Cool Air Makes Me Want to Write (finally!)

That's Tanah Rata - in the blissfully cool highlands

I'm sitting on the open air porch in Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia and despite my ENORMOUS guilty conscience that I haven't even finished blogging about New Zealand and here I am in Malaysia, I've decided that I need to nip it in the bud and actually DO something about my conscience.  So, screw chronology - I'm blogging as the pictures and the words come easily to me.  And right now I'm so happy to not have sweat dripping down between my bubbies that I'll happily accept all reprimands for my inconsistency and blatant negligence of my blog writing duties.  So much for my new year's resolution, eh?

I've been in Malaysia for 3 days and the humidity is a killer.  The saying, it's not the heat but the humidity that'll kill ya, 'tis true, my friends, 'tis true.  I thought Singapore was bad, but Singapore had a breeze!  Kuala Lumpur is ridiculous.  I've been sweating like a man!  No joke.  I realize girls are supposed to glisten, not sweat, but I've been positively dripping.  At least my hair stays wet, I've always liked it better wet than dry!  

I arrived mid afternoon on Monday and took my sweet time getting from the airport to my backpackers.  The key is to not move quickly (never a problem for me, my family will attest), especially with 23kg on your back.  After climbing 3 flights of stairs to my room, I happily dropped it all and took a cold, but surprisingly welcome, shower before braving the streets for dinner.  Little did the shower help since I was sweating heavily once again by the time I'd walked through Chinatown's markets.  I found a restaurant where I got spicy chicken tandoori and roti.  My tastebuds have always been spice wimps but I'm slowly training them so I don't starve in Sri Lanka and Thailand!  Dinner, away from the touts trying to get me to buy things, was lovely and then I meandered through the indoor central market.  The shopping in Singapore and KL is amazing.  There's a store or a cart every few feet and if you buy something from one person/shop, the person/shop next door immediately invites you in to buy something from them - even though they're usually selling the same items.  How many Petronas Tower bedazzled keychains does one actually need?

Tuesday morning, about 9ish, I was on my way to FRIM (the Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia).   It was one of the "worth a trip" mentions in the Lonely Planet so I decided to earn all the food I intended to eat and go for a hike in Malaysian nature.  It was a bit of a mission finding a cab once I got off the train, but eventually I made it to FRIM and bought a ticket for the canopy walkway - a 200m suspension bridge.  The hike up to the canopy was quasi steep, but the humidity made it seem almost vertical.  At the bench at the beginning of the walkway I sat and dripped in pleasant company with a local KL man.  We chatted about New York and meditation and how he likes the western view to meditation more than the eastern view (the western view is more scientific).  We also chatted about the goal of meditation - to get rid of the ego so you're one with everything.  His theory is ego = problem.  Big ego = Big problem, SUPER ego = SUPER problem.  His theory made us both laugh, although I don't disagree!

I wobbled my way across the suspension bridge and then scaled my way downhill, periodically sticking my feet in the pools from the series of waterfalls that I walked next to all the way down to the cafe.  Despite cooling myself in the pools, I was sweating buckets by the time I found another cab to get me back to the train station.  This time I went further north to the Batu Caves.  There are a series of 3 caves, one you needed a tour guide, one had paintings and a dance show every 30 minutes, and the last had 272 steps and a 30meter statue leading up to it.  Guess which one I chose to explore...

Calves still hurt from all the dang stairs.

Once I got home, I was completely wiped, so I napped, and then the Belgian girl who was staying in the dorm with me, asked if I wanted to join her for a meditation class at a local Hindu temple.  Yup! So we had some veggie and cheese stuffed roti at a street stall, and then our Filipina roomie joined and we went to meditate for a couple hours.  My legs totally fell asleep...multiple times.  I have a loooong way to go with my meditation skills!

This morning I got up and walked to the Imbi market as it got rave reviews in Lonely Planet...but markets have always been an early morning thing and I have never been an early morning thing.  It didn't help that it was a rather long walk to get there, so when I finally arrived at 10 there wasn't much to see.  I bought bananas anyway, just so it wasn't a complete waste.  

I packed up and caught a bus to Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands.  I met an Irish girl being channeled by a tout to the same bus that I was being channeled to.  She was going to Penang, in the opposite direction of Tanah Rata, and yet they were trying to get us on the same bus.  My suspicions confirmed, we teamed up and walked away together and made our way, peacefully, to the ticket counters where we encountered another Irish couple also going to the Cameron Highlands.  That couple and I became travel buddies and we all commented on our excitement to escape the humidity!

Tea Plantation from the bus

As the scenery got hillier and hillier and the air mistier and mistier, I got happier and happier.  The road got ridiculously windy, reminiscent of the west coast of NZ, and I felt quite at home!  We passed tea plantations and a lovely little waterfall.  Now I'm actually cold, wearing a sweater, jeans and slippers (and the backpacker cat on my lap), but still sitting outside listening to the rain.  I'm getting excited to go for a cooler hike and get a closer look at a tea plantation tomorrow.  I'm loving this cooler side of Malaysia!

Retro Post #2 - Afterhours fun in Dudstown

My Bowling Get Up

Winter arrived.  We had been really lucky with all the sunny and warm weather up until Monday when it was legitimately chilly and snow was forecast (although fortunately did not appear).  After my experience last year walking around Dunedin in the ice and snow, Yak Trax are high on my list of "must-haves" and with the knowledge of how cold Dunedin can get in winter, blogging beneath the heat pump will quickly become my preferred way to spend the day.

The winter months (last year), where there was actually ice and snow, were July and August mostly.  I traveled very little and tried to stay warm doing things close to home.  The International Film Festival lasted from the end of July to early August.  I finally started going to films on my own!  This was a HUGE step for me.  I used to consider going to movies alone a clear sign you had no friends.  However, my horizons have been broadened and my narrow-minded-ness cured.  

The first movie that I went to alone was out of pure necessity - everyone else had already seen Black Swan and I hadn't so I went on my own.  Shockingly, I loved the experience and I didn't have to feel guilty about wanting to stay until the end of the credits!  I only ended up seeing a couple foreign films on my own.  One was an Israeli film, Footnote.  It was the first film I'd seen spoken in Hebrew and within the film they watched 'Fiddler on the Roof'.  Listening to a musical sung in Hebrew when I know it so well in English is a bit trippy!  My favorite films were actually an American and a Japanese film.  Melancholia, which came to mainstream theaters a few months later, I surprisingly liked a lot.  I saw it with Matt Tucker and Anna Penguin.  They thought it was crap but for some reason I really liked it.  I'm pretty sure I will make my Dad happy with my other favorite films: Gantz and Gantz 2: A Perfect Answer, Japanese films.  They're based on a manga comic and although long, like many a Japanese film my Dad watches, not slow!  All in all, an excellent foreign film festival experience.

Sary's shoes - my socks :)

After the excitement of the film festival, I needed something else to look forward to over the end of the wintery months. Fortunately, Ceire and Sary's birthdays are only a couple days apart so we planned a bowling night as a birthday party for them.  It was epic.  As were my socks and Sary's bowling shoes.  There was a large group of us from work donning borrowed shoes and rolling up our pants to show off our socks.  Pre-bowling stretches were performed, beers purchased and bowling commenced.  After the initial teaching moments for the first-time bowlers and the "it's been sooo long" bowlers, we got into a bowling groove and I do believe I won the first game (woohoo!!).  Then my arm apparently got tired...or the beer kicked in and I came in second in the next game.  Tragic, truly, but still a good time.  There was more excitement as our ball-retrieval system had some issues and had to be tended to a couple times.  Seeing the inner workings of the ball whoseewhatsit is rather interesting!  As the games progressed there was a marked dip in the "effort" department as alternative tactics were used to get the ball down the lane and more attention was paid to posing for the camera than aiming for the pins.

The Pre-Game Stretch - A True Teaching Moment - Ball Selection is CRITICAL

Our excellent bowling form plus trouble with the ball whoseewhatsit

The degradation of our bowling

Post bowling, we decided to head to Di Lusso for some birthday drinks.  Despite the fact that it was a Tuesday evening (possibly a Monday?) and therefore not a big night in town, we did manage to stay out past midnight and create quite the atmosphere for the other bar patrons that evening.  Guy, Ceire's husband, and I talked cars and music and worked on appreciating spirits on the rocks, sans mixers.  Ceire and Sary started appreciating the music and expressing themselves through the art of dance...good times :)  Our evening lasted much longer than I had anticipated, but good conversation and good friends will do that to an otherwise boring and cold winter's night!  Here's hoping there's a repeat this winter!

A Retrospective (retroactive?) Post - the first of many

It has turned to fall here and as I'm organizing my things and my thoughts (a fall cleaning rather than a spring one) I'm mentally prepared to get caught up on all my blog posts that I've been slacking on!  I believe I left you all hanging in regards to my winter adventures last year, so what better place to start my catch-up than July of last year...when all of my adventures REALLY started.  'Adventures' is not an overstatement and it's about time I fill you in on all the havoc I've wreaked.  

Winter started, for me, back in July at the All Blacks vs. Fiji match in Dunedin.  I actually pulled out my puffy winter coat!  Granted, it was a night rugby game and the stadium is outside so I wasn't being wimpy.  Thermals were worn by all, but the proximity of thousands of your closest friends you didn't know you had helped keep us warm.  I'd pulled together a big group of people to join me for the rugby game: Nicky, Doogs, Matt Tucker, J from work, Rinie and Kaya from Queenstown, and Nicky's friend Camille joined too.  It was great to be with some good friends and to see the dueling Hakas!! 

Rinie and Kaya had to pick up their tickets at the game and I needed (yes, needed) an All Blacks scarf... so we literally ran around the stadium to get inside in time to watch the dueling Hakas.  I was quite winded (I hadn't turned into a runner at that point in time) so I was catching my breath while the boys had the presence of mind to pull out their cameras and record the epicness:

Post-Hakas (coolest thing ever!), we found the rest of our group and the game commenced.  Fortunately this was not my first rugby game (my second), so I had a bit of an idea what was going on.  However I was still happy to have Matt there to explain things to me again.  I will say I spent most of my time talking to everyone, helping Matt drink his beers, and taking pictures.  I tried to get clear pictures of the players, but that was a big 'fail' so thank goodness for Rinie and Kaya who had better cameras!

Clearer pictures of the game then I was able to get

Matt, Rinie, Kaya & I - Doogs! - Me & Matt Tucker - Rinie & I w/ Cami & Nicky - Doogs & J - The Stewart Island Crew

Kiwis are big fans of the wave at sporting events.  They keep it going for ages and it's rather impressive.  However, there is one distinct difference in their execution of the wave: they throw up their beer bottles along with their arms.  A) I think this is a waste of perfectly good beer if you're not done when the wave comes around, B) It can make for a very wet second half of the game, and C) I caught it on film!!!

After the game (All Blacks won!!) we all had a long night out in town dancing it up.  The next morning we hit the Farmer's Market for bacon butties.  I had to share the fabulousness with the Queenstown boys because they had never had one.  Obviously they loved the fatty goodness when they tried mine so the boys each got one and then we wandered the market and relaxed in the winter sun.

Farmer's Market Bacon Gorging

Once we checked the Farmer's Market off our 'to-do' list, we hit the Otago Museum for a hot second and then continued on to Baldwin Street to try and walk off some of the bacon.  I only walk up this street when people visit.  It's too steep to walk up on a regular basis...plus it's not near where I live and I tend to be lazy.  But it's a must-see/must-walk for all newbies to Dudstown so I took the boys there and Nicky and I just chalked it up to much needed exercise.
Sadly, I had to work that afternoon so I left the Queenstown crew to shop in the city before they headed back home.  It was a great weekend and I got to see the All Blacks in person!  A great personal victory for my low standard of personal accomplishment.  The lower the standard the more I feel I achieve! 

Strut It, Honey!

iD Fashion Week just finished here in Dunedin again and seeing as I never blogged about my experience at last year's fashion show, I figured it was an appropriate time to backtrack.

Considering I lived in NYC for 4 years, the closest I'd ever come to a runway was 'Project Runway' or the impromptu runways my sister and I made up on dance floors, if those count.  Regardless, sitting at a runway show was amazing for me let alone being in the front row!!

Ceire & I - in the front row

Every March, the organizers put together a week's worth of fashion events, culminating in the Railway Show at the Dunedin Rail Station on Saturday night.  Earlier in the week they have a fashion show with awards for emerging designers, mostly students from universities here in New Zealand and some international schools as well.  This is the show that I attended last year.  It was pure luck that I happened upon these tickets.  One of the wine reps from No. 7 had 2 tickets for us to use.  Our owner and our manager both couldn't make it, a few other people already had tickets to the show so my co-worker Ceire got the two tickets.  Her friend couldn't make the show and I wasn't working that night so I got the spare ticket.  Pure dumb luck, but I'm not complaining!

A favorite pic - so close!

I met Ceire at the show, we bought a bottle of bubbly (it was the Quartz Reef rep who gave us the tickets...only right we support them by buying their bubbly!) and were surprised to find our seats were in the front row.  I felt all important-like and as though I should have score cards with me to write my comments on (a la Project Runway).  Instead, like a true neophyte, I pulled out my iPhone and started snapping photos just to prove how close we were to the models.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see the twins walking the runway.  I'd heard so much about them from my sister who watched "New Zealand's Next Top Model" that I was thrilled to see them in person.  And now I can say that their dad cut my hair.  Crazy how small this city is!

Each of the designers had a 4 or 5 piece collection.  Each model walked the runway and then stood together at the back of the runway until everyone had come out before they walked as a unit down the runway once more to pose as a full collection.  It was a nice system and gave me heaps of time to take pictures of the pieces up close when they weren't moving.  Below are some pictures of my favorite collections - or at least the really cool ones.  The orange dress I would buy in a heartbeat!!

These were just fun

The Orange dress I'm in love with!

I'm not sure what else to call these guys but Fashionista Ringwraiths

It was a really cool event and I had a fabulous time being there and making comments to Ceire.  Some were "I Want!", most just made her laugh.  Regardless, it was a great evening out and it was nice to be in-the-know about the fashion show and be able to comment on it with all the customers at the restaurant the next day.  Sadly, I didn't attend any of the runway shows this year, but I'm not sure I could have topped last year's experience!

Curly Girl Gets a Haircut

my hair in January

June of 2010 I got a haircut.  My hair hasn't been near a pair of scissors since.  That's waaay too long for curly hair to go unloved.  Not that I haven't been loving my hair...but anyone's bound to get split ends after 18 months and after 21 mine were unmanageable.  So, after posting on Facebook ages ago I needed to find a hair stylist who could be trusted with curly hair, I was recommended to R.J.  He'd cut the curly hair of a friend of a friend so I made an appointment and crossed my fingers.

post hair slaughter

I'm quite happy with the result.  I believe this is the shortest I've ever had it - the back bits are only a curl or two long (straight...that's about 4", curled...2").  It's short!  The front pieces are a bit longer but just barely long enough to make a wee ponytail (more like a rabbit tail) at the back of my head.  The deed was done a couple days ago so I'm still adjusting to using minimal amounts of hair product and figuring out how to style it easily.

A few people at work have said it makes me look younger.  Score!  I think it makes me look a bit like my older sister, which is the opposite of younger.  However, if my coworkers think I look younger and I think I look like my older sister, then by the mathematical proof whose name I don't remember: my sister looks younger!

my fluffy rabbit-tail-esque bun

It's been nearly a decade since my hair has been above my shoulders, but I had no problems or misgivings about chopping it all off.  R.J. was completely lovely and actually the father of twin models famous here in New Zealand (small, small, small world/city/country).  He practically offered to pay me for the privilege of cutting my hair!  Why I didn't take him up on it is beyond me... but I felt footloose and fancy-free as I callously walked away from the kg of hair on the floor.  It may not have actually been a kg, but my head is so much lighter, it feels like it might have been.  Changing it up and loving it!

The Samba Incentive

I've never been a runner.  I actually hate it, and with good reason!  I mean, have you ever seen a happy runner?  Maybe post-run, but not during.  In late 2009 when the recession really hit New York City and my work was cut to 4 day weeks and 80% pay, I needed to discover cheap exercise alternatives.  Sadly, running is free.  (Well, after you buy sneakers)  So, I started to run haphazardly, mostly at night and only when it was raining - not enough to be called a runner but enough to make a "running" playlist on my iPod.  Since moving to Dunedin, I've toyed with the idea of actually becoming a runner...you know, running more than twice a month and further than up and down the stairs at work when we're busy.  I think I ran about 5 times last year, maybe 6.  It still didn't stick.

courtesy of Google Image search - this is not us!

However back in January Ingrid, who I dance Salsa with, asked if I would like to join her and some friends to do a Brazilian Samba routine that we would perform for her birthday.  I like to dance, I don't mind being the center of attention, naturally I said yes.  

After our first couple rehearsals, we began talking about costumes for the performance and that's when "bras and knickers" came up.  If you've ever seen Brazilian Samba Carnival dancers, you know of what I speak: huge feathered/ bejewled headdresses, brightly colored and glitzy bras and skimpy knickers (we all vetoed the idea of thongs in public - you're welcome, Dad!)  Suddenly, the fear of being all "jiggly" and half naked in front of people I know hit me hard...so I started running.  In earnest.

I used to think of myself as moderately intelligent, but I'm really not.  Who decides to become a runner in the hilliest city outside San Francisco???  Running up hills is the fastest way to kill your commitment to the sport, as well as your quads.  Work is at the top of Maori Hill and though I have started running home from work, it's all downhill.  I've also been running to and from dance rehearsal, but fortunately that's in the flat bit of Dunedin city center, and the beach, my favorite place to run, is also flat.  My goal running on St. Clair beach was to run all the way to the other end of St. Kilda beach and back without stopping.  Tuesday I achieved this goal and I just repeated it again last night!  I'm a very happy quasi-runner and one day I might actually work up to running up hills.  At the moment, running away from the tide into the soft sand is enough of an uphill battle for me.

I've been running off and on for about a month now in preparation for our performance.  Our performance is tonight and after our dress rehearsal on Wednesday, I'm feeling OK about it.  Nerves still hit me in waves when I think of everyone watching me jiggle, but I've invited heaps of friendly faces so hopefully I'll be supported by my friends and they won't judge me!  However, if you're in the Dunedin area tonight, 10:30pm at The Church Cinema on Dundas street!  Bring your camera... this may not happen again!

A brief comment on my age...and a Christmas present!

I'm happy to report that I am constantly misjudged when it comes to my age.  I don't care to ask if this is a comment on how old I look or how old I act, but everyone assumes I'm younger than I am.  This is all very well and good and keeps me in high spirits as I approach 30, except I just recently discovered another white hair.  Not gray.  White.  Alas, I fear that people will soon begin to judge my age as much closer to what it is if I continue to not pluck my non-black hairs...

Email from my family on Christmas Day

However, all these feelings of "old" have since been eclipsed by the arrival of my new tramping backpack!  I've never owned a full on hiking/tramping backpack and until I moved to NZ I never felt the need to.  After Nicky and I hiked the Milford Track, I felt that need. I got in touch with Aarn and tried out one of their packs.  When the family back home asked what I wanted for Christmas I mentioned the backpack not thinking they would actually all band together to get it for me.  My family never ceases to amaze me with their support!  Now I'm the proud owner of an Aarn Featherlite Freedom pack, and I'm in love with it :)

Our friend K, who lives down the way from No. 7, was doing all my family's busy-work running around to stores in Dunedin to order this pack.  This past Friday she texted me announcing her acquisition of a certain Christmas present for me.  I told her when I was working and suddenly, partway through our mid-afternoon coffee rush, I saw her walk through the door with a hot pink package and my celebratory dance ensued. Post coffee production, I ripped open the package, donned the crinkly bow on my head, and tried on the pack for all in the restaurant to see.  Fortunately there weren't too many people in the restaurant to witness my ridiculous display of joy, or the spectacle of me in a skirt and an apron and a tramping pack.  I've since calmed down, regained some dignity, but the crinkly bow stayed in my hair all night and now adorns Hedwig's rear-view mirror.

I have plans to christen my backpack on the Hollyford Track with Nicky, Tom and Jenny at the beginning of March.  It should be amazing and I'm totally stoked to get my new piece of tramping equipment wet, so to speak.  Granted, Hollyford is in Fiordland so my new pack will almost certainly meet with some rain.  Excitement aside, here's some pics of my new baby!!

me - the back - the front - heaps of space inside - and me again

Another Kiwi Christmas

Qtown Christmas Breakfast

Despite being away from my family this year, I had an amazing Christmas!  It was still weird being warm and all… but it was heaps of fun.

I worked on Christmas Eve.  I figured since I didn’t have any family here that required my presence, I would let people with familial obligations have the time off instead.  So, Christmas Eve, Sary, Jac and I worked and were CRAZY busy!  We were all thinking it would be a quiet day, we’d close at 5 and spend most of the day cleaning and making a few coffees for our diehard regulars.  Instead, all our diehard regulars and their mommas came in.  Being unexpectedly swamped on Christmas Eve makes that normally long as day simply fly by. 

Christmas Day Serenade #1

I had plans to drive to Queenstown to spend Christmas with Nicky and the other nomads in the Queenstown house.  After finishing work I did some mad last minute packing…like normal.  I then met Sary and her mum at Di Lusso for a wee drink before the Christmas Eve church service I attended with Shaz.  It was REALLY weird to a) be at a bar on Christmas Eve, b) have the bar not be empty and c) have it be warm enough to wear a summer dress and be comfortable even after the sun had gone down.  After a wee bottle of bubbles, I collected a big box of Sary’s excess kitchen supplies that she no longer wanted/needed.  I decided to play Santa and bring all the extra plates, cups and cutlery out to Queenstown to help out the house as they’re ALWAYS looking for forks.

Christmas Breakfast Spread

After I got my carol singing on at the Christmas Eve service, it was rather late and therefore a short night before my drive to Queenstown.  However, I made it to the nomads' house by 10:30am and whilst skyping with the parental units, I made Nicaraguan tortillas for breakfast.  It was sunny and beautiful so we took everything out to the picnic table and stared at the Remarkables while sipping mimosas and eating tortillas and cookies.   Not a bad Christmas morning!

After breakfast, I got serenaded by Dan while we waited for inspiration for the day's next activity.  Fortunately, the neighbors set up a huge black tarp fully equipped with dishwashing liquid, hose and floatation devices for an extreme slip 'n slide experience...

slip'n'slide sans accessories

we upped the ante with multiple people and multiple accessories

slip 'n slide bruise! (??)

Slip 'n slide, which I haven't done since I was about 8, was epic!  Situated on a wee hill with dishwashing detergent is genius...and super slippery.  We had to add old tires in front of the tree at the bottom of the lawn as we continually slid further than the tarp and ran the risk of giving ourselves concussions with our speed and tree placement.  One of the neighbors already had a broken ankle, we didn't need to add to the injury tally.  However, this guy still managed to hop up to the tarp, slip 'n slide successfully and hop back to the top.  He might be my new hero. 
Clean up was messy.  Nicky and I used the same bathroom and it looked as though we'd brought half the lawn inside with us.  Washing grass off your body is much more annoying than washing sand off.  Grass gets into just as many places and doesn't come off nearly as easily!

our grass stained clothes - the messy bathroom floor - me trying to wash grass outta my biking bottoms

nap time with Nicky

Despite all the energy exerted slipping and sliding, there was only a momentary afternoon lull.  Nicky and I tried to fit in a short nap, but it was altogether too brief.  We were thrown right back into the fray with the rest of the house as we all cooked a potluck Christmas dinner.  Dinner was again outside with a sunset view of the Remarkables and it was FABULOUS.  It was a good thing I'd brought extra plates and cutlery though!  Boon made some spectacular fried rice, Peter and Rob cooked up some pesto stuffed chicken and steaks, there were several salads and a pot of roast potatoes and onions - sooo yum!  And not unhealthy!  Although the quantity consumed would tend to challenge that last statement...

Christmas Dinner by the Remarkables

Dessert was chocolate fondue with heaps of chopped fruits and a cake on the side followed by an acoustic guitar sing-a-long and reunion with Rinie.  Rinie, who used to live in the house, was back in the South Island traveling with his sister and her partner.  They stopped by to say hi and Nicky and I were thrilled to see him again.  We've missed our Dutchman!  Their stay was brief as they were driving out to Milford that night but we made plans for a Boxing Day BBQ by the lake instead.  We ended the evening listening to Dan and Jah sing and play guitar under the stars.  Not my normal Christmas day, but a helluva good alternative!

Lake Wakatipu

Boxing Day started with my chocolate chip scones.  I was up relatively early and was in a baking mood so scones it was.  I skyped with the parentals yet again...mostly because I had missed seeing my nephew dog, Baxter.  He misses me.  At least, I like to think he does...   Anyways, I was most concerned about getting to go cliff jumping.  The water in Lake Wakatipu is quite nippy so having the sun at its zenith is a necessity when you're climbing out of the lake after your jump.

Charlie, Peter, Rob, Boon, Nicky and I all drove down to the lake.  On the way out to Glenorchy at a curve with a guardrail, you park and hike down to the top of several cliffs, popular with rock climbers.  There's one cliff that's a bit higher and we started there.  Having been cautioned numerous times by my family via skype, I didn't jump first.  Peter and Rob, showing no fear at all, ran off the cliff and both came up alive...so I followed.  I knew it was going to be high, but you never know exactly how high you are until you're falling..and then you're conscious that you're still falling...and when you think you're finally going to hit, you realize how freakin' far up you were.  It was AMAZING!

Unfortunately, Boon didn't jump out from the rock far enough and hit his back against one of the large boulders as he fell.  It scared all of us heaps and we were all really concerned about him and what damage he might have done.  It looked to be mostly scrapes and bruises when we got him out of the water, and he hadn't hit his head (thank goodness).  Nothing was broken but he was really shaken and just wanted to lie down for a bit, so we set him up comfortably in the shade and tried not to be too shaken up ourselves. 

Cliff Jumping Bruise :)

We were quickly joined by a few groups of guys, one group from Ireland, another from Australia, one more from a boat that was passing by.  Everyone was eager to jump, but there was plenty of time to talk while everyone psyched themselves up to actually leap.  The perfect weather made it a very popular spot but I still managed to jump from the lower cliff and the higher cliff once more.  Although I got better with my landings, I still managed to slap my arm on the surface of the water every time.  I got some stellar bruises though!  Nicky had the camera and managed to get some good shots of my jumping.  I wanted a side shot of me jumping so you could see how high it was (see little vertical picture #4 above).  Bragging rights proof in hand, we headed back to town in search of pain killers for Boon. 

After procuring pain killers for Boon, we proceeded to indulge in ginormous ice cream cones and then found $10 on the ground which we had to spend.  Apparently that's the rule with found money!  So, we bought some beer and went home where we spent the rest of the afternoon playing an impulsively invented game of beer bottle frisbee.  Using a frisbee-golf frisbee, we tried to knock down the beer bottles we'd set up across the lawn.  1 point for a direct hit, 1/2 point if the frisbee rebounds off the ground and then knocks down a bottle.  Surprisingly? Hours of fun.

Once the sun left the backyard, we grabbed long sleeve shirts and headed down to the lake to meet up with Rinie and company for a BBQ.  Rinie and his sister cooked sausages and burgers and we all sat around talking and making travel plans until the sun was well past the horizon.  It was yet another brilliant day and it helped to be among friends when my family was so far away.  Thank you everyone who made my Christmas great!

Boxing Day BBQ at Lake Wakatipu

Correspondence Friday

I've developed some this past year:  I've succumbed to my night owl proclivities of staying up late and sleeping late, I head to Queenstown on an almost bi-weekly basis, and I indulge in ciders in the sun in the middle of the day in the Octagon.  However, my favorite new habit is what I call Correspondence Friday.  This developed over a period of several weeks last year, promising to get up early and buy Shaz an almond croissant from the Friday Shop.  After failing in this endeavor numerous times (they sell out quick! You have to be there before 9am and even by 8:30 you're pushing your luck...and that's early for me), I finally started setting my alarm and actually getting up in time to procure two almond croissants.  

Once I started to succeed in literally buying Shaz's affection with pastry goodness, I began to bring postcards with me to write to Ausgang (my friend from college who was in the Peace Corps).  But one postcard each week fills up too quickly so I bought a big writing pad and envelopes and every week I choose someone different to write to.  Theoretically I should have updated my blog every week so everyone hears about what's going on in my Kiwi life... but I love writing in cursive!  So, Shaz makes me a soy flat white (or two or three) and I sit at the bar and write postcards and letters to whomever comes to mind that can read my cursive.

I love correspondence Friday.  After years of practice writing novella-length notes in High School and actual letters to Christy in college, I've honed my letter writing skills.  I get heaps of comments about how I must be the last person on the planet to write letters, but they're so much fun!  And who doesn't like to receive mail that's not business or bill related?  My mum has written me letters every month or so since I started college and it's lovely to receive them, even if I speak with her between letters and hear about the contents a couple times (don't stop though, Mum!!!).  I've also started writing with my grandparents as well and I consider my Memere my new pen pal... speaking of which I owe her another letter!  I think between Laura's postcards and my letters we've kept the international New Zealand post in business for the past 2 years.

I took a break from correspondence Friday over Christmas and New Years but that was mainly because the Friday Shop was closed and to be completely honest, if there's not an almond croissant in it for me, it's not worth it to get up before noon.  I'm trying to inspire people to join me in my correspondence endeavor and a couple of times I've succeeded convincing a couple friends to get up early for pastry and coffee.  They haven't written any letters yet, but I'm just as happy to chat instead.  Chatting is a form of correspondence too, no?

Regardless, while I'm waiting to get Christmas and New Years pictures from other people, I figured I'd fill you in on my new (since several months ago) favorite pastime.  If you're keen to get a postcard or letter just give me your snail mail addy in the comments!