We’re going to be home tomorrow, and it won’t sink in until we actually get there. It’s been a long, amazing trip, and it will be weird for it to be over. I’m glad people have enjoyed the blog, and we want to keep it going in some form. We hope everyone has a great holiday.
best.sign.evar.
Originally uploaded by nutty bunny.
at the Wellington zoo. they had great signs like this up all over the place.
We are now back in LA, where our trip started over two months ago. The flight back was, ummm, eventful. The first couple of hours were full of heavy turbulence. It got so bad that at one point, they stopped dinner service and told the flight attendents to take their seats. Swell. Then about three or four hours into the flight, there was an announcement asking any police or security officers on board to identify themselves to the flight crew. Everyone on the plane started looking around with a nervous ‘what’s going on?’ feeling. The announcement was repeated a few minutes later, and eventually (we think he had been sleeping) a big guy wearing a Las Vegas Police Department t-shirt went up front. He came back a while later, but was brought back up again by one of the stewardesses. We heard nothing else about it until the end of the flight, when they told us that we were going to be cleared by security before passengers could leave the plane. As we walked out, there were police by the plane’s door, and about a half dozen more at the gate. In line for customs, one of the other passengers said that someone, possibly drunk or high, had gotten belligerent, and had made some threats. We actually got to see the person in question as he was led through customs, handcuffed, and escorted by two police and an someone who looked like an FAA agent. Welcome home.
It didn’t take long to realize that we were back in the US. As we were taxiing to the gate, we saw a lane of airline food trucks driving along. At the end of the lane, just before the edge of the runways, was a sign that said ‘Stop For Aircraft.’ Also, the customs agents in NZ and AU were just like postal employees, government workers in uniforms. The US customs agents were cops wearing guns. Then we got on the rental car shuttle, and were bombarded with loud conversation. The typical bleached blond, leathery skinned, wannabe famous girl was conversing loudly with the big ex-football player guy about the wonders of LA and the entertainment buisiness. She was going on about becoming a star of some sort, and he was talking about all the different aspects of the city. Then he told her she’d do well, because she has a good attitude. He got in line behind us at the rental office, and started talking to us about the silliness of those kinds of conversations, how that’s not what he’s about, and how he just keeps it real, y’know?
So we got out of there, went to pick up Neal, and had burritos for the first time since October. We had been craving them like crazy. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon trying not to nap, so we could go to sleep at the right time. Mostly we succeeded (Sarah failed just a little).
We drove Neal to the airport this morning. He is letting us stay in his room while we are here. He also has a washer/dryer combo, and it was so nice to put on clean clothes this morning (we hadn’t had access to laundry the last week and a half or so). I think we’re just going to take it easy the rest of the week, relax a bit, and catch up on some rest.
It’s our last day, almost two in the afternoon, and we’re back in Auckland at the cheap internet place we used before flying to Australia all those days ago. The last week has gone really quickly, and I’m wishing we had more time. There’s still so much we haven’t seen, but I guess you could live here your whole life and not see it all. We have to come back, a conclusion that we reached easily and unanimously.
Today is sort of bittersweet, it’s raining (of course) and we’re both completely exhausted from a terrible night of sleep. I couldn’t, because of nerves, and what little sleep Mike got was consistantly interrupted by a pesky, loud, unkillable mosquito which had gotten into our room somehow. Really, you just nod off and suddenly there’s a crazed buzzing in your ear…so obnoxious. I squashed it no less than three times, each time it emerged from the tissue unharmed. Eventually I pulled the sheet up over my head and slept that way, but ugh we are tired. Which may be a good thing for the flight, but wasn’t great for the drive back from Russel to Auckland.
Things we are desperately going to miss:
The sheep. I’m seriously trying to work out how we can get some back home. We’ve been watching them every day from the car, chewing and baa-ing in every field, in every part of the country.
The birds. Even the ones that CAN fly walk. They’re everywhere, and their all so different and interesting. Wekas, Pukekos, Mynas (?) and of course the Tuis. I need to find some birdsong recordings so you can hear them, such pretty songs. There’s something we can hear at night too, might be a morepork, might be some other nocturnal bird, I’ll have to figure it out later.
The people. I don’t think we can fully explain just how nice EVERYONE here is. It’s like the entire country has that small town hospitality. LA is going to be such a shock.
TimTams. Damn customs restrictions. We would bring home a crate of these things, in every ‘flavour’. Chocolatey, crispy, cookie (biscut) goodness. Sigh. If it weren’t for not bringing food across we’d have Timtams and Tui’s (beer not birds) for Christmas presents for you all. 
 Well, off to return the car and catch the shuttle to the airport. We fly at 7:30 pm tonight and land in LA at 10 am this morning, which is good because we’re missing a day from the flight over. Expect lots from us when we get to LA, and then us in person soon enough!
Tonight. We leave Auckland at 7:30 pm, and get in this morning at 10 am. Still wrapping my brain around the idea that we travel back in time.
So it is a bittersweet parting from NZ. We are going to miss this place very much. We have had some great experiences and met some wonderful people. I guess we’ll just have to come back. At the same time, it will be good to get home and see everyone. Also, it will be really nice to stop moving all the time and living out of our bags. And although we understand we are coming home for Christmas, it is still a sort of abstract thought. It seems something far away, because we’ve been in summertime for the last couple of months. And it’s been very weird to hear and see Christmas ads here. They mostly include something about “Summer is coming, and you know what that means – Christmas!” Huh?
Anyway, the last few days were really good. We drove up to a town called Russell, on the Bay of Islands. The hostel we stayed at was just a house with a guest cottage beside it. Very small and cozy and welcoming. The owners were very friendly and gracious, and made us really feel like guests. We did a sailboat cruise of the bay two days ago, and although it was a little too cool and cloudy to swim or snorkel, we still had a fun time. It was an excellent way to wrap up our time here. Today we drove back down to Auckland, and soon we’ll be dropping off our car and heading to the airport. So this is the last post from NZ. We should have some wireless when we get to LA, so lots more pictures (and posts) to follow.
Today we went to the Whanarei Native Bird Rescue, where the owner of the hostel we are staying at has a special arrangement with the gentleman who runs the rescue. For $5 nz we would be given the opportunity to pet a Kiwi – the only place in New Zealand where such a thing can be done. We’d been trying to see kiwis while we travelled around, unsuccessfully, so this seemed like the perfect way to round out our trip.
At about 2pm we joined five other people and met up with a Mr. Robert Webb. He took us back to a group of bird enclosures, holding a variety of birds that had been rescued, including a Tui which could talk – very rare. He then when down and got a Kiwi for us to see, bringing it in his arms right up to where we were standing. They’re big, about the size of a large chicken, and really extraordinary. We were allowed to pet it and take as many pictures as we wanted as he patiently answered questions and gave really excellent information about the bird itself (Sparky) as well as kiwis in general. As we gazed at the bird in awe he mentioned that he has a few baby blue penguins if we’d be interested…
Incredible. He went into the rescue building and came out with a ball of fluff – the imature penguin was just starting to loose it’s fuzzy baby feathers and the blue ones were just starting to grow in. We stood on a porch and knelt down as he let the little guy run around between us. Everyone got a chance to pet it and play with it. Then he went and fetched its brother, and suddenly there were two of them padding around and tussling over the possibility that we might have fish. We didn’t, but they tried our fingers regardless, so now I’ve been nibbled by a penguin too!
After he put the penguins back safely, he took out a Harrier Hawk that had been rescued the day before. Apparently it’d be struck by a car, and had some missing feathers on it’s head and a broken wing. He held this one carefully, but allowed us to stroke it a little and explained how he’d be treating it.
By far this was the most amazing experience we’ve had, and the dedication and care the guy had was truly inspiring. Here’s a link to their website, which has pictures as well as webcam shots of the penguins (camera 2). We took plenty of pictures too, but aren’t able to post them yet, sorry!
We left Australia on Wed evening, and didn’t get in to Auckland until about midnight. Then we had a long wait in the customs line, and didn’t get out of the airport until after 1 am. We had just a few hours of sleep at the hotel, then went to pick up our rental car. It’s a bit bigger than the one we had in AU, but it shakes a lot and smells a bit. Oh well. At least we got to sleep a lot last night.
We are very happy to be back in NZ. Australia had some things we really liked (some beautiful beaches and this reef thing), but over all, we didn’t like it near as much. It was much hotter, for one thing. Also, there were no sheep that we saw, and they had some of the biggest, strangest, and most frightening bugs ever.
Now we are up in a town called Whangarei, on the east coast of Northland, the peninsula north of Auckland. We are heading up tomorrow to the Bay of Islands, hopefully to do some kayaking or snorkelling. Then we head back down to Auckland, and our flight back to the US. I can’t believe this trip is almost over. We’ve been travelling for so long, it’s going to be strange to finally stop. We are both looking forward to some rest, but we will also miss this place.
There were kangaroos to be fed at the Lonely Pine Koala Reserve in Brisbane, AU. Mike is taunting this guy, because he’s a bastard. Kidding, the roos were after the roo-pellets by the fistful, and mike was struggling to keep them sated.
So far, we have fed the following animals:
Giraffes
Baby lambs, Baby Goats, Sheeps, Cows, Piggies, Chickens, a Turkey, Ducks, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Deer (all at one place)
A sparrow
Kangaroos and Wallabies (Kangaroos have a scratching-spot similar to the dog-melt spot, I’ve mastered Kanagroo scritches)
A dolphin
This is the bugger that bit me. Actually, this is just moments before he bit me. They’re really curious, and I was trying to get him on my arm (seemed like a good idea at the time), but as soon as I felt his clawed talon, I decided it wasn’t a good idea. Solid bird! Anyways, he leaned in to check out my fleeced hand, and had a try for one of my knuckles. It pinched, but since he was just testing it, no harm done.
Just a really quick post, because we have literally 5 minutes before we lose our internet for the night. The reef was very cool, we saw the southern edge of it. The part we saw was at Lady Musgrave Island, and the surrounding reef. We got to do a glass bottom boat tour, saw some sea turtles, and did some snorkeling (snoggling). Very cool. Now we have to go, but there are a couple of new (demanded) pictures of us, on my flickr account. Enjoy! (mike)
I’ll try to post a few pictures tomorrow morning, of the Kea and Mike feeding some Roos! We have so many pictures to put up it’s ridiculous, sorry to leave everyone hanging! We both did feed the dolphin btw, and it was actually kind of ‘meh’ because you only hand him a fish and then you’re made to get out. We’ve fed so many things by now, maybe we’re fatigued a bit…. (sarah)
