Bungy jumping videos!

Here are some videos of my cousin, Keith, and me bungy jumping this past weekend in Queenstown. We did the 134 m Nevis Highwire Bungy. 2nd highest in the world! It was incredible! Coolest feeling ever!

Watch in this order:
1) Keith and Maddin on the trolley thing across the highwire to the bungy ledge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfFUNE9V_bk
2) Maddin's jump: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndenJUv1nYs

This is an email I wrote to my family the other day:



So when I last talked to y'all (sorry dad that the connection was lost and I ran out of time to call back--sorry I left you hanging. i felt bad about that all day!) it was Easter and I was in Noosa. From Noosa we pilled back into the cars and drove to Hervey Bay which was like 2.5 hrs north of Noosa. We drove around for 45 mins and found a place to stay at the Best Western. This tends to be the trend everytime we arrive to a new town...we spend atleast 45 mins searching for a suitable place that's not a disgusting hostel. We had a bad experience with one in Noosa that we stayed in so we've opted not to stay in hostels when we can find better apartement-style places for the same price and they're much nicer. We didn't do much Sunday night...just went to dinner and then went back to our motel room. We woke up early Monday morning to went on our tour of Fraser Island. We took a big ferry (one that can carries cars too) across the bay to Fraser Island. It was about a 45 minute ride to Fraser and when we got there we got on our Fraser Island Adventure tour buses. These buses were huge 4WD beasts! It's like a greyhound bus on HUGE 4WD wheels! We walked/drove through Fraser Island...walked through a rainforest, drove on the beach highway. The beach is a legit highway...it was so crazy seeing so many cars driving on the beach just like on a normal highway....you have to stay on the correct side of the road/beach, follow the speed limit, and there are police who will come after you if you don't. Fraser is the biggest sand island in the world. It is 76 miles from north to south and 15.5 miles across at its widest point. The water off the coast of Fraser is the deadliest place in the south pacific ocean....lots of sharks and stingrays that can sneak up on you and you're a goner. There are also massive sandy plains on Fraser. This one area is really steep and we ran up the sandy hill and ran down. It was a lot of fun tumbling down the hill in the sand. Unfortunately the weather yesterday on Fraser was rainy so that kind of put a literal "damper" on the day. Would have been really beautiful had the sun been out and things were dry. It was still neat though to see the island...there is also this huge fresh water lake called Lake McKenzie. It's really blue with a sandy bottom. I didn't get in it though because I didn't feel like being wet for the rest of the day. On the ferry ride back to the mainland I met two guys who go to Clemson! They are studying abroad in Sydney for the semester and are doing the same type of things on their holiday as we're doing. They were really nice and such a small world to run into them! We left Hervey Bay about 6pm and loaded up the cars again and started on our long trek north to where I am now. We drove through the night--about 10 hours and made it to Airley Beach about 5am this morning (after lots of stops along the way). None of us really slept much. We slept in the car for about an hour and a half yesterday morning and waited around until places started opening up so we could find accomodation for the next two night. So glad we're not staying in a gross hostel. We are all happy now with a place to stay but totally exhausted. The boys just cooked us a big yummy breakfast. I wandered next door to the internet shop...I'm about to go back to our condo and take a long nap. Tomorrow we are doing an all-day Catamaran trip through the Whitsunday Islands. I think this is going to be the best part of the whole trip...it's going to be beautiful and we're going to go snorkeling on the reefs. The Whitsundays are the closest islands off the coast of Queensland, AUS to the Great Barrier Reef so it should be really pretty.



Update since then:

Yesterday the Catamaran cruise was awesome...saw the beautiful Whitsundays and went snorkeling at a reef. Weather was kinda of rainy at times but we still had a good time! Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and alcohol were served on board. We watched a man propose to his girlfriend on board--it was so cute!

Today we are leaving Airle Beach and driving north to Cairns/Port Douglas. Tomorrow we are diving the Great Barrier Reef!!! I'm running out of time here at the internet cafe so I have to go.

Will write more later...

Heading to Aussie!

Two weeks ago I went on this awesome two-night backpacking trip in Fiordland that I talked about in my last blog post. I went with 8 of my closest friends here and we had a blast! The weather was beautiful...beautiful blue skies the whole weekend. We basically hiked through the bush and jungle the whole way to the valley that was at the top of the mountain which was our destination. Some parts of the tramp (hike) we were hiking literally straight up the side of the mountain, crossing over streams, and plowing through bushes, basically blazing our own trail at times. There were organe markers on trees that directed us on the so-called "trail"...come to find out after we completed the tramp for the weekend that we were only the second group to hike that certain trail this whole year! No wonder it wasn't very broken in! We got to the valley after several hours of hiking and had a delicious lunch of salami and apples, a tramper's delicacy! After lunch we proceeded on in search of a lake that was supposed to be in this valley. We followed a river up the valley towards the mountains ahead...we kept walking and walking and never came upon the lake. My friend Bryan who was our trip leader had a 17 year old map and we thought maybe the lake had dried up since then (not sure why he didn't have an up-to- date map!) So we never ended up finding the lake but had a great time the rest of the weekend. We set up camp for teh night, explored around the area and just enjoyed gorgeous scenery that surrounded us. I've never seen so many stars as we saw that night--it was so amazing! This was probably one of the most fun weekends I've had so far here in NZ. It was my first overnight backpaking trip and I enjoyed it so much. I look forward to doing a nother one really soon!

Last weekend I stayed here in Dunedin. A bunch of my friends were going to Queenstown and I had already been there so I decided to just stick around town and relax. I went to the farmer's market that they have here every Saturday morning and just explored around Dunedin.

Today, however, everyone is in town and there is this all-day party on this street here in Dunedin. It's like the biggest day party of the year here at Otago and everyone I know here is going...you go in a group and dress up as a theme. My group is dressing up as different holidays and I'm Halloween....I rented this awesome pumpkin costume and Caroline is wearing this Santa costume. Our other friend Tristan is the Easter bunny, Laura is Mardis Gras and Emily is Cindo de Mayo so she's wearing like a pancho and sombrero. Some of our other friends are going as pirates. I'm sure there will be lots of outrageous costumes at this party. It should be a fun day.

What I'm even more excited about is my mid-semester break trip to Australia!! There's a group of 7 of us going and we leave in 4 days!! On Tuesday we are taking a night bus up to Christchurch which is about 5 hours north of Dunedin. Our flight flies out of Christchurch Wednesday afternoon and we are off to Aussie! We fly into Brisbane where we will hop in our 8-passenger van that we already have reserved and will begin our 10-day roadtrip north to Cairns, stopping at different places along the way. We've mapped out a great itinerary including stops at Noosa Beach, Brisbane Zoo, Whitsunday Islands, Fraiser Island, snorkeling/diving the Great Barrier reef and lots more! We fly out of Cairns on April 18th and have a 12 hour layover in Sydney on the way back. We will leave the airport and go out in Sydney for the night and hopefully stay at the flat of one of my friends who is studying abroad there. This trip's going to be a blast and I'm so excited!!

Well, I better go get ready for the day...I hope everyone back home is doing well!

My latest adventures in NZ!

Greetings again from New Zealand! It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Friday and I'm sitting here in my room attempting to pack for my weekend long backpacking trip. In NZ they call hiking "tramping". This will be my first real camping trip. I'm going with 8 of my good friends and we are going to a national park at the bottom of the South Island called Fiordland. It is supposed to be a really beautiful tramp! If you want to check out where I'm going click on this link... http://www.fiordland.org.nz/Explore-Fiordland/Things-to-do/Walking---Hiking/Hiking-Tracks/Routeburn-Track.asp

I'm trying to think back on all that I've done since my last post. Let's see...

Last weekend I went to Queenstown, a town in the central Otago region about 3 hours west of Dunedin. I finally got to do what I've been waiting for so long to do----bungy jump!! It was the coolest thing I've ever done! My skydiving experience in Colorado last summer comes in second place! It was such an adrenaline rush and so much fun! I jumped off a 43 meter bridge and was plunged into the river below and then jerked out of the water and spun around a few times. I was then lowered into a raft where the bungy staff detached me from my harness and bungy cord. I immediately wanted to go again becase it just did not last long enough! I'm thinking about going for the 143 meter jump next time! I also went on a shotover jet boat. I've posted a picture below. A trained driver (obviously) drove the boat at about 80 MPH and would get within inches of the canyons on the river. It really seemed like we were going to crash into the rocks. It's amazing what those drivers could do! It was a blast and so much fun! I went on a tramp up a mountain in Queenstown where I could look out over the entire city and see the lake and snow-capped mountains that were all around. Queenstown so far has been the most spectacular place I have been in NZ! I also went luging and attended a wine tasting at the Wooing Tree Vineyard. I hope to make it back to Queenstown in the winter time, as it is the best place to ski in NZ!

The other day after my lectures (classes) I went fishing with four friends at the end of the Otago Peninsula. We drove out through the country side to a remote little place and hiked down to the sea and attempted to fish in this little cove. We enjoyed the company of the sea lions that were swimming around us. There were at least 10 sea lions on the rocks/in the water by us. We didn't have any luck catching any fish, but it was still a fun afternoon exploring the land around me!

St. Patty's Day was a lot of fun here. We had a big party at the complex where I live. I have two Irish friends who live next door so it was fun celebrating St. Patty's day with some real Irish people ha! They sure were loving that day!

Two weeks ago I took my first roadtrip in NZ with four other girls. I was a little hesitant when first getting in the car with my friend Emily driving, as it was her first time driving a car on the left side of the road! She handled it very well though and I was very impressed! We only got flicked off three times by impatient New Zealand drivers, ha! We went to a little town just north of Dunedin called Oamaru. The main attraction in Oamaru is the world's smallest penguins. We went to the penguin habitat and watched the penguins come onto land at dusk and into their mating grounds. It was really neat seeing them come out of the water and travel up the bank. We stayed in a hostel that night and the next day stopped at the Moeraki Boulders. These are huge round boulders in the ocean.

The night after we arrived back from Oamaru I went to my first rugby game. The Otago Highlanders played the Canterbury Crusaders. We did what Americans would call "tailgating" before the game (of course) and then headed to the stadium. It was hard for me to follow what was going on because rugby is such a fast-moving game. We won the game which was very exciting though and then enjoyed a concert afterwards by a local NZ rock bank called Shihad.

There's so much more to tell but I'll keep it at that for now! I'm so happy here in New Zealand and am having the time of my life! I'm enjoying every minute of this wonderful experience! I feel so blessed that my parents have given me the opportunity to be here--I owe them big time. Well, I better go get my pack ready for the weekend....

Love,
Maddin

Trip to Queenstown, NZ this past weekend, March 13-15:

I bungy jumped off a 43 meter bridge, was plunged waist up into the river below, and jerked back up a time or two and twisted around until I was lowered into a raft in the river and freed from my harness by the bungy staff. Coolest thing I've ever done! Such an adrenaline rush! I'd like to do the 143 meter Nevis bungy jump next time!! You may think I'm crazy, but I totally recommend everyone trying this!

Pictures

On the train ride standing outside of the car--my friend Allison


In our caving gear at Waitomo Cave (pre-caving)


My friend August (from Texas) and me infront of the beautiful train station in Dunedin


AustraLearn friends at St. Clair beach



...more pictures to come soon!

FINALLY, my 1st post from New Zealand!!

Greetings from New Zealand!! I apologize for taking so long to write on here. I will really try to get better at updating my blog more often. I’m having an absolute amazing time here in NZ! I know my family doesn't want to hear me say this, but I could definitley see myself living here! It'd be a great place to come visit me, right? I’ve been here since Feb. 19. I am on my third day of classes. It is so weird to think that I haven’t been in school in three months since the beginning of December. Here’s an update on what I’ve been up to for the past two weeks....

I travelled on a flight from L.A. to Auckland, NZ with about 150 other students in my AustraLearn study abroad program. We arrived in Auckland after a 12 ½ hour flight across the Pacific Ocean. We were served dinner and breakfast on the plane; I only got out of my seat once to move around! The plane was huge! I slept for about 6 hours. It was kind of hard to get really comfortable. We were greeted at the airport by AustraLearn staff and boarded chartered buses. We drove 3 hours south to a town called Rotorua. We stayed at a hostel in this town for three nights while we did our program introduction. AustraLearn gave us helpful information about how to adapt to life in New Zealand and to ease our transition into our new university. While in Rotorua we went caving at Waitcomo Cave which was about two hours from Rotorua. This was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. We wore wetsuits and swam around in the cave and floated on inner tubes down a river in the cave. We also went to a real Maori village. The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. We watched the Maori people perform a dance for us and we feasted on an authentic Maori meal. I also went luging. I got to see lots of pretty scenery around the north island. Lots of farm land and wide green open spaces with mountains in the distance--so pretty!

After 4 days I flew to the south island of NZ with the 70 other students from AustraLearn who are attending the University of Otago with me. It has been so much fun getting settled into life here in Dunedin, the town where the "uni" is located. Dunedin is definitley a college town with the activities in town centered around the students. Last week was something called "O Week", which stands for orientation week the week before classes begin. Basically, it's just one big party for a week straight. There is an annual toga parade where freshmen Otago students wear togas and get eggs thrown at them by upperclassmen. It is a tradition that has been going on at Otago for 75 years. I didn't take part in the egg throwing but I saw the aftermath of it around town and it was quite disgusting. It made worldwide news as it got more out of hand than in past years. A very interesting tradition that would never be allowed in the States, that is for sure.

I learned how to kayak the other day in the Otago Harbour. I went on a train ride the other evening with the rest of the other international students at Otago. We road through the countryside and got to see lots of pretty scenery in the mountains. I plan to go camping on the beach this weekend and go tramping (hiking) on Sunday. The beach is about a 15 min bus ride from where I live. My friends and I have been going to the beach as much as possible and soaking in the lasts few days of summertime left here in Dunedin. The beach is gorgeous and the water is really blue. I may try surfing tomorrow, we'll see how that goes! I also went to a cricket match the other day but it got rained out so I didn't get to see them play. Hopefully another time. I do plan on going to a rugby game here at Otago soon! People in NZ are obsessed with rugby like Americans are about football. Rugby seems a lot more intense than football because it is just as rough but they do not wear any pads and the game is constantly going even when a player gets tackled.

The people of NZ, referred to as Kiwis, are wonderful people. They are so friendly and I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know lots of them. I have great Kiwi neighbors and I love learning about the Kiwi way of life. It is so laid-back here in NZ and everyone is so easy-going. It's so nice being in a culture where people are not in a hurry all the time. I've also noticed that Kiwis are not so concerned with having the fanciest of clothes, cars, things, etc. as we Americans often are. For example, the majority of the cars that people drive around here are atleast 15 years old...but no one even cares. There are also very few SUVs here.

Random things about NZ:
--They drive on the left side of the road. I'm still having a hard time remembering to look right before I cross the road. They do not yield for pedestrians here so I really have to pay attention and turn my head about 5 times before I cross the road so I don't get hit. I had a close call the other day.
--I go to the grocery store, or the supermaket as they call it, and can bring my shopping cart filled with my grocercies home to my flat and the supermarket will pick it up from your flat the next day--very convenient service!
--Dinner=tea, sandals=jandals, bathing suit=tog, classes=papers, schedule=timetable, cheers=thank you
--you call your professors by their first names even if they have a doctorate
--America is a big influence on NZ and countless times references are made about America in the classroom. Just today my sociology professor was talking about 9/11
--I am 5 hours behind central time in the U.S. but one day ahead---that's an easier way to look at it than trying to count 19 hours back to figure out what time it is at home!

There's so much more that I think about on a daily basis that I think would be intersting to share but of course I can't think of all of them right now, so I'll just have to save those thoughts for another post. This one's already really long and if you've made it all the way to this point, congrats, and I thank you for reading!

Please email me! I'd love to hear from you! Hope everyone is doing well! Talk with you soon...
Love,
Maddin

My First Post

This semester I'll be studying abroad at the University of Otago located in a town called Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand. I will be gone February 17th through the end of June. I am so excited about my upcoming adventures abroad! I hope this blog will be a useful tool for keeping in touch with family and friends. I plan to post updates and pictures on here quite frequently to keep people informed about what I am doing, so please check back periodically! I hope to hear from you and thanks for visiting my blog!
Love,
Maddin