Posts tagged iep new zealand
January 5, 2012 · Filed under AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged 2012, auckland blog, happy new years, iep new zealand, mike just giver, new years 2012, swap.ca, travel blog, travel new zealand, waiheke, waiheke new years 2012, waiheke new zealand, www.swap.ca
With all of the windows in the batch it was up early with the birds! It was howling outside with wind and the rain as it still hadn’t relented. Since we are on a vacation it was a big breakfast and chill morning of reading and coffee. It was New Years Eve day and we did have a few things that we needed to do. Most important; restock the beer we drank the night prior. Something about being at a batch in the bush that just makes me thirsty. We pretty much polished off a 2-4 the night. Cant have a beer shortage on New Years Eve.
Some of the fallen soldiers from the night before... better restock!
We headed into town to get some beers and other small items to snack on. We stopped at 3 different liquor stores, as the first two were pretty overpriced and in the end we came away with two packs of 15 Macs Golden and a 12 of Steinlager Pure. Now we also brought from home a bottle of 42 Below, plus some Rum. We were ready to celebrate – no chance of running out of booze!
There was a Saturday fair on so we stopped to wander through and see what treasures we could find. There really wasn’t much, some used clothing, hippies selling art work/handmade bracelets, taro card readers and a couple food stalls – we came away with some fresh bread!
Michelle showcasing her fine bevy!
The rain had finally slowed and the sky was a lighter shade of grey.. yahoo it may just turn into a nice day! It was nice having the car with us as it allowed us to tour a bit of the island checking out the batches nestled in the hills and a long the beaches. My mate was taking the ferry over early avro to spend the night at the batch for New Years, so we picked him up and headed back to the batch fully stocked and ready to bring in 2012. As soon as we got back to the batch it was into the beers on the deck. The sun decided to make an apperance so it was time for chilling, talking shit and just enjoying being out of the city!
Enjoying the deck and sunshine when it came out to play.
We made a snakced throughout the avro and evening with chicken wings, burgers, chips, roasted veggies and the fresh bead we purchased dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar… pretty posh eh! My mate brought some Franks Hot Sauce for the wings he got in the States… so damn good! You cant get Franks in NZ, so if you are heading this way please bring me some.
Enjoying some amazing wings!
Of course we had lots to drink – beers, shots, whiskey, vodka and lime, daquiris and some rum. Bit boozed fueled. At midnight it was the usual celebrations, some drunk calls to my brother ahah… answer the phone dick. It was a great way to ring in the New Year. Happy 2012!!!!
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October 30, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, backpack new zealand, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, iep new zealand, new zealand mountain biking, nz blog, nz mountain biking, outdoor adventure, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling, travelling new zealand
Saturday was my last day in Queenstown for riding on this trip and I wanted to make the most of it. We planned Friday night to get up early and try and get in as many runs before I had to head to the airport at mid afternoon.
I awoke to bird chirping, sunshine and blue skies at 8:30am it was straight to breaking down camp. No time to laze around. I packed up all my gear; tear down tent, prep bike for day of riding, find some clean clothes for flight and pack it into the car. Then it was into Bob’s Weigh for breakfast to charge the fuel tanks for a fun fuelled day of downhilling. After some eggs benny and a couple coffee’s it was off to the skyline for some riding.
We were first riders up on the day! Just like the other days it was non-stop action. We managed to squeak in 12 runs in just 4 hours. I wanted to hit each track at least once more and we easily did so. No crashes on the day either, which is always good for the last day of a bike trip. The bike gods were taking care of me!
At 2pm I had to get ready for my flight, so we went downtown to grab some lunch and then I went to the park to break down my bike and get myself ready for my flight. My mate left me at the park and he returned back up the hill to ride – lucky bastard. I broke down my bike for the airplane, changed out of dirty/stinky riding gear and into jeans and a t-shirt for my flight home and then caught a bus to the airport.
Once at the airport I checked my bags, had a celebratory beer, read my book and then it was time to board the plane. On board I easily fell asleep dreaming of returning back to Queenstown to ride once again. I should be back in Jan or Feb to ride again… it cant come soon enough.
With this trip now done it is time to start planning the next. So what is next on the ride radar? Of course there will be a tonne of rides around Auckland; Woodhill, Riverhead, Maraetai and hopefully Dome Valley. But I really want to make a long weekend trip to Rotorua and Taupo in the near future. Ive ridden Rotorua heaps, but Taupo is completely new to me so it’s on my ride radar!
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October 25, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged 7 mile queentown, adventure, backpack new zealand, blog new zealand, canadian working in new zealand, iep new zealand, mountain bike, mountain bike new zealand, mountain bike queenstown, mountain biking, NEW ZEALAND, new zealand mountain biking, nz blog, nz mountain biking, outdoor adventure, queenstown activities, queenstown new zealand, skyline mountain biking, travel blog, travel new zealand, work queenstown
My prayers were answered and I awoke to blue skies and sunshine on Wednesday. The lifts weren’t opening until 1pm, so I lazed around as long as I could at the hostel and then went back to the library to jump on a computer and read.
At about noon I headed back to the hostel, changed into my riding gear, built up the bike and then it was off to the skyline for an afternoon of riding. Being that it was mid-week there wasn’t too many people out riding so no waiting to get on the skyline! Last time I was down I managed 12 runs in a half day so that is what I was shooting for.
My mate wasn’t arriving until the evening so I rode solo just getting used to the speed of riding downhill again. Around Auckland it is mostly single track so it does take a few runs to get used to flying down a hill with trees, roots, rocks and drops all over the place. I warmed up on Hammy’s track, which is the easiest, but one of the most fun trails. It is pretty wide trail, but it littered with HUGE berms, lips, tabletops and jumps to pop off of. Also hit up Vertigo, Armageddon, Original, Shit Sandwich and Thingymajig. I managed to get in 11 runs in about 4.5 hours. Not bad, just one short of my goal of the day.
At 6pm the skyline stops taking mountain bikers up as it gets pretty dark in the forest, so my day was done. Complete success, no crashes just heaps if fun. My mate arrived just at 6pm and met me at the bottom of the hill as I was coming off the trail. He was all geared out and ready to get up the hill, but he missed the last run of the day.
Hungry from riding we hit up Fergburger for a feed and then we head out to our accommodation to set-up our tents. We are staying on a mate’s front lawn about 20 mins outside of Queenstown. The location is stunning – over looking the lake surrounded by the mountains! One of my favourite things about this place is the outdoor shower. Nothing beats a steaming hot shower while gazing up at the stars.
Since my mate didn’t get any laps in he was itching to ride so we quickly tossed up our tents and headed out to 7 mile to get some runs in. We were told of a short cut to the trail head, but in typical fashion we ended up in the middle bush just making our own track through the bush. We ended up going to high in elevation and had to ride our way down which was an adventure in itself. We soon found our desired track; Kochong, which is one of the best tracks at 7 mile as it is super flowy with jumps. We were able to get in 3 laps as the sun fell. Once back at home we drank some well deserved beer. I was beat and was wondering how my body was going to feel the next day. I had a full day of downhill a head of me… fawk yah!
What an epic day – 11 laps at the bike park, 3 laps at 7-mile. Sweet!
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September 21, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged activities queenstown, backpack new zealand, bike new zealand, downhill mountain biking in new zealand, iep new zealand, just giver, lift access mountain biking new zealand, live and work in new zealand, mike just giver, mountain bike new zealand, mountain bike queenstown, NEW ZEALAND, new zealand blog, new zealand mountain biking, queenstown bike park, queenstown gondola, queenstown new zealand, queenstown nz, skyline queenstown, swap, things to do in queenstown, travel blog, travel new zealand, work new zealand, www.swap.ca
This past weekend was the opening of the Queenstown Bike Park – the only lift access bike park in New Zealand! I flew out of Auckland at 7:00am meaning that I had to be up at 5:30am. Yikes eh! Ah well, it was worth it! On Saturday night Ireland beat Australia at the RWC, which was a huge upset. So at 5:30am there was still a lot of drunk Irish kicking around the city, which was amusing when waiting for the bus. I caught my bus and off to the airport I went. 2 hours later I was in Queenstown.
I caught another bus into Queenstown from the airport and then it was off to drop my gear at Nomads Queenstown. I had planned to drop my bags and then hit up the skyline to start rocking some downhill tracks, but it didn’t work out that way. When I went to purchase my ticket at the skyline I found out that wouldn’t be opening until 1pm. I guess on Saturday it rained during the day and the riders ripped up the tracks pretty bad. The tracks had to dry out and the maintenance crew had some work to do, so it was a waiting game.
So what do you do with time to kill in Queenstown? I headed to the local bookshop and read magazines, had a coffee at Bob’s Weigh; Queenstown’s best breakie spot and checked out some really expensive real-estate that I could never afford.
Soon enough it was 1pm and up the skyline I went keen for that first ride. Oh I was not disappointed. The tracks were mint! Dark brown earth, sticky… oh brown pow how I love you! Not all of the tracks were open, but still enough to keep me grinning from ear to ear. It was a great day of riding and I managed to get 12 runs in. At the end of the day I was beat. My legs, arms and shoulders were sore as… but so worth it! I can’t wait to get back down south in October. I plan to make a week of it.
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August 22, 2011 · Filed under AUCKLAND, MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, AUCKLAND, auckland blog, auckland mountain biking, backpack new zealand, backpakcing, bike blog, bike new zealand, canadians working abroad, iep new zealand, live and work in new zealand, maraetai forest, Maraetai mountain biking, mountain bike new zealand, new zealand blog, nz blog, shuttle runs in new zealand, travel blog, work new zealand
This past weekend I got to ride some new tracks around Auckland. I was pretty stoked to get shuttle-runs in, without having to make the 2.5 hour drive to Rotorua. The plan was to hit up Maraetai on Sunday where they run monthly shuttles. I always get a little nervous before I ride a new DH track, as you never really know what you are going yourself into, but in the end it wasnt too bad. They had 1 steep downhill track called ‘the trig’ which was wet, slippery and muddy. It wasnt a long track as it only took a few minutes to get to the bottom. It had some jumps, but overall it was just steep and slippery.The track def wasnt the best ive ridden, but not bad for around Auckland. The track needed some trail mainteneace as it was pretty rutted and in need a serious sweep since it was covered entirely in needles making line choice a bit sketchy. I think there were 8 trails at the drop point. I didnt ride all of them as i was told some were pretty cross-country which wasnt why i was there. I wanted down, fast, flowy with some jumps. I pretty much spent my time between ‘the trig’ and ‘two dead cows.’ My favorite of the day was definitely ‘two dead cows!’ It was a bit more flowy with a variety of jumps, from nice booters to some step ups.
Overall it was a great day! It is always good riding some new trails. Once summer hits and it really dries out it could be sick. The local mountain bike club is investing a lot time building so it is definitely a spot to watch. If you do plan to ride there make sure you get a permit as it you need one to be allowed in the forest.
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July 14, 2011 · Filed under NEW ZEALAND · Tagged AUCKLAND, auckland blog, blog new zealand, canadian working in new zealand, canadians in auckland, canadians working abroad, canadians working overseas, iep new zealand, live and work in new zealand, new zealand blog, travel blog
Maybe you are wondering why there has been no recent post on this blog… well let me tell you a story. I had some trouble getting my second work visa for New Zealand. I ended up having to apply for 3 different visas until immigration found a visa that would work with my situation. This meant that I have been in New Zealand for the last 4 months without a visa, without being able to work, without being able to leave since i would not be allowed back in. It was a stressful 4 months to say the least. Just before the trouble started I purchased a flight to come home to Canada for the month of July. Of course once i had laid down my hard earned money on a flight i found out that there was some issues with my visa. I was hoping the visa situation would work itself out by July, but there seemed to be no rush from immigration to assist me. My flight back to Canada was on June 29th and I had until the 27th of June to cancel my flight so I could obtain a partial refund (I would loose $750!!). On the morning of the 27th I was planning on cancelling my flight, but before I thought I would check my online account with immigration to see if there had been any changes. To my utter surprise there was. It was lodged. My mind started to run; is there any chance it would be issued before the end of the day?? Who knows… I then go back to the website 20 mins later and find that immigration has issued me another work visa! Pure joy and excitement overtake me. Im high-five’n everyone and the stress from the last 4 months was instantly gone!
Next thing that was on my agenda was to get ready for Canada! Yikes ive only got 2 days and I have so much to do. Ive got tonne of work to do: pack, get some prezzies for family and kids, hand-over notes for work and so on. To be honest the day i was issued my visa, it was impossible to work. My mind was running in a thousand different directions. In the end I managed to get a lot of it done, but I will be doing a bit of work online from Canada. Which i think is a fair trade off!
I writing this short update from Canada and this will be the only posting until i return home to Auckland on the 29th of July. So for the month of July I will be in Toronto visiting friends and past co-workers, helping my bro move into his new house, hanging out with my niece and nephew, catching up with my best friends and chilling at the cottage for the last two weeks. Coming home has been amazing and I am seeing it in entirely different eyes. Sometimes you get so accustomed to things around you, you forget how amazing this country is. I didn’t realise how much i missed everyone and everything until I got home. Now I am just trying to take it all in and enjoy every minute I am home!
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April 4, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE · Tagged backpack new zealand, backpacking, backpacking new zealand, bike blog, blog new zealand, canadian working in new zealand, canadians in auckland, canadians working abroad, canadians working overseas, i heart mountain biking, iep new zealand, live and work in new zealand, mountain bike, mountain bike new zealand, mountain bike queenstown, mountain biking, NEW ZEALAND, new zealand blog, queenstown, queenstown nz, skyline queenstown, travelling new zealand, work in new zealand, working overseas
Here is a short video from my gopro helmet cam from Grundy’s Track in Queenstown, New Zealand. This track is basically a link between a couple other trails. Fun track.. enjoy!
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March 28, 2011 · Filed under MTB BIKE, NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, adventure in queenstown, backpack new zealand, backpacking, backpacking new zealand, backpakcing, bike blog, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, canadians working abroad, i heart mountain biking, iep new zealand, mountain bike, mountain bike in new zealand, mountain bike new zealand, mountain bike nz, mountain biking in queenstown, NEW ZEALAND, new zealand blog, nz blog, outdoor adventure, queenstown, queenstown bike, queenstown mountain biking, travel blog, travelling, travelling new zealand
Woke up way to early – 5:30am. Not sure why as the hostel was quiet, but for some reason I was up. I watched The Big Lebowski and managed to doze back off to sleep around 7ish. I woke up at 8:30 and packed my bags. I then dropped it in the storage room and headed off to find a coffee.
At 10am I was first mountain biker on the gondola and up the hill! I knew that I wouldn’t get the full morning session in as I had to break down my bike and get to the airport by mid afternoon, but I was hoping to get in at least 10 runs.
I started the day by riding Hammy’s track twice… what a fun trail! It is so wide open that you really don’t have to worry about crashing. It is not technical, just fun! I did see one mountain biker run into a tree, wrecking the front wheel and dislocating his shoulder. Shitty for him it was only his 2nd run down and he came up from Christchurch for the weekend. If you didn’t know – Moon Man, Ken Ring predicted that another earthquake would hitting Christchurch around the 20th of May, so a lot of locals left Christchurch trying to avoid another major shake. There was never another quake, but I did meet quiet a few mountain bikers from Christchurch in Queenstown. To me he was just being a fear monger!
I did a circuit of tracks like earlier in the week. Vertigo, Hammy’s, Ants, Thingymajig, The Oringinal, Shit Sandwhich.. I was taking advantage of all the amazing downhill tracks before I had to pack up.
The end of my riding came too soon. By 2pm I had managed to get my 10 runs in and it was time to head back to Nomads and grab my backpack. I then headed to Fergberger for one last amazing feast! I love that place! I took my burger to the park across from the bus pick up ate it and then broke down my bike, changed out of my riding gear and repacked by backpack.
I was at the airport only a ½ hour before my flight, not a good idea when flying with a bike. In the end I made it on my flight and I was off back to Auckland after 5 days of glorious downhilling!
Even if you do not downhill mountain bike you should give it a go in Queenstown. It will cost you roughly $100 for a full suspension downhill rig, full protection gear and your lift ticket for half a day. Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand, so while you are there bungee jumping, sky diving, canyon swinging you may as well huss down a hill on a bike! You never know you may just love it!
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February 1, 2011 · Filed under NEW ZEALAND · Tagged auckland blog, backpack new zealand, backpacking new zealand, backpakcing, blog new zealand, canada passport, canada passport application, canadian passport, canadian working in new zealand, canadians in auckland, canadians working abroad, how to renew passport, iep new zealand, live and work in new zealand, passport, passport application, passport renewal, renew a passport, renew canada passport, renew passport, renewing canadian passport, renewing canadian passport abroad, renewing canadian passport in new zealand, renewing canadian passports, renewing passport, renewing your passport overseas, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling, travelling new zealand, work abroad, work in new zealand, working abroad, working overseas
Renewing your passport abroad is a pain!
My passport expires in March so after returning back from vacation my first priority was to renew it. To get a passport in another country is a bit of a pain in the ass. Now that I have done it I would tell anyone to renew it at home back in Canada as the process is much easier, with less paper work.
My first issue was that I needed to submit my birth certificate with my application. See I don’t carry my birth certificate with me and didn’t bring it to NZ. Why would you? So I had to contact my mom to go through the documents I left with her to find it and then courier it to me. I wouldn’t send it regular post, as it is not very reliable and slow as hell. So $75 later I have my birth certificate.
My second issue would be that I needed a declaration of official: someone who has known me for a minimum of 2 years to sign my photos and passport. Being that I have only been in NZ for 9 months I had no one to sign my photos. I had to submit a Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor. So I then had to track down a JP to get this done. This was of no extra cost, thank god, but a pain in the ass.
Then I had to get a hold of my mates in Canada as references. I needed there contact details and to give them a heads up that they would be contacted by the Canadian government to verify my identity. Argh!
Once that was done I then had to submit all my docs to the Canadian High Commission. After I posted everything I realized that I didn’t submit the $100 cheque. Dumbass! So I then had to send a cheque.
Now I just have to wait 8-12 weeks to get a new passport. After that I will have to get on applying for my new work visa. So, to anyone reading this blog.. make sure your passport doesn’t expire while you are overseas. Get it renewed while in Canada, save your self the hassle!
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January 25, 2011 · Filed under NEW ZEALAND · Tagged adventure, backpack new zealand, bike new zealand, blog new zealand, canadian working in new zealand, canadians in auckland, canadians working abroad, canadians working overseas, iep new zealand, nelson new zealand, nelson nz, NEW ZEALAND, new zealand blog, new zealand wine, nz wine, things to do in nelson new zealand, tour new zealand, tours nelson nz, tours new zealand, travel blog, travel new zealand, travelling, travelling new zealand, vacation in new zealand, vacation new zealand, wine new zealand, wine tour nelson, wine tour new zealand, wine tour nz, work in new zealand
Today we had a wine tour booked. Ive done a couple wine tasting and had a bit of a wine tour of waiheke on our Christmas Party of work, but this was my first official wine tour! We were picked up at our accommodation by Bay Tours.
There are heaps of tours in Nelson, but from everyone I spoke with Bay Tours is the best. We opted for the Explore the Plains tour, which was 4 vineyards. Luckily enough we scored a free brewery tour as well! Sweet! All for $78!! Not bad for a days tours! Unfortunately I didnt get any photos. I guess I was pre-occupied with all of the great wines!
They picked us up at we were off to sample chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling and pinot gris, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, shiraz, gewurztraminer and rose. We visited Golden Hills, Te Mania, Siefried and one more vineyard.. yup.. cant remember it. My favourite was Golden Hills, funny enough it was the most expensive of all vineyards.. I didn’t know that until after I purchased a bottle. At Siefried’s we had a bite to eat and got to know everyone else on the tour. There was a kiwi couple and a bunch of Americans.. boo! These Americans had the gull to tell me how they tell everyone they are Canadian since when they say they are American they don’t get the kindest reception. Yah.. I was not impressed. I told them, very nicely, that Canadians HATE it when they call themselves Canadians. They didn’t really seem to care.. what a bunch of dicks! I am not a fan of Americans!
After all the wineries we hit a local brewerie. It was great; the samples just kept on coming!! Everyone was in a pretty good state at this time. I got a bottle of the wheat beer and Michelle got some cider.
The wine tour was great. It was a lot of fun and our guide Brian was great. He explained the wines and also that wine is very personal, so everyone has a different opinion and that is all ok! Overall I would totally recommend doing this tour.. great time was had by all!
We were dropped off at Tahuna where Michelle and I finished off a bottle of Wheat Beer and then it was off to bed. The next morning it was on the road for our long trip back to Nelson.
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