22km Coastal Challenge

So for anyone that does not know, 22km = 13.67 miles

That is the most I have ever ran in my life.....but surprise it wasn't just a run!!

The big day, the day I had been so excited for, but at the same time dreaded for the past month. I could not sleep and woke up thinking I was going to call in sick! Emily and I ate some scrambled eggs and toast at about 7:30am so that is would be settled in time for the race. Stacey, Natalie, Emily, and I all met at the KFC where Rose (one of the other girls host moms) met us. She was running the 6 km race with her mum and she was able to drive us. The entire drive I was pretending to be calm, hoping it would help my nerves. We met her mother at her house and she drove a separate car so they could leave one at the start and one at the finish. As soon as I read the letters Long Bay stretched across the street sign my stomach sunk. I knew we had arrived. Our 22km started at 11:30 at the farthest beach Long Bay. There was then a 17km start point, a 10km, and a 6km. This is where we would find all our drink tables and be able to keep track of our distance. The 6km was starting at 1:30, so Rose and her mum hung out with us while we were getting ready. The weather was a bit cold, overcast, and rained a couple of times. I snacked on pretzels and continued to hydrate as we hung around on the beach.The start line was a joke. It was all two hundred and something of us doing the 22km taking off into the water and making way around a rock wall. I knew this had to be a bit different than expected. 

The starting line!

I had made a play list and was planning to bring my ipod until I was told that would be a very bad idea. The workers told us how we would have to swim a couple stretches and very easily falling into the water off rocks. I still had no idea what really lie ahead, but looking back on it maybe that was a good thing. It was highly recommended to Vaseline up to prevent chaffing. Funny concept, but we did not want to take any risks so we went straight to the water stand and asked for some Vaseline. We then asked the workers, "Where would one would chafe?" After some laughs they told us just about anywhere, inside legs and under arms. We did not go sparingly with this and covered about any area that was possible to chafe. I think we will be vased up for the next year and we put on quite a show for all the other racers watching us. We did not look like amateurs I am sure. 

We took a quick warm up jog down the beach and back, then stretched out a bit in order to look the part. Most people came equipped with camelbacks, gloves, elastic things that covered their shoelaces, some even had goggles. Yes, I definitely do not think we knew what we were getting ourselves into.

After going over a few safety tips the horn sounded and we took off running into the water. It was not too cold which was a treat because we had not had time to get warm running. The weather remained mostly overcast which was nice and the sun came out a few times making the run just about perfect. It was so beautiful, but I was so focused I barely had time to take in the scenery. This race was a serious rock hop, scramble, wade. The first 5k was basically all through rocks. The rocks you would have to climb over, up, or down, jump to, and even scale across high rock walls while sharp rocks await you below with waves crashing in. This could have ended very badly and I cannot believe I made it with only a few scratches. While balancing on a narrow slippery piece of rock you were expected to somehow maneuver under large tree branches and slide just between a large tree and the rock wall. So dangerous! A lot of the rocks were covered in green moss, mud, or both. I never knew what to expect as I moved as quickly as possible through the rocks. I took a few falls, but at least the rocks were smooth, so it was more like a slide. I walked through most of their rocks cautiously because I know my luck is not the best in situations like these. I don’t know how the intense people went running through them all. An older man who had to be at least 40 was running the person just ahead of me. As he moved from the sand onto a large, fairly flat rock I saw both feet come out from under him, into the air, and he landed flat onto his back. As I tried to offer him help up, I began to slide into the splits and had to take off in another direction to avoid my own wipeout. 

I continued on my way and the first 5 km seemed to stretch forever. By the time I was just about to the 17km start line, I could see the hundreds of racers lined up. The horn sounded as I came up behind them, which was just great because now I had to maneuver between them while trying to hurry and being very careful. I felt like a pro because as they all took their time and waited in lines to get around narrow parts, I just went straight diving into the water and jumping from rock to rock, cutting off quite a few people and saving some time. We continued on this stretch, which seemed to be the best. There were a few times the rocks would break and now you could run stretches on the beach before hitting rocks again. It was so hard to pace myself because every time I began to run on the sand I would be stopped again by rocks.

I could feel blisters beginning to form at the back of my heels, but I had to push through. Just before the 10km water table there was one last stretch to swim. My thin white tank was stuck straight to my body and there was really no point to even having a tank on. It did me no good seeing as it was absolutely see through and I have my exact sports bra tan line on my back! Note to self, remember colored tank if ever doing the coastal challenge again. I grabbed a half a banana and water as I ran through the 10km table and stopped just after to check out the pain I had been feeling on my heels. My shoes were just soaked and covered with sand inside and out. My ped socks had slipped down in my tennies causing bleeding blisters to form at the back of both my heels. I pulled up my socks, but that did me no good seeing as I had sand filling the inside of my socks. I just continued to run and the pain in my legs seemed to take precedence over the pain from my blisters. I trained so much on cardio alone, but I wish I had done more strength training. I was never too winded to keep running, but my legs felt as if they would snap right off. My shoes seemed to be weighted with lead, making it 10 times harder to pick up my feet while running through the sand. Occasionally I would sink into the wet sand, or the dry lighter sand full of seashells would get stuck on the toe of my shoe and kicked up with every step. This added even more weight on my feet and caused me to walk some on the beaches.

I made a few friends out there running and they helped to encourage me while running. The last 6km seemed to be longer than the entire race. It stretched on forever, but covered most just sand, some paved sidewalks, and towards the end a couple roads. These were a lot nicer to run on in comparison, but I was just about dying out at this point. I made it to the finish line and just as I committed I would before the race, I gave the last bit of energy in me and did a jump and a heel click for the final hurrah at the finish line!

Emily quickly greeted me and helped me get the time tracker off my shoelaces. I was so out of it for the next bit as I tried to regain any strength I had left. The race was amazing and I am so glad I did it! I am planning to do another half when I get back to the states, but next time I am going to try just a running half!! 

Rugby Union

It is funny how sleeping in means waking up about 7:30am. What the heck is happening to me? I hope I can keep this sleep schedule when I get back to the states...I would be able to accomplish so much!

We came across this car on our walk to the bus....blue car....byu plates...just a coincidence? I will never know!

Whitaker Place

The whole 3 day weekend thing is such a nice concept. If only I could have a 4 day work week forever. We bussed to the Auckland War Museum today. There we were able to see a Maori Cultural performance. The museum had a bunch of cool things both specific to New Zealand and worldwide as well.

The Quad Poi Balls, Looks like Kendall has some competition!

They had some sweet outfit choices

The Tongue is a defense mechanism the maori men did to scare off enemies at war

pretty as a picture 

I went through an earthquake caused by a volcano simulator  

That is a big bird 

Trying out the Maori tongue

We went to the rugby game after the museum. I had originally planned to vote for the Christchurch Crusaders just to go against the grain, you know, but once I got into the stadium and was given a free blues flag, I quickly switched just so I could wave the flag and act like I was a true fan. The game was way fun to watch. For all those who thought football players are tough, why don’t they try it without the pads and helmets, and without any downs or time outs. The boys were brutal and pretty massive. The game just went so quickly. There was no announcer and the game just continued on without pauses. If the players get into a huge dog pile, they just have to figure a way to get the ball out of it and continue on with the game. One of the players was bleeding on his head and they just came over with tape, put it around his head, and carried on with the game. I am very glad I was never signed up for women's rugby! I don't think I would have survived it! It rained a bit during the game and my flag was made into a useful head scarf. The Crusaders won by 1 point....I knew I should have stuck with them, dang you free blues gear!

The BLUES stadium!

With the Blue

Decided to switch seats so that I could cheer with the Blue Army

All the girls and my new head scarf

            

I miss my HIGH HEELS

Oh how dearly a girl could miss a good sturdy pair of wedges. What I would give to feel a few inches taller lately. I just miss that feeling of dressing up, strapping into some sort of shoes that give you a good 5 inch advantage. Honestly, I don't even care that they are that high, I just want something to make me feel a little more feminine, a little less granola.....just for one day. Is that so much to ask for?

I also miss my curling iron. My big fat, 1½ inch curling iron. The way it gave that loose curl to my hair. My hair now that is another story. I am so very grateful for the redken my family sent me, because between this humidity and my cheap conditioner, my hair is a wreck. It may also be my lack of styling it, but it sure is a piece of work. 

Spandex, spandex, spandex! I wish I could just lounge around in a pair with an oversized tee everyday. Maybe a large hoodie too. Luckily my parents sent some running spandex for my race or I may have just died. I miss dressing up crazy and doing crazy things. I miss boots. You can wear boots in summer so why didn't I bring any? I am getting really sick of this flip flop or sneaker thing!

I miss sweets the most. I have made it now just over 1 week without sweets. Is that pathetic? Can most people go a week without eating sweets on a regular basis. I think I eat too many sweets because I have thought about them everyday and have refused them at least once a day since last week! 








I miss my Friends. Boy talk. Lounging. Dressing Crazy. Making crazy videos of Nonsense. Eating kneaders pumpkin chocolate chip cake like it was one of the major food groups. 

Most of all I miss my Family!! I love how much I have been able to talk to them, but it is so weird to be away from them. I missed Kaity's 23 birthday this last weekend! So crazy! She is one of my very best friends and I cannot wait for her to get to New Zealand! We have had so many good times together, I miss it! 

With all this missing going on, you may be surprised, but I do LOVE it here. I love just about everything New Zealand has to offer me. It has been such an adventure and still has so much more to come!! 

Back to School!!

Riding the two-wheeler

Our school is about a 45-minute walk from our house. We had never went to the school before Monday....big mistake! The bike ride was intense to say the least. There were a few hills I just could not seem to keep peddling in my dress pants and flats. The necessary helmet mixed the muggy humidity  and my sweat just about ruin any chance of my hair looking halfway decent for teaching! I am not sure if it has been a bit too long since spin class, or if maybe when the instructor told us to be at a 9 or 10 I just did not push myself hard enough because climbing hills on a bike has never seemed so difficult. At times coming up hobsonville road I feel as if my calves are going to pop, or my legs will just fall off completely and I will tumble to the ground. Well on the bright side I am getting a work out and my school has a swimming pool which I will eventually be using for a cool down! We got a system down now so we ride in our workout clothes and change at Brooke and Kirsten's because they live very close to the school. 

The Classroom

The classroom incorporates Maori everyday! My teacher is a strong advocate of incorporating a lot of Maori. Out of a class of 29 there are 4 blonde kids, which is a lot for a classroom. Many of the boys have rattails, which I think is just fab! About half of the kids run around barefoot and I hear some of the teachers do it too. I love the kids accents that make my name Ms. Whittaka! They always use the word Miss to call any teacher. You can hear if from the playground or in the classroom, Miss, Miss. It is adorable, it reminds me of the south! 

They do not celebrate Valentine's day here like they do in the states. No valentine’s, lollies, or decorated boxes in the primary schools. No flowers or chocolates in the family. No abnormal amount of pink or red. It is just strange and a bit depressing!

They do have a tradition here for morning tea. Whether in the office, classroom, or wherever you may be there is always a morning tea time. The schedule stops for a 10-minute morning tea when all the kids must have something to eat. (There is food in the staff room if kids do not have a lunch, or the students are very good about sharing with each other.) After morning tea they have a 30-minute recess and then they have the same thing a bit longer for lunchtime. I think it is a great tradition. They have tea and also milo in the staff room. Milo is similar to a hot chocolate, but I think hot chocolate is better. I just put "heaps" of sugar into my mug and it tastes pretty good. 

The Students

The class is adorable even with the few deviant children! It is a level 3,4, and 5, which is the same as grades 2,3, and 4 in the states. I am not really a fan of this combination in the classroom because their is enough separation of levels between one school year. Now we have the lowest of the 3s and the highest of the 5s and the challenge of teaching them all. I think it will be a great learning experience! They don't follow close to detailed curriculum like we do in the states and they don't have standardized testing, so the classroom is ran a bit differently. 

On my first day I accidently called a boy a she! His name is Jahzel, he has a very pretty face, and a long brown braid down his back, what would you have done in my case? All the students wear uniforms, so that makes it even harder to tell. He was like um I am a boy...Whoops! There is a student in the class who is deaf. Her name is Trisha and she is just adorable. You would think I would have a slight advantage having taken 2 semesters of ASL, but no. NZSL (im not sure if that is what it is called) is all different, even the alphabet and colors. I am starting from square 1 with the sign language thing. The sign I was given for my name, is pulling both index fingers from your mouth making a smile because I am always smiling! I love that!!

Quotes of the week:

“Are you rich?” (I answered No)

“Really, but look at your necklace, are you good?” (I answered Yes)

“So you are like good, but not rich?”

Haha I don’t know what she meant by that but I guess money!

“Oh wow you are so lucky I wish I was from America”

“I feel like everyone from America is famous”

“Ahhh have you been to the red carpet?”

“Have you seen Justin Beiber?”

And the list goes on and on. One of the girls teaching at a different primary school said her students are convinced she is a rock star. They ask her what her stage name is, like Hannah Montana, what is hers? They watch some many shows that they seriously think she is living a double like of a rock star!! Hilarious!

The Powhiri 

(in Maori the wh makes the sound of f)

It was a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony. We had to be welcomed into the gym and only the boys can speak. Our leader Ramona's husband said an introduction in Maori and then we all sung a lovely song in Maori. The gymnasium was filled with the cutest students all singing the New Zealand national anthem. It is beautiful and the children sing it with such gusto! I love hearing them sing in maori and observe some different traditions like this. We had a large morning tea for all of us in the staff room with plenty of treats! It was delicious and I filled up on chocolate covered cream puffs, crackers and cheese, sausages in a puff pastry, cake, and more.

After School Friends

 So some of the kids in my class see us all walking from Brooke and Kirsten's house to school. They decided that they wanted to walk me home. They were very excited and clung to me the entire way. We had Patsy, Perina, Jordan, Colleen, from my class and a few other siblings and friends that walk home the same way. We stopped at the park with the kids and Patsy's little brother taught me about how to be a gangsta. They kids are adorable and now we have friends to walk home with everyday! We only teach Monday through Thursday so it makes for a nice long weekend!!

The World's Highest Swing Video

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Because New Zealand is 20 hours ahead of Utah that puts me a full day ahead; so say I was to celebrate a birthday while I was here when would I celebrate? If I did it on the date here, but my family and friends are in the states would it be a day ahead? If I celebrate it the day after here, then did I miss it because it is not the right date? I mean maybe I was born on the 29^th in the states so that was the 30^th here so does my birthday change if I move? I came to the conclusion that you would just have to celebrate your birthday for 2 days then. Hm not bad!

I was also wondering what it would be like to celebrate Christmas in the Summer. And New Years and starting a new school year and such. I guess the concept of the school year is very smart because you have summer off (including your major holidays) and then the next year in February you begin your next school year. I still haven’t quite figured out the whole Christmas thing. That just seems weird. My family still listens to I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas although they totally aren’t, they are just soaking up the heat. I could get used to the whole birthday thing, but I don’t think I could get used to the Christmas stuff!

Quaker City

Saturday 4 Southern Comfort Motel

After checking out the flea market around the lake, I hit up a few souvenir shops and met up with the group outside of Ferg Burger. Ramona had ordered us all Ferg Burger and The Noodle 

Canteen. I got some honey chicken from the noodle canteen and we all sat on the grass to eat. So today, after meeting people from countries that include, but are not limited to: Bangladesh, Holland, Sweden, England, Australia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, I decided that I would begin to document by taking a picture with someone from every country I could. Too bad it was the morning we were leaving or I could have had a real nice collection of photos. Luckily we had Leann with us from Germany. She happened to be some of the other girls random roommate at the hostel and it just so happened her friend she was traveling with dad was diagnosed with cancer and had to go home. She is our age and super nice, but now left traveling alone because she booked all her flights already. She hung out with our group for the few days we had left in Queenstown and is headed to LA, Vegas, and NYC next week. Luckily she has a friend that booked a flight and will meet her in LA so she will not have to travel alone! I got my first picture with Leann to represent Germany. I also happened to see my friend Frank (pronounced Fronk) from Holland come walking by. Frank was the Base photographer while he was here vacationing. One day when I was talking to his friend Courtney he began to take pictures of me. Sort of creepy, but I was flattered. I told him it was only fair that I let him take pictures of my, that I get a picture with him. I think Frank was flattered! So we left with only 2 pictures, but I will continue on this journey trying to meet anyone from other countries I can.

The drive was not too bad. It was about 6 hours and we filled it with a nap, stopping for ice cream, and road trip games. We all shared stories of our first kiss and dating horror stories! Before we new it we had arrived to the Southern Comfort Motel.

I have never been so happy in my life. We are given a small motel room resembling an apartment and I just about died! There are 4 people in my room, Mallory, Kirsten, Mikaela and me!

The smallest things that make me happy:

There water can be turned on; you do not have to hold down the button

I do not have to wear flip-flops while I shower

I can leave my bath products in the shower

I will be able to wash my face easily with this sink

There are couches, a small flat screen, and a kitchen

I can make my own food and do not have to eat another PB&J

They have dishes, silverware, pots and pans, a stove, microwave, oven, and more!

They have a BLOW DRYER

There is free wi-fi if you sit in the office of the motel

There is a pool here

I have a QUEEN SIZED BED

There is a full length mirror in my room

I have my own room!

After singing Halleluiah and screaming out with joy for this glamorous motel we are staying in we decided we needed to venture out to get some dinner. Instead of the pricey meals like we have been buying in Queenstown we thought we would look for a supermarket. About 3 or 4 blocks from our motel we discovered a small strip mall that resembled the mile shops in the Planet Hollywood in Vegas. Amongst these shops was a Fresh Choice grocery store; we came and we conquered. I filled my basket with some cereal, eggs, cans of tomato basil soup, a loaf of bread, some chicken, milk, butter, and a curly wurly chocolate bar!

Being without something makes you so grateful for what you have. Our motel room resembles a grandparent’s small apartment. Between the pink couches and old floral curtains you can tell we are in a motel and nothing too nice, but the smallest things made this one of the happiest days of my life. We cook our cans of soup over the stove and make our slices of bread to dip in it. I take my bowl, layback on the couch, and watch Inception. Wow between my soup and kneaders, kneaders definitely wins, but mine came in a close second! I get ready for bed in the comfort and privacy of our own bathroom and crawl into my nice giant queen sized bed.

Sunday 5 A Day of Rest

I made a point of sleeping all night sprawled out and a bit diagonal just to truly appreciate the size of this bed. Trying to fall asleep without the bar and club music blaring all night was a breeze. I had the greatest nights sleep in a while. We have church today at 1pm with the entire group and planned a spaghetti dinner for us all just after! There was a classical concert in the park along with fireworks. We walked down to the park and walked around the tons of people. The concert was awesome, but I left early to get to bed. I heard they had music to the fireworks, which would have been cool, but it was nice to get to bed!

Monday 6 Happy Waitangi Day

One of my favorite exhibits was the art through fashion!

This morning we went to the Canterbury Museum and spent some time exploring. They had some fun exhibits! It is crazy to see the town here after so many earthquakes. So many buildings are being torn down, are fenced off, and closed for good. We spent a lot of today walking the city, which was mostly closed off. It is sad to see the destruction and the cracks in the streets. I think it would be kind of cool to experience a small one while I am here! They had a few earthquakes just 2 weeks ago and that caused more destruction to the town. Just on the side of the city they had many shops they called “container” shops. Most were overpriced boutiques, but they were fun to window shop. Mallory and I went to Ballentynes, which has been recently rebuilt with Mac, Chanel, Clinique, Bobby Brown, and more! It was so nice to feel at home! I have already mentioned things are overpriced here, but here is some comparisons: Mac eye shadows $38, Mac concealer $40, Mac foundation $56. Yes this place makes Mac makeup look so cheap! I bought the most delicious chicken yeero (basically just a pita) for lunch! Minus the breeze, the day was very nice. The sun was out so the group headed out to the beach. Luckily I brought a motel blanket because I bundled up and got in a nice nap on the beach. I went for the most amazing 6 mile run around the Christchurch Botanical Gardens! They are absolutely beautiful and it was an amazing run! I am down to the final 3 weeks before the half marathon! I am getting scared, but I feel more reassured I can do it! 

Tuesday 7 Cave Hiking

After much time spent thinking of whether I should do the ropes course or the hike through the cave I decided. The entire group loaded into our 3 vans and we headed up to castle hill. The rocks there were amazing. I felt as if I was in a mixture of Ireland and Narnia. I could just see Aslan lying there on the rocks barely hanging onto life as I shoved my fist in the air and shouted, “For Narnia!” I could definitely see where they used this for scenes of Narnia. After hiking around and doing some yoga on the rocks we headed up the road to a nearby river. This small river had a long cave that followed it through a mountain. We all got out our flashlights. I was one of the lucky few to have a headlight and it sure made the pictures great. As we came to the cave opening the water was just about calf level but as you got in it came up nearly to my chest. The beginning was the deepest part. The hike took just over an hour for us and we would turn off the flashlights for a period of time just to observe the pitch black. Inside the cave resembled some sort of cavern. It was so much fun and perfect training for my race I recently found out was through water and rocks on the beach! One we got back I was worn out. I spent the remainder of the night watching movies and skyping people. Somehow the internet just magically began working in the Southern Comfort Motel, sketchy right?

I finally found where I belong....Queenstown, NZ

 

Friday 3 The World’s Highest 
Swing 

Today is the day! I woke up, got to skype my families for a bit while I ate scarfed down some cereal and threw on some make up. My group of 6 for the 10 o’clock reservation consisted of my tandem partner Natalie, Stacey, Emily, Mallory, and Brittany. I was not nervous for the swing at all. It was strange I thought maybe because I did not watch people do it, but I was not scared at all, just excited! After getting checked in we had about a 30-minute wait before take off in the van! Once we loaded the van with our driver Kurt, excitement hit turbo power! I was getting very anxious and could barely make it the 30-minute drive. We passed the Karawea bridge on the way where a few of the girls bungeed earlier in the morning. We got to the top of a private road we followed up a mountain and there you can see the World’s Tallest Swing and the Tallest Bungy both over a huge canyon next to a small building. Inside the building you checked in where you are weighed again for extra safety. We went straight out and walked a small, shaking bridge out to the swing. Natalie and I went first and everything happened so fast it was almost a blur. I just remember getting on huge harnesses that went around my hips, thighs, and over my shoulders. Phil, the crazy, gray pony-tailed, worker man, hooked us in so fast we did not have time to ask to go backwards. He had already hooked us in and got us hanging over the edge before I realized what was happening. I think they may do this so people don’t have time to back out, although it is non-refundable even if you do back out. We got into an upside down position by wrapping our feet around the ropes and dropped faster than I could even explain in words. All I know is my eyes went shut and did not open until I was at the bottom of the swing. I was so upset because I did not get to watch it, but I could not help but close my eyes. It was an amazing feeling. I wished I could do it again, if it weren’t for the money. I cannot wait to bungy jump the Auckland Bridge! We headed back inside where we watched our video, viewed our pictures, and got our free hat. SCORE! They have computers with free internet for us to use inside. I feel so disconnected from the US being in NZ, not watching any sort of news, and especially being without internet. I feel like bombs could be dropping and I would not have any idea. I immediately got onto skype and called the family. I was greeted by Caysen and his friend Harry. I guess my mom and dad were out to eat, I should have known! Natalie was on the computer next to me and her mom was online. She just so happened check the mail today and Natalie’s mission call came. We all convinced her to open it because it may be another week before we have internet again. With the blasting music, random foreigners, and sitting on top of a mountain in our matching trucker hats all the girls gathered around cheering for Nat to open her mission call. It definitely got the attention of all the people around. We made a video and answered to tons of people what was going on. She got called to the Salvador Brazil Mission. It had to be one of the coolest mission call openings I have ever heard of, and one heck of a day! We headed back and got in a run before going out for the night to celebrate the day and our last night in Queenstown. We went out to Winnie’s and got a fancy $36 dollar pizza. Luckily we passed on the $12 breadsticks. The entire group met out on the grass just next to the lake and enjoyed our various dinners. After dinner we got some Patagonia Ice Cream! It was amazing I got tramontana, some kind of caramel, vanilla, and chocolate! After hanging out on the town I was way to tired for the clubs tonight and made it an early night in!

           
       

Thursday 2 Wanaka (rhymes with Monica) Lake

Today was the first time I got to sleep in a little bit. I woke up just before 9 and took off for a run. Guess how much I ran this morning?? Wait for it…..8.2 miles! Yes I think half marathon training is going quite nicely. Hopefully I can keep this up! Once I got back we got ready and headed out to Wanaka Lake. It was about an hour drive. We stopped at the most amazing fruit stand on the way. They had chocolate covered blueberries, delicious papaya, nougats, and the best things ever, Rascherrys. Yes it was some kind of combination of raspberries and cherries, but it had the texture of a craisin so it tasted like a candy! Mmmm and it was only $9 for a small bag. Prices of things here are so high; just about everything is expensive. The exchange rate is good, but still does not make up for the prices. I think it may have to do with this city being a trendy city, but prices are high in Auckland too. McDonald’s has no dollar menu and ice cream is all at least $3 dollars a scoop, usually a lot more! We decided to go to Have a Shot and shot some guns and arrows. The only shooting was like through little windows, did not look too appealing. Most people did the archery, but since I did that unit in PE in high school I decided not to pay for it. Because each set of two girls paid for a half an hour they all got tired and I got to try out a few arrows myself and I still got game, I hit the target! We made way over to the lake and decided to rent an aqua tricycle. It was pretty awesome and a lot sturdier that expected! 

I also got to try paddle boarding, which was awesome. I wish I had more time, but I just took a turn on Atticus’s board. We got home just before 8pm and in perfect time to run and pay for our Bungy reservations. I could not decide between the World’s tallest swing and the bungy jumping, but decided I will do the swing tomorrow and bungy off the Auckland bridge later on in my trip!

Wednesday 1 Milford Sound

This morning we had to wake up at 7am and load in the vans for our 4-hour drive to Milford Sound. New location on the prettiest places I have ever been. I know I say this in every post, but I have never seen anything more beautiful. The contrast between the greenest mountains you have ever seen, with snow tipped glaciers on the top and waterfalls spewing out from every possible place on the mountains. The cruise ship we were on was pretty big. We all loaded on and I found a spot near the front on the lowest level. About an hour into the cruise I began to feel seasick. The water was pretty choppy, but calmed just after that and I was fine the rest the ride. We were on the Tasman sea I believe, which is salt water, but because of all the rain fall and the difference in densities of fresh water and salt water, the top few feet are fresh water covering the salt water.  The drive home seemed as if it would never end. I got home exhausted but was able to get a run in before bed! 

Tuesday 31 Drive to Glenarchy

8 am came around too early after spending the last night clubbing. I rolled out of bed and got ready for our drive through Glenarchy. It was a beautiful drive, but a bit meaningless to me because I have never seen any Lord of the Rings. I guess I better start now. We visited a bunch of spots from the movie and we had a book that showed coordinates of where scenes were taken. It was pretty cool, but would have been cooler if I cared about LotR (we came up with that acronym for it). Once we got back to our hostel we made some PB&Js, which had never seemed to taste so great. The hostel we are staying at has daily activities that you can attend, and today’s was a free-guided hike up to the gondolas. We met down at the front desk at 2 and only 3 other people had come for the hike. There was a little older Bangladeshian man and a girl and boy probably mid twenties from Sweden. The Swedish couple was traveling the world and they have already done North and South America, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and they still have Indonesia and some other places before home. That would be crazy; they have been gone about 6 months and are planning 6 more. The hike was pretty intense, I would say much harder than the Y. It took about an hour to get to the top, but the entire hike was beautiful. You could see out to the lake, the city, and all the green of the mountain we just hiked. There were zip lines that ran through the trails and we would occasionally see people riding down in crazy upside down positions. At the top of the gondolas is where they let off for the luge rides. It looked pretty fun, but we are planning to do the luge in Rotorua. When we made it down the mountain we sat on the grass just outside the hostel. I was sad because we just missed the tie-dying activity there. I think we may tie die tanks to match while running the half marathon. About my half marathon training….well I have been slacking big time. I decided if I am going to be able to do the race I better start running. I ran about 5 miles last night and it was sooo nice to run around the lake. After my run I got ready for the club once again. 2 nights in a row, you would think I was becoming a regular. Tonight’s event was a limbo contest with a free shot each time you made it through. I entered the contest but refused the shots hahah. I only made it till there were 5 girls left, but another girl and I got out that round leaving the final 3 all girls that could be no more than 5’2. Dang if only I were shorter maybe I could have won the free river surfing trip!  

Monday 30 Beginning of the Adventure

The Flight

So my alarm rang at 4:30am; I woke up just in time to catch Cassie and Emmett on Skype before the taxi picked us up. Emily and I loaded in. I ended up packing both a backpack and duffel, as opposed to just a backpack as advised. There was no way I could fit 10 days worth in a backpack, I could barely do it for the 3 days of camping. We arrived to the airport about an hour earlier than we needed to, but I feel like that is how we usually travel everywhere. Better early than late. The flight was super short in comparison to the 13 hours it took to get over here. It was about an hour and a half and I got a bit of sleep in. Coming into land in Queenstown was amazing. As we came out of the clouds water surrounded by beautiful green mountains filled the ground. The 20 of us girls, Ramona’s family of 4 (her husband Chris, daughter Tiare 12, and son Atticus 10), and James (our tour guide) congregated together and waiting to get out 3 rental vans. We piled in and made way to our hotel.

The Arrival

The drive through the town cannot be described by words. Pictures do not even work to do it justice. It is gorgeous every single place you look. There is a huge lake (I mean huge, it could be the ocean) in the center of the town. The city is super cute; it resembles a park city atmosphere with cute little restaurants, shops, and bars. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I like it already. It has a much different feel from Auckland. Auckland seems to be much more laid back and go with the flow. Queenstown seems to have many more tourists, attractions, trendy people and places, and in one day I have seen more cute guys than in all my time in Auckland. As we drive down what seems to be Main St of Queenstown we pull over at this little place that looks like a nightclub. To my surprise it is a nightclub and a hostel in one. It is called BarX and I guess there are 30 all over NZ and Aussie. We could not check in until 1pm, so we put all our things into the bar room and they locked it up for us. This place is pretty crazy, but I like it! It is nowhere you would expect a group of 20 BYU elementary education majors to be posting up. The bar is pretty large and the walls are painted black with paintings that fill them, about 99.9% inappropriate. Some of the girls seem scared to death, but I feel right at home. Ok so not at home, but I think this is a turn around from the life I have been living in Auckland (bedtime being 9pm most nights).

The Shotover Jet & Arrowtown
These things are amazing. The river water was so clear you could see the bottom just about anywhere. All of us loaded up into 2 jet boats and set off. It was basically like a 30-minute roller coaster ride. The jets sped close by the sharp rocks that lined the river and right next to large branches and logs. Occasionally we would flip a quick 360 that was quick to get you out of your seat. I snuck my camera on and stole a few shots even though it was not allowed! I later found out there was a camera in the front and back of the boat for pictures and video. Awkward, I did not wait around to see it I was holding up my own camera in any of their pictures haha. Still not having caught up from sleep from the morning I was exhausted, but the group headed over to Arrowtown before getting back to the Hostel. Arrowtown was cute; it reminded me a bit of a old town Sacramento mixed with a bit of Coloma. Every shop was too expensive for my taste. I tried to steal a picture of a possum fur bean bag for $3,000 and the sign read, “Please No Fondling,” but I almost got my head bit off by an uptight lady yelling at me no cameras allowed. After feeling exhausted and a bit overheated I settled down on the grass with some fresh fruit frozen yogurt, mmmm. This time I got blueberry and raspberry….delicious! Exhausted I found my way to the van and slept the entire way back to the hostel.

The Hostel

We grab out things and begin to check in. As we figure out our roommate situation. Each dorm room has 8 beds, so we planned for one group of 8, and two groups of 6. After making our groups we realize that the groups of 6 each get 2 more random backpacking, hostel living roommates. One room was booked with 2 other girls and 1 room booked with one girl and one boy. Well now this was just crossing the line for BYU, we could not have co-ed dorming! Ramona ended up renting out 2 of those extra beds, just so we did not have a boy. I happened to be in the group of 6, so it is nice our room is not too full. The group of 8 fills a room and the other group of 6 has 2 random girls in it. It would be an adventure, but I am so glad we don’t have other girls in our room. I would have to bring my bags with me everywhere; I could not risk anything being stolen. I guess no one really steals, but you never know. The entire place is full of young adults about our age that love to party and backpack. Four large matching bunk beds fill the room and we each claim our own. A Swedish girl was in the room making the beds. I guess she has been here a couple of months and will be here another month or so and gets free accommodation from working for the hostel. Pretty cool, I think a lot of people that stay here an extended amount of time do that. There is a small fridge and a bathroom right outside the front door. Weird huh? I guess this is a pretty nice hostel, but I am still freaked out. The bathroom is tiny and it freaks me out that other people use it, but I just can’t think about it. The shower is the worst! It is timed for 3 seconds so you basically have to hold down the button like a pool shower and just try to rinse off in it. I think they are trying to conserve water or something and I guess it is working because these are some of the shortest showers I have ever taken thanks to that stupid button.

After getting in a good 2-hour nap we took off to get some great Chinese food. It was PF Changs style, but a bit more ghetto. When dinner was done we went to the grocery store and bought some necessities so we won’t eat out so much! We also are receiving $20 a day allowance for spending money for food, but I am trying to pocket that to put towards bungy jumping. The club has a different themed night every night, so we decided to jump right in to Karaoke Monday. About 8 other girls and I really livened up the dance floor with our dance moves! We tried to get signed up for Karaoke and they said they had 7 people signed up, but need 10 in order to start it. We signed up a few fake people and asked a drunk guy to turn them in and then saw a couple others turn papers as well. I think this whole karaoke thing was a hoax to get people to the Altitude Bar because they are all talk and never followed through. You only have to be 18 to get into a bar here, and the dancing is much less bump and grind then even the Provo dance parties I have been to. It was pretty fun and the best part was we just have to walk up the stairs to get to our hostel!