Happy Kiwi Christmas!

Here in NZ it's actually no longer christmas, it's boxing day. Which is the day after Christmas (hello captain obvious). We just heard on the radio that its gets its name from a tradition in the old days where the rich people would box up gifts for the poor people the day after christmas. Intereting huh?

I spent christmas in The Sand House....which was literally in a sand trap on the end of a spit in Otago Harbour, Dunedin - south island NZ. The road to get there was out during high tide: it was the definition of remote. And awesome! on one side of the house is the harbour where we dug for "cockles" (or clams in American [real] English) and on the other side was the open ocean. The passage through to the harbour was scary small on the map and looked impossible to get through without hitting bottom. But big cruise ships got in just fine. Digging for cockles was some serious fun....though I wished it had been more challenging. The organism we were up against wasn't exactly trying to escape. A struggle would have been nice, but we managed to still have fun and boil us up some clams with both Christmas eve and christmas day dinners. Can't really ask for more than that.

Here are some photos from the Sand House and Christmas! I hope it's not too cold and snowy where you all, but if it is, have some hot cocoa and enjoy your company. I miss my family but got to skype with them today at the internet cafe. Mom, Dad, Ian, Grandma Myrna, and aunt Michele. So Merry Christmas! And I'll be seein' ya

Tavel compatibility

This is a tricky thing to manage....and critical to the success of your holiday. Being travel compatible just takes the hassel out of pretending you like being around someone, still, after a few weeks of close quarters. Which can be exhausting if you know what I mean. Pete and I are pretty compatible travelers. I bet we'll still drive each other mad at some point, but it's bad at all! For instance yesterday, the 23rd (cause we're just a little less than one full day ahead of the states) we wanted to go up the gondola to this hilltop where there are stunning views of Queenstown and the lakes. So we look it up in the guidebooks and discover, much to our sadistic delight, that there is a trail also! This does two things for us: (1) we save the $21 NZ that the ride up costs, and (2) we get in a workout. Woot woot. The trail was pretty steep and took us about 40 minutes (the guidebook said it would take an hour but we're speedy. Like a cheetah). Silly lazy tourists and their gondolas. Up at the top there was a luge ride...think longboard on wheels on a concrete path. If we hadn't of just lept off a bridge earlier that day, it would have looked daring and fun. But it just looked like hokey. We were too cool for the luge.
Shopping makes me happy. I know how materialistic and sad that sounds but it's the truth. I was feeling sad about missing the holidays with the ol' Kell Bell, Scotty, and Wade....I needed a pickmeup. Like a smoker needs a cigarette when anxious. I was in need. So I picked up a great little blue sun dress with a brown belt to match. and new cheap sunglasses. I still miss my fam and all, but I feel a little bit better now :)

you for bungee?

I don't know what's gotten into me! I bungee jumped today. and I didn't even scream! and I definitely did not "roll down the windows" like I used to off snowboarding jumps. If you don't know, thats where you move your arms in circular motions at about hip height. I am notorious for that when boarding. Pete thought for sure I would but I surprised us both. It was easier than I thought. While the guys were strapping me into the harness they were asking me the usual questions: where are you from, what do you do? that sort of stuff. Then one of the Kiwi's said, "do you use crest?" While I'm preparing myself to jump off a 140ft bridge, the man wants to know what brand of toothpaste I use. It took me a little while to answer him....why yes. Yes I do use crest. Why? They don't have crest in NZ and he thought I had pretty teeth. I think that this little exchange of words really calmed me down and distracted me from the scene below my feet standing on the edge of a platform. I waved to the camera, and then swan-dove off the bidge. Where we jumped from is one of the most famous bungee's in the world and is the first bungee site on earth. It was the most exciting thing I've ever done! and again, I didn't scream.

While on this trip I've read a few books, the lastest being "City of Thieves" - it's about Russia in WWII. These two boys get sent on an mission to find eggs. Anyway, here's a passage I liked
"Heroes and fast sleepers, they can switch off their thoughts when necessary. Cowards and insomniacs, my people, are plagued by babble on the brain. WHen I stepped out of the door, I thought, I am standing in the front yard of a farmhouse outside Berezovka and partisans are pointing their rigles at my head."
At the face of death, Lev narrating his life, something I find myself doing damn near constantly. I wonder, if I were facing a bullet (or a 140ft ledge), would I say to myself: (a) "you're about to die" or (b) and the sun gleamed off of the rifle like glitter, showering me in light." ....I'd put money on (b)

glaciers in a rainforest

FYI if you're reading my blog posts: I absolutely suck at spelling. It's something Pete and I both blame on our elementry school. So if I misspell something, please forgive me and don't get all upity and judgy-mentally on me. Thanks a mil
So now it's just Pete and I in the ol' campervan. We dropped heather off on the 21st and headed across the country to the westside. This part of the south island is under-populated and notoriously blustery and rainy. But for Pete and I there was barely a cloud in the sky! The drive over Arthur's pass was easy (though we got scary close to running out of gas) and we made great time to Franz Joseph glacier. This glacier sits in a mountain range that's close to the ocean and in a rainforest (or at least part of the forest is a rainforest). After a 45 minute walk up the glacier's old path and left-behind debris, we saw her close up. It was awesome! Pete had a great joke..."that glacier sure is cool. ha...get it? cool?" yeah pete, just about as cool as you.
We stayed the night in Franz Joseph village that night.
Every morning we have yogurt & muslei (like granola) topped with banana. It's delic. After brecki (the Kiwi's shorten everything and then end it with an "ie" sound) I went for a run in the direction of the next glacier, Fox. Pete picked me up about 40 minutes later. I had a great run too! One of those where your legs feel like they can carry you over the hills and through the woods. Fox glacier wasn't as impressive but still a great sight. I took pics and will post them on FB for ya'll.
After driving all day, we've made it to Queenstown. I may never leave. it's like Chelan on steriods. The town is resort-ish but, like all Kiwi towns, overly friendly and eager to help. The lake it surrounds is a deep blue. Which is in contrast to the other lakes we've seen that are glacier-fed and a turquise color. Gorg (goreous).
In order to stay close to town we've payed to say in a "holiday park" that has SHOWERS!!

Let me tell you about the travel sitch (situation). Our campervan has a bench that becomes a bed, a sink, a cooler/fridge, and plates/bowls/flatware. It does not come with a shower or a bathroom. Most times we go a few days without a shower. Something that makes me think of my friend Natalie and her aversion to showers ;) We've all practically salivated at the sight of a showerhead, even if it's outside on a beach with the wind blowing. For the most part it's ok but when you go for a run and sweat all over yourself, you'll begin to smell. Today in the campervan I smelled. but now I've showered and am as clean as I get!
Tomorrow we're doing something scary. (hi Mom!) Now it's time to enjoy the sunshine before dinner. To be continued....

Mt

Jan 15th, 9:35pm: landed in Christchurch after traveling for over a day. 

Jan.16th: hung out until VAustralia released my hostige bag. On the beach. Went south to Timaru. 

Jan. 17th: sun bathed, ran, ate in Timaru, headed west and UP to the mountains and Lake Tekapo. It's beautiful! The water is a turquiose color from the sediment of the glacier run off. 

Jan 18th: wake up in Lake Tekapo and head to Mt. Cook....this is where things got interesting/blog worthy. 

Our "hopefully clear" day turned out to be the beginning of a nasty storm. We woke up kinda late after a terrible night's sleep (due to the rain and wind threatening to knock over our campervan). We headed out Mt. Cook village, an hour or so drive away. Past another blue lake, Pakaki, the wind really picked up and the lake's waves looked like ocean swells. Nothing deterred us. 

Mt. Cook was shrouded by cloud cover much to our disappointment. But we drove through the wind to the villiage and straight to the Hooker Valley trail head (note, the name "Hooker valley" sperred many jokes from Pete about him getting to experience Heather and I in our natural habitats. Hardy har.) The mountains seemed to sprout up from the plain in brute fashion, like only young mountains can. 

With the wind theatening to lift the van off her wheels, Pete said, "well, I'm still up for it." heather and i exchanged glances of dismay. I wasn't convinced but when Pete saw us hesitate, his disappointed face was enough to turn me. I agreed to climb in the wind and the rain...did I mention it was raining? No? Well it was. Through the rain and the gale-force winds, I agreed and Heather wouldn't be left behind so we started to layer up. 

The three hour hike that should have taken us 2 to 2.5 took 3.5 hours. We're all in good shape. We're "I take the stairs two at a time" people. "you walk fast" people. And we could barely step....no scratch that. We stopped dead in our tracks by the wind. It howled. We could hear it coming. Singing down the river valley, bouncing off the canyon walls and cherendo-ing as it got closer. Like a steam engine warning you of approaching danger, it sounded. When it hit, it was enough to knock us over. It didn't come alone either. Like smoke, the wind whipped up the water below, bringing it into the air and hurling it at us. We looked like Al Roker Standing on the gulf coast during a hurricane. I didn't know what to do but laugh. 

After the second suspension bridge, it got worse. It blew us off of the boardwalk and into the grass. We had to hang on to rocks and bushes because we were being blown off our feet. The trail led to an alpine lake and glacier dam. We knew when we were close because the airbourne water shot up from beyond a hill so high it looked like a small burn site had recently been extinguished. Unfortunately, we were right. 

As we crested the hill I got the full force of the wind and had to hunker down. Holding onto a boulder I pulled my raincoat over my head and waited for the water to hit. It pelted the one spot of exposed back. It blew for what seemed like forever so hard that I couldn't move. When it gave up (a little) I was able to see the lake. It was worth it. At the close end were icebergs. At the far end was a glacier. God it was gorgeous. Mt Cook still eluded us but the site was gorgeous. 

On the way back, on the first suspension bridge we came to, was the scariest part. I heard the wind coming and barely got to the handrail when it hit. It swung the bridge back and forth, leaving heather and I to cling to the railings. Once it past we were able to scurry to the other side. 

But once again, worth it. I'm all out of time and money. for now :) 

windy

and that's an understatement! We've been camping and therefore away from from the interwebs (as my friend Kelly S. calls it). We ran into some 60-70 MPH winds and rain while hiking around Mt. Cook ( NZ's tallest mountain). It was insanity. I'll write more about it later because I only have like 3 minutes remaining until I have to pay more. In most places, the interwebs is cheap...but not here! It's $2 for 20 minutes. That's expensive! 

I'm sad I missed the GU v. Duke game, but I guess it's okay. I spend last night camped on a beach. Can't get much better than that. After my morning run along the beach, I got to sun bathe. :) Well, I'm off to shop for sheepskins and Maori woodcarvings. I promise to write again soon and I'm sorry that this hasn't been more entertaining! but there are like 2 weeks and few days to go so look for more posts!! 

good'ay mate!

I've decided that the Australian/New Zealand accent is really hard to understand! I had to ask the lady bougarting my bags to slow down like 5 times today on the phone! (PS: bags got here around noon in perfect condition...though I was secretly wishing for an India-repeat and discover my camera had gone missing since it's terribly scratched up. And no Mom, I don't need to know that I don't take good care of my stuff. I'm aware.) While we were waiting for the bag, we hit the beach for a workout! Heather went running while Pete and I did a functional workout circa his college football days. It was tough! Quite frankly, it was just nice to move around a bit. Sitting for over a day is draining. Needless to say, I slept well.
Now we're in Timaru (Tim-aa-roooo) which is south of Christchurch a few hours. Another coastal town. We had pub food for dinner. Delic. Tomorrow we're going to get up leisurely: breakfast and a run along the boardwalk, before heading up to some alpine lakes. We're planning a short hike there and will spend the night in our rockin' campervan up there. (pictures of said rockin' campervan to follow when I remember camera). The day after next we're going to go on a day-long hike to some more lakes and views of Mt. Cook. So excited! I'll post later when we've come down from the mountains. nighty night!!

two feet in New Zealand

 Monday didn't exist for me

Well I made it! Left LA sunday the 13th at 11pm, and arrived in Melbourne Australia at 9:00am tuesday morning. The first thing I thought about after discovering that I had no monday this week was, should I take two of my "daily" pills or just one? I mean, my body didn't experience a time-warp, but my calendar did. So I took two just to be on the safe side....that was a really random aside. 

Most importantly, I'm here and I'm safe. Only one more flight to go! I'm in Auckland, the tip of the north island, and flying to Christchurch which is the middle of the south island. About an hour flight. 

Even more importantly, I officially have bad travel juju/karma. Second international fight in 6 months and second time the airlines have mystically lost my baggage. F.M.L. Yes, I'm complaining. Yes I realize that I should just revel in the fact that I'm in New Zealand and being bagless shouldn't bother me. But that bag has my sleeping bag! How am I supposed to sleep in a campervan with two other people and no sleeping bag???  looks like Heather and Pete get to cuddle with me tonight :) It's okay, I'm a really good spooner. Supposedly they're sending the bag to Christchurch first thing in the morning. I just hope it gets there soon and I don't inconvenience Pete and Heather too badly. Well there are others waiting for the computers so I should go.

From the Devil I got final exams for Christmas

So I got a few of my personality traits from Satan.....eveyone did. But not everyone gets my upcoming special little Christmas gift from the King of Hell himself: law school finals. They're special and make me want to commit both homicide and suicide all at the same time. (ok maybe that's a teensy bit over-dramatic. Just a smidge.)
My next posts probably wont be till I get my trip underway. But this will be my travel blog! So the travel blog will be back!!!! Right Here!!!! woohoo.

Since I am standing on the edge of the cliff, finals start on Monday, I'm going to venture to guess that I won't have time to blog a whole lot. It's sad I know. Just so you have an idea of what my week looks like, here is a tentative schedule of what I usually go through:

midnight: still awake because the issues of either evidence, trademark, tax, secured transactions, or international aw are dancing a slow waltz in my head
2am: wake up and roll over
5am: wake up and wonder if I should just give up the fight...
6am: just as I'm falling back asleep the alarm/bad radio music begins to serenade me out of the jumbled mess I've made of my sheets
7am: out of the house and to either a coffee shop or the library....depending on if I have a 9am final, or a noon final
study until I can no longer see
take my notes to the gym and read while running. Running = an attempt to run away from reality. Reality has always won but someday I think I'll catch him sleepin' on the job... That or I'll fall off the treadmill trying to read and run.
finals from either 9-12, 1:30 - 4:30, or 6-9PM. fastest. 3. hours. ever.
finish with one subject and pick up another
7pm: eat if I can swallow
9pm: get a second wind and walk around the house talking to myself about the topic of the moment
10pm: give up because once again my vision has called it a day and I can no longer see.
aaannnnnndddddddd REPEAT

......once again.......just a smidge of an over-exaggeration. And fit a few GU basketball games somewhere in there which I'll watch while running. It's really bad, but it's not a terrible, horrible death.
Every semester when finals are done and I'm finished with classes, a few things always happen to me. Like a really twisted tradition: my shoulders which have seemingly attached themselves to my ears, relax. My body slows down, like slow motion and I feel like weak as if I've just recovered from the flu. My immune system crashes and I get a cold (at the very best. Strep throat at the very worst). and I cry - Out of exhaustion, happiness, and relief that I've made it and can again live! (like Sid from Ice Age: "I choose life.") And then I have a date with Jack Daniels :)

So that's what I'm facing and I'm super duper pumped about it!! :) I'm being over-dramatic. But if you ever have a bad thought about a lawyer, remember this post. They might be a complete worthless ass because this process stole their soul and then ran it through a shredder.

That is all.