Advertisement
Published: December 11th 2005
Well, the rest of the drive from Oamaru to Christchurch was uneventful. I ended up sitting across from the English couple I met during the glacier hike. It was nice to catch up with them and hear about there experiences. No two stories are ever the same except..."well, we drank way too much in Queenstown" - boy I know about that!
It was strange coming into Christchurch and then walking on the street. It is a large bustling city with lots of cars and people and noise. I have been spending all this time in very small towns with no noise and few people. It took a few moments of getting used to when I arrived. It was also odd at the hostel. I checked into a hostel that was an old 1800s hotel. Very cool building, outdated and worn, but lots of character. I really liked it. It was right in the center of everything. It was late when I checked in, so I asked for a suggestion on a dinner meal. I was directed down the street to a Thai restaurant. It was horrible! Worst meal I have had thus far. Then back to bed. It was strange to fall asleep. There was honking and buses and people yelling and music booming from the surrounding clubs...I just wasn't used to all the noise.
Anyhow, I woke up leisurely on Thursday morning. I decided that the only activity other and wandering around the city was to paraglide while I was here. I checked for paragliding availability at the front desk and as it turns out, right now was the good time! The girl directed me to the city bus terminal, told me to get on the #3 to Sumner and take it all the way to the last stop and I was out the door. Well, I thought, this is exciting...I get to try their public transportation. The bus terminal was about a 2 minute walk away. It is in the middle of a building and I just about walked past it. I went inside and they have a large board telling you how long it is until the bus arrives. I had 19 minutes. So I sat down in front of the board and did a little people watching getting on and off buses. Interesting stuff. It was finally my turn and they announced which door you had to board through. I got into line and when I got to the driver, he took the appropriate money out of my hand, gave me change and a ticket. Cool...I was on. First part accomplished! It was quite a nice ride out to Sumner. Little did I know, but we were headed for the coast. Christchurch does not sit on the water. It's a little inland. We went through a couple of city streets and then boardering the coast that was a bay. The hills turned into to steeper cliffs and houses were spotted throughout the whole area. Some at sea level and then up through the hills and mountains. Great stuff. After a ways, we curved around a point and there we were on the ocean. The great pacific again! It was a bright sunny and hot day and I was so happy to be getting out in it. The town of Sumner is a little beach town with cafes, surf shops little houses and big houses built into the cliffs. It had a very laid back feel. Everyone was moving on their own time. I rode the bus through the neighborhood streets to the very end. There was a small VW style van with Nimbus Paragliding on the side and a group of guys standing around...waiting. Here I am boys! I climbed off the bus and gave a big hello. I was very excited about this adventure. I have been wanting to do this for years! I was introduced to the group and we climbed into the van. We began to climb the steep hills surrounding us. As it turns out, the company owner and our fearless leader for the day, Red, was giving us background on the area and we were climbing an extinct volcano. It had helped to develop the area nad we saw the lake that was created last time it blew. Rather cool. Once at the top, we all climbed out of the van. I was the only person jumping tandom. Everyone else was learning how to fly solo. So, I had to patiently wait. Now, one would think that there may have been an office or some paperwork to fill out, but not in NZ. They are far to laid back for that. Red only knew my first name and apparently, that was enough. The three other guys were laying out there gear and getting suited up. I began walking into the field and realized that we shared this field with lots of sheep - cuz why wouldn't there be sheep - and tried to avoid stepping in all of the crap on the ground. This was quite the task. The sun was blazing today and it felt good. It had been days since it was sunny. The first guy was all ready to go and he began to run. Then Red yelled and made him stop. Apparently, something was wrong with this chute. There was not much of a breeze, so this meant that running off the side was the only option. I had this naive thought that I was just going to have to sit there while all the work was done for me...apparently not. This time, the guy ran and it all looked smooth, he was off the edge and just floating through the air. It's such a peaceful looking thing. Then Red, on a walkie talkie was directing him around the valley and down to the ground. Then guy number 2. He was rather brave as well and went running at the edge with quite a bit of force. He was up and floating in no time. Again, Red was on the walkie instructing him. Now for guy number 3. This guy did not seem so sure about the whole thing. In order to help him, I was put to work. I had to stand in back of his chute and hold it up for him. Then, we he started to run, I needed to let go. It was quite funny. He kept asking all these questions. Red is a rather brief guy. Would give an answer and then say, "you'll be fine." Not the most reassuring. Anyhow, guy number 3 was off and not doing so well. This time Red was yelling into the walkie and repeating his instructions with more and more anger. And I had to ride with him...this is going to be interesting. With number 3 safely back on the ground, it was time for us to get ready. Tom was the assistant that was taking pictures of everyone. I had given him my camera and as it turns out he took 17 pictures of me. I'm not sure anyone needs that many pictures of themselves in a helmet, but now I have them. Red began pulling things out of a bag and handed me a helmet. I adjusted it to fit my head and then Tom helped me put on my gear. It was this funny looking padded seat thing with harnesses around my legs and shoulders. I found out later that the padding was to protect your back in case of any problems or perhaps crash landings...I didn't ask these questions until the end. Once suited up, Red gave me some instructions as to how I would need to run. Then he talked about the importance of listening to him and doing exactly as he said. I was fine will all of this. I think my calmness scared him a little. He suited up and clipped us together. I would like to point out - here I am, about to run off the side of a mountain and all of the instruction I was given was to listen and do - feeling really safe here. I was connected to Red by two of those metal clip things that rock climbers use. He placed my hands on the front of the shoulder harnesses and asked if I was ready. I said yes. A few moments later he yelled Run, RUn, Run....I began running will all my might. Since you were pulling the chute behind you it was like running through sand trying to pull 4 full sized men. We were half way to the edge and Red yelled STOPPPPPPPPPP!!! I came to a quick hault and thought, well there's no reason to make me run like that twice, I'm on vacation! Apparently, we had lost our wind. He instructed me again and we had to wait for wind again. At this point I am wondering if Red is sure we are going to make it off the ground. It was a few moments later and he yelled, RUN, RUN, RUN! I began running again. The edge of the mountain was coming quicker this time and I heard, Run, RUN, RUN and I kept running. We were not moving on an angle and I kept pumping my feet and legs. For a moment they were lifted off the ground but then made contact again and I heard with more intensity, RUN, RUN, RUN!!! Right in front of us was a huge boulder and I was trying to figure out how the hell I was going to run over it. I could not clear it by jumping and thought, well, I will just have to try and place my feet on it. With eyes the size of watermelon I took another step and there it was, the wind lifted us off the ground just as I was about to step over the edge. Once in the air, I had to lean back and rock into my seat thing. I let out a little squeal and pointed down at the sheep below us on the side of the mountain. The feeling was unbelievable! We were just floating and there was no sound, nothing in front of you, nothing to look at but the south Pacific and the surrounding beaches and mountains! I was weightless and flying. Incredible!!! We started playing in the air and on command, I would lean to the right and we would take a sharp turn and then hard to the left and we would go left. We did this a couple of times. It was thrilling. I was giggling with excitment the whole time. Then it was time to land. Now, I am given brief insturctions - to stand and do as he says - ok, well that worked on take off, so here we go. He yelled stand and I planted my feet, then he yelled, RUN! I didn't realize I would be running again. He finally said stop and there we were, back on ground. I looked up and just wanted to be floating again. I have found a new addiction! We shook hands and I thanked him for a wonderful trip. It was at this time that he admitted that we were dangerously close to the rock and he was afraid that I would stop running in fear. He was impressed with my commitment. I thought, it's not everyday I commit to throwing myself off a mountain and it was an all or nothing moment! I'm so glad I gave it my all!!! Tom brought the van down to the landing site and I helped fold up the chute and collect the gear. They took me back to the center of Sumner and I decided to stay in town and hang out for a little while. It was such a great day, I wanted to just walk around. I explored a little, went in and out of shops and surf shops and had a great lunch at a little cafe. I read a tabloid and found out that Nick and Jessica have officially called it quits - I feel connected to the world again :-) Then I roamed over to the bakery to pick out something sinful for dessert. Then back onto the bus and back to Christchurch. It was a longer ride back into town. Lots of people to pick up along the way. Once back at the bus terminal, I decided to just roam around downtown. I began down one street and just continued up and down. There were several shops to go into. I love the fashion here. It's similar to the US, but there's a bit of and edge to it. I like it far too much. Thank god I have kept the credit card in the wallet. Truthfully, it won't fit in my bag and I don't want to carry it around. I finally made it to Cathedral Square which is the where the outdoor market is and the Wizard. I forgot about the Wizard until I walked into the square. He was standing to the side while two other street performers went back in forth in some sort of staged argument. I had missed the Wizard. I'm not sure what he talks about, but it's suppose to be good fun to watch him. Instead, I went into the old church in the square. It's the old stone style with a rose window. Looked like a church you would find in England. It had wonderful stained glass inside and the original wood planked ceiling. It was beautiful. First church I have been in here. Then I went back out into the square and wandered through the street vendor booths. They were selling all sorts of things, jewelry, clothing, hats, sunglasses, the usual festival type stuff. There were also four food vendors in permenat like carts - and yes Cindy, there was food on a stick! I left here and went back into some other shops on another street, then stopped at a cafe for coffee and to see what else there was to do in Christchurch that was free. I headed out to the old Canterbury University which was not a gallery of art studio, shops and a theater. It was really cool. Built of the old grey stone and had several courtyards and little ponds. It was neat to walk around and see it. Then, I kept on down to street to Canterbury Musuem. This was also free and it shows the history of the Christchurch settlement and the Maori. They had so many cool artifacts and displays on the Maori. I was enthralled! This was a great place for me to stop. I also wandered through the old English area which had old furniture, china, ceramics, silver and other household items from the early English settlers. Mom you would have loved this part. They even had clothing from the different eras. Then I traveled upstairs to see the Antarctic exhibit. Apparently, the Antarctic is a big deal in Christchurch and therefore the display was a big deal. Again, it was lots of things about ice and snow so, not so thrilling for me, but it did talk about the wildlife and the evolution of it over the centuries. That was cool. After a couple of more little exhibits, I was done with the whole musuem. It was not a big place and outside was the Botanical Gardens! Again, this was free and I love flowers, so I picked up a map and took a seat on a bench infront of a pretty gold and tourquoise fountain to decided which routes to walk and what areas were of particular interest to me. After a very pleasant walk through the gardens - I meandered along a little river, saw lots of birds, lots of different types of purple flowers, a beautiful rose garden - I decided that I had had a very full day and was hungry and ready to head back towards the hostel. I was quite a ways away from it now. I walked leisurely back to it and the cafe next door was advertising Fish N Chips. This sounded good, I can't get enough fish, so I sat down for dinner. It was very, very good! I had a salad with some sort of honey dressing on it. Amazing. Best dressing I have ever had. I was very happy with my dinner. Then I headed to the hostel and out onto the back deck to write in my journal. I was out there for a long time just enjoying the end of a summer day. I drank the rest of my bottle of wine and then went to bed.
On Friday morning, I woke up at my leisure. For the first time in who knows how long, I slept in a room by myself. What a treat!!! I was booked on the 4:45 p.m. bus out of town, and today, I had no plans except to people watch and read. I wanted to just relax and absorb the city. I went to a cafe for a light breakfast and then headed over to the bookstore. I had finished the book I brought with me, and was about to finish the book from the book exchange in Dunedin. I found the next book my Candace Bushnell, Trading Up, and headed over to Cathedral Square. Once there, I settled into a bench and began to read. There were several more vendors there today and they were setting up a small stage. As it turns out, every Friday in summer they have a lunch time singer. Today was a local woman who had become quit popular in NZ and she did several heartfelt songs acoustic style. She was really good! What a treat! I was reading and people watching. The Square was full of tourists and locals that come to eat lunch and are generally just walking around. I had lunch from one of the food stands - it was a Turkish Kabob and not so good, but it's what I wanted to do. When the singer was done, the street performers came out. I was hoping to see the wizard today! Instead, the first guy was a glass walker. He took a bunch of glass bottles, broke them up and then was going to walk on them. Before he did this he juggled seven balls, then these big axes. The whole time he was making jokes and playing with the crowd. Quite the entertainer. The grossest thing was when he put a balloon through his nose and pulled it out his mouth. It was painful, but like a trainwreck, all the people watched. The, the big act! He finally walked on glass. He jumped onto the pile and then walked across it. It was maybe four steps, but still very impressive and he did a really good job building up the crowd anticipation. Then, he pulled a guy out of the crowd, laid down on his back on the glass and had the man stand on his chest. This was even more impressive. Overall, I like this guy! While he was in the middle of his act, the Wizard arrived, but then quickly left. I guess these guys don't impeed on each other. The wizard did make another apperance today. Oh well, at least I saw the glass guy. Once he was through, there was an Asian man that started playing his acoustic guitar. He was playing all American Pop songs. It was kind of funny. All the while, men were playing chess. I forgot to mention the chess board - it's a life size board on the ground with pieces that are three feet high. These men arrive and you can play. It is fun to watch the crowd that this draws. It's a universal game so lots of people would stand and watch. Fun stuff. As it neared 3 p.m. I headed back to the hostel. My stuff was there in storage. From there, I made my way to the bus office and waited for the bus to arrive. It finally did, although it was late and getting onboard was a mess. The next stop was Kaikoura. The drive was quite short. We hit rush hour traffic leaving town. This was extremely odd because with only 4 milllion people in the country, there just isn't that much traffic. You can go for hours without seeing another car. So traffic was actually amusing! The driver then put on a movie for us to watch...The Terminal. I had seen it, but it was cute to see again. When we left Christchurch the countryside was pretty much farmland. But as we neared Kaikoura, we were back into the mountains. We hit rain on our way into town but the drive was still beautiful. We came over the hills and were back onto the coast. The water was rough and the sand was black. It was Pacific Ocean, black sand/rock, road and then steep hills and rock walls. It was stunning scenary. I love the drives along the coast. We went through a couple of tunnels that did not look to safe and finally arrived in town. Kaikoura sits right on the water on the north side of a peninsula. I was hungry and quickly gathered my bags to head to my hostel. It was quite a walk and I was a little unimpressed with it when I arrived. Lonely PLanet made it seem great. It was ok. After checking in and dropping my bag, I was back out on the main street to find a place for dinner. I walked to the closest place I could see. As it turns out, it was a rather fancy establishment and there I was, ponytail, flip flops, capris and my Amstel Light t-shirt. They sat me anyway and I ordered Crab Ravioli and a glass of white wine. The wine was fabulous. The ravioli was horrible. Just horrible. Actually, it was the crab that tasted bad. Overall, the meal was far too overpriced. I enjoyed my wine, read my book and then headed back to the hostel. In my room, I had a great conversation with a couple traveling for 8 months and they were making a long stop in the US. They had all kinds of questions about sporting events and places to see. We talked for a long time. It was fun to be able to help someone out since most of the time people are giving me information.
Saturday morning was a rather early one. KaiKoura was originally established as a whaling community. There is an abundance of sea life there and therefore, lots of excursions. I had picked two for the day. I arrived at the Seal Swim office a little ahead of schedule. The lady told me that they were out checking out the tides and seals to see if conditions were right. As it turns out, this morning was not a good time to go. She said that they would possible reassess at noon time and that I could come back then. I politely explained that I had a whale watch scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and this would conflict. She called the whale people and they could rebook me for 9 a.m. so I rushed down the street to their office. AFter sorting out all the confusion with reservations, I was signed up and paid. I watched a short moving about whales in general and then they boarded us onto a bus. I have to say, I am really tired of riding buses. I only have one more!!! Anyway, it was a 10 minute drive over to the harbor to board the boats. Now, I had heard from several travelers that people get very sick on these trips. I was concerned for myself and therefore had bought some Sea Leg (an anti-sickness medicine in Christchurch the day before and the lady told me to take it the night before - so I did). As I boarded the boat, I hoped that the combination of Sea Leg and my ever so stylish motion sickness wristbands would keep me together for the duration of the tour. It was a rather small boat. There were about 50 seats inside with viewing areas outside on either side and a small deck on top. I took at seat at the back, again hoping this would help my stomach. We left and you could feel the seas immediately. Within 20 minutes, people were getting sick left and right. I was feeling just fine. I couldn't believe it. I just kept looking outside and I was feeling fine. Even when we were allowed to stand up and go outside and I had to fight with the boat rocking while standing still in the water...I felt fine. This must be what all you normal people feel like all the time - I'm so jealous that you don't have to take pills that make you tired and wear really stylish wristbands! Anyhow, back to the whales - get excited Elise! Today, we were primarly looking for the make Sperm Whale. They do occationally see other whales, but the only resident whales are the Sperm. The Sperm whale is the fourth largest and can weigh up to 50 tons. I was excited to see one. The cruises earlier that morning had already seen them and so really, it was just a matter of time for us. The crew stopped one and we raced over towards it. The captain pulled up along side of it and we were allowed to jump out. I immediately ran up the stairs to the top. I was surprised to see that it was only one. Apparently, unlike the Orca Whales i have seen, male Sperm whales do not travel in pods so you only see one at a time. He was just hanging out floating in the water. He was actually working very hard, but it did not appear that way. These whales dive for up to two hours at a time and then the surface for about 20 minutes to re-oxygenate. That is what we were watching him do. He was suck in and then blow out. It was fun to watch. From the boat, you could see about 2/3 of his body. His skin was almost black and he had a very little fin on top. The announcer lady on the boat gave us a warning that he was going to dive back down. It was amazing...this huge creature curled up its back, and began to dive ever so gently and then his tail came up out of the water and disappeared. No splach, no sound. It was incredible. That was it. It was gone for a couple of hours. So we moved on to find another one. They quickly spotted that one and again we raced over to the location. I was amazed that I still was feeling perfectly fine. I'm going to have to write these Sea Leg people and thank them! The boat stopped and we were allowed back outside. Again, I made a quick jump up to the roof and this whale was noticably larger! I couldn't believe how much bigger. It was doing the same thing in the water. This time, you could see ripples in its skin. Apparently, the lady told us this is caused by there very thick layer of blubber. They dive in depths of up to 2000 feet and need to stay warm. She announced again when it was time for him to dive and we all got ready. I had my camera in place and there it came, in silence this huge tail appeared and in slow motion disappeared into the dark waters. People on the boat gasped. It really was that amazing. At this point, those were the only whales we would see for the day. The other things we got to see were a huge Royal Albatross which is a sea bird that can have a wing span of 3 meters. It was a really pretty bird. We got to watch it take off from the water and it almost waddled along the surface as it flapped its massive wings. Then we headed over to some rocks where seals were just hanging out. Lounging on the rocks and looking at us wondering why we were looking at them. It was cool to see them especially since that was my next adventure. Then back to the dock and back on the bus and back to their office.
It was just noon so I headed back over to the seal swim office to check on the status. They were going on the trip and as a matter of fact, I had about five minutes to prepare. I ran next door, grabbed a sandwich and ate it while they fitted me for a wetsuit. This was the thickest wetsuit I have ever seen and knowing what I know, I didn't dare ask the water temperature. It was difficult to put on this suit. It was a tank top like top with full length legs. Then we were given a long sleeve top that zipped in the front and had this funny piece that came from behind, between your legs and velcroed again in front. The top had extra padding since it also doubled as the floation device. THis also made it extremely stiff. The top also had a hood on it. Again, another indication that I didn't want to know how cold the water was. There was a group of six of us and the other five people knew eachother. We got into there military style jeep and drove down the coast about five minutes to meet the boat. We had to wade out to it and this gave me the first taste of how cold it really was. It was freezing! I was fearful that I would not be able to stay in the water long enough to play with the seals. We loaded onto the boat and Matt drove us over to the first rock reef. He was going over some of the rules on the way. We could not touch the seals. They were wild animals and we were experiencing them in their environment. We could not get up onto the rocks because this was their territory and they will battle for it and we could not stand up in the water because the seals would think that this means that we want to battle and they would come after us. I have to admit, a part of me wanted to see what would happen, but I couldn't be that mean. We drove through the first set of rocks and then sped up to get to the next area where the seals were. Matt helped us finish dressing with hoods up, gloves on, flippers on, and our masks sealed to our faces, we dropped into the water over the side of the boat. I was the first one in and just sat there a moment letting the water seep into the suit so that it would quickly warm up. Then I put my face in to quickly adjust to the water on my face. Once I slowed down my breathing, things were all good. There were two girls in the group having all kinds of problems. They were with Matt hanging desparately onto this little raft like thing he had. He was taking far too much time with them and the rest of us had to wait before moving into the seal area. In the mean time, I began swimming around the little area we were in and wandered into shallower water so that I could see the bottom. It was quite cool. I didn't expect to have so many other cool things to look at. There was great seaweed and kelp to pull at and feel and the rock formations were quite cool as well. We finally began moving towards the seals and that's when I saw the first one. It came right at me and the quickly darted to the side. It moved so fast that it startled me and I let out a little squeel into my snorkel! Then, before I knew it, we were right in the middle of their territory. I was floating in the water and there were several just swimming around me. They would get with three feet or so. They were huge and looked so smooth. They swam with such grace and speed. It was effortless for them. I was just amazed and couldn't take my eyes off them. At one point, I rolled onto my back and looked out of the water and I was 20 feet from one sitting on the rock. It just looked at me with curiosity. They were just checking us out. There were also a ton of fish swimming around. When there wasn't a seal to look at, I was checking out all the fish and shells including seeing the Puna shell which is only found in NZ. It was great to see all of this just out there in the wild. Then, it was back to the seals. This colony had several cubs from the last season and they were very curious. They would get in the water and circle around. The water was anywhere from 2 feet to 6 feet deep. So, they were swimming to the side and under me. They also liked to play with you. They would follow you as you swam and then sneak up around your head. One just hung out infront of me, starring eye to eye with it under water. Then he stuck his head out of the water, so I did the same, then he popped back under, and I followed. This continued four more times. He just kept starring at me. I was loving it! He was just as curious of me as I was of him! Then there were two others that seemed to just keep circling around me as I tried to follow them in the circle. I couldn't get over how they would dart right at me and then at the last moment, turn away. They were just awesome to watch. They were much larger than I had anticpated and their eyes...they were huge!!! I mean just enormous. And very dark. Some were like a chocolate brown color others had a hint of grey or blue to them. They would swim around you, then climb up onto a rock, hang out, watch you kick around and then slip back into the water and play a little more! It was far too fun. I never felt cold and I never wanted to get out of the water. I really could have stayed in there forever. After about an hour, we were finally called in and told it was time to get back on the boat. As we were all swimming back, a couple of seals followed us. Almost as if a hey where you going kind of thing. As we neared the boat they disappeared and that was it. The experience was over. I finally surfaced and couldn't believe what I had just done. It was by far the best experience with nature ever! This was the purest thing. I just loved it. Climbing into the boat was interesting. It really wasn't that hard, but a couple of the girls could not grasp the concept. There were two plateforms on the back of the boat. I thought the one girl was going to pull a hamstring trying to get in. We had flippers on for godsake. It was so easy to pop up on the platform. I was in the boat and immediately peeling off layers. The boat ride back was so gratifing. A couple of the other people and I talked about the high we had from the experience. Once back near shore, we had to hop off the boat in about a foot of water. Again, these poor girls were having difficulty. Come on ladies, just jump in. Onto a bus and we were back at the office to change. I was out of my wetsuit in a flash and into the hot shower. It felt so, so good! The other girls were struggling, so there I was giving wetsuit removal class to six girls. The one girl was glad to have a "professional" in the room. I just giggled.
After this, I was really starving and was craving a burger. There was a shop down the street that advertised a hamburger, so I made a beeline for that. To my disappointment, it was not good. I'm not really sure what I was eating, but it did not taste like a burger, but I was hungry so I ate it anyway. Then I go a cup of hot tea to go and began my little tour around town. I was back in a small town with one street of businesses. It was nice to be back in a little place. I checked out some shops, checked email real quick, bought some things at the grocery store and then decided to head back to the hostel. I was really tired from the days activities and from the sea sick medicine. Once at the hostel I made a pasta meal and ate some cookies while watching a random movie. I followed this up with some writing in my journal, a proper shower and then bed. I slept really hard.
I woke up on Sunday morning and gathered up my things. I was on my way to Wellington. This was a special bus ride. We continued to follow up the coast. It was another grey rainy day, but I didn't care. We passed another seal colony and saw several hanging out on the rocks. I smiled. After learning so much about them and swimming with them, I feel guilty for wearing a seal fur coat. Oh well, it was my great grandmothers! Along the way, I said my final goodbye to the south Pacific. We pulled into Picton and it was sunny! I was happy for that. I went right from the bus to the ferry and took a spot on the roof deck to watch us go through the sounds again. The water got pretty rough quit quick and I had to make my way inside. I put on my wristbands and hoped that inside I would feel better. I did for awhile, but then we left the protection of the sounds and I had to find a little place to curl up and sleep. I slept almost the entire way to Wellington. Of course, it is raining in Wellington. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.
Good bye South Island! You treated me well and I throughly enjoyed it.
Three more days...then home. Love you all!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.061s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 13; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0245s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Rachel
non-member comment
Cheeseburger in Paradise!
Well at least we know you will certainly be coming back to the States, for that American creation on which I feed! Paragliding, super awesome! I want to hear more and see every one of those 17 pictures. The seals sound so cool. It is amazing that they played with you. Well Randy drunk dialed me at 8:30 Sun morning from his bachelor party to say "It's 8am, What are you drinkin'?" He apparently was finishing off a Corona. I told him I was still in bed. The party was an FSU reunion, Mitch, Red, Lev, etc. He must have had a good time because he told me I should have been there. I reminded him that girls don't go to bachelor parties. Hurry home! -R*