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A 62-day adventure by Terrence Read more
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  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 10

    Hobbiton and Kerosene Creek

    April 7, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    So today I got to sleep in just a bit. Got up around 9 and by 1015 myself and the 7 Americans set out for Hobbiton. Obviously we blasted the lord of the rings theme all the way there. We arrived around 1120 and unfortunately I didn't purchase my ticket properly so I didn't get to go on the same tour as my new friends. I was still able to catch the next bus and it was so worth it. The rolling hills were so wonderful. The hobbit holes were all varied sizes so that they could shoot the tall actors in front of the small hobbit holes and the short actors (those who were acting as hobbits) in front of the large hobbit holes which I found quite brilliant. The most beautiful thing I saw was the party tree. It was so enormous and alive. I can't explain it but it just absolutely took my breath away. Finally the tour ended at the green dragon which was the pub in the films and I had A free alcoholic cyder that was so sweet it didn't even taste like alcohol. After the tour I met back up with the guys and we headed back into the city.

    After we all changed we set out on our second adventure of the day which was kerosene creek. It was about a half hour drive from Rotorua on quite windy roads. The creek was heated naturally by geothermal activities and was just the perfect temperature. It was essentially a huge hot tub with a small 3 meter waterfall flowing into the pond and then continuing down the creek. We spent about an hour there enjoying the relaxing afternoon.

    After we came back to the hostel we all had showers because our skin all had remnants from the creek all over it (it was slightly nasty). After we were all cleaned up we checked out the night market which had all kinds of cultural food from sushi to empanadas to wurst, and desserts as well. We ended up deciding to go to abracadabra. It was a pretty sweet Moroccan and Mexican fusion restaurant. I just had beer cause I had free noodles back at the hostel.

    Overall pretty awesome day! Tomorrow off to Wellington to stay with my friend Chris that I met in Europe! I'll be there for the weekend and check I need again soon!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 11

    Off to Wellington!

    April 8, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Hey guys.

    So today at 850 my bus left for Wellington. I left Felix, Thomas (a french man who worked at the hostel and who's in my picture) and my new American friends behind and off I went. In the first hour I met Martin who was from Germany and a chemistry major. He had studied 4 years and had another 5 to go for his PhD. WOW.

    Then at the stop that he got off Maria (a german girl I had briefly met at the hostel 2 days before) got on and came and sat with me. We chatted a bit and got to know each other a bit better. She was a nurse in Berlin. She was given 6 weeks vacation each year so she made it a habit of taking 4 weeks each year on a new continent. Pretty neat! And wow 6 weeks vacation...as far as I know that's not really a thing in Canada.

    The bus stopped for a quick lunch around 1230. This 40 ish year old man walked up to me and said "hey Terrence how are your travels going!?" After seeing the puzzled look on my face he followed with "or should I call you chief?" And then it clicked that he had been on the Mitai experience a few nights before. Honestly it felt pretty great to be known for participating in the event like that 😊

    After a quick lunch I got back on the bus for another four hours or so until we got to Wellington. I slept a little bit on the way. Around 515 we pulled into the bus station and Chris was eagerly awaiting me. Back story:I met Chris last summer in Berlin. Him and stayed in the same hostel for a few days and then took the same train down to Dresden as well before reconnecting in Prague. I had let Chris know I was coming to NZ a few weeks ago and then I let him know two days ago that I would be in Wellington this weekend and asked if he wanted to grab a drink. He happily agreed and also invited me to stay on his couch to save some accommodation money. What a nice guy hey!?

    So Chris and I took the 40 minute walk back to his house along the coastline. It was beautiful scenery. Once we got back to his place I had a shower and met his flatmate Sage. The three of us ordered some Indian take out and had a relaxing evening of TV and snacks. Unfortunately I seem to have woken up with a cold today so that was exactly what I needed.

    Anyways. Early bedtime today in order to fight the cold and charge up for tomorrow. Chris seems to have lots of ideas for tomorrow so I'm quite excited! Goodnight everyone!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 12

    Beautiful Day on the town

    April 9, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Alright Wellington here we go! Woke up around 1030. Slept like a rock which was very much needed. Still felt a bit under the weather but mid day I felt great! Anyways after getting ready for the day Chris and I set out. As we began walking Chris explained that there was a big dog walk going on down by the harbor today. I was like oh my god am I dreaming!? So yeah went to the dog walk and there were dogs absolutely everywhere. Dream come true for this guy! Even a few border collies!

    Anyways we met up with Chris' neighbour Erin and her two friends Bre and Steph. Steph was actually American so we had a few little things in common. After a slight walk we went to St Johns which was a nice little joint for brunch. We ate outside on the patio and despite being nicknamed windy Welly the weather was absolutely phenomenal! It as as as probably about 21 with sun beaming onto us all through the day. I had steak and chips. It wasn't the most fancy steak but it was still quite tasty. I also managed to snag some of Chris' fried squid which I quite enjoyed.

    Here I learned that Chris and Erin work for a company called Xero. Which is an accounting software. Apparently it's like the next generation and makes everything insanely easier which I found quite interesting. Also like nobody uses cheques here which I found quite strange but I guess that's what Xero has done for NZ.

    After a few hours of brunch Erin, Chris and I set out on an adventure. We checked out the beehive which is where the prime minister does his work here in Wellington. It was incredible but at the same time quite ugly. Then we went to the Botans (botanical gardens). They were really quite wonderful and offered a nice view of the city. We took the cable car down which was a nice experience but because of being out in the sun all day I actually found the motion quite disorientating. I also finally tried L&P which is a NZ soda. It pretty much just tasted like sprite just a little more lemony.

    After coming down we caught the bus home. We hung out at Erin s house and ate our butter chicken leftovers from the night before. We also had some beer. We were watching the news and rugby came on and then somehow we spontaneously decided to go to a rugby match. I really quite enjoyed myself there. I also enjoyed slowly learning the game. We bought super cheap tickets and then sat front row because it really wasn't very busy. What a treat. The Wellington hurricanes won 40-22!

    After we went to JJs which was an Irish pub with live music. We stayed about an hour and then went home because we were all tired from the day.

    Overall it was a pretty sweet day in Wellington!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 13

    Te Papa Museum and Mount Victoria

    April 10, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today was an alright day. I woke up still feeling a bit under the weather. Chris went to the super market and then made Sage, Erin and I breakfast which consisted of bacon, toast and eggs. It was really quite delicious.

    After everyone left Chris and I headed out on an adventure. Our first stop was Te Papa which is New Zealand's largest museum. It was beautifully designed but I quickly remembered how much I really don't enjoy museums. I think most of it has to do with me being quite a poor reader because after about half an hour I got quite bored, not to say that was Chris' fault or anything. But fun fact, the museum is the safest place in the city to be during an earthquake haha.

    When we left the museum there was like a round two of the dog walk that was waiting outside. Except this time it seemed to be almost exclusively very large dogs. There were even about 5 Leonbergers, which are by far the biggest dog breed I've every seen. When I asked the lady how much hers weighed she said 76kg which is about 168 pounds! Holy crap that's more than I weigh! Either way it was quite a sight and all the dogs were really well behaved 😊

    After that we decided to climb mount Victoria which much like mount Eden in Auckland, is at the heart of the city. It was a much more difficult climb than mount Eden but we made it and the view was nice. I'm kind of over the city views though. They're nice, but they're pretty much all the same.

    Afterwards we grabbed McDonald's for lunch. I had my second big Mac of my life and to be truthful it hit the spot quite nicely. After that I had an hour nap and woke up feeling sick again. I decided the rest of the day would be low key. I went to the market and bought food for the next few days. Then came back and played fifa 15 (a soccer game for ps3) against Chris' flatmate from England. I didn't mean to but I beat him 5-0... oops. Then I just made myself some noodles and that was supper.

    Finished the day off by watching some TV with Chris. He has been a great host and I'm very thankful that I got to stay with him and his friends and flatmates. Tomorrow I take the ferry and then bus to Nelson!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 14

    Off To The South Island!

    April 11, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    620am came way too soon today. I sprung up got my things packed up and off I went. I took the bus from Chris' house to the ferry terminal. The bus driver was very kind and helped me find my stop. After checking in and I went to the washroom to freshen up and as I walked out I spotted Maria once again so I sat down with her and we caught up on our weekend shenanigans.

    On the ferry we took a few pictures. I wanted it to look like the cloud was coming out of my hand but instead it turned out looking more like I was a model on the price is right and today we would be bidding on this beautiful thin cloud haha. It was quite funny. Maria and I chatted about the political issues that Germany is once again facing which was quite interesting to me. She told me how there is quite the controversy over the refugees in Germany and how a new Nazi type party is taking over the government once again because the citizens are afraid. The new party is called AFD (alternative for Germany I think). She seemed quite worried about it so I think I should stay up to date with the news. To be honest it all just reminded me of Donald Trump and how the results would probably be very similar for America if he is elected.

    After we went downstairs because it was getting quite windy on deck. I got sleepy so I found a decent little piece of carpet and just zonked out for about half hour. When I woke up I went to the cafe and had fish and chips for under $7 which I thought was quite a steal! For the latter part of the journey I sat in front of the TV and watched rugby highlights. Now that I actually understand the game I'm quite interested in it!

    After the ferry arrived in Picton (which is where i tagged this post because i spent most of the day on the toad) I caught a bus to Nelson. Within a few minutes of sitting down the girl sitting in the adjacent seat from me asked where in Canada I was from (because I have a sticker on my backpack) and after that we couldn't stop talking. Kiara and I spent the next two hours of the bus ride completely lost in each other's travel stories not only on the adventures themselves but the lessons and the growth that we had experienced through our journeys. She was pretty great and even complimented my mindset and the way I thought about life and and such, which was quite lovely to hear.

    Upon arrival into Nelson it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day. I took the quick 10 minute walk to the hostel and checked in. Olly at the front desk was more than inviting and helpful. I got settled and try to have a nap but no such luck. Had a quick call with home which was nice. Then I met Leona who was from the Netherlands travelling with stray bus. She spent the last month in the north island and was going to spend a whole year travelling around the world which was pretty cool. I went downstairs and quickly started chatting with Jody. Jody was from North West England close ish to Manchester. She'd been working in Queenstown for the last year and a half and was just about to head out to Europe for her next adventure. I admired her positive attitude to life. She was also a photographer and quite a good one from what I could tell but she didn't have have a blog so I introduced her to travel pod (the app I used for europe) last summer. If she starts a blog now because of me I will be quite pleased.

    After our conversation I headed out to find something to eat. The hostel was about 15 minutes walk to the food street and that's pretty much where I wrote this blog entry.

    Eventually I decided to have some asian food so I stopped and had a cashew nut chicken stir fry with mushrooms carrots sweet potato broccoli and cauliflower. It was quite a nice little joint and the meal was absolutely delicious. On the way home this old homeless man gave me the sweetest smile with the most nonchalant little wink. It was actually quite cute. I spent the rest of my walk home literally dancing as my ear buds sprinkled music into my heart. Such a lovely day.

    Then at eight the hostel offered free chocolate pudding (not actually pudding but like a hot cake type dessert) with ice cream. This is a nightly thing and I was quite pleased with it. It also created quite a social atmosphere around the kitchen and dining area. I met two Canadians one from Quebec named Amy, and one from Ontario named Alyssa. Also met a guy named Robin from Germany and a girl named Selena from Switzerland. She was my favourite because she reminded me (more physically than anything) of the character Sadness from the movie inside out. It was absolutely hilarious! By about 1030 I got tired and decided to call it a night. This hostel is pretty dang great. They even have little cartoons on the bathroom walls to read while you're doing your business haha. Anyways, nothing is really planned for tomorrow. Gonna just sleep in and then go with the flow! Nighty night everyone!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 15

    Pretty Lazy Day in Nelson

    April 12, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Today I kinda took the day off. I slept in until about 830. Eventually got out of bed and went downstairs to have breakfast. Afterwards I set out to the department of conservation. I had some questions regarding staying the night in Abel Tasman, more specifically Bark Bay because my friend Amy from last night had told me about the bioluminescence at high tide. The conservation officer told me high tide would be at three am and also that there was no guarantee that the bioluminescence would be visible (but Google it, they're so cool). After this discussion I decided I would just do a day trip to Abel Tasman tomorrow instead.

     I came back to the hostel hoping to go to sleep but Amy Selina and Robin we're awake and making crepes and asked me join them. Free crepes!? Umm yes please! We AL chipped in what we had. I chipped in peanut butter, bananas and chocolate and the Robin pitched in jam. I had one chocolate and one pb&j and they were both delicious. After my second breakfast I wandered back to the room and fell back asleep.

    When I awoke it was 115. I slowly got ready for the day. Before I left the hostel I sat down and read a book created by travellers coming through the hostel. Inside were entries from travellers from all corners of the world and each traveller wrote his or her favourite place back in their home country. The concept was so neat and I quite enjoyed the readings. There were a few from Canadians and even the people from BC had recommended the east including newfoundland and PEI. I found this quite nice to hear and now the east is definitely on my list of things to see 😊

    Around 3 I rented a bike from the hostel and set out. I don't know the last time I was on a bike but wow it is a skill that stays with you for the rest of your life. I took a quick stroll down the river before attempting to climb to th centre biological centre of New Zealand. I say attempted because after about 10 minutes of panting and sweating I decided I was not in shape to do so and turned back. I justified my laziness by remembering that the reviews didn't say it was all that great of view anyways haha.

    By the time I got down I was quite hungry again so I set out down Harvey street which is the main strip for food. Eventually I found an extreme pita and stopped there for a quick bite. The guy working was from golden bay and was moving to Wellington right away with his gf so she could pursue law. I told him he had clearly found a keeper haha. I then sat in the front window (which was open) and people watched as I had my lunch. I took to biking a bit more before finding a nice little stream part in the river. I even had some ducks come strolling through. I sat there writing this entry and listening to the water calmly flow along the rocks.

    When I got back to the hostel I just plugged my tunes in and curled into the hammock just outside the entrance. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day despite having rain in the forecast yesterday.

    Also today the guy at the front desk used the phrase "happy days" when I rented the bike from the front. I imagine it means the equivalent of no problem and I'm hoping to introduce the phrase into my vocabulary 😊

    I went to the grocery store with Alyssa the Ontatip girl from last night. Learned she studied health science and actually has a masters in it. Later at cake time I met Matthew who was an American and was here with his wife and 16 year old daughter. He was actually living in Myanmar which is apparently like one of the craziest real Estate markets on the world right now. Like $3000 USD per month barely gets you a shitty little shack on the outskirts of town. Pretty crazy. Later I figured out I'm going to franz joseph on Thursday which is a quaint little town situated right beside a glacier so I'm excited for that. I'll try figure out my plans with queenstown and wanaka tomorrow. Now is time for sleep because I have an early morning and busy day tomorrow!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 16

    Abel Tasman Day Trip

    April 13, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Back to early mornings here! Caught the 715 bus out of town for the Bay Hopper hike at Abel Tasman. By nine the bus arrived at Kaiteriteri and about twenty minutes later the water taxi departed the shores 😊 After about 45 minutes on the water taxi I arrived at my drop off point and began my hike.

    In the first hour I found a nice lookout point and a beautiful beach named sand fly beach (the name doesn't do it justice). There was a middle aged lady swimming topless but she certainly didn't care. She looked like she was having the time of her life. I quite admired her spirit actually!

    Later I found torrent bay and decided to have my picnic lunch here. There were maybe 5 other people at the beach and it was incredibly calm. My trek continued around 1pm. I had a lot of time to myself today but it was nice. I've began to change my mindset in such a way that I don't spend so much time letting my mind wander through the past or into the future. I just keep it focused on the moment and it's been quite a revalation for me!

    I finished the hike with almost an hour until the water taxi came to get me so I spent the last hour in anchorage bay I watched a family go for a swim together. At one point the little girl (maybe 10 years old) yells "it's very cold on my vagina!" I laughed so hard.

    By about 340 the water taxi came and picked me up and off I went. It was a beautiful day but as the sun began to set behind the mountains it quickly cooled off and everyone bundled up. I caught the bus and by six I was home again.

    I realized today I've officially made this an internal rule of mine. Whenever I ask for help (particularly in a hostel, but I'm working on expanding that to my life in general), I then ask the person for their name. Once they give it to me I thank them by name. I think it makes the gesture more heartfelt and personal 😊

    After I got back to the hostel I mainly just relaxed. I made supper and had a shower. Then I kind of figured out my plan for the rest of my time in New Zealand and booked a few key hostels. Other than that I enjoyed the free cake again, even took two pieces! I didn't stick around for social time today because I wasn't feeling up to it. Just lazy and tired. Tomorrow im up at 6am again! Off to Franz Joseph glacier! Nighty night folks!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 17

    Off To Franz Josef!

    April 14, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Today I spent 10 hours on a bus to get to Franz Josef. On the way out if Nelson I saw a street named called Whereama and I thought it was be an absolutely hilarious place to try and ask for a ride home. Like "buddy where are you?" "Whereama!" "Yeah man where are you!?" ...my sense of humor is pretty poor as you can tell. On the way out of town I saw this neat mall where on the bottom was little stores and on top was an apartment complex. It actually looked beautiful and I liked the idea.

    For the first hour I had WiFi but after that it stopped working which made the next 9 hours incredibly long. I curled up in the back seat and lay across 3.5 seats. I had probably five different naps during the day out of pure boredom. Around 1 the bus filled up so I had to sit up like everyone else. The scenery was beautiful but even that gets tiresome after 9 straight hours.

    Upon checking into the hostel I learned that there was free soup at six and free sushi at seven. What a deal! I briefly chatted with my new hostel roommates. One from Phillipines and one from Wisconsin. Then I headed to the common area to enjoy the free food.

    I met a few girls who were nice enough, and a Belgian guy who gave me a free beer (score) but then I met the most amazing family. Max, Henry, Bianca, Colleen and Ron were an American family that up and sold everything they had 3 years ago and had been traveling ever since. So freaking cool. I chatted with Ron (the father) for quite a while about their adventures, as well as my own, and how they did it. Ron's grandfather was Italian so they were able to get Italian passports and from there they saw Europe piece by piece. They were so humble. A bunch of us sat and played uno with the children. Bianca was even my partner for the game and she seemed quite alright with being partners even though we came 3rd out of 4 teams. Colleen (the mother) shared her blog with me so I'll definitely be keeping up with that when I can! The website is www.livology.com if anyone else is curious! 😊

    I spent the rest of the night just hanging out writing the rest of my blog. But it's about 11 and I'm exhausted. Going to go hiking tomorrow with the Belgian guy Adrien that I met earlier this evening so that should be interesting. No idea what we will get into but I'm sure it will be beautiful! Nighty night!

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 18

    Roberts point

    April 15, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Today was beautiful. Woke up around 830 and headed to the communal area for free breakfast. Cereal toast and jam. Probably one of the more filling breakfasts I've had here.

    Around 1030 Adrien and I set out on our adventure. Before we could start our hike we had to get to franz josef car park. We walked about halfway and then got picked up by this older Argentinean couple. They were really sweet and it saved about 3km of walking so that was great.

    Our hike was a total of about 5 hours including our lunch break. We only took one bag and Adrien ended up carrying it for most of the time which was nice. This was by far the trickiest hike I have done while in NZ, actually probably in all my life. The landscape was beautiful and so natural but that also meant it was not exactly a trail walk. Wet stones and rocks made it slippery and at times tough to maneuver. At one point I kind of twisted my ankle but it was quite minor so I was able to carry on without any issue.

    Once we got to Robert's point we had a picnic lunch. I had a chicken and lettuce pita which was nothing special but given how hungry I was it really hit the spot. We sat and enjoyed the views for almost half an hour before going back the way we came from. Today I learned that if it's hard going up, it will probably be even more tricky coming down. Towards the bottom we met two other guys. Waleed was from France and Ezra was from the US. We ended up getting a ride back to town with them. Adrien and I ended up sharing the front seat which was less than comfortable, but quite entertaining to be a part of.

    After we got back to the hostel I had a much needed shower and then took a few hours to myself. Then we had free soup again at 6 and at 7 Adrien, and I were joined by Emma from London and Nick from Bristol for a few drinks. Emma and I shared a litre of cider at the first place and then I had a stout beer at the second place. For someone who doesn't like coffee the beer was actually quite good. Speights really can't do any wrong. We all played a few games of pool and I may or may not have showed off a little bit.

    Emma is going back to Queenstown tomorrow and staying for quite some time so I'll have to catch up with her again in about a week's time once I'm there! Here I am just relaxing in the hostel now watching the wedding planner with a few british girls. Gonna call it a night right away. Going to take it easy this weekend. Nighty night.

    -Terrence out    Read more

  • Terrence KaushikNew Zealand and Australia 2016
    Day 20

    Lazy Weekend in Franz Josef

    April 17, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    So having done the most epic hike in Franz Josef yesterday I decided the rest of my weekend would be pretty relaxed.

    I slept in and bummed around for most of the day. Restocked on shampoo and toiletries. Booked accommodation for dunedin which is my last major NZ stop before Australia. So NZ is officially planned and I pretty much just have to show up at this point.

    In the afternoon I watched "the rookie" which was a great feel good movie to watch but a little too great... may have ended up with a few happy tears. Got worried at one point someone would walk into the movie room and be like "dude are you okay?" Hahaha.

    Other than that I made a few runs to the store for chips, cookies and chocolate milk but nothing else major. Also did a puzzle and played scrabble with a few of the staff members here at the hostel.

    Sunday was a really rainy day. I stayed in the hostel and watched ghost Rider. What a terrible movie. I also did my laundry so I'm ready for the next week. Afterwards I met a guy in my room from Liverpool area and a girl from near Venice. They were both working in Australia before coming here so I got some sweet tips on where to go when I get to Melbourne 😊

    Afterwards I met Johannes who was from Dortmund Germany who was travelling with Francesca. They are going to wanaka tomorrow so I will tag a ride with them 😊it's quite a small car and someone else might join too so it will be interesting to say the least! I'm also meeting up with Emilie tomorrow in Wanaka so it will be a wonderful week ahead!

    For dinner Francesca cooked us all penne with gorbanzo bean sauce which was delicious. Josh supplied the beer and I supplied the snacks. It was a great meal. Afterwards as I was passing reception it turned out that Amy from my first night in Nelson was just checking in! It was nice to see a familiar face. After dinner and a few beers we all set out for a little hike just into the forest. We found a few small colonies of glow worms and they were amazing. It really is incredible how much you can see when the night sky is clear and bright. 😊

    Anyways more adventures tomorrow! Goodnight everyone and take care!

    -Terrence out    Read more

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