We interrupt this program for a news update

This is off topic, but I thought I would let everyone know that I have written our MP to change some laws around these parts.

Protecting the criminal is what we as Canadians seem to do quite well. As of Dec 15/04 a law has been passed that sex offenders once out of jail must register where they live with in 15 days, and also every year after. This is wonderful, except one thing... its not public information and they are protected under the privacy act. I don't agree with this. They are criminals and chances of re-offending are extremely high. We have a right to a picture, and at least the area they are in, if not their address. Our children should have a chance, and if they can recognize offenders and if parents know where they are living, we will all be a lot more safe. Protect the upstanding citizens and forget about protecting sex offenders.

I will keep everyone updated about how this goes. I am determined to help change this.

Chow for now...

Te Paki Stream

We made it up as far as we could driving North on the 90 Mile Beach. We decided to go up to the last possible road we could take off the beach so we could head North to the tip at Cape Reinga. (The Northern most point of New Zealand) After we drove a few hours, we got to a point where the beach sort of just ended. We knew where we were but we couldnt find the road. So we got out and walked around a while.

We didnt know what to do because to go back to the closest road that we had already passed, would take all day long and we really didnt want to do that. We sat in the car for a while stumped, while out of nowhere this huge bus came by. It was so strange. We got out and asked the bus driver where the road was that was on this map that we had. He laughed a while, and then pointed over into nowhere. We said that we didnt understand, all that was over there was this river. He said, "exactly, that river IS the road!". So we got out and went to take a look, it was around a foot deep which is a lot, especially for a little Sigma. Then we said "well it can't be that long" the driver said well its around a half hour drive". We couldnt believe this! The driver told us to follow behind him up the stream, there was a spot half way up that we could stop where the bus stops to let the poeple go sliding down sand dunes. He told us not to stop until we get there or we would get stuck. So we all hopped into the car and Brody drove up up the stream behind the bus. We could see all of the faces of the people on the bus looking out at us, and they just though it was a riot! So did we, it was quite the scene. 5 adults stuck in this tiny car, trying to drive up a river in the middle of nowhere!

Pics from the 90 Mile Beach

90 Mile Beach

I am having problems uploading pics, so they should follow soon

90 Mile Beach

When we left Auckland we drove all day until sunset towards the 90 Mile Beach. Its famous because you can drive right on the beach for 90 Miles. It was a good thing we went there first too because all of us learned to drive standard on the beach, but the shift was on the opposite side, so it was really strange. When we got there it was like a dream because it was so beautiful and the beach went on forever it was amazing. We camped there because you can sleep on any beach in NZ for free, its the law. It makes travelling really cheap. Luckily they had an extra tent for us so we didnt have to buy one.

The next morning we woke up and climbed up the side of the hill to take a good look at the ocean. We went swimming, and then I noticed a natural waterfall. It was really small, but I went and had a shower in it. (Bathing suit on ofcourse, dont get any ideas). After I was done, Tash was kind of looking at me wierd, and so I asked her what was wrong. She was under the impression that it was sewer. At the time I didnt believe her but looking back it probobly was run off from the streets. Eww.

Then we packed up the Sigma and headed up the beach for Dargonville, a tiny town and had pizza. I bought a net there in hopes of catching something interesting, not sure what, but I figured that I needed it. Then we headed back to the beach to drive up the rest of the way....until...

Before the big adventure

The final thing we did in Auckland before we left was, I invited everyone in the hostel to go to the IMAX. I just felt like relaxing and doing something familiar. After that, Tash and I went and sat in Burger King and they had an old juke box there, so I listened to Connie Francis because it reminded me of Brad because on Sunday mornings that's what we listen to, along with other cool records.

Matt and Brodie came to IMAX, along with a Japanese girl named Cheeko, an American and two other Japanese people. It was fun.

This is around the time I realized what I lost in the Cooks. At this point I had already lost my bathing suit bottoms, or as Australians would say, "bathers", and my new Oakley sunglasses, that was the last time I bought expensive sunglasses, and a few other things. Oh well.

The next day we started on our trip of the North Island of New Zealand, and believe me, the stories just get crazier! I was glad to get out of the city. After being in the beautiful Cooks, it was really depressing to be surrounded by concrete again.

1982 Sigma

This is a picture of the car right after we got it. On our way driving back downtown into Auckland, we came accross this huge traffic circle with probobly 4 lanes, it was massive and none of us knew how to drive in them, so we just winged it and all I remember was swerving and hearing people honking. The guy with the big hair is Brody, Matt is the smaller guy and the guy on the other side of the car with the black shirt is Brodys brother Nick. The sign in the window is what we made so people would understand why we are horrible drivers there. It says caution:Canadian Drivers. We figured we should put something up after the traffic circle.

The coolest hostel to stay at in Auckland is called the Camel. Its cool because you get a free beer when you go there and also its cheap. When we first got there we stayed at a Hostel International, it was expensive, far away, and mostly families, so people are not so open. I also have to mention the coolest cd/record store I have ever been in is there, its huge and full of great stuff, its on the main strip down town but I forget the name of that too.

James from the Cook Islands had come to New Zealand and had a stop over there, so we met up with him at a local bar so it was nice to see him again too. It took us a few days before we left Auckland.

The other picture is Tash and I on this boring tour she wanted to go on, but I was nice and went anyways. I hate going on tours because I hate tourist spots and also I hate being on a time schedule. I am not bitter.

It wasnt too bad though, well that's a lie.

Auckland, New Zealand

When we first got to New Zealand, I had mixed feelings. I really wanted to be in the Cook Islands still, but on the other hand I was quite excited to have a real burger. Before this trip I was going to improv regularly, it was quite fun. On the way to our hostel, we saw an improv place, so after we dropped off our stuff, I went to see what it was all about. Turns out the guy there knew the guys I knew from here in town. So he gave us some free tickets. I went back to the hostel and invited everyone. We ended up bringing these two guys. They were from Canada too so we had a bond.

Then we got to talking and figured if we bought a car, it would be cheaper than taking a bus around NZ. The two guys were expecting another guy so we could split it five ways. We found a local paper and found a car auction. I co-ordinated the bus route there. We said the car should be around $800NZD, which is only around $650 CDN. When we got off of the bus we saw a really nice red car from a distance, and something told us that it was the one. As we got closer we saw that is was exactly $800NZD so we bought it!

The man loved this car, so he showed us how to take care of it, it was immaculate. He let us drive it to his house and his wife gave us food and drinks and then he gave us a crash course. We had to drive on the opposite side of the road than we were used to, so that was pretty crazy. The man told us that the biggest mistake people make is when they are on a road in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, and then they pull out of a gas station or something and drive for a long time on the wrong side of the road until BAM, they hit dead on. He told us to always remind each other, and we did and it was a good thing because all of us drove on the wrong side at some time or another by accident.

It was interesting getting the car back into downtown Auckland to our hostel.

Crazy!!

wow, I really dont know what happened but that long post I thought I lost, just got posted when I made my last post, so now I have 3 today. Now I am happy again, my spirits are back up! HAHA!! Well now I can finally move on...:)

mello

I am kind of feeling unambitious today, yesterday I wrote a long entry about my last funny story before leaving the Cooks, then I did something stupid and the whole thing got erased. I didnt feel like writing it all over again and today I just feel...you know...lazy or something, maybe its hormonal? I just felt like writing about nothing. Tomorrow, I will finish up on the Cook Islands and then begin the next adventures in New Zealand. I just feel like running away from myself for a few days and leaving my body behind to do all the work. This is a really boring post, sorry for anyone who reads it, you will never get that minute of your life back. NEVER!

Papaya

The Cook islands are full of Papaya, it is not my favorite fruit, infact I think its the only fruit I am not fond of. Every where we went, it was Papau (this is how they pronounce papaya) juice, Papau Jam, Papau by itself, Papau everything! I was kind of funny because I would have to eat it anyways.

This is our last day, the last story of the cooks.

On our last night we went out for a special dinner with Lou and Eva, Tash and I each took a girl with us on our bikes and off we went. We had a wonderful dinner, I had this amazing sushi lemon type dish, I wish I could remember what it is called. Then after we went to party at a bar. When we got there I got off of the moped and headed in straight for the bathroom when I noticed I couldnt find the moped key. I hadnt gone too far so I thought I would retrace my steps. Couldnt find it anywhere! I looked for around an hour and eventually had to get home with someone else, I cant remember how I did, I think someone drove me on their moped?? Anyways the next day being our last day was not enjoyable, I spent it packing and then taking the bus up to the other side of the island to look for the key again in the day light. Couldnt find it and my moped was still there. So I had to wait another hour for the bus to take me back down so I could go to this place who had keys for them and then this guy and I had to go back up and get it again. It took me hours to do this, and Tash being so stubborn, wouldnt help me, she said I was on my own, it also cost me an extra 20.00NZD. The only cool thing that happened was I met a cool old lady from Calgary on the bus going to the North part of the island. She travels all over the world and in the winter has a hut in Mexico where she lives.

We had to be out of our place sometime around noon, but the planes leave around midnight. So basically you have to hang out on the beach all day with your luggage. Then we had to take the bus again to the airport.

We said goodbye to our good friends that we had made and were on our way to New Zealand.

Canada 3000 had just gone under while we were there, hundreds of people were stuck there and many almost lost their jobs. Luckily we took Air New Zealand thanks to Tash's imput, atleast she was good for something. This was my first experience traveling with someone I know. I much prefer going solo.

The cutie in the picture is the guy I end up married to. I missed him so much while I was away, which really surprised me!

Thank You Rarotonga! and Palace Burger, all the chickens, the internet cafe,and the wonderful people.

Gas Problems

So anyway, back to the hustle and bustle of Rarotonga,this is a funny story that wasn't so funny at the time. Tash and I were sharing a moped this one day, and as we passed the gas station on our way back to Vara's, I suggested we stop to fill it up. She was driving so I had no control. She said "later". There was around a ten minute drive from our place to the gas station. We went down to the beach, but something she did put me in a bad mood so I told her I was going back up to the room to be by myself for a while. I took the moped. I decided that first I would go for a ride, so I went for a good 20 minutes, just as I remembered the low gas tank and looked down to see how much was left, it died. Then I got even more upset since Tash wouldn't stop for gas before. I walked a long time before I got to the gas station to fill up an empty pop bottle with gas, then walked back to the bike, burned my leg on the muffler, drove back to the gas station to fill it up, and found I was cents short of paying for it. It only cost maybe 2NZD to fill, so I thought I had the change. So then I drove back to my room, got the money, drove back to pay the station, and back again to my room, where Tash was all rested nicely from her day at the beach. GRRRR... anyways looking back on it, it's funny, I was gone for hours though, and I was not happy.

The picture is Lou infront of a cool church, we had been out shopping at a cool local store.

Back to Rarotonga

Thank You Mangaia!

Sadly leaving Mangaia

These are some extra pics for your interest. We were really sad to leave the wonderful people of Mangaia who treated us so well. I guess I was given some misinformation, there is actually a Queen of Mangaia, and also no Chief. Maybe what the Chief meant was that he would have been a Chief? Not sure. Anyways enjoy...

The World is My Closet

The saying "The World is My Closet" came from years and years ago when I was in school. My friend Suzanne and myself would go downtown after school for something to do. One day while we were down there, I took my text books and put them in a safeway bag and threw them in some bushes right by the bus stop and thought nothing of it. That way I didnt have to carry these heavy books around all night, made sense. When we were ready to go home, I would pick them up. It sounds dumb, but thats what teenagers do, stupid things. Suzanne always said to me, "Jen, the world is your closet" and I liked that saying, since I like to travel and everything. I figured that it was a true enough statement. I always feel at home when I travel because I think of the world as my home, and I guess my closet too.

The Feast

Imagine 8 long tables making one long table, a few cooked pigs thrown on and food right on the table, no dishes. You can not see the table. There is so much food you cant believe it. So I went and loaded up my plate and sat down. Why is no one else eating? They are just watching? Well although this was an island festival with plenty of food, no one eats anything, they just hoard as much as they can in a blanket and take it home for supper. They much more enjoyed watching us eat. One lady came up to me and said that I didn't have enough on my plate, so she went and grabbed me a pigs leg. (You can see it above on my plate) So I ate it, I got a picture of it because it was so funny that she brought me this huge leg. I think they thought we were funny because we ate with utensils that Ara brought for us, I didn't realize til later that we were the only people that ate with them. Tash went to find some napkins but there were none, so she found a water tub, just as she was about to put her hands in they came running to stop her. It was drinking water. Oops! It was quite a great time, we were honored to be invited and meet everyone.

Island Party

Since we were the only tourists on the island, Ara invited us to join her and her family at the Islands Party. Everyone on the whole island was there. There was a big parade, and then after a big feast. They have pigs running around all over the island so the meat we ate was pig with tonnes of vegetables, and they also picked us coconuts from the trees for a drink. They said its the most pure drink you can have. Its not like what you get in the stores, its like nothing you

What is safety?

When we got to this particular cave, our guide informed us he forgot his ropes and climb gear, so we had to slide down a steep slope on our backs under this rock that was just high enough to fit our body. We were just told to be careful.
It was full of cobwebs but we really wanted to go swimming in the water in the cave. It was quite cold but the water was so pure you could drink it.

The Caves

Tash and I had booked a trip to the caves. The man who took us was the Mormon chief I had told you about. As we waited outside of Babes Place, not knowing what to expect, a man and a rather large woman showed up on mopeds. Ok...so we put on helmets, or did we? I cant remember, I went on the back of his wifes moped and Tash went with the chief. It was about a 20 minute ride. On the way I had asked the lady if she had ever fallen off of the moped, she yelled back to me, "oh yes, all the time". I just sat there quiet in fear. Since the roads aren't paved the bikes go all over the road, its scary.

The first picture is the chief and I. The second is Tash and I by the caves, you can see that it was an old coral reef. He took us to maybe 4 different caves. We spent the whole day there. The coolest cave was the one we went swimming in, I will put those pictures up tomorrow.

Locals

We went for a long walk one night. As we were walking, we walked by this little house and out of it we heard loud music. It was none other than the famous Celine Dion. It is so strange to be somewhere so far away and feel like you are so different, where even the constellations are different, and then hear something so familliar, realizing you are not so different and that the world is a lot smaller than you think.

The Life

This is where the cool paths led, to the ocean! I LOVE the ocean. The first picture is Tash. I am really proud of this one because I actually tried to be somewhat artistic in making it look cool and I think it turned out ok? The second is me, again, in the ocean. It's raining, which is really good considering Mangaia was going through a drought and our shower is collected rain water in a sac that warms up in the sun. No more drip showers!

Another Path

This is another cool path to the beach.

To the Beach!

When you go to the beach here, you have to walk down these paths, they are all over the island and each one is different and unique. This was one of them.

Babes Place

This is babes place. I thought I was so lucky getting a princess bed. That night when we went to bed I figured out why we had one. There were these strange bugs that at night, would fall off of the ceiling. It was so scary. Tash and I ended up sleeping in the same bed, she didnt have a net over hers. She really hates sleeping with me though because I talk and move a lot. So the second night she slept in her bed without the net, she said she didnt care.

Ara

This is Ara. She is so great.

Ice Cream

Once we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by a lady named Ara. She is the lady that took care of us the whole time. They had lays (flower necklaces) for us when we arrived, we felt so special. We then hopped into the back of a pick up truck, helped load boxes of ice cream for the local store, delivered it to the store on the way to our accomodation. Interesting...
I thought it was great, that they are just so innocent of traditional thinking that they get their tourists to help with local labor.

Airport

When we landed I couldnt see the Airport. Then I knew why. This is the Airport, its so small, but its cute!

Mangaia

This is Mangaia. There are no paved roads here and the population is approximately 700. There are lots of caves because it used to be a coral reef. There is a chief that lives there and owns a ton of land, he took us into the caves. (There will be pictures of this comming) He is Mormon. There are lots of Mormons here, its wierd. I have nothing against Mormons, I was in a Mormon talent show once and that was enough of that. Thats a whole other story and I have lots of Mormon stories.
Back to Mangaia.
This place is really cool. Its not so tropical like the other islands of the Cooks, there are even some Pine trees. It's strange.

Island Hoppers

Tash and I went down to Island Hoppers, its the travel agency in Rarotonga. We booked a mini vacaton for 3 nights to Mangaia, the Southern island. Most people go to Aitutaki, its supposed to be very beautiful but we wanted a bit of an adventure, and we definately got it. We stayed at Babes Place. It was so quiet. There is only one other place you can stay, but its more expensive and its not as nice. Also at Babes you get dinner cooked for you and it's included in your price. We would be down at the beach and we would get called for dinner like when you are a kid. Its great. If you want to get away from it all, this is definately the place. This is the plane we took. I felt sick for some reason, like throwing up. When we got there I looked in the seat pocket infront of me and there was a big bag of puke in it. I guess I figured out what was making me queasey. Yuk.

Dead Fish

This is a dead fish.
Tomorrow, we leave to Mangaia the Southern most island in the Cooks. We are the only tourists there and its pretty interesting.

Chickens

Everyday I went to the internet cafe and fed the chickens. They actually get to know you.

Close to Death

The first piture is a picture of Tash and I at a local market where they serve local food. The second picture is my dinner. It looks ok but it was impossible to eat, the meat was full of bones and the vegetable thing was impossible to chew. I felt really bad but I couldnt eat it. There are lots of dogs that run around everywhere who are starving, so I took it behind a bush where no one could see me and gave it to some dogs who were there. Then I turned around and saw a family sitting there at a table staring at me. I felt bad, but oh well.

Now the death thing. Tash and I doubled there on the moped, there you drive on the left side of the road, so we were making a right hand turn, accross the oncomming road to turn into the market, then out of nowhere a moped zipped past us on our right side (going in the same direction as us) he should have passed us on the outside on the left. He was so close to us I felt him touch my arm as he drove by. He was going so fast, if he would have hit us I am sure we would have been dead. Luckily Tash stopped from turning just in time.

James

The guy on the left is James. He is interesting enough to have his own entry. James is from England but he travels all over the South Pacific, its all he does. He loves it and he is in love with their women. He is the kind of person you cant figure out. You wonder who he really is, how he travels for years on end, and why he is so secluded on his own for such a long time. In the end it doesn't matter. James had a big fall off of his moped and was bleeding all over one night. Everyone staying up at Varas was trying to help him while he layed in bed in pain.

Island night is a party night that the locals put on to show off local dancing. At first we thought it was so cool that they picked James to go on stage and do the island dance with them, and then the next week they picked him again! Then I found out that they always pick him because he is always there and he has a lot of practice. I cant even count how often he has been to the cooks. Easter Island is his favorie though.

That is the James that I know.

Final Chapter to the Grand Hike

This is really the funniest part of the story

But first I found two more pictures. The first is a picture like the one on the blog entry below, where I took a picture looking over that cliff on the body wide path.
The second is the warning sign that warns about going up that little path.

The Final Chapter: After the four hour hike you expect to come out to a waterfall, well it was all dried up, so there was no refreshing in that. We thought the path would end by the main road so we could catch a lift. Little did we know that we had to walk an hour down long roads by fields to get to the road. I was almost in tears of exhaustion and our fun day was turning into a really demanding and long day. I cry when I am tired, I can admit it. I also cry when I am hungry. I try not to but I cant help it. You should have seen me in Trento Italy when I couldnt find a place to stay and not a single place was opened that served food. Thats a whole other story. Damn Mormons.

So we made it to the road and were going to wait for the bus. The bus runs every hour. We saw it driving away. So, then decided to walk slowly while we waited for the bus, in the direction of Varas Place. The bus showed up just as we were there. So another hour of endless walking. In heins-sight it was the most amazing day, but re-living it by writing this story is reminding me how much I hated that day. Anyways, thank God for heins-sight. The smart thing would have been to have a vehicle waiting at the waterfall, but think ahead? Why would we?

At Your own Risk

This is a shot from the Needle, but I went alone up past where most people go. Its a use at your own risk type deal. Basically there is a chain bolted into the side of the rock, you hold on and swing yourself around onto a little path thats your body width wide. You have the needle on one side and a steep drop down on the other. I had to make my way up maybe 20Ft on my stomache and then I took a picture. This is me on my belly doing my best to take a picture from the very top. It was pretty scary.

Team Canada

This is us.

On the Hike

This picture is to show how the hike went. If you look, I am scooting down on my butt, like I did most of the hike. The whole hike is like this, up and down. At one point we were walking on this tiny path that was around 2-3 zFt accross and on both sides of us was a sheer cliff. All we had to hold on to was the trees that were growing on the side. Truely insane!

Needle

This is a great pic of the Needle, we hiked right up to the top of it.

Cock a doodle doo

This is no ordinary rooster. He sits alone at the Needle (top of the mountain) on Rarotonga. He waits for people who are hiking by to come and feed him. After humming and hawing for a few days whether or not we should do the 4 hour trek accross the island, we finally did it. It was a lot more than I expected. You basically follow the pipe that cuts over the island. There is no real trail. It was worth it though. We finally went with James from England, and another guy from Canada (forget his name too), Tash and I. We called ourselves Team Canada, even though James was not from there. I think I remember that right??? James is interesting and worth another post to describe him, so I will move on for now.

Church Music

It is highly recommended, even in travel magazines, that when you go to the Cook Islands that you should visit a church so you can hear their singing. It is truely a unique sound of the Mauri. This is a picture of some friends we met, we all hopped on our mopeds, and went to church. They even gave us free food there so it was definately worth it. The girls left to right, Lou from England, Eva from Germany, Shelly from Canada, myself and Tash. We hung out with Lou the most, she is the funniest person I have ever met and will probobly bring her up some more.
I feel bad, but I forget the boys names.

Us

This is Tash and I, she is the girl I started out Travelling with. We are on our way to New Zealand, and then to visit some of her relatives in Australia. Then I am off alone to Thailand.

Antarctica

This is Justin, he is an american who was on his way home from Antarctica. He decided to take a few weeks holiday in the Cooks before going home. He was working down there. Justin is not your typical American. Palace Burger is the burger joint on the Cooks, there are no chains like McDonalds or anything, just Palace Burger. Everytime we drove by (on our mopeds)we would see Justin sitting there at the picnic tables enjoying his Palace Burger. "Yuk!" is all I can say. I fed mine to the dogs. What a character, I think he went there everyday, it was the running joke.

Exlporing

This is a cool ship we saw.

Cute Little Puppy

This dog belonged to the people that owned Varas. He was such a nice dog. When you woke up in the morning he would be in our living room asleep on the couch with his legs spread wide open. I loved him. He died a few weeks after I left the Cooks, a friend of mine told me he got hit by a vehicle.