Permanent migration to Facebook

Due to the fact that all of our pictures are there and it’s much easier to maintain only one site we’ve decided that all updates will take place exclusively on our facebook page.

Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/barrettandkristen

Rotorua, NZ

After some PB & banana sandwiches for breakfast, we were taken on a hike through the Karangahake Gorge — New Zealand’s only active gold mine. We got to hike through the old mining tunnels, then it was off to Matamata — a.k.a. Hobbiton. After posing next to the sign (and a very creepy statue of Gollum) we carried on to try luging in Rotorua. Being 6’3″, I did not fit in the luge very well, but it was still lots of fun to go zipping down a mountain.

When we got in to town Kristen and I went for a walk to the park across the street from the hostel to check out the bubbling mud and steaming water. Rotorua is the geothermal capital of New Zealand, and third most active in the world behind Iceland and Yellowstone National Park. The entire city stunk of rotten eggs due to the sulfur.

That night we attended a traditional Maori  concert and feast (buffet!!!). It was very neat and Kristen had to run through an obstacle course so that we could get a picture with some of the Maori warriors.

The next morning we got up and went Zorbing! Rolling down a hill in a giant bubble was tons of fun and definitely worth it. It was like the best water slide ever, plus, we got to roll over top of several people who were on the same tour bus as us. I was skeptical at first because it’s not very big, but I’m really glad we did it. Tons of fun!

Mercury Bay, NZ

We woke up early to get ready for our tour to start and went to a cafe nearby where Kristen had the best pancakes of her life. They had fried banana on top and were delicious. After breakfast we caught the Kiwi Experience bus in the morning and thus began our tour of the North Island of New Zealand. Our tour started with a trip up to Mt. Eden on the edge of Auckland for fantastic views of the city and the sky tower (or “the giant heroine needle” as they like to call it). After that was a couple hour drive to Hot Water Beach, where you can dig-your-own hot tub in the sand during low tide due to all of the geothermal activity in the area.

Unfortunately it was hide tide so we jumped back in the bus and drove to Cathedral Bay where we hiked down to a beautiful cove with a giant hole through the face of a cliff. After a quick dip in the frigged waters we got dropped off at the hostel where we enjoyed a delicious meal of beef bolognes (aka spaghetti) and garlic bread before crashing for bed.

Auckland, NZ

Tuesday May 4. Day 1.

Our flight from YYZ to AKL — Auckland, New Zealand. On the car ride in we were joking around that Kristen always manages to get stopped by security for the “random check.” Sure enough, it was Barrett’s turn instead to get the dreaded SSSS on his boarding pass. After getting through security we ate at a pub amongst a bunch of business men then hopped on our American Airlines flight to LAX, where we saw Eva Mendez walking through the terminal. Our next flight, Quantas Airlines, was immaculate. They catered to our every need and it was amazing. We had to try to stay awake as long as possible in order to fight the jet lag, but by 5:30am EST we had fallen asleep.

Goodbye Wednesday.

We crossed the international date line and landed in Auckland. Much greener than we expected, given that it is early winter. We found a free shuttle to our hostel on the outskirts of the city then walked to the city centre. Rally 2010 New Zealand was on so there were lots of loud rally cars driving up and down the main street. We then walked down the main shopping street — Queen Street, and on to Albert Park which was filled with crazy trees. Since we were starting our New Zealand tour the next day we decided to check out the Auckland Museum. We then went back to the hostel around 4:00pm to take a nap before dinner, but we woke up at 7:00am.

Barrett’s packing list

Here’s a list of everything I plan on bringing on our backpacking trip:

The next three months of my life has to fit inside that backpack.

• Vasque trail running shoes
• Merrell strappy sandals
• Old Navy flip flops
• Rain cover for my pack
• Bathing suit, board shorts, pajama pants
• Travel towel, 2x Under Armor whick-away t-shirts, American Eagle casual button up (long sleeved)
• Socks and unds
• 2x Zip-off cargo pants (I’m surprised Kristen is still talking to me she’s so embarrassed)
• Rain jacket
• Hat
• Travel-sized: toothbrush, shampoo, body wash, body spray
• Deodourant
• Electric razor
• 2x Universal plug adapter kit
• Emergency first aid kit
• Laundry detergent, sink plug, clothes line
• Kleenex, hand sanitizer
• Leatherman multi-tool, headlamp
• Camera case full of batteries, flexible tripod
• Travel pillow
• Water bottle
• Bandana, playing cards
• Netbook in a waterproof bag, spare battery, external hard drive
• iPod Touch, cables, headphone jack splitter (so we can both watch movies in the airport and such)
• 2x Sunglasses
• Candy
• Moleskine journal
• Pen with duct-tape wrapped around the end
• Lonely Planet’s South East Asia on a Shoestring
• Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Bag full of medicine: polysporin, imodium, gravol, malarone (malaria pills), advil, EpiPen (Kristen’s allergic to mango, so naturally we’re going to Thailand – aka “The Land of Mangos”)
• Mesh bag with handles for laundry/shoes/carrying stuff
• Cash moneys

Not shown:

• Camera
• Passport, visas and other documents
• More money
• Kristen

Counting down

With only 9 days until we fly to New Zealand, we are trying to get everything in order and let everyone know how they can keep track of us on the road. I will be trying to keep track of our adventures for the three months that we are backpacking on the other side of the planet.

The blog will be available at http://barrettcook.wordpress.com or you can check out our Facebook page “Barrett and Kristen’s Travels” for updates and pictures. You can also check me out on twitter.

For more details about  the trip check out the synopsis or our TripIt day-by-day breakdown.

Alright, time to stuff the next 3 months of my life into a backpack…

Barrett

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