"The ultimate high"

I went skydiving today!! It was the most incredible experience. Plus, doing it in New Zealand, the extreme sports capital of the world just felt so right. Not to mention how GORGEOUS the scenery was. We were right over a giant lake (Wakapitu?) and the Remarkable Mountains (can we talk about how hilarious it is that NZ calls their mountains "The Remarkables?") Sooooo amazing.

I actually wasn't too nervous, although I admit, seeing Danny and his instructor jump out of the plane and just disappear right before it was my turn freaked me out a little. But free falling is such an incredible feeling. It's the closest I'll ever be to flying, I guess. I forced myself to open my eyes after the first second or two and it was SO worth it. I can't get over how beautiful this country is.

It was absolutely freezing though. Converse don't keep the feet warm in the best of times, never mind being 9000 feet in the air. Wow.

I am on such an adrenaline kick right now. Awesome!!

I <3 Kiwis

I added more pictures, which you can see by clicking here. I tried to upload a few to this entry, but blogspot is being silly and won't post any more than this one photo here. So I leave you with this photo that I took from the gondola ride in Christchurch, and hope you enjoy the photos on my flickr!

He may be dead.

I'm sure nobody really reads this blog, but I figured I'll keep updating, even if just for myself to remember. Today's our last day in Queenstown. I really like it here, although I'd enjoy it more if it wasn't so cold. My body is not appreciating more winter weather in June.

Tonight we're flying to Taupo, I think. There we'll try to squeeze a lot of fun activities into very minimal time. I actually am looking forward to going back to the US, even though I love New Zealand. It will be soooo fabulous to get away from the snow, even if I'm just headed back to the gross rain (seriously, what is going on with New England weather these past two years?) And I'm looking forward to seeing all my family and friends again. Plus, once I get back, there's about a week until Harry Potter!!! Yesss!

This is random, but one of the many things I love about NZ is how clean all the gas stations are here. And the people who work there look more like happy middle-aged moms and less like someone who couldn't even get hired by Wal-Mart. So yeah, that's cool.

I'm at an internet cafe place right now, so I still can't upload photos, but I'll get to that as soon as possible. For now, I leave you with a very educational video on NZ accents.

Under new gorgeous management

Haven't had much time to post over the last few days, since we're traveling around the country now and internet is expensive. Right now, we're in Queenstown, the southern-most point of our journey. It's mighty chilly here, which I don't really appreciate. But ironically, I actually avoided rain by coming to New Zealand. New England is having a terribly rainy and cold summer, so at least I'm not missing out on great weather at home.

Queenstown is a pretty hip little place. Lots of skiers, snowboarders, and extreme sports fans wandering around. We'll be going skydiving later on in our journey, but not here, so we're just enjoying the shops and scenery. Today we visited a few Lord of the Rings locations, because we're nerds. Obviously the movie sets aren't up anymore, but you can still see the land they filmed on. We wanted to visit this place called the Ice Bar, where everything (and I mean EVERYTHING, including the cups, chairs, walls, etc) is made of ice. But it was way too expensive. Oh well.

I'll post pictures at some other time, because I can't afford any more internet time right now. But some day soon, I'll show you all the cool pictures from Christchurch and Queenstown.

Oh but before I go, New Zealand has the best hot chocolate. I've tasted it at several different cafes in different cities, and each time, it seems to get better than the last. It's always extremely chocolately (I generally like 6 to 7 heaping spoonfuls of cocoa powder in mine), never too hot or cold and it's always in these cute little mugs. If anyone ever ends up in NZ, I highly recommend the hot chocolate. So much better than the watery, tongue-burning American crap.

Christchurch is the dumbest name, but I love this city anyway.

Today I ate pancakes with CINNAMON BUTTER along with the most delicious hot chocolate ever in an adorable cafe in Christchurch. Like I needed more reasons to love this country.

The Day I Fell In Love With New Zealand

Today, I officially fell in love with New Zealand.

I obviously have been fascinated by the country for a long time, but it wasn't until today that I really experienced how fabulous it is. I'm not sure I can really put it into words. Be sure to check out my flickr to see some of my photos. Be warned though, those pictures just don't even begin to cover it all.

Billy and I were unfortunately separated from Julie and Danny this morning, and ended up taking a ferry by ourselves from Wellington (North Island) to Picton on the South Island. We got to watch the sunrise up on the observation deck, but both of us began to feel a little seasick, so we mostly hid out inside.

But once we landed, we boarded a 5+ hour train from Picton to Christchurch. I groaned at the thought of more traveling, but little did I know that this train would be my favorite part of the trip so far. Apparently this train is mostly for tourists, although everyone on board certainly seemed like a Kiwi to me. But anyway, it goes along this absolutely gorgeous route through mountains and farmland. For about 100 km (according to the extremely jolly lady on the intercom), we rode right between ocean and mountains. So out of the left window, there were gigantic Lord of the Rings-esque mountains as far as the eye could see, and out the right window, waves splashed up among the rocks on the beach. It was absolutely breathtaking. There was even an open air car perfect for taking pictures. The wind whipped through my hair and tangled just about every single strand, but it was worth it. If it hadn't gotten so cold, I would have ridden out in the open the whole way to Christchurch.


Then, we met up with Julie and Danny again and went to an All Blacks game. I'd never seen rugby before, but it seemed like an interesting version of football. New Zealanders make you feel so welcome immediately that I feel like the All Blacks are my team already.  They destroyed Italy, 27 to 6. I was proud of my new comrades.


Perhaps my favorite thing about this country is the people themselves. Everyone is so ridiculously friendly, from the train luggage guy who told me he could see why I was dating Billy, to the lady on the intercom on our train who spent about five minutes explaining how "getting your hand shut in the door would make you say more than just 'ouchie!'" They are so laidback and welcoming that I feel like I belong after just a few days. Not to mention, everything is so green and earth-friendly, they put America to shame. And as if all that is not enough, the accents are awesome. What more could you want?

I need to come back here some day, since clearly two weeks is just not going to be enough to satisfy my desire for New Zealand.

Wellywood

I'm in New Zealand! It's so surreal. My gosh. So excuse me if my entries for the next couple weeks have nothing to do with music or journalism.

Billy and I began our epic journey bright and early on Sunday morning. I hadn't been on a plane since 7th grade, so it was an exciting experience for me. One of my best friends, Ashley, had kindly made me a care package of reading material, a coloring book and crayons, and other assorted goods to entertain me on the flight. So that helped distract me from the Brendan Fraser/American Airlines love affair. (They played Inkheart AND Journey to the Center of the Earth. C'mon, really?)

Our layover in San Francisco was fun. I made Billy accompany me to Haight Street, all because of the Third Eye Blind lyric, "I walk Haight Street to the store" from the song "Darkness." And I'm sure it was THE Haight Street, since San Fran is the home of my 3EB boys. So now I feel connected to the band in a whole new way.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous at that point. We were both dreading the 13 hour flight, and being far away from home just worries me. But I fell in love with Air New Zealand instantly. The plane was full of jolly folks with Kiwi accents, and there are tons of free movies and free food to choose from. So yeah. Shout out to my new love, Air New Zealand!

So now, we're finally in Wellington with Julie and Danny, our lovely hosts. We spent yesterday just lounging around, recovering from jetlag and catching up. I slept for 12+ hours last night, a new record since I got over mono. Today, Danny took us on a mini-tour of the Cuba St. area, the highlight being the Bucket Fountain that Elijah Wood peed in, but we still have lots to explore.

I can't believe I'm here. I'll update about more adventures as soon as I can.