UUUkei! I think I last left you at Mt. Cook, and its been a while. Since that a lot has been going on, and I dont know if I can remember it all, but lets try. First of all we have made our way back to Picton and are ready to take a ferry to the North Island today. And the last week or so has gone so fast.

From Mt. Cook we drove to Queenstown, but on our way a chemical truck had drove off from the street and the whole road was closed for a long time. We spent our time in a small city waiting for the road to open, eating and visiting souvenir shops… lame, but fun enough. In that town, name of which escapes my mind right now, I had the worst milk shake ever! 4$ for two sips, still makes me angry. We finally made our way to Queenstown, which was much much smaller than I thought it would be. We checked ourselves into a YHA lodge, which was really comfy. Since none of us had the money to jump a bungee or do anything else extreme we spent the monrning just strolling around town, visiting some shops and buying some souvenirs. Fun enough.

From QT we made our way to our southern most location: Te Anau. Te Anau was a small town by the lake, just what we needed. We found a nice hostel to sleep in, little did we know, the next day would be one of the best Ive had here. We woke up around 5am, and started to make our way to Milford Sound, our cruise would be leaving 9am, with breakfast included. Milford was easily one of the most beautiful places Ive ever seen! The cruise went around the sound all the way to open sea, with awesome views, waterfalls and stuff. We just had to be on the deck, even though it was really cold. At one point I said to Eero “If I get a cold because of this, is well worth it”. And what do you know, I got a cold, surprise.

We spent another night in Te Anau after the cruise. Watched some movies, including the ever legendary Anchorman and The Monster, which was awesome. In the morning we started to make our way to Wanaka, which was a beautiful little town. In Wanaka we stayed in a camping site, me and Eero sleeping in a tent, Aino in our car. It was a comfy night, and the weather didnt get too bad. From Wanaka we had a long drive to Franz Josef Glacier, the scenery was supposed to be awesome, but we didnt see anything because it was pouring all day. Winding roads, uphills, downhills and all that. We slowly made our way to the sea, and to the rainforest region. Even though it was raining, I think we all loved it. The hostel we stayed in Franz Josef was the best Ive been in NZ, like being in someones house, free soup in the evening by the fireplace. We were sure it would rain the next day also, but the clouds lifted for a small while in the morning and revealed the beautiful mountains, we also got a chance to see the glacier itself during the morning, we couldnt have hoped for more.

The next day, we werent really sure what our destination would be. First we made our way to Greymouth, which lived up to its name, being gray! Everything to do the would have cost us money, and since all of us are more or less broke we decided to drive to Punakaiki, to see the pancake rocks. Decision was, once again, a good one, things happened and we ended up staying in a cabin for 15$ each, cheap is all I can say about that. The place was by the lake, so I did some walking on the beach during the evening.

We have made our way to yesterday. We decided to make our way to north island a day earlier than first planned. So, yesterday we had a long day behind the wheel, driving all the way from Punakaiki to Picton. But before starting our journey, we did some caving, which any of us had never done before. It was more than awesome! Even though it was bit of a tourist attraction we needed head lamps and the whole shebang. The cave we were in, was a pretty small one so we made our way all the way to the end of the cave.

In Picton we booked into the same hostel we had used before, the Atlantis Backpackers. It was time to celebrate the end of the southern island. Me and Eero bought some beer, Aino some red wine. After a while there were two men overboard, but it was well worth it. Once our beers ran out, we decided to head to a bar. The only place open was an irish bar. I officially hate irish bars right now, but you have to try everything once, right? Funny enough, one of the highlights of our trip happened in that very bar. The was an acoustic guitar, and the locals (since we were on irish soil) demanded us to sing something traditional. After a small brainstorm the only thing both of us knew was Tahroja Paperilla by Eppu Normaali. So, we were the first finnish guys to sing a finnish song in New Zealand in an irish bar.

My time is running out, so Ill sign out. Stay tuned, see you soon!

We went to meet Aino at the Ferry terminal and from there made our way to car rental office. We got a legendary Nissan Sunny and hit the road. Everyone got some driving done during the first day which was good. Our only proper stop was in Kaikoura where we did some grocerie shopping and just were in awe of the incredible views. Overall the views toward Mt. Cook just keep on getting better and better. On Sunday we ended up in a camp ground just a little south from Christchurch. Our next destination was Lake Tekapo where we drove on Monday via a beautiful scenic road. Tekapo was awesome and the views just kept on getting better. A lady at an information center told us there would be few free camping zones. The first one we checked was a ghost town, but despite the obvious horror movie cliches we started setting up our tent. We were almost done when few strange looking guys with a shotgun arrived from the woods. It was time we took our leave. Too much is too much. The second camp ground turned out to be wonderful. It was by a small lake and we were able to make a live fire there. Had some beers and some sausages. Awesome evening!

Today we drove to Mt. Cook Village and did some looking around, booked ourselves into a hostel and went for a 3 hour trek. It was pouring all the time, but still the place was beautiful. After the trek me and Eero decided to try the free sauna here. The “sauna” was patchetic, we werent allowed to throw water on the rocks etc. BS. It wasnt all that bad. Tomorrow we’re heading to Queenstown and who knows what is waiting for us there. Stay tuned!

“Are you ready for the time of your life?!”

          Slipknot – Vendetta

Ok, hold on to your hats, here we go! First lets do some summary: Ive been on the road for 9 weeks this Sunday. I can honestly say, I haven’t had a bad day since leaving Finland. I’ve had 2 invitations to Australia and 1 to Thailand, including a place to stay. I’ve gathered some ideas on how to live my life back in Finland. And the most drastic change is the decision to take on studying again and applying for university, there it’s no secret no more. Obviosly met some lovely people and had some good times and great memories.

You must be curious whats been happening since I last made an entry. Last entry was in Taupo after the Crossing, we were exhausted the day after, but still decided to go for a walk to Huka falls. What was supposed to be a nice evening stroll turned out to be bit of a hike but well worth the efford. First of all Huka falls is freaking crazy and second of all there was a hot stream with some ladies bathing in it on our way back. Volcanic soil can do some amazing things, you cant imagine how hot the water was.

We left Taupo to head to Wellington just for one night. We booked a hostel beforehand. To our joy, there was a slight booking mistake on their part, and instead of a 6 bed dorm we ended up having a private double room ensuite, which wasnt bad at all. Next morning was once again an early one, we made our way through wind and rain to ferry terminal. The 3 hour ferry ride wasn’t most enjoyable since food was too damn expensive and we were both starving. After 3 hours of torture we were in Picton and it was pouring outside. After some waiting we decided to go for it and headed to the city center for some Subway and some groceries, well worth it! A slight setback occured later on, because Eero forgot his mp3 player’s recharge cord to the ferry terminal.

Nelson was our next destination. After few hours of waiting a bus driver, who turned out to be a mad man, arrived. Two hour busride to Nelson was pure madness because of the way this guy drove. We still got to our destination safe and all was good again. We had booked YHA hostel from Nelson, and it turned out to be a good choice, with ping pong tables and a sweet kitchen. We also got to watch a movie that evening, super inspiring Into the Wild, which I recommend to you all. We decided to stay one full day in Nelson, and took a walk uphill to the Center of New Zealand, after that we just walked around town.

It was time to leave Nelson and retreat to Golden Bay’s silence. Again our busride was really early, our destination was a town called Collingwood (pop. 250). Every busride I’ve taken here has been really well organized, and so was this one, even though there were 3 changes. From Collingwood we were picked up by the owner of the camp site we would spend 7 days. Puponga was even smaller than Collingwood, oh the peace and quiet, it was awesome! First night was misty to say the least but we went for a walk along Farewell spit and a nearby beach, just a small glimpse of what was to come. The wind was crazy up there every day, but we didnt really care. 2nd day there was all about chilling, and that we did. Though in the evening we went to see the seals on a beach about 5 minutes walk away. Wild seals, WILD FREAKING SEALS on you doorstep! On our 3rd day we borrowed some bikes (munamankeleita molemmat) and rode to the nearest shop 8 kilometers away. Other than that we just took it easy, did some laundry and chilled. Some of the nights were also cold, and our night fashion included fleece jackets, double socks, wool hats etc. On the 4th day we were supposed to go for a long trek, but the weather was a bit lousy, so we decided to postpone it and just chilled again . On the 5th day we finally did the Hilltop Walk to Wharariki beach. It was about 3,5 hours to the beach in the strongest wind Ive ever seen anywhere! The beach was desertlike but beautiful. We had some lunch in a cave on the beach and then headed home. 6th day was chilling again, Eero’s antibiotics ran out so we celebrated with some red wine. On our last day we went for a walk again, to a beach called the Fossil point, and further along the Spit. Once again in one of the strongest winds ever. Crazy! Today we left Puponga, which already felt like home. One of the best places in the world, easily! Now we are back in Nelson, preparing for our last hectic weeks.

Tomorrow we’ll head back to Picton for one night. On Sunday Aino (Eero’s sister) will arrive in Picton and we’ll pick up our rental car. Its gonna be hectic I tell you, HECTIC! Stay tuned! Oh and the name of the entry is really random, maybe some of you will catch on to it.

PS. Some pictures will follow, since the computer Im on is too retarded.

Our next stop was Rotorua. We found a camping ground pretty close to city center, and set up our tent there. The camping site had nice facilities and was overall pretty cousy. First night on Thursday was supposed to be pretty mellow, but we ended up buying some wine, and you know how it goes. Met some local guys who served us with some rhum-coke. Well, they ended up evicted and we ended up sleeping in our tent. Friday was a rainy day, so we just hung out on the camping site, in the evening we went to do some shopping and stuff. Later on the evening we decided to go chech the local night life, which ended up being a crucial mistake, on the other hand not that much.

On our way back a chain between two poles got me and after that it was face vs concrete. You can quess the outcome of that one. Chipped a few tooth in the spirit of Ville Peltonen. Also got my face bruised a bit. We got a ride in a police car to the hospital where we spent the night. We were supposed to leave to Turangi, but the only available dentist was in Taupo, so we took a bus to Taupo village, which turned out to be a blessing. The dentist was awesome, even picked us up from the bus stop. The ACC system (dont ask) in NZ paid all my costs so that was all good. After I got my teeth back we went to the tourist information point. Earlier on we heard that the Tongariro Crossing -trek in Tongariro National Park was closed, but the nice lady in info point told us we have a few day opening. We booked ourselves for a trek on Sunday and were thrilled!! After leaving the IP we just wandered around, since we had no place to stay for the night. We found the local BASE hostel and booked ourselves in for 3 nights. This is freaking luxorious, let me tell you.

Yesterday we got up 5am, got some soup and bread for breakfast and went to the pick up point. Bus ride to the starting point in Tongariro was about an hour, and it was raining most of the time. We started the trek at around 8am. And overall it was awesome! There was snow and we even got some snow showers up there. We also went to a side trek to Mt. Tongariro summit. I didnt go all the way up, Eero summited the mountain. I was about 30 meters from the peak, but Im content. I cant tell you how cool the trek was, so I just show you some pictures from there soon. Last 7km’s it was snowing, then raining, then snowing again, and we were pretty much soaked. Obviously last night we slept really good, today is a lazy day, and tomorrow we’re leaving to Golden Bay to “release our inner hippies”. Cant wait. Stay tuned!

It’s time for a big update again. Since starting with a piece of a song was so fun, and some of you might be feeling a bit down with the minus temperature and the sleet. Here is a little piece, that helped me get through hard time:

We were at the beach / Everybody had matching towels / Somebody went under the dock / And there they saw a rock / But it wasn’t a rock / It was a ROCK LOBSTER!

- Peter Griffin (B52′s)

Ok, enough Family Guy references. But few honorary mentions for the music section since I completely forgot few bands last time I wrote about my favorite past time. Hidria Spacefolk’s astro rhytms and Von Hertzen Brother’s almost progressive rock deserves a mention. Also Lightman has been a huge success among everyone I’ve met so far. Haven’t heard much sports news while being here, but UFC 88 was a few weeks ago. I read the results online and was a bit surprised. Chuck Liddell got knocked the f’ out on the 2nd round by Evans. Pretty sweet knockout to say the least, since I got to see it online later on. Waiting for the Leben – Bisbing bout at UFC 89. Enough for MMA, since I don’t think anyone reading this is interested in it. Some more miscellaneous chitchat. Martti Ahtisaari got his well deserved Nobel peace price at last. That was a delight to hear. Economic crisis is obviously baaaaad, and makes me a sad panda. But I don’t want to put any toughts on that one while Im here.

On to other matters at hand. Whats been happening you ask. Its been a busy week. We’ve got heaps and heaps of stuff done, including a cattleyard and some gates to it, planting the orchard and shertering most of the trees plus much more. Its nice to see your accomplishments . We’ve also had some fun times, Jim’s stepsister from Australia came to visit with his husband. We went for a local 1 hour trek in the forest, and even spotted a native wood pidgeon, which are hard to photograph. I managed to snap few sweet photos of the bird, which you will see at the end of this post. From the forest we went for a little beach walk and from the beach we went on to Smashed Pipi (a local restaurant, good enough to have a honorary mention in the Lonlely planet) for some beers, pool and pizza. Overall a fantastic night.

On Friday me and Jim walked on top of a nearby hill which has an awesome view over both coasts and all the way up north to Whangarei. Photos from this trip included also. We’ve also played some tennis, Thursday night was the regular tennis club night, and I got to play few games of doubles, nice as always. We’ve also been playing some singles with both Ngaire and Jim. Yesterday we went for a birthday lunch at Ngaire’s sister’s Cathy. The lunch was fantastic, sun was shining, but still the whole situation was a bit awkward since everyone else seems to have loads of catching up to do, on the other hand I sit there my mouth shut. Atleast I got myself sunburned. After lunch we headed to nearby beach at Waipu Cove since the weather was too good to miss. Thats most of what has been happening, but what will be happening from now on is far more important!

Eero has successfully managed to leave Finland behind, and should be in Hong Kong soon. Thursday morning we’ll finally meet up at Auckland ferry terminal. Months and months of planning will finally come true, it feels awesome! My plan before that will play out like this: Today and tomorrow there will be some more work to do etc. Wednesday Ngaire will be heading down to Auckland and of course I will be able to hitch a ride with her. On our way down we will stop at Ngaire’s other sister, who owns a restaurant, for lunch. Ngaire will drop me down to a hostel I have booked from central Auckland. Decided to go for a bit more expensive single room for one night, because rest of the next month will be on budget and probably using out tent quite a bit. Before spending a night in Auckland I got a few tips on where to visit in Auckland. Depending on the price I will or wont visit the top of Sky Tower, which obviously would have spectacular views about 50miles to every direction. Also some art galleries and Auckland Museum are said to be worth a visit. So one touristy day in Auckland ahead!

Thursday, around midday, we’ll take a bus to Rotorua which will be our first destination. From Rotorua to Tongariro National Park to do some trekking and check the famous Mt. Doom. From Tongariro to Golden Bay to do some chillin’. And so forth. Ill keep you posted as best as I can. On the same bat channel, definately not on the same bat time! Stay tuned!

- The Impossible Shapes – Infinity’s Lips

Dedicated to Lin and Graeme in Kerikeri. Yep, its been over a week, I know. Lets talk some music first, since listening to music has been the most popular past time on this trip. I’ve been introduces to lots and lots of new artists/bands which is only good. Swedish music is a reason to forgive almost all those ice hockey games during last ten years. 70′s was the golden age of music and the guys behind Circle are musical gods. There, some random thoughts I’ve gathered so far. Oh, and Interpol is the band when talking about modern rock. Also remember the name didier Labbe octet while Im on the subject.

Leaving Kerikeri

Nick Cage is one of the best actors around btw, though he makes crap movies. Sunday was our tourist day as I might have mentioned. We went south to Bay of Islands. Visited Paihia and the Maori treaty grounds in Waitangi. It was a cool but exhausting day . Monday Chris left us and me and Linette made a path between the two clearings in the jungle. It turned out to be awesome, and I have a video which Im gonna post to Youtube pretty soon if its possible. Tuesday was all about chilling and preparing for a big last day in Kerikeri. I watched some movies and took it easy. On Wednesday we went to this small beach during sunrise, collected some seaweed for the garden and took a dip to the ocean! It was more than awesome. After the morning refreshment we ate some breakfast and the rest of the day we were on the move, driving around picking up stuff etc. Graeme also took us to central Kerikeri to have a look. There was not much there obviously, but I managed to found Terry Pratchett’s Fifth Elephant to entertain me for the next couple of weeks.

Back to Mangawhai

Thursday was a sad day and a happy day. It was sort of sad to leave Kerikeri but it was nice to head to a new place, which I knew to be terrific. I visited Ngaire and Jim briefly, when I was staying with Craig, to see their place and get to know what the work was gonna be like. My bus left Kerikeri at 7.30am and all the way to Paihia I was the only passenger in the whole huge bus. The bus driver was really nice and we had a good chat until other people filled the bus in Paihia. Ngaire picked me up from Kaiwaka 10.30am. We started planting a few trees to their soon to be orchard but Thursday was mainly laid back. Thursday was also my mother’s birthday, so once more: Happy Birthday Mom!

On Friday Jim had some business elsewhere, meanwhile me and Ngaire worked on the orchard and planted around 20 trees there. Got it all done which was awesome! On Saturday we did some work at Ngaire’s raised bed gardens, cut down some bamboos to build wind shelters for the newly planted trees. In the evening Ngaire’s mother, sister and her sisters husband came to have dinner with us. It was a calm evening and we had the dinner outside by the fire. I think the vegetarian died was good for the two weeks, but Im back eating meat and having beer, which is all good . On Sunday we were all pretty tired, but worked as long as we could.

Oh and its raining again, loud on your car like bullets on tin

Moby is also a genius. Today I woke up to the sound of rain, I hope its not gonna rain much. Soon me and Ngaire are gonna go play some tennis(!) and in the afternoon we’ll plant some stuff in the garden. The forecast for tomorrow is rainrain, so we’ll see what we come up with.

Next Sunday my partner in crime is gonna leave Finland! Have an excellent flight and a good time in Hong Kong mate, we’ll be in touch and Ill see you very very soon!

The host Graeme is awesome! If a person knows the bass player for the Doors, has travelled all over the world, has been living in India and is into meditation and mountain climbing you can’t miss. Ive learned so much from him and the stories are awesome. I hate to leave already on Thursday, but I made a commitment to the next place, and I dont want to let them down.

Chillin’

Its been an interesting week, there is lots of catching up to do, lets start from last Saturday when I wrote my last blog. Our third WWOOFer arrived on Saturday. There is me, Graeme, Linette and Chris at the moment.

On Saturday evening a friend of Graeme’s visited. A guy called Dave, who also knew a lot about meditation and other stuff. I did some cooking with him and meanwhile had an awesome chat. Really nice guy! Dave praised the south island, I cant wait to get there.

On Sunday we started to plant trees and bushes into Graeme’s orchard. The weather is getting better every day it seems, and we have been able to have some lunch on the deck. After work we went to some beaches up north, collected some seaweed for the garden and just hung out.

From the beaches we drove a bit more to the north and climbed on top of a volcano called St. Paul. The hike was awesome and the views even more so.

On Monday was my birthday. Whopee! Didn’t feel different at all and since Chris had his birthday on Wednesday we decided to do a birthday dinner on Tuesday. Monday we worked hard and had a really productive day. We planted some more potatoes and some seeds, and of course did some crazy swinging with the machetes in the jungle.

There has been some wonderful sunrises and I thought I would share one with you:

That wasn’t necessarily on Tuesday, but still. On Tuesday, apart from the big dinner, we did some clearing in the jungle, made some stairs and some paths. Afternoon is usually for chilling, reading, making music and so forth. Its seems every one in the house has a similar taste in music. Chris introduced me to Estradasphere and Animal Collective (which I had heard before). Birthday dinner was a success, everybody was happy.

On Wednesday some sad news from Finland made their way to NZ. Again a school shooting, seems like we have em more thank they have in the States. Crazy!

On Thursday we finally got the potatoe clearing finished and all the potatoes planted for now! We had time to do a little jungle expedition before lunch, which was awesome.

Friday we did some more work in the jungle and mainly took it easy. There was a gentle rain in the afternoon and it was beautiful to sit on the deck and watch the birds. Breathtaking!

Yesterday me and Graeme woke up early and drove to Kerikeri for one garage sale and some shopping. When we came back the rest of the day was all about work. Did some weeding, mowed the lawn and planted stuff in the orchard. It was hard work, and clear sky + damn hot sun made it a bit much harder. We got lots of stuff done and were really happy. Graeme cooked some lovely Indian Dal as dinner and we finished a great day with some fruit salad.

All work and no fun makes Stewie a dull baby.

After a week full of work we are having our day off! We went to farmer’s market in the morning to buy some fresh bread and vegetables. From there we came to Graeme’s office to use the all powerful internet. And what was there waiting for me on my facebook inbox..! Madventures will start their 3rd season, spring 09!! Good news of the day. Other than that checking my mail, buying a bus ticket and all that. From here we’ll be starting our Tourists for a day -plan. We’ll be heading south to Paihia in Bay of Islands, which according to Lonely Planet has the sights that first got you to want to visit NZ. Looking forward to that.

Misc.

On to other random matters. Congratulations to Lauri and be sure to order me one of those shirts once they come out! And about the comic strip, there is a fly that is open to everything, but having your fly open might mean something else too. Oh, and Ill sure have some superb material for album covers, music videos and all that lunacy. So when Im back, we’ll lock ourselves in a dark room for a week and have a look at those. Those to unnamed people wouldn’t recognize pure gold if it would be fed to em. But to each their own.

Remember to send me mail, text messages and leave me some feedback on this blog. Take it easy and remember: Hajotkaa pakkaseen! To end this spectacular update, some more photos.

Ok, the fishing trip was cool, but I had no idea what was about to happen’. Wednesday morning I took a bus up to Kerikeri, 2,5h drive north from Mangawhai. I must say, this is why I left Finland in the first place. Graeme (the host) picked me, and the other WWOOFer (a girl from California) from the bus stop. Graeme’s place is about 20min drive north from Kerikeri. A house pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with no internet, no TV… just the nature and us. Its so calming. Turned out that Graeme himself has been travelling much, living in various parts of the world, and meditating in India for 4 years.

The Dalai Lama

So, through my fascination for meditation and all that Graeme borrowed me few books. At the moment Im reading a book about happiness according to Dalai Lama. The man has such wise thoughts put in such simple manner. Im completely in awe, and I think these few weeks will change my thinking a lot! Next in line are some books about Buddhism and Tibetan history, looking forward to those.

A new best friend

What is it we do here, you ask. Normal day begins at about 6.30 with some breakfast. Graeme is really into organics, and pretty much everything here is organic. After breakfast we have done some clearing in the jungle with my new best friend MACHETE. And overall from about 08.00 to 12.00 we work outside, planting stuff, digging stuff and so on. After working its usually time for some lunch, everyone here is a vegetarian so I thought I might try it for few weeks as well ( I still miss minced beef!). After lunch the day usually includes just chilling, reading and listening to some music. We also might work a bit during the afternoon.

The wonderful world of garage sales

Today we got up at about 06 and left the house at 07 to go to some garage sales. Graeme picked up shitloads of stuff from two of them, I really didn’t find anything. After garage sales we went to this local 2nd hand shop, from which I bought one pair of pants and two shirts for 4$… so thats about 2 euros.

Here I am now at Graeme’s working place, with the luxurity of interner answering some e-mails and writing this little piece for all of you. In a nutshell I dont remember being this happy for a while. You be happy too, and remeber to connect, and catch me through text messages.

When others, out of envy, treat me badly with abuse, slander and the like, may I suffer the defeat and offer the victory to others!

- Langri Thangpa

First of all, we woke up early as every day. We left Jeanette’s place and drove home to Mangawhai. Being the idiot that I am, I forgot my only jacket to Auckland. Hopefully I get it back before leaving to Kerikeri on Wednesday. Much to my luck, there was no need for a jacket today since it was absolutely beautiful day. Temperature around 25 and no wind at all.

And because of the fine day, we decided to ditch work and go fishing. I have to admit I was bit anxious because of our last fishing trip. Today, luckily, the sea was calm and it was a perfect evening for fishing. Me, Craig and Andrew (Craig’s pal) headed to the sea. On our way out I spotted some penguins on the shore, this time live ones. We stopped at two spots before absolutely hitting the jackpot. We happened to anchor our selves between two reefs, there were sh*tloads of fish, let me tell you.

The three of us pulled up 20-30 snappers which, according to Craig, is the one to catch here. And they weren’t little ones. Big ones just kept coming up ’till our container was full and we decided to call it a day. It was so awesome being out there on a calm night, on top of that with a full moon giving us light. 4 hours just flew by.

- Fisherman’s friend

hahahahahahaha!

Yep, that’s what I do here all day, come up with hilarious stuff on my notebook. Now, wipe your tiers of joy and lets move forward. Few photos that I promised. Some of these are masterpieces in my opinion, mostly thanks of the views and landscapes, there are plenty more which you will see when I make my triumphant return to Finland. First of all from my walk in Auckland 

Our beachwalk in Mangawhai during sunset:

It was a mystical night, lots of fog had risen from the sea.

From my walk near Craigs place during sunset:

Wonderful sunset once again, and I think my camera made fine work capturing it.

Walk on the beach at 06am, during a wonderful sunrise:

To be honest, best photos I have ever taken. It was truly phenomenal morning!

And now, on to matters at hand. There is some catching up to do. First and foremost I answered to some comments made to the last post. Thanks to Jenna for a heartwarming comment. On the other hand, those are the ones that make you want to come home. And thanks to all those who are interested about how things are here, via facebook, via comments, via mail. Miss you too and lets have a beer when I come back.

That was kinda cheesy! Move on, nothing to see here. Okey! So, all the walks were amazing as you can see. On thursday morning we got up early as every morning and went on to do some concrete work at the tennis club. Job well done and the afternoon was devoted to chillin’. Another beautiful evening for tennis, but due to some stupid acrobatics I fell on my thumb, and haven’t been able to move it properly for three days now. It is obviously sprained and will be good because of my worderful MacGyver treatment! <insert cheesy 80′s guitar riff here>. Friday morning a guy, with his to sons (all of them missing at least 3 teeth) came to do some concrete cutting on Craig’s drive way. We had some breakfast with them, and all of ‘em turned out to be nice fellas. Still I now have officially had breakfast with a guy on probation and in anger management. Woohoo! After breakfast and my date with a concrete drill, we headed to Whangarei since Craig had some business there. A small town, bit similar to lovely Jarvenpaa, but nothing I haven’t seen before. After some business, we headed back to Mangawhai, packed our packs and once again headed to Jeanettes place. Friday evening we had dinner at this Thai restaurant with friends of Craig’s. It was fun and the food was delicious!

Saturday was all about work. Jeanette is cutting one of her walls down to make a sliding door in the room. In addition to that there was some fence making and gardening. I did some reading (yes, Im reading a book!) during the day. And Im completely hooked on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld! Saturday evening on the other hand was all about Rugby! Biggest game of the season All Blacks (NZ) met the Wallabies (Aussies) in Melbourne. We went to some friends of Craig’s, ate a wonderful dinner, drank some rhum and watched a nice game of rugby which on top of all the All Blacks won!

Today we continued to battle with the wall. After smashing the wall me and Craig headed to the Auckland home show. We spent a few hours there after which we headed to store for some shopping. Tonight was the big Finnish night! I cooked some traditional salmon soup and dessert and we drank some rhum… and SALMARI! Everyone loved the food and I cant be but contempt with my efford. Now scroll back up, check the awesomeness of my comic strip, laugh, laugh some more, put of some comments to me and stay tuned!

-teemu