"This one time in New Zealand..."

It has already started... sorry, guys.

You'll probably be hearing a lot of stories that start with "this one time in New Zealand." It's already annoying me though so maybe I'll rid myself of the habit before I return home in 5 days!

I've done some thinking and have tried to compile an FAQ of sorts so people don't feel pressured into talking to me about the trip when I return. If I answer all the questions now, maybe I won't have to repeat everything 249023 times.  :)   You're still more than welcome to ask, but I hate when people feel like they have to talk to me about it just because it's all I've known for the past 2 months.

FAQ:

Favorite thing I saw: The view from Te Henga walkway (Muriwai Beach, NZ) and AYERS ROCK (Uluru -Australia)... perfect way to begin and end the trip.

(Didn't do a separate blog entry for the rock, but it was AMAZING!) 

Favorite memory: going out on the boat with Hamish (our kiwi dad!)

Favorite part of the trip: THE PEOPLE. Kiwi hospitality = top notch. Also have met some amazing people (from all over the world) through tours and hostels. Love the conversations.

Favorite activity: BUNGY JUMPING. Duh.

Most annyoing part of the trip: living out of a suitcase for 2 months!

Least favorite part of the trip: missing my dog, being homesick, and worksick  0:)

Would I do something differently? No. I've gone back and forth about how things played out (especially the second half of NZ) but I'm glad we did what we did. Traveling on our own and not staying with families made things more expensive, (and sometimes stressful) but we got to see a lot more.

Maybe would have arranged Australia differently. Should have spent less time in Sydney and explored more of the country... but again, time & money were an issue. I feel like we explored NZ really well, but Australia not so much.  :(

What did I miss the most from home? Already answered this (people back home and MY DOG)... but other than that, I've really been craving Panera and quesadillas.  haha And I miss working...

How have you grown?
What have you learned?
How have you changed? 
^^These questions will be answered (and more) in my next blog post. Stay tuned for "Reflections."

TRIP SUMMARY: 

First few weeks in New Zealand were spent in the north island (Auckland, Raglan, Rotorua) in which we stayed with host families and worked in exchange for meals and accomodation. We arrived in south island and stayed with a host family in Picton. After that we were on our own and went down the west coast/southern end of south island. (Motueka, Westport, Greymouth, Franz Josef, Wanaka, Te Anau, Owaka, Queenstown, Catlins, Dunedin) 

Went to Sydney and stayed for 11 days... then a few days in Alice Springs/Outback.

TRIP NOTABLE MENTIONS:

The longest I've been out of the country.

First time staying with host families.

First time riding on the back of a motorcycle.

First time hitchhiking.

First time horse back riding.

First time staying in hostels.

First time renting a car.

First time driving on the wrong side of the road.

First time climbing a mountain.

Highest commercially rafted waterfall

Longest walk -Abel Tasman National Park... 8 hours (12.5 miles)

World's biggest swing

Australasia's highest bungy

World home of bungy jumping bungy

First time walking on a glacier

First time in a big city on my own

First time navigating a big city on my own (bus & train!)

First HILLSONG service

First time in the desert

*I'll probably add more as I think of them. :)

So hopefully this entry provided an overview and answered some of the basic questions. Again, I'll write another post reflecting more deeply on the whole trip and "blah blah blah."  
Enjoy SPRING! :)

hallucinations and other craziness

1. I thought I saw the Statue of Libery from the Sydney Harbour Bridge
2. I thought I saw my dog in my hostel room
3. I thought I saw NUMEROUS people from back home walking the streets of Sydney

yeah... I think it's time to go home.

I woke up at 4:30am thinking it was 7 or 8 in the morning... WRONG.

yeah... I think it's time to go home.

Home... where I can sleep in my own bed, live out of a closet instead of a suitcase, and quit spending a ridiculous amount of money.

In other news... went to HILLSONG again today for the evening service. And I managed to catch a train and a bus and walk... on my own... without freaking out. CHECK OUT THIS CITY GIRL NOW!   Just kidding... but I was quite proud of myself. :) Hillsong is awesome in that everyone is so ridiculously friendly. 50 people will come up and start talking to you and introduce themselves. Granted, I don't remember a single one of them, but a couple added me on facebook and want to do something when I return to Sydney next week.

Oh yeah, I'm headed to Alice Springs tomorrow.... and the OUTBACK in the coming days! Super pumped.

mmmmm yeah. I think that's it for now.

Hoping for some sunshine... need to get my tan back before I go home!

1 WEEK, YO!

Getting lost... every day.

This is going to be a long entry... sorry.  Maybe just look at the pictures and read "the last bit." That's the most interesting, probably. :)

Tuesday:

Woke up and walked to Sydney Tower... got to see the view of everything from up there. I don't think it was worth the $$, but what can you do? Pretty sure I did it last time I was here too...

After that I went for a supposed "harbour bridge walk" ... with free lunch. HA!  Okay, so first of all WE NEVER EVEN WALKED OVER THE BRIDGE. We walked to it, we walked to the opera house, and walked through a park. NOT ACROSS THE BRIDGE. ALSO... in regards to the free picnic lunch, you'd think there would be beverages. NO. THE GUY STINKIN' FORGOT THE WATER AND ONLY HAD SOME ALCOHOLIC DRINK. (Which I didn't realize was alcohol until I poured it)  The guy leading it was full of himself...I didn't care for him at all.  hmph.

But... enough venting. I met a couple nice guys from Canada/U.S.!  YAY!  :)  That made the trip worth it, I guess. And it was free.


Wednesday:

RAINY AND YUCKY.  Wednesday was kind of cool in that I got to hang out with both of the girls I'm traveling with. The picture below is of me and my German sister, Carla! It was her last day so we hung out and walked a little bit of Harbour Bridge. Had some good laughs along the way too. :)

After Carla left I met up with Anna... who just got here. She's from Cincinnati as well and we've been friends since 1st grade.

In regards to the title... Darling Harbour (which is pictured above)  is literally a 5 minute walk from where I'm staying. It took me around 20-30 minutes  to find it. Granted, if I actually used a map and TRIED, I could probably find it a lot faster.  I hate using maps because I don't want to look like a tourist... and I always seem to think I know where I'm going ... so I just walk. And then ask someone where to go... and they tell me... and then I ask the next person... and they tell me something else... and I literally ask at least 10 people per trip.  When Carla and I were walking around she stopped and asked some guy where to go. She was pointing one way and he was pointing the other way. I couldn't contain my laughter anymore. CLASSIC. 

This is why I don't travel alone.  :)  On the other hand, since I have SO MUCH TIME in Sydney, I'm in no rush so I don't mind walking.  

Thursday:

Did a walking tour of Sydney... it was okay. And it was free! 3 hour FREE walking tour! That's pretty good... problem was that it was another rainy day. (2 days in a row... what gives!?)

The last bit:  

2 things... 

1. I don't like hostels, but I've met/talked to some really cool people. I'm staying in an all girls room and one night I met some nice Norwegians and yesterday I met a girl from London... who hung out with us today. (pictured above) Tonight... it's so cool because there's me (U.S.), a Korean, a Columbian, a German, and a Finnish girl. The dynamic is so fun. We've been talking and laughing and having a good ol' time. Really nice girls.  

2.  I think I caught the travel bug. It's weird because ... I want to go home, but at the same time... I want to come back out again. I keep hearing people talk of traveling the world and backpacking and .... I want to see more. NOW IS THE TIME TO DO IT. I WANT TO DO MORE.   ....sigh.   I don't know what's going to happen in the coming years, but I'd like to go back out again and spend a month or so in Europe. I have someone to stay with in Germany and in London now... 

I think everyone knows how incredibly homesick I am and how much I want to go back to work, but if for some reason things didn't work out in Cincinnati, I'd either move to A. Nashville B. New Zealand C. Sydney.  (maybe not even in that order?) And definitely no more than a year. :)

the better days...

Went to Featherdale Wildlife Park on Saturday. REALLY enjoyed it. It was a lot better than the other zoo we went to last time. Was kind of nervous at first because I had to take a bus and a train to get there... as you might remember from my previous post, THAT IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY NERVE WRACKING FOR ME. But I did it! I navigated the big city on my own. (with the help of about 20 other people)  BUT I DID IT.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the park:

(and they didn't charge you for taking pictures with the koalas!!)

 wallaby

 koala

kangaroo

Easter Sunday was AWESOME.  Went to 2 services through Hillsong (CLASSIC!) and it was SO very needed! The morning service was good, but the evening was phenomenal. The nice thing about the morning service was that quite a few people started talking to me because they knew I wasn't a regular.  We all even went out for coffee afterwards. :)  The evening was amazing... evangelist Reinhard Bonnke spoke.

He hit on so many cool concepts/ideas.... here are just a few:
(feel free to skip over... I mainly wrote them down for me so I wouldn't forget!)

1. The symbol of the cross... the horizontal line is us. It's negative. It's sin. Jesus is the vertical line (Heaven down to earth) ... If you put them together (forming of the cross) you'll see that He turns the negative into a positive. He brings LIFE to DEATH.

2. A lady didn't understand how one mans blood could take away the sins of EVERYBODY... He went on to explain how kids have their fathers blood... that's why they have fathers do blood testing when they're not sure who the father is. If Jesus would have been conceived by an earthly father,  it would have been unclean (still full of sin).... but because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, He is PURE and His blood cleanses all of our sin. TAKES AWAY. GONE. NO MORE!

3.  Some people ask, if Jesus is the answer why are there so many problems in the world? If soap is the answer why are there still dirty people? You need to use it; apply it.


Today I did a tour to the Blue Mountains. It's about 2 hours away from Sydney, but it was nice because transportation, lunch, 2 walks, and the steepest train ride in the world were all included. :)  It was so pretty! Was told to go to Blue Mountains last time I was in OZ, but didn't have time for it. I was kind of worried yesterday because when I looked at the weather forecast it said it was supposed to be rainy and cloudy today, but as you can see from the pictures....

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! Perfect day! Also met some really nice people on the tour. A guy from England, a girl from Japan, and our Aussie tour guide was.... typcial tour guide.  I think I'm noticing a trend here.  Older single guy (who acts younger) desperate for companionship.... (I'm calling it the "tourist trap")

He was great though... all the guides have been great... just have to watch them.  

12daysleft.

6 more until I head to Alice Springs/Outback. :)

Arrival in Oz

... well, I'm ready to go home yet again.

Travel day yesterday was not so nice... We arrived in Sydney around 8pm and I didn't get to my hostel until 11pm or later. (which was really 1am or later NZ time) Customs took FOREVER. Literally stood in line for 2 hours or so and there was only one person checking in all the international passports. REALLY?!?

Travel in Sydney is SO complicated. It probably isn't really that bad if you know what you're doing, but I HAVE NO CLUE. I'm not used to bus/train/taxi travel. (Yes, I made the mistake of taking a taxi to the hostel)

It's all the little things that keep adding up that make my time here more stressful and less enjoyable. I've been asking questions from the very beginning...(i.e. how do you from point A to point B, what do you recommend, etc.)  People have been very nice and are always trying to help, but they're help hasn't been very helpful. ESPECIALLY when it comes to directions/transportation.

And some things that were supposed to be a "safety net" for me have failed/haven't worked out... which hasn't been a HUGE deal, but its caused enough damage...

This trip has been such a roller coaster.

Day 1: HORRIBLE. Emotional wreck and wanted to go home. (thankfully this only lasted a day)
Day 2-22: GREAT, LOVELY... time was flying
Day 23-25: PROBLEMS
Day 26-34: GREAT, LOVELY
Day 34-36: VERY HOME SICK
Day 36-43: GOOD, BUT EXHAUSTED
Day 44-45: MORE PROBLEMS

And there are 15 days left. I'm sure there will be some good days in there. I'm confident in that. The nice thing about this experience is that once I'm home, I'll forget about the not-so-fun things. Memories are convenient that way... you can filter out the bad parts. :)

Sorry for such a depressing post, but I think there will be a really good (post) coming in the near future. Very near future!

ONE DAY LEFT IN NEW ZEALAND

I know I just posted recently, but TOMORROW IS MY LAST FULL DAY IN NEW ZEALAND.

WHAT?!

WHAT?!??!

I'm actually excited to be heading to Australia... I think it'll be good. I'm a little more on top of planning in Oz so I think that'll be a nice change for me instead of relying on "wake up and plan the day" routine.  :)

We leave from Auckland Airport on the 28th and arrive in Sydney that evening. THANKFULLY I have found a nice hostel (it's a chain that we've stayed with before) that has availability for the first few days I'm there. *Which includes Easter!

I'll be staying at the hostel, which is right in the city center, until Carla leaves on the 2nd. They also have some nice packages to go and do different tours so it should make things easier and more relaxed for me. YAY! I CAN BREATHE!

Carla leaves on the 2nd to go back to Germany and a friend from back home is coming on the 3rd.  The Cincinnati friend has an uncle who lives in Sydney so we'll be able to stay with him as soon as she arrives.

Basically:

March 28-April 7 SYDNEY
April 7-12 OUTBACK
April 13 HOME!


STOKED.

LOVE.

G'DAY.

Cultural Perspective

So.... I know I'm not in school anymore, but I kind of want to attempt to write about cultural differences between New Zealand and the U.S.

The girl I'm traveling with has to write a paper for university about the subject and that got me thinking about our own cultural differences.

I know I've commented before on how friendly everyone is. (I think New Zealand was recently rated by Forbes as the top friendliest country in the world!)  I've talked to some Kiwi's about this and one said that the people of New Zealand have to be nice since they rely so heavily on tourism. If they don't have tourists they have no livelihood. I don't really like that answer. I understand where he's coming from, but I'd rather say it was because Kiwi's are just all around nice people.... not because they're forced into it. (Everyone seems so genuine too)

It's amazing though how the country can get every on board with one idea... literally, that's their culture. There's friendly and then there's going above and beyond to help someone out. Most of them fall into the latter category.

New Zealand is also very clean. VERY clean. Very big on recycling and picking up after themselves. I remember walking in Abel Tasman National Park and there were NO garbage cans ANYWHERE. People packed food and drinks to take with them (since most hikes last all day to 2 or 3 days)... and I was so surprised that people actually carried their garbage around with them! No littering! The park has no garbage cans because they don't want to attract all the nasty bugs and critters...  Again, how do you get everyone on board with something like that?!

Something else that has really struck me involves the concept of "holiday" (vacation)...  "Holidays" are big everywhere but the U.S. (at least that's my take on it)  Some people don't even have a definitve return date to their home country. They take off on holiday and have no real plan about anything.

People in the U.S. seem to always have a plan... usually it's a week.... 2 weeks max. That's the American way of doing things. Pick a destination, sign up for a tour (maybe), and don't stray from the plan. At least, that's what I'm used to.

I keep thinking back to the day we did the kayak tour and we walked up the hill (45 minute walk)... As we're going up we see a bus full of tourists going down. The Kiwi's I was with called it the American tour because that's the American way of doing things. I guess it makes sense because Americans like to cram everything in to a short period of time since they don't take off for long periods of time.

When I came to New Zealand last time we had a week to do north and south island. A week in Australia and a week in New Zealand. Now THAT'S the classic American tour... which is why I came back to New Zealand in the first place. I wanted to spend more time!

And I think this goes without saying, but everyone knows about American everything. Even our stupid news stories make radio talk shows over here. (i.e. some girl who went to court over attacking her boyfriend with a furby)

Yeah... lovely.

And here are some classic kiwi words that I'm hoping to use when I get home:

Sweet As (instead of cool or awesome)   **This is my favorite, by far. :)
Heaps
Eh
Good on ya mate
No worries
Jandal

So that's my entry for today...  OH! And we went to the beach yesterday- one of the top 20 beaches of the world. We practically had it to ourselves.  :)