I had a dream that I woke up in an apartment in some city I didn’t recognize. I looked out the window and saw the night city skyline, which I also didn’t recognize. I called Molly and asked her where I was, and she didn’t know. Then some voluptuous girl walked in and told me we had a great night, and I worried I might have knocked her up.
It was a very real dream.
The day started out in Nelson. I rode a bus to Marsha(sp?). Then I did the first day of the hike. It was super beautiful. Here’s some pics:
That last picture is the boat I ended up staying on.
They may through the trees is a backpackers only campsite. There were some kayakers that sea kayaked to that bay, and then camped there for the night. I would really love to kayak to a destination and stay there for the night. Hopefully I can do that some weekend when I get back to San Francisco.
I listened to the waves tonight on the boat. It was very very beautiful.
I stayed in a backpacking boat tonight. It was great. The food was awesome, all home made. And we talked with the other backpackers for hours.
I also left my towel which was sad. I’ll probably buy a new one in Queenstown.
I flew into Nelson today. Here was the view out of the window. 
It’s the day before I start the Abel Tasman trek, and I flew in around noon, so I lolligaged most of the day. I checked into my hostel and then took a day hike to “the center of new Zealand”. Heres the center:
It was a giant needle looking thing. Sorry for the shitty photo, I didn’t want to look like I was creeping on that couple too hard.
The more interesting photo is the view on the way up:
And the friends I made in the way.
I tried to walk round downtown to explore, but most shops were closed due to “crate day”. Crate being that you buy you and your buddies a crate of beer, and get drunk and barbeque on the “Barbie”. Its not an offical holiday, but most shops closed early because of it.
Anyways, I have to wake up early tomorrow for my trek. I probably won’t post for a few days as I’ll be out backpacking, but I’ll be writing and post it once I’m back in civilization.
United lady: “Do you have a visa?”
Me: “Uh no?”
United lady: “You need a visa or a return flight”
Me: “I’m flying to Thailand, does that count?”
United lady: “That’ll work”
You can see I don’t know what I’m doing lol.
Today I’m flying from SFO to Auckland, NZ. Then to Nelson, NZ. The day after I’ll be travelling to the start of my 3 day backpacking trip on the Abel Telsman trek.
I’m going to try to update this blog as I travel. Most entries will be written from my phone. I’ll try and write how I feel at the exact moment, both the good and the bad. I’ll also try to include lots of pictures.
Here’s everything I’m bringing:
Here’s what it all fit into:
Some notes:
Yes I only have 4 pairs of underwear, 3 shirts, and 2 pants(one which is waterproof). I think the underwear is fine, despite what a certain someone thinks. It’s technical, antibacterial wicking fabric. I’ve worn it 2-3 days a time backpacking without problem and without smell. Time will tell though.
I do however realize 1 pair of hiking pants isn’t going to cut it for 63 days. I’ll probably pick up a pair of jeans in New Zealand tomorrow. Jeans are great because you don’t ever have to wash them if you’re not sweating too much, which makes them perfect for travelling.
As for how I’m feeling, I’m a bit nervous. Today was my last day at my job and I said goodbye to all my co-workers. They seemed sad I was leaving, which made me feel like I actually made a difference.
I’m kinda upset with how inefficient my New Zealand plans are. I keep flying back and forth for certain stuff. I’ll be here from the 1st through the 18th. It seems like a big waste of a time considering I’ll only be doing 2 overnight trips for a total of 50 miles. I did way more in 12 days in Iceland. But I have a lot of free days here and there, so maybe I can squeeze one more overnight trip in. Plus I’ll get to do a bunch of cool stuff like bungee jumping, mountain biking, and hang gliding.
Anyways, taking off, more to come later.
Welcome to my blog.