Keep it real, Live it up...

Wed 25th April - We made our way inland to pick up what’s going to be our home for the next 7000miles. We pulled into the carpark to find all the campers looking like they were completely brand new. All of us became slightly loopy at this point as the reality was beginning to set in, this whole road trip thing was actually going to happen. Once we got the paperwork out of the way, watched the introduction video and had the quick tour of the camper, we were off! Tim drove it first, and we quickly realized it was going to take more then one of us to drive this thing. Navigating, spotters when changing lanes, and keeping the stereo rocking are all very important jobs. We arrived back home to find the rest of the family just as excited as us. Once we got the walk through guided tours out of the way, we headed back out to get some supplies.

Thur 26th April - We decided to go for a big bike ride along the promenade to show Caleb Venice Beach. We had a quick detour on the way as I wanted to show the boys the Venice canals. They are so cool. It was such a beautiful day, the water was glistening and all the houses looked stunning. We rode right past Carrol Canal which was where mum and dad lived back in the good old days. Down at beach we had a bit of a play at Muscle Beach who his a gym right on the boardwalk. We all had a go on the rings and the climbing ropes and had a bit of entertainment watching this guy who appeared to be wearing girls underwear and nothing else, he was the size of Arnold schwarzenegger. We then moved onto check out the skatepark which had some guys absolutely going for it. They were awesome to watch. Once we had a bit of a look around we started heading back south as Scott and Lacey had recommended we checked out Redondo Beach. We didn’t quite make it that far because we were all pretty knackered after a big day riding. We stopped at Manhatten Beach for a beer and a nibble, then started making our way home.

Fri 27th April - The packing begins…. We had all our stuff, we had our camper. Now where to put everything? It all found some form of nook or cranny eventually and we were on the road around midday. We headed straight for a camera shop in L.A. where Scott picked up a pretty flash number with all the bells and whitstles. One more pro photographer that I can steal photos off…….Yuss! We then jumped on the freeway which took us back out to the coast and then started heading south. Its an amazing drive, with so many beautiful beachs, city’s, houses and people. Almost all of which are screaming wealth. Just incredible. Our first stop off was at Huntington Beach on the side of the road to have some gourmet camper-made sandwiches. We were all just hooting, probably slightly overwhelmed by how cool this whole experience was so far. Next we stopped off to overlook Laguna Beach from a cliff top. Then Caleb and I had a quick swim at South Laguna Beach, the water wasnt exactly tropical but it was very refreshing. Further on south we pulled off the freeway at San Clemente to watch an amazing sunset. All the boys got some incredible photos. The next city was Oceanside so we pulled into a carpark right on the beach and settled in for our first dinner and night in the camper.

Sat 28th April - We went for a walk along the pier which was right next to where we had parked, it was really cool looking back at the beach and watching all the surfers. All of us making the most of the most of this photogenic opportunity and all doing our best to be a goober in each others photos. Way to much fun. There was a small Eco-focused market thing on down by the carpark which was quite interesting to have a look through. We then got back on track and continued on down to San Diego. We found a RV resort to park up in for the night which was great. We had a great game of handball and volleyball down on the beach which got us all to work up a bit of a sweat and a thirst. After a few card games with a side of beers we caught a taxi into town to check this place out. Unfortunately none of us had our passports on us so no bars would let us in. So into a taxi to go get them then back into town. It was a good night and very entertaining talking to all the locals.

Sun 29 April - The day started with a decent sleep in as all of us were feeling slightly worse for wear. We then moved the camper out into the carpark just outside the RV park, then jumped on a bus to take us into town for a look around. There were some very interesting people to watch, one guy looked as though he was high as a kite and it appeared he was trying to push a huge tree over. We found the ball park which was cool to see. The grounds were immaculate, so I can’t wait to go to a game. There was a small baseball field right next to the big park and there was a team of kids having a game. It was so funny to watch and they were all really into it. One big kid was good as at hitting home runs and he would jog around the bases and pull out a packet of chips to eat that he kept in his pocket. We continued walking around down by the harbour, all of us drooling over the beautiful super yachts on display. All of us were starting to fade a bit so we jumped on a bus to head back towards Pacific beach where we meet up with Jess and Flet and enjoyed a beautiful Taco Bell meal. By this stage it was around 10pm and this was the longest period of time we had been away from the camper so we were all freaking out a little bit, just hoping that the camper hadn’t been touched and that it was still there. Thankfully it was all good. We then found the nearest Walmart to settle in for the night.

Mon 30th April - I woke to the sound of someone knocking loudly on the door. After hesitating for a while and trying to pretend I wasn’t there, I got up and opened the door to find a security guard looking not to impressed. He said “there is no over night camping alowed here”. Haha its a bit late mate. We had already had our full nights sleep without disruption. We took our time and slowly moved out and headed back towards the beach to find a park for the day. Jess and Flet came and meet us in their new rental car and we made a plan to go and do this WaveHouse thing. We got down there at 12:30 for the 1pm session. It didn’t take long before all of us were completely pumped up and rearing to go, and none of us even slightly hesitated once we got started on the wave. Tim and Jess were going flat out on the cameras, so not one moment was missed. Caleb is in the process of putting together a video, so I’ll put up a link once it’s on YouTube. Anyway we all had an absolute blast and we were super stoked that we did it. After we were done there Jess, Caleb and I went back to chill out in the camper for the afternoon and the boys went down to the midway aircraft carrier. We spent the night down by the Mission Beach marina which was another free night.

Tues 1st May - We got up and headed slightly inland to have a look in a few hobby shops then made our way north to San Marcos to stop off at a Camper shop to get our hot water unit fixed. Although they guys werent all that pleasant to deal with, they did solve the issues we had so we were pleased to get back on the road and back out to the coast. We stopped in San Clemente to have some lunch and go for a swim which was really nice. The water wasn’t to cold either. After a bit of a drive around we headed towards the nearest Walmart to park up for the night. We werent supposed to be staying over night there and it wasnt long before we were greeted by security….. Bugger. He said that we might have a bit more luck at the target carpark up the road. It’s now 11:20pm and we haven’t been kicked out yet so fingers crossed.

2012-03-30

Portland, OR

Fri 30th March - I was up at 8:30 and straight into packing up all my gear. Stephanie drove me into town to meet up with Erin before going to the train station. The guy at the coffee shop was having a hard time trying to understand me when i was placing my order. He got really embarrassed. I then made my way down to the train station where i had a play on my ukulele in the waiting area to pass the time before i could board the train at 11:35am. The train arrived in Portland at 3:15pm and i decided to walk up the the hostel as it wasnt to far and it gave me a good chance to have a look around on my way. My initial impression of the hostel wasn’t quite what i was expecting or hoping for. I had couple guys in their 50’s in my room and then another really smelly old guy came in and got into be at 4:30 in the afternoon. Not exactly the young, enthusiastic spirit i was looking forward to. It turned out he was a homeless guy and he got kicked out…… Interesting. Later on after getting settled in a went for a walk to find a bar to meet some people. I ended up walking a long way and didnt really come across what i was looking for so i went into the sports bar up the road to watch the rest of the basketball game and have a slice of pizza. I came back to the hostel and found a young group of auzzies and a pom who were doing a pretty similar trip to me. They recommended i did the walking tour in Portland, so i booked myself in.

Sat 31st March - I got up and made my way to downtown for my walking tour. The tour started at 11am in the pouring rain with a group of 13 people. I decided to do the underground adults only tour because its fun learning about all the crazy stories. Its amazing the amount of controversial history that some places have and the number of myths that develop over the years that you would never hear about unless you did a tour like this. Portland had a lot of people that were blackmailed into contracts to work on ships for terrible pay in horrible conditions, one man even did it to his own son. After my tour i went to the famous Portland Saturday Market. Mostly it was just the usual market type stuff apart from a few stands. One was a guy who made these wooden candle stands out of some really exotic woods with some really cool techniques. I had a great chat to him and told him about all the fun wood working stuff that i do back home with my pop and dad. He thought that was pretty neat. I also came across a stall which had a guy doing cartoon styled portraits which were really good. The guy was an amazing artist and it was really cool to watch him work, it was $10 and only took 5mins so i was next in line. After i had seen all the markets i made my way back to the hostel to chill out for the afternoon. I got talking to a young guy down in the kitchen area named Aren, he is from Petaluma, Ca and he was in the middle of trying to get a job in Portland. We had an awesome chat about all kinds of stuff and he showed me some incredible photos that he took on a trip he did in middle north America. I had bougtht basketball tickets earlier on in the day so i invited him to join me. I then got changed and headed up the road to hit up some bars, i ended up hanging out with a really cool group of people who started buying me drinks which was awesome. I gave them a full taste of kiwiana when i decided to do a full blown haka for them in the middle of the bar. It was wicked, they seemed to thing so too. First International Haka :)

Sun 1st April - I didnt really do much through the day apart from a but of walking around and going to a few shops. I meet up with Aren at around 5:30pm and he drove us over to the stadium. I still didn’t really know this guy but it wasn’t long before i felt as though i had known him for ages. We had a bit of trouble finding a park but eventually got into the stadium just in time for the Pre Start. The game was awesome and the Portland TrailBlazers ended up winning the game convincingly. Yaaaahooooo. First NBA game. After the game we were both pretty pumped up and we were chatting away like nothing else which caused us to miss our turnoff. After none stop laughing and about 30mins of driving in circles we came across the ADIDAS head office buildings which had humongous pair of sneakers out in the front courtyard. This quickly became our next point point of attention, so we quickly parked up and ran down check these things out. It was hilarious, both of us thought it was the biggest joke as we started climbing all over them which our shoes off of course. It wasn’t long before we were approached by security asking us to get down off the shoes. I was so caught up in the moment i replied by saying “i really like these, but do you have any in an 8?” haha, then asked if she would take a picture for us…… i think that really caught her off guard. On our way home we stumbled across a small park downtown which we pulled over to check out. It was really beautifully done with a funky art theme to it. Aren had bought a new skateboard that day, so this became the next thing on the agenda. So both of us started tearing it up around this park in the middle of the night. I was super stoked to be on a skateboard again, and i think he was pretty stoked to be skating with someone. Both of us were hooting, just way too much fun.

2012-03-28

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2012-03-27

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Birthday song at Red Robbin

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Seattle

March 27^th 2012

After having some of the beautiful cake that Nikki and Caleb kindly whipped up as my farewell gift at12:30am….ON THE DAY IM LEAVING, we finally got to bed. Alarms (5 alarms) were set, bags were packed and I was ready for the next part of the journey. Thankfully I had used multiple items for alarms as it wasn’t until the third alarm that any sound was made. My iPod decided not to work, so it was the trusty NEW iPad which woke me…..starting my day 15 minutes later then I was hoping. Up and out of bed at 4:45am in a mad rush and downstairs to do the final bits of my packing up, make some lunch and then the taxi had arrived at 5:10am on the dot. He was very friendly and was quite happy to wait another couple minutes for me to do my final running around and a quick goodbye with a rather distant looking Caleb and Nikki. Even though I didn’t have a choice as there was no public transport running at this time, im so glad I got a taxi. It made it so easy to just get in and next thing I knew I was there bang on time at5:40amoutside Pacific Central Station. There was a man standing just inside the doors who was giving directions and he had my ticket for me, filled out a quick declaration card for the border then over to an overly bubbly lady who did the first check of passports and allocated me with my seat. Quick check by the border officers with no issues this time, quick bag x-ray then out onto the platform. I had to check in my bag, and I figured it would be similar to the airport. But literally a guy walked over and picked up my bag, gave it a bit of a wiggle around and that was their weighing system. I got them to take a picture of me in front of the train which they thought was pretty funny. I then got to walk to the far end of the train, past all the coach passengers which felt so cool, all the way down to BUSINESS CLASS BABY! I had it pretty sweet. There was only the one row of seats on my side, so I didn’t have anyone trying to climb over me to get to the loo. First things first, connected to the WiFi and plug in the laptop and away I go and that was basically me for the trip. I was just trying to catch up on the blog, regularly distracted by the scenery which hindered my productivity a wee bit but it was awesome. Going through small towns, past farms, over bridges, through tunnels, seeing mountains with snow on. Really cool. Departed at6:50am, reached the U.S border at8:05amand arrived inSeattleat11:05am. Inside David was waiting for me which was awesome, grabbed my bag and we were out into it. He took me straight to an area downtown where it seams all the attractions are. We were only just getting out of the car to go have a walk around, then oo oh…..somethings missing. Not in that bag, not in that bag, yea its on the train. “Hey David, I think I left something on the train.” “Is it important?” “ Ahhh yeah………kinda…..” So we jumped back in the car and raced back to the station. The guys behind the help desk had a bit of a chuckle when I told them what had happened. Nothing teaches you faster then a mistake and it always helps when someone is looking over you and has your back. I think Nana Joe was with me on this one because it was an absolute miracle. The guy comes back with my travel wallet. All my U.S money, credit cards and both my passports. What a way to startSeattleoff with a bang. Few……big sigh of relief. Man that was a close one. From here me and David went to Beechers to get some world famous Macaroni and Cheese(deliciously phenomenal, aparently Oprah specially orders this stuff), then had my photo outside the very first StarBucks Est 1971, then back down the street to Pike Place Market where all the fish throwing goes on. We also walked down post alley and went to see the Chewing gum walls. All of these places are literally a stones throw away from each other. We then made our way to pick upErinas she had just finished work and then headed home. We just hung out for a bit and talked about what I should be doing with my time here. They organised to have dinner withErin’s parents andErin’s sister at a Mexican restaurant where this family is treated as royalty because they go there so often. We had jalapeño margarita’s, shared stories and laughs. They are such a cool and easy family to get on with, similar to my family in a way that they are all best mates rather then a normal family. Erin mentioned to the waitress’ that it had been my birthday recently so next thing i knew i had a big hat on my head, a cake with a candle and they all started singing happy birthday. Birthday Day 3. It was soo funny. The meal was PHENOMENAL! From here we made our way home and stopped off at Chucks - Home of 1000 beers. Its a little convenience store which actually has 1000 different beers in stock. We got some local Produce and something i might like in Portland. Back at home we settled into a couple beers and watched some ‘New Girl’ which is a T.V programme and could possibly be my new favourite.

March 28th 2012

I woke up around 9ish after a very good sleep, Stephanie made me a PHENOMENAL fruit smoothie. I then made my way down the road to the bus station where i caught the bus to downtown. Experience.Music.Project….WOW! This place was simply PHENOMENAL! The building itself is something very hard to describe, considering parts of it were designed with the influence of smashed up Stratocasters. I wished i could’ve had my fellow McDaniel’s There to experience this place with me. First room was a massive 40ft by 70ft screen showing clips of artists/bands and behind the scenes of Avatar. I spent almost an hour in the Jimi Hendrix room which was full of handwritten lyrics, photos, clothing, guitars, video clips, music and a huge musical timeline. Then there was the Nirvana room. I saw the guitar that Kirk Cobain played when they first played “Smells like Teen Spirit” live. The Guitar room which had 50 guitars and amps with a write up on each, some dating back to the 1800’s. The humongous instrument sculpture had guitars, pianos which were completely rigged up so they were actually playing music. PHENOMENAL! Then there was another area that had interviews and articles with people of all different decades and different genres with a huge variety of connections to music. Upstairs was what really blew me away. There was heaps of little booths setup with different instruments in that you could go in and play/record/learn. Guitars,drums, keyboards, vocals, dj setup, mixing, editing. It was actually mind blowing how cool this place was. I was so stoked to play on a guitar again. I was playing a Fender Strat through a mini Marshall Quad stack. I cranked it up to the max and rocked out. I also had a bash away on the drums. It was so fun getting my instrumental fix again. Down in the basement was all about Horror films, there was little booths set up with clips of films and reviews. Pretty cool. I really didnt want to leave this place. I went up to the guy at the front desk and had a small rant about how much i enjoyed my visit and he gave me a small badge and a sticker for free. So after about 6 hours i figured i better start heading home as i thought Erin and David might be getting worried. I actually didnt want to leave, they had couches everywhere so you just chill out and watch music clips. I was completely buzzing. By this stage it was almost 5:30pm so i deffinately got my $15 worth. I had a quick bite at McDonalds, then got lost for a bit, then on the bus and home. Not long after i got home Erin and David arrived. They then took me to Dicks which is a simple/cheap fastfood takeout place that has been unchanged and around forever. I loved the retro theme.

March 29th 2012

I had a bit of a sleep in then Stephanie had arranged to take me out for breakfast. We went to her favourite place called Roxys. I had their speciality bagel breakfast with a bagel on the side. Yummy. She then took me to see the Fremont Troll which is a Sculpture under a bridge. A small group of kids on a class trip there at the time and just as i was climbing up to have my photo taken a little boy walked over and put his hand out, so i picked him up and was going to get a photo with him. Lets just say his mother didnt seem to impressed. Me and David then went into town to meet up with Erin and her workmates to have sushi for lunch which was really nice. I told them about my night at tims 22nd when i was drinking my massive Asahi beer and i how i thought it had something magical in it so we all decided it would be a good idea to have an Asahi beer. David then took me down to Pike Place Market again to get my Seattle souvenirs. He insisted i tried the other type of Beechers Mac N Cheese so we did. I think i could get used to this American way of life. 10:30am big breakfast, 12:00pm big lunch, 1:00pm more lunch. We went up the Columbia Tower for a lookout over the city and had a quick look at CenturyLink Stadium (Soccer/Football). We picked up Erin from Work and headed home to chill out for a bit. Later on Erin, Stephanie and i headed into town to go for the Underground City Tour. This was the tour that they told you of all the things the city wouldn’t want you to know about. It was amazing and mind boggling to think about how this place used to be as we were walking around on what used to be the first floor. We had an amazing tour guide called Dan. We were lucky enough to get the bonus extra of hanging out with Dan after the tour and this lead to some pretty funny funny photos. I picked the guy up in my arms. It was hilarious. After this we when up to Kerry Park to get a beautiful view of the city with the Space Needle as the centre focal point. Phenomenal.

Im soo glad i came to visit Seattle. Erin, David and Stephanie were just fantastic. They made me feel so welcome and made sure they spoilt me whenever they got the chance. They were all so stoked to talk about travelling with me and i cant wait to return the favour to them whenever i have the chance. Thank you for everything. And only one world can sum up my time in Seattle…….. PHENOMENAL!

Right now i feel like im on top of the world. Right now i truly feel like the world is an oyster which is mine. Right now THIS IS COMPLETELY AWESOME!

2012-03-26

2012-03-19

Snowboard City

19th March - Rhys, Caleb and i were up at 6am to get our stuff together, out the door and on the road by 7 heading for Whistler Mountain. I had been in contact with Kelly who is a close family friend that has been working there for the last 2.5 years. It was a really cool drive up there along highway 99 which was built for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The road swerved in and out and around the hills and gorges with more and more snow all around the further along the trip we got. With a slight delay and small disorientation we managed to find our way to Kelly’s place where she didn’t even hesitate to give us our passes for the day. WOW did she make our day. Thanks again Kelly. She wasn’t quite ready, so we headed for the mountain and arranged to meet her later on. I was completely blown away by the sheer size of this place and there is two of them right next to each other. Whistler and Blackcomb Mountain. Up the mountain we went in a 6/7 person booth. Then onto another lift and we were out in the beautiful scenery. It was an incredible Blue Bird sunny day. The snow was fresh and we were as ready as we could be. This place has 475 runs. Its just mind boggling when you come from a mountain that has about 15. It wasnt long into the day that i had a slight gear failure, which i managed to jimi rig up a temporary fix which got me through the day. Later in the day we meet up with Kelly, her Boyfriend and some of his mates who we rode with for the rest of the day. It was an awesome day and i cant wait to go back there to explore some more. Snowboard Day 16

20th March - In the morning me and Rhys went to a snowboard shop where i had my ratchet replaced. We had an interesting moment on our way home, turning into on coming traffic on a one way street. Whoopsie! Once we made it home we got our stuff together and hit the road and headed for Mount Seymour. Unfortunately the visibility wasn’t that good but the snow was ok, so we just went hard and did our best to make the most of our passes. I was throwing down a few McFlips which ended up leaving me a bit battered, bruised and none the wiser… Snowboard Day 17

21st March - I decided to make the most of the fine weather so i went into downtown Vancouver, rented a bike and rode around Stanley Park. It was really cool riding right by the waters edge and getting different view points back at North Vancouver, the harbour and the mountains. Right in the middle of Stanley Park is the famous Vancouver Aquarium which i visited. It was an amazing place with some really amazing ways of housing the huge variety of animals. It was a bit sad seeing the bigger animals though, like the Beluga Whales which were repeatedly doing loops and also seeing the old enclosure where the Polar Bears used to live. Not very nice at all. I then headed home had some food and decided to head up Grouse Mountain for a couple hours. Snowboard Day 18

22nd March - Some of the flatties and their mates had decided to have an opposite’s day up the mountain where they would all trade in their snowboards for ski’s or vice versa, so i decided to join in which ended up being a really fun afternoon. There was quite a few of us all flying around not really knowing what we were doing but having an absolute blast in the process. I was doing anything i could to go as fast as i could would made good entertainment for the rest of the group following. My legs were buggered afterwards as it uses a completely different muscle group. Awesome fun and good for a laugh, but im still a snowboarder through and through. Skiing Day 1 / 19

23 March - There was a snowboard comp on up the Grouse Mountain, so i headed up with Rhys. Friday was the amateur comp and Saturday was for the pro’s. It was really well set up with ridiculously huge jumps and a beer garden with the cool dj beats cranking. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky, so it was really quite something of a view. After the comp finished we went snowboarding for a good few hours then headed home. We went into town later on with Nikki and Caleb which ended up being a bit of a messy one on my behalf but it was good fun all in all. But boy boy did i have to face the consequences. Snowboarding Day 20

24th March - I was in a bad space. I was upset, tired, sore and hungover…….BAD COMBINATION. Poor Caleb and Rhys had to put up with me. For some reason i became a bit of a mute for the first half of the day and tried to let the boys know that i was miserable and packing a sad without saying anything at all. Im glad i can look back and laugh at the situation now. Later in the day i did cheer up and ended up really enjoying the final day of the snowboard comp and the afternoon snowboarding with the gang. Snowboarding Day 21

25th March - Rhys and i went snowboarding up grouse in the afternoon. The snow was really nice and slushy as it had been a warm weekend. It was a really beautiful sunset also which was really nice. Snowboarding Day 22

26th March - Had a pretty chilled out morning until i realised that i was to be departing Vancouver tomorrow….. Then all hell broke loose. I began a frantic run all over the house collecting my stuff that i had so casually spread out everywhere. I managed to get my it all under control and headed up the mountain for my final ride with Caleb and Nikki. I was really fun as we were all pushing each other pretty hard. We were all having a go at the McFlips and i came pretty close to nailing it in the end but i think Nikki would have to take 1st place on her 4th attempt. BUGGER! Video to be released shortly. This was my 8th Day on the mountain in a row and my 23rd all up. Im so stoked with what i managed to get done while i was there. I cant wait to go boarding again already.

2012-03-17

Birthday Day 2

Saturday March 17th - Saint Paddy’s Day

The day started with a nice little sleep in and a body slam birthday hug from Caleb and Nikki. I spent the morning just chilling at home on the couch reading bday messages and doing bugger all. Later in the day Nick, Jenna and I went on a hunt for some green St Patricks day gear. After a couple shops i had a green visor hat, green Hawaiian lay, green hand cuffs, green glow sticks and a green horn. By now time was getting on so we hurried home to quickly get dressed up and have a few drinks before heading back down to Red Robbin for dinner with the crew. We were all getting into the spirit of things and drinking special green Canadian beers. I had the Bonzai burger which was absolutely delicious. Next thing i know a small group of the staff had gathered next to our table. I was asked to rise and stand on the seat, then i was given a baloon and special birthday boy icecream. He then asked my name, how old i was and if it was alright if he asked few people around us to join in with a song. then at the top of his lungs ” CAN I HAVE THE ATTENTION OF THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT, MACKA HERE IS CELEBRATING HIS 22ND BIRTHDAY” and they started singing. It was awesome. From here we jumped on a bus to head home for some more drinks, then into town. Plenty of life in town, with almost everyone participating by dressing up in some form or another. I ended up selling some of my toys to a guy busking outside a club and even in the fine form that i was in i managed to talk these toys up and that they would make him more money. Lets just say a made a huge profit on them. Yuss I also meet another couple who’s name’s i cant remember but they were awesome. I spoke to them for probably the most part of an hour. Talk all about Vancouver and my trip. They ended up drawing a map for me, telling me where i needed to go and they both gave me their numbers. haha i must have made a good impression. Doing NZ proud and setting a fine example.