Woke up at 5 am gathered our 70 pounds of luggage each and caught a taxi to the airport. 15 minutes and 45 dollars later, we were standing in line to checkin to go home :)
we were 3 hours early so sat around and shopped in all the duty free shops. When we got to the gate we got patted down, got all our bags searched and even shoes and jackets, then got our passports checked. We were so confused why they were doing this at the gate after we did all this at security and checkin. They said they only do it for flights into America.
We got on the plane and began the movie watching... 3 movies and 2 meals later I was still awake and couldn't have been more frustrated! I wanted to sleep because obviously that makes a 15 hour flight go by a little quicker. I finally fell asleep but 30 minutes later woke up all lightheaded and sick to my stomach.... I jumped out of my seat and climbed over the Aussie who was passed out from a valum and went straight to the bathrooms but they were occupied. I could barely talk and just yelled to the flight attendants who were standing there I felt sick. I was on the verge of fainting and extremely hot and dizzy and fell to the ground. Next thing I know I'm laying on the ground in front of the exit row and 3 doctors from the plane were asking me a hundred questions. My blood pressure was 62 over 80 so they were all concerned and took my blood sugar level etc etc. After I cooled off I ended up feeling much better. Katelyn was standing on the side of all this so confused because last thing she knew I was going to the bathroom. She came up to me and we laughed because of the scene I had caused. So after all this paperwork and once my blood pressure went back up they let me go back to my seat. The doctors said if I needed them just to come to their seat and I said oh no I'll be fine don't worry about it! Of course that wasn't the case.... I fell asleep for an hour and woke up and immediately got the same feeling as last time but this one couldn't get up and could barely talk. Katelyn ran to the back of the plane grabbed the doctors and could barely talk she was so concerned. It's all kind of blurry but I know Katelyn and the Aussie sat in the back of the plane and the doctors sat next to me for the rest of the flight. I got sick and blood pressure went down again so they called the paramedics on the ground to have them meet us at the gate. We were beginning the landing when I got sick, great timing right? We landed and by that time my blood pressure was back to normal but the medics still wanted to see me so they blocked the aisle on the plane so they could get on and they escorted me out then put me in a wheel chair and checked all sorts of things from this machine thing. Ther were 2 guys from the LAFireDept who were also emts, and 2 policemen, the captain of the plane, a lady to wheel me around the airport, and an ambulance hahaha could I have made any more of an entrance back to the states? I got wheeled the back way to customs and got to the front of the line and also the front of the security line and Katelyn got to join in on the special treatment. Poor Katelyn got stuck with her backpack and mine! She also was stuck pushing a cart with my 2 suitcases and her 2! What a good friend! We got to the gate and thankfully one of the doctors from our first flight was on our next one to atl and the captain who was there when I got sick was also riding on the plane. Our next flight went by quickly, I slept for majority of it and woke up feeling fine! We got to atl and I went up the escalator and Tyler was waiting there with a dozen pink roses :) He definitely made my day so much better! Saturday we got the opportunity to head to Nashville for CMA fest and see rascal flatts, Easton Corbin, Billy currington, Randy houser, martina mcbride, and zac brown band.... So of course Tyler and I took the offer and before I was even home for a day we left for Nashville! Clearly it's going to be a while before I get over this jet lag!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Sydney day 2
Climbed the harbour bridge! Woke up and got breakfast at alexanders of course, and then walked really far to get to the bridge. It took us longer than expected (like always) and got there a few minutes late. The lady told us we looked stressed, what else is new?! We got all geared up, breathalyzer, and prepped on how yo climb and then began our adventure. We had 3 Aussies and a German in our group and were of course the only Americans. When we got to the ladder that you have to climb that goes in between 2 lanes of traffic the guy there helping asked immediately if we were Americans. We laughed and didn't know how he knew since we hadn't said anything yet but then he preceded to make fun of our accents and pretend to be valley girl. Then he told me he knew I was American because I had white (straight) teeth and only Americans care that much about their teeth hahah. We climbed ove 1,200 stairs and were about 450 feet high. We could see the entire city it was gorgeous!!!! We got pictures taken and learned a ton about the area from our tour guide. we could see queen elizabeths vacation home, it's right across from the opera house! We were told funny stories about prince Harry's house parties. Anyways learned a bunch then walked down the bridge! Went yo lunch at The Australians for pizza and then walked around a bunch. Saw the governors house, botanical garden, and parliament. Showered and went to dinner at kings cross, sketchy area, not too great. Today we are heading to bondi beach to shop!
Sydney day 1
Breakfast at Alexanders on the park right by Hyde park. Talked to 2 girls that go to uni here! They were so amazed with our accents and kept asking us hillarious questions such as: do you go to summer camp? Like in the movies, is that real?! Haha they couldn't get over our sorority letters they thought it was the neatest thing ever when I said zeta tau alpha. It was a fun conversation! We walked to the harbor through Hyde Park and passed st.mary's cathedral (grandma I got you a picture)! Passed a lot of musuems and finally got to the harbour and saw the harbour bridge and opera house! Everything was so pretty! We got gelato and got on the ferry for our 10 minute ride to the taronga zoo. Best experience at the zoo ever! We saw all types of kangaroos and wallabees and they were in the open so they would hop behind us and were everywhere! Then we paid 10 each and got to go to this designated area and learn about the koalas and get literally an inch away from them and take pictures with them. We were allowed to get as close as we wanted without touching them. The zookeepers don't even touch them, it keeps them calmer and helps them trust humans more. Got amazing pictures and then got to see the rest of the zoo. We stayed for the day then took the ferry back and walked around "the rocks" which is a town on the harbour. Walked a lot today and then went to this place for dinner in china town that this lady recommended but it looked nasty so we left and went to the pub. We're pretty sure the food was just microwaved and it was disgusting. Going to bed and climbing the harbour bridge in the morning!!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Farewell Cairns
Yesterday we took a bus ride out to trinity beach. We struggled to find the right bus but luckily as we were looking at times the right bus pulled up! We rode on it for 50 Minutes! Got carried away talking and after 30 I turnedto Katelyn and said... Did we miss our stop? We realized they don't yell out where they're stopping you're just supposed to know. 20 minutes later we got to the beach... We had no idea it was that far away, but it was so worth it! The weather was gorgeous an we laid out all day! I wore 70 SPF and still burned a little! We went to a little Italian restaurant for lunch called Lunico which was pretty good! Laid out some more then caught the bus back. We went to the grocery and cooked stir fry for dinner and literally went to be around 8:30! The sun drained us!
Today we woke up and checked out of our hostel and stored our luggage under their stairs in a locked closet. We literally took up majority of the closet oops. So to avoid 70 dollar fees in overweight luggage we are beating the system.... Wearing jeans boots jackets multiple shirts and carrying in our hands extra jackets and books and cameras because those don't count as carryons for some reason. Mind you it's 80 degrees here haha. What college students will do to save 20 bucks!
Heading to the airport soon and flying to Sydney! Hopefully this airport adventure isn't anything like the last!
Today we woke up and checked out of our hostel and stored our luggage under their stairs in a locked closet. We literally took up majority of the closet oops. So to avoid 70 dollar fees in overweight luggage we are beating the system.... Wearing jeans boots jackets multiple shirts and carrying in our hands extra jackets and books and cameras because those don't count as carryons for some reason. Mind you it's 80 degrees here haha. What college students will do to save 20 bucks!
Heading to the airport soon and flying to Sydney! Hopefully this airport adventure isn't anything like the last!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Great Barrier Reef- Cairns Day 2
Snorkelling was ridiculously cool! We sailed out for 2 hours until we got near the Green Island and in the center of the reef. It was gorgeous! We got our flippers & goggles on and jumped right in. The water was warmer than sitting on the boat because it was so windy. There was sooo much reef, all different kinds it was crazy to actually see. We were swimming around and saw tons of huge fish and swam through little schools of small bright fish. Everyone swam off and I'm of course in my own little world with my head in the water so oblivious to my surroundings and hey what do you know... a reef shark is about 6 feet away from me, then 5, then 4, then 3 and then I brought my head out of water. I figured if I can't see it, it can't hurt me haha. I couldn't see Katelyn so she didn't get to see that one but she saw another later. So I found the group of people we were with and then all these HUGE fish were swimming up to us and then more sharks! Not 1, 2, or 3, there were 5 sharks swimming around us and swimming in circles. Feeding time? So I start screaming at the guides on the boat and I think a few cuss words may have slipped out. I didn't want to move, if I swam in any direction I was swimming into these monstrous fish and sharks... the fish were at the top of the water about 5 inches below the surface. So I couldn't swim forward because I would swim into them. I freaked out just a wee bit, but it was all fun, I was half kidding. I got a bunch of pictures but not many turned out, we'll be loading our pictures tomorrow so everyone can see on facebook. After snorkelling we took a little boat over to the green island and walked around, walked to the end of the boardwalk, AND we found a coconut palm. So we took a coconut from off the ground and used every bit of muscle to peel the outside off the actual nut. It took a while. Then we had the nut and I banged it against big rocks as hard as I could and coconut juice came out and the inside looked so cool! We didn't drink it, it smelled really gross so I'm assuming its really rotten. But that was a highlight of our day, how often do you see a coconut on the beach and break it open? We walked some more along the island and then found the pool bar and the rest of our snorkelling group. We all sat around and talked for a while and it was great learning about all of them. I was sitting with a couple from the north island of New Zealand who now live in Australia in a camper and just travel everywhere, a girl who is from canada and on a working visa here and her mom who came to visit, and then another couple from tazmania, australia. It's so fun meeting all these different people! We got back on the sailboat and then snorkelled a little more and saw a ton more shark. It was time to go in and then we set off for our 2 hour journey back! The trip was great and they gave us delicious lunch, appetizers, and desserts, even wine but katelyn and I didn't want it. Oh yeah I forgot, around lunch time when we were all back on the boat, one of the guides fed all the sharks and other huge fish and they were trying to jump out of the water but couldn't. This huge black fish got some air out of the water and snagged the food from him and then he gave a shark a chicken wing haha and he grabbed their fins. Probably not the best idea but it was crazy seeing all of the sharks circle around our boat trying to eat! Now we're heading out to dinner & getting a good nights sleep. Not much more we are looking to do in Cairns, we just want to relax by the beach tomorrow. When we get to Sydney we'll do all our sightseeing. This is just a very beachy town and snorkelling was all we really wanted to do. I'm so glad we did it, it was such a great experience!
Day 1 in cairns
Cairns is beautiful! We are now in aussieland, well actually Queensland Australia. Cairns is on the very northern part of Australia so it's really hot here. It's the beginning of winter and everyone walks around in bathing suits and is laying out. It's a great change after being in the freezing cold country of New Zealand. We are staying at dreamtime travellers hostel. We love it so far! It's very laid back and there's a little pool and lots of hammocks. The people who work there are great and helped us book our snorkeling. We woke up at 7:45 this morning and showered then booked snorkeling. Headed to central station and walked around the shops then walked all around town. Got to the beach and got gelato at 11am haha before we even ate breakfast. Sat by the water then headed back for lunch and got subway. Got towels at the hostel and just headed back to the beach to lay out. It's gorgeous, there's mountains and water and palm trees, its so great! We are cooking pasta for dinner tonight to save money then going to see sex and the city!! :) we are having a low key night since we have to be ready to snorkel at 7 am!
Travel day to Cairns Australia
Wow... Today was HORRIBLE!
1. Had to walk 4 blocks with suitcases and backpacks and extra bags to the square in town where shuttles sit and wait for people like us. We were already running a little behind schedule so we were stressing trying to find a shuttle. Found one... $7 each.
3. Get to the Christchurch,NZ airport which is USUALLY empty... ohhh but not today! Got to a longggg line for checkin and the lady told us our bags were too heavy. So... We took a bunch of stuff out and put them in our carry on. So our at first light backpacks were then overflowing. Then after that ordeal and holding up the line, she precedes to tell us we have to go to the bank in the airport and pay a $25 dollar tax to leave the country! Thanks new zealand, that was a nice going away present! So we walk over and the line is literally 50 people long. Ok so at this point we are fussing and whining to the poor "bloke" who got stuck behind us in line. He told me most airports include the tax in your ticket fee but not new Zealand! So I told him that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard because now they are wasting peoples time, causing congestion at the airport, and they have to hire more employees to take the tax which is a waste of their money. His response was, new Zealand is a few steps behind, clearly. Ok so we paid.... $25.
3. Get to customs, no complications
4. Sit at our gate forever because it was late so we met a kiwi and a British person while sitting at the gate. The kiwi informs us that we will be cutting it close to get our flight from sydney to cairns and then both tell us our hotel in sydney is a bit dodgey, meaning filthy, gross, below par. Ok great!
5. Get on the plane and it was great, we love emirates. Except for the fact that dinner was duck and shredded lamb.
6. Dart off the plane and go to baggage, when I say our bags were one of the last I am not exaggerating. Ok now on to customs... They make us give them our hiking boots so they could spray and wash them because they had grass on them! So that was an unexpected delay. Then the man starts talking to us about Boston and his family and what not and we were in a huge hurry!
7. Check in time. Probably the worst part of our day! Get to the counter and Anthony and mark the worst virgin blue representative ever make everything difficult for us. Anthony tells us our bags are over weight and we will have to pay $10 per kilo which meant $70 each! Oh and he adds in that since the domestic and international airports are separate in Sydney we would need to pay for a shuttle plus a $15 convenience fee of checking in our bags at the international part. Ok so let's get this straight, they want us to pay to get to the domestic area since it's our fault that they can't build an airport together, and want us to pay to checkin our bags? So he tells us to save some money, go to an ATM and get cash out for the shuttle andthen checkin at domestic because maybe they can wave our baggage fees. This is 45 minutes before departure might I add. Speed walk to the ATM very far away with all our bags and I get 50s back. Well... They don't take 50s on the shuttle. The second we walked outside, the shuttle left so we had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. Alright so we are standing outside in the rain at the Sydney airport with our bags, not checked in yet, and with 30 minutes til departure. The Aussies thought we were obnoxious americans because I bet you aussie women would be very polite in our situation. But after asking Anthony 3 separate times to call the gate and tell them were coming and him refusing to kind of made us a wee bit angry! So we take our 10 minute shuttle ride literally on a highway and through the city to the international part of the airport... And the men yell to us to be loud and make our way to the front of the checkin line and take charge, we laughed and said we'll have no problem doing that... We're American! So go to checkin and she "can't wave luggage fees" are you kidding me? If we knew that and Anthony hadn't told us they could wave the fees in domestic we would have checked our bags in 45 minutes earlier. So she then tells us we are both $80 over so I take 3 jackets out of my bag and carry them on to save $10. So I paid $70 in baggage fines and so did Katelyn. Run through security and literally SPRINT to our gate... The last one! And everyone is still sitting there, so we asked people and they said ohhh we aren't going to cairns. Alright so we ask the gate people and they told us our gate was changed. You'd think the lady that checked us in 5 minutes earlier would have told us that but nope. So we run to the right gate, dripping in sweat, and guess what... The plane was delayed so we sat at the gate for 20 minutes before boarding! You'd also think they would have told us that too before we had panic attacks. I'm literally on the verge of tears at this point. Board the plane and we're the 3rd from the last row haha. Sit on runway for 25 minutes due to weather then take off and the turbulence was horrible! I started tearing up about to cry, and Katelyn and I were squeezing each others hands, we literally thought we were going to crash. The plane was rocking everywhere it was so scary! But now were in cairns and got a shuttle, more money, and are at our hostel. I spent $125 in fees etc today. Boy do I love traveling haha!
1. Had to walk 4 blocks with suitcases and backpacks and extra bags to the square in town where shuttles sit and wait for people like us. We were already running a little behind schedule so we were stressing trying to find a shuttle. Found one... $7 each.
3. Get to the Christchurch,NZ airport which is USUALLY empty... ohhh but not today! Got to a longggg line for checkin and the lady told us our bags were too heavy. So... We took a bunch of stuff out and put them in our carry on. So our at first light backpacks were then overflowing. Then after that ordeal and holding up the line, she precedes to tell us we have to go to the bank in the airport and pay a $25 dollar tax to leave the country! Thanks new zealand, that was a nice going away present! So we walk over and the line is literally 50 people long. Ok so at this point we are fussing and whining to the poor "bloke" who got stuck behind us in line. He told me most airports include the tax in your ticket fee but not new Zealand! So I told him that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard because now they are wasting peoples time, causing congestion at the airport, and they have to hire more employees to take the tax which is a waste of their money. His response was, new Zealand is a few steps behind, clearly. Ok so we paid.... $25.
3. Get to customs, no complications
4. Sit at our gate forever because it was late so we met a kiwi and a British person while sitting at the gate. The kiwi informs us that we will be cutting it close to get our flight from sydney to cairns and then both tell us our hotel in sydney is a bit dodgey, meaning filthy, gross, below par. Ok great!
5. Get on the plane and it was great, we love emirates. Except for the fact that dinner was duck and shredded lamb.
6. Dart off the plane and go to baggage, when I say our bags were one of the last I am not exaggerating. Ok now on to customs... They make us give them our hiking boots so they could spray and wash them because they had grass on them! So that was an unexpected delay. Then the man starts talking to us about Boston and his family and what not and we were in a huge hurry!
7. Check in time. Probably the worst part of our day! Get to the counter and Anthony and mark the worst virgin blue representative ever make everything difficult for us. Anthony tells us our bags are over weight and we will have to pay $10 per kilo which meant $70 each! Oh and he adds in that since the domestic and international airports are separate in Sydney we would need to pay for a shuttle plus a $15 convenience fee of checking in our bags at the international part. Ok so let's get this straight, they want us to pay to get to the domestic area since it's our fault that they can't build an airport together, and want us to pay to checkin our bags? So he tells us to save some money, go to an ATM and get cash out for the shuttle andthen checkin at domestic because maybe they can wave our baggage fees. This is 45 minutes before departure might I add. Speed walk to the ATM very far away with all our bags and I get 50s back. Well... They don't take 50s on the shuttle. The second we walked outside, the shuttle left so we had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. Alright so we are standing outside in the rain at the Sydney airport with our bags, not checked in yet, and with 30 minutes til departure. The Aussies thought we were obnoxious americans because I bet you aussie women would be very polite in our situation. But after asking Anthony 3 separate times to call the gate and tell them were coming and him refusing to kind of made us a wee bit angry! So we take our 10 minute shuttle ride literally on a highway and through the city to the international part of the airport... And the men yell to us to be loud and make our way to the front of the checkin line and take charge, we laughed and said we'll have no problem doing that... We're American! So go to checkin and she "can't wave luggage fees" are you kidding me? If we knew that and Anthony hadn't told us they could wave the fees in domestic we would have checked our bags in 45 minutes earlier. So she then tells us we are both $80 over so I take 3 jackets out of my bag and carry them on to save $10. So I paid $70 in baggage fines and so did Katelyn. Run through security and literally SPRINT to our gate... The last one! And everyone is still sitting there, so we asked people and they said ohhh we aren't going to cairns. Alright so we ask the gate people and they told us our gate was changed. You'd think the lady that checked us in 5 minutes earlier would have told us that but nope. So we run to the right gate, dripping in sweat, and guess what... The plane was delayed so we sat at the gate for 20 minutes before boarding! You'd also think they would have told us that too before we had panic attacks. I'm literally on the verge of tears at this point. Board the plane and we're the 3rd from the last row haha. Sit on runway for 25 minutes due to weather then take off and the turbulence was horrible! I started tearing up about to cry, and Katelyn and I were squeezing each others hands, we literally thought we were going to crash. The plane was rocking everywhere it was so scary! But now were in cairns and got a shuttle, more money, and are at our hostel. I spent $125 in fees etc today. Boy do I love traveling haha!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Farewell New Zealand :(
Yesterday we took our final and officially finished the study part of study abroad! We spent a few hours in the morning taking surveys and giving them feedback on the trip and then we had a lunch break. We spent some time in the grocery store loading up on candy that you can't get in America. They have starburst babies and they're like gushers in the shape of babies, crazy. And I've formed an obsession for moro gold which is like a twix but better, and cadberry chocolates, and tim tams!
Their fast food restaurants are so fancy here! The Burger King looks like a diner in the inside with black and white tiles on the floor and wall, tons of posters and paintings and records. The Mcdonalds is 2 floors and they have a separate McCafe and it looks like a Starbucks. Anyways, after lunch we went back to Christchurch Polytechnical, which is the university that has hosted the trip. We took our final, which was open note and open book. It was much harder than we expected. The TAs ad Professors kept telling us how easy it was and how we just needed to have our notes organized. The problem was that we needed to look through our book for a bunch of questions and our book is 500 pages and there is no table of contents. Just a bunch of articles. So that took a little over 2 hours unfortunately. After our final we walked back to HotelSO and showered and got ready for dinner. We had a group dinner at Two Fat Indians, which is obviously an Indian restaurant. Katelyn and I weren't fans. They only brought out 4 little bowls of food for 5 of us and they were fish, vegetables, chicken, and lamb. We tried one bite of chicken and decided to stick to just eating the steamed rice. Had 2 scoops of rice and decided to dip out and go to Burger King. We're such Americans. We got chicken nuggets and came back to the hotel to celebrate with everyone. We all went the bar near our hotel and then a few other places. I think it may have been too much fun, today is going to be a long day.
We are doing laundry right now then packing and heading to airport! The adventure is beginning, and probably not on the right foot. To start, we don't know how we're getting to the airport. We are going to the square which is where the church is and all the shops, and hoping there are some shuttles. According to Andy our bus driver, there are shuttles there but we aren't sure when. So we are going to look like tourists and roll our suitcases plus the extra duffel bag we each purchased here for our souveniors and our huge backpacks down a couple blocks and stand on the sidewalk hoping for a shuttle. We're super worried because we are getting into Cairns around 10:30 pm and the hostel will be closed and they said they're leaving our key in a keybox, but they said that in an email 2 months ago. We're crossing our fingers we have a place to sleep tonight. If not... guess we'll just sit on the beach til the sun comes up. (Just kidding Mom and Dad) We will have a place to sleep.... we hope.
Not sure what we're doing in Cairns yet either... maybe we'll figure that out tomorrow. Hoping to snorkel, go to the beach, shop, explore, maybe go to the outback and rainforest. We're really not sure and I love it! We'll just go wherever the wind takes us haha.
We don't have wifi at the hostel so I won't be able to blog unless I go to an internet cafe, and I won't be able to skype on my phone. So whoever I have texted off the app on my phone or skyped or facebooked, just fyi you won't hear from me.
Mom & Dad, don't worry you can call me if you're worried... it'll be $2 a minute though! Katelyn has internet on her phone so if you're worried I'm sure she will have checked in with her parents so you can always call the Fish's!
Well it's almost time to check out and head 'Down Unda'
No more sheep :(
Their fast food restaurants are so fancy here! The Burger King looks like a diner in the inside with black and white tiles on the floor and wall, tons of posters and paintings and records. The Mcdonalds is 2 floors and they have a separate McCafe and it looks like a Starbucks. Anyways, after lunch we went back to Christchurch Polytechnical, which is the university that has hosted the trip. We took our final, which was open note and open book. It was much harder than we expected. The TAs ad Professors kept telling us how easy it was and how we just needed to have our notes organized. The problem was that we needed to look through our book for a bunch of questions and our book is 500 pages and there is no table of contents. Just a bunch of articles. So that took a little over 2 hours unfortunately. After our final we walked back to HotelSO and showered and got ready for dinner. We had a group dinner at Two Fat Indians, which is obviously an Indian restaurant. Katelyn and I weren't fans. They only brought out 4 little bowls of food for 5 of us and they were fish, vegetables, chicken, and lamb. We tried one bite of chicken and decided to stick to just eating the steamed rice. Had 2 scoops of rice and decided to dip out and go to Burger King. We're such Americans. We got chicken nuggets and came back to the hotel to celebrate with everyone. We all went the bar near our hotel and then a few other places. I think it may have been too much fun, today is going to be a long day.
We are doing laundry right now then packing and heading to airport! The adventure is beginning, and probably not on the right foot. To start, we don't know how we're getting to the airport. We are going to the square which is where the church is and all the shops, and hoping there are some shuttles. According to Andy our bus driver, there are shuttles there but we aren't sure when. So we are going to look like tourists and roll our suitcases plus the extra duffel bag we each purchased here for our souveniors and our huge backpacks down a couple blocks and stand on the sidewalk hoping for a shuttle. We're super worried because we are getting into Cairns around 10:30 pm and the hostel will be closed and they said they're leaving our key in a keybox, but they said that in an email 2 months ago. We're crossing our fingers we have a place to sleep tonight. If not... guess we'll just sit on the beach til the sun comes up. (Just kidding Mom and Dad) We will have a place to sleep.... we hope.
Not sure what we're doing in Cairns yet either... maybe we'll figure that out tomorrow. Hoping to snorkel, go to the beach, shop, explore, maybe go to the outback and rainforest. We're really not sure and I love it! We'll just go wherever the wind takes us haha.
We don't have wifi at the hostel so I won't be able to blog unless I go to an internet cafe, and I won't be able to skype on my phone. So whoever I have texted off the app on my phone or skyped or facebooked, just fyi you won't hear from me.
Mom & Dad, don't worry you can call me if you're worried... it'll be $2 a minute though! Katelyn has internet on her phone so if you're worried I'm sure she will have checked in with her parents so you can always call the Fish's!
Well it's almost time to check out and head 'Down Unda'
No more sheep :(
Monday, May 31, 2010
Last couple days in new zealand
We are in Christchurch now... Our home away from home! Began our trip here and now sadly it has come to an end. We all felt like we were home when we pulled into the city because we spent 4 days here 3 weeks ago and got to know where everything was. Last night was interesting to say the least. A group of 9 of us went to Charlies Irish pub for dinner and got delicious drinks. I got Mai tai and Katelyn got a pomegranite cosmo. We love legally being able to order drinks! Got pizza and it wasn't great, should have known better than to get that at an Irish pub. We went to a club after dinner and everyone left early and the only ones of our group were me Katelyn Lucas Jesse and phong.... The boys were being slow to leave so kately n and I walked outside waiting and kind of strolled down the street a little and on the opposite side of the street was a group of 4 or 5 teenage boys and in front of them the all blacks store (new zealands rugby team) was up on flames. Just the outside though, someone must have thrown something at the door because the entire entrance was up in flames. we ran back to the guys screaming fire and they didn't believe us of course! Then... 5 fire trucks came rolling in and started putting the fire out. The teenagers were still there watching so wr aren't sure if they started it but were almost positive they did. This morning we told our instructor and she called the cops to tell them we witnessed it ughh! The cops were going to come to our hotel to question us but never did. A few of us girls went to coyotes for dinner it was amazing!!! Katelyn and I both got sirloin because we felt we deserved a real meal after all the fast food and sandwhiches we've had to eat while constantly being on the road for 3 weeks. Natalie got a glass of new zealands very famous wine called saint claires, Sauvignon blanc. If they sell it in the states let me know, if not I'm finding a way to bring some home because my parents would love it! It's not a typical fruity and sweet white wine, we all described the taste as bursting haha. So everyone take a look and see if they sell it (meaning you dad). After dinner about 20 of us hung out in lucas's room until we left for the pool bar. We went to a pool bar with over 20 pool tables, and the other half of our study abroad group went too so there were about 70 of us. Even the professors showed up! It was really fun and sad that it was one of our last nights together. I'm not sure if I'll be more sad to leave this incredible country or to leave everyone from the trip. We've become so close!
Today's our free day and tomorrow is our final. We aren't sure what were doing today but Katelyn and I really want massages! We are sore from hiking everyday! We are probably going to the art musuem, if I can convince Katelyn, and possibly take a gondola rode up a mountain and then mtn bike down. The chance of that happening is very slim though. Although it's our last free day here in new zealand, having nothing to do is great! We are free after our final tomorrow too so a little extra free time then in case we don't so much today. It's 8 am and I would have loved to sleep in but unfortunately 7:45 was sleeping in for me since we usually wake up at 6:15. I'll be home in 10 days!! The countdown begins!
Love love love
Caitlin
Today's our free day and tomorrow is our final. We aren't sure what were doing today but Katelyn and I really want massages! We are sore from hiking everyday! We are probably going to the art musuem, if I can convince Katelyn, and possibly take a gondola rode up a mountain and then mtn bike down. The chance of that happening is very slim though. Although it's our last free day here in new zealand, having nothing to do is great! We are free after our final tomorrow too so a little extra free time then in case we don't so much today. It's 8 am and I would have loved to sleep in but unfortunately 7:45 was sleeping in for me since we usually wake up at 6:15. I'll be home in 10 days!! The countdown begins!
Love love love
Caitlin
Friday, May 28, 2010
May 28 and 29 kaikora
Last night we went to a restaurant called macs and it was so good! We went home and watched the finale of American idol! We were so happy... American television!
This morning after breakfast we got on the bus for our 4 hour bus ride. It really wasn't bad though. I worked on a module we have due on Sunday and then stopped at a cafe for a break. We stopped along the beach and went for a little walk to a river and waterfall with tons of baby seals! They were precious, they do front flips constantly! Got a lot of pictures then got back on the bus. We got to Kaikora and checked into our hostel (more like camp with cabins) and walked to a cafe for lunch. Ordered a sandwhich with chips and got a sandwhich with fries... Youd think I would know better after living in England and also knowing this country was colonized by the British but I forgot! They have barely any fastfood here there are cafes everywhere! With the same sandwhiches and quiche things everywhere! We just did a hike to the seal colony but it was pouring so we went super fast! Working on modules tonight and sleeping!!!!!
2 days here then back to Christchurch for 4 days and done with the study abroad trip. Then Katelyn and I are off to explore Australia!
Today we woke up bloody early and were heaps tired, cryckie! Ate breakfast and went for a Maori tour. The Maori were the first inhabitants on the land of new Zealand and have a lot of traditions. They believe they are a part of the land, it's really interesting. We went to the pah (peninsula) and then went to the mari (spelling?) and it's their house of peace. We had to say some prayers and songs in their language and then ate food, things I don't know the names of. After we went through the process of welcome we were considered fanu (family). We greeted with our noses, one touch is for a friend and 2 touches is for a stranger. We left the mari and went to a nature trail and learned about their native plants and their thousands of years old trees. One plant is a miracle plant and the leaves are in the shape of a heart... You eat the leaves that have holes in it because it means they are the good ones because the insects eat the good ones and put holes in them. We drank a warm tea that was made from the leaves... It clears your head, colds, sore throats, the flu, cleans your blood, etc etc. I kind of wanted to take some but I don't know if customs would let me bring it through. We also learned how to weave from flax leaves. Pretty cool! Now we have a lecture and then working on modules. group dinner tonight at tutis!
Tomorrow we are supposed to swim with dolphins in kaikora but the weather and waves may be too rough. We will have to see!
Home in a few weeks!
This morning after breakfast we got on the bus for our 4 hour bus ride. It really wasn't bad though. I worked on a module we have due on Sunday and then stopped at a cafe for a break. We stopped along the beach and went for a little walk to a river and waterfall with tons of baby seals! They were precious, they do front flips constantly! Got a lot of pictures then got back on the bus. We got to Kaikora and checked into our hostel (more like camp with cabins) and walked to a cafe for lunch. Ordered a sandwhich with chips and got a sandwhich with fries... Youd think I would know better after living in England and also knowing this country was colonized by the British but I forgot! They have barely any fastfood here there are cafes everywhere! With the same sandwhiches and quiche things everywhere! We just did a hike to the seal colony but it was pouring so we went super fast! Working on modules tonight and sleeping!!!!!
2 days here then back to Christchurch for 4 days and done with the study abroad trip. Then Katelyn and I are off to explore Australia!
Today we woke up bloody early and were heaps tired, cryckie! Ate breakfast and went for a Maori tour. The Maori were the first inhabitants on the land of new Zealand and have a lot of traditions. They believe they are a part of the land, it's really interesting. We went to the pah (peninsula) and then went to the mari (spelling?) and it's their house of peace. We had to say some prayers and songs in their language and then ate food, things I don't know the names of. After we went through the process of welcome we were considered fanu (family). We greeted with our noses, one touch is for a friend and 2 touches is for a stranger. We left the mari and went to a nature trail and learned about their native plants and their thousands of years old trees. One plant is a miracle plant and the leaves are in the shape of a heart... You eat the leaves that have holes in it because it means they are the good ones because the insects eat the good ones and put holes in them. We drank a warm tea that was made from the leaves... It clears your head, colds, sore throats, the flu, cleans your blood, etc etc. I kind of wanted to take some but I don't know if customs would let me bring it through. We also learned how to weave from flax leaves. Pretty cool! Now we have a lecture and then working on modules. group dinner tonight at tutis!
Tomorrow we are supposed to swim with dolphins in kaikora but the weather and waves may be too rough. We will have to see!
Home in a few weeks!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Last few days!
Tuesday-
Hiking day! We had the HARDEST hike ever! We started with a 15 minute stroll and then our guide said ok if you want to hike the hard hike go this way and if you don't want to turn around and you can get coffee and shop. Smart us... We took the hard hike option and hard was no understatement. To begin, it was pouring rain! Literally the entire hike up and the entire hike down! I had waterproof hiking boots on, waterproof pants, rain jacket, and a waterproof cover over my backpack.... Basically all geared up and I was still soaked! Probably because I wasn't wearing my hood. It was so hot hiking up that we didn't want to wear our hoods so our hair was soaked! 2 and half hours later we got to the top of the mountain and we were way above the clouds and treeline. It was so much colder up there though, instead of rain it was snowing! Behind us were snowcapped mountains and it was wonderful! We hiked for so long to only stay at the top for a few minutes because we were so cold. Headed back down and it took about an hour and a half... We sprinted down- possibly too quickly.... I slid and fell into a huge pile of mud and slipped down a huge rock. I'm hurting today to say the least! When we got back to the bus everyone who didn't hike was waiting and cheering when we got there... Such an accomplishment! Headed back to the hotel and went grocery shopping and I cooked chicken stirfry for a group of us. It was delicious! After dinner we had a party in our little apartment thing haha. The place we are staying at tonight and where we stayed last night is called equestrian lodge in motueka and we have a nice kitchen, living room and tv, back porch, and 2 bedrooms for 3 of us it's great! Tried doing laundry and it of course didn't work. Everytime we do laundry we encounter problems. The dryers everywhere we go do not dry! And er have to use one and two dollar coins so we never have enough coins! Last night we did our wash and realized this morning we forgot to add detergent because most places automatically add it soooo our clothes aren't even clean! We dried them twice and it didn't work so we laid them outside and of course now they smell horrible! We need lessons on how to do laundry! Very tiring day but such a great one! We felt so accomplished after that hike!
Wednesday- Abel Tasman national park: today we woke up super early and headed to Abel Tasman national park for a day of hiking and kayaking! We did the hike first. It was a 3 hour hike to the point where we were getting in the sea to kayak. The hike was so easy compared to yesterday and our routeburn track hike last week. The hike was beautiful though! We could see the sea majority of the time and it was so blue and such a sunny day! When we first began our hike it rained a little and we saw an entire rainbow, I don't think i've ever seen a whole one, only parts, so that was neat. On our hike Terry talked about plants of course. We love Terry! He is our field guide.... He's from new Zealand, in his 50s, tiny little man, 130 pounds, and he knows absolutely every little detail there is to know about this country. He gets so excited to talk about plants, animals, and glaciers. We joke because everything seems to be related to glaciation. So on our hike Terry of course made us stop to look at plants such as the silver beech tree. It's actually a pretty neat tree. On the outside of the leaves they're green but when you look on the bottom they're silver! So we enjoyed the hike and stopped at a little beach to take pics then went to where we were kayaking and had lunch.
We got all geared up with our kayak skirts to keep the water out of the boat, jackets, and some other things. I kayaked with Katelyn and I sat behind her because they made me since I'm more experienced? I had to steer with foot peddles which controlled the rudder. I wished I hadn't rowed for so long at that point because steering and kayaking was difficult at first. We started on the wrong foot. For some reason our rudder wasn't in the right position so when I pulled the lever to release the rudder into the water it wouldn't go. So we literally went in a circle the second they pushed us off shore. Fixed that. Then we kayaked to the rocks where the seals were playing and so stinkin cute! Then one of the guides caught an eel. He had some catching contraption that he used then released it, he didn't take it out of the water or anything no worries! Kayaked our best trying to catch up with the boys but couldn't. We talked up our skills too much bc we told them we would beat them but definitely didn't! Everytime Lucas and Jesse got by us they splashed us like crazy! We would try to splash them back but couldn't ! The salt water stung our faces it was so weird! Then phong and Austin came up and splashed us and then a few other guys did. We get picked on so much it's ridiculous ! So at this point we are drenched! The skirt that was supposed to keep the water out didn't do it's job because I was soaked! We got of on an island and played a game with our paddles. You stand in a circle and the conductor yells to either go left or right and you? Gy put your paddle in the sand standing up and run to the next paddle, whoever drops theirs or doesn't get one is out. It was entertaining! The rocks on the island were covered with mussels it was so cool! Ok so we left there and headed for the dock. Got soaked on the way and then saw little blue penguins!!! Yeah PENGUINS in the pacific! Amazing! They were so cute and little and live in warm climate. They said there are thousands of them in the area. I got pictures don't worry! So we got super close to shore and we had just put the rudder up so had no way of steering and literally 30 seconds later we turn parallel to the way the waves are coming in and got FLIPPED by the wave! Yes, katelyn and I slipped our kayak 20 steps from shore! We made it 3 hours without flipping and flipped at the end because of a wave. I was cracking up! We were freezing but so entertained by ourselves. Everyone else got a kick out of it too! So that was the perfect way to end the day! Literally! It was so much fun! Going to bed now.... SKY DIVING in the morning at 7 am so 3pm your time. Wish me luck!
Peace and love!
Caitlin
Hiking day! We had the HARDEST hike ever! We started with a 15 minute stroll and then our guide said ok if you want to hike the hard hike go this way and if you don't want to turn around and you can get coffee and shop. Smart us... We took the hard hike option and hard was no understatement. To begin, it was pouring rain! Literally the entire hike up and the entire hike down! I had waterproof hiking boots on, waterproof pants, rain jacket, and a waterproof cover over my backpack.... Basically all geared up and I was still soaked! Probably because I wasn't wearing my hood. It was so hot hiking up that we didn't want to wear our hoods so our hair was soaked! 2 and half hours later we got to the top of the mountain and we were way above the clouds and treeline. It was so much colder up there though, instead of rain it was snowing! Behind us were snowcapped mountains and it was wonderful! We hiked for so long to only stay at the top for a few minutes because we were so cold. Headed back down and it took about an hour and a half... We sprinted down- possibly too quickly.... I slid and fell into a huge pile of mud and slipped down a huge rock. I'm hurting today to say the least! When we got back to the bus everyone who didn't hike was waiting and cheering when we got there... Such an accomplishment! Headed back to the hotel and went grocery shopping and I cooked chicken stirfry for a group of us. It was delicious! After dinner we had a party in our little apartment thing haha. The place we are staying at tonight and where we stayed last night is called equestrian lodge in motueka and we have a nice kitchen, living room and tv, back porch, and 2 bedrooms for 3 of us it's great! Tried doing laundry and it of course didn't work. Everytime we do laundry we encounter problems. The dryers everywhere we go do not dry! And er have to use one and two dollar coins so we never have enough coins! Last night we did our wash and realized this morning we forgot to add detergent because most places automatically add it soooo our clothes aren't even clean! We dried them twice and it didn't work so we laid them outside and of course now they smell horrible! We need lessons on how to do laundry! Very tiring day but such a great one! We felt so accomplished after that hike!
Wednesday- Abel Tasman national park: today we woke up super early and headed to Abel Tasman national park for a day of hiking and kayaking! We did the hike first. It was a 3 hour hike to the point where we were getting in the sea to kayak. The hike was so easy compared to yesterday and our routeburn track hike last week. The hike was beautiful though! We could see the sea majority of the time and it was so blue and such a sunny day! When we first began our hike it rained a little and we saw an entire rainbow, I don't think i've ever seen a whole one, only parts, so that was neat. On our hike Terry talked about plants of course. We love Terry! He is our field guide.... He's from new Zealand, in his 50s, tiny little man, 130 pounds, and he knows absolutely every little detail there is to know about this country. He gets so excited to talk about plants, animals, and glaciers. We joke because everything seems to be related to glaciation. So on our hike Terry of course made us stop to look at plants such as the silver beech tree. It's actually a pretty neat tree. On the outside of the leaves they're green but when you look on the bottom they're silver! So we enjoyed the hike and stopped at a little beach to take pics then went to where we were kayaking and had lunch.
We got all geared up with our kayak skirts to keep the water out of the boat, jackets, and some other things. I kayaked with Katelyn and I sat behind her because they made me since I'm more experienced? I had to steer with foot peddles which controlled the rudder. I wished I hadn't rowed for so long at that point because steering and kayaking was difficult at first. We started on the wrong foot. For some reason our rudder wasn't in the right position so when I pulled the lever to release the rudder into the water it wouldn't go. So we literally went in a circle the second they pushed us off shore. Fixed that. Then we kayaked to the rocks where the seals were playing and so stinkin cute! Then one of the guides caught an eel. He had some catching contraption that he used then released it, he didn't take it out of the water or anything no worries! Kayaked our best trying to catch up with the boys but couldn't. We talked up our skills too much bc we told them we would beat them but definitely didn't! Everytime Lucas and Jesse got by us they splashed us like crazy! We would try to splash them back but couldn't ! The salt water stung our faces it was so weird! Then phong and Austin came up and splashed us and then a few other guys did. We get picked on so much it's ridiculous ! So at this point we are drenched! The skirt that was supposed to keep the water out didn't do it's job because I was soaked! We got of on an island and played a game with our paddles. You stand in a circle and the conductor yells to either go left or right and you? Gy put your paddle in the sand standing up and run to the next paddle, whoever drops theirs or doesn't get one is out. It was entertaining! The rocks on the island were covered with mussels it was so cool! Ok so we left there and headed for the dock. Got soaked on the way and then saw little blue penguins!!! Yeah PENGUINS in the pacific! Amazing! They were so cute and little and live in warm climate. They said there are thousands of them in the area. I got pictures don't worry! So we got super close to shore and we had just put the rudder up so had no way of steering and literally 30 seconds later we turn parallel to the way the waves are coming in and got FLIPPED by the wave! Yes, katelyn and I slipped our kayak 20 steps from shore! We made it 3 hours without flipping and flipped at the end because of a wave. I was cracking up! We were freezing but so entertained by ourselves. Everyone else got a kick out of it too! So that was the perfect way to end the day! Literally! It was so much fun! Going to bed now.... SKY DIVING in the morning at 7 am so 3pm your time. Wish me luck!
Peace and love!
Caitlin
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Dairy farm and hokitika
Sunday may 23- we woke up at 6:45 made breakfast and packed up our bags and headed out of fox glacier on the bus! Went to a dairy farm for a few hours ad watched the cows go on the moving conveyer belt basically to get milked! Then they let people try the fresh milk but I didn't. There's something about watching a cow poop at the same time the mill is coming out of it's utters that just isn't appealing to me. Then when everyone tried the milk and said it was salty I decided it was definitely a no. We took a stroll through the farm and got our shoes filthy with mud (and other stuff) there were hundreds of cows.... They all were far away and turned away from us but when we walked up to the fence they got closer and just stood facing us mooing, basically telling us to leave! So we did haha... Headed to franz Josef for lunch and had pretty good burgers and for once at a reasonable price! The bathrooms were insanely cool! You press a touch button for the bathroom sliding door to open then you sit down and it says you have 10 minutes and then the door will automatically open, so your max time is 10 min haha. Then you put your hand at the toilet paper which is automatic and gives you a rationed amount. Then you get soap and automatic water and an air dryer and once you've washed your hands the toilet automatically flushes and the door opens. Quite the technology! Sustainable? Possibly! You can't waste paper or water or air from the hand dryer. But I can't imagine how much goes into the system to make it all work.
After lunch we passed over the Alpine plate which was huge and if there would have Been an earthquake while we were there we would have fallen down the mountain.... Scary. Got to hokitika and went to a jade factory and learned how they mine for jade and then polish and cut it. It was very pricey and nothing I'd particularly wear. Had some small group sessions tonight to work on our papers, cooked an amazing dinner and went to the coldddd beach for a few minutes to see what it was like (in the dark though) so we didn't really see much. The place we are staying at is awesome! Looks really dumpy from the outside and probably a month ago we would have thought the inside was dumpy too but our perspectives have changed. Not having to use a sleeping bag, central showers and bathroom, and a travel size towel and shower shoes is a great change. There's even a tv! First tv in 2 weeks! Crazy! So we've enjoyed the one night we have here. Tomorrow morning we are leaving for dolomite point and pancake rocks, hiking (shocking right?) we have hikes everyday til we leave new zealand. And one of the days is a sea kayaking trip and another is swimming with dolphins. Pretty much a great next few weeks ahead of us! Getting on and off the bus every day and heading to new towns every day or 2 is so worth it!
Caitlin
After lunch we passed over the Alpine plate which was huge and if there would have Been an earthquake while we were there we would have fallen down the mountain.... Scary. Got to hokitika and went to a jade factory and learned how they mine for jade and then polish and cut it. It was very pricey and nothing I'd particularly wear. Had some small group sessions tonight to work on our papers, cooked an amazing dinner and went to the coldddd beach for a few minutes to see what it was like (in the dark though) so we didn't really see much. The place we are staying at is awesome! Looks really dumpy from the outside and probably a month ago we would have thought the inside was dumpy too but our perspectives have changed. Not having to use a sleeping bag, central showers and bathroom, and a travel size towel and shower shoes is a great change. There's even a tv! First tv in 2 weeks! Crazy! So we've enjoyed the one night we have here. Tomorrow morning we are leaving for dolomite point and pancake rocks, hiking (shocking right?) we have hikes everyday til we leave new zealand. And one of the days is a sea kayaking trip and another is swimming with dolphins. Pretty much a great next few weeks ahead of us! Getting on and off the bus every day and heading to new towns every day or 2 is so worth it!
Caitlin
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Fox Glacier & Lake Matheson
Saturday may 22nd
Today I woke up at 6:15 and called Ty since it was 1 in the afternoon to him. It was pitch black and freezing outside (I'm such a nice girl friend!) we went on a group hike around lake matheson at 7 am. Got done sound 8:45 and got lattes in the cafe on the lake! Got back to our cabins (best way to describe this place) and had breakfast scraps from what's left from our grocery trip a few weeks ago. The bread was molded so we really only had cereal and yogurt as an option. I was on cleaning crew so did allthe dishes then we had a fee lectures. Learned about podocarp trees which are my favorite and then learned about glaciers, glacier retreating, and global warming ad it's effect on glaciers. Very very interesting, can't say I fully understand it all yet though. We went into town and had lunch at a cute little cafe and then got all geared up for our glacier hike! We got special boots from the company and crampons to strap onto our shoes and ice picks. We got on the bus and headed to the glacier. We had quite a hike to the actualy glacier. Hiked a mile up through the rainforest an bizarrly got to the glaciers from te rainforest. This is one of the only places in the world where you can see a glacier in a temperate climate. Don't get me wrong though... The glacier itself was freezing! It was the neatest experience! Walked up the glacier and got a good look at it. It's huge though, the glacier itself is 6 miles! We walked only part of it but it was amazing! Definitely something most people can't say they've done or ever will do! The west coast of new Zealand is so neat! And we've only been in the west for a day!
Love love love!
Caitlin
Today I woke up at 6:15 and called Ty since it was 1 in the afternoon to him. It was pitch black and freezing outside (I'm such a nice girl friend!) we went on a group hike around lake matheson at 7 am. Got done sound 8:45 and got lattes in the cafe on the lake! Got back to our cabins (best way to describe this place) and had breakfast scraps from what's left from our grocery trip a few weeks ago. The bread was molded so we really only had cereal and yogurt as an option. I was on cleaning crew so did allthe dishes then we had a fee lectures. Learned about podocarp trees which are my favorite and then learned about glaciers, glacier retreating, and global warming ad it's effect on glaciers. Very very interesting, can't say I fully understand it all yet though. We went into town and had lunch at a cute little cafe and then got all geared up for our glacier hike! We got special boots from the company and crampons to strap onto our shoes and ice picks. We got on the bus and headed to the glacier. We had quite a hike to the actualy glacier. Hiked a mile up through the rainforest an bizarrly got to the glaciers from te rainforest. This is one of the only places in the world where you can see a glacier in a temperate climate. Don't get me wrong though... The glacier itself was freezing! It was the neatest experience! Walked up the glacier and got a good look at it. It's huge though, the glacier itself is 6 miles! We walked only part of it but it was amazing! Definitely something most people can't say they've done or ever will do! The west coast of new Zealand is so neat! And we've only been in the west for a day!
Love love love!
Caitlin
Fork farm, flat tire, hitch hiking?
Friday may 21st
-got up after a night on the town in queenstown nz at about 6:15? Ran to mcdonald and grabbed non american mcdonads food and loaded the bus. It was a longggg bus day! We were sad to leave nomads hostel and the city of queenstown but still had an awesome day!
We first stopped at Fork Farm. The farm is known for it's sustainable farming techniques and the couple who owns the huge piece of land has farming down to the t. We rode the bus around their property because it was so big and the farmer got on the bus and gave us a tour. They had thousands of sheep, cattle, a wine vineyard, horses, dogs (who are trained to herd the sheep), bulls, and deer. They showed us how they herd the sheep and it was hilarious! They have trained their dogs to bark certain barks and when they do that they run around the sheep and bark at them and then sheep runnnnn! It's so funnyto watch because the sheep will hop on each other because there won't be enough room. I have videos so you'll be able to see what I'm talking about when I get back to Georgia in 3 weeks! So we walked around the while farm basically stepping in sheep poop the entire time... The bus smelled horrible after that! We then headed 40 miles to a tiny town where Andy, our bus driver, is from. We went to the one cafe and had lunch... Nothing special. Drove through gorgeous scenery- which there are no traffic lights or highways. We stopped at one the other day and were so confused why we stopped, it was literally the first time we had ever stopped at a light or seen one!
Next we stopped at the beach!! It was the first time we saw the coast, so really cool! The rocks on the shore we amazing! They were basically all pancake rocks! Ok so we were about an hour from fox glacier the next place we were heading to and we are all asleep and the tire on the bus blew! So we pulled over in front of a green park sign which we stop at every hour on our bus rides for all the lectures and plant lessons or hikes we have! So we were all so mad thinking we had a lesson! Then Andy said we had a flat and it would take an hour to fix! Soooo Terry(our new Zealand expert who was hired to travel the entire south island with us) took us for a "easy little walk." We walked through literally an entire path of mud! Lots and lots of it! We turned around and walked back to the bus bc or once this walk was optional! Got back on the bus and got to fox glacier. We went to dinner with the group and had the most amazing italian food ever! After dinner we were all exhausted so we went to sleep!
Peace & love
Caitlin
-got up after a night on the town in queenstown nz at about 6:15? Ran to mcdonald and grabbed non american mcdonads food and loaded the bus. It was a longggg bus day! We were sad to leave nomads hostel and the city of queenstown but still had an awesome day!
We first stopped at Fork Farm. The farm is known for it's sustainable farming techniques and the couple who owns the huge piece of land has farming down to the t. We rode the bus around their property because it was so big and the farmer got on the bus and gave us a tour. They had thousands of sheep, cattle, a wine vineyard, horses, dogs (who are trained to herd the sheep), bulls, and deer. They showed us how they herd the sheep and it was hilarious! They have trained their dogs to bark certain barks and when they do that they run around the sheep and bark at them and then sheep runnnnn! It's so funnyto watch because the sheep will hop on each other because there won't be enough room. I have videos so you'll be able to see what I'm talking about when I get back to Georgia in 3 weeks! So we walked around the while farm basically stepping in sheep poop the entire time... The bus smelled horrible after that! We then headed 40 miles to a tiny town where Andy, our bus driver, is from. We went to the one cafe and had lunch... Nothing special. Drove through gorgeous scenery- which there are no traffic lights or highways. We stopped at one the other day and were so confused why we stopped, it was literally the first time we had ever stopped at a light or seen one!
Next we stopped at the beach!! It was the first time we saw the coast, so really cool! The rocks on the shore we amazing! They were basically all pancake rocks! Ok so we were about an hour from fox glacier the next place we were heading to and we are all asleep and the tire on the bus blew! So we pulled over in front of a green park sign which we stop at every hour on our bus rides for all the lectures and plant lessons or hikes we have! So we were all so mad thinking we had a lesson! Then Andy said we had a flat and it would take an hour to fix! Soooo Terry(our new Zealand expert who was hired to travel the entire south island with us) took us for a "easy little walk." We walked through literally an entire path of mud! Lots and lots of it! We turned around and walked back to the bus bc or once this walk was optional! Got back on the bus and got to fox glacier. We went to dinner with the group and had the most amazing italian food ever! After dinner we were all exhausted so we went to sleep!
Peace & love
Caitlin
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
CANYON SWING
Today was INCREDIBLE!
Weather wasn't too great this morning, too many clouds- so skydiving was cancelled :( But no worries... we found another adrenaline rushing activity to do.. Canyon Swing! I'm not sure where the word swing comes from because there is definitely no swing or swinging involved. You basically jump off a platform 200 Kilometers high and go straight down and then swing at the bottom but that's not the exciting part. The best part was the free falling! I don't like things like that so I'm surprised I liked it so much. I was way more scared before I did it than when I actually jumped. The guys were hilarious! They tried freaking me out as much as they could and dragged it out forever. They would pretend to push me but wouldn't and then they tried telling me my rope was broken but I knew better than to believe them. I did 2 jumps because the second one was only $15 because they donated it to a charity here in New Zealand. I figured if I'd spend 200 on one jump, 15 wouldn't matter much for the second one!The first jump I did was the "Chair of Death" and no worries, I didn't die so the name isn't very accurate thank goodness! It was the best feeling ever! I did a few flips in the chair and screamed a whole lot. For my second jump I did the Gimp Man goes to Hollywood and what they do is harness you in so you are just sitting in the air hanging over the canyon and then they pull a rope and you FLY down, head first, with you legs wrapped around the rope. It was CRAZY! Absolutely amazing/ best experience thus far.
For lunch we went to Fergburger and it was so good! The burgers were double the size my dad makes, which means they were huge! Really good (first time I've actually liked food here in New Zealand)
I've loaded the videos of my jumps on Facebook so check them out, and I'm about to load all the pictures they took!
I have one essay left to do and then we're getting ready and going out downtown for our last night in Queenstown! Tomorrow we are off to FOX GLACIER!
In fox glacier we will be hiking the glacier! Crazy! It's supposed to be as hard as yesterday's 12 mile hike if not harder because of all the heavy gear we will be wearing. All I have to say is this is the most amazing trip EVER!
& today was even better because I got to skype mom & dad!! :) Mom got surgery on her achilles and is recovery slowly but surely! (Miss you guys so much)
Don't forget to watch the videos!
Peace & Love!
Caitlin
Weather wasn't too great this morning, too many clouds- so skydiving was cancelled :( But no worries... we found another adrenaline rushing activity to do.. Canyon Swing! I'm not sure where the word swing comes from because there is definitely no swing or swinging involved. You basically jump off a platform 200 Kilometers high and go straight down and then swing at the bottom but that's not the exciting part. The best part was the free falling! I don't like things like that so I'm surprised I liked it so much. I was way more scared before I did it than when I actually jumped. The guys were hilarious! They tried freaking me out as much as they could and dragged it out forever. They would pretend to push me but wouldn't and then they tried telling me my rope was broken but I knew better than to believe them. I did 2 jumps because the second one was only $15 because they donated it to a charity here in New Zealand. I figured if I'd spend 200 on one jump, 15 wouldn't matter much for the second one!The first jump I did was the "Chair of Death" and no worries, I didn't die so the name isn't very accurate thank goodness! It was the best feeling ever! I did a few flips in the chair and screamed a whole lot. For my second jump I did the Gimp Man goes to Hollywood and what they do is harness you in so you are just sitting in the air hanging over the canyon and then they pull a rope and you FLY down, head first, with you legs wrapped around the rope. It was CRAZY! Absolutely amazing/ best experience thus far.
For lunch we went to Fergburger and it was so good! The burgers were double the size my dad makes, which means they were huge! Really good (first time I've actually liked food here in New Zealand)
I've loaded the videos of my jumps on Facebook so check them out, and I'm about to load all the pictures they took!
I have one essay left to do and then we're getting ready and going out downtown for our last night in Queenstown! Tomorrow we are off to FOX GLACIER!
In fox glacier we will be hiking the glacier! Crazy! It's supposed to be as hard as yesterday's 12 mile hike if not harder because of all the heavy gear we will be wearing. All I have to say is this is the most amazing trip EVER!
& today was even better because I got to skype mom & dad!! :) Mom got surgery on her achilles and is recovery slowly but surely! (Miss you guys so much)
Don't forget to watch the videos!
Peace & Love!
Caitlin
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Routeburn Track
Today was exhausting to say the least. Started off on the wrong foot because we went out last night and had to wake up at 7 to head off to Routeburn for our hike. It ended up being a 12 mile hike!! We did it in about 6 hours, which was mostly up mountain! At the top of the mountain there were amazing waterfalls and we had lunch after our 4 hours up hill. The bus ride up to the track was nauseating. Felt like we were racing there and it was on the edge of the cliff of the lake. Thankfully we made it there and got to hike alllll day. Katelyn and I complained a few times... just a few! There were tons of bridges and rivers and waterfalls but the best part about the hike was Katelyn falling every 30 minutes. She literally fell at least 5 times... slipping down rocks or just tripping. It wouldn't have been funny if she got hurt but she didn't get hurt sooooo it was funny. Our bus drivers/guides were awesome... definitely thought we Americans were crazy/loud. When we got to the spot where we were going to eat lunch the guides offered us another hour and a half hike UPHILL- they said it was literally uphill and really hard, yet majority of us wanted to do it. I'm not sure if Katelyn and I were a part of the majority. It was worth the extra workout because the waterfalls up there were incredible. It was FREEZING up there! We just got back and are using the internet for a while before we get to work on our 4 essays that are due in 2 days.
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 if the weather is clear Katelyn & I will be sky diving!! The girls who were supposed to go today couldn't go because of the clouds so I"m hoping we get to go. If we can't go here we will go at Fox Glacier when we are there this weekend. No matter what, I WILL be jumping out of an airplane this week. haha
<3 Caitlin
Miss Everyone!!!!
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 if the weather is clear Katelyn & I will be sky diving!! The girls who were supposed to go today couldn't go because of the clouds so I"m hoping we get to go. If we can't go here we will go at Fox Glacier when we are there this weekend. No matter what, I WILL be jumping out of an airplane this week. haha
<3 Caitlin
Miss Everyone!!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Queenstown
Finally in Adventure City! It is amazing here! There is so much going on.... shops, bars, restaurants... basically we're back in civilization but on the water with mountains all around us.
We're staying in this awesome hostel with actual nice bunk beds, the other places were horrible bunk beds and make squeeky noises any time you moved your foot.
We stopped at a Wind Farm today and it's crazy how big they are... the blades are 3 times the size of a bus length.
We walked around briefly today and bought some tops for going out and ate Subway which is nothing like American subway. The turkey has spots all over it and I didn't believe them that it was turkey. By the way, no 5 dollar footlongs! They're 9.80 dollars, ridiculous! The diet coke is horrible... tastes like strawberry is in it or something!
Just took a quiz and have a few minutes left of our break then we have a lecture for an hour. Then dinner time and Queenstown bars! Can't wait!
Oh yeah- our room connects with the guys balcony and they weren't in their room so we stole their suitcases and put them in our shower it was hilarious. Well they didn't find it funny but we did haha!!
Miss everyone!
7 hour hike tomorrow- wish me luck!
We're staying in this awesome hostel with actual nice bunk beds, the other places were horrible bunk beds and make squeeky noises any time you moved your foot.
We stopped at a Wind Farm today and it's crazy how big they are... the blades are 3 times the size of a bus length.
We walked around briefly today and bought some tops for going out and ate Subway which is nothing like American subway. The turkey has spots all over it and I didn't believe them that it was turkey. By the way, no 5 dollar footlongs! They're 9.80 dollars, ridiculous! The diet coke is horrible... tastes like strawberry is in it or something!
Just took a quiz and have a few minutes left of our break then we have a lecture for an hour. Then dinner time and Queenstown bars! Can't wait!
Oh yeah- our room connects with the guys balcony and they weren't in their room so we stole their suitcases and put them in our shower it was hilarious. Well they didn't find it funny but we did haha!!
Miss everyone!
7 hour hike tomorrow- wish me luck!
Milford Sound
Yesterday we went to Milford Sound and Fiordland National Park. Fiordland is the largest national park in New Zealand!
We stopped at Mirror Lakes on the way which was pretty, but definitely not anything close to as pretty as other things we have seen here. We've been so spoiled! We took a boat cruise on Milford Sound for a few hours and it was AMAZING! We saw huge waterfalls, and when I say huge I'm talking ridiculously huge & coming from all sorts of directions off the rocks. We also saw seals (so cute) For a while it looked like we were looking onto an ocean horizon! Towards the end of the boat cruise we all geared up in our waterproof gear and got towards the very end of the boat and we cruised under the huge waterfall and purposely got soaked! It was a blast.
After Milford Sound all I wanted to do was sleep because we went out the night before and hadn't slept much. I fell asleep then they woke us to stop for a "quick hike" that we didn't know about. We were all grumpy at this point haha. It really was quick though and we saw a Chasm. It was so cool looking! Basically a waterfall but different. I don't know how to explain it so look up chasm. Then we got back on the bus and I fell back asleep and we stopped on the side of the road to see a Kea which is a nearly extinct bird here, we opted to not get off but we ended up seeing one at a nature center today. Fell back asleep and stopped again for another little walk! We were all extremely tired at this point and just wanted to get back! When we got back we went to the store and we grilled out. Dinner was good, then we were going to go out but we were so tired and had a lot of essays that are due Friday and wanted to get those started. I ended up just going to bed.... note to self- don't try to write a paper while laying bed.
Peace & Love,
Caitlin
We stopped at Mirror Lakes on the way which was pretty, but definitely not anything close to as pretty as other things we have seen here. We've been so spoiled! We took a boat cruise on Milford Sound for a few hours and it was AMAZING! We saw huge waterfalls, and when I say huge I'm talking ridiculously huge & coming from all sorts of directions off the rocks. We also saw seals (so cute) For a while it looked like we were looking onto an ocean horizon! Towards the end of the boat cruise we all geared up in our waterproof gear and got towards the very end of the boat and we cruised under the huge waterfall and purposely got soaked! It was a blast.
After Milford Sound all I wanted to do was sleep because we went out the night before and hadn't slept much. I fell asleep then they woke us to stop for a "quick hike" that we didn't know about. We were all grumpy at this point haha. It really was quick though and we saw a Chasm. It was so cool looking! Basically a waterfall but different. I don't know how to explain it so look up chasm. Then we got back on the bus and I fell back asleep and we stopped on the side of the road to see a Kea which is a nearly extinct bird here, we opted to not get off but we ended up seeing one at a nature center today. Fell back asleep and stopped again for another little walk! We were all extremely tired at this point and just wanted to get back! When we got back we went to the store and we grilled out. Dinner was good, then we were going to go out but we were so tired and had a lot of essays that are due Friday and wanted to get those started. I ended up just going to bed.... note to self- don't try to write a paper while laying bed.
Peace & Love,
Caitlin
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Day 6
Sunday!
We got on the bus and began our 7 hour bus ride to Fiordland National Park, the largest national park in new Zealand which is also on UNESCO's list. We drove through the most amazing scenery and somehow these drives seem like nothing! There is no traffic, no highways, really no other cars, just you the road and nature. Passed probably a total of 4,000 sheep maybe more. They're really the only animal I've seen. At one of our rest stops I bought a stuffed animal sheep and I'm obsessed. I got made fun of but it was worth the purchase. I even used him as a pillow. When we got closer to te aneu the town we were heading for, we passed queenstown, adventure capital. They showed us where the skydiving takes place etc. Katelyn and I signed up for our free day the second day in queenstown so we can make sure evrything is safe through other people haha. The first day there we have a 10 hour hike! Anyways we passed queenstown and gorgeous water and mountains. The huge lake we passed was formed by Glaciation during the last ice age so the water is incredibly blue. Pictures look like the water has been changed to different colors but it hasn't! We got into town and went grocery shopping. Bought Tim tams, the best cookies ever and our new favorite chocolate bar called Moro Gold it's like a twix but 10 times better! We learned about some plants when we got to our hostel and then went to dinner at the ranch. It was so good and it ended up being our entire group and instructors and even our bus driver at the bar there. It was so fun being with everyone basically taking over their restaurant. They think we Americans are loud for some reason.... No idea why haha. We made friends with the kiwi bartenders who knew who the Atlanta hawks were... Impressive! They also knew country music and weren't too fond. Katelyn said y'all and they said she sounded like a hillbilly haha. They have no idea..... I told them they need to visit Alabama. (love you Jessica) now I'm awake and ready to go on a boat cruise to Milford sound.
Oh yeah, the stars here are outrageous! You can see everything!
Xoxox
Peace & Love
Caitlin
We got on the bus and began our 7 hour bus ride to Fiordland National Park, the largest national park in new Zealand which is also on UNESCO's list. We drove through the most amazing scenery and somehow these drives seem like nothing! There is no traffic, no highways, really no other cars, just you the road and nature. Passed probably a total of 4,000 sheep maybe more. They're really the only animal I've seen. At one of our rest stops I bought a stuffed animal sheep and I'm obsessed. I got made fun of but it was worth the purchase. I even used him as a pillow. When we got closer to te aneu the town we were heading for, we passed queenstown, adventure capital. They showed us where the skydiving takes place etc. Katelyn and I signed up for our free day the second day in queenstown so we can make sure evrything is safe through other people haha. The first day there we have a 10 hour hike! Anyways we passed queenstown and gorgeous water and mountains. The huge lake we passed was formed by Glaciation during the last ice age so the water is incredibly blue. Pictures look like the water has been changed to different colors but it hasn't! We got into town and went grocery shopping. Bought Tim tams, the best cookies ever and our new favorite chocolate bar called Moro Gold it's like a twix but 10 times better! We learned about some plants when we got to our hostel and then went to dinner at the ranch. It was so good and it ended up being our entire group and instructors and even our bus driver at the bar there. It was so fun being with everyone basically taking over their restaurant. They think we Americans are loud for some reason.... No idea why haha. We made friends with the kiwi bartenders who knew who the Atlanta hawks were... Impressive! They also knew country music and weren't too fond. Katelyn said y'all and they said she sounded like a hillbilly haha. They have no idea..... I told them they need to visit Alabama. (love you Jessica) now I'm awake and ready to go on a boat cruise to Milford sound.
Oh yeah, the stars here are outrageous! You can see everything!
Xoxox
Peace & Love
Caitlin
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Day 5- Mt Cook
Magnificent scenery today! If you wanna take a peak at where we were today look up hooker valley and also mount cook!
Here's my day... (not your typical American day)
We woke up at 6:30 in our room of 10 people and went to the little Meeting room/cabin to eat. Watched the sun rise fom behind the snow Capped mountains one being mount cook. Studied a few different plants that are only found here and then got on the bus and went to the visitors center. Toured around a little then began the adventure.
Began our hike as I normally hike in north Georgia with a little bit of a rocky terrain but nothing serious. Then about 20 minutes in we were hopping from rock to rock avoiding big puddles of mud and then hiked the rest of the way through tons of rocks. We almost fell multiple times! We got to hooker valley which connects to mount cook. There's a swinging bridge that we had to cross over the valley and white water and it was AMAZING!! Then as we were walking a huge boom went off and I thought it was thunder but looked to the left and it was a HUGE AVALaNCHE! Incredible! Our guide was so nonchalant about it just like he is when I get so excited to see the sheep. He finally got annoyed with my sheep obsession and said Caitlin it's not like there arent 30,000 of them everywhere, stop acting so surprised to see them!
After the awesome avalanche we walked another hour and a half til we got right up close with mount cook. We sat on the rocks and enjoyed our packed lunches and overlooked a scenery that consisted of snow capped mountains, glaciers, ICE BERGS, white water, hills, and a blue sky. All I have to say is... Life is good.
One guy in our group brought a speedo and stripped down and jumped into the freezing water and tried getting on an ice berg it was epic! After all that we headed back for our 3 mile hike back. Got back to the site and showered in the 5 star camping community showers hahaha then talked some more about tenure review and hydropower etc then had an interesting dinner. Can't say I enjoy the food much down here. Their chocolate is amazing though! I will be bringing lots back! After dinner we hung with the everyone and have just been hanging around, there's a fire going, tons of stars... Perfection! Oh yeah- I'm not sure what's so special about Kate and me but this lady from china asked if she could get a picture with us. We were really confused but... Whatever!
It's amazing here! I couldn't Expect anything better, this is the most wonderful experience of my life!
I wrote postcards but still need some addresses so facebook me your address if you want a postcard (excluding Tyler, Michelle, Sarah and mom &dad)
Miss and love you guys!
Peace & Love
Caitlin
Here's my day... (not your typical American day)
We woke up at 6:30 in our room of 10 people and went to the little Meeting room/cabin to eat. Watched the sun rise fom behind the snow Capped mountains one being mount cook. Studied a few different plants that are only found here and then got on the bus and went to the visitors center. Toured around a little then began the adventure.
Began our hike as I normally hike in north Georgia with a little bit of a rocky terrain but nothing serious. Then about 20 minutes in we were hopping from rock to rock avoiding big puddles of mud and then hiked the rest of the way through tons of rocks. We almost fell multiple times! We got to hooker valley which connects to mount cook. There's a swinging bridge that we had to cross over the valley and white water and it was AMAZING!! Then as we were walking a huge boom went off and I thought it was thunder but looked to the left and it was a HUGE AVALaNCHE! Incredible! Our guide was so nonchalant about it just like he is when I get so excited to see the sheep. He finally got annoyed with my sheep obsession and said Caitlin it's not like there arent 30,000 of them everywhere, stop acting so surprised to see them!
After the awesome avalanche we walked another hour and a half til we got right up close with mount cook. We sat on the rocks and enjoyed our packed lunches and overlooked a scenery that consisted of snow capped mountains, glaciers, ICE BERGS, white water, hills, and a blue sky. All I have to say is... Life is good.
One guy in our group brought a speedo and stripped down and jumped into the freezing water and tried getting on an ice berg it was epic! After all that we headed back for our 3 mile hike back. Got back to the site and showered in the 5 star camping community showers hahaha then talked some more about tenure review and hydropower etc then had an interesting dinner. Can't say I enjoy the food much down here. Their chocolate is amazing though! I will be bringing lots back! After dinner we hung with the everyone and have just been hanging around, there's a fire going, tons of stars... Perfection! Oh yeah- I'm not sure what's so special about Kate and me but this lady from china asked if she could get a picture with us. We were really confused but... Whatever!
It's amazing here! I couldn't Expect anything better, this is the most wonderful experience of my life!
I wrote postcards but still need some addresses so facebook me your address if you want a postcard (excluding Tyler, Michelle, Sarah and mom &dad)
Miss and love you guys!
Peace & Love
Caitlin
Day 4- lake tekapo and twizel
Ridiculously fun day! Began our bus ride to mount cook at 8 am but didn't get here til 5:30. We stopped in a small town for a rest stop break and I loaded up on postcards and stamps (so much money) postcards cost $2 to send and we only put $1 postage on the first ones we sent so those won't be making it anywhere. We stopped in a town calle twizel which is absolutely GORGEOUS! If you look at my pics I added on facebook you can see a little taste of what it looked like. We had lunch by the water and mountains then they had a birthday brownie cake thing for me and I got sang to again :) we loaded the bus again and went to a canal surrounded by mountains where the water is sooo blue! We learned about hydropower and how they use the water for power and what's so cool is that the water is blue because of the erosion and plate tectonics that cause the rocks to break and slide down the mountains and into the water leaving a milky color. After that we went to ohao farm where a nice kiwi man talked to us about tenure review which is how the government has basically taken ownership of some his land. He talked about his farm and we saw a ton of sheep and got to feel their fur which I'm obsessed with! The guys think I'm weird but I really want to cuddle with one of the sheep they're so cute! His farm was used as one of the sites for the filming of lord of the rings so that was awesome! After that we got back on the bus did another buddy switch so we'd meet new people and headed to our finals destination mount cook! Katelyn and I are being picked on for asking too many questions and saying dumb things, it's not very nice. And we are also referred to as the caitlins now and I'm pretty sure everyone on this trip knows us because we are always somehow everyones source of entertainment without trying to be! :( so we are in a 10 person room! 5 bunk beds! But when you look out the window and see snow capped mountains everything seems to be alright! Tomorrow we have a 4 hour hike and it's prob going to be a WEE but chilly! Oh yeah, no heat in our cabin or room or whatever you want to call it. Good thing I have this wonderful rei down sleeping bag (thanks mom and dad)!
Miss everyone!
Peace & love!
Caitlin
Miss everyone!
Peace & love!
Caitlin
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Day 3- Kia Ora
Today was such a busy day! We started lectures at 8 am and went until 1 and had a tour at the cantebury musuem at 2. Katelyn and I were in a hurry and quickly read the map and ended up going 20 minutes the wrong direction. With 3 minutes til our your time we realized we made it to the outskirts of the city with no musuem in sight. We asked a lady an she laughed and said we needed to walk about 25 minutes til the road ended and then turn right. We were running and sweating and got there 15 min late. We walked around learning about the Maori culture and how the land got inhabited here. They got here 700 years ago by canoe! On our way to the musuem we also passed a building that's under construction with a big banner on it that says it's new zealands most sustainable building! That made me excited. After the musuem we shopped and explored and talked with the different kiwi people at the stores. The people here are called kiwis so you have to call the kiwi you eat a kiwifruit. It's one word and we have been told you have to say fruit at the end. If you go to a store saying you want a kiwi they'll think you want a person.
So it was 72 degrees today... So hot!!!
I don't know how many of you have ever met someone from new Zealand but don't let their closeness to Australia fool you, they are nothing alike and talk so differently! They say the letter e as it sounds. So escalator is eeeeescalator. Forgeeeeeeet. Haha I'm starting to catch on to the differences.
Another different thing here is how they check your signature on your credit card after every single purchase! I don't think my card has ever been checked in America. We have fun telling them how strange that is everytime we check out.
We went to tamaki maori village tonight for a perfomance and cultural dinner. It was so fun! We rode a double decker bus... (bringing back memories from when we lived in England) and we rode on the top of course! Went up the mountain to the tamaki village and were fully entertained for 3 hours. They took us through ther culture dating back to the 1850s and they did mock battles and dances and song and they put on this whole performance. They had a village for us to go through and learn about everything then we took a little train to a building where they fed us a Maori dinner! It was actually very good. We had katura I think is what it's called.... Which is similar to a sweet potatoe, they also had new Zealand lamb and it was amazing!!!!!! Everything we ate was very cultural and we learned some of their language. Most important phrase to learn is KIA ORA which means be well, have a happy life. When someone says it to you, you say it back. So now you know if I say Kia Ora it means be well! The people dressed up like the Maori people from years ago and spoke in a differbt language for the most part... They looke really scary by the way, and they purposely tried yo scare us. One guy came up to us and asked us to come back to his village later (not serious, he was in costume and playing his role) and Katelyn responded "sorry but we aren't supposed to go home with the locals." hahaha that was one of 3 rules we've been given here so it was reall funny! After dinner we rode back to Christchurch and got changed and a group of us when to the bars. We went to boogie nights but we were the only people there haha so we went to another bar which was packed! Wr had to show our passports to get in and the guy said damn Americans! He happened to be American! The music is so different, mainly techno with an accent and the dancing is definitely different!!! We wanted to video them dancing because it was so different! We just got back and packed out bags because were off to our second destination tomorrow... Mount cook! Google it if you want to see what it looks like. We will be in queenstown next week which is adventure capital so we want to sky dive or canyon swing which is when you're strapped in and they unhook you and you free fall then swing across to the other side of the canyon! Can't decide which one to do. Waking up at 6:30 am so I'm going to go to bed now but I love and miss you all!
Mom, dad, Sarah, and Jessie- miss you all like crazy! I'll be calling you within the next few days on the calling card so answer!! Love you guys!!
&tyler I didn't forget you, I miss you so much too!!!!!!!!!
Kia Ora!!!
Caitlin
So it was 72 degrees today... So hot!!!
I don't know how many of you have ever met someone from new Zealand but don't let their closeness to Australia fool you, they are nothing alike and talk so differently! They say the letter e as it sounds. So escalator is eeeeescalator. Forgeeeeeeet. Haha I'm starting to catch on to the differences.
Another different thing here is how they check your signature on your credit card after every single purchase! I don't think my card has ever been checked in America. We have fun telling them how strange that is everytime we check out.
We went to tamaki maori village tonight for a perfomance and cultural dinner. It was so fun! We rode a double decker bus... (bringing back memories from when we lived in England) and we rode on the top of course! Went up the mountain to the tamaki village and were fully entertained for 3 hours. They took us through ther culture dating back to the 1850s and they did mock battles and dances and song and they put on this whole performance. They had a village for us to go through and learn about everything then we took a little train to a building where they fed us a Maori dinner! It was actually very good. We had katura I think is what it's called.... Which is similar to a sweet potatoe, they also had new Zealand lamb and it was amazing!!!!!! Everything we ate was very cultural and we learned some of their language. Most important phrase to learn is KIA ORA which means be well, have a happy life. When someone says it to you, you say it back. So now you know if I say Kia Ora it means be well! The people dressed up like the Maori people from years ago and spoke in a differbt language for the most part... They looke really scary by the way, and they purposely tried yo scare us. One guy came up to us and asked us to come back to his village later (not serious, he was in costume and playing his role) and Katelyn responded "sorry but we aren't supposed to go home with the locals." hahaha that was one of 3 rules we've been given here so it was reall funny! After dinner we rode back to Christchurch and got changed and a group of us when to the bars. We went to boogie nights but we were the only people there haha so we went to another bar which was packed! Wr had to show our passports to get in and the guy said damn Americans! He happened to be American! The music is so different, mainly techno with an accent and the dancing is definitely different!!! We wanted to video them dancing because it was so different! We just got back and packed out bags because were off to our second destination tomorrow... Mount cook! Google it if you want to see what it looks like. We will be in queenstown next week which is adventure capital so we want to sky dive or canyon swing which is when you're strapped in and they unhook you and you free fall then swing across to the other side of the canyon! Can't decide which one to do. Waking up at 6:30 am so I'm going to go to bed now but I love and miss you all!
Mom, dad, Sarah, and Jessie- miss you all like crazy! I'll be calling you within the next few days on the calling card so answer!! Love you guys!!
&tyler I didn't forget you, I miss you so much too!!!!!!!!!
Kia Ora!!!
Caitlin
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day 2
Gidday!
We had a few culture shock experiences today. After 2 lectures on oil dependence, tourism, and global warming we went on a search for a "normal" place to eat lunch which didn't happen! We walked 6 blocks looking for a subway we knew had seen but gave up at the entrance of a food court that turned out to be ALL Asian foods. We are so confused and haven't figured out the reasoning behind it yet but majority of the food here is of Asian descent. So we saw a little pizza place and ordered pasta and it stil had a soy sauce taste to it. We found an awesome restaurant called coyotes tonight and it was mostly amerian food that was the highlight of the day. We finally feel satisfied from a real meal!
So we learned a fee interesting things today....
1) new Zealand has the highest STD rate. Who would have thought?
2) there is absolutely no corn syrup in NZ which explains why we don't like any of their food haha
3) rather than saying your welcome they respond with "Its fine" everytime they say it we are confused because we didnt apologize we thanked them!
4) we Americans are much louder than them. At restaurants everyone talks very quietly yet Katelyn and I draw attention to ourselves and everyone hears our conversations
5) they sell Oreos here!
6) their crosswalk guy is green not white which makes sense since green means go
7) new zealand was the last place in the world to be inhabited (700 years ago)
8) it rains 300 of 365 days of the year here
9) their accents are much different from Australians
10) Kia Ora= be well!
Tomorrows going to be a busyyy day! Lectures, museum, Maori dinner (getting a real taste of their culture)
Friday (your Thursday) we are beginning our adventures and leaving the city of Christchurch!
Peace & love!!
<3 Caitlin
We had a few culture shock experiences today. After 2 lectures on oil dependence, tourism, and global warming we went on a search for a "normal" place to eat lunch which didn't happen! We walked 6 blocks looking for a subway we knew had seen but gave up at the entrance of a food court that turned out to be ALL Asian foods. We are so confused and haven't figured out the reasoning behind it yet but majority of the food here is of Asian descent. So we saw a little pizza place and ordered pasta and it stil had a soy sauce taste to it. We found an awesome restaurant called coyotes tonight and it was mostly amerian food that was the highlight of the day. We finally feel satisfied from a real meal!
So we learned a fee interesting things today....
1) new Zealand has the highest STD rate. Who would have thought?
2) there is absolutely no corn syrup in NZ which explains why we don't like any of their food haha
3) rather than saying your welcome they respond with "Its fine" everytime they say it we are confused because we didnt apologize we thanked them!
4) we Americans are much louder than them. At restaurants everyone talks very quietly yet Katelyn and I draw attention to ourselves and everyone hears our conversations
5) they sell Oreos here!
6) their crosswalk guy is green not white which makes sense since green means go
7) new zealand was the last place in the world to be inhabited (700 years ago)
8) it rains 300 of 365 days of the year here
9) their accents are much different from Australians
10) Kia Ora= be well!
Tomorrows going to be a busyyy day! Lectures, museum, Maori dinner (getting a real taste of their culture)
Friday (your Thursday) we are beginning our adventures and leaving the city of Christchurch!
Peace & love!!
<3 Caitlin
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Day one
Hey! We finally made it to new Zealand! All the flights were great, (long and uncomfortable though) and our Sydney to Christchurch flight was cutting it close. We sprinted through the syd airport. We're getting a taxi to the hotel and joining the group. When going through customs we had to list out every single type of food that we had in our bags so Katelyn told the man she had individual bags of goldfish: he was quite confused! He asked why she brought goldfish in separate bags and she said you know like personal sizes? The entire time he was thinking the actual fish because they don't have that junk food here I suppose!
We got a shuttle to our hotel which is so cool! You have to insert your room key into this little slot in the wall to activate the lights. (very sustainable) that way you can't leave the room with the lights on because you have to remove your key. Our bathroom is tiny! Basically a shower toilet and sink in the size of a closet, which reminds me there isn't a closet or drawers here! So different! We walked around the city yesterday then had an orientation and went to dinner with the entire group of 68 people. After dinner Katelyn and I passed out! Too much traveling! Oh yeah they all sang to me at orientation because Katelyn announced I missed my birthday and no everyone feels sorry for me haha. It's 7 am here and we're about to get ready to begin classes. We take classes today and tomorrow then it's onto a bus and traveling every few days to new places! That's when the pictures will begin!
I'll write back later tonight (Wednesday to us)
peace & love!!
We got a shuttle to our hotel which is so cool! You have to insert your room key into this little slot in the wall to activate the lights. (very sustainable) that way you can't leave the room with the lights on because you have to remove your key. Our bathroom is tiny! Basically a shower toilet and sink in the size of a closet, which reminds me there isn't a closet or drawers here! So different! We walked around the city yesterday then had an orientation and went to dinner with the entire group of 68 people. After dinner Katelyn and I passed out! Too much traveling! Oh yeah they all sang to me at orientation because Katelyn announced I missed my birthday and no everyone feels sorry for me haha. It's 7 am here and we're about to get ready to begin classes. We take classes today and tomorrow then it's onto a bus and traveling every few days to new places! That's when the pictures will begin!
I'll write back later tonight (Wednesday to us)
peace & love!!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
5 Days Til Departure
Katelyn & I leave in 5 days and couldn't be more excited! We're both going to be blogging as many details of our trip as possible.
Texting on my phone will be turned off so you aren't charged 50 cents per text you send me and do not call my phone because you'll be charged 3 dollars a minute!!
E-mail me at cas0018@auburn.edu or facebook me. We'll go to internet cafes and we can check that periodically. Also, if you have an iphone you can text me for free with the TextNow app, and it's free! Let me know if you add it!
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