So this is my schedule for the rest of my time

Fiji- Dec 1st-8th
Australia- Dec 9th-19th (Cairns 9th-14th and Sydney 14th-19th)

HOME Dec 19th 10:06 PM

I miss you all and can't wait to see you. I promise to be safe while I am in Aus!!!!!!!!

Slacker

Ok I know I haven't written on here in FOREVER! My S.island trip was bad ass... bar far the best part so far. Did so much I can't write about it all!

This past weekend was labor day weekend and we headed north. A friend of mine (Samantha S.) is traveling around New Zealand and spent the past week with me. We went scuba diving in the Poor Knight Islands. It was wicked. The water was around 57 degrees, but it was so worth it. We saw some sea slugs (nudibranchs), some scorpion fish and a bunch of other beautiful things. Then we went to the Bay of Islands where we took a day tour of the 144 islands and at the very end of our trip we saw DOLPHINS! My life long dream came true....they were wild and a baby one jumped in the air for us TWICE. It was breathtaking. I just love those animals. After that amazing afternoon the day got even better when went further north to the sand dunes. They were so crazy! We rented boggie boards and flew down em. We could only go a few times because the hill was soooo steep and every step would sink into the sand. Our next destination was cape Reinga. Here is the very north tip of N Z and where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meets..... it is also believed to be the departing point for the spirits of the Maori dead. On the way home down the west coast is the home of the enormous Kauri tree, 2000 years old.

Today back in Auckland and took Samantha to her bus today. Only two more weeks of classes, one week of study and two weeks of finals....I'll be home before I know it..... don't know if I am ready to leave.

learning to fly, but i aint got wings

It is safe to say that I just had the best weekend so far. It began on Thursday when Sam, Davis, Duga and I all bungee jumped off Auckland’s harbor bridge. It was AMAZING. Wait until you see the video. I was scared out of my mind. Sam and I were the only ones who got to hit the water and of course, I hit the damn water so hard I got a black eye…which is still changing colors on Monday. but it was soooo worth it. Then on Friday, we headed for Tauranga to go surfing. Once we got there we stayed at a backpackers and woke up to find absolutely NO surf…. new plan…. we climbed Mt. Maunganui which was indescribable. After that, we drove about two hours north to Coromandel. We arrived at night so we stayed at another backpackers…which had a hot tub :) the next morning we went to one of National Geographic’s top ten beaches. It took 30 mins to walk over and around tons of rocks, but once we got there, it was paradise. Seriously. It was incredible. The beach was completly hidden and NO ONE was there except us.... We couldn’t stay too long because we had a sailing appointment at two and that was another spectacular experience. I had sooooo much fun. I felt like a little kid. I was sitting at the front of the boat, riding the waves and getting splashed by the water. We leave for the S. Island on SEP. 14th and I can't wait to see what that Island has to offer. Once again I have to say how truly grateful I am for this...and how blessed I am for this opportunity! I wish you guys were here to experience this with me...it's remarakable.

hallelujah

So on Sunday I went to church for the first time here in Auckland and it was more than I could have asked for.

Samantha, Davis and I all went in on a car together. Davis got it from some guys that studied last semester. There is a slight problem…the power steering is out, so Davis has just been chofering us around. I tried driving it yesterday and it was nearly impossible. We took it in to get fixed and hopefully we will have it back before the weekend.

There are a few places we want to visit south east of Auckland, here in the next few weeks. We will stay one night in Tauranga where we can swim with wild dolphins…eek The next day we will head over to Rotorua where we will white water raft though one of the most intense rivers. It is only a 50 min run with 14 waterfalls, one with a 23 foot drop…it is the southern hemisphere’s highest commercially rafter water fall….oh I am gonna scream so loud!!! While we are there, we will also Zorb…zorbing is basically a huge hamster ball that rolls down a hill…except I am inside, instead of a hamster.

Other than that, the weekend was good. Sam, Lena, Juliane and I all went out on Saturday to celebrate Juliane’s 22 birthday. We had a great time. We went and ate at this yummy Italian restaurant and then went to the Sky Tower. (Google it)



My classes are still going well…today it was cold and rainy, but it rains everyday…
xoxo

Ahh Londons

So, I was on campus yesterday and what do you know I saw a London....there was this older lady and her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel walking around. Her pups name was Daniel, "the spaniel" and he was one year old. Just like my baby. He was so cute...she works in the office above our student hub. You know I'll be making a weekly visit ( or more) to see the little baby. I miss you London!!

Road Trip # 1

So today is Sunday and we have had another amazing week. We began school and got situated in our classes. Up until Oct 11th I will have four day weekends, but once it’s Oct 11th I begin my Thursday class which is… SIX hours long…yeah that’s gonna be a fun one!!!! Yesterday we went North about 45 miles to what we thought were natural hot springs but it ended up being a warm swimming pool with tons of small screaming kids. Samantha and I road with our new friends Lena and Juliane who are from Germany. They bought a car a few days ago, but they are used to the same side of the road as America…needless to say we held on to the “oh shit handle” for the majority of the ride. She actually did very well…it’s so confusing and the traffic here is wild. Saw some sheep on the way...I can't wait to go to Sheep World and hold the baby lambs!!! :) We ended up hanging at the beach for a few hours, which was so nice. It is sooooo pretty here!!! We collected some shells and I recieved one as a gift. (From a cute boy) Turns out it had a rotting snail inside and it smelled like royal butt!!! Some gift :)

After the beach we stopped and ate some yummy fish and chips and went home. Today it is raining, so we are going to go see the Simpson’s movie….”Would you like to buy a slurpy?” (that’s for you Ashley)

Here are some more pictures that Samantha has taken

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueeyedfawn/

We got no food, no jobs... our PET'S HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!"

So, the last few days have been a bit frustrating. Today we ran out of power... (yeah we pay with these strange cards...it's really annoying) it's now 7:00 and pitch black in out flat. Sam has ten dollars in cash left and the power cards run on $20... of course I have $0... On Saturday night I locked myself out of my room and I got my debit card eaten by the ATM machine. hummm None of my calling cards have been working so I called my dad with my credit card. A three min conversation was $20.

Classes began today and I am taking Maori culture, Leisure sports, Interpersonal Communication and Gender studies. My Maori and sports classes are going to be interesting. The Maori people are native to New Zealand and we will be learning all about their culture and history. My sports class will take us rock climbing, cave seeing and other exciting fun things around New Zealand!!

Saturday night we went to Queen Street ( the main strip) and watched the rugby match. It was New Zealand vs. Australia. Needless to say, it was a huge game for this part of the world. Afterwards we went down to the dock where the nightlife takes place. There was a group of about ten of us, all from Germany, U.S.A. and Mexico. Out of all the students here there are only five Americans; I find it odd that out of the millions of people in America only a few study abroad.

Everyone is sooooo funny. We have made a few videos that are priceless!! People from other countries are so entertaining!! I
love it here.