Where in the world am I today?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

South East Asia Pictures

I have posted the South East Asia pictures up on facebook, but made it accessable to anyone with the link... so you don't need to sign up for facebook to view, just go on ahead and take a look.

Each album has about 150-200 pictures, of people and of the places. Take your time and enjoy!

Thailand, Laos, Cambodia:
Part 1 - Thailand and Laos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127306&id=34800149&l=f6ee2c773a

Part 2 - Laos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127310&id=34800149&l=cd918d46c6

Part 3 - Cambodia
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127327&id=34800149&l=a9967f47b5

Cambodia-Prision and Killing Fields: Just a warning, this one has pictures of remains, it might be a little harder to digest visually, but I found it an important part of my trip.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127350&id=34800149&l=983e2e4f9a

Vietnam:
Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127351&id=34800149&l=b704a69e15
Part 2
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2127352&id=34800149&l=8097a43e4b

The New Zealand Pictures and Final Entry are coming soon. Check back next week.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Well, my adventure has come to an end, today was my last official day out of work, it's just the weekend and then back to true reality.

I'm tying up the loose ends of posting pictures on facebook, and finalizing my thoughts. I'll have about 2 more entries will links to the albums of the pictures, and my epilogue in the form of the last entry of TheTravelKat...

...until next time!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Fiji! Who knows what day it is!

Fiji has been lovely so far. Blue Skies, Blue Water, beach lovers paradise.

Today... which I think is... March... 21? We went on an all day snorkel, drinking, visit a village, sailboat ride. We snorkeled around where Tom Hanks filmed Castaway. That would have been super kewl of me to visit... had I actually seen the movie. I'll watch it when I get back... in like 4 days!!! Whoa. Time flies.

Fiji has its own slow time frame. In fact, when we landed in Fiji, the airplane had the wrong time. Fiji was supposed to be in the same timezone as Auckland, and... it's not. It's an hour off. It makes my head hurt thinking about it. Anyways... One more night here at Beachcombers and then off to Manta Ray Island for 2 nights, then.... flying home. Back to reality....

Friday, March 18, 2011

Airports! Airports!

Flight 1 is done... Christchruch to Auckland landed safely. Next up Auckland to Fiji. I'm attempting to kill time by updating.

We saw 4 other people from our tour waiting at the airport this morning. It's just like a constant reunion. I reckon that will stop now though as we were the only ones heading to Fiji.

All is well, and I'm looking forward to a slower pace over the next few days.

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Uploaded and sent from an iPad that's exploring Fiji. Please try not to mind the typos and spelling errors. Autocorrect does some funny things.
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Christchurch - March 18

The tour ended at 2pm as we all departed the bus and hugged goodbye. Because of the Christchurch earthquake in late Feb, our tour was cut short one day, and Andrea and I did not have accommodation. However, we did make a friend or 20 on the tour, and were able to stay in a room with a friend while we wait for our 5:40am flight.

This allowed us to continue a little bit of the tour momentum. Nine of us went closer to town, and found a place to eat, we talked and laughed and it felt like another night on the tour, until we had to part ways.

Part of going closer to the center of the city, is that we saw a little bit of the damage that happened during the earthquake. I saw houses that were standing, but not longer habitable, I saw homes crumbled into pieces. I saw side walks and road that were no longer flat, and were cracked, and though I overall wasn't to keen and going towards the center of the city, I'm happy I went along, because I was able to see how powerful and destructive mother nature is.

It might be a little odd to compare this earthquake to the death and dying I saw in Laos and Cambodia, but what I saw in each place has stuck with me in ways I still am unable to put into words.

Seeing the earthquake damage, and knowing the toll its taken on people today, and the lives it took, I felt sad. However, through the traveling through New Zealand, I have seen fellow Kiwis sending help, money, and spreading knowledge of the catastrophe in Christchurch, and it gave me faith in humankind again. People aren't always killing people, and humans come together in times of tragdity, and that's the important lesson.

After dinner, there were a few of us in the same hotel, and we sat together and had tea/hot chocolate. I felt it was a nice way to end this part of my adventure. Talking about real life and how to go back to it. Bonding over shared experiences in the past few weeks, and even a shared experince tonight when 4 of us that were still awake, experienced an aftershock earthquake together. Not something I chose to part take in like sky diving or bungy jumping, but yet another experience that made me feel lucky to be alive, and that I can take with me in my life.

I have about a week left before I return to New Jersey. Off to Fiji tomorrow morning. I feel the next few days will be a lot more of this type of reflection as my adventure winds down and I get ready to go back to reality.

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Uploaded and sent from an iPad that's exploring New Zealand. Please try not to mind the typos and spelling errors. Autocorrect does some funny things.
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Lake Ohau - March 17 and the last bus ride March 18

Lake Ohau is in the middle of no where. It is, though, the most sought after ski resort in New Zealand. Also, it is so intensely gorgeous.

As a side note, I no longer have any words different words to describe how stunningly wonderful the sights and scenery is of New Zealand. I do believe everyone should go see it. So, please excuse my repetitious use of gorgeous and beautiful. :)

In the summer time, the ski resort is closed... (it is opening in a month or so for the ski season off NZ). There are water sports offered (we weren't offered any, we got there late in the evening) and hikes available. Or, just sit out in a hot tub and stare at a crystal blue lake, with mountains, glaciers and gorgeous sky.

As this was the last official night of the tour, there was a party thrown... It was a toga party, and it was fun. Because the lodge we stayed at is built for the younger adults, there was a lot of areas to lounge around, and I found myself in another set of great conversations on bean bag chairs. I also was able to enjoy an almost full moon, and the countless stars in the night sky.

The morning came to quickly, and we were all up by 7, packing the bus, and making our way to Christchurch for the 2pm drop off and ultimate end of the New Zealand tour.

Milford Sound - March 16 to 17

Driving to and from Milford Sound was beautiful, with the recent rainfall, there were waterfalls everywhere through the mountain ranges and in the forests. Our bus driver and tour guide (2 people) had make quite a few stops, so we were able to walk around and even walk through some 20 min loops in parks.

One of the stops was called the Pancake Rocks... apparently people think these rocks look like a stack of pancakes... I thought it looks more like a 7 layer cake, with 100 layers. Yum. The pancake rocks had a very nice walk and view.

Another stop was called the Chasm. It was in the middle of a jungly area and was basically ginormous rocks that glacier water had made it's way through over many many many years....

Bus scenery again, lovely, and so was napping on the bus. We also played bus games to keep us entertained for all the traveling.

However, Milford Sound, was very nice. We stayed overnight on a boat. We cruised around the inner circle, and saw large water falls, seals, and penguins. Sadly, it started to rain, which put a damper on some of the activities that were offered. Nonetheless, we played a killer game of Here and Now - New Zealand Addition of Monopoly. It was fun to have visited most of the places on the board. :)

That night was a little rocky on the boat, but it lead to more bonding and good conversations with fellow tour mates. I had a great time that night because it was such a chilled out, lounge-y night.

In the morning, we cruised into the Tasmin Sea, and saw some pretty sights through rain drops.

By mid day on the bus ride back, the sun was shining, and the ride on the bus was.... well.. like what I wrote above.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Queenstown Morning 3- March 16

WHOOOOOSH! - That's the sound it made when me and my tandem skydiving buddy Marcus jumped out of the aeroplane at 15,000 ft. It was soooo fantastic. This was my second jump, I had jumped before in Australia. However, the scenery in this jump was truly amazing. Snow caped mountains, lakes, valleys, towns, a city, green green trees.... And I was floating down to them. The rush was great, and the views were escalated to beyond fantastic.

So, after 2 attempts... and a couple extra hours of waiting... we did get to sky dive! Queenstown was rocked by this tour group. We came, we saw, we jumped, we rafted, we won. I feel so pumped up about how well we did at conquering everything Queenstown had to offer.

This afternoon... off to Milford Sound.

Queenstown - Day 2 - March 15

Another early start, especially after a late, yet fun night, the night before.

8am start for white water rafting! It was a fantastic morning for it, the night before had a lot of rain, so the river was moving fast, which meant the rapids were stronger! We went through some Category 3 and 4s, that might have been considered 4 or 5s even! The Shotover River was beautiful, there were goats climbing on the mountain sides as we rafted under them... the sky was a goregous blue, the trees and plants were bright healthy green, and the rocks and formations were amazing. After we went through a cave on the raft, and through a waterfall... rafting was over, and it was time for the speed jet boat.

This boat only needs 8 cm off water to run, we were going 90 kilometers/hour, cutting close corners, and doing 360s. I was able to use my new water proof camera to take some pictures of the scenery... hopefully they came out.

That afternoon, after some washing was folded, we went to the Giant Canyon Swing. 200 meter drop... 6 second free fall, and right over a point in the river we were rafting on the same exact morning! A friend (Kathryn) and I jumped off tandem together, and then I did one jump by myself. Totally gorgeous, and thrilling. Yes, I have videos and pictures.

That night, we had a fantastic pizza dinner, and went to another bar, and rode a mechanical bull, then, off to bed.... seriously by 9:45, in bed.

Queenstown - Day 1 - March 14

First off, everyone, happy pi day! 3.14!

The day started off as a bummer. We got up super early for our main event of the day - sky diving... and the weather was bad (nice day, but windy) so it was cancelled for Wednesday morning, hopefully that will go through.

Next, I went back to the hotel, and watched the back of my eye lids for a bit, had a proper breakfast, while others went bungy jumping and a few other activities. I found some people who were doing my next activity, and we went in to town to have lunch at Fergburger... fabulous burger joint that is internationally know... The burgers were as good as promised.

Next up... Mad Dog River Rafting! Basically, we had a boogie board, wetsuits and flippers, and we went down rapids just like that. It was awesome, the views were beautiful during the calm parts (and probably during the rapids too but I was focusing on surviving. :) ). At the end we we played on water slides into the river, and I ended up doing a backflip off a canyon rope, into the river. It was amazing fun. Hard work, but awesome.

That night was intense party night, bar hopping was very much enjoyed. We went to an ice bar! So cool! ha.ha. get it. cool. ;) It was -7.4* (c) in there! brrrrrr Then we went to the bar across the way, and then to a bar down the street, and then... I went to sleep in my bed at the hotel. Like good little girl. :)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Franz Josef - March 13

Overnight we stayed in a backpackers in in Franz Josef. We had a refresh start, and was packed up, fed breakfast, and on our way to our HeliHike by 7 am. Quite early.

We got to the summit of Fox Glacier at 7:30, and 18 of us were on our way to the HeliHike on the glacier by 7:45. This tour included at 15 minute helicopter ride viewing the Fox Glacier (which is still actively growing) and we got dropped off at a midpoint, and were ready to hike up the glacier.

It was amazing. The views were spectacular. Around the Fox Glacier there is jungle, then just a massive amount of ice flowing down into the valley. It's unbelievable.

We hiked up 100 meters higher above sea level than where we landed, we walked into ice caves, drank glacier water, saw streams of ice and water flow, and learned a thing or two about glaciers. First, Fox is a young glacier. The ice at the summit is only about 100 years old, most summits have ice that is 1000s of years old. Fox grows about 7 cm a day, and rises and falls in length. There are many birds of prey that fly around however, there is hardly any life on the glacier.

Today was just another stunningly beautiful day. After we finished the hike, we hiked back down to the helicopter point, and were picked up. Our experience was about 4 hours of beauty.

Next stop was to Queenstown. The route we took was gorgeous and very scenic. THe south island is defiantly prettier than the north island of New Zealand. However, the north island still beats most places in the world.

Tonight we took a gondola ride up, and had dinner up on the sky tower of Queenstown. One, it was great view, two it was an all you can eat buffet of grommet foods. It does not get better than that.

We hit up the town in style after dinner. However, tomorrow will be a long day of fun activities, so I was one of the early returners to the hotels.

Maybe some jumping out of things tomorrow, and i sense some water rapids approaching... more on that in tomorrow's post though. :)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Beautiful landscape... too much bus time!

I think I have messed up my dates in previous entries. I know today is the 12th, and I traveled yesterday so that was the 11th, but previous entries seem to be dated wrong. All in all I am keeping daily logs that are being posted.... however this entry will cover March 11 and March 12. Essentially, these two days were traveling on the bus.

On the 11th, we went form the north island to the south island, by ferry boat. It was like a giant cruise ship size ferry! The crossing took 3.5 hours, and I slept in the lounge area for 3 of those hours, it was super nice and refreshing.

We were supposed to stay in Christchurch on the 10th but with the earthquake, plans changed, and we stayed in a lovely little town with a strange name that I can not spell. Half the rooms had kitchens in them, so I made a nice little dinner for 6 of us again of stir fry and beef and heaps of veggies. It was quite a great meal.

Today (the 12) we had 8 hours of bus driving down the south island, but we made a few stops along the way. We stopped at a few scenic overlooks for great pictures, and then at the "pancake rocks" (I was disappointed they didn't really look like pancakes... but basically the rocks are layered one on top of the other...like a stack of pancakes.... lame. ;) ), we stopped at the first museum to have a street lamp, nicked name the city of lights. We also stopped at a jade factory... I may or may not have been suckered into buying something. :)

New Zealand, is beautiful. It it so green and so lush. Even the gorgeous (seriously) days in spring time that it rains in New Jersey for days, and then the sun comes out, and everything is alive, and green and budding, do not compare to even the rainy days I've seen here. The beautiful sunny times of the days, the trees and ocean and mountains are just overwhelming. I doubt there is a prettier landscape in the world. I have take a lot of photos of what we have driven by, include sheep, cows and deer, but I do not think the photos will even do justice to how amazing the vividness of the greens and blues of the trees and sky and water are.

Wellington - Day 2! March 10

After a long night out, we had a free day in Wellington. Most everyone ended up doing the same activity, which was to go to the (free entry!) Te Papa Museum. However, sadly, none of us were in the mood to learn or read signs. So we walked around, played in the children's part of the museum, went to the earthquake simulator felt/saw a 3 min presentation on that... and walked back to the hotel.

That afternoon, after a lovely nap, our Tour Manager Barnaby, offered to take everyone to the Botanical Gardens. About 7 of us went (of 47), and it was gorgeous. There were pretty flowers, and I played with my camera. There was a rose garden with 150 different types of roses in it, all in bloom. Frankly, it was just a nice day out, and it was good too be outside when it wasn't to hot or cold, and to not really have a care in the world.

Next up, we all talked and relaxed on the patio of the hotel bar. It was a nice few hours of talking and then off to dinner. 1/2 of the group went bowling (I was in that 1/2) and the other went some where else...

Bowling was great! New high score 112! weeee! However, the pins were on strings... and that was odd. So instead of wobbling properly to fall down, the pins wobbled and then straightened out. Regardless of strings on pins, the food was good, company was good, and the night was fun.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Earthquake and tsunamis

Hello readers! I've heard about the Japan earthquake. It's pretty serious over there. I'd like tot inform you quickly, before I get on the bus and lose internet connection, that I should be okay down in the south island of New Zealand. I will do my best to keep out of harms way, and I think I will be able too, so put your worries towards a different cause. We should be okay!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wellington Day 1 - March 9

Today was mainly a driving day. It took 6 hours of bus driving time to get from Taupo to Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand.

Wellington is a gorgeous place. There are mountains, there is water views, there is city and suburb. It's just lovely.

After leaving at 8 am, we got to the hotel around 3:30. I went for a walk with a new friend, had lunch and hit up an internet cafe, as wifi was really expensive everywhere. It was a very relaxed and crusiey afternoon. I actually watched TV after I showered for our night out oon the town. I watched Harry Potter, suddenly the accents didn't sound so odd anymore.

We had dinner out tonight at a local restaurant. There was great music, great drinks, fabulous food, and fun games. I did get tired, and I left early tonight, but, I'm just trying to maintain energy so I can keep up during the day with fun activities!

Tomorrow a museum and botanical gardens. It should be very pretty

Taupo - March 8

Today was a great day. In the morning, about 2/3rds of the tour went together to a rocks and ropes course. We climbed ropes and vines, and did crazy things like jump off poles to catch a trapeze 3 meters away (BTW I did catch it). It was a fantastic, hard work out of a morning. I love the adereline pumping through me.

But that wasn't all... today I bungy jumped from 47 meters high! (154.2 feet). I never thought I would do it, but I did. It was pretty awesome. I actually did the jump over water, and even opted to be dunked in up to my shoulders, and was! I was a sucker, and got the video, so I'll put that up for y'all to see.

Andrea and I also did the bungy canyon swing together. Essentially, you free fall for 7 to 10 seconds and then like a giant swing, swing together. It was awesome.

In the evening, we had a costume party on a boat. The theme was: Rockstars, groupies, or something with the first letter of your name. I went as a kitten (*K*athleen), 4 girls got face make up and went as the band KISS... they did a fantastic job. The dinner had great food, and we watched the sunset on the water. As a group, we caught of grand total of 2 rainbow trout off the back of the boat. After 4 hours of cursing, we went to a local bar, where I got picked up to play pool with some locals... I felt pretty kewl after that.

Things are good. However, I think I might need a vacation....

Rotorua - March 7

Today was another... odd day, great but I did odd things. I liked it.

In the morning, we went took a bus ride from Waitomo to Rotorua. We made a stop at the Agrodome. Do you know what they do there? Probably not, unless you happened to memorize my itinerary.

The Argodome puts on an interactive farming and herding show. The audience was taught about the many...many types of sheep that are in the world, and the difference in the wool. We were taught how to milk a cow, feed baby sheep, and we watched a sheep get sheared! Then we got t o experience how fantastic sheepdogs are. We met 2 types, one that herds just by a look, and doesn't bark, and one breed that barks. The sheep were kewl, the dogs were kewl, and the presentation was great. I throughly enjoyed the humor and the enthusiasm of the presenter.

Next up on the agenda was Zorbing! There really is no way for me to describe zorbing to you, other to put it like this.... Imagine a human size hamster ball, inside a double the size meant for a human hamster ball. The smaller ball is filled with water, and then the crazy person (that would be me) going for the ride jumps in, and rolls down a hill at quite a rapid pace. It was great. I suggest, looking Zorbing up on YouTube.com to get a better idea. My videos and pictures won't be posted for at least a few weeks from now.

After I was a human hamster, I went to Rainbow Ranch, which is a wildlife reserve. I saw rainbow trout, ducks, swans, wallabies, and best of all a Kiwi Bird! I had a great time with the small group of us (5) that went, I got a lot off pictures and was able tok play with my fancy camera for the first time in days, as it's been raining since I got to New Zealand.

The afternoon was looking up, until my activity I had chosen to to, got canceled because off wind. Instead, I ended up going to the local thermal spring Maori Village, which had the weirdest longest name I've ever seen, Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao, or Whakarewarewa for short. (I made sure that I spelt that right... totally not making it up.

So the village, was interesting., There are thermal mineral springs and pools through out the whole village, and the tribe uses the thermal activity to cook food, bathe, live long lives, etc. Very intresting stuff. The village smelt like sulfur, this is because of the thermal activity. Apparently the molten is pretty close to the surface, infect the grown even in the shade was hot to the touch. We also were around during the time that the geysers went off, so that was pretty to view.

Dinner was lovely. We had what was told to us to be an authentic Maori dinner, complete with a Maori hangi dance show. Some of the people on tour were brought up to teh stage and were taught some dancing. The dancing was very enthusastic, and at times kind of scary. A lot of it was about war and fighting and getting hyped up to fight. Some of the men had tradition tattoos including ones on their face. It was a fun afternoon and night of traditional culture.

After dinner, some people ended up in my room for a little tea party before bed, it was fun talking with them about different foods, candy, and other culture differences.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Hello!

HI Readers, so I have updated a few entries on my journal, but there seems to be a lack of wifi where ever I go. So, please hold for 2 more days before I upload serveral entries again.

New Zealand is a lot of fun, and I'm having a great time with the adrineline junkie stuff. I've climbed ropes, parasailed, bungy jumped, swam in the ocean and bays, partied a bit, and went through caves 65 meters underground. I'm having a blast. What a climate change from Asia. I'll be in touch!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Waitomo - March 6

Today we ventured back to Auckland, to pick up the rest of our tour, that didn't go to the Bay of Islands with us. So far they seem like a good bunch of fun people. While in Auckland, I picked up a water proof camera. However I didn't end up using it in today's activity. Maybe sometime else.

But... who cares about them, lets get into the fun stuff!

After a bunch of hours on the bus we arrive at Waitomo. This is where famous caves are located. As an optional activity, we went black water tubing through the caves. Essentially, black water rafting/tubing is doing tubbing/rafting in the dark, i.e. a cave!

It was quite the cold experience... quite cold indeed. The company provided us with wet suits, which did work nicely, and along the way they gave us chocolate to keep our sugar levels up, which was not only nice of them, but delicious as well. We also had helmets with lights on them to protect us from low parts of the cave, I was quite thankful for that at one unexpected low ceiling.

We saw so many interesting things. The caves were 65 meters under ground. They had stale-mites and stagnates (sp?) forming for the past 4000 years, It was a great view.

Beside the kewl rapids and jumps we did for adrenaline rushes in the caves, the best part were the 'glow worms'. We all turned off out helmet lights at a few points and just looked up at the top of the cave, and there were hundreds of greenish yellowish glowing spots. Like the color the insides of a glow stick, is the best way i can describe it.

So glow worms is just what they are called, they are actually more like maggots, and the glowing part is actually excrement. In short, these awesome things were really, glow maggot's poop. Whatever it was, it was so awesome and beautiful.

After we finally made our way out, after almost 2 hours, we were given tomato soup and a bagel. It was the best soup ever... most likely because I was so frozen.

Back at the motel, we had another good included BBQ. It was delicious, and I had some great NZ ice cream for dessert. Then off to a local pub. I got to know more of my new tour group better, I was able to dance a bit, talk, and bond with people. It was a lovely evening.

On the bus today, we picked the rest of our optional excursions to do... so I do know what's ahead for me, activity wise, however I'll leave you guess. Tomorrow will definitely be another great day.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Paihia, Rain, Dolphins, Sailing and Dinner Parties

The second day in Paihia was fantastic... minus the massive amount off on and off again down pouring rain.

Andrea and I chose to do a full day out on the Bay of Islands with ExploreNZ. Basically, our day started as, get up, breakfast, walk to the docks, get on boat 1 to find some dolphins.

After about an hour (I'm not totally sure I took a nap on the boat (indoors this time ;) ), we found them! A grouping of 5 to 7 dolphins! They were game to play with us So we slid on snorkels, fins and got into the water and basically swam around with the wild dolphins. They were so kewl! I could touch them (had I had the nerve to do so) but I dove under water and swam with them! Amazing animals!

Mind you this was all down during a rain storm. Nothing like swimming in the ocean during rain! Actually, to be honest, the water was warmer than the outside air.

Next off, we were all dropped at restaurant somewhere on an Island in the bay. We played a few card games, watched the "easing" downpour of rain and had some lunch. Easing rain was how the weather was explained to us... apparently... easing means raining harder, not lighter.

After lunch, we were given awesome rain jackets and we headed to the New Zealand Lion, a yacht that won something in 1985, and went around the world, basically a giant sail boat. (I took some pictures of the rigging for any sailing enthusiasts that may happen to be reading the blog).

We took some jumps and then a swim around the yacht, and then in order to get closer to some penguins, but... when we got to them... they were not actually penguins, but some kind of seagull. That was sad. However, what was more sad is that while 5 of us swam 3/4 of a mile away from the boat, 2 actually penguins showed up next to the boat! Go figure.

After swimming, we set sail, it was a nice smooth ride, but really, the rain was no fun, and i lost feeling in my toes and fingers, and eventually had to go down in the boat to heat up next to an engine of some sort.

I've come to the conclusion, I am not a boat person. I appreciate how kewl they can be, and how much fun they can be. But between my sunburn last week and my loss of body heat today... I've had some crazy extreme boat experiences in the past 2 weeks. I'm good for a while.

Meanwhile... I'm going black water rafting tomorrow.... in some 'easing' rain.

Continuing on today (BTW March 5), we got back to show, and I couldn't wait to have a warm shower. It was amazing. :)

The room we are staying currently, has a kitchen which was nice. Andrea and I have made some friends, and some how Andrea 'sold me out' and told them I could cook. So, some of the guys went off to the supermarket, and came back with chicken, garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and gravy.... I totally made a meal of it! I fed 6 people, and then we gave the left overs to some others that were mulling around outside. It was so nice to cook again. Especially, cook something 'normal' like chicken. I've missed the relaxing-ness of cooking.

Andrea and Kathrine did the dishes and everyone stayed over our room until 11 or so, with people stopping in to hang out for a bit. It was a really nice, relaxing night.

Tomorrow, Bus ride in the morning back to Auckland, then off to somewhere else (forget the name currently) and then black water rafting, where I should be seeing glow worms and crazy stuff.

Currently with all the water stuff, I am really wishing I had a water proof camera. Oh well, next 2 month trip I take. ;) (yeah right)