Alas! the Southern Adventure has nearly come to an end. Funny to think that nearly six months ago I wrote from this very room- at that time having no idea what experiences this trip would hold. Probably a good thing... if we all knew what lay ahead we might just pee our pants and run away screaming.
quick recap of nz highlights:
- sheep farm, eccentric people, lots of poo
-horse farm, conquering fears, more poo
-cattle farm, beautiful scenery
-caving in waitomo
-living in wellington
-climbing franz joseph glacier
-shearing sheep
-winning Fly By Wire by singing karaoke
-camping fraser island
-crocodile hunter zoo!
- meeting lots of amazing people!
so thanks for reading this blog and sharing some of these adventures with me. i really loved all the comments, and soon will be able to hear your comments in person...
flight departs tonight, arrive home on tuesday
seeya then!
love you all,
becki

hello!
how's everyone? i suppose i will find out in person in ONE WEEK... crazy!
just finished a 3-day self-guided 4x4 tour of fraser island. basically, they put you into groups and you drive around the island and camp for 3 days. good times.
fraser island is a huge sand island, and it has lots of cool things to see for only being a little place. we started off at lake mackenzie, which was bluer than you have ever seen. it was this huge, clear freshwater lake in the middle of the island and it was GORGEOUS!
the next day we went to indian head lookout, where you could look down ito the ocean and see stingrays and sharks and things. okay, we only saw a sea lion that everyone thought was a shark, and a small ray, but it was cool. then we headed to the champagne pools, which are pools of ocean water surrounded by reef and rock so no sharks can get in. they were so nice! and warm... and we could look at little fish swimming by as we lay in the water.
the next day we went to lake wabby, which is cool cause it is right next to a huge sand dune and gets deep very quickly. this made for some good fun running down the dunes and diving into the lake. lydia nearly dove into some catfish, but it was all good. might've scared her a little though.
so the camping trip was lots of fun, but it was good to get back to town afterward and have a proper shower. nothing like a sand/saltwater/sunscreen combo to make you feel a little grimy. tomorrow i head out to the australian zoo, the crocodile hunter's kingdom. oh steve, you do live on in our hearts. so i am quite excited for that. actually not gonna lie, that's pretty much why i came to brisbane. woohoo! so i'll let you know how that goes....
back to nz on thursday, will try to post more from there.
till then, big love to you
becki

heya
how's things in canada?
or wherever you may be reading this from.
went to dunedin last night after watching dolphins and attempting to watch penguins... no luck on the penguin situation though. oh! saw some sea lions as well. wow, i am so onto the wildlife here, look at me. but seriously, it was cool.
now i'm in christchurch, which looks like a real sweet place but unfortunatel i must leave tomorrow! but it was well worth it, since i got to hang out with some friends for the last time in dunedin.
hey! if you read this, you can pray for me. i feel like boogers, for lack of a better term
but maybe aussie sunshine will cure it? and also for my dear bro's neck surgery on the 15th. that'd be sweet.
anyway, i love you all, will be home in 2 weeks now- crazy!
check ya later
becki

heya, it's me again.
i write you from the absolute bottom of the earth... well, almost. we're the furthest south you can go in the south island. only a little island separating us from antarctica. the town we're in, invercargill, is described by the lonely planet guidebook as having copioius amounts of boy racers with suped-up cars and girls with suped-up hairdos, for lack of better things to do. it's a super little town to visit for a day though. we spent the afternoon just chillin in the park.
this morning i sheared a sheep. it was excellent fun.
yesterday i went to milford sound, sort of like a compilation of large fiords and inlets and waterfalls and generally pretty things. the entire south island has actually been stunningly beautiful- every time i look out the window or go outside there is absolutely huge, majestic scenery as a surrounding. wow! everything is on a grand scale- this is like the las vegas of nature.
tomorrow i head to dunedin, which is cruising, but i'm going to australia on thursday so it's gotta be done! this adventure is quickly coming to a close (boo) but i'm real excited to see everyone back home again (yay!).
i love you all and hope you have fun doing your respective things that you all may be doing
big love,
becki ps: sorry jordan, i will never do the nevis. my roomates in the hostel did it, two big fearless danish boys, and i watched the movie. they were scared to death, i think i'd be hopeless.
pps: the nevis is the 2nd highest bungy jump in the world-explanation enough

hello there friends! today i write to you from queenstown, the adventure capital of new zealand! the city is home to every kind of adventure activity you can think of.
whilst in makarora, a tiny little town on the west coast, i managed to karaoke my way into a free "fly-by-wire" experience. the f-b-w involved me being strapped onto something that mildly resembled a convertible rocket ship, being winched up the side of a valley (looking down it of course), and then releasing it to blaze though the air in a sort of wild pendulum swing. i was a little worried at first, and got more worried when i saw the depth of the valley. but now that it's over i can say mildly "yeah, it was cool".
another plus of the fbw was the fact that i got to wear rain gear involving large splash pants that not only tightened at the ankle to make my jeans frill out the bottom, but came up well past my belly button when pulled up properly.
still not planning to attempt the nevis bungy, the 2nd highest in the world and something like 130 metres (!!!). nope, not that crazy. i can't even climb a proper hill without getting scared.
the only other extreme sport i participated in while in the south was crossing the road. simple, you say, but i somehow managed to scare an old man half to death while he braked to a screeching halt. everything was all right, i wasn't even in his lane, but the other bus passengers haven't let me forget it. and of course this happened on a day where i was already saying numerous inane or just plain dumb things. bon, it would've given your dad way too much ammo for the blonde jokes.
i spent a night in wanaka before heading to queenstown. stayed in a lovely hostel called the purple cow, and basically had a relaxing time enjoying the scenery. the most eventful thing that happened there was when i got pooped on by a bird while lying on the beach. gotta love seagulls.
so anyway, that is the current wild adventures of becki... hope you enjoyed
i love you all and hope to hear from you soon!
becki

hello! i'm still alive, just touring new zealand- i'm blazing down the west side of the south island. here's a few things i've managed to see along the way...
this signpost was on a path we took to go look at a seal colony. pretty far from home!




the second pic is one of some people from the bus in barry town. barrytown used to be a gold mining town, and now is just very, very small. but it has a pub/ hostel where we stayed. the staff told us they would extend happy hour if we all dressed up from their dress-up box. never one to miss the fun, my friend sophie suggested we get it started. by "we" she meant she would pick my outfit and see if anyone else dressed up (i'm the one in the red feather mask, by the way). seems to have worked.

the picture to the left is of Franz Josef Glacier. it's basically a giant hunk of snow and ice that a lot of people come to gawk at. it gives the town a good excuse to overprice their groceries. today i went on a glacier hike, and got to wear spiky boots as you can see. we went on a lot of ice stairs, stepped over a few crevasses, and through a wee ice tunnel (aka: the one in the picture). good times. after all the beaching i've been doing this week, the ice was a bit of a change, but cool to look at. haha, didn't even mean that as a pun.
anyway, hope this blog finds you warm, well, and wonderful
don't be a stranger in the comment department
big love to you all,
becki ps. thanks to everyone who wrote for my birthday, i felt so special! i will try to reply personally, but this is the first step...