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So sorry you guys, but you'll have to hold it in a bit longer still...

This traveling every or every second day is just not co working with keeping up a perfectly good blog, so I'll have to wait until I'm in Byron to catch up on everything that's happening here in NZ.

Weeell, guess I'll see you in oz then! =)

// emma

btw, i'm totally fine - everything's super and great and awesome and wicked etc etc!

Auckland and Rotorua

Yiiehaaa!!

New Zealand here I am!!!

=)

Let me tell you what I've done so far, 'cause man! we're going around fast here I'll tell ya!

Arrived in Auckland last friday - spent the entire flight talking to Rosalind, the south-african woman next to me, about south-africa and everything we've seen/gone through in our travels around the world. It was very interesting - I now know for sure that I won't go to south-africa until I'm at least 40 years old - I might be less impulsive about certain things (that you do get impulsive about when you're travelling and relaxing more and more, like "that wouldn't happen to me so I'll go here even if it's dark" etc etc), and from what she told me, I'd want to go around with ten bodyguards if I'll leave the house at all... So being forty might not save me from getting raped, but it might save me from getting in that kind of situations where I would get raped =) all good!

'Right, once in Auckland I was starving, so I had some well-deserved wraps at Nomads (or whatever the name is) before checking out the harbour.














In the evening I had a glass of wine outside at a nice bar in a nice street (the nice street is one of the pics above), and ended up talking for two-three hours to a forty (!) year old french dude who wanted to teach me about massages - yeah right! - but we had some interesting conversations about various things and I got to practise my french, so that's sweet as =P








The next day, saturday, I took a walk to Parnell St - a charming area where they had (at one of the cafes) the best muesli ever! Then it was time to catch the ferry (filled with cameras attached to japanese, korean and chinese folks =)) to Rangitoto - a vulcano island half an hour from Auckland Harbour.
















Once on the island, the goal was to hike up to the crater to get the 360 degres look out of Auckland Skyline - and it was totally worth it =)

This vulcano is the youngest in this area, and by that I mean it erupted some 600 years ago. Although when the sun is shining the lava is getting quite hot, and of course there wasn't a cloud in sight on the way up =)
It's not that high, around 260 meters above sea level, but it was suppose to take one hour up and one hour down, and since I didn't want to get left there I felt a bit stressed - well, it turned out that one hour was for the really slow walkers and the families with kiddies - it took roughly half an hour up and 25min down =)











Above: Painting of how the vulcano crater used to look like, and next to it is how the crater looks today =) The flowers are filling the crater with lovely colors and it's difficult to imagine that it's built on lava and stuff..

But I had my side-strap bag with me (don't know if that's the right term for it, but it's not a backpack anyway), so my shoulder was getting eaten away... That made the climb a bit more of a challenge - and also it was great to know that I can't hike without a backpack, 'cause tomorrow I'll be going on the Tongario Crossing - 19,5 km in Lord of the Rings Country just below Mount Ngaurahoe (Mt Doom), and to walk 6-8 hours without a small backpack to put water and food in, well let's just say that's not something I'm interested in - so I got a rucksack, and I'll tell you the story about it in a minute!

After the hike, I got back just in time for the free pizza down at Globe Bar (below Base ACB Auckland - the hostel) - not bad! Then it was time to crash, if I didn't want to oversleep and miss the bus... But it's hard to sleep when you're in an 8 Share room with seven guys... It really smells like 'boy' - you know, the lovely mix of old after shave, vodka/beer/any alcohol, sunken-in-sweat-in-clothes-that-haven't-been-washed-for-soooo-long and just the scent guys send out when they're crammed in together for a while =)

And the guy in the bed next to me, A, had some fun 'night-tics' - like when he was sound a sleep, he could all of a sudden start to clap his hands - ten sharp claps and then half an hour later, ten more - or just start to scream - AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH - and then turn around and continue snoring... It was really interesting... =)

Above: Auckland Skyline from Mt Eden (also a vulcano crater here), then me in Waitomo and then a blurry picture of the glow worms in the Waitomo cave - it was the best pic I could get, considering the fact that we weren't allowed to photograph in the caves... oops...




Sunday - first trip with MagicBus so far, and we got Grumpy as our driver (if you asked questions he had the 'I'll-slowly-kill-you-if-you-don't-get-off-my-back-look'). But it was alright - we saw Auckland from Mt Eden, then got to Waitomo where we went down the caves to see glow worms - really cool (but a bit too expensive for that short time)! And we had a delicious lunch - all I ordered was a veggie pie, and I thought it was one the small ready-made-ones, but I had the best home made pie ever, with lots and lots of salad and potatoes in cream sauce - well, the picture speaks for itself really =)

We got in to Rotorua around 5 pm, and that night I went to the Tamaki Maori Village for a concert and hangi. Hangi is a big meal, and the food is cooked in a pit underground on top of hot stones and rocks and then covered with dirt. It was amazing!

























Above you have pics from the Welcoming Ceremony, from the village and from the concert - followed by dinner and then me and my newfound friend Maria from Germany.

Below: Me and the Maori driver of the bus.

The bus we went in got turned into a tribe, the Weka, and our chief (Drew from Canada - a volunteer-cheif 'cause we have to have a chief to lead us into the village) got up and made us "row" the bus since we were going to slow =) Then we got lucky, 'cause at the dinner we had two chiefs at our table, and they ended up buying 8 bottles of wine for the table (4 red, 4 white) - so it was a really nice evening ;)

So we got to see a Maori Village, and the concert, or performance is more the word, where they told us how they introduced muskets in the warrior culture - it was all-in-all a really good night!

Here's some videos from the Welcoming Ceremony - one where the warriors of the tribe demonstrates their strengths, and another one where Drew (my chief!) is accepting the peace gift, and also some music from the concert - what they're performing is a 'Haka', and it's the warrior dance, to scare off enemies:





Yesterday, monday, I was at the same time really lucky and really un-lucky =)
I needed to get a backpack for the hike tomorrow, and this guy at the hostel, Ran from Israel, offered to come with me since he was bored. I thought, Sure, some company won't kill me =)

Well, this almost did...

Not in the getting-chopped-up-into-pieces-with-a-kitchen-knife-killed, but oh-my-fucking-god-I-can't-stand-this-person-and-if-he-says-another-word-I'll-jump-over-the-next-bridge/tall building/in front of a car-that-I-see-killed....

We went looking for a backpack, and found a few options, but Ran said that he had a lot of spare backpacks (he's got a car so he had a lot of stuff), and I could get one from him. By this time I had already realised that he was not my kind of person, but the one that tries to shove you down into your shoes and make you feel small and like you don't know anything at all. But hey, I'm a backpacker right? (at least last time I checked), so with not so much money, everything that comes with the word 'free' or 'discount' sounds lovely! So we went back after a while and I got his old backpack - perfect!

And then I made the mistake of going on a small roadtrip to the Blue and Green Lakes with him (there's Ran by the Blue Lake btw), and yeah, he started making some moves, wanted to sit close, give me a massage (!) - why does all guys want to massage me?! Do I look as if I'm in pain or something??

Anyway, I was getting annoyed and tired of this shit-hole that never listened but always talked about himself, and who tried to get me to dislike a lot of things about NZ, etc etc - I'm still angry with him so I can just go on and on about how negative and stupid he was, but I won't =)

I ended up spending time with Lina and Tomi from Finland-Sweden/Finland and running away from Ran =) We went to a pub to get a drink with some guys from the netherlands and england, and then the swedish-speaking-part of the group took off to the Polynesian Spa. Hot, almost bubbling, water coming from the ground and we were swimming around under the stars, enjoying the brisk night =)

Rotorua is, I haven't told you I realise now, one the most active areas in the world when it comes to underground activity - a lot of vulcanos around here and there's a lot of smoke coming up from the ground all the time, and since the earth is very rich in minerals, especially sulphur, it smells like rotten eggs in the entire town..

The best thing about that is that you can go around farting as much as you want and no one notices! =D

The worst thing is that my bikini will smell rotten eggs for another three-four washes before I get the smell out completely...

This morning, tuesday, I tried to sneak out of the hostel (the best one in the world too if you ask me - Rotorua Central Backpackers - the beds (no bunks) are lovely!!! as are the people, ask for Neil) before Ran woke up - I had given him a false email adress and said that I would be checking out late, but guess who waited for me when I left the room at dawn! He was actually standing outside my room, like he'd been there for a while... And he started saying that my email was wrong and I needed to give him the right one etc etc - I just buried my head in my book and finished my breakfast... I hate that he almost ruined my stay in Rotorua - but I did get a free backpack and a tour to the lakes =)

Then I ran, haha - yeah not Ran, just ran like in run ran run, to the i-site and jumped on the MagicBus - goodbye Rotorua and goodbye Ran!!! I hope I never see you again, but thanks for the backpack =)

The story about Taupo (where I'm now) you'll get later on,
now I need to charge my batteries for the day hike tomorrow - it's going to be great!

take care and see ya!!
.






(do I have to tell you that I was not in charge of the posing in this picture?)

On my own...

wow...

they really left...

It feels incredibly strange, and I'd like to start to sing like Bridget Jones in the beginning of the movie:

" all by myseeelf,

don't wanna be aaall by myyyseelf - anymooore!"

... sigh ...

It's probably not many that can call their parents their best friends, but I can and I sure do! It's been marvellous backpacking with them for three weeks, and we could easily have done three more. Unfortunately, their time was up - as was the money...

I know everyone told me it's awesome of me to bring my folks, and I'm sure you guys meant it, but I also guess some of you thought " She's travelling with her parents? What a baby..!"

Well, my older posts kind of say it for me, but what the heck - Haha! Proved you wrong didn't I?! This has been backpacking when it's the best! - and I'm almost disappointed that we didn't drive each other crazy, 'cause then it would have been a whole lot easier to say goodbye today...

Well, I'm not going to dwell on this for very long, but it is sad...
- Mamma! Pappa! Jag saknar er!!!

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Anyhow, here in Sydney we've just been taking it slow;

- we've spent some time in the harbour, by the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

- we've taken in the views of Queen Victoria Building and Town Hall.

- papy played golf with aussie Jamie (mamy and I walked behind, applauding and helping out... more tanning and chatting if you ask dad).

- we've listened to some live bands down at SideBar.

- we've spent quite a few hours at Bondi Beach, Maroubra Beach and Cogee Beach (displayed in the right order below).

- we've also spent quite a few dollars in Pitt Street Mall - well, mamy and I waved around papys Visa-card and got home with some more bags...

- we've cut and dyed my hair (sitting on a "stolen" chair in our tiny hostel room).

- we've taken a few too many drinks on the pub across the street (and on other various pubs and restaurants around town).

- we've been woken up at 4.47 am by the fire alarm (packed - almost - all of our stuff and ran down the six fire escape stairswith everyone else at the hostel - all of them, almost, without packing - went back to sleep at 5.45 am).

Pics: Our hostel - WakeUp!, and then the fire alarm incident.

- we've tricked my father to eat thai food (lovely curry!) - it went down, and stayed down too =)

- we've spent so long time in a souvenir shop that they (almost) kicked us out.

- we've been tanning in Hyde Park today, and then our waiter at the cafe/resto turned out to be a Goteborgare (i.e. from Gothenburg).

And last but not least, we've explained the rules that apply when you're riding a bike at night in Sweden to a turkish taxi driver, before having a tearful fare-thee-weel at the airport...!

All in all (with a risk of repeating myself), it's been great!

Now all it has to do, is to continue like this (the fact that mum and dad are flying out in a storm that came along this afternoon can make it a bit tricky...)

New Zealand - here I come!!!

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Ayers Rock - Uluru

Yeah man!

We got out of Cairns alright, fricken early if you ask me (4.45 am) to catch the flight to Ayers Rock. It was awesome when we could see the rock from the air – man that's big!!

And man it's hot!!

Around 38 degrees celsius and the wind was two times warmer than that – or so it seemed anyway...

And I would now like to give a little speech, although I'm not much of a speaker – patati patata, blabla – anyone going out to the south of the Northern Territory to visit the rock, you should be aware of the flying devils consuming everything in sight – by that I mean every sane thought you once believed you had and every ounce of patient you've collected over the years.

Of course I'm talking about flies, what did you think dumbass??!!

Bring a headnet, or be prepared to do some serious waving around until you get to the store to buy one – they can, and they will, ruin a trip to the rock, and since it's not a cheap place to visit (neither get there nor stay the night), you would like to get your moneys worth once you're at the rock – we saw loads of people that couldn't enjoy the moment at all because they were all competing for the I-can-wave-so-hard-my-arm-will-fall-off-trofé...

Here I'm enjoying a glass of champagne under my beloved headnet, and above mama and I are trying to hide from the mother f*ckers...

Alrighty roo – back to our trip,

we got to our accommodation – the cheapest there is, and that means one bunk in a 20 people room for AUD 36 per night per person (around 180 SEK) – the Outback Pioneer Lodge. Nice place to sleep but that's about it.

We took a sunset tour to Uluru – the indigenous name for Ayers Rock – and learnt a lot from our crazy guides (they talked more to each other in the microphones than to us so they could barely keep the car on the road).

Just like Sahara, this part of Australia was once an inland ocean, and when the water then disappeared – well, somehow this darned big rock was left there standing alone. Ayers Rock, from now on called Uluru, or the rock, is a monolith (don't ask me what it stands for, it's just the correct term for this kind of rock) – one of the greatest ones in the world. Apparently there's an even bigger one up in northen oz somewhere, but that one is completely covered in trees and bushes, so it's not so impressive – it's more like an overgrown hill – whereas Uluru is majestic as hell as it stands alone in the desert. (okey, not all alone, we have the Kata Tjutas, another rock formation, a bit further off, but that's not the same thing).

This is the Kata Tjutas seen from our hostel, they look a little bit like Home Simpson lying down on his back actually...

The Anangu people, who has lived in this land for more than 22 000 years, are now the 'owners' of Uluru and the 'Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Park'. For them, this site is sacred and they have different areas around the rock where they perform different ceremonies and therefore we can't take any photographs there. They named the rock Uluru – and in their language Pitjantjatjara (they speak four languages, this being one of them) it means nothing particular, it's just a name for the big red/brown rock you can see in the pictures, nothing more nothing less.

The name Ayers Rock comes from the invaders, us that is, the white people. An explorer named, William Gosse, came upon the rock in 1873 and named it after the then-Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. Now the Australian authorities has gone back to calling it Uluru, in honour of the indigenous people.

Uluru is 3,4 kilometers long, and it's almost 10 kilometers if you walk around it at the base. The highest point is 348 meters above ground, and 863 meters above sea level. You can climb the rock if you want to, but it'll cost you quite a few dublones, and if you do it even if the climb is closed (like two people did when we were there for the sunrise tour) the rangers will wait for you when you get down with an AUD 5000 fine (around 25 000 SEK), making it a really expensive adventure.
They've seen many kinds of people climbing Uluru, some people in kilts, or in kimonos or other national costumes. One man climbed the rock although he's in a wheel chair, he used his knuckles to get to the top! Another guy climbed it whit his bike on his back – he sayed that his bike had carried him all around Australia, so it wasn't more than fair for him to carry the bike up and down Uluru... =)

The rock is also old – very old.
But the funny thing is that what we can see is not even half of it. We have another 5 kilometers of rock beneath the ground – so it's just like the tip of an iceberg.
One of the guides sayed that if people ask you how old the rock is, you can say that one side of it is 30 000 years older than the other side.

The question is, which side? =)

Anyhow, we did the sunset and the sunrise, and then we pretty much left (the flies were eating us alive and we had a plane to catch). The picture here is at 4.30 am.

After landing in Sydney, we had some luck with the train to Newcastle – again we stand up for the name ”The Family von-in-a-hurry and Always-in-the-last-minute”.
We nearly ended up on a train to Melbourne, but we got of in time and jumped on the train to Newcastle =) Once here, we didn't have any accommodation booked, so we walked around getting a bit yelled at from all the hostels that ”at this time of year you should book ahead!” and ”it doesn't matter if you didn't know when you were going to arrive, at this time of year you should know!”.

Finally, the Crown and Anchor Hotel put us up – we were delighted at first, until we saw the room, it was worse than all the hostels and backpackers I've ever seen (including China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India) but ten times the price. No need to say that we quickly changed hotels the morning after.

Now we are comfortably accommodated in The Grand Hotel – we have two rooms with bathrooms, showers, fridges, Tvs and fans – all to the price of one lousy room at the Crown and Anchor. And since we've got two rooms, les parents have now got a little bit of privacy – longed for I am sure, judging which way the jokes were heading these last couple of days.. =P

We've been taking it easy down at the beach, and today we checked out Callaghan Campus where I'll be living later on this semester – seems really nice, especially the sports facilities – I'll be the feminine version of the Hulk when I come back, I assure you!

'Right, gotta go – Sydney tomorrow!!

Take care!!