I feel like this is going to be quick...for now...because i only have 13 minutes to write, but this is what happened the last few days...
In Queenstown we ate a lot. Winnies is the BEST pizza place ever. We went three times in the 2.5 days we were there. haha. Ferburger was really good too...their burgers are HUGE! One day we all did different things. Bennett got a tattoo. Audra, Jordan, and Katie went bungy jumping on the 2nd highest jump in the world. Margaret, Scott and I climbed an 8,000 ft moutain and saw a LOTR scene site. (We actually climed 3,000 of it, but it was sooo awesome at the top. We were in the clouds! so amazing. And Dom went bungy jumping at the first site ever in the world.
After Queenstown and recharging our batteries, we drove 3 hours to Milford Sound, which is sooo beautiful. We stayed at this place called Gunns Camp, which are tiny little cabins lined up, where the power is turned off at 10pm. The sandflies were horrendous, but we managed to keep them away from our skin. Lots of clothing. We kayaked on Milford Sound which was sooooo pretty. The mountains were huge and some famous waterfall there is three times taller than Niagra Falls. NUTS!! After four hours of it though I was ready for some LUNCH! YUM. we were so tired and we pretty much slept for the rest of the day. After Beautiful Milford Sound we came back to Queenstown and ate lunch and shopped for our dinners at Mt. Cook, which is where I am at now. We can't really see Mt. Cook very well, but it looks like Mt. Everst (the pics ive seen) but smaller. Its absolutely amazing on the South Island. The scenery is breathtaking and I am so lucky to be here. I'll put up pictures later tonight (i hope). We are at Mt. Cook for two nights and then we are off to Christchurch...i might get to see Amanda!! FH reunion. yay!!
I can think of more to say, but i will add them later tonight. Miss you all still. Less than three weeks till I am home. crazy, but i need to make $$ and start figuring out what i need to do with my life...sigh. but so far this has been an amazing experience.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
last volunteer project
so we are finally done with the volunteering bit of our trip and this week was actually a lot of fun with a few exceptions. On Monday we left Nelson (Scott's home -- we had dinner at his house with his family one night, which was really nice and watched the best movie i have seen in a while -- Whale Rider -- lots of Maori culture in it, so it was cool watching it knowing what was going on). We drove about and hour and half to get to Nelson Lakes (Rotoirti), which was where our last project was. We set up camp, which was covered in sand flies (those are evil tiny bugs that eat you alive). After we set up camp we realized we were sharing the campsite with lots of families of ducks. I named on Caroline, and a hurt baby Emma. It was a lot of fun being around animals -- that seriously would sit 2 inches away from you waiting for food to drop. Had to watch where you stepped because you might step on them. So that Monday we started to work right away -- we went to the DOC office and met John, Geth, Hayden, Paul, and more. They told us we were going to put some posts in the ground and then go mountain biking, which i hate. Clearing the path and putting in posts was easy, but the short mountain biking trail, which was relativley easy, HURT a lot and made me nervous. I do not like biking on uneven ground. sigh.
We were done after that mountian biking and i was grateful because i was exhausted. This campsite compared to everywhere else was a five star hotel. It was flush toilets, four hot showers, laundry!, and a kitchen area. it was pretty sweet, and i was so happy to be there -- minus the sandflies, which really did eat me alive. The next day we had a treat waiting for us -- a helicoper ride!! however, we had to wait around 4 hours for the weather the clear to take the ride. During those four hours we all did crossword puzzles, which seems to be the game of choise between us all. Finally when the weather cleared we were given the thumbs up to go. The ride was about 4 minutes long, which it was amazing. the views were beautiful. It was a smooth ride up and we landed on top of Mt. Roberts (1500 meters) and started work. We torn our culverts and unneeded stairs and when we were done we hiked down the mountain -- which was beautiful. I took some amazing pictures. I hope to put them up soon. The hike down was rough on my knees tho. they dont like going downhill anymore. Once down, we were done with our day. I believe this was the day I jumped into the ice cold lake by our campsite. It was fun, but I was glad to get out. These lakes were fed by glaciers once upon a time. That night we went back to the DOC offices to watch a presentation about what they are doing around the National Park. Thy are trying to g et all the rodents our of the bush so birds can flourish again -- like kiwis!! which we didnt get to see :(
On day three we went into the forest to fix rodent traps. We split into pairs (i was with Dom) and did a track each. It was fun and a good work out, and i was done after my track, but Scott voted us to clear a bigger and longer track, which turned out to be a mistake because I, and two other people were attacked my wasps. I was stung once, Jordan was stung once, and Bennett was stung four times. NO fun. I was ready to get out of the bush that day. The rest of the day was a lazy day.
On our last day of working (we left early because we were warned of monsoon like raining coming our way -- and there is no way you want to pack up in those conditions) we helped plant trees and brush by a river bank that was wached away in rain and snow storms. These plants were going to help keep the bank solid and in tact. After lunch we then planed some more and cut down willow trees (which are a pest in NZ). That day went by fast. We packed up and left for Panukaiki, a very very snall town on the west coast RIGHT on the Tasman Sea. The sea is so pretty and the waves are the biggest I have seen in life. I went into them and they were so much fun, but the water was cold. My body got used to the temp quickly tho. All that was in this town was a pub, a little cafe, and the pancake rocks, which are stacked rocks that looks like stacks of pancakes. We also walked the Truman Trail, which was scenic. After two nights I was itching to get out of the town. We are now in another bigger town, but I am not sure what its called....oh Hokitika. After we eat lunch here we are going to Okarita (i think thats the name) to go sea kyaking in a lagoon. That sounds be nice. I hope the weather gets better because its raning here right now. Sigh. Well I am out. Ill update with more details when I am in Queenstown. Miss you all!!
Cheers!
p.s. sorry i dont spell check -- but i have to write fast because i dont have a lot of time on the comps and checking for errors takes up a lot of time.
We were done after that mountian biking and i was grateful because i was exhausted. This campsite compared to everywhere else was a five star hotel. It was flush toilets, four hot showers, laundry!, and a kitchen area. it was pretty sweet, and i was so happy to be there -- minus the sandflies, which really did eat me alive. The next day we had a treat waiting for us -- a helicoper ride!! however, we had to wait around 4 hours for the weather the clear to take the ride. During those four hours we all did crossword puzzles, which seems to be the game of choise between us all. Finally when the weather cleared we were given the thumbs up to go. The ride was about 4 minutes long, which it was amazing. the views were beautiful. It was a smooth ride up and we landed on top of Mt. Roberts (1500 meters) and started work. We torn our culverts and unneeded stairs and when we were done we hiked down the mountain -- which was beautiful. I took some amazing pictures. I hope to put them up soon. The hike down was rough on my knees tho. they dont like going downhill anymore. Once down, we were done with our day. I believe this was the day I jumped into the ice cold lake by our campsite. It was fun, but I was glad to get out. These lakes were fed by glaciers once upon a time. That night we went back to the DOC offices to watch a presentation about what they are doing around the National Park. Thy are trying to g et all the rodents our of the bush so birds can flourish again -- like kiwis!! which we didnt get to see :(
On day three we went into the forest to fix rodent traps. We split into pairs (i was with Dom) and did a track each. It was fun and a good work out, and i was done after my track, but Scott voted us to clear a bigger and longer track, which turned out to be a mistake because I, and two other people were attacked my wasps. I was stung once, Jordan was stung once, and Bennett was stung four times. NO fun. I was ready to get out of the bush that day. The rest of the day was a lazy day.
On our last day of working (we left early because we were warned of monsoon like raining coming our way -- and there is no way you want to pack up in those conditions) we helped plant trees and brush by a river bank that was wached away in rain and snow storms. These plants were going to help keep the bank solid and in tact. After lunch we then planed some more and cut down willow trees (which are a pest in NZ). That day went by fast. We packed up and left for Panukaiki, a very very snall town on the west coast RIGHT on the Tasman Sea. The sea is so pretty and the waves are the biggest I have seen in life. I went into them and they were so much fun, but the water was cold. My body got used to the temp quickly tho. All that was in this town was a pub, a little cafe, and the pancake rocks, which are stacked rocks that looks like stacks of pancakes. We also walked the Truman Trail, which was scenic. After two nights I was itching to get out of the town. We are now in another bigger town, but I am not sure what its called....oh Hokitika. After we eat lunch here we are going to Okarita (i think thats the name) to go sea kyaking in a lagoon. That sounds be nice. I hope the weather gets better because its raning here right now. Sigh. Well I am out. Ill update with more details when I am in Queenstown. Miss you all!!
Cheers!
p.s. sorry i dont spell check -- but i have to write fast because i dont have a lot of time on the comps and checking for errors takes up a lot of time.
Friday, February 13, 2009
jumping out of a plane....its nothing
OOMMGGG....i cannot believe i jumped out of a plane today!! Skydiving is the most intense feeling to ever experience. So four of us (Katie, Bennett, Jordan and I) decided we wanted to go skydiving and since this was the least expensive place we could go it seemed like a good plan. As we were driving to the place (a 45 minute drive from Nelson) we all got really nervous and were re-thinking our decisions, but once we got there we all got a rush of excitment. We got our gear on, which was ridiculous looking and waited for the plane to land. Once the plane landed, Dom (my skydiving instructor) and I were the first out to the plane (meaning i was the last to jump out of the plane!!). We all crammed into this tiny plane, which took us up to 13,000 feet!! it was a 20 minute flight until they opened the doors!!! i was freaking out before they opened the doors so imagine what it felt like when the freezing cold air rushed in! and then i had to watch three of my friends disappear under the plane at 120 mph!! when it was Dom and mine turn we shimmied (sp??) out to the edge of the plane. I was hanging out of the plane literally...while Dom was holding on. Then he let go (i am getting goosebumps remembering it right now) and it i couldnt help but close my eyes for a second but then remembered it was only 50 secs of freefall so i opened them and pretty much screamed the whole free fall down. It was lucky because it was a cloudy day so all i saw were clouds at least so it wasn't like the ground was rushing towards me...it was just clouds, which was awsome. It was the most amazing feeling. It wasn't the stomach in my throat feeling, but the IM FLYING, IM FLOATING feeling. it was SOOOO COOL!! and then all of the sudden without warning Dom pulled the parachute, and it was a huge jerk. and then i saw land!! we were 5,000 ft off the ground and it was coming QUICK, but slow. weird. it was so cool seeing the world from that perspective. so cool!! we floated down for what seemed like five minutes, but it was more like 2 minutes and we landed on our butts. OMG i wish i could explain how i felt when i was was up in the clouds. I swear the clouds taste salty and its so cold that ice was forming on me...but i think i was just freaked out i imagined the ice. The one downside is that my ear killed!! going from 13,000 feet to 5,000 ft in 50 seconds can take a toll on your ears, but im back to normal now. All i really have to say is that EVERYONE should do it once because its just pure fun. I am going to do it a lot more in the future!!! yay!!
Cheers!!
Pipes
Cheers!!
Pipes
Thursday, February 12, 2009
back from Bluemine Island
G'Day,
It feels like the last four days went by in a flash. This wasn't the most exciting week, but it had its high points. Lets see...where should i start.
Well, Wellington was a lot of fun. There was a hige street party the last night we were there and we went out and enjoyed that. We met a lot of interesting people, who were dressed up because of the huge rugby tourny going on in the city. It was like halloween, which was cool. Sadly we weren't prepared so we didn't have anything to dress up in. oh well.
On Sunday morning we left the hostel to catch a three hour ferry trip. The ferry was more like a curise ship, which had a movie theather in it, reclining lounges, a food court, an atrium, a bar, and so much more. it was really really cool, but i really liked being outside on the top of the ship watching the beautiful views go by. Oh and this ferry was taking us from the North Island to the South Island, which so far is so much more beautiful. (Oh btw...for those who are interested, Wellington is where Peter Jackson's studio is and a lot of those movies were filmed).
Once we got to Picton (on the South Island) we grabbed some food real quick and then met up with DOC or Josh, the guy who was going to take us out to Bluemine Island and show us what to do for the week. We had to bring our stuff into quarentine because they didn't want any forgien seeds or mice to get on the island since its predator free. After we made it through the blazing hot quarentine, we walked to the water to catch our water taxi. We had to load up all our boxes of clothing, food, and supplies onto a barge, which was tiring. We were maybe about 1/3 of the way to the Island when the skipper decided to turn back because the barge wasn;t doing so well on the choppy water. We had to unload and load another boat up and then make the trip again. We finally got to the island 30-45 minutes later and unloaded everything once again. We got there aroun 4pm and Josh was thinking of going on a hike, but we were all so exhausted, we decided against it. We set up our tents and campsite and made dinner and most of us went straight to bed.
The next day, we went on an island hike. We saw some cool gun installments from WWII and where the men who were stationed there lived. However, they all got drunk instead on fighting because the Japanese never came and attacked NZ. Oh well. We were then instructed on finding the smallest bird on the island and i like in NZ...the Tom Tit or Rifleman. DOC is trying to relocate them to another island because that island only has one male. We found one, who was curious, but he didn't stick around for too long. After the hike (and more bush bashing...ugh), we went from a swim and thought we might be done, but that was a trick. We then had to weed around the campsite. Some of the other group members chopped down cherry trees and other unwanted trees. After that we thought we might be done, but NO...we had to go survey fish at night in a stream and hour away. That was scary because it was night and it was really uneven ground. We were all exhasted too and by the time we reached a beach on the other side of the island we were all willing to walk in the ocean with our boots on to get to our campsite vs. going back in the bush. Walking through the ocean was really cool but kinda scary. We saw some really cool birds that we woke up by accident and Bennett thought he saw a seal, but he was wrong.
Once we got back to the campsite i was out like a light. Before I forget I must tell you about the little birds...or chicken sized birds, that look like kiwis, but are Wika's. They wander our campsite looking for things to steal for their nests. They ended up stealing camdy from me which i wasn't too happy about and they almost stole some of my cookies. They must have a sweet tooth. They were cute until the starting stealing from everyone. Sigh.
Well the next day slept in because we stayed up so late and then went off to survey snails. haha. for real. We went up a trail and then found places 10 meters off the track to find both dead and living snails. we took their measements and documented whether they died of natural cases of a wika. We did three of those snail plots and then had the rest of the day for chill out and have fun. That night we all hung out by the ocean, while Dom played his guitar and we watched something REALLY cool. We found out that there are little tiny alge-like creatures in the ocean that glow green/blue when splashed. It has to be dark to see it, but its sooo cool. its called phosfluorescent. It was super cool to watch and be a part of. Some of the group went swimming. NUTS because the water was ice cold. That was a really fun night.
The next day we were instructed to clear a path we recently went up of any brush in the way. That doesnt sound so bad, but there was HOOK GRASS and thorns we had to clear out. OUCH, but we made it through four hours of chopping and clipping with a lunch break and then had the rest of the DAY off, but we didn't have the night off. We ended up doing more fish surveying that night but it was at a closer stream. However, I had a horrible night's sleep the night before so it was super had for me not to fall alseep. but this time it was a lot more fun because last time...when we got to the steam...the stream was dried up! so lame. but the second time the stream was filled with fish and eels!! eek!! haha. but that was cooool. But once we came upon a huge cliff we had to climb up most of us turned back to get some shut eye. I was happy because i was ready to pass out and i did. it was glorious.
The next day was our last day and we didnt do anything except pack up. however, it was raining!! noo!! it was raining on our last day when we had to pack up our tents...gross. a lot of peoples clothing got soaked because they left them out thinking it wasn't going to rain. Oh well. I guess it did. We got everything packed up and got on the barge, while it was still raining and ruched back to the mainland. We saw Hector's Dolphins on the way back, which was awesome because there are only 1000 of them left in the world. We got really really lucky. It was a fun ride. we got soaked, but we went over really cool waves. YAY.
Once we got back to the mainland we packed back up said our goodbyes to Josh, who was really cool, and then made our way to Nelson (scott's hometown). We had a little tour of the town in the car and then settled into our hostel, which is really nice. its a really big house with lots of niches. ANd they have free breakfast...awesome!! After an hour at the hostel we went to Scotts house to meet his family (Rachel and Kahu--his 3 yr old son). There house is soo cute and quaint, Rachel is so nice and full of energy and their son is sooo cute. We all went out to dinner and for a drink together, which was fun and Kahu came along. so cute. After dinner Scott and his family went home, while the rest of us went on the search for dessert. We found some ice cream and then came back to get some interneting/laundry done. I won't be getting laundry done today...booo, but tomorrow i will be on that!! haha.
well thats all i got for now. I will keep you updated more later. miss you all and ill be sure to get pics up before i leave for the next trip on Monday morning. Cheers.
It feels like the last four days went by in a flash. This wasn't the most exciting week, but it had its high points. Lets see...where should i start.
Well, Wellington was a lot of fun. There was a hige street party the last night we were there and we went out and enjoyed that. We met a lot of interesting people, who were dressed up because of the huge rugby tourny going on in the city. It was like halloween, which was cool. Sadly we weren't prepared so we didn't have anything to dress up in. oh well.
On Sunday morning we left the hostel to catch a three hour ferry trip. The ferry was more like a curise ship, which had a movie theather in it, reclining lounges, a food court, an atrium, a bar, and so much more. it was really really cool, but i really liked being outside on the top of the ship watching the beautiful views go by. Oh and this ferry was taking us from the North Island to the South Island, which so far is so much more beautiful. (Oh btw...for those who are interested, Wellington is where Peter Jackson's studio is and a lot of those movies were filmed).
Once we got to Picton (on the South Island) we grabbed some food real quick and then met up with DOC or Josh, the guy who was going to take us out to Bluemine Island and show us what to do for the week. We had to bring our stuff into quarentine because they didn't want any forgien seeds or mice to get on the island since its predator free. After we made it through the blazing hot quarentine, we walked to the water to catch our water taxi. We had to load up all our boxes of clothing, food, and supplies onto a barge, which was tiring. We were maybe about 1/3 of the way to the Island when the skipper decided to turn back because the barge wasn;t doing so well on the choppy water. We had to unload and load another boat up and then make the trip again. We finally got to the island 30-45 minutes later and unloaded everything once again. We got there aroun 4pm and Josh was thinking of going on a hike, but we were all so exhausted, we decided against it. We set up our tents and campsite and made dinner and most of us went straight to bed.
The next day, we went on an island hike. We saw some cool gun installments from WWII and where the men who were stationed there lived. However, they all got drunk instead on fighting because the Japanese never came and attacked NZ. Oh well. We were then instructed on finding the smallest bird on the island and i like in NZ...the Tom Tit or Rifleman. DOC is trying to relocate them to another island because that island only has one male. We found one, who was curious, but he didn't stick around for too long. After the hike (and more bush bashing...ugh), we went from a swim and thought we might be done, but that was a trick. We then had to weed around the campsite. Some of the other group members chopped down cherry trees and other unwanted trees. After that we thought we might be done, but NO...we had to go survey fish at night in a stream and hour away. That was scary because it was night and it was really uneven ground. We were all exhasted too and by the time we reached a beach on the other side of the island we were all willing to walk in the ocean with our boots on to get to our campsite vs. going back in the bush. Walking through the ocean was really cool but kinda scary. We saw some really cool birds that we woke up by accident and Bennett thought he saw a seal, but he was wrong.
Once we got back to the campsite i was out like a light. Before I forget I must tell you about the little birds...or chicken sized birds, that look like kiwis, but are Wika's. They wander our campsite looking for things to steal for their nests. They ended up stealing camdy from me which i wasn't too happy about and they almost stole some of my cookies. They must have a sweet tooth. They were cute until the starting stealing from everyone. Sigh.
Well the next day slept in because we stayed up so late and then went off to survey snails. haha. for real. We went up a trail and then found places 10 meters off the track to find both dead and living snails. we took their measements and documented whether they died of natural cases of a wika. We did three of those snail plots and then had the rest of the day for chill out and have fun. That night we all hung out by the ocean, while Dom played his guitar and we watched something REALLY cool. We found out that there are little tiny alge-like creatures in the ocean that glow green/blue when splashed. It has to be dark to see it, but its sooo cool. its called phosfluorescent. It was super cool to watch and be a part of. Some of the group went swimming. NUTS because the water was ice cold. That was a really fun night.
The next day we were instructed to clear a path we recently went up of any brush in the way. That doesnt sound so bad, but there was HOOK GRASS and thorns we had to clear out. OUCH, but we made it through four hours of chopping and clipping with a lunch break and then had the rest of the DAY off, but we didn't have the night off. We ended up doing more fish surveying that night but it was at a closer stream. However, I had a horrible night's sleep the night before so it was super had for me not to fall alseep. but this time it was a lot more fun because last time...when we got to the steam...the stream was dried up! so lame. but the second time the stream was filled with fish and eels!! eek!! haha. but that was cooool. But once we came upon a huge cliff we had to climb up most of us turned back to get some shut eye. I was happy because i was ready to pass out and i did. it was glorious.
The next day was our last day and we didnt do anything except pack up. however, it was raining!! noo!! it was raining on our last day when we had to pack up our tents...gross. a lot of peoples clothing got soaked because they left them out thinking it wasn't going to rain. Oh well. I guess it did. We got everything packed up and got on the barge, while it was still raining and ruched back to the mainland. We saw Hector's Dolphins on the way back, which was awesome because there are only 1000 of them left in the world. We got really really lucky. It was a fun ride. we got soaked, but we went over really cool waves. YAY.
Once we got back to the mainland we packed back up said our goodbyes to Josh, who was really cool, and then made our way to Nelson (scott's hometown). We had a little tour of the town in the car and then settled into our hostel, which is really nice. its a really big house with lots of niches. ANd they have free breakfast...awesome!! After an hour at the hostel we went to Scotts house to meet his family (Rachel and Kahu--his 3 yr old son). There house is soo cute and quaint, Rachel is so nice and full of energy and their son is sooo cute. We all went out to dinner and for a drink together, which was fun and Kahu came along. so cute. After dinner Scott and his family went home, while the rest of us went on the search for dessert. We found some ice cream and then came back to get some interneting/laundry done. I won't be getting laundry done today...booo, but tomorrow i will be on that!! haha.
well thats all i got for now. I will keep you updated more later. miss you all and ill be sure to get pics up before i leave for the next trip on Monday morning. Cheers.
Friday, February 6, 2009
check for pics on facebook!
not much to say about today. We went to the Natural Museum and went on a guided tour about Maori culture which was nice, but we were all tired. I am now roaming the city looking for something to eat. I hope you enjoy the pics on facebook. This pic here is a of the Marae we stayed in. A Marae is a community center or gathering place for Maori people. If you belong to the tribe of this Marae you can come here and have parties, funerals, weddings, etc. This one was really nice and check out the view! Check in touch y'all...i miss you
so we capsized....
hey guys! so adventure # 2 is over, and even though you can get bored of paddling real quickly after 4 hours...it was really fun. (we paddled 80 miles)
ok so....day 1...we get on the river (the company we used was Blazing Paddles...hahah get it??) I am with Katie the first day and we are still green paddlers and not used to the rapids. Did i forget to the mention that Margaret and I capsized during Adventure # 1...oh yes we did and the water was freezing...oh well.
So we set out a little nervous and we hit a rapid almost immediatley, but we make it through fine. We are paddling along talking to the other memeber sof the group trying to keep up with the group and trying to keep from falling out when the rapids came, but when the first big rapid came we ended up walking our boat down the side of the river which was scary because when we tried to get back in the current turned out boat around and i was facing the wrong direction and Katie had to save me...yikes!! But we made it through day 1 without another hitch. Once we got to the first campsite -- 6 hours later -- we were ready for the day to end, but we had to carry up all our barrels of food, clothing and tents up a hill to the campsite. It's fun sleeping in tents, until the bugs start to bite. Audra is COVERED in bug bites that have made her use statements like "I want to cut my legs off". It looks like she has a severe case of the chiken pox, but hopefully it will clear soon, but then again our next volunteer project had the flies that have been biting her all over the place. boo! I have been fortunate so far.
The next few days were good. I paddled with Scott next, who is a great person to be with because one paddle takes us far, and i felt confident i wasn't going to run into anything. Same deal with the campsite and the amount of hours we were on the water -- but this time it was 7 hours!! oy! On day 3 i paddled with Bennett.
On day four we had Pirate Day, which was lots of fun. We dressed up as pirates and spoke in pirate language and decked out our canoes with pirate flags. The other people on the wate rwith us loved our get ups. Margaret and I were glam pirates. it was lots of fun and i will get some pics up at some point, prob tomorrow. We saw the "Bridge to Nowhere" this day, which is what it sounds like. Its a random bridge that used to go to somewhere but now that somewhere no longer exists. oh well. it wasn't that great, but it was cool to see. Campsite # 3 was rough because the hill to get up to it was awful! i was out of breath once we got everything up to it. i was ready to pass out, but dinner was still to come and we had to set up the tent. That night i learned how to play gin-rummy(sp?) and learned how to tie some knots. (Scott is a Eagle Scout and a Black Belt..so cool).
Day 4 of paddling was uneventful. We ended up staying at a Marae, which is a place where the native Moari lived way back when and is now used as a palce where people can camp out. it is run by Moari and it is there to keep the traditions alive in travelers hearts. However, the group was more interested in the bar across the river, which we paddled over to...it was actually a nice lodge (the bridge to nowhere lodge), which had a tiny bar in it, but it was really nice and we wished we were staying in the nice toliets, shower, and bed place...sigh. oh well. we slept in our tents. word to the wise...don't paddle across a river at night!! its scary!
Day 5....last day. This was the eventful day...of course. i was exhauasted from all the paddling by now and was ready to get to dry land for good. however we stopped at a cave to check it out and ended up getting into a huge mud fight. I got scott in the face...oops, but it was fun. we were soooo dirty. once we washed off we had our traditional salami sandwiches with pb&j for dessert. And then about 15 minutes later when we got to HUGE rapid # 2....three of our boats capsized, one of which was MINE. Jordan and I watched Audra and Scott capsize before us, so we were nervous, but we had to go through. we thought we got through safetly, but we were WRONG. we were too confident and got stuck in the back current which tipped us over. sigh. However, this time it wasd so much fun because Maragret and Dominick capsized too and the water was super warm. Phew. cold water is no fun.
Once we ended the trip, with no more capsizing occurences, we drove to another Marae 40 minutes away (i forgot to mention that there is a little ceremony before you can stay on the Marae -- you have to be welcomed in, girls walk in first, then you listen to a song by the Moari, then you go up and shake hands with them while touching your nose and foreheads together (one thought, one breath) and then you sing a song for them -- it was cool) -- anyways the second Marae was really nice and had a bar. haha. We had a huge dance party in the bar, which was so much fun. I love dance parties!! ok not a lot of time so i am going to make the rest of this quick...
today...we left Koriniti (the marae) and made our way to Wellington. When we got here we checked into the hostel and then went to the One Love Concert, which is a lot of reggae music, lots of people drinking do doing other such things, people selling food, clothing and other trinkets. it wasn't as fun as i thought it was going to be because i was so exhasted from getting little sleep the night before. When we left I was happy because i was exhausted. We went out to Burger Fuel, which has the best burgers EVER and then i came here to write to all you guys.
Tomorrow we are going to a Moari museam to learn more about their culture and then its the a free day...whop whop!! i am so exicted. i am ready to chill out. I'll prob write tomorrow because i need to put my pics up!! hope you enjoyed the read!! miss you all!
p.s.
-NZ does not have graham crackers
-the don't know what smores are
-they have one and two dollar coins and the smallest coin they have is 10 cents
more of these interesting facts to come later!!
ok so....day 1...we get on the river (the company we used was Blazing Paddles...hahah get it??) I am with Katie the first day and we are still green paddlers and not used to the rapids. Did i forget to the mention that Margaret and I capsized during Adventure # 1...oh yes we did and the water was freezing...oh well.
So we set out a little nervous and we hit a rapid almost immediatley, but we make it through fine. We are paddling along talking to the other memeber sof the group trying to keep up with the group and trying to keep from falling out when the rapids came, but when the first big rapid came we ended up walking our boat down the side of the river which was scary because when we tried to get back in the current turned out boat around and i was facing the wrong direction and Katie had to save me...yikes!! But we made it through day 1 without another hitch. Once we got to the first campsite -- 6 hours later -- we were ready for the day to end, but we had to carry up all our barrels of food, clothing and tents up a hill to the campsite. It's fun sleeping in tents, until the bugs start to bite. Audra is COVERED in bug bites that have made her use statements like "I want to cut my legs off". It looks like she has a severe case of the chiken pox, but hopefully it will clear soon, but then again our next volunteer project had the flies that have been biting her all over the place. boo! I have been fortunate so far.
The next few days were good. I paddled with Scott next, who is a great person to be with because one paddle takes us far, and i felt confident i wasn't going to run into anything. Same deal with the campsite and the amount of hours we were on the water -- but this time it was 7 hours!! oy! On day 3 i paddled with Bennett.
On day four we had Pirate Day, which was lots of fun. We dressed up as pirates and spoke in pirate language and decked out our canoes with pirate flags. The other people on the wate rwith us loved our get ups. Margaret and I were glam pirates. it was lots of fun and i will get some pics up at some point, prob tomorrow. We saw the "Bridge to Nowhere" this day, which is what it sounds like. Its a random bridge that used to go to somewhere but now that somewhere no longer exists. oh well. it wasn't that great, but it was cool to see. Campsite # 3 was rough because the hill to get up to it was awful! i was out of breath once we got everything up to it. i was ready to pass out, but dinner was still to come and we had to set up the tent. That night i learned how to play gin-rummy(sp?) and learned how to tie some knots. (Scott is a Eagle Scout and a Black Belt..so cool).
Day 4 of paddling was uneventful. We ended up staying at a Marae, which is a place where the native Moari lived way back when and is now used as a palce where people can camp out. it is run by Moari and it is there to keep the traditions alive in travelers hearts. However, the group was more interested in the bar across the river, which we paddled over to...it was actually a nice lodge (the bridge to nowhere lodge), which had a tiny bar in it, but it was really nice and we wished we were staying in the nice toliets, shower, and bed place...sigh. oh well. we slept in our tents. word to the wise...don't paddle across a river at night!! its scary!
Day 5....last day. This was the eventful day...of course. i was exhauasted from all the paddling by now and was ready to get to dry land for good. however we stopped at a cave to check it out and ended up getting into a huge mud fight. I got scott in the face...oops, but it was fun. we were soooo dirty. once we washed off we had our traditional salami sandwiches with pb&j for dessert. And then about 15 minutes later when we got to HUGE rapid # 2....three of our boats capsized, one of which was MINE. Jordan and I watched Audra and Scott capsize before us, so we were nervous, but we had to go through. we thought we got through safetly, but we were WRONG. we were too confident and got stuck in the back current which tipped us over. sigh. However, this time it wasd so much fun because Maragret and Dominick capsized too and the water was super warm. Phew. cold water is no fun.
Once we ended the trip, with no more capsizing occurences, we drove to another Marae 40 minutes away (i forgot to mention that there is a little ceremony before you can stay on the Marae -- you have to be welcomed in, girls walk in first, then you listen to a song by the Moari, then you go up and shake hands with them while touching your nose and foreheads together (one thought, one breath) and then you sing a song for them -- it was cool) -- anyways the second Marae was really nice and had a bar. haha. We had a huge dance party in the bar, which was so much fun. I love dance parties!! ok not a lot of time so i am going to make the rest of this quick...
today...we left Koriniti (the marae) and made our way to Wellington. When we got here we checked into the hostel and then went to the One Love Concert, which is a lot of reggae music, lots of people drinking do doing other such things, people selling food, clothing and other trinkets. it wasn't as fun as i thought it was going to be because i was so exhasted from getting little sleep the night before. When we left I was happy because i was exhausted. We went out to Burger Fuel, which has the best burgers EVER and then i came here to write to all you guys.
Tomorrow we are going to a Moari museam to learn more about their culture and then its the a free day...whop whop!! i am so exicted. i am ready to chill out. I'll prob write tomorrow because i need to put my pics up!! hope you enjoyed the read!! miss you all!
p.s.
-NZ does not have graham crackers
-the don't know what smores are
-they have one and two dollar coins and the smallest coin they have is 10 cents
more of these interesting facts to come later!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)