New Zealand - South Island

My trip to New Zealand was most Excellent! I went with my family and since there were nine of us, we decided to book a tour so we could see New Zealand in style. The tour company we went with was Adventure South and was very good. We did some really cool activities and stayed in some neat places. We started our tour on the North Island and met up with Nick and Mariah in Auckland. We stayed on the North Island for a week and then traveled to the South Island, by inter-island ferry, and stayed there for another week. The tour was very active so we were able to do a lot and see a lot. My most favorite activities of the tour were the ones we did on the South Island. Our first two nights on the South Island, we stayed at Endeavour Inlet. To get to our accommodations, we had to take an hour boat ride. We had our own private cabins right on the ocean. It was so peacefully and beautiful. New Zealand has a network of walkways throughout the country and people come from all over the world to walk them. We were able to do a section of the Queen Charlotte Track, nine and a half miles to be exact and I loved it. I loved being out in the New Zealand “bush” and taking it all in. At the end of the hike we arrived at the ocean and had a picnic.


We made it, Yahoo!

My favorite activity of the whole trip was tubing in the glow worm caves. There is no way to describe how cool it was when you first saw the glow worms. You’re floating down the river in the cave and it is pitch black and then all the sudden you come upon the glow worms and it is like seeing thousands and thousands of stars, but way cooler. Our guide taught us this song, “I wish I were a glow worm, a glow worm nevers glum, cause how can you be unhappy, when the sun shines out your bum.” Before the glow worms we went spelunking and after we were able to tube down the river, which was very enjoyable.

My dad, me and Rebecca in the cave.

Tubing down the river.

We were able to visit Fox, which is where my sister and brother-in-law lived and worked for the past four months. Fox is famous for Fox Glacier. Mariah and Nick worked for a helicopter company that gave tours of the glacier. There were able to get my dad on a helicopter ride while the rest of us went on a glacier hike. The glacier hike was cool. It took us about an hour and a half to hike to it and then we were able to spend an hour on it. Fox glacier is one of the few glaciers in the world that is growing. Being able to walk around on the glacier was cool. The blue color of the ice is so vivid.

Mariah and I on Fox Glacier.


Another favorite activity and one I would defiantly recommend was Bungee Jumping. I had the hardest time deciding whether I should go or not because I wasn’t sure I would really jump once I got to the site and saw how far down I had to fall, however I am so glad I went, I had a blast. The feeling of falling was like nothing I have ever felt before and it is hard to describe how it feels. All I can say is that it was AWESOME. The jump is called the Nevis and is 440 feet off the ground. It is the third highest bungee jump in the world. Zane, Mandy (Zane’s girlfriend) Rebecca and I all jumped.

No turning back now. Bombs away! (Oooh, nice buns!)

The daring foursome. Rebecca, me, Mandy, Zane.

Some of the other activities we did on the South Island were, jet boating (the jet boat was invented in New Zealand) and sea kayaking where I was able to hold a jelly fish, very slimy creatures, they slip right through your fingers and a star fish. We also did some more hikes around the island and enjoyed shopping in Queenstown.

I thought this picture was super funny. It is dedicated to all the sheep dogs in New Zealand!

New Zealand

In October, my sister and her husband moved to New Zealand. Today I am leaving on a two week trip to visit them. I'll post all about it when I get back.

The Éclair Test

Mike loves éclair’s, and as everybody knows the perfect place to eat lots of éclairs is a wedding reception. Whenever we go to a wedding reception Mike judges the success of it by the quality of the éclairs (he likes the kind with the non-waxy chocolate) and how many he can eat (if he eats more than five, the reception is a success.) Who cares about the bride and groom, it's all about the dessert selection. :-)

Birthday Wishes

I think I threw a few people off with my Super Birthday post. My birthday isn't until June and I have already received two birthday cards and one bag of birthday cookies. :-) I didn't mean to start my super birthday so soon, but now that it's started, I kind of like it. I think I will do something like Disney does and instead of a year of a million dreams, I will have the year of twenty-nine birthday wishes. So, I was going to hold off until June, but this is the official kick off of The Year of Twenty-nine Birthday Wishes.

Bag Tagged

The Rules:
1. You have to show your bag.
2. Show all the contents in the bag, no cleaning it out first.
3. Bag tag 3 more people.


When I find I purse I tend to stick with it for a while. I got this bag last summer while I was Italy with my sisters.



Contents:
Receipts to various stores
Camera
Some papers from Enrichment and my visiting teach list. (Yes, I went this month.)
My list of things to do
Candy (Yum)
Bag of Necessities: This unassuming looking Ziploc bag is the greatest thing I ever added to my purse. I use the stuff in it all the time when I am out and about or traveling. (I do need to upgrade to something cuter than a Ziploc bag though.) It contains a toothbrush, toothpaste, chap stick, lotion, ear plugs (for when I’m on a plane) nail clippers, bobby pins, nail file, elastic for my hair, lip gloss and a hair pick.
My wallet, which contains some cash, my credit cards, my library card and more receipts
A coupon to Cold Stone for buy two ice creams for $5.00. (Mike and I love that place.)
My Palm pilot
Pens. Can you really have too many pens in your purse? I think not.
Numerous gift cards
A check from Mike’s work that I need to deposit
Anne of Windy Poplars, the book I am currently reading.
And finally more bobby pins and hair elastics

I tag Michelle, (I know technically you are using a wallet, but curious minds want to know how you fit it all in there) Cassie and Mariah.

Mother's Weekend

This weekend I went down to sunny St. George for a mother's weekend at Dixie State College with my sister, Rebecca. The weekend was really fun. Dixie invites all the mothers to come down and enjoy spending time with their daughters. Before the activities for the weekend started we walked down to Café Rio for dinner and did a little shopping at Target. Friday night we went to an impressionist, who was really good. He impersonated celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Elton John, Ray Charles, etc… After the impressionist we went back to Becca’s apartment and the boys in the apartment next door invited us to play Rock Star. (I know scandalous for a married woman to hang out with college boys, but come on, they were 19 years old. Not much to be tempted by.) Saturday morning we woke up and went to some of the workshops. We were also entered into a drawing and we won two gift cards to Best Buy. After the workshops we had a few hours to ourselves, so went to the pool to lay out. The weather was so nice. I even got a little sun. To end the weekend activities the college hosted a dinner and afterwards there was karaoke. It was fun to be with Rebecca and to hang out her.