I got back into San Diego last Friday and have been slowly getting back into the swing of things.

My last days in New Zealand after leaving Stratford near Mt. Taranaki saw me spending an oh-so-exciting evening in not-so-beautiful Hamilton, New Zealand’s largest inland city. It really reminded me of Modesto - a bunch of bored farm kids racing their crappy cars up and down the main drag.

After escaping the yawning clutches of Hamilton, I had half a day before I needed to get on an aircraft in Auckland, so on a whim I decided to head up to the Coromandel Peninsula just east of Auckland. It’s a bit of an “alternative lifestyle” mecca according to the Lonely Planet, which translates into “Patchouli-stink new-age hippies” and surf bums. My kind of slackers. The scenery was incredible, and I’m bummed I didn’t start my trip out there. I wandered around the town of Thames for a bit, then headed out across the Peninsula on a windy-twisty road to Tairua and Ocean Beach, where I watched the surfers enjoy the indian summer weather.

Then it was off to Auckland and the airport. I waved goodbye to New Zealand and began the long trip home, all the while wishing I wasn’t.