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!

What did I just eat?

Hello there!
I know I haven't updated in forever and I'm sorry! Things are just so busy around here but I promise I will get better! This weekend has been such a blast. Last weekend I went tramping, or intense hiking, with the Tramping club to Mt. Somers and it was really really cool. saw some awesome views and we camped out! It was absolutely freezing at night but I was pretty proud of myself for hiking uphill for 2 hours straight haha We did the easy track but oh my goodness, either I'm out of shape (which is quite possible) or New Zealand has no "easy" routes to take. I'd say the latter obviously.
THIS weekend was so much fun. We went to the Wild Foods Festival in Hokitika, which is on the west side of the island...so the opposite side of where I'm going to school. My flat mates and I had heard a lot about it and how fun it was so decided to check it out! We hitched a ride with some kiwi's that we've become friends with while we've been here who had two huge vans and we headed out at about noon on Friday. We tried to pack light but with nine of us in a van and all of our gear it was definitely a tight squeeze. The van was also quite old...and with New Zealand mountains it got a little scary at some points. We survived so I'd say it turned out well. It was storming in Christchurch when we left so we were nervous about the weather for the weekend, but in true NZ fashion, the weather was sunny and great on the other side of the island. We set up our tent at a campsite we had previously paid for which was right next to the beach! It was beautiful! The ocean was on one side of us with the mountains on the other...couldn't have been better! Someone stole my sleeping bag which was not a fun time...I took it out of the van, set up our tent and then when I came back it was gone! So, we had to improvise and share blankets and sleeping bags which turned out fine but I was definitely a little angry at the beginning of this trip. But hey, stuff happens. After we got there we just hung out at the camp site and built a bonfire on the beach. We walked around and talked with people at other fires and eventually went to check out a place where glow worms are. It was really neat. We went into this area that is protected and you can just look at this wall full of brush that looks like the night sky because of all the little lights shining from it. It was really beautiful.
The next morning we got up and went to the actual festival at around noon. I didn't know what exactly to expect but it was a blast! Basically, there were tons of tents set up with the craziest food ever...if it can even be called food. We were there for a reason so we wanted to try some of the crazier stuff...including sheep testicles. They are actually called "Mountain Oysters" here, but it was GROSS. My flat mates and I shared one...each of us having one bite was ENOUGH. Eww. I can't even describe the taste but it was just pure nastiness. But hey, we did it and we can say that we did it haha The next challenge was almost not completed. So, we walk up to this place next to the tent where they are chopping a ton of wood and we wondered what they were doing. Turns out they are looking inside the wood for these huge worm-like bugs called "Hu hu Grubs". Basically when they find one, people bid on it to see who gets to eat it. It'd be one thing if it was dead...but no, it was squirming in my hand! I almost didn't do it but I was pushed into at least eating half of it! Ahhhh I still can't believe I did it! It was apparently supposed to taste like peanut butter...uhhh not so much :)
There was live music playing there as well which I wasn't expecting so that was great. They played swing music, 80's classics, pretty much anything. It was a lot of fun dancing and having fun with people. Oh, I forgot to mention that EVERYONE wears costumes and goes all out for this festival. We went as 80's girls/ aerobic instructors. Comfortable yet a lot of fun! We were quite proud of our ensemble! night we just chilled on the beach again, singing songs by the campfires and talking with people. Honestly, that is one of my favorite parts about New Zealand. It is so easy to meet people and strike up a conversation with them. I've met so many great people who are so open and friendly. It's such a laid back kind of mentality and I'm loving it!
Our trip back today was a little chaotic...we had to sit and wait around for our driver to come back from visiting his family and so we stayed 6 hours later than everyone else trying to find things to do haha Our morale was pretty low at this point. We were tired, hungry and disgusting haha He eventually got there and we headed back more packed than ever. The roads here are super windy and all of us were feeling car sick as we were crammed in this van. It was an experience for sure. The scenery is beautiful though so one can only complain so much. This country is honestly amazing and I'm so happy I've been able to experience the people as well as the physical beauty. I'm having a great experience thus far :) Hope all is well back home! Miss you all!

Livin' like a kiwi!

Hey everybody!
Sorry for the lack of updates lately…I’ve been so busy! Which I guess is a good thing but I know you all have just been DYING to hear about what I’ve been doing ☺
This past weekend was a kiwi-style adventure. On Friday, my friend and I went to Sumner beach, a really pretty beach near our university and chilled there for a few hours and got something to eat. I have been so proud of myself here…I’ve been cooking all my own meals and barely going out to eat! I’m amazed haha All day I was pretty psyched because that night we were going to the Canterbury Crusaders game, the official rugby team of the region that Christchurch lies in. The Crusaders are actually one of the best teams in the world and has the number 1 player, Dan Carter playing for them. He is even called the “prince of rugby”. He is also extremely popular because of his attractiveness, which was visible by all the teenage girls surrounding us at the game haha I was really excited because rugby is like football back in the states…it is extremely popular. We were third row up in the “end zone” type area and it was a blast! The game is very fast paced and really intense! They wear no pads or helmets, yet they can tackle people to the ground like there’s no tomorrow. It is a brutal game. It was very fun to watch though. They won like 35-6 so they dominated! Next time we go I’m going all out with black and red face paint. It has been decided by my flatmates haha
On Saturday we woke up and headed to “Amp It Up 2” and concert series that the school was putting on for Orientation week. Basically, it was in an outdoor amphitheater on campus and 4 different bands played from 12-7 pm. It was BEAUTIFUL out…it was a perfect day for a concert. The bands that were playing were kind of reggae/hip-hop which was really fun to listen to. A band called The Black Seeds performed who are apparently very big here in New Zealand, so everyone was really pumped about that. Kiwis are crazy and they like to have fun, so it was a great way to see the kiwi student life. It’s weird that I’m actually enrolled here and I am a student. I feel like I’m watching them do things at their school but it’s my school too! It’s a weird feeling.
Saturday night we went over to a flat and hung out with a bunch of kiwi’s haha It was a really great time. I’m really trying to just soak in everything they say and how they live here. I love to ask them about how they view America and Americans, just to see what they say ☺ Many say they like Americans, but American politics is a different story. I welcome their honesty. I know I’ve said this before but they really are so friendly here. They have a really laid back mentality and you do not feel judged when you are talking to them which is really nice when you’re the new kid in town.
Sunday we hung out all day waiting around to go to yet another sports event…a cricket game! The game was the Blackcaps (NZ) vs. Australia, who apparently dominates at this sport. It was a 20/20 version of the game, which is the one to go to because a normal game can take up to 5 days to complete! I wasn’t sure what to expect and to be honest I was thinking I would be bored because I had heard it was a little slower paced but it was a blast! First off, Cricket is so random with its rules. It took me pretty much the whole game to figure it out, and to be honest I’m still not 100% sure on the rules. It is not common sense by any means and it is barely anything like baseball except for that they hit a ball. But, it was kind of fun trying to figure it out and we had some nice kiwi’s behind us trying to teach us haha The game went into overtime which was really exciting and I guess doesn’t happen that often and New Zealand ended up winning! People were freaking out. They go crazy wild after every hit. They love the game. Australia was expected to win so it was a great atmosphere when the blackcaps took it home.
I had a great weekend and even though I didn’t leave Christchurch, I did something that is definitely an integral part of New Zealand culture, and that is attending their sport games. I’m going tramping this weekend, which is like intense hiking so I’ll have to write about that when I get back! Oh, my camera broke while I’ve been here…sand must have gotten in it so sorry for the lack of photos but I’m buying a new one so no worries. I know you were all freaking out. I understand, my pictures are very important ☺ I’ll write again soon!

Feelin' HOT HOT HOT!

Wooooo hoo! The weather has once again shifted and I'm loving it! This past weekend is was sunny and warm and PERFECT for the beach, which made my roommates and I very happy :) Our University is not right on the ocean, so we have to take a bus there which takes about 1 hour total with all the stops. It is kind of a trek, but was well worth it when we got to the beach! We were starving so we went into a fish and chips restaurant, but we all got hamburgers...uh yeah, not so kiwi of me. Oh well, I'll have plenty of other opportunities to eat "fish n' chips". I'm not too worried. It seemed like the whole university was there, at least everybody I know, which I guess isn't a lot haha We hung out there for about 4 hours or so which was GREAT. It's weird though because peak sun hours here I guess is 4-5 o'clock which is different from back home...so we stayed until about 5ish. We took some pictures on some really pretty rocks by a cave (luckily my roommates are good at documenting our experience because I fail when it comes to taking pictures...I will have to improve on that for you all). I will also improve on making this blog more interesting by including pictures...when I take them haha So look forward to this blog being a lot prettier I hope. I guess I just stink at being cute. Stick with me :)
Saturday we got up and went to a market in the town center which was great! They have all sorts of clothing, jewelry, toys, candles...pretty much anything you could want! It was really cute and there were musicians playing where you could get food. Being the picky eater that I am, I got a waffle from this cute little German stand, with powder sugar, maple syrup and whipped cream while the rest of my group got souvlaki? Or something like that... it's greek. I also got some chips a.k.a french fries. Can you tell I'm a carb queen? We sat on the grass and talked for awhile, soaking in the warmth. It was really relaxing and nice to be outside. We then headed to K-mart to pick up some much needed things and headed back to our flats. I was EXHAUSTED for some reason and in a weird mood, but we were going into the town that night to check out some of the clubs and stuff for the first time. Some of my friends had been down there so it was a first for me. I hoped I would get some energy by the time we went down! You go downtown pretty late...we left at about 11:30 pm. There are so many different clubs but we chose to go into a place called "Boogey Nights". Clubs here are free which is awesome and I literally danced for four hours straight. This place was so much fun! The dance floor lit up and they didn't play the hits from today but songs from back in the day! haha They played S Club 7, Spice Girls, John Mellencamp, Lynard Skynard, Michael Jackson and a bunch of other 80's and 90's songs. It was right up my alley. We left at 4:30 am! Places around here do not close down early. I couldn't believe how late it was! People were still there when we left...it was insane. But, I had a great time.
Sunday was a really chill day. Didn't really do much. We basically all watch the Olympics when we are not out running errands haha I really do not know what we're going to do once they end. It's fun to watch because we cheer for New Zealand, Canada and the U.S. We're obsessed pretty much :)
I had my first class of the year today! It was my political science: introduction to international relations course, or "paper" as they say. I think it's going to be a really interesting class but it's weird because I'm not used to huge lectures! There are at least 200 people or more. The professor is very passionate about what he is talking about and seems to have a lot of experience teaching it. It's weird we have a paper, a mid term and a final exam. That's it. No other grades. It's going to take a little getting used to not having homework assignments or readings...but I'm not complaining! After my class, I went to a fitness class at our rec center. They have so many classes that they offer here...it's great! My friends and I are determined to get into shape, and after today's "Pump" class, I can't imagine how I won't be! We did weight lifting, squats, abs, bicep curls, tricep lifts, gosh everything! I literally worked every muscle in my body. I LOVED IT! We are taking a cardio or muscle class everyday...or at least we plan to. We'll see how long that hold up. I'm pretty determined though! I'll keep you updated haha
Alright, I got to go to bed...I have class again tomorrow! It's weird I'm finally in school. Miss you all!

Just settling into my new home!

Hey everybody!
Sorry I haven't blogged in a little while, but it's been pretty boring around here in terms of blog writing material haha I've just been settling in, going to orientation, buying groceries and other stuff to make my experience here as "homy" as possible. The weather has been pretty bad lately...it's been raining A LOT. That's New Zealand weather for ya. It's supposed to be sunny and warm this weekend though so we are probably going to go to the beach :)
I feel like I've adjusted pretty well here...no homesickness as of yet. It really is a lot like America, except with different accents and different sayings. I'm planning on doing a whole blog about their different words and sayings soon..should be interesting for you all haha Some of them are quite strange! I've met lots of people so far because everyone in the Ilam Apartments (where I'm living) is very social and WANT to meet lots of people. It's like freshman year all over again, but I like it! I hang out with my flat mates a lot which is great. We all get along really really well. We've met some girls above us that we hang out with a lot as well. I'm glad to have found a great group of girls to hang out with already. Even though I applied to live in a co-ed flat, I ended up with 4 other girls as roommates...which seems to be working out great! Two girls are from the U.S., Leah and Ali, who are from South Carolina and Kentucky. Leah is a junior, while Ali is a sophomore like me! Alyssa is 22 and is from Edmonton, Canada and Martina is from Germany! Bridget (a kiwi), Angie, who is from Canada and Louis (a kiwi as well) round out our group. We're all trying to figure out this whole Uni thing and it's nice to have other people to lean on. There are a lot of Americans here, which is great but I've also met a lot of kiwis so far which is what I came to do!
I guess that's the only update I have...I've been able to watch the Olympics a LITTLE bit, which is sad because I'm usually obsessed with watching them haha It's weird with the time difference and I've been so busy, but I'm going to be watching them as much as I can. Alright, well I hope all is well and I'll blog again soon!

Those crazy kiwis...

Hey!
Sorry I haven't updated in a few days...I have been running around doing orientation with my program IES Abroad. They have had us busy! It's been great but I'm ready to get into the groove a little bit! I'll just fill you in on what we did yesterday and today, even though we had another day in there as well...it's not too exciting though :)
Yesterday we left at around 9 o'clock and headed towards the town of Springfield, a little town where we will be staying at a Youth Hostel with the whole group (22 of us). It is a really cute place called "Smylies" and they cooked a TON of food for us. Keiko, the wife of the owner, is a chef so she made tons of food for us while we were there. First we went to see a "farm show" at a local sheep farmers place. We got to see some sheep, watch how the sheep dogs are trained to herd the sheep, take pictures with Alpacas and sheer a sheep. I got to sheer part of a sheep! We didn't use the electrical razor but I did use the huge scissor like sheers. It was really cool! We then went jet boating on the river near the farm. It wasn't as exciting as the "Shotover Jet" that I did in Queenstown but this scenery was beautiful and it was still a blast. Some people went swimming in the water afterwards but it was so cold by that point I didn't want to! The weather changes SO FAST here. It started off cloudy and a little chilly, then go really really sunny and burning hot, then got really windy and the clouds rolled back in and it stormed. I was changing clothes like crazy. Then we had dinner and went to the pub to watch the Canterbury Crusaders play in a rugby match which a few of my friends from my apartment building were actually at (I was really jealous I wasn't able to go). It was supposed to be a quiet bar ith just some locals but it ended up that there was a bachelor party going on and all of these guys from all over the country were there drinking like crazy haha A lot of them were like late 20's, early 30's who played on a semi-pro rugby team together! They were INSANE. I've never seen people so crazy! It's true when they say Kiwi's like to party. They were very friendly and outgoing and I talked with a lot of them for the 3 hours we were there. It was definitely a great way to talk to some locals and get a sense of the Kiwi life which is why I'm here! They were pretty funny. I doubt half of them will remember me though haha So we got back at around 11 o'clock and watched a New Zealand movie "Second-hand Wedding", which is Eunice's (my IES director/leader) favorite New Zealand movie. I love this woman, she is so adorable! She is the nicest lady ever. So we watched that and then went to sleep since we had to get up at 7:30am. Ugh. I have not been able to sleep in at all since I've been here! I've had to wake up by at least 8 am everyday for orientation...not the most fun.
We got woken up by a cow bell this morning, had some breakfast and headed out to Castle Hill, a place where huge limestone rocks are on the sides of hills where we could explore. They were really pretty neat and the mountains were surrounding us. We then randomly cut down some pine trees and were not supposed to be there but the seedlings got blown onto this man's land so we were helping him out by cutting them down (they'll probably just grow back so I'm not sure how that helped but oh well...Eunice says pine trees are growing where they aren't supposed to so we're helping out New Zealand she said..who knows?) We then saw were some of Narnia was filmed! The rocks where they run down after the big battle scene and where Edmund almost dies or whatever haha The huge field where the battle scene was filmed was just over the hill but we didn't have time to hike up there since we did the pine tree thing (I was very upset about that haha).
I got back, went to the store to get some stuff (Groceries and everything else is SO EXPENSIVE HERE, it is craziness) and then went to speed meeting, which is like speed friending. I met a lot of people but we had only like 30 seconds to talk so I don't think I even remember anyone's name. We left early and went to get some groceries ( but this time I was with my flat mates) and came back and just hung out in my flat for the rest of the night. I am so so tired though...meeting people and traveling around is really exhausting but I have to get up tomorrow morning pretty early for international student orientation for the actual university...ugh. I feel like a freshman again...not fun! Oh well, it'll be done soon. Hope all is well! More to come later :)

I'm finally here!

hey!
Yesterday felt like the longest day of my life! My mom left at about 4:30 am and it was really strange to really be all alone of all a sudden. I was on my own now. Ahh! It’s a strange feeling for sure. I have never been a place where I don’t know a soul so it’s a new experience for me. I went back to sleep until about 9:30, where I woke up, took a shower and went downstairs to catch the shuttle to take me to the University. Now, I left my room at 10:50. The shuttle was supposed to get there at 11. I came down and he was just getting in the shuttle to leave! Thank goodness I just caught him. He said he asked the hotel if there was a “Johnson” here and they said no, but that was because my mom had checked out earlier that morning! That would’ve been bad and an unlucky start to the day. Thankfully I made it on and there was no turning back now…I was heading to Canterbury.
Of course the road was closed because they are doing construction on the street where my apartment is, so he had to drop me off and I had to walk with all my luggage down the road which was kind of hard haha I’m really not that strong! I checked in and Amy, and RA here, brought me to my room and showed me around my “flat”. My room is on the end of the flat which is kind of nice because it’s a little bigger of a room and it’s the farthest from the common room so it’ll maybe be a little quieter. The window looks almost right out on to the street where all the construction workers are so hopefully they’ll be gone soon. Amy said they were having a barbeque at 12:30, which was about an hour from when I got there and to come on by. So, I unpacked all my stuff (it looks like I have nothing in this room since I couldn’t bring that much clothing due to the weight limit on luggage) and tried to set up my internet. You have to set up an account, and then top up by putting in money per GB through you credit card. Sounds easy. I have had so much back luck with this thing. It did not work. Something about authentication failed. That is not good. I’ll touch more on that pain in my side LATER. So I decided to leave it and come back after the barbeque. The barbeque consisted of huge sausages being put in a piece of bread with ketchup haha But, after walking up kind of awkwardly by myself to big groups of people talking, I luckily got in line to the sausages behind three really nice girls. I stuck with them and a few other people that I met through out the whole rest of the barbeque. There was Sondra from Egypt, Chloe from Tahiti and Adriana from the North Island of New Zealand. I also met Arelli from Indonesia, two girls from South Africa, one girl from Germany, a guy from Pakistan and another boy from New Zealand. People come from everywhere around here! It was so cool to meet so many people from all over. Everyone was so nice as well. People here are very open and willing to meet people….it’s great.
I came back from the barbeque at like 2:30 because I had orientation starting with IES Abroad at 3 o’clock. I decided to check my Internet…still not working. I typed in my password and username to check my account and it said I had the wrong password. I did NOT have the wrong password. I wrote it down and I made sure no caps were on. I was so confused. I was getting really REALLY frustrated so I went to the office and asked about and they said I had to call Snap prepay, which is the company our internet goes through. I had to go to orientation so I hoped that would still be open when I got back (when I called later they weren’t of course).
Orientation was alright. There are some really nice people in my IES group but of course all the activities we were doing were the getting to know you, speed friending kind of stuff, which is good but gets kind of boring. After that we went to a buffet restaurant and stuffed our faces basically. A lot of them had just flown in today and had not had a lot to eat so people were starving. It was really good food actually…it filled me up! It was kind of neat talking with Americans in a place where there aren’t a lot of us. Apparently there are 200 Americans studying here this semester, which is more than I thought.
I got back at around 8 o’clock and realized I had no bedding. I called the RA on duty and she said there were others who didn’t have it and to go to the office. So, I go there and they ran out of bedding! Of course that would happen to me. So, they said they would drop it off later. I figured I would just be chilling in my room all night since none of my flat mates had come today (or so I had thought). I was waiting around trying to figure out my internet (I made another account and password, put MORE money on and it still didn’t work. I have no idea why and it aggravated me A LOT), when I heard a knock at my door. Assuming it was people with my bedding, I opened up the door and there was a girl standing there. She introduced herself as Angie and told me that one of my roommates moved in and is over next door if I want to come over and meet her! Angie is so nice and friendly and is from Canada (yet another place people are from). I said that I was waiting for my bedding but I will come over as soon as it arrives. I was really anxious to meet my new flat mate. As I was waiting for my bedding, a girl opens the door and comes walking down the hallway yelling “Hi! My name is Ali!” haha Ali is from Kentucky and is really sweet! It’s really nice to have another American to connect with. I hung out with her and a girl named Bridget who lives above us for a lot of the night (they waited for my bedding with me which was so sweet). Bridget is a kiwi, which is a great friend to have to get to know the culture and everything. She is very friendly and outgoing.
I can’t believe I’m finally here…it’s quite surreal! Everyone is quite friendly here so it’s easy to adjust :) I’ll be keeping you updated!

What a "cool" experience!

Yesterday we had to be up pretty early to go on a half-day glacier hike on the Franz Josef Glacier. We got up at around 7:30 a.m., got ready and headed to a restaurant to pick up a chicken sandwich to bring along for lunch.
We were signed up for an 8:45, 4 hour long hike. These people do guided tours all the time and were quite organized. The whole group of us got a bunch of tags: a blue one to pick up our rain jacket with, a red one to pick up our “over trousers” and a yellow one for a hat and a pair of gloves (which are usually used in the winter). They recommended you wear a lot of layers, so I had four on…not a good choice for someone who sweats very easily haha It gets chilly up in the glacier and it was supposed to rain which is why we got the coat and jacket (it ended up not raining so that was good). We also got a pair of boots and “clampers”, which is like spikes so we could walk on the ice and not slip, which would not have been something I would have liked to do.
We all got on a bus to drive out towards the glacier and I honestly did not know what to expect! I was going to walk on a glacier…in summer? Not typical. We got off the bus and walked on a path through trees and reached a big valley filled with rocks and rock “dust” as they call it (it looks like sand basically). The Glacier was directly in front of us, and seemed quite close until one of our guides, Nick, told us that the Glacier is actually 2 and a half kilometers away (I THINK that is like a little over a mile…I’m still trying to figure out how to convert all the stuff over here to what I understand haha) but it’s pretty far. He said the valley is so vast and large that the glacier seems much closer than it is. We were then split into groups, group 1 would be going fast, group 2 was the middle paced group, and group three was the slower one who consisted of people who wanted to take lots of pictures. I thought my mom would want to be in group 3, but surprisingly she opted for group 2 where our guide was Dean. After we separated, we still had to walk to the glacier, so Dean lead groups 1 and 2 ahead but half of our group, including my mom and I, go separated because he headed up into this forest area above the rock below but we didn’t see him take the turn. We were ditched basically. I’m not sure if Dean realized but Nick and the slower group saw us and took us to the Glacier. As we were learning to put our “clamps” onto our boots, Dean walked up and we joined up with him again. He didn’t say anything about us being left behind…guess we weren’t missed! After we got our stuff on we had some time to kill because another group was going up the carved out steps, but had stopped while their guide hacked at the ice to give them more of a step. These guides are constantly making pathways with these big ice pick things that they carry around. It’s crazy. So we went around and said our names and where we were from. Our group had a lot of variety! There was a couple from Holland, another couple where the woman was from Germany and the man from Switzerland, 2 friends who were from Sweden, a couple from England and Dean who was from the U.K. We were the only Americans in our smaller group! It was cool to have so many people from all around the world. New Zealand seriously has so many different people from everywhere that come and travel. You meet people from all over. It is really neat. To be honest, we haven’t met that many Americans here that I thought was kind of surprising.
We eventually started our trek up the glacier, first going up these really steep steps of ice, then going over a really seep hill of rocks that were formed by the glacier moving forwards and backwards (it melts and rebuilds all the time). We finally got to the actual glacier where we went into some crevasses that were so sweet. You were just surrounded by walls of ice! The ice was a very cool blue in some places, which I wasn’t really expecting. We hiked for a while then stopped at a flat part to take some pictures and have some lunch. But, Dean got us moving real quick and it wasn’t much time to eat. Our descent back down was kind of tough because a lot of people were afraid of slipping and some of the rock was very flimsy. We did survive surprisingly enough. You can breathe a sigh of relief. Our hike back through the valley was rough. I was HOT. I had so many layers on and was sweating like a pig. It was gross and I felt gross. That was probably the worst part! Everyone was hot and uncomfortable but I suppose it was worth it to have the layers on the glacier. Another work out for me! Hiking is tough work around here so I’m hopefully burning a good amount of calories ☺
After we got back to town we headed to the “4” supermarket (supermarkets here are really small here compared to ones back home) and got some snacks for the 5 hour drive to Christchurch. We also bought some really cool jewelry! My mom buying a really cool ring and I got a little necklace with a kiwi (the national bird and why the people are called “kiwi’s” here) and the paua stone making up the middle. That stone is everywhere here. It’s really pretty and is made up of blues, greens and turquoises…perfect for me!
Our 5 hour drive was long but the scenery was gorgeous as always and my mom has been getting faster and faster behind the wheel so it was all good! Being back in Christchurch has caused our trip to come full circle and my traveling to come to a halt for the time being. I’m starting orientation on February 11th so I’ll be in Christchurch for a little while! We drove by the University today and checked out the outside of the apartments and where they are. I can’t believe I’m going to be moving in there really REALLY soon. It’s crazy.
Alright, well next time you hear from me you’ll be hearing all about SCHOOL. Weird!

I'm SO extreme!

I have internet again! Yay! More blogging for ya'll.
So, yesterday we woke up at our hotel in Queenstown, checked out and drove to "Shotover Jet". It's one of the most famous jet experiences in the world apparently. We had heard a lot about it so decided to do it. It's basically a jet boat that goes really fast through this canyon on a river that at places is only 6 inches deep! They pretend like they are going to run into the rocks and the sides to freak you out. They also do multiple 360 degree turns! haha It was a blast. Not too scary or anything just pure fun. I liked it a lot. You got really wet as well. We had a lot of screamers on our ride as well so every time he would almost run into the rock wall people would scream at the top of their lungs. Including me just for fun ;)
We then hit the road towards the town of Glenorchy, where a lot of the Lord of the Rings filming was done apparently. The thing is when they say this, the places are so big you have no idea where they specifically filmed it. So, we could've seen some places they fimed...maybe not haha We decided to hike up towards a waterfall, which we thought would only take an hour and 40 minutes but realized it took like two and a half hours to get there, which would mean like five hours total of hiking which we didn't have time for. So, we turned back around with out seeing the falls. We did see some great scenery though. Every where in New Zealand is gorgeous so we weren't at a loss. The whole hike is one of the top ten best hikes in the world...if we would've of finished the WHOLE thing...which would've taken us a day. OH, this next thing was an experience. We were driving a long out of Glenorchy (sheep grazing everywhere of course) and all of sudden we come to a part of the road that is blocked by a huge group of sheep! I had seen pictures of sheep blocking the road and now I was actually experiencing it. But, that's not all. We were waiting there not sure what to do when all of a sudden the sheep turn towards us and start to run. They were stampeding us! It was hilarious. My mom was freaking out that they were hit the car but they just trotted around us on all sides. The guy and his dogs came up behind and he gave us a wave to go ahead. I took some pictures of it! I finally figured out how to post pictures on my blog, so I'll be posting a few pics here and there on here. Most of them will be on facebook though!
We drove back towards Queenstown and headed up towards the town of Wanaka, a pretty town right on a lake. It was really quiet there though because it was a Sunday...not much going on! We stayed at a really old motel (for only 80 NZDollars though! That is really pretty cheap for NZ hotels) with partly carpeted walls! We went out to eat where I got pork loin and mash (mashed potatoes) and I met a girl who goes to "Uni" or University in Dunedin. She said that University gets pretty crazy down here. Uh oh! Not good for my mother to hear. We'll see how Canterbury is. We got back to our hotel room, watched some Burn After Reading or something like that and fell asleep. Exciting.
Today, we drove from Wanaka up to the town of Haast, stopped at the beach which was really pretty. We're on the West side of the country now, which is much more rainforesty. It's really coo how different New Zealand is in different regions of the country. We continued driving into Fox Glacier, had some food (we hadn't eaten all day) and continued onto Franz Josef Glacier where we are just hanging in our hotel room for now. We are going to take a guided hike (4 hours long) up on the actual glacier tomorrow which should be cool! Even though it's summer, there's a glacier here. I guess the mountains keep it cool.
Alright, more later! Thanks for reading everybody :)

I'm getting back in shape :)

Okay so I haven’t had internet for the past couple of days while we were in Te Anau, a small town right outside of the Fiordland National Park where the infamous Milford Sound, as well as the Doubtful Sound are. These Sounds were carved out by glaciers and are now a waterway surrounded by mountains, with dolphins, seals and penguins within them. We arrived in Te Anau on Thursday, the 4th and just hung out there for the night. We got some dinner and went to bed fairly early because we had to get up at 7 a.m. to go on our tour with “Trips and Trams”.
So, we woke up, ate some muffins and got picked up by Steve, our guide, along with 5 other tourists. 1 woman was from L.A., two women were from Germany, and a couple was from England. We had a great mix of people in our van and it was a really personal tour. We got on the road towards Milford Sound, which is deep within the national park, stopping at certain points to take pictures on the road. There was a lot of fog and clouds in the morning, which was kind of neat because it added something to the mountains and the pictures. The first part of our tour was to go on a Nature Cruise on the water to take a look at the sound. It was fairly cloudy when we first were going out, but the sun was peaking through so we were hopeful the sun would heat up the ground and lift the clouds and fog. It did for some of the clouds at the beginning and we got to see the peaks of some mountains but as we progressed the clouds were covering the tops of the mountains, which was kind of disappointing. There was a naturalist who was telling us all sorts of information along the way about the sound, how it was created, the animals, etc. (There are actually only two native mammals of New Zealand (bats), the rest are birds! They have introduced possums and rats which has partly caused the extinction of over 250 species of New Zealand birds and they are continuing to put their present birds in danger.) We turned around and as we were coming back the sun was out over half the sound and I got some great pictures! We stopped along side a waterfall and got completed sprayed with water, which was actually pretty cool! We got back to the shore where Steve picked us up and dropped four of us off (the other three were at this underwater observatory…it was more money so we nixed that ha) and we took this walk along the shore where cicadas were SO LOUD. It was crazy. We could also hear the songs of different birds. We couldn’t see them but a lot of them sounded like a human whistling a pretty tune. It was really cool.
After that we picked up the rest of the group and headed towards “The Divide” where we would hike! My mom and I decided to go on a self-guided, longer one that was more challenging. It was definitely challenging! With me being out of shape and the trek being constantly uphill, I got a work out! Even though I was tired, I guess I’m competitive because I really wanted to beat the two German women in our group (who were quite fast) to the top. I’m not gonna lie, I was hauling up that hill/mountain. My adrenaline I guess kept me going. I just kept going and hiking… I was going to get to the top. It was tough but I really had a lot of fun. The views were gorgeous and stunning. I still can’t really believe that I’m here in New Zealand, hiking and seeing all the beauty this country has to offer.
So we got back, met up with the other people of the group who went on an easier, shorter hike and had some biscuits (cookies) and tea/coffee. I was in need of some food and energy. We drove home on the bus, said goodbye to our new friends and headed towards Queenstown. I had heard a lot about this town and how awesome it is so I was excited :) We got here (I'm here now) last night and just chilled in our hotel because I was exhausted from the day. It was really busy. Our stay has been interesting so far...we got to our room and I was about to take a shower and it had no shower curtain...odd. Then we ordered room service and got a burger...without the actual meat patty....odd. It was all really random haha
Now for today's activities. We para-glided today. It was awesome! We took off at about 3800 feet and floated down. I was with a professional named Shi or something..he was from Isreal! It was a perfect day, sunny and clear. We could see everything and it was perfect for me because it wasn't scary :) Until he asked if I wanted to do robotics. He said there are sharp turns and a lot of g force. I decided to live a little for once haha It felt like a rollercoaster (which I hate) and we were like spiraling downward really fast with a ton of force on me. It was pretty scary but I actually liked it! Imagine that. It was so much fun. We also walked around Queenstown a little bit and through the gardens. It is really pretty here...it's right on a lake which always adds something special to a place. Now we're just hanging out. I'll hopefully post pictures soon, but I have so many and I need a lot of time to post them and most of the places we go we have to pay for the internet. I'll get on that though!

Penguins in New Zealand? Yep!

Sooo now for what we did today. I decided to just do a totally different blog. Most of the day wasn't that exciting because it basically consisted of driving...driving and just when we thought we were done...more driving.
We got up in Mt. Cook National Park at around 9 a.m., got breakfast and headed out to hike. It was gorgeous again today. The sun was out, it was clear (they said it had been raining and stormy for the past two weeks and people have left without seeing anything) and it was HOT. We decided to go on a 2 1/2 hour hike up through "Hooker Valley" which was a perfect time for us. We went over a few bridges, crossing over a fast moving river beneath us and eventually got to a lookout point where you could overlook the valley with the mountains on all side. It was beautiful of course! We hiked back (it seemed to take longer than how long it took to get there ha) and we hit the road. We were on our way to Dunedin, a town further south and near the East coast of the island.
This drive seemed to take FOREVER. I feel bad because I can't help my mom out by driving because you have to be 21 to drive a rental car. The scenery is beautiful, but after driving for 4 1/2 hours or so, the hills and the sheep and the blowing grass seem to be never ending when you just want to lie on a bed. We passed through multiple really cute, small towns that I could never imagine living in. They just pop out of no where amongst the mountains...so different than Naperville! We saw another beautiful blue lake but other than that it was the sheep and us for miles. Dunedin always seemed to be that much farther. In one town we saw some high school girls walking home from school...it seems like every school, no matter if it's public or private, have to wear uniforms. These girls were wearing mid calf-ankle plaid skirts with collared shirts. They were not the most attractive things ever that's for sure! Anyways, we eventually started driving along the coastline and got to see the water which was a nice change of scenery, and after about 30 minutes we saw Dunedin. It's right on the water, in a little bay area and is really cute!
We checked into our hotel, but then realized that we should go drive out to the Otago Peninsula where you can see sea lions, seals, an Albatross Colony (type of bird) and Yellow eyed penguins! The last tour for the penguins was at 7:15 p.m. and it took an hour to drive out there (it was 5:30 at this point). We had no time to rest because we had to get out there. Our drive to the end of the peninsula was a windy, scary one. The road is right on the water, with sharp turns and people going fast. We had time to spare before our penguin tour so we saw the Albatross colony, which is out on this cliff with hundreds of birds flying over head and landing all over the cliff and surrounding grassy area. The sea lions were also far below on rocks..you could barely see them because they blend in so well! It was still neat though..it's not some thing you see everyday that's for sure. Next was our penguin tour. I didn't really know what to expect, but I had heard we needed to check it out. Apparently at dusk is when the adults come back from the water where they have been collecting food all day to feed their chicks, so we were hoping to see some coming out from the water but according to Rhonda our guide, no tour is never the same and you just can't expect anything. What she did know for sure is that we would see the chicks because they don't move, only the parents go out. We went out with 6 other people. They built these underground look out things where you can look out but not disturb the penguins. These types of penguins are solitary and do not like to be in big groups. They are loyal to their mates, but they do not hang around the other penguins which is different than any other types of penguins. We we traveled and walked around looking for chicks and their parents. We saw 2 adults and two chicks before we came upon 5 in one area...3 of them in the water. One of the chicks was practicing swimming and doing all kinds of crazy stuff in the water. It was actually really cute and entertaining! We were all laughing at him. He was going crazy while his mom just floated next to him. Apparently Rhonda, who has been on 1000 tours, has never seen a chick swim like that. So Rhona called our tour "a winner". I trust Rhonda. We headed up to a higher point after watching those ones swim for awhile to see if we could see any coming out of the water from the day out at sea. We saw two of them on the beach and some seals and then we actually saw one come walking out of the sea! It was so cool! We didn't know if we would actually see one and we did. So neat. We also a cute little chick on the path we were walking on. It was the youngest one and still was quite fluffy :)
We drove back to the hotel, realized we needed food, and drove to Pizza Hut and McDonalds...again. It seems we go there often. It's our third time haha Now, we're in our room. My mom is asleep and I'm here typing and ready to go to bed! Miss you all!

We're not in the city anymore...

Yesterday we didn’t have any wireless service ☹ But, today we do so, yay! More blogging! Yesterday we woke up at around 9 o’clock and checked out of Hotel So. We were sad to see our little pink room go, but we were ready to hit the road! We got some bagels at “The Yellow Rocket”, a place that was recommended to us by the Canadians we met in Sydney. It was delicious and with breakfast behind us, we head out of Christchurch and towards the town of Ashburton, heading towards Mt. Cook and Lake Tepaco. Mt. Cook is the highest peak in the Southern Alps, with Lake Tepaco within and surrounded by the mountains.
So, we passed through the plains of Canterbury, passing small towns along the way. We could see small mountains to our right in the distance, which got us excited to see Mt. Cook. We went through a few different towns and took some stops, but mostly we kept going along the two lane road, seeing tons and tons of sheep and cattle along the way. It's true that there are sheep EVERYWHERE. This place is wool city. We were getting closer and closer to the mountains and when we came over a hill we saw bright turquoise blue. It was Lake Tepaco. Honestly, I’ve never seen something so blue. It was beautiful and it literally took our breath away. The pictures I post will probably not do it justice. The snow- capped mountains were in the background and it was my first taste of the stunning scenery that I’ve heard so much about. We continued on to a The Church of Good Shepherd, a little chapel right on the lake. It was quite tiny but with the lake beside it, it was extraordinary. At this point we had been driving for at least 3 hours or so, but we were just getting to the good part! Mt. Cook was our next stop and as we headed that way we passed Lake Pukaki and got the best look at Mt. Cook yet in the distance. The water on this lake was perfectly still and the reflection of the sky and the surrounding mountain could be seen on the lake. It was stunning. I actually got some pretty great pictures of it, which I will post soon. The water and the sky were the same color and the sun was shining bright, making it nice and warm…definitely warmer than in Christchurch! It was perfect…I was in shorts and a tank top! I could not complain about anything.
We finally arrived at Mt. Cook National Park and checked into our “motel”. These motels are separated from the actual hotel, but we have our own little kitchen and it’s quite spacious. This is the only hotel/motels available around because the National Park has certain restrictions on what can be built. We went on a hike, a pretty easy one compared to all the trails. It took us an hour in total but it definitely gave me a workout! We went out to Kea Point and got another great view of Mt. Cook and Mount Shelton. We then drove 15 minutes to a trail that took us to the Blue Lakes and a view of the Tasman Glacier. This hike was very uphill. Even though it was only a ten-minute hike…it was uphill! The blue lakes ended up being very small and GREEN, which was disappointing. They definitely lied and we were disappointed at the lack of blue. The view of the glacier was cool but a lot of it was melted because it is summer and .5% of the glacier melts every year…so less and less of the glacier is visible. There is still 200 meters of ice underneath the melted water though which is crazy! So hiked back, got some pizza at the bar/café area (the cheesiest pizza EVER) and talked to some Australians who were very very nice.

KiaOra! I'm in New Zealand!

Hey everyone!
I'm finally in New Zealand woot woot! I've made it to Christchurch...my mom and I arrived late last night (January 31st...we're almost a full day ahead!) at the Hotel So, which is really modern and funky. It's cool though. Our room is very VERY small and pink, but it works. Every floor has it's own color, ours is the pink floor haha We got up this morning (February 1st) and ventured out to see Christchurch. It's really nice! It's like Sydney but on a lot smaller scale and a lot less people. There are a lot of stores and cafes. I really like the area. It's quieter than a big city, but still has a lot to do. It is quite a bit chillier here in Christchurch than in Sydney. It was a really pretty day but very windy making it a little cooler. It was probably 70 degrees but with wind it seemed colder at times. But, the sun was out and shining so no complaints!
We walked around town and into Cathedral Square which is the center of the city with little kiosks to buy ice cream and drinks, as well as entertainers (singers, instrumentalists, etc.) The Cathedral is right there too so we looked inside and ate at the cafe attached to the side. I got some french toast and it was very delicious :) I didn't really eat on the plane the night before (it was meat pie) so I was quite hungry. We then did some more exploring walking along the Avon River and saw this place for "punting", which is where you go on this little boat ride (a small gondola type boat) along the river and see Christchurch from that point of view. There are so many trees and plants along the river and a lot of gardens..it is called the "Garden City" after all. The boy who was actually rowing/pushing us along was named Josh and is a second year at the University of Canterbury where I will be studying! It was really cool to talk to him and to meet a student from there! It got me a little more excited for school haha
So after our "punting" ride we walked back and got our car to drive and see the University. It's about fifteen minutes away from the central downtown area so we had to drive there. Let's just say my mother was a little nervous to be driving on the other side of the road. The blinker is on the other side as well so she kept trying to hit the blinker but would end up turning on the windshield wiper. It was pretty funny but she was getting frustrated! We made it alive to the campus and drove around it for a little bit. It is quite pretty with lots and lots of trees covering the campus. We couldn't see my apartment complex because the road leading to it was under construction but it is right across the street...not far at all from where my classes will be. It is really strange to think I will be studying there and not at Hope. Since my mom is still here I feel like I'm going back with her in 9 days...but I'm here to stay for awhile. Weird.
We then drove to Heathcote, which is where a very famous attraction is... The Christchurch Gondola ride. I thought it was like a boat ride but it's kind of like a ski lift up and over the hills to a building at the top where you have a great view of Lyttleton, a town the lies right on a bay, surrounded by the hills. It is definitely hidden and you would've never thought water lied over the hills in a little bay. The rarest dolphins in the world actually live in this bay which I thought was really interesting! It was a gorgeous view from the top of this hill. You could see the ocean on one side, the city of Chrischurch from the other, and then the bay with the surrounding hills/mountains. It was my first taste of the beauty that New Zealand has to offer.
After the Gondola, we were off driving again, me as the direction giver, and made our way back to the downtown. We headed back to our hotel to rest for a little bit and then went to look for some dinner. We ended up going to a place called The Tap Room and it was AMAZING. They serve dishes that are "Stone Grilled" which is where they bring you plate out with a very very hot stone in the middle with whatever meat you choose cooking on it. You actually cook it yourself, and it cooks very fast so you eat and cook, eat and cook. I had lean beef, lamb romp and pork loin and I cooked them all! Apparently this way of cooking is the healthiest and takes all the fat off. It was so good! I was surprised. I was eating the meat really fast because I didn't want to overcook it but I was also starving so it worked out well. It was also served with gourmet potatoes and vegetables. My mom got steak and prawns (which are like big shrimp). It was a really cool way to eat.
Now I'm back in my room watching Two Weeks Notice (they have quite a bit of channels here surprisingly) and ready to go to bed... tomorrow we head out of Christchurch to travel around the South Island! I'm really excited!

The Blue Mountains are not blue, but still beautiful!

Hey hey!
Today was a busy day and it was different because we actually traveled outside of downtown Sydney and took a tour to the Blue Mountains. This included sight seeing of waterfalls, rainforest and "The Three Sisters", one of Australia's most recognizable and famous rock formations. We got up at around 7:00, got some Mickey D's from across the street and got picked up by a coach bus that took us to the bus station where we switched to the actual tour bus. We headed out with about 30 other people on our bus, with an Aussie tour guide and all. On our way to a wildlife reserve, our guide told us facts about Australia like the fact that 85% of the 22 million people live within 50 km of the coastline and that it costs 800 dollars a month to drive to work in Sydney. Random but interesting stuff like that.
After about 35 minutes on the bus, we arrived at the wildlife reserve, where we were greeted by a person holding a baby wallaby. I'm not sure what that is exactly but it was cute and soft and loved to be scratched under its chin! We then proceeded to see all kinds of birds flying around and free jumping kangaroos! They were raised in captivity so they are friendly to people and you can pet them, which we did! There is actually a whole section where you can feed the kangaroos, along with emus, and take pictures and pet them galore. That was a really cool experience. We also got to pet and take a picture with a koala! They are so soft and quite cute. It was really neat. We proceeded to see a tasmanian devil, a wombat, dingos, tons of species of birds and tons and tons of species of kangaroos. It was a really awesome place that you really got to see all the native species of Australia.
We then continued up to the actual Blue Mountains and found because it was overcast, it was extremely foggy and we couldn't see The Three Sisters at first..,it was just a wall of fog. But then, miraculously the fog lifted for about 2 minutes, revealing the Three Sisters. Our prayers were answered! My mom was ready to ask for part of our money back since these rocks are the most famous part of the tour! We got lucky that we saw it for the small amount of time the fog lifted. The next part of our tour consisted of going on a cable car skyline thing that had a clear floor where you could see a waterfall, the Three Sisters and the rainforest below. It was really beautiful and the rainforest and rock goes on forever it seems. Okay, we then went down the steepest railway in the world. This scared me...a lot. I hate roller coasters and I swear this railroad went almost 90 degrees. We were going straight down. It went slow so thank goodness it was not like a roller coaster so it was fun! The track used to take coal up from the valley when there used to be an active coal mine down there. After we got off the railway, we hiked around the rainforest for a little bit, running into a Canadian who had plenty of good things to share about the South Island of New Zealand and Christchurch. He was a talker! Wow, he was spitting out information at us left and right, but hearing all the great things he had to say about NZ and the friendly people has only made me more excited! After taking a cable car back up to the top where there was food and a gift shop, we had a really good buffet. It was delicious. I realized that lemonade in the states is not the same lemonade here. Their lemonade is basically like our sprite, which I thought was interesting. So when I ordered lemonade...I got sprite! Learned a little bit of terminology there. We then headed back onto the tour bus and stopped by the Sydney 2000 Olympic village, seeing where the athletes stayed and some of the big arenas. A trip on a ferry into the harbour was next, and it was neat to see all the really expensive hours lined up along the harbour and entering under the bridge and seeing the skyline. It was really really windy and a little chilly, but the sun was out by this point so it was a pretty scene!
We took a "free" shuttle back to our hotel which we had just found out about and are kind of upset that no one told us about this sooner because we've been paying this whole time! It goes till 6 p.m. so maybe we'll take it tomorrow. Anyways, we went back got changed into some nicer clothes and headed back to "The Rocks" to get some dinner. It seems to be our new hot spot. It's just so nice and has some great eating places there. We went to an Italian restaurant ( I can't remember the name) and got pizza, salad and spaghetti. It was in a really small place, was really hot, but it had character and was quite popular it seemed. After we got dinner we went directly next door to check out this Belgian chocolate cafe. We ended up sitting down and ordering a dark chocolate raspberry cheesecake, coffee and a dark chocolate milkshake. Their milkshakes here are not what they are at home...it literally was chocolate milk. Whoops! I was not expecting that but oh well. The cheesecake was AMAZING. Very very good. We once again took pictures out by the harbour (it seems to have become a must do now) and headed home...or tried to. We were waiting for 40 minutes for a bus to take us back, got frustrated so we started walking to find another bus stop to look for the bust we wanted. Because it's a Saturday night, Sydney was hoppin'. Everyone is going to fancy places or going clubbing. I felt underdressed walking through the streets. All the girls here were wearing super super short dresses or skirts and really high heels, while the boys were in dark jeans and button up shirts. There were long lines outside numerous clubs/ restaurants. It was getting crazy already and this was at like 10:30. It was cool to see Sydney's night life though.
Alright, I'm heading to bed...G'night! Hope all is well back in the States!