Last week.

Last night a big 50th birthday bash. Live band and all.

Tomorrow up to Kaitaia.

Down on the 2nd for one last night.

Fly from Auckland 2pm for LA.

Here goes!

Christmas Day isn’t really Christmas Day until it has descended into true family chaos. Shouting, tension, competition and that’s just getting the turkey done. Tomorrow I leave Wellington for the last time. It’s really happening.

Merry Christmas. I hope everyone keeps safe.

Josh

Its true! No update in over a month, I hope no one thought I had chickened out I arrive in San Francisco at 11am, January 11th, so just over 3 weeks or so. In that time: a large family Christmas, New Years eve trip away, best man duties at my best friends wedding (6th of Jan), and my first actual paying gig at an acoustic lounge night (10th of Jan, the night before I leave). Busy busy, buzz buzz.

1. My motorbike has been sold (!) to a lovely English chap, only just immigrated to NZ. Sale price $4700nz, so I’m happy. I have all the funds I’m going to get right now, so I can form and idea of cost in my mind.

2. I have possibly lined up a Suzuki DR 650 for purchase in San Francisco, at about the price I was wanting to pay. Thankfully a few fellow adventurists are helping to vet the bike for me before I arrive in the US. I am constantly amazed at the kindness and generosity of people I have never actually met, yet offer their help and support to a couple of random Kiwi blokes from the other side of the world… it really blows me away. Piccys:

(^Clicky)

I should find out how the bike turns out in a day or so (fingers crossed)… to have the bike sorted before I even get to the US takes perhaps the last stressful thing off of my mind, and will give me heaps more time to do things and meet people in San Francisco.

(Update: The bike didn’t work out, in the words of Bob and Patrick “The bike was a smoker and had a bad oil leak from the head.” Ah well, the search continues!)

My Visa Experiences…

US Visa:
They require: Forms filled in, Passport, a special sized photo for use in the Visa ($15 from photo shop), a courier package with your address on it for mailing your passport back to you, a $170 fee payable at any post shop - they require the receipt to prove that you have paid.

So I headed to Auckland, documents in hand, hoping like hell I hadn’t left anything behind. I also took with me proof of my air-tickets (with dates and things), and a map of our intended motorcycle route. Upon arriving in Auckland, I headed up to the floor of the consulate five minutes prior to my allotted time, not wanting to be late - only to be told I had to wait downstairs until the exact time. Hrmm. A few paces around the lobby, then back into the lift and up to the consulate.

Security is pretty heavy - it feels just like an airport. I put my bag through an x-ray machine, and walked through a metal detector, then had a wand waved over me by the security guard. No electronic devices allowed, so my cellphone and ipod were put into a storage locker to pick up on the way out. The consulate has a series of booths, with a number of waiting seats in-front of them, basically you waited till you were called to the booth. I explained my trip, trying to appear as friendly and non-terrorist looking as I possibly could while they took scans of my finger-prints. A few days of stress later (me thinking I might have filled out a part of a form incorrectly) and my passport arrives safely back in my mailbox - horray!

German Visa:
The consulate is in Wellington! This was easier then I had anticipated… they require: Forms filled in, passport, proof of insurance, proof of funds (bank statement), proof of return ticket, plus a passport photo, and a $60 fee. I returned the next day and they had my passport stamped and ready to go… great! New Zealand is part of thew working holiday scheme with Germany, so I now have a one year working visa.

Thats all for now, I promise another few updates before I leave.

Peace, Jonno

Hello,

Sorry for not updating journals. Organisation has obviously become critical and I have been forced to prioritise. Jon has a definite lead on a bike - a Suzuki DR650 which is similar to the KLR650.

I have done 3820 kms in the South Island and generally had a ball. Photos are up for your perusal

Christmas always aggrieves me. Not so much the expectation of giving presents but the compulsion to pay money for them. Given that most presents are either unwanted or do not survive into the new year it seems to me a great way to cut down on greenhouse gasses by just not buying the shitty little doll that talks or robot dinosaur. It’s mostly junk anyway.

Also I have been telling people not to buy me presents on the basis ‘if it’s not exactly what I want, it’s taking up pack space so is not coming. Besides I am too poor to buy you anything in return so why don’t we just have a beer?’

I have purchased myself some flash travel items like,

• new pair of summerweight gloves - Dririder Dri Mesh glove which claims to be waterproof (hopefully at least showerproof) but is also vented to allow air to circulate. Great for the warm weather but also good because once wet they will dry faster.
• Sennheiser headphones that have ear plugs so I can wear when riding bike. A contentious issue as you should be riding with full alertness. But the intention is to use after a day’s riding but this gives the option of music when travelling long days in the desert.
• A plastic bowl that folds flat. If this works (and it looks like it does) it will be great
• Dry bags, toilet bags

OK, I expected this to be a little more formal. Nevermind.

Josh