STAND BY...

It's possible that we'll need to say goodbye to this beautiful little place we found here in Wanaka so if you were planning on sending anything to our new address, hold off for a bit! Things pretty much shut down for the next month until the winter crowd comes through and we're not sure we can wait that long to start a job. So, we may need to pack our stuff up and head to a bigger city where we know we can land jobs. Everything is up in the air right now so I'll let you know what the plan is as soon as we know.

hope all is well!

Okay, so the decision to move to Christchurch is just about final and if all goes according to this (new) plan, we'll be there in the next 2 weeks or so. Now for those of you that are bummed (on our behalf) about this little side-step, don't be!!! Yes, we are a little saddened to leave this beautiful town and cute little apartment (which had a view of SNOW PEAKED mountains this morning) behind, we've weighed everything and feel like a move to chch is a good one! Although I'm sure we could get jobs here eventually, we'd have to wait it out for at least a month and a half and while we aren't completely pressed for money yet, we can't really afford to be out traveling around either. So we'd basically be waiting, doing nothing, until a job comes up. So, we are going to go to chch, get a job and make some money, find a flat (although we love our place here, it'll be good to have flatmates again not to mention internet and a landline), and get into the culture of a new city. Then, when molly comes back from the wedding (she'll be gone for july) we can hit up some ski mountains and see the south covered in snow. So, we're excited about this little hiccup and love the fact that we have the flexibilty to do this. So, DON'T be bummed for us b/c we aren't bummed at all!!!!

We may be heading to queenstowns this weekend so we can throw ourselves off a bridge for Molly's b-day! Happy's Mother's day to all the mother's (and especially mine! :)).

Wanaka, New Zealand

Greetings from the little ski town of Wanaka in the south island! The mother and big bro have successfully made it back to the US of A after a great 10 day visit to me and molly (which happened to fall on my birthday! What a great gift! :)). Despite a few days of mucky weather, the trip was great and the weather seemed to clear up at the perfect times. We loaded up everyone into mills and gave ry and mom a little taste of the traveler's life! It didn't take long for them to completely lose track of the day and time---that's the way we like it round here! Once again I can't possibly write about it all but our first time visit to franz joseph and fox glaciers was a definite highlight, as was our walk around Matheson lake in which we could see a beautiful reflection of Mount Cook in the water. The weather held out just long enough for us to see the snow-covered peaks of the mountains and then poured down on us for our walk to the terminal face of fox glacier. But there was no stopping us! Not even the rapid streams (which would probably be all but nonexistent in fine weather) could stop this crowd---, and the rain made the rainforest-like surroundings of the glacier breathtaking (waterfalls everywhere!). We had 2 days of rainfall when we stayed in Wanaka but the beautiful cottage we had (what-up Roge!) made up for it! Then I ALMOST convinced ry that jumping off a bridge was a fabulous idea but time was just not on my side! I nearly had him convinced and the lady came out announcing "last jumps" and I just couldn't get it down it time! I'm sure he regrets it already :) There will be other times. After our brief visit to Queenstown, we took off to Manapori where we loaded onto an overnight cruise through Doubtful sound. Somehow, as soon as we got out to the sounds, the weather turned brilliant (it must have been the beachy music and sunnies in the car ride) and stayed that way the entire trip. Nearly as soon as we starting sailing away, a big pod of dolphins started running with the boat and only attracted more!! We were entertained by dolphins jumping LIKE CRAZY for a good 30 mintues!! Dolphins make me happy!! And these guys were out to play for REAL!! We had an amazing sunset that night (and have a ridiculous amount of pics to prove it!), a beautiful star-filled night sky, and then a great sunrise the next morning. Everything on the boat was great! After the crusie, we made our way back to CHCH stopping at Dunedin for 2 nights (where my poor bro FINALLY got to go out for a little bit!) and then at a little town where we saw 2 ADORABLE little yellow-eyed penguins! I could watch them waddle and hop around for hours! It was great having you guys here!!! Miss you already! :)

It is now back to me, mol and mills and we have made our way back to Wanaka--where we now live!! Despite the competiveness of this place in the winter, we managed to score a great little flat. Well, it's more of a unit then a flat. It's just me and molly living there but we have 4 people our age living right above us. It has everything we need (aka, a self-contained unit), though there has been talk of building our own shelves and table! It's small but really modern and has ridiculously awesome views of the mountains. We can only imagine what it will look like when the mountains are covered in snow. So, our new address:

77 Matai Road (downstairs)
Wanaka 9192 NZ

We are still waiting to hear about jobs but have made ourselves known to the ski places and are prepared to be a thorn in their sides until they hire us! :)

also, there are new pictures up under janelle's family visit
http://photos.yahoo.com/mollyfoos

PICS

We put some more pictures on the website under South Island

http://photos.yahoo.com/mollyfoos

Mom and Ry get in this afternoon so I'll probably be away from email for a while!! Hope all is well on the homefront!

lovelove

Livin' it up down south

Greetings from the end of the road (quite literally) holiday park near Farewell Spit. The woman here felt sorry for us b/c apparently it's too wet and cold to sleep in a tent--so she handed over the keys to a small trailer for the price of a tent site. Think white trash trailer. Are you thinking about it? Fabulous---that's where we will be resting our heads tonight. No worries, we already took pictures. Anyhoo, jumping back a bit. The Foos fam arrived safe and their 10 day NZ adventure has come and gone. Talk about a change of pace! The girlies got spoiled! From the hotels with awesome views (be it over a glacier, a lake or some ginormous mountain) to the flights over top Milford Sound and Mount Cook, to paragliding (translation: running off a cliff and hoping your parachute catches the wind. Ok, maybe a slight exageration :) ) , to the boat rides with beautiful views (not to mention cute dolphins!), to great meals, and great company. All in all, it was fabulous! And no worries, through all the spoiling, we never lost sight of our "roots". We have plenty of shampoos, soaps, creams, sewing kits and whatever else from hotels to prove it! Pretty sure Mrs. Foos even helped us stash away a few rolls of toilet paper so we'd be prepared when we returned to the wilderness! We miss you guys already and it was great spending time together! Abby, we miss your jokes (she's the funny one folks! ;) ).

Me and mol have since made our way back to the top to the south island where we spent a few days in Marlbourgh Sounds, and then moved on to Nelson and are now as far as one can go on the Northwest side of the south island. We haven't been up to too much lately. A lot of flat and job hunting mostly. We are pretty sure we want to settle down in a flat and get a job for the winter season. We're hoping to work at a ski resort or ski mountain or something of the sorts but it's tough to get in so we aren't getting our hopes too high. Tomorrow we are heading to the Abel Tasman national park and the following day we're doing the coastal walk that is meant to be one of the best! We've been slacking on our tramping lately and have cheeks to prove it :) So, it's back to climbing mountains and hills for us! Such a rough life! The mother and big bro are due in on April 21st! Whoop whoop!!! :) Super excited for that! I'm so stoked that my brother is coming that I'm going to be ever so kind and let him have his pick: jump out of a plane or jump off of a bridge!! :)

Okay, off to the trailer home! I'll be in touch again soon! Hope all is well! Love and miss you guys.

Home sweet home!

The girls (that includes Mills) and Russel have made it safe and sound back to 29a Monowai!! We were dancing in the car for the last stretch of the ride b/c we were so super excited about getting back and seeing our long lost flatties! Connor P...check. Sarah F....check. Misty...check. New, cute, orange cat....check!! There is a Pom (one Philip Dickens) missing from 29a but after he gets his fill of the Common Wealth games in Melbourne, he'll be back with us! For the time being, he was nice enough to hand his room and oh so comfy bed (our old room and bed) over to me and mol! So, for the next few days, we'll be here--catching up on email, doing laundry, unpacking and repacking, cleaning the heck out of Mills (who has been such a trooper for the entire trip and must have an inch of dust built up inside and out from all the gravel, dirt roads she oh so ruggedly conquered)...and just enjoying time with the flatties!!
Just a note that we "fell back" last night so we are now only 17 hours ahead of EST and you guys should be ready to "spring forward" soon so then we will only be 16 hours ahead of you! A little confusing but I'm sure you'll get it!! Oh, I almost forgot to write about the last few days of our trip! I'll try to keep it short! We did a trip in the Waitomo caves which involved getting dressed in a RIDICULOUS outfit, abseiling down a shaft to a huge cave below, floating around in the dark and getting an upclose look at all the glowworms (which were awesome! It looked like a planetarium), squeezing ourselves through some small limestone formations, and then rock climbing oursleves back out of the cave! All in all, a great trip!! We then made our way back to Taupo where we took a plane 13,000 feet above the lake (and it was such a clear day we could see clear across to the coast) and flung ourselves out. See mom, aren't you glad you didn't know about it until AFTER I was safe on the ground? That's gotta be worth something!!! It was awesome!! I reackon even better then the first jump (on my 18th b-day). This time around, I had a better grasp of what was going on and was able to focus more on the fact that I was falling at 170mph to the ground below. A great feeling, really! Molly loved it and spent the rest of the night beaming (after having a few glasses of well deserved wine) "I jumped out of a plane". It was awesome and one day I'm going to convince the big bro to do it...no sense arguring ry, it's gonna happen. :). The next day, we lounged by the lake before driving over to Turangi--got an early nights sleep and woke the next morning at 5:30am. We were shuttled to a dropoff point of the Tongariro Crossing (a tramp that is listed as 7-8 hours that takes you over 2 active volcanoes, to an altitude of over 1600 meters, down to the craters, past the crater lakes, and over the hot springs) and started the day long tramp before the sun even came up. By the time the sun came up, we were about an hour along and had a beautiful view! The most difficult part of the Crossing came soon after that and we spent a couple hours climbing over the loose, steep terrain. By the time we reached the top, the temperature had dropped a ridiculous amount, the fog had rolled in, and we were straining to stand up aganist the wind! Before long, we had layers of clothing on, complete with gloves and hat! We reached a part that is known as the scree slope and we basically dug our heels in and slide down. The weather cleared a bit a few hours later and it was a great view but I think the challenge of it was the best part. We got to the end nearly 7 hours later and are still feeling the fatigue in our legs!! Okay, I think that pretty much covers it!! We have a hungry Sarah F here that we need to feed!! Hope all is well!!

Love and miss you!!
PS-feel free to call the house number (64 4 934 4580) for the next few days!

Boats, boats, and more boats :)

Hello again! We've made it to the well known surf town of Raglan on the west coast and I thought I'd take some time to give some updates! We've done lots since the last time I wrote, got a nice luxurious stay at the Hyatt Hotel courtesy of Mols sister and husband and actually got dressed to go out for 2 meals. It was a nice change! Took the ferry to Waiheke Island (off the Auckland coast) where we hired bikes (and when i say hired, I mean we got them free!! Sweet!) And rode out to Vineyard Valley for some vineyard tours and wine tasting. Lets just say that riding back down the steep gravel driveway was a bit of a laugh! Once again, I can't possibly get into all that we've done but I have to write about the boats. About a week ago we got out to the tiny town, (its more of just a marina) of Tutukaka and planned a dive trip out to the Poor Knights Islands. It's ment to be the best diving in NZ and we just couldnt pass it up. Though, we werent expecting too much b/c NZ really isnt known for its diving spots. It was an all day trip with two dives and the weather couldnt have been worse! It was raining down on us the whole day and choppy is a huge understatment. The company we were with was the only company that went out that day. Neither me or mol are susceptible to sea sickness but we were definitley feeling it that day. But enough of the bad stuff! Once we got under the water, it was amazing! We decided to go with a guide and she was totally kickass! We were only in a group of four and we had a blast! The color was amazing and a huge 5 meter (tip to tip) Manta Ray gave us a little visit. They are super rare here and it was the buzz on the boat. One guy even burned both his tanks on the first dive. Back on the boat it was freezing and raining but it wasnt long before we were back in the water for our second dive--which was even better than the first:) We swam through a tunnel and were able to surface on the other side of it in this little cavern type thing. It was beautiful!

After our trip we drove up to the Bay of Islands where we had reservations on the Rock, an overnight cruise aimed at backpackers. It was another highlight for sure! We loaded up at 5pm, got in our rooms (bunk rooms) met the crew, and our fellow cruisers. It was a young group with the majority of people being Brits. Soon after we started sailing we had a shooting competition with the target being a plastic bottle tied to the back of the boat. Good fun!! After about an hour or two of crusing around the islands (as the sun was settting--it was amazing) we anchored up and started fishing for our dinner (snapper). Mol was the first to catch a fish and she got a free drink for it(but it was too small to keep). I brought up the first keeper!! Me and mol were reeling them in like crazy but most were too small to keep. About half way through our fishing, a pod of dolphin swam all around the boat. If i didn't know better I would swear they were straight out of SeaWorld! They were jumping, flipping, and diving like it was there job. They gave us a good 15 min show, it was awesome!! We had a grin from ear to ear:) We did a bit more fishing before getting ready for dinner. Steak, sausages, salad, veggies, mussels, and the snapper we caught. It was a late dinner and by the time we were done it was almost 10pm and time for our night kayaking trip. Our guide took us out to a spot where the phosphorescent were crazy! For anyone who has read Deception Point, these were the things glowing in the extraction hole. That part of the book made so much more sense after that little adventure. The paddles of our kayaks lit up like they were sprayed with 'glow in the dark'. As the moon went down a bit (around midnight) the more daring of the group jumped in for a night swim (cold, really dark and shark stores...Would you be keen??!) When I went in there were only 2 others in and we did the slowest lap ever around the boat, and this isnt exactly a small boat. It was a bit freaky but such an awesome feeling. After a bit of convincing, Mol joined in---though she didnt bring herself to make the swim around the boat. The phosphorescents were even brighter than before and my body glowed as I swam, i was pretty mezmorized! The next day we had breakfast waiting for us and soon after had another pod of dolphin visit us. They werent as active as the other but got closer and swam right under the boat! Nearly enough for us to reach out and touch them. We crusied around for a bit before anchoring up and taking the kayaks over to an island where we walked up to an awesome lookout, ate our lunch, and did some snorkling. It was a really full trip and we had such a blast! The skipper spent a good amount of time with us and a map---giving us pointers on where to go next.

So we made our way further up north for some awesome scenery and some sandboarding. Sandboarding, for those of you who are clueless is basically sliding down giant sand dunes on boogie boards. The dune we were on was probably about 20 meters high and steep as hell when looking down from the top. But you just have to get a running start and flop yourself down on the board---trying to keep your eyes open and mouth closed before skimming out on the water. Hilarious!! We then decided to take a bit of a detour and drive back to the other coast for another dive trip. We loved it so much we just had to give it another go! The Poor Knights has a crazy amount of dive sights and we were able to go to 2 different places than our first trip. This time around Mol and I went off without a guide. It was awesome! We still cant get over how colorful it was. The first dive had a pretty big surge going on, so it challenged us a bit---but it was only a small little hicup. Saw some great fish, huge rays, and lots of different moray eels. But we were in love with the life on the walls ( I have a new love of nudibrachs!!) It was like nothing we've seen. Another great 2 dives and if we had the time we'd probably do it again and again. We had a drink and some dinner with the guides from our first trip and got the whole scoop on their kickass jobs (as dive masters) We are now back on the west coast with about 7 days to go before wanting to be back in Welly. Next on the list?? Black water rafting (going on the underground tunnels on an inner tube---looking at the limestone and glowworms) skydiving in Taupo, and doing a 7 hour tramp on the Tongoriro Crossing. Before we know it, we'll be back in Welly catching up with the flatties (who we miss too much!), our little Misty (who better not have been replaced by the orange one) and awaiting the Foos family! Hope all is well at home, things couldnt be better here! Ron and Karen, I'm more addicted than I was a few months ago--if thats even possible. Hope you are prepared to handle the fanatic that I'm turning into!

Love

Alive and Well :)

Hello, Hello!!! Not that I’m counting, but we’ve officially spent the last 22 nights sleeping in our tent (who is tenderly known as Russell or Russ) and living out of Millie (that would be our car). And for those of you who have ever doubted my camping skills, you may like to know that it even rained on us the first 9 nights. Despite the muddy nights & mornings, the girls and Russell pulled through & we now consider ourselves campin’, trampin’ fools! Our lifestyle has been such that a 10 or $12/night tent site at a holiday park (they have kitchen, shower and toilet facilities) is a luxurious treat. Holiday Parks are fabulous but we try to stay at the cheap “basic” campgrounds—which range in price from free to $9/night. Our record so far? Nine days w/o a shower! Now, b/4 you go and get too disgusted, we were camping right on a beautiful river—which became our bath for several days. It’s amazing how clean you can feel after a dip in a chilly, freshwater river!
I can’t possibly give details about all that we’ve done but it’s all been amazing. We feel so free & most of the time, don’t even know what day it is. After all, everyday is a weekend in our world! Not sure how I’ll get a job after this! We’ve had some great scenic drives (just wait until our mothers see some of these excuses for roads!) & had our first NZ road block (picture seeing a sheet of white in front of you and then realizing you have to stop in the middle of the road to allow a herd of sheep rush past you) the 2nd day of the trip. We’ve done some serious tramping—hours at a time & sometimes multiple times a day—past beautiful waterfalls, streams, rivers and trees to some awesome views and lookouts. We spent a lot of time in Lake Taupo where we attempted to jump out of a plane for V-Day but the weather wasn’t cooperating & we decided to hold off for a while. The Lake itself was beautiful—nothing like the lakes I know at home. The water was crystal clear and the backdrop was amazing. Lake Placid crew---you guys would LOVE it! We even found an awesome hot spring that made for a nice treat after all the bathing in the freezing river! Did a white water rafting trip which was a good mix of peaceful, scenic, and adventurous! Mol might try to convince you that I fell out of the raft but there are no pics to prove it and we were assured before the trip that only 3% of the ppl fall out—so no need to listen to her ridiculous stories! Both Taupo and Rotorua (our stop after Taupo) are high geothermal areas so we saw (and smelt) our fair share of cool geothermal activity-- Boiling mud pools, hot streams, geysers, steaming craters, and colored lakes & waterfalls. We also went to “White Island” (off the coast of Whakatane) which is NZ’s only active marine volcano. Complete with hard hats, gas masks & instructions on what to do in case of an eruption, we got a tour of the island and all its active volcano components. We’ve seen some beautiful beaches, each one different from the last. We attempted to do a dive trip near Cathedral Cove but the visibility was crap and there was a pretty big swell so we have to hope to get at least one good diving opportunity before we leave. Our last road trip took us to the very tip of the Coramandel Peninsula to a campsite at Stony Bay. It was an hour drive on a narrow, windey (ya know, lots of curves! Have I gone my whole life thinking that was a word??!!), gravel road and was absolutely beautiful. It was so remote & untouched. The stars were unreal and the views from Russell were breathtaking. We cooked our dinner over the fire (no worries CP, we usually use our cooker!) and ate while we watched some dolphins playing and jumping out in the ocean.
As for now, we’ve made it to Auckland and have just about a month to do the rest of the North Island before we meet the Foos family back in Welly. We’ve put some pics on Yahoo---(http://photos.yahoo.com/mollyfoos) unfortunately, they don’t do anything justice (and they are not in order! No time for that, sorry!) but I guess that’s always the way it is. Hope all is well at home—you’re all in my thoughts and of course I miss you! Thanks for all the phone calls (ash-that was the best surprise!) I’ve been getting—keep them up!

Hugs and Kisses J Take care of you
(and Dawn, I’ll try and check out your old house and get a pic for you!!)

And we're off!

Just wanted to make a post to let everyone know that the time has come!! Me and Mol have managed to pack up all our stuff and have loaded up the civic! It was no small task---we have stuff hidden all over the house and needed an entire box just to put our UNEEDED shoes in. We brought SO MUCH stuff with us!! The majority of which will be kept here at Monowai storage while we go off around the north island. :).

For those of you who want to track our progress around the north, our first stop will be in Masterton (which is not even a 1.5 hour drive! But there's lots to see and we want to take our time seeing everything!). We'll probably only stay there for a night then it's off to Napier where we'll prolly stay for about a week or so. From there, we'll be playing it by ear. We are armed with every possible map of NZ, our pocket knives, and our camping gear---and are ready to have some good times!! We won't be in touch as much but we'll have our cell phones and will be able to update the blog every now and then. We plan to camp most nights but we'll definitely "splurge" on a hostel every now and then. And once we get to Auckland, we have a certificate to stay in the Hyatt Hotel courtesy of Mol's sis and hubby!

Take care!! Love and Miss you :)

A reminder about my cell phone--if you use an international calling card, the number (including the country code and stuff) to reach me is:
011 64 27 335 0824
Incoming calls are free but for us to dial out is whoa expensive! So for those of you who I've been able to call pretty often, you need to step it up the next 2 months :) Especially those of you who have the number to my calling cards!! They'll expire by the time I get back to the states so use 'em!!!

Molly has updated our pictues at http://photos.yahoo.com/mollyfoos

the new ones are under "New Welly"

Think left, think left, think left (side of the road that is)

Our new baby!!!
Come on Ash, do you think I would have forgotten about your picture??!! This one's for you dear!! :) (we had to take about 5 before molly could get her tough face on!) The swing bridge at Kaitoke---the freezing river below!
Our little Misty--who is currently snoozin on the couch as I type! She's going to be hard to leave behind! Even miss "i don't really like cats" (aka Molly) loves her!!! She's just a little one Ry!!!
Well, as you can see, WE DID IT!!! We got a car!! Our third visit to the auction proved to be successful and we drove away in our new Honda Civic! We are currently trying to come up with a name so if you have any suggestions, throw them this way! She's been good to us so far and we can only hope that she treats us well for the next 8 months or so. We had our first offical driving lesson last night courtesy of the one and only Sarah F :). She was a fabulous teacher and calmly explained everything to us---from making it through a roundabout safely to giving way to the correct cars from the correct directions. It's a bit weird driving on the "wrong" side of the road and I reckon it will take some getting used to (for example, the blinkers and the wipers are on opposite sides--) but it's awesome!

Hope everyone's Christmas was great. We had a great holiday over here--and were oh so spoiled! Sarah and Connor got us tons of cool camping stuff for our upcoming adventure, and sarah put lots of little treats in a stocking for us and put it on our pillows. When we turned down the covers to go to sleep, we were so surprised---there might have been tears in our eyes it was so cute! We had roast chicken and veggies for our x-mas eve meal and a big egg and bacon brekkie on x-mas morning. Of course it was tough being away from the fam, but it was a special holiday nonetheless. The day after x-mas we had a special little visitor that I'm sure someone brought to us to fill the animal void we've had in our lives lately. This cute little kitty ran into the house and has hardly left since. She belongs to the neighbors but I'm pretty sure she is here more then there. We've named her Misty (even though the neighbors call her LuLu :) ) and she was just what we needed to fill that little void we had! She's been sleeping at the foot of our bed through the night and she plays with us every day after work (she's really entertaining!).

On Boxing Day (day after x-mas), we went to Kaitoke with all the flatties and had our first new zealand camping experience. The park was beautiful and we spent time swimming in the FREEZING river, lounging on the rocks, and playing frisbee! It was a nice little getaway.

We have recently got our sleeping bags and our tent!!! We were super excited about this and wasted no time in setting it all up! As soon as we got home, the tent went up in the living room! We love it!

Now that January has rolled around, so also has the summer festivities in Welly. They have heaps of free events going on around the city that we are pumped about. This weekend we went to a beach volleyball pro tour that was going on at the city beach. Some of the teams were awesome and it was lots of fun to watch!! The American girls team actually made it to the finals. Crazy. There is also live music going on for the next month or so in the botanical gardens (which also has a sepcial light show going on).Rreally looking forward to an X-games type event going on at the waterfront and a graffetti competition. We also have a fabulous, luxurious, getaway to look forward to thanks to the parentals and big bro! We are SO excited about our upcoming massages and manicures! Not to mention our stay in an awesome hotel, complete with dinner and breakfast the next morning! Do you think the hotel staff will believe that we really are backpackers!!!???

JULES and JARROD are coming in Thursday and we can't wait! HURRY UP AND GET HERE GUYS!!!

That's all from here for now (even though I feel like there is SO much more! Sorry for slacking with the blog!) Only 7 days left of work and not many more here at 29a.

love and miss you guys!

oh--and p.s.

I don't know how I forgot this is my last entry---or what made me think of it right now (perhaps looking out from my 14th floor view at work and thinking about all the stories I've heard about the way this building can SWAY when an earthquake hits). Anyhoo, we experienced our first earthquake a few nights ago!! And when I say "we experienced" I really mean Molly experienced and I sat there with absolutely NO CLUE. I was sitting on the couch--glued to the episode of CSI (or SVU...one of those shows that takes over me), molly was in the room and Connor was on the phone. I had no idea what had gone on until Connor said "no one even got excited for that?? Can we at least get a 'whoop, whoop' for the earthquake?"!! I was pissed! It was a 4.something by us---which is not that big....but plenty big enough that you shouldn't be able to just sit completely oblivious through it. I did. But according to Mol, it felt like someone was running down the hall, and then it felt like someone was shaking the house. Haha. Typing that out makes me laugh! HOW IN THE HELL DID I MISS THAT?!!? So, if you've ever tried talking to me while I was watching CSI or SVU and you got mad at me for not having any response to you, please take comfort in the fact that you probably could have SHAKEN me and I still wouldn't have responded. That is all. Back to my newspaper!

CHRISTMAS EVE IS TOMORROW!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

And the plan is...

Well, Christmas is fast approaching and I can't believe it! Where has the time gone? I don't want to make this too long but now that me and molly have a plan, I wanted to fill everyone in! Now, when I say a plan, I really just mean direction! We are all about playing things by ear.
First on our agenda is a car---it is a work in progress and we would LOVE to have one by the time Jules and Jarrod get here (12 Jan!!) but I guess it won't be the end of the world if we had to wait a bit longer. Our last day of work is 20 Jan and we couldn't be more excited! We have done a great job of saving up and are ready to spend it all on NZ adventures!! We are going to hit the road towards the end of Jan/beg. of Feb. and head up the North Island. We have started looking at tents, sleeping bags and other camping gear b/c we made an excutive decision to "rough it" for the next 2 months!! We may have to cough up some money on gear (tent, etc) but from our calculations, it will pay for itself in the first week at least (compare the price of a camp ground at $2-$5 to a hostel at $18-$28). We couldn't be more excited about this and are both getting a bit antsy (phil, that means we are really excited!!!). We are going to take 2 months to explore the entire north island---moving up the east coast and back down the west coast. The weather will be nice and warm and perfect for the beaches that are the north island. We'll be back here in Welly at the end of March--just in time for Molly's family to come visit and get in a reunion with the 29a flatmates. Then, it's down the south island where we will prepare for some INTENSE tramping experiences and crazy views (the north island has plenty but the south is known for it's SICK views and daredevil activities!).

So, for those of you who have been slacking on the blog, I promise it will get hella more exciting as we load everything into our little car (that we have yet to own) and make our way up the north island! Stories and beautiful pics are sure to follow! Although, getting to a computer will more a bit more difficult! If I dont talk to you, have a great Christmas---miss and love you!

next time you hear from me here, it will hopefully be to tell you that we have a car and are hitting the road!!

pics to go along with last blog!

The little balloon friend that Phil left behind for us! Me and Mol at Phil's farewell dinner
The cave wetter!! Just imagine hundreds of these guys crawling right above your head!
Me and Phil outside Westpac stadium before the big cricket game
The cricket game!
More pics on http://photos.yahoo.com/mollyfoos

Just a lil' tidbit

Hi all :) Well, it is slowly but surely starting to look like christmas over here! Well, not really at all seeing as it gets warmer each day. But the decorations are going up, the music has started, and the tree with our popcorn (which me may have to guard from connor so he doesn't eat them in the middle of the night ;) ) and pasta ornaments is soon to come! Not much going on besides work these days but I thought I'd fill you in on a few fun happenings!

CAVE WETTERS!! :-O
A few weekends ago, we had a flat outing to the top of Mt. KauKau---late at night. It was a fun walk and a fab-tabulous view of the city lights. Somewhere on our walk back down, it became a great idea to re-visit the creepy tunnel that me and mol found a few weeks before. I think me and connor MIGHT have had something to do with that brilliant idea. So, we started the creepy trek up the pitch dark mountain with locked arms--no one wanting to be the last in the group. When we got to the tunnel, Connor bravely took off in to it with his torch and we all followed. Now, if you recall (see the pic in previous blog!), this tunnel was not that tall. We had to hunch down to fit into it. I think we were all preoccupied with fairy-tale scares (aka...ghosts) that the possibility of this cave being a bug haven just sort of slipped our minds. So, we get about half way into this thing and Conner happens to point his torch towards the ceiling (which, mind you, is really close to our heads)---it was CRAWLING with cave wetters! A creature that was new to the American kids and hated by the leader of the group! We all got the ebby jibbies and hi-tailed it out of there. I'll put a pic of this thing on my site soon...it was large...very large...and they were EVERYWHERE....and UGH! Sarah proved to be a great sport when mol looked at her with this look of terror on her face and told sarah "oh my god, DON'T move!". Everyone thought sarah had one of these creepy things on her...and mol started laughing. I would have cried, of thrown her back into the cave of something....but sarah just shook it off!! That night, I woke up to a spider on my face---and no, I wasn't dreaming it. I flicked the thing off me, then found it and killed it. Unlike me to kill a hramless spider---just happened to pick the wrong night to craml on my face!

Cricket players are wankers!!!
Me, mol and Phill took a day off of work and had our first cricket experience (well, it was a first for me and mol). When Phil first told me the game would go on from 2pm until 10pm, I laughed--thinking that there was no way in hell I would stay there for that long. All I could think about was baseball on steriods--and lets face it, baseball is not the most exciting sport to watch (unless it's a rice championship game and you are so excited that you dump your beer all over the person next to you!! --sorry amanda!! :)). Anyhoo, the game turned out to be awesome! The crowd was hilarious as were some of their outfits (we had some singlets, some rally looking boys--and some other crazy drunk people wearing things they couldn't have possibly been comfrotable in!). Soon after we were there, everyone broke out into a "ricky is a wanker" cheer that continued on and off for the entire 8 hour game! Hilarious. It was a crazy close game--Australia beat us by only 2 runs and it came down to the 2nd to last ball of the last over (for those of you that, like me a few days ago, know nothing about cricket, that's really freakin close!). So, yes, we did stay for the entire game...and it was awesome! And me and Mol are now experts and no longer need to ask Phil 1001 questions....

Speaking of the Phil
The Phil has somehow managed to pack up all his stuff and this morning left us to continue on his journey. We've all shared a similar sucky-ness about traveling. You meet great people, you become really close in a short about of time, you have so many great times together, and then someone leaves. That's just the way it goes but i have no doubt that we'll all meet again! Before he left, we had a flat dinner and Phil graciously got us all great gifts! And, we'll have a constant reminder of him as long as we have balloons in the flat. (Balloons became 'a thing' with us and we are all slightly obsessed with them. They make us laugh...it's the little things!). Phil is famous for writing on the balloons and dressing them up somehow & he left us a smiling balloon that is saying "I bet I'll make it til christmas" with a little hat on. Like I said---the little things!

Well, it's back to my work day! Have I mentioned that I love Mufty friday's?!

I'm glad mr/mrs anoymous is having fun with this!!!

Happy *belated* Turkey Day!!

Who was the anonymous that signed my blog a while back?!?! The escaped convict look?! Ring any bells! Sign your names!!! It makes my day to see comments everyone leave---but I'm a horrible guesser!!!

Well, Turkey day has come and gone and I hope it was just fabulous for everyone! For those of you I got to talk to, it was great to hear your voices! Me and molly had a moment of sadness when we called home to our familes. I think it made it worse b/c while everyone was together, we were at work. So, we shared a virtual hug, shed some tears, and got on with our day. Our Turkey day was on Saturday and we spent all day cooking up a feast to give our flatmates a little taste of home! Things that would have been simple in the states seemed to be a bit more difficult over here. The fact that they don't have pumpkin puree (and we couldn't let thanksgiving come and go without Connor P getting a taste of pumpkin pie), stuffing croutons, normal pie crust or a pie dish for that matter (sweet pies are hard to come by--if they have pie, it's usually filled with meat!), marshmellows (we had to go to 2 stores before we found ones that would do for candied yams!), or half and half, made things a bit more difficult! But, we had made our menu and we were determined to stick to it! Turkey, stuffing, mashed patatoes, gravy, cranberries, candied yams, breaded carrots, greenbeans, pumpkin pie and apple pie! I have to say, we weren't overly confident about how things would turn out, afterall, neither of us had really helped out cooking thanksgiving before, let alone done everything from start to finish! And by Connor's "have you guys ever cooked before" question, I don't think he was too confident either!!(we even bought a packet of cheap gravy in case we screwed that part up!) hehe. But, I have to say, we pulled it off! And we did it all---everything from making out own stuffing croutons to pureeing (is that a word!??) our own pumpkin. The turkey was a little dry but for 2 first timers, I think we did a dang good job!
Molly made up some thanksgiving activites for everyone, including some triva that really brought out the kid in all of us---Phil was caught redhanded cheating from Connor's paper (the look of determination in his eyes and the speed of his writing made us certain he had done it before...), innocent little Sarah worked dilengtly on her triva questions with confidence that her dad had taught her all there was to know about Thanksgiving--we never would have guessed that when she took a break and wondered off she had gone searching for the answer key---which she carried back to the table all stealth-like! I of course just sat there like a good little girl and answered the questions---but they all tried to disqualify me for taking too long. As for Connor---well, he was busy showing the German's around the house while trying to convince them that we were actually fairly normal people despite all the screaming and laughing going on!

Which brings me to the next topic---new flatmates! The German couple, despite our strange behavior has decided to move in! We are all a bit excited---and between the 5 of us, we are bound to come up with a few German words. Which, will probably be needed since neither of them speak very good english! So, it should be interesting to say the least! They seem nice and after a little breaking in, fun too! If you know any German (other then bad words and "yes, exactly"---we've got those covered) throw them my way!

Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day! Love you :)

Fun times at 29a

more pics added to http://photos.yahoo.com/mollyfoos

ps--The B has officially moved out!! New flatmate to come! :)

Just smile and nod...

It's lunch time over here on this side of the world and I'm using the strong winds as an excuse not to go for my lunch time run! The hour that we get for lunch is fabulous!! At first I didn't even know what to do with myself---it seemed like forever! I thought about cutting it down to 30min and getting payed for the extra half hour but I have since decided that it makes the day fly by when you go for a run (or blog, read the newspaper, or trashy magazines that seem to rule this place, or meet with mol in the park!) for an hour in the middle of the day! Anyhoo! Work is going well--my boss asked me a few days ago if I would feel comfrontable answering the phones when things got busy. I'm pretty sure my voice was shaking the first few times but I'm starting to get used to it and am kind of loving it! One thing I learned really quickly is that you can't just smile and nod when you talk on the phone. The whole 'just smile and nod' has gotten me by many a time when I don't understand a damn word that someone says (esp. sarah who might forget to breath when she speaks---between me and mol, we are usually able to piece together what she says. Although, it may make for some delayed reactions!) but that doesn't seem to work too well on the phone! Which is kind of great I guess--I'm sure I'll be able to understand these Kiwi's perfectly someday soon but so far I've been quilty of passing on a few calls simply b/c I can't understand them! And I'm perfectly aware that if I screw up or tell someone something completely wrong, they'll be able to track me down with "that girl with the accent told me so". The girls have been sure to point out that there is no hiding for me!

Enough about work! Our immature flatmate that I have told some of you about (ya know ash, the guy with the chip on his shoulder!) has now taken his TV out of the living room. Hilarious. To make what could be a really long story short, Mr. Brenden (or, 'the b' as he referes to himself) is extremly immature and has gone through periods of outright ignoring everone who has come through the house. It's happened to me and mol for about a week until I said something and Brenden just pussed out and told me nothing was wrong. He has now started ignoring Phil for the 2nd time. Sooo, we all got to the point where we have had enough. We were all meant to go to his 21st birthday but decided that he treats us like crap and being there would just damper our moods. SO, we decided to stay home and have a party of our own! Mol had a brillant idea of picking names out of a hat to see who would be the birthday person---sarah won! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH became the theme of the night---complete with balloons, a few games of 'circle of death' (in which sarah made a rule that you had to say 'happy birthday sarah' before you picked up a card) and some great flat drunken moments! We managed to stay awake for the All Blacks rugby game--we kicked butt!! And finally made it to bed soon after the birds started chirping and the sun came up! The B hasn't been around much since the weekend but this morning when we woke up, we noticed that he took his big TV out of the living room and left the smaller one that belongs to connor on the floor. We can't help but laugh! We hope it means he is moving out but it's more likely him just being spiteful.

Off to get some reading in before I head back to work! Hope all is well at home! Miss you all! Also a big congrats to my Rice girls who pulled out a big Conference USA win--that's HUGE for a program that is only 5 years old! Mol should be updating her online picture account soon so we'll be sure to put a -few- pics from our big birthday night up there!! :) (the website is written on one of these last few blogs)

oh--one more thing! I now have MUFTY friday's at work!!! The ANZ Bank has decided to join the rest of NZ and we are now allowed to wear jeans on friday! I think I'm more excited about the word mufty then I am about wearing jeans!

Read other blog entry first!

keep telling yourself that the hair will grow back :) :) (b/c it will! no worries!)

Always remember the 5th of November

(I'll get to that title in just a minute!)

Not sure where to start--my days are starting to blend together! I guess I'll start with 2 weekends ago. We are finally starting to get some nice weather so I pulled on my tramping boots and took off looking for a bit of a challenge. Everytime we take the train to the city, I notice this little trail off in the mountains, and everytime I look at it wondering what is has to offer! So, I set off to find out :) It was nothing too crazy but it was a nice little getaway that is only about 10 mintues from our house. Not to mention it was a tid bit creepy walking through the woods alone! It's okay mom, I won't do it ever again--!! It only took me about 2o minutes to get to the top and I wasn't feeling too satisfied. So, worked my way back down to a little stream that runs for who knows how long! I tried to stay dry at first, but by the end, I was willingly up to my knees in chilly water.

So, that brings me to this weekend--and the title of this here blog! The 5th of November is an event called Guy Fawkes. It's named after a man who was plotting to blow up the parliment building in England--he was caught and evidently burnt in a big bonfire. So, every 5th of Nov, people celebrate with fireworks. ("always remember the 5th of november--gunpowder, treason, and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder, treason, and plot should ever be forgot"). So, we planned for an exciting flat outing on saturday night---expecting the fireworks show to be very similar to our 4th of July. Wow, were we wrong!!
We started with a big flat BBQ--we had an american touch, a kiwi touch, and an england touch. It was damn delicious! So, off we go---expecting a nice fireworks show, never expecting that for the next 2 hours we would feel like we were in a war zone. As soon as we hit Oriental Parade (a road that is right on the water and the hotspot for the night), things got nutty!! It started with really load noises (that were pretty unmistakenly fireworks hitting cars), and heaps of people. I'm pretty sure that within the first 5 mintues of getting to Oriental Parade, we all jumped back or huddled up at least 5 times. I turn to my right--some chick who has no idea what to do with a roman candle throws it on the ground. It shoots off once and flys under some cars--shoots off again, comes right at the crowd of people--shoots off again and goes right towards another group of people. All the while, the girl is chasing it, (oh, and she now also has a sparkler in her hand) trying to catch it. She finally does and points it away from the crowd--right towards some people on their balcony across the street. I look to my left and there are fireworks of all sorts shooting up within feet---no, inches of crowds of people. All along the beaches, kids (and when I sy kids, i mean YOUNG kids) were setting off their own fireworks with absolutely no regard for the fact that they are REALLY hot and dangerous! Yeah, yeah, I sound like a huge wuss and I lost count of how many times I told my mother to get out of my head that night. But, just when I told myself to stop being a wuss, another piece of fire would come flying at my head. You try it and tell me you don't run away crying. I felt like I was playing dodge ball with fireballs---that exploded on impact. Surprisingly, all the crazyness that was going on around us stopped as soon as the big show started. It was awesome and beautiful and it was nice to not have to watch our backs for 15 minutes! But as soon as the show was over, the crayness started all over again!! Walking back through the crowd---more people who thought roman candles were fun to point at crowds of people. Me and Phil ducked as one flew right over our heads--turned around and watched it land right on some guys lap. We found a nice little place that was a bit away from the crowd and decided to hang out there for a while (don't get me wrong--we wanted to get out of there ASAP but we drove---and we thought it was better to hang out then to try and drive in this crazyness---yeah, remember the fireworks hitting cars bit earlier??). So, we sat on this little roof and just watched in disbelief. 2 young kids (couldn't have been much older then 6) were not only lighting the fireworks on the edge of the dock, but were jumping over them while they were lit. The parents kind of watched. Another roman candle (or something that shoots off multiple things) was lit on the edge of the dock and fell in the water. I thought the water would just kill it. Nope. Shoots once---right towards the dock where all the kids were, shoots again, and again and again---no one ever knowing where the hell it would end up! We finally made it home safe and sound--me and molly repeating over and over about how it would never fly in the states. How we were never allowed to light fireworks until we were at least-what, 13? And even then, dad or big brother was right next to me and I had to run away after I lit it. Usually the garage was a safe enough distance from the street!! Anyhoo---enough of that! It was quite an experience!

The first All Blacks game was on that morning at 5am. We didn't make it. We set our alarm but we weren't quite Kiwi enough to actually get up. But we caught the replay the next day and they kicked butt! (the All Blacks are the Kiwi's pride and joy--the rugby team that basically owns this place!). Next weekend they play at 3am--we'll be at the bar watching. For sure!!

Sunday me and molly took off for Mt. Kaukau (pronouced cowcow) looking for a nice little hike! It was beautiful!! Only about a 20 minute walk from our house and a 60 minute hike to the top. On the way up, we came across this CREEPY looking tunnel that we didn't have the guts to go into. Maybe next time! We hiked a little more and saw rolling green hills for as far as we could see. It was breathtaking. The pictures just don't do it justice but I guess they never do! We saw lots of sheep which we were super excited about!! They are just so cute :) When we got to the top, we had a great view of Johnsonville (our home) to our left and Wellington (our work) to the right! We had to cut the hike a little short b/c when we got towards the top we thought we were going to be blown away! But we are planning to do it again soon! I wish I could explain the view--it was just amazing!

Daylight Savings...AGAIN!

If my memory serves me correctly, the states just went through daylight savings and you all have "fallen back". What does this mean for us? Well, we are yet ANOTHER hour apart!

So, Florida (aka eastern time) you are now 18 hours behind me and Houston (aka central time), you are now 19 hours behind me! JEEPERS!! That's a long time...but it actually makes it easier to get each other at resonable hours!!

Me and Molly are off to our "pub meet" tonight...complete with our "smart" outfits (aka, business attire) and SNEAKERS!! Yes, that's right...we have taken the plunge into fashion suicide and now wear sneakers when we walk to work. It's HOT, let me tell you what! But hey, try walking to work and back everyday in really uncomfy shoes...! We didn't last long and have followed in the (smart) locals [sneaker] footsteps!

TO BE ANNOUNCED:
How I fare this weekend after attending GUY FAWKS (a huge fireworks event), drinking a considerable amount, and trying to stay up until 3am to watch the first ALL BLACKS (rugby) game since we've been here. I'll be in touch :)

A big hug and "i love you" to all my friends and family in Florida who were very fortunate even though they were without power for over a week after hurricane Wilma. Glad everyone is okay. Keep your spirits up. :)

Been meaning to mention for ever now that JULES and JARROD are coming to see us!!!!! We are so super excited!!! Can't wait guys :)