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Well, I know I've been slacking with keeping in touch. Part of it is due to the fact that I've been on the move traveling around the north and south islands here. But now I am actually back in Auckland awaiting my passport to come back from the American consulate (more on that in a bit) and chillin' in the hostel that was my home during the dengies. Some of the same people are still here and so is Charlie, the grey cat I befriended at the hostel (it didn't take much due to the fact that I always give her the leftover egg yolk from my breakfasts. She loves it!).
Anyway, I have stayed busy exploring the south island since I last wrote. It is absolutely beautiful there and the weather even warmed up a bit so there was no snow. Good for me, bad for the skiers. I bungy jumped off the third tallest jump in the world... it was 134 meters (440 feet) with 8 seconds of pure adrenaline pumping free fall! What a rush!!! Plus, the weather was quite foggy so I jumped into nothingness before approaching the bottom of the canyon. The fog was
actually so thick that you couldn't see the cable car/platform that you were jumping off of from the upper edge of the canyon wall. I did a beautiful swan dive off the platform of which I didn't want to spend the $35 to buy the pic, so you will just have to take my word for it.
After the bungee, I followed up on a job prospect that I had at a horse farm just outside of Queenstown. I worked all day tacking up horses, helping people on their trusty steeds, and even led a trail. It all worked out quite well and I was the offered the job when I return to NZ after visiting Aussie with my mum. So basically, after 4 years of architecture school and 3 years to get my masters in lighting, I will be doing the exact same job that I was doing when I was 10 years old. How's that for putting my degrees to good use? The only difference is that I will be riding in the most breathtaking scenery on Earth. Middle Earth that is. I will be riding through Lothlorien, Amon hen and Isengard. The area is absolutely stunning!!!
But this job is where my passport troubles have started. It is quite easy to apply for a working holiday visa here in NZ. They need all the help they can get with the farming industry and will issue visas through an online form to anyone from the EU, Aussie or the states. All you need is at least one year validity on your passport, which of course I missed by ten days. So I had to send my current passport and a renewal form to the American consulate in Auckland in order to get a new one. This is both good and bad. Bad because I don't think that the new one will be ready for when I leave for Aussie and I will need to get an emergency passport issued. Good because that means I will have another ten years validity on my new passport and won't have to go back to the states anytime soon (sorry fam and friends, but I really can't go back to the states yet. Blame it on my flighty Aquarian nature.)
So that is the latest and greatest from this side of the world. I am off to Oz (what
the locals call Austrailia) on the 10th of July hopefully without a hitch. I'll keep you posted if I end up being deported, which right now would be the only way to get me back to the US.
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Judi
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beautiful sights
Stephanie the pictures are absolutely beautiful!! I can't believe you actually jumped into nothingness with all tha t fog! It must have been some experience seeing the gound come up fast. And I thought the Dominator at dorney park (like free fall in Great advrnture) was thrilling. Hope you enjoy Oz Keep in touch!! Judi