I'm back in the land of Kiwis and am currently surrounded by cows

Hello followers,

Well, it is that time again. Breakfast? Why yes! Oh, and I am also back in the AWESOME land of New Zealand! After returning to California to finish my degree and work a bit, I am finally once again in the land of the long white cloud (which is fitting name for today).

Upon my arrival, I had a few hours to kill in the Auckland Airport before my friends could pick me up which I spent watching lone travelers be greeted by their loved ones. Some danced, some cried, and some children climbed on railings. It was pretty darn entertaining. Luckily, I was easy for my friends to spot since I was sat next to a GIANT cardboard box that I had used to transport my bike over here. The reactions of fellow travelers to my mysterious giant box was nothing short of awe from SF to Auckland ( 'I say, what is in that box?/'My word, that is a big box, isn't it?'/'You really must have something quite large in that box, eh?'). And by golly, they were all right.

While the last time I was in NZ the fashion trends seamed firmly set in 1980's US hits (fashion mullets anyone?), my suspicions of those trends not moving forward much should have first been aroused by spying on the Kiwi family sat next to me in SFO returning from a trip to LA. Boots with pointed toes, rolled up jean shorts, and mullets seamed to be common. But the evidence I found on the plane could IN NO WAY prepare me for the delights that awaited me in Auckland. As soon as I stepped off of the plane, I was instantly cast into a sea of mullets-EVERYWHERE. And I mean that you could seriously not move more than six feet ( or around 2 metres) without bumping into at least 3 mullets. These glorious hair manes ranged from shorter fashion mullets to long flowing symbols of strength. There were also the added bonus of plenty of splendid rat tails too. Ohhhhh thank you 1980's.

Wandering around Queen St in Auckland city yielded even more awesome hair finds and an equally impressive number of 1980's to early 1990's style cut off jean shorts, with some bravely navigating the fine line between jean shorts and jean underwear.

After spending the night in a hostel in the city with a friend of a friend who was from the Faroe Islands (go ahead and google that. Everyone else we met had to), I traveled to Lake Taupo to hopefully hike the Tongariro Crossing. Mother Nature had different plans, as we were met with a tropical cyclone that flooded us out. Fortunately, we soon ventured up to start the real vacation part of our journey, up to the Coromandel (ie beach paradise) by way of a giant gorge, giant soda bottle, some smoking hills, and a failed attempt at seeing Hobbiton ($60!? No thank you).

The Coromandel was beautiful. We hiked waterfalls, jumped over waves, ate fish and chips, and explored old mining tunnels filled with giant Weta bugs. Anyway, now I am staying at my friend's farm and woke up to cows eating grass under my window. Awesome. Enough of my yammering, here are some pictures.