L.O.T.K.

Yup. Lord of the Rings has permeated even the fast-food kebab market. I had lunch at Lord of the Kebabs yesterday, where employees wear the shirts with their L.O.T.K. logo. You gotta love it. The food wasn't anything great, but how you you pass up a chance to eat at a place like that?!

I should warn you now that this post will be a bit of a mish mash. So be ready for some random subject changes. It has been rainy since I got here, but finally cleared up today in time for us to hike up to Mount Eden, the highest mountain in Auckland. It felt SO GOOD to be out there in the grass and under a blue sky. We were revelling in the view and the wind and... ahhhhh! Mount Eden is an extinct volcano and let me just tell you that the crater is awfully impressive. I am sure it is small as craters go, but for someone who has never seen a crater before, it was really deep and steep.

We (Dana, Lindsay and I - other girls from my program) ventured out to the Otara Market, which we had heard was a Polynesian-type market that is held on Saturday mornings. We weren't altogether impressed. It was kinda like a big flea market. BUT they did have a fabulous fruit and vegetable section. (I was in heavan). We bought some amazingly sweet, red strawberries at one stand and ate them as a little treat when we arrived back at the hostel.

Also, for some of you that I haven't talked to in a while, I hear that you don't know quite what on earth I am doing here. So, here's the brief on that: I am doing a working holiday special visa program through BUNAC in the US, IEP in New Zealand. I am over here, allowed to take any job for up to a year. The idea is that I can travel around and earn money to pay for it. Its a pretty cool set-up. My current plan is to travel around a bit here (maybe a month or so) and then pick a place to settle down with a job for a bit.

Okay. I am going to see if I can figure out this photo thing now. Maybe I'll have a couple up here soon.