Birthday!!!

Happy happy birthday to Caaaaaaaaaaaitliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.
23 years old. Wow. WOW. And I'll be home in, like, less than 20 hours. Woooow.

I spent my last days in Christchurch living at my friend Hannah's house. All week it was POURING rain. It really felt like winter too, it got so cold! Wore my gloves and hat and anything warm I could get my hands on. When I could feel my hands. I spent my mornings in the central library reading and just avoiding going outside. The Avon River was basically flooded. I hated staying inside so long, so eventually I would venture out into the wet and gloom trying to find things to do.

My friend Joana was staying in Chch too, and we decided to see the movie Boy, by the same guy that did Eagle Vs. Shark, and I really enjoyed it. It's a coming of age tale about a Maori family living on the East Coast in the '80s, just after Michael Jackson's Thriller came out. If the movie goes to America (or maybe it came and went?) I reccommend seeing it, it's a really great look into the Maori small-town lifestyle and mentality. And you get to hear the accent, which I'm sure I will miss coming home...

On Wednesday I wanted to celebrate my birthday, effectively a day early, so that I wouldn't have to worry about going to the airport straight from a celebration. Basically everything fell through because when Hannah and I got back to hers and finished eating dinner (we made fajitas! sooooo good! I'm so looking forward to having burritos again!!!) it was just too cold and wet outside, and Hannah had work the next day, and it's a 30min walk into town. We all just didn't feel like braving the night. I felt really lame, but didn't think it was the end of the world because I could just celebrate my birthday on the actual day.

So Thursday I turned 23 (woo!) and met Joana and her boyfriend Simon for lunch, and we took our time because, surprise, it was raining, and it was warm in the restaraunt. Joana gave me a really awesome canvas bag with kiwis on it - which is really cool since we worked on the kiwi orchard together - and wrote a really lovely note on a picture of the beach near Opotiki where we had spent one afternoon. She also bought me a cookie from one of her favorite shops, which definitely made my heart start pumping with the insane sugar rush. It was really hard to say goodbye because Jo and I really connected and we've run into each other so many times in the last few months that it's just hard to believe we won't see each other anymore. It's probably why I didn't cry- it's just too hard to believe.

The only reason I broke away was that my friend Pina, from the vineyards, was also in town and had been texting me to come to her hostel because she made me a cake. It was 4pm by this point, and I was going to meet Hannah for a drink after she finished work at 5, so I was a little hesitant to see Pina because I was worried about the time. I had asked if she wanted to join me and Hannah in town, but she said it would be better for me to come to the hostel because of the cake. She also said that there was another surprise for me, and I figured she must have gotten me a present. It was really sweet, especially because we weren't best of friends at Copper Beech (vineyard hostel). It sounded like she just put some effort into my birthday (and had remembered it when I was in Chch before, at the rugby game, like she had put it into her planner and was all excited for it) so I thought it would be good to drop it. Plus, she was always baking in Copper Beech, and it was really sweet that she made me a cake, so I texted back that I would drop by but only for a little while in order to meet Hannah on time. When I finally got to the hostel (and it was FREEZING outside, was very glad to be in the warm) it was closer to 4:30 and I thought I would only be able to stay for 15 minutes before having to walk to meet Hannah, and it made me sad, because it would be too short, but I figured a small visit was better than none at all.

I asked the desk manager where I could find Pina, and he went to get her for me. I love this girl, she comes bounding out all smiling and gives me a big hug. I was flooded with affection for her, and immediately glad I came over. Pina is overly excited, beckoning me through the kitchen and into the dining room, I'm guessing just because she wants to dig into the cake. I open the door and suddenly

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a huge crew of Germans from Copper Beech throwing me a surprise party!!! I had NO idea, they completely surprised me, and I felt so loved. I didn't think that I would get to see these lovely people again, and it was just the best present I could have asked for. I mean, they were planning this party for over a month, I think since I left Blenheim, and these guys drove and hitch hiked from all over New Zealand just to be with me! How sweet is that??? I really meant it when I said Copper Beech was like a family, and it definitely felt like a reunion seeing all of them there in pink princess birthday hats and blowing party horns. I almost started crying, I was so touched.

We catch up over Pina's brownie cake, and I couldn't have been happier celebrating with all of these familiar faces. It's so crazy because I've literally said goodbye to some of the girls 5 times since working with them in Opotiki, then departing in Gisbourne after seeing the East Cape together, then meeting/departing in Wellington, working together on the vineyards in Blenheim, then running into each other in Wanaka then departing in Christchurch... and then again in Christchurch!! I'm certain that we will stay in touch forever, because so much of my time here has been spent with these girls. So, I guess while I didn't get to see every single part of New Zealand, or go on all the walks, or feel a little regret for not travelling to another part of the world before coming home, I've truly had a wonderful time because I've made really good friends. That, and if I ever want to go to Germany, I'll be set, because it seems I've befriended the entire country...

Hannah treats me to dinner (and the Germans require that I wear my pink party hat out, and some guy on the street commented "That'll keep off the rain!") and I realize that she's one of the first people I met in New Zealand, all the way back in Auckland at BASE. And we basically saw each other once a month for at least a day since February. Essentially Hannah has been at every step in my New Zealand travels, which was so cool that we could say we tracked each others' progress over the months. It was even harder to say goodbye to Hannah because she's the person I've known the longest and it really feels like I'll just meet up with her again next month. I just had to tear myself away and try not to think about how sad it really is that I won't see so many of these wonderful people again... That's what I'll miss more than anything about NZ.

After returning to the hostel for drinks and general merriment, I get to the airport at 5 am (and didn't sleep, which I was hoping I would, but oh well). I made my flight and slept in chunks. I didn't expect to get our own tvs because it's such a short flight, but it IS international and they even fed us, fancy! I wasn't really expecting United Airlines to be so nice. I'm on them again for my main flight back to SFO, so while it's not Qantas it's a pretty decent substitute. But now I've got 3 hours before my plane even boards. Luckily there's free internet at the Sydney Airport...

My Last Month

So much has happened since my last post, let's give a quick overview, shall we? Wish I could give even more detail, do it all more justice...

~ Swimming with Dusky dolphins in Kaikoura on the east coast was absolutely incredible! We had a very clear morning with calm seas and the dolphins were very close by, only a 20 minute boat ride with minimal rocking. Our group was really big, about 20 swimmers plus people just doing the watching, so we had to split into two groups for the swimming. I don't know how long I actually spent in the water, but with the wet suit on I was surprised that I didn't feel cold at all and wanted a lot longer with the dolphins. I mean, I get into the water and all of a sudden there are TONS underneath me. I love their dark markings, they swirl and remind me of the waves of the ocean. We're encouraged to sing to the dolphins, but mostly all I can do is make odd noises with the snorkel in my mouth. It seems to work initially to entice the dolphins closer (they're completely wild, and so our guides tell us that it's our job to entertain THEM!) I circled with a few of them, looking into their eyes and feeling very connected with nature. There were also two seals in the water, and they were super graceful and beautiful and had huge eyes.

~I then went to Hamner Springs and took a walk up to the top of town. I met some guys from Saudi Arabia that made dinner for me and this Dutch guy, something pronounced "Capsa" which is essentially meat and tomato stew over rice, YUM. The next morning I sat in their hot springs, which I had to pay for, and honestly wasn't that impressed. I will say though, that being in the 43 degree sulphur pool was uncomfortably warm, but did feel relaxed afterward. But overall I could have done without the trek to Hamner.

~I caught a ride to Christchurch with a German girl from the Hamner hostel and participated in a celebration with the local Nichiren Buddhist community (May 3rd!). It was really nice to meet more members and there were great performances over the afternoon. I stayed with members for a few days and got sorted with warmer clothes for the impending winter.

~Mount Cook was next with some absolutely gorgeous sunny days and really impressive views of the mountains. Mt Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand and it's a big feat to climb it. There was a nice vibe to the very small village, which was established basically as a base camp for mountaineers. The snow capped mountains were visible from my dorm window, which literally made me gasp in the morning. I four walks over 2 days, one of them called the Hooker Valley walk, which winded through the valley, over 2 swingbridges, and ended at Hooker lake, which had icebergs floating in it! They were fairly small, and kind of dirty, but it was still something I'd never seen before. They were also melting fairly rapidly...

~I then stayed 3 nights in Lake Wanaka. I went here basically to do a skydive, something that I've been wanting to do after seeing Freddy's video from ages ago. Unlike the bungy jump I don't actually have to do anything, the person strapped to you is the one that does all the work, which seems like a nice, tame extreme sport :) I met up with a friend from the kiwi orchard, Davide, a really sweet Italian guy. Then our other Italian friend from the orchard, Silvio, met up with us the next day. It rained all morning so I figured I wouldn't be able to sky dive, and the forecast for the next day was rain as well, so I was bummed. The rain let up in the afternoon, so the Italians and I took a walk around the lake. I have been really impressed with the colors of the trees in the south island, so many vibrant yellows and orange and even some reds here and there, matched with the ever-present greens and now snowy distant mountains has been so picturesque. When we get back to the hostel and walk into the kitchen I see two more friends from the vineyards have checked in! My lovely friends Sabrina and Carlolin from Germany! Sabrina also worked on the kiwi orchard, so it's like I've seen her almost every step of the way since January. She says to me "Caitlin! I've booked my skydive for tomorrow morning!" Aaaaah, what!? I call the company and ask to be put down as well, and I'm just reeling, am I actually going to do this???

The next morning is looking incredibly clear, so the skydive is ON. We get into these oversuits that look like something out of the circus with bright primary colors, and actually have to wait for over an hour while a layer of fog lifts from the airport. We also watch I think 3 groups go ahead of us, and Sabrina is getting really nervous, while I'm just getting more excited. My tandem diver, Alex, from Brazil, is awesome and cracking jokes and clearly loves what he does. We get into the plane, me first, because I'll be the last to jump, since everyone else is going at 12,000 ft and I'm jumping at 15,000 ft. The ride up is spectacular, just the most gorgeous day, and I'm able to see everything down below- Lake Wanaka, the Clutha River snaking lazily through farmland, and Mount Cook! Suddenly the door is opened and people start disappearing out of the plane. It hits me, that once Sabrina is out the door, oh Jesus, I'm about to jump out of a plane! this is when I start getting nervous, but there is no turning back. You can see my face on my video as I slide to the front of the plane and dangle my legs out the door, I'm thinking "fuck fuck fuck fuck" but before I know it I'm not sitting in the plane anymore and free falling over New Zealand. My instinct was to close my eyes but I forced them open, trying to take everything in, and mostly there was just so much color beneath me that I couldn't really distinguish anything below during the fall. I remember it being very windy, and I tried my hardest to smile for the camera but my mouth was just gaping open, halfway between screaming with joy and being speechless. I don't think I screamed out loud... I was such a rush, and I can't tell if that full minute of free fall was short or long, but it was definitely fantastic. Alex opens the parachute and we glided for several minutes, which is how I imagine what flying must feel like. Alex says "You can really say I have an office with a view!" and MAN am I jealous! I was just smiling like a fool, feeling like one of the luckiest people to be seeing the land from above in such a cool way. I'm so happy I did it.

Davide, Silvio, Carolin, Sabrina and I hike later that day above Diamond lake, with a 270 degree view of Lake Wanaka (wow!) then later make a huge dinner together. We decide to meet up in Queenstown over the next few days. Carolin and Sabrina head down early the next morning while Davide and Silvio and I go on a hike in Mt Aspiring national park, on I believe the Rob Roy track, ending looking up at a glacier on the side of one of the peaks, which I thought was actually much nicer than in Mt Cook.

~Queenstown is known for being insanely expensive and not too exciting, but we went during the 'off season'- not summer and not winter!- so there weren't too many people there, which made it a very pleasant visit. Again, gorgeous colors of autumn. Twas a little chilly but not unbearable in a town gearing up for ski season, again was a nice vibe. The five of us played frisbee golf in the park, which has a permanent course set up with chain baskets for goals. I really liked some of the holes, one where you had to stand on a rock to tee off, another your frisbee had to pass through two of four trees before going towards the basket, and one whose 'goal' was this tiny triangle between a tree and a boulder. The park was very pretty and the game was really fun, though we were borrowing seriously crappy frisbees from the hostel and we were all pretty atrocious, letting lots of people pass us with their fancy small frisbees designed for distance.. We celebrated with lunch at FergBurger, the place where everyone says you have to go while in Qtown, and the meals were HUGE and of course very tasty.

~ I then head back to Chch with Sabrina and Caro because we want to see Akaroa together. We stop overnight in Lake Tekapo, which is renowned for being extraordinarily blue from glacial rock powder suspended in it. Here I also decide to book a flight to Auckland for my last week, which I think will be more exciting than staying on the south island.

~ Akaroa is the culturally French town in NZ, though I don't really see it other than the street names, but think the town is very quaint. Some of the houses are very cute but didn't scream 'french'. We ended up meeting other friends, and Sabrina/Caro drove back, while I stayed behind with the others, sitting in the sun as it slowly went down behind the hills. It was very warm all day (why did I get warm clothes again?? I haven't needed to use them!) and just sitting on the side of the road by the water on this patch of grass was so lovely.

~Jump from staying with my friend Hannah in Christchurch to a weekend with Helen in Auckland, and on to Pahia in the Bay of Islands. This is in the northern penninsula of NZ on the north island, and was one of the few places I hadn't yet visited, and figured it would be a great way to end my journey. The first day we got a cruise of the islands, going to the famous "hole in the rock", which is literally a big hole in a rock out at sea, very strange weathering... And then we found a pod of bottlenosed dolphins having, get this, an orgy. Cheeky. These dolphins were a lot bigger than the Dusky ones I saw in Kaikoura, and at first I thought, "I don't really need to see dolphins again, I swam with them!" But then even seeing them breathing was really amazing. I think they're just incredible creatures, I was transfixed by them.

The following day I took a bus tour to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand, where the waters of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean literally come together. In Maori culture this is where souls depart to the next world. Watching the waves crash was beautiful, spiritual and incredibly unique. I could have sat there watching for a long time. I really enjoyed our lunch stop on the beach, again just a beautiful day and the water was so inviting that I just took my shoes off, rolled up my pants and stuck my feet into the clear waters, letting any anxieties of leaving wash away. It had rained earlier in the day, which was perfect for SANDBOARDING, where we drove to this massive sand dune and got boogie boards to slide down it on our stomachs. It was great fun, because the slightly wet sand makes you go really fast, which was also a bit terrifying as you're looking down the slope head first, but I enjoyed it so much that I tackled the uphill sandy struggle three times for that downhill rush. We also got to see wild horses on the Ninety Mile Beach! I didn't think there were very many left, but we saw about seven of them, beautiful chestnut brown and white.

The next morning it was so perfect out, so I went out kayaking on the water with a girl I met on the bus. The water was so glassy that it was really easy to kayak (unlike in Abel Tasman) and all I wanted to do was spend the day out on the water. As we're bringing in our kayaks the guy at the store asks if we want to go sailing with him, so I say why not?? I spend the afternoon helping jib the main sheet on a 123 year old boat, getting to see the islands some more and shooting the breeze with some locals! Oh, and we saw a small penguin in the water :)

The following day it rained. All day. Yuck. But then the day after, on the bus ride back to Auckland, we stopped at a native bird conservatory and hospital, where I saw a talking Tui bird named Woof Woof. He sounded a little like a robot, and I could understand him talking about Christmas.. or maybe it was 'kiss kiss'. That was bizarre. But what was REALLY amazing was when the keeper comes out with a real kiwi bird! I couldn't believe it, I didn't think I was really going to see one before leaving, and he even let us pet it! It wasn't that soft, actually its feathers felt kind of lumpy, but never mind, I PET A KIWI BIRD! And then he let it run back in its cage and it was really fast- no wonder no one ever sees them, they like to hide. And it just looks like it should topple over because their beaks are so long and have just the most bizarre body shape... But what another great highlight in my week filled with nature!

~I've gotten this last weekend with my friends Helen and Amy at Helen's house in a suburb of Auckland called Ponsonby, and we've had a lovely time together. Amy left for Australia this morning, so it was really wonderful to see her again before we're both out of the country. The other night we got all dressed up and went out, and we pretty much owned the bar because we looked so fabulous. Yesterday we were all tired and hungover, so we ordered pizza and almost set the kitchen on fire trying to keep the pizza warm, that was exciting. Basically I didn't know how to work the oven and it was set on 'grill mode' and a high temperature, and Helen put the BOXES into the oven... luckily Helen smelled something burning and we pulled out the boxes, which caught flame as soon as they were taken out... geez, it was a little scary. But we put out the fire and cleaned everything up (and ruined one of the pizzas, cry..) and felt really stupid. An exciting end to the weekend.

I think these will be the last memories of New Zealand, really. These next few days I'll be down in Christchurch waiting for my flight out on Friday morning! It's my birthday on Thursday, but I'm not willing to party and then immediately embark on my 24hr journey home, so either I will celebrate the day before or just be really really lame and not do anything. But either way I've had many other celebrations of being overseas. Though it's sad that it's coming to an end, I am so happy for everything I've done and seen and the people that I've met. It's been a wild ride. I hope I will get to do at least one more reflective post, most likely at Sydney Airport, to really tie up the last of my New Zealand experience!

In the words of my mother's email this morning, "Caitlin's coming home! Caitlin's coming home! Caitlin's coming home!"

From my adventures with Virginia

"Guten Tag everyone!

I write this on my German friend’s little computer, where the z and y keys are switched, so I have to think really hard when I’m typing! Apologies if some words look funny…

I finally wanted to fill you in on some of the really fantastic things I did with Virginia, because it was SO MUCH FUN. After the fantasticness of Abel Tasman we headed out toward the glaciers, and had wanted to go on the coastal highway to stop at the Punakaki Rocks, but somehow took a wrong turn (all thanks to V’s GPS, whose name is Ken. Ken was very helpful sometimes, and we were super grateful for him, but it was funny when he would say things like “in six hundred yards, go left” when there was clearly no turn, and just a bend in the road. Thanks Ken.) When we got to Greymouth we made the executive decision to go up the coast anyway, about an hour and a half detour round trip, so we could see the rocks. The weather was kind of grey but once we got views of the coast it actually made it more spectacular seeing huge rocks coming out of the water and mist coming in from the sea. The Punakaki rocks are this odd sedimentary formation that’s all in these flat layers, nicknamed “pancake rocks”, and they’re all in these weird eaten-away towers along the coast. Some have cool caverns and you’re looking down into them as the water swirls in, and when the sea is rough enough sometimes you get geyser-like effects of spray. It wasn’t so rough, but we saw little sprays. And we found a lamb rock. It looked like a lamb. Sort of. And there was a tour bus of older women that offered to take our picture a few times, and they asked where we were from- “California girls!? We have one lady from Santa Barbara, don’t we?” Then back in Greymouth we picked up some groceries and the same tour bus was there “Oh! California girls! We have someone from California with us too…” Cute.

We got in late to Franz Joseph, just barely making check-in before 9pm (this was quite the pattern with us) and the guy at the desk was surprised by our peppiness- “Wow. What are you girls so happy about?” “We’re hiking on a GLACIER tomorrow!” We couldn’t help it, even the long hours in the car couldn’t hold us back. The hostel was one of the nicer ones I’ve stayed in- very warm and a really good kitchen, though it wasn’t a BBH, which is just the hostel membership I have so I can get discounts on sleeping, but it was worth it for the coziness- and it had these amazing pictures of ice caves and of Milford Sound in the halls, so V and I were freaking out every time we headed around the halls. In the morning we got suited up at the Franz Joseph Guides company (the same one I applied to, but haven’t heard anzthing from them and it’s been like two months now, so I can safely say theyre not interested. Oh well, their loss); they give you jackets and socks and boots and pants and crazy ‘cramp ons’ for your boots which look like bear traps, and are put on the bottom of your boot so you can walk in the ice (spikes go into the ICE, not the BOOT; our guides said it was amazing how many people had put them on the wrong way). We took a bus to the beginning of the park, and had to walk pretty far to get to the foot of the glacier, but it didn’t look that far away. There was an optical illusion with the valley, so it looked like it wasn’t more than twenty minutes away when it was actually a 1.5 km distance, something about the valley walls narrowing at the glacier but widening out where we were… crazy go nuts. The walk to the glacier was flat at least, then we put on our cramp ons at the bottom, but had to walk on rock before getting to the ice, which sounded AWFUL with the metal on rock, and was super awkward to walk on anyway. Once we got on the ice, though, it was very, very cool. But actually not cold, it’s a temperate glacier (rare! There’s also one in central America, says our guide), so it was pretty pleasant actually! The guides all walked in shorts, I kid you not. Plus we were bundled up in our fleeces and borrowed gear, and once we started walking around I got pretty warm, so could have easilz done without the extras, but then if the wind blew a little I was glad again for the layers. You could see these ice cliffs ahead of us, which again didn’t look that far away, but it was another optical illusion against the white of the rest of the ice and it would take all day to walk up that far. The guide carried around a pick axe, and would carve out steps for us to walk on. Which I suppose isn’t natural, but it was kind of cool, and made the place feel like an ice castle. We got to shimmy through a narrow ice hallway, sliding through these smooth walls sideways, and it felt like we were ice explorers! We loved looking at all the cool formations of ice, clicking away our cameras and going I cant believe this! We were sad when we got to the ‘top’, which ended up being much closer than we expected, and then ate a snack and headed down again, amounting to only forty minutes or so on the ice itself.

We felt like it wasn’t enough time, so when we got back to the office we booked another walk for the next day… taking a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier! Long story short we had to wait two days before getting onto the helicopter because of bad weather, which kind of sucked because there’s not much in Franz Joseph other than hiking the glacier. We did fill our time by taking some walks to see glow worms, and one was at night in the forest! It was super dark but that made seeing the worms a little easier. They were etherial in a way, you spotted them better if you didnt look directly at them . Sometimes we had to crouch down and look under logs. We spent a long time looking at the green glow under a fallen tree, just staring and feeling at peace. On another hike we went up to these caves where we had to walk barefoot in the water (FREEZING! I thought my toes were going to fall off) and turn off our headlamps every few feet to check out the glow above us. Pretty cool.

Even cooler? Getting a HELICOPTER RIDE TO A GLACIER! That ride in was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. This massive ice monster passing under us, wow. And we got to see those ice cliffs in the air, which was just so surreal. My jaw was in an open smile the whole time. We got so much time walking around, Virginia and I took so many pictures of cool ice formations and pools of water. We even got to go into an ice cave! Some of the ice was this amazing blue color, which comes from lack of air and increased pressure on the ice, so all throughout our walkways were these amazing blue streaks. I cant wait to see the pictures on a bigger screen, I may not be able to believe them. We also got to see some mini ice avalanches off in the distance, a cracking of sound throughout the valley and then aaaaah falling ice! It was a bit far away for us to be worried about it. We were on solid ground (well, ice), about 80 m thick, wow. And the guide said they get about 8 METERS of precipitation every year, so I felt really lucky that we were there on pretty clear days. In fact our helicopter was the last one of the day because the weather got too cloudy again, so we reaallly lucked out. We were so happy we stuck it out to get another few hours hiking around.

This was on Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day, and we wanted to be in Queenstown for the festivities, because it’s one of the big party towns. It’s quite a drive from Franz Joseph, about 5 hours, and we didnt really leave after the hike until around 4pm. We also made a stop at Lake Matheson, which we saw in pictures as having just stunning views of the glacial valley with Mt Cook in the distance, and on a clear day the water is still and it looks like a mirror of the landscape. It’s a long walk around the lake so we opted for just a 15 minute jaunt to a lookout, and the wind was blowing enough to make the water choppy, so we didnt replicate any postcards, but it was very pretty. And the walk was very pleasant too- V got to walk over her very first swingbridge in NZ, which are fairly common on walks here (I went over several on my Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk with Freddy) but since it was her first one she got all excited, and we enjoyed jumping on it and making it actually swing alittle while no one was on the bridge with us. Back on the road it got very dark and the road got all windy (and I think we may have hit a possum at one point? But they’re pests here so dont get all angry with us, we tried to swerve out of the way!) so we didnt make it into Qtown until very late, sometime after 11pm I think. Schade (German for sad). We did see that people were out but we were too tired from driving and just wanted to go to sleep, because the next day we had another 5+ hour drive.

Our next destination was Milford Sound, where the famous Milford Track is, arguably one of the most picturesque places in the world. The Milford Track is very difficult to book especially in the summer- you have to do it months in advance. Even in fall and winter it can be difficult, and V tried, but the first available day was just after she was leaving. Plus you have to stay in huts and it runs into money. We opted to take a late afternoon cruise of the sounds, which would get us time to get there from Qtown. The weather was grey in town, but as we drove out of the city it cleared up so we thought it would be a great day for the cruise. We stopped in Te Anau, about 2 hrs outside of the Sounds, to rent some camping gear, and also stopped several times to do short walks (Mirror Lakes was right by the side of the road and had some really nice views and ducks playing, plus an upside down sign that reflected correctly in the water) and take pictures of the scenery, more towering mountains in the valley. Once we got to the sign saying ‘Welcome to Milford Sound‘ we got nervous because the clouds were coming in. We had to wait at the tunnel entrance, which was a one-lane road cutting down through the mountain blockade, so only cars can only go in one direction at a time. While we waited for our turn we did another short walk by the side of the road, walking around boulders that had come off of the mountains. There were also TALL waterfalls coming down the slopes, some of the longest Ive ever seen! Your neck almost hurt looking up, then the fog kept getting thicker so we didnt really know how tall these cliffs were. When we drove down through the tunnel we thought, aw, we’ll drive under the fog and it will be fine. And then we got out to the other side and it was WORSE. Crap! We were also running late (as usual) and had to park the car and run to the cruise line. Virginia was quite sour leading up to the cruise because the weather was so bad, but I just tried to assure her that it was going to be fine. She asked the woman at the desk, since it was so foggy, if we werent satisfied with the cruise if we could try going on it again in the morning, and she told us that it was a definite possibility. Sure enough, we get on the boat and it’s raining and windy and foggy, and we really couldnt see much. The plus side of it raining was that there were tons of waterfalls all throughout the Sounds, but they were coming out of a blanket of mist, we couldnt even see where they began. We wanted to be happy that we were there, but it was truly disappointing that it was dark and grey and cold. We resolved to come back in the morning.

We stayed overnight at the Milford Lodge, the only accommodation in the Sounds, which wasnt that cosy like we thought a lodge should be. Their kitchen was subpar with not enough burners for the large number of people trzing to cook. But we tried to stay inside for as long as possible, because we were camping, and didnt really want to be outside longer than we had to. Anyway when we woke up it was still grey and at first we go aw crap not again! But then we thought, no, it might burn off. We go to the cruise line as soon as it opens to see if we can get on a morning cruise for free, and we can! We had an hour to kill, which was good for giving the weather time to wise up, and gave us a chance to do one of the walks around the area. We went to this place called The Chasm, a 30 minute loop in mossy green trees heading to a waterfall beneath a bridge that pooled into a crystal clear lagoon that reminded me of something out of Peter Pan. We were the only ones there at 9am, it was so gorgeous and quiet (except for the rushing water) and we were pretty happy.
Then we got even more excited when we came out of the trees and could see BLUE SKIES! We head back to the pier and get on the boat and it's just the clearest day, so the postcards of Milford Sound come to life before our eyes! Giant glaciated mountains towering out of the water, that's what I came to see! There was quite a bit of wind so it was actually fairly choppy on the water, I had trouble standing up as we cruised along. So the water wasn't calm enough to take the pictures of a perfect reflection, but that's okay. Sometimes they say you can see dolphins, but we didn't see any. We did see some seals on the rocks though! The cruise takes you out of the sounds and does a short loop out on the ocean, then takes you back in. Wow. So glad we stuck it out. We were on air with happiness, because if you aren't going to walk the milford track, at the very least you have to see them. YAY.

We did another walk around Lake Gunn through red beech trees -which were not red, but actually covered in moss, which was really cool and like another enchanted sort of forest. We found shapes in the moss, and sat on mossy thrones, and climbed on mossy trees hoping they would be Ents and carry us around. Some trees had these huge boil things on their trunks that had some sort of significance but of course I can't remember... But it was another quiet walk where we really didn't see anyone, so it was a forest and lake to ourselves.

This must have been on Friday, because V had 2 days to get to her flight in Christchurch, so we drove drove drove to Dunedin (We saw the west AND east coasts in one day!), stopping at a statue of a GIANT trout or something in Gore with these scary teeth, and met up with Jackie and Lisa in the evening over free wine, catching up on the last few months. They seemed to be really happy working in their hostel, where they shared a cleaning position and worked part time. Jackie has booked her flight to Australia at the end of April and then heading home the third week of May while Lisa seems to be staying in Dunedin for a little while longer. It was great to see them. The next day, Saturday, we went to the Dunedin farmer's market with all kinds of fresh herbs and baked things for sale. There was a magic show for kids and this guy ate an entire balloon which was kind of gross. We shared lamb skewers, yuuuum, and tried some sort of odd honey, rosemary or something. Then we tried out all of these cool bikes, one with a HUGE front wheel, small ones where you pedal side by side, a tandem one but one of the seats was backwards... crazy silly and fun!

There was a lot of falling over, and I got a sweet bruise from one bike, which was shorter than knee-height, and much laughter from the ridiculousness of it.

We took a walk outside of Dunedin up to these lava tubes, nicknamed organ pipes, with a cool view overlooking the Otago Peninsula. We got into Christchurch later that night and ate Thai food and treated ourselves to hokey pokey ice cream, a New Zealand treat that Virginia just had to try before leaving. We tried to polish off a 2liter box because that was the cheapest option, but somehow couldnt bring ourselves to do so. We made ourselves even more sick by trying out this amazing dessert red wine I had bought in Napier months before, which was meant to be paired with dark chocolate. So, we had a lot of indulgences on our last night, which I believe was necessary.

The next morning we found a hostel for me to stay in and took the car back to the rental place. Virginia had been travelling without her drivers lisence since the first hour that we got together- we looked for it all over the car and we decided it must have gotten left in Picton when we were loading everything into the Bluebird. We thought it wouldnt hurt to ask if it had turned up, and the lady called up Picton and THEY FOUND IT. So we gave V’s address info, which saved her a whole lot of DMV headache with having to get a new one, and by now she should have her lisence back. We waited for her airport shuttle in complete disbelief and happiness, yet sad to be parting, yet so glad that we had the journey together!!!

DOLPHINS

I have just one minute to say that I swam with Dusky Dolphins and fur seals in Kaikoura yesterday, and it was absolutely AMAZING! Picking grapes for a month was DEFINITELY worth it :)

Holy moly, only 6 weeks to go...

I'm leaving Blenheim today, after working in the vineyards for a total of 5 weeks. You would think that I've saved up a lot, but I really haven't, since the harvest was so short and not many hours to work. But that's okay, it's just time to go. It's definitely hard though, because the backpackers where I've been living this whole time, Copper Beech, has been so great. There's a core group of 25 of us that's been working, so it's felt like a family. A lot of people are leaving today and tomorrow, so most of us are realizing the harvest is over... But none of us really want to go, because it's such a great atmosphere. The two managers, Bonno and Ruben from the Netherlands, have been so helpful with helping us find work and then they organize things to do as a hostel. We've been having classic movie nights twice a week (Shawshank Redemption last Thursday, then Disney movies on Sundays) and they organized paralympic games over Easter, we have the soccer games and we once went to a driving range (man did I suck! but it was strangely addictive..), the other night they rented "Singstar" and we were all doing this karaoke together and sounding so horrible but laughing through the whole thing (which, sometimes, gave us more points than if we were really trying to sing...) and last week we went to "Housie". No one knew what it was, so we were all excited, thinking it could be like dodgeball or something, so a bunch of us are walking to it speculating, ooh maybe it's paintball or a dance party! We show up and it's BINGO. Ha. And it was full of old Maori women that were super serious about it "You know we started at seven, right?" It's 7:04, really? You have to get a "full house" of all your numbers on the card covered (hence, 'housie') and we bought just one strip each, but they had like 5 cards at once they were working with, and the numbers were called out so fast on the computer (double seven, seventyseven;three five thirtyfive; on its own number four) And we weren't exactly sure how to play at first, so there were some women that I've worked with before that were mouthing to us "Get a line! Get all the numbers!" so people were nice once we got in and sat down. Then you get into it and you're hoping to win $40, or on the "super housie" you can win up to $500!! and then someone else gets it, and it's like the entire room has been holding their breath and they all exhale in disappointment when someone else wins. It was really silly, but it was still hilarious for a bunch of us to go try. I'm really going to miss it here. But again, it's time to move on.

I've been very connected with the Nichiren Buddhist community here, and they're holding a training course next weekend in the area that I really wanted to go to. So, I'm going to wwoof this week in the Marlbourough Sounds at a house where you can only get to it by boat (!), then be back for the weekend to attend the course. I'll be wwoofing with a friend that I met through the SGI, and she's hoping to buy a car so that after the course is over we can travel some of the south island together. I've seen many of the highlights from my time with Virginia, but there's still more to see. I haven't been down the East Coast really, just saw Christchurch, so I'm hoping that we can make some stops in Kaikoura (dolphins!) and Omaru and Timaru (penguins!), then maybe cut over toward Queenstown and Lake Wanaka (sky dive???). My flight leaves out of Christchurch eeeeeeeeeeearly on May 28th, so I'll be there for a few days hopefully staying with my friend Hannah, who's working there. And since my birthday is the 27th, it only seems fitting to celebrate my last night in NZ and just not go to sleep, then jump directly onto the plane. Oooh that's going to be so insane...

Okay! So, wwoofing this week (aka WEEDING, ewww, but I think it's going to be beautiful and I'll get to chant lots with my friend Olivia) then the SGI course next weekend (More chanting!) and then... travel! Must make the most of my time left, weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Whyyyyy winter!?

It was FREEZING this morning! It was something like 2 deg celcius, gross! And having to work in it, rawr! I thought my hands and feet would fall off. Once the sun came up it was much better, and then it was hard to believe how cold it was before, but damn. Winter is seriously coming in. Brrr and grr.

Yes, I'm alive!

I fail at blog posts, greatest apologies.

Question... We don't have an "Easter Monday", right? Here in NZ, and apparently all over Europe, they get a long four day weekend, counting both Friday and Monday surrounding Easter as public holidays. It was kind of cool listening to the radio on Friday because there were no commercials...

I want everyone to know that I'm okay. I'm working on vineyards in this town called Blenheim, which is supposed to get the most sun-hours on the south island, but today it's grey and windy. It really feels like winter is setting in- the other night we had a joint birthday party and goodbye party for some of the long-term tennants and everyone was sitting outside in their wool caps with blankets over them. Brrr! I'm so NOT prepared for cold weather.

The other day we played soccer as a hostel at a park, and it was some of the most fun I've had in the weeks since Virginia left. I am in the middle of writing a long post about all our adventures, so everyone can read what I've been up to :) Basically, the week travelling was fantastic.

Vineyard work is tough- lots of bending over to see the grapes, which sit about waist height , and getting scratches all over your arms, and there's much more pressure to go quickly than doing kiwi fruit (think supervisors behind you going 'faster!') but it's slightly better than not working at all. At least we can eat the grapes off the vine, which are always really sweet, so it's tempting to eat them all the time but you have to refrain so you don't get a sick stomach... I'm working with some of the German girls from Opotiki, and one of my contractors had a bbq at his house, so there's defintely a level of comraderie on the field.

Sorry this is so brief! I am writing a longer one, as I said, so I hope to post that really soon! Love you all, AND SEE YOU MAY 28TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!