Hello From the Future

Author: ODB

I literally woke up this morning, walked out onto the back deck, and snapped this shot. The landscapes here are stunning. Yes, that is a volcano in the background of the lake. A live one.

As you can probably tell, we made it New Zealand. Its tomorrow here, and its raining, so plan accordingly. Here is a brief rundown of my trip so far. First, my new Canon 5d Mark II did arrive shortly before I left ATL. I was so pumped. So, there is no excuse not to have a daily photo update, which I plan on doing. We flew to LA last Friday, and bumped around Malibu and Venice Beach. I had one of my favorite beers – Fat Tire, which as you know is impossible to buy east of the Mississippi. I hit up Rouge Status for some fresh tshirts and a hoodie before jumping on a plan Saturday night bound for Auckland, NZ. Here is the crazy part, we left at 7.30pm Saturday night from LA. We flew for 12 hours straight. But when we landed, it was Monday morning. I didnt know they made jets that fly into the future, but clearly they do. Its hell on the internal clock, but I am getting it figured out.

So, Monday (thats Sunday night to you), we spent a lot of the day traveling to our home base, Rotorua and catching up with old friends and family. We took a cool little hike to some natural springs. That night, we hit the town for my brother inlaw’s birthday. If you ever have the opportunity to celebrate a Kiwi’s birthday in their hometown – run. It gets ugly and it gets ugly quick. Thinking about the sheer number of rounds of pints and shots of Jamison whiskey still makes my head spin. I have no recollection of the last three Jaeger Bombs I ordered. Apparently when we left the bar at closing time, we both unintentionally knocked over our barstools. Epic.

Yesterday was spent doing some last minute Christmas shopping, hiking through the prehistoric bush around Blue Lake, and drinking delicious New Zealand wine. Today we are heading to Taupo for a jet boat ride, Friday we are swimming with dolphins (and maybe Orcas). Check back tomorrow to see what Santa brought me. Im really hopping for a Hobbit.

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