Hi! It's been awhile so I apologize ahead of time for the length of this post. Anyway, happy 4th everyone, have lots of fun and stay safe! We spent some time in Wellington, which was awesome, but before that we went to Napier. Napier is a cool little coastal town in wine country, so we did some wine tasting. During this time, Brad saw some punks and asked them if they knew of any shows; they didn't, but it happened to be one of the guys' birthdays so they invited him to that. Brad and I got some Cooper's and went there that night, which was fun. We met some cool people and it was fun to talk about the difference in countries and whatnot. After Napier we headed towards Wellington via this little sheepskin store that we'd been recommended. The lady running the store was a total bitch, like hardcore, so we only bought some socks, gloves, and hat from her (the socks are mine, which are possum and sheep). We ended up staying about an hour and a half outside of Wellington, but the next morning we headed straight there, which turned out to be an awesome city. The first day we hung out around the YHA (we stayed at a hostel). After checking into the hostel, we made lunch and then headed over to Weta Cave which is basically Weta Workshop's "gallery." There was so much awesome stuff there, and I took lots of pictures. FOr those of you who aren't Adrienne and maybe Ean, Weta Workshop is a place that makes miniatures, special effects (cg), swords, arms, and other awesome stuff. Weta did all that kind of stuff for LOTR, and in those years basically revolutionized their industry into a new age. After Weta Cave we went to the Mount Victoria lookout point. Now, it's crazy-windy in Wellington, so going up to a lookout on top of a mountain at dusk probably wasn't the brightest idea, but we went anyway, which was super rewarding. There is SUCH an amazing view up there, it's absolutely incredible. You can see all of Wellington and the surrounding area, but it is a chilly bin up there! After the lookout we ate dinner at Niccolini's, which was a super delicious Italian restaurant. After dinner, we went back to the YHA and had a few beers and games of pool, then Brad and I went out to this Irish pub that had overpriced drinks but was the only open place that sold alcohol. We hung out there and drank, but after being poured half-shots, we left. On the way back to the YHA we stopped at "The Establishment" and had one more beer. There were some douches there (they're everywhere in the world-- no escape!) so we left and went back to the room. I took a shower and then passed out, silly. The next day we went out to hunt for the spot where Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin fall down the hill to mushrooms and are "sniffed" by the Ringwraith-- a "shortcut to mushrooms." This location is on some trail on Mount Victoria that I found directions for in a LOTR book; the scene where Frodo shouts, "get off the road!", where they fall down the hill to mushrooms, and where they hide under a tree from the Ringwraith. The directions I had said the trail "plunges," but I had no clue to what a degree. And boy, was it a degree! Within five minutes of being on this road, I tried to monkey-swing/get support and balance from a branch in a mudslick, but it turned out not to be so sturdy. I slipped and was dangling from the branch with zero traction, let go and immediately face-planted into the mud. Awesome, now I'm all muddy. ANother five minutes pass and we're trying to get down to the main path when I try the tree-support idea again, which was a mistake and ended with me on the ground, again. But it turns out I really did take a shortcut to mushrooms because I landed in the exact spot Frodo and the gang landed, it was great ( : We continued on the path and saw the hill they took their tumble down and the root system they hid under. All in all, it was quite the adventure. After it we went to a shoe warehouse that was having a buy-one-get-one-free sale on boots, so Brad and I both scored a pair. Afterwards we headed back to the YHA and hung out and cooked yummy Mexican food (how I miss you, mexican food!), then went to sleep. At around 6a that morning, we were awoken by a LOUD alarm. I immediately realize that it's the fire alarm, but my parents and Brad all thought it was the phone alarm, it was hilarious. So the entire hostel was evacuated while the firefighters (their station was literally directly across the street) came over and checked it out. It turned out to be a false alarm and everything was okay. That day we also went to the Te Papa museum, which was really cool but had a TON of stuff to look at. The next day we left for the South Island (and almost didn't make it on the bus to the ferry if it hadn't been for Mom coming to get her things in the room and realizing we were all still asleep ten minutes before the bus was due to come!) via a three hour ferry ride from Wellington to Picton. We met a really nice girl on the ferry, and also were forced to listen to probably the worst single-man band I've ever encountered. Upon arrival, we got a rental car and headed towards Nelson via the scenic route, which was really pretty but super windy, probably the last time we take the scenic route down here, haha. Nelson is awesome! It's much like Napier, so it's great. Yesterday we went to Abel Tasman National Park on a boat ride (I'm on a boat!) which was fun, then came back and went out for pizza and beer. Later that night I threw up, it was totally NOT bitchin'. Today, Mom and I went to the Saturday farmer's market and had a waffle and looked around, then went coat shopping for me and sock shopping for her (I totally found a great coat, but mom wasn't so lucky with the socks....?). After shopping we all hung around the room for a bit, Brad went to happy hour at a bar, which my parents and I joined him about an hour later ($5 jugs of Speight's, hellsa!) Then we had yummy Thai food, then came back to the room. Brad and I just watched Blade 3 I think? and Hellboy, but now he's asleep in the front room and I'm getting sleepy, so I think I'll go now that I'm up to date.
Again, sooooooo sorry for the length, we've had really in-and-out internet the past few days, I apologize and will really try to work on making these things shorter. In the mean time, enjoy the pictures! Much love.
me (and my clean canteen, hah) at the Polynesian Baths in Rotorua, it was awesome!
This waterfall was created when a volcano erupted, burying an entire Maori village and killing about 150 people.
I like holding hands with this guy, he's hot (just kidding Ean!).
Me in front of the monument for the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace boat that the French blew up because gp was totally not down with the nuclear testing the French were doing near NZ. 
me at Bridal Veil Falls, it was cool!
me at Kawhia's beach; there's thermal activity under the beach so it heats up the salt water that fills a hole when you dig into it, so here's our handmade hot tub!
This Kaori tree is the biggest by volume in NZ; for perspective, it's about 50 ft behind me ( the tiny purple person at the bottom).
Dad's shrimp cocktail was NOT a shrimp cocktail, just shrimp and mayonnaise!
Dad and I at a beach in Wellington, we found bunches of abalone shells here.
