The last one....

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The very last blog: the last week of camp and onwards...

The last week of camp flew by. It was pretty much the same as the other two last weeks of camp, with lots of fun dancing at cheesy music week, a good Dupont ride with Nic this time and some very cute newts. We also had our final prize trip. It was awesome and really fun being out there with all four of us for both nights. It went really well- as good, if not better, than we could of hoped for and the head of tripping was there to see it and said we ran it really well, so that was awesome too! Only down side was forgetting the frying pan and doing a quick hour trip to get it from camp while the kids were out riding. It meant I didn’t get to catch up on sleep lost in the night, but at least we had a yummy, hot dinner! We also had a couple of kids get sick in the night (maybe Dolly’s Icecream wasn’t as good an idea as we had though), which meant driving them back to camp at 3am. Back at 5.30am though and it wouldn’t have been so bad if the nurse on duty there hadn’t been such a cow! (we had to make the kids beds ourselves and do their laundry at 4 in the morning coz she wouldn’t let us leave it there- never mind we had a 45minute drive and 9 horses to get back too!). But all in all it was heaps of fun! Last camp fire wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, probably because it still hasn’t sunk in that I have left camp and won’t be back until next year.
We had a chilled out day after a big pack down and staff party, which was definitely needed before heading to Las Vegas. It was awesome! Kind of like being in a twilight zone, where the time of day doesn’t actually matter- I think I only slept about 6 hours in two days, but it was totally worth it. I even ended up coming out with more than what I gambled, which must be an achievement even if it was only $30! Didn’t get to see any shows which was a shame, but its definitely somewhere I could go back to- would be cool to see a few of the sights (and maybe a transformer or two) as well!
Headed to Florida after Vegas, which is a little back and forth, but it meant I got to spend time with lots of people from camp in both places. We stayed at Jaron’s in Tallahassee the first night I arrived- got in quite late so didn’t end up seeing much, but Jaron’s was awesome and he and Kay were wicked! A bed for the night and breakfast  what more could I ask for! It was cool catching up with them and Hannah and John, and meeting John’s friend Lauren. Lauren drove us to Drew’s in Daytona beach the next day, which was kind of good and gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep! Daytona was really nice, kind of like what I thought Miami would look like. It was super hot even when we got in at like 8 so we just had a cruisy night, went out for dinner and mini golf then a walk on the beach. Was super nice to be near the sea again! The next day we went to HARRY POTTER WORLD! It was probably the coolest place I have ever been. Its part of Universal studios and was packed even though it was a week day and school had gone back last week. It was the only part of the park we actually saw, although we did have lunch in Jurassic Park lol. Hogsmede and Hogwarts were awesome, even just walking around in there. We tried pumpkin juice, which tastes kind of like cinnamon, and butter beer, which is so yummy and kind of like a spider (coke and icecream). We had a quick look in honeydukes and Zonko’s (they didn’t have a Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes) which was quite cool, but really expensive. Olivanders was awesome too and they have a cool demonstration where one lucky kid got to do magic with different wands until one chose him and he got to keep it (we were all really jealous!). The Hogwarts castle was probably the coolest part- we had to wait like 2 and a half hours to go on the ride but it was definitely worth it. Once we got in the castle there were 3D images of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledor that talk to you and tell you where to go. The paintings were probably the best bit though- they were actually oil paintings and at first we didn’t think they moved, then we heard them talking and saw a few move- it was awesome, I just about cried with excitement. It was really well done. The ride was amazing too- its kind of like a motion master and rollercoaster in one. You’re meant to be on a broomstick and flick between real parts of the castle and screens that show you flying around away from dragons and playing quidditch and stuff. It was so, so cool! I think I would go back there just to go on that ride again. Very much worth the money we paid to get in! I also went on a real rollercoaster for the first time ever. It was bloody scary, but fun and maybe I will do it again… not to sure though lol.
That was our last night in Daytona. Drew’s family is really cool and cooked us a really nice dinner and gave me books for the plane ride- it was really nice to be in a house again and eat a home cooked meal! The next day we went back to Tallahassee and dropped Drew off at school, then watched movies all night at Jaron’s again. It was nice to chill for a bit before an epic plane ride.
I’m sitting in Honolulu airport now waiting for Sarah’s flight to get in. A bit sleepy from changing time zones so much and 9 hours on a plane without being able to sleep, but excited to be here and see Lucy and lie on a beach for a day or two. Been looking at brochures to find cheap stuff to do, looks like there might be a few good hiking trails and surf lessons don’t look too bad either. Can’t wait, but a bit sad I only have ten days left. Still lots to look forward too, and John and I are planning some travelling with the other Kiwi’s (even though they don’t know yet lol) before and after camp next year.
A few days later…
Well, I never quite made it to putting up that blog- Hawai’i sun and island time and all that, and I just didn’t get around to it. It was an awesome 10 days though, and good to see Lucy again!
We spent a lot of time lazing on the beach on the first day, and went out on the Friday or Saturday (I can’t really remember now) - not much in the way of night life in Hawaii, but it was a fun night and we met some pretty strange people! We did all the usual touristy things, like snorkelling at Hanauma Bay- we saw a turtle almost as soon as we got in the water. I was so stoked, it was the one thing I really wanted to see! It was huge too, and cruised under us for a little while then came up for air and cruised off. Turtles are cool- it reminded me of Finding Nemo. I might get a pet one when I get home 
We also went to the Hawaiian Waters theme park thing- no one will believe me but I went on ALL, yes ALL the rides (most of them I went on twice!!) - they were just water slides but some really cool ones- like the one that kind of flushes you through a cyclone thingy, and another that is just an almost vertical drop that you zoom down and up the other side. That one was the scariest; we went really high as well! Fun though! After that we had a few more chilled out days lying on Waikiki beach with Luc and catching up on the three months of sleep we missed. It was really nice and mellow!
On Wednesday (?) Sarah and I went parasailing, which I thought was going to be really scary but was actually not at all scary and just heaps of fun. The guys who ran it were a bit weird, but took heaps of photo on Sarah’s camera for us so we didn’t have to buy theirs which was nice! We went up about 600ft just off Waikiki- had a wicked view of the hills behind it which have all these cool stormy, misty clouds over them all the time, even though its sunny down on the coast. It was really fun! We thought we better get some exercise after that and headed up Diamond Head, which is a crater at the eastern end of Waikiki. It was a good walk up a billion stairs ( I definitely need to get fitter!) but the view from the top was awesome, and we got to see a patchy of stormy rain move across the sea and towards us, which was cool coz I’m a geek and like clouds, and also cool coz it made a pretty rainbow over the sea.
We crashed for like two days after the walk, and did some more sleeping and lying on the beach and a little shopping in between. Lucy’s host brother(?) Chuck and cousin, Captain Kepa, took us out sailing on our last day which was really cool. We saw another turtle chilling out in the bay and got to go swimming and help sail the boat and got dragged along behind it on the way home, which was fun, but funnier to watch Lucy by herself when the boat was going really fast- she got a lot of water in her face lol. It was really cool and the family she stayed with are awesome! Good contacts to have on the island and around uni!
I left early Monday morning, and Sarah stayed an extra day with Lucy at her dorm, which is pretty nice for uni accommodation. I got to LA quite late, about 10pm LA time, so went straight to a hotel, which worked out to be pretty good. It was on special for the room, and had a free shuttle to and from the airport, as well as free breakfast (and lunch coz I stole some food from there so I wouldn’t have to buy any). I spent today wandering around the nearest shopping mall getting a few last minute gifts and generally wasting time and money. LA is alright, not really my cup of tea but I suppose its ok for a big city. It would have been cool to get out to the beach, but its really expensive here so didn’t really have the money too. I’m sitting in the airport now, super early for my flight and the internet isn’t working so I don’t have quite as much to do as I though. I’ll try put this up from Sydney when I get there and photos to come on Facebook when I get home.
It has been an amazing adventure the last four months, and I definitely think I’ll do it again next year!

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