Explanation for my Absence

Okay... so I haven't written on here in a few weeks and I figured I should probably explain whats up. I talked to my parents 3 weeks ago; I can't believe it was really only 3 weeks ago! They told me that they'd been trying to get ahold of me (but couldn't because of their bum international phone card) because they wanted to tell me that my mom had been diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Of course I freaked out and started crying, but they assured me that she had had a clean colonoscopy and her prognosis was 90%. She was scheduled to have a hysterectomy the 7th of November. They had both heard from multiple people that endometrial cancer is one of the most treatable forms of the disease if you catch it early, which they had, through a routine papsmear. So they told me that I should not plan to come home for this, because it shouldn't be any big deal, unless I felt like I had to do that for myself.

Well, I decided that, yes, I wanted to come home both for my parents and myself. I was getting ready to leave Fallowfield at the time, so I planned a last little jaunt down the west coast of Northland, exploring the Hokianga Harbour and the kauri forests. I camped out in the Waipoua Kauri Forest at a Department of Conservation campground the night before I was to head back down to Auckland. I was very aware that this was my last night in the New Zealand bush for quite some time, so I was fully alert and intent on experiencing it as fully as possible. It rained all night, always very calming when you are in a tent. Well, if its not scary storming of course. I heard moreporks and kiwis calling from the dark outside my tent, which was an extra special treat for my last night in the countryside. Cuz you KNOW I'm not going to be hearing those in Auckland!! :)

Anyway, I headed back down to Auckland and everyone was so wonderful to me. The whole crew at the flat was of course outstanding and the people at the IEP office were just so great. And if you sent me a letter that I didn't receive before I left, they'll be sending me any mail that arrives after I left at the end of November. So I may receive it a bit late, but at least I'll get it. :)

STA travel and Frontier Airlines were absolutely fantastic about getting me home with no extra charges (except $50 to change my Air New Zealand flight). I sold my car and my phone and my tent and got rid of all sorts of other stuff that I happened to have accumulated over the course of my travels. I also visited a doctor to see to my heel finally. Thats what I get for putting it off so long, a rushed treatment at the end, but still less expensive than getting it done in the US. I got it x-rayed and they found a big, fatty bonespur on the bottom, which looks like a rose thorn. No wonder its been hurting me so much! The doctor I went to does Chinese medicine, so she worked on my foot as much as she could with electric treatments, and gave me some calcium and homeopathic medicine and told me to soak my foot in warm water each night when I got home. And to see someone after a while to make sure its shrinking. The bad part is that she told me no sports and such until its better AND had time to recover. A yearish! Oh my goodness. I can't even imagine. You all KNOW my favorite thing to do is to go walking around the lakes. This is driving me crazy. But I want to take care of it properly so it doesn't get worse and/or plague me for the rest of my life. Oh, its so hard though! I want to be outside moving around!! I should get out biking while the weather is still nice. Since I can't ski this winter, I'm going to have to make friends with the YWCA swimming pool and go there a lot so I don't get too stir crazy.

Oh! I just realized that although I know that everything worked out well with my mom's surgery, I didn't mention that to you all yet. That's why I've been able to blabber on about all this, because I know that the surgery went well and she is recovering in the hospital now. The surgeon said that from his visual inspection, it didn't look like the cancer had spread anywhere outside of her uterus, so he's not expecting that mom'll need any further treatments. We are still waiting for the pathology report, which will hopefully corroborate those observations. Mom is getting visibly stronger by the day. Yesterday, she walked all the way out to the nurses' station and back, with the assistance of the nurse and nurse's aide. Yay mom! She also has to do a sucking in breathing exercise and wiggle her toes and legs a lot. Her roomate is this hilariously crotchety old woman who pushes her nurse's call button at least every half hour and complains about anything and everything that the staff come in to tell her about or help her with. My mom lies on the other side of the curtain and rolls her eyes, since she is all to familiar with this whole scene from her work. I laughed at her about it and told her that this was just more incentive for her to get up and moving and healed up enough to be able to come home soon. That, or maybe they were just trying to provide a bit of normalcy for her after such a major surgery. Although I don't think that's the kind of normalcy she was hoping for!!

So anyway, I got back here to Minneapolis on Wednesday night, the 2 November. I am such a dork. I definitely wore my November 2 shirt from elections last year. For some reason, I just thought people would know what it was, but I got all sorts of questions. Was the November 2 thing just in MN? Because the only person who recognized it was a woman on my flight from Denver to Minneapolis. I don't know. But I was highly entertained by it, anyhow. And I finally found the kind of cute New Zealand shirt that I'd been wanting in the airport. I hadn't found any that were quite what I was looking for: subtle but still fun. This one is black with a tiki on the front in a shiny black print. So its definitely got the subtle-but-fun thing going on. I think I have quite good luck with the airport shopping. Last time I found those awesome, cute undies and got the free lingerie bag with them in one shop. In another shop I found a long-sleeve shirt that I liked on super sale. So it was an entirely reasonable price. I guess its hedging your bets that you'll find something good at the airport, but if you're willing to take the risk, you even get it tax free.

So my last time in Auckland was pretty crazy with trying to do many last minute errands and not being able to walk much because of my heel, but I had a great time with my friends, who are just so fantastic. I am so sad to leave them still!! But I am happy to be back here with my family and friends here in Minnesota, and the rest of the States for that matter, since I now have my free long distance back on my mobile again.

So, to sum things up, I am at my parents' house right now (3215 E 24th St., Minneapolis, MN 55406, 612-722-1360) and have my mobile back with the same number as previous (612-964-7067). I am planning to be around to help them out as my mom recovers from her surgery. I am also looking for a job, which will hopefully give me benefits. I'd really like to work in education, since I am also looking into teaching licensure programs (still haven't decided between elementary, special ed, ESL or some combination of those). But we shall see what I can get. If anybody knows of anything, give me a holler!

Thanks for reading my blog you guys - I always love telling people about my travels, so its so sweet of you to listen!! love, Ilana :)

Another view of the Hunderwasser toilets. You can see some of the color and fanciful design a bit better. Hunderwasser lived in the hills up around Kawakawa with a view of the sea and loved his adopted home in NZ, thus the excitingly designed toilets for his nearest town!

The famous public toilets in Kawakawa, the closest town to Fallowfield. They were designed by the Austian Architect Hunderwasser. They are so brightly colored and fun to pee in. And yes, that tree is growing out of the roof!

Mizue and Betty in Fallowfield's kitchen preparing our morning tea. One pot of coffee, one pot of tea, home-made toast, home-made scones, home-made jam, cheese and cream. Nummy. We tried different teas on different days. Fallowfield has over 55 different teas, all of which were heavenly (at least of the ones I tried anyway). I'll have to remember to give you a couple samples from the menu just to make your mouths water.

Mizue, Betty and Cynthia at morning tea. We had a nice, relaxing hour-long tea and chat each morning and then again at lunch. I'm not used to such a chilled-out approach to work. I loved it!

Here I am in my gardening outfit, pulling weeds in the garden behind the house.

Mizue, Kimberley and I in the gardens at Fallowfield, goofing off before heading home for the day. Kimberley is Cynthia's 7-year old daughter who was dropped off by the school bus every afternoon. She ran around entertaining us while we cleaned up and finished our work for the day.

I arrived mid-afternoon at the hostel in the hills behind Opononi. I asked the hostel manager if she knew of any good walks to do for a few hours and she told me that if I followed the road up behind the hostel, I'd get some nice views from the top. Well, she was right. Not only did I get a nice view from the top, there were beautiful sights along the way, such as this waterfall that rushed over the road.

The view down onto Hokianga Harbour from the top of my walk up Mountain Road the small farm road branching off of it as the sun broke through the clouds to briefly light up the water and distant sand dunes.

The pier in Omapere, looking across the Hokianga Harbour to the sand dunes. The sand dune headland is called Niua and the rocky headland further down the coast on the Omapere side is called Arai-te-uru after the Taniwha (spirits) that Kupe, the Maori mythical discoverer of New Zealand left to guide his wakas (canoes) home after he left to return to the spirit world, and ancestral land of Maori, of Hawaiki.

This is Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest). You unfortunately cannot tell from the photo how absolutely ENORMOUS this tree is. It is still a good 20 meters or so behind me. They post its dimensions for you to marvel at as you take in the enormity of the tree. Its Girth is 16.41m, trunk volume (from the ground to its first branches) is 208.1m3, total height is 29.9m (fatty trees, but not super tall), and the trunk height is 10.21m. Okay. So the important one there is the girth - 16.41 meters around?? Its HUGE! This is the 2nd largest Kauri tree in NZ and its believe to be the oldest, about 4000 years old, according to a guy that I met later who normally does tours of the forest. That puts it in the realm of the oldest tree in the world, a bristlecone pine in California that's belived to be 4600 years old. We're lucky that this area is so inaccessible that these giants weren't logged like so many of the Kauri forests.

Some of the amazing Kauri trees that I encountered on my walk through the Waipoua Kauri Forest. These trees are ENORMOUS. I wish I'd remembered to bring the info on their dimensions to tell you. They are comparable to the Redwoods in California. I was inspired to take this photo on a walk to Yakas, the 7th largest Kauri tree in the world. Kauri trees grow throughout Australia, New Zealand and some of the Pacific Islands and SE Asia. New Zealand has some of the oldest and largest ones recorded anywhere. I was suddenly overcome with a overwhelming sense of awe and silence as I was walking and thought I'd take this photo to record the place. When I turned the corner on the path, I discovered I was in a place called, appropriately, Cathedral Cove. Guess it is perceptible to more people than just me.

Back at the flat in Auckland, Glenn gives Mr. Fluffy (aka Mila) a grooming on the couch.

Fallowfield

Well I've been working at Fallowfield now since Wednesday. I really like the people there. Its very relaxed. They specialize in teas, over 5o different kinds, since it is a Victorian Cottage, afterall, so we have a relaxed morning tea break and a long lunch in the afternoons. No one ever hurries. I have been weeding LOTS. I'm getting to know the garden plants and figure out what to take out and what to leave. And the gardens are enormous, so there is always plenty to do!

I got a bit of a change of pace today. I got to burn all the burnable trash in a big trashcan out by the compost heap behind the shed. That was fun, since I always like making fires, even if this one was just a bunch of garbage. I felt a bit like a bum from the movies, huddled around the fire in the garbage can, hehehe. Cynthia, the owner, has a 7-year old daughter named Kimberly who helped me throw bits of cardboard in the fire. She got a little overzealous with her additions sometimes and I had to hold her back so the fire wouldn't burn the overhanging tree branches. Next, I hung bright plastic butterflies on the trellis next to the children's play area while she "baked cakes" in the sand box. She made a delicious chocolate one embellished with bright pink azaleas that I got to try. She also made a wedding fruit cake with green icing, garnished with forget-me-nots (quite appropriate for a wedding cake, I thought).

I am staying with a lovely woman named Betty, who is the other person that works at Fallowfield. She is originally from the Netherlands, but immigrated to New Zealand after a visit here back when she was young. She said that she knew she wanted to raise children here. And she's certainly got it goin' on. Her children are all grown now and she lives in a little cottage on a hilltop on a farm just 4 kms around the corner from Fallowfield. We have sheep grazing in the yard and new calves out in the back paddock that I see from my window when I raise the blinds each morning. We went for a walk around the farm the other day, which was fun, just walking wherever we pleased across the thick tufts of grass (and between the cow pies). I am so used to walking on paths, that this took a whole new kind of thinking for me. Very enjoyable. We saw lots of Pukekos, a native New Zealand bird that is deep blue and black with a bright red bill. They are wading birds and like areas near water. We also saw rabbits and some larger cows, whose paddock we accidentally wandered into. Whoops! At least they were friendly. :) We have been eating exceptionally well, too. We have salads every night. Two days ago, the farmer who rents the cottage to her brought over a fresh snapper that he'd caught in the ocean that morning. Betty fileted it (depite having no experience with fileting - she gave up halfway through and brought it in for Cynthia to finish the job at Fallowfield). Eventually, the fish was fileted and Betty marinated it in lemon juice and then we at it raw with coconut milk, red pepper, and fresh parsley. Absolutely delicious, and you couldn't tell it was raw at all. We also had prawns in a garlic cream sauce on rice.

Okie doke. I should get heading off because I am meeting Mizoue, the other WWOOFer from Japan who is staying with Cynthia's family. We came in here to Paihia to look around, eat ice cream (hokey pokey for her and cookies and cream for me), and check email. We are meeting Betty shortly at a bar that her son designed for drinks and then over to the Jerusalem cafe for for some food. I'll try to remember to take some photos at Fallowfield to post for you guys next time. Oh! And Betty has a little kitten named Mitzi who gives us endless entertainment. But oh my goodness, does she moan for food! She's like Scamper used to be, always into any food you leave around. But so cute!

East Coast Outfitting

Well I thought I'd start out my East Coast adventures by describing our travelling style. We travelled along in a 6-berth Volkswagen Maui campervan, "Spirit of Independence" printed across the side. We had two seats up front with a double bed up above. There's a bench seat across from you when you step in that folds down to become another of the double beds. All of these seats are upholstered in a blue fabric with red flowers that look like pohutakawas and have the texture of airline seats. The pillows and duvets provided by the Maui campervan company were not much better. Some of the pillows were even plastic! Like the camp matresses or hospital beds. Ugh. Luckily, we'd brought quite a few of our own. But on with the tour. Next to the bench seat was the stove, with exhaust fan. Across on the opposite wall was the bathroom, with a toilet, sink and shower all crammed into an airline bathroom size space, i.e. to take a shower, you'd stand in a 1 foot by two foot floor space, shins against the toilet and back against the wall and use the detachable sink sprayer to wash yourself. Luckily, we stayed at several campgrounds with showers, interspersed with our beachcamping nights, so we never had to use the campervan's shower. The sink was a little basin above the toilet that folded down from the wall. To empty it, you'd just fold it back up into the wall and the water would drain out. If you folded it up too fast, however, the water would splash out all over you, instead of draining nicely into the waste water receptacle tank. Next to the bathroom, across from the stove, was the kitchen sink and some drawers and cupboards containing pots, pans and utensils, all provided by the maui company. Bringing up the rear was a U-shaped seat that folded into our 3rd double bed. All around the top were cupboards to shore our gear in. We each got one for our personal stuff and the extras were for food and extra storage.

Now we made a few improvements upon this little arrangement. Namely, Mike, our handyman, added an extra battery specifically to support the sound system that he also installed. Whoa, can you say big ol' speakers! We could rock that van when we wanted to. He also brought along a labelling machine, which as you can imagine, was great fun. We labelled all sorts of appliances and people's cabinets with inside jokes. I got one to wear on my sweatshirt that labelled me as "our little yank". Did I mention that the label machine could do fancy labels as well? So on my "our little yank" tag, the text was surrounded by a candy wrapper! We also added some of our own pots and pans to supplement their supplies and lotsa fresh yummy food. Man, did we eat well!

Last Weekend in Auckland for a While

Since I've been back from the East Coast has been quite exciting. I went over to hang out with Beth's friend Lesley and her family on Saturday afternoon. She gave me some great new book recommendations and told me about Black Grace, a great New Zealand dance company. If you guys get the chance to see them, Lesley says DO! And Beth, if they come to the Twin Cities, I say we plan an outing! We had such a fun time talking over biscuits, cake and tea that I lost track of time and had to rush off to the dance workshop. The workshop was ENTIRELY worth rushing for, however. It was just me and a guy from Spain, so we got all sorts of personal attention. We learned how to "pop" and breakdance and do a mixture of hip hop and haka moves. I'm not ready to perform them just yet, hehehe, but it was exhilerating to be out there dancing again, especially learning a new style. I'm going to go back to another workshop tonight before I leave to go up north tomorrow morning. I can't wait! It was such a cool environment. Everyone was really encouraging as me and Nicolas, the Spanish guy, tried to master the new moves. And afterward, we stuck around and watched the Toa Toa Urban Maori Pacific Dance Championships. There was only one team competing in this heat, so we got to see both of the professional troupes there, Torotoro, the New Zealand Hip Hop Haka group and Tau Fuata Niue, the Niuean dance company, perform as well. These are the two companies that will be performing the Pacific Island portion of the United States of Celebration performance that I'm so excited about. I bought a ticket for the USoC performance while I was there and the girl hooked me up with a seat 2nd row and center. Yay! Hopefully there's nobody tall in front of me. I actually wanted a ticket for Wednesday night, but didn't notice until I got home that she'd accidentally given me the wrong date. I was going to try to exchange it, but I decided that maybe it was meant to be because this way, if I love it enough, I can always attend one of the Wednesday performances as well.

Sunday was spent lounging around. I was staying in Jane's room while she was away for the weekend. When I woke up, after writing in my journal, I picked up 'Cunt', the book she had lying on her bedside table and started reading it. Three hours later I finally got out of bed. It's a book that many people have recommended, but I've never actually gotten around to reading. Well now I see why they recommended it. Its good! If you want an account of a woman's personal feminism in plain, forthright terms, you've got it right there. I'm still working on it eagerly.

Today I'm over here using the internet, then on to the Auckland Museum to see their design exhibit and then off to dance workshop number 2. I'll be posting East Cape adventures as I get the chance. I don't know how much access I'll have to email for the next couple weeks while I'm up north, but I'll definitely make a good effort to keep you all up to date.

For all of you who witnessed me trying to finish up my mom's socks for her, I finally finished them when I was in Los Angeles and sent them home in a package with my cell phone and other stuff that I wouldn't need here in New Zealand. She says its starting to get cold enough there in MN that she's going to be able to start using them soon. :)

Part of the set from Savage's film shoot for 'The Speaker'. This isn't actually a police station. Its a theater. And the picture above the door is all part of the set too.

Prince Albert Park in Auckland. I've been enjoying my wanderings around the city. This park is fun for people watching cuz all the students from Auckland University nearby like to come and hang out here.

Our Maui campervan in front of Kate's parents' house our first morning away. This puppy carried Mike, Rachel, Paula, Liz and me for 5 nights of fun around the Bay of Plenty and the East Cape.

Rachel, Paula and Kate in the back of our campervan as we drove along the East Cape.

The beach at Mt. Maunganui where we spent the first night of our trip camped out in front of Kate's parents' house. They live on Marine Parade, the street that runs right along the oceanfront, so we had a view just like this when we woke up. And then they made us the most fantabulous breakfast. I didn't think I'd ever be hungry again! Sausage, bacon, eggs, roasted vegetables, english muffins, apple juice...

We stopped at Kate's friend's dad's avocado and tangelo orchard and collected windfalls to bring with us. Delicious! And check out the view. The house is situated up on a hill surrounded by fruit trees with views out to the Bay of Plenty. Can you say my ideal house? What?? I've decided that when I eventually get a house of my own, it will be surrounded by fruit trees. Yum!

The old wharf on Hicks' Bay, where Kate caught two gurnards (a type of fish that are red and have aqua-tipped butterfly wings that they fold in and out) for our dinner.

I woke up at our campsite in Hicks' Bay, where it had been raining when we'd pulled in the night before. I went down to the water and found a whole beachful of perfect skipping stones! That kept me occupied for ages. You know how it is, you say you're going in for breakfast, but then you see just one more perfect skipping stone on your way back. And then just one more...

We stopped in Te Araroa to see Te Waha o Rerekohu, the largest pohutakawa tree in the world (being that they live only in New Zealand). It is believed to be about 350 years old and its quite the impressive tree, with branches spreading everywhere. A dream to climb, if only you were allowed. This sign was along the beach in Te Araroa and pointed our way out to the East Cape lighthouse, the farthest eastern point in mainland New Zealand and the VERY first place to see the sun of the new day!

A street sign in Ruatoria. I thought it was pretty cool since the text was only in Maori. And to be honest, I'm not sure what that's supposed to show you. Maybe to remind you to use a carseat for little ones? But there's no kid pictured in the car seat... I don't know. The East Cape is known for its predominantly Maori population, so osbensibly, many of the people there could read this. Although, the group of Maori kids that we were hanging out with on the beach in Waipiro Bay said that they envied Auckland's radio station selection since they only had one. We asked if their radio station was bad and they said 'no, but half the time they're talking in Maori and we don't know what they're saying.'

The fishing rods dug into the sand on the beach in front of us as we waited by the campfire for the sun to rise on Waipiro Bay.

I woke up to join the others who'd stayed up all night to be among the first people in the world to see the sun rise on the new day. The international dateline runs right by New Zealand, and where we were camped on the east shore of the East Cape is the first place in the world where the sun hits inhabited land. And now you guys can share in this whole deal too, cuz here's a picture as the sun came up on October 5, 2005. Cool, eh??

The Marae in Waipiro Bay. We camped out on the beach right below here. I thought the carving and painting on here were beautiful. Chief, one of the little boys who was hanging out and skipping stones with me said that his uncle carved some of the wood inside.

Oops. Take the caption for the one below and put it on this one. This one has Taupuhi Toki in the background and Mokoera Te Amo in the foreground. The other is the other way around.

Mokoera Te Amo (foreground) and Taupuhi Toki (background) of the Torotoro Dance Company, performing Hip-Hop Haka at the Toa Toa Urban Maori Pacific Dance Competition.

Tau Fuata Niue, the world's only professional Niuean Dance Company, performing at the Toa Toa Urban Maori Pacific Dance Competition.

My Plans

Hello!!!! I will tell you all about my trip around the East Cape soon. It was fantabulous. For now though, I forgot to bring my camera and hookup equipment to show you pictures. Plus, I haven't really had a chance to think much about it since I've been running doing a hundred things since I got back last night. Well. Running around might not be the best way to put it. I guess it was more of sitting around and doing a bunch of stuff. For starters, I finally read through my WWOOF book (worldwide workers on organic farms - the network that lets you stay with NZ families on their farms and help out for free room and board) and found a bunch of farms that I was interested in helping out at. The first one I called had room for me to come and help out, so I'll be heading up to a little Victorian Cottage on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, where I'll be helping out keeping the garden tidy for the garden tours they run as well as helping out in the cafe. Yay! It is right near Paihia, a town in the Bay of Islands that I visited earlier. It has beautiful beaches and sunny weather. I'm hoping to stay in the north until the south warms up a bit more.

Before I leave, however, I have quite the itinerary. I went to the Auckland Art Gallery today, which was fun. I saw a couple people who work there that I know from a party that I went to with Savage and the flatmates. I actually know people in Auckland that I run into on the street. How cool is that?! On the way there, I walked down from K Rd (short for Karangahape Rd - you can see why they shorten it!) through St. Kevin's Arcade and through Myers Park to Aotea Square. When I got to the square, there was a big to-do going on, and I asked a guy from the local hip-hop radio station what it was all about. He was working a booth where you could win a CD for each year of your age (I promptly signed up) as part of a big hip hop celebration thats going on today and tomorrow. As I went a little further, I got to watch grafitti artists doin' their thing, which was fascinating to watch. Who knew you could create something so impressively intricate with just some spray paint. Its a really neat process to witness. Supposedly there was breakdancing somewhere as well, which I was disappointed not to find, because I LOVE breakdancing. I'm planning to go back tomorrow to see if I can catch some. And speaking of which, I guess I'm going backwards here...

I was having lunch at a Hare Krishna restaurant on K Rd (students pay NZ$4 for an enormous plate of dal, papadam, rice, veggie curry, samosas and pudding and its all super nummy), and happened to look at the shelf of brochures next to me. One of them was advertising the dance performance called 'United States of Celebration', which consequently, has nothing to do with the United States. It is a combination of Haka (NZ Maori dance) and Indian Dance that they will be doing here in Auckland at the end of October. Well, many of you know my penchant for Indian music and dance and I just love the haka. So, of course this caught my eye. And I found out that tickets are totally affordable, so I am so excited! I am planning to come back here for this performance from the north in a couple weeks, so hopefully it'll be worthwhile. But first, also on this brochure, was info about a free Urban Maori Pacific Dance Championship, which will be starting this weekend. I will definitely be going to that if its as open as it sounds like from the brochure. AND the other thing that I found was a $10 workshop where you can learn 'Krumpin' Haka'. I'll quote the brochure to you here, because it sounds SO COOL! "First up its 'Krumpin Haka with Breakdance legend Taupuhi Toki. Fresh from filming in Cuba, check out Taupuhi Toki's brand of Hip Hop that fuses Crunk, Krump, two-step and Reggaeton." Admittedly, I haven't a clue what crunk or krump are and only a shady idea, which may be totally off-base, as to what two-step is. But thanks to Meredith, I definitely know what Reggaeton is (she helped to win a karaoke contest with her saucy reggaeton backup dancing). They call the whole thing Urban Maori Dance. They also have one that's called 'Martial Arts Haka', so maybe if I like the Krumpin' Haka, I'll try the martial arts the next night as well. Of course, I didn't sign up for this in advance, and its tomorrow night, so I hope you'll all cross your fingers for me that I can get in and do some dancin!!!

I also got to talk to my parents, which was wonderful as always. And as an added bonus, I got to say hi to Dale the first time I called, since he was over visiting with my dad before the two of them headed off to the park to play ping pong while my mom was at Spanish lessons. Can I just say how cool everyone in Minneapolis is? Just in case you guys didn't know it!

Umm, so I think that'll be it for now. I promise tales of the east cape soon. For now, you'll just have to live in suspense (since obviously, you all sit around just waiting to hear from me... ;) Haha. Don't worry - my ego isn't that big!). Heaps of love to all of you! Later gators!

Time in Aucks and off again

I don't know when I started calling Auckland Aucks. I think it is from text messaging, where its just so much easier to abbreviate everything. Although now that Jane showed me how to use predictive texting, I've decided that predictive is the way to go. For those of you guys who don't know what that is, its when you type messages into your phone to send to someone else using the letters assigned to each key. Normally, you have to hit each key multiple times to arrive at the letter you need. With predictive, however, you only have to hit the key with the letter you want once and the phone has some program that it uses to guess which combination of letters you're going for. Its so much easier, although kind of scary to see how predictable it is what words I'm going to use.

But I am guessing that you guys'd rather hear about New Zealand than my new text messaging discovery. Oh. Just a quick vent before I move on though. Its ridiculously expensive to use mobile phones here. I think I've mentioned that before. It costs 49 cents a minute to make phone calls (although it is free to receive them). It costs 20 cents for each text, although vodafone (my mobile provider) has now started free texting on weekends, thank goodness! The reason I'm telling you this is that basically, I've been using my phone to send texts and receive calls. Well, apparently while I was gone, Telecom introduced a new surcharge on payphone calls. Not just a one-time fee, mind you. No, they have increased their rates by 40 cents a minute!! Can you believe that? It used to cost 15 cents a minute to call within New Zealand from a payphone with a phonecard. Now it costs 55 cents. How ridiculous is that?? Guess it looks like I'll be using my mobile a lot more often now. At least its handy. Lets just hope I get service!!

So... what have I been up to in Auckland for the last week and a half... well, lots. I've been living at Savage's flat again with him, Jane, Jude, Glenn and Mr. Fluffy, aka Mila, Glenn's cat (Alan moved out with his girlfriend and lives in a flat nearby). I've been having fun hanging out and exploring Auckland some more. I think I told you guys about my soccer playing experience last week where I got kicked in the stomach twice with the ball and promptly developed a soccer ball-shaped bruise on my tummy. I of course thought that was hilarious and was showing it off to everyone I could think of.

I had a fantastic day on Sunday. I went to the Unitarian church here in the morning, where they had a thought-provoking service about definitions of prayer and how we pray. Afterwards, I went for a walk in the nearby park and then went to the Auckland Domain (a big park in central Auckland) to play soccer with Jane, Glenn and Jo (Glenn's girlfriend) and a bunch of their friends. It was fun to get outside and run around and play. Everyone was really friendly and welcoming, too, which I appreciated very much. I went over to Jo's flat for beers afterward with a crew of the soccer players. I had a great time hanging out with them and ends up that I'm going to head off on a camping trip around the east coast with a crew of them tomorrow. So y'all won't hear from me for a couple days, but I'm sure I'll have some stories for you when I get back! We're bringing fishing poles and planning to go collecting seafood and scrounging as much food off the land as we can find. Plus, these guys are just gales of fun and the East Coast is supposed to be gloriously beautiful, so I'm super excited to take off on the trip.

What else?... Oh. When I got back for dinner on Sunday, we had girls night with Jane and Jude and I since Savage and Glenn were gone. That was great! Girl talk is always fun... :)

I also bought a pair of trekking poles for 50% off at Kathmandu's spring sale. I always thought they were super dorky, but when I borrowed the pair that Karin had hired on the Tongariro Northern Circuit, I was totally converted. Plus, I am hoping that they will help to take some of the strain off my foot when I go on longer hikes. My foot is healing fairly well. It keeps getting better, although not as quickly as I'd like. But at least I can walk long distances on it and I am starting to be able to walk around flatfooted in my bare feet without horrible pains, a big improvement over this summer!

I also got to visit the set where they were filming Savage's newest project, 'The Speaker'. It was really neat to see what goes into shooting a movie, since that's definitely something that I hadn't a clue about.

Ummm. I think that's all for now. I am going to head down to a gallery in Parnell (a part of Auckland) to see an exhibit of Dr. Seuss illustrations. It sounds cool, and plus, after reading about "Fifi la Belle, the cat from Parnell" all summer, I want to go check out Parnell for myself! I never made it there the last time I was here.

Sorry this is so fragmented. I guess thats why I didn't write earlier. I am having lots of fun, but I'm not doing anything that is terribly interesting to tell about. Sorry!! I promise some more interesting stories soon.

I'm here!

Hey guys! I've arrived safely back in New Zealand. This'll just be a quick note since I've got a line of people behind me waiting to use the computer (one of the downfalls of free internet, I suppose). But just wanted to let you all know that I'm here and that I'll be posting some updates soon. Oh, and that I have an awesome bruise on my tummy from where I got a soccer ball kicked in my stomach when I went to play indoor soccer with Jane, Savage's flatmate. I feel so hardcore!... ;)