Tahiti Photos

View from Bedroom

View from resort beach

Park in Papeete City

Bethesda

I've been staying with TJ's parents in Bethesda, Maryland for a week now, so it's time for an update. Since New York, we haven't been quite so busy with touristy things as we've been working on applying for jobs and the like. However we've been into Washington D.C. a few times.

The first time was to visit the Spy Museum, which was cool. It was pretty interactive giving us tests and missions as well as learning about the history of spies and their practices. We went into D.C. on Sunday with TJ's dad to look at President Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson’s Presidential Monuments. They were, um – pretty monumental I guess. Not knowing much American history, it did give me an insight into what sort of guys these were and what they brought to the country. Yesterday we saw an Imax film in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum about Red Flag. This is a training exercise for fighter jet pilots, similar to, but larger in scope than, Top Gun. And also real. After that we spent a couple of hours looking around the museum at air and space history. I’ll probably go backto explore more and order some personalized ‘dog tags’.

The good thing about D.C. is that there are so many museums to cover many tastes and they’re all free. It’s the home of the Smithsonian Museums which I’m sure you’ve all heard about.

So far I’m liking the Maryland/DC area. It’s not at exciting and busy as NYC, but definitely an easier place to live. There are beggars on the street in DC and more racial diversity than I was expecting. I guess I always thought DC would all be white collar govt workers, but it’s not the case. You have to pretty much drive everywhere – there’s not even any sidewalks in TJ’s neighbourhood! And, yes there does seem to be a McDonalds or Starbucks on every corner. It has been hard finding a decent coffee, but I will never, ever set foot inside a Starbucks!

Other American Weirdities:
* Light switches flip up for on
* The water level in the toilet is nearly at the top of the bowl
* There is no small sizes in anything. The smallest is always called medium, tall, or deluxe. Anything, but small.
* The price you see on a product is never the price you end up paying. Except stamps
* If I say I have a partner, I’m gay
* If I want a fag, I’m gay
* Not that there’s anything wrong with that

TJ and I are off on a road trip to North Carolina, Atlanta and Georgia tomorrow for a week or so. I’m looking forward to exploring the different states and meeting more of TJ’s friends and family. So far they have been very friendly and accommodating – and no lie detector tests yet!!

Photos from NY

TJ & I in Central Park on a freezing day

Ice Skating in Central Park

Times Square

Bye Bye Big Apple

TJ and I caught a bus to Washington DC yesterday from Chinatown. I had a great time in NY but it takes a lot out of you, so I'm happy to take a break.

Since the last post we went to the American Museum of Natural History. It's so huge, we must have seen only 5% of it. You could spend a week there easily. It's got some amazing exhibits of all types of reptiles, mammals and birds.

Another mini highlight was seeing a group of 50cent wannabes get a grilling from NYPD in the subway. They're quite a presence compared to NZ police who's uniforms look like they're 20 years old and probably are. NYPD are armed with a very dark blue uniform (almost black) that just looks cooler.

So I'll be around Washington DC for a while - Well TJ's parents actually live in Maryland which is right by DC - and will probably take in some of the capitals sights. I think I'm about halfway settled into the timezone here - still got 3hrs to go.

I've finally met the family too, which seems to be going well so far...

I hope all is well wherever you are

I made it

Yep, I'm in New York, so I finally made it to the Northern Hemisphere! Ok, ok, I'll back up a few days..

After a 2 hour delay in Auckland, I had a decent 5 hour flight to Tahiti and got my transfer to Le Meridian Hotel. It was pretty flash with a bed wide enough for six people. It was about 1am by this time so I went to bed. Got up the next day and noticed these goldfish as long as my forearm swimming right outside my verandah. I then went down to the beach for a kayak and a swim.

After that I went into Papeete for a look-see in the city. I ordered roast chicken at one place and got half a bird! The city was rather busy, selling all kinds of stuff I had no interest in, apart from some tahitian jewelry for TJ.

I came back to the resort and had time for a snorkel which was my first time and amazing. I was able to swim around with all kinds of colourful tropical fish and I saw what looked like a rock with a mouth as well as a piece of rope - again with a mouth.

Then it was time to go back to the airport for an 11 hr flight to NYC. This wasn't as smooth as the previous flight with about half of it being turbulent. It didn't make me sick, but did mean I only got a couple of hours sleep.

Tj and a couple of her friends picked me up at JFK airport which was great and we went to our hostel in Chelsea - the art district in Manhattan. We had a decent mexian meal then went to an improvised comedy set a short walk away. It wasn't too cold that day, but unfortunately not a sign of the weather to come...

The next day (Sun) we had a big day walking as well as discovering the subway. First off we walked to Times Square uptown after spending the best $1.02 on a good beanie. Yes, it was cold that day my friends. Out came the gloves and the scarves. It had snowed the night before. We found our way to the Guggenheim art gallery - which was cool. It was designed by well known architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It didn't exactly have floors - rather a continuous spiral upwards. Saw some Russian and Impressionist art including some Picasso and Van Gogh pieces as well as some modern art by Kadinsky. After that we went across the road to Central Park where we must have walked in the snow and ice for an hour before getting to the ice skating rink. We went skating for an hour which was cool. I started to figure out how to do those cool stops that the ice hockey players do. Then it we caught the subway to Toms Restaurant, the diner that appears on Seinfeld. We had some good old American burgers there. Back to the hostel for a break before going out to East Village to check out a Jazz club.

Today (Mon) we checked out of the hostel and brought our gear to TJ's cousins place where we're staying for the next two nights and then went downtown to check out the World Trade Centre sight. It looks like there's some serious development happening there, but nothing has reached above ground level yet. Walked around some more down Wall St then went on the Staten Island ferry for a great view of the city from the Hudson River, passing the Statue of Liberty on the way. We came back and attempted to walk over the Brooklyn bridge, but couldn't find how to get on it as a pedestrian. We were cold and hungry so walked through Chinatown to Little Italy and found a renowned pizza place and had a great meal comprising an 18inch diameter pizza which was great.

That's it for the moment, if you've made it this far! I'm really liking New York and am picking up all the little different rules of American society. It's a great city with so many places to explore and so many suburbs that each have their own personality and feel about them.

Scotty.

Last Day in the Bay

I'm leaving Hawkes Bay tomorrow morning on a bus bound for Auckland. I'm going to stay with my sister for a night and she'll drop me off at the airport on Friday. I hate buses, but better get used to them I guess. Lucky my thoughtful girlfriend sent me a package from The States with some things for my trip including The Alchemist, which I'm looking forward to reading.

My first leg of the flight to Tahiti takes about 5 hours. I arrive there late evening and get taken to my hotel which is part of this resort:

Pretty flash huh? I'll stay here for a night and the next day, so should be able to do some exploring... Then it's a 11hr flight to New York and things will step a notch.

I've enjoyed my few weeks in Hawkes Bay, but am ready to turn my life upside down now, leaving every solid, predictable, comfortable part of my life in New Zealand. That's the goal of course - now I'll have to make sure I rise to the challenge of starting from scratch somewhere else... Wish me luck.

Scotty.

6 Days

Yes, there's only six days now until I fly out of Auckland to The Big Apple. I've never been there, but the name suggests it's like a big styley over-priced computer that runs on a different operating system than every other city in the world. We shall see...

Anyway, I fly out on Fri the 13th then go over the date line and get to Tahiti for my stopover. Stay a night there, and fly to NYC on Fri the 13th again. Hmmm, lucky I'm not superstitious. But doing it twice just cancels it out, right?

I arrive in NYC at JFK airport Saturday afternoon then have to make my way into the city to meet up with TJ who is probably the main reason I'm going to the US. We'll stay there 4 nights I think. Will try to check out some sites like the Guggenheim, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty etc. But what I'm more looking forward to is New York culture like comedy and jazz clubs - I'll finally get to see if they're as cool as I've heard.

Ok, well that's a bit of an intro to what's going on. I'll fill you in with more on the way...

Scotty.