Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Tramp

I'm 2 days back from tramping through the Kaimais and still feeling stiff in my calves, they know they've done some solid work up those steep climbs


over tree roots and sloshing through knee deep mud. 10 of us set out from Auckland on Saturday morning and took the tramline along the river for a 3 hour stroll to the Waitawheta hut. It was easy grade with 6 river crossings which added some fun, we attempted to rock hop but after a couple of crossings and slips on the rocks most of us just walked straight through the water and walked on in squelching boots.

The new hut was 5* accomodation, better than my flat for sure! Theres a 4minute walk to the glow worms and I made the most of the cool river for chilling my beers. Breakfast was quite an event as we tried to cook pancakes on a sticky frypan.. we resorted to pancake stodge, it has the consistency of mashed potatoes but tastes like pancakes!

It took us 6hours including a lunch break at the top of the 106m falls to get back to the road, it was an overgrown track at parts with a lot of variety in plants and scenery. For more photos of our group gone bush click on my flicker badge on the right sidebar

U2 rocking Auckland

Wow. U2 blew me over. What a powerful, spiritual experience friday night was. Mt Smart at Ericson stadium in Auckland, Aotearoa was host to the band of the century all the way from Ireland. My group managed to get into the front section where we stood about 3 metres from the stage where the Edge was playing. I loved the way the band made their own songs local by changing words to talk about Auckland, Aotearoa and Cape Reinga to the Fiords. Bono you're awesome! You can share the experience and watch 'One Tree Hill' from the concert courtesy of You Tube, note the koru patterns on the background screens.

Kanye West was pumping too but the crowd reception for him was disappointing, maybe I can go see him in New York one day with a crowd that admires him more!

quick movie review

I'm not in a wordy mood but here's my ratings on dvds and movies I have watched in the last few months: I"ve linked them to their official sites so you can watch the trailers and read up about them and see if the film might be in your interest.

Enigma ***
Nacho Libre **
Jackass 2 **
The Zookeeper ***
Phonebooth ****
V for Vendetta *****
Tears of the Sun ***
Basic *****
Coffee and Cigarettes ***
Pulp Fiction ***
A Series of Unfortunate Events **
Get Rich or Die Trying *****
The Interpreter ****
Batman Begins ***
The Spanish Apartment ***
To End all Wars *****
Jarhead ****
Inside Man ***
Walk the Line *****

This list should keep you busy if you need to fill in some viewing gaps. Movies rated * or ** stars I wouldnt recommend so watch at your own risk :)

counting down to vertigo

5 days to go until the band of the century play at Ericson stadium and I am AMPING! As we try our best at guessing what the playlist will look like I'm wondering what the queue into the stadium for General Admission Tickets is going to look like, there's a lot of space on a rugby field that big, I could be standing 5 metres away or 50. Anyhow, wherever I'm standing with a bunch of friends this is going to be the concert of the year by miles.
One thing that horrified me is that the official U2 website lists Auckland as being in Australia in their veritgo tour dates! Whats up with that? Anyhow... Peace and Love my readers.

"V"

I watched V for Vendetta for the second time last night with my flatmate. It was even better the second time because I could pay more attention to words that V spoke quickly and intelligently. I would really recommend this if you're in the mood for a more thought provoking movie although the storyline and action is good enough in itself.

This politically loaded thriller protests the place of a totalitarian government in an extreme way and uses the british government as an actor as it searches through the reasons behind this 'terrorism'. V encourages all citizens to stand against the tyranny and oppression of the government and the controversy begins in his questionable methods of punishing the government. Although I wouldnt agree with all of V's methods I like his clever characteristics and his passion for 'justice'. This has got to be one of my best movies of the year, watch it if you haven't already.

"People should not be afraid of their Governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

Power to the people!