Sooo I might be a little sick today.....my throat hurts and I think it might be from walking around in shorts in freeeeezing cold winter windy New Zealand weather (apparently I'm seasonally challenged when it comes to packing). But it's all good because I'm still having a blast, just now I've thrown a few hundred throat lozenges and glasses of orange juice into my daily routine. Half of the people in my group are sick though so I think it was sort of inevitable.... On the up side, I'm getting better at pool. I've been playing with people that really know what they're doing and its forced me to step it up a notch. Molly and I are hooked. We are going have to go to skeezy bars around Carrollton just to find pool tables ... read more

Yay! I'm officially an experienced sea kayaker. Today was amazing...we drove to the tasman sea coast around nine and started with a four hour hike through all sorts of terrain--beachy and rainforesty with amazing views...all of these pics are from today. Our hike ended at the edge of the sea where there were big red kayaks waiting for us (complete with the token gorgeous instructer of course). We had to pile on all of this crazy gear so that we were all looking pretty sexy (see corresponding pic for reference) and then off we went! Me and Molly rode together so we didn't have to worry about the guys flipping us....but they did get pushing our rudder out of the water so we couldn't steer anywhere! Then they yelled nasty anti-vegetarian comments such as "eat a ... read more

Hi again! Two days ago we took the bus on this amazing coastal road to Fox Glacier. The whole day we were stopping at little Dept. Of Conservation parks and taking short hikes through the rainforest or strolling around deserted beaches. There aren't any people! No houses! I'm already spoiled and used to the quiet....its going to be weird going back home. Then we arrived in the little town near Fox and ran through the rain from our slightly sketchy 'hotel' to get some dinner. The lady who planned our lunches thought we'd all be crazy about gherkin and ricotta cheese and curry paninis so we're all usually starving by dinner time. We ate in town which was amazingly warm and cozy (and they had veggie burgers woo!) and then went back and did some serious ... read more

Shame on me for missing yesterday....but I do have pictures now!! Today was the first day in Christchurch rain-free so we actually got to get out and explore a bit more and I'm officially in love. This morning we walked to a museum to get in some maori/early british settler history in, and then Molly and I went and explore the botanical garden, which was on the same block. There were people canoeing, runners, old couples strolling around...it was really more like a giant gated park than the kind of botanical garden you would pay to get in to in GA. If I'm feeling really perky tomorrow morning I might go running there... We had a few lectures today (on sustainable tourism and forest preservation), both taught by kiwis. I love the accent, so it kept ... read more