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Hey ALL!! So I've just recently joined AdvoCare as an independent distributor. I'm super excited about it because I get to help all of you stay informed and health and fitness. I am here to help you with your nutrition and supplement choices! The great thing for all of you all is that you can order whatever supplements, vitamins, shakes, whatever you want directly from my website. If anyone has any questions about what they should use, just give me a shout. My personal email address is: Jkline2290@gmail.com. I am here for anyone that wants/needs it! Whether it be for motivation, healthy recipes or workouts, just give me a shout :)

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Roadtrippin'

So I finished up with my independent travels all over north Queensland. I really had a great time and enjoyed the company of myself. I had a great time up in Port Douglas and Cairns, but the weather ended up being completely awful the whole time. Womp. All was well this week, I knocked out my last exam tonight and will be on the way back to the USA in an hour. I've decided to just not go to sleep considering my sleeping pattern is going to be all messed up over the next couple days anyhow. Lauren gave me Jet-Lag pills to cope with it on the plane ride home. They looked so sketch at first cause they were just in some white box? But, it's all natural, fine ingredients. So, we'll see how I go with those. Apparently they work, we shall see!! I spent my last night at the Tav saying final farewell's to everyone I recognized there. Today was a little emotional, needless to say I'm horrible with goodbyes. I actually took it all pretty well. Quite surprisingly. I know that these folks will be in the States with me and I find that comforting. So, that made it easier. I don't know, I don't really know what to feel right now. I sit here trying to kill an hour so I don't fall asleep. Never, haha, never would that ever happen though. I'm way to excited to get a move on with this journey. It's just been talked about for so long. I've been counting down for quite a bit. I'm just really ready to see my boyfriend at this point. Never will I ever do long distance ever again. It's very hard, but we've done it before so we sort of knew what to expect. It's been very different though dealing with a relationship overseas. We did a great job and I truly believe it has made us a million times stronger. I know we can get through anything. What a haul!! I've really enjoyed this experience. I can't say enough good things about it and I truly encourage any of you reading this to go submerge yourself. Do what you dream of and make those dreams reality. Nothing is impossible! I've learned a great deal over the course of five months away. I really have learned a lot about myself and what's important to me. What a rewarding process this has been. I really miss the States though, I could never live here forever. Maybe for a little bit... with Ryan. Haha. I will be later posting the pros and cons about Australia. I just can't right now though, it's time to get a move on! BACK TO THE USA I COME!!!!!! :D

Traveling lonesome

Melbourne is a really cool city. Graffiti swallows the streets and alley ways. They alley ways are not what I usually would think of though when using that word. Most all alleys have been re-done; restaurants have been added and cafes and coffee shops... very cute and cosmopolitan. The city had a nice feel to it. There were a lot of people there, but I guess I’m just not use to that coming from Townsville... middle of no where. It was awesome going somewhere completely by myself. I really enjoyed my own company in a big city. I dined at, of course, a nice Thai restaurant and sat outside. The restaurant was down one of those alley ways, art everywhere. It seemed as if I was dining in some other foreign city like Italy or something. There were lights hung above me that lit up the alley a bit, but nothing too overwhelming. I listened to a man play along with rock music as he added in his two sense on the drums. Soothing, added enjoyment to my dinner. All around, great feel for the city. It’s very safe, but absolutely freeeeezing. I spent my second day on a bus tour, believe it or not. I’m so sick of them, but it’s the only way I can get around and learn about everything. I went on a day tour that started at 7a.m and lasted well until 8p.m. I got to see the 12 Apostles!! I was so glad I got to see this. They were just so unreal. It seriously looked fake. I’m really traveling a lot more than I thought I was going to be. Always a plus! I had the perfect amount of time there, it was way too cold for me. I could see my breath and it was hailing! Not a fan. I was there for two nights, 3 days.

I just arrived to Cairns this evening. It took about 4 and a half hours to get here. I was LOVING driving. I had the music up and the windows down, jamming to oldies. It was a great ride, I didn’t even care how long it took. I felt such a relief when I started driving. What freedom!! It’s been so long. I got a pedicure tonight and had some Indian food for dinner. I checked in at my hotel, The Hotel Cairns. How original. It’s a cute place, right on the esplanade. It’s great weather up here, nice and hot. I think tomorrow is suppose to be cloudy, but I’m hoping for the best so I can go to the beach. Should be good, it’s really cute here. I like it. It’s like a smaller Townsville. I’ll keep in touch!

Ohhhh, how the time goes...by...

Last weekend Kat and I explored all over the Whitsundays. What a great sailing trip it was! We left Townsville and headed down south a few hours, by bus, to Airlie Beach to start our weekend. We stayed at the Airlie beach Hotel, which was perfect location. All of our friends gave us the worst impression of Airlie. They told us it was complete trash and that we should only stay one night because the town is so tiny. I mean, I'll give them the small town thing. But, Airlie was just gorgeous! We both love little beach towns and cafes and things so this place was perfect. Who knows, I guess they had a bad impression from a bad hostel or something. Later that night, we dined at a restaurant and bar called Uber. Very interesting place, they had the biggest selection from a drink menu that I've ever seen! We both tried two completely random drinks that were very tasty and rather strong. For dinner, we shared tapas that included kangaroo, crocodile, barramundi and massive prawns. We had the best bruschetta either of us had ever had as well. All around a classy, chill place to dine. We left the next morning to go sailing around the great barrier reef islands. We stayed on the boat for a night, awful sleep... Well, we didn't get much sleep, but totally worth it in my opinion. We got to snorkel and lay out on the boat all weekend. They took us to Whitehaven beach, which is one of the top 5 beaches in the world. Absolutely gorgeous. It was seriously wonderful. This weekend with Kat was my favorite weekend here. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and her company. Cheers!

Our Whitsunday Adventures!

This week, we all went to Cactus Saloon for the last cheap Tuesday. It was sad, just means the end is near! Besides that, I have been preparing for an exam that I just took yesterday. It was fine, all went well. After finishing, I went over to Maggie for the night with Kat so I could finish my diving certification! I am so happy it's over with! A serious weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I was really stressing about finishing it. Hence why I've waited two months to finish it. Whoops! Ah well, I finished and now am officially certified. It was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be which is always a plus. Finishing my diving was the last on my Aussie check list!

As my travels wind down to an end, I can honestly say I have not had one regret here in Australia. I have 11 days left in this country. I have visited everywhere I wanted to go and I'm still not finished. I leave for Melbourne tomorrow for a few nights. I return on Wednesday night and leave Thursday morning for a roadtrip. I am doing all of these journeys by myself! I am actually really excited about that because I could've never imagined going on vacation by myself before I came here. Its made me appreciate the love of my own company. It'll be nice to travel alone. I can do what I want, when I want, how I want... for however long. I really have grown here as a person. Traveling really changed my perspective on the world for the better. I have such a stronger love for the USA now and feel that their truly are endless possibilities. I plan to expand my horizons all over the world. I'm not solely content with just knowing this country and my own. I want to see the world, I can only imagine that it will make me grow more! I would love to see new cultures and take myself outside of my boundaries even more so. I find it intriguing.

I really do miss home. I miss the simple things though, it's not just about the big picture. Perhaps things that I took for granted at home will now be cherished closer to my heart. I miss being able to wake up in my own comfortable bed and going upstairs to have a bagel with philadelphia cream cheese and pulp orange juice with my dog and Ryan and whoever else might be home. It really is true, there is no place like home and I've come to realize that along my travels. There is no place like where you grew up. Nothing will ever be able to replace that. I miss gazing out onto the mountains where I grew up and breathing in the fresh air... Or the land we have to roam! I just really enjoy being outside and I feel that I've taken that for granted at home because it's always been there. I know that when I return to Maryland, I will bring the laid back lifestyle I've become accustomed to over here in Oz. There's just no point in living life so fast like we do in the States. The simple things in life really are what matter and that is a life lesson I've learned to be true over here. I can't wait to see my family and friends. It's been a while, although my friends and home have not changed... I have for the better. And that, will most certainly take time to get adjusted to. A whole new culture that I've forgotten about, I don't know what it's like. It's quite hard to explain. I've just totally adapted to the means of life over here. I remember home how I do in my head, of course I do. However, this is my home now. I will have reverse culture shock, I know this. I just don't know what to expect. I'm sure it will be difficult, but I'll get through it like I always do. Sure, I'll miss this place. I'll miss it a lot. I've created many great friends through my time here. I keep telling myself they're in America. They're not gone forever, although that's what it'll feel like. I met my American best friends in a foreign country... So strange. I will most definitely be keeping in touch with all of them. A little piece of my heart will remain in Aussie forever. I'll be back, my travels aren't completely finished over here. This was my independent time, my five months of exploring and creating myself. It's time to head back to where I call home, I really cannot wait! It's been great, an absolutely indescribable long ass haul, but I know where I belong.

byron bay... home?!

May to-do list... Ha, that's a joke. I'm halfway through May already! I haven't updated since I got home from New Zealand, womp. News, so I just got home from Byron Bay! I loved it there. Such a cute, chill little town right on the beach. I never wanted to leave. Kay and I had a great time together, we always do. I've really missed her actually. I haven't seen her since before Christmas! Already five months ago. She brought her roommate, Em, and we all really jusy enjoyed each other's company over the long weekend. We dined out for Italian, breakfast and obviously coffee. We met up in Gold Coast, which is halfway for both of us because she's studying in Sydney, and met at the airport. We took a taxi straight to our crap hostel and went straight out for a bite to eat. We were starving! Gold coast (surfer's paradise) was a huge let down. All there is to do there is party. It was a bit cold during the day, I was soo happy we were only there for a night. We roomed with two mates from England. I told them I had family there...mistake. I guess this was an open invitation for a round of 21 questions. Geee! He was drunk too, no bueno kid. Kay and I stayed up chatting til 5a.m! It was awesome having my best friend around. The next day we had a wonderful breakfast at The Coffee Club and laid out all day until our bus came to drop us off at Byron. We all stepped out of the bus and felt immediate warmth from the sun and the people. What a place! We had a better hostel here, all 3 of us had the room to ourselves. Thank god. We really had a great time, checked in and went straight to town and the beach. The beach, literally, goes for miles and miles. I couldn't help myself but to go for a run up and down the shore at 7a.m sunday morning. The sun hit the bright blue ocean so perfectly, I could've gone forever. I really got some sun this past weekend. We went for a kayak trip early saturday morning for a few hours. We were promised to see some sort of wild life, but never did. We were suppose to get our money back if that was the case, but that never happened. I would've just laid on the beach if I knew that were going to be the case! What a chill weekend away from Townsville. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I'm home now, about to power through a paper this week for my pointless sex,drugs and human nature class. I got this :) One solid month to go til Muuuurica!

We're baaaack!

Back home! Well, one of the places I call home out of 3. What a great trip we had together! No regrets. We saw the whole country, both Islands in 18 days. It started to get to the point where it was too long of a vacation though. No complaints, just so happy to be back on the daily grind! I've just made a May TO-DO list. I only have 3 weeks of school left, as of next week. How nuts! A month and a half. I have a few papers to knock out and a book to finish, I got this! I fly into BWI on June 18th at night whoever wants to be there to greet me with open arms and a warm welcoming home. That goes for you too, Lilly. Damn, I miss that dog! Welp, I have work to do. Just checking in with a few deets :) hasta luego!

New Zealand, Day 16

One last bus ride. Museli for breakfast, thanks to the continental services at the hostel. We’re off! We moved out of the nasty smelling town of Rotorua and traveled, slowly, to Auckland. It usually only takes 3 hours to get there from Rotorua, but we kept stopping in random towns for very long periods of time for not apparent reason really. We stopped at a town right along the coast, before Thames, for about an hour and a half. I grabbed a latte and walked down to chill on the beach. We laid there for a little bit then hopped back on the bus. An hour later, we stopped in Thames to waste some more time. We had lunch then left another hour and a half later. Nothing like bangin out the last bus ride in a timely manner. C’mon guy. And then he tells us, he’s “tired”. Great, well don’t fall asleep at the wheel or anything. It’d be nice to make it to Auckland in one piece please! We’re just about there, I think we’re about 50km away. Not too much longer! We’ll probably stop for another few hours just to sit around before we actually get into the city. Who knows. Well, sadly, that’s all for today! We’ll check into our hostel in just a bit, City Lodge, and chill around the city as our vacation comes to an end. We’ll leave Tuesday morning from New Zealand to go back to OZ! 

New Zealand, Day 15... Err, something. Better said as, a long ass vacation.

SLEEP! Yesss! What a great day today was, besides the gloomy weather and the ten year olds bouncing basketballs upstairs and right outside our door of our room starting at 6a.m. Jerks. Take your tournament to the courts, not above my head so early in the morning. Does anyone discipline their kids anymore these days?! My god. Right, so Karen and I walked to town today around 11 for lunch at a little cafe called Fat Dog 2 Go. I had a vegetarian salad and obviously I had to get my caffeine fix in for the day. After lunch we walked around a bit, poking around in a few shops and things. I love the clothes here, totally diggin it. We decided we really didn't have much to do, so we went and saw a movie. We saw Fast and Furious... 5. They didn't have too much out in the cinema. It was alright, but how many times can "The Rock" and Vin Diesel really drive amazingly good looking cars and explode things? We get it... Well, we got it after the first or second one. It had a lot of bad acting in it, but it was entertaining on such a dreary day. The movie finished and got out around 5:30ish. Neither of us were hungry yet and didn't really want to walk all the way back to our hostel just yet. We went to another movie. Haha, I haven't been to the movies in ages and went twice in a row today. I've never done that before, but we had nothing better to do! After the second movie, we had Italian. We walked back in the dark, got a little lost trekking through wet rugby fields, but made our way back eventually. It was a nice little day in town. Put some hours in at the cinema! It's bed time. Tomorrow is our LAST DAY on the bus. Thank god. I don't even want to know how many hours I've put in on that thing. It shouldn't be that long of a trip tomorrow, a few hours maybe. Back to OZ on chhhuuuuesday... as they say. Then home in a matter of weeks to see friends, family and my beloved Ryan.

New Zealand, Day 14

Geothermal mud pools!! Karen and I spent the morning//early afternoon at Hell's Gate mud pools and spa. We got picked up at 9a.m to head straight there. It was so cool there! Before we started our mud bath, we got to walk around the geothermal mud pools that weren't for swimming. There were a lot more pools than the day before, but they smelled just as awful. After we walked around a bit, Karen and I changed into our swim suits. Brrrr! It was freezing outside, I didn't want to be in a bikini. I needed to change quick and head straight for the hot bath! I stepped in first, we both shared a bath. They were outside. It was such a crazy experience. There was mud gooshing all in between my toes. I got in and lowered into the muddy water. Yuk, I was thinking. Apparently, it's really good for your skin because it opens up all your pours 100% and gets rid of all your toxins. They use all natural products and no chemicals so that was reassuring. After soaking in the mud for 30 minutes and rubbing it all over our bodies, we had to blast ourselves with ice cold water to ensure that our pores were sealed. The cold water does that for your skin. All I could think about was getting in the hot tub afterwards so I showered off as quickly as I could! We spent about 15 more minutes in the hot tub and got out to shower off in steaming hot water and got dressed. At the gift shop, I bought a special face scrub and lotion. Our bus driver and the woman at the shop said that the white mud they have is no where else to be found in the world and all the major makeup companies are trying to buy it. I found that pretty unique. Lets hope it works! It's been proven to really even out your skin and remove any blemishes and make your skin extremely soft. I'm looking forward to using it. I hung out for the rest of the day, skyped with Ry and took a little nap while Karen went to do more Lord of The Rings things. I'm glad I stayed behind! Haha. When she got back, we went for Indian. Big surprise there! I had a glass of wine at dinner... Not the same. Now I'm spoiled with great wines! We came back, excited about sleeping in  for once and mellowed out.

New Zealand, Day 13

I'm not an early riser. I don't like waking up early. Quit making me wake up at these obnoxious times, I need my beauty sleep! Riiiight, I'll sleep when I'm dead. This trip was made more no sleep, running high on life for 18 days straight. Whew, today we were up around 7 to head out of Wellington to Rotorua via Taupo. We had a haul ahead of us. We literally drove from the bottom of the Island to the very top. We didn't get into town until about 5p.m with only one or two stops the whole way.. Quite awful. We've both agreed that this trip has been draining and getting on and off the bus is wearing on us, but it's all character building right? Exposing ourselves to things we've never done before. I swear I've slept in more hostels than I would've ever dreamt about. Anyway. We made some, obviously beautiful, stops along the way. Before we got to Taupo we stopped at Huka Falls, which was a 20ft or so waterfall that we were told has an olympic swimming pool-size water load run through it every second. Mind boggling aye? That's a ton of water! It was so blue! Clearly, don't jump in is an obvious indicator, right? Apparently not. Some people jump in to try and survive the falls. No one has ever come back. How stupid can one honestly be?! After the falls, we drove all around Lake Taupo. Naturally beautiful. This lake is the biggest in New Zealand and Singapore could fit into it. Pretty interesting. By the time we hit Rotorua, we checked out some geothermal mud pools for a couple minutes. We were warned that Rotorua smells like rotten eggs... strange? It's because of all the sulfar that comes out of the mud pools. We got to experience that at the mud pools we stopped at. Yuk. The mud pools were really interesting. I've never seen anything like it before. They would splash like crazy, with a bare minimum of 400 degrees. We were also told not to stick our finger in it. Once again, you think that would be obvious, but no. A few weeks ago, some guy stuck his finger in it and it was only a matter of second until his skin shriveled down to the bone. He had to get it amputated. What brains he had! We hopped back on the bus for a few more minutes and winded down the mountain, right into the town of Rotorua. We arrived just in time for our Maori cultural dinner at 5. The Maori are New Zealand's native people and their cultural traditions are similar to those of Hawaii because their people came from the same place. A bus came and picked Karen and I up from our hostel around 5. We were labeled right off the bat as the "token Americans" because we were the only ones. Our driver was super sweet and funny. He had to have photographic memory because at the end of the night he remembered every single person's name on the bus. It was damn well impressive. I could never! On the way to their land where our cultural experience was held, our driver informed us of everything that was going to happen that night. The night started off with an opening ceremony of sorts, where the Maori dressed in their traditional clothing and imitated the birds and other animals that are in their culture. They use this as an imitation method and then peace was made to establish understanding between us and their people so we could enter their village to explore. They all had tattoos all over their body as a form of symbolization. Once inside the dark village, we walked around to different little huts where 1-2 people of the village would teach us more about their culture. After we finished in the forest, we went into a small theatre before we ate the dinner they cooked in a pit underground (we got to see them take it out and it smelled delicious). In the theatre, about 10 of the people from the forest came on stage and explained to us their music and some of their traditional songs. Words started coming out of their mouth... they all started to sing. I was blown away! I mean, really. They had some of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. Even the huge guys! We then made our way into the restaurant area where we had a buffet style dinner. Our guide was playing the guitar softly in the background after he dismissed each table up to eat. How soothing he was. After we finished up with dinner, the closing ceremony reminded me of an childhood memory... Brought me right back to home. Everyone stood up, he started singing a very familiar song... "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray..." Everyone was holding hands, we all formed lines together and joined in. What a moment. All the waitors and waitresses came out to join in as well. By just being their, I could really feel how much they enjoyed each other's company. Everyone was so happy and welcoming. It was a nice, warm feeling. They're really down to earth people, so kind to anyone they come across. What a beautiful soul each and every one of them had. Their really are good people out there. I'm so grateful to have experienced another culture in such a way that I'll never forget.

Beginning of opening ceremony

Wine, wine and more wine! New Zealand, Day 12

Once again, we woke up and caught breakfast downstairs just before we checked out of the hotel. We had to catch a taxi to the train, which we had about an hour ride or so on. We were in route to Martinborough... The land of fine wines. We weren't quite sure where we had to get off and ended up missing our stop. A very kind man let us use his cell phone and it wasn't a problem contacting our guide to get picked up from there instead. Whooopsie. The area was gorgeous. There were fields and fields of green with sheep all over the place. There were vineyards after vineyards. I was in heaven. I wanted to visit every single one of them! Some were smaller than others, mostly all using different grapes with various techniques when picking. We arrived at our first vineyard of the day and started to taste test right away! It was only 10:30a.m! Haha. What a wake up call! We tried 4 white wines and 4 reds. We had sauvignon blanc, chardonnay,  pinot gris and a reisling for the whites. Then we had 2 pinot noirs aaaand... I don't remember what else, but they were delightful. The finest wines are made in the region. We went around to four different vineyards and sampled many, many kinds. We also had a free glass at lunch along with our cheeses and things! It was a really enjoyable, relaxing day. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned much more about wine than I knew before. What a complex process it is to make any sort of wine! Our guide taught us so much, I was really pleased with the whole winery tour. So much that I sent a whole case home to enjoy over the hot summer for Ryan and I to enjoy. We were then in route on the way back to Wellington after our long day of taste testing at least 20 different wines. Best day ever, so classy ;) Rotorua tomorrow. Trip is dwindling down...

New Zealand Day 11

I woke up around 9 today, enjoyed breakfast downstairs & waited downstairs for our guide to pick us up for the Lord of The Rings tour. He came around ten in his movie tour bus, all cheesy like. Karen & I hopped in and we were off to pick up another girl. It was just the three of us for the day, which was nice. We were shown around various sets for the making of the movie. Our guide would drive us around to different places with his lap top in hand. He played scenes that took place where ever we were and showed us pictures from the set. It was interesting, but I'm not the biggest fan of LOTR movies so I wasn't as into it as Karen and the other gal. Don't get me wrong, they're great movies... Just not a die hard fan. We traveled through different parks and quarries through out various rainforests and mountains. It was nothing short of beautiful all day. They would chat about the movie scene that happened and I would gaze off into my own little world, daydreaming. I was taken back when he told us the movie was filmed in 1999. It’s already been 12 years since the first one came out! That’s nuts! The tour lasted until 2:30. We stopped for lunch in the middle of the woods underneath beautiful multi-colored. He picked us up some subway and drinks. We sat and chatted at a picnic table discussing American culture/sports in comparison to New Zealand. Quite funny. We sound so dumb trying to understand the game of rugby. After lunch, he showed us a few more scenes and dropped us back off at our hotel around 2:30. We had nibbles at our lounge and went out for din!

New Zealand, Day 10

Today was so relaxing. We took our time doing everything. We slept in and really kicked back. It was nice to slow down our trip a bit considering we've constantly been on the go every single day. We woke up at a decent time and went downstairs for breakfast and to the store for a few necessities. The rest of our day was spent mostly in the hotel because it was quite rainy, but we didn't care too much. We looked into things we could do for the following days spent in Wellington. Karen was more into doing Lord of The Rings move tour right outside of town & I wanted to visit a winery. So, we did the move tour on Tuesday & winery the following day. It worked out perfectly! We planned everything accordingly compromised a bit for one another. We met a very nice, retired couple later that evening in the club lounge that helped us out a bit with where to dine. We ended up at a Malaysian restaurant they recommended. Delicious! Locals always know best :)

New Zealand, Day 9

Of course, the weather as we left Kaikoura was beautiful. We could finally see the mountains, we hadn't been able to the past couple days because of the awful weather. The combination of the bright turquoise water and natural green mountains was picturesque! We enjoyed the view for a little while before we were out of town and headed north to Picton to catch the ferry to the North Island. We stopped a few minutes away from a hostel at another seal colony where there were tons of baby deals spread all over the rocks! So cute! There were hundreds all over the place. We left the seal colony and drove all along the coastline for a while. I wish I had more time to appreciate how pretty Kaikoura really was in the sunlight, rather than in clouds and rain. I can't complain though, we've truly been blessed with wonderful weather thus far. After getting breakfast, we drove through Marlborough ( WINE COUNTRY) straight on through to Picton. I wanted to stop so badly! So many vineyards were passing left and right. Can't we just stop for a morning taste?! Nope. We kept driving through the wonderful mountains. We shortly arrived in Picton and boarded the ferry. The ferry was massive ,by the way. It was literally a cruise ship. It had 10 decks! I've never been on a boat so big before. The trip over to the North Island took about 3 1/2 hours. Not too bad, as there was many entertainment options available on board. We cruised all through luscious green mountains and bright blue water. What beautiful nature, I just can't get enough of it. We arrived in Wellington, a smaller type city and stayed at a nice hotel overlooking the city. We were getting sick of the hostels and decided to stay somewhere nicer for a few nights, so worth it! The had a gym and a spa, perfect. We ate at an Italian restaurant called Portofino's for dinner. I had a nice seafood dish & Karen, typical American, branched out and had spaghetti! Ciao.

New Zealand, Day 8

DOLPHIN SWIMMING!! Ahhh, what an experience this was! Extremely cold encounter with dolphins, but absolutely phenomenal it was! Karen and I got to sleep in a bit today so we woke up feeling completely rejuvenated. Once again, the weather we woke up to wasn't what we had pictured in mind for a day out on the boat, but we figured we'd be in the water anyway so it didn't particularly matter too much. After we ate at a little cafe with a very rude lady that took our order, we were on our way to Dolphin Encounter. We got all suited up in our wet suits, booties, flippers, mask, etc! Anything we could get our hands on honestly to withstand that 60 degree water temperature. Which, really, doesn't sound to bad... but it was awfully cold. A lot colder than I had anticipated! My first jump off the boat I was hyperventilating. I had to lay on my back to catch my breath! Anyway, once we got out onto the boat our guide said it would only be about ten minutes to get to where the dolphins were. Within minutes, we could see hundreds of dolphins swimming everywhere. We were all so excited! We lined up on the end of the boat so we could slide off when they sounded the horn indicating us that it was okay to go in. We jumped in... I've never swam in colder water before in my life. The excitement numbed it for a little bit, but I could barely breath. Quite scary actually. We could see our breath, that's how cold it was. My fingers were turning purple. The cold water seeped through my mask/hood and trickled all the way down my body. We hopped off & on the boat 4 times. We can't keep up with the dolphins so they continuously would keep dropping us where ever they were swimming. The dolphins we were swimming with were completely wild, they're called dusky dolphins. So pretty! They're about 5-6 feet in length. The dolphins were literally inches away from our faces, all around! It seemed as if they were going to swim into us, but they don't touch humans. They'll play with ya though! We were told you have to make a high pitch sound to attract them towards you. Quite entertaining for the viewers on board I imagine, haha. All these swimmers going around squealing for the dolphins attention must've been entertaining.  I called one close to me and started swimming in circles with it. The dolphin made eye contact with me and followed me all around. It was awesome to have an actual interaction with them. We did this a handful of times, on and off the boat. I got off the boat and poured hot water down my wetsuit. That was it for me, I skipped out on the fourth dive. I was so warm by now, there was no way I was about to get back in! Although it was seriously awesome, I was done with that water! I got changed and started taking pictures and videos of the dolphins on the boat. I've never seen so many before in my life! What a wonderful experience this was, once in a lifetime! I really had a great day at sea. Off for a run, Thai for dinner & laundry, finally! Living out of a bag for weeks is a bit aggravating.

Picture doesn't do much justice, but their are literally hundreds.

New Zealand, Day 7

Getting back to you all... Picking up from Day 7! (I'm currently on Day 11 so I'll do my best to remember)
April 15th... We got on the bus and headed for Kaikoura via Christchurch. We continued to bus along through out the mountains, rainforests, hills & dry/flat land. The terrain here is just mind blowing. We stopped for breakfast and lunch along the way of our journey. Karen almost had a heart attack at lunch, she ordered Fish & chips and basically wound up with a bag of salt. Not even eatable. As we drove into Kaikoura, our bus driver informed us that Kaikoura simply means, "Where the mountains meet the Sea". He was right about that. Even though the weather wasn't the best for us here, we thoroughly enjoyed. It was quite cloudy and rainy. There were huge waves crashing against the rocks, ACTUAL boulders this time. Before we were dropped off at our hotel, our driver took us to the seal colony. This was my first time seeing seals! They truly look like a fish out of water. They all looked dead, but as we got closer they wiggled around a bit. Nothing crazy, sort of weird.  They were spread amongst the rocks and grass. We headed to our hotel after a few pictures. I took a run around town then we went for Indian. I'm never ordering Indian food HOT ever again. I was crying, seriously. I used a whole thing of yogurt he brought me. This shit was waaay too hot for my liking. I mean, really... How is that enjoyable? My nose was running, I've had the whole pitcher of water by now and wouldn't be apposed to him bringing me more yogurt. My god! After we got through dinner, we headed back to our place right down the road and called it quits.

New Zealand, Day 6

We're off! I mean, early too. We checked out of Dunedin & went straight on through to Lake Tekapo. Of course we stopped along the way scoping all the mountains and scenery. It's nuts how we'll be in the rainforest for a few minutes then go through a tunnel and the land is flat & dry. Complete opposites. We started off the morning by climbing the world's steepest hill. A bit of an early wake up hike! It was nice. I've never seen such thing. I don't understand what possess people to live on this street either (Baldwin Street, google it if you don't believe me). After the hike, we hopped back onto the bus to go see

"boulders". What a let down that was. A boulder is & should be massive. We got off the bus, walked down a path to the beach to see these little rocks that were maybe 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. I shit you not. Alright guy, just because we're backpackers doesn't mean you have to amp it up for us to be let down. Haha, no worries. Karen & I went into a little cafe for brekky & coffee. It was an all day adventure making it to Lake Tekapo, but we arrived eventually around 4:30p.m. We've been putting alot of time in on this bus! We checked in, threw our things down & off we went to rent mountain bikes. I'm so happy we did too. We got to view the Lake from afar & traveled all amongst these windy roads, passing sheep & lambs along the way. The trail we took was a lot longer than we expected. We didn't mind though, we were having a blast. We stopped at two wooden benches on the way back to embrace the scenery. What a beautiful little place this town was. Very little. We made our way back to the Lodge two hours later with sore legs & scenic memories embedded in our heads. Of course it wouldn't be a night without Thai or Indian. We walked into town bundled in our warmest clothing & went to Tekapo Thai, the best Thai I've ever had. After stuffing our faces, we walked back along the road... not too well lit, but it's very safe here. We arrived back to our Lake Lodge & took showers & jumped in bed. Nothing too exciting today, just tons of scenery & a long bus ride followed by a delicious dinner!

New Zealand, Day 5

Today, we checked out of Southern Laughter around 8a.m and waited in the frigid cold for our bus to pick us up again. From Queenstown, we drove all around the mountains with frequent stops along the way for pictures & restroom breaks. Our first stop was around 9:45a.m for brekky at a tiny café. I was in heaven, this café is known to have the best coffee in the south island of New Zealand. A skinny vanilla latte with an extra shot of espresso has never tasted so good before! We hopped back on the bus and came straight to Dunedin. This town has a strong Scottish heritage with marvelous beer, called Speites. We checked into the Leviathon Hotel and chilled before we hit the town in the late afternoon. We had nibbles at a café before our brewery tour at 6. It was my first brewery tour ever! I enjoyed it, a lot more interesting than I was expecting. There’s so much that goes into producing beer that I had never even thought about before. We tasted a few different beers. They had a malt beer that had a hint of coffee/mocha in it. I had to try it! Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Not an every day sort of beer, it was very dark and heavy. It was a good little taste though. We tried some others than went for a late dinner at the brewery. We decided to take a night off Thai or Indian for once. We chatted about life and things for a bit until we realized how upset we were becoming from the realization that we don’t have much time left here at all! Not New Zealand, but more so Australia as a big picture. Time is flying by here; that we know. It’s just crazy. My birthday was already two months ago! What the hell? Where does time go!?

New Zealand, Day 4 in Queenstown

Today was the first day we got to sleep in! Cha-ching! We woke up around ten andd threw our faces on and stepped right into our sneakers. We were out the door for the best meal of the day. What a crisp, fresh morning it was. As we walked down the hill from our hostel, Southern Laughter, I hopped into a hole in the wall tee shirt place. I was interested in the shirts until I heard my stomach growl. I asked the lady where we should head for breakfast & she sent us around the corner to Voodoo Cafe. Locals know best. She had it spot on! Strong coffee & a vegetarian omelette before jumping out of an airplane was delicious. Yes, I went skydiving… again! It was so enjoyable this time. I could actually enjoy the scenery and, surprisingly, relax. My tandem guy was from Syrbia, meaning he was a towering seven foot so we had no problems landing this time! Thank god, my bum wasn’t our landing for us both. It was another phenomenal experience. Dropping from a plane with mountains nearly as high as you are with white snowcaps was gorgeous. The greenish blue lakes below us as well.  Everything was so damn pretty. I feel as if a bit of me belongs here. Do you ever have that certain feeling of attachment to a place? So strong that your heart really latches onto it & you just automatically tell yourself, wow. This is me. I could see myself here. I could do this for a while. Well, I did. Queenstown has a backpackers, cosmopolitan sort of feel. It’s very chill and all the people are just lovely down to earth human beings. Everyone means well and is always there to help you out. It’s very clean and eco-friendly. There’s heaps and heaps of cafes and coffee shops that gaze over an enormous lake. It’s very outdoorsy, meaning opportunities are endless. So many ways to stay fit! The town is definitely my favorite thus far.

After our adrenaline rush from hell, Karen & I walked around town. It was nice to have a chill day to relax and do what we wanted with no bus worries. I purchased some Birkenstocks for a steal. We ate at Bombay Palace (Indian) for dinner. No complaints what so ever. I really want to try to cook Indian food when I return home. Later in the evening, I took a run around the beautiful lake and town. I stepped outside & took a deep breath of campfire. I could run forever with these views! I love that smell, it reminds me of home sweet home. It was nice, but I was well on my way jogging around town. When I returned after a few miles, Karen had the brilliant idea to go for gelato. It was a wonderful way to end our evening. Great gelato, so many flavors! We chatted over our cold gelato in the little hole in the wall dessert joint then headed back. Such early birds we are! It’s just so exhausting. We try to catch up on sleep as much as we can. I feel like I’ve been gone for ages & it’s only been 4 days… two weeks to go!