The Home Stretch!

Hello, hello!
I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile but to be honest June has been a month of winding down and full of "lasts". The beginning of June was full of studying and paper writing. I just have two more finals to take at the end of June and then I'm done! Woo hoo! I feel like I didn't even go to school to be honest though. New Zealand rocks :) So, we had just been hanging around ChCh for the beginning of the month which was kind of nice to stay around. Last weekend my friend Lauren had her 21st birthday party, which is a REALLY big year here so that was a lot of fun. She rented out a bar/club and had some awesome DJ's perform. It was fun to hang with friends and see everyone.
The next morning (last sunday) Ali and I hopped on a plane to Auckland to travel around with our other friend Angie till Friday. It's supposed to be our "study week" but we used it as a chance to travel haha Basically we just went around the northern most part of the north island, which consists of 90 mile beach, Cape Reinga (northern most part of NZ), The Bay of Islands and lots and lots of blue water. was pretty good weather while we were there and it was a lot warmer than Christchurch which was a nice change. We sand boarded and sailed which as a lot of fun, but it is the off season so a lot of activities were shut down for winter. Either way we had quite a relaxing 5 days, driving around and staying at some really cool hostels. We met a lot of people and had fun hanging out together. It was a really chill trip.Now, I'm back in Christchurch and we are heading off again to travel! We are leaving for the west coast to do the glaciers, make a knife and see the pancake rocks. Then we are off to Queenstown to ski and celebrate Angie's birthday, with the trip finishing in Dunedin for the All Blacks game! The All Blacks is New Zealand's National Rugby team and they are really really good. It should be a lot of fun! I'm really excited. It's my last hurrah before I leave on the 21st. It's seems very surreal that I'm actually LEAVING. I'm not sure if I'll ever make it back to NZ so it's very bittersweet. There are just so many places in the world that I would love to travel so coming back may not happen. Thinking about not seeing a lot of the people I've met here ever again is a little depressing. But, the experience and the memories have been amazing. Okay, I'm getting corny but it's true! I feel like this semester will feel like a dream, a time in my life where I got to live in a fantasy world. I'm so happy I've gotten to experience living on my own in a different country, having to make a new life. It's been amazing. I'll probably do one more blog to fill you guys in on our final trip but for now, I'll be seeing you guys soon!

The Past Three Weeks...

Hey everyone!
I'm sorry I haven't been updating. Once you get behind, it's really hard to catch up! I'll just do a quick recap because I've been doing a lot these past few weekends!!!

Two weekends ago I went up to the Marlborough Sounds area and went on a bicycle wine tour for my flatmate's birthday! We went to five different wineries, riding on bikes in between each. It was actually a lot of fun! I feel so knowledgeable about wine now. I know the difference between a Riesling and a Late Harvest wine.It's kind of fun since I won't be able to do anything like that back in the states at least for another year and half! The area was gorgeous and we had good weather. were eight of us that ended up going so it was a lot of fun! We stayed in a hostel in Picton and then did the start of the Queen Charlotte track and just checked out some views.It was gorgeous...imagine that haha

The next weekend the two Chris', Ali and I went to do Avalanche Peak, near Arthur's Pass, a really pretty area. We decided to hitch-hike which was an experience! It's amazing how easy and acceptable it is here.
Ali and I got picked up quite quickly by a hunter who was going through right where we needed to get dropped off. It was really easy. The boys had to have three different rides to get there but eventually arrived. Even though the woman at the front told us it was too late to start the track and that it would get dark, the boys decided we would go for it. It was a tough track, but of course the view from the top was beautiful!But, we were racing the sun and at the end we had to go down a scree (spelling?) slope, which was just a really steep slope that was all loose rock. It was actually really dangerous and it took us an hour and a half to get down it...which by that time it was dark! We still had to find the hut and we were wandering around in the dark for awhile trying to find this hut. I was exhausted and a little worried we wouldn't find it to be honest. Of course we eventually did and we had the hut all to ourselves! The next morning was rainy and gross and we had to walk back through the valley to the road in order to get picked up to go back to Christchurch. We had to go through waist deep rivers that was FREEZING but it was definitely an experience. Once again we were racing the sun and luckily we got picked up by this nice older couple heading back the ChCh before it got too late. All in all, it was a crazy and adventurous trip haha

THIS weekend we went to Abel Tasman National Park on the north part of the south island. My flatmate had been wanting to go all semester and this weekend was supposed to be great weather so we went for it. It was a girls weekend! We headed out Thursday night and started kayaking Friday morning, staying overnight at a campsite Friday night and then kayaking till 3 pm on Saturday.We kayaked 25 km!! We basically just followed along the coastline, looked at beaches, rocks and wildlife. It's a very pretty area for sure!
We actually got to get really close to a bunch of baby seals who were so playful and would bite at our paddles and jump all around us! It was amazing. It was a really fun weekend and we got to see something that we've been wanting to see for awhile.
Okay, that was a really short and sweet version of what I've been up to this month. It's been amazing and I can't believe I have less than a month till I come back to the states! It all seems very surreal and I know I'll miss this place A LOT. It truly is paradise.

Tramping like a champ!

Hey all!
This weekend was supposed to be a pretty relaxed one, with my flat mates and I just hanging around Ilam and watching movies but of course that didn't end up being the case. We're in New Zealand after all! Why wouldn't we go on an adventure? So, we did! Ali and I decided to go on a tramping trip (at 2 in the morning) to Mt. Cook National Park with our other flat mate Alyssa, and two guys that we know...Chris and Chris haha We had heard it was a pretty intense tramp so Ali and I were keen on sticking together and going slow. I'm definitely not a tramper so I was a little bit nervous.
We left at 8 am on Saturday and jammed out to NSYNC and BSB for a lot of the road trip. I'm sure the boys loved it. It took us about 4 hours to get there and we started up the track at 1 o'clock or so. There was no room in Mueller's Hut, the hut we were hiking too, so we brought along a tent. We knew there was going to be snow up there so we were unsure of how it was going to all turn out. The lady described the hike as "going up a stair master for 5 hours straight". Turns out that is exactly what it was like. whole track was only 5k's but it took us a little over four hours to do it all! We had to stop quite a bit to catch our breath. The first half was basically going up stairs, with the last half going up the side of a mountain covered in snow and ice...perfect combination for slipping and falling. Which I almost did multiple times. I felt so intense! haha I had never done anything like this in my life. We were going up so high and the views were amazing! It was honestly the best weather we could ask for. Not a cloud in the sky and clear as all get out. Apparently it's the best weather they've had in a while. We got extremely lucky. The national park is so beautiful!
We got up to the hut at around 5 o'clock, which by the way is just surrounded by mountains and is the fifth one they've built there because avalanches have knocked the other ones down! Fighting the sun going down, the guys went out to set up the tent while the girls cooked dinner, consisting of chicken, veggies and pasta. We were actually quite proud of how well it turned out! We played cards for as long as possible in the hut before we ventured out in the cold to sleep in our tent. I had a 12 degree (celsius) sleeping back which was not warm enough at all for this weather so I layered up and slept in the way middle of everybody. There were five of us in a 3 person tent, which was fine by us! I'm not sure how much I slept but I survived the night without getting hypothermia so I'd call the night a success. We got up, made oatmeal for breakfast and went to go the summit of Mount Olivia. It was a little tricky getting up because we were climbing over rocks with a bunch of snow and ice but once we got up there the view was well worth the trek! was a gorgeous view and we took multiple photo shoots haha I was so happy I went because I would've been so bummed to see the pictures afterwards. Unfortunately, Alyssa busted up her MCL...she tore it awhile ago and so she re-injured it. She was a trooper though and hiked down the mountain while her knee was super swollen. This guy that we met who has climbed Mt. Cook (he tore his achilles in the process) and Mt. Kilimanjaro gave her some super good pain killers which helped. For some reason I had this burst of energy and booked it down the mountain and we left at around 5:30 or so and headed home!It was a quick trip but I had a blast! We lucked out on weather, the group was a blast and we saw some amazing views. New Zealand has been good to me:)

So Much Fruit, So Little Time

Hey hey!
Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. This three week break has been busy! I just got back from the Cook Islands with my IES Abroad group for a week. If you don't know where the Cook Islands or have never heard of them, that's okay...I didn't know either haha They're in the South Pacific near Fiji and Tahiti. Basically, they're gorgeous!We stayed on the main island of Rarotonga although there are like ten other islands or something like that. It was such a great time!
We left at 5:30 am on April 16th. It was pouring rain so we were happy to be leaving ChCh haha We landed in Rarotonga on
April 15th because we passed the International date line even though the flight was only 5 hours total. Craziness. So we were a little thrown off that we had to redo Thursday again. We got there, got settled into our little house (which included tons of geckos and millipedes) and went to watch all the local schools in a dane competition. It was so cute! The little primary school kids were all dressed up in their polynesian dance costumes and danced for the public. It was a great way to see a little bit of the culture right when we got there. To be honest, all the days blur together from here on out. We were so so busy with stuff all day long. We visited farms, plantations, made sarongs, learned how to make plates out of coconut leaves, learned how to husk a coconut, learned so much about the culture, snorkeled, did a cross island hike...so much stuff!
We were constantly on the go. We also learned how to dance aka shaking our hips like crazy. The boys also did something crazy with their legs haha We always had great food for dinner, including going to resorts or doing a progressive dinner where we had entrees, the main course and dessert all at different Cook Islanders homes! They are so hospitable here and so willing to share their culture with you. It's so great. The weather there is HOT. You are just constantly sweating and greasy looking. The humidity is rough. And with humidity brings bugs and geckos haha I got eaten alive basically but I guess that's what comes with paradise. There are also roosters just randomly walking around every where.They don't belong to anyone necessarily. They also loved to wake us up every morning when the sun rose...and for hours after. We had great weather until the last two days it rained. When it rains in the Cook Islands it RAINS. Torrential down pour all day long basically. Other than that, it was a really fun trip. I learned so much about a place that I hadn't even heard of before I came to New Zealand. It was so cool to see how differently people live in places around the world. Their pace was so laid back, their mentality was very chill as well. "Island Time" was constantly referenced because they just start when they want to start! Such a change from the U.S.! Also, they eat SO MUCH FRUIT. We were constantly eating coconut, mangos, papayas and bananas. They would just throw them at us haha I became totally sick of coconut after like the first day! It was pretty hilarious how much our group despised coconuts by the end of the trip.
My break is almost over which is sad but it will be good to get back into some routine again! I only have classes for the month of may and then finals! It's crazy how fast this experience has gone by and I know the last month and a half will go by even faster. I'll be keeping you updated until I get back safe and sound in the states. Miss you all!

Heading up North!!!

Whoa! I've been going going going lately! I'm officially on a three week break from school, which is insane because I've only been in school for a little over a month but I'm welcoming the break! My flat mates, Alyssa and Ali, joined me on a crazy trip around the north island...packed into 7 days. Annnnnd go.

Day 1: Wellington! We flew out of Christchurch into Wellington and stayed at a really sweet backpackers called Wellywood. The only downside is that we were on the floor with the 20 billion children that were part of a dance team. Great times! Wellington was a cool city, but it was Good Friday so the streets were pretty dull. We ended up going to a rugby game, the Wellington Hurricanes vs. Canterbury Crusaders. We were in the minority seeing as we were cheering for the Crusaders. We couldn't turn our backs on Christchurch! It was a lot of fun but they ended up tying. Lame. It's always fun to see a rugby game though! We just chilled at our hostel and planned out the next coming days which was going to be so so busy.

Day 2: We got up and shopped around Wellington, going into thrift stores and fun little shops. I spent money that I really didn't need to spend, but since I'm on "holiday" I felt that it was okay :) We then headed out towards Tongariro National Park, a park where scenes were actually filmed for Lord of the Rings and where the volcano used for "Mt. Doom" in the movie is. The North Island has so many beaches so we decided to stop at one and watch the sunset. It was gorgeous! We got to our hostel late at night and chilled in the hang out area for a little bit before hitting the hay.

Day 3: We got up at 7:15am to catch a shuttle to the National Park. We were going to attempt an 8 hour day hike and we weren't sure how cold or difficult it was going to be. It was kind of overcast and we knew that weather got more intense as we hiked up into the volcanic area. It was such a cool hike though! It rained for a little while as we were hiking up and it was REALLY windy. There was a woman with a baby on her back and it was sobbing. It was pretty miserable haha Once we got over the volcano/mountain though the wind was better and we saw these three beautiful bright blue lakes. The volcano was also really cool and the views were amazing. We were exhausted by the end of it but it was a really great hike. We felt really intense for doing it haha

Day 4: We woke up at our hostel and hit the road to Rotorua. We had heard that it stinks up there because of the Sulfur. On our way we stopped at the place called "Thermal Wonderland" which was amazing! There were a bunch of volcanic hot springs and sulphur pools but it stunk so badly! It smelled like rotten eggs. So, by the time we got to Rotorua we could handle anything! When we got to Rotorua we jumped right in to our first activity...White Water Rafting! I was stoked because the trip we were doing included us going down the highest commerical waterfal...21 feet. Craziness! It was so much fun because I had never done anything like that before. We went down a lot of rapids and waterfalls. We had the raft to ourselves with the guides which was really cool as well. We then went to our hostel and crashed for the night. We ate a cool Mongolian BBQ place for Easter dinner though! haha

Day 5: We woke up to a rainy day in Rotorua but my flat mate Ali was really keen on going "zorbing" something you can only do in New Zealand. Google "Zorbing". It's hilarious. We rolled down this hill in a huge plastic ball with water inside. It was hysterical but a lot of fun. I can't do it anywhere else in the world so it was worth the 42$ I suppose...haha We then hit the road towards the little town of Hahei, right near the Bay of Plenty, a very pretty area on the North Island. We stopped for photos on the way, making the most of our road trip. We got to Hahei, got some takeaway food (to-go food) and went to "Hot Water Beach". It's a beach where when the tide goes out, you dig a big hold and sit in the sand because underneath the water is super super hot. It's basically like a natural hot tub! We brought our shovel and waited at least 100 other people for the tide to go out but it never did! It was really disappointing but we did get to stick our feet in and feel how hot it gets. It was burning our feet! We don't really know why it's hot, we just accept it :)

Day 6: We go up EARLY. We wanted to watch the sunrise at 6:30, so we got up at 6 am. It was a little brutal! We drove to a place called "Cathedral Cove", a really popular area to go and see. It was about a 30 minute walk, with other little coves along the way. It was absolutely stunning when we got there. It's its own little paradise. There were no crowds either which was a nice bonus. We had the beach/cove to ourselves! We then said goodbye to Hahei and drove towards the town of Raglan, good weather in tow. We had heard amazing things about Raglan, which is a huge surfing town with some of the best surf in the world! I was set on trying to surf when we go there since I've never done it before. Ali and Alyssa had both surfed before so they were going to be my teachers...none of this surf school stuff! We tied our boards on top of our car (we rented them from the hostel, which was the coolest place ever!) and gave a lift to a British couple staying at the hostel who wanted to go surf. It's so fun getting to talk to people from all over the world traveling here. They were super friendly and laid back. The waves were perfect for a beginner! They were still pretty big up they were spaced pretty well. I loved it! At first I was struggling. I would get up for a second and then fall haha But, then I saw a technique that some of the surfing school instructors were showing their students and BAM I got it. I got up at least 10 times! It was so much fun. I am officially addicted to surfing. It is a full body work out but so much fun. I was very proud of myself for actually getting up and doing it! A goal checked off my life list :)

I'm going to go to bed now but I still have another day to blog about...Waitomo Caves! By far the coolest thing I've ever done is Black Water Rafting in caves. Amazing! I'll blog about that another time though..I'm tired! Hope all is well at home!

Clare's Visit= A Success

Hello hello!
This past week has been pure craziness thank to my beautiful cousin Clare who came to visit me on her spring break! She was only here for a week which means this past week was jammed packed with plenty of adventures. Now, seeing as I am technically going to school here, I had to stay back and study on Tuesday and Wedneday while she went and had a blast swimming with dolphins and going on the Lord of the Rings tour. She had a blast which made me feel better because I felt bad I couldn't go with her! All this studying while I'm "studying abroad" is just silly isn't it?
Thursday I decided to skip some lectures so we could go horse back riding, something she's wanted to do the entire time. We went to a place about an hour outside of Christchurch and had a blast! It was great because there was only four of us and it was really relaxed. We got to trot or canter every time we got a field which was a lot of fun!Our guide Chris said that as long as we got to the point across the field, we could get there any way we wanted haha It was about a three hour ride with a stop for hot chocolate/coffee and biscuits in the middle. I could already tell I was going to be extremely sore after this and I definitely was! We were both struggling the next couple of days. It's been awhile since I've rode a horse! My horse's name was Nugget and is apparently the super dominant horse in the group, so he struggled to listen to me a few times. Clare rode Samson who consistently bucked his head back and didn't always want to listen to her either. It was pretty comical sometimes. Either way, we had a great time and the weather was beautiful for it! Clare got lucky. The whole week she was here was pretty much beautiful! You never know with New Zealand :)
Friday morning was craziness. We had a 7 am flight and got picked up at 5:30 am to go to Nelson, which is a town on the north part of the south island. Because it was so early we decided to just not go to sleep....ahh interesting decision. It was a little bit of a struggle on Friday to have any energy whatsoever. But, we did end up going kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park, one of the most popular national parks in New Zealand.It is a gorgeous area and it was nice because it was just Clare and I on the kayaking trip, along with our guide. It was like our own private tour! It was once again a beautiful day and we got to kayak which I've never done before! Our bodies were definitely taking a beating though. Our legs were already sore from horse back riding and now our arms were sure to be sore...going on no sleep. Yep, our bodies hated us. We still had a great time and it was fun to do. We went back to the hostel, had a quick 2 hour nap and then went out to get some dinner. We were both struggling to stay awake at dinner and were ready for sleep. We went to bed at about 9:30 haha But, we needed it desperately if we were going to SKYDIVE the next morning :)
We got picked up at 8 am by the skydiving company. I was still very very unsure if I was going to go through with this. I am not adventurous whatsoever, ya'll probably know that. I hate rollercoasters for heaven's sake. But, everyone did a very good job at convincing me that it does not feel like you're stomach is dropping, which was my biggest concern. No, it wasn't the fact that I could die (it is actually an extremely safe sport), Everyone was so keen on me doing it and I realized I couldn't turn back now. I also wanted to prove to myself that I could. Thank goodness Clare was there to push me. I'm so happy I ended up doing it. To be honest, when I was actually in the plane I wasn't that nervous! I was doing it so why be freaking out? Even when I was hanging outside the plane ready to jump I was really calm! I surprised myself haha Skydiving is the strangest thing though. You don't even feel like you're falling even though you are falling so extremely fast! It is more like a huge hair dryer is underneath you keeping you up there floating. We had about 50 seconds of free fall and we jumped from 13,000 ft! The 50 seconds felt like 10 seconds though and before I knew it the parachute was out and it was over! The only thing that I didn't like about it was that my ears were killing me! They were completely popped and aching really badly. Other than that I would totally do it again. It really was thrilling!
After skydiving, we headed to a cafe to eat and then were off to the airport to fly back! It was a really quick trip but we did two really awesome things! We got back to Christchurch and then went out for Clare's last night! The week she was here went by so quickly it was crazy. I guess we were doing so much and having such a good time that it flew by! She seemed to love New Zealand and to be honest, I don't know how you could hate it. It's such a blast. I'm happy I get to stay here for 3 more months :) Hope all is well back at home!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Kiaora!
I just got back from our trip from Kaikoura and it was a blast! Alyssa, Ali, Angie and I headed out from Christchurch at 1 o'clock on Friday to head towards Kaikoura, a town 3 hours north. We were super excited for out girls weekend with our sweet music mixes that we made haha This was the first time that we had rented a car and we all hoped we could survive without getting in an accident or dying. I think we were successful.
We stopped at places along the way, but eventually got to Kaikoura at like 4:30 or so and we were greeted by the beautiful ocean. We weren't sure what to expect from Kaikoura but it was a really quaint town, but very quiet. We checked into our hostel which was actually really nice and headed "downtown" to find something to eat because we were starving. We went to this place called the "Adelphi" and it was DEAD. haha We were like the only people in there for awhile. It was pretty good. At this point it was like 6 o'clock and we didn't really have much to do. Kaikoura has a lot of activities but not a lot of stuff to do at night. We ended up going to another cafe for coffee and desserts and staying there till they closed at like 10. We went back to the hostel and chilled there for the rest of the night. Fun stuff.
We got up at 8:30 the next morning and decided to do the "Peninsula Walk" around the Peninsula in Kaikoura. It's a fairly easy trek and you just hike along the ocean for about 2 hours. were some really pretty views and you got to see a seal colony which was pretty cool. We got really close to one but they aren't very nice! We're glad we decided not to swim with them because apparently you can do that here. After our walk we went to a local takeaway shop and got chicken wraps which were amazing! It was really cool to support a local...her children were helping serve and work. It was a really cute little place. We then went back to our hostel, got changed into swimsuits and headed off to the Encounter Dolphin place! We were really excited because the conditions were great and apparently a huge pod of dolphins had been spotted 25 minutes away. You never know how many dolphins will be in the area and what kind of mood they will be in. Sometimes they like to play and swim around you and jump/do flips, but you never know. are completely wild which was a little unnerving! We were literally dropped off in the middle of open water and were expected to swim towards the huge pod of dolphins making high-pitched bagpipe sounds to attract them. It was kind of funny to watch. We were given a wetsuit and snorkel gear and from there it was up to us. There were so many times where I had dolphins circling around and under me, 20 at a time. It was insane. I had stare downs with quite a few of them. They really are quite playful with humans and if you are active, like diving down or swimming in circles, they'll stick right by you for awhile. It was the craziest experience ever. I will never ever get to do anything like that again. Swim with 250 dolphins? Nope, not gonna happen. It really was amazing. We got back at like 4 o'clock and we were exhausted from swimming and making noises for an hour in the water haha We took a nap and then headed out to find some dinner.
We decided to eat at the Green Dolphin because we thought it was appropriate haha We never go out to eat so we thought that we should get dressed up and spend some money! We ate dinner and then went to a local pub just to check out to see if there was any live music. We met some guys in the New Zealand Air Force? Who knew they had one? Not me. It was really cool to chill at a small bar and talk to locals. It was a relaxed night but a lot of fun.
So I tried to be a little less detailed in this blog...I realize I write novels haha But, you all still get the time frames for everything. Don't worry haha
Miss you all!