New Zealand Poem

This last weekend we had a ward talent show featuring all the BYU students. One girl wrote a poem about our New Zealand trip. There's tons of inside jokes, but its still pretty funny so I decided to post it.

Years from now if I am ever feeling sad
I can look back on this trip and all the fun we had
From arriving off the plane with eyes oh-so-wide
To immediately start exploring the scenic country side
We traveled along in the vans so trusty and true
Green machine, white trash, red rumbly, and smurf—that one’s blue
On we went from the Tip Top of the island way down to the Deep South
Loving each flavor we put in our mouth
Within five minutes at each campsite we made a tent city
But were gone the next morning, lickety-splity
There was so much to do just in Rotorua, I recall
Some rafting, some sledging, or rolling in a big ball
In a Hamilton evening we reached a spiritual height
Much different than Manganui we saw at that morning light
Hamilton also gave us the chance to make a new friend
For some of us girls though… we wish the contact would end
Our minds were blown as we saw each wonderful sight
Blown almost as much as on the ferry where we almost took flight
The perils of Mount Doom we did check off our list
The journey was so bad, Julianne cut her wrists
Some highlights of early on we remember
Frisbee, black water, avoiding bad weather
The long daily drives, Adam wouldn’t stop singing
And Christina just couldn’t seem to stop eating
Of course there was Alex and her blue suit
And Carly’s poor legs were to big for her boot
All Rachel and Tressa wanted to do was play touch
But Rusty couldn’t join because boy/girl would have been too much
We had no time to hinder though a suitcase and sleeping bag were lost
Luckily, Jas was still clothed but Van’s top half while sleeping is what suffered the cost
Soon we made it to the end of our two week route
But I guess it wasn’t complete without seeing Cromwell’s big fruit
Invercargill, finally, we made it at last
No one was safe from a biker riding past
Arriving didn’t mean we had time to slow down
There’s a beach, mating seals, and head to Queenstown

There we found bungy is not self-inflicting murder
And celebrated after with a juicy Fergburger
In town we biked to school and church, even in rain
But at least now our butts are not in so much pain
Church was a treat with Bro. Naunau’s leading-slash-dancing
But Matt and Erica did not notice, they were too busy romancing
Classes did have to start, but not too much dismay
Jennie just taught us naughty words… that made it ok
The rest of our classes we had it sooooooo rough
Except for kayaking…. Which actually was tough
Remarkables was a trip some also found as a trial
Becky even sprained her ankle, to fly out in style
However, the learning in these classes would have been in vain
If it wasn’t for reflecting, 8 minutes in pouring rain
Speaking of which while I reflect on the awesome bushwhacking we do
I guess it taught me; I can do hard things too
Climbing, tramping, and surfing were not the only things to cheer our mood
How could we ever forget about all the delicious food?
There was plenty to make anyone’s taste buds shout
Of Cadbury Chocolate, and finding out what hokey pokey really was all about
And finding even more to get your arteries in a jam
“fush and chops” followed by a Tim Tam Slam
Eating, playing, even sharing lice helped us get to know eachother so well
Perhaps too much as now we can even distinguish flatulent smells.
As the trip went on the closer we got
All I remember is when – I – fought
But now as it about time for us to all take flight
I wish you all never receive another sand fly bite
And that we can think of our time we did spend
Laugh, and look back, because SIT did happen

It Was A Flow Experience.

Best thing to do on Saturday night when there is nothing to do in Invercargill.....movie hop. Alice and Wonderland came out and of course we wanted to see it, but movies here cost you an arm and a leg so we saw 2 instead of 1! After a full day at the beach me and three girls that I hang out with a lot went to the movies. We got our lil popcorn and diet coke and "movied" the night away. The next movie we wanted to see was Valentines Day(totally trash, dont see it) but we had to wait for it to come on so...naturally we waited in the bathroom in between movies. Yes that's a toilet we're sitting on
When we were walking out of the second movie I found a FULL box of popcorn sitting right on top of the trash as if it were a gifts from the Gods. It was perfectly hygienic. I swear. It took a little bit longer for everyone to catch on about how cool it was, but they eventually did. We got a little outta control and im sure the locals were freaked, but we were flowing the whole time:)
20 points for anyone who can guess who were imitating in the picture above....

SIT happens

SIT (Southern Institute of Technology) is the school that I go to here in New Zealand. We have the wonderful pleasure of taking our outdoor classes from them. Every other week they teach us a new section in outdoor recreation like surfing, kayaking, backpacking etc. Then on our off weeks we go on a trip to “experience” our new skills.

Our teacher, John Kapa, aka fun sucker, makes us do debriefs after every single thing we do. I like to call it our testimony meeting of the outdoors.There are 35 of us. It takes a half an hour to hear about everyone’s feelings. People say things like "At the beginning of the day I had a bad attitude and hated it, but then I decided to be happy and I was!" Or "I have learned so much about myself through this experience and I wouldnt change it for the world." Its super hard to take it seriously and not laugh the whole time. The best part is when someone gets choked up talking about a piece of grass they found and how it has made them such a stronger person...

Anyways…Our first trip we went to Borland lodge to go kayaking and I wrote about it in a previous entry. It was an enjoyable trip even though I strongly dislike kayaking but it was still a good experience. The next trip was not as amazing. It rained the whole time and we had to kayak again but it only lasted for three days so it was bearable. Our last trip that I just got back from was a three-day backpacking trip up in the Remarkables. It was beautiful. I didn’t take very many pictures. Thank you google images for the second one...It rained a little on the second day and we almost froze our bums off the second night when it snowed, but all in all I loved it. Our last trip is in two weeks and we’re going rock climbing. Im excited:)

Dunedin

So since I have a car we take advantage of this possession quite frequently. Road trips galore. One of our favorite places to go is a city 2 hours North of us called Dunedin. The world’s steepest street is in the city. We decided to drive up it in our little ghetto car. Bad idea. We almost died. The pedal was on the floor, I was in the lowest gear, and I screamed my lungs off. Don’t worry Tressa got it on video. Getting to the top was only half the challenge. I decided that on the way down the only way to not die was to carve the hill. So we didJ. All the Asians took pictures of us. I know they don’t do justice to how steep it actually is, but here it is:

I am an angel:)

So I wrote in a past blog about going to the” meat market” in Hamilton. Well….there was this interesting guy I met named Jase. I got an email from him a couple weeks ago and this is what it said:

Hi Rachel!
Hello angel from the land of California where the sun just keeps on shining! It’s me Jase; you met me at church in Hamilton. How about that, we used to be in Heritage Halls together! I hope your summer is going well for you! It must be very exciting going on a road trip around New Zealand! I wish I could go on a road trip; although I am from here I’ve never seen the entire country! Lame sauce I know. You will have to tell me all about your adventures!

Rachel, since you are going to be here for the whole semester, I wanted to know whether you would like to go on a date with me. I thought dating would be a perfect idea since you are studying in my country and would also like to get to know someone indigenous as well. My guy friend would like to come as well, so we could go on a double date, perhaps with one of your friends. I know you are travelling around a lot, but I thought it would be a great idea, I don’t suppose you would get a lot of dating opportunities while overseas here and I would like to see you again.

I’ve included a pic of me in this email in case you don’t remember what I look like. Are you on facebook?

Again, it was a pleasure to meet you Rachel!
Jase.

Angel from the land of California?!? The first line did me in. I was crying by the end. I wanted to reply just to see what he would say back to me….but I decided my safety/virginity probably isn’t worth it. A free meal isn’t even worth it. Who is this kid? I know all of you are probably dying to see the picture so here it is….dont judge: