Ready to get out of Hamilton!

So this weekend, my lovely new partner in crime, Jessica, will be taking me and a few other girls home with her to Taranaki, about 4 hours south of here.  If I had known how long the drive would take, I might have thought twice, but doubt it..  At the moment, I am sitting happily at my computer with a box of cookies and a jar of nutella.  (Some people might call that living the life)  But I promise I won't look down on anybody who can't share in this life-changing experience.  I looked at the nutrition facts today though, and almost shed a tear... "Great source of protein" does not outweigh the 30 g of fat.  Guess I will just have to keep up this running thing. UGH ;)  I opened up a New Zealand bank account today, which was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  When you come with cash, you get what you want haha  Since I haven't traveled yet, I have started a wish list.  It's growing by the day.  I met a girl named Elizabeth who transferred up here from Christchurch after the earthquake and she is here studying from California.  Luckily, we both share the love of making plans in advance down to the very last detail.

First, we have the Waitomo caves about thirty minutes south of here.  Let me paint you a picture: tubing through a pitch black cave on a river with glow worms hanging from the ceiling and a hard hat on your head!  Sadly I had to steal the pictures from their website, but we won't get into copyright issues.

After that, we want to head up to Cathedral cove before it gets too cold and go on a day cruise.  This may look familiar because this is where a scene from the Chronicles of Narnia was filmed. Pretty gorgeous, eh?

Now, I'm going to keep the rest a super secret surprise, mostly because there is just so much pretty stuff to see here that we can't even decide for ourselves!  I'm keeping up with the lingo, and if you ever hop on a plane and end up in New Zealand you must learn the saying "Sweet as."  Sweet as what, you might ask?  Well interestingly enough, nobody knows.  It's another one of those weird kiwi things.  So while I am sitting there waiting to hear what is just so sweet, perhaps sweet as chocolate, or sweet as cotton candy, I am left with strange glances because sweet as just means "cool." Like, "oh you celebrate Saint Patrick's Day back in America? " Me: "DUHHHHH, It's so much fun!" Crazy Kiwi: "Sweet as." the end. I got to drive on the left side of the road for the first time yesterday!  I must admit, I was somewhat scared for my life.  I survived though.  The turn circles kinda messed with my head.  We are going bowling tonight for St. Patrick's Day, but I hear its nothing like back home.  But then again, we Americans like to throw a party for everything!  I need to go buy green though so I don't get pinched all night.  Ok, I must get back to homework and nutella, since I have a love-hate relationship with both!  much love guys!