Windy day...

 

 

 

 

so the wind here can be a bit strong sometime… this is the fence in the backyard of the Morse home… we got it back up for now.

In Auckland

Right now I am in Auckland staying with Dave Morse and his family (a friend of Ian Collins). It's been great staying here... they've been really gracious to me and it's nice to be in a home... to sort of process the trip and have some down time. I fly back to the states today at 7 tonight. Not quite sure what to do with the rest of the day... I think I might go for a walk and just hang out somewhere. I might get one more post in before I leave... if I don't... thanks for reading my posts and for praying for me while I've been over here. It's been a great trip and maybe once I get home and get some rest I'll post again and fill in all the missing pieces of the trip. -Allan

In the airport...

Best tag ever

 

Worlds Steepest street

 

The little dot is me

 

Hostel in Christchurch

 

Well I have just a few minutes before I board my flight to Auckland. a quick update... I spent the last few days in Dunedin and Christchurch (lastnight). In Dunedin I stayed with a friend of David Akina, Chris Berry from fresno. I had a great time in Dunedin Chris showed me for really cool spots around the city and on the coast... he also took me to a place called Velvet burger was real similar to furgberger. I think the highlight of Dunedin was going to Tunnel beach. I very beautiful beach with a man made tunnel with stairs that lead down to the beach (the photo second from the bottom... also the photo of the street looking down is the steepest st in the world)... we're boarding so I need to run! Also, there's a new photo map up! enjoy!

Heading back to Auckland

Just a short update on where I am... tonight I am staying at another hostel in Christchurch... tomorrow I'll be flying from christchurch to auckland. that is all for now... hopefully much more tomorrow.

Queenstown

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I got up around 10:30 which was really nice and needed. Instead of hitting the road as usual I went and explored queenstown and the surrounding area. I watched the sunset and got a delicious burger from furgburger. The burgers are about 3 times the size of a normal burger and they are delicious (and only about 5 bucks). I am trying to get on the road soon so I am not going to write much... I did however add a new map gallery from yesterday with a few photos. Today I will be heading down to Dunedin.

Time to slow down...

 
 
 
 

I realized last night that I've been averaging about six hours of driving everyday and when I talk to people about the trip all I really have to say is "it's pretty" and "i've been on the road alot". Well today and tomorrow and maybe the next day (who knows) I am going to be staying in queenstown. I am at a small Christian park called Lakeland and they are putting me up for free. I have a nice little cabin with a great view of the lake and queenstown. Lastnight I was able to just sit on the lawn and watch the sunset and it was amazing. The next few days I think I am just going to relax and spend time with God... and maybe catch up on sleep and explore the area.

Some thoughts on New Zealand... to be honest it's quite a bit different then I thought it would be. The towns are alot smaller and there are tourists everywhere. In fact it seems like alot of the towns exist to provide for the tourists. The landscape is amazing. Two days ago when I was driving I would drive for 30min and would be up in the Mts or the country and then out of no where I would be on the coast and the feel is so so much different yet they are only minutes away. The weather was also crazy... It would look grey and rainy and looked like it would be that way all day but then an hour later there would be beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds. As far as the food here. It's not much different then the US only they have much better burgers here... oh and fish and chips. Here fish and chips are kind of a big deal. The fish here is very good and when you order fish n chips you get basically a whole fish not little fish strips. And aside from that it's hard to explain... you need to just come out here and try them. The food I've enjoyed most are their breakfasts they make great big breakfast and the eggs are really fresh and the bacon is delicious. Staying in hostels has been really fun as well... I met two guys from Holland two days ago but for the most part the travelers are either from Germany or the UK. Some hostels are definitely better then others. Like the one in Greymouth I thought I might die that night. But they're cheap and the people running them have been really friendly. I've gotten used to driving on the left side of the road... well except yesterday when a large bus was coming at me in my lane... and then I realized I was in his (I think I was more scared then him).

It’s been a great trip so far… a lot faster then I imagined and most of the photos I’ve taken have been of scenery outside the car window or off the side of the road. Having a day or two here will be refreshing.

-Allan

Photos!

Well my GPS battery completely died and I guess when that happens it's in the middle of writing and the files becomes curropt (who knew?!?) so here are photos from yesterdays drive from Greymouth to Haast (there are some photos of the Hostel in there). I also I just put up the map for today "Day 7 Map Gallery".

I am going to get some sleep and then in the morning maybe I'll get around to sharing actual details of the trip.
goodnight. -allan

Scenics from yesterday!

Also the map from two days ago is up and I am working on yesterdays and today's enjoy!

I am in Haast

I am alive and well and I promise I will write more and give details when I have more time and cheaper internet. I love and miss all of you!

Today I am in Greymouth!

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. I drove from Nelson to Greymouth and had no idea it would take me as long as it did. I ended up driving through some really beautiful country at night (thinking about driving back up the coast about 30min this morning to see it). I stayed at another Hostel last night "Duke's Backpackers" The place was pretty empty and I ended up getting my own room which was really nice. The building feels like a really really old hotel and when I got in last night it felt kind of creepy... well everything felt kind of creepy because it was pouring rain and it was real windy. This morning I woke up to find that what I thought was a real urban area and real industrial actually looks like a small beach village. The hostel is actually really cool and is kind of artsy. I can't remember his name at the moment but the guy running the place is really really nice as well. I have no idea what today is going to look like... I am heading down to Haast for the night but other then that no real plans... well right now maybe finding some breakfast.

I have more photos and maybe I will put them up sometime later today!

 
 
 
 

Today I am in Nelson getting ready to head down to Greymouth. Nelson is a very beautiful and fun town. The food here is great and everyone I’ve met has been really friendly. The hostel I stayed at last night was great there was a pool great kitchen and the beds were comfy. Yesterday I traveled on the interislander ferry across the Cook Straight from Wellington to Picton. The ferry ride was amazing. I then drove on to Nelson. Once I arrived in Nelson I went for a 45min hike to the centre of New Zealand. It’s at the top of a hill by nelson and gave a really pretty view of the city. Today I will be spending sometime at the beach here in Nelson and then heading down the coast to Greymouth.

This slideshow is of Nelson last night. My gps stopped working they didn’t make it on the map. The rest of my photos from the last few days are in the new map gallery on the right. enjoy!

View Album

Get your own

I am in Nelson!

After crossing the cook straight yesterday from Wellington to Picton I drove to Nelson. This is just a real short update because the internet is expensive here but I just wanted you all to know that I am alive and well. Pictures and more information will come later once I have better internet and a keyboard that works.

I am in Wellington!

 
 
 
 
The last few days have been very very busy. I woke up yesterday morning at lake Taupo and had no idea what the day was going to look like. I decided to go get a big breakfast, seeing as I hadn’t eaten much since my flight. Mike at the hostel referred me to a place called “coffee plius” with a discount from the hostel I got a large breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns, bacon, and orange juice for only 5 bucks with the discount from the hostel. After that I headed over to the city information center to see what I should do in the town. I was only planning on staying the afternoon but I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out on anything. I knew I wanted to go bungy jumping while I was there because taupo has the highest water touch bungy in New Zealand. So around noon I decided to go for it. It was amazing or as they say here “brilliant” (although I am sure some of you reading this might not thing bungy jumping is brilliant at all… but in fact a very bad idea). I decided for the jump that I wanted my body to go half way in the water and sure enough I told them that and that’s exactly what happened (I have a video of it that I will post once I am back in the states). After that I went over to the shores of lake Taupo and spent a while taking photos and journaling. Then around 2pm I decided to head down towards Wellington. The country side between Taupo and Wellington wasn’t that exciting but Mt Tongariro (pictured) and Mt Ngauruhoe were quite spectacular. Once I arrived in Wellington I went to Lower Hutt and stayed the night with Ian Collins parents Gram and Denise. I am staying with them tonight as well and they have been wonderful to stay with. Today Gram gave me a tour of Wellington and Denise made us a delicious dinner. Today I was also able to stop by and visit with the Thomson’s, a family that I met while working at Island Lake. I hadn’t seen them in almost eight years so it was great to see them. Tonight I am just taking it easy and getting ready to head over to the South Island in the morning. I’ll try to write soon and fill you all in on more of the details as I have time (and internet). I love and miss you all!

I’ve also posted a new map web photo gallery with the last 2 days of travel (view the photos zoomed in on the map and zoomed out... especially the photos of Mts). Enjoy! (Susie I will try to get some good hostel pictures tomorrow night!)

updates!

also I updated the two maps on the right side of the screen... one is a gallery with map and the other shows new zealand and where I have taken photos.

I made it!

 
 
 
 
I am alive and had a wonderful first day. I went directly from the airport to black water rafting co. and went black water tubing for a few hours. It was amazing and I got to see glow worms! I met lots of people from all over Europe at the tour as well. I also had a chance to stop and see some amazing water falls. Right now I am at lake Taupo which is at the center of the North Island. I got here last night just in time to watch the sunset and get some great food. I moved checked into a hostel last night and met some people from all over (the majority of people there were Germans). The hostel was great and now I Am heading over to Taupo Bungy to go bungy jumping! I will try to write more later but internet here isn't cheap so this is all for now! I miss all of you! -Allan

I am leaving!

 
It's started! Right now I am sitting in the San Diego airport waiting for my first flight which will take me to San Fransisco and then to New Zealand! I stayed with Amanda's family last night and they took amazing care of me and made sure I have everything I need for my travels. I just spent the afternoon with amanda's mom (susie) she just dropped me off at airport. Before she dropped me off, Susie took me to Trader Joes to make sure I had snacks and was well taken care of.