okay so im in the south island, which should be an indication to you smarties, that i sucessfully hitchhiked. but not to say it wasn't kinda scary. I really thought I would have to wait hours, but I waited probably about 5 minutes? And this 29 year old New Zealand guy picked me and my friend Toshi up. He was cool, except he smelled, and he was so desperate for friends he took us an hour and a half out of his way. I did throw him some gas money for the favor, but then that wasn't enough. He wanted to hang out. Yes, so he parks the car and decides he wants to spend the day with us. It wasn't until he hinted that he might stay the night in Wellington that I put the breaks on operation creepfest 2005. I told him to get back in his car, and go home. ew he sucked.

So I loved Wellington and stayed with some awesome people who reminded me so much of my own friends back at college that I felt right at home. They gave me my own room with a window that provided me a fantastic night view of the city. THANKS SO MUCH JEN! anyhow, i had only a few days in wellington where i met up with two boys who i travelled with on the ferry across to the south island. we rented a car together, and after about 10 minutes of this whole driving on the left hand side, i wonder why the hell we do it difererntly in america. i think when i get back, im goign to have major problems readjusting to that right hand side crap..

so we drove down to christchurch, checked into a hostel that smelled of baby shit. every floor smelled of baby shit. i have no idea why. it was amusing, kind off..in that tired sort of "i just drove too long and too fast and had too much fun to care about the wierd baby shit molecules floating around my nostrils". we dropped our stuff off, and went out to dance, where i taught bart and joep the phrase "tear it up bitch"..so we all "tore it up" on the dancefloor, went back to hostel, slept, woke up and parted ways. They had an itinerary longer than mine, so i rented my own car and took off.

Thus started the rediculouslessness of the remainder of my days in New Zealand. I drove through the mountains that day to end up in Greymouth which isn't anything spectacular, but just a stop off point. THe next day i visited the pancake rocks which gush huge amounts of water, and have all this kelp floating around like the hair off of corpses. it was pretty mesmerizing for sure! i did a couple short hour hikes, and then took off for Franz Josef, which would be one of the worst nights/days of my trip so far

I get to Franz Josef and decide that Id like to do a glacier hike. So i go into the office, pay for my hike which would begin the next morning, and decide to sleep in the car. PROBLEM number one. i think i was already in a down kind of mod, and then i was sleeping in a car alone, tired, cold, scared, sad as
hell, and just crying my eyes out becuase a family camper van pulled
up next to me and i missed my family so much right then and there..and
i was like the little match girl just watching them through the car
window, eating cold cereal and carrots for dinner. stupid families. stupid not having a family right now. oh well..so i woke up the next morning feeling still a bit down, but decided id have to ultimately make it a better day.

so i take off for the glacier hike... Sounds okay, sounds fun, sounds challenging right? YEAH, HOW ABOUT SOUNDS LIKE A SUICIDE MISSION where yours truly ended up hanging off a rope over holes in the ice, really thinking that was it, that I was going to die, and saying my goodbyes. not even kidding. i hated it. after that incident, i was just to terrified that i spent more time scared than having fun. I spent more energy fighting back the tears of anger and being freaked out than having fun and it was just horrible. My stupid equipment was faulty, and the whole thing was just so unsafe and not well put together. i finally made it off the ice, i just wanted OUT of there. I pulled off my equipment, didn't even bother commenting on the shitty equipment and walked out of there. I decided i would NOT spend that night in the car as i had had a miserable time. I checked into a hostel that had a hot tub, and loved myself right. I made friends with everyone in the room and we all went out that night, and I would see them later on in Queenstown.

I left Franz Josef the next day, went through a sleepy town called Wanaka and went straight to Queenstown, adventure capital!! It was here i went canyon swinging..which is just like bungee jumping, but at the end of a the jump, you fly through the two canyons at 150 kph. I told the guy I wanted to jump backwards, which really heightened the experience. They played so many mind games with you! They first hang you over the cliff while leaning backwards, to take your picture. THEN pull you back up, before you finally jump. But the whole time, they act worried, and pretend to push you and it really makes it that much more worth it. I counted off three, and just lunged myself off this cliff. The freefall is amazing. You just keep falling, but the best part is when you assume the rope will tighten and it doesn't. You just keep falling and thinking oh shit what did i get myself into, and right when you are about to say your goodbyes (man i seem to be doing this a lot huh), the roap becomes taught and you just literally flyyyyyyyyy...

i went home, had some lunch, and then went white water rafting. i don't stop do i? no i don't, which is why you all love me. White water rafting was so damn cool that i cant wait to do it again. it's going to be amazing times 10.52. im not even kidding. okay? don't argue with me. The water was bitterly cold, so that kind of sucked, but i guess it just made it all the more worth it. WHOSE UP FOR GOING RAFTING SOMETIME when i get back?

SO i left Queenstown, went to Milford Sound, blah blah blah, saw some dolphins, some seals, blah blah, drove to dunedin where i got a job cleaning hostels. I was making beds for free acommodations...not bad when you're travelling on a budget. I left Dunedin after a couple foreign film festivals, and a visit to a Cadbury's chocolate factory. Man that was pretty cool, becuase we saw a chocolate water fall and i felt like i was in willy wanka, minus willy and the wonkas. hahaha oh. We got all this chocolate, and i kept waiting to eat it. I kept thinking, no id like to save this for a moment when i really really want some chocolate. and then i went to a movie, and i wanted some chocolate! no big deal...so i had ONE PIECE of it, and threw up everywhere..go figure. you wait, you enjoy, you barf....gotta love life.

Finally, I came to Christchurch yesterday and have just loved vegging out. Yesterday I did something I was never capable of doing before. I watched movies all day. Yes for real, i watched 3.5 movies and it was great. Then I went on a secret late night mission with three boys I met, and the mission was a success. I had fun. The end. you have to send me a self-adressed stamped envelope if you want the details. Im actually going to a rugby match (yes rick, i made it) tonight, and ill be here in christchurch until i fly out of the south island on april 29th for australia.

mozzie, aussie, wallabies, kangies, SPIDERS, salt water crocs, and sharkies! man how come australia sounds so awesome? how excited am i? THIS MUCH. in case you can't tell, that's a lot. duh. I miss you all dearly and wish you the best! Hope you're all managing without me, but i have a feeling the U.S. must seem a lot quieter these days (shut up andrew).

ON A MUCH MORE RANDOM NOTE, and i stress much more and random.

i decided to properly inspect this notebook I found in the cook islands and have been using since. TALK ABOUT PROPAGANDHA. on the front written in tiny letters, it says "our finest quality paper. Insures a smooth surface that is a pleasure to write on. This is the most comfortable notebook you have ever run into. YOu will feel like writing with it all the time" uhhh....that sounds like a threat to me. WRITE IN THIS NOTEBOOK OR DIE. yeah sure doods. it has some asian writing on it, so i don't know..maybe i need to find the factory that makes these and apply for a job. i want to be the person who makes up these things on notebooks. some guys get all the luck.

P.S. I am so glad that I actually went to it before I left New Zealand, but Kaikoura might be one of the most beautiful places ever. You know how sometimes who you are with, or what you are diong makes your time special? This place was a matter of who, what, when, where, and why. All in one, and then beautifully summed up with one of the most beautiful backdrops I've ever seen in my short life so far.

oh yeah..the rugby match was good fun, mainly because I put my MP3 player on, and was able to watch the most random moves to some great tunes, and it always seemed to coincide..which was amazing. For instance, as one dood ran like hell for the goal, I kept hearing Trent Reznor singing "nothing can stop me now". oh the world of music is a world of truth is a world of happiness is my world.

I miss New Zealand so bad. I can not WAIT to go back someday....