Deportation and mangos

A small summary of things that have happened in the past few days that have slipped my mind:

During orientation, we were all scared out of our minds that we weren't going to survive the semester without one of us getting deported.
Miss orientation, DEPORTED
Skip class, DEPORTED
Borrow a shopping cart, DEPORTED
Go to the bathroom during class, DEPORTED or the lecturer (not professor) just hates you and fails you
Drink alcohol, DEPORTED
Eat food in the common room, DEPORTED
Have an overnight guest, DEPORTED
Sneeze too loudly less than 25 meters from a library during the hours of 1 and 3 pm, DEPORTED AAAGGGHHHHHH
Kidding, but that's how the paranoia feels.

Good news though, if you're not deported, it's likely you'll fail your classes, regardless of how hard you work on them, UNLESS you spend three weeks studying for your final exam, on which 60% of your grade rests. No lie.

I miss my camera. Need some gorilla glue.

Actually it's been quite nice the last few days, even got to sleep under my blanket!! :D and with clothes on.

Against all odds, learned how to pronounce an Australia "o" sound. Was approved by a local Australian whose exact words were, I believe, "Yeah, that was perfect!" If ya'll wish, I'll demonstrate in my next vlog.

Sunday market!! Best thing since being here, it's a huge building full of tons of little gift shops and clothing booths and everything you can ever want, but the main attraction is the fresh produce, which they start giving away cheap at the end of the day.
Asian vendor: "COME GET YO MANGO, TWO DOLLA! GOING SO FAST, ONLY 2 DOLLA, HURRY, HURRY"
Me: How much for two ears of corn? (I'm having corn on the cob tonight, whaddap)
AV: Fo dolla! Get tree fo five dolla!
Me: Ok (don't mind if I do, more corn for me mwahaha)
AV: I give you four corn fo 5 dolla, yes?
....score.

Also, you can barter. Don't wanna pay five dollars for that bag of strawberries? Well don't. Pay four. Or maybe even 3.

All in all, a good day. In case you were wondering, I also got a swimsuit bottom for 3 dollars at the local grocery store.

They have corn outside the Midwest?

Seriously, sand. That substance has and incredible talented of finding its way into your deepest and darkest crevices as well as adhering itself in layers to the rest of your body.

A group of us went to the beach today, forming a large, intimidating pack of bikini-clad Minnesotans. In rows like an army. There was a group of three middle-aged drunk men who were making no attempt to be subtle with their glances...err...stares. I got tired of it and went and told them they were being obnoxious, to which they responded in unintelligible grunts.
In other news, a strange Australian man gave me his number today. I am only including this to give comfort to the throngs of people who are waiting for me to meet a foreigner and fall in love. At least I got my foot in the door! I'd call him, but I thought twice after he told me about how he spent his day at the gym and wouldn't tell me where he was from. I'm sure he was a nice guy...

Tonight another large group of us went to a restaurant and bar called Little Creatures - it's the one I went to last night (and quite enjoyed, they have good beer and cider and GREAT fries), and it was highly recommended by people who have studied here before. I decided against ordering the kangaroo, mainly because it was a 23 dollar dish that didn't come with any sides, but I did get to try it! It tasted a lot like steak...but it was delicious steak, to be fair. I expected kangaroo to taste a lot more like...I'm not sure, more like honey for some strange reason. In lieu of that, though, I had a plate full of the best, most buttery, greasy corn cobs I could ever ask for, and ask a single person who knows me, corn is one of my lifelines. Muy delicious!

Manders

Saturday morning grease-ness

My face

Day three in Freo

So far my time in Perth has been testing my ability to stay positive, but I did claim to come to Australia in search of challenges.

My nights continue to be mostly sleepless (and very hot), my throat is still swollen, making it very difficult to swallow most anything, and today, I lost part of my tooth while I was eating a hotdog at the community dinner. For those who are close to me, you'll know that I've had an endless amount of problems with my teeth in my lifetime, so it would be less than surprising to have dentures by the time I hit 30.

On the plus side, my fever is gone (for now), the sunsets are apparently beautiful (as I've been too sick to enjoy one for myself), I bought a swimsuit top for 3 dollars, I'm losing weight and saving money by not having an appetite for anything, and none of the 30 women on this trip have turned savage yet. Also, Brenna has been an absolute gem for putting up with all that's going on with me right now. She has dealt with me long enough that when she gets back from the shower, she's not surprised or worried to see me laying on the floor in nothing but my towel, moaning about life.

I'll let you all know when something more interesting happens to me.

Love all around!

Manders

Arrival and survival

I'm all moved in! Brenna and I got put in an awesome room, complete with a balcony and fireplace (which we'll use never but it looks homey). There is no air conditioning, but it doesn't get too hot. We keep the balcony door open most of the day and I'm currently sitting two inches away from a fan.

In other news, Australia has really kicked me in the rear. Somewhere during the move-in process I developed a 101 degree fever, complete with chills and body aches and eventually a throat so swollen it's nearly impossible to swallow anything (including water, food, saliva), so my body is kind of being counterproductive here. It's also quite painful to talk, so the good news is I can't do a whole lot of complaining anymore...

Time for a new day and a lot of things to do for orientation week. I think now might be a good time to give in and take some pills and...uh, put my clothes on forwards instead of backwards (I'm not sure how that happened, I thought they were right when I went to bed last night).

Cheers!

Sydney bids me goodbye

Breasties at the beach are becoming a common sight for me, although I don't think I could have a conversation with a topless woman without feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Also, family and friends, I haven't taken up the habit, so no worries.

Went to Bondi Beach today! In case you were wondering where the previous comment came from. It's a super famous beach with lots and lots of people. Today was a pristine day, and Kaylee and I spent some quality time body surfing the waves. However, lady swimmers are not made specifically to be thrown around by waves, as with every fresh new wave, I had to go scrambling for my suit. Kaylee and I saw one beast of a wave coming, so we got ready to body surf it, but were unprepared for its intensity. Kaylee did a backflip underwater, slammed into me and then scraped her back on the ocean floor, while I was up ahead of her losing both pieces of my swimsuit and getting groped by strange hands in all the mayhem and chaos. Saltwater everywhere. In the eyes and esophagus. .... Best day ever, but laughter hurts when you snort saltwater.

Kaylee, Christine, and I had the grand idea of walking up to town, grabbing a few chilled drinks and then having them on the beach. We did so, only to come back and find out that alcohol was not allowed on the beach, so like hooligans, we found the nearest tree to hide under and transfer our passionfruit and strawberry drinks into our empty water bottles. However, instead of getting two of the same drink, I got a fruity one and then had a Corona, so mixing the two was not an option and I tucked the beer away in my purse to save for later. After finishing my first drink on the beach, I decided to inconspicuously try to transfer my second drink into my water bottle, but realized that it was not a twist-off top (and strangely enough, I did not have a bottle opener with me) so my only other option was to pry it open with my fingernail clippers which resulted in a large slice in finger, BLOOD EVERYWHERE.

There's a point to that story...the point is that Sydney kind of roughed me up today.

*Ahem*

Next, I ran into the chair on the train.

But, the frosting on the cake is when I was attempting a polite walk across a clear road and a speeding car came racing around the corner...it was then I realized why my mom told me never to run across a road...it's because when you run, you slip, and that road took me right out. Right on my rear. It's ok, I only scraped my butt (great day to wear a skirt), smoked my knee, and jammed my left ring finger, which is now so swollen and blue I cannot remove my ring. Also, a good chunk of Sydney got a swell glimpse of my underwear today BUT...my precious camera, the one that cost me a summer's worth of salary, was sitting in my hand that took the beating, leaving the camera completely untouched.

Seriously, take my finger, but please, PLEASE, don't hurt my camera.

We went to the Harbour again tonight for a final night out but it started raining. So we took the train back.

*Sigh*. Thanks for everything, Sydney.

Manders

Free falling

I promised I'd tell the story of the bridge.

Long story short, we ended up arriving at the bridge climb meeting place sweating and out of breath (with strained calves even before we start climbing the bridge) because we got a little lost...by no fault of my own, I must add. We collectively got ourselves lost...

Skip through all the orientation process and release signing to the part where our guide was handing out blue and silver jumpsuits and advising us to wear them "without layers", which, in American, meant strip down to your knickers. I didn't have a personal problem with those instructions, but as it turns out, in Kaylee's world, wearing exercise shorts with the built-in mesh undies means you don't need any additional panties. So, unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Kaylee was undergoing a bit of a personal struggle when she received these instructions, but, as the problem-solver she is, decided to just leave her shorts on instead of going commando.

The rest of the bridge climb involved strapping ourselves to a cable that ran all the way up the bridge, climbing a few ladders and then following a shallow staircase up the rest of the way. It was an incredible view of the city and we got a free picture of it (and certificate of accomplishment and all that jazz).

Can I move on to today?

Thanks.

Today I legitimately crossed an item off my bucket list and jumped out of an airplane at 14,000 feet in the air, free-falling and parachuting my way to the ground.

COOLEST, MOST EXHILARATING AND TERRIFYING THING I'VE EVERDONEINMYLIFEEVER!!

No, but seriously, it was absolutely amazing, even considering the simultaneous visit from mother nature in an effort to ruin my week (ladies, please sympathize).

It's hard to find words to describe it. I remember a few days ago we were landing in Sydney, and as the plane was nearing 40,000 feet, I was looking out the window to mentally calculate while my stomach and my heart took a run for it. I definitely thought that if it was that bad two days in advance, I wouldn't make it on the day of.

But, wasn't too nervous. Got all geared up, met my partner Pricey, who tried to calm my fears by telling me it was the scariest thing he has ever done and showing me his missing middle finger. Cool.

^ Terrified look

We then trucked it over to the airport, packed about 12 of us into a plane where there was only enough room for all of us to sit butt to crotch (sorry for the visual), and then literally, before you know it (and about ten times higher than I expected to go), people were dropping out of the plane like flies and my partner is scooting me along from behind while I'm internally screaming (NO, PLEASE DEAR GOD NO). And then, hello, my feet are hanging off the side of a moving plane and the thought occurs to me that I'm leaving behind a perfectly good airplane for a whole bunch of empty space and as fast as the thought occurs, I'm flying through the air spinning and screaming like a howl monkey on roids and my cheeks are flapping in the wind like boat sails. Two seconds later, the inside of my mouth is completely dry, yet I continue to scream, because my body has absolutely no idea how else to react.

Dry mouth

Checking to see if my ears are still there

I guess the free fall is sixty seconds, but right about when I started thinking that I should stop screaming (or just started thinking in general), my partner pulls the chute and we whip backwards and I gently hang in the air with nothing attached to me but a large piece of fabric and another human. Then I realize that my ears/head are holding 10,000 feet worth of air pressure and my instructor is yelling at me and asking me questions and the only thing I can think to say is, "OMG I can't hear a thing, just give me a moment" (refer to skydiving video). After which I catch bits and pieces of him talking that sounds like, "Just do like a blowfish face and pop your ears out" which was ridiculous-looking but effective, thereby allowing me to enjoy the scenery from that point on, which was incredible if I do say so myself.

That's about it. Then we landed in a beautiful open field and I felt the most accomplished I've ever felt in my life and thought to myself, "I hope my dad doesn't kill me now that I've survived jumping out of a plane".

Additional information:
- don't order still water at a restaurant, as it costs $13.00 a bottle
- no one told me about the monster Aussie bats
- everything is sweeter in America, i.e. has much more sugar in it.

Thanks for listening, folks

Manders

These feet were made for walking

As we've been doing for the last two days straight as a result of saving money. As Joe says, "guys, we're gonna arrive in Freo and be really attractive...we're gonna be super fit from all this walking and really tan"

There is a beach just a short walk down the road, and by short walk I mean 30 solid minutes uphill both ways in the blistering, scorching heat. It's so worth it, but our bodies are starting to complain.

Last night we walked to the Sydney Harbor, which was another 30 minutes, but the walk was incredible. I think, in another life, I could be cut out for city life. I mean, there are some parts of cities that don't really suit me (like the strip of strip clubs we also walked past), but the part around the harbor is absolutely beautiful and the atmosphere is actually incredibly peaceful. Not to mention the weather has been perfect so the nights have been clear and gently breezy, and sitting out by the water looking back on the night city has something so...tranquil about it. And I can't decide, if and when my honeymoon eventually rolls around, if I want to spend it in the mountains or sitting and sipping a glass of wine on the beach boardwalk. I mean....right?

Tonight, after hitting the beach and getting a nice beachy bronze (and seeing our Italian friends again), we recuperated so that we could go...(another drum roll please)...climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Yup. It's getting late and my body is slowly going into self-destruct mode, so I'll explain more tomorrow. Tune in then for some good stories and photos and bonus hilarious story about Kaylee and her undergarment dilemma on the top of the bridge.

Until then,
Manders

In a crowded room

You learn to get very comfortable with people here...

The five of us are sharing a room with three other men. One from Germany, one from England, and...well I  have yet to introduce myself to the third one. Oh...who just walked in the room, that's awkward. In the last night I've become quite comfortable with strange men lounging in their underwear. As my mother would probably tell them, "Please, can you at least keep a little mystery?"

Went down to the beach to discover an Australian woman baring herself. She may have just been lost because there are three nude beaches on the north side of the city.

On the upside, the beach was remarkable. The weather is perfect, the sky is cloudlessly blue, and the water was perfectly refreshing. The five of us behaved ourselves and came back a little bronze without any serious burn damage (those dang Minnesotans, they take forever to learn).

I love all the accents in a place like this, and trust me, you hear a plethora of them. Like today, we met two Italian men chilling at the beach (sitting suspiciously close to the woman in the raw). They're all so fascinating and 95% of the time, I would replace my "accent" with one from any other country. But today as I was laying on the beach listening to my fellow "Yanks" frolic in the water, I was hit with a sense of pride and satisfaction. We may not sound as sexy saying hello as an Aussie is while saying "Gooday" but I have to say we're a pretty interesting group of people and if I would pick anyone to represent our country, they'd be pretty similar to the group of people I'm with.

Ish I'm getting all sappy.

That's all for today. We're headed back out to the beach for more sun and burn tomorrow, and then climbing the Sydney bridge at dusk! Apparently they strap you to the thing whilst you scale it. Joe and Christine have problems with heights, so throw a prayer or two in their directions...

Quick shout out to ma ladies at the bank. Every time I'm soaking up the sun on the beach I'm thinking of you and wishing I could toss a few rays your direction! Say hello to Dave for me.

Manders

Farewell New Zealand.

Today...I almost died in a shuttle bus.

No but fer real, our bus driver was doing some seriously unsafe things with his automobile.

We're here! We're in Australia, finally! We're gonna do some crazy fun stuff this week. More to come!

I'm excited but also very disoriented and a little exhausted with a touch of homesick. The new hostel seems great, but we're sharing a room with strangers. As long as they don't do their "business" on the bunk on top of me or snore too loud, I'm happy. I'm convinced we're gonna be besties before the week is through.

Free WIFI! Wooot!

Love you Minnesota.

Christchurch and Beyond

After our second night in the sketchy parking lot in Dunedin, we decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things. We took off early in the morning, stopped for gas on the way out of town and hit the road for Christchurch. I don't know what the rest of the group's expectations for Christchurch were, but we were all hoping the camping situation would be an improvement and there would be more things to do that didn't cost us money. 

The drive was uneventful, we stopped at a few beaches, one with seashells, and another with big monstrous spherical boulders (one of which attacked Brenna's foot), and Kaylee took the wheel into town. We should have known what was coming when she first took the wheel on the way INTO the city, with no country road practice, and our second clues would have been when she told us she had road rage and asked if the speed limit signs were just suggestions. 

No but seriously, I think she has more city driving practice than the rest of us, so we didn't experience inner city stress like we had in Dunedin. We avoided driving directly into the city center this time, but we still had no idea where we would spend the night, so like the tourists we are, we headed for the city info center. 

On a side note, most New Zealand large towns will direct you to what is called "City Centre", which sounds promising for a group of five looking for something to do, but is actually just the middle of the city. Which, in some cases, can be a park, and in some cases a hospital. 

Anyways, as we were driving in, I was thinking to myself, "why is there construction EVERYWHERE and why is the city so dead?". Turns out we had driven directly to the "Red Zone" which was the place that had been hit hardest by earthquakes about a year ago and was completely blocked off as a result. I guess the shops around that zone had experienced some damage too and were all closed down for the most part. It was reeeaalllyyy eerie. 

So we get to the info center….5 minutes after it closed. 

Thought process: 1) don't panic 2) freedom camping is still frowned upon, but allowed 3) please, let's not stay in the supermarket parking lot 4) need a bathroom, now 5) head toward water.

[Freedom Camping - a self-contained vehicle can basically stay anywhere on public land.] 

TO THE SEA!

Keeping our eyes peeled for anything promising, we took a route that skirted the bay. Our first stop was a small parking lot/boat access by the road that 1) had a bathroom and 2) had some sort of shower-looking thing. It also had a fence, behind which we could hide from the road.

We continued driving into a suburb of the city called Sumner, which ended up being a friendly little beach city, with shops and cafes and such, and we ditched the boat access for a city park with (drum roll please) clean bathrooms, a spigot to wash our dishes in, and a field in which to frolic! It was also secluded from the road, and we were joined by another camper van, which made us feel a bit more legit. 

I'm gonna pause to be serious here for a second. We had some good experiences in Dunedin, but for a lot of us, that was the most stressful part of the trip. While a lot of it was due to driving stress, rain, and fatigue, Joe mentioned that when he drove into Dunedin, he felt like the five us in our large Barney van weren't welcome. And to be honest, we didn't really talk to any locals in the city. However, during our one night in this park in Christchurch, we had multiple locals approach us whilst walking their dogs or watching their children, and make conversation with us, most likely due to the fact that it's hard not to be attracted to something so big and colorful. Regardless of the reason, it not only put us all at ease, it made the city so much more attractive. 

Okay, time to start wrapping this up in short sentence fragments. 

- Spent a large part of the day walking up and down the beach and watching surfers

- Bought a delicious cookie….plus a Hokey-Pokey flavored ice cream cone. All I know is it was delicious. 

- Went to walk the circumference of the Red Zone. Less eerie today because there were tourists everywhere.

- Walked through a part of the town where all the shops were relocated into railroad cars because of the earthquakes. Quite ingenious. 

- OMG ran into our Aussie friends again! Last time we saw them, which was on the road to Milford Sound, Christine said, "I know we're going to see them again, I can just feel it", and we were all like, "Nnaaww" and she was like, "Yeeaahh". They were going the same direction we were going, but it was to Dunedin and Christchurch, which are all rather large cities…anyways, we're walking down the sidewalk in downtown Christchurch and Kaylee goes, "OMG IS THAT JAMES" and then we all started screaming and like "NO WAY" and it was cute. That was definitely the last time though, because they flew back to Oz a few hours after that. It was totally fate…or should I say it was God. It was such a blessing to all of us to meet the four of them and it felt like we kept getting thrown together against all odds. 

- Went to an enormous museum (which was freeeee) and there were like rooms upon rooms upon floors upon wings of exhibits, none of which were the same (one of dresses, one of dinosaurs, one of cavemen, one of birds, and so on). Most memorable exhibit in the World of Wearable Art - the bra exhibit. One made out of cacti and one made out of cockroaches, neither of which I would ever put on my body. However, I might wear the one made out of handcuffs to trap anyone who might try to get frisky with you. 

Lemme think…

- Left Cc early to get a head start back to Queenstown so we could stop and see Mount Cook on the way. Pretty sure Mt Cook is somewhere in LOTR, just not sure where. 

- Stayed a night in Lake Tekapo (TEE-kuh-po…not TAKE-a-poo regardless of what Christine says) which was big and beautiful and blue, and which was the only campsite that we're 100% sure is completely legal. But we paid for the legality.

- Going on 100+ hours without bathing and still looking pretty fine if I do say so myself. We made a video night before last about how we're managing without running water. It included things like beauty wipes, hats, and lots of deodorant. Hopefully it makes it to FB because it's worth seeing if for nothing but to see how we look after 6 days in a camper van.

Peace out! Mount Cook and then back to sweet, sweet Queenstown for a rather large burger and a much-needed shower. See you all on the internet tomorrow in Sydney! 

In Search of Things That Are Free

After Milford Sound, everything else seems a little bit like a letdown. Dunedin (pronounced duh-NEE-din) was our next real stop, and I can't say it's not been an interesting one, but it's not quite the scenery we experienced in Milford. Our spirits started to dampen today because of the roads to nowhere, the difficulty of navigating (all while driving on the wrong side of the road), the rain, the prices this country charges you for everything, and the lack of mountains. 

Also, did not pack for rainy, 50 degree weather. At all. Dad, I need a raincoat.

We also might be getting sick of being so close to each other (due to being stuck in the Jucy because of the bad weather). Plus, we all stink and we're not getting a whole lot of sleep (Due to Christine snoring, but don't tell her I said that). 

Ok so yesterday morning, when we woke up in a legitimate camping area next to a lake, Joe recommended to us that we take a dip and wash up because it was "actually really refreshing". Well, the weather was at a balmy 50, the wind was blowing, and the water felt like it was barely above freezing. IT WAS SO. COLD. I have never before had goosebumps all over my body. We managed to take enough control of our frozen body parts to lather shampoo in our hair and then climb back up onto the beach to dry off, after which we spent an hour or two shivering. But we were clean!!!!! 

That was two days ago. Next shower - 48 hours from now. 

Last night we came into town, found ourselves in an oversized van in city central, and spent an agonizing couple hours trying to find a place to stay. Apparently there are rumors of what is called "freedom camping", but no one with any authority will give you any information on it. We asked the lady at the information desk, and she made it sound like it was something that was commonly done, but it was not encouraged by the city council, so she skirted around the topic. Mostly unhelpful, but we had a sheet of actual freedom camping laws that said "any self-contained vehicle may stay on public land or DCC carparks". We conversed about what this meant for a tense and uncomfortable moment or two in the Jucy and decided that we were buckling down in a small gravel lot on the side of the road and hoping no one would question us. So far, no one has.

So far.

I mean, it has no fancy bathroom facilities, BUT, it's free and it's relatively close to town. The toilet situation is interesting, being a cove in a clump of trees, but at least it's protected from the rain. We also found a trail through the brush and woods that came out at the top of a sand dune, looking out over the most beautiful sandy ocean beach flanked by cliffs on both sides -- absolutely deserted. We may have reacted by screaming and running down the hill, followed by a little beach frolic (pictures to come).

Anyways, backing up, we came into Dunedin yesterday. Then the above mentioned camping situation last night. This morning we decided to go out to the peninsula to check things out. We found the road out there relatively easy, but unlike the cute little purple line on the map, actual roads were so curvy they prevented you from going past 50 kph EVER (about 30 mph) and they gave the van about two inches of elbow room between the tires and the lines on the road. Yours truly was behind the wheel. I may have felt confident about my driving skills at one point, but this trip slowly began to tear them down. Our first stop out there was supposed to be a world-famous castle and gardens, but we trekked up a gravel hill to find out that it was 37 dollars a person. We turned around and hiked out to the end of the peninsula and up another awful gravel hill to see the native penguins at Penguin Beach only to have the lady behind the front desk tell us that there was no way to access the beach that didn't cost you 55 dollars a person. So we used their outlets to charge our cameras, just to stick it to them. But, then, joke was on us, because one of the tour guides came and chatted with us for an hour about how great the trip was and how you must "take an opportunity when you're presented with it" and we all left feeling rather guilty. Not to mention gaseous from eating what we thought were milkshakes, but were really just frothy, flavored milk bubbles. 

However, on the bright side, we did make it to Allan's Beach where we saw sea lions chilling in the sand, and also drove to the other side of town to hike up Baldwin Street, the steepest road in the world. Trust me, I have a certificate of achievement to prove it. 

At the end of today, we came to the collective conclusion that we all needed a pick-me-up, so we skipped the ramen and found a bar and grill where we had a fresh meal and cold beer in a warm, dry building (a bit of a splurge, but well worth it). We left in much higher spirits! And with much lighter pockets…

We hiked back to our old camping spot for the last night in Dunedin and had a little….well, a little jam session in the van. Don't worry, it will probably end up on Facebook, because really, what doesn't?

February 8th, 2012

SEE MOUNTAIN - check and double check

Acquire a tan - check

Get Aussie mates - check

Learn the language - check

Climb a mountain - check

Get sprayed by a waterfall - check

Bathe in a lake, pee on the forest ground, sleep five in a van, name said van (Boss, because it climbs hills like one and because it makes most of our decisions) - check

Get stopped by cattle crossing the road - check

Purchase aloe vera - check

HIt 100 on speedometer - check

Get passed by a tour bus - check

Get close enough to a waterfall to be sprayed by it - check

Meet a fellow Minnesotan (Duluthian, actually) - check

Learn what a "sound" is (as in Milford Sound)…still working on it

The adventures continue. The memorable moments that have happened since we've arrived in New Zealand have increased as we've progressed through the country (thanks to the Jucy van for part of that). The sceneries have gotten immensely better as we drive and increasingly harder to find words with which to describe them. 

Today we drove to Milford Sound (like an inlet from the ocean, only surrounded by mountains), which was about a 2 hour drive, but one of the least boring drives a person can take. The scenery can change in an instant, and often does. We went from rolling golden plains to deep green forests to rivers that are so blue they look like the water in a toilet bowl (you know, like when you attach those blue cleaners to the inside?) but sssoooooo deathly cold. There were numerous stops along the way, and we managed to run into our Aussie friends, unplanned, at more than a few of these stops. By the third or fourth I think both of us started to suspect we were being followed by the other. 

As we approached the Sound, we came upon a tunnel that went, downhill mind you, underneath a mountain. Oh and three quarters of their bridges and tunnels are one-ways, so you have to make sure no one is coming on the other side before you cross. With this bridge, in which the other end was so far away you couldn't see it, there were stoplights at either side to monitor traffic. We dove headfirst into the tunnel and found out it was all downhill, which worried all of us because, even though Boss has been there for us so far, it made sounds like an impending explosion each time we tried to chug up the hill. 

Being a poor traveler - all food tastes incredible. Extremely satisfying was our lunch of crunchy, lukewarm ramen with frozen vegetables mixed in. Supper - macaroni and leftover veggies. Pretzels, hot chocolate, potato chips (or should I say crisps? Such an awkward word to say)

A few thoughts on New Zealand

I don't feel like I have much interesting to say, so here is my every thought.

New Zealanders - very short shorts and less concern for modesty. Love alcohol any and all the time. Especially beer. It is said you can get anything from an Australian just by handing them a beer. I don't doubt it. Fun fact, it's not illegal to walk around in public drinking an alcoholic drink. This happened to be our night's activity. We bought a 4 pack of Smirnoff Ice, took it to the beach and went for a walk. 

Ha, so the five of us walked past a group of folks (who might have been slightly inebriated) and one of the men yelled to Joe, "You are a lucky, lucky guy". Should us women be insulted or flattered? Not sure.

After two days of keeping an eye out for our Australian friends (and maybe taking a purposeful detour or two hoping we'd run into them), we met them walking down the boardwalk. They were headed to the bar across from our hostel, so we joined them for a beer and after chatting, realized we were all headed in the same direction on our road trip. We basically have to make plans with them to meet at a specific time or it won't happen. It's like way back in the olden days, I feel so…antique without a cell phone. 

Or internet. 

We're meeting up with them tomorrow night at the hostel, possibly for supper? 

Discovered clothes aren't that much expensive here. Dresses and shirts for 15 dollars? I'll take it. No, mom, I didn't spend money I didn't need to on clothes, but that doesn't mean I wasn't tempted. I wanted to dress boho like the rest of this city, but I refrained. With this tan I'm developing, I'm not such an outcast as I was before. 

Oh speaking of which, I have a nice tan/burn. Sun - such a cool thing. 

Tomorrow we board the Jucy van and take off! Trying to be frugal and not have to pay for a place to stay, so wish us luck on that. We could also use prayers for having to be in close quarters with each other with no shower access. I'd like for all of us to come out alive. Not hating each other would be a bonus. 

We're driving first to TeAnau and staying there a night, then driving up to Milford Sound and spending a day there. After that, we'll drive south again and head to Dunedin, then on to Christchurch. I'm unsure of the timeline (as I was busy uploading pictures when this all went down) but I think after that we return the van to Queenstown. 

Also, one of the New Zealander's favorite pastimes must be making tourists believe their crazy lies. The guy behind the front desk as the hostel thought it was amusing to give us the wrong directions to the post office (things are on their way to America as we speak, WUTUP) and our people occupying our neighboring room had us believing that a shark gnawed on part of his leg. Not to mention the drop bear lie that I mentioned in my previous post. Moral of the story - don't trust anyone.

This post is really long

The adventure continues!

This is all unbelievable. In 4 days I've had more amazing experiences than I have in a semester home at school. I can't get over how incredibly blessed I am to be here, and this is all just the beginning. 

Before I get too far, I must also say that I"m so lucky to be with the group I'm with. Each of us five adds such an interesting dynamic to the whole group. Kaylee is the group planner and our trip would not have gotten past (or through for that matter) the airport without her, Christine definitely adds a pinch or two of crazy, Brenna makes sure none of us do anything stupid, and Joe adds…..testosterone (sounds insignificant, but trust me, it's vital. I feel a little sorry for him though). 

That out of the way, last night was one of the funnest nights I've had in a long time. I mentioned before how we met some people on our canyoning trip and were planning to hang out with them later…while conversing with them in the bus on the way back, we found out that they had signed up for what is called the Kiwi Bar Crawl and since were planning on doing something similar (yet more expensive…) they convinced us to sign up with them. 

Ok so….I'm not the kind of person to have crazy drunken nights and definitely not the kind of person to put records of them on the internet, so just to be clear, that's not what it was. 

Basically you paid a down fee and got taken, as a group, to six of the most popular bars in town and got served a free drink at each. As the drinks were small and the trips quite spaced out, it was a relatively calm but incredibly fun night. Well I mean, it was loud, but what bar isn't. Also, one of our stops was an ice bar. In case you don't know what that is, it means everything in the bar was made out of solid water. Coolest ever! 

After that, a few more bars, some chin-ups, some bad attempts at an Australian accent, some rambunctious walks down the beach til early hours of the morning, and a small and uneventful encounter with the authorities, we retired for the night. As we left, we made plans to meet with them for supper at 6 the next day. 

Next day's plans - get up early the next morning and hike up the mountain. No big deal. However, last nights adventures and a bit of leftover jet lag got the best of us and we woke up late and very sore. About two hills up the mountain, we were panting and asking passers-by how much longer it was to the top. Typical response - "Quite a ways, mate". So an hour and a half and about 3 liters of water later (heckz yes, I'm using the metric system), we arrived at the top of the mountain quite winded but feeling really accomplished. It's really not every day you can say you climbed a mountain. I feel like I will be saying this a lot, but with every new view I encounter, every new landscape I come across, I'm left astonished with not a single word to describe what I'm saying. Except maybe "wow", "holy @%$%!" or something to that extent. How do you put into an English word a combination of extreme awe, gratitude, and amazement at the work of an extraordinary Creator? 

It's ok, the Aussies probably have better words in their vocabulary. 

All right, go ahead, stretch your legs, grab some coffee and a bagel, I'll wait. This got a lot longer than I planned.

*Ahem*

I've decided…our new friends? Coolest people ever. Remind me of a lot of friends I have at home. Except my friends at home don't laugh at me when I say "fries" instead of "chips". 

Conversation snippets from the last few days:

-"Why do you call it fall? Because that's what the leaves do?"

-"Excuse me, did you drop your thong on the beach?"

-"Why do all you Americans get rid of the U in all your words? That poor U must feel awful" "Well you guys never say your R, how do you think it feels?"

-"Where did John and Amanda run off to?" …."You mean Joe and Brenna?"  "James, do you ever just stop and think before you say things?" 

-"Here's a little tip for you - in Australia, don't sit under the trees." "Why, the snakes?" "No, the drop bears. They sit in the trees and then drop down and steal all your food. They might maul you too" ….."You're such a liar"

-"Come on now, we're all mates!"

When we met them for supper, we decided on having our first legitimate Australian-type meal. Fish 'n chips. Tastes a lot like…fish sticks and french fries, although I did comment on how nice the fries, uh, chips were, because they were nice and crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. 

Where is the ketchup?"

"Ketchup? You mean tomato sauce?"

"No, ketchup"

Yeah, that's tomato sauce"

"No it's different, trust me"

We each grabbed a platter and went and ate it under a tree (no drop bears) on the beach. Ha, so one time, I bought this amazing white eyelet dress and then my travel buddies convinced me to wear it to supper, which we ended up eating on an New Zealand beach. No worries though, my butt came out smudge free. 

Seagulls are not friends, especially when you have food, but the sparrows can be quite amiable. You just have to be careful that you choose which ones to feed and be tricky about it so you don't toss a fry to a sparrow only to have him end up in the seagull's mouth. 

After dinner, a drink at a bar by the beach, watching passers-by, talking about politics, beer, and music for a good two hours. James cashed in the two beers that Kaylee and I owed him from the night before. We also took up their invitation to hang out with them at their apartment at the top of the hill, so we stopped quick at the hostel, changed into pajamas and met them outside the hostel. I love conversation, and I love doing nothing with great people. We spent the night sharing pictures from the night before, sharing a bottle of special edition champagne (I guess there were a total of 100 ever made), and listening to some classic hits from Vengaboys and Destiny's Child. Nice to know we can relate to each other via outdated pop music, if nothing else. 

I hope we see them again sometime. I promised them that if they ever made it to Minnesota, they'd have a place to stay.

As for today, Joe adequately summed up our experience into a nice little sentence:

"Guys, we just got a private tour of a secret waterfall from a guy who was in Lord Of The Rings." 

True story. Well ok, we went kayaking early this morning at the base of a bunch of snow-capped mountains. Which, by the way, happened to be the scene of Isengard. If you don't know what that is, I don't know you. Oh and we also passed by a beach that was used for the Riders of Rohan. Can a person die of satisfaction?

I can't really say anything about this experience because it was too magnificent to put into words. I'll try to post some pictures on Facebook for you to check out, but I can't describe to you the scenery and how overwhelmed I was to be kayaking in that place. 

And it's not just that. I also love that everything we're doing makes me feel so alive. Friday I had adrenaline coursing through my body as I sped over a canyon on a zipline and jumped into a small pool of water from a cliff. Saturday I exerted my legs and my lungs to the fullest extent and today…today I used my upper body to kayak beneath the mountains. Oh, and later this afternoon jumped into a frigid lake for a short swim. It's just a great feeling to be using so much of my body for such amazing things. 

Enough talking about my feelings. I apologize for the length of this blog, but every minute is the new best minute of my life and I feel obligated to share some of it. And don't worry, soon I'll be at school and my life won't be quite so extravagant, but right now I'm on vacation so leave me alone. 

Halfway through our kayak we stopped at a beach to get out and stretch our legs and have some cake and "hot orange" (I didn't question, just drank). We had a nice little episode of rock skipping, but the rocks were just asking for it. If you special ordered a million smooth, flat round rocks and dumped them all on a little beach on a private island, you couldn't have gotten better rock-skipping rocks than the ones that were on this beach, let me tell you. 

I did think I remembered being better at skipping rocks…

We finished up the 4 hour long trip and on our way out in the van, the tour guide says, 

"Hey, do you guys wanna see a waterfa…"

"YES"

I mean, why would you even ask?

We pulled over into the gravel on the side of the road and piled out of the van, then followed the man with dreads into a non-existent path in the woods, through a lot of brush and trees (a few massive boulders), and came out into this deep green clearing with moss everywhere and leaves hanging down and a sparkling WATERFALL. I know I keep saying this, but it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life, STRAIGHT out of Tuck Everlasting or…(dare I say it) Lord of the Rings. Like I half expected a buff Hugh Jackman to come slowly rising out of the pool and do a slow motion Justin Bieber hair shake, right before proposing to me. 

…Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable experience. Oh did I mention that our tour guide was an extra in Lord Of the Rings, and he told us a whole buttload of great stories on the set? Oh I didn't mention that? 

O.o

(^Ross Hodapp)

So that ended, much to my dismay, and we got back, changed clothes, suncreamed ourselves up (Australian term, keep up guys) and headed to the beach for a midday nap/tan. Don't be jealous, you'll only make yourself unhappy. After that (and the invigorating lake swim as I mentioned before), we headed back to the hostel to grab our money and trot on down the road to the nearest ice cream shop, also home of the…(drum roll please…) FREE WIFI. That's right ladies and gentlemen, after days of searching we did what any logical person would have done a long time ago and asked a local where we could find free internet. And the ice cream was much needed. So that's all I have for now. I might update tomorrow, but if I don't, I'll be in a camper van for the next week, so don't look forward to hearing too much from me then. 

Love you all and miss you. Don't tell anyone but I go through definite bouts of homesickness and I would love to hear from everyone… :/

Cheerio.

Oh good grief, I almost forgot! I tried vegemite and soothed all my fears because it's delicious! A little salty, but I had seconds and thirds. I think I'm gonna manage fine here.

(Also, I forgot to put my pictures on my computer, so I'll try to do that tomorrow)

Manders

This is our canyoning group. From left to right,

Cam, James, Dave (stranger), Me, Kaylee, Christine, Brenna, Joe, Stuart, and Chris

In the super cool cave behind the super cool waterfall 

OOHH MMYY GGOOSSHH

I think I canyon

I mean, my closest near death experience in New Zealand so far has been crossing the street, due to the fact that I'm still confused about which way the cars are coming from.

You'd think after that experience I'd think twice about cliff jumping and zip-lining through a canyon but I fared quite a bit better.

It's this thing called canyoning, which I credit Christine for getting us all into. I didn't know anything about it and when she brought up the idea I actually wasn't that excited about it, but it was one of the funnest (don't care if that's not a word) things I've done in my entire life. Basically you sign your life away on a waiver, squeeze your body into a tiny little elastic wetsuit, strap on about 30 pounds of gear, take a short hike through the woods and then make it down the canyon via 4 or 5 ziplines, repelling down a few walls, jumping off a few cliffs and swimming down the river.
One of the most difficult cliff jumps was about halfway through. I, being so enthusiastic about adventure (or something), was near the front of the group as we approached it and found myself standing on the top of a 25 foot waterfall being directed to jump and aim just left of the stream of water into a small round green spot of water. Ok. Most of you know that my aim is nothing to brag about. Joe and Brenna can attest to the fact that I spent a good ten minutes yesterday trying to make my trash into the garbage can from like 5 feet away. So when he said, "Don't jump right on the place where the fall meets the water because there's a big rock there", my stomach took a hike. Pfft, I don't really know what happened after that but I'm alive right now so I believe it was successful.

(Patti Leimer, I think I'm gonna call it my good luck bracelet 1) because I didn't die ^ and 2) because it legitimately won't come off.)

So yeah! We made some Aussie friends too, who we're planning on hanging out with tonight (#nolongerbeingoutcasts). I think they liked us, but I've never been called a Yank before. Term of endearment? Probs.

Okay well I'm gonna go put on makeup for the first time since I've been here. Cheerio!

Well actually, just so you all know, tomorrow we're hiking to the top of the mountain, eating out for our one and only night tomorrow or Sunday, then getting up bright and early on Sunday to go kayaking on the lake, maybeeee exploring the city more after that and the using Monday to map out our campervan road trip and having a celebratory mini golf. (ILOVEROADTRIPSSSS)

Ok love you Mom and Dad. And Joe.

Country fried tourists

Good news! My whiteness has been reduced to a level that's no longer blinding.

We spent the day in the sun, walking around Queenstown admiring all the different angles of the city. The morning was chilly, but it warmed up enough for us to throw some "swimmers" on and head down to the beach when we got back.

So were were down on the beach reading books when we watched two Swedish men strike up a conversation with a blond Australian in a bikini. Ha...typical. I think it was the men who invited the girl to play frisbee with them, which is funny because I've never seen two people throw a frisbee so badly and the girl was apparently an ex-ultimate frisbee player, which made the whole situation quite amusing. Add that to the fact that the guys were acting as guys act when they're trying to impress a girl but don't have a whole lot to work with. Yup. However, she and one of the guys looked like they were getting pretty friendly after an hour or so, so we started placing bets on how likely they were to hook up that night. Entertaining, right?

Plus, we were doing a little target practice with the seagulls, and I inadvertently hit a duck instead. But hey, my aim is improving.

Side note, EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE.

Another side note we couldn't more obviously be tourists. Besides the fact that all of us have cameras hanging around our necks, we have all transformed from what used to be creamy white Minnesotans into half white, half splotchy tomato red, because apparently, the sun burns even while behind the clouds. More than a few locals stopped us to show concern and warn us to wear put sunscreen on next time..."And make sure it's higher than SPF 30!"
Pfft...we knew that... just decided against it..

But it was intentional.

Adventure of the day: we boarded the city bus with no idea how to use it and no idea where we were going. Who knew city buses went off-roading? Also, absolutely no regard for curbs or roundabouts. Apparently the best way to handle them is going right over them. And the bus driver thought WE were crazy...

That's all. Hope you're having fun in Minnesota!

Manders

Living out of a suitcase

All righty. To start off with, New Zealanders are stingy about their internet. We did a trek across the city while Kaylee tried to find a place to connect to with her phone, but to no avail.
Our two most successful finds though - McDonalds gives you free internet for half an hour if you buy something, and Starbucks only charges 6 dollars for an entire day. That's where we are now.

So, parents, that 6 dollars was spent to assure you all that we're not dead.

We're staying in a hostel swarming with people ranging from 18 to 25ish. Feels....a little bit like summer camp, community breakfasts and suppers, wash your own dishes, shoes optional, be aggressive or you won't get any food. It's cool. I feel like our group is the odd one out.
Oh wait, it is..

The city is surrounded by mountains. Seriously. It doesn't matter which way you look there are mountains as far as the eye can see. It's incredible. I'm so blown away by the magnificence of my surroundings. I could live here and be satisfied for the rest of my life.
I mean...there's no Walmart but...

This week we're looking at going kayaking on the lake, and then doing some canyoning. You might be wondering what canyoning is...well so am I. I think it involves some sort of waterfall sliding...whatever it is, it's a fun alternative to skydiving, which I was seriously considering for a while. (don't tell papa)

Also, it's like 20 dollars to ride this gondola all the way up the side of the mountain, so I think we're doing that tomorrow. It looks something like this:

Ahem, yes please.

Yesterday we had our free supper at the hostel, after which we got a few groceries to snack on and then retired to our rooms for a quick nap before we were going to head out to the bar for live music aannnnddd that's the last thing I remember before I woke up at 5:30 fully clothed and realized all of us had basically passed out in our beds. So we missed the live music but also managed to get over any jet lag we might have had relatively quickly.

Manders

Airborne

January something, 2011. 30th? The elusive 31st? I do not know anymore..

I have lost all perception of time and reality. It's as if I've been sitting here my whole life. My family's faces and the faces of those dearest to me are slowly slipping from my grasp as I sit here and attempt to maintain what little sanity I have left, but I fear that I can not and will not win the battle with this impenetrable fog. 

There's a very large man who occupies the seat in front of me with a seat too small and nowhere to go but back. 

There is absolutely no position that can possibly be considered comfortable enough to sleep in, but some of these poor wretches have managed to catch a few winks anyways. As for myself, my rear end gets the worst of it no matter where I try to maneuver. Apparently at one point Christine and I had nowhere to go but to towards each other, and we ended up falling asleep, literally, on each others' faces. 

Ah but alas, I just remembered the half a bottle of complimentary wine waiting in the seat pocket in front of me. Heaven does care. 

*Ahem*

Our dinner was actually quite nice to be honest. Some sort of chicken with rice and peas and beans, with a dinner roll and a delicious caramel dessert. Ah! And I just re-discovered our "refresh" packet with snackies and water in it. I think they gave it to us what felt like immediately after our meal while I was trying to sleep so I was thinking, "Really? No thanks, how about a queen-sized mattress"

My hair is so greasy. To everyone who expects me to snag an Australian man while I'm here, don't count on me being able to attract anything in the state I'm in. It's not pretty, let me tell you. 

Landing in Auckland, NZ was pretty anticlimactic because we're at an airport with not a whole lot of incredible scenery. It's a little different on the inside, but all in all just the same old, same old. 

The plan here was to drink a little wine, have a little fun, and then enjoy the sleep aid as it wore off. Instead, it made me dizzy and I spent most of the rest of the flight inhaling deeply with my head on the seat in front of me. 

Laptops, microwaves, walkie-talkies and furbies - not allowed. 

World-Class Travelers

And so begins our 7 hour layover in LAX. 

The trip so far has been uneventful. Interesting, but no trauma or disaster. Which, to me is a good thing. This means we've been successful adult travelers and I'm quite proud of our familial little group. 

The sendoff was painless. We were all under the luggage weight limit! And airport workers are surprisingly nice and helpful. Yaayy. Not that they shouldn't be but…I have this image in my mind of a middle-aged woman named Bertha who hates her job and could care less if we end up on our correct flight or not. 

Ahh the excitement! Things are slowly sinking in. There was something satisfying about being on our very first flight. As our wheels left the ground, I turned to the group and said, "This is the last time we'll see Minnesota ground in five months". Oof. 

I passed most of the first flight reading The Hunger Games, which I managed to get halfway through. Two summers ago I read the entire HP series in just a few weeks, because I couldn't put the books down. So far, it's pretty much like that. 

Halfway through the flight we started bouncing around a little bit, to which the pilot responded by announcing, "I'm sure you're wondering what all the movement is about…well so are we". 

Ummm…come again?

But that little glitch was counteracted by the complimentary hot dogs, so I left happy. 

As our plane pulled into the terminal, we caught a few glimpses of some of the Qantas double-decker planes. We took it really well.

"WHHOOOAAA OMG look at how big that plane is!!"

"HOLY MOSES THAT THING IS A BEAST"

"Yeah it totally has a pool on the top floor. And a bowling alley!!"

"COOOOLLLLL"

"Haha yeah, sucks to be you, American Airlines!"

This process has became one of our main sources of entertainment while we sit in the terminal and wait, because it repeats every time a new plane rolls in. Joe is the happiest I've probably ever seen him, in his faithful spot by the terminal window, oohing and ahhing like a kid on the fourth of July. 

I anticipated greasy hair and body odor (dry shampoo and deodorant) but I didn't anticipate my feet smelling this much. 

Oh, I almost forgot, I SAW MOUNTAINS FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY. Holy crap, check that one off the bucket list, one of the most fulfilling moments of my pitiful little life. 

And it only gets better from here! Heehh yeeaaahhhh :D

We celebrated our successful layover by stopping at Burger King for a wholesome dinner. Christine tried to get free food from the workers for her extended wait, who didn't take very kindly to her suggestion. 

And now here we are, at gate 48B, one which I'm sure we'll all be very familiar with by the time we leave. We've camped out in our own little cozy corner, next to the outlet of deceit, using laptops with no internet connection. That means, no real blogging (word document), no New Girl episodes, and no Facebook creeping, which everyone knows is one of the best ways to waste time. I also have Twitter now, which I can't tweet the crap out of either. Sorry to deprive all of you of my precious gems of knowledge and wisdom and that I must refrain from spamming your feeds with my minute-by-minute updates. 

P.S. Don't steal this idea because I'm pretty sure he wants it patented, but Joe's next multi-million dollar idea - airplanes with glass flooring…."where every seat is a window seat!"

Brenna and I slow danced for a while. That was nice.

Feasting like kings

Joe got pranked...