On to the lake!

I was thinking about getting up early and seeing some more sights around Rotorua, but instead i decided to get up around 9, so i wouldn't have to scrape the ice off my car windows, and just drive and see what i came across on my way out to lake taupo.
And i finally got to see some of the famous New Zealand landscape! Which consisted mostly of large hills, and sheep! lol This was one of the smaller rolling fields. Though i did come across a golf course, and i'm pretty sure that they were letting the sheep out on the course just to save money on the greens keeper fees. I also have to say though that the course seemed more chopped out of the side of the mountain than anything else, i dunno if a lawnmower woulda worked on it! I was also able to stop at a few other places that kinda caught my interest. There was the natural hotspring were you could bathe, well, after the water had been filtered and let cool for a bit, it was somewhere around 250 degree F. I forget what it is celsius, still pretty dang hot i bet. Well, a picture is worht a thousand words, here's some from my drive down. And you will have probably guessed it already, but i survived my driving experience, The roundabouts where the toughest, but i persevered!





Me at the golf course










I realize now i've totally left this windbreaker i'm wearing somewhere at the lake. But that was Rainbow Mountain behind me. It's got a myriad of colors due to the geothermal activity and mineral content.

The car on the left is mine, the car on the right is just like it. Both rental company cars, from the same place. What are the odds? lol, almost had to check the license plate numbers! I was driving a Ford Echo? or somethign Echo anyway. A four door speck. the hills that led to the golf course, i never got it out of third gear, I wouldn't have made it up the hill!

Driving through this valley, this creek comes from a geothermal hot spring, and the steam comes off of it all the way down the valley. This is the view from a top of the hill. Pretty cool stuff, but on the road it's like driving through fog in the sun!

Wallabees vs The All Blacks

So we had some free beer vouchers for this place called "The Pig and Whistle". I figured that they thought giving some free beer vouchers to the backpackers at the hostel would be a good way to make some dough, cause most people don't stop with just one beer. They buy more. BUT me and my new Canadian friend had some "extra" beer vouchers from others who didn't want to go. And wouldn't you know it? The New Zealanders were playing the Australians in a big rugby match that night. It was a good time to be out watching the game, not to mention finally somewhere warm!
Though these people know nothing about heat conservation, they use space heaters and the bouncers leave the bloody doors open for ten minutes while checking people's ID's! Get's freaking cold. Which is why i posted up right next to the space heater, pretty sure my jeans have some scorch marks, but it's totally worth it.
Also good to have some company. The Canadian ( i don't know his name, i'm not sure if we ever introduced ourselves lol) was in his early 60's just visiting a step daughter and doing some traveling on his own. A nice bloke, a lot of fun to talk to, he's had some interesting experiences and a very colorfull family. We had a few things in common, and to me, it seemed that i've learned a lot in a rather short time that took this man a number of years. So i've sorta got a head start.
Rugby! Oh man is that game cool or what? It's defenitly not for the faint of heart, there are even times when i watch it that i cringe! Hard hitting action, and no pads on those guys. Also, being stuffed in a bar like anchovies, with the cold outside, and the excitement inside, defenitly a good place to be. It was a lot of fun cheering on the All Blacks. And it was a heck of a close game as well. I'd explain it all to you, but hell, i barely know the major rules or rugby myself!
All Blacks where able to hold off the Wallabees with their strong defence, but it was a cliffhanger there for a while.
Walking back to the hostel was even better, the place clearing out pretty much all at once, the cold air hitting you full force in the face, but I was totally ready to get to bed, get up early and get down to Lake Topoa and do some fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!

California Redwoods...in New Zealand?

In New Zealand? Ya right was my first thought, but this older gentleman i had met drew me a map that would lead me to these giants, a whole forrest of them! at Rainbow Springs Natural Park
The huge Californian Redwoods were planted in 1931. Because of the ideal growing conditions in New Zealand, these tress have grown twice as fast as they would in their natural North American habitat.

Actually, a big firm here in the U.S just bought an old sheep farm, and are now sending over genetically altered/cloned Redwoods from the giants of California. They're going to begin harvesting in about 35 years or so, and expected to have the trees up to 3 times the size of those harvested at the same age from the U.S.

Nifty little things we do these days. Also, New Zealand

When European settlement began in earnest in the mid-1800s, much of New Zealand was covered in native forests and shrublands.

Many of these forests were cleared to create sheep, cattle and dairy farms. Timber from the forests was used to build the country's rapidly growing towns, as well as fences on farms.

Despite laws to encourage tree planting, the clearance of native forests was so rapid that by 1913, some native species were threatened with extinction. In 1918 exports of native timber were restricted, and in 1925 the Government introduced financial incentives to create plantations of imported species and to reduce the pressure on native forests.

Today, forests cover 31 per cent of New Zealand's land surface — 24 per cent is indigenous (native) forest and 7 per cent plantations of mainly exotic species.

And that's the history lesson for the day!

(look skinny don't they? lol)

Te Puia and the Maori's

Catching up with my blog entries from my trip to New Zealand: July 29, 2006

Beautifull day. Cold this morning. Walking out of my hostel i was hit by what I first thought was the effects of an open sewer, that awful raw sewage smell. It took me a few moments to realize that it was in fact the sulphur smell from the geothermal park here in town. What a smell to wake up to each morning. But i suppose over time you don't even notice it.
A quick breakfast and i made the short drive over to Te Puia, a Maori Cultural park. Walking past a huge war canoe made by the Maori and through a tunnel, which to me felt like the gateway leading back through into the distant past, i came to the entrance.
"Te Puia which means the geyser or volcano but also refers to the entire valley. When geysers play and the land awakens with steam, light and water, the valley is said to be flowering."
I was in time to catch the 11am tour that would show the kiwi house and the mud and geyser area. The start of the tour encompassed some of the everyday life of the maori people, such as how they made their clothing, the purpose of the tiki. It was interesting to learn about a people that were culturally still free and present unchanged today.
The kiwi house is were the conservationist are hoping to start breading the New Zealand Kiwi bird. They are a threatened species these days. Nocturnal creatures we were not able to take pictures, but in the simulated night sky lighting we were able to make out the two kiwi foraging among a natural recreation of it's environment: forest lands. It's pretty much synonymous with New Zealand, and fun to watch it hunt around for the various insects added each day to it's habitat.
From the Kiwi house we came to the boiling mud pits. Kinda like a tar pit, but mud. The mud is often sold and used by hospitals and others to treat symptoms of arthritis, congestion and other medical things. I asked the guide about taking a quick dip, slathering it on, but these particular pits are somewhere around 180-200+ degrees CELSIUS! that's waaaaaaaay above boiling, you'd be dead pretty quick.
Did i mention the nasty sulphur smell? lol
The geysers are easy to spot, you can see them driving in from the road, well, you can see the steam clouds they cause, though the main geyser, when it erupts, its height is somewhere around 12-140 feet, so 12 stories up? It's considered a blessing to have the spray of the geyser fall upon you.
The smaller geyser was still impressive, and as we sat upon the tiered stones to watch and listen to our guide explain more about the geysers properties, you couldn't help but notice the heat of the stones we sat upon. The geothermal activitiy all around and beneath them kept the stones nice and warm, and in the chill of the NZ winter they were rather comforting, like standing in front of an electric heater at full blast!
We were able to get back from our tour in time for the tradtional Maori welcome held each day at noon. One of the visitors was chosen to represent our "tribe" to the Maori people. With this selection the traditional welcome began.
A group of Maori men, in reed loinclothes, tattoos, and spears appeared before us, challening us, trying to intimidate us. One of their number stalked towards us, issuing challenges and making threatening gestures. If i had been one of the original explorers, i would have been fairly certain i was going to end up dead and rather soon. lol But the songs of the women and those of the men soon blended in welcome as our "chief" accepted the fern as token of entance (i think).
We were then able to file into the meeting house to watch a performance of Maori love songs, battle hyms and celebratory performances. It was very entertaining, interesting and fascinating to watch these people perfrom a small part of their skills.
(not one of my pictures, I wasn't that close, mine were mostly of peoples heads)

The performances where relativel short, but insightfull. Afterwards i was free to wonder about the valley and see the various mud pools, hot springs and other wildlife. One of the more interesting things was the re-introduction of trout into the cold spring creek that flows through the valley. For an unknown reason, from time to time, trout have been known to swim from the spring creek and into the hot spring water that feeds into the creek. In about twenty minutes or so you have a nice hot boiled trout. lol
Wandering around the valley on the paths, i imagened that not much had changed over time, the land still seemed wild and untamed to me. With the clouds of steam and sound of running water, i could see how this area took on somewhat mythical appeal.
Yet the cultural centers Maori sculpting school was easily my favorite area. I'm sure i was influenced by my family history of carpentry, but seeing the tiki totems and other carvings in various stages of completion, to take a tree and shape it into this artwork, and art that is considered the Maori's first form of written word, was worth the trip itself. I was lucky enough to watch one of the students do some carving on his piece, a slow, tedious process.
The school was set up in the 70's (i believe) to help maintain this important piece of maori tradition. It was imperative to pass on the knowledge gathered over the centures to the new students, students who were selected from the various tribes and entrusted with these skills. There are still many master carvers who keep their knowledge and artform to only certain select members of their own tribe, yet in time their is hope to bring even these into the fold, preserving their knowledge for all time.
Inside the cultural center was a jade shop. Now this jade is different from that found in China. In the Maori culture it held significant importance, though was used mostly for heirloom items, or in time of war highly prized for the making of their weapons. In this shop was a bulletin board that showed the steps that took a rock dug out of the earth and created into a piece of artwork. Fascinating as always.

http://www.tepuia.co.nz/

Strapped for Cash

A bity cold here in kiwi land, but i finally got to see some scenery today! Got pictures, again, no where to really upload them. Looks like it's gonna have to wait for a while. May even have to wait till i get back to the states. BECAUSE i'm outta cash. All i have left is the credit card. Won't be a big deal, all i really have left to pay for is my guided fishing trip and gas for the rental car. Oh ya, and some food. lol

But not too many (if any) internet cafe's take credit cards, i haven't found any yet. I'll see what happens when i get back into auckland early on the 1st.
I'll be fishing tomorrow, out pretty much all day. Then crashing one more night here in taupo before leaving early for auckland. My plane doesn't leave till almost 11pm local time, but there's a lot of construction and it's about a 4 1/2 hour drive from here anyway. So up and out the door early. Cause customs leaving is a pain, i really hope they take the $25 exit fee from credit. lol

aight, almost outta time, i know this doesn't say much about my day, but i'm recording it in my journal and when i get the chance i'll switch it over to this blog.

so sad that i can't keep up with it.
I'll TRY though. check back in a couple of days!

wish me luck for tomorrow

The Kiwis!

Before I get into the day, let me just say that i was talking to this older fella today. Who has immigrated to NZ from the States. We got to talking about trout, and it's true how almost every stream has trout in them. 2-3 pounders, and larger if you know where to go. I should have bought a bloody rod when i got here and a license. Of course, i would be fishing all day every day, and never have time to post or see the sights... still... I saw so many "fishy" looking creeks and streams and lakes today.... sigh. Moving on
Up semi early and drove (always an adventure me driving) out to a Maori Village Cultural center. It's been around since the.... mid 1800's, but most of the structures on sight are from the first part of the 1900's. say like, 1905 etc. lol, so still old.
This is also a very large geothermal area. With two geysers, a dormant geyser, multiple hot springs and mud pits. Learning about those was interesting. I wrote it down in my journal b/c i knew that some length of time would pass before i could gain access to the net.
"The tour started around 11am. It began with our tour guide demonstrating the traditional method the Maori people use to make their "skirts" for lack of a better word. She demonstrated how to removie the fiber of various plants and twist them into the pieces of the skirt. on average, it takes about 6 weeks to complete one full "skirt". This is where we see the role the hot springs and mud pits played in everyday life. These fibers would boil and then be left to dry, afterwards they became like bamboo. But the mud could be used to add patterns to their dress. But that was just one of many purposes. The mud is still used today to alleviate arthritis and other diseases. The hot springs get to be around 200 or so farenheit, so they were used to help with cooking. There are a lot of streams that run through this particular valley, mixing with the waters from the geysers and hot springs. Trout live in the cold streams, but have been known to swim into the hot springs... and in about 20 minutes you have a nice boiled trout for dinner! lol
We sat on terraced stones to view the geysers, but these stones were heated from underneath by the various vents and thermal activity. On this chilly day it felt amazing, on hot summer days the tour guides fry bacon and eggs to show the tourist how hot it gets."
Sulphur was also present, and you couldn't escape it, but by lunch you didn't really notice it, except in the thick patches of air.
After the geysers we were treated to a traditional Maori welcome. You have to go to this link: http://www.nzmaori.co.nz/thingstoseeanddo/cultural_performances.html because I really don't have the words to describe it. Only that if i was the first European explorer here, the way these fellas say hello, i would have had to change my pants!
Still we were treated to both the war Haka (a song/dance) that psyches them up to go fight, as well as a moving love sonnett. There were also various performances that i still don't quiet understand but were enthralling to watch.
I think because of my experience growing up in dad's work shop, I gravitated towards the traditional Maori carving. At this center they have set up a school to pass on the knowledge of the Maori people. From the viewing platform you can watch the students and master carver work on various pieces, my favorite being the 10 foot tiki totems. The students are carefully selected from different tribes and taught the various carving forms. Yet many of the traditional forms are still secret, passed down to only a select few within their tribe. Still the art and culture continues.
The carvings of jade (different than that found in china) used for pendants, jewellry and in the time of war highly saught after as weapons, were also intricate and beautifull. Jade carvings are used traditionally as heirlooms or to commerate relatives or special occasions. It's always interesting to watch a master at their work. Refining a piece of green stone into a piece of art. It's a long process, but like anything it has it's rewards.

another quick link if you wish to learn about the Maori People and a bit of their history. http://www.newzealandnz.co.nz/maori/

off to Taupo tomorrow! as for pics, i hope to find a net cafe that will have a usb plug.

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road

So customs in New Zealand was a breeze. Took me like 2 minutes. It's so much easier when you don't have any food or booze coming in with ya. I'll keep that in mind. Though i also learn that they charge everyone a $25 exit fee for leaving. I guess cause they know with the cold weather people will be more than happy to pay it!
Ah, but got my Hertz rent-a-car. A nice little something or other. I'll get a pic of it. I'm glad i got to do a little driving with Russel in Brisbane, so i wasn't completely clueless, and the little sticker on the wheel saying "keep left" defenitly was a good idea by someone. Manual though, so shifting with my left hand. I'm a pro at it now, i drove about 3 1/2 hours today to make it to Rotorua. The roundabouts are the worst parts. Having to yield, and then signal as you go through and shift and ya. It's a lot to do at once. But so far so good! No missing paint from my car.

Nice little hostel i'm in for the night. Gonna go crash in a while. It's almost 9:30pm here, so maybe 7:30pm in australia.... so....5:22am in the States. Man i'm getting good at that time conversion.
Speaking of conversion, so now i've got a whole nother set of money things to learn. Very similar to australia, but different enough that i have to think about which bills are which. On the pluse side, the New Zealand dollar is only .61 or so of an american dollar. So yippee!

Going to go see a Maori culture park, dance, village, thing. "Untouched by the modern world" tomorrow, and then see about taking a tour of the volcanos. They've got geysers, hot springs, "day spas" that are really just natural warm mud pits with a "spa" building next to them lol.
Fishing on the 31st! That's the main reason for being here.
The drive was mostly in the dark, the sun sets around 5 here, so not much of the famous scenery, up early to check it out tomorrow.

Pictures as soon as i find a place to upload them!

Last Night in Australia

Weird. Just a weird feeling no longer being in Australia, having said all the goodbyes last night, and having caught the plane to New Zealand this morning. I got to do a lot of interesting and fun things in Australia. The surfing with James, riding the motorcyle with Russel, Lidys cooking, and out on the town with Crystal to just name a few things.
Even though Russel is my.... 4th cousin, and so James and Crystal are my... 5th cousins, I still felt like a close part of the family. All the amazing things I got to do, I think hanging out with the family, doing the things with them, or just sitting around having a beer together while talking politics, or about BIG BROTHER (again, going to have to keep up with it over the internet... i got addicted. couldn't help myself).
Ah, but enough gushy stuff.
Cooked dinner for the family. Beef Stroganoff (probably not spelled right, but hey, everyone knows what i'm talking about.) with bread, sweet peas and crystal made a greek salad. We were lacking a little red wine, but i still think it turned out very well. I mean, we all pretty muched stuffed ourselves to exploding, so that's always a good sign for the chef! :-) Though we still found some space for the fresh strawberries and cream we had for dessert. Some of Crystals home made peanut brittle crushed on top really added to it.
And of course, we said our goodbyes for a good half hour or so. Oh man, went to leave, and found we still had a million more things to talk about, and tried to cram it all in. Finally was able to get into the car, but mostly because i resolved to return in a few years.
Crystal and I went out last night to hit up a few nightclubs and have that bourbon and coke. The first few places we hit were a little slow, not too many people around, and for us, the majority of the entertainment was probably going to come from watching the drunk people. I mean, that's the whole reason i go to parties is to watch drunk people do unbelievable stupid and yet hilariuos things.
Something we noticed, i swear we left one bar, walked a block or two to another bar, and the same song that had been playing at the last bar was blaring at this one as well. It could have even been in the exact same spot. How weird is that? lol. It was a good song though.
We went to go jive on the live music at... ricks? maybe? And we showed up just in time to catch the last 20 seconds of the band. oh man, we had great timing that night!
But the Press Club was the place to be that night. Good atmosphere, a lot of people but not too many. Could still have a decent conversation if you wanted to or just relax on the comfy sofa thingys and enjoy the music.
So me and crystal got to unwind, share a few drinks and just spend some time together catching up and getting to know each other and tell some funny stories about our various family members. Our two families are pretty different, but we also have a lot in common. Probably why i had such a good time.
We ment to be in around 1am, and we got pretty close, i think we made it back around 2. Just time gets away from ya when you're having fun. But despite the late hour we were still able to get to the airport with enough time for me to make my plane. Though i hope Crystal has learned to stop saying things like "we're home free from here" or "We're through the worst of it" and the like. Cause when you say that, we always go around a corner and BAM! Nothing but bumper to bumper traffic! lol

Goooooooooooooooooooooooood Times!

CRIKEY!

Oh man, so the zoo was a blast, just want to mention that the sun was out. lol We got off to a bit of a late start, due to the traffic around Brisbane; but still got to the zoo not long after 10. As soon as you walk through the gates there's a plethera of things to do. And their big on the education and conservation part of their jobs and promoting the animals etc. Another unusual thing is how they handle the animals. The keepers are always around the animals, handling them, becomign an everyday part of the animals lives. I mean, ya, they don't have to trank the animals like most zoos will have to for certain things, and they are able to inetereact in front of a crowd with the animals. Really neat stuff!
The Crocoseum was a huge stadium where all the shows are held. (most of them anyway). There was a good size crowd there this morning to watch the shows. It began with the snake exhibition, some of the larger and more common NON venomous snakes were brought out and explained to the crowd. Seeing them later in the reptile house and some of the larger snakes was really impressive. But here in Australia they have 11 of the top 20 most venoumous snakes, and even some of the LARGEST snakes in the world. wowza.
The sumatran tigers were out soon after the snakes. They kinda padded in like a typical cat, thinking that the world revolves around them. They just kinda checked out the crowd before turning their attention to the handlers and the treats they had. The handlers ran the cats through a few exhibitions, things that the cats would do naturally in the wild. The tiger running up the half size telephone pole to get the meat at the top was really neat to see, just the power and strength of the animal. But the way it moved, their somewhat playfull attitude and the restrained strength of the animal. Spectacular to see, a shame that they are so endangered and dying off a bit everyday. habitat clearing, but also sever poaching in the Asian world. People are fighting the good fight to save them too.
The open air flight display of the various birds was one of the best parts of the show. The various colors of the birds was spectacular. The colorfull cockattoos, red-tailed ones, the bright macaws and lorikeets. The barking owl is seldom seen, and they would fly right over teh crowd. The handlers even explained some of the characteristics and personalities of the birds. Later we were able to take a tour through the zoo's avery and see many of the same birds only feet from our faces. Lol, sometimes they would fly so low as to force us to duck on the pathway to stay beneath their outspread wings! Crystal about ended up with some bird poo on her, but the rest of us had some really close calls as well.
Ahh, but everyone comes for the croc show. The live show really helps put things in perspective. The pool in the exhibition ring wasn't very deep, only a few feet, but if it hadn't been for the water being crystal clear, you would never have known that a 4 or 5 meter croc was just below the surface. That thing was huge! and surprisingly quick. Basically, if you're within 6 feet of the river/lake bank, you can be reached and dragged in before your reflexes could do more than have you flinch. The tail walk was exciting and a little shocking to see. That's where the croc can rise out of the water almost the length of it's body to reach food that could be hanging from an overhanging bank or tree. So ya, don't dangle your legs over. not a good idea at all. Crocs can be a very dangerous animal, but it's like any animal, respect it, stay out of it's way.
As part of the show, to help pass the time between sets, they do a few ... games i suppose, challenges even. One of them had two grown men acting as gorrillas to try and get a free voucher to get a picture with an animal of their choosing. That was a hoot to see! they were kinda good at it too, must have been a discovery channel viewer. lol
But cousin Russell also got called out by the announcer. the arena was divided into two teams, and we were going to have a shouting match, the louder side would win a prize of some sort. Our seating area was kinda stuck between the two sides, and as of yet, had not been set as a side. Russell yelled down at the announcer "what about us?", and he was chosen to be a "guerilla" man, while the rest of the seating area was chosen to be a wallaby. He got pretty red at that, even redder when the wallabys won the shouting match, and the guerillas were asked to leave the stadium in jest, but Russell was again pointied out explicitly by the man with the mike. lol. He was pretty beat red. lol
Got to see a bunch of the native animals. Wombats, tasmanian devils, dingo, cassowaries, cheetahs (not native, but the zoo is expanding, from about 75 acres to 340 in a few years, with exhibits from africa, asia etc) and of course koalas and kangaroos!
The enclosures were rather natural, and with the koalas and kangaroos we were able to follow the path inside the enclosures and actually handle the animals! how cool is that? Almost every enclosure had the handler in them with the animals, talking about them, interacting with them showing off some of their natural talents for the crowd. We were pretty much on the go from the time we got their till when we left, seeing as much as we could. It was just a lot of fun, informative and exciting. They even have a few american alligators in their croc pens. In a few years, when i come back to australia (and i will) they'll have built an american waterway resembling the swamps of florida, and guests will be able to take a boat ride through to see the american gators in a natural setting. wow. lots going on.
After the zoo we went to Ettamogah Pub for a beer. But this tavern was constructed after a famous cartoon strip in Australia. The pub had a lot of the look of the cartoon, from a plane half stuck in the wall, an old chevy on the roof, the walls seemingly at odd angles, funny deco all over the wall. It was like being INSIDE the cartoon strip. Good way to cap off the day. Ok, no for pictures!

Catching Up

So got to catch everyone up on the past couple of days. But i'm gonna put the details of my trip to the aussi zoo today on the next blog.
After i got back from the reef, i was able to get a couple of t-shirts as souvineers (you know, saves me a day or two of laundry). I had to catch a flight on Virgin Blue that left at 6:10am, but i had to be up before 5am cause my taxi came at 5. Ugh, it was a rough go. But my roomies woke up long enough to wish me the best, which was nice of them.
Then the taxi guy was complaining about his wife... ugh. But i breezed through security, and didn't have to wait to long for the boarding process. Now, one of those t-shirts i bought was a spoof of Virgin Blue. Basically it said, "Virgina Blue: the quicket one way root" Get it? lol. The two stewardesses were about my age, and come on, at 6am, i needed SOMETHING to get me moving in the morning, and finding out their reaction to the shirt was worth it. They were really cheery for that early, and the shirt got a few laughs from the people who took the time to really see the shirt and not just assume it was a typical Virgin Blue shirt. lol. Getting to talk to the girls helped pass the morning. Ya, i'm a flirt, it's not my fault though, i was born that way. lol
But crystal was there to meet me at the terminal from the plane. She'd been to "splednour in the grass" (think woodstock for aussies) the past few days, so was about as tired as me. We swung by the grocery, got some REAL bacon, some eggs and a few other snacks, like oreos, and headed home for breakfast. Which she was super nice to cook up for me, she even did the dishes. ya, amazing, i know. lol
I pretty much zonked out for the rest of the day. Was up long enough to grab my stuff from my cousin james place. He had been at a work conference at Ayers rock, and had just gotten back the day before. He had some cool pictures of his trip to share, and some like, highschool yearbook about his fellow co-workers to show us. His pic in there was of him, dressed as a clown around age 10 maybe, playing the piano. It was pretty funny. lol. And then dinner with crystal and russell before coming back and crashing back in bed. B/c we were going to the australian zoo early in the morning. Of course, i had to read a little of this new Wilbur Smith novel (The Seventh Scroll), while Crystal set her pc up in her room so as to not keep me awake. But as it often happens with me, i got immersed in my book, and seeminly rather soon, Crystal came out around midnight to go to bed and found me still awake reading. I was exhausted, but i didn't notice it while i was wrapped up in my book. Ya, see, i'm a nerd. lol
But, got some sleep, and up early to get ready for my experience with the crocs and other exotic native animals of the zoo.

Jordan Tries Vegemite