I'm dying of antici...........pation!

Well folks, the next time you hear from me I will be a Shotover Canyon Swing veteran!!!! This morning Fi and I said farewell to our brave compadres who are taking on the outrageously ridiculous "Nevis Highwire" bungy jump this afternoon (134m above the Nevis River, rougly an 8 second freefall). We sent my video camera with Tiffany, who will hopefully get some adrenalin-infused video footage to share with us when the group gets back to the hostel in about 3 1/2 hours. Fi, Tiffany and I (along with others, I'm sure) will be checking in for our Canyon Swing at 4:15pm today. Hopefully we can catch each others' jumps on video as well, but if not I think Fi and I are both paying for the DVD options. I feel a movie night coming on!

Last night a big group of us hung out at the Altitude bar (attached to our hostel), just visiting, dancing, and generally having a good time. The bar people decided to bust out the karaoke near the end of the night, so naturally I had to take the stage to sing my very over-done rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" by Olivia Newton-John. When I was finished the karaoke guy came on the mic and said "Bloody hell! Can we give Lauren a free drink?" So I excitedly scurried over to the bar where I collected my free raspberry Vodka Cruiser. It was brilliant! And such a good deal - getting free stuff to sing? Man, I should do that more often! Haha.

I should get off the Internet pretty soon here - I need to save some coin for the post-jump update!!!!! I will definitely try to post pictures if I can, but I'm not sure how many pics I'll be able to get of me in action.... I'll do my best. They take photos of you, and you can buy them for some extravagant cost - but, being the tourist that I am, I may just have to pay for them if they get a couple good snaps.

Until next time! Kapai, mates! (It's all good!)

Canyon Swing Eve = better than Christmas?

First, I have to give a shoutout to all of you who responded to the last post. It was awesome to read all of the comments and to get all of your input!!!! So the Canyon Swing was by far the most popular choice, which is fantastic because that was the one that I was leaning toward anyway. It has now been booked and paid for, and at 4:30-5ish tomorrow afternoon (10:30-11pm at home) I will be freefalling through the Shotover Canyon at 150km/hr! I think I will be taking the "do a back flip off the platform" option, so I will be sure to take Karyn's advice and go pee before the swing so that I don't have any unfortunate accidents caught on DVD! Don't worry about me either - I promise to post an update as soon as I'm back on the ground with access to the Internet.

Fish is also doing a Canyon Swing tomorrow, and she's convinced that she's going to get up there and just cry her eyes out. Now she's trying to reframe it... positive thinking! "I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry.... I will f#^*ing love it!!!!"

And I should mention as well that I am completely GUTTED about the fact that the Tim Horton's in Queenstown has apparently gone out of business. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! You had all better plan to have a Tim Horton's date with me when I get home, because I've been too long without it... and now with all of this build-up and subsequent disappointment re: the lack of a kiwi Tim Horton's, I am really feeling deprived. Imagine me shedding a single tear here in Queenstown. Do I have your pity? Go, go now and drink plenty of iced capps for me. And eat a Boston Creme. Perhaps some broccoli soup... or cream of potato bacon. With a beautiful fresh roll. WHY, OH WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!?!?!

And on a much less dramatic note, I am going to sign off and go seek out some food with Tiffany (another crushed Canadian in this whole Tim Horton's disappointment). Then it's off to do some gift shopping!

Cheers!

Adventure voting time!!!!

Leave me a comment and tell me whether you think I should do a bungy jump or a canyon swing in Queenstown. The bungy in question is the original NZ bungy, 43 metres above the Kawarau River. The canyon swing is a bit different - it's 109m high, and you jump off in one of a variety of styles (i.e. do a backflip, go off backwards, sideways, upside down, etc.), then freefall for 60m until you go into a 200m arc at 150km/hr. RIDICULOUS. I figure I'd better do one of the two, as I likely won't get this opportunity again. Plus, I've been feeling extra adventurous on this trip.

So, what would YOU do?

Franz Josef glacier hike picture overdose!

Hello from a very tired and content little glacier hiker! As the title suggests, prepare yourself for a picture overdose from today's hike. It was beautiful, tiring, cold, wet, breathtaking, and absolutely worth the $130 NZ I spent on it. Worth. Every. Penny. Here are some picture highlights (I took about 250 pictures on the glacier today, so I've obviously chosen just a few):

Just thought mom would appreciate this one. Haha.

Our guide, Rob, briefing us before we head off on our hike.

Maddie and me in black and white.

Some of the steeper or more dangerous areas had ropes that we had to hang on to for balance and/or support (I took this one at the spot just before I had to grab the rope - no worries, I wasn't being careless!).

Halfway through our hike, we got to a place where we could choose whether or not we wanted to use an ice pick for the rest of the hike. Many of us decided against it, but we had to pose for pictures anyway!

Liam managed to cut both of his knees on the ice... you'd be amazed at how sharp that stuff is! I cut my leg and my finger too - everyone was bleeding. Haha.

Maddie took this picture of me pretending to hike a steep incline. She forgot to put the camera on an angle, so it's pretty clear that I was just laying down on the ice. What a nut!

This is what it was supposed to look like! Lewis helps to pull Sarah to safety.

Trekking across a flatter part of the glacier.

Lewis and I stopped for a photo op in one of many crevaces.

Here is where I'm saying "How the heck am I supposed to get up here?!" (The steps seem a lot less steep in this picture, but climbing up here with legs as short as mine was a challenge!)

Liam strikes an epic cliffhanger pose.

Some of the crevaces that we had to climb through were quite tight. Rob forges the way, while Sarah looks a bit hesitant (we all made it through, but we were all soaked!).

(Semi-)Group shot!

Rob (aka Jafa - "Just another f****** Aucklander," although he swears it stands for "Just another friendly Aucklander," haha) and friends hack away at the ice so that it falls on Ben and Scott below. These guys are all about helping each other out, let me tell you.

One of the steeper crevaces that we had to manouever through (the camera doesn't do it justice).

James made it through the tiny cave!!!! Well done, bro!

Group 1 forges ahead on the way back down the glacier while Group 2 waits for everyone else to catch up.

Mom, this is the picture I was talking about.... I took it just for you!!!! I promised I wouldn't fall into a glacial crevace, and I didn't, but I had to take this picture just to freak you out a little. You're welcome.

Yep, that's a bit of a tight fit!

One of my favourite parts of the glacier.

Hiking through the "wave" formations, on the way back down the glacier.

Almost at the bottom.

On the way back to the hostel after a long and tiring day of hiking, I had to stop to pose with Cowan Street (for my roommate, Scott Cowan). I miss him, but at least I can hug the street sign!

Photo update of south island adventures!

I have managed to scrounge up enough money (after paying for my many excellent adventure activities) to find enough internet time to upload, compress, and post a few of my pictures for your viewing enjoyment. Tomorrow I head out on the glacier hike, while Fi will do some kayaking. I should get to bed soon, as it's nearly midnight and we have to make an early start tomorrow. So, with that, here's what Fi and I have been up to since Monday:

I've been in NZ for 2 1/2 months now, and I still hate seafood so much that I chose to stick my head in my trailmix bag and sniff while we walked by the smoked fish shop in Nelson (notice my fabulous new "NZ Identity" shoulder bag!).

On our first night of Kiwi Ex in Nelson we collectively bought Matt (from England) a jug of beer if he agreed to shave his head. Here it is in action.

We've been hanging out with these two hooligans, among others, since Day 1 - Scott and Ben, both from England.

We stopped at Lake Rotoiti for lunch, and our bus driver Mangee offered a free pint (or jug?) for the first person to dive off the dock into the frigid water. Kelly and Ste chose to pose nicely instead.

Fish won the free beer!

Jetboating on the Buller River en route to Westport.

We had a bonfire on the beach in Westport. Fiona and I took every opportunity to sing around the campfire.

Whilst taking a picture of my feet in the Tasman Sea, as per mom's photo challenge request, the tide came in, leaving me with wet jeans and a friend (Tiffany, my fellow Canadian!) who was eager to take my picture.

One of the many beautiful scenes at the Cape Foulwind Walkway.

I had to pose by the crazy sign at Cape Foulwind. How far to Vancouver?

The big green Kiwi Experience bus!

We stopped at the Irimahuwhero lookout point to take pictures. This doesn't do it justice - I actually got choked up as we drove past because it really was that beautiful.

On our way to Lake Mahinapua we stopped at the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. It was a gorgeous day, and the sun was warm and bright, making the walk enjoyable (maybe almost too hot), and the pictures vibrant.

Maddie (from England) and I picked up skipping stones from the beach at Mahinapua.

Last night we had a "T" Party at our hostel in Mahinapua. Scott (England), James (Northern Ireland), and Liam (Dublin) all went in togas.

Fish in her Maori costume (mentioned - and likely horribly misspelled - in the last post)

Jauma and Lewis went as tramps, while Maddie and I went as trailer trash twins. We even had matching travel pillows under our shirts! I know, I know, it's classy. What can I say? (It was especially entertaining to explain to Jauma, who is from Barcelona and doesn't speak very good English, how we wanted to pose in these awful costumes with him)

Jade, Craig, and Claire (Scotland) = tribal

Lewis (from Wales) got up-close and personal with his new girlfriend, a thar, at the Bushman Cafe, en route to Franz Josef this morning.

Our first peek of the Franz Josef glacier this afternoon, which we will be hiking all day tomorrow.

One of my favourite pictures from the last few days. Maddie has written in the sand the name of each country she's visited. This was taken yesterday, late afternoon - a beautiful day at Lake Mahinapua.

Updating from a Chinese website in Franz Josef!

I am attempting to update you all on my latest kiwi adventures, but it seems that blogger has decided to be a completely Chinese website today. I am therefore relying on my memory of the layout in order to successfully post said update, as the last time I checked I wasn't fluent in Mandarin.

Fi and I are having an absolute blast on our south island trip! We're now in Franz Josef for a free day of trekking, shopping, sleeping, spa pooling, blogging/e-mailing, photo CD burning, exploring, etc. Tomorrow is the big day where I head out bright and early with a few mates from our bus to do a full-day 8-hour hike of the Franz Josef glacier. It will be beautiful, and tiring! But such an adventure, and one that I would never be able to get at home. Sometimes these things are just worth spending the money on.

I'm working on the photo challenges that you have all given me, and so far I've gotten a few of them checked off the list. I promise I'm giving them all a good shot!

Last night we stayed at Lake Mahinapua, where we had a "T" Party at the Poo Pub (everyone dressed up as something that starts with the letter T - Maddie and I went as trailer trash twins... yes, mom you would be proud.... and Fish went as a Maori native, which in Maori is tapetu whenua or something like that... you'll have to excuse the horrible spelling, which I'm sure is not even close).

En route to Mahinapua we stopped at the Punakaiki pancake rocks, and the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS so it was a very enjoyable walk and I got tons of fantastic pictures. It's so neat to see the scenery that has become so familiar through my parents' pictures and videos from their NZ trip in 2004.

I really have to run or the computer will lose my post. My Internet time is up in 2 minutes.

I have to mention quickly, though, for my Canadian readers.... Queenstown has a Tim Horton's! I'm SO RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED!!!! I promise there will be pictures. Hahaha.

Cheers from Franz Josef!

A quick update from Westport

Hello from Westport! This has to be quick (as the title suggests) because I have only 6 minutes left on my limited internet time, and I still have to check my e-mail. Fi and I are having lots of fun on the Kiwi Experience tour, and we've only been gone for less than 2 days. We left Nelson this morning and stopped at Nelson Lakes for lunch, then at the Buller River Adventure Tours to do some jet boating (me) and horse trekking (Fiona) en route to Westport. We had a bonfire on the beach tonight with our bus driver and all of the other travelers, so that was a fun way to get to know people.

My time runs out in 4 minutes!

I've been a prolific postcard writer over the past 24 hours. I'll make my way to a post office sometime in the next couple days to get them in the mail. I found a nice koru postcard at the Buller River Adventure Tours office, so I picked up 6 of them. Haha, yes, 6. 3 are for me, as I plan to frame them all together for my room at the lake (or my new apartment, if the lime green of the postcard clashes with the lime green of my walls at the lake).

3 minutes left... must check e-mail!

I'm working on the photo challenge pictures as well. Mom, I got the picture of my feet in the Tasman Sea, but then the tide came in! So I also got an "after" shot of my soaked rolled-up jeans. Oh the trouble I go to for my friends and family! :op Haha. I'm loving the photo challenge. So far so good. My friends have been sending me REALLY challenging requests on Facebook... we'll see how those go. It's been fun so far for sure!

One minute! Cheers!

Lauren's Kiwi Adventures..... er, Experiences!

Off I go for a 2-week tour of New Zealand's beautiful and scenic south island with the Kiwi Experience bus tours. Here's the challenge:

You (yes, I mean you!) will leave me comments about anything that you want to see a picture of on my blog, and I will do my best to take a picture of it on the south island. It could be anything - a specific landmark, a funny road sign, a man wearing ugly short shorts, a mullet, a NZ symbol, anything. Be creative - it will make my picture-taking interesting!

I'm leaving in about 20 minutes, and will likely have sporadic access to the Internet while I'm gone, but if the blog posts dwindle and you don't hear from me for a while, don't fear. I'm with Fiona, adding another mark on the list of fantastic kiwi adventures..... or should I say Kiwi Experiences!

Week 10 moments

Time for an HVHS teaching update! Things have been going extremely well at school, and although this week is utter insanity (last week of term, my sole charge week, writing Year 9 reports, Year 11 and Year 13 performances and assessment reports, Year 9 guitar assessments, etc.), it has actually been a very positive experience. I had my Global Student Teaching supervisor Jill observe my final Year 13 Jazz History lesson today, and it went really well. It was a successful lesson, although I didn't feel it was my best (mainly because of a couple pacing issues due to the fact that my Year 13s haven't had a Jazz History lesson in 3 weeks, so all of their answers and discussions took longer as they had to recall all of the information). Nonetheless, Jill's comments on my teaching were extremely positive. A few quotes for the interested:

"I can tell already that you are a very proficient teacher..... and I don't say that often."

*jokingly* "It was almost a waste of time for me to come here and observe you doing exactly what I knew you could do!"

"You will have absolutely no problem finding a job.... and if you do, I want to know why!"

So, needless to say, I was very happy with how the day went in that regard. I also had my Year 9D guitar assessments today, and at the end of the spell when I was supervising the students putting their guitars back in the storage room, one boy stayed behind after putting his guitar away, looking like he had something to say. He sheepishly said to me, "It's been good, Miss, being in your guitar class. And I'm sorry about a couple things right at the beginning...." (we'd had a little "chat" in the first 2 lessons about some disruptive behaviour, i.e. horsing around with his friend in the classroom while I was distributing guitars to the rest of the class) ".... but it's really been good. Thank you." So that was a completely unexpected and really nice moment today. Then when I went back into the classroom I had a couple more boys waiting around to say thank you, to wish me a good term break, and to ask me if I was going to travel New Zealand on my 2 weeks off, so all in all it was definitely a nice way to end the day. I also got another very complimentary interim report from Stephen, so to make a long story short, today was fabulous! Definitely a lot of feel-good moments today (including at lunch time when Salma, one of my students from the last line of Year 9 guitar, stopped to have a visit with me outside the hall and asked me worriedly if I would be back in Term 4. When I said that I would be back for 4 weeks, she grinned and said, relieved, "Oh ok, good!"). I love HVHS!

Despite the fact that I still have copious amounts of work to do tonight (Year 11 performance assessment reports, Year 9 general music assessment marking, Year 9 general music reports.... oy vey....), I feel very content. I have another Orchestra performance tomorrow at assembly in Spell 1 so I'll have to get everything for tomorrow prepared for tonight, as performing in Spell 1 means that I lose my non-contact (prep) period. Life around here, as I said before, is utter insanity. But, it's all good. :o) And besides, you know me.... I've never been one to sit around idly anyway..... bring on the next challenge!

(I maybe shouldn't say that and tempt fate, as Gary, Katriona, Stephen and I are planning on having all of the Year 9s gather together in one room tomorrow and watch the DVD "High School Musical" in the last spell of the day. I can sense the impending chaos!)

So with that, I leave you with another video. This one isn't super recent, as I've only just figured out how to compress videos for the blog. I actually took this video of Grace a few weeks ago when we were hanging out on Courtenay Place in Wellington, likely during one of our traditional Tuesday get-togethers. So here you are - meet Grace in 3D! (Oh, and for the record, the shout-out to Auntie Diane is really to Auntie Diane and Uncle Ron.... didn't mean to leave anyone out! Haha. And if somehow you missed the in-joke about double chins, you must go back a few posts to find the infamous double chin pictures.... they're really too attractive to pass up)!

WYC singing "God Defend New Zealand / O Canada" (my first video blog post!)

Hey all! I conducted my arrangement of "God Defend New Zealand/O Canada" tonight at WYC rehearsal, and it went over well. I managed to compress the video into a very reduced-quality file suitable for posting on my blog, so the picture isn't very good but the audio should be ok.... compressing the file from 94 MB to 1.something MB obviously reduces the quality of everything considerably, but at least this gives you an idea. Make sure your speakers are turned up! The recording here is also too slow, as the choir was sight-reading and we were singing under tempo. But if I get the chance to conduct the piece again (Roger has mentioned perhaps bringing it out at our end-of-season dinner in a couple weeks), I'll get a recording of it at the correct tempo. But for now, enjoy!

We came.... we zorbed and swooped.... we conquered!

I'm back from a fantastically adventurous and exhausting weekend in Rotorua with Jude, Julia, and Grace. We met up with Grace's friend Jay at the Zorb and spent the rest of the day with him zorbing, swooping, luging, etc. We spent lots of money but saw lots of awesome sights and had lots of extremely entertaining and memorable bonding experiences. I'll do a post of some other pics from Taupo and area later, but for now here are the adventure photo highlights from our picture CDs ($50 NZ worth! Hahaha):

The Zorb ball at the bottom of the hill

Jude and Julia after their ride in the Zorb

Jay, Grace, and I give a thumbs up to Zorbing!

I'm screaming as I pull the rip cord at the Swoop. All 3 of us proceed to scream for the entire free-fall.

Headfirst.... what a view!

The bluriness of the background, Jay's screaming face, and Grace clutching Jay's arm say it all.

Once the initial "pee-your-pants" moment subsided, we were able to enjoy the ride and pretend we were flying.

All in all a great weekend! As Jay put it, it was a "sweet as Saturday" (and yes, that's sweet AS. One 's.' The kiwis say it all the time... basically it means really sweet. This also works for sayings such as "That joke was funny as" or "That test was easy as"). Yep, our trip to Rotorua was sweet as!

More updates to come later. Don't be surprised if the blogging is a bit lacking this week, as I am doing my first week of sole charge (i.e. teaching all of Stephen's classes) this week. Things are CRAZY around here. That being said, I need to get to bed. I've got lots to do tomorrow and I need all the sleep I can get, especially since I've still got this ridiculous cold! Must rest. Until next time, cheers! (Oh, and wish me luck for tomorrow.... WYC is singing my arrangement of God Defend New Zealand and O Canada, and I'm conducting!!!!)