I'M BACK!!!!

well i'm back in good old grants pass!!!!
last time i was in rotorua, had another day exploring the geothermal wonderland. lots of hot springs and steam. more bus travel to lake taupo (again), had to transfer buses to get back to auckland... no more magic bus, had to take a city bus, so no cool stops as highlights, just straight city to city. mostly just watched the office on my ipod. made it to town about 8:30, hostel closed its office at 9...so had to rush...barely made it... a lot tougher walk around town with 20 pounds strapped to your back. caught up with the hostel crew.
saturday took it easy, went and picked up my extra luggage in storage and sorted my stuff in prep for the flight. i brought way too much stuff. worried because i heard theres a 20 kg limit! i have about 35kg. later went out to the rugby game...me and 3 other french people. game was pretty exciting, heard it was one of the worst games, but i spent most of the time figuring out what was going on. really enjoyed the pre-game haka, a maori chant to intimidate the enemy. went out after the game to a couple bars...well mostly one, 2 for 1 drinks made it a really fun night. tried to go to other bars, but my shoes (black chucks) weren't up to code and i got tured away at the door, felt bad for the guys i was with.
sunday slept in from the long night. and was alittle sad, started to sink in it was my last day. spent most of the day at the zoo, it was a great zoo. and best of all saw penguins up close and not behind glass, i could have grabbed one and tucked it in my shirt. cute little blue penguins, smallest species and indigenous to new zealand. that night had a little going away party for me and romain, who is also left the next day. mostly a french party, me and 2 french guys and 2 french girls. lots of vino and crepes (no joke) david made a mountain of crepes, very tasty.
monday, day of departure!!! my flight wasn't till 7, so i just hung out till about 3 before catching the bus to the airport. went for a coffee with jenny, the swedish girl, and then went souvenir shopping, emptied my checking account and still had $80 to spend. forgot to remember to save money for the bus though...grrr! went back to backpacker, wasted a little more time, made some food, said my goodbye and took the bus to the airport. made a few calls with my left over calling card minutes. had a burger and got on my 12 hr flight. watched a couple movies, nothing too good. slept for a couple hours, missed breakfast. arrived in san fran noonish...medford flight not till 4. got my cell phone working, called a couple people to say i'm back in the USA. napped a little at the gate, missed out on the call for volunteers for a free round trip ticket to wait for another flight. should have took it but i really wanted to go home.
well...thats about it, made it back to medford, mom was very happy to see me, went out to dinner with mom and dad, kaleidoscope pizza!!! then back home, ran though my photos real quick, showed the skydive video and they went to bed and i stayed up late trying to orginize my pics...only have 15 or 16 hundred or so.... still working on it. also downloading office and heroes episodes i missed to catch up on...
tonight went to dinner with the parents, its their 31 anniversary....now back to work with the photos. need to narrow them down to a couple hundred, make a dvd slide show and also pick which i want to print out....this might take weeks...and at some point i really want to finish my journal, or maybe blog it...or scrap book... and theres still my europe journal i never got around to finishing.