World's Highest Canyon Swing

Mom don't let Dad look at this. I liked it so much they let me do it twice...

Nevis Bungy!

See that thing hanging in the distance. That is the what I jumped 134meters off of today! It was the most terrifying/amazing thing I have ever felt. The Nevis Bungy is the highest bungy in the southern hemisphere. Tiger Woods came to New Zealand and liked the Nevis Bungy so much he did it twice. This bungy was way better than sky diving!

Walking to the ledge and still taking deep breaths. They instructed us to look forward instead of looking down and not to hesitate when they told you to jump or it would only get worse... oh geese. The other super scary factor was that it was very windy today and the crew told us that we really needed to jump when they counted down because if we hesitated or didn't jump out and forward, we could hit the ropes below us.
The bungy crew called me "Arkansas" and they kept looking at me and saying "Don't over think it because it will never make sense" and "Arkansas take deep breaths" I was as close to hyperventilating as I have ever been in my life. Before I realized what I was getting myself into :) If you look behind me in the distance... you will see the Nevis Bungy hanging by cords between the two mountains in the distance. We had to take a cable car to get to it.

Glacier Hike

Franz Josef glacier hike was beautiful! We hiked about 8 hours going through holes, tunnels, and even got to fill up our water bottles using the streams of glacier water... yes it was very good water. The guides might have been the most entertaining part of the day, they were constantly posing and then saying this was our photo opportunity. I guess guiding this glacier hike 5 times a week can get to your head after awhile.

Much Love,
Hannah

Costume Night

Well my two new friends from Holland talked me into actually going out last night. It was a costume party and everyone had to dress up. I went as Micheal Phelps girlfriend and my friends from Holland went as rubbish (trash). The last picture is my attempt to be creative and do a cartwheel to capture sunset.

Much Love,

Hannah

Westport

I boarded the Kiwi Experience Bus this morning and said goodbye to my new friends, the Boar Hunters.

I wasn't expecting this activity (above left) to be so much fun but it was a really nice surprise. The picture above is our group of motor bikes. I was just expecting a normal 4-wheeler but these things were so much faster and lighter. We road on sand, rocks, through a stream, and rough tracks... and I only got stuck once :)

The group on this bus is about 38 people and most of them love to party. So when they left to go bar hopping I took advantage of the computer and fireplace.

Much love,
Hannah

Boar Hunters!

Above is the progression of skinning a wild boar! Crazy stuff. The past few days I have been staying on a farm with a family of wild boar hunters! This has definitely been the most unique Kiwi experience yet. These guys live a rough life and are passionate about hunting. I walked into a house full of bones... they have 14 hunting dogs and hunt almost everyday. This isn't typical hunting either... you need to be really fit to do this stuff. I went on one hunt where we had to run through the bush for an hour to find the dogs. The dogs sniff and when they smell a pig they go crazy and chase after it until they find it. The hunters run after the dogs. When the dogs get to the pig, two of the dogs hold the ears of the pig while the other dogs surround it barking. Then when the hunter gets their he picks the pig up by its hind legs, turns it on it back, and stabs its heart (worst part... def couldn't watch it)! If the pig is fighting too hard or the dogs aren't doing a good job then the hunter shots the pig to be safe. This is just skimming the surface of explaining this kind of hunting.

River Valley Riding

Oh geese. I love riding horses. Although this ride was quite different than I expected. Our horses weren't the typical easy riding horses they kinda had minds of their own. So my horse ended up racing another horse and it stopped so fast I almost flew off. Our guide was laughing so hard but later told me she was a bit nervous too. The views were incredible and I wasn't ready to part with "honey" (my horse) when the ride was over.

Tongariro Crossing

Tongariro Crossing is a 18.5km hike on mountains and volcanoes outside of Lake Taupo. This was the most extreme hike I have ever done. We had to wear crampons (ice breakers attached to you boot) and walking sticks and an Ice Pict. It was stunningly pure scenery and overall it took 8 hours to complete. We stopped for lunch on top of a frozen lake and descended the mountain partially by sliding down parts on our butts. Our main guide was a stud named Sarah who guided this hike 5 or 6 times a week... I was impressed.

It has been 4 days since I started my trip with Kiwi Experience. Kiwi Experience is an adventure bus that takes you around New Zealand and shows you the entire country along with all the adventurous opportunity you can think of.
So in 4 days I have dug up natural hot pools (to the right), been to a cultural night of the Maori (left), been Black Water Rafting, and skydiving.... and those are just the ones on the top on my head. Tomorrow I am going on a 18km walk over a volcano. We also stop for various walks and breaks from driving as we are on the road almost everyday... We are now in Lake Taupo for two days.

Black Water Rafting has been the most challenging activity yet. We were underground in a cave for 5 hours. We repelled down into the cave, zip lined across it in the dark, jumped off the edge into the water with a intertube, swam in the dark looking at the glow worms on the top of the caves, walked (and fell) through the rushing waters, and finished by climbing up two waterfalls... one of which I lost my footing on half way up and fell backwards (thankfully my helmet caught most of the fall and was left with a few minor cuts... and I thought I was an athlete :))

Much love and blessings,
Hannah

Quick Trip

Wow my mom and I have done one wild wind tour of the South Island and sadly she is returning home now. To give a short account of our travels we started in Christchurch then Mt Cook, Qweenstown, Frans Joseph Glacier, Fox Glacier, Greymouth and finally took the Trans Alpine Train back to Christchurch.

We saw where several scenes of Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Wolverine where filmed. Drove through a river in a Land Rover and the water got up to the windshield! Oh geese best part of the day. Yes and alot more but we also spent plenty of time on a bus so needless to say I am reading like a mad women.

Its hard to capture this kind of beauty in a picture but I hope this helps some! This last picture is of the Remarkables. The are the main mountains used for Lord of the Rings. Breathtaking! But sadly a day after we left Qweenstown an avalanche buried one snowboarder on a close by mountain.

I am sad to see my mom go but many sweet memories were made and it reminded me how blessed I am to call her my mom. She is amazing.

Bedtime is here so all for now.

Much Love,

Hannah

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. Yesterday we went on a full days tour to the Blue Mountains which are just about and hour and a half away from Sydney. The day was full and included alot of stops. We saw five kangaroo's up close and got a video of a 5 month old baby (named Joey) hopping around as cute as can be!

We stopped and had lunch in a mountain town and my mom had the traditional pie. It's like a chicken pot pie in the states but they make all different kinds here and they are so popular. Pumpkin anything is also big here... pumpkin soup, bread, salad etc... So she got a pumpkin, feta cheese, and lentil pie and it was delish.

After lunch we took a sky rail down a huge drop off into the heart of the mountains to see The Three Sisters (a famous rock formation). To get back up we took the steepest railway (kinda like a train) ride in the world. At one point we were at 56 degrees. Later in the day we hiked down to a view of a waterfall in midst the mountains and finished the day taking a fairy ride back into Sydney. At the waterfall I talked with our guide (who looked just like Gary Hall Jr. an American swimmer) about Americans. He said he heard a stat that less than 5% of Americans ever travel outside of the US!

It was a great day but by the end of it we were exhausted and ready for bed! This morning I flew to Christchurch and am happy to be back in New Zealand! I'm still quite sick so I am laying low in my hostel bed. I lost my voice and sound like a raspy version of Demi Moore so I have gotten three comments about how I have such a interesting unique voice. Oh geese.

All for now.

Much Love,

Hannah

Byron Bay

We arrived today in this cute beach / hippie town on the east coast called Byron Bay. After having a bit of sushi for dinner we walked down to watch the sunset on the beach. On my gosh is all I have to say about that. This is the picture of it. Beautiful!... but it still doesn't quite do it justice. Isn't God incredible.

Much Love,

Hannah

Cairns/ Port Douglas

Wow... its hard to believe we have been in Port Douglas for almost a week now. Port Douglas is a beach town right outside of Cairns. To the right is a picture of Four Mile Beach. This beach is about 400 meters from our Villa. We have been spoiled here and I'm not letting myself get used to this cause when my mom is gone I will be back on my backpackers budget of 20 dollar hostels!

The picture of the left is the Bay Villa Apartments we are staying at. Since it is so expensive to eat out here we have been going to the local supermarket called Coles and cooking in. The first two days here were packed full with tours. First we went up the Skyrail that takes you over the rainforest. We then came back down by train. It was beautiful traveling through the rainforest and mountains in the train. The next day was The Great Barrier Reef.
By FAR my FAVORITE. It was incredible. We went on three different dives and various spots throughout the reef. It was and hour and a half boat ride out to the reef and we spent about an hour at each of the three dive spots. At the first stop I went scuba diving for the first time. When I was through I came to the surface to find my mom in the water snorkeling. This was a great surprise because she had been doubtful about getting in the day before. Needless to say she had the time of her life pointing at various little fish swimming by and talking throughout the day about their colors and beauty. On our trip back to port we saw two Humpback Whales breech directly in front of our boat. Everyone on the boat (about 80 people) were silent watching these huge beautiful creatures play in the sea. I wrote my dad previously and said that some of God's creations bring people to totally silent and all we can do is simply stand in awe.

Ayers Rock

Oh geese We have been on the move none stop since we left Sydney. From Sydney we flew north to Alice Springs (Central Australia). We only stayed one night but Alice Springs is know for having one of if not the highest per ca pita number of art galleries. They were everywhere! The town was small about 30,000 I believe. Nice change of pace from the huge city of Sydney. The next morning we took a 6 hour bus ride to Ayers Rock Resort. The trip was through what you might think of the typical Outback of Australia. We stopped at a camel farm and yes I did ride a camel!
Ayers Rock Resort was pretty interesting because it was a 3.5km circle of all the different resorts... but that was the whole town (if you would call it that) except for the Aboriginals that live in a separate area. The evening we arrived we went to watch the Sunset at a Ayers Rock viewing area. The Rock changes colors as the sun sets.... yellows, oranges, reds, and purples lit up the sky. God is indeed a creative God. During the sunset we were given a choice of bottomless white or red wine to enjoy. While we were waiting for the sun to set we became friend with the cutest sisters. They were in there 80s and had the most interesting life stories to share. One of the sisters, Louise was a retired Nun and her sister has been a school teacher and spent many years in Hong Kong teaching. They were the funniest and sweetest souls and by the end of our stay they had given us their addresses on the Gold Coast and asked us to visit!
Early... and I mean early the next morning we drove to watch the sun rise which was just looked totally different from the day before. The highlight of this tour for me was the two dingos that visited us. They simply came to inspect us humans... found us boring and ran off into the desert. During the day we took a trip to do a short hike at Kata Juta which consists of 44 huge boulders. During all the bus trips I have been reading this long Australia Novel called Jessica. I have found it to be quite sad as its about one girls hard rugged life in the Outback.
The next day we drove about 4 hours to Kings Canyon and again watched the sunset. Early the next morning we took a 3 hr Rim Walk Hike around the Canyon. This was so fun ... it included a water hole, "the Garden of Eden" (all this greenery around a otherwise barren red canyon), and lots of cliffs.
Then back to Ayers Rock Resort and from their we flew to Cairns (Port Douglas)... home of the Great Barrier Reef. It's in the 80's here and I am definately wearing a tank top and shorts today... just lovely (as they would say)! Even though we just arrived today I already know this will be my favorite place.... I have always dreamed of swimming in the Great Barrier Reed and now its only two days away!
With Much Love,
Hannah

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.