up to the sky deck

from the main observation deck, traveled up 9 more stories to the sky
deck at 722ft.

beautiful 360 degree views of the greater Auckland area. fun to be
able to look down and see the hostel u have been staying in, and track
the ground I have covered in the past few days.

being a good tourist...

had a couple of hours to kill this afternoon before heading to the
airport to meet heather's arriving flight. decided to be the "good
tourist" and head to the top of the sky tower.

not a cheAp elevator ride but there is a bar at the top... ha.

elevator to the main observation deck 623ft iff the ground took
40seconds traveling at 18kmh

as always, a small world

the bartender here at o'carrolls pub chatted me up with a friendly
where ya from. San Francisco. really? I spent a summer in this small
CA town. Coloma, you prolly haven't heard of it? ha. raft guide are
ya? yes, how'd ya know? oh, I know. company? ARR. Coloma club. oh boy,
many lost nights there. yup, nuff said. what happens at the Coloma
club, stays at the Coloma club. agreed. ;)

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victorious little canyoneers!

we spent about 2 hours climbling down the river. the one big rapel,
several big jumps, shimmied through little passageways in the rocks,
and generally had a fun time playing in the water! group was lovely,
and had a lot if fun travel stories from all over the world to share.
Jana, that trip to Croatia we talked about is moving up on the list,
fo sho.

much happier with face not in waterfall!

photo op with face in the waterfall

why did I stick my face in the waterfall?

hanging on the edge...

we rapelled down this waterfall that was cut in a narrow little
canyon. only about a person and a half wide for most of the descent.
the water was basically gushing down on top of ya while ya lowered
yourself down the ropes. I am really bad judge of distances, but
guessing it was 60+ feet?! super fun! super ugly wetsuit, eh?!

heading downstream...

no we didn't go down this falls... but it sure was pretty to look at!

canyoning crew

got all bundled up In the gear, and hiked about 20 minutes upstream to
the first waterfall. swam around under the falls in the COLD water and
really appreciated the thick (yet akward) wetsuit. we then proceeded
downstream to our big rapel.

Bradley, this one's for you.

back to Auckland mid-afternoon... I was hungry and thirsty, so walked
bavk downtown and found myself a seat at an outdoor picinic table on
Vulcan lane at o'carrolls pub, and settled in for some beer n fries.
vacation afternoon indeed. :)

toes in sand = happy girl

after our super fun canyon adventure (photos & details about that to
come later tonight!)... we had a little time to head to the beach,
and dive in for a few minutes. the tide was unusually low, and rip
currents were mild, so it was perfect for an afternoon swim. toes in
the black sand, and warm ocean. like I said, could have happily lost
my first week there if our guide didn't make sure we got back in the
car!

piha beach in the morning...

was picked up early at the hostel this am for my canyoning adventure
by Tony, our canyon guide. full van of 8 of us eager for adventure.
short n windy 40 min drive from Auckland took us the the gorgeous west
coast beach Piah, a legendary surf spot. i heart beaches, so glad that
I made it out there. the kind of little destination gem I can imagine
loosing a week or more to if I had the time!

however, back to the adventure at hand... phot op from the road side,
then a quick pit stop in "town", wedged myself into a THICK wetsuit
(how cold is this gonna be?), signed my life away... and we drove a
few minutes u the road into the canyons.

10:04pm. Done all I can do today...

back in the hostel, and so ready for bed. 10pm sat night... the rest
of the town is gearing up, and I am done!

found myself a lovely little restaurant, coco's catina, with a little
corner table on the outside patio all to myself to sit and linger.
amazing meal (OMG, really amazing! with strawberry shortcake to
boot!), some delicious wine... and a few hours to read up on new
zealad history and culture. so fun to have time to finally immerse
myself.

the streets were pretty dead today for big city standards. turns out
it is a national holiday today, Waitangi Day. the commemoration of the
signing of a treaty between the Maori and the British. a document that
has proved to be very contorversial. celebrated with typical national
holiday activities such as outdoor festivals and commemorations, NZ
also seems to celebrate it as a day of introspection and political
activism.

bed time. big day hucking myself off waterfalls tomorrow! woot woot.

Sent from my iPhone

walking tour of Auckland

> spent the afternoon giving myself the walking tour of the downtown
> area. definetly feels a bit like sf. shopping galore, areas with
> little cafes and bars, mixed with a stunning waterfront, and green n
> lush parks tucked just off the main roads. pretty easy downtown to
> navigate.
>
> after a quick power nap, I booked myself on a "canyoning" tour for
> tomorrow. girl needs to get out of the city and get this party
> started right by rapelling downsome cliffs and waterfalls!
>
> venturing out again shortly to find myself a place to get some food,
> drink, and possibly a nice sidewalk seat to peoplewatch as Saturday
> night gets it's party on. I think this particular party girl stands
> a chance of making it till 9 or 10pm before jet lag puts me down for
> good! ha.
>
>
>

settled in

> beautiful day in Auckland... little overcast, but mid-70s, and warm
> when the sun peeks out. quite perfect. the city hostel is quite nice
> (good thinking last month when I figured I might want a private room
> for the first few days!), and within walking distance to the
> downtown area.
>

arrived!! now what to do?

> just got off the plane in nz. i was so sleepy yesterday after I shut
> the phone off and left work behind and went into decompression
> mode... that I managed to crash for most of the 12 hour flight.
> uncomfortable plane sleep, but sleep. the brain silence was nice.
> didn't open a book or single magazine.
>
> it only hit me in the final 20 minutes before landing that I would
> be on the ground and starting vacation. had to sit in the airport
> for a few min just to get my bearings, n figure out where I am going
> n what I am doing!!
>
> off to find the hostel, ditch my bags n explore a little bit!
> keeping phone off for the most part until I find myself an
> electrical converter to charge it. ha. the little details I totally
> forgot about. worst case, heather has one n will be here Monday.
> phone free for a few days sounds nice.
>
> Sent from my iPhone

packing... starting to see the finish line. (or is that the start gate?)

beer cozy? Yup, you made it to the "A" pile. who knows. one must be prepared. bouquet of sunscreen. 8 / 15 / 30 / 50. 50 for the tattoos. first time ever i have bought, much less used, that shit. still getting used to that idea. underwear, toothbrush, passport. flip flops. harry potter (yes, I have to finish this book from 2 vacations ago before I buy another book). wonder what heather is reading? wonder what i stand to inherit after we spend our first few days decompressing on the beach. in reality, it's gonna take me the first half a week to get through the trashy magazines I am going to buy at the airport. threw in a few extra mid-weather things. original packing scheme was all shorts and tank tops. weather only seems to be in the mid-70's, so I was allowed one more hoodie. might be a record for me. ONLY 2 hoodies. 1 zippie. 1 pullover. amazed at the amount of half-packed ziplock bags of traveling gear i have all over my house. quick mix and match of the gear and accessories. seems I am ready to go somewhere on a moments notice at all times. spontaneity. love it. although this trip has been on the books for a while, and we do have A LOT planned, i haven't had any time to get my head around it, so it feels really fresh, unknown and exciting. just the way i like it. 


not quite 1am, and the suitcase is closed. not bad. considering i didn't start packing until 11. 1 small suitcase. 1 small backpack. i am surely overpacked, but not too bad. 


clean the house, print my travel stuff out, and sleep could happen tonight. not much. but some. 


run to the finish line at work tomorrow... and out the door BY 3PM. Straight to the airport. Can't wait for that "i'm on vacation" moment to hit. when the bags are checked, security cleared. trashy magazines purchased... cold beer in hand before boarding. that's the moment. 

...less than 40 hours to go.

...have about 60 hours worth of work to do, and haven't packed. good times. great planning. no matter. ready to leave it all behind for three weeks!

...Count down is ON! T-minus 4 days till i leave for NZ.

this week is going to be a race to the finish line... but the finish line is OH SO SWEET! Thursday night I get on a plane headed to New Zealand for three weeks of VACATION. Can't wait. So needed. Summer. Toes in sand. Decompress.

As usual... In the chaos of the daily grind, I haven't had much time to really immerse in the fact that I am really going. Will be traveling with my friend Heather Landers. This will be her third time to NZ, and she has been fantastic dreaming up the course of our travels. Being my first time there, I am just so excited to explore. And explore is definitely on the agenda! We will be covering a lot of ground, and have planned the itinerary with a constant cycle or explore and adventure days, and travel days. hidden beaches, sea kayaking, glaciers, ww rafting, fjords, sailing, and a lot of driving from here to there. my favorite kinds of ADVENTURE.

will be blogging along the way... so check back often for updates! :)

Robin, round #3

Session #3 and the robin is really taking form and looking lovely! so exciting. it is fun to see the new work play with the work on my back. healing nicely, and colors really pop now that the red has gone down.