ZORBing photos are up, as is one of me in the Waitomo Caves...
ch-ch-check 'em out:
http://bates.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020112&l=4dded&id=14600837
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
amaaaazing...
hi all.
so i had the most amazing day two days ago. I left raglan at about 8 in the morning on the 26th and hopped onto a new stray bus, this time driven by this absolutely psychopath named Rob, who was absolutely out of his mind but hysterically funny. It was a smaller bus, about 22 people, which was rather nice. We drove to Waitomo to check out the Waitomo caves, a series of limestone caves with rushing waterfalls and rivers, etc. I signed up for a tour called the Haggis Honking Holes, which turned out to be one of the most amazing things that i've ever done... wearing wetsuits, boots, and helmets equipped with lights, we rappelled down into the cave-- the first rappel was down a 30 meter rock wall to the cave floor. the second was down a waterfall, about 15 ft, and you drop splashing into knee deep rushing waters. then we squeezed our way through impossibly small holes and crevases, one of which we were lying on or stomachs in water, pushing ourselves through. we stopped in a few open caverns, where you can shut off your lights and look up at glowworms that dot the ceiling like tiny little blue-green stars. then we rock-climbed out way out, which was absolutely exhausting. in the end we drank lemonade and ate a chocolate bunny before climbing a long long ladder out of the caves. it was an absolutely stunning experience, i was smiling the entire time despite the fact that i was freezing and shivering and banging my knees/elbows/head on stalagtites...
that night we drove into Maketu for a cultural night at Uncle Boy's, an old Maori man who runs a sort of touristy maori extravaganza. On the way we had a bit of a karioki (spelling?) display, where we passed the microphone around and sang all our different national anthems (french, english, new zealand, scottish, irish, german, etc). since i was the only american on the bus, i warbled my way up to "and the rockets red glare" before someone mercifully cut me off in applause. it was pretty amazing.
at Maketu, we ate a huge huge traditional Maori dinner of beef, chicken, mutton, pumpkin, sweet potato, stuffing, and coleslaw-- it was amazing, i considered it my thanksgiving dinner. then we watched a cultural show, in which this nearby family (composed mainly of adorable kids) performed some tradition songs and dances. Then they took the boys outside to learn the Haka (a dance in which you basically try to intimidate the audience) and us girls learned the Poi, where you swing cloth balls on strings in a rythmic manner while singing a song. Our line (we formed two lines) one for the most enthusiatic rendition, which began with me yelling out "KIRARO" at the top of my lungs.
that night we slept in the main room on the floor, and at one point i woke up to a loud "thudthudthudthudthud" and laughter, only to see Rob (crazy bus driver) doing naked laps around the room with a sheet tied around his neck like a cape. luckily i wasn't wearing my glasses... we all had a pretty fantastic time, it was a great group.
yesterday we stopped in Rotorua, and i fulfilled my lifelong dream of rolling down a hill inside a giant plastic ball half filled with water... also known as zorbing. it was so so so so much fun, like a sort of crazy circular waterslide. i was laughing the entire way down. i got some pretty amazing pictures of the whole thing which i will post soon...
i'm staying at the hostel here in a room with Linda from england, and a couple Matt and Kelly, also from England. I've known them for basically my entire time here, since we have overlapped in various areas. so we're having a lot of fun. i'm exciting to move onto Taupo tomorrow for some bunjee-ing and possibly sky diving... even though my parents might flip out (sorry mom and dad... we'll talk it over...) Rotorua is fun and all, but i can only stay in a place that smells like rotten eggs for a short period of time (its a thermal hot spot)
ok i gotta run, my time is running out on the computer. so apologies for any bad grammar or typos, no time to edit!!
cheers,
alli
so i had the most amazing day two days ago. I left raglan at about 8 in the morning on the 26th and hopped onto a new stray bus, this time driven by this absolutely psychopath named Rob, who was absolutely out of his mind but hysterically funny. It was a smaller bus, about 22 people, which was rather nice. We drove to Waitomo to check out the Waitomo caves, a series of limestone caves with rushing waterfalls and rivers, etc. I signed up for a tour called the Haggis Honking Holes, which turned out to be one of the most amazing things that i've ever done... wearing wetsuits, boots, and helmets equipped with lights, we rappelled down into the cave-- the first rappel was down a 30 meter rock wall to the cave floor. the second was down a waterfall, about 15 ft, and you drop splashing into knee deep rushing waters. then we squeezed our way through impossibly small holes and crevases, one of which we were lying on or stomachs in water, pushing ourselves through. we stopped in a few open caverns, where you can shut off your lights and look up at glowworms that dot the ceiling like tiny little blue-green stars. then we rock-climbed out way out, which was absolutely exhausting. in the end we drank lemonade and ate a chocolate bunny before climbing a long long ladder out of the caves. it was an absolutely stunning experience, i was smiling the entire time despite the fact that i was freezing and shivering and banging my knees/elbows/head on stalagtites...
that night we drove into Maketu for a cultural night at Uncle Boy's, an old Maori man who runs a sort of touristy maori extravaganza. On the way we had a bit of a karioki (spelling?) display, where we passed the microphone around and sang all our different national anthems (french, english, new zealand, scottish, irish, german, etc). since i was the only american on the bus, i warbled my way up to "and the rockets red glare" before someone mercifully cut me off in applause. it was pretty amazing.
at Maketu, we ate a huge huge traditional Maori dinner of beef, chicken, mutton, pumpkin, sweet potato, stuffing, and coleslaw-- it was amazing, i considered it my thanksgiving dinner. then we watched a cultural show, in which this nearby family (composed mainly of adorable kids) performed some tradition songs and dances. Then they took the boys outside to learn the Haka (a dance in which you basically try to intimidate the audience) and us girls learned the Poi, where you swing cloth balls on strings in a rythmic manner while singing a song. Our line (we formed two lines) one for the most enthusiatic rendition, which began with me yelling out "KIRARO" at the top of my lungs.
that night we slept in the main room on the floor, and at one point i woke up to a loud "thudthudthudthudthud" and laughter, only to see Rob (crazy bus driver) doing naked laps around the room with a sheet tied around his neck like a cape. luckily i wasn't wearing my glasses... we all had a pretty fantastic time, it was a great group.
yesterday we stopped in Rotorua, and i fulfilled my lifelong dream of rolling down a hill inside a giant plastic ball half filled with water... also known as zorbing. it was so so so so much fun, like a sort of crazy circular waterslide. i was laughing the entire way down. i got some pretty amazing pictures of the whole thing which i will post soon...
i'm staying at the hostel here in a room with Linda from england, and a couple Matt and Kelly, also from England. I've known them for basically my entire time here, since we have overlapped in various areas. so we're having a lot of fun. i'm exciting to move onto Taupo tomorrow for some bunjee-ing and possibly sky diving... even though my parents might flip out (sorry mom and dad... we'll talk it over...) Rotorua is fun and all, but i can only stay in a place that smells like rotten eggs for a short period of time (its a thermal hot spot)
ok i gotta run, my time is running out on the computer. so apologies for any bad grammar or typos, no time to edit!!
cheers,
alli
Saturday, November 24, 2007
first pics are up!!!
so my first round of pics are up on facebook, here's the link:
http://bates.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020002&l=ff610&id=14600837
i'm not entirely impressed with the quality of the photos, but the general idea is there... new zealand is gorgeous.
right now i'm in Karioi Lodge in Raglan, about to head into town to check it out before going to the beach. i hopped off the stray bus again for an extra night last night, so it was a bit sad to say bye to everyone, we had a great night last night playing pool/basketball/pingpong/etc and riding the zipline... tommorrow morning i'm hopping on the bus again and heading to Waitomo caves, where i'm going to be doing a 4 hour abseiling/rapelling/tubing/swimming/climbing adventure in the caves. i dont think i can bring a camera, but i've heard it is absolutely incredible, millions of glow worms and general cool caveyness. then its on to Maketu for a night, where we're staying in a tradition Maori hut, eating traditional food, and watching a cultural showcase. i'm super excited about that one. After that its on to Rotorua, where i think i'm going to hop off the bus again for a night or two to go zorbing (rolling down a hill in a giant plastic ball filled with water... sounds exactly like my silly cup of tea) and possibly rafting...
holy moly. yeah, lots of stuff going on. i'm glad to get a down-day today to relax and figure some things out... for example daily expenses...
and i apologize for having to spew things out into this blog, time is short and the internet is pricey here!
i suppose i should quickly explain how the stray bus tour works. basically, i have a predesignated route (the short moe) but i can hop off wherever i like to hang out and check it out for a day or two. and then i hop onto the next stray bus passing through (one usually passes through daily). so basically I can extend my tour for as long as i want. the only things that is tricky is the constant rotation of people... you start to really gel with one group of people, but then you have to leave then and meet up with a whole new variety. so it is really exciting on one hand, but it can be a bummer as well. i'm just making sure that i'm sticking to my guns and not just following a group when it gets comfortable. i'm trying to stretch my 14day minimum tour to about 40 days... so i've got plenty of time to stop and check different places out.
alright, gotta run!
alli
http://bates.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020002&l=ff610&id=14600837
i'm not entirely impressed with the quality of the photos, but the general idea is there... new zealand is gorgeous.
right now i'm in Karioi Lodge in Raglan, about to head into town to check it out before going to the beach. i hopped off the stray bus again for an extra night last night, so it was a bit sad to say bye to everyone, we had a great night last night playing pool/basketball/pingpong/etc and riding the zipline... tommorrow morning i'm hopping on the bus again and heading to Waitomo caves, where i'm going to be doing a 4 hour abseiling/rapelling/tubing/swimming/climbing adventure in the caves. i dont think i can bring a camera, but i've heard it is absolutely incredible, millions of glow worms and general cool caveyness. then its on to Maketu for a night, where we're staying in a tradition Maori hut, eating traditional food, and watching a cultural showcase. i'm super excited about that one. After that its on to Rotorua, where i think i'm going to hop off the bus again for a night or two to go zorbing (rolling down a hill in a giant plastic ball filled with water... sounds exactly like my silly cup of tea) and possibly rafting...
holy moly. yeah, lots of stuff going on. i'm glad to get a down-day today to relax and figure some things out... for example daily expenses...
and i apologize for having to spew things out into this blog, time is short and the internet is pricey here!
i suppose i should quickly explain how the stray bus tour works. basically, i have a predesignated route (the short moe) but i can hop off wherever i like to hang out and check it out for a day or two. and then i hop onto the next stray bus passing through (one usually passes through daily). so basically I can extend my tour for as long as i want. the only things that is tricky is the constant rotation of people... you start to really gel with one group of people, but then you have to leave then and meet up with a whole new variety. so it is really exciting on one hand, but it can be a bummer as well. i'm just making sure that i'm sticking to my guns and not just following a group when it gets comfortable. i'm trying to stretch my 14day minimum tour to about 40 days... so i've got plenty of time to stop and check different places out.
alright, gotta run!
alli
Friday, November 23, 2007
sand sun sandflies
hi all!
i don't have a whole bunch of time to update, but i'll so my best to squeeze in what i can...
i left auckland on the 22nd at 8 in the morning and hopped on a southbound stray bus tour. the first stop was Hahei, a beach town on the coromandel pensinsula. the peninsula is well-known in new zealand as the place where police once tried to crackdown on illegal pot-growing operations in the 90s and ended up flying away with hundreds of pot plants with the plane doors open, effectively planting thousands of pot seeds throughout the countryside. woops. its a beautiful place, we got into Hahei around 1:30 in the afternoon, and walked from our campground (Cathedral Cove Backpackers) down to cathedral cove, a beautiful little spot tuck away with a large cavern and waterfall (we even saw a wedding taking place there the following day). we went swimming in surprisingly warm waters and laid around on the beach. that night we had a big communal BBQ and then played some hysterical drinking games involving swedish chickens and the like. it was a good bunch of people, a couple americans, british, canadians, and a few germans. i decided to hop off the bus for another day, so i woke up the next day around 9 and did some more beach-walking, swimming, etc. At 1:30 the new bus drove in, with about 15 people, 6 of whom were irish and loads of fun. a really lively, rowdy bunch. so i joined in with their BBQ along with a guy from ireland, robert, who also stayed over another night and hung out with them last night.
both nights we drove out to a hot water beach, where you can dig shallow holes in the sand that are fed by underwater hot springs, forming sandy little hot tubs. it was absolutely beautiful, the first night the moon was out, but last night was a bit cloudier. it was surprisingly hot-- if you're not careful you can step on some boiling spots and burn your feet.
this morning we got up around 8 again and took off for raglan, a sweet little surftown where scenes from endless summer were filmed. after lunch in the town we rolled into our lodge around 3pm, which is on the outskirts of the town. tomorrow i'm going to rent a surfboard and get absolutely smashed by some waves... i'm excited. today i'm just going to relax and take some bush-walks, hang out on the obstacle course and take a ride down their zipline...
ok i'm running out of time, i'll update again soon with better details!!!
i don't have a whole bunch of time to update, but i'll so my best to squeeze in what i can...
i left auckland on the 22nd at 8 in the morning and hopped on a southbound stray bus tour. the first stop was Hahei, a beach town on the coromandel pensinsula. the peninsula is well-known in new zealand as the place where police once tried to crackdown on illegal pot-growing operations in the 90s and ended up flying away with hundreds of pot plants with the plane doors open, effectively planting thousands of pot seeds throughout the countryside. woops. its a beautiful place, we got into Hahei around 1:30 in the afternoon, and walked from our campground (Cathedral Cove Backpackers) down to cathedral cove, a beautiful little spot tuck away with a large cavern and waterfall (we even saw a wedding taking place there the following day). we went swimming in surprisingly warm waters and laid around on the beach. that night we had a big communal BBQ and then played some hysterical drinking games involving swedish chickens and the like. it was a good bunch of people, a couple americans, british, canadians, and a few germans. i decided to hop off the bus for another day, so i woke up the next day around 9 and did some more beach-walking, swimming, etc. At 1:30 the new bus drove in, with about 15 people, 6 of whom were irish and loads of fun. a really lively, rowdy bunch. so i joined in with their BBQ along with a guy from ireland, robert, who also stayed over another night and hung out with them last night.
both nights we drove out to a hot water beach, where you can dig shallow holes in the sand that are fed by underwater hot springs, forming sandy little hot tubs. it was absolutely beautiful, the first night the moon was out, but last night was a bit cloudier. it was surprisingly hot-- if you're not careful you can step on some boiling spots and burn your feet.
this morning we got up around 8 again and took off for raglan, a sweet little surftown where scenes from endless summer were filmed. after lunch in the town we rolled into our lodge around 3pm, which is on the outskirts of the town. tomorrow i'm going to rent a surfboard and get absolutely smashed by some waves... i'm excited. today i'm just going to relax and take some bush-walks, hang out on the obstacle course and take a ride down their zipline...
ok i'm running out of time, i'll update again soon with better details!!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
the land of sheep and wine
i am finally here!
after a long night on the plane, sitting next to two smelly german men who insisted on frequent stretch breaks ala hanz and franz, i touched down in the city of auckland NZ yesterday morning at 5am. My first experience of new zealand = balling in the airport after being treated like a complete moron by the customs officer. i was tired, dammit! it quickly picked up from there... i hopped on the Airbus, which for $15 took me from the airport and around the city to the Auckland International YHA. The YHA here is an nice little place, a lot more lowkey than the nearby ABC (auckland central backpackers) and the fat camel hostel, etc. those two have a bar and are full of young ultra-chic cool kids, whereas the YHA is quiet and inhabited by mostly middle-aged couples and the occasional granny. so naturally, i feel right at home. i slept and read mostly yesterday, leaving the hostel to get my first NZ meal (shaved lamb over rice with french fries and garlic yoghurt...ha), set up my cellphone, and explore a little bit. then i went to the travel desk and signed up for a stray bus tour-- i'm doing the "short moe" tour, which goes from auckland, around the south island, and ends up in christchurch. you can check it out here:
http://www.straytravel.com/kev.php
fairly inexpensive, and i'll try and extend it for as long as possible, since my only deadline is to be in christchurch on the 8th of January to welcome mr. joel colony to the sunny land of kiwis.
today i woke up around 7:30am (don't be shocked, thats like 1:30pm back home, so it's about par) and hooked onto a day tour with kiwi experience bus tours. it was pretty awesome, the bus driver was hysterical. there were about 14 people on the bus, including 2 girls from germany, boys from england, the US, iran, and germany, and a couple from japan. we all got along really well and had a nice day exploring the area. we went to the bridge (eff, i don't remember the names of any of these places) where a few people bunjeed- i didn't for lack of money and adequate footwear... and then we went to an area outside the city that had a few beaches, parks, and a fort overlooking the harbor. we all ate fish and chips and walked around a bit, it was nice to chat with everyone after feeling a little bit like a loner the day before. (ps i swear i will get better about remembering the names of places i visit...)
after that, i set up my phone and came back to the hostel, where i am at the moment. tonight i'm going to meet up with some of the people from the bus at the ABC bar, but mostly tonight is going to be about packing and getting ready to head out tomorrow morning. it definitly feels like a bit of a whirlwind.
so, some final first impressions of new zealand:
"ah, summer in new zealand, makes you just want to break into applause" - words from our bus driver today, so very true. amazingly blue waters, rich greens everywhere, and so warm and sunny today. absolutely lovely.
also, the first thing i noticed about NZ after getting off the plane-- the trees. not a single ordinary tree in this country. each and every one is spectacular somehow, with beautiful leaves, gnarly trunks, everything, i can't even describe it... ah, i'm loving it.
ok, this is enough for now. i will update once i hit my next destination! oh and eventually i will figure out how to do cool things like put pictures up. if sylvan can do it from niger, then i should be able to figure it out, right?
love to all,
alli
after a long night on the plane, sitting next to two smelly german men who insisted on frequent stretch breaks ala hanz and franz, i touched down in the city of auckland NZ yesterday morning at 5am. My first experience of new zealand = balling in the airport after being treated like a complete moron by the customs officer. i was tired, dammit! it quickly picked up from there... i hopped on the Airbus, which for $15 took me from the airport and around the city to the Auckland International YHA. The YHA here is an nice little place, a lot more lowkey than the nearby ABC (auckland central backpackers) and the fat camel hostel, etc. those two have a bar and are full of young ultra-chic cool kids, whereas the YHA is quiet and inhabited by mostly middle-aged couples and the occasional granny. so naturally, i feel right at home. i slept and read mostly yesterday, leaving the hostel to get my first NZ meal (shaved lamb over rice with french fries and garlic yoghurt...ha), set up my cellphone, and explore a little bit. then i went to the travel desk and signed up for a stray bus tour-- i'm doing the "short moe" tour, which goes from auckland, around the south island, and ends up in christchurch. you can check it out here:
http://www.straytravel.com/kev.php
fairly inexpensive, and i'll try and extend it for as long as possible, since my only deadline is to be in christchurch on the 8th of January to welcome mr. joel colony to the sunny land of kiwis.
today i woke up around 7:30am (don't be shocked, thats like 1:30pm back home, so it's about par) and hooked onto a day tour with kiwi experience bus tours. it was pretty awesome, the bus driver was hysterical. there were about 14 people on the bus, including 2 girls from germany, boys from england, the US, iran, and germany, and a couple from japan. we all got along really well and had a nice day exploring the area. we went to the bridge (eff, i don't remember the names of any of these places) where a few people bunjeed- i didn't for lack of money and adequate footwear... and then we went to an area outside the city that had a few beaches, parks, and a fort overlooking the harbor. we all ate fish and chips and walked around a bit, it was nice to chat with everyone after feeling a little bit like a loner the day before. (ps i swear i will get better about remembering the names of places i visit...)
after that, i set up my phone and came back to the hostel, where i am at the moment. tonight i'm going to meet up with some of the people from the bus at the ABC bar, but mostly tonight is going to be about packing and getting ready to head out tomorrow morning. it definitly feels like a bit of a whirlwind.
so, some final first impressions of new zealand:
"ah, summer in new zealand, makes you just want to break into applause" - words from our bus driver today, so very true. amazingly blue waters, rich greens everywhere, and so warm and sunny today. absolutely lovely.
also, the first thing i noticed about NZ after getting off the plane-- the trees. not a single ordinary tree in this country. each and every one is spectacular somehow, with beautiful leaves, gnarly trunks, everything, i can't even describe it... ah, i'm loving it.
ok, this is enough for now. i will update once i hit my next destination! oh and eventually i will figure out how to do cool things like put pictures up. if sylvan can do it from niger, then i should be able to figure it out, right?
love to all,
alli
Sunday, November 18, 2007
and she's off!
so this is my last post from san francisco...
in approximately 3 hours i will begin my journey to new zealand... my flight leaves at 7, so i'm going to try to get to the airport by 4 just to be safe. i still have some packing to do, but i think i'm pretty ready. i'm woke up nervous this morning, i've been feeling very restless and ready to go for the past couple days, but now as it gets closer to the time of departure i'm starting to get the butterflies. i remember when i left for ecuador last year, i was never really nervous so much as curious, and thats mostly how i feel at the moment. but it was far easier arriving to ecuador knowing i had a built-in support system all ready to go as soon as i got there, being part of a program and having a host family pick me up at the airport... with new zealand its far more independent and unknown, which is exciting and scary at the same time. i've already booked my spot at the auckland YHA for the first two nights, and its a pretty easy transfer system from the airport. so the first stop is looking pretty simple.
i've really had a great time in san francisco, it was nice to see the bro and meet his roommates, three really awesome girls who took me out on the town and made me feel at home. san fran's a really cool city, i could definitly see myself here sometime in the future... we'll see. great weather, lots of fun, good food, etc etc. it'll be nice to stopover again on the way back in april/mayish. but for now i'm definitly ready to be on my way and get this whole nz adventure started.
off to pack some more and take deep breaths...
in approximately 3 hours i will begin my journey to new zealand... my flight leaves at 7, so i'm going to try to get to the airport by 4 just to be safe. i still have some packing to do, but i think i'm pretty ready. i'm woke up nervous this morning, i've been feeling very restless and ready to go for the past couple days, but now as it gets closer to the time of departure i'm starting to get the butterflies. i remember when i left for ecuador last year, i was never really nervous so much as curious, and thats mostly how i feel at the moment. but it was far easier arriving to ecuador knowing i had a built-in support system all ready to go as soon as i got there, being part of a program and having a host family pick me up at the airport... with new zealand its far more independent and unknown, which is exciting and scary at the same time. i've already booked my spot at the auckland YHA for the first two nights, and its a pretty easy transfer system from the airport. so the first stop is looking pretty simple.
i've really had a great time in san francisco, it was nice to see the bro and meet his roommates, three really awesome girls who took me out on the town and made me feel at home. san fran's a really cool city, i could definitly see myself here sometime in the future... we'll see. great weather, lots of fun, good food, etc etc. it'll be nice to stopover again on the way back in april/mayish. but for now i'm definitly ready to be on my way and get this whole nz adventure started.
off to pack some more and take deep breaths...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
so this is new...
i was inspired yesterday to start this blogging thing after seeing how much fun jacob was having with his blog crush, kim, who knits hats and writes about it. i dont do anything neat like knit hats, but i'm hoping that my travels through new zealand will provide me with enough inspiration to write interesting things. or atleast having a blog will keep my family aware of my where-abouts.
so, this new zealand idea started about three months ago, in august, in bar harbor maine. i was waitressing at mckays public house, and had yet to make any plans for the winter. a number of things i considered were: moving to san francisco and finding a job (and crashing on my big brother's couch), moving to santa fe and working in a museum, staying in bar harbor for the winter and thereby submitting to the inevitable mental degradation, or following the bates train right on down to portland. well, by chance, i met a lovely little person this summer by the name of michelle, who had spent a winter in new zealand a few years back. after finding a kick-ass cheap flight online, i decided to just make the leap. so here i am, sitting on my brother's roomates' bed in san francisco, only 5 days away from new zealand.
i arrive in auckland on november 20th, at 5 in the morning. at the moment i'm torn between a few hostels, but all are in the downtown area, on queen street. i'm planning to stay in the city for the shortest period of time possible, since the hostels all cost around $25 a night, and i'm terrified of cities. then i will be hopping a bus tour (not the geriatric kind, mind you, but the kind aimed at lil 20something backpackers like me) that will take me all over the place and finally drop me in christchurch. from there, i will commence the WWOOFing / finding odd jobs. for however long, until my money runs out.
i will do my best to keep a-postin' here and there when exciting things happen. so far, san francisco has been great, i saw jen taylor, jacob perkins, and even ran into peter granquist on the street. the president of bates college, the infamous ETH (elaine tuttle hanson) was staying in the same hotel as my family and me. which was bizarre. i sat next to her at the phi beta kappa dinner and wowed her with my ambitions of being a waitress in bar harbor after college. so she should remember me. and i saw dylan spaulding, one of my fellow teaching interns from MMA, at UCBerkeley, where i was touring for the day and checking out the antho department. crazypants. i went to a Feist concert last friday, which blew my frikin socks off. i love that woman, she is a terrific performer, it was absolutely mesmerizing. big props to pops for getting mom and me tickets!!
ok ok ok, gotta run and explore the city- mom gave me $40 to decorate liam's room, thoughts?
alli
so, this new zealand idea started about three months ago, in august, in bar harbor maine. i was waitressing at mckays public house, and had yet to make any plans for the winter. a number of things i considered were: moving to san francisco and finding a job (and crashing on my big brother's couch), moving to santa fe and working in a museum, staying in bar harbor for the winter and thereby submitting to the inevitable mental degradation, or following the bates train right on down to portland. well, by chance, i met a lovely little person this summer by the name of michelle, who had spent a winter in new zealand a few years back. after finding a kick-ass cheap flight online, i decided to just make the leap. so here i am, sitting on my brother's roomates' bed in san francisco, only 5 days away from new zealand.
i arrive in auckland on november 20th, at 5 in the morning. at the moment i'm torn between a few hostels, but all are in the downtown area, on queen street. i'm planning to stay in the city for the shortest period of time possible, since the hostels all cost around $25 a night, and i'm terrified of cities. then i will be hopping a bus tour (not the geriatric kind, mind you, but the kind aimed at lil 20something backpackers like me) that will take me all over the place and finally drop me in christchurch. from there, i will commence the WWOOFing / finding odd jobs. for however long, until my money runs out.
i will do my best to keep a-postin' here and there when exciting things happen. so far, san francisco has been great, i saw jen taylor, jacob perkins, and even ran into peter granquist on the street. the president of bates college, the infamous ETH (elaine tuttle hanson) was staying in the same hotel as my family and me. which was bizarre. i sat next to her at the phi beta kappa dinner and wowed her with my ambitions of being a waitress in bar harbor after college. so she should remember me. and i saw dylan spaulding, one of my fellow teaching interns from MMA, at UCBerkeley, where i was touring for the day and checking out the antho department. crazypants. i went to a Feist concert last friday, which blew my frikin socks off. i love that woman, she is a terrific performer, it was absolutely mesmerizing. big props to pops for getting mom and me tickets!!
ok ok ok, gotta run and explore the city- mom gave me $40 to decorate liam's room, thoughts?
alli
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