Dec.5th Queenstown

Right now I'm currently sitting ina central internet hub in queenstown. My bus ride from Franz Josef was a long one. My day started with a rainy morning and the bus got in late (instead of 8am, it came at 8:30)....then not onl;y bc of the weather but I was feeling a bit sad. Don't know if it was because l;ast night I was not able to say goodbye to my traveling mates (Julianna, Nile, Marco and Thomas), was it bc I was leaving franz Josef (fell a bit in love with the town), or bc of the fact that I was going to be traveling alone once again. Those mixed emotions were just welt up inside. Then along the ride, our bus broke down (some belt got loose) and we stopped at a dead center, HASST, nothing to do and our only entertainment was the DOC information center. After waiting for about 2 hours and getti8ng eaten alive by those vicious SAND FLIES (they leave nasty welts and as they heal they leave you big nasty red bruises, pretty?!), the bus driver gave us the good news that we would be on our way! So about 6pm, we arrived in Queenstown, where the mountains towering in the distant are the acclaimed mopuntains from the Lord of the RIngs movie, forgot what they are called (sorry Emily, won't be doing the lord of the rings tour). This place is quite nice, the cozy streets are bustling with lots of people and cutesy shops...But I wont be here for long. Tomoroow morning I'll be taking a bus down further south Invercargil where ill take a 20 min flight to Stewart Island (at the very tip of the south Island), this is where i hope to do a two day tour around the island and nearby island, Ulva, to go looking for penguins, seals and other cool birds! I'm so excited! Can't wait!
Should I tell you about my Franz Josef glaciar experience? WEll, yesterday I had a pre-booked Helicopter (Heli) Hike up the glaciar. So I showed up to the outfitter place, it was quite chaotic, checked in, paid, got boots (they were a size too big bc they didn't have my size), then went about 200 meters thru this forest where we then are bunched up into the Heli hub, where our instructions are given to us (all that safety stuff, so your head doesnt get chopped of by the helicopters blades, ect.)...once informed, we get put into groups by wieght i guess....my group was the first to get into the helicopter, and I was lucky enough to get a FRONT WINDOW seat!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! But I kept thinking, shit, the weather looks bad (The sky was filled with heavy clouds), "will we be able to get up to the glaciar", i kept thinking, then before I knew it, we were houvering, taking off...damn, what an awesome feeling, this tiney buble aircraft where you have 180 views, and it was flying and I was in it...and we were doing a scenic flight, and I was seeing the glaciar, this massive ice Bloc, these awesome crevacess, at some point I felt like crying....it was wierd, just felt magical!!!! But those magical moments were soon gone, the pilot did not think it was safe for us to land bc the weather was getting worse, so, ina split second we were back on land. "AW, amn", I thought, I really dont want to pay that money for 2 min of a heli show"....so I was surprised to hear that we were getting our money back, 'YES< SCORE", I thought, a free 2 min. heli trip! YES! So, well, I couldnt do the heli hike, well then I must do the 1/2 day hike up the glaciar.....so, I went and asked if there were any available sopts for the 3 oclock trip....THERE WERE NONE, so I sat and waited bc I was a STANDBY. 15 min before the trip left, I was in luck, I WAS IN. YES! My angles were on my side that day! So we get suited up once again, sportting this huge blue raincoat and huge boots they provided. A 30 min walk thru the forest and we were fast approaching the glaciar face. As wew were making our way thruy, we came across a man a nd a wo0man, the woman's arm wrapped in a bloody sweatshirt, bloody head and face, man holding her..."what the?"...my group leader went up to her to help her out...what it was...u see the PUBLIC, disobeys the warning "danger, don't proceed signs" they are unexperienced without guides anmd then they get themselves into truoble. thankfully, our guide radioed a helicopter and soon she was off for medical help. It was a bit shocking to see all that, just kept thinking to myself, "oh dear, hope i'll be ok". and guess what I was! I had the best time of my life, wearing crampons (those spikes for your feet to keep you gripped on the ice, climbing ice steps, seeiong blue ice, breathing the cool air, seeing the awesome tropical rainforest on the sides of the glaciar, the sound of the ice pick when D, our gruop leader, was clearing ice steps....just AWESOME!!!!! That day was just brilliant. I met a a german older group that just instantly clicked with me, one of the ladys kept saying how her son back in germany liked brunetts like myself and how she wanted my mailing address...it was hilarious....aw, good times were had. And my group guide, D, was just hilarious, funny funny guy...after the trip he was munching away on Salt and vinegar chips and he shared them, just yum, hadn't had chips in a long time, esp, salt and vinegar (they reminded me of you darlene). So, yes, my day and night were just awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, well, I'm tired, should go back to my hostel to get some much needed sleep. Until, then, keep missing me bc i'm missing you all!!! Much love.
Pura Vida,
Claudia.

Ps- Mareah, glad to hear that you got to swim with sharks on your trip to the bahamas, cant wait to see picts.
Danielle---it was really great hearing your voice, I really needed to talk to you and I felt much better after doing so! Thank you!!!!
Mom/Dad----still love you.
NANCY----where are you? Haven't heard one peep from you!!!!!! Darlene, get Nancy to write me a message!!!
PSSS-I'm getting tanned, the sun has finally come out!

Julianna, Neli, Martin, Marco, Thomas------My travels were just awesome with you guys.

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