It's Official

It's official. I just cut seventeen days off of my New Zealand adventure and my flight is now scheduled for Friday June 17th. Yikes.

This is how NOT to hang your clothes on a drying rack

Courtesy of my clueless roommate.

A Walk in the Park

View from up at the Botanic Gardens. I wish I could make it bigger but it gets (even more) blurry.

. . .

Yesterday I got out of class at 5:00 and saw from way way way up there on Kelburn campus that it was incredibly clear out, so I basically ran down to the harbor with my camera and my journal to just chill out and take some pics. When I got there my camera was dead, ugh. But it was still really awesome to just sit with my legs dangling over the wharf and just ... I don't know ... I'd say watch the sun go down, but really the sun sets at your back if you're facing the water. You do see the sun shining on the houses up on the hill, though. The windows all shine golden and then fade as the sun goes down... kind of a reverse sun set. I like it. Too bad I don't have any pictures to go with this story. I don't want to talk about it.

Today was a very good day. I tried to wake up early because I knew the weather was going to be nice, but I still slept until 10:30. I sprung up and got going though and (after buying The Hobbit at the bookstore, I feel it's only appropriate since I haven't seen any Lord of The Rings the movies OR read the books, and I'm living in Wellington, New Zealand where they're currently filming The Hobbit) I took the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens and spent the morning and most of the afternoon there. I sought out my favorite bench, which had a nice big shroom sprouted up behind it, and I read a magazine and just chilled and listened to my iPod. It was so so so nice out. Just last week I was calling home to get my winter coat sent to me, but today I was in shorts and a tank top again, getting my tan on. I can get used to this, though. I like variety. But mostly I like sun.

This is the view from my favorite bench ^^^

To see my entire facebook album of photos from today click here.
(Definitely check out that album because I could barely put any of the good pictures up here because the internet is going so slow tonight)

So after walking around and hanging out in the Botanic Gardens I headed toward campus for class at 4:10, and on my way I stopped over at 39 Salamanca where a bunch of my friends live that I haven't visited in awhile. It was nice to see them. Michelle kindly offered me a PB&J sandwich to make the experience complete, and then we headed to class together.

. . .

Since I've been debating moving my flight up and going home a whole lot earlier so I can work, I've been considering what I need to do to get the most out of these last two months of life in New Zealand. I thought maybe I'd have to do some crazy "once in a lifetime" things like hitch-hike crazy places, or backpack around somewhere with no real destination, scuba dive and ride a whale and hunt down a wild kiwi bird to catch a glimpse of; climb a huge New Zealand mountain or something. Although all those things sound good (and are still up for consideration, especially whale riding) I really think all I need to do to leave here in two months with no regrets is really just soak up Wellington as much as I can, even more than I already have. Spend more time at the harbor after class. Hang out in the Botanic Gardens in-between classes. Get a coffee and people-watch down on Lambton Quay. Get a beer at every single cool bar there is in Wellington. I've had a little lull since I've been buried in school work the past two weeks, but I know that's all I really need to do to make the most of this. It's reassuring to know that what I want to do is cheap since I know my funds are getting low.

It's just that a lot of my fellow study-abroaders have this "you only live once" attitude, which is understandable. I have a little of it, too. That's why I'm here in the first place. You only live once and I know was never going to move to New Zealand for five months after I graduate college... It was an expensive trip but it was worth it a million times over. It's just that it gets hard to know where to draw the line with all the "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity" stuff. It's easy to just blow all your money doing "once in a lifetime" things here. Although I haven't been exactly frugal, I've been pretty conscious of my spending... and my idea is this: even though I'd love to stay here and do a bunch of crazy (and mostly expensive) things since this is my ONE TIME living in NZ, my ONE TIME living in another country, life doesn't end after this. I know this is a unique experience I'll always remember, but I'm going to have crazy, fun, memorable experiences where ever I go, even after this when I'm back in the States. So I'm going to live it up the next two months here in NZ and go home to start work a little earlier with no regrets.

And that's that.

. . .

Tonight, after booking our hostels for our trips next week, Alexis Sara and I had a nail painting party and Sara gave us some of her sweet stick-on nail polish with cool flower designs, so now our nails are lookin' SO fresh.

Now I'm having a little late-night, pre-study snack of Shapes (NZ/Austrailian crackers) and hummus, which tastes like it's just straight up pureed garlic, so everyone should be thankful they live 9000 miles away from me tomorrow :)

Only two months left?!

Hello out there!!

I guess the fact that I haven't been updating too much lately, and when I do it really isn't too exciting, reveals that yes, I am here to actually study abroad and I have been pretty busy with work lately. I've stayed in the past couple weekends to save money and do homework! Ahh! No fun! I only have one more week of class though before my glorious two week adventure break. Booked my bungee jumping today!!

So they finally posted up the Final Exam schedule, and it looks like I'll be heading back to the States earlier than I thought. My last exam is on June 11th, so instead of chillin' out (literally because it's gonna be cold here by then) in Wellington with no money for three weeks after that, I'm probably going to get my flight changed so I can get back to that good old tobacco farm and start makin' some money. It's bittersweet. It's gonna be good to be home but super sad that my big adventure is over. I gonna make the best of these last two months and go home with no regrets and nothing but happiness!

I would write more about my weekend but I've been sitting at this computer for literally days slaving over a New Zealand Literature paper and I'm a little bit sick of typing. I thought I finished it, too, but my kiwi roommate just informed me that if there is a word count, you have to be within 200 words of it or you automatically get points deducted. So even though I got my point across in 1700 words, I need to write some fluff to fill another 100!!! Brilliant!
Ugh.

I haven't been good about keeping my camera with me at all times and I've been kicking myself for it, but I'll leave you with a picture I took last night after dinner with Alexis and Sara by the harbor... when I DID remember it.
Cheers.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy NZ birthday to my sweet as Dad, STEVE!!!!!!

Love you and miss you!!!

Itinerary!

Well it is April 5th and strangely enough winter is quickly approaching. Today's weather kind of solidified the fact that shorts season is over... Pretty unfortunate seeing as how just a few weeks ago I ripped my very favorite pair of pants, leaving myself with only two pairs of jeans. I also didn't pack a winter coat...

It only gets down to about 40 here, but that's still pretty chilly, especially with the Welly wind! I've been told winter here is still beautiful though. Plus a huge upside for me is that the leaves stay on the trees! I love a good New England fall, but when winter comes and everything is gray and bare, it gets pretty depressing.

So yeah. I guess the tables are finally turning and I will continue to become increasingly jealous of the warm weather at home. I can't really be that jealous though, come on, I'm in New Zealand for god sakes!

Easter Break approaches! I already booked some flights and buses! I haven't got all the details figured out yet, but here is a little itinerary:

April 16th - Get on a plane for Queenstown on the South Island
-7 hour layover in Christchurch in order to wander around there for awhile
-Make it to Queenstown and stay in a hostel or couch surf
(I'm sending out some requests tonight for couch surfing. It's free and pretty legit. You just look people up on www.couchsurfing.org and a lot of them have open beds, couches and tents they're willing to let you use while you travel! I'm going to be with a couple friends, and New Zealand is a really safe place, so we're hoping we can find some couches. I think we'll get a lot of good stories out of it at least)

April 17th - BUNGEE JUMPING
My mom obviously tried to advise me against doing this.. but I want to do something crazy while I'm here, and I'm going to be in Queenstown, the bungee jumping capital of the world, so I figured I gotta. Ahhhhh!!!! I debated between bungee jumping and sky diving for awhile. It's kind of one of those dumb questions you start out with when you're playing "would you rather" with your friends. Would you rather sky dive or bungee jump? I always answered that question with sky dive, but when it comes down to it, I think bungee jumping would be a lot more challenging and rewarding because you have to get yourself to jump off that ledge. When you go sky diving you're tandem with an instructor, and if you don't jump, the guy you're attached to will! I'm guessing those few moments take a lot more will power when bungee jumping than when sky diving.
I'm doing the tallest bungee jump in New Zealand! Go big or go home! Click here to get info and see a clip of the exact jump I'm gonna do!!!!! (Mimie, you might not want to click that until I'm done and have survived. WHICH I WILL)

April 18th - Wandering around beautiful Queenstown and seeing what it has to offer (for free), and couch surfing again that night.

April 19th - Catching a bus from Queenstown to Franz Josef. Again, couch surfing in Franz Josef.

April 20th - Hiking and seeing some Glaciers!!! Then once again, (hopefully) couch surfing.

April 21st - Taking a bus to the top of the South Island, Nelson, where one of my friends will go her separate way to meet her sister back in Wellington, and Tim and I will catch another bus to absolutely breathtakingly beautiful Abel Tasman National park to hike and camp!!!
We still have not exactly figured out what date we'll be catching the bus back to Picton and hopping on the ferry back to Wellington, but that's what will happen next after a few days in Abel Tasman.

The next week of break (yes I have two) Alexis and I are flying up to Auckland and exploring up there for a few days!! I won't have much money to spend, so I'm just probably going to be wandering around the city for most of the time and checkin' out the scene. Oh yeah, and watching Alexis bungee jump off a bridge. I'm almost as excited to watch her as I am do to it myself!

The Auckland Zoo is only $16 so I think I might splurge on that one activity, but only because we would be guaranteed to see the elusive Kiwi bird! I must see one before I leave!!!


So that is that! Just a few more buses to book and hopefully we'll find a few couches to surf. I can't wait until all this gets under way! Planning (and shellin' out so much cash in the process) is overwhelming! I tried my damnedest to plan the cheapest trip possible, and even though it was all still a pretty penny I did a pretty good job. I can't wait until I'm out there doing these things and realizing how it's all worth it.

Oh, and just for old times sake, here's a picture of what I made for dinner:Zuccini Korma with penne pasta!!! It was delicious.
I wish it didn't look so sloppy in the picture....

I hate to say it, but cooking has been loosing its luster over the past few weeks. I think it's because we only have a stove and no oven, and I feel like frying things up and making stir-fry is getting old. Not enough variety. I need to be challenged!!! If anyone has any suggestions for stove-top-only-and-perhaps-microwave dinners send 'em my way!


edit:
I was just reading some old posts and I can't believe I forgot to post THIS picture back when I posted the pictures from LUSH! I'm so disappointed! Well here it is! Better late than never.

These are the face-masks!! It takes so much self control not to buy them all!!!

Stressed!!!

For the first time in the two months I've been here in New Zealand, I'm stressed.

It's all because a bunch of quickly approaching due dates, and trying to plan my two week easter break adventure. Planning my trip should be something fun to do, but it hasn't been. It's overwhelming to try and pick what you want to spend money on and what you want to see and what you'll have to skip and what's the lowest price you can get for that plane and is renting a car cheaper than taking a bus and should we just hitch-hike because it's legal here or are we not going to get to the destination in time if we try and hitch-hike and should we just sleep in the rental car would that be cheaper than taking buses and staying hostels???!!! Ahhh!!!!
Overloaded!!! I think I might have actually carved out a plan though. I'll post up the itinerary when things are booked and finalized!

Now it's almost 1:00am, we turned the clocks back (yep, it's the time of the year to fall back here), so now I have to get used to the time difference between here and home for the third time in order to keep in touch with family and friends.