Limerick

I know I still have Fiji to write about, but with leaving for Boston in less than 20 hours and getting everything ready before then I just haven't had time to do it justice. That being said, I am in the process of cleaning out my room and I came across a limerick I wrote for my AP English class my senior year of High School. It made me laugh so I thought I would share. Enjoy!

I've lived a deprived childhood

and ne'er had a dog like I should.

My parents they say,

"Oh you'll be ok."

If I had a dog, then I would.

Sweet As!

Alright, I've titled this post "Sweet as" because Kiwis (New Zealanders) say it all the time. And New Zealand definitely was sweet as. That being said, here's episode 2: New Zealand, in sequential order (I'm getting better at this blogging thing!) and complete with some excerpts from my journal.

• Green EV.ER.Y.WHERE.
• Cathedral Cove

"After lunch we took a short drive over to this place called Cathedral Cove. We had to walk about half an hour to get there but holy fire, it was worth it. It was seriously one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.... The beach had gorgeous sand that when you looked closely has pink in it. The cove was so gorgeous and peaceful, I could have stayed there for hours and hours. I absolutely loved it."

The pictures do NOT do this place justice

• Whirinaki Forest (pronouned Firinaki)

"The hike to our cabin was 10 miles long and was seriously stunning. There are times in it when there is just green, trees and bushes as far as your eye can see on either side of you and the trail is the only brown and it's this little sliver with moss growing up to it on both sides and you feel almost like an intruder. Then there are times when there is a steep mountain going up on one side and down on the other and you're walking on a tiny edge with the rushing river below you. So beautiful."

Our whole group before heading out on our backpacking trip

•  Marae stay (Maori village)

"When we got to the Marae we had to stand outside the compound and wait for someone to call us on to the compound and then we went through a whole welcoming ritual where an Elder of the village named Basil spoke and welcomed us to the village....Then we all had to go in a line and greet each of the villagers, shaking their hands and touching foreheads and noses (which is called the Hongi). Definitely a new experience, but so cool. Just everything about it was symbolic and touching...Basil told us to make ourselves at home because we are part of the village now. How sweet is that?"

Me and Neeley with one of the elders of the village, Basil

•  Bungee Jumping!

•  My sweet burst blood vessel (see above)

•  Glowworm walk

Rachael, Emma, Kate, Me, Sharon, Kaye, Alli, Sam, Isaac

•  Black water rafting

"We went and changed into our gear which included a peasant top that we were convinced was a sick joke until we got into the water and it became our best friend. We were also wearing wet suits and boots and helmets with lights on them - a sight to behold....Then we headed off to the cave. It was seriously so cool. There were glowworms everywhere on the roof of the cave. Sometimes they just looked like stars in the sky because it was so dark and the glowworms were so bright. We got to float down the river and jump backwards down the waterfall which was sweet. Sometimes when we were floating everyone just got really quiet and it was really peaceful. It's really hard to describe but the whole thing was so much fun, a highlight of the trip for sure. We were talking today about how it would be so hard to describe to someone who hadn't done it because you can't do it justice. But seriously, so fun."

Back row: Kaye, Rachael, Neeley, Drew, Kate, Sam, Ryan, Brad Front Row: Kiersten, Ally, Me, Sharon

•  Hamilton Temple

Kiersten, Katie, Kate, Julie, Ally, Me, Sarah

•  Raglan beach

Sarah, Me

Down Under

Alright, I'm going to break my study abroad into segments so it doesn't seem as overwhelming for me. First up: Australia.

Back row buddies Ryan and Rachael. We were literally on the last row of the 747.

So, getting to Australia takes a really long time. Especially when you have a million hour layover in LA. But even without that, the plane ride from LA to Brisbane takes 14 hours. Not overly pleasant when you can't sleep on airplanes, which I can't. But, I worked on some homework and watched some movies so it all worked out in the end.

My reaction to being in Australia...

...vs Emma's reaction to being in Australia. Yes, I was a little excited. And yes, I am aware I look like a maniac.

Anyway, we flew into Brisbane but our final destination was Cairns, so we caught another flight up there. When we got to the airport we had to wait for our van, so naturally while we were waiting we took pictures.

Our life for the next 6 weeks

These random statues outside the airport

The security guard told us we should plank on these... not comfortable at. all.

Beautiful Cairns

Kate my tent mate trying to get the stakes in

Part of our campground. Notice the misshapen tent on the left? Yeah, that was mine. Come to find out, one of the poles was cracked and being held together by duct tape, and it just snapped while we were setting our tent up. Awesome.

After we pitched our tents we headed straight to the pool. No one is in the water because it was FREEZING.

So, we bought this "towel: at REI because it was quick-dry. Never opened it until I got to Cairns, and this is what I found. My sweet little handtowel.

Where we stayed in Cairns. With Kate and Emma.

We ate SQUID

Ok, this is already taking too long. Some highlights from Australia (get ready for a picture overload. also, sorry the pictures aren't in the same order as the commentary, I'm really bad at figuring out blogger...)

Ally, Katie, Me, Neeley, Stephanie

• The stunningly beautiful esplanade 
• Botanical Gardens

My diving buddies Neeley and Ally

• 

  Stephanie, Me, Katie, Julie, Neeley, Emma, Rachael, Liz, Chalay, Kaye, Ally

• Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef!
• Feeding a wallaby and holding a koala
• Sleeping in swags in the outback
• Hiking in the Blue Mountains
• Sydney Temple (sorry no pictures, it was pouring rain)
• Rugby Game in Sydney
• Manly Beach

Neeley and Me (what am I doing with my hands?)

Me, Julie, Ally

Julie, Neeley, Ally, Me (with Kate and Sarah in the background)

Katie, Me, Ally, Julie, Sharon

Back Row: Rachael, Julie, Me, Sarah, Neeley Front Row: Katie, Kate, Emma, Ally, Liz

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Wow, so much to say! The last 6 weeks have been incredible, and I have so much to write about, but for now, we'll just start with this:

I GOT ACCEPTED TO BOSTON COLLEGE!!!

and I could not be happier. More to come, later.

10

10 days, people. We are down to two hands worth. That's all that's left before I leave. Holy cow, that's really not a lot. And I still have just about a million things left. Oh well.

In other news, Bri and Andy are here! Woohoo! They got here just last night, and I am so happy. I'm seriously so grateful that they made the trek up here before I have to leave. They are just so good to me. I sure to love them.

A picture of some of the gang on our trip to visit Bri and Andy in April

Friends

Ya know what? I'm really grateful for good friends. And I have some of the best you could ever have.

On Tuesday we had a surprise party for Emdog. Her husband Ben and Qwart's husband Matt work together, so they planned the whole thing. Cute, eh? Loved it. Also just loved spending time with all of them.

The crew

The birthday girl

Qwart and Matt playing Bye Bye Miss American Pie and Qwart saying: "I can't remember a time before this song"

Also, a few weekends ago we had a BBQ with this same group of friends, and it was so much fun! We chatted and played games and then finished off with an intense game of ultimate frisbee, boys against girls. 

Warming up

The girls. Love them.

We decided to do a picture where we were flipping back our hair... actually worked better than I'd planned :)

Also, back in May my good friend Alexis got married. Her wedding was so beautiful, it was unreal. Absolutely stunning. I'm so happy for her!

Friends with the beautiful bride. Don't mind the giant on the left...

Also, since I count friends and family pretty much interchangeably, Mom, Daddy, Brookie and I went to see Les Miserables for my birthday and it was AMAZING! I cried... multiple times.

Mom and I outside the theater

STOKED for it to start. Isn't my sister beautiful?

There are so many more people I could add and tell you about how I have the best friends in the world, but this post is already long enough and I have more homework to do.... bah. Point is, I'm grateful for my friends. And my family. How am I gonna survive in DC without them?

15 days...

and a million things to do. Good heavens, sometimes there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything you need to, ya know? And yet here I am... (I just finished writing a paper, which is why I'm allowing myself to write a blog post. Detox for a minute and then dive right back in.)

And yet even though I have no idea how I'm going to get it all done, it won't even matter because in 15 days I will be on my way to here:

Image found here

 and I could not be more excited.