Here I come

surprise!!!!

2007-04-12T05:19:06Z

so 8 months 5 days, countless friends, 24 books and memories to last a lifetime later i make it back to what i callled and continue to call home in sunny orlando florida. i made a surprise attack flying into miami and stayed with my uncle ken and had a good time chilling with the kids and seeing uncle ken and aunt kim. i also had a real nice eye opening visit with my dad's boss down in miami whom to say the least is a world traveller in any right. pops came down to pick me up the next day and we had a great time talking about future plans and we rolled on home just in time to surprise the rest of my family with my presence. my uncle chuck and his family were in town who as you can imagine were a great catalyst for a big party to come.. but wait.. for the first time in 8 months i am illegal to drink and party but hey i guess the folks let tha one slide *just this one time haha. the word slowly got out and friends were trickling in and out to say hello and it was so nice to catch up with everyone and exchange stories. sorry guys mine were a bit superior compared to the winter park drama i missed out on haha. one point i would like to put out there to all of you who have patiently been reading this blog is that i AM NOT as illiterate as my grammar and spelling leads you to believe. i have been for the most part writing my blogs while being charged an arm and a leg in internet cafe's and the last thought going through my head is editing the write ups. though it may sound a bit lame but i had to get out of the house as soon sa possible. dont get me wrong seeing all of my family and friends was as exciting as most of my trip ,it still didnt fell right being back and living under someone else's roof besides my own. i am currently up here in tallahassee where i made it to today after a visit to gainseville yesterday. i figured i might as well visit all my mates at school before summer vacation. next stop.. panama city beach this weekend for a sorority get together on the beach.. not a bad weekend to come up if ya ask me. a side visit up to auburn is in the works before going to a sorority formal here at fsu the next weekend with my friend kelsey and highschool prom date. stay tuned for a MASSIVE wrap up of my entire trip.

my favorite type of six pack

katey and i

welcome home party

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hard life

2007-04-04T18:32:21Z

so its been pretty much the same around here in sunny nosara, costa rica. waking up every morning and deciding if i should surf or play bochee ball or hell maybe take the hard route and go fishing. life sucks i need to get a job haha. miss you all ill put up an update soon.

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adios amigo

2007-03-24T17:06:51Z

so pops is gone and im back to flying solo. id didnt seem right to have to say goodbye to him again 8 months after the initial farewell. i had an amazing time with the family and though we might have been set back a bit by the robbery we were still flying high on how much fun we were having jsut beeing around each other after so long. every conversation was something new and exciting to talk about whether it be stories from my trip or the folks fillking me in on what iv missed back at home. the first week was soent mith mom, kate, dad and kate's friend brittany. the girls left after a great week of relaxation and plenty of family debauchery. it has been boys week for the past 7 days and the fun we had was insane and it was so nice to be able to catch up with my best friend and travelling mate(pops) who just left about an hour ago. we started off the week with a four day road trip wiht our friend matt who runs a bar here. we headed about 7 hours south to a surf spot called dominical and made our way back up the coast to nosara. it was great seeing another part of the country that we havent seen before. the water's edge was met by rainforest and the inhabitants included howler and whitefaced monkeys. pops and i spent our last ferw nights together taking it easy and talking about future plans , mostly stuff i havent wanted to think about on my entire trip such as school and whatnot. when am i coming home? well wouldnt you like to know and so would i. i dont have a ticket out of costa rica so ill be sneaking up on everyone when you least expect it. who knows maybe im in the airport now with pops waiting for our flight..... PURA VIDA!!!!

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PROUD PROUD PROUD

2007-03-15T18:03:11Z

As I hug my son out in the lineup at Guinnoes my heart is filled with joy. As a parent this adventure has swung to many emotions during the past seven months. A trip that was hatched here in Costa Rico last january is almost complete. The blogs, calls, and e-mails are now replaced with stories told firsthand from the road. These stories have one thing in common, that is the great friendships Nick has made with so many wonderful people. Laura and I want to take this time to send out heartfelt thanks for all of you and you know who you are THANKS THANKS THANKS! So much of his joy comes from the people he has met while traveling. Those of you who have kept Nick in their thoughts while he was gone thank you as well. While there have been times we have questioned our sanity for offering this experience the payoff is without question tremendous. The boy who left on August 2nd is now a mighty fine young man with a presence of a man to be reckoned with. Expect some great things from Nick Fairman and remember how your interaction with my boy has shaped his future, again thanks. There are some personal notes to be sent by us but to all of you our house will always be opened. To be sure this is something Laura and I are looking forward to. Now I have the pleasure to take a Costa Rican roadtrip with my favorite American ambassador, can't wait to create a few stories from the road with my main man.
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PROUD PROUD PROUD remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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what a reuniting!!!!

2007-03-12T21:14:27Z

though it seems it should be the opposite this entry will be one of the most negative ones i have written.

so saturday rolled around and the anticipation was unreal!!! towards the evening around the time the folks should have already been there the anticipation was to much so i went for a surf and still couldnt stop thinking about seeing them for the first time in 7.5 months. would they look different? did they miss me as much as i missed them? would me and kate get along seeing that she has had my parents all to her self for all that time? well jsut as the sun was going down and i was in the water i see the silouete of pops carrying his board on his head down to the water something that i would always remember. i was so excited just staring at him paddle out and made my way over to where he was to give him one of the most emotional hard hugs of my life under water and we were screaming and hooting. we both caught a wave together and went in to where my mom was waiting with tears in her eyes and a big hug. it was so amazing to finally see my family and esepcially my sister who has grown up so much. we sat on the beach to watch the sunrise and i introduced them to my friends i have been hanign out with lately. we had dinner and drinks at blew dogs a place we know so well. with about 15 people and my dad at the head of my table we sat till the place closed exchanging stories and the smile on my face never receded. after the bar closed my folks went to bed and i headed to town with a few of my friends to the discoteque along wiht ktes friend brittany whom she had brought along. we had a great night dancing a i was still going on the high that i was getting from knowing that my best friends whom i havent seen for so long were so close.

we woke up`the morning to low and behold have one of the worst discoveries you can have while travelling. someone while we were sleeping had come into our house and stolen jsut about everything we need for this trip. all of our passports, credit cards and cash. the worst part for me is that they got my camera, back pack, and a stack of about 15 cds with ALL the pictures from my ENTIRE trip. it makes me sick to think that i wont be able to show my kids in 20 years the fun i had through pictures. all my memories from my trip such as letters and books, and pictures are things that i wil never be able to replace. imagine how we all felt to know that after all the time i had on the road i never had one negative thing happen to me and the first night i see the folks which should have been one of the best times of my trip was cut to crap by these theifs. the one thing that this trip has taught me and what i am passing to my parents is to jsut go wiht it, there is nothing we can do. we still have had a great time and the smiles havent been missing. we of course had to cancel all of our credit cards and on wed. we need to travel 5 hours to the u.s. embassy to get reissued passports. the scary thing is that i never had a plane ticket home so it might be hard for me to get one now wiht no access to money or without a passport. our friends here in town are helping out alot and we have still had some great ngihts together.

today we had an amzing surf an hour away at a place called marbella with heaving barrels and a good road trip. tongiht is a few of my mates last night so it should be a good one. stay tuned for more to come from the worst part of my trip!!!

what a reuniting!!!! remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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5 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

2007-03-06T18:09:59Z

i had an awsome sole surf session for three hours this morning in some amazing waves. no more solo seshions after sat. cuz my pops wil be here cant wait. life down in paradise is rolling on as usual. just hanign out wiht old friends whom i have met during my prior trips. pina coladas by the pool in between surf. not a bad life huh?
and as the saying goes PURA VIDA(pure life)!!!!

5 DAYS AND COUNTING!!! remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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IM BACK!!!!

2007-03-03T18:22:12Z

so yes im back in nosara costa rica. after 4 days of chillin in hollywood and a day in a half of travelling i made it to costa rica my home away from home. came in the country with a one way ticket so i have no idea when i am coming home. though i know it wont before next saturday because that is when my folks are coming!! damn i am so excited. today is 7 months on the road and though it doesnt seem that long i know it will have felt long when i finally see my parents. though i dont know if it is because i here been here so many times or becasue of how much i am missing taranaki (new zealand( but it jsut doenst seem the same here anymroe from when i have been before. that means i could be crusiong on home with the folks in a few weeks or maybe get back into the niche of life here and not want to leave. except to go to new zealand of course.

also i really need to sayu thanks to austin and lisa my awsome hosts in l.a. they made my transition back to the reality of life in the states real easy and i met some amazing people while i was ther. i also got to reunite with two travel mates i met. sam whom i met in australia and robby form indonesia.

there will def. be pics to come from my time here in costa rica. and sstay tuned for what will be an amazing reuniting between my parents and i.

IM BACK!!!! remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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picture time everybody

2007-02-28T19:52:12Z

hers jsut a few pics from my last weekend in new zealand and some photos from my time in hollywood.

our comune at the concert

the crew

mike and the ladies

shell mike and i

last hour with everyone

austin scott, lisa his girl friend and you might recognize the guy in the red, he is my buddy robby that i travelled wiht in indonesia. he lives about a hour away so he came down for the day to say whats up and we all went hiking at grifith park my favorite part of l.a.

californication

so tonight i leave america for the second time on my trip and 7 months later. ill be getting into costa rica tommorow afternoon after a few long flights and will be real close to home as i have a layover in atlanta. so head on up if ya want to be the first to see me haha. my parents are meeting me in costa rica in two weeks and the anticipation is insane. get ready for some great stories of seeing my folks after 7 months on the road.

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i pledge of allegiance.....

2007-02-27T04:51:01Z

i am back in america!!! wow how weird is that. this is trippin me out. 7 months ago i left our soil and returning has been alomst jsut as emotional. wiht no exageration at all, life in america really is that different than anywhwere i have been. though i first came into it with a bummed out attitude i have have come to realize bein in america for a short time could be fun. its so different to everything i am used to that its jsut like arriving in another country and experiencing a different culture. though just please not to long. i am staying at austin scott my firend who is out here ensuing an acting career. he lives with his girlfriend lisa and their beautiful pit bull nikka. we have had a good time going to the beach and he gave me the hollywood tour today. last night we went to a real fun drum circle on venice beach full of all sorts of different people jamming and dancing to drums. all i had to close my eyes and feel like i was in another country experiencing somehting very "non american" haha.

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recap of en.zzzz. and a journal entry

2007-02-27T04:41:24Z

not any crazy antics or entertaining stories on this one jsut a recap of my amazing last fee weeks in oakura and around new zealand. this is mostly straight out of my journal which i might add is the second one i am writing(filled up my first in oz.)

though im scared of my ability to be able to relay ny time in new zeland (yes said it bedore haha) especailly in the 'naki to its full extent i will try my best to put down in words the unbelievable time i have had and what made what could be called one of the best times in my short life so far.(wow what a run on sentence). just three days short of a month made up my time in taranaki and every day but one was spent in oakura. the way i fell when i think of oakura is nothing but a positive vibe and somewhere i will long to be until the next time. i could not imagine anywhere else i would rather live and poissibly raise a family. though i hear the winters here aren't to pleasent, i could still not imagine anything puttin a bad taste in my mouth of the place. unless of course you include how much i will miss my family and friends of oakura. to start off i would like to talk about some of the most special people i have come across on my trip and that of course is the gibson family. whether it be seeing how amazing gibby and snoz are as parents or how they are people i can call friends for the rest of my life, or how glad i am to have a second sister in sammy who at 17 is so talented and had recently been given the job as N.Z. editor of WAKE magazine which is based in australia.BIG UPS SAMMY. i will no doubt always have a smile on my face when i think of them. it is amazing the people i have come across on this trip and lucky i was meeting ones who in long long run wil have shaped the person i turn out to be. i have a brother in michael and i cant wait to see him again especailly if it while he is on the road cutting loose like i have been. the three weekends in a row that were spent with him and sammy on the road will always be something i look back on and tell stories about to my kids (when theyare old enough of course to handle the fact that their dad did some pretty amazing and stupid things in his day)
mike's parents were awsome as well and always willing to lend a hand at making my trip any better than it could be. his mom angie was an awsome person and someone who because of her energy was always funt o be around. his dad gary is a very laid back guy and was such a big help wiht getting me a job which was something that made my extended trip in oakura possible. it will be interesting to see how they cope with tom their absolutley non english speaking brazilian exchange student who looks to possibly be absolutley non english speaking when he leaves in 6 months haha.

though there are tons here i could list, the friends i have made in such a short time is emmense. i dont think i was surrounded by one negative person the entire time and no doubt i have friends that will last me a life time. especailly my boy matt who may be one of the funniest and easy to get along with people i hvae ever met. though there were many to be had we deffiently missed the laughs we could have this past week if matt was with us especailyl at sound splash.

the past week of my time in oakura was spent hanging out wiht matt before he went to college this past thursday. there was no surf so we managed to keep ourselves busy while mike and sammy were at school and work. we had had a fun going away bbq at matt's house on teusday that was filled with drunken potato gunning and relaxing with the crew along with some of the parents. matts last night and my last in oakura was spent at the gibson's house staying up late and shooting the shit. thursday saw matt leaving for school and me packing once again to get ready for a road trip wiht mike though this time it would not be a roundtrip back to beautiful oakura. mike and i hit it up to raglan to once again find small surf. the plan was to meet up with the girls the next day to set up camp at wainui reserve where the eco-friendly reggae fest sound splash was being held. by the end of the day our set included 11 girls, mike and i. that uncluded snoz and her friends shell and deb. shell is the always smiling, dread headed best freind to snoz and when those two are togehter you are gauranteed an out their amazing time deb. i first met her and her husban shane at the first wke board comp we went to and deffiently hope to see them again in the future. .deb is shell's friend who until the last day convinced all us kids she was a hardcore " born again christian" haha. all of sammy's girl friends on the trip were so fun and easy to get along with. and theoretically with that many girls there could have been someone theoretically in particular who i really enjoyed meeting but hey thats just a theory.

our time at sound splash was deffiently a memorable experience especially seeing that i got o see my new favorite band ever LITTLE BUSHMEN. we had our cars set up as a tent city and our little comune which is where we spent most of our time while not at the venue. i saw the sun come up on my last day in the country with some theoretical person which was fun.

tired as hell and with our sad faces on. mike snoz. sammy and del drove me to the airprt 3 hours north to aukland. after chillin in the airport a bit we said our farwewells though not goodbyes because i will def. see them again and hopefully sometime soon.

recap of en.zzzz. and a journal entry remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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some more videos and last night in taranaki

2007-02-21T10:05:40Z

so its my last nigth here in th 'Naki and been having a quiet night mith sammy , snoz, mike and his mom. gibby is out of town to a conference so i said my goodbyes yesterday. tommorow we all hit the road (for the 3rd weekend in a row) to go up for sound splash reggae fest. www.motherland.co.nz is the web site so check it out and drool over all the fun i will have before the gang drives me up to aukland to catch my flgiht on sunday to los angeles the good ol u.s. of a. also a sad departure from birty happened the other day especially said seeing that it only put $100 bucks in my pocket. haha guess thats life when your traveling especially in a van with 400,000 kilometers and a seized engine. so onto the videos: jsut a quick tour of the house and where i have been living for the past few weeks. and a very repulsive video of me doing a "suicide" shot which consists of snorting salt, taking a shot of teq. and shooting lemon in the eyes sorry to offend anyone. haha seeing that this is towards the end of my trip a vid like this isnt helping the idea that i might have grown up jsut a bit during this trip haha. more videos to come fromt he concert and my time in l.a.

sorry to offend anyone at home haha hope you have more fun watching than i did making it

here is the aftermath, me trying to drain out my sinuses. idiot!

also some more photos from the time here more to come!!

snoz, jesse and i

some more videos and last night in taranaki remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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video

2007-02-19T10:50:37Z

so i just figured out that you could put videos on this thing. heres a small clip of me and the boys messing around with a potatoe gun!! enjoy haha as you can tell i didnt! hopefully some more mature and safe videos to come.

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it was bound to happen

2007-02-14T09:47:32Z

so if tellin ya i am sitting here in front of the computer only being able to type with one hand leads you to a bad conclusion than you my friend are right!!! i broke my emeregeny room virginity for this trip and the good thing is im still smiling. after a long days work at my mates dad's car dealership(cleaning cars) i decided to go for a trail ride on motor bikes out on matt's farm.and as on par with my motor bike ride in bali it went to the shits real quick. my conclusion :stick to surfing though i wont be able to do it for 4 weeks. the synopsis: torn ligaments and squashed nerves in the wrist. nothing a little R.I.C.E(rest,ice,compression,elevation) as the doctor called it wont fix!! never being to keen into the motor sport side of extreme sports and i was more than uncomfortable today and should have deffinetly listened to my self when i told myself not to ride. oh well jsut another positive lesson to bring from the trip. also last ngiht went hunting out on matts farm which is another first for me. we hunted possums which are complete pest here and do not look a thing like the possums at home more like bush babies/monkys. guess im becoming a good ol' boy haha. also headin up with sammy to another wakeboard comp this weekend as she does an internship for WAKE magazine whiel she is studying journalism. tommorow night i have my mate tom's 18th b day party to go to which is in a rented dance club in town. should be fun seeing that 18ths are like our 21st with the drinking age and all.

it was bound to happen remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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ITS ALL GOOD

2007-02-13T10:21:17Z

So it seems that every time i neglet my blog for a period of time it is because of busyness from having so much fun and these past couple of weeks have been absolutley no different. It makes me worried writing this that i will in no way capture the times i have had recently with words but i will try my best.

The last time i updated this thing i was preparing myself for awhile alone and trying to cope with being anti social. Damn I couldnt have been more wrong!!! Let me take ya back to the beginning of my amazing time here in Taranaki.

After staying a night at Evan's house whom i met in gisborne i headed about 20 mintues out of new plymouth to the town/village of oakura where i have been ever since. oakura is a very laid back town consisiting of about 100 houses, a skate park and a holiday/camp park. i parked Birty up in front of the beach whom had already blown her muffler and was making the loudest most bad ass sound that turns heads and actually set off car alarms. after a day of sitting on the beach, reading and surfing i was befriended by some of the most out going and talkative girls who were holidaying with their family right down the street and were from new plymouth. Meg, maddy, izzy,. and meg are four young girls ( 15 yrs) were the beggining of my time meeting and making just some more lifelong friends. i soon started to hang out with their older brothers whom are my age and all surf.

For the next week i had dinner at their camp sites with them and the rest of their 16 family members and started to feel as if i was settleing down again , the last time being airlie beach in australia. our times were spent hanging out with the crew which was continually being added to by other kids we met who lived here in oaks and getting some awsome surf in along wiht some bridge jumping. even the girls surfed. around this time was when i for the first time on this trip started opening my eyes to the possibility of being an ex-pat living abroad, especially somewhere so amazing as oakura.

After the families from new plymouth left to go back to school after summer holiday i continued to stay in the van and started to hang out alot wiht the crew i have been with all this time. though there are about 6 or 7 of us that are constantly hangin out the core group of us is made up of Mike, Matt , Sammy and I (the crew)who hang out at sammies all day which is one of the best atmospheres i have ever been in but ill get to that later. Mike is 17 and works for a land surveying company, matt is a 19 year old uni student studying to be a vet and lives on one of the most amazing farms ever. sammy is in her last year of highschool (here it is year 13) is just one of the guys and my sister from another mister.

Besides sammies house our haunts have included matt's farm, mikes house looking over the water and the skate park in town. we spend most of our time bumming around sammie's house which is where i am staying at the moment. her parents are some of the most amazing and fun to be with people i have ever met especially for parents. Snoz, the all over the place mom is always making this place interesting and there is always some amazing reggae or other cool music blaring through the house which is always opened aired and looks over the ocean. groovey aka gibby aka paul is the dad thats hold this place together with his out of nowhere humor and relaxing as just one of the boys. i feel like i have met another family that i was destined to be apart of.

Now lets get to the amazing fun times which will partly be censored from this blog haha. we have had some awsome times together going into town for parties in auto garages and in the middle of the road based around birdy. not to mention the late night tequllia throw downs that have frequented these parts. though what i am about to write could be its own book i will try to put it in here for you to get the full grasp of what most of us are calling the best weekend of our lives.

the plan was made about a week earlier(during our tequllia happenings) for the boys to head up to raglan for a surf trip and with our fingerrs crossed that birty would make it, thats just what we did. mike took friday and monday off of work and we hit the coast with a stop half way there for a great surf at a place called mokau. now the interesting part of this leg was the fact that after we left mokau we didint arrive in raglan until 6 hours later which was surprising because of the fact it was only supposed to be a 3 hour drive.(lost) we continuoly got lost and had some amazing laughs talking boy talk and yelling at sheep. we finally made it to raglan after the sun went down to go to sleep early enough to be up at sunrise to low and behold find the surf to be completely flat.. this is where it got interesting with the choice to either head back home where the surf was good or to continue the road trip. but where to..? it just so happened that sammie, her folks and our mate rosie was on the east coast about 6 hours away at a pro wakeboard comp. with the promise of tickets to the v.i.p. after party we were quickly on the road going transcoastal.

much differently to the leg before, with bikins and beers in our mind we made amazing time over to napier. though known for being the hottest sunniest place in the country we were greeted in napier by rainy, cloudy weather but after the times we had already had there was noway anything was bringing us down from our high on life. we got a good surf in mid day (stuck)and headed to the wakeboard comp where snoz,gibby and the girls were working. i met a real cool girl named sonny from orlando who knows some of my mates from back home in the wakebaord industry. after dodging rain all day and watching some impressive riding we were ready for the after party. and ready we were!!!!! to put a long nite short we watched two amazing bands and converesed with some cool pro wakeboarders whom i realized i had alot in common with after talkin about our travelling adventures. the highlight of the night was the dancing and mikes flaming mangina. hahaha.

we woke up sunday morning glad it was still gloomy weather as the sun would deffinetly had made our head pound a bit more if thats possible. us boys had plans to travel up the coast for a surf as the rest headed home and head back the next day. but.. as on par with the rest of the trip those plans changed and the van was all of a sudden made quite busy with the girls and us making 5 and snoz and groovey following behind. our 6 hour trip turned into 12 as we all stopped numerouse times at different spots on the way and highlights included watching sammy and rosie do bunjy jumping along wiht a great lunch by lake toupo and funnily enough another highlight included the back window of my van being smashed out by matt and a loose beer bottle which somehow ended up outside the van.the funiest part of the trip had to be coming back into new plymouth. now besides the muffler problem birty had run smooth as can be and this was all about to chang. as if in a movie we were 10kms from home and not because were sight seeing we were going about 15mph down the highway wiht everyone in the back giving her encouragment at the top of her lungs and the paresnt in the front with their high breams on as our lights didint work at all. . birty decided her time was up and puttered and threatened all the way home where she is currently residing on the street waiting for me to figure out what to do with her. we all made it back to sammies at about 12 at night tired as hell and ready for a good night sleep that all of us were needing after the best weekend of our lives.

so long story short if thats possible i am having the time of my life and have extended my trip by a week and just bought tickets to soundsplash a reggae fest in raglan with sammie, mike. snoz and her friend shell. another road trip coming up!!!!
dinner an hour ago on sammies back porch

here are some more random photos

ITS ALL GOOD remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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taranaki

2007-01-29T22:55:41Z

so after continual surfing in raglan for three days i made my day down here to taranaki which is a large outcrop of land based around the volacano mount egmont. the surf here is supposed to be great with 50 diffrent surf spots within an hour of each other. the first night i get here i stayed wiht a family i had met in gisborne and it was real nice to finally settle down a bit in a family atmosphere and see what its liek to live civilized haha. they also had a daughter the same age as my sister with the same name so it brought back tons of mememories. cant wait to see my litlle sissy in costa. hopefully shes still my little sister and not some grown up chick that she wasnt before i left haha i guess being the only child for awhile can get to your head.

last night a camped on the beach and hung out wiht some cool americans i have met and let me mention that they are some of the only cool americans i have met in 6 months haha. either you hardly meet one travelling or you meet one that puts a bad taste in your mouth. after waking up to pissing rain i went back to sleep and actually slept in till about 8 30 which is pretty good in the van. im going to stick around taranaki for a week or so and i am going to do some work on the families far to earn some extra cah to spend in l.a. man its weird to think that in less than a month i will see cars drive on the right side of the road and will prolly eat mcdonalds . sorry for the absence of pictures i have been surfing way to much to do anything else which is a great thing. cheers mattes!!!

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uh-oh i lost my map

2007-01-26T07:27:07Z

so after unforeseen circumstances at home my trusty travel partner and map Alyce left me. we had a great two weeks together and memories to last a life time. you know how you say you'd be lost without someone, well today i figured out that saying literally. after dropping her off at the airport i out the city behind me and cruised straight to the coastal town of raglan known as having one of the best waves in the world. the 2 hour drive turned into 5 as i wouldn't dare stop ask for directions and couldn't read the map to save my life ha ha. i made it here greeted by stormy weather and dismal waves. after contemplating what to do i decided i might as well go out for a surf and it wasn't to bad after all but nothing to write home about. i headed into town to discover my wallet was nowhere to be found and quickly headed back to the beach making to 25 minute drive in about 10. i never thought it would be a blessing to have lost my wallet but it sure was. i ended up finding it in the parking lot but the best thing was the change of weather. as soon as i found my wallet the sun started creeping out of the clouds and it ended up being an amazing afternoon. not being one to dismiss a positive omen i quickly jumped back into my wet clothes and ended this afternoon with an amazing 2 hour session under the sun and in warm water.

with the premature departure of Alyce i am now left with just under a month of solitude. at first i was really not looking forward to it seeing that the past few months have been spent with some amazing friends and not to much alone time to speak of. after todays drive alone through the rolling hills and the only views being sheep and cows i have come to realize that this might be just what i need, a time for reflection and chances to meet more amazing people. my plan as of now is to relax in the coastal town of Taranaki down the coast for a week or so and fill my time with surfing , reading ( just finished my 15th book of the trip) and starting the practice of yoga. could be filled with a ton of high moments and potentially a lot of lows as well, as most of you know i am a very social person (as my teachers have complained to the rents for the past 12 years) and being on my own for awhile is something i will definitely have to adjust to. one great thing i have to look forward to besides the two minute noodles im eating tonight is the reunion i will have with my parents and sister in just about 40 days in good old Nosara, Costa Rica where i will then reside until just before school starts in September. might be a while till my next update seeing that ill be camped out in the woods with a pile of books and living the hippy lifestyle for the next few weeks. oh and also another really cool thing that happened jsut to make you guys jealouse at home. alyce and i while at gisborne last week were the FIRST people in the WORLD to see the sunrise how cool is that? if thats possible then isnt it about time for you guys at home to start thinkin of travelling?

uh-oh i lost my map remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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a week of beauty

2007-01-18T02:04:13Z

the last week on the road has been the most awe inspiring part of my trip by far. this country is full of the most beautiful scenery i can ever imagine. every where we go in birty there ios a new thing to comment out loud on and it is getting quite repeititive between me and alyce saying wow thats amazing or thats beautiful! so we have tried to use to some more off the wall adjectives to use. another great thing is that i finally surfed after about 3 months of being dry. it brought me back to life especially with my bout of flu. i dont know why i went so long wiothout surfing but that moght be the only time the rest of my life especially seeing how great it made me feel again. we made iot up to the tip of new zealand which is called cape reinga and are currently at lake toupo, a very nice quaint town over looking the biggest freshwater lake in australasia and is over looked by a large snow topped moutain. our plan is to travel over to the east coast for some surfing and beach time before heading to the south island. heres ome photos from our trip thus far though they wont come close to doing this country justice.

sulfuric creek in a thermal resort

lady knox geyser

jet boating

just the scenery while driving

the tip of new zealand where the pacific ocean and tasman sea meet

this is in a maori vilage we visited

haha

sunset where we slept last night

and where we woke up, not bad veiw eh?

which way home? ok you go that way ill go this way

huka water fall where we jet boated to

a week of beauty remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On the Road in The land Of The Kiwis

2007-01-13T00:45:17Z

so after a week of painful boredom and sickness i finally left aukland. i picked up alyce on thursday and we took off friday morning. our mode of transport this trip is in style with our new mate Birty. a 1987 toyota camper van with 394,000 kilometers, a bed and a sink. complete set up! the old girl isnt the best running car as you could expect to get for $1800 u.s. the first night on the road proved to be a stressful but still funny one and we got birty stuck in a ditch and had to have her towed out in the middle of the night. we are currently in the bay of islands on the north island and despite the pissing rain i have never seen so much beautiful country side go forever. jsut one hour out of the city we came upon a hiking trail that took us through the most breathtaking rain forest to a water fall. now i can see what my dad is going for in our back yard wiht all of the new zealand and australian ferns and palms. our plan is to stick here for another day and take a tour of the islands. to many peoples dismay not inlcuding mine there is a cyclone coming to hit land soon but for me that means great waves and tommorow we are heading to 90m mile beach so i can finally after a few months of to much partying get wet. here are some photos... stay tuned!

heres the beauty
. muff the magic wagons kiwi cousin

not in a very good position here

the rain forest

alyce

circuz ole(sp?)

auklands claim to fame the sky tower

On the Road in The land Of The Kiwis remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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finally some pics from the last bit of my time in australia

2007-01-10T07:04:26Z

here are some pics from my last week or so in sydney and on the south coast. iv put better up but figured id give you guys something to check out before your screens start blowing up with photos of amazing things from this beautiful land of the kiwis. also want to throw up a belated happy birthday to my boys nicholas and bj. wish i could have been there guys!!!

some piss poor photos of the new years eve fireworks but ig uess my camera jsut takes the pictures of how i am seeing things at that moment

the crowd wathcing the display

dad your always telling me to wear a raincoat

chillin by muff the magic wagon

look mom the pigeons like me

another shot fo the opera house , nevr gets old the beauty is amazing from any angle

south coast lighthouse

south coast veiw

7 mile beach

finally some pics from the last bit of my time in australia remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I Want My Mommy!

2007-01-07T06:19:43Z

so i have hit a new low today and havent felt this bad yet on my travels. i woke up this morning and stupidly volunteered to do house keepig for free accomodation at the hostel. to my susrprise i was sick as hell with the flu and feel like crap. it felt good to talk to the folks today which lifted my spirits a bit. only two months till i see them in costa rica!!! i dont have much to report on new zeland yet as i am in aukland jsut another big city im not to keen on. man how nice it would be to crawl up in my bed at home and have my wonderful mom taking care of me. guess ill have to resort to a bunk bed with tons of germans in my room not speaking a lick fo english. do any of you guys have any rmedies for the flu that i maybe wouldnt know about? hope all is well at home and your holidays went well!!!

I Want My Mommy! remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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WE WANT YOU!!

2007-01-05T07:59:58Z

so i guess i made a good enough impression on australia for them to not want me to leave today. but not to worry after seeing numerouse back offices of airlines and costoms i was allowed to leave the country but not without some sweet talkin and being the smooth guy i am. when i checked in this morning (thank god i got there 3 hours ahead) i could tell it wasnt going to be pleasent jsut fromt the check in girls look on her face. there was a problem with ticketing and to make things worse my visa had run out today as well. they needed proof of an onward ticket from new zealand which i dont have and didnt plan on having until this occured. so now i am flying out of aukland on the 20th of feb to l.a. before hitting home sweet home of costa rica for god knows how long. the past week in sydney was ok with with the highlight of course being new years eve. i spent my last few days wiht brock tom kelly and brit in a campsite and last night in a hostel near the airport. yesterday i had a great time wiht alyce's parents as they took me on a driving tour of the south coast and i convinced them to show me most of the pubs on the way down as well which made for a great day and good conversation. i ahve been so fortunate to meet people like this my entire trip and have seemes to be able to see things that most backapackers dont get to see because it is not on the "backpackers" route. i am currently in aukland , jsut another big city until i hit the road with my travelling mate alyce as we explore this country that is ment to be one of the most beautiful in the world. looks like everyone back at home is heading back to school from the holidays and man do i pitty you haha. guys keep your heads up in class and maybe you can learn enough one day to be smart enough to get off your lazy asses and do a trip like this lol. pics from new years and the south coast still to come once i can get to an internet cafe that will allow it.

WE WANT YOU!! remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Bringing in The New Year Down Under.

2007-01-01T05:32:57Z

So with five more days in this beautiful country and memories to last a life time i celebrated new years a whole 15 hours ahead of you lot back home. Brock. tom. kelly , brit and i started our day at 10 am making our way to the city to get set up for the fireworks which werent till 9 pm and 12 that night. the reason we left so early is beacuse of the histaria that ensued with the 1.2 milliom projected people flooding the city. known as the second largest new years celebration behind rio de janero and the second major city in the world to celebrate the new year(behind aukland by an hour) we were sure to not be disspaointed. and trust me dissapointed we werent. we made our way to a place known as the domain along wiht 25 thousand other attendees. the pictures that you may have seen in the mornigns news paper of sydney fireworks were most likely taken from the domain which over looks the harbour with the sydney opera house and harbour bridge being perfect back drops for the fireworks display that included 800 thousand peices of pure beauty. after the 9 oclock "family display" brit and i made our way to the city with bigger and better things planned and later met up wiht the crew. the energy in a city with 1.2 million poeple crowding the streets is nothing to be missed. though i have said before i am disgusted by big cities it was still a sight to behold. after meeting some ozzies from sydney , they took us on a while run through secret alley ways and bushes to get a prime location to view the best fireoworks show i have seen in my entire life. i was standing on a fence over looking the water with an insane crowd of people shoulder to shoulder below me which just added to the insanity. a first in my life was getting my new years kiss over a phone which was cool thing but not somehting id say " dude youv got to try it" (sorry lyce your a much better kisser in person haha)after that we ran the streets for hours on end and i got a phone call into the scures family (best mate) back home which made my night even better. one thing i would say "dude youv got to try this" is to be riding a train home and watching the sun rise. what a beautiful experience and a great way to start a new refreshing year. my plan is to fly into aukland n.z. on the fifth and stay around for a few days before alyce my co worker from in airlie flys in on the tenth and we move on the tour another country to add to the passport. i hope evreyones new years celebrations were half as good as mine because if they were you had fun. and i hope everyone has stayed safe and has a great start to another amazing year. on another quick note. please do yourself a favor and read the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. a great way to help you veiw life differently and learn to live life in the moment and to the fullest. a must read.

cheers,
one happy camper

Bringing in The New Year Down Under. remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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some more photos

2006-12-30T03:08:11Z

down here in sydney at the moent for new yeas. i am absolutely hating it. i thank god that my folks didnt raise me in the atmosphere of a big city. i wish i was still back up in airlie where i an feel the comfort of home and some other perks enjoy the phots they are just randoms from recent times

beer pong xmas party

cricket,

train station

kel and brit

nutritional value- 0%
fun value 444%

manly beach

xmas

brock and toms effort at picking up or being picked up

and a nice sunset to finish off. have a great new years!!!!

some more photos remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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christmas time and a sad departure

2006-12-27T04:07:54Z

so we had a great xmas here in hot australia with the temp being around 100 on the 25th. the day was started off with alyce jesse and i opeing presents and getting ready for the big party in cannonvale the town over. jesse is a real cool canadian who ahs been bumming at the apartment while hes in towna and we have all goten along real well. on xmas eve the three of us went for a really nice dinner at a restaraunt called capers on the beach. the most expensive meal thus far on my trip but by far one of the more memorable ones. the party we went to on xmas day was unlike most x mas parties back at home. you would have thought it was a frat house with continual debauchary. jesse and i introduced beer pong to this great country and it caught on like fire. i am currently in sydney after a sad departure last night from airlie my home for the past two months and home to some amazing memories and life long friends. i was greeted at the airport by amy one of my mates from airlie and we had a big night on the town last night. here are some pics (more to come),enjoy and hope everyones holidays were as festive and exciting as they are down under!!!

christmas eve dinner

present time

alyce

here is our xmas tree(street baracade) in memory of driveway maintnance

roomies

jesse

alyce

party time

christmas time and a sad departure remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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here comes santa clause ,here comes santa clause.....

2006-12-21T05:37:54Z

so xmas is rapidly approaching and i hope all the last minute preperations are going well back in the states. it is such a different pace around here for the holidays that i havent witnessed before. i have been back out on the boat the past few days and have missed a few christmas parties but it seems like xmas eve and day are the big deal around here and there are already plans for about 5 diffferent house parties the day before the day of and the day after (boxing day).pter pans had its xmas party on one of the island resorts named day dream. it was jsutthe 5 of us that went over and had a great day of mini golf and swim up bars. i jsut recently made the plan to stay here for xmas and i will fly down to sydney to meet the "family" for new years. they actually made a surprise appearnce on the way down form cairns right before i went on the baot.and super stoked to egt back up wiht brock down there and here all about new zealand which i fly to on the 5ht of jan. i am gutted i wont be with them for christmas but it will be a great new years eve as sydney is said to have one of the worlds biggest celebrations. also happy hanukka to all my jewish mates back at home!! here are some pics from around town and boat.

xmas party on day dream
mermaid loving on daydream

roomates

alyce and i

the family

a lil taste of peter pans

this is where i work

lunch break

limbo on the boat an interesting mix

here comes santa clause ,here comes santa clause..... remains copyright of the author nick_fairm, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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