Here, at the end of all things…

I am finally at the end of my great adventure. I am flying home from LA with my mom and sister beside me and my dad in front. The plane ride is fine (not the top notch service like I received on Air New Zealand, but I’ll take what I can get) and my grandma (knowing my heart’s desire) packed us some bagels and peanut butter and honey – I was starting to have withdrawal symptoms!

Looking back on the past 3 months, I am rather impressed with all that my friends and I packed into our time abroad! My favorite weekend was the South Island Adventure (last wknd in New Zealand) and the biggest thrill was probably bungee jumping. I’ve made so many wonderful friends, Drew and Katherine and Aerin and Tiffany and Tomas and Charity and Sheri and … (the list goes on). We already have one trip somewhat planned. Sometime soon, a whole group of us are going to Chattanooga! It’ll be a lot of fun – I can’t wait! I’m looking forward to the drive in movie theatre.

This study abroad was the most fantastic semester of college yet, and I will remember it a lifetime. Thank you to my new (it seems like I’ve known you forever) friends who journeyed with me across the world, and thank you to my family and friends back home who so lovingly awaited my return.

Now it’s time for a new adventure – one which is just beginning, and only God knows which direction it will take me. God bless!

Vacation Away from Vacation…

As it turns out, I really felt like it was time for a vacation after stepping off the plane in LA. So, thankfully my family came to meet me at the airport in LA with 5 days of vacation planned! I’m spending my time chilling with my family and it is wonderful! We went to the top of San Jacinto via a rotating gondola and hiked around the top of the mountain at 8000 feet elevation. Today we went to Joshua Tree, a desert valley with huge mounds of boulders and rock-climbable rocks! It was pretty sweet! I took along my rock climbing shoes, but decided to just climb the rocks with my hiking boots. There were lots of people rock climbing with ropes and everything. One day I’ll go back with my full equipment and enjoy some tremendous climbs. I definitely recommend Joshua Tree to any avid climbers out there! Tomorrow, the plan is to go to fellowship (YES! It’s been so long since I’ve been to fellowship!) at Terry Sweigart’s home. After that there is no plan, so we’ll figure it out tomorrow. For all those in Georgia, I will be home soon. But for now, rest assured, I’m safe and sound on American soil. God bless!

Jump into the ocean...

My last thorough blog entry left off with me having gone to Moreton Island on March 20 (see blog from Mar 22). Since then, I’ve done a lot. My test went well, even though I didn’t study on Sunday due to my island adventures – (well worth it!). The week went by quicker than usual. The following weekend was the long-awaited Scuba trip, so I had to pack in a little more school work in order to compensate for missing class the following Monday. But I got done with all the things I needed to, thankfully, and was packed and ready to go Thursday evening. In case you don’t remember, we had paid for a 3-day, 2-night live aboard scuba diving boat trip in the Great Barrier Reef, and it was about to begin! We (a lot of us – Drew, Joey, Alan, Allison, Charity, Aerin, Tiffany, Hannah, and me) all crammed into a maxi-taxi bound for the airport, super excited to begin our weekend adventure. The flight went really well, but we landed at midnight in a downpour. We grabbed a taxi to our hostel, and arrived shortly thereafter, found the keys to our rooms, woke up a stranger whose stuff was in one of our beds, and then crashed. The hostel was pretty hot and muggy, but I slept through the night. That was Thursday night.

Friday morning, I awoke and got dressed in my bathing suit. The diving boat company said they would pick us up at 8:30. Having a little extra time, I explored Cairns, even though it was raining. Rain? No problem – I was in my bathing suit already! To say the least, I came back to the hostel soaked and had barely pulled out my towel when the pick-up bus arrived. Off to the boat! We took a boat to the boat, because the live-aboard was already anchored at the reef, the Great Barrier Reef. The boat ride was pretty choppy, but that just made it more fun. I’m always game for a rollercoaster! Once on board the liveaboard, we got the low-down on sleeping arrangement and rules/regs, and then ate lunch – yum! (As a note, the food they fed us on board the boat was AMAZING! Especially Saturday night – which was steak and mashed potatoes, and garlic bread, and freshly cooked veges, and memories of home-cooking.) But to get back to the story…

Our first dive was at 1 pm. I’m not going to go through each dive individually, just the especially special ones, because there were 9 total plus 3 snorkel sessions – and that’s a lot to right about! By the end of the trip, I counted somewhere close to 480 minutes in the water – that’s 8 hours of diving/snorkeling! So worth the money! So, the first dive was a little hazy. The cyclone had stirred up a bit of sediment and the waves were a little choppy, but it was the Great Barrier Reef, so regardless, it was amazing! After a few dives, Drew and I figured out that we use up our air at almost the same rate, so we were destined to be scuba buddies. That was fine with me because Drew is a great guy, and out of our group, he had the most experience – and knew how to navigate back to the boat! (very helpful) I always dove with Drew and we had a blast. The first night, we were supposed to have a night dive, but conditions were really bad, so we weren’t allowed to go. It was disappointing but we got over it. We were exhausted, so we slept like babies that night. (I actually felt like a baby getting rocked to sleep because of the gentle rocking of the boat.)


The next day was a little better weather – and we moved locations, and the second location was excellent! But before we moved I did another dive – (6am = early) – and went snorkeling (= AWESOME!). I saw a GIANT fish while snorkeling. It was blue and about the size of me – but with a small mouth so I was safe. I also saw a group of 6-inch squids moseying along, as well as TONS of other fish. When I went diving that afternoon (at the new place = better location, better visibility), it was the first time, I really felt like I was doing what I always pictured scuba diving to be like. While swimming along a reef wall behind Drew, I paused for a few minutes and looked up, down, left right, behind me, and everywhere I looked I saw fish. They we all around me! Corals, big fish, small fish, anemones… other sea things I don’t know the name of. It was breathtaking! I cannot describe. Luckily we took some pictures, so you can get a small taste for it. The colors we so vibrant though! yeah….it was really cool.

The first night, we were not allowed to dive, as they said we would be able to. A storm swept in just before we put our gear on and the conditions in the water were deemed “unsafe” for diving. What actually happened, is the boat was poorly anchored and the change in wind pattern caused the boat to ram into the reef! Yes, it actually hit the reef! So much for avoiding touching the reef or hitting it with our flippers. I didn’t see the damage to the coral but it was probably not pleasant. I am glad I wasn’t trying to scuba between the reef and the boat though! Fortunately, we did get to do the next night dive – and it was a blast! We saw long, narrow fish – arrow fish? – and crabs and squids and such.

The most memorable dive was the second to last, #8. Drew and I went diving on our own and Drew found a turtle! He was so cool! Finding Nemo does a really good impression of sea turtles – them being all lackadaisical and carefree. At one point, we petted his shell and even held his flipper while he was eating some coral and all he did was slooooowly turn his head to see what was going on behind him and then sloooowly turn it back. If I was a marine animal, I would be a seat turtle.

Our ocean adventure ended mid-afternoon on the 3rd day. I finished it off with a final snorkel, which was pretty awesome as well. We got back to Cairns and dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then meandered around the city looking for a good dinner. The next day we explored some more, and did some much needed homework. The local Mackers (McD’s) had free wifi, so that worked out really well.

For anyone going to Australia, I definitely recommend Cairns. Not so much for the city itself, but for all the trips/adventures you can take from that city. You can go scuba diving, snorkeling, rainforest hiking, bungee jumping, sky diving, and a whole lot more! Even though the visibility was a little low for scuba diving (meaning you couldn’t see as far as you typically can on the GBR), the scuba trip was AMAZING! On a clear weekend, I can’t imagine how brilliant everything would look. Maybe one day I’ll go back to Australia. If so, I’m definitely going back to the Great Barrier Reef!

If you don't let the outback bug you...

The outback is really nice, if you don't let it bug you too much. This past weekend, I rented a car with Drew, Katherine, and Hannah and we drove to the outback, equipped with a couple of tents and the linens from our hotel rooms. We saw flocks of emus just chilling by the road. We saw mobs of kangaroos bouncing around in the fields. And we experienced a small taste of the bugs of the outback. We spent the second night at Lightning Ridge, and there were a LOT of mossies! Mosquitoes, loving termed 'mossies' by aussies, are in abundance in the outback. Luckily, my bites are just red dots at the moment, but Katherine and Hannah are suffering the most. Katherine counted two bites on her left foot this morning. However, the sunsets were gorgeous and the landscape is beautiful too. I had fun, but it's nice to be back in the comfy hotel again!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

Life is REALLY busy! So...I'm not going to write much now. I'll come back later and update, but for now here's just the highlights:

Last Wednesday, I went to the Australia Zoo on a Bio3100 field trip. It was sweet! I petted a koala, laid on a kangaroo, fed an elephant, and touched wombat! busy day

This last weekend was the trip to Cairns to go diving - it was frickin sweet! I scuba dove 9 times, snorkeled for ~3 hours, and touched 2 (!) sea turtles!

I have less than 10 days till I'm back in the US, so it's most definitely crunch time. Tomorrow we have an all day field trip to Lamington Nat'l Park, a tropical rainforest preserve south of Brissie. It looks like it'll be a lot of fun, and best part: I don't have to take any notes! Whoohoo! I leave in 6.5 hours, so time for bed!

Oi, Oi, Oi!

Impromptu

Saturday night, Drew and I received a call from Charity asking us if we would like to go to Moreton Island the next day. Details: We would leave at 6:40am, get picked up from the hotel, take a ferry, go 4-wheel-driving, snorkeling around some wrecks, sand-boarding, and be back by 6:30pm. Total cost for the day: $140 - everything paid for with a lunch provided. Last thing, make the decision in the next ten minutes. ok. After quickly assessing my work-load (i.e. the fact that I had not even begun to study for a test on Tuesday, and that going to the island would completely book my weekend) I decided why the hell not! I mean cyclone Ului was supposed to hit land at 4am, but whatever! I felt like it was the right thing to do, so I said yes. Drew agreed. I learned later that we didn’t have to be ready until 7am – so that was good!

Then I had to make a decision because I already had some plans for Saturday night. I decided to go ahead with my plans and end up studying all day Monday (which by the way, I am not doing at this moment, b/c I'm writing this blog). So Saturday night, I watched Finding Nemo with my buddies while we ate dinner. We have been wanting to watch that movie the entire trip but no one brought it and it costs $22 to buy – ridiculous! However, at brekky we saw on the TV that it was going to play at 6:30pm! Whoohoo! It was great! Then we went pub-crawling, again, b/c it was so much fun the first time. It was a little less busy, but we had a blast anyway! I went to bed around 2:30am.

Woke up at 6:30am, from Drew’s alarm, b/c I set mine for pm. (As a note, I set my alarm before going pub-crawling, so don’t make assumptions ;) I hurried to get ready, woke up Drew, who didn’t wake up to his alarm, and then rushed downstairs. I ran to the ATM to grab some cash, and then caught some breakfast all before 7am! Then we waited, and waited, until finally the bus didn’t come. At 7:20 we called the company who then told us that the bus died, and the tour was therefore cancelled. Ok. SO we had to improvise. We decided we could possibly still make it to the ferry before its 8:30 departure, so we called a cab. We were determined. We figured if we didn’t make the ferry, we were only down about $15 each. The cab driver didn’t know where to go, but thankfully Charity knew the address, and the cab driver plugged it into his GPS. We made it – with God’s help. When we made it to the dock, we figured out we could sign up for a tour there! And they gave us a discount b/c they didn’t have to pick us up from the hotel. So we paid $140 and got on the ferry.

The ferry ride was nice – I slept (except when drinking the free hot chocolate and Timtam they gave us). [Side note: Timtams are delicious. Anyone reading this should buy them at the nearest Target immediately, since they are only selling them in the US until the end of March. As far as I know, Target is the only store selling them. I suggest the original flavor. You’ll find them in the cookie aisle.] Anyway, Moreton Island was really pretty. Our first adventure was snorkeling, and it was excellent! We snorkeled over about 15 wrecks, and we saw a sea turtle! It was laying on the ocean floor as we passed over it and then came up to surface behind us. He was a young turtle, judging by its size (about 3ft length, head included). There were also sooo many fish! And they were beautifully colored! And we got to feed some of them. The guide gave each of us 2 balled up pieces of bread. When you held them underwater, the fish nibbled at your hand to get it. It was fun. We also tried holding the bread between our hands and then catching the fish as they tried to get the bread. I was not successful.

Then we went to a lake that had some therapeutic oil from the rain runoff – I forget what it was called. Regardless of what it was, it felt nice to lay in the lake. The guides said the oils make you younger. I don’t know if that’s true, but I felt younger when I got out! Then we went to a lighthouse and explored. There was a beautiful view of crashing waves, and ocean fading into a horizon mist of clouds! From there we went to “the Desert” which was really sandy. The desert has HUGE sand dunes! IT reminded me of the movie Sahara. We each got a 1x3ft plank of particle board that was finished on one side. This was our sand board. We hiked out to the highest dune – quite a hike uphill in all that sand! And then we got to go sandboarding! It had been sprinkling most of the day, so the sand was wet – not ideal for sand boarding. However, I think we did rather well! I went about 4 times. My last time, I didn’t quite reach the bottom, so I rolled the rest of the way with Aerin. I was pretty sandy by the end. (After each time, you have to hike back up the giant hill – it’s a little discouraging after a couple times.) After that I raced Drew up the hill one last time (he beat me) and then ran down it. It was terrifying! The hill was at about a 70 degree angle, so I felt like I would face-plant the entire way down. But it was fun! If I didn’t have to hike up the monstrous hill again, I would have run down it another time! At this point I was completely covered in sand, and there was no easy way to get it off.

We thankfully had one more stop: the ferry. We drove back to ferry and immediately jumped into the ocean. It felt so good! It was a lot of fun to run up to the water as fast as you could, sprint through the shallows and then dive into the ocean! Once I was de-sanded, I boarded the ferry for the trip back. On the ferry I saw some dolphins and enjoyed another cup of complimentary hot chocolate and timtam. Nom nom! We made it back to the hotel by 6:50, at which time I ate, relaxed, and then slept. Awesome day!

Fun in Brissie

Today was a lot of fun! Seeing as we're not in Heron Island, we have a bit more time to hang out in Brissie. However, we did have an extra day of class - but that wasn't a big deal. After class this morning, I took a nap - a long nap - and it was wonderful! Then I made plans with some friends and we went to dinner at a jazz performance. It turned out the food was gone by the time we got there but it was nice to relax, chat, and enjoy the music on the grass. The venue had set up lawn chairs and blankets with pillows for the viewers to lay on. Then, we went to a ferriswheel to ride, but it was a little too pricey so we got some good at a local chinese stand and watched a spray-painter. He was really talented! He used spray paint to paint a portrait of a lady standing nearby. Then, we went to this open area where they play salsa music every Friday night, and everyone dances in the street. It was a lot of fun - reminded me of Sydney. Then I tried my hand at the slots again, and went back to the hotel to watch a movie with some friends. We (Tiffany, Jourdan, Matt, and I) ended up watching I Love You Man. It was a wonderful night!


Since we now have a free weekend, we're going to spend it exploring Brisbane. Tomorrow, the plan is to go to a museum and then some festival. On sunday, we may go to the koala sanctuary, where they let you hold a koala!

Current news about Ului is that it will hardly affect our diving trip! Thank you God! The cyclone has dropped to a level 2, and will pass south of Cairns, which is good because the north side of a cyclone creates less waves.

A Day in Paradise

Last night, I returned from a day in paradise, and it was WONDERFUL! As many of you know, there was quite a bit of question on whether or not we would even be able to go. Our plan was to leave for Heron Island (paradise) at 1am. In class, Gartonius (Prof. Garton) told us we may not be able to go because of a cyclone approaching fast. I immediately messaged Kati on facebook (Thank you Pops for having Kati online!) and asked her to get some believers praying for the situation. We all REALLY wanted to go. At 4:30 pm, we had a meeting to discuss options. He told us that we could postpone the visit, possibly, or we could cancel, or we could go and see what happens. He decided we should try for it! The storm had lessened a grade so the ferry was going to be running the next day. Thank you GOD!

So we left Tuesday early, early morning at 1am. After a little trouble with the first bus (we broke the baggage compartment door completely off – don’t ask how it happened – I have no idea), we started out. I had pj pants, a comfy t, and flip-flops – I was set! I slept all night – it was nice to get 6 hours of sleep! Then we arrived at Gladstone the next morning in time for the ferry.

We got on the ferry and were warned that the seas were going to be a little rough – uh huh, they were a little rough! I must say, the ferry ride was pretty exciting – I mean, not for the people losing their brekky – but for me, it was like a 2 hour rollercoaster! SWEET! (Thank you God for blessing me with a very stable stomach!) I spent most of the ferry ride on the top outside deck. There were 7 foot swells which we had to drive over, and they splashed up the 20some feet up to the top deck! I found a fun game where you hold onto the edge of the boat and then leap back when you see the big wave splashes coming for you. I stayed relatively dry :) I really enjoyed the wind against my face – I think my hair looked pretty crazy though – but whatever! Near the end of the ferry ride, God blessed me by showing me a sea turtle! He was lazily floating along as we zipped by him. A REAL SEA TURTLE!

Then we arrived…in paradise! It was beautiful – pictures can’t relay how beautiful it was! Heron Island is situated on a huge reef. The entire island can be traversed in less than a half-hour, but the reef is huge! The beaches were white sand and shell-covered, the waters green and blue, the sky clear with a few white puffs of cloud, the air clean and summery. And to top off the ambiance, there was a wrecked ship just offshore! They escorted us to the research center and assigned our rooms – 8 person bunks – no prob. Then we got our first catered meal – it was delicious! The catered food we ate there was so good! She made us fresh bread – fresh vegges – so good! Then we rented some snorkeling gear and tested out the gear. The water was pretty turbulent – the winds were beginning to pick up – so we decided to go on a reef walk. The reef walk was a sand path about knee height in the water through the reef surrounding the island. I went with Miranda and eventually met up with Drew and Katherine. We saw some fish and colorful corals, but the most exciting thing was the sting ray! We walked up to the sting ray to where we were about a foot from him! He didn’t sting us, so that was good ;)

After we returned, we had dinner – delicious again – and learned some disappointing news. The island was being evacuated the next day. Cyclone Ului was going to get to close to the island. Possible waves as high as 13 meters were projected to hit the island. Just to put that in perspective, the island’s highest elevation is only 4 meters! (For those who don’t know meters-feet, that’s 40 foot waves for a 12 foot high island!) Coming to terms with that, we decided we had to do all we could to make the most of our stay. So immediately following dinner, we went to the beach to look for baby sea turtles – we were told it was hatching season up through the middle of April. We enjoyed walking around the island, looking for turtles. From the dock, we saw HUGE adult turtles and a GIANT eagle ray! We were told not to shine our lights on the turtles because it’s not good for them (?) but we were able to make out the outline of the turtles. It is also possible that we shined a light on a few of the turtles so we could see them. They were awesome! (My brother’s favorite animal used to be the turtle, so I have a special place for turtles in my heart, and I’ve always wanted to see them in the wild.) I then crashed for the night.

Alarm went off at 5am. Sunrise time! We figured since we only had a day, we were going to a sunrise. I went with Jourdan and we met up with Charity, Aerin, and Allison at the beach. The sunrise was beautiful! The sky turned golden for about 10 minutes then faded, and figured that was the end – nice but not amazing. THEN…the real sunrise started and the sky started turning pink, and then pinker! The clouds turned a pinkish orange and then the sun emerged below the bottom level of clouds. It was beautiful. There were even the birds flying in the distance! Then Jourdan saw something in the water, so naturally I went to explore. I was dressed in my bathing suit, so I waded into the water. It was a cool ray/shark! We called it a flounder, but it wasn’t that. Then we saw about 6 other rays just resting in the water. We walked down the beach for a while, and saw two flocks of sting rays going towards each other. I thought they were going to duke it out but they didn’t :( Then it drizzled for a couple minutes and a rainbow appeared! But not just a rainbow – it was a layered rainbow with three full ranges of the colors! And it was almost complete! It was a very pretty sunrise.

After brekky, we grabbed our snorkel gear and made for the reef. We snorkeled for about an hour and a half. We saw LOTS of fishes! Then I chilled on the dock for a little and enjoyed the scenery. I saw another sea turtle – the laaast sea turtle. And then I went back for lunch and evacuation.

The boat ride back was fun – just like the ride over, except I got a little more wet. The news was waiting for us when we got off the boat. Several of my classmates were interviewed by the reporters and ended up on the news later that night! We also were in the paper the following morning! When we got to the bus, I changed into my pj’s again and threw on a comfy shirt. The busride was nice. We watched two movies and then I slept. We got back almost exactly 48 hours after we left. 24 hours traveling, 24 hours in paradise. It was well worth it! Our group is so thankful to have had the privilege of going! And we learned that you can volunteer, and stay for a day! If I ever come back to Oz, I am making a point to do this. The island is so worth it! Or if I’m a high roller – I’ll rent a hotel for the $400 it costs each night.

Cyclone Ului is projected to head towards northern Australia, sending big waves to Heron Island. Cyclone Tomas was right behind it and was a concern for my diving trip in Cairns, but it appears to have ‘changed’ it’s mind and turned to travel south east – away from Australia! Thanks God! I am believing for the cyclone to cause minimal disruption to the waters near Cairns so that the waters are clear for our trip. God has already done so much, a little more is no problem!

Conclusion: I am SUPER blessed!

Brekkie in Brissie

Brisbane is AWESOME! I'll just start there. And breakfast is awesome too! They have a pancake machine, and fresh fruit, and eggos that taste like waffle cones! De-lish!

I've now been here in Brissie (Brisbane) for a day and a half, and I am loving it. The sidewalks here are really wide and the city just feels really open. Our hotel is pimpin'! I'm rooming with just Drew (they don't have 3 person rooms, so Tomas has his own room). We each have a queen bed and we have a desk and flat screen TV. Only downside: no microwave. I guess that means more peanut butter and honey. oh darn! ;)

I've spent my first days here exploring. There's a mall really close and lots of stores around. We visited a few festivals yesterday because Brissie was celebrating St. Pattie's day - that which was pretty fun. I've also had to work on classwork quite a bit. Last night though was where the fun was at.

Last night, my friend Jay turned 23 at midnight. So we decided to celebrate! We bought him a chocolate chocolate cake and put candles in it. Sherry bought him a birthday boy pin for him to wear. Then we went clubbing, but not just clubbing - we went pub crawling! That was AWESOME! We visited 5 bars and had a blast. Jay got called up to the mic at one point because it was his birthday. Another of my friends, Joey, karaoke'd Sweet Home Alabama - which was hilarious! After clubbing we also hit up the casino! In NZ and Oz you can go to the casino once you're 18, so I tried my hand at the 2 cent slots! I failed. but I only wasted 3 dollars, so it was ok. Maybe I'll try blackjack sometime soon. I finished off the night by eating pb+h sandwiches with Charity and Aerin and talking for a while. It was a good night!

Last of Sydney...

Today was my last full day in Sydney, and I definitely packed in what I could! My biology class went on a field trip today to the Blue Mountains, pretty close to the Jenolan caves. We hiked for several miles and took records of the vegetation we saw. In addition to a whole bunch of Eucalyptus trees, we saw some sweet animals! The first was a giant black parrot with some splotches of yellow. It was about 2 feet long! We also saw some lyre birds playing by a river. Lyre birds, for those of you who don't know, are excellent imitators - they even imitate construction noises, like chainsaws! So that was pretty cool.

After we got back, we decided it was about time we try some traditional Aussie food. So we agreed on kangaroo. We ventured close to Darling Harbor (near where we saw Avatar) and found a place that cooks kangaroo. IT WAS DELICIOUS! Kangaroo is very lean, and a little tougher that beef steak, so I ordered it on the red side. Then we got ice cream - so good! - and headed over to Hyde Park.

In the first week of living in Sydney, Tomas mentioned finding some possums at Hyde Park and being able to even pet them! So I had to try it! And I did! I successfully petted no less than three possums this evening. They actually look kinda cute, not all mean and ugly like the ones in the US, but fuzzy and cuddly.

Tomorrow, I leave for Brissie (Brisbane) around 1pm and then for the Heron Island research center on Monday. Life is about to get pretty busy because I have a few assignments due Monday, but I am very pleased that I completed the things I really wanted to in Sydney! What I look forward to most in Brisbane: Pancakes and waffles - apparently the breakfast has hot pancakes and waffles! WhooHOO!

More than a movie...

So, tonight I saw Avatar, and it was amazing! Not only was it an amazing film (!), but I also saw it in the largest Imax in the world! The screen was huge! I sat in the fourth row, with 7 of my friends, and really felt like I was in the movie! The screen just fit in my 3D glasses - it was perfect! As to the movie itself, the scenery was beautiful and the plot was excellent! I definitely recommend it, though I think it is possible I saw the last 3D showing of it in theaters!

Just kidding - I mean, echidna-ing!

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Last Saturday, was awesome! I now have a greater appreciation for Australia because today we left the city. IT felt so great to see mountains again! Charity, Katherine, Tomas, Allison, and I rented a car and drove to Jenolan Caves for a little caving adventure. It was so cool!

The morning started off a little off, because the car rental I had planned on fell through. But it’s all good, God had it covered. The very next car rental place I called said we could rent a car (day-of mind you) and get it for cheaper than we were planning! Thank you God! So we got the car and started driving to Jenolan caves. We drove across huge prairies and then over the Blue Mountains and arrived at Jenolan some 3 hours later. Four of us did the Plughole adventure caving. Tomas went on a cave tour. And we loved them both! The Plughole was pretty fun – not too crazy but exciting enough to definitely keep me entertained. Beyond that however, the caving was also a cultural experience. We caved with a French family – and when I say French, I mean they had to be visiting from France – the mom was the only one who spoke understandable English! And we also caved with a Czech girl. The French and the Czech hadn’t really done caving before – or at least that’s what I observed. But it was fun! And it was pretty cool to listen to the family talk in French. So yeah, it was fun. There was also an Aussie guy who thankfully took pictures of us in the cave, because we didn’t bring our cameras. He also told us of this spot where you can see kangaroos.

After we finished, we met back up with Tomas and explored the mountains around Jenolan. While walking around we saw the coolest little creature – an echidna. Echidnas are one of 3 remaining monotremes, which means they are mammals that lay eggs. Then we saw a kookaburra! After that, we ventured to the kangaroo place the Aussie told us about … and we saw about 10 kangaroos! AND we got to walk right up to them! But if you get within about 10 feet radius of them, they bounce away. (There is a slight possibility that I purposefully invaded one kangaroo’s bubble just to see him bounce away.) After that, we headed home having completed a wonderful day! My Australian experience would not have been the same if I had not seen kangaroos in the wild!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

So I just got a lot of extra - money that is! (Note to readers: You cannot deny that this is a answer to prayer from God!) As I wrote before, I have chosen to go on the scuba diving trip in March. Downside: it's a lot of money - about $850 to be exact. And $850 more than my budget allows. SO... I had a talk with God and said, "God, I really want to go on this trip, so if it seems good to you, I would like to go. Now I don't have the money, so I'll also need you to provide the money to do this. Thanks Pops!" I felt very at peace about going on the trip, so I gave the financial situation to God. I called up my dad and asked him to deposit $900 into my account, which he did five days ago. Now the cool part: Today, actually yesterday, my dad received an unexpected check from Georgia Tech ... for $1000! My dad told me just now and after looking into it, I found out that the GT Mechanical Engineering Department decided to grant me a $1000 scholarship on March 5! Note: That is the next day after my dad deposited the money into my account, the day after I asked God to take care of the situation! So, out of God's abundant grace, Georgia Tech has decided to fund my weekend trip to the Great Barrier Reef! WHOOHOOO! What an AWESOME God I have!

Seahorse or Sea horse?

I am OFFICIALLY scuba certified. Whohoo! And it was a LOT of fun! Friday (yesterday) we finished our course with Abyss Diving by diving 3 (THREE!) times at the reef we dived at last Friday. We saw so many cool things!

In our first dive, we saw whole schools of fish called Australian Mado. We also saw a nudibranch - which is hard to describe. And of course, we saw the big blue fish - the Eastern Blue Groper. (we saw him last friday.) And this time we brought food which he liked a lot! I guess it kinda looks like a slug - but not slimy - and beautifully colored. (My biology friends who read this blog will probably nail me for this poor description, but whatever - this is why I'm an engineer, not a biology major! Side note: today I saw a blue and red bird that looked like a parrot. Allison, who also saw it, laughed at that description. I think it was effective.) Anyway, that was pretty cool! We stayed underwater for 39 minutes at a depth of ~25 feet.

But the next dive was even cooler! We saw TWO Giant Cuddlefish! And TWO Old Wives (which are a fish named because they make all sorts of chatter when you annoy them - at least that's what i was told). And a long finned pike. And TWO Biscuit Stars (red and white star fish with the typical 5 legs). And we dived even deeper - to about 30 feet, and for 38 minutes!
The last dive was by far the coolest because we found even more stuff! We dived to a little over 30 feet for 48 minutes. (As you can see we are learning to conserve our air more effectively). We saw a really big star fish. He (She?) had 12 legs! And we saw a cute little yellow baby box fish, another nudibranch, a trunk fish, a red rock cod (pretty cool, I was looking right at him and didn't see him until the dive instructor nudged him so he would swim a little!), and a Crested Horn Shark! Yes, I dove with a shark! And I was only about 10 feet from him, but don't worry mom, he's not too dangerous ;) And to top it off, as I was swimming to shore, I saw a few jellyfish! very cool. On top of that, we saw a sea horse! A real sea horse - or rather a sea rocking horse! As we were swimming along our dive instructor started tugging on this rusted piece of something and turns it upright. It was a rocking horse - you know, like the thing you play on when you are 4 - yeah! I tried to sit on it, but it fell over.

That last dive wrapped up our training course. We got a packet filled with goodies, like a dive journal - to keep track of everything you see on your dives - and a dive chart - so you know how long you can stay under the water before your body becomes filled with too much nitrogen --> very helpful - and some other stuff. So far I have dived a total of 2 hours and 29 minutes!

However, by the end of this study abroad, that number will be a lot higher! I have decided to definitely do a weekend diving trip to Cairns. (I don't know if I mentioned it earlier.) I've been debating it for a week, and came up with my decision. It'll cost a bit of money, but for what I get to do, it's an AWESOME deal! On March 25, I am leaving with a group for Cairns, from which we will take a 3-day/2-night cruise to the Great Barrier Reef and go diving. We will live on board the ship (obviously) and do 10 dives - 2 of which are night dives! That will be AWESOME! I cannot wait!

Scuba Diving is quickly becoming a very fun hobby!

Seeing the Sound

Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 14-15 (day 4 & 5 of the South Island Adventure):


I left off with us getting in at 1am, and crashing. The morning was … hectic. I woke up having planned for 45 minutes to get ready and eat. I got out of the shower and got dressed with seemingly 25 minutes to spare, only to find out the bus was arriving to pick us up in 5 minutes. WHAT?! A bus is picking us up? WHAT?! Today’s event was the Milford Sound cruise. I thought we were driving there. Nope. A bus was picking us up and I now had 4 minutes to eat and pack. Needless to say, it was a little rushed – at least my shower was leisurely :) I hustled onto the bus having prepared a pb+h sandwich for breakfast and thrown my stuff into the van. I had a raincoat (it was drizzling again) and my clothes – that’s all. I forgot my wallet and camera, but that was ok. Though I don’t have pictures yet – I’ll get them from Allison, since I borrowed her camera (the really nice one).

The bus ride was great! We got 2 hours of guided tour through NZ as we drove to Milford Sound. We learned about the countryside, and the animals, and the plants, and the history, and all that kind of stuff. When we got to the Sound, we boarded a ferry-like boat and began our cruise. IT was a little drizzly all day, but everything looked beautiful. As we left the wharf, some dolphins swam alongside our boat! They were so close! We saw sheer cliffs plunging into the sea, tall waterfalls, seals, dolphins, lots of beauty! South, South Island is my favorite landscape in NZ, in the world so far! Rolling plains of green, with dense forests, crystal clear lakes, and distant mountain peaks covered in snow - it’s gorgeous! Milford Sound was beautiful. After the cruise was over, we took the bus back to our hostel and then started our drive towards Christchurch. We stopped in Queenstown, which is a lovely town. We ate magnificent burgers at this burger joint. I got a spicy Cajun chicken sandwich which was amazing. Then we left and finished our drive to our hostel (a little over halfway between our last hostel and Christchurch). We arrived at midnight at a small farm in the middle of nowhere. That was our hostel. They had a few small buildings with a few bedrooms each set up for us to sleep in. We really did not expect it to be so far from everything – I mean it was just a single house along a long stretch of road. But it was such a blessing! One of the things I really wanted to do while in NZ was see the stars without all the city lights and light pollution – just to see how many there were. When we arrived, one of the fist things we noticed were how very many stars there were! The drizzle from earlier that day had blown over and the sky was completely clear! So we grabbed our comforters and laid out in the field for at least an hour just watching the stars and chatting. I saw Orion, the Sevens Sisters, Southern Cross, and the W (Cassiopeia). There were so many stars out – impossible to count! We went to bed sometime after 1am.

The next day was simply getting back to Wellington. Those of us in Bio1520 (3 of us), caught a plane at noon and made it back in time for lab at 2:15pm. God worked out everything so that the plane was on time and smooth. We had no problems. Everyone else arrived back in Wellington around 5pm. It was a very full weekend, and an adventure I will never forget! My favorite part was ice climbing and then stargazing. I have now journeyed through just about all of New Zealand! I feel very accomplished and satisfied with what I did in New Zealand. I really squeezed the seconds to make every minute count!

Taste of Tundra...

Saturday, Feb. 13 (day 3 of the South Island Adventure):

Ice climbing day! It turns out this same day it snowed 2 inches in Georgia! It NEVER snows 2 inches in Georgia! Anyway, I got my fair share of ice that day. The day began off with almost everyone doubting we could climb. When we woke in the morning, it was raining outside and dark. The ice climbing places are known to cancel tours due to inclement weather. But I remained optimistic. Even when the situation has seemed impossible, God has always come through. So I prayed and gave it to God. My friends would say we were lucky, but I know otherwise. Those of us who wanted to ice climb, rather than just hike, chose Fox Glacier instead of Franz Joseph b/c it had a climbing tour large enough for the 5 of us. The remainder of the group planned to hike across the Franz Joseph Glacier. We arrived at the Fox Glacier tour building a little early and learned that our tour was definitely still going to happen!



We suited up and started our hike to the glacier. When we got to the base of the glacier we had to wait a bit, while some people recut the ice steps we were to use. While waiting there, the rest of our group (the hiking ones) showed up – at our glacier! It turns out all Franz Joseph Glacier cancelled all tours! When you trust in God, He always makes it work for the best! So yeah, we were pretty excited that our tour was still a go!

We strapped on our crampons (spikes that attach to your boots and help you climb ice) and started our ascent up the glacier. It was a little tricky at first to get used to the crampons, but we all did really well. They took us through a narrow crevice where we had to shimmy our way through sideways – that was pretty cool. And we stopped at a place where you can fill your waterbottle with glacier water! Of course I did! IT was cool and refreshing! All this time it was drizzling slightly which was a little disappointing because we were getting pretty wet – BUT it really made you feel like you were in a different land! I felt like I was in Antarctica! After a while, we reached our first climbing station. It was an almost vertical 30 foot wall of ice. The instructor hiked around to the top and threw down three ropes. I had a go at all three courses. The first one was a little tricky because I had to get used to using the ice axes. How you ice climb is you have 2 ice axes and the crampons that stick out in front of your boots. You first drive both ice axes into the wall as high as your arm will reach and then jab your boots into the wall so that the crampons stick in and your boots are level. Then you push with your legs and drive your axes in higher. So on, so on… It was AWESOME! Difficult and tiring but Awesome. By the end though, I was going pretty fast.

We then moved to the next climbing face and did the same thing – 3 courses, one time on each – except I did one of them twice! So I got to climb a total of 7 ice walls! After we finished we headed back down the glacier. At the bottom of the glacier, the sun finally came out – the warmth was splendid!

Ice climbing = A++++++
Ice climbing vs. rock climbing: ice climbing is just different – it’s difficult b/c your hands get cold and have trouble holding onto the axes, but the technique is pretty straightforward. I like both of them… a lot!

Our class ended late in the afternoon and we had a long way to travel, so we started driving. It was a long drive and I got to drive (!) b/c Jay was exhausted. It was a lot of fun, and since it was nighttime I saw a lot of animals! I saw 2 hedgehogs, 2 rabbits, 2 possums, and a stoat! The stoat was cute – like a ferret. I liked him, even though he is an invasive (bad for the NZ ecosystem) species. It’s amazing how many animals you see at night!

We made to the hostel around 1am, and crashed. (As you are beginning to see, this trip is a lot of drive-then-do-something-then-drive-then-sleep. I like it!)

Oh how I miss pancakes...

I apologize for the disorder of my entries. I've decided to post the rest of the days for the South Island trip (2 wks ago) as individual entries when I get to them. Since I've already posted some stuff for Sydney, they will be out of order, but I'll make sure to put the date on them so you know which day I'm referring to.

Friday, Feb. 12 (day 2 of the South Island Adventure):

As I left off, we had reached our first hostel in Christchurch, had an amazing dinner, and went to bed after watching Lord of the Rings...

I woke up in the morning after getting a wonderful night’s rest and got ready. We had stayed in a common room style hostel, so I was bunked with a random guy. He didn’t speak English though, so we didn’t talk much. But anyway, the morning… Tomas had gotten breakfast for us, which consisted of sweet rolls, lots of fruit, and granola bars. It was nice. Then we began our adventures.

We started by walking around Christchurch, which turned out to be a lovely town. Tomas had found this walk that took us by the river, so we did that. It ended at the Botanical Gardens, so we enjoyed looking at flowers and bonsai trees and such. It is amazing how much more interesting a botanical garden is when you’re with four biology majors! After the market we went to sweet natural history museum and then to a small market. And then we started traveling.

Our goal was to make it to Fanz Joseph, so that we would be close to the glacier site for the next day. Along the way, we stopped at Arthur’s Pass, which is a trail to a huge waterfall. It was a fun walk, and Aerin, Drew, and I wandered from the beaten trail a lot. Once at the viewing station for the waterfall, all of us climbed down to the stream and started making our way closer to the falls. I got so close that the mist coming from the falling water got me pretty wet, but it felt great cuz it was a hot day. Aerin and I stayed a lot longer at the falls so we had to run down the mountain to catch up to everyone – fine with me!

Then we set off for franz joseph and our hostel there. We made a few stops, one at a lake and another at a scenic view. At the view, we noticed some native birds which we hadn't seen before: the Kea. Note: Close all windows and doors when leaving your car when kea are around. Kea's are known for biting, tearing apart, and getting into anything they can. So, we shut the windows and enjoyed a new kind of bird!



When we got to the place where we were planning on eating dinner, Jay mentioned that he wanted to stray from our journey to the hostel and visit the PANCAKE ROCKS. I was all for it! My logic was: pancakes rocks -> I like to climb rocks -> sounds adventurous = more fun = definitely do it! but most of the group decided not to, since it would put us arriving at the hostel after 11pm. So, a few of us split off to visit the rocks. They were so COOL! They were layered like stacks of pancakes and excellent for climbing on! The signs told us “DO NOT go off the path” but when has that ever stopped me?
Friday, Feb. 12 (day 2 of the South Island Adventure): (Yes, mom, it was safe (relatively) to leave the trail.) I really wanted to climb down into this one place, but there were a lot of viewers and I didn’t want to obstruct their scenic view, so all of us waited. While waiting there, we were looking out to the ocean, and deciding what we would say if some of the viewers walked up and asked why we were waiting. Then I said, “Oh, we’re just looking for dolphins,” and right then we saw dolphins! The timing was perfect, instant! That was cool. So we told everyone there were dolphins, and after getting a nice long look at them, crept back to the spot I wanted to climb. With everyone distracted by the dolphins, we climbed off the trail. Perfect distraction! It was a lot of fun! I crept around trying to stay out of sight, and climbed lower and lower, until the rest of my group motioned for me to come back.

We then left to drive to the hostel. We made great time! We got back to the hostel at about midnight, and crashed. We had a long fun day ahead of us…

Scuba Steve

As a note, I don't want the nickname Scuba Steve to stick; however, today it was rather apropos. Today was SCUBA DAY! And it was AWESOME.

As you saw in the last blog, I finished it around 2:30am and then went to bed b/c I was utterly exhausted. (Turns out dancing is quite tiring! huh.) Well, the next morning I woke up...early. Alarm went off at 6, rolled out of bed out of need not desire at 6:05. And off we went. We got to the scuba place right on time, and drove over to a pool to begin. The morning segment started off with us swimming 200 meter and then treading water for 10 minutes. Seemingly harmless? No, it kicked my butt. Then we suited up in scuba gear and did various tasks. We practiced falling into the pool, and using flippers, and floating close to the bottom of the pool (buoyancy testing). But by far the most difficult task was clearing our masks. In the event that the mask mal-functions or leaks somehow, we needed to know how to get the water out of it ... while under water. So we practiced blowing the water out with our nose. Then (as if that was too easy) we had to take off our mask, put it back on, and then clear all the water out. Seeing (pun :) as I use contacts, I had to do it with my eyes closed. That was a test of my memory more than anything because once I started I couldn't open my eyes to see the instructors signals. But it went alright, and I didn't lose a contact! Score! Now, if some fish decides to steal my mask, and I manage to get it back, I will know how to clear the water out! ;)

Then we had lunch. Noteable thing about lunch: I had Vegemite. Vegemite is a spread that many Aussies and Kiwi like to put on bread. I suggests not trying it. It's bitter and that's about all. Rather distasteful too. But now I can say that I've tried it!

Afternoon session was AWESOME! We drove to a reef for our first real dive! We got into the water at low tide and scuba'd around the edge of a reef for about 30 minutes - which actually seemed like about 10 minutes! I saw a giant Groper fish (yes 'groper', not 'grouper') He was at least 30 inches long and 18 tall, and bright, bright blue! And we got to pet him, because he liked us because we fed him a sea urchin. (He demolished half of it in one bite! and it was pretty large) We also saw various sized fish and several schools. There were so many fish! Before we went in, another instructor was coming out and said that there were more fish today than he could remember seeing there ever before. I can see why! We all did very well and had a blast! We finish up our course on Friday. So in one week I will be officially Scuba Certified! And that's for life! Even if I never go scuba diving again, though, I feel like the dives we're doing for this training are totally worth the cost! That's the cool thing about learning in Oz, even the practice dives are amazing! I was wavering a little yesterday but now I am so thankful I chose to get certified! Thanks Pops!

Til the fat lady sings....

Tonight was wonderful! First week of classes down - a hell of a hard study week - and party time begins. Tonight I saw an opera... in the Sydney Opera House! That's right - pretty frickin sweet! I saw La Traviata - it's about a woman who loves a man but chooses not to marry him but then must leave him to restore his family honor but really loves him and ends up dying because of illness but not before they confess their undying love for each other. whew!

The Sydney Opera House is GORGEOUS! And opera is a lot of fun! I felt very gentleman-like. I even stood up for when the girls sat down next to me, and walked very composedly. (I deem opera as a very high society event, and as such view the attendees as gentlemen and ladies of stature.) All in all: A++++++

AND... we got in for $55! Which is amazing and such a blessing from God! IF you arrive an hour early, they sell open seats to students from $55. And these seats aren't the crappy ones. No, we got the BEST (and I mean it) seats in the house! $270 seats, 7 rows from the front - close enough to see the actors expressions! And to see some of the pit and all of the conductor! THE SEATS WERE PERFECT!


THEN... after the opera, we took pictures, blah blah blah (which I'll add as soon as I get to it and it's not 2:30 in the morning, the day before I have to wake up at 6am). But then we found a gellato place called Gellatissimo, and got a sweet treat. I split a 3 scoop with Aerin - Choc. Hazelnut, White Choc, and Berry something. = very good!

THEN... Jessie (our TA) told us that there's this bar where you can go salsa dancing every thursday night without a cover charge. So we went. It was awesome! Part of our group left b/c they didn't have their passports, but Jessie, Aerin, and I stayed. A random guy helped teach me and Aerin a little. I've now got the basics, so maybe tomorrow, I'll get down the twirling a girl. (Apparently there's a bar every night that hosts a salsa dance thing.) Then we walked back.

Tomorrow: I am getting SCUBA CERTIFIED! Oh yeah! I was considering whether or not to do it, b/c it costs ~425 when all is said and done. But I decided it is worth it. You can't find a cheaper deal anywhere, where you get certified with the open water dives. And I get to learn in Australia, so the open water dives should be very cool. And it lets me scuba dive when we go to the Great Barrier Reef! It is worth it, even if it costs some. On top of that, certification is FOR LIFE! So I will now be able to go scuba whenever the opportunity arises. This trip is about trying new things and getting a taste of the countries I am in. Well, Australia is all about the water, especially surfing and scuba diving. Check!

When the van's a rocking ... it's probably because it can't make it up the hill ;)

As you can tell, I'm a little behind on my blog. To summarize last week, it was busy. I completed an essay, a final, and lots more! As well as getting ready to leave for Aussie, and trying to finish everything I wanted to do in NZ! Wheww! But the weekend before last week, cannot be summarized so quickly - which is why I've taken so long to post it!

I'm going to post last weekend (not the one that just ended but the one before that) a day at a time. Maybe that way, I'll be able to get it done! So keep checking on this post, because I'll keep adding to it. where to begin?...

Thursday, Feb. 11:
Classes ended Thursday at 11:30 - which was awesome! My biology class met in the afternoon, but we are allowed one absence from each class, so I took my skip day for that class that afternoon. As such, I had time to finish packing and preparing for the weekend trip, which began at 2:30pm. There were a lot of us going on the trip together, and Tomas did an excellent job planning it all! (Thanks Tomas, because I did not have time to plan it!) We left for the airport - yes, this weekend trip involved actually flying somewhere - and arrived a little early. I was pretty tired from a full week, so I slept in a comfy chair while we waited for our plane to arrive. It is amazing how easy security is at NZ airports! We literally waited until 10 minutes before boarding to go through security! oh yeah!

The plane ride was quick and within the hour we had arrived in Christchurch. Christchurch is a pretty cool place! It's not small like the towns we traveled to on the other weekends. Jay took a bus to the car rental place and picked up our van. Yes, it was a van - we were stylin! The van was probably the most interesting thing that day. We spent the first ten minutes betting whether or not it would make it through the weekend (it did). There was moss on the windows, and nothing but seats in the back. But it worked GREAT for us! We just piled in and piled our stuff in, and had a blast! We drove to the hostel and unloaded our stuff and then went out for a late dinner. Dinner was amazing! We decided to splurge a little - pb+h only satisfy a little. We got steak! and burgers! Both were equally amazing! Katherine and I couldn't decide which one we wanted more - the sirloin steak grilled to a slightly smokey perfection with mixed vegetables, slowly cooked to a sweet tenderness ... or ... a luscious burger with two tender beef patties, bacon, cheese, and two over-medium eggs. My mouth waters reminiscing about it! So, anyway, we couldn't decide, so we decided to by both and then split them between the two of us. (Sometimes it helps to be indecisive!) After dinner, we went back to the hostel, watched some Lord of the Rings, and crashed.



to be coninued...

There and back again...

The last weekend in New Zealand has drawn to a close, and it was EPIC! Not quite as full of death-defying feats, this weekend carried me ALL over the south island of New Zealand. I was curious just how far we traveled, so I decided to look at a map to see. Here's a picture I've drawn up just to show you the scale of what we accomplished! It is INCREDIBLE how very far we drove this weekend! I can now say that I've traveled across all of south island NZ! (If you remember, the first weekend, I traveled across the top portion of the south island.) I still don't know exactly how many kilometers we traveled but I do know it was in the thousands!


Our trusty chariot this weekend was an old van and a small sedan. The van literally gave the impression that it was falling apart. It had moss growing on the window crevices and gave off a horrible black exhaust whenever it climbed any manner of a hill. I believe that the dashboard dials even bottomed out a few miles outside of Christchurch the day we returned it! But fortunately, thankfully, the van made it the entire weekend!

The weekend was so much fun, and full of BEAUTIFUL scenery. After all, they did film Edoras in the countryside we drove through! I will describe all that in a later blog, but for now enjoy the map!

Sky Diving VIDEO!

I finally got around to uploading my sky diving video! I didn't order the freefall video so it doesn't show me in that section, but Emily Morris was loving enough to let me copy the video! The video is way too big for this blog, so you can view it on my facebook. The video has a generic intro and then goes into the prep and takeoff, then freefall (again, not me), and then landing (I land last). Hope you enjoy!

Just in...

So this weekend, we have 13 people in our group and it's gonnna be awesome. Some last minute things I just found out about: Four of us are going to go ICE CLIMBING! It's an 8 hr adventure on Saturday - can't wait! AND...I might get to drive this weekend, b/c we had to rent two manual cars (actually one is a van) and only three of know how to drive stick! Whoohoo! (Mom, don't worry, I will make sure to pray and believe while driving!) Gotta catch a plane!

As a note:

I am trying to keep up with my blog as much as I can. Sorry that the last post took a while to finally get to. Next week is our last week in New Zealand, which means lots of school assignments are coming a quick close, with lots of papers, and lab reports, and tests and stuff. I am having a lot of fun during the week as well as on the weekends (as you can tell). Hopefully, I'll get this weekend's stuff up a little quicker!

I leave for Sydney on Friday, so I'll be trying to cram all I can into this last week! One thing that is definitely on my list is to visit WETA, the company that basically did everything for Lord of the Rings except act and direct! They have a display room called the WETA cave which is just 30 minutes from where I'm staying. The plan is to visit a week from today! God bless!

Madder than Mardi Gras!

Last week, I was expecting a mild weekend, with lots of relaxing time to get caught up on some long lost sleep. I now see how very naive I was!

Last weekend was CRAZY! I have never been to Mardi Gras (though I hear that we'll get a taste of it in Sydney), but I imagine that it is nothing compared to what happened last weekend. For those of you who don't already know, last weekend was SEVENS! Sevens is a rugby tournament held in Wellington every year. If you have never seen rugby, it is INTENSE! Imagine a mix between football and soccer, where you run around constantly for 14 straight minutes, and get tackled full force without any pads on - you're starting to get the idea!

The festivities started Thursday with a parade around 1pm. Thankfully, my afternoon biology teacher canceled class so I got to go down to the parade! We rushed down right after class (which ended at 1pm) and got to see the tail end of the parade! I saw most of the rugby teams pass by on floats and got a squishy football (which I got signed by two NZ rugby players, but later lost) and a poster. They had a group of men playing the bagpipes which was pretty cool! At the end of the parade they welcomed all the teams to Wellington and the governor gave a speech. It was pretty cool, but just the beginning. After the parade, I went to the store to stock up on yummies for the weekend (pb+h all the way! plus chips and fruit and oatmeal (of course!)).

As I was going back to my room after the grocer, I saw Charity trying to get tickets to the Sevens tournament that next day. I thought all the tickets were sold out, so I found this kind of odd. So, I popped into her room for a chat. She informed me that you definitely could by tickets and they only cost about $50! What a deal! 50 bucks to see tons of rugby games all day and join a crowd of crazy people dressed up in all sorts of bodacious costumes! Hell yeah! I'm IN! SO I went up to Drew's room (the guy who I roomed with in Taupo) and asked if he wanted to go. He had the same response I did, so we started looking for tickets. We found some for $55, arranged to pick them up, and got them later that night. That was a total change of plans for me. Originally, I had just planned on going to some pub and watching a few games on the tele. It's amazing how God works things out! I had NO idea Pops would bless me with the tickets!

That night, the real fun began. A little after 10ish, a bunch of us went out clubbing. It was so much fun to finally relax and hang with my friends after a very busy week. (Note: Biology 1520 makes life VERY busy.) The coolest thing was that one of the clubs was giving out cowboy hats if you bought a vodka cruiser, so basically everyone did. The cowboy hat definitely came in handy later on, as you will see!

The next day was SEVENS! I slept in forever (10:30am) - which was wonderful! The games started at 1pm so Drew and I had to quickly brainstorm a costume. Everyone who goes to the tournament (actually almost everyone in town, regardless of going to the actual games or not) dressed up in groups. Sheri, Charity, and Aerin were going as pink flamingos. We considered joining them as flamingos, but they left earlier than we did, so we changed plans. Plus, i don't have anything pink. bleh. So, we looked around our rooms to see what we had. Things I noticed: unmade bed with sheets and comforter, cowboy had from last night thrown on chair, and other random piles from the previous school week. We had our costume: Togas and cowboy hats, oh yeah! Nothing beats that! (Except for the guys I saw dressed up like Alan from the Hangover, equipped with a baby doll in a stomach pouch;) Drew decided to add sunglasses to the combo last minute - great choice man! So we got dressed up and walked into town. Things were starting to get crazy. People were dressed up in ridiculous costumes (kinda a mix b/w college halloween and mardigras!). We met up with some friends (Jay and Tomas) and went into the stadium. It wasn't packed but there were plenty of people! The best made costumes were a group of avatarians in sitting in front of us. The costumes were perfect! It was incredible! After sitting down and enjoying a few games with the guys, I decided to look for the girls. But I wasn't about to walk around and lose the guys too, so I pulled out my camera and took pics of huge sections of seats, then switched to view mode and zoomed in. The girls were in BRIGHT pink, so it only took about 4 shots to find them. My method worked surprisingly well! I told the guys and we went and found the girls. They had found some other Techies so now our group was about 11 people large! It was fun. We sat back and enjoyed game after game after game of rugby. My favorite teams were NZ and S. Africa. They were crazy good! Around 4pm, perhaps the most exciting even of the game took place. I looked up from talking with Drew to see a pale figure running across the field at the opposite end. SOme crazy fan jumped down onto the field, mid-game and ran nude across the field! To his credit, he made it almost 2/3 of the way across! And then got tackled by 3 security guards with a towel. It was hilarious! I have a video of them escorting him off the field, so I will never forget it! Epic. That night we watched a movie or something like that and went to bed.

Next day was Saturday. We had purchased tickets to a concert which we went to in the afternoon. It was pretty cool but I enjoyed falling asleep on the grass the most (the sleepiness was starting to get to me). Key points for Saturday was that found the spot where Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin hide from the Nazgul just after leaving the Shire. You know, "Ooh mushrooms!" ... "Get off the road!" Yeah, that part. It was pretty difficult to find b/c the exact spot wasn't marked, but I'm pretty sure we did! The real fun for Saturday began that night! Saturday is always finals for the Sevens tournament, which means Saturday night is always the crazy party! EVERYONE gets dressed up and parties at all the clubs until they book up and then everyone crowds into the streets. So naturally, we had to join ;) Drew and my toga costumes won the popular vote for group costumes so everyone dressed up in togas. We traded the hats for the leafy circle headwear thing which I have now forgotten the name of. We even got Jessie (our TA) to join us and dress up! We had so much fun! I can't even describe! It was epic. And yes, I remember it all, mostly ;) We got back late that night. And I crashed.

Sunday, I had nothing planned, except for to work on a project for most of the day. I have developed a philosophy suggested by my dad which is actually very helpful. You see, I like to burn the candle at both ends, in case you hadn't noticed ;) So, I now view sleeping as a project. That way, I feel obligated to set aside the appropriate time to get the sleep I need (which isn't very much - ~5.5 hours a night). AND...then after a day of sleeping and staying in pajamas and relaxing like I did on Sunday, I can say that I accomplished a lot! :) What a deal! So, yeah, I slept a lot on Sunday, and spent my awake hours doing a puzzle and watching a movie and chill things like that.

All in all, SEVENS = AWESOME! For anyone planning to be in Wellington during Sevens, Go To The Games. And DEFINITELY dress up!

All those rubbly bits Dr. Volcano keeps talking about

This weekend was by far the CRAZIEST I have had! I have now completed two things I had to do while in New Zealand. If I were to leave tomorrow, I would now be at peace with what I’ve done. Those two things were (1) visit Mt. Doom (check!) and (2) go sky diving (definite check!). Both were absolutely awesome! I also did something I never expected to do: went bungee jumping, and into a river at that! It is hard to convey the excitement in doing these three things, but I will try here.

It began Thursday morning. We didn’t have class Thursday because the weekend was a field trip for my biology/geology class. We left at 8am-ish. Aerin, one of my friends, was the excitement for the morning. I woke up at 7am, got ready, and ate breakfast. Aerin, who lives in the dorm next to mine, didn’t show up at breakfast. After a series of phone calls to her room and knocks on her door, I managed to wake her up at 7:50. At first, she was kind of confused that the bus was leaving in 10 minutes, but reality quickly set in. To her credit, she made in time. In 14 minutes, she managed to get dressed and pack for the entire weekend, during which time, I went to the dining hall and made her a breakfast and picked up a sack lunch. It was a group effort, but we did it! After that the bus ride was rather mild. We arrived at Lake Taupo about 7 hours later.

Our first adventure was scaling Mt. Ruapehu. Mt. Ruapehu is a huge volcano that has been blown down by numerous eruptions. A ragged top now replaces the nice peak it once had. We went up the side of the mount on a series of ski lifts. After reaching the top of the ski lifts, we were supposed to continue hiking to the top, but the clouds started rolling in. Within 5 minutes, some really dark clouds had reached us. Lightning was spotted not far from us. The ski lift people warned us that the lift would shut down pretty soon due to weather, and unless we wanted to hike down the mountain, we better get back on the lifts. As the lightning grew closer, we listened to a quick lecture by Dr. Volcano (our endearing name for our geology professor) and then hopped back on the ski lifts. As we went down, I looked to my right and saw for the first time, off in the distance, Mt. Doom. The storm clouds circling it seemed so fitting!

We then went to our hotel. I stayed with Drew – he’s my closest guy friend and pretty fun/chill to hang with. The hotel was frickin sweet! It had a huge flat screen, nice bathroom, fridge, and two beds (important for us guys)! That first night was wonderful. I got to actually watch a movie! Besides 15 minutes of Lord of the Rings, I haven’t seen any TV since I left home. I’m not complaining, just saying it was nice to relax for an evening. As you have surely noticed, everything has been soooo busy.

The next day was devoted to hiking the Tongariro Crossing which goes between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe – otherwise known as Mt. Doom! We started out with a complimentary hot breakfast – I only note it because I have now determined that Kiwi’s don’t know how to cook eggs. At first, I thought it was just Weir House. Nope. Apparently scrambled eggs are commonly accepted to be indescribably soft – kinda like tofu? Anyway, I had some ham and a peanut butter and honey sandwich for breakfast! :) The hike up Mt. Doom was epic. We stopped at intervals to note the rock formations – after all, we were on a class field trip! We didn’t hike all the way up the volcano, but we hiked high enough to be close to where Frodo and Sam enter the gate to throw in the ring. At the highest point of our hike, we took pictures and had lunch. I organized a special photo opp using some props. On the hike up, I scouted out a ring most suited for my purposes. Professor Garton was blessed enough to lend us his wedding band for photos. We slipped the ring onto Miranda’s chain necklace and had the One Ring. It was definitely legit! We then hiked back to the bus and went back to our hotel and chilled – again, thank you God for the relax time! And thank you God for backrubs! (We all agreed that a backrub chain was in order!)

Saturday began off like the other days, with lectures from Dr. Volcano. That continued until noon. After that was when the real fun began. Saturday afternoon was when I went both bungee jumping and sky diving! Bungee was first. We had a group of 7 seven of us – plus an old professor who was at least 65 years old – that made my day! A bus picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the river. We stripped down to our bathing suits and waited. I went last out of the group. When my turn came, I walked up to the platform. Several of my friends were waiting with their cameras. I chose the touch-the-water option, which means they would try to loosen the bungee cord enough to let me dunk my body halfway into the water! To further raise the daring part of the bungee (as if it wasn’t crazy enough) I decided to jump backwards! They strapped the cord to my feet, preventing me from running away. I wiggled up to the outcrop and turned around. I backed up until I felt my heels barely leave the floor boards. At this moment, I felt a tinge of fear. But only a tinge :) I raised my arms, casting my cares to God, and leaned back. The first second was an Oh-Shit moment that felt so much longer! Then, I let my fears go and enjoyed the free fall. It was glorious and unforgettable. Just before hitting the water I remembered to close my eyes. SPLASH! I vaguely remember seeing under the water, but the water was so magnificently clear, I don’t know if I openned my eyes under the water. After bouncing up and down a few times, they let me into a boat and drove me to shore. Thrill rating: 10+. Excitement rating: 10. Stupidity rating: I lived didn’t I? (Actually, in all seriousness, there wasn’t the slightest jerk or whiplash, so you people who, like me, are cautious about taking the leap, it’s ok.)

Enough excitement for one day – no way! Next came sky diving. We (Sheri, two other techies named Katherine Joy and Emily, and I) got to the sky diving place and suited up. We all decided to go with the 15,000 ft descent rather than the 12,000 ft descent. Why not do it all?! My tandem diver was hilarious. I asked him how many times he had dived before. 1000? He started counting – 1 … 2 ... 3 … 4 …… 9. “9 times.” “So how long have you been working here then?” I asked. (I was holding onto the hope that he meant 9 thousand times.) “I started this week.” At that, my heart skipped a beat. Oh naïve Steven. I learned later that he was joking. He’d dived 7,000 times at least and had been working there 3 years! He was a great instructor – talked me through everything, added a lot of humor, made me feel at ease. We all piled into a really small plane, really small, and started our ascent. About twenty minutes later, we reached the final altitude. One by one we scooted forward and popped out of the plane. I was last – which was cool – I got to see everyone else freak out just before they jumped! I was strapped to my instructor so wiggling to the front of the plane was a joint effort. We finally made it to the open door. At that height we were above the clouds, so all I could see was a layer of grayish white with some blue patched scattered. He scooted to the end of the seat. This meant that my body was hanging out the door, supported only by the straps connecting us! Then he jumped – with me of course in front of him! We somersaulted and fell for about 3 seconds before he pulled the stabilizing chute. (That’s a little parachute that helps us stay with our faces towards the ground.) After that point, we just glided. It felt like floating, even though I know I was speeding towards the ground. The clouds kept getting closer. The wind was blowing against my face. I started to see tears build up behind my protective glasses. The clouds engulfed us. Then, poof! I could see the ground – a looong way down! I could see the entire Lake Taupo (it’s pretty huge!) and the city where I was staying. We continued free falling for another 15-ish seconds and then he pulled the main parachute at 5,000ft. A slight jerk and we were actually floating. The total free fall was about 65 seconds. (As a comparison, 12,000ft is about 45 seconds. Those 20 seconds are definitely worth the bucks!) The total descent probably lasted about 4 minutes, so I had some time to enjoy the scenery. He asked if I wanted to do the steering. Sure! He showed me where approximately we wanted to land, and handed over the steering straps for the parachute. Then, he taught me s trick. You pull hard on one strap, and it spins you into a tight donut turn. While doing that you look up at the parachute and it’s pretty much awesome! As we got closer to the land, he took over the steering and we closed in on the landing field. We landed like rockstars, standing. I think I looked like Luigi because I was slightly running before we landed :) We all took pictures and went back in. Emily and Katherine Joy got the video so I’ll copy it from them so you can see what we did. The video is pretty sweet – it includes the pre-flight group shot and candid shots, as well as the landing. Thrill rating: 9 (not quite as scary as bungee jumping because I didn’t jump – I was only attached to the instructor as he jumped). Excitement rating: 10++. Nothing beats free falling for more than a minute! That… was enough excitement for one day!

Sunday, we drove back to Wellington and had our last Dr. Volcano lecture. Over the entirety of the weekend, I learned a lot about volcanoes and the effects on the landscape. One I may never forget is that a lava flows have "rubbly bits" on top and below them. These rubbly bits are broken chunks of rock resulting from the cooling of the lava flow. My professor must have mentioned "rubbly bits" at least one hundred times this semester. (We actually made a drinking game of it: On the hike up Mt. Doom, whenever Dr. Volcano said "rubbly bits" everyone had to get out their water bottles and take a drink. It grew rather tiresome ;) We got back to Wellington a bit earlier than expected, so I had time to call my mom and reassure her of my well-being before she went to bed. She was very thankful to hear from me!

Today, we dissected a cow’s eye – which was pretty sweet! Lab is pretty fun – between sleeping in lab and dissecting crazy things, I can’t help but like it! I have two more field trips planned for this week: one to a marine wildlife reserve and another to the US embassy to meet the ambassador! That will be lots of fun! This weekend is Sevens – a big rugby tournament. Apparently Wellington gets into this huge uproar for it, so I’m starting to get pretty pumped! With two weekends left, I am definitely doing all I can with the time I have left! Thank you God for your amazing grace as I go on these crazy adventures! God bless!