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!

Grab a coffee, this is gonna be a LONG one...

ok, soooo i haven't written on this thing in a while. sorry to let all of my devoted fans down...bwahha. here we go..

umm how should I do this, i think i'll start back in wanaka and move towards where I am today...

Wanaka, where i ended up staying for a week, is def. my favorite "town" in NZ. it has the best autumn foliage too---GORGEOUS colors. i have lots of great pics. lots of poplars and cyprus trees that were BRIGHT yellow. when we drove back down to queenstown we passed all of these vineyards and the grapes looks amazing in these shades of red, orange, and yellow----way better than GREEN! god forbid. we also stopped along the way at this fruit stop---i found my new favorite fruit--PEACHERINES. thast right folks, nectarines and peaches COMBINED! talk about GENIUS.

met this swedish girl at the purple cow--the backpackasss at wanaka and we went to a movie today--The changeling---BLAH. so anyways, she was pretty cooky. just strange. so anyways, we go to the movie and come back to go to bed. i'm laying there and then i look over--she was next to me---and i realize she is ASS naked in her bed. mind you, there are 6 other people in the ROOM and some hostels, such as the one we were in, dont give you sheets to put between yourself and the comforter---SICK. so that means her swedish ass was all over that thing. GROSS. that is the perfect example of why i have slept in my beautiful, perfect, sleeping bag for the past 5 months.

so my friend shannon got a 'job' working for accomdation at BASE which is like this franchise hostel all over NZ, and i think the world---i feel like they were in EU? who knows. anyways, they are known to be just MASSIVE and gross. so she was moving over there so i helped her bring her stuff over and we walked in her room-----------SICK SICK SICK. it was like 10 beds and they were all people working for accomdation so NO ONE cleans the room. there was trash everywhere and it smelled...eww so sick.
it worked out ok though--i think?

so lets see--i'm so scattered right now....dont know where i start??

um, right now i'm back in Queenstown staying witgh my friend becky. we went to middle school and HS together. she saw some of my pics online and recognized them because they were outfront of her work...bwahaha. so now i am staying with her. so the first night i was here i was telling her about shannon, because becky knowns julie who introduced shannon and i...GET IT? prob not. so anyways, i was like yeaaa my friend is coming...she worked up in Pahia balahaah...she kknows julie" and becky was like "ohh ok, i wonder if she knows MY friend shannon" HA! crazy. so becky and shannon met WAY back on the stray bus. soooo crazy.

then, after that, becky and I go to thsi place called winnies that has great pizza. low and behold, who sits next to us, the damn german girls from able tasman--the one that put on makeup to talk on the computer. my back was to them and i didn't' feel like interacting so we never talked.

speaking of makeup, i have gotten into this habit of going to the pharmacy to put on perfume and makeup. i am literally homeless.

one thing that i find really interesting, and love to watch, is how people cook in hostels. you are surrounded by people from all over the world so they all cook different thing...english ppl LOVED baked beans and toast. japanese, asian love rice (obv) and are just so quiet its crazy. you can always tell who is american by Peanut butter AND how they use their fork and knives. irish love boiled eggs. germans eat a lot of carrots.

i dont like brushing my teeth around a lot of people. i feel like they judge me if i go to fast..........

i need a haircut REAL bad.

i'm getting really sick of sharing rooms. it might even be strange now to be in a room by myself. thats atleast one thing i am looking forward to.

oh man, what else....so i was in qtown for a bout 2 days before i left to go WAY down south for 4-6 days. my friend beth happened to be on the same bus so that worked out great bc honestly, its has gotten old having the same convos with people. and the convo's all change depending on how long you have been traveling. people that JUSt got here or who have only been here for like a month want to chat your freakin brains out...people who have been here for a long time, like myself, are more like, hey hey, lets get a beer and just sit ??? it gets tiring introducing yourself. i should start makign up crazy lies about what i do at home, my age, where i'm from. the other day when i was with beth i didn't want to talk to this guy so i almost started fake talking in some african language........in my mind that is. ok, that was a major tangent. so yea, we left to go down south--went to milford, tuatapere, curio bay, the catlins, and dunedin. met this nice bloke named nick at one hostel...he was a kiwi. the hostel we stayed at in invercargill was like an old insane asylum. beth and i were freaked out. anyways, nick gave me a massive list of sweet kiwi bands so thats awesome. this belgium guy made us watch silence of the lambs...had nightmares for a little bit.

so at the same hostel, beth and i "splurged" and paid for a 4 bed, instaed of a 6 bc we wanted to lessen the change of having a snorer in our room. around 9 Pm we meet the ppl in our room. i thought they were germans, but they were duthc--man and a woman, around our age. just friends. so they were really nice and funny. BUT, at one point they started talking dutch and then told us what they were laughing about and they ended up telling us that the man is a big snorer and was taking medicine and that she had a cold and snored the other night---so beth and i about die. so that night, SHE snored ALL night. the loudest EVEr. ALL NIGHT. i ended up waking up and just reading at 4 am. and sometimes i would say "OHMIGOD" just loud enough to wake him up so that he could tell her to shut the fuck up. needlesstosay, beth and i were tired dogs the next day.

so we went to dunedin the next day and my friend Louis, from camp, happens to be studying abroad there. he lived ina house with 3 other girls and an argentina man. they were all greattt! got along really well with all of them. they had comfy couches and beth and i slept great. louis even left the last day we were there but they let us stay there anyways which was aweeesome! another insanely crazy thing...so beth and i are talking to his roommate carrie and were talking about "the dutchies" the snorers in the hostel before, and how we were so exhausted...and she was like "ohh ya/ i'm hanging out with these dutch peoplei met down south tonight" IT WAS OUR DUTCHIES!!! ha. they ended up coming over. the girl kept appolgizing for snoring. ha. very nice people. but i wanted to rip her nose/throat out.

found this great cafe that had this bomb ass lamb salad. just for the record, everyone should eat lamb, BECAUSE, there are SOO damn many here. i will never feel bad about putting that meat in my mouth. overpopulation. my friend mike was also in dunedin--hes from san diego. so we met for a bit with his friend. OH and we went to the Speights brewery tour---speights is the "NZ Beer" it was really good---at the end you get to try all the beer and the last 10 minutes the guide, who i'm pretty sure was a MAJOR cokehead was like "ok, tap is all yours, drink what you can in 10 minutes" needless to say, we got wasted. it was beth, louis, and his roommate claire and I. we just skulled beers back. yummmy. real fun! went to bed real early that night.....

oh, the driver going down s. was named "Gollum." they all have nicknames, anyways, right at the beggining of the ride, his ipod was fucking up and he got so pissed and TOSSED that sucker out the window off a flippin CLIFF. yeaahhh KIWIS!! i love kiwis.

I had already been to dunedin back in feb. and i wasn't that impressed---i loved it this time. LOVED it. nice college town.

so i am driving back and get this call from my friend Austin---the berkeley guy. but it wasn't austin, it was freakin MARK! my friend from home. he and austin were on the same treck, the milford treck and met. crazy, again. so now mark is back here in queenstown with me which is awesome---we just have a jolly time together.

so the night before my cruise to doubtful sound shannon, becky, beth, mark and i went out to this irish pub for dinner...which lead to mark and i taking shots of jameson......which lead to another bar.......which lead to me being absolutely pissed drunk. drunkest i have been here by far. just glad to didn't lose anything. i really haven't gone out that much since i have been here--like that alteast. i wouldn't feel completely comfy with people i just met, y aknow? i woke up at 7 for my bus ride and was jst completely wasted. i feel right when i got up. what a freakin mess. got on the bus and was scared i was gonna puke. but it was all good. i just passed out. the driver, watsie, kept coming up to me saying "hows your health there mate?" he was trying to help me. that was the first thing he said to me today when he picked us up " HOWS YOUR HEALTH!?!' thank god my hangover was gone by like 2 and we weren't even in the sound yet. because we had to take a bus, to a boat, then to a bus again...NUTS.

so, DOUBTFUL SOUND!! its in fiordland natl park and is absolutely the most breathtaking thing i have ever seen. you can't imagine that its on earth. when we first saw it, from the bus, i got goosebumps--brilliantly beautiful. so i did the overnight cruise---the day cruise would not be worth it. met some other solo backpackers and we stuck together. they were OK---one girl was from sacramento and she was about my age and was just here for a few weeks. she was the kind of person who shold wear ribbons in her hair---so innocent in a sick way. and i hated how she talked. her lips smacked together in an odd way. THEn there was this one chick from seattle who was in her late 20's, early 30's...her face kind of looked like someones hand smashed it and then twisted it to the side a bit. it was just all crooked. and she also seemed like the kind of woman, at that age, that still wears large white underware. gosh i'm a bitch. but i guarantee you thats what she was wearing. dont worry, i'm not done...

i also had a stalker on the boat. this man from toronto with crazy eyes. at first i thought he was just SUPEr, overly nice, and maybe he is, but i dont think so. so it started with me taking pictures outside and he was standing behind me. he goes " let me have your camera" and so i gave it to him...then he was like "stay there do what you just did" and he started taking pictures of me. so A) that is STRANGE and B) they weren't even cool pictures. so then whenever i went somewhere he would be there about 5 minutes later. during dinner he would keep looking at me and give me a thumbs up asking how i liked it...EW. so i woke up like 5 times thinking he was in my room watching me. i snuck off the boat and saw him once again ebcause he kept asking me where I was goin next...yea right fucker, like i'm gonna tell you where i'm going........WONK WONK!

there were also these power lesbians on the boat from the states. they were pretty interesting and super intense---one of them had done a freakin marathon in ANTARCTICA. nuts.

this morning we had to wake up at 6am...the anchor comes and wakes you up. but the fiords looked spectacular in the morning sun. great weather--the cruise the day ebfore us didn't even have a sunset. LUCKY DUcKS! one thing they did that was cool was when we got to this cove and they turned off the entire boat. everyone came outside and it was just SILENT. all you could hear were the hundreds of waterfalls around yhou and the birds. ooo i also so an active fault line which was pretty cool.

another part of the trip that was a bit dodgey was when we went out to sea, the tasman. the water was INSANELY rough. i thought i was going to puke. i almost fell down but this old scottish man grabbed me from behind and was like "WOOAHH LITTLE ONE! YOU BLOODY HELL BETTER STICK WITH ME OR YOU'LL BE DONE FOR!!!" so i stayed with him. we went out to see this sea lion colony. this prob. sounds like im jaded, BUT, i'm way over sea lions and seals. i have seen so damn many since i have been here. i want sharks and lARGE whales.

what else........umm if i stayed any longer in NZ i would def. just have to stay in one spot and work. i have seen EVERYTHING i 'need' to see. i think my next big trip will either be to S. america, or I will do Thailand, cambodia, Laos each for a month......i have heard thats a great trip. possibly viet nam.

hummmmmm what else................supposed to get snow tomorrow. mark wants me to wake up at 7 am to watch the damn soccer game. i think i'm going to. he said he would make me pancakes if i came. thats just so early though...........

still cant believe i only have 3 weeks left. i could DEFINITELY stay longer. i think i am done moving around for a bit though---it will be nice not digging through my stinky backpack. my shoes also smell SO bad. ew. i have't worn tennis/hiking shoes this much since like 5th grade.

anyways, i think i'm gonna go now. this is insanely long. i'll be in qtown till sunday morning...then to christchurch for the week. pretty excited! then i'll be meeting beth in wellington...basd;lkajsd yada ydada. hope everyone is well!!!!! heard the weather is SUPA!!!!!!!!!! xox


lovelovelove!

No Sleep and Muffins

Hiiiyoooo folks! Mari here, reporting from beautiful Wanaka. Organized my little thoughts a bit and now I have a second to write on this thing....here we go.

I forgot a few things about the Heaphy Treck with mark. Loving food and all, i made sure I wouldnt run out. Mark did, and ended up stealing some of mine, balabauh. About 2 hours into the hike we both realized we didn't bring a fork to eat our food with. We each had our knives, but mine is REALLY sharp and his is REALLY dull. so the second night, at the McKay Hut, there were about 9 people in a group, all over 68ish...we thought they were a christian group or something because they signed the hut books saying "god is great. look at gods creation" etc etc. so that night, we both had freeze dried food (YUM! i love it) we didn't have plates so we were both eating out of pots. HUGE massive pots. then the christian group offered us some of there leftover pasta, and we demolished it--of course. so here we are, sitting outside, eating out of 3 HUGE POTS with marks knife. classy. very classy.

NEXT-

Got a new day pack, finally. After my good one got stolen I got this shitty 12 dollar bag. it was dying...zippers breaking, etc etc. so I just got a sweet Deuter Bag. So far, so good. it looks like a guys though.......better than pink with balloons though. ya?

Went on a walk/run yesterday around the lake. Wlel, not all the way around cause its massive, but for like 2 hours. It is so damn pretty right now--its autumn and the trees are just gorgeous. there is an island in themiddle of the lake that looks like a massive fireball with all the colors and such. So my walk was good, listenin' to music enjoying the view. I love love love it here. I just love the mountains. I can't wait to move somewhere with them. THe air has that crisp fresh fall feel to it and everyone is just cozy in their autumn clothes. I think autumn is def. my favorite season. I just feel GREAT here, love it and love being so active and just wondering around, meeting people, etcccccccc. I say "etc" to much. i know.

i need to buy a thicker jacket PRONTO. freakin cold and i'm goin deep south so it will be even worse, with artic wind blast.

So, i dont know if I am just really popular, coo, or what (probably all of the above) but I have so far known like 8 people here in Wanaka. Was outside this internet cafe with my friend sofie the other day and this guy from inside goes " OH HEY, MARY-ELLE!" And it was AUstin, from Berkley who I met wwoofing and who happens to be on my plane going home. So i have seen him every day--he hangs out at our hostel a lot and sleeps in his car. Then last night at the grocery I recognize this german chick that was in the first hut we stayed in on the heaphy. so we start talking and i invited her to a movie with my other two friends. she ended up coming, so that was sweet. So THEN, we are at the cinema (which I will talk about later) and I once again recognize these 3 german chicks I roomed with in Able Tasman. The girl I talked to was the one who was caking her face with make up to talk to her boyfriend online(LOSER) and she was like " OHMigosh, i didnt even recognize you! YUou look so different!" so if you cant' tell this is a complete insult. last night i actually straightened my hair and wasn't wearing my hiking shoes. so basically i have looked like complete shit, like a beasty monster 95% of the time over here. I have put make up on once. ONCE. so that is all i have met so far.....maybe more to come?

so the cineman is calle dCinema Pardiso. they have lots of food but the main attraction is that the theatre is comprised of old couches, lazy boys, cars, car parts, pilllows, plane seats, etc. not so normal. there were 4 of us on a couch and it was HOT and we wer elike on top of eachother. oh welll.

umm what else. oh, sofie and i rented kayaks yesterday for a bit. It was really nice out and we just went out a bit and enjoyed the scenary. noiiiiceeeee.

oh, so after my walk, where I was just full of happinesss and good thoughts, we decided to see the movie. the only one playing last night (there is one screening a night) was Revolutionary Road. oh my god. it was going from like night and day. if you were ever thinking suicidal thoughts, and just needed something to take you over the edge, Watch revolutionary road. dear god. how depressing. they were just yelling at eachother the whole time.

Iraeli Guys---so there are lots of israeli's here, which is slightly suprising to me. but they all just got out of the army and go and travel. they actually arent liked to much here because theuy are really rowdy and rude--or so ppl have told me. so anyways, yesterday, this guy locks eyes with me for a long ass time. I think nothing of it. he was blonde---didnot look israeli. then i am at the front desk and he his 2 friends are standing there. oen of them looks at me and says something...........IN HEBREW TO ME! I say HI back. this is the 5th time i have been here where israeli men assume i'm israeli and just start talking hebrew to me. its always awkward after because then they think i'm not israeli and I just want to say, heyehyee i'm jeiwsh, but i dont know hebrew HELLOOOOO!!! so now its awkward. hopefully they leave. i dont think they know english. maybe a little? who knows. strange.

yesterday this new guy moved into our room. steve from ireland. seemed nice---and i love the irish. so we talk. bahaba. i immediately realize that he is going to be a snorer. let me tell you why. so he takes his shoes off and all of the sudden this AWFUL repulsive disgusting smell shoots up into the air---EWWWWWWW!! I was forced to put tea tree oil under my nose to kill the smell. then he tells me that he has a cold, which was obvious because he kept sniffling, so i thought he was either a coke head or was SICK, so i'm like shit, now he isn't just a snorer, he is a snorer with a cold which is the WORST combo EVER! I was up all night. took some dramaine but that didnt work so much. then the other guy in the room started snoring too and made these flemmy sounds and talked in his sleep. so there was basically a symphony of horrendous sounds. it was awful. i almost moved out onto the couches. steve woke up thsi morning and was Like " heyyya! Howd you sleep??!" I wanted to throw thousands of knives at his face, but instead I smiled and laid back down. i might get pissed tonight though---need to find some heavy sleeping stuff today. i couldn ever be with a snorer. I would wake up every morning hating them.

met this guy michael from san diego. real nice fella. we are meeting up in queenstown. one of his Oz friends is coming down here and i think they are gonna come with me to Doubtful sound for the overnight cruise. hope so!!! we went to the wanaka market together which was really the queenstown market that i had already been to. i knew all of the vendors. the guy who made my greenstone necklace was there and recognized my necklace. small freakin i sland.

my mom thinks i'm going to get kidnapped at any time. "dont walk by yourself, don't hike by yourself, dont kayak by yourself, dont eat by yourself, don't go ANYWHERE by yourself" she thinks there are just people out to get me...........mwahhaha.

OK, one more thing...

MUFFINS. Kiwi's are muffin professionals. they are the most delicious things ever. there was one i had the other day that was white chocolate, and fresh blueberries and blackberries. today i had a carrot one. and then i had a blueberry. i should stop, but these are different kinds of muffins. they must have cocaine in them or soemthing. AND they are HUGE and they all have fresh fruit. i NEED to learn how to make them! there must be a secret. there must. i will miss them so.

anyways, probably wont write anymore while i'm in wanaka. i'll wait till queenstown. i'm staying with my friend becky, from middle school and highschool. excited to see her and her place!!!!!!! well, i need to go. the sun is showing its face and i should get out there. xoxoxMWAh

woohooooo!

Hello hello! Finally got around to putting some pics up on this thing. the internet is so slow so i have to prepare myself. anyways, in wanaka right now--which is about 1 1/2 hrs N of Queenstown. staying in a pretty sweeet hostel, its right on the lake. oo lalaa!! If I ever come back to NZ to work, this is where I would live. Its just comfy---small mountain town, surrouneeededded by beautiful mountains. just very livable.

almost had a HUGE catastrophe the other night!!! Went out the bars, wasn't even that drunk--or so i thought. we were drinking goon (boxed wine) i NEVER drink boxed wine, and now I remember why. so beth and i got back to the hostel and got on the internet becase we had this bet on the names of the oceans....so you have to pay 1 buck. I woke up the next morning and was like "ohh maybe I should make sure I have my passport, phone, and wallet.....UMMM couldnt find my wallet. was just engaging into major freak out mode. went to the computers, there are 2 of them, and low and behold my fucking wallet was THERE!!!! AHH! I can't belive no one took it. I am a lucky son-of-a-bitch.

anyways, was going to mtn. biking today, but its super windy and raining on and off, so weare going to go tomorrow and go for a hike this afternoon. I think we are going to go to a movie tonight at this sweet movie theatre. anyways, i have lots more to say and write but i'm not organized right now so I will save that for later. xoxo

lake matheson!
Helping Margaret and Hamish make tea tree oil


oo lala


dead tired after the heaphy track