Abel Tasman Trip Update!

All in all, this was a good trip. The weather sucked, but that just makes me want to go back again and explore when it's bound to be nicer out. I really enjoyed the short little "road trip" and the scenery was awesome, as always. I had plenty of time to reflect on things and talk to God, which was nice. I ruined and then lost my shoes, but that's really the only thing I have to complain about the trip. And that we didn't get to go black-water rafting. Major bummer. And that it rained. A LOT! Let me explain the trip though.


So, Day 1 of the trip, Saturday, was pretty fun and unplanned haha! We were supposed to leave at 9, but of course didn't until after noon sometime. We drove up to Nelson, about a 6 hour drive I think. Then we walked around trying to find a stinkin place to eat and directions to Marahau since we didn't really research anything like that at all. It was pretty fun. I went with 3 guys: Daniel, Patrick, and Nick. Patrick ended up being hilarious and we had fun the entire trip; he quickly became my outlet for laughter! The guys were pretty much on good behavior, besides the random "That's what she said" jokes, which I apparently set up perfectly. At one point I just stopped talking because every word that came out of my mouth was a perfect set-up. I guess it's good that I don't have my mind in the gutter all the time. Anyways, we ate at this little Italian place (we were sooo hungry) and Daniel found a piece of plastic in his salad, which wasn't cool. I had to call my flatmate Sara from the road to get directions to Marahau after, and Dan was in a pissy mood, but other than that it was fun. I learned to roll with the punches early... Anywho, that was Day 1. When we got to our hostel, we all got ready for bed and then talked for awhile before drifting off to sleep.



Day 2: We woke up, packed, and walked to meet the water-taxi that took us to a spot on Abel Tasman (we walked back to Marahau from this spot, a 4-day tramp/hike). On the way we got to see a seal eating an octopus, as well as heaps of seals sunbathing. It wasn't really sunny out though. Although it wasn't raining, so that was good. We finally started our tramp and hiked for about 3 hours or so I think, maybe longer. We reached an inlet-crossing, where you have to wait for tides to go out before you can cross. We waited for awhile, but it started getting dark, so I took off my shoes and decided to go barefoot. It was a bad idea; my feet got cut up by all the sea shells and such. Oh well. I had a peanut butter sandwich for dinner and an apple. Not very filling, but I found out that you can survive on nuts/dried fruit mix, a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and an orange a day and get along fine. I was hoping I would lose weight, but I don't think I did. Disappointing. Anyways, that night we met 2 other American girls in our hut, played cards with them, and then went to bed at around 9. So boring I know. I did get stared at by a possum as I was brushing my teeth. That was slightly freaky; I tried to scare him but he wouldn't budge. Oh well. Dan and I slept in the hut and met some American girls traveling the South Island. We played a few games of Bull S*** with them before going to bed.



Day 3: When I woke up this morning, I found that the lining from one of my shoes had pulled away from the side and curled up, so I could barely get my foot in. It caused me to get even more blisters, which I was certain wasn't possible...I was wrong. Anyways, we woke up and got started around 9 (although we'd planned on 8, go figure) and then started walking in the rain. This was by far the worst day. We didn't play many games, it rained harder than ever, and then wind was added to the mix. It was completely miserable. The sun showed itself for a few glorious moments at one point, and then it went downhill after that. We really didn't speak much and tried to walk as fast as possible. My bag was the heaviest of all because I used Joe and Amy's sleeping bag, which was great at night cause it kept me warm but was ultra heavy. My pack had to weigh at least 50 lbs, and that's not an over-exaggeration. Plus, I carried the food that Daniel and I shared. My back and shoulders are still sore! And the pack was pretty much as big (tall) as me, so that didn't help either. Anyways, we finally made it, but we took a longer route because I downright refused to walk through any more inlets. It ended up taking us 4 hours, and it was the hardest part of the trail as well. We did get to stop and see Cleopatra's Pool, which is a really cool rock formation. We were unable to cross though because the river was overflowing due to the rain =). Oh joy! And we got to set our packs down too, which was AMAZING and I felt like I was floating! Anyways, we reached the hut pretty early, around 1 I think. I changed and then set my stuff to dry again. We had previously talked about going all the way back to Marahau because it was so miserable, but there was no way I would have made it. Then, the weather got extremely bad! It became a storm, with lightning and thunder that shook the entire hut. I thought we would have to abandon it at one point because I was certain it was coming down. It didn't though, thank goodness haha! I also learned that you can pass HOURS by doing absolutely nothing. It was soooo boring. We were all exhausted, Patrick ran out of food and went to bed at 4 in the afternoon, and the rest of us just sat. Literally. I thought about heaps of stuff, read this boring poster of New Zealand fish, etc. Then I got out my Bible, read a lot, and then grabbed a pen I'd brought and started doodling. I never knew you could just sit and pass time for the sake of passing time haha. Nick, Dan and I stayed up talking, and were joined by some Chilean (we think) women a little later who got pissed at the fact that we took up so much stove space ;)...oops! We talked about Harry Potter, and then I learned that Nick's dad had actually passed away this summer from cancer. It was pretty shocking and extremely sad...you just don't have words for that situation. I felt really bad for him; it sounded pretty rough. Anyways, he headed to bed around 8, and Dan and I stayed up talkin til about 10 and then tried to fall asleep, but the storm was sooo loud. Eventually, I did though...



Day 4: Today was our last tramp!!! We had 4 hours to go, and that's all I could tell myself. Plus, the storm blew itself out during the night, so of course it ended up being absolutely beautiful weather, around 65 and sunny. I was too happy it wasn't raining to be bitter! We all had a good time, and I got to lead, for once! We played 21 Questions again, and talked a lot, and just walked. I was tryin to book it, but about 1/4 of the way my feet started hurting soooo badly that each step was painful. I couldn't stop walking because I knew if I stopped, I wouldn't start again. We also reached a spot where there had been a landslide during the night, so we had to climb over mud and plants and trees to get on the other side of the path. New Zealand trails are just so much more "natural" with extremely few guard rails (if any) and stuff like that. Basically, the motto here is that if you mess up, it's your fault. I like it. Anwyays, I seriously considered walking barefoot about halfway, my feet had never hurt so bad in my life. We finally got back and I can't tell you how relieved I was! I just kept a rhythm in my head going of "ALMOST THERE ALMOST THERE ALMOST THERE" over and over! We finally reached the hostel we'd stayed at 4 nights ago, were able to shower (thank goodness) and then headed back to Nelson. I literally couldn't walk and had to buy new shoes...and then somehow between then and Christchurch my shoes got lost. I blame the boys, since they "rearranged" things in the back often. I was frustrated but I'm over it. Anyways, we then drove 4 hours after eating a REAL MEAL haha! We made it to Greymouth with not much problems. I was co-pilot today and Patrick drove. We had a ton of fun and laughed most of the trip. Once it got dark, the talk turned pretty philosophical and got kinda deep, and I kept my mouth shut for the most part because most of the words being used were way too big for me to try and follow (they were talking astro-physics). It was interesting. Anywho, we did hit a bird as well. Sad day. We made it finally (after turning into a road with a complete dead end) and stayed in the Penguin Room at this hostel known as Noah's Ark. I LOVED IT! Nick and Dan stayed up to watch The Mummy, but Patrick and I headed for bed. My head hit the pillow around 10 and I was out.


Day 5: Today Nick, Dan, and I woke up early and headed out to go black-water rafting. Basically, you get an inner-tube and are able to ride it down the river, and then you enter a cave where you have morning "tea and biscuits" before riding back out with the only light being that of the glowworms in the cave around you. It's supposedly a ton of fun, even in the winter. When we got there, we were given tons of clothes and wetsuits to put on in order to keep us warm and dry. Obviously it was slightly weird putting on long underwear that didn't belong to me, but whatever. It was raining all day and our guide was really cool. I can't remember his name now of course but we really liked him; he was pretty funny and we basically had a "private tour" since we were the only people scheduled =). We drove through some country and were stopped by feeding time for the cows, who stand in the middle of the road and refuse to move. When we got to the river, we followed our guide upstream to a specific point, and then jumped into our inner-tubes and rode downstream. There were heaps of natural waterfalls and such off the cliffs above us because of all the rain, and it was really fun! The only part of me that got wet and cold were my hands, and that's to be expected. Other than that, I was sweating in all the layers! Anyways, we reached the cave with no one falling out of their inner-tube (which I guess happens a lot) and got to ride this sled down a "natural slide" into the river! Then, we tried to go into the cave...but the water-level was way higher than normal and the current was sooo strong. We abandoned our inner-tubes and tried again. Me, being so short, got about two steps inside before my life-vest did its job and buoyed me up, including my feet, so that basically I was hanging onto the straps of our guide and Dan was trying to walk through the current and my flailing feet! It was absolutely hilarious and frustrating. I kept pushing myself down and tried sooo hard to keep my feet on the river bottom, but it was impossible. The river bottom wasn't firm anyways because of the current, and after 3 unsuccessful tries, our guide decided there was no way we could get into the cave :(. So, instead, we jumped off a little waterfall, with our guide waiting below to catch us haha! We warmed up after that with some hot chocolate, and then jumped off the side into a deep part of the river for one last "hoorah!" It was really fun despite the rain and our guide was so nice he gave us vouchers to come back again! YES!!!! So we get to do it all again!!!! I was really excited about that. When we got back to the place, we were all given muffins and drinks of our choice, and chilled in the hot tub. It was nice for awhile, then we got out, ate at McDonald's, and drove home. I actually drove! On the other side of the car and the other side of the road! It wasn't too hard at all honestly. It was very hilly since we went through the mountain range again, but there was always something breathtaking to see. When we reached high altitudes, however, the car didn't work as well....at one point I had the pedal on the floorboards and we were going up a mountain at a crawl! Then, of course, I pulled over and it started snowing. It just came down to the fact that uphill was bad for our little "budget" car, cause downhill we were cruisin! Anyways, by the end of 4 hours I was ready to be back in Christchurch, and I have this awful habit of not reading the FULL sign or not really reading at all even though I see it....it just doesn't click in my brain or something. I definitely saw the word "Christchurch" and pulled into the Christchurch prison haha! The guys all made fun of me and I was like "I just want to be back!!!!" Once we made it though, I did some laundry and then packed for Sydney, finally falling asleep way past the time I wanted to....

BREAK!!!!!!!! For 2 whole weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday: Today I did heaps of more nothing. I got up and Amy dropped me off for coffee. I called and talked to Dad (which I haven't done in forever), found out my loan money FINALLY came through (praise Jesus) and then came home to Skype with Joshua. It was sooo good to see his face and talk to him for a whole 2 hours!!! We haven't had the chance to do that in a long while, so it was good, especially right before I leave. And here are all the updates about my trip: tomorrow morning (Saturday) I leave at around 9 to go with Daniel, Patrick, and Nick on a tramping (hiking) trip. We are going up to Abel Tasman to do a Great Walk, which I'm really excited about! It's rated one of the top 3 in the world by some Traveler's Magazine, so I know it's going to be absolutely stunning. I'm looking forward to the long walks and getting into shape, as well as the beauty that I know will be constantly breathtaking. And we are planning on taking our time to enjoy every second of it! It's a coastal walk as well, which means we'll be right be the ocean and beach! AWESOME!!! Then, Wednesday night we are traveling up to Greymouth and going black-water-rafting. This is basically white-water-rafting, but in a cave! I know, how cool is that?! Amazing eh?! We depart that Thursday after the caving to head back to Christchurch, where I will have a night to pack all my crap and figure out how to get to the airport by 1 the next day, and probably catch up with Sara (my flatmate who I already missed because she left today) before we leave. Then I'm off to Sydney next week! I will definitely update this blog next week before I leave, but again I don't think I'm taking my computer to Sydney with me. I'm just a little nervous as I will be staying in a hostel most nights. Don't worry, it's an all-women's hostel and I will have my cell phone by my side every second and will not go ANYWHERE without telling someone. Jeff Rohalla, a friend from school, is studying in Sydney, so I will be meeting him there and most likely hanging out with him often. I checked the weather for Sydney already though, and during the day it's around the 80's!!! AWESOME!!!! Too bad I lost one of my swimsuits eh? Oh well, I still have one left (thankfully)!!!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR SOME BEACH!!! Anyways, I will be there until the following Friday, and then fly back to Christchurch. However, friends from Dunedin will be here in town upon my return and hopefully some of them will be chillin at my place with me! I'm really excited for that and to catch up with them (it'll be my first time hanging out with any girls in two weeks)!!!! They leave Saturday morning though and then it's back to writing an essay that I should have already done but don't care enough about because it's only 1000 words and a philosophy paper, so basically I just have to argue about whatever I want to argue about and throw in a bunch of crap about why the sky is blue and what color really means etc. etc. Pretty boring. Anyways, I'm off to bed now finally after packing and spending my day doing absolutely nothing besides reading and trying to feel better. I might have forgotten to mention I was sick, but I am. Oh the joys of spring!!! Goodnight all! Love and miss you!!!!!


Thursday: Today I did a bunch of nothing. I skyped with the girls again (Syd and Liz) and it was AWESOME!!! And I don't know if I mentioned the other day but I also got to chat with Jana on facebook, which was also amazing since I haven't talked to her since I've been here! I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!! They make me happy =). Anywho, I went to class too, although it was quite boring and pointless because no one was there really. Then I headed over to Joe and Amy's. Amy left out some burritos for me (I'm so thankful for them both) and then I chilled at their house since I didn't feel well all day. Plus, we were having a party at my flat (my flatmates did ask if it was ok, which was nice of them) but I decided against staying because I felt like crap. Joe and Amy were at another friends' house though, so I literally ate dinner and then read all evening. It was awesome. I went to bed kinda early (for me at least) and was tucked in around 1. It was a fantastic day that I definitely needed!

Almost to break!!!

Day 47, Wednesday: This morning I woke up, went to class, sat in a room alone for 20 minutes before I figured out that the class was probably canceled, came back and skyped with Syd and Liz!!! YAY!!!!!! AND because I was talking to them...I completely forgot to turn in my essay!!!! SUPER BAD!!! Instead, I went to workout and then ran to the store to grab some cookies to make for Sara (who's sick), and then remembered about my essay, emailed my Professor, ran books back to the library, came back and made dinner with Sara. We had meat sauce for spaghetti; it was delicious! And I made chocolate-chip cookies too, and then took a bunch of pictures from Tyler's stash of cool pics, and then I pretty much went to bed.


Day 46, Tuesday: I finished my essay last night! YAY! I woke up and studied, then went to class, then studied some more, then took my Art History test, which was ridiculously hard and I messed up the dates by like, a range of 2-3 years. Then I skipped my Philosophy class and revised my essay, procrastinated by watching Friends with Sara, then stayed up super late revising and editing my essay. That's about it. For real, my life's been revolving around this essay and my test.



Day 45, Monday: Today I went to class, then Sara and I went to Kathmandu, an awesome outdoors store here. However, our trip was unproductive, so we walked down to the library so Sara could get a few books for break...and they had none of the ones she wanted, so the trip was even more unsuccessful. BUT we got really good smoothies! Haha so that's good. Then I came back and typed my essay, went to class, went to PUMP, ran to the grocery store, came home and finished my essay. Boring life.

I WILL BE ON A PLANE HOME THIS TIME 12 WEEKS FROM NOW!!!

Day 44, Sunday: Today was a good day. I woke up and went to church with Joe and Amy, and then was able to hang out with them after for lunch as well. They had friends from Auckland down who have a 5 month old baby girl named Emily. I got to hold her and all I could think about was that Elly will be as big as that baby when I get home =(. But Emily didn't cry at all when I held her, so hopefully Elly won't hate me either! Anyways, we had burgers on the grill, which was soooo good because I've been craving a good burger since I got here! Then the boys played some games on the Wii before Amy and Joe dropped me off at the library to meet my flatmate, Sara. We wanted to grab a library card and some books to read over the break, and I was supposed to grab some books I needed for school. However, turns out I couldn't check the books I needed out, but it worked out because I've decided to write about a different topic anyways =). Probably NOT smart to change my essay topic when it's due in 3 days, but oh well. Then we went to Kathmandu, this awesome store here in New Zealand that is having huge sales right now...but it was closed. So it was pretty much a pointless trip into the city. When we got back, I changed and started reading and that's when I decided to change my essay topic. Also, I found out that I read about 4 chapters of the wrong book. Awesome. UGH haha! At around 8, heaps of people came over because my flatmate Hannah's friend brought over a chocolate fountain. All the friends that Sara and I invited didn't show, which just proves how lame they are because it was definitely a great night! We had strawberries, kiwi, New Zealand marshmallows (which are different than US), and other lollies and things, cantelope, and bananas to dip into the chocolate. It was delicious! And Sara and I made chicken marinated in Sweet Chili Sauce with Mango flavouring, and some pumpkin soup. It was delicious. However, if anyone reading this (I'm pretty sure no one does anymore) knows how to NOT burn/blacken the bottom of chicken when frying it, I'd really like to know. Because we burn/blacken the outside EVERY time we make chicken, which is kind of a lot. So if you could leave a comment under this post telling me how not to, that'd be great. Thanks! Anwyays, after that I went back to my room to do some more work, but as you can see I'm now updating this and therefore not doing work. I really have to go write my essay! UGH! So I'm off to bed now. I have an essay to write for Wednesday, a test Tuesday, and another essay due Thursday that I haven't even looked at. Although that one doesn't have to be turned in until after break, so I probably won't turn it in ;). New Zealand unis are awesome. I better get straight A's =). OH AND THE MOST FUN THING ABOUT TODAY!!!! MY FRIENDS ARE EMAILING ME AGAIN!!!!!! The FORCE have had an email going around for awhile now on facebook. I got tired of being the only one to ever really write in it so I stopped last week because I was bitter that none of them care. But, they're all going back to school now = no work = procrastination = more time to skype and email me!!! AND Jana is able to get on facebook again, and I'm sooo happy! I haven't heard from her since I got here! So, all in all, I'm glad my friends actually love me again and are soon going to be as bored as I am trying to procrastinate from work haha!!! Anwyays, I'm really off to bed now. Cheers!


Saturday: I studied today. I was going to go work out but woke up with a headache that started the night before, so I read books instead ;). I didn't write any of my essay because it's a history essay and I have to do LOADS more research than anyone else because I know nothing about New Zealand history at all! Not fun =(! Oh well though. After doing some work off and on and e-mailing Joshua, I headed over to the Palms to meet Amy and Joe. Joe went to a movie so Amy and I took Laine, one of the other couples' 1 yr old daughter. She's soooo cute and it was a lot of fun to get to play with her!!! Amy and I struggled to get the door unlocked at the house too, which was fun, and Amy ended up crawling through one of her windows to get in hahhahaa! It's a good thing she's so stinkin tiny cuz I would definitely NOT have fit through it haha! Anyways, Joe came home and then ran to get a couple of movies while Amy and I lounged on the couch and watched Friends episodes!!!!!!!! I always love hanging out with them because they make me forget about missing home! Plus, they're tons of fun of course! They've been sooo busy with church stuff though and having guests that we haven't really gotten to see a lot of each other, and so tonight was good to hang out and catch up. They think they have a place now, which is really exciting! I'm so happy for them! It's going to be awesome for sure, and it's a small place that they may have to expand on but it will work for the first couple of church sessions, which are only going to be once a month until February. Anyways, we had a good time and then I ended up going to bed super late, but it was still fun.


Friday: I TALKED TO MARQUI!!!!!!!! I LOVE HER!!!! It was really, really good to talk to her on Skype, and we got to see each other too! It definitely made my day and I didn't do any work because I ran out of time ;). Oh well. I also went to this cute little exercise class, and my instructor was Spanish and just adorable. I liked her a lot haha! She was just more informative than the other people have been and walked you through the steps. She also went around to make sure everyone was using the right technique, which would have been nice the first time I was there. AND she told you how much weight to use if it was your first time, which would have also been helpful for me since I'm awesome and did about 40 lbs. my first time and killed myself. Anyways, I booked plane tickets to Sydney...I'M GOING TO AUSTRALIA!!! I have a 2-week break after next week!!! Then I come back and only have 6 weeks left of classes! We get another week-long break before finals start after that too! So awesome eh?! Anyways, I think I'm going to go on a Great Walk over the first week of break and not spend money. It'll just be a lot of hiking for days on end, and some traveling on a bus! Then, I leave for Sydney on Friday, August 28th at 3 p.m. I'm soooo excited!!!!!! I'll be there until September 4th. I want to spend most of my time in Sydney, but I am going to try to take a train up to the Cairns on the Gold Coast and do a day of snorkeling and introductory scuba diving! I found a day-long trip that includes breakkie, lunch, and wine and cheese on the way home, all snorkel and diving gear, and an introductory snorkeling class so I don't have to have a license! I'm very excited and will probably spend 2-3 days up there, chilling on the beach and snorkeling whenever I want! It'll be awesome and I'll take HEAPS of pictures, I promise! Anyways, after talking to Marqui and planning my trip, I went to the Canterbury Rugby game with all the boys. It was a lot of fun! The guys are always fun to hang out with and I enjoy watching rugby. There's so much that I don't understand, so it's nice to try to figure things out. Plus, Canterbury completely smoked Waikoto, the other team haha! The final score was 39-14 or something I think. It was great. After that I came back and studied, and then went to bed early.


Thursday: I didn't do anything constructive today either. I picked up some books at the library to do my paper and Peter came over to do laundry. He almost broke the washer by putting too many clothes in it! But it's ok =). I went to class and then went to the gym to workout I think. I can't remember. I need to update this daily again so I stay on top of things!!! OH I WENT TO SPAGS!!! That's what I did today! I went to Spag's with the crew from Tuesday and we spent our $50 on pizza! It was really good and very fun. After, we played a game of Dutch Blitz at our place (and I almost won for the first time ever), and then we went to bed. I started some good reading for my paper and that's about it.


Wednesday: I did nothing too special today. I went into town and bought Canterbury Rugby tickets for Friday because Jane is in South Africa and still thinks I'm more responsible since I'm the only girl going. It's quite funny. Sara and I had dinner together I think, and I was supposed to talk to Joshua but it got too late for him, so our chat lasted very briefly. Definitely a bummer. Then I did some more of nothing; watched Friends because I've become addicted, and facebook stalked people of course, and finally made myself get off the computer and go to bed after spending some time in the Word. I've decided to read through Acts...I just felt like it would be good to have a more "mission-oriented" perspective on things here. That's about all.

Day 39 and updates since!!!!

Day 39: Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I don't think I'll ever get a "good" night's sleep here. Just not possible. I wake up so early here...every morning between 7:30-8. No lie. Oh well. So of course, this morning was no different...woke up at 7:30 when I'd gone to bed at 2. Ugh. I went back to sleep, or attempted to, only achieving a half-sleep half-dream state and waking up again at 8, 8:45, 9:30, and 10:30. I finally got up and moving at 10:30 since I didn't have class til 12 anyways. After class I was able to Skype with Grandpa, Uncle Dewey, Mom, Cody, Colton, and Kate (who I REALLY DON'T WANT WEARING MY CLOTHES MOM SERIOUSLY)!!!! It was really good to finally talk to them since I haven't in about 3 weeks now. I was supposed to Skype with Joshua but we rescheduled for tomorrow night instead, and it worked out great. I talked with them for awhile and was able to fill Grandpa and Uncle Dewey in on my life here and what I've been doing. I also made Mom watch the video of the Nevis Bungee, which is awesome and you can all watch if you so choose...It's not of me, because it would take me 9 hours to upload mine, but it's basically the same thing and shows what I did. I'll leave the site address on the bottom =). Anyways, that pretty much made my day!!! I went to class after talking to them and got back and made soup at 6. Then Sara, Nikki, Jayme, Daniel, and I went to a bar called "Fat Eddy's" where they have a "Quiz Night" at 8:30. Heaps of places actually hold Quiz Nights on Tuesday nights, actually. Anyways, it was really fun! We were pretty much the ONLY people there and competed against the bartenders and one other guy on his own team! We ended up winning the entire thing, which gave us $50!!! Hahahahaha it was a lot of fun...there were some other contests along the way, like choosing the best team name and such. We decided to spend the money on pizza at Spag's and have a date for Thursday before our game-night! It was heaps of fun and we plan on going every Tuesday now! After, Sara and I came back to find that our two girl flatmates, Emma and Hannah, are having a small party. They've been real sweet about it though and we're just hoping the place is cleaned up tomorrow cause we don't want to do it! Anyways, that's my life so far. Pretty boring. OH, I did get to talk to Maria today too!!!! It was really brief but such a blessing!!! Anyways, that's all. Goodnight!!!



Day 38: Monday, August 10, 2009

Today Sara woke up and bought us tickets to the All Blacks (national rugby team) game in Wellington on September 19th! I'm really excited! We are staying with some friends I know from Wellington and are making it a 4-day weekend since we don't have class on Fridays. It's going to be really fun! Anyways, I went to class at 10, then came back, went to the library with Sara, went to class at 4, and then went and worked out. I forgot that the gym I am going to is currently renovating its fitness center, so I did two classes instead of running like I'd planned. The first class was a cardio class and extremely fun actually. The second was PUMP and was even better....sorta. I think it was just because of my instructor. So, let me explain him. This guy walks in, and he's ripped, just massive, looks like a body-builder with his huge muscles and bald head. And he's wearing this red T-shirt that hits him right in the middle of his thighs with black athletic shorts on. However, the black athletic shorts are ridiculously short and therefore it looked as if he was wearing nothing but an over-sized T-shirt the whole time! I couldn't stop smiling about it and tried not to giggle too loudly. Anyways, after that I came back home to a dinner already made by Sara =). We had grilled chicken and pasta, and it was delicious! After that I came to my room to find that Joshua was on Skype at 3:30 a.m. there, talked to him for about 15 minutes, and then waited around until 9:30. Sara and I decided we needed to go get bread from the grocery store and spent 2 hours there pretty much. It was hilarious. AND they didn't have bread...so we bought stuff for our Thursday game-nights and stuff. They don't have chilli here though and we want to make chili-cheese dip this Thursday, so we're not sure how that's going to work out. Oh well. AND when we asked the ladies working there, they completely ignored us at first, and Sara and I just stood there really awkward like looking back at them, and they were talking about us as well, and then when the lady realized we were talking to her she seriously said "Oh my head was off with the fairies then eh? I'm so sorry girls!!!" It was so funny and sooooo awkward, I couldn't stop laughing and neither could Sara...probably a "had to be there" moment but still, hilarious none-the-less. Anyways, it was pretty late when we got back but Aaron had dropped off his laundry and had to come pick it up. He then sat and talked to us for another hour or so, before he left, only to text me once he got home at 12:30 claiming he had "female polka-dotted underwear" in his pile of laundry...hahaha! One of my flatmates...oops! I finally went to bed after that, but I continued to show Sara my amazing discovery about Aislinn (pronounces ASHlinn), the mentor or whatever for the Victoria students. She's this little blond, mid-twenties, very sweet and so nice, and absolutely gorgeous (no over-exaggeration). AND she River Dances...Professionally. Like, actually travels around with the International River Dance Team. It's insane. I stalked her on facebook and found out that she's a HUGE deal! She was the "Rose of Tralee" last year for New Zealand and went to Ireland to compete against about 30 other international Roses!!! INSANE!!! She even has her own YouTube video of her dancing...she's soooo good! I was really impressed because I had no idea about this at all. And the "Rose of Tralee" is somewhat like a pageant, except for the girls are of Irish descent and judged on personality and a series of interviews, not beauty. There is no "swimming-suit/evening gown contest" at all. And they also dance, of course. I was so excited to learn this and am so excited to hear her response when I question her on it. I just couldn't believe it! AMAZING! Ok, sorry if my stalkerish ways offend anyone...I get kinda bored over here sometimes during the week =).


Day 37: Sunday, August 9......

So today I didn't go to church...instead I woke up and walked all the way to the City Centre with Nikki and Jayme. It was an extremely pretty walk and only took us about 45 minutes. We went to the market where we met up with Sara who took a bus because she's training for a half-marathon and has bad feet. Anyways, it was a good day. We got to look at all the little shops at the market, eat some food, and souvenir shop. I paid $8NZ for some Chinese food and got a HUGE amount of food...I advise everyone to make sure they have someone to share it with cause it's heaps of good food! We also went to the souvenir shop where I gave in and bought myself a NZ fleece, which I love and have used every day since. The most interesting part of the day, however, was when these random men, about 6 I think, dressed in furs, faces painted all black, pointed beards and wearing these horn-type things went walking through the square carrying something covered in-between them all and whistling. There was absolutely NO EXPLANATION for this at all...completely random and hilarious. After that little episode, we walked into an arcade where Jayme succeeded in showing off her AMAZING DDR moves...it was intense and she was awesome!!! We walked home after that and Sara and I pretty much chilled in the flat the rest of the day, watching Friends episodes. And I watched Taken the night before, but I can't remember if I put that on here or not. Anyways, that was Sunday and it was a good day...

P.S. to Day 36!!!

I HAVE LESS THAN 100 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!!!! I have 13 weeks...and only 8 of those are school, with another week of finals...which gives me 4 whole weeks of absolutely nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New Zealand is sooo awesome!!!!!!!! What a great way to end my college experience!!!!!!!

DAY 36: August 8, Hanmer Springs Day-Trip!!!

So I haven't updates since last Wednesday...Here goes:

Thursday evening after getting milk, Sara and I had our weekly "party" with Nikki and Jayme...we made muffins and played Dutch Blitz. Daniel and Amber joined us, and so did Nicole and Haley (friends of Sara's originally) and it was a really fun night. We ended on a game of BS and then pretty much went to bed. I'm convinced I pulled something last Wednesday though (don't know how) because I can't even bend my right arm to brush my teeth. It sucks.

Friday I attempted to go to another PUMP class, but decided against it and ran instead. Then I did the PUMP exercises, but without weights and much less intense =). I dragged Sara along to meet Jane and all the guys for pizza, and I got to see Ashley Hubbal, the lone other girl in Arcadia at Spag's Pizza (the only thing close to an Italian restaurant here). It was fun to see everyone and chat. Afterwards Sara and I ran to Count-Down (the grocery store) and stocked up...on brownies ;). Not really but I did make brownies that night and we sat and watched Knocked Up. Then I went to bed...

YAY FOR HANMER SPRINGS!!! The ride to Hanmer was around 2 hours and was beautiful! I took plenty of pictures on the way there. Jayme, Nikki and I all went and we got the backseat of the coach bus, which was clutch! When we got there we opted to chill in the pools first so we could leave whenever we wanted, plus Sara had told us to go early since it gets crowded in the afternoon. We got too hot and hungry, so we ate lunch around 1:15ish and then laid out on lawn chairs in the sun. The sun is soooo hot here...I mean, it's the middle of WINTER here and we were in bathing suits soakin up the rays (of course, I'm white still but oh well)!!! It was sooo nice and wonderfully relaxing! After about 1.5 hours we decided to go on a super short tramp up this hill in town and see the little town of Hanmer. However, on the way out, we were looking at the pictures that were taken of us, and I tried to get a quick picture of the pictures...The guy flipped out on me and I made some offhand comment about them not making enough money off us already, and then he continued to talk about it while I was right there to the guy next to him. The pictures he took really weren't that good anyways, AND it's not like he had to do much work...sit in a hot pool all day and press his finger on a button. The picture I took didn't turn out anyways because he scared me by yelling at me and I jumped...Oops. Oh well, he was a jerk and when I told my flatmates they just kept going "I'm so sorry that happened in New Zealand!" Their reaction was quite funny. Back to my day: Hanmer's a cute little place and the hill was really easy. Of course we took pics at the top, came back down, got on the bus and to our backseats, and then napped most of the way back. Shrek 2 was on though, so I was slightly distracted between watching that and looking out the window while the sun was still out! After I got back (around 7) I ate dinner and then Sara and I watched Taken...I LOVE Liam Neeson! We needed to laugh and lighten the moods after, so we watched an episode of Friends! There was some extremely loud pounding going on for awhile after that from upstairs (which has parties A LOT) and we decided to check it out. Supposedly they had broken the door handle and were all locked out of the apartment, so the guy was fixing it...AT 11:45 AT NIGHT! Crazy. I told him off. Not really at all, I just said "Good luck and hope you get that thing fixed!" Sara was so mortified because he was really rude...oh well. Now I'm finally off to bed after a long day!

Sorry!!!! (August 6)

So, I haven't written on this in forever and would like to apologize to all those who actually check this often. I will be better about keeping this updated and you can decide how much you want to read or not.

Ok, so it ended with me complaining last Wednesday. Awesome. I would like everyone to know I'm done being negative and pessimistic; it's too energy-consuming. Plus, I really am enjoying myself here, and things have been so much better since I've moved. I really didn't realize how much added stress and depression it was to live there and not feel connected with anyone in any way. So, I'm on to bigger and better things :).

Last Thursday, the 30th of July, I went ice-skating with my flatmate Sara. There is a Winter Festival going on in Christchurch, and one of the attractions is an igloo-dome thing with ice on the inside. When Sara and I got there, they didn't have our sizes in skates (which I learned is different than in the States of course and they actually DID have my size), so we were able to just sit inside and watch. It ended up being kinda lame anyways since the area was so small, and I would definitely have gotten bored going around in such a tiny circle with all these other people and on crappy ice. So we were able to watch and see the City Centre at night was beautiful too. Afterwards we rode in THE MOST GHETTO van ever! It was awesome; it looked like a Scooby Doo van, one window was broken out, and the back seat wasn't tied down or properly in, so it was wobbly haha! It was probably the most dangerous vehicle I've ever ridden in, but it was extremely fun and a short ride. Upon returning to our flat [at this point Sara and I are the only 2 people living in a 6-person flat], Sara and I invited our friends over, Nikki and Jayme. Jayme goes to Wesleyan, which is awesome since we both know Bloomington! Anyways, we made brownies in our awesome oven while Jayme did her laundry, and then Nikki and Sara taught us how to play Dutch blitz! It's a fun game, but definitely hard to get used to. After pigging out and staying up late for my first time ever in New Zealand, we all said goodnight and then it was off to bed.

Friday, 31st July: Sara and I went souvenir shopping in the City Centre. We needed some dish towels and pot holders, so we bought some and are going to give them to our friends/family back home as souvenirs (I promise I'll wash them before giving them away). We wanted to be practical, so this was our way of spending money without feeling bad about it haha. We were searching for this supposed "3-story shop" and couldn't find it anywhere. We did end up asking in another souvenir shop if they knew of a 3-story shop...they said 'no' and I felt the need to buy something from their store since we were basically saying "hey, your store sucks, can you tell us where the 3-story one is?". I bought an All Blacks umbrella, which is the National Rugby Team, and I'm really happy with my purchase. It's awesome. Anyways, we were about to give up when I said "let's just try this one right here, maybe they might know where it is or something." As we were walking in, Sara's jaw drops open and she looks at me in wonder because I had found the 3-story shop completely on accident and without even intending to. The store really was 3-stories full of souvenirs! It's awesome and cheaper than the others as well! After spending some time in there, we ate at this awesome place called Carnivores that I think I mentioned in here earlier but who knows. It was delicious and hit the spot. Later that night we went to a Global Potluck which was OK, and then we Skyped Joshua until 6 a.m. his time....Not my fault, he called me. Anyways, that was fun and afterwards I think I went to bed.

Saturday, 1st August: Our new flatmates moved in today. I was extremely nervous about them, but they're great. They brought heaps more stuff, including another toaster and couch. They're really cool and they like to cook, so the place always smells great now. Their names are Emma, Hannah, and Ash (the only guy currently). Sara and I spent most of the day at the library reading, then grabbed some Subway. We were invited to a birthday bash that night, and I got sucked into this horrific New Zealand movie on the Tube about a man who went nuts and started randomly shooting everyone near his uber-small town. It was crazy and a true story...I guess he just lost it one day, hauled off and started killing anyone who passed his house, including his best childhood-mate. Because the town was sooo small, it took FOREVER for people to realize, and the closest hospital/police force was a town away. Plus, it was on the outskirts of town, so no one inside the town fully knew what was going on! It was absolutely crazy and scary, but it happened in 1990. Anyways, I was transfixed until the movie was over, and then went to the birthday bash for about 45 minutes. Everyone else went to town after that, but it was already midnight and I had a headache, so of course I was lame and went home and to bed.

Sunday, 2nd August: I woke up early and went to church with Amy and Joe. We went to an International Church, and it was very different. The churches here are very extreme, either conservatively or liberally. There is no in-between, which is why Amy and Joe are trying to start one that is. This particular church was very modern I guess, and it was an interesting service and worship. I've noticed that here in New Zealand, there are about 2-3 songs sang per worship service, and each song is repeated over and over and over before they move on to the next. It's quite annoying actually. There was a girl screaming during this worship and it definitely creeped me out. I didn't want to judge, but I was still creeped. The pastor's wife preached (in New Zealand the wife of the Pastor is a Pastor as well) about this vision she'd had of heaviness and etc. and it was similar to the first service I attended. Basically, I feel like they talk about this "cloud of heaviness" over the congregation and how God will uplift it...but only on "Wednesday and Thursday nights, make sure you show up!" They all preach on how God is all-powerful and how he can change lives, but then they confine the life-changing process to a "Wednesday or Thursday prayer-service." I dunno, it's tricky. Just different than what I'm used to I guess. And the other side of the spectrum is shown too...either you attend a very "modern" church, or a very conservative one. But denominations have no meaning here really...you could go to an Anglican church, where you might expect conservative and traditional, and you may get that or you may get an extremely "modern" one (I'm using " around modern because I don't know how else to describe it). Anyways, I pretty much chilled the rest of the day and did homework. Nothing too exciting happened.

Monday, 3rd August: I ran with Sara today, went to class, and talked to Joshua and Morgan on facebook. My conversation with Joshua was fantastic, and made me soo appreciative him ;). He's great and I'm blessed. That was pretty much my day. Sara and I made chicken breast and pumpkin soup that night, or maybe it was the night before, but it was nice and a good meal. That's pretty much it.

Tuesday, 4th August: I woke up, went to class, went to the gym and bought a membership hoping it'll give me motivation to work out if I pay for it, went to the library and studied, went to class again, then went back to my flat and made pasta. I was going to go to a Trivia night, but was too late, so I sat in my room and did homework. Sara came back from her dinner out and we talked, watched Luke's, Danny's, and Jordan's youtube videos, then went to bed. Another boring day.

Wednesday, 5th August: I didn't do much yesterday either. I went to classes and then came back home, made lunch, talked to Morgan online, then called to remind Joshua that he'd missed our Skype date...we ended up talking for quite awhile on the phone and I'm so glad I've figured out my calling card since it only costs me 3 cents a minute to call a landline in the States. After talking to him I hit the gym for PUMP, which is a muscle-toning group class...and it was hard. I didn't convert kilos to pounds before I went, ended up thinking "oh, 15 kilos isn't a lot" and then after class figured out that it was around 40 lbs and I haven't lifted in 4 years. I was quite sore after class and was going to stay for Fusion but couldn't move. Ugh. I went home, made tacos with Sara and Daniel, chatted with them, tried to teach them the right way to eat Tim-Tams (the most delicious cookie ever), talked the night away and then went to bed.

Thursday, 6th August: Today I woke up sooooo unbelievably sore! I was going to go learn how to roll tonight in a kayak, but I can't lift my right arm higher than my face, so that's a no-go. I went to class and then came back here and have been updating this blog and facebooking people. I just finished an interesting conversation with Tyler (a friend of my other flatmates) about politics and religion, though it wasn't deep at all. Basically I was asked if I voted for Obama, if I was sad that McClain didn't win, and if I was a Christian and if I'd read the whole Bible. I then found out that Tyler is an atheist, and we'll have some interesting discussions I'm sure...so pray that God speaks through me and that I don't screw up this kid's perception of Christ even more. I'm feeling way overwhelmed and inadequate...thankfully God provides the tools eh?! Anyways, I'm off to send some letters and pick up some milk before class!!!