Oops!! Update!!

Uh oh!! I didn't realize it's been a month since I've written. I think it should be taken as a good sign because I've been so busy and caught up in having an unbelievable time here in New Zealand. Instead of writing a bunch of detailed blogs about everything I've been doing I was just going to write a summary list of sorts then say to look at pictures to see what it all looked like.

Here are a few of the highlights from the past month:

• Going to a 2nd and super fun Highlanders Rugby game.
  
• Visiting the Moeraki Boulders- These awesome boulders along the coast that are perfectly round
  

• Made my way up Signal Hill for a view over all of Dunedin

• A weekend trip for 2 day tramps in Wanaka and watching my friend jump out of an airplane. We saw many stereotypical New Zealand sights (huge green fields spotted with sheep, clear blue sky, and snow capped mountains)

• Another weekend trip road trip with 3 guy friends and Lizzie to Queenstown for the Canyon Swing (a 60m freefall then a huge arc through a canyon) then headed to Wanaka for  trip to Puzzle World (a building filled with optical illusions and a human maze). This trip was ridiculously amazing and I laughed pretty much the entire time. Definitely in my top 3 weekends of all time. Some highlights from this weekend: Playing pictionary in the hostel, watching the guys play ping pong for 2 hours, having pretty much all of our original plans fail and making up back up plans as we went along, going to a rifle rane and shooting my first gun (a 22 and actually doing really well for my first time), stopping at random attractions along the drive home, and many more hilarious events. I loved this weekend so so so much. It was the perfect group for the weekend.

• Climbed Baldwin St. (the world's steepest street) twice in 3 days with 2 different people. (It was my 3rd time up)
• Helped cut my flatmates here. It went from long, to a mohawk/mullet, to a mullet, to buzzed. His facial hair was also shaved along the way as well to match the hairstyles.

• Had a 480 Leith (our complex) Thanksgiving dinner. Each flat contributed different dishes and we came together to show the Kiwis what Thanksgiving is like (including going around the table saying what we are thankful for since arriving in NZ). (I made the Pumpkin Pie, which the Kiwis never had-talk about pressure)
• Many other small times around Dunedin with all my friends.

This has been the best experience of my entire life. I will never forget all my amazing memories. My only regret is that I didn't keep a better journal while here.

Autumn Break in April?!

Yikes!! Apologies for not writing for a month!! I didn't realize it's been that long. Plus my internet is awful so I never get around to the blog. Sorry.

Well here goes another long entry...sorry! But I promise to try to make it good!!

My Mid-Semester Break Adventures!!

So we get a week off in mid-April, which we kept referring to as "spring break" (this is not right, because well, it's not spring...oops!) So everyone split off into little travel groups and explored Oceania. My destination: New Zealand's North Island!! My plan: Road trip the North Island with my friend Lizzie. We booked our rental car and our hostels and just played it by ear from there.

Day 1: We landed in Auckland around 8:00. Because I was the only 21 year old only I could drive. So our first adventure began right away. 1) Figuring our NZ directions. 2) Driving on the wrong side of the road. My only requirements before we left were I didn't want to start off driving at night, in the rain, or have to immediately do round abouts. Within the first 5 min. I had done all 3...oops! We got lost a few times trying to find out hostel, but overall it was an uneventful day.

Day 2: Exploring Auckland on Easter. Oops! EVERYTHING is closed, except a few tourist places. We explored the Auckland Zoo (pretty amazing actually-got to see a baby orangoutang), Kelly Tarltons (the COOLEST PLACE EVER!! It's an underground aquarium. Tons of penguins, stingrays, sharks, etc. It completely amazed me. I recommend it to anyone!), and the sky tower (very touristy, and I was told that I couldn't not see it, but to be honest I wasn't that impressed. I think that may be because I've been in tall buildings in Chicago before, so seeing a small city from above wasn't soo exciting for me). We wandered around a little longer and got to know the bus drivers because we somehow ended up with the same ones over and over again. We attempted to go out at night, but the bars closed at midnight on Sunday and didn't open until after midnight on Monday. (they take catholic holidays VERY seriously here I guess). So it wasn't a super eventful day. Overall- Auckland=ok; nice small city, handful of tourist things to do, but nothing soo amazing (other thank Kelly Tarltons).

Day 3: Woke up semi-early and headed to Coromandel Peninsula. The adventure really began on this drive. The Thames Coastal Road to be exact. Aka the road from hell!! We drove along the coast of the peninsula for the majority of the drive. Sounds nice? WRONG! We were literally on the edge of the coast with no guard rails-Scary!! The lanes were barely wide enough for the cars, not to mention the RVs and trucks towing boats that came speeding toward us-Scarier!! And the extremely windy road with hair pin turns that didn't allow me to see what was coming around the bend made it all the more nerve-wrecking. It was the worst drive of my life. I grippe the steering wheel with sweaty hands and had tears in my eyes most of the time. After FINALLY getting to our hostel we found out the hot water beach we wanted to go to was another hour drive away. So after settling my nerves it was back on the road. This time instead of on the edge of the cliff, we were on the windy roads through the hills and cliffs of the inner peninsula. The hot water beach ended up being hilarious. There were so many people all standing around digging their holes in the sand trying to get the perfect spot. Lizzie and I picked a spot and started digging, it was cold water, so we tried again. We eventually settled into a luke warm pool and stayed for 20 minutes tops. Then drove back to Coromandel town and decided we deserved a nice dinner. Overall the day was huge adventure, and looking back it was really funny and a great time. We definitely have many stories from our drive.

We were also able to witness the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my entire life. The long curving coastal road, the huge ocean, and beautiful trees were the perfect setting for this sunset.

Day 4: Drive back down the same Thames Coastal Road. This time I knew it better and was on the inside so I kicked some ass and didn't stress out. I was getting to know the way New Zealand roads are better (aka very windy and narrow) and wasn't worried about the driving at all. Getting lost another time or two we finally made it to Taupo. This place is the most beautiful place. We explored Huka Falls (this amazing waterfall that is an amazing blue color) and the surrounding trail. I decided this is where I need to live, though I could never afford it, so Lizzie and I picked out the trees we would live in until we had more money. We then drove another 10 minutes and saw a place that had moon craters. It was this awesome field with extreme hot springs, mud pits, and huge craters. Very different from Huka Falls (just a 10 minute drive away!) but very cool. After taking a million pictures of the sites we wandered around Taupo looking for a place to eat (everything in NZ closes at 5 for some reason) and settled on making pasta in our hostel.

Day 5: This was the day all parents dread their children having. This was the scariest day of my life. It was also the most exciting day of my life. This was the day I jumped out of an airplane. AMAZING!!! We arrived at Taupo Tandem Skydive after trying our hardest to waste 2 hours in town, while just being anxious to get to the jump. We were somehow talked into diving from 15,000 feet with pictures and a dvd from getting no package and diving form 12,000ft. (Sooo worth the extra $$). So we got into our suits and all strapped up. Then I met my tandem master (thats what the guy strapped to my back attempting to keep me alive is called). His name was Alan, a Kiwi and was the cutest of all the tandem guys. Lizzie got Freddie, a crazy world record holding German. We were excited about our guys. First into the airplanes and watching us fly up up up for 25 minutes before the other 6 people jumped with their partners before us at 12,000ft. This is when it hit me. They closed the door, the plane WAY lighter without the others who were just thrown from the plane, and we headed up even higher. The time came when we reached 15,000ft. The door open and out went Lizzie. First one on, last one off, that was my story. Probably the hardest spot to be in. So I was told to sit on the floor then hang my legs over the edge of the plane (totally normal...NOT!). So I did as I was told, took my "exit photo" and felt Alan start shifting his weight on the floor behind me. Then all of a sudden he scooted forward leaving no part of me left in the plane, but him still sitting on the edge.  This is when your body goes "OHHH SHIT!!!" Then I heard "alright here we go" and then nothing but air was around me. I looked as I was thrown out of the plane. I was being hurled toward the ground. It was the biggest rush ever. After about 10 seconds your mind and body meet up and you can comprehend when you are feeling. It was amazing. I can't even describe it. So when you skydive the chute gets pulled at 5,000ft. So I freefell for 10,000ft, which lasts approximately a minute reaching about 200km/h. This is INSANE!! I watched the ground and the clouds and barely paid attention to the guy who jumped next to me taking my picture, but he sure did get some great pictures of my cheeks. I won't lie I did scream some, but I swear I laughed pretty much 99% of the time. I couldn't stop laughing, it's what happens when I have a lot of adrenaline. The chute was pulled and I couldn't believe how fast it all went. It was the fastest minute of my life, but definitely the coolest. We drifted down and did some crazy fast spirals down. Alan brought me into a cloud (a dream I've always had since I've seen clouds out an airplane window). It was amazing. We soon landed on the ground and I collapsed and continued laughing. It was insane. (I was then questioned if I was under the influence of a certain drug because of my constant giggling, but they soon realized i was "just high on life" as they put it.) We made friends with the works and then headed off on a long drive to Wellington. We completed our day with a great dinner at a sports bar while watching ESPN. It couldn't have been more perfect.

I just have to say- EVERYONE needs to skydive. I don't care what you are scared of, you will never experience anything like it. It is unbelievable. And I will go with you if you want!!

Day 6: This is what we called our intellectual day (and it will seem soo boring after you read day 5). We explored Wellington. We visited the Te Papa museum, which was really cool, and I learned a lot about New Zealand and Maori culture. Then we headed to Parliament and got a cool tour of it. Though I did find it odd that our tour guide of the NZ government was American. Oh well. We decided to have a nice dinner out that night. So we met up with a friend from Dunedin and got all dressed up and went to a cute little Italian place. We tried to go out to some bars after but no one was really out. So we enjoyed a few nice drinks at a nice bar, then explored more. We ended up finding this great little bar called Boogie Wonderland. It was a 70's disco theme bar, with light up floor, disco balls, the works. We made friends with the bartenders and ended up just hanging out til closing. It was so fun. A great ending for our trip. 

Day 7: I woke up, returned our amazing car (which was named Buster), and headed back to Dunedin. I traveled back alone because Lizzie was meeting up with her mom so it was nice to reflect on everything on my own. I had an amazing break. It was filled with lots of laughs, crazy adventures, and some great bonding talks. 

I decided that Autumn Break in April is actually amazing. Beautiful weather, changing trees, etc. It was the best break ever. I mean, I survived falling 15,000ft from an airplane, how could it not be?!

Tutoko Valley-Ouch!!

**Warning!! This is a long post, but totally worth reading!!**

My first real tramping trip (weekend-long backpacking trip) was in the Fiordlands, which is south-west New Zealand. We had a big tramping club meeting and we got to pick which track we wanted to sign up for. Two of my friends and I signed up for the Tutoko Valley track which was originally written as "Easy-Hard+" rating, but changed to "Easy-Medium." I was really excited but kind of nervous. My mom reassured me that I would definitely be able to do it and would have a great time. Here is how the weekend went: (for more pictures check Flickr

Friday: 

• 6 hour bus ride to our track. We had a quick stop for dinner where our bus driver almost left us (in his defense he did warn us to get back on the bus by 9 "because I have a reputation for leaving people"...we got on the bus at 9 as it pulled away)
  
• Got to our track at a little past midnight.
• Had to set up camp for the night next to/in the car park. The flies were tied to the "No Camping" sign:

Saturday:

We began with an early breakfast and the headed out into what appeared to be a jungle.

*Interesting story, this is where they filmed "Where the Dinosaurs Walked" because this is what they thought best represented what Earth looked like back then* 

We hiked through crazy mud pits and had to climb up and down rocks and over trees and roots. We were definitely going to be roughing it. We quickly gave up on the trying not to get muddy. And then, my foot got stuck in the mud. It was hard to figure out where the mud was just a few cm deep and where it was mid-calf deep. Sadly, I made a few mistakes and was quickly covered in mud. We made it to the end of the track!! Yay!! After about 3 hours of what seemed like a jungle we came out into this amazing river. The water was crystal clear. It was gorgeous!! We were so excited to sit and have a snack until we realized we soon had to cross that river.

And crossed that river we did, not once, not twice, but a good 10 or so times (at least). We were offroading it for the rest of the afternoon to find a great camping area. So we traveled back and forth through the rivers, and even straight up the middle at one point (and yes I did lose my balance and have my backpack weigh me over causing me to fall into the river...). When we weren't in the river (which got to about hip deep at some points) we were climbing through the woods on the side of the river. The ground would frequently collapse under our feet leaving huge holes in the ground. We had to be pretty careful but didn't have much choice in foot placement so you just had to trust your step. It was certainly an adventure.

After a long day we finally found the best campsite around. It was right next to the river and surrounded by gorgeous mountains. It also housed SWARMS of sand flies. (Sand flies are like mosquitos but with a worse itch but are the size/swarm like gnats) It was awful. Here was us in our sand fly protection (how we stayed for a little over an hour to avoid the bites):

(the little specks you see are some of the sand flies)

Luckily we started a little campfire and the flies went away. We had a great camping dinner and laid around looking at an amazing star-ful sky. It was by far the most stars I have ever seen in my entire life.

Sunday:

Nothing like waking up cold and somewhat damp and knowing that you had to start your day with a river crossing. Woo!! So we had a quick breakfast and packed up. As we made our way back we took an easier, less rough way back. But still had a fair share of river crossing. It just wouldn't be right if we didn't have to spend a chunk of time in freezing cold rivers!! When we made it back to the Tutoko track we had a quick lunch and were told that if we made it out by 1 we could go see the Milford Sound. We were definitely up for it, then realized that meant we would have to do the track in half the amount of time. Ready..GO!!! As we scrambled through the rough terrain I felt multiple times due to bad footing and slippery mud. As we pushed ourselves further we became tired and more messy with our steps. My legs were definitely getting a beating. But sure enough! We made it out in time!!

We kicked off our boots, put on our sandals, threw our packs into the bush and headed up the 2 mile road to Milford Sound. As we got closer we realized we wouldn't make it back in time for the 3:00 bus (driven by the guy who leaves people) so we took off jogging. We needed to see this place. As we ran our legs began to kill, but we pushed it farther and made it to the Milford Sound!! aka the most amazing sight ever:

We took a few pictures then had to run 95% of the 2 mile road back. After 2 LONG days of tramping and then an over 2 mile run we were dead. The 4 of us that did the trip to Milford Sound definitely had a good workout. We luckily made it to the bus with 1 minute to spare. I tried to get as much as I could from my bag for the 6 hour trip back, but forgot my iPod in the rush and had a long quiet ride back. 

Just how beat up was I after this "easy-medium" trip (that was full of malarkey! Even our leaders said it was definitely way harder than that)...(this is before the bruises had a chance to form...) (this picture doesn't really do them justice...in the words of my flattie when she saw me when I got home.."Holy shit!! What the hell happened to you?!")

Overall, it was an amazing adventure. It was by far my roughest tramp ever. It is certainly a story I will tell forever. And hey, like my favorite ad says, "Scars are tattoos with better stories." These legs definitely show some great stories now!!

(Thanks for reading this whole post if anyone actually did!!)

Quick Note

I just wanted to write a quick note to apologize for the lack of updates and pictures recently. The internet in my flat is very in and out (currently very out) and the library's internet isn't much better. (Apparently NZ isn't too strong in the internet department). But I promise to get things up and running as soon as the internet is back at my flat. (which we were told would be yesterday...) But I do have a lot of pictures and stories to share. Including a great one about my intense weekend tramping (hiking/backpacking) trip.
Stay tuned!! Sorry about the delays!!

Yet another adventure...

I have experienced the most adrenaline-packed weekend of my entire life. It was a true New Zealand weekend. I was lucky enough to go on a international student trip to Queenstown. Queenstown is like the hot tourist spot in NZ. It is the adrenalin capital of the world so it is super commercial. Here was my weekend:

• Get on the bus with about 20 other international students.
• Stop at a "pie" place. (Meat pies are HUGE here...don't ask me why...)
• Stop at a winery for a tasting/lesson. This part was awesome. We tasted 8 types of wine, and being broke college students none of us spit it out like we were supposed to. Might as well savor the free quality alcohol right? We didn't learn too much because they didn't really think there was a point in teaching us about wine. (I was kind of disappointed because I was interested in it all but oh well)
• Arrive at the Kawarau Bridge to jump down 43m at the world's very first commercial bungy. This was by far the coolest/scariest/most amazing thing I have ever done. The problem is it is so hard to explain to someone who hasn't felt that insane rush of a feeling when you launch yourself voluntarily off the edge of a stable bridge while attached to a bundle of elastic. It was beyond words. Here is a glimpse of my experience: 

• We left the bungy and arrived in Queenstown. We spent the night exploring the town and just hanging out. Believe it or not bungy jumping leads to a HUGE adrenaline crash and takes everything out of you, but we still found the energy to explore some before crashing at the hostel.
• Next we woke up early and went for a jetboat trip. Don't know what a jetboat is? Here is a tiny explain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If8_PVc4dEI&feature=related  This was amazing. I thought we were going to crash and die multiple times. It's ok, it was only the 2nd scariest moment of my life (the scariest occured as I hurled my body off a bridge the day before)
• The prettiest part of the trip came next. We went for a tramp (NZ word for hike) on the nice and easy Queenstown Hill Track. It led us to the top of one of the mountains in Queenstown. It was the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Need proof? 

• That night was spent out on the town again. It was filled with dancing and good times (like most nights out in NZ).
• We woke up Sunday morning to take a gondola ride up a mountain then luge down part of it twice. This was pretty awesome. I am sure that if the weekend had started up with luging I would have thought it was much cooler. But lets be honest at the end of this weekend luging was not the most exciting activity in the world.
• The trip ended with a bus ride back home with a quick stopover at this awesome little fruit stand that had the best fresh and dried fruit I've ever had in my life.
  

All in all I am sure you can tell it was the most amazing weekend ever. It was adrenaline-packed and included many of the "must-do" activities New Zealand is known for...

Up next? Sky diving? Possibly...

Quick Bit!!

Just a heads up to everyone!!
I have finally set up a picture site. Sorry it has taken so long. I have my first 2 sets up and will update again after this weekend most likely!!

Here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalarkey13/

Enjoy!!

Life in LaLa Land

Will someone please wake me up?! I have attempted to write this entry multiple times now and couldn't quite figure out a way to describe what I am experiencing. Then it hit me when I was walking around with friends. I live in a strange horror movie. Now you have to keep reading before you get the wrong impression. I don't mean horror movie in the sense that I hate it here, because that is 100%ly not true at all. It's just what life is like here. Let me explain...

Daytime: (option 1): It is BEAUTIFUL and sunny and everything appears to be perfect. Everyone is friendly and smiling. There is so much to do. An average day can include anything from attending a lecture then going to the beach for the afternoon or exploring the HUGE botanical gardens which are a block away from my house. 

(option 2): It is cold and rainy yet still amazing. Time is passed hanging out with friends, talking, and watching movies. Though it is cold there is still some exploring done. And even through all of the rain everyone has a smile and are beyond friendly (even if they don't know you).

but then...

Nighttime: It is eerily quiet out. There is no one around. The neighbors aren't playing music and the streets are empty. Everyone is inside somewhere. Dunedin appears to be dead. Where is everyone?! Then the "zombies" come out!! (Once again, keep reading to understand) As you walk down the deserted streets to get a friend home you notice people off in the distance. They start stumbling closer and closer. As you turn a corner you see another crowd headed your way. As they get closer you realize they are coming from all directions. They are stumbling and slurring. They are everywhere!! As they yell toward you, you realize you are completely surrounded by them. You have to be careful and just keep walking, act like one of them and yell back if it makes you feel safer, or avoid eye contact and turn down a different street to avoid interaction. There appear to be no rules in the town you are in. There are couches burning in the streets, glass broken everywhere, and "zombies" galore. Then you see a police officer and expect things to settle down. Wrong! They just stand around and watch, make sure the fires die down and no one gets too loud. The "zombies" continue to walk around with their open containers, which appear to keep them going (yes, open containers on sidewalks/streets/etc. are allowed in some parts of this town, aka lots of campus) . They are everywhere. Where have they all come from?! A house party must have ended, or a bars may have closed. Who knows, all you care about is just making it through the night. If they catch you, you may very well get caught up and follow them and soon become just as stumbly and slurring as they are. When you finally get home and into your bed you close your eyes and drift into sleep.

When you wake in the morning, you slowly open your eyes thinking everything must be a dream, you are back in your bed in the US, ready to head off to New Zealand. But no, you pull back the curtains and see beautiful green landscapes and realize this is somehow real life. 

How is this place possible?! Just my way of trying to describe what life is like here in Dunedin. My own little LaLa Land!!