hey guys,
I havent written in a long time, Ive been concentrating on studying and getting the most out of Auckland! I leave the day after tomorrow, I can't believe its over already. I haven't done too much since I wrote last, but it was a lot of fun. I'm sure I will tell you all in person soon so I won't write too much here.
I went to Wellington a couple of weekends ago with 3 friends, the drive was about 8 hours long! It was a long drive, but totally worth it. We got 3 full days there, full of shopping and touristy stuff. And they have a museum there that was really cool. A bunch of interactive stuff, and all about NZ history, art, culture.. all that!
After that, not much happened til last weekend. Classes ended, and I had a week full of lounging before my finals started. Depending on the class, the final weighs between 40-70% of the whole grade! A lot of pressure for one test. But, Ive had 3 so far and they havent been bad at all so thats good. My last one is Saturday morning. Then, I have the day to pack up, say goodbye to Auckland, take some final pictures, and I'm off to Fiji til Friday night! Apparently it is supossed to rain the whole time we are there, but I really hope it doesn't.
Last weekend a few of my frineds and I went on this 9 hour hike up a vocano. If you have ever seen Lord of the Rings, a lot of the movie was filmed there! It was called Tangariro Crossing. It was so cool, but so long. It took us 7 hours to do the whole hike, and we didnt even get to go all the way up to the summit bc the weather started to get bad. It was amazing though, unlike anything in America thats for sure! It was hot and sunny when we started, but as soon as we started getting high up it became cloudy and foggy, so the pictures arent that clear. Then, there was snow all over, it looked liek a big ski area. At one part it was just a huge valley with mountains surrounding us and just snow everywhere.. like somrthing out of a movie! hah At the end of the hike, it reminded me of a rianforest, all green and trees and birds all over. It was a great experience and a cool big last thing to do.
Now, I am packing everyhting up and getting ready for my last final. Its going to be the hardest one, and its worth 70%. Wish me good luck, i'll need it. Its so weird thinking how fast these past months have gone by, but at the same time, packing all my clothes for NZ seems like forever ago. I had a great time here and am so glad I was able to experience it. Can't wait to see you all!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
White Water Rafting!
Hey guys!
It was my friend's 21st birthday this week, and her boyfriend came over for a week! For her birthday, we went out to dinner and then to this ice bar. Its called the Minus 5 bar. It was -5 degrees celcius in the whole bar, and everything was made of ice- from the chairs to the walls to the bar to the cups that out drinks were in! They gave us boots, gloves, and a giant coat to wear while we were inside, and we were only allowed in for a hlaf hour. It was so cold though, so we probably only ended up in there for about 20 mins. it was a really cool idea though.
Yesterday, it was her boyfriends last day in NZ, so she wanted to do something fun with him, so we all went white water rafting. We went in Rotorua, which is about 3 hours from Auckland.. rented a car and left here around 8am. I was excited to go bc even though I had done it before, we go over a HUGE waterfall here! I think it was something like 4 of 5 meters high.. its the biggest waterfall in the world that you are allowed to raft over! So, it was me, my 4 other friends, and Kyle, my friend's boyfriend, and then 2 guides, one in the front and one in the back. They instructed us on how to 'get in' everytime a waterfall was coming up(there was another one besides the big one) and we had to get inbetween the seats where your feet normally are and hold on to the ropes on the sides and on the floor of the boat. They told us if the boat did flip over to hold on to the rope as tight as you could, and to try to get under the boat, inbetween the seats- where we had been sitting- because that wouuldnt fill with water and we could hold on to the ropes and breathe until they flipped the boat back over and could get us back inside. There were 2 other boats besides ours going at the same time, one of them being 5 othergirls from Loyola. The other 2 boats went down the waterfall first, and then they wait at the bottom to see the other rafts go down. Our guide picked a silver fern off one of the bushes and made Kyle throw it into the water.. it i landed right side up(green) that meant our boat was going to do the same. If the silver side was up, that meant that we were going to flip over going down the waterfall. It landed right side up so we were all excited to go down.
We start paddling and the guide said get down so we all sat down in between the seats and held on.. the boat was supossed to go completely underwater for about 2 meters, and then pop right back up. I didnt even know we were going over before all i could see was white! Our boat flipped over! It was so scary! All I remember doing was holding on to the ropes as hard as i could and hoping that I could find the air pockets in between the seats. Luckily, I did, but i was the only one in the area that i was in, so I got scared that noone else was around. I heard the guy say to let go because he was flipping the boat over, and as soon as he did I saw everyone else, and everyone was okay. He picked me up and helped me get in the boat first, and then one by one got everyone else in! It sure was nothing like any other white water rafting experinece I had! After that nothing major happened, it was pretty short of a ride actually. But, definately worth the money. They had someone taking pictures, and we bought the CD of pictures to share. I will put them up here once I get it, because the pictures are SO funny!
After that, we did this thing called the 'swoop' it is the same thing i did in 6 flags with my friends, but it was a lot of fun.. like a giant swing but youre laying down and you end up free falling for a few seconds first. That was cool too because my one friend emily was so scared she was screaming the whole time!
Not too much else is going on, only a little over a month until I'm home! Ill write again soon. love you
It was my friend's 21st birthday this week, and her boyfriend came over for a week! For her birthday, we went out to dinner and then to this ice bar. Its called the Minus 5 bar. It was -5 degrees celcius in the whole bar, and everything was made of ice- from the chairs to the walls to the bar to the cups that out drinks were in! They gave us boots, gloves, and a giant coat to wear while we were inside, and we were only allowed in for a hlaf hour. It was so cold though, so we probably only ended up in there for about 20 mins. it was a really cool idea though.
Yesterday, it was her boyfriends last day in NZ, so she wanted to do something fun with him, so we all went white water rafting. We went in Rotorua, which is about 3 hours from Auckland.. rented a car and left here around 8am. I was excited to go bc even though I had done it before, we go over a HUGE waterfall here! I think it was something like 4 of 5 meters high.. its the biggest waterfall in the world that you are allowed to raft over! So, it was me, my 4 other friends, and Kyle, my friend's boyfriend, and then 2 guides, one in the front and one in the back. They instructed us on how to 'get in' everytime a waterfall was coming up(there was another one besides the big one) and we had to get inbetween the seats where your feet normally are and hold on to the ropes on the sides and on the floor of the boat. They told us if the boat did flip over to hold on to the rope as tight as you could, and to try to get under the boat, inbetween the seats- where we had been sitting- because that wouuldnt fill with water and we could hold on to the ropes and breathe until they flipped the boat back over and could get us back inside. There were 2 other boats besides ours going at the same time, one of them being 5 othergirls from Loyola. The other 2 boats went down the waterfall first, and then they wait at the bottom to see the other rafts go down. Our guide picked a silver fern off one of the bushes and made Kyle throw it into the water.. it i landed right side up(green) that meant our boat was going to do the same. If the silver side was up, that meant that we were going to flip over going down the waterfall. It landed right side up so we were all excited to go down.
We start paddling and the guide said get down so we all sat down in between the seats and held on.. the boat was supossed to go completely underwater for about 2 meters, and then pop right back up. I didnt even know we were going over before all i could see was white! Our boat flipped over! It was so scary! All I remember doing was holding on to the ropes as hard as i could and hoping that I could find the air pockets in between the seats. Luckily, I did, but i was the only one in the area that i was in, so I got scared that noone else was around. I heard the guy say to let go because he was flipping the boat over, and as soon as he did I saw everyone else, and everyone was okay. He picked me up and helped me get in the boat first, and then one by one got everyone else in! It sure was nothing like any other white water rafting experinece I had! After that nothing major happened, it was pretty short of a ride actually. But, definately worth the money. They had someone taking pictures, and we bought the CD of pictures to share. I will put them up here once I get it, because the pictures are SO funny!
After that, we did this thing called the 'swoop' it is the same thing i did in 6 flags with my friends, but it was a lot of fun.. like a giant swing but youre laying down and you end up free falling for a few seconds first. That was cool too because my one friend emily was so scared she was screaming the whole time!
Not too much else is going on, only a little over a month until I'm home! Ill write again soon. love you
Sunday, September 23, 2007
planting trees!
Not too much has been going on these past 2 weeks, just classes and hanging out. This week starts the 2 crazy weeks full of papers. I have 4 papers due within two weeks, and one of my good friend's 21st birthday is next week so I have to get an early start on everything. Her boyfriend is coming to visit as well and wants us all to take him to a bunch of places so I don't want to be worrying about writing papers! I doubt I'll get a lot done though...
One of the requirements for Loyola when abroad is that you do an immersion project while abroad. You can either interview a kiwi, or do community service. My friends and I all decided to do community service, planting trees! On Sunday we went to this island (I dont remember how to spell it) that is about a half hour ferry ride from Auckland, and met a group of people that are incharge of the whole restoration project on this island. No one lives there anymore, but it used to have a whole bunch of different things, like POW camps and a place for alcoholics to stay while they were sobering up and things like that. But, as of right now, there are hardly any trees or native birds or animals on the island bc it all got destroyed. So, for the last 10 years or so they have been going around planting trees and bushes and bringing back the native wildlife. Some lady told me that in Nov. of this year they are going to bring kiwi birds on the island too! She seemed very excited about it, and it seemed like a big deal since you can hardly find wild ones around anymore.
Anyway, we got to the island around 11 and planted little baby trees in this one section for about 3 hours, and then had lunch and were able to walk around the island for another hour before the ferry came back. It was a nice island, but it was raining some of the time so that wasnt too fun. It was a nice day though, I am glad we did it. Now I just have to write a 5-10 page paper on it! ew.
I think thats all that is going on here, I will write more when something exciting happens. Love and miss you all
One of the requirements for Loyola when abroad is that you do an immersion project while abroad. You can either interview a kiwi, or do community service. My friends and I all decided to do community service, planting trees! On Sunday we went to this island (I dont remember how to spell it) that is about a half hour ferry ride from Auckland, and met a group of people that are incharge of the whole restoration project on this island. No one lives there anymore, but it used to have a whole bunch of different things, like POW camps and a place for alcoholics to stay while they were sobering up and things like that. But, as of right now, there are hardly any trees or native birds or animals on the island bc it all got destroyed. So, for the last 10 years or so they have been going around planting trees and bushes and bringing back the native wildlife. Some lady told me that in Nov. of this year they are going to bring kiwi birds on the island too! She seemed very excited about it, and it seemed like a big deal since you can hardly find wild ones around anymore.
Anyway, we got to the island around 11 and planted little baby trees in this one section for about 3 hours, and then had lunch and were able to walk around the island for another hour before the ferry came back. It was a nice island, but it was raining some of the time so that wasnt too fun. It was a nice day though, I am glad we did it. Now I just have to write a 5-10 page paper on it! ew.
I think thats all that is going on here, I will write more when something exciting happens. Love and miss you all
Monday, September 10, 2007
2 months from now I'll be in Fiji!
I was on the phone with Mom today and she made me realize in exactly 2 months from today I will have finished all my finals! I cant believe how fast the semester is going by. I feel like I just started classes, but I guess thats what I was expecting to happen.
This weekend in Rotorua was okay, but nothing too special. We had dinner at another Marae, but this time they had the chief and the son and the women of the Marae sing and dance for us! They even did the Haka (the thing that the All Blacks do at Rugby games) It was cool because they dressed up and had the boys in our group go up and perform it too. It was hysterical, they were sticking their toungues out and yelling and chanting and they had no idea what was going on! Besides that, we went to a few lectures on tourism and marketing which was boring and pointless, and went to see geysers. They were pretty cool, but nothing like the ones in Yellowstone or anything like that. The whole town of Rotorua smelt like sulfer! It was horrible, the bus and all our clothes and everything stunk! We also got to see kiwi birds! We went to some park to seefish and trees and a few native animals and they took us in to see kiwi birds! We werent allowed to take pictures, or even talk when in the room, but it was nice to see them so close... there wasnt even glass inbetween us, just a wall 2 feet high. The kiwis are so cute, bigger than I thought.
The coolest part of the trip was ZORBING! google zorbing and you might get a better idea of what it is than how I am going to try to explain it. It is like a big plastic hamster ball, and they put warm water in it, and 3 people fit in. Then they push you down a hill and you roll all the way down with the water getting you soaking wet. You dont flip over or anything though because you float on top of the water. It was so much fun and definately something different. I am surprised NZ is the only place in the world so far that has it.
Besdies that, not much going on. Classes are going well, I am going to have to start writing more papers soon, but I can relax this week. I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all!
This weekend in Rotorua was okay, but nothing too special. We had dinner at another Marae, but this time they had the chief and the son and the women of the Marae sing and dance for us! They even did the Haka (the thing that the All Blacks do at Rugby games) It was cool because they dressed up and had the boys in our group go up and perform it too. It was hysterical, they were sticking their toungues out and yelling and chanting and they had no idea what was going on! Besides that, we went to a few lectures on tourism and marketing which was boring and pointless, and went to see geysers. They were pretty cool, but nothing like the ones in Yellowstone or anything like that. The whole town of Rotorua smelt like sulfer! It was horrible, the bus and all our clothes and everything stunk! We also got to see kiwi birds! We went to some park to seefish and trees and a few native animals and they took us in to see kiwi birds! We werent allowed to take pictures, or even talk when in the room, but it was nice to see them so close... there wasnt even glass inbetween us, just a wall 2 feet high. The kiwis are so cute, bigger than I thought.
The coolest part of the trip was ZORBING! google zorbing and you might get a better idea of what it is than how I am going to try to explain it. It is like a big plastic hamster ball, and they put warm water in it, and 3 people fit in. Then they push you down a hill and you roll all the way down with the water getting you soaking wet. You dont flip over or anything though because you float on top of the water. It was so much fun and definately something different. I am surprised NZ is the only place in the world so far that has it.
Besdies that, not much going on. Classes are going well, I am going to have to start writing more papers soon, but I can relax this week. I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Spring Break!
Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't written in forever. I'vebeen so busy with everyone coming to visit and in the South Island for Spring Break that I haven't been by my computer at all. I just got back this morning from my spring break, and I leave tomorrow for Rotorua for 3 days! This will be our last Loyola sponsored trip, we get to go caving and zorbing so I'm pretty excited!
I had so much fun when Mom Ang Keith and Uncle Mikey came! They got to Auckland pretty late on Sunday night, so I took them to a nice Italian place that I have been to, and then to the ice cream place up the hill that I always go to. After that we all just went to bed. On Monday I took everyone to Waiheke Island for Mom's birthday present. It ius about a 45 min. ferry ride away from me, and it is a beautiful island! I had a tour guide pick us up and show us around the whole island for like 2 hours. We took a ton of really nice pictures, and it was a really nice day out which was perfect. I think Mom really liked it! Then for dinner we came back to Auckland and had dinner at the Sky Tower. It was a buffet type of resturant but the food was so good! It reminded me of things you would see on Top Chef on TV.
The next day I took Ang to my psych class! She seemed to really enjoy it, she was taking notes and everything. Then we met up with Mom Keith and Uncle Mikey in the city and walked around, and got tickets for the ferry to the South Island. I was able to introduce them all to my friends too which was nice. After that we went to this place called Newmarket. It is about 15 mins from me, but you take a bus to get there. It has some really cute boutique shops and cool resturants. We had dinner at a fun Spanish place, and came back and went to bed.
The next couple of days we were in the South Island. That was a lot of fun. We drove down (about 6 hours) to the ferry, and then the ferry was 3 hours. We stayed in a hotel that night, and went to Christchurch. Christchurch is one of the 2 main cities in the South Island, and reminds me of Key West when it is nice out. They have a bunch of little shops so we walked around and had dinner there. The next day we went to the Antartic Centre.. They had a bunch of penguins swimming around and eating, and a whole 'antartic storm' that you can go in.. its gets to like -7 degrees in the room! We took a gondola ride to the top of Christchurch after that and could see for miles! It was really pretty there too, so we hiked around a little. Thenext place we went to was Kaikoura. It is beautiful! Its my new favortie place! You look out onto the Pacific Ocean, and right up agaist it are the snowcapped Southern Alps! It looked fake. We got to see seals laying like 3 feet infront of us, and watched the sunset. The next day we rode ATVs on a farm that overlooks the ocean and the Alps, and there was a spot where the guide said up to 500 seals come to! It was so funny seeing so many so close to us. We started our way back up to Auckland after that, had a nice dinner, and the next day everyone left for the airport! I am so happy that I got to see everyone, it was so much fun and I am glad I got to see Mom for her birthday too. I think everyone had a lot of fun. Definately a once in a lifetime thing!
Spring Break was great! There were 7 of us in a 6/7 person RV for 9 days! It was a little tight, but we managed. They picked me up from the airport on the 27th and we headed to Kaikoura. There we did whale watching and seal kayaking. It was so cool to see the whales pretty close to the boat.. we saw 5/6 of them. The seal kayaking was fun too because it was a different way of seeing the seals than I had done with my family. After that we drove to Nelson and rode ATVs to the top of this mountain where they had a skywire. It looks like a circular cage and it speeds across a wire at up to 100km/hr. It was so fun to do because we were so high abouve everything else you got a different perspective on the scenery. And it was fun because at times it would go so fast. The ATVs were fun, we got to ride around on them.. right past sheep and cows! The next day we went to Franz Josef where we climbed a glacier. Everyone kept saying that it was the coolest thing they had ever done! You really felt liek you were in a different part of the world when you were climbing it. It was so cool! We went through little crevacies and in holes and all sorts of stuff. It took a total of 6 hours to do the whole tour. It really was amazing and definately worth the money. It wasnt even that expensive. Unfortunately, on our way to Lake Wanaka that night, our RV broke down on a hill! We were half way up it, 1130 at night, no cell service, in the middle of nowhere! We were all really calm though and decided to have the driver back down the hill so she wouldnt have to keep her foot on the brake (the emergency brake didnt do anything!) and also so we wouldnt be in the middle of the road anymore. We got the RV to a clearing on the side of the road, and 10 mins later an RV comes up the mountain.. it was the other RV from Loyola! We were so excited to see them, because they were able to drive 2 of us to the next town where we called a tow truck and the RV company. Noone was able to come get us til the next morning, so the RV came back for us, we got our van working, and made it to a car park where we were able to plug in and sleep for the night. It was a good thing too, because I got sick. I started gettiing sick around midnight, and was throwing up all night at the car park. In the middle of the night, 2 of my frineds also started getting sick. We think that we were dehydrated from the glacier climb because there is no other way the other 4 girls would not have been sick. Because the RV broke down, we needed to stay in Wanaka for the day. The Rv company paid for us to sleep in a hotel for the day, so me and the 2 other sick girls just slept the entire time! We had the Rv the next day, and the 3 of us felt better, so we started on our way to Queenstown, the other major city in the South Island. We didn't miss out on much luckily, beacuse we were supossed to go skydiving but there was too much wind so it was cancelled anyway. When we got to Queenstown, it was raining and gross out, but we still walked around. It reminded me of Vail because it is a cute little ski town. The next day we were able to go skydiving!! That was amazing! We jumped from 12,000 feet. It was so cool, I felt like a was just flying above the clouds! We all ordered the DVD and pictures, so I have all of that to show everyone which is really nice to have. After that we just had a nice big dinner to celebrate our 2 month anniversary of being in New Zealand, and came back to the RV and hung out with the other group since they were all there too. The next day we just hung out, and then drove back to Christchurch. Our flight was at 7am this morning so we got into Christchurch in the morning and hung out, went in shops and stuff liek that. We didn't get to go hot air ballooning like we had planned because it was snowing apparently! I was really disappointed about that because I was looking forward to it so much. But I am sure I will go some other time.
Other than that, it was an amzing trip. I had so much fun and took so many pictures. I am so tired now, and I have to pack for another trip tomorrow! Imiss everyone, and I will see you all soon. I am halfway done my semester here! I cant believe how fast it went by. Talk to you soon
Sorry I haven't written in forever. I'vebeen so busy with everyone coming to visit and in the South Island for Spring Break that I haven't been by my computer at all. I just got back this morning from my spring break, and I leave tomorrow for Rotorua for 3 days! This will be our last Loyola sponsored trip, we get to go caving and zorbing so I'm pretty excited!
I had so much fun when Mom Ang Keith and Uncle Mikey came! They got to Auckland pretty late on Sunday night, so I took them to a nice Italian place that I have been to, and then to the ice cream place up the hill that I always go to. After that we all just went to bed. On Monday I took everyone to Waiheke Island for Mom's birthday present. It ius about a 45 min. ferry ride away from me, and it is a beautiful island! I had a tour guide pick us up and show us around the whole island for like 2 hours. We took a ton of really nice pictures, and it was a really nice day out which was perfect. I think Mom really liked it! Then for dinner we came back to Auckland and had dinner at the Sky Tower. It was a buffet type of resturant but the food was so good! It reminded me of things you would see on Top Chef on TV.
The next day I took Ang to my psych class! She seemed to really enjoy it, she was taking notes and everything. Then we met up with Mom Keith and Uncle Mikey in the city and walked around, and got tickets for the ferry to the South Island. I was able to introduce them all to my friends too which was nice. After that we went to this place called Newmarket. It is about 15 mins from me, but you take a bus to get there. It has some really cute boutique shops and cool resturants. We had dinner at a fun Spanish place, and came back and went to bed.
The next couple of days we were in the South Island. That was a lot of fun. We drove down (about 6 hours) to the ferry, and then the ferry was 3 hours. We stayed in a hotel that night, and went to Christchurch. Christchurch is one of the 2 main cities in the South Island, and reminds me of Key West when it is nice out. They have a bunch of little shops so we walked around and had dinner there. The next day we went to the Antartic Centre.. They had a bunch of penguins swimming around and eating, and a whole 'antartic storm' that you can go in.. its gets to like -7 degrees in the room! We took a gondola ride to the top of Christchurch after that and could see for miles! It was really pretty there too, so we hiked around a little. Thenext place we went to was Kaikoura. It is beautiful! Its my new favortie place! You look out onto the Pacific Ocean, and right up agaist it are the snowcapped Southern Alps! It looked fake. We got to see seals laying like 3 feet infront of us, and watched the sunset. The next day we rode ATVs on a farm that overlooks the ocean and the Alps, and there was a spot where the guide said up to 500 seals come to! It was so funny seeing so many so close to us. We started our way back up to Auckland after that, had a nice dinner, and the next day everyone left for the airport! I am so happy that I got to see everyone, it was so much fun and I am glad I got to see Mom for her birthday too. I think everyone had a lot of fun. Definately a once in a lifetime thing!
Spring Break was great! There were 7 of us in a 6/7 person RV for 9 days! It was a little tight, but we managed. They picked me up from the airport on the 27th and we headed to Kaikoura. There we did whale watching and seal kayaking. It was so cool to see the whales pretty close to the boat.. we saw 5/6 of them. The seal kayaking was fun too because it was a different way of seeing the seals than I had done with my family. After that we drove to Nelson and rode ATVs to the top of this mountain where they had a skywire. It looks like a circular cage and it speeds across a wire at up to 100km/hr. It was so fun to do because we were so high abouve everything else you got a different perspective on the scenery. And it was fun because at times it would go so fast. The ATVs were fun, we got to ride around on them.. right past sheep and cows! The next day we went to Franz Josef where we climbed a glacier. Everyone kept saying that it was the coolest thing they had ever done! You really felt liek you were in a different part of the world when you were climbing it. It was so cool! We went through little crevacies and in holes and all sorts of stuff. It took a total of 6 hours to do the whole tour. It really was amazing and definately worth the money. It wasnt even that expensive. Unfortunately, on our way to Lake Wanaka that night, our RV broke down on a hill! We were half way up it, 1130 at night, no cell service, in the middle of nowhere! We were all really calm though and decided to have the driver back down the hill so she wouldnt have to keep her foot on the brake (the emergency brake didnt do anything!) and also so we wouldnt be in the middle of the road anymore. We got the RV to a clearing on the side of the road, and 10 mins later an RV comes up the mountain.. it was the other RV from Loyola! We were so excited to see them, because they were able to drive 2 of us to the next town where we called a tow truck and the RV company. Noone was able to come get us til the next morning, so the RV came back for us, we got our van working, and made it to a car park where we were able to plug in and sleep for the night. It was a good thing too, because I got sick. I started gettiing sick around midnight, and was throwing up all night at the car park. In the middle of the night, 2 of my frineds also started getting sick. We think that we were dehydrated from the glacier climb because there is no other way the other 4 girls would not have been sick. Because the RV broke down, we needed to stay in Wanaka for the day. The Rv company paid for us to sleep in a hotel for the day, so me and the 2 other sick girls just slept the entire time! We had the Rv the next day, and the 3 of us felt better, so we started on our way to Queenstown, the other major city in the South Island. We didn't miss out on much luckily, beacuse we were supossed to go skydiving but there was too much wind so it was cancelled anyway. When we got to Queenstown, it was raining and gross out, but we still walked around. It reminded me of Vail because it is a cute little ski town. The next day we were able to go skydiving!! That was amazing! We jumped from 12,000 feet. It was so cool, I felt like a was just flying above the clouds! We all ordered the DVD and pictures, so I have all of that to show everyone which is really nice to have. After that we just had a nice big dinner to celebrate our 2 month anniversary of being in New Zealand, and came back to the RV and hung out with the other group since they were all there too. The next day we just hung out, and then drove back to Christchurch. Our flight was at 7am this morning so we got into Christchurch in the morning and hung out, went in shops and stuff liek that. We didn't get to go hot air ballooning like we had planned because it was snowing apparently! I was really disappointed about that because I was looking forward to it so much. But I am sure I will go some other time.
Other than that, it was an amzing trip. I had so much fun and took so many pictures. I am so tired now, and I have to pack for another trip tomorrow! Imiss everyone, and I will see you all soon. I am halfway done my semester here! I cant believe how fast it went by. Talk to you soon
Sunday, August 19, 2007
sorry the spelling is so bad in that last post.. im in a rush to go to bed so im not really paying attention to my typing! i forgot so say though how nuce the beach was today.. beautiful white sand in one direction, and green grass and trees on the otherside! not to mention sheep on the hills that were walking distance away! it was nothing like a beach at home!
Te Kiri Marae
yayyy family is here!!! I only got to see everyone for a little bit today bc it took them a long time to get back from the bay of islands, but we had dinner and it was great seeing them! i cant wait for tomorrow.
this weekend was okay. we stayed at a Marae.. which is like a traditional place for the Maori people.. it was one biug room, and we werent allowed to have our shoes on or eat in there or anything like that.. its very sacred. all 20 of us in the room. the food wasnt that good.. actually it was kinda horrible. the first day we got there around 4/5 ish had a traditional welcome, and ate dinner. it was cold chicken and a salad. not that good, but not terrible. half the group had to wash all the dishes, and then we came back and had to go around the room introducing ourselves and saying something about us bc there were 4 liek tour guide people who wanted to know. and thennnn we picked someones nameout of a hat and that person was our 'special friend' for the weekend. we were supossed to do noice things for them like do their dishes or make up their 'bed' (aka sleeping bag and a pillow.. very uncomfortable) i got my neightbor from last year chris so that was fun bc i knew him.. thenn we just hung out played a few little games and watched some NZ movie and went to bed. we were up early the next day.. breakfast was cold toast, watery eggs, and some granola cereal. i was on dishes duty that morning and when i came back my bed was all made for me!! yay. then we were supossed to go fishing but the weahter was no good.. so we went to a few local market things and shopped around. while i was there one ofthe girls on the trip with us, kasey, came up to me and gave me a thing of flowers ..she said my special frined asked her to give them to me!!! they were brgiht yellow and really cute. eveyone was jealous bc tori and i were the only ones that got flowers. i got chris a big choc. chip cookie bc i know he likes them bc he always used to steal them from our room last year. then we went back and had lucnh.. more gross stuff. thennn we went to this like.. bay area i guess.. and had to slpit up into 2groups.. the group i was in was 'build your own raft and then race it' group. we learned how to tie knots and then were split up into 2 more groups, of 5 each.. and had to figure out how to build a raft out of 5 things of bamboo, ropes, and 2 booey things. it was reallly hard but we figured outr a good way todo it. and then they were liek okay go test it out in the water. ps-ITS WINTER!!!! they made us like get into the pacific ocean freeeeezing cold water and see if our boat could float. it did! but then we had to figure out how to get 3 people on it.. and paddle. a lot harder than you wouldthink. i was the first one in.. totally underwater. the raft was off balance bc, well, i dont weigh that much, and there ended up being 2 girls on the other side. sooo i was freezing and miserable. and then we had to try to race it.. that was soo hard going the opposite direction of the waves on booeys and bamboo. but i paddled my little heart out.. and the raft i was on won!! and then stef fell off it, and it broke, and i was left in neck high water scrambling for my life. i finally got back on a booey and kinda floated back to the beach... im thinking thats is where i got this huge splinter in my finger that i found out i had later at dinner.. i was too involved in holding on for dear life to anything i could find that would keep me somewhat out of the water that i didnt even realize i had 2 huge scrapes on my legs and a big splinter! oh well. oh, and i forgot to mention it decided to rain on us too.
then it was time to switch, and the people that built the rafts went kayaking. that was more fun but still really cold... then we went back and changed into warm clothes.. and then went back to the Marae and took hot showrrs. only, they only have so much hot water.. and i was the last group to get in. sooo the water would be burning hot and then no water pressure and ice cold. so no fun. i took the quickest shower of my life. dinner that night was possibly the worst food i have ever eaten. it was supossed tobe hamburgers.. but they were like a centimeter thin, and crunchy. GROSS. then after dinner we went to a local bar. we just hung out and could play ping pong or pool. so we did that andthen came back and went to bed. this morning it was actually nice out.. we learned how to weave flax.. which is like a plant they have all over here. we made flowers out of it.. if you did it right they look really cool.. buttt mine ddint look right. i guess i dont have a career in weaving. then we went to Pakiri Beach which was soo much fun.. since it was nice out we all like rooled up our sweat pants or some people were in shorts and a tank top.. and played volleyball or walked around collecting shells and taking pictures and weaving bracelets. i tried to make a bracelet.. it didnt work.. so i took pictures. then we came back and everyone else had lunch. it was tuna fish.. so i had a granola bar. haha and then we went to this Kauri forest with the really tall trees again.. that was cool though bc we got to see the silver fern which is like the symbol of the rugby team. and there we also found out who everyone's special frineds were.. this girl julia had me.. she was really cute.. weote me a little note and everything! hah
thats it. we came back..i finished a paper and cleaned my room.. and then my family was here.. i showed them around my dorm a little bit.. and then took them to an italian resturant for dinner and the good ice cream place for dessert. tomorrow we are going to an island for a tour.. and then who knows. i have to be up at like 8am though and im sooo tired so im going to bed!! sorry i havent written in so long, ive been really busy! we are going to the soouth island on wed to ither friday or saturday, and then the family leaves Monday, and I head back to the South island for SPRING BREAK with my friends.. can you believe it.. spring break in Sept?! and, spring break means classes are half way done!! i feel like i just got herre and they are half way over. how crazy. okay, ill write soon!
this weekend was okay. we stayed at a Marae.. which is like a traditional place for the Maori people.. it was one biug room, and we werent allowed to have our shoes on or eat in there or anything like that.. its very sacred. all 20 of us in the room. the food wasnt that good.. actually it was kinda horrible. the first day we got there around 4/5 ish had a traditional welcome, and ate dinner. it was cold chicken and a salad. not that good, but not terrible. half the group had to wash all the dishes, and then we came back and had to go around the room introducing ourselves and saying something about us bc there were 4 liek tour guide people who wanted to know. and thennnn we picked someones nameout of a hat and that person was our 'special friend' for the weekend. we were supossed to do noice things for them like do their dishes or make up their 'bed' (aka sleeping bag and a pillow.. very uncomfortable) i got my neightbor from last year chris so that was fun bc i knew him.. thenn we just hung out played a few little games and watched some NZ movie and went to bed. we were up early the next day.. breakfast was cold toast, watery eggs, and some granola cereal. i was on dishes duty that morning and when i came back my bed was all made for me!! yay. then we were supossed to go fishing but the weahter was no good.. so we went to a few local market things and shopped around. while i was there one ofthe girls on the trip with us, kasey, came up to me and gave me a thing of flowers ..she said my special frined asked her to give them to me!!! they were brgiht yellow and really cute. eveyone was jealous bc tori and i were the only ones that got flowers. i got chris a big choc. chip cookie bc i know he likes them bc he always used to steal them from our room last year. then we went back and had lucnh.. more gross stuff. thennn we went to this like.. bay area i guess.. and had to slpit up into 2groups.. the group i was in was 'build your own raft and then race it' group. we learned how to tie knots and then were split up into 2 more groups, of 5 each.. and had to figure out how to build a raft out of 5 things of bamboo, ropes, and 2 booey things. it was reallly hard but we figured outr a good way todo it. and then they were liek okay go test it out in the water. ps-ITS WINTER!!!! they made us like get into the pacific ocean freeeeezing cold water and see if our boat could float. it did! but then we had to figure out how to get 3 people on it.. and paddle. a lot harder than you wouldthink. i was the first one in.. totally underwater. the raft was off balance bc, well, i dont weigh that much, and there ended up being 2 girls on the other side. sooo i was freezing and miserable. and then we had to try to race it.. that was soo hard going the opposite direction of the waves on booeys and bamboo. but i paddled my little heart out.. and the raft i was on won!! and then stef fell off it, and it broke, and i was left in neck high water scrambling for my life. i finally got back on a booey and kinda floated back to the beach... im thinking thats is where i got this huge splinter in my finger that i found out i had later at dinner.. i was too involved in holding on for dear life to anything i could find that would keep me somewhat out of the water that i didnt even realize i had 2 huge scrapes on my legs and a big splinter! oh well. oh, and i forgot to mention it decided to rain on us too.
then it was time to switch, and the people that built the rafts went kayaking. that was more fun but still really cold... then we went back and changed into warm clothes.. and then went back to the Marae and took hot showrrs. only, they only have so much hot water.. and i was the last group to get in. sooo the water would be burning hot and then no water pressure and ice cold. so no fun. i took the quickest shower of my life. dinner that night was possibly the worst food i have ever eaten. it was supossed tobe hamburgers.. but they were like a centimeter thin, and crunchy. GROSS. then after dinner we went to a local bar. we just hung out and could play ping pong or pool. so we did that andthen came back and went to bed. this morning it was actually nice out.. we learned how to weave flax.. which is like a plant they have all over here. we made flowers out of it.. if you did it right they look really cool.. buttt mine ddint look right. i guess i dont have a career in weaving. then we went to Pakiri Beach which was soo much fun.. since it was nice out we all like rooled up our sweat pants or some people were in shorts and a tank top.. and played volleyball or walked around collecting shells and taking pictures and weaving bracelets. i tried to make a bracelet.. it didnt work.. so i took pictures. then we came back and everyone else had lunch. it was tuna fish.. so i had a granola bar. haha and then we went to this Kauri forest with the really tall trees again.. that was cool though bc we got to see the silver fern which is like the symbol of the rugby team. and there we also found out who everyone's special frineds were.. this girl julia had me.. she was really cute.. weote me a little note and everything! hah
thats it. we came back..i finished a paper and cleaned my room.. and then my family was here.. i showed them around my dorm a little bit.. and then took them to an italian resturant for dinner and the good ice cream place for dessert. tomorrow we are going to an island for a tour.. and then who knows. i have to be up at like 8am though and im sooo tired so im going to bed!! sorry i havent written in so long, ive been really busy! we are going to the soouth island on wed to ither friday or saturday, and then the family leaves Monday, and I head back to the South island for SPRING BREAK with my friends.. can you believe it.. spring break in Sept?! and, spring break means classes are half way done!! i feel like i just got herre and they are half way over. how crazy. okay, ill write soon!
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