Hello from New Zealand!
It is freezing here right now. Rainy, gray and just plain cold. The van is dripping and soggy and the clouds are covering all the amazing views. But, despite the current weather, I have managed to stay happy and....relatively dry. So far, I have completely enjoyed my time in New Zealand. I feel so free. We have our own transportation and accommodation with us all the time, and our days are open to whatever we want to make of them. For one week, we stayed at an organic farm on the far south end of the island doing work in exchange for food and accommodation. We spent about four hours per day harvesting vegetables and doing odd jobs around the farm. One day we spent nearly the whole time "slug slicing," hunting through the green house on our hands and knees and killing as many slugs as we could find. It was pretty disgusting. I don't care to slug slice ever again. The food at the farm was delicious. Lots of fresh veggies and some of the purplest potatoes I have ever seen. We got to eat beef and pork that was raised on the farm and killed only weeks before we arrived.
In the last week, we left the organic farm we had been doing a work exchange with and headed into the mountains. I immediately realized just how much I have missed being in the mountains! In and around Queenstown the mountains are jagged and dramatic, with sharp, snow capped peaks and shear, rocky slopes. I find myself gaping out of the van window. We stop at every other rest stop to admire the view and snap a few pictures. Enough with the ocean! Just leave me in the mountains!
So as not to pass up any sight seeing or amazing views, Cailin and I decided to take in the landscape in an extreme manner. New Zealand in known for its extreme sports and we could not resist the opportunity to go skydiving. That's right. Skydiving! I have never imagined myself actually doing something as crazy as that, but I did, and I have to say, it was amazing!! I stumbled into the skydiving office only two hours after booking the tickets and watched a good ten minutes of footage of other people jumping out of planes. This, I guess, was supposed to make us feel safe about what we were soon going to be doing. I admired the views as we drove out to the jump site, not really thinking about what was to come. If I was nervous at all though, it quickly wore off over the next two hours as we waited for our turn. The ride up to 12,000 ft in the tiny plane went quickly and before I knew it, I was the first one in line to jump out. Securely strapped to my "tandem master" (a man who has plummeted to the ground from a plane exactly 1,245 times before this) I actually felt pretty safe. I stared up into the blue sky above as I was dangled over the edge of the plane and then smoothly pushed out into the open air.
I wasn't so much scarred as excited. Once my stomach settled back down out of my throat, i gasped at the view below me and the amazing feeling in my body. It didn't feel like falling. The wind was rushing up at me and my eyes were watering despite the goggles, but I felt suspended in the air. It was so exhilarating! Before I knew it, my tandem master had let out the parachute and suddenly we were floating, and the rushing in my head stopped. It was soooo beautiful! I got to enjoy the parachute for a very short 5 minutes before landing safely back on the ground.
The whole, long trip is beginning to wrap itself up. It is hard to believe we have just one week before we return home to the the U.S. I'm full of mixed emotions. I'm looking forward to coming home, seeing everyone again, staying in one place with a hot shower readily available, and the warm weather. But at the same time, its weird to think that the trip is almost over. I feel reluctant to stop traveling, and (of course) there is so much left to see! I can't imagine what kind of changes await me at home and I think I am yet to find out just how much I have changed over the past 6 months. But for now, we set about the task of selling our van. Wish us luck!
See everyone soon soon soon!
Lots of love,
Misra
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