Australia

Saturday night was a long night, but we woke up bright and early getting ready to jump off a bridge. We got dressed and headed into town where the bus was going to pick us up.
There were about 18 people at the office all ready to go bungy jumping. The guy picked us up in the bus and we headed about 25 minutes out of town to the bungy jumping bridge.
The bridge is very old and only used for bungy jumping. It was the very first spot for bungy jumping in the world. It is 43 meters high which is about 140 feet high or something like that. I am so nervous at this point. My hands were shaking and I just had a huge pit in my stomach.
We got to the site and they take your weight and you have to sign a waiver saying it's not their fault if you die. you're the stupid idiot jumping off a bridge. lol. Actually a few people in Queensland said it was one of the safest things you can do out of all the activities.
So after that we headed to the bridge. We all lined up ready to go and watched the people in front of us go. Meribeth got to the front. they suited her up and she just jumped.
It was my turn next. You go down to a small platform and two guys help suit you up. They give you a harness around your waist, and then they lay a towel out to put around your feet. You think oh my god would if my feet slip out of this towel. Outside of the towel they put some bungy cord type things around your feet. One of them connects to the harness around your waist. I told the guy I was really scared and he said okay well my job is to get you off the bridge. So I stood up and he helped me to the edge. It was so scary thinking I actually have to jump off the bridge with a river flowing beneath me.
so I walked to the very edge with my toes slightly hanging off. Then he says look at the camera and wave to the spectators. by the time I had tears in my eyes because i was so scared. The guys says to me of course you're scared. It's not natural to jump off a bridge. he says he's going backwarsd from 5 and then I jump. Okay 5-4-3-2-1...No jump. The guy looks down and says where have you gone? haha It was really cute in his new zealand accent. I started to laugh so it made me alittle less nervous. I get ready again and this time I stared out across the river instead of down. He counts again and I just jumped! It was the craziest feeling I've ever experienced. You just free fall down in the air. Just as I was about to touch the water the bungy pulled me back up and I bounced a few times. It was an amazing feeling. After that you feel so stupid for taking so long to do it. I loved it! After you stop bouncing they lower you down and two guys in a boat drift over to you and disconnect you. You then walk up a large walkway to the top where a veiwing area is. The funny thing is that they have t.v.s so everyone can hear what the guy at the top is telling people before they jump. so Meribeth got to hear it all and she said she was a little nervous I wasn't going to do it. A guy a few people back from me backed out, so that was sad because you don't get a refund.
We ended up getting a free dvd because we went for the 9:00 a.m. tour. Apparently, nobody books the morning times so they needed an incentive. I think everyone is usually too hung over to go that early. they also give you a free t shirt and you see at least two people a day wearing these shirts.
So it was over pretty quick and we were back on the bus at 11 a.m. So we went back to the hostel and took another nap. When we woke up we decided we wanted to do a little hike. Two of the American guys we had been hanging out with decided to go with us. so we went out to a small town called Glenorchy. It had about 4 buildings total in the whole town and I think about 40 people live there. On our way out we decided to stop at a viewpoint of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful! Unbelievable really.
We got back in teh car and I realized I had left my camera case on the top of the roof. Goodbye camera case! I was pretty sad but I let it go. So we get to Glenorchy and we realize wow we really really need gas. It was on empty and the light was already on. Apparently, those 40 people that live in the town don't need gas after 6 because the gas station was closed. We decided to go down to the lake and skip some rocks and then we went for alittle hike.
We went back into town and had some food and beer at a local bar/cafe. It was pretty good. It was so quiet and peaceful and the townspeople were really nice.
After that it was time to make the drive back into Queenstown. It was about a 35 minute drive so we were really pushing it with the gas. On our way back I told everyone to keep an eye out for my camera case just in case. They all laughed at me and made fun of me for thinking we would find it.
The guy in the back seat and I were looking out the window when this little black square thing was on the side of the road. I screamed for Meribeth to pull over and I ran out. Sure enough it was my camera case. It was in great shape, not ran over or anything. I was so happy!
So we got back into town on fumes and pulled up to the closest gas station (petrol station they call them here). We decided to get some wine and go sit in the hot tub at the hostel for a while.
We got the wine got our swim suits and went and hung out in the spa. The stars are absolutely amazing here and you can see the milky way and just about every star ever created in the sky. I really wish I can explain the beauty of new zealand but there really are no words for it.
So we talked about America and New Zealand and everything in between.
After we got out we talked for a while more and then headed to bed. The next day we were leaving Queenstown and heading to Milford sound. We were really sad to leave Queenstown. We had made some great friends, did so many great things, and absolutely loved the scenery. I fell in love with Queenstown!

Today we woke up at about 7 a.m. because we had to go into town and check in for our river surfing group. We checked in and a bus came and picked us up. We drove out of town for about 40 minutes. It was a very scenic route with the river flowing almost the whole way and all the mountains cascading along the road. We passed the bridge that we were bungee jumping off. It was pretty high so that got us a little nervous.
We finally ended up at a little mock gold mining city, where they run tours at. The river surfing group stores their gear there. So we walked back to the very back and got suited up with wet suits, boots, flippers, helmets, and boogie boards.
My boogie board was a blue piece of styrofome! It was not the most comforting thing, to jump in a river that is about 15 degrees celcius and the only thing I have to hold on to is a boogie board. So I'm really nervous by this time. We headed up to the bus and went up the river about 7 kilometers. We all unloaded and the first thing we had to do was jump in the water to get our bodies used to it. This river is the water that comes from the mountains when the snow melts. So even with wet suits on it still feels like you're sitting in a bucket of ice. Sure enough you do get used to it and we were ready to move on to the lesson.
For about 20 minutes they show you how to turn and what parts of the river to stay on. The guide in the front has hand motions and he tells you which way to go and we all have to stay behind him so he can tell us what to do. Easy enough...
So we try a few moves in the water (very slow moving water) so we can get a feel for how it works. You have to point the board in certain directions and kick like there is no tomorrow. It was actually pretty physical stuff.
So everyone did fine in the practice so we were ready to go down the river. There were 3 guides, one to take pictures, one to lead the group, and the other to stay behind and help the stragglers. I was determined not to be a straggler. The guide in the front said anyone that is nervous come to the front. I'm not sure if I've ever moved that fast in the water before to get in the front. Maybe when I saw the jelly fish but it's a close race.
So I was right behind the guide and we were ready to go. It was smooth sailing for about 2 seconds and then bang! The water comes over the top of you and pushed you every which way. You're supposed to turn and go with the water, but it's pretty scary when you have really no control of where you're going or what you're doing. They forgot to mention to that you can't see the arm motions the guide is doing, when your face is underwater. haha so it was an interesting start.
I was no longer in the front but drifting toward the center of the group. There were about 10 of us and since we had no control of where we went, we were all crashing into each other. I pretty much piggy backed my way down half the river. Lets just say we all became very special friends in the river that day. haha.
So anyways, we pass the first set of rapids and I think hmm this is pretty fun, I'm doing okay. Kicking is getting pretty tiring because I just tried to kick my way out of everything instead of turning and flowing with the water, but it was good stuff. Then he says okay everyone line up we're going through maneater.
This rapid was incredible. It was a small drop and then we were all just lost from there. All I could do was hold on to my board for dear life. I hit the rapid and my board flew up in the air, and I was right on top of it because I was not about to let go. It flipped me backwards so I was under the board. Then it drags you under water, spins, you around, and all of the sudden you are out of the rapid.
That was pretty intense, it was hard to come out of that and go right back to trying to turn and stay on your board. So yep I became a straggler. The guide in the back had to pull me out of a whirl pool because I started to spin towards the middle of it. Then he went down a little ways with me. There was an area where there were huge rocks sticking out of the water. This is phenomenal to me because the river was about 8 meters deep so about 25 feet deep. So we get going and I'm kicking like a mad woman and just not going anywhere, so the guide pushed me away from the rocks.
It went okay. I made it. We went through a few more rapids and then the water was calm. So we floated on our boards for about 20 minutes. It was beautiful and relaxing. You didn't have to do any work because the river just carried you. We just rested on our boards. It was great because I was getting a massive cramp in my calf from kicking and the water being so cold.
One of the guides went and got a jet ski, and one by one he towed us around the river on a large styrofome looking thing. It was really fun. He gave everyone about a 10 minute turn. The river is fun because there's waves and bumps and twists. It was great.
After everyone got a turn we came to a point where we could go rock jumping. We had life jackets on and helmets so it was pretty safe. The rocks were 5 meters up, 12 meters up, 17 meters, and 23 meters up. There are about 2.3 feet in a meter I think? Something like that. So we all did the 12 meter rock jump. Meribeth went first. I was supposed to go next but I wanted to see a few more people do it. It was my turn and I got to the rock and said okay someone else go then I'll go. So another guy went then I got back out to the ledge.
It is a crazy feeling thinking you are going to jump off a rock. It was about 40 feet up. So I got to the ledge, and I think my stomach left way before the rest of my body. I figured if I can't do 12 meters there is no way I can do 43 meters bungee jumping. So I sucked it up and jumped. Wow what an incredible feeling! there was about a 2 second hang time in the air which really feels about 2 minutes. It is so amazing. I must not have kept my feet all the way straight though because the back of one of my legs and my butt felt like I just got whipped with a belt. It stung pretty bad, but a minor consequence from teh amazing feeling it was to jump off the rock. I went back up and did the 5 meter one but that just wasn't the same.
so next we moved on to the water slide. They have a large water slide that you get on your board and slide down into the water and skid across. I demonstrated how to go backwards so I laid down on my boogie board backwards. It was pretty fun. then the guide with the jet ski comes and drags you into shore where there is a ladder waiting for you.
Next we moved on to the rope swing. This is about 30-40 feet about the water and you jump on this little buoy and swing across the river. I didn't really get the whole swing across the river memo because I got on and jumped off the platform with the swing and as soon as the swing got close to the water I fell in. haha. The guide at the top said what was that?! So I had to have another turn. this time I swung all the way across and let go when I was pretty high in the air. hitting the water felt like someone just punched me in the ribs. I had to gasp for air a few times and it took a minute or so to catch my breath. I didn't really like the swing after that...
After that we unloaded all the gear and headed back for home. We got a cd with all the pictures that were taken.
When we got back to the hostel it was time for a nap. We slept for an hour or so and then decided to go for a drive. We drove to a little town called arrowtown but it was pretty much all closed up.
We went to a bottle shop and bought a bottle of wine becaus New Zealand is supposed to have great wine. then we got some cheese and crackers and headed towards the middle of Queenstown. We drank wine and ate cheese and crackers on the lawn overlooking a lake surrounded my mountains. It was absolutely beautiful.
We headed back to the hostel met up with some people we met and went out on the town. We went to a few bars and mostly hung out with other Americans. We tried a few New Zealand beers and hung out at a few different bars.
It was a great time. Meribeth and I fell in love with Queenstown. The next day it was time to jump off a bridge!

We woke up bright and early and ready to hit the road. We checked out of the hostel and started towards Queenstown. It was about a 5 hour drive. We stopped a few times for gas and toilets. Gas is ridiculous expensive here. To fill up a tank of a station wagon it costs about $70. It is just crazy.
The ride was beautiful. There were neverending lakes and moutains for miles. Some of the mountains still had snow on them. A lot of the mountains on the way down were a lot drier down this way. WE think it is because it gets so much snow but we're not sure. Still beautiful nonetheless.
Once we got to Queenstown we checked into our hostel and right away we booked river surfing, bungee jumping, and a cruise through milford sounds. Queenstown is right on a lake with mountains surrounding it from every direction. Some mountains are green, some are dry, and some have snow on it, depending on which direction you look. It is absolutely amazing. Kind of reminds me of Lake Tahoe. The water of the lake is crystal clear blue. I've never seen anything like it.
We took a walk around town and made our way up to the gondola. The gondola is super high. I can't even tell you how high it goes up, I will have to find out and write it later. Once you're up there you can see for miles and miles, well until you can't see passed the mountains. It is so beautiful. you can see the lake with boats zipping around, and a small area of houses, and more mountains of course. It's too beautiful to explain. I will have to post pictures when I get to my computer.
There was a wedding reception going on at the time. I couldn't imagine getting married up there. MAn those people must be rich!
At the very top of the gondola there is a paved luge that you can ride down. So you take another chair lift up another 800 meters, and you ride these little 3 wheeler cars down to the gondola. It was great fun! Took a minute to get used to but you can go as fast or as slow as you want and the course weaves around the mountain so it takes a little while to go down. The view was spectacular as you are going down as well. We learned later that more people get hurt doing this little luge, than they do river surfing, sky diving, bungee jumping, and everything else this little town has to offer. We had to laugh about that one because it's like go carts. some people do stupid things I guess.
So after that we walked around for literally 45 minutes, trying to find a restaraunt we were happy eating at. We just couldn't decided. WE decided on a pizza place and at some amzing pizza. We also tried a NEw Zealand beer called Tui which was not too exciting.
We came back to the hostel got dressed to go out and made our way down to the buffalo bar where we could get free beer with our hostel key card. We went with a bunch of people from the hostel and it was a lot of fun. After about 2 beers we were ready to go though because we had to be up super early. We headed back to the hostel and met two Australians that are from about 20 minutes south of Brisbane. So we ended up talking with them for about 1 hour and a half. They were great fun but we were ready for bed. So we headed back. We had to get ready for river surfing so we ended up going to bed about 2:30. REady to get up about 7 am. Fun times!

Well I figured I better keep up with this before I forget everything. I've been doing so much!

Thursday we went up the San Josef Glacier. We got up early headed down to the shop and waited for the group to get ready.
Just a little background information. The Glacier is a huge block of ice that is 11 kilometers long, which I guess is about 8 miles long. 4 kilometers is visible from the bottom and the rest is spread amongst the back behind the mountains. Some guy with the last name Haast named the glacier Franz Josef because it reminded him of Franz Josef (sorry I forget waht country he was from) and his long white beard. The glacier moves about 3 to 4 meters a day, so one track that someone used earlier in the day might not be the same when the next group goes through.
So back to my day... It was a nice sunny day so they let us have the choice whether or not we wanted to have over pants that were somewhat waterproof. Meribeth and I opted to have the pants because all I had on were running tights. We also geared up with boots, large rain jackets, gloves, beanies, and ice spikes to go on the bottom of our feet. Once we were all geared up we headed up to the glacier. It was about a 10 minute ride.
WE signed up for a full day which ended up being about 6 hours on the ice and we ended up walking around 16 kilomters which I think would be equivalent to about 9 or 10 miles. So it was a long tiring hike.
First we had to walk about 50 minutes through the valley to get up the glacier, then you stop and put on your ice spikes so you can walk on the ice and not slip all over the place.
We made our way up to the start of the glacier and started our climb. First there are large steps and hand ropes to make it up the first part because it is rather steep. Supposedly, it is the steepest glacier in the world that is used commericially. So we walked up the large stairs and took lots of pictures. The glacier looked like huge mounds of snow that ended in a point. I just wanted to run and jump on the mounds, but in acutality they were large pieces of white and sometimes black dirt. The rocks and debris fall down from the mountains surrounding it.
I forgot at the beginning of the glacier there is this large ice cave at the very bottom. Makes you think you are walking on a hollow glaicer that you can fall through any minute. We were reassured that rock sometimes goes higher so it's not all like that but there are parts where it's ice and then air at the bottom. Pretty scary to think about. The cave had mounds and mounds of ice that had broken off at the bottom of the cave. Our tour guide said they weren't there yesterday, so that's how fast the glacier ice falls off the bottom.
So anyways, we were up passed the stairs and we began our hike into the top where there are no stairs, and the tour guide had to take a huge ice pick and form small stairs for us. Most of the time only one foot fit on the stairs and we had to go up one foot at a time trying to step up. It was necessary to use your hands because you had to lift yourselves up sometimes.
I am so thankful that I got those pants over the top of my pants because I was freezing cold. AS we got to the top it got really really cold, as you can imagine sitting on miles of ice. AT one point the guide said the ice below us was about 400 meters deep.
On the glacier they get an annual rain drop of about 7 meters. That is 21 feet of rain in one year. Towards the back of the glaicer they get something like 80 meters of rain and snow a year. So it's pretty crazy, and that is how it stays a huge block of ice.
Up at the top we had to go through little tunnels and sometimes ditches that we could barely fit in. I'm not sure how people much bigger than me fit through because I felt like a size 10 foot fitting into a size 4 shoe. It was just crazy. Luckily you slide through ice so you can jiggle yourself through. We had to take our backpacks off and go one foot at a time through some of these ditches.
Some of the places we went were just inches away from huge holes that you couldn't even see where they went. The top layer of the ice was melting as well so there were small waterfalls everywhere.
We zig zagged back and forth back and forth. So it fet like we were lost and never going to come down.
I was more than ready to come down after a while because it is tiring and you are freezing cold. At one point I slipped and fell, and let me tell you...ice hurts! I have a huge bruise on my shin that matched the bruise I got from kakadu the week before.
It was cold, and the bad part of the trip is you had to stop sooooo many times so the guide could make out a new path for us to go through. There was one group ahead of us so we kind of used theres but we had to stop so much so she could make a path for us.
Otherwise it was amazing. Truly beautiful. some parts were sky blue, some parts were pure white, and others were dirty from all the debris falling from the mountains. Everyday is a life threatening situation around here let me tell you. One slip and you could fall to the ground, rocks could suddenly fall and collapse on you. It's just amazing that more accidents don't happen around here.
On our way off the glacier another large mass of ice fell from the cave and you could feel the rumble and shake as it fell off and hit the ground. It was so scary I almost made a new shade of yellow ice on the glacier. haha j/k but it was a pretty scary feeling.
We finally made our way down and we took of the ice spikes and headed back to the bus.
We turned all our gear in. Meribeth and I had to check into a new hostel and so we headed there showered, cooked some food in the kitchen at the hostel, used the internet and pretty much went to bed. It was exhausting! Next morning we headed to Queenstown.

Today we woke up bright and early to go caving. We got dressed and left our favorite hostel so far on the trip. We met up with the tour guide took care of paperwork and then we had to get dressed. Apparently it is freezing cold in the caves so we got wet suits, wet suit jackets, socks, rubber sock things, another pair of socks to go over those, and gum boots. Gum boots are these little rubbery boots you wear, I guess you can think of them as fishing boots. We also had a helmet with a light on the top of it so we could see in the cave. As you can imagine we were looking pretty hot!
The cave was about a 10 minute drive out of town and a 30-40 minute hike through the bush. We loaded into a mini bus and headed out. There were 4 Australian people who were coupled up and an asian couple. Then there was the two of us. It was Valentines day and I don't think that they celebrate it here but everybody was coupled up so it made Meribeth and me think of it even more.
We walked through the bush, over some bridges, through the mud, and down to the cave. We turned on our lights and headed in. It was pretty cool. We just walked straight through the water. You couldn't really see where you were stepping so you had to trust you weren't going to fall down a big hole.
Now before we did this a girl from home had told us that a flood came into the cave and all the people drowned. So that was intersting to know that as we were walking through this cave. haha.
So we had to make our way through the cave up and over rocks. It was quite a good hike. There was a small waterfall that went straight down into a small hole formed by the rocks. The water was quite deep at this section so we had to tuck ourselves into a ball and basically fall straight down the waterfall. don't let me fool you the waterfall was about 4 feet high but the water was really deep underneath and that was completely unexpected since the rest of teh cave is only about ankle to thigh deep. So I was shocked when I fell down the waterfall and got completely dunked underwater. The water was ice cold as well. It is after all water that is underground. It was shocking when the water came over my face. It was so much fun though!
After that we grabbed some inner tubes and floated down a very narrow river path through the pitch black cave with our lights off. It was an amzing experience. Tehre were small glow worms and the top of the cave that gave off the only light in the whole place.
The glow worms live there and they turn their light on when they're hungary so insects are attracted to them. They release a small fishing wire type substance that the insects get stuck to, and that's how they survive. They're very tiny and they look like a children's lite bright.
We got off the tubes and headed down as far as we could go before the cave was completely filled up with water. Then we sat and had al ittle break with a candy bar and some hot chocolate.
We headed back and repeated the process until we got about 3/4 of the way out of the cave. We then went through a place that was called the "love tunnel." The love tunnel was a different way through the cave that was very tight. We had to crawl through on our hands and knees pretty much the whole way and wiggle our way through a small hole on the other side. I couldn't imagine anyone too big trying to fit through this cave.
We made our way back out of the cave and up to what they called their natural hydroslide. Which is basically a natural waterslide. It was a long smooth (ish) rock that had water runnign down it. Meribeth went first and had a pretty decent ride. You have to do everything exactly right or you could really hurt yourself.
The next person went down and she turned sideways and all over the place. That kind of turned people off. The next guy went and he went completely sideways, his helmet flew off as he landed in the puddle at the bottom. Everyone went running after him! He looked like he was going to kill himself. I went running half way down the hill before I realized I really do want to try it. So it's my turn and I sit down on the mat and give myself a push. I let go of the mat and slid off of it going sideways down the hill. I'm really suprised I didn't kill myself. But it was a blast and I'm glad I went back up and did it.
We got back in this military looking truck and headed back to the office. There they gave us a glass of wine and we got to sit in the spa, while they showed us a slide show of the pictures they took. It was great fun. We then had a shower at there facilities and headed on our way to Franz Josef.
We stopped at a small town for a second and then headed off again. Well apparently, I was headed out al ittle too fast and I went around a corner and falied to stay in my lane. Word of advice, don't do it in front of police! Yep, I got pulled over and got a ticket in a different country. Not too many people can say that! The cop only gave me a ticket for failing to stay in my lane. BEcause I was only going 114 kph in a 100kph zone. That is really only like 8 miles over the speed limit if you do the math. So ya lucky me. haha. Oh well you live and learn. It's not going to spoil my trip. I know mom...I'll be more careful.
AFter that we went out to a look out space that turned out not to be a lookout point just an old harbor or something. So we headed to shanty town.
Shanty town is a little town that has been here for a long long time. They used to gold mine in Shantytown. So we got to gold mine in the little wooden, well I don't really know what to call them. We got to gold pan I should say. It was a fun little experience. We went through a little mock town of what it was like in the olden days. They had a fire house with a manual hose and a little firetruck they used back in the early 1800's. It was really cool. I have picture. I got a lot because I figured Jason would be interested.
It was a fun little experience but we had to get back on the road. So we headed to Franz Josef. Franz Josef is the glacier. We had a glacier hike scheduled for the morning. We called the hostel we were supposed to stay in because we were lost.
Well it turns out that I organized accomodation in a completely different town. I felt really awful because it was this really nice old man, and it was pretty obvious they didn't get many customers. He was probably thrilled that I called and needed two beds. So I felt really awful that we had to tell him we weren't going to make it.
The second problem was every hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, and hostel were fully booked! We looked everywhere. Finally I walked into a place and gave him the big puppy dog eyes and told him we couldn't find anywhere and I had booked in the wrong city. He called a friend from another place and they hooked us up with a double bed private room at a backpackers. Apparently they saved it as an emergency room but the girl was ready to go home and wanted to give it away before she left. So we were saved. We hung out made some dinner, watched some t.v., and went to sleep.
Tomorrow we are going on a full day glacier hike. What an amazing experience!