These are a few of my...

Weirdest observation:  Kiwi's do not refrigerate their eggs.  We have been doing as the kiwis do and also not refrigerating our eggs and they seem fine, SO why do we do it in the states?

Best find:  Tim Tams.  Strangely enough Justin Timberlake was on a late night talk show here raving about them (comparing them to Oreos...yummm), and we bought a pack, and ate a pack in less than a day.  Oh yeah two chocolate cookies with a smooth chocolate cream in the center, covered in chocolate.  They should call them Nicole Tams... ha ha hmmm

Most annoying find(s):  The internet here is not unlimited.  I know it's difficult to wrap your internet dependent head around, but there is apparently only one broadband line into the country at this time so they can only offer a max of around 20GB of net per month.  To some it may seem like a lot, and it is, but having 5 people skype, uploading pics, and searching the web makes it somewhat restricting.  Well you're probably thinking "yeah plus all of those American shows they're uploading to keep up on".  This brings me to the second annoyance: No Video Streaming.  Ok, so "No" is an exaggeration, but it doesn't feel like on when I can't use pandora, ABCgo, Hulu, CBS, or any other website that allows Americans to watch tv online.  Apparently it is a licensing law issue, but it's also an issue here because I am way behind on How I Met Your Mother.

Best Aspect(s) of our home:  We are a 2 minute walk away from the water, and a 15 minute drive from one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.  Come visit everyone! Second aspect:  It stays warm through April :) Third aspect:  Every Saturday there is a market in the city centre, most closely comparable to the Manayunk arts festival, but its every weekend, and it has tons of fresh fruits and veggies, fresh made jams and mustards and dips, homemade liquors, hand stitched clothes and scarves, and food stands with Thai and crepes and stuff!   

So currently we are watching what little programming there is regarding Halloween here.  They don't celebrate it so much here, maybe just a few kids having small gatherings, and nothing like the sugar addicted kids of the states do it up.  Its sad though because I really enjoy Halloween movies, as does the whole crew.  At least they are playing some of the classics; Beetlejuice, Casper, and Halloween.  Also, we made a good friend from North England, and he's currently been crashing with us for a bit, and it's his birthday today so it's a great excuse to bake a cake, scarf it down, and head to the pub!  

Still working on employment.  It's really tough here! (In the country, not just the area we're in), and there is always fruit picking, but I'd rather not.  They say the sun is the hottest here, and there is very little ozone protecting the kiwis, so i'd prefer a job indoors.  I did get an interview for a housekeeping job, but I'm really hoping to get a call back from this close-by swanky restaurant before I have to go to the interview.  We'll see!

Home Sweet Home

So I ended with our embarking upon the South Island.   After spending 2 nights in Picton, at the nicest hostel we’ve seen, ironically called Tombstone Backpackers, we decided to make a push into Nelson and get our heads in the real estate/job seeking game.  To our dismay our watches confirmed it was indeed Saturday, and because there is NOTHING (note: over exaggeration) open on Saturdays, we decided to overshoot Nelson and head to Abel Tasman National Park until Monday when life resumed in Nelson. 

Abel Tasman is the smallest, but most beautiful national park in the country.  It has white sand and aquamarine water.  It had long, deep tides so you can take long walks towards the edge of the water where you can find crabs, hermit crabs, and star fish.  Tasman also offered the best food we’ve had so far in New Zealand (and for me that’s not saying much, but this sandwich was gooood), at a small food cart called the “Fat Tui”.  I highly recommend it for every meal consumed in the country ;).  Saturday night we hosteled up. But Sunday we camped at a site called Old McDonald’s Farm, and watched the Rugby World Cup final, the All Blacks vs. France, on a big screen at a café off the beach.  It was a wonderful environment, and the All Blacks won the cup!  It’s funny because it was the most viewed tv program ever in NZ with a whopping 2.something viewers, so although it was exciting, it does not compare to the magnitude in which we celebrate Philadelphia’s victories. 

Our plan was to leave Abel Tasman early Monday morning to find a house/job/peace of mind, but we discovered on the day earlier that Monday happens to be their Labour Day, and NOTHING is open.  We dawdled around, and decided to stalk some houses we were looking at online.  Because the house we really liked was a personal listing, we decided to interrupt their “labour day” and call about the place.

We couldn’t have asked for a sweeter deal.  We were able to try out the house for $150NZD for the first night, and after falling in love with its views, convenience, and hot water, we were able to agree on renting it until Dec 20^th (their deadline, not ours) for $450NZD per week + electric and internet.  It comes to about $110 a week per person which is less than I’ve paid for most apartments in Pittsburgh, so I was very pleased with the dead.  The view from my bed itself is worth way more. 

The view from my room:

There are lots of random thoughts running around this full noggin of mine.  I’ll try to breeze over them. 

• ·        Jeff bought a motorcycle, and although I had MANY uncertainties about it, I enjoy riding on the back and it feels very safe.  At least for short rides into town.  But he loves it and has patiently been waiting to get one since he received his license in June.  It’s a pretty 250cc GN Suzuki.

• ·        I found a cheese I like!  It’s called Tasty cheese (not the brand but the name), and it’s basically a sharp cheddar.  Most other cheeses here taste like grass (I assume because the milk tastes like grass, which I assume is because the cows are all grass fed).  This may seem small, but really pleases me.
• ·        It is the law to wear a helmet, not only on a motorcycle, but also on a pedal bike.  We found this out the hard way.
• ·        I have trouble remembering random things I think are interesting… will update as I remember J

I will post the house and motorcycle pictures on Flickr asap, and I hope everyone at home is gearing up for Halloween, visiting Linvilla Orchards (if close by), carving intricate pumpkins, and drinking gallons of apple cider.  I will really miss Halloween, as it is top 2 holidays and they barely acknowledge it here, except for some Simpsons Tree House of Horror episodes.  I wanna see some awesome Halloween costumes up on facebook!

Wish us luck on employment!  Cheers!

ps. miss everyone!

To the South we go!

So we’ve been camping a lot lately :/ … hence the long entries with long intervals.  I ended the last entry with the boys going skiing and the girls driving, and well, the existence of this entry should be enough to tell you the girls can handle themselves in the Rhino, and surprisingly, the boys could handle themselves skiing on a real mountain. 

While the boys were skiing, Bethy and I were on motel duty, which turned into a complete disaster.  To start, we only told them it was the 2 of us (because at the time it was, and frankly $35 per person for this crap motel was not worth it) and to end, Bethy set off the fire alarm with her blow dryer (not her fault), and we had to evacuate the whole motel (just bethy, one other lady, and I.  I did mention it was a crap motel right?)  But to make it all worse the owner lady came out to us two on the porch (I was in a towel and a winter coat), and instead of moving me somewhere warm, accused us of smoking in the room (as if!).  This was the rudest encounter we had in New Zealand, and probably ever within the hospitality industry. 

Jeff’s first blog entry…it took two weeks to come about, but I have finally decided to sit down and write part of a blog entry.  Rather than a simple recap of what we have done, I plan to write my thoughts/feelings and observations of the country thus far….here goes nothing

Observation #1:  People in NZ are just as fat as people in the United States.

  Since this country is the adventure capital of the world and hiking and outdoors activities are plentiful, I figured I would be walking into cities full of extremely fit people.  This, however, was not the case at all.  People like to overeat in New Zealand just as much as they do in the states and when city folk get working a 9-5 job, the belly just keeps growing, simple as that.  I will say that these cities so far have been significantly cleaner with hardly any homeless folk and no one gives you the evil eye when you’re just cruising around town.

Observation #2:  The most obvious sign that you are a tourist is the inability to walk on the left side of the sidewalk.

  Now this one may seem rather strange, but since driving is on the left side of the road (passing on the right) the sidewalkers also expect fellow walkers to stay to their left side of the path.  You know those awkward moments when you square off with someone who popped into your path of travel and you need to decide which way to move in order to, hopefully, avoid a catastrophic collision that would have you blushing for 10 minutes afterward???? Well the New Zealanders go left.  This will take some getting used to…

Observation 3:  Rugby is way more popular than you think!

  I consider myself a pretty big sports advocate….I grew up playing four seasons of sports a year and still play year round sports to this day.  I enjoy Basketball, Football, Soccer, Hockey, Baseball, Curling, Track, Swimming, Darts, Table Tennis, Pool, Horse racing, Lacrosse, Field Hockey….well Field Hockey may be a stretch, but you get the point.  This observation is to alert the world that Rugby actually has rules and people in this world really do care about it.  The national Rugby team in NZ are the All Blacks and they are playing for the Rugby World Cup Final on Sunday at 9pm. Even at home I have never seen a nation support one team as much as I have New Zealanders support the All Blacks.  The players are like national spokesmen and their merchandise litters the tiniest towns to the main cities.  Now that we have journeyed the entire North Island of NZ, I have only once (today) seen someone shooting a basketball on a hoop with a backboard, and the only other sport I have seen is some soccer on TV.  It kind of amazes me while at the same time it kind of disappoints me.  It is very common to just see small groups of kids on the tennis courts bouncing rugby balls and tossing them underhand to each other. This may be me venting just as much as it is a worthy observation, but I have to let the citizens of America know! RUGBY DOES EXIST (who would have thunk)!

Alright, well as interesting as Jeff’s entry was, I am going to get back to fact-based stories…So after the night at the awful hotel, we camped on the beautiful Lake Tutira, outside of Napier (East coast of North Island, on Hawke’s Bay).  It was my second favorite campsite, trailing only shortly behind the beach at Uretiti (look for some of those pics!).  Here the boys encouraged us to climb to the top of the VERY LARGE HILL that ran along the campsite, promising a view of the bay and the lake on either side.  When a hike promises a climax like that I generally agree, but when you dodge cows and sheep to get to the top only to see more rolling hills and rain, well then I’m just wet and very angry.  Needless to say it was good exercise, and there was a beautiful view of the lake. 

This brings us to Sunday, which to a New Zealander means RUGBY!!!  We got a motel room so we could cook chicken tacos (we miss Mexican food a lot!) and drink some booze and watch the All Blacks beat Australia!  Now they play France in the finals.  Sunday should be nuts.  The next day we went to the beach for a while, then headed to the Ruahine Forest Park, about 2 hours south of Napier. 

Tuesday we decided it was time to keep heading south to Wellington, or “Windy Welly”, the capital of New Zealand.  On the way we stopped at the Tui Brewery to try some really good beers and tour the factory.  I found it very interesting, and actually liked a few of the beers there.  They also made me a “shandy”, which was sprite and beer mixed, a little sweet, but very delicious. 

We eventually made it to Wellington and camped outside the city.  This campsite has lights so we stayed up past sun down and played some cards and saw the most amazing, twinkling stars.  (side note: I can’t win a card game to save my life, and for anyone who knows me they know this is not a new revelation, but so frustrating!)   And disappointingly enough not one of the five of us could remember the game of Go Fish!

Wellington was beautiful, and we all enjoyed it much more than Auckland, with its more reasonable prices and tourist friendly activities, like the Te Papa museum.  It was a very neat, free museum that featured the only displayed colossal squid, and an awesome exhibit about the Haka “Ka Mate”, which is the somewhat tribal call the All Blacks do before every rugby match.  Wellington offered great insight of the history of New Zealand, and how eclectic its culture is. 

We left Wellington last night by the Interislander ferry (even the Rhino came!).  We saw the sunset by boat, and enjoyed a somewhat luxurious ride through the Cook Strait to the South Island!  There is lots to look forward to here, and we are constantly being told the South is the better island, so here goes nothing!

Until next time!  Cheers!

Mountains, Volcanoes, and Caves oh my!

I know it’s been quite a while since my last entry, but I do have a few good adventures to tell about.  Basically I had been wanting to blog since Saturday, but Jeff wanted to write about our climb to Pinnacle, but because he never did, I will. 

So to catch up since the caves and waterfalls… On our drive to the Coromandel Peninsula, we saw some pink sheep on the side of the road, which was definitely something I’d assume most people have never seen.  The drive was about 5 hours and we set up camp in Coromandel National Forest.  In most of the national forests there are extensive hiking trails that are mapped out and timed, and Coromandel had one called the Pinnacle, 3 hrs.  We weren’t sure if it meant 3 hours or 6 hours roundtrip but we hadn’t hiked yet, so we embarked hoping for the best.  (Side note:  The night before we had been taking tons of picture of this flat faced rock on the tip of the mountain because we thought it was so beautiful.)  As we begin to follow the trail we quickly come to realize that it is 3 hours both ways, but we decide to tough it out and see what all the hype is about.  We were even drinking water right out of the stream!  About 3 hours in, not too far from the top, but with no spectacular view in sight, we see a sign which basically tells us that the pinnacle huts are 3 hours in but the view from the Pinnacle is still 30 minutes away (and about a bazillion steps). 

For everyone else (except maybe bethy) it was pretty easy until the last ten minutes, where it was a somewhat vertical climb up the rocks (with the help of metal ladder-like steps), but once we got to the top we knew the walk was worth it.  You could see the sea on one side and rolling mountains and streams on the other.  It was probably the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done (well up until our adventure Monday, but I’ll get there).  Personally, I would probably do it again (after a few days to recoup), but bring along a lot more food J.  The hike took 6 hours and 20 minutes total and we climbed up to an altitude of 750 metres. 

That night we all needed a little R & R, so we chipped in for a motel.  The Anchor Lodge was clean, with hot running water, and they even left the hot tub on an extra 30 minutes so we could unwind from our hike.  Bethy and I hoped we would never have to return to a tent again (yeaha right).  After showering for the first time in what seemed like forever, but more accurately was about 4 days, we found a pub in the tiny town and watched the All Blacks beat Argentina in the Rugby World Cup.  (Side note:  the All Blacks sponsor everything here from electronics to food products, to hygiene products).  Hesitantly we left Coromandel town and drove a breathtaking coastal highway to the east side of the peninsula to see Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

Cathedral Cove was a beautiful arch formed in sand stone from the waves crashing into it.  It was featured in the Prince Caspian movie (fun fact!!).  We didn’t stay long because the tide was quickly rising, but were sure to snap tons of pictures.  It was about a 5 minute drive to Hot Water Beach, where the geothermal activity under the sand allow you to dig a sand pit which fills with hot water.  Because of our poor timing, and the cold, rainy weather, the tide was too high to get to the hot spots, but there are many more geothermal spots to see in New Zealand. (See Rotorura later in the post).

As I mentioned before, it was very cold and rainy, so Bethy and I were able to talk the boys into another motel night, but this time we stayed in Waitomo, a bit south of Auckland, so that Jeff and I could do black water rafting in the morning.  This was by far my favorite, most unique experience.  We paid about $175USD ($220NZD) to do the Black Water Rafting Company’s 5 hour Black Abyss tour.  It was worth every penny!  We got all geared up starting with our bathing suits and then layers of wet suit and a helmet/lamp combo.  We began the adventure by practicing using the abseiling gear, then quickly abseiled down a 105 foot drop into a cave.  When everyone reached the bottom, a rock fell and hit one of our guides, Lucas, on the collar bone and he had to be lifted from the cave to get it checked out.  Luckily we had a doctor in our group!  We had to wait quite a bit for them to lift him out of the cave and replace the missing guide, but they provided us with hot chocolate and cookies they brought in their duffel.  When everything was straightened out we climbed through the dark caves a bit until we reached the “Flying Fox” which was a short zip line.  This took us to the edge of the cold cave water.  We were instructed to grab a tube and jump on it.  This was the part I was scared of the most because the water was only 10 degrees C/50 degrees F!!  I never really adjusted to the water, but I was still able to enjoy the glow worms sparkling from the ceilings of the cave.  Our guide explained that the shiny stuff is really glowworm poop and that glowworms are basically a type of maggot.  So romantic.  Once we got to parts of the cave with little room to float, we abandoned the tubes and swam/walked/crawled through the cave for about an hour until we got to a crossroads.  We were given hot Tang (which tasted amazing btw) and chocolate and then we were told we could either go the tranquil way or climb up the “Twin Falls of Doom”.  Of course the tranquil route was quickly established to be the wussy way and we climbed up 3 water falls (despite the “twin” name).  The water falls were each about 10-15 feet, which was more difficult that it sounds to due to ice rushing water working very hard against you.  About 3.5 hours and a few waterfall climbs under our belt, Jeff and I emerge from the cave into the Waitomo forest.  They gave us soup and bagels and our guide even authorized everyone to get a free picture CD because we had to wait so long to fix up Lucas.  That quickly became the most physically challenging adventure I have ever been on, and hands down my favorite. 

That night, after google led us in the wrong direction for quite a while out of the way, we camped in the rain/cold at the Piropiro camp in Pureaora Forest Park.  It was about as fun as it sounds.  We woke up early to light struggling to get through the continuing rain and clouds and headed to Rotarura (somewhat central North Island).  Rotarura is best known for its strong smell of sulfur everywhere you go due to the intense geothermal activity under the ground.  We walked around a bit in the rain and visited the park where you can see hot ponds bubbling from carbon dioxide being released from the ground.  We also found a naturally heated pool to soak our feet.  It was beautiful there but quite smelly.

The rain chased us out of Rotorura but followed us to lake Tuapo, New Zealand’s largest lake (quite similar to Lake Tahoe).  Our first stop was Huka falls, which h was this amazing bright blue colored, rapidly moving, river.  It provides 15% of New Zealand’s energy.  Even though it was still raining, we decided that it was a wise financial choice to try to camp.  After following our Department of Conservation campsite guide directions for about an hour, we gave up and found a motel.  Turns out us girls are much better at getting a cheap rate in a motel than the boys.

The next morning (yesterday) we drove to Tongariro (about an hour south of Tuapo) to the snow capped mountains (volcanos).  Here we did a 2 hour hike to see a water fall and some volcanic landscape.  The boys and Bethy really wanted to do this 8 hour hike to Mt. Doom (which apparently is featured in LOTR), but the weather conditions are too poor and icy to safely complete it.  We set up camp close by in the rain and cold, and cooked some dinner, but it was only 5 pm at that point, and Bethy and I were able to talk the boys into going into town for a pint by a fire for a while.  It was the wettest, coldest night camping so far.  So cold that Bethy and I decided to skip skiing this afternoon because we haven’t thawed yet.   This afternoon will be the girl’s first experience driving while the boys are skiing.  Wish us luck!

Ps.  I miss all of my friends and family very much!  I have frequent dreams of being home, and although I am far from “homesick”, I am a tad “friendsick”.  Love you all.

Cheers!

Here is my "missing" blog i wrote about 5 days ago, before the caves and waterfall:

Kia Ora!

(Hello in Maori)

So I am currently sitting in a tent approximately 10km south of Whangarei (pronounces something close to “fungwheh”…who knew?)  It is Friday here, and Thursday back in the states.  I am ecstatic at the idea of seeing the sun rise before anyone else in the world on Friday, October 07, 2011… How did I get 150km north of Auckland already do you ask?  Well we picked up “Rudy the Rhino”, as he will now be referred, yesterday in Auckland, and headed North for a bit of time.  In addition to Rudy, we also painlessly obtained bank accounts, tax IRD numbers, a AAA membership (called AA here), and a cell phone.  I can’t emphasize enough how smoothly and inexpensive these things are here compared to the states.  $109 for a blackberry type phone + sim, $29 a month for 160 min, 2500 txts, and 50mb of data for e-mail, ect.(which may seem like nothing but we really only use it for calling campgrounds. 

So back to the good stuff!  We are camping on the beach, and when I say beach I mean on the sand dunes of the Pacific Ocean.  It is more beautiful and serene than anything I’ve ever seen, and after my first night camping, I feel confident I could do this for another month.  We paid $8NZD a person to the campsite, and had no trouble putting up our tents at all.  We were not allowed to burn a fire at this particular spot, but luckily Adam had MSR Pocket Rocket, or simply, a camping stove.  We cooked up some soups and bread for dinner, and indulged in my personal stash of M & M’s for dessert…Hehehe. 

Today we are exploring the Waipu caves and possibly some falls outside of Whangarei.  As soon as I get some free wi-fi I will upload all the pictures on a Flickr account and link it to the blog. For now, I am uploading these blog entries on the 3G we had setup on Bethy’s ipad, and she has limited upload allowance for now. 

Cheers!

Also check out our pictures on Flickr, user name Nicoleweso   

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68431928@N02/

Can you figure out what this is?

Chicken Sliver Sandwiches

I have written a blog entry which covered our final day in Auckland and first day on the road with The Rhino, but we haven't been anywhere with Internet for a few days now and it's saved on my computer.  I'll post it the next time I get the opportunity, but for now I want to update from the iPad while we are on our 6 hour drive to Coromandel peninsula from the Puketi Forest.  I'll start where I ended on my "missing entry".  I think I ended with waking up in a tent on the beach...  So we left the Uretiti camp ground and headed to the waipu caves. The grounds keeper at our site said they weren't worth seeing, but when you've never seen any cave it is bound to please.  We went far enough in that we lost the light of the entrance and relied solely on flashlights.      As frightening as it was, when we saw the thousands of glow worms all over the ceiling it put us at ease.  They look like green stars.  I am looking forward to more cave adventures on the black water rafting trip early next week in Waitomo. Next we went to Whangarei falls, which we read were not NZs most magnificent but the most photographed.  They were beautiful nonetheless.  After the falls we drove up to Pahia on the Bay of Islands to have a pint on the bay.  (a pint is a draft beer, but they also have cider on almost all taps, which I love) .  We decided to head to the campsite before sundown, but didn't make it until dark due to a combination of bad google maps and unfamiliarity with the area.  Regardless, we woke up in the beautiful Puketi forest, had a bite, and hopped in The Rhino.  So a few random thoughts about the trip thus far:  - small REI quarter dome tent rocks.  Very cozy.  - my Sierra designs sleeping bag (rated around 35 degrees) is a liitle bit insufficient for the night temperatures in the high 30s-low 40s, even with the sleeping pad and silk liner and silk long undies.  -silk long undies rock!  - apparently giving hundreds of dollars for a car deposit does not warrant a receipt in NZ, and is supposedly "an American thing"  - my very small, very quiet complaint would have to be about the food... I knew this would be my biggest qualm, but it is very different than America, and I find myself eating a lot of sausage and peanut butter, neither of which I'm too keen of.   Meat, cheese, and ketchup all taste very different (we did find some Heinz though!). I know it will get better and I will adjust but for now my hunger seems insatiable. I know there are a lack of pictures, but I will get them all up on flickr as soon as we get some wifi.   Cheers!

We're Hereeee

Ahhh just woke up from a semi-mediocre sleep.  It is 7:30 am here in Auckland New Zealand.  The sun is shining and the people are as nice as the day is bright!  Yesterday we landed in Auckland around 7am Tuesday morning after an only somewhat grueling 18 hour flight.  (approx. 2pm Monday afternoon in Philadelphia).  We proceeded through customs without a hitch!  Upon exiting the airport we could immediately smell a sweeter air and feel a calmness you don’t often find in the airports/cities of America.  The airport is approx. 14 miles from our hostel, and the centre of the city, so we took a bus for $16 (~$13 USD).  The hostel is pretty clean, and offers a kitchen, tv rooms, chill out area, bathrooms, and bed rooms with electronic card keys and 4 sets of bedrooms. 

One of our first concerns was, of course, safety and security of our belongings, but the rooms allow an eased mind.  The door keys were just like that of a hotel, and even though the 5 of us shared our room with 3 other people, we were the only ones who locked our stuff up, the other people didn’t even care.  This was our first sense that Americans were maybe a little different than the rest of the world. 

Our second main concern was transportation, and this led to the purchase of my first vehicle!! And what a beaut she is! (Pictures to follow)  We are still struggling to name her…She will either be “The Tinman” or “Rudy the Rhino”, either way she is beautiful and she works likes charm!  She is a 1993 Toyota “Lucida” (or “Estima”) and she has 2 sunroofs and a sandy finish.  We will pick her up officially on Thursday, but she has already undergone a 104 point mechanics inspection to give us the go-ahead.  She will cost us a total of approx $5300 (~$4240 USD) total for insurance, inspection, vehicle, NZ tax, and tags.

After getting the car situation we spent a lot of time walking around, seeing the harbor, and taking beautiful pictures.  I’ll go into greater detail about sites later because we are scheduled for a bus tour this morning and I’m sure there will be lots more to say about it tomorrow.

Everyone seems to agree that this place feels very homey, and there is very little to dislike.

Until next time, Cheers!

Away We Go

You know when you have an OBX week or Caribbean getaway planned, and you fill the days leading up to your departure with work/play/sleep, just so you can feel like you get there faster?  Awaiting this trip feels nothing like that.  It feels like if I were able to visit everyone I care about to say goodbye, that by the time i was finished, I'd feel like I had to go back to the first visited and say goodbye again. It seems as though there is not enough time, and departure is closing in fast, but I will be back in 12 months, it just seems like forever.  Needless to say I will miss everyone, apologize for anyone i've missed (you too will be missed), and everyone is welcome to come visit!
With only 3 days left in the US, I find myself sleeping very little.  I stay up thinking about the trip into the wee hours of the morn, and am jolted out of a deep REM sleep at 8:09 every morning by "I didn't eat yet! It's 8:09! Where are my shoes?" being yelled from what I firmly believe to be right outside my door. This leads to further realization I am 1 day closer to our adventure and no chance of me returning to sleep, and the cycle begins again. In less words, I AM SUPER EXCITED!
First I planned on taking everything.  That plan was immediately shot down.  Then I planned on bringing very little, but Jeff received an e-mail from a family friend that suggested that Auckland was more expensive than NYC and their outdoors selection is twice the price and half the selection.  With this advice, along with strong warnings from my besties Conor and Jared, I have packed very little of what I would call "practical wear" and packed bunches of survival gear, or what I would call "over-priced, not even mildly attractive, hiking gear".  Past Nicole would be so appalled, future Nicole will be so appreciative, and present Nicole just hopes I fit in all my jeans when I get back.
I can honestly say I am not ecstatic about spending the first 24 hours on a plane/LAX airport, but I did find out that the plane offers 2 meals, complementary wine, and hundreds of hours of movies I haven't seen, including Bridesmaids and Super 8 (This is when I truly appreciate Jeff's aversion to going to the movies).
Also, Jeff and I are purchasing a camera tomorrow with the deal being he pays for most of it and I learn to use it.  There is no better time to sit down with a hefty manual, with words reminiscent of my 11th grade photography days, than an 18 hour plane ride.  This is probably one of the most exciting aspects for me because we are getting a digital SLR so I can take shots that we can enlarge and appreciate forever.
After those initial 24 hours are over, we will land in Auckland, which is currently hosting the Rugby World Cup, so we will basically be entering a giant party. :) After watching some prelim games on ESPN, I decided that rugby is a sport I could definitely learn to love (watching not playing).
I plan on updating the blog once we spend our first day in Auckland, which is Tuesday there, so Monday in Philly? I believe the time difference is +16 hours...awkward. Also, hopefully the other members of my adventure will also want to post!!