Back from Middle-Earth

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G'day (No I don't say that shit yet)

Just got back into Sydney from New Zealand last night. That was a great trip I won't forget. I will give you the rundown. Kelly and I got into town a night before our Contiki bus was set to take off, so we went around town and checked out Christchurch Cathedral, got some food etc. The cathedral is pretty cool, and it is right in the dead center of town. It is a nice, mellow town, not a ton to do or going on. So I went to bed by myself in a room for 4 people. My roommates stumble in at about 3 am from their late flight and drinking. I can't see what they look like, but I get my ass out of bed shake their hands and go back to sleep. They turned out to be pretty good blokes (haven't really used it but I heard a lot of Aussie talk this week, so we will see).

We got our asses out of bed and had nasty ass breakfast #1 for the week (if I had nasty ass eggs, strong tasting ham/bacon, and tasteless sausage one more time for breakfast I was going to puke at the end). We got on the bus and took off to Lake Ohau. Lauren and Colleen got in late as fuck too by the way and woke me up before the other guys did. I have a pic of them sleeping on the bus on the ol' facebook. Lake Ohau is this place out in the middle of nowhere, but they have a cool lodge with spas and a bar on the lake. Beautiful setting. I went for a run and got my ass kicked. I am so out of cardio shape right now. That is something I will start working on. Lauren had her 21st birthday tonight, and we made sure she was properly smashed. This girl is a ridiculous light weight, so it did not take much to take her down. People started to get to know each other this night on the trip and the fun was beginning. I woke up in the night to hearing the girls talking about how Lauren was going to be okay to the bartender because she had puked all over herself and the bed and was planning on sleeping in her pool of vomit. Good times, she enjoyed the next day's bus ride for sure.

Back on the bus bright and early. This time we had a monster drive all day to make it to Milford Sound. This is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world. I haven't seen the entire world, but it can't get much more majestic or untouched than this place. The bush is so thick, people can't even get through it in most of the park. Anyways it is a fjord, which means it is an inlet that was carved out by a glacier, thus the steep ass canyon walls. Check out the pics, I took plenty. We had an overnight cruise there which was cool, where I got drunk and everyone had some major bonding sessions: drinking games, never have I ever, singing, and listening to this guy who doesn't know he is gay be in the center of attention on the table with everyone laughing at him. Hilarious. Oh, we went kayaking and such as well.

Alright, well we went out to the bus again and had a flat tire. So, the driver changed it and we took off for Queenstown. Queenstown is an unreal town, the adventure capitol of the world. You can go rafting, bungy jumping, river boarding, sky diving, sky swinging, jetboat rides, and on scenic tours via Horses or Lord of the Rings or whatever. I chose bungy jumping, river boarding, and canyon swinging. I went on the three bungy's they had there, the highest and most amazing being Nevis at 420 feet. It is the biggest bungy free fall you can get anywhere in the world. It was the most exhilirating, liberating thing I have ever done. People were freaking out, but I really had gotten the nerves out on the K Bridge and now I was ready to just be Free, Free Falling. I have DVDs of all my bungy jumps, so stay tuned for some cool shit. I also did the K-Bridge which is like 130 feet, the 1st commercial bungy site in the world and also the urban ledge up on a hill 1400 feet above Queenstown at night. I ran and jumped off of the ledge and the rebounds were huge there, so I still got a big thrill on that one even after Nevis. In addition to the bungy jumping, I did the canyon swing. It is a 200 foot free fall followed by a big swing across the canyon. I did that backwards and the other way was gimp (which is hanging me upside down pointing to the canyon floor and pulling the cord), gimp was better. River Boarding sucked ass. It is like rafting except you are in the water going through the rapids on this boogy board type thing. The water was less than 40 degrees, no shit, and I only wore one wetsuit so I hated it. It would have been fun if I wasn't getting hypothermia. They took us around on the jetski, attached to the back and that was atleast fun.

As far as Queenstown night life goes, we went out a few nights which consisted of Minus 5 bar, karyoke, and ummm me getting on the bar for a dance contest and stripped by the girls and sprayed down. Enough said.

The bus next headed for Fox Glacier. We had a 4 hour hike up on the glacier which was cold as expected, but I didn't have any problem with the cold this time. Had to hike through a rain forest to get to a glacier, so it was kind of a unique experience. Saw the only flightless parrot in the world hopping around on the hike, that was pretty cool. I have some pictures of this, check it out, nothing interesting of note really happened other than the scenic views. I went to bed early because you all know how I like to get sick if I am rundown so that was preventative. I heard some good karyoke was going on though as everyone had bonded by now.

We had to make the trip to Christchurch to finish up the tour and we all went out to dinner at Lonestar (not the US version) but atleast there were big portions. Then we hit the town which was a disappointment because their rugby team tied a shitty team so everyone was pissed. The music was iffy at times as well, so I had to get really drunk to be able to dance to the shit. Anyways, next evening we flew back and here I am in Sydney again. That is my quick rundown of the South Island of New Zealand. Goto Queenstown!

Oh and if you were slow on what I was talking about with Middle-Earth, that is the setting of the Lord of the Rings which was filmed in New Zealand which is a big tourist thing they capitalize on now. Also, New Zealand is full of sheep everywhere. It is pretty much their economy. Anyways, that is all. I'm missing Lil 500 right now and all my homies.

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Comments

[Jennifer]

Word
Hey Johnboy - sounds like you had fun, would NOT be the place for me - bungy jumping, hell no. Anyway - sent your entry to Mom/Dad - it took me ten minutes to edit your foul mouth and vomit talk... :) Anyway, miss you - keep having fun for me :)