My last post...

Hello there! I am very sad to say that the Pacific Challenge trip is officially over :( on March 14th our group split and some returned back home and some of us stayed. I was lucky enough to stay in Sydney for 3 extra days with my friend who lives in Australia. It was amazing staying with her and her family. I feel like I learned so much just in that short time. We had so much fun! On the 17th I got to meet up with my parents and my brother back in Auckland, New Zealand. They will be here for 10 days, so my trip is not quite over. I can’t wait to see you all again but its gonna be very very hard to leave. Its still so beautiful here. Since I last wrote we went scuba diving and surfing...AMAZING!!! Then we went to the Steve Erwin Zoo. It was awesome!!!! I haven’t been to the zoo in many years so I didn’t really think I would like it but to my surprise I loved it! We had so much fun and it was a beautiful day. We then drove back to Byron and spent a night there camping. Early the next morning we went cliff jumping and then back to the shops once more. That afternoon we drove to our final campsite on the coast. We hung out on a beautiful beach that night and the following morning. Unbelievable! We then took our bus for a final ride down to Manly Beach which is right across the harbor from Sydney. Because it was our final destination we stayed at luxury apartments right on the beach. I cannot even describe to you how incredible they were. I truly felt like I was in a dream. We spent our final 4 days on the beach, at shops, on Harley rides through the city, and taking the ferry to Sydney. I spent an entire day walking through the Opera house, the Harbor Bridge and all around the city. We had our final supper as a group on a pirate ship in the Sydney Harbor. It was an amazing experience! Saying goodbye was terribly hard but I am so happy I did this trip. I would do it again in a heartbeat! I have made some amazing friends and memories that I will never forget.

Well I am so excited to see you in the very near future and I hope you have a wonderful week. I will be talking to you very soon. On March 26th my family and I will be back in the states. I love you and I miss you very much! See you soon!!!!!

Love, kate

p.s. thanks for reading all the time, it makes me very happy. I can't wait to share all my pictures with you. See ya soon

I got the pictures to work!

These are from Queenstown, the Routeburn hike, and the Warrumbungles :)

I can’t believe this isn’t a dream!

Hello!!! I miss you so much! I hope all is very going well at home. I heard that a bunch more snow has come your way. Ish ;) I’m now in Australia and it’s been so hot lately you can’t spend too much time outside cause it is dry heat and you sweat just walking outside. Miserable hun?! Haha I love it! I apologize in advance cause this will be very long, but hopefully it makes up for my lack of updates lately ;) o and I can’t get pictures up, they will not upload

The last few days in New Zealand…

When we were in Wanaka, I did not get to go rock climbing because it got dark very quickly but it was a beautiful night and was still lots of fun. A girl in the group got a bit injured while climbing and they are still not sure if she tore a muscle in her shoulder or if it was more severe so she got to spend some time in the hospital and has her arm in a sling now. The following morning I woke up pretty sick and ended up spending the day in bed other than an hour trip we took to Puzzle World (extremely weird). A 24-hour flu seemed to go around the group the next couple days and most took their turn being sick. On Friday we left for our last hostel in New Zealand which was in Franz Joseph on the west coast. It rained the entire time we were there and we really didn’t do much of anything because of the weather. The group spent a great deal of time together, continuing to get closer. We had a great time. On Monday we took off for an 8 hour drive back up to Christchurch. Once again we took some pretty crazy roads and our van ended up dying mid-way up a large winding hill on the side of the mountain. Not really a good situation. Somehow we all did our part and managed to direct traffic around us, unhook the trailer, prop it up on the hill, and get the van going again. A trucking company ended up pulling our trailer up the rest of the way. It added an hour or two to our trip but it ended up working out just fine. We finally got to Christchurch and we all went out together that night. The following day was full of class and then we had a “Farewell New Zealand” party. Awhile back we decided we were going to draw names and buy crazy outfits for each other from a second-hand store. We had to wear the outfits the next day as we traveled from NZ to Australia. The outfits ranged from guys in dresses to a wetsuit and flippers. I lucked out and only had to wear a snakeskin patterned shirt and suede skirt. Good times ;) We left nice and early in the morning and headed to the airport in our wonderful apparel. The time at the airport and the flight brought quite a few stares but it was hilarious. I LOVE NEW ZEALAND!

I can’t believe I’m in Australia…

We arrived in Australia fairly late and drove straight to Blue Hearth where we stayed in a Boy Scout Den. A very interesting experience. On Thursday we got to go canyoning which I really don’t know how to explain so I’ll have to show you pictures. It was awesome! Then we went on a pretty ridiculous hike. So much fun! On our way back to the den we had our first wild kangaroo siting! A few parents of people in the group ended up joining us for dinner that night and we had a huge barbeque. Delicious!!! After breakfast Friday morning we had another long hot drive up to the Warrumbungle Mountains. Just before dusk we ended up seeing hundreds of wild kangaroos!! It was amazing. We finally got to our campsite at dark and set up our tents. It was unbelievably beautiful out that night and the sky was incredibly clear so we went out away from camp a ways and stargazed. While we were talking and laying there we heard a strange sound and one of the girls turned on her flashlight. A kangaroo was honestly 6 feet from me! We all started screaming and freaked out a bit which scared the kangaroo more than anything. We were scared out of our minds but ended up laughing about it quite a bit. It was incredible! After a long while we all finally went to sleep. The next morning we were awoken around 6 am by the most annoying birds in the world. They sounded like shrieking babies. Needless to say no one slept much past then so we went on a few hour hike where we saw many wild kangaroos, a koala far up in a tree, and some wild ostriches. Then we took off once again on the hot smelly bus. It was so incredibly hot we ended up stopping in a small town and went swimming in a wonderful pool for awhile. Then we headed to our next campsite where we spent the next day walking around town in the intense heat. That night we drove out to the Cascades where we stayed in a Field Study Center. We went whitewater rafting for just over 4 hours which was incredible! Probably one of the best water activities yet :) We had awesome guides. They made us a large barbeque when we finished and then we headed back for class. 2 days ago we hiked through the rain forest which was beautiful but was covered with leeches, ticks, spiders and snakes…not really for me. By the end of the hike I had over 30 leeches! It was so disgusting but I survived and I pulled them all off myself believe it or not. When we got back everyone was cleaning up and one of the boys found a creepy looking spider so we showed it to someone who worked there and found out it was Funnel Web Spider which he said is the deadliest spider in the world. He killed it but while we were all looking at it, it started moving again. Very disturbing. Then we got to experience Australian ‘bush tucker’ which is food that the Aboriginals ate. I got to eat emu, crocodile, many nuts and berries, and we had skippy burgers which is wallaby or miniature kangaroo. The food was all surprisingly good. Yesterday we got to Byron Bay. We are staying in little beach houses and I swam in the ocean and played tennis on grass courts today. I love it here, its paradise! We get to enjoy beach, scuba, and surf for the next couple days!!!! I can’t believe it! I’m so excited :)

My experience so far has been unbelievable!!! I love it so much! I can’t wait to see you all but it is gonna be hard coming home. It’s just so carefree and wonderful here.

I hope you have an amazing week! I love you so much and I miss you!

Until next time, Kate
xxx (those are hugs)

I love New Zealand!

Hello! It has been forever! There is so much to update you on yet again. I know I can’t include it all but here’s a brief overview of everything I could remember easily. I have so many amazing pictures but they take forever to upload so hopefully more will be coming with time. It is so amazing here!!!

Since I last wrote we have been to Mt. Cook, Queenstown, the Routeburn, and now we’re in Wanaka. It has been a crazy week! In Mt. Cook we were surrounded by beautiful mountains and the weather was quite a bit cooler than we had been used to (in the lower to mid 60s). Everyone kinda split off and did their own thing here. I did a bit of hiking and catching up on homework. We also finally got to the do a really cool glacier tour. When we left Mt. Cook we headed to Queenstown. This is by far my favorite city we have been to! It is the adventure capital of New Zealand. The first night we met up with the other Pacific Challenge group, had pizza all together, and hung out for the evening. Then we spent a full day in class to make up for all the class we had missed because our professor was unable to get here until now. On Friday the 13^th I got to Bungee Jump!!!! It was incredible! I’m not a very superstitious person but I was also #13 when I jumped ;) CRAZY! It turned out very well though. We got to watch people bungee at 3 different sites and then we took a gondola up a mountain and went luging at the top (comparable to extreme go-carting). It was awesome. The views were unbelievable! On Valentine’s Day we were woken up to omelets which were a great change from our usual breakfast and then we all split to do our own thing. Due to some complications and confusion bungee jumping at one of the sites the previous day, my friend Brittney and I managed to be in the right place at the right time and got to go on the Nevis Arc at a ridiculously cheap rate. The Nevis Arc is the largest swing in the world and you swing over a huge cannon right near one of the bungees. It was so awesome!!! Quite scary. The following day our group split in two and we were off to the Routeburn. The group I was on started with a nature cruise on the Milford Sound which is a beautiful area and is up for the running in being voting into the Natural Wonders of the World. It was unbelievable cold and rainy that day but it was still amazing. The next 3 days we hiked the Routeburn Track which is a 19.9 mile hike through the mountains. It was extremely difficult both physically and mentally but when we finished it was incredible. It brought the group a lot closer. We are all very sore and are now just taking time to catch up on everything in Wanaka. Yesterday we watched Lord of the Rings and got to see a ton of the places we have been, very cool. Today I jumped off of a 25 foot bridge into the river and I didn’t land quite right, I have a pretty nice bruise forming but it was great ;) We are about to have dinner now and then we are heading off to rock climb and hopefully go repelling before dark. We only have 6 days or so left in New Zealand. That makes me very sad cause I don’t want to leave but I am very excited to go to Australia. I miss you so much and I can’t wait to share all my pictures with you. Talk to you very soon.

Love you heaps, Kate

guess what...

...I WENT BUNGY JUMPING!!!!

Alright I have extremely limited computer time right now so I will give you a full update hopefully soon but I just had to tell you that bungy jumping was INCREDIBLE! I know this is a bold statement but I think I could honestly say I liked bungying a bit more than skydiving. I'm so glad I did it. I have never felt so free and independent ever. It was awesome :) Well I can't wait to talk to you soon. We have a ton going on here in Queenstown so I'll be in touch when things calm down a bit. I LOVE IT tho hehe. Miss you alll so very much.

Heaps of love, kate

The last couple days...

Hello! I will fill you in once again...

It has been a pretty low-key last couple of days. On Thursday we had class for awhile in the morning and then we had to do a scavenger hunt project for one of our classes finding info and photographing cites around the city of Christchurch. It was interesting and very pretty. When we got back to the YMCA we had a bit more class and then we all went out to a delicious greek restaurant as a group. After that we went to a karaoke bar together. It was a little crazy. On friday a few people were feeling pretty sick. We had to load up and check out of the YMCA fairly early and then we had breakfast, took naps, and explored the city a bit more. Nothing too exciting. After buying groceries in the afternoon, we headed to an eco-lodge in the middle of the Peel Forest. It was very different but cool. Everything was run by solar panels and whenever you used the toilet you had to cover it in saw dust. Quite a different experience. Also being out so far in the woods was a bit creepy, we could here possums and other strange animals at night. On Saturday we got up very early to go white water kayaking. It was very cold and rainy but we were told we would be going anyway. I was not too excited. We had a training course on the water in the morning and the water was FREEZING. We all wore thermals under our wet suits and I ended up falling in twice. We had a quick lunch and then we got to start on the rapids. It was amazing!!!! I absolutely loved it. It was a bit scary at times and I did fall out more than once hitting quite a few large rocks which is quite painful ;) But it was worth it. I'm not sure why I enjoyed it so much but as the day progressed, the rain stopped and we warmed up because we were constantly moving. It was great! When we all got back to our lodge we had a barbeque and invited our kayaking guides to join us. After eating we played charades and cards. The night turned out to be quite fun. Today we left the eco lodge and drove further south to Mt. Cook. The scenery is unbelievable! Its quite hot and very windy today so our glacier tour was posponed until tomorrow as long as the wind dies down. We also have some pretty intense hikes coming up these next few days. There are mountains everywhere. Its just so unreal.

Well I hope everything is going great! Hopefully talk to you soon. Love you very much!

I miss you!

love, Kate

Hello All!

Hello again. Since the last update, once again so much more...

We started off Thursday morning mountain biking (something I realized is definately not for me, I hated it!) I was very sore and did not enjoy the morning at all. But after that we went on a wine tour which was awesome! I learned a lot and discovered I like many new things. We visited 3 vinyards and a brewery. The whole afternoon was a great time and we ended up having a wonderful supper when we returned to the hostel of rice and chicken. YUM! Then we did laundry and packed for our 3 day hike. Friday morning we left nice and early and drove to our kayaking destination. We had to sit through a 2 and a half hour training session and then we got to sea kayak to the Able Tasman National Park. There were a lot of white caps and it was quite a difficult task but it was well worth it when we arrived to our campsite. Absolutely incredible!!! We spent the next 3 days camping and baking on the most beautiful beach you can imagine. We did a ton of hiking, napping, swimming, and exploring. It was amazing. On the last day we did a 3 hour hike back to the vans and headed to Kaikura. One of our group members severely injured his foot and ended up in the emergency room. We ended up sitting most of the day just waiting but they finnally released him and we headed south. The next morning we had to wake up at 4 am and we got to swim with the dolphins. This was much different than I expected because we actually got to swim with completely wild dolphins. It was the most bizarre/incredible expirience ever. It was so unreal. After that a group of us managed to find a pub and watch the super bowl. There is nothing quite like watching it in a bar full of kiwis on a monday at noon, but it was a great game and ended up being quite fun. On Tuesday we woke up and loaded the vans and headed to Christchurch. We are currently staying at the YMCA haha! We ended up going out for lunch and then spending the afternoon catching up on homework. That night we had an amazing supper and went out to the pubs. Today we went to an indoor rock wall and practiced rock climing. I didn't love it but then we went to the 'clip and climb' there are only 2 locations in the world and its similar to rock climbing but you are completely on your own. I loved it! We had a bit of class today and then had pizza hut for supper. Very good times ;) tommorow we have class and then a free day. It should be great!

I hope everything is going great! Love you lots. Miss you. Cheers!!!