Photos!

Due to several technical difficulties I was unable to post the photos for the blog last night, so here they are now!

Full house anyone? Even a little bit?

Very steep streets, much like San Francisco

A movie theatre in Wellington 

The cross NZ trek!

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013
“The Cross NZ Trek”
(Photos coming soon)

So, today we started our 1500km journey from Auckland to Queenstown, “The Adventure Capital of the world!  It was a bit of a crazy plan from the beginning, but it did all work out well, here’s how it went.

6:00am- wake up, pack up, roll out!
7:15- depart by bus from Auckland 
11:10- Arrive in Rotorura, meet chuck, repack bags
12:55pm- depart by bus for Wellington
8:00 - arrive in Wellington, make way to hostel

While traveling like this, it’s amazing how many people we got to talk to, and it just reaffirms the fact that everyone has a story. I’ve pretty much given up on remembering all of them, but here are some examples of the various people we met and heard about their unique lives.
A father of 3 who had managed a pro team more than one as they traveld all over Europe
A tipsy elderly mauri man on vacation
A girl who had been abroad for 2 years in 5 different countries and is now back in NZ for school
A 10 year old heading back to his mom’s place after the weekend with his dad.  He loves minecraft and longboarding.
A 31ish year old doctor on her way to visit family while she takes 6 months off of work

The travels are all part of the fun and Travis and I are both super pumped to get to Queenstown and see what adventures await us there!  As we explain our travel pattern to people, their typical response is laughter as it’s fairly…unconventional. Most people would try to work from 1 direction to the other, while we’re bopping everywhere.  Oh well.

Once we actually arrived in Wellington, it only took us 2 separate occasions of people asking us if were lost before we found our hostel.  It was not nearly as nice as Auckland, but our roommates were nice and we all went to sleep at a decent hour.  

Two things I really noticed from this day.

#1. I have a strong desire to keep a “travelers mentality” upon arriving back home. This means things like driving a few hours is not a problem, taking pictures of everything becomes normal, and I want to make an effort to explore my city, province and country all the time!  So, Churchill, here I come!

#2. Traveling requires constantly learning and adapting.  There are just so many things to know like that you need your own lock for the lockers, need to swipe your key for main door after a certain time, and the list goes on!  New things all the time!

Catchin' you up on the happenings

Saturday, Jan 19, 2013

“I be chillin’ “

What a chillax day.  One of the first in a while, so it was a pretty sweet day.  Basically, I slept in, cleaned up my cabin, went biking on the camp trails, went for  run on the camp trails, did a (really) small workout on the playground equipment and then had a fantastically enjoyable facetime convo with my dear friends KelseyG and Hanza!  (thanks team). 

After that I helped Chuck destroy some rock with the rented digger, had a late “Tea” (supper) and we watched a bit of American idol.  I also learned more about 7^th Day Adventists, but would want to research it a bit more before posting any of my new knowledge for fear of being horribly inaccurate.   Also, I’m pretty excited for my adventure that starts tomorrow!

Looks pretty good.  Like nothing ever happened really.

A view from one of the camp bike trails...typical NZ.

Seriously crushing some rock!

Sunday, Jan 20, 2013

“Adventure time”

Today I attended church with Chuck and his family, and wow have I missed that sense of community and Christian fellowship!  It was an absolutely wonderful experience and I was able to meet SO many wonderful people and they were so…wonderful! I had a huge grin on my face pretty much the whole time and I was just refueled and filled by God!  What a sweet little diverse church.  They also had a solid/together band, and I knew most of the songs they sang.  It was cool to see how similar church is, even in another country.  They too had their various bulletin boards promoting their upcoming mission trips, youth events, and other info. 

We were sitting a few rows behind the “youth section”, and there a was a elderly couple 2 rows in front of us and it was super sweet to see how the youth clearly loved them and gravitated towards them.  I don’t know they were, but clearly the cared about the youth and the youth knew it. As I watched it as an outsider I was challenged to be that type of 60+ year old.

Just 2 other things worth noting. 

#1. We had communion and there were absolutely zero guidelines given and so I carefully watched others to know how they specifically did it.  At first I wished they had provided some more structure, but as it went on, I realized that there was really no was to do it wrong.  It was all good, we were just having communion and that was that.

#2. They had members of their youth preaching all summer (the month of January) and it was super sweet to have a young person give the ‘sermon’.  The guy who preached that Sunday did great, and I thought it was a really great idea and the youth seemed to genuinely appreciate the opportunity.

I also went to Maca’s and had the Kiwi burger, complete with fried egg and beet.  It was ok except for the beet.  While there I received a huge compliment when I commented that the burger was “terrible” (but only when the beet was still in it, I took it out later). Jenny Lynn said that was the first negative thing she’d heard me say.  Wow, after 2 weeks, that’s how she’s seen me be?  That’s exciting, cuz I really want to be a positive person, and that was just a bit of encouragement that I’m succeeding at being who I want to be.

I was then off to Auckland aboard the nakedbus.com line.  (the naked referring to a striped down service with not a lot of frills, but great prices).  On the bus I sat beside Terry from the South Island, and he offered me a place to stay if I made it down there. It was a great conversation and he was able to offer me lots of advice for my upcoming trip!  When we finally arrived in Auclkand, we were late, so I n longer knew what bus to take, so I just walked the 5ish blocks to my hostel.  But as I got close to where it should be, I still had no idea where it was.  A random guy (just looks at me an say “You look lost”) on the street ended up walking with me and his mates to the hostel, where they were staying too.  It’s such a friendly place it amazes me each day.  The hostel is actually super nice, and I have my own room and bathroom, it’s pretty much just a very small hotel room. 

Anyways, I’m up at 4:30 to get Travis, so good night!

Such a great church experience!

Our rather nice hostel room.

Monday, Jan 21, 2013

“Travis Time!”

Ok, so it was a real early morning, but the bussing went great, Travis arrived safely and it so our traveling adventure really starts!  One thing I’m learning is that I need to ask people for advice and help all the time, because they are super willing and able to help.  Another thing I’m learning is that you sometimes have to keep asking for help until you find someone who really does know what they are talking about. (we walked a little bit extra to get to the bus from the airport due to this fact). 

The arrivals area in an international airport may be one of the happiest places around and I much enjoyed sitting there watching all of the joyous reunions.

As for the day, Travis and I went back to the hostel, dropped off his stuff, and then set out to walk the streets and find breakfast (and we found a sweet little place) and then wait until more things were open as at this point it was still before 8:00AM.  At 9:00 we boarded an on-and-off tour bus that went to 14 of the main Auckland attractions, and from there we started sightseeing and snapping pics!  Our sights included some parks/monuments, an aquarium, and the wharf where 2 huge cruise ships sat. 

A highlight from that tour would have to be the crazy and fun aussie kids we met and hung out with for the next few hours!  Where were super fun and if felt like we’d known each forever when it finally came time to say farewell. 

After our many hours of adventure we headed to a sweet little place for lunch, and then back to the room to recharge for the evening’s activities.

For the evening we went out walking (as we did a lot that day) to the pier and it was awesome!  Auckland is a beautiful and very clean city (at least where we were). Travis is a champ at starting conversations with everyone, so we talked to a local who’s a bit of a songwriter and she told us about some stuff to do in the city.  As we walked around, we decided to fly to Queenstown ASAP, rather than hang in Rotorua for a while first.  This meant we had to book bus tickets, hostel rooms, and plane tickets, and all in all the plan is a bit crazy, but we’d have it no other way!

Real life penguins! 

 

Ok friends, who does she look like?

A sweet muffin place for lunch. We pretty
much became regulars there.

Lucy, one of our crazy Aussie friends!

A cool park area on the pier.  

Travis got shrunk!

It was really really beautiful!

Burgers, Quading-Biking, and Beauty!

Thursday, Jan 17, 2013

Meet John (the red thing)

Not too much to report on, but I’ve done a few fun things today. 

#1.  We got a dry-wall lift and it is amazing.  Martin named it “John” and we LOVE John.  Makes our job SO much easier!

#2. Ate the LARGEST burger I’ve ever seen today.  Went to a place called “Fat Dogs” and it was amazing.  It’s a pretty sweet place and the have their Tomato Sauce in a squeezable tomato, and instead of giving your table a number, they give you a random item thing so they know where to bring your food. 

#3.  When grocery shopping with Chuck and his family and I had fun hanging out with Gibson as we went on adventures looking for things like parmesan cheese, soy sauce, and salsa.  This simple things are made much harder in a new store in a different country.

I finished it all!

NZ Fact of the Day:

 In Iceland they use geothermal heat to melt keep their sidewalks clear.  ( I know, I know, it’s not about NZ, but I learned it while being here)

Friday, Jan 18, 2013

It was another splendid day for various reasons today!

Reason #1: I’m done working!! We finished all the dry-walling we were supposed to, so that felt awesome. I also finally finished the pole repair from my first day’s incident. 

Reason #2: I booked my bus ticket to Auckland and accommodations at a hostel for  Sunday/Monday when I go and meet Travis at the airport!  I’m inexpressibly excited to begin traveling and hanging out with Trav in Kiwiland!  I know it’s going to be such a party!

Reason #3:  I did some biking on the super sweet trails at the camp, and wow are some of them crazy steep, but all are crazy pretty!  I wish I could properly show/describe it to you all.  Breathtaking!

Reason #4: I went quading with Martin and he showed me all the hidden away parts of the camp that I hadn’t seen yet.  It was awesome ripping around the trails on quad and again, they are beautiful! 

A secret group of cabins!

Reason #5: In the evening I hung out at Chuck’s place with his fam and Martin & Mel and we laughed and laughed over our tea and fresh cookies.  Discussion topics included:

-  A lot of knock knock jokes, (Gibby’s book initiated it and it got seriously ridiculous) - Hockey (as a Czech Martin knows hockey, rare to find someone like that in NZ),

- Animal intelligence (one guy created a dispenser that put out a treat for a crow if they put in a coin and the crows rapidly learned how to do this, so he started raking in $200-$300 a week from the sharp eyed crows!)

So yeah, it’s been great, and  is getting even better each moment.  I praise God often as I see the beauty around me and get to experience the various things that come up each day.  I am truly blessed.

Fun Times Galore!

Monday, Jan 14, 2013

“The Best Day Ever!”

Today, I had SO much fun!  I got to hang out with some of the “camp kids” (their parents work at the camp) and I realized (again) how much I really prefer hanging out with kids rather than adults!  Kids are more fun and more open to having fun no matter what the circumstances!  Anyways, I went to their house for supper, or “Tea” as they call it and first I had a spontaneous water fight (in the rain) with the youngest two dudes (Cody-12 & Kyan-almost 11), then the others (Lemar-16, and Cesh-17) joined us in the Spa (hot tub) for a while.  But the fun was just getting going as after we warmed up, we went to the trampoline and covered it in soap and played on it for a long time, making up games, competitions, and other randomly fun things! It was really my kind of evening, full of fun, spontaneity, and laughter!

The more I talk to travelers and learn about other places, the more I have the desire to continue to travel in my lifetime. 

STORY - Mel

Worked at EMI records, then at Universal Studio and designed movie posters and such.  But when that all got old, she went back to school and studied reflexology!  And now, she’s traveling the for a year or so. What a life!

Tuesday, Jan 15, 2013
“Camp talk, Luge, Macas and more!”

Gondola to the Cafe/Luge

Today as we worked, Martin (the Czech) told me about the camp he’s been a part of for years, and it sounds awesome!  They have these huge strategy battle games based on a different theme each summer.  It sounds super intense and the kids (usually) love it! They also sometimes incorporate rubbish collection in the forest as part of the game (“We teach about the environment, but in the good way, not the crazy way”)  Other notable facts are that the teenager camper sleep in their own cottage with no adult supervision, (don’t worry, their parents sign off so that the camp staff can search the kids bags if they suspect anything…) while the younger kids sleep in a dorm style building with at least 1 camp leader per floor.  It was really cool to hear his passion for the camp and to hear about how  things are done at camps in a different country.  

It was also a super sweet day as after work I did my first Mountain Biking since being here and saw again how beautiful and diverse this camp is!  There is so much land and so many different landscapes to see!  The have a little track that is only used to drift cars on when it’s wet!

Then we went up the gondola in Rotorua for supper at the café, followed by the coolest Luge riding.  That’s def gotta be the next WBC activity!  And after all that we went to McDonalds which they call “Macas” here. 

I miss these boxes!

Oh, and if you though my day was done you’d be wrong!  Once we returned toTui, I hopped on my bike and rode 2km in the rain, saw my first possum, and hung out with the kids from Monday and ended up having the greatest “God Talk” of my trip so far with my new Auzzie mate Lemar! The way that God has come into his life and turned it around 180 degrees is nothing short of a miracle, and it was super awesome to talk with him and encourage him and be encouraged by what God is doing and by the passion inside him!  Wow, what a day! 

Wednesday, Jan 16

"Work, Scooter, and Plan" 

Quite an assortment

 Today we started putting up gib board (or “gyprock”), and it’s really affirming in my that construction is not my calling.  It’s not that I hate it, but I’m really not great at it, and if I were to build a house I’m pretty sure it would resemble something from a Dr. Seuss story.

For Tea today (“supper “ for my non Kiwi friends) we had a potluck, so that was fun.  It was at 7:00 though, and I’m still trying to figure it out, but it seems like eating around 7 is pretty normal. Afterwards I hung out with Kyan and he taught me some sweet scooter tricks. 

I’m working on planning the 2 weeks of traveling for when Travis comes and it’s harder than I thought.  Trying to figure out where to go, what to all do, and the hardest thing, how to get there is proving to be overwhelming at times. But I’ll keep plugging away at it, and I know that no matter what we’ll have a fantastic time!

VOCAB (continued)
Uut- small truck
Queue - Line (updated spelling)

Sesh Up – to smoke pot

Petrol – Gas/fuel