Pen_Nomad Travels East Asia: December 2010 (New Zealand)

Met up with a travelling Gypsy Fair(  http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2010/dec/waihi/gypsy-fair-original   ) (***The Gypsy Fair has travelled around New Zealand since 1990, and is a chance for visitors to wander the handcraft stalls, of which no two are the same, and take in some live entertainment.**)   and had a great weekend with them and hope to meet up with them around Christmass time.....

Well, finally rolling... Set off North along coastal highway SH1. Called in at Whangarei Falls, a beautiful 100 metre high waterfall, stunning!!!!
Am finally getting used to driving an automatic van, like the electric overdrive. Got the bed sorted so now I can actually lie down, though it still feels like being in a shoebox... LOL...
Drove 300km to the North tip of NZ, Cape Rheinga, got eaten by sand flies/Midgies so turned around and came back... LOL... Visited the Ngawa Hot Springs which I remember from my last visit here, the are a Great place... :-).. Lying in the Hot pools at night and watching the stars... :-), though stinking of Sulpher for 3 days afterwards, but well worth it. Back to the coast for a stop at Uratiti beach camp site( http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/conservation-campsites-by-region/northland/whangarei-area/uretiti-beach/), stunning site parked in the sand dunes with beautiful beach views, (see facebook photos). Finally back to visit my friend Denise in Orewa and do a few more bits on the van............

Rolling Again.. Visited the scrap yards for bits to improve the van and an extra battery for the internal lights, then met up with the Gypsy Fair in Matamata.. Had a great weekend with them then visited HUGE waterfalls at Whanganui?, trekked 10 km into the hills to see a STUNNING sight of the 300 mtr falls and listen to the thunderouse sounds of the water crashing down... :-) teamed up with a couple of them and parked up at an old race course near Paeroa, with great views, for Xmess....
MERRY XMESS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL....

Pen_Nomad Travels East Asia: Nov 2010 (New Zealand)

Pen's Travels: Nov 2010 (NZ):
So, boarded the Quantas plane at LAX Los Angeles at 11:30 on Wednesday night for a 13 hour flight to Auckland, NZ, and arrived at 10 am on Friday morning,,, ???? Must have been a mid-air abduction as I lost 24 hrs... LOL... OK flight as, though the plane was full, I was the only one on the plane with an empty seat next to me so I could stretch out a little bit, (synchronicity). In flight entertainment and food was good as Quantas usually is. Landed at Auckland and was met by my friend Denise and we drove up to her place in Orewa, I remember many of the places that we passed from the last time that I was here in 2002....
Am now starting to look for a small van that I can convert into a camper-van....
so stay tuned...................... :-)
Well, after a week of searching, I finally got a van... It is late Spring and all the tourists and travellers are arriving and looking for vans to tour about in so the price shoots up. Small vans averageing $3000 - $5000 NZD, (2NZD = 1 pound), so am pleased to get a battered little Toyota Townace for $2000, with 3 months test and tax, (6 monthly MOT's here). Though it is more than I would have paid in the UK, it is all relative as I will save me that much in rent/hostel fees and transport costs.............The first job is to gut it out and to re-design the interior layout, then see how it goes.... :-).

Pen_Nomad Travels East Asia: November 2010 (Los Angeles, Calafornia)

testing new bolgsite type diary thingy

Well! Am having great time in Los Angeles.... arrived on 28th Oct and stayed in a hostel,(Tradewinds), for $23/Night, until 1st Nov,  which was great as it included breakfast, small evening buffet, 2 free glasses of champaign, all the tea, coffee and popcorn you could eat and free shuttle service, not forgetting the heated pool... LOL...
THATS ALL FOR NOW as I want to be sure the site works and that I am not wasting my time... lol...

On 31st, Halloween, I wandered up to a huge party on Santa Monica Blvd, (Route 66), where 500,000 people gathered to celebrate. Most people were in fancy dress, there were some stunning costumes and music stages plus The Rocky Horror Show, film and stage show. It was a stunning night and I joined in the Guinness World Record attempt for the most people dancing the "Time Warp' together..... Not sure if we won or not ????

On 4th Nov I moved to Venice Beach and stayed with a Couchsurfing host called Rob. We had a great time, cycle tour, walks along the beach and promenade, long enjoyable conversations in idyllic locations. Sitting by the beach at 7:30pm, eating sushi and watching the delta space shuttle rocket launch from Vandenburgh air base, riding on a plume of fire into the heavens...... LOL... NICE...

Am now staying with a nice couple, John & Kristen, with a balcony view over the city, beautifull at night and ideal setting for interlectual & philosophical conversations............

Its been pretty weird over here in USA, probably due to my preconceived ideas. I haven't seen a gunfight or heard the stattaco rattle of machine-gun fire as armed drug gangs of disillusioned youths battle to take over the streets, though I have been told that it happens more in the Northern inner cities but not in L.A.... Here the second language is Spanish and though there is a high immigrant population, it does seem to mix together well. The prices of goods and services seems to be slightly above the U.K. norm but the big problem, that Americans seem to think is the same everywhere, is that ALL the products EVERYWHERE are all labeled at pre-tax prices, therefore for all the shopping ect. you then have to add 5%-15% tax onto the total.... Very strange for us 'Europeans' where we are used to "what we see is what we pay' as our tax is already included in the price.... Still, I fell in love with the Venice beach area and if I ever did want to live in the USA then L.A. would be high on my list..... :-)