the garrison show

okay, first of all, i make no claims to quality. i’m not a photographer, in fact, i’m not even an interesting person. though if you’re reading this, you probably already know that.

so i installed this handy-dandy photo gallery on my server and that’s where my pictures are. it’s on an internet web page so you have to point your browser to it. point it to this page. great.

eventually i will be titling and captioning them, but i think you get the point for most of them. sydney pics will be coming too as they are taken.

love, me.

two nights ago i had the first nightmare i’ve had in…a long ass time.

i dreamt that i had to make a change to my itinerary on my flight home; something like instead of flying out of Brisbane, i was going to fly out of Melbourne. that’s not the scare part yet. well, somehow in adjusting my schedule i actually managed to get on a plane back to DC instead of Sydney.

i didn’t even realize this until i’m landed and back at “home” on walker st and talking with jed and tony when they start asking me about australia and all of a sudden i realized i FORGOT TO GO TO AUSTRALIA!

somehow, this really struck me as a tragedy. i mean, i was scared! i woke up in a total panic until i realized all my sweat was turning to ice and i was definitely still in new zealand. crisis averted.

any interpretations?

the last couple days have been pretty tame, as far as vacations in new zealand go. most people find a way to bungy jump, skydive, explore caves, and all sorts of other things. i, on the other hand, manage to take a nap on a bench in the harbor. girls want me, guys want to be me.

in fact, i really did just spend the last couple days walking (a ton!) around the city and talking to aucklanders. it has still been cold, but sunny so i’ve been able to stay warm staying in the sun and keeping on the move. yesterday i caught a world cup game in a pub and made some fast friends over a couple of beers and then wound up on a mountain over a beach for the sunset. not bad. today did much the same but with tennis and minus the beach sunset idea. oh, and a hot bartender tried to pick me up. well, maybe she succeeded. i really can’t recall.
in the time i’ve had to myself (not an insignificant amount of time, mind you), i’ve sort of realized i’m a very peculiar tourist. i don’t like tourist things. i don’t actually like vacations, really. is that bizarre? i love to travel, i love seeing new things, i love meeting new people; but i don’t like vacations. i don’t like waking up and having nothing to do.

i think my ideal lifestyle would be nomadic. i would love to move around the world 6-12 months at a time. i don’t get attached to scenery (though new zealand is gorgeous) and i’m not really a thrill-seeker (though i’d love to jump out of an airplane). i’m a “people-person” and it takes me time to find the right people and get to know them. so spending 5 days in new zealand is awesome, but leaves me wanting something.

so tonight is my last night and tomorrow my last day in NZ. at the moment, i haven’t got any particular plans to speak of, but i’m hanging out with my french mate. i can’t imagine we’ll stay too far away from a beer.

pictures will be coming soon.

last night i caught up on sleep - about 13 hours worth.

today so far i’ve been walking the auckland city streets. i checked out of my hostel this morning intending to stay with new NZ mates in their flat. “flat” is new zealander for “apartment.” but then you proably knew that.

i don’t know how crazy things can get on a sunday night, but i’ve only got three more days until i hit sydney, and then - watch out.

good thing i’m catching a damn cold from this stupid weather.

so i’m walking around downtown just sort of checking out the sites and getting a feel for environment. auckland is trendy but edgy; there something here that wants to be new york, but it can’t quite cut it. anyhoo, i drop into a clothing shop to peek at the fashions and strike up a convo with one of the fellows working there. sidenote: these kiwi’s are nice as hell!

he’s got a friend in the store, a young lady, and we happen to leave the store at the same time. we chat on the sidewalk, she invites me across the street for a cup of coffee and inquires what my plans are. of course, at the point i’m not really making plans for more than the next 20 feet or so of storefront, so it’s not a lie when i confess i haven’t got any.

she invites me to an 80’s party. on a farm. in new zealand.
i’m not joking. it’s a 21st birthday party of a friend of a friend, tons of people will be there, you can hitch a ride with us, all locals, etc, etc. so obviously i’m in. we hang around the rest of the afternoon, meet up with a couple of her flatmates, buy some 80’s garb, and pile in the car.

THREE HOURS LATER we arrive at the dairy farm of the party. there’s a band. there’s more than one keg. there’s a lamb carcass inside. it’s a new zealand party, what can i say. there are probably 120 people there and i quickly become known as “that crazy fucking american.” oh, it was a great time.

my personal highlight was my new french friend telling me, “if you weren’t here, we would have to invent you.”

as soon as i can, i’ll get some pics uploaded. in the meantime, just ponder…who flies thousands of miles to a foreign country to celebrate bon jovi and madonna?? i didn’t even think they HAD the 80’s outside of the us…look what an idiot i am.

oh, did i mention the name of the band? Furious Masturbation. i like new zealand.

i got on board a 747 with 392 of my closest friends in los angeles and 14 hours later, i am in auckland, new zealand!

now what?

i have found the hostel i’m staying at (at least for the first leg), but it’s been relatively sedate on this friday morning. hopefully that just means everyone is taking their time recovering from thursday night.

it seemed like i had more to write about before i sat down to write. hmmm…i met a hypnotist on the plane. that was cool. speaking of cool, it’s cold as arse down here! no sunshine to speak of, rain, wind, and all sorts of miscellaneous coldness! i had to buy a hat!

wasn’t that amusing?

okay, i gotta go get some more material. try coming back later. seriously.