Sarah Beth's Kiwi Life

Exams Have Set In

2008-06-09T01:10:00.001-07:00

Well, we haven't had too much excitement going on here on this side of the world lately. Exam time has arrived at the University of Otago, and we have been studying like crazy. I just took my 3rd exam today, and I still have another left in a few days. Basically, most of my time in the past week and a half has been either spent inside at the flat, inside at the library, or inside at some other quiet building on or near campus. And all I can say is that I have been STUDYING......in NEW ZEALAND. There has got to be something wrong with this picture. I am supposed to be here having fun and instead I am stuck inside trying to cram a semester's worth of knowledge into my brain, which is currently full to the brim with (most likely) useless information. Oh, and a huge detail that I have left out so far....most exams here are worth from about 60-80% of our final grade!!! Not cool. Not cool at all. So even if I have done pretty descent in a class all semester, it doesn't really matter because if I totally flop the final exam, then I am up a veeeery long creek without a paddle. So lots of prayers are appreciated! But let's not worry about that for now.

Luckily I will be done with this in a few days, and then I get to go on what will probably be my final excursion for this semester in New Zealand. I'm praying for good weather though so that it will be pretty because it's not looking good so far. Either way, it will be fun! And exams will be over for me! OH, and I forgot. Tomorrow (Tuesday for me) will be 2 weeks until I fly home to the States. I can't BELIEVE that my time here is almost over. I'm so sad. But I can't wait to see people when I get home. Speaking of home...here's a shout out to Beth Chase Ramsey and Bebe "Beebs" Chase who were the first swimmers in the Chase family pool the other day. Congrats, and keep it warm for me for when I come home and we party!

Milford Sound and Queenstown

2008-05-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

On Friday night (the 16th), Lainey, Sallie, Caleb, Alan, and I left Dunedin to go to Milford Sound for the weekend. We drove about 4 hours to Te Anau and stayed in a hostel that was right beside the lake. Our hostel was actually like our own little cabin. There was a bathroom area on one side with beds, then a sink area on the other side with more beds, and plenty of space for the 5 of us. It was dark when we arrived that night, but on Saturday morning we awoke to the beautiful scenery around us. We knew that we were staying near the lake, but when we walked outside we realized that we had an amazing view of Lake Te Anau and the gorgeous surrounding mountains. The Fall colors of the leaves contrasting with the snowy mountains up top were unbelievable. We went into town for breakfast, got Alan all set up for everything that he needed for his next few weeks of hiking and traveling, and finally headed out on our way to Milford Sound.

The 2 hours drive to Milford Sound was so beautiful as well. We were again surrounded by mountains the whole time through the twisting roads, and we even actually drove through a mountain at one point. They built a tunnel to go through this mountain, but there was a light signal telling us when we could go. The sign by the signal said that there were 15 minutes between signals, so we just had to pull up and sit there for quite a while until the light would change. It was kind of spooky driving through it, but kind of cool at the same time. We arrived in Milford Sound and booked the last cruise tour of the day just in time. Thank goodness our boat wasn’t that crowded, so it was very relaxing. We were actually able to sit back and appreciate the size and beauty of this place instead of having to worry about being surrounding by tons of annoying tourists. Milford Sound really was amazing though. There were huge, steep, mountains jutting out from the water everywhere you looked. It was a lot like Doubtful Sound, but different at the same time. I saw Doubtful from a kayak and Milford from a huge boat, so I guess it was a good contrast. They were both definitely worth the trip. But now back to Milford...we cruised through the sound, past waterfalls, out to the Tasman Sea, and then back again. We even got to see tons of bottle-nosed dolphins that swam along with out boat. It was a really fun day.

After seeing Milford Sound, we drove back to Te Anau and had one final dinner with Alan before saying our good-byes and dropping him off at his hostel where he would stay until he left to start hiking the Milford Track. It was sad to leave him, but we knew he would have so much fun. So, Caleb, Sallie, Lainey, and I drove the few hours to Queenstown to another hostel in Queenstown to stay for the night. On Sunday morning, we woke up, checked out of the hostel, and went into the downtown Queenstown area. We walked around for while and then decided to do the skyline gondola up the side of one of the mountains. It was really cool and had an amazing view of Queenstown and the lake surrounding it. After hanging around town for a bit longer and going to a bakery for lunch, it was time to head back since we had classes the next day. We had yet another gorgeous drive through New Zealand back to Dunedin and were finally home again after another fun-filled road trip.

Highlights of a Few Busy Weeks

2008-05-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

When we finally got back from Australia, we were exhausted. We stayed in Dunedin for the next few weeks, but we still had plenty to do including tons of homework and lots of fun stuff to do around town. The next week, was Cinco de Mayo (on the 5th of May obviously). No one has ever heard of Cinco de Mayo here by the way, which I guess kind of makes sense because New Zealand is no where near Mexico. Either way, we decided that we should celebrate, so we made Mexican food including enchiladas, Mexican rice, and lots of other yummy stuff. We also decided go to the Bog for Monday night trivia, which is always fun. We always do pretty decent considering the fact that we are not from New Zealand and many of the questions are things that we have never heard of before in our lives, but like I said, it’s always fun. The next night, Tuesday, we went to the Capping Show dress rehearsal. In New Zealand, they call graduation “capping,” and the Capping Show is a performance that they put on for a few weeks around capping time. We weren’t really sure what it would be or what to expect, but we thought that we’d go anyway since the dress rehearsal was free. Well, let’s just say that once we got there we realized that the point of this play was to be as ridiculously offensive as possible. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was funny, but most parts were quite unnecessary. At least we got a sense of the cultural differences between us and the Kiwis. It was interesting, that’s for sure, but still fun too.

After another busy week, we cleaned the flat on Friday night to prepare for some visitors that were coming that weekend. On Saturday, Alan, Sallie’s friend from Chattanooga, flew into Dunedin. We (Sallie, Lindsay, Lainey, Jens, and I) took him to the rugby game that night, which was a lot of fun because none of us had ever been before. We knew nothing about rugby, but it’s really big here. Unfortunately, the Otago Highlanders were not a very good team so they lost, but it was a good experience and a lot of fun either way. The next morning, Caleb, Sallie’s boyfriend from Athens, Georgia, flew into town. Caleb and Alan are really good friends because they both go to UGA in Athens, so it was a lot of fun having them around, and we did a lot of stuff with them throughout the week.

Monday, we decided to take them to trivia at the Bog. We did really well with them on our team, but we obviously still didn’t know all of the answers to the New Zealand questions. At one point, the host was asking if people knew the theme song to the cartoon “Captain Planet.” Well, a lot of us at the table used to watch that as kids, so when we were talking about it I told them that I knew part of the song. Well, the next thing I know, the host wanted a person from each group to come up on stage and do the best that they could to sing this song. Naturally, all of my “friends” told me that I had to go up there, and I reluctantly did so. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I did what I had to do. Luckily, we didn’t have to have amazing vocals or anything....just lots of enthusiasm and creativity. I did what I could and made a fool out of myself in the process, and sadly did not win the extra points for my team. They were proud of me though. I guess I am truly a team player.

Tuesday the 13th was Alan’s birthday, so of course we had to celebrate. That night, Lainey, Lindsay, Sallie, Alan, Caleb, Jens, and I walked downtown to Etrusco, this great Italian restaurant, for Alan’s birthday dinner. Afterwards, we walked to Backstage where they have an “open mic night” and play music every Tuesday, to hang out for a while. It was a really fun night. When we got back to the flat, we sang “Happy Birthday” to Alan and gave him the yummy cupcakes that we had made earlier that day. On Wednesday, Sallie, Lainey, and I decided to drive Caleb and Alan out to the peninsula. There wasn’t really too much to do out there, but we took different routes there and back to get some variety, and of course it was absolutely beautiful. Dunedin is just such a pretty place. When we got back, Caleb and Sallie went out on a date while the rest of us made enchiladas (yes, again...) and Lindsay had her friend Ant over for dinner. Then Alan invited Lainey and I out to a movie since everyone else was busy, and we went to see the Bob Dylan movie that I’ve been wanting to see called “I’m Not There.” I haven’t gone out to see a movie since I’ve been here in New Zealand, so I was really excited and the movie was really good too. On Thursday, it was Alan’s last night in town because he is going to travel around New Zealand by himself for a month before he goes back to the States, so we thought that we’d do something fun that night too. Caleb and Alan decided that they wanted to cook for us that night, and they made a delicious pasta dinner for all of us. Then, we went over to our neighbors’ flat for a pot luck party for Cat, one of the Kiwi hosts, because she was leaving to go to Nepal for the rest of the time that we’ll be here. It was good to get all of our neighbors together so that we could see everyone and also because Alan and Caleb were finally able to meet everyone. Then, Lainey, Sallie, Arley, Alan, Caleb and I decided that we wanted to go out dancing, and Manu even came with us too. After relaxing and talking for a while by the fire at one of the places, Arley and Lainey had to leave, but the rest of us stayed out to dance. Manu danced with me for most of the night until he had to go back and then I danced with Alan for part of the time the time, and then some with Caleb and Sallie too. We were all together most of the time really. It was so much fun though. I’ve discovered that I love going out and dancing. It was definitely a fun and busy few weeks.

...and then on to Sydney!

2008-05-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

So to continue on, Lindsay, Sallie, Arley, Lainey, and I (all together again) left Cairns to fly to Sydney. We flew over the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge on the way in, which finally made it seem real. It was pouring down rain as we caught a taxi through the heavy traffic to our hostel, which was much nicer than the awful one in Cairns by the way. We stayed in the Mountbatton Hotel...which was a hostel, not a hotel by the way...and it was on a main street in Sydney near China Town. We were starving, so after we put all of our stuff into our rooms we headed out to eat at a restaurant down the street. Thank goodness it had finally stopped raining. We then decided to walk to Darling Harbour which was just 10 minutes away from our hostel on foot. The walk through China Town was really cool, but the best part was actually arriving at Darling Harbour. Sallie and I were walking a bit ahead of the others because we were so anxious to get there, and our eyes lit up at the sight of the harbour. It was beautiful. The harbour was lined with restaurants and lights of every color from all of the buildings were reflecting off the water. The 2 of us sat down in disbelief that 2 girls that were best friends since the 1st grade had made their friendship last this long and that we were actually sitting in Sydney together looking at this amazing view. The others joined, at we all walked around the harbour trying to soak it all in. I fell in love with Sydney.

The next day was ANZAC Day (Australia New Zealand Army Corps Day), which is a big national holiday through both Australia and New Zealand. The soldiers of every Australia military corps, decked in full uniform, filled the streets and pubs in celebration and honor for their corps. Walking down the streets, we even stopped and talked to a few of them at one point. It was really cool to be able to experience that day in Sydney. So, on ANZAC Day, which was Friday by the way, we went to a huge market that morning, and then walked on to Sydney Harbour. We arrived, and were finally able to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge up close. I still can't believe that I was actually there because it is just one of those things that you always see pictures of or something, but to actually be there was way better. The Rocks (the area around the Sydney Harbour) was really cool too. The streets were lined with shops, pubs, restaurants, and tons and tons of people. The harbour area had performers everywhere with plenty of people standing around to watch. We made our way around the harbour and to the Opera House and took plenty of pictures along the way. Speaking of taking pictures, while we were standing by the Opera House Lindsay asked a group of guys, who we later found out were from Thailand, to take our picture, which they did. Then, all 3 of them insisted on having solo pictures taken with the 5 of us for some strange reason. So there we are...a group of 5 American girls with a Thai guy standing beside us...posing for multiple pictures per Thai guy. I swear it was probably one of the most awkward moments of my life. Who even knows what they were thinking. After we escaped, we walked around the harbour some more, went to dinner (after which Lindsay left to go stay in Newcastle with a friend), and eventually made our way back to the hostel for a much needed night of sleep.

The next day, Arley, Sallie, Lainey, and I took a train to Featherdale Wildlife Reserve so that we could see all of the Australian animals, and it was so much fun! We saw so many cool animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas (all of which we got to pet), along with wombats, dingos, kookaburas, lots of interesting birds, etc, etc. It was great. After getting back into the city, we relaxed in the hostel a bit to get all rested up before we went out to dinner. We walked to Darling Harbour again to have a nice dinner for our last night in Sydney. So we ate at this restaurant on the harbour with outside seating. It was so pretty and the food was great too. Then we walked around the harbour for a while before we had to head back to the hostel for our last night.

The next day, Arley had an early morning flight out of Sydney, but Lainey, Sallie, and I didn't fly out until late that afternoon. So, we decided to walk back down to Sydney Harbour to this really great market in the Rocks to look around for a while. We didn't really get too much, however, we each got a different ring at one stand because we have all been looking for one, so we were pretty excited about that...haha. I think we bought a few other souvenirs and such too, and we also got some chocolate covered strawberries that were quite delicious. After a good morning and early afternoon in town, we made our way back to the hostel and then to the airport to meet Lindsay for our flight back to New Zealand. Overall, Australia was great. I loved, loved, loved Sydney. It was such a fun city, but I was so ready to get back to my second home in Dunedin. New Zealand is way cooler and by far so much better than Australia, and I missed it.

A few days in Cairns, Australia...

2008-05-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

After getting back to Dunedin late Sunday night after a long weekend of kayaking in Doubtful Sound, we packed into the wee hours of Monday morning for our week in Australia. Lindsay was already there scuba diving with some friends, so Sallie, Lainey, Arley, and I left early Monday morning to drive to Christchurch and catch our plane to Cairns. Arley was on a different flight, but Lainey, Sallie and I slept most of the way because we were so exhausted from the weekend and lack of sleep. We arrived in Cairns at nearly midnight, got our bags, and then called our hostel for the free airport pick-up. We arrived at our hostel, the Cairns Beach House, where we went to sign in at reception. The guy working the desk was exceptionally rude and not helpful at all. We had booked a 4-bed private room so that we could have privacy and leave our bags in the room during the day, but the guy gave us a room with 8 beds and there were already people in there. So when Lainey and I tried to go back to the reception desk so that we could get the right room, but the guy was gone and he had shut down the office. When we finally found him again and told him what the problem was, he acted very annoyed at us and gave us another key to a room, which we finally found without any help from this jerk. The room was pretty bad too. It was really really hot, and there was no air conditioning. We even saw dead roaches and rat droppings on the floor. So on that first night, no one wanted to sleep on the bottom bunk near the floor, so Sallie and Lainey slept on a top bunk together while I skooted by bed as far away from the wall as possible and climbed up on the top bunk as well. At least we had a private room. Welcome to Australia huh?

The next day was much better. Hallelujah. We explored the area around the hostel a bit, and then sat at the pool at the hostel until Arley arrived. We soon discovered that the Cairns Beach House is no where near the beach. Go figure. We had to take a 40 minute bus ride to the closest beach. On the bus, we met a guy from St. Louis, which Lainey was excited about of course since she's from St. Louis, and it even turned out that they used to live in the same neighborhood and had mutual friends. Small world. He was studying in Cairns and lived really near the beach that we were going to, so he told us where to go. Trinity Beach was nice and pretty, but we couldn't swim because it was "Stinger Season." Basically, there are way too many deadly jellyfish in the water and it would be a really dumb decision to actually get in for a swim. But we were able to lay on the beach for a while which was really nice because we had really been missing warm weather. When we got back to the hostel, we changed clothes and walked down the street to get dinner, and then walked back to the hostel yet again. We decided we were too tired from all the traveling to actually go into town that night, so we went to the really cool bar area out by the pool at the hostel and played cards. While we were playing, Lindsay shows up out of nowhere with her friend Brittany. We were so shocked because we didn't even know that she was in Cairns yets. We shared stories of all the crazy happenings so far, and then went our separate ways to bed because we all had another early morning the next day.

The next morning, Lainey, Arley, Sallie, and I booked a trip to go to Green Island where we could snorkel part of the Great Barrier Reef. We weren't certifed to scuba dive like Lindsay, so we thought that this would be a great alternative. The boat ride was about an hour out to the island, and it was really nice and pretty. When we got to the island, we went on a glass bottom boat tour, where...yeah, you guessed it...the boat we were on had a glass bottom and we were able to look down and see all the fish, coral, etc. When we got back to the island, we had lunch and then went to rent some snorkel gear. We went out the the beach and were finally able to get into the water, which was really warm by the way, and start snorkeling. It was so cool! There were tons of fish and coral everywhere. Unfortunately, the water was pretty shallow, so we didn't get to see too too much. We would have had to pay a lot of extra money to go out to snorkel the outer reef, so we were happy to see what we did. I mean, we snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. That's still pretty cool. The rest of the day we layed around at the beach and the pool on Green Island until it was time to catch our boat back into Cairns. Exhausted yet again, we arrived back at the hostel and still had to keep going. Oh, I forgot to say, it was my half birthday! (and my Dad's birthday...Happy Birthday Daddy!) S0, since I am the only one of our flatmates that does not have a birthday while we are here in New Zealand, they decided that we could celebrate my half birthday. So yes, I turned 20 1/2 that day. We got all dressed up and went out to dinner in town, and they even gave me presents. (Aren't they so cute). They gave me this really cool jade necklace that I had been wanting and some earrings that are so pretty! I'll have to explain the presents more when I get back because they all have special significance with New Zealand. After dinner, we went back to the hostel to pack, but we had another great day, and thank goodness....it was our last night at the Cairns Beach House.

Doubtful Sound

2008-05-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

Next adventure = sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound = wonderful = a lot to say!

On Friday, the 18th of April, Sallie, Lainey, and I left a cold, rainy Dunedin with our small group of 6 to go sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound for the weekend. Besides Megan, our Kiwi driver, were with 3 other guys: A.J. from Minnesota, Charles from North Carolina, and Bruno from France, all of whom were very nice. So we drove west across the South Island and stayed in Manapouri for the night. We stayed in a little one-room cabin and had to walk outside to the bathroom and kitchen, which really wasn't that bad except for the freezing cold rain. We stayed up talking for a bit that night, watched a movie, and then went to sleep because we knew we had to wake up way too early the next morning.

Sure enough, alarms were going off by 5:30am, and we were soon up, bundled in layers, packed, and in the kitchen for breakfast. That's when Megan reported to us that it had snowed throughout Central Otago overnight, which is unusually early for the area, especially since it was just the beginning of Fall. We then had a short drive to the docks at Lake Manapouri, where there was a little snow on the ground along the way, and we met up with our guide, Fi (so far, our guesses are that Fi is short for Fiona, Phoebe, or...Phineas?...haha). We said good-bye to Megan, and then Fi introduced the 6 of us to the other 2 that would be kayaking with us: Nicole and Lydia, both middle-aged women from Perth, Australia. We loaded all of our gear onto a boat and then began the trip across Lake Manapouri. Luckily, since it was so cold, we were able to sit inside on the boat with free tea and coffee to keep us warm. However, we did get sick of looking at everything out the window, and, from time to time, ventured outside on top of the boat to see the beautiful scenery. It was dawn, and there were still misty clouds covering the half-snow covered mountains that surrounded us. It was so beautiful, and so worth braving the wind and cold outside of the boat to be able to see everything properly.

An hour later, we arrived on the other side of Lake Manapouri. We unloaded all of our gear from the boat, and met inside for further direction. Fi handed all of us everything that we were supposed to be wearing the next 2 days, which included wetsuits, polypro shirts to wear under the wetsuits, fleeces, fleece hats, waterproof jakcets, etc, etc. So, we got changed, loaded up the van, and were again on our way. We drove for about an hour through the snowy mountains (lots of snow!) and over the Wilmont Pass, where we finally got to the place in Deep Cove where we were to depart in our kayaks. After unloading and loading yet again, we finally piled into our kayaks and headed out into Doubtful Sound.

We had double kayaks, so Sallie and I were partners, and Lainey was with Bruno. This actually worked out pretty well because Lainey took French in high school, so she was trying to talk to him in French a lot of the time. Of course, Bruno said that he came to New Zealand to learn English so he wanted to speak English, but Lainey told him that if she was supposed to help him with his English then he had to help her with her French. Haha, they were such a funny little team. And Bruno was hilarious, but always very nice to us. He said that Americans and Kiwis talk way too fast, and he would always make fun of us saying "Oh my GOSH! Are you serious??? YES, I am serious! This is AWESOME!" (Imagine all of that with a sarcastic French accent). But it was all in good fun, and we had a lot of laughs. Everything the whole day was so gorgeous. We were kayaking through all of these mountains, still half-covered in snow, jutting out all around us. It was probably one of the most beautiful and amazing things that I have ever seen. I feel like I have said that a lot since I've been here, but this definitely tops the charts so far. Kayaking is really fun, but it can get kind of tiring after a while. Fi sure tried to keep us motivated though. She bothered me to be quite honest...drove me crazy would actually be a better way to put it. She seemed to think that there was something wrong with me all day, and kept checking on me. It was so weird. I asked Sallie if I looked like I had problems or something, and she said no...so who knows. AND Fi called me Sarah, which all of you should know that I hate.....and this is even after I had told her twice, when asked, that my name was Sarah Beth. But whatever. There was more stuff than that, but I just don't feel like getting into it right now. Just take my word for it....it was still kind of funny though.

Anyways, we kayaked all day, stopping at a little beach for lunch, and then we went on to the campsite. We were all exhausted, but we still had to carry the very heavy kayaks up the beach to the campsite. After setting up the tents, we changed into our warm clothes....which was a difficult process considering that we had to get that wetsuit off. As we were finishing changing, we looked over to the other side of the beach to see Bruno in nothing but a very short pair or shorts and a towel over his arm, marching out towards the water. I mean, he kept saying all day that he wanted to swim, but we thought he was kidding. Sure enough, we walks right into the icy water and dives in to swim around for a bit. He was crazy. He only said it was "a bit cold." Ha! Anyways, we then went to the cooking area to make and eat dinner. After dinner, Fi took out sort of a whistle that would make the sound of a kiwi bird (a very rare bird that is native of New Zealand...and part of the reason that New Zealanders are called Kiwis), so she blew the whistle a few times so we could hear it. Later that night, while in the tents, we actually heard a kiwi! It was so cool because they are extremely rare, but there are some that live in the Fiordlands area where we were. After a long day, we were all extremely tired, and for whatever reason my forearms starting cramping from paddling all day, and this continued painfully for the rest of the night. So, Lainey, Sallie, and I went to the tent around 9:00 and went to sleep shortly after. It was probably the earliest I've gone to sleep in years, but we needed it. It was freezing cold out too, so the 3 of us, wrapped in our many layers and sleeping bags, cuddled together in attempts to keep warm and get a decent amount of sleep.

The next day was pretty much the same as the day before, except that once we were on the water, we went at a much more relaxing pace. Plus, we got to see the sun come up over the mountains, and it was so pretty! The sun was blinding as it reflected off the water...Sallie and I actually almost ran into a small tree that was coming up out of the shallow water...haha, oops. Bruno kept saying, "I am so happy. I am so happy to be hear, and I'm so happy to be French." Haha, we still don't know why he was saying that he was happy to be French, but it was funny either way. Oh, and speaking of Bruno, I forgot to add this in earlier: he kayaked in a beret the whole time. Yes, a beret....hahaha, it was hilarious. Lainey looked like she was on a gondola ride in Venice and Bruno was her guide. Sallie and I got a kick out of watching them. He said that wearing a beret is very old fashioned, and he would never wear it in France, but he liked wearing it while he was here. But yes, it was a good day....until after lunch when Fi decided that we needed to pick up the pace because we had to make it back to Deep Cove by a certain time. She was basically leaving some of us behind and wouldn't stop and wait because she wanted to "keep up the momentum." Whatever, Fi. Either way, it was still a good, fun day and we even made it back on time. We arrived back at Deep Cove, unpacked, changed clothes, packed again, drove through the mountains back to Lake Manapouri, rode the boat over the lake, and finally arrived back in Manapouri with Megan waiting to drive us back to Dunedin. It was definitely a great trip, and an awesome experience.

Italian Dinners and Sailing Away

2008-04-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Last week, Manu and Matteo finally made us an authentic Italian dinner, and it was delicious! Apparently in Italy, they eat everything in courses. So for our first course ("primero"), Manu made us penne pasta with shrimp and zuccinni. He also added in some stuff to make a very light sauce. It was so yummy. Then for the second course ("segundo"), Matteo made something that was very similar to meatloaf. Except, we didn't eat ketchup with this because the Italians would have been horrified and offended at the thought of putting "tomato sauce," that wasn't real tomatoes on one of their meals. Luckily, there was absolutely no need for any ketchup because there were spices and everything mixed in. It was delicious as well. I have decided that Italians are very good cooks.

Last Saturday, Lainey and I went sailing just north of Dunedin. We met our group (of about 10 other people) here at the recreation center, and they drove us to meet the owner of the Caprice (the huge catamaran that we sailed on for the day). We sailed around on the ocean for a little bit, and then we went fishing! It was so great because our guide told us that we could eat whatever we caught. Unfortunately, we soon found out that it was not such a good day for fishing, but we still caught a lot of fish. The problem was that most of them were not big enough to eat. But, we caught 2 fish that were big enough to eat, and I actually caught one of them! One of the really cool things was that there were albatrosses everywhere, just floating behind the boat and waiting for us to catch them some food. Their wingspan was huge, and they were really cool birds.

After sailing around for a while again, we stopped for lunch and we all got to sample the fish. We ate blue cod, and it was so yummy. It was just really cool that we caught the fish a few hours before, cooked them up, and then ate them right there on the boat. I loved it. Also, they had a harness that they could attach a person to and hoist them up to the top of the mast. I was kind of unsure if I wanted to do that or not, so Lainey went before me. I was still deciding what I wanted to do when they were lowering Lainey down and her little pinky finger got stuck in the pulley where here ropes were attached. Well, that made my decision for me, and I didn't go. Luckily, even though her finger hurt a lot, Lainey was fine.

Oh, and one thing that I didn't add at the beginning is the fact that it was not warm at all. It was cold. And windy. Thank goodness the sun was out, so it really wasn't that bad. But we were all layered up and laying in the sun, but we were still cold. So while we were still stopped for lunch, our guide said that he would take us to the beach nearby. So, we piled in the little motorboat 4 at a time and headed out to the beach, which was just a minute or so away. Well, as we were getting closer to the beach, we were stopping to let the waves go by and then ride on in, but all of a sudden I noticed a huge wave coming towards us. I remember thinking to myself that the wave should break before it reaches us, but then it didn't. Then I thought that maybe we would just go right over it, but we didn't. I noticed it getting bigger and bigger as it started to peak right beside us. I knew what was about to happen. The wave broke right on top of us. Right into the boat. All of us. Soaked. Especially me. Well, needless to say, the wave took us right into shore, soaked in cold, salt water from head to toe. We were already cold, but now we were freezing. Oh well. There was a seal laying on the beach and that was pretty cool to see. But we were only there for about 10 minutes, and we went back to the boat.

Lainey and I laid in the sun, attempting to dry off, on the way back to our starting point. Even though we were cold, and even wet, for most of the day, but over all it was very fun and totally worth it. We crashed in warm, comfy, clothes for the rest of the night. As of right now, I don't have any pictures on my computer from this trip, so I'll put them up when I can. And I am supposed to leave in about 10 mintues to go sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound, and then I leave for Australia on Monday! Wish me luck!

Rock Climbing = My New Love

2008-04-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy lately! We've had more school work than usual and we've been doing lots of other fun stuff too. I had my first big test last week, and it will pretty much be the only one until finals in June. Things are much different here. We don't usually have tests throughout the semester, and if we do, there are very few. We may have a paper to turn in or something for each class, but the majority of our grade is based on the final exam. We haven't decided if that's a good thing or not...but let's not think too much about school. After all, I am in New Zealand.

So on a lighter note, I am in a band. Well, sort of. You see, we've been inspired. Inspired by the didymo. So with all the joking around about didymo, lyrics to a didymo song somehow began to form (thanks to Arley), and we decided that it should be performed. So we call ourselves "Didy and the Moes." Arley is Didy, since she is pretty much the leader of all this, and Sallie, Lindsay, Lainey, and I are the Moes. Our first single is in the works, and, naturally, it is called "Didymo." It is to the tune of the Van Morrison song, "Domino." So every now and then, the 5 of us will get together and practice. Arley wrote most of the lyrics and she plays guitar, and the rest of us get buckets for drums, or spoons, or whatever we feel like playing, and we all sing. We are really great, you should hear us. Honestly though, it's hilarious. We are pretty awful, but we have plenty of fun joking around with it.

This past weekend, Lainey, Sallie, Lindsay, and I went rock climbing, and it was so much fun! We signed up to go through the recreation center, so on Friday night we had an indoor session to learn and practice the basics. Actually, Sallie and Lainey (and maybe Lindsay...I can't remember) are certified back at home to belay and do all that sort of stuff. Lainey even works at the rock wall at Clemson, so they pretty much didn't need the learning session, but it was great for me. On Saturday, we went out to Long Beach in Dunedin and our instructor set up all of the ropes for us. Long Beach is not only beautiful, but it is known for rock climbing because of all of the cliffs that are great for climbing. The ones that we climbed were about 20 meters high (about 65 feet). Even though I had done some climbing at UT before, I had never climbed outside. So, it was definitely new for me, but I loved it! It was so fun and challenging all at the same time, especially since I have a slight fear of heights. But I got over it pretty quick. At the end of the day, our instructor even taught us how to abseil, which is similar to rappelling. On a regular climb, you are attached by a pulley system with the ropes and other equipment to a person on the ground below you that is "belaying" you. Basically, as you climb up, the belayer takes in your slack on the rope so that if you fall, there will be no slack for you to actually fall, so you will just hang there instead. So when you get to the top of the cliff, instead of being lowered back down to the ground by your belayer, you unhook those ropes and attach yourself to another set of ropes and belay yourself down the side of the cliff. And that is called abseiling. This was the scariest part for me because the instructor hooked me to the safety rope, handed me the rope that I was attached to, and pretty much told me to start backing down the cliff and just let off slack as I go. Ha. Well, I'm glad I did it. It really was fun. So yes, it was a great weekend, and I now know that I love rock climbing, and I can't wait to go again!

Didymo

2008-03-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a long one...I'm sorry, but there is just so much to tell it seems.

Since Sunday was Easter, the University of Otago was nice enough to give us Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off of classes. And that means....road trip! So, Lindsay, Lainey, Sallie, Arley, and I decided to drive the 11-12 hours to Abel Tasman at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. We decided to backpack through the Abel Tasman National Park and do the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, which is on the list of New Zealand's "Great Walks" and is often listed as one of the top things to do while in New Zealand. So, we went for it.

After Thursday classes and a hectic packing session, we piled into Bunky (our new, and very blue, car) and headed off on a 5 hour drive to Christchurch, where we planned to stay the night. Since we had all of our camping gear, we decided that we might as well pitch a tent somewhere and save some money. No worries loved ones, we went to a campsite. Unfortunately by the time that we arrived the offices were closed because it was so late, and we couldn't find the sites for tents. So, we drove ole' Bunky up into an RV space and set up camp. As we found our little spot, we were quite surprised to look over at the space next to us to see a frightening sight. First of all, I should explain that here in New Zealand there are travel vans that you can rent, and a lot of them have murals with themes painted all over them. Well, for you Lord of the Rings lovers, you'll appreciate this. We looked at the van in the space next to us and noticed, to much shock and amusement, that there was a huge mural of Gollum painted on the side of the van facing us. For those of you who are not sure who Gollum is, you need to look him up and see what we had to sleep beside all night, because he's...well...he's something all right. Also, we only rented a 3-person tent (which we swear is a 2-person tent that they gave us by mistake...but whatever) before we left because we thought that we were going to be able to borrow one from a friend, but that fell through. So we had to fit all 5 of us in a tent made for 3 (or 2) people. And this is really funny when you are all trying to squeeze in at 1:00 in the morning and we can't even sleep because we are laughing so hard because we are so crammed together. The rule for that night was "spoon to the right."

So, after leaving Christchurch (and seeing Gandolf, the wizard from Lord of the Rings, on the other side of the van) we drove to Nelson, which is about an hour outside of Abel Tasman, and stayed in a hostel for the night. We woke early on Saturday morning, went to get food to take with us on the hike, and drove the rest of the way to Abel Tasman National Park. We arrived, loaded our packs to the brim (which ended up being around 40-50 pounds), and set off on our 3 day, 2 night, 50 kilometer...aka 31 miles...backpacking trip on the beautiful Abel Tasman Coastal Track. Beginning in Marahau, we tramped (tramping is the same thing as hiking...that's what they call it here) 13 kilometers that day, and even took a relaxing break for lunch on a cute little beach along the trail. We arrived at Torrent Bay Estruary, our campsite, and there were only 2 other tents staying at the site so there was plenty of room. The only problem with is was the toilet. It smelled absolutely terrible. I have never smelled anything like it in my life. I swear, it followed us throughout the campsite. Sometimes, I even feel like I still smell it a week later. It was awful. We figured that someone must have drank the unfiltered water, gotten the Didymo, and then had problems in that toilet. Oh, and I guess I should partly explain the Didymo. Arley told us that she heard from someone that if you drank the bad water at the campsites that you could get this bacteria called Didymo in your system. So there were many jokes and references made to the Didymo throughout the whole trip. Anyways, we made canned corn and refried beans with pita bread on our little gas cooker for dinner, boiled the drinking water for 3 minutes so that it was purified and Didymo-free, and turned in early for a good night's sleep. Luckily, we used the tent's rain cover to extend the tent, so it wasn't as tight of a fit as it was on the first night.

The next day, Easter Sunday, was a rough one. I mean, my brother Chase was always known to have bad Easters, but I guess it was my turn this year. Don't get me wrong, we had fun and all, but it was exhausting. On that day, we had to look at tide charts because there were 2 places on the trail that we had to cross at low tide, or else we wouldn't make it. So when we left our campsite at just before 10:00 that morning, we booked it along that trail. We stopped and ate lunch on a beautiful beach at Bark Bay, and then continued on. We hiked a lot more uphill and downhill than the previous day, which was mostly flat. So, we got tired fast, especially with those huge packs on our backs. At the first tide crossing we had to hike along the beach, which is not as nice as it sounds. It was very pretty, but walking in the sand with all that extra weight is not an easy task. We also made it to the next crossing in time, so kept on our way to Totaranui, the next campsite. We knew we were getting close, but then it started to get dark and we still had not arrived. We walked faster and faster as the last light of day faded away, and it was almost completely dark by the time that we got to Totaranui past 8:00 that night. In 10 1/2 hours of that day we had tramped 24 kilometers (half of the whole track) up mountains, down mountains, and across beaches. So after a long, hard day, we set up camp again, cooked pasta and corn for dinner, and went to sleep.

The next morning was not a fun start. We awoke on Monday with blistered feet, bruised shoulder/collarbones and hips (where our backpacks rested), sandfly bites (which last longer and itch more than mosquito bites), stiff muscles, and other various aches and pains, some of which were yet again blamed on the Didymo. We could barely walk, sit, stand, or move in general, but we toughed it out. Lindsay hopped on a water taxi that took her back to our car as Arley, Sallie, Lainey, and I continued on the trail for the last leg of the trek. This day was mostly uphill, downhill, beach, and repeat, but we only had 13 kilometers to go. So we were able to take our time a bit more. It was a nice change. We were so exhausted and sore, I'm surprised that we made it, but really it wasn't that bad. The only bad part of the day was walking along the beach and finding a dead penguin (yes, a dead penguin) floating in the water. I don't want to talk about it. Moving on....we met Lindsay at the end of the trail because she was nice enough to come pick us up, and we headed out to get food at a restaurant and then sleep at another hostel for the night.

Tuesday was our relaxing day. We drove to a beach called Kaiteriteri, laid out in the sun, and took turns on the 2-person sea kayak that we rented. We didn't even have to worry about ingesting the Didymo for the whole, entire day. It was a nice change. After our pleasant afternoon, we got back in the car and drove the 6 or 7 hours to Christchurch to stay in another hostel for the night. Then we got up the next morning and drove this rest of the way back to Dunedin. We may have been sore, exhausted, and ready to be home...but we were definitely challenged, and we followed through, succeeded, and had a great time along the way.

In closing, I have some funny news to report. While back in Dunedin, Arley was talking about the Didymo to one of her friends and was amused to discover that Didymo is, in fact, a weed. It is not, as we thought the whole time, a bacteria like E-coli that we could get from dirty drinking water. No, no...it was a weed. The whole time, through all the jokes, through all the references, through all the worries about it possibly messing up our digestive systems, through all the fears about it giving us "rock snot" (as we were told)...it was a weed. A stinkin' weed. Hahaha, you gotta love the Didymo.

Family, Wine, and Green

2008-03-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, Lainey's family (her parents and 2 sisters) flew to Queenstown because her dad had a trip for his work there for the week. So that weekend, they drove to Dunedin to come see us. On Friday night they took us out to dinner at a seafood restaurant, and then they turned in for an early night because the jet lag was getting to them. But on Saturday we took them, along with our friend Arley, to the Farmer's Market downtown where the farmers bring all of their fresh produce. There are all sorts of different stands for fruits, vegetables, coffee, flowers, etc. We all bought French crepes (which were unbelievably delicious) from a French couple that made them in front of us, and then we sat to eat them and drink our coffee while listening to a blues band. It was so fun, and so relaxing. I loved it. Then we took them out to Tunnel Beach, which was beautiful. We had never been there either so it was new for us too. On our way back, we took them to Baldwin Street, the world's steepest street, and Sallie, Lainey and I even walked up it. It was rough...haha, but not too bad really. We lived. That night, our little family of 4 cooked the Woodwards vegetable lasagna, and we stayed in for the night, but had fun all the same. Then on Sunday we went to church, relaxed, went out for a really yummy dinner at a Tuscan restaurant, and drove out to the Otago Peninsula to see the penguins again. It was a great weekend!

This past weekend, Lainey, Sallie, and I went on a Wine Appreciation Tour through Central Otago, which we signed up for through the recreation center. We left at 7:15 in the morning (waaaay too early) on Saturday with a van full of 8 other international students and our Kiwi driver. There was 1 girl from Colorado, 1 girl from Hawaii, 2 girls from Sweden, 1 girl from Germany, and 1 girl and 2 guys from Hong Kong...so a nice variety. The others were okay I guess, but definitely no long lasting friendships or anything like that. We stayed in Queenstown that night, and it is about a 4 or 5 hour drive from Dunedin. So, we stopped at 5 wineries/vineyards along the way on Saturday, and 3 on the way back on Sunday. Most of the wineries were in a really pretty area, but the drive was gorgeous either way. At each winery, we would do a wine tasting, and at most we would have someone there explaining to us different aspects about how the wine is made and other interesting facts. And Queenstown was really cool too. It reminded us of summer in a little ski town in Colorado, and we've decided that we definitely want to go back at some point. We got to see Lainey's family again since they were staying in Queenstown for the week, so it was good to get to see a final good-bye to them before they left New Zealand. My favorite part of the trip by far was Gibbtston Valley on Sunday, where we got to go in the wine cave that they built into the side of a mountain. Not only was everything just really beautiful and cool, but they also had a cheesery where we got to sample all kinds of yummy cheeses. My second favorite was probably our last stop of the trip at Carrick where we ate lunch. We sat on the outside patio of the winery while we ate next to a large, very green lawn that overlooked the lake and the mountains. The view was amazing. After we ate, we laid in the grass under the sun to take a short break before our drive back to Dunedin.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, so we went downtown at night just like everyone else in Dunedin. We decided to go to an Irish pub, because hey, it was St. Patrick's Day after all, and there was a live band. Apparently, every one else had the same idea that we did because it was packed full of people dressed in crazy green costumes. We hardly had room to move, but it was entertaining either way. The band was really good and played great songs, so we danced, sang, and had a fun, and very green St. Patrick's Day!

Thank God

2008-03-09T01:55:00.000-08:00

When I was reading my Bible the other night, I came across this verse, and I just thought that it explained this semester in New Zealand very well:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complte, not lacking anything. -James 1:2-4

I like this because we face so many different trials while living here (don't worry family and loved ones, nothing dangerous or life-threatening). It could be anything like finding our way around town, picking a destination for a weekend trip, figuring out almost everything about classes on your own because nothing is explained to you, deciding what to buy at the grocery for 4 hungry girls and how to split the price 4 ways, and even being asked questions about what we believe and why. It's all so new and amazing, yet challenging at the same time. We welcome that challenge, stand strong, and pray that God will lead us the way. And after this semester abroad with all these trials and challenges, I hope to return to the U.S. with more maturity, perserverance, and positive, life-changing experiences that I did not have when I left back in February. On a side note, the girls and I have actually been doing a "family" devotional a few times a week, or at least as much as we can when we can. But I think it has definitely been good for us to set aside that time to be focused on other things besides ourselves, and I believe that it has brought us closer together in some ways as well. I love my New Zealand family with all those crazy Clemson girls (I mean seriously, I need someone else to represent UT...). We like to say that "We are one," because we are all in this together.

Rain, Wind, Floods, & the Sheep Shearing Dance

2008-03-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday + Sunday = fun in the Catlins! Yes, this past weekend, Lindsay, Lainey, Sallie, Manu, Matteo, and I rented a van and traveled through the Catlins ( a beautiful region in southern New Zealand ). We left early Saturday morning...which began with Matteo banging on Lindsay's window at 8:30am to wake us up. Yeah, we were kind of supposed to leave around 8:30...but we stayed up late and were tired! So we left "promptly" at 9:15 or so and drove south towards whatever came our way...and in our path all of the way was RAIN.

Our first stop was at Nugget Point. We parked the van and walked up the trail to the lighthouse and the area on the cliffs that overlooked the ocean and the large, nugget-like boulders protruding from of the water. It was so pretty, just like everything here, but I wish I could have seen it in the sunlight. It was also VERY windy, especially on the water. The wind was blowing so hard that the hoods of our jackets wouldn't stay on, and our faces were being pelted with rain. And it was cold. But we laughed it off and still had fun.

Our next stop was at Jack's Bay and Blowhole. Again, we parked the van (in an area of houses with sheep-filled front yards) and followed yet another trail through sheep/cow pastures, over cliffs, up very steep gravel hills, and to the blowhole. Jack's Blowhole is a huge hole (about 150 meters wide???....) in the middle of a field, but the ocean rushed into the blowhole from below. It was like looking down into a cave filled with waves of turquoise water. Very cool. And it was still raining.

On the road again....we had to miss out on the Cathedral Caves. They are supposed to be amazing, but because the surf was so high that even at low tide (when we would be entering the caves) it would be too dangerous for us to enter. So they closed it down for the weekend. We are contemplating another day trip just to see them. Anyway, we moved on just down the street to McLean falls. We hiked for about 20 minutes through what seemed like a tropical rainforest to the beautiful falls! And after hanging around there for a while, we trekked back to the van, went to the "Whipering Frog Cafe" for coffee. (Yes, still raining.)

That night, we stayed at a hostel on a farm in Slope Point, the southern most point of the South Island. We went out to the cliffs on the coast where the sign stated that it was the southern most point....and it was so beautiful out there! And guess what. It FINALLY stopped raining! The sun was getting lower since it was evening (it doesn't start getting dark until about 9:00) and it reflected off the water. SO pretty! But, I was as close to Antarctica as I have ever been! That night at the farm, the guys cooked us what was supposed to be an authentic Italian dinner, but there was a mishap with the type of tomato sauce that they picked up because they usually make the sauce out of real tomatoes. So it tasted more like sweet ketchup. Oh well, it was still good, still fun, and they tried. It was not their fault at all. Manu wouldn't even eat the pasta because he was so discusted by the fact that the sauces was so non-Italian. Also staying at the hostel were an Israeli couple a year or 2 older than us who had just gotten out of the Israeli army and were traveling around New Zealand for 6 months. It was so interesting for the Italians, Israelis, and the Americans to all be sitting in a room talking about politics, religion, life, and even playing Taboo!

After killing quite a few moths that were swarming our room the girls and I went to bed with the pouring rain to put us to sleep. We woke the next morning to more rain, and decided to take it easy that day. We had pancakes for breakfast (new for the Italians), played some Uno, and headed on our way back towards Dunedin on the Scenic Highway. However, there was a problem. It had rained so hard the night before that after driving for about an hour on the Scenic Highway, and we had a problem. The bridge that we had to cross to continue on our way had been completely overtaken by the river. There was no possible way of crossing. Keep in mind that we were in the middle of no where with only one-forth a tank of gas left and no gas stations around. So we stopped on the road, took a break (a few took a bathroom break in an abandoned shed surrouned by sheep), and did the Sheep Shearing Dance. This New Zealand dance was taught to Lindsay by some Kiwis, and can only be described by video, so I will not even go into this now. So just imagine. In the end, we had to take the long way, but we made it to a gas station in time and then eventually back home to Dunedin. We had plenty of laughs and lots of funs times on this trip (even with all the detours)!!!

Lindsay Suzanne Hook

2008-02-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

So, not much to say as of now except that Lindsay has been writing a blog too! She has a link to look at even more pictures on her blog, and she has a lot to say too. So take a look if you wish. Just follow the website below...

http://www.lindsayhook.com/

"We are a democratic car!"

2008-02-24T03:10:00.000-08:00

Today (Sunday), we decided to take a day trip to the Moeraki Boulders and other places in the area. Lainey, Lindsay, Sallie, and I went with our friends Manu and Matteo from Italy, Arley, and Matteo's flatmate Sara. We rented a minivan and traveled up the coast to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are large, spherical boulders on the beach in Moeraki. They were really cool, and they just didn't look like they belonged there on the beach. So, it was pretty neat to see.

We stayed there a while, and then went further up the coast to a town called Oamaru. We stopped at a bakery to get lunch and pastries, and then went to sit and eat at the penguin colony. The penguins are actually nocturnal, so we just saw some of them poking their heads out of there nests from underground. So after eating, we took a walk up a trail on the edge of a cliff by the ocean to the top of the cliff. On the way back down, I, being the clumsy one I am, fell in a hole. Well...kind of...I stepped into a hole in the trail and then was knee-deep in that hole. So, I banged up my shin and I have some gross-looking scratches. It was pretty swollen...but it's getting better. Anyway, we got it all cleaned and fixed up with the help of Nurse Sallie and a few nice gift shop ladies that provided the first aid kit. I'm a big girl after all.

Then, we drove back towards Dunedin and stopped at a beach to hang out for a while. And after that, we stopped and got ice cream and heading back home. We decided that since we had the car until tomorrow morning, then we would make the most of it. So, we decided to drive out to the Otago Peninsula (about 30 mintues drive away) to see the penguins at dusk. And the penguins were really cool! We could barely see them because it was so dark, but we saw them none-the-less. Oh, and I learned that the Italian word for penguins is "penguini" which sounds like "fetuccini." Haha, we thought that was really funny. Anyway, I also finally got to get a good luck at the stars here. I saw the Southern Cross constellation, and tons of other stars because we were away from all of the city lights. I got to see stars that I had never seen before and it was so cool! The moon is turned sideways here too, so the Man in the Moon is sideways. Overall, it was a good day, we had a lot of fun, and we learned that we were a "democratic car" because we made decisions together.

Mt. Cargill = My first hike up a mountain

2008-02-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

On Thursday afternoon, me, Sallie, Lainey, Lindsay, and our new friend Arley (from Chicago who goes to school in Oregan) hiked Mt. Cargill (description from a website below):

Some of the most spectacular views of Dunedin and the surrounding area can be enjoyed from the top of Mount Cargill. Rising 676 metres above sea level, it dominates the northern end of Dunedin. The views include the urban area of Dunedin and much of Otago's coastline - including the Otago Peninsula and Otago Harbour.

The base of the mountain where the trail began was about an hours walk through Dunedin from our flat. Then from the bottom of the mountain, it took us about 2 hours to get to the top. It was a pretty good hike. We worked hard and were all tired, but once we got to the summit it was all worth it. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It was so beautiful, I cannot even describe it in words! I feel like that is how everything is here. Amazing. We stayed at the top for about an hour just looking around, and then we took a side track to the Organ Pipes (described below):

A thirty-minute side track takes in the fascinating Organ Pipes rock formation. This was formed by the cooling of lava that flowed across Mount Cargill during the last period of volcanic activity in the Dunedin area. The hot lava cooling against the cold rock caused powerful expansions and contractions. Slower cooling led to the shorter, thicker columns that are close to a perfect hexagonal shape.

The Organ Pipes were really cool too. I had actually never heard of them, but Arley was telling us about them. So we figured we would go since we had hiked all the way up and we were so close. So we stopped there for a little break and looked at Organ Pipes from below. I actually climbed to the top of them to look down, which was really fun. After we left, we had a long trek back down Mt. Cargill, which hurts your knees along with every other muscle in your body that is already sore. It was a little over an 8 hour day from time we left our flat until the time that we got back. It was a great experience, we had so much fun, and I hiked my first mountain! I started off pretty good huh?

Introduction

2008-02-21T02:46:00.000-08:00

This is an email that I sent out a few days ago, so I thought I'd post it here to begin my blog about my life here in New Zealand! Enjoy.

Here's my address!!! Send me letters! I would love to hear from you all.

Sarah Beth Ramsey

4/174 Forth Street

Dunedin 9016

New Zealand

Flat Phone # : (64)-(03)-474-1512 (use skype if you want to call...but hopefully I can call on skype soon...)

First of all I want to say, congratulations Lans and Drea!!! Bebe showed me a picture of the ring and it's gorgeous!!! I can't wait for the wedding. Keep me updated. Also, this is a long email about the story of my life basically....so DO NOT feel obligated to read if you don't have time or are just not interested. Haha, I really don't care. I'm not going to quiz all of you on my emails or anything.

Now..., so I'm going to try to tell you guys a little about what is going on around here. I still don't have internet at our flat, but that is coming soon. And, my laptop still doesn't have an adapter that fits it...so I can't load pictures yet. But there are some great ones! I'll do that as soon as I can! Let's see, our flat is amazing. You walk in the front door and have Sallie and Lindsay's rooms to each side, and then a small set of stairs going up to the second floor. Then going up the stairs, you have the big bathroom on your left, the living room and kitchen straight ahead, and the laundry closet to the right....and also to the right is the other small set of stairs going up to the third floor. Then going up those stairs on the third floor, you have my room and Lainey's room to each side, and a small half-bath straight ahead. Then out of the living room, we have this huge glass sliding door which leads out to our patio with picnic table and a beautiful, green, grassy backyard with flowers. We actually live right next to the Dunedin Botanical Gardens....which I have yet to explore actually...but they are supposed to be wonderful!

We are in a group of 5 flats that are up on a hill. And in each flat (except ours becaue we have 4 American girls) there are 3 international students and 1 Kiwi host. We were the special exception...haha. But our neighbors are great. There are a lot of Americans...a girl from Alaska, a guy from New Hampshire, a guy from Colorado, a guy from New Jersey (who is a Mets fan....booo! we talked about that today...haha), and a few other states as well. Then we also have some neighbors from some other countries...an Italian guy, a German girl, a Bulgarian guy, and of course the Kiwis. Most everyone is really nice and friendly. Since all of our flats are so close together, it's like we live in a little community. So we always have our doors opened with the cool summer air, and people are always stopping by. It's great, and so much fun.

Yesterday, the 4 of us took the bus to St. Clair Beach, which is still in Dunedin, but about 3 miles from where we live. It was so unbelieveably beautiful. It's supposed to be a really good surfing beach, so the waves were really big and there were surfers there. So that was a lot of fun to watch. We ate lunch at a cafe by the beach and then walked down to the beach access. The beaches are a little different though. There isn't a lot of beach and sand...you have to walk down a ways to get to a place where you could actually get onto the beach. It's kind of cold because the wind is blowing, but the sun was really warm. We all got sunburnt because we couldn't feel the sun because the wind was so cool. Anyway, it was a lot of fun.

Today, we had International Orientation, which was alright. But we got a lot of information on clubs and trips that we can join....(so I'll be asking for money soon...haha, get happy family! I'm taking donations....) Then this afternoon, they provided all of the international students with a free train ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway. It went through the Taieri Gorge (duh...) and through all of the mountains in the area. AMAZING!!! I can't even describe it in words, and the pictures don't give it enough credit, but I will show them as soon as I can. Most of the time, we hung out with our Italian neighbor named Manu and his friend Matteo, and lots of other people here and there too. These guys are so funny though. Italians are really good dressers by the way. But we just always meet all of these different people from everywhere! We may talk and have great conversations with these people, and then keep seeing them around. It's just really cool.

Let's think....different things about this country:

1)Everyone here drives on the left side of the road right? Well...the walk on the left side of sidewalks too. If you ever notice in the States, that when we are walking towards people on sidewalks, we veer to the right to get out of the way. So that's what we've been doing here, until we keep running into everyone, so that's not fun...haha. So now we have to learn to walk on the left side too.

2)A lot of people here wear black. And not a scary person, goth-type black...they just wear dark colors. So we stick out when we wear our summerly clothes! Haha...

3)Stores and most everything (except for night-life stuff obviously) close at 5:00. And on Sundays, it's at 4:00.

4)I've seen a lot of mullets, and fake mohawks, and 80's hair around. A lot of people also like to wear neon, 80s colors. So weird, but cool in their own way.

5)There are 2 buttons on the toilet. 1 to wash your bum, and the other to flush. That took a while to figure out...haha

6)No one understands the term y'all...just some Americans

I wish I could explain to you all what an experience this is...and by the length of my emails I'm sure that you can see that I'm attempting. But it literally cannot be described in enough words. It hasn't even been a week, and there have been so many new experiences, people, places....ahhh, I love it. Anyway, I miss you guys so much!!! And I hope this email wasn't too long. I love you all!!