So i realize that I have yet to really post in this yet... there has just been so much going on and so much chaos (plus my flat just got internet this weekend) so in a nutshell this has been my life the past couple weeks:

I arrived in the north island a couple of weeks ago for a couple days of exploring hot springs, nature, beaches, and some zorbing - which was an unexpectedly dangerous (in my case) form of adventuring...a few scrapes but all healed now. After orientation, we arrived to Dunedin in the south island where our university is. I am living in a flat with a girl from new zealand, a girl from Canada, a guy from Ireland, and a guy from New York who are all really great. We then had a week of orientation at the University which consisted of a week of free sausage and beer and fun.

It felt really great to start getting classes started and a routine down... some of my classes are 400 people and some are 18.. its a pretty interesting variety of classes. There are some really good hikes walkign distance from the University and we did one the other week which was a great escape from campus and completely beautiful.

This weekend we went to Queenstown which is known as the adventure capital of the world.. it was a town completely surrounded by the most beautiful mountains! On Saturday, we went to hike the routeburn track, one of the supposed great walks of New Zealand. We hiked about 15 miles in 8 hours in the rain but it was still one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. We walked through valleys surrounded by glaciers and waterfalls and layers and layers of mountains. The next day was adventure day and we went jet boating, which is where we drive around in a really fast boat through this narrow and beautiful rapid. After we fit in some luging before we went bungee jumping into this crystal clear river - they actually dunked us into the river - it was really really liberating!

We're starting to plan our other adventures and cannot wait for the rest to come!

Great Expectations

Hard to believe that I've been home for 2 months and I actually do get to leave! I have great expectations of the adventures to come in New Zealand.....

Pure beauty, free mountain ranges, sheep, beaches, Fall (twice in one year!!), accents, traveling, fresh fish all the time, living on the ocean, cooking dinner every night, new people, new cities, skydiving again, sunshine, politics from a non US perspective, and fresh air.

I will of course be missing my wonderful friends and family from home and will be thinking about them constantly!

keep in touch!