Franz Joseph and Queenstown

Today I took a 9 hour bus ride from Queenstown to Franz Joseph, with the most annoying bus driver ever! Dad you need to come down here and show them what professional driving is all about! I'm so tired, but I wanted to get this in, especially since this internet cafe has a minimum charge so I want to get my money's worth. Tomorrow I am hiking the Franz Joseph glacier, but just the half day hike. I didnt' feel like paying for the full day plus it's supposed to rain, and I'm not gonna lie I'm a little scared of walking on a glacier in the rain. Two guys died a few months ago because they ignored the signs and were caught in some kind of ice fall. It's safe with the groups but still, it's no joke. Yesterday I went to Milford Sound, a day trip that took a total of 13 hours. I would have liked to stay longer in that area, but as I wasn't doing one of the walks it didn't really make sense. It was beautiful though. I have updated the pictures as well, so you can see at least some of what I'm talking about (not Milford Sound yet, where I took waaay too many pictures) and from the Gondola I took up to the top of one of the mountains surrounding Queenstown. I rode in my little gondola alone and nearly had a heart attack. I have unfortunately inherited my mother's immense fear of heights. I had to latch myself on to three older British folk because there was no way I would be able to ride that again by myself. Luckily one of the gentlemen was scared as well, so he and I just chatted with one another to distract ourselves from what was going on. It was beautiful, too bad I wasn't able to enjoy it more. And to add insult to injury, one of the women on their tour paraglided down off the mountain. She's 70. Alright well time for me to go eat dinner, then bed. I'm wiped out and I need my strength for tomorrow!

Marley and Me

Do not watch without tissues! I just watched "Marley and Me" and proceeded to cry (sob is more acturate, but I'm trying to maintain some dignity). I think if you have ever had a dog, or even a pet, it's pretty much a must see. Not that it's some great movie, because it's not, but I think everyone can connect with the message.

Queenstown & Pictures

Today I made it to Queenstown, barely. I overslept and just barely made my bus, I had to run out in pjs and ask them to wait! The bus was supposed to pick me up at my hostel (thank god because I could not do that walk again, especially at 6:30 in the morning!) Then I grabbed my stuff (thank GOD I packed the night before!) and hopped on the bus, still in pjs, all the way to Queenstown, 8 hours. I'm back at a YHA, mainly because I didn't like the looks of any other place in Queenstown, and I knew at least the YHA would be clean and relatively close to town. Now I have showered, put on real clothes, and feel much better. I wanted to post some photos and a video of the whale watch I did in Kaikoura, so I'm just doing it in this post because I'm too lazy to go back and edit an old one.

Christchurch was great, I really liked it. I've found that I really like all the cities in New Zealand, I think partially because none of them are too big. Even the big cities really aren't. I still can't decide if I want to bungy or not... I'm leaning towards no. I just think I'd be able to step off the platform! I couldn't even walk over the glass at the SkyTower in Auckland. Oh well, we'll see. After here, I'm off the Te Anau to see the fiords and Milford Sound, then it's back through Queenstown on the way to Fran Joseph Glacier, then it will be time to find work for a bit, either a hostel or wwoofing. A really great hostel in Picton was hiring but I was headed in the opposite direction. The manager told me to touch base with her again though when I make my way back up so we'll see! Anyway it's great to know you guys are following me and I love the feedback!!

Next couple of days

So I'm still in Christchurch, trying to wait out some of this rain! (There is a literally a rain cloud of the entire south island right now on the weather map) but tomorrow I head for Queenstown. This should be interesting! I need to make up my mind about whether or not to bungy jump. If I do, I'm going to do it on the Kawarau Bridge, because one, it's over water which is less scary to me, and two it's one of the shorter ones! There's one that's 134 meters long or something insane like that. ABSOLUTELY NOT. After Queenstown, I'm going to go to Te Anau to chill out in nature and do a day or two in the fiords. Theennnn up to Franz Joseph, and I think back over to Christchurch and then up. There's a hostel that I might work at too, assuming the timing works out. We'll see.

Kaikoura

Today it's rainy and cold, so I figured why not update the blog! I left Nelson yesterday, to my dismay. I had such a good time there, and met some really great people, including Andrew, who is from Ovid, NY, who's been to Burlington many times! Today I'm in Kaikoura, where I was supposed to do a whale watch but it was called off due to weather, so I'm doing it tomorrow. I'm here for two more nights then it's off to Christchurch for a few nights, followed by Greymouth, which I am getting to via transalpine, one of the 'world's geatest train journeys' so I've heard.

Pictures!

Ok everyone I have uploaded pictures- as of right now they're on flickr but I got tired of captioning, etc. so I stopped about half way through. I'll try and finish that this week, and upload any new pictures. Sorry it took so long!

WWOOFing, take one

OK so my first wwoofing experience started on Saturday, and for anyone not aware, that stands for willing workers on organic farms. It's now Tuesday and I have since left the farm. This place was not the place for me. Aside from being weird, it was out in the boonies and their house was really dirty. It was like a barn/house. And it's supposed to be 4-6 hours of work a day in exchange for work and board, this was like 8-10 hours. Sorry but I am not free manual labor. Also, it was around 90+ degrees every day I was there. And we (me and a very nice Japanese girl) were yelled at when we did something incorrectly. Aand I was supposed to show the very nice, non English speaking Japanese girl, Fukoko, what to do so if she did it wrong it was my fault. So overall, not my kinda place. I got out first chance I got, which was today, to a place called Motueka, where there's not a whole lot more going on but I've got a clean hostel bed, internet (pictures!) and some food that wasn't shot that morning (the poor bunnies never saw it coming...). You can ask my parents/rebecca how I felt about that one. I have taken a vow never to eat rabbit or I will lose a very dear friend. I am going back to Nelson tomorrow, about an hour away. I think I will stay there for a few days (it's a great little place with a really laid back vibe, reminds me of Burlington a bit) and then on to wine country in Blenheim and whale watching inKaikoura. At least that's the plan. Robert, I'm glad to hear you've been following the blog! I think next time I want to go somewhere where they just take their guns for walks, and not actually use them. Do you know of a place like that?