Goodbye Aotearoa!!!!!!

Aotearoa is New Zealand in Maori language. FYI.

so scattered righ tnow. leaving here in a couple of hours. had a busy morning getting ready and what not. so this will be my last blog....EVER!! well maybe not ever. i'm not really a 'blogging' type. i really only did this for my family so i didn't have to write massive e-mails all the time. bwahah.

anyways, lets begin....

and this blog is going to have no structure whatsoever.

i feel like after this trip i have to pay it forward is a MAJOR way. i have met so many wonderful people over here---lindsay and lauri, hamish and margaret, becky,jennie and bob, and so many other people that have let me stayed at their house or cooked me a good meal. it is such a luxury to get into someones house and get out of the hostels, even if its just for a night. it get exhausting at times just moving all over, packing, balbaha. after this, if anyone, a friend of a friend of a friend came through wherever i lived, they would have a place to stay ALWAYS. it has really shown me how good people can be.

i wish i had brought a map with me so all the people i met could write where thye were from....I have so many places i can stay all over the world now, scotland, ireland, UK, germany, spain, argentina, pittsburg, boston, sweden, switzerland, italy, alll the fuck over. its awesome.

i think this trip went as smooth as a babies butt. i feel like i only have 2 icky days--when my bag got stolen (ASSHOLES), and then this other day in nelson when my hostel was invaded by germans and they wouldnt speak english (ASSHOLES, AGAIN). the only thing i would change would be to stay longer and work the ski season.

another thing about this trip....while i was "planning" it I tried to get some friends to go. and deep down i knew no one was going to do it. and that worked out WONDERFULLY. and i say that in the nicest, most loving possible way. this trip would have been TOTALLY different if someone came with me. completely 100% different. i think traveling solo is the way to do it, ESPECIALLY in new zealand. in other parts of the world, i'm sure its safer and better to travel with a friend, but here--its just way to easy. and if you travel with someone its harder to meet people. people who travel solo, which there are THOUSANDS, are just easier to talk to and walk up to. if you think about it, if a friend came with me, for the past 5 months 24/7, thats a lot of time with one person. it was just so nice to do what i want when i want all the time. KABAM! i have loved having time to myself--i think up of some really random, crazy, funny shit. and i love people watching. people can be crazy.

i feel like I keep saying "after this trip....." but here is another one.

After doing this trip, i feel completely re-energized. i'm not worried about anything. i talked to so many friends back home who have been like " wooahhh you are gonna have such a hard time getting a job" but i know i'll get one so fuck it. my mom always told me, when i througha fit or something, "that is always works out" and now I completely, totally see that. it always does. and i'm glad that i am a person that when i say i'm going to do something, i'm gonna do it. i said i was gonna go to new zealand, i did it, now i'm coming home. i'm saying now i want to move after we go to alaska this summer, and i'll do it. then i want to work for a year and then travel, and by golly thats what i'll do! ha. i should be a preacher....wank.

so the backpackers i stayed at in wellington is hands down the WORST backpackas of all time. no one was runing it. smelled awful. ew.

my friend beth, who i freakin love, met me in wellington. we went to this concert that was pretty sweet and met this old italian woman there named Maria Pia. she was INSANE. i asked her when she was from and then she started telling us how awful men are and how they need to chop onions all day and cry. ha. she was funny at first, but after 20 minutes of man-hating we got out of there. ew, one thing that pissed me off about the concert was they told us to "clap our beautiful hands" i hate when people (musicians) say that. what if we dont have beautiful hands? what if they are cracked and dry? i just can't stand little things like that.sdf.

there was this guy in wellington who was trying to get $ by doing lame magic card tricks on the street. he asked beth and i if we wanted to do it and said no thanks and then he SCREAMED down the street that we had boring awful lives. ha. i mean how RUDE can you be. BORING, AWFUL, LIVES. and we said no, THANKS. we heard him tell some other girls the next day the same thing so that made me feel better.

so after wellington, we (beth, myself, and her friend angelique who flew in from the states for 2 weeks) headed to Taupo (Tow-Poor). its the biggest lake in NZ. i had already been there and really enjoyed it. cute town and gorgeous lake. the tongariro crossing, the big hike i did at the beggining was cancled for 3 days straight bc of weather. i'm glad i did it when i did bc that wa sthe BEST hike i have ever done.

angelique told beth and i all this new crazy pop-culture gossip back from the states. we knew NOTHING. none of it. feel very out of it. i guess thats the effect of living on an island that just got internet like 7 years ago. no shit.

they put so much yummy chocolate on their cappucinos here. i love it.

FEIJOAS! holy shit. so feijoas is a fruit grown here. i can't describe it...anyways, i bought one the other day ...someone told me you could just bite into them like an apple...FALSE. so i was totally turned off. then i was with beth and she was eating them like a kiwi. so i tried....ohmigod they are so good. DELISH! love them and made i JUST started eating them.

in taupo, we had a 4 bedroom room but it was just the 3 of us. then at 1 am some man comes in to sleep. around our age. anyways, he starts snoring, as usual. it was AWFUL. beth was under him and kept say " OHMIGOD WHAT THE FUCK" so loud. the funny thing about beth and i traveling is that we have always tried to get away from snoreres so we book smallers rooms, etc. and it ALWAYS backfires. even her friend snored the first night (just the first, i think it was cuz she was tired) but beth and i wer elke ohmigod. this is unreal. so we started jumping and yelling and clapping our hands. finally we took beths pillow and put a hard object in it and started hitting her. that didn't even work. something worked later, i think beth just screamed really loud. humph.

i know traveling like this isn't for everyone, but i think its reall yimportant to atleast move and travel someone for like a month of two. ya.

i'm sure ive changed in a lot f ways, not sure what though...will have to wait and see.

bought the BEST swimsuit EVER and awesome red purse. loving them.

i have zero tolerance for alky right now. could get ugly in san fran.

i'm going to miss apple crumble, BUT i have the recipe so its all good.

and i'll miss the muffins. but i also have the Muffin Bible book so i'm set with that.

ALSO i have been meaning to write this for months (maybe i have already written it) BUT people sell their Horse poo for a dollar and aplaca poo for $2. so there are signs that say

HORSE POO $1 and it makes me laugh very hard. its for people compost.

my towel constantly smells like mold.

a tongan man, tonga is a island near here, bought me a shot the other night for leaving. how thoughtful.

2 finals notes for this blog.

#1 i can't stand heavy breathers

#2 and quite possibly the cardinal rule for backpackers----DO NOT BRING PLASTIC BAGS!!! they make a crazy amount of noise in the morning. there is hostel etiquette.

PS

just so you all recognize, that I recognize, how awful my spelling and grammar was in that post...I KNOW. typing so fast.

LO SIENTO!

dolphins and ridiculously annoying canadian chick

Hollllarr!!! what up what up partttyy people! currrently back in the N. island in good ol' wellington. as usual, lets go back then forward...

so i left christchurch and went to Kaikoura which is about 2 hrs. N. of it. its "the'' place to do whale watching and dolphins swims. the dolphin swimming was one of the big things i have wanted to do here....soo, the day before we go to kaikoura the weather says its going to be complete shit. low and behold, i woke up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky...good news! but then we get close to kaikoura and find out the whale watching was canceled---waves to big and no whale sitings. so i kinda start getting nervous that we wont be able to do the dolphin swim. we get there and they tell us that we get like 80$ back if we dont see/swim with the dolphins. and they tell us that it is highly unlikely we will see them. so we get dressed in our wet suits anyways and get on the boat. we start going and like hundreds of birds start following the boat, including to albatross. so we are going and balaha...i tell people that i thought i saw something splash in the water....and they were like ohhh its probably a bird....and i'm thinking, no you assholes i'm right. just then, the boat turns and starts heading toward where i pointed out....and guess what!!!!!!!!!

WE FOUND A POD OF 400 freakin dusky dolphins!!! you hjave absolutely no idea what it looked like. you couldn't NOT see them. everywhere. swimming all around the boat, jumping up, doing backflips, slapping their tails. it was FABULOUS! so what i have heard the boat people do it usaually drop you off about 3 times with the dolphins because they usually keep moving. once again, luck came through. so what you do it get at the edge of the boat, sit down and then this horn goes off for you to get in the water. the boat gets infront of the moving pod so they swim straight through you. so we get in and the dolphins played with us, 13 of us, for 40 minutes!! they said thwas completely unheard of and that they usually stick around for about 10 minutes and keep moving. ohh yea, back up a bit....so they told us to stick our fist up in the water if we are in trouble....so i get in the water and the dolphins were so overwhelming, mixed with adrenaline that i pretty much gave myself an anxiety attack. i couldnm't catch my breath, and mind you i'm a damn good swimmer, so i was like "MARI, SNAP THE F OUT OF IT!!" and if worst comes to worst, the wet suit wouldn't let me sink so they could have rescued me if i passed out. ha. not the most positive thinking but there was no way in hell i was going to get back on that boat. so i finally gained my life back and all was good. the dolphins were just completely surrounding you. swimming straight at you, under you--showing their bellies, and if you looked them in the eye and started swimming in circles with them they got realy excited. you could feel them swimming---the water moving. i got hit a couple times by them.....oh man, it was the most brilliant thing ever!!! wild dolphins just haning out around you. so cool. one time i dove down to swim with them, came back upm, and a MASSIVE albatross was just chilling about 2 feet from me. those birds about the size of a great dane. massive. after dolphin swimming, i felt better about coming home. i would have been pretty bummed if we didn't see them---which i really thought would happen.

NEXT.

so i have no done a bungy jump or skydived here. those are like "THE THINGS TO DO" and i feel slightly stupid for not doing them, BUT, i have legit reasons. for example, for as long as i can remember, whenever i have gotten done with a test and feel like i did awful (which happened a lot) i would always tlel my friends that i failed that test. and then they would say they did too...and it would ALWAYS end up that i really did fail the test and they got like a B or an A. that ALWAYS happens to me. so with skydiving and bungy jumping, i realy think i would pass out--esp. with the skydiving. and then miss the whole thing. or possibly poop my pants. i could totally see that happening. and other people say they are gonna freak out, but ui know that that would happen to me. and that is my story for why i'm not doing that stuff. booyah!

before this trip, i couldn't decide of i was a beach or mtn. person. i liked both. i can now say i am def. a mtn person 100%. thats my thought of the day.

on that note, i think the absolute strangest part about being back in indiana (for hopefully 2 months MAX) will be the fact that there are NO MOUNTAINS. just slight hills. oh man thats going to kill me. i cant imagine no being surrounded by mtns after this. they just make me happy.

i think what i want to do when i get back is get a job, move somewhere, and when my lease goes up, i'll go travel some more. SE asia or S. America. i do recognize countries with foreign languages, thailand etc, will be a lot more difficult to travel around. i feel like if you came to NZ and had a hard time, you are a moron, this country mbasically maps out everything you should do. so if you can read, you will be fine.


if i got a job here, preferably in wanaka, i would move here ina heartbeat.

i'm SO excited for my bed. esp. my pillows. the hostel i'm in right now is the WORST hostel in NZ. just sucking it up for 3 more nights. in a room right now with 2 italian men and one american guy. 1 of the italian guys was snoring last night. i might kill him tonight. i have def. become a less fussy sleeper sincei have been here. at home, before, i couldnt have a light in the room--like the computer or anything. now i can fall asleep as long as there isno snoring. i feel like every both i have written has something about snoring. i hate it.

OHMIGOSH!! i met the MOST ANNOYING CANADIAN EVER! got on the stray bus and there was this chick who was on who was so god damn loud with the most disgusting voice in the world. its called the "woman who has the voice of a transvestite" voice. it was SO deep, and it sounded like she was 80 and a smoker. she was the kind of person who loved hearing herself talk, god knows why, but you could ALWAYS here her talk. i couldnt be in the same room with her. the part that ticked me off the most was the morning after i met her, she asked where i was from, then i said where are you from, and she was like " no the states, i'm canadian" the way she said it was like " ha ham, you thought i was american, but i'm canadian and we are better" i wanted to be like " Ohhh you must be the WORST canadian ever. please get a new voice box"

ehajksfhkjdsaf . gross.

another thing that happened at the hostel, which was realy scary...so i got to the hostel and went up to my room (we were all in a rush to ge tto the dolphin place) went in my room and there was this old man who was mumbling shit to me wavingme to get out of the room. i thought he was wasted. so i was freaking out, not only thinking that he seemed scary but that he was prob. a massive snorer and a drunk. so i freak out, and as i'm walking to the dolphin place i call the hostel, tell them to move my stuff out of the room and that i want to be switched to adifferent room. when ig et back from the dolphins they ask me why and i say i didn't feel comfy with that man. turns out he is a regular and has a horrible speech impediment!!!!!!!!!!! IM A BITCH!!!! so i end up staying in the room and 2 other girls wer ein there. we were all freaked out by him though--so atleast it wasn't JUST me. eww.

the hostel i stayed at in pictron (where the ferry leaves from ) was called the Villa...it was so damn cute!!! so cozy. loved it. they gave us free apple crumble at 8 and rang all these bells. HUGE line. was very excited for it and it turned out the crumble was AWFUL. they must have forgotten sugar or something. it tasted like vegetable crumble. but i ate it. duh.

so yesterday i took the ferry to wellington (wher ei am right now). i hadn't been onit yet andi never want to go on it again. i thought the ship was going to flip the F over. the waves were gigantic. going over the entire ship. it was out of deadliest catch. so scary. i was nervous the whole time. didn't puke but it ruined the rest of my day--felt out of it, head felt icky.

i could tell the difference between the n. and s. island immediately once i got off the boat. the people are different, eerything is different. i prefer the s. island---way more laid back. oh i miss it already.

ok, i have more to write but i so damn hungry right now and my hands are freezing for some reason. i just got my haircut. its pretty good, not the best, but wa better than was it was. starting to look like a 'non' backpackers, slowly but surely.

i'll write once more before i leave welly and possibly in taupo.

hope everyone is well!!! i can't believe i fly backj in a week. insane how fast this has gone. blink of an eye.

xoxo
mars

rain in christchurch

howdy howdy! currently in christchurch--full of 'us' jews. NOT. on the easty coast, slowly but surely making my way back up to auckland. SAD. so, as usual, i'm going to start back and end up where i am today...or something like that??

i forgot to tell you guys the most ridiculous thing EVER! my friend mark loves this story....so wwhen i was with stray and we were driving to queenstown there is this awesome fruit stand they stop at. its run completely by asians and everytimei have been there there have been bus loads of them. so anyways, the last time i was there i was going to the bathroom and there was this older asian woman in back of me. mid 40's early 50's. so i start paying more attention to her because she was STOMPING her feet like a 5 year old and then i looked more carefully and her pants were practically OFF. she had undone them and pulled them down so i could see her nasty undies. so there she was, stomping her feet over and over again, violently, with her pants down. i almost let her go in front of me but i was getting far to much enjoyment watching her parade around like a toddler. so mark and i have just been stomping our feet constantly....what a ridiculous woman.

while i was in queestown becky took me on this sweet 3 hour hike called the Fern Hill Loop. you get up super high and end up with this awesome view of the remarkables (the mtn range that runs through qtown). so anyways, at the beggining of the hike this dog found us. she had a studded collar on (ew). just a black dog, prob. a lab, pit, boxer mix. so anyways, this dog ended up coming with us for the entire hike. listened to everything we said. at one point i looked up and there were 2 massive moutain goats about 10 feet from us and the dog just bolted after them. they were to fast though--thank god they didn't charge us because they had gigantic horns. we named the dog fluffy, dont ask me why, because there was nothing fluffy abuot the dog except for the collar.

i have really enjoyed going on all the hikes here in NZ. i have always tried to be aware of the weather and other things that factor into a godo safe hike, and nz has really opened my eyes to how powerful nature can be. for example, about 170 trampers had to get helicoptered out of the milford area a few weeks back bc of rain. it just pisses down rain here. BUCKETS. ship loads. so moral of the story is, i feel like i'm a good hiker, but i'm not stupid enough to climb everest. nor would i be able to. i actually think thats pretty foolish. that mountain would eat you. the biggest mtn. in nz. mt cook kills about 1-3 people each year here.

so the last night in queenstonw was beckys last night--she has been there for 6 months. so we had aparty at her place--she has 5 other roommaates--all very cool people. a couple kiwis, one swiss, and english. so we had a barbi before the party and bought so much damn meat. it was actually a sick amount, but man was it good. lots of lamb. so becky had one roommate who i will call "elna." she was english, late 20's and just really winey. high maintance. so anyways, we were eating, oh and this was part of her birthday party too, so anyways, she keeps telling us how she is going to get dressed and balahab...mind you, she isn't that cutest bee in the hive. so the next time i see her i am horrified. she walks up the stairs and i thought at first she was either a HE or a gremlin. no joke. she had this awful outfit on, green and black, and curled her hair so she looked like a 5 year old beauty pageant girl, fake eyelashes, and green eye makeup. i mean it was AWFUL. i couldn't stop stairing at her because i just coudln't understand what she was thinking when she put all that crap on. sajkdfhjksf gives me the chills just thinking about it.

later that night, people decided to go to the bars---i could not do it. we had to get the bus early and the last time i did that i wanted to die on the bus. so i woke up to beckys roommate jack on her bed jumping all over screaming "MARRRYY!! MARRRYYY!!!" kiwis can't say mari. they say mary. so he was just wasted screaming for me to get up. MARYYYYY!

on the bus to christchurch we stopped at the one town that seemed familiar and i was walking with becky and i was like i swear i have been here, where are we? and this woman overheard me and yelled at us and said " well dear you are in geraldine, the GAYEST city in new zealand!" yea...we thought that was strange??

another town we stopped at was omarama. my favorite town to say. omaramramrmarma.

we also stopped at Lake Tekapo. GORGEOUS!! i mean stunning. snow on themtn, just out of this world gorgeous.

first day in christchurch becky and i went for a run. i ended up going some different direction and got so lost. ended up being 45 minutes from when we said we would make it back. stupid.

my dear friend julie howell just got a job in arizona---YAY!!! mazel tov.

just bought new shoes. i feel like a real person when i put them on but i dont want to wear them over here---dirty.

the season change here is throwing me off. all of the summer stuff is on sale, but i feel like i should buy for the winter...brr...getting cold.

ohmigod in queenstown we went out to this italian restaurant--bella cucina. it was very authentic--becky andi split this pizza which was awesome but we also got this pasta dish with braised lamb, zucchini, and pine nuuts. it was mindblowing goodness. also qtown as this gelato place called patagonia--the closest thing to real italian gelato outside of italy. man was it yum.

we watched sex and lucia which was really good and La vie en rose--which was great as well---high reccomend.

since i have about a week and a half left before i lfy to the states i started thinking about the day i flew to san francisco. really the like 2 weeks before i left to come here i was sucha mess. such anxiety. the day i left i was crying so hard, couldn't breathe. so scared. and i think that i was acting out ina 'normal' way, jus tscared for the unknown, and it kind of amusing to think about. i wasn't even excited for san fran bc i was so scared.

just really can't imagine not doing this whole experience. i was made to be a backpacker---low maintence, dont care if i'm dirty, i can wear the same thing everyday and just not care for a second..etc etc....so i guess the moral of the story is the harder things are, or the harder certain choices, the ones that will be more challenging, are always more rewarding. if i were to stay in IN, ohmigod, i dont knowi what i would have done...die??

i definitely dont want a "normal" life. after this, i think i would pretty much do anything, go anywhere and be completely fine. i would have no problem moving anywhere by myself---its just wya to easy to meet people and get involved...etc etc. I swear everytime i get on facebook someone i know just had a baby or is getting married. yea thats great for some people, but ohmigod, the thought of either of those, more or less those combined---i might as well run infront of a train. to much stuff to do. eww its just gross thinking about. gives me anxiety. skjdhfkjd ew. the only way i could possibly "settle" down in one place for a while is if the Obamas asked me to be their babysitter. thats it.

since i have been here i have become extremely independent. i have always been independent though--for as long as i remember. or maybe just strange? my mom said she know i was a little 'off' when i was like 6 at Lake Michigan and started picking up dead fish. Ha. so yea, i have gotten even more independent here, but i also think its important to rely on certain people. def. not everywhere. but i have been very lucky with the friendships in my life--i have lots of great people to count on, all over the place.

i have thought of a GREAT business--i want to open a world wide chocolate shop---world sweet shop--and it will have all different sweets from all over the world. for each country. NZ has these things caled tim tams and ginger kisses and they are so damn good. i may bring some back.

my friend shannon and i stayed with lindsay and lauri for 2 ngihts here in christchurch. it was great--relaxing. slept well. so anyways, yseterday lindsay and iwere looking out the window and they have a massive backyard and all of these bees were in the air. turns out there neighbors has a beehive and they come over to lindsays garden for pollen. the bees were lfying in practically a straight line---she---so lindsay told me thats where the tern "Bee Lining It!" get it? wowzzay.

lindsay and lauri know like everyone on the news. nuts!

so i just went to this yoga class today. it was me and this argentinian guy and the teacher. it kind of felt like torture. i just wanted a gentle class to stretch and it was all poses an the woman just hounded me--do this, do that, nono, yes yes...ugh. then at the end she tied my ankles together like a pig roast. i thought she was going to shoot me or something. dominatrix. (sp?) it was really awkward. and it doesnt help that i am so not flexible. also she kept telling me to spread my toes---umm I CANT! my toes dont spread. and she kept asking me and i kept saying they have never been able to spread my entire life. it was frustrating. and she wouldnt let me drink water....wow.

tomorrow ileave for Kaikora--its NZ's mecca for dolphins and whales. im supposed to be swimming with the dolphins and i asked if there had been lots of dolphins around and they said not so much because there have been tons of killer whales coming through...greattt...i really wnat to swim with them. the pod has 400. ahh. cross your fingers!!! well i should get going. its raining and my feet are cold. brr.....

tata for a few days! i think i will write once more? 2 more times? we will see..

peace out homes!