What's up you say?

Happy New Year everyone. The last few days in New Zealand were a blur, mostly because I was driving like a maniac to get back to Auckland to catch my plane. I passed through the Catlins and stood at Slope Point - the southern most point on the south island - and stopped off at some nice waterfalls on the way out. I ended up in Dunedin where I wrote my last post.
I was planning on going to Mt. Cook, but would've possibly been snowed in there so I decided to head north. I stayed at the best backpacker in Akaroa - LeBons Bay. Yes better than the Moana Lodge. Only 18 people a night stay there. Gary, the owner, takes guests out on his boat (weather permitting of course, which it did not for me) to see the dolphins. He and his staff cook dinner (for a small fee) and the guests eat together. It's an hour and a half from Christchurch on winding mountain roads with tanker trucks coming at you, but it's well worth it to be at his place. Oh, and you get dessert too.
I tried to schedule a dolphin swim, but again that didn't work out. After coffee with a Swiss couple I met at LeBons I headed to the Villa in Picton. Barry was there in a Santa hat and told me there was going to be a tree trimming party that night with wine and cookies to boot. Good times, good energy.
I caught my ferry to Wellington the next day and really wanted to stay for a bit, but needed to head as far north as I could. I toyed with the idea of doing the Tongariro Crossing, but again the weather was crap. Back to Extreme Backpackers where I did some indoor leads to get some exercise. Driving the distance of the past few days wasn't fun, climbing was exactly what I needed. Back towards Bryce's the next day where I stopped off to see some intense waterfall action at Huka falls. Not the biggest waterfall, but one of the most powerful. I was going to head to Bryce's from there, but the sun came out and I passed a sign for Waiotapu. I remember seeing the name somewhere before and decided to check it out. Waiotapu is an intense area of geothermal activity. Thick smell of sulphur, bubbling pools of mud, this place is New Zealand's thermal wonderland.
I finally roll into Bryce's some time after six and he left the key in the door for me. I saw him a few hours later and he was planning on going climbing the next day if I was interested (weather did not permit). Miles came down from Auckland to spend Christmas with Bryce and his family. We had a long talk about fathers and travelling, while drinking a bottle of wine. He also told me he and Sally are getting married this year.
As I said earlier the weather did not permit climbing with Bryce, so I did some bouldering in his cave for a while before the twelve hour flight. On my way out i told Bryce I hoped to come back sooner rather than later. As I was drving away Bryce came out of the shop to wave good bye. It nearly brought a tear to my eye the way he was standing there by the side of the road smiling and waving.
I saw some sights that knocked me off my feet and made me just sit there and wonder how many more places like that exist in the world. I met a lot of like minded people and shared stories with them about the importance of getting out and seeing what the world is all about. Even though I won't remember all of them there's something about the people you trave with that will always be with you. During my conversation with Miles, I told him I thought this trip would sooth my desire to travel for a while, but all it's done is make me want to see more. He knows exactly how I feel. He left England four years ago when he thought he would only be gone for one. There's nothing better than being away from everything you're used. I need more.