The Land of OZ

So I'm a bit behind with my blogging due to my utter lack of wanting to do anything the last week when everyone was abandoning me and now I've got nothing but time for the next two days in Auckland. But first Australia...

Sam and I got a ride to the airport at 4 to get our flight at 6, which I attempted to sleep on but failed miserably. We arrived around 8 in the morning because of the time difference but it took a while to get out of the airport and get our bearings. We bought our metro passes which let us go on anything; busses, trains, ferries. We took the train into the city and hopped on a bus to get to our hostel, the Wood Duck Inn. I was a bit concerned when we walked in and it had a shady stairwell but we checked into our 10 person room and took a fantastic nap.

We woke up sometime around 1 and decided to go explore the city. Near the hostel we checked out the St. Mary's Cathedral which was really beautiful and massive! We then wandered over to the Botanical Gardens which were super cool and beautiful. They had wild cockatoos and different types of vegetationa and flying foxes which are really cute bats. We turned a corner and there were hundreds of them just hanging from the trees. We then walked along the water and all of a sudden, right in front of me was the infamous Opera House. It was crazy to finally see something so iconic in person. Just past the Opera house was the Harbor Bridge, and it was a perfect blue sky and WARM! Christchurch had been so cold for a while so it was wonderful to be in the sunshine in such an amazing place. We had muffins by the water before going back to our hostel.


We hung out for a while with the other people at our hostel. There were a lot of English, Dutch, and Germans there and we got really close with a English girl named Lizzie and a Dutch girl named Reve. Sam and I decided that since it was towards the end of our time here, it was time to splurge for dinner. We decided to go get Thai food which was surprisingly delicious and not too pricey before walking over to Darling Harbor to watch the World Cup. They had a giant screen set up on the water and there were tons of people watching the game. After one game, I was definitely ready for bed, so we walked back to the hostel to get some good sleep in.

The following morning, everyone got up early to have our free breakfast on the roof. It was pretty basic, cereal and toast, but I think it was a great idea because it brought us all together to hang out and get to know each other. A group of us decided to meet up and go to a museum and have lunch in the botanical gardens. We explored the Sydney art museum before the guys took off and us girls decided to have a picnic in the park. Sam and I had decided to save money through making sandwiches instead of eating out. It definitely was cheaper, healthier, and I think we make awesome sandwiches. Relaxing in the sun was a lot of fun and just sharing culture with Lizzie and Reve was interesting. Then it was a walk along the water before we split off and Sam and I decided to hop on a ferry to Manly beach.


It was a beautiful ferry ride in the harbor and we went right past the Harbor Bridge before we arrived at sunset at Manly. I think Manly beach may be a future home someday because its a ferry ride away from Sydney and yet has the touch of a beach town. There were people running everywhere and its a great surfing beach. Now I just have to get rich so I can afford beach front property.

My view from my future dream home

Sam and I walked along the water and enjoyed the fact that we were at the beach and it wasn't freezing. We had plans to meet up with the girls for dinner so we quickly hopped on the ferry and made it back in time to catch them heading to italian. I had some good pesto pasta and once we were all decked out for the Holland game it was time to head to Darling. The whole group from the hostel was at the game and all decked out in Holland pride. It was a really good game and it was tons of fun cheering on a team in a big group. After the game, half the group went to get celebratory drinks, but I was so tired I went back to our room and passed out.

Dutch Pride

The End is near...

So I'm currently sitting here typing this at 2:30 AM waiting to leave for the airport at 4 AM to catch my flight to Australia. I figured it would be easier to stay awake than try to go to sleep for a few hours and wake up. I'm going to be spending 4 days in Sydney and I'm so excited for a great adventure. I finished my finals a few days ago, about a week before most people and figured I needed to leave so I wouldn't annoy all of those who were studying.

So I had only 3 finals despite having 4 classes which was awesome. My GIS (mapping) class only had a group project at the end so I didn't have to worry about studying for that one. The main class I was worried about was my Resource Management class. I didn't really do as well as I hoped for my assignment in that class and so I really wanted to do well on that final. I think I did a really good job because I already knew what to expect on the exam so hopefully I did fairly well, especially since its worth 60% of my grade.

Next up was my Resource Monitoring class. Once again, I had done pretty well in the class but with a final worth 50% of my grade, I needed to do well. It went alright, though I did forget how to measure flow so that will definitely trip me up a bit. Finally, I had my Maori final, which was super easy since my professor gave us the questions. My only concern is that my teacer is super inconsistent with her grading.

In general, I think finals went pretty well, but I guess I won't know for sure until the end of June. During this crazy finals time, I also managed to fit in another soccer game and actually took team pictures! It was one of our better games considering we went into half tied 0-0 instead of losing and only lost 0-4 instead of 0-7. I'm so glad I had another opportunity to play soccer again. I love cross country, but it's fairly individual and very little contact. I loved being aggressive again and being part of a team. Its great watching a pass you made lead to a breakaway to the goal.

My University of Canterbury "football" (soccer) team


Its so close to the end now that I said my first goodbyes today. Its absolutely terrible that you come here and make all these incredible friends and then you have to leave. You live with everyone and because of how small my campus is, you see them every day. And the sad thing, is that you all say you will see each other again, but in reality, it very rarely happens. I know I will definitely meet up with the other EAP kids because we are all based in California. I already have plans to see my floormate Elyse because shes flying in to California on her way back from the Phillipines. There are a couple more that I'm sure I will see again, but then there are the ones that you say you might, but in the future, plans could fall through. I know I would really like to visit Colorado because my friend Sam and Katie are both from there and they keep saying how beautiful it is. So I guess once I recover from my NZ debt, that's the next place I want to go.

Despite all these sad goodbyes I'm about to say, I am truly ready to come home. I miss the warmth of summer and my friends and family. I miss the food and living in civilization. I miss having a reliable car and having a comfy bed. Overall, its been an incredible journey, but I think 6 months is a good amount of time to spend away. True, I've just gotten used to everything here, but knowing whats waiting for me at home is enough to get me eager to come back.

I realize this is a bit ramble like, but it is 3 AM afterall. This is just a bit of how I'm feeling as it gets closer to the end. I think you can expect another one of these "what I felt about my time abroad" entries before I leave.

Heres a link to some shenanigans around campus and nights out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171293&id=665896295&l=c9ee2de5e9

Wellywood!

If anywhere represented Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, it would be Wellington. While it doesn't have the beautiful scenery expected when looking at Middle Earth, it is the home base for Peter Jackson and the Weta Workshop. The Weta Workshop was started with Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and his wife Tania Rodger, and is a 5 time Academy Award winner for the props, costumes, prosthetics, makeup, miniatures, and special effects it did for LOTR. And it was the main reason for my trip to Wellington.

Way back in June 2008, I went to Comic Con. Really nerdy I know, I don't even like comic books, I went for Twilight, which probably doesn't make it better. But despite all that, I was presented with an incredible opportunity to meet Richard Taylor at the Weta Workshop table. I kinda cried at first but once I was able to pull myself together was able to profess my love for Lord of the Rings and told him I loved the work he did for LOTR. Then when I told him I was going to come to New Zealand to study abroad, he gave me his business card and said to come by the workshop for a tour. Well, two years later, in current times, I emailed him and he said this would still be possible. So I set off for a weekend in Wellington before finals started.

Elyse and I arrived late afternoon. We were planning on staying with one of my fellow EAP kids and one of the girls from the first road trip while in Wellington but was unable to get a hold of her. This led to our search for a cheap hostel and some exploring in Wellington. We found the City in the Lodge, which from the outside looks super shady but wasn't really that bad once inside. Then it was off to dinner at Great India, which was really good. Then we went back to hang out and relax at the hostel.

The next day we were able to get a hold of Sarah and began our morning trekking up the giant hill to her house. Once we got to the top and settled in, all three of us went off for a breakfast adventure. This resulted in eating cookies before breakfast, which actually ended up being at lunch time anyway. After a good breakfast at the all day breakfast place, we went to check times at the Embassy Theater. This is where they held the Austrasian Premiere for the Fellowship, Two Towers, and the World Premiere for Return of the King. They were playing a NZ film called Home by Christmas so we decided to give it a shot at 5:30. We then went to the Te Papa museum which was free and had a lot of really cool exhibits.

Me in a traditional Maori Marai

Once we had thoroughly learned all we could, we went back to the Embassy for our movie. We got there early so we could run around in the theater and see all the sponsored seats by all the actors and such.
It was really awesome to know they had seen the movie complete for the first time in the same place we were. The movie turned out to be about the Kiwis fighting in WWII and was a bit documentary with some flashbacks acted out. It was very representative of the Kiwis attitude to life.

Just chillin in Liv Tyler's seat

After the movie we went to Coyote, a Mexican place for dinner and a beer. Then we began the trek back up the hill to Sarah's house where we chilled until late into the night.

The following day was when we had planned on the tour of the Weta Workshop. I made a few calls and left messages while we did some shopping and had an incredible breakfast at this place called Ernesto's. I had raisin french toast with apples on top while Elyse had berry pancakes. Overall fantastic. Then as we were attempting to find Parliament, I got the phone call I had been waiting for. We immediately hopped on a bus to Miramar and arrived at the Weta Workshop.

Upon entering, we had to sign confidentiality waivers before heading into the conference room. In front of me were not only figurines from almost every movie they have done, but the 5 Academy Awards they had won for the LOTR trilogy. Then it was on to downstairs. There we saw all the LOTR shields, armor, weapons, as well as things from their other movies as well. Overall it was really awesome going where so few have been before. We also found out early that Guillermo del Toro (the Hobbit Director) had quit that day. Then it was on to show Elyse the Weta Cave. While the tour was not what I expected, I still felt extremely grateful for the opportunity.

That night we made dinner with Sarah's housemates and had a fun night full of stuffed peppers, macrame, guitar playing and youtube videos. The next morning Elyse left early to get her haircut and I enjoyed sleeping in. Once she was back, we decided to head to Parliament. We fortunately got there right on the hour and was able to get a tour of the Parliament building. Then right after our tour was over, the house had just started a debate and we could go in and watch it. It was fascinating to see how small there House was compared to ours. They all sat there joking and yelling out of turn and even talked about issues relevant to us. We got so wrapped up in the excitement, we realized we had to be at the airport in 30 minutes and had to still go back up the hill to get our bags before catching a bus.

The Trolls from the Hobbit/Fellowship of the Ring in the Airport

There was no way we were going to make it so instead we caught a cab up, grabbed our bags and took a cab to the airport. We made our flight without any problems because of how laid back the airport security is. Overall the weekend was a perfect break from Lincoln and was everything I could have hoped for.

Heres a link to the photos on facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=182090&id=665896295&l=985eeeccef

Lincoln Ball, Soccer, and Basketball

About a week later we had our school Ball. Of course, I hadn't brought any good dresses with me which meant I had to go shopping. Not that I was complaining, I missed going dress shopping with a group of girls. So we got a bunch of us together and went to see what we could find. There were a couple that caught my eye but I decided to try going into town first. I found a great tie die bustier dress that I figured I could wear back at home as well. Elyse found an incredible teal dress that I loved as well and we were all set!

We all got dressed up and pregamed before arriving at the Ball. It was Academy Award themed and faintly reminded me of an even crappier version of our prom. They had a picture station but fortunately at this version of prom, there was a free drink with your ticket.

There was a live band that played a lot of rock music which was different to dance to. Going to dances at Poly pretty much equaled rap the entire time. In New Zealand, its usually this thing called Dub Step, or kinda like reggae. We ended up spending a lot of time by the food table. Put out free food and I'm bound to be nearby.

My little Kiwi freshmen

It was fun just to hang out with everyone, especially when I realized its becoming closer and closer to the end. And to get dressed up! I really love dressing up nice and having somewhere fun to go and wish I had more opportunities for it. While the decorations were kinda lame, it was definitely a memorable night!

The crazy boys!

Another exciting thing happening in my life was the chance to play soccer again. I'm currently playing for the nearby University of Canterbury and am loving it! It's so much fun to get to participate in a competitive team sport again. We don't win much, actually we don't ever win, but its still a lot of fun. I'm currently playing defense and miss taking the ball up the sideline as a midfielder but I'm used to taking one for the team. I missed soccer so bad, I'm even willing to play with 2 sizes too big cleats and borrowed shin guards. But its all worth it as soon as I get on the field. Plus I'm getting some incredible bruises, which are my favorite battle scars.

I've also been playing basketball for my hall. Theres currently a interhall basketball competition and each team was supposed to have girls on it so I got recruited, despite never really playing basketball. I found that I'm still really competitive even when I suck at something and that being a girl playing against guys gives you no sympathy. Also, that interhall sports competitions don't encourage interhall kindness or bonding in any way, shape or form.

I booked a ticket for Australia from June 13 to the 17 to hangout in Sydney. I never would have imagined myself going to Australia. I really wish I had an opportunity to go visit the couple of people I know in Australia but I guess Sydney will be amazing nonetheless. I'm going with my friend Sam because we both finish our finals early. I'm really excited to experience Australia and see the Opera House. Hopefully it will make finals a bit more tolerable to know I'm going after they are all over. Other than that, not much is happening in the land of Lincoln. However, this weekend is the epic Weta Workshop trip so expect some severe LOTR nerdness happening.

Emergency Rooms and Cinco de Mayo

So I'm trying really hard to get caught up on my blogs. I'm now at least in the same month that I'm writing about. I also want to be caught up to write about this coming weekend where I am going to the Weta Workshop and getting a tour with the man who started it, Richard Taylor. If you don't know about the Weta Workshop, it's the company that Peter Jackson part owns and is responsible for the costume, props, miniatures, and everything else that made LOTR amazing. So it's going to be a good weekend! But first, more catch up time.

Once back from break, the first thing everyone wanted to do was have a welcome back party! So one of the houses near campus threw a BBQ and we were all excited to go. Everyone was there so it was really chill to hang out with everyone and not worry about being told we were too loud. Emma and I signed up to play beer pong and after an extremely intense game, we de-throned the 9 game champs. However, we had run out of the beer we brought with us. So we decided to run back to our dorms to get some more beer. Unfortunately this upset our friend Sam greatly.

She was mad we had left her at the party and followed us home and as Elyse tried to comfort her, Sam slammed her door...right on Elyse's thumb. Elyse started freaking out when she realized the door was shut and her thumb was still in the door. Sam screamed and we immediately drove to the ER. They got Elyse on happy gas ASAP and then got her an xray. Her thumb was barely attached still and there was a possibility she would lose the tip. They only allowed one person with her so I stayed to watch all the goriness of cleaning it and sewing it back on. Not to laugh at her pain, which I know was extreme, but watching someone on happy gas is pretty entertaining.

The nurse kept yelling at her to stop cussing because there was a baby nearby. Personally, I think she had a right to say what she wanted when her finger is pretty much no longer attached. Being the typical smartass she is though, the nurse asked her if she was allergic to anything and her response was "Just Religion" (she went to Catholic School). We then went through her talking to people who weren't there and a surgeon with absolutely no sense of humor. He also lacked sensitivity and tack and just told her over and over again, she was most likely going to lose the tip.

We had spent 4 hours at the ER that night and got home around 4 in the morning. The following day we went and got her meds and a week later she had her stitches out. Fortunately, everything reattached and there was no infection. And I got to play nurse for a while. So thanks Mom for teaching me how to keep my cool in emergency situations and being fascinated by really disgusting medical messes. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures (much to Elyse's dismay) but apparently her doctor sketched everything so maybe I can get my hands on those :) jk.

So being a bit homesick at this point (about 2 months before coming home) we decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! The kiwis didn't know what it was and neither did a lot of other countries, so we decided to enlighten them. Because actual Cinco de Mayo was on a Wednesday and we usually don't drink or party till Thursday, we postponed it to the American Cinco de Mayo. We decided to make it a fiesta between our side of the hall and the girls that lived in the hall next door. Most of them are Norwegian so they had never heard of Cinco de Mayo or ever had tacos.

For some reason, mustaches and tacos go well together.

We made a bunch of hard shell and soft tacos, homemade guacamole, beans, Mexican rice, bell peppers, and chips and salsa. Overall, one of the best dinners here! And it was so much fun being with a big group and having a family like dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't get my hands on a Corona, but it was still a perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
We then went to the local pub, the Grouse, where all the Americans were celebrating Cinco de Mayo. We made sure we told every Kiwi about Cinco de Mayo. We somehow walked home where we discovered a hedge hog and decided to jump into bushes.

HEDGE HOG! NZ doesn't really have many mammals so we get kinda excited about finding some.
There's this really bouncy one outside of Centennial 2 dorm and is known as the trampoline bush. FYI made that decision completely sober, and it was soooo much fun! It was really exhilarating if maybe a bit on the stupid side.

It was definitely a typical night in Lincoln and a perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It also made me think about how badly I miss Mexican food. I definitely will be eating at Taco Surf like every other day when I get home!

My Mad Action Photography skills!

You only turn 21 once...

So after break, I only had one week before there was another exciting event, MY 21ST BIRTHDAY! So technically my birthday was on a Friday in New Zealand, but the night to go out is Thursday night. So my group of girls got all dressed up to go into town on Thursday night. Sam let me borrow her tiara and boa from her birthday and after taking forever to get ready and pregaming a bit, we left for town.

The girls! Emma, Sam, Me, Elyse and Lannette

The first stop on the birthday circuit was the Mad Cow. They are the bar that usually sends a party bus to campus so the rest of our friends had taken the bus into town from the boonies known as Lincoln. We added our friends Kevin, Jared, and Nick to our group and moved on to the next bar.

We ended up at the Billiard Bar which has these drink mixes in teapots. Jared bought me a tequila shot as a pre birthday shot. It was 11:45 so we decided to stay there till my birthday at midnight. Jared ordered a teapot and as soon as it was midnight, everyone had a shot for my 21st with me. We then moved to the upstairs area where they had live music and had fun dancing around. I also had another shot...

Apparently staying at one place was not an option, so we moved on to the next spot; a place called My Bar. I really like My Bar since it looks like the clubs in Auckland and has the best setup for dancing. We spent a while there just dancing and attempting to avoid creepy boys. Then it was on to Sol Square. This happens to be one of my favorite places to just chill so it was perfect for the end of the night. We went to the Yellow Cross where I had my last drink of the night and hung out a bit before everyone began getting sleepy. They also wouldn't let me in anywhere else (they have this no intoxicated people rule at the bars, its weird).

My birthday crew

The following day was the hangover from hell, which I guess is a requirement for the day after your birthday. Unfortunately, it was my actual birthday and I spent the whole day sick, hungry, and horizontal. Finally by 4:30 I was able to drink a smoothie and skype with my parents. The first thing my dad says to me, "Malia, you look hungover." "Thats cuz I am Dad." By 5 I was finally vertical, and completely fine. I had awesome mexican tacos for dinner and then the best birthday cake that Elyse and Lannette made me. It was chocolate with chocolate pieces and oreos on top. I took my birthday night easy by watching movies in the lounge, ignoring everyone hassling me for not drinking on my birthday.

The following day was Saturday and meant it was actually my birthday back home. In an attempt to salvage my birthday plans, I chose to celebrate on my American birthday by going into town to have delicious sushi for dinner. Sophia came from Canterbury, as well as Cody and his entire apartment.

Elyse, Lannette, Emma, Me, Cody and in the back from left, Sam and Sophia at an awesome Sushi restaurant

I got birthday ice cream before my dinner which was odd, but good nonetheless. We took Sophia home with us to Lincoln and went to the Grouse for a couple of birthday drinks. Then we hung out at Farm Road for a bit before going home.

The next morning, I woke up early to drive to Akaroa with Lannette. We had signed up to swim with the world's smallest and rarest dolphin. Its equivalent with seeing a panda in china. We got outfitted in our wetsuits and took our spot at the front of the boat. I became the dolphin spotter and even got to see one jump out of the water (they aren't known for their acrobats). We saw a bunch of different pods of about 2 or 3 dolphins. We even saw some penguins which had been on my New Zealand checklist. We were waiting for the dolphins that stuck around even when the boat was turned off. Finally, one single dolphin was swimming around and the guide told us to get in the water.

So excited to finally be swimming with dolphins!

I jumped in and was given rocks to bang underwater to interest them in coming over. The water was fairly cold because it was so overcast. I knew these dolphins were small but once you are in the water with them you really can see how tiny they are. They are about the length of my arm span. Right as I got in, one was circling the group and darting in between everyone. Next thing I know, there is a new group of 2 and another new group of 3. One went zooming by so close I think he was inches away from my body. I of course screamed.

It was incredible to be surrounded by these tiny dolphins. The fact that they were endangered and extremely rare made it that much better. I had wanted to go swimming with dolphins my entire life and was never really comfortable with the thought of paying an absurd amount of money to sit in a pool with dolphins in a life jacket and doing kissing poses with them. While I wasn't allowed to touch these, to know they were wild animals and had chosen to spend some time with us really made it special. Unfortunately, they only stuck around for a bit and they were off to eating once more and it was time for me to get out of the freezing water.

Aren't they adorable! The babies are said to look like rugby balls with flippers.

Overall it was an incredible birthday weekend. Despite being in a country where the drinking age is 18, it still felt like my 21st was an important birthday. I got to experience with my new friends here, and while I missed celebrating with friends at home, it was still incredible. I also got to have great food (a nice change from the dining hall) and got to do one of my life goals by swimming with dolphins. It was definitely a weekend I will never forget!

Dunedin and The End of A Journey

We drove through exhaustion to arrive in Dunedin around 10 where we were quickly ushered into Marguerite's queen size bed. She very persistently insisted that us three should sleep in a bed after the Stewart Island adventure. I kinda love her and immediately was asleep. At Otago University, they had only had one week off for break so they were already back at school. Unfortunately that meant Marguerite (from the first road trip) had an essay due. Once she turned it in, we were able to grab a quick lunch with her before she had to head off the class.

This is one of the buildings at the University of Otago

Dunedin is known for being a Scottish town and is considered a crazy college town. It was a nice day and so we decided to go explore. We walked to the town square and saw the beautiful architecture of the bus station as well as their many churches. Mostly we were just relaxing and exploring. It was a nice change to have good weather and not rushing off to go do anything in particular. We also walked by the Cadbury factory and it smelled fantastic.

I really like chocolate, unfortunately we didn't go in.

We wandered back to Marguerite's really cool apartment and made dinner with her housemates. This included tiny Brittany (she's 4'8 with enough energy for someone 7 ft tall) and Taryn, her kiwi host. Turns out Brittany loved Lord of the Rings and Taryn was as well and had worked as a LOTR tour guide in Queenstown. So that left us with one thing to do; watch The Two Towers. It was great because Taryn and I kept turning to each other about trivia and found that the other already knew it.

The following morning we got up to go to the farmers market in town. It reminded me a lot of Santa Cruz with fresh produce and great bread products. I got this great Lemon loaf, a bag of the best apples ever, free pasta, CHEESE! and chocolate truffle tea. Overall a good start to the final day of our road trip. We also ran into a couple of people from Lincoln and got to see Joanna from our road trip at the beginning of the year. It was really nice to have a large group of us EAP kids togeter again.

Once we got back to the house, it was really hard to get moving out. It was hard to leave the comfort of Dunedin and Marguerite's house. I've said it before and I will say it again, she is by far the nicest person I've ever met. We finally packed up Bluebird and set out from her apartment. We made a short stop at the World's Steepest Street Baldwin Street. It didn't look too bad until you started walking up it. Apparently it has a grade of 35%.

We had one more stop in mind on the way home. It's called the Moeraki Boulders. They are these perfectly round giant boulders on a beach. It was an incredibly beautiful and warm day and I definitely wished I had a bathing suit on. We hung out by the boulders just messing around for a while. I just enjoyed being at the beach, Elyse was jumping from boulder to boulder, and Lannette found a good boulder to meditate on. It perfectly described each of us.

The journey was so close to the end; we were 2 hours from home when as Elyse was driving there was a popping sound. We got outside and found the spare tire we had put on to replace the one with wire poking out of it had popped. We pulled the wire tire out again, and I changed my first tire! It was actually a lot easier than I expected and not too bad when there's 3 girls working on it. I then took over driving to the nearest town to find a replacement.

Unfortunately we stopped in a town where almost every place was closed and we were going to have to pay a special call out fee. At the last moment, the lady at the gas station rememebered Firestone closed at 5 (it was 4:45). We rushed over to find 5 mechanics having beers and watching Nascar on the big screen. As they changed our tire, they offered us beer from a bathtub in the garage. We had coffee instead. It was highly entertaining though watching them try really hard to get us to hang out for a bit. However, we were tired and just wanted to get home.

We got into Lincoln around 7:30, made our RA Paul let us into our rooms. And the journey had ended. We had traveled everywhere south of Christchurch: Lake Tekapo, Lake Puakaki, Wanaka, Arrowtown, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Stewart Island, Dunedin, then back to Christchurch once more. I had seen the most beautiful aqua lake, seen more glaciers than I can count, jumped off a cliff, found a new favorite place on horseback, experienced a waterfall up close and personal, and hiked in the worst weather imaginable. And I wouldn't take any of it back! It was an incredible journey, and while it had its up and downs, was something I will remember forever.

Heres the link to the last photo album of the road trip.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173974&id=665896295&l=2bf6c86e68