P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.

(If you don’t understand that reference, go watch “Finding Nemo” IMMEDIATELY.  No seriously.  Do it.)

Hello!  Yes, I am alive.  I know many of you (especially my parents) have been wondering about this.  I have been traveling the south island of New Zealand and most recently Sydney, Australia over my two week mid-semester break.  The south island was BEAUTIFUL, and I know you’ve already seen photos of the highlight – bungee jumping!  Mt. Cook was also gorgeous; we hiked to the top of one of the hill/mountains and had a spectacular view of the frozen glaciers surrounding us, as well as a magnificent rainbow on our drive out.

Queenstown was by far my favorite of the three places we visited on the South Island.  Christchurch was cool and very reminiscent of Boston, but Queenstown was definitely the most beautiful and exciting town we visited.  We took a gondola ride to the top of a large mountain (name?  no idea…) which we then luged down!  Luging was a really great time, although my hands were FROZEN after one run down.  I was of course the slowest of the group down the mountain, but I still had a great time J

After spending 5 days backpacking the South Island, Britta and Maggie headed over to Sydney and then to Cairns, Australia (near the Great Barrier Reef).  Meaghan and I headed back to Auckland for three days to entertain our mutual friend Julie, who has been studying in Wollongong, Australia and came to Auckland for a visit.  After these three days, we left Julie in Auckland and took off for our own adventure to Sydney! 

And boy was getting here an adventure.  Firstly, Meaghan and Julie had rented a car in order to drive around the Lord of the Rings film site (I graciously declined spending my entire Saturday on this journey…), so we had the car in the morning to drive to the airport.  I had been elected morning driver, and this was an experience in itself (remember, we drive on the wrong side of the road over here!).  Well, I made it almost all the way to the airport before I realized that my passport was still securely stowed in my desk drawer.  OOPS.  So, we turn around and drive to my flat to grab my passport, then race back to the airport.  By this time there is about an hour and a half before our flight to Sydney.

When we get through the line to check in and check our baggage, the man asks if we have a visa to travel to Australia.  I reply that we are only going to be there for 6 days, and he responds that currently to travel to Australia you must possess a visa no matter what.  He directs us to a line where we can purchase our $30 Visas (yep, that’s what that charge is on the credit card bill, Dad!), and we make it through in about fifteen minutes.  By this time there is less than an hour before our flight, and we rush to security.

Welp, you guessed it: more troubles.  We fill out our customs forms and jump in the security line.  After safely (or so I think) traveling through the metal detector, I am escorted to a desk where I am confronted with my pink water bottle, which to my horror is ¾ full of water from the trip to the South Island.  I hadn’t remembered even packing this water bottle, but I guess that is what I get for packing at 5 a.m.  I am told that I either need to bring the bottle over to the biosecurity section of the airport, or chug the entirety of the bottle.  Well, of course I choose to drink the stale, nasty water.  Meaghan attempts to help me, although this just results in both of us erupting in giggles over the ridiculous situation.  After drinking approximately 600 ml of gnarly water, we are released only to be stopped for a “random check” of Meaghan’s bag.  Finally, we sprint to our gate and find that our plane has yet to board… success!

Our flight here was relatively easy.  We booked through Aerolineas Argentinas, or as my dad called them “rubber band airlines.”  We were nervous about the quality of the flight, etc, but it was fine (minus the fact that everything was in Spanish…).

And now… SYDNEY!  I LOVE this city!  We spent our first day walking through the botanic gardens and taking about 1,000 photos of the famous Sydney Opera House.  There is a two-hour time difference between Sydney and Auckland, so I am now just 14 hours ahead of the east coast (or 10 hours behind, plus a day, if your mind works like that).  This has made getting in contact with people QUITE difficult, thus it hasn’t really happened much.

I’ll post more about Sydney when I return to Auckland (Friday for me, Thursday for you, assuming you are reading this from the east coast).  But I have been having a blast, and a much more relaxing time traveling with just Meaghan.  Goodbye for now!