoying the quaint little town and it's natural wonders, when all of a sudden a revolting gust of ass will slap you right in the face. SO BITTERSWEET! As the group checks out some hot-springs, the weather transcends from mellow rain to super gnarly downpour. Time to find a holiday park (upscale campground). We find one that provides free thermal spas (small pools filled with naturally-heated and scentless mineral water) Free natural spa, in freezing rain, with 4 fantastic Swedes. NICE! We drive straight to the liquor store and stock up.

8pm. RV is parked, clothes come off, bottles are opened, and we run off in a shivering shuffle to the spas. Needless to say things get out of hand. We get back at 11 and San Diego-style debauchery is in full effect. People are wrestling, yelling, Bradon and Ahna go out into the storm and Melbourne Shuffle. Some how an empty box of Speight's Ale finds Brad's head & he starts dancing like a techno-gimp... We've got quite the group!

-sorry about the angle

**Side note, Prneella just told me, right now, as I right this, that tomorrow we're jumping into an ice water pool on Fox Glacier together. I'm very very anxious. That water is going to be really really cold. Like ice cold. Literally. Frick'n Swedes. Haha this is ridiculous. Wish you all were here with us!!

The next morning we wake to heavy wind warnings on the PA. Guy camping next to us complains that a massive tree might fall on his tent. WOAH! Still full of luster, we decide that luging down expansive hills is the wildest thing to do amidst heavy wind. Off we go! Luging is essentially riding a small plastic cart down steep cement roads. We're not sure what to expect as most people there are between the ages of 8 and 15. It ends up being identical to the Super Mario Cart video game, but with 4 Swedish girls instead of King Kooba, Toad, that annoying Princess. Incredible surprise!

- again, 'my bad' on the angle

The advanced track is especially crazy... almost vertical hills, insane turns, dangerously fast straight aways, and a even a point to catch air. On the first run I ride a wicked straight away standing up. I surf that crazy little cart for about 30 ft then fly over my handle bars and plow head first into cement. Brad, instead of stopping to see if I'm alright, just laughs and speeds by. “YOU-ARE-AN-IDIOT!” he shouts. Whatever bro, I SURFED on my Super Mario Cart. UH! The group races all day and has a priceless time.

The crazy wind never arrives. We return to that rocking holiday park and request another night. The receptionist kindly informs us that we received countless complaints and must find another campground. Haha so it goes! We cruise throughout the breathtaking hills and come across another great park, located on the beach of Blue Lake—a massive body of water that glows vibrant aqua in the sun! Adjacent is Green Lake—same thing but forest green!

We wake to gentle rain and the taste of adrenaline still on our tongues. We race to the local iSite. iSites are agencies that provide free activity & accomodation info. They're located in almost every Aussie & NZ town. The day's thrills are booked.

SLEDGING!!! Sledging originated in NZ back in the 80s. Simply put, you ride a plastic pseudo-bodyboard down white-water rapids. The moment we see the brochure we realize it's a must. To top off our excitement, the iSite lady says people tend to return “really shaken up”... perrrrrrrrfect! The girls are amp'd on some mud bath thing, so they jump in a shuttle and head out. We throw on crazy electro in the RV & pound red bulls.

We arrive. Surfer-esque instructors inform us that we're the only Sledgers for the day, but there are 16 rafters (the same river is used for both activities).... cool yet intimidating! After a brief safety instruction we find ourselves traversing ancient Maori tunnels toward the river. The entry point is beneath a 6 meter waterfall and we're suddenly face to face with roaring rapids. Fear and anxiety whisper in the breezes... the water is so powerful that it pretty much does whatever it wants with you... an eerie idea! But we follow the guides instructions and quickly get the hang of things. We blast down the river, stopping just twice to recite Maori prayer, catch our breathes, and enjoy the wondrous scenery. The river runs through a temperate rain forest... brilliant green vines and high thriving branches reach out over the boulder lined bank, everything glows as soft rain glistens in the afternoon light. MIND-NUMBING! We reach the final rapid after 45 thrilling minutes. The guides teach us how to situate ourselves in the current to surf it! Brad busts a barrel roll. I try to do the same but end up getting a mouth full of river water. Lol.

It was a perfect length of time... sledging required a lot of counter-current kicking and after 5 fierce rapids our legs were shot. But so worth it! Both of us agree it was easily one of the coolest things we've ever done, and something unavailable in most places around the globe!

That afternoon we drove to Taupo, a small town half-way to our next destination. Checked out Huka Falls.. incredible but a storm hit right away! Next day was sunny so we taught American Football to the Swedes. HILARIOUS!

... 'my bad' on the angle
Everyone decided to make it a drinking game: touchdown = other team pounds alcohol… we lasted 30 minutes

[Day 9] Rain + Outdoor Activity = BAD

Our first morning together. I awake to the enchanting pitter-patter of rain. Vibrations sweep across the roof; it's quite loud but everyone's still asleep. A warm electricity permeates our new home, the sort that fills toy store silences or birthday mornings right when your eyes open and you're still cozy in bed, that sort of warm and wondrous electricity.

Unfortunately that tender pitter-patter was a storm. BULLOCKS! The girls ask for surf lessons but hard rain obviously isn't the funnest condition to learn. In addition, our next stop was underground white-water rafting in the nearby Waitomo Caves, which was shut down on account of high water levels. So, after a brief team meeting, we decide to skip the region all together & blast across the country to Rotorua.

[Days 6-8] Final Moments in Auckland

There were 5 bunk beds in our Auckland dorm room. Bradon & I both scored lowers, which served supremely convenient since our nightly debauchery always ended at around 4am. Supporting the bed above me was a row of blond-wood planks, on which signatures, advice, and memories of past travelers stared back at me: 'I did it in the stairway'; 'Van Halen #1'; 'Os gases sao os doidos natan benchimol esteve aki doidao'; 'B afraide but do it anywy'. One person tallied the nationalities of people they apparently hooked up with... England took the cake at 13. Our iHome made us many friends... we introduced our fellow backpackers to the sublime sounds of Deadmau5, Crookers, People Under The Stairs, and Wes Montgomery. The room became the nightly pre-pre-party location. Official pre-raging occurred on the 8th floor patio, overlooking the city and harbor, via countless rounds of the 'Cuppy-Flip Game' (that's what the Swedish girls call flip-cup).

Birthday morning and I'm in a world of hurt... decide to read in the Hostel's quiet-lounge. There's 1 other girl there who I completely disregard. After a short while, 2 fun English friends (Andy & Kate) come down & we chat it up. Bradon eventually arrives. Conversation grows lively & the lone girl jumps right in. Her name is Eeda and she's Swedish. First impression: bright, true-hearted, & very nice. Her, Brad, & I discuss travel plans... low & behold they are almost identical! And she has 3 friends arriving the next day! NICE! We propose our groups joining forces... agreed. NICE! The rest of the day is mellow & you all know the amazing night that followed :)

The next day Swedish ladies began to arrive. The first was Prneella... warm, curiously inquisitive, & beautiful. We run into her & Eeda on the main drag at around mid-day. The 4 of us peruse the town shopping & getting to know one another. That night we meet Ahna & Mollin. We meet Ahna in the hallway.. her kindness glows 30 ft away. Mollin is a self-proclaimed sporty-spice & among the quirkist girls we've every met; a total character. STOKED!

Nightfall. We all play Cuppy-Flip Game 'til 11( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa07vv-aURE&feature=related )then venture to the club inside our hostel. It's crusty, reminds me of Safari's in TJ, minus the belligerent Mexicans blowing obnoxious whistles and pouring rivers of cheap tequila down your throat, and of course that awkward beach volleyball court. We spot a small crew of locals busting out the new dance craze: Melbourne Shuffle—more or less a mix of Crypt-Walking, Locking, & Up-rocking. We spend a brief moment analyzing their style and decide to battle. After slamming some NZ courage (Speight's Ale) we go up against each and every one of the little buggers. It's quite a pitiful scene as these cats are pros. But, they are cool & kind enough to teach us proper techniques after the blood-bath... lookin foreword to flexin our mad wickit skillz yoe! BOOYAKASHA! Haha.

Everyone eventually moves on to an underground electro club situated down a random brick back-alley. As we walk, an unforgettable mist gently sprinkles & sparkles in the street lights. We arrive. The only exterior decor is a tiny neon-orange sign: Forte. The epitome of underground. AWESOME! Brad, Andy, Kate, 4 Swedish girls, and myself roll in. A round of drinks floats us to the dance floor and we take the place over. Music is great... perfect blend of deep electro, reggae, & funky house. Immediately Brad spots the DJ... a 6' blond bombshell. Then Prneella reveals she's been a gymnast & dancer (both formal performance & break) her whole life. WHAT?!?! This night is too much! The 8 of us rage until 5am & pass out—HARD.

Saturday. We spend the day chatting with the Swedes & planning our 18 day tour of NZ. That was our final night in Auckland with all our crazy friends... we went out with a bang :)

Sunday is spent bouncing between travel agencies & phoning numerous Campervan companies. At 4pm we arrive at the rental facility, located across the street from a random cow pasture in Auckland's BFE industrial district. We sign paperwork, load belongings, and hang disco-balls on both the rear-view mirror & the ceiling of our massive RV. Off we go to Raglan, the world-renowned beach town & home of the world's longest left break (as noted in the movie Endless Summer). The trip is full of excitement!... despite relentless downpour.



Click on the 1st photo below & meet the man, the myth, the legend: Stretch aka Whitesnake

[Day 5] Garrett's Birthday Night

Began the night chatting on Facebook, finished at 1030, went straight up to the roof, a bunch of friends were playing flip-cup and waiting for me to celebrate! A Denmark guy & his girlfriend, 5 English people, 2 American girls, Some dude from Texas, 1 Sweedish girl, 2 Irish people, 1 crazy Australian guy & his girlfriend, and 1 Icelandic girl who wants to be president of Iceland. They had been partying since 9, so when I arrived we just played 2 games & went out on the town...


Started at a Jazz bar but quickly realized how wild we were feeling & hit the bars. After buying a bottle of 'Pepe Lopez' tequila, all 16 of us boarded the city bus. I was lucky enough to sit next to a drop dead gorgeous girl from Auckland & her 2 friends. Then the entire bus started singing happy birthday!

The Auckland girls decided to be our tour guides for the night & we all went to the Posh district. Went to an awesome bar and everyone proceeded to buy me drink after drink... I was getting rather inebriated, but every time I turned down alcohol the entire bar would start singing happy birthday and order me to drink! Haha it was crazy.

Then the guy from Denmark grabbed my face and kissed me on the lips! I was pretty weirded out until his girlfriend came up and gave me a hug and kiss as well.... guess Denmark people are really touchy feely! We trotted to another bar. On the way, the crazy Aussie guy (who we call Whitesnake, is about 35 years old, looks strikingly similar to The Dog...handle bar mustache & everything, has Marijuana leaves tattooed on his arm, & loves to cruise the city on his oldschool Sector9 skateboard while wearing grey-camo cargo-shorts.. the guy's a rockstar) climbed a tall construction vehicle that was randomly parked on the side of the road, stood on top and spent 5 minutes screaming obsenities like "Dingo Ate Me Babeeee!"

That bar was awesome. Our big group took the place over and started a dance party. A funny English bloke named Andy decided to attempt break-dancing. After a sloppy attempt at doing the windmill, he flung a single shoe across the bar and moonwalked in circles, as only 1 foot could slide. Then he lied on his back, did a strange wiggle-dance, and refused to get up until I walked over and yelled "Its My Birthday Wooooo!" Then everyone flipped out in their drunken state and started jumping up and down. The future president of Iceland got sick and puked all over a planter box. I brought her a glass of water and accidentally put my elbow in her vomit. Good thing I had my sleeves rolled up 'cuz that stuff rinsed right off!

Then we went to another bar and raged some more. At around 3am our 'tour guides' decided to take us to a strip club. Nice! So we all pile into cabs and drive over, only to discover it had just closed. Bullocks! Most go home but an elite 4 decide to stay up; we tell the cabby to take us to a cool club.... he takes us to a gay Maori club! Bastard! It was my first gay club and it was hilarious! Maori people look like a cross between Samoans & Philipinos... these large ladies kept trying to grind on our girls, flaming dudes were very nice to me and my buddy.... it quickly got annoying and we decided to leave. On the way out, we met some straight Maori guys. One was named Jermaine & he thought he was black... kept talking about rap music & saying 'nigga'. Once he found out I was American, he quickly apologized because in my country the word 'nigga' is taboo... whatever crazy Maori man! Then we did the 30 minute walk home through the city... gorgeous views the whole way! The Skytower glows electric purple at night... gorgeous!

We got hungry and went to McDonalds, which is massive and has insane renaissance style decor on the ceiling! Waiting in line in front of us was a very short Australian chick who's neck was literally covered in hickies.... perfect ending to a very different night!



Well im a bit outta breath after that & our Sweedish friend just had 3 girls fly in. She's been talking about showing them our 'cuppy-flip' game all day, so thats where I'm off to! And then the IceBar!

Cheers for now!


Pre-party'n with people from all over the world




Whitesnake doing awesome things... standard

[Days 1-4] Auckland New Zealand. YES!

It's 730pm, Auckland day 4. This past week was fun as we acclimated to the backpacker culture...........

We left the airport at 7am New Zealand time & took a shuttle to our hotel (courtesy of our amazing parents) which turned out to be a kick-ass posh spot in the heart of Auckland! We met our first fellow backpacker on Queens St, which is the main drag of downtown. She was a bubbly dutch blonde who had just flown in from visiting family in Australia. While there, she got the Australian flag tattooed on her neck, which she proudly showed off to us. Bradon exclaimed 'That's phat' but she didn't understand the lingo and misunderstood it as him calling her fat! We quickly explained how it means 'cool' in the states, but it was very awkward nonetheless and Bradon felt horrible...great way to start out the trip eh? :)

Anyhow, we gave the front desk our ridiculous backpacks (55 lbs each) and asked for what the craziest thing to do in Auckland.... to the SkyTower we went! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_sky_tower). Garrett raced inside, bought a ticket, and did a 630ft SkyJump off the top! To add to the randomness, New Zealand's own 'Harold the Drug Prevention Giraffe" happened to be there doing a fundraiser. It was ridiculous... a tall man wearing a big, furry, giraffe costume gave Garrett a hug at 10am, the time we normally wake up hungover. Welcome to New Zealand!

Then we got hungry and heard about an amazing 'food court' down the block. So we raced over to it only to discover that it was a mere food court, in a mall. LAME! So we decided to make the most of it and grub some weird New Zealand food. Garrett had a large portion of tuna-patato salad topped with sliced bell pepper and 5 hard boiled eggs. The dish was awkward... it tasted bland but was such a gnarly mix of things he was intrigued. He quickly devoured the whole plate and got a stomach ache. Bullocks!

Then we checked our watches and noticed it was booze-in-our-faces-thirty. We trekked down to the harbor and found a rad brewhouse... Imagine if Mother Goose hooked up with Karl Strauss and their freaky nursery-rhyme beer-master bird-child grew up and bought Basic Bar in downtown San Diego.... and then you randomly stumbled inside the place and the bartender was a Scottish girl named Ashley, and nobody could understand her because of her harsh accent. Then she decided to poor you free beer, and it was really good beer! Then she gave you free shots, and they were really good too! So you asked her what the shots were called she calmly turned, winked, and muttered out ''those were cock-sucking cowboys." Ummmmmmm kay.

When we got home the Jetlag caught up to us & we slept for 16 hrs!

The following night we visited our first bar. It happened to be something they call a "backpacker bar", which is somewhere that all the backpackers in the city can go, and in Aukland there happens to be many. Our first impression reminded us of the bars in Tijuana. Cheezy rap music, weird lighting, and stripper poles. The bathrooms were unmarked and doorless... Bradon discovered which one was the Men's Room compliments of a verbal lashing from a group of British girls... Score! We also befriended a couple from Amsterdam who were incredibly nice and hilarious and the four of us partied the night away!

Yesterday we checked out of our luxurious accomodations and into our first Hostel: The Nomad Fusion. It is a 7 story building that smells exactly like the Fraternity House back home! It's a delicous combination of musty carpet, dirty laundry, and old bread.... minus the hot-sorority-girl filled halls!

We proceeded downstairs to the internet room for emails and what-not. Within 15 minutes a hostel employee asked us if we would to clean the bar for a free-nights stay... why not? We soon found out that 'clean the bar' reeeeally meant paint the bathroom and clean the drink-stained everything...haha! So within our first half-hour at our first hostel Bradon was in a painters suit and Garrett was on a ladder cleaning disco balls....we loved it. We worked hard for 3 hours and were then set free for much needed food!

Soon enough it was party time. We met a few people from the hostel who told us the roof was the main congregation area. So we cruised up with our good friends Johnny Walker Scotchy and ipod soundsystem and attempted to start a party. It was all going great until the rain started coming down! The vibe began to die and Garrett's birthday was an hour away... we decided we needed to hit the bars. We stumbled over to 'Margarita', which was adjacent to the pub we partied at the night before. The first thing we noticed was how young everyone was! Coming from America, we forget that the drinking age in the rest of the world is 18 or younger. It was a bit of an awkward shock hanging around high school kids so we left. On our way out we saw a sign in the bar that said, "Student Night" which explained a lot. We just hope every bar doesnt look like an NSYNC concert or else we're in trouble...it's just not right!

Tomorrow we are researching the best way to venture throughout New Zealand and perform the incredible plutheora of extreme sports available. We're unsure of when we'll have internet access again, but stay tuned, as the next post is sure to be filled with crazy stories and pics!

As they say here... Cheers & Happy Days!

P.S.
Computer's act'n strange... pics come'n soon.

P.P.S.
4 Sweedish girls invited us to rent a camper van and tour the islands... Life is sweet.

P.P.P.S.
Everyone talks funny. lol.


Our 2-night Hotel... Our moms are better than yours :)

SkyJumping at 10am!

Harold the Drug Prevention Giraffe

1st backpacker friends: Moniek & Patrick from Amsterdam. Great people! Introduced 'em to the Jager Bomb. Moniek said "Wait! You mean I drink this whole thing at once?" HECK YEAH! "Wow that's really good. Another!"

Cleaning the hostel for a free night's stay

Adventure 16

Throughout this blog you may hear us reference something called A16 or Adventure 16, and we just want you all to know the deal up front.

A16 is an outdoor & travel outfitter store with locations throughout SoCal. The San Diego outlet is at 4620 Alvarado Canyon Rd, off Mission Gorge across the 8 from SDSU. It is similar to REI, only more competitively priced & we found there staff to be more informative! They were kind enough to sponsor our adventure & provide priceless recommendations. As we discover the utility of their products, we will detail them appropriately to fill you all in on the latest & greatest in travel gear and how each item is benefiting our endeavors!

We recommend that each & every one of you visits their store for all your outdoor & travel planning, in hopes that they will help you as much as they have helped us!

http://www.adventure16.com