JO-ANNA - NEW ZEALAND & THE KIWI EXPERIENCE

All is well that ends well!

2007-02-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it home, but barely. Saturday was our last day in Holloywood, we did some of the typical tourist things, such as visit the Chinese Theatre (stuck my limbs in Kevin Costners hand and footprint moldings) and Kodak Theatre (where they were setting up for the Oscars this week). We got to go inside the Kodak theatre, but not into the actual oscar theatre. We tried to bribe the security guards, but they thought Canadian money was play money...Then we took an hours ride to Santa Monica Beach and to the world famous Santa Monica Pier (why it is famous, we do not know...) All it was was a pier with its own amusement park, but nothing too interesting. And the beach was just like a regular old beach, long, but covered with a few needles, lots of garbage and what really ruined it for me was the big huge parking lot paved right ontop of the beach. We now figure that New Zealand really spoiled us from enjoying the rest of the world. We then shopped in Santa Monica and Melrose and we did discover our new favorite store "Anthropologie". We drove through Beverly Hills, not at all what it is cracked up to be! So our time in Los Angeles was short, but obviously not short enough.

Sunday we were 2 hours late leaving LAX, and were sitting on the plane for those 2 hours (not a Jet Blue flight...) because the plane had no running water and someone needed totake 2 hours to get a big enough supply of wetnaps so that people could wash their hands...So we only had 2 hours in our stopover in Toronto, so I figured we would miss ourt connection. The pilot made up some time, and left us with 20 minutes to go through customs, pick up and recheck our luggage and go through security again. So needless to say, we were told on arrival that we had missed it. So as we went to rebook for the next available flight, they told us that our flight to Halifax had been delayed due to not having scheduled any pilots to fly the plane. We had an extra half hour to make it, and we did, and then we sat on that plane for an hour waiting for them to pull pilots off another plane to come and fly ours. We made it home 2 hours later, at about 3 am, but all our luggage made it so we were all smiles. What was waiting for me at home? A hot turkey dinner with all the trimmings! All is well that ends well...

Here are just a few of my favorite pics from the trip that I took...you will all see the rest this weekend I am sure! enjoy! Thank you all for reading my blog! I loved reading your comments as much as I hope you enjoyed reading about us :o) Thank you! LB was askin...I took all the scenery shots and Eddie and Melissa took the ones with me in it.

Jay Leno and John Stamos!

2007-02-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

SO Friday morning we woke up at 5:30 and headed to Burbank, California to try and get tickets to the tonight show with Jay Leno. There was a line up for the tickets (they give out more than they have seats for) so then you have to stand in another line up all afternoon to get into the stage. We got tickets no problem, Then had about 7 hours until we would be let in. We decided that we would still be pretty safe to take off for a few hours and start standing in the line by noon (they let people in at 3;00), so we went to Warner Brothers studios and paid to go on the VIP studios tour. It was alot, but we got too see (AND WALK AROUND!) Stars Hollow (Luke's diner, Stars Hollow High School, Lauralae and Rory's house and Sookie's house. And the park in the middle of Stars Hollow with the Gazeebo. It was so cool. We got great pictures there. Then as we were scooting around the sound stages in out trolly, We drove right by John Stamos (Uncle Jesse from Full House...) and he waved at us. He was really the only celebrit that we saw that I had ever heard of, but that was a good one. We also saw a girl from Studio 60, but I hadn't even heard of tath show before. We visited the stage of the old Friends set and got our pictures taken on the Central Perk, friends COUCH!!!! It was awesome. Then we visited the WB museum and got to see lots of costumes and the purple door from Friends. Then we headed back to the line for Jay Leno, we were #7 and #8 in line, and the first 300 people get let in. We got really great seats, middle of the studio, 4 rows back, but the first elevated level so we could see awesome. Teri Hatcher, some other guy and Omarion were on the show. SO the line up wasn't that cool, but it was so fun just to bet there, and I love Jay Leno himself. He was hilarious. We were told that we would be on tv near the beginning, so of course when we got back to our hostel, (we have atv in our room-weird b/c we havent seen tv since december) we watched Jay Leno later on. They sure did scan the audioence, and we were able to find ourselves, but it went so fast, if you didnt know where to look, you would never see us. So that mad us mad. We had a blast all the same. Today, its Santa Monica Beach and Melrose! Tomorrow...home....

Glad to be alive, sad to be in Hollywood

2007-02-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night a lady that Melissa worked with was kind enough to offer her home to all 3 of us for the night, she picked us up at the airport from the South Island and took us to her house, and drove us to the airport the next day. Eddie came with us to the airport to kill time before he went to his hostel in Auckland for the night. He didnt leave until Thursday. The airport was awful, first when we checked our baggage at the airport last night, we are allowed our suitcases to be 20 kg and our carry-ons 7 kg. Well they didn't weigh ours on the way over so we had NO idea how much we had. Well my suitcase was only 25 kg (under), but Melissa's was 42 kg! So we loaded some of her stuff to mine. But then...they weighed my hiking pack (a carryone) and it was over, so I had to unload her stuff and repack mine. We were unpacking our luggage in the lineup for like at least 1 hour. Eddie was waiting at the airport with us this whole time...

Our plane ride to Los Angeles this morning was awful. WIth about an hour left in the flight. We hit some unbelievable turbulence. I thought that was the end of me. I started bawling my face off when the pilot came on and told all the crew to sit down and buckel up immediately. He sounded paniced to me, and I started sobbing. When it got rougher, I even contemplatted seriously using my visa for the $5.00/minute phone to make a phone call to mom on the ground. Melissa was great and held my arm, but I didn't understand why the pilot wasn't saying anything reassuring. This went on for about 20 minutes. The whole rest of the way on the plane, I pondered the best and fastest way to get home afterI sold my remaining plane tickets. Bus would be about 2000.00 and take 2 weeks. I am scared to death to get back on a plane.

Then we got a shuttle to our hostel in Hollywood, a 1.5 hour ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its not that far but he drove around at so many stops and the traffic is NUTS!!!! The city is so smoggy and dirty. And our room...get this...the toilet is in the middle of the room....so everytime that we have to pee, the other person has to leave the hostel room! We detest it here already. Nothing is within walking distance. We are too sad and TOO exhausted to go anywhere. We both just want to come home...really bad. Sniff...sniff....

Who would have thought 14 hours of fishing could be so fun? Well...for me...

2007-02-13T02:11:00.000-08:00

So today, our last full day in the South Island. And I spent 14 hours of it fishing, well watching Eddie fish, and it was one of the nicest days that I have had so far this entire trip. Yesterday on the bus ride home from Milford Sound, Eddie was talking to the lady that drove our tour bus and mentioned that he was hoping to do some fishing around the area that we were passing through on the drive, about an hour outside of Queenstown. She just offered to give us a lift today back to that spot and pick us up on the return of the people doing Milford Sound today. For free, even after we offered to pay. That bus fare would have normally cost us at least 60 dollars each! So we were up and on the bus by 8:15 this morning, got dropped off at "Stu's Fly Shop" precisely in the middle of nowhere. Eddie got his licence and looked at some 1500 dollar fishing rods. He was like a boy in a candy shop. Then we hiked about an hour away to get to the Mataura River, one of the most famous fly fishing rivers in New Zealand. And what comes along with the most famous fly fishing river in New Zealand? Fisherman. Quite a few of them. So we had to hike another hour just to get far enough away from them and so that Eddie coulds feel like he was the only person in the world. We found the spot, many many of them. I have never seen Eddie as happy as he was today. He says that he was even more happy 2 Fridays ago, but I dunno, he was in cloud nine. All the way that we were hiking upstream to get away from the other fishermen, they told us that they were seeing quite a few fish but were not able to get any bites at all. That same story came from many people. But after 5 hours of fishing, do you think that Eddie was discouraged? Heck no, he caught the big one, it was a 600 lb brown trout he told me to write....no more like 1.75 kg really. It was a beaut (as Clarke Griswald would say...). I played papparazzi for that fish for a while and we got some great shots...proof....evidence. Eddie said that it was his goal to come to New Zealand and catch one fish. Well, that's alot of money to spend to catch one fish, but the look on his face was worth it! Most of the day I spent suntanning on the flowery banks of the river, waking up every 30 minutes or so when Eddie wanted to change spots. He is very protective over here and won't let me go to sleep in the middle of nowhere, in my bathing suit...go figure. My goal for today was to get back that suntan that escaped from my possession 2 weeks ago. I succeeded, well, I tried a little too hard and purposely "forgot" the suntan lotion, so I am crispy and so is Eddie. It was all worth it though to see how happy he was today. We both just couldn't get over the backdrop of the sites that he was fishing. It was beyond description. That's why it's so nice to have him here, we don't have to try and explain it to each other, we just turn the corners and look at each other and smile.

Off to Auckland tomorrow afternoon so you may not hear anything until we are in LA. We wonder why we ever signed up for that. It seems so silly after all of this. Oh well. 4 more days to put off doing school work is how I look at it. Looking forward to my own bed in 5 more sleeps.

Mom -What did you mean by your were just joking about asking me what I would like for dinner my first night home? You don't want to know? Or were you teasing? Turkey, gravy and vegetables...cheesecake....& milk (I have honestly not had one sip of milk since December 26, 2006...last year). I am scared of it here. AND THEN FOR THE MAIN COURSE....

XOOXOOXO

Fiordland National Park, Heaven on Earth

2007-02-12T01:34:00.000-08:00

Mitre Peak...saw this :o)

Milford...saw this :o)

Well the ride out to Milford Sound was incredible, 4 hours, each way (but that includes some photo stops at some pretty amazing sites, like the Homer Tunnel, Te Anau Wildlife Park, Chasms, mini glaciers, etc). I guess the biggest thing that I realized today is that if you are coming to New Zealand, you have to try really hard to not come with preconceived visions of what specific places will look like and feel like to you. I had very vivid visions of Milford Sound, and that just made today weird. If any of you have ever travelled to a place that you have really really wanted to see, maybe you know what I am trying to say...Milford Sound, and the drive down Milford Road was better than I could have ever imagined, but wasn't exactly how I was expecting it, I don't really know how to explain what I am trying to say, but I think I would have been even more floored had I not imagined in vivid details what it would be like. I think it's because a lot of these places you just can't dream about becuase you just don't have the background to do it right. The only way to do it is to be here and to feel it. So in a way I was dissapointed that it wasn't what I thought, even though in reality, it probably was better. The fiords were indescribable. It was impossible to see each fiord in one field of vision, and in some cases you had to hyper-extend your neck beyond normal abilities to actually see the tops, especially when cruising right alongside the highest point in Milford, Mitre Peak. Some of the fiords actually had overhangs, which had giant pieces of rock break off and fall into the water only recently....it was quite scary being there...The best part of the day for me was when we cruised in over the part of the sound where a tributary empties into the main bay. I had seen an aerial shot of this part in a book that I bought and obviously know that I wouldn't have been able to see the color formation in the water below because I was flat on the water but once I identified the spot, it felt surreal as I had starred at this spot in books for the past few months. Again, I saw it...but never believed that it was really there...until I was on top of it. Also during our cruise, we saw a few bottle nose dolphins perform some tricks for us. It was a 2-hour cruise, but way too short. The conditions were so good though that we made it out to the open Tasman Sea, where they don't usually get to go. There were some people kayaking the Sound and I know that I will be doing that the next time. It was a crystal clear day which was really great for pictures, but there were only 4 major waterfalls happening. They told us that it rains at Milford almost 250 days of the year (it is the wettest part of NZ), and if you visit Milford Sound on a rainy day, you can see up to 100,000 waterfalls. I can't even imagine it being more spectacular than it was for us today.

Tonight me and Eddie are having a quiet night, all the people from our hostel are gone our drinking and Melissa went with them...all I think of is Aruba...but she is 26 now and quite capable of making her own decisions. :o)

I can't wait to get home now, tomorrow is our LAST full day in the South Island, and I will be spending it with Eddie in the River for a 12-hour fishing adventure. He will be fishing for 12 hours and I will be taking pictures of him for 12 hours...and hopfully getting my tan back that seems to have dissapeared in the South Island. Then we will be all over the place for the next week. Looking forward to moving along, Eddie will be taking the same plane with us back to Auckland, but then he will be going to Fiji for a day before heading to LA. I will be able to meet him in LA on Saturday and spend the day as his stopover is 10 hours. But he is not staying there with us, he'll be right home after that, early Sunday morning and I'll be getting home late Sunday night (well 1:45 am Monday morning-Canadian time).

We are very excited to see everyone and to tell you our story.

Jo's last words------"Ah, holy poo"----------

2007-02-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

That was about the only thing that was going through my mind all day and was the last thing that came out of my mouth (only a little more harsh) as I walked and inched my toes out over the ledge and made the leap. The ride out to the jump pod on the cable car made me sick as anything to my stomach, just looking down into the gorge was incredibly overwhelming. Watching 19 people throw themselves off the pod before me, I would have thought would be excrutiating. I was the lightest out of the 20 jumpers, so therefore I was the VERY last one to go. One by one, these people plunged to their deaths. Out in the pod, the music was blarring to get people pumped I am assuming, but in my mind, all I thought was again, holy poo, how are the crew members able to concentrate on their job of securing us to ensure that are lives are spared with all of the ruccous going on. The pod was packed with people and people were all over the place. There was no time to think or ask questions at all. I had my whole speech planned to the crew about the security measures and to double check everything as they strapped the harness to me and to explain how everything works, but no, I didnt even have time to ask initial questions. And when I tried to yell my questions anyways, they couldn't hear me because the music was too loud. It was like trust us or you don't. I was getting hooked up to the bungy as Melissa took the plunge. Well I just looked behind me at her and the vomit surfaced, all I could do was look at Eddie, laugh, and blow a final kiss. I had to hobble out to the plank, b/c my feet were bound together. There was no time to turn around even and say "No freakin way"...from the crew, it was "Get your toes out over the edge". "Farther....farther, 3...2...1... good riddance". It only crossed my mind for 0.00001 seconds that I wouldn't do it, but then I jumped, no hesitation, went on the first go. I dove head first, I tried not to be a screamer, and I went long without screaming, all the way from when I bent my knees to when I was laying out flat like a pancake ontop of the wind. Then after 0000.5 seconds, the wailing prevailed. I screamed like a banschee all the way to the bottom. It was the most surreal thing to ever happen, way way way more intense than I had imagined, but I suppose there are no other experiences in life that would get you ready for that. I had thought that the whole way down I would be just praying and waiting for the bungy to kick in and rebound, but it didn't cross my mind once as I fell 440 feet. My screams weren't even like "Oh lord , I'm going to die", they were more like "I can't believe this is happening". I had NO control over any body parts or functions. When they took the harness off later, I actuaally felt my jeans all over to make sure I hadn't peed, because I wouldn't have known at the time. It was just an experience that I can't even re-live in my mind now. Minutes after we finished, Melissa and me were trying to explain it to each other and go through it again in our minds, but we both couldn't. It is such an unnatural thing that it only existed in the moment, all I remember is that it was the craziest thing I will ever do (besides marry Eddie....:o)) joke....

We both bought the DVD of our jumps so you will all get to see it.

Tonight we are having some drinks for Melissa's birthday, not a good idea I can tell so far after the massive buffet dinner we had, I really over exerted myself at the sundae buffet. We are in our hostel lounge right now talking to American boys (shhh, don't tell anyone, they are despised around here...) but one of the guys went to the Nevis bungy the otherday and got on the plank and chickened out. Baaaackkk...baaackkk....baaackkk.....

Tomorrow it is off to the beautiful Milford Sound. First day of relaxation and pampering in well....7 weeks! Ahhh.

I can't believe that I am still alive.

Bungy! and Happy Birthday Melissa!

2007-02-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

My Heart is in my throat this morning. I am up early while Eddie and Melissa are sleeping. I couldn't sleep at all last night, because in 3 hours from now, I will be throwing myself off of a 440 foot ledge from a cable car for a 8.5 second free fall. Yesterday we watched another bungy jump in Queenstown, only 43 feet and I felt sick as anything just watching. Maybe we should have watched before we bought our $210 non-refundable bookings. Word of advice for next people! Anyways, so I can't really enjoy this morning, because I am thinking about what my thoughts will be on the way down. Check it out. This is known as the "Worlds Wildest Bungy". The Bungy is named in USA extreme-sport magazine 'Headrush' as the 2nd most out-there extreme activity in the world. At the time, we thought that we might as well Go Big or Go Home! Now I realize that was nothing other than stupid.

This is what I will be jumping from: (and Eddie even paid $45 to come on the ride out to the platform to snap our pictures. He is scared of the ride....and standing on this thing...)

This is what I will see if the tears aren't blocking my view:

So to fill you in on the past few days...we are in Queenstown now and will be staying here for the rest of our trip. The place that we are staying is called the Alpine Lodge, and is right in the heart of Queenstown. It has free internet. Unbelievable. But like now, you have to get up super early or stay up super late to be able to get on it becuase its so busy. It surprises me here how many people hang out around the lodge during the days, they are not out enjoying every minute of the day like we are. It saddens me.

We spent our last day in Dunedin on Tuesday on the Otago Peninsula, with a car that we rented. We drove to Sandymount and to Sandfly Bay. This is not my picture-ours our way better, but at least you can see something...Here we saw sea lions and seals. And towards the end of the day we waited and waited for the yellow-eyed penguins to come ashore we never saw them, but Melissa wanted to hang in there and wait longer. Me and Eddie went for a walk on the beach, the sun was setting and it was just amazing, Melissa came down and found us and told us that she had run into a tour guide who told her that some of the penguins had alreay come ashore in a restricted area and that they were not visible from where the public hide was (a camo building constructed for people to view the penguins from so that they cant see you-b/c they are scared of us and wont come in). So he took her and showed her, then she came and got us and showed us. It was cool, but more cool b/c only a few people could get to see them. Then we made our way out of the Sandfly Bay, which was quite the challenge. The way down onto thebeach was pretty much running and tumbling down very steep sand dunes. You couldn't walk down if you tried it was so steep. And very very deep sand. We didn't think about the way out at the time. It was so hard, I think we had to stop a few times for water and to get that feeling of what it is like to breath back. That is why I figure most of the places that are spectatcular to see are almost always empty of people. The most amazing places to see are the ones that are very taxing on the body to get to and require great fitness levels (not that we have that...but we manage because we understand the rewards). We are so glad that Eddie is here to attest to all of the complaining about the walking and hiking and food down here. He is needing to buy new shoes b/c he has worn his out to the core in just a few days and is complaining of foot pain often. And any of you that know him know that he would eat anything, absolutely anything. And even he, yesterday said thathe understood us when we said that there is nothing to eat in this country. Even if you are starving, and would spend any amount of money, you still cant find anything that you want to eat. So you can only imagine for us picky eaters.

So we left Dunedin on Wednesday and came back to Queenstown for the night. Thursday morning we rented a car and drove up to Franz Josef Glacier. The drive normally takes 5.5 hours, it took us 11. There were so many places to stop on the way including many hikes that we did in the Mount Aspiring National Park. It is interesting all the parks here call their trails "walks" but really they are sweaty, hikes, all on what seems to be 45 degree plus inclines the whole way up. But it is always worth it. You just get to the top and can't believe what is before your eyes in every single case. The views are to die for. (as I am sure they will be from the 440 foot cable car this morning...). Eddie was able to fish in some rivers as me and Melissa climbed some waterfalls. The wtaer that he is fishing on is just incredible. It is so clear all the way through and at any depth. No fish this day. We got to Franz Josef late at night and checked into the YHA backpackers lodge. Well Eddie and I did, Melissa chose to sleep in the car. We found her a pretty safe spot close to our window and I guess she didn't mind it. We got up early, Eddie dropped us off in the Franz Josef township and he headed off for a day of fishing on some lakes that he spent quite some time mapping out. It was POURING hard this morning, but he made the most of it. Me and Melissa booked our half day guided glacier walk. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. I was expecting to be ontop of the ice, checking out the views. But the whole walk was climbing the glacier, up and down, up and down, very hard work. AT the bottom we had to remove all of our clothes and were in tank tops, at the top, I was wearing 3 layers and a jacket they provided and mitts and a tuque and big boots and was freezing cold numb. The climb was pretty incredible, the ice was a sparkling blue and was melting fast, there was water running down in heaps. So amazing to be standing on it. But if I would offer anyone advice, the half day is enough, as with the full day you just walk higher onto the glacier (where you do get to see more clean ice). Some of the parts that we climbed were covered in rock b/c the pressure of the ice on the surrounding valley rocks cause it to break of and fall onto the ice, but there still were some really clear parts. You just get so cold fast , even with all the gear on, b/c you get wet. Especially your hands holding onto the ropes for some of the steep spots. And wet and cold is never a good time. So we were really glad that we chose to do this, it was truly a unique experience. The guide made fun of us b/c he said that the glaciers that we have in Canada are even more spectacular than this one. But we told him that its more expensive to get to those than to these. And besides, everything is better in NZ...Eddie came back from fishing from La Fontaine Creek and still no fish. But not for lack of trying.

In the afternoon, we started the drive back to Queenstown, but again, lots to do along the way. We took our time b/c we had no place booked to stay this night and were planning on sleeping in the car, all of us. Guess we should have thought of that when we asked for the cheapest car available, a small hatchback...We stopped at Lake Matheson, which we had been excited for since day 1 in NZ. There are posters of this lake everywhere as it is known for its spectacular reflective views of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, the highest peaks in New Zealand. Well, this is the one place that we were dissapointed with on our trip. WE walked along the 1.5 hour trail around the lake, searching of rthe infamous spot where these photos are taken from. There were only 2 viewing spots. The first one was like a little wharf that overlooked what we thought to be a pond, until we walked closer and read the sign indicating that it was infact Lake Matheson. We were heartbroken, we were expecting the biggest lake we have ever seen. We took a picture here, just incase this was the only spot, but trekked on hoping that we would still get to see the "bigger part of the lake" that we had faith was still out there. It wasn't. I guess that it is just one of those places that you have to be there on the most perfect of days to see the effects. On this day, the clouds were low, and covered the snow peaks of the mountains and the water on the lake was rippling. But in all honesty, still beautiful. The lake is about as big as you see oin this shot. And again, the snow peaks were not visible to us.

We also drove up to Fox Glacier, the 2nd of the only 2 glaciers in NZ. Not much differemt from Franz Josef, but we drove right up and hiked a bit so Eddie could see this one up close. Then we drove back. It got dark about 1/2 way back and we had to drive extra slow. Well...Eddie had to, he refused to let me drive for any part of it. He finally let me once he started to doze off with 0.5 hours to go. It was either taht or sleep in a parking lot, so he let me drive. So I drove back to Queenstown and we still slept in a parking lot, but a well lit one, right across the street from our lodge that we coudn't check into for another 12 hours. I slept ok, Melisa slept good, and well, Eddie hardly slept. His legs are too long. We woke up at 6am and drove to get gas to fill it up, then parked it at the top of a hill ontop of the the town and slept some more. We woke again at 8 and returned the car, went for a walk in the Queenstown Gardens (along the lake) and to two of the local weekend markets until 12 when we could finally check in. We all slept for a few hours, then hiked up a mountain for an hour+, instead of paying 10 dollars for a gondola ride to the top. We needed to get up this mountain to get to the Luge Track. Exhausted when we got there, the views were amazing. We all went luging, Eddie and Melissa twice so I could get their pictures. Then we watched bungy jumps at the "Ledge" bungy, not the one that we are doing today, but still scary to watch. Then me and Eddie got the Gondola ride down the mountain and met Melissa at "Hell" for supper (the pizza place).

And here I am now, only 2 hours to go now.

I hope to talk to you all again! And I hope I actually didn't chicken out. I have to make it to Milford Sound tomorrow...maybe we should have done that yesterday!

South Island...and EDDIE!

2007-02-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

So here we are. Sorry nothing to read for the past few days but WAY TOO MUCH has happened. So I left work Friday to meet "Anna". I got to the Western Springs PArk by 4:30, barely, and I was so worried about being late and her leaving without me being able to get the package from Eddie, and I really really really needed to hear from him. So no one was there at 4:30, I waited until 4:45 ish and started to head back out to the main gate, when I heard a whistle. I turned around and almost passed out. I literally was frozen, there he was coming out from behind a tree. I just buried my face in my hands and cried. I couldn't even walk towards him I was so stunned. He just held me for a bit and I kept crying...and crying...and crying. I am going to wait until I get home to fill you in on what happened next, it just doesn't seem appropriate for a blog. I was literally in such a panic, a billion things rushing through my mind, like we had to get in town fast to book him on all the same stuff as us, as we were leaving for the SI the next day. But I couldn't think of anything for more than a second, I just couldn't believe that he was there, I have never been so shocked in my life and in love. I nkow I am all mushy now, but its this country! and Eddie of course... This is so surreal, still. I knew we had to go but I never wanted to leave that spot, ever. But we had to and eventually later that night we were able to book him on all of the same accomodations and buses as us. It worked out really smoothly. That night we all went to the Christchurch and Auckalnd Rugby game at Eden Park. And that night, Eddie got to experience first hand the amazing apartment that we ahd been living in the past 5 weeks. He didn't think it was that bad...but mostly b/c he thought it would hgave been awful from our descriptions.

So up early the next morning and to the airport. Called mom from the airport so I could get a much needed reality check...The flight was amazing. We flew over glaciers with pure aqua colored water and when we got closer to the bottom of the south isalnd we flew over and between mountains of huge grandeur. It was sometimes like we were so close that we could have easily flown into them. The peaks down here are fascinating, luch green terrain with snow covered peaks billions of miles into the sky. You just can't see the tops and the bottoms at one time. And Eddie was here...everything seems more amazing with him. So we got a shuttle to Queeenstown which we were REALLY impressed with. he town is right in a valley situated between gorgeous mountains ( alot of rock ones) and is definetly a ski town in the winter. We explored around the town as we only had half a day, and through a park in the evening and stayed the night at the Discovery Lodge, which we cancelled our bookings there for the end of the trip the next morning. It was awful. We were in a room with 8 people (Eddie was able to get in with us), but it was so messy that you couldn't even get to our beds without literally climbing over others peoples stuff. All the other people were drunk early in the evening and came home at like 3 am, and woke us up. So we were actually able to book our own room for the other 6 days that we will be spending in Queenstown later, at another Lodge. We are so happy in our own room. So Sunday mornign we got the bus to Dunedin. The bus ride was the highlight of this day for sure. Dozens of deep gorges, and Eddie was able to see a billion places that he would love to fish when we rent our car at the end of the week. It was very impressive. When we got to Dunedin, it was a lot bigger than we had expected. We got lost on our way to our lodge, and ended up taking a n our hiking with our packs on when it should have only taken 5 minutes. But when we found it we were very happy with it. We have our own room in a chalet in the back, surrounded by gardens and a jacuzzi outside (which of course is gross and we wouldn't use). Sunday we explored the town, went to Baldwin Street (a 1.5 hour walk to get there), just to look at a street, but it is the steepest street in the world! We climbed it. then we walked through the Dunedin botanical gardens, very awesome! And then down through the town.

Monday we woke up and missed the bus to the Otago Penninsula by about 2 minutes, It's hard when 3 people have to time getting ready in the morning. So we decided to do our tour of the Cadbury chocolate facrory this morning! It was phenominal...well at least I thought so. :o) Free chocoalte and surrounsung by chocolate waterfall silos. I was very very impressed. They only export 30 % of the chocolate. But yet no overweuight people here...interesting. Its all the hills and lack of public transportation. Then we caught the bus to the penninsula and hiked 1.5 hours UPHILL the whoel way to Larnach Castle. It wasn't as big as it looked in the guide, but the gardens were beautiful. Melissa didn't want to pay to get in, so me and Eddie went in. We walked around the gardens, it was so high up that we also had amazing viewsw of the Otago harbour and all of its islands (also mountains). NOthing is flat. It was nice to get some time with him. Then we heard Melissa in the flowers, she had snuck in without paying. We walked around the castle courtyard, and on the way out, the guards approached us and asked Melissa to leave as the had cameras and knoew taht she didn't pay. We made our way out to the exit, but she tried to get out the way that she came in, on another path. They stopped me and Eddie at the gate and asked us wheer she was, we didn't know. Tehn when we got out of the courtyard and were leaving, a worker followed us and asked us to pay for her or they would call the police on her. So of course we paid. That was not a fun time. Then we got the bus back and are now making plans for tomorrow. We are renting a car and driving back to the penninsula to do the walking trails to some waterfalls and wildlife (inc penguins). Eddie will finally get to do some fishing! Well thats all for now. there is SOOO much more to say but the internet is so much money at this lodge. We are having a great time and the weather has been superb since he has been here. It is colder in the SI but a real crisp fresh air, which is great for hiking and makes us less tired.

I am still so stunned when I think th at Eddie is here, never in a million years...only in a million dreams. This vacation can not get any more perfect.

Miss you all and CANT WAIT TO GET HOME TO FILL YOU IN! and to show you something...

Off to the South!

2007-02-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am in my last half hour at fieldwork. Today has actually been quite sad for me. I have really gotten close to a few of the clients here and am actually looking at the clock every few minutes, hoping that it hasn’t changed much. We just had a huge cake (a deluxe nut cake..ah well good for the diet...). One of the clients handmade a farewell card for my that tries to convince me that OT’s get paid WAY more here so to accept the job here. :op And a few of the clients stood up and said a few words to me about how much I have helped them. The tears were coming down. Despite all of their challenges, they are all so sweet and very concerned about my welfare and safe journey home. It’s sad to leave behind one guy in particular because I have worked so hard for him and he has overcome so many obstacles. He hasn't really opened up to anyone else before and is a little sad today. He asked to come everywhere with me today, and is even walking me to the bus stop in about 10 minutes. It's hard to know what to say at the very end, because that it what hecwill remember. First time ever to be sad leaving a placement. These guys have truly become my good friends.

I am meeting Eddie's prof in an hour and then tonight, we are off to the rugby game! It's gonna be great! All kinds of hype around the city! Then early tomorrow morning, we're outta here! I don't know how much I will be able to write from the South Island, but I will try.

Love you all!

South Plans

2007-01-31T18:13:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Tonight Melissa and I got all dressed up and went out to dine at the Sky Tower “Orbit” restaurant, a revolving restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower. We had booked for 8:15, that way we could be dining in the daytime, but then have the turnover to night time happen infront of us, getting to see both views. We were allowed to check in 30 minutes prior to dinner to go to the Main Observation deck, also at the top of the tower. Pretty spectacular. The glass for all of the walls was tilted out bottom to top, so you could actually lean out over the city and just have glass below you, and could walk over glass floors, really freaky, reminded me of the Nevis High Wire Jump at AJ Hackett that we will just choose to throw ourselves off of in Queenstown in a few days. I seriously felt ill, but I swore I would do it, so I will. Then we got to dine, it was pretty fascinating views. It took 1 hour for the tower to revolve once so we decided that we better drag it out for 2 hours+ so that we could see everything in both night and day. So we did. It was like we took turns ordering food. I had a white sauvingnon blanc, great pasta, vegetable medleys and a hot chocolate for dessert, I would have like to had icecream for dessert, but it was 14 dollars. But the views, dinner and everything was 28 dollars so same as any other place plus the views and novelty of rotating while eating.:op

Wednesday, January 31, 2007.

Today I visited the Auckland Museum with one of my clients in the morning. I had only been there in the night time before for that kids thing, so it was nice to actually get to go and have a look at the exhibits. In left work at lunch b/c I was not feeling well and had an hour nap in the afternoon. In the evening, we were planning on finally going to the Waiwera Infinity Spa, but we didn’t. We met at the bus stop to go and realized that we would be better off going to the tourist I-site and making some bookings for our South Island trip. And good thing we did, there has very little accommodation availability, especially on the west cost…where we were going. So that was stressful, 2 hours there, trying to work it out. Came home and soaked my feet in the frying pan in our apartment (thats why i dont like to eat out off our dishes, b/c there are other people like me out there who do gross things...). So this is our plan:

Saturday, February 3: fly to Queenstown, get there early afternoon. Stay the night at Discovery Lodge Backpackers.

Sunday, February 4: Get on tour bus to Dunedin, get there mid afternoon. Maybe visit Cadbury Chocolate Factory? I might be on my own for this one…. :o) staying at Elm Lodge.

Monday, February 5: Visit Larnach Castle, NZ’s only castle. This area is heavily influenced by Scottish tradition. Staying at Elm Lodge

Tuesday, February 6: Hunt for penguins, sea kayaking maybe. Staying at Elm Lodge.

Wednesday, February 7: Tour bus back to Queenstown, stay at Discovery Lodge again.

Thursday: Rent car and drive to Mount Cook and then to Franz Josef. Sleep in car…who knows where…I still might try and find a place, this was a spur of the moment thought, that doesn’t sound so good anymore.

Friday, February 9: Glacier walk at Franz Josef, then at night drive back to Queenstown

Saturday, February 10: Milford Sound Day Tour, including Red Boat Cruise, return at night to stay at Discovery Lodge for rest of time in Queenstown.

Sunday, February 11: Nevis Highwire Bungy jump at AJ Hackett (highest in NZ)– 4 hours

Monday, February 12-Tuesday February 13: 2 day Doubtful Sound trip: may be on my own for this one (tentative)

Wednesday, February 14: Flight back to Auckland, stay night at staff member from Poutama Lodge, who will pick us up and drive us back to airport (we were planning on sleeping at airport for 24 hours until she offered today…). She is also keeping our suitcases :o)!! Yipee!

Thursday, February 15: flight to Hollywood, California

So, that’s my plan so far.

Today Melissa and me both spent the day at the beach with our clients, playing cricket and egg and spoon races. I’m the only one that broke an egg. Tonight, we are heading out on the town for some drinks and goodies with our preceptors and another OT.

Settle in for the long read...

2007-01-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Tonight Melissa and I went to Western Springs Park to check the spot where I am suppose to meet Anna, one of Eddie's profs next Friday to pick up something from her. I found the spot just fine. We walked through the park in the evening, kind oflike the Halifax Public Gardens only bigger and of course better. It borders the zoo, so we could actually walk behind some trees and see the elephants. Then after our walk, we went out to eat at a well recommended pizza placecalled "Hell", yes that is the name. Scary place, but fabulous pizza, its just made me top 2 things to eat in NZ. Too bad we waited until now to find it. Then we hung out at the bookstore downtown until almost midnight trying todecide which NZ book to buy. After 2 hours tonight(prob about 15 in total, still no decision).

Friday, January 26, 2007

Tonight we went back to Newmarket to the shopping villa. I FINALLY found the CD “Oceania” which has the incredible song on it that I have been hunting for “Kotahitanga”. It my official anthem for this trip. Not like this post isn’t long enough, but here are the lyrics, of course the song is in Maori.

Kotahitanga
Püpüngia te käkaho e kore e whatiTü tira täua kia tü tahi
Hei aha te tü weteweteKia kotahi tätou mä kia kotahi räTuia ki te whakaro tahi E patu atu ai te wehewehe
Tü tahi tätou mäE puta ai ki te ao märama
Tü ana I te taumataKia kotahi tätou mäKia tü tira eKaua e noho mararaNoho wetewete
Anö te rito roto pä harakekeTe tipu kaha ake nei eHütia ana ko te rito e töna mutungaHe mate
Pakopako ai te poiKotahi te tangiPakopako ai te poiKo tahi te tangiMe tü tahi Koia te pakö o te poi

Tonight I came home and ate uncooked rolls and uncooked apple pies. I seem to be eating a lot of unbaked bread products and only realizing after I eat it. The packaging here is awful.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Today I woke up early, but Melissa wanted to sleep in and get the 10:00 am ferryto Waiheke Island. I wanted to go earlier so I let her sleep and I got up anyways and took another ferry to Devonport to see if I could buy a quilt making kit at the fabric store there. I will be taking that up when I get back, and am all alone in Campbellton....But when I got there, it was closed. So 15 minutes later back tothe ferry. I ate breakfast at a waterfront cafe by myself and then met Melissa at the Waiheke ferry at 10:00. It was a 35 minute ride over to the Island, far past where we had been so far. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, notbetter not worse, just different. We spent the first 1.5 hours touring theclifftop "Sculptures on the Gulf", this long walking trail around one of the points that was lined with huge sculptures that you can actually see from the ferry coming over. Some of them were impressive, some funny (like a 3 meter by 3 meters giant bathtub plug just floating in the ocean…) and some, you just ask "why?"...but it was pretty awesome. We had to move through really fast inorder to get back to our tour starting. We sweated about 12 lbs off. But wemade it back and caught our tour around the island. We went to the highest point on the island and stopped for pics, went to Onetangi beach for a stop and then to the main town of Oneroa. We went to the Oneroa beach for the afternoon and then tried to get something to eat. "Tried" meaning just that, it is impossible to find food in this country. In the whole town, there appeared to be one place open, and all they had was hot fried, greasy food. Last thing I wanted on this blistering hot day. But Melissa got fries and nuggets there and then we found another place (a sit down restaurant) where I could get a mesclun salad. They wouldn’t let us eat there b/c Melissa had hers in a take out box, so I asked for mine to go. They gave it to me but didnt have any forks and well...I forgot to pack my own silver fork in my purse today, silly me. So I said that I wouldhave to eat it there, so there we sat, in the waiting area of the restaurant(where you wait for your table), chomping down on our take out boxes. I guess you had to be there...it really was embarassing. Then we went to an outdoor concert in Rocky Bay called "Little Day In", only called that b/c last week inAuckland was the big concert "Big Day Out". The set up was cool, like the concerts on the citadel hill, with everyone on their blankets, beer, etc. But overall the music, It wasn't really my thing. It was the head banging, jump up and down in front of the stage type event, "Koru" was the band that was supposedly famous here. No thanks, so I took off up this massive hilly trail, that was so steep it was almost vertical. When I finally reached the top, I was able to see the whole other side of Waiheke, the vineyards, and the whole concert below. I caught up with Melissa when she was done watching the concert and then we left and caught the late night ferry back to the city.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

I got up this morning at 7:00. I realized that we hadn't made definite plans for today so I thought that it would be a good idea to get down to the Information site on the waterfront early to check and see what our options were for the day. Our original plan was to look at our choices for getting to Coromandel, maybe try and rent a car and to drive, (this is where the Hot Pool Beach (where you dig in the sandand make your own hot pool, and the Cathedral Cove are)). Well I woke Melissa up at 7:15 and told her that I planned to leave at 8:15, so she had enough time to get ready. Well she wasn’t ready at 8:15 so I left to go and find out what theoptions were. I had to go early b/c a lot of the transportation leaves between 8 and 8:30 so I had hoped to have been out of there by then. So I asked the tourist agent how long it would take to drive to the Coromandel penninsula and she said3.5-4 hours. Well, right away I knew that that was not sensible because that would be 8 hours of driving (and probably more than that for us b/c we havent driven there yet) and it was already almost 9:00. I thought we could take a bus, but there was only 1 bus leaving today and it only got to Coromandel at 3pm and there were No buses at all home today, so the ONLY option was the ferry, which was only a 1.45 hour ride and fairly cheap. I told Melissa where Iwould be at 8:30, but by 9:00, she was nowhere to be seen, and the ferry was leaving at 9:00. I waited to the last minute I possibly could and then at 9, I decided that I better get on the ferry to go to Coromandel. Otherwise, I wouldnever have the chance to see it again as this is our last weekend. And I couldn'thave gone tomorrow b/c it only goes every 2nd day, therefore we couldn’t go tomorrow (our last day off). So I got on it, after asking the skipper to wait while I ran down and left a message for Melissa. He waited to leave until about at 9:10, and still no Melissa. I felt bad, especially that it worked out that way, but I really wanted to goand had no idea where she was 2 hours after waking up. So off I went on an adventure of my own. It was an amazing ferry ride, higher cliffs and mountains than I'd seen yet. Once I arrived, I was put on a tour bus and driven into Coromandel township. It was a very cute town, mostly filled with local artists work, paintings, carvings,etc. I decided that it was hiking (or "tramping" as they call it here) that I wanted to do today, and another girl from Germany that I met on the ferry also was travelling alone and wanted to go hiking, so we found some of the best trails on the peninsula and took to a great 2 hour hiking trail called KauriReserve trail. It led me to very high lookout, including Pa Lookout, one of thehighest in the Coromandel. It was beautiful, some different views that some ofthe other cliff tops we had seen before, looking down on most of the fishing villages below. When I was out there, I did think that it was quite nice to be on my own. I really could go at my own pace and really take it all in. Sometimes I feel like I am rushing Melissa, so it was nice to move fast and get a lot done. The hike was awesome, lots of ranges and layers before layers of mountains. I was impressed. I visited a local art gallery of local paintings too. I didn’t get a chance to go to Cathedral Cove b/c that was another 1.5 hour ride from the part of Coromandel that I visited. Next time, with Eddie maybe??? :o). I thought about you today a ton Eddie, it was really a fishing town and I am sure you would have been in your glory. So it was an awesome day, overall. I got tons of sun, well I am not sure if my feet are tanned or if they are just permanently dirty. On the way home after getting off the ferry, I walked through Albert Park where there was another huge outdoor concert happening. I am so tired tonight. Chronic fatigue may be setting in.

Monday, January 29, 2007

This morning we decided that today was Piha beach day! This is the most popular beach in New Zealand, and where all the surf competitions are held. It is also the beach where the Maui dolphins swim. These are the dolphins that “Maui”, the legendary Maori man rode while he fished the North Island out of the ocean. They are named after him. So the only way to get to Piha beach is by shuttle, $50 each for a 45 minute drive. But there was no way around it, we had to pay. When we approached the west coast, the sky was so dark and it started to pour, the hardest we have seen yet since here. Well, the shuttle guy gave us a great commentary on the way about the rainforests that we were driving through and about the lack of wild animals in it. He said that New Zealand does not have any snakes at ALL! Cathy, now I know you will come here! And the only wild animals that can be found in the rainforests here are possums, ferrets, that kind of stuff, and they were actually all introduced to NZ from Australia, they were brought over to increase gaming. So we get to Piha, and the shuttle driver tells us that there is a rainforest walk, the Kitekite Trail in the Waitakere Ranges National Park, just across from the beach that takes you up to the famous Kitekite Falls, a 40 metre cascading waterfall. We decided that since it was still pouring, we would attempt that for the morning and hope for the afternoon to get sunny for the beach. I was lucky and had brought my umbrella but Melissa had too much faith and didn’t bring her rain jacket. Its interesting b/c we never care how wet we get but we both start to panic when we think that our cameras could be endangered by the rain. :o) The cover brush in the rainforest was so dense that we didn’t get wet at all. It was about a 45 minute hike to the Kite Kite Falls. The trail was amazing, huge raindrops resting on bright green fern, a rainbow mixture of wild flowers and bush. The waterfalls were spectacular, I could hear them getting closer and closer and then when I finally reached them, I was in awe. To see that high of a waterfall, so tall and narrow, it looked like it was literally falling from the sky. We got some great shots at the bottom and then hiked up to the top of the falls and had some great views below. From the top you couldn’t actually see the bottom, just the pool from the next drop. As I was getting my stuff ready to continue, Melissa had already taken off. There were two trails in which she could have went. I didn’t think she would have went far, after all, this is a rainforest, huge and we had never done it before. When she didn’t come back, I decided that the smartest thing to do would be to wait at the spot where she left me, because eventually she would realize that I wasn’t with her and come back. Well, she didn’t, so I decided to scream her name numerous times, no response, so I followed a short ways down the trail that I thought she took and eventually came to a 4-way crossing. Well surely, she would know that once I caught up here that I would not know where to go. So I figured that I would just head back to the main entrance the way that I came just to be safe. Once I got onto the main trail again, there she was. I was furious, but she tried to film me having a hissy fit, I told her to turn it off b/c I had to swear , but she kept up, which I couldn’t help but eventually laugh at, so we just went on our way. Out we came to a hot, clear and beautiful day. Took some photos underneath some of the ranges that we passed and then made our way to the beach. It was blistering. I ordered a hamburger from the beachside grill, first meat I’ve eaten here. It tasted really wonky. I thoroughly examined my burger and condiments and determined that it was the raspberry vinaigrette on the burger that was the culprite. Once I knew that it wasn’t the meat, it actually tasted good. Amazing how much of it is mental. :op.

Then we hit the surf. The waves were like the movies. You always here about big waves and surfing, but when you get there, you are like “where are the waves that you see in the movies that are so big when they break that the surfer can actually be inside the tunnel?” Well, the answer is here! We took turns taking to the battle with the waves one at a time (so that we could guard our stuff but also b/c I had surf shorts and she had a rashguard, and neither of us had the opposite, so we had to switch clothes back and forth to have the full outfit. Bikinis stood no chance in that surf. We would have been coming out of the water wearing only our tan lines…As we fought for our lives in the ocean, when I was out, I saw the most spectacular scene. As I was awaiting a monstrous wave, about 2 meters high, as it got about 3 meters away it peaked, ready to break, but at the very top of the wave, I saw 3 huge fish swim right across the top of the wave. It was the most beautiful natural event that I think I have ever scene. I try and think about it often so that I don’t forget the image. I wish I could have got that one on record. The things that you see here aren’t just things that you’ve thought about, but thought you’d never get to see them in your life time, but also things that would never cross your mind in your wildest dreams in the first place, things you never thought possible. So, also located in the middle of Piha beach (divides the beach in 2-one side you can’t swim on because of some of the most dangerous rip currents in the world) is Lion Rock, a massive mountain of a rock in the shape of a lion crouching and looking out into the Tasman Sea. There is a path to tramp up this rock, it used to go to the top until (b/c of its steepness) the steps gave way and the whole path collapsed at night not too long ago. Now you can only hike halfway up. We ran out of time to do that b/c our driver was taking us back to the city at 4:00. While we were at the beach, we noticed a film crew from the hit tv series “Piha Beach Rescue” filming. There is this reality rescue show that is filmed on most weekends at this beach because there are so many live rescues, they make a hit tv series out of it. Surprisingly so, we didn’t make it on. But they rescue boats were out full force so I am sure that we might be in the background of some shots…It was amazing the size and age of some of the kids that were out in the waves, I was shocked.

We made it home and decided to take one more trip out to Mission Bay by bus to say an official good bye to Movenpick, the Switzerland Ice Cream Gallery. It was a sad time, but at least now I feel a sense of closure. Melissa thinks that my addiction to icecream is majorly out of control. For my birthday, she tried to get me hooked up to it through I.V., but in New Zealand, they don’t seem to do that! We dressed up in the same outfit that we bought together and headed with our icecreams to the beach. We’ve never had as many people talk to us here as we did that night b/c of our matching outfits. From this guy from New York in our apartment building, people on the beach, every one wanted to find out what was going on. Well, with all the fashion mistakes that happen here, I didn’t even think people would notice.

On the way home, we were walking through Albert Park, by our apartment and came across a load of papers scattered across the path. After closer investigation we determined them to be official passport information and photos and flight tickets for a fellow Canadian (from Alberta) with all the personal information it contained, we decided that we should pay a visit to the Auckland police department and deliver the goods, just incase our fellow countryman may have met with some bad luck.

Today was our last staff meeting at work. Tonight we are off to the Sky Tower Orbit Restaurant. This is at the top of the Sky Tower and is a revolving restaurant. We are going at 8:15 so that we will get to view the city in both the day and the night time scene. We can go up to 0.5 hour early to visit the official observatory. I have been looking forward dining here since day 1. We waited till the end b/c it is pricy but we really haven’t eaten out that much and feel we should have one fancy dinner out. So getting all dressed up!

In closing, I would just like to fill you in on what I ate for lunch today. First of all, in preparation for the event, I chewed on a piece of Canadian Berry Trident gum, just to get the salivary glands functioning properly. Then, for the first course, I ate a whole roll of Sweet Hearts candy. Then onto a real treat, a box of REAL LIVE smarties! Well of course you say, that’s not enough for a meal, well NO WORRIES! It was a king size box! Then I ate a few tic tac candies to get rid if the chocolate after taste. I decided that that was not a good idea so ate a bag of smartie eggs to restore the milk chocolate after taste. I polished the meal off with a base coat of Blistex SPF lip balm, covered with a sticky layer of Lip Smackers raspberry lip gloss using good Canadian tissues to wipe off the access.Yummy! This entire meal comes to you by courtesy of Annie Q! What a sweetheart. She even considered the fact that after eating I would feel stuffed and would want to get rid of some of the excess weight by cleaning the pounds of wax out of my ears. She included a monstrous bag of Q-tips. My life is complete. Annie, when I opened the parcel that I got this morning, it was like Christmas, to see all that stuff fall out of that package was so exciting. My feet were bouncing on the floor and my mouth was hanging open in awe. Thank you so much, you are such a good friend and so, so thoughtful. I owe you one. You may have saved my sanity, as well as my hearing… :op. And LOVED the card! Love you!

Long Weekend at the Beaches

2007-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well, there are only 4 days of placement left, it feels like we just got started. The organization sent out it's monthly newsletter today and there's a little blurbb about me in it "This month we have a Canadian OT student with us, Jo-Anna Arsenault. She has been a great addition to our team here at the Highway...finally Stefan has someone who can understand what he's saying!" (He's from Nova Scotia as well). Ha ha, at least they got my first name right...I don't know how beacuse everyone here calls me Joanne, except for Stefan. Most of the clients call me Joan (becuase they "have a grandma named Joan"). :o)

This weekend is a long weekend (Monday off- Auckland's Anniversary), so we are off again, but only day trips I think. We are planning on going to the west coast beaches one day, Waiheke Island another Day and the Coromadel (http://www.thecoromandel.com/). I won't write about what we want to do, just what we did do when we get back. And thank goodness, Melissa's camera is fixed, it would have been a L-O-O-O-N-G weekend!

Please keep writing...you stop writing...I stop writing.

Maybe, just maybe, last night I might have felt something that could quite possibly have been homesick. But probably not.

Crazy Lori-Beth and Kelly

2007-01-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

If any of you would like to get to know my crazy (but bestest friends), or just want to explode in laughter please visit Lori-Beth's blog at http://loribethcrowdis.blogspot.com/. Lori-Beth, I hope you don't mind, but when you work that hard at something, you have to share it!

Best Mistake Ever!

2007-01-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

Monday night, we just got groceries, and there was a “2 for $5.00” 2 litre icecream sale on. Well, since one was $4.50, we went for it, after eyeing the containers closely trying to decide whether they would both fit into our teenie-tiny freezer. Ah well, worst that could happen is that we eat 2 litres tonight. Best mistake we ever made! They didn’t fit, not by a long shot, you should have seen the size of our bowls. Melissa fell ill, I was in heaven, after all, can’t waste any. She thought that maybe being forced to eat that amount would cure my addiction, but it just made it worse. I have bought about 6 ice cream cones in the past 3 days.

Yesterday after work, we went to the Victoria Park Markets, very nice, but they were only open for about 15 minutes after we got there. We were a little late getting there, I was staring at a cruise ship on the waterfront forever that had to have been bigger than the titanic. It towered over all of the tall buildings on the waterfront, the biggest thing I have ever seen. Last night we didn’t go out or anything, and do anything much, except for get another “eviction notice”. Another payment is due this week. I have paid for my room for the full 4 weeks, but Melissa is waiting for her SWIF, so hopefully that comes through by Friday for her. Also, I must blog about this because something BIG happened last night. I splurged and spent the $6 and did a full load of laundry, everything I own. I took down my wash and sat with it the whole time, reading articles for school, while it washed and dried, afraid of my stuff “walking off”. I know I am super paranoid, but at least I won’t be the one crying. I know you are on the edge of your seats with this one…So then I brought my laundry back up to my room, set down the bag and took each item out piece by piece sniffing the warm, fresh scent…over and over again. It was incredible. Mom…I miss you. :o). So today I feel completely rejuvenated and clean for the first time in 3 weeks at least. Handwashing just doesn’t cut it. It may do something, but it sure doesn’t cure smells, and with all the hiking, my clothes were smelly…P-U!

I came to work this morning and a lovely card was sitting on my desk, a birthday hug monkey all the way from Windsor, Nova Scotia, from, in her words…A & A & B & ? & ?...so cute, looks strange, too many new babies at once! It’s like instantly doubled in size! But so happy for you. Thanks Allie and your crew! That was very thoughtful. I love you!

PS- I miss you Baby J, keep the updates coming P-Bird, I love them.

Bay of Islands

2007-01-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 19, 2007

Today we left work early and walked down the road by my work to Soljans Winery, the place that I have been looking at online for about 14 months. It was pretty impressive, and you know me, I wanted to buy everything they had because of the logo and of course find the prettiest wine bottle. We actually could sample all the wine we wanted, so we did, Melissa, maybe a sip too many, no just joking….Anyways, so I did buy a bottle of wine (only 1 bottle because we are only allowed to bring back 1 litre to Canada, and one bottle is 750 ml, too bad). And I bought a bottle of their own chocolate dessert sauce and a bottle of raspberry vinaigrette. It wasn’t too expensive there at all, I guess because you cut out the middle man. Friday night…what did we do? I don’t remember.

Monday, January 22, 2007

This weekend we went to the Bay of Islands and stayed on a town called Paihia (pronounced pie-hee-ah). The drive was phenomenal to say the least. The whole drive was like being in a video game where you are constantly climbing hills and driving down them, the windiest roads you can imagine. And below us for most of the 4-hour drive was deep gorges with bright blue rivers, and what appears like jungle sections. Absolutely stunning. And it was the whole way! Along the way we passed the indoor ski resort called Snowplanet, literally a big dome built on a hill with snow inside, looked kind of worse than Martock to me), past Sheepworld and drove through a place called Waipu, a town actually founded by Scottish men who sailed across the Atlantic looking for a place to settle, found Nova Scotia, decided that the weather was too “extreme” and then made their way here where they stayed. It is now the town where they hold a huge Highland Games festival. Melissa videotaped the coachdriver talk about the town and its link to Nova Scotia. When we finally made it to the Bay of Islands, we went to the tourist i-site and booked our tours for the next 2 days and then we checked into our backpackers lodge (they don’t call them hostels here), which we were not overly impressed with but it would do. We had our own locked room but had to share a bathroom and showers with everyone else, males and females mixed, which I was not a fan of.

So we went out on ‘The Excitor’ high speed boat through the Bay of Islands on a 1.5 hour tour. The highlight of this adventure was to visit the world famous ‘Hole in the Rock’ out at Cape Brett. The hole has been etched by wind and wave in the Bay of Islands. We also saw other rock cutouts, including the famous one called the ‘Cathedral’ (just an upside down V, deep into the rock), but cool. On the way to the ‘Hole in the Rock’ we came across about half a dozen to a dozen huge dolphins jumping right beside our boat, like right next to us! They swam under us, were jumping like crazy. Melissa was able to get a few good shots, I could only get a tail end of a fin in my shots. I never thought that seeing dolphins would be a big deal or exciting but it was super cool! I guess I am just used to seeing them in marinas and things, way different when you see them in the wild for sure! So when we were out at the ‘Hole in the Rock’ Melissa’s digital camera croaked. It wouldn’t do anything! She did a good job keeping her cool, but I would have been crying awfully hard. When we got back to the shore, we went to a camera shop to see what could be done about her camera, they said that she would have to send it back to Sony with her warranty information. Well, there is no Sony store here that we could find and that could take months. Needless to say, her day was a little sad. She still has her video camera, but I am sure we will think of something. The drive back in the boat was awesome, we coasted past enormous hills and cliffs, with truly baby blue sparkling water, unlike any water I have ever seen before. There were all kinds of caves built into the hills and cliffs which were neat to see. Around each turn, your breath stops at the sights.

So we went pack to the mainland in Paihia and walked along the beach, ate out, looked at all the other backpackers places that we should have stayed at…sat at a bar by ourselves (Melissa had found coupons for free beer on the beach..), and then to bed.

I got up early on Sunday to try and call home, but again, the payphones only use their own phone cards here. It’s the worst set up I have ever seen. I had a shower and I didn’t have any shower shoes so I actually took the pillow case off of my bed and stood on that in the shower :o).

We found out in the morning that the town of Waitangi was close by and within walking distance. This is the place where the ‘Waitangi treaty’ was signed, at the Treaty House (a marae) there. So we decided to change our booking and get a later ferry so that we could walk there. The guy at the tourist i-site told us it would take about 15 minutes, 50 minutes later we arrived. I had a rough go because I had my hiking pack on the whole time, while Melissa had chosen to leave hers behind at the information center. I didn’t do that because it was just stored in an unlocked door that everyone in the public has access to and if I had left mine there, I would have been worrying about it the whole time, better safe than sorry seems to be what all my decisions have been made by, even if it means a lot of extra effort lugging that thing around. It was brutal, but great exercise. At least I had peace of mind. So we get to the Treaty grounds and find out that we have to pay to get in to the site, which we would have, but actually had to turn right around and walk back b/c it had taken longer than we had been told. And from where we arrived, it would have been another 15 minutes to walk to the actual treaty house itself. So I bought a copy of the treaty and we headed back. We got to the ferry in time and were shuttled out to Urupukapuka Island, in the Otehei Bay and spent the day out there. It was magnificent. The whole island was surrounded by fairly secluded exotic beaches divided by monstrous hilltops covered with sheep and their poop. On this whole massive island, there was not one place to walk where you weren’t walking in sheep poo, so you just had to be choosy, soft, smelly poo, or hard, balls of poo. I chose the later b/c I was wearing flipflops ) called “Jandals” here. So then we hiking to the top of a few of the hills for spectacular views of the Bay of Islands. It seems that everything in New Zealand looks better from the aerial views :o). We split up for a while so that we could explore on our own and really have some of our own time to really take it all in. That was nice, then we hiked down to one of the more secluded beaches and camped out there for the day. We got some great sun, and really enjoyed that day. It was like a beach right out of survivor. :o) too beautiful for words. This was the only island that you were allowed to actually camp on, and there were a few tents around in breathtaking spots, so that is definitely a plan for my next trip here, next year…

Then we got the bus back to Auckland. I really actually love the bus rides. So relaxing, there are commentary, so you get to learn lots. It’s so sad coming back to the city after these amazing weekends. But we have lots to do these next 2 weeks during the week days; we are trying to pack it all in.

So just to let you all know that I am having the time of my life, better than I thought I could ever have this far from home. I miss everyone and am excited to come home, although coming home can wait-I am going to have a real hard time leaving here I can tell already.. It’s hard when Andrea is at home sending me pictures of wedding dresses that she is trying on, she looks so beautiful!

Oh yeah, Monday afternoon was my evaluation at work. Man was that rough…I did it at a sports bar in the city with my preceptor (his idea) on the commercials during the Patriots and Colts game. What a game, what a sad ending. Good thing though, if the Colts won ( my preceptor’s team) I would get an “E” the highest you could get as a grade, if my team wins, I would only get an “8”, the second highest. So at least I got the best mark I could, I think I would have rather had the Pats won.

Note: Paige I got your letter yesterday! Thank you, it was soooo sweet, check your mail in about 2 weeks and hopefully there will be something there for you!

AUT School of Occupational Therapy

2007-01-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

This morning Mathijs picked us up from our apartments and took us on a tour of the AUT School of Occupational Therapy. They had the model of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance on display but they took of the "Canadian" word! Anyways...and there was apicture of Liz Townsend on the wall, good thing we got to see that because it is not like we actually know wat she looks like.....The school was nice, all the OT labs have plynths and stuff, just like our physio room upstairs, only the OT students have access (b/c they share classrooms). One of the classroom auditorium actually has recently won an architectural award design award and the library was spectacular. Lots of nice Occupational Therapy artwork all around, just overall impressive.

Then Melissa came back to Kumeu with me to see my work site. We are leaving early to go to the Soljans Winery, we can only bring 1 litre of alcohol back so I am buying a bottle from there. Then tonight we are going to the International Beach Volleyball tournament and tomorrow we are off for the weekend trip to the Bay of Islands.

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-01-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

Last night Melissa and I travelled up the North Shore to Campbells Bay to the home of Yvonne, David and their 2 boys. It was a fabulous time. David and the boys picked us up at the ferry dock and we met Yvonne at the house, which was a beautiful home. We visited for a while and then indulged in the feast that she had prepared, beautiful salad, chicken, veggies and potatoes for tea (thats what they call supper here) and the a decadent chocolate birthday cake and New Zealand icecream and strawberries and bluberries for dessert. Can you imagine the smile on my face? :o). Then Melissa filmed pretty much a whole documentary with the boys on getting them to teach her how to speak Kiwi and them making fun of how we talk. It was a great night. Yvonne offered up her computer forme to download some of my pictures onto her computer and then email them to get them onto my blog. She just happened to have a cord that worked with my camera. Yipppeee! I only got about 8 pictures b/c it was slow to download and I didn't want to be on their computer for very long while we were visiting. Then David drove us all the way home to the city. We got stopped by the Kiwi/British police on the way home b/c their brake light was the wrong color (a 2nd hand car from Singapore...) That was very fun!.

So here you go! These are some of my favorite pictures so far, but remember they are reduced in size and quality b/c if I left them in their original form, they take like 30 min to attach each! So you will see the real deal when I get home. I took ALL of these with my camera, thanks mom, it is working amazing! I am so happy with it.

This is the night that we went to Te Puia in Rotorua (2 weekends ago). This was at the Maori cultural performance, after they taught us the Haka. I am good at the tongue thing. Although I don't look quite as mean as he does!

This is at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua. AFTER the million kilometer walk that we didn't plan for and the hose refreshment...

Same place...real Kiwi or not? :o)

Muirwai Beach near my work, Melissa hasn't seen it yet. This is where the Gannet bird colonies are. I went here for an outing with my clients. OT is the hardest job in the world. Like loko at it! I stood here! It's unbelievable! Only in the movies eh?...NOT

I think that I am a candidate for the New York times photo contest of the year with this one. What do you think Paige? It just radiates NZ to me. There are no better pictures here than capturing the NZ people just living.

In the caves at the North Head on Devonport, don't know how to rotate pictures yet, I am not that skilled to be climbing sideways..

New Years Eve with one of the Maori women making the fresh floral headpieces! . I loved her.

At the Auckland Zoo, just 5 minutes from where we live. It was feeding time for this guy, and a prize winning shot if I do say so myself.

Today is my birthday here, and I realized one thing, a birthday is just any ordinary day unless you are with the people who love you. And it's just not the same here, the days only half over, but it doesnt feel like my birthday, but I am sure it will tomorrow (when it is my birthday back at home). I will be happy with my free buffet tonight though...AND THANK YOU LB AND KELLY! I receievd my birthday present in the mail when I got to work this morning! On my actual birthday! What are the chances! I love the male body part mug, that is better than the McDonalds cups for sure. Too bad I opened it in front of all my coworkers.. You guys are awesome! And the toilet paper as well...at least you listen to my needs. I love you both so much!

Settling in

2007-01-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

Things have been settling in these past few days, the "vacation effect" has started to wear off and I am starting to feel like I actually live here. Gotta get this work thing over with and get back to vacation mode asap. I am so glad we have so much more time to travel at the end now.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Today we had the monthly OT meeting with all of the Occupational Therapists that work in the region with Abano Rehabilitation. The meeting was a few hours, Melissa and her preceptor Becky had to leave at 12:30. We ended up staying another 1.5 hours and they bought us lunch. I had a huge plate of roasted veggies. The highlight of my day. Sorry to bore you but it was in fact awesome. Melissa always misses the good food opportunities. :o( Tonight, I did laundry by hand for 2 hours, to save $3 and to save my clothes from being put in the “goodness knows whats been in here?” apartment washers and dryers. I really respect women that used to do laundry by hand. My, my it is hard work, and I only had my own to do! I have been learning a lot on this trip about what it is going to be like living on my own, including what my grocery trips will look like and how I will be able to look after myself…:o), but also this trip has inspired my ideas for decorating and have found some staple items here to create a NZ theme apartment, now I am excited to have my own place. I am inspired. We went and got some groceries tonight…

You know you are starting to unconcsciously get homesick when your grocery order consists of 2 litres of Cadbury Caramello icecream and 3 King sized Cadbury Caramello chocolate bars, and you know that you are even more (unconsciously) homesick when it is gone in 2 nights. Other than the past 2 nights I have been eating incredibly healthy and have probably lost about 5 lbs so far. No worries, no more relapses. I’m not really homesick, not that I know of anyways.

Then I stayed in my room and did some homework and Melissa went down and watched tv in the lounge.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Today, well I am still at work now, and nothing exciting has happened. I have spent the morning out with a client who is trying to get his drivers licence back after having it revoked before going to prison for the past year. Unfortunately, I can’t share any details about it on here, but I assure you, Everything is an adventure around here, but I think I am doing a good job. I pretty much make all my own decisions and don’t really have much contact with my preceptor, he is letting me work here like it is my first job and its going smoothly.

Tonight we are catching the ferry to the Northshore and having dinner at Yvonne Leforte’s house with her husband and her 2 kids (half Nova Scotians). I am looking forward to this!

Cheltham Beach and the West Coast Muirwai Surfing Beach

2007-01-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

There simply are now words for what we saw this weekend. Melissa and I are currently speaking with publishers about us writing a new New Zealand Travellers dictionary with newly invented words that are much needed to describe the experience. Stay tuned….

Well, the publisher said no, he said that our words were still not good enough. I don’t blame him.

Okay, Saturday morning we slept in for the first time in more than 2 weeks. It was okay b/c the weather was cloudy (just like the last few days…). So we decided to take the Ferry over to Devonport take our chances and hope that the weather get brighter. No luck. We climbed to the top of Mount Victoria (an old war bunker) that had fantastic views of Auckland Harbour and the Huraki Gulf (b/w Devonport and the Volcanoes like Rangitoto-the one that is in all of our pictures). We got to the top of the mountain and boom, pouring like cats and dogs-no umbrella. I was so worried about the camera getting wet. We scurried to the bottom and got the heck out of there.

Sunday we awoke to a glorious day. It woke up at about 7 am and just layed in bed for 2 hours looking out my window at the sun shining through my window on to me. I thought that I’d better go and get things moving b/c who knows how long the sun would stay out! So we got up and were all ready to head out, took one more look out the window and of course, clouds, no blue sky –JUST LIKE THAT! New Zealand tends to sneak up on you like that. :o(. So off came my swimsuit-Melissa kept the faith and brought hers). As soon as we got off the Ferry, it was gorgeous! Mais bien sur! Me in my jeans….So we walked around the Sunday morning market and sampled all kinds of national dessert sauces and honey (in many flavors including Pohutukawa Honey). Pohutukawa is New Zealand’s national Christmas tree. Imagine that Christmas tree honey. I thought it was gross, but I’m not a honey fan. Any honey fans out there would love it I am sure-let me know if you are cause it was way better than normal honey from home. I pondered buying a big bottle of the chocolate dessert sauce but didn’t like the images of opening my suitcase and having chocolate sauce topping on all my clothes and souvies!

So then we started our trekking to find the most famous beach in Devonport-Cheltham Beach. It was a good stroll to get there in the blazing heat, but well worth it. The beach is actually on Huraki Gulf. Melissa lent me her skirt so I could catch some rays. She was getting red throughout the day but told me that I didn’t look red at all. So we layed out for hours. She went in the water b/c she had her swimsuit and I just cried watching her, I was in heat pain. The sun is so hot here, but you know…everyone dies of cancer…so at least we will get it from some place cool! :op. So we roasted, people watched and even had a paraglider come down from the cliffs above us and land on the beach near us. You can’t close your eyes for a second around here. Then we walked around the North Head (also an old war bunker) and found all kinds of caves and tunnels-we went in alot, but some too dark for us to go into without flashlights (we are going back with some). The coastline was gorgeous here too and Eddie, you would have loved this place, there were all kinds of people fishing, and again-they were ALL COUPLES. Couples rule this country. There was one elderly couple that I watched fishing while Melissa was swimming. They were right on the Cliffside and at first the amn was being kind and was teaching his wife how to hold the rod, then he got mad that she just couldn’t catch and then he stormed off and told her that she was on her own. I was mad at him by then, I am sure that that elderly lady really wanted to be there…on the first sunny day on the last week or so…sure. Then, he yelled to her that she should have listened to him b/c he just caught a big one. Yes he did, a big piece of seaweed. He was embarrassed. I took pictures of all of these events. I am sure you will enjoy them. So we explored some more caves and tunnels and headed home after supper. When I walked in home and looked in the mirror I was red as I have ever been. I took a freezing cold shower, forecasting that I would not be able to handle a shower in the morning once the burn set in. Then we went down to the retro lounge and watched Whale Rider, a movie about the Maori people and their leadership. It was incredible, but I understand it in a different way than I would have at home b/c of the cultural exposure here. It was filmed here as well. I woke up many times throughout the night seriously pondering whether to go to the hospital for the sunburn on my legs. I was in excruciating pain and thought that I would be in bad shape tomorrow if I didn’t. I fell back asleep and was I right, this morning I could barely walk. Dorsiflexion and plantar flexion are impossible. And today of all days…the group outing was going to the beach. But boy am I glad I went. We drove to Muriwai Beach (just outside of where I work in Kumeu) and this was by FAR the most amazing thing that I have seen yet in New Zealand. Check it out: http://www.muriwai.com/

This is the major surf beach of the North Island. Look at the pictures! It’s so much more spectacular in person. I walked slow b/c of the burn and got some gunk out of the 1st aid kit here at work, but I’m pretty much oblivious to any pain or worries when looking at the sights that are presented by this country. You just can’t imagine what it is like b/c you have never seen such places, so how can you imagine it. The only way to is to live it, and I am grateful that I have been given the chance.

To sum it up, and I try and think of better ways to say it every few minutes, it’s like when you are in New Zealand, New Zealand is all that exists. There is nothing outside of this country. You never hear about the rest of the world and world events, in any capacity. New Zealand is so self-sufficient and all you could ever need, you can find here. Your mind is clear of everything you have ever worried about and you never ever want to leave. Well, you don’t even worry about leaving because again…there is nowhere out there to go but here!

Note: As it takes 2-3 weeks for us to get mail here, I think that it would be wise to not send anything this was as of today as I will only be here for another 3 weeks before off traveling.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! MOM JUST CALLED ME AT WORK AND TOLD ME THAT THE PATRIOTS WON! OF COURSE I CANT WATCH THE GAEM B/C IT IS THE MORNING HERE AND AT WORK WHEN THEY ARE ON, BUT HOLY HANNA! I TUNED IN ON NFL.COM AT LUNCH! AND THEY WERE LOSING 21-13. THEN I HAD TO GO TO THE BEACH WITH THE CLIENTS...I CANT BELIEVE IT, OF ALL THE GAMES TO MISS. I WONDER IF THEY SHOW THINGS LATER HERE...I AM SAD, BUT HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS MOM!

Interesting Turn of Events...

2007-01-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

I called Yvonne Leforte this morning, Denise Poole’s family member that lives in New Zealand. Phyllis had given me her contact info before I left. She is a doctor here but originally was from Canada. She invited Melissa and I over for dinner at her home next week and to spend the evening with her and her family. That will be very nice, although Denise had not even told her that I was coming. She was very eager to have us over though and oh my, you know what I am thinking don’t you? :o) A HOME COOKED MEAL!

So last night, well after work, we went to Flight Centre and paid for our tickets to the South Island. We leave Auckland on Saturday, feb 3rd (the day after placement ends) and fly back to Auckland on our way home (to California) on February 14th. Our plane doesn’t leave Auckland until Feb 15th (at night) so we will be sleeping on the airport floor for 24 hours. So we bought that and then we went to pay for our weekend trip to the Bay Of Islands up north. This trip we got for a really good price, $107 each for return bus fare and accommodations. We will have to spend more on activities once there, but we thought that was good. So I paid for mine and then Melissa tried to pay for hers. But it appears that she has spent it all. I already paid for mine so I just lent her the money for this one. She is still waiting for her SWIF.

So then, I went to Danny Doolans and bought that fabulous take out salad to eat at home. So we get home and there is a “semi-eviction notice” in our apartment. It says that our outstanding balance is past due and that we would have to pay it within 5 days or else “necessary steps would be taken”. Well I was fuming mad. We had been putting off paying, mostly b/c the office always closed hours early and they were always closed when we wanted to pay. So, I didn’t know what to think. I just lent Melissa over a hundred dollars, and now I would have to pay for all of the rent for both of us up until now. So I tried to go down to pay. We are on the 12th floor and the elevator was not working. So what does one do? The fire escape stairs of course! Ok, so I climbed down 12 flights (really 24 b/c they are double flights) and get to floor #3 where the fire escape stairs end. All that is there is the exit door to the outside. The main reception floor is on the 2nd-obviously NOT accessible from the fire escape. And of course the fire door to the outside is locked. Well I unlocked it, and tried to get out to walk around to the reception. Well of course not, it wouldn’t open. There was an electronically controlled magnetic thingy at the top which keeps it locked unless the fire alarm is pulled. Hmmm. Isn’t there jail time for that? Well there should be jail time for locking people in a huge scary building. There was honestly NO WAY OUT! And I had to climb the 12 flights up. Cranky I was. So I tried to call down to the reception to tell them whats going on. The phone number they gave us didn’t work. I was hitting buttons like mad and finally I just decided to press “0” and hope to get an operator and tell them that we were being held captive, But the front desk answered, imagine that. So they apologized and said that it should be fixed in a few minutes, it was. So I went down and paid our balance for the both of us. Melissa will have to pay for the next time we get an eviction threat.

Then we took the bus out to Mission Bay beach, not too far from town. And what did we find there? The world’s 2nd best iceceram at a place called Movenpic. It was 5 dollars for 1 single scoop, we got 2. It was something else. I would have paid 20 dollars. But still, the remaining champion is Baskin Robbins cookies and cream, which is no longer around. We walked along the beach, which had a perfect view of Rangitoto Island, lots of people swimming, but it got dark early (not a nice day). We walked along the boardwalk restaurants, and found tons of people our age and it was really our scene. We will go back on a nicer day, we were all damp and yucky feeling to be social. We headed back to town and went to bed, after a late night burger of course.

This morning at work, I had a visit from Mathijs, the AUT school of Occupational Therapy fieldwork coordinator who is going to arrange that next Friday we can tour the OT School with him on the Akoranga campus which we haven’t been to yet. And he gave us his AUT password so that we could get free access to the online academic journals if we wanted. HA! Great….thanks, but I don’t think I’ll have time to do any school stuff…

Pleasant Surprise

2007-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me! No not really, it's not my birthday, but I did come to work this morning where awaiting me upon my desktop was a decent sized-box from an New Zealand Flower Shop, inside early birthday wishes from Eddie, thanks again Eddie, it made my day, my week and probably more. They are beautiful flowers, white roses and then packed with vibrant blue and purple New Zealand flowers (don't know the names, I am looking them up as we speak). They came in a gorgeous weaved basket filled with woven plant stems and ribbon tied out of plants, topped with a Paua shell decoration (the NZ shell). They will make our apartment cozy I am sure.

Update on the past 2 days, 2 nights ago we were planning on going to the thermal pools at the spas but it was raining so we went to a slideshow presentation at one of the local outdoors shops about all of NZ's national parks and hiking trails and tours. It was a great presentation, and we were almost convinced to pay a thousand dollars for a 10 day tour in the South Island when we get there, but it was all hiking (which sounds awesome), however that would have left us with only 2 days to do our own things. So we decided that we do that tour next time we come back, to see all the backways of New Zealand. So we came home late and realized that we both didn't bring our keys (apparently, according to Melissa, it is ONLY my responsibility to remember to bring mine :op).. Anyways, after pretending to agree on mutual responsibility, we got let in by the manager, who may try and spring a 20 fee on us for the service. Ha ha. I think not, twice so far we went up to our rooms and had the bedroom doors locked on us and couldnt get in with the keys we do have. The manager can bite me. Sorry for the expression. So last night we went out to the Sky Tower Casino and gambled away alot of money. $ 2 bucks. They ahve 1 cent slot machines. It took me 20 minutes to loose 2 bucks! and I lost every time! It was nice there, we watched people lose alot and Melissa was searching for the Crapps table to try and blow on someone's dice, no luck, no crapps table. The casino was massive (in the sky tower) and of course had great views over the city at night. We got ID'd twice, once after we were already inside the casino. It is sad that it has come to this, but I feel like saying thank you now.

We are going to the Bay of Islands this weekend and are trying to plan that tonight, as well as actually purchase our flights to the South Island. I know I say that every post, but we have to do it today.

Classmates - is it just me or do we have more school work to do on placement than we ever had while in school? I hope it's just me and I am delusional b/c of this trip and that when I get home I will realize that I can do it in a week. Please.

Oh and about the pictures...I went to the machine that copies memory cards onto cd's, and well, I put in my memory card and it said that I have to purchase 4 CD's b/c of the amount of pictures I have on it (yuo cant choose which ones, it just copies them all) so I just couldn't bring myself to pay 50.00 to post them. If anyone has any other ideas, I would love to hear it. This is a developed country. There must be a way! Until then, I hope my words are enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2007-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Eddie! I miss you tons, to me you had 2 birthdays, it was yesterday here and today there! You're older than me! for a few days...and always will be! XOXOOXO

Thank you

2007-01-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

Kia Ora Everyone!

Mom-thank you for doing all the stuff for me back home (wink, wink). You have made this so much easier for me! And thanks for always being there when I call, or at least being awake.

Paula-so excited to hear about Baby J, how can this all happen so fast after I leave? Keep me updated, maybe email me some pictures? He will be a ZOO baby when I get home.

Kathryn-Thanks for being my most loyal blog fan. :op. I love you.

Cathy-Thanks for not holding a grudge about the 2:00 am phone call. Well, I don't think you did...I have made a timetable with the time conversions so that I do not do that again. Hee hee.

Tid Bits:
-Pictures are coming tonight! I found a place at the library that will do it.
-If anyone wants to send me anything, letters are nice, but maybe you could slip in a Q-Tip or two....that would be very well received.

Thanks to everyone for reading and writing. I am happy to let you know that we will now have 2+ weeks in the South Island. We finish our placement a whole week early, February 2nd last day, (staying late some days to make up for it...maybe..maybe not...), will see a Rugby game that night, and then we're off by plane (that brings me up to 8 planes for this trip). I love it. I have no fear anymore. And I never did take the Lorazepam...wasted 5 bucks on the pills...that would have bought me a muffin here...well, ok, maybe half a muffin.

It's off to the thermal pool spa for us tonight! Outdoors, under the stars... Cheers!

XOXOOXXOOXO

Spent the Weekend in A Volcano

2007-01-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

We spent this weekend in Rotorua, a 4-hour bus ride South of Auckland. Rotorua is the most visited place in New Zealand beacuse it is the place that is the richest with the Maori tradition, hence why we wanted to go. Rotorua is actually completely built within a crater of a volcano that was active not long ago, only 600 years. So the whole (large) town is surrounded by the crater edge when you look to all the horizons, a little freaky. We got on the bus at 8:00 am Saturday morning with a couple from Alberta that approached me after seeing the Quebec flag in my hiking pack. :o). So we got to Rotorua at about 12:00 pm. Our round trip bus ticket for this long trip was only about $65. The hostel that we stayed in in Rotorua was more expensive than we expected but we are getting used to that, but I would say that it was worth it. The first day there we visited the Rotorua Museum, which was actually known as the "Curehouse" many years ago. It was known as the world's best bath house is where people came to have baths in hot springs and mud to be cured. The used to give people electric baths here. :op. After the museum we went to a place called Te Puia, an untouched Maori land even today. Here we paid big bucks to particiapte in a traditional Maori cultural performance, view a Maori warrior challenge (with our tribe-the visiotrs). We had our own chief that was challenged in the courtyard and the guy that we nominated as chief was not allowed to grimace at all, even smile. At first we thought that would be impossible because it is your natural instinct to smile out of respect, but here that would have been the most disrespectful act. Anyways, the challenge ceremony was so intimidating (as it is intended), so smiling was not possible. It was incredible. It was very easy to see how well the Maori were/are able to intimidate opposing tribes with only themselves, free of weapons. Then the cultural performance began inside the tribal home. We witnesses many dances, chants and of course the HAKA. (for those of you who know it only from Rugby, its the dance that the All Blacks Rugby team does to intimidate their opponents before each game). Then came the traditional Maori Hangi (feast). FOOODD! We ended up sitting at a table with 9 people, a couple from England. At first no one talked to us, mostly b/c we werent talking to anyone. We were too busy inhaling mass quantities of food. I thinkwe ate more food that our $85 would have paid for. At one point, we both had our forks to our mouths full of food and the lady from England started asking us all kinds of questions about out school and our trip. And as nice as it is to meet and talk to new people we just looked at each other and griamced b/c all that we could see was her mouth moving. I was no doubt drooling onto the food that was waiting inpatiently in my fork infront of me. All I could think about was that food. I stared at the lady, my heart pounding. Need food! Our eating time has become sacred to us, not to be interrupted by anyone. Before the meal was done it was starting to get dark, and we hadn't yet seen the geysers or the mudpools, which were part of this land. We thought that it was included in the package, but it was not. So we decided to be very bad and sneak off into the park and find it ourselves. We did, and as our luck has been getting amazing, it started to go off. So I guess that there were security cameras in the park or something, because when we ran out to make sure we didn't miss our shuttle, the security guard was looking at us and talking on his walkie-talkie about us. We had been running around the park like mad people. We blended in with our tour group and he left us alone. We headed back to our loadge,Treks Backpackers, and then headed out to "The Pig and whistle" bar for a night out. We only went b/c our lodge gave us a free coupon for a glass or beer/wine. "Free" means that we flock to it. Then we went back to the lodge and entertained ourselves with the night table. :op, pictures later...

Sunday morning we shuttled out to the ZORBING. When we got there, they did not have the option to get attached with the harness I wanted to do that one, b/c you woudl actually get flipped around and get to upside down and stuff. The only one that they had operating was the Aqua-Zorb, which did not impress me b/c it was just like a big water slide. We watched people and all they were doing was staying upright in the Zorb because they would obvously just stay at the base of teh zorb as tehy went down the hill. And for those of you that know that I like the big rides, this bored me. And it would have been a 50 dollar bore. melissa still did it though and she did say that it was a lot of fun. So who knows, maybe it was. I was happy decided to save my money for bungy jumping in Queenstown. I have decided to do it. A 440 meter jump (the biggest in the world). Then we walked to the Agrodome and went to the Sheep Sheering Shed, and saw some sheep. Baaaa. I love sheep. Then we wanted to go to this place that we saw on the bus ride there called "Rainbow Springs-A Kiwi Encounter", but didn;t quite realize how far away it was when we decided to walk. Ok, so we had on crappy flipflops, it was blistering hot and we were carrying our bags and our FULL hiking packs (b/c we had checked out of the lodge). yes, we are smart girls. So we started walking, and then started dying, a slow death. It was like walking in a desert. It certainly did not help that neither of us had had not even as much as a glass of water that day, and it was now midafternoon. About half way, we saw a Bed & Breakfast and decided to check it out to see if we could find a vending machine or at least get a glass of H20. The owner greeted us and asked where we were from. we were huffing and puffing and were swaeting beads, We told her Canada, and she told us that we could help ourselves to the hose that was ot by the barn shed. Nice. So insulted as we were, of course we did. Sprayed ourselves silly with that dirty, clogged hose. Headed back to the highway (that is litterally what he hiked on for about 7 km- a highway, no sidewalks, nothing, but of course this is New Zealand, so we had spectacular views. Even the highways are beautiful. You know those places that you love at home, that you wait to drive past b/c they are so beautiful (Eddie- you know the place :o)), well imagine those places being EVERYWHERE, you can't get away from it, everything is breathtaking. Anyways, so we finally made it, on the brink of tears from the pain in our feet and backs. We took our picture with the giant Kiwi and then got picked up by the shuttle, all that walking only saved us 1 measly dollar on the shuttle fare. We got dropped off at Kuirau Park, a park based on a romantic Maori love story. It was a boardwalk that traversed of lakes and streams of steam. If you touched the water, your hand would burn right off. Some 200 degrees celcius.....Even walking along some parts of the boardwalk was hot as the steam rose through the cracks. We had too boogie through. This park actually erupted in January of 2001~kind of interesting to know that the earth is boiling beneath your feet and could burst through at any moment...

Then we bussed it back another 4 hours back to home in Auckland. We had to box out an aggressive lady at the bus terminal to get the front seat (which allows you to experience the ride-rather than just see it). Of course you know I won. And we had an awesome ride back, through the ranges (huge gorges on the roadside with spectacular vegetation), Hobbitton (Lord of the Rings fans..) and Hamilton, etc.

When we got back, we went to Dominos pizza to get a snack. Apparently Melissa has been looking in all of the wrong places for attractive boys, sports fields, bars, etc, they have proven fruitless, Dominos pizza waiting for your order is the place to be! She asked me for one of them for her birthday coming up. I will see what I can do Melissa...

Thats all for now, tonight we are visiting a travel agent to plan our trip to the South Island , now that we have 2 FULL WEEKS THERE!!!! (instead if the 5 days originally). I will fill you in later...

Side Note: there are no stop signs in New Zealand. Picture everytime we would have a stop sign, they have a mini-rotary, known here as the roundabout. Again, another reason to look forward to "hiring" a car. Wrong sides of the road while negotiating a rotary. Ha ha, glad they have good insurance...I'm sorry in advance to whom ever we are inevitably going to crash into.

Another side note: Last Friday night we went to "A Night at the Museum", no not the movie, the real live thing. It was held at the Auckalnd Museum, and it stunk. Melissa thought it would be fun. Ha ha, it was only funny. About 50 kids...and then us. At least it only was 14 dollars...

It's a Farm.

2007-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Mom-there is not hospital here. I am quite literally working on a farm. It's residential housing for men with traumatic brain injuries, and as much as a farm as you can get. I missed a few days of blogging so I will start where I left off...

The day before we went back to work we tried to go to my wokplace. But since it is a national holiday BOTH January 1st and 2nd, the bus to Kumeu was not in operation. So plan B, let's hit the beach! We travelled about an hour north of Auckland along the coast to a place called Long Bay, North Shore Regional Park. When we got there it was picturesque. The beach was about 1km long and soft hot hot hot sand. We went on a cliff-top walk, that was a few kilometers long,right along the coastline. So far this was my favorite place by far. I say that each time we go somewhere new. But this has stood for a few days now...Anyways pictures are the only thing that can describe this place, but again, coastline of huge floral cliffs along one side and pastures on the other. But not like pastures back home. These pastures are, well the only way I can describe it is as 3-Dimensional rolling hills, with a different shade of green every cm or so. It really is like the terrain is alive. I know that it sounds cheesy but, it is the closest I can come to pleading to convince you of the gorgeousness. The beach was packed with families and friends palying rugby and BBQ's all over, we people watched for an hour or so and snagged some pretty neat shots whiel basking in the sun. We both got a pretty bad burn-forgot that the biggest hole in the ozone is right above us. It only takes like 10 min to feel it. Thanks for the lotion Annie! Love it!

That night we went again, out of the city to a place called One Tree Hill, in a town called Royal Oak :o). Huge volcano covered with sheep. OUR VERY FIRST SHEEO SIGHTING. Baaaaaaa! We may have not been on our best behavior and may have videotaped ourselves wildly chasing after sheep (good way to get exported from the country I suppose). We built our names out of lava rock and filmed it from the top. Quite an outstanding scene. :o). We met these two guys along the path at the top of the volcano who kind of surrounded us and followed us, wanting to give us hugs and talk about Canada. It was kind of intimidating, but its just b/c the locals are so friendly, not used to it. They asked if we were Maori, hmmm....I know we are burnt but....we are only Maori wannabees.:o) Then we kicked some small kids of a playground ride so we could film some extreme footage... you'll see.

First day at work yesterday. I have a beautiful bus ride about 40 minutes north to Kumeu, at a place called Ransworth Healthcare, or should I say Ransworth Farm. The drive is all through the finest wine country in NZ. As I walked up the driveway, which is right across the street from Soljans Winery-the place I was dying to see/visit, see http://www.soljans.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/welcometosoljans -RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!
Up the sriveway, all I could see was roosters and horses. All I could think about was this place will be difficult to relax in (slack off) :o) b/c it is so small. I showed up and recognized my preceptor from the infamous Dal photo wall, and introduced myself. He said, well it's nice to see you but you weren't supposed to come until tomorrow. OOPS. Well it worked out b/c I am banking that day to have off at the end. Looks like well be done on the 5th so more time in the south island ( alittle more than a week! (b/c they also have a holiday that week), and of course we will be using our sick day then too. It's all working out lovely. It is a residential home for men with TBI, 17 of them. I spent my first day 2 hours at the local pub with one of the clients who is a recovering alcoholic. :op. Is this OT stuff safe?...Joking, it's just to make sure that they don't order more drinks then they are permitted as part of their program. I'm off at 3:00 pm every day which allows me to get back to the city before supper and still have the entire evening free. This placement will be fun I think. My precpetor seems really cool and is very excited to talk about the country with me. He actualy went to school at Dal, and was born in Campbellton,NB! Small, small world...I told him about my job there and he laughed. :o(. I asked him about jobs here and he said that OTs only get paid about 75% of what they do in Canada and the cost of living is much higher, so that doesn't seem sensible. But I am considering. It's gonna be very had to leave I know already.

Last night we finally found a Liquor King (store) and bought some New Zealand wine. We call it McWine b/c we drank it out of McDonald icecream sundae cups that we confiscated for free b/c we are too cheap to buy dishwashing liquid to wash the ones in our apartments, and b/c that would be gross. If you are creative you really dont have to buy anything! :O) We also met another Rubgy player (the frist one we met as he sat by me on the plane from LA to NZ). We got our picture with him and got his autograph, trying to buy tickets tonight to the Feb 2nd game here (the only game that takes place when we are here). They are only like 50 bucks. Exciting!

Note: no postal codes here, and no disc drive at work so no pictures until we get an better idea-Melissa's preceptor said we could go to her place to do it, we are workin on it, and hopefully looking at new apartments tonight, down on the waterfront

Side Note: Me and Melissa have been out of toilet paper for 4 days and refuse to buy any. Every bathroom we go to, we unravel the roll there around our hands and put it up our shirts until we get to our apartment.

CONGRATS ALLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWINS!!!!!!!! boys....

Love you all. -Jo

Work Site and Mailing Address

2007-01-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

My mailing address at work is:

Jo-Anna Arseneau
c/o Stefan Seller
Ranworth Healthcare
AKL Residential SVC
Box 612
Kumeu
AUCKLAND

This is the safest address to ensure I get it. :o)...if you feel like sending anything...

I will write more soon, we have done so much in the past 2 days, no time to write and right now is my first day at work (he wasn't expecting me till tomorrow...) and ways, wait till you hear about where I work. Lets just say that I am staring at horses right now. :o)

PS - Melissa and I have been made fun of for our spelling. I assure you that I can spell.We just dont even have enough time to get it all out let alone proof read. It's a race against the little clock ticker countdown in the corner of the screen.

New Years Eve

2006-12-31T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, New Years Eve last night was very exciting. We went to the city's convention centre 'Aotea Centre' for the free festivities of the town. It was kind of like being at a Hawaiian party and a masquerade all at once. The theme for the night was "First Night-Pacific Bright, 2007". The convention centre was decorated to the extremes with Hawaiian lays, fresh flower head pieces being made for evryone and free elaborate face painting for those who were willing to stand in a line up 2 hours long to get painted...We did. Ha ha. And that's not the funny part. At about 10 people left in front of us, the came out to the people standing in the line (2 people infront of us) and said that they were only painting until 10pm and that we would have to leave. Ha ha. Anyways, things got better. We went to a concert inside the Opera House of New Zealand's most famous female singer, Aaradhna. She was great (and looked like a young Diana Gabaldon-wait till you see the pics girls) but it was weird listening to her b/c we really had no idea just how big she was. Then we went to a performance of dance and they kind of did a fashion show with girls dressed in coconut bras and hula skirts and wrapped dresses. They danced and demonstrated different ways to try the dresses and then asked for people from the crowd to go up and dance and do the same wrapping. They asked me, but ha ha, of course I said no. Melissa said "I will" and she did. She did great. It was really funny-luckily she could do it over her clothes and did not have to wear a coconut bra. Then we fell in love with this elderly Maori woman who was making the fresh flower headpieces, and we got out picture with her. She was so beautiful in her own handmade gown-great picture..when it comes.... Then we went outside for the last 1/2 hour before midnight. They had an outdoor festival, a glowing parade along the balcony of the convention centre and then just before midnight there was tribal chanting and dancing from the balcony leading to the fireworks show that was set off from the sky tower. I got video, no worries. :o). and NO COUNTDOWN! That was interesting, and I'd prefer the tribal chanting anyday, it was so powerful. Overall, very neat to see how other cultures celebrate the important event. It has an entire different meaning here.

Today we decided to go and visit our workplaces so that we knew where to go on Wednesday, good thing. We spent the WHOLE day just looking for Melissa's place. We took the train to Takanini (where the site suuposedly is) but no one around had even hear of the centre for Traumatic Brain Injury or the organization. NOt even the only hospital in the city! They all must have brain injuries... We didnt't have much luck trying on our own either as Melissa forgot the address to her worksite at home....in Canada. :o)....So we spent 2 hours walking around asking people and looking up stuff in the phone book, calling the AUT coordinator, well of course no one is home, its a holiday. So is tomorrow! They celebrate both days, Jan 1 and 2. So it started to pour and we decided to call it quits. No time to visit my place today so we will try early tomorrow morning and spend the day in Kumeu, maybe visiting the winery that I wanted to go to for lunch and a tour. I feel bad because no one has even heard of the place that Melissa works and well, the train ride to her works some nice mountains, it also reveals miles and miles of beautiful graffiti art but when people hear that I am going to Kumeu they say how beautilful it is up there. I wish we were at the same place. I 'm sure she'll be fine, as long as she can find the place....

Tonight we are going to cruise in the harbour and see the city by night. Its a little chilly tonight so I hope we don't fall in.

Having a Zoo-rific time!

2006-12-30T23:40:00.000-08:00

Today we made it to the zoo. It did rain for about 15 minutes in the morning like it does every morning (like when we went down south Eddie) but that's it, and then it turns into a beautiful day. So as we were waiting for the bus, a kiwi came by and sat with us and told us that we would really really love the zoo because "It's so real!". Yipee! A real zoo...now we were more excited than before :o). The drive was nice, and the zoo is about 30 minutes outside the city in another direction than we went yesterday. It is in a place called Western Springs, home of the Museum of transport and technology (lots of old cars Ed, you would have liked it), we didn't stop or I would have taken pictures, maybe we'll get back. But on the way we passed a lush golf course and a REAL LIVE RUGBY FIELD! Impressive. So to the zoo...it was like nothing I can describe. And for those of you whom have had the pleasure of taking me to zoos, you know that I don't really enjoy them and actually get every inpatient at the exhibits and start to get cranky not too far into it. Well...let me just say that those zoos are not New Zealand Zoos. I was so excited all day. I can't wait to get the pictures posted up here. I took over 200 today (after deleting the "just not gorgeous enough" ones). My camera is working incredible and I was able to get some real hummdinger shots. Paige, you will be impressed. It's like there was too much beauty to see today for one person to take in. Melissa went all crazy with her video camera and shot like 1-hour long documentaries of elephants (so there is like an hour of just elephants, I feel asleep watching the playback), and WHY you ask? Because she just wanted to record the accent of the guy putting on the show. :oP. I must say the accents are very catchy. So the zoo was just like being in a movie where you think that all the scenery is fake and nothing can be that lush and perfect. For all of the plants and trees, you know how sometimes (most of the time) it looks planted, well here the plants were plunging out from the earth and fighting for space, everything is so dense and so varied! It was just spectacular. I like zoos now. I got Baby J a little Zoo-something!

After the zoo, we went to Western Springs park to find an old Volcanic Lava Flow amongst the wetlands. And we found it, and sat down and enjoyed the scenery, when you are here, nothing in the world can enter your mind. Nature really takes over and just makes you forget everything. I love it! What is this school/work thing that we are here to do? :o)

Tonight is New Years Eve, we are off to the waterfront now for the big outdoor concert and fireworks show. :o)

Side note: There is this store that we are in a love/hate relationship with. We went in and were taking pictures of their displays (Maori culture artwork and stuff) and were told to put our cameras away. We took a few more...But this store is like $300.00 for a t-shirt. So one the last day left here, if I can find any money left, I am buying a $29 lip gloss. Since my own lip creme was confiscated at the airport, my lips are hurting and this stuff is well worth the $29. But I figure I better eat first. But that will be a treat if I can get that. You all know how I love the Moisturel, well this is better. and no white cakey stuff Eddie! :o)

Second side note: Thank you so much for the ME bag Kelly, it is incredible for this type of travel. :o) Melissa ended up buying almost the same one here at Kathmandu, the biggest outdoor sporting store here.

Other things I have learned about NZ:
-Public displays of affection are encouraged and looking upon highly by all others. Makes me miss Eddie. Everytime I see couples in love and enjoying the scenery and sights together, I wish he was here. I mean, Melissa will do to a certain extent... :o)

Love and miss you all...but I am so glad that I am here now! I just wish you could all be seeing the same things that I am. Over here, it's just like a world that you can't see, even with the most vivid of imaginations unless you are actually here to see it, feel it and live it. So happy I am one of the lucky ones. Keep writing, makes me smile.

On the Upswing

2006-12-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

Good news all! So things (other than our accomodations) have improved. This city is hard not to make first impressions with, but we have done a lot more exploring and have found some comfort. I was out exploring this morning for other places to stay, checking hotels for monthly rates, etc, but nothing cheaper that about $750/week for hotels. I guess we will wait until AUT opens on Wednesday (the university) and will enquire about the residences then. Until then, no worries! We are being very careful.

It is now Sunday morning here and I am out at the internet cafe by myself (Melissa is still sleeeeping) :o). It is 9:00 am. Yesterday we bought a day bus pass and went to visit 2 towns about 30 minutes outside of Auckland City. We were planning on going to the zoo but it started to pour in the morning so we changed plans. The sun came out as soon as we got in the bus and stayed beautiful the entire day. We first went to a town called Onehunga (Pronounced "One-Unga"). We went here because they are the outlet shopping capital in all of New Zealand. Needless to say we spent too much (but all on gifts for you guys of course...). Kathryn, I bought you the best gift ever! :o) This town was really cute and very heavy culturally with the Maori. It was a very nice and much needed change from downtown Auckland. The locals are just so friendly and very very interesting. There were so many market shops too, bakeries and alot of NZ made products. Then we were off to New Market, the posh shopping capital of NZ. This was also fun, as surf clothing shops are by far the majority. Melissa is in heaven. :o). This place was nice too, but a lot more expensive, but they did have a store that I knew! Esprit! I bought a handbag. So far 2 new handbags, Esprit and Billabong. After coming back to the city we explored the waterfront, again outside the central part of the city. When what to our wondering eyes should appear but a place called "Danny Dolan's". We stopped on the street, looked at it for a few minutes, just praying that its food was edible, and wouldn't cost us a weeks salary. We found it! Our place! I ordered a graden salad and fresh veggies and it only cost me $9.00. And it was like art on a plate. We ate soooooooo slow to savor this new experience called "eating". :o). Then we asked some of the restaurant staff about other edible places, and they pointed us down the waterfront to about 5 other "our kind of restaurants". But although the food is normal, the price is OUTLANDISH. Can not even get a salad for less than $25.00 or a pasta dish for $30.00. Danny Dolans may get sick of us! So at least that was a nice end to the day, eating and finding a whole new world that we fit into here in the Auckland city itself. We got groceries last night, which (sigh of relief) were normal prices compared to home and very good selection of wordly food. We dislocated our shoulders carrying it back to the apartment but well worth it.

Today, we are off to the Auckland Zoo as it is a beautiful day! Very hot, I'd say 26 degrees at 9:00 in the morning! Then tonight for New Years Eve, we are going to an outdoor concert down on the waterfront and a fireworks show.

Note 1: I have mailed people some things, with the return address on it. PLease don't send me anythng to that address, because A) I don't know if we are staying there and B) there are no locked mailboxes at our apartments, just big piles that anyone can root through. I am going to get the office mailing address for me at the Hospital when I start this week so if you want to mail me a letter or anything, it can go safely there. I will write you when I get the address.

Note 2: Thanks for the emails from a few of you. It really means a lot when you are this far away and is very very much appreciated.

Tid Bits I have learned:
1. Melissa is already getting an accent, after 3 days! (I think she was practicing at home before we came) :o) The only thing that I say now is "No worries" instead of your welcome.
2.Garbage is called "rubbish", Melissa wanted to take a picture of the trash can with this on it, but I told her you can not take home a picture of a garbage can.
3. Some people don't think they have to give you change when you pay for something. We aren't sure if they just don't have really small change here, or they just dont give you change.
4. Pedestraians do not walk in the crosswalks with the traffic. There is a buzzer that goes off and all traffic stops and the pedestrians attack the intersections (crossing diagonally, etc). It looks so funny, we took videos which hopefully we will post soon). I will be able to start posting pictures next week wehn we can use the computers at the hospital, until then, just believe me that NZ is breathtaking and so beautiful, utterly undescribable (and this is only the city). Next weekend we will start our long weekend trips to the beaches and towns across the North Island
5. Yogourt is called Yoghurt
6. Rugby rules this city. There are countdown in the 200 millions of seconds everywhere until the next world cup (next fall...)

CULTURE SHOCK NOT EXPECTED, BUT HAD

2006-12-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Me and Melissa are at an internet cafe in downtown Auckland, which we are not fond of. I'll start with the beginning. Our flights here were incredible, hardly seemed like 2 days in the air at all, and the last flight from Los Angeles to NZ, we were very pampered, well, I was...Melissa slept through the whole thing. LA was incredible (well we were only at the airport, but even that was so cool! Stretch limos all around, could feel the presence of 'les famous'. So, since there is a countdown clock on the screen telling me my time is ticking, I will only write a short bit for now and more next week when hopefully I have free internet at work. So...we flew down over NZ, and oh boy what a sight, just like the travel guides show it, it was surreal, from the AIR, New Zealand is breathtaking, and on the ground New Zealand is breathtaking, as we saw from the ride from the airport to the city...and well downtown Auckland is certainly not. We took a shuttle to our apartments and thats when it all went downhill. We show up at 8:00 am (when the office is supposed to be open, and besides they knew that we were coming) and no one shows up at the office until almost 10. We were gievn the key to our apartment and went to it. We opened the door...only to realize that other people lived inside, we walked in on them...good thing, because that place was DIRTY! So we go down to the office and get another apartment, and go to it, lets just say that there was what appeared to be a blood stain (a big one) in the middle of my carpet in my bedroom and well, we moved again. This time they said they would move us to the other building which was nicer. Hmmm...why didnt they give us that first. Hmmm, so they did and we walked into our new apartment, and well, there was only one bed in the 2-bedroom apartment. We went downstairs and I was ready to come home. Needed to cry, but held off. Finally we got another room (the owners room) which is also awful, but livable until we can figure out what to do. They seemed to have no idea which keys are for which apartments and so I asked how secure this was b/c I felt that anyone else could ahev our keys. He assured me this is not true, but really he didnt even understand what I was asking. I tried calling all the contacts that we have for the University for help, but they are all away until next week. Now I cried. We really have no one and the people that work here don't understand or seem to care to want to help us). It's in a really good spot, but boy, we just dont feel safe at all. So we left our stuff there and headed out to the downtown waterfront. It is true what they say about Auckland being a majority of asian. That was the major culture shock. We went to a nice market this morning but I kid you not when I say that Melissa and I walked around the ENTIRE city of Auckland ALL afternoon trying to find anything that looked edible. I exaggerate none when I say that there is 99.9% asian food and the other is all McD's and Burger King. NO PUBS AT ALL! We could not succeed on this day. We settled for lasagna and pizza that we both could only take 1 bite out of b/c it was so awful. I cried, right there in the food market. Melissa just looked at me, and said nothing-We are both thinking the same thing. This is awful. We maybe saw 2 places that seemed okay to eat, but even appetizers are at least 20 dollars! We read so many menus and turned around with our heads hanging low more times than I care to mention. So now we are all sad we are writing all the people who think won't mind hearing all this because we certainly do not have any support here (until next week), as is so hard to communicate with most of the people here. Anyways, we our aching, throbbing feet are killing us, but we are off to find a grocery store that we are told is on the other side of town. Even then, it's gonna be tough to buy stuff b/c our kitchen unit at the apartment I would say is not clean enough to use. I am crying again now. I am sure this will get better as long as we can stay out of the city as much as is possible and as soon as we get working. We have planned a day at the North Island Zoo tomorrow and will be taking a nice country bus ride and dining in the countryside. As far as we are concerned, the more we can stay away from this city the better. Don't worry about us though, I am just pretty upset right now and am probably complaining more than I should, but I just a little worried. But mom, don't you be worried. In a few days hopefully we will be moved somwhere else when we can get some help. I love you all, and most of all Eddie, I wish you were here. This place does have so much potential. There are so many beautiful things in the city that could be enjoyed! Crying again, good thing I am sitting in a corner booth. Love Jo xooxoxoxoxoox

Countdown 9 days

2006-12-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

I have packed and unpacked a dozen times in the past 2 days...oppps, I mean 2 hours. Just when I think I have everything together, I remember a dozen things that I have forgotten. And then I have a panic attack because I think of how many times will that happen on the way to the airport and then again once I am already on the plane. I guess that no matter what I forget, nothing can be that bad as long as I have money. And well, I have just remembered that I don't have much of that. I think I'll take my Lorazepam now.