There are a LOT of events, do not stick around only in the first zone. If you find yourself repeating events, move onto somewhere else in the zone or a different zone entirely.
Also always keep an eye open on the big map for unlocked adventures! Adventures give pretty good XP and are a LOT of fun.
So stop grinding, it is self inflicted. Play the game, play different events and do adventures.
Also if you have hero points from from the old zones, you do not even need to get any of the difficult masteries to unlock your elite spec. I got mine within 2 days and all i needed was gliding, updraft gliding and mushroom jumping.