Well, in the past week I departed Christchurch and headed out on the open road. So far (knock on wood), my car is running fine, although I've only had it for just over a week-it better still be running! Still no name for her yet, I"m waiting for some inspiration.

I've decided to head south and spend some time in the southern end of the South Island. First, however, I made a detour to the sea-side communities of Le Bons Bay and Akaroa. That area was really beautiful: turquoise water and green hills all around. Apparently further south was getting hit with snow, but it was blue skies in this area. On my drive over, I met a few people on their way to Antarctica. October is when a lot of the workers head down there out of Christchurch. However, the weather has been too bad for flights lately so I saw quite a few people hanging around Christchurch waiting for their flights to leave. I would love to visit Antarctica at some point, but for this year, I have to admit that I'm not too upset that I'm missing most of winter.

Anyway, the hostel I stayed at was super nice, and the owner prepared huge meals (with dessert) for 10 dollars. It really was great food; and it was nice to eat something besides the spagetti I've been cooking all of the time lately! In Le Bons Bay I also went for my longest run since I've been traveling. There is a 30k trail race here in December that I want to run, so I've got to get in gear and start running more! The cooler weather in NZ has ruled out trips to the beach so far, but it has made running and hiking a bit more comfortable.

I then started driving south and spent a few days wwoofing (willing workers on organic farms) at a vineyard on the way. It really wasn't an ideal place however, so I headed further south.

The rugby world cup started a few days ago in Australia, which is a really big deal to sports fans down here. It lasts for six weeks, and is the third largest sporting event in the world, after the Olympics and the soccer world cup. The people of New Zealand are obviously very excited about the All Blacks. The USA actually has a team entered as well, but big suprise, they are not really expected to do too well. In other sports news, I was very excited to hear how well the Red Sox are doing! It is too bad that the year they do well at the end of the season, I am no where near Boston!

At the moment, I am in Wanaka; a laid back little town near some great ski areas. All the ski areas right around here just closed down however, although there is still too much snow to do a lot of the tramps I would like to do. I once again have been blessed with beautiful, clear weather, although I think the rain is coming again in a few days. Wanaka is a really cool town with a great cafe (I love good cafes!). There is still so much to see however, so soon I'm heading further south to Queenstown and beyond.

Well, enough rambling for now... more to come later!