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So it has been about a year since I last updated this... I apologize...and this one will probabaly be a novel because there are many adventures to talk about! First things first, the picture is of a toilet seat in Puzzling World in Wanaka, New Zealand and I could resist taking a picture. Who would have thought that even New Zealand represents the Swedberg's?
My trip to New Zelanad was absolutely AMAZING! I left on Easter (which really didn't even feel like Easter because no one was around campus and I didn't get to hunt for my Easter basket like I ususally do at home....which is always hidden in the same room every year...it's great!) and took the train to Sydney and then flew into Christchurch at 1am. We didn't get a hostel for that night, so we had to sleep in the airport, which was actually a popular choice by people. It was, however, not the most comfortable sleep. Monday morning, we (I went with three of my friends, Abby, Garrett and Dat and they all go to Madison too) rented a car and drove to Queenstown, where we stayed for three nights. Queenstown was unreal! It was so beautiful and had a gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains! That was definitely my favorite place in New Zealand. There are little strips of shops all over and it is just very cute. While I was in Queenstown, I went white water rafting, bungy jumping, luge-ing, and rode the Gondola to the top of the mountain. Rafting was awesome and our guide was a lot of fun. Bungy jumping was absolutely the scariest, yet most amazing and thrilling thing I have ever done. No one wanted to go with me, so I had to go by myself and I knew no one. I was super nervous and before they even called my name to go, i started crying! Even though I was crying, I jumped right away, which I was surprised. I bought both the pictures and the DVD of my bungying, and I can't believe I did it. It was 134m, but it was so much fun and I want to do it again! I also went Luge-ing, which we had to take a Gondola to the top of a mountain and then took a chair lift to get to the luge track. You sat in this plastic and metal thing that was kinda like a sled, but it had these handles that you pulled toward you to make yourself go faster. It's hard to explain, but I felt like I was Wario in Mario Kart or something! It was great! There was lots going on in Queenstown and there were heaps of tourists visiting. If you are ever looking for a burger that is as about as round as a frisbee and has three patties on it (no lie), you need to eat at Fergburger in New Zealand. The biggest burgers I have ever seen... the sight of them kinda made me sick.
We stayed in Queenstown till Thursday morning, then Thursday we got to see the sunrise while driving Milford Sound. At milford Sound, we went on this boat cruise that took us through the sound and then out to the Tasman Sea. It was absolutely beautiful and there were hundreds of waterfalls coming down the mountains. It was pretty raining the whole time, but I liked it cause the mountains were a little foggy and it was just breathtaking scenery! After the boat cruise, we went into an underwater observatory, which was pretty cool. I was hoping to see a shark or something, but I had no such luck. Thursday evening, we drove back through Queenstown to Wanaka and stayed the night there. Friday morning and afternoon, we hung around Wanaka and went to puzzling world (where they had the cool toilet seats). You walk into Puzzling world, and there are heaps of puzzles and brain puzzles that are sitting on tables that you can try and figure out (the puzzles like the two nails that are stuck together and you try to get them undone). Sitting there for about 45min.... I finished only ONE of the puzzles.... and not only did it take me about 45min. to finish.... the box said on it: There are many solutions, all you need to find is one. And if that didn't make me feel just wonderful that I couldn't find one of the MANY possibilities, it also pointed out that the puzzle was for ages 6 . I was stuggling a lot that day I guess! We also went into the illusion rooms, which were really weird, but cool! They made my head hurt! I drove the carto Puzzling world and it was really weird driving on the opposite side of the road and the opposite side of the car.... but I got us there safely, so it was all good!
Friday night we drove to Foz Galcier and stayed in a hostel there for a night. Saturday morning, we went on a five hour glacier hike. We were only on the glacier for an hour, but it was amazing! It was really cold on the glacier too! It felt so weird walking on a glacier and then looking around and seeing green mounatins surrounding me. It was a really cool experience though and the hike to get up to the galcier was so pretty!
Saturday night we drive to Christchurch and stayed in Christchurch Saturday and Sunday night. We stayed in a hotel called Hotel So, and it was such a nice hotel. Very contemporary and it even have free internet, which was great! When we first checked in, the guy gave us our room key, rm. 124 and Abby and I went up there and we opened the door and it was a room full of construction stuff, like paint jars, a work bench, hammers and what not, and it didn't even have carpet. Then when we told the front desk guy, he looked like he thought we were lying... but we obviously got a different room... the rooms were so nice. Flat screen tv and the coolest bathroom ever! You could turn the bathroom light different colors....red, green, yellow, and blue... it was pretty dang sweet (we all know what I did for about a half an hour)! Christchurch is a HUGE city....I don't know how many people, but it is just really big! It is a really pretty city though and heaps of people everywhere. Sunday morning, we did a 7 hour tour of Christchurch.... we got to go to the Antartic center, Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, the Gondola, a Wildlife Cruise, and a tram ride. My favorite was probabaly the wildlife cruise because I got to see hector dolphins, which are the smallest and rarest dolphin in the world. The cruise was just really relazing and I just loved being out on the ocean. The Antartic center was pretty cool too though and we went into this room that got to be -20 degrees... it was freezing.. but there was this sweet slide made of ice, which of course i went on! I had to bring out the 5 year old in me sometime during the trip, so I thought, what better time than now!
Well, that's my little overview of my trip.... if you are still reading....wow... you must really love me! And because you love me enough to read my novel... you get to hear my favorite (well... maybe not favorite, but it is pretty funnyand sad) New Zealand story!
Background: Abby was driving and I was in the passengers seat while the guys were sleeping in the back seat. We were driving by a massive amount of sheep (the amounts of sheep in New Zealand are unexplainable!)
Situation: Me-"Oh, look at the little one lying all by itself over there"...we keep dirving on the road, approaching the lone sheep....we get in a better range of view of it... we both look thinking it is just this cute little sheep fast asleep.... we soon realize that it is not sleeping, it is dead and it's legs are completely mangled and pretty much up by it's head. It was a sad sight, but sort of amusing to look back on. Luckily we didn't seen anymore sheep lying by themselves "sleeping". And now that you all think I am a horrible person for thinking that story is funny, I am going to go!
p.s. My parents leave tomorrow to come here and I can't wait!! Yay!
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