The trip is winding down and in two days I head back to Australia to desperately seek employment... probably about time for that. It is sad to think that in a couple of days Mom and Sherry will be headed back to Canada. It was so nice having family around.

Since Bungy jumping life has been a little bit more mellow but still very enjoyable. We took an all day trip to Milford Sound to do a boat cruise, while on the boat it was foggy and felt a little like the ride to Bell Island... the drive out there was scenic and stunning. Sometimes I feel like I am on sensory overload and can’t fully appreciate things.

To clue up our last couple of days we visited rock boulders on a beach, spent a night at Mount Cook and are now in Christchurch. Mount Cook was surprisingly warm considering how close we were to glaciers; I would say the views from the town were far more stunning at Mount Cook than Franz Joseph.

Here in Christchurch there is a busker’s festival that it really unique and fun. Everywhere you turn there are performers of ever sort. Today alone I have seen a saxophone player, a bagpipes player, a contortionist, a Russian pole group, a folk singing group, and a very large Scotsman with no shirt on...not really sure what his talent was but he had a sign. Aside from all of the performances Christchurch is a beautiful spot to spend a couple of days. I am not really a lover of botanical gardens, but this city has an amazing one. I think after this I will go to the park to read my book... I would highly recommend visiting New Zealand, such a stunning place.

The variety that you get in New Zealand still amazes me. I really have no idea what I am going to see from day to day or from minute to minute. One second I can be driving through a rain forest, the next I am on the beach, shortly after that I am next to glacier covered mountains. New Zealand is a truly amazing place, perfect for the outdoor lover.





This week I hiked up Franz Joseph Glacier and bungy jumped… totally different experiences but both totally amazing. With the bungy I have ticked off another to do item on my original list of things to do in this year… I don’t think there is much left on the list to be honest… I might have to come up with a new one. I have to say I am very proud of myself for doing the bungy jump… for someone that hates heights I did pretty good. The jump was off the original bungy site in Queenstown, NZ. Not the highest that I could have done, but with this one I got to touch the water on the bottom. I also thought that jumping over water gave me some security…even if that doesn’t make any sense.







The Glacier hike was also a really cool experience, Sherry and Mom decided not to join me as they had seen several glaciers in Alaska. I did a half day hike up an 80 year old glacier that gets approximately 254 meters of snow added to it every year. The views were spectacular.

There is only about a week left of my NZ trip and I am really looking forward to everything else that I have yet to see. Queenstown has been my favorite by far, but the trip isn’t over yet. I find it amazing that only 4.4 million people live in this amazing place…

Oh the vanity...picture time...

These are pictures from throughout the North Island of New Zealand…. From waterfalls to the Shire the scenery was absolutely beautiful. We are currently in the North Island seeing what kind of shenanigans we can get ourselves into…or well maybe it is mainly me with the shenanigans…

I sent my mom down a river...

It has been a non stop couple of days... I am in New Zealand with my Mom and Aunt touring around the country. It is a three week trip that involves seeing as much of the two islands as possible. We are five days in and have seen a beautiful waterfall, glow worms, sulphur springs, more sheep, goats and cows then anyone can count, beautiful rolling green hills, and a shark feeding (we were obviously behind glass.) It has been a couple of non-stop fun filled days.

I am loving having a car, being with Mom and Sherry and getting fed all the time :) Today we went on a white water rafting trip down Kaituna River, it has the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world at 7 meters. I can't tell you how proud I am that my mom did that with me. Sadly half way down the river our raft flipped leaving us all randomly disbursed throughout the river. Aside from some batter knees, a swollen toe and a sore rib we are all in good shape. I don't think I will get mom to go down another river but she had a great time.





Sadly I can't post many of my pictures yet but in the next couple of days I will be sure to do a picture blog.

My new years resolution is to learn how to take a complement… I am not normally one for new years resolutions but that seems like a good one so I will do my best.

I am at the end of my East Coast adventure and am a mixture of happy and sad. I am happy because I get to go back to Brisbane and see my friends for a couple of days before I head to New Zealand for a couple of weeks with my mom and my aunt. I am sad because it has been an incredible trip. It seems like one thing after another is amazing and different and ridiculously fun.

I am exhausted after my last couple of days in Cairns. It has been a lot of early mornings and late nights and it is starting to catch up to me… I think New Zealand will be more relaxing…aside from driving on a different side of the road…

A couple of days ago I went white water rafting for my first time down the Tully River, rated one of the best rafting rivers in the world. It was amazing (as I seem to say about all things…but they really are!) I think white water rafting is something I could seriously get into, I am already looking up rafting trips in New Zealand. It was a five hour trip down the river with six people in our boat, two hilarious Irish guys that kept acting like they were gay even though they weren’t a sweet couple from Hong Kong and a girl from Germany. It was an excellent group of people, couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my trip. It is up there with my outback experience as one of my top days of the trip.

I also went on another sailing trip at the top of the Great Barrier Reef and got to see a Nemo in its proper colour. Sadly no sea turtles this time but we got to see the reef through a glass bottom boat and that was pretty neat. I have decided I am not much of a sailing person. As much as I love activities that are water based I think I only prefer things where I am the source of momentum…like swimming, kayaking, rafting or rowing. I just get sleepy and bored on boats and I wasn’t built to lie in the sun for long periods of time…

Finally, one of the other highlights of the last couple of days was visiting a crocodile farm. I got to hold a python…which was pretty crazy. I HATE snakes so it took a bit of courage to do, but not being one to back down from things I even let them wrap it around my neck a couple of times… I really have had no idea what I was going to get myself into on each day of this trip. I hope New Zealand is as exciting :)

Year in Review...

The past year has gone by extremely quickly, it feels like just yesterday I was chilling out in my reindeer PJ’s prepping to go to Jill’s New Years party. This year I find myself in shorts and a tube top prepping to go to a beach party… Sometimes it feels like I am in another world.

I am exceptionally grateful for the past year; I have had some amazing experiences and am greatly looking forward to the year ahead. Some highlights of my past year are:
-Travel: Montreal for the Ultimate tournament, Vegas with Terry for the event planning conference, Fiji and everything I have done in Australia
-Work: CACUSS National Conference went amazing, was super happy to be a part of that, giving my department a new look and feel and having one of my projects win a national award
-Personal: Had an amazing relationship with a guy in Australia, that didn’t pan out because of timing but still a positive experience. Also, meeting so many new friends and acquaintances over the past couple of months
-Other: Helping start the women’s Frisbee league, playing Nationals for Frisbee in Australia, having the nerve to move half way across the world and having the most amazing friends home and away

I have to say I am a very lucky person! There have been many ups and downs but I figure as long as the positive is what you focus on things work out for the best.

Happy New Years everyone! I wish you all the best in the upcoming year.