The Adventures of Mallory, Robbie, and Haylee!

So it's been awhile since my last entry eh? I'm not going to date this trip, but it will be in order ;) I have been working diligently on a project for my class. My teacher required us to devise a business plan. Mine was going to be a dance studio. We had to be VERY detailed. Know how much venues were that we were pretending to book, where it was located, if we were going to start from scratch or buy, how much we were paying our emloyees, what our projected growth was, etc etc. It ended up being about thirty pages long and I'm quite proud of it. The teacher is a really hard grader so I wouldn't doubt that I didn't do that well on it even though I thought it was great. I don't think he likes me. I came late to his dance class once cause I got lost the first time I went. Dude...just let it go, but nope...mark me unfairly. That makes most sense :) I will stop there, but it's nice that the project is finished. I just got done filming my friend Alysia's video project for dance and technology. It was Charlie and I on the beach and he had to come rescue me from the ocean. Super cheesy, but I loved it. Tomorrow I will be working on mine.

South Island.

Mallory, Robbie, and I had our gigantic backpacks with all our essentials for the next eleven days as we headed to the south island for Easter break. We went on the shortest flight Ithink I've ever been on. It was like an hour long to get to Christchurch from Auckland. We got in around eight or nine at night-had no idea where we were staying. Robbie said there was a campsite just a 30minute walk from the airport so we start truckin along. We start walking next to this road that's like 80K. We think...huh, what's up with that? Robbie looks at his iphone and realizes...oh wait...it's 30minutes on the HIGHWAY! Ahhhahahhaa! We all laughed. What the heck were we to do. This was too great. We contimplated just camping in a turn around area. How funny would that be! We'd probably get kicked out of the country so we decided nay on that idea. We start walking down the road just thinking we'll just find a random spot, pitch our tent, and take off early the next morning. (had to get our rental car at 9am)

Suddenly, this lady in a van pulls over. She asked us if we were a part of YWAM. (Youth With A Mission is an international volunteer movement of Christians from many backgrounds, cultures and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. Also known as YWAM (pronounced "WHY-wham"), our purpose is simply to know God and to make Him known.)

I told here we weren't, Jed, a friend from back home had just gotten back from New Zealand for being a part of YWAM and had an amazing experience. I just said we knew what it was, but we told her our situation and she said...oh....well you guys can just camp in our backyard! We have about eight other kids staying at our house as a part of this program. We get to her house and she decides it makes more sense for us to stay in the extra living room. We said no, we're fine out here, but she insisted! So generous! We had our own bathroom and everything. Made ourselves right at home. The other kids came and we met them and just hung out. There were some from America, Canada, and Norway and we had tea and hot cross buns!

The next morning she took us to our rental car place and we parted ways. She said if we ever see her son on the side of the road to give him a place to stay. (I realize that sounded like he was lost or something and she hadn't seen him in ages, but that's not the case) She just says she doesn't mind picking up people cause she would want others to do the same if her kids were traveling in a foregin place.

Eloise-the name of our car. Daniel, our navigator, was Robbie's iphone. Mallory and Robbie drove most of the way. Really like the whole trip. I drove for what...45 minutes. I didn't like the other side of the road okay? We drove to Queenstown. Our adventure begins! (Easter Day!)

Drivin along in my automobile....I wish I could tell you all the funny inside jokes we have. Mallory and Robbie MADE this trip. I couldn't have picked two better people here to go on this trip with! It was so much fun. We all have the same sense of humor and we're just open with eachother, always laughing and joking around. LOVE them.

Queenstown-Can I get a b-e-a-utiful! HOLY MACROL! This place was to die for. The scenery was incredible. I will try to post pictures, but even the best pictures don't do the place justice. That night we found a place to camp for the night by the water. Mallory and Robbie were going to go bungee jumping the next day.

We head to the AJ Hacket Bungee place and I'm wishing I had signed up for it. There were these 10 and 11 year olds RAVING about it. I was like...you guys did that?! Ugh. I have to now. It was kind of impulsive, but I decided I was going to do it. Best decision of my life! Well...you know what I mean. It was soooo fun. Better than skydiving in my opinion. I reccommend it to everyone. I know it seems scary, but it's so great. I think I'm a thrill junkie, but whatever. Ha. This was the main reason we came to Queenstown along with the scenery. The town was very pretty. We ended up staying in a hostel that night and met a lady from Holland and one from Sweeden. We had wine and hot cross buns in the kitchen. Robbie made his spam, beans, and rice for dinner. Haha. First time I have had spam :P Robbie woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but he kind of was half asleep. He got up and started petting Mallory on the head, trying to find the way to the bathroom. He opens a door, steps in, and the sweedish lady says: Just be careful, I put something on the floor. He realizes that is not the bathroom ahaha and finally finds the door. He comes back in and Mallory says: "Daaaad, did you touch my head?" (we call Robbie dad haha) He said yeah...he couldn't see in the dark.

The next day Robbie tells us about the sweedish lady and he says it in a russian voice though which made it HILARIOUS! So great. "Jest be cureful...I put somesing on zee flur" Needless to say this phrase was a recurring part of our trip. Still laugh everytime. It's THAT funny.

4 DAY HIKE.
We headed to TeAneu. We were in for a big suprise these next four days. We started the Kepler track hike. The first day we basically just camped at the start. There was a fire pit so we didn't have to use Robbie's little penny stove. It gets cold at night so Mallory and I really had to snuggle to stay warm. We went to bed that night at like 8 or 9. I woke up to go pee in the woods and came back in and Robbie said guess what time it is. We said...ahh it's gotta be like 3 or 4 am. 12:00. It was midnight only!! We couldn't believe it. The next day was going to be the day of hell. We had about 23K ahead of us, and the highest peak of the mountain. We decided we were getting up before the sun. We got up at 5am and left at 6am.

If you have ever been hiking, you understand the psychological effects it has on you. I honestly wanted to keel over at times, but we kept pressing on. It was mostly up hill so my legs were killing and we had our big packs on. Poor Robbie's pack was sooo heavy with the tent and cooking stuff! It's funny though cause I look back on it and forget ALL the bad stuff. It was an amazing experience and I would do it again...not the same mountain though. haha. But there's something about being on the top of the mountain that takes your breathe away. It's amazing. It's like you're on top of the world.

That night.
We were still a ways up the mountain and stopped at the campsite. We made Macoroni and Cheese that night to treat ourseleves :) It's amazing how food and water are looked at differently when hiking. We were out of water at one point and had to fill up at a stream and boil it. You treasure ever little bit you have. We knew it would be cold that night, but we didn't know HOW cold. Mallory and I slapt on like all the clothes we had. I had long johns on, leggins, capris, sweatpants, two pairs of socks, tank top, long sleeve, tshirt, sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, hat, and scarf. Still cold. Mallory and I had to snuggle the WHOLE night. If we moved from each other we would shake. It was intense. Haha. The next morning we didn't want to get out of our tent. It was freezing. We looked out our tent and frost was everywhere! Our shoes were white. Robbie heard someone say it got down to 28 degrees that night. Insane!

When we finally got ourselves going we resumed the journey of the kepler. We were soooo sore and had blisters all over our feet. I rented some hiking boots, but they hurt my feet this day. Felt like they were bruised everywhere and I would walk with a limp. We started playing movie games along the track where we thought of a movie and the others had to guess it. It took the focus off my aching feet. I ended up being a hobbit and walking in my socks. It felt soooo good! They thought I was crazy, but I could keep up way better.

Tented that night. Met some kiwis that lived across the lake. They let us use their bonfire. We made a nice meal with warm pineapples for dessert.

Day 4
We had about 6 or 7 more hours of hiking and we could see the end of the road. We made it! Could not believe it!!!!! AHHHHH!!!! We thought about doing another long hike, but this was long enough. Four days was good. We were dirty and all we wanted was a shower. Mallory calls her dad and he offers us to stay in a bed and breakfast. We take this up and are living in HEAVEN! IT was awesome. Thank's Mallory's Daddy :) We stayed in the cosy kiwi and had an amazing nights sleep. We had breakfast served to us. It was awesome. Loved every minute of it.

Millford Sound
The drive to Millford was unlike any other drive I have been on. There were site seeing stops along the way. Mirror lakes which had the mountains reflecting into the water, glaciers, beautiful mountains, pancake rock formations, and there was this super long tunnel we went through.

Kayaking Millford Sound. This is what I was most nervous for as I can't get my inner ear wet. I went with Robbie cause he has been Kayaking before, but this was something I'm glad I did. It was really fun to see the waterfalls and be right on the water.

That night.
Robbie camped in his tent and Mallory and I stayed and slept in the car. Eloise was quite comfortable! AND WARM! We didn't feel like freezing again. Slept really well. I have never seen the stars as clear as they were that night. Robbie took a picture and it turned out really well with his fancy camera.

Dunnedin
Our last big destination was Dunnedin. We had heard it's known for being like a miniature Scotland. Very old buildings, rolling green hills, etc. It was gorgeous! We kind of just wanted to see the town so we drove around, saw a castle and walked around in it. (of course...that cost money...doesn't everything?) We stayed with Robbie's friend Gray. That night we had fish n' chips and a little shop and then went to a bar before catchin a movie. We went to a New Zealand film called Boy. It was awesome.

The next day I went running through botanic gardens. It was beautiful. We decided to do a tour of a brewry which was really cool and then we went to the Cadbury chocolate factory. Also very cool. That night was "The Pacific." We watched that show and had popcorn :)

We couldn't believe that we were heading back to Christchurch. Our trip was coming to an end. SO SAD! It was amazing. Every second. We stopped in Omaru cause I needed to take a picture of penguins for Andrew. We saw a whole colony of them...they were so cute!!! We continued to Christchurch and spent the day there. We saw the cathedral which was really neat, and explored the town...very pretty. Mallory and Robbie had a different flight than me. They had to leave at 5am and I didn't have to go until 11. I decided not to sleep in the airport like they did and got a hostel. So glad cause the one I found was amazing. Transportation to and from the airport for 60nz dollars: 40american (or so). This place obviously was designed by a women. (take that however you want men) The rooms were gorgeous and everything had its place. There was a pool, sauna, and hot tub. I watched tv on a big screen and ordered pizza before I went hot tubbing and in the sauna. I had it made! Best night sleep cause I had a queen size bed to myself!

That was the jist of our trip. I hope it didn't bore you too much to read it. I could have written sooo much more too! I have to be done though. I'm going insane. TTFN!

XOXO