don't worry I am still alive

hello everyone

I haven't posted in a while because I was waiting for my camera card to get filled to get transferred to cd.

but, since I last posted I have stayed at a prison. I was not arrested for disorderly conducted. But, some people have bought the old prison in Napier (wine region) and turned into a hostel. It was a lot fun, but kind of odd as well

I was then taupo, where I decided near the end of my stay that I was going to go skydiving, so I was schedule on my last day and it rained so I couldn't do it. But I go back to taupo so hopefully I will still have the courage to do it.

But, I am in Rotoura, right now the place smells a little bit. but, after a day you get use to it. I will post a couple of pics, of me zorbing, and sledging

kevin

random pics

this is cathedral square in christchurch. my hostel was right behind the church, but everyday these two old guys would play the ginat chess game in the square. unforuntely I don't have a picture of that

this is avon river in christchurch, it goes through the whole city. you can punt around the avon river, but i knew it wouldn't be the same as oxford so i didn't do it.


this is another look at mt cook,


this pic and the mt cook pic where take in wanka, which is about 45 mins from queenstown, there were buses full of japaneese tourists. apparently they come to this area and get married. It is a beautiful setting, the lake is terquise, and it gets to be about 8 degrees in the summer.


here are just more pics from my bus rides






so, right now i am in wellington, the beach is right below this photo, and that is where i have been hanging out the last couple of days.


i went to the mesuem in wellingto and they had a gentic exhibt on. this next pic is a self potrait of my gentic makeup


this is next photo didn't really turn out, but i thought i would post it. it is the point where the tasman sea and pacific (i think) meet up and makes the water go to terquise blue colour, it was really neat.

mom trust me I do try to eat well

So, the one thing that I hate about travelling is cooking. I usually love to cook, but that is in privacy of my own home, where I have everything I possibly need. I can't carry every spice with me, so basically i left with trying to be inventive with what you have. So, tonight for dinner I had pork chops (on sale for $2)with zuchinni, onions and rice, with balsamic vingerette sauce (basically it was salad dressing on top) I have to say it was the best meal that I have cooked yet. It beats eating mr noodles all the time, and peanut butter sandwhich. I do start the day off right by eating museli and yogurt, but it is dinner that I am never satisfied with. basically I need to move in with new zealand family, so I can sit down every night and have a good meal.

also, went today to see a movie at the Embassy movie theater, which is where Peter Jackson has all of his movie premiers. The women at the ticket booth asked me what kind of seat I wanted, did I want $18 seat or a $10 seat. Of course I went for the $10 which was probably the best seat I have sat in at a theater. I wish I had gone for the $18 one to see what it was all about.I went and saw chronicles of narnia which was the only movie playing that wasn't directed by Peter Jackson. They are playing King Kong and also this weekend they are playing all three lord of rings back to back.

i know the photos are pixlated, I am going to fix that soon.

pics

so, here are some pics, and popular demand there are some photos of me
The first photo is of me in front of mt cook, its the small white moutain beside my head

this was taken on the ferry going from the south island to the north island

Here is a pic from the harbour in queenstown. I have to say queenstown was a very weird place. It is very tourist, with extreme sports and filled with drunk backpackers. Was only there for a couple of days, still don't know what I thought of the place. the water of this lake only goes up to 10 degrees, and this why i don't understand why queenstown is hot summer vacation spot for new zealanders
1

From queenstown I took a trip up to Milford sound, and along the way we stopped at this place. The water from the river has basically turned the rocks into swiss cheese.


To get to Milford sound you have to go through this tunnel. Just before we went in, our bus driver told us that they put lights in the tunnel because a bus caught on fire and people couldn't find there way out.


So, this is the waterfall that is three times the size of niagara falls. This was taken on a boat cruise that we did, and because it was raining, there were waterfalls on every where, it was great to see but not very nice to take a photo.


As we were coming back, there were a couple of rainbows out


So, here are some photos that I took durning my bus ride from christchurch to queenstown.




the water of this river, is crystal blue and is supposed to be really good for fishing




This is a picture of the steepest residential street in the world. it is dunedin, new zealand. Now Dunedin is the 7th largest city in new zealand and it is about 40 000 people smaller than oshawa.

in

hello from new zealand

hello all from new zealand,

so I after 13 hours and changing two time zones, I finally reached new zealand. I am doing a two week trek of the south island before i go up to wellington, and try and set myself up with a job.

first, the south island is really cold, i have stopped wearing shorts and put on pants. i was called the crazy canadian for a couple of days because I refused to put pants on instead of shorts. it wasn't to bad in christchurch, but it snowed the day before I got into queenstown, it was gone before I got here. queenstown is a popular summer vacationg place for people, but I don't understand why the lake doesn't get above 10 degrees, plus it snows in the summer time.

went up to milford sound, which has a water fall 3 times the size of niagara falls. I didn't go any lord of rings tour, because I had a fear that I would be on a bus with a bunch of lord of rings fans agruing what rock Gollum sat on. I didn't imangine that would be fun.

but once i am in wellington, I will post a bunch of pics. its hard right now because I have been travelling around to much to stop and look at the photos.

more photos

so, as i was eating dinner in koh tao my first night, people started pointing out to the water and three large ships were pulling in. Thai sailors were in town for a couple of days. I wish i took a photo of them because they looked like the wimpiest sailors. they looked like scouts



so, by day time this is just a regular gas station but at night it becomes a bar. I don't know if it is really safe with people smoking in there, but they serve cheap drinks.


the other night as i was drinking in front of the 7-11, a guy went by with a cart full of bugs. so i picked up and bag of crickets, I tried sharing them with some people but nobody would take them. i actually enjoyed them, I am trying to work up the courage to eat a scorpion.


here is a photo from my temple tour.


also on new years at one point, i think this is when i was going back to the hotel, but all of sudden there was a elephant in the street

some artys photos

here are some photos that I have taken around bangkok, that i kind of like.
1)this one was taken in chiang mai, when I went trekking and saw some hill tribes.
2)view from the pool area at my hotel in bangkok
3)guy in a phone booth
4)street vendor peeing