Living It Up in Queenstown

Oh, Queenstown...where do I begin? Sontsa & I stayed there for a week, but it seemed more like a month with all the people that we met and all the things that we did. After the three German girls dropped us off in the town center when we first arrived, we texted our couchsurfing host Steve who we had pre-arranged to stay with for our first few days there. About 30 minutes later, he came & picked us up from the McDonalds (our other home away from home haha), we dropped off all of our bags at his house, then we rode back with him into town so we could do some exploring while he was at work. Queenstown reminded me so much of a Colorado ski town--all that was missing was some snow =) However, it will only be another month or so before the south island does actually have some snow & Queenstown will be booming with tourists for the ski season. Luckily, since the season hasn't started yet, it wasn't too busy when Sontsa & I were there.

We walked around the town & around the harbour, got some really nice pictures. We also came upon a street performer. He called himself Mulletman (yes, he had a full-on mullet) & did juggling tricks, pranced around, and rode a unicycle. He was pretty funny though. Later, we ran into Emily who we had met at the previous hostel in Wanaka. This time, we exchanged numbers so we could all meet back up for coffee later in the week. After a sufficient amount of exploration, Sontsa & I decided to head back to Steve's. However, the problem was that we'd only been at his house for maybe a total of 15 minutes earlier & neither of us paid that much attention to our car ride to & from there with Steve earlier that day. We knew he lived up a big hill that was about a 40-minute walk from town; luckily there was a small city bus that went that direction (which Steve had told us about). So, we got on the bus, took a wild guess as to which stop was our exit, and somehow found our way back to his house after a short 15-minute walk. We really need to pay more attention to things in the future haha. His house was really nice--a big 2-story house set on top of one of the many hills in Queenstown. It had huge glass windows looking out onto the scenery, and a big balcony area that had glass for sidings instead of stone or brick.

When we got back to Steve's, we met his three Australian roommates: Beau, Jules & Viola. Plus, Beau had some family and friends in town from Australia who came to celebrate his 21st birthday. So, we met Beau's mom Zinzy, his 10-year-old little sister Jamila, his dad Lee, and his friends Dominic, Nicolas & Sam. Everyone was just wonderful & really easy to get along with. We all just chilled out for the evening in front of the fireplace watching rugby. However, Sontsa & I were just so tired from staying up so late the night before in Wanaka that we kind of fell asleep sitting in the living room at 8:30 pm. Steve kept trying to wake us up, talking in a loud voice saying things like "Look at these couchsurfers! Life of the party, eh?" Haha. We just kept falling back asleep though--couldn't help it. Eventually, one of the Aussie guys also woke us up; he had gotten out a mattress & blankets for us so we could properly lay down for a rest. We felt really bad the next day that we had fallen asleep so early & not been especially social, but I think we made up for it the next couple of days.

The next day, Beau was to have a big 21st birthday party at the house. So, Sontsa & I walked into town, bought some beer for the party, plus some classic chips & dip. While we were out, we saw Beau's three Aussie friends. We went over to say hello & they offered to give us a ride back to Steve's after they'd done some shopping. Sontsa & I were overjoyed since we weren't particularly thrilled about a 40-minute walk up a hill carrying a bunch of beer. Now, did I mention that Beau's party was a costume party? Yes, a themed costume party, focusing on superheros and villains. Sontsa & I were a little late on getting the memo, and apparently so were Beau's friends. So, the three of them decided to conjure up some last-minute costumes by shopping at a store that is NZ's equivalent to the American Dollar General. Oh yes...the costumes they came out of that store with were just as glorious as you would think haha.

Before the party started later that night, we had some time to kill. So, the Aussies, Beau, Steve, Zinzy, Jamila, Sontsa & I played a game called "Black Magic." The game involves having one person go out of the room while the rest of the group quietly chooses an item in the room. Then, the other person comes back into the room, someone points to different objects in the room and asks the other person questions such as "Is it this chair?", "Is it this CD?", "Is it this bottle of water?", etc. Beau was the question-asker & Steve was the question-answerer; Steve guessed the item correctly every time. Obviously, there is a trick to the game, and the person asking the questions and the person answering the questions need to know the trick. It drove all of us CRAZY not knowing the secret--to the point that we all played it for an hour & a half until one by one, we all finally 'broke the code.' Jamila, Beau's 10-year-old sister, was the first to figure it out! Haha..go figure.

The next game, which involved less mental concentration, was flip-cup. The reason I mention it is because it turned out to be quite comical. When it was my turn to flip my empty cup over to land it upside down on the table, I somehow managed to make my cup do a double-flip in the air before it came back down & made a perfect landing. My teammates' eyes were just beaming with delight haha. When it was my turn on the next round, all I heard was the chanting of my teammates: "TRIPLE FLIP! TRIPLE FLIP! TRIPLE FLIP!" Good times. It wasn't long after that the party officially began. I think a total of about 30 people came through for the party at different points throughout the evening. We met Jan from England, Collette, Sharon & Jennie from Ireland, Nathan, and many other people whose names have slipped my mind. It was SUCH a fun night! For the duration of the evening, I became known as "Miss Florida" and Sontsa was "Miss Finland."

The costumes were nothing less than comical too. Steve changed into his rugby uniform & claimed that he was obviously a 'superhero' just by being a rugby player. Jules, one of the roommates, painted herself green & attached a folded up green blanket to her back; she was a ninja turtle haha. As for the Aussie boys' Dollar-Store-bought costumes...well, Nic was Zorro (I think) & his red 'cape' resembled the cheapest plastic tablecloth that I have ever seen haha. Dominic had a small black hat with a propeller on the top, plus a huge silky green tie that had some suggestive wording on it =). I believe Sam was a ninja--he even 'customized' his hooded mask by cutting out a hole so he could drink. Beau, however, was done up right; his mom Zinzy had done proper makeup to make him The Joker. Zinzy also had a proper costume as a circus conductor. After some convincing, Sontsa & I gave in to her also doing some costume makeup on us. Plus, Nic had some extra mustaches (apparently they came in a pack of 6?), so he gave Sontsa & I one each haha. I'm not exactly sure what our characters were supposed to be, but hey, it was something nonetheless =)

Sontsa & I spent most of our evening around Nic and Sam---oh wow, those boys were hilarous! At one point though, Sontsa & I became quite hungry. We decided to make some pasta, even though we didn't have any sauce to put on it. We just planned to eat it plain. Steve came in the kitchen, saw us cooking, asked what we were going to put with our pasta, and was not at all satisfied when we said "nothing." He intervened, added in sundried tomatoes, white wine, pepper, basil, olive oil, and voilà---it was some of the best pasta we've had in NZ! Mmmm. Eventually, after a full evening of many laughs & tons of fun, Sontsa & I became weary and needed to go to sleep. Since there were still people hanging out in the living room, we just took our mattress into a corner by the dining room & went to sleep =) We stayed at Steve's one more night after that, watched some classic episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy, and of course, watched some more rugby. It was another good couchsurfing experience overall =) Now, this only covers half of our time in Queenstown. I suppose I'll save the rest for the next blog, as I don't think you guys want to read anymore for now, eh?

Cheers,
Ash

SKYDIVING IN NZ!

Our third day in Wanaka, the weather magically cleared up--no dark clouds, no rain, just sunshine. On a whim and pushed by the fact that it was one of the clearest days we'd seen in a while, I decided to see if there were any slots still available that day for....SKYDIVING! I just pictured myself never being able to do it if I kept waiting for the next town, the next day, better weather, etc. I asked the guy who worked at the hostel if it was too late to book a skydive for that day, he made a phone call, and just like that, I was told I could be picked up in about 30 minutes for a 12:00 skydiving time slot! Sontsa didn't have the finances to do the skydive in Wanaka with me, so that was disappointing for both of us =(. I really hope she will still be able to do it before she goes home though. Even though she wasn't doing the skydive in Wanaka, she was allowed to come with me to the airport where the plane took off. So, 30 minutes later, we were picked up in the Skydive Wanaka van & off we went!

During the van ride, I had to read through some paperwork, inital that I understood everything, and sign off that I couldn't sue, etc. One of the lines I had to put my initials by stated, "Risks include property damage, personal injury, or death." I leaned over to Sontsa & said in a sarcastic tone, "Well, I was slightly concerned about the property damage until I saw death...that took all of my property damage concerns right away" Haha. For the last part of the van ride, we watched a short informative DVD that described how you are supposed to position yourself with the tandem diver before jumping out of the plane (lean my head back on his right shoulder, bend my legs back toward the bottom of the plane, hold on to my harnesses & smile for the camera); how you are supposed to keep your body during the freefall (keep my legs imbetween my tandem's legs & keep my hands on the harnesses until my tandem taps me on my shoulders, then I can move my arms around); and what the correct position is for landing (legs together, lifted up in a seated position).

We arrived at the airport, I got signed in, made my skydiving package selection & chose the songs for my DVD =) You could skydive from either 12,000 feet with a 45-second freefall or 15,000 feet with a 60-second freefall. The price difference between the two was about $100.00. Plus, you had different photo and DVD options. For less money, your tandem diver could have a camera strapped to his wrist & he'd capture the skydive through video and photos on that. The more expensive option was to have a completely separate camera man who jumped out of the plane when you & your tandem jumped, recording your skydive from a much better vantage point. I chose the 12,000 feet option with the more expensive photo & DVD package of having my own individual camera man.

After I got placed into a group for the plane ride, next on the list was getting geared up =) I was given a red jumper suit, a harness, and a cap. The group that was to be skydiving with me on the plane consisted of an Asian couple & a German guy, probably all in their 20s as well. A popular thing to do for the skydive is to write something on your hands to show off for the cameras. One of mine & Sontsa's favorite NZ phrases is "Sweet as." Kiwis often use it instead of saying "Sweet," "Nice," "Cool", "Awesome," etc. They actually use 'as' after a lot of words...not sure why, but I love it. So, the Asian girl in my group wrote "Sweet as" on my hands for me with a black marker while we were all waiting for our tandem skydivers; it was between that or "Sorry Mum." =)

A few moments later, I met my personal camera man & my tandem skydiver--a couple of cool Kiwi guys. Then, the three of us, along with the other 3 newbie skydivers, their tandems, and their camera men all headed to the plane. The Asian couple & the German guy had all chosen to jump at 15,000 feet, which meant that I would be the first person to jump from the plane since I was exiting at 12,000 feet. So, my tandem, my camera man & I were the last people to jump aboard the small plane & away we went! As my tandem diver secured my harnesses to him during the 15-minute plane ride, we reviewed the proper jumping techniques for maybe a minute, then just chatted away about NZ & America--he had lived in America for a few years at one time.

At one point, I asked him how many skydives he had done; he answered, "Oh, 8 or 9." Haha. As it turned out, it was more like 8 or 9 thousand. When he & I weren't chatting, I just looked out of the window at the awesome scenery below. My camera man got my attention at one point & said, "We're at 4,000 feet; 8,000 feet left to go!" Looking out the window, it already looked like we were ridicously high--so, at this point, I should have probably freaked out since we were only 1/3 of the way up. However, for whatever reason, I wasn't scared. My heart never once started beating faster than normal, my hands didn't get clammy, I didn't go pale (well, paler than usual)--it was the craziest thing. I have gotten WAYYYYYY more nervous giving speeches in school than I did for jumping out of that airplane.

After a few more minutes, my camera man & tandem diver said, "Alright, it's time." The camera man rolled up the clear plastic 'door' for the plane & I could see out over the clouds, down to the ground below, and I could hear the wind roaring. With my tandem attached, I eased my way to the opening, sat down, put my feet outside the plane & bent them back toward the belly of the plane. I remember the wind feeling sooo strong against my feet. Then, as instructed, I put my head back on my tandem's right shoulder, grabbed on to my harnesses, and smiled for what was about to be one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life! The next thing I knew, we were speeding through the air, freefalling at 200 km per hour (roughly 124 mph). IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! Even though it was only for 45 seconds, it felt like 5 or 10 minutes. It is unlike any other feeling; your stomach doesn't flip, you don't feel nauseous. It is just.. thrilling!! The only thing is that you have to really focus to be able to breathe because there is so much air rushing toward your mouth at one time. Really though, you can go without breathing for 45 seconds with no worries =)

During the dive, I remember my camera man flying through the air beside my tandem & me, taking shots and recording our freefall--sooo awesome! Then, all of a sudden, I felt some extra pressure on my legs & felt my body being pulled upward...my tandem had pulled the parachute open. For the next 8 minutes or so, my tandem & I floated slowly back down to the ground. The views of Wanaka from far above were just completely stunning; it honestly felt like I wasn't actually there, floating high above the small NZ town. As my tandem & I were making our slow descent, I told him that I didn't understand why I wasn't in the least bit scared to jump. He said that it is actually very common; he explained that the brain can't fully comprehend or register what you're about to do, so you don't even get the opportunity to be scared. Right before we made our landing, my tandem said, "I think we are just going to land on our feet." Sure enough, there was no need for me to lift my legs in a seated position for us to land on our bums. My tandem had mad skills & brought us in for a perfect landing right on our feet. All in all, it was an AMAZING feeling & the first thought after I landed was, "I want to do it again!"

　

Passing Time in Wanaka

Alright, I left off at Wanaka. So, Inbar, Sontsa & I walked 2 km into town with all of our bags (that was just as fun as you could imagine) and went to the I-site to find out where the BBH hostels were located. Each town in New Zealand, no matter how small, has an I-site, which is an information center that tells you anything & everything in regards to that town. BBH hostels are a particular group of hostels that are usually a little smaller, more home-like & just more enjoyable overall. Sontsa & I paid a small amount of money to become BBH members, so now we get $3 to $5 off every night that we stay in a BBH hostel. The I-site lady told us where the BBH hostels were in Wanaka, so the three of us picked one out called Holly's Backpackers & made our way there.

Inbar ended up going to a different hostel in the end, so we said goodbye to him early--he was actually leaving NZ to go back to Israel 2 days later. The old man who worked at Holly's put Sontsa & I in a 4-bed dorm room, which he said we may end up having all to ourselves. After resting up a bit & eating some food, we went to tour the town. Oh, and because Sontsa & I are moving around again so much from place to place, we are back to eating crappy backpacker food again. For the past 3 weeks, my diet has basically consisted of toast with nutella, white rice, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, granola bars, peanut butter & honey sandwiches, and a few bananas here and there--super nutricious, I know. When I get back home, I will not want to look at toast or sandwiches for a very long time & I think the only money I'll spend will be for going out to eat...a lot =)

So, not 2 minutes into mine & Sontsa's walk from the hostel into town, we see a familar face heading toward us on the sidewalk. That's right...it was 'our friend' again who we have now seen in 6 towns but whose name we've never known! This time, we all formally introduced ourselves; we learned that his name is Armin & he is from Austria. Traveling with him in Wanaka was a girl named Kellie from Tennessee who he'd met on the bus coming from the previous city. As it turns out, they were both heading toward Holly's backpackers to stay the night as well =)  So, Sontsa & I went into town and let Armin & Kellie go get checked into the hostel. We walked around & checked out prices for some of the other hostels--Holly's had turned out to be more expensive than we had expected, so we only wanted to stay there one night. Plus, the old man who I had mentioned worked at Holly's was one of these people who never stops talking. Everywhere we went in the hostel, he was right beside us just yabbering away. Even when Sontsa & I walked out of the hostel, he opened the window, stuck his head outside & started saying things such as "Now, you girls don't get into too much trouble hehehe." Needless to say , I didn't think I could handle more than one day of that haha.


We ended up finding another hostel that was cheaper called Mountainview Backpackers, so we went ahead & booked there for the last 2 nights that we'd be in town. Afterward, we explored the town a bit. Wanaka was a really pretty town with a beautiful lake, mountains in the distance, and lovely trees everywhere whose leaves had changed to the bright autumn colors. It had a very relaxed vibe to it. When we got back to Holly's, the old man told us we had two extra people in our room. I asked, "Are their names Armin & Kellie?" Indeed they were =) The four of us got on really well, chatted for a long time in the dorm room, shared stories & some laughs, then watched some TV and a movie at the hostel that night. We said goodbye to them the next morning when Sontsa & I checked out to go to the next hostel. It turned out to be the last time we ran into Armin before he flew out of NZ =(  

The next hostel was really great & we met a lot of fun people. In our room, we had Sebastien from Canada, Jasper from Germany, and Andrew from Ireland. Sontsa, Sebastian & I took a walk around the lake later that morning, got some pictures, and chatted over some mochas in a really cozy coffee shop. The weather, however, had turned to crap. So, the remainder of the day (and night) consisted of everyone in Mountainview having a movie marathon in the lounge. Good movies, good people, and a warm fire...not a bad night. The next day, the weather cleared up & I did a certain thrilling activity that involves jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane =) OOHHHHH YEAHHHHH! As much as I want to go into every little detail about it right now, it honestly deserves its own blog. Therefore, for now, I will just say that it was AMAZING & I am so thrilled that I did it!!!! You'll get the full story within the next few days with all the juicy details though, so don't worry.  

The night after my adventurous day was great fun as well. We met some more people in the hostel: Emily, Suzanna & Tom from England, plus Tomi from Canada. The 6 of us plus Sebastien played card games until really late that night & had such a great time! Lots and lots of laughs =) The next morning, Sontsa & I checked out of the hostel & caught a ride with three German girls that had also been staying at the hostel--Lara, Eleanor & Yvonne. Jasper, one of our dorm mates, had actually set the ride up for us because he, the German girls & three Argentinans had been traveling around together in two separate cars. Since he heard that Sontsa & I were going the same direction as them, he asked the three German girls if they could take us in their car & they said "Sure." Backpackers always seem to help out other backpackers, so that was really nice...waaay better than the bus. An hour later, we arrived in Queenstown, the city that backpackers flock to & never want to leave!

Cheers,
Ash

Ice Hiking in Franz Josef!

Wow! The past 7 days have been some of my best in New Zealand! After Sonja & I left Greymouth, our next stop was a very small tourist town in the mountains called Franz Josef. The only thing the town is known for is having a massive glacier that you can go hiking on, so literally everything in Franz Josef revolved around tourism for the glacier. I walked around at one point to find free wifi, but had no success. You see, even though it was much too small for a McDonalds, most of the towns in NZ also have free wifi at the public libraries. I decided to ask a local Kiwi woman if they had a library; she responded by saying they didn't have a library, but nicely described to me in great detail that I could find book exchanges in all of the hostels, etc. Little did she know I had absolutely no interest in books; I was just stalking out any possible free wifi haha.

Our first afternoon there, Sonja & I decided to walk around the town to check everything out. Well, our walk didn't take long--we had explored the entire city in no more than 20 minutes haha. We got back to our hostel after our 'long' walk, looked at each other like, and I said "Well...I guess that was the town...it's going to be an interesting next few days." =) As it turned out though, Franz Josef was really great, despite its small geographical area. The first evening we were there, we went on a short 30-minute 'glow worm' walk through the woods. The girl from the office of the hostel gave us a huge torch (flashlight), and Sonja & I headed out to the path that had the glow worms. We were joined by a young English couple. They didn't have a proper light source, so Sonja & I became their tour guides. Plus, by that time, Sonja & I had quite a bit of glow worm experience & knowledge, so we were actually able to give them an informative tour =) We didn't see a a ton of glow worms, but it was nice walk nonetheless.

The next day, I had an adventure-filled day doing a half-day hike on the Franz Josef glacier. When I had signed up for it the day before, they told me that I'd have to do the 12:30 afternoon hike since all the morning slots were taken. As it turned out, I was quite lucky because it rained all morning the day of the hike & cleared up right at about 12:00, just before my hike---perfect timing! Sonja didn't want to do the hike since it was expensive & she does after all see quite a bit of ice in Finland. As I have lived in Florida for almost 20 years, I was thrilled to go hiking on a glacier! So, I walked over to the place and got signed in. Then, they fitted me with some waterproof pants, wooly socks, hiking boots, a lovely fanny pack filled with clamps for our boots & a nice waterproof jacket. After everyone was geared up, we headed out on a 10-minute bus ride to the beginning of our walk. Oh, and guess who I passed by when I was walking toward the glacier on my guided tour? It was mine & Sonja's 'friend' whose name we don't know but who we have run into in the past 3 cities haha. Anyway, the glacier itself was in a kind of remote area outside of town. So, the next part of the day involved walking through some lush forest area for about 25 minutes, then across this open rocky terrain for another 35 minutes until we reached the edge of the glacier. Then, our guides told us that they would be separating us out into 2 groups: a group that wanted a more difficult day on the glacier & one that wanted a more chilled out day. I chose the more chilled out option. So our group of 20 became a group of 9 & off we went.

Before we started our hike on the actual glacier, we sat down and attached our clamps to the bottoms of our boots. Then, our guide gave us some pointers on how to walk properly on the ice so as not to fall on our faces. He also told us to follow in single file behind him exactly. When one of our group members asked if anyone has died on the glacier, he said "Oh yeah." I figured maybe one person a year or something. Nope...."It happens every few months, but it's not usually people on the guided tours." Comforting, eh? Nonetheless, we made our way up, down, around, and over really deep cracks in the ice, etc. Our guide carried a pick axe with him, which I assumed was just for looks. As it turned out, I was wrong; he used it to make 'stairs' in the ice for all of us to more easily walk on the glacier on some of the more steep areas--pretty sweet. The glacier changes constantly, so it is completely different from day to day. There weren't any tunnels the day we went, but we did find two small caves that had formed in the ice. I crawled into one & got some pictures. We stopped for a snack break at one point as well & I indulged on a big brownie I had brought with me =) It was such a fantastic day! The people in my group were all really friendly too & offered to take pictures of me since I was on my own, so that was really nice.

After our time on the ice, we untied our clamps & put them back in our fanny packs. Then, we made our way back down the mountain & across the rocky open area toward the lush forests again. The walk back was really nice too--so refreshing! Later that evening, Sontsa & I spoiled ourselves in the glacier hot pools. Actually...my entrance into the pools was included in the price of my ice hiking ticket, so I was sweet. Sontsa didn't really want to pay a lot to go to the hot pools, but I really wanted some company while I was there. So, she & I walked down there and I asked the lady if Sontsa could just come in & hang out with me without getting in the pools. The local Kiwi lady said, "Well, if you come back quicky, I could find you to be 16.." We went back to the hostel, got our togs (bathing suits), and speed-walked back to the hot pools; the lady rang Sontsa in at the child's price, which was half the price of an adult. She was awesome! The hot pools were sooooooo relaxing! They were surrounded by jungle-like trees, with different soft colored lights everywhere in the pools and in the trees--purples, pinks, blues, and greens. Great finish to an exciting day! Sonja & I stayed in Franz Josef for 2 nights total, then were heading to Wanaka. The second night in our dorm room at the hostel, we met Inbar from Israel who was heading to Wanaka the next day as well. The three of us were lucky enough to catch a ride with two American girls Wendy & Christina from Portland, Oregon. The girls were heading to Queenstown, which was just after Wanaka. So, they dropped the three of us off right outside Wanaka, they headed toward Queenstown, and Sontsa, Inbar & I walked into the town center to get a hostel. Wanaka was wonderful, and will have to be a separate blog. I'll work on that one soon!

Cheers,
Ash

Greymouth & Extending My Time in NZ

Sontsa & I have already come and gone from Greymouth now. I must say it wasn't the most exciting town in NZ, but luckily we were only there for a night. I think the highlight of going to Greymouth was actually the city we stopped at on the way to Greymouth: Punakaiki. The bus stopped there for a 30-minute break, which gave us enough time to walk around the park there & see some huge pancake rock formations, so that was pretty cool. When we actually arrived in Greymouth on Saturday afternoon, it just seemed like a really small, quiet, old industrial town on the coast. As it turns out, it is actually the largest city along the west coast of NZ! If that was considered a large town, I can only imagine how small the rest of the towns we visit on the south island are going to be haha. A huge plus was that our hostel in Greymouth had free unlimited internet, so I naturally spent entirely too much time on facebook uploading pictures, etc.  =)  Oh, and the hostel had BATHTUBS!! I hadn't seen a bathtub in 3 months...needless to say, I was overjoyed & took full advantage. A somewhat comical experience I had at the hostel was when I was brushing my teeth in the morning at the sink near the showers and bathrooms--a guy walked out of his room in the smallest underwear possible, walked by me into one of the toilet stalls, proceeded to urinate into the toilet with the door wide open, then walked back past me to his room without flushing the toilet or washing his hands. Mmmm...the joys of living in a hostel haha.

I calculated yesterday that we have now visited 6 cities in NZ in the past 10 days--Taupo, Wellington, Picton, Nelson, Abel Tasman, and Greymouth! Pheww...that is too much. Traveling is so much more enjoyable when you are able to take your time moving around to different locations. For the past week and a half, it feels like a large part of my time has been spent unpacking, booking bus tickets for the next town, re-packing, sitting on a bus, then doing it all over again. I must say it can be a bit stressful & quite tiring. If it weren't for the people we've met along the way & the beautiful sights we've seen, I think I would be pretty grumpy. Oh, and the bus rides from town to town are somewhere between frightening and nauseating. I am honestly very surprised that more people don't find themselves vomiting. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster every time, with the bus twisting and turning at high speeds on these tiny mountain roads. It is so intense that during the past 2 bus rides, I have literally had to hang on to the seat in front of me so as to NOT fall out of mine! Haha. Good thing I don't get car sick or I would be screwed! I guess it makes the bus rides a little more exciting though, eh?

Some of you may remember that the return ticket I originally purchased to go back to America was for May 7th. Well, seeing as that is next week, I obviously won't be making that date haha. I've known I could change my ticket for a minimal fee, so that was never a problem; the problem was deciding what date I should change my ticket to! Sontsa goes back to FInland June 1st, so I knew I would be without my official traveling partner after that. However, I still have much to see on this side of the world before I can consider going back to America. So, the new plan (yes, I'm  planning) is to work again for about six weeks in June & July to start saving up some more money.  I will more than likely work in Auckland, Wellington, or Queenstown, a few of the main cities I have potential job connections.  However, I'd be happy to work just about anywhere in NZ.

Then, once my bank account has slightly increased, I will fly over to Australia to travel around there for hopefully 4-6 weeks. I would love to fit in a short trip to Fiji, Tahiti or Tasmania too, but that will all depend on finances. So, I called Air New Zealand & changed my return ticket back to America; the new date will be September 23rd. Sorry to my family & friends back home, but I have to make the adventure last! By then, I will have been living in NZ & away from my home country for just under 8 months--wow! Although I could stay here for a full year, I know I will have seen all of NZ by June 1st when Sontsa & I are done traveling together. After that, it's just a matter of working to be able to visit Oz, plus maybe adding in an exotic island into the mix. Another reason I am choosing not to stay the full year is that I would really like to be home for the holidays, as cliche as that may be =)

I can already tell you that I will have a really hard time leaving this country in September; this trip has been everything I had hoped for & more. Plus, one thing I have learned in NZ from talking with people from other countries all over the world is that in comparison, Americans have CRAP vacation time, among other things. That isn't slander; it's a fact. Now, I'm not saying that living in America doesn't have its perks as well, because it does, so please don't think I am bashing my home country. But, I do think that I would like to do a heck of a lot more traveling around the world before I get settled into a career in America, if that is in fact what I want to do. I am considering going home for just a short period of time (less than 6 months) after I get back, working a short-term job somewhere & saving enough money so that I can just go spend it again on some more more traveling =) . Another possibility I'm considering is getting my British passport (since I am half British) & maybe moving to England for a while. I would absolutely love to live in Europe. The thought of being able to travel short distances for relatively cheap and experiencing soo many different nearby countries & different cultures is just incredibly tempting. The problem is that I'm not entirely sure how (or if) my hard-earned Masters Degree would transfer over for a potential criminology career in England. I'll just have to do some more research & weigh my options =)

Cheers,
Ash