Sstalder5's New Zealand Adventure Thread
- Thread starter sstalder5
- Start date
posting to follow your adventure..... get me a tee shirt (xl) while your there man 
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It's not THAT kind of blog... My pictures won't be as fancy
Topics will most likely include: (but are not limited to) Drinking, Surfing, Riding, Sexual Encounters, Hiking, Randomness, Longboarding, Stupid Sh!t, and probably some drunk posts.
And this will be the first time in my 5 year drinking career that I'll be able to drink legally. I'm pretty phugging excited about that.
Airports suck.. Boarding in an hour.
Its not truly an adventure until you manage to combine at least three of those at one time. Get back to us when you do.
And good luck.
Wait don't leave yet! My buddy says that the women in New Zealand are not nearly as slutty as Quebec. Go there instead.
He wants that special bull headed clap...
Holla if you want to go for a ride!
And give me a yell if your hitting Wellington. 
...and it's about 12 hrs since this post... you're almost half way! Don't give up!
Just remember it's not the customs or "Homeland security" you have to worry about when you get here.... Our border "Bio security" people are just evil man!!!!
They washed my hiking boots for me!
Made it to Auckland! Currently sitting at a coffee shop on Quay street looking out over the bay. The hostel sucks, but I guess that's what I paid for. Spending as little time there as possible. Demonmonkey, I'd love to but I don't have a bike yet! I think I'm going to head to Wellington on friday or monday instead of posting up in Auckland like I originally planned. (I'll PM you when I know for sure I'm going, DaveW) Surprisingly few people speak English as their first language here. Mostly Asian languages. I think if I head further south there will be more people actually from New Zealand. The flight from Charlotte to LA sucked, but the LA to Auckland flight was awesome. Super friendly Kiwi flight attendants, everyone had their own entertainment tablet, and most importantly: complimentary alcohol! I stayed pretty damn comfortable for a 13 hour flight.
Have you flushed a toilet yet ? Does the water spin the opposite direction ?
It's like an explosion of water. I swear all the toilets I've used are hooked up to a pressure washer. No spinning at all. I am sunburned from switching from winter to summer so fast though...
Weird...
Speaking of winter, the Triad finally saw some snow. A whopping one inch of debilitating, accident causing, panic inducing white stuff. Drivers were slowing down to 25 on the Highway. Even the cops were driving like frightened old women. I passed one cop, and I wasn't even going the speed limit. Another one had chains on his tires.
Have fun in the sun kid !
Speaking of winter, the Triad finally saw some snow. A whopping one inch of debilitating, accident causing, panic inducing white stuff. Drivers were slowing down to 25 on the Highway. Even the cops were driving like frightened old women. I passed one cop, and I wasn't even going the speed limit. Another one had chains on his tires.
Have fun in the sun kid !
Ahh I missed it! My two years in the mountains made it even funnier to watch! I don't think the cops even come out in the snow in High Point.Weird...
Speaking of winter, the Triad finally saw some snow. A whopping one inch of debilitating, accident causing, panic inducing white stuff. Drivers were slowing down to 25 on the Highway. Even the cops were driving like frightened old women. I passed one cop, and I wasn't even going the speed limit. Another one had chains on his tires.
Have fun in the sun kid !
I have a kiwi buddy who goes by "Wookie" and nearly destroyed our toilet in Ocean Beach one morning. He was embarassed but also infuriated that America, Land of the Big, had such wussy human waste disposal units.It's like an explosion of water. I swear all the toilets I've used are hooked up to a pressure washer. No spinning at all. I am sunburned from switching from winter to summer so fast though...
Ah no.... the Sun in NZ is exceptionally harsh (the higher UV content is great for taking photos thoughI am sunburned from switching from winter to summer so fast though...
).Expect to get burned a lot if you don't use SPF40+ sunblock several times a day if you spend the whole day outside.
Kia Ora Bro! Air NZ rocks, aye?They washed my hiking boots for me!
Made it to Auckland! Currently sitting at a coffee shop on Quay street looking out over the bay. The hostel sucks, but I guess that's what I paid for. Spending as little time there as possible. Demonmonkey, I'd love to but I don't have a bike yet! I think I'm going to head to Wellington on friday or monday instead of posting up in Auckland like I originally planned. (I'll PM you when I know for sure I'm going, DaveW) Surprisingly few people speak English as their first language here. Mostly Asian languages. I think if I head further south there will be more people actually from New Zealand. The flight from Charlotte to LA sucked, but the LA to Auckland flight was awesome. Super friendly Kiwi flight attendants, everyone had their own entertainment tablet, and most importantly: complimentary alcohol! I stayed pretty damn comfortable for a 13 hour flight.
Don't forget Rotorua! Dude... seriously DON'T FORGET ROTORUA!
Central Auckland isn't representative of the rest of NZ (and we're all migrants here any way), though there's some awesome Dum Sum restaurants downtown. Cracker day in Auckland today.
Thanks for the tip! I think I'm going to take the bus from Auckland to Rotorua, stay for a few days (maybe longer) then head on down to Wellington! Are you in Auckland? I've been hanging out around Viaduct Basin the past few days.
23 posts and not a single picture...
better?
it's a start.
Looks like Boston. Lawls.
Auckland? Yep. Don't just rot in the Viaduct - it's a bit of a soulless **** hole. Don't know what you're into but new Art Gallery (up Queen St, Left up Wellesley to cnr of Kitchener) is pretty good. Grab one of the hire velo bikes and see if you can make it to 7+ of the city's 'Mountains' (ext volcanos) in a day - extra points if you can get one of those clunkers down the caldera of Mt Eden without falling off.
Auckland domain/museum if you're an old fart. Will give you a taste of Maori culture (Rotorua has more of that but can be a bit crass + pricey IMHO).
ROTORUA ROTORUA. Hire a (good) bike and spend a week there. some of the best freaking trails in the world... I think the shuttle service is still running mid-week + weekends. http://www.southstaradventures.com/
Wellington = cool city with good riding, but South Island (QT) is teh roxxor trails, and hobbits.
Auckland domain/museum if you're an old fart. Will give you a taste of Maori culture (Rotorua has more of that but can be a bit crass + pricey IMHO).
ROTORUA ROTORUA. Hire a (good) bike and spend a week there. some of the best freaking trails in the world... I think the shuttle service is still running mid-week + weekends. http://www.southstaradventures.com/
Wellington = cool city with good riding, but South Island (QT) is teh roxxor trails, and hobbits.
I kinda like the Viaduct.. I'm definitely going to check out Rotorua straight from Auckland. I can catch the bus there from Auckland CBD for $19 Then take the bus from there to Wellington. I think I'll be doing that monday.
I took the ferry over to Devonport for the day. Pretty awesome little town. This is the kind of awesome I expected from NZ. People are much friendlier here than in CBD. I hiked up to Mt. Victoria in the rain. I took lots of pictures but I can't get my phone to connect to this wifi to upload them. (Sorry JK) I think I'll explore some more of the North Shore before I leave for Rotorua.
And here I was Sam, about to suggest that our newbie to NZ should be hanging at the viaduct as its great way to check out all the local 'tang. But thats just me hey? What was that comment about Family Guy you made all those years ago? Still rings true.
Sstalder, as Whoops said, git yo ass to rotorua and shralp some of the best trails in the world.
And yes, the further south you go, the more 'kiwis' you'll meet. In fact I believe if you make it as far south as Invercargill or Gore you'll be completely surrounded by white people of Scottish descent. But the fact that AKL has nearly as many Asians, PI's and others makes it a great place to live....kinda like Vancouver.
Nelson - hit it up
CHCH - hit it up
QT - hit it up
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Pictures from Devonport today:
^^^that's a Navy bunker with the roof vents disguised as toadstools.. Only in NZ
I guess I was just shocked at first at how few people in Auckland CBD actually spoke fluent English. Devonport was more of what I expected NZ to be. And the Navy museum there was pretty cool. The Viaduct is my favorite part of CBD so far. The bars have pretty good happy hour deals. I'm still posted up at Andrew Andrew drinking $5 vodka drinks! I want to check out some more of North shore and the west coast beaches before I head south though. I've made plans to leave for Rotorua monday so I'll probably spend tomorrow and friday exploring the the north shore some more and saturday and sunday checking out Piha and some other west coast beaches. Having a pretty great time so far!
^^^that's a Navy bunker with the roof vents disguised as toadstools.. Only in NZ
I guess I was just shocked at first at how few people in Auckland CBD actually spoke fluent English. Devonport was more of what I expected NZ to be. And the Navy museum there was pretty cool. The Viaduct is my favorite part of CBD so far. The bars have pretty good happy hour deals. I'm still posted up at Andrew Andrew drinking $5 vodka drinks! I want to check out some more of North shore and the west coast beaches before I head south though. I've made plans to leave for Rotorua monday so I'll probably spend tomorrow and friday exploring the the north shore some more and saturday and sunday checking out Piha and some other west coast beaches. Having a pretty great time so far!
Watch out at Piha/Bethells/pretty much any West Coast beach if it's even slightly rough and you're planning a swim. Lots of drowned tourists over the years.
But still, have fun eh?
But still, have fun eh?
Totally over-rated IMHO.
Wanaka, on the other hand--fantastic trail network!!!
However, the heli-bike trip I took in Wanaka was quite disappointing. Scenery was great but riding was mediocre slow fire road and goat trails down.
Totally over-rated IMHO. (Edit: I really did enjoy the long trail alongside Skipper's Canyon, however. Fun and rolly, tame but scenic and the weather was perfect.)
Wanaka, on the other hand--fantastic trail network!!!
However, the heli-bike trip I took in Wanaka was quite disappointing. Scenery was great but riding was mediocre slow fire road and goat trails down.
Wellington, for my money, was some of the best bang for the buck over there. So much great riding inside such a cool city.
Alexandra shouldn't be passed up, either.
And Cragieburn was fun, too.
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skyline has made qtown if you are into biking, chopped out 7 tenish minte runs the other day in 4 hours. and finished it off with ferg burger
, plus the trail network at 7 mile to add to the fun.wanaka has gone backwards a bit but there is still some great riding there.
and don't trust the locals in alexandra...........
ftfy
Hey brotherman!!
I'd never do that. Ever. Woke up with a sore ass and an ether-soaked rag next to my sleeping bag this one time in Alex...
the sore ass could have been from when you fell down that bank not once but twice
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I'm an exceptionally strong swimmer, a surfer, and a lifeguard so rough seas don't bother me.
I've been hanging out at Andrew Andrew at Viaduct basin the past few nights. How have you guys been hiding all this amazing beer from the rest of the world for so long?!?? Drinking an Epic Armegeddon IPA and I've been drinking Steinlager Pure and All Blacks all week!
And for the Americans, Steinlager is like the Budweiser of New Zealand but it tastes like craft beer!
I've been hanging out at Andrew Andrew at Viaduct basin the past few nights. How have you guys been hiding all this amazing beer from the rest of the world for so long?!?? Drinking an Epic Armegeddon IPA and I've been drinking Steinlager Pure and All Blacks all week!
And for the Americans, Steinlager is like the Budweiser of New Zealand but it tastes like craft beer!
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Oh and I spent the day at St Heliers beach. Totally worth the 15km longboard ride from CBD.
