Russ made it

His luggage did not....

I haven't uploaded photos from my camera to my computer yet, but here are a few from my phone 

Queen Charlotte Track

One of my favorite things about traveling is the people you meet. I don't do well with the young backpackers that want to go on a pub crawl every night, but I love talking to the older crowd. On the track I did a home stay the first night and stayed with a lady named Noeline. Noeline is 82 years old. She has been a widow for the last 19 years and has had her home stay set up for the last 18. At 67 she decided to start traveling because she had never left NZ. In the past 15 years she has been to over 60 countries. She has never been to the US or the UK, other than layovers, and has no desire to go because she says the culture is too much like her own. Instead she has been on trips to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, rural parts of Asia and Africa and so many other cool places. I was so fascinated by her story and the fact that at 82 years old she is traveling to 3rd world countries.

There were 3 of us staying the night with her and I was the first one to reach her place so we spent a few hours talking. We watched 'Millionaire Hot Seat' together and talked about the latest gossip in her celebrity mags. Before I went to bed she told me to make sure I woke her up the next morning if I was ready to go before she was up. She said she must say goodbye and give me a hug and a kiss before I ventured on. She was full of wisdom, knowledge and a great amount of love. People like Noeline inspire me and bring a smile to my face every time I think about that mere few hours we spent chatting and hanging out.

70km/52mi is a long walk and my feet were feeling it at the end, but the views, the company and the peacefulness were all worth it! Had my legs allowed me to run when I saw the sign for 1km I would have been sprinting.

Preview of the view

I went to the Picton Harbor today to have a look at my boss' boat and this was the view. It made me realize how much I miss my Thursday night sailing club!  This is only the harbor, so my views over the next few days of the sounds should be stunning. 

I'm Back! Again...

I know I've said it a million times before. However, I am hoping this time it's for real! I have so much exciting news. I won't go into a lengthy post, but will start with the important updates. Sooo.....

I've finished my first semester of school! It was amazing. I have always thought online classes were a little bogus. After trying them I realized they were perfect for me. I dread going to class unless I know the teacher is really interesting, so this was convenient that I could do all of the work in my own time. For upper level courses this would be really hard, but for some of the basics it's great. It was extremely nice considering that half of each of my classes were freshmen. They would write things in text message lingo and use smiley faces like this : ) which I just found so inappropriate for school. It drove me mad. For one class we had to write a paper about a society that we would create using all of the anthropological terms we'd studied through out the semester. When one girls started off with "My society is Girl World and Beyonce Knowles is the President...." I could not contain my laughter. It's times like those that I am SO thankful I wasn't in a classroom. She proceeded to go on about no boys being allowed. It was so strange, I mean I could barely handle it. So I politely commented that her "world" seemed a bit unrealistic and silly. Luckily, I didn't get points deducted, but that was seriously the nicest thing I could come up with. Anyways, I am DONE!!! Woohoo it's summer time. PS did I mention I have 2 A+'s and one waiting for a grade?

Since I last posted I have done soo much. I have been on tons of great hikes and walks. Be on the lookout for pictures of them all. One of my friends I've had since I was about 4 or 5, Charles McDonald, came to visit. Charles and I are both red heads, or gingers as they call us here. Charles and I were in every class together from Kindergarten through 5th grade at Leinkauf. He remembers every person in each of our classes and just about every event that ever happened. We were hiking one day and I was seriously doubled over in tears because of the random things coming out of his mouth. I can barely remember college, much less elementary school. Despite Charles' cheapness and fear of spending money, we had a great time and I enjoyed catching up and having a visitor. I mean let's get serious, he rekindled my love of a classic PBJ, which I am pretty sure he ate everyday for lunch for the 12 days he was here. At least it wasn't Ramen noodles.

My brother gets here in one week. ONE WEEK! 7 DAYS! I am so excited. I have our trip all planned out with some places I have never been before. It will be my second Christmas in New Zealand, meaning my second Christmas away from home, but my brothers first for both and my parents first Christmas home alone! Remember in July when I was freezing my tail off and everyone was posting beach pictures? Well that will be me in December while you guys are freezing.

I am done working. It's such an amazing feeling to be retired as I like to call it. I have been traveling a bit and am now in Blenheim visiting my friend, Kirsty, that lives here. Kirsty and her husband Patrick own a cherry orchard here, so I am trying to alleviate some stress by helping out around here with their two children, cooking and whatever they need extra hands for. At the moment I don't feel like I have been very successful, but I guess two extra hands is always better than none.

I am off tomorrow for a three day hike through the Marlborough Sounds. 70 Kilometers to be exact. I have a really sore knee from my last 1100 meter downhill hike, but I just can't pass up on the amazing scenery I would miss by not going. So I have promised myself I will go slow, take it easy and enjoy the walk. I couldn't say no when I found out I get an hour boat road through the sounds to the start of the track AND they deliver my luggage to my hut each night for free. I will make sure my pack is nice and heavy with delicious food and clean clothes, unlike my most recent journey on the Milford Track where I went minimal at its finest. I promise to have lots of amazing photos when I return.

Last but not least, I am almost in my last month of being in New Zealand. It wasn't the easiest decision to make, but I have decided the timing was right. Like my mom said, the longer I stay the harder it is to leave. My friend Kendall said she wanted to meet in Bali so I booked a flight. I leave here January 14th for a week in Perth and then will arrive in Bali on the 20th. I have no specific plans, but want to make my way up through Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. There's so many more places I would like to go, but don't know that they will happen this trip. So once I have finished my travels I plan to be home. For a LOOONGGG time. I have loved every minute of it here and am not quite ready to come home, but I know that when I get there I will be excited. I have done a lot of traveling, but this is the longest I have ever stayed away without a visit. It will be nice to be surrounded by friends and family, the water and my favorite restaurants. I shed quite a few tears when I first made the decision to leave, but now that it's all becoming real I am actually getting excited.

Ok so this post is getting lengthier than I planned. I will go for now, but after my trek I will have some updates.

Love to you all! xo

Skiing at Cardrona

I DID IT!! I went skiing with my friend Marcy! Here's some proof  and some pictures from our drive there. We have 2 fields here, but it was well worth the hour drive to Cardrona where there was still some snow left. After a few runs we sat in the snow and just talked about life. People thought we were crazy. We had a ball. It was like going with my mom. We were in no rush and Marcy was a beyond cautious skier. Lots of laughs and a beautiful day for it!

Is it summer yet?

I took these photos from the Remarkables last weekend, looking down over Queenstown.  It was beautiful and sunny, but the clouds were low!

A warm winter, earthquakes and a new school year

So I remember getting real dramatic and saying that winter was basically like being in Antarctica. That was a smidgeon of an exaggeration. The month of June was pretty brutal, but after going to see a speaker that, with a partner, was able to make it to the South Pole unassisted, I realized I had it pretty easy. I didn't come near frost bite and really I rarely wore gloves or the ba-gillion scarves Carol packed up and mailed to me. June was cold because the days were short and tucked away here in the mountains gets a bit cold. However, when I compare it to trips to Colorado, this was pretty warm. We had 2 really good snow falls, but other than that the snow remained on the mountains and not down in town. In fact even the ski fields got very little snow. If it rains or the weather is slightly bad, the mountains are closed. It's quite bizarre. This winter most of the snow has been made my machines at night since there hasn't been much natural snow falling. With it being so unusually warm they have been much more cautious of closing the mountains since the avalanche risk is so high. There were 2 guys who went rock climbing last weekend and started off a massive avalanche, which neither of them lived through. It was accidental obviously, but they had been warned not to go up. Luckily, it happened on the side of the mountain where you can't ski, so it didn't put anyone else in danger.

Along with the warm winter have come several earthquakes in the central part of the country. Luckily I visited Wellington a few months back, because I would be a little cautious of going now. They have not been anything like the Christchurch earthquake, but it is feared that it will only be a matter of time before the big one comes. I still have yet to experience an earthquake and am not sure that I really want to. Queenstown does sit on a fault line, but I have my fingers crossed that it doesn't shake until after I'm gone.

This week is my first week of school! I am pretty sure I haven't ever been this prepared. Ever. I'm talking over achiever style right now. I got so excited that when my first book came over the weekend I started reading it. I am also having one of those "oh I am going to be focused, organized and go above and beyond this semester" moments. Let's hope this time is a bit different than the last times I have said that. Online learning is a whole new thing for me. It's been stressful to say the least. It is supposed to be easy to 'learn by distance', except when you get the run around on what books you need and how on earth you get them shipped internationally before school starts. I will definitely be adding in my feedback at the end of the semester. Let's hope I live through these 3 classes: Cultural Anthropology, Psychology and Life Span Human Development.

I have filled out the mound of paperwork and gotten my medical certificates done to extend my visa. I am going to an immigration clinic tomorrow where I can submit it all. It will take about a month to process, which will be perfect timing. If they tell me I can't stay, then it won't be so perfect!

My brother is coming to visit at Christmas! I will spend my last couple of weeks in the country traveling with him! Depending on a few things that are up in the air at the moment, I plan to stay until some point in January and then head to Bali, where my friends Cheryl and John Mims have said they are meeting me. Maybe now that they have been pointed out, they will know there's no backing out! From there I plan to meet a friend from college in Bangkok and then travel through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

The weather here is starting to really warm up and the days are growing longer. I am so anxious for spring and summer! More to come soon! Much love to you all.

The 10th Month

I have been in New Zealand now for 10 months. It feels like I was just saying 6 months yesterday. The time really has flown by. Winter has just about come and gone. In saying that, I have realized how much I really like winter. When you are in the mountains the light on them and the snow and the green grass is unbelievable. I exaggerated a bit when I said it was like Antarctica. It's not that cold. I have work a hat, scarf and gloves all of maybe 3 times. Once my body acclimated to the weather, I was good as gold. The hours of daylight definitely did a number on me since I felt like I should be in bed at 8pm. The shortest day of the year has passed and it's still light out when I get off work, so I can't complain. We did get some reallly cold times, but I think my winter in Germany was more harsh than the winter here, which I always thought would be opposite.

So with 2 months to go comes the million dollar question: What do I do when my visa expires September 24th? Thoughts of this have given me serious anxiety. My mom has gotten so many emails that I am surprised she hasn't disowned me. The problem is, in Catherine time, two months is a long time and I will change my mind 4 million times. In real world/normal people time, that's nothing. In order to apply for an extension of my visa, I need at minimum 1 month. So yeah that means I should be making a decision right this minute. Over several sleepless nights, frantic phone calls and emails to Carol, lots of coffee and sprinting on the treadmill till I feel like I might faint, I have come to a conclusion. I want to stay in New Zealand until January. I think the only thing that really made me hesitant was spending the money on the visa and filling out 45 pages of paperwork. I found out that I needed an entire medical exam, which is close to 500 big ones. They want blood tests and x-rays and this and that. This is required after being in NZ for longer than 1 year. If you ask me, it should be done before even entering the country. Any life threatening illness that may be in my blood or bones will have been something I would have caught in the last 12 months in this country. But I'm no doctor or immigration officer or anything of the sorts and nor do I want to be, so I will just comply and grit my teeth while attempting a polite smile at the doctor. Don't worry though, I will quiz the doctor on why all this is necessary. If there is anything extremely important I feel you should know, then I will report back. I can only imagine how painful it would be for a foreigner coming to the US so I should just zip it.

One thing I am really missing at the moment is Mexican food. It was quite funny because my uncle sent me this link ( http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/12-01/10-important-life-lessons-you-learn-from-living-abroad.html ) and I couldn't agree more with several of the parts. Especially the part about the mexican food. Once living here, you realize you are long way from Mexico and that incredible queso goodness that Los Rancheros serves up. Every time I think of mexican I think of when I was about 10 and on the swim team at Woodlands. We always went to LR after meets and one day I looked at the man and said I wanted 7 soft tacos. He stared and looked at my mom. She confirmed this was correct and that I could devour every bite. Let me just assure you, I didn't let that fella down. Nor would I today if I ordered 7 soft tacos. One thing that never slowed down when my athleticism did was my appetite. However, after taking a month off from the gym I am back in action. I haven't had french fries in a week! I'm pretty sure I have turned over a new leaf. If I don't make mention of the french fries again for a while, it means I have caved and just don't want to admit it. I can't help it, I love to eat. And I must admit, I have become quite the chef these days. I cook atleast 5/7 nights of the week and have rarely repeated recipes. I get some amazing blogs, but the one I use for most recipes is Meme Inge's 'Living Well Kitchen'. She is from Mobile and is now a nutritionist in New Orleans. Sometimes the meals lack a bit of seasoning for me, so I just add chili's or Habanero Tabasco to everything I make. (Sorry Meme if I ruin some recipes!) You should check out her blog though, I promise it won't disappoint you. You can sign up and it will send them straight to your inbox. I now have a whole folder dedicated just to recipes. So get to cooking! http://memeinge.com/blog/

I know this post is sporadic, story of my life. So the central part of the country just had some earthquakes. Everyone around here is insistent upon the fact the Wellington is going to "get the big one" soon. It was a 6.2 magnitude that did little damage, but injured a few, rattled some buildings and definitely frazzled the locals. Speaking of Wellington....

- It is called Windy Welly for a very good reason. It can be one of the scariest plane rides in because of how bumpy the landings are.
- The Te Papa Museum (one of the pictures below) is a free museum that will give you all of the history of NZ and just about the world. Anything you could ever want to know about NZ you can find here. We could have spent the entire day there, but instead just spent 4 hours. That's a long time for a museum. They also had a Warhol exhibit on while we were there, which was very cool and Warhol-y!
- The 'Bee Hive' is the Parliament building pictured at the bottom. You can literally walk up to the front door. I couldn't quite grasp my head around that. Can you imagine walking up to the front door of the White House? So cool!
- Wellington has some incredible restaurants!
- Wellington has a lot to offer, but has nothing on the mountains of Arrowtown!

Quick pics

I spent a quiet weekend doing a whole lot of nothing. Here are some beautiful pictures of the sunny weekend we had here! There is also a picture of food. I know, no one wants to see food when they don't have any idea what it tastes like, but this was the easiest and best meal I've made in ages.... Goat cheese and pesto stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon and stir fry on the side. Odd combination but its what I was in the mood for! Let me know if you want the recipe. I spent a weekend in Dunedin and spent a weekend in Wellington, so I promise to update pictures and stories next.

Abel Tasman National Park

I'm not sure why that last post had such huge pictures, but I will have to do something different this time. These pictures are a flashback to my parents trip. The Abel Tasman National Park is in the very north part of the south island. It is absolutely stunning. Breathtakingly beautiful. It's hard to stay near the park, so we found a place called The Waters that was a bit out of the way, but on a peninsula all by itself on the beach. It was extremely peaceful and relaxing. This is one of my most favorite places in New Zealand.