My last days in New Zealand.

Well everyone, the time has finally come to say goodbye to New Zealand.  Yesterday was my last full day here, and it really made me realize how much I'm going to miss being over here.  Anyway, I'll give you a debriefing on yesterday.

I woke up around 11a, hung out in the room and did some stuff on the internet, then around 130pish, headed towards downtown to (hopefully) find this Japanese restaurant called Renkon that's supposed to be reaaaaaaally good.  After carefully reading every cross street ( I was looking for Kingston), I finally decided to go into a souvenir shop to look for stuff I wanted and hopefully get some directions.  On my list to get for today before I fly back to the US was one of those round ball sheep, a kiwi bird (both stuffed animals), some Rotorua soap that my mom had asked for, and, approximately, a ton of Tim Tams.  So I go into this first place and find a (kinda) reasonably priced sheep, and (not so reasonably priced) soap, yay!!  So I buy it, and ask for directions, to which the girl looks at me funny and says, "sorry, I don't know street."  Umm, what?  It seems like if you lived in a city, you'd kinda have a grasp of the streets.  Whatever.  So onto the next place, which didn't have anything I wanted, so whatever.  I turn the corner, and in a distance I see "A Okay Souvenir Shop," so I figured I might as well check it out.  Upon entry, I realize it's a bit more than "okay," in fact it's really nice, and they have the a kiwi!  Not exactly the one I wanted, which I should've bought in Akorua (the only place I've seen it), but oh well, this one's adorable, even if it's not completely accurate (the Kiwi has tiny wings, and real Kiwi don't have wings at all [not even the remnant bones of them, like you know how whales still have "feet" or whatever]).

At this point it's around 230p, maybe later, and yesterday Mom said that I should go on one of the sailing tours that's offered by the company that raced in America's Cup, so I decided to head over there and check it out.  Unfortunately I had already missed the sailing trip on the actual America's Cup boat, but they still had the Coffee Tour available that was departing in 4 minutes, and I could get it with a 10% discount if I don't have any brownies.  It would still be on a sailboat, just not the America's Cup one, which was fine with me (the boat was a 50+ foot beautiful sailboat.... I want one [wood please! hah]).  So I hop on, am told the coffee and tea is free, sweet! get a cup of tea, and we depart from the harbour.  On the boat with me was a couple from Spain (I'm pretty sure it was Spain....), another couple from Houston, Texas (but had been traveling around for so long that they basically said that most recently they were from Australia) that had two little boys, a guy from North Carolina, a woman from Australia, and another couple from Australia.  After leaving the docks and getting out into the harbour and open water, they released the sails and turned off the engine, and for the next hour or so, we were coasting purely by wind.  It was amazing.  They asked for a volunteer, and after no one responded I said, "Um, I mean I'll do it."  And thus was how I became the first person on the boat to steer, woot!  It was totally awesome and I didn't even think of taking a picture I was so stoked, how lame!  But I could definitely get used to sailing.... maybe I'll take that sailing class offered by UCSC this quarter or something.

Anyway, I'm totally glad I decided to go on the sailing tour because I definitely was a bit apprehensive, but it was soooo worth it and I had a really good time.  Thank you Mom and Dad!  After getting off the boat, I headed back towards a bus stop that would take me to a Pak 'N Save (the 312), and on the way there saw a great souvenir shop that only sold stuff made in NZ, apparently.  So I went in and had a look around, at which time I stumbled upon honey.  Now, honey is kinda a big deal in NZ, and most books will tell you that you HAVE to try/buy some honey while over here, so I decided to buy a little pot of each flavor: Manuka (the healing one, and most famous in NZ), Rewarewa, Kamahi (I think), and just some good ol' clover honey.  So, I'm excited about trying each one, even though they've added some weight to my checked luggage.... I hope I'm not over the weight limit, I'm dreading checking my luggage in tonight!!  At the same store I also got one of those balance wine holder things.  The Paua (abalone) options for inlays were the Kiwi bird, the silver fern, a map of NZ, a dot, or the koru.  I went with the silver fern because I don't think I've gotten anything with it on it yet, and it's crazy how much the silver fern represents NZ and how much you see it every day over here.  So yeah, I got that as well, and I found the MOST AMAZING greenstone piece, that I was IMMEDIATELY drawn to.  It was crazy, I was just like, OH MY GOD, I need that.  I'm not sure who I'm going to give it to yet (definitely a boy, but I don't think Brad would want it, and Dad doesn't wear necklaces haha, and I already got a fishhook for Taylor.... if he likes this one more he can have it.  Maybe Ean).  So yeah I definitely went over the checklist thing, but oh well, I like what I got and think everyone who gets something will too.

After the souvenir place I headed towards the bus stop that the 312 passed, and on the way there I saw the 312 stopping at a bus stop that was literally 10 feet away, so I jumped on, yay less walking! haha.  I had not clue which stop would be mine, so I told the bus driver I was goign to the Pak 'N Save in Royal Oak, and he said, "no problem!  Jump on!"  After about a 30 minute bus ride (I was getting anxious that I might miss my stop, hah) the bus driver told me the next stop would be mine.  I got off, crossed the street to the Pak 'N Save, bought two Mangosteen, then hunted down the Tim Tams.  It's crazy how much you save by not buying them at tiny little corner stores; usually the single row ones cost something like $3.50-$4, but at Pak 'N Save, they were like $3.20 or something for a double row one.  So yeah, I got five. hahahahahah.  My bags are stuffed to the fluff, it's hilarious, but sooooo worth it.  Then I walked down three bus stops just because the bus wasn't going to there for another 20 minutes and I didn't really wanna stand around that long, then caught the 19- Midtown around 6:30 or 7p.  Finally I got back to Queen St. and immediately headed to the Indian food restaurant that has the best Indian food in the world.  I ordered a Samosa Chat (not sure what the Chat means), chicken korma (medium heat), garlic paratha, and a glass of Gisborne Gewürztraminer.  The food was delicious, albeit a bit too hot, but I definitely enjoyed it and took the other half (along with another order of garlic paratha) for lunch the next day.  After that I headed back to the hostel and did some more stuff online, read a magazine, talked with my roommates, and just hung out for the rest of the night.

Now today, Friday, I've already checked out and am just hanging out, waiting for my shuttle to pick me up around 3p.  I'm looking forward to lunch ( :  I leave AKL at 7:30 pm today, and arrive in SFO at 12:45 pm..... today. haha.  So I'll have fun time traveling today.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL!!  SEE YOU IN JUST A FEW DAYS ( :

From Greymouth to Christchurch to Auckland!

Since my last post I've done quite a bit of traveling in quite a limited amount of time.  So, yesterday morning I woke up at 9a to pack all of my things up, then checked out of the best hostel ever.  This hostel is obviously the best because Steve was just like, "yeah you can put your bags in the lounge and hang out or just take a walk.  Just make sure you're back here at 1230 and we'll drive you to the train station."  Seeing as I had bought a week's worth of internet from IAC (the provider that is YHA's and the best hostel ever's provider), I hung around in the lounge and did some stuff online that needed doing.  Once 1230p rolled around, I headed outside to wait for Steve and Charlie to get ready; as soon as I stepped outside, I realized that it was POURING rain (well, not really pouring), which I definitely wasn't expecting.  So, on my coat went, and then it was time to load up my bags and go to the station.  Once there, Steve pointed me in the right direction and I thanked him for everything, then I went and checked my bags and waited for the train.  After about an hour of waiting, I boarded the train, and off we went.  The TranzScenic rail on the specific line I was traveling on is, apparently, one of the most beautiful train rides in the world.  It really was beautiful, and we passed through fields, mountains, hills, rivers-- everything, and it was incredibly beautiful.  The snow-capped mountains and the cow-dotted fields were incredible, as were the ghost towns and ex-railway boom towns that we passed.  After a 20 minute ride through a tunnel we came to Arthur's Pass, then started our descent to the other side of the Alps.  This side was mostly farm land and brownish fields (in parts), and felt quite familiar to me, as my family and I traveled through country like this on our way down to Christchurch.  Anyway, the closer we got to Christchurch, the darker it became; by the time we arrived, night had fallen.  Once there, I hopped on a $5 shuttle to X Base, at which point I met up with Gemma.  After talking for a while, we headed out to eat and ended up at an Indian food restaurant, which was quite yummy ( :  After dinner we headed back to Base, figured out the bus situation to the airport for me, then we watched my skydiving video.  We were about to watch the bungy video when we realized that is was 838p and the bus would be leaving the stop in two minutes, yikes!  So we ran down the stairs, got my bags, and started our run across Cathedral Square to the bus stop.  Luckily, I got to the bus right as it had shut its doors, and was able to get on the bus, thanks to the nice bus driver.  After a bunch of goodbyes, a hug, and $7, I was off on my way to CHC.  I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, thankfully, checked in, checked my luggage, then checked through security and sat at my gate until it was time to board.  My flight was pretty good, a bit ghetto fabulous, considering I was flying Jet Star (only $39!), and albeit the complete BRAT that sat behind me and kicked my seat and yelled in my face the entire time, mostly peaceful.  hah.  I switched seats a few times to avoid the kid, but I swear, she was on me like the plague, and the worst part-- THE MOM DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!  I hate bad parents, I mean, keep your kids in check, man.  Anyway, I was starting to doze off when we started to make our descent, so I stayed up.  After landing, getting my luggage, and finding the shuttle I was booked with, I was headed towards Auckland.  The driver kinda messed up my dropoff and I ended up being the last off the shuttle, even though we had already passed the city, but he was really sorry about it and helped me right to the door of the YHA- City.  A really nice guy was working the front desk of the YHA at 120a, and was helpful in opening the door and checking me in and everything.  Anyway, I got to my room, made my bed, got ready for bed, and hopped in for some much needed sleep.

The next day my roommates got up early, but I tried to sleep in.  Finally, thinking it was probably around 1p, I woke up, only to find out it was like, 1040a.  What a rip off!  After hanging out on the internet for awhile talking to Mom and Dad, I headed out to have a walk around downtown Auckland.  I walked down to the harbour, checked out some souvenir shops, and stumbled on an AWESOME (by NZ standards) music shop called "Real Groovy," where I spent waaaaaaaaaaaay too much money, but oh well, I've been deprived.  I bought re-arrange us by Mates of State, Puzzles like you by Mojave 3, Fur and Gold by Bat for Lashes, March of the Zapotec and realpeople Holland by Beirut, and Oracular Spectacular by MGMT.  After that I headed back to the YHA, skyped Ean, talked with my roommates, then went out to find something to eat.  I ended eating at the self-acclaimed best Turkish place in all of Auckland, haha, which was actually pretty good, but definitely wasn't the best souvlaki I've had before (Christchurch, you win).  Anyway, now I've mostly been hanging out at the hostel, and am going to go to bed soon.  Tomorrow is my last full day in New Zealand, I can't believe it!  It's crazy, and definitely a bit depressing, but I'm ready to come home.  I love you all.

fire alarms and one more note about Franz Josef, oh and the best hostel EVER!

Alright, we'll start off with fire alarms.  Since I've been in New Zealand, the grand total of unnecessary fire alarms set off where I'm staying is THREE.  That's crazy; I don't think I have ever experienced this high of a fire alarm frequency, ever.  The first one, as aforementioned in another post, was while I was staying at the YHA Wellington with my parents and Brad.  That sucked; it was super early, and I was tired.  The second one happened just about a week ago at the X Base Queenstown, at around 1 or 2a; luckily I had just gotten back from a bar or something and was hanging out with everyone in the room, so I wasn't quite asleep yet (though on the verge, I will say).  This was probably the most funny one, just because Robert the security guard was INCREDIBLY pissed that someone had pulled it, and was walking up the stairs yelling, "WHOEVER DID THIS IS GOING TO GET IT, I SWEAR.  WE'LL GET YOU."  Then, when they told us we could go back inside (30-45 minutes later, lame), they yelled that they needed to speak to whoever was in 303.  Apparently after that they arrested some guy that had pulled it, which is hilarious, and totally deserving.  My theory is that he was affiliated with Ferg Burger and the only reason it was pulled was for Ferg to get more business that night, seeing as how a ridiculous amount of people that were woken up and shoved out of Base immediately went over there (hilarious).  And now (and definitely the most random/ridiculous) was two days ago at the Rainforest Retreat.  I had just gotten into Franz Josef, checked into my room and gone to the bathroom, when, lo and behold, the fire alarm goes off?  I was like, really?  Reeeeeeeally?  It was only something like 3p, so it was totally random and out of left field.  Everyone was just like, what's going on? and were completely not taking it seriously, it was actually pretty funny.  I walked outside onto the balcony (I was on the second floor) and the owner is out there going from room to room, in a hunt to find out where the off-switch was.  So, I went downstairs, walked over to the kitchen while he went upstairs to turn it off, and after about a minute, it was all over.  It was hilarious, just because everyone knew it wasn't real, no fire trucks showed up anyway, and the owner was just great.  So yeah.  Maybe I'll get one last one before I leave on Friday.  That'd be great.

Oh, and I remembered one thing about my glacier hike at Franz Josef; right as we were coming up to the actual glacier from the valley and sitting down to strap on our crampons, a HUGE chunk of ice decided to just fall of the front of the glacier.  It was nuts.  It made such a loud craaaaack prghhhhhhh! sound, I literally jumped back and yelled, haha.  Then AJ was like, yeah that probably weighs a couple of tons, easily, which is why you'll be following me today and not just running about on the glacier on your own.  It was NUTS.  Seriously.  But totally awesome and one of the best parts about the hike, I just wish I had it on video.

So today I arrived in Greymouth at around 1230p, where the bus driver told me that this "good guy" that owns Neptune's Hostel has a shuttle and should be here in a few minutes.  So I waited for the Neptune guy, whose name is Steve (and his girlfriend? wife? sister? business associate? Charlie), who took me to his hostel.  This hostel is seriously THE BEST HOSTEL I've stayed in so far.  For starters, there's no bunk beds, just regular beds, which seems like something small, but when you're a backpacker for an extended period of time, is so nice.  The next thing on the list is the fact that Steve is AWESOME, totally hilarious and a really likable guy.  Thirdly, it's only $23, which is great, especially seeing as how I'm DEFINITELY running out of money, and fast (I blame you, Queenstown).  There's also a free hot tub, a VAST amount of movies, a FREE SHUTTLE TO THE TRAIN STATION (awesome, if you couldn't tell already), a beautiful view out the window, and free towels!  Oh, and the best part?  At 4p, Steve brings back bakery items from some connection, haha, every weekday.  And it's FREE.  So yeah, there's also free food here.  Which is awesome.  I haven't paid for any food for something like the past 3 days.  Which is great (well, I paid for it at the grocery store.... I just haven't gone out to eat).

Oh and by the way, how did the Ice Queen or whatever from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe lure that kid into her with Turkish Delight?  Because they sell it over here, and I finally bought a bar today, and I can tell you right now, it's HORRIBLE.  What a dumb kid.

Franz Josef Glacier

HOLY BUJESUS.  Okay I'm gonna start from the beginning.  I woke up this morning at about 810a so I would have plenty of time to get ready and make a sandwich and whatnot, which I did (the sandwich was bomb.com).  Then I walked over to the main street of Franz Josef and hung out with a girl I had met on the bus yesterday that ended up on the same hike as me.  Once they started getting the 915a group ready we went over to the store.  I was then outfitted with rain pants ("trousers"), a big blue windbreaker (Smurf!), some wool socks, and some super soaked boots (size 5? weird).  So yeah, I was basically looking pretty freaking hot.  You'll see in the pictures, which will be soon in the coming (less than a week, I promises).  After we were all geared up and had signed a waiver or the likes we all hopped on a bus, which took us to a national park where the hike commenced.  After veering off the main path to one that said "Danger, do not go past this point if unguided or inexperienced," we finally came out to the valley floor of where the glacier was (some 2.4km away from us at that point).  There was a stream/river running through it and the mountains rising up on either sides were covered in rainforest and waterfalls.  It was beautiful, especially with a giant glacier staring me in the face a distance away.  At this point we broke up into three groups: Group 1- faster pace, smaller steps, for people in good condition and whatnot; Group 2- a bit slower, wider steps, for people somewhere in the middle; and Group 3- slow pace, wide steps, for people not feeling so great today.  I immediately thought, crap man, I am absolutely POSITIVE that I am not in good condition, but then the Canadian girl (Ashley, I believe) was like, let's be in Group 1 because I hear the other two groups suck to be in.  So it was decided.  I would be in Group 1, which was only about 10 or so people large.  We met our guide for the day, AJ, who talked a bit about what we would be doing, then we took off ahead of Groups 2 and 3 at a pretty good clip to reach the glacier before them.  Once at the glacier, we strapped on our crampons, aka chunky spikes, to our feet, had a snack, then started our climb up the glacier face, which at that point was mostly just rubble and rock.  It was really steep and, for me, pretty hard as far as physicality goes.  Finally we made it up on the ice, where we kept climbing, climbing, climbing, until we reached the "ice flats," where we broke for lunch.  At this point it was about 1230p, so we had already been hiking for two hours, at least.  It was nuts, and I have absolutely no problem in telling you that I had a very very difficult time and that the first half of it sucked.  Like, absolutely sucked.  After about 30 minutes (maybe more) of lunch, we packed up and headed towards the really blue stuff, which was higher up the glacier.  For the next four hours we hiked up a bit beyond the halfway point of the glacier (it's something like 220 meters deep at that point-- nuts), and then hiked back down, which didn't take more than an hour.  However, the four hours after lunch were absolutely incredible; the ice was so blue, and our group took a path that, apparently, only one other group had ever taken, then veered off even that path and started cutting our own steps.  AJ was a great guide and I'm definitely glad I had him.  On the hikes after lunch we crawled through a TINY ice cave, which was super wet (and ended the use of my gloves, COLDNESS!), were constantly between huge, sheer ice cliffs that formed tiny passageways for us to walk through, and were climbing up and over, then across, huge ice valleys.  It was so amazing.  At one point we had to stand around for about 20 minutes while AJ cut an entire new stairway for us to use (with a rope, of course) which was super steep and crazy, but it all worked out in the end, and once we got moving again we all were able to warm up our toesies.  After about 20 more minutes of hiking since the delay, we finally came out beyond the point that most full-day hikes go.  The views were absolutely incredible and the massiveness, power and strength of the glacier could never be put into words or shown in a picture, it's just that impressive.  The walk back down was super easy-- totally not hard at ALL.  I'm so so so glad that I pushed myself and decided to be in Group 1 because it was totally worth it and I'm still alive, albeit a bit tired and sore.  Yeah, I was in the back for the most part during the first half, but who cares?  Once up in the higher parts it was fine.  What amazed me was, once we made it up to the top, how far we had actually come since lunch.  I have a picture of our guide (kinda) pointing to where we ate lunch, and it's just soooo far down and far away from where we ended up, I was really quite amazed as to how high we had climbed and how much glacier we had covered, especially since I thought the second half of the trip was about a bazillion times easier.  So yeah, the physical strain was totally worth it and felt SO rewarding, I'm really quite proud of myself for accomplishing this.  I'm definitely looking forward to relaxing in the hot tub tonight at the hostel, and will have advil close at hand tomorrow during my ride up to Greymouth, haha.  I hope everyone is doing well!

Goodbye Queenstown, you stole my heart.

So, Queenstown is basically the San Francisco of New Zealand; I'm completely in love with that city.  If I was to move to New Zealand, I would hands down move to Queenstown or the surrounding area.  Obviously I haven't posted any pictures of the area (besides the skydiving and bungy jumping) but I'll be able to post them, I'm guessing, on Wednesday (when my cd arrives in Christchurch, fingers crossed!).  Anyway, last night I had my last Ferg Burger (Cockadoodle Oink with fries and sweet chili sauce and barbecue sauce, yes, I was full) and enjoyed every bite ( :  Then this morning I woke up bright and early (645a!) and got all my things in order, checked out of X Base Queenstown, and headed down the road to my bus stop.  The bus I was on was more like a shuttle, which kinda sucked 'cause there wasn't a whole lot of leg room, especially when two other people sat right next to me, but everyone on the bus turned out to be really friendly.  Oh and this is pretty weird: the last two nights a guy from California has been staying in the same room as me at Base-- he's from Sacramento and his little brother just graduated from UCSC this past year in filmography or something.  Then on the bus today, there was a guy who was originally from Chicago but has lived in Palo Alto for the past 7 years, who also knew where Redding was and, obviously, UCSC.  It's such a piece of home when other people know that you're a banana slug, it's really quite weird.  What's even more weird is how, the closer I get to coming home, the more people I'm meeting that are from my area (these are literally the only other people from California that I've met my entire two months in New Zealand).  Anyway, after a seven hour bus (shuttle) ride, we all finally arrived in Franz Josef, which is basically a tiny city with a few hostels and cafes, one market, and a few motels/lodges.  The main attraction of the city (and probably the only reason why it even exists) is the Franz Josef Glacier, which, I believe, is the biggest (or maybe best, Fox might be biggest) glacier on the west coast of New Zealand.  Tomorrow I'm going on a full day glacial hike (up to 8 hours, yikes!) that I've been recommended to do by numerous friends that I've made while on my travels.  Tonight and tomorrow night I'll be staying at the Rainforest Retreat, which people have also recommended for me, and is so far awesome AND cheaper than the YHA just down the road (plus, there's a free hot tub, woot! perfect for after the hike tomorrow).  After my hike tomorrow, as aforementioned, I'll stay in Franz for one more night, then the next morning take a bus up to Greymouth where I've been recommended to stay at the Global Village hostel.  The morning after that I'll be taking a train from Greymouth to Christchurch, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world, then I'll be jumping on a plane four hours after arrival to head up to Auckland.  I'll be in Auckland for two days, then fly home to SFO on Friday.  I'm so excited to see everyone again; I love and miss you all so much!  On the final leg, let's hope I can make it (the hardest part-- leaving Queenstown-- is behind me, so it should be too much trouble).

Oh, and also, this is such a tragedy: I LOST MY KLEAN KANTEEN ) :  So, for the first time in something like 6 or 7 years, I'm without a water bottle.  I bought a "pump" bottle, which is a decent size, but is NO Klean Kanteen (not even a Nalgene!).  So yeah.  I need another Klean Kanteen once I get back to California.  If anyone was thinking about buying me a coming home present (hah, sure/hint hint mom!!) feel FREE to purchase the 40 oz Klean Kanteen with a hook lid (the kind suitable for a caribineer).  If not, I understand.... sniff sniff.  I love you!!

Wrapping up Queenstown

Since bungy jumping I've mostly been hanging out in Queenstown with some people that I met last week at Base; other than that I've just been chilling and catching up on some sleep and much needed earlier nights.  Today I've finalized the rest of my time here in New Zealand, so I'm pretty excited about that, even though it means I'll be leaving in just a few days.  The people I've become friends with have slowly trickled out of Queenstown; Jay left yesterday morning so now it's only me and John here.  We went on a walk around the city today to this park that's on the other side of the water, which turned out to be this really lovely forested area near the lake that wrapped around to the other side of Queenstown.  After that we walked back to the downtown area and went to the post office so I could mail off some stuff I've been meaning to mail for quite some time, then we headed over to this little gelato shop and had a small ice cream (super yummy, I had tiramisu and hokey pokey, John had black forest and peanut brownie), then hung around the waterfront some more before heading back to X Base.  Now we're just hanging out in my room writing in our respectful journals (blog for me, paper for John), then I think later we'll be heading out for some drinks after dinner (who knows what that's gonna be, probably just pasta).  But yeah, my plans for the rest of my time here are basically: leave Queenstown and go up to Franz Josef on Saturday, then do the Franz Josef all day glacial hike on Sunday, then head up to Greymouth on Monday and spend the night there.  The next day, Tuesday, I'll be taking the train from Greymouth to Christchurch, then catching a plane from Christchurch to Auckland that same night.  Then I'll probably spend my last day-- Wednesday-- doing some final shopping around Auckland, have lunch with Craig and then dinner at the AMAZING Indian food restaurant near the YHA, then catch a plane back to California on Thursday.  So all in all, it's pretty depressing that I'm leaving New Zealand; I've met some amazing people, seen some amazing landscapes, done some amazing things, and all around have just had an absolutely amazing time.  I regret to cut my time here short, but honestly, I'm running out of money and need to get back to California and figure everything out in my life before school starts this coming September.  But yeah, those are my plans.  Hope you're having a good week, I love and miss you all!!  I can't wait to see you-- less than a week away now!!

Monday and Tuesday....

So I got a bit ahead of myself from being so excited about bungy jumping that I've forgot to talk about my Monday and Tuesday in Queenstown.  Monday I went to Milford Sound!!  I left on a bus at 650a; let me tell you, 650a is still early, even in NZ.  On the bus I slept for an hour, then we got to Te Anau and had tea, and from there on the bus ride was too beautiful and awesome to sleep through.  We drove through tons and tons of avalanches that had come all the way down to the road, through amazing landscapes that would take anyone's breath away, and through amazing forests that looked way too much like Lord of the Rings.  After driving through this crazy tunnel that seriously just looks like a whole through a mountain, and that is apparently a "safe haven" during the winter months due to the vast amount of avalanches occurring outside of it, we came to "The Chasm" where a river and wind have, over a vast amount of time, carved out, more or less, cheese holes into rocks.  It was nuts.  Anyway, finally we got to Milford Sound where we promptly got on a boat to go tour around the Sound and go all the way out to the Tasman Sea.  I got so many beautiful pictures while doing the boat tour, oh, and by the way: "I'M ON A BOAT!"  Once we got out to the sea the swell was huge and it was super hard to walk, I basically hung out around the rail so I wouldn't fall over, haha.  After the boat tour we boarded back onto the bus and headed back to Queenstown; I mostly slept on the way back, seeing as how I had only gotten something like 3 hours of sleep the previous night.  Once back in Queenstown, Jay, me, and the Australians I met from them staying in Jay's room all headed out to Winnie's, this awesome pizzeria we've already gone to last week, and had dinner.  After Winnie's we headed over to World Bar where we all had a couple of teapots, which was waaaaay too much sugar, but was fun nonetheless, and I finally was able to do one of the many things I wanted to do in Queenstown.  The next day my friends went over to Milford Sound, which is when I went and did the Nevis Bungy woo!!  That night Jay and I went to Ferg Burger, duh, then I hung out in his and the Australians room and recorded a video about Tim Tam Slams woot hahah.  The next day I mostly just took it easy and slept in.  So yup, there's the update for the past few days, hope you're having a good night!

pictures of Nevis Bungy Jump

here's a link to the video of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtoKlgpUQY8

not even halfway down the bungy in this.... sooooo tall.
I think this is a pretty sweet picture.
this was so so amazing, luckily it's a long enough fall so you can scared an stoked ( :
direct quote at this moment: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
downdowndowndowndowndowndown.
the not-as-graceful-as-my-initial-exit part of the jump.
jumping off a platform that is suspended by cables 134 m above a canyon and stream.  Metal.
supposed to be smiling at the camera, I think the guy pressed the button too late.
getting suited up and waving at the camera that eludes me, apparently.

Nevis Bungy Jump- 134 meters!

So the night before last at about 2a I decided to book a spot for the Nevis Bungy.  This morning I woke up and headed down to the Bungy Shop, then signed all the papers, got things written on my hands, and hung around until 1130a, when my bus departed.  It was me and three other guys (one of them was only doing the swing), so the bus wasn't too crowded and we didn't have to wait long for anything.  The bus ride was about 45 minutes long, and we drove past a bunch of beautiful scenery (to keep your mind distracted, obviously, hah).  When we finally got there they had us lock up our bags (I forgot to get my cellphone back from them, oops!) and then had us harness up.  After that we got our little gondola over to the main platform where we would jump.  The entire thing happened so incredibly fast, it was nuts.  Basically, we got there while they were pulling someone up, then Ashley (one of the guys) got completely suited up with the anklets and the bungy and everything, and before I knew it, he was jumping off a 134 meter high platform.  Which means now it was my turn.  So they put my anklet things on me, then had me sit in the chair of doom (the chair where the strap all the bungees onto you or whatever).  After pulling up Ashley, they had me hobble over to the edge.  Oh man, just letting you know, 440 ft is a long way down to jump, and once you're on the edge of the platform, the phrase "don't look down" doesn't exist anymore.  So the guy is just like, yeah okay I'm gonna drop the bungy so you'll feel the weight of it, and I was like MEH!! haha.  Then he started counting down, and I was just like, NO! haha.  This happened two or three times, then he had the pep talk with me, which, by the way, was an awesome pep talk (kudos to the guy working the Nevis Bungy).  So he was like alright, here we go, 3-2-1 and I JUMPED!! haha.  My exit was definitely most graceful in the first few seconds (you'll see when I post the pictures), but it quickly turned into a fetal position or something, haha.  All I could do was scream, it was great.  But the best part about Nevis is that fact that it's so tall, so basically I screamed for the first 5 seconds, then the last 4 seconds I just remember seeing my feet in front of me and the ground and stream rushing up around me, it was awesome.  After almost 9 seconds the bungy kicked in and stretched me downdowndown, then upupup, which was soooo much fun ( :  At the top of my second bounce I released my feet from the harness so I could sit up, which was really awesome.  After that I hung there for about a minute, then they pulled me up and it was over, but I was totally rushing from it and it was sosososososososoSO AMAZING!!  If you guys can build up the courage I totally recommend it; the first 4 seconds are the scariest, but after that it's pure incredibleness.  Hope you enjoy the pictures ( :

sick in Queenstown...

I've been getting a worse and worse cold, which definitely sucks.  To make matters worse, I've been put in a room that, more or less, really sucks.  Everyone knew that I was incredibly sick, and yet while I was trying to sleep last night they had all the lights on and were basically yelling and laughing and being super loud.  It was mostly just these five people and the other two girls are cool, but it really sucked and kinda (really) made me mad.  Anyway, the noisy girls are still in here, but at least the three noisy boys are gone.  I don't have much to write about other than I'm sick and am hating it.  I went to 4-Square and bought some groceries, a Pharmacy and bought various things for being sick, then came back and ate a rather healthy lunch.  I'm feeling better, but still sick.  Meh.  Sorry for the boring post.  Hope your day is going well!

skydiving pictures!!

silly bangs, silly cheeks.
my master and me ( :
slide landing, haha.
entering the clouds where we pulled the parachute.
almost done with the freefall.
above the lake, above the trees, above the mountains, above the clouds.
I want to do this every day.
so beautiful, like indescribable beauty.
chubby chubby chubby chubby cheeks cheeks cheeks cheeks.
I'm so jealous that the master had a scarf thing.
I'm a biiiiiiiiird! haha.
so so so so so so much fun.
trying to smile, failing epically.
freefaaaaaaaaaaaaaall.
nosedive towards the ground, flipping around, looking where the land meets the sky.
weeeeeeee!!
first few seconds of freefall (the best seconds).
yelling while leaving the plane!
dangling out of the plane, just about ready to exit.
getting ready while climbing up to altitude ( :

Queenstown, continued.

Wow, I love Queenstown so much.  I've met such amazing people here, have done such amazing things, and have seen such amazing landscapes.  If I were to live in New Zealand, Queenstown would be my obvious location for my home.  You guys would love it down here; this little city situated on the side of a huge lake, surrounded by unbelievably gorgeous mountains-- does life get any better than this?  Well, as you can tell from my last post, yes, if you skydive.  I just wanted to write this post to tell everyone how much I love them and miss them (for people back in the States and everyone I've met here).  As for the people I've met here, you've truthfully changed my life and I'm so glad for everything and this opportunity to travel to New Zealand by myself.  For everyone I met in Christchurch while working (Gemma, Mia, Antony, José, Caroline, and everyone else), you guys are great and made my time in Christchurch bearable.  I miss you all and hopefully will be able to see you again in due time.  The clean team rocks and it's all because of you ( :  For the people I met in Queenstown because I was so luckily placed in your room (Danielle, Craig, Jay, John, Daniel), thank you tons and tons for making Queenstown my favorite city; it definitely wouldn't have been the same without you all.  Danielle, you rock and are my North American buddy woo!!  Craig, you're a great guy and ridiculously silly, freaking monkey on the top bunks!  Jay, we have the same birthday, and we're kind of a big deal-- enough said, haha.  John, you're hilarious, and like to pass out all the time after getting drunk; also, "AH JESUS!!!!!!!"  And Daniel you crazy old man (just kidding!), well, you're CRAZY!! haha.  I hope I get to see you all very soon (I'm like 85% positive I'll see Jay and John again, yay! and Craig once I head up to Auckland for my flight home) because you're all amazing people.  Thank you for being such great friends and really helping me acclimate to good ol' Queenstown.  Anyway, I've decided I'm definitely going to stay here until at least Tuesday (was originally going to leave Sunday) because my Milford Sound trip on Saturday got cancelled due to road conditions, so I'm pretty excited-- I love it too much here to leave so soon!

SKYDIVING!!

Finally the weather was clear enough to go skydiving!  I got to NZone that's about a minute walk from X Base and filled some paperwork out that basically signed my life away, then watched a video of people jumping.  After about half an hour, all of us jumpers piled into a van and took off to a location about 15 minutes outside of Queenstown, towards Milford Sound.  The jump zone is directly above the Remarkables, which is amazing.  Once there, we stood around watching other people in front of us land, one by one, which really helped with any nerves that may have started to build up.  I had a muesli bar (thanks Chantelle and James!) and a cup of tea, then decided that I was being dumb for only jumping at 12,000ft; I'm here in one of the only countries that allows jumps at 15,000ft, and I'm choosing to jump at the mediocre 12,000ft?  I immediately went inside and asked to jump at 15,000ft, and they said it wouldn't be a problem at all.  Yay!  After waiting for about an hour and a half, it was finally our turn to jump!  We suited up in this silly jumper thing, then into the harness, completed with a silly crazy-person hat, goggles, and gloves.  After meeting our diving masters (the people we're strapped on to go tandem with) and photographers, we made our way towards our plane, which was this tiny little one-prop thing.  I was definitely expecting it to be a bit bigger inside; we've all seen videos where the divers are waiting on benches that are lined up against the plane's wall.  This plane was NOTHING like that.  I walk up to get in, and it was LITERALLY (and when I say literally, I really do mean literally) three and a half, four feet wide (maybe), and about 10, 12 feet long for nine people to fit into (three divers, three masters, three photographers) the main compartment.  It was absolutely insane.  The plane took off, and we were soon climbing over the gorgeous Remarkables; the view was breathtaking.  I didn't freak out at all, though I definitely made sure that I was attached to my master (I was like, we're not gonna die, right?  I'm attached to you, right? haha).  Finally we reach our altitude, and my master goes, alright, you're all hooked up, let's go!  So the door is opened, my photographer jumps out and clings onto the side of the plane so he can capture me exiting, and my master sits at the edge of the plane with my entire body dangling over the edge.  I was so totally stoked and not scared at all, it was nuts.  So my master basically swings to the count of three, and on the third swing just propels us out of the plane into a headfirst dive, then a flip, then finally to a belly-towards-the-ground position.  Exiting the plane was absolutely my favorite part about the entire thing; that feeling right as you leave cannot be imitated by anything.  It's like you're falling, but you aren't scared about hitting the ground because it's so far away, almost like you're falling in water, and you look around and see the beautiful landscape and mountains all around you meeting the sky and clouds; irreplaceable.  After the exit I freefell for the next entire minute, which was awesome.  My face was sooooo cold, which kinda sucked, and it was hard to breathe (think trying to breathe during a five mile run outside in the dead of winter), but it was absolutely incredible; seeing the ground like you see it in google maps (haha), the feeling of the wind rushing past your face, oh man, I'm in love!!  Towards the end of the freefall my master set us into spins, which was soooo fun, haha.  Then he counted down from three on his fingers and released the parachute, and we went flying upwards in an amazing rush (definitely my second favorite part).  After that we just flew around and did some G-force spins and talked about how cold it was and how beautiful everything is.  It was amazing.  After about five minutes of that, we came down for our landing; I lifted my legs up and we basically slid to the ground.  It was the most amazing experience I've ever been through and am SOOOO glad I did it, I totally want to do it again!  I have a $50 off coupon for my next jump-- who knows?  haha.  But it's totally the kind of thing that I could become addicted to and just take classes and whatnot.  I had no clue I would like it so much, but seriously, oh my god.  Words can't describe what it was like.  EVERYONE should do it, seriously.  It's not scary at all (and this is coming from the kid that held up the water slide for like 10 minutes at summer camp when I was little while I cried and said no no no!).  It was amazing.  I don't know what else to say.

here's a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpwK0vPUDU8

Rainy Mornings.....

sunny afternoons, but unfortunately my skydive was for 1120a today, so it's been cancelled and rescheduled for tomorrow.  It'll still be fun ( :  A couple of friends I've met while down here (Danielle and John) and I walked around the town a bit this morning, checked out movie times (after having breakfast), then did a little window shopping.  The mountains around Queenstown look beautiful with mist shrouding their tops, it's absolutely amazing down here.  The atmosphere is something I could definitely live in, but there's no way I could live without you all!  So move to NZ stat!  hah no not really, and I'm really excited about coming home, though I'm starting to consider pushing it back a FEW days because the weather down here is really shifty and my trip to Milford Sound might be cancelled, I still need to talk to the Fox Glacier people, AND I definitely have to go skydiving, however long that takes.  Oh and the more and more I hear about people doing Nevis, the more I'm considering it.  John showed me and Danielle his video yesterday and it was hilarious, the guy counted down to three and he was like, "No no!  I can't do this, wait wait wait." haha.  Then when he jumped he said, "OH JESUS!!"  I'm guessing my reaction would be similar, except definitely with tears, haha.  I've also been missing my friends from Base Christchurch that I met while working there, if any of you are reading this, hi!  I'm having a really great time this week, much better than the two weeks before that and it's really making me stay optimistic ( :  Anyway, Ima go since I don't want to bore you with what's happened since last night (nothing, besides sleep, haha), so have a wonderful day and I missese yous!!

Queenstown!!

Finally!  I'm super stoked to be here.  Today it finally cleared up and you can see these GORGEOUS mountains that are the backdrop to Queenstown, which is set on a lake.  It's just absolutely incredible.  Apparently this lake is 300 meters deep at some points, as well as 84 kilometers long, which is absolutely nuts.  I didn't even know that Queenstown was built on the side of a lake, how dumb do I feel!!  Anyway, the people I'm staying with at X Base are really nice and we get along, which is great, but it definitely sucks to have to be paying for accommodation again-- I had forgotten how it can really eat up my money!  Anyway, last night I went out for awhile with the people from my room, but it was kinda slow and I wasn't really feeling it; maybe tonight we'll go out to World Bar and I'll have a couple of teapots, that ought to solve the problem!!  I'm currently in between rooms right now because I didn't book it in time to stay in the same room for tonight, which sucks, but my roommates from the last few nights and I are all hanging out in our room so it's not that bad.  I GO SKYDIVING TOMORROW!  Wow, I'm actually getting pretty terrified of it, but everyone tells me it's amazing, so I'm sure I'll have lots of fun ( :  Anyway, I'll be going now because I'm pretty hungry (and tired!) so I'm either going to eat or sleep, haha, but definitely one of the two.  I hope everyone is having a great time back home and I miss you lots and lots!  Hugs and kisses to you all.

finally, leaving Christchurch!

Okay, Christchurch is pretty cool, but honestly, when you're working for accommodation at X Base there, it's pretty freaking easy to get bored of it, and quickly.  I mean, it doesn't seem like working until 1p would blow any plans for your day, but it seriously does, especially when it gets dark at 530p.  I met some nice people here, and it was kinda nice to get into a routine, but it's DEFINITELY time to move on.  Oh, and I've also talked with two of the same girls who shared a room with me in Wellington at X Base, which is a little embarrassing because that was the night I was bawling my eyes out.  So, Queenstown, here I come!  I'm pretty excited about finally getting down to Queenstown, and I think tomorrow I'm going to book a skydiving thing, it should be pretty awesome.  I'm still completely terrified of the bungy jumping, so I might not do that.  I feel like once I get down to Queenstown, things will start picking up speed, so I'm pretty stoked about that because it means I'll be home on no time.  In fact, I only have 16 more days here!  I definitely need to call Air New Zealand about a return flight though.  Also, today I went to Akaroa, a little French-influenced city about an hour and a half drives away from Christchurch, and hung out for a few hours.  It was nice to finally get out of the city, and it makes me even more excited to move on from Christchurch.  Anyway, this is just a small update of what I've been doing for the past few days, I hope everything's going well back home.  I love you all.

19 Days!!

Hi everyone!  Tomorrow will be my sixth day working here at X Base Christchurch, and boy, can I tell you how much working until 1p totally blows up your plans for the day when it gets dark at 530p!!  I haven't much gotten out and about around the city, but luckily I did a bunch of the cool stuff when my parents and Brad were here, so I feel like I'm not missing out on too much.  All the people I work with are great and make the job easier.  Today Mia got fired for basically moving a sweatshirt out of a room (she was accused of stealing), so that was kinda lame and all of us are feeling pretty negative about how the Base treats us (we don't even get free laundry!!).  This week all of us workers, more or less, are leaving X Base and moving on; Mia is going to Queenstown Friday, José is going to India tomorrow, Antony is leaving for god knows what on the 3rd (maybe back to England, I can't remember), Merl (I always thought it was Mel, luckily I was only around the guy misnaming him for a day) left 4 or 5 days ago, Nicole is moving to another hostel tomorrow, and I'm leaving for Queenstown on Saturday.  I plan on quiting on Thursday so I can go and to Akorua on Friday, which will be cool.  So yeah, they're definitely gonna be experiencing a shortage of staff soon, haha.  Christchurch is pretty cool, but I feel like I would like Queenstown about a hundred times more and am soooo excited about it.  Basically, my plan until I come home (which is in 19 days!) is to go to Queenstown on Saturday, hang out there and check out LOTR, bungy jumping (Nevis Bungy), and skydiving (NZone) activities until Wednesday, then do a day trip out to Milford Sound on Thursday and come back to Queenstown on Friday for one more day.  On Saturday I'm going to Fox Glacier and staying there until when I leave for Punakaiki on Monday.  At Fox Glacier I'm going on a half-day hike, it was recommended to me and I figure NZD$89 isn't too expensive to do something pretty cool.  As I said, on Monday I will be going to Punakaiki, which is where the Pancake Rocks and blowholes are; I'll be going to Dolomite Point that same day.  The next day I'm taking a bus to Greymouth to check out the town for an afternoon, then taking a train (which is supposed to be the most amazing train ride ever) from Greymouth back here to Christchurch, where I'll be flying out to Auckland the next day (for, get this, NZD$39).  I'll spend a day in Auckland, then fly home the next day.  It's gonna be a crazy next 19 days, but honestly I need to keep my mind off of everything that's going on in my life right now, or at least as much as I can so I don't get too depressed.  Oh and when I get back I might head up to Calgary to go on a roadtrip through British Columbia with my friend Lisa I met in Wellington, that'll be pretty awesome if I can manage it.  I hope everything is going well back home, I miss and love you all, and can't wait to see everyone!!

Jesus Town

Today was my first day of work here at X Base Christchurch.  I've definitely never made as many bed in the threeish hours that I worked today than any other threeish hours in my entire life.  But, it wasn't that bad and I get to stay here for free now yay!  I'm guessing I'll be here for about 2 weeks or something, just going around checking out everything and the surrounding areas.  After that I'm probably gonna head over to Greymouth and do the Fox Glaciers and whatnot, then head down the coast to Queenstown and Milford Sound for maybe a week or something.  When I'm in Queenstown, if my funds haven't run too low, I think I'm gonna skydive or bungy jump or something, who knows!  Possibly both, possibly neither, I haven't really made up my mind yet.  The people I'm working with are pretty cool and there's someone from Chile so maybe I'll Spanish it up with them or something, probably not though 'cause I'm embarrassed of how god awful my Spanish is compared to, well, native Spanish speakers.  Anyway, apparently the library has free wifi so I'm pretty stoked about that, it'll nice to finally not have to pay for internet.  Oh, and the Indian food place next door totally sucks, like really really disappointing.  Absolutely the worst I've had ever, even worse than that stuff that I was kinda raw in Monterey, Ean. haha.  But when I get back I'm gonna totally bring huge amounts of Tim Tams, ginger beer (for Brad!), afghan cookies, and Kinder Bars.  I expect delicious beer in return, seeing as how NZ has completely deprived me of anything remotely amazing.  Okay, I hope you all have lots and lots of fun this coming weekend (only one more day for you all!) and I love you and miss you bunches!!

Further Christchurch-iness

So today I walked around and went to the Southern Encounter exhibition type thingy, it was pretty freaking amazing, because I finally got to SEE A KIWI!!  Oh my gosh, they are probably the ABSOLUTE most adorable bird of all time.  Just imagine a fuzzy basketball with cute eyes and a long beak, and BAM! you've got a kiwi!!  I'll post a picture (not one I've taken, it wasn't allowed) of what exactly they look like.  Anyway, I've walked around a bit, and oh my gosh Kassi, I totally found that energy drink Cocaine!!  I took a picture just for you, and as soon as I can, I'll totally post it.  I'm staying at X Base again, and hopefully within the next few days I'll be able to do the work for accommodation thing that they offer.  I still need to talk to them about it, but seeing as how it's my first day in Christchurch, I kinda wanted a break.  Oh, and just so everyone knows, there's disgusting couples in New Zealand as well!  It's not restricted to Europe anymore.  Today I saw the first couple that were totally eating each other's faces, and now the girl's sitting on top of his lap.  It's just like, really?  No one wants to see that, I almost threw up.

On a side note, Afghan cookies are SO BOMB.COM!  Everyone should look a recipe up and try them if you haven't (I don't think they're really offered in the States), but it will totally be worth the labor.  And don't be afraid of the cornflakes-- embrace them!!  Okay I'm outtie, mostly 'cause I don't really have anything else to say, other than I hope I find a market that sells chicken and rice, otherwise I might be eating out again!

OH!!  And I think I'm gonna try bungy-jumping or sky-diving.  I think it would be totally fun and definitely worth the money, but I've still gonna have to think about whether or not I'm completely okay with just kinda potentially throwing my life away (at this point, probably!), so yeah.  I'll keep you all posted.  Have a good night.

Here's a kiwi!  Adorable!  The ferret of birds, seriously.  Except ferrets apparently kill them.

So while I was trying to fall asleep last night, I kept hearing this gurgling sound from under me.  I was like, my god, this girl's snoring sounds like a pigeon!  It was really really weird.  Anyway, I woke up this morning and opened the curtains to get some sunlight, and lo and behold, there's a ledge outside with a bunch of bird poop on it.  I was like, ohhhhhhhh I'm an idiot.  So that's basically what's happened to me so far in Christchurch.  Exciting, right?

So a few things I've forgotten to mention:

On the way to Wellington, I saw a sign that said "Horse Poo for sale, $1 per bag."

I'm currently waiting for my plane in the airport, and they just announced that there's been some "kiddy spillage," on the airplane.

There was something else but I totally forget, I'll try to let you know if I remember.  Oh and my friend I met in Wellington, Lisa, introduced me to "totes," as in totally.  I think it's hilarious.  She said it's from some movie, but I forget which one.  It was Mall Cop or Knocked Up or that other one that guy just did (the one from Knocked Up, Super Bad, etc).  Anyone know?

Oh, and by they way, a glass room is not the best place to find an outlet.  Oh well.

Wellington and various other subjects

So today I got up and checked out of YHA, went to X Base and locked up my stuff, then proceeded to go on a 6 hour walk around the harbour.  At the end, my feet and back hurt a lot, I was hot, tired, and excited to talk to Mom and Ean.  Well the talk with Ean didn't go so well, but Mom helped.  So basically since the walk I've been sitting in my room at X Base on the internet.

In the last few days I've been thinking about leaving early, the problems with the passport and visa and stuff are annoying, I'm lonely (even more so now) and miss my family, friends, and babies, and NZ is expensive.  But now it's just like, mehhhhhh I wanna come home now.  So I'm flying down to Christchurch tomorrow to check out Queenstown and Milford Sound and whatnot for about a week, and I'll make my mind up within that time frame.  New Zealand is cool and I have a great opportunity right now, but I don't know, I never really wanted to come down here all by myself, it's just various friends couldn't come, and Ean couldn't, and all this other crap, so I don't know. 

Anyway, the walk around the harbour was cool, even if tiring.  I forgot my camera so I shot a few pictures with my cellphone, I'll upload them so you guys can see.  But tomorrow I think I'll take a similar walk (this time with the camera!), but definitely shorter, and I'm gonna wear better shoes too!

Before I go, I just wanna say thanks to the friends I've talked to tonight, and of course my Mom, you guys really helped me feel better, and even got a smile out of me a couple of times!  I love you guys and will love you forevers!

Oh and never mind about the pictures, I thought I had Blue Tooth on this phone but I don't, so I'll just upload the good ones I'll get tomorrow!!

ALONE!

The past few days have been crazy.  For starters, my parents left yesterday morningish, and now I'm here all alone!  Definitely yikes for me.  But Tauranga and "the Mount" (I forget what it's name actually is, it's something like Mangauriro or some other crazy Maori name) were nice.  I especially liked "the Mount's" town, and my mom finally found a greenstone for me!  Pretty exciting, it's super pretty and I really like it ( :  Oh, and if you ever go to the Mount, definitely check out the park that's across the street from the beach, it's totally insanely awesome, and by far my favorite park in New Zealand so far.  Also, since you'll already be at the Mount, go into Tauranga and eat at Zeytín, this Turkish place on "the Strand."  Oh my gosh talk about delicious food!  Like seriously, soooooo good.  And get their límonata, it's amazing.  Anyway, my bus ride was, besides long, not that bad, and there was a cute little girl in front of me that liked to watch me make goofy faces at her.  Once I got to the railway station in Wellington, I took a bus to Courtenay Place without any problems, which was definitely relieving.  So now I'm sitting here in the YHA hanging out, gonna watch the All Blacks play tonight at 715p (I'll tell you all about it, Dad!).  Tomorrow I'll be off looking for a job, wish me luck!

Okay for starters, check this video out.  It's a commercial that talks about the dangers of drunk driving.  I think you guys will enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RDLnj1iTpk

Wow it's been long time since I've written something!  Since Nelson, we've been to Kaikaura, Christchurch, back up to Auckland, Whitianga, and now we're in Tauranga.  So, I'll tell you a little bit about each.

 

From Nelson we went down to Kaikura, which is a little town where you can go whale watching (for sperm whales, apparently they live off the coast here) and walk to a seal colony.  We skipped the whale watching because the ocean was crazy rough and it cost waaaay too much to do something we've already done (Hawaii, thank you).  So instead we hung out at our hotel, seeing as how there's not much else to do, and had an AMAZING crayfish (lobster) dinner.  Like AMAZING.  Seriously.  The lobster was probably as big as my torso.  We split it between the four of us and it was super yummy ( :  The next day we went to the seal colony and saw some pretty cool seals (and a bunch of babies!).  Oh and on the way to Kaikura we also saw some seals like 4 feet from the road just chilling, and a bunch of baby seals down farther playing in pools and sliding and being adorable.  Anyway, the mountains at Kaikura were not showing because it was all cloudy, which was really disappointing.  After the seal colony we had a disappointing abalone burger thing, then left and headed to Christchurch.

 

The road from Kaikura to Christchurch, of course, was beautiful, and Christchurch was pretty awesome as well.  Unfortunately I caught a cold while down there, so that was kinda lame.  The first night we got there we went out to the this Souvlaki place and had kebabs, but not really 'cause it was more a platter without the pita bread wrapped around it so yeah.....  Anyway, the chicken here, I don't think it gets much better than this chicken.  It was crazy delicious.  Dinner was sooo good that night.  The next day we switched motels to this nice one over in Riccarton, then went to this old mansion thing that had "the Bush" and a stream next to it.  While my parents were checking out the house and Brad was reading, I decided I'd go sit down by the stream where a bench was and ducks.  It had just rained, so I brought my poncho with me and was seriously two feet away from the bench when WHAM!  FALL NUMBER THREE!  Awesome, right?  Yeah, totally bitchin' (but not so much).  So, I finally had fall number three.  But apparently the bush was cool (they preserved it and nothing had been cut down since settlers came, so it was basically what New Zealand looked like before settlers, which is apparently crazy), so my parents had a good time.  We then went to the Botanical Gardens, where my parents and I walked around while Brad went downtown to check out a record store.  The Botanic Gardens were pretty sweet, they had this huge greenhouse that had some amazing plants (and sooo many orchids, Ean!), and these really cute displays for kids that I thought were great.  We then walked around and checked out the ducks, swans, and birds around a bond, then went and waited in the car for Brad (we barely made it out of the park before the locked the gates—our car woulda been locked in for the night!).  For dinner we went to a “secret pizza place” my parents found, but it turned out to be the same place we went to while in Auckland, hah, either way it was delicious!  That night I FINALLY learned how to play poker (betting noodles), it was great but I definitely didn’t win; my advice, don’t always try to go for flushes, that’s dumb.  The next day we went to some museums and art galleries, which were fun, then decided to book a flight up to Auckland for the next day.  All in all, Christchurch is a really beautiful place, but we went there during a school holiday so no students were really there and I guess I didn’t get the full view (plus, I was sick, lame).

 

Auckland was our next stop, and after a plane ride with beauuuuuuutiful views of the country (it was clear that day!) we ended up lost on our way from the rental car place to the YHA, during rush hour.  Finally we got there, hung out, then headed out for dinner.  We stopped by this pharmacy and picked up NZ’s equivalent to Nyquil, where the pharmacy’s owner assured me I didn’t have swine flu (definitely a relief) then recommended we go to Satya, an South Indian food restaurant just down the street.  We walked down there and immediately got a table, which was great ‘cause right after we came the place didn’t have a table open, it was amazing.  BUT OH MY GOSH!!  Seriously, this was by FAR the absolute BEST Indian food I’ve ever had, and brad said it was in his top three favorite places.  OH MY GOSH.  Again, AMAZING.  Like totally out of sight how amazing this stuff was.  Brad had this crazy awesome spicy dry curry chicken dish, Mom had an awesome dola (? Pretty sure that’s wrong) thing, which was more or less a giant samosa, Dad had chicken tikka masala (Ean, seriously the most amazing thing ever) and I had chicken korma, which was INCREDIBLE!!  Okkay okay okay I’ll stop about the Indian food (AMAZING! Haha).  The next day we tried to find an observatory, which definitely didn’t happen, so we checked out Auckland’s indoor winter garden, which was fun.  That night Brad and I went out to this pub that had nobody in it, then the bartender’s friend came, then another friend, then this couple from NZ.  They all ended up sitting with us and we did some drinking and talking and it was pretty sweet, everyone was really nice and we had fun.  We got back to the hostel and I got my water bottle from my parents room (it was like 1a, I was definitely drunk), then Brad and I went to our room and played music from his laptop as loud as possible, and apparently I sang and danced.  I guess our neighbors were pissed (Brad told me when he came back from the bathroom), so I decided it’d be a good idea to hit my metal water bottle up against their wall.  Whateeeeever.  The next day was pretttttty lame, and Brad and I mostly slept.  The next day we headed out to Bay of Plenty and stayed in Whitianga for the next couple of days.  We tried to go to Hot Water Beach, but that didn’t work out so well because the waves were way to big and the low tide wasn’t very low.  The second day Brad and I went out to lunch and ended up at this Chinese food place, which was the worst food I’ve ever tasted.  That place is dead to us, we don’t talk about it.  Then we went and got a caramel milkshake and some fries and a fried chicken butt (that’s what mom said), so we ended up not eating the chicken.  The rest of the day we hung out, went to dinner (which was pretty meh, and the waitress was all dumb), and the next day (which is today!) we looked for some greenstone, then left.  Now we’re in Tauranga, which is a decent-sized city.  We’re about to go out to dinner, so Ima bail.  I hope everything’s going well over there, and I miss you all.  I’m sorry this is so long, but apparently that’s just how it is, so get used to it, haha.  Hope you have a good day.

 

Streaky bacon!  Yeah so the delicious kind of bacon that you all are accustomed to in the US doesn't exist in NZ, it totally sucks.  This is the closest thing I could find.
This little bird follows you around trying to get bugs and worms that you kick up by walking.  It fans out it's tail as well.  The stalker bird is pretty sweet.

My shortcut to mushrooms was pretty messy.