Archive - Jun 2005

It's Sunday afternoon, the 26th of June and Amy and I are back home finally. We're super beat right now, but unfortunately I need to wait up for the cable guy to show up (Amy is already sleeping). The good news is that the HDD in my server wasn't f@*ked, but the bad news is that I need to do a bunch of 'back posting' about the trip. Amy and I plan to do that this coming week.

I'll also be posting our pictures to our gallery soon, but in the mean time, you can check out the ones I uploaded to John & Dana's Gallery.

We made it to the south island. We got up this morning to a very cloudy and slightly rainy Wellington. Picton (where the ferry lands on the south island) was about the same weather. However, as soon as we started driving south, the weather cleared up, just like it always does when we drive south. :)

Right now we are in Kaikoura. We stopped here for lunch and while we were here I figured I'd get the pictures transferred to a CD and update the blog at the same time.

Our plan is to head down to Christchurch tonight and then set out from there tomorrow morning on a three day driving trip which will end in Queenstown. Along the way we go through Arthur's Pass, the Franz Josef glacier, Fox glacier, etc...

Well we made it. It's nearly 2300 but we're here. We're staying at the Hotel Wellington which is downtown. Everyone we had talked to today seemed to think that we wouldn't be able to find a room anywhere in the city because of the Rugby game tomorrow but I was never worried. I kept telling Amy not to worry...that we had the luck of the Irish with us. Turns out, no luck was needed, I'm sure this place, and a bunch more hotels, have more than one room available tonight.

So since the last update (earlier today) we went to visit Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland on our way down to Wellington. Actually, before even getting there, we stopped so I could climb a very large hill that was along the highway. It was just calling out to me. :)

Well it's been a few days now since our last update. We're down here in Rotorua for the afternoon. Didn't get a chance to update earlier because I just wasn't prepared to pay the high amounts they wanted for internet access. It's either a bit cheaper here or else I've caved somewhat.

So after we left Auckland we headed up to Paihia (sp?) for our dolphin adventure. The drive up to Paihia was amazing! Lots of steep and winding roads, reminded me a lot of driving through the mountains in Mexico actually. Great scenery too.

On our way, we stopped at a cave where there were glow worms. Got a nice tour of the cave by Edward before continuing on to Paihia. Unfortunately my pictures from the cave didn't turn out at all, so you're going to have to go and see the worms for yourself. Very cool.

It's five after eight in the evening in Auckland right now. Amy and I just finished a nice meal and are about to head to bed. Yes, it'll be an early night for us tonight, but we did a lot today.

Got into Auckland at around six this morning. Total travel time to get here was around 28 hours including all the stopovers. Anyways, after picking up our rental (a Toyota Echo) and figuring out how to drive it, we headed for the city. I'm not going to say we got lost, but lets say we took a more scenic route than we originally planned. Please note that we were ALWAYS headed in the right direction, just not always on the street we wanted to be on. :)

Well our trip almost ended before it began. Tricia dropped us off at the Ottawa airport this morning and we went to check in with Air Canada. When we got up to the counter and the girl checked our names in the computer she said, "All your flights have been cancelled...you need to go talk to Dawn in purchasing."

So we went over to talk to Dawn and she got us all fixed up. Apparently it was a screw-up by Algonquin when they booked the tickets. Anyways, we need to confirm our flights back when we get into Auckland. If we don't come back...you'll all know why.

So far, except for that little scare this morning, the trip has been good. I'm really liking OUR (Amy has scolded me multiple times for saying MY) new camera. I did end up buying the Canon Powershot S2 IS that I was talking about with Boris. So far...pretty sweet!

Well I'm now a married man. Don't really have a lot of time to write, but I figured since I haven't posted anything in a while that I'd do a short post.

The wedding was fantastic! I think everyone had a good time and we are soo happy that everyone could make it. You guys are the best, all of you!

Anyone who's got digital pictures, let me know and I'll tell you where you can upload them too. Eventually I'd like to get them all on one DVD. I know Boris told me he's got something like 500 pictures so I may need more than one DVD. :)

Anyways, still lots to do before we head back to Ottawa so I better get back at it.