That’s right, this time last year I was sitting pretty on a 15-hour Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong. Not having left Toronto by plane in over a decade this was pretty spectacular. Sure, my flight left at midnight, but wow there was no way in hell I was going to fall asleep. I was so excited! Even though it was the dead of night, I think my nose left marks on the window from being pressed against it for at least the first hour of the journey as I stared …

My flight from Toronto to Auckland took me through Hong Kong. With my friend Alex living in nearby Taiwan, it made sense that I break up my travel time with a quick visit over to Kaohsiung. I’d never been to Asia before, so even leaving the airport in Hong Kong on my own was a HUGE deal for me. Looking back I laugh at myself for feeling uncertain and nervous about it, as HK is a very efficient city with a fantastic public transport system and more importantly for this …

Last January I went and visited my friend Stephanie in Melbourne. She’d moved down from Toronto, and after my friend Alex had convinced me to go to Rainbow Serpent with him, it only made sense that Stephanie come too. She wrangled another expat Canadian friend, Tim, and the four of us had a fantastically dusty weekend in the bush. Of course, the week I was there was when Victoria had the hottest heat wave in 100 years. Tram tracks were buckling under the intense heat, and people were collapsing from …

One of my first trips out of Auckland was up to Tawharanui, a few hours drive out of town. It was still too cold to go swimming as it was late November when we went, but it was breathtakingly beautiful. I cant wait to go swimming on the North Island beaches when I do my tiki tour in February 2010.

I lived in Auckland from November 2008 when I arrived, until the middle of March 2009. I never really fell in love with the city, although that could be because I had such a hard time finding work so money was always a stress. I also made a poor choice in where to live, so that didnt help.
All the same, the happy memories far outweigh the negative ones: I loved how you could see the ocean from pretty much every vantage point (and it was here that I saw the …

My friend Elisa’s family is from the East Coast, so for New Year’s 2009 we drove down to spend a week there (stopping in Matamata, the town nearest to where The Shire was filmed). I love love LOVE it there. Im hoping to squeeze in another visit when I do my North Island Grand Tour in February 2010.

Wellington is my most favouritist city in New Zealand. I tried ridiculously hard to find work and a life there, but it just wasn’t meant to be. So far Ive been there three times, with another trip scheduled for November 2009. I also plan one final visit on my way north in February 2010 to say goodbye to friends Ive made there.
Wellington
Island Bay, a Wellington suburb