Day 17, Finally made some friends, Melaka, Malaysia

An old building in Melaka...

The above picture has little to do with making friends, apart from that it is in the same town as where this glorious event happened. So after anti-social Kuala Lumpur it seemed I was doomed to a non eventful night life every day of my travels. But this all changed in Melaka.

I've discovered that Ringo's Foyer Guesthouse has the friendliest operator in the world. He happily took a few lonesome guests, who probably didn't even realise there were other people staying here, out for a night on the town. The highlight being taken to a gay bar for the reason of it having the friendliest staff in Melaka. This was probably a fair assumption, as the effeminate staff where very interested in us...

Day 16, I got lost/I watched lots of crazy people sing, Melaka, Malaysia

A few brews to help enjoy the karaoke more

If you ever go to Melaka and stay at Ringo's Foyer Guesthouse, please note that it is not where google maps says it is. It is along the road a bit. Google maps points to a demolished building. Also note that when you take the bus to Ocean Mall, and see it, you should get off, and not continue riding for some unknown reason....

Ps. In Melaka, at the China Town night market, they have some awesome karaoke....

Day 15, First Monkey Siteing, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Peek-a-boo Monkey

The Batu Caves are actually really cool, they'd be better if they weren't like covered in crazy shrines and just left as nature made them. But still, in NZ there aren't monkeys hanging around outside the caves.

Day 14, Hot Hot HOT, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

View up the EVIL Petronas Towers

First impressions of Malaysia:
Hot, like a relentless burden outside.
Wet, when it rains it pours.
Climate Changing, wiping out the rainforests for palm oil plantations, and the Petronas Towers are owned by a oil corporation which is trying to expand throughout the world selling its petrol, f***ers...
Yum, food, ah great times.

Day 13, Melbourne Storm, Melbourne, Australia

Windy Pier at St Kildas

There was a very wild storm in Melbourne today. The forecast was for lightning and lots of rain, but it was mostly wind and a short one hour blast of rain. I tried to walk down the above pier and nearly got blown off. Luckily nothing went wrong with my flight out to KL.

Day 12, Riding the Free Trams, Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne Tram Interior Example

When it rains in Melbourne, cause sometimes it ain't blisteringly hot, a fine and dandy activity is to take the free tram around town. A pleasant city loop gives you a quick overview of the CBD with a bit of commentary thrown in for an informative ride.

Day 11, Dirty Lying Airlines, Melbourne, Australia

The sun sets over my first day in Melbourne

So I'm pretty sure I was told a lie...

The phone rings at 8.30pm the night before my Melbourne flight. "Hello, your Pacific Blue flight to Melbourne has been cancelled due to engineering problems."

Arrangements are made to put me on a very indirect route through Brisbane leaving two hours earlier than the original. This means a drive from Tauranga to Auckland at 3am, having to battle not being able to sleep in airports and on aeroplanes for 12 hours, and not enjoying the fact my carbon offsets are probably irrelevant now that I'm flying twice as far.

But here is my conspiracy theory: The flight I was actually booked on was cancelled because it was empty. Fact: the flight I was rescheduled on for was only 2/3's full. If I was the only person rescheduled on this flight then it means I was probably the only one on the original flight, or if there were lots of people on it from the other flight then it was obviously filling up one plane instead of taking two empty planes.

Question is though, if the plane wasn't just empty, then what was wrong with it, and what's wrong with the rest of Pacific Blue's planes????

Day 10, More Awesome Water Falls, Tauranga, NZ

Looking to Omanawa Falls

There are a lot of hidden gems around Tauranga, mostly in the form of waterfalls. Three I visited were the Omanawa Falls, Kaiate Falls and Maclaren Falls.

The most powerfully impressive goes to Kaiate Falls.

The best kept secret falls goes to Omanawa.

The most touristy falls go to Maclaren.

But I think my favourite is Omanawa, the falls aren't the biggest, but what is cool about them is that they are located in this hidden inaccessible gorge. Arriving at the top at the lookout you feel as though you have arrived in the lost world. It may just have a few secret dinosaurs hidden somewhere in there.

Day 8, The Ka Pai Koru, Tauranga, NZ

The Koru

In Maori, an unfolding fern is called a Koru, it has become somewhat of a national symbol made popular by the AirNZ logo. Coming up to the sunny Bay of Plenty has lead me to find lots of these out in the wild. Whenever I come across one something is stirred inside me. I feel proud of being a Kiwi and almost want to perform a haka or a waiata.

Pokarekare ana
Nga wai o waiapu
Whiti atu koe hine
Marino ana e

E hine e
Hoki maira
Kamate au
-i te aroha e

Even better than this is watching Hayley Westenra perform Pokarekare Ana....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6k3iXyDWEg

Day 7, Raining, Tauranga, NZ

The Tauranga Alternative To Walking In The Rain

So it was raining. Seems to be raining every other day round the top of the North Island. But never fear, playstation is here. And with a game like Call of Duty, with the ultimate extension of Nazi Zombies, there is never a need to go outside again.

In this game you are basically trapped inside a small room with some boarded up windows and there is a constant stream of Nazi Zombies which break in and try to attack you. You luckily have a large amount of weaponry available and so can blast them all to hell. We made it to level ten yesterday, was pretty stoked about that.

The funny thing is, is that there is a German flatmate living here. We try and not mention the name of the game when she is nearby...

Day 6, More Walking, Tauranga, NZ

A Lovely Shade Of Green

If it wasn't for the DOC pamphlet that outlines all the bush walks around Tauranga, then I'd have probably walked around the township way too many times by now. Fortunately the book has saved me and I've had some nice strolls through native bush. This is from Puketoki Reserve, a piece of bush set up to be conserved forever.... ahhhh conservation!

Day 5, Large Waterfalls, Tauranga, NZ

A small section of the Kaiate Falls

In the area of Tauranga there doesn't seem to be much to do in August. The sea is too cold to swim in, and there are only stupid and expensive tourist activities to do such as flying out to a volcano.

So you are left with the numerous walking tracks that are hidden away in the hills surrounding the Bay of Plenty.

One treasure is the Kaiate Falls, big and powerful, long and fast. So far out of the four or five walks I've sampled, this will have to take the top award. But who knows, maybe another walk will take the top spot, there is still plenty of time for a new champion to emerge.

Day 4, The Town Of Murals, Katikati, NZ

Mural Example

There is a town in the Bay of Plenty named Katikati. Currently there are 44 murals in total in the town which has a population of 3579. That means that for every mural there are 81 people. This either means that a few people are doing all the work for the slack/not talented townsfolk or that murals take 81 people to do.

And if murals don't tickle your pickle, maybe the haiku walkway will. With numerous short verses inscribed upon small boulders along the peaceful riverside path.

Day 3, Very Late At Night, Auckland, NZ

Outrageously Scared

Staying at someone else's house is terrifying enough, but when at 2am there is a unfamiliar sound coming from outside your room, which is exactly how you'd imagine a person breaking into the house to sound, things get rather beyond just terrifying.

Not wanting to risk my life in return for a few stolen goods, I stay in bed, yet still ready to kill if the intruder comes in to my room to get whatever they are after.

Yet eventually I hear footsteps walking away to exit the house.

In the morning I'm embarrassed to find out that it was just an intruding rat and a flatmate trying to kill it with a rolling pin...

I'm glad I didn't confront them.

Day 2, Rain Rain Go Away, Auckland, NZ

Why does it rain?

When it rains you can't go outside. When you are on holiday you want to go outside and experience the world as it is. So not being able to go outside means there is no holiday activities to do. I sit inside waiting for something to happen.

Day 1, North Head, Auckland, New Zealand

The right way to North Head

In Auckland there is a place called North Head which is some old army fortifications. There is a couple of guns and turrets, a few tunnels and some nice views.

What I'm wondering is though, is how come there are no lights in the tunnels? Like surely in WW2 there was light bulbs, and it isn't like light is going to be radiating from these darks tunnels during the day if there was a light bulb fitted in them.

It seemed like the perfect place for a murderer or rapist to hide out in, waiting for some unsuspecting victim to walk past. Luckily I was suspecting murderers and rapists so I didn't come to no harm.