More Adventure

Hey All,

I suppose we'll start off with me bleeding all over a photography store.....(money and blood) and continue on to the next day where I just hung out before we headed of to a beach on the west side of Auckland. Strangely enough there were several large sand dunes in between lush mountain slopes. These sand dunes were steep and due to the nature of New Zealand culture this means you should jump, slide, or surf down them. We didn't manage this quite as successfully as those who brought real boards but nonetheless it was fun. Especially when we proceeded over to the lake to jump off trees. I jumped (but only from the lower one, unlike my more daring comrades).

The next day, I joined up with a bus tour and headed out toward Rotorua. With my limited time in New Zealand, I was told this was the best way to see everything. I am going to attempt to avoid these buses in the future though. I met some nice people along the way but there was also something of a sheep mentaility as we were herded from tourist sight to tourist sight. I also found the attitude of other travelers toward Americans to vary from that of local New Zealanders (kiwis). Perhaps it was just the ignorance of a few people I met, but the United States does really need to work on its international reputation. Luckily with my Macalester background, I am more than capable of debate. Over a beer at the local pub, I believe I changed a few minds and perceptions.

Back to Rotorua....I went to local Maori Hangi. The Maori are the people who were here before the Europeans began settling. The evening included dance, music, and a traditional dinner. Good times all around. Rotorua is sort of like yellowstone in that it has boiling mudpools, geysers, and hot pools. Cool!

Then on to Taupo which was the most action packed of all the cities I visited. Primarily because I went skydiving. Everyone must try this at some point in your lives precisely because it is an experience you can't find in any other way. I told my tandem partner I wasn't scared going up in the plane and he got a macavillian grin on his face. Two backflips and a number of breakneck spirals later, the freefall stopped and the parachute opened successfully. Needless to say I smiled like an idiot the whole time.

The next day I hiked (tramped as the New Zealanders would say) the Tongariro Crossing. It is supposed to be the best one day hike in all of New Zealand. It lived up to its billing. The pass goes between two volcanoes one being Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings. There is a steep ascent followed by a windy plateau and a series of crater lakes. The weather wasn't perfect but there was still a scenic 360 view of other mountains and Lake Taupo.

Wellington was my last stop on the North Island and it was particularily nice because Sam (ultimate frisbee friend) and his girlfriend Sarah were kind enough to give me a royal tour of the botanical gardens and a good idea of the life Americans live in New Zealand.....an inspiration to return and work here and maybe even participate in an air guitar contest (we witnessed one and they are quite entertaining).

Then I took the ferry to the South Island where I will begin my story later on.
I'm having a great time. Everyone should try to make it to New Zealand!
Cheers,
Elena

The Adventure Begins

Hey all,
I'm finally on the road and it's amazing. The snow and sleet rain attempted to slow me down in Chicago but I prevailed and it only delayed me for 40 minutes which just meant a bit of running in LA. The 15 hour plane ride was a little different. I thought I would have the luxury of an open seat next to me when a fairly overweight man and his 3 year old miniature bolted onto the plane at the last minute, dripping in sweat. The man also happened to have a dutch accent and talked to his kid saying everything was "little"....do you want some of this little cookie?.....I think you had to be there but it was straight out of a SNL skit. I was also fortunate to begin plotting my own version of LOST (I being a Kate type figure and saving people including the 3 yr old next to me and spearing polar bears....(disregard this if you haven't seen lost)) when the cabin lights were shut off for about an hour because of smoke in the galley. Needless to say I am writing you so things went swimmingly. It was a refrigerator malfunction.

I had a layover in Sydney. Enough time to see the Sydney Opera house, get burned, make some friends, and take a dip in the Hilton pool.

Back to the airport where I took a luxury flight to New Zealand....not only did they have little tv's but the guy next to me gave me his ice cream!

A friend of a friend, Doug, was quite hospitable and picked me up at the airport, offered up his couch, and been an amazing tour guide. Such amazing hospitality.

I climbed a volcano, Rogitoto yesterday putting some actual images behind much of my geological knowledge. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I won't have any images to show you as I was trying to get out of the way of a picture and gracefully tripped falling a couple feet down a volcano breaking my camera in the process. It's unfortunate but if I were to ever break a camera at least I broke it on a volcano.....cool, huh?

Today, I'm off to the beach, a hike and possibly surfing down sand dunes.

Love,
Elena

PS Enjoy the snow!