SKYDIVING

Guess what I did! Well I suppose the photos and the title give it away. Skydiving!!!
Just before Christmas my mom was trying to get me to tell her what I wanted as a gift for Christmas. I couldn't think of anything I really needed and to ship anything to New Zealand is so expensive. Then I had an epiphany! I wanted to go skydiving, but I had been debating it because it was a bit expensive. Well, what if my parents got it for me for Christmas?? I suggested it to her expecting her to say, "No way would we get that for you. Too scary, too dangerous." But, to my surprise, she was all about it and was just about as excited as I was.
So, this past weekend, me, Michelle, Josh, Chris, and Michelle's friend Michelle, all drove down to Lake Taupo to go skydiving!! On the 2 hour drive there, I started to get nervous. Then we got there, put on the suits and I started to get really nervous. We filed into the plane...and guess where I sat?? Directly next to the see-through roll down door, meaning of course, I'd be the first to go... and then I got REALLY nervous. My hands were shaking and I was breathing twice as fast as the instructor I was strapped to. My instructor pulled open the door, told me to put my legs outside of the plane, and hold onto my harness. As I was dangling 12,000 feet in the air, I was at a whole new level of nervous! He told me to smile, we took a picture, and then we were free falling for 45 seconds through the air. WOW! It was so amazing. Once he pulled the parachute I relaxed a bit more and admired the surroundings. He even let me guide the parachute a little. When we landed I was on such a rush, but by the time we got in the car, I passed out. Too much excitement for me to handle.
Also, here is a video of us! It's not a video where it follows you in the sky, because those were way too expensive, but it has footage of us before and after the jump. None of the video in the air is of any of us, but you can get a good idea of what it was like. The intros, the landings, and then ending is of our group though! Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tI79z5ApVw

Would I do it again? Absolutely!

Month Long Tour of NZ

Part 3:

I had to leave Rebekah in Auckland because she had to head back to Korea. But my vacation wasn't quite over yet. I went to the north of the north island for some beach time. First I stayed in Auckland for another day or so and went for a hike to an outlying island called Rangitoto made from a volcano. I met a Swedish girl and we did the day hike together.

From Auckland I found a great deal on buses north ($1) so I headed to Pihia. One day I went on a trip to the very tip of the north to Cape Reinga, then drove down 90 mile beach. At 90 mile beach there are huge sand dunes that you can board down. It was a lot of fun, but I could only do it twice as the hike up the dune was so intense.

I also went to Haruru falls one afternoon. I rode one of the bikes from the hostel up there, and it was yet another intense event. But worth it!

I made a little trip to the next town just north called Waitangi. Waitangi has a lot of historic importance in NZ because it's where the British signed a treaty with the Maori. I took a few hours and went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and looked at a lot of the Maori artifacts, which included the largest canoe in the world.

My last little adventure was a trip to see/swim with dolphins. It ended up being a little disappointing because we saw just one pod of dolphins and we couldn't swim with them because the water was too rough. Anyways, the boat ride was pretty nice.

I got back from Pihia on a Friday and all my flatmates had rented a house in Lake Taupo for the weekend, so I extended my vacation for a few more days! I didn't mind of course. Lake Taupo in NZ's largest lake and has really nice views. The house we stayed in was right on the lake. We took a walk around town and relaxed in the stellar house.

And here's a map of the last leg:


So, now I'm back and it's been about 2 weeks. I started looking and applying for jobs the first day I got back and so far it has been pretty difficult. However, today I had a pretty good interview at a restaurant, so hoping to hear back from them. I'm sure something will come up. Also, I found a soccer team to play with. I'm so excited! I went to my first training yesterday and everyone seemed really great and I can't wait to play. It's been years! So, I'm settling back into Hamilton nicely, back to "normal life", but I'll be really happy when I get a job. I'll let you know! Month long vacation was AMAZING!!!! I love NZ!

Month Long Tour of NZ

Part 2:

After the hike the girls all left leaving me all alone in Queenstown :( But, the following day Rebekah came!! Rebekah is my amazing friend that I met in Korea last year. She's still in Korea teaching so she came over for 2 weeks during her winter holiday. The first thing we did was a day trip to Milford Sound, a very popular site in NZ. It's a fjord in the SW of NZ and the tour included a boat trip there. We made a few scenic stops along the way as well.

We spent a little more time in Queenstown and one afternoon we took a jet boat ride. Got Soaked!!

After Queenstown we took a bus to Dunedin. Dunedin has a huge University population but also is known for their wildlife. One day we met up with another girl we knew from teaching in Korea and she showed us around town, which included walking on the steepest road in the world!! We also went to the Cadbury chocolate factory, but photos weren't allowed inside. We also went on a really awesome wildlife tour on the Otago peninsula where we saw albatross, penguins, sea lions, fur seals, and well, sheep of course!

After Dunedin we bused up to Christchurch where we stayed with another person we knew from Korea (so many connections!) We made our own walking tour around the city on a rainy day and through the many parks and gardens there. We met lots of Koreans in Christchurch who had come to learn English and had a couple of long chats with them.They were very impressed, mostly by Rebekah, that we knew some Korean. We also picked up our rental car that we got for $1/day (well, plus insurance).

Now that we had our own car, we had a bit more freedom with where we wanted to go. We drove north to Kaikoura, also known for it's wildlife. We took a sea kayaking trip that ended up being just us and the guide and we had great luck with seeing animals. We saw 2 different seals feeding on octopus!

Next stop on the road trip was Nelson. On our way there we made a few stops and also picked up a hitch-hiker who was from the US! We stopped at a waterfall along the way and then dropped him off a bit before Nelson. In Nelson, Rebekah and I went on a hike to the center on New Zealand (that's what I'm pointing at in the one photo) and played on the beach.

After Nelson we drove to Picton where we spent the night to catch the ferry to the north island in the morning. We mostly stayed at the hostel because the had a huge chess game, free spa, and free hot chocolate pudding and ice cream!!


We took the 3 hour ferry ride (which we slept most of the way) to Wellington. We stayed with a friend from Korea, Cam's, sister. We again made our own sort of walking tour around the city. I really loved Wellington because it was an arty and fun city. They call it the San Fran of NZ. We went to their big museum Te papa and saw a colossal squid!, the only one ever captured. We also went to this special "Concert in the Park" thing they have every summer. It was really cool how they lit up the park.

We only had the car for 6 days so we had to drive all the way to Hamilton from Wellington. We took the scenic route though and made it so I could show Rebekah my new crib. Notice all the Kiwi things. Sheep graffiti, Kiwiania wall, and a statue of a man sheering a sheep.

The car had to be returned by 4pm in Auckalnd so after spending the night in Hamilton we drove up to Auckland. We dropped off the car which was way by the airport and to get into town was a $16 bus ride!! So, for my first time ever, we hitched-hiked. An older man and his wife picked us up and dropped us right in town. It was great and not even as scary as I thought it would be. We stayed with yet another of Cam's sisters and spent the day walking around down town and through some of the parks.

Here's the Route from the second leg of my trip: