If Moby Dick was a blog...

This is gonna be big. Just saying.

Rathmoy

            Ok. So. Rathmoy was awesome. I was doing mostly functions down at the lodge. Oh! I should warn everyone that this is going to be one of those overly descriptive blogs that are filled with unnecessary details that are supposed to create a beautiful word picture for the reader to enjoy while secretly the reader reads and wishes the whole thing would just get to the point. You have been warned. The lodge at Rathmoy can sleep about 10 people and has two bedrooms on the ground floor and one large bedroom on the top level. There are three bathrooms, full laundry, a gorgeous kitchen with a window facing the cliff base, a sitting room, and a fireplace/dinning room area with floor to ceiling windows making up two walls. It is rustic and comfy and complete will that the amenities that “comfort campers” such as myself look for. While it only sleeps 10 people, we had functions with anywhere from 10 to 100 people. When I arrived it was just before the busy weeks hit. I had a couple days to do stuff with the pheasants, build stuff for campsites and hack at thistles (which I got massive exploding blisters from). I think I mentioned all this stuff early. What I haven’t really talked about is the functions. We had 7ish functions in a fairly consecutive sting. I was put in charge of cleaning the lodge (usually took about 4 hours to get it up to snuff), setting up for the evening function (usually about 3 more hours), and then assisting with the smooth pulling off of the poorly organized and set up for functions. Lack of organization and set up was not my fault, just in case you were wondering and beginning to point nasty grizzled fingers my way. The wonderful gents I was working for and with definitely ran on Kiwi time (very similar to Mexico time, or Fiji time) and were super relaxed about organizing the details until the guests started to arrive. Regardless (irregardless?) we managed to pull all the functions off swimmingly. I mostly served alcohol and then assisted with passing “nibbles” and then cleared plates after “tea” was finished and then plated up “pudding” and cleared those dishes and then washed all the dishes, maintained the cleanliness of the lodge in general, and then entertained guests by getting dance parties started, or joking with them about Canada, accents, my future as a psychologist, and whatever else their little hearts desired to talk about. Right! So. Ya. That went on for about a week. It was tiring, long days. But! The people were amazing, kind and generous. Oh, I did have catering staff to help me out with the food related stuff and some of the clean up. Tineka and I became pretty good friends and we would chill out before and after functions together. Overall, I loved working the functions and eating the steak that they served fresh off the barbeque every night. I basically lived off steak for two weeks. I’m still living off it now as I conveniently stored a ton of it around my waist. Anyone want a spare tire? I’m trying to get rid of mine.

            Somewhere in this mess a German boy/man (age 32) named Jan came up to work at Rathmoy. He was fun and we spent a lot of time together at the lodge cleaning and what not. Unfortunately, he really didn’t like loud music so he kept on turning my tunes down to barely perceptible levels. Insert uber sad face here. Thankfully, Tineka like loud music too so when the three of us were together the tunes were bumpin’! Anyway, Jan and I managed to finagle a day off and we went (in the pouring rain) to the National War Museum in some town I can’t remember, and then to another town I can’t remember for lunch, then just for a cruze cause the weather was still bad and we couldn’t find anything to do. We ended up in Wanganui where we tried to go to an art gallery (it was closed), and then successfully went to a stationary shop where I got supplies to write letters and create a travel journal, and then (also successfully) went to a cute little cafe where I wrote said letters. We then swaggered off too watch Easy A at the local theatre (good movie). After that it was home time, and eventually bed time. Good story. I know.

            When Christmas came nearer I arranged with Cath to spend Christmas day and a couple days after with her and her family at Bland Bay where her parents live year round. I booked a bus for Dec 24^th to Auckland and then Dec 25^th from Auckland to Warkworth. Her friend Ross was recruited to snag me at Warkworth and scoot me up to Bland Bay with him.

            Once all that was sorted, I half requested/half demanded that my Rathmoy bosses give me one full day off to go on a road trip to see some stuff. Mark told me about some glow worm caves and waterfalls that were pretty cool and a local walking/hiking path that would provide me with exceptional views. I was like “Score! Yes Please!”. So I woke up early, all packed the night before, and ate a super fast breakfast. Then I grabbed my bag, skipped happily outside to get in the car and go when!... There was no car. I ended up waiting 3 hours for a car to become available. Little did I know that this incident was forwarning of a terrible terrible day. Here’s the skinny. I went the to Hunterville (the local town) mailed some letters and headed out. The wrong way (north). Got going the right way (south). Got half way to my destination of Palmerston North to realize I had about a ¼ tank of gas. “No problem” thought happy me “I won’t be doing much driving”. Got to Palmerston North after an hour and a half of driving, went to the I site and found out that the caves I wanted to go to were actually about a 20 minute drive from Rathmoy (east). Tried to find the highway. Got flipped off my angry lady, who admittedly I had cut off in my confusion about traffic circles. Got onto the right highway and drove 30 minutes. Missed my turn. Figured out where I was (still going the right direction!) and drove another 30 minutes. Noticed that I was running on fumes. Made a wrong turn and ended up driving an hour back to basically where I started. Bought some a half a tank of gas which cost me $50. Asked for directions and ended up being told not to bother, it was too far of a drive and I wouldn’t make it in time. Gave up. Tried to see some local sites. Got confused. Got angry. Got fake happy. Drove home. Didn’t get lost, and only missed one turn. In the end, I did about 7 hours of driving and about 30 minutes out of the car. I also spent about $75 total (I bought some chocolate and other food with the hope that it would cheer me up... it didn’t). To top it all off, I had been shooting to get back to Rathmoy at 5:30 so that I could go to a carol service at 6. I managed to get my grumpy self back to Rathmoy at 5:30, was ready to go to carol singing at 5:45, and was then informed that carol singing wouldn’t be til 7:30. Lovely. So I sat around brooding until 7:30 at which point my boss grabbed a case of beer and hopped into the car to go to the carol service. Turns out that the carol service was a drinking, fooding, and carol singing party in a recently refurbished church that the owners bought so that they wouldn’t have to pay taxes on that section of land. Haha. Oh dear. That my friends, is the epitome of the icing on the cake. The next day I left. Haha. Caught the bus at 11ish going to Auckland.

Auckland and Christmas Eve

            This was good. I strolled around Auckland from about 7:00pm til about 9:00pm. I stopped in at K Road Hostel and saw some old friends that are still staying there. Then I scooted off to a proper candlelight carol service in a proper church – St Matthews in the City. It was supposed to start at 10pm but I think it got rolling closer to 11pm. There was a small brass group playing carols while everyone settled in. It was really chill. There were tealights everywhere and the lights were turned down really low. I wasn’t expecting the performance of secular carols such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by the brass band or the explanation of emergency procedures that began the ceremony, but the rest was pretty standard. There were some readings and some carols (including a Maori one), a mediation, and more carols. It finished around midnight. As I left, these super cute older ladies told me that I had a beautiful singing voice and that I should try out for America’s Got Talent. I’ve put it on my bucket list.

Bland Bay and Christmas

            The next morning (CHRISTMAS DAY!) I was up bright and early (about 7am, not nearly as early as the usual 3am eh Mom?) and off to catch my bus. That went smoothly and I ended up in Warkworth right on time. Ross, on the other hand, was not on time. I waited for about 4 hours at the bus stop in Warkwork listening to a CBC Radio 3 podcast. It was actually really sweet. I have been meaning to reconnect with Canadian music and that definitely gave me the chance. Ross popped by eventually and we drove to Bland Bay.

            We arrived just in time to get settled a bit and then had Christmas dinner. There was turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, kumara, potatoes, pumpkin, fruit cake, and a chocolate log. It felt about as Christmasy as possible without being at home with your own family. New Zealanders really do Christmas improperly. Haha. It’s almost an afterthought. I suppose that’s because it’s in the middle of summer and everyone is already on holidays so Christmas is just part of that. Whereas for us, Christmas provides a much needed break from the bland dull winter.

            The next couple days were spent just hanging out and playing with the kids. The weather wasn’t the most cooperative but I still managed to go kayaking, get a wicked sunburn (which is now a glorious tan), and swim almost every day in the ocean. While there was a proper shower and proper toilet up there, I chose to go bush style and only used the “dunny” (outhouse) and “bathed” in the ocean. On a more respectful note, I organized a photoscavenger hunt for the kids the day before I left. There were about 27 things that they either had to do or had to take pictures with. There were 3 teams of 2 kids. Each child had to get their picture taken for each thing on the list so we ended up with around 160 pictures. I compiled all the pictures into a slideshow and we showcased the kids later that evening. It was superbly cute. I don’t think I’ll put those pics on Facebook (sorry team) just cause I don’t feel comfortable with putting other people’s children’s pics on the internet. So ya, the next day I was outta there and onto Paihia. I’m currently in Paihia now and the more astute of you might be thinking “Weren’t you already there?”. Well you smarty pants, I was. But I didn’t get to see 90 Mile Beach (which is actually 90km long) and Cape Reinga, so I’m doing that tomorrow. I saw the Waitangi Treaty Grounds this morning and am currently hanging out with a super cool Romanian guy and his friends from Romania and Russia who are all staying at the hostel. We are going to play cards, watch the fireworks, go dancing, scream the countdown, swim in the ocean, and go to bed for our New Years Eve. Should be barrels of fun! Tomorrow I am off to 90 Mile Beach/Cape Reigna, then on the 2^nd it’s back to Auckland where I’ll start my New Zealand bus tour experience with Stray Bus. For the more involved reader, I have some extra reading. Google stray bus and check out the Max Pass. That’s what I’ll be doing for the foreseeable future. Huzza!

            In conclusion, my Romanian friend says I must say “Cranberry juice makes me sugar drunk”. The “me” in that quote refers to Julia, not to Romanian dude (whose name I shan’t mention in order to protect his anonymity).

love love love

Julia

Ho Ho Ho Holidays!

Dearest Everyone,

This is your daughter/friend/cousin/co worker/granddaughter/neice/etc Julia Koop reporting in with some serious holiday cheer.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This year has been so incredible for me. I have completed a university degree, worked full time for the 1st time in basically ever, met some great people, and begun my first big adventure. Wow. It's been eventful.

Christmas letters (which I'm attempting to write now) are often a summary of the doings and goings ons of ones life throughout the past year. Hence the above couple sentences. But this Christmas letter is going to be different. This Christmas letter is going to tell you about the things I've learned about myself this past year and the few things I've learned about New Zealand in the last month and a half.

Things I've learned about me
- I demand a lot of myself
- I demand a lot of others (sorry guys, sometimes I was seriously out of line)
- I love to learn
- I hate to study
- I can handle pressure (Thesis you big jerk, I love you)
- I've learned to let things go
- I'm not as smart as I think I am, and I'm usually not as smart as you think I am
- There is always room for improvement but that doesn't mean that you can't be happy with where stuffs at now
- My faith is still important to me and is constantly evolving
- People are scared/intimidated by me
- I love people, specifically my family and awesome friends, but I love the human race as a group of individuals forming a collective
- I love working in the service industry aka the food and beverage industry
- I love big and.or unusual words (Ben, you know what I'm talking about)
- I have an unusual philosophy about how I am allowed to view my physical appearance
- I'm different than most girls
- I love getting dirty and working with my hands
- I LOVE the gym
- I love/hate the radio
- I love to sing and dance
- And my motto of the last year -- "I have no one to impress"
- I'm out of things I've learned. And, to be honest, this list was completely formulated off the top of my head about 5 minutes ago while I was typing. I'm sure I've learned a lot more, and a lot more important things, but that's what pops into mind.

Things I've learned about New Zealand (this list got considerable more thought, though it's still incomplete)
- NZ outlets (plugins) have an on/off switch. Often for both the top and bottom outlet
- Kiwi's say "Eh" just as much as we do
- Weather changes are no joke here. It really can change on a dime.
- People always talk about Mexico time -- New Zealand should really be included in that saying
- Standard vehicles have the shifter on the left and the indicators on the right
- Kiwi girls are generally accepted by all nationalities to be not as cute as the average girl in any other country
- Public transport is the same here as in Canada, which is greatly worse than Europe
- Sprite is called "Lemonade". You can look it up, it says that on the bottle. Weird.
- Orange juice is basically the only juice in the country
- Sober drivers are in high demand
- There is an incredible amount of texture in the NZ and I would suppose the world
- My body has decided that while in NZ my internal clock is set to 6:30am
- Hitchhiking is highly unadvised by the locals
- Canadian accents are considered cute
- NZ is populated by 4 groups, Asians, Germans, Kiwis, and Canadians (in that order)
- Kiwi boys love to cook and are good at it
- Internet is sold by the megabyte
- There is no such thing as unlimited text plans
- NZ geography is like a compressed Canada
- Kiwis have trouble articulating
- They don't say bless you when you sneeze
- There is no butter or margarine (very hard to find). There is "spread"
- Everything is expensive
- Sunblock should ALWAYS be worn
- People think I'm either Dutch or Irish. Mostly Dutch.
- Fat Freddy's Drop and Katchafire pump out some seriously good tunes
- Supper is called "tea"
- Dessert is called "pudding"
- Everyone asks "How you going?"
- Everyone loves the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- People "suss" things out
- And they "reckon" a lot
- Generally, Kiwi terminology is closer to British than American
- "Cool Bananas"
- "Sweet as"
- Bunny hug = Jumper
- Pop is roughly $4 for a 330ml bottle, still only about $2 for a 2 liter bottle
- No one says "man, dude, etc" they say "boi"
- This country is awesome

That's my Christmas Letter Reflections. I love you all. Miss you all. And want to wish you all the bestest, greatest, whitest, lovelyest, everythingest Christmas ever.

LOVE. MERRY CHRISTMAS. HAPPY NEW YEAR. GOD BLESS.
Julia

I'm dreaming of a white (sand) Christmas

Alright all you unfortunate peeps who are stuck in blistering cold weathers, here is my address for the warm, sunny, beach filled Christmas season that I am about to partake in.

Julia Koop
C.O. Cath Lewis
4 Grand View Road
Leigh/Warkworth, North Island
0947, New Zealand

I must stress that this address only be used during the Christmas season as I'm going to be leaving that area forever when Christmas is over.

I'm still at Rathmoy and am still having fun. Though, I must admit that the insane amount of work, and very little free time, is starting to wear on me. I'm glad I'll be leaving for Christmas on Friday. We shall see if I return here or not.

Much love to everyone. I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Julia

Tea and Talk

I'm a slacker. (That's all you are getting for an apology for the long silence).

I'm now in the ever beautiful, ever interesting Rathmoy Fish and Pheasant Lodge. I got here a couple days ago after another brief stint in Auckland. I took the bus at 7:45am (WAY too early) and arrived in Flat Hills around 3:30pm. It was a long bus ride, but the bus was really comfortable and it was a double decker so I felt terribly adventurous. I know I keep harping about the scenery but really, this country takes the scenery cake to an entirely new level. I saw my first New Zealand mountain around Taupo. It was absolutely breathtaking. There was a bit of cloud but the peak was brilliantly clear and covered in snow. My bus driver was giving something of a running commentary all the way throughout our travels and he told us that some of the Lord of the Rings had been filmed in that area. I didn't get any good pictures from the bus, but I am really hoping to borrow one of the cars from my new boss (Mark) one day and do a day trip up there to do some "tramping" (the New Zealand word for hiking). I suspect that that area of the north island will be one of my favourites. There are mountains, hills, fields, gorges, sand, and everything else you could dream of all in a small area. The grass in that area is especially interesting. It looks almost like a golf green. It's thick and appears to be flat but when you step on it it's actually a couple inches deep. Very deceiving. Anyway.
I arrived at Flat Hills and Mark and his lovely girlfriend Andrea (an Argentinian film producer) picked me up to take me to the lodge. The lodge is situated along the Rangitikei River and near the town of Hunterville. The lodge is a lot smaller than I thought. It sleeps about 10 people and has two large sitting rooms, 3 bathrooms, and a kitchen. There is a cricket pitch, a crochet field (?), an archery area, and an ax throwing board. There is also fishing, jet boating, clay disk shooting, pheasant shooting, a campground, and a ton of sheep and fields. It's absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. It really is an upperclass escape resort. My job here is extremely varied. I will do anything from sorting pheasant eggs, to grubbing thistles (basically hacking out thistles with a hoe like thinger), to cleaning the lodge, to serving functions. We've had one function so far. It was an engagement party of a local couple. There were about 60 people and I ran the bar with one of my bosses (Muzzy). The locals are really kind and welcoming. I've already been invited to go camping, go horseback riding, go shooting, go hunting, play rugby, to work at the local pub, to get married, and many other things. I'm really feeling comfortable and at home. I'm living in my boss Mark's house on the hill above the lodge. It's just me and him and Muzzy there. Then there is Pete up the road, Chris lives in town and there about 4 other guys that come and go. Basically it's me and a ton of middle ages men. It's awesome. I'm the princess and also one of the guys. It's a great balance and it means that I get worked hard but if I'm feeling lazy I can totally wiggle out of working. Haha. Alright. I need sleep. I've got a bit of a cold and for some reason I insist on staying up late to write these blogs. But, my lovelies, I want to keep you posted. It means a lot to share my adventures with you. I hope you enjoy reading about them.
That's all for tea and talk tonight.
Julia

Road Trippin'

Alrighty. So on Friday the 3rd Remco, Jenny, and Nils scooped me up from Leigh around 3pm and we all embarked on our extremely too brief tour of the Bay of Islands. We took the scenic route up the east coast of the Northland. The views the entire way were absolutely fantastic. There were forests so dense and thick you could only see trees for miles. There were lush, green, blanket-like pastures with ridges worn into them by the sheep and cows that have been grazing there for years. There were grand expanses of blue sea from peripheral to peripheral. And there was every combination inbetween. While I did get a touch of car sickness, it was easily calmed by rolling down the window, breathing the clean air, and reveling in the beauty around me.
We had booked a hostel in Paihia (Pie-he-a) and were shooting to arrive there around 9pm. The drive is something like 3 hours but we took more like 6. First we stopped at a Dutch food store (Remco is Dutch and really jumped out of the car while it was still moving to get to that Dutch store, Nils is Belgian so he was also excited to check it out, Jenny is German so she was indifferent, and I was car sick and loving the chance to get out of the vehicle). The boys bought some snacks there and I got to taste authentic Dutch peppernuts (ours are better), and Speculaas (something like a ginger bread cookie). Then we were back in the car and off to Whangarei (Fang-gar-ae). Whangarei Falls were what we were shooting to visit in Whangarei but we really had no idea where they were. So like good little tourists, we went to the I-site (tourist booth) to get directions. We arrived at Whangarei around 5 and fortunately/unfortunately, there was a 24 hour tourist interactive map and sights guide at the I-site. However, said touchscreen wonder was locked behind the glass doors of the I-site which had been closed for the evening (see facebook for image). Kiwi's are such jokers. We figure that there was a security camera stategically placed so that the workers could sit around and watch footage of tourists staring bewildered at the 24 hour tourism guide that was just out of reach. Fortunately, there was a map also taped to the glass door on which the falls were clearly marked. Thus, after a good laugh, a short bathroom break (at toilets that were advertised as open 24/7 and actually were open 24/7), and a mild stretch, we were off. The falls were highly over-rated. They weren't very tall and there wasn't much falling water. However, they were still quite beautiful and because they were on the smaller side we were able to climb the rocks around them until we were basically underneath. Jenny and I ventured out first and made it quite far, but because we were wearing flip-flops (aka jandels) we stopped once it started getting to slippery.
After the falls, we were back on the road and straight off to Paihia. We found our hostel with very little trouble, threw our stuff into our room, and got directions to the golf course so that we could go star gazing. Remco, Jenny, and Nils grabbed some drinks (of the alcoholic persuasion) and I drove. Of course, I took directions for my tipsy co-pilot Nils and we ended up going the completely wrong way. There was no golf course in sight but we did find a campground that advertised having a beach. So in we went, around 11pm, to star gaze at a campgrounds beach. We parked, wandered, couldn't find the beach, and were just hopping into the car to drive back when the manager of the campground came out and hasselled us about being on his property and "acting suspicious". He told us that he had taken down our licence plate number, demanded that I tell him where we were staying, and asked me what my name was and where I was from before he let us go. We were all a little shocked at his mistrust and anger but we let it go and took off. About 5 minutes after that there were flashing lights in my rearview and we were getting pulled over by the cops. The officer asked us what we were doing, and then held this device in my face and asked me for my name and address. I was so confused. I figured it had to be a breathalizer but there was no mouthpeice and I wasn't sure how I was supposed to blow and talk at the same time. So after a mild twitch fest in which my head was jerking uncertainly toward and away from the device, I stated my name and was about halfway through my Canadian address when he told me that was good and that we could go. Apparently in New Zealand there are three different stages to being breathalized. First you speak into a device. If you fail that, they get you to blow into another device. If you fail that, then they take you to the cop shop to do a third test. Weird? I think yes. Anyway, we were back on the road and managed to get on the right track, to the golf course, star gaze, and get back to the hostel with no further issue. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with hostel peoples and sleeping.
In the morning, we got up around 8:30, took a dip in the pool and decided that the weather was officially crappy. It was really cloudy, not raining but definitely looking threatening, and it wasn't overly warm. Thus we postponed our plans to go kayaking and opted for some hiking instead. We took the ferry over to Russel and climbed up Flagstaff hill, another (lame) hill, and another breathtaking hill (of unknown name). It was still really cloudy but I was still quite impressed. The cloudy/fog tinted everything is a misty blue and the layers to the horizon became so delicately clear. Everywhere we looked it was lush green foliage, dark blue sea, and etheral blue horizon. After hiking, we crashed on the beach and had a bag lunch complete with this delicious spread of roasted kumara and pumpkin. Kumara is a New Zealand vegetable that is similar to a sweet potato. Oh, after climbing the first two hills we went exploring in the town of Russel. We checked out some of the local shops, got some information from the I-site, and took a gander at the oldest church in New Zealand. It was built roughly 150 years ago and is surrounded by a cemetery that is equally old. The church has quite the history as it was involved in a couple gun fights and skirmishes throughout New Zealands history. Feel free to google it for more details. Right, so back to the chronology. We had lunch on the beach near the third hill, and then went back into Russel to decide what to do next. The weather was still bad and we decided there would be no kayaking that day. In the end, we went swimming at Long Beach. It was quite chilly at the beginning but the waves were great, and the sun did break through, so it was really fun. We played volleyball and soccer on the beach which was fun, but ended being quite costly for me. During a set, my ring flew off my finger and was never seen again. The sea (or some lucky little kid) is now $80 richer. You're welcome. Haha. (Don't worry mom, I still have the ring with the saphires, I lost the plain silver thumb ring).
So with the beach done, we did a brief walk on a marshland boardwalk and then we attempted to skidaddle back to Paihia via the ferry. While sitting in line at the Ferry, I realized that my wallet which held the return ticket was no longer in my bag. We drove back into Russel and scouted the bathrooms, the I-site, and were then directed to The police officers house (yes, I do believe there was only one of them in the entire town). I found the police officer drinking and having a BBQ in his backyard. It was pretty funny, cause I walked into the back and everyone stopped to stare at me. I said "Is this the police station?" and this one guy stepped out and said "You lost your wallet". I was like PHEW! It turns out the guy who found my wallet was also at the BBQ so I got to thank him personally. After excessive thanking, we were legitimately off back to Paihia. The return was uneventful and we spent the rest of the night just chilling at the hostel. I went for a brief run (about an hour) and everyone else BBQed.
On Sunday morning the weather was glorious and we booked a half day kayaking tour of the Bay of Islands. We went out to a couple of islands and a couple of beaches. The tour supplied us with homemade scones that were absolutely fantastic. The toured part of our kayak adventure was about 4 hours long and then we adventured on our own for about 3 more hours. We kayaked through mongrove forests and to the Haruku Falls (even less impressive than the Whangarei Falls). We picniced briefly by the falls and then paddled back to the kayak shop. Then it was time to bust out of Paihia.
On the way back we stopped at Ngahwa Springs and Kawakawa. Ngahwa Springs are a natural hot springs that are chalkful of minerals and reek of sulpher. We paid $4.00 entrance to the super ghetto looking springs and were able to test out roughly 20 different pools. The temperatures ranged from about 15 degree to 51 degrees. We spent most of our time in the a pool that was about 45 degrees. That was perfect. It was freaking hot, but didn't burn like the 51 degree pool did. I couldn't even keep my feet in that pool for more that 10 seconds. Think about it team. That's halfway to boiling. Youch! We exited those pools feeling refreshed, extremely hot, and stinking like there was no tomorrow. It's Tuesday as I'm writing this and I still stink like sulpher. Jenny is sitting near me and while I can no longer smell her from across the room, she assures me that the smell is still clinging to her skin as well.
From Ngahwa Springs we went on to Kawakawa to check out the "world famous toilets" designed by German dude Hundertwasser. They were pretty cool. Very unique and unusual decor for toilets. I can see why the quotation marks are applied to the "world famous" bit though. While the dude that made them is pretty famous, and the site itself is well known in New Zealand, it really wasn't that big of a deal. None-the-less I can now say I've used a famous toilet. Haha.
Right. This is getting long... Shmeh.
We basically just drove straight home to Auckland after that. We did stop for gas and had an epic dance party at the pumps as we squeegeed the windows of the car. But other than that, it was just a dark drive back.
Yesterday was uneventful, played some pool, went for a run, went for a walk, went to bed. Now I'm chilling in the hostel trying to get a hold of my new boss. I suspect he's on the plane back from Bali or where ever he was vacationing. I'm planning on snagging a bus to Hamilton very shortly and checking that out as I head down to Rangitikei to the lodge.
Tha tha that's all folks!
Snuggles and cuddles to you all,
Julia

Boom Baby!

BBBBbbbbbbbOOOOOOooooooMMMMMmmmmmmBBBBBBBbbbbbb Baby!

I got a job at Rathmoy Fish and Pheasant Lodge. http://www.rathmoy.co.nz/modules/content/content.php?content.19 Check it out! NOW!

So?! How jealous are you? I'm so utterly and completely stoked that it's not even funny. I have no idea what I'll be doing up there but it sounds much like Delta stuffs. Just chilling with guests and doing a bunch of Christmas parties. Well, and fly fishing, pheasant hunting, white water rafting, ATVing, etc. Rock on oh rockers. Score one for Julia. Can you tell I'm excited? Well I am. Very much so.

Right! So. The bathroom. I am now a champion of cutting tiles. I have learned to miter cut and how to place tiles and waterproof and everything. I have also learned to rock earmuffs. They are orange and huge and glorious. Ya, I spent all morning doing that and cleaning Mikaela's so that my lovely replacement could come. Get this, team. She is from Speedy Creek (aka Swift Current). Ya that's right. Saskatchewan meets Saskatchewan in New Zealand. Bam. One world collides in another world. She seems really sweet. I'm happy that my boss has someone awesome to help out when I ditch out this weekend.

Alright, this weekend! I am going up to the Bay of Islands with Remco and others (we are recruiting at the moment). We are going to to Paihia. There is a three part tour I hope to take where we can 1) Swim with the dolphins, 2) Sail (Kayak) the Bay of Islands for a day, 3) Tour 90 Mile Beach. I'm really excited about that too. It will be my first real road trip since I've arrived. Fun times ahead my friends.

Ok. Sweet thing that also happened tonight (tonight actually). I went to a Haka Kapa. Which to be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it was. It was like a Pow Wow kinda thing but New Zealand Maori style. It incorporated the Poi Poi (a dexterity building tool and something of a musical/rhythmic instrument), traditional dance, and warrior culture. It was performed by the Leight Preschool kids, the Pakiri school kids, and the Leigh elementary school kids. The two kids I'm helping look after were both performing with the elementary school group (Grade 1 til Grade 6). They did really well and were super cute. It was absolutely incredible to see these white kids, predominantly all white kids, performing the culture of the indigenous peoples. Can you imagine the entire school in Rosthern or Evan Hardy or whatever (all white kids) performing a traditional Pow Pow with pride and enthusiasm? It was mind boggling. I really hope that one day Canada can embrace Native culture like New Zealand has.

Anyway team supreme. I am distracted by my new found Saskatchewanian.

I <3 all of you (Mom <3 is an typed version of a heart. Turn your head side ways. There you go.)
Julia

ps. I love it here. Start thinking of ways to convince me to come back, cause you are going to need some serious fire power.

I'm a woman. I can drive. On both sides of the road.

Driving on the left hand side of the road, for a left supremist like myself, is fantastic! I got my first chance the other night after a lovely supper at my boss' friend's house. It was dark. It was a gravel road. I nailed it! Score one for female drivers everywhere. Ladies, if you are counting, we are now nearing positive numbers. I do what I can for our fragile sex.

I have also had multiple opportunities to swim in the fantastically salt ocean. I still can't get over how salty it is. Today I went snorking at Goat Island Marine Reserve. The reserve is about a 30 minute walk from my house and is uphill as much as possible. Regardless, it's a walk I thoroughly enjoy. While snorking, I saw Snappers, fishes of unknown names, and a ton of jellyfish. I petted 4 jellyfish (well I touched 4 and had a massive panic attack each time) and had the opportunity to touch many more. However, I was totally not sure if they were poisonous, ouchy, or just generally nontouchable so I avoided them as much as physically possible. Which! It turns out, is difficult to do when the tide is going out and they all end up at the waters edge. In the end, I found out that that particular kind of jelly fish is quite harmless and my panic was completely... stupid.

Other than relaxing, swimming, and tanning, I am still working on renovating the bathroom. We were waiting for the plumber to show up and change the piping (pipeing?, who knows, who cares) but he got sick so we decided to do it ourselves. Thus far we are two woman conquering a bathroom with little to no problems. I must say, it's freaking awesome. I've sanded, cut, replaced, filled, hacked, and just about every other carpentry and plumber related adverb out there. It's really coming along and I'm having a ton of fun. I think a career change maybe be in order. I'm thinking I'll be a travelling plumber and just go around the world fixing stuff and swimming and tanning and fixing more stuff. Yes? Yes!

Hmmmmmmmmmm, well that was a ridiculously short update... but I think it covers the basics. Good driver, great swimmer, rockin' tan getter, superb plumber, and killer traveller. Adjectives away!

Continue in my shoes women of the world.
Julia

Supercalifragulisticexpealadosous

I love the ocean. I have decided that I cannot live without water around me.

Today I went on a beautiful cliff walk with the lady I'm staying with and her neighbour. The hike took us about 30 minutes and completely took my breath away. Part of the windedness came from running 100 stairs 3 times (600 stairs total), and the other part can from the fact that there are just so many hills in this country. It was absolutely worth it though. The views were amazing, and I haven't had anything resembling a work out in way too long. It's really quite disconcerting. I should get on that.

After our beautiful walk/run/stairs experience, I came back to the house and put together 4 window screens to keep buggies out at night. Unfortunately, these things are incredibly frustrating and annoying and stupid and... and... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But! I managed to do it. My fingers still hurt from pushing pieces together. I guess when the Asian manufacturers designed and made these DIY (do it yourself) window screens they didn't account for the fact that the screen, which goes inbetween the plastic cover and the magnetic strip, takes up space and made the plastic cover and magnetic strip fit perfectly together. Thus, I spent 4 insane hours jamming pieces together that were not designed to be jammed. Can I get an ouch ouch? Ouch! Ouch!

As a reward for completing the window covers, and to finish my hours for the day, I went with the daughter on a nature hike. She is such a cutie. She taught me about rocks and plants. She informed me on how the rivers change and the tides flow. She showed me all her secret spots. And more importantly, informed me that Supercalifragulisticexpealadosous is harder to spell than Mississippi. Good to know!

The rest of my day was spent vegging out, munching on these granola bar square type things, watching project runaway and chilling with the daughter whilst watching 101 Dalmations. It was a good day.

I'm about to finalize the plans for my next job (which I'm being warned sounds a bit like a rip off. But might as well give it a go. It could be fun). I should be heading back to Auckland area between Sunday and Wednesday. I'll keep all you cool cats posted cause I know you are all waiting breathlessly to find out what happens next. Haha.

Much love and work on your spelling.
Julia

Blog-ity blog blog

HELLO!

ROAR!

Bet you are surprised to hear from me. It's been a while.

Well my lovelies, I haven't been up to too much. Auckland was rainy for a couple days and I was nursing an ouchie foot/leg and sunburn so I stayed inside for a day or two. When I did get out, it was just to wander with some friends from the hostel and their other random friends. Generally I've been out walking for at least 7 hours a day and doing a random activity as well. For instance, I played 36 holes of mini golf against Richard and Jolan (a Swiss guy who showed up at the hostel a couple days ago). On the first 18 holes I totally kicked butt and placed 2nd of 3 by only 1 point. Richard  took the win (and good thing too cause he's a self-proclaimed "sore loser" and I got a hint of his wrath when I drained a couple hole in ones haha). Hmmmmmmmm, other than that it's been a slow couple days. I went to an outdoor fair called the Greylyn Festival with lots of live music, and shops and stuff. Then I hit a couple house parties and the bar. Thankfully my friends from the hostel aren't really big drinkers so we just ran around and had basically sober fun. I also met a super sweet guy from Canada named Joe. Classic! Oh! Did I tell you I went swimming in the ocean? That was cool...

Ok! So let's talk about now since I can't remember the past. I've got a job in Leigh (see pics) doing a bathroom renovation and whatever else my lovely host asks me too do. I came up here yesterday. Remco was kind enough to drive me the hour long ish journey though we made it into a day trip. We stopped at a couple beaches and regional parks. It was absolutely beautiful. We climbed a mountain like thinger, more like a beach cliff. Gosh. We just wandered so many beaches and such an insane amount of beautiful countryside. It's really too much for words.

Today I got up and had breakfast and started sanding down the walls in the bathroom. The old whatever had been torn off the walls and all that remained was rough plaster and this brown oozey looking stuff. It took me about and hour and a half to get it in tip top shape. As I was cleaning up, Cath (the lady I'm staying with) came running in looking a touch frantic and yelled at me to come quickly there were dolphins at the beach! We jumped in the car, drove 4 blocks, and got out to see about 20 dolphins in the bay. They were swimming within 20 feet of the beach. It was absolutely incredible. I waded in a bit and they continued to swim close to the beach. Two swam by me about 10 feet away. There were two ladies swimming when the dolphins first came in and they were so close that I swear they could touch them. I was so jealous. Cath took a ton of pictures of the whole thing but as we were leaving she realized that there was no memory card in the camera so there's no record of the whole thing (other than in my head). Which I suppose is record enough. When we got back to the house, we had lunch and then tore out the bathtub. That was pretty cool. Just me and this wicked awesome lady I met less than 24 hours ago taking a crow bar to a bar tub. Fun times for sure! After that I filled some wholes in the wall, vacuumed up all the mouse droppings from where the tub had been and blitzed down to the beach to shower in the ocean! The water is WAY saltier than I ever expected and I love it. I did some tanning at the beach too and then after drying in the sun I went on a 5km walk to Goat Island Marine Reserve (it's a regional park type thing with a gorgeous beach and kayaking! I'm hoping I can kayak with some hostel friends this weekend). The walk down to Goat Island was incredible. The sun was literally streaming from the sky (see pics for reference) and everything was so vibrant looking. I finally rolled back into town around 7, had dinner, watched tv, put up pics on FB and wrote this blog. I suspect tomorrow with be very similar to today. Hopefully it will anyway.

I would like to close this blog with a 10 Things I Know About New Zealand list
1. Every outlet has an on/off switch
2. The colours here are so ridiculously bold it makes your head spin
3. The sun is completely here different than in Canada
4. Kiwi's are the nicest people!
5. My hostel (K Road City Travellers in Auckland) was the best hostel in the Auckland area
6. Beaches are everywhere and are definitely not created equal
7. There are way too many hills in this country (Love it!)
8. The dolphins are as friendly as the people
9. The roads are a billion times better than the ones in Saskatchewan
10. New Zealand rocks my socks

The End and Goodnight.
Julia

Tumbler on the Rumbler

Ahoy Me-Harties,

This here is your Captian Julia, responsible for all things fun and foreign.
We'll be starting this brief voyage through the events of yesterday by outlining the main activities of the day.
1. Wake-up
2. Check out the firemen
3. Get on a ferry
4. Climb a volcano
5. Fall down a volcano
6. Attack a volcano
7. Get on a ferry
8. Go to a movie
For the first part of our voyage not much else needs to said. Basically I woke up, tossed and turned, and eventually gave in to the sun streaming in my window and went for breakfast.
Part 2 is a touch more eventful. Whilst making aforementioned breakfast, I discovered that the toaster was not working and journeyed forth towards another toaster. While on my tedious journey of one flight of stairs, the firealarm went off. It turns out that someone else had discovered the upstairs toaster wasn't functioning and had used the toaster oven downstairs (like I intended) to make their toast. However, they weren't quite on top of their game and all that was left of their toast was a notable pile of ashes and a ton of smoke. It took the fireteam about half an hour to arrive (all of which time the alarm was screaming away. It made for a tranquil morning.). When they did arrive, they couldn't find the entrance to the building. Luckly I had gone downstairs to see if any of them were cute (they were all in their late 30's or so. nuff said. lol) so I was there to point them in the right direction.
Part three is as unevenful as part one. I went with Stephano down to the marina and we snagged some tickets to Rangitoto, a 600 year volcano just 25 minutes ferry ride from Auckland. We got on said ferry and rode to Rangitoto uneventfully.
Naturally, part four takes part once on the volcanic island. There were a bunch of trails throughout the island but we decided to head "straight to zee top ya, straight to zee top". The scenery was absolutely gorgeous which made the steep and slippery hike to the top much more enjoyable. The paths were all under construction and basically consisted of extremely loose volcanic styled gravel. Additionally, I being the genius that I am forgot to wear proper shoes and was treking in flip-flops. We made it to the top uneventfully though a touch tired. The view from the top of the volcano was absolutely incredible. Rangitoto hasn't erupted since its first eruption 600 years ago and is covered in dense forest. The island is surrounded by some of the bluest and greenest water I have ever seen and that water is dotted with islands and eventually framed by NZ and the city of Auckland.
Part four begins about a quarter of the way down Rangitoto when I stepped, slid, fell, skidded, and came to rest solidly on my right leg. It basically ends there too. Stephano did turn around and yell "Stay there! I want a picture!" But that's really about it. I picked myself up, poured some water on my bleeding leg and continued on my merry way. We made it another 2 quarters of the way down when we realized that the trail we were looking for was actually about 10 from where I fell but due to general concern about me taking another tumble neither of us had noticed. We promptly turned around, treked back up, found our turn for the Lava Caves and were on our way again.
The lave caves were really cool and would have been a lot better had we been more prepared. You were able to climb through narrow passageway and larger tunnels that had formed when the lava settled after the eruption. These tunnels were quite long and really you need a flashlight in order to really explore. You also need proper footwear. Therefore we explored for a while and then turned around to head back to the ferry dock.
I suppose it was at this time that I decided to assault the volcano using my little toe on my right foot. Hence part 6 begins and ends in one swift strike. The volcano won. Well played Rangitoto, well played. Now I'm missing the tip of my toe. Well I guess it's still there, but barely. A lot of blood, however, is definitely no longer in that toe and has been claimed by the volcano. What it's gonna do with it, I have no idea -- but to the victor go the spoils. Thankfully we happened up a couple British ladies pretty quickly and they hooked me up with a bandaid and made my descent to the ferry much less slippery (apparently my flip flop thought that it had earned some of the spoils as well and was collecting as much blood as it could). We arrived at the bottom of the volcano about 45 minutes later without futher incident. Huzza!
Part seven. Got on the ferry and went back to Auckland.
After returning to the hostel, sitting around for a while, eventually cleaning my wounds, and eating a brief supper, Richard, Remco and I went to see RED for cheap night Tuesday (apparently they have that here too). It was a great movie. Highly recommend it. It was random, the use of ammunition and force was gloriously excessive and cast was exceptional.

That's about the end of our voyage through yesterday. Maybe yesterday's yesterday depending on the time differences and when you read this.

As for upcoming adventures today I plan on nursing the wicked sunburn and other ouchies I got climbing Rangitoto and preparing to go work tomorrow. I found a week long (longer if I want) odd jobs/maintainance/gardening job just north of Auckland in a little town right on the coast. I'll be working for room and board and hopefully hitting the beach everyday (it's a 5 minute walk from the house I'll be at). I'm working the details out today and will have more info soon I hope.

Much love from the Tumbler on the Rumbler.
Julia

Catch me up if you can...

I missed a couple days... Ummmmmmm oops. Haha.

Two Days Ago
I got lost. A couple times. Haha. Well not really lost but confused and in need of a map. Originally I wanted to go shopping but I couldn't find the bus shuttle to the big mall. I asked about 3 different people where to catch the bus and they all told different places so I just went home. Later when I got the guts to leave the hostel I attempted to make my way to the Auckland War Museum. After a brief (30 minute) unintentional detour I found my way to the museum. However it was too late to go through so I watched some cricket, suntanned, checked out a duck pond and some pretty flowers. In all it was a great day of wandering and relaxing and just enjoying the sun.

Yesterday
Boom. I saw stuff. Tourist Julia was in full motion. I met a guy named Stephano from Italy and the two of us adventured for the whole day. First we went to the Auckland War Museum. It's an extremely impressive building. (See facebook for pictures) We watched a Maori cultural performance. The show was incredibly informative, entertaining, and loud. There were roughly 4 women and 4 men who performed. They did weapons and fighting demonstrations, game demostrations, and a bunch of songs. I'll potentially upload some movies of the performance that I took (no promises though). Stephano and I wandered through the museum. There were three levels to the museum and we averaged about an hour and a half per floor. There were exhibits on the Maori culture, the history of the pacific, wars, and land and sea creatures (amoungst many other things). In total we walked about that museum for 5 hours. Then we walked downtown and saw an outdoor display of aerial photography. There were pictures from all the regions of the world (only 2 or 3 from Canada, apparently we don't have anything cool to look at). The photographer is from France and it was quite interesting to see how he chose to portray other countries, but even more interesting to see how he portrayed his own. There were 2 picutres from France, one was of a junk yard full of semi crushed cars and the other was of a nuclear power plant. Two of the most disgusting sites for his own country. Canada was portrayed fairly well though seriously under-represented. We then went to the Sky Tower and got a birds eye view of the city. It's absolutely massive. Even from such a great height we couldn't see the edge. We were able to find the area our hostel is in though. That was pretty cool. The view of our hostel was blocked by some taller building so we weren't able to see that actual building. After the Sky Tower I convinced Stephano to go buy groceries with me even though we both just wanted to go home and lay down. I think buy that point we have been walking for 7.5 hours straight. We were both so tired that we just grab some food at Countdown (their version of a superstore kinda thing) and then some Domino's Pizza and went home. In total we walked at least 9 hours straight. Oh, also that night I stayed at the YMCA Hostel because I had been to slow to book a room at K'road and they filled up. The YMCA was nice. I wasn't there much. I had a dorm for 4 people but there was just me and an asian girl there. Now I'm back at K'road again for the next couple nights and then I'm off to work.

Today
I checked back into K'road while it rained outside. Stephano and I had planned to go to Rangitoto Island to hike up a volano but decided against it because of the rain. I ended up just hanging out in the common area and showing my friends Laura and Adil the Impossible Quiz (from AddictingGames.com, remember that game... so addicting). They had never seen it before and it killed a solid 4 hours for us. Haha. By the time noon rolled around it was beautiful and sunny and dry outside so Laura and Stephano and I went for a walk through the Auckland Domain (the park where the museum is) and suntanned (I'm a touch burned... :(... ). When it was raining we had thought that we would go bowling in the afternoon but because of the sun we decided to stay outdoors. We ended up in the park as a second choice to the beach (we changed our plans to go to the beach because by the time we thought about it the bus had just left and wasn't going to come back for another hour so it was no longer feasible). When we got back from the park (around 6) Remco had made an appearance and offered to take me and Laura to the beach in his car. I was pretty stoked cause that meant that I was going to get to swim in the ocean. Can I get a "whoop whoop"? We got underway and they foolishly put me in charge of the map. We miss our beach. But! We ended up at another one and got to "swim" in the ocean. The entire swimming area so ridiculously shallow never even reaching my waist but we still had alot of fun. When we got out the sun had gone done, we didn't have any towels or changes of clothes, so we sat freezing on the beach eating chips til we were frozen dry haha and then went home. All in all it was a great time. The ocean is far saltier than I ever expected. I'm still to innocent and uniformed, but I think I'm getting smart... hopefully... haha. I spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hostel talking about movies, serial killers, Canada, The Exorcist, and Hitler. Twas interesting to say the least.

Anywho's. That's been the last couple of days. Tomorrow Stephano and I are going to Rangitoto (hopefully its sunny, I don't want to climb a volcano in the rain). I'll keep you all posted.

Hugs and Punches.
Julia

ps. sorry about any grammar or spelling or whatever mistakes, it's late and I'm tired. Please excuse my failings.

Auckland

Today was my second official day in Auckland but the first day that I really got to see anything. My day started around 8:30 in the morning when I woke up refreshed and raring to go. No jet lag baby. All I do is win. Lol. After checking my email and seeing that my mommy had sent me multiple messages in response to my visa panic assuring me that I would be fine, I wandered out for the free breakfast that I forgot my hostel supplies. It was actually a pretty decent spread. There was cereal, three types of bread, peanut butter, jam, "spread" (not sure what it is exactly), eggs, ham, juice and milk. There was also free tea and coffee (available 24/7). I ate my 2 pieces of toast on the roof patio and enjoyed the 19 degree weather and sun. I then returned to my room and did some research for the day. I checked out banks (finally going with Bank of New Zealand), phone providers (2degrees seems to be the way to go), and a basic map of downtown Auckland.

When I finally ventured forth into the great city, it was about 10am. I promptly started wandering aimlessly figuring that I would find a bank and a phone provider shop at some point during the day. The first and possibly most impressive sight I came upon was an old cemetery/park about 2 blocks from my hostel. It was really quite beautiful in a tragic and uplifting way. The park is huge and covered in old monuments, tombstones, and gigantic trees. Upon exiting the park, I started walking down Symond Street in the hopes that I would eventually end up somewhere. I was lead right by the University of Auckland (an absolutely gorgeous campus covered in trees and old buildings). I think I'll go and explore it a little more tomorrow. Eventually I ended up in Albert Park, another huge park. However, this park was filled with plants and flowers instead of tombstones. After getting a touch turned around, I happened upon the Auckland Art Gallery who as luck would have it, was having a free day. There were quite a few pieces that caught my eye but the most notable was a clothes line with different articles of womens clothing hung on it. The clothing had all be dipped in something (I want to say tar cause that's what it looked like but it definitely wasn't). In anycase the clothing hung as though blowing in the wind but completely still. The whole thing was suspended so that you could walk under and look up into the pairs of underwear and the dresses that hung above. Very intriguing piece. Then, after getting turned around some more and thoroughly embarassing myself by accidently re-entering the same gallery without knowing and confusedly asking the guy at the reception desk if I had all ready been there (epic flail), I headed out and meandered through downtown. Downtown Auckland was busy and beautiful. There were anymore trees but all the shops were different, and a lot of the buildings had old style architecture that I love. Eventually I found my way to the harbour and enjoyed the gorgeous view across to some islands (I should really google to find out which ones I was looking at. Mental note #1). I continued to wander downtown and made it back to the hostel with no trouble at all. I was (and am) quite proud of myself for not getting lost. I'm terrible with directions and I really only referred to my map once. Booya! By the time I got back to my hostel it was about 5 in the evening and I was starving. I ran out to the local asian supermarket that is right beside my hostel and got a huge super for less than $5. I then spent the evening chatting with my hostelmates (one of which is a ridiculously cute boy from Holland. Score!). They have all been extremely helpful in giving me ideas of where to go, things to see (or not to see), and giving me tips about how to travel effectively. I hope to keep in touch with them and possible plan a day outing or two with the cute Dutch boy who just bought a car and a couple of the other peeps. We shall see what happens. I also started applying for jobs today. There are a couple nanny positions around the Auckland area and one on Waiheke Island that I would be very happy with. There was also an odd jobs position just outside of Auckland super close to a beach and a national parkish grounds. It sounds pretty decent. I'm hoping to hear from someone soon. For now though, I'm calling it a night.
Much love to all of you.
Julia

Ta Da!

Safe and Sound yo! I am currently sitting in my lovely hostel which was surprisingly easy to find and type this letter of update and joyification. I made it through to Fiji with absolutely no serious problems (couple minor inconveniences) and even managed to see the town for a couple hours. Walking out of that airplane into 22 degree weather at 5am is a glorious feeling. Yes that's right, I exited the plane into open air hallways and it was ridic hot for 5am. Love it! Then I got my baggage dealt with and hire this wonderful, awesome taxi driver to driver me around for 3 hours for roughly $20 Canadian. He took me to a beach, to Nadi (large town/small city near the airport), to the local produce market and a craft fair. It was incredible. I did a traditionaly Kava ceremony with one of the shop keepers. In it he blessed me, my trip, my family and friends, himself and his shop. It was really quite interesting. Apparently Kava is crushed root of some pepper that cures 2 types of cancer and makes your tongue tingly. (Not gonna lie, for a second when my tongue first started tingling I thought I had been roofied.) I think it might be something a little more illicit though be the face of my random chat buddy from Montana. I shall have to google it.

Anyways! Got on the plane to Auckland after seeing Fijian sights and 3 short hours later I was in Auckland standing extremely nervously in front of the sercurity customs dude. He let me in no problem, didn't ask any questions. That was a major relief. Then I caught the shuttle to a couple blocks from my hostel and here I sit. I am extremely greasy and stinky. Apparently travelling for 37 hours straight will make you pretty gross.

Check out facebook for Fiji pics. NZ ones to follow (probably starting tomorrow).

Love you everyone!

Julia

Here's to adventure in all its forms.

OK! So. Worst/Most frightening/Stressful day of my life. Getting from Toronto to LA was a breeze, but the getting on a plane from LA to Fiji and NZ was/is a nightmare. I went to check in and the lady told me that I needed to have purchased a return ticket. When I told her she was misinformed and that I had a Visa stating I didn't need a return ticket she told me I was wrong and that I better hurry up and buy a return ticket or I wouldn't be boarding the plane. So 2 stressful hours later of trying to find internet, trying to find power sources and trying to find printing I had purchased a ticket (for the wrong dates) and printed my confirmation off. (Thank goodness for paying my credit card bill off a couple days ago or I would have been screwed mot royally.) Finally, I was allowed my boarding pass and sent through customs. When I finally caught my breath, I pulled out my visa to confirm that I did not in fact need an return ticket and low-and-behold "Outward Passage Waived". Score one for Julia after giving in and spending way too much money on a ticket I'm going to have to change and on internet access and printing I didn't even need. Not to mention that if customs in NZ finds out my newly purchased ticket I might actually get in trouble. Huzza. Score one for the evil gods of travel. Then as I'm re-reading my Visa I realize that I don't have Proof of Funds. No big worry, I knew I didn't have it. My bank told me that there was no such form and not to worry about. However, now I was/is in a paranoid state so I ran about like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find a printing area in the secure area to print of my online bank account statement in the hopes that it would save me from deportation. Fingers crossed it does, cause I did manage to get out of security, print the sucker off, pay way too much, and get back through security in time to sit down and write this whilst waiting for my plane.

I should not be allowed to travel.

So my friends and family. Here I sit, a very stressed and worried Julia, thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong and hoping that none of them do. It's going to be an extremely long day (actually I have no idea how long this is going to last before I can rest easy) but I know that with the prayers of my fam, myself, and maybe some friends who love me, I can get through this without being deported, jailed or generally screwed.

Here's to adventure in all its forms. Wish me well.

Julia

The wheels on the car go round and round...

Well team-o supreme-o nothing much happened today in the way of visiting museums, crashing Parliment, or any other such nonsense. Really not even much out-of-the-car-ness happened today. The weather was lookin' rather dismal and I was feelin' rather lazy, so Chris and I just drove around Ottawa and area for a solid 5 or so hours. We stopped briefly at a mall (and there was much rejoicing throughout the land) and stopped briefly to watch a freighter sail/ship/float/technical language down the river. Other than that, it was time well spent with the Man of Steele himself, in his super cool car with New Brunswich plates. Tomorrow I head out to visit my Grand-parents (for they are ever so grand <3) in Windsor area. I probably won't have much for internet in the next couple days so the updates will be few and far between. Then again, I will just be chillin with the fam and there shouldn't be much more to update than that. So mon ami(e) consider yourselves updated.

A special and supremely thankful shout out to Gary and Arlene for housing me in my time of need. You were truly a blessing and it was great to reconnect with you. May God continue to bless you and may you continue to do his work so wonderfully.

Your trundling and loving friend,
Julia

Day 2 ish...

Well peoples, I am uber le tired tonight. It was another big day so I'm just going to write a brief little note.

Today Arlene took me back downtown and we attempted to get a tour of Parliment but the lines were too long so we gave up. We walked around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and it again reminded me what a great country we have and how many people have given time, money, and even there lives without others understanding their full sacrifice. We also did a more thorough look around in the ByWard Market. I could spend some serious cash there, but thankfully my will power was strong enough and I made it out unscathed. We visited the Canadian Mint, but due to my cheapness and a lack of time we didn't do the full tour. I did however get to hold a 24K gold bar weighing roughly 28 pound. The security guard told me that it was worth about half a million. I wanted to take it home with me as a souvenir but as it was chained to a concrete pedestal and there was a military dude standing right beside me it didn't quite work out.

Around 2 I met up with Chris again and we drove down to see the Prime Minister's house. We almost missed it haha. Thankfully, there was a strong RCMP presence and we were tipped off just in time. We then took in the Canadian War Museum. It is so hard not to be patriotic when surrounded by stories of Canada's contributions in WWI and WWII amongst many other wars, battles, and peace keeping missions. While touring the museum we had the pleasure of talking to a gentleman who served during the Cold War. He volunteers at the museum and wanders around telling people about what he has experienced. I felt so honoured to have someone who put their life on the line for me want to talk to me and ask me questions about my life. After the war museum, we went to the Museum of Civilization. It was a very cool museum with an entire floor that had replica houses, shops, schools, etc from significant periods in Canada's history and from major regions in Canada. It was much like the Western Development Museum but on a much greater scale. Inside of the Museum of Civilization there was a small subsection dedicated to the history of the postal service. It was also very intriguing. The most eye watching area was a room in which stamps from way back through to today were displayed.

The weather was significantly less pleasant today but overall it was a great day. Again, I have learned a lot, seen a lot, and even had some time to just enjoy nature.

Much love and sweet dreams,
Julia

And so it begins...

Well friends, family, and all other lovely peoples who by chance are reading this, my trip has begun.

This is my first blog ever and I've got to be honest -- it's a little weird. I'm really wondering if people care enough to read this, but I guess this is just as much for me (maybe more) as it is for others. So here we go.

On October 24th, I said goodbye to everyone at Oshea's in Saskatoon. Those of you who came out, you have no idea how much that meant to me. It was great to see each of you and to chat, if only for a short time.

Then on October 26th, I flew out of Saskatoon and embarked on my New Zealand Trip 2010. I was sent off by my parents and a far-too-dry-eyed David Guenther (I mean seriously, you didn't even tear up. Jeepers). My plane was delayed by about an hour, but thankfully I had the ever charming Bardy Banes to chat with. We finally got to boarding, and as I gave my legs one last stretch I noticed that my superbly dedicated parents were still waiting to see that my plane got off safely. (I love you guys so much and it was really touching to know that you were there to watch me disappear into the clouds.) I arrived late in Toronto, but still made my connection to Ottawa in good time (partly owing to the fact that my connection was also delayed, haha). Upon arrival in Ottawa I was very happy to be done flying for a while, but a touch concerned that Chris Steele was no where in sight. Shortly, he and his parents showed up and I was rescued from the tedium of the airport.

October 27th (today) was filled with the sights of downtown Ottawa. It is absolutely beautiful here. The weather was amazing. I wandered around all day in flip-flops and a t-shirt. The architecture of all the buildings is stunning. Saskatchewan has nothing on these buildings. Every building is made of stone and there is castle-like architecture everywhere. These buildings are, to me, the physical manifestation of the history and strength of Canada.

Chris and I wandered through the Parliment grounds, viewed the Rideau Canal, were disgusted by the U.S. Embassy's tank and nuke proof construction, briefly toured ByWard Market, watched a 3D IMAX show called "Arabia" and took in the National Gallery of Canada.

Parliment Hill was much more impressive than I expected it to be. The buildings were huge and there were diplomats and government officials everywhere. I was really struck by the fact that we had full access to the entire grounds and we allowed (though we didn't) to walk freely into all the buildings. This extensive access to the most power-filled area of Canada reminded me again how lucky I am to live in this great free country. This point was driven home even harder when I looked over my shoulder and saw the extensive security of the U.S. Embassy.

(Becky, this next part will interest you) We didn't spend much time in the National Gallery of Canada, but the time we did spend was well fantastic. We toured very briefly through the Canadian Artists wing and then moved on to the Contemporary Art wing. It was so cool to walk in and immediately see a sculpture which I studied in my art summer class. Unfortunately, I can't remember the artist or the name of the piece. It was an installment piece in which straight wires were hung from the ceiling in a rows and columns which formed a perfect cube. At any position, you could look straight through to the other side of the room and yet you could still "see" the form of a cube. I was even more excited as we moved into the next area of the contemporary wing and saw "Shapeshifter" by Brian Jungen. It was one of my favourite works from my art class, and there I was standing in front of it.
(This part is for my Delta peeps). The NGC was featuring an artist who goes by the name General Idea. I was immediately take with his works. One in particular stood out to me. I won't describe it here because I don't want to give away the surprise. So all you Delta folks should google "Perverted Poodles Playing" by General Idea. I promise you will enjoy.

Ok, it's late and I am le tired. Long story short my friends -- today was perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better start to my trip. I was reminded about the great country that I will be leaving. I was reminded about the great friends that I have left. And I am ending this day confident that this trip is going to be one of the best experiences of my life.

Love, Julia