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!)

Day Fourteen January 25, 2008 Friday

Today we woke up at 6:30 in the morning. We were packed up and ready to go quickly, with muffins in the van for breakfast. We all piled into the vans and headed out. We stopped not too far into the drive at a glacial river. It was seriously the color of glacier freeze flavored Gatorade, I wonder if that is where they got the name? We then drove to an actual glacier and took a small hike up to get to a point where we could really see it, It was amazing! Our third stop we made at the biggest glacier of all, it took up the whole side of the mountain, and was all different colors. It was absolutely beautiful. What was really amazing to me was that there was this huge glacier coming down the side of the mountain, and all around it were hills of lush tropical-forest type foliage with waterfalls and sheer cliffs! It was an amazing thing to behold, and really made me appreciate some of God’s finer creations. After the last glacier we had lunch and piled in the vans again. The whole trip took over ten hours, and at least eight of them were in the vans, if not longer. We watched two movies and talked a lot. It goes without saying that we are all extremely sick of each other and ready for this last van ride tomorrow that will finally bring us to Invercargill. When we finally reached Cromwell we lounged for a while, then ate dinner. I played some volleyball after dinner for about an hour, and that was fun. Now I am really ready for bed.

Day Thirteen January 24, 2008 Thursday

Today we woke up super early and packed and grabbed breakfast on the run. We piled into the vans and headed across the island to Greymouth. The drive seemed to take about a hundred years, but I can’t say it wasn’t beautiful. We drove through Arthur’s Pass, which was breathtaking. Also, after we had lunch we did a short hike called the Devil’s Punchbowl up to a gorgeous waterfall! It was a beautiful hike, and a wonderful finish. After our hike we all got back in again and started driving for another few hours. All told we probably drove about six hours today. When we finally arrived in Greymouth everyone got really excited because we are literally on the beach. Not joking I am probably a hundred yards from the Tasman Sea at this moment separated only by a couple of bushes. When we got here we all went out to the beach and fell asleep and talked in the sun. We would have played games, but it is a rocky beach, not a sandy one. We eventually had dinner and then went to the grocery store to by supplies for tomorrow’s van ride. When we came back we all went out to the beach again to watch the sunset, which was absolutely breathtaking. Now I am ready for bed. We have an insanely long van ride tomorrow, at the very least ten hours, because we are driving from Greymouth to Cromwell. We will get in really late and then arrive in Invercargill Saturday morning. Man am I ready to have a home and a bed, I can’t wait to meet my new family!

Day Twelve January 23, 2008 Wednesday

Today we were able to sleep in a bit, which was really nice. We ate breakfast around 9:30, got ready for the day, and headed to Christchurch around eleven. Luckily, the weather couldn’t have been more opposite from yesterday, it was beautiful!!! When we first arrived a bunch of the girls decided to go to the jade factory. I got a couple of presents for people, but nothing for myself. I was tempted, but my rational side reminded me that I really don’t wear necklaces, and green doesn’t look that great on me anyway! After the jade factory we broke up into smaller groups. I ended up spending almost the entire day with my tent buddy Julia. I totally love this girl, she is easy-going and probably the sweetest person I have ever met. First when we got to cathedral square we checked out the little souvenir shops. We didn’t really find anything that was well-priced and non-tacky. After the shops we saw a man that was called Lord Livingstone, and that was exactly what he was. It was a man dressed in a stone-like outfit that pretended to be a statue, it was incredible! After the funny man we checked out some of the statues and went into the cathedral. Our first reaction was shocked awe. The cathedral was done in the neo-gothic style, and it was so incredible inside we were both amazed. We decided to fork up the two dollars to climb to the top of the tower so we could look out over the whole city. I have to say the view was worth it, but there were so many steps we both decided they should be paying us! After the cathedral we went to the little outdoor marketplace. It was full of all sorts of cute little shops and fun handmade knick knacks. Again I was tempted, but decided not to splurge. After the little market place we went to lunch at a little coffee house called the coffee club. Words cannot describe how good my sandwich was after a week and a half of pb&j for lunch! Julia and I decided to split a slice of boysenberry cheesecake, and I’m not even going to try to describe how amazing that was, I’ll just end up salivating uncontrollably! After lunch a bunch of people went back to the jade factory, but Julia and I decided to check out the local art gallery. The pieces were mostly by students, but they did some truly amazing things with everyday oils and materials. Finally we ended our trip to Christchurch by getting pulled over for not wearing our seatbelt! (just our driver, but still it was $150!) When we got back to our little apartments we had some dinner and hung out and talked a lot. I played a super competitive game of Ultimate with some of the kids, but it got dark really fast so we had to cut it short. We finished the evening by starting the Holiday on my computer, but most everyone fell asleep, so I ended up turning it off after an hour.

Day Eleven January 22, 2008 Tuesday

Today, despite the promise that we were going to be able to sleep late and take it easy, they woke us up bright and early and told us we had half an hour to eat breakfast and pack up camp. After scrambling around we finally pulled out of our camp around 8:30. We hopped in the vans and drove for a few hours. Most of the time I read my book, but we also played a few car games that were really fun. One game we played was called make the link. Basically one person would come up with two actors and we would have to make a chain of movies and other actors to get from one to the other. So for example, Meg Ryan and Pierce Brosnan: Meg Ryan was in Kate and Leopold with Hugh Jackman, Hugh Jackman was in X-Men with Halle Berry, and Halle Berry was in James Bond with Pierce Brosnan! It sounds kind of dumb, but it is actually really hard and fun! Finally when we got to Christchurch we pulled into the LDS church and had lunch on the lawn: cliché? Yes. After lunch we went to the Christchurch botanical gardens. This was quite possibly the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. The best part was that it wasn’t just flowers, there were gigantic trees everywhere with grass and winding paths. We did find one greenhouse that had a section called flowering plants, this room was full of the biggest most beautiful flowers I have ever seen in my entire life, some were bigger than my head or a large rock! After looking at the flowers for a while I walked into town with my friend Janessa to find a bank so I could finally get rid of my American money. After we found the bank it started to rain pretty hard, so we all piled into the vans to check into our campsite. Little did we know that they had a surprise for us: We get to sleep in beds! There are four of us to a room, but we really get to sleep on beds with mattresses and everything! Who knew a bed would be the best gift you could ever get? Once we all settled in I went to the store with another group and bought some really cheap jeans so that I would have something casual to wear other than basketball shorts and track pants. When we got back the dinner crew made grilled cheese and tomato soup, which was absolutely heavenly! After dinner I took a shower so that I would be ready to go into town. Unfortunately the rain had picked up so most of the cool things in town were cancelled. Most of the girls ended up staying here and we all crowded into our bedroom and told stories. I am really excited to explore Christchurch tomorrow, I sure hope it stays dry!

Day Ten January 21, 2008 Monday

Today we woke up a little later than usual, seeing as we had nowhere we really needed to rush off to. I ended up waking up at about 8:45 in the morning and packing up my tent by myself because my tent-mates were on cooking duty. After I got done packing up my little campsite I headed over to the internet station and was able to talk to Alex on IM. It was so great to talk to him and so many other people the night before, I miss everyone, but I truly am having a blast. After we finally got breakfast around ten we loaded up the vans and drove the short distance to the Queen Charlotte Trek. I guess the trek is known world-wide and very long. We ended up only hiking about an hour up the trail and then back. The trek was beautiful and the lake below the trail had beautiful blue water and there was jungle and rainforest all around us. After we got back to the vans about two hours after we started we drove another hour back to Blenheim where we had church. While we were there we went to the grocery store and everyone bought a whole bunch of different New Zealand items. My van buddy Stephanie and I decided to get some foccacia bread that looked and smelled amazing! Finally we got back in the vans and drove another few hours south to the town of Kia Kora. The town is a little touristy, so we didn’t stop, but on the way there were some amazing beaches with thousands of seals sleeping on the rocks! It was really cool to see, like something straight from the Discovery channel. We also stopped on a black sand beach and played around a little as well. When we finally got to camp we set everything up and ate dinner, we had skipped lunch in the process of everything so everyone was starving! After dinner we went to the beach for a while, but there were huge waves and it was rocky and rainy, so we couldn’t really play ultimate Frisbee or go swimming. When we came back from the beach we decided to play three-minute murder, which is a hilarious charades game that you play when you have a huge group of people. After playing that for a while we all started to wind down and are getting ready to hit the sack. It is amazing how easy it is to go to bed at a decent time and wake up at a decent time when you fill your days with so much activity!

Day Nine January 20, 2008 Sunday

Today was Sunday, technically my second full day of the week in New Zealand. We all woke up really early so we could eat breakfast and drive the hour to Blenheim to get to church. The faces of everyone when we walked into the chapel were priceless! We easily doubled the numbers with our little group. I enjoyed listening to the accents and seeing the wonder and respect in the people’s eyes as they talk about the leaders of the church. I have always loved and respected President Hinckley, but he has always been just a few miles away. For these people he is half-way across the world, and probably always will be. All three hours for the girls were held in the chapel. After Sunday school the boys went out into the hall for priesthood. After we got back pretty much everyone decided to take a nap. Our advisor, Mark, asked us to really make today a day of rest because we have been going so hard for so long and we still have a week before we get to Invercargill. So my tent-mates and I brought our sleeping pads and bags outside and took a nap under a big tree in a field. It is amazing how quickly I have acclimated to sleeping on the ground, because I fell asleep immediately! When I woke up I got to get on the internet for just a few minutes and then we had dinner. After dinner we all got in a group meeting to discuss some of the problems we have been having. I guess we have been a little too loud during meals and at night. We stay in Holiday family parks and so we forget sometimes that we are surrounded by other people with kids and stuff who are also trying to have a good vacation. Our group is going to really work on it so that there are no more problems. After the meeting we hurried to go on a quick hike to a nearby waterfall, but unfortunately we didn’t get to it before we had to turn around and come back for devotional. Maybe I will go again in the morning before we pack up. As for now I am totally wiped and ready to go to sleep so I can continue my adventure tomorrow!

Day Eight January 19, 2008 Saturday

Today we woke up amazingly early so that we could get to Wellington at a decent time. We had bagels and cream cheese as we sat in the vans and headed out in a hurry. I was able to get a quick cat-nap in the van, and then we chitty-chatted the rest of the way. When we got to Wellington we made sure that we could find our ferry loading zone, then we made our way into town. Once we got into town we headed towards a free museum close to where we parked. It was pretty neat to look at the Maori artifacts and comparisons to what New Zealand used to be and what it is today. Once we walked around for a while a few of us found a little restaurant row and got some lunch. Unfortunately we only had seven dollars, so all we could afford was McDonalds. I guess I could have spent my own money, but I really like the equality and balance that we have struck among our group. I decided to get McDonalds just like everyone else, and it was delicious. We looked around the museum a little more after lunch, and then we drove over to the ferry that would finally take us to the south island. I was so excited, not only because I had never driven onto a boat before, but it felt like we were taking a big step towards home! I know that sounds silly, I haven’t even seen my Invercargill home, but I literally can’t wait to meet my family and sleep in a bed and call one place home. Well after waiting for a while we finally drove onto the ferry and headed up to the passenger deck. It was fun to be on a boat, but there was little to do, so I ended up working on pictures and charging my computer and talking to friends a lot. That is another thing, I honestly can’t believe that I have been lucky enough to be put together with this group of people. One girl made the comment that she had the nicest and sweetest tent-mate, and before she could tell me who it was it occurred to me that she could say any of the 34 names and I would agree with her. I love each and every person that I am on this great adventure with. I am learning so much about myself and how life is meant to be lived, free and happy with friends at your side and a positive attitude about what is ahead of you. I love this experience and I only expect it to get better. After the three hour boat ride we landed in Picton, the little shore town on the very tip of the south island. We loaded back in the vans and drove to our little campsite. The site was beautiful and there was a great sense of peace throughout the camp after the hectic day we had had and the exhausting hike the night before. Immediately I was put in charge of managing the wireless internet (apparently the advisors think I should be in charge of everything that deals with technology!). It was ok though, I was able to get on for a couple of minutes, and hopefully I will be able to update my blog tomorrow. We ate a really disgusting dinner of ramen, but I don’t think anyone cared that much. After dinner I was able to take a hot shower (gasp…AMAZING!), but wait it gets better, I was also able to blow-dry my hair for the first time in a week!!!!!!!!! I can’t tell you how easy it is to appreciate the smallest things when you are in this country. I realize now how lucky I truly am. I know that a lot of my friends and family are living a whole lot better off than I currently am, but I literally felt like the luckiest girl in the world with clean dry hair. I know that it is pretty impossible to top all that (I mean literally!). But in addition to all that extravagance, I was also able to wash all of my clothes in an actual washing machine, and dry them so they could no longer smell like mildew! Could this day get any better? I submit that it could not! Well I have to admit that I am insanely exhausted and we have to wake up bright and early to drive to church an hour away. Have a wonderful night everyone, I know that I will and am.

Day Seven January 18, 2008 Friday

I guess the only way to comment on this day is WOW…or maybe OW!!!! We woke up in Taupo and had crumpets for breakfast and quickly packed up the vans. We drove out of the city a ways, maybe an hour and a half. Finally we arrived at our hike, Mount Doom! The hike was roughly 12 miles long, but the first 4 ½ were so steep and rocky that it seriously felt like we were rock climbing rather than hiking. A lot of the out of shape people stayed behind, but I decided to go for it. As a result I ended up being one of the last people back to camp, and a little outside or target time, but I finished it! I can honestly say that I don’t think I have pushed myself harder had a more challenging physical experience in my life! I know that 12 miles doesn’t seem like a long hike, but until you see the terrain you could not possibly begin to understand how difficult it was! There were some amazing views, and it was really cool to see all of the places that they filmed Mordor and the Mount Doom scene. I saw some brilliantly aqua-blue lakes, and a red mountain, plus some beautiful country-side! Despite all the amazing things I saw, I still don’t think the absolute exhaustion was worth it. But I did realize something though, even if the views weren’t worth it, the experience was. I learned a lot about myself today, and I want to think that I grew a lot too. I have never had to convince myself to put one foot in front of the other or push myself so hard in my entire life! The hike took about six and a half hours, so we literally got back to our vans, drove to Palmerston North and set up camp. Now I am so tired that I don’t think my own will can support my body a second longer. I am off to bed because we have to wake up super early tomorrow so that we can get to the ferry on time to travel to the south island. Good night!

Day Six January 17, 2008 Thursday

We woke up at around eight today. I went to bed right after I finished my journal last night, so I think I got about ten whole hours! It felt amazing to get a good long night’s sleep. We quickly packed up the campsite and had breakfast. I had New Zealand cereal for the first time today, and I have to admit, it was a little weird! Almost every kind of cereal is some form of Wheat Bix. I had the crunchy kind of Wheat Bix, because I like my cereal to crunch, but even the crunchy kind was pretty soggy. I had a look at some of the other kinds after the milk was added, and it was pretty much soup, ick! After breakfast we all climbed into the vans again and head towards Taupo. The car ride was fairly long and every single person in my van fell asleep It was pretty funny, because I shared the backseat with this really sweet girl named Stephanie and she layed completely out on the seat and put her legs over my left leg, so that made me want to lay down so I layed down and put my right leg over her! So basically we were all completely out cold because when we woke up and everyone looked at the positions they had gotten themselves into we all started laughing hysterically! A little ways outside of Taupo we stopped at Huka falls to check them out. I have to be honest, I have never seen bluer water in my entire life, If I wasn’t looking at it with my own eyes I would swear it was fake! After the falls we had lunch and then went the rest of the way into Taupo. When we pulled into Taupo we played a little Frisbee and set up camp. After we got camp set up we all drove down to the beach. Because I had gotten fried the day before I decided to go with most of the rest of my previous-day beach cuddies to walk around town. The shops that we went into were pretty cool, especially the All Blacks store went to, which is the rugby team down here. We walked around for a while, but again most of the stores were closed. We finally decided to go to an internet café and check our e-mails. Because all of my information is on my laptop I was unable to update my blog, but it was nice to e-mail my Dad, who happened to be on at the same time! When we came back to camp we had some dinner and played a rousing game of ultimate. A few of the girls helped put some aloe on my back, and all I got was gasps, so I guess it is pretty bad. Now it is bedtime again because I have a very intense hike tomorrow! Love ya all!

Day Five January 16, 2008 Wednesday

Today I had to wake up at about 6:15 to fix breakfast. It was my group’s day to cook, and it was a really long day! We spent about four straight hours in the kitchen cooking breakfast, putting together sack lunches for everyone, and marinating the chicken for tonight. Finally at around 10:30 the group split into two, one went to town and the agrodome, the other went to the beach. I chose to go to the beach, although I think I am regretting that decision now. Not only did the other group seem to do some really cool things, like zorbing, but also, despite the copious amounts of sunscreen I lathered on, I am completely fried. The beach was beautiful and the waves were huge, the biggest I have seen in my life. We buried one of the girls in sand and went boogie bording. Finally I had to come home a little early to get dinner ready. However, I got home before most everyone else, so I took a shower and washed my clothes while I was at it (yeah, I washed my clothes in the shower with one of those travel Tide packs!). After dinner we went to the Maori cultural center and watched some traditional New Zealand performances. It was really neat, we saw both poi and haka dances. When we came back we had ice cream, and I discovered that somehow I managed to cut the middle of my foot really really deep. I cleaned the cut and put a bandage on it, but it is so deep that it hurts to walk. Suffice it to say that even though it is only 10:00 and everyone is still up, with my foot and sunburn I am more than ready to go to bed. We leave Roto Rua early tomorrow morning to drive to Taupo.

Day Four January 15, 2008 Tuesday

Today I woke up at about 8:00. I felt 100% better from the night before and ready to start the day! First thing we did was have breakfast, It was amazing, French toast, fruit, whipped cream, and syrup, mmmmmm! After breakfast we packed up our tents and said goodbye to all of our friends at the backpackers lodge and headed to Rotorua. The car ride was fun, my friends had a ‘get to know Becky’ session, so I got to tell my life story. Also, my friend Stephanie fell asleep on my shoulder and drooled a little on me, it was hilarious! When we pulled into this new lodge we were amazed at how every single place seems to get better and better. The bathrooms at this place are absolutely amazing and we have a big kitchen too! Once we had our tents pitched and everything and ate lunch, Mark told us that we were going to go to a luge and gondola ride. Now I have been on the luge at park city, so I was expecting something similar to that, but I could not have been more wrong. This place was like a go-cart race track down a mountain with no guard rails and sharp turns! I swear, the best thing about New Zealand is that they have absolutely no regard for personal safety! We rode up the mountain in a gondola that over-looked one of the most amazing views that I have ever seen in my life. We all got our tickets for our five luge rides and got in line. I was on video duty of course and got a few interviews and impressions about the luging. When I finally got in line and was ready to go I decided to film the actual ride itself. So there I was barreling down a hill holding onto a thin little metal crossbar between the handles and trying to keep the camera steady while not crashing to my death! Frankly I think the picture of me would have been fairly hysterical! After I finally got down the hill I got on the chairlift to go back up and put the camera away to enjoy my other four rides. The luge was very fun and exciting, and has basically ruined all wussy American luges for me for the rest of my life! After the luging adventures a few people went swimming in the lake, while others went shopping. Because I forgot a towel and conditioner I decided to go with the shopping group. The most amazing thing about New Zealanders is that they don’t like to work. Work is just something they do until they go home, not an integral part of life. As a result, almost all stores close at 4:30 pm! Because we didn’t get to town until 6:00 we were pretty much out of luck. It was really fun to walk around and look in the windows though, and we did finally find a supermarket that was open that I was able to get a towel, shampoo and conditioner, and some toothpaste, which I also forgot. When we came home we were supposed to have dinner, but the burners were being slow, so we didn’t end up eating until 9:00. In the mean time my tent buddies and I had a small tent party with about five other girls, so there were about eight people in our little three-person tent! Also I got to play doctor to a few people who had cuts and stuff. Eventually dinner was finally ready and it was delicious, and finished off with amazing ice cream. After that I took a shower and shaved my legs, I will never underestimate the beauty of a good shower and shaved legs again in my life! When I got back to my tent I was trying to read my scriptures and write in my journal, but my roommates and I ended up having a giggle-fest for about an hour! Now they are both finally asleep and I am about ready to pass out too, goodnight!

First Pic on the left is of the rabbit being shorn. The picture on the right is a pre-shearing pic, can you believe the fur! The image in the middle is us right after we went caving. And the picture on the very bottom is of the mists this morning!

Day Three January 14, 2008 Monday

This might be the last time I can update for a while, so I am going to do it now so you can see the amazing stuff from today!

This morning we woke up super early, 6:45 to be exact! When I first climbed out of my tent I looked out on the fields that are surrounding our campsite, and there was a misty fog covering everything but the treetops, it was absolutely gorgeous. The mist made me feel a little like I was standing in a sinking ship or looking at a mystical forest or something. I put on my swimsuit as quickly as I possibly could and brushed my teeth and hair. There was no time for breakfast as I was in the very first group to go black-water rafting. We only had to walk across the little lane to the caving place. The first thing we did was sign release forms. Then they took us down to the open little area where they fitted us with wet suits and helmets with lights on the head. Putting on the wet suits was pretty funny, and we broke out into song more than once! Once we were all suited up we drove about two miles down the road to a little clearing with a stream running through it. We picked out our inner tubes and practiced jumping backwards off the dock so that we wouldn’t freak out when we had to jump off the waterfalls in the dark cave. After we got our inner tubes we hiked a ways up the hill in our wetsuits to the opening of the cave (PS: wetsuits are quite possibly the most uncomfortable hiking clothing of all time!). Finally it was time to climb into the caves. It was really rocky and jagged, but kind of cool too. We had to hike a ways into the caves before we got to the river part, but that was fine, the caves were really interesting. We stopped in a little tunnel and learned all about the glowworms. It was pretty cool, they basically live in a cocoon for nine months eating food that is attracted by their glowing bums and then live for two days, just long enough to lay a couple hundred eggs. Finally it was time to get in our tubes as we paddled and pushed our way through a labyrinth of tunnels filled with glowing worms on the ceilings. At one point we had to jump backwards off of a ten-foot waterfall, and I happened to be the lucky first contestant! We spent probably an hour and 15 minutes underground, and it was a total blast. After we came out of the tunnels we floated down a little stream for a while until we reached the vans again. When we got to the vans we all piled in and went back to the main place and stripped off our wetsuits. They gave us tomato soup and bagels when we got back, and I don’t think I have ever had more delicious soup in my entire life! When we came back we bummed around for a while and I did some picture managing. Around one we had some lunch and then hiked down the road a ways to the angora rabbit shearers. We walked into the little shop and rounded the corner and I found myself face-to-face with the fluffiest bunny I have seen in my entire life! They shear the bunnies to spin the wool and make some of the softest clothing of all time. When they shear the bunnies they actually tie all of their legs up and spin them around, kind of like a pig on spit! It was so funny watching this little bunny getting shaved, I wanted to feel bad, but I could tell that the bunny was so happy to just get a haircut! After the bunny shaving tutorial we walked back to camp and hung out for a while longer. It was nice to just sit and relax after the days we have been having. I was able to blog and get a few pictures up. After a while we had dinner and talked. I started to feel a bit queasy so I took a shower and tried to take it easy. Hopefully I will feel better in the morning. I’m sure I will. I have already had to doctor a few injuries and sicknesses. I am definitely keeping busy, and having a total blast!

Top is me in front of the Hamilton Temple Welcome sign with my friend Alison. Second row isa group shot with all of us loking in different directions in front of the temple on the left and on of our twelve passenger vans with the trailers on the right. The third row is a beautiful valley on the left and the Hamilton Temple on Right.

Day Two January 13, 2008 Sunday

Today we woke up around eight. The first thing we did was clean up a little bit in the bathrooms, then we ate breakfast. It was fairly good for being microwave eggs and unthawed hashbrowns and mushy bananas! It is amazing how everything seems to taste a hundred times better when you are camping. As it was Sunday we kind of took it easy. After breakfast we packed up our bags and our tents and cleared out. The vans we are in are actually pretty cool. There are three big vans for the 34 students and one van for Mark and his wife and three kids. Mark’s van is like a mini-van, but ours are full-on 12 passenger, biggest you can get. The seating is actually pretty cool too, there is a front bench, with the driver on the right of course. Also, the vans are manual transmissions, and the stick shift is on the left too, not very easy for our right-handed drivers! The next seat back is just a two-seater right behind the driver. The next row is a similar two seat and then one lone seat on the left with an aisle in-between the two. The seat is very uncomfortable, but there is a lot of leg room (I sat in this seat today). The next row back is another two-seater on the right. The final row is a three-person bench that takes up the width of the van just like the front. The really interesting thing about this seating arrangement is when you think about it there are only three of the twelve people on the left side of the car! Anyway, back to the day, after we loaded up into the vans we drove about three miles out to a little stretch of beach and had our own little church devotional. We didn’t have the sacrament, but we had a hymn, prayers, and three short little talks on gratitude. I know that the sacrament is important, and that the goup setting, with all of us in our jeans and shorts wasn’t really spiritual, but I don’t think I have ever felt more grateful for my life as I did when I was looking out on that beautiful little beach cove. Not only was I grateful for the beauty that was right in front of my eyes, but also for the opportunity I have to be here, how much everyone I love contributed to getting me here in their own way, and how lucky I am to have so many people care about me. So right now, I just want to say thank you to everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart right up to the top. When our devotional was over Mark and the boys went to fill up the vans, so the rest of us sat on the beach and meditated for about 45 minutes. It was gorgeous and I really enjoyed sitting there thinking about how incredible this was, how beautiful my surroundings were, how wonderful the light breeze was on my face, and how bad I felt for all the pale people back home while I was turning a nice golden brown! When Mark got back we loaded up again and started to drive towards Hamilton. About an hour or two outside Hamilton we stopped for lunch in a little town called Paura which is actually the town that they make L&P drink, it stands for lemon and Paura! Apparently they make it there because the water is soooo pure. The pure water fountains were turned off in the park we ate at, but our ham, salami, mayonnaise, mustard, and potato chip sandwiches were delicious after so much driving. After lunch we packed back in the vans and drove to the temple in Hamilton. The temple literally sits in the middle of a field, with nothing around it! The temple was beautiful and we had fun taking pictures and talking to the few people milling around. The visitor’s center and temple were closed for Sunday, but it was still fun to see it. After hanging around the temple for about an hour and twenty minutes we got back in the vans and drove about another hour to Waitomo and to our little campsite. I have to say that I really like this campsite, the grass is soft and springy, and they have really cheap internet! Internet was only $2 for 40 minutes, so I finally got to talk to everyone. After dinner (amazingly delicious spaghetti) I got on the internet and did my thing. As soon as my time ran out they called a group meeting and we talked about the things we needed to be aware of and any announcements for tomorrow’s activities. Tomorrow soudslike it is going to be an absolute blast, but I won’t spoil it in advance! Now I am VERY ready for bed, another beautiful night under the most gorgeous stars of all time. Its good to be alive.

Day One January 12, 2008

After flying all night and getting absolutely no sleep on the plane, we finally arrived in New Zealand at about 6:45 AM on Saturday (which is 10:45 am Friday for you Utah people!). We all trudged off the planes with our carry on and went down the long corridor, and even longer line for customs. Finally it was my turn, I was obviously a little nervous, having never gone through customs before, and I think the lady could tell, she asked me all sorts of questions, I think she just liked to watch me squirm as I tried to come up with the right answer! Finally when she was about to let me through she informed me that there was a problem with my visa, it was coming up as a visitors and not a student. While they tried to fix it I went to get my bags, man people are crazy when they get into hoards! When I finally got my bags they had fixed the visa issues and I went through a final bag check and x-ray. Some people, those carrying tents had to stay behind to get their equipment checked for American soil, the rest of us went out to the big 15 passenger vans and started packing the trailers (By the way I am eternally grateful to my tent-mate Erin for suffering through that!). You would not believe how weird it is for the driver to be on the other side of the car, and the cars to be on the other side of the road! I didn’t drive, because the vans turned out to be manuals and not automatics, so I filmed a lot of the packing and preliminary stuff. After everyone was loaded up we went to a park and played around for a while. I went into a hotel and quickly used the internet to send everyone a message, and then spent a good hour charging my camcorder. After falling asleep on the couch of the hotel, I decided it was probably time to go outside and enjoy the New Zealand air while we waited for our advisor to finish some of his own stuff. I mostly listened to my iPod in the grass, but it was beautiful, and the perfect temperature. I even got a little bit of sun, in January!!!! When our advisor came back he had fish and chips for us to eat for lunch, I have to say, even though there was almost enough grease and tomato paste to cover up the fishy taste, I still wasn’t a fan, although I did eat one whole fish piece, with lemon squirted over it, Dad would have died! When lunch was over we all piled into vans again and left Auckland, we really don’t care too much about the city stuff while we are here. We decided to take the scenic route to Whitanga (pronounced fitianga). It was beautiful driving along the coast with rocky cliffs on our other side. After about three and a half hours in the car, so around 4:30, we finally arrived. The first thing we did was set up our tent in our campsite. I am sleeping with two girls named Julia and Erin, they are awesome. After we got all situated a bunch of us decided to go down to the beach for a while before the sun went down. We had so much fun skin surfing and playing in the waves, and the water was perfect. After the sun went behind the hill half the group went back to the campsite, but the rest of us stayed behind to play ultimate frisbee. I am taking Alex’s advice, I am never going to say that I am too tired to do something, even though I was absolutely exhausted! Ultimate was a blast and my team totally kicked butt! After playing for about an hour and a half it was nearing nine, so we headed back to camp. I took a quick (timed 5 min) shower, and got ready for bed. I had to search through my bags for a while to find my flashlight but I finally did. Now it is bedtime and I talked my roommates into opening the rain flap of our tent so we could see the stars as we fall asleep! Good night! I can honestly say, that even though I have only been here one day, this will without a doubt be one of the best experiences of my life. I love you all.

13th and Final Prep Class!!!!

Hello Everyone!
I'm a little later than normal, but it has been a crazy insane week. This week was the last official class for my NZ prep. We took our final and talked about what we should pack, what we are worried about, and a few other things. We also got into our cooking groups and came up with menus. This coming Thursday is our banquet, we are going with a Mexican theme, because they don't have any Mexican food in NZ! This Tuesday is my first open dive for scuba diving. We are going up to the crater in Midway at about 9:00am. I'm pretty excited to finally get certified. I will let you all know how my dives goes and how the banquet is, but don't expect too many updates in the next month. I leave for NZ on Jan. 10th from LAX and return April 21st. Also, I graduate from college on April 24th, so, just a heads up. Since we will be traveling all over the country the first three weeks, I don't know how often I will have internet service. I will keep you all updated as much as I possibly can though! I love you all, Happy Holidays!

Christmas wishes from myself and The Office!

12th Prep Class

Wow this is really late, I'm so sorry everyone! Class was great, we had a lot of fun picking out cooking groups and talking to one another. We finished our city reports. I also talked to everyone about possibly making t-shirts for our group, everyone was so psyched! That is the main reason I am so slow in posting, I have been dealing with t-shirt issues all week! At the end of class we all went downstairs to the equipment room to set up our tents. We ended up setting up a two-person tent, but our tent group has three people! So I guess we will have to try to find a three person tent this week. Next week is our last official class, we are having all of our quizzes and wrapping everything up. Then, a week from tomorrow we are going to have a NZ banquet with everyone, so that should be really fun! I hope I can have the t-shirts finished by then! Happy beginning of the holidays everyone!
The t-shirts will be black with this nature green writing.
Front of t-shirts!


Back of t-shirts!

11th Prep Class

Hello Everyone!
In class we presented our city reports. Most of the presentations were on cities that we will be visiting our first two weeks in New Zealand. It was really fun to see all of the cool things that we will be able to do while we are there! Everyone loved my presentation on Queenstown because it is the adventure capital of the world, and we will be doing the coolest things in that city. I also had a video of a bungee jump off the Kaurau bridge, which is the first bungee site in the world, and the location for the pillars of the kings river scene from Lord of the Rings! We are all really excited to be able to experience everything for ourselves in less than two months! I hope everyone is looking forward to thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to being able to cross off another week until I get to go on my trip! I love you all!

10th Prep Class

Hey everyone!
Sorry the update is a little later than usual. I actually totally spaced it because we really didn't do anything. We were only in class for about 80 minutes, instead of the full two hours, and the whole time we were there we just listened to a safety presentation. One of the study abroad safety officers came to speak to us about the dangers of traveling outside the US. Fortunately, New Zealand happens to be one of the safest places in the world outside of the US, and is probably safer! I need to watch out for the obvious stuff though, don't flaunt electronics or big bills, never go anywhere alone, and think about what you are doing and saying before you do it. I will probably get an under-clothing valuables bag, they go around your waist under your clothes and carry money, passport, credit card, etc. The bag will mostly be for Australia and Fiji, but better to be safe than sorry. We might have to be creative when looking for safe places to put our valuables when we aren't carrying them around, the safety officer said he moved a ceiling tile once and put everything up there! Well anyway, class was a little subdued, and there was no scuba, sorry! Next week should be really great, we have our city presentations, and it is going to be really fun to see what we are actually going to do and see!

9th Prep Class/2nd Scuba Class

Hello Everybody!
This week in class we had more guest speakers, The Eckharts. Apparently they lived down there for quite some time, they even attended the ward we will be going to! I am so excited, the Ekharts had a slide show for us, they showed us pictures of our school, relief society president, branch president, and many of the beautiful landscapes! I can say this much, it is REALLY green! Everything is so beautiful and real, I can’t wait to experience it for myself. We had a bit of a discussion on presenting a positive American image. We will be seen as Americans with big flashing lights wherever we go, and issues will be brought up. We each need to acquire the skills to turn any perceived negative conversation into a positive. Topics that will likely be brought to our attention include: gun control, President Bush, the Iraqi war, nuclear warfare, etc. It is important to remember that New Zealand is a little bitter at the European and American countries. However, the attitudes of the average New Zealander make me believe that there won’t be too many issues. Everyone is very laid back and life moves at a lot slower pace. We will find ourselves speaking much slower in conversations, and taking the time to appreciate the experiences of life rather than rushing to the next one before we come home. In addition to my regular New Zealand class, I also had my second scuba diving class. It was still in the same ghetto shed, but we felt much less trepidation! The pool time went great, we went through our skills quickly and are all ready for our open-dive experiences. Unfortunately our instructor is going out of town for about three weeks, so we won’t be able to be certified for a little while. Still it is really fun to sit at the bottom of an eight foot pool with six other kids and learn how to fin pivot, hover, change air supplies, equalize, share air, use hand signals, and eight hundred other things we do! I am really starting to have fun with scuba diving, I can’t wait to do it for real! Tune in next week for another great update, we are getting close now, the weeks, days, minutes, and seconds are starting to fall away into the lower numbers! As of this second I am exactly 69 days 16 hours 23 minutes and 37 seconds away!

8th Prep Class/1st Scuba Class

Hello everyone!
So class this week was kind of boring. We had a guest speaker come and talk to us about how to avoid culture shock and what we should do in order to adapt to life in a different country. After his talk our professor talked to us a little about what is coming up in the next couple of weeks. Also, we are going to get our host families a small present, so we are supposed to come up with ideas. Class ended a good thirty minutes early so the scuba diving group could get up to Desert Scuba and buy gear for class. After I bought my super awesome snorkel, fins, mask, and booties package, we were off to scuba! When we first pulled up to the place we were all very worried, it looked like a run-down neighborhood, without a pool in sight, did he bring us there to kill us?! Myron, our instructor told us to grab our BCDs and tanks and get moving! After a short walk through weeds and someone's backyard we came to a very long shed, or so I though! Inside was a perfect scuba diving training pool! We all got changed and waited with great anticipation for the lesson to start. First Myron taught us how to assemble our gear. We learned how to hook up the tank, check compression, make sure our regulators were working, and how to inflate our BCDs. When we learned how to set everything up we all jumped in the pool for a test on our ability to float and swim adequately. Finally after that it was time to get our actual scuba gear on! My scuba buddy is a girl named Janelle Gibbs, and she is awesome (both at scuba and in general)! We practiced kneeling on the bottom of the pool, finding our regulators when they get kicked out, flushing our masks underwater if they leak, and going back and forth between regulators and snorkels! It was so much fun, I am really excited for all of my scuba adventures on the Great Barrier Reef in Brisbane and on the reefs in Fiji! I'll tell you one thing though, after three hours in a pool I was looking like I would have to use an iron on my hands, and my bed was definitely calling! I love you all, hope you enjoyed the update! New Zealand is getting really close now, we are down to about 74 days!

7th Prep Class

Hello Everyone! I have had yet another exciting New Zealand prep-class. Our backpacking trip that we were supposed to leave tomorrow morning for has been officially canceled. the weather here in Utah is just a little too frigid, especially since we are expecting more snow this weekend. I'm a little bummed, I really wanted to try out all my new gear, especially my backpack and boots, but I would rather keep all my toes and be able to study for my Ethics test on Monday morning.
I do have flight information though. I will be booking all of my travel through BYU, it is much more reliable, and it will be cheaper because we will get a group rate. My flight from LA departs at 8:45pm on January 10th. After being in New Zealand for four months I will travel to Brisbane, Australia on April 11th, I will spend six days playing and scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef before flying to Fiji for three days. I will fly out of Fiji on Monday April 21st and return to the US sometime on the 22nd. I can't wait! I have five really cool girls in my group and we are going to have a blast roaming around!
Our city presentations are in two weeks. Our professor wants us to do presentations on the cities we will be spending the most time in, so here is the list: We are going to Rotorua where we go Zorbing which is basically where we get in a giant ball and roll down a hill. Hamilton is where we will go to the temple. Kia Kaure will be where we eat tons and tons of fish and seafood and go whale watching. Waitomo, Greymouth-the whole west coast where there are a tons of little towns, Christchurch, and Wellington. Whitianga is one of the first places we are going. Puzzle world will also be on our list of stops, so you now I am super stoked about that! Our city presentations are going to be on November first, my group is doing Queenstown, where the bungee jumping central is. They are each seven minute presentations, including: history of the city, tons of pictures, primary people that live there, things to do there, the major attractions, best restaurants, handouts, etc. I am really excited to learn about all of the cities, and we will use our handouts for when we go to the cities so we know what to do, where to eat, etc!
I know I say this a lot, but I am seriously so excited to be going that I can barely stand it! You all have my permission to be jealous!

6th Prep Class/Hiking Prep

So we had yet another wonderful New Zealand class this week! I swear I just get more and more excited to go with every day that passes. We talked about a lot of different things, but the most important thing on the agenda was our camping trip next week. I was able to get some awesome hiking shoes and rain gear. I also ordered my hiking pack and it should be here on thursday, before our hike on friday.
Apparently while we are in New Zealand we will be seen practically as general authorities, which means we spent fifteen minutes talking about how we should dress for church and the temple, we spent quite a bit of time discussing the difference between shoes and flip-flops (or as my teacher calls them ‘thongs’ which resulted in another ten minutes of giggles!)
Also, apparently there will be some serious cultural differences, meaning if our families drink a lot of beer, which they will, our director is supposed to tell them, which he will probably forget, so that should be fun.
We will be taking a religion class down there, which is great, seeing as how I don’t really need any hours anyway. We have to take twelve hours of classes in order to be full time students, the list of classes we are going to take is listed below. Also we are allowed and will be given church callings while we are there, no options, we will be doing good by dang it!
Visas are officially in, which is great, it was a ridiculously long form.
Interracial prejudices are well and alive and we will probably be experiencing some of it while we are there. Although a lot of it will be directed toward the Maoris rather than at us as americans. Despite whatever they say we have to remain neutral at all times, which means while we are there we basically have to be Switzerland.
This next weekend we are going to hike to Amethyst Lake, which is like 11,000 ft it will be freezing cold, possibly snowy. It is a very hard hike about seven to twelve miles depending where we go. Hat, gloves, cookware, tents, etc. will all be on the menu, this is a full-fledged practice run.
Possible classes-12 hours total
FL 100-3hrs Proclamation on the Family *
RMYL 301-3hrs Child and youth rec management
RMYL 199R-1-3hrs Service projects * (one hour)
RMYL 223R-6hrs All of our rec classes, surfing, sailing, kayaking, etc. *
Religion 350R-2hrs History of the church in the South Pacific *
* classes I will probably be taking