Monday, November 28, 2011 Good on Ya! November 28th, 2011 I can't believe my time in NZ is almost done---nooooooo!!!!!! Ok, truth be told, I'm really looking forward to getting to Asia for budgeting sake (Aus and NZ are expensive!!!) but I am sad to leave this great land and my great new friends. I parted ways with most of them in Queenstown and was sad until I got on my new bus and was reunited with others on the bus for the last leg of my NZ adv...

Monday, November 28, 2011 I was Wrong?!?! Queenstown-- I was wrong??!! I know, I was just as shocked as you are right now. It's never happened before and I don't plan on making a habit of it, but I was wrong! Before arriving in Queenstown, I heard repeatedly how much I would love it. I have to admit, that I was very skeptical and actually expected to dislike the city. Boy am I glad I was wrong!!! This place is amazing!!!! On our way to...

Monday, November 28, 2011 Life as a Traveler It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting in Duke Backpackers Hostel in Greymouth, NZ . We arrived here last night around 6:30pm and by the time the whole group was checked in and in their rooms, it was around 8pm. At that time, we had to cook dinner, clean up, and wait for the free soup by the hostel (a corn chowder, actually pretty good). By the time we did all that and made it back to the room it was 9 ...

Saturday, November 26, 2011 Life in the South (Island) Hey gang! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm having a blast still and will try to recap some of the highlights here for you. Cheers! : ) 1. WWellington (last North Island stop) On my last night in Wellington, I had dinner with old family friends, the Blowers. It was SO nice to get dressed up, be in a fancy restaurant, and eat yummy food! Living life as a backpacker, this is...

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 I Got Nothin' Sunday, November 16, 2011 We hiked the Tongariro Crossing today which was an amazing experience. Tongariro is one of 3 mountains formed from volcanoes and the geothermal activity is still very active. The hike itself started out pretty easy and my friends and I were a bit too cocky, wondering what all the Kiwis had hyped about it being so hard….after a few hours, we soon found out! The estimated hik...