Day Fifteen January 26, 2008 Saturday

Today I woke up around eight. I had some breakfast and packed up all of my sleeping gear. The girl who usually assists with packing the trailers was injured a few days ago in Christchurch. I decided that today would be a good day to use my muscles and show my stuff. I packed one of the trailers with all of the bags, and did a pretty bang up job. The trailers are small, and they have to fit a whole lot of different sized bags, it is kind of like playing Jenga! After we were all packed up we hopped in the vans and rolled out of Cromwell at about ten. We drove for a couple of hours and ended up stopping at the Kaurau river bungee jumping site that I have been telling you all about. It was a little shocking to be there, and no one really wanted to jump today because we wanted the feelings of anticipation, so we just watched a few jumps and got back in the vans. We pulled over for lunch a little ways outside of Queenstown right alongside a beautiful lake, that was absolutely breathtaking. Finally after lunch we all piled into the vans again and headed off, knowing that our next stop would be home! We arrived in Invercargill at around three, to a spectacularly beautiful day. It is so gorgeous here, and the city is small, but very diverse, and I can tell it will be very fun to explore. We pulled into a small car park across the street from our school (SIT) and unloaded our trailers. When we were all unloaded we sat back and waited for our family, the Duncan’s, to come and pick us up. Everybody’s family kept coming except mine and Erin’s. It was a little sad for a few minutes, we felt kind of like the ugly puppies that only get adopted after all of the cute ones are gone! We needn’t have worried though, our family came in the end, and the saying good things come to those who wait has never rung truer! My mom’s name is Vicki and her husband Mark. They have two girls, Taylor who is 13 and Sophie who is 10. They are all white, big, and blonde, so I fit right in! They are not Maori, but they were all born and raised right here in Invercargill. We hopped into Vicki’s car and we headed to the house. The Duncan’s live a ways outside of town in a little village called Otatara. They are going to give us a car, but there is a problem, it is a manual transmission, and neither Erin nor I know how to drive one! We aren’t planning on driving it often, but to church would be nice! I have no idea what we are going to do! Here is the best part though, the Duncan’s live on a ten acre patch of land with cows and chickens! My dad has always said I should live on a farm, well I live on a very small scale one today, so I guess he will be happy! I am seriously so excited, my family is so nice and sweet and they told us that we really live there, that we are just one of the family. One of the cows calved yesterday and a batch of chicks was born two days ago. Also there is a dog named Ziggy, who is almost as cute as Buddy and about the same age. I am so glad she is here, because she will keep me from missing Buddy too much! Once Erin and I unpacked and got settled the Duncan’s asked us if we wanted to go to a barbeque, of course we were thrilled to meet some other New Zealanders and heartily accepted! We all piled into the car again and headed off to their friend’s house Gordon and Deborah. Some other friends named Gregg and Lisa were there too. All the adults were drinking of course, but the conversation and food was so good that the time just flew by. Gordon and Deborah had just returned from a trip to America, and it was so fun to hear some of the same reactions they had about our country that we had about theirs! Before we knew it it was ten and Erin and I could barely keep our eyes open. I am so exhausted that I think I might fall asleep right this second, but it has been an amazing day. I seriously cannot believe my luck with my family. I realized this will be the first time I have lived in a traditional family setting for about six years. I am so excited for the next three months that I need to go to sleep now so I can wake up and start having a blast! (Too bad we have church tomorrow!)