Officially Stateside

Been home for three days so I guess it's time to wrap up this New Zealand Blog Business...

Last couple days in Dunedin were pretty relaxed. Just hanging out with friends, packing up, drinking a billion cups of tea, and saying bye. Got a banana and some free books from the awesome Kiwi guy who works at the used bookstore by New World. Special thanks to Tim, Liz, and Alan for taking me to the airport Thursday morning.

Left Dunedin Thursday morning, landed in Fiji Thursday night... not too shabby :). Fiji was really good. I basically just hung out in and around the city of Nadi for a few days, ate some Indian curry (YUM), went to the Friday rugby games, lay on the beach, read some books, and made friends with some other American, British, German, and Dutch wanderers who were staying at the same hostel as me. Relaxing in the sun was SO NICE. And it was SO WARM which was great because Dunedin was SO INCREDIBLY COLD when I left. Another really nice thing about Fiji is the tide change. Not only was the difference between high tide and low tide really really really noticeable, but the period when the tide was changing (from low tide to high tide) was also really really noticeable. It seemed to always happen around 3pm, and I just found it to be the coolest part of my day.

OKAY SO, Fiji is interesting/different. For example, apparently in Fiji... if you are 20+ years old... you are meant to be married with a bunch of children. So yeah, BASICALLY, when someone is young+unmarried+visiting Fiji (eg. LIKE ME!!!), you are going to get marriage offers. At first, this is awkward, but I was talking to the other people staying at the hostel and I guess they had the same experience with the marriage offers, so whatevers.

I left Fiji on Sunday night. Flew to California/LAX/home and (because of the time change) landed there Sunday afternoon. After I went through customs and got my bags, I found my family... Mom, Padre, Luke, and puppy dog... and then they took me home YAY!

Man, it is good to be back. Saw Toy Story 3 and it was AWESOME. Ate some In-n-Out last night. I am honestly just THRILLED by the fact that 1) I can sleep in a warm house and 2) I still got three solid months of warm weather before it decides to snow in Boulder. Being warm and sleeping bag-free so incredibly nice. Other than that, I still got to finish unpacking and clean my room and just figure out my life... but summer is good and travel plans are good, and I pretty stoked about seeing my New Zealand/California/Colorado people again because they rock my world.

Farewell and Safe Journeys.

Love, Theresa

sun chasing

Wednesday morning at 3:30am, (with some cookies, energy drinks, our cameras, and some freshly baked banana bread) Alan Dean and I started [great] walking to Peggys Hill to catch the sunrise. Basically, our walk took us out of North Dunedin, along Otago Harbour, and into the peninsula. Perfect Night (not too chilly, clear skies, good company, stars everywhere, sleepy city lights reflecting off the water, etc etc) = The Universe was most definitely on our side :) So couple hours and twelve miles later, we finally made it to the top of Peggys Hill. On your left, you could see the Otago Harbour and on your right was the Pacific Ocean. It was AWESOME and the sunrise was marvelous.

Thursday morning at 7:00am, Tim, Alan, and I met up to go find the sunrise from Mount Cargill. Mount Cargill is meant to be the highest point in Dunedin and I had never been there before so I was really glad to be able to go. Anyways, after driving around in Serena for a bit and getting a little lost, we finally found the right road to take us up to the top of Mount Cargill. We were so close to almost missing it, but Tim is a pretty great driver in these situations and we charged up and around the mountain and made it just in time to see the clouds getting all nice and pink - PERFECTION :)

Friday morning at 6:00am, Tim, Paul, Liz, Jenny, Alan, Tamara, and I met up to go find the sunrise at the Moeraki Boulders. I had been there a couple weeks ago when my family was visiting but DANG, Sunrise Was SO COOL!! Like seriously, beyond beautiful... I dunno, the ocean and the sky and the boulder just looked so nuts and awesome. I'm not doing the greatest job describing this, so you'll just have to look at pictures or just go and see for yourself.

Three Days, Three Sunrises... It's really neat to be able to see the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. Highly recommend that if you do ever have that chance, don't miss it.

Other than all that, I've just been hanging out/staying alive/enjoying brief periods of warm weather. Had an exam Friday that I think went pretty well, so that's good... and that means that school is over!! Went to the All Blacks vs. Wales game last night, really really fun night (slash we saw the Haka live which was SICKK).

New Zealand = good times. Five months went by REAL Fast. Peacing out in 4 days. Fiji Sunshine Time for a bit. Then California Summer Goodness for July. Hell yeah

every glamorous sunrise...

...throws the planets out of line, a star sign out of whack, a fraudulent zodiac. Third Eye Blind rocks my world.

So besides finishing up classes, writing papers, and studying for my exam (yep, that's right, I got pretty lucky and I've only one actual final exam)... Life has been quite marvelous. Last week I went with a few of my friends for one last New Zealand roadtrip in Serena and it kinda went like this...

Catching The Sunrise In Dunedin, Chasing The Sunset In Queenstown (Saturday, June 5th)

So classes/lectures are over, final papers for Intro to NZ Society, Social Power, and Advanced Theory are COMPLETE and turned in, it's officially wintertime in the Southern Hemisphere = the South Island is quite chilly (but overall, no big deal), and Tim, Paul, Alan, Mike, Liz, and I decided to journey up to Queenstown to meet up with Jamie and her brother Tyler (Jamie is from the States but did study abroad up in Wellington on the North Island). First though, we stopped at Portmouth/the Otago Harbour for a terrific sunrise. After that and after a terrible period of carsickness, we finally made it to Queenstown and found some Werthers candy (for me) and muffins (for Paul, Mike, and Alan). After that, we all went to the tiny Queenstown airport to pick up Jamie and Tyler. But that really just turned into playing ball in the parking lot, being secret undercover spies, and flipping through touristy brochures. After Jamie and Tyler joined us, we wandered around town, found some yummy kebabs, and then OF COURSE we had to stop and play on the playground by the lake (...I think this ALWAYS happens because Paul has a Very Serious Addiction to playgrounds). After that, we went to find the sunset... we hiked up to top of the gondola, checked out the Skyline complex that overlooked Queenstown, decided that The Higher Up We Could Get = The Better, and so we hiked higher and higher to the top of a snowy ridge better mountaintop views could be found, hiked up higher and higher until we reached the top of a snowy ridge. Although the sun had already set behind the mountains, we had some pretty spectacular views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. Queenstown is honestly one of the coolest little towns I've ever been to... so you if ever get the chance, you've got to go. MOST DEFINITELY. After hiking down, we went to Fergburger (SO FREAKING DELICIOUS) and met up with some of our other friends who were also in Queenstown that day. After that, it was just grocery shopping and then some serious sleepytime at The Secret Campsite on Lake Wakatipu.

Roy's Peak: The Mountain Of Snow And Death (Sunday, June 6th)

So This Got Nuts. We woke up and it was raining a bit. We drove to Wanaka (a town up by Mount Aspiring National Park). It was still raining. Parked at the bottom of Mount Roy. Still raining. So we're like, Okay, Let's Just Start Hiking And We'll Just See How It Goes. Good plan. So basically, raindrops turned into snowflakes and BAM, We Are In A Blizzard At The Top Of A Mountain. THIS WAS SWEET. Yes, it was totally cold and windy and freezing... But It Was Still Awesome. Basically, we abandoned/ignored/disregarded every possible form of logic or reasoning or basic commonsense (because Let's Be Real, NO ONE in their right mind would EVEN CONSIDER doing whatever the hell it was we were doing) and had a magnificently ridiculous time. So yeah, we made it to the peak, made some snow angels, and started to descend down the mountain. This got a little tricky... so since we were hiking down a snowy grassy mountain (slash since I'm naturally clumsy slash I don't own hiking boots), I ended up slipping and falling on the trail NO JOKE every minute and a half. I am seriously Not Exaggerating/it was out of control/there was nothing I could really do about it. So snowy grassy mountain turned back into muddy grassy mountain... and I just kept on falling. After a while, this got really really really tiring, and I was cold. But alas, we all eventually returned to Serena safe and sound, changed into dry clothes, got victory snacks at a nearby New World, and drove to Mount Cook to camp for the night.

Taking A Break From Sun Chasing: Mount Cook National Park... Well, Kinda (Monday, June 7th)

Our general plan was to camp by Lake Pukaki (we had camped there on our first Mount Cook trip way back in the day), wake up Monday morning, hike the Hooker Valley Trail, and then peace on back to Dunedin. But Really This Is What Happened... I'm sleeping in the van and Monday morning rolls around and it's cold/snowy/rainy outside. So we all just stayed in our respective shelters of choice (eg. in the tents or in the van), snacked, napped, and just basically hung out (someone in the tents was playing guitar, so that was really nice too). Six Hours Later.... I mean, we weren't really in any kind of rush... The rain finally stops and we slowly get our lives together, pack up the van, and head over to Mount Cook. We find out that the road to Hooker Valley (slash the road to our desired trailhead) is all snowed in. Bummer, but really No Big Deal. We ended up having a snowball fight on the side of the road... Well, what happened was this... For some reason or another (probably to take a picture), Tim got out of the van. Then Tim ended up throwing a snowball at Paul. Paul runs out of the van WITHOUT SHOES to chase Tim down, but Timothy is quite speedy. More snowballs are thrown. Paul gets back in the van, and we drive off without Tim for quite a ways. Van stops and Tim eventually catches up to us, and then we all play in the snow for a bit/have a snowball fight! The End! Eventually, we make it back to Dunedin alive, so that was good. That night, I had a kebab wrap for dinner and then ice cream. It was all very delicious.

To Nugget Point: Oceans and Friends, Rainbows and Sunsets (Tuesday, June 8th)

Tuesday morning, I wake up in my nice bed, email Mom to assure her that I'm alive, shower, and then start my laundry... And As Soon As I Put All My (Relatively) Cold Weather Clothes In The Laundry, I get a text basically saying, Come To Nugget Point! Meet At Tim's In Two Hours! ...Oh shoot, laundry takes a while... Possible Dilemma. But Itsssss Cool, because exactly two hours later, LAUNDRY IS FINISHED! So I pack real quick and head over to Tim's YAY! This time, it was Tim, Mike, Alan, Liz, Jamie, Tyler, and I. No Paul = no playgrounds, but Tim always seems to find the good rainbows. So we wandered along the coast (by the way, I love the Pacific Ocean) to the Caitlins, chasing rainbows and sunsets, and basically doing some picture hunting and stopping at any random cool place we came across. It Was Good. We had wanted to catch the sunrise at Nugget Point the next day, so we found a place to camp nearby, met up with Greg and Anne (both of whom have been studying at Wellington), ate some dinner, listened to Tim sing and play guitar, and then bedtime.

Nugget Point Sunrise (Wednesday, June 9th)

So Wednesday morning, we all woke SUPER SUPER SUPER early, drove out to Nugget Point, walked/ran along the trail, and hiked up the side of the mountain for a good view of the sunrise. And damn, it was good. Sunrise Over The Pacific Ocean + Nugget Point/New Zealand Awesomeness + Great People = SO GOOD. After sunrise, we stopped by Lake Waihola for a bit, but we had to head back to Dunedin pretty quick because Timothy had a final at 2:30pm (no pressure, yeah?). Overall, roadtripping/camping was awesome. Rainbows/sunrises/sunsets are awesome. Ocean/clouds (duh)/mountains are awesome. And of course, friends are awesome. Good times with good people.

The rest of the week consisted of some Tunnel Beach action, hanging out, feeding my running addiction (I found the reservoir today, and IT WAS AWESOME), planning my Fiji trip, and studying for my exam. So yup, that's my life. Basically, I've got about twelve more days of New Zealand. This Is Kinda Crazy. After that, I'll be in Fiji for a few days. And then, back to the Golden State for summertime :) :)

PS. "God of Wine" by Third Eye Blind = Sweet Stuff

Winter Has Arrived

Yesterday, it was RAINING. The day before, it was RAINING. Today is mostly cloudy, with no rain. Earlier today, I DEFINITELY spotted a little sunlight and That Was Neat but now its just very very cold, like the Winter Sort Of Cold. But back to yesterday...

Because it had been raining so much, the river (Leith River/the river that runs alongside my flat) kinda exploded with all the water come down from the mountains (and just from the sky in general). Anyways, I was hanging out in the library all day because I had a paper to write and, unlike my flat, the library is heated. However, SILLY ME, I forgot my power adapter for my laptop at home. Oops.

So my computer dies... and I'm walking back to my flat and I see a HUGE crowd of people at the edge of the river and also on the bridge over the river that connects Leith Street to Montgomery Ave (my street). Huh, INTERESTING.

I didn't really understand what this whole gathering was about, so I walk over to check out whatever it was that everyone's looking at. WELL, it turns out that a couple of really genius guys thought it would be a great idea to jump into this raging river of madness With Their Surfboards. A little random, but whatevers... They were trying to grab onto this rope that their friend was holding over the bridge. And I THINK they were aiming to just hold on, stand up, and ride the river. Pretty Solid Plan I guess, EXCEPT that all the guys seriously failed at this rope grabbing business, and just ended up floating down the Huge/Brown/Muddy Mess that was Leith River. This Was Amusing. I'm glad I forgot my power adapter. The end.

Ps. Just checked and winter officially begins on June 1st... Four days off, My Bad.

the clouds have been looking especially rad today

The weather has been super nice and sunny the last couple days. And yeah, sunshine and relative warmth is pretty great, but MAN, the clouds have just been Blowing My Mind. Clouds are SO Awesome. And the best part is that THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!! Seriously though, besides in outer space and in the ocean (which are both pretty awesome in themselves), clouds seem to be basically everywhere. This is Rad.

Soooooo, THE FAMILY CAME TO VISIT!! They were only here for a short time but it was still pretty fun showing them around Otago and Dunedin. Highlights from the family visit (besides just hanging out with everyone) include:

1) Moeraki Boulders = Super large, spherical boulders lying on Koekohe Beach (a little ways north of Dunedin)

2) Botanical Gardens = I had to run to New World (the grocery store) really quick and so I showed them my usual grocery-store-route through the Gardens. Basically, my walk to New World is really pretty and I have a greater appreciation for trees because Trees Are Awesome.

3) Otago Peninsula = Beautiful as always

4) Seeing Penguins at Pilots Beach = After sunset and just when the last bit of light is fading from the sky, hundreds of little Yellow-Eyed Penguins hop up onto Pilots Beach and waddle up into the grass and shrubs to find their nests for the night. Penguins are pretty cool, and I think my family was pretty excited to see them out and about in the wild, so that was really fun :) - University of Otago = Yay, School! Campus is pretty small, so we basically just wandered around so that they could check out the Central Library, St. David's, and the Clock Tower. Basically, that was the Uni (because I'm So Kiwi and all) in a nutshell.

5) The Whisper Dishes = They are AWESOME... I don't really know how else to describe them sorry.

6) Otago Museum = This was only the second museum that I've visited in New Zealand. The first was the Waikato Museum in Hamilton on the North Island... I guess that means this was also my first South Island museum visit... so basically, we've got two museums total. I am pretty content with this number because (as much I enjoy visiting museums just in general) I feel that although New Zealand lacks a ridiculous number of museums, it makes it up in clouds, moutains, lakes, caves, and Great Walking so it's All Good. ANYWAYSSS, the Otago Museum really nice (and FREE!). It had a lot of interesting stuff about Maori culture, Pacific Islanders, and the South Island and Otago region. There was a really cool room about all the different animals that existed and/or still exist around New Zealand so that was really fun because then I got to show my family the different animals (mostly birds) that I've seen, and then I got to tell them about where I saw them and what I know about them from my own experience. Yay for being a good tour guide!!

7) Good Food = Got my family addicted to Pineapple Lumps (the standard Kiwi candy), Rob Roys Ice Cream is SOOO YUMMY, Turkish Kebabs, Anzac Biscuits (kinda like a cross between a date scone and an oatmeal cookie dipped in chocolate), Steak Sandwich, Seafood... basically, hanging out with my family = good food and a happy tummy

After the familia departed, I had to work on a presentation about an analysis of Social Power and the film The Pianist. It all turned out really well and my powerpoint was pretty SWEET so that was really nice to finish. Now, all I've got is three papers (one for next week = easy peasy... and two for the week after = potentially might be a struggle, but not too worried about it) and then just one final exam. YAY for being Almost Done With Classes!!

In terms of just everyday type shenanigans... Yesterday(Friday), I didn't have class and it was really nice out, so a couple friends and I borrowed some surfboards and drove out to the peninsula, attempted to going surfing, but basically just messed around in the water at Allans Beach. Today is Kyle Rhatigan's birthday and he is awesome and one of my bestest friend and I've known him since Kindergarden, YESSSSS!!! Happy Birthday Kyle!!! So today, in honor of Kyle Rhatigan's Birthday, I went to the Farmers' Market, got some pears that I've never tried before but they looked pretty delicious (I got to wait until they ripen up though), failed to find the 24hour book sale that was meant to be going on in the Octagon, and ended up checking out Dunedin's Public Art Gallery (Really Rad, like I really really really liked it and I'll probably go back because its super free and That Is Neat). Tomorrow is also my friend Jenny's Birthday so we are going to go out and celebrate tonight. Yay Birthdays! AND my half birthday on Tuesday! I am so close to being twenty-one and a half years old, YESSSS!! SO CLOSE!!! the closest.

Still Alive

And it's already May!! I realized that it's been awhile since my last update on life. So in no particular order, this is what's been rocking my New Zealand world.

First, let's start with MUSIC.

I have decided that music adds a whole other dimension to life... like a Dimension of Awesomeness. (To break it down... So there are many dimensions of life. And many of these many dimensions are quite awesome in themselves. However, add MUSIC, and that changes the game, because music has the ability to absorb, reflect, and enhance/amplify the awesomeness already present in these other dimensions of life.) Anyway, I have gotten so much music in the last couple weeks and man, it's been a super good time. It's all mainly just a great combination of seriously SERIOUSLY GOOD BEATS and good lyrics. So basically, we've got a few new Jams, some Running Music, some Sleepytime Music, some Mash-ups for Epic Paper-Writing Shenanigans, some "Into the Wild" Soundtrack Action, and of course more of The Essential Basics... Incubus, The Shins, and (duh) Third Eye Blind.

And then there's MY SLEEPING BAG.

So don't get me wrong, I am totally into my bed. My bed is wonderful. (I mean, come on... It Has Pillows, and let's just be honest, Pillows RULE.) But MAN, I LOVE MY SLEEPING BAG. You see, while half of the world is enjoying a nice spring-to-summer transition, This Half Of The World is enjoying a nice fall-to-winter transition. And it gets significantly cold in the South Island... as in, it's only April (aka mid-fall) and the nighttime temperature is about 39 degrees Fahrenheit/4 degrees Celsius (with the occasional drop below freezing, Oh Dang). And since my flat doesn't really do the whole "heating" thing... basically, I've been sleeping in my sleeping bag EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Bringing my sleeping bag to New Zealand = Best Idea Ever slash Best Packing Decision Of My Life. Love my sleeping bag, Mountain Hardwear: 20 degrees Fahrenheit/-7 degrees Celsius, SO GOOD.

The AMIGOS slash Traveling Companions.

So the last couple weeks have been pretty swell with the amigos. In general, it's been lots of hanging out, lots of playing badminton and basketball (with the random game of ultimate and/or rugby), and lots of making dinner together (learned how to make enchiladas last night and it was SUHWEET). Overall, just seriously good times with seriously awesome people. Last weekend, some of the Amigos and I (aka Paul, Tim, Kristen, Ashlyn, Mike, Alan, Liz and I) ditched Dunedin for the weekend...

- On Friday, we headed out to the Southland region of the South Island, found and stopped at POSSIBLY THE COOLEST PLAYGROUND EVER (complete with a huge zipline), and later got to go exploring in the Clifden Caves. Gotta say, Caving Was Pretty Rad. Basically, it was just us and our headlamps... naviagating our way through small tunnels and large caverns, climbing around rocks and pools of water, and checking out all the limestone formations and the little glow worms :)

- After the caves, we made some dinner and then decided to go nighthiking into the Kepler track to snag a campsite for the night. Saturday morning, woke up for the sunrise over Lake Te Anau, hiked out of Kepler, and then we began our Green Lake Adventure...

- Sidenote/FunFact: Hiking to Green Lake = Hiking through the World's Largest Landslide (http://www.gns.cri.nz/what/earthact/land_stab/greenmore.html WORD)

- So Basically, our hike to Green Lake got a little nuts... meaning that it was AWESOME. We got a late start on the Borland Road Track, so we began hiking around 3:30pm. We start off wandering through the woods and everything's all cool. And then WHOA, things start to get a little muddy. AND THEN, we reach this huge grassy field that looks like nothing BUT is secretly a HUGE MUDDY SWAMPY MARSHLAND. Everyone got pretty muddy and fell/sank into mossy holes of mud and water (Paul and Tim definitely got trapped all the way to their waists = so amusing)... Honestly, this was Way More Fun than it sounds... you basically just had to accepted your ridiculously muddy fate and it was all SUPER GOOD :) Eventually, more forest came our way... until we reached another huge grassy field. However, unlike the first one, this second field of grassy awesomeness was not a huge swamp in disguise so that was pretty sweet. After Grassy Field #2, there was some more forest and more nighthiking until we got to the Green Lake Hut. This was awesome because it was HEATED and had BEDS!!! I was definitely pumped. The next day (Sunday), we woke up to a little rain, but the weather cleared up by the time we left the hut, so we all had a really nice hike along Green Lake and through the woods, fields, and swampy marshes. Back at the van, we changed into whatever dry/less muddy clothes we had and then headed back to Dunedin. That night I went out with some friends for kebabs and ice cream and it was DELICIOUS.

FUTURE PLANS that I am excited about.

The future is always super fuzzy, BUT some parts of the future are getting clearer slash more official slash I Am Officially Going To The All Blacks vs. Wales Game On June 19th 2010. In addition, I am officially seeing my family on Sunday and I get to show them around Dunedin and the South Island for a couple days :) YAY FAMILY!! In terms of way-far-in-the-future plans, when I finally make it back to the Golden State, I am officially buying new running shoes and new jeans... Great Walking has destroyed my Mizunos and My Existence and Good Times in California/Colorado/New Zealand just happens to be manifested in the increasing decimation of my jeans (Kinda a major bummer, but I guess after 2+ years it's to be expected... Shucks). Also, I am officially planning to sleep tonight... I am most seriously tired right now, so I'm pretty excited about this even though I still got a couple hours before bedtime and all.

Currently, it is Thursday. I've finished up my classes for the week. So I got some badminton shenanigans going on later tonight and a weekend of chilling in Dunedin, hanging out friends, some end-of-the-year schoolwork action, and then family time on Sunday YESSSSSS

Going Running

Why My Life Is Nuts: Some friends and I decided that it would be fun to run Routeburn. No big deal.

Who? Paul, Liz, Mackenzie, Tim, Mike, Kristen, and I

What? Routeburn Track

Where? Fiordland National Park/Mount Aspiring National Park

When? Saturday, April 24th 2010

How? That is a very good question

Why? No clue, it kinda just seemed like a good idea :)

Routeburn Track is 32 kilometers (about 20ish miles) long. Also, it's not a loop... you can start at this place called the Divide and end at Routeburn Shelter, or you can start at Routeburn Shelter and end at the Divide. So this was Our Basic Plan:

1. Drive up to Fiordlands National Park (near the Divide) Friday.

2. Camp someplace near the Divide

3. Wake up super early and Group 1 would be dropped off at the Divide at about 6am to start their run.

4. Group 2 would then drive 5 more hours to Routeburn Shelter, ditch the car, and start their run at approximately 11am. Cool beans.

5. Eventually Group 1 and Group 2 would cross paths, say hey, exchange hugs/high-fives, etc. YAY

6. Group 1 would finish at Routeburn Shelter (around 1pm, maybe 2pm), drive back to the Divide and pick up Group 2. Everything would be sweet as, and then we would all chill and relax and cruise home Sunday.

And This Is What Really Happened:

- On Saturday, we woke up super early and our car battery was dead... and it had started to sprinkle.

- We eventually found someone with jumper cables and ended up at the Divide around 9:30am. - Paul, Liz, Mackenzie, and I started our run and Mike, Tim, and Kristen headed out to Routeburn Shelter.

- 16 waterfalls, 12 kilometers, and 1 hour and 45 minutes later, Mackenzie got hypothermia.

- We had stopped to fill up our water and stretch at Mackenzie Hut (kinda ironic/weird coincidence) and our Mackenzie was freezing, getting dizzy, and turning blue. Oh Shoot, This Is Not Good.

- Our New Mission: First, make sure Mackenzie was okay. Second, stop Tim and Mike from running Routeburn (because the weather was meant to get worse - heavier rain, freezing conditions, probably snow - and we did not want them to get stuck at the top of the mountain because that would just be a bad situation).

- Sidenote: Evan (the warden at Mackenzie Hut) is the nicest person alive. He helped us get our Mackenzie warmed up, He gave all of us hot drinks and snacks and then he gave us some old lost-and-found clothing so that we could stay warmer and drier. SO NICE

- The New Plan: Mackenzie and I were going to run back to the Divide and get a ride to Queenstown. Paul (who goes on random 30-mile runs around the peninsula just for kicks) and Liz (our triathlete) were going to run the rest of Routeburn, find Mike and Tim along the trail, tell them what's up, get Kristen (who was just doing an out-and-back run from Routeburn Shelter), and then all of them were going to drive to Queenstown and met up with us.

- We were very successful with this new plan because, at 7:50pm Saturday night, Paul found Mackenzie (alive and well) and I sitting in front of the fireplace at Nomads (a hostel in Queenstown) and we all were reunited YESSSSSSSSSS :) :)

Other Happenings:

- We found out that there was a race being held on at Routeburn Track on the same day that we had planned to run it for fun. (Mackenzie and I got a ride to Queenstown with some of the race officials so that worked out really really well.)

- Paul and Liz finished counting waterfalls - there are 38 waterfalls on Routeburn Track :) :)

- Mackenzie and I met a woman from Huntington Beach who has run the Western States 100. She looks like she's in her seventies and she ran a 50 mile race last weekend and was just doing the Routeburn race just for kicks. Pretty Flippin INTENSE. (She was recovering from a leg injury, so with the crazy weather and not wanting to risk further injury, she decided to turn back and not run the whole thing.)

- On our way to Queenstown, we stopped in Te Anau for restrooms and snacks... And so I was walking into this cafe and the automatic sliding doors shut on me. Yep, that's right, I'm the girl who got stuck in the automatic sliding doors. Sweet Life.

As weird as this might sound, I have to say... Saturday was pretty fun. Pretty Nuts/Bizarre/Random, but really fun... like running Routeburn was REALLY REALLY FUN. Running in the rain + trail running + Great Walk + friends = super fun good times... It wasn't that hard/bad at all and we were all feeling pretty good and talking and having a good time (except obviously Mackenzie who was blue and all). Liz (who had never even walked Routeburn before and had got to run the whole thing in one day) and Paul ran about 20 miles, Mackenzie and I ran 15 miles, and Tim and Mike ran about 11 miles. Mackenzie got all better which was WONDERFUL and we had fun running back to the Divide and journeying to Queenstown together.

Yesterday was Anzac Day. We stopped in this place called Arrowtown on the way back to Dunedin and it totally reminded me of Colorado (particularly Aspen) in the fall because the trees were all brown and orange and SO YELLOW :) and it was all very very pretty. Made it back to Dunedin all in one piece, got some groceries (chips and salsa for dinner = man, sooo good), hung out with some friends, etc. Right now, it's Monday and I have a paper to write (big surprise) but life is quite good.