Christchurch - One lap completed!

Well, here I am back in Christchurch. Just two weeks after I was here last. It was supposed to be that I flew out of here on the 19th of February, and for that reason, that is why we have been cruising so fast around the south island. For anyone that has been here, you'll know that 2 weeks is not nearly enough time to see the south in any detail. It's JUST enough to see the big spots with a lot of driving in between. So we took a lap around the south, and just as the lap was finishing up, I found out that I actually am not flying till the 27th now! This is good and bad. It's bad due to the fact that I now have a week to spend in Christchurch. One week isn't quite enough time to head places, but is just long enough to get boring. . .We'll see how it goes! The good though is that I may now actually get an extra week in Africa, which just MAY give me enough time to climb Mt. Kenya as well as Kilimanjaro! Plus it now makes it over lap with Brooke's stay in Tanzania, so I may get to see her on the other side of the globe! I hope so!

So now, I need to figure where I last left you all. I believe it was just after the Abel Tasman Hike. From there we headed to Nelson, and I finally got to meet up with Kris and Bruce, who I've been looking forward to seeing ever since I decided to come to New Zealand. Unfortunately, at that time we still had to be in Christchurch by the 19th, so I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with them. Just one night really. So hopefully, after I'm done with Africa, I can go back and actually sit down with them and take a breather and get a chance to say a proper "hi."

From Nelson, we went to a place where Linnea stayed at three years ago. This is a WWOOFing farm. (Willing Workers On Organic Farms.) These are farms where backpackers can go and work on farms for food and lodging. It sounds like a fun place to stay for a week or so, and once again, I may go back there and try my hand at organic farming. The people that run this farm are incredibly nice too, so it'd be a blast to get to know them better. They even had names for every one of their cows, and the cows would come up to you to lick you. I can't say I've ever been licked by a cow before. It's kinda weird. . .All slobbery and stuff.

After the farm, we got to have a taste of home. Literally. One of the most drank (drunk, drinked :) ) wines in NZ is a wine called Montana. We actually have this same wine in Montana, however due to confusion it is bottled under a different label. But the wine is delicious, and we were able to stop at the Winery if for nothing else then get some Montana/New Zealand Souvenirs. And of course some pictures of the area.

But then we had to get on the road again. We drove on to Kaikoura to spend a night. Kaikoura is more or less the Crayfish (lobster) capital of New Zealand. So of course, with the help of my mom, we were able to purchase a lobster and eat it on the beach! This was the first lobster I've ever eaten, and unfortunately for my pocket book, I LOVED it! The legs are a little tough to eat though. You should've seen it, cracking the legs open with the rocks we found on the beach. It was quite amusing! Oh, yeah, we also got the Lobster out of the refrigerator you see in this picture. (Hehe, just kidding. . .)

So, as I wrap this post up, I am pretty sad. My Mom and Linnea are both leaving today, and seeing them it has made me miss home more than ever. Before they came, I though they'd be able to help, but I think my plan backfired on me. So after my mom takes off at 9:00 tonight, I'm back on my own. . .for the most part.

In fact, I have one last story for you all before I sign off. Back when I was still in College (cause that was SOO long ago!) I was taking a physics class with this kid called Dominic. Well, Dominic is an amazing rock climber, and every time I went to the climbing gym, I'd run into him there. We more or less just talked, but a climbing relationship never ensued. Well, that year we went to Red Rocks outside of Las Vegas for spring break, and lo and behold, who is in the same campground as us? It's Dominic. Well, no big deal. That year he graduated while I still had a year to go, so I didn't see him at the climbing gym again, but the next spring break we ran into each other again at Red rocks. This time though we were both 300 ft. in the air on the same climb, and we ended up climbing together, albeit in seperate groups. After that encounter it seemed that I'd probably never see him again, but as they say, never say never! On the first day of the Abel Tasman hike, as I was walking head down, passing countless people, I hear my name being called from one of them! "Is that Trevor???" I turn and look, and sure enough, it is Dominic! Yep, Bozeman is the center of the universe! You can't go ANYWHERE with out running into people from Bozeman! Anyway, we swapped numbers this time, and it looks as if we are going to hook up later and travel/climb a little with each other in the future. Plus, he has a friend in Christchurch who I'm meeting tonight that is going to put me up for the week that I'm waiting for my plane to fly! And to make it even better, they are going to watch over Larry while I'm gone! Things just seem to work out!

Well, that's all for now! And for a parting shot. . .A butterfly stopping to smell the flower! Enjoy!

Nelson - A little like Bozeman

Hey there all! It's been a little while since the last post. I've been burning the candle on both ends lately, and trying to find Internet is not as easy on the South Island as it was on the north. However things are still grand down here. So, last I left you, we were leaving Wanaka. From Wanaka, we drove to the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. We didn't really get to see a great look at the Fox Glacier, however we walked onto the Franz Joseph Glacier. And on the way to the glacier they had signs like these! What a riot! "Beware the falling ice/flash flood/tsunami wave etc etc. . ." But the glaciers are incredible! More or less, they move up to 8 meters a day! Walking up to them you could almost hear them moving forward! Ice was constantly falling however, and you did have to watch yourself. Also, they had carved some steps into the glacier, so if one had crampons, one could walk onto the glacier. Luckily there was a bucket of loaner crampons that I was able to roughly fit to my boot so that I could play on the Glacier Briefly. We didn't have a lot of time there however, so I'm looking forward to going back someday and spending a full day playing on this glacier with the appropriate equipment. Ropes, Harnesses, Helmets, etc.

From the Glacier we drove North to a very fun Hostel Called the Old Slaughterhouse. This place required a ten minute bush walk to get to it. But it's the best place I've stayed in yet. They had two dogs, a wonderful view of the Tasman Sea, and the owner even made us some Tea as we showed up! So for anyone travelling in NZ, I HIGHLY suggest the Old Slaughterhouse. And I almost forgot, on the way up to the Old Slaugterhouse, we were able to stop at the Pancake rocks. These are a major tourist attraction, however I don't necessarily see why. They are cool, but it seems that you get the same type of Rock formation at places in Red Rocks in Las Vegas. (given, that is a tourist destination too. . .) The formation of the rocks is a layering that is about the thickness of a pancake. And you just get stacks and stacks of these rocks. Then, the coolest part, if the tide is high and the winds are right, the waves come in from the ocean and hit airpockets inside the pancake rocks. This causes a little "spurt" of water to shoot way up in a geyser type fashion. Apparently though, when we were there the wind was going the wrong direction, so we didn't get huge geyser's. But we did get to see a few small splashes. Nothing nearly as cool as the geysers in Yellowstone. Of course, we all knew that nothing can ever be as cool as Yellowstone. :)

In fact, an even better part about the Pancake rocks was the cave we found 200 meters down the road from it. No tourists were in here due to the requirement of a headlamp. But since I had pulled mine out, I was able to explore this cave completely on my own a little. The cave went a good 200 meters deep, and coming out I got to see where a scene from Indiana Jones was filmed. (Or could've been at least. . .) The light was streaming through the mouth of the cave in the coolest way, so needless to say, a picture HAD to be taken. And that's the one on the left.

Then, the main reason why it's been a while since my last post, is I've been stuck in the "wilderness" over the past 3 days. We decided to to the Abel Tasman coastal walk which is one of NZ's Great Walks. A synonem for great walk is a crowded walk. Just like the tongariro crossing, this walk had no shortage of people. We even saw one guy coming the other way with a baby stroller! The path was that well graded and taken care of. Just a little worse than fully paved. :) But sure enough, the views were gorgeous, and since the walking wasn't all that intense, we were able to get some good quality beach time. But due to the crowds, and as a veteran NZ traveller now, I would suggest to anyone wanting to do a coastel walk to do the one at Cape Reinga instead of this one. You may even get a feeling of being in the true wilderness at Cape Reinga! (For those of you just catching up with the blog, read about Cape Reinga near the beginining of the blog. . .) But then again, if you don't mind people, and you want the white sandy beaches, warm weather all the time, and turquoise water, then Abel Tasman is the place to be. But remember, the whole place is serviced by something called a water taxi. They constantly are shuttling people to and fro into these beaches, so you don't even have to walk to get to them. Hence the crowds.

From The Abel Tasman walk we have headed a short drive over to Nelson. As I write this I have not met up with my friends Kris and Bruce yet, but that comes after I get off of the Internet. With that said, Nelson is a wonderful town, big enough where you can actually find things to do, however still has that small NZ town feeling to it.

I guess that about wraps it up for today. I'm leaving to Africa in three days, and so things are starting to get really hectic about that. I've just found out that the guy that is supposed to buy my ticket hasn't actually sent it to me yet, and it may not be an e-ticket. So who knows. . .I might not be flying on the 19th after all! But I promise, I'll keep you all updated on that as the time approaches. Miss you all! Till Next time!

Wanaka - Is this where I'll be living?

Hey all! The last few days have been phenomenol! After leaving Lake Tekapo, we drove really far south to Te Anau to explore the Milford Sound area. This area is so incredibly gorgeous, you couldn't imagine it. It rains there a lot though! And rains, and rains and rains. But it is worth it. Because the more it rains, the more waterfalls appear. This area really reminds me of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. About 6 of New Zealands 10 "great walks" are in this area. And I can see why. Big mountains that just jut out of the ocean. Just do a photo search for "mitre peak" and you'll see what I mean. When we saw Mitre peak though, the peak itself was shrouded in clouds.

From there, we stayed one more night in Te Anau, and then started driving back north to do what I have been dreaming of doing since I was like 10. We drove through Queenstown and stopped at the AJ Hackett bungy jump site. I did buy the pictures of my bungy jump, and they say they'll be online in a few days. I was hoping they'd be up by now so I could just post them to the blog, but since they aren't up yet, (try it as you read this, they may be up by then. . .) I'll just give you directions to see them. Go to www.ajhackett.com Click on "Daily Photos." Then Click on the Kawarau Jump link. Under search for photos section, type in these codes. . .

AJHK702097661264
AJHK702097661265
AJHK702097661266

And trust me, it is worth a gander. When everyone else was frightened to jump, I just more or less strolled out there and did a cool trick of the jump. It was a blast, and I suggest that people do it! I was on an adreniline high for the next 3 hours! (My mom was frightened by my fast driving afterwards. . .)

From there we headed up to Wanaka, and my debt was paid off. Five months ago, while Linnea and I were driving home from Townsend's Corn Maze, we had a bet on which direction West was. Yes, I lost. And the bet was for a cookie in Wanaka. Not just any cookie though. Here in Wanaka, they have a movie theater, much like Colter and I wanted to put into Gibson's. This Movie theater has couches for seating, and during the movie, they cook everything from Pizza to pasta to cookies to beer and wine! The movie then has an intermission and you can go out and buy the food you want, bring it in, and watch the rest of your movie while you eat and drink. It is a great place with a lot of character. Anyway, the bet was for a cookie from this movie theater and so, the debt was paid off. Plus they only have one screen so we didn't get a choice in the movie that we went to. So we saw "The Departed." Violent but good. You've all probably seen it about 3 months ago!

So that brings me up till now. Today we are driving out to the Franz Joseph Glacier 300 km up the road! So I should probably hit the road! Till next time!

Queenstown - En Route to Te Anau

Here we are, in the Jackson Hole of New Zealand. And it is everybit true! First thing that happened as we were driving into town, we were trying to pass up some bicyclists, and considering there is no such thing as a shoulder on the roads here in New Zealand, we were waiting for a good straight section of road to pass them on. Well, sure enough, right behind us came a rich fool in his big subarban type car, and started honking at us cause we didn't pass the bicyclists on the blind corner! Yeah, you can tell it is rich ski town area here. But the skiing does look phenomenol! And to top it off, there is a lot of the adreniline junky things to do here. I've decided to do a Bungy Jump when we drive back through on Friday. I'm excited to tell you all about it!

So, I can't post pictures at this Internet Cafe, however, I've gotten some gorgeous ones that I am excited to share with all of you! We stayed last night at a friendly Backpacker called "Tailor-Made." It was situated in the small town (514 people small. . .) of lake Tekapo. (I like to pronounce that "Take a poo", but that is probably not the correct pronunciation.) The Mountain Lakes up here are the most beautiful teal color you could imagine. Visibility is terrible, but it makes for good pictures. We stopped at one lake that was situated right across from Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. At this lake we took in the views, skipped rocks, and oh yeah, I sneezed a lot. That's right. My allergies have come back to try and ruin the trip! But I won't let them! I'll fight! With Drugs! :) So, that's why I love winter so much. Allergies.

For the last few days though, we have been driving. Driving driving and driving. The distances in the south Island are very long, and with my Mom, Linnea, and I all leaving on the 19th, we wanted to take in the best of the best of the south island. So this involves a lot of driving. We'll get there though. Tonight we are going to the town of Te Anau. It apparently has caves that you can explore completely on your own, and it is the gateway to the ever famous Milford Sound. I've heard lots about this area, so I am looking forward to taking a look for myself!

Then there is Larry. He is doing fine so far. He may need an oil change, and we had to replace a tire on him already, but all in all he is doing well. I have to admit, he isn't anywhere near as cool as Rove. Hopefully Rove is doing well under the tarp in the horse pasture right now. Larry is a little fidgety going up the hills, and today we had to stop to let him cool off a bit. Didn't take long though. It was a good stop with a beautiful view of Double Cone Mountain, which I think was the Mines of Moria in LOTR. However it may have been where the lighting of the beacons were done too. I'd have to watch the movie again.

So, that about does it for this post. Hope all is going well back home! Looking forward to telling you about more adventures!

Christchurch - The City of constant Sweet Peadness

Hey all. I have a new friend that I'd like you all to meet. This is Larry. And the man I'm handing the money too, is Phillip. Phillip could've been a good friend, as he was interested in Mountaineering, and climbing and hiking, but he was leaving New Zealand the next day. But Phillip did introduce me to Larry for a mere sum of cash. Larry is my "new" 1986 Subaru Station wagon, and he is going to help me get around the south island. Larry is nice. He has fold down seats so that one can sleep inside him, he starts up just fine, and he has decent petrol consumption! Hopefully, If I apply the golden rule and I am good to him, he'll be good back to me! So from this point on, Larry will be part of my stories!

Now that you've met Larry, he came to the Airport with Linnea and I to pick up my Mom, who is now travelling with us. The three of us have more or less been getting our bearings straight for the past day or so, but in the meantime we've seen some good sites around the Christchurch area.

First of all, the Center of Christchurch is around this Cathedral, and the square that surrounds it. Aptly named, Cathedral square. Cathedral square is where the tourists combine with the locals in one place. They have everything here, and one could more or less hang out here for days on end. This is where "Sweet Pea in Christchurch" happens. You constantly have vendors, bands, shows, and street performers here. The street performers though, aren't necessarily the best. They more or less make you feel guilty for not giving them money. The one we watched today took an hour to build up a crowd so that he could perform an escape from 20 meters of chain. It was a good escape, but not worth an hour of him attempting to get the crowd he had to cheer so that more people would come.

Another thing they have in Cathedral Square is this Chess Board. It is entirely free to use, and the only cost is you know that about 15 people will be watching your game. So you better play well if you play on this board. But, I really think we should get Bozeman to add this type of board in a park somewhere. It is really fun to play on! In fact, the first game that I played, I (luckily) won! The second game I got slaughtered though.

Well, from there, my mom, Linnea, and I went to the botanical gardens in Christchurch. Something I've noticed about NZ is that all the large cities have the most beautiful Botanical Gardens with Hamiltons being the best still though. But the ones in Christchurch were not lacking at all!

Oh yeah, and how could I forget! With the help from Larry, and the coolerbox that came with him, we were able to shop for food! (Or should I say my Mom and Linnea) And when I say shop, that's what I mean! We went wild! We are going to be able to eat like kings for the next two weeks, and I'm NOT complaining one bit! I mean, look at the picture on the left! I would never contemplate what type of cheese to buy! Except if I was looking at Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! Hmm, do I want spirals, or the family box? ;) So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the next two weeks! And, on the left you can see what will be on the menu for the next two weeks!

Miss you All! (Except My Mom and Linnea of course, considering they are both sitting about 2 feet away from me right now. . . .) Keep on keepin' on!

Christchurch - Man I got here fast!

Hello all! And welcome back to the wonderful world of Trevor's Blog! Today, I have a special treat for you all! I am on a decent computer, with a good internet connection, that is cheap, and they allow me to upload pictures! That is the perfect recipe for a good blog! Yah!

So, with that said, I'm going to back up a little, and talk about some of my travels in a little more detail. First, I'm going to go back to before I arrived in Wellington. From Rotorua, Alli and I traveled north to stay with Collin. (I'm forgetting what I've covered so far, so I'll make this part fast.) On the way we stopped at the largest kiwi in the world in a interesting town. Just look at the name of this town. How would you like to live here? (See picture on right for the best sign that we saw including the town's name.)

From Te Puke, we headed south to do the Tongario crossing. I know I've told you some of the details, but what I don't think I mentioned was the ridiculous amount of people on this hike. It was more like standing in an eight hour, fast moving line! But regardless, here are some of the few views I got of the ever famous Tongariro Crossing. On the left, Alli wondering why we are waiting. Oh yeah! There's people in the way! And on the right, me acting like a hobbit. Yes, the mountain is steeper than this though! My camera was tilted almost even with the mountain, so It looks flat. Use some imagination, and rotate the scene about 45 degrees or so. :)

And here is one of the three lakes that was on the Hike. The color was much better in person. But as far as views, yep, that is about all we got! Dang clouds!

So, from there, Alli and I booked it down to Wellington. We spent a day there taking in some Maori culture at the Te Papa Museum. A HUGE museum that is entirely free. It astounded me! We also went to the cable car and rode that. I swear it is a tram though. Do me a favor, and look up the definition of Tram vs. Cable Cars. I thought Trams were two cars connected to one cable. So when one went up, the other went down. Cable cars are supposed to have a constantly running cable under them, and they just clamp onto and off of that cable to move forward or stop, respectivly. Anyway, this "cable car" fit my definition of tram, so I was just wondering. :) (Oh, and I forgot my camera that day, so Alli has those pics. . .)

Well, the next day I caught the massive Interislander Ferry down to the South Island. Considering my Mom and Linnea are meeting me in Christchurch, I tried to book it down here. Alas, I did have to leave Alli - Thanks for travelling with me Alli! It was a blast! So, from picton, I started hitching again, and sure enough the first ride I got brought me all the way, 5 hours, and dropped me off in front of the backpacker I'm staying at! Sweet!

So, here I am in Christchurch. I have a few days to kill here, and want to buy a car while I'm here. So hopefully all that goes well!

And if you happen to see Katie, Wish her a Happy B-day! Sorry I wasn't there Katie!

Wellington - Hollywood wannabe

Well, (ington, pun completly intended) I am here in wellington. Also known as "Wellywood." This is where peter jackson lives and where all the Movie world premier's that are filmed in NZ occur. So, they ripped off Hollywood, and made it wellywood!

Anyway, getting down here, I hiked the famous Tongariro Crossing. Arguably the best day hike in NZ. However, when we hiked it, clouds were everywhere! We couldn't see 15 feet in front of us. It was much like hiking the ridge at Bridger Bowl! But on the plus side, I got to climb mt Ngrahoe (sp) which to most of us is known as Mt. Doom from LOTR (See previous post for acronym explanation) Anyway, I like Frodo, had a very difficult time making it to the top. In fact, I didn't. I was hiking that section alone, and due to the weather, I was afraid of getting lost. So unfortunately, I just got this picture of me acting like frodo. Oh well.

I am also running really low on Internet time right now. (Man, I hate prepay internet cafes. They should all be use it as long as you want, THEN pay) so with that said, I can't really post more, now. I'm heading to the South Island Tomorrow, and off to Christchurch. Hopefully there, I will be able to fill all you in a little more than I have been able to for these last few posts.

Chiao!

Rotorua - A Great City

So, I've been in Rotorua for the last few days, and have been loving it! It is a place that I could see myself living in if there wasn't a total lack of Snow here. So, in that case, I guess I'm gonna keep moving on.

The activities that are available in Rotorua are incredible though! First I'll talk about the white water rafting that Alli and I did. This raft trip was down the Kaituna river, which has 3 class 4 rapids and one class 5 rapid. A class 5 rapid is the highest class that a commercial guiding company is allowed to take clients down. And on the left, you can see us going over the class 5 rapid. They say that this waterfall is a 7 meter waterfall! The highest commercially floatable waterfall in the world in fact! And the picture on the right shows what happened to us at the bottom of the rapid. The rapid is so large that the entire raft goes under the water. We almost tipped, but we were able to save it just in time.

That day, we also got to go Mountain biking. The Mountain Bike trail is only 5 minutes from the center of town, and you get to mountain bike through the middle of a gorgeous redwood forest. For Colter, it is a lot like Fruita. One trail that goes up, and about 50 that come down. (Wish you were here Colt!) They had incredible trails too! Trails that had man made jumps that were at least 15 feet long! I was a little too chicken to do those ones though! Ce la vie!

Zorbing is also found here in Rotorua. And here, you can see us Zorbing down the hill. Yes, we are inside that giant rolling ball. There is another ball that is suspended on the inside of the large one that you can see in this picture. We are actually inside the smaller ball. They then put warm water inside it and push you down the hill. It's like a slip and slide, mixed with a shower, mixed with a washing machine. There were three of us inside the ball too, which made it all the more exciting!

Hmm, it's been so short since my last post, yet so long. . .We've done SO much in the last few days I'm having trouble remembering it all! Last night we went partying at the Lava bar with one of our raft guides. He's actually giving us a place to stay tonight too! (It's raining cats and dogs right now, so that's why I'm on the net instead of outside playing!) Colin, the guy in the picture that is next to Alli, and not me, is actually from Missoula MT. We may even meet up after my trip to Africa. He's hoping to get down south for the winter just like me!

Well, I'm running out of time yet again. Things are getting exciting here because My mom, and Linnea have decided to join me for a few weeks on my travels. So now a lot of my internet time is used planning for that meeting! Hope you all are still enjoying the post, even though my last few haven't quite been up to par! Í'm still trying though! Miss you all!

Pictures from the last Post, plus Rotorua

Well, I have made it to a decent Internet Cafe in Rotorua. This town is a fun little town with a yellowstone setting to it. Sure enough, it is right next to a volcano, and it has the smell of sulpher in the air. Fun place however. (Not as fun as yellowstone though.) We haven't done a lot here yet, but getting here was an adventure in itself. Mostly on this post though, I wanted to post pictures of Surfing, Hobbiton, and the Bridal Veil falls.

Today, we went to the Te Puia (sp?) which was a very commercialized demonstration on old Maori culture. These people lived for the past 25 generations or so using the thermal pools here for their hot water, and to cook food etc. Pretty good use of resources if you ask me. We then saw a Maori concert with the Haka dance (war dance) and women doing some of the coolest poi dancing I've seen. (Twirling Balls on the end of ropes.) This afternoon we are planning on going Zorbing, and possibly doing the freefall simulator.

Dang, I'm out of time again! I'll post more in a little while! Chiao!

Waitomo - The land of Caving

Well, I'm in Waitomo right now, however, the caving experience is for tommorrow. Now, I have bad news. I've been REALLY excited to put up this post, so I waited until I had a computer that I could put my pictures up on, however when I used the card reader on this computer, it wanted to format my card. . .NO! Not going to fall for that one! So, unfortunately, there will be no pics on this blog, and I'm so sad, because of all I've done in the last few days. But have no fear, I will post pictures eventually on those days. (And this is a prepay internet console, so I have nothing to do for the next 30 minutes but post SOMETHING, so here you are!)

Firstly, from the Coromandal region, I hitched my way down to a little no name town called Matamata. No name that's worth remembering, unless you go by it's more fictional name. (Are you ready Matt?) Yep, I went to Hobbiton! It was AWESOME. For those of you that don't know what Hobbiton is, it is one of the most important locations in LOTR. And for those that don't know what LOTR is, it stands for Lord Of The Rings. :) So, Hobbiton was phenomenol! I remembered a lot, and I think I may have been one of the only more die hard fans on the tour. There were 9 of us, and only me and one other person had read the books! What a shame! But, yeah, I got a picture of me under the party tree, infront of the lake that the dragon flies over, inside Bag End, and a picture of #3 bagshot road. (Samwise gamgee's place, which only his garden exists now. . .And I THINK it's bagshot road, but I may be mistaken on that.) The whole town of Matamata is LOTR based too. Posters of Legolas everywhere, and the backpacker I stayed at, which I don't wish upon anybody to stay there, was called hobbiton backpackers.

After that, I spent a day in Hamilton and I met up with an old friend from Bozeman. Alli Rodrique is here and we met up to travel together for the next week or two. She'll be travelling way up north to go teach after that week is up. So I really look forward to hanging out with her for a little bit! So, Alli and I went to the gardens in Hamilton, and they just make me want to post pictures so badly! They were gorgeous! They had six different gardens, each with a unique theme. Japanese, Chinese, English, Modern American, Indian, and Italian. It was like visititing six different countries in half an hour. Then they also had a huge rose garden as well. Roses of every variety that you could think of. Deep purples, Lush Reds, and the whitest whites you've seen. And yes, we stopped to smell them! :)

Then, the next day (today) came around. Alli and I got a super early start and drove to Raglan. One of the rides I hitched from told me that Raglan was a phenomenol surf spot, so I took his word for it and checked it out. He was not lying. So, I finally, after 23 and some odd years, got to go surfing. And for all of you that didn't have faith that I could get up on my feet my first day, I'm sticking it to ya! I stood succesfully on the board on the 3rd wave I caught! Given, I was on a nine foot soft board, but yeah, it wasn't hard at all. I compared it to wake boarding when the boat is going slow, so that the board is a little wobbly. However, I did try larger waves and I couldn't really catch them, or they'd tumble me. But I definately see how this could be a very addicting sport! I'm excited to try again, maybe even with a shorter board! I don't know if I'm ready for that yet though.

Then finally, Alli and I drove to Waitomo. But on the way we stopped at the most beautiful Bridal Veil Falls. The largest falls I've seen to date. 55 meters, and very pretty. Once again, I wish I could get the picture thing to work! What was interesting about this cliff that the falls were going over is they had "professional" abseiling (rappeling) chains with signs all over them saying that only qualified professionals were allowed to use them. Mainly for tours and what not. People making money on others doing something so simple as rappelling. Oh, how I wish I had my rope so that we could've just gone for it. Well, looks like I have a reason to come back with all my climbing gear now!

So yeah, I'm having a great time still. Tomorrow we go caving which in theory includes abseiling into a cave with glow worms, black water rafting, (black water rafting is floating down an underground river through the cave) and maybe even a little climbing inside the cave! I'm really excited! Looking forward to telling you all about it in more detail!

Till next time!