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!!