adventures in wonderland!

hey guys!
sorry it has been a little while since i last posted here; life has been a bit fast paced. as you know this is my 2 week break from school and i am traveling around the south island. i am loving every minute of this trip! it is truly amazing.

to recap the past week or so i will fill you in on the highlights and then you can check out facebook for some more photos.

- christchurch = beautiful city. small and centrally located. hard first day b/c i arrived on my own and didnt know anyone yet. spent most of the day wandering around trying to find food (much to your surprise, i know!). rode the trolley cars, went to a few museums (saw some davinci stuff), walked through some gardens, ate some food, and caught a movie. good day. bus came early so i hit the sack fairly early.

- kaikora = lovely city. the seas (all 7, robin) were really rough so the dolphin swim was cancelled. real bummer. but i went horseback riding through some beautful countryside and loved it. ate some fish and chips. had a room to my self in the hostel (a rare find, indeed!). small downtown and some fun shops.

- nelson = found the center or NZ! straight up the steepest hill ever! fernanda (my friend i met on the trip, from brazil) and i and our friend richard (from england) took a day trip to abel tazman national park. beauitful!!! nice day hike and then spent the rest of the day laying on the beach. what a day : ) on the water taxi to the beach we saw a seal eat an octopus!!! for real - it was amazing. the ink bled out and everything!!! so cool

- greymouth = lived up to its name. awful weather kept us inside most of the day. pouring down rain. dinner and a movie night in the hostel!

- franz josef = amazing. rained all day on the first day we were there. i went indoor ice climbing. so cool. the next day, much to our surprise, the rains cleared and it was a lovely morning. i took a helihike (rode in a helicopter aroudn the glacier, then landed on the glacier, then hiked the glacier!!!) on farnz josef. mangaged to find an ice cave to climb (only momentarily) into. loved it. coolest thing i have ever done in my life. spent the afternoon in a hammock reading.

- queenstown = adventure capital of the world!!!!! I LOVE THIS TOWN. so much to do and see. i went bungy jumping (the only one on the magic bus brave enough to try) on the bridge where bungy jumping began! screamed bloody murder the entire way down and managed to keep my eyes open too! i have a tshirt and sweat shirt to prove this as well as a DVD you all must see at some point. complete worth it and amazing. fernanda jumped today and i was so proud (she was too scared to do it yesterday but toughed it out today adn was really glad she did). it was awesome. we took the gondola to the top of queenstown to see the rest of the city. our magic bus friends from scotland out did our jumps though - they all 3 jumped in KILTS. no lie. it was not pretty!

im on to dunedin and then tekapo then back home to auckland within the next few days. i have 40 days til i return home. i am ready. hope you are well. i love you all! see you soon : )