Sydney

Sydney is beautiful. I find myself getting up each morning to run around the Sydney Opera House and the Botanical Gardens which are right next each other. On my walk back to the hostel I pass through the beautiful Hyde park. I have found the last two days that Hyde Park is a popular place for couples to picnic or just cuddle. It was cute at first but got old rather quickly. So instead of focusing on the couples I have been sticking my nose in books. I read a whole book in one day which for me is rather odd.
There are also plenty of long course 50 meter pools here which automatically makes my heart smile but just as quickly turns to a frown to find all the outdoor pools seem to be closed down for "the winter" (its in the 60s and 70s during the day... what!). My search hasn't ended yet though as a new friend told me of a nice one that could possibly still be open. If not I will settle for the indoor Olympic sized pool that a short walk from my hostel.
I feel at home in water. It's therapy when I am struggling with something in life. I can just dive in and do what became robotic growing up... swim. And when I start to think too much... I just keep swimming. And then somehow my thoughts seem to do 1 of 2 things: fade away or become more clear. Running has the same effect on my thought life but it is not home... that can only be said of swimming for me.
I sometimes wonder what my life would look like right now if I had been born in Australia. Swimming is such a prized sport here that I could still be racing. About the only swimmer Americans could name would be Phelps and maybe the "Thorpedo"... but here everyone knows the good swimmers. But it doesn't do any good to think that way... its not reality.

A day in the Airport

When I approached the counter this morning at 5:50 am I was told my flight was cancelled.  I'm now stuck in the Auckland Airport until 3.  Could be worse.  Got a good read.  It's Not About the Bike.  Story of Lance Armstrong's life.  Although I am not a huge fan of his in some ways, his story is honest and inspiring.  All for now, Sydney awaits and hopefully a place to sleep as well.  

Much Love,

Hannah 

SOPHIA

I am back in Auckland staying with Travis and Brooke. I thought I would show you their precious little girl Sophia! She loves me. No really she is constantly looking at me. I think I am a foreign body in the house that she hasn't quite figured out yet.
Besides admiring how precious Sophia is... I took a long run in the pouring rain which was refreshing and Needed!
Oh and the other huge update is that my mom is meeting me in Sydney!!! I leave this Sunday and she is meeting me on July 4th! More on this tomorrow!
Much Love,
Hannah

The Cutest Couple

Well I have found that my favorite part of the day is the mornings. While I have been in Paihia (Bay of the Islands) I have been getting up for a morning run. After my run I have been walking along the water to cool down. While doing this I met the cutest couple fishing. We began to talk and for the last three days I have stopped to talk to them for quite a while. They are in their 80's and have been married 53 years!!! At the end of every conversation the cute man makes sure to tell me to be careful traveling alone and not to fall for any kiwi men. I wondered why he kept telling me this and this morning I found out. He told me that one of his daughters went to travel in Scotland when she was 21 and never came home because she fell for a Scotish man(she is now 45)! I told him not to worry and assured him that my favorite people to talk to have been people their age. They have so much life to share.
Anyhow I keep thinking of the most clever interesting things to write on my blog when I am lying in bed on walking along the beach but when I try to sit down and remember those thoughts they are long gone. SO I am sorry my blog has merely been an account of my activities but it will have to do for now:)
Much Love,
Hannah

Nintey Mile Beach/ Cape Regina

My two Aussie friends trying to chew fresh oysters from Ninety Mile Beach! We drove all the way down the beach on the bus!

Tip of New Zealand (Cape Regina)

Two Seas Coming Together

My favorite part of the trip... we Rode down the Sand Dunes on Boards... and I almost fell into the water at the bottom!!!

Trip to the Bay of Islands

I left Auckland this AM and starting my journey North to the Bay of Islands which consists of 144 Islands and is a New Zealand summer hot spot. To the right is a picture of the Hold in the Rock... world famous in NZ! And below it is one of the dolphins that was swimming and playing with our boat... a pod of about 30 dolphins were present but they are just to fast to get good pics of! This was all part of out 3 hr cruise around the Islands.

The tree in the picture is a mere 800 years old. We stopped by on our trip north It is thought that if you hug the tree and press your nose up against it you will have a safe journey... so that is exactly what I did :) Our bus driver let me know that if I was to try and cut this down I would be thrown in jail or beaten by a local... there is only about 100 of these trees left in New Zealand and lets just say they are precious to the land.

Vegemite and Mission Bay

Last night I tried Vegemite which is I've heard is gross but I kinda liked it!  

Today was a good day.  Yesterday was a homesick day and today was quite a bit better.  Brooke took me out to my new favorite place in Auckland called Mission Bay!  Its like this huge running path along the ocean with views of the islands off shore and tons of yachts, the only downfall is that I didn't bring my camera cause I was running. So Brooke just dropped me off 6 miles out and I jogged back.

I am going North tomorrow morning on a Stray Bus (adventure bus line) and am super stoked about the Bay of Islands and Cape Regina... I will be taking pictures of these!

I wish I was Sailing

Traveling is weird. I can't explain it. Sometimes I forgot that I am walking around in a foreign country and then it hits me and I wonder what the heck I am doing. Whatever I am doing, I am here. Anyway, I have a favorite little cafe on the water called Billfish. It's nice to go there in the morning and listen to the sailors talk about their boats and just zone out. I have also seen some sailors look at me when I talk (I guess they are surprised or caught off guard by voice). There are also sooo many cafes here and I have to say the coffee is better than in the US.
I love to look at the Auckland harbor and admire all the sailing boats/ yachts. It seems that sailing and rugby are the two huge sports here. The rugby stars seems to be praised like we praise our NFL players. The All Blacks is the big NZ rugby team and kinda ironic to them is their soccer team called the All Whites.
This last picture is of this bird that captured my full attention for at least 10mins (which can be a hard thing to do). It looks like a regular little duck but then it surprises you and out of no where drives down under the water and comes back up in a couple of minutes with a little fish! Anyway that was my morning entertainment.
Love Hannah
PS My email is hannahbku@hotmail.com Would love to hear from you!

One Tree Hill

So this picture is of One Tree Hill which is on the top of Cornwell Park. (Just for you Mrs. Helvey:) It overlooks all of Auckland. It was on the complete other side of the city so I was kinda nervous figuring out the bus system but everyone has been so nice that I just ask anyone and figure it out. I took about an half an hour bus ride over and then did a fun muddy (until I realized that there was the paved road option) hike to the top. The park was huge and I saw a bunch of super fit runners and moms playing with their kids.
Auckland is a pretty interesting city. Travis was explaining to me that there is a tension btw the cities and rural area because the cities are a melting pot of all different ethnicities (I have met a number of people from Malaysia). But most the the rural areas have the Maori or the Pakeha (British Caucasian). Auckland is also the largest city in New Zealand with 1 million people which is 1/3rd of the entire population of New Zealand at you guessed it, 3 million.

On the left is the Scott's home which is VERY close to downtown Auckland. So since I just got home from my 3 hour adventure to the park I am going to peace out for now.

First full day in Auckland

I am staying with the Scott family while I am in Auckland and they have been pretty dang great. When I arrived this sign was on my door! So an update on my last entry. I did end up taking a sleeping pill when i woke up at 3 in the morning (which is like 10am in AR) . So all in all I ending up getting over 14hours of sleep last night!
Well I bought a bus pass that covers all of the north and south island called the Kiwi Express. It's kinda like an adventure experience bus. Each stop they have a cool activity available like sea kayaking or bungee jumping etc... and if I like the town we stop in I can just stay there for however long(1 week a month etc) and get back on the next bus when I am ready. The other stipulation is that I can only going in one direction. Anyway I am planning on staying in Auckland about a week or so and then starting my journey on the bus from here.
Other than that I have just been resting today and I look a long walk down to the Auckland harbor where there are thousands of yachts (cause its huge here) and had a flat white (kinda like latte in the states) by the water. Much love, Hannah

Jeglag Knocks you down when you least expect it

So its about 3am and I am up and wide awake cause its 11 am in going ole Little Rock, AR. This is going to be an interesting night unless I take a lunesta and cheat. What will I do? I guess you'll have to find out on my next entry :)

Quantas is my new favorite airline!

So I am here and the flight wasn't too bad at all! In fact the plan was quite impressive. We each had our own TV and choices of movies, cds to listen to, tv shows or documentaries to watch. SO naturally I watch the Escape to Alcatraz triathlon, Hotel for Dogs, listened to Kings of Leon, and sleep about five hours. I was in seat k if that gives you an idea on how dang huge the plan was. They gave us dinner and breakfast along with a snack, blanket, eye cover, socks, and earphones. You could even look at the screen and see where we were over the Atlantic and how much longer we had on the flight. Needless to say Quantas airlines is my new faviote way to fly!
I sat next to a super nice girl that lives in Auckland and she was embarrassed cause she has lived here 8 years and hasn't explored the country yet.
Anyway, customs took like 30 secs to go through and the bus was right outside. So now I am at the bunac headquarters on the 10floor of a high rise in downtown Auckland over looking the ocean and waiting for the uber long orientation to start. Already met a nice dude that helped me with the computer from Colorado... its going smooth so far. This is funny I am sitting here because yesterday it just seemed so surreal that I was even doing this and hard to image I would soon be in a new country. God is good.

Anticipating a Crazy Trip

As I was trying to go to sleep last night I was wondering why I wasn't just super stoked to go on this trip. I mean I have been wanting to do this since my first year in college, possibly before that! And now it is finally happening and I keep asking myself "what the heck am I doing?" I came to the conclusion that I am tentative to go because I am going alone. I think I would be way more excited if a friend were going too. I honestly don't mind doing things by myself it just usually better with someone. I do think however that I am going to learn sooo much about myself by doing this alone and hopefully grow and come to know what direction I want my life to be heading towards when I return (which I am also unsure of). But if you could pray for loneliness that would be much appreciated.
The plan ride to Auckland is hard core to say that least. I fly to Chicago then LA (with a 3.5 hr layover for customs) then a 12hr flight to Auckland. I leave Little Rock at 12:45pm on June 13th and I arrive in Auckland at 7:30am June 15th.
The upside to this is the family I am staying with when I get there. They have been super nice and I have heard good things from Jeremy who is pretty dang reliable. That's all for now and I will let you know how the hard core trip goes in a couple of days!