Hello....no longer in New Zealand, but traveling none the less.

I just got back from a cross country road trip this last week. Me and a friend traveled for almost three weeks, clocking in 3,000 miles from Santa Cruz CA to visit a friend in Bloomington, IN. We passed through so much along the way there and back-- the barren rocks of Nevada, camped along the Oregon trail in Idaho, navigated past bison in Yellowstone National park in Wyoming, spent some time posing with giant jackalopes at Wall Drug in South Dakota, and enjoyed the corn lining the highway through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. It was nice to sleep in one place for a while in Bloomington. We toured the campus of Indiana Uniersity Bloomington, ventured to the children's museum in Indianapolis for some dinos and King Tut, and my friend bought copious amounts of candy in Nashvillne, Indiana. And yes, apparently there is some place called Brazil, Indiana.

On our way back from Indiana, we drove through Kentucky, stopped in Nashville, Ten. to see the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, drove past the St. Louis arch, powered through Kansas as fast as possible, stayed in Aspen Colorado a couple of awesome nights with a contact, braved the lonely highway 50 back across Nevada, and finally crossed the finish line in Santa Cruz, CA. Awwww.

Now that I have better grasp on the geography of the USA, I must say that every state has definitely stolen at least ten city names from another...if not also another country. Driving through the bible belt...well, at least the corn belt proved that you could have giant Jesus saves billboards 30 feet away from larger billboards for the "Lion's Den Adult Emporium."

Overall, it was great to see more of America and made me realize just how big this place is. Here's to more adventures soon!

Awww snap, I'm back!

Hello. Now I am writing this from California, which means that I have returned to the fun and sun...kind of. Tons of NZ adventures since my last post....jumped off the Skytower (the tallest free standing builing in the southern hemisphere), visited my friend's cool farm up North, exploring some beautiful beaches, and relaxing around Auckland for my final days in NZ. I'll let the photos do the talking....

I'll be back with more in a few days!

Well well well.....Wellington!

hey.

Finished final exams and decided to go on a two day adventure down in Wellington, which has been described as a cross between San Francisco and Europe. Hearing all of these stories about how windy and cold it is, I brought lots of layers. A friend and I flew in during the evening, after our flight was delayed. Booked a hostel, got some food, and went exploring around the harbor area.

The next day we journied to the Wellington Zoo. I got to stand way too close to a giraffe's gaping jaws, see some baboons run around, feed a chimp an apple (from a safe distance of course, because I enjoy having fingers), and watch Tahi, the famous one legged Kiwi bird eat ox heart. All of the animals were very cool, and also looked very cold.

After the zoo, we went to the museum. It was very large, but had most of the stuff spread out. While I am a fan of culture and history and blah blah blah....I really wanted to go to the museum to gaze upon the COLOSSAL SQUID! It was down right huge. Other great exhibits included a giant Moa getting attacked by a Haast eagle (YES!), a replica of a blue whale's heart that children could climb in, a bright green glowing human skeleton, and a giant light up map of New Zealand that you could walk on.

Walking and standing all day made me hungery for dinner. Ended up going to an Indian food place on the famed Cuba street and then to an Italian eatery that claimed to have the best hot chocolate (pretty much). Went back to the hostel and walked in on a movie playing in the TV lounge, so I have now seen half of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." I am content with just seeing half.

The next day started with an early morning "fire alarm goes off, grab your shoes, coat, and wallet and abandon the building with 300 other people" bang at 6:15. Rode the cable car in central Wellington. Then headed to Miramar to see WETA Cave, a "mini-museum" (which lived up to it's discription) and gift shop connected to WETA workshop, the effects studio that Peter Jackson cofounded. I can't say that I'm particularly into statues of elven figures or Dr. Who, but this was something my friend wanted to see, and I had already gotten my choice with the zoo.

The flight back to Auckland was delayed, but we managed to fight our way back through rush hour traffic to arrive back at the International House in time for dinner. It was a good mini trip, and I would like to go back to Wellington again to explore more.